Doctor Designed Fun & Effective Fitness

Hey Power Girl,

Last week was a tough week in my house hold. My brother came home with his report card. Let me tell you my parents were aghast!

His marks were not where they needed to be by a long shot!!!!

You see, my brother is in grade 11 and he only has one year to boost his marks up, until he applies to University.

His University of choice is really tough to get in to.

He needs an 87 average in order to apply. It is a really competitive program.

Now please do not get me wrong, my brother is crazy smart; he just did not use his time wisely.

Education is all a matter of working hard and giving it your all, 100% of the time, no matter what the circumstances may be!

As a matter of fact, everything you do should be done to the best of your ability. Anything less than 100% effort will yield a less than 100% result.

According to this theory my brother must have slept through a quarter of his classes.

My brother is an excellent football player and has a great passion for his game.  He gives 100% effort at practices and games. I have watched many of his games and let me tell you he is SCAREY!!!  I would not want to be tackled by him!

My parents just wish that he put the same amount of effort into his academics as he puts into football.  If my brother did, man oh man, he could be amongst the smartest kids in his grade.

So you can probably guess what his consequence was!

THAT’S RIGHT… FOOTBALL, GONE!!!!

My brother is not allowed to play for the local football team this spring, or his high school team next fall in his graduating year!

OUCH! Talk about hitting a man where it hurts!

I can’t say my brother was the least bit surprised by this consequence. I think he knew what was coming.

The good news is that my parents are very gracious.  I guess you could say they played “Let’s Make A Deal” with him. My brother is not allowed to get a mark under 85% and he must achieve an 87% average in order to earn football back.

This may seem unrealistic  to you; however, considering that he needs an average of 87% to get into his university program, this is a completely reasonable goal.

The other thing I need to mention is that my brother is really smart and can easily achieve this if he uses his time wisely.

The completely neat thing Power Girl, is that since this deal has been made, my brother has been working so hard and has already received a 99% on an assignment!

Remember Power Girl, “every cloud has a silver lining.”  That means when things look bad, if YOU have the right attitude, you can make things right, and often even BETTER than they would have been.

This experience will end up working out great for my brother, he WILL get his marks up, he WILL get to play football and he WILL get into the University he wants.

Talk about a Silver Lining, he will end up getting everything he wants, all because of this “cloud”.

YOU have the power to achieve anything and everything that you set out to!

I encourage you to raise your standards!  If you had a failure, don’t let yourself get beaten down by it. Use it as a motivation to help you improve; to challenge you to excel and be better the next time around!

Put 100% effort into something and you will see the best results!

So kick it into high gear and be the BEST you can be!

I believe in YOU!!

Your friend and coach,

Jessy Lipke

Hey Power Girl,

Last Sunday was Super Bowl Sunday!

The Super Bowl is the National Football League (NFL) championship game, played annually between the champions of the National and the American football conferences.

My older brother is an absolute Football FANATIC, so this day meant EVERYTHING to him!

So, like always we through a HUGE party, and he invited practically his whole football team, to watch the big game.

And just like at every party there must be food to feed the guests.  The difference with a Super Bowl Party is that it is usually not the healthiest food.

VERY YUMMY, but definitely NOT Power Girl “approved”.

Today I am going to be talking to you about some smart choices, TRICKS and TIPS for when you go to ANY party, so that you can KEEP that gorgeous lean body that you have been working so hard for!

Ok so let’s talk about some things we can do to PREVENT over-eating:

1. Eat BEFORE you go
2. FILL UP up on vegetables
3. Drink lots of WATER
4. AVOID sugars and unhealthy fats
5. Have a TASTE of anything you are interested in, but just a taste

These are five perfect ways to EAT SMART at parties.

So now let’s go into more detal!

1. EAT BEFORE YOU GO

Power Girl, why do YOU think that it is important to eat BEFORE going to a party, that already has food there?

That’s right!  Most parties serve UN-healthy foods, because they are cheap, but still yummy….foods such as:

• pizza
• nachos
• chicken fingers
• wings
• chips
• hot dogs
• ice cream
• cake
• french fries
• hamburgers
• pop or soda

These are just some of the many UN-healthy foods that can be found at parties.

So if you go to a party with food already in your tummy, you won’t be tempted to eat many of these unhealthy foods.

Hey Power Girl, have you ever just had a BAD DAY?

You know, the kind  of day when you were upset and just felt like everybody and everything was against you?

Well I sure have, so I know EXACTLY how you feel.

Not good at all !

Today I’m going to give you some simple steps to help get you to switch from a miserable mood to an awesome mood, IN A SNAP !

I know how because my parents have taught me, my sister, and brothers these tricks, and today I’m going to share them with YOU.

A great attitude all begins with one thought … GRATITUDE (being thankful for what you already have).

It may seem obvious that we shouldn’t look at the negative, when there is so much positive that can be seen in everything, but I know life can be challenging.

So today I am going to talk to you about being grateful for what you have, and give you tools to help you feel better IN A SNAP so you can FOCUS on the positive instead of looking for the negative!

So let’s start with YOU.

What do you do when things don’t go your way?

How do you respond or react to these problems or feelings?

Complaining is the most common way of showing that you are ungrateful for what you are given!

In many situations we whine when the are unhappy, unsatisfied, or demanding more than we have.

Whining is consitered a negative attitude!

Many people also consider whining a sin, because it shows we are not grateful for our many blessings, it tests the patience of those we whine to, and above all, whining also tests GOD’s patience!

Well Power Girl, complaining or whining can also lead to further negative choices, including:

• Skiping workouts
• Getting off track with healthy eating habits
• Negative comments (that tear people down or make them feel bad about themselves)

When you’re sad or upset you may say things that you don’t mean or words that show a bad attitude, such as:

• I hate life
• Life sucks
• Everyone hates me
• Everyone’s out to get me
• Nobody loves me
• I’m worthless

Words like this can really bring down our self esteem, and make us look at the world as a negative place.

The biggest thing to realize is that life goes like this…

Our THOUGHTS become our ACTIONS,

Our ACTIONS become our HABITS,

Our HABITS become our CHARACTER and

Our CHARACTER becomes our DESTINY !

WOW ! Powerful stuff.

So our THOUGHTS end up determining how SUCCESSFUL we end up in EVERY part of our life !

The SECRET to a happy life is controlling our THOUGHTS.

Happy thoughts happy life, miserable thoughts…. miserable life.

But when you are having a bad day it can be tough to snap out of a bad mood, know what I mean?

So how do you get yourself OUT of this ‘stinking thinking’ ?

Have you ever seen someone who you could tell was sad, depressed or upset without even talking to them.

What did they look like?

Maybe it even happened to you.

If you are saying these negative words to yourself how do you stand and move?

You may notice yourself starting to move slower, start to slouch, drag your feet, cross your arms, roll your eyes and other negative body gestures.

How do you speak when you feel negative?  Probably slowly and  quietly.

But how do you put yourself in a more positive state ?

Since the way you speak and move can let people tell whether you are happy or not. Let’s start there.

To SNAP yourself into a better mood – here is the secret – “fake it till you make it”.

That means if you’re feeling sad or miserable get up and DANCE, SING to your favourite song, or look in the mirror and make the goofiest SMILE you can and keep it there until you feel better.  If you pretend to be happy for long enough, pretty soon you will actually start to feel happy. (Don’t believe me? Just try it)

Let’s face it, can you smile and be miserable at the same time? No.

Can you feel sad when you’re singing along to your favourite song? No way.

What about dancing? Nobody ever danced while they were miserable.

The truth is that you can SNAP yourself out of a bad mood in a second by:

• putting on a great big goofy smile
• dancing to your favourite song
• running and jumping
• singing your favourite song
• doing a POWER GIRL WORKOUT 😉

Your friend and coach,

Jessy Lipke

Hey Power Girl,

I am totally dedicated to providing you with the most cutting-edge information on both fitness and nutrition (next week we’re filming part 2 of the Power Girl Nutrition Program called “Body Smart Lunches”).

My mom is a nutrition expert and my dad is both a doctor and a personal trainer.

I am always surfing the internet for more nutrition and fitness tips to help you reach your goals – and FAST!

Today I want to talk to YOU about how to get the BEST WORKOUT, in the LEAST AMOUNT OF TIME!!

Why waste time doing long and slow workouts that don’t end up making a difference in how you look and feel?

Let’s face it long boring cardio workouts just make you tired. Right?

Many doctors and personal trainers have discovered that a shorter but MORE INTENSE workout can be MORE beneficial than a longer and less intense workout.

So longer isn’t better but FASTER is!

Today I am going to teach you a NEW WORKOUT STYLE, that is PROVEN to give you FAST RESULTS because it engages your fast and super-fast twitch muscle fibers, which causes you to produce more human growth hormone (HGH).

Human Growth Hormone is needed for muscle growth and development, which helps make your strength training and everything else work like a charm, and MORE EFFECTIVELY BURN CALORIES to give YOU the BODY you want!

WOW!! DOESN’T THAT SOUND GREAT POWER GIRL!!

So Power Girl, are you frustrated with long boring workouts?

Well if you are, then you’ll LOVE this, because I have exactly what you’ve been waiting for….. right here at Power Girl Fitness.

BETTER results in LESS time !

I have found in my research that most experts advise that people workout at their peak intensity for 60 seconds than rest for 30 seconds.

So here’s the technique that I recommend when you exercise:

• Warm-up for a couple of minutes (to get your blood flowing and warm your muscles up)
• Exercise as hard and as fast as you possibly can for one minute (put in everything you’ve got,  put in a 150% effort)
• Take 30 seconds to recover, and grab a drink of water (don’t stand still, but walk around slowly, to keep your blood circulating)
• Repeat your exercise 2 more times, working as hard and as fast as you did the first time!
• Then switch to a different exercise and repeat it 3 more times
• Continue this for a total of 5 or 6 different exercises
• Cool down with a nice stretch (try my Power Stretch Workout)

You may have noticed that this is the same technique that I use in most of my own workouts which gives you no excuses when it comes to getting in the best shape.

All of my TIME CRUNCH workouts include this technique:

1. 10 minute LEGS training
2. 10 minute CORE training
3. 10 minute CORE training

These are exercises that can help you get the lean and gorgeous muscles you have been dreaming of, while saving time so you can have fun and be with your friends.

Let’s face it….

I’M BUSY,

YOU’RE BUSY,

So we’re BOTH crunched for time and that’s how we need our workouts…

SHORT BUT SWEET  

Your friend and coach,

Jessy Lipke

Hey Power Girl,

I hope that you had a great Christmas and a Happy New Year!

The Holidays can be an extremely hard time to stay on track with your eating and exercising.

Even I had a hard time sticking to my Power Girl lifestyle over the Christmas holidays.

Don’t get down on yourself if you made some bad choices between Christmas and New Year’s.

Maybe you had too much chocolate; too many Christmas cookies; or maybe you just over ate at meal times.

Well don’t worry because it is a New Year, and I am here to help you make better choices for a better body and a better life!

What you did between Christmas and New Year’s is not as important as what you do between New Year’s and Christmas!

So stop feeling bad and join me in my Mission to help girls all over the world be the best they can be.

I start my Mission with YOU!

I believe in you!

I don’t care what you did over the Christmas holidays.  It is a New Year and I resolve to help you look and feel your best.

Part of my resolution is to get myself back on track so that I can be the best role model for YOU!

I will help YOU Power Girl, by giving you some useful tips.

Tip number one is SETTING A GOAL!

You must set a goal that you can see yourself achieving.  Think of all the things you want in life, and make those things your goals.

If you want to reach your goals in life Power Girl, you must always be productive.

So my second tip for you is: BEING PRODUCTIVE, and making sure that you are never wasting time.

Tip number three is ORGANIZATION!

What I find helps me, is organization and scheduling.

The way I organize my life is by creating and following schedules.

By making a schedule for yourself you are organizing your time, which will organize your life and ensure that you meet your goals.

Tip number four is to STAY MOTIVATED AND DETERMINED!

Being determined and motivated is one of the most important tips of all because you must be willing to work hard to achieve or live up to your goals.

And lastly: HAVE A POSITIVE ATTITUDE. Go into every activity with a positive attitude, and this will ensure that not only will you reach your goals but you will enjoy what you are doing!

So Power Girl, remember these five tips to help you stay healthy and strong throughout the year.

1. SET GOALS
2. BE PRODUCTIVE
3. GET ORGANIZED
4. STAY MOTIVATED AND DETERMINED
5. HAVE A POSITIVE ATTITUDE

Just like falling off the wagon with your eating or exercising over Christmas, you can fall off the wagon with your goals any time.

The important thing is to decide to get yourself back on track and to commit to following your schedules.

So don’t feel bad, don’t get down on yourself and never give up!!

Your friend and coach,

Jessy Lipke

Hey Power girl,

This weekend I went to a dance-a-thon/sleepover at my dance studio.

I didn’t quite pull an all nighter, but I got very little sleep.

Last night I got home at 1:00 a.m., from a flim shoot that I was in, and had to get up at 8:00 a.m.

When I woke up today I felt exhausted, unfocused, and barely able to function.

I have so much more that want to get done today that just won’t happen because I don’t have the energy.

As a Power Girl I need a ton of energy and so do you!

A lot of people try to pack their day so full in order to get more work or fun in.

The problem with this is that when people try to pack more into their day they are going to have to limit something, and that something is usually SLEEP!

MISTAKE!!!!

Diet, exercise, and SLEEP are all foundations of good health.

Don’t fool yourself into thinking that 2 out of 3 ain’t bad.  All THREE factors are critical for good health, and a gorgeous healthy body!

Don’t believe me?   Well listen to what the research says….

“Lack of sleep causes poor focus which will have a negative impact on work or school performance; fatigue or foggy head; weight gain and decreased ability to burn fat; and finally an increase of diseases such as high blood pressure, diabetes, and depression.  Poor sleep will also weaken your immune system which will increase your chances of getting sick!”

Many of the above problems will only happen if you are chronically sleep deprived, which means that you don’t get enough sleep night after night after night.

The point is, if you want to be a Power Girl and BE THE BEST THAT YOU CAN BE…GET ENOUGH SLEEP!!!!!

The amount of sleep a person needs varies from person to person; however, the average adult needs approximently 8 hours, while childern and teenagers need about 10-12.

So Power Girl, how do you know if you have had enough sleep?

Well basically if you are waking up feeling energized, refreshed and ready to tackle the world, the chances are that you are getting enough sleep.

Since the amount of sleep a person needs varies from person to person, if you are sleeping 8 hours every night and you are still feeling exhausted, maybe you should sleep an extra hour or two, to give your body what it needs.

Now don’t think that this is an excuse to sleep in Power Girl, because sleeping in is just as bad as not getting enough sleep.

By sleeping in you are decreasing your chances of getting everything done, because there are just not enough hours in the day.

Remember how I said that there was a problem with lack of sleep?  Well there is also a problem with OVER sleeping.

Sleeping in can cause a disease called Parkinson’s (a degenerative nerve disease), which has been linked to too much sleep.

Sleeping more than 9-10 hours doubles your chances of getting Parkinson’s when you are older.

I don’t want to scare you, I just want you to be healthy when you are young and when you are older, so that you can live a long and healthy life.

I hope that you have a great sleep tonight and remember that 2 out of 3 IS bad, so why not get the sleep you need and start building a strong, gorgeous, Power Girl body, for life!

Night  night   😉

Your friend and coach,

Jessy Lipke

Hey Power Girl,

I want to share with you an absolutely hilarious video.  Click Here

It’s amazing how many kids cried over the thought that their parents ate all of their halloween candy.

It goes to show you how ADDICTIVE sugar can be.

As the owner of Power Girl Fitness, it made me very sad to see the poor chocies kids are making; at such a young age these kids are addicted to sugar.

It also shows me that I have a lot more work to do educating girls on how to eat.

My focus today is going to be on sugar and why it is so bad for you.

Did you know that too much sugar is TOXIC?

Sugar is toxic because your body can only handle a little bit in your blood at a time.

When you eat a lot of sugar at once, that sugar will end up in your bloodstream which will cause high blood sugars.

Your body will then produce a hormone called insulin, which will push these sugars into your cells to be used later.

Don’t be scared because this is a good thing; however, there are a couple things you need to know about insulin.

Insulin is a fat-laying hormone, so too much insulin circulating in your body (caused by eating to much sugar) increases your chances of fat being laid down.

The other problem with insulin is that your body will often make too much of it, and will cause your blood sugars to drop too low, resulting in low blood sugars.

Do you know what the problems of low blood sugars are?

Low blood sugars will cause you to feel dizzy and tired; have low energy levels;  get a headache; and to feel the need to eat more sugar.

So if your blood sugars are low, then you are not going to be feeling up to doing your Power Girl workout.

You wouldn’t want to skip a workout just because your blood sugars are low right?

Then a perfect way to fix this is to cut back on the amount of sugars you eat and eat small meals/snacks frequently throughout the day.

How do I eat?

I eat 3 meals/day plus snacks between every meal.

My meals are balanced with protein, carbs and fats and I avoid simple sugars.

You can look through my previous blogs to see exactly how I eat.

Simple sugars are: sugar, honey, syrups, candy, chocolate, and sweet, sugary desserts.

Drinks like pop/soda and even JUICE are also LOADED with sugar.

You are better to WATER DOWN YOUR JUICE and AVOID POP/SODA altogether.

If you really like pop/soda then you could try ‘ZEVIA’ which is a carbonated beverage sweetened with healthy sugars called Stevia and Xylitol that don’t cause to to produce insulin. (you may have to go to a health food store to find it)

Okay so let’s get back to eating TOO MUCH SUGAR at once.

We know that insulin will pushes sugar into your cells.

Well, what happens next will determine if you will turn that sugar into fat.

If you are ACTIVE then that sugar in your cells will be USED for energy.

Any sugar not burned for activity will now get stored.

The first storage place of this extra sugar will be as glycogen in your liver and muscles.  This stored sugar will be used the next time you need some ‘gas’ to fuel your activity or workouts.  Once your glycogen stores are full your body must find another place to store the remaining sugar.

EXCESS SUGAR WILL GET STORED AS FAT!!!!!

If you are wondering whether or not you eat too much sugar, just look at your body.

Do you have some bad weight on you?  If so, no worries, I’m here to help!

Cutting back on sugary foods and drinks is what you need to do.  I know this might not be easy, BUT I BELIEVE IN YOU!!!!  You can do it and you’ll love how you look and feel.

There is more though…

Sugar is just quite simply NOT GOOD FOR YOU!!!!!

Dr.William Coda Martin, classified refined sugar as a POISON because it had been depleted of it’s life forces, vitamins, minerals; all that is left is pure carbs.

Sugars make it difficult for your immune system to do its job properly.

You need your immune system to fight germs, viruses and bacteria.  You also need your immune system to attack cancer cells.

Everyone has cancer cells in their body and we need our immune systems to recognize and destroy these bad cells.

Aside from impairing your immune system, sugar also feeds cancer cells, making them stronger.  NOT GOOD!!

I really don’t want to scare you with all this information on sugar.  Please understand though, that it is MY GOAL TO HELP GIRLS LIKE YOU, ALL OVER THE WORLD MAKE BETTER CHOICES FOR A BETTER BODY AND A BETTER LIFE!!!

If I don’t share this information with you, WHO WILL?

So if your parents did eat all your Halloween candy, please give them a huge hug from me!!!  They did you a big favour!!!  Then share with them this blog and tell them to NEVER eat your halloween candy again; it is better off in the garbage than in their bodies!

Don’t eat sugar, you’re SWEET enough 😉

Your friend and coach,

Jessy

Hey Power Girl,

Have you ever wondered why it is so important to say hydrated?

Well I am here today, to educate you on the purposes of staying hydrated and how it can effect your performance.

Did you know that water makes up MORE THAN HALF OF YOUR BODY WEIGHT?

Every cell, tissue and organ in your body needs water to function properly.

Every day your body losses water through your breath, sweat, perspiration, urine, and bowel movements.

So, in order for your body to work properly you must make sure that you are giving it the right amount of water to replenish itself.

So, how much water do you need to drink every day?

Woman/girls are roughly recommended to have 2.2 liters ( aproximently 9 cups) of water everyday.

Have you ever heard of the advice, “Drink eight 8-ounce glasses of water every day.”

That is equal to 1.9 liters of water which is only 3% off from the recommended amount.

Well, this might shock you but that 3% is just like losing 10% of your performance.

Let me give you an example: Let’s say you are doing your Power Girl workout and you can do 10 sit-ups well.

By missing that 3% of water you are going to lose 10% of your performance meaning you might only be able to do 8 or 9.

You wouldn’t want to lose 10% of you performance, just because you are dehydrated, right?

You are probably wondering, how you will know if you are dehydrated?

Well, some symptoms of dehydration include:

• Little to no urine, or urine darker than usual
• Dry mouth and lips
• Tiredness or fatigue
• Fainting
• Extreme thirst
• Headaches
• Crankiness
• Lack of focus
• Confusion
• Feeling dizzy or lightheaded
• No tears when crying

I would now like to talk to you about what beverages are not ok and those that are good to drink to keep you hydrated.

First of all I want you to try and stay away from caffeinated beverages like coffee, tea, soda and energy drinks.

The reason why caffeinated drinks are not a good choice is because caffeine is a diuretic which makes you urinate.

You don’t really want to lose water just because you had caffeine.

Juice, pop/soda, and other sugary drinks are also not the best because your are having unnecessary sugar.

Now if you are an elite level athlete, then you can have these drinks but with water to lower the amount of sugars.

But really, the best choice is to stick to water.

Honestly I think that way too many people don’t understand how critical water is to have and that it is what we need to survive.

We should also thank God for the fresh, clean water we have, because their are many people in Africa, Haiti and many other place that don’t have clean water for people to survive.

Have you every felt like you were hungary right after you ate?

When that happens, you are not really hungary, you are actually thirsty.

So the next time you think you are hungary try drinking some water instead.

Start with water and then enjoy your meal.

Cheers! To your success.

Your friend and coach,

Jessy Lipke

Hey Power Girl,

As I promised last week, I am going to share with you some yummy bean recipes that I am sure you will you will enjoy.  Not only are these recipes delicious, but they are extremely GOOD for your health!

Do you remember why beans are so good for you?

That’s right, they are high in fibre, iron, and PROTEIN!

Back on March 27th, 2012, I wrote a blog on why protein is important for building lean and gorgeous muscle.

You might want to review that blog.   Check it out here

I want to give you some more information on protein before I share with you my yummy recipes.

There are TWO types of protein: COMPLETE protein, and INcomplete protein.

COMPLETE protein comes from ANIMAL-based foods and therefore they contain all 9 essential amino acids.

An essential amino acid is an amino acid that your body can not make on its own, so you must eat it in your diet.

INCOMPLETE protein comes from PLANT-based foods and have limited amounts of one or more of the essential amino acids.

Amino acids are the building blocks that make up protein, which forms your gorgeous lean muscles.

When you are making your meals it is important to make sure that you are including all 9 essential amino acids.

Since BEANS contain PLANT-based protein, they do not contain all 9 essential amino acids; they are limited in the amount of one amino acid needed by our bodies called METHIONINE.

In order to have a COMPLETE protein you must include either a ANIMAL-based food (like fish, chicken or beef), or if you would like to keep your meal vegetarian, then eat your beans WITH GRAINS which have adequate amounts of the missing methionine.

I will talk more about VEGETARIAN eating in a future blog.

SO NOW I AM GOING TO GET ON TO THESE YUMMY RECIPES!

NAVY BEAN STEW

Ingredients:

1 package of navy beans

garlic

water

Directions:

• Sort through navy beans making sure to pick out any stones, or bad beans
• Rinse picked over beans in cold water
• Put in pot and cover beans in cold water so that the water line is a couple inches higher than the beans

Bring the beans to boil on high

• Skim off the foam that the beans create
• Add a few cloves of garlic for flavour
• Once boiled, lower the temperature to simmer and continue to cook the beans in a covered pot
• Simmer the beans until they are soft; this will take about 1 1/2 hours
• At the end of cooking add salt to taste
• Make sure you add more water if necessary during the simmering process

Eat your navy bean stew with olive oil drizzled on top and a sprinkle of oregano if you’d like.  I always dip a whole grain bread into my bean stew because it is delicious and it makes the meal a complete protein!  YUMMY!!!

BLACK BEAN BURGERS

Ingredients:

1 can of black beans

1/4 cup quinoa

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup bread crumbs

1/4 cup minced bell pepper

2 TBSP minced onion

1 minced garlic clove

1 1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp hot pepper sauce (like Frank’s RedHot)

1 egg

3 tbsp olive oil

Directions:

• Bring the quinoa and water to a boil in a saucepan. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the quinoa is tender and the water has been absorbed, about 15 to 20 minutes.
• Roughly mash the black beans with a fork leaving some whole black beans in a paste-like mixture.
• Mix the quinoa, bread crumbs, bell pepper, onion, garlic, cumin, salt, hot pepper sauce, and egg into the black beans using your hands.
• Form the black bean mixture into 5 patties.
• Heat the olive oil in a large skillet.
• Cook the patties in the hot oil until heated through, 2 to 3 minutes per side

Eat your bean burgers on a whole-grain bun with all the fixings you would like!  You will LOVE it!!!!

CHOCOLATE CAKE

Ingredients:

1 can black beans (any bean would work)

5 eggs

1/4 xylitol (a special sugar alcohol to sweeten without sugar and extra calories, Do NOT use NutraSweet or Splenda which are chemicals)

6 TBSP 100% cocoa

6 TBSP coconut oil (or replace 2 TBSP of coconut oil with 2 TBSP applesauce)

1 TBSP water

1 TBSP vanilla

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350* and butter and flour a 9 inch round pan
• Blend rinsed beans, eggs and xylitol in blender under smooth and liquified
• Add remaining ingredients to blender and blend until well blended
• Pour batter into prepared pan
• Bake in oven for about 30 – 40 minutes

Enjoy this moist cake as a dessert or snack.  It is so good for your that you could even have a piece for dinner if you’re in a hurry!

Well I hope you enjoy these yummy recipes, and I hope that you have learned  how HEALTHY beans truly are for you.

I am always trying to help you get the gorgeous muscles you working for.

Your friend and coach,

Jessy Lipke

Hey Power Girl, I want to share a poem with you.

Beans, beans, the musical fruit,

The more you eat the more you toot.

The more you toot, the better you feel.

So eat your beans at every meal!

My great grandfather died in his 90th year, and he was healthy till the end.  He included beans in his diet a few days EVERY week.

Although he was not a vegetarian, on the days that he would eat beans, he would not have meat, fish, or poultry.

My grandmother recently taught me how to make my great grandfathers favourite beans: Navy beans drizzled with olive oil with a sprinkle of sea salt.

This dish looked like a soup with whole beans; it did not look very appealing, but let me tell you Power Girl, it tasted amazing!

I never really liked beans until that day my grandmother introduced me to this wonderful dish.

Not only are beans delicious, but they are extremely good for your health.

Beans are one of the few vegetables that contain high amounts of protein.

Protein is essential for building lean and gorgeous muscles.

I know that is one of your goals Power Girl.

You can also get your protein from meat, fish, and poultry but it is very healthy to include vegetarian meals in your diet.

Here are some other reasons that beans are so good for you:

Beans are high in fibre. Fibre carries out all of the waste products and toxins out of your body, and fibre make you feel full.  (Fibre is also the reason why beans make you toot)

Beans lead to weight loss (because of the fibre which makes you feel full)

Beans are high in iron. (Iron is important for healthy blood so that oxygen gets to all your tissues.  Important for your workouts!)

Vegetarian diets that include beans, can help prevent heart disease and cancer.

Beans have a low glycemic index (promotes healthy blood sugar and weight loss)

THAT’S RIGHT POWER GIRL, BEANS WILL HELP YOU ACHIEVE THE BODY YOU’RE WORKING FOR!

Now that you know how healthy beans truly are for you, I hope that you will choose to include them into your diet regularly!

All beans are good for you, but my research led me to discover that the 5 healthiest beans are:

-Navy beans

-Kidney beans

-Lima beans

-Black beans

-Pinto beans

Next week you can look forward to some AMAZINGLY yummy bean recipes!  One of my favourite desserts is made with beans!

Have an amazing week Power Girl!

Your friend and coach,

Jessy Lipke