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Easy way to add spinach to your diet

April 7, 2012 By Courtnie Leave a Comment

Spinach is an amazing food that should be added to everyone’s diet

Why should you add spinach to your diet?

Spinach nutrients;

  • Calcium
  • Vitamine A
  • Vitamine C
  • Fiber
  • Folic Acid
  • Magnesium

Adding spinach will help you with your bone strength, control cancer, lower homocysteine, protect you against heart disease and age related memory loss.

Making spinach cubes

Having a hard time to adding spinach to your diet? Try making some spinach cubes and add them to your smoothie

Buy fresh spinach from your local grocery store, wash and clean leaves and place in your blender

Add a little bit of water then blend until liquid

Fill an ice cube tray with the spinach mix and place in freezer. Once frozen into spinach cubes you can pop them out and use them in your fruit smoothie or protein shakes!

Quick and easy way to add some green veggies to your shakes!

Enjoy

Courtnie

Filed Under: Nutrition, Random

Afraid of putting on too much muscle?

November 17, 2011 By Courtnie Leave a Comment

Lean muscle is your weight loss friend!

Most women worry that they are going to get too muscular if they start lifting weights. But the truth is, it very hard genetically as a female to increase your muscle mass!

Amanda and I can both vouch that it is a lot of work to put on muscle as a female :O

Time and time again I see women at the gym with there 3-5 lbs, dumbbell weights doing biceps curls……..Let me put this into perspective for you, the average purse that you carry probably weighs more than those 3-5 pounds, even a four liter jug of milk from you local shopping market will weigh more then 3-5 pounds.

The truth is putting on some muscle is going to help you lose weight, not bulk up!

Most people know that muscle burns more calories than fat but, just how much more? Over the years I’ve heard that a pound of muscle can burn anywhere from 30-100 extra calories a day!!

Tip #1. Things to watch when trying to put on muscle is, believe it or not: the birth control pill, this will increase your estrogen and or progesterone hormone levels and make it harder to add muscle.

Tip #2. I frequently get asked what to do first, cardio or weights, and the answer is; do what ever you would like to improve first. So if you are looking to improve your time or distance running, do cardio first. However if you are looking to in muscle mass do weights first. This allows you to put your greatest effort into reaching your goal. Even better yet split your workouts up, but this will require you hit the gym twice a day!:O)

So get pumped up, and let your muscles melt the calories away!

~Courtnie~
Filed Under: Exercise, Random

Eggnog French Toast

November 14, 2011 By Courtnie Leave a Comment

Just in time for the Holidays

Seasonal French toast without the extra calories :O)

Ingredients

1/2 cup of Egg whites

1 cup of Almond milk (breeze)

6 Slices of Rye bread

1 TBSP of Vanilla

1/4 tsp of Nutmeg

pinch of Cinnamon

How To Prepare

 add the egg whites, almond milk, valilla and Nutmeg. then whisk together until completely blended. Then soak the rye bread in the mixture. Place in a hot, non-stick frying pan, or use some Pam Cooking Spray just prior to placing the bread in pan. Brown on each side, then add topping and severe warm!

 Toppings

For toppings without the added calorie count, try yogurt!! My favorite is the 35 Calorie source yogurt (desert line or plain vanilla) and then add some fresh fruit and cinnamon and “ta-da” Calorie wise, delicious french toast with a Holiday twist!! Mmmm so good!!

~Courtnie~

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Running shoes have a shelf life too

November 12, 2011 By Courtnie Leave a Comment

Once you have put too many miles on your running shoes you must get a new pair, to avoid injuries and set backs.

Running shoes have a shelf life too!

Stopping in at running shoe specialist store such as the Running Room, maybe a good idea before getting a new pair of runners.

They are professionally trained to assess the wear and tear on your old shoes and can suggest a new pair of runners that will meet you your needs in functionality and will help you choose a shoe that will provide your feet with the proper support.

Inspecting the wear and tear on my shoes, especially the soles, and also by feel. I can usually tell by small aches and pains that start in the chins, heels and arch of my feet.

I prefer the Sacony runner myself, it fits and my feet best, and I feel it is reasonably priced for it’s value! But again this is why seeing a specialists will help you in determining what shoe brand/model  best fits your needs.

Things to think about when choosing a shoe include:

  • Do you  have high or low arches?
  • Do you have wide or narrow feet?
  • Do your feet invert or evert?
  • Assessing your gait; such as your heel strike.
  • Most important of all what activity will you be using the shoe’s for?

As far as shoes life span, it depends on the activity that you are preforming and what type of surface your on! For a runner, running on ashfault their shoes life will not last as long if you were running on trails! For me personally an average life span is somewhere between 400-600km.

Exceeding your shoes life span can lead to major problems if not caught early. Including shin splints, knee, hip and even back issues, Yikes. So remember to be nice to your feet and treat them to a new pair of shoes when needed.

Once you have purchased your replacement runners remember to slowly switch over, break them in gradually!

And now tie up your laces and get sweating!! :O)

~Courtnie~

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Guilt Free Pumpkin Pie!

October 30, 2011 By Courtnie 1 Comment

Enjoy Halloween by having a slice of “Healthy” Pumpkin Pie!

Ingredients

¼ tsp of Cinnamon

¼ tsp of  Nutmeg

½ cup of Egg whites

1 Can of pumpkin (~800 ml)

¼ cup Almond milk (almond breeze)

1 tbsp Vanilla

¼  cup of cooking Splenda

How to prepare

Set the oven at 450

Mix all of the ingredients together

There is no crust to this pie so once you have all of the ingredients mixed, pour into a cooking pan.

I use disposable individual foil pans that are in different shapes for fun (from the dollar store) Makes about 10 tins

But you can use what every you would like

Cook for about 25 mins, until golden brown on top and check with a tooth- pic to make sure the inside is cooked as well!

Then you can add a spurt of low fat whip cream on top

And enjoy this “spoo”tacular treat!! Yum Yum!

~Courtnie~

Clean eating and a proper workouts will help you lose weight and feel great! Check out Learn2Sweat’s bootcamps and presonal training for more information!

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We Want to Make You Sweat

September 16, 2011 By Courtnie Leave a Comment

Tonight’s Learn2Sweat Bootcamp

Give it a try from the comfort of your own home

25 scorpion push-ups

30 squats with a medicine ball toss (suggested weight 10 lbs.)

35 v-sits

40 kettle bell swing (suggested weight 12.5, 15, 17.5)

45 weighted walking lunges (suggested weight 12, 15, 17.5, 20 lbs.)

50 bench hop overs

Repeat 7 times!

Remeber to do a proper warm up and cool down!

Filed Under: Our Workouts

Healthy Slurpee

August 23, 2011 By Courtnie Leave a Comment

One large 41-oz. Slurpee can have as many as 570 calories, and 135g of sugar…….

That is the equivalent of eating 34 sugar cubes….


This subject hits close to home for me, as  my home town Manitoba, has been named the “Slurpee Capital of the World” the last 12 years in a row.

And it just so happens that the incidence of diabetes is also the highest in Manitoba than anywhere across Canada, and is still on the up rise.

So lets put the sugars drinks down and find a healthy alternative!

Here is a simple and easy solution;

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 packet of singles, crystal light (any flavor, there’s a lot to chose from!!)
  • 2 cups of ice cubes
  • 1 cup of water

Place them in a blender and tah-dah your very own calorie free, refreshing Slurpee!!

*They have recently come out with some great flavors of BCAA’s that you could supplement for the Crystal light, for a post workout slurpee*

*You can also add you favor fruit with a 1/4 cup of  ”Almond Breeze” Almond milk to give your drink more of a smoothie constancy and taste. This will also provide you with some nutritional value!*

My favorite Smoothie

  • 1 cup of  ice cubes
  • 1/4 cup of almond breeze milk
  • palm full (about 3 Tbsp of shave almonds)
  • 1/2 Large Banana (better if frozen!)

Blend it all up and this makes for delicious post workout treat!

enjoy :O)

~Courtnie~

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Seafood Orange Sauce Chicken

August 23, 2011 By Courtnie 2 Comments

Seafood Orange Sauce Chicken

Here is an amazing recipe that I got from one of my health conscious friends Mike!!!

Ingredients:

5-6 bonless skinless Chicken Breasts

1 Egg – Beaten

Breton Crackers – Crushed up

1 jar of Seafood Sauce – Our Compliments (tangy)

1 1/2  cups of Orange Juice

1/2 cup of Cooking Splenda

How to prepare:

Dry off chicken and dip in egg,

Then bread the egg covered chicken with breton crackers.

Cook chicken for 20mins after you cover with crackers…

Combine the seafood sauce, orange juice and splenda to make your sauce,

Than cover the chicken that has been cooked for 20 minutes with the sauce,

Then bake for another 20-25 mins @400F depending how much chicken you use.

And enjoy!

Mmmmmmm so good

Thanks for this one Mike!!

~Courtnie~

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50, 40, 30, 20, 10

June 22, 2011 By Courtnie Leave a Comment

Get in shape for free, and from the comfort of your own home!

Here’s another workout that we did in class tonight!!


Run through the list of exercises below, performing; 50 of each of the exercises and then 40, 30, 20, 10

  • Weighted step-ups
  • Weighted alternating lunges
  • Push-ups with a row (start in a plank position with weights in your hands, perform a push-up and then a single arm row)
  • Sit-ups of your choice
  • Plank (for seconds! 50 sec, 40, 30 and so on)

*Remove the weights for this workout, if you don’t have a set of weights at home or would like to perform a modified version of this workout*

Make sure you do a proper warm-up, cool down and stretching!

Have fun

you trainers and motivators

~Amanda Lee and Courtnie McInnes~

-If you are finding it hard to motivate your self at home, check out when we are offering our next Learn2sweat bootcamps and personal training

where we will provide your motivation and profession instructions!

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Killer Full Body Workout

June 5, 2011 By Courtnie Leave a Comment

Here is a Fat Blaster Full Body Workout!!!

This Circuit should take about 30 mins to run though once,

tonight in our class we will

be going though the circuit twice!! 8)

Remember to always properley warm-up and cool down!!

5 minute warm-up: 4 Laps Jogging

1) Pushups – max in 1:00

2) Squats – max in 1:00

3) Bent over rows – max in 1:00

4) Jog 3 laps

5) Shoulder press – max in 1:00

6) Lunges – max in1:00 each leg (2:00 min total)

7) Bicep curls – max in 1:00

8 ) Jog 3 laps

9) Triceps extensions – max in 1:00

10) Wall squat – 1:00

11) Pliate squat – max in 1:00

12) Sit-ups with weight (1 min/1 min without) – max in2:00

13 )Regular Crunches – max in 2:00

14) Kettle bell swings – max in1:00

15) Jog 3 laps

16) 2-3min rest and Repeat

5 minute Cool Down: 3 Laps Walking

5 minute of Strecting!

This is a great workout and will help you slim down and feel great in a short period of time!

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