Best Body Weight Exercise #6...Dolphin Pose!

A dolphin pose is an amazing exercise for the upper body with a specific emphasis on the shoulders. The simplest way to find your dolphin pose is to get into a downward dog position and then drop your elbows (gently!) to the floor. The elbows should be straight down from the shoulders with the forearms and hands flat on the floor. Think about pulling your shoulder blades down your back. To make the position more challenging, simply walk your feet closer to your body so your hips are higher in the air. Hold this position for 30 seconds to one minute. Take a break and try it two more times. Make sure you can breath deeply and take as much time as necessary to recover. Good luck!

Best body weight exercise #5....Hyperextensions!

A hyperextension is an essential exercise for the "core muscles", and the lower back in particular. When performing a hyperextension, it is important not to over extend (ie: bend) backwards. The starting position, if using a ball or a piece of equipment at the gym should be a small bend at the hips. Put your hands behind your head and open the elbows. Keep your neck lined up with your spine. If your shoulders or chest are too tight, you may need to cross your arms in front of your chest to keep your neck in the proper position. When you lift your body, imagine lengthening your spine as opposed to bending your back. You are trying to create more space in the spine while strengthening your low back muscles. Do not leave this exercise out of your routine, especially if you love to work your abs. This will help maintain muscular balance. Try for three sets of ten to twenty. Good luck!

Quick Fix Meals

Effortless Broccoli and Pasta

1 lb. spaghetti

2 lbs. broccoli, washed and cut into 1 inch florets

Garlic oil (see picture below)

4 cloves garlic, thinly cut lenghthwise

½ C. extra virgin olive oil

2 t. salt

1 t. red pepper flakes, opt.

zest of one lemon, opt.

Heat sauté pan for 30 seconds. Add oil immediately followed by garlic, salt, pepper flakes and lemon zest. Allow the garlic to sizzle for about one minute, then turn heat off.

Boil pasta following the box instructions. During the last 4 minutes of cooking time, add prepared broccoli. Drain pasta and broccoli and toss with garlic oil.

I am adding some quick fix meal ideas that you can put together from basic Trader Joe's ingredients.

Carton of Organic Tomato Soup with:

Bag of pre-washed spinach

Canned cannillini or small northern white beans

1/2 C. grated parmesan cheese

Whole Wheat Instant Cous Cous

Dressing: zest and juice of one lemon, ¼ C. extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper

Canned garbanzo beans

½ C. chopped parsley

feta cheese

cherry tomatoes

Store Bought Roast Chicken

Whole wheat pita bread

Blender raita: 1 C. greek yogurt, 1 peeled cucumber, 1 glove garlic. Salt and pepper, blend smooth. Mint if you’ve got it.

Blender hummus: 1 can drained garbanzo beans, 2 T. fresh lemon juice, 1 clove garlic, 1/3 C. hot water and ¼ C. extra virgin olive oil. Blend smooth.

Can of All White Water Packed Tuna

Dressing: 1 minced shallot, 1/3 C. balsamic vinegar, 2 T. extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper.

2 T. capers opt.(I always have capers in my frig.)

Hard boiled eggs: Cover eggs with cold water, bring to boil, cook for 3 minutes. Cool.

Pre-washed, mixed baby greens

Can of Black Beans-Can of Corn-Can of Green Chilis. Heat together

1 cup cherry tomatoes, cut in half

Cotija or feta cheese

Corn tortillas

Canned Turkey Chili (good quality)-Box of Corn Bread Mix

Cabbage salad: ½ head cabbage shredded, 2 carrots peeled and grated, 2 T. mayonnaise, ½ C. greek yogurt, 1 T. honey, agave or sugar, 2 T. white vinegar, 1/2 t. salt. Combine.

Can of Vegetarian Refried Beans

Grated sharp chedder (sharp so that the flavor goes a long way. Try to use a minimal amount of cheese per quesadilla)

Flour tortillas, whole wheat if available

Good quality pre-made salsa

1 avocado, peeled and sliced

Spread beans evenly on one tortilla. Sprinkle with cheese. Sandwich another tortilla on top. Heat on both sides in a dry pan/skillet. Serve with sliced avocado and salsa.

*Can be served open face with a fried egg on top

Dips! Best Body Weight Exercise Number Four!

Dips are a fantastic way to work the triceps. If you are looking to avoid a flapping upper arm, you will want to try dips. Simply sit on a sturdy chair or bench with your hands behind you. Lift your body off the bench and dip it down by bending your elbows. Straighten the arms to come back up. Make sure you feel the work in your upper arms and not your legs. This will assure you are using your triceps. As you straighten your arms, tighten your triceps without locking the elbows. Repeat for twenty reps, three times. Start with this exercise now at least three times per week, and fear not for the next heat wave. You will look smashing in your tank top!

Fennel Rosemary Rubbed Pork Chops with Apples

6 pork chops
4 apples, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch slices


Spice Rub:

3 T. fresh rosemary
2 T. fennel seeds
1 T. good salt


In a mortor and pestle or with a knife, grind/chop all ingredients to a rough sandy texture.

Press spice rub on 6 pork chops. In a large saute pan, brown the pork chops in about 1/4 cup olive oil or butter. Remove to baking sheet and finish in a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes. While the pork chops are roasting, saute the apples for 15 minutes. Serve on pork chops.

Planks!

Best body weight exercise number three: Planks! King of the core! A plank is a basic exercise that will tighten your core muscles. It pulls many other muscle groups into play as well, making it a fantastic body weight exercise. When performing a plank, make sure you pull your abdominal muscles in, and your pelvic muscles up. You want to keep your body as straight as possible and avoid a swayed lower back. Visualize pushing your body away from the floor and tighten your quadriceps to stabilize your legs. The plank can be performed on the elbows or hands, and can be modified by putting down the knees. Try holding for one minute, three times. Have fun getting a tight belly!

Chin ups!

The second body weight exercise is a chin up. I recommend chin ups for women over pull ups. Chin ups are a bit easier to master and don't encourage a wider back. This exercise is effective especially for the back and biceps, but also uses every other muscle in your upper body as a stabilizer. A proper chin up starts by hanging from a bar, pulling the shoulder blades down and together and using the back muscles to pull your weight up. When you first try a chin up, you may need someone to act as a spotter. Your spotter stands right behind you and supports your bent knees and feet. As you pull up, the spotter helps by pushing your knees and feet up. If you are acting as a spotter, make certain you bend your knees and pull in your abs as you lift. Good luck!

Quinoa with Cherries and Almonds

1 1/2 C. quinoa

2 1/4 C. water

Soak quinoa in water for about fifteen minutes. Remove soaking water and add 2 1/4 C. water and 1 t. salt to quinoa. Simmer on low for 25-30 minutes. Cover and let rest for about ten minutes. Spoon into a bowl. Toss with the following ingredients:

1 red onion, diced and sauteed (mix 1 T. curry powder in after sauteed)

1/4 C. olive oil

2 T. balsamic vinegar

1/2 C. dried cherries

3/4 C. toasted slivered almonds

zest and juice of one orange

1 t. salt

Intergrating Whole Grains into your diet

Cooking Grains

Quinoa-1 part quinoa to 1 ½ parts water

Soak quinoa for 15 minutes. Drain and simmer in salted water for 25-30 minutes.Cover and let rest for 10 minutes

Farro-1 part farro to 3 parts water

Soak farro for one hour. Drain and simmer in salted water for 40-50 minutes.

Wheat Berries-1 part berries to 3 parts water

Simmer in salted water for 30-45 minutes.

Barley-1 part barley to 3 parts water.

Hulled, simmer in salted water for 1 ½ hours.

Pearl, (soak for one hour) simmer in salted water for 30-45 minutes.

Brown Rice-1 part rice to 4 parts water

Simmer rice in salted water for 40-50 minutes.

No gym? No problem! Top 8 body weight exercises.

This is the first of eight body weight exercises you can do anywhere. A simple triceps pushup is one of the best exercise you can do for your upper body. By pulling your arms in close to your sides, you save unnecessary strain on your shoulders. Targeted muscles include: chest and triceps, but the rest of your body comes into play as a stabilizer. This makes the pushup beneficial for the entire upper body. If you arch your lower back when performing the pushup on your toes, drop to your knees and do it that way. Practice a few at a time and take a break when you start to lose proper form. Try to work your way up to 3 sets of 10. Good luck!

Adventure Race...Fail!

After a rather small amount of deliberation, my team and I decided I was not technically ready to tackle the mountains of Lake Tahoe on my old mountain bike. We all agreed that my lack of experience might actually present a dangerous situation. Since I am the mother of two, head injuries caused by crashing down a mountain are not something that fit easily into my life. So, while it is difficult for me to admit, this one is a fail.

Should I stop exercising and throw in the towel because this didn't give me the result I was hoping for? NO! Time to set a more realistic goal. When I am finished swallowing my pride, I will let you know what that will be.

In the meantime, a good friend of mine, who happens to be a stellar runner, shared some information with me. The LA running club meets in Santa Monica for interval training runs. Check them out on larunnningclub.com. Another great resource is the latriclub.com. They meet for bike rides, runs, and ocean swims. It's a wonderful way to meet other people with healthy habits.

Deconstruct Your Meals

If you like me have many different appetites to please in any single meal, I would suggest adopting my concept of a deconstructed family meal. Otherwise, things in my house become too complicated. This is not always possible or necessary, but I like to keep most of the dinner elements separate. For instance, in this particular meal I have Cuban style black beans, rice, corn, smoky lime grilled chicken, grated cheese, salsa, & corn tortillas. Okay, I like beans, chicken, corn, salsa & tortillas. Pearl & Dave like the works. Ellis likes beans with cheese melted on top, chicken, & corn tortillas. June will eat cheese quesadillas with the corn tortillas and cheese, beans & rice on the side. This may seem complicated but it really serves multiple purposes. First, everyone is happily fed. Second, all the leftovers are lunch ready, and I truly believe that by involving your kids in the food “they” put together, it creates a healthy relationship with food. We seem to have avoided the dinner table battles at my house that I feel leave a negative connection to food and simultaneously avoided building the black and white mindset of healthy versus unhealthy. If you have a child who only eats white rice, buy the best organic white rice and let he or she choose different things to flavor the rice. This will eliminate the unnecessary pressure, and most likely the child will evolve and start to experiment with new foods. Don’t get into the bad habit of giving your child prepackaged frozen foods because you feel this is your only option and better than nothing. This is not the way to develope life long good eating habits. Cheers, Carol

Most Delicious Cuban Style Black Beans

2 lb. black beans

1 large red pepper, roasted and peeled

2 white onions, peeled and cut into quarters

3 cloves garlic, peeled

2 t. Mexican oregano

2 t. ground cumin

2 T. cider or white vinegar

Cover black beans with cold water and soak over night. In a large pot cover black beans with fresh water 4 inched above beans. Simmer for one hour. Add sofrito and continue to simmer for about one more hour or until tender. Add salt to taste.

Sofrito: Blend together pepper, onion, garlic, oregano, cumin and vinegar until smooth. If needed add ¼ cup of water to blend smooth. If you like spicy, try adding a tablespoon of chipoltle in adobo (canned).

This recipe makes a lot of black beans so you will definitely have some for your next meal, maybe two.

Smokey Lime Chicken

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

*Marinade:

zest and juice of 5 limes

3 T. Spanish paprika (smoked)

1/3 cup olive oil

2 t. salt

4 cloves garlic, smashed

Marinate chicken for about 1 hour. Grill about 12 minutes per thickest inch. For example: if the chicken is one inch thick grill six minutes per side. Let rest five minutes before slicing. This chicken is great in a salad and/or cold for lunch the next day.

Adventure Race....update a day late!

First, let me bow down to all of you who mountain bike in the actual mountains! There is a very big difference between being strong enough to tackle an outdoor trail and being brave enough for that trail. I was officially humbled during my ride on Thursday in Malibu. While I only actually fell once during my ride, I came very close to hitting the dirt about five hundred times. I did learn some important lessons about technique, but also discovered my old mountain bike is not even close to being the proper equipment necessary for an adventure race. I will work on the bike issue and keep you posted. In the meantime, my advice for sore muscles and back tightness (I know the problem from personal experience) is to use a foam roller, or take a gentle yoga class. Wish me luck. Time is tight, so we'll see what I can do about the bike!

Super Easy Dinner

Blender pesto with organic frozen peas

2 cups fresh basil leaves

1/2 cup pine nuts or walnuts, Toast in a 350 degree oven for 5 minutes

2 cloves garlic

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 pound penne pasta (wholewheat or traditional)

Combine all the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Cook penne according to directions on box. In the last two minutes of pasta cooking time, add frozen peas to pasta and continue to cook for two minutes. Drain the pasta leaving it wet with the cooking liquid. Stir vigously with pesto. Enjoy! Good cold for lunch the next day.

Adventure Race!

In a previous posting, I talked about setting a fitness goal and then designing your workout program toward achieving that goal. I am putting my money where my mouth is, and training for an adventure race. The race takes place in Lake Tahoe on September 18th. It consists of mountain biking, trail running, kayaking and orienteering. Since my job is built around exercise, I am already semi prepared for the race. In the next few blogs, I will keep you all posted on what I do to tweak my training. This Thursday, I plan to dust off my old mountain bike and head for the hills for a trail ride. I teach spinning, so my legs are strong, but there are no rocks in the road on a spin bike. Cross your fingers for my safety and I will report back on Friday.

A good start

Interval training is the big rage in fitness today. It's for good reason. It challenges the muscles and the cardiovascular system and keeps our brain engaged as well. It can be applied to many different forms of exercise. One example is running. Here is an interval training program. If running on a track, warm up with light jogging for 5-8 minutes. Run one lap hard, then jog one lap. Run two laps hard, then jog one. Run three laps hard, then jog one. Repeat the process. Finish with a light jog to cool down or perhaps, add one round of walking lunges. Walking lunges are a muscle strengthener for the entire leg. You want to take long strides, making sure the back knee bends in the lunge and the front knee stays over the heel, not the toes. Press the weight of your step into the heel of your front foot to minimize the pressure on the front knee.

Any questions?

Simple Changes You Can Make Today

1. Incorporate whole grains into your diet. Many recipes to come.

2. Always buy organic, local and seasonal when possible. See dirty dozen post.

3. Use pure extra virgin olive oil. Enjoy small amounts of real butter.

4. Cook most of the food you consume. This does not include store bought frozen food. This will need to become a new habit that will make you not only healthier but will save you a lot of money. Many ideas and recipes to follow.

5. Steer clear of high fructose corn syrup. It’s bad for you!

6. Limit your consumption of animal fats.

7. You know, eat lots of fruits and vegetables.

8. Just accept it, to feel good you must exercise.

Dirty Dozen

12 Most Contaminated ▪ Peaches ▪ Apples ▪ Sweet Bell Peppers ▪ Celery ▪ Nectarines ▪ Strawberries ▪ Cherries ▪ Pears ▪ Grapes (Imported) ▪ Spinach ▪ Lettuce ▪ Potatoes 12 Least Contaminated ▪ Onions ▪ Avocado ▪ Sweet Corn (Frozen) ▪ Pineapples ▪ Mango ▪ Asparagus ▪ Sweet Peas (Frozen) ▪ Kiwi Fruit ▪ Bananas ▪ Cabbage ▪ Broccoli ▪ Papaya

Baby Steps

The first steps to adding exercise into your life should be small.  It is important to set a realistic goal.  Start by trying a new class or signing up to run a 5K and design your workouts toward achieving that goal.  It is our hope to help our readers live a healthy life through real food and realistic exercise.  Check our blog for new recipes and exercise ideas.  Let us know your goals and we will help you reach them!

Turkey Meatloaf with Homemade Ketchup

Turkey Meatloaf

Makes two loaves, one for the freezer

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 onions, diced

3 T. olive oil

4 lb. ground turkey or chicken

2 t. fresh thyme

1/3 C. Worcestershire sauce

3 T. Dijon mustard

1 C. breadcrumbs

½ C. low fat milk

1 egg

1 egg white

2 t. salt

½ C. ketchup (homemade or store bought)

Sauté onion in olive oil until soft. Add garlic and continue to cook 30 seconds. Cool.

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and mix thoroughly. Shape meat mixture into two lightly oiled loaf pans. Bake at 300 for 1 & ½ hours.

Homemade Ketchup

1 onion, diced

3 T. olive oil

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 T. fresh grated ginger

1 28 oz. can diced tomatoes

1 C. agave or brown sugar

½ C. cider or white wine vinegar

1 t. salt

Sauté onion in oil until soft (about 10 minutes). Add remaining ingredients to onion. Simmer for one hour.

Olive Oil Mashed Potatoes

3 lb. red potatoes, cut in half

1/3 C. olive oil

2 t. salt

½ t. pepper

In a large, non-reactive pot, cover cut potatoes with cold water. Boil potatoes until soft. Drain and mash then add oil salt and pepper.

Tomato Corn bean salad

• 

Vinaigrette

1 shallot, thinly sliced lengthwise

1/4 C. red, white or champagne vinegar

½ C. olive oil

1 t. salt

Pepper

In a small bowl, soak shallot in vinegar for at least ten minutes. Add oil, salt & pepper.

4 ears fresh corn

1 lb. green beans

1 small basket tomatoes

Small bunch basil, roughly chopped

Blanch (boil) corn in salted water for five minutes, then shock (put into ice water). Blanch and shock beans until tender (about 4 minutes). Cut tomatoes in half.

Toss the corn, beans, tomatoes & basil with vinaigrette and plate.

Quick Summer Breakfast On The Go

1/2 sprouted whole grain bagel (Trader Joe's)
1 T. cream cheese
1/4  avocado, sliced
1 tomato, sliced (this one is homegrown)
Salt & Pepper