Phocus on physical phitness

From the time I was about 15 years old I’ve had various gym memberships. I’ve been fairly faithful with going too. Even in college- that elliptical machine was my jam. A leisurely hour at the gym was the norm.

Now days it’s a different story. I may have 20 minutes either at the gym or at home to cram in my strength training and cardio. Fortunately technology helps me out here as there are some super helpful FREE workout apps and videos.

Here are some of my go-to’s for workouts:

-MapMyRun app/MapMyRun.com. GPS trackers (is that what they’re even called?) like Garmins are super popular amongst runners, so I feel pretty low tech with using this app, but hey it works. My husband and I use it- and the corresponding website- to map out our potential runs so we can determine distance. When you’re out on your run, the app keeps track of that distance and your time. According to my husband’s MapMyRun, our half marathon the other weekend ended up being 13.5 miles. Eek. Should’ve taken those corners a little tighter, huh? This app doesn’t have to be for running- use it for walking too when you want to track your distance!

-Nike Training Club app. This is the mother load of workout options. Top level athletes create workouts of various intensity and duration and the app shows you visually how to do each exercise. Last week I tried to do a 5 minute just-using-your-own-body-for-resistance workout and I literally only made it 2 minutes in. It. Kicked. My. Butt. Burpees! Why are they so easy when you’re 8 years old, and the worst thing ever when you’re an adult?

-YouTube! I feel like a bit of a chump because I used to buy brand new exercise DVDs (and uhh I might have a few dusty VHS tapes laying around). If you do a search on YouTube, there are MILLIONS of workouts- from beginning yoga to 10 minute core to full body workouts. You can find free Jillian Michaels videos and my fave- Jackie Warner.

What are some of YOUR favorite apps and sources for keeping physical activity feeling fresh and challenging?

A beast among mothers

YOU GUYS. This past weekend it felt like full-on summer. 80 degrees! Sun! Pool! Thinking-I-should-turn-on-the-dang-air-conditioner-but-sweating-it-out-instead!

I’m feeling like a beast among women for all the stuff I tackled. Our weekend started off with running the Maple Grove Half Marathon. Beautiful course, but holy hills. My mantra for the 13.1 miles became “I EAT HILLS FOR BREAKFAST!”

Whatever works, I tell ya.

Then the rest of Saturday and essentially all day Sunday was spent in the yard digging up our landscaping. The goal is to eventually get a fence and instead of having unkempt rose bushes, have unkempt raspberry bushes. Undigging roots and ripping them up is a bear of a task and I’m proud of everything I accomplished (ok, with some help from the husband).

Our reward was a tasty meal of grilled pizza while the kiddos played in the pool.

Grilled pizza is one of those things that seems intimidating, especially the dough. Anything that involves yeast makes me nervous. Do I have to knead for exactly five minutes? How do I know if I’m kneading hard enough? WHAT IF IT DOESN’T RISE?

Here’s what’s become my foolproof recipe. I let the Kitchen Aid dough hook do the work, but you could also easily make this by hand.

Pizza Dough

3 ½ cups flour (I like a combo of half bread flour, half whole wheat flour. Bread flour yields a crispier crust, but I like to add the whole grain component of whole wheat flour as well)

1 teaspoon white sugar

1 envelope (1 ¼ tsp) instant dry yeast/active dry yeast

2 teaspoons salt

1 ½ cups water, 110 degrees F

2 tablespoons olive oil, plus 1 teaspoon

Measure out your hot water using a Pyrex. I just let my faucet water run hot, then add it- using an instant thermometer lets me gauge when it gets close to 110. Then I stir in the sugar, then sprinkle the yeast on top and let sit for five minutes.

Meanwhile in a large bowl, stir together flour and salt. If you have a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment, use that. If not, a wooden spoon and muscle power will be fine. After yeast-water has sat for the five minutes, stir it in to the flour along with the olive oil.

Stir until well combined and it’s formed a sticky doughy ball. At this point you could wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to a week. When you’re ready, resume with below.

In a separate large bowl, smear remaining 1 teaspoon olive oil. We don’t want the dough to stick to the bowl as it rises. Place the dough in the oiled bowl and turn around until it’s nicely coated with the oil. Cover the top tightly with plastic wrap and let sit in a warm place to rise, at least an hour. Hint- it was a warm day in our kitchen to mine was pretty well risen after just 45 min. In winter months I’ll turn my oven to 200 degrees for a few minutes, then turn off, and put the dough in the warmed oven to rise.

Dough is ready once it’s doubled in size. Spread some extra flour on your countertop. Cut dough in half. Roll out each half using a rolling pin- I tried to get mine as thin as possible, but go for whatever thickness you like. You can go circle-ish or rectangle-ish. Because our pizza was going on the grill, I spread some cornmeal on our baking sheets so we could easily slide the pizzas from the pan onto the grill. If you’re baking in the oven, you could omit the cornmeal.

Top with sauce and your favorite cheese and toppings combo. I love fresh grated mozzarella and fontina. Get creative with it.

Looking forward to seeing more of you real soon, summer. 

A day in my life

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A lot of times when I’m working with patients I’ll get asked “So what do you do?”

People get curious about how a dietitian aims to balance a healthy lifestyle with, well, real life.

Here’s a typical day in pictures.

Wake up at 5:15 for morning training run. My husband and I are doing a half marathon this weekend and we’ve been training for 12 weeks now. Woof. Nothing like paying a $75 entrance fee to get you motivated to stick with something.

Home by 6 to shower, get ready, and sneak in lunch packing and some dinner prep. My go-to breakfast is a fistful of whole grain cereal and a spoonful of natural peanut (ie no sugar added) peanut butter. Mid morning I’ll have my whey protein shake. I’m currently using BiPro unflavored along with Great Lake gelatin.

Get the kids in the car and we’re on our way to daycare then work.

Morning clinic starts at 8:30. I usually settle in and check emails and drink my tea.

Lunch break is an hour, which is fantastic- enough time to sneak in a quick strength training session at the gym we have on campus. I usually don’t bother changing my clothes unless I wore a skirt. The older I get, the less I care what other people might think!

Most of the time I'll have dinner leftovers for my lunch. If I didn't budget for an extra portion, then I'll hit the hospital cafeteria (I am VERY spoiled to have this as an option) for salad bar. After a quick chow-down, it's time for afternoon clinic. I counsel up to 12 patients per day. 

I pick up the boys and I’m home by 5:30. 

Tonight’s dinner is one of my faves- zoodles with roasted veggies and avocado-cilantro cream sauce, which I neglected to take a picture. Check out the old post though. 

After dinner we will go play outside. By that I mean the boys will play, and I’ll try to sneak in some yard work.

Bed by 8pm, then my husband and I crash not long after that!

Sleep annnnnnnnnnd repeat!

One recipe among millions

I find it kind of obnoxious when you come across a recipe that promises IT’S THE BESSSSSST EVERRRRRR of anything.

Like do a Google search for “Best Ever Brownies.”

You get 4,670,000 hits.

Yeeeeeeeah.

I mean that’d be a heck of a job to be the person who gets to verify ever stinkin’ recipe to narrow down who actually has the best ever brownies.

Maybe I like a fudgy brownie and you happen to like one that’s more cakey. To each their own!

And really, why am I talking about brownies anyway when we have TURKEY BURGERS to be talkin bout.

Sorry.

But not sorry, ‘cause these are BESSSSSSST EVERRRRRRR Turkey Burgers. I can’t not.

Please please please grill these rather than bake or pan fry. I mean you could, I would never judge, but if you’re gonna make these, then make the A+ version. They’re so easy to throw together and don’t take long on the grill at all. The burger plus the toppings together knock it out of the park.

Best Ever Turkey Burgers

-1 lb lean ground turkey

-1/4 cup steel cut (or regular cut) oatmeal, dry

-1 egg

-2 teaspoons dried parsley

-1 teaspoon ground black pepper

-1/2 teaspoon onion powder

-Assorted toppings (I used olive oil mayo, alfalfa sprouts, avocado, sliced tomato, and white cheddar cheese)

-whole wheat round thin buns (6)

Preheat grill to medium heat. Too hot of a grill will dry out the burgers. I trialed adding oats because I’ve found turkey burgers can easily get dense and dry. The oats help retain moisture, and they end up blending in with the meat. Trust me- no weird taste going on here.

Combine turkey, oats, egg, and seasonings in a bowl. Using a patty maker, or your hands, form into six patties roughly 1” thick. Grill for 3-5 minutes. Flip, and grill for an additional 5 minutes. Make sure internal temp registers 160 or higher (tip- insert thermometer horizontally through the burger to ensure you’re really hitting the true center of the burger).

Top with cheese for last minute on the grill to allow it to melt.

Per burger patty: 137 calories, 4.5 g carbs, 7 g fat, 15 g protein

If served like how I had mine: 350 calories

Now officially this joins the 1,760,000 other Best Ever Turkey Burgers floating around the internet.

You’re still thinking about brownies though, aren’t you?