Healthy Foods for the big game!

Since this will be a weekend of sitting around and enjoying the Denver Broncos win I wanted to share some healthy snacks and things I plan to prepare for the big game on Sunday!

Meals:

• Chili Bar - make a large crock pot of chili and then have toppings to add to the Chili.  Some great toppings include: plain greek yogurt, lettuce, tomatoes, onions and rice
• Taco Bar - This is so simple, just brown some ground beef or ground turkey in some seasonings and add some fixings!  Great toppings include: Corn tortilla, rice, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, hot sauce, plain greek yogurt, avocado, lime, pico, peppers, jalapeños and corn
• Chicken Wings - Just bake or Grill some un-breaded chicken wings and drumies.  You can then make a great ranch dip by adding ranch seasoning to plain greek yogurt.
• Cauliflower crust pizza - (blend cauliflower, butter and cheese if you want to create the crust), bake the crust and then add toppings, we like bbq sauce, chicken, pizza sauce and a little cheese, we then put it back into the oven to heat up!

Snacks:

• Homemade kale chips - they are so easy, just put some kale on a baking sheet, add coconut oil and sea salt, bake until crispy and enjoy
• Homemade sweet potato fries - similar to the kale chips, just cut up to your liking and add seasonings, coconut oil and sea salt.  Cook until crispy and enjoy
• Homemade buffalo chips - I will cut either regular or sweet potatoes, season and cook.  I then make a dip of greek yogurt and seasoning salt to dip them in.
• Potato skins - cut either regular or sweet potatoes in half, bake them with bacon and add chives
• Broccoli Salad - the dressing is vinegar, truvia, and olive oil mayo.  Then mix the dressing up and pour over broccoli, bacon and sunflower seeds.
• Potato salad - cut and boil potatoes, after they cool mix with plain greek yogurt, onions, celery, dill, mustard and sea salt

Treats:

• Black Bean Brownies - make the brownies like normal but instead of the oil and eggs use pureed black beans, I will also season with cinnamon
• Banana Ice Cream - mush up frozen bananas and peanut butter, you can even add a couple of chocolate chips for taste
• Baked Pears - cut pairs in half and bake with cinnamon

Check out this video of Addison excited for Peyton Manning to say "Omaha"

Here is Adam and I at the AFC Championship Game in Denver a couple of weeks ago!

Week 4

Its hard to believe, but we are getting ready to start week 4!

I hope your workouts are going well, that you are taking some time to meal plan and enjoying that you are feeling good with your new choices.

Our week 4 goals are:

PROTEIN and CARDIO

I challenge you to eat some protein every time you eat throughout the day.  You might need to keep some nuts, jerky or protein powder with you to support this but I know it can happen.

I also challenge you to do cardio every day!  Even if it is for 10-15 minutes.  Walk up/down stairs at work and home, sneak in some jumping jacks during commercials on TV, park far away when your going to the store, mall walk, or if your daring go outside!

It will be tough to do cardio every day with the cold weather we are supposed to have but everyone has an extra 10-15 minutes somewhere in their day to do something.

Enjoy your week, stay on track and I will send some healthy Super Bowl tips out later this week!

Meal Planning

As we look to finish week 3 I wanted to share with you all some more help with meal planning.

I am working with an intern right now at OSR Melissa Sanchez and here are some tips and links she has to share.

Meal Planning

A great habit to have that improves your eating and overall health is meal planning. If you make a list and stick to it, you will eat healthier. Not only will you just eat healthier, you will reduce the stress of worrying about what to make, save time without extra trips to the grocery store and save money by not purchasing an impulse buy. 

There are endless healthy recipes on the web, so all it takes a little time one day out the week to plan, shop and prep. Rinse and cut fresh veggies and fruits as soon as you get home, so they will be an accessible ready to eat snack. It will also make weeknight meals faster when everything is ready to go. Make a few meals ahead of time that can be heated or put together when dinner time approaches. You will be less tempted to order out or eat packaged meals when you have everything at home. 

Here are a few articles with tips for meal planning.

http://simple-nourished-living.com/2011/05/healthy-meal-planning-benefits/

http://www.mayoclinic.org/menu-planning/art-20048199

Need more vegetables?

http://www.multiplydelicious.com/thefood/2011/09/chicken-vegetable-lettuce-cups/ 

Looking for a new recipe to try this week?  I received this from another challenge participant and it sounds fantastic!

Give it a try, I know I will be trying it this week!

Week 3

Happy Snowy Day!

Week 3 is already set to start Monday!  I will be out of town Monday so wanted to send your weekly challenges before the week started.

Our week 3 goals are:
Jan 20th - Abs and meal prep

Here is a link to your abdominal workout for the week:
http://java.pumpone.com/ipump-web/print?print=1&printjobid=1b5kegg0000k79f3v6eg000000&print=1

Here is also an image:

With our other goal being meal prep, I suggest you take time Sunday and Wednesday to make food for the weeks.  Even if its just shopping, cutting veggies or cooking chicken you will be happy you did!

Here are some great examples of meal prepping:
http://stephaniewinters.blogspot.com/2013/01/sample-food-days.html
http://healthylivinghowto.com/recipes
http://www.lifestylebypoliquin.com/Lifestyle/LifestylebyPoliquin/TabId/203/PostId/66/seven-awesome-meal-preparation-tips-for-a-busy-life.aspx

Have a great week and hope you stay on track!

Week 2!

Are you ready for week 2?  I am and hope you are too!

This week our focus is arms and NO eating out.  Not only will the no eating out save you some calories, it will also save you some money!  I took some time to make chili, chicken and steamed broccoli today so I have options when its tempting to eat out this week.

For our upper body challenge I encourage you to do 50 push ups a day.  The push ups do not need to be done all at once and they do not have to be on the floor.  Here are some push up variations to try:

If you are feeling like some extra credit, do your squats with the push ups this week.

Good luck and let me know if you have any questions.

Broncos win!

My Broncos had me excited, scared, nervous, happy and thrilled all in the matter of a couple of hours.

Here is the Chicken, Asparagus and Sparkling Water I had for the game!

Your looking at:

Baked asparagus seasoned with sea salt

Baked Chicken stuffed with Ham

Sauce (water, vinegar, chicken stock, mustard, parsley, salt, lemon)

Hope you had a healthy Sunday and are ready for week 2!