If you have tight, stiff muscles (who doesn’t?!), you’ll love the foam roller self massage! Join me for a upcoming workshop at Healthy Habits Studio, and check out this article in the Berkeley Wellness letter:
Berkeley Wellness Letter article on Foam Rolling
Enjoy!
If you’d like me to order a foam roller for you, let me know: 916-444-7729.
Rose
1 head Boston Lettuce
2 large eggs, hard boiled and quartered
1 large can or package white tuna, packed in water
1 cup green beans or snap peas, blanched or raw
2 tomatoes, sliced
1/2 red onion, sliced
1 10oz can white potatoes (or leftover cooked potatoes), cut into chunks
20 black olives or Greek olives, drained and rinsed
1 TBSP Dijon mustard
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 TBSP cider vinegar
1 TBSP lemon juice
1/4 cup olive oil
2 TBSP capers
1. Divide whole lettuce leaves between 2 plates. Place half of the eggs, tuna, beans, tomatoes, onion, potatoes, and olives on each salad.
2. Combine garlic, mustard, vinegar and lemon juice in a bowl. Slowly add olive oil, whisking to combine. Lastly, add capers, then pour over salads or serve dressing on the side.
Serves 2
Calories: 350, Protein: 20-30 grams (depending on amount of tuna/egg), Fat: 22 grams (use less dressing for less fat), Carbohydrates: 22 grams, Fiber: 3 grams
4 pieces parchment paper
1 Leek, quartered lengthwise
20 asparagus spears, cut into 2″ pieces
4 salmon filets (about 1.5 lbs)
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
2 tsp soy sauce
2 tsp honey
4 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tsp crushed ginger
1. Preheat oven to 375F. Fold each piece of parchment paper in half and place on a large baking sheet.
2. Divide Leek and Asparagus among parchments, then top with a salmon filet.
3. Combine remaining ingredients in a bowl and divide among parchments, topping the salmon with the sauce. Fold parchment edges together so they remain closed. Bake in oven for 15 minutes.
4 servings
Calories: 275, Protein: 31 grams, Fat: 9 grams, Carbohydrates: 15 grams, Fiber 2 grams.
1-2 lbs Turkey breast cutlets
1 large egg
3/4 cup wheat germ
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup non fat Plain Greek yogurt
1-2 TBSP Dijon Mustard
1. Preheat oven to 400F. Place turkey cutlets between two long pieces of plastic wrap or wax paper, and pound gently with fist to flatten.
2. Scramble egg with a little bit of water in a bowl.
3. Mix wheat germ and Parmesan cheese on a large plate.
4. Soak each cutlet in egg mixture, then dredge in wheat germ mixture.
5. Place cutlets on a cooling rack set over a cookie sheet and bake for about 15 minutes, turning over about half way through. (no longer pink inside)
6. Mix yogurt and mustard and serve over cutlets.
About 6 servings
Calories: 275, Protein: 44 grams, Fat: 5 grams, Carbohydrates: 11 grams, Fiber: 3 grams
Serve with a ton of steamed Broccoli!
1 whole egg
2 egg whites
1/2 cup nonfat milk
1/2 cup lowfat cheddar cheese, shredded
sea salt, to taste
1 cup quinoa, cooked
1 lb broccoli florets, fresh or frozen (lightly steamed)
In a medium bowl, beat egg, egg whites and milk, then add cheese and salt to taste. Put quinoa and broccoli in oven safe skillet, pour egg mixture over it and cook over medium-high heat until eggs are set around edges. Place skillet under broiler until middle is set and edges are brown.
Serves 4
Calories: 263, Total fats: 6 grams, Protein: 15 grams, Carbs: 37 grams, Fiber: 5 grams
Finally, here’s my Turkey Burger recipe!
Why go to a restaurant or fast food for a burger that’s just going to make you fat, when you can eat a lean and delicious turkey burger at home. Plus these are so quick and easy to make!
The whole family will love them.
I use Extra Lean Ground Turkey (breast), but if you’re used to eating regular ground beef, transition first to Ground Turkey or Lean Ground Turkey first, since they have a little more fat than the extra lean.
Because these are lean, they cook pretty quickly, so don’t overcook or you’ll end up with a dry turkey burger. (lots of ketchup, please!)
You can buy the ground turkey already in patties (look for Jennie O’s Turkey burger patties, extra lean or Lean, fresh meat section of grocery store, not frozen. I use the ones that have less than 2 grams of fat per serving, regular ground turkey has around 10 grams of fat per serving, and ground beef has around 20 grams of fat per serving!)
You can prepare the burgers with salt, spices, peppers, onions, garlic, whatever you like.
I heat a skillet on medium heat with a spray of olive oil in the pan.
Then I place the burger in the skillet and I let it SEAR on one side before flipping and searing the other side. Once it’s seared, the inside cooks pretty quick, so as soon as I flip it the first time, I put some lowfat cheese on top on the cooked side, and I let that melt while the other side sears. If you want to check for done-ness, you can slice into the middle to check.
I like to use either Whole Wheat Bagel Thins (high fiber, skinny bagels with lots of protein) or Alvarado Street bakery Hamburger buns (sprouted grain breads like Ezekial breads, really nutritious), and I warm up the buns in the skillet as the burger is finishing.
Top the burger with your choice of lowfat cheese, ketchup, mustard, tomato, lettuce, pickles, avocado, etc.
And ENJOY the messy goodness!!!!
If you want to splurge on Sweet Potato Fries with it, use fresh sweet potatoes and slice yourself, or buy the already sliced like fries sweet potatoes from the fresh veggie section at the store.
Spray a cookie sheet with olive oil, then spread out the fries on the sheet and top with salt, pepper, spices as desired and a spray or spritz of olive oil.
Bake or broil until crisp, flipping as needed.
Enjoy this yummy, healthy, filling meal with some raw veggies to crunch and munch on! You can even Bar-b-que the burgers if you like!
Here’s a great recipe that you can make and eat leftovers for a few days, I got it from Clean Eating Magazine, it’s my favorite magazine for recipes!
Balsamic Chicken with lemony mushrooms and green beans-
easy 35 minutes to make!
1 lb or more fresh green beans (trimmed and rinsed) (Yes, you can use broccoli if desired!)
2 tsp olive oil- divided
16 oz mushrooms, sliced (I like brown crimini)
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 lemon, zested and juiced
1 yellow onion, cut into 1/4″ thick rings
1 lb or more boneless, skinless chicken breast, sliced 1/2 inch thick
2 TBSP balsamic vinegar
2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp sea salt
1. Steam green beans until tender-crisp. Set aside.
2. In large non-stick skillet, heat 1 tsp oil on medium then add mushrooms and saute’, stirring occasionally about 10 minutes. Stir in lemon zest and juice and garlic, and saute’ for about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and transfer to a large bowl. Add beans to bowl and toss well to combine. Cover to keep warm.
3. In large non-stick skillet, heat remaining 1 tsp oil on medium. Add onion and saute’ for 5 minutes. Add chicken, thyme, vinegar, and salt, and cook, stirring often, for 8 minutes until the thickest part of chicken is coooked through. Remove from heat and serve with beans. Makes 4 servings.
435 calories, 4gm fat, 19 gm carbs,5 gm fiber, 31 gm protein (yippee!).
an excellent balance of nutrients and a perfect Fat Buster meal!!!
Fitness, Health and Happiness
If there was such a thing, could you train your “happiness muscle”?
Well, the emerging field of Positive Psychology says “Yes!”
By using these techniques on a regular basis, you can actually increase your well-being, life satisfaction and joy:
Just like exercise, these techniques get easier with practice. Make these part of your healthy daily habits and your quality of life and overall joy will improve! For more info, check out the report at www.health.Harvard.edu
Want to burn more body fat, improve your glucose and insulin response (and potentially prevent Type 2 Diabetes), increase your metabolic rate, and get these results by SPENDING LESS TIME WORKING OUT?
Me, too!
So I looked into current trends like High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) and similar programs and I am excited to share the good news with you:
You can work out for a shorter period of time (15-30 minutes using HIIT) and get better results than the old fashioned “steady state cardio” we used to suggest for weight loss (30-60 minutes on the treadmill for example).
Woo Hoo! Let’s celebrate!
The fact is, we’ve known for years that doing intervals of higher intensity work combined with lower intensity (or even rest intervals when the high intensity is super high) has been shown to help improve fitness and athletic performance. But what’s really exciting to me is the current research that shows an increase in metabolism, so that you can burn more fat and calories by doing these shorter, harder workouts. It’s not that HIIT workouts burn more calories during the workout, they actually increase EPOC (excess post-exercise oxygen consumption), which means your metabolism is increased for a longer period of time after the workout, which means you burn more calories the rest of the day! (Some studies showed 24 hours of elevated metabolism) Yippeee!!!!
So, how do you do HIIT?
The high intensity intervals should be tough, but be smart and safe to avoid pushing yourself too hard, too soon. The low intensity intervals should feel so easy that you could continue at that pace all day. If you are just starting a fitness program, wait until you’ve built up a base of fitness before you try the high intensity intervals. Oh yeah, the research also showed that doing HIIT workouts, you can exercise just 3 times per week and get similar results to doing steady state cardio 5 times per week.
So, incorporate HIIT workouts and get better results and more free time, too! We’ve been doing them in our FitBody BootCamps lately and people LOVE the “more results in less time”.
Get ready for our 8 week Tabata BootCamp Program which includes an interactive website, nutrition guidance and more, coming in March 2012.
Healthy New Years Resolutions
It’s that time again, when we set goals for the new year to improve our quality of life. Whether you’d like to lose weight, get in better shape, or just improve your overall health and fitness, here are 5 tips to help you make your goals a reality.
1. What do you really want to achieve and by when? In order to reach your goals, you must make them clear, realistic and measurable. Decide when you have lost those 10 lbs or be able to run 3 miles, etc. and mark it on your calendar.
2. Focus on your “Why”, your reasons for wanting the goal. The stronger the reasons why, the more likely you will stick with your program when the going gets tough.
3. Make a plan to reach your goals, and allow it to be flexible. So, instead of working out 7 days a week, plan on exercising 4 or 5 days per week so that it’s doable for the long term.
4. Visualize yourself already there, and use the power of affirmations and intentions to program yourself for success. Always use the present tense. So, instead of saying, “I want to get in better shape”, say something specific like, “I weigh x pounds (your goal weight)”, or “I run for 30 minutes every other day”, or “I choose healthy, lean foods 80% of the time”.
5. Have a strong support system. Support your positive attitude and mindset with fitness related books, magazines, places and people that motivate you to make your healthy habits a lifestyle, not a temporary phase. Hire a trainer or join a class to keep you accountable and consistent.
Remind yourself that “Rome wasn’t built in a day” and “A journey of 1000 miles begins with a first step”, and keep focusing on your goal, even when you reach a plateau. Get back on track ASAP when you get off and make 2012 your healthiest year yet!
Healthy Habits Studio is home to Sacramento Fit Body BootCamps, personal training, a variety of classes and online healthy eating and fitness coaching.
www.HealthyHabitsStudio.com