Fitness Friday: Goals, Temptations — It's Close

Step Up to the Calorie Counter: Breakfast Cookies

Breakfast Cookies with Oatmeal, Bananas, Peanut Butter and More

• Two ripe bananas, mashed until smooth & creamy
• 1/3 cup peanut butter  
• 2/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1 scoop vanilla protein powder (optional)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp butter flavor extract (optional)
• 1 1/2 cups uncooked quick oatmeal  (or use old fashioned oats for more oatmeal-y texture)
• 1/4 cup chopped nuts
• 1/4 cup carob or chocolate chips (optional — for some people)

Preheat heat oven to 350ºF.

1. In a large bowl, mix mashed banana and peanut butter until completely combined.
2. Add in the applesauce, vanilla protein powder and the extract(s). Mix again until all are completely combined. 
3. Add in the oatmeal, nuts and chips.
4. Let dough rest for 10 minutes.
5. Drop cookie dough, by spoonfuls, onto a parchment paper lined cookie sheet & flatten cookies into circles. 
6. Bake cookies 20-30 minutes, until golden brown and done, or as doughy as you like them.
7. Rest on cookie sheet for five minutes, then move to cooling rack.  
8. If you want the traditional fork tong marks on the cookies, use a pizza cutter or sharp knife to score the tops of the cookies while they're still warm.

 
When cookies are completely cool, store in a covered container. 

Courtesy Watching What I Eat.

Tai Chi Tuesday: Differences Between Tai Chi and Qi Gong

Fitness Workshop in Fairfax Set for 4/20

Fitness Workshop 

with David Cohen

1 pm • 

April 20

City of Fairfax Regional Library, 

10360 North Street, Fairfax, Va.

703-293-6227

No matter how long you've been exercising, there's always something new to learn.

Spend some time with this personal trainer and fitness expert for a talk on fitness, health, weight loss tips, weightlifting and body composition at this workshop.

Here are a few topics I'll discuss at the workshop:

• fitness
• weightlifting 
• food and calories
• BMI
• body fat composition

Hope to see you there!

(By the way, if you have questions but you're unable to make it to the workshop, drop me a line. You may inspire a blog article!)

Fitness Friday: Only a Little Longer...

Courtesy of RoboLikes

Step Up to the Calorie Counter: Peanut Butter Dip

Peanut Butter Dip

• one-half cup peanut butter
• 1 cup Greek yogurt

1. Stir together and enjoy!

Courtesy Fabulous Food Blog

Tai Chi Tuesday: Good for Your Heart

Medical science continues to catch up with ancient Asian practices: doctors have begun to recognize the value of tai chi for patents diagnosed with heart failure.

In a National Institutes of Health study, Dr. Gloria Yu concluded, "Preliminary evidence suggests that meditative exercise may have benefits for patients with chronic systolic heart failure." She added,

Tai chi may represent an additional exercise option for patients with [heart failure] because it integrates multiple relevant processes, including mild to moderate aerobic activity, upper and lower extremity training, and core strengthening. In addition, it includes a meditative component that may enhance stress management, promoting important psychosocial benefits for those living with [heart failure].

Physicians continue to recognize the value of tai chi for many patients. Studies already have indentified the value of tai chi for people who have experienced strokes or COPD, need to improve bone strength and want to "boost brain power."

Tell me: what are some of the values you have found with this gentle, effective practice?







However, she immediately added, "This has not been rigorously tested in a large clinical sample. We sought to investigate whether tai chi, as an adjunct to standard care, improves functional capacity and quality of life in patients with [heart failure]."