Have an awesome day everyone!  I believe in all of you!!  :)

-Mike

Any Progress is Good

Good morning everyone! Taking on a healthier lifestyle is a journey and along that journey we might get a little sidetracked or discouraged by results that you might feel you should be seeing. Just keep these words in mind, because as long as you're making progress in your health, any progress is better than no progress. Have a great day everyone! :)

Healthy Grocery Shopping Tips

Hello everyone!  Trying to eat better and cooking healthier can at times be a frustrating task, especially when you don't have the right ingredients in your kitchen.  So what do we do?  We head to the grocery store and get what we need to make those meals we have planned.  But when we get there we sometimes don't have the time to sit and read the labels and figure out which items are the most nutritious for us or to figure out what are the best buys.  Let's face it, there's a lot of choices in the store and it can be a daunting task to make the right choices.  Here are a few ideas that might make things easier for you.

Plan Ahead

This means have a plan before you even get to the grocery store.  Plan your meals for the week and create a grocery list to shop from.  Sundays are usually my days to go grocery shopping, so I'll sit down and figure out my meals for the week and write down all the ingredients I need that I don't already have in my kitchen.  This saves me from making trips back to the store.  Another good idea in planning is looking for coupons to not only save money, but you can also incorporate those sale food items in your meal plan for the week.

Consult the Pyramid

If you're having a hard time figuring out what to put on your grocery list, a good resource to follow is the guidelines of MyPyramid.  This is a good example to follow to help fill your cart with plenty of fruits, vegetables, dairy, lean meat, fish, poultry, whole grains, beans, and nuts.

3 Simple Rules

Here's 3 simple rules to follow while in the grocery store that can help you from spending hours there.

1.)  Shop the perimeter of the store, where fresh foods like fruits, vegetables, dairy, meat, and fish are generally located.  Avoid the center aisles where junk foods tend to be located.

2.)  Choose "real" foods, such as 100% fruit juice or 100% whole-grain items with as little processing and as few additives as possible.  If you want more salt, add it yourself.

3.)  Avoid foods that more than 5 ingredients, artificial ingredients, or ingredients you can't pronounce.

I hope these ideas helped  with making your grocery shopping a little less hectic.  With a little planning ahead of time and knowing what to look out for when you're in the store, you'll be ahead of the game when it comes to making those healthier choices for you and your family when it comes to eating.  Now it's time for me to get back to my meal prepping for the week and to get back outside and enjoy this beautiful sunshine!  Have a great day everyone!  :) 

TBT - The Warehouse Gym

Happy Thursday everyone! There's been the "TBT" trend going so I thought I'd do one of my own. The larger, franchise gym's if you will, look much much different these days than they did back in the day, like this picture. Treadmills, ellipticals, stairclimbers, AMT'S...let's just say that as technology has been changing with the times, so have our gyms.

Warehouse gyms, like the one you see here, used to be very popular years ago. No treadmills, no ellipticals, no fitness classrooms...just bars, plates, dumbbells, pull up bars and maybe a jump rope or two for the cardio version back then...that's it. However, with all the different franchise gyms you see these days, these old warehouse gyms are starting to make a comeback. I'm sure you've all heard of them. They're basically the new cross fit gyms that are starting to pop up all around the place now.

Now I'm not knocking any gym at all. Not by any means. I'm all for getting a workout in and improving one's health, no matter which location it's at. The generation that worked out in the warehouse gyms got results and the same with our generation with the franchise gyms today. Just thought I'd share a little glimpse into how things have changed over the years and the warehouse gyms of the past. Have a great TBT everyone!

3 Bean Turkey Chili

Let me just start by saying that I abolutely love chili!  This is a chili recipe that I got from a very good friend of mine, thanks Berta, that I could definetly use on this cold and crummy Minnesota winter day...wait, winter's APPARENTLY supposed to be over.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Crockpot 3 Bean Turkey Chili

Ingredients:

2 lbs lean ground turkey
1 small onion, chopped
1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes
1 (16 oz) can tomato sauce
1 (4.5 oz) can chopped chilies, drained
1 (15 oz) can chickpeas, undrained
1 (15.5 oz) can black beans, undrained
1 (15.5 oz) can dark red kidney beans, undrained
2 tbsp chili powder
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp Kosher salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Instructions:

Brown turkey and onion in a medium skillet over medium high heat until cooked through. Drain any fat remaining and transfer to crock pot.

Add the beans, chilies, chickpeas tomatoes, tomato sauce and all of the seasonings, mixing well.
Cook on low 6-8 hours.

Photo & altered recipe: smells-like-home.com

Recommendation for Exercise Per Week

Good morning everyone!  How about I one up this statistic?  How about 2% of your day?  Does that sound more appealing?  The American Heart Association suggests at least 150 minutes a week of moderate exercise or 75 minutes a week of vigorous exercise (or a combination of both) to improve overall cardiovascular health.  If you do the math, 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week will give you that 2% or your day! :) 

So if you're having a hard time setting aside an hour a day to get your workout in, take this 30 minute approach to get that 150 minutes in a week.  You're heart will thank you for it! :)  Have a great day everyone! :)


Photo: pinterest.com

Home Resistance Band Workout

Sometimes we're just not able to make it to the gym, but still want to get a workout in. Resistance bands are great way to get that workout in.  I wasn't able to make it to the gym today myself, so I got my workout in at home using a full body resistance band routine so that I can keep going with the great results I'm having!  These exercises are simple to get the proper form down and they will give you that workout you're looking for.  Keep up the good work everyone!  :)