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Month: February 2016

American Heart Association and National Wear Red Day – THIS FRIDAY!!!

American Heart Association and National Wear Red Day – THIS FRIDAY!!!

Good Afternoon Everyone!

February is here and so is Heart Month for the American Heart Association!!!  We will be raising money for the AHA and participating in the Heart Walk this year which will take place in May – more details to come.  For now, I would like to invite you all to join us this Friday February, 5th 2016 for National Wear Red Day to show your support and help raise awareness for heart disease…all you have to do is wear…RED!

Did you know?

  • Heart disease is the number one cause of death for both men and women in the United States.
  • Cardiovascular diseases claim more lives than all forms of cancer combined.
  • In the United States, someone has a heart attack every 34 seconds.
  • About 720,000 people in the U.S. suffer heart attacks each year. 
  • Direct and indirect costs of heart disease total more than $320.1 billion. That includes health expenditures and lost productivity.
18 Superfoods for Your Heart:
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For more information on these foods go to: http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20720182,00.html

Getting regular exercise, especially aerobic exercise, is one of the best things you can to prevent heart disease and it’s fantastic for your blood pressure, cholesterol, weight, energy level, and mood too!

AHA Recommendation For Overall Cardiovascular Health:

  • At least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity at least 5 days per week for a total of 150min  OR
  • At least 25 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity at least 3 days per week for a total of 75 minutes; or a combination of moderate- and vigorous-intensity aerobic activity

AND

  • Moderate- to high-intensity muscle-strengthening activity at least 2 days per week for additional health benefits.

For Lowering Blood Pressure and Cholesterol:

  • An average 40 minutes of moderate- to vigorous-intensity aerobic activity 3 or 4 times per week

When asking yourself how hard you should be working during a workout, just remember it’s moderate if you can talk but not sing and its vigorous if you can’t say more than a few words without taking a breath!  


Workout Apps!

Workout Apps!

 If you don’t belong to a gym and would like some workouts to follow or if you are looking to make your walks/runs more exciting…check out the workout apps below.  Some of these apps are really cool!!

Zombie, Run! – a game where you are cast as the character “Runner 5” trying to survive a zombie apocalypse through a series of missions which you run, collect items to help the town survive, and listen to various narrations to uncover mysteries.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlRgBvYFxTo

Superhero Workout – a motion-tracking workout game that counts every rep and every calorie of every exercise you do so you don’t have to!  It includes twelve workouts and seven challenges and can be hooked up to your Apple TV or Chromecast in order to see your moves on a bigger screen. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VdpjTMXdyk

Dungeon Runner: Fitness Quest – a clever app that challenges you to play a dungeon crawling game by performing a series of real-world fitness exercises.  It uses the same motion-tracking technology found in Superhero Workout to automatically track your reps and calories and translate them into dungeon crawling actions and progressions.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p976QSq5hxQ&feature=youtu.be

The Walk: Fitness Tracker and Game – tracks every walk and run you take and updates it on a top-down view of a map that shows you the neighborhood, park, or other area that you are virtually walking through. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJXZoKPR8Jw

Nexercise – a fitness app that gives you points for every 15 minutes of exercise you do and then those points that you earn can be used as rewards at places like Barnes and Noble, Amazon, CVS, Sephora, etc.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i118RMQw20s

Battle Suit Runner Fitness – this app is similar to Zombies, Run! except this time you’re protecting the Earth against alien invaders!

Pact – allows you to make bets with others around your fitness goals

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-2OEFPiaZo

Teemo – another app similar to Zombies, Run! and Battle Suit Runner Fitness, but this allows you to choose from a variety of virtual adventures rather than having only one.

https://vimeo.com/40244582

7 Minute Workout Challenge – this app contains several seven minute workouts that are designed to help you fit exercise into your busy schedule.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gg41MxKEb08

Yoga Studio – this app contains over 24 hours of ready-made classes plus 280 poses and can be used by yoga newbies or veterans, the classes range from 15 to 60 minutes long.

SUGAR *5* CHALLENGE!!!!!

SUGAR *5* CHALLENGE!!!!!

Good Afternoon McKinley!

We’ve already had a fantastic start to the new year with people setting wellness goals and actively following through with them!  You’re all awesome!  We’re going to ramp it up now with the sugar *5* challenge to keep you all motivated through the rest of Q1 so you’re ready to kick it into high gear for SPRING!!!!

 

What is the sugar *5* challenge?

  • The focus of this challenge is to help you reduce your daily sugar consumption and find time to strengthen your body 5 days weekly.  The reason you hear me talk about reducing sugars so often is because it is so incredibly harmful to our bodies.  It’s in foods we don’t expect so there are many days when our daily sugar grams are WAY more than you’re even aware of.  I’m going to be completely honest with you, the first 2 weeks of cutting back on refined sugars (or out completely) are downright HARD!!  They’re hard because your body is addicted to it and never EVER satiated once you consume it so you continue to eat more- so goes the evil sugar cycle.  The good news is you can retrain your body to not crave those refined sugars and actually get to the point where your body rejects them – seriously!

In short, this is what sugar does to our bodies:

The sugar *5* challenge:

This is an 8 week Pair’s challenge that will begin next Monday February, 1st 2016 and will end on Sunday March, 27th 2016.  Both people on the team must complete the requirements below in order to receive 1 team point for each week.  For example, if one person on the team only completes 4 days of activity for the week, your team will not receive a point for that week.  Excluding the extra point, a perfect score for this challenge is 16 points.

Point System:

  • 1 Point =  Consume 70g of SUGAR or less daily for 6 days/weekly.  Two of the easiest apps to use to help you track your daily sugar consumption are MyFitnessPal and Lose It.  There is sugar in just about everything so watch out!!!
  • 1 Point =  30min of activity 5 days weekly

*Extra point* – Each team member will have the opportunity to earn 1 extra point (as a team you have the potential to earn 2 extra points)!!

  • Drink 16oz of water first thing every morning before consuming anything else for the duration of the challenge.

Examples for daily activity:

  • Running, walking, cycling, yoga, pilates, boxing, dancing, stair stepping, at home workouts…anything that will help strengthen your body and that you have set aside 30min specifically for activity.

To enter the challenge, simply email me by this Friday to let me know you will be joining the challenge along with who your partner is.  You and your partner will keep track of your own points and the pair with the most points at the end of the challenge will WIN!!!  For this challenge, there will be 1st, 2nd and 3rd place prizes – see below:

  • 1st place = each participant will receive a $50 GC of their choice OR a Fitbit flex
  • 2nd place = each participant will receive either a yoga beginner’s kit, pilates beginner’s kit or a strong back and core kit
  • 3rd place = each participant will receive either a trigger point massager or a foam roller
Healthy Foods A-Z, “S”

Healthy Foods A-Z, “S”

Good Morning Everyone!

We are on to the letter “S” in our journey through the alphabet of healthy foods!

Sweet Potatoes- 

 

 

 

 

Packed with both nutrients and a sweet flavor, sweet potatoes are one of the most versatile and healthy vegetables available.  They are full of disease-preventing, cancer-fighting, and immune-boosting benefits.  They are good sources of the anti-inflammatory nutrients, vitamins A and C, making them an excellent food choice for those suffering from arthritis or asthma.  They rank medium on the glycemic index meaning they have less of an effect on blood glucose levels and will benefit individuals with diabetes. 

**Reminder**: Sweet potatoes are NOT yams even though they tend to be used interchangeably 

Health Benefits:

  • Being very rich in beta carotene, a major antioxidant, sweet potatoes are excellent immune boosters defending your body from various conditions and afflictions
  • They have anti-inflammatory properties, effective in curing internal and external inflammation
  • Effective in curing congestion of the nose and lung and providing relief from bronchitis and asthma
  • Their beta carotene and vitamin C content is beneficial for curing various types of cancers, mainly those of the colon, intestines, prostate, and kidneys 
  • They are soothing on the stomach and the intestines, easing digestion
  • Helps the body retain water; maintaining water balance in the body, keeping you hydrated and your cells functioning efficiently

White Potatoes vs. Sweet Potatoes:

Sweet Potatoes win every time!

Both pack a powerful nutritional punch, yet sweet potatoes provide 400% of our daily requirement of vitamin A!  They also have more vitamin C, fewer calories, more fiber and fewer total carbohydrates than white potatoes. 

*Sweet potatoes may cost more than white potatoes but the extra nutritional benefits outweigh the cost!

For more information visit:

http://health.clevelandclinic.org/2013/03/white-potatoes-vs-sweet-potatoes-which-is-healthier/

https://www.organicfacts.net/health-benefits/vegetable/health-benefits-of-sweet-potatoes.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Based on the serving size above, 1 medium sweet potato contains 6g of sugar.

Some great and healthy recipes for sweet potatoes include:

Couscous, Sweet Potato, and Black Soybean Salad – http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/couscous-sweet-potato-black-soybean-salad#mr-livefyre-ratings

 

 

 

                                                                                                                                                                  

Sweet Potato and Butternut Squash Au Gratin – http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/sweet-potato-butternut-gratin

 

 

 

 

Cheesy Roasted Sweet Potatoes – http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/roast-sweet-potatoes

 

 

 

Roast Chicken and Sweet Potatoes – http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/chicken_sweet_potatoes.html

 

 

 

 

Sauerkraut – 

 

 

 

Sauerkraut is a German word that simply means sour white cabbage.  It is shredded cabbage and salt that has been fermented. 

**According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, fermenting foods increases their nutritional content, makes them easier to digest and adds probiotics.  

It is popularly used as a side dish or even as a condiment in certain cultures, which can be added to sausage or hot dogs.  Fermented foods are common throughout the world, but sauerkraut is one that has managed to become popular throughout Europe, Asia, and America.

It contains high levels of dietary fiber, as well as vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin K and various B vitamins.  It is a good source of iron, sodium, magnesium, calcium, and contributes a moderate amount of protein to your diet. 

Sauerkraut is a GREAT probiotic!

*In order to be beneficial to your health, your probiotics need to be alive and present in high concentrations and raw sauerkraut can contain a mixture of over 13 different species of live, gut-friendly bacteria

                **Tip: As long as you don’t heat or cook the sauerkraut, which would kill the probiotics, you are guaranteed to be ingesting high amounts of live beneficial bacteria in every mouthful!

Although the taste and smell of sauerkraut may not be favorable, it can be a major source of health benefits for you! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For more information visit:

https://www.organicfacts.net/health-benefits/other/sauerkraut.html

http://www.livestrong.com/article/538697-is-sauerkraut-better-than-probiotics-in-the-store/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For more nutritional information go to: http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/vegetables-and-vegetable-products/7666/2

Some great and healthy recipes for sauerkraut include:

Apple, Sauerkraut and Cheddar Quesadillas – http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/apple_sauerkraut_cheddar_quesadillas.html

 

 

 

 

Turkey Pastrami Sandwich – http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/turkey_pastrami_sandwich.html

 

 

 

 

 

Quick and Easy Homemade Raw Sauerkraut –  http://vegetarian.about.com/od/rawfoodsrecipes/ss/homemade-sauerkruat.htm