Don't let the SUPERBOWL Ruin Your 20 Yard Gain!

Hi guys!!!

Are you ready for Superbowl Sunday?!!! I know I am!! Let's go 9ers!!! However, regardless of what team you are routing for, Superbowl is a challenging day for those of us trying to keep it healthy!! Especially if you are out at a restaurant or a bar!

I know it isn't as exciting or interesting as my last article but I figured it was useful, and you can also use these tips for healthy snacking too!!!

Let's get started! I'll start with easy at home snacks that you can make or take with you to a friends house!

If you are not planning on brining anything and you know you will be tempted the best way to rid yourself of the temptation is eating a nice, big healthy meal before you go, make sure you have gum ( I like a variety so I usually have up  5 different flavors) this really helps me, and drink lots of water ( if you can find lemon add some of that in there too!)

At home snack ideas and tips: 

• Stick with low-fat or non-fat:

• Sour cream
• Beans
• Cheese                                  
• Dips

• Sauces: 
• BBQ
• Hot Sauces 
• Dry Rubs
• Vinaigrette dressings 

• Skip the breading and the bread
• Get your wings naked 
• Grill or Bake, Don't FRY
• Skip the buns, rolls, or breads 
• or use 1/2! 

• Instead of chips go with a baked potato 
• Or you can make your own chips 

• regular or sweet potato                                        
• sweet or savory
• Or if you want that crunch try a handful of mixed nuts
• Or Banana Chips

• Have a bowl of chili! 

• Lettuce wrap sandwiches (men always talk about how they like their meat! well it's all meat and some veggies!)

Dips:

• Go for the green: Guacamole dip with veggies!!! 
• be careful of your servings, but those avocados are good fats!! Yummy! 

• Salsa is another great low cal snack
• you can use those homemade chips! 

• Hummus (again be careful of your servings)

Desert: 

• Berries with low fat whipped cream                                   
• A piece of dark chocolate                     
• Flavored greek yogurt 
• Low Fat Banana bread (yummy!)

Alright my Bar enthusiasts it's your turn! 

When you sit down get a glass of water with lemon, the lemon will help give your metabolism a little boost! 

Apps: 

• Start with a soup or salad                                        
• this fills you up on the good stuff 
• Avoid the deep fried stuff go for baked
• Ask for the extras on the side
• you are likely to use less
• Lettuce wraps
• Take the bread away

Entree's 

• Stick to lean protein
• Veggies
• Go for the side salad

• you did a good job, give yourself your dressing of choice                  
• Only consume half of the bread (ex: only the bottom bun on the burger)

Desserts 

• If you are of age, skip it and go for a glass of red wine
• antioxidants!!! 
• 1 scoop of ice cream or sorbet 
• Split it!  

I hope this helps you this weekend and you enjoy the time spent with friends and family! Go 9ers!!!! Go Ravens!! Whoever you are routing for have a fun, healthy, and happy Superbowl everyone!!! 

Pistols....Out! 

Xo

Booty Booty Booty... Rockin' Everywhere!!!

Hi all!!!
Hope everyone had a great weekend, with Superbowl coming up I thought I would give you a high endurance workout, with lots of booty exercises. Everyone loves a great ass right?!! Alright let's get started!

This weeks workout will again be in intervals, 30 seconds on 20 seconds off, with 2:30 rest in between each round!! You can do between 3 and 5 rounds!! Ready? Here we go!

• Pop Squats


• Sumo Deadlifts with Barbell

• X-man Mountain Climbers

• Overhead Squats
• It is important that you keep your chest high and sit in those heels for this exercise 
• Also you can use different objects such as a towel (as seen in the pic), a broom handle, a barbell, or body-bar.

• Floor Kick Backs
• If too easy you can place a dumbbell between your knee.

• Split Jumps with Dumbbells

• Single Leg Floor Bridges (30 sec on each side!)
• If too easy you can add a weight
• Put your foot on a Bosu or grab a bench and place you resting foot on that as well!

There you have it!! A calorie blasting booty workout!! Kick some butt this week.... literally!!! 

Until Thursday!!! Also feel free to check out my Facebook site!! 

https://www.facebook.com/SmashItTraining

Pistols...Out!!

Xo

I can be SKINNY and FAT??!! WTF?!!!

Hi everyone!!! Hope you are well and staying active!!!

This week I want to touch on the subject of Skinny Fat... weird concept I know but a lot of people either don't know about it or don't understand it! I was once one of those individuals but, before we get into that let me tell you what it is.

Now, you might be asking yourself how can I/or someone be Skinny and Fat at the same time, it's quite simple actually....

Skinny Fat: A person who is not overweight and appears to be skinny. They have a high body fat percentage with a low lean muscle mass percentage.

Alright so now that there is an understanding let me tell you how this happens...

• Low caloric diet
• This puts your body into starvation mode, holding on to all of your fat and burning the rest! This is because 1 gram of fat = 9 calories! Your body doesn't know when the next time it is going to be fed so it burns the stuff that has the less calories per gram and holds on to the highest. 
• Mass amounts of cardio/ or no activity at all
• Mass cardio = holding on to fat, again starvation theory! 

Simple enough right?

Let's talk a little more about it so you fully understand! Ok so when you see those girls on the cardio machine and you are like "dang!!! I wanna look like that!" or "dang she's sexy"

Think again my friend! Yes, she is probably very pretty, and yes I sound mean but the question is... is she fit? Does she have that muscle tone you are looking for?

If she spends all of her time on cardio equipment NO, she is skinny and squishy..... good endurance YES... sorry to be the barrier of bad news, or happy to wake you up :0)

Now, hear me out, I used to be skinny fat! Obsessed with my elliptical or stair master! Spending anywhere from 1-3hours on the thing!! I was the skinniest I've ever been!!

However, I still had love handles hanging over my jeans and I wasn't toned like I wanted to be, that's how I looked and this is what I wanted to look like...

Yes, I got there but this is 3 years later!!! It took a while and some college classes to realize what I was doing to my body and how to change it.

If you want muscle or even just toning you have to incorporate weight training no matter what!!! You can do cardio for hours and days but you will not get those results you want!! 

You need to eat clean and make sure you lift! I know some people are intimidated to lift weights because they are going to get bulky!! Listen in the picture above I was chest press 25 dumbbells, squatting 145, and shoulder pressing 65 lbs. YOU WILL NOT GET BULKY I promise!!! Keep the cardio to a minimum 30-45 minutes 4-5x a week but same with the weights 4-5x a week rotating different body areas. 

The cardio will prevent you from getting that bulky look and the weights will give you that fit/fabulous look you have been trying so hard to get! 

Actually once you hit a certain point you don't even have to do cardio anymore!! Isn't that awesome?!!! You turn yourself into a fat burning machine! 

Also, to those who say they gain weight when they lift wights, YES initially you will but that is because muscle weighs more then fat, you are building that lean mass that burns fat!!! Also keep in mind if you put muscle and fat side by side, 1 lb of fat is double the size as 1 lb of muscle. 

I hope this was helpful and if you have any questions feel free to ask!!! 

Keep up the good work and if you are enjoying my blog please check out my new Facebook page: 

https://www.facebook.com/SmashItTraining

Until next time!

Pistols...Out! 

XO 

Kick up the volume!!

Hey all!!
Hope you had a great weekend!! Here is a kettle bell/cardio circuit that is sure to get your blood pumping!! It should take you about 30 minutes to complete depending on how long you rest in between each round!!

How it works:

• Each exercise will last 30 seconds
• Rest 20 seconds between each exercise
• Rest 2:30 seconds between rounds
• Preform each round 3-5 times

Let's get it!! 

Kettle-bell alternating squat and swing

Mountain climbers 

Kettle bell sumo squat into high row

Burpees

Kettle bell windmills

Split Jumps

Kettle bell squat to shoulder press

There it is... THE WORKOUT OF THE WEEK!! Thanks for checking in!! Keep up the good work and I hope you enjoy this calorie blasting workout!!! Until Thursday!!! 

Pistols....Out!

XO

Attack of the Killer Flu!!!

Hey all!! Sorry for the delay, internet was down yesterday, but shouldn't have any more problems! Hope everyone is staying strong and healthy! I thought with the huge flu epidemic I would give you a couple tips on how to stay flu free this season!!!

Of course most of them are obvious right?.......

Wash your hands, drink lots of water, and take your vitamins!

Some of the things you might not know is take your vitamin C now, not after you get sick!! Once you are sick it doesn't help your body protect against anything. Also, it is a water soluble vitamin so anything in excess with only be extracted, and then you are just dumping $$$ down the drain!

Make sure you are getting those zzzz's in!! It is important to get enough rest between 7-8 hours! No more, no less!

Start adding these Immune Building foods to your diet!!

1. Citrus fruits
2. Garlic
3. Yogurt
4. Green Tea
5. Ginger
6. Fish/Shell fish
7. Red and Orange Veggies
8. Beef
9. Mushrooms
10. Broccoli
11. Don't Work Out When Your Sick!
    Why?....... because right after you workout your immune system drop tremendously, then picks back up 3 t 72 hours following overly intense workouts. There may be an open window in which viruses and bacteria may gain a foothold. This can increase the risk of infection.

Alright!! Those are the tips to help build a stronger immune system and fight that nasty flu!! Stay happy and healthy!! Have a great weekend, do a fun activity!!! 

Pistols..Out!

xo

Cleanin' the Guns!!!

Hi all!!! Hope everyone is doing well and sticking with those new years resolutions!! Sorry about the delay today, my internet was down during my break from work... any who!! This weeks workout is all about the arms!!!

Now when strength training a certain area you don't have to do an over excessive amount of a exercises, two to three different exercises is enough!! That's the good news!!!

For this week we are gonna change it up a little so instead of 3 sets of 12-15 reps, try something new 5 sets of 8 reps!!

REMEMBER: you want your last 3 reps to be challenging to make sure you are building that lean body mass!!
Also, if you pick a weight that is to heavy, GO DOWN IN REPS NOT WEIGHT!! Keep building and burn that fat!

Alright time to get it!!!

Tricep push-ups

• Variations:
• Against a wall



• On your knees

• Regular

• Decline

Dumbbell Bicep Curl Into Hammer Curl

• Perform a bicep curl and immediately after preform a hammer curl = 1 rep

Tricep Dips

• Variations:
• Knees bent 

• Legs straight 

• Single Leg 

Reverse Curls with a EZ bar

Standing Tricep Kickbacks w/dumbbells

Alternate Incline Dumbbell Curl

Hope you enjoy your new Gun Cleanin' routine!!! Time to tone those boys/girls up!!!

Pistols...Out
XO

More Nutriton Secrets to Keep you on your A-Game!

Hey all!!!

Hope you are having a good week and the new year is treating you well!!! I have a couple more nutrition secrets for you, you may or may not know!

Alright let's get into it! First and foremost, not a lot of people know this but when you are hungry it usually means one of two things....

1. You are NOT drinking enough WATER!!!! You want to drink about 3L a day.

2. You are NOT consuming enough PROTEIN(I'm talking lean protein here, not pork sausage filled with lots of fat)!!!! You have to keep it healthy REMEMBER!!! Your intake will all very's on your size and goal weight of course as I mentioned last week!

This all is of course if you are eating enough in general!

Alright next, and this is very important!! You need to be eating 5-6 meals a day!! Not huge over-sized portions either!! I'm talking small, well balanced meals! I will break down a day of eating for myself to give you an idea! A good rule as well is to make sure you are not consuming complex carbs 6 hours before you go to sleep! Ok here's my diet....usually...

Breakfast:

• 4 egg whites
• 3/4 cup of oatmeal ( I add cinnamon and sugar free maple syrup)

Morning Snack:

• Low fat Greek yogurt (yoplay fruit at the bottom 80 Kcals)
• 1/3 cup of walnuts

Lunch:

• 99% fat free Turkey Sandwich
• On Sara Lee Whole Wheat bread thins
• Mixed Lettuce
• Cholula (my go to for almost everything!!!)

Afternoon snack: 

• Protein Shake
• 3/4 cup of mixed berries

Another snack: 

• Protein Shake
• Coconut milk (4oz)

Dinner: 

• Some kind of Lean Protein 
• Veggie 

The reason behind this is you need to think of your metabolism as a fire! If you do not fuel the fire consistently it will die out, but if you continually fuel the fire it will burn strong a.k.a burning calories. You want to try and eat every 2-3 hours. However, like I said earlier you have to feed your body the right nutrients! Anything in excess with be stored as fat!! It doesn't matter if it is a protein, carb, or fat!!! 

Ok last thing I want to touch on! As I just said there are 3 sources of nutrients Proteins, Carbs, and Fats.  That is it, that's all there are!!!

Proteins are pretty obvious, but you can also make a complete protein from lentils/beans and rice, as well as other sources! Those two separated are known as incomplete proteins. 

 

Carbs seem to be pretty obvious, but there are some tricky ones that people do not consider carbs I'm talking VEGGIES and FRUITS!!! Yes!!! I know it's weird to think of veggies and fruits in this way because we are feed with images of grains for carbs, but it is true!! Some people think that they can eat as many veggies as they want and it will not effect them. Good for you for eating your veggies, but if you eat to many again they will be stored as fat!!! It is hard to do but will happen! 

Fruits are great but should be taken in small amounts, the reason for this being is... most fruits contain a lot of sugar. Yes, it is natural sugar, but still anything in excess = FAT! A good rule of thumb is about 1 cup a day, this all depends on the results you are looking for too!! 

Fats include nuts, some veggies such as avocado, egg yolks, some meat sources,milk, and yogurts. There are also bad fats such as trans and saturated, these are ones you want to try and stay away from. Trans have been chemically altered and I like to think of saturated fats as blocks of fat, just stacking on top of one another! 

Don't get me wrong there are good fats and you need some in your diet, but you need to be careful of your intake of these guys!! Be cautious and if you really don't know research!! Next week I will go into the different kinds of fats for you guys!!! 

Lastly, I would just like to say even if you eat super healthy and you get all your meals in!! You still should take a multi-vitimin to make sure you are getting all the right nutrients! It is easy to not get them all in! So just do it!!!! 

That's all I have today!! Hope it was helpful and again if you ever have any questions feel free and ask!! Also, if there is a subject you would like me to go over I would be happy too!!! Stay healthy and happy!!! 

Pistols....Out

XO

Abs-olutely!!

Hi guys!!! This weeks workout is all about those abs!!! I know everyone is alway wanting to work on them!! Here you go! Perform these 3-4x week!! Remember though, abs are made in the kitchen! If you aren't eating right you are not going to see the results you want!!! Good luck!

Reverse Crunches: 3x20

• Progressions: floor, bench, decline

Crunches: 3x25 each side

• Left, Center, Right, Center

Flutter Kicks: 3x40 sec

• 20 sec: small kicks
• 20 sec: big kicks

Hope you guys enjoy!! Keep up the good work and don't lose sight of your goals!!!! 

Pistols...Out!

xo