Trick or Treats?

So Halloween is coming up and I know everyone is salivating at the thought of digging into some serious sweets without packing on the unwanted pounds. Can this possibly happen? The answer is YES! You can still enjoy Halloween while also enjoying your waistline. Here are some helpful tips to a healthier Halloween.


Tips to prepare for Halloween night:
 Set a healthy example for your family. Halloween is only one day so if you are going to treat yourself, make sure you’ve already had a healthy meal and have been drinking plenty of water so you don’t fill up on sweets

 Put the candy and snacks out of sight until Halloween day. Preparing for Halloween night doesn’t mean you have to partake prior to the day. Use it as a reward for working hard all week.

 Having a party? Set a healthier menu. You could carve out pumpkins and place healthy dips in them such as hummus or salsa or offer seasonal fruits instead of sugar-loaded candy

 Workout the morning of Halloween or get a good workout in by taking your kids trick or treating on a challenging neighborhood route (hills). Don’t have kids? Offer to babysit or grab some friends and walk the neighborhood for some good physical activity

 Focus on creative ideas instead of candy to pass out at the door. Some ideas are sugar free candy, granola bites, temporary tattoos, toys, false teeth, etc. The possibilities are endless. *

 Sort through the candy, tossing out the definite no-no’s.


Consider the following candy swaps when indulging on Halloween night.
1. Fun size bars: Instead of Butterfinger (100 cals) eat 3 Musketeers (63 cals)
2. Fruity candy: Instead of Air Heads (3 at 140 cals) eat Dum Dum Pops (3 at 77 cals)
3. Miniature candy bar: Instead of Twix bar (3 at 150 cals) eat Tootsie rolls (3 at 70 cals)
4. Chewy candy: Instead of Milk Maid Caramels (4 at 160 cals) eat Now and Later (4 at 53 cals)


Try these healthy recipes for Halloween Night:
Baked Pumpkin Seeds
Instead of throwing away the seeds after carving your pumpkins, bake them for a healthy treat!

Clean and separate the pumpkin seeds. Preheat the oven to 350º. Put the seeds on baking pan. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Bake for 10 minutes, take them out and stir the seeds. Bake again for another 10 minutes until golden brown. Let them cool and they are ready to eat! You can experiment by adding different spices to them once cooled.



Orange Jack-o-lanterns
Make your own Jack-o-lanterns the healthy way. All you need are oranges, fruit cocktail, and a sharpie!

Cut the tops off the oranges as if you were carving a pumpkin. Scoop out the orange, being careful not to rip the peel. Add the orange to the fruit cup and mix. Using the sharpie, decorate the orange and set aside to dry. Scoop the fruit mixture into the oranges and chill for an hour before serving.






*Healthy snacks to pass out at the door:
Sugar-free candy or gum, rice krispy treats, granola bars, homemade trail mix, small bag of pretzels, nuts, raisins, popcorn, or cereal, graham crackers/ginger snaps/vanilla wafers, stickers, toys, false teeth, temporary tattoos, tiny card deck/games, yo-yo’s

What's up playas!

Ok, so.....I just couldn't of another cool way to start the email!  Go figure! 

I'm so excited to get started again with the October/November boot camp.  I am really looking forward to the new workouts, equipment and , best of all, CAMPERS!  A few notes to remember:

1.  Please remember to hydrate before, during and after camp!  Gatorade/Powerade drinks are fine, but I like good ole' fashioned water.  Does the job just fine!

2.  EAT SOMETHING - No matter if you're attending camp before work or after.  Contrary to popular belief, food is more than our companions!  Your body actually needs food to function, so make sure that to get the battery going, you put the right thing into it so it can perform for you.

3.  Give me a heads up if you won't be attending camp.  Not a big deal.  Emergencies come up, and we certainly understand that, but so we can plan accordingly please let us know!

4.  If you need to contact me at anytime, you may call me at 901-283-0864 or email at info@mem-fit.com.  (You may also text to the above mentioned number).

WOD:
1 minute stations
-squats
-pushups
-dips
-shoulders
In between a set, we incorporated lateral movements and sprints.  And as always....finished up with abdominals

Workouts for the week.....October 11, 2010

Tuesday - Take a run today.  You should get in at least 2 miles.  When you complete this run/jog/walk. Complete the following - 30 pushups - 35 squats - 30 dips - 40 ccrunches or situps. 

Wednesday - So let's begin with 2 minutes each of the following exercises: up/downs, skier (with lunge), high knees (make sure to get your knees above your hips) finish up with ....that's right burpees!!!!  Rest for 2 minutes and then begin 2 minutes of the following exercises:  crunches, situp (reach and touch the sky), bow and arrow (REMEMBER - SLOW) and oblique crunces (try to touch your ankle - side to side).  Rest for 2 minutes and then complete the following: lunges, squat jumps (with a weight or med ball if you can), lunges.  Repeat 2X!  Enjoy


Thursday - Begin with completing dips beginning with 1 and going to 10 (complete one rep, then two reps, then three, etc.).  Immediately go into pushups completing them in the same fashion.  Rest for 1 minute. Take a 1 mile run - try to accomplish this in 10-12 minutes.  Time yourself!  Complete 100 crunches (vary these).  Then repeat!

Friday - Complete the following:
45 Mountain climbers (R/L = 1)
35 pushups
40 Mountain Climbers
25 Wide pushups
35 Mountain Climbers
20 tricep pushups
80 jump rope rotations
40 sumo squats
75 jump rope rotations
35 plie squats
Repeat 2X - Rest as needed in between sets

Yesterday was great.....Today...EVEN BETTER!!!

September boot camp has started my friends!  It was incredibly awesome to meet everyone yesterday!  all of our new folks are so nice and ready to work and what more can we ask for?

WOD - 9/14/2010
Group was divided into two.  Each group had a different starting point:  INSTRUCTIONS: complete each exercise in a pair for 30 seconds and then rest for one minute before moving on.

The workout is as follows:
Sprint>>>>>pushups
REST - 1 MINUTE
Up/Downs>>>>jump squats
REST - 1 MINUTE
Plank>>>>>Superman
REST - 1 MINUTE
Side shuffle>>>>>>Bear crawl

ENJOY!

Seriously?......

OK, so since the kids have gone back to school I've got to get back on track with making sure that I update the blog more efficiently.  But lately I've had  really wacky relations lately with my computer and internet and blah, blah, blah!!!  So, in the meantime I'll update you on all the happenings and continue to post and give you the "life changing" information that's been coming so far :).

WOD 8/31/10 -
Played a really fun game of "Name Tag" - which consists of squatting and naming something (a color, a football team, beer, etc.) in order to remain safe during the game.  The campers had a good time with this one yesterday. 
The workout (Four Corners) consisted of
-30yrd sprint
-sumo squats
-hindu pushups
-lunges with a kick

Something for Nothing

Just the sound of that sounds good to me... to receive something for nothing.  It's like walking into the grocery store (Sam's Club specifically) on a Saturday morning and learning that not only are they giving out samples, but they are giving the really good ones.  You know, the ones where they cook up those little sandwhich samples and they give you like half!  Or if the worker is in a good mood, she might just let you take a whole one.  That is like .....ahhhhh!  I love getting something for nothing.
BUT that's not this journey!
Waking up before the sun or busting out a bearcrawl and some jump squats after a hard day's work in the 100 degree heat, deserves nothing short of a great big.....SOMETHING. Like what, I could promise you something tangible,like a massage or a gift card somewhere, but the results that you will see, or begin to see is something much more valuable than that.  My friend you have embarked upon taking your life back.  Taking your health back.  Taking your fitness back.  And that is something.  And you certainly know by now that aren't doing something for nothing.

"Having a Ball" and 2 Minutes of Heaven

WOD Tuesday 8/24

We split up into teams and had a competition using a tennis ball.

This game would have been more appealing and probably a lot more fun if it had the OTHER "2 Minutes of Heaven", but who's counting minutes.

WOD - 2 Minutes of Heaven
Campers are divided into 4-5 separate groups.  Each group begins with a different exercise.  Exercises are as follows:
Slam Ball or Medicin Ball throws
Mountain Climbers
Jump Rope
5-sec Jump Squats
Sprint

Each of these exercises are performed for 2 minutes with 1 minute rest in between.

Hmmmmm.....Good times, good times : )