Hey Folks,
I’m back with another edition of Life Ingredients, the newsletter where we nourish the body and mind with exercise, healthy food, and positive thoughts. I write this newsletter because I want you to look after every aspect of your physical and mental health and create a life you love.
We’re going to kick things off as we always do, with a good hard workout.
Now let’s get to work!
When it comes to training for aesthetics and fat loss, intensity trumps overall duration. Because when you train with great intensity, you increase something called EPOC, or “Excess Post-exercise Oxygen Consumption”. Which is fancy trainer language for the fact that when you train so hard that you’re out of breath, your body has to keep working long after the workout is complete to feed those hard-working muscles. Think of it as an “afterburn” – your body continuing to chew through calories (fat stores) while you’re at rest. It’s a terrific thing, and it doesn’t happen if all you do is steady-state cardio.
Naturally, many people ask me how to add intensity. The easiest way is to add weight to the bar, but the world of intensity techniques is much bigger than that. This month, my trainer Steve Wrona is here with 12 ways to add intensity to your workouts without just adding more plates. The 12 ways are listed below, and in the accompanying video, Steve explains exactly how to employ them. Because all lists need a catchy name, and because I love old war movies, I’m going to call this list…
WORK OUT
1. Supersets
2. Drop Sets
3. Rest-Pause Sets
4. Forced Reps
5. Tri-Sets
6. Partial Reps
7. Negatives (Eccentric Reps)
8. Pre-Exhaustion
9. Post-Exhaustion
10. Isometric Holds
11. Slow Tempo Reps
12. Cheat Reps
I believe the kitchen is the nerve center of the house. It’s not just where we cook, it’s often the case that the kitchen is also the place where we connect with one another, either in conversation during meal prep or because that’s where the kids plop down at the counter to do their homework after school, or for 100 other reasons. The kitchen is where all the action is, and I’ve always encouraged families to lean into this fact and bring their kids in to help cook. In fact, I wrote a whole book about this, called Family Table.
But what’s fun for kids to make? And for adults at the same time? Why not try the most popular takeout food in the world? PIZZA.
For whatever reason, kneading dough is irresistible for little ones, and choosing and applying your own toppings from a “pizza bar” you set up lets them get creative. Below you’ll find my recipe for one of my favorite topping combinations—sausage and jalapeno—but obviously you can feel free to disregard that and go traditional. Or wilder and weirder. Whatever you’re feeling. The dough is the most important part of the recipe. Don’t stray from those instructions. If you have little ones, I recommend giving them a small portion to make their own personal pies.
SAUSAGE AND JALAPENO PIZZA
SERVES 4 – Cut or double recipe.
YOU’LL NEED
FOR THE DOUGH
5 ¼ cups bread flour
2 tbsp plus 1¼ tsp sugar
1 3/4 cups plus 2 tbsp cool water
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 tsp active dry yeast
2½ tsp fine sea salt
FOR THE SAUCE
12 oz canned plum tomatoes, puréed
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp oregano, chopped
1 bunch basil, chopped
FOR THE TOPPINGS
8 oz Italian sausage
2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and sliced
1 onion sliced
8 oz mozzarella cheese, grated
8 oz smoked gouda cheese, grated
4 tbsp Parmesan cheese, grated
MAKE IT
DOUGH
1) Using a stand mixer with a dough hook mix all ingredients except the yeast and salt. Once mixed, sprinkle with yeast.
2) Mix on low speed for 5 minutes or until everything is tacky, stopping to scrape sides of bowl as needed. Increase speed to medium-low; mix 4 minutes or until dough clings to dough hook. Add salt. Mix 5 minutes or until dough is soft, stretchy and resilient when poked.
3) Transfer dough to a clean work surface. Cut into 4 pieces (each about 8oz). Mold the portions into tight formed balls. Squeeze each ball near bottom to eliminate any big air pockets. Gently roll on surface in a circular motion to create a smooth, tight ball. Place dough on a baking pan. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 24 hours or up to 3 days. Remove from the refrigerator and let it rest covered at room temperature for 1 hour. After 1 hour stretch the dough. 4) Using a rolling pin, roll the dough into a 12-inch circle, 1/8 inch thick.
SAUCE
1) In a mixing bowl add crushed tomatoes, oregano, garlic, and basil.
2) Place in refrigerator.
PIZZA
1) Insert a pizza stone or baking sheet into the oven and pre-heat to 400 degrees.
2) In a sauté pan over medium heat add sausage. Toss and stir sausage to break it up.
3) Add onions and jalapenos. Allow to sweat.
4) Remove sausage and peppers from pan and set aside.
5) Spread pizza sauce on the par-cooked pizza dough edge to edge. Then top pizza with peppers, onions, mozzarella, and smoked Gouda.
6) Place pizza in the oven and allow to cook for about 5 minutes or until the pizza crust is light brown in color and crispy.
7) Cut the pizza into 6 slices and finish with grated Parmesan.
This quote from author Frank A. Clark recently came to my attention, and it instantly became one of my favorite motivational quotes of all time:
“If you find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn’t lead anywhere.” I believe Shakespeare was right when he said that brevity is the soul of wit and the quote above underscores that point perfectly, saying so much with so little.
In just one sentence, my mind was flooded with a lifetime of memories of all the obstacles I faced along the way. The people who said I wasn’t good enough and that I’d never make it. The pilot episodes that no one bought. The products that failed. The business partnerships that disintegrated… It made me so thankful for all of it. Because while those experiences were tough, I learned something from each of them.
The obstacles, then, aren’t something to be dreaded. They are something to be thankful for. Think back on your own life and think of the biggest obstacles you’ve faced. While they may have been painful at the time, didn’t they make you better and stronger in the long run? For the sake of our collective mental health, I think it’s so important to embrace difficulty as an essential part of life. The moment we begin to ruminate on a particular episode being unfair, we open the door to a potential downward spiral. But if we approach all aspects of life with an attitude of gratitude and remember the words of Mister Clark—that paths without obstacles lead nowhere—we begin to see our lives—warts and all—as the divinely blessed gifts that they really are. So, the next obstacle you face, I want you to do something for me: Wrap both your arms around it, look within it for the opportunity to become better than you were, and remind yourself of the words I live by:
NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE.
