“overpower. overtake. overcome.” - serena williams
CHALLENGE OF THE WEEK
CHALLENGE OF THE WEEK, HERE WE GO!!! Wall sits! This is a great and easy way to tone and strengthen the thighs, hips, calves, and lower abs. Wall sit exercises are easy on your knees and back and can be done by anyone and really anywhere. I challenge you to THREE MINUTE wall sits every day this week! #LETSGO TEAM! You got this!
TIP OF THE WEEK
TIP OF THE WEEK, HERE WE GO!!! This is a subject I am incredibly passionate about. You all take the time to join in on my live classes, and I want you to get the most out of every class - really, I want you to get the most out of every single move. The number one important thing here is that I don't want any of my Siwicki Fit Fam to ever hurt themselves. Secondly, proper form helps you work out more efficiently so you can use your energy for the extra push rather than wasted movements. Improper form may mean you are targeting unintended muscles or muscle groups. The better your form the better your results! Please watch this video to see how to correctly do a variety of exercises that I commonly use in my classes. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out! I got you team!
MEAL OF THE WEEK + SNACK IDEAS
CRAB AND AVOCADO TOSTADAS
Alright my Maryland friends! Now is a perfect time to incorporate crab into your entree! Let the summer begin!
Ingredients:
8 small corn tortillas
16 ounces of cooked lump crabmeat
1 teaspoon lime zest
1 tablespoon lime juice
2 tablespoons of vegan mayo
1 teaspoon paprika
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon chopped cilantro
Pink Himalayan salt
1 can of black beans, rinsed and drained (15 ounces)
If you would like to add a kick of spice, add 1/2 teaspoon of chili flakes
1 large avocado
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 cup fire roasted salsa
1 cup shredded lettuce
Few fresh cilantro leaves (optional)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Place the tortillas on a large baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes or until crispy, let cool.
Meanwhile, in a large bowl, mix together the crabmeat, lime zest and juice, mayo, paprika, garlic powder, chopped cilantro, chili flakes, and a pinch of salt until combined. Refrigerate until ready to build the tostada.
In a blender, place the black beans, chili powder, 2 tablespoons water and a pinch of salt. Blend until it reaches a smooth, saucelike consistency.
In a medium bowl, mash the avocado with the cumin and 1/8 teaspoon salt.
To build the tostadas, spread the black bean mixture in a thin layer on the tortillas. Spoon the crabmeat mixture on top, followed by the avocado and salsa. Garnish with shredded lettuce and cilantro leaves (if using).
WATERMELON
You got that right team. Just plain old watermelon. It’s summertime. We are constantly looking for a snack to grab - something refreshing, something delicious. Watermelon it is!
Health benefits of watermelon:
Helps you hydrate - watermelon is 92% water.
As far as fruits go, watermelon is one of the lowest in calories — only 46 calories per cup (154 grams). That's lower than even low-sugar fruits such as berries. One cup (154 grams) of watermelon has many other nutrients as well, including these vitamins and minerals:
Vitamin A: 18% of the RDI
Potassium: 5% of the RDI
Magnesium: 4% of the RDI
Vitamins B1, B5 and B6: 3% of the RDI
Lowers inflammation - rich in the anti-inflammatory antioxidants lycopene and vitamin C.
GRAB AND GO SNACKS
Pumpkin Seeds - have 7 grams of protein per serving. Add them to salads, oatmeal, yogurt or cottage cheese.
Celery Boats - celery is 95% water and a great source of vitamin K, which strengthens bones. Add 1 tablespoon of nut butter (almond, peanut or cashew butter) as a quick snack idea.
Edamame - They have protein, complex carbs and fat to give you long lasting energy. Add some sea salt and a tablespoon of olive oil!
Grapes - great source of potassium, fiber, vitamin C and K. Helps regulate digestion.
KALE AND SUNFLOWER PESTO
Great way to incorporate greens into a snack!
Ingredients:
1/2 medium bunch of kale, stems removed
1/4 cup of fresh basil, packed
1 large clove of garlic
1/4 cup unsalted roasted sunflower seeds
2 tablespoons Parmesan Cheese
1/2 lemon, zest and juice
Pink Himalayan Salt to taste
Fresh ground black pepper
1/4 cup of olive oil plus more as needed
Your fav veggies (carrots, celery, cucumbers)
Bring 4 quarts of salted water to a boil. Blanch the kale leaves for 30 seconds and upon removal, immediately plunge into ice water. Squeeze the kale leaves dry and set aside.
Add the kale, basil, garlic, sunflower seeds, Parmesan, lemon juice & zest, olive oil, and a pinch of salt and pepper to a food processor or blender. Blend together for 30 seconds - 1 minute.
Enjoy with your fav veggies!
INDUSTRY NEWS
Five Fitness Questions: Why Luke Hines believes that mindset is key
BY: CLAIRE KNIGHT
Since Luke Hines brought his brand of holistic cooking to My Kitchen Rules, he's become one of Australia's go-to healthy eating experts.
He's the brains behind the Luke Hines 10 workout and nutrition program and has just published his ninth cookbook, Smart Carbs.
Now, Hines has shared some of his vast health knowledge with Coach.
1. What's the secret to good health?
I'm going to break the secret right now… there is no secret. You have to find what works for you, there is no 'one size fits all' approach, no magic bullet. Just work hard, and make it work for you.
2. What advice would you give to your younger self?
It would be that you can't out-train a bad diet. For so long, I would work out in my head that because I'd exercised I could eat whatever I wanted. It's not that way. Basically, make sure that your food is what transforms your health, and then the exercise is just the cherry on top.
3. What's your fitness philosophy?
I try to celebrate the most nutrient dense food on the planet, and eliminate any that could cause me harm or inflammation.
Nuts, seeds, fresh fruit, vegetables, well-sourced animal proteins and most of all, good, healthy fats.
I know we have to have cheat meals, we have to travel, explore the world. So release the stress, and make sure that you eat real food most of the time, make sure you enjoy it, and its delicious.
4. What are you improving on?
I think it's really easy for people to train hard and eat well, but one thing that we don't tap into enough is a healthy mindset.
I don't think you can have the body of your dreams, or have the energy that you're looking for if you don't have a healthy mindset.
Something I'd like to work more on is less screen time and being more present in the moment.
5. What's your one piece of advice for beginners?
Just do one simple thing each and every day.
Too many times when you want to make a health transformation you do too much, too soon, too quickly, and it's not sustainable.
Small, incremental steps over time lead to massive, life long changes.
6. What do you have going on?
I'm super pumped at the moment because Smart Carbs, my latest cookbook, has just been released.
It basically says there's no one size fits all approach to carbohydrates.
Whether you're keto, low-carb, or just a paleo approach, there are 120 delicious recipes ready for you.
HEALTH & WELLNESS
BY: BEST LIFE EDITORS
Dwayne Johnson is pretty good at evolving. Growing up, he was a punk who didn't care about anything. Then he was a football player, then a pro wrestler, a stand-up comedian, and now he's the biggest movie star on the planet, a rare talent who is equally at home in R-rated action movies as he is in feel-good Disney fare (like Moana, in which he also croons the catchy tune, "You're Welcome"). By 2016, the 45-year-old was the highest-paid man in Hollywood and People's "Sexiest Man Alive." Fast forward to today, and his legions of fans want him to run for president.
With a multitude of production projects in the works via his "Seven Bucks Productions," named for all the money he had in his pocket when he launched his entertainment career, the Baywatch star and social media phenomenon paused to share a life lesson he never forgot from one man long ago:
"I was arrested nine times by the time I was 17. Theft, assault, fighting. By all means, I should have been in prison. But then I met a guy who cared about me enough to say, 'I want you to come out for the football team.' He would eventually become my football coach.
"I didn't want anything to do with it. But it was the choice of going out for the football team or continuing to see my mom cry because of things I'd do. We didn't have anything—we were poor, in a $500-a-month apartment, so there was always drama, and I realized I was just adding to the drama. A good man helped me and taught me something that changed my life: Getting better every day is a mindset. You apply it and you go in increments.
"My goal has always been to grow, and this started back in high school, and even more so when I got to the University of Miami for football: I'm gonna go out and work my a** off for my dinner. It's that simple. Taking that mentality of growth, setting the goal, attaining the goal, setting another goal, failing at that, dealing with the failure, trying to remain focused, was extremely difficult as a student athlete. Then I took that mentality into professional football when I played in the Canadian Football League. And when I got into wresting. And into life, by the way. Always try to improve, always try to get better.
“Success isn’t always about ‘Greatness’, it’s about consistency. Consistent, hard work gains success. Greatness will come.”
"I laugh a lot about this, because I've failed a lot more than I've succeeded. It just happens that my big successes are recorded for public viewing. The thing is, success has to be approached incrementally, in stages. When I eventually went to Hollywood, the only material l had was the material from wrestling. Still, it was 4 hours of live television every week, which was incredibly difficult. These long monologues I would write were comedy. I would do them in front of 50,000 people, and sometimes they killed. Then sometimes it was like somebody farted in church. Awful!
“Success at anything will always come down to this: Focus & Effort, and we control both.”
"That's how I would convince entertainment bosses—in very small increments-that I could be more than a wrestler. Suddenly I'm getting ready to host Saturday Night Live for the first time. That opened up a lot of doors for me. Then The Scorpion King happened, and The Rundown, Walking Tall, and then I played a gay, country-music-singing cowboy in Be Cool. That's a long way from the football field.
Increments, you see. That's the process of evolution."
