Veggin' Out // Two easy side dishes to add to your meals!

Written with love, by Nikki Lian

Feel like you’ve been busting your butt in the gym and not seeing the results you want to?   Sprint to the finish line by adding some veggies to your diet.  Vegetables contain copious amounts of vitamins and minerals you may be missing from your every day meal plan.  Vegetables also contain fiber, that helps regulate the body’s sugars and will keep your blood sugar and cravings in check.  Try replacing your rice and pasta this week with a couple of my favorite vegetables and let me know how they come out!

Brussels Sprouts

These wonderful little green cabbage look-alikes have a bad reputation if you’ve never tried one.  But in my opinion, they are in fact, delicious.  Not only do they have high levels of Vitamin C and K, they also contain sulforaphane, a phytochemical containing anti-cancer properties. 

Here’s how I cook them:

Chop off the bottoms so their leaves start coming off.  Spread the pieces out in a pan and shake on some salt and pepper.  Sometimes I even spray a little olive oil.  Bake them at 425 degrees for 12-18 minutes depending on your desire of crisp (I even put mine in the broiler for a few minutes so they get extra crunchy). 

Here you have a nice little side dish that goes with any type of protein you want to add to it.  Who needs complex carbs?

Yams

Yams contain antioxidants, which are compounds in plants that protect your cells from damage.  Yams also contain a ton of fiber and Vitamin A, which are great for your immune system.  You have to stay healthy with all this flu madness floating around!  I like to eat these when I’m craving French fries.  And believe it or not, it does the job. 

Here’s how I like to prep them:

First I wash them really, really well, especially if I’m going to keep the skin on.  Although the skin contains the brunt of the carbohydrates, it also has a lot of the fiber.  If you’re not a skin-on type of person, then you can peel the skin off.  Then slice them down.  Again I like crispy, so I slice them thin.  Sometimes I’ll feel a little fancy and cut them into the shape of French fries.  Either way, spread them on a greased (with olive oil) pan and add some sea salt.  These need to be in a bit longer than the Brussel sprouts.  I usually leave them in for about 20 minutes at 425.  You can stick these in the broiler as well, but make sure you keep an eye on them.  Bake them to your desire of crunch. 

Once prepared and cooled off a bit, you can eat them like that or, you can have your own home-made sweet potato fries and add some ketchup.

Look, I’m no Paula Dean, but I don’t have tons of time to be in the kitchen and like a lot of you, I get bored from the same old salads.  Add a boost of nutrients to your meals and take some time to vegg out!!

Full Body Burnout // At Home Exercises

Written with love, by Nikki Lian

An important event is coming up—a vacation, a party, your wedding…and between balancing work and your family and making plans you just haven’t had time to get to the gym.  Sleep is scarce because your life doesn’t stop just because a life-changing event is about to happen. 

Don’t put your body on the back burner! 

If you’re used to getting to the gym 5 times a week and working each body part for an hour, then you already know it can be time consuming.  So here are some equipment-free, body-weight exercises you can mix up into a workout that will take you only 20-30 minutes of your time that can be done pretty much anywhere.  And you don’t have to drive to the gym!

Lunges

Take a big step forward, landing your front foot flat and then bend both knees.  Your back heel will come off the floor.  In a basic lunge, try not to let your front knee pass your front toe.  Then, push off the front foot back into standing position.  You can do these in place, or you can do walking lunges where you keep moving forward alternating legs.  Lunges are great for your quadriceps and your glutes.

Walkouts

Start with your feet shoulder-width apart.  Squat down and walk out forward into a plank using your hands.  You should end up in a straight-armed plank position (or push-up position) with your hands underneath your shoulders.  Hold for 10 seconds, and then walk your hands back up toward your feet.  Stand all the way up to where you’re standing up straight.  Repeat five times. 

This will work your arms, hamstrings, shoulders and your core (abdominals and lower back).  You can also add a pushup to each walkout to work your triceps or chest as well.

Plié Squats

Widen your stance and turn your feet out.  Keeping your back straight, squat until you feel a stretch in your inner thighs, and then come back up, straightening your legs.  It’s really important to keep your back straight on this one.  I always tell my clients to pop their chest out to help them remember.  If you’d like to add calves to this inner-thigh exercise, once you’re legs are straightened go up on your toes.  This takes balance so you may have to adjust your stance a bit.

Alphabets

Lie on the floor with your back flat, legs out straight, and hands under your lower back for support.  Without touching the floor, “write” the alphabet with your legs keeping your feet together.  Try not bend your knees.  This is a great exercise for your lower abdominals.

Try to do three sets of 15 repetitions of each exercise when you can’t get in your regular workout.  You can also incorporate a few of these exercises into your own workout routine for some extra toning.  Again, things can get hectic but make exercise a priority and don’t stop moving! 

A Happy, Healthy Pet Brings A Happy Healthy You!

Written with love, by Nikki Lian

It's not uncommon for someone who is in a fit state of mind to want to share the health among loved ones.  When you look great and feel amazing, people want to know your secret. How did you lose that extra baby-weight?  What makes your hair so shiny and your skin glow?  Why do you always have so much energy?  These are questions people want to know about!  But what about our beloved pets?  My dogs are like my babies!  They can't speak to me (besides let's say, running to the door when they want to go out) and they probably don't know what's best for them. But I always make sure my "kids" get the proper supplementation they need.  Some people see their animals as "just pets."  I want Bronx and Brookelynn to live long, healthy beautiful lives--they are my family. Here are some nutrition supplements that I add to my puppies' diet. Some of them you may already use for yours!

And by keeping your fur-babies happy, you keep yourself happy and healthy when it is most needed, through the stresses of planning your wedding :)

Fish Oil

Brookelynn is a Whippet Mix and Bronx is a German Shepherd Mix. Bronx blows his coat two times a year to the point where I am sweeping my house two to three times a day. I started to give him 2000 mg of Omega-3 Fish Oil a day and the shedding decreased dramatically. As for princess Brookelynn, her coat is shinier than ever.  Fish oil also improves the immune system, increases stamina, and adds moisture to dry irritated skin.  The anti-oxidant properties of omega-3 fatty acids may also lower the risk of cancer.  For the correct dosage, start your dog on 1000mg per 30 pounds of body weight. But just like people, everyone is different so you should check with your veterinarian before starting you animal on this supplement. 

Rescue Remedy Pet

This all natural supplement supports calm behavior in pets, including dogs, cats and horses.  It comes in spray or liquid drop form, and it is a combination of five soothing flower essences that includes helianthemum, clematis and impatiens.  Brookelynn and Bronx were both stray dogs. Brookelynn has some serious separation issues, where Bronx is so anxious he will jump at the wind and hide behind me on a walk. Someone suggested Xanax, but I didn't want to go that route without trying something natural. They've both been on RR pet for three months now and along with their pet meditation music and being in their kennels, their anxiety has decreased substantially when I'm gone. And they don't seem "drugged out" as I feared they would with prescription medication.

Milk Thistle

I started using milk thistle on my late dog Nicho, who had Cushing's Disease. Nicho had a tumor on his pituitary gland that caused his body to produce too much cortisol. This was hard on his kidneys and liver. Milk thistle helps promote liver function. I decided to give it to Brooke and Bronx now, even though they are young.  Dogs eat everything.  You take them for a walk, they will sniff around and ingest anything from candy bar wrappers to cat poop. In the house they'll eat their non-edible toys and our shoes and furniture. This can't be good for the liver, which filters toxins so we can excrete them from the body. So even though you are feeding your pets a top-notch diet, adding milk thistle will help tremendously.  Again, always check with your vet on dosages, and they will have more insight on what's best for your pet. 

If you're an animal lover like me and have fur babies in your life (and want them there with you, happy and healthy on your wedding day), we want them to live as long and as good a quality of life possible. If we eat right, exercise and take our vitamins, why shouldn't they?