Watermelon and Goat Cheese Salad

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 tablespoons orange juice
• 1 tablespoon red-wine vinegar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Freshly ground pepper, to taste
• 8 cups watercress, tough stems removed, or mixed salad greens (5 ounces)
• 4 cups diced seedless watermelon, (about 3 pounds with the rind)
• 1/4 cup very thinly sliced red onion, (1/4 small)
• 2 ounces goat cheese, crumbled
• 1/2 cup chopped pistachios, (2 ounces)

Starting a new meal plan can be incredibly difficult. Much like quitting smoking even. People have preconceived notions or lifelong eating habits that prevent them from actually achieving their fitness goals. Personally, I’m a fan of the all or nothing approach. I pick a Monday and start! And I give myself a cheat meal and dessert once a week. Very simple. Also hard and Unfortunately it does not work for everyone.
So whats going to work for you?
I wish I had that answer for all of my clients. But all we can do is create the meal plan and offer different suggestions as to how to approach it. Remember we are all different so different approaches must be tried and used. And in trying remember if you slip it’s not the end of the world. Just wake up the next day and get back to it!
In fact I’ve recently started a new plan and will fill you in on days to come!
Post Submitted by Carlos

As a Personal Fitness and Performance coach we get a lot of questions, but maybe none more so than on the consumption of coffee. Can I have a cup of Joe in the morning? Can I have some before my workout? How many cups can I have a day?

After analyzing data on 126,000 people for as long as 18 years, Harvard researchers found that compared with non-coffee drinkers, downing one to three cups of caffeinated coffee daily can reduce diabetes risk.

Though the scientists give the customary “more research is needed” before they recommend you do overtime at Stella’s Coffee House to specifically prevent diabetes, their findings are very similar to those in a less-publicized Dutch study. And perhaps more importantly, it’s the latest of hundreds of studies suggesting that coffee may be something of a health food.

The bottom line is scientific research shows that coffee has incredible health benefits. Coffee has also been shown to increases memory and attention span. However, please keep in mind that coffee also acts as a diuretic (diuretics increase the excretion of water from bodies) and since hydration is vitally important to an optimal functioning body 16 oz or 2 cups of coffee a day can be a great way to enjoy some of coffees health benefits without over doing it.

So as long as you’re not adding in ¼ cup of Half and Half along with a dosage of sugar spiking your insulin levels higher than Megan Fox’s skirt and more pumps of Hazelnut to make Jimmy Cho envy you…drink up!!

Post submitted by Josh Garcia

Make sure to peel and chop the bananas before you freeze them. Get creative, try adding dark chocolate chips, coconut flakes or anything that sounds good to you… make sure to let us know your favorite add-ins!

Ingredients:

• 1 frozen banana peeled and chopped
• 1 tbsp raw cocoa powder
• 1 tbsp almond butter

Instructions:

• Combine frozen banana, cocoa powder, and almond butter in a food processor and process until smooth.
• Its that easy… serve immediately and enjoy!

HIIT training consists of short blasts of maximum effort, followed by recovery periods. You can perform HIIT on a variety of cardio equipment at the gym, or through plyometric exercises. HIIT training has been shown to burn fat more quickly than low-intensity cardio and increases aerobic and anaerobic endurance. HIIT training also has a high afterburn effect, so you burn more calories throughout the day.

HIIT only needs to be done 2-3 times a week, on non-consecutive days.  Cardio exercise can be performed every day, but interval training is very taxing on our muscles.  Make sure to give your muscles enough rest in order to make fitness gains and avoid burn out and over training.  If done correctly, with proper rest, HIIT training will make you stronger, faster and turn your body into a fat burning machine!

The idea behind HIIT is that you want to go all out for short bursts of time and then recover.  These bursts of energy should last any where from 20 seconds to 1 minute, and should be repeated multiple times.  A beginner interval platform would consist of 30 seconds on, 1 minute 30 seconds off, but the truth is, any way you want to do it is effective, and mixing up your intervals will prevent boredom and shock your body! Lately, I’ve been doing 1 minutes sprints with 20 second recovery times, totally brutal!!! If things start to feel too easy you need to pick things up and if your finding you can’t get through your high intensity intervals you may need to back off a bit.

The best part of HIIT conditioning is that the entire workout should only be 25 to 45 minutes long. Make sure to properly warm-up, cool down and stretch!

1 pound cod or white fish fillets, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1/2 package taco seasoning

12 (6-inch) warmed corn tortillas

1 cup shredded red cabbage

1 cup shredded green cabbage

2 cups chopped tomatoes

1/2 cup nonfat greek yogurt

Lime wedges for serving (optional)

The company provides the perfect intersection of fitness and fashion, using performance enhancing fabrics and sexy and sleek design.  Every time I put on my Splits 59 tanks and pants I feel confident to rock out on my run and work-it in my downdog!

I’ve had the honor to become a Splits 59 Firestarter and get the word out on this great company.  Check out the website and learn what its all about.

www.splits59.com

People always ask me how to sustain a workout program, for me working out is my outlet, its my therapy.  I know not everyone would agree with me on that so I put to together a list of 5 tips to sustain a workout program:

1.   Establish a goal

Different factors contribute to starting a workout program but what makes someone stick to it is the ability to measure progress along the way. Making a short list of measurable short and long term goals will help you track how your doing.  Make goals challenging but achievable and celebrate small victories along the way.

2.   Have a plan

Determining a workout schedule and planning workouts ahead of time will help you stay focused and find a fitting routine. Some workouts should have a purpose toward achieving your goals while others are chosen purely because you love the activity at hand.

3.   Get all aspects of your life in order

The more organized you are day-to-day the easier it will be to incorporate exercise into your life.  Come up with a weekly plan to get all errands and chores done, do little things like pack your gym bag and your lunch the night before.

4.   Don’t be so hard on yourself

If you miss a workout or ate not one but 4 chocolate chip cookies last night, don’t let guilty feeling s derail you. Things never go exactly the way we think they will, so let up on yourself, don’t view them as failures just get back to your program as soon as possible and don’t look back.

5.   View fitness and workouts as a lifestyle

If you choose to workout because you feel like you have to, your not going to stick to it. You must want to live a healthy lifestyle and find which activities are not only great butt kicking workouts but also enjoyable and fun for you.  Working out can’t be viewed as an inconvenience it needs to be a part of your life!