The Winter Fruits

Have you ever heard of the Santa Claus Melon? Didn’t think so. Just because it’s the winter doesn’t mean we should stop eating fruit! In fact a lot of delicious fruits just came into season! A Santa Claus Melon is very similar to a Honeydew Melon, but even sweeter. 

Clementines are one of the most popular winter fruits, they’re easy to eat, and provide many health benefits for your body. Clementines are like mini oranges, making them easier to peal, and the perfect snack! These small fruits are packed with vitamin C! They also offer you more potassium than most other fruits, which helps promote healthy function of your nerves and muscles, and can help you fight muscle cramps. However the citrus fruits aren’t the only winter fruits you should be paying attention to!

Kumquats are fantastic winter fruits! They’re itty-bitty citrus fruits that are great source of fiber, which helps control the glucose and insulin in our bodies. Not only are they a great source for fiber, but like all other citrus fruits, Kumquats are a great way to get more vitamin C into your body!

The Star Fruit is one of the funnest fruits, and it happens to be one of the best winter fruits! First of all, they are delicious. Secondly, they are one of the fruits with the smallest amount of calories, but with the protein and healthy sugar they hold they offer your body a surprising amount of energy. Most large Star Fruits are about 28 calories, that’s almost nothing for such a delicious little snack! It is even believed that the Star Fruit can help prevent Kidney Stones. 

Pomegranates are known as a “Superfood” because they offer many different benefits for our bodies. They contain a large amount of vitamin C, fiber, and potassium, and the juice also carries tannins that act as antioxidants. The antioxidants are important for your body’s immune system, it helps your body’s natural process which fights “free radicals” which could attack your cells. And an added bonus is they’re fun to eat and easy to throw into almost any salad!

So, just because it’s winter time does not mean you should be skipping out on eating fruits! It just means there’s a new variety of fruits for you to try! There are plenty of fruits around in the winter, it’s just gives you a chance to try some new and interesting fruits!

IPF Community Spotlight Member of the Year!

Within the red painted walls of INTEGRATE you'll find a unique group of people. Across their diversity in gender, age and fitness levels, they share a single commonality; they are athletes. INTEGRATE clients train like professionals, and as soon as you walk through the INTEGRATE doors we consider you one of us. 

You belong to our community. We are a group of recreational athletes who train, compete and enrich our lives through fitness and we love working with all of you. 

With that being said, each week highlight one of our community members for exercise achievements, goal obtainment or just because we like them! And now, we will have for the first time in IPF history, the "Community Spotlight of the Year!"

This is the highest level of recognition we can give out at the studio. The following nominees exemplify what it means to INTEGRATE through their effort, attitude and approach to training. So please cast your vote be sending an email to info@integratefitness.com and help us select our 2013 IPF Community Spotlight of the Year!

Jeff Raddick
By far one of the greatest people you will ever meet. In 2012 he's lost over 75lbs and is still going. His incredible attitude is only matched by his herculean effort when he trains!

Debbie Young
From having never ridden a MTB to 2012 NorCal Cat 3 Women's State Champ, in only about eight months! She's got an incredible attitude, works her tale off and is always a blast to train.

Heather Savage
10 months at IPF, 21.75 inches and over 25lbs lost. She trains as hard any professional or collegiate athlete whose ever come through IPF's red doors, and she keeps us in stitches every time she comes in.

Joan Deitchman
She finished the 2012 Race Across America and FINALLY did a MTB race and lived to tell about it.

OK people, there are your three nominees for IPF's 2012 Spotlight of the Year. Please send your vote to info@integratefitness.com and help us pick our winner!!

Get Out for the Holidays

The holiday’s are around, family’s visiting, kids are home more often, it’s getting chillier out but that is no reason to stay shut up inside the whole holiday season!! There is so much to do outside, things for the whole family to enjoy together that will get you guys out and about!

Downtown San Jose has been transformed into a a beautiful Christmas wonderland. Christmas in the Park happens every year in the downtown San Jose. Anything you want to see for the christmas season can be found there. Over 60 decorated Christmas trees and musical exhibits line a walk through the Plaza de Cesar Chavez, where you can also find an ice skating rink, hot chocolate, rides, a train, and Christmas carols being song by choirs from throughout the Bay Area.

Go out and cut down your Christmas tree! Go up into the Santa Cruz mountains to cut down a gorgeous fresh Christmas tree! This can get the whole family out of the house and excited for Christmas! Most Christmas tree farms usually have picnic benches for people to eat lunch at if you want to make a whole day of it. 

Join the Santa Run! There’s a 5k this Sunday in downtown San Jose! For an extra $5 every participant can even get a complimentary Santa suite, and all participants are encouraged to dress up as their favorite holiday character! The sponsors of the event are even having an extra holiday festival at Christmas in the Park after the race, so if you can’t make it to the race, consider checking out the festival which is open to everyone, spectators or participants!

Go up to San Francisco! They know how to spread the holiday cheer! Every where in the city is beautifully decorated for the holidays! The Union Square area especially has a lot going on. Even just walking around the Macy’s windows in San Francisco will give you that great holiday feeling!

Go caroling!! Okay I know this isn’t for everyone, but if you’re with the right group of people it can be a really fun evening! And who doesn’t enjoy being surprised with holiday carolers at their door!

Get up to the snow! We live only a couple hours away from hills that are covered in snow at this very moment. Whether you want to make a day trip out of it, or spend a weekend up there, it’s fun to spend some time in the snow! There are beautiful hikes in Tahoe, skiing and snow boarding, and of course many other activities.

Don’t stay stuck inside all holiday season, find some time to spend outside, there’s plenty to do, and if you dress right it won’t even be that cold! 
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Chrisi Keating
Santa Clara University
Communication Major

Keep the Holiday Weight Away

With the holidays around, everyday becomes increasingly hectic in anticipation of the time between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day. Everyones schedules get full with parties, family gatherings, and school performances and concerts.

The holiday’s are wonderful but they can also become a very stressful time; the kids are home, there are parties weekly, you need to get the presents bought and wrapped, the cookies baked, the house decorated, pull the winter clothes out of their summer hiding spots, it’s a never ending list causing the diet and workouts to go out the window until it’s time for you to make your New Years resolutions again. 

It’s hard to avoid all those delicious foods at gatherings, or the cookie trays that get passed around and it seems like everyone has bowl of festive candy at there desk, it’s hard not to get sucked into eating it all! And who has time to continue there normal work outs while the kids are back home all the time, or you’re traveling or having family visit? Here are a few simple ways that may help you not feel quite as guilty come New Years!

Eat something heathy before you go to a party. 
By eating before going out to a holiday party you are less likely to start grabbing all the food you see, and instead save the room you have left for the foods you really do want to eat. Try eating a handful of almonds before leaving for a party, their healthy and ward away hunger!

Avoid temptations! 
I know, easier said than done, but if you do, you will be so happy with yourself! Don’t go grabbing candy from all of the holiday candy bowls around the office, or avoid the break room when you know people have brought in trays of holiday cookies or sweets. 

Stay away from the food areas at parties! 
Don’t hover by the table that has all the horderves, stay away from it! When your standing by the horderve table it’s hard not to keep grabbing those perfect little bite size snacks. Moving away from the table allows you to still have your conversation, but without the temptation of snacking the whole time. 

And when you go to the mall to do the holiday shopping, consider parking a bit further away from the entrance, or maybe walk a bit faster than you normally would. This will get you moving more, even just making your walk a bit longer than it normally would be could help you burn a few extra calories!

Though none of these are fool proof answers to avoiding that holiday weight gain, they could definitely help! But no matter what, make sure you enjoy your holidays!

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Chrisi Keating, is IPF's Lois Lane reporting on all things fitness for our Community News Blog. She's a senior at Santa Clara University studying Communications. Please feel free to post any questions that you've got!

Delicious Pear Stuffing

Ingredients

• Extra-virgin olive oil
• 8 ounces slab bacon, cut into 1/4-inch dice
• 4 ribs celery, cut into 1/4-inch dice
• 2 Spanish onions, cut into 1/4-inch dice
• 1/4 fennel bulb, cut into 1/4-inch dice
• Kosher salt
• 4 sprigs rosemary, picked and finely chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, smashed and finely chopped
• 8 ounces peeled chestnuts, coarsely chopped
• 3/4 cup dried cranberries
• 4 Anjou pears, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch dice
• 2 cups dry white wine
• 12 cups cubed crustless, stale sourdough or peasant bread
• 4 cups chicken stock, warmed

Directions

1. Coat a wide, straight-sided pan with olive oil and add the bacon. Bring the pan to a medium heat and let the bacon get brown and crispy.
2. Add the celery, onions and fennel and season with salt. Cook the veggies until they get soft and very aromatic, 8 to10 minutes. Add the rosemary and garlic and cook for 1 to 2 minutes more.
3. Toss in the chestnuts, cranberries and pears, and stir to combine. Add the wine and let it reduce by half.
4. Put the bread in a large mixing bowl and add the cooked veggie mixture to the bread. Stir to combine and douse the bread with half the stock. Use your hands to combine the bread, veggies and stock. Add more stock when/if needed to really saturate the bread. Season with salt and taste it to make sure it is delicious.
5. Use the stuffing to stuff a turkey or pork crown roast, or place in a roasting pan and bake for 35 minutes at 350 degrees F.

A Healthier Pumpkin Pie

Ingredients:

For Crust:

• 1 cup quick cooking oats
• 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup ground almonds
• 1 Tablespoon Splenda Brown Sugar Blend (brown sugar substitute)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 4 Tablespoons unsweetened applesauce
• 1 Tablespoon water

For Filling:

• 6 Tablespoons Splenda Brown Sugar Blend (brown sugar substitute)
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg 
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon salt 
• 1/2 cup egg substitute (like Egg Beaters)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 (15 ounce) can solid pack pumpkin 
• 1 (14 ounce) can fat free evaporated milk

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

To prepare crust:

1. Mix oats, flour, almonds, sugar, and salt in small mixing bowl.
2. Blend applesauce and water in measuring cup with fork or small wire whisk until well mixed.
3. Add applesauce mixture to dry ingredients and mix well. If needed, add small amount of water to hold mixture together.
4. Press into 9-inch pie pan, and bake for 7-9 minutes, or until light brown. Remove from oven.
5. Turn down oven to 350 degrees F.

To prepare filling:

1. Mix brown sugar substitute, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and salt in bowl.
2. Add egg substitute and vanilla, and mix to blend ingredients.
3. Add pumpkin and fat free evaporated milk, and mix well to combine.

Putting it together:

1. Pour filling into prepared pie shell.
2. Bake for 40-50 minutes at 350 degrees F or until knife inserted near center comes out clean.

Yield:

9 servings
Serving size: 1/9 of 9-inch pie

Each serving provides:

Calories: 160
Total fat: 7 g
Saturated fat: 1 g
Cholesterol: 20 mg
Sodium: 207 mg
Total fiber: 3 g
Protein: 5 g
Carbohydrates: 19 g
Potassium: 223 mg