Burn Fat Over the Holidays..

Quick, effective, de-stressing and energy producing....what does this describe? A body weight workout!!

Check out the workout we did a few saturdays ago with in Fit Chick Express! The only equipment we needed was a mat!

 

The girls said they couldn't believe how good of a workout they could get without using any equipment! Hope you enjoy! 

Why Stretching Is So Important

Some of my favorite stretches....




As a massage therapist, I often ask clients about their stretching routine. More times than not I find that people don't fit much stretching into their schedules. Having a regular regimen of stretching is an important part of maintaining correct balance in the body, and omitting these stretches deprive you of a valuable self-healing technique.

Stretching your muscles on a regular basis can improve range of motion and flexibility. Keeping muscles at a proper length takes unnecessary tension off tendons, which lessens the chance of any damage. Stretching also allows for more muscle tone; muscle will be larger in volume without becoming bulky.

Top Five Reasons to Stretch
Athlete Performance: From die-hard runners to the recreational golfer- regular stretching exercises will increase flexibility and range of motion. This lessens the chance of damage to muscles, ligaments and tendons. Stretching muscles also increases muscle tone without creating bulk.
Body Building: Think of a goldfish in a fishbowl. That little fish will stay the same size unless it's given a chance to expand in a larger tank. Muscles work on the same principal. Stretching a muscle gives it more room to expand and add mass.

Posture Improvement: Individuals who work at a computer desk or drive long distances regularly seem to have a permanent slouched position, and will often have upper back pain. Chest muscles become short while upper back and neck muscles become taunt and tense. By stretching the muscles in the front portion of your body allows the shoulders to fall into proper position, letting the upper back muscles relax and letting you balance your spine properly over your hips.

Elderly: Muscles that stay in a tight shortened state have a more likely chance of getting injured. An easy stretching routine can restoring muscle flexibility and endurance help regain balance and strength, and lessen the likelihood of an injury from a fall or sudden movement.

Weight Loss: Frequently stretching will increase the amount of lean muscle in your body. This in turn raises your metabolic rate, which increases the amount of calories burnt. Adding stretches to an exercise routine can assist in faster results.

Most people fit into one or more of these categories. No matter whom you are, you are probably looking for a simple way to improve your body, whether it's speed and endurance, dropping a few pounds, developing good posture, or improving your flexibility. It's easy to develop an effective stretching routine; most can be done in your home without assistance.

Jaime's Recommended Reads:
Stretching, by Bob Anderson
Active Isolated Stretching: The Mattes Method, by Aaron L. Mattes

2010 D.R.E.A.M. Wellness -- All Rights Reserved.

Jaime Savarese is a Licensed Massage Therapist with DREAM Wellness and is widely considered the foremost expert in Massage Therapy in Suffolk County, New York. If you'd like more tips such as these feel free to visit Jaime at http://www.livetherdreameveryday.com and be sure to join our mailing list.

Holiday Protein Balls

The holiday season is upon and this usually means all kinds of sweets! Well here is my version of healthy holiday protein balls.

I tried this this past weekend and they are very good. I would like to try adding maybe some mini dark chocolate chunks or some dried fruit next time.

Ingredients:

1/4 c ground oats
1/2 cup honey ( I only used about 1 TBSP but it could use a bit more)
1/2 cup natural peanut butter (next time I plan to use almond butter)
1/2 cup sunflower kernels
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa ( I used chocolate protein powder instead)
1 tsp vanilla

**Mix all together and roll into balls. Then roll in coconut or ground almonds! Refrigerate!

December Events with Fit Chick Express!

Fit Chick Express
Toy Drive and Wellness Fair  

Saturday, December 4th from 1-4pm

505 Main Street, Longmont - Longmont Free University Building

30 Minute Seminars on the Following Topics:

1:00 pm - *Mindful Eating

1:30 pm - *Mental Skills:  Come learn how to set goals and stay motivated using special mental skills 

2:00 pm- *Anti-Aging Cosmetic Acupuncture

2:30 pm- *Anti-inflammatory diets: Avoiding pain and getting healthy

3:00 pm- * What is Biofeedback ~ How can it change my life with Nutrition, Stress and Detoxification

3:30 pm- *The Arbonne Difference - What is left Out

Health and Wellness Booths from the Following:

Max Muscle (Free Nutritional Consults starting at 1pm)  
Fit Chick Express
Quantum Biofeedback
Arbonne
Timbre Integrated Health
Acupuncture
It Works! Body Wraps

Bring a toy donation to be entered to win one of the following prizes!

**1 FREE Month to Fit Chick Express ($129 Value)
**1 FREE Month of Fat Burning Yoga with Fit Chick Express ($80 value)
**1 It Works! Body Wrap - Phoenix Sagan
**1 On 1 Health Coaching - 6 Sessions - ($250 value) Bobbie Covert
**Vitamin D Supplement + Complimentary Initial Consultation - Dr. Courtney Conley - Timbre Integrated Health
**"Check Your Nutrition" Biofeedback Session + Detoxifying Ionic Foot Bath - Alanna Day
**1 Acupuncture Treatment - Theresa Ugalde
**One Month Supply of Liquid Vitamins (Vit Acell) and a High Five protein ($89  value)- Max Muscle
**1 on 1 personal skin care consultation including a $25 gift certificate from Arbonne - Carla Burchell

To RSVP please send email to angie@fitchickexpress.com
or call 303-746-1432

 

The last Free trial of 2010! Why not get a jumpstart on your 2011 with 2 weeks of Fit Chick Express Unlimited classes! Yoga and Extreme classes are included in this! 

Classes are from December 4th to the 20th!! Special offer to those who join the trial! :)

Leftover Pumpkin Recipe

If you have leftover pumpkin from Thanksgiving, here is a very yummy and healthy recipe for you! I love scones because they are not full of sugar but still taste awesome! I have experimented with many different flavors too but thought this would be a good one for this time of the year!

Here is the recipe: 
 
1 cup ground oats (flour)
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup water
1 egg white
1/3 cup pumpkin
1 serving protein powder (vanilla)

Mix all together and drop onto baking sheet or as I did into a muffin tin. Bake for 20 minutes at 375. Enjoy!

This made six single servings and here is the nutrition breakdown per serving:
168 Calories
14 Carbs
10 Fat
7  Protein

Have a favorite healthy holiday recipe you want to share? Just comment below! 

Want to Burn Belly Fat?

Almost everyone I know wants to burn off their belly fat, and they always ask me which abs exercises they should be doing. They are totally shocked when I tell them that abs exercises will not help you to lose that belly fat. What you should be doing instead are intervals.
Intervals are the ultimate way to burn off that belly fat! Until you burn off the layer of fat on your abdominals, any type of abs exercise that you do will not do a thing for you. You could have an amazing looking six pack under that layer of fat, but until you add intervals into your fitness routine, you will not be able to see them.

What are intervals? Intervals are short bursts of high intensity followed by an active recovery period. Intervals are much more effective than long, steady state cardio.

To illustrate, one of my clients and her husband were on the treadmill side by side. She was doing intervals and he was running at a steady pace. After about 20 minutes, she discovered that she had covered more distance than her husband, and she had burned more calories.
Intervals can be done on any cardio machine, or even while walking. You just need to increase your pace for a short period of time, followed by a slower pace for the same amount of time.
Here is an example of what I do for intervals on the treadmill:

*Warm up for 2-3 minutes at 3.5 mph, slight incline.
*Increase speed to 6.0 for one minute, followed by decrease to 3.5 mph for one minute. If I want to really push myself, I will increase the high intensity every other interval, until I reach 7.0 mph.
* I then repeat this anywhere from 10 minutes to 20 minutes, followed by a cool down of 3-5 minutes.

You can start to add in some form of abs exercises after you finish your interval training. Just remember that abs exercises only work on your abs from the inside out and to lose that belly fat, you need to add intervals to your routine.

I was able to drop 1% body fat AND about .5 inch off my waist just by adding intervals over the course of the past few weeks. Try it and see just how it works for you!

Good luck! Let me know if you have any questions!

No Carb, Energy Bar...

So starting in November, I have decided to cut way back on carbs. No, not NO carbs, but eating good, fibrous carbs and leaving out the starchy, high GI carbs, such as grains, oats, potatoes. It's along the lines of the Paleo diet, which pretty much consist of meats, fresh veggies, berries and nuts.

So when I wanted to make an energy bar last night, I had to find a recipe with no oats. I checked out Marks Daily Apple and found this great recipe! 

Ingredients:

1/2 cup slivered almonds
1/2 cup pecans ( I used cashews)
1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1/4 cup almond butter (although cashew, hazelnut, walnut and even pumpkin butters will work well too!)
1/4 cup coconut oil
1/4 cup almond meal (simply pulse approximately 1/4 cup of almonds until it creates a coarse flour)
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp of raw honey (although, this is really kind of optional because the egg will help hold the mixture together)
1/2 cup unsweetened whey protein powder (or 60g)
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 cup dried cranberries or blueberries (didn't have any, so used dark chocolate chips instead)
1/4 cup unsweetened coconut to sprinkle on top

Method:

1. On a cookie sheet, toast nuts and shredded coconut until golden brown. In order for them to cook evenly, you need to shake up the tray at least once during cooking…trust us!
2. Once toasted, pour mixture into a food processor and pulse until nuts are chopped and the mixture becomes coarsely ground (sort of the consistency of bread crumbs).
3. In a mixing bowl, melt coconut oil and almond butter (about 30 seconds). Remove from microwave and stir until smooth.
4. Add vanilla extract, honey and sea salt. Mix thoroughly.
5. Fold in nut mixture, almond meal and protein powder until mixed thoroughly.
6. Add whole egg and mix thoroughly.
7. Fold in blueberries/cranberries.
8. Press mixture into an 8 by 8 loaf pan (a modification that we made to keep everything crisper and help the bars to hold together).
9. Cook in a preheated oven at 325 degrees for 10 minutes.
10. Remove from oven, sprinkle a ¼ cup of shredded coconut on top and place under broiler until top begins to brown. ( I didn't add the coconut to the top)
11. Let cool for 10-15 minutes. Cut into 12 pieces/bars.
12. Enjoy or stack on wax paper/parchment and store in an airtight container.

**The only thing I would change next time is maybe use less coconut oil. I do like the taste of coconut, but it seemed a bit overpowering. But these are absolutely yummy!! Of course next time I plan to try the dried fruit!

Have a favorite healthy recipe you want to share? Send me an email at angie@fitchickexpress.com and I will share it with all the Fit Chicks!