Ahhh yes. You’re craving something crunchy, a little salty and oh so yummy.

If your first inclination is to grab for the infamous potato chip. “HALT”, I say! Before you go on ingesting tons of extra calories that are nutritionally deficient and caloricaly dense, you should try kale chips!

Now, I’m not going to spend too much time boring you to death with how insanely good-for-you kale is…but I will say that in terms of nutrition density, it literally doesn’t get better than this!

Kale is the highest rated veggie on the ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity) scale, which basically measures the potency of the veggies antioxidant and phytochemical properties. Kale comes in at the top with a number 1770. The next closest veggie is spinach, with a rating 1260. Not to mention it’s loaded with calcium, iron, and vitamins A, C, and K (build those bones Mama!)

Okay…I’m finished talking about how good it is for you. Now I want to talk about how crazy delicious this little snack is!

You seriously have to try them to believe it yourself, but the crunch, the texture, and the taste make this a treat that even your kids will love.

These leaves lay flat when you are baking them.

First, start with the “Dinosaur Kale” variety. The leaves are flat (as opposed to it’s curly counterpart), which make it easy to lay out on the cookie sheet.

Kids LOVE veggies with cool names!

1. Wash the Kale leaves, then remove the thick stems (not that the stems aren’t delicious, too. If you want, you can actually chop the stems up and saute them in a little olive oil, garlic, and onions….)
2. Lightly coat the Kale leaves in a little olive oil. I like to throw them in a big ziploc or a big bowl, add a Tbl of oil, then churn the kale around with my hands until it’s completely coated
3. Use a spray oil on the cookie sheets, lay the Kale out on the cookie sheet, and then sprinkle lightly with sea salt.
4. Bake at 350 for anywhere between 9-15 minutes.

Timing is everything here. If you take them out too soon, it won’t have that crunch, but if you leave them in too long, it can burn.

One client who couldn’t get her kids to eat greens to save their life, now finds her kids begging for more!

Question for the day:

Do you have a great veggie recipe that you and your family love? Share it below!

“There are no shortcuts to any place worth going.”
- Beverly Sills

I’ll admit it…I love shortcuts and quick fixes. Cliff notes saved me in high school literature classes. : )

But the truth is anything I want out of life that matters most to me takes my attention, focus, drive, and energy to get what I want. And it goes without saying, that all the above apply when you want to improve your fitness, health, and waist line.

I’ve been talking to a lot of past members this month. People who absolutely love our training program, but for one reason or another, they decided to call it off. I decided to reconnect with many of them over the course of this month to ask how they have been, and to inquire about their health, fitness, and weight loss goals.

It’s been great to reconnect, but the one thing I keep hearing from our past clients is how they’ve “fallen off the wagon” and are so bummed to be “starting over again”. This above everything really bums me out, but the story is the same over and over again. See if you can relate:

You see some success (as there is no way you can’t see success with our training programs…but that’s a whole other story…), you get excited about your success, and then all of the sudden, your fitness, nutrition, and weight loss goals that were so incredibly important to you only a few months ago, fall by the wayside to all those other “more important” things.

Why?

Well, usually for very good reasons. The reasons I’ve heard this week have to do with new jobs, stressful jobs, late work days (which makes it hard to make to their 6am training session), family activities, or basically just “too much on their plate”. (AKA: STRESS!)

Trust me. I know. Ever since I turned my idea of running a “fun boot camp class” in to a full blown business, I can’t believe how much time I spend stressed out, sitting on my bum, in front of a computer, and even worse…making excuses to miss my training sessions.

Me! I’m fitness professional! So if this is hard for me, I imagine you might be having a hard time, too!

But lets go back to the top of the article: “There are no shortcuts to anyplace worth going.

And yes, my friends, this includes your health and fitness. The truth of the matter is that when you are taking care of yourself, consistently making it to your fitness training sessions, and taking care of your nutrition, then you have positioned yourself to handle all the stressors of life with ease.

Once your workouts fall off, then it seems that everything else slowly starts to fall apart. And then the next thing you know you’re getting a phone call from me to find out what’s going on!

Take this moment today, on MOTIVATION MONDAY, to dig deep and ask yourself what’s been stopping you from taking care of yourself? What’s been keeping you from your training sessions that give you relentless energy to conquer the stressors in your life?

It’s the start of your week. How can you reconnect right now to what matters most?

I’ll see you out there!

Audra

Ps…if it’s been awhile since you’ve been on a consistent workout program, we have numerous times and days each week in Los Gatos, Gilroy, and Willow Glen. All you have to do show up. It’s that easy.

QUESTION FOR THE DAY:

HOW HAVE YOU “FALLEN OFF THE WAGON” LATELY AND WHAT WILL YOU DO TO GET BACK ON? Check out MY ANSWER below!

We are all so sad to have one of our Los Gatos 6am “die-hard boot camper’s”, Beth Morse move to San Antonio.

Now….I’m a Texas girl myself…

And San Antonio is not a bad place to end up (just wait till you experience the River Walk and tubing down Guadalupe in New Braunfels…you’ll be happy), but I’m just being selfish right now and am just plain bummed out to see our Beth go.

MY STORY:

Beth founds us (thank you Susan Freiman) last June. During Beth’s first month, she was having lots of problems with her knees, struggling, and as an instructor, I was scared that last June was going to be the only month that saw her. But, July rolled around and she was still there. And then August rolled around and she was still there! unannounced to me, Beth was totally addicted to Boot Camp.

HER STORY:

Okay…don’t get mad. I literally just flew into town today and am planning time to meet with Beth to interview her! I really want you to hear her story of what I can see, has been a life changing year with Red Shift Fitness. Again…I’m not going to talk for her. Stay tuned to this blog and she will share all her juicy stories.

YOUR STORY:

Do you have a story you want to share? Let me help you not be shy about this. Here at Red Shift, we are trying to do something very big, one person at a time. When you’ve had success and you share your experience, you are literally ‘paying it forward’ to the next person sitting there reading this, who is living in a bad space, wanting and wishing to change their life and focus on the ultimate, their health. They are wondering if they, too could be successful, and when you share your story, you give other people the hope and inspiration they need to get out of their comfort zone and into living the best life they can.

If you have a story, share it down below on this blog. You have the capacity to change someones life for the better, right now.

Boot Camp sounds like such a great workout…but I have to get in shape before I go.

Yes. This is what I heard last week when I was teaching the Wednesday 6pm training session. My long time client, friend, and Red Shift Boot Camp member Diane, was telling me the story of her friend that she’s trying to get to join her in Boot Camp.

I couldn’t believe my ears! But then again…I guess I could.

A lot of people have the misconception of what Boot camp is all about. The words “boot camp” already put a little fear in people with its militant background. Thoughts of drill sergeants with whistles screaming and pushing might go through your head. But I can tell you: Our Program is the antithesis of this mentality.

START AT YOUR OWN PACE

Seriously…our Programs are designed for you to start exactly where you are right now, today. The fitness levels in our camps range dramatically. We have members who have never exercised a day in their life! Honestly, when I hear someone say “they have to get in shape before joining camp,” it makes no logical sense.

AMAZING COACHES

Our Coaches are degreed and certified professionals! They are well equipped to modify the workouts, and more than that, we get to know you. Knowing your strengths and weaknesses, we know exactly the best way to push your limits and when to back off. We offer an extremely positive and supportive environment, and you will feel it from day one…even if you are a beginner! You’re essentially getting a highly trained and qualified personal trainer who knows you, but in a dynamic group setting that feeds off everyone’s energy. It doesn’t get better than that!

WE HAVE FUN!

Seriously…I don’t know how people workout at a gym. The stale air closed in space, and boring routines. Even if you are working with a trainer, it’s so easy to get stuck in rut. Our Red Shift Camps are inspiring, energizing, never boring, and always a blast. It makes it A LOT easier to sweat and work hard when you are having fun.

COMRADERY

This kind of folds in to the “We Have Fun” category above. Once you get into Camp, you will see that even compared to other camps (trust me …our members who have tried other companies are quick to share…) our members are awesome. Everyone is supporting everyone else. There are no ego’s here, just tons of fun, and a great way to meet like-minded, health conscious friends like yourself! Some of our Campers met in camp, and ended up vacationing together! How cool is that?

Okay, folks…there you have it! If you have any friends who are on the fence about giving our kick-butt boot camp program a try, remind them of the above points, or even better, send them to this page and let them see it for themselves!

Remember, we roll out the red carpet for your friend. Get them here and we will take care of them!