When I first started Excuse Proof Fitness, I surveyed a group of people to see what their biggest challenge was to getting in and staying in shape. It probably won’t come as a surprise that the thing that came up the most was not enough time.
The first hurdle to overcome here is recognizing that you’ll never “have” time since it’s intangible. Instead, you manage what you do with your activities. You ALWAYS find time for what’s important to you. If getting a drop dead sexy body matters enough, you’re going to find the time.
The issue is that most people think getting ripped means spending 45+ minutes on a treadmill in addition to resistance training. This is the slow, boring, and downright less effective way to do things. With the right routine, you only need 25 minutes a day and you’ll see dramatic transformations in a matter of weeks.
25 Minute Workouts
The most popular 25 minute workout routine is Focus T-25 which is run by Shaun T, the trainer in Insanity. I just did one of these workouts the other day and it’s no joke. There’s very little rest between exercises, but the movements vary enough that it’s not overwhelming.
The pros of this workout is that you can get incredible results in only 25 minutes a day. The downside is that some of the moves require more coordination and it will take a little getting used to. Shaun tends to incorporate more rhythmic elements in his routines which, even for coordinated people like myself, have a learning curve.
Watch the video to learn more:
Getting Started
To get started on Focus T-25, you have two options which both include complementary coaching and group support from myself as I’m a Beachbody coach.
The first is to get the workout program and get your breakfast included for 30 days with Shakeology, the ultimate superfood shake which is what I take daily. I recommend this because not only will you get a greater discount, but I’ll offer personal one on one email coaching for anyone that orders here.
Another option for those who don’t want to take advantage of the special deal and health benefits of a superfood shake is to get the program by itself here.
Kale chips are quite possibly the most addicting and healthiest snack that you can enjoy. For those not familiar with kale, it is a leafy green cruciferous vegetable that is in the same family as broccoli, cauliflower, and brussels sprouts. Research has shown this family of vegetables is filled with cancer fighting and health promoting compounds. There’s just one problem with kale… like many other leafy greens and cruciferous vegetables, it can be quite bitter and unpleasant for picky eaters who don’t naturally love their greens.
But my taste bud’s disregard for this vegetable changed after I first discovered kale chips. I picked up a bag of dehydrated raw kale chips in a health food store knowing its nutritional value, but having no clue what it was going to taste like.
I was in for a surprise! I couldn’t believe that something like kale, which I personally find to be quite bitter, could taste so great. In fact, they were equally as addicting as an potato chips if no more so. Except that you could eat a whole bag and actually feel good about it.
The only problem with kale chips from the store is that they are quite expensive. Usually a $4-7 for a small bag around 2-4 ounces. So naturally, I had to figure out how a budget conscious person could enjoy this awesome treat. With a little research and personal experimentation, I’ve uncovered what I believe are some of the best kale chip recipes that anyone can make.
Kale Chips Recipes
Basic Kale Chip Recipe:
The basic recipe for kale chips that you see in most recipe books and videos is a simple combination of kale, salt, and olive oil.
Remove kale leaves from their stems.
Coat with extra virgin olive oil (I prefer coconut oil).
Top with salt.
Bake on a baking tray for 10-15 minutes at 350 degrees.
Derek’s Kale Chips:
In the video below, I will show you how I personally make kale chips.
You’ll notice I prefer not to drizzle in olive oil as I don’t like cooking with olive oil. You may however drizzle with some coconut oil, melted butter, or melted ghee. Simply put kale in a bowl, drizzle the oil, and then mix around with hands or utensils.
Separate kale from stems or use pre-packaged kale leaves.
Add curry powder, garlic powder, unrefined salt, and cayenne pepper to taste.
Bake for 40-50 minutes at 200 degrees or 10-15 minutes at 350 degrees.
Brenda Leigh Turner’s Kale Chips Recipe
Brenda Leigh Turner of leansecrets.com shares her recipe for kale chips which I’ve found to be one of the absolute best on YouTube. Be sure to check out her Lean Secrets Youtube Channel which has tons of great recipes, healthy eating tips, and workout advice. Although it’s primarily aimed at women, her recipes are really great for anyone.
One of the biggest challenges I hear people face is genuinely being motivated to eat a healthier diet, but struggling because they’re so busy with work, family, school, or other commitments.
Even if someone does have the time, unless they absolutely love cooking, chances are they’d rather be spending that time elsewhere. This is a big reason so many people end up giving up on a healthy lifestyle and settle for fast food meals, microwave dinners, and all forms of processed foods.
Luckily, when you know the right strategies, eating whole food meals can actually be faster, cheaper, and even better tasting than the processed “fast food” options. In college, I developed some super secret “ninja” strategies for eating healthy on a busy schedule.
You’re about to discover some of my favorite techniques for eating well when you have little to no spare time, but the key thing is not to get too caught up in the specific recipes. Rather, take the concepts and apply them in your own way with the foods and recipes you personally enjoy. I encourage you to mix it up, try new things, and then leave a comment at the bottom with some of your favorite quick and healthy recipes.
The “Secret Weapon” For Fast Meals
The most effective way I’ve found for eating healthy on a busy schedule is to use a slow-cooker, also known as a crock-pot. This handy kitchen device is largely responsible for getting me all through college without needing to rely on fast food.
I know the idea of using a slow cooker, which takes 4-8 hours to cook a meal, seems like the exact opposite thing you’d want to use when in a hurry. But bear with me and you’ll see why this is exactly what you need.
A slow cooker is great for busy people because it allows you to:
Cook in bulk so you can prepare several days worth of food at a time.
Set it and forget it so you can cook while you’re asleep, at work, or just going on about your day.
Make just about any kind of great tasting healthy recipe.
Watch and learn how to prepare meals fast (in only 5 minutes) in a slow-cooker.
Fast and Healthy Slow Cooker Curry
1-2 pounds of chicken breast
2 cups bagged mixed vegetables
2 cups of kale
1 can of unsweetened canned coconut milk (available in ethnic food section)
2 tablespoons curry powder
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 onion
Add chicken and vegetables to slow cooker. Chop onion and then blend onion with coconut milk and spices in a blender. Top chicken and vegetables with sauce. Cook on high for 3-4 hours or low for 6-8 hours.
Here’s another tasty crock-pot recipe:
Quick Crockpot Beef Stew
2lbs of stew beef
1 peeled onion
1 1/2 cups beef broth or water
1 cup baby carrots
5 small red potatoes halved
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons Italian seasoning or Onion soup mix
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
Combine ingredients and cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours.
The real take home point here is that you can come home, toss a few things in a crock-pot, go to sleep, and then not have to worry about cooking anything more for the next couple of days because you have so much food leftover. Obviously if you’re cooking for a family (or have roomates that eat your food) it may not last as long. But even with only 5 minutes invested for a days worth of food, that beats out a drive-thru in terms of speed.
It goes without saying, but the one draw-back of using a slow-cooker is that you have to be prepared. It doesn’t work as well for situations where you’re in a pinch and need something now, so keep reading to find out my strategies for that.
Healthier Quick Meal Ideas
Let’s say you don’t have any food prepared and you need to eat something ASAP. Here are a few healthy meals that can be made in 3-5 minutes.
Cottage cheese or kefir with berries
Canned black beans and salsa
Protein powder plus almond flour – For on the go. Add these to a shaker cup and add water when ready to eat.
Eggs with curry powder, salsa, and coconut oil
Pre-cooked Rice and Tuna – Top with whatever dressing you want. No cook time makes this super fast.
Snack Ideas
Don’t need a full meal or watching your calorie intake? Try these quick fix healthy snacks.
Fruit and dried fruit
Nuts and seeds like almonds, pistachios, or walnuts
Quinoa is a grain-like seed that was prized by the Incas as being the “mother of all grains.” That should say something about how great it is! You’ve probably started to hear more about this food in recent times due to its growing popularity for being gluten-free, high in protein, and potentially delicious when prepared right. This makes quinoa and excellent addition to anyone’s diet whether they want to lose weight, add muscle, or just improve their health by reducing the consumption of “lesser” grains like wheat and substituting them with quinoa.
So you want to build more muscle and are getting tired of chicken breasts and brown rice? Don’t worry. I’ve got you covered with 3 super quick and easy recipes that are not only going to help pack on slabs of muscle, but they taste absolutely frickin’ amazing. They are also fairly “idiot-proof,” so even if you don’t know much about cooking, you’ll find it pretty hard to screw these up.
Recipe #1 – Bodybuilder’s Slow Cooker Pineapple Chili
Directions:
Why It’s Awesome:
A quick and easy chili recipe is essential for any bodybuilder. Whereas many chili recipes may call for 15-20 minutes of prep time, this can be made in around 5 minutes. I usually just toss the ingredients in a slow cooker before bed, let it cook while I sleep, and then wake up to several days worth of chili.
Bodybuilders need tons of calories, and there’s no easier way to get those calories than by tossing everything together in a pot and then cooking a delicious meal that can be taken on the go and warmed up whenever you’re ready. If you want to add even more calories, you can add some more meat for additional protein and fat. You can also add some organic red potatoes, additional rice (add water in 1:2 ratio of rice to water), and some more beans.
Recipe #2 – Pumpkin Pie Protein Shake
Ingredients:
1/2 cup Unsweetened Coconut Milk (Available in ethnic/Asian food section of grocery stores)
1 cup Canned Pumpkin Puree (Available in baking section of grocery stores)
1-2 scoops protein powder with either 6-12 oz of water, milk, or almond milk
2 tablespoons of honey and/or blackstrap molasses (or 1 tablespoon of powdered stevia)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1 oz chopped walnuts (optional)
Directions:
Blend all ingredients in a blender. You may use either honey, blackstrap molasses, or a 50/50 mixture of each for a total of 2 tablespoons or desired sweetness.
Why It’s Awesome:
Who doesn’t love pumpkin pie? And what’s the best part of a pumpkin pie? The filling! You’ll swear you’re eating straight pumpkin pie filling with this quick and easy pumpkin pie protein shake.
While a protein shakes’ convenience is a life saver for people in a hurry, but the problem is they’re mostly treated as a supplement rather than a meal in itself. We can add a few things to make an ordinary protein shake an extraordinary muscle building meal.
Pumpkin is one of the most nutritionally rich foods and is very high in fiber. So by adding pumpkin to the protein shake, it will be much more filling and give you a lot more nutritional than just protein powder and water.
The coconut milk is a great source of healthy fat including medium chain triglycerides which actually boosts the metabolism and keep you burning fat. Including coconut fats in your diet is a great way to ensure you’re building muscle without adding too much body fat.
Blackstrap molasses provides tons of minerals including chromium which aids in blood sugar balance. Proper blood sugar regulation is essential for adding muscle and preventing fat gain. Studies have shown cinnamon also aids in promoting blood sugar which resulted in more muscle and less fat.
Want to kick it up with even more calories? Trying adding some applesauce and oats for additional carbohydrates.
Recipe #3 – Homemade Protein Fudge Bars (Non-Cook)
Ingredients:
8 scoops chocolate protein powder
1 cup oatmeal
1/3 cup natural peanut butter
3 tbsp honey
1/2 cup 1% milk
3 tbsp crushed peanuts
Directions:
1. Mix together the protein powder, oatmeal, peanut butter, honey and milk.
2. Form into 5 bars and then roll in the crushed peanuts to finish.
3. Place in the fridge for about 30-45 mins or until solid
Most store bought protein bars are crap. Some low quality protein, a ton of sugar, and the one’s that actually taste good are usually pretty horrible in terms of tons of added crap you probably don’t need to be putting into your body. But this recipe is quick, easy, and affordable.
Dave’s got a ton of great recipes specifically for bodybuilders. He’s compiled them all in both his Anabolic Cooking product which you can check out here:
This is one of my favorite quick and healthy recipes. While you can make this on a stove top if you prefer, the slow-cooker allows you to simply dump the ingredients in, set it for the time you want, and then go on about your business (sleeping, working, etc.) for several hours until the chili is ready.
What You’ll Need For The Chili
Ingredients:
2lbs of ground or “stew” lean meat (beef, chicken, turkey, bison, etc.)
1 can of black beans
1 can of kidney beans
½ cup of organic brown rice
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 cup water
3 cups V8 or similar vegetable juice
Spices and Flavors:
Chili Powder 2 tablespoons – Up to you how much
1 tsp of each:
Oregano, Basil, Sage, and Thyme. Or just use an Italian seasoning mix.
Optional: 1 tablespoon minced garlic.
20 oz canned pineapples.
Slow Cooker
I highly recommend using a slow-cooker aka crock-pot with an automatic shut-off for convenience. It is quite literally the best kitchen device you can ever own. Here are some good options if you don’t already own one:
How To Make The Crazy Quick Crockpot Chili Recipe
Recipe:
Add ground lean meat to slow cooker, separate with a fork, and add seasonings. (Don’t worry about chopping up too much, you can separate it easier after cooking)
Add in ½ cup of dry organic brown rice.
Add in 1 cup of water or as much as desired.
Open and drain canned beans, add to mix.
Add in a cup of pre-sliced mushrooms as well as any other desired vegetables from a bag.
Add in various spices and garlic to taste.
Mix in up to 3-4 cups of V8 or similar vegetable juice and stir. Alternative: 1 28oz can of diced tomatoes.
Cook on high for 3-4 hours or low for 6-8 hours.
When finished, taste and add additional spices if desired. You can add 20 oz canned diced pineapples to really kick up the flavor.
It doesn’t get much easier (or tastier) than this!
Getting Raw Greens To Taste Great
I have a confession… I HATE raw dark leafy greens like spinach. Despite their numerous health benefits, I had the hardest time finding a way to make greens like spinach taste good.
If I decided to cook spinach, I’d end up with a slimy nasty mess. And if I kept it raw and made a big salad, it was time consuming, boring, and something I would have to force myself to eat.
So what’s a health fanatic to do? Well, I developed a super ninja tactic that turns any leafy green like spinach into a downright delicious meal, all in about a minute. Using this technique, I’ve unlocked the secret of how to make spinach taste great and I actually look forward to chowing down on a bunch of greens.
Granted, I may just be weird for not liking spinach and perhaps you love raw greens. But either way, when you learn how to make any healthy food like spinach taste better, you’re far more likely to eat healthier on a regular basis.
But before we get to the recipe, let’s cover briefly why you should be making an effort to get a crap-ton more dark greens and spinach into your diet.
Health Benefits of Spinach and Dark Leafy Greens
Chlorophyll – Chlorophyll, the pigment that give greens their green color, is a wonder compound all in its own. Chlorophyll can increase the production and quality of red blood cells, has been associated with reduction in cancer, it prevents free radical damage (aging), detoxifies heavy metals, helps fight infection, provides magnesium, and does more than could possibly be listed here. All-in-all, eat more greens!
Cancer Protective – The abundant flavonoids in spinach have been linked to protecting against cancer. Leafy greens are some of the most powerful cancer fighting foods on the planet.
Nutrient Dense – Spinach and other leafy greens are constantly ranked as some of the most nutrient dense foods on the planet. That means you get a lot of nutrition without a lot of calories. This is particularly important for fat loss as the fiber in these greens can fill you up while the vitamins and minerals can nourish you so you don’t feel deprived even if you’re eating less calories.
Bone Strength – Spinach is one of the richest sources of vitamin K which works to keep the bones strong.
Quick and Easy Sixty Second Spinach Salad Recipe
See video above for the basic run-down of how to make the salad.
The basic recipe is as follows:
Ingredients:
6-8oz of leafy greens, spinach was used in this video
1/2 teaspoon of unrefined salt
Toppings of choice (dried fruit, berries, garlic, chopped cucumber, etc.)
Dressing of choice (coconut oil, extra virgin olive oil, vinegar, dried spices, salsa, etc.)
Directions:
1. Add a pinch of salt to spinach and crush down with your hands.
2. Add toppings as desired. In the video, I use salsa, dried “Italian spices,” and a little bit of curry powder.
3. Mix the wet toppings like the salsa with the spinach and enjoy!
This recipe is great not only because it improves the flavor of the spinach, but also because it condenses it down into a much smaller size making it easy to eat quickly. Now you can easily get in 8 – 16 ounces of spinach in a single sitting or all in a matter of about 5 minutes. Try to eat a regular spinach salad with a pound of spinach and see how long it takes you!
Variations of The Sixty Second Salad
1. Use Kale, Romaine Lettuce, or any other dark leafy green in place of spinach.
2. Add coconut oil for enhanced fat loss.
3. Use healthy homemade sauces like greek yoghurt combined with onion soup mix for a “onion spinach dip.”
4. Get creative and add in whatever spices, flavorings, and sauces you can think of.
As a special free gift to my readers, Dave Ruel and Karine Losier has provided a free pdf ebook with 7 great fat loss cooking tricks to download including some great home-made salad dressings to use on the sixty second spinach salad. Just right-click this link or the image and save to your computer.
Women are often searching for the best ab exercises and workouts because nothing highlights a physique more than a well-defined core. If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed with all the information out there, don’t worry. I’m going to give you the absolute best exercises that can be done right at home for a midsection guaranteed to turn some heads.
Despite all the information out there on how to train the abs, most people still end up going about it all wrong. When the abs are trained the right way, you can easily sculpt a defined stomach in a matter of only 15 minutes of exercise a week. In order to do that though, we have to sort through all the nonsense and BS out there about how to exercise the core, and get to what really works.
You’re about to learn:
1. Why endless crunches are not the answer to getting great abs.
2. Why dancers, gymnasts, and fitness models have some of the best abs and how you can use their secrets.
3. The true cause of stubborn belly fat and how to get rid of it to show off your great abs.
Warning: Not responsible if these workouts make your abs so sexy others start to become jealous.
The Ab Training Mistakes Almost Every Woman Makes
Mistake 1 : Endless Crunches
The most common mistake women make when training the abs is to simply focus on crunches, and perhaps a few other crunching type movements. While I won’t argue that crunches are moderately effective, there’s two big problems.
Problem 1 – Potentially Harmful
Dr. Stuart McGill has extensively studied the effects of crunches on the spine and the results aren’t pretty. Excessive flexion movements (like crunches) can damage and weaken the spine and cause lower back problems. Now while this isn’t an issue in small doses, think about the hundreds and thousands of crunches some women do! This can get ugly over time and lead to some pretty nasty problems down the road.
Problem 2 – Better Options
There are numerous ab exercises (no ridiculous infomercial product required) that recruit the abdominal muscles far more than the standard crunch. The problem with only focusing on crunches and flexion type movements is that they don’t train the core to do one of its most important jobs which is to stabilize the body. That means, to resist movement with the core rather than create it.
Mistake 2 : Not Training Intensely Or With Variation
Dancers and gymnasts don’t get their great abs from doing crunches, they do a variety of movements that incorporate stabilizer muscles to keep the body tight, and then they constantly challenge themselves with more and more difficult movements.
That means exercises like planks and their variations can be some of the absolute best exercises you can do. Also, rather than simply increasing the reps or hold time on a particular exercise, strive to move on to more difficult versions of an exercise. This also makes things more fun. Don’t worry, the abs won’t “bulk up” from doing high strength moves because their natural shape and function doesn’t lend them to getting “bulky.”
The Best Home Ab Workout Exercises
Lying Leg Lift Exercise
Super Secret Tip: Most women have a posture with more anterior pelvic tilt, and this keeps their lower back off the ground during this exercise. Actively push the lower back into the ground (where you can’t slide your hand under your lower back) and feel how much more intense this exercise becomes! If it’s too difficult, you may bend the legs until you become stronger.
The Plank Exercise
If you only do one core exercise, do this! Make sure to keep the body straight and prevent the hips from dropping too low or sticking them up high. Start from your knees if too difficult.
The Side Plank Exercise
The Reverse Plank Exercise
This is intense! Work your way up to this one if you need to.
The V Sit Up Exercise
Bonus: The Glute Bridge Exercise
It’s important to train the glutes as well as the core to keep the body in balance and prevent lower back problems. While glute training is a whole other issue, this is the number one recommended exercise. Do it one-legged once you develop the proper strength.
A Killer At Home Ab Workout Routine
These two workouts are some of the best at home ab workouts for women that can possibly be done. Don’t let their simplicity fool you though, it’s about intensity. You don’t need 20 different ab exercises, or adding in 5 days of yoga and Pilates a week to get a great core. Simply focus on a few basics for a while and really get good at them, and then eventually you can switch things up just to keep from getting bored.
Two Day A Week Ab Workout Routine:
Day 1:
Lying Leg Raises: 3 sets of 15-20 reps
Plank: As many sets as need for 120 seconds hold
Side Planks: 60 seconds each side hold (as many sets as needed to total 60 seconds)
Glute Bridge: 2 sets of 20 reps
Day 2:
V-Sit Ups: 3 sets of 15-20 reps
Reverse Plank: As many sets as need for 60 seconds hold time
Side Planks: 60 seconds each side hold (as many sets as needed to total 60 seconds)
Glute Bridge: As many sets as needed to hold top for 120 seconds
Rest as little as possible between sets, start with 1-2 minutes or as much as needed.
Dealing With Stubborn Belly Flab
Getting great abs doesn’t mean a whole lot if there’s body fat covering them up. No matter how many ab exercises you do, that won’t do a whole lot to burn the fat that’s on TOP of your abs.
What’s the cause of stubborn stomach fat?
There are two causes, one is simply all around excess fat. This shouldn’t be much of a surprise. A solid healthy eating program that is designed to rapidly burn fat like the Diet Solution or any other good eating program will work to take care of this. You can also check out my post on making quick healthy meals for some healthy eating tips.
A second cause is a hormone called cortisol. Excess cortisol can promote extra fat storage in the abdominal area which is very difficult to get rid of if stress levels are high.
The solution is to manage stress. The book the Sedona Method was really for myself for stress management as well as the Heartmath Solution.
Also, the herb ashwaghanda is really beneficial (very inexpensive as well and great for overall health) for balancing cortisol levels and it’s my “secret weapon” for stubborn stomach fat.
I created a free guide with all of my best tips and tricks for burning stubborn fat that you can download now for free here.
Reader Comments
What are you favorite ab exercises or routines you can do at home?
I adopted the phrase “excuse proof” for several important reasons.
First of all I wanted people to know that there were solutions out there that were essentially “excuse proof.”
I don’t have enough time to eat healthy…
Nonsense
Solution: I’ll show you how to cook healthy meals in less time than it takes you to walk out to your car to drive to the nearest fast food place or pick up the phone and order take out.
I can’t afford a gym membership so I’ll never get in shape… Continue reading →
When it comes to getting fit and sexy, there’s some debate as to what is more important: diet or exercise.
Here’s a mind-blower, they’re both important.
With regards to immediate fat loss or fat gain, diet can have a bigger impact.
That being said, for adjusting the body’s fat “set-point,” getting results quickly, “shaping” the body, maintaining a lean sexy physique, and improving overall health and longevity, exercise is vitally important.
That’s because vigorous intense exercise not only burns fat (and glycogen) for energy, but it also increases the body’s metabolism throughout the day.
