Let's Eat... Clean!

Keywords: clean eating, healthy, fitness, nutrition, food prep, healthy recipes

There is a huge misconception out there that eating healthy is boring.

“Healthy food is gross.”

“Healthy food is so bland.”

“Healthy food is so unsatisfying.”

I’ve heard it all. With this blog post, I hope to change your mind. I’m going to share some of my favorite healthy recipes.

Below are recipes that you can prepare, store and eat throughout the week.

Hemp seed turkey bites

These are my absolute favorite! You can use turkey or chicken breast. I make it every week!

Ingredients:

• 2 pound lean turkey breast 
• ¾ cup hemp seeds
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• Pepper to taste
• Mrs. Dash original seasoning (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cut the turkey breast into bite-size cubes.
3. Put cubed turkey in a large Ziploc bag with hemp seeds, salt, pepper and seasoning. Shake until the turkey is well coated.
4. Spray a cookie sheet with olive oil cooking spray. Spread the turkey bites out evenly on the cookie sheet.
5. Bake for 15-20 minutes.

Tomato soup made in the blender

Ingredients:

• ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 diced onion
• 1-2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 2 cans organic diced tomatoes (do not drain)
• ½ cup chopped almonds
• ½ cup almond milk
• ½ cup fresh basil (de-stemmed)
• ½ of your hemp seed turkey bites (optional)

Directions:

1. Heat the olive oil, onion and garlic in a large skillet over medium heat for 5-10 minutes. Stir frequently until the onion is soft and translucent.
2. Reduce the heat to low. Add in the tomatoes and almonds.
3. Heat for 30 minutes, stir occasionally.
4. Remove the tomato mixture from the heat and transfer it to the blender using a ladle.
5. Add the basil and almond milk. Cover and puree until you have a smooth mixture.
6. Optional step: Add your pre-baked turkey bites and pulse the blender until the turkey is shredded but not completely blended.

Daily greens salad

This is nice to have pre-prepared because you can have it with any meal.

Ingredients:

• 5-6 ounce bag of assorted mixed spring greens (I prefer just spinach leaves)
• Shredded carrots
• 1 pint cherry tomatoes
• ¼ cup chopped almonds
• 3 tablespoons grape seed oil
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

Directions:

1. Chop the cherry tomatoes into halves.
2. Toss the greens together in a large mixing bowl with carrots, tomatoes, almonds, grape seed oil and lemon juice.
3. Cover and store.

Recipes inspired by The Body Fuel System. 

Abs Are Made In The Kitchen!

Keywords: abs, fitness, healthy, healthy eating, clean eating, health, nutrition

Have you ever heard that a fit body is 80% diet and 20% exercise? Chances are you have because it’s true!

You can do crunches all you want but never see the defined abs you are dreaming of. If you are at the gym doing crunch after crunch and guzzling down a sugary sports drink, you are not going to get the results you want. Sorry.

I’m going to let you in on a little secret… Abs are made IN THE KITCHEN! Notice how I didn’t say gym? Of course it is important to train abs twice a week just like any other muscle group, but if you want the flat, chiseled abs, then you are going to have to put your biggest effort into the kitchen. 

When it comes to flattening your tummy, my advice is to:

• Eat clean
• Clean eating works. It not only makes you feel better overall, but it helps break down fatty tissue stored around your midsection.

• Commit 100%
• You have to be able to commit to clean eating. Cheat meals are of course acceptable. We would go crazy without a splurge once in a while, but you can’t have a cheat meal three meals a day!

• Know what you’re putting in your body
• Don’t obsess over eating perfect. It’s not possible, and you will just drive yourself crazy. Just be aware of what you’re eating. I don’t recommend tracking calories, but keeping a food log isn’t a bad idea. That way you can celebrate when you write down “egg whites” for breakfast instead of “bagel and cream cheese.” :)

• Avoid sugar and saturated fat
• Have a sweet tooth? Me too. Try sweetening up your day with honey, agave nectar or a natural sweetener, such as Truvia or Stevia.
• Healthy fats are extremely beneficial and actually essential to your diet. Try adding healthy fats such as avocado, oils and nuts. Olive oil is a good salad dressing substitute, and is great to cook with.

• Drink A LOT of water
• Believe it or not, water helps flush excess water from your body. It also flushes toxins and excess sodium. I cannot tell you enough, DRINK A LOT OF WATER!

I know clean eating is not easy. Planning ahead and writing out a meal plan really helps me stick to my diet. Here’s an example of what I would have in a day: 

Breakfast:

• 1 cup egg whites with spinach, feta cheese, turkey and tomatoes.
• Fresh fruit

Snack:

• 25 almonds
• 1 cup baby carrots with hummus
• OR rice cakes

Lunch:

• 4 ounce chicken breast
• 1 cup quinoa
• 1 cup veggies

Post Workout:

• one scoop 100% whey protein with 8 ounces of water

Dinner:

• 4 ounce chicken breast
• 1-2 cups veggies
• fresh fruit

Bedtime Snack:

• 1 cup low fat cottage cheese
• cottage cheese is a good source of casein which is a slow digesting protein.

Veggies I eat:

• asparagus
• broccoli
• spinach
• zucchini
• carrots

Fruits I eat:

• strawberries
• bananas
• raspberries
• grapes
• watermelon
• kiwi

*** Keep in mind that this is just a simple meal plan. It is basically an "outline" of my meals that helps keep me on track. I stray from this a little and add some things here or there. For example, with my chicken for lunch I might put it in a whole wheat tortilla and add some cheese and hot sauce. Or I might put peanut butter and raspberries on my rice cakes.

*** I snack on fruits and veggies throughout the day. Fruits contain high amounts of natural sugar so I try not to eat more than the recommended amount of 2 cups. 

*** I have a pre-workout drink before my workouts everyday, and I take the supplements that I discussed in one of my previous blog posts. :)

My next post will have lots of yummy recipes for you, so stay tuned! 

If you have any questions about healthy eating, comment below. :) 

HIIT The Gym!

Keywords: lean, cardio, HIIT training, HIIT, body fat, fitness, healthy, nutrition, meal plan, workout

We have all had troubles with stubborn stomach fat.

My stomach has always been my problem area. My arms are leaning out, and my legs are becoming well-defined. I want to continue to lean-out my whole body, especially my stomach.

A lot of people think endless hours of cardio will get rid of unwanted belly fat. This is not true. High-intensity cardio for a long duration of time would maximize fat loss. Well, the only problem with that is, nobody can maintain high-intensity cardio for a long duration. So then, how do we maximize fat burn?

The answer is High Intensity Interval Training. This is known as “HIIT” in the fitness world. HIIT training is where you alternate between intervals of high-intensity cardio and low-intensity cardio.

Nobody can sprint for 10 minutes without stopping, but when you mix high-intensity and low-intensity cardio, you can still maximize fat burn without becoming fatigued.

Workout of the week:

A routine cardio session for me is 10-15 minutes of HIIT followed by 10-15 minutes of low-intensity cardio.

I start on the Stairmaster for 5-10 minutes. This gets my heart rate up and a good sweat going. I follow this by interval sprints on the treadmill. I do a one minute on, one minute off routine. I sprint for one minute at speed eight and incline two. I then walk for one minute at speed four and incline two. I repeat this sequence for 10 minutes.

Following my HIIT session, I walk at speed four and incline 15 for 10 minutes. This makes my total cardio routine about 30 minutes long. After cardio, I spend about 10 minutes working on abs.

This week’s goal:

This week’s goal is fat loss and leaning out. By the end of the week I would like to be able to step up my HIIT training. I want to be doing sprints at an incline of seven and speed of 8.5. I would alternate my sprints with walking at a speed of four and incline of seven.  

Another important part of leaning out is diet! Eating clean IS the difference between success and failure. I will talk more about diet in next week’s blog. For now, here is this week’s grocery list:

• Chicken breast
• Turkey breast
• Egg whites (lots of egg whites!)
• Spinach
• Baby tomatoes
• Feta cheese
• Asparagus
• Broccoli
• Quinoa
• Organic pesto sauce

Chest and Back Workout

Keywords: chest, back, workout, fitness, healthy, healthy recipes, goals, power set

This week I want to share some of my favorite workouts. I’ve really been focusing on strengthening my back and chest. For the last three weeks I have been doing chest and back on Mondays and Fridays.

A few of my favorite chest and back workouts include power rows with dumbbells, assisted pull-ups, and a power set of incline chest press and incline chest fly.

I like to mix my workouts up each week so my body doesn't become accustomed to them. I also don’t want to get bored with my workouts. An example of a chest and back workout I would do is:

Assisted pull-ups – 3 sets of 12

Power set:

• Incline chest press – 20 pounds x 15, 20x12, 20x8, 20x8
• Incline dumbbell fly – 15 pounds x 10, 15x8, 15x8, 15x6

Power set:

• Lat pull-downs – 4 sets of 12
• Machine w-rows – 90 pounds 4x15

Power set:

• Dumbbell power rows – 30 pound dumbbells, 4x10 each arm
• Bench press – bar x 20, 5 pounds on each side 3x12

Assisted pull-ups – 2 sets of 12, one set to failure

A set to failure is when you do the exercise until you physically can’t do it anymore.

A power set means you do two workouts consecutively. For example, I would do a set of incline chest presses immediately followed by a set of incline dumbbell flies. That counts as “one power set.” I would then repeat with a set of chest presses followed by a set of flies until I was done with that exercise. Then I move on to the next power set.

Week 3 goals:

This week my goal is to continue with cardio and full workouts. I can already see my body making progress. I just need to keep it up!

Recipe of the week:

Egg whites are a lifesaver when it comes to eating healthy! I could eat egg whites for every meal. You’re probably thinking egg whites are not very flavorful, but there are so many ways to spice them up so I never get bored! You can eat them plain, with spinach, hot sauce, cherry tomatoes, or mozzarella cheese. The list goes on and on. My favorite egg white concoction just needs a few things.

Ingredients:    

• egg whites
• baby spinach
• cherry tomatoes
• chopped onion
• veggie or mozzarella cheese

Directions:

1. Spray skillet with Olive Oil cooking spray.
2. Pour egg whites into skillet.
3. Add in the chopped spinach, onions and tomatoes.
4. Sprinkle in a little cheese.
5. Mix it all up, and enjoy your scrambled egg whites! 

Fitness Encouragement

keywords: fitness, healthy, healthy recipe, competition, lifestyle, cardio, metabolic damage, progress

It can be really hard to stay focused and I have to remind myself that this lifestyle is worth it. This week I thought I would share a few things that I often have to tell myself, and also try to keep you all encouraged to keep going!

A healthy lifestyle is very rewarding. Sometimes, however, it can be very discouraging. Progress takes time and patience. It’s not going to be easy. Just remember as you are embracing your healthy lifestyle that progress is progress no matter how small!

It takes 21 days to develop a habit. It takes two weeks to see progress. Don’t give up on going to the gym or eating healthy after a week because you haven’t seen results. Keep up the hard work and you will start to notice!

Make small weekly goals to keep yourself focused. Once you’ve achieved one goal, set another. No matter how hard it is at first, developing a healthy lifestyle is something you will never regret!

Week 2 goals:

This week my goal is to get back into a cardio routine. I have been nervous to do daily cardio ever since I damaged my metabolism last semester. I learned a lot about cardio and metabolic damage from BioLayne. I now feel like I am ready to get back on track. This week I am going to do 20 minutes of incline walking on the treadmill every morning.

Recipe of the week:

I said it last week and I’ll say it again. Breakfast is important! Fueling your body correctly is crucial to achieving a successful healthy lifestyle. I am going to be starting cardio in the mornings. It is important for me to give my body the energy it needs. Before my cardio sessions, I will enjoy this chai green smoothie inspired by The Body Fuel System

Ingredients:

picture credit:http://essentialsurvival.org/post-holiday-detox/green-smoothie/  

• 5 large strawberries
• 1 apple
• 1/2 orange
• 1 1/2 cups kale - about 4-5 stalks
• 1 1/2 teaspoon spice blend (see below)
• 1 inch fresh ginger peeled
• 1 scoop vanilla chai protein powder (plain vanilla works too)
• 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
• 1/2 cup water

Spice Blend:

• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon cardamom
• 2 teaspoons cacaco powder (specialty item found in health food section of Hy-Vee)

Directions:

1. Blend strawberries, apple, orange, water and almond milk in a blender.
2. Blend in kale.
3. Blend in spice blend, ginger and protein powder.
4. Enjoy your smoothie! :) 

My Fitness Journey Introduction!

My Fitness Journey: Steps to the Stage

Keywords: fitness, nutrition, healthy, lifestyle, fitness competition, bikini 

My name is Kayla Zumbach. I’m a junior at Iowa State University and I’m a fitness freak! I have always been an athlete and have kept myself in pretty good shape. It wasn’t until college, though, that I started getting serious about nutrition and working out. 

In March of 2013 I decided I wanted to become a fitness bikini competitor. I hired a trainer, cracked down on my diet, and got really serious about my weight training. I had planned on competing in a show on June 1, 2013.

Everything was going great until I ran into some issues with my metabolism. My cardio had been too monotonous and excessive, which caused my body to store all the fat it consumed. I could no longer drop fat.

I took some time off at the beginning of the summer to allow my metabolism to rebuild. My body is finally ready to start prepping for competition again! I plan to start competing in April of 2014. I probably won’t use a trainer or coach until closer to show time.

Please join me in fitness journey! In the weeks to come, I will be posting my goals and progress reports along with workouts, healthy recipes, and fitness facts!

Week 1 goals:

This week my goal is to complete my full workouts every day. With classes just starting up, it’s really easy to make excuses on why I should shorten or skip a workout. This week I will complete all of my workouts to their entirety!

Recipe of the week:

Breakfast is very important, never skip it! This week I’m going to share one of my favorite healthy breakfasts: Ezekiel French Toast, inspired by The Body Fuel System.

 Ingredients:

• 1 egg
• 2 Tablespoons egg whites
• 3 Tablespoons almond milk
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Ezekiel bread 

Directions:

1. Beat egg, egg whites and almond milk together.
2. Add cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla.
3. Soak Ezekiel bread pieces in the mixture for a few minutes.
4. Cook evenly on each side on a sprayed skillet. I like to spray my skillet with Olive Oil cooking spray!
5. Serve and enjoy! :) I like to eat mine with all natural honey and fresh berries on top.