The Amazing Chase

Last night the Wealth for my Health contestants participating in the first semi annual, The Amazing Chase. The Amaing Chase emulates CBS's popular hit tv show, The Amazing Race. Contestants work together as teams as they complete physical and mental challenges, to receive their next clue to get to the next leg of the chase.

All the contestants began the chase at Geist Therapeutic Massage located at 1701 K Street. (Thanks Stephanie for the water!) All the contestants on each team were instructed to do 30 jumping jacks - BUT - only one contestant at a time. A contestant could not begin until their teammate in front of them was finished. You have never seen people do jumping jacks SO FAST!

As teams finished, they received their next clue: We don't have the transportation kind here in Lincoln, but we do have the sandwich. Grab one of these for lunch or dinner - but be sure to opt for the whole wheat version!

Contestants then arrived at the downtown Subway location for their next challenge. This challenge consisted of answering up to 10 nutrition related questions. If they got 3 questions correct in a row, they received their next clue. For every wrong question answered, a teammate had to do 10 squats.

The next clue read: They are only good for 300 miles. Isn't it time you traded yours in for a new pair?

The Running Company

1213 Q Street

The next leg of the chase took place at The Running Company. (Thanks Ann for the water, gatorade and SOCKS!) Teams had to run around the block - and boy was it a BIG block! As soon as all the teammates were back, teams received their next clue.

Their next clue read: Save some electricity and add some years to your life. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. What’s missing? ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPRSTUVWXYZ __________Street Parking Garage. __________ Floor. Fill in the blank: __________ times the charm. That’s the floor you need to find.

Que Place Parking Garage

Once teams arrived here (3rd floor, Que Place Parking Garage) they were given a worksheet with 10 multiple choice questions to answer. As soon as they answered all of them correctly, they were given their next clue.

Their next clue read: Rain, snow or shine these service people get their workout daily while they walk hundreds of mile a year just to deliver to your doorstep. The local headquarters is located in the Haymarket.

United States Postal Service (Haymarket location)

As soon as teams arrived in front of this large post office, they were instructed to count parking meters. Odd request, right? It was a bit of a strategy game... there were parking meters lined up the middle of 7th street, totaling 78 in all. Most of the teams broke up and assigned certain sections of meters to certain contestants. As soon as teams checked in with Lindsay with the correct number of meters, they were given their final clue. The clue read: Well, you’re a couple days late… but this is where the People’s City Mission “Run for the Homeless” took place! (that kind of rhymed...)

Haymarket Park

The chase ended at Haymarket Park at the end of the pedestrian bridge. Team Body OverHALL won the chase, followed by Team Capital City Boot Camps, Team Star City Boot Camps, and Team Body Innovations.

A special thanks to Cheryl (Beauti-Control) and her husband Ralph for chasing along with Team Star City Boot Camps - Ralph was quite the team leader!

All in all, the chase was about 2 miles long. All the contestants did AWESOME and had a lot of fun!

A special thanks to Cheryl Hansen with Beauti-Control, Ann Ringlein with The Running Company, Complete Nutrition, Body Basics, and A Used Bike Shop for donating the prizes to the winners.

A BIG special thanks to Roy, Pam, Lindsay, Beth and Brianne for all your help at each leg of the race. We couldn't have done this without you!

CLICK PHOTO TO ENLARGE

"FUN TIMES!!! Great idea Sara!!!" - Katie

"Great Job Sara! What a fun challenge! It was good and we got to know our team mates better and I think that helps with accountability! Thanks for all you do!" -Becky J.

"Good morning Sara,

I just wanted to thank you for putting the time and effort into creating the challenge last night ( along with all those that helped you) Our team had a blast and thought it was a great challenge! So, thanks again! It was a lot of fun and; of course, great exercise!
Have a great day!"
Tara and the rest of the Capital City Boot Camp Team

You're welcome everyone - AND THANK YOU!

(and we can't wait to tell you about the Survivor challenge coming soon)

Healthy Meal Ideas

Here are 20 meal ideas:

http://www.fitnessmagazine.com/recipes/healthy-eating/nutrition/the-you-can-do-it-diet-dinner-choices/?page=1

Check them out!

Metabolic Measurement

Over the last month, I feel as if I have hit a plateau. I have been training with Heather Hall and she always keeps me working hard… so I knew it wasn’t the working out that was lacking. I had a sneaking suspicion that it may have something to do with my nutrition (doesn’t it always?!). So, I made an appointment with Karen Kuzma, RD. She suggested she administer the test during one of the Wealth for my Health weekly meetings so the contestants knew what to expect. How fun!


The process is painless. I had to fast for four hours… and no exercise either. During the actual process I had my nose plugged (so no air can enter or escape) and I breathed in and out of a device. Pretty simple. Magically (well, I am sure there is some scientific process behind it…) it spit out a number. That number is how many calories I burn in a day, just living. I burn 2050 calories a day just by existing. Karen then took into account how active I am on a weekly basis. She asked me what my goals are (lose one pound a week, two pounds a week… etc.) and puts everything together. In the end, she was able to tell how many calories I should be eating each day to achieve my goals.

My goal was to lose 2 pounds a week. So, I should be consuming approximately 1870 calories a day. I am monitoring my calories (I am not usually a calorie counter) for a couple weeks just to make sure that consuming that amount produces a loss of two pounds. Karen said that there could be some slight variation… but overall, it’s fairly accurate.

So, if you have hit a plateau or are a “numbers” person – I would highly suggest getting this measurement done by the wonderful Karen Kuzma! Thanks Karen!

Recipe - Mexican Chicken Stew

Here is another favorite of mine... so easy to make - no recipe to follow!

Whenever Hy-Vee has whole roasted chickens on sale in the deli, I am always quick to pick up a couple. I make my husband pick all the skin off the chicken, and give me the good lean pieces of meat. While he is doing that, I sautee a chopped onion (red, white, yellow.... whatever you have!) and a couple cloves of minced garlic. (Throw in some jarred minced garlic if you don't have any fresh) I let the onions and garlic cook until I can smell them. Oh yes, and I also put in some Chipotles in Adobe sauce. They are smoked jalepenos... a couple of these babies go a long way. I chop up a couple of those and throw them in the pot while the onion and garlic are cooking. Then I throw in the pieces of chicken, and let them mix with the chipotles, onion and garlic for a couple minutes. While the chicken is picking up some flavor from the chipotles, I pop open a can of black beans (be sure to rinse), and garbanzo beans (chickpeas), and a can of crushed, diced, chopped, kicked, punched... tomatoes. My husband's aunt dropped off some canned tomatoes fresh from her garden from last summer, so I used those instead of canned. Throw the beans and tomatoes in. I also threw in a can of diced green chilis, some spinach, and about a cup of frozen corn. I also dumped in a box of reduced sodium chicken stock to thin it out a bit. I brought it to a boil, but the lid on, turned it down to simmer, and I  am currently letting it simmer and it's filling the house up with a wonderously delicous smell. I will let it simmer for a couple hours, and then dispense the stew in two cup increments in plastic freezer bags, and have lunch for me and the girls FOR DAYS.

One thing I have learned in cooking is that you don't have to strictly adhere to recipes. Now, in baking you have to. If you don't put in the flour or put in too much oil... you're going to have a mess! There is so much more freedom in cooking. After a while you figure out what foods you love and what foods you like to cook with, and just focus on playing around with those! After the soup was simmering, I found a red pepper in the fridge that I would have loved to have put in the stew. But, I like to sautee my red peppers first and it was too late for that... so I will save it for breakfast and put them in my scrambled eggs.

Anyways, here is a run down of the ingredients, but like I said - put your favorite ingredients in!

Roasted chicken, skin removed (light and dark pieces)
Onion
Garlic
Spinach
Chipotles
Frozen Corn
Garbanzo Beans
Black Beans
Canned tomatoes
Reduced Sodium Chicken Broth

Another tip: If you are going to take the time to cook, take the time to make a double batch and freeze the leftovers. Whenever I am in a pinch to feed the myself or the kids, I always look in the freezer first to see if some of my homemade yummy and healthy dinners can be popped in the microwave before I ever think about going to McDonalds. Saves money and my life.

Kitchen OverHaul

Hey Everybody!

Last night a house call was made to fellow contestant, Christina and her family.

We have asked all of you to clean out your cupboards, pantries, refridgerators and freezers. It's time to purge your house of all the processed sugary garbage that is slowly killing us.

Christina was lucky enough to have Registered Dietitian Karen Kuzma personally go through each and every food product in the house. Karen read through the labels, and advised on what got to stay, and what had to go. For basic guidelines, she used Dr. Oz's rule of 5. If, within the first 5 ingredients listed were any of the following: Simple Sugars, Syrups, White Flour, Saturated Fats, Trans Fats it had TO GO! The word "enriched" is still ringing in my ears... everything seems to be "enriched", which really means stripped of all nutrients. What's the purpose of eating it... if it's not doing anything beneficial for our bodies?!

Thank you, Christina, and thank you to your family for allowing us to come into your home and dig through your cupboards! We hope you learned a lot - and don't forget to schedule that personal shopping appointment with Karen so she can help you re-stock your kitchen!

Here are a few photos:

If you would like Karen to come to your kitchen and advise you on cleaning our your cupboards, contact Sara Brown at Sara@EventsRefined.com for more information. After cleaning out your cupboards, you can make an appointment with her to schedule a personal shopping trip, as she helps you find healthy replacements for all your favorite foods.

A little preparation can save LOTS of calories...chicken recipe

At the end of the day when I am tired and don't have any interest in cooking dinner, I have found that a little preparation ahead of time can save the day.

I first purchase a large bag of frozen chicken breasts (I purchase them from Sam's Club, but I am sure you can find something similar at Hy-Vee or whereever you do your grocery shopping) and a large container of salsa. I put as many chicken breasts that can fit in the crockpot, throw the jar of salsa over them, and let the chicken cook on low all day. At the end of day, the chicken is fully cooked and tastes delicious! I shred the chicken, and let it cool in the fridge. The next day, I portion the chicken into freezer baggies, and throw them in the freezer. Then, when I am too tired to cook, but want to eat something nutritious, I can pull out a bag of frozen cooked chicken, throw it in the microwave or skillet and heat it up. Often times, I will make two soft corn tacos with the chicken with a little avacado on top, or toss the chicken with some whole wheat pasta and veggies. Lots of options, tastes awesome, and sooo easy if you do a little planning ahead!

Healthy and Simple Recipes!

Check out this link:

http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0ARHlbuvB5GQHZGRwd2ZtczlfM2ZnOTYzaGNn&hl=en

Keep checking back to the blog for more updates.