They're Crazy and They're Kooky: Halloween (Fitness) Tricks & Treats

HALLOWEEN HAS ARRIVED!!!!!!! Woohoo! I've always LOVED this holiday! When I was young, I'd head out trick or treating with my cousins and as I got older, my friends and I always went BIG for the occasion, sometimes having more than three costumes to celebrate all week! One of my all-time favorite Halloweens was two years ago when I spent it in Texas with my beautiful family.

T doing his best impression of Tigger.

This year, I'll be in the City celebrating and I've got a few things here to kick off the weekend properly!

First, a recipe that'll be perfect with a cup of coffee (make sure you throw some cinnamon in the grounds!) the morning of Halloween. Rest assured, it's healthy.

Cranberry Pumpkin Bread 

Ingredients:

1) 3.5 cups all-purpose flour
2) 1 cup packed brown sugar (I cut this amount in half to cut back on sugar- w/ the cranberry sauce, it's plenty sweet!)
3) 2 teaspoons baking soda
4) 1 teaspoon baking powder
5) 3/4 teaspoons of salt (I used a salt substitute- You canNOT tell the difference!)
6) 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
7) 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
8) 1 cup egg substitute
9) 1 16 ounce can whole cranberry sauce
10) 1 15 ounce can pumpkin puree
11) 1/3 cup applesauce (using apple sauce instead of vegetable oil keeps the calorie count down!)
12) 1 tablespoon orange zest
* 2 tablespoons walnuts (I didn't include these because I loathe nuts in bread.)

Directions:
- Pre-heat oven to 350 F (or 150 C).
- Spray 2 8x4 baking pans with non-stick spray. (I used one 11.5x5.5 pan)
- In a large bowl, mix ingredients numbers 1-7 well and set aside.
- Mix ingredients numbers 8-12 in a second bowl.
- Combine the two bowls then pour the mixture into the baking pans. (Mixing everything together provides for a great arm workout!)
- Bake for 55 to 60 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean (My bread took about an hour and a half... maybe because of the size of my pan???)
- Let the bread cool for ten minutes before removing from pans.

Slice and enjoy with some sliced fruit and that cup of coffee I mentioned earlier!

After fueling up on your delicious bread, I bet you're ready for some spooky- inspired workout tips!  Here ya go:

Pumpkin Squats

This one is pretty self- explanatory. Holding a pumpkin (whichever weight you prefer, carved or not), squat. 100 reps. 

Frankenstein Lunges
Again, pretty self- explanatory. Simply do lunges but keep your arms straight out in front of you (like Frankenstein!) Add light weights if you're feeling particularly motivated. 100 reps (50 lunges/leg)

Witches Brew
This one is easy but there is a lot of explanation (well, more than I want to include in this post) so check out this link for an illustrated tutorial!
exm.nr/veF7WH



Corpse Pose
This is always a popular move in yoga! Just lay there on your back. Yep, just like that! Hold it as long as you wish...

And of course there are hundreds of fun songs to listen to this weekend so get up and dance to burn some calories! Here are a few to get you started (ridiculous videos included!):

- "Thriller"- Michael Jackson bit.ly/d0x110
- "Devel Went Down to Georgia"- Charlie Daniels Band bit.ly/XuDeb
- "Ghostbusters Theme"- Ray Parker Jackson Jr. bit.ly/9BvuXj
- "Super Freak"- Rick James bit.ly/55yfIF
- "Crawling"- Linkin Park bit.ly/bGKwwM
- "Disturbia"- Rihanna bit.ly/q9lAXJ
- "I Put a Spell on You"- Screamin' Jay Hawkins bit.ly/bUmMA9
- "Black Magic Woman"- Sanatana bit.ly/a4FICH

Have a Healthy, Happy Halloween!!!!!

 The bread recipe I used comes from AllRecipes.com. Find it here: bit.ly/upckKx