Be More Like Sherlock Holmes

Hey! Are you down with Sherlock Holmes?! You should be! Or at least know who he is and what he does!

I recently watched the second Sherlock Holmes blockbuster and I liked it, the entertainment factor was there but it didn’t blow me away. Am I surprised? No, but something more important came out of the movie and it was that I AM SHERLOCK HOLMES. Sounds a bit spacey but hear me out…

… Mr. Holmes is a detective that is very in tuned with his surroundings and himself for the most part. Granted he’s not spot on 100% of the time but I don’t really think that matters. Perfection is something that we will likely never achieve but we can try to get darn close! I challenge you to progress forward every day and learn more about yourself every chance you get. Get to know you and your body (as well as your mind and spirit while your at it) intimately.

Being your own detective involves you understanding, feeling and manipulating different techniques. In terms of HEALTH, this means how does your body respond to different foods, exercise and environments/stimuli. Have you ever thought that your mood, cravings and energy can be related to the food you eat? It might be a good thought for you to have. Do you feel stronger and more agile leaving the gym/workout? Are you waking up refreshed and ready to tackle the day?

I am always experimenting on myself because I want to be in-tuned with optimizing my own life and health. I take these results and apply them to my clients’ lives and those around me on a personal anecdotal level. They may not be perfect, or right for you but it is information that is INVALUABLE. When certain food choices or combination of protein, carbs and fats gets me lean and feeling great I take note and write it down. I use that information and apply it to my own personal “constitution” you could call it. I may try to sleep more/less or a different way (are pillows necessary?) or I may try to have less coffee or more seasonal vegetables in my diet and see what happens… do I get leaner or fatter? Does it affect my sleep or mood? Is that dairy making you bloated? Take note. Perhaps your activity needs tweaking and you’re not tapping into your potential and achieving your desired goals.

The results that you get for yourself are AWESOME because they work for YOU! And when it comes down to it, isn’t that what YOU want?? Try on different things that make sense to you for 2 weeks. Maybe 30 days. See what kind of results you get and use that information to optimize your own life. Getting better one day at a time!

“There is ALWAYS progress in the process…”

In Pursuit of Optimal Health,

Coach Steigler

A STELLAR NEW recipe APP! Totally FREE!

A new Recipe/Shopping List App for your iPhone or Android that is SO AWESOME. A MUST TRY for sure...

The app is called MyKitchen by The Food Lovers Kitchen @http://beta.primal-palate.com/

Besides every single recipe (over 400) being approved as far as quality ingredients (No processed grains, sugars, oils) - there are a few awesome things that this app does. As a primal/paleo/ancestral nutrition believer, it can be difficult to find recipes that help aid my health, wellness, and body but this makes it super easy. 

You can register (Just email and pw) ... oh side note, the app is free ... okay back to it, so you can register and add a recipe that you want to make on a certain day and it will show up in your shopping list for that day, exactly what ingredients you need in order to make that dish! I plan on using this for ideas!

Enjoy some REAL food and make a TWEAK this week in order to upgrade your life. Feel better. Move better. Look better.

Get it!

PS. I am in no way affiliated with The Food Lovers Kitchen, FYI. :)

Hello Again - I Come Bearing Red Peppers - Recipe

Hey everyone! I know I have not been as active as much lately and I conspire to change that! I have been tackling a 30-day challenge that was recently completed and I have to tell you... I feel amazing! I learned so many things that I intend to create a blog post about. As well as catch you up to speed on what I have been doing. In the mean time... here is a stellar, but EASY, recipe!

Ground Lamb Stuffed Red Peppers

Ingredients:
Ground Lamb
Red Pepper
Onion
Garlic
Celery
Green Onion
Dill
Salt & Pepper

How to Create:
Preheat oven to 375 (I used my toaster oven since my oven was taking forever!) Cut the bell pepper in half. Saute up the rest of the ingredients and add it to the halved pepper. Place on a baking sheet for 15-20 minutes. Bake bell pepper alone for 10 minutes before adding filling if you want a softer pepper. I like the crunch! Top with fresh dill and a sprinkly of Real Salt (or sea salt) and enjoy!

Last Minute Snack Ideas

I am ALL for making your own snacks and eating as much FRESH food as possible ... but I do have an understanding for the busy individual who works long hours (I can relate) and is always on the run. I am not a fan of excuses and I will not stand for them. I don't like to sound harsh but it is, what it is :)

That being said you might want to try a few of these snack options out as I came across them in the inter-webs:

http://stevesoriginal.com/store

http://www.savannaorchards.com/

They can be a bit pricey but if you have a little extra cash laying around and want a legit go-to snack that won't set you back in your goals, give these a shot. I have no association with these companies whatsoever FYI.

PS. I want to restate that I am all for FRESH food or even but bulk nuts/coconut/unsweetened dried fruit to pack yourself but this is all about convenience right? That's the world we currently reside in :)

'Til next time,

SMS

5 Tips to Grasp a Better Body!

Sorry for the lack of updates - although it is not uncommon to find someone in the health industry busy around this time. I cannot complain though - I am working on quite a few things coming up this year that I am excited to roll out with clients! Without further adieu - a new post!

Have you ever tried to hold on to a barbell with 1 finger? Were you successful? Chances are slim… but the more fingers you can wrap around a barbell the more successful you will be. The same goes for you achieving a better, more healthful body. The more comprehensive your approach is, the easier it is to obtain and maintain.

Sleep like you need it.

Eat like it’s your job.

Lift like no one is watching.

Recover like you’re 85 years old.

Rest like you want to.

Sleep – “Without enough sleep, we all become tall two-year-olds” –JoJo Jensen.  If you didn’t know already, getting adequate sleep has numerous benefits besides feeling absolutely amazing! Not getting enough sleep can lead to diabetes, altering hunger hormones (making you feel more hungry than you really are – hello unwanted fat gain) and probably the most shocking fact, not sleeping will kill you quicker than not eating! So get at least 7 hours of sleep, if not 8 – your body AND mind will thank me.

Eat – I think that food quality is tremendously more important than food quantity. Our bodies are designed very intricately – on a cellular level – to process things like nutrients, vitamins and minerals to help recover, repair and rebuild tissues and the likes. Many people are plagued with food sensitivities/allergies (dairy, soy, gluten, etc) that can stall fat-loss, hinder muscle-gain and make you feel like absolute dog doo-doo. So eat like you’re being paid to do so – focus on proteins (meats), complex carbs (vegetables, not “whole grains”) and super fats (coconut oil, avocados, animal fats)! Oh, and visit the farmers market to support local farms and reap the great benefits (future article)!

Lift – “Muscular definition is the absence of fat around a well-developed muscle.” Fixing your nutritional habits and eating patterns will surely take care of a majority of fat-loss. Unfortunately, your muscles need a little more stimulus than just cooking and creating stellar meals in the kitchen (Oh, how I wish that wasn’t true!). So lift some heavy weights (properly please!!) and challenge the muscles to grow! Some sprints or metabolic work should complement this but not take up a majority of your time. Sprinter vs. Marathon Runner in terms of physique – Sprinter wins!

Recover – Foam roller. Tennis Balls. Lacrosse Balls. Tiger Tail/The Stick. PVC pipe. There are endless apparatus’ to use in order to separate the muscle from the fascia (which runs the entire length of your body), so please take some time out of your week to give your body some love. Warm-up properly before you lift, static stretch after your work-out and at the very least when you watch T.V. do some foam rolling/soft tissue work to keep your body feeling GREAT. We aren’t getting biologically younger so build your temple and give it some love so you can workout at the same intensity as when you are 85!

Rest – For the most part we could all use a day of rest – Agreed? If you wake up feeling like a hundred bucks, or even a thousand instead of a million, do yourself a favor and rest. Focus on your eating and then get at it the next day. The squat rack will still be there, most treadmills will be working ;-), and everyone will be stoked to see you! Don’t be a hero – leave the ego at the door and give your body adequate rest so that your muscles can recover and feel great – think of overwatering a plant.. too much is a bad thing right? I’m no green thumb but you need more than just some water to get a plant to grow. Bad example but you get my point.

If you have any questions or need more information, please feel free to contact me anytime. I’m here to help!


In optimal health,


SMS

HIIT Me!

So you want to be lean but you’re having a hard time getting the results you want. I’ve heard that before! There is a multitude of things you can change in your program but aside from changing your nutrition (I’m calling out all you carb-junkies out there!) this may be just the ticket for you!

I am talking about High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT-geared more towards the cardio aspect of training) and High Intensity Training (HIT-geared more towards the weight lifting and strength training aspect).

HIIT involves things such as sprints – ideally outside but on a treadmill, or any piece of cardio equipment for that matter. You are basically alternating between high and low-intensity ranges usually with a short period of rest. This can be running up a few flights of stairs as fast as you can and walking down. This can also be doing burpees with bodyweight rows in-between. If you have ever participated in HIIT you know that you will be gassed by the end, which should last no longer than 12-15 minutes in my opinion – MAX!

HIT is a little different because you are dealing with weights, iron, resistance, loads, etc. This is more along the lines of lifting a heavy weight for a few repetitions rather than “toning the arms by doing light weight FOREVER”. Perhaps doing a few compound exercises like a deadlift, press and pull-up then resting until you’re ready to hit it hard again.

BUT STEPHEN, WHY IS IT COOL TO DO THIS KIND OF STUFF AND WILL I GET RIPPED??!

The answer is, maybe. Assuming that you have all your ducks in a row and you are eating a highly nutritious diet, getting enough rest, lifting some heavy weights and possibly doing some HIIT. My guess is yeah, you’ll be ripped and lean!

But more onto why this is a beneficial way of training.

If I were to tell you to go run as fast as possible for 20 minutes outside you would start strong for the first 10-20 seconds and then your body would be burning like crazy because of the acidic buildup in the blood pH and you will start to slow – 20 minute sprint challenge FAIL! But it’s okay… because you don’t need to run for 20 minutes to be lean and lose body-fat. You have a quick burst of powerful energy for a few seconds then you change energy systems within the body when you “sprint”. Oxygen is the key player here and after that hard sprint you have now created a debt in the body – but a good debt, not like the one our nation is in. An oxygen debt that now the body has to repay. And while the debt is being replenished, your body is working over-time to repay that oxygen and when your body is working in over-time, YOU benefit! Higher metabolic rate.. more calories expended… good stuff. If you work hard enough, a mess of hormones are released through the body (in a good way) that create awesome results in terms of body composition (the amount of fat and muscle in the body) and anabolism (muscle/lean tissue growth).

So get out there and try something different, you never know – it may actually WORK!

In Optimal Health & Wellness,

SMS

I know this quote has nothing to do with what I just wrote … actually it has everything to do with it because nutrition is KEY!

“…grass-fed beef costs WAY less than diabetes, obesity, heart disease and all those medications…” –unknown

Integrity

It seems that the consistent theme in my life right now is integrity. I have heard integrity be defined and quoted many different ways but it always means the same thing.

"Integrity is doing the right thing when nobody is watching"

"Integrity means staying true to what you believe"

"Integrity is doing what you know is right in the small situations"

I believe all of these to be true because consistently I am challenged in life no matter what facet it happens to be. Sticking to your guns (whether large or small :) ) is something I firmly believe in and in this world it is way too easy to be swayed in one direction or another just to appease one or multiple persons. I respect and honor those who are diligent and disciplined in what they do. Even if it might not be the right thing (unbeknownst to them, hopefully) they are continuing to practice what they perceive to be the best and most logical route to take in their life. 

I challenge you today to be that person. To be a man or woman of integrity and show those around you that you aren't just dust in the wind. You are a tree... a tree that is rooted DEEP into the ground and it's going to take a LOT of force to move you from where you are. Your roots might need to be watered a bit (exercise, nutrition, lifestyle) but you are doing what you know to be the BEST route in your life right now. If you need help and assistance in reaching your goals, reach out to someone who seems to know what they are doing... or is trying to do what they think is the right thing to do... someone who displays integrity.

You might lose a little bit along the way, doing the right thing, but in the long haul I believe that maintaining integrity will reap a great benefit.

Now go DO the right thing, don't just THINK about it! Have an awesome and healthy day! (I know I will - Farmers Market day!)


In Optimal Health,

SMS