Trainer Tip Tuesday: Bone Broth Basics

Are you familiar with bone broth and it's amazing benefits?  I wasn't until sometime this past year.  I actually didn't make it for the first time until after Thanksgiving 2016.  I have only made it a couple times since, but recently I have made it more of a staple in my diet because of the amazing benefits that not only have I research but also experienced.  If you are unfamiliar with the benefits of bone broth, continue reading, otherwise skip to the recipe at the bottom! ;)

Bone Broth Benefits:

1.    Heal and seal your gut. According to studies, bone broth, when consumed daily can help heal leaky gut and protect healthy guts.  The gelatin in the bone broth (from the knuckles, feet, and other joints of the animal) helps seal holes in your intestines, which can aid in curing  chronic diarrhea, constipation, and even some food intolerances.

2.    Protect your joints. Glucosamine is often recommended for joint pain, but instead of taking a glucosamine supplement, why not just drink some bone broth.  It is certainly cheaper and unlike supplements, bone broth contains a lot of other good ingredients including gelatin and collagen, which keep your joints healthy and pain-free.  The collagen in bone broth helps restore human cartilage while the gelatin helps form and maintain strong, mineral dense bones.

3.    Look younger. As mentioned, bone broth is a rich source of collagen. Collagen aids in forming elastin and other compounds within skin that are credited with creating skin’s youthful tone, texture and appearance.  You can find collagen in all kinds of “plumping” products and other beauty care items, however, ingesting it is a more effective use of this “miracle” ingredient.  Many women have reported a decrease in cellulite when consuming foods and supplements containing collagen, which make sense since cellulite forms due to a lack of connective tissue, allowing skin to lose tone.

4.    Better Sleep, More Energy. The glycine in bone broth has been shown in several studies to help people sleep better and improve memory, this in turn can possibly be leading to the increase in energy which has been reported from bone broth consumers.

5.    Immune support. Ever wonder why your mom made chicken soup for you when you were sick??  It wasn’t “just because … the bone marrow that leaches into the broth during the cooking process can actually help strengthen your immune system. A study out of Harvard even showed a relief of autoimmune disorder symptoms, and in some cases complete remission.   

6.    Boosts Detox.  Bone broth is considered a powerful detoxification agent as it aids the digestive system in expelling waste while also promoting the liver’s removal of toxins, maintaining tissue integrity, and improving the body’s use of antioxidants.

7.    Aids the Metabolism. Amino acids found in bone broth, play a large role in metabolic health, including building and repairing muscle tissue, supporting bone mineral density, boosting nutrient absorption and synthesis, maintaining muscle and connective tissue health, improving the body’s use of antioxidants, protecting against skeletal muscle loss and stopping the expression of genes associated with age-related muscle protein breakdown. 

8.    It’s economical! Bone broth is one of the most inexpensive things to make and store.  What else were you going to do with those chicken carcasses, and veggies going bad in your fridge?  See the “recipe” below for an idea of how to make bone broth, then experiment with your own!

Simple Bone Broth:

Ingredients: 

* Bones from 2 whole chickens or 4-6 chicken breasts

* Veggies of any sort (I like carrot, onion, and celery)

* Apple Cider Vinegar

* Pink Himalyan Sea Salt

* Water

Directions: 

Place all bones into a slow cooker and cover with water.  Add 1/4-1/2c of Apple Cider Vinegar and sprinkle in salt.  Cook on high for 24 hours!  Add all veggies; you can use any veggies you like, just keep them in bigger pieces so they are easier to strain at the end.  Optional things to add include garlic, seaweed, and other spices - Turmeric is one of my favorites to add!  Cook for an additional 8-12 hours.  Strain all veggies and bones.  

The bone broth can be stored for a few days in the fridge or a few months in the freezer.  I pour the bone broth into giant silicone ice trays, freeze it, and then place the frozen bone broth into ziplock bags.  To use frozen bone broth, heat on the stove.  The bone broth may be pretty concentrated depending on how long you cook the broth, so you may want to dilute it by adding extra water.

The bone broth can be consumed on it's own (just sip it in the morning or at night!) or it can be used as a soup base or ingredient in other recipes.   

 

Are you going to use the bone broth recipe?!  Do you have a recipe of your own you would like to share?

Trainer Tip Tuesday: What Your Trainer Knows and You Should Too

As a trainer, my uniform includes a sports bra and tennis shoes instead of a pencil skirt and high heels.  My tools are TRXs and dumbbells instead of notepads and pens.  In this world, toner has nothing to do with the printer, and everything to do with those tank top arms everyone wants.  As a trainer, I have dedicated my professional life to building better bodies, and I want to share with you a few key things you might not know, or rather, you might not be willing to easily acknowledge! 

1. You cannot just do cardio.  Don't get me wrong, cardio is important.  Swimming, spinning, and running are very beneficial for burning calories, improving your cardiovascular system and giving you mood boosting endorphins.  When it comes to weight loss though, you need to travel to the dark side, the side of the gym where the dumbbells, kettlebells, and barbells live.  And you need to travel there regularly, at least twice a week.

2. The heavier the weight, the bigger the result.  Functional body-weight training (think pushh-ups, squats, lunges) is excellent functional training for everyday movements.  However, using heavier weight (like something you could only do 8-12 reps of ) can stimulate lean muscle mass production, which can transform the composition and shape of your body.    

Worried about bulking up?  DON'T.  Unless you are spending HOURS at the gym and consuming massive amounts of protein, it just is not going to happen.  In fact, you will notice your body shrinking in all the right places and your clothes fitting better before the number on the scale budges.  

3. You cannot out train bad nutrition.  If you want to see significant changes in your body, working out by itself, is not enough.  You are going to have to make changes to your nutrition.  Start with small changes - cut out soda or drink it only once a week, make an effort to have greens at every meal, drink the recommended amount of water daily.  Pick two things and do them consistently for two weeks.  Then pick two more things to work on in addition to your original two and just go from there adjusting your nutrition.  

4. Addition > Subtraction.  Most people immediately jump to cutting calories when they want to lose weight.  This can be bad news as you can easily throw your body into starvation mode, preventing you from losing body fat and actually breaking down the muscles you have been attempting to build up.  You may drop a few pounds at first by skipping meals or eliminating entire food groups, but the second you go back to eating a normal number of calories or you reintegrate the eliminated food groups, you will likely gain everything back, and then some.  

Instead of focusing on what you are taking away, focus on what to add.  Include more nutrient dense foods like fruits, vegetables, seeds, and nuts to provide your body fuel it needs to tackle your workouts while also improving your overall health.  You'll feel fuller on fewer calories, and over time (about 6ish months) you'll actually rewire your brain to crave healthy foods instead of junk.  Pretty cool right?!  

If you are having a hard time getting in the nutrient dense foods that you body needs, I urge you to check out my favorite health supplement, Shakeology.  

5. Have a little FUN! Whenever I work with a trainer (yes, trainer need trainers too!) my one rule for continuing to work together is that they push me hard, but never so hard that I get to the point of throwing up.  Such extreme efforts are totally unnecessary and counter productive.  If you actively dread your workouts, it's all too easy to make excuses to skip them.  

In addition to making sure that you are not dreading your workouts, incorporate some physical activity that you actually ENJOY, not that you simply don't dread!  Gardening, hiking, and dancing are all excellent physical activities for burning calories while having fun.  

6. There are 24 hours in your day.  All of your movement in a 24 hours period counts, not just the time you spend sweating with a trainer or completing your at-home workout.  Tiny little movements like fidgeting in your car or tapping you foot at a meeting can actually help you burn a few hundred calories a day!  So ignore your mama's advice to sit still!  

So while you're probably sick of hearing about parking farther away from the grocery store and taking the stairs instead of the escalator, my most successful clients take this type of advice to heart, and they run with it.  What sort of "non-exercise" exercise can you incorporate into your day?

 

7. Staying heavy is as hard as getting fit.  Yes, getting fit requires putting in some time and energy. But consider all the energy you currently expend wishing you had a different body and worrying about how you don't have the time or energy to make a change.  Think about how much lighter you felt when you weighed 20lbs less.  Having lost over 100lbs, I cannot imagine picking up two 50lb dumbbells and carrying them with me everywhere I went now!  You simply have to choose what you are putting your energy into - shift from paying attention to what you don't have to paying attention to what you possibly can achieve.   

8. Weight loss is NOT your real goal.  I talk to A LOT of people about their goals and a good majority of them list weight loss.  Heck, I did when I first met with a trainer.  In fact, I listed it a my #1 goal.  In reality, the real goal lies a little deeper.  Keep asking yourself WHY you want to lose weight; the fourth or fifth answer is usually the true motivator.  Clarifying this goal, the actual goal, will help you stick to your guns in the face of temptation.  So, why do you really want to lose weight?

Which of these tips can you implement immediately to start seeing results NOW?! :) 

Book of the Month, July 2017: The Healing Kitchen

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