A Quick and Healthy Soup Recipe
Thursday, April 22nd 2010 @ 12:27 PM
I stand in my kitchen, open the refrigerator and wonder at times “what am I going to make for dinner tonight?”
I am sure you can relate.
My refrigerator was almost empty and I had a few random things to work with. So I created a new soup in this house: Pork Vegetable.
I have never had it and I have never made it. So to the stove I went with my creativity and random ingredients.
I used:
- 1 large red onion
- 2 medium red potatoes
- 1 cup of frozen corn ( that was in a container from an ear we cut who knows when)
- 4 stalks celery
- 3 roma tomatoes
- ¼ c medium salsa
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 2 pork filets frozen
- Onion salt
- Dried parsley
- Mineral salt and pepper to taste
- 2-3 tbsp olive oil
I sautéed all the veggies cut up in the olive oil. I started with just onion and then kept the heat on as I chopped and added to the pot. Once all veggies and salsa were in with oil, I added the pork cut into small pieces and cooked it a bit longer. Once I could see it starting to cook, I filled the pot with water and brought it to a boil. I boiled the mixture for a few minutes and then simmered for 20.
My husband loved it and I spiced it to taste so feel free to add what you like to it!
© JJ Flizanes
JJ Flizanes, Director of Invisible Fitness, named best personal trainer in Los Angeles for 2007 by Elite Traveler Magazine, has appeared on NBC, KTLA, CBS and Fox 11. JJ’s mission is to help women feel gorgeous and confident in a bathing suit without starving or killing themselves in the gym. www.6weekbeachbody.com and www.invisiblefitness.com
5 Steps to Build Your Exercise Program- Part 3
Saturday, April 10th 2010 @ 11:02 AM
5 Steps to Build Your Exercise Program- Part 3 by JJ Flizanes
Here’s a review of each step. We covered #1 and #2 thus far.
- Goal- Vision
- Plan
- Tools and Support
- Progression
- Joint Integrity
Tools and Support. What do I mean by tools? First off, ways to measure your progress would be where I would start. That could be as simple as a tape measure to do some circumference readings and then body fat using the NAVY guidelines and website on line. http://fitness.bizcalcs.com/Calculator.asp?Calc=Body-Fat-Navy
When you step on the scale to see you have lost 5 pounds, you do not know where that 5 pounds came from. It could be fat, water or muscle. I think it’s very important to test body fat MORE than body weight because ideally you want to keep all your muscle, lose any extra water but concentrate on using the fat as energy so your percentage keeps reducing.
Where do you workout? If you like going to the gym, they have plenty of tools there for you to use. If going to the gym is something you would rather NOT do, you can have very similar (but cheaper) tools at home or in your office. A ball, mat, tubing, free weights, etc. These are all tools.
Your body weight, if you know how to apply it and use it properly, is a tool as well. My biggest delight is taking men off the machines, having them do a workout with body weight and show them where they are weak (or not using the muscles). Don’t underestimate body weight- esp if you are tall, big boned or broad shouldered.
Now my favorite tool for cardio- a heart rate monitor! Why? I have heard other trainers talk about high intensity training and using RPE (rate of perceived exertion). I love RPE but here is the thing with PERCEPTION- it’s skewed.
An athlete will push themselves hard because they are used to it. A non athletic person will feel their body and maybe not push as hard but THINK they are working as hard as they can. If your thresholds have not been challenged and your comfort zones expanded then you might not be working hard enough to change your body to the next level.
I had a client once for many years who has trained with dozens of trainers. When we started working, I trusted that she was pushed hard so her perception was accurate to her fitness level and capabilities. I’d find her RPE of “8” (out of 10) for each exercise and train her there. I’d ask her the next session if she felt anything the next day or 2 days later. She replied no for the first 2 months.
This boggled my mind. So after getting to know her better, I decided to increase her weight beyond her comfort zone and showed her what a REAL “8” was supposed to feel like. From there on, her fitness level changed and she got great results.
This example was using RPE with strength training so let’s get back to heart rate.
I had a man in his 70’s that is a super successful businessman. Great guy, not in touch with his body at all. His perception was that he was working hard but could not FEEL when his body was in crisis mode. Luckily, he had a heart rate monitor on and I could see that he was hovering at 170+ while on the floor!!! This is very dangerous.
Without the monitor, I may have pushed him harder. I am glad I did not because that could have ended very badly. You need to know where you are regardless of what you are doing. When your fitness level increases, the same activity does not get your heart rate up to the same level anymore. This is good news—it means you are more fit. AND it’s time to change the exercise or something about it to get back into your zone.
Let’s review my tool suggestions so far:
- Tape measure
- Body fat test
- Equipment for exercising
- Heart Rate Monitor
There are more but by now you get the point. Let’s look at support now.
- Family member or friend to be accountable to
- Trainer, Nutritionist, Doctor to be accountable to and to create your program
- Having the house or office set up to reinforce your goals
- Gathering with like minded people to keep you on track
- Using hypnosis to change your mindset or therapy to breakthrough some patterns
- A journal to use every day
- A rewards system set in place to celebrate each step of your progress
- And more!
As you know, we offer most of these things on our 6 Week Beach Body Program- that now you can get in download form, the entire program for only 97$! If you need some tools and support, you might want to consider investing into YOU today and get a jumpstart on summer! http://www.6weekbeachbodyinabox.com
© JJ Flizanes
JJ Flizanes, Director of Invisible Fitness, named best personal trainer in Los Angeles for 2007 by Elite Traveler Magazine, has appeared on NBC, KTLA, CBS and Fox 11. JJ’s mission is to help women feel gorgeous and confident in a bathing suit without starving or killing themselves in the gym. www.6weekbeachbody.com and www.invisiblefitness.com
