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Blood Sugar | Insulin Resistance | PCOS Diet | Nutrition | Recipes Latest News

Zucchini Bacon Frittata

I made this recipe of zucchini bacon frittata with mushrooms, spinach and kale and loved it. If you like eggs and bacon, you and your family will not regret it. Nourishing and tasty food is great at anytime. I encourage you to think of the nutritional value of a meal or snack and how it will fuel my body and mind so you feel accomplished by the end of your busy day.

If you think this way, you are likely be fine eating dinner for breakfast, lunch for dinner, breakfast for lunch 😉 . It’s a mindset type of deal. Mind over matter gives you control!  

Give it a try and share with your family and friends next gathering and/or holiday.

Ingredients

  • 3 slices of bacon. My recommendation for uncured pork bacon that is FREE of nitrites, nitrates, sugar, hormone, and antibiotics.
  • 4 cups of chopped baby spinach and kale (or other greens of your choices—all greens are game)
  • 2 small zucchinis, spiralized. Don’t have a spiralizer? Sliced them thin.
  • 1 cup sliced mushrooms
  • œ tsp garlic powder
  • 6 eggs, beaten. I recommend eggs be pasture-raised, non-gmo, soy free, and organic
  • pepper to season
  • Salt, celtic sea salt or Himalayan (pink) salt for trace mineral, electrolytes, and much more benefits. My recommendation is to avoid, at all costs, the highly processed table salt found everywhere. It’s easy to bring your salt with you. Seriously!

Instructions

  1. Organic foods, especially greens, are best for nutritional content and to minimize adding more chemicals to your body, which disrupt your hormones and body function. If organic isn’t an option, wash vegetables really well.
  2. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. In a large skillet over medium heat, cook the bacon until medium-crispy. Set aside on a paper towel lined plate, leaving 1 tablespoon of bacon fat in the skillet.
  3. Add the mushrooms to the skillet and cook for 2 minutes and then add in the kale, zucchini noodles and garlic powder. Cook until the kale wilts mostly.
  4. Pour the eggs over the noodles, distributing evenly. Top with a salt and generous amount of pepper and let cook for 2 minutes, letting the eggs cook to set on the bottom.
  5. Place in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until you can stick a knife through the center of the frittata and it comes out clean.

Original recipe calls for pesto sauce on top, which I think it’d be wonderful but I didn’t make it since I was cooking another 4-5 other recipes the same night. This girl here likes to keep things simple and minimize time in the kitchen without compromising tasty. It’s delish as is, warm and cold.  Try it!

Zucchini_Bacon_Frittata_Side
Zucchini_Bacon_Frittata_Side

Personally, when it comes to animal protein, I am very selective and it’s part of the food budget I spend the most. When consuming conventional protein sources from animals, it can be packed with hormones, inflammatory fats, hormone disrupters, etc. Ultimately, it can do more harm than good.

Considering that May is Blood Pressure month, we must make smart choices. Quality is essential for heart health. Over the past four years, I have reduced consumption of animal protein significantly. Technically, we can get 100% of protein from plant base, even if you rarely eat legumes such as beans and lentils. Protein is found in many vegetables including broccoli, peas, spinach, kale, and the list goes one. If you pack your smoothie with vegetables, it won’t be hard to get 15 grams of protein without adding powders. Then, you can complement your smoothie with vegetable protein such as pea protein and even eat one or two hard boil eggs separately.

Enjoy it!

Want to learn more about healthy meals, healthy choices, healthy lifestyle? Schedule a complimentary Energy Audit call session here. No Excuses. At Work. At Home. Online. In-Person.

 

Adapted Recipe From Paleo OMG

Categories
Fitness | Exercise Latest News

Friday 13th – Fannies Got Through

Brutal Wod - Done!Jason Did NOT Kill Us. We Survived Friday The 13th!

We survived a tough Friday 13th routine. Did you move your fanny?

Aren’t we looking ‘awesome’ minutes after challenging our fannies? Kat wasn’t happy when I asked her to smile for the camera…I said, come on, we’ve done working out!

Dynamic, challenging, kinda long…it was a good one! Lots of shoulders’ taxing movements. I scaled to 55 lbs and bands for dips to preserve body parts.

50 Wall Ball (10 feet, 14 lbs)
50 Double Unders
40 Box Jumps (20 in)
40 Toes To Ring
30 Pull-Ups
30 Burpees
20 Squat Cleans (55 lbs)
20 Jerks (55 lbs)
10 Power Snatches (55 lbs)
20 Ring Dips (assisted with band)

Completion time: 34:51 min. What was the hardest part or movement of this workout? Not sure. Burpees are always party killers, especially if in the middle or at the end of a routine. Power snatches…took me a while. Snatches have always been my weakness. Have a take a  moment and focus every time I lift the bar. Ring dips (assisted) were had and I had to compromise in doing three a time max.

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Fitness | Exercise Latest News

Core Strength. 1-500 reps. What?

Bench Press
Bench Press

When was the last time you did 500 reps of abs/core?

Sounds a lot, I know. Never? Cannot remember? How about getting started with 50 and add 5-10 a day or every two days? Break reps down thru the day if needed. Regain and strengthen your core. Why? Keep reading.

Several years ago, I did 250 reps of core/abs, first thing out of bed, for a couple of weeks before I went to trip. On Thursday, prescribed workout was purely sprinting. That’s not my body cup of tea—my motto is protect my body parts for longevity and knees and hips wouldn’t be happy! Thus, I decided I was going to do one rep max of bench presses and core.

Stopped presses at 95 lbs then decided to give 500 reps of abs a try. Twenty sets of 25 reps of different movements including ab-mat sit-ups, bicycles, crunches, leg lifts, leg crosses, bridges, Russian twists, and a few personal creations without names  🙂 

23:25 minutes later, including short breaks between, I was done. That was a little over 21 reps/minute. Some sets took me longer than others (bicycles, twists, crosses were 50 for 25/side). Since I had no baseline to compare to, I am happy with the results. Baseline is set for next time. 

Remember core muscles provide stability, power, balance, and lower risk of injuries.

EVERY exercise performed, especially when standing versus machines, should engage abs. Always ask yourself whether you’re engaging the core muscles during a movement. If you are not, get a trainer to help you because you could be easily overusing other muscles, including our back! I am available to help  😛 

Find a here an article from the Mayo Clinic and another from Harvard for greater knowledge and motivation to get started.

It will be a beautiful day in Atlanta. Hope wherever you are, you can go outside for fresh air and move your fanny.

Categories
Fitness | Exercise Latest News

Waking up Endorphins! Mother’s Day Workout!

5k Row - Endorphins Wake Up CallMoving Fanny on Mother’s Day?

I got home pretty late after spending a wonderful evening with my good friend Jeannette and her family. Went to bed 1:00am. Unfortunately and somewhat expected, it disrupted my day even after 7 hours of sleep. It was 11:15am and was feeling sleepy. Thus, what to do? was not about to waste my day.

What’s one the best ways to wake up the endorphins? Move Your Fanny! Thus, I stopped what I was doing and headed to gym for a 5K row.  25:04 minutes later, with a non-strenuous and steady pace, I was ready to go on, body was supplied with good and positive energy. By the way, you can get this feeling by just doing a few rounds of 30-60 seconds of burst exercises.

At 6pm, I went for a more intense workout 🙂

20 min AMRAP (As Many Reps As Possible)
10 Push Press (55 lbs)
10 GHD Sit Ups
10 Box Jumps (24 inches)

Completed 8 rounds + 11 reps.  

Yes, heading to bed by 11:00pm. Rest the body parts, allow hormones do their work while I sleep, and wake up refreshed for a good Monday and week.

I hope you practice self-care, moved your fanny, and had a good Mother’s Day celebration…in person, phone, and memories. Be Fit and Healthy, Age Beautifully, Be You!

Cheers everyone!

 

 

Categories
Energy Boosters & Zappers Latest News

Women and Mothers!

A message to all women and mothers!

Likely you are not only a mom to your own children. As women, we may well play an irreplaceable role in someone’s life. Have you thought about it?

Mothers are heroes—moms, step moms, grandmas, aunts, sisters, best friends and mentors when alive—and then they may well become guardian angels.

Who play an irreplaceable role in your life? 

How will you celebrate all of the mother figures who have made a deep and lasting impact: the women who love you unconditionally, who support you through difficult times, who demonstrate courage and grace in the face of a challenge, and who help you enjoy life’s happy moments? 

If you’re a mother, practice self-care and appreciation!  Do something for YOU. What does bring you peace, make you smile and relax, see the bright side of things, and appreciate the small moments? As you look around you, right now, what are three things you can be appreciative of?

As soon as finish reading this paragraph, try this
close your eyes, take a deep breath, drop your shoulders, and relax your jaw, your mouth, your forehead. Do this periodically throughout the day, every day, and you will notice positive outcomes. You will feel more FAB! You will feel more empowered to keep making awesome decisions about your lifestyle and continue to help others!

I would like to share my mentor and health coach’s though because I thought it was so applicable to many of us out there:

Perhaps she [your mother] wasn’t perfect; she may have even been hurtful or not fully present at times, but honestly she likely did the best she could with what she had going on. Ultimately, you are here because of her, and YOU are a gift!

Mom-and-I
Mom and I – Dec 2015

Surely, I am calling my mom in Brazil as soon as I post this note. She will be 72 years old in September. Dad was not there parenting at all. Mom played mom and dad’s role. She worked hard to put food on the table for me and my older siblings. I remember times we ate the same thing daily because there was much else she could afford. Until today, there are few foods I cannot smell because makes me a little sick to stomach as I ate too often, especially beef. If I ask mom to tell me the nutritional value of tripe, she cannot tell me that’s a great source of protein, zinc, selenium, B-12, and some saturated fat (at the time, meats were always from grass fed animals). Yet, mom knew and knows tripe helps bone, growth, and energy.  Dona Celina - Dec 2015Dona Celina and her husband treated me like I was one of their children. They fed me countless meals. I was lucky to have had them in my life.

My sister, on the other hand, was given a responsibility to help to take care of me plus house duties at young age while mom was working to put food on the table. As a grew up, sister became a protector, especially when mom got angry and wanted to beat the hell out of me J. Nobody is perfect and that’s our job to put ourselves on others’ shoes to understand what drives one to do x, w, and z. The bottom line is, siblings and I turned to be all right. None of us got into drugs, alcohol, and unhealthy habits. We were great students. We started working at young age and gave mom money to help for expenses. I paid for my first bicycle at age 12 making/sewing moccasin shoes by hand. I remember vividly the day I went to store to get the bicycle. WOW!

Dona Celina - Dec 2015
Dona Celina – Dec 2015

These memories bring me to this final note. My personal mission is to leave this world with cognitive function of my brain and functionally mobile. This mission is the underlying reason I am a health and fitness coach today. My professional mission hasn’t been much different since I started Be Fab – Be You in 2014. That is, to empower YOU achieve wellness inside and outside the workplace by educating, evaluating, supporting, and training YOU.

Do not hesitate to contact me if what you need is knowledge, guidance, accountability, and support to implement steps to Be Fit and Healthy, Age Beautifully, Be You!

Happy Mother’s Day!

Categories
Diet | Nutrition | Recipes Latest News

Mexican Burrito Recipe

naked_burritoMexican Burrito

Happy 5 de Mayo! If you are looking for a recipe for a healthy burrito, you found it here. This recipe offers great substitutes for rice, beans, and flour wrap. It will nourish four people or two people with leftovers. You can eat it naked or wrap it with collard green leaf, which i recommend for added nutrition. Plus is a much healthier alternative to any kind of overly processed flour product. Make it a fun and enriching activity for yourself and family or friends. Help spread the concept of eating healthier but replacing inflammatory foods for nourishing foods.

Ingredients For Beef

 

1 pound ground beef, grass fed if possible to reduce inflammatory components in conventional meats

1 medium white onion, diced

1 long red chili, diced with seeds

1 can diced tomatoes

4 garlic cloves, finely diced

1 1/2 tsp sweet paprika

2 tsp cumin powder (you can grind whole cumin seeds)

1 tsp coriander seeds powder (you can grind whole coriander seeds)

1 tsp turmeric powder

1 tbsp ghee (or grass fed butter)

1-2 tsp Celtic salt or sea salt (use 1 teaspoon for those with hypertension or whatever other reason)

For roasted sweet potatoes

2 large sweet potatoes, cut in cubes

1 tsp smoked or sweet paprika

1/2 tsp cumin powder

A good pinch of black paper

A good pinch of sea salt

2 tbsp olive oil

redpepper_tomato_salsaFor salsa salad

2 tomatoes, cut in quarters, seeds scooped out

2/3 cup diced roasted red peppers

1 medium cucumber, diced

1/2 cup diced spring/green onion, about 2-3 springs

1/2 cup chopped coriander, leaves and stalks

1/2 lime, juice only

1 small garlic clove, finely chopped

1 small red chili chopped or chili flakes to your heat taste

2 tbsp olive oil

A pinch of sea salt

Instructions

Heat 1 tabslepoon of ghee in a large, deep frying pan or a casserole dish. Sautee onion until soft and golden. At the same time turn the oven to 390F.

Bring the heat back to high and add beef mince in small chunks. Stir and cook until browned on all sides, about 5-7 minutes. At this time I peel and cut the sweet potatoe – it’s all about efficiency. Remember to stir and break the beef apart regularly at the same time.

Add spices, garlic, salt and chili to the beef and cook for a couple of minutes. Add diced tomatoes and a little water, about half a cup, stir and bring to boil. Then turn to low-medium heat and cook for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Once beef is under way, mix sweet potato cubes with sweet paprika, cumin and olive oil and scatter in a large baking tray. Bake for 15 minutes at 190C.  Take out of the oven, sprinkle with a generous pinch of sea salt and pepper, toss around and put back in the oven for a further 5 minutes.

Final step is to prepare the salsa salad. Dice tomatoes, cucumbers and red peppers, add chopped coriander, garlic, spring onion and chili and season with lime juice, sea salt and olive oil. Mix together well and set side until serving.

Cut avocado into quarters and drizzle with some lime juice to prevent discoloration. Once everything is ready, divide between four bowls and serve with a quarter avocado each.

collard-green-wrapsOr add everything to a large leaf of collard greens!

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 30 minutes

 

Adapted Recipe from Eat Drink Paleo

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Fitness | Exercise Latest News

Rowing Easy 5K – How Are You Moving Your Fanny?

5K Row
5K Row

Moving My Fanny: Day 5 = 5K row

How did you move your fanny?

Friday afternoon, 4/29/16, I felt it was a good day for an easy 5K row. Dragged the rowing machine outside for fresh air, turned my pandora dance music station of phone on, placed water bottle next to me, and GO!

Set damper at 5.5 and focused on form (didn’t lean too forward or back, used full range of motion, kept your arms straight). Every 750m, I reversed grip (palm-up) to engage more of my biceps. Rowing with palm-up doesn’t provide the same power and that’s OK. It was a day to recovery muscles, not to break records :-). As long as arms are maintained next to the body, it’s totally fine to row with palms up.  Completed 5K in 24:12 minutes. 

 

Broccoli Casserole
Broccoli Casserole

Got home and got busy in the kitchen.

Had this 3 lbs bag of broccoli that was going to expire soon. It was time to do something with it. Made a delicious broccoli casserole. 

Stay tuned for recipe!

 

Categories
Blood Sugar | Insulin Resistance | PCOS Fitness | Exercise Latest News

Is Exercise Your Ticket To Weight Loss?

Tabata Training
Tabata Training

Exercise ≠ Weight Loss Ticket. Yet, Exercise = World’s Best Drug?!?!

The notion that exercise is the ticket to the weight loss express still prevails. Unfortunately, looking at long-term studies, exercise does not drive weight as it ‘should’ (= as it is perceived or believed).  Why is that? A few reasons…

  • People eat back their exercise. A little extra dish or drink because they have moved their fannies. We’ve been told to refuel, so eat away. That is true to elite athletes doing endurance sports. Chances are most people don’t need to do any of that. I certainly do not.
  • The concept of constrained energy expenditure is interesting. Recent research (http://www.cell.com/current-biology/abstract/S0960-9822(15)01577-8) looked at the impact amount of exercise has on total number of calories burned in a day. It suggests that the more exercise we do, the more our bodies slow down during down time. This might explains why people who hit the gym really hard are NOT seeing results they want. This might discourage people from exercising. The indirect benefits of exercise to diet and weight management is significant. That include blood sugar and insulin management, energy level, sleep, hormone balance, brain and digestive health. These benefits will in turn drive dietary changes more.  Think about the overall health benefits thousands of people of join the gym every January and leave it a couple of months later are missing out because their driver is weight loss!
  • The notion that more muscles we have, more calories we burn. That is true but it seems highly overrated…isn’t a fair fight. World-renowned exercise physiologist Claude Bouchard went on record to say, “Skeletal muscle burns about 13 calories per kilogram of body weight over 24 hours when a person is at rest.″ In other words, Bouchard ascribes the resting metabolic requirement for 1 pound of muscle at less than 6 calories per day. He also states that, “Weight lifting has virtually no effect on resting metabolism.”.

    Let’s say one gains 15 pounds of muscles while shedding 15 pounds of fat, one might be burning an extra 90 calories only or a couple of oreo cookies. So well, well…are there any benefits to increasing skeletal muscle percentage? You bet!  I can address another day.

I say, let’s rebrand the role of exercise. From weight loss and management ticket to overall health management ticket. Understanding its indirect benefits to diet and weight management might help people building a long lasting relationship with it, making it part of their lifestyle forever!

Would you like to learn more and techniques how to apply all this? Tired of procrastinating? YOUR health is the only one you got!  Reach out and let’s get started. 


 

Four Tabatas = Energy Boost = Moving Fanny Works!

It was one of those days. I went to the gym not really certain whether I should have gone. My body and mind were feeling a little tired and it was my forth day in a row working out. I considered going because it was a tabata of movements I feel very comfortable with and there was not heavy lifting involved. Otherwise, it would NOT have been a good idea. Tired body during technical lifts can lead to injury instantaneously and in the long term.

A Special Loving Reminder

Four minutes into the routine and I was reminded why I love to move my fanny and encourage everyone to do the same and become a personal trainer as well. Total workout lasted 18 minutes. I was sweating like if I had just left a shower and fully energetic.

Full Mixed Tabata*
‱Box Jumps (20 inches)
‱GHD Sit Ups

– Rest 2 Mins –

Full Mixed Tabata*
‱Lunge Steps
‱Kettlebell Swings (35 lbs)

*Tabata is a time interval of 20 secs of work followed by 10 secs of rest, for 8 rounds (4 total mins).
The mixed Tabata alternates movements, with the same interval. A full mixed Tabata is alternating movements for 8 rounds EACH (8 total min).

Soon after the tabatas, Bianca and I did 3 rounds of 10 reps of 4 different core movements. Hello to abs. 

Cheers!

Categories
Fitness | Exercise Latest News

Jen Widerstrom – IDLife – Training

Jen Widerstrom, Biggest Loser Trainer and IDLife investor…

…shares a few training tips for those considering a race like Tough Mudder. Completing any portion of the race is a win, she says. I could not agree more. IDLife makes high / clean quality products and evidence base individualized nutrition that no other supplement company offers in the market. Ingredients your body will absorb. Take the FREE HIPAA Compliant Assessment at www.BeFabBeYou.idlife.com.

Jen’s 28-Day Challenge

Jen has also developed 28-Day Challenges for IDLife. Not only i endorse IDLife products, but also take IDNutrition daily, have done the Performance Challenge, and have products such as Pre and Post Workout, Hydrate, and Shake handy. Excellent products supporting exercise routines. For those looking to shed weight, Lean is the product. Last but not least, try Whey and Vegan shake protein powders in your smoothies.

â€Ș#‎BeFabBeYou‬ â€Ș#‎fitness‬ â€Ș#‎healthwellnessfitnesscoach‬ â€Ș#‎wellness‬ #IDLife

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Diet | Nutrition | Recipes Fitness | Exercise Latest News

Test your Strength with RM (Rep Max)

bench pressAre You Tracking Your Strength?

I didn’t notice how sore my upper body was until I started to stretch before the workout. Ouch! To help out, two of the 1x Rep Max movements were upper body. Had not done 1x RM done in a while. 

If you’re in the gym lifting moderate to heavy weights often and muscles aren’t building up as they ‘should’, I encourage you to look into your nutrition, sleep & rest, and timing. Reach out for a few tips to help you understand what, how, and when. 

Quick 5:15min workout:

15-12-09 reps of 
Burpees
Wall Ball Shots (14 lbs)

Then…all mostly shoulder RMs. It was a good test for my shoulders. They felt OK.
15 mins to find 1xRM Squat Clean (max at 95 lbs)
15 mins to find 1xRM Bench Press (max at 95 lbs)
15 mins to find 1xRM OHS or Overhead Squat (max at 75 lbs)