A Waist is a Terrible Thing to Mind

Just an excerpt from the book I'm currently reading, Intuitive Eating by registered dietitians, Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch. I have had a life-long battle with accepting what I see in the mirror, and lately that struggle has been more difficult than it has been in years. I needed this today, and maybe someone else out there reading this needs it too:

"Accept your genetic blueprint. Just as a person with a shoe size of eight would not realistically expect to squeeze into a size six, it is equally futile (and uncomfortable) to have the same expectation about body size. But mostly, respect your body, so you can feel better about who you are... 

Has all the self-loathing because of your body helped? Has dwelling on your imperfect body parts helped you become leaner, or merely make you feel worse? Does chewing yourself out every time you step on the scale make you weigh any less? We have yet to find one client who says that focusing on his or her body in such negative ways is helpful. Studies have shown that the more you focus on your body, the worse you feel about yourself. Yet the body torture game goes on - mirror, mirror, one the wall, who's the slimmest of them all?"

Healthy Treats to Beat the Heat

Hi All!  I know I have been pretty dormant lately but I totally have a good excuse!  OK, so maybe I don't, but the important thing is I'm back and excited about getting started writing again.

So since my last post, I have made the move back home to good ol' Las Vegas...and boy is it hot! To keep cool, I've have been posted by the pool with a jug of water by my side at all times (hydration, hydration, hydration!) I've also noticed that since I've been back in the desert, the call of ice cream and popsicles from the freezer has turned more into a scream - I now understand the song "We All Scream for Ice Cream".  This got me thinking of some ways to keep cool and fulfill that craving for a frozen treat, all the while sticking to a healthful diet.  Below are some of my favorites:

Frozen Sour Grapes
Alright, it can't get easier than this guys.  Two ingredients: seedless grapes (green OR red...I prefer green)

and sugar-free Jell-O mix (again, flavor of your preference).  The first step is to remove all the grapes from the vine.  Next, rinse them off in a colander, but don't dry them off. Lastly, you're going to coat the damp grapes in the Jell-O mix.  You can either do this by pouring the powder in a large zip-lock bag and utilizing the "shake-n-bake" method, or you can put the powder on a plate and using a fork roll the grapes around in the mix.  Now, put your freshly coated grapes in the freezer for a couple of hour to freeze up, and enjoy!

The variation I've made (and actually remembered to take photos of!) was using green grapes and lime Jell-O. However, I've heard red grapes and cherry Jell-O is also a good combination. 


Banana "Ice Cream"
LOVE this one!  This is truly one of the best  fake-out recipes I've had.  This so-called "ice cream" is (almost) entirely from frozen ripe bananas, yet has the exact texture of soft serve - picky eaters both young and old will never know the difference. Now, the only down-side of this recipe is that it does take a bit of forethought, because

Photo courtesy of theKitchn because I always forget to photograph my food

you have to have the frozen bananas on hand.  So whenever I notice my 'nanners getting a little too ripe, I'll slice them up and pop them in a container I keep in the freezer specifically for this purpose, this way I always have some on hand.  

To make your "soft serve", toss some of your frozen banana slices into a blender or food processor and blend, blend, blend!  I've found the blending goes a little smoother if I let the bananas thaw just slightly.  Now, get creative with your mix-ins!  Walnuts and cinnamon are a good addition, as is peanut butter and chocolate chips, but my favorite is a little bit of unsweetened cocoa powder (a little bit goes a long way) and Stevia.  Eat immediately after blending for more of a soft serve ice cream, or store in the freezer for more of an ice cream consistency. 

Whole-Fruit Popsicles
This treat follows more of a traditional recipe, but you can always get creative with the types of fruits you use. Before beginning these, I suggest buying a popsicle mold and swiping a handful of tongue depressors from your next doctor's appointment (just kidding...kind of...). 

Photo courtesy of The Whole Life Nutrition Kitchen

After you have your hardware on hand, begin by pureeing 3 cups of any type of melon you prefer, but watermelon is particularly nice for this, just remember to remove the seeds (3 cups will make roughly 12 pops). Next, fill your popsicle molds with any fresh fruit of your choice; blueberries, strawberries, kiwi, mango, peaches...the world is your oyster.  Now, pour the melon puree over the fruit, and place a tongue depressor stick down the center of each mold.  If your mold does not come with a lid to keep the tongue depressors sticks straight, using tin foil works just as nicely. Freeze 6-8 hours before serving. 

Giving Side Plank A Second Thought

Hello Everyone!  Have I been a busy girl! Lately, I have had my hands tied-up (a) studying for my Smart Fitness National Council for Certified Personal Trainers exam and (b) both of my lovely kitty cats decided to get sick...at the same time. But, here I am, a week later, a few hundred dollars poorer (thank you vet bills) but having passed my NCCA personal training exam with flying colors! Yay me!

 So in lieu of my new accreditation, I wanted to share one of the more interesting things I learned during my training regarding the widely popular side plank (see right).  Now I have been doing this move for years, have seen countless other gym-goers performing this,  and have seen it incorporated into almost every group fitness class I've ever attended.  Point is, side plank seems to be one of the more widely used moves to target core musculature. Although the benefits of side plank are in fact numerous (improves balance & support, strengthens shoulder/upper body and improves lateral core control)
there are just as many risks associated with this "waist widdler".

Many of these risks stem from poor form.  Three of the most common postural faults include:
       - Sagging downward into the supporting shoulder, this places increased pressure on the shoulder joint.  You want your shoulder to be depressed away from the ear, and be sure you are squeezing your shoulder blades together.
       -  Flexing of the hips, or sticking your butt outward, throwing the spine out of alignment. Squeeze the glutes together to combat this tendency.
       - Allowing the hips to sag towards the ground.  You want to keep the body in a straight line. The only exception here is if you are pulsing the hips up and down (in a controlled motion of course).

Traditional side plank on forearms to protect the wrist

Poor form aside, side plank can cause pain and injury to some individuals, specifically in the wrists and knees.  This is because regardless of perfect posture, when done with the supportive arm extended, excessive pressure is put on the wrist, and load is placed on the knee at an unnatural angle.
To correct the concern regarding the wrist, try moving down onto your forearm (see the picture above).  Now let's think about the dilemma of the knee. 

Our knee joint is designed to move in a hinge motion through one, and one plane only, the sagittal plane.  However, in side plank position, the load is placed on the knee in the frontal plane.  Think about it, when standing upright with your knees straight, you wouldn't want someone to hit you on the side of the knee would you? That would hurt and could potentially cause a pretty nasty injury!  But in side plank, that is exactly where you are placing pressure, on the side of your knee. To make side plank easier on the knee, try modifying the pose by using your top leg as a stabilizer, or better yet, coming down onto the knees(see below picture).

Modified side plank to protect the knees

When using these modifications, just be mindful to not use the extra support/stabilization as a crutch, you don't want to risk compromising the effectiveness of the move for your core.

As I said before, I am not in any way discrediting the benefits of side plank, this is a killer move!  It can just be done very wrong and if the performer isn't familiar with the risks that could be associated with the pose, they could be putting themselves at risk of injury.  So next time your work-out regimen calls for some good 'ol side planks, just take a moment to reconsider the positioning of your shoulder, wrist, hips and knees so you can modify the pose to what feels right for you and your exercise goals.