Super Bowl is apparently the most watched event on television so that means a lot of you are going to be sitting in front of the tube chowing down on finger foods while Tom Brady and Eli Manning fight it out on the field.

Though I am not huge fans of either teams I do love Eli Manning and for some reason hate Tom Brady… so that pretty much settles who I will be cheering for! Because of our lack of television we won’t even be watching the game however, that doesn’t mean I wont fix a few of my favorite tailgating foods for munch on during the day!

Super Supped Up Hummus

This is awesome because it’s “semi-homemade”! Just grab a traditional plain hummus from the store and stir in chopped sun-dried tomatoes, olives and roasted garlic… stir it up, place in a dip bowl and drizzle with a tsp of olive oil over the top.

Serve it up with some whole wheat pita chips and veggies!

Mini Turkey Sliders

I just made these yesterday and I could kick myself for not taking a picture! Because everyone is different in the way they eat their burgers I kept the patties pretty boring and add some fun add-ins for adding to the tops.

Turkey Burgers: 1 package of lean, ground turkey, 1/2 onion chopped, 2 tsp italian herbs. Mix it together. From here I pattied it out, but used a cookie cutter to make them all uniform in size, this worked out much better than I thought! Perfect slider size!

Toppings: Sliced avocado, lettuce, jalapeno jack cheese slices, tomatoes, mustard, ketchup and hummus.  Served on warm whole wheat rolls.

Let’s just say they were gone within minutes.

Guacamole

My favorite thing to serve up! And super easy!

In a food processor blend up 2 avocados and 1 tsp of lime juice until smooth.  Stir in by hand 1 oz of each: chopped jalapeno, cilantro, tomato and red onion.

See super easy! Pair with some blue corn chips!

Apparently Dr. Oz talked about Matcha not too long ago but since I don’t watch tv I was behind on this.

I was reading a magazine a few weeks ago that announced that 1 teaspoon of powdered green tea is equal to drinking 10 cups of normal green tea. At first I was skeptical so I let my science brain take over and started in on the research.

This so-called “powdered green tea” has a real name… Matcha. The Japanese have been using it for centuries and the claim of the tsp to cup conversion appears to be spot on.

It gets even better though, the antioxidant in green tea is called EGCG and it’s linked to decreased risk of Alzheimer’s and other cognitive diseases. A study in 2006 showed that those that drank just one single cup of green tea a day decreased their risk of Alzheimer’s by 38%… those that had two per day decreased their risks by 54%… sign me up!

And it’s all thanks to the EGCG… well that’s all great but Matcha is the superstar of this antioxidant. And just a single serving has 137 times the amount of normal green tea!

Holy Crap!

What about Matcha and Weight Loss?

Might try this little number tomorrow!

You’ve hear that green tea can help boost your metabolism. And it does, just not very much… you have to drink a heck of a lot of it to see any real results. The benefits come from once again the EGCGs which belong to a group of antioxidants called catechins… also called FAT BURNERS… that are found in tea.

Well, since Matcha is so concentrated it’s possible for it to boost your metabolism by as much as 40%… pretty amazing! A regularly cup of seeped tea may boost you 8% which doesn’t do much but 40% can be huge.

Just remember, this is not a fat burning cure and it’s important to maintain a workout program and healthy diet still!

Other Benefits

• Studies show that it might help fight off and decrease cancers (here)
• Help promote good digestion as a probiotic
• Improved skin and hair
• Improved immune system
• Increased energy (caffeine)
• Decrease Stress

Monks have used Matcha for centuries during meditations to help relax and get to their peaceful places!

What To Do With It?

I have some and at first was a bit skeptical… I wasn’t so sure about turning my food strange tinges of green. But I tossed a teaspoon in my shake and was pleasantly surprised, it was fresh tasting and didn’t over power the overall protein shake.

You can also mix it into rice, ice cream, oatmeal, I even found a recipe for matcha cupcakes!

It can be a bit expensive, I had some green tea that a friend had gotten for us from China so I took out my magic bullet and powdered it up myself… saving A LOT of money and still getting a great quality green tea.

My new mic came in this past week which means I get to start doing my videos again! I love doing these because while it’s one thing to get to write all my fitness thoughts and know-how down it’s another to actually show you!

In this episode of the Art of Weight Lifting Fitness & Nutrition Show… 

• Tone your core up with this workout
• The biggest mistake women make when dieting
• I need your help on being fashionable!

So watch it, get great info, do the workout, and help me out! Enjoy.

This past weekend Dan casually looked over at me and suggested we change up our routines to be more circuit/boot camp style. I love these kind of workouts but if I want to do them I normally have to do them with my boot camp or on my own so when he showed interested I jumped on it!

My only rule was that since I design over 4-6 workouts each week, I did not feel like designing ours so that was up to him…

Bad call by me!

Our workout was AMAZING but just putting on a bra hurt like hell yesterday!

And any time I shows signs of weakness this is what I heard… “Oh come on Taylor… I wish your boot campers could see you now!” 

I am sure you can imagine the look I would shoot back and how determined I became to kick his ass!

I’ll post our workout below but I will say we’re pretty even on these workouts because while he is better with upper body moves like push-ups, I can do plyo jumps and leg exercises around him all day long (I love to rub that in). Each time he would break to shake his legs I would remind him of his own weaknesses!

This workout was done in an aerobic room at my gym, so you need plenty of space:

The Spouse Killer Workout

Oh… That’s Not All:

Because we hit our chest up so hard with all those push-ups, Dan then thought it was necessary to do a row circuit with the cables…

My response: “Bring it!”

Well he did, and I did… and now my back is done!

Overall, a great workout! Thanks to the hubs!!

Today I have a special treat… this is an awesome guest blog post from Fit Is The New Black blogger Holly. She is a up and coming writing and a complete fitness freak (us freaks have to stay together) and though we’ve only chatted through email, I like her already! Her blog is very “tell it like it is” which is what I love!

Plus with me being a Southern Chick, it’s nice to bring in a bit of the North from time to time… new perspective ladies!! So read… comment on it… and head over to her blog!

Oh and PS… Holly let me post up a little video and workout that is posted up there… so go right after you read this:

Teens Are Encouraged to Have Weight-Loss Surgery. Wait, What?

Leave it to big business to make a profit off of America’s obesity epidemic. According to a new article in the New York Times, about 220,000 people use surgery to shed lbs. With insurance companies more eager to foot a surgery bill than a gym tab, weight-loss surgery has become a $6 billion dollar business. Cha-Ching!

But none of this surprises me. We live in an instant gratification culture. Everything’s got to be fast. And I’m from New York, so I’m an expert on these things. Fast rides, fast food, fast weight loss. It’s the American way. But is that really the right attitude to have about our health?

The article in The Times wasn’t detailing the weight-loss biz as much as it was describing the newest client that is falling victim to it-adolescents. Say what? Yes, more teenagers are being considered acceptable candidates for weight loss surgeries, like the lap-band.

As parents... it's our job to teach our kids to live a healthy life... not obsess!

Journalist Anemona Hartocollis, followed 19-year-old Shani Gofman for a year, and chronicled her experience pre and post surgery. Because you can read, I won’t go into extreme detail about what the story revealed. What I will mention, however, is what I found most disturbing.

The first thing was that Gofman ended putting weight back on, after her initial weight loss. I’m not a licensed nutritionist, trainer or doctor, but it’s obvious why Gofman saw poor results from her surgery- She didn’t learn how to eat properly! Altering somebody’s insides so that they can only have a golf ball amount of food is NOT teaching them proper nutrition. It’s teaching them frustration and deprivation, and frankly, you can learn that trying a Hollywood fad diet.

While some of us may struggle with our weight because of real medical issues, many of us battle the pounds because we lack basic nutritional understanding. We’re not taught to eat clean, or choose whole foods in grade school. Nutrition labels can read like Latin to the unlearned eye. It’s not our fault. We aren’t born with this knowledge. Like most things, we have to be educated about it. It’s inexcusable and sad that no one thought of educating Ms. Gofman. She may have been legally an adult, but she was also a teenager, and teens need guidance.

The American Way?

The second thing that bugged me from the article was that Gofman was actually discouraged from losing the weight the natural way. Seriously? WTF!

What type of world is this, where doctors steer away patients from diet and exercise, and onto the operating table? It’s like the bloody Twilight Zone.

Why wouldn’t they encourage her to enroll at the gym, or hire a trainer first? If money was an issue (her surgery was paid for by insurance), she could have gone old school, aka walking outside. And with the amount of fitness videos available on YouTube and Netflix, everyone has access to fitness today. You don’t even have to leave your home. And I don’t even want to hear the excuse that she was just too heavy to risk her losing weight the healthy way. Hello! What about the show, Ruby? That sweet southern belle proved that anyone can lose weight. Maybe Gofman’s doctors forgot to TIVO it.

I hate to say that there are no quick fixes, because it’s cliché, and everyone says it. What I will say is that if we are to become a fit and healthy nation, we have to be willing to do the work. Pills, fad diets, surgery, and everything in between may work, but only for a little while. While insurance may foot the bill for surgery, it won’t save you the heartache and disappointment when quick slim schemes don’t last. Working out, a healthy diet, and patience is the only recipe for lasting success. I hope someone teaches Gofman that recipe soon.

Thanks Holly! Remember… now you can go to: Fit Is The New Black

Image source: http://www.gogreenstreet.com

Image source: http://www.redorbit.com

Personally, I can tell you right now that I don’t. I do not do well with people bossing me around. If some drill sergeant came screaming and spitting in my face I might just scream and spit back… oops. Which is one reason I give so much credit to those serving in the armed forces! The strength these ladies have!

Okay, so anyways…

A recent article spiked my curiosity for the Marines when a proposal was made to add pull-ups to the women’s fitness test for the Corp.

It wasn’t passed which actually surprised me, they are sticking to a “flexed arm hang”… to get a perfect score all the ladies would have to do with the proposal is a total of 6 pull-ups for a score of 100%, but they would only be able to get a maximum score of 75 if they did the hang instead.

Personally, I think the chin-up part of the test is a great rule, bringing together equality between the sexes a bit more since the boys have had to do this for quite some time now. Except they have to do 20 chin-ups for a score of 100!

Here is the entire Female Marine Corp Physical Fitness Test… would you cut it?

I am posting the exercise and what the score should be to receive 100 points.

1. Timed Flexed Arm Hang- 70 seconds
2. 2-Minute Crunch Test… how many crunches can you do in 2 minutes? 100 crunches
3. 3 Mile Run 21.0 minutes

Where would you rate on the test?? 

My own scores-

1. I haven’t done an arm hang but I did to 9 pull-ups non-stop this morning.
2. I can do 100 crunches in a minute.
3. But the last 5K I ran was in 26 minutes… so this I would have to work on for sure!

The reason they didn’t go through with the pull-up idea is because apparently on average female marines can only do 1.63 pull-ups. Don’t let this lead you to think girls can’t do them.

I have a video that I did quite some time ago on pull-ups because I LOVE them but when I went to look at it, it’s far too old so I am going to film a new one soon!

Also, to read more on the Marine Female Pull-up Test read [Here]

Source of image: http://usmcocs.wordpress.com/2011/04/04/female-physical-fitness-test-pft/

Image source: New York Times

I get asked that ALL the time… and I find out thing similar in 95% of all the workouts sent to me. Watch this quite video I filmed at the end of my workout today to find out how to make your workout better!

And afterwards, go visit my Body Fat Blasting Boot Camp so you can get already made for you workouts that are freaking awesome! Even recipes and live talks with me!

For Christmas I received this handy gadget:

Kitchenaid Pasta Attachment!

I have been wanting this thing for years… so I was super stoked when I opened it up! Okay, so I am not the biggest pasta eater in the world, so why would I want this?

Well, I am not the biggest pasta eater because I don’t want freeze dried pasta, and I don’t want the soft white pasta noodles in the specialty section of the store. I wanted the ability to know with 100% certainty that the pasta on my plate is 100% whole wheat and nutritious.

The FDA allows food manufacturers to claim a product as 100% whole grain as long as 51% of it’s whole grain… to mean that’s far too processed!

Eating healthy complex carbs are actually very important for a balanced diet, I just want to know that it’s complex… hence my desire for a pasta maker!

Well… I had my first attempt this past weekend and OMG it was AWESOME!

Dan actually told me it looked too easy and I needed to trade it in for an old fashioned, crank pasta press… I just gave him “the eye”.

When I went to the store to get my flour I was amazed out the diversity to choose from! Everything from chickpea to coconut flour!

I decided to not go too crazy and try to play it safe, after all it was my first time making pasta from scratch.

This is my pasta recipe… super easy, super clean and super delicious! I’ve also decided that I will NEVER buy store pasta again, this is just way too easy!

Clean Homemade Pasta:

• 1.5 cups whole wheat pasta
• .5 cups chickpea pasta
• 1/4 cup water
• pinch of salt

Center is filled with chicken, onions, Chinese cabbage, splash of soy and hoisin sauces.

 What’s the last thing you made from scratch??

I saw this commercial on a fellow blogger’s site and had to share it… I am a bit confused by the concept to be honest…

“Enjoy McDonalds without your friends knowing you enjoy McDonalds!”

Well, I honestly try my hardest not to judge people, I promise I do… and I feel that I am a genuinely nice person. And now that I put that disclaimer out there I can tell the truth: when I see some obese person chowing down McDonalds and then complaining about how they need to lose weight… then yes I do judge. STOP EATING IT!

Fat Fast food joints don’t jam their food down people’s throats, but I find it interesting that McD’s is trying to… you know I actually don’t know what they heck they are trying to accomplish with this.

Does anyone??

It’s been forever and a day since I shared a recipe, or at least it feels that way. So without further ado I give you:

Chinese Crispy Pork (Siu Youk)

I know what you’re wondering: why am I cooking Chinese pork? Great question!

Dan and I are putting a trip together for China later this year. And even though it’s not for quite awhile we are both very excited. Excitment and nervousness… Dan’s Chinese teacher (so we can learn the basics) informed us that the Chinese restaurants around town are anything but authentic. In fact the nearest real Chinese restaurant is in Atlanta, GA and I don’t feel like driving 6 hours for food.

With that said… it’s really just the drawn out way of saying that we are introducing authentic cuisine into our meals to start learning the flavors and foods so we know what we like and what to order. I would hate to order something and end up with a plate I refuse to taste.

So for week 1 I set out to make a traditional pulled pork recipe. It was so easy and tasted AMAZING!! The aroma from the kitchen made the entire house smell delicious. It’s one of the only foods where we actually ate the leftovers (I am queening of tossing them out).

It’s clean, high in protein and overall a great meal for your dinner!

Chinese “Crispy” Pork (Siu Youk)

Ingredients: 

• 2 lb pork butt or shoulder, fat trimmed and cut into two halves
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tsp anise seed
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves*
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1 quart water
• Thinly sliced green onion
• Fresh cilantro sprigs
• Hoisin or Chinese plum sauce (Use sparingly)

*Ground cloves were considerably more expensive than whole cloves so I bought whole cloves and grounded them in my coffee grinder. It works better than using my food processor since they’re so small.

Directions:

• Place a 4-5 quart pot on high heat and combine meat, garlic, anise, ground cinnamon, cloves, soy sauce and water.
• Bring to a boil, cover and simmer until the meat is very tender when pierced, around 1 1/2 hours.
• Bring back to a boil, uncovered on high heat until sizzling and cook about 30 minutes, make sure to stir often.
• Drain off the fat and with two forks shred the meat and place in an oven safe 9 x 13 pan.
• Bake at 400’F in oven until pork begins to crisp; 15-20 minutes.
• Serve over brown rice, quinoa or barley. Top with onion, cilantro and hoisin (1 tsp goes a long way) to taste.

Wow, I saw this video this morning and had to immediately share it! Georgia is taking some radical steps towards battling their 40% childhood obesity rates.

In a $25,000,000 “Stop Sugarcoating Child Obesity” Campaign, they are focusing their attention on actual obese children… pointing out the social and health issues that come around from being overweight at such a young age. These posters and commercials are raising a lot of eye brows, people who think that the state is putting blame on the children and parents instead of trying to fix the issues through education and wellness programs.

One of the billboards

While I see both sides, I do have to say that a lot of states have put a large budget aside to help educate families and yet not much change has occurred so I am very curious to see how this campaign comes together during the next few months and what the outcome will be.

It’s not a long video and I definitely recommend checking it out! And let me know what you think… is the campaign a bit too in your face and severe?

ABC: ‘Stop Sugarcoating’ Child Obesity Ads Draw Controversy

Source: ABC News