Healthy Recipes: Herb Chicken Recipe

This is one of my favourite chicken dishes:


Ingredients:
4 chicken thighs with skin
1 tblspoon dried oregano
6 garlic cloves
1 teaspoon pepper
2 teaspoons oil
Salt


Finely chop the garlic cloves
Remove fat from chicken thighs
Mix oil and chicken in a bowl and ensure chicken is evenly covered
Add pepper, garlic, oregano to bowl and mix until chicken is evenly coated
Place chicken, skin up on baking sheet
Place into oven and bake at 425 C for 30 minutes or until juices run clear from chicken
Remove from oven, sprinkle with salt, let chicken sit for 2 minutes and serve
Add your favourite salad as a side. I love having a fresh Greek salad with this dish

Healthy Tips: Variety is the Spice of Life

Remember when you first started your exercise regime and your body would ache for days afterwards. But now that you have gotten into a regular training routine, the soreness is no longer there, and neither are the results. Don't be discouraged, this happens to everybody and it's just muscle adaptation. Your body has gotten to the point where the exercise is great for maintaining your current state, but no longer good enough to produce the significant results that you desire.

Our bodies are amazing machines that can adapt to exercise and workouts very easily. When this happens, we tend to see a plateau in our training and may get discouraged with poorer results. Therefore, it is important that you maintain variety in your training, not only to keep things interesting for yourself mentally, but to also keep your body in peak shape. I would recommend changing your training regimen every two weeks. Try it out and you will be rewarded with better results and exciting workouts.

Here are some suggestions on adding some spice to your training:

• Pyramid training – constantly increase/decrease the weights until exhaustion
• Supersetting – perform 2 exercises back to back without a break in between
• Increase weights and decrease repetitions (4-8 reps) / Decrease weights and increase repetitions (12-20 reps)
• Interval training – steady cardio with bursts of intense cardio. i.e. Run for 5 minutes and sprint for 1 minute for a full hour
• Try something new, such as pole dancing, yoga, kickboxing, bootcamps or crossfit training
• Join a recreational sports league

There are plenty of different activities and workouts to choose from to keep things interesting. And remember that the more you shock your body, the better results you will get, as you are not allowing your body a chance to adapt to a specific exercise pattern. So say goodbye to boring workouts and welcome back those results.

Healthy Tips: 1-2-3 Approach to Eating

Let’s face it, a lot of us lead a very busy lifestyle, between work, kids and hobbies it can be hard to plan a healthy, balanced meal. So for those that are in this situation, I have a simple solution, it’s called the 1-2-3 approach to eating. In other words, eat one serving of complex carbohydrates, two servings of proteins and three servings of vegetables. It’s an easy way to ensure that your body gets a good variety of essential vitamins and minerals, as well as food from different food groups. Keep in mind that my portion size is a deck of cards.

This is one of my favourite meals to prepare for myself (Here are the Herb Chicken and Greek salad recipes):

1. one serving of brown rice
2. two servings of garlic and herb chicken thighs
3. three servings of Greek salad

I also like paring this down to a low carbohydrate alternative where I have four servings of Greek salad instead of the brown rice.

What Not To Do: Fitness Tip of the Week

He shouldn't of ate that greasy sandwich before his workout

Healthy Tips: Calorie Mathematics

*The following numbers are based on a fictitious average person who naturally burns 1200 calories/day


Math was never my strongest subject in school, although it was supposed to be because after all I’m Asian. But to my parents dismay, my best grades came in sciences instead. However, in an attempt to make my parents proud, I will use my basic math skills to try and explain weight loss and gain. If you can add and subtract, you can manage your weight. No points systems or cleansing required; all you need is simple arithmetic:

Caloric Input – Caloric Output = Calories Available for Storage (For weight loss to occur, this should be a negative number)

Here’s an example of weight gain:

2000 caloric input – 1200 average natural caloric output – 0 calorie output (no exercise) = 800 Calories available for storage. If you were to eat like this person, you would gain a pound or more a week.

Some additional pointers for managing your calorie input:

• By decreasing your intake by 500 calories/day you should lose a pound/week, and as Homer would say…Woo Hoo!! However, if your intake goes up by 500 calories/day, that’s a potential 52 pounds/year weight gain! Can you say moo moo dress?
• You should be eating at least 3 meals a day: breakfast, lunch and dinner. If your average daily intake is 1200 calories to maintain weight, spread this out over your meals. 1200 calories / 3 meals = 400 calories per meal
• It takes approximately 45-60 minutes of activity to burn 500 calories. Of course, this is dependent on the activity you are performing as well as your current body type.

Personally, I base my input on how much physical activity I do. If I train for one hour, I will try to eat 500 more calories that day. However, if I can't train, I will eat just enough to maintain my weight, which is about 1500 calories. Now keep in mind that I have a high metabolism and a leaner body type, so adjust your own numbers according to your own build.

Workout Tips: Kooza and Core

I went to watch Cirque Du Soleil's Kooza show tonight and I'm amazed at how strong these men and women are who perform in these shows.  The third act was a man riding a unicycle while maneuvering a 90lb woman over his head and cycling in a circle.  This got me thinking about how important core training is. 

Your core is like the trunk of the tree, it's the base on which every movement draws from, controls your balance and protects your spine.  So try to engage your core in as many exercises as possible. 

You can do this with a multitude of tools, including a bosu ball, exercise ball or a medicine ball.  Basically, anything that requires you to balance your body without physically supporting your core.  The next time you have a workout, try replacing the flat bench with an exercise ball, squat and lunge on a bosu ball instead of the floor, try pushups off a medicine ball or even do shoulder presses on one foot.

You can easily adjust your existing workout to engage more of your core.  All you need is to add the element of balance into the exercises.

Blogging: Week One

Well it's been one week since I started this blogging stuff and it's been a wonderful experience so far.  The initial setup was a little confusing, but after I started posting a few articles, I'm starting to get the hang of it.  I hope you guys are enjoying my articles and please feel free to leave your comments as well.  Initially, it took me a few hours to write each piece, but the ideas are coming easier now.  I was probably over analyzing things at first, but if I just say what's on my mind, it seems to flow better.


If you have any suggestions on topics, feel free to let me know.  I'm always looking to learn new things and research new topics.

Healthy Recipes: Simple Greek Salad

Ingredients:
Salt/Pepper
1 cucumber
2 medium size tomatoes
¼ green pepper
¼ red pepper
¼ red onion
8 white mushrooms
5 whole black olives (optional)
1 tblspoon Renee’s Greek dressing
½ cup feta cheese


Chop cucumber, tomatoes, peppers, onion, mushrooms into bite sized squares
Combine all into a mixing bowl and add olives and feta cheese and dressing
Toss lightly and sprinkle with salt and pepper
Serve chilled

Healthy Tip: The Little Engine That Could

Your body uses carbohydrates for energy similar to how an engine uses gas.  If you consume the proper amount of carbs to perform daily tasks you technically shouldn’t experience weight gain.  In other words, at the end of the day the engine should be empty after a day of work.  However, if you consume too much carbs it will store as fat, since there is gas in the tank at the end of the night. 

Our bodies are different in that it uses fuel in a specific order.  First it uses carbs for energy, then goes after fats, and if all else fails, muscles are used to provide the boost.   So, if we do not consume enough carbohydrates, our body will start to tap into our fat stores for energy, which should result in weight loss. 

Keep in mind that if one continues to consume too little carbohydrates and all the fat storage has been used up, your body burns muscles for energy, which can be detrimental to your fitness goals.  Think of the physique of a marathon runner.  So get that engine revving with exercise and start using up the additional tank.

P.S. I would never recommend running an engine dry because that will destroy your engine, I am merely using this comparison as an analogy.

Healthy Tip: Portion Control

If you’re not good with calorie counting and you’re looking for a different approach to monitoring your intake, try watching your portion sizes.  I like to use a deck of cards to represent a single serving.  Portion sizes in today’s world are much bigger then they need to be.  If you compare your grandmother’s dinner plates to your own, you can see the difference. 

For help with portion sizese, have a look at this guide, we all received one in elementary school, although I remember using it as a coloring book. Canada’s food guide recommends the following servings for a balanced diet: 

 

For more information visit:  http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/food-guide-aliment/index-eng.php

What Not To Do: Fitness Tip of the Week

Was he sober when he attempted this?

Workout Routine: Easy Poor Person’s Workout

People tend to think that they require access to a full gym in order to get a good workout. But there are many different exercises that you can do without any equipment at all. Your body itself provides enough weight and versatility that you can get a great workout using yourself as the device. Here's a full body workout that you can do absolutely anywhere without the aid of any equipment.

Pushups – these are some of my favourite exercises. Not only do they force you to move your entire body weight, but many muscle groups are activated during each motion. By varying the position of your hands and feet, you can target different areas of the body with the same basic movement.

• Regular pushups – position your arms at the side of your chest and both toes on the ground.

• Tricep pushups – position your arms at your upper abdominal area and elbows at side.

• Diamond pushups – position your hands in a diamond shape with index and thumbs touching and both toes on the ground.

Plyometrics – these explosive and effective exercises improve both cardio and strength. Note that these are more intense exercises. Start slowly at first and when you get the hang of things, try pushing your limits

• Jump squats – squat down with your bum pushed out, explode into a jump and land back into a squat position
  
  
• Tuck jumps – explosive jump up and tuck your knees up to your stomach

• Burpees – come down onto your palms and extend both feet out into a pushup position, bring both feet into a squat position and finish with a jump.  Perform this in a couple of quick movements.

Core – most core exercises require no weight at all. Your body weight is sufficient to provide resistance for a good workout, which will test the strength and endurance of this undervalued muscle group

• 
  
  V-Situps - Lying on your back with your arms and legs extended, bring your hands and toes up at the same time to form the shape of a V.  Try to touch your hands to your toes

• Pikes - Starting in plank position on your elbows and toes.  Bring your bum up as high as you can and lower it back into a plank.

• Side Planks - Start on your elbow and side of your foot.  Raise your hips and lower them again.

 

Note: anyone engaging in exercise for the first time should first consult a physician.  Also, to ensure good form please consult with an experienced professional or personal trainer. As well, please use a spotter as an additional safety factor and always warm up and stretch

10 regular pushups

10 diamond pushups

10 tricep pushups

30 second rest

15 jump squats

15 tuck jumps

15 burpees

30 second rest

20 v-situps

20 planks

20 side Planks

Repeat this set 3 times.



Welcome to my Blog

www.FitNutBlog.com

Welcome to my Fitness and Nutrition blog, or FitNut for short.  I'm a fitness and nutrition nut and I love training and teaching others about their health.  However, the amount of clients that I can work with on a daily basis is limited, so I thought I would find another method to preach my passion.

My goal is to change people's attitudes towards fitness and nutrition.  I believe that everybody can live a healthy lifestyle and get the health that they desire if they are given the right information to make the best decisions.  As the cliche goes "Knowledge is Power".  So feel free to read my posts, comment on them and send me any questions you may have. 

We'll also be sending out weekly newsletters and hold contests for free stuff, so be sure to sign up to be a Fit Nut! 


Colin
Eat.  Train.  Live
Fitness and Nutrition Blog

www.FitNutBlog.com