Bron Brief: Toning is More than Cardio

If I asked someone to describe the average woman workout at your basic gym, how would it go? Probably something like; 30 minutes on the treadmill, 30 minutes on the elliptical, some machine crunches, few reps on the abductor machine, and another 15 minutes on the stair stepper if your bad ass. Sure your tired after and feel like you should be dropping pounds but did you do enough? The answer is no!

Chocolate Dipped Banana Chunks

Another easy to make snack that won't kill your diet but also won't have you going cold turkey on good tasting things while trying to lose weight. Put 2 tablespoons of semi sweet chocolate chips in a bowl and microwave for 1 minute or until it melts. Cut a banana into 1 inch chunks and dip them halfway into the chocolate fondue style. Eat it right away or freeze it for a snack.

Nutrition:
Serving:1 Banana
Calories:190
Fat: 7grams
Cholesterol: 0mg
Protein: 2g
Carbohydrates: 36g
Sugars: 24g
Fiber: 4g
Sodium: 0mg

Get Lean Quick Mens Diet (190-200lbs)

Here's a sampl diet for a 190-200 pound male looking to lose body fat. It can easily be easily tweaked for a heavier person by slightly raising the amounts or a lighter person by decreasing the servings.

Meal 1
8 egg whites
1 whole egg
1/2 cup oats
1/4 cup fruit

Meal 2
8 ounce chicken
1/2 cup cooked rice

Meal 3
6 ounce chicken
6 ounces potatoes
Salad or 1/2 cup veggies

Meal 4
1/2 cup tuna
1/2 cup rice
1/2 oz almonds

Meal 5
8 ounce tilapia
1/2 oz almonds
1 cup veggies

Meal 6
8 ounce turkey breast
Asparagus - 20 medium spears

A Berry-Good Smoothie

With the weather getting nice and sunny (sorry Alaska readers if I have any) chances are you'll be out and about more. That also leads to a higher chance of eating fast food junk. Even things like store bought smoothies can be bad. On-the-go smoothies are usually loaded with sugar and so many calories, you might as well just have a dairy queen milk shake (nice dairy queen plug). But don't (there goes the plug :( ) Make your own smoothies using this recipe. It's only 161 calories and loaded with antioxidants. Just toss. The ingredients in a blender and process until it's smooth. Lay out, drink and enjoy a healthy nice day.

Needs:
1 Cup of Berries (raspberries, strawberries, or blueberries)
1/4 Cup of Pomegranate Juice
1/4 Cup of Water
Half of a Banana
1 Cup of Ice
= Banging Smooth

From Gut to Greeeatt

Now everyone looks for that golden pill that will do all the hard work for them. Sorry if thats what you came here looking for but thats not the case. Fredrick Douglas said himself without struggle there is no progress and with these 10 tips maybe your struggle can be a little easier. You have probably heard most of these before but now its up to you to get off your butt and do them.

10. Take Measurements

You'll never reach your destination if you don't know your starting point. A great place to begin is calculating your body-fat percentage or at least body part circumference.
This will allow you to set accurate goals and measure progress. Don't just rely on the scale or your Wii BMI (which doesn't include muscle ratio). The more information you have on your body, the better you will be able to see and analyze your progress.

Fitness Profile: Sheri Koepsel

When you bring up the topic of women's body building to your average woman, the reaction could go either way. Some automatically assume that everyone who participates looks like Chyna from the WWE (not to be confused with Chloe Kardashian, thank you Maronzio) and that their just naturally juiced big amazons. Others appreciate the time and effort put in by these women to hone their craft and reach the apex of their body. On a good note, over time the trend is shifting more towards the latter. Women's Body Building has slowly evolved into Women's Physique and Fitness, showing off a more slender and sexy aspect while still being well...ripped and badass. The current peoples champ, Dana Linn Bailey has opened the eyes of a lot of people and helped open the doors for many new up and comers as well. Through my constant networking and Mark Zuckerberg's genius, a while back I came across one of those up and comers by the name Sheri Koepsel out of Milwaukee. For those of you who don't know Sheri your missing out. A total ball of energy, who along with being a NPC Competitor,winning 2nd place at the 2011 Badger State Figure show, also holds the title of certified personal trainer and model under her belt. No matter if its through wild facebook status' or spur of the moment walking lunge youtube video's you can see Sheri Koepsel loves what she does. So of course when time came around for my next fitness profile, I hit up Sheri for a interview.

Healthy Midnight Snack: Yogurt Covered Strawberries

A lot of peoples biggest weakness' is eating to late. When you eat late, you usually sit around or even worse fall right to sleep which leads to food not being burnt or properly digested. So theory's like "no food after 7pm" came around and for some that's hard to stick to. So heres a light and healthy snack you can have at night that won't kill your diet or stomach: Yogurt Covered Strawberries;

Dip some strawberries (halved or whole) in vanilla yogurt (Greek might be best, because it's thicker), then lay them on a wax paper lined pan and freeze Voila: Yogurt-covered strawberries! Depending on the type of yogurt you just made a roughly 90 calorie snack.

Food For Thought: Veggie Chicken Stir Fry

This is a great meal for a busy night--for some added fun, leave the forks in the cabinet and bring out the chopsticks! 148 CALORIES

Veggie Chicken Stir Fry

INGREDIENTS
1 T low-sodium soy sauce
1 t hoisin sauce
1 c warm water
1 T cornstarch
1 t peanut or olive oil
1 t garlic, minced
1 t ginger, minced
1 t Thai hot sauce
2 c mushrooms, sliced
2 c broccoli slaw or chopped broccoli
1 c carrots, shredded
1 red pepper, roasted
2 c chicken breasts, cooked and cubed


DIRECTIONS
Makes 4 servings

1. Combine the soy sauce, hoisin, water, and cornstarch in a small bowl.

2.Stir to combine; set aside.

3.In a flat bottomed pan or wok set to high heat, add the oil, garlic, ginger, and Thai hot sauce.

4.Stir fry for 1 minute. Add the vegetables and chicken.

5. Stir fry, moving all ingredients in the wok quickly for 3-4 minutes. Add prepared sauce and continue to cook until the liquid thickens.

6.Serve with brown rice or rice noodles.

Number of Servings: 4

NUTRITIONAL FACTS
FAT: 2.3g
CHOLESTEROL: 41.0mg
SODIUM: 265.3mg
CARBS: 12.7g
DIETARY FIBER: 2.7g
PROTEIN: 18.9

Sample Weight Gaining Diet for Hard Gainers

This diet isn't for everyone, but if you are the kind of person who has always been very light and lean and are looking to put on some muscle then this is a good way to go about it, as your body won't store fat very easily.

GOALS: Gain Muscle

FOODS NEEDED: Basically anything in sight, but you'll be making extensive use of semi skimmed/ skimmed milk, and meat sources.

CALORIES: As many as possible until you are gaining weight regularly 1-2 lbs a week.

CARBS 40%
PROTEIN 30%
FAT 30%

EXAMPLE DIET:

Meal 1) Bacon, Eggs, Toast, Glass of Milk

Meal 2) Meat Sandwich (chicken, beef, pork) with a Glass of Milk

Meal 3) Any meal available with a large serving of meat

Meal 4) Meat Sandwich/ Piece of Fruit (depending on appetite) and a drink

Meal 5) Any meal available with a large serving of meat.

Meal 6) Meat Sandwich/ Piece of Fruit (depending on appetite) and a drink

As you can see this is somewhat of the famous see-food diet. As in if you see food, eat it, almost anything goes. A good suggestion to make sure you don't put on too much fat with this diet is to monitor your weight daily. If you gain much more than 1-2lbs a week, try to maintain that for the rest of the week. Make sure you are lifting weights regularly with this diet to make sure your adding the muscle which is the maim goal of the diet.

Sample Top Performance Diet For Athletes

This diet is a good approach to keeping energy levels high for athletic performance and with a little manipulation of calories can be used to steadily gain muscle or lose fat at a steady pace without wild fluctuations of energy levels.

GOALS: Increase Athletic Performance

FOODS NEEDED: Oatmeal/porridge, Brown Rice, Protein Powders, Mixed Nuts, Lean Sources of Low Fat Meat (Lean Steaks, Beef, Chicken, Salmon), Canned Tuna, Canned Salmon, Low Fat Cottage Cheese/Yogurt, Flax Oil/Linseed Oil/ Cod Liver Oil, Multivitamins.

CALORIES: Around maintenance calories, if weight moves up or down unacceptably then adjust caloric intake accordingly.

CARBS 40%
PROTEIN 50%
FAT 10%

EXAMPLE DIET:

Meal 1) multivitamin, oatmeal/porridge with two tablespoons protein powder mixed in or egg whites

Meal 2) cottage cheese or yogurt with one piece of fruit (banana or apple etc)

Meal 3) 1 cup of brown rice with 1 piece of chicken breast (season with small amounts of a sauce for taste)

Meal 4) cottage cheese with fruit

Meal 5) 4oz lean beef with vegetables

Meal 6)protein shake with flax/liver oil

Sample Alternating Meal Combinations

This style of dieting is an excellent way to put on muscle while not gaining a lot of fat at the same time. It is imperative though that you follow the meal combination rules: Either eat fats and proteins together, with very little carbohydrates, or eat protein and carbohydrates together with very little fat.

GOAL: Gain Muscle

FOODS NEEDED: Oatmeal/porridge, Skimmed Milk, Protein Powders, Wholemeal Breads, Chicken, Turkey, Egg Whites, Fat Free Cheese, Potatoes, Canned Tuna, Canned Salmon, Low Fat Cottage Cheese/Yogurt, Flax Oil/Linseed Oil/ Cod Liver Oil, Multivitamins.

CALORIES: 500 Above Maintenance

CARBS 40%
PROTEIN 30%
FAT 30%

EXAMPLE DIET:

Meal 1) Small serving of Oatmeal with protein powder mixed in

Meal 2) Turkey Sandwich

Meal 3) Grilled Chicken Breast and small serving of Boiled Potatoes

Meal 4) Poached Eggs

Meal 5) Grilled Chicken Breast, one slice of fat free cheese

Meal 6)protein shake with cod liver oil

Food For Thought: Creamy Parmesan Broiled Tilapia = 196 Calories

Quick, easy, inexpensive and surprisingly cheesy recipe. Can be used with any white fish I just happened to have Tilapia handy. 196 CALORIES

INGREDIENTS
2 Tilapia Fillets (5oz to 6oz each - if frozen, be sure to thaw fully before cooking)
2 teaspoons Light Mayonnaise
2 teaspoons Non-Fat Plain Yogurt
4 Tablespoons Shredded Parmesan Cheese
2 to 4 sprigs of fresh Dill
1 tsp Garlic Powder or Garlic Salt, divided
Black Pepper (use as much or as little as you like)
Non-Stick Cooking Spray


DIRECTIONS
Makes 2 servings, 5oz-6oz depending on size of fillets.

1. Place Mayonnaise, Yogurt and Parmesan Cheese in a small bowl, mix with a spoon until well combined.

2. Cover a cookie sheet with aluminum and spray with Non-Stick Cooking Spray of your choice.

3. Set oven to Broil on High (if you have that option)

4. Place Tilapia fillets onto cookie sheet, about 2 inches apart.

5. Divide the Cheese mixture and spread half onto each fillet with a spoon, using the back of the spoon to distribute evenly over fish.

6. Rub dill between your fingers to separate and sprinkle 1 to 2 sprigs worth of leaves over each fillet.

7. Sprinkle each fillet with half of the Garlic powder or Garlic Salt and desired amount of Black Pepper.

8. Place cookie sheet into oven about 6" below the broiler. (I used the first level down from the very top).

9. Watch fish carefully. Depending on the weight of the fillets it will take between 5-7 minutes to cook fully. When you notice the cheese starting to brown, check fish every 30 seconds to see if it's done. Fish will flake easily with a fork when fully cooked.

10. Turn broiler off and leave fish in oven about 5 minutes. (this is optional, but will ensure it's cooked all the way and give you a chance to finish the rest of your preparation)

11. Remove from oven and serve with side dishes of your choice.

NUTRITIONAL FACTS

FAT: 6.9g
CHOLESTEROL: 9.0mg
SODIUM: 213.2mg
CARBS: 1.2g
DIETARY FIBER: 0.0g
PROTEIN: 35.0g