Workouts

Quick Full Body Workout- Rest 30-45 between sets.

25 Jumping Jacks
50 Standing Toe Touch
25 Crunches or Leg Raises
50 Jumping Jacks
25 Squats
50 Jump Ropes (Modified)
25 Dumbbell Shoulder Press or Bicep Curls
50 Crunches
25 Standing Toe Touch
50 Jumping Jacks

Repeat 1x!

7 Ways to Manage Your Weight
You’ve heard that managing your weight is all about the lifestyle, and not the quick fix, so today I’d like to give you 7 habits that fit people have. These following seven habits are held by successfully fit people…wonder if you could apply a few to your own life.

1. Approach Each Day with Perspective

Fail to meet your fitness goals today? Move on. Tomorrow is another day to make smarter decisions. When you wake up, rededicate yourself to your fitness goals without beating yourself about whatever mistakes you made in the past. After all, you can’t change what you did yesterday. All you can control is right now. So get to it!

2. Know Your Body

When you finish a workout, you should feel good. If you don’t, then something needs to change. Either your diet or routine is throwing you off. Fit people know how everything they do affects their body and they take steps to avoid those things that make them not feel and perform their best. Learn how your body responds and care for it accordingly.

3. Find Ways Around Excuses

If you’ve ever wondered why you can’t quite get fit, it may be your proclivity for caving to pressure. And that pressure may be self-induced. Fit people do not give into excuses for why they shouldn’t exercise. Quite the contrary. They are continually finding reasons why they should hit the gym and find pockets of time to do it—even if the trip to the gym is shorter than usual.

4. Eat and Sleep Well

Study after study has shown the benefit of eating whole, unprocessed foods. It provides energy and strength, helps you feel full throughout the day, and makes your time in the gym as fruitful as possible. Getting good sleep is equally as important, as it keeps all your bodily systems in rhythm. Put these two fit activities together and you’re well on your way to optimal fitness.

5. Track Your Progress

For some, keeping tabs on health progress is about as exciting as watching paint dry. Once you get into the routine, however, you will become a believer in the power of tracking your progress. Tracking serves to both reward and motivate you, as you see that the countless hours in the gym and smart food choices lead to a healthier weight and greater strength—a.k.a. better overall fitness and health.

6. Think While You Exercise

It can be easy to mindlessly run on a treadmill at the gym if you’re not careful. Just remember that fit people don’t do such a thing. They’re very intentional about everything they do at the gym. This means if you want to be fit, you should put some brainpower into what you include in your workout and how you perform each repetition. This allows you to get maximum benefit from your gym time and reduces the risk of injury.

7. Lean On Your Trainer

The final thing fit people do is rely on someone with lots of knowhow in the realm of fitness. This is why my clients have such a high success rate in achieving their goals – because I make sure that they stick with it! I have a sincere interest in your overall health and well-being and know how to help you reach the goals that can seem so far away when you’re trying to achieve it on your own.

Call or email today and let’s get started on your fitness journey!

Pork Chops with Roasted Vegetables
Ingredients

4 (4-ounce) boneless center-cut loin pork chops
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
3/4 teaspoon black pepper, divided
1/4 cup olive oil, divided
6 small red potatoes (about 12 ounces), halved
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon tomato paste
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
1 medium red onion, peeled and cut into 8 wedges
1 (8-ounce) package cremini mushrooms, halved
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/4 cup Gorgonzola cheese, crumbled (about 1 ounce)
Directions

Preheat oven to 425°F.

Place a large heavy roasting pan over high heat. Sprinkle pork evenly with 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Add 2 tablespoons oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add pork to pan; cook 3 minutes on each side or until browned. Place pork on a plate (pork will not be cooked through). Reduce heat to medium-high. Add potatoes to pan, cut sides down; cook 2 minutes. Remove pan from heat.

Combine remaining 1/2 teaspoon pepper, remaining 2 tablespoons oil, balsamic vinegar and tomato paste in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk. Combine 2 tablespoons balsamic mixture, thyme, onion and mushrooms in a bowl, tossing to coat. Add mushroom mixture to pan. Bake at 425°F for 25 minutes, stirring after 10 minutes. Arrange pork chops over vegetables; bake 10 minutes, or until a thermometer registers 145°F. Remove pork from pan. Sprinkle vegetable mixture with remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt. Place 1 cup vegetable mixture on each of 4 plates. Top each serving with 1 pork chop, 2 teaspoons remaining balsamic vinegar mixture, 1 1/2 teaspoons parsley and 1 tablespoon Gorgonzola cheese.

Nutrition Information

Serves: 4 | Serving Size: 1/4 recipe

Per serving: Calories: 379; Total Fat: 20g; Saturated Fat: 5g; Monounsaturated Fat: 10g; Cholesterol: 60mg; Sodium: 456mg; Carbohydrate: 23g; Dietary Fiber: 2g; Sugar: 3g; Protein: 29g

Food Rules

“When dining out, I ask for a to-go box when the food gets to the table. I put half in the box before I start eating. Restaurant portions are ridiculously large.”

“Treat meals must be planned—no treating on a whim. Sub-rule: it’s a ‘treat,’ not a ‘cheat’—language is important. ‘Cheating’ implies doing something wrong, while ‘treating’ implies an enjoyable exception.”

“I never drink my calories. It’s water, plain coffee, or green tea.”

“Log everything, whether it will push you over or not.”

“No diet soda. No fake butter.”

“Don’t eat on the run. Make every meal and snack an event. Then you will have less of them and your body remembers it better.”

“No donuts.”

“Always eat your veggies first!”

Fitness Rules

“Take the farthest parking spot from the building.”

“Start exercise early enough in the morning that by the time you wake up, it is too late to quit.”

“Tuesdays and Thursdays are run days. Always. Other days as I find time and energy, but no getting out of those two

“10,000 steps a day.”

Environment vs Food Choices

Food Companies Know this. If a food cost less and takes little effort to prepare, we tend to eat more of it. Food that is immediately accessible is more likely to be eaten than food this takes more effort to prepare. (Yuri Elkaim)

This one-skillet kale tomato egg bake is a flavorful and showy dish you can present to guests at your next brunch-party! Courtesy of The Roasted Root, this recipe features eggs baked into a thick vegetable sauce made from simmering kale, tomatoes and mushrooms. Serve with toasted bread for memorable midday meal.

One-Skillet Kale Tomato Egg Bake

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 medium yellow onion, chopped
2 medium bell peppers, chopped
2 cups baby bella mushrooms, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1/8 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper, optional
½ teaspoon salt
1/3 cup mild harissa paste (or hot sauce of your choice; certified gluten-free if necessary)
2 (14.5-ounce) cans unsalted diced tomatoes, undrained
3 tightly packed cups lacinato kale leaves
4 large eggs
Directions

In a 10-inch cast iron skillet, heat the oil to medium. Add the onions and peppers, and sauté, stirring frequently until softened, about 8 minutes.

Add the mushrooms and garlic and continue sautéing another 3 minutes, until mushrooms have softened.

Add the ground cumin, cayenne pepper, salt, and harissa paste. Sauté an additional minute.

Add the diced tomatoes and bring to a full boil. Allow the mixture to cook about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add the chopped kale leaves, stir well, and cook an additional 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Dig small wells into the mixture and carefully crack eggs into them.

Cover the skillet and allow the eggs to cook until whites have firmed up, about 10 to 12 minutes.

Scoop eggs and sauce into bowls and serve with toasted bread.

Nutrition Information

Serves: 4 | Serving Size: 1 1/2 cups

Per serving: Calories: 282; Total Fat: 15g; Saturated Fat: 3g; Monounsaturated Fat: 7g; Cholesterol: 212mg; Sodium: 462mg; Carbohydrate: 28g; Dietary Fiber: 9g; Sugar: 12g; Protein: 13g

Nutrition Bonus: Potassium: 1038mg; Iron: 36%; Vitamin A: 116%; Vitamin C: 263%; Calcium: 21%

Butternut squash is a powerhouse for vitamins A and C. You can pack butternut squash puree into your lasagna to give it a nutritious boost. Using no-boil noodles is another time saver, and they work best when the lasagna is saucy with plenty of moisture for the noodles to absorb. They appear puny in the pan when assembling, but they will plump up while cooking. To freeze servings for lunch, wrap portions airtight and place in plastic storage bags for 1–3 months.

Butternut Squash Lasagna

Ingredients

2 (12-ounce) packages frozen butternut or winter squash puree (about 3 cups), thawed
2 cups (490 grams) part-skim ricotta cheese
3/4 cup (185 grams) reduced-fat 2% milk
1 tablespoon fresh sage, chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 (10-ounce or 285-gram) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1 1/2 cups (170 grams) shredded reduced-fat mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup (55 grams) freshly grated Parmesan cheese
9 no-boil lasagna noodles
Directions

Preheat oven to 400°F. Lightly spray a 13- x 9-inch baking dish with cooking spray.

Combine squash, 1 cup ricotta cheese, milk, sage, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and pepper in a medium bowl. Combine spinach, remaining 1 cup ricotta, 1 cup (4 ounces) shredded mozzarella, and 1/4 cup (1 ounce) grated Parmesan cheese in another medium bowl.

Spread 1 1/2 cups squash mixture in bottom of baking dish. Arrange 3 noodles over sauce (noodles will appear small but will increase in size as they cook and absorb liquid). Top with 1 cup spinach mixture. Repeat 2 more times with 1 1/4 cups squash mixture, 3 noodles, and 1 cup spinach mixture. Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup mozzarella and 1/4 cup Parmesan cheeses.

Cover with foil and bake 30 minutes. Uncover and bake 15 minutes or until lasagna is bubbly and cheese browns. Let coo1 5 minutes. Cut into 8 portions.

Nutrition Information

Serves: 8 | Serving Size: 1 slice (4.5 inch-by-3.25 inch or 228 grams)