Fight the Winter Blues!

Do the winter months leave you feeling drained and exhausted?  The cold weather, precipitation, and short daylight hours can really take a toll on your energy levels.  We’re here to give you tips on how to power through your day! We’ll start with a super fast and healthy breakfast recipe that will last all week, and we’ll give you some great energy boosting exercises to use at your desk in the office.

We all know that breakfast is the most important meal of the day.  But when the sun isn’t even up yet and you’re bed is so soft and warm, it’s easy to “Snooze” right through meal time.  Tempt yourself out of bed with this delicious, fast Breakfast Bruschetta that will leave you feeling full and energized all morning!

What you’ll need:
Multigrain Bread
Spinach or Kale
Hard-boiled Egg
White Cannellini Beans
Tomato
Onion
Garlic
Olive Oil
Lemon Juice

1. Night Before Prep: At the beginning of the week, chop up your tomato, onion, 1-2 cloves of garlic.  Add the beans, and mix all together with a splash of olive oil and lemon juice.  Store it in a plastic container in the fridge.  Hard-boil some eggs, peel them, and store them in the fridge.
2. In the Morning: Throw some of your bruschetta, some spinach or kale, and some olive oil into a frying pan and heat up until the leaves are cooked.  Toast your bread.  Put your bruschetta and greens on the toast and top with a sliced hard-boiled egg. Don’t be afraid to butter your toast if you like to! The morning is a great time to get some healthy fats in.

Why We Love This Recipe:

1) The complex carbs, fiber, and protein counts will make you feel instantly full and awake, and that feeling will take you straight through to lunch.

2) It’s REALLY easy! Most of it is pre-made, and it takes about 7 minutes to make in the morning.

3) It’s cheap! A can of beans, some bread, and produce certainly won’t break the bank. And making it last all week is DEFINITELY less expensive than daily trips to Starbucks.

4) It’s versatile- Have leftover bruschetta at the end of the week? Put it over chicken or fish and pop in the oven for a quick, delicious dinner or lunch.

Helpful Hint: Don’t drink your morning coffee before you eat! Coffee on an empty stomach can cause a major crash, and make you feel a lot hungrier later.  Drink a cup while you eat, or after you’re done.

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Keeping your energy up during the winter is full time job, so what do you do at your actual full time job to stay alert and focused? Try these simple Pilates exercises at your desk!

1. Seated Cat and Cow
   • With both feet flat on the floor and your knees lined up over your ankles, place both hands directly in front of you on your desk.
   • Inhale lengthening your spine, exhale pull your stomach muscles in and round your spine forward.  Keep your shoulders down.
   • Inhale lengthen your spine, exhale draw your shoulders into your back using the muscles in your armpits and gently arch your spine backwards, bringing your focus up to the ceiling.
   • Repeat 6-8 times.
2. Spine Twist
   • With both feet flat on the floor and your knees lined up over your ankles, sit up tall and reach both arms directly in front of you with the palms facing in.
   • Lift your stomach muscles up and in, leave your left arm where it is and twist towards the right opening your right arm behind you. Anchor your left buttcheek to the chair.
   • Use your left obliques to pull you back through the center, lengthen and twist to the other side, anchoring your right butt cheek to the chair.
   • Repeat 4-6 times each side.
3. Mermaid
   • With both feet flat on the floor and your knees lined up over your ankles, sit up tall and reach your right arm directly overhead.  Keep your left arm at your side.
   • Reach your right arm over to the left, using your right oblique to keep your right buttcheek on the chair.
   • Use your right oblique to pull you back upright, and repeat to the left.
   • 3-5 times each side.

Why We Love These Exercises:

1) They’re simple and time efficient- so you can do them as many times a day as you need!

2) You can multitask! Sometimes, it really is too busy to slow down for a few minutes. But we don’t see any reason why you can put that conference call on speaker and do some Spine Twist.

3) Not only are they great ways to wake you up at work, they’re also fantastic exercises for lengthening and strengthening your torso- and who doesn’t want that?

Helpful Hint: Stretch your hip flexors! Sitting down for long periods of time causes the fronts of your hips to tighten up.  This can lead to chronic low back pain.  So stand up as much as you can- while you’re taking calls, while you’re having a meeting, when you need a quick break.  And don’t forget to stretch the fronts of your legs- a simple runner’s lunge is very effective!

So can a pre-made breakfast and some simple desk exercises make that much of a difference on your energy levels? You tell us! Try it out and let us know what you think.