ALTERNATIVES

The topic is alternatives.  I was literally thinking of alternatives all weekend long. Alternatives to workouts, healthy alternatives for food, positive alternatives for lifestyle choices, etc.I have lots of things to post about today and am going to try and tie them all together.

Alternative Cardio Workout- CARDIO BOX

At the end of last week I made a video of my client Katie, during her boxing workout.  This girl is amazing.  She works full time, she is a mother, she makes the time to come in for workouts, she has improved her eating and lifestyle choices, she is a bad ass in the weight room ,yet the biggest sweet heart in the real world.  Katie was headed to NYC for the wknd so we had to fit in 2 workouts back to back.  Katie did a full body strength workout the first day, so the second day I wanted to make a fun, challenging, cardio workout.  I don’t know how people sit on boring cardio machines… I’ve said this a million times.  Anyways, a great ALTERNATIVE to the boring machines is boxing !! We had a boxing themed workout and Katie had a blast and burned tons of calories along the way.  Check out this video.. this proves that cardio can be fun… and I swear if you do a workout like this it will go by a millions times faster than the elliptical machine.

Alternative Summer Desserts

Everyone loves ice-cream in the summer… and for some reason a majority of my clients have this infatuation w/ Dairy Queen.  I hate dairy queen… yes this is only my opinion…but its all that blizzard, soft serve, fake ice cream crap.  I prefer j.p. licks, or hilliards.. I have discovered two new ALTERNATIVES that I think replace ice cream perfectly.  Having the ice cream of your choice once in a while will do no harm… but if you notice that its more of a 3-4 nights a week thing in the summer than I suggest trying out these option.

1. COCONUT MILK ICE CREAM – This stuff is soooooo good and after reading the ingredients I convinced myself it was really good for me.  Like anything else, this is good in moderation… but i’m telling you this stuff is so much better for you than ice cream.  There are minimal ingredients, which is always a plus, and it is sweetened w/ agave nectar, another plus  Try one of these two brands.. they’re my favorite    
2. This next one is just as good.  Who doesn’t love cool whip or whip cream??? And who can’t help but laugh thinking about family guy when they say cool whip ??? Anyways… fresh fruit w/ some all natural Tru Whip is a healthy ALTERNATIVE for dessert.  I have been having fresh strawberries, and blackberries w/ 2 tbsps of Tru Whip for dessert.  I could eat tru whip as ice cream, its that good !!!  It is also very low in calories and fat.  

Alternative Breakfast

Most of you know I am not a fan of cereal or granola.  I think it is crap, to be honest… yes even the kashi, or fiber, blah blah blah.  Cereal is simply processed grains that have been heated at very high temperatures to take away any nutrients that could be left.  Granola is just like cereal to me.  Usually the “healthy” brands are sweetened w/ high fructose corn syrup, which should always be avoided, no matter what those stupid commercials say.  Nature Valley is considered a health conscious brand… and these granola bars are packed w/ crap !  If you can’t see the ingredient list you should know that SUGAR is the second ingredient, which means it is used the second most in the product.  Then about seventh on the list is HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, which means that the sugar was not sweet enough, so they then added the corn syrup.  Besides these bars, the other problems I have with granola are that they are usually so high in calories, fat, and sugar… and people don’t tend to only eat the serving size.

Now I’m not saying that its always bad to have a  BOLA GRANOLA, but you have to look at the ingredients.  Last year they were giving out samples of  Bola Granola, and I kid you not when I say this was the best tasting granola I have ever had.  I purchased some, but when I got to the checkout I was disturbed to see that it cost me almost $8, but the taste was worth it .  It is a local product, made by hand, and with all organic products.  A serving of bola granola has 10 grams of protein which is extremely high compared to any granola competitor.  Besides the nutrition facts comparison, its the difference in the ingredients that got me hooked on Bola.  Check out the ingredients in Bola: Organic Rolled Oats, Almonds, Brown sugar, Pumpkin Seeds, Water, Canola Oil, Wheat Germ, Organic Wheat Flour, Organic Flax Seed Meal, Wheat Bran, Pure Vanilla Extract, Sat, Vitamin E.

Stick with the serving size and mix it up with some Plain Greek Yogurt for a high fiber, high protein meal or snack… Thank me later… this one is delicious !!

Alternative Night/Bed Time Ritual

I believe it is a fact that those who relax and decompress at night, as well as get to bed before a 11p.m. are able to lose weight quicker, or maintain a healthy weight. I also believe that these individuals are less stressed throughout the day, and give off a positive energy.  It is very hard for some people to get off their blackberrys, and lap tops at night.  Some people are watching the 11:00 news in bed at night, before they fall asleep… which we all know is stressful…and others aren’t getting to bed before midnight.  If this sounds like your nightly routine, I highly suggest making some changes.

1. No cell phones or computers after 8 p.m.
2. Dim the lights in your house after dinner.  The evening is a time to decompress.. Dimming the lights or simply using candle light is a way to help your body slow down for the night
3. Try shutting of the t.v. earlier and reading a book.  Read your book in the dimly lit room, this will help make you more tired, and get you prepared for bed.
4. When you get in bed… lights off, T.V. OFF, cover your clocks, ALL ELECTRONICS AWAY FROM YOUR BED !!!!
5. When I get home at night I light a lavender candle in my room… when its time for me to go to bed, my room smells like lavender, which is my favorite relaxing scent… and i’m literally comatosed in under 5 minutes.

I would like to end the night time ritual Adjustments by saying that I do recommend these options more in the winter than I do in the summer.  I believe our bodies crave energy when the sun is up and high.  Therefore when the sun rises…we should rise…. and when the sun sets… we should be settling down.  In the summer months it is brighter for much longer than in the winter… therefore, we should enjoy later nights in the summer !!!

Alternative Food Rules

I bought the book FOOD RULES , by Michael Pollan today.  Its the perfect little book for quick tips on foods.  I’m going to share a tip with you all on each post of mine over the next few weeks/months.  Todays Alternative food tip. GET OUT OF THE SUPERMARKET WHENEVER YOU CAN. Your probably confused ??   Whats the Alternative ?? Get to a Farmers Market !!!! Pollan says you won’t find any high fructose corn syrup at a farmers market… along w/ the elimination of processed foods, packaged foods w/ unpronounceable ingredients.  What you will receive instead includes: fresh, whole foods  that have been produced at the peak of their season.  This is the type of living food your body craves… the type of food that actually has an expiration… usually about 1 week.  For all you Eastonites, you now have Langwater Farm to look forward to… but there are literally farmers markets all over the place.  I don’t know what it is about picking up your food on a farm, but it literally makes you appreciate it that much more.. and it just tastes healthier… yes part of it is mental… but it also is that much more fresh, because it has just been picked instead of being shipped from Mexico or wherever it was grown.

Alternative Actions/Choices

This last little story may be a little off topic, but I need to vent and talk about what I witnessed today. The most obnoxious woman ever was standing in front of me in line today at CVS.  She was talking to a friend on her cell phone discussing the Phoebe Prince case ( the girl who killed herself from being bullied) .  This wreched woman was saying that bullying is natural and that Phoebe was a (insert vulgar word)… she then went on to say that she admired the kids from Columbine… to quote her she said ” I know you won’t agree with me, but I admire those kids from Columbine.  I mean if someone’s bullying me I’m not gonna hurt myself… I’m going to take out everyone else”  I kept my mouth shut, which  was not that easy to do… but the woman behind me could not control her self.  She nicely went up to the girl and said ” excuse me, I think you should be having this conversation in private”.  I knew this girl was not the type to just take a comment like that easily, so of course she went off saying that she had a right to freedom of speech.

The reason i’m sharing this story was because it got me thinking of alternatives again.  This girl in line literally thought the only alternatives were suicide or attempt to kill everyone.  Beyond Disturbing… and this was an adult talking.

This story has been all over the news.  We are never to old to remind ourselves, our friends, children, and loved ones of the old saying… TREAT OTHERS AS YOU WANT TO BE TREATED.

Anyways.. like I said, this story just got to me. Unlike the miserable thoughts of this woman, there is an alternative besides suicide and violence. Happiness and Kindness are contagious qualities.   So smile more, compliment people, practice patience… you get the point.

There is always an ALTERNATIVE…make the right decisions, and be the best you can be !!!!

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