Health and Nutrition Stripped To The Bare Essentials

Honey Ginger Salmon with Bok Choy

What’s up ya’ll.

So it’s been a minute since I’ve posted a recipe.

Between working like crazy and moving to Boston (yay!), things have been just a little hectic.

Free time has been sparse and so I’ve had to make some really quick meals in the past few days. I actually had a good chunk of time today between training sessions and I was able to not only go to Whole Foods in Cambridge, but I was also able to cook a healthy and organic meal.

I like to rotate my foods, specifically my proteins, and salmon was next in line.

I bought 4 fillets of salmon (which each is a little over 1/4 of a pound), San-J gluten free soy sauce, raw and unprocessed honey, fresh garlic and fresh bok choy.

I made an easy and quick marinade mixing a 1/4 cup of the gluten-free soy sauce with about 2 big spoonfulls of the raw honey and about a tablespoon of chopped up ginger.

I have the salmon sitting in the fridge as I type and in about an hour, I’ll go ahead and bake it in the oven at 350 degrees for about 20-25 minutes.

The bok choy will be lightly sauteed with olive oil, and a little pinch of Celtic Sea Salt right before plating.

This, is how I like to cook

Enjoy!

Raw and unprocessed honey from New Hampshire. Unlike most honeys which are clear and thinner, raw honey is not heated, pasteurized, filtered or processed.

My favorite gluten free and organic soy sauce. Most people don’t realize that wheat is added to soy sauce to give it a bolder taste and thicker consistency. So if you’re trying to eat gluten free or gluten intolerant, don’t forget to check your soy sauce. Shoot, I even bring my own soy sauce to sushi restaurants as not everyone carries gluten-free soy sauce.

I love me some ginger! Here’s fresh chopped ginger that I added to the marinade. Ginger has anti-parasitic and anti-fungal qualities which make it great for your digestion. Hence why ginger is always served with sushi.

1/4 cup San-J Gluten Free Tamari Soy Sauce, raw honey and fresh ginger.

Allow the salmon to marinade for about an hour. I used the same baking dish I cooked the salmon in to save on dishes and water when I go to wash the dishes

Washed the bok choy, and while doing so, found a little bug that was alive! Which is actually very exciting as if the bug is still alive the veggie is fresh.

Bionaturae Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil I used to sautee the bok choy in my cast iron pan.

I added just a little Celtic Sea Salt over the bok choy right before I plated it. Celtic Sea Salt is a much healthier alternative to conventional salt — naturally from the sea and full of minerals.

**All the ingredients bought at the Whole Foods on River St. in Cambridge, MA.**

9 Signs of A Great Personal Trainer

This summer marks the start of my 6th year in the fitness industry, and over the course of my career I’ve had the privilege to meet and work with some amazing health and fitness professionals.

Unfortunately, for every true fit pro I meet, there are about 10 duds.

Maybe even 20.

Perhaps 50.

And I don’t mean to say that in a condescending way.

Thing is, the fitness industry does not have clear and standardized educational or certification requirements to start practicing.

Which means that pretty much any Joe off the street can walk into one of the larger health clubs in the country and start training just about anyone, even your 80 year old grandma.

It’s scary. Very scary.

And although there has been a push by serious fit pro’s to advocate better standardization, it seems like it is still a while down the road before any nationalized system is implemented.

Until we get there as an industry, there are some clear signs of a great and successful personal trainer that I’ve learned from my own personal experience from managing personal trainers.

1. Approachable and personable. This, I would say is one of the most important qualities of a great personal trainer. So much of our interactions as trainers relies on connecting and talking with people, that having an engaging personality is key to success. Yeah education and certifications are important, but I’ve met numerous personal trainers with a laundry list of certifications, that couldn’t hold a conversation with a wall.

2. Attentive and engaging during sessions. A great personal trainer is fully involved with the client during the session. Great trainers not only know how to keep someone’s attention, and get them to do things they typically wouldn’t do on their own, but they are also very attentive to the needs of the clients. Be wary of the trainer that is more focused on the clock, the cute guy/girl that’s on the treadmill across the room, or even their own reflection in the mirror.

3. Educational background and continuing education. Now, just because someone has a 4-year degree in Kinesiology or Exercise Science, and has 5 different certifications, doesn’t automatically make them a great trainer. Pretty much the only advantage of having a 4-year degree is that it looks good on paper. Some of the best trainers I’ve worked with had absolutely NO experience in personal training, but they were great with people and they were perpetual learners. Great trainers, though some may not have 4 year degrees, are constantly learning and growing as professionals to help better themselves and their clients.

4. On-time and prepared. Being consistently late or ending sessions early is one of the most unprofessional habits of trainers I’ve seen over the years. A trainer that comes on-time to sessions and being fully prepared shows that the trainer takes your time as a client seriously.

5. Healthy and fit in appearance. The fitness industry is a very image driven field, and although you should never judge a book by it’s cover, being fit and healthy in appearance is a good sign that your trainer actually cares about his or her own health. Pay close attention to your trainer while they are off-duty and scope out whether you see him/her workout and the kinds of workouts they do on their own. Great trainers practice what they preach.

6. Happy and successful clients. Another sign of a great personal trainer are happy and successful clients. Next time your at the gym, notice how the clients act while working out with their trainers. Are they having fun? Do they looked bored? How does their form look? Have you noticed results in their clients? Would you want to workout with a trainer if their clients look the same way they did a year ago?

7. Note taking. Trainers work with numerous people on a daily basis and which means that we have to keep track of reps, sets, exercises, scheduling, and payments for every single person we see. Unless your a professional card counter, trying to keep track of all these numbers is a very difficult feat. Keeping track of client’s progress through detialed note taking helps great trainers remember what you did the last session to make sure you are always moving forward.

8. Energetic. No one wants to work out with a lazy and tired trainer. Period. Most people really need the motivation and extra push that a trainer can provide to successfully stick to a fitness routine. And the busiest and most successful trainers are usually the most energetic.

9. Great communicators/listeners. Most of what we do as trainers actually has very little to do with fitness and more to do with listening to our clients and helping them sort through their hang-ups and insecurities. Being a great communicator really involves being a great listener. And some days, we’ll end up doing more listening than training, so it’s important for a trainer to able to effectively communicate with people to help motivate them.

Emmy’s Organics Gluten-free, Raw, Vegan Macaroons

What’s up ya’ll! I wanted to share with you a new product that I’ve been eating the past couple of months that are both gluten-free and dairy-free, and very, very yummy.

These little macaroons sit so innocently by the register a the store, and every time I go to ring out my groceries, I am always tempted to throw a couple of these into my aisle.

And 10 times out of 9, I usually do.

These delightful little treats are made by Emmy’s Organics and are certified gluten-free, vegan and raw. Meaning they don’t contain gluten, any dairy, eggs, or animal products, AND they aren’t cooked over 118 degrees.

Now, tradtionally, macaroons are made by mixing egg whites and coconuts.

But Ian and Samantha (the peeps who make these yummy treats) use organic raw coconut, organic raw agave, natural almonds, organic raw coconut oil, organic vanilla bean, and organic himalayan salt.

3 come in a bag and there are quite a few flavors: Coconut Vanilla, Dark Cacao, Chai Spice, Lemon Ginger, Choco Orange, and Mint Chip.

This time I picked up their Coconut and Vanilla, and Lemon Ginger. I looked through their website, and they are actually located in Ithaca, NY and have their products in a ton of natural food stores in the area.

These are great little snacks to have if you are craving something sweet. And I highly recommend them!

You can check out their website and look for their products here: http://www.emmysorganics.com/

Good Morning Blueberry Sparkler

What’s up ya’ll!

Surprise, surprise, I am back from A-Market Natural Food store and of course, they were sampling off more smoothies. And yes, I took the recipe home with me to share with you!

So, I made a quick little video and posted the recipe down below so you can make it on your own.

The recipe calls for Manitoba Hemp PRO Fiber, which is a great supplement to add to your smoothies for some extra protein, and Kombucha Wonder Drink, great for your digestion.

Good Morning Blueberry Smoothie

(recipe from A-Market Natural Food Store)

Ingredients:

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend for a few minutes.

2. Enjoy!

Manitoba Hemp Pro Fiber, organic and gluten-free. Great to add to smoothies, shakes and juices for a little extra protein.

Kombucha Wonder Drink. Kombucha is a fermented tea that provides you with good bacteria for your gut to help your digestion. Just be careful when you open it…if you open it too fast, it will fizz everywhere!

Good Morning Blueberry Sparkler, great morning smoothie to help aid your digestion thanks to the kombucha!

Coconut Water with Aloe by Taste Nirvana

I would like to think that my years growning up in the Philippines drinking fresh coconut water through a straw bought from a local a roadside vendor would warrant me an official coconut water connoisseur.

This picture was taken from my trip to the Philippines in 2007. This is very typical in the Philippines, roadside vendors selling food. The guy had a huge machete and cut open the coconuts for us right there.

So whenever I see a new coconut water product I always get a little chuckle.

Drinking coconut water is nothing new to me, so when I was in A-Market today, and walked by the drink aisle to pick up some Kombucha for my Good Morning Blueberry Sparkler, I noticed these cute little green bottles labeled “Coconut Water.”

These were not here the last time I went in, and of course, I had to buy them to give them a taste.

I actually bought 2 flavors: Coconut with Aloe, and plain Coconut with Pulp, made by Taste Nirvana. I checked out their website to read about the company, as I’m a research nut and I always like to know where my food comes from.

There mission statement sounded pretty cool:

“Nirvana Foods seeks to provide the most authentic and real food experiences in which the country of origins intended. We strive to educate our customers on history and cultture of the food that we make. We seek real and honest relationships with our customers, employees and suppliers which will benefit and educate everyone.”

Overall, the drinks tasted great. The Coconut with Aloe was my favorite. It felt very velvety, almost creamy and was just sweet enough, and as my little brother put it so eloquently, “tasted like the milk you drink after you eat cereal”. He was exactly right.

The Coconut with Pulp was good too. The pulp was actually diced up pieces of the coconut flesh, and was a great little treat to eat after you drank the water.

The only downfall? It isn’t organic

So, I give it a 4 out of 5.

Taste Nirvana bottle cap. I like the saying. How cute!

This was actually a piece of aloe that ended up on the edge of my glass. There were lots of little pieces which added a great texture to the drink.

Here you can see the coconut pulp floating in the glass. Just like the real thing!

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