Move It Monday!

Well here we are again, we've arrived at another glorious Monday! I'm so happy that the weather co-operated. Even though it looks like it's raining all around me, rest assured I'm not that hardcore, in reality, it's just the camera on a weird setting and it was freezing out so we're making do:)

Today's exercise for Move It Monday is a total body demolisher! It will hit your thighs, butt, abs, shoulder, and back.  I introduce to you.... The Bond Lunge (stationary)

Start with your feet in a wide stance and raise your arms up so that they are parallel with the ground. I have weights but I thought it would be great to show that even without hand weights you can do this effectively. 5-10 lbs is about perfect.

With your back heel lifted, lower into a lunge position and at the same time rotate your torso to the opposite side. Do not let your knee go over your toes, if this is happening move your stance wider.

Return to start position. Complete 10-15 reps before switching legs.

Repeat on opposite side. Ideally you want your front thigh to be parallel to the ground as in this picture. If this is to difficult then start by going half-way down and building up from there!

Have a fantastic day and make sure to Move your body!

Foodie Friday!

Good Afternoon everyone!
Today is Foodie Friday and I'm happy to pass on an easy lunch recipe that can easily be made ahead to enjoy throughout the week. Our feature food today is quinoa. Quinoa is a seed similar to couscous but with a nicer texture (in my opinion!) I substitute it most commonly for rice. It's quick cooking (about 15 minutes) and is a complete source of all 9 essential amino acids (i.e. a complete protein). It's also gluten and cholesterol free. Quinoa is amazingly flexible. You can eat it cooked in the a.m. with a little cinnamon and honey, add it to soups, use it as a side dish or even bake with it's ground versions. If you haven't tried it before try this recipe out for a lovely introduction...

Quinoa and Mango Salad

Dressing:
1/3 cup (75 mL)  low-fat greek yogurt (or plain)
2 tbsp (30 mL) lime juice
1 tbsp (15 mL) minced gingerroot
2 tsp (10 mL) curry powder
1/2 tsp (2 mL) each salt and pepper
1/4 cup (65 mL) extra-virgin olive oil

Salad:
1/2 cup (125 mL) quinoa
2 ripe mangoes, chopped
1 red pepper, sliced
1 green onion, thinly sliced
1/3 cup (75 mL) chopped fresh mint or rounded tbsp of dry (really try for fresh though!)
1/2 cup (250 mL) walnuts, pecans, or almonds, toasted
8 cups of spinach

Mix dressing ingredients and set aside.

Cook quinoa in 1 cup of salted water for 15 minutes. Let cool. Toss all the salad ingredients together ( except the spinach) and add dressing. Add your spinach to your plate, top with mango mixture and sprinkle with nuts. If making ahead, keep the components separate and mix them when ready to eat!

Makes 4  servings.

 Cooking the quinoa

The ingredient line up!

This is how your quinoa should look when it's done

All the veggie's prepped

The finished product. My lighting was so bad that this doesn't look nearly as appealing as it tastes. I promise it's awesome!

Have a great weekend!
Sarah

Tool Talk Thursday!

Good Morning all!  Today I'm continuing on with the basics that I feel will help you get the most out of your workouts whether you're doing them at home or at a gym.

Today's product is the gymboss interval timer. I love, love, love this product! Literally I don't do a workout without it. Unfortunately you can't buy it locally as far as I can tell and I haven't come across a comparable product in stores. 

So here's the dealio... This little guy is useful for every workout from running to flexibility to interval training. Head over to www.gymboss.com for all the specs.  I mainly use it for the interval function although the stopwatch function is used often too! If it doesn't seem like I'm speaking english, this is what it really does. Lets' say you want to do some speed training for a run.  You can set the timer to beep to indicate when you should sprint, and also when you should pull back. You can also set it for as many rounds as you'd like. In the picture above, I would be doing six rounds of ten second sprints and a thirty second slower paced recovery jog.  You can set the timer to beep at you , vibrate, or a combo of both. 

In reality you could use a digital watch but I found that for the short interval times, I was spending way to much energy focusing on the watch instead of my workout. So for the $19.99. This is a definite top pick of mine!

Have a wonderful day everyone!
Sarah

Happy Move It MoTuesday!

Okay so Motuesday may not be the latest, greatest day of the week but unfortunately it's what you get when I'm a day behind on Move It Monday:)

I'm giving you a more advanced move this week and I'll probably alternate between more beginners moves and advanced ones. So for this week I introduce you to (insert drum roll!) The knee tuck push-up!

Start in a high plank position with a flat back and abs pulled in. Feet are shoulder width apart.

Lower into a push-up, maintaining a straight line from toes to head.

Push back up into your push-up

Bring your right knee in towards your left shoulder, keeping your upper body parallel to the ground.

Repeat with the left leg to the right shoulder. Again, note that I'm not twisting my upper body.

To do a beginner version of this move, start from your knees,

Come down into your push-up.

Push back up  

From here, come up into the plank position

Do your knee tuck right knee to left shoulder

Repeat on the other side

So what should you do with this? How about you get into your gym clothes and complete 5 rounds of 15 push-ups with knee tucks alternating with 40 jumping jacks. This should take anywhere from 10-15 minutes and give you a serious calorie burn!

Thanks for checking in and see you Next Monday!

Foodie Friday!

I know, I know you all (all seven of you!) have been waiting eagerly for this Friday to find out which delectable food will get it's moment in the spotlight for the Foodie feature. Well wait no more because here it is!

 No that delectable ikea bowl is not filled with calorie laden ice cream...

 This just woken up, snot nosed Cade is eating a bowl of frozen yogurt made with this...

This my friends is Greek Yogurt. It's been a long time coming to Canada but try it once and you'll be hooked! Greek yogurt is similar in texture to sour cream but even thicker, making it perfect for a tzatziki recipe like this .  It also bakes incredibly well making a great substitute again for recipes that call for sour cream. Try this one and feel free to sub in the fat free yogurt! We go through tons of the yogurt simply by adding it into homemade dips for veggies.  And it doesn't get any easier than homemade vanilla frozen yogurt.  Here's my very basic recipe...

2 cups of greek nonfat plain yogurt

sugar or substitute to desired sweetness (I used 1/2 cup of agave nectar)

1 tsp of vanilla extract

If you have an ice cream maker use it, but I just mixed well and popped it in the freezer. Take it out every hour or so to give it a stir. It will take about 4 hours to completely set.  Also note, if you use sugar, you'll want to let it sit in the fridge for about an hour to allow the sugar to dissolve.Grab a spoon, eat and enjoy this low calorie, high protein treat!

So there you have it, pick some up locally at Save-On Foods in Chilliwack but If you have a Costco membership they have it there too!

See you soon,

Sarah



Tool Talk Thursday...

Welcome to the third feature here at Lighten Up Fitness! Thursdays will be dedicated to tools of the trade. I'll give my reviews and advice on all the fitness world has to offer to get you into shape. The first weeks of this series will be featuring my "must haves" for anyone wanting to venture into the world of physical activity.

So first up is a workout journal. Wow, there really are so many reasons for keeping a journal but I'll highlight a few. 

Keeping a journal will keep you motivated: Once you're in the swing of things recording your workouts, not having anything to input on a day that's a scheduled workout day, can be enough in itself to get you into your sweats to torch some calories.

Keeping a journal will boost your confidence. On those days where you feel like no progress is being made, looking back in your journal can reveal just how far you've come.

Keeping a journal is educational: This is the big one for me.  After keeping your journal for a few weeks you'll really begin to see where your personal pitfalls are. Does your workout suffer on the days you have 6 hours of sleep? Or do you feel sluggish on your run when you've had too much coffee and not enough food? These may seem obvious but often when we see the evidence in black and white, we're much quicker to take action.

Keeping a journal can help prevent injury: As anyone who has participated in physical activity can tell you, injuries happen and are just a part of life. Many however can be avoided with a little common sense. Far to often there are lead up signs to an injury. If you look back in your journal and notice that when you pushed yourself after a few days of repeated ache, and then suddenly your groin was pulled, you can use that info to help avoid this in the future.  Far to often we dismiss these tell tale signs but again seeing a history can help knock some sense into us before we re-injure ourselves. 

So after all that, what should you look for in a journal? Honestly a plain spiral note book will do but if you're doing it on your own, you should be recording the following at a minimum: Hours slept the previous night, type of cardio conditioning and duration of activity, types of strength training exercises as well as info on reps, sets, rests,  as well as a comment section for how you feel your workout. If you really want to go all out you can include dietary choices as well. There are plenty of premade journals available and they will set you back about $15.00. This is one of my favorites. There are also a ton of online printables if you do a search on workout journals or logs.

So grab a pen and paper and get ready for the changes in your body!

See you tomorrow for Foodie Friday!

Introducing Move It Mondays!

Happy Monday Everyone!

Today marks the start of Lighten Up Fitness's Monday Feature: Move It Monday!

Each Monday, I'll be bringing you a different strength training move to help whip you into shape. To kick off this feature we'll be doing the plie squat. This power move is awesome for tightening up your backside as well as those inner and outer thighs! So away we go!

 Starting Position: Stand with feet slightly wider than shoulder width apart, toes pointed out and an angle.

 Lower your body into a squat position making sure that your toes don't go over your knees. Holding a weight is optional. Beginners should start just with their body weight.

Make sure that your backside is really sticking out:) Keep you back straight.  Push up through your heels and return to a stand. This is one rep. Have fun!

Have a delightful day and we'll see you Wednesday!

Sarah

Foodie Friday! January 14 2011

Welcome to our first installment of Foodie Friday! Each Friday I'll be passing on a food and nutrition tip. This can be anything from a recipe, to research articles, to dieting tips. So off we go!

Today's post is all about the wonders of water! I know, I know, you've heard it a million times, drink your water! But hopefully this will inspire you to take some action:) Check out this article on a recent study about the effects of water on weight loss. 

So it seems simple but just in case you need even more motivation,  here are a few more benefits of downing the H2O...

• Your body is made up of approximately 60-70% water. Everything from your blood, to muscles, to your brain are made up of large quantities of water. Water aids in body temperature regulation and water helps transport nutrients throughout your body.
• Water helps to flush out all the toxins and by products your body produces through daily functioning.
• Fiber is great but if you're not drinking enough water, you'll end up with some pretty nasty stomach pains (read: constipation)
• Water helps to lubricate your joints and protect them from injury.
• It's good for your skin!  Hydrated skin is radiant skin.
• It's good for your energy. Even being slightly dehydrated can sap you of your energy.
• It increases the benefits of your workouts. Being well hydrated will help you power through your workouts more effectively.

So get to that tap and drink up! A minimum of 8 glasses day:)

See you Monday for our next new feature!
Sarah

Let's get that sunscreen out and hit the beach!

Hi all!  No I'm not delusional and yes I see the snow out my window.  The fact of the matter is that summer will be upon us once again before we know it. Why wait until April to start panicking about pulling out those shorts? If you start working out consistently today you'll be toned up and feeling confident while those around you are running from the changing rooms. So starting tomorrow I'll be spending the next few weeks going over some tips for success to get you in the best shape of your life. Some will be diet, some exercise, some novel and some just good basic reminders but follow along and get ready to change your body!

Sarah