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

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.

Motivation comes in many forms. Why do you work, why do you clean, why do you sign up to be on a committee, why do you exercise???

I believe you have to be very honest in why you are doing anything you do. Is it to get ahead in the world, to one-up your neighbor, to be a better parent?? It’s hard to stick with anything if you cannot be true to yourself about why you are doing it.

I honestly have never sat down with someone in the Fitness Biz and heard them say, “I’m tracking my cholesterol and my goal is to drop it 10 points.” Or, “My bone density test came back low so my goal is to do more resistance training and see if I can improve it over the next six months.” Trainers, just like majority of my clients, have a goal to look good…bottom line.

So, why do you exercise or want to start exercising? Maybe for better health, maybe because heart disease runs in your family or maybe to fit into an old pair of jeans. Whatever it is OWN IT! You have to really want something and be honest about why to reach that goal and get it.

I’ll focus on exercise (obviously). It is not easy to stay or get into shape. It takes planning, commitment and hard work on a daily basis.

I believe it can be one of the hardest things to stick with and get the results you want. Not because you can’t, because it takes consistency and honesty to get there. Too many people stop before they even start to see a change.

If you are in this place right now of wanting to be fit or change your diet and you keep “failing” it’s time to be real with yourself. Be honest and figure out why you want it. It can’t be because your neighbor works out or you’re “supposed to” workout. There has to be an end result that you want badly and will commit to get it.

Here’s your starting tips: 1. Figure out why you want to change and DON’T FORGET IT! 2. PLAN! Not for a day or a week but plan out a month of times you can exercise, meals you can prepare and grocery lists. 3. You CANNOT let excuses get in your way. There’s a ton of them and I hear them all.

If you can stick to something for a month and really stick to it, you will start to feel the change and that will become even more motivating than any picture on your refrigerator or any pair of jeans in your closet. Once you feel lean, energized, healthy you will want that feeling forever and you will know you can do it!

Our bodies are funny little machines. If you’ve had 2 good days you cannot celebrate with a meal at your favorite Mexican place. Even a good week can be wrecked by that and then back to square one, disappointment and frustration. Once you FEEL the difference you will learn your time line for you body.

For me, I have to be perfectly on my workouts and diets for at least 7-10 days and then one morning I’ll wake up and WHAM! There are the results. From there on it becomes way easier to turn down pizza for dinner or at least eat 1 slice compared to 3!!

Get motivated, get to the point where you feel the WHAM and you will get it 

I know my last post was about drinking water but I feel the need to discuss this is a little more detail after my 9am boot camp today. The weather has taken a drastic change here in Chicago, going from 50’s-60’s and rain to 80’s and humid overnight and the effects of this change combined with how quickly it happened is showing up in the boot camp workouts.

We are not used to pushing through this kind of heat and humidity yet and probably not getting the water in that we did last summer since we are coming off a cold winter and people tend to not think about it.

Let’s start thinking of all the ways water is good for us and the best defense against dehydration and fatigue is to always have our water bottle with us and make it a habit to choose water for our main drink through out the day.

Here’s a few things to keep in mind the next time you don’t think you need to amp up your water intake or want to grab some pop:

1. Water is a natural way for the body to cleanse itself of toxins. Toxins from other things we eat, drink, inhale or put on our skin that get in to our body. A steady flow of water helps to flush the toxins out.

2. Digestion and metabolism; everything our body does, it needs water to do. Don’t forget over half our body weight is made of water so it must be pretty important. Drinking will help the food you eat to digest properly and move through your body.

3. Get rid of the mid-afternoon sluggish feeling with some re-hydration. If you are feeling tired don’t automatically assume you need a nap or more food. If you have been getting decent sleep and you have been eating normally through your day that tired feeling can be caused by dehydration so be sure to add a big glass of water to your lunch and afternoon snack. It can really give you some energy back!

4. Water also helps to regulate the body temperature. My campers were getting HOT when the sun decided to peak out at 9am and the cool lake breeze turned muggy. It’s a good idea to even bring an extra bottle of water to a hot workout so you can drink as much as you need instead of trying to conserve the 1 bottle you brought.

5. Don’t forget water is a little messenger carrying oxygen and nutrients to ALL of your cells. This includes joints and muscles that need some help recovering after a workout. Water can help your body heal and become stronger for the next workout.

I want to see a lot of full water bottles during our warmer months at boot camp. Please remember to drink all day long so you are ready for your morning workout, not just drinking during, it may be too late.

What a perfect morning today for boot camp. Spring is finally here, hopefully to stay! We now have sun for the entire hour of camp, we can sport our capris, shorts and tank tops instead of winter hats, gloves and 5 layers.

With warmer weather comes a change in habits. We should be drinking water through out the day all year long but here in Chicago its hard to think about cold water when it’s cold out.

Here are a few warm weather workout tips:

1. Drink a glass of water as soon as you get up. You’ve gone 6-8 hours (or however long you sleep) overnight with out hydrating, getting a glass in first thing is good for you and gets you started for the day.

2. Get a water bottle you really like. Is this really important? Well, it is if it helps you remember to use it and keep it with you and drinking water all day.

3. Put on some sunscreen for your outdoor workout. Even if you are out at 8am you still need protection from the sun. You might not feel the heat yet but before you know an hour workout in the sun each day can add up to skin damage.

4. Drink water throughout your workout and all day long. This will help your muscles recover and not cramp up on you after a hard workout. Dehydration can lead to soreness and muscle cramping which is never fun.

Get out there and enjoy the weather, even if its a walk at lunch time we have to take it all in and enjoy it while we can here in the Midwest.

HAPPY CINCO DE MAYO!

Big plans for tonight? Cinco de Mayo needs to always fall on a weekend, I know for many of us a night of margarita drinking at the bar during the week is not happening.

So, if you are like me and you are at home tonight but still want to celebrate with some m Mexican food and a margarita… **go for it! **

I actually love eating Mexican food at home, it’s more exciting than the usual chicken and veggies and it can be a very healthy dish.

Here’s a couple suggestions for dinner tonight. These are super simple and probably don’t even need me to list them for you but who knows.

Ditch the tortillas and go with lettuce wraps!

Romaine Lettuce

Lean ground beef (or lean ground turkey)

taco seasoning (look for the 50% less sodium pack)

shredded low fat cheese (whatever you like, Mexican 4 cheese blend, cheddar, provolone…)

Chopped tomatoes or Salsa

Avocado

Greek Yogurt - plain

Black Beans

Heat black beans on low in a pot (Whew, that was a tough one! Glad we got that out of the way!)

Brown ground beef and mix in seasoning according to packet directions.

**Tip: ** Even with the lower sodium pack I still only add 1/2 the packet. It cuts down even more on sodium and I find I get the same flavor with 1/2 the pack.

Chop tomato (or you can use salsa for extra flavor)

Slice & peel Avocado

Tip: Cut Avocado in half around the big seed. Grab both ends of Avocado gently and twist in opposite directions to pull apart. I take the side without the seed and slice lines in it down to the peel. Turn that half inside out and pull out the slices. Remove seed by sticking knife in and popping it out and slice other side same way.

Pull apart Romaine lettuce leaves for your wraps. Sometimes I will double a smaller leaf into a larger one for better support and less dripping.

Fill your lettuce wrap with beef, shredded cheese, tomoatoes or salsa, avocado slices and a spoonful of Greek yogurt.

Serve black beans on the side.

Tip: To watch your calories don’t over due it on the cheese or avocado. Even though they both have benefits too many calories are too many calories. Many times I’ll even skip the cheese and with all the other flavors I don’t even miss it!

Margaritas!!! The best part!

Skip the big frozen Ritas from the restaurant. Make them at home or order them on the rocks with NO salt if you are out. Check out www.bethenny.com for her skinny girl margarita recipes on her drink page. My Favorite!

Tip: Drinking a “clean” margarita means you are pretty much drinking pure alcohol with no filler. You’ll want to watch your consumption or suffer the hang over!!

Have a FUN Cinco de Mayo!

I want to share a success story about one of my campers. I want to share it because her road to finding results was not the smoothest yet she figured it out and is now seeing the changes and enjoying her new understanding of her body and how to make it work for her.

My client has been with me for about a year or more taking boot camp. She faces the same struggles many of my clients do, a busy work life as a teacher, a husband who travels making it hard to get to boot camp on a regular basis and raising a 3 year old.

She was determined to see the pounds drop and the muscles tone up! She tried very hard to get her nutrition down, discussing ideas with me, using the Windy City Boot Camp meal plan, hitting the gym or taking a run when she couldn’t get to camp… Still, she was stuck around the same few pounds up and down. She knew stress was a trigger that threw her eating off track and she didn’t feel well after eating certain things.

This past January she took it one step further. She met with the Dietitian, who had created on our boot camp meal plan, to get a plan that was specific to her. Not only did she get a more specific meal plan but they worked on an action plan to get rid of stressful eating and keep her on track. She cut a few things out of her diet that upset her body and didn’t work well with her, stuck to suggestions the Dietitian made for challenging times, put it together with her workouts and…SUCCESS!! She has broken the cycle of frustration and has it all working for her.

_**Since January she has dropped 15 lbs. and 15.75 inches!! **_Talk about feeling a difference!

Imagine dropping 2 inches off your waist,** 4 inches around your belly button **area, 2.5 from your hips and 2 from each your upper and mid thigh. That is awesome!!

And, once you feel that kind of difference you are only MORE motivated to keep it all going in the right direction.

She did not have an easy road to get these results but she believed in herself, knew she could get it done and just had to keep working at it until she found the perfect combo for her life and body!

When you get frustrated don’t give up, use that energy to figure it out. Try a new plan, a new workout a new path to success and you will get there!!

Great Job Anna P. 