Burning off the Feast!

Happy Holidays!  Let the celebrations begin.
Between now and the new year there will be parties, shopping, drinks and FOOD.  Oh...the FOOD!

Many magazines and trainers will be ready to show you the 'top 30 ways' to avoid overeating on Thanksgiving.  What!?  I'm all about eating on special holidays.  After all, I only eat sweet potatoes with marshmallows once per year, why would I want to skip it?

What I do advise is increasing your activity around the holidays.  An extra workout or two per week, a little longer, work a little harder...  I certainly don't skip a dish on Thanksgiving nor do I skip a Christmas cookie but you may find me in the gym a little bit more.

Tomorrow morning before the big feast my boot campers will get some insight on how many calories are in some of the dishes they may be serving and just how hard it can be to burn it off.  If they weren't motivated to work harder before the meal, I hope they will be motivated to do some extra work in the week following.
Below you'll find approximate calories in these dishes and about how many calories you will burn off doing the exercise it's paired with.

The menu totals 1787 calories.  If you get through the workout 2x you'll burn about 350 calories on average.  You can see, it will take some extra work to make up for your splurges so be sure to work hard!
Happy Thanksgiving :)

Spinach Dip: 2tbsp = 130 kcal

2 Suicide Runs on Track (fast as you can!!)

= 20 kcal.

Pumpernickel Bread: 1 slice = 65 kcal

30 Tricep Extensions = 5 kcal.

Bacon wrapped dates w/ goat cheese (5pcs.) = 223

30 Squats w/ Kick = 28 kcal

Turkey J: 4oz = 120 kcal

25 Bicep Curl-to-Shoulder Press = 17 kcal.

 

Mashed Potatoes & Gravy: 5oz = 120 kcal.

40 walking lunges w/ glute raise = 20 kcal.

Sweet Potatoes w/ Maple Glaze: 3oz = 130

Jog Lap (medium pace) = 8 kcal./min.

Stuffing: 1oz = 160 kcal.

Step Ups (30 each side) = 16 kcal.

Dinner Roll w/ butter = 140 kcal.

Run Lap (fast) = 11 kcal./min

Pumpkin Pie: 1 slice = 229 kcal.

Jump Rope 100x (fast) = 20 kcal.

Apple Pie: 1 slice = 277 kcal.

10 Burpee w/ Med Ball = 10 kcal.

Wine: 4oz glass = 115 kcal.

8x per side - Turkish Get Up (modified) = 10 kcal.

Champagne: 1 serving = 78 kcal.

Incline Back Row-15 each side = 8 kcal.

 

 

 

Making fitness a family affair

Kids have boundless energy, or at least they should.  You'd be surprised how un-fit many kids can be.  Of course young children do not need to start a workout regimen but when they start to get about middle school age it's a great idea to get the entire family into being healthy and active.

This has always naturally come to my family considering my line of work.  From the time Taylor was a toddler she was involved in some way; sitting on her dad's back while he did push-ups, getting a piggy back ride from me while I did lunges across the back yard, mimicking my back yard workout moves...
As she got older and started playing sports she became more involved in our activities.  In the summer we would hit the lakefront trail as a family and do the exercise stations down the path from Diversey Harbor, if she had a day off school and tagged along to one of my boot camps she would want to jump in and often calling out campers for doing push-ups on their knees (Yikes!) and now that she is a young athlete she participated in conditioning over the summer to stay in shape for soccer season.

There are lots of ways to be active with the kids.  My daughter is only 11 so she is not on a hard-core workout plan. She has soccer practice 2x per week and 1-2 games per week.  This is quite enough in season.  When she is working out with us over the summer we try to keep it fun and light.  She has not worked out with anything more than her own body weight.  We have gone for short runs, sprints (which she loves because she is way faster than me!), played exercise games and partner exercises.  I keep the plyometric work low for her since all her joints are still growing and not yet set.  Besides light jogs and agility we work on planks, do push ups, bear crawls, lunges, core and lots of stretching.  You'd be surprised how UN-flexible kids are.

As I mentioned she does this in the summer when not playing soccer and this past summer was the first time she worked out on a regular basis, 2x per week.

Not every child or family wants to do a traditional workout together.  Here are more ideas you can use to get your family moving:

• Bike Rides
• Hit the park and try tennis.
• Go to the beach and take games with you instead of hanging in your chair; volleyball, Frisbee, football...
• Walk the family dog together.
• Learn how to roller blade.
• If your child is old enough try paddle boarding in the summer.
• Check out places like Sky High and have fun together bouncing all over the room on trampolines.
• Good old fashioned game of kickball or t-ball at the park.

If your kids are old enough and used to hanging out with their ipad or kindle they may groan at first but once you get everyone going they will appreciate the time you are spending with them.

Being active with your kids will build memories, bonds and health.

 A few years ago; Halloween Kids Dash.

  Partner Push Ups

 Partner Abs

 Partner Jumps

 My little assistant showing off her front kick.

 This year assisting me at a fundraiser boot camp.