It's February and for many people this is the time of the year they lose motivation. The second week of the month is traditionally the one where the highest percentage of people give up on their New Years resolutions. It's cold, there is nothing exciting happening and beer and pizza pretty much sound like the best thing in the whole world. So how do we stop the winter blahs from killing our motivation? One thing you can do is switch up your workout. Take that new class that you have been eyeing up or hire a Personal Trainer (my personal favorite ;)) to mix up your workouts and add new challenges. Even if you know what you're doing and have been working out forever, a Personal Trainer might have some exercises you haven't found in Fitness Magazine or Men's Health.
Another option is to start making goals for the summer. Decide to do a 5K, half marathon or a century bike ride. This will give you something to work toward. If you sign up for a race in May or early June, you should be starting to train for it now. You can hire a coach or there are many references online to help you train. If you have never done a race and want to start with a 5K, the Couch Potato to 5K training program might be perfect for you. Hal Higdon has some wonderful novice to advance running programs and bicycling.com can help you with a cycling training schedule.
Don't forget to keep a close watch on your nutrition too. It is easy, especially in the winter, to make heavier and more fattening choices when it's dark and freezing out. These fattier foods tend to increase our serotonin levels which give us a sense of well-being and happiness. A way to avoid this is to increase your vitamin D levels since we can't get if from the sun in the winter. The sun is to far away from us and its rays are too weak to penetrate our skin and produce vitamin D. Light therapy can also help with this. Another thing you can do is to bundle up and get outside for a walk. The fresh air and nature with do you good.
Remember beach bodies are made in the winter! Avoid the May panic of putting on a swim suit and stick to your goals.
Saturday, February 16, 2013
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Grilled Halibut with Avocado and Grapefruit Salsa
Ingredients:
1 lb of halibut
1 avocado
1 jalapeno pepper
1/2 of a red bell pepper
cilantro
lemon juice
1 grapefruit
5 scoops of plain Greek yogurt
Combine in a bowl and mix until well blended:
Avocado cut up and cubed
Jalapeno pepper cut into small pieces removing seeds
1/2 of a Red Bell pepper cut up into small pieces
Grapefruit halved and pieces cut out. Use as much as you like. (Mine was a bit mutilated so I think one turned into about half of a grapefruit.)
Cilantro as much or as little as you like
Lemon juice to taste
Greek yogurt
When salsa is done, prepare your halibut. Season with pepper, olive oil, lemon juice and salt. Wrap in tin foil and grill for about 8 minutes.
Remove fish from tin foil and top with salsa.
Makes about two meals.
Enjoy!
1 lb of halibut
1 avocado
1 jalapeno pepper
1/2 of a red bell pepper
cilantro
lemon juice
1 grapefruit
5 scoops of plain Greek yogurt
Combine in a bowl and mix until well blended:
Avocado cut up and cubed
Jalapeno pepper cut into small pieces removing seeds
1/2 of a Red Bell pepper cut up into small pieces
Grapefruit halved and pieces cut out. Use as much as you like. (Mine was a bit mutilated so I think one turned into about half of a grapefruit.)
Cilantro as much or as little as you like
Lemon juice to taste
Greek yogurt
When salsa is done, prepare your halibut. Season with pepper, olive oil, lemon juice and salt. Wrap in tin foil and grill for about 8 minutes.
Remove fish from tin foil and top with salsa.
Makes about two meals.
Enjoy!
Monday, January 14, 2013
My New Torture Device
PVC pipe center and pressure point raised foam. This baby isn't forgiving. The best thing for getting those knots out of my leg muscles. It hurts so good!
Cleanse Review
A few people have been wondering exactly what I did, so I am going to give a more detailed description.
First the basics. The things I did not ingest: dairy, meat, sugar, alcohol, salt or any wheat products.
What I did have: fruits (before 2pm), vegetables, egg whites, quinoa (the only grain I allowed myself), and decaffeinated tea.
In the mornings I would get up and have 4 egg whites with spinach or other veggies that I had cooked up the night before. I would top it with homemade guacamole and salsa. I would also have a few berries.
For a snack I would have fruits like clementines, kiwi, banana, pineapple or apple.
For lunch, which would usually come after my workout, I would have another 4 egg whites with spinach, tomatoes, mushrooms and quinoa topped with guacamole.
For an afternoon snack I would usually have tea or cucumber slices.
For dinner I would saute up tofu, tomatoes, spinach, eggplant or other veggies. I wold try to have dinner before 6pm. I would have some relaxation tea later in the evening.
Some of the other meals I had for lunch or dinner were a veggie chili I made with no-salt-added tomato sauce and a black bean salad which included avocado, tomato, cilantro, and lemon juice. I would also have a fresh salad with veggies, tofu and a dressing of olive oil and lemon juice.
For my workouts, I mixed it up. I was working out 6 to 7 days a week, which I usually do anyway. I would also try to burn 500 calories per workout. I did Bikram yoga twice a week, went for runs twice a week and the other 3 days I would lift weight or do a high intensity cardio workout like tabata.
I hope this helps!
First the basics. The things I did not ingest: dairy, meat, sugar, alcohol, salt or any wheat products.
What I did have: fruits (before 2pm), vegetables, egg whites, quinoa (the only grain I allowed myself), and decaffeinated tea.
In the mornings I would get up and have 4 egg whites with spinach or other veggies that I had cooked up the night before. I would top it with homemade guacamole and salsa. I would also have a few berries.
For a snack I would have fruits like clementines, kiwi, banana, pineapple or apple.
For lunch, which would usually come after my workout, I would have another 4 egg whites with spinach, tomatoes, mushrooms and quinoa topped with guacamole.
For an afternoon snack I would usually have tea or cucumber slices.
For dinner I would saute up tofu, tomatoes, spinach, eggplant or other veggies. I wold try to have dinner before 6pm. I would have some relaxation tea later in the evening.
Some of the other meals I had for lunch or dinner were a veggie chili I made with no-salt-added tomato sauce and a black bean salad which included avocado, tomato, cilantro, and lemon juice. I would also have a fresh salad with veggies, tofu and a dressing of olive oil and lemon juice.
For my workouts, I mixed it up. I was working out 6 to 7 days a week, which I usually do anyway. I would also try to burn 500 calories per workout. I did Bikram yoga twice a week, went for runs twice a week and the other 3 days I would lift weight or do a high intensity cardio workout like tabata.
I hope this helps!
Friday, January 11, 2013
The Cleanse Day 10
It's the final day of my 10 day cleanse. I got on the scale this morning and to my surprise l had lost 10 1/2 lbs! I have done other cleanses before, but I have never had such good results. This made me ask myself two things..."What the hell have I been eating?" and "What is it that is making me fat?". Lets be honest, it could just be the booze. I do have a bit of a wine problem, but I was only trying to drink on weekends. Is it the gluten? I was gluten free the whole 10 days, which I am planning on sticking with. My best guess is that I had just been eating too much, not planning my meals and grabbing whatever was around.
Confession time. Let's just say that I'm not perfect. I did have a few discrepancies. First, I was using olive oil to cook most of my veggies. It made the meals much better. Most of them were quite yummy. The last two days I was feeling a bit disoriented. Yesterday I actually went to my Bikram class at the wrong time on the wrong day. I was having trouble with time management too. Something was off and I wasn't ok with it. I went and purchased some gluten free granola from Whole Foods and went to town on it. It was a bit of a binge situation, but honestly I felt much better today. Other than that, I stuck to the plan.
I am very happy with my results. I am planning on sticking as close to the cleanse diet as I can. I do plan on adding in lean meats and some complex carbs, but keeping it gluten free. I'm going to try to greatly limit my alcohol intake and dairy as well. I still have a few more pounds to go until I get to my goal weight. I will write up a summary of what I ate and the workouts I did during my cleanse soon.
It feels good to have made so much progress!
Confession time. Let's just say that I'm not perfect. I did have a few discrepancies. First, I was using olive oil to cook most of my veggies. It made the meals much better. Most of them were quite yummy. The last two days I was feeling a bit disoriented. Yesterday I actually went to my Bikram class at the wrong time on the wrong day. I was having trouble with time management too. Something was off and I wasn't ok with it. I went and purchased some gluten free granola from Whole Foods and went to town on it. It was a bit of a binge situation, but honestly I felt much better today. Other than that, I stuck to the plan.
I am very happy with my results. I am planning on sticking as close to the cleanse diet as I can. I do plan on adding in lean meats and some complex carbs, but keeping it gluten free. I'm going to try to greatly limit my alcohol intake and dairy as well. I still have a few more pounds to go until I get to my goal weight. I will write up a summary of what I ate and the workouts I did during my cleanse soon.
It feels good to have made so much progress!
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
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