Perfect Breakfast
The perfect breakfast eggs, I've been making these a lot lately! So simple and delicious :)
Ingredients:
2 slices Sourdough bread
2 Eggs
2 small handfuls Arugula
2 tbsp Hummus
1 ripe Tomatoe
1 tbsp Sriracha
1. Toast the bread, while that's toasting fry the eggs to the your desired level of runiness
2. Spread the hummus on the bread, slice the tomatoes place on toast, top with arugula and fried egg on each
3. Squirt some sriracha on each and enjoy!
Summer Time
Steady State Cardio VS HIIT
As a personal trainer I get a lot of the same questions a lot, so I figured a bunch of you out there might have some of the same questions too! One of the ones I get the most is "What's better? Long steady state cardio or high intensity intervals?"
The answer is a bit more complicated, because it depends on your goals, and what's going on with your body and lifestyle. 
Long Steady State Cardio:
About 65% of your HRmax (220-age) so for me 220-29 = 191 for my max and 65% would be 125 beats per minute. Performing at this range for more than 20 minutes
LSS has a great benefit for your aerobic capacity, it's also really great for your cardiovascular system. By performing a this rate, your left ventricle fills completely (this doesn't happen during HIIT) and this allows this ventricle to stretch, becoming larger, with a larger capacity to hold more blood, meaning your resting heart rate will drop. This means overall your heart is more efficient and doesn’t have to work as hard, yay!
LSS tends to take more time, however it does not create as big of a spike of cortisol (stress) in your body. Also since you are not working at a maximum effort it is therefore easier to recover from (barring any injuries).
LSS will help you burn fat over the long run as well, the results are not as quick as HIIT. Studies have found that you lose slightly less with long steady state, but it’s close.
High Intensity Interval Training:
Performing at 90-100% of your HR max, for 2 minutes of less then a rest interval (3 minutes or less) Repeat this 4-6x
HIIT creates a great anaerobic capacity, to be able to go hard, fast for short bursts. The benefit cardiovascularily is that your heart rate spikes but the more you do this the quicker your heart rate will recover to resting after a bout of intense exercise.
This can be done quick and added to your life fairly easily, however it can be hard on your joints (all out sprints ain't easy), and creates a large spike in cortisol. It most certainly will help you drop fat quicker though
If you only perform HIIT all the time, you won't be able to perform aerobically, meaning if you're a soccer player, you're going to be gassed after a certain point.
If you only perform LSS you could miss out on the benefits of HIIT, it can help push you over plateau you've been experiencing or help you prepare for a long race because you'll be able to handle portions where you need to push yourself a bit harder.
If your life is particularly stressful, HIIT may not be a good option for you, because your cortisol levels are already too high you shouldn't be pushing them higher (this is how we get overtraining syndrome, or sometimes can make ourselves sick with training).
LSS is more time consuming so if you're just trying to add a bit more movement into your life, HIIT might be where it's at.
So the moral of this story, you probably need both! Both help balance each other out and can be such a beneficial addition to anyone's training. It's not one vs the other, it's finding the appropriate time for both, and seeing where they fit in your training program.
Stuffed Peppers: Southwest Style
'
Stuffed peppers are always a good idea. These come up in our food rotation at least once a month and I am always playing with and changing the recipe so it's almost never the same kind twice. Unless you make a shitton of the insides then you can freeze the leftovers and easily make more!!
Ingredients:
1 can black beans,
1 lb ground turkey
1 container spicy salsa
1 can corn
1 cup quinoa
4 peppers
1/2 cup shredded cheddar
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
2 T cumin
2 T chili powder
1 T paprika
2 T garlic powder
1. Put the quinoa on to cook
2. In a pan over medium heat, cook the ground turkey with the cumin, chili powder, paprika and garlic powder.
3. Once it's cooked add in the black beans (drained and washed), and the corn.
4. When the quinoa is cooked, add it into the pan. Remove from the heat, place in a bowl, add in chopped cilantro.
5. Hollow out the peppers, spoon in the mixture, place into slow cooker
6. Top off the peppers with cheese and extra cilantro, cook on low for 2-3 hours
7. Top with avocado!
5 tips to practicing Body Positivity
I think self love is super
important and talked multiple times about ways to become more body positive,
but I’m finding a bit of frustration within that. A particular problem I find is individuals preaching self love and body positivity but also preaching size-based
goals and who promote daily ab checks, before/after photos, half naked body
check ins, etc. This is a way in which we police our own bodies, checking every
single day to see if one part we have deemed problematic is getting better or
becoming worthier. I’m not saying there is anything inherently wrong with
wanting abs, but if it becomes to the point where you are policing your body every
day to see if it’s “better” while at the same time talking about self love, are
you practicing what you preach?
Some tips to help you practice
self love & body positivity
1. Be authentic:
If you’re struggling, talk about
it. We all struggle, no one feels 100% happy with themselves 100% of the time,
that doesn’t make you less of a body positive advocate. It makes you human.
2. Stop policing your body:
Progress pictures can
totally be helpful, especially when starting a new training protocol, but if
that’s the only way you’re measuring success, that might not leave you in a
very happy mind set. Try not to weigh yourself everyday, if you don’t take an
ab check selfie every morning it won’t stop your progress.
3. Make your goals for you:
My goals and success
are for me and me alone, the internet does not need to hear about it all the
time. Certain milestones? Sure! A particularly gruelling workout where I thought
I was gunna die but didn’t and it’s a miracle? Yasss, support that shit. But if
your goals are in place to make others happy (especially when that’s the internet)
that’s no good. Or if you feel your success is based on how many people comment/like a post, that's a horrible way to measure yourself.
4. Find like minded people:
I don’t follow any fitness
accounts that are all selfies, before and after pictures or gratuitous body shots.
Why? It’s not helpful for my mental health, it makes me feel bad. I am a strong,
fit, amazing person and scrolling through that makes me feel terrible, I don’t need
it. I follow individuals who are jazzed about working out, who come up with fun
workouts, who inspire me, especially people who offer scientifically sound advice
on injury prevention/rehab.
5. Talk to yourself like you’d talk to a friend:
I
would never tell a friend their love handles were looking flabby, why would I
say that shit to myself?
Summer Sizzle
This fanny pack was also a NYC purchase, I love not having a purse to lug around and just carrying a few things in this. It's perfect for hands free dog walking and date night alike. And of course my denim jacket with everything because that seems to be all I wear during june, july and august. I was really feeling this outfit, and my whole wardrobe too. Which is great because it's been a month and a half of no shopping!
xJenna
Outfit: Overalls-Beacons closet, Tank/Jacket- F21 (old), Purse- Rebecca Minkoff (via crossroads trading co), Necklace-Miss Boss, Sunnies- Bamboo Ballroom, Ring-Saraswati designs
Recipe: Best Damn Sammies
We don't eat a lot of sandwiches in my household, but damn if these ones weren't such a hit we had to make them a few times. They're vegetarian and so tasty!! The sourdough buns we used were a pain to get in the panini press but totally make the sandwhich, so crispy and delicious.
**Need a panini press or to create a similar contraption for the grill (something to hold the sandwhich flat as you cook it)
Ingredients:
4 sourdough buns
4 portobello mushrooms
2 oz goat cheese
1 T of basil pesto per sandwhich
1/4 cup shredded basil
2 T olive oil
1/4 cup green olives
1. Grill the porobello's until they secrete water, remove the mushrooms and set aside
2. Cut buns in half, spread one side with basil pesto, one side with goat cheese, place one portobello mushroom in the middle, add some fresh basil and some sliced up olives.
3. Coat both sides of the buns with olive oil
4. With panini press on medium heat, place sandwhich in, be careful when lowering the lid so the ingredients don't pop out and go everywhere. *We had this happen, the whole sandwhich flew out when we tried to put the lid down and was all over the floor, ugh. We were more careful the second time around
5. Grill for 2-4 minutes or until golden brown.
6. Cut in half and enjoy!!
Pairs very well with this salad
Flower Power
One thing I love about fashion is how great it can make you feel, this outfit put a smile on my face. I felt particularly good in my skin at this moment, which is always such a good feeling. Duke was watching from the car and started to cry in protest of not being the center of attention so here is the bebe lala:
Outfit: Crop top- Garage, Shorts- Garage (3/4 years old), Kimono-F21, Shoes-Winners, Sunnies- Bamboo Ballroom, Necklace-Miss Boss
Hike Canmore: Ha Ling Peak
I am so happy it's summer again and we can head off to the mountains to go hiking again. We haven't been since November, and it truly felt like way too long. We are so lucky to live so close to the mountains, people come from all over the world to come here and we're just a 3-4 hour drive away. We went to Canmore to hike Ha Ling Peak for Mr. Duke's birthday and it was so fun.
Elevation: almost 800m gain, it's straight up basically the whole way up, it's challenging.
Time: Took us about 1 hour 45 minutes to the top, hung out there for about 30 minutes, and then an hour and 15 down. 
Can we talk about dukes expression here?! We were almost at the top, and he is clearly SO over it. Little baby boy, I had to carry him the last little way, but he was very into it most of the way. And especially afterwards when he got to eat ice cream then nap on the 4 hour car ride home.
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