Need A Little Monday Motivation?

Because sometimes you just want to stick your head in the sand

If you want to lose weight, you don't need to count calories. You simply need to eat until you are nutritionally satisfied. This concept sounds wonderfully simple, but take a look around and you'll see that it's quite challenging for most people. Then look around in nature: do you ever see an overweight lion or a giraffe with love handles? These animals eat, move and live in accordance with their unique body chemistry and needs. We, on the other hand, have lost touch with our internal cues with regards to what to eat, when to sleep, when to drink water, how much water to drink, when to move, when to rest....the list goes on and on. And add into the mix that we are overwhelmed with an enormity of mis-information and a dizzying array of overly-processed food products, and you have yourself a society full of fat lions. 

So, what's an easy way to get back on track? If you've been following my blog, you know that the first steps are to switch to an organic diet, stop eating gluten (and really grains in general), eat right for your Metabolic Type and hire a Chek Practitioner to design a stretching and exercise program that takes your body's stress levels and physiological load into account so that you don't overtrain yourself into an even more stressed state (and, consequently, a bigger pair of jeans). 

Wow. That's actually a lot to chew! No pun intended. So whether you've been gluten-free for 3 years or you're just starting to conceptualize your morning without that big bowl of Cheerios, here are a few nutrition tips that you can incorporate today to start looking, feeling and functioning at your best. 

First things first: if you don't want to gain weight, you must snack! The trick here is to not let yourself get too hungry. If you're serious about fat loss, then you have to be serious about blood sugar regulation. Why? Because when you go too long without eating, the chances are pretty high that the first thing you'll reach for for quick energy when you DO eat will be high in carbohydrates and/or sugar. And when you eat processed carbs/sugary foods, your blood sugar levels sky rocket, which in turn causes your adrenals to release insulin, which results in an energy boost followed by an energy crash. This instability in time leads to body fat storage, adrenal depletion, chronic fatigue and mood swings. So, when should you eat? Most people need to eat every four hours. And what should you snack on? Here are two snacks that are high in heart-healthy saturated fats and omega-3s, wonder foods for keeping your blood sugar levels stable. 

Two Moms In The Raw Gluten-Free Almond Butter Cacao Truffles: Easy to find at Whole Foods and many other health food stores, this low-glycemic, count-the-ingredients-on-one-hand super snack is loaded with healthy fats and proteins to keep you satiated AND keep your blood sugar in check. The perfect snack to keep at your desk at work (better than the doughnuts or candy your co-workers are eating) and ideal to take on a long hike for sustained energy. 

Prather Ranch Grass-Fed Cowboy Style Beef Jerky: The yellow lab approves! Prather Ranch recently got their sugar and gluten-free beef jerky back in stock, so head down to their shop at the Ferry Building before it's sold out again! This beef jerky is an easy and convenient way to get real, high-quality protein in an easy-to-carry-around snack. Working out and heading back to the office? Beef jerky! Long car trip to Tahoe? Beef jerky!  

Mix it up! If you truly want to stick to a healthy lifestyle, it has to be sustainable for life. My friend and fellow CHEK Nutrition and Lifestyle Coach Diane Sanfilippo, recently published an amazing cookbook called Practical Paleo that is full of super easy recipes that are all dairy, gluten and grain-free and most importantly, delicious. Diane is incredibly talented in the art of taking a healthy meal and making it taste so good that you forget it's good for you! So if you're in a menu rut, check out her cookbook for some new healthy dishes. 

The Incredible Lightness of A Lettuce Cup

I really love ground meat, and all of the things you can do with it: meatballs, burgers, meatloaf (worst word for a great food). So tonight, after a hard sprint workout, I decided to make lettuce cups with tons of garlic and ginger and organic ground turkey (the irony is not lost on me that in my last post I promised to never make you eat ground turkey on a piece of lettuce). But, this recipe is super flavorful at the same time that it's super healthy (the garlic speeds up your metabolism while the ginger boosts your immune system). Plus it's one of those dishes that leaves you feeling satiated but not stuffed, the perfect post-workout meal. 

Ginger and Garlic Turkey Lettuce Cups:

1 lb Ground Turkey (I like to do 1/2 light and 1/2 dark meat for added flavor and healthy fats)

1 tbsp Coconut Oil

1 Clove Garlic, Minced

1 Inch of Ginger, Peeled and Minced

2-3 Green Onions, Thinly Sliced

Butter Lettuce (they make the best cups)

3 tbsp Soy Sauce (I like the San-J Tamari Gluten-Free/Non-GMO Soy Sauce)

1 tbsp Sriracha Sauce (The Sky Valley one is gluten free, and tastes great)

Salt (to taste)

For added flavor and texture, add mushrooms and/or water chestnuts

Heat the coconut oil in a cast iron wok and add the ground turkey, garlic and ginger. Once the turkey is fully cooked, add the green onions and cook for another minute or so. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, sriracha and salt and add it to the turkey mixture. Stir together and spoon into the butter lettuce cups. The leftovers make the perfect lunch or snack! 

Eat This, Not That! Easy and Delicious Recipes for Fat Loss

I love food. There, I admitted it. In the world of high performance strength and conditioning, not everyone loves food. To most athletes, food is fuel. And while it's true that certain dietary guidelines have been proven to promote rapid fat loss and improve athletic performance, ground turkey on a lettuce leaf just sounds awful to me. So if you're scared that because I'm gluten free, I'm somehow into promoting steamed fish and cucumber slices as a satiating and delicious meal, hopefully this post will clear that up for you (and supply you with some fun and healthy recipes to try at home). 

Grass-Fed Steak Fajita Bowl:

Roughly 1 lb Prather Ranch Flank or Skirt Steak

2-3 Bell Peppers (the more colors, the better)

1 Yellow Onion

Marinade:

Juice from 1 Lime

2 Tbs. Olive Oil

2 Minced Garlic Cloves

1/2 Fresh Jalapeno Pepper (Seeded, and Finely Chopped)

1/3 Cup Fresh Cilantro (Chopped)

Mix the marinade ingredients and coat the steak, letting it sit at room temperature for 45 minutes, or longer (in the fridge). Pan-sear the steak on both sides over high heat to desired temperature (I suggest coconut or avocado oil for high heat, not olive or canola oil). Once the steak is done, remove it from the heat and cook the onions and bell peppers in the same pan, so that they absorb all of the juices from the steak. Cook the vegetables for roughly five minutes and remove from heat. Cut the meat into thin slices and combine with the vegetables, adding salt to taste. For a grain-free version, serve the fajita mixture in a bowl instead of a corn tortilla, adding guacamole or even just avocado slices on top for added flavor. 

Spinach and Arugula Salad: Dark, leafy greens are packed with cancer-fighting antioxidants and are one of the best sources of iron and calcium (yep, calcium from vegetables, not milk). 

Homemade salad dressing is one of the easiest things you can use to add some life to your seasonal greens, and keep things interesting. One of my favorite dressings, French Walnut Oil Vinaigrette, is super fast, easy to make and loaded with heart-healthy omega-3s:

French Walnut Oil Vinaigrette:

4 Tbs Roasted Walnut Oil

1 Tbs Dijon Mustard

1 Tbs. Balsamic Vinegar

Sea Salt to taste

Simply whisk the ingredients together and drizzle over spinach and arugula for a healthy and satiating salad. Because of the versatility of the walnut oil, I also love to add strawberries (when in season), apple slices or any other farmers' market vegetables I might have around for nutrient diversity.   

Grilled Peaches*:

Savory or sweet, grilled peaches are an incredibly easy and delicious summer snack. Add them to arugula for a more nutrient-dense salad, or have them after dinner as a healthy dessert alternative. 

4 Ripe Peaches

Extra-Virgin Olive Oil for Drizzling

6 Tbs Balsamic Vinegar

1/2 Cup Blue Cheese (Optional)

Halve and pit the peaches and brush them with olive oil. On a medium-hot grill, place the peaches cut side down for roughly 3-4 minutes (until you see grill marks) and flip over and cook the other side for roughly 4 more minutes (until the peaches become slightly soft). Put the balsamic vinegar in a saucepan over medium heat and bring to a simmer. Cook it for about 3-5 minutes, or until you see that it has become noticeably thicker. Remove from the heat and let cool slightly. If you're adding blue cheese, divide it evenly over the peaches. If not, simply drizzle the peaches with the balsamic reduction and enjoy. 

*Bi Rite's Eat Good Food cookbook. A must-have in any kitchen! 

6 Ways to STOP Overeating for Good

Food is pleasure. There’s no question that enjoying a beautifully prepared meal is an integral part of a well-lived life. But in looking beyond food as enjoyment and going back to our biology, we are truly designed to eat until we are nutritionally satisfied. Food, like water and breathing, is a part of survival. But if that’s true, then why do so many of us struggle with overeating? For some, eating is less of a “need” and more of a “want” reflex, which brings emotions into the mix. For others, choosing the wrong types of foods leads to the bottomless portion pit. But as we all know, for all of the complexities involved in weight loss, one simple truth remains: calories in versus calories out. So if you’re serious about losing weight, it’s time to put the brakes on and stop overeating for good. 

Eat the real thing: Throw out anything that is sugar free or fat free. Sugar-free, non-fat, low-fat and imitation foods are NOT satiating, meaning you actually have to eat more of them to feel full. Also, because many low or no fat foods are high in calories but essentially devoid of nutrition, your body metabolizes them simply as sugar, which leads to overeating and subsequent weight gain.  

Avoid foods that contain table salt: Ever notice how you can eat an entire bag of potato chips? Table salt is a processed, stripped version of sea salt (which contains over 40 vital nutrients). And because we are designed to eat until we are nutritionally satisfied, nutrient-devoid table salt makes us eat and eat and eat without ever feeling like we’ve had enough. 

Drink water 15 minutes before a meal but never during: You can be eating the healthiest food on the planet, but if your digestion isn’t working properly, you won’t absorb or metabolize these foods optimally. And if you can’t absorb your food, the chances are pretty high that your body will tell you to eat more! Drinking water during a meal interrupts the body’s production of hydrochloric acid and wreaks havoc on your digestion.  And when you do drink water, make sure it’s room temperature. Cold water sits in your stomach until its warm enough to be released for absorption, also slowing down the digestive process.

Check in: If mindless snacking is your problem, tag the emotion that brought you to the cabinet or refrigerator. Picture a TV announcer if you have to: “This calorie consumption has been brought to you by”…your anxiety, depression or even boredom. Tag the feeling before the snacking. If you’re stressed, take a walk or write down what’s stressing you. Can’t take a walk? Maybe this site will help: http://www.calm.com/ The idea here is to give your feelings a place to go that doesn’t involve food. By breaking the stressed – eat food – feel worse chain, you’ll break your mind’s association with food as the “cure” for those feelings.  


Figure out your metabolic type: You might be eating right according to your wife’s Metabolic Type, but there are nine different Metabolic Types, which means that the chances are pretty high that your body’s ideal ratio of proteins to carbs to fats is off. Finding out what’s ideal for YOUR body is the fastest way to eat foods that will keep your unique bio-chemistry in balance (keeping you from overeating both at meals and in between).

Add some healthy fat: I love this coconut milk yogurt as a high in healthy fat snack or dessert replacement. In addition to tasting great, it’s also highly reparative for your gut, helping to maintain a healthy gut balance without dairy.  I also love to add this roasted walnut oil to my salads or even drizzled over meats for an extra kick of healthy fat and anti-inflammatory omega-3s. It adds a unique flavor to more common foods and is incredibly satiating. 

Burn Belly Fat Fast with This Simple Five Step Plan

Warm weather is finally here and everyone has been coming to the gym looking for the same thing: flat abs. I can’t count the number of times I hear, “I feel great everywhere except for this stuff around my belly [insert belly grab here].” And as much as I hate to admit it, there’s not a single ab exercise in the world that will give you the flat, toned, sexy stomach you’re after if you aren’t doing at least four of the following five steps listed here. Why? Because no matter how hard we try to tone those muscles, if you’re making bad nutrition and lifestyle choices, you can do 1000 crunches and still barely see a change in your waistline. So here you have it: 5 steps that will lean out your abs starting NOW.

Cut it out: Dairy, that is. Did you know that dairy stalls the fat loss process? The unique amino acid composition in the proteins of certain dairy products causes your insulin levels to skyrocket (even more than when you eat a piece of white bread). And as we all know, high insulin levels leads = increased belly fat.  The biggest offenders are whey, milk, yogurt and cheese. The least offensive dairy products are organic butter and organic whipping cream (high in fat and lacking in insulinogenic amino acids).

Rev it up: If you really want to see the stored belly fat peel off, add in sprint days on your off days from strength training. Sprint days consist of bursts of high intensity exercise. Done correctly, these days of high intensity training will keep you from the dreaded weight loss plateau.

Write it down: A couple of chips at work, a sample of some chocolate at the farmers market….here and there it ALL adds up. In fact, a study on dieters proved that those who wrote down everything they ate lost twice as much as those who did not. Bottom line: you might be eating more (or worse) than you think.

Throw it away: Pretty simple. If it’s there, you are most likely going to eat it. Get rid of tempting junk food (even if it’s disguised as healthy…Flax Crackers, I’m talking to you) and load up on healthy snacks so you have something nutritious to reach for when you’re hungry. Leftovers from dinner the night before, Prather Ranch or another high-quality beef jerky, organic almonds and turkey slices with avocado are some of my favorite snacks.

Cool it off:  Chronic stress leads to increased cortisol leads to chronic inflammation leads to belly fat. If you’re really serious about fat loss, reduce your overall inflammation. It’s the cause of every disease: cancer, heart disease, autoimmune disorders, the list goes on and on. And a big, poofy gut is one of its greatest signs. To lower your inflammation, avoid sugars (even in the form of grains), cut out all vegetable oils (canola, etc), eat plenty of healthy animal proteins and fats, sleep, exercise smarter not harder, load up on dark leafy greens, stay away from too much cardio, get fresh air and sunlight and reduce your emotional stress.

Implementing this fat-burning plan for even a month will have a profound effect on your abs. With proper exercise, nutrition and lifestyle choices, I've seen dramatic results on clients of all ages. So no excuses! Here's to a healthy and happy summer. 

Lose Weight for the Summer! My Top Training Tips for Dropping Fat Fast

Purely from a training perspective, it’s pretty simple: if you want to lose weight for good, you have to put your body through a smart exercise program that builds muscle, burns fat and calories and factors your hormonal response in wisely. Clearly proper nutrition plays a major role in the fat loss puzzle. No matter how hard you train, if you’re eating over-processed, garbage foods, you’ll have a very hard time seeing the results you’re after (and you’ll feel pretty lethargic and bloated in the process). But as confused as we are about eating right, we seem to be almost equally confused about training right. I spend a lot of time in gyms watching trainers put their clients through what essentially amounts to an aerobics class. What’s the result? A lot of sweating and stress for little to no decrease in body fat (and in some cases, weight gain). There is a science to fat loss. There are proven techniques that will get you leaner than you’ve ever been in your life. So toss your notions about long runs and 1000 crunches to the side, and try the following training tips for the next 6 weeks. The results will speak for themselves.

Rev Up Your Resting Metabolic Rate: Want to speed up your metabolism? Regardless of your age or genetics, the more muscle you have, the faster your metabolism will be. Focus on workouts that incorporate strength training with anaerobic conditioning (rapid bursts of high intensity exercise) if you want to swap out body fat for lean muscle mass.

Circuit Train with Proper Rest Periods: Go, go, go! might sound great in theory, but if you don’t rest and let your heart rate come down during workouts (what we call rest periods) you’re essentially training your body to be calorie efficient, like a marathon runner or other endurance athlete. What does that mean? If you train hard for an hour with no rest, your body will come to expect that hour of exercise and hold on to existing body fat (for energy) accordingly. Conversely, if you use the science of rest periods to your advantage, you will continually shock your system, increase your Growth Hormone and accelerate your fat loss drastically. Generally, rest periods of around 60 seconds with exercises performed in the 8-12 rep range for 3-4 sets are optimal for burning fat and creating lean muscle mass.

Interval Train: When it comes to fat loss via cardio, it actually is a sprint, not a marathon. In other words, if you really want to burn fat, stick to interval or burst training and leave long runs and hours on the elliptical machine to the other bored folks. According to a study in the International Journal of Obesity, after comparing 16 weeks of sprinting with endurance cardio, the sprinters had a 9.5 % decrease in belly fat whereas the aerobic group increased their belly fat by 10.5%. Most people I talk to don’t actually like long cardio workouts. They just feel like they “have” to do them to burn fat and “make up for” nutrition slips. But as we all know, you can’t burn off bad foods with a long run. And now we know that if anything, you might just be making your pants tighter! My favorite burst training technique is roughly 30s of burst followed by 60-90s of recovery (a moderate pace). Work up to 10 bursts two times a week and you'll see fantastic results!

Two Healthy Dinners That Also Double As Breakfast

The number one question I hear in the gym every week is…what do I eat for breakfast?! With sugary cereals, yogurt and pastries as the most common breakfast foods out there, it can seem daunting to switch to proteins and vegetables for the first meal of the day. But the fact remains: if you want to be healthy, you have to make your breakfast look like dinner. If you read my previous blog you know that a breakfast full of sugar slows down your metabolism, reduces your energy and actually leads to over-eating at lunch and dinner! Conversely, if you eat a breakfast that is full of healthy proteins, fats and vegetables, you speed up your metabolism and actually eat less as the day progresses. So here you have it, two of my favorite gluten-free, dairy-free and vitamin-packed dinners that taste amazing for breakfast the next morning.

Healthy Chicken Salad Lettuce Cups

Ingredients:

Butter Lettuce
2 Organic Chicken Breasts
3-4 Stalks of Celery, Chopped
3-4 Carrots, Chopped
3 Tablespoons of Dill
I Cup of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 Tablespoon of Mustard
Champagne or Red Wine Vinegar to Taste
1 Organic Egg Yolk
Sea Salt and Pepper to Taste
Garlic (optional)

Fully cook and shred or dice the chicken breasts into bite size pieces. In a bowl, combine the chicken with all of the vegetables and dill and set aside. In another bowl, combine one egg yolk with the mustard, salt, pepper and a splash of vinegar. Slowly whisk in the cup of olive oil, making sure to add the oil in slowly. Adjust seasonings accordingly (adding garlic or vinegars to your taste). Once your healthy “mayo” is complete, pour it over the chicken and vegetables and toss gently. Simply scoop a cup of the chicken salad into your butter lettuce cups for a complete and healthy meal. For extra crunch, try adding chopped almonds on top of each lettuce cup.

Basque Style Baked Eggs

Ingredients:

2 White Onions
1 Red Pepper
1 Green Pepper
1 Yellow Pepper
4 Tomatoes
2 Garlic Cloves
4 Ounces of Organic Ham (Use more if you are a protein type)
Basil
8 Eggs
Sea Salt
Hot Paprika

Peel the onions and peppers (removing the seeds) and cut them into slivers. Then chop the tomatoes (also removing the seeds) and garlic cloves. Put the onions and peppers in a pot (with a little olive oil) on medium heat and let them sweat for about five minutes, keeping the lid on tight. Then add the garlic and tomatoes and cook the vegetables together gently until almost all of their liquid has evaporated. While they are cooking, cut the ham into small pieces and chop the leaves from a small bunch of basil. As soon as the vegetables are cooked (and the liquid has evaporated) add the ham and basil into the mixture and stir well. Spread the vegetables into a 1 ½ inch deep, oven-safe dish and make eight small holes in the mixture so that you can fill each one with an egg. Once the eggs are in place, bake at roughly 400 degrees. When the whites of the eggs are set, remove from the oven and let cool before serving.