Posts Tagged ‘Healthy Recipes’

Excuses & Meme’s…The Great American Way! Part II

Please read part I posted last week to shed light on what I am about to suggest in this post.  Last week I told you that all of us have meme’s and that they act to impede our fitness and nutrition goals.  Today I would like to give you some simple steps that you can apply to change your current mindset so that you can obtain the lifestyle that you truly deserve.

Step #1:  Acknowledge that you make excuses:

No, you’re not in AA but this first step CANNOT be overlooked. If you do, you will pay the price of failing.  You make excuses…yes you do.  There is absolutely nobody that is exempt from excuse making and you are no exception.  That is ok.  The good news is that you can change your mind once you identify your excuses and memes. 

Step #2: Write down all of your excuses and memes:

This is more of a process.  For the next 30 days I want you to write down all of the excuses and memes that you make to yourself.  See last weeks post for examples.

Step #3: State the opposite:

Once you have written down all of your most annoying excuses and memes you need to write down the exact opposite.  For example if you say, “I am too tired to exercise after work”, write down “Because I am proactive and take responsibility for my life, I will exercise before work to increase my energy level”. 

Step #4: Change your Sub-Conscience Mind: 

Your sub-conscience mind is the part of the brain that stores all of your habits.  It steers the proverbial ship.  This is where the vast majority of all your behaviors are stored and processed.  To change your sub-conscience mind you have to do the following things.

            a. Convince it that it is wrong:  You do this by stating the exact opposite of your memes.  The very moment that a negative or damming thought enters your head you must replace it with the opposite thought…even if you have to say it out loud.

            b. Construct a list of positive affirmations:  On this list could be something like “I am in control of my eating at all times”, or “Exercising daily is just part of who I am”. 

            c. Repeat your list of affirmations daily, morning and night: Do this when you first awake and before you go to sleep.  The goal is to be in a relaxed state where not much will bother you and where your mind can be at ease. 

            d. Be in a state of believing:  When you are repeating your affirmations, do so in a state of positivity and optimism

Step #5: Disarm your alarm system!

When you begin doing these simple steps your brain will tell you that you are crazy and that you are acting weird or like a moron.  This is normal because your brain is still convinced of the validity of your previous mindset of excuses and memes.  Persistence is the key here.  If you persist and repeat your affirmations day after day you will begin to believe the things that you are telling yourself and BECAUSE YOU BELIEVE YOURSELF YOU WILL ACT ON IT!  Yes your behavior will start to change in a way that you never imagined possible.

Step #6:  Realize that you never “Arrive”.

We live in a world of complacency, feeling entitled and laziness.  If you are not constantly reinforcing your sub-conscience mind, rest assured you will slip back into old ways.  Stay focused and realize that you have to be proactive to win the battle.  Things will not magically work out for the best if you are not constantly bathing your mind with the things that you want to accomplish.

Step #7 Action:

This is where it is time to get off your butt and get into action.  You can have the most wonderful meditation sessions of visualizations and imagery known to mankind, but if you don’t move you will never change your behavior.  It is much easier to shed your old excuses when you see yourself doing the opposite of them.  Soon you will be excuse free!

Step #8 Making it Long-Term:

Realize from the get-go that this is about lifestyle change for the long-term!  Never allow any short-sightedness to enter the picture here.  When you are planning your visualizations and affirmations make them long term.  You want to adopt a mindset of permanency.

 Well there you have it my friends!  Properly applied these principles can and will change your lifestyle for the better.  Start applying them today…there is absolutely no room for procrastination here.  Remember…life is good!

Ryan Flint, Lifelong Fitness Certified Personal Trainer and Sports Nutritionist

 I know there seems to be an on-going debate out there these days with health professionals, nutritionists, and the media giving different opinions about whether organic food is worth the slightly higher prices.

But there are a few VERY important aspects of organic food that I rarely see anybody out there talking about.

First, as you know, the main aspect that most people talk about in the organic vs conventional food debate is simply whether the food in question was grown with pesticides, herbicides, or chemical fertilizers, and whether that food contains pesticide/herbicide residues on the actual food when you eat it.

And that IS important… I mean, I know I don’t want to be ingesting pesticide residues that are potentially carginogenic or even estrogenic and can possibly increase belly fat (due to the xenoestrogens)… and I’m sure you don’t either!

But there’s another another MAJOR aspect of organic vs conventional food that most people are overlooking, and that is:

The impacts of conventional farm chemicals on the SOIL, and how that affects the nutritional composition (quantities of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants in the food)

The harsh chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides used in conventional farming can destroy a large part of the microbial activity in the soils (bacteria and fungi) that help to make soil minerals more available to the plants roots.  Conventional farming degrades this aspect of the soil which results in lower micro-nutrient levels in the plants that you eat.

In organic farming, these harsh chemicals are not used, and the soil is healthier and more biologically active (fungi and bacteria aid the plant roots with uptake of minerals and nutrients), and the plants roots can therefore obtain more nutrition which produces foods with higher micro-nutrient levels.

Also, it’s quite possible that the heavy use of chemical fertilizers, which make crops grow much faster than normal, leads to a shallower root system, that inherently absorbs less micro-nutrients from the soil column compared to organically raised plants that are forced to have deeper, more extensive root systems to obtain all of the nutrients the plant needs.

I think it’s quite easy to see why organic foods can have superior nutrition levels and more vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants than conventional foods.

But beware of conflicting “reports” out there on this topic.  Although there is much data on the superior nutrition levels of organic foods, you may also find some data that contradicts these findings in particular studies.

The reason that this happens is that science isn’t perfect, and someone may measure the nutrition levels of a certain type of conventional tomato, for example, compared against a different type of organic tomato, grown in a vastly different geographic area in vastly different soils and climate.  There are dozens, or even hundreds of complications with these types of studies, which is why you can’t always make direct comparisons.

 However, I think with the evidence we talked about in terms of soil quality, nutrient uptake, and also just the pure fact that we don’t want carcinogenic and estrogenic chemicals in our food, it makes it worth it to try to buy organic as much as possible.

Sometimes Local may be MORE important than “Organic”

Here’s another vitally important thing to keep in mind… 

If your choices at the grocery store for the organic food come from half way around the globe (such as organic produce from Chile or New Zealand when you live in North America), then you might want to consider favoring local produce even if it’s not labeled “organic”.

For one reason, many local farm stands may actually have organic produce but simply aren’t legally allowed to label their food “organic” if they haven’t acquired whatever necessary licenses they need for that.  If you ask the farmers, many times you may find out that the local farm produce is in fact organic, or at least close to organic (meaning they use very minimal chemicals compared to a large industrial farm).

Also, local produce that is picked at it’s peak of ripeness, and on your plate in a matter of hours or days, will usually have much higher nutrition levels compared to “organic” produce that was picked halfway around the world well before it was ripe and traveled weeks to make it to your grocery store.

The one caveat to this is frozen produce… sometimes fruits and veggies are picked at their peak of ripeness and frozen rather quickly, even if they were picked halfway around the world.  In this case, organic frozen fruits and vegetables can sometimes be just as nutritious as local produce (although they may carry a bigger petroleum burden than local produce)

So, if I were to give my overall recommendations to save yourself from the inherent health dangers of pesticides and herbicides, while also eating food that contains the highest levels of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, it is this:

1. choose organic over conventional most of the time, when it’s available

2. choose local foods over organic if the organic food came from very long distances away (although frozen organic fruits and vegetables can be just as nutritious as local)

3. Don’t forget that choosing organic also helps to protect the environment from chemical fertilizer and pesticide pollution that can harm ecosystems and your own drinking water supply.

4. Don’t fall for “organic junk foods” — I’ve been seeing this trend lately — Just because crackers, cookies, cakes, and corn chips may be labeled “organic”, doesn’t mean they are healthy… junk food is still junk food!  And these are still overly processed foods that can make you fat!

Remember that forcing change for responsible agriculture starts with your choices as a consumer.  The more we demand responsibly grown and raised foods by choosing those foods in our shopping carts, the more that producers and suppliers will respond to that demand.

Remember that there is a difference between a snack and a meal.  A meal is fully BALANCED meaning that it contains all three macro-nutrient ratio’s (Carbs, protein, fat) in the correct ratio.  For example putting together a snack would mean nothing more than slamming a few crackers and calling it good, whereas if you want to make it a meal you would have to put some protein in there as well such as a protein shake, yogurt, cottage cheese…you get the point.  You may be asking yourself, “well what about the fat?”  Remember a simple little saying, “the fat will follow”.  What this means is that if you are actively trying to get a low glycemic carbohydrate and a quality low-fat protein, then you DON’T have to worry about adding the fat in…it will naturally occur in about a 20% ratio if you are choosing healthy choices.

 Below are some simple suggestions to spark your mind.  Following the food list, you will find suggestions for quick, balanced, on the run suggestions.

Quick-On-The-Go-Meals

The only thing that you may need with these meals is a mini cooler with ice or a micro-wave oven.  These meals are designed to be quick and easy and worker friendly.

          1- Sandwiches:  Just remember to limit the condiments, dressing and cheese.  These items add fat calories galore!  Egg salad sandwiches work great as well!  Just remember to limit the egg yolks in the mixture and you should be great! 

2-Whole Grain pasta’s:  You may be saying “what, pasta?  That is not quick!”  Hear me out…This can actually be one of the quickest ways to have a pre-made meal.  All you do if make a big serving of whole grain pasta that will last for 2-4 servings and pre-dress it with a healthy sauce (low sugar/fat) and then you have a quick meal ready to be eating at any time.  The only drawback to this is that you may need  microwave to warm it up.

3-Protein Bars balanced with fiber:  It is not enough to just have a protein bar and call it good.  You need to balance that bar with adequate fiber.  So be sure to take along a baggie of pre-cut veggies and fruit to go along with your bar and you will be set for the next three hours. 

4-RTD’s (Ready-To-Drink Meals):  These have become popular in the last decade due to their extreme convenience.  To give you an example of what I am talking about just think of EAS’s Myo-Plex Shakes.  They are pre-packaged shakes that need to be refrigerated and that is just about it.  Just as the protein bars you need to balance this meal with a serving of veggies and/or a serving of fruit.

5-Left-Overs:  This is something that can make your life a whole lot more enjoyable!  If you have more of a formal dinner with healthy recipes (such as in this book) you can intentionally make more servings and package up the rest for later…all you need is a microwave!

6-Pre-made protein shakes:  This is an economical choice because all you have to do is buy a big 5lb jug of Whey Protein and then make 5-6 pre-made shakes and keep them in your fridge.

7-Whole Grain Crackers and a Protein source:  Triscuits, wheat thins, or any other low-sugar/fat cracker combined with a protein source such as tuna fish, yogurt, cottage cheese, lean deli-meat, or any other protein source such as a pre-made shake.

8-Salads:  If you can grab an extra ten minutes the night before and prepare a salad, they make great convienance meals.  You may need a fridge or you can keep it in your cooler if you are on the road.  Just be sure to spice up your salad with adequate protein such as shredded chicken or turkey to keep the protein high.

9-Whole Grain Cereals:  Yes you can have breakfast for your meals if you need to!  Just be sure that it is whole grain and low-sugar/fat…sound familiar?

 Well there you have it my friends!  Some of the fastest meals available for all of you busy people out there!  Remember life is good and I will see you next week!

One of the top reasons that clients fail to make a permanent lifestyle change is that they fail to prepare.  What do I mean by that?  Well, think for a moment about your fast paced lilfestyle.  You barely have enough time to eat a protein bar as it is!  The key here is to re-prioritize and make a DAILY habit of preparing your meals.  If you can accomplish this simple task it will drastically reduce impulse food buys such as fast foods, highly processed (convienant) foods, and other fast but unhealthy foods that seem to invade our lives.

Pre-Preparation

Step #1:  Get to the grocery store! 

You can’t prepare a darn thing without first having the right foods in place.  In this book you are going to find multiple recipes and meal plans that call for healthy foods so get started by getting to the store!

Steps #2: Plan a daily time for food preparation. 

This means taking at least 10 minutes and allotting it towards making your meals for the next day.

Step #3: Taylor your approach to your situation. 

If you are a business man or woman your needs will vary drastically from that of a stay-at-home mom.  If you are the later you will more likely have the option of preparing more complete mini-meals such as a pasta and chicken dish.  If you are the former you will be lucky to get in a protein drink and some whole grain crackers…but in either case you need to be prepared.  These mini meals need not be big or time consuming…actually they should be quite the opposite.  Balanced, small and quick should be your motto if you are in a hurry.  If not take some more time to make a balanced mini meal that you can sit down and enjoy.  Remember you are never too busy to fuel the machine that is allowing you to work in the first place.

Step #4:  Schedule your Eating Schedule!

  This is where you actually sit down and write out the times you are going to eat.  Yes I am serious.  Take out your planner, I-Phone, or whatever and schedule in the times that you plan on eating.  Remember that you should be eating every two to three hours.  This little activity is very vital from the onset of your program because it will teach you to eat frequently.  Frequent eating is crucial to a high performing metabolism.

Next week I will go over the actual steps that you should take in preparing a meal.  Please stay tuned and remember that life is good!

This is from the eat clean website (www.eatcleanmag.com).  Please check them out for further recipes and meal planning…they are great!

CALORIES: 117g SUGARS: 12 g TOTAL FAT: 1 g PROTEIN: 5 g SAT. FAT: 0.25 g SODIUM: 23 mg CARBS: 24 g CHOLESTEROL: 0 mg FIBER: 4 g

I am always being asked about “healthy dessert recipes” so here you have one!  I got this out of the Clean Eating Magazine.  www.eatcleanmag.com I hope you enjoy!

This is a recipe by:

And is from the Clean Eating Magazine.  You can subscribe at www.cleaneatingmag.com

“Three sets of ten are all you need to do son!”  More is better.  Go hard or go home!  No pain no gain!  We have all heard these age old clichés, but the problem is deciphering which ones are true and which ones are completely false.  Today I want to give you a primer on weight training basics that will help ensure that your workouts are safe and effective.

 Principle #1:  Realize that your workouts must be tailored to your needs.

 -This is where a competent and qualified Personal Trainer can make all of the difference in the world.  It is their job to ensure that your workout reflects your unique strengths, weakness, and goals.  Anything short of this and you should be looking for a new Personal Trainer.  If you are going it alone then I suggest that you start VERY conservatively if you are just beginning.  Ignore the magazines as they have no idea of your particular needs and/or your abilities.

-Make sure that you progress slowly and steadily.  More is not necessarily better at first.  Remember that your joints and tendons are not used to the increased pressure of resistance training at first, but they will get used to it as you slowly progress in weight, reps, rest time, ect.

 Principle #2:   You must remember the “Law of Superscompensation”.

 The law of Supercompensation states that when a muscle is broken down from exercise it must be built back up through proper nutrition and rest.  As we all know, when we go to the gym we essentially break down our muscle fibers.  The key to making them stronger is to ensure an adequate protein intake afterwards, coupled with a proper rest period before attempting to hit that muscle group again.  In general, you want to make sure that you are not sore or unduly fatigued before attempting to workout again.

 Principle #3:  Large muscle groups take longer to repair than smaller muscle groups.

 -A bicep will always repair faster than a Quadriceps.  Why?  Because the quadriceps covered a much larger cross sectional area of the body and thus it requires more, bodily processes, resources, energy, and nutrients to repair.  In general your larger body parts such as quadriceps, hamstrings, and chest musculature should be given at least two days of repair before you hit them again…but remember this is for basic exercise.  If you are an athlete or bodybuilder it can take up to 4-5 days.

 Principle #4:  Rest Periods dictate your response.

 -I always get a kick out of those people I observe in the gyms that do a set of an exercise and then talk for a straight 5 minutes before their next set.  The problem with this scenario is that your rest period can directly affect the physiological response your body derives from your weight training session.  For example if you are waiting only 3-45 seconds between exercise sets you are deriving more of a muscular endurance training effect, whereas if you are waiting around a minute you are potentiating your Growth Hormone and Testosterone levels (both men and women) that is more conducive to muscular toning and growth.  In general you want to switch things up periodically so that your body does not get used to any given rest period.  You should select between 2 minutes down to thirty seconds for optimal results.

 Principle #5:  Remain Consistent

 -Let me clearly define what consistency means…it means 3 times per week as a minimum.  This can be more if you are more advanced, but for beginners you can even get away with two times per week for the first six weeks before advancing to three.  This number is highly variable depending on your abilities but the overriding point to be made here is that you should be exercising consistently each and every week.  If you get a week of 3 in and then turn around the next week and only do one workout you will NEVER make the kind of progress you are looking for because your body will not be able to become stronger BECAUSE there is not an adequate exercise stimulus to allow it to occur.  You must be consistent…nuff said!

I have personally tried these little babies and love them!  I think you will as well…please let me know!