Healthy Habits Challenge: 7 Keys to a Healthy Life

Welcome back for another week of our Healthy Habits Challenge. We sincerely hope that our words help to increase motivation and desire to live a healthier (and happier) lifestyle.

This week I'm going to cover Keys 3 and 4 to our

7 Keys to a Healthy Life

If you missed the first two keys, click here!

To live a healthier lifestyle and see improvement in our physical endurance and strength, resistance training is a huge factor. It helps the body build and maintain strong healthy bones and burns excess fat by building healthy lean muscles. Who doesn't want that?! A good resistance training program usually includes 3-5 days a week - but you can alter your workout depending on your goals.

So what is resistance training you ask? Let me tell you! The most common form is weight training - but don't let that scare you away. If weights work for you - great. Do it! But if you are like me, I feel a little silly going to the gym and picking up any sort of weight - let alone actually doing a full on workout with them. Sooooo a great resource is to design your very own program, catered to your needs. When I started to research this more, I came across this AMAZING resource from the McKinley Health Center in Illinois. They give you a step by step guide to creating a program that works for you, including defining your fitness goals, planning how much and what kind of resistance training you need to meet your goals, and then identifying which exercises to do. Check it out, it will definitely help you figure out how to do the whole strength training thing!

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  I have to admit something to you - I used to dread this type of workout. It demanded so much, and I was a little intimidated by it. BUT for the past few months I've been trying to do more cardiovascular training and I feel like I've taken a complete 180 - I love it!!!
  
  
  To get your cardio on, remember that the goal is to get your heart rate a-movin. In order to keep your heart happy and body lean, it's recommended that we do 4-6 days per week (20-45 minutes per session) of cardio. 
  Want some good exercise plans?? Below are some that I have found work me hard - and get my heart rate soaring. 
  
  
   
   This straight forward workout has been my go to for the past few months. You don't need any equipment, and boy do you feel the burn! 
  
  
  
  Another great, quick workout to burn those extra calories you snuck in after work. And it only takes 9 minutes!! Do this 3 times and you have one heart raisin' workout. 
  
  
  
  Another great workout, designed by our very own Deb, is this 60 minute HIIT workout. For more workouts like this one, click here.
  
  
  So where do we go from now?? So far we've talked about nutrition, hydration, resistance training, and cardiovascular training. All very simple things -  but all necessary to make the impact we want to see in our healthy habits. Work hard this week to organize a workout plan that works for YOU. Because let's be honest, if we aren't doing this for ourselves... it's pretty hard to stay motivated, right? 
  
  
  Next week, come back for keys 5 and 6 of our Healthy Lifestyle Challenge! I'll look forward to sharing more about this shtuff :)

Registration Open for the Two Week Triathlon!

The Two-Week Triathlon begins in just two weeks on Monday, April 28th! We are so excited how many of you have expressed interest in joining us with this fun challenge!

The Two-Week Triathlon will run from April 28-May 12, 2014. You will have two full weeks to complete all the components of the ironman triathlon (or triathlon of your choosing- see below). Registration is free, but we'd love to have you register as we will be sending some information via email and cheer you on through social media - please use the hashtag #PTFtriathlon so everyone else can do the same!

Swim distances can be completed in a pool or in open water.  You will just want to make sure you know the length of the pool you are using so you can track your mileage. The pool that I'll be using is 25 yards with a lap (down and back) being 50 yards.  Approximately 36 full laps (down and back) equals 1 mile. Any stroke is acceptable and paddle board and other floatation devices are okay to use, just nothing motorized.

 If you're looking for a pool in your area, try here or here for an available listing. If you have a gym in your area with a pool, you can also usually get a guest pass to try it out for a few days to a week. Since we are doing this at our own pace, you can decide how you want to split up the mileage, but three days should be sufficient.

Bike distances can be completed on open road or on a stationary bike.  Check the weather and make sure you have an indoor location (stationary bike) as a backup.

Run distances can be completed on open road or on a treadmill. And the mileage can be completed either walking, running, or a mixture of both.

There are some great apps out there to help you track your running and biking distances and that help keep you motived by seeing your progression. Running apps now are great for tracking your route, pace, distance, etc. I've used all three of these and my personal favorite is Runkeeper.

1. Runkeeper (free)

2. Nike+ Running (free)

3. MapMyRun (free)

As for biking apps, I have yet to use one myself, but because we love our readers so much, we did the research for you! Here are a few great bike apps that will track your route and be your personal GPS.

1. Runtastic Road Bike (free)-- this will give you updates at each 1 mile intervals. Pretty cool!

2. Strava (free)

So now's your chance! Fill out this quick registration and you'll be ready to start in a couple weeks-- 2 weeks from today, in fact! We'll send a couple emails giving you tips and tricks along the way, including ways you can break up your mileage, a nice sheet to check off your mileage (which is kind of fun to do), and other fun stuff. Feel free to spread the word and have your friends join in! Email us or comment below with any questions.

Healthy Habits Challenge April: 7 Keys to a Healthy Life

Hello! Welcome to a brand new month of our Healthy Habits Challenge. We hope you've been able to follow along as we've talked about healthy habits, but if not - click here to look back at all the awesome advice my fellow "Pass the Freshers" have posted!

This month, I want to focus on 7 Keys to a Healthy Lifestyle -
 
WHY?
First off, I want to state the obvious - choosing a healthier lifestyle isn't always easy or convenient. We all hear (or give) the same excuses:

"I don't eat very healthy because who has time for that?"
"By the time I'm done with work everyday, I'm far too exhausted to work out."
"We eat out almost every night because cooking just takes too much time and effort."
"Eating healthy is too expensive!"

Honestly, I probably find myself giving one of these excuses almost everyday.  I used to not enjoy cooking healthy foods because I didn't think they were as yummy or as exciting. Aaaannnddddd I'm pretty much addicted to sugar so that played a key role in my healthy eating journey. But I promise that choosing healthier options, both in the kitchen and at the gym, can be yummy and rewarding. If you don't believe me - just keep reading. You'll see!!

Over the next four weeks of our April Healthy Habits Challenge, I am going to offer 7 keys to creating a healthier lifestyle for yourself and your family. So, let's dive in!

 

Anyone who has ever tried to live a healthier lifestyle knows 99.9% of the time - it starts with nutrition. This is the key ingredient to keeping your body healthy. One important aspect to eating right is remembering the rule "we eat to live NOT live to eat." When we realize this - we understand that those easy to grab, convenience foods aren't going to help us live the way we want. When choosing our foods, we should remember these rules:

1. Choose lean proteins
2. Choose complex carbohydrates
3. Choose healthy fats
4. Eat often (5-7 small meals per day)
5. Eat every 2-3 hours (to help keep your metabolism in balance and get rid of those highs and lows we experience throughout the day)

 I don't know how to stress this one more. WATER IS INVALUABLE!!!!! Not only is it important, we really cannot live without it! (Obviously)
WebMD teaches us...

Since increasing my water intake a few months ago - I've noticed a rise in my energy/endurance levels, less headaches, less eating when I'm not hungry, and I just feel better all around!
Drink water people - your body will thank you!!

So, here is the take home mission and goal for this week:

Pay attention to the foods you are eating - and notice how your body reacts to these foods. 

Remember, "we eat to live NOT live to eat." Do good to your body and give it healthy, worthwhile foods! And, don't forget to hydrate!! You can't go wrong with adding more water :)


(Information adapted from Max Muscle.)

Healthy Habits Challenge March: Eat Real Food, Part 4- Real Food Recipe Round Up

Welcome to the final week of eating Real Food. I hope you've made some baby steps towards implementing real food into your meals! My husband and I went on a little road trip this last week so needless to say life has been crazy trying to get back into our routine. I haven't had a chance to cook much (at all, actually) and am dying to get back into my healthy eating kick. I tend to crave healthy food after eating junk all week long! I noticed that as I was on vacation I just snacked all day long because I wasn't eating filling, nutritious food.

To get back into the swing of things it's important to have a menu plan (are you sick of me saying that?). Menu planning can be TOUGH, and I'm sure not a pro at it, but there are some awesome sites out there to help with your menu planning! 100 Days of Real Food has a link to their Facebook page, here, where they give you a great meal plan that is easy to follow. Give it a try!

Below are some of my favorite real food recipes for every meal that I'll be adding into this months menu planning!!

Breakfast:

Breakfast Tostada via Happy Wives Club


Pumpkin Protein Pancakes via Pass The Fresh


Berry Chia Shake via Pass The Fresh

Lunch:

Oriental Chicken Salad via Pass The Fresh


Roasted Red Pepper Soup via Pass The Fresh


Greek Salad Sandwich via Skinny Taste

Dinner:

Chicken Pepper Stir Fry Skillet Recipe via The Country Chic Cottage


Low Carb Chicken and Sweet Potato Soup via Pass The Fresh


Slow Cooker Thai Chicken Curry via Perry's Plate

Snacks:

Banana Fudgesicles via Divine Healthy From the Inside Out


Fresh Banana Ice Cream via Pass The Fresh


Avocado and Mango Salsa via Skinny Taste

Health Habits Challenge March: Eat Real Food, Part 3- Tips for Real Food Lunches

Whether we are too busy or just plain forget, we all have good intentions of sending our loved ones out the door with a healthy lunch. A lot of times we resort to the typical PB&J or turkey and cheese sandwich because they are quick and easy. Well hopefully together we can learn a few tips on how to pack an easy and healthy lunch and cut back on the PB&J (although it is delicious!).

Here’s a list of guidelines I recommend sticking to while thinking of your weekly lunches, both for kids AND adults.

1. Prep your lunches for the whole week on Sunday. When I was working I would take a day and prep my lunches for the week. Sometimes I'd cook my chicken a head of time, other days I'd just have it cut and cubed in the freezer ready for me to cook in the morning before I left. I also liked buying pre-packaged foods that were easy, healthy, and fast to prepare. Example: Rice. They have awesome brown rice and quinoa combos that are ready in 90 seconds!

2. Choose lean meats. Chicken, turkey, ham, tuna, and low-fat deli meats are all great options. Extra bonus: They provide you with a great source of protein. A personal tip** My go-to meat is the pre-cooked grilled chicken strips from Foster Farms. They have no added hormones, no added steroids, and 0 trans fat. Makes its SUPER convenient to just toss it in a container and eat it later.

3. Include at least one serving of fruit. This is a great way to take in your vitamin A and C and they also contain fiber, which we all need more of! Try mixing up your typical fruit by either adding different fruits into your lunches to make a fruit salad or cut it up and top it with greek yogurt.

4. Eat your vegetables. If you can get creative with your veggies then your children, and in my case husband, will be more likely to eat it. If you have a sandwich top it with spinach or sprouts rather then lettuce. Pack a healthy salad with carrots, peppers, or cucumbers and place your dressing in a separate container to avoid the soggy-ness.

5. Toss the white bread. I get it, sandwiches are easy for lunch and we have them A LOT. Mix it up with whole grain bread or a whole-wheat pita. Try the thin whole-wheat bagels as a good substitute.

6. Limit snacks and baked goods. These always seem to sneak into lunches. You can cut out so many unnecessary calories by choosing your snacks wisely. Some great alternative snacks are popcorn (unbuttered or low-buttered), pretzels, yogurt dipped raisins, nuts, whole grain bread with a little nutella and coconut on top, etc. Get creative with your healthy foods!

7. For the kids, give them 100% juice. Most of the “juice” drinks out there are really just water and sugar and are doing nothing for your child’s nutrition. Try giving them naturally flavored water, or purchasing the true 100% juice drinks.

There you have it! Those little tips are great baby steps in eating a healthier lunch!

Below are 3 awesome lunch ideas!

Turkey, Apple and Brie Wrap 
Recipe found here.

Open-face Tuna and Avocado Melt

Ingredients: 

1/2 can tuna in water (drained)

1 slice whole wheat or whole grain bread

1/2 avocado

1 teaspoon low fat mayo

few thin slices of pepper jack cheese (optional)

Directions: 

1. Drain tuna and mix with mayo. 

2. Toast bread. 

3. Immediately after bread is toasted, place cheese on top. 

4. Layer on your tuna and top with a few sliced avocado. 

Mini Salmon and Pico Tacos

Ingredients:
7 oz. salmon (cooked and chopped into bite size pieces)
chile lime spice (or spice of your preference)
1 cup chopped lettuce
1 cup pico de gallo (I just used pre made pico)
4 wonton wrappers

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350º.
2. Thaw salmon. Cover both sides with your spices. Place on a greased fry pan over medium heat for roughly 10 minutes, flipping half way through. (**you'll know salmon is ready to flip when the bottom half is turning white).  
3. Meanwhile, in a muffin tin place your wonton wrapper in to form a bowl like shape. Grease the edges of wrapper with a little coconut oil and sprinkle with a little salt. Cook in oven until brown and crispy, roughly 10 minutes.
4. While wontons are cooking, chop your lettuce and salmon.
5. In your wonton wrappers start layering your salad! Start with a small layer of lettuce, followed by a generous amount of pico, topped off with a few oz salmon and another layer of pico to top it off!

Healthy Habits Challenge March: Eat Real Food, Part 2-Real Food for Babies

Before I even had a baby I knew I wanted to make a lot of his baby food. Now, I’ll start off by saying that I do still buy baby food. They are great to have when you’re in a hurry, on the go, out of ingredients, and lets face it…it’s just easier. And there are some good natural products out there! But I’ll give you a few reasons why I choose to make his food (when I find the time).

 1. Give your baby better nutrition. I wanted to know exactly what he was eating. This was the biggest reason for me. Knowing I can add exactly what I wanted to the baby food gives me so much control over what he’s eating! He eats only natural foods, no added sugars and no preservatives.

 2. You can control the taste and texture by added or taking away things your baby doesn’t like. There are a wide variety of spices, herbs, etc. that can be added to your purees and it helps introduce your baby into more foods. I’m hoping this will help him not be so picky when he’s older…unlike me ☺ As for texture; I like having the option to make his food a little chunkier to introduce chewing without having any choking hazards.

 3. It saves you money. Now who doesn’t like to save money? It does take extra work, but when making the foods in large batches allows you to freeze them and use them down the road! I can hear that ‘cha-ching’ in my head!

 So where do you start? It’s important to know what kind of foods can be introduced to them at different stages.

Early Stages (typically 4-6 months)
*low-acid fruit and sweet and starchy vegetables. Common fruits at this age are apples, apricots, pears, bananas and blueberries. Good vegetables to serve are pumpkin, sweet potatoes, peas, and broccoli and spinach.
*This is a good age to introduce single-grains such as oats, rice, etc. Make sure to thin this out with water, formula or milk since the texture can be a bit much early on.

 7-8 months
*At this stage you can add in more variety of fruits and vegetable purees. Foods to consider are peaches, raspberries, plums, mangoes, beets, asparagus, green beans, lentils, etc.
*Start introducing more texture as your little one has probably begun to get the chewing motion down. Make sure they are still small enough though to avoid choking. (I’m a worry wart when it comes to that!)

 9-11 months
*More chunky, mashed fruit and vegetables.
*Some dairy products such as whole-milk yogurt, and cottage cheese.
*Finely minced meats such as turkey and chicken.

 1 year and up
*At this stage they should be able to eat table food as long as it’s a good small bite size.
*Honey, milk, and eggs are okay to feed after 1 year. Prior to a year there are bacteria that can be found in these foods that could be harmful to your baby, so avoid them until at least 1 year.

I hope this has helped you in knowing what is good to feed your baby as they are still growing. Now go play around with different food combinations, you’d be surprised what goes! Below are a few of my little guys favorites.

(above: apple, sweet potato, pumpkin and blueberries)

Apple, Sweet Potato, Pumpkin and Blueberries

-1/2 sweet potato

-1 cup pure pumpkin puree

-1/4 cup blueberries

-4oz apple sauce

-1/4 teaspoon lemon juice

1. Peel, chop and boil sweet potatoes until tender. 

2. In blender add sweet potatoes, pumpkin, blueberries and apple sauce. 

(above: Mango Peach and Banana Oatmeal)

Mango Peach Banana Oatmeal
 -1/4 cup oatmeal 
-1/2 cup water
-1/4 cup frozen mango chunks
-1/4 cup frozen peaches
-1/4 banana
(makes about 4 oz)
 1. Mix oatmeal and water and cook in microwave for 1 minute, or until oatmeal is softened.
 2. Add oatmeal to a blender. Add in mango, peaches, and banana. Blend until smooth.

(above: Apples, Mango and Carrots)

Apples, Mangos and Carrots
-4oz apple sauce
-1/2 cup mango slices
 -2 handful baby carrots
(makes roughly 8 oz)
1. Boil carrots until soft, about 10 minutes.
 2. Add apple sauce, mango, and carrots to blender. Blend until smooth. Add water little at a time for desired consistency.

Healthy Habits Challenge March: Eat Real Food, Part 1- Healthy Pantry Makeover

Welcome to month 3 of our Healthy Habits Challenge.  Deb and Cami have both shared some of their New Year's goals of getting healthy and eating less sugar. Both of these are goals of mine too, but for March I’m sharing another goal, to feed my family REAL food. 

A few weeks ago I was in spring cleaning mode and decided to clean and reorganize my pantry. While doing that I discovered that I could feed a small country with the amount of pasta I had. Possibly the worst thing to have in my pantry and I had that much of it. So I decided to just toss them and get them out of my house so I wasn't tempted to eat it. So this leads me to my topic for the week: Tips on a Healthy Pantry Makeover.

As I’ve thought about how to accomplish eating healthy food it's really simple: 

If you surround yourself with healthy food, then you’ll eat healthy food! 

Here are a few tips that I’ve found helped me to surround myself with healthy foods. 

• Make a shopping list for the grocery store and stick to it! Knowing what I’m eating for the week helps me to stay focused and not buying unnecessary food. Dr. Oz has created a great list of food to place in your shopping cart. You can't go wrong with any of these! (list found here)

• Don’t shop when you’re hungry. This is when you tend to buy the most junk food. You’re hungry waiting in the check out line, one snickers bar doesn’t seem so bad, right? Wrong. That’s so many empty calories that you didn’t need to eat. If you find yourself always hungry at the store then pack around protein bars in your purse so you always have a healthy option on hand!   
• Read food labels. Deb talked about how to read them here. If there are ingredients listed that you can’t even pronounce, put it down and find another option. Fewer ingredients means healthier food!   

Try sticking to these tips on your next shopping day; you might surprise yourself at the different food you'll come home with!

Inside The Gem has a great list of food to toss and foods to embrace:

TOSS

1. White rice and pasta.

2. Salty, fried snack foods like potato chips and corn chips. Especially those with chemicals and color.

3. Vegetable oil. It’s acidic and tasteless.

4. Sugary cereals, boxes with BRIGHT COLORS, OR PRIZES INSIDE

5. Canned soups, make your own and freeze the extra.

6. High Fructose corn syrup drinks.

7. Yogurt with artificial sweeteners and colors.

8. Anything labeled sugar free, fat free or ‘lite.’ If they can’t spell it right, it’s wrong.

9. Take a look at the ingredients in your condiments. Try making your own salad dressing.

10. Frozen entrees. Lean Cuisines are loaded in preservatives and sodium.

EMBRACE

1. Whole grains like long grain brown rice and quinoa. Whole grain cereals. Go Lean Crunch is pretty tasty! Bob’s Red Mill Oatmeal is a winner.

2. Nuts.  Raw almonds and pumpkin seeds rock my world. Dried and/or dehydrated fruit. Sliced frozen bananas or grapes are awesome in the summer.

3. Healthy oils like canola, olive, coconut. Spices like Jalapeno Lemon Pepper or Tommy’s Coffee Rub are amazing additions to spice up your foods.

4. There is no finer snack than popcorn made with coconut oil and sea salt.

5. Canned beans: cannelini, black, pinto, lentils. (Dried are best). Beans and rice topped with salsa and avocado is a perfect protein meal.

6. Sparkling water and limes–the perfect cooler.

7. Nonfat plain Greek yogurt

8. Domestic (or local), seasonal fruits and veggies. Keep all the ingredients for a quick smoothie in the pantry and freezer. Amazing Meals is a great vegan protein addition! 9. Hummus, tamari sauce, salsa, guacamole.

10. Homemade chili or soup.  Keep in the freezer for quick access. 

I hope these tips help you take control of the food in your pantry and can start surrounding yourself with the foods that are good for the body!