Nothing says "cozy winter comfort food" quite like beef stew.
If you know me, you know there's nothing I love more than family gatherings, valid excuses for being extra festive, and healthier takes on our favorite comfort foods. My husband is a comfort food guy through and through, so naturally I eat up every ounce of his unrestrained enthusiasm when I make one of the classics. According to my husband, Hearty Beef Stew is the holy grail of comfort food. When I make him his beloved hearty beef stew, nothing else in the world matters to him except for those deliciously tender chunks of beef, velvety smooth pillows of potato along with the ensemble of stew veggies that melt in your mouth with each and every bite. We can’t forget about that deep, rich, savory sauce … because it’s all about the sauce. I think it’s pretty safe to say that when it comes to feeding a true comfort food connoisseur, saucy beefy things are a BIG DEAL.
You might be asking, “How can I make a healthier version of such a serious classic without sacrificing my lifestyle goals?”
Easily.With a few strategic swaps, you can enjoy comforting favorites like this beef stew. Instead of purchasing the fattier cuts of stew meat, opt for extra lean cuts. You will drastically reduce the fat and calories without sacrificing flavor. My other strategic swap involves thickening the sauce. A lot of stew recipes use white flour as the main thickening agent. I have nothing against white flour, but with gluten intolerance and/or sensitivity on the rise, I always look for convenient alternatives such as cornstarch, which is inexpensive and readily available.
This recipe is all about convenient home cooked comfort food. No endless hours in the kitchen, no huge pile of dirty dishes that will not do themselves, just some minor chopping, mixing and setting the slow cooker. Whether your days and nights are filled with some seasonal festive fun, or you’re heading to the gym for a much needed workout at the end of a busy day, or you simply can’t cook but you have to eat something to stay alive, the slow cooker can and will be your best friend here.
Even though many of us love this time of year, we are often exhausted by the end of each day. Endless parties and gatherings, holiday events and obligations, the struggle to maintain the balance of a healthy lifestyle in the midst of abundant temptation, and the excitement of the season followed by the inevitable burnout, are all very real experiences we may encounter. As the holidays get closer and our days and evenings get busier, coming home to cook a labor intensive meal is the last thing we want to do. It’s okay to make things a little (or a lot) easier on yourself. Plug in your slow cooker with pride, and let it do the work for you … You can even skip the dishes.
All you need to do is pull up a chair and serve yourself up a generous bowl of this hearty, savory stew to soothe your soul, and fill your belly at the end of a long, eventful day.
Hearty Slow Cooker Beef Stew
Gluten-free, high-protein, low-fat
Servings: 6 | 282 calories per serving 27g Protein | 28g Carbs | 4g Fat
Ingredients
1.5 lb. extra lean stew meat, trimmed and cubed
1 lb. Dutch baby or red potatoes, quartered
1 cup yellow onion, diced
1 cup celery, chopped
1.5 cups carrot, peeled and sliced into rounds
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup dry red wine
1 cup reduced sodium beef broth, gluten free
2 Tablespoons tomato paste, whisked in broth
1/4 cup cornstarch, dissolved in 1/4 cup cold water
2 bay leaves
1.5 teaspoons dried thyme
Kosher salt & coarse ground pepper, to taste
Preparation
Place the trimmed stew meat in the slow cooker. Quarter the baby potatoes, dice the onion, chop the celery, slice the peeled carrots and mince the garlic cloves, then add them to the slow cooker. Pour wine over the meat and vegetable mixture. Whisk the tomato paste in the beef broth until smooth, then pour the mixture into the slow cooker cavity. In a small ramekin, combine 1/4 cup of cold water and cornstarch. Gently stir until the cornstarch has dissolved. Stir the cornstarch mixture into the slow cooker. Add the bay leaves and dried thyme, then season the stew mixture with salt and pepper. Cover the stew with a lid and turn the heat on the low setting, and let cook for 6-8 hours, stirring occasionally.
When the stew is done, remove the bay leaves. Adjust the salt and pepper to taste preferences and enjoy immediately, or transfer to an airtight storage container and store in the refrigerator for later.
> > > Live well.
By: Karenia Bowman | Nothing says “cozy winter comfort food” quite like beef stew. If you know me, you know there’s nothing I love more than family gatherings, valid excuses for being extra festive, and healthier takes on our favorite comfort foods. My husband is a comfort food guy through and through, so naturally I eat […]
Dieters looking to stick to their New Year's resolutions need look no further than their local Chipotle.
The burrito restaurant introduced a collection of "lifestyle bowls" earlier this week, available exclusively through its mobile app and website. The new offerings use the same ingredients that Chipotle has always offered, but are catered to folks adhering to the popular keto, paleo, Whole30 and other protein-rich diet plans.
The online-only availability of these meals is a strategic move by the company to coax more customers to order digitally, since average checks of digital orders tend to be higher than orders placed at the restaurant.
The bowls are a bit pricier than a traditional bowl as they all contain guacamole or double the meat, both extra charges at the chain. Without add-ons, salads and bowls cost between $7.60 and $8.60, as priced at a New Jersey Chipotle restaurant. In comparison, these lifestyle bowls run from $10.30 to $11.15.
The appeal of the bowls is that dieters don't need to build their own or try and figure out what items fit their diet plan, Chipotle does it for them.
Dieters looking to stick to their New Year’s resolutions need look no further than their local Chipotle. The burrito restaurant introduced a collection of “lifestyle bowls” earlier this week, available exclusively through its mobile app and website. The new offerings use the same ingredients that Chipotle has always offered, but are catered to folks adhering to […]
We’ve all heard the expression, “Do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life.”
We live in the age of Elizabeth Gilbert—an entire generation of Eat, Pray, Love-ers who seemingly quit their “normal” lives to successfully follow their dreams. On a recent layover in Las Vegas I purchased the anthology, “Eat Pray Love Made Me Do It: Life Journeys Inspired by the Bestselling Memoir,” and indulged in stories of how people transformed into real life superheroes. This left me contemplating my own journey (over a decade as a professional yoga teacher), with a desire to outline a roadmap for how it can all be possible by incorporating the following practices into building your business:
1. Teach in three places or less.
You cannot be everywhere, so don’t try. Focus on finding two or three (one, if you’re lucky) “yoga homes” where you enjoy practicing, teaching, and connecting with the community. Make sure your “homes” are not struggling and can compensate you appropriately for the work you put in. Negotiate your pay so you feel comfortable with what you receive for your efforts. Even as a newer teacher, you still deserve to be paid competitively for your work.
2. Pursue teaching in corporate environments.
I never thought teaching in an office setting would be one of my favorite places to work, but they are genuinely the best. Pros: students are delighted to have a break from their desk; pay is consistent and often higher than in a studio or gym setting; your work is valued and appreciated in a professional way. Also, snacks.
3. Prioritize quality over quantity.
As an East Coast Jew, my go-to is: Always do more and say "yes!" to opportunities. However, this has come back to crush me many times during my career. As a teacher, you must learn to focus your energy on gigs that pay and/or add a significant amount of value to your business. I’ve often taught free classes in partnership with companies or causes that I’m passionate about. These opportunities can increase your visibility, and ultimately lead to monetary gains as you encounter potential new students. But, teaching a free class requires the same amount of energy as a class that pays your $250/hour, so schedule your time wisely.
4. Network like a nutcase.
Every teaching opportunity I’ve been offered was a direct result of knowing someone who knew someone who referred me. I haven’t updated my resume in eight years, my website often looks like carriebradshaw.com, and I wouldn’t even know where to start when applying for a teaching job.
My advice: talk to everyone.
They’re all potential students and/or employers. Your friend who works at Google, the barista at Philz Coffee, your local lululemon community, other yoga teachers, bloggers, family friends–you name it– could be responsible for your next best teaching opportunity and paycheck.
C O N C L U S I O N Stop reading this,get out there, meet everyone, prioritize quality, know your worth, and create the yoga career of your dreams. I look forward to reading your story in the next volume of “Eat, Pray, Love Made Me Do It.”
We’ve all heard the expression, “Do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life.” We live in the age of Elizabeth Gilbert—an entire generation of Eat, Pray, Love-ers who seemingly quit their “normal” lives to successfully follow their dreams. On a recent layover in Las Vegas I purchased the anthology, “Eat Pray Love […]
So a few weeks back, Logan was competing in a Spartan Race when he approached the side-by-side rings across a moat. These are challenging even for strong athletes with two arms.
Logan has one, but that doesn’t matter to Logan.
“I did not complete this obstacle. I failed. But that was okay. ‘It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all, in which case you fail by default.’ It is ‘impossible’ for me to complete a Spartan Race without failing at least one obstacle. That does not discourage me or reduce my confidence. It excites me! Failure is inevitable, so fail forward,” Logan wrote on Instagram.
Check out these photos, then be more like Logan.
> > > Live well.
Original article posted Oct. 18, 2018 by MORNING CHALK UP If you’re not already familiar with FITAID athlete Logan Aldridge, then read our mini-profile on this unbelievable adaptive athlete. . In short, Logan lost his left arm in a boating accident when he was 13 years old. But this guy isn’t one to just “survive” but thrive. He […]
As a chef, I’m highly inspired by all-things food. I love all of the seasonal offerings available toward the end of the year and everything butternut squash is no exception. Even though butternut squash is widely available year-round, it is best known as a winter squash. It’s deliciously soft, sweet and nutty, not to mention easy to prepare, and extremely versatile. One of my favorite seasonal pairings this time of year is butternut squash along with a deliciously savory breakfast sausage.
I know, most people think sausage isn’t conducive to a fit and healthy lifestyle but it can be—dreams really do come true!
With a simple healthy swap of low-fat chicken sausage instead of full-fat pork sausage, you can still indulge without derailing your lifestyle goals or sacrificing flavor. Sometimes I buy my sausage from my local grocer’s butcher department, and sometimes I make my own from scratch (it’s actually easier than you think). Whether your chicken sausage is store-bought or homemade, it’s absolutely delicious when paired with butternut squash. I also love to add a little kale to the mix because it transforms this dynamic duo into a serious triple threat in everything you enjoy them in.
Breakfast is my love language. I have to have it or else I don’t feel whole. I really believe it completes my life. Every morning I cheerfully make my breakfast while sipping an ice-cold protein latte—it’s my ritual … what can I say? More often than not, my morning typically starts with an egg/egg white-based dish. Some mornings, I’ll enjoy my egg muffins on the go, and some mornings I'll opt for a scramble or an omelet of some kind at home. I’ve also been known to savagely chug my egg whites over ice with a morning bowl of oats. At my core, I'm a creature of healthy habits. I start most days with an egg white/egg-based dish because they are high in muscle-building protein, they are deliciously satiating and extremely versatile.
When it comes to mornings, I recognize the fact that most don’t have the time to sit and prepare a full-on breakfast.
If it comes down to hitting the snooze button two to three times, or cooking breakfast ... chances are, most people will opt for the snooze. I’m a firm believer in “having it all," so why not hit the snooze button a few more times and relish the extra sleep while still managing to start your day with a fit, filling, seasonal breakfast on the go? Well, with these deliciously convenient egg muffins, you totally can!
As a chef, my absolute passion is creating balanced solutions for healthier living.
Creating solutions that are actually doable is always my goal, and these savory breakfast egg muffins do not disappoint. Whether you are someone who doesn’t have much experience in the kitchen, or someone who is a seasoned pro, you can easily throw these into your regular breakfast rotation. They require minimal effort and masquerade as convenient protein-packed snacks, ideal for anytime you need a healthy and filling on-the-go snack.
If you have a hectic morning ahead of you, make these little babies the night before. Simply reheat them in the microwave for 15-20 seconds. Voila! You have an instant, homemade high-protein breakfast ready to enjoy before you start your busy day!
Preparation
1. Spray a muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray and set aside. Dice butternut squash into small bite-sized pieces and set aside. Chop the kale leaves and set aside, discarding the stems. Heat a large nonstick skillet over low heat. Spray the surface of the skillet with nonstick cooking spray. Transfer the butternut squash cubes and sauté for 7-10 minutes or until tender. When the butternut squash is done, remove the cubes from the skillet and set aside.
2. Wipe down the skillet and spray the surface with non-stick cooking spray. Transfer the low-fat chicken sausage to the skillet. Cook until the meat is no longer pink and begins to brown. While the sausage is cooking, break the pieces into bite-sized crumbles with the corner of the spatula. When the sausage is done cooking, remove the skillet from the heat and transfer the sausage to a colander and drain (optional).
3. Wipe down the skillet and spray the surface of the skillet with nonstick cooking spray. Heat the skillet over low heat. Add butternut squash, sausage and kale to the skillet. Cook until the kale leaves begin to soften and wilt. When done, remove the skillet from the heat and let the mixture cool.
4. In a small mixing bowl, add the eggs and egg whites. Season the egg mixture with granulated garlic, salt & pepper and whisk until well combined.
5. Ladle/pour the egg mixture halfway up into each muffin cavity. When cool enough to handle, disperse the filling evenly among each cavity. Place the muffin tin on top of a sheet pan (larger than the muffin tin). Place the muffins in the oven for 25-30 minutes or until done with no liquid remaining. When done, remove the muffins from the oven and let cool.
6. When the egg muffins have cooled, enjoy immediately or transfer to an air-tight container and store in the refrigerator for later.
> > > Live well!
By: Karenia Bowman | As a chef, I’m highly inspired by all-things food. I love all of the seasonal offerings available toward the end of the year and everything butternut squash is no exception. Even though butternut squash is widely available year-round, it is best known as a winter squash. It’s deliciously soft, sweet and nutty, […]
Professional athletes do not wake up every morning and begin their training session by playing a full game, start to finish, of their specific sport. Rather, they lift weights, practice skill transfer exercises, run sprint drills, do yoga (if they’re smart) and learn the required strategies to help them become better athletes in their sport. So, why do the most serious yogis in the world practice yoga six days a week as their training?
Answer: We can do better.
Here are five (5) movements any yogi can practice during training to help enhance their experience on the mat and remain injury free:
1. Box Squats
Two words: Posterior chain. Yoga does a great deal to build our anterior chain—hello, Chaturanga!—but when it comes to our glutes and hammies, we’re often left with all stretch and no strength. We love the box squat for its capacity to build strength in your back body while also creating stability in your core. It’s also an effective movement to help prevent wear and tear on the cartilage surrounding your hip joints.
2.Strict Pull-Ups
Yoga is all about balance. Pose, counter-pose, pose, counter-pose. Unfortunately, as yogis, we push and push and push with no pull. Adding strict pull-ups (or ring rows) to your routine can help balance all the pushing we do on our mats, allowing us to better hold our own if we’re ever challenged to a game of tug-o-war with a group of paddlers.
3. Hollow Body Rocks/Holds
All yogis want to stand on their hands and have a few arm balances in their back pocket as fun party tricks. Hollow body rocks and holds are a perfect way to build the core stability needed for achieving complex gymnastics movements such as handstand. The best gymnasts in the world use these movements as part of their regular training, which allows us as yogis to benefit from their expertise, mirror their techniques in practice and improve our abilities to gravity surf like a boss.
4. Hill Sprints
Yes, it’s as simple as running up a hill — fast. Yoga is an amazing practice, but it’s not a complete physical practice because we rarely encourage a spike in our heart rate. By adding (up-hill) sprints into your practice, your body gets a stimulus that is imperative to maintaining overall physical health. Having that extra stimulus will also prevent you from pushing too hard on your yoga mat where overexertion often leads to injury.
5. Turkish Get-Ups
Stability, balance, strength, rotation and unilateral loading all come together into this one elegant movement. The Turkish Get-Up is an incredible exercise to help you practice stabilizing your body under a load. Many yogis struggle to balance on one foot and/or create a stable shoulder position in downward-facing dog. Practicing the Turkish Get-Up with a dumbbell or kettlebell will drastically improve these two essential pieces of your yoga practice while also building core stability and breath awareness.
C O N C L U S I O N
Now that you have the tools, it’s time to find yourself a badass coach and supplement one day of your practice per week with these functional training techniques.
You’re guaranteed to be the strongest, most sustainable yogi on the mat as a result.
Debbie Steingesser, E-RYT 500, CF-L2, has been teaching her inspired approach to Vinyasa yoga for over a decade. She holds her Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher certification at the 500-hour level with the Yoga Alliance and is a CrossFit Level-Two Coach. Debbie was named one of the “Top Yoga Teachers in the Bay Area” by Common Ground Magazine in 2008, and has been a featured presenter at Yoga Reaches Out, Bhakti Fest and various international retreats. For the past eight years, Debbie has been a committed brand ambassador for Lululemon Athletica.
Debbie’s mission is to guide individuals towards a deeper sense of strength, balance and personal power through yoga and movement. She is the creator of YogiWOD.com, a website and interactive community bringing accessible yoga practices to athletes. Debbie provides regular content and offers her Functional Yoga For Athletics seminar through MobilityWOD.com. Debbie’s classes and workshops are fun, challenging and open to all experience levels.
Professional athletes do not wake up every morning and begin their training session by playing a full game, start to finish, of their specific sport. Rather, they lift weights, practice skill transfer exercises, run sprint drills, do yoga (if they’re smart) and learn the required strategies to help them become better athletes in their sport. […]
What affects our ego, how our ego presents itself and when it rears its ugly head will, however, vary from person to person. In the gym, our egos can either result in displays of confidence or cockiness. What often differentiates the two is simply the outward reaction of a person either to their own performance or the performance of a competitor. (Note: I’m using the term competitor loosely, as I’m not necessarily talking about competitive athletes. While it may be a competitive athlete, it’s more likely to be as basic as the person next to us in the gym who we feel we stack up against.) A cocky CrossFitter is going to be that guy or girl walking around needing to outwardly prove themselves for their own self-assurance. Does everyone recognize how well he or she did? If not, they’ll boast about it and circle the conversation back to their own performance seeking out praise.
They will make comments about edging out their competition, or off-handedly remark that "it really wasn't that hard"... knowing full well it was hard—in fact, it sucked.
Maybe their performance isn’t what they expected and they didn’t get the fastest time or the most reps, now the opposite will be true. They’ll get upset, they’ll sulk in the corner, and they’ll usually stay quiet when it comes to conversations regarding performance. They don’t have anything to talk about because in their eyes, they failed. At the root of our cocky person are deeply rooted insecurities regarding their self worth and value.
What about confidence? Confidence is essentially the opposite of cockiness. The confident CrossFitter doesn’t need to outwardly prove themselves via their performance. This man or woman understands this one key fact:
Self worth isn’t attached to the scores, times or weights posted after a workout.
After all, it is just a workout. If they win, it will feel good, there’s not denying that. But if they don’t top the leaderboard it’s not the end of the world, and they won’t try to offer up excuses for why they didn’t perform at the top. If the confident CrossFitter gets edged out, they won’t necessarily feel threatened by whoever beat them. It might sting a little to be beat, CrossFit is inherently competitive and nobody enjoys losing, but they won’t take this to heart or let it raise questions about their worth.
We will all have moments of cockiness because we all have egos that enjoy having the spotlight shining on them. In a CrossFit setting, we bring out everyone’s competitive spirit, whether it be little or massive. The way we harness that spirit and how it shapes the way we view ourselves will be difference between falling victim to perpetual cocky moments or the rare, occasional cockiness. At the end of the day, 99% of us are not professional CrossFitters. We don’t have endorsement deals or sponsorships, and our performance doesn’t dictate how much money we bring in annually. We’re doing this for fun and because regular gym workouts “didn’t do it” for us.
So if your workout makes or breaks your day, start asking yourself why?
Why is it so important to you? The answer may just surprise you, help you reassess your training priorities and create new goals.
Live well!
By: Megan Schrader | We all have egos. What affects our ego, how our ego presents itself and when it rears its ugly head will, however, vary from person to person. In the gym, our egos can either result in displays of confidence or cockiness. What often differentiates the two is simply the outward reaction of […]
"Titan CrossFit loves FITAID! We purchased the 10-case promotional deal which included a FREE fridge. After only 45 days, we are reordering! Many of our athletes miss the carbonation of a soft drink, FITAID fills that void and tastes great. Not to mention it is loaded with great supplements. The only problem is I keep drinking the profit! One request: Can you start making a “SnatchAid,” 'cause I sure could use the help!"
—Nick Zawmon,Titan CrossFit, Maryland
"FITAID is a great product and tastes great. Our athletes especially have liked FITAID on hot days as it contains great supplements and is only lightly carbonated, which means no bloated feeling like with other carbonated drinks."
—C. Ryan Bucher, Open Country CrossFit, Ohio
"FITAID is becoming so popular in the gym that people actually put money down to have a running tab for FITAID. All of the trainers love it as well and it is a staple after a hard workout! Excited to get in the next shipment as we have members worried that we will run out before it gets here, that is how popular it is. Thanks for the great customer service!"
—Julie Payton & Cory Letts, owners ofCrossFit North Star, California
"Having FITAID available to our members before or after a WOD, cold out of our FITAID refrigerator, shows good member services and great profits for our business. Our members like the taste of FITAID and the Paleo-friendly vitamin and energy boosters to help in recovery. We sell an average of 9 cases a month without any extra effort on our part and provide a great healthy drink to our members. The people at FITAID have been amazing to work with and their customer service is professional, fast, and accommodating. Get a FITAID refrigerator and pack it with cold FITAID for your members. They will thank you, and you will see a nice profit for your business."
—Troy and Melanie Miller, CrossFit Ready, California
"We at CrossFit Amplify love FITAID! It has become one of Amplify’s go to for recovery supplements! We’ll continue to have our FITAID Refrigerator stock for our members and coaches!"
—Mike Viall and Scott Todnem, co-owners of CrossFit Amplify, Illinois
"We have been carrying FITAID at our box for a few months now, and we couldn’t be happier with this product. Our members love how it tastes and how they feel after drinking it! Customer service has also been awesome. The FITAID fridge is the perfect addition to our retail area and thank you again for donating some cans to our charity event that we hosted!!"
—Chad,CrossFit Boom Town, New York
"Here at CrossFit DTW we love FITAID. We have some that drink them for a pre-workout and some for a post. We love that little edge it gives you. It is one of the best sellers here, they go just as fast as the water!! Also they taste great so I sometimes grab them on a rest day too! Thanks so much for a great product!"
—Brogan Walters, CrossFit DTW, Colorado
"FITAID has been awesome for us here at FarmBoy. We love being able to carry a product that not only helps aid in recovery from WODs, immune health and Heart health, but also is great tasting. FITAID is the first thing people reach for at our Box. People absolutely love it! It is by far the single quickest moving drink/ supplement in our Box. My wife and I love the opportunity to carry such a great product that our athletes love and also make money in doing so. It is the best of both worlds. We are happy and they are happy!"
—Brian Baker, CrossFit Farm Boy, Colorado
"We brought FITAID on about a year ago and we really love what it has brought to our gym. We love that it is Paleo-friendly and its supplement profile. We have consistently sold through about 15-20 cases a month and don’t see it slowing down. Our members love it, our staff loves and I love it. Thanks for the awesome product!"
—Narine Kadekian, CrossFit Scotts Valley, California
"We love FITAID! Ever since we began carrying FITAID, we have had a continuous stream of sales. The FITAID mini fridge is a great way to display the product and makes it very easy to sell. Our members love the convenience of having a cold FITAID before or after a tough workout. Throw in the great taste, the athlete specific nutritional supplements, and you have a winning product to offer your members."
—Holly Valentine,CrossFit Vacaville North, California
"Simply put, I bought 10 cases and I only have one left! They have been both a nice pre-WOD pick-me-up as well as a nice post-WOD chaser! I have to say I love the taste after a tough WOD! FITAID has been a welcome addition to CrossFit Great Barrington!"
—Mike Bissaillon,CrossFit Great Barrington, Massachusetts
"I’m part owner of a CrossFit gym and we have been selling FITAID for just under a year. We are a smaller gym (less than 100 members) but have had a wonderful response in regards to FITAID. Our members love that it’s a clean drink (a lot of our members eat Paleo or Zone), that there’s no HFCS, that the taste is great and so is the mild carbonation, and I don’t know what it is but FITAID tastes the BEST after a REALLY tough workout!! I’d say we go thru about 10 cases every 2-3 months. We’ve tried other supplement drinks but overall they just don’t compare to all the goodness FITAID packs. FITAID for life!!!"
—Michelle Gallagher, Jefferson State CrossFit, California
Gym owners, we want to hear from you!
Please share your feedback and tell us what your gym members think of our products. LIFEAID Beverage Co. is here to help make the world a healthier place, one can at a time.
“Titan CrossFit loves FITAID! We purchased the 10-case promotional deal which included a FREE fridge. After only 45 days, we are reordering! Many of our athletes miss the carbonation of a soft drink, FITAID fills that void and tastes great. Not to mention it is loaded with great supplements. The only problem is I keep […]
Article by Emily Abbate of MEN'S HEALTH on July 9, 2018
You don’t need to have both arms to live an outstanding life, and Logan Aldridge almost prefers it this way now.
“I love being different,” says the 27-year-old. “I love being the guy with one arm.”
Life changed forever for Aldridge at age 13 after a day wakeboarding on Lake Gaston on the North Carolina-Virginia border. Helping his dad on the family boat, the duo was pushing off from a friend’s dock and heading back home when a rope he was coiling got tangled in the propeller. Within an instant, it severed through the skin and arteries in his left arm, right up to the bone. Blood was everywhere, he recalled. His Dad, springing into action, created a tourniquet of sorts that kept him from bleeding out until the emergency teams arrived. In the ambulance, Aldridge’s mother said something that would shape his perspective for years to come.
“I remember laying there and looking at my arm, looking at everyone around me, and asking my mom what if I lose my arm from this?” he told MensHealth.com. “Without skipping a beat, she said, 'Logan, it’s just an arm.' Some people think that’s a brutal parental response, but that was the most important thing to hear. It instilled the perception in me that at the end of the day, I’d still have my life. Whatever happens, we’re going to make it through this.”
.
Logan’s mom gave him the tough-love advice that inspired him to face his new reality head-on: "without skipping a beat, she said, 'Logan, it’s just an arm.'"
. Standing in the hospital bathroom, tears streamed down his face seeing the shape of his new body in the mirror. But that was the last time that the Raleigh native would grieve his loss, something wise beyond his years at such a young age.
“I knew I had to move forward,” he says. “I immediately went into problem-solving mode, started to learn how to write with my right hand, make the best of a less-than-ideal situation, and embrace my situation.”
Today, Aldridge is an accomplished para-athlete and has fully embraced life with a handicap. As someone who is "in pursuit of more potential and maximizing [my] output," he craves comfort that allows him to push his personal and physical boundaries. To that end, he turns to the reliable ease and durability of cotton in and out of his WODs. "I'm training all the time and like to be comfortable."
Similarly, his go-to sweaty habit, CrossFit, continually pushes him to be better and prepares him for his other active passions, from mountain biking to Spartan Racing. “We learn so much about ourselves when we are challenged,” he says. “When I’m breathless and working hard and in an uncomfortable state, that’s when I grow.” Pressing on with determination and grit has led Aldridge to set some impressive weight-lifting PRs—like deadlifting 500 lbs and doing 245-lb. cleans.
"We learn so much about ourselves when we are challenged."
When he’s not traveling for his full-time job as a sales manager or teaching CrossFit, Aldridge is speaking to large groups about the lessons he’s learned (and also: training to one day compete in the Paralympics).
“My life’s purpose now is to motivate others,” he says. “We hear inspiration a lot, especially in the case of active amputees. Inspiring is cool—and I’m grateful to do that—but motivation is different that inspiring. You can be inspired sitting on the coach, but when you’re motivated—you’re ready to take action and still change. Something has happened that’s made you ready to move. And I say hey, let’s move together.”
EMILY ABBATE is a freelance writer, certified fitness trainer, and host of the podcast Hurdle. You can find her work in GQ, Shape, Runner’s World, and other health and fitness publications.
> > > Live well.
Article by Emily Abbate of MEN’S HEALTH on July 9, 2018 You don’t need to have both arms to live an outstanding life, and Logan Aldridge almost prefers it this way now. “I love being different,” says the 27-year-old. “I love being the guy with one arm.” Life changed forever for Aldridge at age 13 after a […]
Brad Avery | Feb. 22, 2018
There’s nobility—and money—in wanting to achieve mass appeal,
building a brand that appeals to as many types of consumers as possible.
But few brands succeed in truly reaching a universal market. It’s a time-honored tactic, in fact, to thrive by thinking smaller — focusing in on specific demographics, need states, or consumer identities to build loyalty. For a long time, this simply meant “college students” or “moms on the go,” but some brands have started to take things even deeper, selecting niche target audiences that live in their own communities or form their own online tribes.
Brands big and small are now finding emerging subcultures to build their beds in. From startup recovery drinks crafting an identity around cult fitness brands to big soda companies focusing in on the emerging gaming community, we took a look in this two-part series at how companies large and small are searching for wide success with niche, but fast-growing communities.
FitAid Hits with CrossFitters
LIFEAID co-founders Aaron Hinde and Orion Melehan first met in a CrossFit gym in 2009, so it’s appropriate that their workout-based FitAid product would become the Official Recovery Drink of the 2017 CrossFit Games.
FitAid, in fact, was carefully built and cultivated around this particular fitness subculture. Oft parodied for its customers’ cult-like devotion to their all-in style of workout, CrossFit has built a loyal consumer base, so a beverage brand built within the culture targeting not only their nutritional needs, but their whole identity, was in a good position to resonate. Its founders say FitAid, one of the multiple functional beverage sublines released under the LIFEAID master brand, is formulated with vitamins, electrolytes, and other ingredients to fit the needs of CrossFit athletes. The brand’s early business strategy involved getting the product in those gyms.
In creating FitAid, Hinde and Melehan — like a large group of insurgent brands, from competing sports drink Kill Cliff, itself a former CrossFit Games sponsor, to a variety of energy bars and snacks — sought to find a way to access a large and still growing customer base made up of several key age groups. According to a report from Rally Fitness, CrossFit counts roughly 4 million members worldwide, with 42 percent ranging between 25 and 34 years old. 19 percent are between 35 and 44, while 18 percent are minors. The demographics skew evenly between men and women. The $4 billion company has experienced massive growth in the past decade, expanding from 13 locations in 2005 to more than 13,000 worldwide today. The company’s low-tech gym setup and franchise model has also given it the ability to rapidly scale and bring in new customers.
Of the roughly 10,000 gyms LIFEAID products are currently available in nationwide, about 4,000 are CrossFit locations. As LIFEAID expands its distribution in traditional retail channels, its connection with its base gives it an extra edge in grocery and at retailers where CrossFitters shopped, such as Vitamin Shoppe.
“That gym channel has been a great driver because it’s very consistent with that health-conscious consumer who we’re targeting,” Hinde said. “That consumer who happens to shop at Whole Foods, and at Kroger’s, and at Publix. We’re able to get turn from day one in a traditional retail environment, which is extremely crowded, because we already have that core community that we’re bringing to the table that we can mobilize.
Having company leaders in Hinde and Melehan who live the lifestyle — and participate in the grueling events — gives LIFEAID another layer of authenticity.
Knowing CrossFit’s unique vernacular and partnering with the culture’s celebrities for social media influence have both been vital to developing an authentic relationship with the consumer base, and not coming off as another invasive brand just looking to exploit a community.
Working within CrossFit has also opened the door for Hinde and Melehan to move into similar fitness-based markets — a transition that reveals another set of growing fitness communities that are being targeted by entrepreneurial brands.
In 2016, Hinde and Melehan began running in the Spartan Race obstacle competition when LIFEAID (FitAid) was signed as the event’s official recovery drink. According to Hinde, Spartan Race and CrossFit had a significant overlap in their consumer base, giving the company “street cred” as it integrated and was introduced to new consumers.
“We followed a very similar approach,” Hinde said. “Got some top influencers and ambassadors on board, ran a few races ourselves, started showing up to events on a smaller scale level, and then when the time was right we wanted to step up and do finish line sampling for all the racers.”
The company has innovated around the partnership, premiering CrossFit-exclusive FitAid RX and the protein-heavy FitAid Fuel snack packets in order to better fit the needs of that consumer. But beyond CrossFit and Spartan Race, much of LIFEAID’s portfolio is built around niche target audiences. Using a uniform can design, the company also markets products such as GolferAid, intended to help golfers improve their performance on the course, and TravelAid(now ImmunityAid), an immunity drink aimed at frequent travelers. The company’s FocusAidis recommended for students, gamers, and office workers and features Nootropics and other allegedly brain-boosting ingredients, while PartyAidfocuses on providing clean energy.
Similar to LIFEAID, in November, Kill Cliff—which has long fostered its own relationship with the sport and its athletes—partnered with another Spartan-like endurance event, Tough Mudder, to be the Official Sports Drink of its 2018-2019 season. The company also lends its name to the Kill Cliff Granite Games, furthering its presence in the competitive fitness world.
Meanwhile, GT’s Living Foods is also running with the Spartans, bringing its kombucha products to races as an official partner.
“We are an inspirational brand and we like to take a position of living life to the fullest and making sure each day is rich with experiences,” GT Dave, founder and CEO of GT’s Living Foods, told BevNET. “That kind of philosophy completely aligned and resonated with the Spartan community.”
Dave said he and Spartan Race founder Joe De Sena have long been personal friends, but only last year did the two brands opt to capitalize on their synergy. GT’s Kombucha is being served at all U.S. Spartan Race events this year, and Dave said he sees big potential for the community’s “Spartans” to find value in kombucha as an alternative to sugar-heavy sports drinks like Gatorade.
“What’s very clear in this Spartan community is that the majority of them aren’t really athletes, meaning they’re not doing this for a living,” Dave said. “A lot of them are doing this because they want to challenge themselves to a point of growth, a point of a breakthrough, and a point of new awareness about how their body is a beautiful instrument. That’s kind of our mantra as a brand, we want to help people be the best version of themselves and participate in that kind of awakening about how perfection is not real, but the pursuit of it is.”
On Thursday, Spartan Race signed one of its biggest beverage partners yet, announcing BodyArmor as its Official Sports Drink through the 2019 season.
The brand, one of the top selling sports drinks in the country seeing $130 million in sales in 2016, may lack the grassroots authenticity of a LIFEAID or the holistic health halo of a GT’s, but it can call on endorsements from some of the top athletes in pro sports.
“Partnering with Spartan is a no-brainer for BodyArmor,” said BodyArmor shareholder and 18-time NBA All-Star Kobe Bryant in a press release. “Spartan athletes are driven, competitive and they are obsessed with better, and that’s exactly what BodyArmor exemplifies as a sports drink. Spartan athletes demand the best in hydration and nutrition so it’s only fitting that BodyArmor will be providing them with the best hydration option out there.”
BodyArmor’s partnership with Spartan Race shows the niche market’s value to big brands. The clean hydration promoted by BodyArmor has potential to resonate deep with Spartan’s base, and with the full endorsement of De Sena, it’s being welcomed in with open arms.
Part II of this article will look at how brands are now targeting the emerging eSports tournament circuit as a way to bring in the millennial gamer demographic.
Brad Avery | Feb. 22, 2018 There’s nobility—and money—in wanting to achieve mass appeal, building a brand that appeals to as many types of consumers as possible. But few brands succeed in truly reaching a universal market. It’s a time-honored tactic, in fact, to thrive by thinking smaller — focusing in on specific demographics, need […]
