Roasted Spiralized Butternut Squash Noodles

A healthy pasta alternative or side dish that only takes about 10 minutes to roast in the oven.

I’ve been busy, busy, busy these past two weeks finishing up the last few recipes for my next cookbook (sorry if it seems like I’m MIA). One of those recipes calls for spiralized butternut noodles which are wonderful roasted as a side dish simply drizzled with olive oil as I did here, or topped with a hearty sauce (skinny bolognese would be great!)

My husband doesn’t care for zucchini noodles, but is a huge fan of butternut, and therefor loves these noodles. The best part is they only take about 10 minutes to cook and they don’t get soggy like zucchini, although they do tend to get soft and break if you cook them too long. I prefer to use the thicker noodle blade (if you have the Inspiralizer, it’s blade D) and roast them in a single layer, so for this recipe I used two sheet pans. You can also cut them ahead on the weekend and keep them in ziplock bags in my fridge for the week to roast as needed.

The top straighter part of the butternut is the only part that can be spiralized as the bottoms part with seeds is not solid and therefor it would not work. Save the bottom part for soup or another use. For this recipe you’ll need one large butternut for two people. The top part that gets spiralized should be about 20 ounces once trimmed and peeled.

Click Here To See The Full Recipe…

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Breakfast Flatbread Pizza

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Breakfast Flatbread Pizza

• 1 medium slice center-cut bacon
• 2 large (50 grams each) eggs
• 1 large (60 grams) pita flatbread
• 1 teaspoon reduced fat (1/3 less fat) cream cheese
• 1 tablespoon diced red onion
• 1 tablespoon diced bell pepper
• 1 mushroom, sliced
• 1 tablespoon diced tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon shredded cheddar cheese
• ½ teaspoon chopped chives

Directions

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with foil, and cook bacon for 7 minutes. Blot grease and allow to cool, then slice and set aside.
2. Scramble the eggs, but don’t cook all the way through. They need to be moist because they’ll finish cooking in the oven.
3. Place flatbread on baking sheet and spread with cream cheese. Top evenly with eggs, bacon, onion, bell pepper, mushrooms, tomatoes and cheddar cheese.
4. Bake in 400 degree F oven for 8 minutes until flatbread is crispy and cheese is melted. Sprinkle with chives and slice into four triangles while hot.

Source: Breakfast Flatbread Pizza – MyFitnessPal

Image Credit: Breakfast Flatbread Pizza

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Burpees: The Do’s and Don’ts!

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Whether you love or hate burpees, they are one of the most efficient total body exercises out there. Here are effective tips for better burpees.

Anyone who has trained long enough in burpees will surely have a love/hate relationship with this workout model. They are a type of lung-busting total-body workout that is so effective but so nauseating at the same time. This article provides some do’s and don’ts for this highly effective workout which will help you make the best use of each precious rep. Who knows? You may even make burpees your new favourite workout out of them all.

The Set Up – Stand with the feet parallel and slowly squat down. Place your palms outside, just a bit forward of your feet.

Action – Thrust your feet backward to the traditional push-up position while your weight is supported by the hands. Do a push-up and return to the up position. Now jump your feet toward the hands in one movement. Stand in the start position and repeat the sequence.

Make sure you warm up beforehand. Trying to perform burpees without warming up is similar to sprinting 100 meters right after lacing your shoes. Your joints, muscles, ligaments, and cardiovascular system need to warm up if you are to continue doing burpees without hurling after rep 10. Jog or row for 5-10 minutes and do ten minutes of dynamic stretching before performing burpees. Focus on your hips, shoulders and back while stretching. Perform a set of 10 easy burpees first. Make sure you perform each of the steps slowly and under control. Now rest for one minute before continuing the rest of burpees.

You need to know your level before trying out the advanced stuff. If you are still a beginner, scale your speed and goal to match your abilities. Step your feet, one at a time, into a plank. Skip the push-up and step the feet underneath you to stand up again. If you are an advanced candidate, hop the feet behind you into the plank. Now do a push-up and hop the feet underneath you while exploding upwards in a leap. Clap overhead while leaping to complete one rep.

Do not drop your head, keep the chin lifted and maintain a neutral spine. Look in front of your hands a few inches, bringing the head up enough so that you are not straining the spinal column and muscles. Do not be sloppy with the planks and push ups. Your head, heels, and hips should be in line as you hop the feet behind you into a plank position. Maintain this position as you do a push up too. Your chest should touch the ground while you extend right back to the start. The more stable your hips and the tighter your core, the better you will fare.

Your elbows should b close to the sides of your body when you do the push-ups. The hands should be directly underneath the shoulders while the elbows should brush the sides as you lower toward the floor.

DON’T emulate Quasimodo when hunching over as you are standing up to the start. Make sure the hips are completely extended at the top. Give your glutes a little squeeze before going to the next rep.

Pacing yourself – Make sure you set a certain number of burpees to be completed in one workout such as 50. Start by performing 5-reps and rest for 10-20 seconds to catch the breath before continuing the workout. Once you are proficient in the workout, increase the number of continuous reps and then increase your goal number. These are some of the best tips for better burpees.

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Three Tips For More Muscle: Day One

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Here are the first 3 moves for building more muscle below!

1. Front Squat

• 5 Sets
• 5 Reps

Grab the bar, placing your hands shoulder-width apart, then raise your arms at the elbow until the upper portion of your arms is parallel to the ground. Remove the bar from the rack, letting it rest on your fingers. Take a step back, placing your feet shoulder width apart. Squat down, going as low as possible while keeping your back arched. Adjust the number of sets and reps as directed by the weekly schedule.

2. Romanian Deadlift

• 5 Sets
• 10 Reps

Grab the bar with your hands shoulder-width apart. The rack should be set at the level of your hips. Hold onto the bar so that it is in front, at thigh level and pull it towards your body. Be sure you don’t allow it to drift forward as you start the movement. Lower your torso and bend your hips towards the back, letting your knees flex as much as you need to until you start feeling your hamstrings stretch. To come back up, extend your hips.

3. Pallof Press

• 3 Sets
• 10 Reps

Attach an exercise band at chest level to a sturdy object. Alternately, you can use a cable station with a D-handle. Use both hands to hold the free end, and take a step back from the place where it is attached, in the process turning so that your body is perpendicular and putting tension in the band. Then, pull the band so that it is in front of your body, and press it out until your arms are straight. Bend your arms, bringing your hands back close to you, and resist the band by twisting your torso. This is considered one rep.

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How Much Water Should You Drink?

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Water is the life-giving liquid that comprises 60 percent of our body weight, but the million-dollar question is, “how much water should I drink?”

This is, in fact, the age-old question that has different but no definite answers. What we previously believed as the ‘ideal’ amount of drinking 8 to 10 glasses of water a day is no longer an absolute or specific value.

There are a lot of factors at play when we determine the amount of water that we need to consume in a day. For example, an athlete in motion needs more water for rehydration compared to an office worker who has the same body weight but needs less.

Over the years, studies have shown varying results that measure the body’s need for water, but in truth, the body’s need for water may depend on a number of factors, but definitely includes our state of health and lifestyle.

Here is something that you may not be aware of – every system in the human body depends on the unique and incomparable properties of water – that is how important water is to the body and here are some vital reasons why;

• Water is responsible for carrying nutrients to our human cells.
• Water flushes out harmful toxins from our vital organs and out of our bodies.
• Water provides lubrication for throat, ear and nose tissues.
• Water helps our bodies cool off through perspiration during hot weather.
• Water helps neutralize acid and alkaline levels in the body and balances it.
• Water helps control calories.
• Water helps in energizing the muscles.
• Water moisturizes the skin from the inside and keeps it looking good.
• Water helps maintain regular and normal bowel function to excrete waste from the body.

Although water is mostly accessible and readily available to everyone, the need to increase water intake is important to maintaining good health.

Here are some tips to let you enjoy drinking more water, wherever you may be;

Make sure to include water as a beverage with every meal or snack. Other than an effective weight loss strategy, drinking water aids in breaking down food to hasten metabolism in the body.

Choose flavoured water that you enjoy. Just make sure that it has very little or no amount of sugar or other additives in it. Avoid sodas or sweetened beverages.

Always keep a bottle of water handy at all times – be it inside your gym bag, at your office desk, inside your car, etc. Having water handy makes it easy for you to drink and refresh yourself.

Although there might be no easy answer as to the amount of water you actually need for your body, you can still adhere to the standard 8 glasses per day and with the question asked “How much water should I drink?”  Then my best answer would be to always give in to your thirst.

Image Credit: How much water should I drink each day? – MNT 

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A Milestone In Modern Medicine

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The first -ever 3D printed vertebrae was recently used to replace a cancer-stricken part of the spine, conducted by an Australian neurosurgeon late last year.

Dr. Ralph Mobbs conducted the breakthrough surgical procedure on a patient diagnosed with chordoma – a rare type of cancer that can develop anywhere along the entire length of the spine or the vertebral column.

The 15-hour complicated surgical procedure allowed Dr. Mobbs to insert the 3D printed vertebrae at the top of the neck where the tumour was located.

He elaborated that it was exactly situated at the point where the neck and head meet, with the procedure requiring that the head be detached from the neck, removing the tumour, and reconnecting the head back to the neck.

The 3D printed vertebrae fitted like a glove, according to Dr. Mobbs, who used state-of-the-art computer software to replicate the design of the affected vertebrae and to plan out the precise details of the surgical procedure.

Dr. Mobbs said that he took careful and precise measurements to make sure he had everything nailed down to the very fine details and avoid mistakes that might occur during the course of the operation.

The operation went well and the doctor was excited to deliver the news that the implant fit perfectly to reconstruct the void where the tumour was located.

The patient is currently under close monitoring by Dr. Mobbs and his team to ensure that no complications would arise from the surgery. However, days after the procedure they reported that an unexpected problem occurred after the patient was having difficulty speaking and eating.

But the doctor pointed out that the patient shall recover from this within the next six months, as a result of the procedure where the team had to go through the mouth and had to stretch it open during the entire surgical process.

This is a breakthrough in advanced medical technology where in the near future, people may be able to fear less of losing a body part or a vital organ to disease or damage.

Like the 3D printed vertebrae, we are beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel and giving hope to millions of people all over the world. 

Image Credit: Australian surgeon inserts 3D-printed vertebrae in world-first – ABC ( Australian Broadcasting Corporation )

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Coffee May Help Protect The Liver From Alcohol

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Good news coffee addicts, research shows that drinking coffee can help lower the risk of liver disease linked to alcoholism and obesity. That’s right folks, coffee may protect the liver from alcohol.

In a research conducted by the Southampton University of Britain, researchers were able to analyze data from a combined 430,000 participants of nine different published studies, that people drinking two more cups of coffee daily lowers the risk of developing liver cirrhosis by as much as 44 percent.

Cirrhosis is responsible for the deaths of more than a million people all over the world, mostly caused by poor lifestyle habits like excessive eating and alcohol consumption. Other factors also include fatty liver disease, complications arising from hepatitis infections and auto-immune disorders.

Cirrhosis is highly fatal and has no known cure, which targets the liver and causes massive organ failure.

Focusing on the common test instruments utilized for these studies, the researchers discovered that a known factor linking all test participants were coffee consumption.

Dr. Oliver Kennedy, the head of the research team, said that a significant reduction in the risk of developing cirrhosis was noted for those who increased their coffee consumption by two cups daily and the risks continued to decline with the relative increase of daily coffee consumption.

They supported this claim by showing the combined results that at least one cup of coffee per day lowers the risk of cirrhosis by 22%, doubling it further drops the risk to 43 percent. It further declined to 57 percent with 3 cups of coffee and a staggering 65 percent for those who took at least four cups a day.

Coffee has been scientifically proven to contain significant amounts of powerful antioxidants and essential anti-inflammatory compounds that help fight free radicals to counter the effects of oxidative stress and organ deterioration as a result of aging.

Kennedy however cautioned that this does not mean people should go ahead and drink large amounts of sweetened coffee or coffee mixtures loaded with potentially-fattening toppings or creams, since it has not been established yet as to which specific chemical compounds are responsible for taking care of the liver.

He also further warned that even with high concentrations of these healing compounds, drinking cups of coffee could not undo the damage to the liver resulting from poor lifestyle habits like excessive consumption of alcohol, drug abuse, obesity and poor nutrition.

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