Gloves and Mittens - A Winter Workout Essential!

Have you dug out your gloves and mittens?  How about treating yourself to a new pair this winter season?  There are many styles to choose from.  Here are two styles carried by our Positive Power Partner Sports Authority:

Chilly temps don't stand a chance against these NIKE® women's Vapor Flash running gloves! Enhanced with wind- and water-resistant fabric on the palm and cuff, they'll keep you going strong in blustery conditions. A touchscreen-compatible thumb and forefinger make it convenient to access your phone, and strategically placed moisture-wicking gussets prevent overheating.

A key factor for me is to make sure my gloves and/or mittens have moisture-wicking properties.  Don't forget that warm cap and socks too!  

Stay active even as the temperature drops with these Gordini® women's Stash Lite Touch mitts. The flexible ripstop shell allows for natural hand movement and has a Hydrowick microdenier lining to stop sweat from lingering next to your skin. The all-natural InSilk™ insulation is hypoallergenic and wonderful at adding extra warmth; the spandex cuff features a stuff pocket so you can easily stash 'em away.

Vegetable Spotlight: Beets!

Beets are a cool season vegetable crop. This root veggie grows quickly and has many different varieties which showcase deep red, yellow or white bulbs of different shapes. They can survive frost and almost freezing temperatures, which makes them a good choice for northern gardeners and an excellent long-season crop.  Don't throw away those green parts of the beet! You can use them in salads or cook them too.  Here are two great recipes I found from Bon Appetit:

Marinated Beets with Pistachios and Taragon - Serves 6

• 1 pound baby yellow or red beets, trimmed, scrubbed
• ½ cup Sherry or red wine vinegar, divided
• 2 tablespoons plus ¼ cup olive oil
• Kosher salt
• 1 medium shallot, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
• ¼ cup raw pistachios, chopped
• 2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh tarragon

Preheat oven to 425°. Combine beets, ¼ cup vinegar, 2 Tbsp. oil, and ¼ cup water in a baking dish; season with salt. Cover with foil and steam until beets are tender, 40–50 minutes. Let cool slightly. Rub off skins with paper towels; cut beets into quarters (or ½” wedges if larger).

Toss beets with shallot, thyme, remaining ¼ cup vinegar, and remaining ¼ cup oil in a large bowl; season with salt. Let sit at least 2 hours.  Toss with pistachios and tarragon just before serving.

Do Ahead: Beets can be marinated 2 days ahead. Cover and chill.

Big Batch Oven Steamed Beets - Serves 4

• 4 pounds red beets, scrubbed, halved if large
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Handful of thyme, 1 sprig rosemary, and/or 2 bay leaves

Preheat oven to 425°. Toss beets with oil in a 13x9” baking dish; season with salt and pepper. Add whatever herb you're using and ¼ cup water. Cover pan tightly with foil (you want steam to build up in there) and roast beets until a paring knife slips easily through flesh, 60–75 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool in covered pan, which will help loosen the skins. Rub off skins with paper towels. 

Do Ahead: Beets can be steamed 3 days ahead. Let cool; cover and chill.

STEP AWAY FROM THE HALLOWEEN CANDY.

It’s Over. Say Goodbye. Get out and MOVE.

You heard me. Put it down. You don’t need that last Milky Way. No seriously, you don’t. Will one more kill you? No. But you don’t need it. Step away. Throw it away. Like deep down in the trash so you aren’t tempted to dig it out later in a moment of weakness. Is it in there? Deep down? Good. Now get out of the house and go for a walk. Crisis adverted.

You’re welcome.

I think we can officially welcome Autumn at this point since it doesn’t appear it will hit 90 degrees again in the coming weeks. So welcome beautiful cool, crisp, air. Bright, deep, gorgeous fall colors, and every holiday that center’s around eating. We here at Mama Bootcamp welcome you with open arms. (notice I did not say open mouths?) but open arms yes, because it is the most wonderful time of the year!

While coined ‘the most wonderful time of the year’, this can also be the time of year that you start to lose your mojo, or focus your attention elsewhere. At the end of the day it’s chilly and your couch, fireplace, blankets and comfy sweats are calling your name, or first thing in the morning you just want to sink back under the covers for another hour… and bootcamp doesn’t seem to be top of mind. Treats and temptation is EVERYWHERE and quite frankly, you know you can hide those extra few ‘holiday pounds’ under a warm sweater and bulky jacket.

So you really have to ask yourself, where do you want to be on January 1st? Do you want to be ‘starting over’? Do you want to be ‘losing those holiday pounds you packed on’? Do you want to be ‘motivated because it’s a new year’?  Or, do you want to be slipping into January after a great end of the year? Full of sweat, muscle and good choices? I plan to do the last option. I don’t want to start over in January. I don’t want to give up just because it’s the holidays and it’s cold. I don’t want to lose my mojo and replace it with chocolate, sugar and alcohol.

So here is my plan for getting through the next three glorious months unscathed, and coming out on the other side a little bit lighter, happier and filled with positive juju. You are welcome to join me! In fact, please do!

1.       I will get to at least three bootcamps each week.

2.       I will get my additional cardio in. The crisp, clean, cool air is calling my name for daily walks and runs.

3.       I will fill my fridge with colorful fruits and veggies of the season. It’s apple season! Do you know how much you can do with apples? YUM.

4.       I will not give up on myself or my goals just because the calendar says ‘tis the season for naughty food’.

5.       I will not beat myself up if I give into temptation. I understand that a healthy lifestyle is a one day at a time process. One off meal, is not going to kill me. So I will be kind to me, if I get off track. But then I will get right back on.

6.       I will do my best to make the most healthy choices for myself 98% of the time (I like to give 2% to wiggle).

7.       I will bring healthy snacks to work to ward off the breakroom temptation.

8.       I will hide my kid's Halloween candy from MYSELF.

9.       I will volunteer to bring the fruit salad and veggie trays to all holiday gatherings so I know there will be food there I can indulge in.

10.   I will continue to be grateful for my health and my ability to get out of bed each day and MOVE. There is not greater gift and I won’t take mine for granted.

Are you in? We can do this together! Stay motivated! And remember, no one ever went to bootcamp and then regretted it! See you there!

What Should I Eat? Coach Michelle Herman Shares Great Dinner Ideas!

Last week we dove head first into some delicious and healthy breakfast and lunch options! So you’ve made it through your entire day eating the best you can and now it’s time for dinner! Don’t make the age old mistake of eating well in the daylight and blowing your entire day when the sun sets!

The key to a healthy dinner is to make sure you PREPARE, PREPARE, PREPARE! Make sure to take into account your weekly dinner meals when you do your weekend grocery trip. For those of you who are like me and don’t see your kitchen between the hours of 7:00 am and 7:00 pm, dinner can be a tricky task to tackle. I have rediscovered my love of crock potting lately and with the weather finally feeling like fall, it’s a great time to jump on the crock pot bandwagon! Hot, healthy, delicious smelling food is ready to eat whenever you are! There are MILLIONS of recipes out there.  Here are some of my favorite links:

Low-calorie slow cooker meals that make mealtime quick, easy, and guilt-free. Check these beauties out at www.skinnyms.com, or click on the picture above. 

46 great slow cooker recipes under 300 calories!  With 300 calories or less, these light entrees deliver the kind of deep, rich flavors that come from cooking low and slow.  Check them out at www.myrecipes.com, or click on the picture above.

Cooking Light's escape on a chilly evening? The slow cooker. Come home to your favorite main dishes, sides, appetizers, and drinks that are sure to soothe your family with the simple joys of comfort food. More info at www.cookinglight.com, or click on the picture above.

Slender Kitchen has this great Chorizo Spiced Pulled Pork recipe.  Yum!  Check it out at www.slenderkitchen.com, or click on the picture above.

When we have more time in the kitchen, we normally stick to a lean protein, an oven roasted or grilled veggie and some sort of grain like couscous or quinoa. Salmon is one of my favorite dinner items, it is SO easy to cook in the oven. You can wrap it in foil with some lemon and have a delicious super healthy main dish quickly. Broccoli, brussel sprouts (try the prepacked shaved brussel’s!) and asparagus are all staple veggie sides in my house. You can prepare them all the same way, with a bit of lemon juice, some parmesan cheese and an additional seasoning of your choice sprinkled on top (lemon pepper, creole season, McCormick veggie seasoning, etc). Cook in the oven for 15-20 minutes on about 425. Our other go-to side, butternut squash. Shake it up in a bag with some cinnamon and brown sugar and olive oil, heat in the oven at 425 for about 20 minutes.  It’s perfection. Not even sure how it’s considered a veggie, it’s so good and sweet! We also love to do BBQ dinners with some chicken and corn on the grill or my favorite grilled veggie combo, mushrooms, asparagus, zucchini and yellow squash with lemon!

The dinner possibilities are endless. These protein packed, high fiber dinner options will leave your feeling full and satisfied without packing on the calories!

Happy eating! 

What Should I Eat? Coach Michelle Herman Shares Her Favorites.

You work out SO hard at Bootcamp. You are taking all of the right steps to create a healthier you! How you fuel your body is just as important as how you exercise it! We talk about eating our whole foods often...those are our daily snacks. Our "Grab and Go's" with hummus, hard boiled eggs, oatmeal, fruit, peanut butter, nuts, quinoa, lean meats, yogurt, cottage cheese, etc., etc., but what do you eat for your meals? Here are a few of my favorite recipes that keep me satisfied and offer a big nutritional bang, without adding too many calories. We will do breakfast and lunch today and dinner next week! 

Breakfast ideas:

Oatmeal: you can do A LOT with oatmeal. Take ½ cup of oats, add water (or milk if you want more protein and calcium) and add your favorite fruit. Banana (with a pinch of brown sugar), blueberry or apricots are my personal favorites to add to oatmeal. You can also add in some nuts like walnuts or almonds and some seeds like chia or pumpkin seeds. The ½ of cup of oatmeal will cook up to make a BIG filling bowl of oatmeal for not a whole lot of calories!

     Coach Michelle Herman

Another great go-to breakfast is the green smoothie! Safeway now sells Juicing Greens- for $5.  It’s a huge box of baby kale and spinach. Throw a huge handful into your blender with some water and ice and fruit of your choice. Banana’s make smoothies extra creamy. You can also add Greek yogurt for a different consistency. You can add your favorite protein powder or flaxseeds- the skies the limit with your green smoothie!

Lunch ideas:

I am a BIG fan of BIG salads for lunch. This is how I get the bulk of my veggies for the day and I always add some protein, like chicken or turkey or tofu to get me extra full. While it’s always healthiest to make your own salad dressings, time doesn’t always permit. I have found some of my favorite healthier salad dressings at Trader Joes. Here are a few of my favorite salads:

Spinach, apple, dried cranberries, chicken, gorgonzola crumbles, lowfat Cranberry Walnut Gorgonzola dressing.  Also add to your liking: walnuts, broccoli, beets, slivered almonds, mushrooms and cucumber.

Two more favorites:
Buffalo Chicken Salad:  shredded cabbage, mandarins, broccoli, black beans, low fat blue cheese crumbles, chicken, buffalo sauce.

Spinach, cucumber, tomatoes.  Add cheddar or parmesan cheese and mandarins, broccoli, chicken, slivered almonds, mushrooms and Reduced Fat Parm Ranch dressing.

Butter lettuce, avocado, cherry tomatoes, hard boiled egg, celery, crumbled bacon bits, cucumber, dried cranberries, mushrooms, croutons, low fat blue cheese dressing.

My other favorite lunch is a sandwich! I make them all different ways. I love to do Panini’s with Dijon mustard, peppered turkey, a slice of low fat cheese and thinly sliced apples. I also love cold sandwiches with lots of sprouts piled on. I withhold the cheese on my cold sandwiches and pile on the veggies instead. I find all of the above options really easy and quick to make the night before work.

Quinoa Salad with black beans, mango, cherry tomatoes.

Another great option is a quinoa salad, and you can make a large enough portion over the weekend to last you several meals into the week. My favorite things to toss with quinoa are: black beans, mango, bell peppers, feta cheese, cherry tomatoes and avocado. You can do a quick google search of ‘quinoa salad recipes’ and find your own favorite mix!

Don’t forget to pick up the freshest and best veggies and fruit during your weekly grocery trip! Here is what is in season in October:  Apples, broccoli, cranberries, grapes, lettuce, pomegranate, pumpkin, spinach, sweet potatoes, winter squash.

Happy shopping and happy eating! 

Why Squat?

This month we launch into our SQUAT challenge.  So even on the days that you don’t get a booty kickin' from your coach at Mama Bootcamp, join us and drop a squat! If the burn from the squats haven’t killed you yet (because nobody ever dies from the burn), it’s safe to say  that you’ve felt the after burn on your legs and backside well after you’ve stopped squatting. Besides shaping and molding your tush and legs, squats have a multitude of benefits for your entire body including fighting cellulite and improving posture!  Here are eight quite convincing reasons why you should be doing squats every day!

1. Squat exercises improve your circulation, so that you can forget about the cellulite!

The muscle stretching that you get from doing the squats gets the blood pumping throughout your entire body and improves your overall health. Good circulation means that more nutrients and oxygen is getting to all the vital organs and muscles, throughout your body; and yes, you can say ‘bye, bye’ to cellulite, if you do squats regularly.

2. Squat exercises are even good for the digestion.

Squats help you to remove waste from the body. The muscular action of the squat exercise improves the flow of fluids in your body and eases the passing of waste through your bowels, so it helps to keep you regular too.

3. Squat exercises help build muscles throughout your body.

Even though you are working primarily on your leg muscles, squats also promote muscle growth around your entire body. The exercise is so intense that it creates an anabolic environment and makes the body release hormones that are vital for the growth of muscle tissue; squats improve strength of your upper and lower body.

4. You can do squat exercises anywhere and you don’t need any accessories or equipment.

You don’t need a gym or any equipment, so this extremely effective exercise can be done pretty much anywhere. You can do squats in the privacy of your own home or you can do a squat mini-work out in the park when you walk your dog.

5. You will walk like a beauty queen!

Benefits of squats also include improved posture. Squats are a great way not only to improve your posture, but also build better balance. The balance that you need to do them will help to sit, stand and walk tall and straight, just like a beauty queen; and it will also strengthen your back muscles and help to avoid the back pain caused by sitting in a chair for too long.

6. Squat exercises burn fat and can help you to lose weight.

As well as toning muscles, squats burn calories too. As you tone and build your muscles, you are burning more and more calories, so squats make a superb general work out for health and weight loss, as well as being a specific muscle toning exercise.

7. Squats help keep your knees supple and strong, improving your flexibility and preventing injury.

The bending and stretching of your knees will strengthen your knee muscles and allow more oxygen and blood to flow around the joints, thus helping to keep them supple and strong.

8. Squats exercises tone your whole leg and round your tush.

One of the greatest benefits of squats is that squat exercises tone your whole leg.  You use every single muscle in your leg, when you perform a squat. The act of keeping yourself balanced and upright will give your entire leg a workout, all in one go! Squats tone your butt, of course! Benefits of squats wouldn’t be complete without including a butt toning in our list. Squats can firm up your buttocks in no time at all, without placing any undue train on your back. So, if you want a rear to be proud of, squat!

So, after reading about how much GOOD squats can do for YOU, will you join us in this 30 day squat challenge? Even if you can’t make it to Bootcamp, find 12 minutes in your day to stop, drop and SQUAT! Your entire body will thank you for it!