FAST AND EZ CAPRESE SANDWICH

I've always been a fan of bread.  Being Greek we have bread with everything, and I mean everything. It's served with every meal you can think of usually as a side.  Even when we were eating bread as a meal our mom would have a side of bread with it.  It's crazy.  So when it was suggested to cut down on my intake of breads I had a hard time believing that it was necessary.  I decided to take the "all in moderation" approach so when Jodie found a recipe for two of my favorite food vices, breads and salads, I jumped all over it. (sorry about the bread and cheese Patrick!)

This Caprese Sandwich packs about 350 calories, about 4g of saturated fats and about 375 mg of sodium per 1/4 baguette (one serving).  This will obviously vary depending on your ingredients but if you follow the outline below you'll get an enjoyable, healthy and filling lunch meal that won't take a big bite out of your RDI.

• whole grain baguette (typically around 250g and 16" in length)
• two large tomatoes (sliced)
• 4 oz of fresh mozzarella (sliced)
• a clove of garlic (precooked and sliced or diced)
• bunch of basil leaves
• a tablespoon of olive oil
• a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar

Set your oven on to broil and while it's heating up you'll have plenty of time to prepare this sandwich. 

Slice the baguette down the middle then sprinkle and set the sliced or diced garlic into the bread. Place it on a cooking sheet lined with aluminum foil.  Depending on the setting of your oven you can expect this to be toasted in 2 to 3 minutes.  I like to precooked our garlic in cloves that we keep stored in our fridge.  Slow cooking garlic sweetens them and are one of my favorite ingredients! 

After it starts to crisp up pull the baguette out of the oven and start laying your tomatoes, mozzarella and basil leaves.  Any amount and any way you want.  We then drizzled the olive and balsamic vinegar on top and added dashes of pepper.  

Cut into 1/4's this provided our family of four with a quick and tasty lunch!

Cheers

(sorry about the bad quality pics :)

  

JAN 22, 2011: TRI CITY NEWS

Local fitness equipment store helps Coquitlam family get active

 
(WHAT AN AWFUL PIC OF ME)

Stan Karras works out with his daughter on some of the $5,000 worth of equipment he won from Fitness Town for participating in the 21 Day Family Fitness Challenge.

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Published: January 22, 2011 1:00 PM

A Coquitlam dad is setting an example of fitness for his family and Fitness Town, a leading fitness equipment provider in Western Canada, is rewarding him for it.

Fitness Town provided Stan Karras and his family, wife, Jodie, and daughters, Georgia and Sophia, with $5,000 worth of state of the art fitness equipment. They also get the support of a personal trainer after they won Fitness Town's 21 Day Family Fitness Challenge in December.

The company is challenging families to get fit and have fun in just 21 days through a program that aims to educate parents and kids on the importance of healthy living. At a time when childhood obesity in North America is a growing concern, Fitness Town is working with guest supporter, TV personality and fitness guru, Tommy Europe, to raise awareness of the associated dangers. Open to all sizes, ages and fitness levels, the Family Fitness Challenge will provide families and couples on the go with essential fitness and nutritional guidance and tools to ensure they stay motivated, happy and healthy during their busy lives.

Following the recent success of its 90 Day Challenge that saw 850 participants raise $17,500 for six local charities, the non-profit Family Fitness Challenge will also give a part of its proceeds to a number of different charities in the local Metro Vancouver community.

“Research shows children born in the year 2000 or later are not expected to outlive their parents,” said James Newman, CEO, Fitness Town. “In fact, it also suggests that a poor diet in kids is more dangerous than alcohol, drugs, and tobacco combined. As a developed and educated nation with resources aplenty, we simply should not stand by and let this happen. We have to take action now but it has to be the right approach to effectively work.”

Karras, 43, was active as a young man and started training for a triathlon until he was hit and dragged by a car. He stopped training after the accident, suffered chronic pain from a lower back injury and took years to recover. Doctors also found a tumour which required immediate surgery.

The ongoing health issues sidelined Karras for years until a home renovation had him thinking seriously about getting back into fitness. While removing outdated exercise equipment to install a bar, it suddenly hit him that he wasn't sending a good message to his wife and kids.

He started being more aware of has family's unhealthy lifestyle and hours spent in front of the TV or video games and decided to take action. He signed his family up for Fitness Town's 21 Day Family Fitness challenge, started cooking, which he had never done before, and began writing a blog about his recipes and fitness efforts.

The Family Fitness Challenge has been designed to be accessible, affordable, easy-to-use and, most importantly, fun. Fitness Town wants the initiative to be a catalyst for families to move away from TV and video games and return to old fashioned values where exercise was through play and outdoor activities. Fitness Town is also keen to point out that the challenge very much welcomes couples, believing that family begins at two.

“We want to take action in a positive way and help educate kids and families on the small steps they can take to stay active and fit,” added James. “We want people to realize that staying healthy doesn’t have to be a chore — it should be fun, uplifting and make us feel better about ourselves. It’s a chance to forget about everything else that may be worrying us and remember when active living was a fun and social way of life.”

Couples and families wanting to sign-up to the Family Fitness Challenge — which runs from the first day of every month — can do so by visiting their nearest Fitness Town store. For just $30, each participant will receive a registration kit to get started including a water bottle, exercise toy and comprehensive handbook that will gently guide participants through work-outs, fitness and nutritional tips, recipes and lots more. Tailored packages will be available for kids including incentives to keep them interested and rewarded for their efforts.

Fitness Town is also offering families regular check-ins in-store to ensure they get the right level of support, encouragement and advice throughout the month.

For more information on the Family Fitness Challenge, visit: www.fitnesstown.ca

To read Karras' story, visit: http://www.fitfortiesfather.blogspot.com/

JAN 17-19, 2011: PATRICK OUR PERSONAL TRAINER

So far we've had two personal training sessions from Patrick Vuong from Fitness Town.
It's amazing what you learn when guided by a professional.  Disciplines that you thought you were doing correctly weren't necessarily the case.
Case in point, my usual 30 second warm up.
Patrick put me through a proper 10 minute warm up which consisted of using a travel roller to loosen up and fire up the muscles.  It's amazing how alive they felt afterwards.


After I was good and ready he put me through an "all over body" workout.  At 42 I'm not concerned about having huge hulking biceps and pecs (although my wife might want otherwise).  He trained me on my first superset in probably over 15 years.  I forgot how difficult these were to do.
What is a superset?  A superset is two exercises which are performed consecutively with minimal rest in between.  When I say minimal, I mean walking from one station to the other.  They help increase muscle size by boosting the release of anabolic hormones such as testosterone in men and increases of growth hormones in the blood of women. These growth hormones help stimulate new tissue growth and break down fat to use as energy.
Wow, who wouldn't want that!


Patrick stresses the benefits of push-pull strength training for an overall balanced physique.
Push-pull training is a way of dividing up your strength training into different work outs where "push" exercises are movements in which you push the weights away from your body and "pull" exercises where you pull the weights towards you.


Jodie said her training session went better than expected.  I wasn't there to see any of it but she was quite thrilled to get advice on nutrition and exercise.  Same advice as mine; balance your workouts and don't target one area all the time. As we were both going to fight over the last training session Patrick was kind enough to split it between the two of us and will put us through another workout next Wednesday.


I'm SO sorry I've been lagging behind on our 21 day cooking challenge.  I can tell you though it's still going strong.  Jodie has now taken over choosing healthy alternatives for us to make.  Well....for me to make.   I'll be updating pics and recipe's soon!


To come a secret gluten free muffin recipe from my sister.  You guys will love these!


Cheers

JAN 13, 2011: TO INFINITY AND BEYOND

She's done it.  My wife has grasped this challenge and ran with it. Although this posting says the 13th I'm giving everyone the Coles notes from the past 8 days.


After Jason's orientation with us I waited to see how she would react the following day.  Like a nervous father I patiently waited after work and a short while after dinner she decided to head down and have a work out.
At this point I thought to myself "please don't stay down there for hours".  The worst thing anyone (in my opinion) could do when starting a work out regime would be to overdo it at the start.  This is a common problem with many aspects of peoples lives and working out is no different.  As I was told when I started my 21 day challenge; take baby steps.  To my relief she was down there for half an hour and thoroughly enjoying herself.


Her work outs have consisted of a blend of cardio and strength training using the new elliptical trainer, the Power Plate My5 as well as some free weight training.  Mixing things up definitely keeps the mind and body from becoming bored which is key to succeeding.


She's finding it surprising that she's able to suppress her night time snacking as this has always been her major weakness.  She's also rediscovered the joy's of creative cooking.  OK...that is a bit of a lie.  What she's enjoyed is finding recipes for me to cook.


More on that in the upcoming days.

JAN 15, 2011: MY OH MY5

I apologize for posting this 4 days late but we've had a CRAZY week!
The wonderful team at Fitness Town came in on Wednesday and outfitted our new "workout studio" with some amazing equipment!
Thanks to their 21 Day Challenge we've not only transformed our home but also our bodies, minds and spirits!

OK...here are some pics:

wait...there's more

and more:

This isn't everything either.  Today we received an orientation from none other than Fitness Towns Jason Scott.  Director of Power Plate Sales and Training.  This guy is The GURU of Powerplate and I think you'd have trouble finding anyone who knows this product better than he does.

After a short how to Jason put us to work.  Since it was Jodie who really wanted to know the benefits of this machine she went first:

No, the good looking chap to the left isn't me, it's Jason.  Here Jason shows Jodie a great toning workout for the thighs.  Sorry hun...i had to post this.

You'll also notice we put up a poster in the back.  Yes, we put holes in our normally untouchable drywall.

That's commitment at it's finest!

I really cannot explain how beneficial this machine is.  He showed us things that I would not have believed had I not done them myself.  As Jason says, it's hard to explain it to people.  You just have to try it.

This is an open invitation to all my friends and family to come try it out.  Give me 5 minutes, give me 15 minutes; you'll be amazed.

Thanks Jason!

Stay tuned for more as Patrick Vuong from Fitness Town visits our household this Monday for the first of three personal training sessions.  I was told to get ready...yikes!

**********************************************************************************

JAN 11, 2011: A NEW CHALLENGE

So, tomorrow is the day that Jodie officially launches her 21 day challenge.  Although she periodically joined the girls and I during our challenge it was the inconsistent shifts that were destroying her ability to work out with the family. Her sleeps were all messed up.  Her diet was everywhere except where it should have been.
I felt bad for her.  I know it was difficult hearing about the progress the girls and I have been making.

So tomorrow evening after dinner she launches her first day's workout.  Lucky for her she'll have a great coach :)

Today I made a terrific Gnocchi recipe.  Very healthy at about 275 calories per serving.
Simple and ready in 15 minutes.
The recipe consisted of a simple stir fry of asparagus in a pan with a drizzle of olive oil for about 3 minutes.  From there I added a cup of chicken broth, the prosciutto and a cup of frozen peas.
Follow the Gnocchi preparation as per instructions.  Mine was simple; boil water and add in the gnocchi.  After about 5 minutes or when the gnocchi surfaces scoop them out and throw them into the stir fry pan for about a minute or so.

Simple, healthy and yummy.
Cheers

JAN 7, 2011: I'M ALMOST 'BACK' AT IT

Today I had some great news.  I was able to stand up straight.  It might not sound like that big of a deal but for those who have suffered chronic back injuries they are all too familiar as to the recovery process and how important of a sign it is to be able to stand straight.

My Doctor told me not to exert any stress on my lower back for a good period of time so I've been very careful to take it easy with the exercising.  I was able to perform an interesting crunch that the Chiropractor taught me.
Just a slight variation to the crunches that we all know but this one places more focus on contracting the stomach muscles and obliques while taking all strain off your lower back.
You lie flat on your back with your legs bent at 90 degrees, feet flat on the ground.
You take both hands and place them palm down on the ground beside you, under your back just above the small of your back.  This stops your lower spine from rotating downward while performing the crunch.
The key to this crunch, and any other crunch for that matter is quality over quantity.  It's great for anyone suffering lower back pain.

Feeling a bit more adventurous today I decided to go for a brisk walk on the treadmill (completely ignoring my Doctors advice).  It was a good half hour walk as I watched the Canucks kick butt again.
Sophia joined me also as she was gung ho to test out her new runners (notice one of them flashing)

Both Georgia and Sophia hit the treadmill and alternated working out with the dumbbells on the workout ball. I'm starting to notice some pipes forming on both of them.  Furture IFBB contestants?  We'll see.

The girls also passed their TaeKwonDo test for December!  They had to miss the actual test day as (if you remember) they were sick that entire week.  Good job girls!

I on the other hand were looking forward to today as it was suppose to be my first Grappling / Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu class.  Unfortunately it's going to have to wait another week or two.  As will my sparring classes.

One step at a time...

This weekend the girls are also signed up for swimming lessons.  It's been a LONG time since we've hit the pool and everyone is looking forward to it!

Next blog I'll be updating my cooking challenge so stay tuned.  But first I need to pick up some good pans as ours are pretty much on their last leg.  Any suggestions?

Cheers

JAN 5, 2011: THE NEWS

I'm not sure where to begin my blog entry today...so I might as well jump in and say it:
My family won Fitness Towns 21 day challenge for the month of December!!!

Wow...I'm still speechless.

When I got home today I received a voicemail from James Newman, CEO of Fitness Town.  He kindly let me know that he's been following us on our progress and asked me if I could call him back.  I wasn't sure what he wanted but knowing that his business model puts the focus on customer service I assumed he was checking up to see how things were going.
James and Fitness Towns COO Dai Manuel run a business that is very unique in today's world.  It puts it's faith and trust on it's employees to spread the gospel of health and fitness to each and every customer that walks through the door.  It's commitment to family and community is something rarely seen.  It's after sale support makes you feel as though that last sale, no matter how big or small, is all equally important.

You want to know about nutrition?  Talk to Patrick Vuong.  Who is he?  Someone that's picked up a book last week and read about the latest diet craze?  No....no.  Schooling, reading, dialog and living the values allows him to provide invaluable expertise in not only nutrition but exercise as well.  As I look around their showroom I see these guys everywhere.  People who are passionate about what they do.

I tried to convey this to James but didn't need to.  He is proud of his people and what they've accomplished.  Dai is the same way.  He lives and breathes the values of Fitness Town in his community and family involvement. Through blogs and webpages, through Twitter and Facebook this guy is everywhere!  And if that's not enough you could even pick up a copy of 24 and see his hulking biceps on the front page!  Now if that's not motivational I don't know what is.

My family, I'm proud of them too.  I cannot begin to tell you the transformation that my family has undergone this past month.  Most import it's brought us together again in an active environment.   Family time use to mean they would play one of their four DS's, Ipads, Iphone, PS3 (need I keep going?) while we watched TV.  Now family time includes preparing nutritious meals and discussing what new work out routines we're going to discover.
Have we eliminated all the electronic gadgets that divided us in the past?  No.  It's all about balance and moderation.  And now it feels like we finally have it.

A huge thanks again to James Newman, Dai Manuel and Patrick Vuong from Fitness Town.  And to all my friends and family thank you for all your love and support.  I will be continuing updating this blog so check back soon!

JAN 4, 2011: SIDELINED BY AN 18 POUND DOG

This is horrible.  Nearly 5 weeks after I started the 21 Day Challenge I've been taken out by a little Boston Terrier. 
Words cannot express how disappointed I am and how DIFFICULT it's been not to be able to work out this past few days.  I have no problem lifting heavy weights in all kinds of positions and motions,  but all it took was one wrong movement while holding a tiny dog and "pop", out goes the back. 

For anyone that knows me they are all too familiar about my history with back injuries.  Most of my problems occurred from a biking/car accident suffered in my early 20's.  I won't trouble you with the horrific details but in a nutshell I was bedridden for a month and suffered a good 10 years living with painful chronic back pains.  A pain that took me away from my passion at the time which was Diesel/Heavy Duty mechanics.  As a young strong man I felt powerless and hopeless living with such pain.  I was embarrassed and did everything to mask my pain including overexerting myself at the cost of worsening my back.

If I had the chance to do it over again would I have joined my Triathlon team for a ride that day?  Absolutely!

Here is what I received in return for getting hit by a car (in no particular order :) )

• The discovery of a bone growth which was diagnosed and removed at the BC Cancer Clinic
• A job that lead to meeting my beautiful wife, which in turn gave me -->
• Two gorgeous and amazing little girls
• A refocusing of my career and life goals
• Resiliency

I could go on and on but the point is our journey in life is shaped by many events and experiences from our past. 
In order to learn from our experiences we need to observe and reflect on what happened and from there we form concepts that enable us to learn and better ourselves and those around us.

Now...this is the second time I've thrown my back out.  Why?  Because the first time I threw it out 4 years ago I didn't take the time to reflect and learn why or how it had happened.  If I did I probably would have thought twice of lifting and twisting with my lower back and not my knees.
**********************************************************************************

So my work out the past few days?  Zero :(

My wife has been on the treadmill each night and is slowly building up her stamina.  Very proud of her.

Georgia and Sophia have been busy at TaeKwonDo as well as trying to invent new exercises using various equipment.  Quite commical actually but as I've stated in a previous post I'm not going to say anything that will discourage them. 
It excites me that after almost 5 weeks they are still working out...albeit with one less adult.

Also, their swimming lessons are starting this Saturday! 

Wish me a speedy recovery :)

JAN 1, 2011 !!! STIR FRIED HOISIN CHICKEN

First off Happy New Year everyone!  We barely made it last night.  No, it wasn't from drinking.  In fact I only had one glass of red wine.  We almost didn't make it to midnight!  Jodie had to get up early for work and I was exhausted from all the running around so at 12:05 we kissed the girls, tucked them in and went to bed :)

I thought I'd try and start 2011 off with a bang.  This included cleaning the entire house and preparing a healthy dinner for the family.  On the menu today was stir fried chicken with on brown rice all housed in a lettuce bowl.

First off I prepared the hoisin sauce which was home made and I MUST say yummy.  Yes, you can buy it prepared but it is so easy to make that I wouldn't bother.

• 4 tbsp of sodium reduced soy sauce
• 3 tbsp of smooth peanut butter
• 1-1/2 tsp of honey
• 2 tsp of sesame oil
• 1/4 tsp of freshly chopped garlic or garlic powder
• dash of pepper (preferably white pepper)
• 2 tsp white vinegar

Whisk together and set aside.  For the adults add hot sauce.  About 2 tsp to give it some bite.  The stuff is good enough to drink.  I separated the bowls as my little ones haven't become accustomed to spicy foods. 

Next I took both chicken breast and thighs and sliced them thinly.  The thighs provide a nice consistency over the drier breast.  Either can be used, or, do as I did and use them both.

Heat up a skillet to the point where you can feel the heat rising from the pan.  Add a drizzle of olive oil onto the pan.  You don't want the oil to bounce out of the pan.  If it does turn it down slightly.  Add the chicken into the pan and roll to coat it with the olive oil.  

After a few minutes the chicken will slowly change color (3 to 4 minutes depending on the thickness of the cuts) and should be almost cooked through.  At this point add your Hoisin sauce and be sure to roll and coat the chicken.  Crack some black peppercorns overtop and stir in.  Let the sauce set in.

Note this is only half the chicken as this sauce contains the hot sauce :)

From here set it aside and sprinkle some sesame seeds for some visual appeal.  

I also sliced some thin carrot strips and quickly fried them in the pan with the leftover sauce.

In another pot I made some brown rice which I will use as a bed.  Ideally if you have enough sauce leftover in the pan (it doesnt take much) I would through the rice in the pan to pick up on the delicious flavor of the Hoisin sauce.

From here take some iceburg lettuce and use the outer layers to try and make bowls out of.  This takes a bit of practice to get the right pieces and you'll probably find yourself going through most of the lettuce head to make this right.

Add the rice into the lettuce bowl, add your chicken and carrots for garnish and you're done!

Not the prettiest presentation but the taste was amazing!

OK....so how about the nutritional value?  Per serving this has:

• 638 Calories
• 21.1g Total Fat
• 4.3g Saturated
• 2.8g Polyunsaturated
• 3.3g Monounsaturated
• 0g Trans
• 143mg Cholesterol
• 997mg Sodium
• 104.2mg Potassium
• 57.8g Total Carbs
• 3.5g Dietary Fiber
• 6.7g Sugars
• 54.2g Protein

The Protein count on this meal was high due to the fact that I had a full breast and thigh.  Halving these servings would cut down the protein and cholesterol counts by almost half.

Easy to make and the entire family enjoyed it.  Even our picky little eater Sophia ate it all :)

**********************************************************************************

WOD (Workout of the Day)

For those of you checking out this blog for the first time, no, this isn't a NY resolution.  This stems from a challenge started over 4 weeks ago with the help of my friends at Fitness Town.  

As of this morning I'm down just over 10 pounds in 4 weeks.  I started at 215 and am now down to 204.8.  

I'll leave the discussion on how, why, what, for another time.  Just know that I'm eating non stop and exercising with my family daily.

Today's exercise consisted of a few things.

7 sets of abdominal and oblique crunches

3 sets of heavy dumbbell presses

3 sets of lateral arm raises

20 minutes of a moderate speed run on the treadmill 

I'm really feeling like I need to add more to this routine (as far as quantity goes).  I've received some great advice from Patrick over at FT and also from many people that i've contacted via Twitter.

Jodie and I are considering a personal trainer but we are going to wait and see how things go with our vibration plate when it comes in a few weeks.  Jason who works with FT will be giving us a few pointers when he comes and does an orientation with us at our house.  Can't wait!  

The girls at different times all went on the treadmill.  Jodie first, then Sophia and finally Georgia.  All supervised of course.  Jodie is complaining about the impact of the treadmill on her feet.  She's had issues in the past which she probably doesn't want me to talk about :).  Anyways...we might need to do something about it as the new runners we bought didn't seem to help her.

At some point while I was making dinner both of my little ones decided to break free and go downstairs to finish their workout.  I'm not sure what they did but when they came upstairs Georgia was rubbing her arms and Sophia collapsed on the couch with a big *sigh*.

Cheers