Grilled Asparagus Rafts

I found this recipe on the cookinglight.com website and i thought it looked SOOO delicious!

Ingredients
16 thick asparagus spears (about 1 pound) 1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce 1 teaspoon dark sesame oil 1 garlic clove, minced 2 teaspoons sesame seeds, toasted 1/4 teaspoon black pepper Dash of salt
PreparationPrepare grill to high heat.
Snap off tough ends of asparagus. Arrange 4 asparagus spears on a flat surface. Thread 2 (3-inch) skewers or toothpicks horizontally through spears 1 inch from each end to form a raft. Repeat procedure with remaining asparagus spears.
Combine soy sauce, oil, and garlic; brush evenly over asparagus rafts. Grill 3 minutes on each side or until crisp-tender. Sprinkle evenly with sesame seeds, pepper, and salt.
Yield
4 servings (serving size: 1 asparagus raft)
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Nutritional Information
CALORIES 50(38% from fat); FAT 2.1g (sat 0.2g,mono 0.5g,poly 0.6g); IRON 3mg; CHOLESTEROL 0.0mg; CALCIUM 26mg; CARBOHYDRATE 6.1g; SODIUM 190mg; PROTEIN 3.2g; FIBER 2.4g
Steven Raichlen ,
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Cooking Light, AUGUST 2003 Recipes adapted from Steven Raichlen's books How to Grill (Workman, 2001) and BBQ USA (Workman, 2003)

BBQ Blues

Ok...so i don't post this to make you sad about the summertime BBQ's we all love. BUT I just want to make you aware. Knowledge is power right? With summertime comes the outdoor eats that are an American Pastime. But you may want to rethink the menu. Here are some BBQ nutrition facts...

• A grilled cheeseburger (4 ounces) weighs in at a hefty 14 grams of fat for 300 calories with a whopping 610 mg count of sodium.
• A hot dog (3.5 ounce) clocks in at 15 grams of fat, 240 calories and 480 grams of sodium.
• Sides of coleslaw (1/2 cup) have 11 grams of fat and 114 calories.
• Potato chips have 12 grams of fat per 1 ounce.

So now that you feel like I've destroyed all your favorite foods, don't get too down. There are so many other great options that can make your summer eats delicious and nutritious.

• Marinate! The best way to infuse your meals with flavor is to spice up some lean meats with marinades and throw them on the grill.
  
• Instead of slathering too sweet barbeque sauce on everything, use citrus juices, broths, small amounts of good quality oils, vinegars, low sodium soy sauces, herbs and spices to marinate poultry, meat and seafood. Meats and poultry should marinate for at least 1 to 2 hours while fish and veggies need only 1 hour.
  
• Cook with lower fat cuts of beef, poultry and seafood. Swap that steak for salmon! Make a burger from lean ground beef mixed with some ground turkey to lower the fat content.
  Grill lots of vegetables. Almost every vegetable can be grilled! All that you'll need is a light marinade or a light brush of oil as you grill.
  
• Prepare more fresh salads than mayonnaise drenched slaws and potato salads. Lighten creamy salads with lower fat mayonnaise and by substituting vinegars for the mayonnaise.
• Start your meal out with a fresh fruit or veggie tray so you don't fill up on the more fattening foods!
  

Workin' out GI Jane Style

Exercise of the Week: Push Ups

Next to squats my other favorite exercise is for the upper body…Push ups! They are a total upper body exercise and they do wonders for toning the arms. But at the same time they give your lower back, abs, and even your quads a workout. The key here is maintaining proper form. Pushups are difficult for beginners, and the key is to just keep pushing yourself to improvement. Start with a standing wall pushup. If you feel like that is too easy for you go down to the ground and do “girl pushups” on your knees. With these you have to make sure to keep your body in a flat line; meaning keep your hips down and abs tight and you should be fine. As your body starts to get tired you want to raise those hips to give your arms relief, but don’t!! The next step up in difficulty would be a full pushup with your feet out behind you. Once you get to the point where you can do 15 girl pushups in a row, don’t be afraid to try full pushups. If the regular full pushup gets too easy for you I have a whole list of variations, so feel free to ask me! Pushups are a great exercise that really works the arms and chest that you can do anywhere. I would recommend doing three sets of 15, 3 times a week. I promise you’ll see the difference! (and lets be honest you’ll feel tough too!)

For Nicole….Spin your heart out ;)

Sorry for taking so long to answer your question Nicole! But hopefully this will be the info you are looking for… I’ve actually had other people ask me about spinning classes and biking in general making your legs get bigger. BUT this is not true. If anything spinning will help to tone up those legs and slim you down. They may feel more muscular because they are getting stronger, but when women tone up they actually lose inches unlike men who gain muscle and increase in size. Spinning bikes don’t provide enough resistance to result in the fatigue and overload that is needed to build muscle like strength training does. If that were the case, you'd only be able to pedal against it for a few seconds tops, not a full hour. Spinning is a great way to get that cardio work in while sculpting those calves and thighs at the same time. Keep it up!!

Exercise of the week

I decided that each week I will add a new exercise so I can give you all some new exercises that will add some variety to your workouts. I always like to find new things!! We'll start with my favorite exercise of all time; The Squat!

Squats are great because they work EVERY muscle in the lower half of your body. They are expecially great when it comes to toning up those glutes and thighs. There are a few things to make sure of when you are doing squats.
1) Watch your form. It is very important that you do these right. You want to work your muscles correctly, and you want to avoid injuring your knees.
2) Use weight. Women are usually afraid to load on the weight because they think they will get bulky...yada yada yada...NOT TRUE. Impossible in fact. I once had a professor at BYU that said if you'd do 3 sets of 15 squats (with weight) 3 X a week you could go down a few pants sizes. I'm with him!

Proper Form:

Start from a standing position feet hip width a part. You can hold dumbells in both hands by your sides, hold dumbbells on your shoulders, use a bar on your shoulders, or a smith machine.

I want you to think stick your buns out. Butt to the back wall! You want the lower half of your leg, from the knee down, to essentially stay in the same place as you squat down. Stick your butt out and back instead of having your knees go forward, slowly go down until you are in an airborne sitting position. You want your thighs and that magnificient Femur bone parallell with the floor at the bottom of your squat. If you don't go low enough you aren't working the full motion of your leg muscles. To get the best workout get low! All of your weight should be in your heels. You should be able to lift your toes back towards you. Also try to keep that chest up. For some it helps to look high with your eyes so you are less likely to hunch over. Slowly come back up and return to standing position, and There you have it. I would do three sets of 15 repetitions each time you lift weights. They are the miracle worker!

Tip: If you are having a hard time getting your form down grab a chair or bench and put it behind you. Squat down like you were to sit in the chair but barely let your glutes touch and come right back up. The chair should be far enoug behind you that it forces you to stick your hips back and have proper form.

Who wants to be fit??? WII do!!

In the fitness world it seems that every day there is something new on the market. The same goes in the world of technology. It seems lately these two worlds are colliding more and more. One of the latest crazes is Wii Fit, for the Nintendo Wii. This game system provides an interactive approach to your health. With possibilities such as the balance board, the yoga mat, and exercise mat. (I'm sure there will be more accessories to come.)
After entering your height and age, the Wii fit uses the balance board to weigh you and record your BMI, placing you in a health category so you know where you need to improve. It guides you through a series of exercises such as push ups, lunges, pilates movements and yoga poses. This is a great way to keep kids that love their Nintendo active! The only negative part about it is this focuses more on strength and muscle tone and doesn't work very much on cardiovascular health which is a very important aspect to the overall health picture. But anything that gets you stepping is a step in the right direction!