A Quick Fix - Homemade Strawberry Milk

This is a good snack for anyone.  Use it as a special treat or a dessert and I'm fairly sure kids will love it.  Lately, I have really been into strawberry milk.  And  I don’t mean the crazy-loaded-with-weird-and-hard-to-pronounce-chemicals-that-does-who-knows-what-to-you Nesquik-types.  I mean my own home recipe for strawberry milk.  Why not give this to your kids as a treat?  They can make it as they drink it, and it’s a good way to get your fruit.  You can probably do this with other fruits too, but this is a Strawberry only zone.

Ingredients:

-       6-8 oz milk (you don’t want to overload on milk)

-       Honey

-       Four Strawberries (Fresh or Frozen)

There are two ways I like to do this.  First, blend it all together.  Easy peasy, lemon squeezy.  (Ooh I bet a small amount of lemon would be delicious!)

Second, put your strawberries in a glass, add milk to barely cover them, drizzle with honey grab a fork and squish the strawberries.  This is why I think it would be fun for kids to do – because you get to make your own glass by squishing the strawberries.  Plus, it looks pretty.

 

Enjoy!

#Strawberrymilk #DIY #howto #recipe #kidfriendly #easyrecipe 

So, You Walk Like An Ape

 Hi, my name is Jackie.  I’m a personal trainer, sporadic blog writer, life enthusiast and avid book reader.  I noticed you walking around the other day, like a silverback gorilla.  You Tarzan, me Jane, you walk funny.

You’re probably asking yourself, “is she drunk?” Well, no, but I am drinking some chardonnay, which is delightful thank-you-very-much.  But seriously, this a super structural problem that afflicts many men.  Am I being sexist?  No, guys aren’t working out properly, so they’re being stupid. 

Go stand in front of a full-bodied mirror.  Face forward, feet hip width apart, arms dangling at your side.  Now casually glance at your hand position (you don’t want to scare yourself).  Which way are your palms facing?  Are they facing inward (towards your body), are they facing forward (towards the mirror) or are they facing outward (freakily away from your body)?  Chances are your palms are facing backward.  This, my dear readers, is NOT NATURAL AND IT DRIVES ME CRAZY!  So I am going to attempt to bring awareness to ape-arms and help you help me fix it.

So there are two main reasons for ape arms; super-tight pectoral (boob-region) muscles, or weak rhomboid (back) muscles.  I also have the hypothesis that because we spend so much time typing on a computer our SITS (supscapularis, supraspinatus, infraspinatus, teres minor) muscles get extended from their regular position, shortening the greater and lesser tubercle muscles, causing a “natural” rotation of our shoulders to this unnatural position.

So what do you do to combat ape arm? It’s an easy fix, really.  Takes time, as do most things with training, but again, relatively easy.  First, you need to make sure that you are shoulder packing when you are doing ALL arm workouts.  Second, make sure you are working out your upper and mid back muscles (again, while shoulder packing).  You can do this by doing some form of row, including the row machine, upright row, or my favorite “the bow and arrow” (patent pending).  Third, it’s most likely that you aren’t stretching your pectoral muscles after you work out.  To do this, find the corner of a wall, or a structural beam and put your wrist and elbow on it.  Make sure your elbow is at a 90-degree angle and straight out from your body (don’t let it slant down or up).  Twist your body out away from your arm, causing a stretch in the front of your shoulder region.  You can also feel this in the back of your shoulders, and pectorals.  Now take a step out, extending your arm to feel a deeper stretch, mainly in your biceps, but it will also affect your shoulder muscles.  If you don’t feel it, then twist body, leaving your arm in place, and you should eventually feel it.  Hold each position between 15-20 seconds doing each stretch 2-3 times. 

The final thing that you should do is work out your SITS muscles.  At first, only use 5lbs, because it’s a son-of-a-bitch move.  This is a VERY limited range of motion move, so if you move your elbows too much it loses it’s power.  

To do this:

-      -- Grab your weights

-     -- Lock your elbows in at your side

-     -- Make sure you keep a 90-degree angle at the elbow

-     -- Move your hands out and in, AGAIN keeping your elbows locked in at your side.  This is very difficult at first especially rotating outwards, but as you progress your range of motion will improve.  Do 3 sets of 10-15 repetitions.  After three weeks you can increase your weight by no more than 2 lbs (these muscles are sensitive and you don’t want to injure yourself!).  

You can also do the “space invaders” move to work the SITS muscles. 

-     -  Grab the weights

-     -  Bring your arms out in a “T” position

-     -  Bend at the elbow so the top of your hand is toward the ceiling, your palms are facing forward

-     -  Lower them down so your palms are facing the floor, then bring them back up. 

-     -  You are essentially rotating your arms in a 90-degree, frontal plane movement.  HOWEVER, if your shoulder is clicking or making a popping noise you need to reduce the range of motion.  As the muscles get stronger, your range of motion will increase.  DO NOT go past the 90-degree range of motion seen in the video.

These exercises are not only a great way to combat ape-arms, but also to strengthen your rotator cuff muscles to help prevent injuries associated with tennis and golf.  And remember, most important is that you spread the word to your friends so we can stop this devastating and preventable issue.

5 Hot Tips To Help Prevent Inury

If you read my blog regularly you may notice some repeats.  That is because these are part of the essentials that you should learn when you get a trainer.  They are not only necessary for proper function when you work out, but they will also help prevent injuries during every day fun.  I cannot emphasize the importance of these tips.


5)  Shoulder packing:
Shoulder packing is very important for posture, and to help prevent rotator cuff injuries.  It should be done before you do any upper body exercise, whether you are working out your arms, chest or back.  After enough practice it will be a natural motion and you won't have to think about it, but until that happens you may have to check your posture while working out.

To practice this lie flat on your back on the ground with your arms at your side.  You can either have your legs bent at a 90 degree angle or flat on the floor.  First push your shoulders towards your feet, then down into the ground.  You should be able to feel your shoulder blades "flat" against the ground.  Hold this position for 10-12 seconds and repeat 5-6 times.  Once you've done this on the ground a couple of times, you can try it while standing.  The reason you start on the floor, is because it really creates a sense of awareness of the movement that you are supposed to be doing while standing up.

4) A proper squat:
Squats are something that I emphasize in all my programs for my clients because you often have to pick things up off of the ground.  There is a whole bunch of other reasons to emphasize a squat, but that is not what I am here to talk about.  Often, squats are done wrong and the wrong action can cause stresses and strains on your knees that are unnecessary.

Stand with your shoulders about hip width apart, or a little wider.  Make sure your feet are parallel with each other - meaning that the toes are pointing directly in front of you and your heels are hitting the wall directly behind you.  Bend at the waist first, sticking your butt out and when you feel like you are about to fall, bend your knees and squat down.  Bending at the waist first makes utilizes your glutes (butt muscles), which is what is supposed to happen.  Make sure your abs are tight and braced while doing this to maintain a straight back.

3) Bracing:
Bracing is relatively easy, but necessary for your workouts.  You should do it when working out your upper and lower body for sure, and you can randomly do it while your walking.  It's a way to help support and stabilize your back to prevent injury.

If you haven't figure it out by now, bracing involves your abdominal muscles.  The best way to describe it is like this: pretend someone is about to punch you in the gut, how would you harden your muscles?  That is what bracing is.  It's tightening your abdominal muscles, again, to support and stabilize the spine.


2) Drink Water:
You should always drink 8 oz of water before you work out.  Drink water every 10-20 minutes (or as needed) while you are working out, and drink 8-12 oz immediately after working out.  This is the best way to prevent dehydration, headaches, sore muscles and fatigue.  You are made up of water, so you should replace the water regularly.  I have found that by drinking the appropriate amounts of water I am able to focus better and I feel more energized throughout the day.  So, stop drinking all that soda, all that juice and all that coffee and every time you pass your kitchen, drink some more water!!!


1) Ask questions:
If you are relatively new to a gym and don't know how to use a piece of equipment, or are unsure of how to workout a specific muscle, ask a trainer.  Even if you don't train with them, it is their job to help you.  Don't expect them to give you a full session, but I've asked several trainers questions before and they are generally awesome at helping out.  I know that if someone were to come up to me, I'd be glad to help.

The Eating Basics

Initially I was going to write about all about Choose My Plate, but then I realized there is a TON of information on the website that you should check out yourselves.  For this blog I am going to talk about what your plate should look like after you put food on it.  This is applicable for everyone (yes, kids too!) and it should be done at every meal.  Remember, you eat not for your taste buds, but for your body (sometimes the buds).  You need to fuel it to make sure you don't feel tired or sluggish - you want to optimize your metabolism right?

Well, hopefully this will help us get started.  Yes, us.  I am going to take a nutrition class in the fall, so maybe I will have more to say then, but for now I will tell you what I will be telling my clients.  Have you visited www.choosemyplate.gov?  It's kind of a big thing, and it's where anyone who is starting should go for their basic nutrition information.

There is no longer the food pyramid and if you are saying "whhhaaaaaaaat?" you may be a little behind the times.  I mean, I'm not far in front of you.  Nutrition and figuring out all this out is new territory for me, but hey, that's why I am going to school.  To help us both out.

Basically Choose My Plate shows how you should portion your foods no matter what or when you are eating.  When you look at your plate, divide it into four sections (like you would first start cutting a pizza--mmmmm pizza).  First, we'll discuss the left half.  That should be 30-35% vegetables, and 15-20% fruit.  The second half is debatable, from what I know, but it also probably depends on your body type and genetics (stupid genetics).  Anyway, the second half should be just about 25-25% for grains and proteins.  There is also a glass of dairy beside the plate for your daily dairy consumption.

Protein size choosing is hard, but here is some of what I know to maybe help you figure out what you need.  I've heard that the protein on your plate should be no bigger than the palm of your hand.  I know your body can't process more than 30 grams of protein at a time, and you should shoot for (if you work out regularly) 25g of protein per meal.  Does that help?  Probably not.  You can usually figure out via the internet how many grams of protein your food contains.

Remember to vary up your vegetables and fruits.  They all contain different minerals and vitamins that our body needs.  You should also vary up your protein sources, because with different proteins comes different additional benefits.

Anyway, you should check out the Choose My Plate because they have great tips and ideas to get you started.  They also have a nutrition tracker, and different ways to shop healthy on a low budget.  And as with many food sites, there are recipes and daily meal guides that are suggested.  If I find something really neat on the site, I might choose to write about it as a feature later.

Choose My Plate Poster and Tips  <<<<---- click here

BBQ ABC - how to not kill yourself.

Tis the season for Barbecuing meat.

Fa-la-la-la-la
La-la-la-la

So as you may all know, it's summer, and with summer comes bbq!  Yummy, delicious, deadly barbecue.

 That's right.  Deadly.

Now that I have your attention here is what I mean.

You know that really yummy, slightly burned/smoking flavor that you get when you barbecue over woods.  Turns out that creates carcinogens, which are UBER bad for you...consumed in large amounts over time carcinogens have been known to cause those little DNA deformations that result in cancer.

So be careful this summer, and here is a copy of my BBQ tips from class.

BBQ  A-B-C’s

Use low fat meats or at least trim off all visible fat, to reduce flare-ups

Marinate meats before grilling them.  Reduces potential carcinogens by more than 90%.  Use at least one acidic component.

Precook meat in oven or microwave, then finish on the grill.

Don’t place heat source directly under the meat.  Placing coals slightly to the side means fat won’t drip on them.

Place aluminum foil or metal pan between the meat and the coals to catch the dripping fat.

If dripping fat creates a lot of smoke, remove the meat briefly.

Don’t use soft woods (pine chips) or mesquite.  They produce a very high heat.

Hard woods such as Hickory or Maple burn at lower temperatures.

Scrape off charred parts of meat.

--

If you have questions, comments or concerns, FEEL FREE TO COMMENT!...please.

Thanks!

Remember, 

Keep Moving!

Shoulder Packing - #1 Most Important Thing When Exercising Your Arms

So as I walk around the gym, and in various places within Portland, I notice how people have

rounded shoulders.  What this means is that the shoulders pull forward, just a little bit (sometimes a lot depending.  Maybe you notice this about yourself.  Maybe you see, in your peripheral vision, a little more of your shoulders than you should.  Well, there is a simple motion you can practice that will help lengthen and strengthen the appropriate muscles to give you a straight back (and let's face it) a sexy, shoulder look.

Lie supine (on your back).  You can have your legs close to your butt so your knees are up, or you can have them flat on the floor, since this involves mainly the shoulder muscles.  Your arms should be at your sides.  The first move is to tighten your ab muscles by pretending someone is about to punch you.  This will help support your lower back and help prevent further lower back pain (also important for many other exercises).  Next, press your shoulders to the floor and make your shoulder blades flat with the floor.  The last move in this exercise is to depress your shoulders, and this simply means to move them (if you were standing up) down towards your feet/butt.  Hold this for 15 - 20 seconds and repeat 5 - 6 times.

Now you know how to pack your shoulders!  This will hopefully help train your body to do this whenever you have to pick up something heavy, but you should also try to remember to do this whenever you do arm exercises like a chest press, shoulder raise, biceps curl, all of it!  I know it is kind of hard to tell from this picture from ACE Fitness, but this woman is demonstrating shoulder packing, by depressing her shoulders down and squeezing back to make her shoulder blades flat.

If you have any further questions, feel free to leave a question and I am sure to answer!  Take care, and keep moving!

10 Helpful Healthy Snacks When You Get That "OH MY GOD I'M SO HUNGRY I'M GONNA DIE" Feeling

So, if you are like me, and you are human, you probably get hungry all the time.  And at weird hours.  Sure you can be awesome and program yourself like an automaton to eat at specific times of the day and specific meals, but life happens, and food plans don't always work.  The only meal that should work out about the same time of day is breakfast and it should be awesomely healthy.

It doesn't matter what time of day you eat, just so long as your body gets the nutrition and daily caloric values that you need.  If you eat your last snack at midnight, it's okay--it's all about calorie control and not over consumption.  Here are my top 10 filling, easy snack ideas that don't bore my taste buds to death.

A fair warning though, some of them aren't very creative because I value my time, and don't always like to spend hours in the kitchen.  I mean, when I get hungry, I get hungry.

10.  Apples: If you shop for your own groceries, you know there are all kinds of apples out there. Red, Green and Yellow are just the tip of the iceberg.  Under all of the colors you have different variety.  I'm not too big on apples (it's a work in progress), but I am big on nutrition.  Apples are an excellent source of dietary fiber and Vitamin C.  They also contain the essential Omega oils to help organ function, and even a tiny amount of protein.  The most important thing about apples (for me anyway) is that they are very filling and no preparation is required.

9.  Grapefruit:  Grapefruit is one of those fruits you either like it, or you don't.  I trained myself to eat grapefruits by adding a small amount of sugar to the slices after cutting it in quarters, and eventually weaning myself off.  I'm not saying this is for you, but it's a good quick satisfying and full-feeling food.  Plus grapefruit is a good source for calcium.  Who knew?

8.  100 calorie bag popcorn: These are really easy to find, and the perfect snack size.  I even get the kettle corn kind, so I can have a little bit of sweet snack.

7.  Chocolate milk:  Yes, I do believe chocolate milk is a snack.  Plus, if you drink a glass right before you work out, it will give you a little energy boost.  However, I prefer to drink a glass after I work out (not after every workout mind you, then I feel it would be moot).  The various proteins that are found in the milk are really good for muscle recovery and rebuild after a workout.  So, I suppose if you wanted to you could drink a regular glass of milk after a workout, but it wouldn't taste the same as chocolate.  To my knowledge, there isn't an organic powder for chocolate milk out there.  However, I went label hunting to decipher the backs of chocolate milk mix labels and found that Ovaltine is the best out there for you because of what it doesn't have in it.  It was a while ago, so I don't remember what Nesquick and Hershey's had in it, but it wasn't good for you.

6.  Strawberries In Yogurt:  Well, you could do this with any kind of berry; it's really yummy.  I've also been known to put a dab of home made jam in my yogurt.

5.  Bell Peppers:  This is a quick and easy snack that I absolutely love eating raw.  I have a drawerful of those small bell peppers and if I am hungry I will nibble on a few.  They are a great source of minerals, and to me at least they are really sweet.

4.  Deluxe Apples:  I call this snack idea a deluxe apple, mainly because if I have time or whatever, I will dip my apple in a side snack.  Some kind of nut butter would be ideal because you are not only getting vitamins and minerals from the apple, but you will also be getting protein from the nut butter.  If you're allergic to nuts and this sounds like a disastrous idea, then use your favorite yoghurt. (peanut butter, yogurt, etc.)

3.  Quick Yogurt Smoothie: This is for when I am feeling a little bit more ambitious and less pressed for time.  I will throw yoghurt, orange juice, and whatever fruits I have into a blender and it usually turns out delicious.  But if you want to keep it low calorie, you have to be careful what kinds of fruits you use.  Since fruits have a lot of glucose in them naturally, you want to be sort of picky about what you throw in your smoothie.

2.  Carrots and poppyseed dressing: This is probably my favorite, because it is super scrumptious.  Now for those of you who read the labels on dressing, you probably know that Ranch dressing is super high in calories;  over 100 calories per serving!  There are some Poppyseed dressings out there that are crazy high in calories too, but if you get the right brand (Light house I think is what I buy), then it is something super low, like 40 calories per serving, which is about 2Tbsp.  It sounds like a lot of measuring involved, but if you keep your portions small, you get full soon and on a low calorie snack.

1.  Turkey slice on crackers with mustard: This is kind of my guilty pleasure, but I think it works as long as you don't eat too much of it.  So I am in love with the Ritz Vegetable crackers, and they love me too.  I believe it's something like 4 crackers is 90ish calories.  So if you are trying for a 200 calorie or under snack, this works well.  Take 4 crackers, add mustard, and then take a sandwich turkey slice or two and make mini cracker sandwiches.  Like I said, guilty pleasure.


Whether you are looking for something new to try, something old to remember, or some way to fill your belly, hope this helps!

Remember,

Keep Moving!