I don’t know about you but its COLD where I live!

Many of my “go to” healthy foods end up having no appeal to me in the winter.
I haven’t been able to pop open a Greek yogurt or want an ice-cold protein shake since Fall really set in. I’m always cold so adding in something cold to eat or drink is not what I want.

With a cruise coming up in January, right after the holiday feasting season!, I had to figure out a way to keep my diet on the up & up so here’s an idea to keep your protein shakes working for you even when snow starts to hit the ground.

Winter Protein Shake:

Heat a mug of water in the microwave for 2 minutes.

Put a serving of protein powder and a packet of Diet Hot Chocolate in your Protein Shaker.

Add the hot water to the powder.

Stir it up to get all the powder of the bottom of your Shaker.

Close it up and shake until completely mixed.

You’ll end up with a nice warm protein shake that is disguised as a warm cup of hot chocolate.

What I use:

25 calorie hot chocolate mix

Vanilla Protein Shake Mix by Arbonne (Chocolate would probably be even better!).

Want it creamier?

Heat up some Almond Milk instead of water.

You can find Almond Milk for as little as 90, 60 or even 40 calories.

Remember, this is a snack so keep the calories in check.

So happy to have my shakes back for the winter. Happy Holidays

Have a fun Thanksgiving?

Enjoy all the foods you get once a year and extra drinking with family and friends. I had a great weekend and thought I rebounded pretty well from the Thanksgiving Day feast but then the weekend went on with family in town and get-togthers with friends and I think the food and drinks finally did me in!

Luckily a boot camp workout, couple of Turbo Kick classes and a run or two helped along the way but I am still feeling it form the overindulgence!

Now what to do??

Time to get back on track and do a little extra to maintain this season.

Here is my usual game plan after a big holiday:

*Plan out my week of meals.

*Get to the grocery store so I am ready.

*Add in a little Body Cleanse to help my body out.

*Up the exercise.

Here’s a sample of a week to help you get back on track:

Breakfasts are always the same for me; plain oatmeal with chia seeds.

Snacks will consist of protein shakes and fruit.

Lunch on the menu this week is a California Hummus Sandwich (from the WCBC 4-week meal plan):

Whole grain bread (I use light bread, 40 calories)

Hummus

Baby Spinach leaves

Cucumber or tomato slices

Avocado slices.

Spread a little hummus on the bread; add the rest to make a sandwich.

Dinners: Fish & veggies

Bratwurst Bake: Turkey Brat baked with red onion, apple and butternut squash and caraway seeds.

Baked Chicken and sweet potato

Soup

Pesto, arugula & chicken pizza (WCBC meal plan).

With a healthy menu in place I’m going to add in 7 days of Arbonne’s essential 7-Day Body Cleanse.
This is a concentrated drink I’ll mix with water to help my body get rid of all the stuff I crammed it with this weekend. It will eliminate toxins, support antioxidant activity, liver and GI health as it cleanses.
I’ll also have a detox tea in the evening.

Not every cleanse or detox means you have to go all liquid. I certainly can’t do one of those detoxes for very long. It’s good to get the diet back on track and add in something to support the system, a little extra help.

Hope everyone had a great weekend and you’re all ready to get back on track and healthy today!

Happy Holidays

I just learned of a great new product called a Thermos!

What?
You’ve heard of this gadget before? Are you using it for lunch?

The only thermos I remember is my dad taking one in his lunch or fishing and filling it with coffee. Thanks to my great friend (and nutrition tip expert), Vonda, I now have a better way to pack lunch for my daughter.

To say the least I am neither Betty Crocker, (stop laughing or saying a big “You got that right!” nor I am creative with meals.

For the past many years my daughter has pretty much had the same thing over and over. Turkey or ham sandwich, string cheese, fruit, chips and juice box. Throw in some left over pizza once in a while to mix it up.

The upside of this, she can pack it on her own and does so daily. The downside, I know it’s not the best lunch, I would assume she has to get bored with this and being in the fitness industry I am the mom who should be sending the Gold Star lunches to school!

Vonda told me about packing her kid’s lunch in a thermos. What a brilliant idea! Warm, healthy meals they can take to school. Meals just as good as any they can eat at home.

I told my daughter about this and she was VERY excited! She loves her new gadget and it even has a pop-out spoon to use, which is of course BEYOND!

Here are a few ideas to start with and I am sure you can come up with a few more on your own. If not, use the internet for everything or ask a creative fried like I do:)

Rice Dishes:

Protein Packed Rice: Rice, chopped chicken breast, shelled Edamame.

**I made this for Tay this morning, here are some quick tips.

Boil in a bag or microwave rice, pre-cooked chicken breast from the meat section, steam-able bag of shelled Edamame. It was ready and packed in minutes with leftovers for later.

Fried rice: whole grain rice, salad shrimp (tiny size), scrambled egg, scallions (if they like it) and soy sauce.

**Place cooked rice in a pan, mix in egg and tiny shrimp. The egg will cook as you scramble the rice around. Cook long enough to warm shrimp and cook egg. Add in soy sauce or put in a container on the side so they can add at lunch.

Meatballs and Sauce:

**Cook meatballs from the freezer section or meat counter according to directions. Warm sauce on stove or in microwave. Place meatballs in thermos, top with sauce. If you’d like to add some cooked pasta to this, rotini or bow ties would work great.

Soup: Pick your favorite.

I guess you could put anything left over that needs to stay warm and will fit?? I’m new at this so try it out and see if you can make the Gold Star lunch for your child this week.

Best part….You can do this for yourself and take a great lunch on the go too! Enjoy your lunch!

I’ve heard about all kinds of ways to exercise or things to eat that will make you burn more calories; eating something cold, eating something spicy, wearing extra layers to sweat more, wearing fewer layers to burn more…

I had a conversation with another trainer yesterday about the idea of exercising in the cold and if your body would burn more calories. He was doing an experiment to see if it would work for him. He thinks it does and has lost a few pounds in a week by running in colder temps without adding extra layers of clothing.

Looked a few things up online and here is what I came up with. Yes, when you are cold your body can burn extra calories trying to keep warm. When you shiver your body is trying to generate extra energy to warm itself up. I read you can actually burn up to 400 calories per hour shivering!! That’s kind of crazy, must be a lot of shivering.

Here’s the catch; your body will burn more calories to increase its temps but once you start exercising (in the cold) and your body temp rises you won’t need to generate extra energy anymore to warm up so you won’t burn extra calories. It sounds like the extra calorie burn only happens during the warm-up phase; once you are warm your body burns normal again.

One of the articles did state that your body will actually burn more calories in hot weather while it works to cool itself.

So, either way, cold or hot, it seems there are benefits to burning some extra calories. If its cold be sure to wear a hat and gloves, cover your skin to stay safe but don’t over do it. Get the extra benefit of working harder to get warm.

Next time the weather is not perfect outside for your workout you can remember the added benefit instead of skipping it.

PUMPKINS!
It’s not fall without pumpkins! Carve them, eat them, bake their seeds and workout with them! Workouts are always a little more fun with a new prop. To keep it fun my boot camps have had a few exercises with pumpkins this fall. Think working with a little 4-5# pumpkin is easy…think again!

Besides mixing up your workout, mix up your diet. Try some of your favorite dishes by adding pumpkin. There are all kinds of recipes out there to try. Today I mixed it into my oatmeal.
Here is a “loose” recipe so play with it and see what tastes best to you.

Pumpkin Oatmeal:

Make oatmeal according to directions.

Mix in;

a couple spoonfuls of pumpkin (as much as you like)

packet of your favorite 0-calorie sweetener

Cinnamon or pumpkin spice

Put back in microwave for 10-20 seconds to warm the pumpkin you mixed in.

Now how about a Skinny Pumpkin Latte with that! Yum, sounds like a nice weekend breakfast.

Enjoy the fun all fall with its beautiful colors and of course Halloween!

I love to exercise but my first love is helping animals. Animal rescue has been part of my life since I was a kid, bringing home any stray I could find on the way home from school. My very fist dog that was all my own was plucked right off the street when I was in college.

I’m always trying to find ways to help our homeless dogs and cats here in Chicago and now that my house is FULL (2 dogs, 3 cats & a fish…my daughter won’t let me leave out the fish) I’ve come up with a way to combine my business and charity.

Please help me spread the news to any women in your life, friends, family, fellow mommy & me goers… for every session of Windy City Adventure Boot Camp that has 40 campers

**I am going to donate $500 to help my shelter pals at PAWS **(where we found our 3 kittens and our Shepherd, my running buddy).

If you are looking to try a boot camp, need a jump start to get back on track, just want to get out of the gym and try something new then why not get Fit & Fund(raise) for animals that need help?

No fundraising on your part but please help spread the word.
40 registered campers = $500 to help Chicago’s cats and dogs. I hold 10 camps per year, which means $5,000 can be donated just by working out with Windy City Boot Camp!

Not sure it’s the right fit for you even if you want to help puppies and kitties…check out testimonials on my website

http://www.WindyCityBootCamp.com

or reviews on Yelp.com,

http://www.yelp.com/biz/windy-city-adventure-boot-camp-chicago-2#query:boot%20camp

Yes, at boot camp you can:

Increase your Energy

Tone your Muscles

Lose Body Fat

Have Fun with your Workout

Get Healthy

Learn new & healthier Eating Habits

But…why stop there! Let’s do all of that and help our community :)

Next camp starts October 31st followed by a holiday Mini-Camp on December 5th.

Let’s make a difference in 2012 starting NOW!

See you at camp

As I sit here writing this at 8:30pm, I think I could use a cup of coffee or maybe just need to get to bed. Today was National Coffee Day; I hope you got to pick up a free cup in your city.

People always seem very confused about coffee; is it good to drink, bad to drink?? I can tell you that I have a cup (a big mug) every morning. How else do you think I could get up at 4:10am for the past 4 years!

I think coffee, like most things, is fine in moderation. If you are drinking a pot or two a day by yourself you may want to consider cutting back.

One thing I have heard some of my trainer friends tell their clients is, if you are going to drink coffee, drink it to help your workout. Drink it about 30 minutes or so before your workout so you can use the energy boost to get a better workout in.

Here are some other benefits that have come about in different studies. By no means are these guaranteed to absolutely be true but it is what they are finding when studying the effects.

Coffee may reduce the risk of the following;

Alzheimer’s disease

gallstone disease

Parkinson’s disease

Cancer (certain types)

Gout in men over 40

Type 2 diabetes

** Coffee has been found to have antioxidants, magnesium and chromium which all help use insulin and control blood sugar.

For every benefit of coffee I am sure there is a study discussing the down sides. On National Coffee day enjoy a cup and think about using your coffee habit to better your daily workouts. Remember exercise and healthy eating is the best way to ensure a healthy body :)

How are your knees?

Many of my clients over the years have had knee issues, at some point in your workout career or general daily life we will most likely experience knee pain. Often an exercise mat, even folding it in half, doesn’t give them the support they need.

Bang it on a table, too much running, health issues, skiing accident….

Many things can bring knee pain and many times once you have it, it tends to stick around.

One of my clients showed me an article from Sunday’s paper (Chicago Tribune…I think) about a little gadget that can help relieve knee pain when you are doing exercises that require you to put pressure on your knees such as modified push ups, glute presses and spinal balance.

I had her send me the link and these actually look pretty cool. They can be used for anything, not just working out (even though we should all be exercising!!). My first thought was how my knees kill after sitting on our hardwood floors to help my daughter with a project; these can be helpful around the house as well.

They also show a small wedge to help relieve wrist pain when you are doing an exercise that requires pressure on your wrists, push ups, planks, renegade rows…

If you are avoiding certain exercises or not working out at all because of pain check it out.

NO, I have no part of the company (wish I thought of it!) but wanted to pass along the info :)

dodfitness

Here’s to your knee health ~ Cheers!

I’ve been hearing whispers about Chia seeds and how it is the “new” super food.
You know the saying things that are old are now new again, well that’s a definite with these tiny little seeds.

Dated back to the Aztec Indians (pre-Columbian Era; before European Influence on the American Continents; aka – a LOOONG time ago!) Chia seeds were an important crop which is still grown in Mexico and Guatemala.

A friend of mine introduced me to them earlier this summer. I tried a sample of them and liked the crunch they added to my dish but didn’t really look too much into them.

I ran across them again the other day at the grocery store. I bought a container of them to take a closer look.

These rumors may be true; they sure do seem like THE super food. Check out what is packed in these tiniest of seeds:

• 1 serving (2 scoops according to my jar) = 156 calories

• Omega-3 Fatty Acid (Alpha Linoleic Acid) – 6.1g

• Omega 6 Fatty Acid (Linoleic Acid) – 2g

• Total Carbs = 10.5g

• Dietary Fiber = 10.4g! That’s 42% of the daily value base of 2,000 calories.

• Protein = 6.3g

• Calcium = 30%

• Iron = 25%

After looking around on line Chia seeds are even surpassing blueberries when it comes to antioxidant activity as well as helping to keep blood pressure and blood sugar under control.

Not bad for a seed.

What do you do with these seeds? You can sprinkle them on your food, mix into a smoothie and if you are really inspired grind them up to mix in with flour and use when baking.

My experience with the Chia seed is very new but here are a few ways I have incorporated them into my diet.

Mix them into my morning oatmeal.

Sprinkle on a salad.

Sprinkle onto peanut butter sandwich.

Mix into a protein shake.

Take another look at the Chia seed; it’s an easy way to incorporate something really good for you into your daily diet with ease and not a lot of fuss.

And yes, I think these are the same seeds as in Chi-Chi-Chi-Chia but don’t order a planter of your favorite character or shape to get them, buy the ones at the grocery store.

PS – when you eat them they get a gelatin like bubble around them so be sure to check your teeth 

Getting or Staying fit is not an easy thing to do. It takes work beyond your actual workout. For me and I’m assuming most others the nutrition side is the hard part. You can show up to your workout and have your trainer or coach tells you exactly what to do, sweat your but off for an hour and be good to go. But, who is there when you are choosing what to eat the rest of the day. If we could all afford a personal chef that would be easy to but it’s a struggle to choose what to eat, to be prepared and be consistent. It’s a learning process like anything else. Learn to track your intake for a while, know your serving sizes and have your “go-to” meals that you know are on track and easy so you don’t go off the rails when not prepared.

Here are some ideas for snacks and meals on-the-go.

5 Minute or under meal ideas: Make them on your way out the door or pack them to make at work. Add salad or fruit for a more complete meal.

Egg & Bacon Sandwich:

Microwave 2 pieces of turkey bacon (low sodium) for 1-2 minutes. Scramble an egg or 2-3 egg whites in small bowl and microwave until cooked. Toast whole grain (100 kcal. English muffin while food is cooking). Top English muffin with tsp. of Smart Balance butter, egg & bacon. **You can also boil eggs beforehand and slice one up for your sandwich.

Sausage & Cream Cheese Sandwich:

Microwave 1-2 Morning Star sausage patties. Toast English muffin. Spread 1 Tbsp. low fat cream cheese on muffin and add sausage.

Tuna on Wheat This: My appetizer lunch

Drain can of tuna packed in water (or crab meat) Spread out 1 serving of low fat wheat thins on plate. 1-2 triangles of Laughing Cow low fat cheese. Spread small amount of cheese on cracker and top with spoonful of tuna.

No Fuss Salad:

Pre-cooked chicken breast strips from Trader Joe’s Mixed Greens Tbsp Pine Nuts Other veggies you may like or chop up a small apple. Toss together in a bowl and top with drizzle of olive oil, Balsamic vinegar and a couple shakes of Sea Salt.

Wraps: You can make anything in to an easy wrap.

Flat-Out whole grain wrap Pre-cooked chicken breast (chili-lime flavor) from Trader Joe’s Romaine lettuce leaves Salsa Black Beans (optional) (can be warmed or eaten cold) Greek Yogurt (optional) Place 2-3 leaves of romaine lettuce on 1 side of wrap, top with chicken, salsa, few spoonfuls of black beans and dollop of Greek yogurt. Wrap it up.

Snacks to keep in your bag, desk or refrigerator at home or work:

• Boiled Eggs

• Single Serving bags of Cashews, Almonds & Cranberries (Trader Joe’s)

• String cheese and Apple (or fruit of choice)

• Cottage Cheese & Berries

• Greek Yogurt & Berries

• Almond Butter & Low Sugar Jelly Roll-UP (use a flat out wrap top with serving of each and roll it)

• Cut Veggies and Hummus

• Celery and Peanut Butter

Bars:• Luna • Be Kind • Kids Z-Bars

Protein Shakes:•

Put a scoop of protein powder in a Shaker (cup made for protein shakes with lid). When ready add ice and cold water or milk. To change up the flavors add a crystal light of your choice to protein shake.