Secret Tips To Eating Healthy In Colorado Springs

/in , /by

Yahtzee

 

Vitali-T Had The Honor Of Interviewing Yaitza Bueno, creator of ahealthierfitterme.com 

 

Yaitza Bueno is a NASM Certified Personal Trainer and the blogger behind ahealthierfitterme.com. Yaitza is also a mother, a military wife, a daughter, a sister, a friend, who loves sharing healthy recipes and enjoys working out. She believes there is a better version of ourselves hiding inside all of us waiting to exhale.

Yaitza’s Top Tips For Eating Healthy In Colorado Springs:

1. What are the top health food stores in Colorado Springs?

One thing I love about Colorado Springs is that there are so many healthy and organic options available at pretty much any grocery store. However, my favorite places to shop at are Sprouts, Costco, Natural Grocers, WholeFoods and my new favorite, Trader Joe’s.

2. How can Colorado Springs locals eat healthier on a limited budget? 

I love creating weekly menus and lists before heading to the store and I would highly recommend this to anyone shopping on a limited budget. I recommend looking for online coupons and in-store coupons for products on your grocery list. Shop around at multiple grocery stores to make sure you get the best value for your money. Take advantage of in season produce pricing, or getting all of your produce from Farmers Market (when in season.) Buying from the bulk aisle at Sprouts for grains and other dried goods for the week.

Tip: I love having a snack with me when I shop for groceries; I tend to buy a lot more unnecessary things when I shop hungry.

3. What advice would you give busy people who have trouble planning out meals?

I recommend planning your meals at the beginning of the week. Find healthy recipes you love and make them a staple in your weekly menu. Cooking extra on those nights you are able to cook so that you have left-overs for lunches throughout the week. I personally cannot live without my crockpot for those days where I know I do not have time to cook. I have a few crockpot healthy recipes on the blog that are fool proof.

I would suggest making time for meal prepping on Sundays. I love cooking my grains and some proteins in advance, this will save you a lot of time during the week. I also love prepping different variations of “Overnight Oats” on Sundays to have for breakfast for the week.

4. What is your go to meal for entertaining a small group?

My favorite thing to make when entertaining is some sort of quinoa salad and a quiche. I have a few recipes on the blog. Veggie trays with hummus are always a staple.

5. Healthy snack choices to get through the day?

You can never go wrong with natures fast foods; fruits, nuts and raw veggies are my favorite. If I am out and about, I love keeping healthy bars in my car or purse for me and my family. My favorites are LaraBars, Quest Bars, and ThinkThin bars.

6. What dish can I bring to the SuperBowl Party this year to make sure that the Bronco’s win?

I would definitely skip PapaJohns! We are lovers of nuts, olives, sprouted crackers and cheese platters. You can never go wrong with chips, salsa and guacamole. I also love making my Vegan Chili on Football Sundays.

7. What are your favorite local healthy restaurants?

Gosh I have so many… Again, one of the things I love about this city is all the healthy foodie places there are. If I am craving Mexican food, I love Salsa Brava (specifically their hidden menu) and La Hacienda Colorado for their lettuce wraps fajitas. If we are feeling healthy foodie fancy we love the 2South & Broadmoor Natural Epicurean restaurants; they specialize in local and farm to table dining.

For a quick lunch, I love the salad bar from WholeFoods. I also love Panera (particularly their hidden menu), Chipotle, and my new favorite lunch spot; Shuga’s in Old Colorado Springs. If I am craving a vegan lunch, a juice or a smoothie I go to Ola Juice Bar in Old Colorado Springs. On Friday nights we love to go for a glass of wine or tea at the Peaks Place Coffee house, they offer delicious paleo treats as well as live music.

8. Do you have a favorite CS farmers market?

I love, love the University Village Center Mall Farmer’s Market, very sad that farmer’s market season is coming to an end. I religiously go every Saturday.

9. Anything else locals should know about eating better around CS?

Out of all the cities I have traveled, Colorado Springs seems to be one of the healthiest. It has a great assortment of outdoor activities, and unique healthy food restaurants that offer natural organic foods which is ideal if you are seeking a healthier lifestyle. Whatever your goal, whether is to begin or maintain a healthy lifestyle, you can definitely attain it in this city. I always recommend choosing good quality foods where ever you go, and you are sure to find that here in Colorado Springs.

Tired of Being Tired!

/in /by

I’ve Been Tired for too Long…A0016-Tired-Man_leader

I must admit, that I have had spells that could only be described by the above headline!

How long can this last?

How can I be so tired?

How can I sleep eight hours and still be tired?

I have some insight to the answer to this question and it is so simple, I am hard pressed to believe I even asked the question. 

Based on my personal experience;

Since I have had my share of “over-weight” times in my life, I think I can relay that my personal experience is a text-book of all things valuable about weight related issues. I am not suggesting that I know everything about weight loss, or weight gain for that matter. What I am suggesting is that if I stop and think about my personal experiences in weight management, I can answer almost any question that comes up for me. That said, when I asked the question, “how can I be so tired?”, I already knew the answer. The answer was in my weight, and it was not the first time I had experienced this condition.

An Age Old Problem, Provides a Plethora of Answers;

During my lifetime, my weight has acted like a yoyo in the hands of a beginner. It would go up, and it would go down, and it would stop in the middle sometimes. You know that trick, right? That is when you aren’t doing it quite right and it gets a knot in the string and it all looks good as you spin it out of your hand. It starts down and you’re smiling and then it just STOPS! Yes, it stops and you just look at it and you start to think that it’s going to take a lot of time to get that string straight again. The next thought is, well, is it worth it? I’m really not that good at it. I don’t have that much time to practice and really, it is not so bad to be different. There are a lot of people who don’t know how to yoyo. They don’t seem to have it so bad. 

Well, if you switch the yoyo for weight loss and weight management, the words are the same, the thoughts are likely the same and results are the same. You give up because it’s too hard, takes too much time and when you look at people around you, you’re not the fattest or the most out of shape. To me the answer many times was to just associate with others that were just like me. I don’t think that did me much good. Have you ever done that?

How Too Much Weight Affected Me.

The reminder of the effects of too much weight is the cornerstone of my continued efforts to work diligently on my weight management. For me, the weight created a series of ill effects. Chief among them, was my overwhelming fatigue. I truly spent a good amount of each evening sleeping, or napping in the easy chair. I passed up many opportunities to exercise or even just go outside and do a little work on the house. So in a day where I spent ten hours working, I spent twelve hours either sleeping or horizontal in an easy chair. Not the life I had imagined when I was a star athlete. I have a hard time reconciling the thought of leaping over a raised bar 6’6″ high with just the power of my legs as I was reclining in a chair, to lazy to get up and get myself another Pepsi. I could have gotten up, but at 300 plus pounds, it was more satisfying to just remember the good old days

In addition to the fatigue, I was affected by a lack of assertiveness, a general dismissal of important tasks and a simple acceptance of very mediocre standards for my life. I have to tell you that not being driven and successful were the worst effects, but I knew that all was driven by my fatigue. The efforts required to do the very simple tasks was overwhelming and thought of increasing that overwhelm with exercise was difficult at best.

Don’t Despair!

Truly, don’t despair. The path to weight loss and maintenance is a self-perpetuating reward. The endorphins released during the exercise periods are a major aide to keep our inspirations high. The healthier foods provide much missed vitamins and nutrition and the increased activities help our sleep periods take on a regular pattern. Each time we make the effort to continue down the path, we find that the time that was spendt in the recliner is replaced with a different activity. These new activities not only continue the energy expenditures that maximize our workouts, but also support an improvement in our house hold effectiveness. We are going to keep talking about weight loss, how to do it as well as what you may be missing in it. See you soon.

Regards – Don

What You Need To Know About Ebola:

/in /by

female surgeon with surgical mask on - Ebola SymptomsWest Africa is infected with the worst recorded outbreak of Ebola ever. Over 7,400 people in Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, Senegal and Sierra Leone have contacted Ebola.

The U.S. now finds its first confirmed Ebola patient. 

Ebola is not spread through casual contact, so there is little risk of an outbreak in America. Here’s what you need to know:

Initial Ebola Symptoms:

Ebola Virus

Ebola Virus

  • Fever
  • Weakness (intense)
  • Muscle Pain
  • Headache
  • Sore Throat

Symptoms That Follow:

  • Vomiting
  • Diarrhea
  • Rash
  • Kidney & Liver Problems

3 Ways To Spread Ebola

  1. Humans can attain the Ebola virus through contact with animals.
  2. Humans spread the virus through contact with blood or other bodily fluids.
  3. Exposure can also occur through contaminated needles.

 

Things You May Not Know About Ebola
  • It’s not spread through casual contact so there is little risk of an outbreak in the United States.
  • There is no vaccine available.
  • Previous outbreaks have had approx. 90% mortality rates.
  • The survival rate of the current outbreak is approx. 47%.
  • Example Scenario for Liberia and Sierra Leone*
    • Best-Case: 11,000 – 27,000 cases through January 2015
    • Worst-Case: 537,000 – 1.4 million cases through January 2015

                                      *Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Where Does Ebola Come From?

Once thought to originate in gorillas, it is now believed that the fruit bats may be a natural host for Ebola. Humans and animals may catch the virus by eating food contaminated by bats through defecation or drool. It is also possible that touching infected droppings and exposing to the eyes or mouth through touch may also transfer the virus.  

What Is The U.S. Doing About Ebola?

An Emergency Operations Center (EOC) has been activated by the Center for Disease Control to help coordinate activities with partners and to offer technical assistance. If an ill traveler arrives in the United States, there are a complete set of protocols established to deal with the situation.

In addition, U.S. healthcare workers are taking steps to prepare to isolate patients if needed, prevent the spread of the virus, and protect themselves from infection.

Learn more  about Ebola from the Center for Disease Control