Lunchbox Series: Shrimp & Corn Summer Salad

While we are busy with TechWeek Chicago Launch our friends at ELM Street Nutrition have a post for you!

I highly recommend making a homemade lunch at least half of the week. Not only will you save a lot of money, you will likely save many calories and enjoy a more nutritious meal. One of my go-to packed lunches in warm weather is a summer salad. It’s easy to assemble, highly customizable, and you can include virtually every food group in one meal.

However, If you’re anything like me, you think the actual lettuce part of a salad is the most boring part. I always feel obligated to include lettuce in my salads, but I’m never really that happy about it. I also enjoy cold pasta salads, but am often disappointed in the lack of vegetables and other add-ins that are included. Enter my Shrimp & Corn Summer Salad. In each bite you will get some pasta and some greens, but neither dominates the meal. It’s delicious and refreshing, and will keep you energized throughout the entire afternoon. Try making this recipe soon, and let me know what you think!

Shrimp and Corn Summer Salad

Serves 4 – Great for leftovers!

Salad Ingredients:

2 swiss chard leaves, stalk removed, and sliced finely

1 red bell pepper, diced

2 cobs of yellow summer corn, kernels removed from the cob

2 cups of dry pasta – I used quinoa pasta

1 cup of  small fresh mozzarella balls, halved

2 cups of frozen cooked & deveined shrimp, defrosted

Dressing Ingredients

1/2 lemon, juiced

4 TBSP extra virgin olive oil

2 TBSP red wine vinegar

Salt & pepper

Directions

Combine first 3 salad ingredients, raw, in a large bowl. Cook pasta according to directions, drain, and pour into bowl. The warm pasta will cook the vegetables just slightly to soften. Pour in dressing to taste, mix, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Add in shrimp and mozzarella, stir again, add more dressing if needed. Eat immediately, or even better, refrigerate for even longer to let the flavors come together. Lasts in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Healthy tip: When you bring your own lunch to work, don’t get stuck at your desk all day! Walk around the block for 15-20 mins before or after eating.

Food & Fitness: Mix it up

A guest post by our friends at ELM Street Nutrition

If it is a possibility for you, I encourage you to incorporate as much variation throughout each month when it comes to both food and fitness.

I often fall into a rut when it comes to food. It becomes too easy to eat the same breakfasts, lunches, and dinners throughout the week…especially when I am short on time. While this is certainly fine because I am fueling my body with nutrient dense foods, I often just go through the motions when it comes to eating, and realize I’m not actually enjoying the plate in front of me. We also benefit much more from eating the widest variety of foods in order to soak up the full range of nutrients available to us.

The same goes for fitness – when we fall into workout routines over the long run, our fitness level plateaus. In order to continue to increase fitness levels and get the maximum benefits from the sweat we put in, it’s important to mix it up and keep our bodies guessing.

Have fun with trying new fitness and foods! Not only will you decrease boredom and burnout, but your body will thank you too. Summer is a perfect time for this.

Some seasonal food & fitness variations I am looking forward to this summer:

1. Grilling – Anything and everything on the grill just tastes better. Even simple veggies and fruits like corn on the cob, pineapple slices, and portobello mushrooms.

2. SUSHI – I crave sushi when it’s hot out. My newest favorite maki roll includes Yellowfin tuna, avocado, jalapeno, and mango. Swap in brown rice, and pair with some steamed edamame and a bowl of juicy cherries.

3. Eat more fresh fruit – Watermelon,strawberries, and cherries never tasted so good.

4. Try a new fitness class – If you are lucky enough to live in a city like Chicago where there are TONS of workout studios, make it your mission to take new classes. Next up on my list: Revolution Spinning in Evanston. So many fun looking spin options!

5. Join a summer sports league! I am loving Monday night basketball with the Chicago Sport and Social Club. With refs and real rules, it feels like I'm right back in high school…almost.

6. Get those around you pumped to try new foods and workouts too. A support system is crucial and highly effective for creating sustainable change. Cook a new nutritious recipe with a friend. Kick off a healthy summer with your co-workers through an in-office workout session with our friends over at Healthify.

7. Take your workout outside! Soak up that Vitamin D and fresh air. I absolutely love running in the summer time and enjoy exploring new routes. Trail running anyone?

Kenny Chesney Concert

Ever been to a large outdoor tailgating event and felt like this guy?

Well I was back home in Pittsburgh this weekend for one of my favorite country music stars', Kenny Chesney, annual outdoor tailgate party . And what a weekend it was. It's always great to meet up with my old high school buddies and enjoy the hot weather by the river. But staying healthy while having fun? Now there is a challenge. Here are a few of my tips on how to conquer a great weekend at the tailgate.

1. WATER. You will hear me say this one over and over again, but water really is key. Almost every bad thing you do to your body is helped by drinking more water. And guess what, standing outside in the 90 degree heat drinking beer is going to dehydrate you (even if it is coors lite...). This weekend was as hot as any, and good thing we planned ahead and brought a few gallons of of water to the tailgate. Keep your friends hydrated and happy!

2. Bring something fresh for eating. While of course there will be hotdogs, hamburgers and chips, what's wrong with a little watermelon or strawberries? Even better, impress your friends and make something creative involving alcohol and fruit. At least the fruit part will be healthy!

3. Move your body! It's nice out, it's a great place to run around and catch a few footballs. And when the concert starts...DANCE! Get up and have some fun! This is the best way to burn off some of those extra calories at concert and it's fun.

$$$ cost of your bad habits

Every wondered how much money those bad habits of yours are costing? Well check out this article from BankRate. It gives a some very clear and almost scary details of the overall financial damage your bad habits are causing. The top three healthwise are smoking, drinking and unhealthy eating.

Smoking
Yearly cost of $2,555
Compounded over 30 years: $201,994

Drinking
Yearly Cost of $1,560
Compounded over 30 years: $123,331

Eating Unhealthy Food
Yearly Cost: $432 to $4,879
Compounded over 30 years: $34,153 to $385,725

So what to do? Because you are looking at the next 30 years you need to make small incremental changes. The biggest move is to quit smoking...and while difficult will probably make the largest health and financial impact in your life. The second move is to simply have a drink or two less a week. This will cut your calories and spending fairly significantly. And, come on, do you really need that extra rum and coke to have fun? The last is to cut back on unhealthy foods. Again it's always better to do things in moderation.

Healthy Executives

I just read this article from Business Insider about 14 tech execs who could probably kick my butt. It made think of how companies build corporate culture around athletic activities. It also made me realize how this kind of culture is built from the top down. At the bank I used to work for we had a yearly ice hockey game against another division. Granted I worked on trading floor, this was one the most competitive sporting events I had ever seen!

But what this event really did was give us a reason to practice hockey and stay in shape so we could take down that other division. This team bonding and group training helped us overall and was driven mainly by our leaders, who happened to be former college hockey players. But overall this top down athletic event created a culture of health and wellness at my company that was completely unintentional and awesome. Even the non hockey players picked up on this and started to plan other competitive things like 3 on 3 basketball tournaments or 5k challenges.

These are all great things you can start doing for your company right now! But what you need to do is have it be driven by a manager who simply wants to stay healthy and play a sport. So find a manager who enjoys playing some sport and start organizing your own in office challenges! Or call us at Healthify and we'll help you to organize some on site fitness events!

Entrepreneurs Unplugged Pitch Event 6/18/2013

Another great event in the Chicago startup world last night. This one featured two companies trying to healthify you and your children's life through two completely different means.










First up was Julie Bashkin of  Klutch Club. Her company sends you health wellness and personal care boxes in the mail. The boxes come with a range of new healthy products and her passion was really in finding the small innovators in the healthy food business and helping these new companies grow their brands through her box distribution.











Following Julie was Chris Conn of MightyNest. I've hear Chris speak several times before at Kellogg events, but his stories and passion are always great. His major point of the night was "There is no reason to wait for your 'LIFE IS SHORT!' moment to start living" He spoke of how his children were the true passion behind his business and then gave several very insightful tips about how to work with a spouse as a cofounder. The most important was work stays at work, that is no talking about it at home. But back to his healthy company. The company sells safe natural and good products to be around children and adults. They are basically healthifying Bed Bath and Beyond.

The new office!

Today was Healthify's first day in the new office! We got in early, 10am is early for the startup word...And got a tour of our new home at Enerspace! First impression? Love it! The place has many great features for a startup like us. First of all they have their own yoga studio! Right in the office area!

We will definitely be using the space for our instructors to practice our new version of office yoga and other on site fitness activities. Best part of this coworking space is that they have their own changing rooms and a "spa-like shower." This is perfect for those of us that have given up on early morning workouts (read burned myself out in college swimming at 5am) and like to go for a mid afternoon jog.

Also there are a bunch of great lunch places right around the corner. Today we hit up an italian sub shop around that had this monstrosity sitting on their counter. While we considered purchasing the 10 lb cannoli, and it would have been mighty tasty, it didn't really seem to fit with the motto of our company, "Building a healthier, more productive workplace today" 

After work we have another great event through Entrepreneurs Unplugged. It should be fun to hear the founder of KlutchClub speak and hopefully we can work out some new partnerships! #makingmoves

Founders Institute Graduation

Great event tonight watching the Founders Institute(FI) graduation. The night kicked off with a good description of how FI guides entrepreneurs and their young companies from idea formation into launch. The Keynote speaker,  adjunct professor Howard Tullman at Kellogg, had some great points about being successful in this space. I will have to take a class from him next semester!

His first major points were on why concepts fail, with the most pivotal being they simply fail to meet customers needs! This is why we also focus on customer discovery first and then build the company around what the customer wants.

After this he went into getting the "Yes" from investors. The major point of this part of the presentation was that your team is very important. You need to surround yourself with successful people and find a way to motivate them through strong leadership.

After the Keynote we moved onto the pitches and were able to hear our own Colleen pitch the Healthify idea!

Overall the night was a great look into the future of some fantastic Chicago based startup companies.

Healthy Vacation Eating

It's always tough to stay healthy on vacation. This past weekend was no different for me as I visited my grandparents house down in Florida. Here are 3 tips to help you along the way!

1. Grab some fresh summer fruit!

There are few things as delicious and refreshing as watermelon on a hot summer day by the pool or beach. Grab a chunk, slice it up and bring it outside for all your friends to enjoy. It is a perfect substitute for that extra cookie or cupcake, and is definitely more refreshing!

2. Go for a walk on the beach. In the hot summer sun, you'll be burn more calories just walking around and sweating because you aren't used to this type of weather. I know I was melting as soon as I stepped outside, silly Chicago weather does not prepare you for Florida... On your walk be sure to take a lot of water! Dasani is always a good choice!

3. Try something new! If you're by the ocean, why not get some fresh seafood? At a local restaurant for lunch we avoided those deliciously mile high stacked nachos and instead got some fresh shrimp. Seafood is always a good choice

Keep it Simple: The Freezer

A guest post from our friends over at ELM Street Nutrition!

Life gets pretty busy these days, it’s true. Have no fear, a jam packed schedule need not sabotage your diet. ELM Street Nutrition will arm you with the most effective tools & tricks in the kitchen to enjoy a tasty and wholesome meal within 30 minutes from prep to table.

One first piece of advice: make use of your freezer. Think beyond processed frozen foods and ice cream here (no shame). Instead, maintain a freezer stocked with frozen produce and proteins to be assembled into satisfying meals and snacks in a jiffy.

Added bonuses for frozen produce in particular?

1). Cut down on waste! You don't have to worry about the produce going bad before your household has a chance to eat it.
2). Nutritional benefits! Frozen produce is picked at the peak of its ripeness and frozen immediately, preserving the majority of the nutritional value.

Favorite frozen produce:

Bananas (peeled, and split in half): Great for smoothies
Strawberries & blueberries: Also great for smoothies, and when de-thawed, tasty additions to oatmeal and cold breakfast cereals
Spinach – incredibly versatile (i.e. added to scrambled eggs, mixed into rice & quinoa, added to main dishes)
Mixed veggies – add vegetables to any meal in a pinch
Pearl onions – quickly saute with garlic and olive oil for a flavor punch
And for fun, some favorite proteins to keep on hand in the freezer:
Shrimp: a super fast addition to main dishes and salads
Chicken cutlets: forgot to defrost chicken for dinner? not an issue, these both defrost and cook in no time

Healthy Father's Day Gifts

As we all know, or now know because I am telling you, fathers day is a week from today!

So what do get that special dad in your life, cause obviously your Dad is better than everyone elses Dad. I read this article and it got me thinking of great healthy gifts to give pops. Some cool stuff on there, like the pebble watch. Now fathers day gifts are always tricky because I am much more tech savvy then my Dad and always want to get him the new hott tech fitness gadget. Unfortunately most will go unused because they are things I think are awesome, not things he thinks are awesome. But number 6 stuck out to me.

Golf Sense! The basic idea is that you attach it to your glove, take some swings and it shows you 3D imaging of your golf swing. A perfect gift for a dad because they love golf and anything that encourages more healthy activity is win all around. Good thing he doesn't blog so he won't know what i'm getting him!

Farmers Market Fun

Each weekend the local hotel in Evanston gives up their parking lot for all the local farms to sell their produce. I try to make it every week because everything is fresh and local and muuuuuuuuch cheaper than your local Whole Foods. It's also a great way to get some healthy food for the week's meals. I usually pick a few meals i'm going to make and try to complement the protein with some fresh vegetables from the market such as sweet potatoes, mushrooms or blueberries. Here are some of my top two picks for the week:

It is strawberry season and these are some of the freshest best strawberries I have every. Chances the carton lasts a week? 0%

Snap Peas are always a good call. Great to cook with and easy to make, or just eat em raw.

Heat up your diet!

Now I have never been a fan of diets. Not because I don't want to lose weight or be in shape, but because I LOVE sugar and salty foods. Diets would restrict me from eating these...So what do I do? Firstly I eat them in moderation, and by moderation I mean small quantities. Today I read an article on 12 sneaky ways to slim down your diet

There 12 points are interesting but one in particular stuck out to me. Fat trap 4: Adding hot sauce to everything. This is a problem for me, because I absolutely love Franks Red Hot!!!

In college I literally bought it by the gallon and put it on EVERYTHING. But back in those days I was working out 4 hours a day for swimming, so the extra salt and calories were probably helping me. But now as a real person, the extra sodium isn't so good. So what to do? Well they offer a few suggestions such as crushed red pepper, which I also love, and fresh peppers. 

Makes sense, you can get the spicy kick and avoid the extra salt along with adding in some fresh vegetables to your diet. They also suggest Tabasco, which has much less salt.

Spice up your food, but do it in more healthy way!

Drink more water!

Freshman year of high school my swim coach started to all but require us to drink about two nalgenes of water during the day. Now this was the year 2000 before the whole healthy eating, drink lots of water craze had started to catch on. We did very little else that was healthy, read mcdonalds breakfast after a 3 hr saturday morning swim...but made sure to drink that water.

Bottom left is my State Championship banner

Now 13 years later I just read this article talking about how to maximize your life to burn more fat faster. Along with many new ideas such as raising your iron levels or drinking more green tea, right smack in there is DRINK MORE WATER. They make an interesting point that if you drink 17 ounces of water, or two glasses, quickly your body will respond by increasing your metabolic rate by 30%. Don't understand what that means? Basically your body will burn calories processing that water. What does this have to do with you? Well if you're sitting at a desk at work right now, stand up, walk over to the water cooler and crush a cup of water! You will not only feel better, but you'll burn some calories too!

Break all your healthy rules?

Ever have one of those weekends? You know, all your friends are there, burgers are grilling, drinks are flowing, and the dance party is about to get started. Problem is after weeks of healthy eating and living, you crack, you break your healthy ways and binge on far too much unhealthy food and drinks.

This past weekend was my 5 year college reunion. and YES it was one of those weekend...and YES it was the greatest weekend ever! But as you get back from your weekend of fun and enjoying life, how do you get back on track? Here are my tips and tricks to get back to being healthy and help your body recover for the workweek ahead:

Alumni Stadium

Here are my top 5 tips on the road back to being healthy!

1. Drink a lot of water. And by a lot, I mean A LOOOOOT! The number one thing you body needs to do to recover is to hydrate.

2. Get some exercise. Wake you body up and go for a 30 minute jog. It will change your life. Even if it's just a short walk outside, getting moving will help your body break up those pesky free radicals.

3. Get to bed early, your body needs rest (duh...)

4. For the next 7 days focus on eating as many colorful vegetables as possible. Get your body back on the wagon!

5. Don't give up on your diet or healthy ways because you broke down! In finance we call this a "sunk cost." It's something that has happened and you cannot do anything about. The only thing you can do is focus on the future and be happy! So don't worry about it, remember the good times and focus on the coming week!