It’s been awhile since I’ve posted an exercise how to, so today is your lucky day!  Lol.  It seems that every client, past and present, wants nice abs.  And hey, who can blame them?  I want nice abs too!!  Very few of us were given gorgeous abs by the ab gods, and trust me, I’m not one of them any more than most folks are.  So the thing about great abs is that, like most things in life, if you really want them; you have to work for them.  So, let’s get to it already, shall we?

If you have worked with me before in either a one on one, buddy or small group training session or even if you’ve taken one of my bootcamp or TRX classes, you know good and well what a V-sit is.  You also know that there are several variations that add difficulty to the original pose.  Well, guess what??!!!  I’ve got an evil genius variation that is gonna rip up your abs in an oh so good way!!  I felt it right away while I was doing it and for several days afterward while I was recovering too!  AWESOME!!  :)    For those of you who haven’t worked with me before, I’ll cover a how to on the original pose as well as the variations I referred to previously.  This is a great exercise to incorporate into your next ab workout.

Exercise How To: The V-sit

1. Begin by sitting on a gym mat or on the floor (I highly recommend that you use a mat  though, the floor gets really hard in a hurry).

2. With your arms fully extended in front of you (make sure you’ve got your core tight, chest up high and shoulders back), lean back slightly until you feel your core contract entirely.

3. Once you feel your core tighten, lift your feet off the ground and extend your legs.  Make sure you maintain a strong, tight core.  Do not allow your back to round.  Your body should look like the letter V.  Hold that position for 30 seconds.

(Note: If this is too challenging, there are ways to make it easier.  If you are just beginning to work your core, start by following everything above except allow your feet to remain on the floor.  Hold that position, making sure not to let your back round, for 30 seconds.   Once you are strong enough that this no longer feels challenging, you can lift your feet off the ground.  Rather than focusing on your legs being fully extended (as they are in the above picture) bend your knees so that your legs and arms are both horizontal, like in the picture below.)

Okay, let’s talk about how to make it harder (because believe it or not, this is going to get too easy for you at some point).  :)

One of my favorite ways to add difficulty to any exercise is to take away some of the stability.  Doing so, makes the muscles work  harder in order to stabilize you, specifically the abdominal muscles since that is where balance comes from.  Cue the BOSU ball!  For this  particular exercise, you’re going to sit on it, right side up, and then follow the instructions above.   Challenging enough for you?  If not, you can always increase the amount of time you hold the position.

If you really wanna amp up the difficulty, and yes, this is what I was talking about in the beginning of my post, complete the “V” formation by raising your arms above your head.  HOLY MOLY!!!  You’ll feel it instantly!  But hey, summer is coming and that means bikinis, tank tops and mid drifts…and you know what that means!  It means it’s time to whip those abs into shape and this little gem is gonna help!

Again, if 30 seconds in this pose sounds like hell and feels like some ancient form of torture, make it a little easier by performing reps instead of the static hold.  You’ll get stronger each and every time you do it, so trust me, that 30 second static hold isn’t far.    Oh, and don’t forget to stretch when you’re done with your workout!  :)

As with all exercise, when it gets challenging, our bodies start telling us we can’t do it.  I’m telling you right now that’s bullshit; YES YOU CAN!  Your body won’t go where your mind won’t push it.  Commit to yourself that you’re going to do it, tell yourself you can, and then prove it to yourself by following through.  There’s only one way to change and that’s by doing something different.  Unfortunately,  change isn’t always progress.  Things can change for the worse as well; make sure that doesn’t happen to you.  You’re the only one who can.  :)

The post Exercise How To: The V-sit appeared first on Transformation Trainer.

One of the biggest topics on the health and fitness front lately is the paleo vs. clean eating debate.  Truthfully, they’ve both been around for years, thousands of them actually (LOL), as it was man (I’m speaking in general here, not placing all blame on the male gender) who ruined our food in the first place.  Hydrogenated this, processed, refined and processed some more that…ick, ick, ick!  It really hasn’t been that long since there weren’t any unhealthy options to begin with.  It’s only been in the last 100 years or so that things such as fast food even became an issue.  Before that, everything that was consumed was natural because there was no other choice.  All recipes were made from scratch, because there were no Walmart, Target or Super Stores let alone the pre-made any and every thing they sell.  It’s high time, in my opinion, that we all get back to basics and eat the foods we all know we should be!  It’s awesome to see so much emphasis on healthy eating, and even more so that the focus is on whole, all natural, foods.

Honestly, I don’t really think you can go wrong no matter which way you decide to go on this one.  They both have pros and cons ( but hey, what doesn’t?).  Let’s dig a little deeper and get to the good stuff here, shall we?  What exactly is the paleo diet??  What does it mean to eat clean??  How are they different?  Is one REALLY better than the other?  Let’s find out!

Paleo Diet

When it comes to the paleo diet, basically all ya gotta do is eat like our Paleolithic ancestors did before the agricultural revolution.  In other words, eat  like the cavemen (and cave women) did.  No grain, no dairy, no legumes (including peanuts) and no sugar.  Oh, and no measuring or calorie counting either.  Lean meats are a go as long as they are organic, have been fed a natural diet (as if they were roaming free on a prairie somewhere) and are antibiotic/hormone free.  Organic veggies get two thumbs way up, fruit is good too (in limited amounts, due to fructose) and healthy, natural occurring, fats (avocados, olives, olive oil and coconut) are okay too along with nuts and seeds (minus the peanuts I mentioned earlier, of course).  Recipes are sweetened with fruit/fruit juice.  The most regimented of those eating a paleo diet actually follow what’s called the Whole30 plan, but I’m not going to go into that today, I’m trying to simplify all this, not the opposite.  For more information on the paleo diet, click here.

Clean Eating

Clean eating on the other hand, though similar in a lot of aspects, differs in a few ways.  Low fat dairy products, all natural sugar substitutes (such as honey, xylitol, stevia and maple syrup -the real stuff guys, not Mrs. Butterworth’s-), legumes and whole grains are okay.    That still means no “white” anything, but wheat, brown rice and millet, for example, are okay.  One down side to clean eating for me personally is that not all clean eating recipes are gluten free, so if that is an issue for you as well, you may have to look into substitutes for wheat flour wh.  Basically, the concept behind clean eating is to abundantly eat foods as close to their natural state and you can get them, as if you went out the back door and picked the food yourself.  There is no specific guideline as to calorie counting on this diet, some people do, others don’t.  To find out more about clean eating, click here.

Paleo vs. Clean Eating

So in the paleo vs. clean eating debate, which “side of the fence” are you on?  Which one is better for you and your family?  Clean eating is the route that most people go with, at least to start, as it offers the most flexibility.  Try them both out and see which one gives you the most energy, obliterates your cravings and makes your life happier, healthier and ultimately, longer.  Either way, you are getting rid of the processed junk and replacing it with real food.  Trust me, your body is going to thank you for it!

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You’ve cleaned up your nutrition, turned down everything from chocolate cake to mac n’cheese, eaten salad after salad (without dressing even!), taken more steps on the treadmill than you’d care to add up, sweat through class after class, lifted weight after weight and shed pound after pound.  You’re feeling great about how far you’ve come but you’ve got ten pounds to go before you hit your goal and it refuses to budge.  What’s the deal?  More importantly, what do you do to get rid of it?

The reason the last 10 pounds seems so obstinate is the simple fact that the less you weigh, the less calories you burn getting through your daily activities. First off, you need to understand that everything we do burns calories.  The “simple” task of being alive burns calories.  Your heart is a muscle, therefore the fact that it is working to pump blood throughout your body means you are burning calories.  Likewise, breathing burns calories also.  Additionally, every time we use our muscles to work, it burns calories.  That being said, obviously the more strenuous the activity, the more calories are burned.  For example, you’ll burn more calories lifting a 20 pound dumbbell than you will lifting a 5 pound dumbbell.  Similarly, a person who weighs 300 pounds and has much more body mass than that of a person who weighs 180 pounds will burn more calories doing the exact same thing as the lighter individual.  It’s like built in dumbbells 24 hours a day, 7 days a week; constant resistance.  That fact, in addition to the law of gravity in action,  means that the heavier a person is, the harder everything is to do and the more exertion is required.  Make sense?

The truth is, the harder you work, the more fit you become and the more success you have in achieving your goals the harder you have to work to continue to succeed.  When you started out, whether that was 20, 40 or 150 pounds ago, you had your own version of built in dumbbells, so you burned more calories doing everything from sleeping to working out.  For every pound you lose, your metabolism slows by as much as 20 calories per day.  When you do the math, it adds up in a big way.  If you’ve lost 30 pounds, you’re burning up to 600 calories less a day than when you began.  That’s a big deal!!   Once you understand that by ditching the built in dumbbells (which didn’t look all that hot in your jeans anyway, so no worries it was a good call) you’re burning less calories per day there’s only one thing to do!  You’ve gotta crank your workouts up a notch, or two, to continue challenging your body the way you did in the beginning.  :)

So how do you crank it up?  Interval training!  According to Jason Talanian, PhD and researcher at the University of Guelph in Ontario, “Interval training can trigger a boost in metabolism so you burn more fat during low- and moderate-intensity activity, and even at rest”.   I don’t know about you, but that works for me!  Personally, I’m a fan of H.I.I.T simply because cardio is not my favorite way to spend time in the gym and H.I.I.T. let’s me get it over with faster.  If you’re not sure what H.I.I.T. is or how to go about incorporating it into your routine,you can read my previous post about it by clicking here.  Remember too that there is more than one way to increase intensity.  Most people, especially in reference to cardio, only think about going faster. Another way to make it harder is by increasing your incline, you might not think that it would make a difference, let alone a big one, but trust me it does!!

Another tip that can help you oust the last few pounds is to wear a pedometer.  You’d be surprised how many steps you take in a day, and unfortunately, probably not in a good way.  Most people are shocked to find that they get in half (or fewer) of  the number of steps that they thought they did each day.  The recommended goal is 10,000 steps per day.  If you find that you are significantly below that, gradually increase your steps by 2,000 per day until you reach 10,000.  But don’t stop there!  Nobody said that that you couldn’t get in more than 10,000 steps a day!  My highest step count for one day is well over 25,000!  Granted, my job keeps me hopping all day, but I’m active when I’m not at the gym too (it’s true what they say about a Mother’s job never being done, lol)!

I’ve said  it before, I’m saying it again:  LIFT WEIGHTS!!  Did you know that you can burn 30% more calories by lifting weights?  If that’s not enough to convince you, how about this; you can burn a third more calories by doing your weight lifting and cardio in one session.  It’s true!  What in the world are you waiting for?  You get the immediate benefit of cardio of burning up calories on the spot and the benefits of an increased metabolism from weight lifting (which is going to help you torch more calories overall each and every day)!  It’s even better than a BOGO offer in my opinion, and that’s saying something!  ;)  To find out about even more benefits of strength training, click here.

What you eat in your time outside the gym is even more important than what you do when you’re inside the gym.  A great way to help you keep track of  that is a food log.  There are several different websites that offer this free tool to help you stay accountable, if only to yourself, about what you’re eating.  You can burn anywhere from 400-1200+ calories in your time spent in the gym, but you can easily undo that with one trip through the drive through window, one trip to the donut shop or even one specialty coffee drink.  Make sure you’re keeping a food log, it is critical to your success and to rid yourself of those last few pain in the ass pounds.   For more tips on how to keep a food log, click here.

Water, water, water, water, water!!  Do you drink enough?  Most people don’t (yes, I’m getting up on my soap box at the moment, prepare to be preached to).  Every single metabolic process in our body uses water, every single one.  Let’s compare it to a swimming pool.  Would a swimming pool be it’s most efficient if it is only half full of water?  Would you get the most rewarding and fulfilling swimming experience possible in a pool that was only half full?  Would you jump, head first, into our half filled swimming pool?  No, that would be stupid!  Well, you can’t expect your body to operate to it’s full capacity if you’ve only got it half full (or in most cases, less than half full) either!  A gallon a day people, you need to be drinking a gallon a day.  I strongly suggest that you keep track of how much water you’re drinking each day on your food log as well.  Water is critical, read more about why by clicking here.

Above all else, don’t allow yourself to become so discouraged that you give up.  An alarming 95% of people who are successful in their weight loss attempts end up getting discouraged at some point and giving up.  When they do, not only do they gain back the weight they’ve lost, but they gain an additional 10-20 pounds as well.  So what’s with the extra 10-20 pounds?  That’s your body’s way of trying to make sure you don’t die should you encounter another situation (your body assumes it was a famine) that causes weight loss.  See, from your body’s viewpoint, if it happens again, next time you’ve got an extra 10-20 pounds to help keep you from starvation and ultimately, death.  It’s a bitter-sweet thing if ya ask me.  ;)   For more tips on keeping the weight off, click here and if you’re searching for a little motivation, click here.

As with all things in life, you’re only capable of completing this goal if you believe that you can.  So, believe in yourself, train hard, lift weights, eat clean and keep track of everything that goes into your body as fuel, drink (and track) your water and get your steps in each day.  Don’t forget to give yourself due credit for how far you’ve already come too!  There is something to be said for appreciating the distance already traveled other than focusing solely on the distance that remains.

The post The Last 10 Pounds: Bye Bye For Good appeared first on Transformation Trainer.

Today’s post is a little, okay a lot, different from the norm.  In fact, I think this is a first time occurrence.  Truth is, I’m a pretty private person.  I’m not one to share things from my personal life with the masses.  Now, that being said, I’ll share personal experiences that I feel might be of help to someone on their journey to better health in a heart beat, but in general, I’m not one to broadcast my life.  I’m not one to ask for help either, I guess my Irish blood takes over in that regard.  I like to be able to handle situations on my own, even situations in which my head knows I cannot possibly succeed without help, my heart (and my pride) rarely allow me to reach out for it.  I think that’s why I’ve had so much inner conflict over whether or not to share this with all of you.  It’s not that I’m trying to hide it, that I’m ashamed or even embarrassed; I’m not any of those things.

When all of this started six and a half years ago, I knew only that this time was going to be different.  I knew that this time I would not stop until I had achieved my goal.  Now that being said, when I began this lifestyle change, my goals were different then, than where I actually ended up.  Looking back, I think that is because even though I knew I wouldn’t stop until I had successfully reached my goal, I was still afraid of getting my hopes too high.  It’s true too that, at the time I set my original goals, it felt like I was requiring so much from myself, I didn’t dare ask more.  It’s not like I set a goal to lose 20 pounds, far from it.  My original goal was to lose 150 pounds.  I honestly don’t think that, at the time, I thought I’d be able to lose more than that.  I’d always been labeled as “big boned”, and the truth is, I believed it and set my goal accordingly.

Fast forward to the present, goal achieved (and then some), and though I’m thrilled with the success I’ve had, because of it, I was left with loose skin on my abdomen.  I cannot even begin to tell you how much it bothered me.  In a post about a month ago titled, Managing Expectations, I talked about the loose skin that is to be expected with significant weight loss, and I assure you, I am no different than anyone else.  So, after years of hard work in the gym trying to take care of it on my own (that’s the stubbornness I get from my Irish blood I was talking about earlier coming out), much deliberation and weighing the pros and cons, I decided to undergo the process of removing it and having the muscle repair work (from having five amazing kiddos) done.

Two weeks ago today, at 9:10 a.m. CST, I was taken back to change into the surgical gown and receive my anesthesia.  After that was done, they took me into the O.R. and the last thing I remember pre-surgery was the anesthesiologist saying, “Okay Laura, now I’m giving you the sleepy medicine we talked about.”  I remember thinking, “Oh good, I’m so ready for a nap.”  Lol.  The next thing I knew, I was coming back to consciousness in the recovery room and my middle section (from my ribs to the top of my legs) felt like it was on fire.

The next few days were rough, there’s no getting around it, but with much appreciated help (and honestly, a lot of humble, yet frustrated, acceptance of said help on my part), I got through them.  I had my first drain removed four days post-op (yeah, I set a new record – go me!! ).  With each passing day, I continued to improve and feel a little better.  I was able to do more and more on my own (oh happy day!!), not that I was able to give up control of that much anyway, lol. One week post op, I was standing completely upright, taking the stairs and walking (almost) as fast as I normally do. My second drain, as well as the majority of my stitches, were removed at my follow up appointment four days later (10 days post-op).

Today marks two weeks post-op, and I’m doing remarkably well.  I dare say I’m recovering and “bouncing back” much faster than anyone, including the doc, expected me to!  I’ve already received clearance from the doc to hit the treadmill again, and that’s something I’m pretty stoked about!  I’m back to most of my normal routine and have to keep reminding myself to take it easy so I don’t land myself back in bed (because that much holding still and doing nothing drives me nuts!!).  Through the whole experience, my family, the doc and the nurses were all wonderful; I honestly don’t think I could have asked for better.  I’m glad that I made the decision I did.  For me, it was the right answer.

One of the things that was of considerable deliberation for me when contemplating whether or not to go ahead with it, was the scar I now tote around with me everywhere I go.  Before having the surgery, the thought of having such a large scar was, truthfully, a little scary.  It’s not “pretty” and it’s not small by any stretch of the imagination.  It’s not attractive in any traditional sense of the word…and yet, to me, when I look at it reflecting back at me in the mirror, I can’t help but smile a little.

The doctor told me at my last pre-surgical visit that I’d have “a scar to remind me of what I’d been through”.  The more I’ve thought about it, the more I’ve decided he’s absolutely right.  All the hard work, the literal blood, sweat and tears, the effort, the frustration of plateaus, the determination to get past them…they have all made their mark on my character, had a part in my success, not only in achieving my goals but in building a successful business and everything else I do, why not on my body as well?

The quote I used as the picture for today’s post resonates with me, on a lot of levels actually.  It’s so true.  The truth is, we are all scarred; so many of the experiences, the storms if you will, we encounter in life leave us hurting, aching and longing for relief from the pain we feel.  We eventually heal with time, but we are all left scarred.  Those scars are just hidden inside on our emotional selves, our mental selves and our spiritual selves.  This scar happens to be on the outside, where anyone can see it (provided I am willing to show you of course, lol), but so what?

We all come out of the storms we encounter as a different person, hopefully for the better.  I feel that I am definitely a better person, a stronger person than I began as. And yeah, I’ve been through hell, but I came out on top dammit!  I’ve even got the scar to prove it.

The post My Personal Life appeared first on Transformation Trainer.

 Grilled Cilantro Lime  Chicken?  YES PLEASE!!  This is a recipe that I found on Pinterest, started drooling on sight and decided I just had to try!  I’m a sucker for grilled chicken, especially on kabobs, as well as the combination of cilantro and lime.  There’s just something about it that makes my mouth go, “Yum!!”.  An additional bonus to this recipe is that it is an absolute cinch to throw together and the clean up is at a bare minimum!  Yay!!  :)

I’ve made this for Sunday dinner a couple of times now (one time I served it with grilled veggie kabobs, the other time we used the chicken as the meat for tacos).  Everyone agreed that it is definitely a keeper!  I mixed the marinade in a gallon size freezer bag, added the chicken and then let it sit in the fridge for about an hour and a half.  When it was done sitting there soaking up all the lime cilantro yumminess, I threw it on the grill and totally enjoyed the end result both times!  :)

Grilled Cilantro Lime Chicken

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. Chicken breasts or tenderloins (cut into chunks), preferably organic
• 2 tablespoons Extra virgin olive oil
• 2 medium Limes, juiced
• 2 medium Garlic, cloves, minced
• 2 tablespoons Cilantro, fresh, chopped
• 1/4 teaspoons Salt
• 1/4 teaspoons Pepper
• 1 cup Salsa Verde

Directions:

Mix olive oil, garlic, lime juice, cilantro, salt and pepper and salsa verde in a freezer bag.  Add chicken, let marinate for at least one hour.  Heat grill to medium high heat, grill kabobs for about 5 minutes per side or until chicken is cooked through.   The original recipe didn’t include the Salsa Verde in the actual marinade, but rather served it on the side after the chicken was grilled.  I’ve made it both ways and think it’s way better with the salsa in the marinade.

A helpful little side note:  If you decide to use chicken tenderloins, which is what I did, you don’t even need to cut them into smaller chunks in order to skewer them.  They are the perfect size to fold (like you were making a paper fan) back and forth onto the skewers.

Hope your family loves this recipe as much as mine does!  :)

The post Grilled Cilantro Lime Chicken appeared first on Transformation Trainer.

One of the toughest parts of weight loss, especially for those individuals that need to lose more than 50 pounds, is what to expect to see in the mirror when you’re “done”, what is realistic?  How do you go about managing your expectations for what you’ll look like when all is said and done?  I’ve been asked these questions more times than I can count.  They’re tough to answer as there are so many factors that effect what your own unique “reality” is.  It’s not realistic to say you want the arms of Jennifer Aniston, the legs of Angelina Jolie and the body of Halle Berry for one simple and irrefutable truth.  You don’t have their parents; you didn’t get that genetic makeup.

On top of that fact, depending on your age and how much weight you have to lose, you will have a certain amount of excess skin.  Again, depending on how much weight you have to lose, your skin elasticity and where your body stores it’s excess fat, you could have said excess skin in three or four areas, it could be limited to one or two areas or it could be more evenly distributed throughout your entire body.

Another factor to consider is how you lose the excess fat (whether you stick to diet only, diet and cardio only or incorporate lifting weights as well), how you eat while shedding the unwanted pounds (keep in mind that your skin is your largest organ, it needs nutrients, water, vitamins and minerals in order to be as healthy as possible-not to mention to retain as much elasticity as possible), and your body composition (ratio of fat to your lean muscle mass; another good reason to lift weights ).

Think about it this way, if you drape a tablecloth over an easel, there’s a lot of tablecloth left with nothing to do other than just hang there.  However, if you drape the same tablecloth over a chair, the table cloth has more surface to cover and doesn’t hang, but rather, takes the shape of the chair.  The only difference is the frame that you put the tablecloth over, make sense?  The more muscle you put on your frame the less your skin will hang.  Now, that’s not to be misunderstood as me saying that if you lift weights you won’t deal with loose skin, because realistically, you will.  However, lifting weights can help improve your self confidence and self esteem as you near your goal by giving your skin a better frame to cover.

So, realistically, what can you expect to see in the mirror when you reach your goal?

While I can’t guarantee you a certain pant size, dress size or likeness to any given actor, actress or whomever it is you secretly desire to look like, I can guarantee you that the mirror will reflect a much healthier, much happier and much more fit reflection of you.  I can tell you that you will be thinner, that you will will feel more attractive and more confident than you did before you began.  I can tell you that there will be milestones along the way that will make you feel like jumping up and down, like shouting to the entire world, all of which will indeed be a cause for celebration.  I can tell you that you will not regret, for a single second, your decision, commitment or dedication to making the journey and I can tell you without any hesitation what so ever, you will wish you had done it sooner.

The post Managing Expectations appeared first on Transformation Trainer.

I’ve had requests for more recipes so today’s post is just that!  This lasagna gets compliments every single time I make it, and it’s a cinch to throw together!  To be honest with you, I’ve never written this recipe down, and to be even more honest with you I doubt it turns out the exact same every single time (because I never measure anything I throw into it, not ever).  So, I’m pulling it out of the ol memory bank and giving you my best guess estimates on how much of everything I put in.  :)

Laura’s Famous Lasagna Recipe

If these amounts seem too large for your family, just cut it in half.  :)

• 2.5 lbs. extra lean ground turkey
• 2 medium onions, minced
• 2 T. fennel seeds (if you like the flavor of sausage in your Italian food, if not then omit the fennel seeds)
• 2 T. Italian seasoning
• 2 tsp. basil
• 2.5 tsp. garlic powder (or less if your family isn’t big on garlic.  My kids happens to love it, so I use a little more than most folks)
• 2 jars of your favorite spaghetti sauce
• 2 c. 1% cottage cheese, rinsed and drained in a strainer
• 1 c. part skim ricotta
• 1 c. 1% cottage cheese
• 2 boxes frozen spinach, thawed, drained and squeezed
• 1/4 c. dried, grated parmesan cheese
• 1 1/2 c. part skim mozzarella
• Oven ready lasagna noodles
• Baking spray

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Remove frozen spinach from freezer, place in a strainer in the sink; rinse with hot water until there aren’t any big chunks left and then let it sit and drain.  In a skillet over medium heat, combine meat, minced onion, fennel seeds, Italian seasoning, basil and the garlic powder.  Cook until the meat is browned and the onion is soft.  Add one jar of sauce, mix well; turn the heat to low/simmer.  Meanwhile, rinse and drain two cups of cottage cheese, followed by squeezing the excess moisture out of the spinach.  In a medium bowl, combine ricotta, one cup of cottage cheese (direct from container), parmesan cheese, 1/2 c. mozzarella and the cottage cheese and spinach that you rinsed and drained, mix well.  Now you’re ready to assemble it!

Spray your baking dish (mine is a 11 x 17) with nonstick cooking spray.  Spread 1/3 of the second jar of sauce in the bottom of the pan evenly.  Place one layer of oven ready lasagna noodles on top of the sauce, making sure to leave about 1/4 inch between the edges of the noddles.  Next, spread 1/2 of the meat/sauce mixture over the layer of noodles, followed by spreading 1/2 of the cottage cheese mixture evenly over the meat layer.  Next, spread 1/3 of the jar of sauce, another layer of noodles, the other half of the meat mixture followed again by the remaining half of the cottage cheese mixture.  Top with one last layer of noodles and remaining sauce.  Sprinkle 1 cup mozzarella evenly over the top.  Cover with aluminum foil, bake for 40 minutes.  Remove foil and bake for an additional 10 minutes.  Let sit for 5-10 minutes before cutting.  YUM, YUM, YUM!!  I serve it with at least two veggies on the side, usually broccoli and zuchinni.  It’s also good with a salad in addition.  I usually make garlic bread to go with it, but I don’t usually have any…every now and then if I’m low on carbs I will, but not very often.

*Side note* The amount of cheese in this recipe seems to be a lot, I know, but keep serving sizes in mind.  One serving of cottage cheese is a half cup, there’s only three cups in this whole recipe.  In addition, 1/4 of grated cheese is a serving and there’s only 1 1/2 cups.  In each instance, there’s only 6 servings of “cheese” (whether it be cottage or shredded) and there’s even less servings of  the grated parmesan and the ricotta (only 4 servings of each) in the whole recipe.  When you add it all up , that’s 20 individual servings of various kinds of cheese involved but this lasagna recipe serves 16-20 depending on how big you cut the pieces.   So see, it’s all good!

Because it feeds so many, it’s perfect for smaller families that are having friends over for dinner, for leftovers the next night or (as in my case) feeding a small army!  Lol.  Hope you guys enjoy it as much as my family does!

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Ugh!  I dislike the flu fairy immensely!  It seems when she visits our house she can’t help herself but to ensure that at least three of five kids get sick, sick, sick.  Having to watch your kids come down with, and recover from, the flu is never fun but it is especially icky at Christmas time.  You can’t help but feel bad for them as they lay there, wishing you could take it from them and deal with it yourself, just to spare them from having to.  So, rather than aiming for preparation on this issue, I always shoot for prevention first and foremost.  How?  By following these 10 simple health tips to avoid the flu:

1. Drink water.  I’ve said it before, I’ll likely say it again: drink a gallon a day people!  Every dingle metabolic process that occurs in our body, including warding off germs that turn into the flu, takes water.  Drink up!

2. Eat a healthy diet.  This should not be a shocker to any of you.  You’ve all heard the expression that you are what you eat…so why not eat healthy?  Eating junk food not only makes you feel like garbage, it also ensures that you won’t have all the proper vitamins and nutrients your body needs to fight off the famed flu bug.

3. Take a good, high quality, vitamin supplement.  None of us can get every single vitamin, mineral and nutrient we need simply from the food we eat.  However, making sure our bodies stay balanced in this area is critical to your overall health.  Every missing vitamin or mineral causes a chain reaction wreaking havoc, even though you may “feel fine”.  To determine whether or not your vitamin is doing you any good, fill up a glass with 1/2 cup of water and 1/2 cup of vinegar.  Place one of your vitamins in the glass and time it to see how long it takes to break down.  If it takes longer than 10 minutes, odds are you’re not getting nay benefit from it at all.  Switch brands.

4. Exercise regularly.  This is another one that shouldn’t be a surprise to any of you.  Studies show that regular exercise (meaning 4-6 times/week for at least 30 minutes) has a cumulative immune-enhancing effect, which leads to a sustained response by the immune system to illness .  Couple that with the fact that when you exercise your white blood cells (the ones that fight illness) circulate throughout your body faster, therefore fighting infection off more efficiently and you’ve got an all natural way to boost endorphins and bypass the flu, making you happy AND healthy!  Can you say, “Bonus!”

5. Get enough sleep.  This is the one I struggle most with personally.  It seems there is always so much more that needs to be done that I have a hard time shutting my day off and just getting to bed.  However, sleep is critical to our health.  Not getting enough shut eye leads to a weak immune system and leaves you an unguarded target for germs, infection and disease.  No bueno.

6. Keep stress to a minimum.  Easier said than done, I know.  On the bright side, getting enough sleep as well as regular exercise are great ways to combat stress.  Some find that relaxation CD’s can help them sleep even when they struggle to turn their brain off at the end of a long day.  Try it and see if it helps you!

7. Okay, time for the no brainer stuff.  Wash your hands, frequently (and make sure to use warm enough water as well as scrub them long enough -sing your ABC’s while you wash them, you’re not done scrubbing until you’re done singing- oh, and no singing it as fast as if you were trying to break the Guinness book of world records, lol).

8. Cover your mouth and nose when you sneeze (and remind others around you to do the same).  Optimally, everyone would use a tissue and discard it when they were done…but life is not always optimal.  I have taught my kids to sneeze into their elbow…at least it comes in contact with less things.

9. Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth.  This is one of the most common ways to  spread germs.  Choose not to follow this little tip and sooner rather than later you’ll hear yourself saying, “I think I’m coming down with something”.  :(

10. Avoid large crowds.  I know, this one is laughable at best, especially at Christmas time.  Kids school programs and choir concerts, Christmas shopping, Christmas parties and get together’s, Church, even going to the gym…the list goes on and on, and all of it includes large groups of people.  In this day and age, avoiding large groups of people is almost impossible.  What is more reasonable, is limiting exposure to large groups and making sure to practice these other tips without fail.

Obviously, there is no way to entirely ensure you will never get a visit from the flu fairy, but these tips are like a top dollar security system designed to keep her from getting to you in the first place.  Hope you and yours find them as helpful as my family does and that you have as few instances of breached security as possible.  :)

The post Banish the Flu Fairy – Tips to Help You Avoid the Flu appeared first on Transformation Trainer.

This week’s post is not fitness related.  For those of you that are disappointed, I apologize, but I’ll get back to that next week.  Life has a way of throwing you into twists and turns that leave you feeling like your insides are all scrambled.  That’s where I’m at today, and as such, I’m having a really hard time thinking about anything else.  See, a friend of mine unexpectedly lost one of her daughters early this morning.  It is a tragic loss and one that is felt in many, many, many hearts and effects many lives as well.  My heart and deepest condolences go out to her, and her family, at this difficult time.

As a mother myself, thoughts have been racing through my mind all morning.  I cannot, nor do I ever hope to, fully understand the immense pain and heartbreak she is undoubtedly going through.  The mere thought of losing one of my own children puts me in tears and overprotective Mama Bear mode all at the same time, but to imagine actually dealing with and going through it, I just simply cannot.

I heard of her loss as soon as I woke up, and I’ve caught myself seeing through different eyes all morning.  Usually, I pop my head into the boys room and energetically attempt to roust them for school, my goal usually being that they are awake, upright and laughing by the time I leave the room.  This morning however, I found myself waking them one at a time; sitting on the edge of their bed, smiling as I watched their little sleeping faces, my gratitude and appreciation for the miracle that they each are, kissing their cheek and reminding them just how much I love them, before gently trying to wake them for the day.  I found myself writing their names on their lunch sacks with a little extra care.  I caught myself holding on longer than usual as my youngest son hugged me before we left to get them to school.  I almost cried as I watched them walk into the school.  I thanked God again for each one of my children and my opportunity to be their Mother all the way home and have continued to do so all morning.

In talking with my friend this morning, she said something that hit me immensely hard.  It’s something that I already knew, that I’ve heard before and that I’m sure I’ll hear again…but today it hit me like a ton of bricks.  She said, “People take people and relationships for granted.  They wrongly assume that there will always be time for amends.  Truthfully, that is promised to no one.  Never miss an opportunity to say I love you.”  She then went on to say how grateful she was that in her last conversation with her daughter she had taken that opportunity many times over.

As I’ve thought about her words, over and over, the thing that keeps coming to my mind is this: Take nothing for granted, life is too short to be filled with regret.  Live each and every moment as though it may be your last, for it truly may be.  Love each and every person in your life as fully and as wholly as you are able, for you may not get another opportunity.  Take every opportunity to tell the people in your life how much they mean to you, what you admire about them, the good qualities you see in them, how much potential they have and whatever you do, NEVER miss an opportunity to say I Love You.

The post Never Miss an Opportunity to Say I Love You appeared first on Transformation Trainer.

I’m not addicted.  I’m really not.  I can quit whenever I want…I just don’t wanna miss anything good, that’s all!!  Lol.

Okay, seriously…is anyone else addicted to pinterest?  Oh my gosh, it’s like I can’t quit checking it on my phone!!  I mean, come on, I might miss something and have to scroll for 3 days to find it…even though, in all seriousness, how would I even know I’d missed it, right?  Oh jeez. Lol.

One of my favorite things to pin is new exercises, routines and workouts (Guess it’s the workoutaholic in me).  Second is new recipes to try, and a few that look super yummy that are in no way, shape or form good for me, but I’m pretty sure I can “healthify” them!!  Of course, being a girl, my pinterest closet is bulging at the hinges even more so than my real world closet is and I’m a sucker for things that make me laugh too.   What do you pin?

Like most things in life, pinterest has pros and cons.  It can be a great resource for ideas, recipes, exercises and motivation if we choose to let it be.  On the other hand, there’s all kinds of recipes for things that we shouldn’t be eating on there as well as the fact that sitting at the computer all day is in no way exercising and being active.  Just like with everything in life, moderation is key.  :)

So, pin away y’all, but don’t forget to get out and MOVE!!  :)  Happy pinning!

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