Hi friends!
Here is your weekly Tri-Tip Tuesday, sharing our current thoughts on food, fitness, & travel. Please forward this to others if you think they may be inspired.
Food: #1 recipe for hitting protein at breakfast
Breakfast, or the first meal of your day no matter what time it is, is the most important meal to hit your protein goal. I recommend hitting 30-50 grams of protein at each meal, especially breakfast. Your exact numbers per meal will depend on your age, body size, goals, protein source, and how many meals you eat per day.
Hitting protein goals at breakfast will help trigger muscle protein synthesis, manage your blood sugar, keep you satisfied, keep afternoon/nighttime cravings away, help your mood, and help hit total daily protein goals.
People often tend to have low protein at breakfast due to traditional "breakfast foods" being low in protein and high in carbs, such as oatmeal with fruit, for example. I treat breakfast like any other meal and get my protein from foods like chicken, beef, and pork.
But let's be honest, cooking up meat at 6 am isn't very sexy. Nor do people have time for it. Having prepped protein will help you beat this obstacle.
One of my most popular recipes of all time is my Turkey Sausage Patty recipe. This recipe is fantastic because you:
- cook once and have leftover patties to eat throughout the week. Or, mix up the patties and freeze raw so it is quick to cook at mealtime.
- get that "breakfasty" feeling. Especially when served with eggs.
- use quality protein. Having easy recipes that you enjoy helps you stay away from low-quality, ultra-processed breakfast meats.
- rotate between ground turkey, chicken, or pork, for a variety of nutrients and to keep food boredom at bay.
- save money when you purchase your meat in bulk. Buying plain, ground turkey in bulk gives you flexibility. Use it for your breakfast patties, tacos, turkey burgers, meatballs, and more.
- have a grab-and-go option, which is so important for breakfast! Making the patties into 2 or 3-ounce patties lets you know exactly how many patties you need to hit your goals. No weighing, or measuring during a busy morning. Pay attention to the protein content of your nutrition label of your cut of meat. To hit 40 grams of protein, you may need anywhere from to 5-8 ounces (ballpark) depending on how lean your source is.
- can easily double or triple the recipe, which I recommend, especially if you are sharing with family members.
- can save time and cook as "crumbles" rather than patties. This will add variety to your menu and can be a faster option for food prepping. If you portion it out into individual food containers you can still have the advantage of grab and go.
- mix up a big batch of the spice mix. I use a 1/4 cup in place of a teaspoon and mix up a big container all at once. Then, I use about 25 grams per pound of meat. I use my food scale so I don't have to wash a measuring spoon (I do this often). Or, two tablespoons per pound will do the trick.
Enjoy!
Fitness: time your rest periods
One common mistake that I see by people who are new to strength training, is that they don't time out their rest periods in between sets. This is especially the case when people are coming from a world of doing lots of cardio.
The cardio mindset is that you must keep your heart rate up, your body moving, and your breath near panting, to be effective. This is just not the case when it comes to effective strength training and muscle building.
Typically, if your goal is to develop your muscles (hypertrophy training), you are advised to rest 30-90 seconds between sets. I usually prescribe my clients 45-60 seconds of rest.
I highly encourage you to use a timer. If you try to guess it, especially if just starting out, you could be resting way under, way over, or a combination of both.
If you rest way under, you are not giving your muscles enough time to recover before going back to another working set. Rest between sets should allow enough recovery to reintroduce the stimulus while maintaining good form. This is important so that you have intensity at each set. If you go to the next set too soon, you won't have any gas in the tank to have an effective next set. If you continue to do this, you won't see results.
If you are over-resting, you may not be optimally working out to reach your goals. A rest period of 2-5 minutes is used for powerlifters, who are lifting so heavy that they are performing low reps, such as 1-5. Generally speaking, most people aren't lifting this heavy during their home workouts. Over-resting can also really drag out the overall time of your workout. You may end up cutting it short due to time, and you won't get your full workout in.
Depending on your goals, you can shorten or lengthen your rest intervals for the best result.
If you're curious about what other common mistakes I see, read them here.
Travel: 35 pounds of meat into Canada
Aaron and I crossed into Canada a couple of days ago, and our border crossing went smoothly!
We've heard a variety of different experiences crossing into Canada while talking to fellow RVers. Some people go right in and don't have any issues. Others report having their RV inspected and certain belongings confiscated. One thing most people agree on is that it is much harder to cross back into the US than it is to cross into Canada.
I did my research and used the Government of Canada rules listed on their website, to make sure I complied with the requirements. I was surprised to see how lenient the food allowances are!
I wanted to pack my freezer with enough quality protein for our stay. You know I love my pasture-raised, regeneratively-raised meat! It wouldn't be the end of the world if I had to go without it, but my concern was I didn't want to pack it in the freezer (in compliance with their rules), only to have it confiscated, and lose the money.
The good news is that we made it across the border smoothly. 35 pounds of meat came in our freezer, and a week's worth of fresh fruits and vegetables came in our refrigerator. We did make sure all food was sealed in the original packages, clearly labeled with what it is, where it was produced, and the weight of each package, per the Canadian guidelines.
We have officially made our Keys to Canada trek, and Canada is off to a great start, eh!?
Make it a great week!
Christine Irene
NASM-CPT, Senior Fitness Specialist, Precision Nutrition Pn1 + Pn2 Certified, & Avid Traveler
"When setting out on a journey never seek advice from those who have never left home." - RUMI
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