Fitness & Wellness

Which Kettlebells Are The Best For You?

Published by superadmin on December 5, 2020 | Leave a response

Kettlebells have taken the fitness industry by storm. They’ve been around for a long time, but in the past ten years, have become some of the most important tools for building muscle and losing weight. Why are they good? It’s all about their center of gravity. It’s about six to eight inches beyond your hand. Your core muscles are forced to work harder to keep you stable, thus burning more calories, build strong muscles and providing functional fitness in the process. Functional fitness is the type of fitness that helps prepare your body for everyday tasks, like lifting a bag of groceries or picking up something off the floor.

What types of kettlebells are available.

As kettlebells become more popular, there are more options from which to choose. Some are adjustable, some are the traditional cast iron with others that have a vinyl coating. There are competition kettlebells and ones that you use for any type of training. The competition kettlebells have a smaller handle diameter, regulated dimensions and a required handle alignment with the bottom of the kettlebell. If you’re just starting out and don’t think you’re ever going to compete, you don’t need this type of kettlebell.

It’s all about the grip.

Before you buy, grip the handle. Is the handle extremely thick? If your fingers don’t wrap around it completely, you need to find a different one. The extra effort to hold on can tire out your forearms, stopping before you finish your workout. A handle that’s too narrow is also bad. One problem with competition kettlebells is that they’re made for just the width of one hand. When you’re using kettlebells as part of a workout, there are a lot of two handed exercises that are beneficial. Make sure both hands can fit on the handle.

Identify the size of kettlebell you need.

The stronger you are, the heavier the kettlebell. The more knowledge you have of form and more advanced movements you do, the heavier the kettlebell. 17lbs is a great way to start for most women to learn basic moves. Once that’s done, work up to 26 pounds for two hand swings and ultimately 35 pounds for advanced moves. For men, starting at 26 pounds and working up first to 35 pounds and then to 53 pounds is the normal progression.

Make sure your kettlebell handle has a smooth grip that doesn’t have burrs or roughness. Those can cause nicks in the skin and hurt your hand in swings.
While vinyl coating can help prevent floor scratches and feel smooth, they can also be slippery and the vinyl can wear, leaving rough edges.
The body of the kettlebell shouldn’t be completely round. It should have a flat bottom but not a plastic addition with feet that can gouge your arm in a swing.
At Iron Fit, we make sure that you have the right type and size of kettlebell for your level of fitness and experience.

For more information, contact us today at Iron Fit San Antonio

Posted in Fitness & Wellness

Fun Ways To Improve Your Fitness

Published by superadmin on November 25, 2020 | Leave a response

If you’re dreading going to the gym and just hate the same old thing each time, you may be going to the wrong gym or working out on your own. There are fun ways to improve your fitness and some do involve working out at the gym. Have you ever tried working out with kettlebells or tried circuit training? There are so many programs available that can change boredom to fun.

Try different types of classes.

I love watching the people in our boot camps. There’s so much camaraderie and friendship that it’s just fun to see. People who workout at our boot camps get all the benefits of having a personal trainer, but at a fraction of the price, since everyone pays for the trainer’s time. I watch them cheer each other on to success and even challenge one another to work even harder. Many of the boot camps are outdoors, so they’re even more invigorating. People often make new friends at boot camps.

CrossFit is another extremely social workout that makes it fun.

People either love CrossFit or hate it. It’s extremely social, which makes it more fun. If you love going out dancing in a place with a crowd, you’ll probably love cross-training. Each session is different and some say it’s almost magical to get with a group and go all out in a new fitness routine each session. Just like boot camp, the more people doing it, the more energy permeates the room.

Take up a hobby or avocation that’s active.

If you love dancing, go dancing once a week or take up a dance class. Play racket ball, tennis or go for a long brisk walk. You can shoot hoops with the kids and do it on a regular basis, but keep the game going and get a good workout while you do. Whatever you enjoy doing, just do it. Make it part of your workout regimen. If you want, use your time at the gym as a way to get you into better shape for your fun avocation.

Unless you’re working toward a competition ready body, you don’t have to be dedicated to a workout program every time you exercise. Some of your exercise can be doing fun things. Go to the beach that has a dunes and climb the sand dunes several times or hike uneven woodsy terrain.
Have you ever wanted to learn self-defense? Martial arts or boxing as an avocation may be an option. I love teaching kettlebell swings and have many students who love learning them.
Combine household tasks with your workout program and get two things done at once. Create a list of things to do each week that involve physical exertion, like washing windows or raking. Then do them vigorously.
Go to the playground and workout on the equipment. It’s even better if you go with the kids and get them active or make it a couples night.

For more information, contact us today at IronFit San Antonio

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Why You Should Time Your Workouts

Published by superadmin on November 15, 2020 | Leave a response

You might be tempted to workout longer to get faster results or to skip a few minutes and get out of the gym quicker, but both will cause you to do a disservice to yourself. There’s a sweet spot where you have the perfect amount of time to get the benefits you want, but not so much time that you work to the point of injury. When you time your workouts, it helps you identify the time spent at the gym that’s wasted. You may be walking around, visiting with others or simply spending way too much time between sets resting.

Spending more time doesn’t mean better results.

Do you feel like you’re living at the gym? That isn’t necessarily a good thing. Your body needs some down time, particularly if you’re doing a tough workout. Not only do you need to take a break so your body can heal if you’re working on strength building, you need to take a break to avoid stressing yourself. Even though you workout to get rid of stress hormones, a tough workout actually stresses the body. It can affect the immune system for up to 72 hours if you’re pushing hard, so give your body a day or two after a hard workout to repair itself.

Measure your intensity by body signs and adjust your time based on the intensity.

If you’re doing moderate exercise, you need to put in more time. Aim for 150 to 300 minutes of moderate exercise each week, but cut that in half for intense exercise. Judge the moderate exercise by whether you break a sweat and how fast your heart is beating. If you can talk easily and sing, you need to get more intense to be considered moderate. If you’re able to talk, but not sing, it’s moderate. If you can barely gasp out a few words, that’s an intense workout. If your workout is constantly at high intensity, pare back your time a bit, compared to a moderate pace.

You can overwork to the point of illness or other symptoms.

Overworking at the gym can cause problems that affect your mood and your physical health. If you’ve ever watched someone right before they got sick and ran a fever, you’ll see the same symptoms. You might get irritable, depressed or even angry for no reason. If you’re overworking, your immune system won’t function as well. You’ll find you’re getting sick more frequently and feel exhausted more of the time. If you see these symptoms, check your workout schedule to make sure you’re not over doing it. You can get too much of a good thing.

The benefit comes from the actual time you workout, not how much time you spend at the gym. If you’re using the sauna, spending time showering and hitting a juice bar or visiting, that doesn’t count as workout time. Time only the exercise and not the breaks.
Always focus on intensity, especially if you’re doing strength training. One way to shorten your time is to vary the intensity. High intensity interval training—HIIT—can cut your workout time and is easy to do. Just vary the intensity between high intensity and a recovery pace.
If you prefer a more accurate way to judge whether you’re working out too much, get a heart rate monitor. If your heart rate increases suddenly, back off a bit. Your body is under too much stress.
For those who haunt the gym, hoping that strength training for hours a day will give them the bulging muscles they want, think again. Doing strength training too often and not giving muscles a chance to heal and rest can actually cause a loss of muscle tissue.

For more information, contact us today at IronFit San Antonio

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Good Exercise Routines For Beginners

Published by superadmin on November 5, 2020 | Leave a response

I get a lot of people at Iron Fit in San Antonio, Texas, who are either starting a workout program after a long break from exercise or never had one. They prefer getting exercise routines for beginners designed especially for them, but there are some simple workouts or exercise routines you can do on your own if you’re not sure you’re ready to start at a gym or don’t have access to a personal trainer. Don’t put off your exercise program because you aren’t sure where to start.

Do something, it’s better than nothing, but don’t overdo.

I like to tell people to “slide” into exercise. Start by walking if you’re really out of shape. Any type of exercise is better than just sitting in a chair. Begin with a daily walk. If you’re not fit enough for a half hour walk, take three brisk ten minute walks throughout the day. You don’t have to go outside, just make a path through your home and repeat the path for ten minutes. Ride a bike if you’re able. Start making more active choices, such as using the stairs, instead of an elevator or parking further from a store. The key is to take it relatively easy at first until you start feeling stronger and more ready to tackle a workout.

Start a program that addresses all types of fitness.

You need strength, endurance, flexibility and balance to be truly fit. Therefore, you need exercises of all types in your workout. Flexibility training, or stretching, should be part of every workout. Most people use stretches as a warm up or cool down, to either warm the muscles or maximize the flexibility at the end, while muscles are warm. Endurance training can be done three times a day and can be anything from running, bike riding to doing a workout as interval training. As you get fitter, increase intensity. Start with half hour sessions and add to it if you must.

Choose some simple bodyweight exercises for strength training.

You can modify this workout based on your fitness level by doubling the number of reps or number of sets. Start with 10 squats, move to 5 push-ups followed by 10 walking lunges—5 on each leg, 5 dumbbell rows—use soup cans or water bottles, a 15-second plank and finish with 15 jumping jacks. Watch your form and always start any workout with a warm-up and follow with a cool down. Alternate strength training days with cardio days, doing flexibility training each session.

Change your workout to a High Intensity Interval Workout—HIIT—or just regular circuit training to combine all types of workouts, cardio, strength, flexibility and balance into one. You’ll burn more calories.
You don’t have to have gym equipment. A water bottle or soup can will substitute as dumbbells. A detergent or milk jug can be a kettlebell or weight. Stairs can provide cardio. Use a chair for dips or a filled backpack to add a challenge.
Go slowly at first and focus on form. Having the proper form is extremely important. Once you have the form down, increase your intensity and number of reps.
Be consistent. Do at least a half hour of exercise every day, even if you have to break it into three ten minute sessions. Schedule your workout at the same time each day.\

For more information, contact us today at IronFit San Antonio

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How To Prevent Sore Muscles

Published by superadmin on October 25, 2020 | Leave a response

If you find you’re sore after a workout, it might be normal. In fact, that achy mild soreness may be showing you that you’ve made the effort and it worked. However, more serious types of soreness that prevent you from working out and even moving hurts, can be avoided. You can prevent sore muscles like that by taking certain precautions. It’s worth taking the extra steps to keep you comfortably in the gym.

There are two different types of pain after a workout.

Immediate muscle soreness and delayed onset muscle soreness—DOMS are two different types of pain. The first comes from lactic acid build-up and goes away quickly. DOMS starts slowly and builds to peak at 24 to 72 hours. It occurs because of micro-tears in the muscle tissue. You can have both. One way to avoid them is to gradually increase your intensity, rather than try to do everything at once.

Start your workout with dynamic stretches and end with static stretches.

You need to prepare your muscles for a workout to avoid injuries that cause pain. The best way to start is with dynamic stretches. Those are warm up exercises that involve mildly moving muscles and joints. Arm circles, walking lunges and walking knee to chest are a few. It helps increase blood flow and heat to the area and loosens the tendons and muscles. It improves range of motion and gets the muscles ready for the workout. Doing static stretching is best after a workout, during cool down. Not only does it improve range of motion, it boosts muscle recovery and help prevent pain and stiffness. Both help prevent lactic acid build-up and DOMS.

Your form is important for pain prevention.

Knowing the proper form and ensuring your form is perfect is one sure way to prevent pain. Doing an exercise improperly can increase the potential for injury. If you’re lifting wrong, you may be engaging a smaller muscle group to do the work and those muscles aren’t meant for it. Do every exercise with precision. Take your workout slower at first until you conquer form. It’s important to your safety.

Don’t forget to hydrate afterward. Staying hydrated can help prevent the onset of muscle soreness from lactic acid build up. It helps flush the system of lactic acid, speeds the recovery process and lubricates the joints.
Drink a cup of caffeinated coffee before the workout. Studies show that a cup could reduce the post-workout pain by as much as 50%.
Stay active. If you have mild pain, you’ll find that getting active can actually help. It aids in increasing circulation and helps heal muscle tissue as it takes away toxins that build up in the muscles. Cut down on intensity if you have more severe pain.
Don’t ignore pain if you have pain that lasts longer than five to seven days or you have problems breathing, weakness and dizziness with it. See a physician in those cases. DOMS should clear up in a week or less and immediate pain should be better the next day.

For more information, contact Iron Fit today!

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Home Gym Essential Equipment

Published by superadmin on October 15, 2020 | Leave a response

When gyms closed due to the quarantine in San Antonio, Texas, it interrupted the progress people were making on their fitness program. While we hope there’s never another shutdown, I’ve created a list of home gym essential equipment for those days coming to the gym is impossible. I’ve tried to focus on keeping the items affordable. The first on the list is a simple jump rope. You can find them everywhere, and they cost less than $20 in most cases. Jumping rope is a great cardio workout and can be used as part of interval training.

Kettlebells are great for core strength and a total body workout.

The uneven distribution of weight of kettlebells make them good for increasing core strength, overall strength, flexibility, coordination and balance. They burn tons of calories, melting fat quickly and replacing it with lean muscle tissue. You do need a larger area to workout, free from objects that could get in the way of a swing, and also some training, which we provide. This workout equipment doesn’t take much storage space and can provide a quicker, more effective workout.

The true take everywhere type of fitness equipment is the resistance bands.

Not only are these bands super versatile, they’re also easy to take with you on vacations and extremely inexpensive. There are all types of bands, so finding the best ones for your workout is important. Some of the bands even come with an instruction booklet or DVD that shows you various exercises to use. They help you to focus on specific areas, use stabilizing muscles, are lightweight and meant for compound exercises that derive the most benefit.

Mounted pull-up bars can give you a head start.

I know some people that have their own pull-up bar at home, so they can build the strength before they try it in the gym. It’s not necessary, since nobody will judge you, but if it makes you feel better to get ready at home, that’s okay, too. Some doorway pull-up bars can be used it in the air for chin-ups or push-ups or put it on the ground for a tricep dip or push up. There are potential hazards if used improperly, so a wall-mounted pull-up bar may be a better option. There are mobile wall-mounted options available. Find the one that is best for you, making certain to check for safety and proper installation and use.

You can add a TRX home fit system to your list if you want to get the most out of some body exercises. You can do exercises with the TRX that you can’t do with any other type of equipment. There are some limitations and you do have to know how to use them correctly.
Use your own furniture. Do you hate moving furniture around to clean or rearrange it? Make that part of your workout. Not only will you have a new look to your super clean room, you’ll build strength in the process. Lift something heavy. That’s a good thing.
Don’t forget the old standby at the gym, the dumbbell. You use them at the gym and that makes it easier to use them at home. Prices vary, but you can get them for about $1 to $4 per pound, so a five pound dumbbell would cost between five and twenty dollars.
Don’t forget bodyweight exercises either. For those, make sure you have a good yoga mat for comfort or if you want to take your workout to the outside.

For more information, contact Iron Fit today!

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How To Eat Healthy In College

Published by superadmin on October 5, 2020 | Leave a response

There’s a wealth of studies that show people put on weight their first year of college. It can be quite an ego blow, but also bad for your health. In order to avoid it, you need to eat healthy in college. While eating healthier isn’t difficult, you have to understand what healthy eating is before you can do it. Healthy eating means avoiding sugar as much as possible. Eating food in the most natural state and free from additives. Choose ones that have a maximum of five ingredients. Stick with fruits and vegetables and choose whole grains over their bleached, processed ones. Whole grains contain all the nutrients from the bran and the germ.

Choose a meal plan and use it wisely.

Make smart choices, like heading to the salad bar first and loading up on fresh fruits and vegetables. Go for options that are grilled or steamed instead of fried. Limit desserts to once a week or opt for fresh fruit as your dessert option. Even if you can go back for seconds, it doesn’t mean you need to do it. Don’t stuff yourself. Opt for a healthy breakfast like eggs and whole wheat toast, rather than the empty calories of a sugary cereal.

When buying food look for those high in nutrition and lower in cost.

Eggs are a good start to the day and provide a lot of protein at a lower cost, so do beans. Buy the bagged dry beans or canned beans. They both store easily. Rice is a great partner with beans. Choose brown rice over white rice for the most nutrition and fewer calories. If you want a quick meal or a great snack, apples and peanut butter are high on both lists. Choose peanut butter that has only peanuts and/or salt as the ingredients and avoid those that contain sugar and additives. Avocados may contain fat, but it’s healthy fat and keeps you feeling full.

Going out to eat doesn’t mean you have to give up all fun foods.

Choose food that’s grilled, not fried. Opt for salads to go with your meal. Fill up on a salad before you dig into the pizza. Choose a veggie pizza, rather than those with processed meat. It’s lower in calories and healthier. Choose a baked potato over a fries and skip the sour cream and all the extras. Just add a pat of butter instead. Are you a taco lover? Ask for more lettuce and tomatoes and less cheese or meat.

Instead of slugging down soft drinks or beer, switch to plain old water. Not only does it hydrate you better, it can actually give you an energy boost and save calories. It’s also healthier for you.
Shop and cook as a team. If you’re on a limited budget, get the benefit of teamwork and bulk buying to help everyone save and create great meals. Create a plan to cook twice a week, assigning different members the job.
Buy fresh vegetables and fruit and make them serving ready. Chop celery and carrots, cut melons into bite size squares for a quick snack.
Make air popped or homemade microwave popcorn that’s 137 calories or less. Mix ½ cup unpopped popcorn and a tsp of oil together in a small bowl. Put in a brown paper lunch bag and fold the top. Microwave on full power for two to three minutes until the popping slows.

For more information, contact Iron Fit today!

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What Exactly Is A HIIT Workout?

Published by superadmin on September 25, 2020 | Leave a response

We get fast results at Iron Fit in San Antonio, Texas, because we use the most modern and beneficial workouts available. A HIIT workout is one of those techniques. HIIT stands for high intensity interval training and it can be used with any type of exercise. It uses the technique of varying from 100% effort where the heart rate is high, for a short time, then alternating to a recovery rate that’s less intense for the same amount of time or more. After the resting state, the person exercising goes back to the high intensity mode, bouncing back and forth between the two until all the sets are completed. Recovery increases the oxygen burned and creates a situation known as afterburn.

Afterburn is the effect that occurs after a tough workout and it comes from switching intensities.

Another name for afterburn is EPOC—Excess Post-Exercise Oxygen Consumption. The high intensity portion of the workout burns a huge amount of calories, more than any steady state workout could. EPOC also causes more calories to be burned, but it’s during the recovery period. If you tried, you couldn’t give 100% for very long to burn more calories, but by switching between high and recovery intensity, you get the maximum burn from the high intensity portion and a higher number of calories burned during recovery.

Besides burning calories, you’ll also boost your metabolism.

The body has its own built in repair shop. After a tough workout, that repair shop goes into action. It works hard to get the body back to normal oxygen levels, remove lactic acid build and repair muscle tissue by boosting its metabolism for as long as 58 hours after you finish a workout. You’ll be burning more calories a day after working out using HIIT, even if you don’t exercise at all. It’s all part of how the body heals itself and gets back to normal.

Because of the high calorie burning nature and huge benefits of HIIT, you’ll save time.

You can use the technique with any workout and reduce the workout time. In fact, thirty minutes of HIIT workouts is equal to an hour of steady-state exercise. You don’t have to have fancy equipment. You can use bodyweight workouts, combine it with strength building workouts or even use it in your walking program. For beginners and those seriously out of shape, just changing your pace from walking at top speed to a slower recovery pace and back to top speed, can boost your benefits.

There’s no set time to go at top speed or at recovery speed. Some people use a ratio of 1:1, one minute of high intensity to one minute of recovery. Others may need a longer recovery, such as 1:2 or more. It’s all based on your present level of fitness, the exercise, and your ability.
If you use the HIIT technique with strength training, you get the benefit of both. You can even modify the workout to include flexibility training into the mix.
If you have joint problems, low impact exercises are best for you. You can combine low impact workouts, like swimming, with HIIT training.
We use other time saving, calorie burning techniques that can help you achieve more progress in less time at Iron Fit. Kettlebell workouts, for instance, are burn high amounts of calories, provide a full body workout and work on all types of fitness, strength, endurance, flexibility, and balance.

For more information, contact us today at Iron Fit San Antonio

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Good Quarantine Workouts

Published by superadmin on September 15, 2020 | Leave a response

We’re prepared to provide a safe workout in a clean, sanitized environment at Iron Fit, but realized that there’s a need for workouts you don’t have to do in a gym, whether they’re quarantine workouts or those done when you have to stay at home, or are on the road without gym equipment to use. People who are most susceptible to the virus, may also avoid coming into any gym, not just ours. It’s easy to understand, but those are the same people that need the benefits of exercise the most. There are some exercise techniques you can use at home that will help you get or stay in shape until you can come to the gym.

You don’t need weights; you have the equipment with you all the time with bodyweight workouts.

Calisthenics and bodyweight exercises got people in shape long before there was any fancy equipment. It’s still used by the military for training and the elite special forces. You can do them at home and once you learn the basic moves, vary the basics to increase the difficulty or work other muscle groups. Pull ups, lunges, push-ups, and squats are a few types of bodyweight exercises. You can do knee bent push-ups if you’re a beginner, go to regular ones and advance to fingertip push-ups. Adjust the width of your arms and you’ll work chest muscles harder, but a pike push-up works the shoulders more. The versatility is almost unlimited with bodyweight exercises.

Modify how you do calisthenics or a bodyweight workout by using HIIT—high intensity interval training.

This training technique isn’t necessarily a workout, but a way to do any type of exercise. Whether you’re walking, running, lifting weights, or doing bodyweight exercises, you can use the HIIT technique. It involves giving 100% intensity for a short period and then for an equal amount of time go at a less intense recovery pace. You use your heart rate as a guide, when it’s at anywhere from 70-90% of maximum, it’s at high intensity, at 60-65% it’s at resting. You’ll get more benefit from a HIIT workout in less time and burn a lot of calories.

Use inexpensive, easy to store equipment to add to your workout.

If you’re bored with bodyweight workouts or calisthenics, there are some simple aids you can use to make your workout more interesting. Dumbbells, a door frame pull-up bar, a jump rope, resistance bands and a balance ball can be added to your home gym without costing a fortune, while also taking very little room. You can even use everyday items to substitute as weights, such as soup cans or water bottles filled with sand or water to provide the right amount of weight.

Get outside and enjoy Mother Nature. If you have a backyard, use it as your gym. The fresh air and sunshine are good for you. If you live in an area with no yard, go to the calisthenics park or fitness station to workout. Just walking can be excellent exercise for beginners.
You don’t need a stair stepper machine if you have more than one story in your home. Just use the real steps for a stair stepper workout.
If you’re working from home, take a break every fifty-five minutes and do jumping jacks or other exercise to get you moving. Studies show you could lose all your benefits of working out by sitting for longer than an hour.
Schedule your workouts if you’re working out at home, just as you would if you weren’t shut in. Consistency is important. Include bedtime and wake-up time, meals, and workouts in your schedule to give you a sense of continuity and make it more likely you’ll stick with your workout.

For more information, contact us today at Iron Fit San Antonio

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Best Freezer Meals For Meal Prep

Published by superadmin on September 5, 2020 | Leave a response

There are so many reasons to do meal prep, where you plan your meals, make them in one day and have them ready to heat and serve at the end of the day. One of those is that it makes it easier to eat healthy at home, rather than go through a drive through or fill up on junk food or processed ready-made high calorie dishes, like frozen dinners. It’s especially true when you have freezer meals for meal prep already in your freezer. It’s as easy as making extra for a few weeks, giving you a weekend or two off when you need it.

Vegetarian chili made with sweet potatoes and black bean freezes well and is delicious.

Heat oil in a dutch oven over medium high heat and add 2 medium sweet potatoes, diced, and peeled and 2 large onions. Cook about 4 minutes to soften. Add seasoning, including 8 minced garlic cloves, 4 tbsp chili powder, 6 tsp ground cumin, a teaspoon ground chipotle chili pepper and 1 tsp of salt, cooking for 30 seconds to blend flavor. Add 5 cups of water, cover, and simmer for about 12 minutes. Add four-15 oz cans of rinsed black beans, two-14 oz cans of diced tomatoes, 2 ½ tbsp lime juice and a cup of fresh, chopped cilantro. Bring to boil over high heat and lower to simmer for five minutes, stirring constantly. It can be frozen for three months. A two cup serving has 323 calories.

Go Italian with this recipe that’s delicious yet only 257 calories for one serving.

This recipe makes four servings. Line the bottom of an 8-inch square pan evenly with a 15-ounce can of drained diced tomatoes. Cut two large skinless, boneless chicken breasts horizontally and season with salt and pepper or salt substitute, such as Mrs. Dash and put on top of the tomatoes. Spread on 2 tablespoons of homemade or real pesto sauce that contains just basil, garlic, pine nuts, Parmesan or Romano cheeses, and extra virgin olive oil on each chicken piece. Sprinkle with ½ C mozzarella cheese. Freeze and when you’re ready to use thaw in the refrigerator the night before, then sit at room temperature for 20 minutes and bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

Make a stir fry pack.

You can pack all ingredients together when you make shrimp stir-fry, because it doesn’t take as long to cook as other protein sources. You’ll also need a mixture of chopped up a red bell pepper, snap peas, thinly sliced carrots, broccoli, thinly sliced green onion, snow peas, mushrooms, bean sprouts or shredded cabbage, or any veggies you want, the more, the better. Sauté shrimp in stir fry sauce. You can make a healthy option or search for a healthy store bought option. Use about three and a half tbsp per pound of shrimp and mix in a large bowl. Place that mixture in a plastic bag and top with all the vegetables you’ve chosen. Freeze until you’re ready to stir fry. Just heat the skillet to medium high and cook about 8-10 minutes until all ingredients are cooked. It stays good for a month.

No all soup freezes well. Soups with pasta and rice can come out of the freezer mushy. Dairy based soups often separate when frozen. Soup with large chunks of potatoes also don’t fare well in the freezer.
If you make poultry or meat dishes, do several recipes at once so nothing goes to waste. The bones from a chicken make a great bone broth that’s extremely healthy and you can create everything from healthy wings to jerk chicken.
For homemade stir-fry sauce combine a ½ C of each, low sodium soy and chicken broth, ¼ C cashew butter, 1-tsp each toasted sesame oil and rice vinegar, 1-tbsp maple syrup, 2 ½ inches of grated ginger, 3-4 minced garlic cloves, 1 tbsp cornstarch or arrowroot and pepper flakes.
When cooking meat, cook extra and cut up in small bite size amounts to thaw and top salads or reheat and serve on rice.

For more information, contact us today at Iron Fit San Antonio

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