Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Stride and Strength: Run, Sprint, Recover, Repeat

Go the distance with this treadmill workout. A series of runs with sprint intervals and recovery sprinkled throughout will boost your calorie burn, and your miles! For the sprints, take your speed up to the fastest you can safely handle for one minute. This means proper form, reducing your risk for injury. If you have to hold on to the treadmill, you're going too fast.

Stride


Minutes
Incline
Speed
0-3
1
3.5-4.0
3-6
1
4.5-6.0
6-8
1
5.0-6.5
8-9
1
Sprint
9-10
1
3.5-4.0
10-13
1
4.5-6.0
13-16
1
5.0-6.5
16-17
1
Sprint
17-18
1
3.5-4.0
18-21
1
4.5-6.0
21-24
1
5.0-6.5
24-25
1
Sprint
25-30
1
3.5-4.0


Strength
Equipment: heavy and light weights, mat

12 front lunges with bicep curl - right leg - lower down into lunge, as you rise back up, arms perform a bicep curl
12 front lunges with shoulder press - left leg - lower down into a lunge, as you rise back up, arms perform a shoulder press
15 chest presses with bicycles - on back, legs do bicycle movement with each press to engage core
15 tricep French presses - on back, arms straight, weights in hand, palms facing each other - lower weights down by ears and press back up to starting position
15 dead lifts with back rows - lead with your chest, maintain a flat back
15 squat jumps (no weights) - lower down into a squat position, come up and jump, reaching arms up, land back down with soft knees, repeat
15 side water pours - a light weight in each hand, raise arms out to side with palms facing forward (think 'T' position), rotate arms until palms face behind you (think of pouring water out of a pitcher)
15 push-ups
15 tiny suitcases (no weights) - lie on back, fingertips behind your head, curl knees up toward elbows, squeezing through your abs (think of trying to squeeze yourself into a tiny ball to fit into a - you guessed it - suitcase)

Repeat 2-3x

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Recipe for Health: Eat-Your-Vegetables GF Pizza Crust

I love pizza. The sauce, the cheese, the veggies, the chewy crust.... did I mention the crust? I even eat the heel of my husband's pizza crust because he leaves it. It just looks so sad and lonely.

I recently began seeing a health therapist who advised that I give up gluten, among some other things. I don't completely buy into her advice, seeing as how I do not have a gluten intolerance, but it did open my eyes to a few tweaks I could make in my diet to cut down on the amount of gluten I do eat. Out of curiosity, I began to look at the labels on some packages of GF items and was sad to see that the list of ingredients was very long, and they contained lots of sweeteners and preservatives. I like to eat foods that are minimally processed, so these don't fit into my plan.

The good news is that I came across an interesting concept:  using cauliflower to make pizza crust. It sounds weird, and after reading this, you might still think it's weird, but I dare you to try it!

Eat-Your-Vegetables Gluten Free Pizza Crust 
1 small head cauliflower
1 C low-fat cheese (can be dairy free)
1 egg
1 t minced garlic
Oregano to taste
1, 14oz. can diced tomatoes (organic, no salt added)
Favorite pizza toppings

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and place rack on middle shelf. Put small chunks of cauliflower (leaves and stems removed) into a food processor. Pulse until cauliflower is the consistency of rice. Remove and place in microwave-safe dish. Microwave on high for 8 minutes. Remove and stir in cheese, egg, garlic and oregano.

Place "dough" on pizza stone or cookie sheet. Spread until it is about 1/4 thick. Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes, or until edges are brown and center is cooked through. Remove from the oven and top with tomatoes (I use this instead of pizza sauce since it has no added sugar). Add the rest of your toppings (some ideas:  spinach, artichokes, diced chicken, onions, mushrooms, small amount of cheese). Turn oven onto broil and place pizza back in until toppings are cooked (spinah is wilted, cheese is melted, etc.) Slice and enjoy!