Recipe: Bacon Cheeseburger Tater Tot Casserole

Welcome to a nostalgic culinary delight that effortlessly combines comfort and nutrition – the Bacon Cheeseburger Tater Tot Casserole! This quick and healthy mid-week recipe is not just a family favorite but a perfect testament to the joy of wholesome, delicious meals. Packed with savory ingredients like succulent ground beef, crispy bacon, gooey cheese, golden tater tots, and a touch of nutrient-rich spinach, this casserole is a delightful symphony of flavors that will leave your taste buds singing.

But the magic doesn't stop there – we've elevated this classic dish by incorporating Greek yogurt for a creamy, tangy twist that adds a wholesome touch. This balanced blend of protein, veggies, and a hint of indulgence makes it an ideal choice for a family dinner that's both satisfying and nourishing. Say goodbye to mid-week meal dilemmas and hello to the joy of preparing a Bacon Cheeseburger Tater Tot Casserole that's bound to bring smiles to your dinner table!

Ingredients

1.5# 85/15 ground beef

3 oz cooked, chopped bacon (Hormel)

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (full, reduced-fat, or fat-free)

1 (32 oz) package frozen tater tots

1 (10.5 oz) can condensed cheddar cheese soup

1 (16 oz) container no fat greek yogurt

1 cup frozen spinach

1/2 cup diced onion (frozen or fresh)

STEP 1: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray a 9x13-inch pan with cooking spray. Set aside.

STEP 2: Cook ground beef in a large skillet until no longer pink. Drain fat.

STEP 3: In a large bowl, combine cooked beef, bacon, cheddar cheese, tater tots, cheese soup, and sour cream. Mix until thoroughly combined.

STEP 4: Spread mixture into prepared pan.

STEP 5: Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, until bubbly.

8 servings

519 cal

37g protein

23g carb

24-31g fat (depending on fat content of cheese)

Teen Mental Health + Exercise

Let's talk about something super close to my heart:

Teen Mental Health!  As the founder of SAPT, I believe in the POWER of exercise to boost good vibes and make a positive impact on mental well-being! March 2nd is Teen Mental Health Day, but we think it deserves more attention than just one day, so we will be bringing awareness to the relationship between exercise and teen mental health ALL month!

Here are some general associations:

• Improved Mood: Regular physical activity in early adolescence is often associated with enhanced mood and reduced feelings of anxiety and depression.

• Cognitive Benefits: Engaging in physical activity is linked to improved cognitive function and academic performance in adolescents.

• Stress Reduction: Physical activity can act as a stress buffer, helping adolescents cope with the challenges and pressures they may face.

• Self-Esteem: Regular exercise is often correlated with higher self-esteem and a positive body image during early adolescence.

• Better Sleep: Adolescents who are physically active may experience improved sleep quality, which is crucial for mental well-being.

• Social Interaction: Participation in sports and physical activities fosters social connections and a sense of belonging, contributing to positive mental health.

• Reduced Risk of Behavioral Issues: Physical activity has been associated with a lower risk of engaging in risky behaviors and substance abuse among adolescents.

• Emotional Regulation: Physical activity can contribute to better emotional regulation and resilience, helping adolescents navigate challenging emotions.

Remember, these associations may vary based on factors such as the type and intensity of physical activity, individual differences, and environmental influences. For the latest and most specific findings, it's recommended to consult the latest research articles in the field.

5 Tips to Find a Clean and Safe Gym Environment During COVID-19

Happy Anniversary!!! As we approach one full year of dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, many are beginning to work towards getting back into a gym to start working out or training in person again. Many of these people don’t know where to start, let alone if it’s even safe in their area. We’ve had clients training in person since mid-May, and when we ask those clients why they feel safe training at our facility, they almost always say the same things. From that feedback and the precautions we have taken in our facility, we have developed a list of 5 Tips to Find a Clean and Safe Gym Environment During COVID-19.   

1. Private Training Facility - While private training facilities aren’t a perfect fit for everyone, one huge benefit of choosing a private gym is the family-like atmosphere. Since our clients know and care about each other and their families, they are constantly trying to be as courteous and cautious as possible by making sure their equipment is sanitized and cleaned up, keeping their masks on as much as possible, and keeping the appropriate distance between each other. Whenever I talk to our clients about how grateful we are that they help us in taking the proper precautions, they always respond by saying they want our SAPT family to be able to keep training and stay healthy. The extra cleaning, distancing, and masks aren’t a huge issue for them since they are always thinking about the gym as their family. 

2. Limited Total Class Size - Our semi-private training sessions see a max of 6 clients/hour. In Virginia, the recommendation for indoor social gatherings is 10 people, and has been for most of the pandemic. Keeping our class size at 6 also allows us to spread out the clients beyond the required distancing, keeping clients even safer. This maximum class size of 6 also gives us some flexibility when our clients are able to start/finish their sessions. This way if a client is trying to finish their workout and needs 5 more minutes to cool down/foam roll/stretch, we don’t have to kick them out right away, they can finish up as the clients for the next hour are rolling in.

3. Large Open Space - Another important factor to consider when selecting a gym to do in person training during COVID 19 is how large the facility is. As we all know, social distancing is a massive part of preventing the spread of this virus. If gyms have lots of equipment packed into a small space, there is no way the clients training at the same time would be able to stick to the recommended 6ft distancing. Our facility is about 70% open space, with many different options around the facility to allow clients to keep the recommended distance apart from one another. This combined with the limited class sizes we mentioned earlier allows us to keep large distances between our clients for virtually all of the session hours. 

4. Mask Policy - One of the decisions we made early on in this pandemic was that we were going to have our clients keep their mask on for the duration of their training session. With that decision however, we had to assist our clients in dealing with the obstruction they would feel when wearing a mask while training. When weather was appropriate, this solution was simply to allow our clients to step outside when they wanted some fresh, unobstructed air and bring themselves back to a point where they felt comfortable breathing with the mask on. We have also decided to put a heavier focus on strength training during this time, getting away from more difficult conditioning as our clients would struggle to complete this training with their mask on. Keeping these things in mind allows almost all of our clients to keep their masks on 95% of the time they are in the facility training. 

5. Sanitation/Minimizing Shared Equipment - Sanitation is one of the most important things we looked at early on in terms of making our clients feel safe training here. Every person that steps into our facility immediately either washes their hands or uses hand sanitizer, something they also do right before they leave. Our clients also clean the equipment they use after each use. This is usually done after each series once all of the sets on a piece of equipment is completed. These things combined allow each client to feel safe that each time they use a piece of equipment it has been sanitized and is ready to be used safely. In addition to help from our clients, our staff has been more diligent than ever with wiping down equipment throughout and at the end of each day. We make sure that every surface that is touched gets cleaned! This includes the handles for dumbbells, door knobs, weight plates, bands, medicine ball, and everything else!!

In our experience, if you can find a place that has at least the above procedures and policies in place, you will be setting yourself up for a great entry back into in-person training with minimal risk.

How to Become a SMART Goal Setter!

Picture this. You get into your car, turn on the ignition and set up your GPS, only to never punch in a final destination. How do you think this scenario would pan out? You would probably end up driving around for a while, not really sure where you’re going exactly, getting confused and frustrated along the way. Maybe you never even leave in the first place! This is what life can be like without having a clear goal put in place. A goal is your final destination point, something that provides you with a clear sense of direction and gives your life a clearer sense of purpose.

One of the most common goals that people set around this time of year are New Year’s resolutions. These are a chance for many people to hit the ground running as they look to better themselves in different areas of their lives.

The resolution could be to cut out sugary foods such as candy and ice cream from their diet. Or it could be to start going on 6am jogs before work. While the intentions of a New Year’s resolution are good, many people struggle to make it through the first couple of weeks before losing all motivation. If you are reading this and find that this is resonates with you, I have some good news. Failing to stick to a New Year’s resolution has very little to do with your mental strength or willpower, and more to do with the resolution itself.

In order to understand where I am going with this, we have to first understand how to become a better goal setter. A good method that I like to use when setting a new goal is to follow the S.M.A.R.T principle. When broken down using this format, your new goal should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-based. Over the course of this article, I am going to dive into each of these sections and provide you with the tools you need to become a SMART goal setter!

Specific

When setting a goal for yourself, it has to be specific to you and what you want to achieve in life. Furthermore, you need to be very clear about what your goal is and why you want to set that for goal for yourself. Simply saying “I want to lose weight” is far too vague. However, saying that “I want to lose weight so that I can feel more confident in myself and reduce my risk of health issues” is a lot more specific and gets to the root cause of why you want to make changes in your life.

If you play a sport and you are looking to set a SMART goal for yourself, this same rule applies. Wanting to become a better volleyball player is not a specific goal, but improving your vertical jump so that you can be a more effective hitter certainly is. Not only does this goal mention a specific physical trait (jumping) that you want to improve, but it is also an important skill to have if you want to be successful at that position.

Measurable

If your goal isn’t measurable, it’s hard to really know if you’re moving in the right direction or if you’ve ever successfully achieved it. If your goal is simply to become a better runner or a more skilful soccer player, how will you really know if you’ve succeeded in doing so? However, if you set a goal of improving your 5k time or scoring 10 goals next season, you now have a clear target that you can work towards. Having a numerical value which tells you that you are getting better can also provide you with a huge confidence boost. I can personally say that there is no better motivator than knocking a few seconds off your personal best run time or adding 10lbs to your bench press max. These little victories all add up in the long run to reaching your overall goal and keep you feeling positive throughout the process.

Achievable

This is the main reason why most New Year’s resolutions end up failing before you even reach February. Setting lofty goals for yourself may seem like a great idea at the time, but will only leave you feeling deflated if they aren’t realistically achievable. For example, wanting to work out at 5am multiple days a week is going to be extremely difficult to maintain if you are bartending until midnight or a mother of 3 young children. Your lifestyle stressors should not be an excuse to not set a goal for yourself, but you should be keep them in mind if you want your goal to be realistic.

The best piece of advice I can give when trying to set an achievable goal is that you’re not trying to conquer the world overnight! Success in many aspects of life is the product of consistency over a long period of time. Do not expect to get underneath a barbell for the first time and squat 400lbs within a few months. That is a goal that takes many years to achieve and is not conducive to your current ability level. Try to set smaller targets for yourself that are easier to achieve and then continue to build upon them over time.

Relevant

Your goal should be relevant to you and there must be a clear purpose for why you want to achieve it. In the period of time that you work towards your new goal, you will hit plateaus and have days where you lack motivation. During these moments, it is often the underlying purpose behind your goal that helps keep you accountable for your actions and decisions. Try to avoid setting a goal for the approval of others (i.e. getting likes on Instagram or making your significant other happy). If your goal doesn’t have any significant meaning to you, it will be so much easier to skip workouts or chose convenient fast food over cooking a healthy meal.

Time-Based

As the old saying goes, “Rome wasn’t built in a day”. In order to successfully achieve your goal, you have to be patient and give yourself a realistic amount of time to achieve it. While many diet fads and supplements will offer false promises of immediate results, the truth is that significant changes to your body composition and athletic performance take time to achieve. By giving yourself a short window of opportunity to reach your goal, you are only setting yourself up for disappointment.

Conclusion

With the S.M.A.R.T strategy at your disposal, you can ditch your 2020 New Year’s resolution and start the year off with a goal that will help to add value to your life, rather than take things away. Whatever goal you choose to set for yourself, remember that the final destination is great, but the process of reaching it is way more important. Embrace the setbacks, cherish the little victories and enjoy the journey!

Since you’re here: We have a small favor to ask! At SAPT, we are committed to sharing quality information that is both entertaining and compelling to help build better athletes. Please take a moment to share the articles on social media, engage us authors with questions and comments below, and link to articles when appropriate if you have a blog or participate on forums of related topics.

Thank you! SAPT

Holiday Weight Gain: Does it Stay With You?

How to Avoid Holiday Weight Gain

That time of year is upon us once again. The days are getting shorter and the weather is getting colder. Many of us are putting travel plans together for Thanksgiving and Christmas, so we can spend the festive season with the ones we love most, including that one uncle who decides to talk about politics at the dinner table…

While this may sound gluttonous, one of my favorite parts about the holidays is the food! Right now you’re probably picturing the Thanksgiving Day turkey at the center of the table, surrounded by mashed potatoes, gravy and stuffing. Followed by that pumpkin pie you’re going to devour soon after. However, what we often forget during this time of year is the impact all of this delicious food is having on our long term weight loss goals.

Holiday weight gain is a very real thing, with the average American gaining 1 lb between November and January. I know what you’re thinking, 1 lb of body weight doesn’t sound like a lot considering the vast quantities of food you have probably inhaled during this time. However, researchers have also found that most people don’t shed that extra weight by the next year! As a result, that single pound can turn in to 5, 10, even 15+ pounds of unwanted weight gain as the years roll by!

With this in mind, here are few tips that will help to prevent holiday weight gain from occurring:

1. Go on More Walks

While a brisk walk may not seem like much of a workout for most people, I am certain that it is better than what you are probably doing this time of year. Most of us can become content with sitting on the couch and watching TV, especially with a belly full of turkey. But this level of inactivity in combination with a sudden spike in overeating can be a recipe for disaster. Going on a short walk is not only a great excuse to get some fresh air and spend quality time with family, but It will also help aid digestion, offset some inflammation and prevent blood sugar spikes from occurring.

2. Be a Mindful Eater

If you’re anything like me, it is difficult to say no to extra helpings of food during the holidays. Despite being moments away from an impending food coma, I still believe that I have extra room for that slice of pecan pie I’ve been thinking about all day. With such a vast quantity of food available, most of which is very palatable, it’s important to be mindful of what you are eating and how much of it you really need. Prior to your Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner, try to limit snacking and consuming large meals that will only make your daily caloric intake even higher. Knowing that a big slice of pie is waiting for you at the end of your meal, you could also consider smaller portion sizes of turkey and all the fixings. As you can see, none of these suggestions require you to remove any of the food that you love. But they do require you to be aware of your portion sizes and appetite levels.

3. Find a Nearby Gym

If your holiday plans call for you be away from your home comforts for an extended period of time, it might be a good idea to seek out a local gym. Even if this is just a planet fitness or the local YMCA, you can still get a great workout in when you have minimal equipment at your disposal. A couple of resistance training sessions will go a long way in keeping the pounds off during the holidays and prevent you from returning home undertrained.

See below for a sample workout that can be performed easily at any small commercial gym:

A1) Slow Tempo Goblet Squat - 3x10

A2) Deadbugs - 3x6/side

B1) Pushup or 1-arm Alternating DB Bench Press – 3 x 5 or 3 x 7/side

B2) Side Planks – 3 x :20/side

C1) Glute Bridge w/ Iso Hold – 3 x 12 (:02 Iso Hold)

C2) 3 Point DB Row – 3 x 8/side

Finisher: (4 Minutes)

D1) KB swings x 8

D2) Bear Crawl x 6 steps/side

Ultimately, as with many things, you should be searching for balance at this time of year. Given that most of our daily lives are consumed with traffic-filled commutes, deadlines, and plenty of stress, the holidays serve as an opportunity to switch off and enjoy quality time with our families. However, it is important to not become too lax with our eating and exercise habits. Along with remaining mindful of your food intake, making sure that you move often and set aside time for physical activity will go a long way to keeping you on track as we head into the new year! From myself and the entire SAPT team, have a happy holiday season!

Since you’re here: We have a small favor to ask! At SAPT, we are committed to sharing quality information that is both entertaining and compelling to help build better athletes. Please take a moment to share the articles on social media, engage us authors with questions and comments below, and link to articles when appropriate if you have a blog or participate on forums of related topics.

Thank you! SAPT

Home Workouts: Building Effective Strength Sessions

We’re on part three of how to have successful home workouts. Check out Part 1 and Part 2 here, if you’ve missed them.

If you’ve got some resistance training equipment in your home gym then you are ahead of the curve and no doubt interested in putting together the most effective training session possible. But, unlike the equipment you can find in a commercial gym, you likely still have some constraints with the range of equipment you own.

This means you are in need of a lot of flexibility and variety that, as I mentioned in my last post can and should be regulated by a template to ensure some level of overarching consistency.

With the template design, you can expand it to be fairly extensive. The level of experience you have and the amount of equipment you own will really determine what populates the template.

Below is a general 3x/week training template that allows for a great deal of flexibility for in-home workouts.

I’m a big fan of systems and the whole idea of templates is to help systemize and standardize to ensure high quality sessions. You can use the above template a couple different ways: plug and play each workout. The advantage here is lots of variety, the downside is progress will be limited if you are looking for strength gains. With this approach you can enjoy knowing you are healthier and stronger, but remember this approach should be for a limited time only.

The other approach would be to select a month’s worth of exercises and then program design with sets, reps, tempo and load. This approach is great for people with a bit of experience who are looking for predictable progress. The downside is that it does take some time and a bit of knowledge.

With a few key pieces of equipment, a good template, and a willingness to be creative you will be making great progress towards your at-home fitness goals.

Since you’re here: We have a small favor to ask! At SAPT, we are committed to sharing quality information that is both entertaining and compelling to help build better athletes. Please take a moment to share the articles on social media, engage us authors with questions and comments below, and link to articles when appropriate if you have a blog or participate on forums of related topics.

Thank you! SAPT