Super Delicious Turkey Burgers!

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Last night I made the most delicious turkey burgers so you know I’m sharing that recipe! I actually got the basics from Rachael Ray but put my own spin on it based on size, nutrition, and what I had in my cabinet. Her recipe said it made 4 burgers but everyone was posting that they really made 6 burgers, so I cut the recipe into a third so I could make 2 burgers. They’re big and filling!

INGREDIENTS:

Whole Wheat Sandwich Thins

Lettuce- to top burger

Tomato- to top burger

Burgers:

1/3 Cup Brown Rice- this can be leftover from the night before

1/3 Pound Lean Ground Turkey Breast

1/2 Cup Cooked Black Beans

Chili Powder depending on how spicy you want your burger to be

1/2 Teaspoon Cumin

1 Teaspoon Garlic Powder or you could use part of a glove finely chopped

Pinch of salt (optional)

Topping:

1/2 Ripe Avocado

Lime juice to taste

Garlic to Taste- powder or cloves depending on if you like to munch on garlic

Pinch of Salt

Directions:

1. Mix together the ingredients for the burger. I suggest, smushing up the black beans so they don’t end up falling out of the burger while you’re eating it. The rice makes the burger pretty moist especially if you cook it right before mixing it with the other ingredients.

2. Coat the bottom of a skillet with Cooking Spray with Olive Oil and heat the pan.

3. Place burgers in pan and cook about 7-8 minutes on each side.

4. While burgers are cooking, mix together the ingredients for the topping. Basically, this is guacamole and it’s about taste so add seasonings to your liking, but watch the salt!

5. Toast your Sandwich Thins if you like.

6. When burgers are done, stack them on the Sandwich Thins, top with the Avocado mixture, lettuce and tomato and serve!

If you want to cut out a little of the carbs, skip the Sandwich Thins. These don’t really even need a bun, honestly. Enjoy!!

How Many Calories SHOULD I Be Eating?

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So I was on the American Heart Association’s website this morning and found this chart of recommended calorie consumption. Of course, if you’re trying to maintain your weight, you want to burn as many calories as you consume. if you’re trying to lose weight, I recommend a 500 calorie deficit everyday to lose a safe 1 pound a week. You’ll be more likely to maintain and keep that weight off.

I thought I’d pass this on to you guys because I’m always wondering about this myself.

Activity Level and Estimated Calories Burned
Gender Age (years) Sedentary1 Moderately Active2 Active3
Female 19–30 

31–50

51+

 2,000 

1,800

1,600

 2,000-2,200 

2,000

1,800

 2,400 

2,200

2,000-2,200
Male 19–30 

31–50

51+

 2,400 

2,200

2,000

 2,600-2,800 

2,400-2,600

2,200-2,400

 3,000 

2,800-3,000

2,400-2,800

1 Sedentary means you have a lifestyle that includes only the light physical activity associated with typical day-to-day life.

2 Moderately active means you have a lifestyle that includes physical activity equivalent to walking about 1.5 to 3 miles per day at 3 to 4 miles per hour, in addition to the light physical activity associated with typical day-to-day life.

3 Active means you have a lifestyle that includes physical activity equivalent to walking more than 3 miles per day at 3 to 4 miles per hour, in addition to the light physical activity associated with typical day-to-day life.

How Are P90x and TurboFire Related?

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If you’ve done or are doing P90x, what were your favorite workouts? Were they Kenpo  and Plyometrics? Well, if so, do I have the perfect next step for you! Imagine a combination between Kenpo and Plyometrics where you also shake your groove thang to the hottest music. All in the comfort of your own home!

That is TurboFire!

TurboFire is the evolution of kickboxing and cardio. It uses High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) where you’re working in your anaerobic levels for brief periods of time. This helps you burn more fat and increase your stamina for other cardio workouts. This is similar to Plyometrics in that you work hard for about 30 seconds to a minute and then recover before starting the next drill.

So take the moves of Kenpo, do them in short, intense drills set to music and you have a TurboFire HIIT drill. Did I mention how fun it is!? The HIIT workouts are 15, 20, 25 and 30 minutes long so anyone can fit those into their schedule. TurboFire also has some longer cardio workouts ranging from 30 minutes to 60 minutes that just fly by because your fitness level has improved so much through the HIIT workouts.

Want a sneak preview? Recently, Chalene Johnson, TurboFire creator, filmed for a segment on Good Morning America:

TurboFire on Good Morning America

If you’re looking for a new challenge, for more cardio and for some super fun workouts that are going to shake up your views on fitness, TurboFire is where it’s at!

Ab Ripper X: Some Modifications

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Ab Ripper X is a beast! It’s only 16 minutes but definitely works your entire core and afterward you feel like you’ve been punched in the gut…. repeatedly! A six pack is what everyone wants, right? Well, this is the workout to do it. When you’re first starting, some of those exercises can be very tough and even frustrating. I found a few ways to modify that may help you get stronger so you can eventually do the full exercises. I thought I’d pass it on to you in case you may need some more strength before tackling the moves and maybe even advanced moves. When I was working on strengthening my core after my car accident I had to modify a lot of things so I got pretty good at it!

First of all, it’s so important to remember that you just need to focus on doing the best that you can do. If you can’t do all the exercises, don’t get upset or frustrated. Don’t get down on yourself. Also, there’s going to be some that you can do more fully than others. That just depends on what sort of ab work you’ve done before and where your core strength is. In the workout, do as many as you can, at the highest intensity that you can (without injuring yourself) and you’re going to get better each time.

Fifer Scissors are super tough, but there’s a way to modify that will still work your abs and help increase your strength. Instead of holding your leg off the ground while the other is in the air, keep that one leg down. The key to increase your strength is when you switch legs, make sure you move them together. In other words, make sure that both legs are off the ground during the switch. That in itself is going to strengthen your core, big time! As you get stronger, hold the leg off the ground for the first few moves, then go back to the modified version. The goal being to do more with your leg hovering off the ground each time you go through the workout.

I think we’ve all felt the pain of V-Up Roll-Ups! For a lot of us it’s just enough to use our core to lift off the ground and touch our toes, am I right? There is nothing wrong with doing that for a while to build up your strength. The next step would just to be to lift your legs on the way down. After that, it will be to lift your legs on the way up and lift your shoulders off the ground slightly. Finally, you’ll be able to pulse up and complete the entire exercise. Take your time and do a little more each time. You may be at one stage for a while and that’s okay. If you can only do one full V-Up Roll-Up, that’s okay too! Just do the one and modify for the other 24.

The Oblique V-Ups are another potential nemesis that we can modify. Start by leaving your feet on the ground and pulse with your upper body. The second step would be to leave your shoulders on the ground and pulse with the lower half of your body. Both these moves are going to start strengthening your obliques which will allow you to do the entire move with crunching both your upper body and lower body.

My final tip has to do with the Mason Twists. These can be tricky because you have to hold your legs up the whole time. If that’s too tough, put your heels on the floor and lean back to where you really feel it and complete the Mason Twist that way. After that you’ll be able to lift your legs off the ground with your knees bent. Eventually you’ll be able to strengthen your legs and do the Mason Twist.

Is Shakeology ACTUALLY Worth It?

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I get this question…. A LOT! And I wanted to go over some of the benefits and concerns you may have about it.

First, what is it? It’s a meal replacement shake that includes, what I can only call, miracle ingredients. It has all your necessary vitamins and minerals that your body needs. It’s low on the Glycemic Index, only 140 calories, tastes fantastic, and helps you stay full. It also flushes toxins out of your body so that you’re more able to absorb the vital nutrients you need.

So personally, the first thing I noticed about Shakeology was that my energy went through the roof. I was someone who would crash out in the afternoon because I had so little energy. I needed my afternoon nap- seriously! And that also means I’m not reaching for a second (or third) cup of coffee in the afternoon either! Saving money by not getting that Starbucks is a HUGE perk!

As if that wasn’t a big enough draw, it also helped me break a several year long weight-loss plateau. I had been stuck at the same weight, no matter how much I exercised, for years and years. I started drinking one shake every day (at least) and within a few months I had dropped 4 pounds. What?! Yes, seriously! I was exercising the same amount, but I didn’t have those chocolate cravings, I was using this to keep me full for longer, and I lost that extra junk hanging around in my intestines (yes I know that’s super gross sounding).

And now some even more serious results I’ve seen. I had three things I was constantly dealing with: high blood pressure; high cholesterol; and fluctuating blood sugar. These are things that run in my family and I did not miss getting those genes! My good cholesterol (HDL) was always high because I work out often and eat well, but the bad cholesterol (LDL) was also always high- heredity! After drinking Shakeology for about a year, I just had my annual physical. My blood pressure was fantastic, 112/80, and my cholesterol was amazing, HDL of 101 and LDL of 70. As far as my blood sugar was concerned, I just don’t even think about it anymore because it isn’t even an issue. I don’t crash due to low blood sugar and don’t spike because I have Shakeology to help regulate. The fact that my health is in check is absolutely priceless to me!

Is $3 too much for a shake that’s truly saving my life? That’s helping to lose weight? That’s helping me to feel better? That’s giving me more energy? That’s regulating my blood sugar? That lowered my cholesterol into an acceptable range? That lowered my blood pressure? That made it so I don’t have to spend money on prescriptions to regulate these things for me? ABSOLUTELY NOT! $3 is a STEAL for preventing problems later in life that could cost me SO much more.

If you haven’t experienced Shakeology for yourself and would like to try it before you buy it, click on the box to the right! 🙂

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