Stuffed Baked Apples

Add variation to the traditional baked apple fall favorite with this reduced-fat cream cheese addition! The orange zest adds brightness to the hearty fall flavors that your family will LOVE! And at only 182 calories per apple, you’ll want to make this for dessert every night.

Pro tips:

• Any apple will work for this recipe, as long as it’s a firm baking apple like Braeburn, Honeycrisp, Granny Smith, Gala, etc.
• Try using the OXO apple corer and melon baller to core and scoop out the apple!

Recipe: Stuffed Baked Apples

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 45-50 minutes

Yield: 4 servings

Serving size: 1 stuffed apple

Ingredients

• 4 baking apples
• ¼ cup instant oats
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons ⅓ less fat cream cheese
• 1 teaspoon orange zest
• ¼ teaspoon vanilla

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 375° F.
2. Core the apples and scoop out the centers, but do not cut all the way through.
3. In a small mixing bowl, combine the oats, brown sugar and cinnamon.
4. In another small mixing bowl, stir together the cream cheese, orange zest and vanilla.
5. Spoon 1 tablespoon of the cream cheese mixture into each cored apple, and fill it the rest of the way with the oat mixture. Do this for all 4 apples.
6. Place the apples in a small baking dish and pour enough water to cover the bottom of the dish by about a centimeter.
7. Loosely cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Uncover and bake for an additional 25-30 minutes, or until the apples are very soft.

Nutrition Information

Per Serving: (1 stuffed apple)

Calories: 182

Calories from fat: 36

Fat: 4g

Saturated Fat: 3g

Cholesterol: 11mg

Sodium: 61mg

Carbohydrates: 38g

Fiber: 6g

Sugar: 30g

Protein: 5g

WWP+: 5

http://www.skinnymom.com/recipe-stuffed-baked-apples/

Kill Bad Gut Bacteria to Stop Cravings

Cravings aren't all in your head. They're partly caused by what's going on in your gut. Here's how to fix it and kill the cravings.

Your diet creates an environment for your gut bacteria – both good and bad. Researchers call it an ecosystem. Problem is, when you try to change your diet, your "bad" gut bacteria will demand to be fed, making you experience cravings. It's a lot like withdrawal symptoms.

Bill Roberts explains: "Metabolically-unfavorable gut bacteria can cause cravings of the junk foods that best feeds them. They can also cause you to feel dysphoric (bad) feelings when they're deprived of their favorite foods. The good news is, you can break their control fairly quickly by not giving in. When you consistently don't give in, these bacterial populations reduce, you become metabolically healthier, and you start feeling better than ever."

Think of it almost like a relationship between parasite and host. To continue thriving, your gut bacteria consumes what you give it, and makes you feel physically deprived when you go without it.

How to Fix It

If your gut's ecosystem makes you crave what you consistently eat, then change your cravings by changing your gut's ecosystem. Want to crave healthy foods? Then consistently consume them. Feed the good gut bacteria.

How do you get rid of the bacteria that makes you want more crap food? You starve those little bastards. Yes, you'll feel "deprived" at first. Count on it. But you can survive without junk food. The bacteria that feeds off it can't. Eventually you won't feel as compelled to have low-nutrition foods densely packed with calories (i.e. junk food).

Healthy Donut Fo-nuts!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjMbvYVt0e4

The Only 12 Exercises You Need To Get In Shape.

Learn these moves and you’ll never need to pay for a gym membership again.

Photos by Lauren Zaser for BuzzFeed / Design by Chris Ritter for BuzzFeed

You can work out pretty much anywhere using bodyweight exercise moves.

Stunts Amazing / Via youtube.com

Bodyweight exercises are moves that use only your body’s weight as resistance, such as pushups and lunges — no equipment needed. They’re a staple in many high-intensity circuit training (HICT) workouts. HICT workouts are intense and quick — like crazy quick. Like, you do them in less than 30 minutes quick. That means you can get in great shape without going to the gym, spending hours working out, or using any workout equipment at all. (Seriously; it’s science.) You’ve just gotta know the right moves.

BuzzFeed Life reached out to personal trainer and exercise physiologist Albert Matheny, C.S.C.S., founder of SoHo Strength Lab, and asked him to come up with a list of 12 exercise moves that are essential for anyone who wants to be able to do a workout anywhere and anytime. He also came up with nine different workouts that are various combinations of these moves. But you can think of these 12 moves as the building blocks for tons of variations of quick, do-anywhere HICT workouts.
Some of these moves have instructions for how to make them easier and others don’t. For the moves that don’t have “make it easier” instructions, just perform the movements as well as you can. Know that it’s better to do just a few reps of each movement perfectly, rather than doing many reps of the movements wrong. Cool!

After you’ve mastered the below moves, learn how to combine them into full 20- or 30-minute workouts here.

1. Pushup

Photos by Lauren Zaser for BuzzFeed. Design by Chris Ritter for BuzzFeed.

Do
Place your hands directly under your shoulders.
Position your feet hip-width apart.
Maintain a plank position; your body should be in a straight line from from the back of your head to your hips.
Keep your neck neutral, keeping it in line with your shoulders.
As you lower, keep your elbows close to your body.

Don’t
Let your butt sag or stick up.
Tilt your head up or tuck it in.
Allow your shoulders to come towards your ears.
Make it easier
Widen the distance between your feet for better stability.
Or perform the pushup as described above, but rather than starting in and returning to a plank position, do the pushup with your knees touching the ground. Just make sure to keep your back and thighs in a straight line.

2. Plank

Photos by Lauren Zaser for BuzzFeed. Design by Chris Ritter for BuzzFeed.

Do
Plant your hands under your shoulders, or slightly wider apart.
Squeeze your glutes. (That would be your butt.)
Keep your body in a straight line from the top of your head through your feet.
Tighten your core.
Tuck your chin.
Fix your gaze on the floor, either between or just beyond your hands.

Don’t
Let your butt lift or sag.
Lift your head.
Hold the position if your form is suffering — the only good exercise move is one that you do right.
Make it easier
Hold the position for a shorter period of time.

3. Glute Bridge

Photos by Lauren Zaser for BuzzFeed / Design by Chris Ritter for BuzzFeed

Do
Lie on your back.
Place your feet flat on the floor, hip-width apart, toes pointing forward, with your knees bent.
Contract your abs.
Push through your heels to lift your hips off the floor.

Don’t
Stop contracting your abs.
Push your hips so high that the neutral position of your hips and back becomes compromised.

4. Spider Lunge

Photos by Lauren Zaser for BuzzFeed. Design by Chris Ritter for BuzzFeed.

Do
Start in the top of a pushup position.
Bring your right foot to the outside of your right hand.
Land with a flat foot.
Bring your foot back to the starting position.
Repeat on other side.
Maintain a strong plank position throughout.

Don’t
Allow your shoulders to move away from directly over your hands.
Allow your hips to sag.

5. Plank Tap

Photos by Lauren Zaser for BuzzFeed. Design by Chris Ritter for BuzzFeed.

Do
Begin in a plank position.
Lightly tap your left shoulder with your right hand.
Return your hands to the plank position.
Alternate on the other side.
Maintain a strong plank position with a tight core and glutes throughout.

Don’t
Allow your weight to shift as you tap your shoulders.

6. Squat

Photos by Lauren Zaser for BuzzFeed. Design by Chris Ritter for BuzzFeed.

Do
Position your feet somewhere between hip- and shoulder-width apart.
Turn your toes out as needed to accommodate flexibility through the movement.
Keep your chest tall.
Look ahead and slightly up.
Be sure your knees are tracking in line with your toes.
Squat as deep as your flexibility allows.

Don’t
Let your knees travel forward past your toes.
Let your knees buckle inwards.
Lift your heels off the ground.
Shift your weight to your toes.
Make it easier
Keep the squat shallow if going deeper is difficult or pulling uncomfortably.

7. Side Lunge

Photos by Lauren Zaser for BuzzFeed. Design by Chris Ritter for BuzzFeed.

Do
Keep your chest up.
Shift your weight through your midfoot and heel.
Lunge as low as your flexibility allows.

Don’t
Let your knees travel forward past your toes.

8. Squat Jump

Photos by Lauren Zaser for BuzzFeed. Design by Chris Ritter for BuzzFeed.

Do
Squat until your thighs are parallel with the floor.
Keep your chest up.
Hold your arms straight in front of you as you squat, pushing them behind your back as you jump.
Jump as high as you can.
Exhale as you jump.
Land softly.

Don’t
Allow your knees to travel past your toes.
Shift your weight to your toes while squatting.

9. Jumping Lunge

Photos by Lauren Zaser for BuzzFeed. Design by Chris Ritter for BuzzFeed.

Do
Keep your front knee at 90 degrees.
Lunge as low as flexibility allows without the back knee touching the floor.
Maintain a vertical torso.
Keep your weight evenly distributed between your front and back foot.
Jump to switch your foot positioning — front foot goes back, back foot goes front.
Coordinate arm movement so that the front arm pumps forward while the opposite leg lunges back.
Land softly.

Don’t
Allow your knee to touch the floor.
Make it easier
Don’t jump — just do regular lunges.

10. Single-Leg Deadlift

Photos by Lauren Zaser for BuzzFeed. Design by Chris Ritter for BuzzFeed.

Do
Maintain a flat back.
Keep your core tight.
Keep your weight evenly distributed in your planted leg.
Raise one leg straight behind you, keeping your toes pointed down, as you bend forward, hinging at the hips.
Bend only as low as your flexibility allows.
Pull yourself back to standing using the hamstring (the back) of your planted leg.
Keep your head neutral.

Don’t
Reach for the floor by leading with your fingertips, which causes your back to round — instead, focus on keeping the back flat and hinging at the hips.
Try to touch the floor if your flexibility will not allow it.
Alternate legs between each rep — stick to one leg per set, and then switch to the other leg for the next set.

11. Reverse Lunge

Photos by Lauren Zaser for BuzzFeed. Design by Chris Ritter for BuzzFeed.

Do
Start in a straight standing position.
Step one foot backwards.
Keep your front knee at a 90-degree angle.
Keep your chest up.
Distribute your weight evenly between front and back foot.
Allow your back knee to lightly touch the floor.
Push through your front heel as you stand up.
Coordinate your arm movements so that your front arm pumps forward while the opposite leg lunges back.

Don’t
Shift the weight in your front foot to your toes.
Allow your knee to travel beyond your toes.
Allow your front knee to cave inward.

12. Walkout

Photos by Lauren Zaser for BuzzFeed. Design by Chris Ritter for BuzzFeed.

Do
Keep your legs as straight as your flexibility allows.
Keep your back flat.
Bend at the waist and place your hands on the floor in front of you.
Maintain a tight core as you walk your hands forward until you’re in plank position and then backward to standing.
Push your hips as high as possible and press your heels into the ground as you walk your hands back in.

Don’t
Walk your hands past the pushup position.
Allow your hips to sag below neutral.
Sway side to side from your hips.
Bring your shoulders up toward your ears.
Make it easier
Bend your knees slightly if you’re unable to reach the ground, with the goal of increasing your flexibility over time and working toward straight legs.

To turn these moves into a full workout, follow one of these guides.

Or you can learn how to mix and match the moves to make your own DIY bodyweight workout. Here’s how, with some examples below:

Choose exercises that won’t have you using the same muscle groups one after the other. For example, if you choose two movements that mostly tax the upper body (like a plank and pushups) and two that mostly challenge the lower body (say squat jumps and lunges), you’d want to alternate the upper- and lower-body moves: plank, squat jumps, pushups, lunges. Use one of these three formats created by Matheny (and see examples for each one below). Remember, each movement must be performed properly and with full range of motion.

Format A.

30 seconds on, 10 seconds off; you’ll need 3 exercise moves total.

Movement 1: 30 seconds
REST: 10 seconds
Movement 2: 30 seconds
REST: 10 seconds
Movement 3: 30 seconds
Complete the circuit 10 times.
Here’s an example of Format A:

Photos by Lauren Zaser for BuzzFeed / Design by Chris Ritter for BuzzFeed

00:30

Format B.

You’ll need 4 exercise moves total for this type, and you break them apart into 2 moves for PART A MINI-CIRCUIT and PART B MINI-CIRCUIT. Then you do 10 reps of each move in a mini-circuit, repeat the mini-circuit 8 times. Rest, and move on to the next mini-circuit. It looks like this:

PART A MINI-CIRCUIT
Movement 1: 10 reps
Movement 2: 10 reps
Repeat PART A x 8
Rest 2 minutes
PART B MINI-CIRCUIT
Movement 3: 10 reps
Movement 4: 10 reps
Repeat PART B x 8
Here’s an example of Format B:

Photos by Lauren Zaser for BuzzFeed / Design by Chris Ritter for BuzzFeed

Format C.

Do each round of moves starting on the minute for 4 minutes; you’ll need 4 exercise moves total.

Start the clock: do 10 reps of movement 1
When you’re done with your 10 reps, do jumping jacks until minute 1
Starting at minute 1: 10 reps of movement 2
When you’re done with your 10 reps, do jumping jacks until minute 2
Starting at minute 2: 10 reps of movement 3
When you’re done with your 10 reps, do jumping jacks until minute 3
Starting at minute 3: 10 reps of movement 4
Rest.
Repeat x 5
Here’s an example of Format C:

Photos by Lauren Zaser for BuzzFeed / Design by Chris Ritter for BuzzFeed.

 

 

 http://www.buzzfeed.com/sallytamarkin/get-fit-bodyweight-exercises 

The Exact Yoga Poses You Should Be Doing for Any Running Goal.

The only thing standing between you and longer, stronger, faster runs is your yoga mat.

Yoga might not offer the heart-pounding high your routine run does, but it helps you improve your strength and flexibility in ways that a trail or a treadmill never could. Still not convinced you need to work it into your routine? We took five common running goals and asked the experts to devise yoga routines to help you run longer, stronger, and faster.

YOU WANT: Total-body fitness (not just strong legs)
YOU NEED: Upper-body strength
The repetitive motions of running can lead to a lot of tightness in the neck, shoulders, hamstrings, and hips. "Yoga brings more movement into your body, much more movement in the hips, and a more relaxed face and shoulders [than running does]," says Barbara Ruzansky, owner of West Hartford Yoga in West Hartford, Connecticut. Yoga will also help develop your upper body to balance your already-strong legs. Try the following pose to give your legs a break and build arm strength. If anyone asks, you're practicing a stealth spy move.

TRY THIS: Side plank pose (vasisthasana)
This beginner version will help develop upper-body strength and awareness while also working the abs, says Sandy Blaine, codirector of the Alameda Yoga Station in Alameda, California. Start in plank pose. With palms flat, push yourself away from the floor. Keep your shoulders away from your ears, and engage your abs. Then turn the left side of your body up toward the ceiling, bringing your left hand to rest on your left hip so your right hand supports you. Bend your left leg, placing your left foot flat on the floor in front of your right knee. Push your hips and right leg up away from the floor, trying not to sink. Hold for 15 to 30 seconds. Then switch sides. A strength move like this is best done two to three times a week to see improvement.


YOU WANT: Pain-free running
YOU NEED: Increased strength and flexibility
Yoga will eliminate the tightness that leads to pain by opening up your joints. But remember, safety first. "The tighter people are, the safer they need to be, especially with runners, who tend to be goal-oriented," says Christine Felstead, owner of Yoga for Runners in Toronto. "The muscles you use for running are strong but [running] doesn't use all your muscles. A yoga pose requires all the muscles work in tandem."

TRY THIS: Cross-legged seated position (sukhasana)
Try sitting quietly in this pose to wind down after a run. "Sitting cross-legged is the simplest way to start opening up hips and increasing the lateral (outward) rotation of your hip joint," says Felstead. Check to see if your hips are higher than your knees when you sit. If they're not, sit on a rolled-up towel, folded blanket, block, or phone book. After a while, you may feel fatigue in your spine but engaging your abs will add some core work while you stretch the arches of your feet, ankles, knees, and quads. Sit for as long as you feel relaxed and be sure to switch the foot that's in front every few minutes. You might stay there for only three minutes to start but you'll be able to sit longer over time, says Felstead.

YOU WANT: Injury prevention
YOU NEED: Perfect posture
"If you run and don't do anything to maintain flexibility, chances are almost 100 percent that you'll end up with a running injury sooner or later," says Beryl Bender Birch, owner and director of The Hard & The Soft Yoga Institute in East Hampton, New York. "It's just critical to maintain a range of motion and stretch out the muscles that get tight from running." Besides keeping you off the bench, that extra flexibility and movement comes in handy other places too (think: the bedroom). So stand up—you'll look taller too.

TRY THIS: Mountain pose (tadasana)
This simple-but-challenging stance will create better awareness of your body and improve your posture. Stand against a wall to find your postural alignment. This means you have to properly line up your body to the wall, which is harder than it seems. Bring your heels to the wall and tuck your chin slightly under. You'll have two pockets of space at lower back and neck where your body does not touch the wall. Stretch your body gently upwards; you should feel taller. Then step away and try to maintain your posture. By stretching your spine from your tailbone through the crown of your head, you can lengthen your body, ward off shoulder pain, and keep your joints healthy. Apply this posture when you're waiting to cross the street, to pay in the checkout line, or anytime you find yourself slouching (like now). Straighten up!

YOU WANT: Agility
YOU NEED: Correct stretching
You stretch before you run, but practicing a few yoga poses afterward when your muscles are warm will make you feel a whole lot better the next day. "Think of yoga like a clay pot," says Mark Blanchard, founder of Mark Blanchard's Power Yoga Centers. "If you just try to bend it, it will break. If you add warmth, you can bend into anything. When it relaxes and cools off it stays in shape." You actually strengthen muscles by making them soft. "The definition of health in a muscle is not hardness. Even though a muscle may feel hard it's actually weak," says Jean Couch, owner and director of The Balance Center in Palo Alto, California. Tense muscles don't receive blood, so use yoga after you run to keep your muscles open for movement-enabling oxygen.

TRY THIS: Legs-up-the-wall pose (viparita karani), variation
Lie down with your right foot through a doorway and left leg up against the wall. Extend your legs without locking your knees. Hold for five to 10 full breaths for a good hamstring stretch, says Sandra Safadirazieli, instructor at the Piedmont Yoga Studio in Oakland, California. As you loosen up, bring your upper body closer and closer to the door until you can put a strap around your foot for a stronger stretch. If you don't have a strap, use a belt or sturdy scarf. The ultimate goal is to hold onto the big toe with your second and third fingers, but work your way up slowly.
 
YOU WANT: Faster recovery
YOU NEED: Consistent yoga practice
Yoga can help you recover faster by preventing a buildup in scar tissue. "Yoga uses the elastics of the body and breathing to move oxygen, which moves scar tissue so it doesn't coagulate and settle in one spot," says Blanchard. He recommends alternating days of running and yoga but practicing sun salutations every day. The flow makes for a good pre-run warmup to energize and focus your mind and body. But don't cheat—it's not a substitute for a full yoga sequence. Take 15 to 20 minutes for sun salutations pre-run, working at your own pace and following your breath.

 http://www.womenshealthmag.com/fitness/yoga-workouts-for-runners