Weekend Challenge

25 squats 5 pushup

20 squat 10 push up

15 squat 15 pushup

10 squat 20 pushup

5 squat 10 push up

Low-Fat Salad Dressing Isn't Necessarily The Healthiest Option, Purdue Study Shows

from huffingtonpost.com

What could be healthier than a salad? The raw vegetables and fruits that comprise the foundation of any healthful bowl are chock-full of vitamins, nutrients, fiber and water -- all things your body needs to function optimally. And while you might think you're doing yourself a favor by adding a low- or no-fat dressing atop your pile of leafy greens, the truth is that these diet options may be preventing you from getting the full benefit of many of the nutrients that make salad such a good choice.

That's because an important class of nutrients called carotenoids, which include lutein, lycopene, beta-carotene and zeaxanthin, are fat-soluble. In other words, carotenoid-rich foods must be eaten with some measure of fat to make the nutrients available to humans.

Carotenoids, found in high numbers in colorful vegetables like carrots, tomatoes and onions, are associated with a reduction in cancer risk, protection of eyesight and a lower risk of cardiovascular-related death. One study even found that they can make you appear more beautiful.

"If you want to utilize more from your fruits and vegetables, you have to pair them correctly with fat-based dressings," Mario Ferruzzi, the lead author of a study and associate professor of food science at Purdue said in a statement. "If you have a salad with a fat-free dressing, there is a reduction in calories, but you lose some of the benefits of the vegetables."  Continue reading at HuffingtonPost.com

Protein Egg Wrap filled with Avocado and Tuna

foreverfit.tv

from foreverfit.tv

This yum looking breakfast would be easy to take with you in a hurry.  I've never seen how to make an egg wrap before!

Get the how to HERE.

Weekend Challenge

3 Rounds for Time
30 Push-ups 
40 Sit-ups 
50 Squats

The Secret to Making Positive Life Changes

By Rod Stryker for huffingtonpost.com 

Over the years, I've lectured to tens of thousands of people on the subject of improving their quality of life. One of the main points I make is that an essential element of having more of the life you want is dedicating at least some time each day to clearing and quieting your mind.

After describing the practical, physiological, emotional, mental, and of course spiritual benefits of taking even just a few minutes a day to meditate or relax deeply, it's clear that most people are genuinely inspired to do it. Unfortunately, only a small percentage of people ever act on their inspiration. But these would-be meditators are not alone. The truth is that many of us don't apply ourselves enough to achieve the positive life changes to which we aspire: the desire to lose weight, exercise regularly, get organized, work less, get more sleep, enrich our spiritual life, spend less time on the internet, stop smoking, or possibly, yes, have a regular meditation practice. Why? Why is it that we so often fail to successfully make the changes we really want? The simple answer is: pain. It's all about pain.

More than three decades ago, when I was just starting to meditate, I found that I resisted it. Despite all the benefits it provided me, despite being aware of how much better my life was whenever I did it, I failed to do it consistently. Curious about how to overcome my resistance and convert my enthusiasm for it into a regular practice, I approached my teacher.

"What do you feel like when you don't do it," he asked.

"Not so great," I said. "I feel less clear, less inspired, less confident, less comfortable."

"Great," he said. "Keep that at the forefront of your mind. The more mindful you are of the pain of not doing it, the less likely you are to not practice." I remember thinking, "That's it? 'Recall the pain of not doing it,' that's the secret to practicing regularly?" It took time, but I would eventually learn that my teacher had asked me to apply the critical element that determines practically all human behavior -- the desire to avoid pain. Our desire to avoid pain is why we find it difficult to start or sustain a new habit or achieve our goals.

Research shows that the pull or attraction for whatever we hope to do, have, or become is a far lesspowerful motivating force than our desire to avoid the inevitable pain we experience while we're in the process of achieving the things to which we aspire. Thus, for instance, if we want (but fail) to change our diet, even if we really, really want to, it is because we associate more pain with making the necessary changes to our diet than the pain we experience with the way we are currently eating. In short, as long as you identify change as being more painful than not changing, odds are that you won't change.  Keep reading. 

12 Cold Soup Recipes

It's summertime and though soup isn't the first thing you think of, let these 12 cold soup recipes from The New York Times change your mind.

Weekend Challenge

Find your MAX!

As many as you can-you know until you literally cannot force your muscles to do one more-of the following:

• push ups
• sit ups
• squats

How Exercise Can Jog the Memory

By Gretchen Reynolds from the NYTimes.com 

Ryan McVay/Getty Images

It’s well established that exercise substantially changes the human brain, affecting both thinking and emotions. But a sophisticated, multifaceted new study suggests that the effects may be more nuanced than many scientists previously believed. Whether you gain all of the potential cognitive and mood benefits from exercise may depend on when and how often you work out, as well as on the genetic makeup of your brain.

For the experiment, published last month in Neuroscience, researchers in the department of psychology and neuroscience at Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H., recruited 54 adults, ages 18 to 36, from the college and the surrounding community. The volunteers were healthy but generally sedentary; none exercised regularly.

During their first visit to the lab, they completed a series of questionnaires about their health and mood, including how anxious they were both at that moment and in general.  Continue reading at NYTimes.com 

Moroccan Mash

This recipe from StirItUp sounds like an awesome way to shake up your chicken dish without adding unwanted fat or calories by adding spices!
Here are the ingredients:

• 2 lbs ground meat
• 2 medium sweet potatoes
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp coconut oil
• 2 tbsp dried cilantro
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tbsp plus 1 tsp celtic sea salt
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp ground ginger or ginger powder
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp turmeric 

Get the how to and more great info at StirItUp.

Weekend Challenge

Run 1/2 Mile
50 Push Ups
50 Squats
50 Box Jumps or Step Ups
50 Sit Ups
50 Tricep Dips
Run 1/2 Mile

Exercise Makes You Smarter, Thanks To A Common Gene

from HuffingtonPost.com 

We already know that regular exercise makes you healthier, happier and, well, hotter. But did you know it could also make you smarter? That's the premise of an emerging area of neuroscientific research, in which scientists are exploring the neurological effects of getting your regular dose of cardio.

It turns out that exercise does a lot more than get the blood pumping: in about 60 percent of the population, it may be responsible for the expression of a gene that floods your cells with “brain derived neurotrophic factor" -- or BDNF – a protein that is thought to help with mental acuity, learning and memory.

In a study based at Dartmouth College, lead researcher Michael Hopkins and his team tested four different exercise schedules on a group of sedentary, though healthy young men. They gave the men a set of memory tests and mental health surveys to determine their psychological states. Some participants exercised for four weeks and were tested on the final day. Another group exercised for four weeks, but did not exercise on test day. A third group had just one day of exercise, followed by the test. A last group was sedentary throughout.  Continue reading . . .

Mason Jar Meals

I love the idea of having meals ready to go and grab at any time.  Check out this great post from BigRedKitchen.com on making your own MJMs.

BigRedKitchen.com

Weekend Challenge

Run 400 Meters
20 Squats
Run 400 Meters
20 Push Ups
Run 400 Meters
20 Sit Ups
Run 400 Meters
20 Lunges