RECIPE BY LEANDRA ROUSE | PHOTOGRAPHY BY SAM EMMONS 

There’s so much to love about chicken katsu: crunchy exterior, tangy sauce, and versatility, much? Yet if your commitment to minimize fried foods has removed this Japanese staple from your healthy home cooking repertoire, you’re in luck. This baked version substitutes gluten-free panko and almond flour as a protein-rich alternative to the traditional preparation. Almond flour contains seven grams of protein in just a quarter of a cup.  

In this recipe crispness is king. There are a variety of ways to maintain that satisfying crunch with a baked version. The success of the final recipe came from pre-toasting the panko and also baking it on a wire rack. To maintain maximum crunch, serve this dish immediately. 

In this recipe, chicken is used as the main ingredient. But other protein sources could easily be swapped, such as tofu, fish, or pork. This katsu was served with brown rice and a ribbon carrot and cucumber salad to build a balanced healthy meal. Pairing with Tonkatsu sauce is a must and can easily be made from scratch using one tablespoon ketchup, 2 1/2 teaspoons oyster sauce, 1 1/2 teaspoons worcester, and one teaspoon honey. Aim for one teaspoon or less of katsu sauce for serving size. 

INGREDIENTS: 

1 cup gluten-free Panko Japanese bread crumbs

1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil

1 pound boneless skinless chicken thighs

¼ teaspoon kosher salt

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

¼ cup almond flour

1 large egg

1 Tbsp water

To serve 

1 teaspoon of your favorite Tonkatsu sauce 

INSTRUCTIONS: 

Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Prepare your baking sheet by adding a wire baking tray. Remove chicken from the refrigerator and wash and dry each piece well. Season lightly with salt and pepper and set aside to bring to room temperature. 

To pre toast the panko bread crumbs. Heat olive oil in a cold pan and add panko. Stir regularly until all panko are golden brown. Set the panko aside and allow the pan to cool. 

Prepare your breading station by arranging two shallow dishes near the baking sheet—one with almond flour, and the other with a whisked egg and one tablespoon of water. 

When you are ready to begin, dip an individual piece of chicken into the almond flour, then into the egg mixture, and finally into the golden panko. Place the chicken pieces onto the wire rack baking sheet. Once all the chicken has been breaded, add them to the oven and bake at 400ºF or until chicken’s internal temperature reads 165ºF. This takes about 25 to 30 minutes. 

Serve immediately with a squeeze of lemon and your favorite Tonkatsu sauce. 

Makes 6 servings.

NUTRITION FACTS (PER SERVING) WITHOUT SAUCE: 

Calories 200

Protein 18 g

Total fat 7 g

Saturated fat 1.5 g

Cholesterol 100 mg

Carbs 14 g

Fiber 1 g

Total sugars 1 g 

Added sugars 0 g

Sodium 230 mg

The post Healthy Recipe: Baked Gluten-Free Chicken Katsu appeared first on Fitbit Blog.

As it gets colder and the days get shorter, certain outdoor activities are no longer as appealing. Cannonballing into the pool or playing Frisbee at the beach? Brr! 

Kids—and adults—need to stay active and find ways to have fun as the season changes. For most kids, homework, after-school activities, and other commitments can take a bite out of their availability to be active.

Although the seasons may change, kids’ needs to be active haven’t. It’s crucial for their physical, mental, and social health to move and have fun year-round. To that end, we’ve rounded up some fun ways to keep your kids moving while engaging in all the fun fall has to offer.

Today’s kids aren’t as active as they should be

This statement  probably doesn’t come as a surprise to most parents. Studies show that children’s activity levels have steadily declined for years, even before the pandemic. While  many COVID-based restrictions have been lifted, children are still not as active as before the pandemic.

Even when people are young, not getting enough exercise can affect their health. Staying active improves cardiorespiratory fitness, builds strong bones, and decreases the risk of heart disease, cancer, Type 2 diabetes, and high blood pressure. Physical activity also helps reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety.

How active should children be? The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that children ages 3 through 5 be physically active throughout the day. Children ages 6 through 17 should get 60 minutes or more of moderate-to-vigorous daily physical activity. This type of activity includes aerobic, like walking or running; muscle-strengthening, such as  climbing and pushups; and bone-strengthening, like jumping or running.

Fortunately, kids can move during physical education classes and school sports teams. Still, even then, they might not get all the necessary exercise. That’s why it’s essential to look for ways to be active—while making it fun, so children will want to incorporate exercise into their daily lives. 

Falling for fall activities

In autumn, activities that may have been too sweat-inducing to do in the summer are perfect for the cooler weather. Grab a jacket and a pair of gloves, and get ready to go.

Hiking is a great way to enjoy the falling leaves. Whether climbing hills and mountains or exploring nearby city greenway trails, hiking is a great way to get outside and enjoy nature. Looking for more than a scenic walk? Turn your hike into a scavenger hunt: challenge your young kids to spot a pine cone, squirrels, or animal tracks. Listen for birds, wind, and water. Give older kids a map and let them decide the direction. Remember to pack  healthy snacks and water.

Start an evening walk club with your kids and track your steps with your Fitbit. 

Join a Fitbit Challenge as a family or set a daily step goal.

Raking leaves can go from being a chore to a delight when your kids get to jump into the pile of leaves they made. Set a timer and try to finish raking before it goes off. Work in teams to divide the task and celebrate a job well done with a warm cup of cocoa or cider.

Find a local apple orchard and go apple picking. Or, go to a nearby pumpkin patch and find a future jack-o’-lantern. Visit a corn maze and wander (keep your young ones nearby so they can find you easily).

Play a family or neighborhood game of freeze tag or touch football. Create your own rules that make it easy to include everyone regardless of age or ability. 

If you have a dog, have your kids walk the dog daily. If you don’t have one, volunteer your kids to walk a neighbor’s!

While playing outside during fall can be fun, sometimes it can be too cold, dark, or rainy for outdoor activities. If you have a garage, consider moving the car onto the street or driveway so your kids have room to play there during the day. (Be sure to remove any dangerous chemicals or tools beforehand). 

Walk through a shopping mall. Many malls open their doors before store hours to allow for walking. 

Consider memberships or day passes to the local gym or YMCA for a workout or swim at the indoor pool. Many gyms have minimum age requirements for using equipment, so check before you go.

Look at your town’s activity offerings. Park districts have classes your kids and family can drop in or register to participate. 

Stuck in the house? Find exercise classes on YouTube. Take a dance break during commercials or homework. Have a speed cleaning challenge. Or,  try doing a quick workout video in the Fitbit app (join Premium for even more workout content).

Keep flexible

While being able to touch your toes is important, this flexibility is about finding ways to move  ingrained in your kids’ lives. For them to have a lifelong activity habit, it must be enjoyable. If they don’t like sports, maybe a dance or yoga class is more appealing. Go old school with hula hoops, chalk for hopscotch, and jump ropes. Find more unique workout ideas. 

Look for minor tweaks to add movement. Perhaps your kids can walk from school instead of taking the bus or getting a ride. Or maybe the kids play outside when they first come home from school and do homework later when it’s dark, instead of the usual “homework first” rule. 

Whatever steps you take (see what we did there?) to encourage your children’s activity, remember that your behavior will influence them the most. If they see you finding ways to keep moving that you enjoy, they will more likely make activity an essential part of their lives.

The post Outdoor Fall Activities for Kids appeared first on Fitbit Blog.

As a child, Kathleen Porteria would never have imagined that she would one day become a fitness content creator with a passion for weightlifting. Growing up in Los Angeles, she struggled with severe and chronic asthma that made physical activities a challenge. She was always the last to finish a race. Sports and athletics seemed like they were for other “athletic” kids. 

Kathleen can still clearly remember experiencing feelings of terror when her asthma struck and she couldn’t get enough air into her lungs or oxygen into her bloodstream. The attacks would sometimes come on at random. It only took a change in the weather or inhaling a bit of dust or pollen, and the airways in her lungs would start to swell and constrict. 

“It felt like trying to breathe through a tiny straw,” she remembers about going into anaphylactic shock. “Once or twice a year, my parents would have to rush me to the hospital, where I would stay in the ICU for days until I could return to normal breathing and my oxygen levels stabilized.”

When Kathleen moved to the Philippines to attend college, she was determined to do everything possible to become healthy and strong. She wanted to prove that her asthma did not define her or limit what she could achieve. After joining a gym, she discovered that lifting weights improved her physical and mental health. 

As she grew stronger, she began to feel she had more control over her asthma. After obtaining a Bachelor’s in psychology, she decided to pursue a career in health and fitness and eventually received a certification as a functional strength coach. She also continued strength training. In 2019, she signed up for her first-ever powerlifting event. Weighing in at 120 pounds, she deadlifted nearly twice her weight. 

As she overcame the childhood trauma associated with her asthma, she felt her story was worth sharing on social media. She now has tens of thousands of followers she hopes to inspire to overcome similar obstacles and become their strongest and happiest selves.  

Kathleen shares her interest in health and fitness with her husband, a professional soccer player. While she was pregnant last year, he gave her a Fitbit Charge 5. 

“Obviously, pregnancy is a time when you want to listen closely to your body,” she says. “I wanted to get enough exercise but didn’t want to over-exert my body. The data on my heart rate and Active Zone Minutes helped keep everything in balance. My Daily Readiness Score helped me know when to go to the gym and when it was time to rest and rejuvenate. I knew staying healthy and fit would help me during the delivery.”

Kathleen proudly shared the changes in her body in videos and pictures throughout her pregnancy. Like her asthma, pregnancy was both a physical and mental challenge. And that challenge didn’t end after her son’s healthy birth.

“I’ve struggled with anxiety throughout my life, and some of those feelings came back after my son’s birth,” she says. “I feel it is important to be honest about mental health.”

Kathleen is now sharing the story of her postpartum fitness journey on her social media accounts. Her sleep scores are going up now that her 10-month-old son is sleeping through the night. She’s not back to her former fitness levels, but the stats on her Fitbit app are showing steady improvement. She keeps an inhaler handy—but her asthma is under control and she rarely needs it. “I wouldn’t say I’m one hundred percent, but I’m getting there,” she says. “The muscle memory I built before I got pregnant is kicking in. It is amazing what the human body can achieve.”

Kathleen sometimes thinks about the kid she used to be who always came in last and was afraid to push herself physically. “I’m proud of the challenges I’ve faced,” she says. “They have shaped me into who I am. It doesn’t matter to me if I finish last, as long as I finish strong.” 

The post Discover How This Fitness Content Creator Overcame Her Anxiety While on a Journey to Better Health appeared first on Fitbit Blog.

In a perfect world, you would feel engaged with and motivated by your workout routine 100 percent of the time. But the truth is, we don’t live in a perfect world—and no matter how much you love fitness, chances are you’ll find yourself in a workout rut at some point or another.

If you’re currently stuck in a workout rut (or you’ve stopped working out altogether!), we’ve got good news for you. With a few small changes, you can pull yourself out of your workout rut, find your motivation, and get your fitness back on track. So how, exactly, do you do that?

Start small

If you’ve completely fallen off the exercise wagon, you might be tempted to jump right back in. But going from no exercise to a lot of exercise can cause you to burnout quickly—and will land you right back where you started.

Instead, “start small and simple [when] getting back into your routine,” says Dr. Matt Tanneberg, sports chiropractor, certified strength and conditioning specialist (CSCS), and owner of Body Check Chiropractic & Sports Rehabilitation in Scottsdale, AZ.

For example, let’s say you used to kick off every morning with a 5k jog around your neighborhood—but now it’s been months since you’ve laced up your running shoes and hit the pavement. Instead of trying to jump back into running 3.1 miles, try starting off your morning with a 15-minute walk. Then, as you get into the habit of walking every day, you can slowly increase your active time and speed until you’re back into your regular running habit.

Switch things up

A rut is literally defined as “a fixed or established mode of procedure or course of life, usually dull or unpromising.” In other words, you get stuck in a rut when you continue doing the same thing over and over, even though you’re bored and not seeing results. 

“If you’ve been sticking with a certain program or routine for a long time, you can easily get into a rut and see motivation drop,” says personal trainer and coach Chris Cooper.

If you feel like you’re stuck in a “same old, same old” mindset towards your exercise routine—and it’s making it hard to stay motivated and engaged with fitness—one of the best things you can do is switch things up. 

For example, do you feel like all you do is run? Switch things up by focusing on strength training or hitting a boxing class. Are you bored with your gym routine? Challenge yourself with an outdoor workout, like a hike or a circuit workout in the park. Introduce some novelty into your fitness routine; trying new things can make your workouts feel fresh and exciting again—and can help you shake that “I’m stuck in a rut” feeling.

Give yourself a goal

Exercising on a regular basis is a worthy goal in and of itself. But if exercise for the sake of exercise isn’t motivating you to get up, get out, and workout—and you feel like you’re in a fitness rut because of it—a great way to find the drive to exercise? Giving yourself a fitness goal to work toward. “Having goals can be a critical factor for motivation,” says certified strength and conditioning specialist Korey Van Wyk. 

For example, do you love cycling, but lately have been finding excuses to skip your bike rides? Consider signing up for a road race to give yourself something to train for. Or do you feel like you’re in a rut because you’re bored with at-home workouts? Set a goal to check out at least one new fitness class a week.

When setting fitness goals, “find something that you’re interested in and that will get you out of your comfort zone,” says Van Wyk. “Doing this will give you clear goals and objectives for your workouts”—which can make it easier to get out of your run and back into a regular fitness groove.

Find a workout community

When you’re in a workout rut, it can be hard to pull yourself out of it. So why not enlist the help of other people? Finding a workout community, whether by joining a local workout class or enlisting a few friends to work out with you, not only creates external accountability (which can help you be consistent with your workouts, even when you don’t feel like it), but it can also make working out feel fun and motivating again. This can help you get out of your rut and get back to feeling excited by and engaged with your fitness routine.

“Whether virtually or in person, find a group of people that are doing the same thing you are,” says Van Wyk. “It’s amazing how surrounding yourself with people doing the same workout at the same time will boost your energy and motivation.”

Cut yourself some slack

If you’re beating yourself up because you’re stuck in a workout rut, cut yourself some slack. “The first thing to realize and accept is that ruts are normal!,” says Van Wyk. “Even the most ardent fitness enthusiast will get in a rut from time to time.”

Instead of berating yourself about why you’re stuck in a rut or how you got there, show yourself a little compassion. Feeling guilt or shame around letting your fitness habits slide isn’t going to help you motivate yourself. Instead, recognize that everyone struggles with fitness from time-to-time—and it’s just a normal part of being human.

And interestingly, cutting yourself that slack? It might be exactly what you need to move forward. “Understanding that [finding yourself in a workout rut is] completely normal can take the pressure and guilt off,” says Van Wyk. When you release the pressure and guilt, it can make it easier to get motivated and start working out again. 

The post In a Workout Rut? Here’s How to Get Out of It—and Get Your Fitness Back on Track appeared first on Fitbit Blog.

RECIPE BY LEANDRA ROUSE | PHOTOGRAPHY BY SAM EMMONS 

Paella may feel like an intimidating, even out-of-reach dish reserved for fancy restaurants and faraway places. But this simple home recipe demystifies the Spanish speciality and turns it into an approachable weeknight dinner. 

Paella is commonly made with a variety of seafood or game, but for this version we are making roasted seasonal vegetables the stars, creating a rich and flavorful dish. The recipe below is simple enough to make on a weeknight, but would also make a special main dish at your next dinner party. 

The trick to easy home paella is to boost your boxed vegetable stock with your vegetable peels and stems (aka the “scraps”). Simmering the usually discarded ends of carrot, zucchini, and onion skins in the stock actually produces a more flavorful base to cook the rice in. Any short to medium grain rice will do, but if it’s available at your grocery store, try a Spanish rice grain like Calasparra. The best vegetable selection are those that are in season and ripe with flavor, as they will create the tastiest paella. Try to include our umami vegetables—highly savory flavored vegetables—such as eggplant, mushrooms, okra, or cauliflower. And don’t skimp on the garlic! In this recipe we roast a whole head of garlic and top the dish with caramelized cloves.

A large shallow cast iron pan helps to achieve the famous crispy rice bottom. This recipe starts on the stove top and ends in a 500 degree oven to recreate the effect of an open flame. Whatever pan you have available, be sure it is wide, shallow, and able to transfer from stove to oven.

Serve with a simple side salad or good olives. A vinegar based hot sauce makes a great additional topping as well. 

Que aproveche!

INGREDIENTS: 

4 cups low sodium vegetable stock 

1 zucchini, sliced into disks, top and tail scraps reserved

1 red bell pepper, sliced lengthwise into strips

1 head garlic, slice ¼ inch off top to expose tops of garlic cloves, papery skin and end scraps reserved

½  bunch asparagus, bottoms trimmed and tip scraps reserved 

1 small eggplant, ends removed and sliced into disks 

Pinch of saffron

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium onion, minced

1 tablespoon tomato paste

2 cups short- or medium-grain rice (Spanish rice such as Calasparra preferred) 

1 cup of chickpeas, canned and rinsed 

Salt and fresh black pepper to taste

1 tablespoon parsley for garnish

INSTRUCTIONS:

Begin by slicing your vegetables and reserving scraps such as onion ends, garlic tops, zucchini ends, and asparagus tips. Add the vegetable stock to a pot and simmer, along with all the vegetable scraps, for 20 minutes. Then strain, add a pinch of saffron, and reserve.  

Wrap the garlic head in tin foil and roast along with the vegetables. 

Add sliced vegetables to a baking sheet; toss in olive oil, salt, and pepper; and roast at 400 for  

30 minutes. Flipping once, as needed, until vegetables are golden. Remove from the oven and set aside. 

Increase the heat of the oven to 500 (or as close as your oven will get). And move the rack to the top of the oven. Keep tinfoil garlic bulb in the oven. 

In the wide cast iron pan, add two tablespoons of olive oil and minced onion, and cook until translucent—for about 5 minutes. Next, add tomato paste and stir to combine. Then add the dry rice and toss evenly with onions and tomato, toasting until rice becomes translucent (for about one to three minutes). Then add the reserved vegetable stock, chickpeas, and salt and pepper. Stir to combine. Carefully transfer the pan into the hot 500 degree oven. 

Let it cook at 500 for approximately 20 minutes, or until the liquid is gone from the top of the rice. Carefully remove the hot pan and the roasted garlic bulb from the oven and set on the stove top to cool. Open the tinfoil and allow the garlic to cool down before removing the garlic cloves from papers. Layer the rice evenly with roast vegetables and roasted garlic cloves. Garnish with parsley and serve immediately. 

Makes 6 servings.

NUTRITION FACTS (PER SERVING): 

Calories 270

Protein 7 g

Total fat 10 g

Saturated fat 1 g

Cholesterol 0 mg

Carbs 40 g

Fiber 7 g

Total sugars 8 g

Added sugars 1 g

Sodium 600 mg

The post Healthy Recipe: Easy Home Roasted Veggie Paella  appeared first on Fitbit Blog.

The latest exercise craze promises to make you stronger, more flexible and agile, and prevent injury—all without pushing your body to its limits. If that sounds too good to be true, welcome to mobility training, a kinder, gentler workout that’s taking the fitness world by storm. 

Mobility-focused workouts are so trendy that #mobilityTikTok has racked up more than 38 million TikTok views. But don’t let the hashtag fool you. “Mobility training has been around for decades,” says Araceli DeLeon, MS, ACE CPT, an ACE-certified health coach, personal trainer, and yoga instructor. “I would not and do not consider it a fad.” It’s so beneficial, she says, that it should be part of everyone’s exercise routine.

So, what, exactly, is mobility training, and what can it do for you? Here’s everything you need to know, plus a quick workout to help you get started. 

What is mobility training?

Mobility training aims to help your body move more freely and easily. In a world where most of us sit glued to our computers all day, who couldn’t benefit from that? On the surface, it’s easy to assume that mobility training is the same as stretching, but mobility and flexibility are not the same things. “Flexibility is the ability of a muscle—or muscle group—to stretch or lengthen,” explains DeLeon. “Mobility is a person’s range of motion, mainly in the joints.”  

“While flexibility is important, mobility helps strengthen the joint and the surrounding muscles, allowing the joint to move properly and effectively,” she adds. At the same time, because flexible muscles take the strain off your joints, flexibility is a key component of mobility.

It’s easy to see how moving more fluidly can prevent pain and injury. But how does mobility build strength? Think about how challenging squats can be when your hips are tight. On the other hand, when your hips are nice and loose, you can really sink down and work those glutes!

Getting started with mobility training

Even if you’ve never heard of mobility training before, you may already be doing some mobility work without knowing it. For example, yoga moves like cat-cow and child’s pose are excellent for increasing range of motion. Ditto for planks, lunges, and bridges. If you’re already doing these, great! But don’t stop there. 

These three mobility exercises can loosen things up even more:

Kneeling hip flexor stretch. Begin in a kneeling position. Keeping your left knee on the floor directly under your left hip, move your right foot forward in front of the right hip into a mini lunge so that your right knee is bent at a right angle directly over your ankle. With both hands on your right thigh, tighten your abs and lean forward toward your right hip while squeezing and contracting your left glutes. Hold for 30 to 45 seconds. Repeat two to 5 times and switch to the opposite side.

90 lat stretch. Stand roughly arm’s length in front of a table or desk. Contract your abs and bend your knees slightly. Slowly bend forward at the hips and place your hands on the table while keeping your arms straight. Lean back into your hips. While continuing to touch the table, straighten your legs and draw your torso down toward the ground. Keep your back flat and your chin tucked to prevent your head from tilting towards the floor. Hold for 15 to 30 seconds. Repeat two to four times.

Leg crossover stretch. Lie on your back on the floor with your knees bent and your arms stretched outward with palms facing upwards. Slightly lift your right leg and bend your right knee so it faces outward. Then rest your right ankle on your left knee to form a triangle. Slowly press your right knee away from you without moving your ankle. Hold for 15 to 30 seconds. Repeat two to four times before taking it to the other side. 

As much as trainers love mobility training, it’s not enough of a workout to meet all your fitness needs. Instead, think of it as the icing on your fitness cake. Ideally, DeLeon recommends incorporating mobility maneuvers into your workouts at least two to three times weekly for 15 to 30 minutes. However, she’s also a big fan of longer 30-to-60-minute sessions on rest days. Either way, you’ll be moving more smoothly in no time!

The post The Multiple Benefits of Mobility Training appeared first on Fitbit Blog.

RECIPE BY LEANDRA ROUSE | PHOTOGRAPHY BY SAM EMMONS 

There is a world of  difference between homemade and canned tomato sauce—from flavor to nutrition and price. You do not need to be a canning expert to make a versatile tomato sauce. 

Today we share one of our favorite preserved vegetables: sun-ripened tomato sauce. The beginning of fall is the perfect time to purchase very ripe (and nutritious and very tasty) tomatoes at a discounted price. These extra juicy fruits make the best sauce and are a staple in home-cooked healthy eating. This end-of-season tomato sauce will bring tangy tomato flavor and nutrition into your cooking throughout the year.

Visit your local farmers market and ask about purchasing a flat of overly ripe tomatoes. These are often available at a discounted price and the ripe flavor is perfect for turning into a flavorful and nutritious tomato base. This recipe is for a simple and versatile sauce. So whether you are making your favorite tomato based pasta, curry, or soup, this is a base you can take in many directions. 

To make a smooth sauce (without all the work of peeling tomatoes), a food mill is a fantastic tool to invest in to create consistency. However, a strong blender can get you close.  

To store the tomato sauce, use either glass mason jars, deli containers, ziplock freezer bags, vacuum sealer bags. Other more sustainable and convenient options include silicon soupers. Remember to only fill the container only 3/4 of the way to the top to leave room for liquid expansion. A great tip for maximizing valuable freezer space is freezing in bags in a flat position and then once solid, storing upright. Additionally, freezing a batch in ice cube trays means you will have tomato concentrate on hand to boost any recipe. Choose the storage method that best fits your kitchen capacity and family’s needs. 

INGREDIENTS: 

2 tablespoons of olive oil

1 large white onion

5 garlic cloves

2 red bell peppers, cored and seeds discarded 

15 cups super-ripe tomatoes, cored and chopped (approximately 10 lbs)

2 bay leaves 

INSTRUCTIONS: 

To begin, heat the olive oil in a large pan over medium heat, be careful not to let the oil smoke. Dice the onion into X inch pieces. Add the onion into the pan, cooking for 2 to 3 minutes. Finely chop the garlic and put aside. Cube the bell peppers into X. Add the garlic and bell peppers to the onion in the pan. Cook all of the ingredients together for about 5 to 8 minutes, or until soft. 

Chop the tomatoes into quarters and add to the pan. Stir all ingredients well and reduce the heat to a  simmer or about one hour, partially covered and stirring occasionally. The total volume should have reduced by X. If the sauce looks too dry, water can be added ½ cup at a time. 

Turn off the sauce and let it cool to room temperature. The sauce is now ready to use in your favorite recipe, like pasta, topping a pizza or in a stew or casserole. If freezing, transfer the sauce to your choice of container and freeze. 

If frozen, when ready to use remove the frozen sauce from the freezer and let sit at room temperature for approximately 1 to 3 hours or microwave on the defrost function. Heat on the stove and use as a base in your favorite tomato recipe. 

Makes 8 pints or 40 servings. ½ cup serving size per person.

NUTRITION FACTS (PER SERVING): 

Calories 10

Protein 0g 

Total fat 0.5 g

Saturated fat 0 g

Cholesterol 0 mg

Carbs 1 g

Fiber 0 g

Total sugars 0 g

Added sugars 0 g

Sodium 0 g

The post Healthy Recipe: End of Season Sun-Ripened Tomato Preserve appeared first on Fitbit Blog.

Today Google is officially unveiling their first full-featured premium smartwatch: Google Pixel Watch, created to combine the smarts and helpfulness you know and love from Google with Fitbit’s health and fitness expertise, all in one elegant design. 

Keep reading to find out more about this exciting new smartwatch.

Get Google smarts in addition to your health and fitness favorites from Fitbit 

Google Pixel Watch includes the best of Fitbit’s leading health and fitness features, including its most accurate heart rate tracking yet. The Fitbit experience has been redesigned on Google Pixel Watch, with 40 exercise modes available on-wrist to track your favorite workouts and all-day activities including steps, distance, and Active Zone Minutes. 

Detect signs of atrial fibrillation (AFib) with an ECG app, get a better night’s rest with Sleep Score and Sleep Stages, and get insights into key metrics like your breathing rate, heart rate variability, and more—all on the Health Metrics Dashboard in the Fitbit app. With Premium, you get deeper insights and access to features like Daily Readiness Score so you know when to go all-out in your workout or prioritize rest. Read more about what’s possible with Fitbit Premium and Daily Readiness Score. 

Now for the Google smarts: Google Pixel Watch is powered with Wear OS by Google (Wear OS 3.5), so that it can deliver the information you need at a glance and provide Google help whenever and wherever you need it. 

Get turn-by-turn directions with Google Maps, make contactless payments in stores and at transit with Google Wallet, and even use your voice to do quick actions like sending messages, controlling your music, and starting your run with Google Assistant. 

Enjoy access to: 

over 100 million songs with YouTube Music Premiumeven more apps with Google Play Store right on your wrist, like Adidas Running, Calm, Spotify, MyFitnessPal, and Strava.

Pre-order your Google Pixel Watch today

Google Pixel Watch is available for $349 for Bluetooth/Wi-Fi, and $399 for 4G LTE, including six months of Fitbit Premium and three months of YouTube Music Premium trial for free (available in applicable markets). 

Switch up your style with 20 available band choices. You can choose from a wide assortment of classic or modern bands in woven, stretch, active, and leather styles, with metal coming next spring.* Accessory bands range from $49-$199. 

Pre-order your Google Pixel Watch at the Google Store, Fitbit.com, select global retailers, and your favorite carriers now, with availability starting October 13. 

Discover additional features, details, and more on the Google Keyword blog. 

*Options may vary by region and retailer. Accessory bands sold separately.

The post Introducing Google Pixel Watch: The Best of Google and Fitbit appeared first on Fitbit Blog.

Most people have difficulty waking up after they go to bed late or if they’ve had a night of interrupted sleep. But why is it hard to wake up in the morning even after you’ve had your eight hours of deep slumber?

Sleep inertia may cause that can’t-wake-up feeling. Inertia, or resistance to movement, is what scientist Isaac Newton established as his first law of motion: that a body at rest tends to remain at rest. Like general inertia, sleep inertia makes it hard to go from that state of rest. In other words, waking up after a long nap or a full night of sleep is tough.  Once you do wake up, you may feel groggy for minutes to hours later. 

Anyone can experience sleep inertia. Some common signs are:

GrogginessA desire to go back to sleepImpaired cognitive abilityImpaired visual attentionImpaired spatial memory

Some people have a more severe form of sleep inertia, called “sleep drunkenness.” With this type of sleep, inertia, confusion, slowness, and lack of coordination can last up to four hours. 

While sleep inertia isn’t a sleep disorder, sleep apnea and other conditions can make sleep inertia symptoms more severe. Likewise, sleep inertia can make the symptoms of other sleep disorders worse.

There are multiple theories on the causes of sleep inertia

Scientists aren’t sure exactly what causes that tired feeling from sleep inertia. But they have some ideas.

High adenosine levels. Adenosine is a chemical in the brain that rises and falls during the day to help people feel sleepy and wake up. If the level of adenosine is too high in the morning, it encourages sleep.

Interruption of the REM sleep cycle. People go through multiple sleep cycles at night. They may feel groggy and disoriented if interrupted during a deep sleep period.

Increased levels of delta waves in the brain. People with sleep inertia have higher levels of delta waves, which are linked to deep sleep.

Reduced blood flow to the brain. During sleep, this can affect cognition.

The prefrontal cortex. The decision-making parts of the brain, such as the prefrontal cortex, may reactivate or wake up more slowly than the rest of the body.

Your chronotype can be a factor. Your chronotype, which is your circadian preference for sleeping and waking (i.e., early riser versus night owl), can be a factor, as research suggests that night owls need more time to recover from sleep inertia than early risers.

When sleep inertia is a problem

Sleep inertia is primarily an inconvenience for some people as they fight the desire to roll over for a few more Zzz’s.. But for others, sleep inertia can be dangerous. The diminished awareness can make people more susceptible to accidents. 

This trouble concentrating is especially concerning for people who work late-night and third shifts, like factory workers or transportation drivers. It’s additionally troubling for people who work in jobs that typically involve interrupted sleep cycles but need to make urgent decisions soon after waking, like medical professionals and emergency responders.

Tackling sleep inertia

So what can people do to feel wide awake when they get up in the morning?

Get enough sleep. This often starts with setting a schedule to go to bed and get up at the same time every day. Sleep inertia can be worse when you’re sleep-deprived. Even if you slept eight hours last night, you might have a sleep deficit from previous days of missed rest.

Take a power nap during the day. But keep it short: 20 to 30 minutes, so you don’t fall into a long, deep sleep. 

Drink caffeine to wake up in the morning and before a nap to help wake up after. Caffeine helps block the brain’s adenosine receptors, keeping you more alert.

Make your room is comfortable for sleeping. Keep it cool and dark, and power down devices with distracting bright lights.

Use Fitbit’s advanced sleep tools.  Wear your Fitbit while you sleep and let it work its magic. First, set a sleep goal, in addition to a consistent bedtime and wake-up targets. Then wear your Fitbit watch or tracker to record how long you sleep. You can analyze your patterns and adjust accordingly, all within the Fitbit app.

You can also tap into your Sleep Score and the new Sleep Profile with Fitbit Premium to better understand your sleep habits. Learn more about how Fitbit can help you get a better night’s rest here. 

Exercise. Yoga or simple stretches increase the blood flow throughout the body, which helps you wake up.

Eat an energy-rich breakfast. Eating a breakfast with proteins and complex carbohydrates will be satisfying and help sustain energy throughout the morning.

Build in time to wake up from sleep inertia. Start your day slowly and recognize that even though you are awake, your brain may not be ready to do taxing work or make big decisions until later in the day.

Change your alarm to one that is more melodic. Researchers found that waking up suddenly to a beeping alarm can increase sleep inertia, interrupting the sleep cycle and creating stress. Instead, an alarm with a melodic tone or a favorite upbeat song makes a better transition from sleep to wakefulness. 

If you sleep with your Fitbit device on, set a silent alarm to have your tracker or watch wake you up peacefully with a quiet vibration on your wrist. And with Smart Wake, you can set your Fitbit alarm to wake you during a lighter sleep stage so that you can wake up feeling more refreshed. 

It may be impossible to avoid sleep inertia, but you also don’t have to accept it passively. If you don’t have time to snuggle under the covers and sleep in, understanding what causes sleep inertia and having tips to counter it will give you the energy to wake up fully so you can start your day successfully.

The post Can’t Wake Up in the Morning? It’s Not You—It’s Sleep Inertia appeared first on Fitbit Blog.

Remember when your mom told you to go play outside? Turns out, she was onto something. Spending time outdoors can do great things for your body—and your mind. It’s so powerful that some doctors are even writing nature prescriptions for their patients. “I prescribe nature time to my patients because there’s a huge body of research supporting the idea that getting outside is one of the best things we can do for our health,” says Melissa Lem, MD, director of Park Prescriptions, an initiative of the BC Parks Foundation in West Vancouver, British Columbia.

Whether you live in a leafy, green suburb or a big city, here’s how the great outdoors can make you calmer, happier, and more focused.

Your brain on nature

“Decades of research have shown that interaction with nature and feeling connected to nature are associated with reductions in stress and depression, improvements in cognition and our ability to focus, and lower heart rate and blood pressure,” says Brandy-Joe Milliron, PhD, an associate professor of nutrition sciences at Drexel University. 

How much outdoor time do you need? “Studies show that people who spend at least 2 hours per week in nature report significantly better health and wellbeing than those who don’t,” says Lem. “And the most efficient drop in cortisol, the primary stress hormone, happens between the 20- to 30- minute mark.”

Take it outside

Between mounting economic woes and a pandemic that just won’t quit, we need outdoor time now more than ever. It’s so effective that a new University of Colorado study found that people who spent time in green spaces during the first year of the COVID pandemic were significantly less likely to experience stress and depression than those who didn’t. 

But even if you don’t feel anxious or blue, you can still benefit from nature’s mood-boosting powers. Research reveals that people who feel attuned to nature tend to be all around happier. And they also report a more profound sense of wellbeing and self-growth.

Bonding with Mother nature may even help you make healthier choices. In a recent study of 317 city-dwellers, Milliron and her team found that people who scored high on nature-connectedness tests ate more healthy foods, especially fruits and vegetables. While she isn’t sure exactly why nature lovers have better diets, she has some suspicions. “I think there’s something special about how spending time in nature ignites our curiosity,” she says. “And I wonder whether that curiosity carries over into the foods we choose to eat and the ways we nourish our bodies.”

5 easy ways to connect with nature

Whether you only have a few minutes or an entire afternoon, these activities can help you tap into nature’s healing powers.

Go fishing, surfing, or laze on the beach. Grass and trees are good. But areas with bodies of water, known as blue spaces, can also do good things for your psyche. In addition to less stress and a sunnier mood, spending time by the water has also been linked to better relationships, more self-confidence, and stronger resilience.

Chill out by a fountain. Can’t get to the beach? Try soaking in the soothing sounds of water. Simply listening to the sounds of nature for 15 minutes has been shown to ease muscle tension, slow pulse rate, and reduce stress.

Take a walk in the woods (or a tree-filled park). You’ll emerge more calm, clear-headed, and energized. Plus, you’ll get a health boost from breathing in immune-strengthening compounds released by trees and plants, called phytoncides, says Lem.

Plant a garden. Growing and caring for plants indoors or outdoors is a simple way to get up close and personal with nature, says Milliron. No green thumb necessary.  “If you don’t have experience growing plants, there are wonderful resources online and in print that can help guide new plant enthusiasts,” she says.

Gaze out the window. Can’t get outside? Just looking at nature through a window or via picture can help. Images of the outdoors are so helpful that one study found that when students looked at photos of a verdant park after performing a set of math problems, their body’s fight or flight response diminished.

In the end, “you don’t have to be on the side of a mountain or in the middle of the back woods to find nature, you can find it in all kinds of places,” says Lem. “If you feel like you’ve had a meaningful nature experience, that’s when you’ll notice the health benefits.”  

The post The Emotional Upside of Getting Outdoors appeared first on Fitbit Blog.