5 Strategies To Eating Healthy On The Road, Or In The Air

Another cross-country flight and yet another day spent eating meals in an airport.

You know that planning your meals is an important part of staying lean and healthy. But, how do you plan when you have lay overs, flight delays, and need to be extra early just to waste time waiting in long lines to be searched by a grumpy TSA Agent.

Here are five strategies to make the most of eating healthy when your days in spent traveling through airports.

#1. Carry and emergency stash. Stock up on a bag of nuts, beef jerky, and a piece of fruit. Pack one of each in your carry-on and then restock in the airport when one or all are gone.

#2. Meat and veggies. In those rare times when you actually get the chance to sit down in an airport restaurant for a meal, skip the burger and fries and order a piece of grilled fish, steak, or chicken with extra veggies.

#3. Be calorie conscious. Most fast-food convenience stores and coffee houses now list their choices on the menus. Look for the lower calorie options and make your choices based around those.

#4. Go easy on the pre-flight, in-flight, and layover booze. Sure a drink may seem like just what is needed after a day of connecting flights, meetings, and yet one more flight home. But, all these extra drinks will wreck havoc on your fitness goals. If you know that your business meeting with customers will most likely result in drinks at some point, then skip the airport booze all together. If they don’t then a drink or two between a connection with your meal isn’t the worst thing.

#5. Drink lots of water. Flying will dehydrate your body and a busy schedule can make it easy to forget to drink some water throughout the day. If you always keep a bottle of water with you there is better chance that you will drink more water.

Keep the above strategies in mind on your next business trip and you won’t have to worry about losing the progress that you’ve worked so hard to gain.

If you’d like more information about fitness coaching click here:

https://pittsburghnorthfitness.leadpages.co/21-day-shape-up-challenge/

Regular Exercise Is Simpler Than You Think

You do not have to spend hours in the gym everyday, or even go to gym at all to stay fit. The following are four simple ways to incorporate exercise into your life.

#1. Walk twenty minutes to thirty minutes most days. Done consistently walking will improve your cardiovascular fitness and help you shed a few pounds. Take it up a notch by carrying a 20-40 pound backpack.

#2. 50 minutes, twice a week. Hitting the gym twice a week for a good total-body workout will reward you will numerous benefits when done consistently ovetime. In a years time this is enough to see a completely different person staring back at you in the mirror.

#3. A daily bodyweight routine. Ten to twenty minutes of the following circuit will keep you fit to be able to tackle all of your daily activities.

  • Push Ups x 25
  • Squats x 25
  • Pull Ups x 5
  • Reverse Lunge x 15 each
  • Front Plank x 60s
  • Jumping Jacks – 25
  • Repeat for as many rounds as possible in 10-20 minutes. Rest as needed.

#4. Reps on the Minute. Some days you only have time for a quick 10-minute workout. That is where the “Reps on the Minute” strategy works great. Pick and exercise, start a timer, and perform a set number of reps. Then rest the remainder of the minute. Continue for 10 rounds.

Here are a few examples:

Kettlebell Swings x 25 reps

Squat and Press x 15 reps

KB Snatch x 10 each arm

Battling Ropes x 40 slams

Regular exercise doesn’t have to take a lot of time, it just has to be consistent

If you’d like more information about fitness coaching click here:

https://pittsburghnorthfitness.leadpages.co/21-day-shape-up-challenge/

Recipe of the Week – Chicken Taco Salad in a Jar

Recipe of the Week – Chicken Taco Salad in a Jar

Prep this recipe in a mason jar and have lunch pre-made for the next day.

Ingredients:

( Serves 4 )

4 whole 12-ounce mason jars

2 whole chicken breasts (grilled or poached)

1 cup black beans (canned)

1 cup corn (canned)

1 cup tomatoes (diced)

1 cup romaine lettuce (chopped)

Creamy Avocado Dressing:

1/4 cup greek yogurt

2 ounce goat cheese (crumbled)

1/4 cup fresh cilantro

1 whole lime (juiced)

1/4 teaspoon cumin

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 whole avocado

1/4 cup water

 

Directions:

  1. To make dressing: Combine greek yogurt, goat cheese, cilantro, lime juice, salt, avocado, and water in a food processor. Puree until mixture is smooth. Set aside.
  2. Using a fork, shred grilled chicken into small pieces.
  3. Assemble each mason jar in the following order:

– First (bottom) layer: 1/4 cup avocado dressing

– Second layer: 1/4 cup corn

– Third layer: 1/4 cup black beans

  • – Fourth layer: 1/4 cup diced tomatoes
  • – Fifth layer: 1/2 cup chicken
  • – Sixth (top) layer: 1/4 cup romaine lettuce
  1. Store in the refrigerator until ready to eat. When ready to serve, dump jar’s content into a bowl, toss, and enjoy!

Source: Recipe Corner original recipe, developed by editor Amanda Patton. http://www.recipecorner.com/chicken-side-salad-recipe_recipes/chicken-taco-salad-jar_recipe

 

If you’d like more information about fitness coaching click here:

https://pittsburghnorthfitness.leadpages.co/21-day-shape-up-challenge/

One Awesome Workout You Can Do Anywhere

Get your week started with this awesome bodyweight workout. No equipment necessary.

  1. Bodyweight Speed Squat
  2. Push-Up
  3. Reverse Lunge

*Reps = 10-1 (10 reps round one, nine reps round two, eight reps round three, and so on down                    to one.)

4. 15 Jumping Jacks after each round

 

Have a great week!

 

If you’d like more information about fitness coaching click here:

https://pittsburghnorthfitness.leadpages.co/21-day-shape-up-challenge/

Athletes Have Off-Seasons, Do You?

Athletes have off-seasons, do you?

The off-season allows the body time to recover. No athlete would ever try to compete and perform at a high level year-round, because this would wear done their body.

While athletes’ have off-seasons, the regular exerciser never does. Instead he or she goes to the gym 3-4 times per week, pushes hard, and expects to see results without ever slowing doing. They then wonder why joints get achy, strength decreases, and body fat occasionally increases.

The body is tired. It has been pushed hard for months on end. Not to mention that this pace has continued through a stressful life event or two, and more weekend hangovers than proud to admit.

Occasionally taking a week or two off from exercise is good for the body. It allows the muscles to get fully rested and recovered and come back stronger. This is especially true when strength plateaus are hit or weight loss stalls. Give the body some time to rest and those plateaus can be then be broken through.

If you have been working out consistently for six months or more you could probably benefit from a week off. Then continue to take a recovery week once every 16-20 weeks. During this week still eat well, maybe get a message, take a few walks, but skip your regular workouts.

Recovery is part of training, but it is the most often neglected part.

If you’d like more information about fitness coaching click here:

https://pittsburghnorthfitness.leadpages.co/21-day-shape-up-challenge/

Recipe of the Week – Asian Noodle Jar

Prep this recipe in a mason and have lunch pre-made for the next day.

Ingredients:

For the salad:

  • 4 ounces soba noodles
  • 1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
  • 1 cup shelled edamame, cooked
  • 2 large carrots, peeled and shredded
  • 4 green onions, thinly sliced
  • 1/2 cup crunchy rice noodles

For the Spicy Peanut Dressing:

  • 2 tablespoons peanut butter
  • 4 teaspoons sambal oelek
  • 4 teaspoons rice vinegar
  • 4 teaspoons soy sauce
  • 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon black sesame seeds

Directions:

  1. In large pot of boiling water, cook noodles according to package instructions. Rinse under cold water and drain.
  2. Meanwhile, make Spicy Peanut Dressing: In a small bowl, whisk together peanut butter, sambal oelek, rice vinegar and soy sauce. While whisking, slowly drizzle in oil until all oil is incorporated. Stir in sesame seeds.
  3. Divide Spicy Peanut Dressing equally among 4 pint-sized mason jars. Divide soba noodles over dressing. Layer remaining ingredients, ending with rice noodles. Top with lids and refrigerate up to 5 days. To serve, pour onto plate or bowl, stir and enjoy.

Recipe Source: http://foxeslovelemons.com/asian-noodle-salad-jars/

If you’d like more information about fitness coaching click here:

https://pittsburghnorthfitness.leadpages.co/21-day-shape-up-challenge/