Fab Fit Squad

Yes cabbage, I remember as kid my grandmother, affectionately referred to as Granny use to make red cabbage slaw and braised red cabbage all the time. It took me a while to reconnect with this veggie, but now that I have I love it. Here is a twist on a her recipe.

Braised Cabbage

• 1/2 head green cabbage
• 1/2 head red cabbage
• 2 T mustard (Dijon or Grey Poupon)
• 1/2 c chicken broth
• 1/4 c balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 t nutmeg

Simmer in a pot for 40 minutes. Stirring occasionally.

I know what you are thinking you should only eat cabbage on St. Patrick’s day or only if you are Irish, but cabbage has a lot of health benefits.

1. helps fight ulcers
2. promotes women’s health by helping to metabolize estrogen
3. protection against Alzheimer’s

If you’ve done something interesting with cabbage, let me know below!

Oatmeal Parfait

• 1/3 c cooked oatmeal
• 1/2 c greek yogurt or cottage cheese
• 1/2 t honey or agave nectar
• 1/8 t pumpkin pie spice

in a separate bowl, mix 1/2 c berries (blueberries, raspberries, strawberries or a mixture)

Layer into a glass and serve. YUM YUM. This could also be a snack.

For my egg lovers give this a try

Scrambled Eggs

• 4 egg whites and 1 whole egg
• 1/4 c salsa (your choice)
• 1/4 c black beans

Scramble in a pan coated with Pam, no one likes to clean up the egg mess.

Do you have any other great breakfast ideas, share them below.

It’s tax day. I know just sent check to Uncle Sam. So let’s move onto something more cheery. Many of my clients struggle with the idea of “snacking” most people think “snacking” is a bad thing. Trust me its not. If you are working out you will need the extra fuel! To help you out here are 15 healthy snack ideas. The idea is to take any of these 2 ideas and combine them and wallah  you have a healthy snack.  Depending upon the length of your work day. You should be aiming to have anywhere between 2-3 snacks/day. If you don’t you are derailing your weight loss goals. (more…)

This is the excuse monster starts to pop up for most people,
well I’m _____________or my husband/SO/parents_____________ or I don’t have _____.

Here is the secret to weight loss, come closer are you ready.  It’s called HARD WORK!

It it came in a bottle, everybody would have a great body. — Cher

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I hear that so many times? You are so healthy and fit what exactly do you eat? Well I eat a VARIETY of foods, lean protein, fruits, veggies and good fats (other than nuts).
I decided that each Sunday I’d sit down and give you a few ideas.

I start each week where I head my local grocery store and shop for the week. From there I head home and start cooking. Right now I’m trying a new veggie each week, I have grown BORED with your traditional veggies, so I have been OBSESSED with Brussel Sprouts. Yes, brussel sprouts.

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This week I challenged myself to come up with 3 things that make me happy every day. I was speaking with one of my clients about this and the one thing that kept bubbling up to the top was me time.  I asked her how much ME time to does she have. She said this is it! There 168 hours in 1 week and she only give herself 2 hours with me. I’m flattered, but SERIOUSLY!! That is so SAD! (more…)

On Wednesday, the TV show Cougar Town premieres on ABC. When I first heard about this show and let me take a step back, when I heard the word COUGAR I would get pissed off. I thought because a women is strong and goes for what she wants, why does she have to be a called a cougar. When a man goes for what he wants, he is called DRIVEN, DETERMINED or SUCCESSFUL.

I found a site the helped me change my mind about the term cougar.  A Real Cougar is a woman who is strong, confident, independent, sexy and proud to be past 35.

When I read I said this definition, I embraced and finally came to terms with the word cougar. Taking a look back at myself in my 20s, I remember discovering who I was in terms of my career and the woman I wanted to be living on my own for the first time. Many women work DAMN hard to discover themselves in their own terms. So I ask you ~ why does the term COUGAR have be a bad thing. Go ahead and call me a cougar. I am in the best shape of my life and living my best life with no regrets.

If you know who you are and you are not afraid to show it, embrace your cougar pride!  The Fabulous Fit Squad is all about empowerment and going for it.  So embrace your inner cougar and GO FOR IT!

Let me clarify for a minute, when I say go for it, I’m not saying put on your best push up bra and head to your nearest bar. What I am saying is look in the mirror and ask yourself are you living your best life? Are you:

• taking a stand and making things happen
• thinking age is nothing but a number
• done listening to other people and finally tuned your inner voice ~ positive talk only please
• working out and staying healthy and active
• financially independent or working towards that goal

Don’t be afraid start living your life to its full potential.  In the comments right below tell me how your embracing your inner cougar.

When you are sick, moderate exercise is permissible. In fact research shows that people who exercise regularly a get sick less frequently, but there does come a time when you are too sick to workout.

• We’ve all hear the above the neck  rule — stuffy nose, scratchy throat, headache– you are okay to workout if you feel up to it.
• If you have a fever, congestion or feel achy stay home! It may be
  something more serious than the common cold

If you do decide to keep working make sure you stay hydrated, over the counter drugs and/or prescription drugs may leave you dehydrated and a little light headed. Be extra careful and make sure you are wiping down machines before and after using and be sure not to touch your face.  Keep your eye on your activity level, now isn’t the time to push it.

Urban myth alert — There is no evidence that you can run or sweat out a cold.

5 ways to avoid catching a cold.

Since last March all we have heard back is the SWINE! Swine flu, this and swine flu that. So winters coming and flu season will be upon us,here are some steps to avoid catching it and/or spreading the flu

1. cover your mouth when cough or sneeze — use a tissue or cough/sneeze into your shoulder
2. wash your hands frequently with hot water and soap
3. avoid contact with anyone who is sick
4. if you are sick STAY home
5. make sure you are eating and sleeping

Top 10 things you need to know about the swine

I am officially off-season, no fitness competitions coming up, no road races, although I’m still looking for a Fall one, so if you know of an upcoming 10K road races  Holla. Any who, so now I plan on doing workouts that I have always wanted to do like yoga. I have been doing yoga on and off for about 10 years and I like how it feels, but I never seems to stick with it, when I get busy training for a competition its the first thing I cut from my workout routine or I find a million excuses not to do it.

For the past month I have shocked myself by attending yoga 1-2xs/week. I’ve been going to Prana Power Yoga. I think I have been able to stick with it because it only 1 hour and its close to my house.  So I go to yoga today  and not sure if I was one in class that took the short bus to yoga that day or I was the rock star of the class, but I was getting a little extra attention from the instructor. Which I don’t mind a little extra attention, but at Prana they keep the temperature at around 90 degrees and about 100% humidity, and you get just a little sweaty. And when I look around the room, I know, I know, yoga is suppose to be about you, Blah, blah but I do peek occasionally especially when 15 minutes into class I’m sweating like a hooker in church and I’m wondering is it just me? And it is.  Which makes me think the more I do yoga in a heated space will I stop sweating so much? Are do yogis have some crazy way to shut down their sweat glands.
Any who.. so when I’m getting all this extra attention I can’t help but think I don’t want to touch me why would you want to touch me,  I’m a big ol’ sweat ball.  God love that instructor.

After I leave yoga I feel like I’ve taken a big deep breath and my tight hips don’t feel so tight. So if you seem to drop yoga out of your workout routine, don’t once you get this feeling you don’t want to let it go.