Even at a really young age I would rather watch a cooking show on TV than watch Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles… But I do share the turtles love for pizza!

Basic cooking and learning what REAL food is should be a skill that EVERY kid is taught in school, right up there with math and science.

Now that I am a father I realize even more, how important it is to not only play a part in preparing healthy food for myself but also for my daughter.

Even at 20 months old her favorite snack is fresh fruit and berries and at dinner last night she asked for more broccoli!

Don’t get me wrong, I am no food Nazi!  I think it’s one of the greatest pleasures of life.  But I think most people live to eat instead of eating to live…

We still let her enjoy being a kid and let her eat some of the treats and sweets that we all have on occasion.  Mostly when she is out visiting family and friends we loosen up on the food rules but when she is home most of the time we try and feed her the healthy meals that we prepare as a family.

After stumbling onto Jamie Oliver on the Food Network a few years back I watched as this guy with the funny accent not only cooked quick great tasting food but also started a food revolution to combat the skyrocketing child obesity rates in the world today.

Plus Jamie is also a busy dad so he knows what works and what’s practical when it comes to feeding kids healthy meals.

It made me realize that as parents teaching kids about healthy eating can be the biggest contribution we can make to the next generation.

If you are a parent, I highly recommend you take a few minutes out of your day to watch this powerful video!

Click here to view the embedded video.

I REALLY want to hear what you think!

Let me know by leaving a comment below…

What can you do in 3 minutes?

You can make your bed…

You can update your Facebook status…

You can cook 3 batches of Minute Rice…

OK maybe there is a lot of things you can do in 3 minutes.

But one of the biggest obstacles we have as busy dads is finding the time to stick with our workout routine.

But in reality we all have the same amount of time in a day, so it’s really about how we MANAGE our time.

No matter what your situation, there are other dads out there juggling a lot more than you when it comes to family and fitness.

So for those days when you are about to write your scheduled workout off because of no time, I got you covered.

The 3 Minute Workout.

This bodyweight workout can be done anywhere at anytime without any equipment.

No, this shouldn’t replace your regular workout, despite what the TV infomercials want you to believe, you won’t get abs in 7 minutes!

But for a quick metabolic boost that will give you some energy and burn up some calories, put this workout in your training toolbox as an Emergency Workout.

So you now have NO EXCUSES. But you do have 3 minutes…

Click here to view the embedded video.

Do you have an Emergency Workout? Let me know by posting a comment below.

So in honor of Sponge Bob’s tasty Krabby Patties (if you have kids you know what I am talking about…)

It’s a super simple recipe that is high in protein which is good for building lean muscle but without all the gut busting fats that are found in the deep fried batter and tartar sauce covered cakes you might see at your typical seafood restaurant.

Crispy Crab Cakes

1 can of crab meat

2 tbsp minced jalapenos

2 green onions

1/2 of minced red bell pepper

1 egg, slightly beaten

2 tsp dijon mustard

juice of 1 lemon

garlic seasoning

salt and pepper

3/4 cup whole wheat bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 425 F

Mix everything in a bowl except 1/2 cup of breadcrumbs

Using your hands form the crab cakes into patties.

Spread the remaining bread crumbs on a plate and coat each pattie in the crumbs.

Shape each breaded crab cake into patties the size of hockey pucks….
GO CANADA!

Place them on a non-stick baking sheet. I like to cover the baking sheet with parchment paper for no stick and easy clean-up.

Bake for 15 minutes or until brown and crispy.

Top with a spoonful of plain yogurt or seafood sauce. Enjoy!

For more meals plans for men go to www.DadFitness.com to get the Dad Fitness Cookbook for FREE!

Do you have a favorite quick and healthy recipe? Let me know by posting a comment below.

But, before you do…

Your mother always told you to “eat your breakfast”, it’s the most important meal of the day!” Well, your Mom was right…again

Just think of the word Break-Fast for a minute. You are breaking the fast of going all night without eating and get this…eating breakfast is a daily habit for the people who belong to The National Weight Control Registry. These people have maintained a 30-pound (or more) weight loss for at least a year, and some as long as six years!

If you skip breakfast you end up replacing calories during the day with mindless nibbling, bingeing at lunch and dinner, and you are setting yourself up for failure from the start.

Stay away from white breads and bagels if you want to avoid the mid-morning carb coma and reach for some perfect protein…the egg.

The egg is a complete protein food because egg protein has all nine of the essential amino acids (as well as all nine of the non-essential amino acids). Egg protein is second only to mother’s milk for human nutrition!

…and despite what Joe bodybuilder at your gym might tell you, eat the WHOLE egg! It contains half the protein and all the essential fats, vitamins and minerals

The omega 3 enriched eggs are a better choice for the healthy fats and free range eggs from your local farmers market is even better again as they are of much higher nutritional quality than eggs from confinement chickens..

*Data taken from the USDA Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, Release 15.

Starting off the day with a good source of protein and healthy fat will help you build fat burning muscle, give you sustained energy and keep you full longer.

So here is a quick 5 minute breakfast recipe for Jamaican Scrambled Eggs that is good for your taste buds and even better for your body…Now get cracking!

Click here to view the embedded video.

PS. If you didn’t see my previous emails…

The incredible three-day launch of the new TACFIT Workout ends TONIGHT at midnight!

TACFIT Commando is a comprehensive 3-month equipment-free, follow-along bodyweight exercise program that’s leaving even fitness professionals shaking their heads in amazement–and gym owners who stick their clients with high monthly fees quaking in fear.

If you’re even slightly interested in the program that just raised the bar in the world of health and fitness by breaking all the rules, this is the one you need to check out:

==>http://www.tacfitworkout.com

It’s probably the only sport I never followed much growing up. Instead living in Northern Canada I spent many winter days yelling “car!” while playing street hockey in bone chilling temperatures.

But I am a fan of food who likes to stay fit, so I still like to celebrate Super Bowl Sunday and cook up some game day guy grub that’s tastes great but is also a little healthier than the traditional gut busting snacks.

Of course an all-time favorite that packs a nutritional punch is Chili. But Chili is usually on our weekly menu anyway so I wanted to use SuperBowl Sunday to try another tasty treat but with a Dad Fitness twist.

Can you say Super Bowl without thinking, WINGS!

So here are 3 Tips for Wicked Wings that cuts the fat and sugar from your normal pub grub wings that are usually battered, deep fried and drowned in sugar laden sauce that will send your pancreas into insulin overdrive.

1. Baked Is Better- Baking the wings in the oven or even grilling them removes a lot of the grease from the skin and avoids adding even more fat by frying them in oil.

2. Spice Not Sugar- Avoid drowning your wings in sugary bbq sauce and use fresh herbs and spices to bring them to life and create fiery flavors.

3. Ditch the Dressing- Stay away from the Ranch and Blue Cheese dressings for dips and opt for Fat-Free Sour Cream or even Plain Yogurt to cooldown your palette after going heavy on the hot sauce.

Baked Parmesan Garlic Chicken Wings

Just the name alone is enough to make you drool over your football jersey…

Serves 4

1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt (1/2 tsp table salt)
2 1/2 pounds chicken wings
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (or melted butter)
2 tablespoons minced fresh basil
2 garlic cloves, finely minced
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon seasoning salt (like Lawry’s)
*Fat Free Sour Cream or Plan Yogurt for dipping

1. Preheat oven to 425F. In a small bowl, mix together the oregano, rosemary, cumin and salt. Lay the chicken wings on a baking sheet and season the chicken wings with this mixture.

2. Bake the chicken wings for 45 minutes. While the chicken is baking, mix together the oil, fresh basil, garlic, parmesan cheese and seasoning salt.

3. When the chicken is cooked through, toss the wings with the garlic, cheese and oil.

These wings maybe lower in calories but they make up for it in FLAVOR!

For more recipes like this get my Manly Meals In Minutes Dad Fitness Cookbook at http://www.DadFitness.com

Give these a try and let me know how you like them by posting a comment below…

It’s especially important if you live in a colder climate like me where it’s currently -50 degrees Celsius with the windchill!  Yeah you read that right…minus 50 degrees Celsius.  So I make sure to add a couple extra minutes to my workout warmup when the temperatures drop to these insane levels…

If you started your workout off right with a dynamic warm-up, now its time to call it a day with a proper cool down. This is when you should be doing some old school static stretching, which basically consists of stretching a muscle as far as your flexibility will allow and then holding that position for 10-15 seconds.

Static stretching is of value primarily for preventing or correcting excessive muscle tension and establishing proper muscle length at the joints, both of which will improve movement efficiency.

This type of stretching is best performed post-workout or several hours after the exercise session. Always easy into a stretch while gradually increasing the range of motion as your flexibility improves.

Here is my stretching routine that I make sure I do after EVERY workout…

Click here to view the embedded video.

Let me know some of YOUR favorite stretches by posting a comment below!

Coincidentally it seems the same people who neglect this important part of their workout are the same people complaining about shoulder pain or back pain and wrap themselves up like a mummy before their workout with wrist wraps, elbow wraps, knee wraps and the infamous weight lifting belt for EVERY exercise so they can manage to get through their workout.

Even though I don’t recommend the “old school” warmups of walking on a treadmill for 5 minutes and then static stretching before your workout, (which I will explain in a future post) it is still a lot better than doing nothing at all!

What I do recommend is a Dynamic Warm-Up before you workout, so here is my current warmup I do before EVERY Dad Fitness workout to enhance muscular activation and increase joint mobility.

Give this one a try or let me know what you do for your workout warmup by leaving a comment below…

Click here to view the embedded video.

No matter what level of fitness knowledge you think you may have, you always need to look and learn from other trainers and coaches to improve your mind and body. As the author of Dad Fitness, I still strive to learn and improve my knowledge to help others get the fastest results possible.

After spending 5 days hanging out with guys like Craig Ballantyne of Men’s Health and fitness icon Shawn Phillips, I started to pick up on some of the secrets these guys use to stay in awesome shape even while traveling.

So here are 5 Tips To Stay Fit While Traveling.

1. Workout No Matter What. After a busy 5 days of sitting on my butt in meetings and seminars I still managed to workout 4 out of the 5 days while in Florida. Which is even more than I workout at home!

The first day I got together with Rommel Acda of FitInAHurry.com, and Deb Froehlich of CelluiteCircuits.com and we trained together in the hotel gym. It wasn’t very big but had enough to get a great workout using our bodyweight and a few dumbbells.

Then the next day along with Craig Ballantyne of Turbulence Training we all headed to the local Powerhouse gym to get a great workout in a more upbeat gym atmosphere.

Wether it’s a quick hotel room bodyweight workout, a hotel gym workout or a Powerhouse gym workout, just make sure you do some exercise while traveling to offset all the sitting down on airplanes and in meetings.

2. All You Can Eat. The great thing about travelling to new cities is experiencing new places to eat. But if you’re not careful you could be paying the airlines extra weight on the way home, and I am not talking about your luggage…

So do what all the fit trainers did every morning to start their day off right; eat a nutritious breakfast. Even though our hotel served a FREE buffet breakfast every morning, most everyone who is in great shape skipped the bacon and breads and had a huge freshly prepared omelet stuffed with veggies with a little fruit on the side, me included. Keep lunch small with a salad or whole grain wrap so you don’t get sleepy during the afternoon meetings, and enjoy a nice dinner with some lean meat and veggies and even a glass of wine.

3. Drink Up. I don’t mean spend your nights at the hotel bar getting sloshed. I mean drink lots of cold refreshing water. It will keep you full and focused and your mind off the donuts and croissants sitting across the conference table.

It’s really easy to drink lots of H2O during these hotel conferences as they usually serve you pitchers of water in your meeting rooms and in the big conference rooms. Just to be sure you always have water on hand, pick up a couple of litres of spring water at the hotel gift shop and keep on ice in your room.

4. Ditch the Cab. If you are up for some sight seeing or heading to a nearby restaurant for dinner, ditch the cab fare, get some directions and walk there instead. Google Maps on your smart phone works great for this!  Walking is a great way to see a new city and burn some calories. Strolling back to the hotel after dinner is a great way to end the evening and ease the guilt from that decadent dessert.

You can also try to find a park or gym a couple miles away and walk or run there to get your heart pumping and your warmup out of the way.

5. Recharge. If you’re traveling solo, staying at a hotel is a great way to get some extra rest and relaxation. You get the bed to yourself, and you have no worries of the kids jumping in the bed at the wee hours of the morning.

It’s also a great time to catch up on some work or read that book you have been trying to get through. A dip in the hotel pool and a hot sauna afterwards might be just what you need to recharge your batteries before you get back on the road.

So there you have it, 5 Travel Tips To Stay Fit so you’re wife still recognizes you when you get home…

How do YOU stay fit on the road? Let me know and leave a comment below.

Frozen orange juice anyone?

I am here in beautiful Tampa Bay, Florida and just finished a long day of seminar meetings with other fitness professionals. It’s been supposedly cooler here in Florida than normal with stories of the oranges freezing over and all that but 22 degrees Celsius is summer weather where I am from, so no complaints from me!

It’s going to be hard to go back home to cold Canada after enjoying the warm Florida sun!  But I look forward to getting home with my wife and daughter after 5 days away…

So before I hit the sack I wanted to give you a heads up on my new shoulder training article that just came out in the newest issue of Inside Fitness magazine.

Besides back pain, shoulder problems is probably the next biggest complaint I get from busy dads who have been working out for awhile.

So to get bigger and stronger shoulders, try these tips the next time you workout.

…On Saturday night we headed over to my parents for some HNIC. HNIC is a Canadian tradition and stands for Hockey Night In Canada which airs on CBC for any of you south of the border.

I know you probably don’t want to see another Turkey for awhile after the holidays but that doesn’t mean you have to turn away every recipe with the word Turkey!

So here is a simple healthy recipe for Turkey Sausage Stir-Fry that can be whipped up and on the dinner table in 20 minutes and it’s so simple even a Turkey can do it, no offense…

It only requires 2 ingredients so I don’t even know if you can call this a recipe.

It’s just a damn tasty and healthy meal that you can feed your family without having to worry about all the heart pounding fat and nitrites found it regular sausage.

Here is what I used:

1 pkg of Lilydale Tailgate Italian Turkey Sausage (hot)

1 bag of Artic Garden’s frozen mixed veggies (Thai)

For the sausages: Pre-heat skillet over medium heat, then add sausages and 250ML (1 cup) of water. Cover and heat for 10 minutes, turning sausages once. Remove cover, and cook until golden brown (Approximately 10 minutes).

Slice up sausages and set aside.

For the veggies: Pour vegetables in a microwaveable dish with 1/4 cup of water. Add vegetables. Cook in microwave on high power for recommended time.

Throw cooked sausage slices and cooked veggies back in skillet and stir and fry for a couple minutes.

That’s it.  Serve and relish in the applause coming from the family dinner table!

Got a “Super Snack” idea you would like to share? Be sure to post a comment below!

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