Untraditional Thanksgiving

I don't know about you, save for Christmas Day, my holidays aren't necessarily traditional.  As an athlete Holiday meals were arranged around my (and my siblings) games and practices.  I never wanted to go away for Spring break because I would miss practices and my birthday was almost always on a game day and spent with my team.
Now that I am a coach holidays are still untraditional.  Our dedicated athletes train on holidays so my services are needed and I am more than happy to be there for them!

That being said I certainly don't like to miss out on Holiday fare!  This is what my Thanksgiving meal was this year!  PS I had it for breakfast!

Pumpkin French Toast (Serves 1)
Ingredients for Toast
1/2 cup egg whites
1 pinch cinnamon
1 dash of ginger
1 tiny sprinkle of ground cloves
2 slices sprouted grain bread

Ingredients for Pumpkin Topping
1/4 cup pumpkin puree
1 tsp pure maple syrup
1 pinch cinnamon

Ingredients for Apple Topping
1 apple, peeled, cored and sliced
1/4  cup water
1 tsp pure maple syrup
1 pinch cinnamon

Directions for Toast
Preheat your frying pan on medium tempurature.
Beat the top 4 ingredients together in a shallow dish (ie pie plate)
Put one piece of your bread in the egg mixture, let it sit for 10-15 seconds, flip it over, repeat then place it in your pre-heated frying pan.  If your frying pan is big enough for both pieces of bread repeat the above steps with your second piece of toast.  If it is not, let one piece cook before repeating with the second.  Flip your toasts after 2-3 minutes or when it is golden brown.  Remove from the frying pan after 2-3 minutes or when the toasts are golden brown both sides.

Directions for Pumpkin Topping
Mix all three ingredients in a small sauce pan or microwave safe bowl.  Heat long enough to warm up the ingredients as you stir them together.  Divide and spread the mixture over your two pieces of french toast then stack the toasts on top of each other.

Directions for Apple Topping
Add the 1/4 cup of water to your warm frying pan from the toast.  Quickly add all the other ingredients and stir continuously until almost all the water has evaporated.  Pour over the top of your Pumpkin French Toast.  Nutritious and Delicious!

Other creative ideas
You can substitute honey for pure maple syrup
Try adding 1 tablespoon of dried cranberries to the Apple topping
Have pumpkin pie spice?  Try adding it instead of all the individual spices
Don't like apples?  Try raspberries, plums or pears!

There is your non-traditional Thanksgiving Meal!

I know nothing beats turkey dinner, but if you're away from home or working on a holiday be sure to still find a healthy, special way to celebrate!

Are you Kitchen Adventurous?

A lot of you have probably experienced food boredom before, am I right?
Often we are so busy we end up eating the same things over and over again or eat things that are bland and boring because they may be the best choice.
Why not challenge yourself a bit?  This recipe is for the non-kitchen adventurous and kitchen adventurous alike!  It is really quite easy, dirties two dishes (one to mix the ingredients, one to cook them in) and is so delicious that my husband says he thinks he's addicted to it!

Dijon Baked Chicken

Ingredients

18 Chicken Thighs (I usually use boneless/skinless)

1 tbls Curry Powder

1 tbls Onion Powder

1/2 tsp red crushed chilies

1/2 cup honey

1/2 cup dijon mustard

2 tbls low sodium soy sauce

1 tsp hot chili sauce

Directions

The night before lay the chicken thighs out in a 9x13 casserole dish.  Combine all other ingredients in a mixing bowl, in the order listed, then stir them together well.  Pour evenly over the chicken.  Flip the chicken thighs with a fork to coat evenly.  End by making sure the rough side is down.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.  

When ready to cook, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Turn the chicken thighs over then place in the preheated oven for 50 minutes.  Half way through the cooking time flip the chicken again.  Complete the remainder of the time then remove and let the chicken rest for 5 minutes before serving.  

Left overs refrigerate really well.

Once the chicken is done, all you have to do is add a whole grain and vegetable of your choice and you've got a winner, winner, chicken dinner that will take your taste buds on a trip to flavour town!  (Have I been watching too much Triple D?)

There is something satisfying about taking a list of ingredients and making it into something that is nutritious and tastes wonderful!  I hope that you are able to take this recipe and make it a new favourite in your repertoire!

Buon Appetito!

Nobody ever achieved anything great without being challenged!

Think about your life and what you have achieved so far.  Whether it’s sports, school, career or relationships I am sure the first thing that you think of is something that means a lot to you.  Did you toil and struggle to earn it, or was it an overnight success?  

More than likely you worked away, committing time to it every day and balancing every decision you made on how it would effect the outcome of that goal.  Was it difficult?  Did you want to give up sometimes?  How long did it take you to finally be able to celebrate?  

I see scenarios so often in society, including at The Athlete Factory, where individuals get discouraged because their results don’t happen overnight.  They eat clean for a day and are disappointed the next day when the scale hasn’t budged or they follow their program for a week and get discouraged because the small improvement they have made isn’t as large as they had imagined.  The discouraged attitude starts to settle in and cools the intense passion that was once burning hot.  

What you as the athlete, parent, coach, client, spouse (insert your role here) have to remember is that every day you will be faced with decisions that will either help or hinder your progress.  Those decisions will be there, guaranteed!  Choose to have a clear mind and do what it is right in getting you to where you want to be.  It may take you some time, but remember that the greater the struggle, more often than not the better it feels!

Accountability

I have had some converstions with a few of my followers and friends in the last couple weeks wondering why I haven't written a new blog lately!  Well the wait is over.  I will write one within the next week (am scheduling it into my daytimer) and will get it posted!  You are all responsible for holding me accountable, can you dig it?

We as individuals are a direct product of our environment.

I worked for a particular company for 7 years and after six years into my employment with that company I was basically told I was not very good at what I did.

Wow, ok, so what is up with that? That was a blow. I knew I felt stale with my progress in growing as a trainer, but up until that point I thought I did a damn good job at providing training services to my clients! Some of them were with me for almost my whole period of employment there. I soon forgot that as I struggled with the comment I had just received from someone who is supposed to be helping me get better.

I felt stuck and didn't know what my next move should be. Even if I left that company what employer wants to hire an employee who is no good? I even considered and explored entering another field, starting over.

I stayed for almost a full year as I struggled with what to do next. I finally took steps to changing my environment. I didn't want to leave training and coaching. I loved it too much! I took courses and read books to improve my skills and started looking for similar positions within other companies. How interesting it was when I started sending out resumes how quickly I got responses. In interviews I was finding out the industry standard and how my skills related to others. I gained confidence back in myself and my abilities. It was a long process but I am glad that I did it!

Once I left that poisonous environment I was able to gain my confidence back and continue to grow. I'm still growing!

I learned this lesson the hard way and probably waited too long to make the change. Rememeber to surround yourself with the right people, the right situations, take advantage of opportunities and you will florish.

"Athletic competition clearly defines the unique power of our attitude." Bart Starr

I like this quote. Athletics was a big part of my life growing up in rural Nova Scotia. My parents were small business entrepenuers and their lively hood was dependant on tide, weather and time.  They worked hard to provide us with everything a growing family needs.  There wasn't "much to do" as most kids from my hamlet would say. For my siblings and I, we helped around the house, had chores and I think I had my first "job" at 11 years old. I learned the value of hard work early and that when the going gets tough, you gotta put a grin on your face and stick with, the rewards are well worth the effort.
In grade 6 I played badminton with my school team. I enjoyed the experience, so when I was approached at the beginning of my grade 7 year to play on my high school's soccer team, I was intrigued. My school was tiny, so in order to enter a sports team into the league, students from grade 7-12 played on the high school teams. I didn't know much about sports up to that point. Neither of my parents played any sports, as I am sure their childhood was much like mine had been up to that point.
I was hooked! We would practice, work hard, get beat in games, learn a lesson, practice our skills, challenge our limits, win a game, do drills to improve weaknesses. It wasn't easy, but I was enjoying the process.
In the early years of playing on my high school team we didn't place well in the standings. My tiny high school had never brought home a championship banner in any female sport. By the time I was in grade 10, we were winning more and more. Other teams in our league started to see us as a close rival.
Fast forward to my grade 12 year, I had been playing on the school soccer, basketball and badminton teams for 6/7 years now! We had great teams and that year we brought home our school's very first regional as well as provincial soccer championship! Four months later we also brought home the provincial basketball championship banner.
The point of this story is, had I gotten "bored" with the sports or frustrated or given up when we got knocked down I would have missed out on 6 years of working towards something so rewarding that I can't even put it into words.
For me, definitely athletic competition defines the unique power of our attitude, because it was and still is a big part of my life. But, this can also apply to other aspects of our lives. If you set out a goal for yourself, are you going to give up when things don't go your way? Whether you are working towards a promotion, an athletic goal, weight loss or saving money for a purchase, you will be faced with obstacles that will challenge your dedication. Have a GREAT ATTITUDE, a realistic outlook, and know that what you are working towards takes time and that once it's acheived you've earned it and that reward will always be yours!

Are you an Athlete?

So, I was thinking this week about what makes an Athlete an Athlete.

Dictionary.com defines an Athlete as a person who is trained or gifted in sports or physical exercises.


Dictionary.reference.com takes it a bit further and defines an Athlete as a person trained or gifted in exercises or contests involving physical agility, stamina or strength; a participant in a sport, exercise or game requiring physical skill.


The origin of the word is latin, athleta, and is a variant stem of athlein which means to contend for a prize.

So, technical stuff out of the way, what does that mean?

First of all I don't think athleticism is a gift.  Sure our genes are predetermined and some individuals may find that athleticism comes a little more easily to them, but any individual who has made progress with any sort of endeavour or achievement, whether athletic, musical, business, arts, will tell you that it came through passion, practice and dedication.  Probably in that order if they were to think about it.  

So, is Sidney Crosby an athlete?  Is the 8 year old showing an interest in ballet an athlete?  Is the stay at home Mom who decides she wants to lose weight, feel better about herself and have energy to play with her children an athlete?  Yes!  What do these three examples have in common...?

They all show an interest in challenging and improving their current physical abilities for their chosen discipline.  That is how I would define an athlete.

The human body was meant to move and everyone deserves an opportunity to challenge their body in a way to improve and be better, no matter what prize they are contending for!

Make a comment below, what prize are you contending for?

"Being genuinely happy for the successes of another person adds joy to our day." ~ Rhoberta Shaler

I am quite lucky in my profession. People come to me with goals they want to achieve or something they want to accomplish.  In the process of working towards their goal they hit milestones along the way and eventually achieve the desired outcome.  I get to celebrate that with them! How awesome is that! Think of the people in your life. Your significant other, relatives, children, co-workers, the person who serves you StarBucks coffee every morning. When was the last time you celebrated a success with one of them? Wouldn't it be pretty cool if, of all the people you know or come across regularly, someone celebrated a success once a week? Everyday? Imagine the joy that could bring to your life as well. What is the saying..."A sorrow shared is halved, a joy shared is doubled." With that in mind here is something to think about... Don't be afraid to ask. Encourage those you know to share their successes with you.  Ask them if they are working towards something.  A promotion at work, saving up money for a particular item, trying out for a sports team, ANYTHING!  Then ask them how it's going and when they achieve it, congratulate them!  It will bring you both joy and, in my opinion, you can never get enough joy in your life! Don't be afraid to share your own successes.  I am not good at this, but I'm working on it. Share your own successes in a positive, encouraging way. You don't have to gloat, but if you've done something you are pleased with, share.  You never know, you may help add some joy to someone's day or, even better, inspire them to believe in their abilities enough that they can succeed at something they've been struggling to accomplish.

draft

Meal options part II: What about dessert?

Ok, ok. Here you go, a little something sweet and simple to chew on.

"NOTHING TASTES SWEETER THAN VICTORY"

Remember that when you're struggling with your nutrition, your training, your sleep. Don't ever lose sight of what you're working towards whether it is a healthy lifestyle or an athletic achievement. The choices you make every day count towards your VICTORY!

A couple meal options, one easy recipe!

Alright everyone! Thank you for being so patient! Here is the recipe;
Honey Curry Chicken
1/8 cup butter + 1/8 cup of grape seed oil (almond oil and avocado oil work well also)
1/3 - 1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup prepared yellow mustard
4 tsp curry powder
6 skinless chicken breasts
Directions:
Preheat oven to 275 degrees. Place the butter and oil in a large flat pan or skillet and pop it in the oven until butter is melted. Remove from the oven. Increase the oven temperature to 375 degrees, then add the honey, mustard and curry powder to the skillet stiring to combine then add the chicken in piece by piece being sure to coat both sides of each piece.
Return the skillet to the oven. Bake for 45 minutes. Turn over and cook an additional 15 minutes. Time may be less for smaller sized peices.

So, here are a couple meal options.

The chicken is really good cold and I like it in a wrap.
Honey Curry Chicken Wrap
Ingredients
Wrap
Low fat sour cream or a little of the honey curry sauce
Honey Curry Chicken
Spinach
Cilantro
Avocado
Shredded carrot
Directions
Lay out your wrap and spread a little of the sour cream or honey curry sauce over it. Then add all the other ingredients or choose some of your own. Top it off with a little bit of goat cheese, roll up the wrap and there you go. A tasty, healthy lunch option.

Meal option 2
Honey Curry Rice with Carrot, Zuchinni and Cilantro
Ingredients
4-6 cups of brown rice (quinoa, brown and wild rice also work well)
1/4-1/2 cup of Honey Curry sauce from when you baked the chicken
2-3 zucchini, shredded
3-4 medium carrots, shredded
1/2 cup rough chopped cilantro
Pepper to taste.
Directions
Toss everything into a large storage container, mix well and there you have it! Lunch or supper is pretty much ready to go. All you have to do is measure out your desired serving of rice and add your chopped chicken and a little low fat feta if you'd like. YUM-MY!

It is a great idea to batch cook when you can. Take a little extra time on days that allow to make extra servings, you can even measure them out when it comes time to store the food in the fridge, then you just have to reach in grab the container and go!

If you don't like the veggies I have suggested, experiment. I've added basil, tomato and cucumber with avocado before also.
ENJOY!

Surprise for next blog!

Stay tuned everyone! By requests from some followers and clients my next blog will be a recipe or two! Plan to go grocery shopping and do some cooking 'cause it's gonna be yummy!

Behind every great success story...

Below is a story that I found quite interesting:

"A distinguished couple in their early forties stopped at a service station to refuel their luxury sedan. It had been a long drive, and they both got out of the car to stretch their legs. The service attendant was startled when he thought he recognized the woman. He enthusiastically asked, "Connie, is that you?" She turned and remembered him as her high school boyfriend. They joined hands and laughed with fond memories. She then introduced her husband, Bob, who was shocked to see this display of affection. As they were driving back onto the highway, he asked, "Just who was that guy that you were so glad to see?"

Connie explained that he was her first real boyfriend from high school. She confessed that he was more serious about the relationship than she was. Bob then sarcastically said, "It's a good thing you didn't marry him. You would have been stuck with a greasy car mechanic." She was not amused. She then said, 'If I had married him, he would have become President of the bank instead of you.'

I thought about this story for a while before deciding to write a blog on it. Obviously there are a lot of variables within this story (maybe the mechanic is very happy in his career path, for example) but this is what it means to me.

Any successful person, whether it is in business, sport or life, has at least one, if not a team of people to encourage them, pick them up when they fall down and help them realize their dreams. We often doubt ourselves, sabotage ourselves and give up on ourselves long before anyone in our support system would. That is why it is so important to surround yourself with people who are positive, knowledgeable and tough when they need to be.

Keep an open mind, you never know what opportunities the people you meet will present to you. It is up to you to recognize whether or not what you're dreaming is what they can help you achieve.

"There are no short cuts to any place worth going." Beverly Sills

You've heard this before, right? Maybe not in these exact words, but you've heard it before.
So why would you read this blog post if you've heard this before?
Here's why...
I want to encourage you to think of this statement a little more in depth...in a different way.

It is a process to really be able to "get to where you want to be" and understand what it takes to get there.

Does an individual in high school decide they want to be a brain surgeon after graduation and the day after they graduate start performing brain surgery?

Does a couch potato decide on January 12 that they are going to run a marathon and get up on January 13th and off they go?

Does an individual who spent 10 years practicing bad habits that led them to be unfit and overweight decide they want to be fit and a healthy weight take a pill and shazam, they're back to where they were 10 years ago?

Each of those goals involves a process to get to the desired outcome.

The student would go off to school, study hard, struggle with grades, get a tutor, pass one exam, struggle with the next, try to have a social life and participate in extracurricular activities, more school, more struggling, more tutoring, more social, until 14-16 years later, you can call yourself a full fledge brain surgeon.

I'm not going to break each of the examples down into such detail, but you get the idea. Just as it's a process to become a brain surgeon, it is a lot of proper planning and execution to run a marathon or become a fit and healthy individual. The "lessons" you learn along the way help you be more successful in acheiving the desired outcome, because once your "there", is it over? No, that's just the beginning!

More doesn't always equate to better

If I told you I could get you the results you want in two ways, the first way would take up 6 months of your time, the second would take up 12 months of your time. Based on that solely, which way would you choose?

What if you are exercising and practicing a movement like squats. Would you want to do a challenging weight for 6 reps working the muscles that should be working focusing on quality or would you want to lift a weight for 12 reps working any muscle necessary to get the weight up focusing on getting 12 reps? What about cardio, would you rather spend 20 minutes doing specific focused cardio or 60 minutes with no direction. Think about it, which approach would you want to take? Which do you think is more efficient?

In our society, not only with exercise, we are programmed to think that more is better. Why would more reps and weight be better or more time spent on cardio be better if you aren't eliciting the greatest results?