My Day with the Dietician

Greetings Friends! I hope this little bit o'blog finds you well!

As many of you may already know, I am doing my first full ironman this fall. I am super excited and nervous all at the same time. I officially begin training next week! 

Nutrition is going to play a HUGE role in successfully competing this event and I want to go into this training season lean and strong.  So, I made an appointment at my favorite local grocery store to speak to the Dietitian.

Today I met with Megan. 

Megan is a Registered Dietician and a Licensed Medical Nutritional Therapist. She is also a multiple marathoner and a cool chick whom I get to call a friend!!

I told Megan I wanted to keep about an 80% vegetarian diet while getting the adequate protein and carbs needed to meet the demand of the insane training regime I am about to take on.

Megan had some GREAT info! She provided me with a "Nutrition Therapy for Endurance Athletes" handout that covered not only meal planning but also sample meal plans and suggestions for fueling during exercising.  We chatted about complementary protein combinations and "super foods" that provide complete amino acid chains! 

She then took me around the grocery store and showed me exactly which products would provide me the most bang for my buck. It was awesome. 

Megan recommended I get a Personal Metabolic Screening to make sure I know what type of calorie input I need.  Easiest way to make sure I am getting what is need is to know exactly how much I need!

So......Stay tuned for more adventures in eating!!

Recipe of the Day AND The GIVEAWAY WINNER!

I ended up making a major snafu the other day and went to the grocery store h-u-n-g-r-y!!

I always try to avoid going to the grocery store hungry because I end up buying a ton of things I don't really need. However, this time I ended up with a happy surprise when I got home.  I had all the ingredients to make a homemade trail mix!!

All Natural Almonds, Roasted sunflower seeds, Dried plums, Dried cherries, and Bittersweet dark chocolate  that was 60% Cacao!

Yes...very random things to end up in a grocery cart...but hey...it worked out!

The plums...aka Prunes...were pretty big, so I ended up coarsely chopping those to be bite sized hunks!

I mixed all the part in a big tupperware container and..

BOOM!

A delicious, sweet, and healthy treat!

I even put some in a baggie next to my keys so I would have a healthy snack at work!

NOW....DRUM ROLL PLEASE...

Our Big winner of the Energy Bits giveaway....

KEELEY!!!

Congrats Keeley!! Email me your address at nikki(dot)personaltrainer(at)gmail.com Your "Bits of Health" are coming straight from the source!

A Big THANK YOU to Energy Bits for letting me host such a fun Giveaway!!

Want to learn more about Energybits?? Click Here

Questions of the post:

1. What kind of things do you like in a trail mix?

2. Do you bring snacks or you lunch to work or do you tend to eat out?

Giveaway Alert: Giving YOU the gift of good health!

Everyone has heard of "Superfoods" but what are they?

The term "super foods" is defined, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, as "a food considered to be especially nutritious or otherwise beneficial to health and well being"

Of particular importance....Algae!

Spirulina is a fresh water blue green algae that was the first plant life on earth (along with chlorella) billions of years ago. It is so concentrated with nutrition that forty years ago, the World Bank and United Nations declared it to be the healthiest food in the world. Its nutritional profile is so impressive that the scientific, nutrition, sports and medical communities have conducted over 100,000 scientific studies about its health benefits (along with chlorella).

Spirulina provides the highest concentration of protein in the world, all in the form of essential amino acids for muscle, health and cellular growth. It also has over 40 nutrients for full spectrum health and its natural nitric oxide provides immediate and enduring physical and mental energy. 

Spirulina is nature’s equivalent to an energy drink – but its even better because it’s 100% natural, 100% green, is carbon neutral, has only ONE calorie per tab and contains no sugar, no caffeine, no chemicals, no gluten and no soy. It is the richest source of protein in the world (60% - 70%), has more beta carotene, more antioxidants, more iron than any other food  and is second only to mothers milk in its concentration of GLA – an essential fatty acid that is critical to brain health and behaves like an Omega 3.

 Spirulina is also rich in all the B vitamins, all the electrolytes and other minerals you need to be healthy, including zinc.. In short, spirulina algae is your green dream (and green team) come true. It is the easiest and fastest way to be revived and energized!

I have personally fallen in love with both Energybits and Recoverybits! 

click here for more info

And I would like to share the love WITH YOU....MY READERS!!!

How to win these wonderful bits of health???

Mandatory:

1. Comment below on how you incorporate or want to incorporate Superfoods into your life

       (1 comment)

Optional:

2.Tweet the following : I want to win #bitsofhealth from @kendallfitness #poweredbybits (1comment)

Winner will be drawn THURSDAY, February 14th!

Guest Post from Kelli DeWispelare: LIVE YOUR DREAM, SHARE YOUR PASSION

My name is Kelli DeWispelare and I recently opened Sweat, Cycle and Soul, Omaha’s only Spin and Yoga studio!!

Spin and Yoga have been two of my favorite activities for about 10 years. I found my love for Yoga my first year in college.  I had always had a hard time accepting myself and struggled with body image.  I was hooked on Yoga after my first class.  Over the years, Yoga has helped me to find balance and authenticity in my life.  Yoga is my simple moment where I am the only thing that matters.  Yoga takes so much mental concentration and muscle control, that I do not even have the opportunity to think about kids, laundry that needs to be done or how many emails I have to return.  It is my physical challenge and peaceful bliss all in one hour! I fell in love with Spin, because of the motivation and drive I can provide to clients through music.  I have an energy, love and passion for the ride and will radiate that energy to you.  I am passionate about living a healthy, balanced life, full of growth while surrounded with family and friends.

 I have done everything from Corporate Wellness to instructing fitness classes at various gyms around town.  Opening a studio was always a dream of mine.  I wanted to create a place where everyone feels welcome and loved.  A place that can be your home and family away from home and family!  A place where you don’t just put in the physical effort, but find the soul as well.

I truly believe that everything we do pushes us either one step closer or one step further from our goals.  Every pedal stroke and positive thought can move you closer to your goals and every negative thought moves you further from your goals.  You and only you can accomplish this mind-body connection.  Which direction do you want to go?

So opening a studio….

Exciting?  Yes.  Scary?  Yes.  A lot of hard work?  Yes.  Totally worth every minute?  YES!!!

In mid- October, 2012 my husband and I started working with a commercial realtor and the bank to see if this dream was something we could make a reality.  Within 2 weeks, we had done market analysis and found a location, signed a lease and a loan!  What a whirlwind!!

November was pretty quiet, as all we could do is sit back and wait for the city to file building permits.  Build out of the bay began on December 1^st, and was completed on December 29^th, 2012.  I was amazed at the short time it took for an empty cement bay to become a finished studio space!

We opened our doors to the public and held our first classes the morning of January 2^nd, 2013! 

 Just one short month later, I feel like I finally have time to sit down, breathe and reflect.  This has been an amazing journey and I feel so much gratitude to each and every person who has supported the studio.  In just one month, we have over 250 clients.  Each day, I cannot wait to unlock the studio doors to see how we can help clients that day.  I love that we can be the best part of somebody’s day.  Whether they come to work hard in Spin class, master a new pose in Yoga class or just have an hour away from their kids or desk, it brings me so much joy knowing that we can be that for them.  

As a fitness community, we Sweat, we Cycle and we find our Soul.

I no longer feel scared, but just grateful for this opportunity to live and share my dream with others.

I hope to have the opportunity to help motivate you and find your dreams!! 

Stop in and see us at Sweat, Cycle & Soul!

~Smiles

Kelli

www.sweatcyclesoul.com

Unplug Your Run

I've been having some difficulty lately with my running. I signed up for a half marathon this spring in attempts to work on my speed for the full ironman this fall.

I've been nailing my goal pace but I seem to bonk out after 4-5 miles. Then, when I go to do my long runs, I take off too fast too early and can't hold it to the finish. Very frustrating.

So I decided I needed a little pace-cation. A vacation away from focusing on my pace. 

I decided I would go for my long run, at the lake, with no music, no watch, just me.

Well....it's cold in Nebraska right now. So I picked up these babies...

Holy smokes....I love them! They are soft and they kept my feet warm and dry!

They were so soft and even the Pup wanted to cuddle up!

On Sunday it was rainy, 35 degrees with packs of snow and ice. It wasn't ideal conditions....but for a January in Nebraska....it ain't bad!

I set out for 7 miles.

I put my phone in my fuel belt and headed out. I immediately felt myself start to pick up the pace, so I started a new mantra for my run.

"Just cruise"

And that is what I did. I took it nice and easy. I enjoyed to sounds of the lake, I enjoyed to sounds of my feet hitting the pavement in a slow steady rhythm, and I enjoyed the smell of damp pine trees.

Most importantly.....I enjoyed my run.

I "cruised" nice and easy the 7.3 miles around the lake in peace and serenity.

I fell in love with running all over again.