7 Ways Not To Get Sick This Season

Photo taken from MSN

MSN shares so many great articles about health and wellness. 7 Ways Not To Get Sick This Season is definitely one of those great articles.

1. Load up on vitamin C

2. Strengthen your gut

3. Be boring (stay away from sugar)

4. Say no

5. Exercise outside

6. Give back

7. Hydrate

To learn more specifics, simply click HERE. 

End of year progress competition

We are currently hosting an end of year progress competition for our members. It is FREE to sign up and the winner will receive 2 months of their membership for FREE! Sign up sheets are located at the front desk.
After you sign up, you will meet with one of our amazing trainers to be tested on how many push ups and pull ups you can complete and how long you can comfortably hold a plank. We will keep track of your progress between now and the end of the year, by meeting with you bi-weekly to track your progress. The winner will be determined by the best % of increase between now and then. It is that simple!

Sign up for the challenge the next time you come in to workout!

The health benefits of garlic (recipe included)

Studies have been conducted and the results show that garlic can lower cholesterol. It can also lower high blood pressure. When digested, garlic breaks down and releases hydrogen sulfide. This process helps the blood vessels relax and widen and this is what helps keep blood pressure low.

Roasted Garlic and Broccoli

• 2 heads of garlic
• 
  
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 
  
• 1/4 teaspoon of salt, and pepper
• 
  
• Fresh lemon juice, optional

Preheat oven to 400*.

Cut the tips off the garlic heads.

Drizzle with oil.

Place into small glass baking dish.

Sprinkle with spices.

Roast for 20 to 40 minutes.

When cooked, the garlic will feel soft when you squeeze it. Caution...it will be hot to the touch!

When garlic is cool to the touch, remove the skins by squeezing the garlic from them.

Sprinkle with lemon juice if desired.

Interview (and photos) with Randy Fobbs: Personal trainer at Snap Fitness North Raleigh

Randy has been competing physique competitions for three years. This is his second competition and after his first, he placed second out of twenty contestants.

I interviewed Randy to see what motivates him to compete in the physique competitions and here is what I found out:

Why do you take part in physique competitions?

“It is a great way to stay in shape”
How long does it take to train for a competition?
“12 to 16 weeks. More towards 16 weeks.”
What and how do you eat while you are training?
“I eat 6 small meals per day which equals to about 2200 calories a day.”
How do you train?
“I lift using high reps and moderate weight.”
What is your goal when you are training for a competition?
“Low body fat. I started at 16% and now I am down to between 3% and 5% for the show.”
Who will be there to support you and cheer you on at the show?
“My wife, mom and sister.”
Do you have anything you would like to say?
“Just ready for it!”

I conducted this interview as Randy was speed walking on the treadmill. At this point, he is maintaining his weight and muscle mass as he awaits the show.

Clean eating dessert recipes

Most of us crave sweets ever now and again. right? Maybe more "now" than "again"? Here are some sweet and healthy treats for those of us with a sweet tooth:

Black Forest Banana Split

• 2 cups nonfat ricotta cheese
• 2 bananas, split lengthwise
• 16 walnut halves
• 1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons cherry concentrate (available at health-food stores)

Spoon ricotta into a dessert dish and place a banana half on each side of the cheese. Put the walnut halves on top and dust with the cocoa powder. Drizzle the cherry concentrate on top.

Makes: 2 servings

Black forest banana split

Chocolate Dipped Banana Pops

• 2 ounces roughly chopped unsweetened baking chocolate
• 3 ounces roughly chopped milk chocolate
• 2 ripe bananas
• 1/3 cup coarsely chopped salted peanuts (or toasted coconut or cacao nibs if desired)

Melt chocolate in a heat-proof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, stirring occasionally, until smooth. Meanwhile, line a baking sheet with parchment or wax paper. Slice bananas into thirds crosswise; insert a wooden freezer-pop stick or skewer in one end of each. Dip pieces in melted chocolate, spooning on additional chocolate to cover. Place on prepared baking sheet and sprinkle with chopped salted peanuts. Freeze until chocolate is firm, about 20 minutes, or up to 2 hours. (If frozen for more than 2 hours, let soften for 20 minutes before serving.)

Servings Per Recipe: 6

PER SERVING: 206 cal., 13 g total fat (6 g sat. fat), 69 mg sodium, 22 g carb. (4 g fiber), 5 g pro.

Chocolate dipped banana pops

Baked Apples

Makes 1

• 1 Fuji apple
• Raisins, as desired
• Cinnamon, as desired
• Honey, as desired

Core a Fuji apple, stuff with raisins, cinnamon, and honey, as desired. Bake for about 20 minutes.

Baked apples

RECIPES for clean eating!

Picture taken from forkandbeans.com 

Here is a list of some recipe ideas to help you on your clean eating lifestyle:

Breakfast:

Remember eggs in a hole? Fried egg in toast? Check out this revised version: Reinvented egg in a hole recipe

Oatmeal! Do you love oatmeal? I hope so because it is good for you! 5 minute power oatmeal recipe

Lunch:

These shrimp and avocado summer rolls look amazing! Shrimp and avocado summer roll recipe

Salmon is good for us! Check out this tasty recipe for salmon cakes...and yes, it is good for you: Oven fried salmon cake recipe

Dinner:

Crispy chicken? Yes please... Crispiest spring chicken recipe

Risotto anyone? How about: White bean cauliflower risotto 

Planning your meals…is it worth the extra effort?

If you want to continue to eat healthy and stay away from processed, boxed and packaged foods, I would say YES!

A simple way to meal plan is to find recipes you want to try via the Internet or cookbooks and put all the ingredients needed onto your grocery list…to make sure you have everything you need for the week. This may take you about 15 to 30 minutes.

You can do all the prep work for the meals over the weekend to make weekdays easier!

Your body will thank you!

Portion size…What is that?

Figuring out what the correct portion size for each serving is pretty simple…although many make it difficult. The proper portion size must be no larger than the palm of our hand! Yes! It is that simple.

What does this mean if I am eating out?
The average restaurant serves portions that are several times larger than what we are supposed to be eating. However, there is an easy fix for this too! Separate the food you are served into the correct portion size and take the rest home to have for another meal…or two!

Another portion control tip:
Use a smaller plate. When our plate appears full it gives us the illusion that we are eating more food! You can even do this when you go out to eat...just ask for a salad plate along with your meal and separate your food onto it!

How do I eat more vegetables?

Sneak vegetables into your every day foods! Vegetables contain fiber and vitamins our bodies need to live. By all means, eat them raw as a snack, in salads and in smoothies. But we can cook with them too! Check out the article below entitled:How to get your children to eat more vegetables for ideas on sneaking them into the foods you prepare! 

In addition, take a peek at this meatball vegetable soup recipe. It is super easy and cooks in the crockpot!

Meatball and Vegetable Soup Recipe

Add olive oil to a pan.
Add 3 pealed and thickly sliced garlic cloves (which I later removed before adding the meatballs to the oil and placed them directly into my soup pot)

Turkey meatballs

• 1 pound of organic ground turkey, defrosted
• and
• Salt, pepper, garlic powder and onion powder

Combine ingredients together and form into small, 2-bite sized meatballs.
Place them in the pan with olive oil on medium heat.
Cook until browned and cooked through...about 3 minutes per side (depending how big the meatballs are).

Soup

• 1 large can (24 ounces) of stewed tomatoes (and crushed them up with my hands)
• 4 cups of organic vegetable stock
• 2 zucchini, peeled and cut into bite sized pieces
• 1/2 large onion, cut into pieces
• 1 cup mini carrots, cut into pieces
• 1 cup frozen mixed vegetables
• Garlic from pan
• Salt, pepper and onion powder, to taste
• Parmesan cheese, optional to sprinkle over top

Add all ingredients into a large pot.
When the meatballs are done cooking, add them into the pot.
Allow soup to cook over medium heat for 1 hour or until vegetables are soft.
This recipe serves 4 people.
If you are going to opt for the crockpot version, simply add everything into the crockpot and set on low. Allow it to cook for 4 to 5 hours.

Need to get more veggies into your children? Check out this article: How to get children to eat more vegetables

Drinking clean…

Did the title of this post grab your attention? Drinking clean is super simple: DRINK water and plenty of it: approximately 2 liters (9 cups) for women and 3 liters (13 cups) for men.. Not only will this keep our bodies well hydrated, it will also cut back on the urge to eat. Water keeps the stomach full and if our bellies are full we are less likely to snack on junk. 

Don’t like water? Try this recipe for cucumber water! 

In addition, purchase in inexpensive cup that will hold the amount of liquid you need to drink each day. Add some ice cubes and water…now, you can sip all day long! 

Easy clean eating tips: How many times a day do I eat?

When you are eating clean, it is a good idea to eat 4 to 6 meals a day, leaning on the smaller size.  By doing this, you will keep your blood sugar regulated and your metabolism will increase…making it easier to lose weight if that is one of your goals! 

Don’t forget: NO SKIPPING BREAKFAST! We have the obvious: if we skip breakfast we are starving by lunchtime. When we are feeling super hungry, we tend to eat anything in site! Nooooo! Eat breakfast to prevent that from happening. See our post for: Overnight banana bread oatmeal for a healthy breakfast idea...this post also includes a simple how to video! 

Cooking clean...how do I do it?

One of the key parts to clean eating is to eat your fruits and veggies raw whenever possible. They do have many vitamins and nutrients in them and eating them raw will not alter anything that they have to offer.

Cooking your veggies is not a bad thing, as long as we stay away from deep frying and soaking them in animal fats. It is good to keep our food interesting by adding different spices, eating them raw at times and cooking them at times. It is hard to stick to any type of healthy lifestyle if we get bored with it!

Steaming veggies is the healthiest way to cook them. It maintains most of the vitamins and nutrients. We can also, stir fry them, but remember not to add lots of unhealthy oils and salts!

How to Shop Clean

A great tip to remember is: If we shop the perimeter of the grocery store, we will find more foods geared towards clean eating than if we shopped the center isles. The center isles tend to sell items that are processed and in most cases highly processed.

Tips to buying foods geared towards clean eating:

• Ingredient lists should be short
• Ingredients should be easy to pronounce and easily recognized 
• Check for additives such as flavors, colors, corn starch and imitation sugars
• Where do the ingredients come from…how much is it processed?

Remember:

Shop Organic as often as possible

Choose foods labeled "NON-GMO"

Eat as fresh as possible

Eat this and not that...it's really simple!

Need some examples of what to eat?
Here is a quick, yet thorough list of foods that make for good eating:

Un-processed foods:

• Fresh fruits and vegetables
• Nuts
• Dried beans
• Organic / cage free eggs

Mildly processed foods:

• Frozen fruits and vegetables
• Organic (hormone-free) dairy products
• Whole grain bread and pasta, brown rice, popcorn, steel-cut oatmeal, quinoa (Unrefined grains)
• Un-processed meat; wild, however, pastured over grain-fed meats
• Wild caught seafood over farm raised
• Oils

Good advice is to choose organic foods when they are available. Olive oil is a fantastic oil to use in cooking and in salad dressings. You can bake with Extra Virgin Olive oil as well, though it makes for denser baked goods.

The key is to choose foods that are free of chemicals and hormones. 

This is a good definition of what clean eating truly is. 

Are ALL processed foods bad for me?

Are all processed foods bad for me?

Milk is pasteurized and instant oatmeal is processed. Does that mean we should stay away from them? No. Always shop for organic, that will help. In addition, milk and instant oatmeal are not categorized in the same group of foods such as packaged cakes, doughnuts, cookies, diet drinks and so on.

“Ultra-processed” foods are foods that are heat and eat and food “like” products such as Velveeta cheese. These are foods that our bodies will be happy we stay away from consuming.

What are some health benefits of eating clean? 

Research has shown us that clean eating (eating whole, un-processed foods such as fruits and veggies) can prevent diseases and harmful conditions. Diabetes (type 2) and high blood pressure are just two examples of what can be prevented by eating clean.

Clean eating can also help to improve skin as well as our hair and nails. It is a healthy way to control our weight too!

What is a GMO and are they bad for me? See how this ties into clean eating...

GMO stands for Genetically Modified Organisms. The easiest way to explain it is: Farmers inject plants with chemicals that modify their genetics (GMO’s). The foods that we buy that are not labeled as non-GMO have been known to cause cancer, infertility and many additional health problems. These GMO’s that are consumed actually stay in our bodies as well as in the bodies of our children!

I encourage you to research this for yourself; don’t simply take my word on it.

How does this apply to clean eating?

Processed foods are stripped of important nutrients that our bodies need to obtain optimal health.  They also contain additives that overstimulate our bodies. This is how the constant craving for “junk” food is created.
We should not be adding extra chemicals to our bodies for best possible health, whether it be through processed foods or foods that contain GMO’s.

What is the bottom line?

Choose “live” foods! Choose to consume foods that are labeled as Non-GMO. If you choose to do this, you will easily live a clean eating lifestyle.

Clean Eating...what exactly is it?

Clean eating. What exactly is it? 

Clean eating is: eating whole/real food.  Food that is not processed, minimally processed or refined. Food that is as close to its natural form as possible.

What Are Processed Foods?

 Additions:  salt, sugar, and fat, preservatives that keep food from spoiling, and vitamins to “enrich”…from beverages to cereal.

Changing the form of natural food:  which generally happens when food is cooked.

Foods manufactured in a lab: any ingredient you cannot pronounce!

Processed foods include everything from canned meat and jarred pasta sauce to boxed cereal and Pop Tarts!

Check back regularly to learn more about Eating Clean and why it is good for you!

Holiday hours for Christmas

Merry Christmas! We, here at Snap Fitness wish you the Merriest of Holidays!

Our staffed hours have changed for the Christmas weekend. As of Thursday 12-24-15 at 12pm, we will not have anyone on staff until Monday morning at 11am.

Please continue to use your electronic key card to come in and get your Holiday workout!

Add some fresh fruits to your Holiday menu this year...

Christmas is just days away and along with all the goodies we are going to eat, we can still add fresh fruits into the Holiday menu! Check out these 2 recipes:

The first recipe is a super easy and taste apple salad dressing. No preservatives in this one though!

Easy Apple Salad Dressing

• 2 apples, peeled and cored
• 1/4 cup orange juice
• Cinnamon, two shakes
• Ground cloves, one shake

Add all ingredients into a blender.
Blend until smooth.
Pour over salad just before serving.


Juice your own sweet lemonade without any sugar or preservatives! Whip out that juicer you have stored in the cabinet and get to juicing again.

Some blenders are also capable of creating this sweet lemonade recipe. Instead of using a juicer, you can use a heavy duty blender as well. If you are, peel the apples and lemon for better results.

Apple Lemonade

• 4 apples, cored
• ¼ of a lemon, with peel

Press lemon through the juicer and then run the apples through.
It is that simple…fresh, sweet lemonade!

Add some sliced fresh fruit for added flavor and a festive Holiday look!

Overnight banana bread oatmeal recipe

I am all about simplifying life...particularly around the Holidays! Give this overnight banana bread oatmeal a try! It is perfect for the entire family. Check out the video to see how simple it is to prepare...

Banana Bread Overnight Oatmeal Recipe

• 1 banana, medium to large
• 1/3 cup oats
• 1/2 cup cashew milk, unsweetened
• 1 tablespoon chia seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 1 tablespoon pecans or walnuts, chopped

Mash banana in a bowl.

Add oats, milk, seeds, cinnamon and honey.

Mix together well.

Add to a mason jar or other type of glass jar with an air tight lid.

In the morning before eating, top with nuts and enjoy!

This recipe has:

327 calories

0 cholesterol

9 grams of protein

12 grams dietary fiber

15 grams sugar

11 grams of fat

81 grams sodium

Vitamins A,C,calcium and iron

This is according to the Myfitnesspal app.

The recipe I have listed here is for 1 serving. Just double to triple to make several days worth!