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3 Healthy Dishes For Keeping Your Nutrition In Check over The Holidays.

When Christmas time hits you know a few things are sure to happen. Food and gifts. Not only much is spent money on gifts for those who we care about and a lot of those gifts include candy and sweets. Yes, candy and Christmas go together as much as Rudolph and his red nose does. A lot of people, kids and adults alike, can sometimes over indulge in these sweets and goodies which over the course of the holidays can lead to elevated blood sugar levels which consequently effects your glucose and insulin levels that aid in muscle recovery. The key here is to understand that eating candy is inevitable on the holidays because it’s everywhere. There are certain kinds of candy that have some beneficial nutrients like dark chocolate, black licorice and some vegan made sweets are not as detrimental as the treats that are processed with added sugar that are found in hard candies like skittles, gumdrops and milk chocolate(technically a soft candy but I’ll use it because it’s popular!) Down below. I’ve listed some healthy dishes from my Pesco -Mediterranean diet I follow to keep your blood glucose and sugar levels in check during the holidays. For more health info please follow my page on word press that you can find the link on my Instagram: colorsofthewoods.

  • Dolce Pesca( or sweet peaches) a great appetizer leading up to the main dish! -Ingredients: 1/2 cup of brandy. – 4 fresh figs. – 4 peaches halved and pitted. – 1/4 a cup of white sugar. – 1 cup of white wine. 1/2 cup of pine nuts. 172 calories. prep: 15 minutes. Cook time 15 minutes. Total time: 30 minutes. Serving size: for 8.
  • Vegetarian Egg Casserole. A very healthy main dish option loaded with fresh vegetables and olive oil. Ingredients: -12 large eggs. -1 small onion diced. -1 bell pepper diced. -1 cup of cherry tomatoes. -2 cups of chopped kale. -1/2 cup of crumbled cheese. -1 cup of milk. Olive oil. Prep time 10 minutes. Cook time 40 minutes. Total time 59 minutes. Serving size: 12. Calories 120.
  • Olive oil banana bread. (My personal favorite) -1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil. 1/2 a cup brown sugar.- 2 eggs – 4 bananas smashed 2 cups. 1 teaspoon baking soda. 1 teaspoon cinnamon. – 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. 1/2 whole wheat flour. 1 cup all purpose flour. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and cook for 40 minutes then let it cool for 10 minutes. 50 minutes total time. Serving size 10 slices 259 calories.

Also for you wine lovers. Try the Santero 958 moscato and pesca. If there is any alcohol I drink it’s this and it’s not bad for $10. So there it is. If you want more details on how to cook go to the Mediterraneandish.com and it will give you the step to step details of how to cook these delicious recipes and offer many others too for the record. I hope the holidays are safe and healthy for you. Bon appetite!

The Way of The Pesco Mediterranean.

As I sat down on my Table this Morning to make breakfast of one of my personal favorites that I make: blueberry hummus wrap. That consists of avocados, blueberries, a little bit of hummus, basil and spinach leaves and a few cucumber slices. Top it off with a few beyond plant based bacon slices and there you have it. I also have a glass of unsweetened blueberry pomegranate juice with a splash of creatine mono hydrate and to top it off with banana bread. This is a decent example of what I eat in the morning and is a good example of what a pesco Mediterranean breakfast looks like. Which I have been a practitioner for over 2 years now.

There is a lot of similarities between the 2 and being one who is on this diet I can tell you they are both a pescatarian and Mediterranean diet combined and quite comparatively, got introduced from the same part of the world in the Mediterranean region of Europe. In the 1990s many of those from Italy and Greece used the term pescatarian meaning a fruit and fish eater in Italian. The pescatarian diet also does not include red meat, pork and lamb which contains amino acids linked to heart disease and inflammatory tendencies that tend to make the human body develop cancer cells overtime. In return less lifespan from eating to much of these animal based proteins. Also, it is important to note the traditional Mediterranean diet back then that consisted of mainly fruits and vegetables and with a little bit of diary and fish involved. In the early 1990s, the Pesco-Mediterranean diet was introduced and is widely considered on of the best diets anyone can eat depending on the person. It combines fish and fruit from the pescatarian diet and the vegetables, olive oil, legumes and diary from the Mediterranean diet.

This method of eating is high in fiber and vitamins. Also it’s high in protein and essential fat as well as complex carbs. These are all great fuel for building muscle and promoting fat loss. Also by being Pesco-Mediterranean it more exclusively is effective in fighting cancer cells and heart disease. I don’t know about your thoughts but that sounds pretty helpful to me!

Soon after I’m done with breakfast and have gone to the gym, I immediately snack on chocolate covered almonds along with oat milk and plant based protein powder to mix in. Then, I make a salad mixed with morning star plant based chicken strips and fresh organic vegetables and fruit. I mentioned some plant based foods and almost 3/4ths of this diet is vegan and some label it vegetarian with exception to some dairy products. Which is why it is not vegan. My body responds good to the vegan diet but not as good as this diet. The plant based protein powder and creatine is one of my go to’s before and after a workout and the beyond vegan meat is definitely a better substitute than the animal meat that is very processed. However When I began working out intensely again Overtime I developed deficiencies in zinc and magnesium levels that are critical to providing energy from doing the vegan diet. I lost a lot of body weight and fat though when I reached a certain point in training. I discovered I wasn’t able to lift any heavier and run faster I felt drained even though I was doing my lifts with proper form. I saw that I had plateaued quickly and lost some muscle strength because of being to strictly vegan. The important thing to see here is yes vegan is very good for certain people who have different diseases and deficiencies and it does help with weight loss fast.

Just remember what your body needs and the pesco- Mediterranean gives me the balance of having a lot of plant products as well as enough, but not a lot of animal products to keep those levels at a healthy level and give me the boost of energy I need to get through a hard 10 hour work shift and a gym session. Like diet out there do your research to find what it is yours he right food and nutrients your body needs and it might one of the best health investments you could make for yourself.

Nutrition For Recovery In Athletes.

Correct muscle recovery is a vital to those who want to enable muscle repair and promote new growth that accelerates strength and power within major muscle groups of one’s body. There is much to be learned in this area more so than I had originally thought. Many could believe it’s true that your nutrition after workout is just as essential if not more so, science seems to convey to us.

As I took a look into this perplexing topic that seems to be very general in nature. There is some very critical points to take a look at and observe for yourself. One of the important considerations for any athlete is to observe and also recognize any factors including:

* How fast or slow there metabolism is.

*Appetite size.

*How many calories consumed after the workout.

*The types of micro and macronutrients that work better for them in the recovery phase.

*There build size . (Ectomorph smaller bone frame), (Mesomorph athletic frame or medium bone size), (Endomorph large bone frame size).

With these specific considerations put into play you could now see that every athlete has and needs different approaches to the way they recover and with the right nutrition in effect all of them can become stronger, faster and more competitive in their sport like stated above if they have the right fuel for their body.

*

In a general sense most strength coaches recommend water and beverages with electrolytes to restore the lowered glycerin levels in blood from completing a high intensity training session. For post workout meals think carbohydrates that provide potassium, electrolytes, omega 3 fatty acids and are high in fiber. Bananas, fruit salad, dairy smoothies and salmon for omega 3s that also provide enough carbs and a lot of heart healthy protein to the table. For protein and you need enough protein but not to much as an increase in insulin can stunt further muscle growth and can lead to inflammation of the muscles that cause increased muscle soreness and fatigue after a workout. Good sources include: lean chicken, salmon or tuna, lean ground beef, avocados with peanut butter on whole grain bread which are a great source of carbohydrate and essential fat as well.

On the flip side there are major downsides to having bad recovery nutrition for an athlete that can increase a potential for injury from inflammation and soreness as well as fatigue with the next workout from lowered energy levels. Refined carbs, trans and saturated fats and added sugar are any athletes enemy for muscle growth and repair. When monitoring athletes nutritional habits look to see if they are making healthy choices for their body type if not the consequences far outweigh the pro’s and your athletes will not perform at elite levels. Which in return makes a less competitive team.

As complex as muscle recovery is and it has been for many of us, one factor that is always involved is athletes are different and there bodies respond differently to certain foods depending their type of requirements to play at a high level. There are some athletes that are built for endurance. Others for speed, agility and quickness. Others more for power and strength. I would never feed an Olympic sprinter a marathon runners food. I wouldn’t suggest an NFL wide receiver or defensive back to eat an offensive lineman’s dinner for a long period of time. As I just explained, an athletes build and frame size like I bulleted in paragraph 3 is an important factor when using post recovery nutrition. With the right approach to certain individuals, It can make a difference in career longevity as well as playing at peak performance for a longer time and limiting injuries.

I would assume many strength and conditioning coaches and also athletic training professionals are tuned into what there athletes are putting into there bodies. If I were in there shoes I would look more in depth into how nutrition recovery effects athletes of different shapes and sizes depending on what they want to accomplish further into there careers.

The Plyometric Secret.

In short, plyometric training also referred to as jump training, is a type of training that is very common in the athletic world. Its been founded by many strength coaches that plyometric training hits so many crucial muscles of the body that an athlete uses in their sport to enhance their power output to also increase their flexibility and balance to fix any sort of muscular imbalance that the athlete experience’s throughout their career.

What’s interesting to note is plyometric workouts are mainly body weight exercises though an advanced athlete usually will add weight to the workout due to more of a challenge for the muscles to increase their results in a vertical jump or maybe lateral quickness and acceleration during a sprint. It also requires a base of athleticism and strength for many people so these workouts are not for beginners for the record.

Plyometric training commonly consist of box jumping, broad jumping, lunge kicks, sprinting and lateral bounds. This training works your posterior chain and lower leg muscles as well as your trunk which all are crucial muscle groups for improving speed and flexibility. Plyometric training also activates type 1a fibers commonly called ( fast twitch muscle fibers) which are responsible for how fast and high you can jump or your reaction time to a starting gun during a sprint.

They also promote better balance and flexibility due to how quickly your muscles retract and during the eccentric and dicentric phase of the exercise being performed It’s no coincidence that an athlete with more fast twitch fibers than another athlete has a distinct advantage over the athlete who has less.

Most American sports you see on the television require a high degree of type 1a fibers if athletes want to excel faster and be able to have longer careers and be less injury prone. Many of those great athletes today use plyometric workouts as a majority of their training and it’s also a very effective workout routine for regular fit and active people to incorporate into their gym sessions it’s recommended to do 3x a week depending where your fitness levels are.

Plyometrics date back to the 1920s but it wasn’t well studied and experts had concerns about them until the Russian olympic hockey team in the 1960s incorporated them into their off ice training and it gave them incredible results over other Olympic teams who had not been introduced to plyometrics yet and it proved to be a daunting almost impossible task to beat the Russians because of how advanced their workouts were over their competitors. They were faster, stronger and more explosive than the other teams and had more left in the tank at the end of the games. Then the other teams looked into their style of off ice training and quickly experienced fast results within their players by doing plyometric training and it improved their endurance to be able to keep pace with the Russians.

So if you decide to include plyometric training into your workouts it’s never a bad thing as history proves. Those who are pregnant are not recommended to use plyometrics as well as beginners who are starting out exercising due to the explosive movements they incorporate as well as the balance required to perform the exercises correctly. If your in good physical condition and need a boost to your workout look into how athletes use plyometric training to their advantage it may help you with a variety of activities in your lifestyle that include flexibility and reaction time and on average those who include plyometrics into their exercise regimen also increase their lifespan than those who don’t.

Hiking and Mental Health

Of the many hard and easy hikes I’ve done, There is always something in my mind and body even that always brings me into the present. How is it that just going out for a short little hike or big strenuous hike that takes hours on end and really physically makes you go for it really make you feel spiritually uplifted? What I’ve found out is those that have hiked for most of their life or feel a deep connection with the outdoors share this same mindset is being present in the moment is what comes with hiking and minus the phone and technology distraction.

Though starting out many just want to be able to get off the couch and burn a lot of calories as hiking is guaranteed to do for them. That’s the other added benefit comes with the physical side of the hike. Not only is hiking spiritual it also works every muscle in your lower body including your core and lower back if you hike with a big backpack. As well as gaining a plyometric and balance workout from going downhill jumping on to uneven ground. It’s been a proven fact that people who hike a lot tend to live longer.

I have found the more I’ve hiked the more spiritual side of me comes on more so now than ever. I feel many avid hikers could say the same thing because I now see that being in the wilderness takes me to a peaceful and more quiet place in me than any other form of meditation out there. I also believe that it is because of the natural beauty and quietness that surrounds the mountains that really could bring a person from a loud and crazy work life or even personal life to a place of tranquility with all the beautiful waterfalls in the forest or the beauty of reaching the summit of a rugged peak only to see a gorgeous view or maybe spotting a beautiful wildflower along a stream on the way up to the top. There is really a lot of endless ways to feel in the present moment that nature gives off when on a hike no matter who you are or what’s stage your in during your life.

Going for a quick trail walk really declutters the mind and soul of past negative thoughts and also Slows yourself down from overthinking about the future. I think this is the true positive effect hiking has on those who love it and embrace what’s around them other than thinking what happened the day before in their past or what events could take place in the future because nobody really knows the answer to that question. That’s why when you start feeling anxious try to look up where a local hiking trail is and go out and start hiking it. You would be surprised of the mental and spiritual benefits you may gain from that day and who knows you may become lifelong hiker who climbs Mount Everest. Or you may meet another hiker who shares the same goal along the way. If you become a person who enjoys hiking which science says is a great thing for yourself it could be the difference for your health.

Music and Exercise Intensity

Have you ever wondered if music actually helps your workout results? This is a question I asked myself a while ago after seeing almost everyone who works out in a gym seems to have headphones on and always was curious at the thought.

Now I’ve dug deeper on this topic of how actually music or the right type of music can boost your performance and accelerate your gains in the weight room or during an hiit workout. When I tested some of my workouts recently, I found different phases of workouts had a specific genre of music that really made a difference.

During the warmup phase I noticed more calm and meditative music was very beneficial for me more so than hard core hip hop or metal music during my warm up. So then after about 5-10 mins of warming up I hit the weight room section for an hour and music with a faster tempo and harder beat helped me get another rep on many exercises and since the slower and calmer music worked during the warm up I thought I’d give it a go on the cool down and it worked surprisingly well. I felt even more energy in me after the workout was completed than being drained from going to hard. For me, this type of music really worked for getting the results I wanted and made feel a lot better I had done and experimented with.

In my past times working out I never really liked bringing my headphones to the gym but now I always bring them because this method I had doubts on seemed to actually help my results a lot better and I felt a more meditative effect as well. If you love music which the majority of people do, and you want to see some serious gains in your strength and functionality in the gym, you might want to reconsider your thoughts if you decide to not bring your headphones. It could lead help you get more out of your workout by just planning things out right with the right music you listen to during different areas of fitness your trying to strengthen. Best of luck to you.

Breakfast at my House

During the week we’re often walking out the door with a coffee in one hand and slice of toast in the other, but on weekends breakfast is never rushed. It’s a late affair, sometimes spilling over to lunch, with lots of reading and chatter in between courses of fruits, poached eggs, honey and toast. One of our favorite things we like to serve when friends are visiting are buckwheat blueberry pancakes.