Week 4 ALREADY?

Wow, this month has flown by.  Those of you still attending camp each day and staying committed to your goals should be awfully proud of yourselves.  If you have taken a few days off, regroup and show up tomorrow!  Your Post-Camp Evaluation is Saturday. There is no better way to show your accomplishments than by coming on Saturday.  Be there.

Remember that tomorrow is “Bring-A-Buddy” to boot camp day so if you have any friends or family members are interested, please bring them along!  Make sure they wear running shoes, bring lots of water and a good attitude.

 

Also…

Just some helpful reminders/pointers for you Zoners out there from “A Week in The Zone”…

Why is meal timing so important?
As with medication, you want to control the body’s use of protein and carbohydrate consistently throughout the day, and you should eat a minimum of three meals and two snacks. A Zone meal should provide you with four to six hours in the Zone, whereas a snack is good for approximately two to two and a half hours. Eating every five hours, whether you are hungry or not, is necessary to stay in the Zone. In fact, lack of hunger without cravings for sugars and sweets couple with good mental focus is a good indicator that you’re in the Zone.

I prefer to eat smaller, more frequent meals throughout the day. Is it possible to stay in the Zone this way?
Actually, the greater the number of small meals you eat, the better the insulin control. It’s called “grazing.”

Boot campers! You should also be eating five to six meals a day. Don’t skip! Even if you have to bring some protein bars to work, or stick some cottage cheese and an apple in your boss’s fridge, make sure you’re eating enough.

Recipe Day!

Breakfast Tart & Fruit Salad

1½ cups peeled chopped tomatoes
½ cup finely chopped onion
6 ounces skim milk mozzarella
18 pitted olives, cut into small pieces
olive oil spray
3 large eggs
6 egg whites
1 tsp. dried dill
1 tsp. dried basil
pinch of black pepper
salt

Fruit Salad:
1 pear
2 cups grapes
3 kiwis
1 cup pineapple
juice of ½ lemon

Preheat oven to 350°F. In the bottom of a non-stick oven proof sauté pan, spray with olive oil. Add half of the chopped tomatoes, half of the onion, all of the mozzarella, and the olives. Put the remaining tomatoes, onion, eggs, spices, salt and pepper in a blender and mix until smooth and even. Pour into the pan and bake for about 25-30 minutes, until mixture is puffed up and golden brown. Fruit Salad: Cut fruit into small pieces, adding the lemon juice, toss. Note: The cheese can be substituted with 5 ounces of lean ham.

Boot campers! This is the last week of boot camp and you need to be on you A-Game for the rest of the week! Make sure to maintain a 80% whole foods approach to your meals and you’ll knock off those stubborn pounds!

Berries For Health…

Agriculture Research Service – March 13, 2008

You may not know it, but eating causes what’s known as “oxidative stress.” As we digest our food, we create sometimes-harmful molecules known as “free radicals.” But antioxidants—healthful compounds in fruits and vegetables—can help by neutralizing the free radicals.

That’s yet another good reason to eat at least some antioxidant-rich foods at every meal, according to the Agricultural Research Service.  Scientists found that the antioxidant capacity of volunteers’ blood plasma samples declined after eating a test meal that lacked antioxidants. But they also found, for the first time, that consuming grapes with that same test meal prevented the decline in plasma antioxidant capacity of the volunteers during the first two hours following the test meal—the time digestion is the most rapid.

Previous research has shown that omitting antioxidant-rich foods from meals can lead to cellular damage by free radicals, which increases the risk of atherosclerosis, cancer and other diseases. The study looked at the ability of the human body to use the antioxidants in Bing cherries, dried plums, dried plum juice, kiwifruit, red grapes, strawberries and wild blueberries. 

To find out which fruits give you the most antioxidant bang for your buck, click here.

Boot campers! Congrats on finishing Week 3. Only one more to go! A great snack anytime of the day is low-fat yogurt mixed with sliced strawberries and blueberries and a few walnuts on top.

Got A Buddy? Bring A Buddy!

If some of your friends or coworkers are curious about this crazy boot camp program you are participating in, this is your chance to give them a taste! 

Bring A Friend to Boot Camp Day is next Wednesday, October 1. 

Something to keep in mind: your friend should be able to maintain a constant walk/jog for 10 minutes in order to attend boot camp. 

Please ask your friends to arrive 15 minutes before camp begins to fill out a waiver and meet the instructors.  Have them bring a water bottle or two, and let them know they might get dirty…dress appropriately. 

You may invite as many friends as you like!  Please let me know if there will be more than a couple of your friends attending.  If your friend signs up for BC next month, you are eligible to get $20 off your next boot camp.  If multiple friends sign up, you receive discounts for all of them!

Thanks for bringing your friends – have fun! – Max Body Fitness

Don’t you wish you could have some PIZZA?

Now you can have it! Well, kind of…

Flatbread Pizza

1 flatbread (low-carb lavash, or low-carb flour tortilla)
2 tablespoons favorite pizza sauce
1 ounce grated cheese
1/2 turkey/chicken sausage (about 7 grams of protein)

In a small skillet add sliced or crumbled sausage; sauté to brown. Turn oven to broil. Place pizza pan in oven to warm. Heat a heavy skillet (cast iron works best) and toast lavash or tortilla. Remove warm pizza pan from oven and place toasted flatbread/tortilla on pan. Place 2 tablespoons pizza sauce in center of pizza and spread out in circular motion (just like you see on TV). Add cheese and sausage. Place under broiler and watch closely. Remove when cheese is slightly browned. Serving size: 1 Joseph’s Lavash Pizza: P-21/C-9/F-9

Note: To balance this meal, you’ll have to add some carbohydrates. Suggestions: a large tossed salad plus a glass of wine or omit the wine and have a small piece of fruit.

Boot campers! Give us some of your favorite meals while in Boot Camp. By now, you should know about combining foods and eating smaller, more frequent meals. So, how do you get creative with it? What are some of your favorites? Please share! We’re always looking for input.

Sneaker Cleaning: You may have encountered some grassy/muddy conditions today so here’s an article on sneaker cleaning. If you don’t rinse them off and turn them upside down, they can really smell. Trust on this one.

 

 

Week Three Blues?

Say it ain’t so! It happens, we’ve been there.

 

 

HOWEVER…

Suck It Up Buttercup!!!

Sorry, we aren’t the spa…we are Boot Camp! 

But seriously, take a deep breath, analyze your physical and mental changes.  Are you already running better, getting through more push-ups, eating better, have more energy?  Bask in the glow of your improved fitness and get ready to kick it in for WEEK THREE!!

We have so much going on this week.  Get in the game, show up for class, don’t slack off!

This is the week to kick it in.  We call this the Glory Week. This is when you really start to see some changes in your jeans, they should be a little looser.  Don’t give up now, make some new mini-goals.  Aim for another change in your diet, commit to showing up for class all week.

Today’s Pic: AM Campers Showing Their Stuff

Today’s Video: Escape the Sofa

Fitness Friendly Restaurants and Eateries

You probably set aside one day each week to plan out and cook some Zone meals for the days ahead. For me, it’s Sunday. But sometimes, I’m out and about with no food in my lunch bag. Other times, I just don’t feel like cooking. The good news it is possible to stay “in the Zone” at quick-service and sit-down restaurants around town. You just have to modify a bit.

Chipotle is the latest Zone-approved restaurant from Sherlock Zone, the Zone’s official food sleuth. Here is what he had to say about it:

“Case in point is the Burrito Bowl with romaine lettuce. You can order a fajita or burrito in a bowl with no tortilla. For the Burrito, say no to the rice and choose black beans. Other ingredients are meat, salsa and cheese. Go easy on the sour cream. The fajita is just like the burrito but comes with sautéed peppers and onions instead of beans. Diners needing more carbs can order some salsa. One-half cup of salsa equals a block. Choose fresh tomato, tomatillo-green chili, and tomatillo-red chili. The roasted chili-corn salsa is less favorable. Also enjoy some guacamole.

There are also Zoneful salads. The salad base is romaine lettuce with a choice of beans, meat, salsa and cheese. Ask for olive oil and vinegar instead of the chipotle-honey vinaigrette. The meat choices include chicken and steak. There is also naturally raised pork seasoned with thyme, bay leaves, juniper berries and black peppers; and shredded beef braised with chipotle adobo, cumin, cloves, garlic and oregano. There’s also a vegetarian salad with guacamole, vegetarian black beans, peppers and onions.”

We’ll keep you posted on other Zone-friendly restaurants and what you can order at them. In the meantime, anyone have a favorite spot where you like to concoct a balanced Zone meal?

Boot campers! Week 3 is upon us! By now you may be bored with your breakfast routine, which for me consisted of either oatmeal or Kashi cereal just about every day. Why not try some multigrain hot cereal? Add some blueberries or raspberries. It works as a supper side dish, too.

Tips & Tricks

Many of you Zoners already look through the Zone site for tips and tricks on what to eat, how the Zone works and how to stay in the Zone without pulling your hair out. Each week, we will spotlight some of the helpful comments and questions other Zoners are making on the Zone site, in the hopes of giving you that boost you need to stick with it. Here is a Zoner’s advice for staying in the Zone:

“Planning. If I don’t make a plan regarding what I’m going to eat for the week then I easily get put off course. I’ve learned to take 1/2 hour before I go grocery shopping to create a chart of what to eat. I’m not specific to the tablespoon in regards to a recipe, but rather I think through what I’ll need on hand. Of course I end up buying about 5 times as many fruits and veggies as other shoppers in the store – a good thing. A part of that is I ‘talk it up’ with friends and family. I tell them what I’m eating. It makes me feel like I need to follow through. Perhaps this is why they’ve stopped calling? j/k…

My second tip – I Focus on Energy. I think about how good I feel when I’m in the Zone. When I eat three slices of pizza, a bagel for breakfast, a sub at lunch, I feel awful, and I try to remember that feeling and compare it to how I’m feeling at ANY point in the day when I’m Zoning. When I’m Zoning I’m a happy camper. High energy, focused, less of a jerk to co-workers, etc… Energy is important to me. This is the thing – for me, focusing on weight is NOT a good enough motivator. Don’t get me wrong, I realize the serious chronic illnesses lurking around the corner awaiting folks that are obese, but for whatever reason ENERGY motivates me more.”

What motivates you?

Boot campers! It’s the end of Week 2 and you may be seeing some changes in your body already. Take some time this weekend to plan out your meals for the second half of BC. Check out what’s in your fridge and stock up on those things you need. Have a good weekend and be good!   

Today’s Photo: What everyone’s grocery basket should look like.

How ’bout them apples!

Apples are in season from late August through October, so it’s prime picking time for you!

One medium-sized apples has just 95 calories and provides almost 20 percent of your daily fiber needs, according to Runner’s World magazine. Research has also shown that apple peels are rich in quercetin, a flavonoid linked with reducing the risk of cancer, asthma and diabetes. Another study suggests apples may also improve immunity to upper-respiratory-tract infections in endurance athletes!  Plus, for you Zoners, apples have a low glycemic load compared to other fruits.

When choosing apples, pick ones that look vibrant, apple growers say. Dull, waxy-looking skin means the apple was in cold storage too long. To help apples stay fresh longer, keep them in your fridge. Tart varieties las several months, while sweet kinds should be consumed within a few weeks.

How do you like your apples?

Boot campers! The perfect midday snack for you is an apple with a piece of string cheese. Quick and easy to pack, yet filling enough to hold you over til dinner.

Recipe Day!

Zucchini and Tomato Frittata with Polenta Cake
By Chef Phil Andriano

Blocks: 4
4 oz. Liquid Egg Whites
1 oz. Skim Milk
1 oz. Grated Parmesan
1/4 cp. Zucchini (Diced)
1/4 cp. Yellow Squash (Diced)
1/4 cp. Scallions (Diced)
1/4 cp. Tomato (Diced)
1 cp. Cornmeal/Polenta
3 tsp. Olive Oil

Frittata
1.     In a heated pan on medium heat, add 2 tsp. of olive oil.
2.     In a large bowl, combine egg whites, skim milk, parmesan cheese and a pinch of salt and pepper. Whisk together.
3.     Saute the vegetables in the heated pan with the olive oil for about 3 minutes.
4.     Add the egg mixture to the pan. Cover the pan with another saute pan, forming a lid. Lower the flame to low.
5.     After about 8 minutes or until set, transfer the frittata to a plate.
Polenta
1.     Add two cups of water into a saucepan.
2.     When the water starts to boil, add the cornmeal/polenta. Stirring occasionally. Add a pinch of salt to taste.
3.     After about 3 minutes, pour polenta onto a pan mold and let set.
4.     Add 1 tsp of olive oil in a heated pan.
5.     Remove the polenta from the mold and grill for 2 minutes on each side to brown.
Serving:
1.     Place polenta cake with frittata. Garnish with parmesan cheese and fresh herbs.