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tuna steak and cauliflower rice with veggies
In What We Eat

Tuna Steak and Veggies

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My husband seasoned Ahi tuna steaks with Bragg  Liquid Aminos (a soy sauce alternative), a hint of ginger,  a dash of Himalayan sea salt, and ground pepper.  Like with any fresh fish, you want to rinse and pat dry with a paper towel prior to seasoning. He cooked them on the grill at about 500 degrees for two minutes each side on a grill mat(see below).  They were perfect! While a bag of cauliflower rice was cooking in the microwave, I sautéed about 10 stalks of asparagus, half a red pepper, a small sweet onion, and half a small head of cabbage in a large frying pan. I seasoned it with a touch of olive oil, Nature’s Seasons, 1 tablespoon of ground flaxseed, and a touch of Himalayan sea salt.  I mixed the rice and veggies together, and it was delicious, too! Great easy meal! Enjoy!

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In How We Move

Arm Day

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This workout will be the same Tabata style as Leg Day. As with any workout, you should do a quick warm-up before getting starting. Click here for our warm-up video. In Arm Day, you will do one exercise for 45 seconds then take a 15-second rest then repeat three more times before moving onto the next exercise. Arm Day can be done with no equipment, but it may be more beneficial if you have some type of weight, whether it be two water bottles, a dumbbell, or even a jug of laundry soap and a step or chair. You will repeat each exercise for 4 minutes before moving on to the next one.  For example, do push-ups for 45 seconds, rest for 15, do push-ups again for another 45 seconds and rest, repeat two more minutes. Then move on to the next movement.

Movements:

  • push-ups (on your knees)
  • bicep curls with push press with light weight
  • tricep dips on a step or chair
  • plank shoulder taps

Modifications: Besides modifying the movements as directed below and in this video, you can also modify the time as well as the number of rounds you do for each exercise. For example, instead of doing each exercise four times, you can do it twice. Or if you need more, you can repeat the entire workout for 32-minutes. Or if you would like you can do Leg Day and Arm Day for a full-body 32-minute workout.

For the beginner

  • push-ups=against the wall
  • bicep curls with push press= no weight but squeeze and hold the curls for 3 seconds and push overhead for another 3 seconds, repeat
  • tricep dips=on the ground, legs closer to your bottom
  • plank shoulder taps=hold a plank for as long as you can each minute instead of tapping

To make it more challenging:

  • push-ups=regular push-ups, no knees on floor, bring your chest to floor,
  • bicep curls with push press=use a heavier weight
  • tricep dips=legs straight out, hold a weight
  • plank shoulder taps=plank up/downs

 

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halibut with broccoli and cauliflower
In What We Eat

Halibut, Broccoli and Cauliflower

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Welcome to Friday Fixins! As you read in Eat Better and Move Better, every Friday we will post a meal we enjoy making and eating. The pictures are real and probably aren’t going to win any presentation awards, but the meals are delicious! My husband and I enjoy cooking and eating healthy.  Because he eats out when he is working, we usually try to cook at the house when he is home.  We follow the meal plan of a lean protein, the right carb, and healthy fat at each meal.  We learned this lifestyle plan from Bill Lawrence who owns Bill Lawrence’s Personal Fitness and CrossFit Meadville.

One of the benefits of being a Pilot’s Wife is that when he has a layover in Alaska, he will bring home fresh fish and seafood. Recently, he brought home wild Halibut. He seasoned it with a touch of olive oil, Nature Seasons, and a pinch of parmesan cheese and bread crumbs. Then he placed it on a baking sheet(covered with parchment paper) and baked it in the oven on 400 for 20 minutes. The cooking time may vary depending on the thickness of the fish. We make our broccoli and cauliflower the same way every time 🙂  We usually use a head of cauliflower and three heads of broccoli. We cut it up, mix it in a bowl with olive oil and Nature Seasons, then spread it out on a baking sheet and bake it for 30 minutes at 400 degrees in the oven. We usually stir it up halfway through. The key is to eat a variety of foods and to make that food taste amazing!

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woman on floor stretching with arm overhead
In Fitness and Nutrition

The Warm-Up

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Before any workout, you should try to do a quick warm-up. In this warm-up, you do each movement for about 30 seconds. Go through it once and if you feel you need more then repeat it. The movements are:

  • Frankensteins (kick leg straight out in front of you)
  • High knees
  • Pull knee to your chest for stretch
  • Butt kicks
  • Hamstring stretch
  • Inchworm
  • Lunges
  • Cossack squats side to side
  • Small arm circles (15 seconds forward, 15 seconds backwards)
  • Medium arm circles (15 seconds forward, 15 seconds backwards)
  • Big arm circles (15 seconds forward, 15 seconds backwards)

Stay Strong & Be Inspired, Stacy

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In Fitness and Nutrition

Eat Better and Move Better

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One of our favorite books is by Dr. Greg Wells, called “The Ripple Effect…Sleep Better, Eat Better, Move Better, Think Better.” Although we have been eating relatively healthy for years, we continue to learn how to eat better and move better.

As you read in Life Changes, I started CrossFit in October 2016. At CrossFit Meadville, I learned the importance of food as fuel. I learned how to eat to build muscle and lose weight. I went from 129 pounds and 19.6% body fat to 119 and 15.8% body fat in just 16 weeks. Although my body got smaller, I looked bigger because I was leaner.

blankMy husband and I met while we were at a Boot Camp at a CrossFit gym in Fort Myers. Together, we enjoy working out and eating better in order to feel better. It is more of our lifestyle than a “diet”.   We realize that most of the work for keeping our bodies fit is done in the kitchen. Although I am not a fitness or nutrition expert, I do enjoy learning how to be healthy and many people have asked me what I eat. Therefore, I am creating this Fitness and Nutrition corner to share the meals we eat and some of the movements we do.

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The workouts are meant to be quick (15 minutes or so) and can be modified in reps or weight. Maybe these workouts will motivate you to start a fitness journey. I love CrossFit but you may love running or high-intensity workouts. The important thing is finding something you enjoy doing. It can be walking, running, weightlifting, biking, etc. Find something you can get passionate about and do it often. I will post Weekly Wednesday Workouts. I will also post videos on YouTube that show you each movement and some modifications you can make.

Getting your body moving is key to a happy and healthy lifestyle. According to Dr. Greg Wells, in order to eat better and move better, going for a walk outside for just 15 minutes a day can do wonders for your mind, body, and spirit. But if you really want to make a difference in your overall health, you may want to look at what you are putting into your body. Eating fried and processed food can lead to bloating and lack of motivation. We believe in eating a lean protein, a healthy fat, and the right carb at each meal. We try to eat at home as much as possible, and we try to make good decisions when we are out to eat. We strive for making those good decisions 85-90% of the time.

We learned you have a “window” after you workout of about three hours. Within that window, you want to eat high energy carbs like rice, pasta, quinoa, bananas, oatmeal, potatoes, and bread. Your body needs these carbs to refuel. The rest of the day, you will want to focus on the low energy carbs like veggies and fruit. Lean proteins include turkey, chicken, fish, bison, plain non-fat Greek yogurt, low-fat cottage cheese, tofu, lean beef, seafood, and eggs/egg whites. You want to look for meats with a fat content of 10 grams or less. Healthy fats include avocados, olive oil, flaxseed oil, nuts, nut butters, ground flaxseed, and dark chocolate. Salmon and tuna can be both your fat and protein.

salmon, broccoli and cauliflowerIt may sound a bit complicated but as you sit down for each meal just ask yourself, “Do I have a lean protein?  Do I have a healthy fat?  Do I have a carb?” For example, a meal for dinner would be salmon and 2-3 cups of broccoli and cauliflower made with olive oil and sprinkled with seasoning and ground flaxseed. There are tons of ideas out there. A lot of times, we just get on Ecosia (a search engine you can add to Safari or Chrome…for every search it plants trees!)  and find a recipe we want to try.

The meals I post on Friday Fixin’s are going to be pretty easy and simple. The key is to enjoy the food you eat and to eat a variety of food. We buy the food we want to eat. If you buy chips, donuts, and other snacks, then that is what you will eat. Yes, those foods are delicious but, maybe they shouldn’t be staples in your pantry. We buy wild-caught fish and seafood. We use Nature Seasons on almost everything.  Just remember you won’t be able to keep up with healthy eating if you are eating the same thing over and over and it tastes like cardboard 🙂 So, mix it up! This isn’t a “recipe” blog so the pictures of the meals aren’t going to win any award presentations, but I will do my best to help you with measurements and proportions. A lot of times, we just make it up and throw what we have in the refrigerator into our meals.

Needless to say, I hope you enjoy this Fitness and Nutrition corner, and I hope we can learn from each other to eat better, move better, and get 1% better every day as Dr. Wells suggests.

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