Big Bird forgot to pick up the turkey for the last time

I heard it said that the average American eats an extra 3,500 calories at the annual Thanksgiving meal. For those of you who do not know, that is equivalent to 1 pound of fat. No wonder Thanksgiving is considered the unhealthiest meal of the year. Fear not, I’m here to show you how to your use leftover Thanksgiving turkey to build muscle and burn fat!

It’s seems as though Thanksgiving comes around so fast each year. When people think of this time of year, they think of heavy fat-laden meals followed by additional pounds on the scale. Now you can blame stuffing, macoroni and cheese, biscuits with loads of butter, and apple pie for that, but leave the turkey out of it! Turkey is one of the staple foods of any fat loss program. Besides the fact it is mostly lean protein, it’s one of those foods people don’t mind eating cold which gives it an extra convenience factor as well. Just be sure to remove the skin to cut back on the fat calories.

So why is protein so important? For starters, protein is the building block for lean muscle tissue. The more lean muscle you have, the faster your metabolism or fat burning power. Individuals who perform strength training activities have a higher protein need than couch potatoes. It is recommended that protein should be consumed in adequate amounts every 2-4 hours to ensure the repair process of the damaged muscles from working out. Protein is also the least likely macronutrient to be stored as body fat and the mere act of digesting protein requires more than double the energy to digest than carbohydrates and dietary fat. So, if there is any food choice that you can truly get away with overeating this holiday season, it will be turkey.

Another key benefit to eating turkey is that it is easy to prepare in bulk and thus will save you much needed time in meal planning and preparation during the busy holiday season. You can roast a big old turkey and then have tons of meal options for days. Just think of what you can do with all those Thanksgiving leftovers! To inspire your turkey consumption efforts my colleagues and I have put together some awesome better body recipes that you can create with turkey as your lean protein foundation. Enjoy!

Turkey Salad

Ingredients:

- 6-8 oz. Turkey Breast chopped into small cubes
- 1?4 red bell pepper
- 1?4 green bell pepper
- 1?4 red onion
- 2 Tbsp canola or olive oil mayo

Directions:

Mix all ingredients together and enjoy over a bed of greens.

Makes one male serving and two female servings.

Turkey Cranberry Cream Cheese Roll-up

Ingredients:

- 6-8 oz. Sliced Turkey
- 1 Tbsp Fat Free Cream Cheese
- 1 Tbsp Dried Cranberries 1?2 Clove of Roasted Garlic Salt and Pepper to taste
- 2 Whole Grain Tortillas

Directions:

Soak cranberries in water for 20 minutes or microwave until soft if you are short on time. Mash the 1?2 clove of garlic. Mix cranberries, garlic, and cream cheese. Add salt and pepper to taste. Spread the mixture into the inside of the tortilla(s). Add turkey breast. Fold up sides, roll up, and enjoy!

Makes one male serving and two female servings.

Turkey Medallions With Cranberry Glaze

Turkey Medallions:
- 6-8 oz. Turkey
- Non-stick spray Turkey Seasoning

Cut Turkey Breasts into small medallions, sprinkle lightly with seasoning. Reheat in a pan sprayed with non-stick oil on medium heat until lightly browned on both sides. Drip Cranberry glaze (below) over the medallions.

Cranberry Glaze:
- 1 Cups Dry white wine
- Turkey or chicken stock, as needed
- 1 1?2 Cups Dried cranberries
- 1?4 Cup of Pine nuts, toasted
- Pinch of Salt

Add 1?2 cup of white wine and 1?2 cup of turkey stock to pan. Add other 1?2 cup of turkey stock, cranberries, pine nuts and pinch of salt. Cook over medium heat until reduced in volume by half, about 4 cups.

Makes one male serving and two female servings.

Turkey Shepherds Pie

Ingredients:

- 2 cups cubed cooked turkey
- 3?4 cup turkey gravy
- 1 small can whole kernel corn
- drained 1 cup of chicken stock
- 1 cup of water
- 3 cups steamed cauliflower
- 2 cups celery, chopped 2 carrots
- chopped 1 onion chopped 2 cloves garlic
- minced 1 bell pepper, any color
- chopped Salt and pepper

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. First you must make the gravy. Take the garlic, 1 cup of celery, carrots, onion, bell pepper, chicken stock, water, vegetables, salt and pepper to taste. Add to a pot, boil until vegetables are soft and blend in a blender or food processor.

Next, you will take the steamed cauliflower and mash it, or place it in a food processor until the consistency is like that of mashed potatoes.

Next, in a baking dish, layer the turkey, gravy, corn, remaining celery and mashed cauliflower. Bake, uncovered at 325 degrees for 45-50 minutes.

Makes 2 male servings and one female serving.

Turkey Florentine

Ingredients:

- 1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach
- 2 tablespoons smart butter
- 1 cup cooked whole grain fettuccine
- 2 cups diced, cooked turkey
- 1 cup turkey or chicken stock 1
- (8 ounce) package fat free sour cream and onion dip
- 1?2 teaspoon onion salt
- 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
- Non-stick cooking spray

Directions:

Cook spinach according to package directions; drain. Stir in smart butter. Place noodles in a non-stick sprayed baking dish; top with spinach. Combine turkey, stock, onion dip and onion salt and spoon over spinach. Sprinkle with Parmesan. Bake, uncovered, at 325 degrees F for 25 minutes or until bubbly.

Turkey Green Bean Casserole

Ingredients:

- 1 bag of frozen green beans
- 6-8 oz. of cubed cooked turkey breast
- 1 can of organic cream of mushroom soup
- 2 cups Kraft all natural fat free cheese
- Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients into a casserole dish and bake for about 30 minutes or until completely hot. Makes one male serving and two female servings.

How Bad Do You Want It?

Blair

http://www.amblerbootcamps.com

In todays audio, I talked to Anne H, a mother of two, about what it’s like to participate in the 3DFitness 8 week transformation contest just months after having her 2nd child.

3DFitness Transformation Contestant

Anne Dropped 2 sizes in 8 Weeks

Who says you can't get your body back after 2 kids...

Anne was a runner-up in the 8 week 3DFitness transformation contest.  Initially, she did not want to post her final picture because she didn’t think she made a big enough transformation but after some coaching from me , she had a change of heart.

This was huge for Anne because she was one of those women who did not benefit from weight loss achieved by nursing.  In fact, for the sake of the nutrition of her baby, she was unable to lower her calories but she kept up with the strength training workouts so she didn’t gain anymore weight and her weight remained constant.  It wasn’t until mid-contest that she was able to lower her calories and have success in becoming a runner –up in the contest.

Some of the highlights Anne discusses in the audio:

1.  What she does to maintain her hard work:

2.  How she differs in her thoughts about nutrition pre and post 3DFitness.

3. Her ability to be social during the contest.

4. Her “aha” moments of calories in vs calories out.

All in all, Anne knows you must be committed and never give up if you want to make a life changing transformation.  Even if you enter a contest and you’re not necessarily the top prize winner; realize that you have won because you’ve lost the weight and have taken a step closer to your weight loss goals.

Anne proves that with a little Desire, Determination, & Dedication, anyone has the ability to look better naked.

 Download Interview Here

The 3DFitness 8 Week Transformation contest is over.  Since this was the first the first contest, we decided to pick the top 2 winners who both received $250 each.  Not a bad piece of change just for getting in shape. We also posted a couple others and although they didn’t win, they easily could have.   Now it’s time to post the results.

With this being my first time ever judging a contest like this, I must say it was my least favorite thing to do because it was so hard to place/pick the winners.  I’m sure glad I wasn’t the only judge.

I want to say congratulations to everyone who followed through and completed the contest. It’s really awesome that you were able to get through the 8 weeks and stuck to your commitment to see it through to the end. Many people will never complete a contest like this in their whole life.   Just think about that for a moment, 8 short weeks of your entire life and it’s still a very difficult commitment for most people to stick to it.  There were a lot of people who bailed out during the contest because they didn’t posess the commitment of the ones who finished.

So to repeat, give yourself a pat on the back if you made through the 8 weeks, this accomplishment already puts you in rare territory and you deserve a celebration.

Ladies if you’re new to my blog and would like me to coach you just click here for virtual coaching or click here to join 3DFitness in Ambler

Without further delay here are the winners of the 3DFitness Transformation Contest.

3DFitness Transformation 1st Place: Kelci

3DFitness Transformation Contest 2nd Place: Dawn

3DFitness Transformation Contest Runner Up: Jalila

3DFitness Transformation Runner Up: Anne

Congrats to all who entered and finished, you should all be proud of yourselves.

Coach Blair

p.s.  If you want to be in the next contest that starts September 28, 2011, just go here to join my gym   or  here for me to coach you virtually

There are more, but this is all I can think of off the top of my head:

1) Calories in vs. Calories out for Fat Loss – PERIOD

2) Strength Training is for shaping the muscles, and cardio is for conditioning purposes. Trying to use either for fat loss was not there intended purpose.

3) Leg Press is for calves only!

4) High carb, High fat, high protien diets: whatever you want to use. They all work. My clients use them all at my gym. The only consensus is they all eat less calories than they burn. I’ve lost almost 40lbs in 12 weeks on a mostly Carb/protein diet..

5) Fasting is the easiest way to lose weight and keep weight in check.

6) The three kinds of eating: The kind that gets you fat, the kind that gets you from fat to lean, and THE ART of eating to neither gain nor lose fat.

7) “Training intensely” won’t be as intense sometimes as other times. Always train as hard as you can and don’t kick yourself if you give it your all but it feels like you didn’t do it as intensely as that one time you really did.

8) Consistency is a key between successful transformations and those who never see progress.

9) The more impressive your physique, the easier it is to be seen as a jerk or a bad person. Make an effort to smile and treat others as you would want to be treated if you were in their place. It works well.

10) Old habits may be ingrained into us to the point where we unconsciously do things…but make an effort to act as in #7. You’ll be pleasantly surprised.

11) Fat loss should be a sprint but muscle gaining is a marathon. Skinny-fat people have a combo of these…so training for them is kind of like HIIT.

12) We all have limitations in our lives. Don’t make excuses….make ways around those limitations. This goes for life, family, work and even limitations on training equipment. If you really want to transform your physique, find a way…not excuses.

13) If you don’t feel an exercise, it probably means you don’t have enough muscle there in the first place (assuming you’re doing the exercise correctly). You need some size to feel the work. Just keep going as best as you can and don’t worry about it.

14) We don’t need to know or worry about all that micro-information about training and nutrition. It just confuses people unless they can see the original studies and actually have the time to study them.

15) Find good mentors and learn from them.

16) Be careful of TMI (to much information). Specifically, I’m talking about too many mentors about the same topic/subject. Sometimes putting all your eggs in one basket **IS** a good thing…assuming that basket is knowledgeable and truthful.

17) Become a “whole and complete” person. Don’t get obsessed with just the physical. Develop your brain too…logical, philisophical, artistic.

18) Become more cultured. Don’t neglect Spiritual development. While I do have my thoughts on how you should do this, it is not the topic of this blog, so I’ll leave it as that.

19) Creatine, protein, fish oil, and a multi-vitamin are pretty much the only supplements that are needed. Even then, protein is only needed if you’re not consistently at 490-840g/week.

20)  The only machines in the gym worth using are the cable machines because you can not duplicate those exercises with free-weights.  All other machines keep your body in a fixed axis inevitably sacrificing your joint health long-term.

21) 3DFitness Coaching Studio is always on the cutting edge. You owe it to yourself to check it out – http://3dfitness.net