If standard crunches are starting to get old, give reverse crunches a try. They’ll work your lower abs, which can be a problem area for women.
Lie on your back with your hands palm-down just beneath your buttocks and your back pressed flat to the floor.
Bend your knees, cross your ankles, and lift your legs up so your calves are at about a 45-degree angle to the floor.
Contract your lower abs, pulling your hips up off the floor a few inches and release. Exhale as you lift your bent knees toward your chest and keep your knees bent at the same angle throughout. The movement should be very small and controlled, using your abdominal muscles, not momentum, to lift your lower half off the floor.
Repeat two sets of 8 to 12 repetitions, resting for 15 seconds between sets.
Every month at Marilu.com we have online classes – an opportunity for you to learn more about healthy living from Marilu and her hand-picked coaching staff.
Classes are included with your membership! Not a member? Sign up now!
Here’s what you can look forward to for the rest of the year!
VIVA LA VEGAN * July 11-22, 2011
Mother-daughter Coaches Jan & Kyra bring us the facts and the fun about vegan (or vegan-ish) living. They’ve shown us that it’s not about what you’ve eliminated…it’s about the delicious things that you ADD to your plate. You don’t have to be a vegan to enjoy this class.
HEALING PRACTICES * August 15-26 2011
Coach Robbie, an anthropologist, shares healing practices from around the world.
BACK TO BOOTY SCHOOL—EUROPEAN SEMESTER * September 2011
We’re going “on location” (virtually) with Coach Evi to explore healthy living in Europe. Recipes, lifestyle and cooking tips from several different European countries…it’s our own version of a semester abroad!
GRATITUDE * October 2011
As we prepare for the holidays, we get into a mindset of gratitude and abundance with Coach Robbie.
GLUTEN-FREE LIFE * October 2011
Coach Jill helps us understand the gluten-free life. If you have family or friends who are GF (for any reason), join us for recipes, cooking tips, and lifestyle tips.
HOT FOR THE HOLIDAYS * November-December 2011
This class is your all-around holiday preparation and organization class with Coach Jan.
How can you win the Vitamix?
Between now and July 11, all you need to do is get a friend to become a member (1-year membership), and you’ll get TWO entries in the Vitamix drawing. That’s TWO entries for every person who becomes a member on your recommendation (get two people to become members and you get FOUR entries, etc.).
1. Get your friends to sign up here for a 1-year membership.
2. Then send an email with your name and your friend’s name to Mary Beth.
That’s all you have to do. Good luck!
Jicama is common in Latin American cuisine, but largely ignored elsewhere. It’s too bad, because jicama is refreshing in the heat of the summer.
Look for a jicama that’s relatively smooth and firm (no big dents or soft spots). Peel it with a vegetable peeler, then cut it into strips or cubes (kind of fancy), or, well, any shape.
Jicama has the texture of a raw potato, but it’s sweeter, like an apple. It goes great with a marinade like this one, but it’s good raw, too.
This snack keeps well, transports easily and is very tasty! You can also use it as a relish-style salad.
~*~ ~*~ ~*~ Jicama Snack Purple * Serves 6
1 large jicama
juice from 1 lime (or more)
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
Peel the jicama with a vegetable peeler and slice into 1/4-inch rounds. Slice the rounds into 1/4-inch sticks, put them in a bowl, sprinkle with lime juice and toss with cilantro. Let the mixture set for a while before eating.
In a world where meat and cheese and sugar dominate the snack food world (and that’s if we leave out the chemicals, additives and preservatives), it can be a challenge to think about vegan snacks.
Jan and Kyra, our coaches for the Viva La Vegan class starting July 11, offer these suggestions.
Fresh fruit in season, including oranges, mangoes, kiwis, apples, ruby red grapefruit (Texas grapefruits are the sweetest), strawberries, grapes, etc.
Unsalted raw nuts or seeds, such as almonds, cashews, or peanuts – or try Brazil nuts, walnuts, pepitas, or sunflower seeds
Crackers – just check that they’re dairy-free and sugar-free, and avoid excess salt, as well – try Newman’s Own Unsalted Pretzel Rounds
Dried fruit – try mango, blueberries, bananas, peaches, etc. as well as raisins, apricots, and apples
Dry cereal (no sugar)
Trail mix without added sugars – try Bear Naked trail mixes or make your own
Whole grain toast with peanut butter or other nut or seed butter (no salt, no sugar, freshly ground)
Raw veggies, like carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, green beans, jicama, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, and bell pepper strips
Hummus makes a great dip, as does guacamole (make sure it has no sour cream, if you purchase it premade), but plain veggies are just as good
The Viva La Vegan class starts next Monday, July 11. Members are automatically enrolled in the class. Just check your inbox for the class email on Monday. Not a member?Join now and you’ll be ready for class!
You’re the only one who can make your dreams come true. It’s easy – and sometimes even fun – to put that responsibility on someone (or something) else, but you know in your heart that it’s up to you.
So whatever your dreams, take action to make them happen.
Do something today to make your dream a reality. If your dream is a hot bod, then get up from your computer and commit to some exercise. If your dream is a long life, then make choices to improve your health, no matter your age. If your dream is a smaller dress size, then check your portion sizes and take the stairs. We know it’s not always that simple, but you have to start somewhere.
While you think about your plan for today, get up and dance to this classic Hall & Oates song. We chose it because Marilu heard them in concert last night at the Hollywood Bowl – and it was played at a wedding we attended this weekend.
One of our members combined Italian pasta with Mexican flavors for this delicious (and simple) vegan main dish.
~*~ ~*~ ~*~ Northface’s Black Bean Pasta Blue * Serves 2-3
2 cups (4 ounces) uncooked radiatore (nugget) pasta
1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes with chili spices (watch labels for sugar!)
1 can (15 ounces) black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 teaspoon grated lime peel
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1 bell pepper, cut into 2×1/4″ strips
Cook and drain pasta as directed. Meanwhile, heat tomatoes to boiling in a 2-quart saucepan. Stir in pasta, beans, lime peel, cumin, and bell pepper. Reduce heat to low. Cover and cook 2-3 min, stirring occasionally until hot. Taste and add more cumin, and salt and pepper, if desired.
Why do you want a Vitamix?
It’s a powerful more-than-blender to help you make amazing smoothies, soups, spreads, and more. The Vitamix retails for $500, so this is not a cheap giveaway; it’s an awesome prize that Marilu wants to give YOU.
How can you win the Vitamix?
Between now and July 11, all you need to do is get a friend to become a member (1-year membership), and you’ll get TWO entries in the Vitamix drawing. That’s TWO entries for every person who becomes a member on your recommendation (get two people to become members and you get FOUR entries, etc.).
1. Get your friends to sign up here for a 1-year membership.
2. Then send an email with your name and your friend’s name to Mary Beth.
That’s all you have to do.
BONUS * Your friend is now automatically enrolled in July’s Viva La Vegan class! (So if you think backwards about this, anyone you know who may be interested in veganism, or what it means to eat a plant-based diet, or who is looking for a healthy way to lower their cholesterol numbers, or who wonders just exactly what it is that you eat… those are the people to invite to become a member.) If you’ve taken the Viva La Vegan class before, you know it’s a great class – but it’s improved even more this year! Coaches JanB and VeganKyra have lots of surprises in store this year.
DOUBLE BONUS * When you (and your new-member friend) take the Viva La Vegan class, you also get an entry in a second Vitamix drawing for participating in class every day. That’s the best second chance ever!
Get your friends to sign up here for a 1-year membership by July 11.
Send an email to Mary Beth with your name and your friend’s name.
Then enjoy the Viva La Vegan class with your friend!
You just gotta ignite the light
And let it shine
Just own the night
Like the Fourth of July
Cause baby you’re a firework
Come on show ‘em what you’re worth
Make ‘em go “Oh, oh, oh!”
As you shoot across the sky-y-y
Baby you’re a firework
Come on let your colors burst
Make ‘em go “Oh, oh, oh!”
You’re gonna leave ‘em fallin’ down-own-own
Never sell yourself short. YOU are as beautiful and special and breathtaking and awe-inspiring as a firework. Take a few minutes today to think about or write about all the good you bring to the world.
~*~ ~*~ ~*~
This version of the song Firework is performed by the college a capella groups Ithacapella and Premium Blend. Buy the song here to benefit The Trevor Project.
What can you do to become the best version of yourself? The question can get overwhelming, but don’t let it. Don’t make a whole list of things you want to change – that can be depressing and counterproductive. Instead, focus on just one thing – the first thing that comes to your mind. That’s enough.
Remember, it’s all about progress, not perfection. Just do a little better today than you did yesterday. You’re building a better YOU, step by step, day by day – and it works. That’s how you build a legacy.
It’s meat scraps turned into meat filler – and it ends up in burgers and tacos everywhere.
This product is actually called ammoniated boneless lean beef trimmings. Still not sure? This is the cheapest, least desirable beef on offer – fatty sweepings from the slaughterhouse floor, which are notoriously rife with pathogens like E. coli 0157 and antibiotic-resistant salmonella. Once swept up, the scraps are sent through a series of machines, which grinds them into a paste, separates out the fat, and laces the substance with ammonia to kill pathogens.
The USDA allows this ammonia treated meat to enter the marketplace and with no labeling requirement on the packaging to inform the consumer that the meat they are about to buy contains ammonia. It is used to stretch the actual ground beef, and the USDA shockingly allows up to 15 percent of a ground beef product to be this filler and still be labeled ground beef….
According to a New York Times article, The “majority of hamburger” now sold in the U.S. now contains fatty slaughterhouse trimmings “the industry once relegated to pet food and cooking oil,” “typically including most of the material from the outer surfaces of the carcass” that contains “larger microbiological populations.”
(…)
McDonald’s, Burger King and other fast-food giants use it as a component in ground beef, as do grocery chains. The federal school lunch program used an estimated 5.5 million pounds of the processed beef last year alone. And since the USDA considers it a “process”, Ammonia doesn’t have to be listed on the packaging as a separate ingredient!
Of course you can avoid Pink Slime by not eating red meat. If you choose to eat red meat, buy grass-fed beef, which contains no ammonia. Our best advice when choosing animal-derived foods is to buy directly from the source – get to know a farmer (you can find them at farmer’s markets) and visit the farm. Meet the butcher and see the processing facility. Be honest with yourself about where your food comes from.
