Category Archives: Nutrition

Nutrition Debunking (Part Two)

Clean Eating, Meal Prep, Nutrition, , ,

Have you ever noticed that a lot of “fad diets” really stray away from consumption of carbs or labels will market foods as “low-carb,” this is a primary example of society conditioning us to believe a certain food group is bad without really allowing ourselves to process the truth. I’m going to flat out say it, CARBOHYDRATES ARE NOT BAD.

 

So, the question remains, why are we conditioned to believe carbs are bad? All good and tasty things we love have carbohydrates in them, such as: pastries, bread and snack foods. Ultimately these are things you want to eat in moderation but the sheer fact that carbs are marketed as bad leads us to believe we shouldn’t eat even the ones that do benefit us. The reality here is if the average person really looked into what they should be eating, we would find that most humans, if not all should be getting in at least 100g – 200g of carbs a day based on their specific needs and daily caloric intake. A lot of times when I have clients come to me I’m noticing if not all are in a deficit and not fueling their body properly, this comes as a shock when I actually start introducing more food into their diets. The responses I get are, “I feel like I’m eating too much,” “I feel like this is way too many carbs” – Mostly these feelings stem from eating whole and nutrient dense carbs (rice, oatmeal, sweet potatoes) energy sources that will keep you fuller for a longer period of time vs pastries, bread and snack foods that only curb that hunger feeling for maybe less than an hour.

 

The reason we see low-carb diets advertised for weight-loss is because it’s an easier grab of the consumers attention then actually taking the time to educate a client on eating in a deficit and working out as a sustainable approach. This is why diet culture is insanely toxic for the human mind/body and also at the same time very profitable. Like I said in part one of my Nutrition Debunking series, quick-fixes do not yield long-term results. The idea here that makes diet culture so profitable is that it requires the consumer to continuously come back for more, it’s basically an endless cycle of dieting. Do you really want to spend your entire life dieting on and off? I’d hope not. Telling the consumer carbs are bad or to eat low-carb creates lack of trust in an energy sources that our bodies need, we’ll get used to eating a lower and lower amount of calories until we are starving ourselves and then we’ll binge and find ourselves chasing that low-carb diet again that some Instagram influencer told us to do because juice cleanses are needed to feel “refreshed” again.

 

Honestly, aren’t you sick of dieting? Aren’t you tired of always feeling like you can’t have this or that? True nutrition education teaches nutrition professionals how to bring awareness to sustainable weight-loss that yields long-term results, habit building and trust creating relationships with all types of food. The truth to the whole “carbs are bad” or eating only “low-carb” is that it’s indeed fake news. You can have that doughnut or muffin and go about your day not feeling bad or feeling like you threw your whole day off because of one thing. Allow yourself to have the pastry and then go about your day choosing whole and nutrient dense foods, making good choices that fuel your body and making sure you are eating around your body weight in protein.

 

It is my ultimate goal to educate people on eating well and never telling yourself you can’t have something because honestly thats just dumb, why would you ever avoid foods that make you happy. Life is all about balance and being insanely restrictive isn’t fun, it creates stress, makes you unhappy and feel inadequate – Trust me I’ve done the whole restrictive thing. When we let ourselves enjoy we want it less, the desire to binge becomes undesirable and honestly we become a happier, healthier version of ourself. 

 

If you’re ever curious as to what you should be consuming, grab me and pull me to the side in the gym or DM me on Instagram (@jlemay). I’d rather spend 30 min with you making sure you are fueling your body and feeling your best than have you spend the rest of your life feeling like you have no idea what you’re doing or that you’re not seeing the results you want to see.

NUTRITION DEBUNKING (PART ONE)

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

What’s up guys, Jocelyn here. I’m super excited, overly passionate and invested about anything and everything nutrition related. After finishing my Nutrition Coaching cert through Precision Nutrition I’ve had so many opportunities to personally help and/or guide people through their own nutrition journeys. I’ve found consistently, even from just coaching in general that there are A LOT of nutrition myths out there, thus another nutritious blog post from yours truly (see what I did there?).

 

Misinformation exists, especially in the fitness world and it’s a huge problem for professionals in this industry trying to properly educate individuals. The market for dieting is growing every year, from weight-loss supplements, juice cleanses and meal plan templates, we are seeing the biggest marketing scheme for “quick-fixes” take over the health and wellness industry.

 

In this blog post I’m going to focus specifically on the diet culture within the fitness industry and providing educational and informational responses on why these chosen paths for weight-loss are ultimately damaging not only for your body but mental health as well.

 

Let me first clear things up, there are no quick fixes especially when it comes to weight-loss.

 

Getting right into it, I want to start off with this idea that we need to eat 1200 calories a day in order to see weight-loss happen. Here’s what will happen if you only consume 1200 calories, you will lose weight (awesome right? Not exactly), you will also lose some fat but also muscle. The biggest problem with restrictive eating is that your metabolism will eventually get used to eating at such a low caloric intake that you will have to continue to eat less and less calories to see progress in your weight-loss. The issue with this is that it creates an unhealthy relationship with food, it creates stress and stress comes with a whole list of things it does to your body. Having such a mentality leads to disordered eating, labeling food as “good or bad” and then eventually binging because you’ve deprived your body of what it needs for so long, this is not only harmful for your body but also your mind.

 

No person on this earth except for a child under eight that doesn’t exercise should be eating less than 1200 calories (according to the 2015 – 2020 Dietary Guidelines). As we get older the baseline amount of calories we need to function properly go up and they will also vary dependent on how active of a lifestyle we live and if/how hard we workout. This is why a one-size meal plan templates does not work and why juice cleanses are a superficial. The main reason why a one-size meal plan doesn’t work (side note: it may work for some people when its a customized plan for their specific needs) however, we are all different and that means the amount of calories we need is different from say myself and what my fellow co-worker Curtis needs to fuel his Powerlifting training. Therefore, buying a one-size fits all meal plan template from an Instagram influencer might not be the best move for long-term sustainable success.

 

Let’s move onto juice cleanses, a market that has generated $215 million dollars in 2012 (according to market research firm NPD group via Harvard Health). The biggest issue I have personally with juice cleanses is that they claim to “detoxify” your body when in actuality your body comes equipped with a natural detox system AKA your kidneys and liver. If you have healthy kidneys and liver they will filter blood, expel toxins and cleanse your body 24/7. Juice cleanses will profit off of detox marketing and misguide people thinking this is what they need to do to rid their body of waste so that they feel healthier. These cleanses are generally low in calories and in-turn result in weight loss, however the real question here is what do the participants do once they have finished their cleanse? Just because you rid your body of all the “toxins” within it doesn’t mean you can go back to how you were eating before and evermore your internal desire to binge will be high due to restricting yourself for days. We also need to pay attention to how much protein the body is getting, even if you are vegan/vegetarian these diets still get a healthy amount of protein to maintain muscle mass. Juice cleanses have little to no protein in them, overall the juice cleanse is just a “quick-fix” to a long-term problem.

 

Good nutrition comes from education on whole and nutrient dense foods, a stress-free and relationship centered focus in regards to food. Restricting calories, following diets that are a one-size fits all approach or thinking quick-fixes are going to get the job done is not going to promote health for the long-term. Nutrition Coaches like my myself focus solely on making sure the client in eating enough food to sustain a healthy weight while also reaching their goals, the biggest myth of all is that you need to starve yourself to lose weight when in reality you probably need to eat more than you already are now to achieve your weight-loss goals.

 

Next time you’re scrolling through social media pay closer attention to what type of information you’re taking in and if you have specific nutrition questions, stop me in the gym next time you see me and/or stay tuned for part two!

 

Much love,

 

J

 

References:

Publishing, Harvard Health. “Juicing — Fad or Fab” Harvard Health, health.harvard.edu/healthy-eating/juicing-fad-or-fab.

“Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2015” 2020 8th Edition 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines, health.gov/our-work/food-nutrition/2015-2020-dietary-guidelines/guidelines/.

Chef CeJ

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

Hello Union Chefs

 

Today it’s time to get on the line and run a dish on the fly (chef jargon).

 

Here is what is on the menu at Cafe de Union;

 

Fresh As Heck Cucumber & Tomato Salad

 

Quiche Me I’m Irish…Maybe

 

Pineapple Express & Spicy Shrimp Battle Spears

 

Shake Shake Shake Shakshuka 

 

FAH Cuc & Tomato Salad Recipe

 

I’m a big farmers market fan and do my best to get the majority of my produce from these cool pop up markets. Thankfully Union’s own Big Cod “Farmer Fran” Miller brought in some of that fresh fresh produce.

 

Ingredients: Cucumber, Tomato, Hot Pepper, Green Pepper, Garlic, Olives, Onions, Olive Oil, Wine Vinegar, Salt , a weeee bit of Suggaa. Slice, dice, pour, mix, clap your hands and just like that you have yourself a Fresh As Heck Salad!

 

Quiche me I’m Irish…formerly known as Quiche By A Rose Recipe 

 

I like pies and I like breakfast things, so we put it all together.

 

Ingredients: All the Veggies you like, Hot Peppers, Sweet Pepper, Onions, Garlic, Tomatoes, Parsley, Fan Favorite Cheese, Eggs, Heavy Whip It Good Cream, Salt, Pepper, Pie Crust.

 

Sauté up the veggies while the pie crust is baking in the oven and then toss those veggies into a bowl with the eggs, cream and whip it up real good. When you’re ready, pour the mixture into the pie crust and let that puppy bake for about 20-30 minutes. Slice it up and enjoy.

 

Spicy Shrimp Battle Spears Recipe

 

Sweet heat on a fresh Summa Day!

 

Ingredients: Shrimps, Pineapples, Zucchini, Squash, Onions, Sweet Peppers, Mushrooms, Jalapeno, Garlic, Olive Oil, Lime, Red Pepper Flakes, Salt and whatever else you want to toss on the stick. Toss it in foil or right on the grill and let the magic happen.

 

Shake Shake Shake Shakshuka Recipe 

 

A meal all in 1 cast iron skillet.

 

Ingredients: Onions, Garlic, Peppers, Tomato Sauce, Tomatoes Diced, Eggs, Paprika, Chili Powder, Salt, Pepper, Cilantro & Parsley. Sautee all the veggies and sauce in the skillet. After about 10 minutes use a spoon to make a pot hole to crack 1 egg per hole in. Cover the skillet for a few minutes (depending on how “dippy” you like your eggs) Then garnish with the herbs, wipe the drool off your mouth and feast my friends.

 

As always, have fun cooking and devouring new meals! Stay spicy my young Chefs.

 

Cheers,

 

Chef CeJ

It Goes Beyond the Gym

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

You’ve probably heard it before, “ you can’t outwork a bad diet.” I mean you can try but at some point you’ll either hit a plateau with your goals or you’ll start feeling “blah” and those are things that happen when either you’re not eating enough or you’re not fueling your body with the proper nutrients it needs to perform simple daily tasks.

 

If you’re an athlete within your respected sport or a member of Union Fitness coming in at 5:30PM to get bumpy with CJ in #Powerful, you’ve probably more than likely heard someone or our staff briefly mention anything in regards to nutrition. Not only do we want our clients to perform to the best of their abilities but we also want them to feel good in their everyday life. This all starts and ends with the basics of good nutrition. Good nutrition can be defined as eating whole and nutrient dense foods. Generally in a good diet we want to look for foods that contain vitamins, minerals, complex carbs, lean protein and healthy fats. These foods include, vegetables, fruits, whole grains, beans, nuts and seeds, and lean protein (when prepared with little to no saturated facts or added sugars/sodium).

 

So back to the all defining phrase, “you can’t outwork a bad diet.” For example, let’s use an early 30’s female, who works a full-time job, eats out a lot, workouts 1 hour a day and likes to enjoy a glass of wine before ending her evening – This would be what her day looks like.

 

6AM Wake-Up

 

Breakfast: breakfast sandwich from fast-food chain + coffee

Heads into work for 9AM

Lunch: chicken salad with ranch and a diet soda

Afternoon snack: greek yogurt with granola + water

Leaves work at 5PM

Takes CJ’s 5:30PM #Powerful

Dinner: burger and fries + glass of wine

 

Now let’s break this down a little, overall she’s not eating terribly but we can nit pick at a few things. First, she’s not eating enough and more specifically she’s not eating enough whole and nutrient dense foods. Secondly, her fast-food breakfast sandwich, diet soda and a burger/fries will eventually leave her feeling the “blah” sensation at some point (if her eating is consistently like this). Her water intake is also very low and my overall observation is she just needs to replace a few things that would fuel her body better.

 

Let’s take a look at the same woman but with a better understanding of eating well.

 

6AM Wake-Up

 

Breakfast: glass of water, breakfast wrap (homemade) + coffee

Heads into work for 9AM

Snack: greek yogurt with granola/blueberries + water

Lunch: glass of water, chicken salad with balsamic dressing and a soda water

Afternoon Snack: Protein bar, banana + glass of water

Leaves work at 5PM

Takes CJ’s 5:30PM #Powerful

Post-Workout: Protein shake + granola bar

Dinner: Seafood pasta + glass of wine

 

After she has learned the basics of good nutrition she implemented a few things, increasing her water intake, increasing her protein intake, choosing drink options that are healthier and making sure her meals are portioned and opting for more homemade meals and whole foods. She is eating more and fueling her body for the simple things like daily tasks whilst getting the nutrients she needs to help her get through a PM workout.

 

The goal here is to understand that regardless if you want to gain muscle or lose weight, you’re going to need to eat but what your nutritional plan looks like is going to be specific to your own goals and your genetic makeup. While we’re at it too, diet culture has long engrained in us that we need to eat less to lose weight and thats not necessary the case (but thats another blog post for another time).

 

It all comes down to fueling your body for daily life and working out. So, whatever your goals may be keep in mind whole and nutrient dense foods are the answer, shop the perimeter of your grocery store and allow yourself to eat the things you love in moderation.

 

Much love,

 

J

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

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 Month, It’s not a cheat month!

Diet, Life Health, Nutrition

It is officially upon us the holiday season. This is the time of the year that stress levels tend to increase. We have family pressures, our time become less ours and more dictated by outside forces, we also have ample opportunity to eat poorly. I am here to tell you it’s ok and we will get through this better and ready to attack 2020! Here are 7 tips to make it through this holiday season guilt free and wearing the same pants size you do now (or maybe even an improved body).

  1. Don’t let guilt win. When at the holiday party enjoy yourself. The extra calories are fine as long as you don’t do it everyday.
  2. Don’t count calories at the party. Akin to the first tip, be a human and have some fun.
  3. Know when you cheated and get back on the right path the next day.
  4. Drink 1 gallon of water a day. Not only will it keep you full, it will also prevent you from consuming too many liquid calories.
  5. Forgo on the flavored holiday latte flavor before the party. Like a caveman drink real coffee for a few days.
  6. Keep track of weight and how your jeans fit. These two methods or measuring your stress levels have stood the step of time. If you see an unwanted increase don’t freak out just get back on track at your next meal.
  7. At the holiday party be sure to start at the veggie plate. Fill your stomach with some carrots before going straight to the desert tray.

Bonus tip;

Create a chart with 7 days and 4 boxes per day, each box represents an eating opportunity. Every day put a check in a box when you stuck to your plan. Put an x in a box when you cheated on your plan. Score yourself out each week. Do not be too harsh. If you only followed your plan 50% of the time then just get back at it next week and aim for 60%. If you try to be perfect all the time you’ll only get frustrated and fail. So enjoy the time with friends and family, get some exercise and enjoy the sweets, just not all of them.

 

 

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.