Category Archives: Clean Eating

My Five

Clean Eating, Diet, Fitness, Life Health, , , , , ,

I feel like its been a hot minute since I last wrote a blog and whilst I normally have something to say in regards to nutrition, training or even mental wellness today I’m taking a different approach. I’m going to throw at you five things I cannot possible live without, this is in regards to every aspect of my life and a little “get to know me” type of post if you’re new to Union Fitness and have no idea who that blonde chick in the Birkenstock’s is.

 

My Five

 

Coffee: I’m a huge advocate for letting your body wake up naturally rather then jump out of bed and literally run for the freshly made pot waiting for you on the counter. However, there is nothing like it when I take that first sip in the morning, I truly do go to bed thinking about that initial cup of coffee. I will argue that Starbucks is consistently just okay and I’d much rather opt in for a small business brew that has been locally sourced.

 

Breakfast Food: I don’t know about any of y’all but I could eat breakfast at all hours of the day, I mean its basically an excuse to eat dessert at 8AM in the morning. I’d say my favorite breakfast meal that I don’t normally get to eat would be a crepes with a Nutella spread, bananas + strawberries doused in maple syrup (because I’m also Canadian, duh).

 

The Gym: Pretty sure a lot of people feel me here, especially post-quarantine I realized how much of my socializing in life comes from the gym atmosphere. Not only is it a huge hobby of mine it’s also my job and I’m very thankful to be able to do what I love on a day to day basis. The gym has allowed me to grow immensely over the past six years and within the last three, getting more involved in the competitive aspect I’ve truly learned how important it is to love the process and love the day in/day out mentality.

 

Leggings: I’m getting pretty basic here with my top five but if I’m being real with you, I own two pairs of jeans and thats 100% the truth. Leggings are my work, workout and life choice of clothing and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I despise clothes that are tight and especially during specific times of the year sometimes I really just hate clothes and would much rather live on a private island so I could wear a bikini all day long.

 

Ice Cream: Hands down would do absolutely anything (that is legal) for Ben & Jerrys. I’m a fan of chocolate Halo Top but lets be honest, if I’m going to have ice cream I’m going to eat the real stuff, even if a lot of dairy hurts my stomach. I’m just a huge ice cream girl, I could eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner and a whole pint in one sitting, truly wondering if maybe I could handle another. Name a better ice cream company, I’ll wait….

 

As generic as my answers are they are so truthful, my life is super boring and primarily revolves around work, training, eating and sleeping but honestly I wouldn’t have it any other way. So, now that I’ve told you all my five, I’m nominating my fellow co-worker Cayt Neff to white about her five things she can’t live without!

 

Much love,
J

Bootcamp and Beers

Alcohol, Clean Eating, Diet, Fitness, Life Health, Training, , , ,

Great people of Union,

 

I come to you electrified with great tidings of events to come! We are so happy to see you all safely return to Union and want to do a little something something to celebrate our members, friends of members and our community with two upcoming events.

 

The first event will start your 4th of July off with a BOOM! Here at UF’s outdoor location we will have an hour long, fun filled Charity Super Class led by Curtis, CeJ and a few special guests coaches. The class will start at 9am, we will toss some weights around, jump, throw medicine balls, carry bars, sprint and much much more. So please feel free to bring a friend, brag about this event on your social media and rock your best 4th of July workout gear. We will be taking any and all donations for………..Wounded Warrior.

 

Our next event “UF & ACB Bootcamp & Beers” will be held at Allegheny City Brewing July 11th from 11am-12pm. A few of your favorite UF Coaches have paired up with ACB to bring you a Saturday morning get you right bootcamp class, that any and all our welcomed, you just have to be 21 or older to enjoy some tasty libations after the class. If you are interested in this class please just give us a heads up or surprise us and show up, no matter what we will be ready to get bumpy then safely cheers some glasses afterwards. We will be asking for canned food items to donate to our local food bank, no money for the class is needed, just a positive attitude and your smiling faces!

 

Thank you for making UF so strong and building a community.

 

Cheers,

 

CeJ

Four Pillars: Sleep

Alcohol, Clean Eating, Diet, Fitness, Life Health, Nutrition, , ,

I won’t talk too much about what someone can do during this pandemic. I believe that enough people talking about how to maintain your fitness during the current situation. What I do want to talk about is what I believe to be the four pillars to success in any fitness goal. These are the four subjects that I start with everyone I work with and constantly maintain status on them. Especially, if you feel like you hit a wall or stuck in going forward revert back to these four:

 

Sleep, Nutrition, Training, Water.

 

In that exact order as well. I realize that these might seem obvious but through a series of articles on each, I plan to cover certain points that I find people miss.

 

Let’s start with sleep. Sleep is by far the most important key to achieving any goal you have. Especially any physical goal. If you want to understand how important sleep really is I highly recommend looking into Dr. Matthew Walkers research.

 

Again everyone knows how important it is but how do you optimize it. Well besides sleep hygiene (no tv before bed, going to sleep at the same time each night, and no blue light an hour before bed) I believe there to nutritional deficiencies and air way problems that seriously hinder your sleep.

 

  1. Vitamin D
    1. Vitamin D is highly important for calcium absorption but less known that low vitamin D levels are associated with sleep disorders. Dr. Stasha Gominak has done some great work in looking at deficiencies in vitamin D and B vitamins with sleep disorders. Now, I am no doctor or dietitian so I highly, HIGHLY, recommend getting blood work. This helps establish where you are now. Another thing I want to make clear is when you get the test is important to note that the “normal” range for vitamin D is 30ng/mL – 100ng/mL which is a HUGE range. That just makes sure you are not sick that do not show optimal levels. Just because you are not defined as sick does not mean you are not showing symptoms that are effected by not being in an optimal range. I shoot to keep my levels around 60ng/dL. I do this by being outside as much as I can but also supplementing vitamin D. Again talk to a health professional but here is a link for further info on Vitamin and sleep which could help tremendously

 

https://drgominak.com

 

  1. Magnesium
    1. This one you might have heard of. A lot of sleeping supplements out there load this one up but the real question is why would so many people be so deficient in this one? I believe people consume an abundant amount of diuretics which can flush out important electrolytes and minerals. If you are drawing a blank let’s run through an average day. Waking up to a great cup of coffee is your first diuretic, then maybe around three you have another cup of diuretic and maybe it’s been a particularly long day so you have an alcoholic beverage or two to finish the day with a strong diuretic. Even before that hit’s you, most people’s magnesium levels are lower than optimal since magnesium is green leafy vegetables, which most people don’t consume. Again we are talking about optimal levels and since it’s not fat-soluble you can flush these real quick but also replenish quickly too. Talk to your doctor or a dietitian before supplementing but since magnesium is water-soluble it is fairly harmless to supplement. If you want to consume magnesium through food try a spinach smoothie with more than a cup in it as well as snack on Brazil nuts, which unfortunately taste like dirt.

 

  1. CPAP Machine (Continuous positive airway pressure)
    1. I want to give a client experience with this one. I had a client that wanted to get into powerlifting. The first thing I do is bring up my four pillars (for any goal). At first, he would always say that his sleep was great but after a while, he finally mentioned how he snores rather constantly through the night. Realizing that snoring is not a good sign I recommended a sleep study. It took some time but eventually convinced him to get a sleep study. My client was diagnosed a CPAP machine right away. Let me make something extremely clear, before this he told me he got “good” sleep, he didn’t wake up that tired, and normally felt energized throughout the day but once he got the CPAP machine one of the first things he told me was “I didn’t realize how poor I have been sleeping for so long.” One point I want to stress, the more I work with people the more I realize how common this is. I have seen all shapes and sizes have this problem so just because you don’t have a neck like some of our powerlifters doesn’t mean you don’t have it.

 

You might feel that you are sleeping “well” but I would argue that you also might be sleeping so poorly for so long that your baseline could eventually be one of your worst nights of sleep. 

Side note his blood pressure went down that was on the higher side for some time.

 

I hope you noticed how many times I mentioned “optimal.” It’s important because it’s not usually that giant red flags that hold us back from our goal. It can be the little things over a long period of time that ultimately restricts us from accomplishing our goals. Optimizing the little things can have a profound effect.

Here are added articles/videos that go more in depth:

https://www.sleepdiplomat.com

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCyJd-9VFq8&t=3s

https://thesleepdoctor.com/2019/02/12/5-vitamin-deficiencies-that-can-affect-your-sleep/

https://www.health.harvard.edu/sleep/ask-the-doctor-sleep-and-magnesium-supplements

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27225921/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6212970/

Jocelyn’s Nutrition Series

Clean Eating, Diet, Life Health, Meal Prep, Nutrition

Union fam, welcome back for PART 1 of Nutrition with Jocelyn. If you missed my first post on the UF blog about this new series, no worries because you’re reading at the right time. For those who aren’t aware, this is a new series I will be writing not only to keep my own spirits high and excited during quarantine but to aid in a hands on approach to what I am currently learning through my Nutrition Certification. I’m thrilled to be able to write such content for those interested that also encompasses my terrible humor you all might experience if you just so happen to see me during work at Union Fitness.

 

The first in our series is going to focus on eating well during quarantine. I’m not going to bore you to death with scientific information and I’m not going to tell you what you need to do, I’m simply here to help you find ways to fuel your bodies and encourage you to make small changes that ultimately will set you up for success post-quarantine. 

 

I know right now we’re all feeling a little blah and I’m not going to lie, I’ve indulged in a few pints of Ben & Jerrys here and there, drank a little too much and some days just really wasn’t feeling hungry at all. This is all a product of my own emotions, we as humans are very complex beings and with that comes actions that sometimes necessary don’t align with our overall goals (especially if you’re a female and it’s that time of the month). I’m here to tell you its OKAY to have days or weeks like this. The goal is to not let it be something that drags you back into a place that you worked so hard to get out of. This also doesn’t mean you have to make drastic changes all at once, I simply want you to start right where you are and start small.

 

Let’s start with an exercise

 

Right now I want you to picture what yesterday looked like for you, let’s start with a few questions. Grab a piece of paper, a pen or pencil and answer these honestly.

What time did you get up? 

What did you have for breakfast, lunch and dinner? 

Are you snacking in between those meals? 

What did your workout look like? 

Did you workout? 

What was your mood upon waking and before bed? 

What time did you actually go to sleep?

 

Now look at your answers to these questions, how do they make you feel? Do they all align with your goals or do only some of them align with your goals? Write down your answers to the questions below the above ones you just answered.

 

The purpose of this is to simply reflect, to understand why you made the decisions you did and how your emotions are a direct collate of those actions. There is no right or wrong answer.

 

When I talk about eating well what I really mean is mindful eating, knowing what you’re putting into your body and being mindful of how it’s going to make you feel. We are all emotional eaters, food is something that calms us and makes us feel good even if we’re not eating the most nutrient dense foods. Let’s take myself for example, what if I’m looking for an alternative to that pint of Ben & Jerrys ice cream, I might want to still eat 1 pint a week but I want something that can curb that extra craving I’m having on any given day. Protein shakes are a very good alternative to ice cream or something that can calm my sweet tooth. You can use a blender, add milk or a milk alternative and top it with whipped cream and/or chocolate chips. The consistency is almost identical when ice is added and I’m also knocking on my sweet tooth door whilst getting my protein intake as well.

 

All I’ve done is added something into my day that checks all the boxes, I didn’t eliminate the Ben & Jerrys because I’m allowed to indulge and if I want it I’m going to have it. The issue with some diets is they make us think there is only one way to eat and reframes our mind into having a bad relationship with food. Well I’m here to tell you there are many ways to eat healthy and that “one-size fits all” approach is totally bull. We need to eat for the lives that we live and every person is different from the next. What works for you might not work for me and we should never force ourselves into eating that will make us feel overwhelmed or limited into what we can consume.

 

Lastly, let’s knock on the door of those who love to snack (even though I consider Ben & Jerry’s a snack, you’ll find me eating the whole thing during Too Hot To Handle on Netflix). We’re mostly looking at those quick bites that are easy to pull out of the pantry and are something that can keep us full till lunch. Well I have an option for you and if you aren’t aware this series will also include small-business that I love and are a healthy alternative.

 

Nash Nutrition

 

Based out of Youngstown, Ohio Nash Bars are a  mouth-watering option for a quick snack. These nutrient dense bars come in four different favors for our peanut butter, chocolate and blueberry loving individuals. They are so dense that I find myself full for a lengthy period of time that I am able to get through a few more hours of work or a hard training session but also know I’m putting something into my body that makes me happy (we’re all about mood here guys). For example, the peanut butter chocolate chip option macronutrients are as followed:

 

300 calories

16g of fat

23g of carbohydrates

20g of protein

 

Most “protein” bars aren’t the most exciting things to eat, they lack taste or when we’re eating them we feel like we’re doing it to eat something healthy. Instead, Nash Nutrition does a really good job at providing options that again for me personally check all the boxes. Now before you ask, this isn’t a paid post on the UF blog and I don’t get free bars from Nash to promote, this is simply a plug for a nutritious option where if you purchase you’re also supporting a small-business during quarantine (which is something we here at Union are promoting on a weekly basis, being a small-business ourselves). 


Now back to our regularly schedule program

 

If we backtrack to our little food exercise we did, are there opportunities within that day where you could either add or replace a food with something that would make you feel better. If we start small like replacing one snack with something healthier, that one small change will lead us into making better choices day by day. The goal here just to reiterate is to become more mindful with our eating, aware of what we are putting our bodies and how our bodies are reacting to it.

 

Everyone wants to feel good but that doesn’t mean you need to stress yourself out or completely cut yourself off from certain foods. If you choose to make mindful decisions with your eating then you will find yourself having a better relationship with food and feeling better about all decisions that are food-based. 

Hello Iron Chefs of the World

Clean Eating, Diet, Life Health, Meal Prep, Nutrition
Today I bring to you some more tasty quarantine foods we have devoured. Both the Swedish Chef, Chef Boyardee and the late great Chef Bourdain approve of these delectable dishes. I present to you a snack, appetizer, meal & dessert.

Road House Kick Deviled Eggs:

 Ingredients; Eggs, Mayo (lite), Spicy Brown Muzzy (mustard), Salt, Pepper, Garlic & Onion Powder and Paprika.
Directions; Gracefully place eggs in a pot of water and boil for 5ish minutes-peel eggs,  slice them in half & toss the yoke in a bowl with all other ingredients- mix away- stuff filling into the halved eggs and dust with some more paprika and Blammy!

Jalapeno & Goat Cheese Sweet Pepper Poppers:
 
Ingredients; Sweet Peppers, Goat Cheese, Jalapeno.
Directions; halve sweet peppers, mix goat cheese and diced jalapeno into bowl, stuff filling into the sweet peps then toss in the oven at 400 for 10 or so minutes and you got some nice Poppers.
 
Hold on to Your Butt Sichuan Shrimp & Eggplant with Rice:
 
Ingredients: Shrimp, Eggplant, Sticky Rice, Chili Garlic Paste, Sichuan Peppercorns, Honey, Ginger, Low Sodium Soy Sauce, Veggie Broth, Dried Chilis, Green Onions & Corn Starch.
Directions; Cook rice- Toss all sauce ingredients into a pot and simmer til you get a thiccck sauce- saute shrimp & eggplant with any of the seasoning above- toss all together and hold onto your tongues.

Black Bean, Avocado & Dark Chocolate Brownies:
 
Ingredients; 1 can Black Beans, Avacado, 3 Eggs, 1/2 cup Unsweet Cocoa Powder, 1/4 cup Butta, 1 tsp Vanilla, 1 tsp Baking Powder, 3/4 cup Sugar (we used half stevia brown and half regular), 1 tsp Salt, Dark Chocolate Chips.
Directions; Mix it all up- layer mix over foil in a baking pan at 360 for about 20 minutes-Let cool for and few and wipe the drool off your mouth-Enjoy.

Please let me know what you think of these food ideas/recipes. If you have some fan favorites you’d like Union’s Top Chef to try, send it on over! Have fun with these and make them your own special way.
Bon Appetit,
-CeJ

Banana Bread: A Little Humbling + My 5 Commitments

Clean Eating, Diet, Life Health

Good morning Union Fam,

 

You’ll probably see a mix between fitness and life content from me going forward because we happen to be in such a weird time in our lives. I might tell you some stories, talk about horrible baking experiences, or maybe give you some ideas for workouts. Whatever it is, it’ll always be full-out transparency and honesty from my mouth.

 

 

It’s been a rough week to say the least (can I get an Amen?), and yesterday I was in such a funk that I did two things: I downloaded my graphic design programs again and baked banana bread, two things that I haven’t had the time to do because life gets in the way.

 

 

My days were always a little jam packed before this pandemic made us all slow down. There were a lot of things I just didn’t have time for anymore and some things took precedent over others. I’ve always been a very creative person. I have a minor in graphic design and I bake well. It’s just fun to make really tasty things. I’m trying to look at this trying time as positively as I can and bring things back into my life that I once loved.

 

 

Now, a quick break thanks to our sponsor of this post—banana bread.

 

 

I’m by no means a baker, so like any normal person, I googled a recipe and went to work. To be fair, I actually took it out 20 minutes too early and cut into it only to realize that I didn’t cook it long enough. So back in the oven it went.

 

 

Recipe:

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter

3 ripe bananas

2 eggs

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

2 cups all purpose flour

1 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1.2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

2 small handfuls of chocolate chips (optional)

 

 

I cooked the banana bread at 350 degrees, combined wet and dry ingredients separately, and then in one bowl, mixed it altogether with two small handfuls of chocolate chips.

 

 

Below are the ingredients that I had around the house:

 

 

Now back to our regularly scheduled blog post. Shout out to the banana bread.

 

 

I know I’m not the only one worried about working out, but in the grand scheme of things, this pandemic has humbled me into realizing what is most important in this life. I do, however, encourage you to move 30 minutes to an hour a day, and if you want to keep up your normally scheduled rest day, by all means, do so. The best thing we can do for ourselves is to stay on a structured routine, do things we enjoy, and be kind to ourselves and bodies.

 

 

I won’t sit here and write all about what I think you should do because that’s not why you read the things I write about to begin with. Instead, I’ll tell you about what I’m going to commit to. Here are five things I’m promising to myself:

  1. Move my body once a day, even on rest days.
  2. Eat as well as I can during this time and fuel properly (snack breaks approved).
  3. Get back into graphic design and bring back my entire creative vibe.
  4. Keep myself motivated by contributing quality content for my UF fam.
  5. Be kind to myself with whatever that entails.

 

Now, what are your five things? Post them on your IG story and tag us. We want to see them.

 

 

Lastly, before I end this post, this all goes without saying, but if anyone out there needs anything from me or any other Union Fitness staff member, please reach out. We are here for you every single day regardless of what is going on. We care about you and love you all.

 

 

The most humbling thing about all this is realizing that it’s the people in my life who mean more to me than the goals I was in the middle of chasing.

 

 

Much love,

J

CJ’s long strange trip

Clean Eating, Fitness, Life Health, Training

Hello Union Fam,

I’m back and I sure did miss all your smiling bumpy faces while I was on vacation.

 

For the past week I was in Sunny San Diego, exploring and hanging out with Ron Burgundy, Skylyn, some seals and Skylyn’s Fit Ink team. I had never been to San Diego before or California until this trip and I must say San Diego is pretty rad. The weather was unreal, the sights were spectacular, the food was baller and the company of course was top notch.

 

Some people fear that taking a vacation will devastate their current training, I say Nay Nay! I will tell you firsthand that I came back from vacation feeling fresh and tossed some weights my first couple of trainings back on home soil. “CeJ, how did you do this?” Well my bumpiest of friends, let me tell you.

 

To stay on track with my training during vacation I made a training plan, reloaded, hydrated, ate well and had a freaking blast!

 

I had planned to take a reload on vacation as training shouldn’t be the center of a vacation and, I knew this would be a great time to try a different gym’s equipment and just ride the pump. I planned my split out ahead of time so I knew the focus of that day’s training. My split was: Upper Push, Upper Pull, Cardio Circuit with Abs, Lower Body, Upper Push and Upper Pull during my 6 day adventure. A reload is when the training volume and intensity is decreased, this gives the body and the central nervous system some time to recover from your wild training sessions. Do yourself a favor and take a reload on your vacation and try not to spend more than an hour at the gym or your place of training. Stay hydrated my friends! Traveling can dehydrate you and sometimes we just forget to drink with all the excitement of vacation. Carry a water bottle with you and drink it while you’re on the move. When it comes to eating, please try new local places and foods, spice up your taste buds. If you are worried about eating too much, then share some plates with your adventure partner(s) and don’t stress. The most important thing I have to say about staying on track during your vacation time is to live it the heck up and make all the memories you can! You can always make more money and gainzzz, you can’t always make more time. Thank you San Diego, it was a pleasure.

 

 

PS now that I’m back, come and train with me.

Stay Bumpy

-CeJ

Meaty Potato Tacos

Clean Eating, Life Health, Meal Prep, Nutrition

Being of Irish descent I believe that potatoes could NAY should be used in all meals. With this said I tossed this meal together as I had the ingredients and felt like the right thing to do.

 

Ingredients

1 lbs of grass fed ground beef (local).

Taco seasoning.

8 small potatoes.

2 Tomatoes.

2 Avocados.

Hot Sauce.

 

Directions

Brown the ground beef, then add the taco seasoning and water.

Slice the potatoes and sauté in butter.

Make the cooked potatoes the base of your taco, add the meat on top.

Add sliced tomatoes, cheese, avocado and any other greens or topping that you desire. Hot sauce should be on everything so don’t forget your hot sauce.

 

Simple and delicious. On a side note as I typed this we debated, is this really a taco as it has no shell and I agreed with myself (and no one else) that it still is a taco. Hope you enjoy.

 

Meal of the Week (burn your turkey edition)

Clean Eating, Diet, Fitness, Life Health, Nutrition, Training

This week for our Meal of the Week we are going to change things up just a bit. We are now 8 days out from Thanksgiving. We all know that this is the ultimate “cheat day.” Here at Union Fitness we truly believe in helping each and every one of our members in and out of the gym. You may spend 1-10 hours a week in Union Fitness and we hope to empower you during that time to be your best self and live your best life. Too often as strength and fitness professionals we all lose sight of the end game, a better life. So with this in mind we are preparing to stuff ourselves on Thanksgiving day with friends and family and invite you to do the same and feel no guilt about enjoying your day.

The other thing we want to do is take care of yourself and others. On Thursday November 28th we invite you (and friends, member or non-member) to come down to Union Fitness and join us in our biggest class. We have named this class the Turkey Burn. If you are using our discount and running the Turkey Trot with our friends at the YMCA we will let you slide on this one. If you are free come down and join in the superclass. All we ask of you is three things:

  1. Bring a canned good so that we may donate to those less fortunate than us. Don’t worry there will be coffee for after the workout.
  2. Bring your Positive Mental Attitude (PMA) and maybe some friends or family to raise their holiday spirits too.
  3. Sign up for the class online so we know how much coffee to bring. We have already added more spots to this class three times so let’s burn some turkeys.

The workout will consist of some cardio class, some lifting as well as a special Powerful with CJ workout. We will have the entire gym to ourselves so should be a great day of training. The workout will begin at 9 AM and wrap up at 10 AM, just in time to check your burnt turkey at home.

If you have any questions please ask any of our staff members. Now let’s empower each other for greatness.

CJ’s Spicy Salsa

Clean Eating, Diet, Meal Prep, Nutrition

It’s Wednesday so that means it’s time for meal of the week. We at Union Fitness love a good spice and nothing says spicy food like a cold day, so with winter creeping upon us we give you this recipe from Charles Jasper (CeJ, CJ, CG).

If you’re looking for some quality spice in your life, I suggest you try out this tasty salsa recipe. After my buddy Anthony B tried it out, he gave me his high five of approval. I’m not a guy that follows recipes to a tee but here is the baseline of ingredients .

CeJ’s Salsa Party
1-14.5oz can diced tomatoes
1-10oz can diced tomatoes w green chili
3- cloves of garlic
1/2-onion of your choice
2- jalapeños
Couple squeezes of honey( I used hot honey)
1/2- Cup of cilantro
A Bump of Salt
Lime Juice
Toss all these into the blender, pulse it up and enjoy!
Stay Spicy my friends,
CeJ