Healthy Green Bean Casserole

Thanksgiving is rapidly approaching. Known as the holiday for over eating, I am taking time over the next few weeks to share with you several healthier recipe options for your upcoming holiday parties.

This healthy revision of green bean casserole skips the canned soup and all the fat and sodium that come with it. The white sauce with sliced fresh mushrooms, sweet onions and low-fat milk makes a creamy, rich casserole.

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons canola oil, divided
• 1 medium sweet onion, (half diced, half thinly sliced), divided
• 8 ounces mushrooms, chopped
• 1 tablespoon onion powder
• 1 1/4 teaspoons salt, divided
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 2/3 cup all-purpose flour, divided
• 1 cup low-fat milk
• 3 tablespoons dry sherry, (see Ingredient Note)
• 1 pound frozen French-cut green beans, (about 4 cups)
• 1/3 cup reduced-fat sour cream
• 3 tablespoons buttermilk powder, (see Ingredient Note)
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Coat a 2 1/2-quart baking dish with cooking spray.
2. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add diced onion and cook, stirring often, until softened and slightly translucent, about 4 minutes. Stir in mushrooms, onion powder, 1 teaspoon salt, thyme and pepper. Cook, stirring often, until the mushroom juices are almost evaporated, 3 to 5 minutes. Sprinkle 1/3 cup flour over the vegetables; stir to coat. Add milk and sherry and bring to a simmer, stirring often. Stir in green beans and return to a simmer. Cook, stirring, until heated through, about 1 minute. Stir in sour cream and buttermilk powder. Transfer to the prepared baking dish.
3. Whisk the remaining 1/3 cup flour, paprika, garlic powder and the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt in a shallow dish. Add sliced onion; toss to coat. Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion along with any remaining flour mixture and cook, turning once or twice, until golden and crispy, 4 to 5 minutes. Spread the onion topping over the casserole.
4. Bake the casserole until bubbling, about 15 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes before serving.
   

Ingredient Notes: 

• Don’t use the high-sodium “cooking sherry” sold in many supermarkets. Instead, purchase dry sherry sold with other fortified wines.
• Look for buttermilk powder, such as Saco Buttermilk Blend, in the baking section or with the powdered milk in most supermarkets.

*As seen on http://www.eatingwell.com

Eating Clean – the Dirty Truth

Throughout many of my blogs I talk about eating “clean” and this seems to always generate questions about what I mean by “clean”. Eating clean is a lot more than eating good nutritious food; it’s also about when you eat and your food combinations. Here is my checklist of the three things you need to do to truly eat clean.

Eating Whole Unprocessed Food – this is where reading labels are so important and specifically reading the ingredients. The ingredients should be nothing other than what you are intending to eat. Eating certified organic food is a great start but there can still be preservatives and fillers which can throw you off of eating clean. And, watch those sodium levels.

Eat Small and Often – timing is a big part of eating clean. Spreading your calories throughout the day ensures a higher metabolism and a much lesser chance of storing body fat. Eating small amounts of good nutritious food is much easier for your body to break down and process for energy.

Eating Good Food Combinations – this is the one where many people make mistakes.  Overall, you should shoot for 50% carbohydrates, 20% protein, and 30% fat. This is a general guideline and will fluctuate per individual and according to your weight loss goals. A good rule of thumb is to shoot for making half your plate fruits and vegetables and use the percentages I listed above during most of your meals. If you are trying to lose weight, greatly reduce or eliminate carbohydrates from your dinner.

To truly eat clean takes a lot of dedication and knowing that it’s about a lot more than just the food you eat. You can still become unhealthy by eating good food if you eat too much, too often, or in the wrong combinations. Your body and especially your heart love you when you give it clean fuel to run; Keep it clean, rev it up, and run like the wind.

Your Immune System – Building the Ultimate Force Field

Nobody likes getting sick, and being under the weather is both inconvenient and without prejudice. Those nasty viruses and bacteria which have been on earth for a long time have only gotten stronger and are constantly evolving with each day. They are a constant threat to everyone’s health and as we get older, our immune system needs help to stay strong to defeat these germs on a daily basis. The key is to build a strong defense and to make sure you have the ultimate force field.

Make these things I have listed a part of your everyday life so you can build and maintain a strong immune system and kick those viruses to the curb.

1.) Wash those hands – Always wash your hands before touching your food and it’s also a good idea to keep a small bottle of hand sanitizer when eating at restaurants because menus are full of germs from many people; think about it. And, keep your hands out of your face.

2.) Get plenty of sleep – Sleeping is your body’s chance to recuperate from your day. When you do not get enough sleep, your immune system takes a hit and you will be more susceptible to bacteria and viruses. Shoot for 8-9 hours of sleep every night.

3.) Manage your stress – Stress weakens the body and the mind and causes you to expend energy which you normally wouldn’t spend under less stressful conditions. Stress is a fact of life and mostly unavoidable; find a way to manage it and get some relief.

4.) Get active – An active body is a more healthy body if treated right. The right amount of exercise strengthens your entire body and especially your immune system. Exercise creates blood circulation, growth hormone release, hormone production, and burns calories which all equate to better health. Although exercise is healthy, be sure not to do too much exercise; this weakens your immune system.

5.) Eat clean fuel – Food is fuel and clean fuel burns hot. When you eat “clean”, you are eating 4-5 servings of both fruits and vegetables a day; fruit and vegetables are full of high quality vitamins and minerals which create and support a strong immune system. High quality protein and whole grains also play a key role in building a strong immune system. Make sure you are also getting enough essential oils (Omega 3, 6, and 9) in your diet to ensure healthy cells. And, last but not least, drink plenty of water every day; at least 100-120 ounces a day.

From head to toe, we are only as strong as our weakest length. Maintaining a strong immune system is a daily fight and you have to pack a powerful punch and build a strong force field because germs are planning their next punch and will hit back.

The Bottom Line

You know that 360 degree look you get of yourself in the dressing room as you’re trying on new clothes and you see angles of your body that you do not see on a daily basis? In most cases it’s really hard to see what your backside looks like and, in my experience in personal training, it’s the number one body part that people (mostly women) want to look good. So, I want to give you my top three tips to keep your “bottom line” in shape.

1.) Squat and lunge – the two best glute muscle builders and shapers. When doing squats, keep your feet wider than shoulder width because when your feet are wide, the emphasis is more on your hips and glutes than your quads. Press off of your heals instead of your toes and go slow during the entire exercise without bouncing. When doing lunges, go slow and press off your heals instead of your toes. Spread your feet out so that your knees are behind your toes when lunging and go slow without bouncing at the bottom.

2.) Stop running or reduce your running time – depending on your body type and genetics, running can cause you to lose muscle mass in your legs and glutes. Instead, substitute a stationary bike or do some kick boxing to replace your running.

3.) Avoid over training – over training can and will rob your body of muscle and this will show up or be noticeable in your legs and glutes. Your legs and glutes are the biggest muscles in your body and are the muscles that will deplete and reduce if over trained. Make sure you are getting plenty of protein and log your training and training durations.

The idea is to keep as much muscle as you can especially when trying to lose weight. The areas of your body with the most muscle are also the areas which will be most affected when exercising too much or the wrong way. We all want to look good in all areas of our body especially those areas we cannot see but others see all the time. And, that’s the “bottom line”

Weighing Your Options

When it comes to managing your weight, it really comes down to making more good eating choices than bad choices. Now, if only it were that easy. We all know that the opportunities to eat bad food, fast food, and too much food are literally around every corner. With all of this convenience to make bad eating choices, we need to weigh our options before we make that bad eating choice that is going to make us feel bad for eating poorly. Before you drive through that fast food restaurant, eat way more than you should, or go crazy eating at the next party, take a second to run through this checklist.

• Is It Worth It? Are a few moments of satisfaction from eating bad food worth the despair you’re going to feel for the next several days or even weeks for making a bad choice?
• Remember When – remember how you felt the last time you made bad eating choices and how bad it made you feel. Remember asking yourself “why did I do that?”
• It All Adds Up – Every single choice you make adds up over the long run. If your good eating choices outweigh your bad eating choices, great things will happen; keep the scale in your favor.
• Be Honest and Be Accountable – journal your food, both good and bad. But, write down EVERYTHING you eat and drink and be honest with yourself by leaving nothing out. This leads to accountability and can help you make the good outweigh the bad. Read your journal often and make a point to review it often.

Weight management is a part of life. It is different for all of us and some of us have a lot tougher time than others at being successful at having and maintaining a healthy body weight. Whatever your challenges may be with your weight, constantly remind yourself of how good it feels when you make the right food choices, especially when that choice was made in the face of temptation.  And, take another step to where you really want to be and smile.

To Succeed in Fitness, Just Follow Your Heart

Throughout our lives we have heard the phrase, “follow your heart.” It’s great advice for anyone and I truly believe you cannot go wrong by doing so. And, it just so happens that the number one best thing any of us can do in fitness is to do the exact same thing; follow our hearts.

Cardiovascular fitness has long been measured by the ability of our hearts to maintain a healthy heart rate during different types of aerobic activity. There have been heart rate zones which have been titled aerobic zone, fat burning zone, and anaerobic zone simply by the number of heart beats per minute. There are fitness test and stress test that are designed to measure ones fitness level by how the heart reacts both during exercise and during recovery after exercise. We have the American Heart Association which is a national association built on and around having a healthy heart.

Our bodies are built around, governed by, and depend upon our hearts for every single function we have and is truly the center of our health. Doesn’t it make sense to be aware and record our heart rates during ALL types of exercise? Absolutely! Not only did I design my brand new It’s All Heart fitness program around the heart but I take and record my heart rate during all of my exercise days including anaerobic (weight training) exercise days.

It’s amazing what you can learn about your heart when you start paying attention to your heart rate. In fact, you would be surprised to learn what your heart does during weight training (anaerobic exercise). I use a heart rate monitor during all of my workouts and it records the following:

• Exercise duration
• Calories burned
• Fat burned
• Average heart rate
• Max heart rate
• Min heart rate
• Amount of time in aerobic zone

Once you get 5-6 weeks of data from your heart rate monitor or from just taking your heart rate at different times during exercise, you can start making changes within your workouts to see how these changes affect your heart rate. And, you can see where you need to improve your heart rate.

Here are some of the things I have found out by recording my heart rates during exercise.

• My max heart rate is higher when I lift heavier weights like in the 4-6 repetition range but my average hr is lower because my rest periods between sets is longer.
• My max hr is lower but my average hr is higher when I do higher repetitions like 10 reps because my rest periods between sets are much shorter.
• All of my hr numbers are higher when I do not get enough sleep the night before
• All of my hr numbers are higher when I change exercises
• My hr numbers are higher when I work out later in the day
• All of my hr numbers are the highest when I train legs

These are just a few of the things I have learned about my heart during exercise. I have been taking heart rates for the last 5 years and at this point, I can predict with great certainty, what my hr will be according to which exercises I will be doing on any given day. I also know when my heart is at its best and which resistance exercises and repetitions cause my heart to work in different ways. These are great things to know about your heart and will help you understand how your heart reacts to different types of exercise.

So, the next time you here someone saying “follow your heart”, do exactly as they say.

Muscles: Which Kind are Best?

Muscles! Everybody wants them but the means to get them is different for everybody. There are different types of muscle in our bodies and each has a specific job or use. Understanding the different types of muscle in the human body and different types of muscle fiber will help you in determining which types of exercise and how much of each type are right for you.

Let’s start with the different types of muscle:

1. Cardiac Muscle – you guessed it; this is the type of muscle that makes up your heart and is found nowhere else in your body. This muscle is involuntary and never stops working.

2. Smooth Muscle – this muscle is found mostly in your digestive system and is involuntary as well

3. Striated (skeletal) Muscle – this is the muscle that you see on your body which is attached to your skeleton and is voluntary. This type of muscle has two main types of fiber and each type has a specific ability during exercise.

• Fast twitch – this type of striated muscle is for short burst of energy like low repetition strength training and sprinting. If your fitness goal is to add muscle size, this type of fiber is where you need to concentrate; low repetitions (6-8 reps and less) during your strength training is where you need to be with longer rest times (2-3 minutes) between your sets. This fiber puts out a lot of energy in a very short amount of time; this is your strength fiber
• Slow twitch – this fiber is for long periods of energy like high repetition strength training, jogging, running, biking, or any activity which is extended in time; this is your endurance fiber. If you want to tone, shape, and lose body fat, this is the muscle fiber on which you need to concentrate. You would want to do high repetitions (15-20) during your strength training with very short rest periods (30 seconds – 1 minute) between each set. Circuit training with cardiovascular activity is a very good way to work your slow twitch muscle fibers.

I suggest that no matter whom you are or what your fitness goals are, you should work both types of striated muscle fiber to achieve body and muscle balance. However, if your goal was to gain muscle and size, I would concentrate on fast twitch fibers for about 75% of my program. If my goal was to trim up, shape, and tone, I would concentrate on slow twitch fibers for about 75% of my program. Be sure to write down everything you do in exercise especially your resistance exercises, sets, reps, and amount of time between your sets. All of these variables can be manipulated to get you to the body you want; just make sure what you tell your body matches what your body is hearing.

The Three Most Important Things

“Whatever you can do, or dream, Begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it!”

– Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Over my 21 years in the fitness industry as a personal trainer, motivational speaker, and fitness program developer, a few things that I have found to be certain is that you have to keep learning and getting better at what you do. And, another thing I have discovered is the very things that I do to stay ahead in my career are the very same things that you should do to stay ahead in your fitness quest.

1. Stay Educated – The first thing you need to do in fitness is to understand your body and the correct ways to exercise. Do your research and learn which programs are best for you and your needs and why. Understand what goes on inside your body during exercise like heart rate and metabolism. Know your numbers by monitoring your blood pressure and knowing your cholesterol and understand what those numbers mean. Educate yourself on nutrition, not diets or fads, but basic food groups and how your body uses them. Keep an open mind, step out of your comfort zone, and try new things.

2. Be Prepared – Most of your success in fitness will be determined by what you do outside of your exercise program. Preparing your body before exercise by getting enough sleep, managing stress, and eating the right foods at the right times (see #1). Being prepared also means giving your body what it needs to recuperate after exercise by duplicating what you did to prepare for exercise. The sooner and better you recuperate your body after exercise, the better your next exercise day will be. What you do or don’t do today compounds into the next day, week, month, and years of your life. BE READY!

3. Stay Young at Heart – There are many things we cannot control in our lives; our genetics, when we were born, how tall or short we will be, the size of our feet, predispositions, and many others. But, one thing we all can do no matter who we are or what we do; we can all stay young at heart. For me personally, this is the 25th year I’ve turned 20. I refuse to get any older and 20 years of age is where I will stay. I truly believe that we are only as old as we let life convince us to be. Stay humble, avoid complacency, laugh as often as you can, and do what you can to help those less fortunate.

There you go; my top three most important things I have learned in my life to keep moving forward. Apply these to your life and see what happens. That means the next time I see you, I expect to see a big smile.

Tami Ferguson

I have always been involved with exercise 5-6 days a week, but when my pain level from a car accident began increasing it became impossible for me to exercise. My workouts and physical therapy sessions were moderately successful but when I finished with PT but I was told I would have posture problems for several years. That’s when my husband got me involved with Bobby and his It’s All Heart exercise program. After 2 weeks, my energy soared and my posture began to improve.

I have fusion of my C5 and C6 vertebrae and an artificial disc in my L5 vertebrae. I have had pain throughout my entire body for the last 8 years. Bobby’s program has alleviated a great deal of this pain which has helped me have a much more active life.

Before I started It’s All Heart I was working out incorrectly and was re-injuring self. After using this program, my body is MUCH stronger and I have improved my posture dramatically. I attribute all of this to my much stronger and balanced core from doing the many different exercises on this program. The resistance and cardiovascular moves within this program are amazing and I can feel my core working correctly and my body gaining balance every day I exercise.

Although I still have pain in and around my fusions, I have never felt pain relief like this program gives me!

I have recommended It’s All Heart to my mom who is currently using this program and to many other friends. Level One is an absolutely perfect transition from rehab to a more active fitness program; it really leaves no voids.

I can’t wait to see what Bobby produces next, I am definitely a lifetime customer. Great Job Bobby!

John Allen

I decided to start using It’s All Heart after dealing with hypertension, back injuries, and a bad shoulder. Every time I would go to a gym I would lose weight, but always seemed to cause injury in some way.

Frankly, I am too old to keep on recovering from problems caused by working out incorrectly. It’s All Heart does not harm my body and works within my limitations. The exercises and stretches were easy to learn and I have been injury free since I began the program 4 months ago.

I also love keeping track of my progress in the journal that is provided with the program. It allows me to easily follow the nutrition segment and makes it much easier to eat healthy when you understand how your body uses different nutrition.

Now I have much more flexibility, my shoulder has gotten better and my back in much stronger. I also have more energy to enjoy my passions and finish stronger when playing golf.

I would change nothing about Bobby’s program. I like it as it is. I can get what I need and I do not injure myself.