Merry Ugly Christmas Sweater Party!

This past weekend I attended our 4th Annual Ugly Christmas Sweater Party. My friends and I have thrown this party around Christmas the past few years and I am still amazed the sweaters some people come up with! Here is a pic of from the party.

Recipe of The Week

Guacamole


Now I know everyone has holiday parties to attend and if you have to bring an appetizer you can't go wrong with Guacamole. Avocado's are a great source of healthy fat and not too mention you've got Christmas colors when you add the tomatoes. You ask me it's perfect. Enjoy!


Ingredients

* 3 avocados - peeled, pitted, and mashed
* 1 lime, juiced
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 cup diced onion
* 3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
* 2 roma (plum) tomatoes, diced
* 1 teaspoon minced garlic
* 1 pinch ground cayenne pepper (optional)

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, mash together the avocados, lime juice, and salt. Mix in onion, cilantro, tomatoes, and garlic. Stir in cayenne pepper. Refrigerate 1 hour for best flavor, or serve immediately.

5 Ways To Guarantee Holiday Weight Gain!

I love sarcasm and hopefully you do too. If not these surefire ways to gain weight over the holidays probably isn't for you. Enjoy.

1.Bill from accountings wife bakes those delicious cupcakes so be sure and devour one every time you pass the breakroom on the way to the restroom or watercooler. I'm sure they are fat and sugar free and will help keep your weight down during the holiday season. Realistically: Totally avoid the breakroom that way you won't see them. Out of sight out of mind.

2.Be sure to always opt for that extra glass of wine at each and every holiday party you attend. Not only is alcohol low in calories, but I'm sure it will give you that extra pep in your step to get to the gym early the next morning. Realistically: You'll have plenty of other opportunities to drown your holiday sorrows at the family dinner so maybe only limit yourself to one glass of wine.

3.Ask your boss if there is any extra work to do before the year ends. Since stress really doesn't affect you, especially when you have your in-laws in town, the extra work and stress won't sabotage your efforts to get to the gym or eat healthy. Realistically: Be careful what you commit to holidays always bring extra time restraints, so be sure to balance your schedule.

4.When your shopping for holiday snacks always choose the jumbo pack of holiday cookies. Your certain all your guests will eat them anyway leaving you to eat the healthy stuff in the house. Realistically: Don't buy the jumbo pack at all instead buy the smaller pack that way there aren't as many leftovers to tempt you later.

5.Starve yourself all day leading up to the big family feast that way you can pig out and other than feeling like a beached whale you'll feel a sense of accomplishment by not going over your caloric limit. Realistically: Don't plan on eating any differently than you do on any other day that way when the holiday meal comes you aren't in the mindset of “I already blew it with the 24 cookies at work may as well keep it going”

HIIT

HIGH INTENSITY INTERVAL TRAINING

I get asked all the time “What is the most effective fat burning cardio workout I can do?” And the answer is pretty simple HIIT or high intensity interval training. If you've never heard of it or never tried it I'll give you a brief overview as well as a sample program you can try on your own.

So what is HIIT exactly you ask. HIIT is bouts of high intensity exercise for a specified period of time followed by bouts of low-medium intensity exercise. I usually do a work to rest ratio of 1:2 so if 1 minute is my work period my rest period would be 2 minutes. For this particular example let's say I'm planning on doing 7 work periods. That means 7 minutes of high intensity exercise with approximately 12 minutes of low-medium intensity exercise between those work periods. Add on a few minutes of warm-up and cool down time and you have a wicked effective fat burning workout in under 30 minutes.

Now the times and number of work periods are the variable you can play with. There is no magic number to plug in, but I would recommend shooting for at least 15 minutes of total work. The mode of exercise can be changed as well. You can use the same basic system and change the mode(bike, treadmill, or elliptical) to avoid boredom. Also changing the times and number of work periods provides yet another variable that can help fight boredom. I know when I'm doing intervals my cardio workouts go by rather quickly.

Now this method of cardio is not suited for everyone, but if your looking for a change give it shot. Also if you are a beginner be sure and keep your times and work periods relatively short until you build up enough of a cardiovascular base to handle longer duration workouts.

Sample HIIT Workout

Mode: Treadmill

Working Period: 20 Seconds at 7.5 Treadmill Speed
Rest Period: 40 Seconds at 3.0 Treadmill Speed
Total Repetitions: 15

3 Minute Warm-Up
Minute 1 :20 Seconds at 7.5 :40 Seconds at 3.0
Minute 2 :20 Seconds at 7.5 :40 Seconds at 3.0
Minute 3 :20 Seconds at 7.5 :40 Seconds at 3.0
Minute 4 :20 Seconds at 7.5 :40 Seconds at 3.0
Minute 5 :20 Seconds at 7.5 :40 Seconds at 3.0
And so on for 15 minutes
3 Minute Cool Down

If you have any questions or want more information on HIIT shoot me an email at ian@essentialfitnessSTL.com

Recipe of The Week

It's that time of year and I can't help but put up another chilli recipe. This is most definitely Essential Fitness approved seeing as it has tons of veggies in it, but can certainly be spiced up with some meat or would be fine just the way it is.

Rainbow Veggie Chilli

Ingredients

* 2 tablespoons olive oil
* 1 zucchini, sliced
* 1 yellow squash, sliced
* 1 red bell pepper, diced
* 1 green bell pepper, diced
* 1 fresh jalapeno pepper, diced
* 4 cloves garlic, minced
* 1 onion, chopped
* 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes, with liquid
* 1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
* 1 (15 ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
* 1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
* 1 (15 ounce) can chili beans in spicy sauce, undrained
* 1 tablespoon chili powder
* 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
* 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
* 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste

Directions

1. Heat oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Stir in zucchini, yellow squash, red bell pepper, green bell pepper, jalapeno, garlic, and onion. Cook 5 minutes, just until tender.

2. Mix tomatoes with liquid, tomato paste, black beans, corn, and chili beans in spicy sauce into the pot. Season with chili powder, oregano, black pepper, and cayenne pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

Recipe from allrecipes.com

PUMPKIN Workout For Charity!

Essential Fitness Presents…

HALLOWEEN BOOTCAMP 1.0

Featuring The Freaky Fat Loss Total Body PUMP-kin Workout!

Essential Fitness is happy to announce our first annual Halloween Charity Boot Camp. The workout will cost $15/attendee and all proceeds will go to the Missouri Humane Society. We’re looking to provide a killer workout before the holiday while supporting a good cause.

The event will be 2 hours consisting of a 60 minute group workout which ALL exercises will use your pumpkin! Followed by another 60 minutes of fun activites which include a raffle for tons of great prizes, protein shake samples, lots of great giveaways, and lots more.

We are proud to announce that we have also paired with 2 other St. Louis area based fitness boot camps. With our three boot camps partnering together, we will be able to raise more money for the Humane Society. Steve Long, owner of Complete Fitness Results, and Jared Woolover, owner of Edwardsville Better Body Boot Camps, has agreed to work with us in supporting a good cause. So if you know anyone in the Edwardsville Illinois area looking for a good workout, please send this info their way.

Here are some of the details you may need to know:

When: Saturday October 31st, 2009 at 11 AM.

Where: Christ Church Cathedral 1210 Locust Street St. Louis MO, 63103

What to Wear: Costumes are optional. You can be as simple or as elaborate as you want, but please remember you need to be able to move in it. Wear orange or black if you do not wear a costume.

What to Bring: Your own pumpkin! Females/smaller individuals should bring a medium sized pumpkin (about 10 lbs.) and men/larger individuals should bring a large one (about 20 lbs.). A water bottle is also a good idea.

If you would like to pay in cash, please send an email to ian@esssentialfitnessSTL.com and in the subject line put “Pumpkin Workout” and you will be contacted.

If you have any questions please send an email, or call 314.878.1348.

This will be a fun workout for a great cause! I look forward to seeing you there!

Recipe of The Week

Cajun Chicken Pasta

Yet another Essential Fitness approved recipe!

INGREDIENTS (Nutrition)
4 ounces linguine whole wheat pasta
2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, sliced into thin strips
2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
4 fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 green onion, minced
1 1/2 cups evaporated milk
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon lemon pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS
1.Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add linguini whole wheat pasta, and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, or until al dente; drain.
2.Meanwhile, place chicken and Cajun seasoning in a bowl, and toss to coat.
3.In a large skillet over medium heat, saute chicken in olive oil until no longer pink and juices run clear, about 5 to 7 minutes. Add green and red bell peppers, sliced mushrooms and green onions; cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Reduce heat, and stir in evaporated milk. Season the sauce with basil, lemon pepper, salt, garlic powder and ground black pepper, and heat through.
4.In a large bowl, toss whole wheat linguini with sauce. Sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese.

Modified from allrecipes.com