Thanksgiving workout

Now that you have some healthy recipes for your holiday meal, Here is a Holiday Workout that’s going to help you burn extra calories and save your waistline this holiday season.  I also have social proof that you don’t have to gain the extra 5-10lbs this holiday season.  Just look at the email I got from one of my boot camper

“Benson, Thank you so much for making this a mean-n-lean holiday season for me. I’m enjoying the holidays but continuing to lose weight” Diana

Just click here for your Holiday Workout that you can do at home in just 20 minutes and burn calories up to 48 hrs later

How to make fat blasting turkey recipes this Thanksgiving that’s good and healthy.

Well it’s that time of year when the big bird comes out of the oven for Thanksgiving. People usually associate Thanksgiving dinner with excess and horrible holiday weight gain. Now you can blame all the stuffing, mashed potatoes, loads of butter and gravy, and cherry and pumpkin pies for that, but leave the turkey alone! After all, the turkey is packed with lean protein that revs your metabolism and promotes fat burning and lean muscle growth. It is also a lean protein, meaning there is very little fat in it (if you’re removing the skin).

Protein is the macronutrient which is responsible for your body building and repairing tissue stores (fat and carbs simply provide energy). More specifically, regular protein intake is key in accelerating the repair of muscle damage from high-intensity activities like strength training and cardio interval training and it’s protein that helps you stay satisfied for longer periods. In addition, you should look to get in some protein every two to four hours.  This is essential in maintaining your current levels of lean muscle mass.  more muscle you have the larger your metabolic engine, thus the more calories (and fat) you burn on a daily basis. Since muscle tissue requires lot of energy to sustain itself. Protein is also the least likely macronutrient to be stored as body fat and digesting protein requires more than double the energy to digest than carbohydrate and dietary fat. So, if there is any food choice that you can truly get away with overeating this holiday season, it will be turkey and other lean proteins.

Another benefit from eating turkey is that it is easy to prepare in and will save you time in your meal planning and preparation during this busy holiday season. You can roast a big turkey and different meal options for days.  Just think about all you can do with Thanksgiving leftovers! To inspire your turkey consumption efforts we’ve put together some better body recipes that you can create with turkey as your lean protein foundation. Enjoy!

Turkey Shepherds Pie

Ingredients:

- 2 cups cubed cooked turkey
- 3⁄4 cup turkey gravy
- 1 small can whole kernel corn
- drained 1 cup of chicken stock
- 1 cup of water
- 3 cups steamed cauliflower
- 2 cups celery, chopped 2 carrots
- chopped 1 onion chopped 2 cloves garlic
- minced 1 bell pepper, any color
- chopped Salt and pepper

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. First you must make the gravy. Take the garlic, 1 cup of celery, carrots, onion, bell pepper, chicken stock, water, vegetables, salt and pepper to taste. Add to a pot, boil until vegetables are soft and blend in a blender or food processor.

Next, you will take the steamed cauliflower and mash it, or place it in a food processor until the consistency is like that of mashed potatoes.

Next, in a baking dish, layer the turkey, gravy, corn, remaining celery and mashed cauliflower. Bake, uncovered at 325 degrees for 45-50 minutes.

Makes 2 male servings and one female serving.

Turkey Florentine

Ingredients:

- 1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach
- 2 tablespoons smart butter
- 1 cup cooked whole grain fettuccine
- 2 cups diced, cooked turkey
- 1 cup turkey or chicken stock 1
- (8 ounce) package fat free sour cream and onion dip
- 1⁄2 teaspoon onion salt
- 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
- Non-stick cooking spray

Directions:

Cook spinach according to package directions; drain. Stir in smart butter. Place noodles in a non-stick sprayed baking dish; top with spinach. Combine turkey, stock, onion dip and onion salt and spoon over spinach. Sprinkle with Parmesan. Bake, uncovered, at 325 degrees F for 25 minutes or until bubbly.
Turkey Salad

Ingredients:

- 6-8 oz. Turkey Breast chopped into small cubes
- 1⁄4 red bell pepper
- 1⁄4 green bell pepper
- 1⁄4 red onion
- 2 Tbsp canola or olive oil mayo

Directions:

Mix all ingredients together and enjoy over a bed of greens.

Makes one male serving and two female servings.

Turkey Cranberry Cream Cheese Roll-up

Ingredients:

- 6-8 oz. Sliced Turkey
- 1 Tbsp Fat Free Cream Cheese
- 1 Tbsp Dried Cranberries 1⁄2 Clove of Roasted Garlic Salt and Pepper to taste
- 2 Whole Grain Tortillas

Directions:

Soak cranberries in water for 20 minutes or microwave until soft if you are short on time. Mash the 1⁄2 clove of garlic. Mix cranberries, garlic, and cream cheese. Add salt and pepper to taste. Spread the mixture into the inside of the tortilla(s). Add turkey breast. Fold up sides, roll up, and enjoy!

Makes one male serving and two female servings.

Turkey Medallions With Cranberry Glaze

Turkey Medallions:
- 6-8 oz. Turkey
- Non-stick spray Turkey Seasoning

Cut Turkey Breasts into small medallions, sprinkle lightly with seasoning. Reheat in a pan sprayed with non-stick oil on medium heat until lightly browned on both sides. Drip Cranberry glaze (below) over the medallions.

Cranberry Glaze:
- 1 Cups Dry white wine
- Turkey or chicken stock, as needed
- 1 1⁄2  Cups Dried cranberries
- 1⁄4 Cup of Pine nuts, toasted
- Pinch of Salt

Add 1⁄2 cup of white wine and 1⁄2 cup of turkey stock to pan. Add other 1⁄2 cup of turkey stock, cranberries, pine nuts and pinch of salt. Cook over medium heat until reduced in volume by half, about 4 cups.

Makes one male serving and two female servings.

Turkey Green Bean Casserole

Ingredients:

- 1 bag of frozen green beans
- 6-8 oz. of cubed cooked turkey breast
- 1 can of organic cream of mushroom soup
- 2 cups Kraft all natural fat free cheese
- Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients into a casserole dish and bake for about 30 minutes or until completely hot. Makes one male serving and two female servings.

Yours in fat loss

Benson Manento

Hotlanta Bodies Fit Camp

www.hotlantabodiesfitcamp.com

Build your own Circuit Training Program for Rapid Fat Loss

You may have heard in the past that to build a good strength training or resistance training program that you should follow the guidelines of doing straight sets to build muscle.  In other words, you are to do a number of reps for a specific exercise, rest for 1min to 3 or even five minutes (based on your goal) then repeat the set again for whatever number of sets you’re going to complete.  If you’re looking for fat loss and building lean muscle, you want to lean heavily on shorter rest periods.  If you want more power and or strength, then you should have longer rest periods.

You see this type of training in most gyms.  They do three straight sets of 8-10 reps for a certain exercise or muscle group. So why is that most people stick to this style of training?  Is it considered the supreme style?  Straight sets may be the easy way to teach a beginner who is new to fitness.  However, you can be more efficient with your time and body opposed to this style. training  When performing straight sets, you’re more likely to do a set then get occupied with other things such as watching TV, take a long walk to the water fountain, reading the bulletin on the wall during your rest period.   The next thing you know it may be 3-5 minutes in between sets or another person has began their exercise right where you were.  Following along with this type of training you can spend up to 15-20 minutes trying to finish the exercise.  If you did four different
exercises using this same pattern you can expect at least an hour to finish your workout.

The most effective lean muscle building and time efficiency is being able to follow along with an alternating set format.  Alternating formats is when you do one exercise, rest for a short period then move to another non-competing exercise, then a short rest.  When doing alternating sets you allow yourself to work other parts of your body in place of resting and being distracted in the straight set format.  Alternating sets also allow your body to recover from the previous exercise(s).  By doing this you’re more likely to get more work done in less time.  This form is the pillar of a good fat loss program.  There are multiple techniques in which you can use alternating sets as shown below

1.)    Supersets: Alternate between two different non-competing exercises (e.g. upper body and lower body such as push-ups and lunges)

2.)    Trisets: Alternate between three different exercises (e.g. push, pull, and lower body such as push-ups, rows, and lunges)

3.)    Giant sets/Circuits: Alternate between four or more different exercises

Even though supersets and trisets are good alternating set options, my opinion is circuit training by far best option for fat loss and time efficiency. Let me show one of my all time favorite circuit training templates in the format of timed set intervals:

The 50-10, Five Exercise Circuit: You will alternate between 50 seconds of work and 10 seconds of rest for all five exercises in the following 5-minute circuit:

Exercise#1- Squats

Exercise#2- Dips

Exercise#3- Single-Leg Hip Extensions

Exercise#4- Pull-ups

Exercise#5- Leg Raises

Perform this circuit up to four times for a 20-minute total body fat burning workout.

Essentially, in the same 15 minutes took to perform one exercise, you could get three sets of five different exercise for a staggering total of 15 work sets! Plus, the intensity on each exercise will be just as high in not more as in the straight set format.  This is because the five exercise circuit allows you to gain full recovery with over four minutes before you return to any given exercise (just as you did with the straight set format described earlier).

The point here is creating the optimal hormonal environment for fat loss and to perform each exercise with maximal intensity while separated by brief rest periods in order to accumulate a high volume of total body work in the shortest amount of time possible. Circuit training gives you the best of both worlds and is simply unmatched for maximizing fat loss and lean muscle gain. Use the following template I use with my many boot camps in Atlanta for some heart-pumping, fat melting, simple fat loss circuits:

Exercise#1- Double-Leg

Exercise#2- Push

Exercise#3- Single-Leg

Exercise#4- Pull

Exercise#5- Core

Here’s a workout video showing you a great circuit you can perform anywhere and be done in less than 20 minutes:

I’ll be sharing some more great circuit training workouts from my Hotlanta Bodies Fit Camp a Rapid Fat Los Boot Camp in Atlanta in the upcoming weeks

Rapid Fat Loss Workouts for the busy person

Benson Manento
Hotlanta Bodies Fit Camp
www.hotlantabodiesfitcamp.com

Circuit Training for faster workouts greater fat loss.

Yes I’m sure you’ve heard it plenty of times, but I must talk about it again.  Circuit training or training in intervals is your key to greater fat loss, but it also helps to make you more time efficient instead of wasting precious time waiting in between exercise.  

There are many variations to make sure you are begin circuit training.  Although many people who go to the gym may believe they should be working with a less weight and higher reps, then head immediately to another exercise.  

I’ll go against their beliefs and say you can train using more resistance, weight or your body weight challenging your muscles to work harder.  If need be, you can give yourself a 10,15 even 30 second rest and move to the next exercise.  

We use this same form of training in our Rapid Fat Loss Boot Camps here in Atlanta.  One program design may call for 30 seconds of work followed by 30 seconds of rest or recovery.  The heart rate is still elevated and folks are burning tons of calories.  

Circuit training proves to be greater for fat loss because of the notion called EPOC which is Exercise Post Oxygen Consumption (calories being burned after you work out).  You simply cannot get this through doing a slow steady aerobic training program alone.  

Therefore, circuit training is the perfect ideal workout for the busy person looking to sneak a quick workout in and get back on with their busy lives.  You don’t have to spend hours upon hours exercising to get the results you’re looking for.  In fact, you’d be better off working out 20-30 minutes at a high intensity opposed to spending an hour to hour and half of low-moderate intensity.

So why do people exercise at low to moderate intensities?  Well, quite frankly, it’s easy.  Honestly, it’s really hard to convince yourself to train and push yourself to hard level.  In all my years of training, I’ve come to realize that people either have to seriously motivated, crazy, have some sort of high threshold/tolerance to complete.  

Most feel as if they’ve accomplished something thinking slow and steady is the pace.  This could be further from the truth.  If you want to maximize your fat loss efforts, you should be looking to do high intensity exercise.

Here’s a sample circuit you can follow, for big time resultd and to get your heart rate going and burn tons of fat post exercise.  I’m going to share 5 Bodyweight exercises we use at Hotlanta Bodies Fit Camp.  You can play with this however you want or work at your own fitness level.  You can have a set number of reps and sets, or you can simply go by time.  The choice is yours.  The key is make sure you’re working hard enough and moving from one exercise to the next without spending minutes in between exercises.

 #1 Squats

#2 Push Ups

#3 Plank (static or dynamic)

#4 Resistance Band/Dumbell Rows

#5 Mountain Climbers (10-12 each leg)

Rest 30sec-1min and repeat exercises #1-5.

Using a format like that you’ve just touched every muscle group in your body.  These full body exercises allow you to burn more calories and work multiple muscle groups at once.  This type of training is your best chance for greater fat loss in less time.  Not sitting around waiting in between sets to work on an isolated muscle group (abs, chest, legs etc).

 

Yours in Fat Loss,

Benson Manento

Breakthrough Sports and Fitness

Hotlanta Bodies Fit Camp

www.hotlantabodiesfitcamp.com