What’s For Lunch? By Coach Katrina

Fall is officially here, and this time of year is a time for many to get back into the daily grind after months of fun in the sun, and long, lazy days. It’s a perfect reason to get back to packing lunches for the kids AND, just as importantly, for yourself. Already packing for the kids but not yourself? Simply add another bag to the bunch as if you had an extra child.

Why pack?

It’s cheaper. A homemade lunch is better for your wallet than a restaurant or café meal that can cost up to $15, totaling up to $75 per week, and $300 per month! Wow, that’s a lot of savings!

More importantly, a brown-bag lunch is healthier for your body. This is because you control what goes into the bag and if you don’t want mystery meat or hidden dressings, sauces, and spreads, you don’t have to worry. You can save countless calories, sodium, fat grams, and sugar by preparing your own lunch, and by portioning out exactly how much you plan to eat. You may even lose a few pounds!

If you aren’t already brown-bagging it, you may feel intimidated or overwhelmed. Not to worry, here are some tips to consider:

1. Start small. Choose 2 days out of the week that you plan to pack your lunch. Perhaps Monday and Friday are chaotic, but you can manage Tuesdays and Thursdays (if your Mondays and Wednesday evenings are relatively open). This will get you into the habit of packing without causing too much strain.

2. Double up on dinner. If you like hot lunches, then this is a perfect solution. Simply prepare an extra serving of food for dinner and when you are serving your food, have your lunch container empty and ready to be filled. Lunch—done!

3. Stretch out your protein. Leftover grilled fish, lean meats, roasted chicken or turkey, tofu, or even beans make a perfect topping to a bed of pre-washed salad greens or steamable frozen veggies. Pair it with a fruit in its own package such as a banana, orange, apple, or pear, and/or a whole grain roll or a handful of whole grain crackers and you’ve got a meal.

4. Keep it simple. Why not combine reduced fat cheese cubes or slices with ready-to-eat fruits such as grapes and berries, and a handful of whole grain crackers. Similarly, a few tablespoons of peanut butter spooned into a plastic container with a baggie of ready-to-eat baby carrots and a whole wheat pita is just as simple, yet very satisfying.

5. Put safety first. Remember to use a reusable ice pack or, better yet, a frozen water bottle to keep foods cold. By the time the water melts, you’ll be ready to eat (and drink).

As a nutritionist and health coach with a passion for healthy eating, I’m proud to say that I pack my lunch (and afternoon snacks) every single workday. Today, I brought LEFTOVERS—one of my favorite lunch options. Last night, I made a super simple chicken stir fry with frozen colored bell peppers, red onion, garlic, fresh ginger (that I zest from a piece of ginger that’s been in my freezer for weeks), and whole wheat couscous that took 5 minutes to make as I was stir frying the veggies. I had my lunch container ready to go as I was plating up the dinner plates, which made preparing the next day’s lunch that much easier. I will highly recommend my lunch box of choice, a flexible, zip-up 12-can size pack which has an ice pack lining built right in. Simply store it in the freezer overnight, and it’s literally an ice chest that keeps the food cold all day long. I always make sure to throw in a fruit (my favorite is a banana) and a nonfat vanilla Greek yogurt to snack on in the afternoon. Easy, and delicious.

I challenge you to start packing your lunch this week, whether it’s for 2 days or all 5 days. Who knows what benefits you’ll experience from a healthier, cheaper, more delicious, lunch!

What NOT to do at the Gym: 7 Mistakes You Should Avoid by Coach Katrina

As a personal trainer and passionate exerciser, I spend many hours observing people at the gym, so I am well versed in the biggest mistakes people make when they are trying to get their sweat on. Here are seven of the worst things I’ve seen people do again and again, how to avoid them, optimize your workout, and stay pain and injury-free.

Gym Mistake #1: Doing exercises with improper form, especially squats and lunges. Squats and lunges are one of the biggest calorie burners, and they are portable—you can do them anywhere! The common mistake is to hold your weight in the front toes with the heel coming up off of the ground, and/or allowing the front knee to go beyond the front toe at the bottom of the exercise. This can cause knee pain and injury. Instead, put your weight in the heel of your foot, allowing your toes to freely wiggle inside your shoe. This will also actively engage the gluteus muscles, and so you will feel it in your hamstrings and glutes—just where you want it.

Gym Mistake #2: Doing the same old thing. Varying your routine will keep you mentally engaged and will also continue to challenge the body. You can change your routine by doing any of the following: changing the intensity or effort (increasing the weight, incline, or level), adding or subtracting minutes, choosing a different type of activity, doing the same activities in a different order, or working different muscle groups on different days, allowing overused muscles to rest.

Gym Mistake #3: Using the machines most of the time. While machines can be used occasionally develop strength in certain muscles, they don’t challenge the body the way balanced or core exercises do because they are providing a stable base of support for the body to lean on. Instead, make your body work like a machine by doing exercises that use your own body for resistance, such as push-ups, squats, lunges, and planks. Common gym equipment such as free weights, resistance bands and balls, barbells, and kettle bells also allow the body to use its core muscles for stability. You may even find a TRX suspension system in your gym, which also allows for free-flowing movement.

Gym Mistake #4: Going too heavy or too light. While too much weight can cause injury due to improper form, too little weight is a waste of time. Choose a weight that will allow you to complete between 12 and 15 repetitions, while still maintaining correct form. The last few repetitions should be difficult to complete so that you “fatigue” the muscle. If you are just warming up, or if you are a beginner, using a light weight for one set is a good way to check your form and to get comfortable with the movement.

Gym Mistake #5: Hunching over. Sitting at a desk all day or spending hours in the car can cause the shoulders to round and the back to hunch; often this improper posture is carried into the gym. Trying to do any exercise from this position is a recipe for injury and ineffective movement. To improve your alignment, visualize a long string reaching from the ceiling all the way down your spine to your tail bone. If you roll your shoulders back and down, it can reset your body into correct alignment. This should be your base or set position for starting any exercise.

Gym Mistake #6: The “all or nothing” mentality. The busiest times of year at the gym tend to be January (New Year’s Resolutions), May (prep for swimsuits), and September (end of summer vacation, and back to the daily grind). People will hit the gym hard after months of inactivity; too much stress on a detrained body can cause injury and pain. Don’t bite off more than you can chew! Ease back into your workout routine to gradually train your body into top shape, and keep yourself coming back to the gym by staying free of injury and pain.

Gym Mistake #7: Being a “chest and bi’s” guy or an “abs” girl. If you are only working the muscles that you can actually see, you are missing out on the results you’ll get from getting a full body workout. Strengthening your back muscles doing rows and pull-ups, and your hamstrings by doing squats and lunges can help balance your body out. And, you’ll look good from behind, too!

Race Season... a Mandate to MOVE!

In my profession I encounter people everyday struggling to find the motivation for making positive changes in life. As a nutritionist and personal trainer these positive changes typically involve healthy eating and regular exercise. It seems simple from an outsider’s perspective… such habits promote a healthy body weight, a fit physique, prolonged health and disease prevention. An apple a day and all that nonsense, right? Well if we all know it to be true, which we ALL do, why is it so tough to act on it? Why isn’t that enough motivation?

Let’s evaluate this for a minute. What’s your motivation to pick your kid up from sports practice? Or to be at that emergency meeting your boss called for 8:00 am tomorrow morning? The universal answer, of course, is the threat of immediate consequence. You can’t just leave your kid at the soccer field! But with healthy lifestyle habits like diet and exercise, the consequences come on much more gradually. Maybe it’s a few pounds of weight gain per year, or development of heart disease or diabetes 20 years from now. The human body is amazing at adapting to whatever habits you throw its way. That is, you get so accustomed to being out of shape and eating fast food everyday you don’t even realize how much better you could feel by making better choices.

Helping people to find and connect with their personal internal motivations, and then to act on them (maybe a consistent morning workout or simply skipping the weekly office birthday cake), is easily the most challenging part of my job! Staying motivated when the consequences of your actions sit miles down the road can be a truly daunting task, even for the most dedicated health nuts! So why not take a tip from all the things in your day that regularly push exercise to the bottom of the list? Why not create some more immediate motivation and consequence for your healthy lifestyle habits? We’ll call it a “mandate to move!”

Turns out this time of year presents one of the simplest and most universal motivators to exercise… race season! The fall season is primetime for all sorts of outdoor athletic races and events, from marathons, to breast cancer walks to small local events. Walking, running, cycling, mountain biking, triathlon… there is undoubtedly something for everyone. Sign yourself up for one today and figure out how to train for it tomorrow! Ask a family member or friend to join you and make it a team effort. It will get you off the couch and offer an opportunity for a significant sense of accomplishment. And accomplishment is often the greatest motivator of all!

Use the activity finder at www.Active.com or runningintheusa.com to find an event in your area.

Seasonal Northwest Cherry Salsa... So Good!

Cherry season is short! Like blink-of-an-eye short! About one month in summer, sometimes weeks, at variable times depending on region. With today’s industrial growing methods you can get them out of season, maybe even in winter, and your grocery store might make the in-season time look longer than one month, but just taste one and you’ll know. Peak cherry time coincides with ripe, juicy, crisp fruit perfectly balanced between tart and sweet flavors. A couple weeks off and your cherries might look nice, but they’ll often disappoint once they pass your lips.

A super short season makes cherries a pretty special fruit. Turns out, their nutritional prowess makes them special too! Often touted as a “Super Fruit,” cherries are one of our most antioxidant rich plant foods. That deep red color comes from a group of phytonutrients (plant-nutrients) called Anthocyanins, which, in collaboration with other antioxidants (vitamin C, carotenoids, quercetin), may promote reduced inflammation from arthritis, diminished risk for certain cancers and heart disease.

They’re delicious simply raw as a snack, on your morning yogurt or added to salads. But if you’re looking for a new way to incorporate cherries this season, check out the recipe below! This salsa can be served as a dip with chips or as a delicious summer condiment on grilled chicken or fish. Enjoy!

Fresh Northwest Cherry Salsa

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Yield: 8 servings (2 tablespoons each)

1 cup pitted fresh sweet cherries (Bing or Ranier could work)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
2 tablespoons finely chopped green peppers
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
¼ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
¼ teaspoon grated lemon peel
1/8 teaspoon salt
Dash of hot sauce (optional)

Chop cherries to desired coarseness. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mix well. Refrigerate at least one hour before serving for best flavor.

Nutrition Facts: (per 2 tablespoon serving) Calories: 15, Total fat: 0g, Sodium: 40mg, Carbohydrate: 3g, Sugar: 3g, Protein 0g.

Recipe courtesy of Northwest Cherries and the Washington State Fruit Commision via ADA Times Volume 8, Issue 4.

Love Your Summer Workout with these 10 Tips

You should take extra care when exercising in warm weather. The following tips will keep you safe in the heat:

1. Exercise in the early morning or after the sun sets, avoiding the sun’s mid-day heat. Or, find a shady new route with Road Runners Club of America (rrca.org), which features running routes around the country via Google maps. You can also log on to online weather sites, which offer local parks forecasts, a fitness comfort indexes, and hourly forecasts to help you figure out the best time of day to get your sweat on!

2. Take frequent rest and water breaks, every 5-10 minutes or so, allowing your body to recover so that you can make it to the end of your workout. Try this: slow down or rest and hydrate between each of your favorite songs. The 10-15 second break will allow you to keep going for the next tune.

3. Drink water before you feel thirsty. By the time you feel thirsty, you are already dehydrated. This is especially true as you get older. Carrying a small water bottle or using a backpack containing a specially-designed water system are two great options.

4. Avoid beverages with alcohol and caffeine because these can cause dehydration. Choose water or a low calorie sports drink.

5. Drink fluids before, during, and after exercise. You know if you are well-hydrated if you have pale yellow or clear urine and if you are using the bathroom every 2-4 hours.

6. Comfort is key. Wear light, loose fitting clothing, made of breathable fabric in light colors so that your workout wear doesn’t get in the way of your workout.

7. Reduce speed or distance as needed. The hotter it is, the harder your body has to work -- so if you normally walk at a 18-minute-mile pace, when the temperature hits 90 you may find yourself having to slow down to a 20. If you have a heart rate monitor, this is the time to use it. Or, try the the "talk test". Recite the Pledge of Allegiance or any nursery rhyme that you remember from your school days. (murmur it under your breath if you're worried about getting funny looks). If you can still hold a conversation, but have to take a few breaths every sentence or so, then you know you are at a good pace.

8. Exercise indoors during ozone alerts, extreme heat, and very high humidity. Enough said.

9. Listen to your body. Stop exercising if you feel chest pain, short of breath, dizzy, lightheaded, weak, very fatigued, nauseated, or that your heart is pounding. Exercising with a buddy is always a good idea in the chance of emergency.

10. Use sunscreen, hats, and sunglasses to protect your eyes, head, and body from the sun’s harmful rays. Make sure your sunscreen is not expired, too!

For more tips on exercise, nutrition, and overall health contact your personal health coach at myGPNS.com.

Adapted from move.va.gov by Coach Katrina Seidman MS RD LDN, NASM-CPT

Sleep Right Tonight and Every Night - by Coach Jared

Seems like many of us, even when we think we’re getting enough sleep, probably are not. Experts say we should have 7.5-9 hours of sleep per night. Some of us get that but might not be sleeping soundly, effectively getting one hour less than the alarm clock shows. Others insist they don’t need that much, but then they wake up and switch on the coffee maker amidst the din of a buzzing alarm clock. And for some of these people the coffee “flows like water,” so to speak, all the way through lunch!

But yes, there’s an ideal range for a reason. Everyone’s needs are a little different. So how can we quickly tell if we’re getting enough sleep? According to sleep researcher and Cornell psychology professor James Maas PhD, if you can relate to any of the following scenarios, you might be lacking some sack time.

• You fall asleep within 5 minutes of your head hitting the pillow.
• You NEED an alarm clock to wake up each morning.
• A warm room makes you drowsy
• One alcoholic beverage makes you feel sleepy
• You sleep more on the weekends than during the week.

Many of you might be sitting there pleased that you didn’t fit into any of those categories. Well if you didn’t, that’s great! But if your nightstand has a bottle of prescription sleep medicine on it then you’re still missing the mark. Not being able to quiet your body and mind enough for sleep is a huge problem. Suffice it to say, this is a normal, natural and mandatory process of the human body that our society and culture is gradually rendering less and less normal.

If you’re among MANY of us who are not sleeping enough, whether for lack of time or lack of ability, there are some natural steps you can take.

• Time “management” is of the essence. Get to bed earlier. There is an ideal time of day for your body to rest. Sleeping later is not usually the answer.
• Before bedtime try to avoid large meals, high protein and high fat foods (like meat), spicy foods, caffeine and alcohol.
• Avoid exercising within 2-3 hours of your desired bedtime. But DO exercise each day, it will improve sleep quality.
• Abstain from computers, television, cell phones and other backlit digital media devices within an hour of going to sleep.
• Quiet your mind with some relaxation exercises before bed. Deep breathing, meditation, yoga etc.
• Drink some herbal tea. Believe it or not, Sleepytime® tea might just live up to its name. Look for herbs like Chamomile, Valerian, Passion Flower and Hops.

Reference: Better Nutrition, August 2011 - “The ABC’s of Getting ZZZZZZZZZs” by Vera Tweed.

Hot Off the Grill: Healthy Summer Recipes

For many of us, warm weather means firing up the grill, which imparts a unique, smoky flavor, to whatever is cooked. Grilling is also a quick, relatively easy cooking method requiring minimal clean up, making it perfect for busy weekdays and relaxing weekends. Try these easy recipes on your family before summer slips away.

Perfect Flank Steak
Serves 5

Ingredients
1 flank steak (~1.25 pounds)
1 tbsp (3 cloves) minced garlic (or more if desired)
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
Lots of freshly ground black pepper

Directions
Combine all ingredients into a large zip-top plastic bag and marinate overnight or at least 8 hours.

When ready to grill, remove meat from bag, discarding remaining marinade, and use paper towels to remove excess moisture from the meat. Allow the meat to come to room temperature while you heat up the grill. Grill 3-5 minutes on each side, depending on thickness and desired doneness.

Remove the steak from the grill, and place a piece of aluminum foil on top, allowing the steak to rest for 5 minutes. Slice very thinly on an angle and serve with grilled zucchini (recipe below).

Nutrition information per serving (marinade not removed, so higher in sodium than if drained and dried): 184 calories, 3.6g saturated fat, 470mg sodium, 2g carbohydrate, 24g protein, 57% daily value vitamin B12, 26% daily value vitamin B6, 14% daily value iron, 25% daily value niacin and zinc, 30% daily value selenium

Simple Grilled Zucchini
Serves 5

Ingredients
10 medium-sized zucchini
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Directions
Slice zucchini into long flat strips, about ¼’’ thick. Place into a bowl and toss with oil, salt, and pepper. Grill for about 5 minutes on each side, or until desired tenderness.

Nutrition information per serving: 77 calories, 5g unsaturated fat, 36mg sodium, 455mg potassium, 7g carbohydrate 2.5g fiber 3g sugar, 1g protein, 40% daily value vitamin A, 13.8% daily value vitamin C, 10% daily value magnesium, 16% daily value manganese