February 2014 – Jenna Jamieson, Author

Go meatless (sometimes)…and love it!

By Jenna Jamieson | February 26, 2014 | Comments 0 Comment

As I was working out tonight I was thinking about the blog and what might be a good entry this week. I recently started eating more meatless meals, not to lose weight, not because I think it is healthier, but because sometimes I just don’t crave meat or the thought of meat kind of grosses me out (at times) when I go to fix dinner. No, I am not a vegetarian and while I know that some people would say it is better for you, I truly believe in “everything in moderation.” I do what I feel is right for MY body and I suggest you do what you feel is right for yours, too! In all of my posts, I want to continually emphasize that you should always do what YOU think is best for you and take my advice or leave it, use some of it, and realize that I do not have the answers to each individual’s unique lifestyle and routine.

Since I have been going meatless more frequently than I usually do, I decided I actually kind of enjoy my meatless meals, maybe some more than the ones where I do eat meat. I typically enjoy “Meatless Mondays” each week, but I have now taken it even farther and decided to also eat at least one meatless meal per day. So, whether you already occasionally eat meatless or whether you never eat meatless I challenge you to “Meatless Mondays.” This is a great way to start and ease into what meatless meals can offer! I promise meatless meals can be just as delicious, fun to cook, and can make your creative juices flow! 🙂 This means you will eliminate meat on Mondays, so no meat at breakfast, lunch, or dinner! No cheating either! Sounds challenging maybe, but it really isn’t. Consider peanut butter toast and sliced apples for breakfast, grilled cheese and veggie soup for lunch, and pizza or pasta minus any meat for dinner.

Once you have “Meatless Mondays” down I encourage you to take it one step farther as I have by eating one meatless meal per day. That should not be hard and should be a routine that you already have in place. One meatless meal per day is actually very healthy as the consumption of meat at every meal is not necessary (or healthy)! It does not have to be the same meal each day. It can be breakfast one day, then dinner the next, followed by breakfast again, and then lunch the following day. For example, you might have a bacon, egg, and cheese biscuit for breakfast, a spinach and feta quesadilla for lunch, and then chicken parmesan with broccoli for dinner. You went meatless at lunch so you met your goal for one meatless meal that day.

You say that you can’t get full on meatless meals? I DON’T buy it! That’s crazy! Eat more veggies, which are one of the best things you can fill your body with! Consider some of the following if you don’t believe me: 1) veggie stir fry with brown rice 2) pasta with a meatless marinara sauce and garlic bread 3) sliced potatoes layered with cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, olives, and ranch dressing (potato nachos) 4) breakfast foods including eggs, hashbrowns, waffles, pancakes, french toast, biscuits 5) veggie pizza. You can’t tell me that none of these foods speak to you because it includes nearly every food group (and all are meatless)!

So, next time you sit down for a meal think MEATLESS! I know I do and my body still loves me and I feel great!

~jj

Small pieces to the health puzzle…

By Jenna Jamieson | February 22, 2014 | Comments 0 Comment

Need a few quick tips to keep you going through your workouts? Here are a few things I continuously keep on my radar to ensure I can get through my workouts without feeling tired or bored.

1. Get yours zzz’s. Sleeping is vital to ensure you feel refreshed. It helps get you through the whole day, and that includes your workout! Try to get 7-8 full hours of sleep each night.

2. Stretch. Just do it. Even if you are short on time, stretch before and after your workout. If you don’t think it will help, read last week’s post and it’ll help convince you! 🙂

3. Eat more fiber. Your body will thank you now and later. I promise!

4. Drink water, and plenty of it. What is plenty? At least 64 ounces each day! That’s eight 8 oz. glasses. It’s easy. Spread it out throughout the day…before meals, with meals, and between meals. Trust me, it’s worth it. Drinking plenty of water also helps give you a full feeling in your stomach, typically causing you to eat less.

5. Make your meals rather than eating out or on the run. You eat less healthy food when you eat on the fly. You tell me you don’t have time to make food? Pre-plan and pre-make food ahead of time. Fruits and veggies can easily be sliced and put in a container with water and lemon juice to keep them fresh, sandwiches can be pre-made, whole wheat crackers are an easy throw in. No excuses!!

6. Find a way to control your stress. I cannot emphasize this one enough. Stress is not good for your mind or body. What’s my way to destress? Working out and exercising, of course! 🙂

7. Drink…water, not lots of sugary drinks and alcoholic beverages. Bummer, right? Not necessarily. I am not saying give them up, just don’t over do it. Everything in moderation!

8. Try to limit how often you let your sweet tooth win AND find sweets that are “healthy” sweets. I sound crazy, right?! Not exactly. For example, eat a slice of whole wheat bread with Nutella or cinnamon sugar, chocolate mousse pudding, strawberries dipped in dark chocolate, etc. rather than a huge bowl of cookie dough ice cream or chocolate cake.

9. Exercise regularly. Not when you want to lose weight or because swimsuit season is coming. Those are great motivators, but exercising and maintaining your health is a continuous process. You can’t “diet” for a month, decide to go off the diet, and then back to your previous eating habits and expect to keep your results. You have to watch what you eat all the time. You don’t have to restrict your diet of all sugars or all carbs, but eat in moderation instead. You also can’t decide that you want to lose 20 pounds and then decide it’s time to start walking everyday or going to the gym. Exercise is a life long commitment. Why? Because exercise and eating properly keep your body happy and healthy. I promise.

These are little things I try to remember. Not things I just occasionally think about, but truly have engraved into my brain. Things that are in my phone and on my bulletin board, so they can’t escape my mind. When I am struggling during a workout, I think about what it’s doing for me. When I am not drinking plenty of water, I remember, it is what helps get me through my workouts and keeps me focused. When I want something sweet, I may go ahead and let myself eat something sweet, other times I don’t eat anything sweet at all. Try limiting yourself to having sweets a certain number of times each week. You don’t want your body and mind to become accustomed to getting something sweet after every meal or whenever you feel like it.

~jj

Burn v. Pain & Stretching

By Jenna Jamieson | February 14, 2014 | Comments 0 Comment

Exercising is great, but one important thing to realize about exercising is that there are times when you should keep going and times when you should stop and days when you should take the day off and days when you should push through.

Often times, people feel burning sensations in their muscles when they are exercising. I hear this frequently from people actually. Burning sensations while exercising (not pain) are completely normal and mean you are pushing your body and muscles during your workout. When your muscles and body get past the point of burning and feel pain then it is time to stop. You should not be exercising if your muscles and body hurt or you feel pain. Exercising should not hurt or evoke pain, AND yes, I will repeat that again…exercise should NEVER be painful or hurt. Burn, yes. Burn that leads to soreness, yes to that, too. In fact, I encourage you to exercise until you feel the burn in your muscles to maximize your results. Short, intense periods of heavy cardio and exercise are great for you. This may create sore muscles later in the evening and the next day because of the burning sensation that your muscles feel, but this is normal and actually good for you. If you can’t walk the next day from soreness, then you probably felt the burn at some point during your workout ;-)! I stress though that you should NOT be in pain. Pain is not something that should be associated or linked to exercise. Exercise is a pleasurable, stress reducer, not a pain inducer! 🙂

Where does stretching come in? To help alleviate soreness from exercising, remember to stretch, stretch, and then stretch some more. Stretching is one of the most essential and beneficial ways to not only warm your body and muscles up, but to increase your flexibility and therefore push your exercising capabilities even farther. Stretching is something that is easy. It is also one of the BEST things you can do for yourself to progress through workouts so that you can challenge yourself and get better. The more flexible you are, the better. This is because the strength you gain from stretching and increasing your flexibility will allow you to push through your workout and workout even longer. With the above discussion of pain in mind, stretching out before and after your workout will help ease soreness, prevent pain, and allow you to hold exercises longer when you feel burning.

If you aren’t convinced stretching is as great as your actual workout, you should think again! It will help wake your mind and body up before you hit the intense part of your workout. I stretch as soon as my feet hit the floor in the morning. It’s one of the best things I can do for myself to help wake up. I touch my hands to my toes to stretch my back muscles, and touch my feet to my butt to stretch my legs and thighs. Nothing too crazy or over the top, but simple exercises to help get me going. The same can be seen as I go throughout the day. I frequently stretch 4 or 5 times a day because it helps loosen up my body, destress, and makes me feel refreshed in as little as 2-10 minutes! How awesome is that?!

So, start thinking about what your body is telling you whether you feel pain or burning and remember that stretching is a great way to prevent soreness from exercise. I say, get STRETCHING! 🙂

~jj

Do it for your heart health!

By Jenna Jamieson | February 9, 2014 | Comments 0 Comment

Happy HEART HEALTH month! Let’s talk about some important statistics and discuss what you can do to make sure your heart is strong and healthy. This is a particularly important topic that I hold close to my heart (no pun intended)! 😉 I worked collaboratively with the American Heart Association (AHA) for 2 years and it opened my eyes to the wonderful initiatives and projects of the AHA as well as the severe concerns regarding heart health that face the United States today.

According to the AHA, heart disease is the number one killer of women in the United States, claiming more lives than all forms of cancer combined (heart.org). While this stat is geared toward women, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), heart disease is the leading cause of death for both men and women in the United States, but heart disease is preventable and controllable (cdc.org). These stats alone should be enough to make you strive to exercise at least 30 minutes each day so that you can spend many moons making fun memories with friends and family! Remember, heart disease impacts all shapes and sizes, big or small, as well as every age, young or old.

What can YOU do to help prevent heart disease?

-Eat and maintain a healthy diet.

-Exercise regularly.

-Keep a steady, healthy weight.

-Don’t smoke.

-Regularly check your blood pressure and cholesterol.

For additional or more specific information, visit heart.org (AHA), millionhearts.hhs.gov (CDC), and cdc.gov/features/heartmonth (CDC).

I hope you recognize that the tips, advice, and stories I post each week are to help encourage people to “exercise2behealthy” for this very reason. Not because I am concerned with the outside of each person, but because I care about the inside and the health concerns such as obesity, heart disease, diabetes, etc. that can be side effects of poor health choices. Hence, there is no time like the present to get moving and start making healthy dietary choices for you and your family!

~jj

Whole grains = full & focused!

By Jenna Jamieson | February 3, 2014 | Comments 2 comments

Whole grains are complex carbohydrates that take the body longer to digest, so their nutrition is released slowly and continuously, leaving you feeling energized and full for much longer, partly because they won’t spike your blood sugar. They are an excellent source of dietary fiber, protein, iron, potassium, and manganese.

Consider these foods:

Breakfast – oatmeal, steel cut oats, whole grain toast

Lunch – whole grain bread (sandwich), whole grain pasta, brown rice with vegetables

Dinner – whole grain pasta, brown rice, quinoa stir fry

So, next time you fix dinner, sit down to eat, or have a snack, consider whole grain options!

~jj