Egg Muffins

***Makes 8 servings. Keep in the refrigerator. These also make a great back-up breakfast during the week if you’re in a rush as well as a great snack alternative.

Ingredients:

1 2 eggs
½ onion, diced
1 fresh red pepper, seeded & diced
2 zucchini squash, diced
6 slices of bacon/turkey bacon (nitrate-free)
4 cups of fresh spinach
Fresh ground pepper to taste

Directions: Pre-heat oven to 350°F, and lightly grease 2 muffin tins with coconut oil.

In a med sauté pan, heat coconut oil over and sauté onions for 3-4 minutes, until softened. Add pepper and sauté for another 2-3 minutes until the pepper has softened. Drain any excess oil and set aside.

In a food processor, put in the zucchini and bacon, and process until finely chopped.

Whisk the 12 eggs and season with pepper. Mix your zucchini & bacon mixture in with your eggs.

Then, add the 4 cups of spinach to your processor to finely chop, and add these to your eggs in the bowl. Add the onion and pepper mixture to your eggs.

Mix the egg mixture thoroughly and fill muffin tins with ¼ cup of your mixture. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the egg-muffins have set in the middle.

Get Leaner with Protein Weight Loss tips

Protein has always been promoted by muscle heads as the key to getting it. While the extreme amounts of protein consumed by some bodybuilders is unnecessarily extreme, the research has shown time and time again that more protein is better when it comes to fat loss.

One study found that after 8 weeks, people who ate more protein lost an extra 2.8lbs of fat. Another study found that following a higher protein diet for 12 weeks led to an additional 1.5lbs of fat lost specific to the abdomen. Finally, another study in women found that 12 weeks of eating twice the ‘recommended intake’ of protein led to greater fat loss and greater increases in lean mass (e.g. muscle).

How does eating more protein do this?

Protein & Fat Loss Hormones

Part of the beneficial effects of fat loss have to do with the hormones that it stimulates. When the protein you eat hits your digestive tract, it causes the release of a hormone called CCK. CCK acts very quickly to slow the digestive process, slowing the rate in which foods is released from your stomach. This is step one is making you feel full – helping you eat less. CCK also signals your brain that you should no longer be hungry.

More Protein = Less Calories

The appetite suppressing effects of protein work right away with the meal that you are eating and it also makes you feel more satisfied after the meal is over. This will make you eat less without even trying. One study showed that eating a higher protein diet lead to people eating greater than 400 calories per day less!

Protein Burns More Calories

Protein helps you burn more calories in two different ways. The first is through the calories burned to digest and process food. It takes your body ~2x energy to digest protein compared to carbohydrates.

A majority of the protein that you eat is used to build and rebuild your muscle. Muscle

loss while dieting is a big concern, as muscle burns calories. The more muscle you have, the more calories you will burn (even just sitting on the couch). Optimizing your protein i

ntake and exercising with intensity ensures that you won’t lose any muscle, you might gain some!

You get it, protein is key for optimal fat loss. So how do you optimize your protein intake?

Eat More Protein

Chances are that you are eating the recommended amount of protein. This means that you aren’t going to be suffering from protein malnutrition. But it does mean that you could still be anywhere between 20-40g away from an ideal or optimal intake of protein so that you can reap the benefits we have been talking about.

Eat Protein More Evenly

People generally eat a lot of protein at dinner and smaller amounts of protein at breakfast and lunch. Research shows that by just spreading your protein intake out more evenly throughout the day (not necessarily eating more) can lead to a 25% increase in protein synthesis (e.g. muscle building).

Have a Protein Shake After Exercise

Exercise has a profound effect on your body and having a protein shake after you exercise can increase the impact of that effect. A protein shake is a convenient way to quickly get quality amino acids into your body. This will boost the muscle building potential of your workout while also jumpstarting the recovery process so you can train harder the next workout.

Have an Afternoon Protein Snack

An afternoon protein snack like Greek yogurt, a protein shake, or bar might be the key to controlling unwanted snacking at night. Research shows that protein acts on your brain to dampen the craving effects that high fat/calorie/sugar foods have on your brain. This effect lasts several hours.

Protein for Your Heart!

Many of the benefits of protein are often associated with dieting and fat loss but optimizing your protein intake is also good for your heart. The OmniHeart study looked at the role of increased protein in a heart healthy diet compared to a traditional approach, or increasing unsaturated fat.

The researchers found that the high protein diet led to the greatest improvements in blood pressure and 10 year risk of cardiovascular disease.

Protein is not just good for your abs, but your heart too!

Coach Kyle

Cold & Flu Season Is Here: How’s Your Gut Function?

Fall is here, and that means that cold and flu season has arrived. Have you ever noticed that some people seldom get sick? Or maybe you have wondered why after being exposed to the same virus, one person gets ill while the other remains well.

The reason lies in the strength of the immune system. And the strength of your immune system is largely dependent upon the condition of your digestive system.

When you are exposed to bad bacteria or viruses, it is up to your immune system to protect you from being infected. If your immune system is strong, your body will fight off the threat. If your immune system is weak or compromised, you may end up sick.

Microbes: the good, the bad, and the ugly

Inside your digestive system are many microbes. Microbes are live organisms that affect your overall health.

Some of these organisms are beneficial and protect you from disease. These good bacteria recognize when illness-producing intruders enter your body; they promptly attack the intruders so you do not get sick. If you do not have enough good bacteria in your gut, you will be more susceptible not only to infections such as colds and stomach flu, but you will also be at risk for autoimmune diseases such as colitis, rheumatoid arthritis and Chron’s disease.

Ideally you have a large supply of these good microbes living in your gut. But they can easily become depleted. If you have recently taken antibiotics, you have had not only the bad bacteria wiped out, but also the good bacteria. Antibiotics are not selective in their destruction.

Antibiotics are not the only way that good bacteria become depleted in your digestive system. The chlorine in your drinking water can destroy them, as can the pesticide residue on the food that you eat.

Once the supply of beneficial microbes in your intestines dwindles, bad microbes such as yeast, fungi and disease-causing bacteria begin to take up residence. When the scale tips in favor of the bad, your immune system becomes compromised.

Enter Probiotics

If you think you might be deficient in good microbes, it is not difficult to remedy the problem. The solution is to take probiotics. Probiotics are good microbes that you can consume in your diet. They then settle in your digestive system and get to work protecting you from illness and destroying the bad bacteria that may be living there.

Probiotics are available in capsule form, but you can also replenish the good microbes by eating yogurt. Check the label on the yogurt that you buy to make sure it says that it contains active cultures—those are the good bacteria that you need to eat.

Take action now and get a head start on this year’s cold and flu season. You can get ahead of the game by improving your gut function and fighting illness.

To your success,

Coach Kyle

Power Over Habit: Why Mindset Matters

If you have ever tried to ignore a box of doughnuts at work, you know how hard it is to keep your hands to yourself and walk on by. And once you walk on by, the battle isn’t over. Even if you are in a different room and down the hall, you can’t stop thinking about those doughnuts.

Why is it so hard to resist something as small and seemingly innocent as a doughnut? It has to do with habit—and mind set.

Hardwired habits

The draw you feel from that doughnut goes way beyond just a mild interest: you are wired to want it, and resistance is hard. In his book, The End of Overeating, Dr. David Kessler MD explains the breakdown:
When you taste foods that are highly palatable (such as foods containing excess sugar, fat and salt), your brain releases opioids into your blood stream. Opioids are brain chemicals that cause you to have intense feelings of reward and pleasure, as well as relieving pain and stress. The pleasurable effect is similar to the feelings that morphine and heroin users experience. The desire may be so intense that you keep taking one bite after another: it can be hard to stop.

That explains why you keep eating. But why do you give in and approach that doughnut box in the first place? Why not just refuse to take that first bite?

The answer is another brain chemical called dopamine. Dopamine is responsible for motivating you to seek out the doughnut so you can get the opioid release. You remember how good it tasted and how great it made you feel. Dopamine energizes you to work for that doughnut. It causes you to concentrate on it and drives you to seek it out.
Once this process happens a few times, the whole cycle becomes a habit that is very reward focused, very ingrained and very hard to break. Your brain’s circuitry has become mapped and wired to want the doughnut. And you don’t even have to be near the doughnut for this process to start–the dopamine can kick in even when there are no doughnuts in site: ever made a run to the store for a treat that you just had to have right then?

The result

Over one-third of all adults in our country are obese. We live in a society in which we are surrounded by highly-palatable foods (think restaurant foods and processed foods). The deeply ingrained habit of eating unhealthy food and too much of it is widespread. Everywhere we turn we are bombarded not only with unhealthy food, but also with a neural circuitry that drives us to pursue that unhealthy food.
Remap your brain with mindset

And now the good news: you can start right now to change the trajectory that you are on. You can rewire your brain and begin reducing the power that those opioid-producing foods have over you. You can draw a new map in your mind that will have you passing by the doughnuts on your way to better pleasures.

The secret is mindset. You must want something else more than you want those fleeting moments of pleasure that the doughnuts bring you. What is it? What do want? Maybe you want to drop a couple of jeans sizes. Maybe you want to be off your blood pressure medication. Maybe you want to be known as an ‘athletic’ type person. Maybe you want to keep disease at bay. Or maybe you just want the immense satisfaction of being in control of yourself! People who can’t resist a doughnut have given away power over their own lives!

Once you know what you want, go after it with the following strategies:

1. Stop. There is no other way to say this: you must stop eating foods that are not in your plan. In the beginning, this will be difficult. When everyone around you is tossing back pizza and soft drinks, you will struggle. You will smell the pizza, you will be in the emotionally charged atmosphere and dopamine will be flowing in your bloodstream. Think about what you want more than that doughnut; think about what you can only have by resisting the doughnut. Sheer will-power is what you have to use at this point.

2. Savor the victory. Once you come out on the other side having successfully won the battle within your own mind, you will have accomplished much more than just saying no to a piece of pizza. You will have begun ‘cooling’ the stimulus, as Dr. Kessler puts it. You have taken the first step toward weakening the circuitry in your brain that drives you to habitual patterns of behavior. The next time, it will be easier. And after that, even easier.

3. Focus on new rewards. As you remap your brain, you are creating new neural pathways that in time will be stronger than the weakening, “doughnut-centered” pathways. Make sure these new rewards are life-giving and energy-producing, such as the thrill you get when you can run a 5K or set a PR in your weight-lifting.
You can have power over habits: it’s all about mindset. You can do this!

To your Success,

Coach Kyle

P.S. If you are interested in checking out how we can help you click HERE.

Best Spinach Salad Ever!

The first thing that you’ll notice about this salad is that it tastes amazing. It also doesn’t hurt that spinach is an extremely nutrient-dense food. The recipe calls for raspberry vinegar, which is a flavorful and refreshing alternative to traditional, oily dressing. The fruit and nuts add flavor, fiber and healthy fat.
Servings: 8
Here’s what you need:
8 cups cleaned spinach leaves
3 oranges, peeled, sliced and quartered
2 cucumbers, peeled sliced and quartered
1/8 cup macadamia nuts, coarsely chopped
1/8 cup sunflower seeds
2 Tablespoons poppy seeds
1 cup strawberries, sliced or whole raspberries
1/2 cup white balsamic raspberry blush vinegar
Combined the spinach, oranges, cucumbers, macadamia nuts, sunflower seeds, poppy seeds and strawberries in a bowl.
Add the vinegar and toss well.
Nutritional Analysis: One serving equals: 99 calories, 3g fat, 14g carbohydrate, 2.6g fiber, and 3.5g protein.

Personal Trainers in Devens

Personal trainers in Devens understand there are different kinds of exercisers, including those who don’t exercise at all. Through experience, they have developed motivating techniques that can assist anyone with achieving fitness. It’s time to get moving, because your health depends on it!

Start and Stop

Are you one of the people who has started and stopped exercising countless times over your lifetime? Or are you one of those people who never started at all? It doesn’t matter which category you fit, because personal trainers in Devens have worked successfully with a variety of people.

There are different categories of exercisers. First there are those whose idea of exercise is walking from the car in the parking lot to the restaurant. They never get their heart pumping, but frequently tell themselves daily they need to get “real” exercise. Sometimes they try to exercise, but never stick with the program. They start and stop, never achieving any benefits.

Another category of exercisers are those who love going to the gym regularly or even faithfully exercise on their own at home. They get the exercise, but often hit fitness plateaus and don’t know how to proceed.

The third type of exerciser is in between the person who never exercises and the person who exercises regularly. This group exercise when they can fit it into their schedule, but it’s the first activity to be postponed when time is limited. As a result they exercise intermittently.

Personal trainers in Devens have a program to fit every type of exerciser. The truth is you have to exercise regularly, and you have to vary your routines in order to achieve results that benefit your health. You can’t avoid exercise all the time, but you shouldn’t get into an exercise routine either.

Full Speed Ahead

Personal trainers in Devens are certified and experienced fitness experts that have worked with a variety of people. They understand how difficult it can be to begin a fitness program, but they also know how to help the regular exerciser get off the frustrating plateau they’ve hit. Each client gets a fitness assessment, and it serves as the foundation for creating a program that fits your lifestyle and your physical condition.

The glorious fact about exercise is it works quickly. You won’t get fit in 2 weeks, but you’ll notice you already have more energy. Even those people who exercise regularly are often not getting full benefit, because they have been doing the same things for too long. Their heart and their muscles don’t have to work hard enough to achieve full exercise benefits.

Personal trainers in Devens will develop a personalized exercise program that addresses your fitness needs. You may want to lose weight, increase muscle tone or simply learn new ways to exercise on your own. The one thing you should not do is….nothing.

A Devens personal training program is your ocean cruiser to fitness. If you want to go full speed ahead, personal trainers in Devens are ready to teach you how to push the throttle!

Just call (603) 721-9685

to learn more

Or visit this link:

Devens Personal Training

Fitchburg Personal Training Is The Right Choice

Losing weight is one of the leading reasons behind most people taking to exercising…

…and in our bid to losing weight or marinating our current form, we may sometimes be tempted to try out quick fixes or instant diets that promise it all. Alas, far from doing any good, any diet or medication that does not come FDA approved does more harm than any good. Not to mention the money that is lost over such scams. However there is a sure shot way of losing weight and maintaining the perfect form; working out with a Fitchburg personal trainer.

Although the though of losing more money might not appeal to a lot of us, in actuality, working out with a personal trainer might be just what we need. To help my case further, here is why –

You get a personal trainers Fitchburg exercise program that is customized meet your specific needs. Whether you have worked out at the gym or at home the one thing that you will agree to is the fact that not all exercises work and that not all people respond similarly to an exercise regime. That is why you need the expertise of a Fitchburg personal trainer. The Fitchburg personal training is tailored to bring about specific fitness goals of each and every client. That is why; going with the Fitchburg personal training is an option that you definitely should look into.

No false expectations, no scams, just an honest exercise regime that will get you what you want.

Evaluation before and during the program keeps you on the right track at all times. Definitely a priority, evaluation is an important aspect of any work out program. Personal Training Fitchburg is strict on evaluation of your fitness program with respect to your response to it. Any time you decide to go ahead with the personal training, you will get a program that is chalked out based on your medical and health facts both past and present.

This is one of the reasons why you cannot fail with Fitchburg personal trainers.Constant evaluation means you will always be on the right track always since your progress and your response at every stage of the training is assessed.

Personal Trainer Fitchburg Supervision is vital to the correct form of exercising.

Ever wonder why an exercise regime is not working out without Personal Trainers Fitchburg? Well, the answer may be because you are not doing it the right way! Now with Fitchburg personal trainers, this can never happen. Not only does supervision keep you exercising the right way but it can also be helpful in avoiding those injuries and mishaps that are quite common while workouts.

High motivation through Personal Trainer Fitchburg means elimination of boredom. Your Personal Trainers Fitchburg are packed with high motivation that keeps you going even when you want to slack off or dig into that juicy burger at the end of a particularly tiring session.

Also sometimes a change in pace and style can be just what we need to keep us going. The personal training Fitchburg program is designed to be flexible so that changes are easily made.

Just call (603) 721-9685

to learn more

Or visit this link:

Personal Training Fitchburg

Personal Training in Leominster

Personal training is undergoing an individualized fitness program.

It is similar to enjoying a fitness program that is custom designed to ensure excellent progress in health and in your body’s shape. More importantly, personal training in Leominster is very much involved in designing exercise routine that is apart from generic as it is particularly designed taking caution on your medical condition or overall state of health.

As the name implies, this kind of training is personalized and that means exercise routines that are specifically designed to promote your overall well-being. This is simply the kind of fitness program that personal training Leominster offers. It optimizes fitness progress, working out at your own pace and at your own convenient time. To many people, the generic exercise routines that are given on a typical gym class may not be effective. People who have problems finding solutions in toning the problem areas of their body may get frustrated with these generalized fitness programs.

Thankfully, people can now enlist on individualized fitness programs with personal training. This is a system of fitness in which one-to-one approach is used in designing fitness routines. Aside from that, personal training closely monitors which routine works and which does not for every client.

By consistently monitoring the progress and the progress rate of a client, the teams of personal trainer Leominster can easily target the problems that hinder the client in achieving his or her fitness or weight loss goals. Similarly, close monitoring allows the trainer to give the client the kind of exercise that doubles the results as it doubles the fun in doing it. Every person has unique medical history. Perhaps, this person may have a unique medical condition. These aspects is taken it utmost importance when it comes to personal training. In personal training Leominster, the client’s medical history and current medical condition is evaluated. This way, the team of personal trainer Leominster will be aware of the health risks that are involved in doing some fitness routines.

By using this information, the team can effectively lay out a fitness program that will effectively work out the improvements of the client’s problem areas with absolutely no need to fear whether their or not exercise routines will interfere with the client’s health condition or medication. Aside from taking caution on the client’s health condition, there are more advantages to personal training. Since it involves one-on-one interaction, it allows the trainer to correct the client’s exercise techniques.

Perfecting an exercise technique is essential to doubling the exercise’s contribution to your fitness goals. In doing routine exercise, a personal trainer can offer valuable suggestions, from the exertion of the routines to the how-to’s in staying on diet.

Also, keeping a personal trainer will constantly update your exercise regimen, preventing you from staying too long doing the same routine over and over. Instead, your trainer keeps you looking forward to doing the next exercise that he or she will introduce. Designing a fitness program requires the assistance of a professional fitness trainer. As the person whose knowledge is to be used in designing the best routine that will boost the client’s progress rate, it actually takes a lot more than experience to be a professional fitness expert.

To be qualified in the service, every personal trainer needs to earn national certifications, which will determine their abilities and proficiency in promoting fitness to the public. Usually, being a personal trainer requires specific educational background, related or focusing on the physical workings of the human body. An aspiring personal trainer also needs to pass the tests that determine the certification among fitness professionals. For all the Ross Fitness facilities that operates in Leominster, the assurance and verifications of the qualifications of their teams of personal trainer Leominster of top priority. This is to ensure consistent service in commitment to helping people achieve their fitness goals. So when you plan to enlist on a personal training program, these facilities can give the level of service that you deserve.

Perhaps the consistent monitoring of every client’s progress rate is one of the reasons why RossFitness personal training Leominster ventures are so successful. And when it comes to the business sense of providing aid in promoting overall well-being, the success of a fitness facility is defined by the satisfaction and effectiveness of their fitness programs in every client’s fitness goals.

Kyle Ross is a weight loss expert, a nutrition coach and a Nationally Certified Personal Trainer. As the owner of the Ross Fitness, you may have seen his work in a number of ads in the newspaper and community publications. Focusing on promoting fitness and well-being, he guarantees fitness and weight loss success among his personal training programs.

Just call (603) 721-9685

to learn more

Or visit this link:

Personal Trainer Leominster

Ayer Personal Training

Anyone can have trouble with a workout plan. Let’s face facts, it’s not called working out for nothing. It takes effort, and sometimes…

…we need help getting started with the help of personal training. If you haven’t been a very active person especially, starting a new workout regime can be tricky if you don’t have a qualified Ayer Personal Trainer. You will face some unique challenges, but the good news is that you don’t have to go it alone. With Ayer personal training, you will get the support that you need to start your journey to being physically fit.

One of the main reasons that you probably haven’t started a fitness program before is that you don’t know where to start. Often, when people try to start working out they run into the pitfall of starting off too hard and burning out. Personal trainers Ayer will help you avoid that workout disaster. Instead, with Ayer personal training you will be able to work with your trainer to develop a plan that will get you started slowly so that you see some success that will give you the motivation to keep going.

Your Ayer personal trainers will also help you from falling into workout pitfall #2: Falling into a workout rut. Often you’ll get into a workout routine that is comfortable and safe for you, but the downside of this is that your body will adapt, and soon you’ll stop seeing the same results that you had seen in the first place. You constantly need to challenge your body so that you it is always working! Personal training Ayer will help you ensure that you’re not falling into an exercise plateau.

Ayer personal trainers will also provide you with constant supervision during your workouts so that you know that you’re not performing any exercise incorrectly. This is particularly important because you don’t want to suffer an injury that could derail the work that you’ve begun. You also want to make sure that you are performing the exercises correctly so that you are hitting the targeted areas. With personal training, Ayer can be your worldwide fitness center.

Personal trainer Ayer will also help to teach you how to work out on your own. Through what your Ayer personal trainer teachers you during your one on one sessions you will also learn how to take that knowledge home with you, or into your own personal workouts. By being able to incorporate your new skills into other aspects of your life, you will amplify the benefits of your workout plan, and you will be able to see to bigger results faster. A personal trainer Ayer will make sure that you have the skills to take your plan home with you.

Beginning a workout plan is difficult, but you can do it with personal trainers! With personal trainers Ayer, you will set yourself up for success. Your Ayer personal trainer will provide you with the motivation that you need, provide your workouts with variety, give you the supervision that you need, and the education to work out on your own. With all of that support, you will certainly be able to revamp who are as an athlete now into becoming the kind of athlete that you want to be.

Just call (603) 721-9685

to learn more

Or visit this link:

Ayer Personal Training

Summer Bean Salad

Eat Yourself Thin

Summer Bean Salad
(Serves Two)

1/3 (15 ounce) can light red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1/3 cup fresh corn kernels
1/3 small onion, diced
1/3 cup cherry tomato halves
2 teaspoons lime juice
1/4 teaspoon lemon zest (optional)
1 teaspoon olive oil, or as needed
salt to taste
ground black pepper to taste
1 tablespoon and 2-1/4 teaspoons thinly sliced fresh basil

1. In a large bowl, gently toss beans, corn, onion, tomatoes, lime juice, and lemon zest. Drizzle with olive oil, and season with salt and pepper.

2. Mix in basil just before serving.

Prep: 15mins
Ready: 15mins

Amount Per Serving – Calories: 113 / Total Fat: 2.9g / Cholesterol: 0mg / Sodium: 252mg / Total Carbs: 18.7g / Dietary Fiber: 5.1g / Protein 5g

Recipe from AllRecipes.com