Shelton Personal Training Studio Shares Healthier Super Bowl Recipes To Cut Thousands of Calories Come Kickoff
With Super Bowl Sunday just three days away, the time is now to start prepping for the smorgasbord of goodies for your football party. However, why not make a couple tweaks to some of your favorite party food recipes to make them healthier and more figure-friendly come kickoff?
The following is a comprehensive list of both approved food choices and/or healthier substitutes for traditional party foods. This list can be used to satisfy your taste buds while saving at least hundreds if not thousands of calories in the process. If you use these strategies consistently for parties and social gatherings over the course of the year, this could easily prevent 5-10 lbs of fat gain!
Pre-Game Appetizers
· Sandwiches (preferably bun-less, only use whole grain bun option if absolutely needed)
· Thin Crust Whole Grain Pizza
· Fruit Salad (throw low carb whipped cream and dash of splenda on top as desired)
· Super Salad Bowl (use unlimited veggies and meats, dip dressing on the side or use low calorie substitutes)
· Sweet Potato Fries
· Tuna or Chicken Salad
· Nut Butter on Celery Sticks
· Mixed Nuts (no sugar, unroasted, low in salt)
· Cheese, Eggs, and Meat Tray
· Caprese Salad
· Raw Veggies (use dip sparingly)
· Grilled/Sauteed Veggies (use extra virgin olive or coconut oil)
· Figure-Friendly Nachos (see “accessories” below for ingredients: tortillas, cheese, salsa, and guac)
· Buffalo Chicken Bites (skinless, no breading, use low calorie buffalo sauce sparingly)
· Pasta Salad (use whole grain pasta and go easy on the dressings, choosing marina based sauces over creamier versions)
Time Out Accessories
· Natural Whole Grain Tortillas
· Natural Baked Chips
· Natural Cheetos
· Diet Lipton Green Teas (or other low calorie/carb beverages)
· Water
· Natural Salsa
· Guacamole
· Salad Dressings: Vinegars of choice (apple cider, red wine, balsamic, etc.)
· Other Low Calorie Condiments of Choice: mustard, hot sauce, horseradish, etc.
Touchdown Dishes
· Veggie Burgers (use whole grain buns)
· Rotisserie Chicken (choose “plain” and remove skin and dab off any grease as needed with paper towel)
· Extra Lean Kosher Hot Dogs (preferably bun-less, only use whole grain bun option if absolutely needed)
· Chili (preferably bean-less, only use if absolutely needed and feel free to swap extra lean turkey for the beef version to cut down fat intake)
· Pizza (tons of healthy options here ranging from whole grain crusts, turkey pepperoni, and frozen veggies)
Overtime Desserts
· Edy’s Grand Light Ice Cream
· Larabars
· Low Carb Cheesecake from Cheesecake Factory
· Protein Cookies, muffins, brownies (swap in protein powder for flour)
Top 10 Tips to Save Thousands of Calories on Super Bowl Sunday
1.) Go Naked: Replace all buns or breading for sandwiches with a lettuce wrap alternative to cut calories, stabilize blood sugar, and boost fiber and micronutrient intake.
2.) Stay Hydrated: Drink at least two to four cups of water before eating AND one to two cups every 15-30 minutes after you start eating to fill your stomach and prevent overeating that can be triggers by dehydration.
3.) Eliminate Empty Liquid Calories: Minimize or eliminate all fruit juices, regular sodas, and alcohol (as best you can!! J) Opt for water, tea, or low calorie/carb beverages in moderation to leave more room for whole food choices that have more nutritional value and better fill you up.
4.) Do not fast in preparation for a feast as it will turn your body into a famished fat-storing machine the next time you eat (how many times have you done that?) The resulting low blood sugar levels that come from not eating for four hours or more make you crave junk foods high in both fat and refined sugars.
5.) Replace All White with Brown (Or Better Yet... Green!): Be sure to use the whole grain alternatives for any starch you serve at your party (e.g. chips, tortillas, breads, rice, pasta). Whole grains have more vitamins and minerals and are high in fiber which means they won’t have as negative of an impact on your blood sugar compared to its white counterparts. However, if you want to be a nutritional boy or girl scout, go one step further by replacing all brown with green in the form of green veggies (see “Go Naked” above).
6.) Focus on eating lean proteins and fruits and veggies first, it will make a difference. Use these in unlimited amounts as needed to fill you up and best prevent the typical party “killshot” of high carb and high fat meals (e.g. thick crust pizza with extra full-fat cheese).
7.) Use smaller plates to put your food on while limiting yourself to a pre-set plate total (e.g. four plate maximum during a three-hour football game).
8.) Replace Gold With Green: Opt for guacamole over cheese for your salads and chips. Guacamole is not only low in saturated fat and high in heart healthy monounsaturated fats but it also has a ton of fiber that will help fill you up fast and prevent overeating. Though cheese is a true super food in moderation, it is very easy to overeat especially when mixed with refined carb sources like white chips and pizza.
9.) Replace Flour with Protein Powder: Not many people know that protein powder makes a great cooking or baking substitute for flour (e.g. protein cookies). By adding protein and reducing carb intake you will boost metabolism.
10.) Exercise Sunday morning. Need we say more?
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Did You Know This Is The Best Lower Body Exercise Ever?
Shelton Personal Training Studio Reveals the Best Lower Body Exercise Ever.
As personal fitness trainers, we get a lot of questions regarding “What exercises are best for my legs?” Specifically, the butt and thighs, tend to be one of the most common areas of concern on the lower body. Today we are going to share our personal favorite lower body exercise and all of its awesome variations. It’s called the Bulgarian Split Squat. This exercise is so effective that you’ll pretty much make your body thunder-thigh proof once you master it!
Before we get into this, one thing we definitely don’t want to do is feed into the idea of individual body part training and spot reduction on certain areas of the body. As you should know by now we are firm believers in total body training, meaning that we train the upper body, lower body, and core during every single workout. By training the whole body at once we maximally stimulate lean muscle gain and metabolism and promote total body fat burning in order to effectively eliminate the body fat that is hiding in those areas that people are having trouble seeing. Yep the stubborn fat areas that prevent a good body from becoming a great body. Plus, a diet high in lean protein, fiber, and green veggies and low in unnatural fats and refined sugars and starches is of course a pre-requisite if you want to see your muscles show up in a good way. It is also important to know that you lose fat in a genetically predetermined way. You can do all the crunches you want but without total body training, proper eating habits, and enough time to get to those stubborn fat areas you will never see your abs, lose those jiggly arms, or get rid of that junk in the trunk.
Moving onto the main event: we revealed above the world’s greatest lower body exercise. Our favorite leg exercises are any sort of lunge variation because we prefer single leg exercise in lieu of their double leg counterparts for a lot of reasons. For people with back issues, single leg exercises allow them to safely perform lower body exercises without putting their lower lumbar spine in jeopardy of hyper flexion or excessive rounding that can cause back spasms in the short run and herniated discs in the long run. Furthermore, we feel there’s often such a strength and/or flexibility imbalance between one leg and the other for most people that it’s critical to address one leg at a time to really shore up the weak links from the start.
Our favorite single leg lunge variation is the Bulgarian Split Squat. Here is how you perform it. Basically we’re going to elevate the back foot on a bench, box, or any other sturdy foot support, usually about 12-18 inches high. You’ll put your front leg well in front of you in order to make sure that your front knee and ankle are lined up. In general, we tell people to exaggerate how far you put your front leg forward so that the front knee is almost slightly behind the ankle as this really helps reduce sheer force on the knees. Initiate the exercise by loading the front heel and dropping your hips as low as you can in a pain-free range of motion while staying really tall up top with a proud chest and shoulders down and back. Finish the rep by explosively driving through your front heel to return to the top of the movement. You can start with body weight only to ensure the front thigh is parallel to the floor or lower depth and then progress by adding speed of movement, jumping, or by adding dumbbells. You can even incorporate some very cool combination movements with this lower body exercise like adding a curl to press at the top of the movement or doing a single arm shoulder press to really challenge your core and single-leg balance and stability.
We have yet to find an exercise that hits the legs as hard as this baby does. In particular, it really helps strengthen your vastus medialis muscle, that inner quad muscle that looks like a teardrop, that’s heavily responsible for tracking your patella and keeping your knee caps in line. So if you have a history of overtraining or patella-femoral issues this exercise is phenomenal for keeping your knees as bulletproof as possible.
The Bulgarian Split Squat also provides a very good stretch for the hip flexor of your back leg, an area that is often very tight, especially for guys. Any exercise that allows you to simultaneously stretch and strengthen your body is priceless. Don’t waste another moment with the useless inner-outer thigh machine and get off your but and crank it with the world’s best lower body exercise today!
As personal fitness trainers, we get a lot of questions regarding “What exercises are best for my legs?” Specifically, the butt and thighs, tend to be one of the most common areas of concern on the lower body. Today we are going to share our personal favorite lower body exercise and all of its awesome variations. It’s called the Bulgarian Split Squat. This exercise is so effective that you’ll pretty much make your body thunder-thigh proof once you master it!
Before we get into this, one thing we definitely don’t want to do is feed into the idea of individual body part training and spot reduction on certain areas of the body. As you should know by now we are firm believers in total body training, meaning that we train the upper body, lower body, and core during every single workout. By training the whole body at once we maximally stimulate lean muscle gain and metabolism and promote total body fat burning in order to effectively eliminate the body fat that is hiding in those areas that people are having trouble seeing. Yep the stubborn fat areas that prevent a good body from becoming a great body. Plus, a diet high in lean protein, fiber, and green veggies and low in unnatural fats and refined sugars and starches is of course a pre-requisite if you want to see your muscles show up in a good way. It is also important to know that you lose fat in a genetically predetermined way. You can do all the crunches you want but without total body training, proper eating habits, and enough time to get to those stubborn fat areas you will never see your abs, lose those jiggly arms, or get rid of that junk in the trunk.
Moving onto the main event: we revealed above the world’s greatest lower body exercise. Our favorite leg exercises are any sort of lunge variation because we prefer single leg exercise in lieu of their double leg counterparts for a lot of reasons. For people with back issues, single leg exercises allow them to safely perform lower body exercises without putting their lower lumbar spine in jeopardy of hyper flexion or excessive rounding that can cause back spasms in the short run and herniated discs in the long run. Furthermore, we feel there’s often such a strength and/or flexibility imbalance between one leg and the other for most people that it’s critical to address one leg at a time to really shore up the weak links from the start.
Our favorite single leg lunge variation is the Bulgarian Split Squat. Here is how you perform it. Basically we’re going to elevate the back foot on a bench, box, or any other sturdy foot support, usually about 12-18 inches high. You’ll put your front leg well in front of you in order to make sure that your front knee and ankle are lined up. In general, we tell people to exaggerate how far you put your front leg forward so that the front knee is almost slightly behind the ankle as this really helps reduce sheer force on the knees. Initiate the exercise by loading the front heel and dropping your hips as low as you can in a pain-free range of motion while staying really tall up top with a proud chest and shoulders down and back. Finish the rep by explosively driving through your front heel to return to the top of the movement. You can start with body weight only to ensure the front thigh is parallel to the floor or lower depth and then progress by adding speed of movement, jumping, or by adding dumbbells. You can even incorporate some very cool combination movements with this lower body exercise like adding a curl to press at the top of the movement or doing a single arm shoulder press to really challenge your core and single-leg balance and stability.
We have yet to find an exercise that hits the legs as hard as this baby does. In particular, it really helps strengthen your vastus medialis muscle, that inner quad muscle that looks like a teardrop, that’s heavily responsible for tracking your patella and keeping your knee caps in line. So if you have a history of overtraining or patella-femoral issues this exercise is phenomenal for keeping your knees as bulletproof as possible.
The Bulgarian Split Squat also provides a very good stretch for the hip flexor of your back leg, an area that is often very tight, especially for guys. Any exercise that allows you to simultaneously stretch and strengthen your body is priceless. Don’t waste another moment with the useless inner-outer thigh machine and get off your but and crank it with the world’s best lower body exercise today!
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