Blog | Tone and Tighten

Honey Rice Krispy Treats (No Marshmallows)

April 22, 2018

My kids love Rice Krispy treats, so when I came across a recipe for them that didn’t use marshmallows, I knew that I had to make them right away!

I love using honey instead of sugar (or marshmallows) in baked goods. I prefer using local raw honey, but any honey will do! You can even buy it in bulk at a great price! I know that honey is not really a “health food”, but when it comes to baking, it’s my sweetener go-to. I like honey because it’s a little sweeter than sugar, so you can get away with using less. I also like that it goes through less processing overall compared to sugar and it does contain trace minerals and nutrients.

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Resistance Band Loop Glute Workout

April 18, 2018

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As a physical therapist, I see a lot of different patients for a lot of different problems.

However, oftentimes there are some commonalities between these problems that would warrant the same treatment – or in this case the same exercise.

Low back pain, SI joint pain, hip pain, and knee pain occasionally fall into this category with one of the biggest culprits being – HIP WEAKNESS!

Honestly – our hips are one area that the majority of us don’t spend enough time strengthening… especially when we really stop to break out into different planes of motion.

Think about your leg days. Chances are you’re doing squats, lunges, dead lifts, maybe some sort of step up, hip thrusters, etc. All of these are great exercises and should be done regularly – let me be very clear about that!

But they all have a commonality to them in that they’re working our leg muscles in one very specific motion. You get a ton of quad, hamstring, butt (glute max) and hip flexor activation, but essentially they’re all moving the same way – namely straight forward/backward – knee over toe.

Now like I said – these are great exercises, but we often miss the mark on hitting some crucial stabilizer muscles that not only serve a great function, but help your figure as well!

So if you want to strengthen your hips – I mean ALL your hip muscles – and make your butt and hips look full and round then you’ve come to the right place!

This is a series of 4 exercises that I’ll typically superset with my patients towards the end of a workout to really tap out all your glute muscles (especially the lateral hip stabilizers) to maximize function and form! I’ve even included video of these exercises so you can be sure you’re doing them right – keep reading down below!

But first (as always) a quick word about anatomy… …

Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies with Kodiak Cakes

April 13, 2018

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When I stopped eating refined sugar, I started finding dessert recipes that I could make that would still fulfill my sweet tooth, but not completely wreck my diet or the progress that I had made when it came to giving up sugar.

This recipe has become a staple in our home – we love to make a big batch of cookies and then keep them in the freezer so we can pull one out when the craving hits!

I feel justified in calling these a healthier cookie with all the healthier ingredient swaps that have been made. Instead of bleached all-purpose flour, my base is Kodiak Cakes. This post is not sponsored, but this is such a great product that I use all the time – and not just for pancakes!

Instead of refined sugar, honey is used as the sweetener in these cookies. I prefer using local raw honey, but any honey will do! You can even buy it in bulk at a great price! I know that honey is not really a “health food”, but when it comes to baking, it’s my sweetener go-to. I like honey because it’s a little sweeter than sugar, so you can get away with using less. I also like that it goes through less processing overall compared to sugar and it does contain trace minerals and nutrients.

The chocolate chips that I use in this recipe are the Enjoy Life chocolate chips. I know that these do have sugar in them, but I am a believer in moderation. And you can’t have chocolate chip cookies without chocolate chips! The reason that I love this brand is because there are all real ingredients – no corn syrup (which is really hard to find in chocolate chips!). They are also dairy-free and gluten-free, which is awesome if you have those dietary restrictions.

Let me know if you make these cookies and tell me what you think! Do you have a favorite healthier dessert recipe? I would love to hear about it in the comments below!

Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies with Kodiak Cakes

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 10 mins

Total time: 20 mins

Serves: 24

Ingredients

2 cups Kodiak Power Cakes Mix
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 egg
2 Tablespoons pumpkin puree
⅓ cup honey
¼ cup coconut oil, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup Enjoy Life mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large bowl, mix together Kodiak Power Cakes Mix, baking soda, and salt. In another bowl, mix together egg, pumpkin, honey, coconut oil, and vanilla.
Mix the wet and dry ingredients together and fold in the chocolate chips.
Scoop by heaping tablespoonfuls onto cookie sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown.

Looking for more healthy desserts? Check these out:

How To Correct Your Posture – 5 Exercises To Improve Your Posture

April 11, 2018

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“Sit up straight.“

“Don’t slouch.“

“Stand up tall.“

Believe it or not – your mother knew exactly what she was talking about!

As a physical therapist, I treat many posture related problems.

The thing is – people don’t come in to my clinic complaining of “bad posture“. People come into my clinic complaining of the symptoms that are typically associated with bad posture. Neck pain, knots in your upper shoulders, headache pain, etc. are typically related to poor posture.

These are the complaints for which people typically seek Physical Therapy help; little do these patients know how many of them wouldn’t be in any pain if they just spent some time addressing their posture!

Today on Tone and Tighten I wanted to discuss these postural issues – specifically what is poor posture, why you developed it, and some simple exercises you can do to correct this problem.

Keep reading for more!…

The Best Hot, Healthy Breakfast – 3-Minute Scrambled Egg Omelette

April 4, 2018

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“What do you eat for breakfast?“

“I just can’t seem to find anything I like for breakfast.“

“All I ever have is cold cereal for breakfast.“

Ahhhh breakfast. We all know it as the most important meal of the day – how come it has to be so difficult to find something hot, delicious, and healthy? So often we just settle for our cereal, bagels, or muffin as we are running out the door and call it good.

Well today is the day that we reclaim breakfast!

Today I wanted to share with you one of my favorite hot, healthy, and delicious breakfast meals – a microwave egg omelette that literally takes less than three minutes to prepare!

This one will knock your socks off! Coming at you right now…

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The Best Foam Roller Exercises For Your Legs

March 23, 2018

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6 of the best foam roller exercises for your legs! Reduce soreness and prevent injury with these lower body foam roll exercises

Let’s face it – if you’ve ever been active you’ve probably been sore.

Whether it was running, weight lifting, walking, hiking, or just trying to keep up with the kiddos – chances are you’ve done something active and felt some muscle soreness the next day.

Now – don’t get me wrong – that’s a great thing! Your muscles need to be stressed to heal and repair and grow. Problems arise when we do it too much or don’t give them adequate recovery time.

Today I wanted to share with you 6 of my favorite lower body exercises you can do on a foam roller to stay healthy, mobile, and active!

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Peanut Butter Protein Balls

March 22, 2018

These little protein balls are my go-to snack when I hit that wall right around 3 pm. They are the perfect little pick-me-up to help me power through my day!

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Ab Bench Bootcamp Workout

March 14, 2018

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Looking to elevate your ab game? You’ve come to the right place!

Take your results a step further by using an incline/decline ab bench! (Of course you can do all of these on the floor, also, but the ab bench ads a whole new level of difficulty to these!)

Today I’m running your through 5 of my favorite exercises you can do on an ab bench to work every area of your abs. We’re talking upper abs, middle abs, and that hard-to-reach lower ab area.

I even shot a video to go along with this one! So grab your bench, get ready, and push play! Ab bench bootcamp is coming at you right now!…

The Best Core Exercises For Strength

March 7, 2018

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As a doctor of physical therapy, I see a lot of patients in my clinic for a lot of different reasons.

Sure I see my fair share of sprains and strains and bumps and bruises, but by far the most common condition I treat is low back pain.

It’s estimated that 80% of us will experience some episode of low back pain in our lives. Think of it – that’s 4 out of every 5 people!

Keeping a strong core is crucial not only to performance enhancement and activity, but overall function as well. In fact – many of my patients with back pain would likely not even have their pain if they kept their core strong and healthy.

That being said, today I wanted to share with you the 5 core exercises that I recommend more than any others. These are exercises you can do everyday to strengthen your core, feel healthier, and even mitigate some pain.

New video instruction included – let’s try it out!…

20 Best Exercises For Inner Thigh Gap

February 28, 2018

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One of the areas that I get asked about probable the most often here on my website lately is the inner thigh. Everyone seems to be after a killer “thigh gap” before swimsuit season hits us! I’m happy to share what I know! Today is all about 20 of the best exercises you can do at home with zero equipment required that are designed to maximally activate the hip adductors. I even shot a video to make it easier for your! Let’s do it!…