Say hello to my newest obsession: Edamame Noodles. 

 

I stumbled upon these bad boys at Aldi this weekend while my kids were searching for the perfect noodle. (Unbeknownst to me, I might have found mine too!) They settled upon linguine and I popped these organic, gluten free & vegan noodles in the cart too.  A good gluten free noodle is hard to come by, so naturally I was a little wary.  I’m happy to report that they got a gold star from me!

 

• Tastes good
• Fast cook time
• Cheap
• Healthy
• Versatile

 

I’m always excited to find a noodle that has a hefty amount of protein and just one serving (about 2 oz dry) packs a massive 24g of protein, only 20g of carbs and 3.5g of fat.  Wins all around!

 

For lunches this week, I tossed the noodles in about ½ teaspoon of pesto sauce and a sprinkle of parmesan cheese, paired with BBQ grilled chicken and fresh from the farm green beans.

Food log 7/3

 

I have recently moved- the downside is my commute is no longer down the stairwell, out the door, and into UF.  But I love where I’m living- beautiful location, more space, and a patio – so it has been a great decision. One of the biggest upgrades is the size of the kitchen. The kitchen that I have available to me now is probably double the size of the kitchen that was in my studio. I love it, which only encourages me to cook more often. With that being said, I have been able to try new dishes rather than just eating bison and rice. I have cooked all sorts of delicious summer food’s from chicken with homemade mango salsa to a new pasta dish with chicken, basil, and parmesan cheese to homemade French toast in the morning. My first reaction is never take a picture of my meal when I am about to eat so unfortunately you don’t get to see any of those.

 

So this week, I have a pretty normal meal for you…

 

Sunny side up eggs, toast with almond butter and jelly, and a large slice of pineapple. 

 

I highly recommend almond butter. It can be a bit more pricey than peanut butter, but I prefer the taste.

 

I am still working on eating larger meals. I tend to under-eat so my goal is always to get enough calories for the day and I have to be especially conscious on training days because I need even more calories to fuel my training and recovery.

Lindsey’s Meal of the Week

It’s really just more of the same!

 

A few months ago I wrote about how I eat when I’m traveling, and it turns out I really don’t eat that much differently when I’m at home. My schedule has been pretty intense this month – between working some extra hours during the Iron City Open, traveling back and forth across the state (again), helping out a friend, and ramping up my training, I haven’t had a ton of free time to cook. Luckily, I have two staples that I can turn to in times of need. 

 

The first one is take-out! I’m lucky that I live in Squirrel Hill – there is so much variety in the food here, and plenty of healthy choices! While I don’t always pick out the healthiest things (the burgers at Murray Avenue Grill are secretly some of the best I’ve ever had), my absolute favorite is the grilled chicken hummus meal from Aladdin’s on Forbes. I get it probably once a week at this point. I also add one of their salads to round things out (and since I’m running so much, lots of pita for dipping). It really is as simple as some grilled chicken thighs and veggies on a huge bed of hummus. But it’s affordable, healthy, and means I don’t have to cook OR clean after a long day. 

 

 

When I don’t feel like ordering take-out (AKA when I’m trying to be better about money), I always keep some quick cooking staples around – namely the same bags of pre-chopped salad I talked about in my last food log, frozen salmon fillets, and fruit. As soon as I walk in the door after work, I throw the salmon in some water to quick defrost, then take my hyper little dog for a walk. When I get back, he gets fed, I cook that salmon up, mix the salad, throw some fruit in a bowl, and sit down to finish whatever work I have left that day.

 

It’s not the fanciest, but it keeps me going when I don’t have a lot of time for prep. While yes, it would be easy to let my cravings take over when I’m this busy, I know that my training goes WAY better when I’m feeding myself well, and that’s a huge priority in my life. These are just some of the ways I’ve found to make my lifestyle work for me!

Meal of the Week

Alison Yee

 

This weekend I meal prepped 30 meals for my sister, brother in law and myself in under an hour. My weekends tend to be fairly busy but I prioritize meal prepping because I know how much I fall apart during the week without taking the time to plan ahead.  I remotely coach and program for my siblings and decided to meal prep for them as well because, honestly, I was sick of their bitching.  The constant choir of “Why am I not losing body fat?!?” and the “I swear I’m doing everything right!” was so irritating in the way that only family members can irritate that I had no choice left but to take over their kitchens. 

 

 

This week’s lunch is:

• Roasted potatoes with peppers and onions/ 150g
• Lime and cilantro seasoned chicken/ 5oz
• Wild arugula/ 1cup
• Crumbled blue cheese/ 1oz
• Organic Power to the greens/ 1 cup 

 

Protein: 37.9g  Carbs: 35.2g  Fat: 25.0g  Calories 518

Meal of the week, Ryan McUmber

 

I try not to eat out often. This usually leads to a mystery of what you are actually eating. Unfortunately many restaurants usually use a variety of unhealthy ingredients, that are far more cheaper for them to use. 

 

For this reason I have a list of places around the city that I can trust to know that simple ingredients are going into my stomach. Today I chose  Federal Galley’s new taco place- Guapo! The original taco place, El Lugar,   will be moving to their own place, which is unfortunate for me but great for them. I guess I’ll just have to drive to go see them now. Guapo was great though!  Each taco has ingredients that you can clearly pronounce or even buy at your local farmers market.

 

Now I have some rules that come to restaurants on my list. One I already listed was I want know what the ingredients and that I clearly know that they can get from the farmer without any or much processing as possible. Second the vegetables need to look happy. For example if I get salad that looks sad, then I probably won’t be going back. Third, they need to be relatively quick. Quality should be first, always, but this list is made of restaurants that I go to in a pinch- so speed is essential too.

 

Of course these places are hard to find and/or more expensive but when it comes to putting nutrients in your body, it’s definitely worth it. So I recommend building your list, that way when you are on the run you can still stick to your goals of building a well-oiled machine. 

Everything but the Bagel Oatmeal

-great for weight training

 

The savory oatmeal is inspired by a client of mine. I wanted to try my own spin on it, so here’s what I have for you:

½ cup or 40g of Quick Oats

¼ cup of Pumpkin Seeds

1-2 Poached Eggs

Preferred amount of Thyme + Garlic

A lovely serving of Pink Himalayan Sea Salt and Black pepper

Handful of Spinach + Kale

Throw Trader Joe’s Everything but the Bagel seasoning all over the top

 

First: 

Boil 6 ounces of water. Once boiling, throw in the oats. Stir. Add thyme, garlic, sea salt, and pepper. And simmer for 1-2 minutes. Then throw oats in a bowl and mix in pumpkin seeds.

 

Second:

Start boiling water for poached egg. A little grandma trick- pour in a small amount of vinegar so the egg whites form around the egg to prevent the separation madness. Create spinning vortex and drop in the egg, let simmer for 1-3 minutes depending on your preference of dippy-ness.

 

Third:

Add spinach and kale on top of oats. Next add egg(s). Sprinkle Trader Joe’s Everything but the Bagel season all over and eat! 🙂

For context:

 

• I haven’t been training with any consistency. 
• I am using intermittent fasting for two reasons
  • Convenience- it’s nice to put off that first meal until the afternoon
  • Auto-immune support- this style of eating has been shown to help those with AI diseases
• I have shoulder surgery scheduled for next week
• My primary goal right now is to let my body rest and reset

 

This meal is from a meal prep company. I’ve been using them for two weeks and I like it for now because it’s done for me and it’s bland. There aren’t any extra ingredients and it’s not cooked with anything that could upset my GI tract- no unknown ingredients or cheap cooking oils.

 

Ingredients:

Grass Fed Ground Bison

Sweet Potato

Rice boiled in chicken broth

Spinach

Red pepper

I added more salt and Pre packaged guac from Costco (only ingredients are avocado, lime, salt, and pepper)!

This meal is about 700 calories. 

 

Overall my day looks like this:

Meal 1 at 1pm- Ground Bison meal

Meal 2 at 4pm- Ground Bison meal

Meal 3 at 9pm- Whatever looks good! Sometimes Chicken or Filet from Butcher Box. Sometimes my mom drops off dinner when she stops over to take care of the dogs. (I’m a momma’s boy through and through.) 

 

So my days right now are running 2500 calories, but understand my activity is almost nothing -I walk my dogs each morning and that’s about it. I sit most of the day. And my bodyweight is roughly 85% of what I typically walk around at. So keep in mind this is a snapshot of what I’m doing NOW with a very focused goal- REST. After surgery and when I get the clear from my GI doctor, my calories will easily double as I increase activity. And actually my body composition will improve with an increase in calories. Crazy, right? Not really- this is why we push #powerful and resistance training. Our systems, when taxed and fed properly, can respond in incredible ways.

 

 

I certainly could meal prep this on my own, but I’m dedicating too much time to other things.

First being my dogs- they’re requiring some ‘retraining.’

Second being Union Fitness- we have some big changes coming in the fall and I’m putting in a lot of work, along with our team, into changing the way we do things. It will still be the same us, but we’re exploring new ways to help YOU!

 

Fasting, is it for Everyone?

 

Fasting. The buzziest word of 2017, 2018, 2019, and probably for a few more years.  Or maybe it is just on my mind. You know when you are buying a car and you want a yellow car- then you start to see yellow cars everywhere. It’s not the influx of yellow cars now on the road, it’s your brain looking for this. So, now “fasting” is EVERYWHERE to me.

 

To be honest when I heard the word, I would sigh, take a breath, and ask why? Most responses were “I don’t know, my friend is doing it” or “I want to lose weight so this will shorten my window of eating.” Ok, I guess I understand the logic behind shortening the window. I also never gave it a chance to have an opinion. So, what did I do? I tried it to see how my body would respond. Before I get into it, I want to give some information on what fasting is.

 

What is Fasting or Intermittent Fasting (IF)? Fasting is the absence of eating for a period of time. This is voluntary and different from starvation which is involuntary. You have a feeding window and you have a fasting window. An example of a popular fasting ratio is 16 hours of fasting and 8 hours of feeding. Keep in mind of those 16 hours, 7-8 hours should be spent sleeping. Your reasoning will be different from the next. Some do it for health benefits, weight loss, etc. while others do it for spiritual reasons. 

 

Fasting was not created in 2019 by the most recent Instagram famous fitspo. It is something our bodies are born to do. Our bodies are equipped and ready at any moment to prepare for long periods of time before the next feeding. How? Our body fat is the fuel to our intricate system. In other words, your body eats itself. This leads into some of the reasons people start this in the first place.

 

*Mind you fasting does not mean instant ‘fat burning.’ Our bodies will burn muscle before fat in a caloric deficit IF we do not lower our glycogen stores (through a low carb diet or consistent intense training to keep those stores low), which is not the recipe for improved body composition. 

Low glycogen stores + interval strength training = optimal fat burning. 

 

Autophagy. When fasting, our cells go through a process called autophagy. This is the degradation and recycling of cells, a way for the body to throw away old crappy cells, organelles, etc. I will quickly tell you why our body does this because we all need to know why things happen in order to connect to a concept. When we eat, insulin increases. When we don’t eat, and need some glucose, our body increases glucagon, a hormone used to break down stored glycogen. Remember, our body needs energy. Glucagon is released more often when we fast. Glucagon stimulates autophagy. Autophagy can happen anywhere in the body, including in the brain. Research has shown some benefits to fasting for the prevention of degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and even cancer- shown to help clean up abnormal proteins that are prevalent in these diseases.

 

 

Other reasons people fast are for (POSSIBLE) increased fat burning, weight loss from shortened feeding window, management of type 2 diabetes, mental clarity, increased growth hormone, cell cleansing, and reduction of inflammation. Please keep in mind that these cool benefits are not promised and often take more than just a manipulation of your feeding window to reap the benefit. Some of these take lifestyle changes such as food choices, exercise, and other interventions. Fasting is not the end all be all. So, I am here to tell you how my body reacted and why fasting is not for everyone. 

 

If you are curious on how fasting will react with your body I recommend doing some research into what fasting window is right for you and, if your body is in the right place for it. Some great resources are Dr. Rhonda Patrick at www.foundmyfitness.com (her podcast is great too), Dr. Satchin Panda, and Dr. Jason Fung.

 

Fasting windows: DISCLAIMER: Please talk to your doctor before trying any of the extreme fasts, they are absolutely not for everyone and can result in dangerous outcomes.

13:11 (the circadian fast – 13 hours of fasting, 11 hours of feeding) (The non-extreme and the one that works best for me) (Dr. Satchin Panda is a great resource for this!)

16:8 (16 hours of fasting, 8 hours of feeding)

20:4 (20 hours of fasting, 4 hours of feeding)

24-hour fasting

5:2 (5 days of eating, 2 days fasting and of on the 2 days you are allowed to consume 500 calories)

Extended fasting (greater than 48 hours, this is extreme and can result in micronutrient deficiency)

 

My fasting experience. I fasted for 3.5-4 weeks. I trained fasted. I did the 16:8 fast. Stopped eating around 7:15 at night and did not eat again until 11:15 am the next day. I was enamored by the fact that my body was able to sustain without food for 16 hours because I LOVE TO EAT and I have always been a breakfast person. Here is how my body reacted. The first week I felt great. I loved having a small feeding window of 8 hours. I ate non-stop, so it felt. I think I dropped 1 pound the first week. Probably because my body was confused. But, let me tell you about the rest of the 2-4 weeks. I felt chronically fatigue, my training felt sluggish with zero energy, my brain felt foggier than ever, and I was bloated like a kid on Christmas (makes no sense), but you get the idea. I started wondering if this was for me. I thought maybe the symptoms would go away after my body acclimated to this change. Nada. I did some research. Women, this one’s for you.

 

Fasting is a form of intermittent starvation, voluntary, but starvation at best. Your body does not know the difference of voluntary and involuntary starvation. The female body is protective, period. Our intricate and amazingly beautiful bodies want to stand up and protect at any moment from famine, danger, etc. So, reproductive hormones start to decrease because our bodies do not see the success of nurturing a growing child when food is low. You are signaling to your hypothalamus (H-P-G axis), the main conductor of this train of hormones, that food may not be around and therefore the system changes, downregulates. The hypothalamus likes food to be spread throughout the day to feel confident that you are ok. Your hypothalamus is not only the conductor of your menstrual cycle, it also plays into other important hormones such as cortisol, thyroid, etc. 

 

My experience with hypothalamic amenorrhea in the past tells me that fasting is like playing with fire. Sure, 12-13 hours of fasting is quite normal and typically how my lifestyle falls in to place, but extending the hours gets tricky. A few other reasons fasting is often not warranted for women: if pregnant due to possible nutrient and calorie deficiencies, breastfeeding due to a reduction in milk supply and hypoglycemia, past eating disorder due to a reinforcement of binging periods and anxiety around eating, and over all hormonal imbalances. Fasting is not warranted for certain medical conditions and should be discussed with a Physician before starting. Keep in mind other situational factors that can potentially alter electrolytes and put you at risk for fluid imbalance i.e. high intensity exercise, traveling, periods of high stress, lack of sleep, etc. should be considered before choosing fasting protocols.

 

OK, all in all fasting has its many benefits and there are plenty of podcasts, PubMed articles, and books out there that show some significant changes in health markers, weight loss- if in a calorie deficit, and cognitive improvements. If you try it, give it more than 2 weeks to allow your body to go through an acclimatization period and for your daily habits to adjust. Fasting also has its downfalls, so take all this information with a grain of salt. Be skeptical, question, do your research, know your body, and be mindful of your experience if you do try it. If you have any questions, especially women, please feel free to reach out.

 

Alexa Ferri

It’s mid-December and the holiday season is now fully upon us. What does that mean? Probably a little less time in the gym, a few more cookies than usual, and hopefully a lot more time with friends and family. Good things all around in my humble opinion.

If you’re traveling over the next few weeks, you might be feeling a little anxiety about skipping your workouts and training sessions. Here are a few quick and maybe unexpected tips to help keep you on track:

Stop stressing.

Hey you, when’s the last time you actually took a prolonged rest? Did I hear never? Well, look’s like now is your time! And what better occasion could there be to give your body the rest it needs to recover than when spending lots of quality time with your loved ones? You’ll likely be eating a little more than usual, giving your body some extra fuel to use towards recovery. When January 1 comes around, you’ll feel refreshed and super motivated to get back to your normal training routine.

You can still keep your health goals in mind.

Remember that not every meal in the month of December is a holiday meal – most of the time you’re going to be eating the normal, healthy food that fuels you. Right? If not, give that some thought. Holiday food is delicious and should be savored, and it loses its luster when you’re overindulging. Eat grandma’s famous nut roll and enjoy the hell out of, but not every night for a week. You are capable of moderation, and your body will thank you for it.

Use travel as an opportunity to try new fitness things.

One of my favorite things to do when I go home to visit family is to try out different gyms and studios. Never tried yoga? Find a local studio and rent a mat! Climbing gyms abound recently and are a ton of fun, even for casual climbers. Think spinning isn’t for you? You might be surprised.

If you’re looking for a cool place to lift, don’t hesitate to ask the UF staff! We may know a place that suits you (we’re all meatheads after all).

If you’re going to lift, consider simplifying your training.

Union Fitness is a pretty sweet spot and we have a lot of cool equipment you probably won’t find at your basic commercial gym. Be flexible in your training for these few weeks. It’ll be easier on you mentally to head into the gym and just focus on the basics. This doesn’t mean you can’t push yourself! Maybe this is the week you give try a set of 20 reps on your squats?

No access to a gym? Work out at home with Fitness Blender!

I recommend Fitness Blender to friends all the time for travel workouts. They have tons of workouts that can be done with just your bodyweight (or you can include any equipment you have access to). You can choose how long you want to work out for, what body parts, and what type of training.

When in doubt, do burpees.

They’ll destroy you no matter where you are or what you’re doing.

Happy Holidays from the Union Fitness Team!

One of my favorite questions- “what supplements should I take?”

 

Everyone from mom and dad to Ray Lewis have turned to supplements at some point in their lives. Why? Sometimes out of necessity- doctors orders. Sometimes to gain a perceived edge over their competition. And sometimes out of ignorance.

 

I don’t want to comment on the morals of the fitness industry- it’s a rabbit hole I’m no interested in going down for the sake of this article. The industry as a whole is “OK.” But I’m going to be critical of the supplement industry, and deservedly so.

 

Supplements ARE NOT regulated by the FDA. They can be made in someone’s kitchen, branded, marketed, and sold anywhere, even GNC. Of course GNC decides what to carry and what not to carry, but no matter what, NONE of the items on their shelves are FDA approved. Do I think the FDA regulations do a good job of protecting us- the short answer is no. But would ANY oversight in the supplement industry be helpful- yes.

 

CAVEAT EMPTOR (Buyer Beware)

Fat burners, Testosterone boosters, Weight gainers, Detox pills…the list goes on.

 

Fat burners raise your heart rate, period.
Test boosters lower your estrogen levels so your testosterone is higher (relative).
*FYI gents, we need estrogen just as much as we need testosterone.
Weight gainers are typically loaded with sugar.
Detox pills…how about let your liver and kidney’s do their job?

 

So we’re back to the question that almost everyone asks- “What supplements should I take?”

 

How about this- “Should I consider taking a supplement?”

 

A supplement is defined as something that completes or enhances something else when added to it.

 

Answer these questions honestly, and you can very quickly determine what, if anything, you should be taking:

 

• Are you getting 8+ hours of sleep per night?
• Are you hitting your caloric maintenance number?
  (A surplus will cause you to gain weight, a deficit will cause you to lose weight- obviously goal dependent)
• Have you had blood work done to determine if you may be deficient in any vitamins or minerals?

 

If you aren’t eating well balanced meals or are getting a lot of processed foods, you’re missing out on essential micronutrients (vitamins and minerals). If you aren’t getting 8 hours of sleep, your body’s hormones are already out of whack. And if you don’t know what, if anything, you’re deficient in, why supplement? You don’t even know what you’re supplementing.

 

And supplementing poor habits is a waste of money. Eat healthy. Sleep more. If you can’t take commit to those things, put your wallet back in your pocket and save your money.

 

Now, I realize most of you will not go through all of this before supplementing. So I’ll give you the basics, as I see them. This is not a recommendation and I am not a doctor.

 

ZMA
Zinc, Magnesium, B6
One of the greatest supplements ever invented. It will help you sleep and provides two minerals that the majority of the population is deficient in. *the most bang for your buck

 

Vitamin D3
We don’t get enough sunshine in Pittsburgh, so this is likely another area where you could be deficient. It will take months after starting supplementation to see a significant improvement in levels, but this should all be checked through blood work. Remember, it is fat soluble, so it needs to be taken with food that contains fat.

 

Magnesium
I prefer glycinate because it is absorbed easily with little GI discomfort. Too much magnesium will having you running to the bathroom, so start with small doses. Again, most people are deficient here. Magnesium is used in over 300 chemical reactions within the body…it’s important. And if you go to the gym regularly, you need more than the average none gym goer to put it technically.

 

Creatine
This is one of the most studied supplements ever. It helps with athletic performance by facilitating ATP production (ATP, if you remember from high school biology, is cellular energy). If you dose this too high, it will strain your kidneys.

 

Moral of the story- don’t try any of these without consulting your doctor.
Sleep more.
Eat better.
Then supplement, maybe.