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

Having been in the fitness for several years now, I’ve become pretty good at what I do. People often look to me for advice on reaching their goals. Since I’m a real world guy, I don’t tell them what I think works like most trainers do, I tell them what I know works. With the holiday season quickly approaching, one of the most pressing questions I receive is what are the best exercises to lose fat AND gain muscle fast?

To simplify things for you, the exercises I use are both the same. The main difference is the weight, reps, sets, and rest intervals. These exercises all have one thing in common: they utilize a lot of muscles in your body at the same time.

Take a look at the research and you’ll see total body workouts at the top of the charts for both maximal fat loss and muscle gain. But let’s take a closer look at how it all works…

To really ramp up your results, I use COMBINATIONS or HYBRIDS within each TOTAL BODY WORKOUT! Let’s look at a few examples. Take squats for instance. Squats are known for being the king of all leg exercises for building muscle but did you know they work just as well for fat loss? So whether you want to burn fat or build muscle, squats are a must for your routine. Now let’s supercharge the squat by combining it with another exercise like a row or press. It’s obvious that you can reap more benefits this way since you’ve now involved your upper body in combination with your lower body exercises.

So here’s my plan to help you Look Better Naked Equation below:

Performing Combination Movements That Work The Total Body Within Each Workout

More Muscles Involved =More Calories Burned =Greater Fat Lost + Greater Muscle Gain

The relationship I have with the dirty dozen is a thin line between love and hate. Before I continue, please understand these moves I am going to share with you are not for the faint at heart. I love them because of the fat-burning, muscle-building results they provide to me and my clients. I hate them because they’re hard as hell! Here’s my disclaimer: If you’re a beginner, stick to the basics. But if you decide to give the dirty dozens a whirl, don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Here is the official dirty dozens list of my favorite exercises for fat loss and lean muscle gain:

Exercise#1- Hang Clean + Front Squat + Press

Exercise#2- KB Squat Thrust/Burpee + Sumo Deadlift + High Pull

Exercise#3- The Swing- Dumbbells, Kettlebells

Exercise#4- Reverse Lunge + Cable Row

Exercise#5 – Prone Jacknife + Pushup

Exercise#6- One Arm DB or KB Snatch + One Arm OH Lunge (step w/opposite leg from DB/KB)

Exercise#7- Step up + Press + Reverse Lunge

Exercise#8- Squat Thrust/Burpee + Pushup + Renegade Row

Exercise#9- Bulgarian Split Squat Deadlift plus Curl to Press

Exercise#10- Dumbbell or Kettlebell Single-Leg RDL plus Row

Exercise#11- KB/DB Turkish Get Up

Exercise#12- DB Curl + Lunge + Press

Check back later in the week for the video of what these exercises look like so that you can add them to your own training routines for better results:

Since you asked, I hope you take my expert advice and really turn up the intensity of your training with my dirty dozens total body combination exercises. I promise you’ll get much better results in a fraction of the time of your old workout plan. The only question of course is will you?

I’ll be sharing some more great exercises for those specific trouble spot areas (e.g. legs, butt, abs, chest, arms, etc.) that are holding you back from looking better naked in the days to come

Are you ready to take your workouts to the next level before 2009 arrives? Our FREE 30 Day Trial end on 11/30/08 so act fast! Click Here to sign up today!

How Bad Do You Want It?

Blair

http://www.amblerbootcamps.com/

When I first started training several years ago, I did the same thing most other trainers did. I did exercises in a straight set format. If you’re not familiar with the term, it means means you perform a certain number of reps for an exercise and then rest. We would then repeat this sequence for a certain number of sets. Depending on the clients goals would determine how long their rest periods would be. Considering the format, my clients still made some remarkable progress. Fast forward to 2008 and it amazes me that some people are still training the same way I did four years ago.

So, what’s the problem with this format? For starters, it’s a very time consuming format and in today’s busy society, people just don’t have a lot of time. In most commercial gyms you’ll typically see someone perform three sets of 10 reps on almost every exercise. They pump out those 10 reps, rest, and then do it again. Usually the guys take a very long rest between sets. I’m talking as much as 3-5 minutes between sets. For example, if a male did three sets of 10 on the bench that means it would take up to 15 minutes to complete only one exercise. That meant you’d need at least an hour to perform four different exercises! Talk about a poor use of time.

So what would be a more time effective approach? Alternating sets. Any halfway descent personal trainer currently uses this model (if not buyer beware). This is a much more time efficient approach to ordering your exercises. Here you’ll perform one exercise, rest for a short period of time, then perform another exercise, rest for a short period of time, and so forth. Alternating sets allows you to work different movements in your body when you would otherwise be resting with the straight set format. This allows you to have longer recovery in between sets which means we can go heavy(sorry, no more pink dumbbells ladies). The result is higher intensity and more work density which means more work accomplished in less time. This is the backbone to any effective fat loss program. There are several ways to perform alternating sets outlined below:

1.) Supersets: Alternate between two different non-competing movement patterns (e.g. push-ups and squats)

2.) Tri-sets: Alternate between three different movement patterns (e.g. push-ups, lunges, and pull-ups)

3.) Circuits: Alternate between four or more different movement patterns

Though supersets and tri-sets are excellent alternating set options for beginners, I believe circuit training is by the far the best option time and time again for most others. Let’s take at look at some of my favorite circuits.

The 50-10 Five Exercise Circuit: You will alternate between 50 seconds of work and 10seconds of rest for all five exercises in the following 5-minute circuit:

Exercise#1- Squats

Exercise#2- Pushups

Exercise#3- Reverse Lunges

Exercise#4- Pull-ups/Rows

Exercise#5- Plank (Bridge)

Perform this circuit up to four times to really expedite your fat loss. Feel free to rest up to 1 minute between rounds depending on your conditioning level.

In the above example, the same 15 minutes that it took to complete three sets of 10 reps on the bench you could have gotten in three sets of five different exercises if you used the alternating set model. Plus, the intensity on each exercise will be just as high as in the straight set format because in this five exercise circuit you will have full recovery with over four minutes before you return to any given exercise (just as you did with the straight set format described earlier). Why doesn’t everyone train this way?

To recap, the key to creating optimal fat loss is to perform each exercise with maximal intensity separated by brief rest periods. You want to maximize work density by doing as much work as you can in the time allotted. We’re not looking to work any longer here, just harder. Circuit training provides you the best of both worlds and is thus simply unmatched for simultaneously maximizing fat loss and lean muscle gain. The following is a template I use with my many boot camp clients for some killer, yet simple fat loss circuits:

Exercise#1- Quad Dominant/Hip Dominant

Exercise#2- Horizontal/Vertical Push

Exercise#3- Hip Dominant /Quad Dominant Single-Leg

Exercise#4- Horizontal/Vertical Pull

Exercise#5- Core/Rotational

Give the 50/10 curcuit training workout a try the next time you go to the gym. Post your comments below.

This is how we train at 3DFitness. There’s nothing magical about what we do. Currently we’re offering a FREE 14 Day Trial to our classes. If you’re interested click here.

Here is a short video of my Saturday morning campers working out to the 50-10 Circuits. Enjoy!