Why stretching is important

Stretching...everyone knows what it is (to an extent) BUT do you really know how beneficial it is for you??? Stretching not only helps prevent injury but also aids in your workout performance, relieves stress, increases flexibility and coordination & is beneficial for your overall health. There are two types of beneficial stretching techniques; Dynamic stretching & Static stretching. Dynamic is done pre-workout while Static is done post-workout or as a relaxation technique.  Here is the low down of these stretching techniques and why we believe you should add them to your workout routine. 

Dynamic stretching (pre-workout):

Dynamic stretching is a type of stretching you do while moving, which is why it is beneficial to do before your workouts; it is 'waking up' your muscles for your workout. Moving while stretching increases your range of movement and the blood flow and oxygen to your muscles, helping them perform better during your workout. Some eamples are:

Leg Swings.       

Walking Lunges

Arm Circles

Jogging in place with high knees

Post-workout Static Stretching

Static stretching is to be done when your body is at rest or once you have completed your workout. Static stretching is composed of various techniques that actually lengthen your muscles to an elongated position for a period of 30 seconds to 2 minutes. Stretching helps keep you flexible and counteracts the repetitive movements of exercise. When performed correctly and at the right time, static stretches help you lengthen tight muscles and improve your balance and overall fitness. A good stretch session also helps relieve stress and tension.To perform a static stretch properly, you should get far enough into the stretch that you feel a slight pull but no pain. It helps to exhale as you get into a stretch. When you're holding a stretch, breathe normally and avoid the tendency to hold your breath. Repeat each static stretch two to four times.

Yummy go-to snack ideas

When you're hungry, thinking of something to snack on, let alone a healthy snack can be difficult. Because it is a snack and not a meal, you want to try and keep it low calorie but also have enough protein to keep you satisfied until your next meal. We have come up with a few healthy options to keep  you from reaching for a bag of chips or cookies this afternoon. 

Banana covered in Greek yogurt & rolled in crushed almonds

1 small banana

1/4 cup plain or vanilla Greek yogurt

5 almonds crushed into tiny pieces

Sprinkle of cinnamon

****Place banana on a stick (like a Popsicle)

Roll the banana in yogurt & then the crushed almonds. Sprinkle with cinnamon

Place banana in freezer. Enjoy!

Rice cake with avocado or peanut butter

1 rice cake

1/4 avocado or 2 tbsp almond butter or natural peanut butter

Protein Smoothie

1 scoop vanilla protein powder

1/2 banana

1/4 cup strawberries 

1/4 cup blueberries, raspberries 

1/2 cup almond milk

1 cup ice

***place everything in blender & enjoy 

Apple with cheese or peanut butter

1 tennis ball sized apple

1 laughing cow cheese or mini babybel cheese ball 

OR 2 tbsp of natural peanut butter

Food N' Fit Festival

Tuesday, Girlfit teamed up with Food Day to host a Food N' Fit Festival for the Venice Boys & Girls club. Food Day is a nationwide campaign to help teach people (especially children & teens) to eat healthy, affordable & natural foods. Girlfit hosted the festival in which they divided up the girls & boys in groups where they were able to visit each of the amazing Halloween themed booths; all geared towards fun fitness activities & healthy, natural food. The booths included; pumpkin bowling, mummy wrapped relay races, being taught Michael Jackson's 'thriller' dance, a chef making homemade guacamole, the kids making their own fruit parfaits as well as healthy spider cookies. The food was donated by Brentwood Whole Foods & the farmers market.  In all, the Food N' Fit festival was a complete success! The Girls & Boys Club members were educated on the benefits of healthy natural foods & were able to have fun doing fitness activities. 

Motivation Monday

What's Trending....Nail Art

Nail polish has been around forever but within the last few years nail art has become the new trend. One color is no longer the norm, rather a different color on each nail or colorful designs has now become popular.  Whether you go to the nail salon or do it yourself, here are some great ideas of trendy nail art that will leave you feeling hip & fabulous!!

Newspaper Nail Art

Paint your nails the color you choose but make sure it's lighter than 

The newspaper ink. Once nail polish has dried, soak nails in rubbing alcohol for 5 minutes. Place newspaper clipping on nail & press down firmly but do not allow paper to slide. Once paper has been on nails for a few seconds,  carefully remove & allow ink to dry. Then apply top coat!

Needed DIY nail art tools: 

For dots - pen or pencil tip, needle or end of a small paintbrush

For triangles- cut foil or scotch tap 

For stripes and/or lines - eye shadow brush or fine tip paintbrush

For Ombré nails- makeup sponge

Wednesday workout: treadmill interval training & quick circuit workout

Thinking about doing just cardio when you hit the gym can seem very un motivating & mundane; but its so important to get your heart rate up that you don't want to skip cardio all together, right??? Well we have the perfect mix of high intensity interval training and a quick circuit workout that will help you get your cardio & weight workout in without being at the gym for 2 hours. Try this great workout & let us know what you think....happy Wednesday!

28 minute Treadmill Interval

5 min  warm up

4 min. 6.5 (baseline)

2 min. 8.0 fast

4 min. 6.0                                                                             

2 min. 8.2 fast

4 min. 6.8

2 min. 8.0 fast

5 min. Cool down   

 

                             

Circuit

Squat & press w/ 5lbs x20

Push ups on knees x20

Step ups on bench (1leg at a time) x20

Tricep dips on bench (knees at 90*) x20

Bicycle abs x20

X2

***stretch when finished 

Delicious healthy pumpkin recipes

Yes it's that time of year; the leaves are turning, the weather is changing and it gets darker a bit earlier than we like which means.....FALL is here & it's pumpkin season!!! If you haven't noticed yet there is pumpkin bread, muffins, cookies, bars, lattes and much more at every store, cafe & restaurant you enter. The only problem is lots of these food choices are not so healthy...wah. We have come up with a few pumpkin recipes that are delicious & healthier than what you may find in your favorite bakery. After trying these recipes you wont feel like you're missing out on the famous pumpkin craze that's taking over cafes. 

Pumpkin Squares

1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg (or a vegan substitute like a flax or chia egg)
3 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons white sugar
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
2 tablespoons milk
2 tablespoons applesauce
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Combine and mix dry ingredients in a bowl.  Combine and mix wet ingredients in a different bowl, then combine and mix again.  Spread into oiled loaf pan and bake for around 15 minutes. 

Pumpkin Spice Latte.   

1.5 cups unsweetened almond milk

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice (or a dash of each: cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves)

4 TBS pumpkin
1 shot of espresso (or 1/4 cup strong coffee)
1 tsp pure vanilla 

Sweetener to taste

Place ingredients in a blender. Add some nonfat whip cream & enjoy! 

Pumpkin Pancakes with spiced apple

Spiced apple topping:

1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 apples, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons dried currants or raisins
½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1 tablespoon Agave nectar

Pancakes:
2 cups all-purpose flour
¼ cup agave nectar
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
½ teaspoon salt
¾ cup canned pumpkin purée
3 large eggs
½ cup unsweetened applesauce
2⁄3 cup plain almond milk
Nonstick cooking spray
½ cup nonfat plain Greek yogurt

Directions for spiced apples:

1) Melt butter in skillet on medium-low heat. Add apples and currants (or raisins) and cook until apples are soft, about 15 minutes.

2) Add pumpkin pie spice and agave nectar. Cook for another 5 minutes.

3) Remove from heat and keep warm.

Directions for pancakes:

1) Whisk together flour, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, and salt in a large mixing bowl.

2) In a separate bowl, whisk pumpkin purée, eggs, applesauce, agave nectar, and almond milk until well combined. Add pumpkin mixture to the bowl of dry ingredients.

3) Coat a large nonstick griddle with cooking spray and place on medium heat. Pour dollops of batter onto griddle. Cook pancakes on both sides until golden brown.

4) Serve two pancakes per person, topped with spiced apples and a dollop of Greek yogurt.

Unleash your strong this week!

GirlFit girls going 'bananas'!!

The GirlFit girls at Paul Revere Middle School are not only receiving nutrition tips each week, they are also given a weekly food and challenged to come up with a healthy recipe. The first food challenge was bananas!! And not only did these girls exceed our expectations; some actually went out with their parents to get healthy ingredients so they could actually make the recipe, try it and then share it with the rest of the girls. We took 3 of the healthy, simple and oh so delicious recipes and thought we would share them.

1. Banana Smoothie

1 Large Banana
1 cup skim milk (can use almond milk if prefer non-dairy)
1 cup crushed ice

**Put all ingredients in blender, mix & enjoy!

2. Banana, Berry Parfait

1/2 cup Vanilla Greek yogurt
1 Banana
1-3 Strawberries sliced or diced
*Can add some healthy granola or almonds for some crunch
*Can also add raspberries, blueberries or any other fruit if desired







3. Banana Bread
3 mashed ripe bananas
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla

1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup sour cream
2 eggs (well beaten)
1 1/2 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 325. Grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan
In large bowl beat together the bananas and sugar with electric mixer. Add the vanilla and oil, beat and then add the sour cream and eggs.
Once combined mix in all the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, soda and salt)
Once ingredients are mixed together pour in greased pan.
Bake approximately 1 hour or until a tooth pick comes out clean

***To make this recipe even healthier...you can substitute the oil and sour cream for Greek yogurt.
Use brown rice or whole wheat flour and instead of sugar use natural sweetener or applesauce.
Another way to add extra banana flavor is by using a box of Jello sugar-free, fat free, banana instant pudding


Thank you to all the GirlFit girls for these great recipes!! We will definitely be posting more of their recipes as they come

Inspiration for the week

Exercises to get Killer Legs

A toned body is the new HOT opposed to a non-muscular body these days. I mean you work out to be healthy and in shape; with that usually comes a toned, muscular body which is so much hotter than a plain twig body.  When you wear short shorts or skinny jeans there is nothing better than seeing the muscle definition that appears on your legs...to us that means a job well done on your workouts!! We have four exercises that will help you achieve killer legs! Add these to your workouts or do them on their own and with a healthy eating plan you should see results in no time!


1. Walking lunges
Instead of doing lunges standing in place. Walk across the room doing lunges, make sure to go slow and watch your form to avoid injury. 

2. Split Squats
These are killer, but SO worth it! On a bench or chair, place one leg behind you with the other leg forward almost in a lunge position. Slowly squat down and push up quick to really use your muscles

3. Step ups
On a block, chair, bench or whatever...step up with one foot and then return to the floor. Make sure you switch feet/legs or if not make sure you are doing the same amount of reps for both legs

4. Side lunges
Standing straight forward, feet shoulder  width apart;  take a wide lunging step to the side. It almost seems like you are doing a wide leg squat but your leg is straight instead of bent. Really squeeze your booty when you return to the starting position.

 

Why drinking Green Tea is beneficial

If you haven't already heard, yes its true, drinking green tea is very beneficial to your overall health. Besides being tasty, calorie free and inexpensive; Green tea has various benefits such as having antioxidant, antiviral, anti-inflammatory and anticavity properties. Whether you drink this beverage warm or cold, with caffeine or caffeine-free, mixed into a smoothie or plain...by drinking at least an 8oz glass a day you are contributing to an overall healthy YOU!!! Here are some reasons why we recommend drinking green tea:

1. Helps Stimulate your Metabolism
Green tea has one particular antioxidant EGCG, which has the ability to speed up your metabolism and in turn lead to weight loss. When EGCG is combined with caffeine (naturally found in green tea), it stimulates the central nervous system and releases fat into the blood stream, so that our body can use the fat as fuel. Using fat as fuel, involves the production of extra energy, gets rid of excess water and burns body fat.

2. Improves Exercise Endurance
The catechin polyphenols found in green tea will stimulate your muscle cells and liver to use more fatty acids. Which results to your body using carbohydrates at a much slower rate. When we have more carbs in our body, we can exercise for a longer period of time without getting tired and burn more calories.

3. Benefits Oral Health
Tea has natural fluoride which is great for your teeth but green tea also has polyphenols and catechins which are associated with killing bacteria. By doing this, the tea is said to reduce tooth-decay, bad breath and gum disease.

4. Bone Health
Routine tea drinking is said to help reduce the risk of bone fractures. The thought is that the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory components help reduce the risk of fractures and increase the activity of bone building cells

5. Helps Prevent Certain Cancers
The catechins found in tea are thought to prevent cell mutation, deactivate certain carcinogens and reduce the formation and growth of tumors. Which in turn is said to be beneficial in preventing breast, pancreatic, prostate, stomach, bladder, lung, esophageal, colorectal cancers.

6. Heart Health & Cholesterol Reducer
Drinking green tea is thought to reduce your risk of heart attack, strokes and reduce your cholesterol level. It can protect the heart arteries by keeping them flexible and relaxed and better able to withstand the changes in our blood pressure.

What we recommend:
*Buy Green Tea, tea bags. Follow the instruction on the box but basically you will boil water and set the tea bags in the boiling water for a minimum of 5 minutes.
*You can drink the tea warm or once it has cooled add ice and make 'iced green tea'
*If you aren't a fan of plain green tea try one of the many different flavors
*If you want the benefits but just can't stand the taste...put some frozen berries, green tea and ice in a blender and have a green tea smoothie

GirlFit News

                              

 

GirlFit 2013 fall session is now underway! Tuesday marked the start of another year at John Revere Middle School and we were so pumped when we showed up & 21 girls were ready to 'Unleash their Strong'!! GirlFit has made a few changes this year in which their curriculum and program will be geared towards helping the girls unleash their strengths and abilities. Goal setting, Yoga, Dance, Nutrition and newly added GirlFit Olympics are what this semester holds for the girls involved. We look forward to working with all of these fabulous girls and will keep you posted on how each amazing girl will find their inner strengths!