6 Healthy Popsicle Recipes That Put Your Neighborhood Ice Cream Truck To Shame

In the sweltering summer heat, ain’t nothing like a popsicle to cool you down.

We have yet to meet a popsicle we didn’t like. Refreshing as they are, most of the icy
treats on the market are loaded with sugar and dyes that can leave your lips a Cookie
Monster blue. Not to mention, an average box can cost over on buck per — we can’t
help it — pop.

These six incredible homemade recipes below will put your neighborhood ice cream
truck to shame. You’re in control of the ingredients, which means you can adjust the
sugar count to your liking. With a few tools and a serving of patience for your mix to
solidify in the freezer, you’re on your way to homemade popsicle heaven. Sorry (kind of)
to put you out, ice cream man.

Vegan Black Bean Fudge Pops

Photo: Flickr/thecraftykitty These are not your momma’s Fudgesicles. Rather than a sticky
mixture of empty, chocolatey calories, these pops boast a healthful amount of fiber. The
recipe, which comes from Kathy Hester’s “The Great Vegan Bean Book,” is soy-free,
gluten-free oil-free all thanks to it’s main ingredient, which is — you guessed it — black
beans. Find the recipe here.

Dark Chocolate Frozen Kiwi Pops

Photo: Bare Feet In The Kitchen These are beautiful, smart and healthy. A dream date, if you will.
This recipe from Bare Feet In The Kitchen calls for three simple ingredients: Kiwi, dark
chocolate and coconut oil. Find the whole recipe here.

Pickle Pops

Photo: Amy Bayliss Don’t have a sweet tooth but want in on the frozen fun? We can’t
possibly blame you. These colorful concoctions are made fuss-free with everyone’s
favorite sandwich accouterment. Some athletes choose pickle juice over sugary,
electrolyte-surged beverages to refuel after a tough workout. There’s no reason you can’t
take a tip from the pros and enjoy one of these post-sweat session. Find the recipe here.

Strawberry Smoothie Popsicles

Photo: Chocolate Covered Katie These sweet things have a secret ingredient we can’t help but
reveal: Kale! Thanks to everyone’s favorite leafy green, these delights serve up a healthy
dose of vitamin C. Find how to make your own, here.

Strawberry Shortcake Greek Yogurt Popsicles

Photo: The Kitchen Paper Here’s something else to do with all that yogurt you’ve been buying.
These beautiful creations boast a protein punch that’ll satisfy your hunger as well as your
craving for something sweet and creamy. Find the recipe here.

Frozen Fruit Pops

Photo: SkinnyTaste These tie-dye little numbers require just two elements: fruit (whatever
kind your heart desires) and juice. Find the step-by-step recipe from SkinnyTaste here.

Reprinted from Huffington Post

7 Mistakes You Might be Making in Indoor Cycling Class

By Amy Roberts  |  Women's Health

The calorie-torching qualities of indoor cycling are hard to beat—that is, if you're making the most out of your session. Avoid these all-too-common speed bumps for the ultimate—and injury-free—ride.

Holding on Too Tight
While it sometimes might feel like it, we swear the bike isn't going to derail and shoot across the room. So try not to cling to the handlebars with the grip of a champion rock climber. "No white knuckles!" says Jessica Bashelor, owner of The Handle Bar indoor cycling studios in Boston, MA. "It's waste of energy as well as the beginning of a greater problem—supporting body weight on your hands and wrists." If yours are sore after a ride, that's a sure sign. Next time, direct that energy toward tightening your core and balancing your weight over your midsection, glutes, and quads.

Tensing Up 
Another spot riders tend to clench, especially when the class gets difficult, is their upper body. You can picture it: The shoulders scrunched up around the ears, like they're doing their best turtle impression. "The more you loosen your shoulders, relax the bend in your elbow, and keep your neck nice and long, the more you can focus your energy on your lower body and getting the most out of your ride," says Bashelor.

Slacking on Resistance
Sometimes, with those endless "add another quarter turn's," it can feel like your legs might just stop turning entirely, or spin right off your body in protest. While most good instructors will tell you that your ride is what you make of it, it's actually unsafe to zip along, hips bouncing all over the place, with no resistance at all. "This mistake can lead to hip and knee problems," Bashelor explains. "Not to mention the instructor notices this 'cheating' from a mile away." Her advice: Don't show up for a ride just to let the bike do the work.

Pushing Too Hard Without PullingThe pedals have those toe cages for a reason, and clip-in shoes make it even more clear. The rotation in your legs isn't just about how hard you can hammer through the balls of your feet, but also the power you can exert as you bring each foot back up and around. "If you focus on eliminating the pause at the bottom of your pedal stroke and really drive your knee up and out to complete your rotation, you'll find more power as well as a better hamstring workout," says Bashelor.

Attacking a Climb Right from the Start
When you approach a hill on a regular bicycle, your body position often shifts forward and backward a bit. Take this same tack on your indoor ride. Begin a climb with hands on the lower outside of the handlebars (position 2) with a decent bend at the hips. When it's really starting to feel like a slog, move your hands to the straight part of the bars right in front of you (position 1), which raises the torso and increases your hip angle. You'll notice an energy boost in your legs by the subtle change in your torso, says Bashelor.

Doing Your Own ThingIt's one thing to short-shift a tension increase a teeny tiny bit, but quite another to stand and accelerate when the instructor (and the rest of the class) are seated and slowly climbing a hill. Believe it or not, there's a rhyme and reason to the ebbs and flows an instructor puts into her lesson plan—and it's not just to match Beyoncé's beat—both in terms of calorie burn and muscle use. "You may think going harder for longer than everyone else will give you a better workout," says Cassie Piasecki, an indoor cycling instructor in Orange County, CA. "But it won't. You are burning out your muscles and disrupting the class."

Not Stretching After
You know how your hip flexors feel a wee bit cranky when you disembark your bike? Or maybe it's your calves that are whimpering for a reprieve. Or your shoulders, despite your best efforts to keep 'em calm, are a bit peaked. And, of course, there are your quads, glutes, and hams—done-zo. So do them all a favor and give 'em a good stretch (ideally, even longer than the two-minute break you get inside the classroom). Your future self will be grateful.

Reprinted from Women's Health

5 Reasons You Should Prep Your Meals

by Brently Rousset | fitnessrxformen.com

Failing to eat clean consistently is of the main reasons people fail to reach their goals. Some believe they can outwork a bad diet, but that’s just not possible for most. if you really want to lose those few extra pounds before beach season begins, you need to get your diet in check.

One of the simplest, most effective ways you to do that is to prepare your meals ahead of time. Here are 5 reasons to meal prep and help you get in the shape you want.

#1 Time Management

One of the most common excuses is not having enough time. Not enough time to exercise, not enough time to handle all the tasks throughout your day, not enough time to eat healthy. We’ve all been there. and sometimes the easiest, quickest option becomes a fat-packed, high caloric fast food meal because we don’t have the time.

By preparing your meals for the week and having quality, healthy food options within your grasp, you won’t have to go out of your way to get food, saving yourself both time and some serious calories. Better management of your meals will allow you to better manage your time throughout the day.

#2 Staying on Track

Whether you are trying to lose or gain weight, you should have a plan regarding how much food you should be eating daily or weekly. By having your meals prepared and divided into their specific portions you will be more likely to stay on track with a healthy eating lifestyle.

#3 Save Money

One of the most common misconceptions about buying food is the notion that eating fast food is cheaper than purchasing food from the grocery store and cooking it yourself. If you are still thinking that’s the case, then it’s time to squash that thought.

Preparing your food ahead of time is going to save you both time and money. Let’s use a popular, fast, healthy food option from Chipotle to provide an example of how much money you can save by preparing your own meal.

Chipotle Chicken Bowl

• 1 Cup Rice
• ½ Cup Black Beans
• Double Chicken – 8 oz.
• ¼ Cup Shredded Cheese
• 1 Cup Chopped Lettuce

Price: $9.56

Home Made Chicken Bowl

• 1 Cup Rice = $0.17
• ½ Cup Black Beans = $0.20
• 8 oz. Chicken = $1.50
• ¼ cup Shredded Cheese = $0.37
• 1 Cup Chopped Lettuce = $0.10

Price: $2.34

#4 Portion Control

Preparing your meals allows you be precise in the amount of calories, carbohydrates, fat, and protein you are consuming. Unless you are bringing a pocket food scale with you go when you eat out, unfortunately you won’t really know the different between 1 cup of pasta and 1 ½ cups of pasta just by looking at it. This lack of precision meal after meal could will lead to you eating hundreds of more calories throughout the day and will put you well over your desired amount. Sometimes it’s not all about WHAT you are eating, but HOW MUCH of it you are eating.

#5 Winning the Mental Game

If you want to be the best in anything you do, you need to focus on winning the mental game. If you’re not mentally prepared to get in the gym and lift some heavy weight, you’ve already lost the battle with yourself. By preparing your nutritional intake for the entire week through a couple hours of meal prepping, you are mentally preparing yourself for the week. By conquering the mental aspect of your nutrition plan you can steer your mental focus towards your workouts each day and stand victorious each day, knowing you are winning the mental battle.

Reprinted from fitnessrxformen.com

What Matters More in Spin Class: Speed or Resistance?

Going fast and building muscle are both important facets of indoor cycling—but here's what to do if something has to give.

By Cassie Shortsleeve

It's a common conundrum in indoor cycling: You hit a hard hill and realize you can't maintain your speed. So do you lower your resistance or slow down?

"I always tell people torque (resistance) is completely negotiable and RPMs (speed) is non-negotiable," says Victor Self, a master instructor at Flywheel. "Because we are doing high-intensity interval training, we always ask you to add torque or speed—but if you're not already going the speed we've requested, the interval won't be as effective."

So if you're struggling on a hill, drop the resistance and keep your RPMs where they should be. "This is how the pros do it," says Michele Olson, Ph.D., professor of exercise science at Auburn University Montgomery.

However, you don't want to cut the resistance excessively. The faster you can do a heavier amount of work, the greater your explosive power will be in your core and leg muscles, she says. Turning it up will get you the most bang for your buck, in terms of upping your aerobic andanaerobic power, she says.

Anaerobic training—which consists of shorter, more intense bursts—is important for everyday life (whether you're lifting heavy boxes or jumping over a curb), Olson explains. Aerobic power—which you build through working at moderate intensities for a longer amount of time (think: runs)—helps heart health and increases your ability to use oxygen effectively, she says.

Original research from Dr. Izumi Tabata found that when participants rode at a maximum effort for very short bouts—about 20-second sprints—they increased their aerobic power by about 12 percent and their anaerobic power by about 25, Olson says.

Why is that so important? When you're working both your anaerobic and aerobic systems (something that happens big time when you turn up the resistance), you burn both carbs and fat, speeding up weight loss, Olson says. "The afterburn from this type of exercise can last up to 24 hours and burn an extra 150 calories after heavy sprinting."

In the long run, the more power you put out per class, the more calories you torch, she says.

The bottom line: Master the basics at a lower resistance, then work toward keeping that resistance high to improve your fitness, says Olson.

reprinted from fitnessmagazine.com

6 Signs You're Not Getting Enough Protein

BY FARA ROSENZWEIG

It keeps your energy up and cravings at a minimum and builds muscles while burning fat, but it is often the one nutrient many runners lack in their diet: protein.

How much protein to consume

Protein plays a significant role in a runner’s diet. It helps repair muscles after a rigorous workout. It also builds and maintains muscle mass, which boosts performance. Of course protein intake varies depending on the intensity of your run workouts. Many female athletes are able to consume the recommended protein requirements from their daily diet as long protein intake is 10 to 15 percent of their nutrition plan, according to the Journal of Sport and Exercise. However, regardless of your protein consumption, protein should be managed based on your body weight, not percentage of daily intake.

Dave Scott, six-time IRONMAN champion, works with many athletes to make sure they consume the right balance of nutrients to avoid any issues during a competition. Warning signs that you might not be getting enough include: restless sleep, lack of clear cognitive thought process, loss of muscle tissue, brittle nails, that “laziness” feeling and low libido. Scott suggests women should use the following protein guideline to ensure they consume the right amount:

Light exercise (30 to 60 minutes a day)
take in 1.0 to 1.2 grams of protein per pound of body weight

Moderate exercise (1 to 2 hours a day)
take in 1.3 to 1.5 grams of protein per pound of body weight

Heavy exercise (more than 2 hours)
take in 1.6 to 2.0 grams of protein per pound of body weight


How to consume the right amounts

Regular diet: Include cold water fish, grass-fed beef and chicken into your diet three to five times a week. If you’re a vegetarian, try consuming Nori seaweed or Tempeh.

In every meal: Try to include a piece of protein per meal. You can sprinkle protein powder in your oatmeal, smoothie, coffee or yogurt parfait in the morning. Eat beans or meats at lunch or dinner, and snack on high-protein foods in between meals.

Don’t forget the golden rule: It’s best to have a 2.5-hour window before eating, which means no grazing throughout the day. This sets your key hormones, Ghrelin and Leptin. Also, try to avoid sugary foods—sorry, ice cream lovers—before bed. This negates HGH and testosterone production, which helps regulate hormones, recovery and protein synthesis. You have a much higher risk of muscle loss if you consume too many sweet treats.


Reprinted from WomensRunning.com

20 High Protein Snacks to Control Hunger

If you aim to lose weight or stay fit on a healthy way, choosing the right type of calories is more beneficial than simply cutting down on the overall count of calories. We’ve all learned from our experiences that a certain amount of calories received from sugar snacks is not going to satisfy your hunger the same way as the same amount of calories of protein would. So, by choosing snacks high on protein you can keep both your body well nourished and keep the food cravings throughout the day under control!

1. Apple Slices with Nut Butter

Back to the basics: slices of apple topped with any kind of nut butter. Additionally, you may want to use almond butter instead of peanut butter, since almond butter is known for containing a more diverse and nutrient-dense nutritional profile. Whatever your choice, always look for natural nut butters that are low on preservatives and sugars.

2. Chocolate Berry Shake

If you don’t have a lot of time and want a simple protein packed shake, try mixing 1 scoop of chocolate flavored protein powder, 1.5 cups of soy milk and a handful of frozen berries of any type and throw them in the blender. Blend until smooth and fluffy.

3. Turkey Rolls

If you feel like having poultry for a snack today, try rolling a few slices of sliced turkey around a piece of low-fat cheese. Easy to fit and carry around!

4. Beef Jerky

It’s best If you can get it homemade, but even if you can’t, you could always find a good replacement in the supermarkets – opt for a product that’s natural and preferably free of preservatives.

5. Chocolate Soy Milk

Since soy milk is a well-known source of protein, when that infamous craving for something sweet gets to you, try adding two tablespoons of cocoa powder and one or two tablespoons of sugar to a cup of soy milk and enjoy some chocolate soy milk!

6. String Cheese

String cheese is both tasty and high on protein. Choose a low-fat variant and combine it with your favorite fruits or veggies.

7. Hummus and Veggies

Hummus, the simple dip of chickpeas, olive oil, salt and lemon juice, is very rich in protein and can easily keep the blood sugar levels balanced, thereby providing great help in resisting a sugary snack. But instead of eating it with bread or some other baked snack made from flour, try pairing it with vegetables like celery, slices of bell peppers or carrots.

8. Nuts

Need something both salty and nutritious? Nuts always make a great choice, but mind the serving size to keep the calories in check!

9. Soy Milk Oatmeal

Oatmeal, the classic breakfast choice, can be also used as a healthy and filling snack in the middle of the day. Use soy milk instead of regular milk and add some fresh berries or fruits to cheer it up!

10. Sunflower Seeds

An excellent source of essential fatty acids, vitamins and antioxidants, sunflower seeds are crunchy and tasty – one handful a day can help keep your cravings satisfied.

11. Shrimp Cocktail

You can precook and peel them and then keep them frozen for a quick snack whenever you feel like it. Dressed up with some cocktail sauce, they make a great low-calorie choice!

12. Soy Milk Latte

For an ideal break in the middle of your hardworking day, mix equal amounts of soy milk and coffee and enjoy a latte that gives you a nice hit of protein and caffeine at the same time!

13. Tuna Salad Wraps

Tuna is low on calories and high on minerals, antioxidants and omega-3 fatty acids. Spread one-third of a cup of tuna combined with a tablespoon of mayonnaise (preferably low-fat!) on a leaf of lettuce.

14. Egg Muffins

Experiment with egg muffins with cheese and bacon or sausages as they are an ideal mouth-watering carb-free snack.

15. Cottage Cheese and Fruit

For a snack that’s good for your health and actually keeps you full longer than your regular sweets, try adding some sliced fruits to half a cup of low-fat cottage cheese.

16. Mini Cheese Platter

Size is everything – those big Italian-style platters of cheese are delicious but won’t help your diet plans. Make a mini cheese platter by dicing a low-fat pepperjack cheese stick and mixing it with a small portion of nuts and slices of fruit or any kind of berries. It’s a cheese-flavored snack that satisfies both the cravings for something sweet and something salty!

17. Hard Boiled Eggs

Keep it simple and high-protein by hard-boiling two eggs, cutting them in half and adding a pinch of salt.

18. Veggie Burger with Pico de Gallo

You know that veggie burgers are not strictly reserved for vegetarians, right? If you feel like having a hot snack, add some fresh flavor to your favorite version of a veggie burger by coating it with some pico de gallo. This snack can be easily made into a tasty lunch by cooking two burgers and pairing them with a salad and a few slices of fresh avocado.

19. Peanut Butter Banana Shake

Peanut butter and bananas are best friends in the world of flavorful protein shakes! Simply combine half a sliced banana (you can always keep some prepared in your freezer) with two tablespoons of peanut butter powder and 1.5 cups of soy milk and blend until smooth. Ideal after an amazing workout!

20. Baked Apples and Soymilk

You fantasize about having an apple pie but you don’t want to compromise your low-carb diet? Indulge your sweet tooth with a healthier variant – skinny baked apples with a big glass of soy milk.
Reprinted from FitnessandPower.com

Are You Making These Salad Bar Mistakes?

By Zack Zeigler

You can breathe a sigh of relief. We’re going to spare you the lecture filled with impractical “rules” for what you should or shouldn’t eat at the salad bar. Instead, we’re going to level with you about how to refine a few of your salad bar habits with some practical tips.

Don’t worry, that doesn’t include discussing table napkin etiquette or a brief history of the salad fork (that’s the smaller, shorter fork, by the way). But it does include tips for how you can eat the foods you want while keeping your diet in check.


Mistake #1: You Don’t Realize Salad Isn’t “Free”
You might avoid the iceberg and head straight for romaine, kale, spinach, and mixed greens, but it doesn’t take much to ruin what could be a healthy meal. Calorie-dense add-ons like shredded cheese, pasta, or those crunchy sesame noodles won’t cause your spare tire to inflate…if you are mindful that they are much higher in calories than nutrient-packed veggies like cucumbers and peppers, or fruits like apricots and tomatoes. (We know, we know—some of you consider tomato a vegetable. The outcome of the Supreme Court case Nix v. Hedden [1893] says you’re wrong. Yes, the Supreme Court seriously spent time deciding that.)


Mistake #2: You Eat Too Much “Good” Fat
Fats are essential. Monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats found in salmon, eggs, olive oil, avocados, and nuts can help fight disease and regulate cholesterol levels. But an ounce of fat also contains more than twice as many calories as an ounce of carbohydrates or protein, so a truck-sized load of “good” fat on your plate still spells bad news for your gut.

Don’t avoid fats entirely. Just don’t pile ‘em on. Use the thumb rule. When you’re adding a serving of a fatty food, use about a thumb’s worth. Generally, you don’t need more than two thumbs’ worth of fat on a salad, so maybe a wedge of avocado and a small spoonful of chopped nuts. (And you thought thumbs were just for rating movies.)


Mistake #3: Your Plate is Monochromatic
No need to hit every shade on the color wheel, but a hodgepodge of reds, oranges, yellows, and greens does more than pretty up your salad; it adds variety to your diet and delivers a variety of essential nutrients—particularly phytonutrients, which are unique to fruits and veggies—when consumed.

“Darker color veggies like broccoli, spinach, peppers, and carrots have the most nutritional value,” explains Nancy Clark, MS, RD, CSSD, about phytonutrients. “But each color—red cranberries, white onions, orange carrots, green peppers—has different antioxidant properties and different ways to protect against things like cancer or heart disease.”

Since variables like your sex, age, and how active you are determine how many fruits and vegetables you should consume per day, let this plug-and-play calculator from the Center from Disease Control and Prevention crunch the numbers for you.


Mistake #4: You Avoid Carbs
If you’ve turned your back on carbs, fearing they’ll make you fat, it’s time to put your hat in hand and apologize to them. Carbohydrates don’t make you fat (hint: lettuce—and all other vegetables—are carbs); consuming too many calories does. So if you’re training hard, you most likely want to go heavier on the healthy carbs, given they’re your body’s primary fuel source.

“Body weight can increase after a carbohydrate-rich meal because carbs hold water in the body,” Clark says. “When you carbo-load, for every ounce of carbohydrates you store in your muscle as glycogen, you store about three ounces of water. So when someone eats a bunch of pasta and wakes up the next day feeling like they’ve gained two pounds, they have gained water weight, not fat.”


Mistake #5: You Really Love Dressing
We’ve all done it; after pouring our blood, sweat, and tears into making a perfectly balanced salad, the whole operation goes kablooey after we drown it in an inch of dressing.

“Put the dressing in a side dish, dip your fork into the dressing, and then stab a forkful of salad,” she suggests. “You can also dilute the dressing with water, vinegar, or even some milk if it’s a creamy dressing.” Clark adds, “A little bit of dressing on a big salad can be a lot of dressing. Say three tablespoons of dressing is 200 calories. If you have six tablespoons worth of dressing, that’s 400 calories. So if you’re using all of it, you could have had a piece of pizza.”

For a healthier dressing dressings, try using a few spritzes of olive oil and vinegar or this Lemon Caesar Salad Dressing, Healthier Ranch, or our take on Thousand Island.


Reprinted from teambeachbody.com