Good summer eatin'

Recently, I tried a new way of making sweet potatoes. Some of you have probably had these before, but since I don't eat too many sweet potatoes, this was new to me! It was quick, easy, and provided enough food to last me several days.

To start, you clean the sweet potato and slice it into wedges or cubes. The oven should be preheating to 350 degrees.

Spray a pan with Pam and add the sweet potatoes and whatever other vegetables you fancy (I've enjoyed onions and peppers but I imagine broccoli and squash would be good too).

Add salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, rosemary and whatever else you think would be tasty and another spray of Pam over the top.

Slide the pan in the oven and let bake for 60 minutes.

Serve aside chicken made with a cajun rub and enjoy!

On Vacation

Hello from Seattle!

I'm currently on vacation in Seattle, and you know what that means, lots of food that is hard on the waistline. Since arriving, my nutritional choices have struggled, to say the least. I was feeling gross and bloated after eating today so I decided to make a trip to the hotel gym (yes, exercising on vacation is an option!). After my dinner, I changed into my workout clothes and headed to the health club. I did a forty-five minute weight training workout with a twenty minute bout of cardio tacked on to the end. It was a great workout and I felt tired and drained afterwards. Something that was quite surprising to me (although, it shouldn't have been) was that during the entire hour and five minutes I was at the gym, I only saw four people. Plus, they were a family that was there to simply use the sauna. I got through a complete workout in a room by myself; keep in mind this is happening in a hotel with upwards thirty floors. Not one other person was there to workout even though the night was still young (I got to the gym at about 9:30 PM). The gym was empty and the restaurants were full. Trust me, there was no shortage of people at the steakhouse tonight, although many of the patrons could've benefited from a few minutes of exercise.

The moral of the story here is that:

IT IS PERFECTLY ACCEPTABLE TO EXERCISE ON VACATION!

I realize the shortage of gym rats could've been the product of the time of day and the fact that the current state of the American waistline doesn't necessarily favor exercise, but it still would've been nice to have some company. If you are on vacation and your hotel is equipped with a gym, put it to good use. If your hotel is not fitted with a health clup or gym you can do simply body weight exercises to stay active. These would include ab crunches, forearm bridges, side bridges, reverse crunches, push ups with varying hand and feet positioning, single leg squats, chair dips, etc. You can also bring resistance bands and do a complete workout using these tools. Finally, if you're travelling with someone, you can do a wide array of buddy exercises by using a simple bath towel and your partner pulling in the opposing direction of your lift action to provide resistance (e.g. you holding the two ends of the towel with your partner pulling the middle towards the ground as you curl against their effort). There is no reason you can't stay fit on vacation!

Until next time,
Justin Lord

Hello!

Hello everybody!

As my official first post I would like to set the stage for what is to come. I plan on using this blog to address frequently asked questions from clients, friends, and family as well as keep you up to date on what is current in the fitness community. In addition, I hope to provide tasty and healthy recipes that will make your mouth water and keep you fit. Finally, I will be providing answers to my own questions about health and fitness and will leave thoughts I have on exercise and nutrition related subjects. I hope you all enjoy and share with your family and friends!