Quick Guacamole Recipe

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Hey Fitness Family,

Over the years I have tried various guacamole recipes and finally crafted one that is quick and easy. My kids beg me to make the green stuff for a snack and my husband loves refueling with some fresh guacamole after what he calls a “good Pump” in the weight room.

Here are a few benefits of incorporating avocado into your diet:

Helps with Immunity- Provides vitamin C, B6, helps fight off illness, heal infection, tissue repair and wounds.

Muscles- Helps grow, develop, assist in formation of connective tissue

Helps the body digest and metabolize food turning it into energy

Helps with skin health, teeth, bones and with the cardiovascular system.

Quick Guacamole Recipe:

2 ripe Avocado’s

1 tomato

Mash with a fork or wooden spoon (I love the chunks)

2 squirts of lemon and lime juice

sprinkle of garlic, onion powder, salt and pepper

I really love making a whole wheat quesadilla and placing this on top of it!

Enjoy and Blessings! -Michelle

Working the Glutes Muscle Using a Resistance Band

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Day 5: Resistance Band Training and The Pregnant Girl Workout focuses on the gluteus. The bent leg lift targets your butt muscles and gives you a nice shape to the back of your thigh. If you are looking to work the hamstring more you can target that muscle by doing a straight-leg lift.

You want to kneel with your knee’s directly under your hips and your elbows under your shoulders. You can also stack your fists and place your head on top of them. Exhaling as you lift the leg to hip height and holding for a second. As you lower that leg to the floor inhale.

Doing 8-12 reps on each leg in 1-3 sets. You can add pulses to intensify this exercise or ankle weights. (Don’t forget to warm-up)

Today’s Fit Tip: Change up the pace of your workouts to stimulate working muscles. Pulse, a 2 count, 4 count and isometric hold.

Working the Upper Back with A Resistance Band

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Greetings Fitness Friends,

Behind on days 1-3 on the resistance band/pregnant girls workout?

Find them here:

Day 1: resistance band workout

Day 2: Resistance Band Workout

Day 3: Resistance Band Workout

Today’s Exercise Focuses on the upper back. A reverse fly strengthens the trapezius and rhomboids and posterior deltoid. Having strong back muscles help reduce strain on our back and neck and also help us with our posture.

start with a neutral wrist, hands in line with shoulders and take your arms (straight or slight bend at the elbow) out to be in line with shoulders. Make sure to squeeze your shoulder blades together exhaling during the exertion phase of the exercise and as you release inhaling.

Doing this exercise in reps of 12-15, in 1-3 sets depending on your fitness level

Fitness tip of the Day: Adding isometric holds during our strength training routines are a great way to tone and sculpt the body. Holding the exercise while exhaling in a fixed spot, creates definition strengthening the smaller stabilizer muscles.

Happy Sweating Live Fit, Blessings

Burrito Night

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Hey Fitness Friends, Totally forgot to post this recipe! It’s delicious and my husbands and I’s remake of chipotle!

The original recipe is actually from a girl that I teach aerobics with at the gym. She is always making great healthy dishes. We get together regularly and let the kids play and hangout together. I get to try all types of new healthy recipes when I hangout with these ladies. They have truly been an inspiration to me on my health journey. Blessed to have these women and their children in my lives!

2cans(15oz ea)black beans, rinsed and drained
1can(11oz)mexicorn,drained
1tomatoe chopped
1 avacado,peeled and cubed
1/2 cup chopped red onion
1/2 cup canola oil
1/4cup red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp hot pepper sauce (optional)
Tortilla chips
In a bowl, combine the beans,corn,tomatoe,avacado,and onion. In a small bowl, whisk the oil, vinegar, salt, and hot pepper sauce;pour over bean mixture toss to coat. Serve with tortilla chips if desired.

My husband and I ate it with tortilla chips and then decided to take the recipe one step further. We used the leftovers for burrito’s. We just cooked some hamburger in taco seasonings, threw it in a whole wheat tortilla and added a few scoops of this recipe. I added extra guacamole, tomatoes, and instead of using chopped onion I used onion powder. We did not have the hot pepper sauce on hand. This is also a great end of the year garden recipe to use up extra tomatoes and corn.

Fit Tip: Always rinse contents that you are using to cook with from a can it helps wash off excess sodium used to preserve!

Blessings Live fit, I hope you enjoyed this recipe as much as we did. What is your favorite chipotle remake recipe?

Pregnant Girls Resistance Band Workout

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Greetings Fitness Friends,

I apologize for the delay as I have promised 5 days of resistance training workouts, great for pregnant and non-pregnant exercisers. Life gets hectic at times with kids and being pregnant myself. I recently just started personal training and am getting adjusted to new changes. I want to bring you great fitness, motivational, nutritional information, grow my readership and am trying my best to update my blog as often as I can!

My Goal at the end of day 5 is to have a full body workout that you can perform all in a day or circuit train with that pertains to your training schedule.

Looking to catch up on the resistance band workouts:

Day 1 Resistance Band Workout

Day 2 : Resistance Band Workout

Day 1: Works outer hip, hamstring, quad, bicep
Day 2: Works chest and tricep
Day 3: Working Lat Muscles in the back, inner thigh, shoulders

Day 3: Picture 1: Working latissimus Dorsi: sit up nice and tall and have a slight bend in knee’s. loop resistance band around your feet and adjust resistance as necessary. Pull handle bars back and as you bring elbows directly back squeeze your shoulder blades exhaling and inhaling as you return to starting position.

Day 3: Picture 2: Working your anterior shoulder with an upright row and inner thighs while you pile squat. Make sure your feet are at a 45 degree angle and criss cross your resistance band. as you squat down bring your handles up to shoulder level and release. If you are new to exercise you can take out the upright row or quarter squat here to modify. Inhale as you squat down and exhale as you return to starting position squeezing the gluteus!

New exercisers I would recommend 1-2 sets of 12-15 reps, a seasoned exerciser 3 sets of 12 reps. Circuiting the exercises are also an option. 4 sets of 30 seconds per exercise or 12 reps moving from each exercise with little or no rest. I also recommend starting with the large muscle groups leg, back, and progressing to smaller muscles as you conclude your workout.

Don’t forget to warm-up and cool down! 🙂

Fit Tip of the Day:
Don’t mistake hunger for thirst. Stay properly hydrated it helps our metabolism. Think you are hungry drink an 8oz glass of water first!

Blessings, Live Fit

Pregnant Girl’s Workout

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Good Afternoon Live Fit,

Today’s feature exercise with the resistance band is chest and Tricep. If you missed out yesterday I am featuring exercises each day this week that you can use with the resistance band. Being pregnant it has often been my go to piece of equipment and it’s great for if you need to change up your regimen or are pressed for time. Check out yesterday’s link if you missed out:Day 1 Resistance Band Workout

I used my husband for the top picture! You might see him around live fit more often as he is also passionate about staying in shape and weight lifting!

Top and bottom picture 1: Each working a different part of the tricep muscle. When lifting my triceps I usually go until exhaustion. Exhale as you press up and inhale as you release down. If you are new to weight lifting, I would go anywhere from 1-2 sets of 8-15 reps working your way up to 1-3 sets of 8-12 reps. Circuiting the exercises are also an option: this is going to give you the a quick workout in a short time. It Promotes strength, endurance, and allows you to incorporate cardio. You could run through all the exercises that I give you this week to create a routine that you repeat 1-4 times doing each exercise for 30-60 seconds.

Top and Bottom Picture 2: The first picture is a chest press. Exhale as you press up and inhale as you release down. Adjust the resistance as necessary if the exercise is feeling to easy, shorten your resistance band and if it is feeling to hard give yourself some slack. The bottom picture is a chest fly. Inhale as your take your arms out and exhale as your bring them back together. Palms face each other, slight bend in the elbow, take your arms out and really squeeze them as you come in. The new exerciser I would recommend 1-2 sets of 8-15 reps and a experienced exerciser 1-3 sets of 8-12 reps.

Quick fit tip for today:
When selecting tubing keep in mind that each color represents a different resistance
Yellow: 3-5lbs
Green: 6lbs
Red:10lbs
Blue: 15lbs
When I bought my tubbing I bought the resistance that I was training in and the the next highest color. When I began to get stronger I had the resistance band on hand!

Blessings, Live Fit!

Pregnant Girl’s Workout

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Greetings Fitness Friends!

It’s Monday and everyday this week I am going to be posting new exercises that utilizes the resistance band. I am coming into my 7 month of pregnancy this week and have used this piece of equipment a lot throughout my pregnancy. Even if you aren’t pregnant these exercises are great to incorporate into your current routine. By the beginning of next week you will have a full body workout that you can use with the resistance band. You could write it down and keep your band with you on days you are pressed for time and still want to get a thirty minute burn in! Great do do on your lunch break at work!

A few things that are great about the resistance band:
they are inexpensive
you can travel with them wherever you go
a great way to change up the old routine
kids playing outside or at a kids practice? get a quick full body burn in
they provide resistance on both the contraction and relaxation phase
you can incorporate them into cardio workouts
no gym no problem, You can perform these at home

Top Picture:

Lunge with a bicep curl: This is considered a multiple joint exercise. You are working both your lower and upper body at the same time. You are going to feel the burn on this one! Personally when I workout I want to get the most bang for my time. Incorporating exercises together is something I do often. You are going to burn more calories and get your heart rate up. Pay close attention to both your breathing, Range of Motion, and Postural alignment: Mentioned here in Why Weights Part 2
Make sure your knee isn’t going over your toe during the lunge, your shoulders are nice and tall, and torso is directly over your hips.

Modification: You could do an alternating lunge by itself and quarter lunge, you aren’t getting as deep into the movement here (if you have had knee complications or surgery in the past). Take the band and place it under one foot to then perform the bicep curl by itself.

Bottom Picture:

Start in a Squat position with the band underneath each foot and hold the handles up at your hips. Bring your right leg together and then as you squat push your left leg out as you sit into a squat position keeping your handles up at your hips. Bring your legs together and then alternate to the right side. This is working your gluteus medius (outer hip muscles).

Modification: Take the squat out of the exercise and have the handle bars at hip level underneath each foot and a slight bend in the supporting knee to perform leg lifts.

Depending on your current fitness level I would recommend anywhere from 1-3 sets of 8-15 repetitions for each exercise. If you are just starting out use the modifications listed above and then gradually move to the more advanced exercises. Start with one set of 15 repetitions and work your way toward 3 sets of 8-12 repetitions over time. A good way to know you are ready to advance in resistance or more difficult exercises is when you are on your last set and last three reps can easily be performed.

I will see you tomorrow for Chest and Tricep exercises! We are building a resistance exercise routine that you can take with you anywhere.

Don’t forget pregnant ladies, keep on keeping on! I am starting to feel the final trimester burn out and am reminded that exercise gives me more energy, helps prevent back pain,improves my mood, helps my posture, helps me sleep like a rock, promotes and maintains: muscle tone, strength, and endurance!

(Remember it’s always crucial to warm-up your body prior to working out and cool down the body, stretch once you have completed your workout. I am not liable to any injuries/health issues that result from exercises from this site. Consult with your healthcare provider before beginning any workout regimen. If you feel pain or any discomfort while exercising stop immediately).

Post your Favorite Resistance Band Exercise, I Love New idea’s and sharing them with each other will only advance us more on our journey together!

Blessings, Live Fit

-Michelle

Motivation Monday

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Whatever hardship, trial, season you may be traveling thru know that God is bigger then the hardships, focus on him and multitude of his love for us. Maybe it’s a work related goal you set for yourself, a circumstance that is giving you anxiety in the upcoming months, a fitness regimen or race you are training for. God is our strength and portion. No task that lies ahead of us is to big for him to sustain us for. Look to him for inner strength to lift heavy, run faster, serve more, have the the energy to be the mother, sister, friend, buisness women that HE wants you to be. It may not always turn out the way we see fit but he is our portion and his plans for our lives are bigger and greater then we could imagine!

Blessings, Michelle

Home-canning Recipes

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Hey LIve Fit,
Here are a few of my favorite canning recipes. If you are new to canning and have questions about what process or hot bath means please comment away and I will do my best to help answer your questions. My pizza sauce recipe is also just a lot of throwing together so please if you have questions with that let me know! I always make notes on my recipes in my cook book about where and who I got them from. From one kitchen to the next lets spread the wealth of healthy eating ladies!

Tomato Soup: ( My mother-in-Law for found this delicious treasure! great for a quick lunch in the winter. It tastes out of this world with the fresh tomatoes)
14 quarts ripe tomatoes
14 ribs celery
14 stems of parsley
11 bay or basil leaves (We prefer basil Leaves)

Cook this together first until it cooks down and is tender. Put through a sieve( I always have my husband do this part) Place back in the kettle. Add these ingredients:

7 Medium Onions
2 Cups of Cream
14 T. of flour
1lb of butter
8 T. of salt (I cut this in half and do 4)
16 T. of sugar (I cut this in half and do 8)

Boil a half hour and then pour in hot jars and process jars for 15 minutes

*I usually double most of my recipes, so my yield is higher

Yellow Peppers: (My mother-in-law found this a couple years back great on sandwiches, on top of fresh pizza, or in a skillet with eggs, potatoes and rice)

1 pinch of alum
1 T salt
1 clove garlic

put in each jar, then add cut up banana peppers

pour over top of above mixture after it has boiled:
6 c vinegar
6 c water
2 c sugar

Make sure the jars are hot right out of the dishwasher along with the lids. Make sure the lids pop to ensure proper sealing. You will hear a little pop and the lid will be pushed down to indicated it sealed.

Salsa: (Got this recipe from one of my best girlfriends Melissa we can it together each year)
8 cups of tomato
2 1/2 cups onion
1 cup jalapeños or green or assorted peppers
6 cloves garlic
2 1/2 tsp cumin
2 tsp black pepper
2T canning salt
1/3 cup vinegar
15oz tomato sauce
12oz tomato paste

boil 10 mins and then squirt in lime, place into hot canning jars and process 15 mins

End of the Year Pizza Sauce: ( Use up the rest of your tomatoes and bell peppers)

cut up a pan full of assorted tomatoes, green peppers, onion, garlic,
have these spices out and ready (pepper, salt, oregano,)

Fill the bottom of the blender with tomatoes and a little bit of water, add green pepper, onion, clove of garlic and a shake of pepper, salt, oregano and blend (I Usually fill blender until almost full)

have a big pot on the stove ready and pour in the blended batch and repeat until you are done with the cut up vegetables. Bring to a boil and let it cook down. Have your jars hot and ready fill them up and process them in the hot bath for 15 minutes.

when you get out a jar of this add a can of paste and heat up to thicken on the stove. Place on pizza crust, Enjoy:)

Please post your favorite canning recipe, we are on this journey of health and fitness together!

Blessings, Michelle