This recipe is a modified version of the very first recipe I published in my RV kitchen, Texas Chili. I created the Texas Chili recipe back in 2019 while we lived full-time in our Airstream Interstate Sprinter van. What is unique to Texas chili, is that it doesn’t include any beans or any tomatoes. It is simply beef and flavors from guajillo peppers. Over the past five years, I have made this dish over and over and over. However, I have made some serious modifications and feel that my new version deserves its own recipe.

The biggest changes from this recipe compared to my traditional Texas chili are:

1. I use much less broth. So much less that this isn’t a chili anymore. It is now a braised chuck roast. It still has the same base flavors, but it is much more of a thickened sauce in this new version. There is still enough sauce to spoon over your serving plate, but it is so intense in flavor that a little goes a long way.
   
   
2. I cut the chuck roast into much larger chunks. I started braising a lot more this past year and have become obsessed with large pieces of tender meat that fall apart after braising. I love keeping the integrity of the chuck roast this way. And since it’s no longer a chili, the bite-size pieces aren’t necessary. If you are looking for a braised pork recipe, check out this Mojo Pork.
   
   
3. Braising in the oven is the cooking method in this revised version. Now that we are in a 5th wheel with a residential oven, I use it and abuse it. Back in our Airstream Interstate, I did not have the luxury of an oven. I created my original Texas Chili using my induction cooktop (which I still love and use all the time).

Step-by-step images to make this chuck roast

Links for tools/items used in this recipe:

• Kitchen shears
• Pasture-raised beef
• Induction cooktop
• 6-quart Dutch oven
• Cuisinart Smart Stick
• Wooden spoon
• Silicone pot holders

Print

Guajillo Braised Chuck Roast

Course Dinner, Lunch

Prep Time 1 hour hour

Cook Time 4 hours hours

Total Time 5 hours hours

Ingredients

• 4 ½ pounds Chuck roast, trimmed, and cut into large chunks
• 8 dried whole guajillo peppers
• 1 tbsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp black pepper (plus more for seasoning beef)
• 1 tbsp salt (plus more for seasoning beef)
• 1 tsp dried cayenne pepper (optional)
• 1 tbsp smoked paprika
• ½ white onion, finely chopped
• 10 cloves of garlic, grated with a microplane
• 16 oz water
• extra virgin olive oil for searing beef

Instructions

• Remove the stems and seeds from the dried peppers by cutting off the top stem, cutting up the pepper vertically, and using your fingers to remove the seeds. Discard the seeds.
• Place clean peppers in a large bowl and cover with hot water. Place a small plate or bowl over top to weigh them down and submerge them. Soak until soft, about 30 minutes
• While the peppers are soaking, I like to chop the onion, grate the garlic, and prepare the beef. Prepare the beef by removing all excess fat. Then, cut into large pieces, about 3x3x3" up to 5x3x3". I prefer the larger size. Season the beef with salt and pepper.
• After the peppers are finished soaking, remove them from the bowl and place them in the food processor, carefully to reserve the water. Add the cumin, black pepper, salt, cayenne, smoked paprika, and ½ cup of reserved water to the food processor. Puree the mixture to form a smooth paste, adding more water only if needed. Set aside.
• Preheat the oven to 350℉
• Heat a large Dutch Oven with lid over high/sear heat and lightly coat with olive oil. Sear the meat in batches to brown all sides of the chunks. Do not overcrowd the pot, do this in batches as needed. Transfer beef into a bowl and reserve.
• Reduce the pot to medium heat and add the onion to cook until translucent, a few minutes. Add garlic and the pepper spice paste in, stirring well to combine, and cook for another 2-3 minutes until fragrant. While stirring, scrape up any brown bits on the bottom of the pot using a wooden spoon.
• Stir in additional water so that the braising liquid will go up ½ way to ¾ way up the beef after you add the beef in. The total amount may vary depending on the size of your pot and how much beef you have. If you're unsure, start with a small amount and add more after if needed after adding in the beef.
• Add the beef back into the pot along with any juices from the holding plate. Put the lid on the Dutch oven and braise for 3-4 hours until fork tender. I like to check on the pot about 2 ½ hours in to make sure there is still enough liquid in the pot (you don't want it to get too low).

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Seven supplements I take, for optimal health

The supplements that I recommend are not fat-loss supplements. There are hundreds of those on the market to beware of. When it comes to your health, balanced nutrition and an active lifestyle come first and are absolutely critical. Supplements can only complement that, and can never replace that. So keep that in mind, and reach out to your healthcare professional or registered dietician to discuss where you may need to supplement.

Multivitamin and mineral

Getting a complete array of minerals and vitamins is important to improving your metabolic functioning. Multivitamins contain about thirteen vitamins and about 15 minerals that are essential to your health. The specific levels can vary quite a bit by brand because they are not regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). I take this every morning after breakfast.

Vitamin D

Our bodies synthesize vitamin D from sunlight. Most of us work indoors all day, and therefore a majority of the population has insufficient levels of this vitamin. Vitamin D is essential for overall health, and immune function, and may support muscle function and weight loss. 2,000 to 5,000 IU a day with vitamin K2 is recommended. You may get enough vitamins and minerals from a quality multivitamin, but additional supplementation may be beneficial. I take this every morning after breakfast.

Omega-3 fatty acids

Omega-3 fatty acids are critical for supporting heart health, brain function, and mood, preventing diabetes, regulating metabolism, and preventing inflammation. You can find omega-3s in healthy sources like fish and nuts. Most of us get plenty of Omega 6 & 9 but lack Omega 3. Fish oils are an excellent source of essential fatty acids EPA and DHA. Try to target 1-3 grams of DHA/EPA per day. I take this every morning after breakfast.

Magnesium Glycinate

Magnesium aids in muscle function and may support insulin sensitivity. There are so many different forms of magnesium out there, it’s important to pay attention to the different varieties. Some forms such as oxide and citrate may cause intestinal discomfort. I prefer magnesium glycinate because it has good bioavailability, promotes muscle relaxation, and healthy sleep, is easily absorbed, has no laxative effects, and is very safe. 200 to 600 mg a day is a good number to target. I take this every night before bed.

Protein Powder

Protein powder is an excellent tool to help you reach your target protein for the day. I always prefer to eat real animal protein at every meal. However, sometimes a shake is a perfect alternative for when you are in a hurry, aren’t prepped ahead, or just want something different. Whey Isolate powders have the best bioavailable amino acids, so try to pick out a high-quality whey isolate. You will want 10-14 g of EAAs and 1-4 g of leucine to trigger muscle protein synthesis. So whether you go plant-based or whey-based, try to find a brand that lists the amino acid profile. Try to target 30-50 grams of protein per meal, and/or roughly one gram of protein per pound of ideal body weight in pounds. I take this only as needed.

Creatine Monohydrate

You can naturally get a good amount of creatine in your diet by eating a lot of meat and fish. Even though I eat a lot of meat, I still choose to supplement with creatine to enhance lean muscle mass, strength, and power. Choose a clean brand of creatine monohydrate that has nothing else listed in the ingredients, and take 5 grams per day. I take this every morning after breakfast, mixed with water.

Electrolyte tabs

Sodium or salt has been linked to hypertension, but only in a subset of genetically salt-sensitive people. Sodium is important for overall health, but our sodium levels need to be in proportion to our levels of other important minerals, mainly potassium. When the sodium-to-potassium ratio gets out of whack, it can lead to high blood pressure. The trick isn’t to eliminate salt, but rather, avoid the refined salts in processed foods as well as iodized salt. Electrolyte tabs replace sodium losses through sweat, balance diets lacking in sodium (whole food diets), and boost diets lacking in potassium. I take this every morning when I wake up on an empty stomach with 24 ounces of water.

There are plenty of other supplements that may be beneficial to you. This is just a short list of the few that I personally believe in, and take myself. It’s always best to consult with your doctor for your unique needs.

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I love to get inspired by our travels and incorporate the local culture into our home-cooked meals. We are currently in the Florida Keys, which has a very strong connection to Cuban food. After all, Key West is the southernmost city in the continental United States and is only 90 miles from Cuba.

During our last five years RV’ing we have visited Florida several times, and I have recreated a few other Cuban dishes as a result. Beef Picadillo is an excellent ground beef dish that is a flavorful one-pot meal. Chicken Ropa Viejo is a classic Cuban dish with shredded meat and bell peppers. Moros Y Christianos is a black bean and white rice dish with plenty of history to it. The Moros Y Christianos would make an excellent side dish to this braised mojo pork recipe! Mojo Pork Chops, which is an easier and faster version of this recipe (although not nearly as good, in my opinion).

So there you have it, beef, chicken, pork, and vegetarian options!

Print

Braised Mojo Pork

Course Dinner

Cuisine Cuban

Keyword Braise, Pork

Prep Time 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time 4 hours hours 30 minutes minutes

Marinate Time 16 hours hours

Total Time 21 hours hours

Ingredients

• 2 ½ cups fresh squeezed orange juice + the zest of 3 oranges
• 1 cup fresh squeezed lime juice + the zest of 3 limes
• 1 bunch fresh cilantro, finely chopped
• ¼ cup fresh oregano, finely chopped
• 15 cloves fresh garlic, finely grated
• 1 ½ tbsp ground cumin
• 1 tbsp salt
• 2 tsp ground pepper
• ¾ cup extra virgin olive oil (plus more for searing meat)
• 4 ½ – 5 pound Pork Shoulder
• 1 cup water

Instructions

• Prepare the marinade by mixing all of the ingredients EXCEPT the pork and the water into a Ziplock bag. Add in the pork and seal the bag up. Place the bag in a bowl in case any leaks happen. Ideally, you will marinate this the night before cooking. If you can't marinate a full night, try to get at least 4-6 hours.
• When you are ready to start cooking, remove the bowl from the fridge and let sit at room temp for 30 minutes to take the chill off.
• Preheat oven to 350F
• Remove the pork from the bag and be careful to save all of the marinade (we will use this liquid for braising).
• Heat a large, heavy, Dutch oven over high heat using the stovetop or induction cooktop. Drizzle some olive oil in the Dutch oven and sear all sides of the pork. This will take about 2-3 minutes per side, 10-15 minutes in total.
• Remove the Dutch oven from the heat and let cool for a few minutes. Next, carefully add the marinade + 1 cup of water into the Dutch oven.
• Place lid on the Dutch oven and roast in the oven for about 4 hours, or until very fork-tender.
• Serving Ideas: rice bowls, black Cuban beans, veggie bowls, tacos, mango salsa, sour cream, avocados…

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Top Ten Strength Training Mistakes:

#1: Not sticking with a program

Following a program will get better results than working out intuitively. Intuitive workouts may feel free-spirited, but the lack of structure may neglect certain muscle groups. Proper programming will make sure you touch all major muscle groups including legs, chest, back, shoulders, biceps, triceps, and core. Whether you are doing a full body routine, a pull/legs/push split, or an individual body part split, all the muscle groups get the love they deserve.

In addition to having a program properly written, it’s important to stick with it for 6-8 weeks. I typically assign my programs for the full eight weeks to maximize progressive overload. Progressive overload involves gradually increasing the intensity with time, to promote the development of muscle mass and strength. Getting bored and constantly seeking change could set you back here.

#2: Not tracking reps and weights used

In order to improve your strength you need to continuously progress. This can be done by increasing volume, intensity, reps, and/or weight. If you never track your weight and reps, you won’t know what your goals are for each set. Going in blind without a goal will yield mediocre results. In addition to optimizing your progression, tracking your weight and reps will also save time, as you will know exactly which size weight to use for each exercise, without having to go through the guesswork.

Tracking weight for dumbbells is easy and straightforward. A 15-pound dumbbell is 15 pounds, cut and dry. Dumbbells are one of my favorite equipment options for RVers. They are effective and simple.

But what about tracking loop-style resistance bands? They are definitely more of a challenge to track with intentions to progress. One of the advantages of loop bands is that they have variable resistance. Shifting your grip by even a quarter of an inch can make your resistance easier or harder. This can make things muddled on your tracking notebook. If you do a set of bicep curls using the medium band with a lot of slack, and another set using the medium band with extra tight tension, the intensity is night and day. So it’s really up to you here to rely heavily on your perceived level of exertion, and really push yourself on your intensity each set.

#3: Using poor form

This strength training mistake is an important one for staying safe, lowering your risk of injury, allowing you to move efficiently, increasing your performance, and enabling you to have full range of motion. You may have some exercises where your range of motion is limited, and that’s okay. Stay consistent and practice these exercises and with time you may notice an improved range of motion.

There are a few general guidelines to always keep in mind with your form. Always carry good posture with your shoulders back and your chest up tall. Don’t hunch your shoulders or hold tension in your neck. Keep your core engaged, and remember to breathe!

#4: Not lifting heavy enough

Safety and form are always the first priority. Once you have your form mastered for an exercise, then start paying attention to your weight load, or resistance level. Both men and women often underestimate how strong they really are. However, women do tend to underestimate more than men. Some women shudder at the thought of using two twenty-pound dumbbells, but they don’t think twice about bending down to pick up a 50-pound child…

There are so many physical and mental benefits to strength training. These benefits are all accelerated and magnified by lifting heavier for lower reps vs. lifting lighter for more reps.

#5: Using the same weight for all exercises in the program

Lifting as heavily as possible while maintaining proper form is a constant goal to strive for with strength training. I often see people who are brand new to lifting try to use the same set of dumbbells or level resistance bands across the board for all of the exercises in the program. Don’t do this! Your muscles vary tremendously in size and strength.

Muscle groups like your legs, glutes, and back are strong and you can generally use heavier weights here. Smaller muscles such as the shoulders and triceps shouldn’t be expected to move as heavy of weight.

Additionally, the exercise itself matters, even when targeting the same primary muscle. For example, a tricep kickback is an isolation move that you will want to go pretty light on. An overhead tricep extension is a compound move that you can use more weight on. Same idea with lateral raises vs shoulder presses. So not only does the muscle affect the weight selection, but also the exercise itself.

#6: Not having a wide variety of weight increments

In order to properly load each muscle during its selected exercise, you need to have a good variety of weight increments to work with. For dumbbells, I recommend having light weights up to extra heavy weights. Your exact numbers will vary based on your strength and fitness level. But generally, for beginners, dumbbells ranging from 5 pounds to 40 pounds in five-pound increments will do the trick. Eventually, you will outgrow the 40’s too.

Space and weight are always a consideration when traveling in RVs. For this reason, the adjustable dumbbells are a great option to save both footprint space and overall weight. Adjustable dumbbells generally are available in sets that go either up to 25 pounds or 50 pounds (exact pounds vary per brand). If you’re going to invest in a set of adjustable go with the heavy set that does 50 pounds. The last thing you want to do is spend hundreds of dollars and then outgrow it quicker than expected.

The loop bands that I recommend come with five different band strengths: extra light, light, medium, heavy, and extra heavy. I personally use all 5 strengths and also enjoy stacking some together for even more resistance options.

#7: Not timing rest periods

If you are a newbie eight-lifter, rest periods may feel counterintuitive to you. The world of cardio has us brainwashed to think that you must always be constantly moving, sweating, breathing hard, and have a high heart rate to be effectively working out. Now, your fitness coach is programming you to stand and rest?!

You’ve already learned the importance of lifting heavy. In order to lift as heavy as possible, it is absolutely critical that you take rest periods between each set. The style of program and your specific goals will dictate how long your programmed rest periods are.

• For muscular endurance, the best rest period is 30 seconds between sets.
• For muscle growth (hypertrophy), the best rest period is 30-90 seconds between sets
• For strength and power, the best rest period is 2-5 minutes between sets.

Using a timer is always best for timing out your rest periods. If you try to guess with it, you may go way under on time, way over on time, or both. During your rest periods, stay focused and concentrate on your workout. I like to use this time to track my results for that set and get set up for the next set. Avoid scrolling your phone, watching tv, sneaking in house chores, or anything else that may cause distractions.

#8: Stopping at the max rep range

Just like lifting too light can minimize your results, so can stopping short on reps. Your strength training program will likely prescribe a target rep range. You want to select weights where your last few reps are extremely challenging to perform, with your total number of reps for that set falling in that rep range. Using 8-12 as an example, if you can’t do 8 reps your weight is too heavy. If you can do 12 reps consistently, your weight is too light.

This is one of the most common mistakes out of our top ten list. So many times I see people write down 12 reps for every single set, on every single exercise. In their mind, they are doing their best and hitting the top expected number. But there is no magic in performing 12 reps. The magic is when you are challenging your muscles with enough intensity until your muscles are fatigued to the point of near failure. Your last couple of reps should be extremely difficult to perform without compromising form. You should be making ugly faces, grunting, and working hard!

#9: Letting soreness dictate the effectiveness

When you start out a lifting program as a beginner, you will likely get very sore the first week. It can be surprising how sore you may get. Your body goes into a shock phase, and it may last two to three weeks. As your body adapts and gets stronger, the soreness will go away. When the soreness goes away, that doesn’t mean you aren’t getting a good workout. Your body is doing what it should be doing as it adjusts and improves.

Having a change in your programming will cause some initial soreness again. But likely, not as intense as when you very first start out. Of course, there will be workouts where you bring the intensity more, and push yourself harder. And you will feel that as a result.

Don’t get discouraged if you lose that “crippling” soreness. Too much soreness can be a bad thing, such as poor recovery. Lack of sleep, dehydration, and poor nutrition can all lead to poor recovery.

#10: Expecting physique changes through fitness alone

So you’re doing everything “right” in the gym. You’re consistent, running complete programs, tracking results, and improving on strength, but your body isn’t changing. Strength training is extremely powerful for overall mental and physical health, as well as healthy aging.

If fat loss and transforming your physique is one of your top priorities, it’s important that you really dial in on your nutrition. While fitness supports and can accelerate fat loss, nutrition is the number one dictator. Overcunsmption in general is a huge problem in America, as well as eating too many ultra-processed foods. Most people are overeating carbohydrates and fats and undereating quality protein.

My approach to nutrition is implementing small changes that are sustainable. You want to enjoy your lifestyle, so that you can maintain it for the rest of your life. Avoid crash diets, diet culture, and packaged food, and seek out whole foods that are nutritionally dense and make you feel your best.

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What is Resistance Training?

Resistance training, strength training, weight training, lifting weights…what’s the difference? I like to think of resistance training as the act of making your body and muscles work against force. It describes an action. Strength training is ultimately the same thing, but more describes the outcome. If you are resistance training properly you will gain strength…well, if you’re doing it right you will! And lifting weights?! Same thing, different name.

The Benefits of Training

Where do we even start with this? The benefits of training are unparalleled when it comes to health maintenance and optimization. It is by far the number one activity you can do to not only enhance your current health but also protect your future health and prevent the disabilities of aging. We can’t stop the clock. But we can take action to age with optimal mobility, independence, and quality of life.

The shortlist of the very long list of benefits includes but is not limited to improved mood, mental health, sleep, energy, body image, confidence, strength, bone health, heart health, posture, flexibility, fat loss, and metabolic health. Additionally, weight training will decrease stress, anxiety, risk of slip and falls, risk of injuries, mobility loss, risk of cognitive decline

America tends to focus on obesity. In reality, we should be looking closer at the fact that Americans are extremely under-muscled. Even if the obesity levels stayed the same, we would be a much healthier population with higher muscle to support mobility and metabolic health. If you need help getting started, consider reaching out to an online coach to help you with programming, such as Irene Iron Fitness.

Equipment Options

Many RVers have to carry their equipment onboard their rig. If you are a part-time or weekend warrior, you want to have a program using equipment that can easily move from your sticks and bricks to your RV life. Knowing your equipment options will be a good step to being set up properly.

The top two options we recommend for training are dumbbells or loop-style resistance bands. With either option, you will want to be sure to have a wide variety of weight/resistance levels. One single set of dumbbells will not do the trick. You want to have lightweight, heavyweight, and everything in between. You have a lot of different-sized muscles on your body and it is not a one-size fits all. Especially once you start to make strength improvements and need to increase resistance to continue to make progress.

How Often Should You Train?

It’s important to stay safe and start at a level that you feel comfortable and enjoy. This might mean one time per week for ten minutes per session. It might mean two times per week for twenty minutes per session. Ultimately, you want to work your way up to three or four times per week, at 30-45 minutes per session.

Start where you are at and make sure that you enjoy it. If you take on too much too soon, you can discourage yourself, burn out, or worse, cause injury. You will know when it is time to ramp it up!

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Benefits of Food Prepping

If you want to improve your nutrition, the number one thing you can do is cook your own food at home. Cooking your own food puts you in control of the ingredients, from a quality and portion perspective. You will connect with your food more, save money, and improve your health all at once. Sounds pretty good to us!

Most of us don’t have the luxury of time to spend each meal starting from scratch 3-4 times a day in the kitchen. If you do, that’s awesome and I’m actually a bit jealous. If you struggle to find time to cook, then prepping is for you. While it does take some time on the front end, it is an investment in your schedule that will save hours on future meal times. You will feel your ROI very quickly as you utilize your efforts throughout the week.

Create a Food Prep Schedule

Some people like to have one day per week where they prep food for the entire week ahead. Others like to have multiple food prep sessions throughout the week. The frequency that you choose may depend on a lot of variables. Such as, how often are you grocery shopping each week? How much time do you have to cook every day? How picky are you with leftovers? Do you get bored easily of eating the same thing? How large is your refrigerator?

You should definitely plan to carve out 2-3 hours at least one day per week to commit to food prepping. Many people like Sundays, because it is the start of a fresh week ahead. Use your selected day to get organized and set the tone for the week.

Master your Meal Planning

Before you start tackling food prepping, you should have a good idea of what your daily meals will look like. I highly encourage having a set schedule of your meals each day. The number of meals you eat will depend on your personal preferences, activity level, and goals. Generally speaking, I recommend eating meals about 4 hours apart. For me, that ends up being four meals per day, which I call Meal 1, Meal 2, Meal 3, and Meal 4.

Ideally, you will have quality protein, fibrous vegetables, smart carbs, and healthy fats at every meal. Once you have your number of meals scheduled, you can break down the quantities needed for each meal. It may take some time to dial in on your quantities and portions if you are brand new to this. With time, you will make adjustments and you will figure out what works best for you and your household.

Keep it Simple

Food prep can easily become overwhelming. Try to keep it as simple as possible, so that you don’t cause brain damage week after week. I personally like to focus on prepping proteins, prepping vegetables, and prepping carbs. The fats come onto the plate easily and often don’t require prep work. Once in a while, I might make some new recipes throughout the month to spice things up, but I wait until I’m in the mood for those. If you try to force several new recipes week after week into your food prep, you may get burnt out and want to quit prepping. Start small by focusing on one meal of the day (breakfast or lunch are good starting options), or one food type (such as proteins).

Different Ways to Food Prep

There are a few different ways you can tackle your approach. At the end of the day, the goal is to have an organized fridge with ingredients or meals that are easy to consume. Play around with each of these varieties and find which version (or combination of versions) works for you. Once you figure out which ways you plan to prep, you will also want to have a good variety of food storage containers to accommodate these prepping efforts.

Batch Cooking

Batch cooking is when you make large quantities of individual food items to use later throughout the week in different ways. Common examples are making a big pot of brown rice or a big pot of quinoa, a large tray of roasted veggies, or cooking several pounds of chicken. You could also batch-cook recipes as well. Maybe you make a big double or triple batch of chili or soup on the weekend so that you can eat it all week long. Some people also like to freeze portions of their batch cooking, to enjoy later in the month.

Individually Portioned Meals

Individually portioned meals are a convenient way to have grab-and-go meals. After you make your recipes or your meal components, you take the time to divide them up into individual serving containers. I used to prefer this method when I lived in a house or an apartment. I had a huge residential-size fridge where space wasn’t an issue, and I could stack up all of my daily meals in there. It was perfect for having lunches ready to take to the office every day.

My preferred method of food prep had to change as soon as we started vanlife. There was no way my 3 cubic foot dorm fridge could accommodate all of those food containers. This was the point that I switched to bulk prepping.

Prepped Ingredients

Prepping ingredients is where you do not actually cook the food. You just take the ingredients as far as possible so that when you do want to cook food, they are ready to use. Cleaning, chopping, trimming, and portioning are all done during the prep phase. If you want to make a quick lunch salad, it will be very easy for you to take out all of the prepped vegetables and through things together in 5 minutes.

The Leftover Method

The leftover method is exactly what it sounds like. If you are going to cook a meal such as lunch or dinner, make double or triple on purpose so that you have leftovers. You can make dinner for yourself to enjoy fresh, and eat it for lunch for a couple of days after. This version allows you to rotate through different recipes and you’ll get more variety in the week. I call this the “cook once, eat twice…at least!” method.

Key Food Groups to Food Prep for

A balanced meal will consist of quality protein, fibrous vegetables, smart carbs, and healthy fats. As mentioned above, healthy fats are usually readily available in the form of oils, butter, nuts, seeds, egg yolks, cheese, avocado, olives, coconut, etc., and do not need to be prepped ahead. The other three categories are where you will get the best bang for your buck during your food prep sessions.

Quality Proteins

Protein is usually the hardest macro for people to eat enough of. We recommend targeting 1 gram of quality protein for every pound of ideal body weight. When we say “quality protein”, we mean whole food sourced proteins, not processed proteins (such as cold cuts, chicken nuggets, or processed vegan imitation meat). Quality protein sources will contain most if not all of the essential amino acids. And finally, a quality protein is in a food that doesn’t require us to ingest a large amount of fat or carbohydrates in order to get that protein count (for example, consider peanut butter a high-fat food, not a high-protein food).

I like to prep proteins in two different ways. First, I like to have pre-cooked proteins that are ready to eat immediately. It is important to have at least 30 grams of protein at every meal, especially your first meal of the day. If you are only eating 2-3 meals per day, you will need to adjust the meal goal in order to hit your daily goal.

I personally don’t like to cook a big breakfast for my first meal of the day, and I prefer to reheat some pre-cooked protein. Turkey and sausage patties are my main go-to for pre-cooked breakfast proteins. I have two recipes that I like to rotate between: turkey sausage patties, and five spice patties. Both of these recipes can be made with ground turkey, chicken, or pork. When I make these, I double the recipe and form the patties into 3-ounce portions. Then, I grab two patties in the morning. It’s preportioned so I know I’m hitting my personal protein goal, and it’s no fuss.

The second way that I like to prep protein is simply by portioning it out in its raw condition. I purchase protein in bulk whenever possible. Flank steak, chicken thighs, and ground turkey are always on my bulk list. Usually, flank steaks will come in a pack with two big flanks, totaling about four pounds. I break this up into four single-pound steaks and put one in the fridge, and three in the freezer. Portioning the flank is extremely easy, as I simply cut each flank in half cutting up the steak vertically so they are two long strips per flank. Portioning chicken thighs take a bit longer because you need to trim off excess fat from each thigh. You could skip this step, but I personally don’t want to eat the fat and I like to know my portioned weights are accurate since the portions are trimmed and cleaned.

You can determine what size portions to make based on your goals and how many people you feed at each meal. One-pound portions may work great for two adults at a single meal. Two-pound portions may be ideal for two adults and two teenagers. Having your protein portioned out into ziplock bags makes cooking lunch or dinner a breeze since you don’t need to handle any raw meat. It also eliminates food waste, as you can pull out portions one at a time, the night before. It also helps minimize material waste when out boondocking.

Vegetables

Vegetables should be included in every single meal. Prepping vegetables has various approaches, as they can also be pre-cooked or prepped raw. Having a big variety of raw vegetables available for quick use in salads or other side dishes is a big time saver throughout the week. It also helps you consume more vegetables. If I have a diced-up cucumber in the fridge I will definitely add it to salads and meals without thinking twice. If I have a full cucumber in the fridge, it may just sit there and go bad if I’m too lazy or rushed to cut it up every time I reach into the fridge.

There are two big motivators that push me to prep vegetables as soon as I get home from the grocery store. First, I can get WAY more into my RV fridge after I trim the veggies down. Items like Brocolli stems, crowns of cauliflower, brussel sprouts, carrots, and bell peppers require some level of trimming. Once you trim these down, they take up significantly less space. The more you condense down, the more goodness you can pack in.

The second big motivator is freshness. Transferring veggies into air-tight food containers along with dry paper towels is a game changer. I line each container with a dry, clean, paper towel at the bottom and the top of the container, and make sure the vegetables are completely dry before adding those in. Water and air are the enemies! I will check in on these containers mid-week and will swap out the damp paper towels for fresh dry ones. This makes a big difference and will help extend the veggie life to a full week. I like to save the damp paper towels and reuse them for dirty jobs later after they’ve been able to dry out again.

Smart Carbs

After you have your proteins and veggies portions figured out, you can dial in your remaining portions of carbs and fats. Some people prefer higher carb and lower fat, while others prefer lower carb and higher fat. Everybody is different, and there is no absolute macro split that is right for everybody.

Starchy vegetables and fruit are excellent carb sources. Fruit is easy since it doesn’t require any cooking. Other starchy carbs that do require cooking are excellent items to precook, and the batch method is my favorite. Brown rice takes a solid 45 minutes to cook and I usually never have time to cook that fresh at dinner. I will cook up a big batch of rice and keep that in the fridge to use throughout the week. I also like to cook quinoa ahead of time as well. Pre-cooked brown rice, white rice, and quinoa reheat very well and cook up fantastic in stir fry. You may also consider roasting potatoes, beets, or squashes as carb sources as well.

Tips to Stay Organized with Food Prep

The more you food prep, the quicker you will get at it. You will begin to master your meals and the groceries needed to complete the puzzle. We have a few tips that will help stay organized to get you going.

Learn your Food Containers

I have certain food containers that fit one single serving of starchy carbs perfectly. I have other containers that will fit four servings of starchy carbs perfectly. When dealing with a small RV refrigerator, it is important to have your food containers dialed down. The last thing you want is an oversized container that isn’t being filled to its full capacity. What a waste of space!

There are certain food containers that I prioritize for veggies, while I have others that I use for prepped proteins and starchy carbs. The veggies are the most fragile and susceptible to moisture damage, so I use “the good containers” on those!

Keep a List of Your Tare Weights

If you are monitoring your portion sizes, having your tare weights written down will help you. Tare weights are the weight of whatever bowl, cutting board, pot, pan, or food container is holding your food. Let’s break this down. Imagine cooking two pounds of ground beef, which equals 32 ounces. After you cook the ground beef, a lot of the moisture in the meat is evaporated. So 32 ounces in raw weight will end up weighing less after cooking. You know you want to divide this batch up into 6 servings, which will total roughly 5.33 ounces per serving in raw weight. But what is the adjusted cooked weight?

To find the new serving size (after cooking), you put your skillet on a scale. But before you can divide by 6, you need to deduct the weight of the pot itself, which is your tare weight. I like to keep a list of all tares on my cell phone, so I can quickly pull it up and use it for calculating portion sizes. Not everybody will need to get this granular on portions. But if you are tracking macros or just starting out prepping, it can be an extremely helpful tool. Not only for learning your portion sizes, but also to make sure your prepped foods last the number of days you intended them to last.

Use Mini Post-it Notes During Food Prep

It can be really challenging to remember what you made on which date. Especially if you are prepping on multiple days throughout the week. I like to use mini post-it notes so I can write the date that I cooked it. This can help you keep your refrigerator organized and follow the FIFO method when putting meals together (first in, first out), to minimize waste.

Keep Track of your Favorite Meals to Food Prep

Keep a running list of your favorite recipes. Maybe a list on your computer, or a notebook in your kitchen. Remember to add to it when you try something new that you like. It is easy to get bored with your usual meals. It can be helpful to have a list and rotate in some reliable recipes that you may have forgotten about!

The post How to Start a Food Prep Ritual appeared first on Healthy RV Living.

Making Pecan-Crusted Chicken at Home

Everyone loves a hot, crispy, breaded chicken meal. Fried chicken can be found in restaurants and even gas stations across the country. Usually, these indulgent entrees are a product of deep-frying or pan-frying. These forms of cooking come with a caloric bomb from the copious amounts of oils used. 

In true HrvL fashion, we wanted to lighten it up. We are big believers in enjoying fun foods that you like, and making them a little bit healthier by cooking them at home. You could prepare these pecan-crusted chicken tenders on a large baking sheet, oven-baked. We opted for our handy-dandy air fryer, which should be no surprise.

The Chicken

For this pecan-crusted chicken, we used chicken tenderloins. You could also use chicken breasts or chicken thighs, but we absolutely adore the classic chicken finger nostalgia. We also like the fact that chicken tenders are incredibly easy to prep. They can pretty much go straight from the package to the pecan crust mixture without any additional steps.

If you are using boneless chicken breasts, I recommend cutting them down into smaller-sized pieces or a thin chicken cutlet. The smaller pieces will allow them to cook quicker in the air fryer. You’ll ensure that the chicken is fully cooked through without burning the pecan crust mixture.

Our Inspiration

Our recent travels to Savannah, Georgia, inspired us to create this chicken. In Georgia, you can find pecans everywhere. It would be a shame to travel to Georgia and NOT get pecans. You could pick up whole pecans, pecan halves, pecan crumbs, or even ground pecans. 

We also happened to pick up some hot honey while down in Georgia, and boy did that take these chicken tenders over the edge! Just a tiny little drizzle of hot honey is all you need to give your crispy chicken a sweet and sassy zip of sticky goodness.

Serving Suggesion for Pecan Crusted Chicken

The tender chicken gives you a protein punch. You also get a dose of healthy fats from the pecans, and carbohydrates from the breadcrumbs and hot honey drizzle. Add a hefty mound of fibrous veggies on the side, and you have a complete meal.

Our favorite way to serve this pecan-crusted chicken is on top of our “Georgia Salad”. We made a bed of fresh greens and added feta cheese crumbles, shaved white onion, juicy peach slices, and a mound of micro greens. Just be careful with your cheese portions and your peach portions. Since the chicken already has fat and carbs in it, you will want to be considerate of toppings on your salad.

For more chicken recipes, check out our Shawarma Spiced Chicken, Lemon Herbed Chicken, and Sundried Tomato Chicken.

Print

Pecan Crusted Chicken Tenders

Course Dinner, Lunch

Cuisine American

Keyword Air Fryer, Chicken, Pecan

Prep Time 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes minutes

Total Time 45 minutes minutes

Servings 4 Servings

Ingredients

• 1 pound chicken tenderloins
• 1 ½ tsp salt, divided
• 1 ½ tsp pepper, divided
• ¼ tsp cayenne powder
• ½ cup flour
• 2 eggs
• ½ cup breadcrumbs
• ½ cup pecans, finely chopped
• 1 tbl parsley, finely chopped
• 1 tsp dried tarragon
• 4 tsp hot scotch bonnet honey (optional)

Notes

1. Season the chicken tenders with about 1 tsp of salt, 1 tsp of pepper, and 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper.
2. In a shallow bowl or walled container, mix the flour with about 1/8 tsp of salt and 1/8 tsp of pepper.
3. In a shallow bowl or walled container, lightly whisk the eggs with about 1/8 tsp of salt and 1/8 tsp of pepper.
4. In a shallow bowl or walled container, mix the pecans with the breadcrumbs, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/8 tsp of pepper, parsley, and tarragon.
5. Take one chicken tender and dredge in the flour mixture, shaking off excess.  Then, dip in the egg mixture, letting the excess drip off.  Finally, dredge in the pecan breadcrumb mixture to ensure fully coated.  Place the breaded chicken tender on a clean, dry, plate. Repeat the process for all chicken tenders.
6. Place the breaded chicken tenders in a single layer in your air fryer basket.  Do not overcrowd the basket.  Spritz the top of the chicken with avocado spray or olive oil spray. Cook at 380 degrees for 15 minutes.
7. Top each serving with one teaspoon of hot honey just before eating (optional)

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What is Strength Training?

Strength training is also known as resistance training, weight training, and weight lifting. While strength training is known by many names, the bottom line is it uses your body weight or other resistance equipment to perform weight-bearing exercises. This type of exercise will build muscle mass, strength, and endurance.

Why is Muscle Mass Important?

Skeletal muscle and strength are critical for healthy aging. Muscles are the key players in body movement and function, and it provides a long list of physical, mental, and quality-of-life benefits. The reality is, as we age, we naturally lose muscle mass starting at the age of twenty.

There are two ways to increase muscle protein synthesis. Both exercise and dietary protein-based nutrition will help you maintain a strong, healthy muscle mass. Optimal muscle mass in turn leads to improved health, independence, and functionality. As we age, it is incredibly important to practice both approaches, to maintain and build skeletal muscle tissue.

Common Myths About Strength Training

Let’s cut to the chase on some common misconceptions about resistance training. Resistance training isn’t only for bodybuilders and meatheads. Resistance training isn’t only for men. It won’t turn women “bulky”. And it certainly isn’t only for people who are already “in good shape”. Whether you’re brand new or experienced, old or young, obese or underweight, resistance training is for you. If you haven’t tried strength training, now is the time to start.

Physical Benefits of Strength Training

When you think about resistance training and physical benefits, you may automatically jump to a visual of a well-chiseled body. Having a sculpted physique could be a side effect of consistently lifting weights, and having proper nutrition, for several years. But it’s certainly not the main attraction of benefits. And it’s definitely not the reason we promote it. This is not about aesthetics, this is about overall health benefits.

1. Burn Calories

It’s commonly known that a workout routine and physical activity, in general, can be effective to burn calories. Aerobic exercise often gets used as a tool to torch calories, and it is very powerful for doing so. While aerobic activity is an important piece of a well-rounded fitness program, it is not the quickest way to fat loss, but strength training is.

One of the best things you can do to be metabolically healthy is to increase lean muscle mass. The more lean body mass you have, the higher your resting metabolism becomes. In other words, the more muscle you have, the more calories you burn throughout the day, even when you doing nothing. You will burn more calories even while you are only sleeping.

2. Fat Loss

We’ve already covered the fact that both aerobic exercise and strength training are effective for burning calories. Balancing your calories in with your calories out, and being in a caloric deficit will result in weight loss. But now we want to get into fat loss.

How is fat loss different from weight loss? Sometimes when we lose weight our body burns muscle rather than burning fat. We’ve already discussed why muscle is important, and we definitely want to protect it by all means. What you eat and how you exercise can play a role in dictating this. Lean muscle is a highly metabolic fat-free tissue, and it produces the highest caloric burn in the body. When you lift weights you build muscle and burn fat.

As you begin strength training, you will see a shift in your body composition as you gain muscle. With a proper diet and regular resistance training, your body fat percentage will go down, and your lean muscle mass will go up. This phenomenon is hard to achieve and is usually only able to happen when you are brand new to resistance exercise.

3. Improve Heart Health

Multiple studies show that regular strength training can strengthen your heart and blood vessels. A strengthened heart can lead to a decrease in blood pressure, lower total and LDL cholesterol, and an improvement in blood circulation.

Strength training also can help you maintain healthy body weight and manage your blood sugar levels. Properly managed blood sugar levels will mitigate your risk factor for cardiovascular disease.

4. Improve Bone Density

Bone loss essentially starts to happen for both men and women in their 40s and 50s. It is much more pronounced for women and tends to kick in heavily around menopause, then slowing back down around age 65. Whereas men actually have a higher rate of bone loss after age 65.

While osteoporosis and other bone fragility disorders can be hereditary (up to 50%), there are several lifestyle factors you can implement during your young/mid-adult years to increase bone strength. Monitoring your weight, and diet, avoiding smoking, limiting alcohol, and engaging in weight-bearing exercises will all help to improve bone mineral density. 

Classic strength training tools such as medicine balls, weight machines, free weights (dumbbells, kettlebells, barbells), resistance bands, and even body weight are effective for increasing bone density. However, the more strain the strength training puts on your muscles, the better it is for your bones. So lifting heavier will be more effective than using only your own body weight. 

5. Decrease the Risk of Falls

There is a strong link between muscle loss (sarcopenia) and bone loss (osteopenia). With advancing age, sarcopenia and osteopenia present major clinical problems, such as impaired mobility, compromised balance, increased risk of osteoarthritis, and falls/fractures; all of which diminish the quality of life in seniors. 

Some people are afraid of falling, so they refrain from activity altogether. Inactivity can actually contribute to the risk of falling, rather than preventing it. Instead, use strength training to train all major muscle groups and build muscle strength, improve bone health, and decrease your risk of falls. Make sure to incorporate balance exercises, and have a good mix of both lower-body and upper-body exercises.

6. Decrease the Risk of Injuries

Skeletal muscle is your body armor. It helps you stand up straight, move, and function. It protects your bones and joints when moving and also when under an impact such as a fall. Strength training helps improve the strength, range of motion, and mobility of your muscles, ligaments, and tendons. This reinforced strength around major joints like your hips, ankles, and knees will provide additional protection against injury.

Falling is the number one cause of accidental death for people over 65 years old. The risk of death from a fall is enormous by the time you reach 75 years old. Don’t wait until you’re in your high-risk years to start thinking about this. Start your strength training early on so that you can minimize your risks and be proactive!

7. Improve Quality of Life

When we think about growing old and aging, we often think about lifespan. Lifespan relates to the number of years lived. Let’s start to think more in terms of healthspan. Healthspan refers more to the quality of life during your senior years. Healthspan and longevity are our absolute favorite reasons to incorporate strength training.

Good health and mobility equal independence for older adults. Strength training, building muscle, and maintaining physical activity throughout your senior years will keep you healthy and independent. 

Of course, we have the obvious textbook benefits that we have already discussed. Sure, increasing bone health, reducing body fat, and minimizing falls and injuries are obviously important.

Do you want to know what’s exceptionally important that doesn’t get talked about as much? Having independence as a senior to do your own laundry, carry your own groceries, push or pull yourself out of a swimming pool, or lift up your 40-pound grandchild.  These are your real reasons why muscle-strengthening activities are important. 

Mental Health Benefits of Strength Training

When you think about resistance training and mental benefits, you may initially draw a blank altogether. The mental benefits of resistance training are often overlooked, while physical benefits steal the spotlight. Here at Healthy RV Living, we believe the mind, body, and soul all need to be nourished. Luckily, strength training helps the mind too.

8. Improve Self Confidence

Believe it or not, strength training adds a major boost to your self-confidence. Initially, the thought of weight training may make you intimidated. The fears of not using proper technique, designing your own programs, and judgment of peers, can all be paralyzing.

Once you overcome those fears and work towards a goal, you feel an immediate wave of accomplishment. With time, you will see a clear improvement in your strength and physical function. You will have measurable improvements, and you will feel better. Your body image will improve, and you will walk a little taller. It’s a magical thing.

9. Improve Cognitive Function

Your heart, lungs, and muscles aren’t the only things stimulated by exercise. Strength training also benefits the brain. Just like a muscle, your brain has a response to internal and external influences, a miracle known as neuroplasticity.

Strength training exercises have the ability to improve memory and prevent cognitive decline. Those who engage in strength training may have better brain health and protection against age-related cognitive decline.

10. Decrease Stress, Anxiety, and Depression

There is strong evidence that participating in strength training exercises can make you feel happier. Depression lessens, stress melts away, and anxiety lowers. Strength training exercise makes you feel good.

Cortisol is your body’s main stress hormone and acts like a built-in alarm system. It is closely tied to depression and anxiety. Do you want to know what helps lower and balance your cortisone level? Yep, you guessed it… weightlifting. 

Lifting weights is also known to release endorphins, the “feel good” hormone. Strength training can help our bodies maintain hormonal health, and our hormones affect every part of our body, especially our emotions and our mental state of being.

Now is the Time to Start Strength Training

Strength training provides numerous health benefits, such as a lower risk of heart disease and diabetes, stronger bones, better brain health and mood, and improved self-esteem. We’ve gone over several good reasons why you should incorporate it into your overall fitness program. 

As a nation, we are under-muscled. We tend to fixate on obesity and fad diets. What if we start to focus more on lifting weights and protecting our longevity? We know that skeletal muscle deterioration in old age has severe health consequences. So why put off resistance training when it is such a powerful investment in your future? 

Keep exercising throughout life. Start now and use what you have, whether it’s your own body weight, weight machines, free weights, suspension equipment, or resistance bands.

Need Help With Resistance Training?

There are plenty of things to worry about as you start out your strength training journey, such as: 

• which resistance exercises should you be doing?
• which order should you do them in?
• how should you group the exercises together to form an effective routine?
• are you using the proper form? 
• how often or how long should you train?

Consider signing up for online fitness coaching with Irene Iron Fitness, and let a pro help you and keep you accountable. Chris is a NASM certified Personal Trainer, Senior Fitness Specialist, and a Precision Nutrition certified nutrition coach.

The post Strength Training Benefits You Need to Know appeared first on Healthy RV Living.

The importance of healthy habits

Did you know that over a third of your activities are actually not determined by you? It’s a habit. Your life today is the sum of your current habits.

Habits are the small decisions that you make every day and the actions that you take from them. We have outlined ten basic healthy habits that will help you live a healthier lifestyle. From improving healthy eating to physical health, these healthy habits stack up.

Living an RV lifestyle can certainly throw a wrench in your routine. Constant relocation and inconsistent daily schedules will keep you on your toes, that’s for sure. On top of that, we RVers tend to treat life like one big vacation. And there is nothing wrong with that! We are out here living our best life. The key to living a balanced RV lifestyle is to incorporate daily practices that improve your overall health and keep you on track with your goals.

Tried and true healthy habits

After coaching hundreds of clients across the country, we have some pretty good experience with helping others live their best lives. We have compiled our top list of the most impactful healthy habits. We personally practice these healthy habits ourselves, every single day, while living full-time in an RV.

1. Resistance train at least 3 times per week

At Healthy RV Living, we are all about resistance training. Skeletal muscle is critical for health, quality of life, and longevity. As a nation, we are severely under-muscled. This makes sense considering that as we age, we naturally lose muscle. If you are over the age of 20, you are likely losing muscle mass as you read this, unless you are actively weight training.

Not only does weight training build lean muscle mass, but it also increases bone density, protects against injuries, improves metabolism, aids with fat loss, increases flexibility and balance, improves posture, minimizes depression and anxiety, prevents cognitive decline, and improves confidence. With all of these benefits, why wouldn’t you start resistance training today?

It doesn’t take much to get you on the right track for building lean muscle. All it takes is a minimum of three training sessions per week, at least 30 minutes per session. We recommend using a wide variety of dumbbell weights or a high-quality set of loop-style resistance bands. Dumbbells and loop-style resistance bands are at the top of our list for essential RV fitness gear. Be sure to follow a program that targets all of your muscle groups for total body strength gains.

2. Get sunshine and fresh air every day

It can be easy to sit inside your RV all day long. This is especially true if you work from home (your RV). Before you know it, it’s dinner time, the sun is going down, and you want to cozy up on the couch. Staying cooped up all day is a bad habit that you can easily break.

Sunlight shares many of the same benefits of exercise. Both exercise and sunlight improve sleep, reduce stress, maintain strong bones, help keep weight gain away, fight depression, and can help you live a longer life.

Additionally, sunlight gives you that needed boost of vitamin D. Vitamin D is critical for your immune system. You can strengthen your immune system with consistent exposure to sunlight. Illness, infections, and some cancers will be less prone to take you down with consistent exposure to sunshine.

Fresh air is energizing and sharpens your mind. It cleans your lungs, helps your digestive system, can lower blood pressure, and strengthens your immune system.

Make sure you are properly prepared to spend time outside all year round. Invest in having a good rain jacket, umbrella, and plenty of cold-weather gear.

So how much time per day is needed to soak up these physical and emotional health benefits? You can reap the rewards with 5 to 30 minutes per day. If you’re ever feeling that afternoon slump, head outside for a dose of good health.

3. Aim to get 7,500 steps a day

Walking is highly underrated. We love it because it is low impact, highly accessible, and gets the body moving. The more steps you take, the more likely you are to get regular movement throughout the day. Humans are not meant to be sedentary. You may have even heard the saying, “Sitting is the new smoking”, and unfortunately it rings true. Excessive sitting has been linked to an increase in back pain, high blood pressure, heart attacks, and diabetes.

The average adult reportedly gets anywhere from 2,000-6,000 steps per day. Suppose you are nowhere near 7,500, target 1,000-2,000 above your current average and start there. Then, after a couple of weeks, ramp it up again. Continue to monitor and set goals for yourself. Of course, if you already are at or above 7,500, continue to do what you are doing, and don’t achieve less.

Getting steps in does take time though. If creating the time needed to get steps in is a problem, you may then want to look at other higher-intensity forms of exercise to get more bang for your buck (being the clock). And if you are really wanting to increase your metabolism or use walking for weight management, you may need to work up to 10,000-15,000 per day.

4. Target 7-9 hours of sleep per night

Sleep deprivation is nothing to joke about. Poor sleep is directly linked to weight gain, weakened immunity, memory issues, mood changes, trouble concentrating, high blood pressure, risk of heart disease, low sex drive, and poor balance.

Consistently getting less than 7 hours of sleep per night can negatively affect your physical and mental health. You’ll feel groggy, tired, and just off.

There are several things that you can do to improve your sleep routine. For starters, try to stay as consistent as possible with your sleep schedule. Minimize electronics before bed. This might mean turning off the TV or shutting down your phone 30 minutes before bed. Try other activities such as reading a book, taking a shower, journaling, deep breathing, or stretching. Limit or avoid daytime naps, reduce alcohol intake, cut off caffeine after noon, and exercise regularly to help get better sleep.

If you’ve ever spent the night at a Walmart or Cracker Barrel, you’ve probably experienced the harsh security lights peeping into your RV. Take a look at the window coverings in your RV. Are they true blackout curtains? If not, consider upgrading to get full blackout coverage. An easier solution is getting an inexpensive eye mask. The eye masks work great to keep the light out. I personally own several of these and wear them every night!

5. Drink more water

Drinking water not only keeps you properly hydrated, but it provides a slew of other health benefits. It carries nutrients to cells, eliminates waste, protects joints and organs, and maintains body temperature.

Beverages like soft drinks and fruit juice can pack on calories, and refined sugar, as well as other artificial flavors. Ditch the sugary drinks and make water your go-to beverage. At the end of the day, water is the best choice for hydration.

The current recommended guidelines for water consumption are 90-120 ounces per day. We recommend drinking this throughout the day, starting the minute you wake up. “Twenty-four before your feet hit the floor” is a motto we use often. Before you even have your morning coffee, get a jump start on your daily water quota.

We have heard from some adults out there who just can’t stand the taste of water. Or lack thereof…If you find yourself in this category, try a few natural add-ins before reaching for artificial sweeteners or sugar-sweetened beverages. Fresh mint, lemon, lime wedges, and sliced cucumber are all healthy choices to enhance your H20.

Rather than wasting money, space, and energy lugging around single-use plastic bottles of water, invest in a long-term drinking solution. There are many filtration systems that you can use in the RV. Easy and affordable solutions are portable filters like the Brita or the Berkey. There are also more advanced in-line filtration systems, such as Clearsource.

6. Cook the majority of your food at home

Processed foods are the number one contributor to chronic diseases. Cooking at home is by far the most powerful way to control your food choices. This should come as great news to RVers since we always have our kitchen with us! 

Processed food, fast food, and even sit-down restaurants are all culprits here. Sure, fast food may be known to have lesser quality ingredients and more fried food. However, sit-down restaurants are just as damaging. According to Time Magazine, “92% of meals from large-chain and local restaurants have more calories than is recommended for the average person”. Restaurant foods are often loaded with excess calories from trans fats and sugars. 

Take control of your ingredients and portions by cooking at home. Food prep does take some extra time on the front end. But with continued practice, it will lead to a healthier life. There are various prepping approaches you can take. One of the most popular methods is the “Sunday ritual”. This involves taking a few hours on Sunday (or any day) and prepping for the entire week. Cook big batches of whole grains, starches, quality protein, and prepped fruits and vegetables. 

Challenge yourself to reach for your home-cooked lunch rather than fast food on your lunch break. Recreate that frozen meal from scratch and connect with the fresh ingredients. And rather than trying to cut out all restaurant food cold turkey, try to gradually decrease your average number of meals out per week. Make this a fun experience and enjoy your time in the kitchen!

7. Prioritize quality protein

Since we have gotten onto the subject of healthy foods, let’s talk about what you’re eating. Protein is highly under-eaten by many adults. And it plays a critical role in your healthy diet, as well as healthy aging.

Protein helps build and maintain skeletal muscle. Remember when we talked about lifting weights to help stay healthy and minimize risk factors? Here we go again with protein. There are two ways to help build and maintain muscle: 1) weight lifting and 2) dietary protein. Why not tackle both?

Protein is also important if you are trying to lose fat and get down to a healthy weight. It is hard work to be in a caloric deficit. Prioritizing protein will help keep you feeling full and satisfied. It will also protect your muscles and steer your body toward burning fat instead of muscle.

So what do we mean by “quality” protein? We are not talking about processed meats (cold cuts, hot dogs, protein bars, or “Beyond Burgers”). We are talking about fresh meats, fish, and eggs that have not been processed. These quality sources offer essential amino acids that are needed to promote muscle protein synthesis.

We like to keep our RV freezer stocked with quality proteins. We purchase our proteins online in bulk from a grass-fed and ethical source. Another cost-saving option to consider is purchasing in bulk from Costco or Sam’s Club. When we bring it home, break it all up and portion it into one-pound servings in Ziploc bags. Having pre-portioned servings in the freezer makes mealtime a breeze. You have less prep, less trash, and a properly portioned quantity to create meals with. Does your RV freezer need an overhaul?

8. Pump up the vegetables

Vegetables should make up half of your plate at every meal. Including breakfast! Yes, we said it! Fruits and vegetables are so nutritious and are the answer to helping prevent chronic diseases. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, only 1 out of 10 adults get enough fruits or vegetables. This statistic is measured using a modest recommendation of 1 1/2-5 cups per day. We definitely don’t want you to fall into that statistic. So much that we will get a little crazy and up the recommendation, even more, to target 5-10+ cups per day.

First, pay attention to two different types of vegetables: fibrous vs. starchy. While both come loaded with vitamins and nutrients, some key differences exist. Fibrous veggies are packed with, you guessed it, fiber. They are also lower in calories. Some examples of fibrous vegetables are broccoli, leafy greens, green beans, brussel sprouts, asparagus, and tomatoes. Fiber is an excellent way to slow down the digestion of carbohydrates, help you feel fuller for longer, and aid with digestion.

Starchy vegetables are the familiar potatoes, corn, legumes, and beets. They have a higher starch and carbohydrate content and higher calories. A majority of your daily carbohydrates should come in the form of vegetables and fruits, rather than refined grains (crackers, bread, etc).

One of our favorite things to do as we travel the country is to visit local farmers’ markets. This is a great way to explore local areas and support local farmers. Spend a couple of hours out and about, being a tourist. Then bring home a haul of fresh ingredients, and create some magic in your RV kitchen!

9. Minimize ultra-processed foods

When it comes to healthy eating, ultra-processed foods are about as unhealthy foods as you can get. When you walk around a standard modern-day grocery store, over 75% of the “food” offerings are processed foods. From processed meats and meat alternatives to chips, crackers, cookies, breakfast cereals, condiments, frozen meals, meal-replacement bars, and more, it can be overwhelming.

Processed foods are mechanically engineered to taste amazing. The companies design these foods to leave you wanting more. As a result, you overeat, and afterward, you’re nutritionally unsatisfied. What a recipe for disaster!

Pay attention to what is on the labels of these foods. An insane amount of money is spent on marketing. They use terms on the packaging that make you “think” these foods are healthy when they are just processed junk food. Terms like: plant-based, heart-healthy, whole grain, vegan, keto, organic, gluten-free, fat-free, low calorie, the list goes on and on.

Next time you go grocery shopping, schedule some extra time to read labels. First, check the ingredients list. Ideally, the ingredients will be about five items or less. More importantly, you will be able to identify and recognize every item in that ingredient list. Second, get comfortable reading the nutrition info. Serving size, calories, carbohydrates, fat, fiber, sugar, and protein content are all important numbers to pay attention to.

10. Stay focused and consistent

People struggle with the “on and off” mentality when it comes to fitness and nutrition. I think this is a result of decades of fad diets, and the desire to get the most results with as minimal effort as possible. The fad diets and trends will promise fast results, and oftentimes times they come with drastic measures.

These fad diets and other highly marketed nutrition plans are often very restrictive. For example, cutting out entire food groups such as animal products, fruits, carbohydrates, and even vegetables is pretty typical in fad diets such as vegan, keto, and low-carb diets. 

Meanwhile, many fancy (and expensive!) commercial nutrition plans are extremely low-calorie and require you to purchase their packaged food to stay on plan. If you are ever being pressured to purchase food in a package as a solution to good health, I encourage you to run! 

The truth is, that healthy lifestyle habits take time and consistency. Don’t be discouraged when you don’t have a physical transformation in a short time. Be realistic with yourself on what your lifestyle is, day in and day out. I challenge you to practice these healthy habits for six months with 100% commitment. Stay focused and consistent. This is a sustainable approach to a true lifestyle change. 

Time to collect significant health benefits

Hopefully, we have inspired you to incorporate these healthy habits today. Maybe you’re already doing a few of them, or better yet even a majority of them. If there are even just a couple more that you can add to your routine, it’s worth the effort.

Sometimes picking just one thing at a time to add in can be a gentle way to progress. If you tack on too much at once you may find yourself overwhelmed. Pick one habit that you feel most confident that you can consistently perform. Master that habit for a couple of weeks. Once that feels like “normal”, then add in another.

Breaking your goals up into small, achievable steps is extremely effective. Taking slow continuous steps will get you to your end goal much quicker than taking big jumps, then jumping backward. Cheers to healthy habits!

If you are interested in getting more help and accountability on an individual level, check out our online coaching options.

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Every person and unique RV has a different threshold for how cold is too cold for RV camping.  But generally speaking, temperatures that are consistently below freezing will make winter RV camping a bit more challenging.  RVs aren’t insulated like your traditional home, so keeping the tanks and pipes from freezing is a real concern.  

How cold is too cold for RVing?

As many pipes and tanks are in the underbelly of the RV, whether or not your RV has an enclosed, insulated or heated underbelly will make a big difference.  And if you’re actively living in the RV versus storing it, also makes a big difference.  If you’re heating the RV to keep yourself comfortable, that also keeps everything else inside at a warmer temperature. 

Many RVers have motorhomes with heated underbellies and can survive temperatures in the teens with the heat running throughout the night.  If you have hookups at an RV park, it will be easier because you can run space heaters.  If you’re winter RV dry camping, be sure your propane is full when you arrive. For extreme conditions, consider RV skirting to provide extra protection for the underbelly.

So there is no straight answer for how cold is too cold to RV, but we hope these winter RV camping tips and our personal experiences help you prepare for a successful winter RV trip.

Top Winter RV Destinations

In our opinion, the best winter RV destinations are warm winter RV destinations.  Forget all that snow and the worry over freezing pipes.  When your home has wheels, why not follow the best weather? (spoken like a true snowbird, right?)  Here are our top 3 winter RV destinations:

California

When it’s winter in the rest of the country, San Diego CA is the place to be.  Plus, it’s whale watching season for the Pacific Grey Whales migrating to Baja.  If you’re looking for an ideal winter RV resort in the San Diego area, check out Campland On The Bay. It’s located on the shores of Mission Bay and offers waterfront RV spots. Low temperatures hardly ever drop below 50 degrees in San Diego, so you won’t even remember it’s winter!

Arizona

There are lots of wide open spaces and free public land for boondocking in Arizona during winter.  This makes Arizona a cheap and easy option for RVers.  The warm weather and abundant sunshine bring so many RVers that it’s often a homecoming of sorts for the RV community.  You’ll find lots of RVers camping in Yuma and Quartzsite Arizona every winter.

If you’d rather have amenities, you can find the best Arizona winter RV parks in Phoenix and Tucson.  The Cave Creek Regional Park and Campgrounds located in north Phoenix is a personal favorite, providing access to nature and outdoor activities, while still being close enough to the city services.  This is a county park that requires reservations.  They operate on a six-month rolling basis, so be sure to plan ahead for your stay here.

Florida

Florida isn’t the easiest place to just roll up with your RV at the beginning of the winter season. Winter RV sites in Florida can be competitive to reserve and often must be booked well in advance.  Key West is home to the southernmost point in the US.  Going as far south as possible for the winter makes good sense, right?  Well, if you can afford it, and can plan ahead. 

Boyd’s Key West RV Campground is regarded as the best RV park in Key West. This park was founded in 1963 by two Canadians who were trying to escape the harsh winter in Saskatchewan.  That first year, campsites were $1.50 per night.  Today, a full hook-up Waterview site in peak season will cost you $225 per night. 

Will You Try RVing this Winter?

We hope you feel inspired to chase warm weather in your RV this winter.  And we hope that the sunny skies help make your fitness on the road easier.  We think it’s easier to maintain the motivation to keep up with our RV workout routine all winter when the temps are warm and the sun is shining.  Happy trails!

The post Winter RV Destinations appeared first on Healthy RV Living.