Big Kahuna Turkey Burger

The perfect burger for the upcoming spring season!  One of the many great things about this burger is that you use ground turkey instead of ground beef.  It's much leaner and easier on your heart as oppose to the fattier, heart-unfriendly red meat.  This recipe is quick, easy and extremely delicious!

Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 12 minutes

Fridge to Plate: 22 minutes

Ingredients

1 lb ground turkey (93/7 ratio)
1/2 c low sodium teriyaki sauce
1 can no sugar added pineapple rounds
4 whole wheat thin buns (regular whole wheat buns are ok too)

Directions

1.) Preheat your grill to medium-high
2.) Divide the pound of ground turkey into 4 or 5 patties
3.) Push your thumb into the center of each patty to prevent the burger from bulging out in the middle and turning into a football shaped burger.
4.) Grill the burgers for 5-6 minutes, flip and brush the already grilled side with teriyaki sauce.
5.) Continue grilling for another 5-6 minutes.
6.) With two minutes left of grilling time, put the buns face down and the pineapple rounds on the grill as well.
7.) When the time is up, brush the other side of the burger with teriyaki sauce.
8.) Pull everything off the grill, put the burger on the bun with a pineapple round on top.
9.) Add lettuce, tomato and onion if you'd like.
10.) Enjoy!

Easy, healthy, and delicious!

Until tomorrow, spend Everyday Living Fit!

Image Source: http://www.health.com

Kettlebelll Ab Wind Mill For a Twist on Abs

Tired of crunches, sit ups, planks and leg raises?  Try the Kettlebell Ab Windmill!  This is one of those exercises that you think can't possibly work because it doesn't look like an ab exercise, but as we know, sometimes those are the best for you.  Beware, it'll work so well you may begin to have fellow gym goers following your moves!  Here's how it goes:

Directions: Complete each set doing windmills on both your left and right sides.  Rest 30 seconds and repeat 2 more times for a total of 3 sets.  Incorporate this into your ab workout 2-3 times a week.

Complete 3 sets of 15 reps per side

1.) Hold a light kettlebell or dumbbell in your right hand and extend your arm so it is straight above your right shoulder and your elbow is straight.
 2.) While keeping your eyes on the dumbbell the whole time and your abs contracted (squeezed) slowly reach your left hand down towards the ground and bend like you're doing a side crunch.
3.) Only bend your left knee (not your right) slightly until your left hand touches the ground.
4.) Keeping your eyes up on the kettlebell, use your obliques (side abs) and abs to slowly push back up to a starting position. 

Sounds easy enough, but I can guarantee your abs will be sore the next day!  Good luck, and until tomorrow spend Everyday Living Fit!

Image Source: http://www.thefitbridesmade.wordpress.com

Drink More Water For A Healthier You

Pop may taste good, energy drinks may make you feel energized, and alcohol may make you feel good, but none of these options are good for you.  Therefore, you should drink more water!

Two thirds of your body is made up of water. The majority of your muscles, brain and blood is made up of water.  It can energize you, make you stronger, and can make you lose weight!  Here's how:

1.) Get Stronger: Your muscles are 75% water.  If you don't drink enough water, all that hard work in the gym will never show.  Drink water to increase your strength and the size of your muscles.

2.) The Ultimate Energy Drink: If you drink enough water you will never need fake energy like coffee or energy drinks.  The only reason you need caffeine is for when your body is dehydrated.  If you drink ten 8 oz. glasses of water a day, you'll have all the energy you need!

3.) Lose Weight: Hunger is often misinterpreted cravings for water.  AKA, when you are dehydrated, it feels like you're hungry.  Easy solution: Drink a full glass of water before every meal.  You'll be amazed at how less hungry you'll be which will lead to you eating less.

4.) Improve How You Look and Feel: Think about what happens to plants if you don't water them enough.  They shrivel and die.  That same thing happens to your body inside and out.  Drinking water will hydrate your skin which leads to less wrinkles and feed your organs allowing them to function properly. 

Drinking water really can do wonders for your body.  From strength, to losing weight, to being more energized, water should become your go to drink!

Until tomorrow, spend Everyday Living Fit!

Image Source: http://www.healthytrimcoach.com

The Best Time of Day To Workout

For many people, choosing what time of the day to workout isn't an option.  Busy schedules limit us to when we can make some time to get out there and exercise.  Luckily, though, the best times to do some cardio or lift weights seems to be the times that we would chose if given the choice.  Here's a guide as to what times are best for certain workouts.


Cardio

Doing cardio in the morning is the best option.  Yes, it's hard to get up 45 minutes earlier than you normally would to get in a cardio session before work.  Your bed is warm, the air outside isn't, but think of the benefits to it.  If you wait until the end of the day to do cardio, you're just burning off all of the food you ate already in the day.  It's almost like you're doing cardio to break even if it's later in the day. 


When you sleep at night you burn off a lot of the calories from the day before.  Therefore when you wake up in the morning you have an empty stomach.  Doing cardio first thing in the morning burns straight fat, as oppose to trying to burn through the food to get to the fat. 


Plan: Wake up and grab a protein shake made with water then hit the road.  Run, intervals, bike, whatever.  In order to burn the greatest amount of fat, plan your cardio sessions for first thing in the morning. 


Lifting Weights

Lifting weights works the exact opposite of cardio.  When you wake up in the morning, your muscles are tight and weak from not being used all night.  It actually takes hours to get your muscles to full strength and to higher your body temperature.  Walking around and moving your muscles all day loosens them up.  Your body is best suited to work out during the 3 pm - 5 pm window.  This afternoon period will give your body its best chance for a great workout!

Plan: When you come home from work, don't even sit down to get yourself tired.  Walk in the door, change, grab a protein shake and then be on your way to the gym.  Sometimes it's easy to sit down and get tired so you say, "I'll just go tomorrow".  Don't give yourself that option.  Get in and get out!

Use these tips to get the most out of any workout!

Until tomorrow, spend Everyday Living Fit!

Image Source: http://www.fitsugar.com

15 Minute Kettlebell Crossfit Workout

Crossfit has become to have something of a cult following.  Typically, you are given 3-4 tough exercises in a row to do.  It counts as one set when you complete the exercises back to back to back to back with no rest in between.  You have to complete as many sets as you can in a given time period, usually 15-20 minutes.  Crossfit athletes are known as some of the toughest, most intense, in shape athletes around by putting their bodies through grueling exercises with no rest.  Fifteen minutes may not sound like a tough workout, but by combining cardio and a hardcore non-stop workout your body will be screaming (or that may be you screaming) to stop by the end.  For this workout, all you need is 1 kettlebell.  Use a weight you think is appropriate for you.   

Directions: Do this workout 3 times a week resting a day in between each session.  Do all of the exercises in a row without any rest in between.  That counts as one set.  Do as many sets as you can in 15 minutes.  Rest no more than 30 seconds between sets.  Eventually work up to not resting at all.  Descriptions of exercises are at the end.

10 Kettlebell Sumo Squats
10 1 Arm Kettlebell Bent Over Rows
10 Kettlebell Deadlifts
10 Kettlebell Close Grip Pushups
10 Kettlebell Swings

Five exercises seems easy enough.... think again!  This will be one workout you'll hate to do but feel like a million buck after it's all said and done.  It's a muscle bulding cardio workout that will shock your body into looking great!

Until tomorrow, spend Everyday Living Fit!

Kettlebell Sumo Squats - Grab a kettlebell with both hands and hold it in between your legs. Squat down, touch the kettlebell to the ground and extend back up.
1 Arm Kettlebell Row - Hold a kettlebell with one hand and bend over at your waist.  Row the weight up to your stomach, pulling your elbow as far back as you can while pinching your back.  Do 5 then switch hands.
Kettlebell Deadlift - Grab the kettlebell with two hands. Bend your knees just a tiny bit and keep them this way for the entire lift.  Bend over at the waist and touch the kettlebell to the ground.  Extend back up.  Do not bend your knees a lot to reach down, it's almost like you're stretching the backs of your legs.
Kettlebell Close Grip Pushups - Put the kettlebell on it's side on the ground.  Get in a pushup position and put both hands on the kettlebell.  Do 10 pushups.  You may need to put your knees on the ground to help make it easier.
Kettlebell Swings - Grab the kettlebell with 2 hands, squat down and on the way back up swing the kettlebell out in front of you until it's just above your head.  That's one.  Keep your elbows bent just a little bit for the whole lift. 

http://www.coreexercisestudio.com

No More Excuses!

Today's motivation is simple: NO MORE EXCUSES!!!! Too many times have we said "I'm too tired" or "I don't have time" or "That chocolate just looks too good!".  It's time to throw the excuses out the window and get serious about being fit.  From finding time to work out to having the time and motivation to eat healthy, here's your new No Excuses guide to living the healthy life that you want to live. 

Excuse #1 - I Don't Have Time To Work Out: Yes you do!  Make the time!  You may have to miss tonight's episode of the Bachelor or your favorite NHL team's game, but that's what it's going to take to get you into shape!  Get up 45 minutes earlier in the morning if you need to workout before work.  Tired? Go to bed 45 minutes earlier.  There is no excuse for not working out.

Excuse #2 - I Can't Pass Up on Chocolate:  Does that chocolate look good? Heck yes it does!  But you know what won't look good? Well you sure won't think you look good after eating all that junk food and not being strict on your diet.  Think about that next time you reach for the junk food drawer.  There is no excuse for not being strict on your diet!

Excuse #3 - I Don't Have Time to Make A Healthy Dinner: It doesn't take long to throw some chicken on the grill and chop up a salad.  It'll probably take you less time to do that then to stop at a fast food joint on your way home.  Stopping is more convenient, but give the extra effort and make something.  You can also pre-make you meals.  The night before make everything up so that you'll just have to throw it in the oven after work the next day.  The last option is simple scrambled eggs or a turkey sandwich.  Both are easy and take less than 5 minutes.  There is no excuse for not having time to make healthy food!

Excuse #4: I'm Too Tired: Go to bed earlier.  Enough said.  There's nothing that happens past 9:00 pm that you need to stay up for.  DVR your shows or watch them online on the stations websites.  There are absolutely no excuses for being too tired to workout or eat healthy.

Excuse #5: I'm Running Too Late For Breakfast:  Wake up 10 minutes earlier.  Still no time?  You're doing something wrong.  At the very least grab a piece of fruit and a yogurt, a granola bar and fruit or drink a protein shake and have a piece of fruit.  Those take less than 30 seconds to gather before you walk out the door.  Eat them in your car or when you get to work.  Better yet, find 3 minutes to whip together the Blueberry Power Blast Smoothie under the 'Recipes' tab at the top.  Breakfast is the most important meal of the day so find the time to eat something.  There is no excuse for not eating breakfast!

Every time you think of an excuse for not working out or eating healthy, throw it out!  Your new motto: No Excuses! Toughen up on yourself a little bit and you'll finally begin to see the results that you want. 

Until tomorrow, spend Everyday Living Fit!

Image Source: http://www.fat2fitradio.com

3 Week Full Body Workout!

Spring is coming quickly!  Pretty soon the snow will be melted, you'll open up the windows and it'll be time for shorts and t-shirts.  Everyone wants to feel comfortable when the summer clothes come out.  Here's a perfect full body workout for EVERYONE that will get you  more than ready for spring! 

Directions: Do this workout 3 days a week with a day of rest in between each workout.  Exercise explanations in "30 Minute Leg Blast" and "Build a Bullet Proof Chest" under the Workout tab and also at the bottom.   

Workout

3 x 12 Jumping Lunges SUPERSET Bodyweight Squats

3 x 12 Bosu Ball Straight Leg Dead Lifts SUPERSET Lying Fitness Ball Leg Curls

3 x 12 Standing Calf Raises SUPERSET 3 x 60 seconds Fitness Ball Planks

3 x 12 Bosu Ball Push Ups SUPERSET Fitness Ball Back Flies

3 x 12 Dumbbell Bicep Curls-to-Shoulder Press SUPERSET Behind the Head Tricep Extension

3 x 12 Lat Pull Down SUPERSET Standing Lat Pull Through

3 x 15 Fitness Ball Crunches SUPERSET Side Planks

3 x 15 Lying Twisting Hip Raises 

Good luck and enjoy!  In no time you'll be ready for spring!

Until tomorrow, spend Everyday Living Fit!

Exercise Explanations

Dumbbell Bicep Curl-to-Shoulder Press:  Sit on a bench with a pair of dumbbells.  Do a bicep curl, then at the top of the curl switch into a shoulder press.  Lower and repeat.

Lat Pull Throughs: After you complete the lat pull downs with the cable lat pull downs, drop to a lower weight.  While standing up and keeping your elbows bent at a 45 degree angle you're going to pull the weight down and pull your elbows through your back and pinch your back together.

Lying Twisting Hip Raises: Lie flat on your back with your legs pointed towards the ceiling.  Raise your hips towards the ceiling.  While doing so twist your hips like a corkscrew.  On the next rep twist the other way.

Image Source: http://www.exercise.com/                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

Three Steps to the Perfect Weekend

We're often times too tired after a long week at work to do anything on the weekend.  Combine that with a full week of working out and we're too tired to move.  Sometimes, though, you need to buck up and have fun!  Here are 3 ways to make your weekend that much better.

1.) Go to that restaurant you've been dying to go to - Every once in a while you need to splurge and treat yourself (and your significant other) to that overly expensive restaurant you've been wanting to go to but are afraid of what it'll do to your bank account.  You've worked hard this week and deserve it!  Go nuts, treat yourself!

2.) Go cheer on your team! - Nearly every state has a sports team that's less than an hour away.  Go to a game this weekend!  Get your girl, your buddies, your girlfriends or yourself and head down to the game.  Grab some hot dogs and pop at the game to make it a real sporting experience.  Short on money?  No worries.  Scalpers or the ticket window always have last minute cheap tickets.  Even if  you sit high up, the experience will still be amazing.

3.) Go to a matinee movie - Even if you're used to going to the movies, there's something different about going in the afternoon. You deserve one cheat meal a week after working out so hard so make it count!  Get popcorn, large diet pop and some candy.

Enjoy your weekend!  Have fun for once!  Until tomorrow, spend Everyday Living Fit!

Image Source: http://www.sodahead.com

English Muffin Breakfast Pizza

The only thing that's better than pizza for dinner is pizza for breakfast.  Of course, this recipe has one up on even pizza for breakfast.  Here's a healthy breakfast pizza recipe that everyone can appreciate.

Ingredients

2 Whole Wheat English Muffins cut in half
1 whole egg
2 egg whites
1/4 cup chopped green peppers
1/4 cup chopped red peppers
1/4 cup chopped mushrooms
1/4 cup low fat shredded cheese
2 tbs. low fat cream cheese

Directions

1 - Preheat oven to 350 degrees and put the English Muffins in the toaster.
2 - Chop the peppers and mushrooms.
3 - Scramble the eggs and cook them with the peppers and mushrooms together.
4 - Once it's all done cooking, spread an equal amount of cream cheese on each half of the English Muffins.
5 - Put an equal amount of eggs, peppers and mushrooms on each English Muffin and then sprinkle cheese on top of each one.
6 - Bake in the oven for 3-5 minutes or until the cheese melts.

This is a quick and easy recipe that's not only delicious, but it's also completely healthy!  Enjoy!

Until tomorrow, spend Everyday Living Fit!

Image Source: http://www.wikikitchen.net

30 Minute Leg Blast Workout



Working out your legs can be a pain (literally and figuratively) but you have to work them.  You don't want to look like you're about to snap the twigs your standing on at any given point in time. You want to look like you have an equal balance of muscle throughout your whole body.  Here is a quick 30 minute leg blast workout for EVERYONE that I guarantee will have your lower body looking like an Olympian.

Directions:  Perform this workout twice a week with 3-4 days of rest in between.  Exercise explanations follow at the bottom. 

3 x 20 Jumping Lunges SUPERSET 3 x 10 Bodyweight Squats
3 x 12 Bosu Ball Straight Leg Dead Lifts SUPERSET 3 x 12 Fitness Ball Leg Curls
3 x 10 Bosu Ball Squats SUPERSET 3 x 10 Lunges
4 x 15 Standing Calf Raises SUPERSET 4 x 15 Machine Calf Raises

You'll be done in a half an hour but you're legs will be screaming for mercy at the end!

Good luck!  Until tomorrow, spend Everyday Living Fit!

Exercise Instructions

Superset: Do one exercise then immediately do the next with no rest in between.
Jumping Lunges: Go down into a lunge.  On the way up jump at the top and switch legs.  You'll stay in one spot and the exercise should be one smooth motion.
Bodyweight Squats: Squats with no weights at all.  Just squat down until your legs are at a 90 degree angle and then stand back up.
Bosu Ball Straight Leg Dead Lifts: Stand on a Bosu Ball (half ball, half plastic platform) and grab some light dumbbells.  While hardly bending your legs, bend over at your waist until your upper body is at a 90 degree angle with the ground.  Pull with the back of your legs to stand back up and squeeze at the top.
Fitness Ball Leg Curls: Lay flat on your back with your calves resting on a fitness ball (big ball people use for crunches).  Press your pelvis towards the ceiling and hold in that position for the entire exercise so that your body is in a straight line.  Curl your feet in towards your but, squeeze, and then extend back out.
Bosu Ball Squat: Check Balance Ball Squats under the 'Workouts' tab at the top.

Image Source: http://www.bodyweightworkout.com

Stop Drinking Your Calories!

You can easily have a perfect diet and perfect workout plan and still not get close to the results that you want to see in yourself.  The reason?  You're drinking too many calories!  Juice, sports drinks, alcohol and especially pop contain way too many calories, carbs and grams of sugar than you should be intaking. 


One 12 oz. bottle of regular pop has an average of 240 calories, 65 carbs and 65 grams of sugar in it.  That's more grams of sugar than you should be intaking for days, let alone 15 minutes!  Same with carbs; that's more carbs than you should be having in a day (depending on your diet and type of carb). 


That's just for one bottle.  For our multiple bottle of pop drinkers, you could have 3 in a day adding up to an extra 720 calories, 195 grams of carbs and 195 grams of sugar.  That's nearly half of your daily caloric intake just in pop!  That'll take HOURS of intense exercise to burn off in the gym, hours that could be used for something else if you cut out the drinks. 

Most sports drinks and juices are much the same if not worse.  The amount of sugar in most of them has the equivalent of eating ice cream, doughnuts or candy. 

Here are a few tips that could help you out.

1.  If you aren't in to drinking good ol' fashioned water try the Crystal Light or flavored tea packets to add to your water bottle.  You'll end up with a great taste and 0 calories.

2.  If you are going to drink a sports drink, make it the low or zero calorie ones.  Gatorade has a G2 that has low calories, or there is Powerade Zero.  Both good options.

3.  Get a water bottle that shows how many ounces are on it on the side.  You should be drinking at least 64 ounces of water a day.  If your water bottle has 24 ounces in it, make it your goal to drink about three a day.

4.  Stay away from pops completely.  They are listed as having zero grams of sugar, which is true, but are loaded with artificial sweeteners.  These artificial sweeteners may actually cause more weight gain along with destroying your organs. 

Hopefully dropping the calories from what you drink will help you to shed those stubborn last 10 pounds. 

Until tomorrow, spend Everyday Living Fit!

Super Bowl Survival Guide

Super Bowl XLVI is this weekend so you know what that means; junk food.  That’s ok though.  This can be one of those exceptions to your diet.  You work so hard all of the days leading up to it so you can relax and eat a bit of junk and not feel too bad about it.  That being said, it’s still best to stick to the less damaging of the junk foods.  Some options are even healthy so you won’t stray from your diet at all.  Here’s a Super Bowl food guide to help you out this year. 

Chips and Dip

Good Eats – Chips and Salsa

14 chips: Calories 120, Fat 4g, Sodium 150g, Carbs 22g, Protein 2g

4 tbs. Salsa: Calories 20, Fat 0g, Sodium 200mg, Carbs 3g, Protein 1g

You’ll save 20 calories 4 grams of fat by getting baked chips instead of regular.  Salsa is almost all vegetables and is a great choice for a dip.

Bad Eats – Potato Chips and French Onion Dip

14 Chips: Calories 150, Fat 10g, Sodium 180mg, Carbs 15g, Protein 2g

4 tbs. Dip: Calories 120, Fat 10g, Sodium 460mg, Carbs 8g, Protein 2g

You’ll save 130 calories, 17 grams of fat and 290 mg of sodium by switching to chips and salsa!            

Pizza

Good Eats -Thin Crust Pizza

1 slice: 270 calories, Fat 12g, Sodium 530 mg, Carbs 22g, Protein 10g

Bad Eats - Regular Hand Tossed Pizza

1 slice: Calories 330, Fat 14g, Sodium 870 mg, Carbs 37g, Protein 13g

Beer

Good Drinks                Calories               Carbs               Alcohol %

Budweiser Select            99                         3g                     4.3%

Michelob Ultra                 95                         2.6g                  4.1%

Miller Lite                         93                         3g                     4.2%

Bud Light                        110                        6g                     4.2%

Coors Light                    102                        5g                     4.15%

Bad Drinks                         Calories               Carbs             Alcohol %          

Budweiser                               145                       10.6g                5.0%

Miller Genuine Draft               143                       13.1g               4.7%

Sam Adams Boston Lager   160                       18g                   4.75%

Sierra Nevada                        175                       14.1g                5.6%

Bottom line: stick to the light stuff.  The lights all taste great and the alcohol percentage in the heavy stuff is a fraction of a percent more which isn’t worth the calories or carbs. 

Hopefully this guide will help direct you away from the grease and towards a much healthier choice.

Until tomorrow, spend Everyday Living Fit!

Image Source: http://www.homecookingconnection.com

Healthy, Easy Chicken Cordon Bleu

Chicken Cordon Bleu is easily one of the most amazing tasting dishes out there, but it can just as easily be one of the unhealthiest.  Here’s an extremely healthy recipe that will allow you to eat it guilt free.

Ingredients

4 skinless boneless chicken breasts

4 slices low-fat Swiss cheese

8 slices thinly sliced ham deli meat

2 eggs

½ cup low-fat bread crumbs

4-8 tooth picks

Directions

1.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2.) Defrost chicken.  Put the chicken in a large zip-lock bag and pound to ½ inch thickness.

3.) For each chicken breast, put 2 slices of ham and 1 slice of cheese.

4.) Roll up each chicken breast and put 1-2 tooth picks in it to hold it closed.

5.) Whisk eggs in a bowl and brush each chicken breast with the egg.

6.) Sprinkle an even amount of bread crumbs on each.

7.) Bake for 30-35 minutes.

8.) Take out of oven, remove tooth picks and enjoy the tastiness! 

No need to count the calories and feel bad about this one!  I hope you enjoy this recipe, as I know I have many times!

Until tomorrow, spend Everyday Living Fit!

Image Source: http://www.myrecipes.com

Build a Bullet Proof Chest

Tired of doing countless sets of bench presses and not seeing any results?  If you are training a muscle as much as you can and aren’t seeing results you have 2 problems.  1.) Your training too much and 2.) You aren’t doing enough different exercise. Your chest needs a whole lot more than bench and dumbbell presses to build up.  Along with every muscle, you must do different exercises every time you workout.  This is called muscle confusion.  You want to keep your body guessing as to what is coming next.  If you do the same thing day in and day out, you’ll never see any results.  Try this chest workout to build a bullet proof chest. 

Perform this workout twice a week leaving 2-3 days of rest in between (Explanations of exercises at the bottom).

3 x 20 T-Push Ups

3 x 10 Bosu Ball Pushups SUPERSET Fitness Ball Pushups

3 x 15 Explosive Plyometric Pushups SUPERSET Close Grip Medicine Ball Pushups

4 x 15 Weight Plate Squeeze Presses

This is a great workout without a lot of heavy weights.  Remember, you don’t need heavy weights to gain muscle; you need strict form and muscle confusion.  Good luck! 

Until tomorrow, spend Everyday Living Fit!

Explanation of Exercises

T-Push Ups = Grab light dumbbells (5-10 lbs. for guys 0-5 lbs. for girls).  Hold onto the weights and do a pushup.  At the top, extend your right arm and point it towards the ceiling so that your body is making a cross.  Lower the weight back to starting position.  That’s one.

Bosu Ball Push Ups = A Bosu Ball is the half ball half plastic platform.  Turn it upside down and put your hands on the sides of the plastic platform.  Do pushups like this.

Fitness Ball Pushups = A fitness is the big ball people do crunches on.  Put your hands on the sides of it and try to balance.  You can only lower yourself a little bit, but you’ll still feel the burn big time.

Superset = Doing one exercise immediately after the first one without any rest.

Explosive Plyometric Pushup = Do a normal pushup but on the way up explode up so your hands leave the ground. 

Close Grip Medicine Ball Pushup = A medicine ball is the soccer ball sized ball that is heavy.  They usually go from 4 lbs. – 15 lbs.  Put both hands on one and do a pushup.

Weight Plate Squeeze Press = Grab a light plate (start with 10-25 for guys and 5-10 for girls).  Squeeze the plate in front of your chest with both hands pointing away from you and your elbows tucked in close to your sides.  While you keep squeezing, press the weight away from your body with your elbows still tucked in, hold for 3 seconds when your arms are completely extended, then bring the weight back to starting position.

Image Source: http://www.thecelebrityworkout.com/

Keep Sweets In Your Diet!

Don’t think that you can eat any sweets when you’re on a diet? Think again!  Dark chocolate is actually a healthy chocolate that you not only should add but need to add to your daily diet. 

Dark chocolate is shown to lower blood pressure by quite a large margin.  It produces a substance called nitric oxide which balances hormones in your body.  This leads to a lower blood pressure. Dark chocolate can also lower your cholesterol by 5-10%.

Going off of yesterdays post on how to relieve stress, dark chocolate encourages your brain to release endorphins, and it contains serotonin which both act as stress relievers. 

Another benefit of dark chocolate is that it contains nearly 9 times the amount of antioxidants (nutrients that fight of sickness) than some fruits do.  So eating a little dark chocolate every night will kick up your sickness-fighting antibodies. 

Stick to no more than 100 grams a day of 60-75% dark chocolate.  I like the organic kind with no added fillers or chemicals.  This way, you can end your day on a healthy, sweet note. 

Eat that dark chocolate, and spend Everyday Living Fit!

Image Source: http://www.omninfo.com

Work Out To Relieve Stress



Feeling extra stressed or upset lately?  Need something to boost your mood?  Go workout!  Working out not only changes your mood by making you look and feel better about yourself, but it will mentally change the way that you feel.

When you exercise, whether it’s running, lifting weights or whatever form you do, your brain releases certain chemicals that result in your feeling better.  When you get stressed or upset, you brain holds those chemicals in.  When you work out it relaxes your body and mind which releases those chemicals.  Your brain releases endorphins, adrenaline, serotonin and dopamine.  When released they all work together to make you feel happier, more positive and more relaxed. 

If you’ve ever wondered why after a workout your stress seems to go away, this is why.  Another great thing about it is that since your mind is more relaxed you’ll find it’s easier to figure out the solution to whatever it is that is causing your problem. 

Think of this as a rule of thumb: the harder you workout, the more chemicals are released.  The more chemicals released the better you’ll feel. 

It’s easy when you’re stressed to turn to junk food, but that doesn’t solve anything.  It’ll actually make you feel worse because now you’re upset about what you just did to yourself.  No matter how much you don’t feel like working out because you’re stressed or upset you have to make yourself. 

Hopefully next time you’re stressed you’ll turn right towards the gym instead of turning left towards the ice cream.  So keeping that in mind spend Everyday Living Fit!

Image Source: http://www.iamnotsohappy.com

Have a Drink This Weekend!

The term “Beer Belly” gets thrown around quite a bit when it comes to drinking.  But fear not!  The term may not be all it’s cracked up to be.  It all depends on what you drink, how much you drink and what you eat while you’re drinking.

Think about every single time you watch a commercial with alcohol in it, every picture you see with alcohol in it, where they place the alcohol in stores and what you think about eating when you imagine yourself having a few drinks while watching the big game.  What do you think about?  Fatty foods.  Most of the reason people gain the weight is because of the food you eat while you are drinking, but not the drinking itself.  Of course it’s great to eat nachos, burgers, fries and chicken wings once in a while, but when you do don’t blame it on the alcohol (no Jamie Fox / T-Pain bun intended).   Here are a few other reasons why you should allow you to indulge yourself in a couple of drinks this weekend.

1.) Having 1-2 drinks every other day or so lowers your risk of heart disease and having a heart attack.

2.) People who drink 1 or 2 drinks every other day or so have less body fat then those who only drink every few weeks but have 5 or more drinks at a time.

3.) Wine has a ton of antioxidants in it to prevent sickness and disease.

4.) Guinness has a surprisingly low amount of carbs and is one of the better darker beers for you.  Stick to Guinness when drinking dark beers.  Other good options are pilsners, lagers, goldens and most light colored beers.  STAY AWAY from the fruity options!  They are filled with carbs and sugars!

So go ahead, have a few drinks this weekend.  Just make sure you are being responsible, only sticking to only a few drinks and not eating too much junk to go along with it.  Have fun and until tomorrow, spend Everyday Living Fit!

Guiltless Sweet Potato Fries!

Tired of going out to eat and feeling bad about not being able to get what you want because you’re afraid of what it’ll do to your body?  Well fear no more!  Here’s a recipe for sweet potato fries that you won’t have to feel one bit bad about!  But first a few reasons on why sweet potatoes are healthy for you.

1.) While white potatoes have slow digesting carbs that stick with you all day, sweet potatoes have fast digesting carbs (which you need) and will burn quickly.  This means your body won’t store the carbs as fat.

2.) There’s Beta-Carotene in them, along with many other vitamins, which prevents heart disease and cancer.

Here’s the recipe!

Guiltless Sweet Potato Fries Recipe

1 large sweet potato

2 tbs. olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

1.) Preheat oven at 425

2.) Cut sweet potatoes into fry shapes or wedges, whichever you prefer

3.) In a large bowl, mix fries, olive oil, salt and pepper.

4.) Cover a cookie sheet with tin foil and spread fries out evenly

5.) Cook for 25-30 minutes flipping halfway

6.) Enjoy!

These sweet potato fries are one of my favorites!  Don’t forget to check back daily for new health and fitness tips.  Don’t be afraid to comment or leave suggestions! 

Until tomorrow, spend Everyday Living Fit!

Image Source: http://www.theculinarylife.com

Take You Leg Workout to the Next Level With Balance Ball Squats!

No one likes leg workouts. But if you’re going to do them, you might as well get the most out of it.  Enough with the leg extension and leg curl machines!  Those are bad for your knees and don’t do nearly as much for your legs as Balance Ball Squats do!  Balance Ball Squats work every part of your legs, including your calves. 

When you squat, whether it’s with or without weights, you work your entire lower body and your core.  Doing squats on a balance ball exponentially amplifies the results!  This is because all of the smaller muscles around your legs, ankles, calves and core have to work that much harder to keep you balanced.  This is a great exercise you should definitely put in your leg routine.  Start with three sets of no weights for a few weeks then work your way up to holding dumbbells while you do it.  Here’s how it’s done.

1 – Stand on an upside down balance ball as shown in the picture above.

2 – For the first few times, extend your arms in front of you to keep your balance until you get used to it.

3 – Slowly squat down until your knees are at 90 degree angles. 

4 – Slowly stand back up.

Beware, your first few times you will shake like crazy at the bottom of the squat because all of your smaller supporting muscles aren’t used to being worked out.  You’ll love the way you feel the next day and you will love the results!

Good luck!  Until tomorrow, spend Everyday Living Fit!

Image Source: http://www.fitplan.com

Get More Out Of Cardio!

When you stand on the elliptical for a half hour and barely break a sweat, doesn’t that tell you that something isn’t right?  Long cardio sessions in which you’re barely breathing hard aren’t the best way to spend your time at the gym.  In fact, they actually burn more muscle than they do fat.  In order to maximize the fat burning process in a cardio session you should be doing High Intensity Interval Training, or HIIT.

HIIT is about going almost as hard as you can for a short period of time and then resting a minute.  The idea is to keep your body guessing.  When you’re speeding up then slowing down your heart and body have to work harder to keep up, which is why you burn more fat.   For example, I use the stair climber.  I turn it on as high as I can so I’m literally sprinting on the steps for 30 seconds and then turn it down to a slow speed for 60 seconds.  This can be done on the treadmill, elliptical, stair climber, row machine, bike or even doing sprints outside.  Here are some more facts to persuade you.

1 – You burn more fat by doing less cardio. HIIT burns more calories in20 minutes than you would in an hour of long distance at an easier work rate. 

2 – After HIIT your body will continue to burn fat for up to 24 hours where as a slow, long distance will only continue to burn fat for 15 minutes after a workout!

3 – It makes the time FLY by!  You’re constantly just looking forward to the next 30 seconds or a minute.  By doing so you forget about the total amount of time you have to reach.  You’ll be at 20 or 30 minutes in no time!

So next time you are going to do some cardio, try 20 minutes of High Intensity Interval Training.  You’ll be amazed at what you were missing by doing those long elliptical sessions all the time.  Start at 20 minutes then work your way up to more.  Good luck and until tomorrow, spend Everyday Living Fit!

Time For a New Playlist

There’s been plenty of times where I’ve turned on my iPod at the beginning of a workout and thought, “I’m so tired of listening to this same playlist over and over again!” And it actually causes me to lose motivation. Change it up a little!  This week, your goal should be to make a new playlist to workout to.   Here’s a list below of websites that have great playlist selections for your new mix.

The Ultimate Workout Mix – All Genres

http://www.npr.org/2012/01/13/145185920/the-ultimate-npr-workout-mix?ft=3&f=114113159&sc=nl&cc=mn-20120116

Popular Songs Right Now

http://www.billboard.com

25 Best Rap Songs to Workout to of All time

http://rap.about.com/od/songs/tp/BestHipHopWorkoutSongs.htm

Rock Workout Mix

http://search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt=A0oG7kmPzh1Pg0MAohdXNyoA?p=rock%20workout%20playlist&fr2=sb-top&fr=yfp-t-372

Sometimes all it takes is tweaking the little things to get you motivated again.  Check these sites out, make a new playlist and get back in the gym more motivated then ever!  Until tomorrow, spend Everyday Living Fit!

Thanks to James from Sharky and the Habit for the Ultimate Workout Mix site

Image Source: http://mindofmurph.blogspot.com