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Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Study Spotlight: Molecule Made by Muscle Shown for First Time to Build Bone

We have heard for as long as anyone can remember how important it is to exercise and all the benefits that comes from it.  Better heart, better lung, reduced disease risk, strong muscles and the list goes on and on.  Science is doing everything it can to tell you why it is important and there has been another step taken with some of the latest research on how working muscle has a direct effect on your bones.  It has long been somewhat of a puzzle how these two tissues communicate and interact but this study takes a step to explain it.  

What They Did:
Using young male mice because researchers could see bone accrual at this age, they injected them with irisin.  Irisin is a myokine that is derived from skeletal muscle and can also play a role in the regulation of body fat.

What They Found:

Researchers found that in the injected mice there were significant increases in bone mass and strength.  This was seen particularly in cortical bone (the outer shell and most dense).  This type of bone is the outer structure of your skeleton and makes up 80% of your skeletal weight.  Researchers did not find an effect on trabecular, or spongy bone, in this study.


What It All Means:
As we mentioned above we all have been told the importance of exercise for many reasons but now there has been a direct link established that tells us exactly why it is so important, especially for bone growth.  The results of this study are far reaching in that new therapies and treatments can be created to prevent not only bone loss but as sarcopenia (muscle wasting).  This is huge for not only athletic type injuries involving the bones but also for everyone aging and losing bone and muscle mass. 

Keep exercising and stressing your body and bones (within reason) to keep stimulating change within the bone and strengthening everything.


Original Article



Monday, October 26, 2015

5.5 Things That Destroy Your Pursuit of Health

This post was adapted from a couple different things.  The first one is an article called "8 Things that Destroy College Athletes".  The article describes how that if you are trying to something more than the average person you can't behave like the average person.  It touches on some of the topics that commonly put people behind their potential.  It is well worth the read.

Here we created a very similar type article but focused it more on someone who generally wants to build their health, wellness, fitness or anything else.  We think everyone has the power to do it on their own but sometimes just need a place to start and this can be one of those places.  

The Destroyers

1.  Changing Your Eating Habits Drastically

We specifically didn't say "diet" here as it can be considered a four letter word.  We have talked about in previous posts how going on a strict adherence diet is a recipe for disaster.  The bounce back effect of not being able to maintain your diet and regaining weight and then some is well documented and it can be extremely hard on you and your body.    What you want to focus on is making changes that you can maintain and doing them one at a time.  Change breakfast to something healthier, cut out pop/soda, or limit pizza to one night a week.  The more you can bring these changes in slowly the better your adherence will be.


2. Waiting for the "Perfect" Workout
There is a workout for absolutely everything these days and you can find them all on the internet.  While we believe that everyone should have a workout that is personalized for them you can absolutely lose yourself trying to find that on your own.  Best bet is to find one you like, give it 3 weeks and see what the results are.  If you push yourself hard enough with about any workout you should be able to get great results whether is it specifically meant for you or not.

3. Giving Into Gimmicks
"Insanity", "8 minute abs", Zumba.....all these things can be great but in small doses.  Let your BS meter be your guide.  If it promises the world to you and results in a week or two it is almost always too good to be true.  Same thing with nutrition.  Nothing out there to date can replace the nutrition benefit of whole food.  There isn't a supplement that can give you all that nutrition and yet make you feel full and give your body exactly what it needs to run so don't fall for it.  Supplementation is just that supplemental to your diet.  Get your base nutrition from what you eat and then possibly enhance it with supplements.



4. Too Much Social
This one hurts us to but if you want to get the results it does take some sacrifice.  Those beers on the
weekend add up, especially if you are just trying to get started.  Sacrifice the night out for the good nights sleep and the morning workout.  It will pay dividends in your energy, mood and level of excitement for the day.  It's hard to go out and keep it within a diet as bar food rarely qualifies.  What is really most important to you?

5. Forgetting How Much Hard Work Plays Into It
Bottom line is it takes dedication to make this all happen.  Lack of knowledge and experience can often be made up for by hard work.  "It takes no talent to put forth great effort."-GW.  The perfectly crafted nutrition and workout plan may be great but if you put nothing behind it and just go through the motions you are leaving money off the table.  Don't sell yourself short in something that you have so much control over.

5.5. Thinking you can be like "everyone else" when you're trying to get it done.
This one is just the final reminder: if you want to get your health, wellness and fitness to the next level you can't be just another person, you have to have that little something extra.  Go get it.


Disclaimer:
The .5 number comes from an idea by Jeffory Gitomer, a sales coach.  He does it in all his books because he believes in that little something extra.  He is well worth the read.

Sunday, October 25, 2015

Mobility Monday: My Knee Hurts

This video dives into a lot of bottom position talk with both snatch and squat and for good reason.  If you are working to get that deep into a knee flexion (which you should) these mobility exercises will be extremely beneficial to you.


These same gneral principles work extremely well for the everyday person.  If you have trouble getting in and out of chairs or you are getting aches and pains in everyday life these same exercises will benefit you.  The knee in general a very simple moving joint but there is a lot of very powerful musculature working around it and you have to get those areas loosened up to get it working properly.  Check them all out below.



Things You Can Fix:
-Generalized knee pain
-Chondromalacia Patella
-Help with patella-femoral pain
-Arthritic Knees



Friday, October 23, 2015

Food Friday: Open Pan Chicken Chili

Open Pan Chicken Chili
Ingredients (serves 4)
  • 2 teaspoons olive oil
  • 3/4 pounds boneless, skinless chicken cut into cubes
  • 1 small sweet onion, thinly sliced
  • 1/2 pound small red potatoes cut into quarters, about 8 potatoes
  • Coarse saltDescription: http://a19.g.akamai.net/7/19/7125/1450/Ocellus.coupons.com/_images/showlist_icon.gif
  • Cracked pepper
  • 1 cup shredded carrots
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • 2 teaspoons sweet paprika
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1 (15 ounce) can whole plum tomatoes
  • 3/4 cups long grain riceDescription: http://a19.g.akamai.net/7/19/7125/1450/Ocellus.coupons.com/_images/showlist_icon.gif
  • 1 1/2 cups low sodium, fat free chicken broth
  • 1 cup frozen peas
Feel free to add guacamole or black beans as toppers.
Directions

  • Heat the oil in a non-stick paella pan, wok pan or 12-inch skillet. Add the chicken, and cook until golden brown on all sides, about 3 to 5 minutes. 
  • Remove from pan and set aside. Add the onions and potatoes and cook, stirring often, until onions have softened and are lightly golden, about 10 to 12 minutes. 
  • Season with salt and pepper.
  • Add carrots, garlic, paprika, cumin, oregano, tomatoes, rice, broth and the cooked chicken. If it appears too dry, add more liquid. 
  • Bring to a boil and immediately reduce to a simmer. 
  • Cook, covered, for 20 minutes. Remove cover, add the peas to the top without stirring in. Cover and cook 5 minutes more or until rice is cooked through and soft.



Nutritional Analysis (per serving):
Calories - 370.1  
Fat - 6.8 g  
Saturated Fat - 1.6 g 
Carbohydrates - 47.8 g  
Fiber - 7.5 g  
Protein - 28.4 g

Tuesday, October 20, 2015

Blood Flow Restriction Training. Wait, What do you Mean? How Does it Work?

Blood flow restriction, also referred to as occlusion, training is becoming a popular strategy among both gym rats and injured populations alike. So what is this form of training and why can multiple threads of people benefit from it? Just as the name implies, blood flow restriction training is a method of strength training during which you partially occlude venous blood flow of a targeted muscle or muscle group during a specific movement or exercise. 
For example, if you were to do a bicep curl and incorporate occlusion training into the program, you would wrap a tourniquet or strap around your upper arm while you perform your set of bicep curls.  You may be wondering, how the hell does that improve performance, don't we need blood flow to our muscles during training?

How it works:
During occlusion training, you aren't completely eliminating blood flow to the tissues/muscles during the movement. You are reducing venous blood flow which results in a "pooling" effect within the muscle as the venous blood has no where to go. For those who strive for the "muscle pump" during  high volume training, you can imagine how magnified this effect would be during occlusion training as you continually pump blood to the muscles yet occluded it from returning to the heart (temporarily). 

Keep in mind you are not occluding arterial blood flow so blood is still entering the muscle.

What does this do?
By occluding venous blood flow you are increasing the metabolic stress imposed on the muscle and increasing cell swelling within the muscle. These are two factors that help stimulate the muscle growth responses. You may be asking yourself: "Doesn't this occur naturally?" The answer is yes, cell swelling and metabolic stress are natural results of strength straining, however not to this degree. In addition, you can benefit from occlusion training while using half the load/weight you may normally use for a certain exercise.  For example, if you normally do bicep curls with 40 lb. dumbbells to increase muscular development of the biceps, you could see the same growth stimulus using 20 lb. dumbbells if using occlusion training. This can help reduce the mechanical stress and load to the joints or tissues as you are using a much lighter weight yet still getting the anabolic stimulus needed for muscle growth.

Why Can Injured People Benefit?
Even though you may be injured or have mobility limitations and unable to fully participate in strength training exercises, occlusion training may still help you.  For example, let's say you sprained your ankle and cannot put pressure on it.  Even when a muscle group is immobilized, occlusion training has been shown to stimulate muscle growth.  As you rehab, you may be able to do some walking and/or light body weight exercises.

Again, by incorporating occlusion training into your regimen you will be able to get an anabolic response even though you aren't doing heavy sets of squats or lunges etc. Obviously this won't be as effective as a full-blown lower body hypertrophy training program but it will help mitigate muscle loss during a period of disuse.

How to Implement it?
Occlusion training appears to work best when used with single-joint isolation exercises such as knee extensions, bicep curls, triceps pushdowns etc. This strategy can be incorporated into more complex multi-joint movements but concerns with being able to execute the lift properly may be an issue.  Try adding it on 1 or 2 days a week towards the end of your workout and drop the load down to ~30-50% 1RM but increase rep ranges to 12-20 for the lift.  Get ready for an insane muscle pump!

Monday, October 19, 2015

Mobility Monday: Plantar Fasciitis: A really big pain in the.....foot.


Plantar fasciitis can be one of the most frustrating and debilitating injuries for any runner or anyone that spends a lot of time on their feet.  It is a long running injury that doesn't always go away quickly and when you think it does it can come back with vengeance.


In this video Kelly Starrett gives you his breakdown of the anatomy and kinesiology of plantar fasciitis as well as plenty of ideas on how to fix it.  The great thing about this video is that it isn't just working on the plantar fascia but also on the surrounding tissues that can help relieve stress on the plantar surface and help the injury heal.

Things It Can Fix:
-Plantar fasciitis (the obvious one)
-Medial Tibial Stress Syndrome ('Shin splints'-Secondary)
-Achilles problems (secondary)
-Great toe problems (secondary)


Thursday, October 15, 2015

Friday Food: Cajun Chipotle Shrimp Pasta

Cook Time: 15 Minutes
Serves: 8
Calories: 620
Protein: 25g

Ingredients:
-1 lb shrimip
-4 all beef hot links
-1 cup chipotle sauce
-1 tsp black pepper
-1/2 cup grated Parmesan
-1 tbsp diced scallions
-1/3 cup canola oil
-3/4 oz Dijon mustard
-3/4 oz chili flakes
-2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
-2 cups milk
-1/2 tsp salt
-1lb Penne past
-1 tbsp diced Roma tomatoes
-1 1/2 cups barbeque sauce
-1/3 cup lemon juice
-2 Chipotle peppers in Adobo sauce

Preparation:
  1. In a blender, combine 1 1/2 cups of barbeque sauce, 1/3 cup of canola oil, 1/3 cup of lemon juice, 3/4 ounce of Dijon mustard, 2 chipotle peppers in Adobo sauce, 3/4 ounce of red chili flakes, 1/3 teaspoon of cayenne pepper, and 1/3 teaspoon of black pepper. Puree, cover, and refrigerate.
  2. Cook 1 pound of pasta as directed on pasta.
  3. In a saute pan, heat 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil on high. Slice 4 all-beef hot links on the biased, and saute in the pan.
  4. Add 1 pound of shrimp, and cook until pink.
  5. Lower the heat to medium, and add 2 cups of milk, 3/4 of the refrigerated Chipotle sauce, salt, and pepper.
  6. Add 1 pound of cooked pasta and 1/2 cup of grated Parmesan cheese.
  7. Serve garnished with 1 tablespoon of diced tomatoes and 1 tablespoon of diced scallions.

http://www.coreperformance.com/knowledge/recipes/cajun-chipotle-shrimp-pasta-recipe.html

Exos

Wednesday, October 14, 2015

Study Spotlight: Study Reveals Connection Between Fitness Level, Brain Activity, and Executive Function


We have been told forever how important exercise is to your body and your health.  It helps us maintain our weight and decreases our risk of disease.  We may have also experienced the effect it can have on your mind.  The workout or runners "high" you feel or the moments of clarity after working out are fantastic but are they backed up by science?  This study takes a look at how much better your brain can work on exercise.


What They Did:
Researchers in this study looked at 128 patients ages of 59-80.  With the use of fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) scans they looked at how certain parts of the brain responded when performing two simultaneous tasks compared to a single task.  What they were looking for is what type of response the brain elicited and its correlated with cardio respiratory fitness in that individual.

What They Found:
Researchers found that the higher someones cardio respiratory fitness was they more brain activity on the fMRI.  This also showed up in how well they performed the simultaneous tasks.

What It All Means:
This study spotlight comes at a very interesting time as I've been checking out the book "Spark" by John Ratey, MD.  He has dedicated an entire book to outlining the effects of exercise on how the body and the brain works.  The research is out there on how well cardiorespiratory can benefit your brain and help not only function better on a day to day basis but also help with certain conditions (i.e. ADHD) and also slowing down chronic disease.  Exercise is extremely powerful not only in the ability to keep your body functioning but also to help your brain in both function and optimization.  Make sure you're out and doing something.

Wong CN, Chaddock-Heyman L, Voss MW, Burzynska AZ, Basak C, Erickson KI, Prakash RS, Szabo-Reed AN, Phillips SM, Wojcicki T, Mailey EL, McAuley E and Kramer AF (2015) Brain activation during dual-task processing is associated with cardiorespiratory fitness and performance in older adults. Front. Aging Neurosci. 7:154

Tuesday, October 13, 2015

Can Running Damage Your Heart?

As I'm sure a lot of you know by now, neither one of us are the biggest fans of running. Up until now, the biggest reason was mainly because we weren't good at it preferred other forms of training. However, some recent research has surfaced that has given us one more reason to not like running (disclaimer, running is a perfectly suitable form of exercise and training we are just jealous of elite runners).  A recent article published by a research cardiologist examined life-long runners and their risk of dying from heart related issues.  What he found was actually rather startling....



I'm sure most of you (myself included) have always believed that regular exercise is good for you and will increase your lifespan.  On the flip side, if you sit around all day doing nothing, you probably have a higher risk of developing diseases, particularly cardiovascular disease, and therefore may not live as long.  A recent article titled: "Run for your life...at a comfortable speed and not too far" found some rather contradictory evidence that this may not be always be the case.  Everyone has probably heard of random stories where individuals may have collapsed and died during/following athletic events or bouts of exercise EVEN THOUGH they were thought to have been in excellent shape.  A lot of these cases are believed to have been caused by underlying genetic conditions (i.e. hypertrophic cardiomyopathy), which is the leading causes of cardiac death in athletes.  However, there may be more to the story.

In the previously mentioned article, it stated:

"High-intensity exercise sessions lasting beyond 1–2 h cause acute volume overload of the atria and right ventricle (RV), which can bring about overstretching and micro-tears in the myocardium, as evidenced by a transient rise in cardiac biomarkers." 

Basically this is saying long-term intense exercise (aerobic) can actually cause damage your heart. This kind of goes against everything we have been believing for years, right?  The authors did explain that the acute damages seen following the intense exercise does revert itself and things can go back to normal within a few days.  However, they also explained that if high-intensity or high-volumes of exercise are sustained for multiple hours a day for multiple days/months/years (i.e. marathon runners) the damage can add up and actually speed up the "aging" process of the heart!  In the graph below, it shows an individual's risk of dying, dependent on how many miles a week they run  The red bar on the far left represents a sedentary individual who has the highest risk of dying.

On the other end of the spectrum, there are 2 red bars representing people who run 20-25 miles and more than 25 miles a week and they also have a relatively high risk of dying....wait, what? A sedentary person has the same risk of dying due to disease as a life-long marathon runner who is in excellent shape!?

So what's the deal? Is endurance exercise really bad for me? The answer is no. Exercise is probably the single most effective way to extend your life.  However, as with everything, it's all about moderation!  The figure below shows an individual's % reduction in all-cause mortality on the y-axis as a product of the hours spent exercising (x-axis).

Based on this figure it appears as though the longer you exercise, the less likely you are to die of a disease.  However, this increase seems to reach a plateau around 40-50 min for vigorous exercise and ~100 min for light-moderate exercise.  In other words, if you are exercising at a high-intensity you really won't receive additional benefits (in terms of increasing lifespan) if you exercise for more than an hour at that intensity. So, if you are running at high-intensities for extended periods of time, make sure you give your body (specifically your heart) some time to recover from the high amounts of strain placed on your cardiovascular system.  Your heart, as with any other muscle in your body, needs time to recover when high amounts of stress/strain are placed upon it during exercise.  You wouldn't go to a gym and do 500 squats everyday for 15 years would you? No, because your legs and back would hate you forever and you would probably begin to have major complications due to overtraining and the high amounts of stress placed on your legs.  As with strength training, too much volume or training at too high of an intensity for an extended period of time can have detrimental effects on the body.  The same goes for high-level endurance training as recovery is just as important as the training program itself!

Read the full article here

Sunday, October 11, 2015

Mobility Monday: Fix Hip Pain in 4 Minutes (really it's true)


Total Motion Release is quite the different idea in the are of sports medicine and as much as I try to understand it the less I feel I grasp it but then at the same time it really works.  We have posted a few of their videos before on how to fix certain areas of pain but I have personally seen the success when it comes to this one.  I have been able to use this one with some femoral acetabular impingement (FAI) problems as well as with an everyday hip flexor strain and the results have been nothing short of unreal in the ability to get pain levels down and function increased.


If you have hip problems and can't raise your leg up this one is worth the 4-5 minutes it takes to run through it.  The greatest thing about it is you can do it whenever you want and multiple times per day.  Give it a try.


Thursday, October 8, 2015

Friday Food: Buffalo Chicken Pizza

A couple great things mixed together in this recipe.  Buffalo chicken and pizza and of course we make it as healthy as possible.  Enjoy this one this weekend.

Cook Time: 15 minutes
Serves: 2
Calories: 360
Protein: 38g

Ingredients:
-1 Flatout Multigrain with Flax Flatbread
-1 Stalk Celery
-3 tbsp Lite Mayonnaise
-2 tbsp Crumbled Blue Cheese
-2 tbsp Mozzarella
-6 oz. Chicken
-8 Broccoli Florets
-1 oz Hot Sauce
-1/2 Carrot

Preparation:
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Shred 6 ounces of chicken.  Set aside.
3. Dice 1 stalk of celery, shred 1/2 carrot, and hop 8 broccoli florets.  Set aside.
4. In a small bowl, combine 3 tbsp of lite mayonnaise and 1 ounce of hot sauce.
5. Lay flatbread on a baking sheet covered with tinfoil and spayed with non-stick cooking spray.
6. Place in oven for 5 minutes.  Let flatbread cool and crisp.
7. Spread mayonnaise and hot sauce mixture evenly over the flatbread.
8. Top with shredded chicken, broccoli, celery, and carrots.
9. Sprinkle 2 tbsp of shredded mozzarella and 2 tbsp of crumbled blue cheese on top.
10. Place back in oven for 5 minutes to melt cheese.

Wednesday, October 7, 2015

Study Spotlight: Yoga May Improve the Symptoms of Arthritis

Arthritis is a condition that millions of Americans suffer from in many variations.  The most common arthritis types are osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.  These conditions can affect all the joints of the body and isn't always age dependent.  Loss of function and pain are usually the biggest complaints in people suffering from arthritis and it can be very hard to find activities that the pain will allow you to do. 


What They Did:
In this study they looked at using Yoga as an alternative form of exercise to help not only with the pain of arthritis but as also a way to get into more forms of exercise.  The study recruited 75 participants that led a sedentary lifestyle that were 18 years of age or older.  These participants were then assigned to the variable group that consisted of two 60 minute yoga sessions a week and one at home session a week.

What They Found:

The results were very good and in favor of utilizing yoga a movement practice to help with arthritis. Researchers found that practicing yoga three times per week led at a 20% increase in both physical and mental well being.  Along with this increase in well being the researchers found that it lasted and lasted up to 9 months after they started.


What Does It All Mean:
This study speaks volumes onto how beneficial Yoga can be.  Yoga is a fantastic movement practice that allows for increases both in flexibility and strength.  This study also shows how beneficial it can be for pain and well-being.  While the study focused on sedentary adults the results can be applied to anybody, especially that active person.  You may not have arthritis but a lot of active people have pain and soreness in joints and Yoga could be a solid option to help relieve it.


Yoga in sedentary adults with arthritis: Effects of a randomized controlled pragmatic trial, Susan J. Bartlett et al., Journal of Rheumatology, doi: 10.3899/jrheum.141129, published online April 1 201

Tuesday, October 6, 2015

Can Your Genes Actually Tell You What to Eat?


There was a book several years ago that got lots of peoples attention.  It was "Eat Right 4 Your Type."  This book was based on the idea that you should eat a certain diet based on your blood type and doing so would help you optimize your life and your performance.  This was a novel concept and one that many people jumped on board with but in the long run was pretty much dispelled by science and shown not to be entirely reliable.  Nonetheless that doesn't slow science down to find out a better way to choose what you eat and make sure it best for you.


Welcome "Nutrigenomics".  This is most likely (if not already) the next big wave in nutrition.  This new science actually takes your own personalized saliva sample and tests it for SNPs (single nucelotide polymorphisms).  What these do is look at different factors in your genetics that could influence how you eat your food.  It can tell you if your are more or less sensitive to vitamin-c or how well you absorb iron.  All of these things can influence how you diet and also how you might use supplements to help.  The real power of this is that along with blood tests you can figure out which foods work for you to help you better get your nutrition.  A great example is the way you get omega-3 fatty acids into your diet.  You may find out that you don't process almonds very well so you might switch to more avocados.


The benefits to this are endless.  Customized meal plans to optimize your health and performance is priceless as you can't get anymore specific than this.  No more wasting your time eating foods that don't do anything for you or taking supplements that in the long run really aren't helping you.  Get the exact foods you need and in the right amounts.


One of the emerging companies in this field is Nutrigenomix, Inc.  They will take a small saliva sample, analyze is and send it back to you in a few weeks along with a full report.  This report includes information on dietary components, genes, risk variants, your personal variants and recommendations for elevated risk.

This doesn't only mean better eating in get future but also genetic testing can lead us to personalized workout programs based on what your genes tell us as well as possible risk factors for injury.  Genetics has always been an amazing area of science that can tell you so much and now it is stepping into the athletic world and it could be a game changer.

Monday, October 5, 2015

Mobility Monday: Wrist Flexibility

Whether you're an athlete whose program requires them to do front squats, an Olympic lifter that needs to get full motion to get the weight above their head or to catch a clean or just someone one has to work at a compute and desk most of the day, wrist pain can be debilitating.  In this episode Kelly Starrett talks about improving your wrist movement and flexibility and get things moving better.


He also talks about the importance of working upstream from where your pain is.  Wrist pain can be caused starting at the wrist and working its way all the way up to the shoulder and neck. He touches on the importance of working the soft tissue in your forearm to clean up any tightness and get it to remove any pressure on the nerves.  From there you can also work all the way up the shoulder to ensure you have all the motion you need there to allow your wrist to be in a good position.


Things It Can Fix:
-General wrist pain/tightness
-Carpal tunnel syndrome
-Losing sensation in your fingers



Friday, October 2, 2015

Friday Food: Cheesy Potato Casserole

I think the title says it all.  Cheese, potatoes, all combined and simply amazing.  I've made several versions of potato casserole before but it is always good to know that it is a healthier version.  Simple ingredients and easy to make this one is a great go to that can be made in mass.

This one is from our friends at Exos Sports Performance

Ingredients:
-1 Glove Garlic
-2 tbsp butter, melted
-1 Cup Skim Milk
-6 Medium Red Potatoes
-1/2 Cup Shredded Lite Jarlsberg Cheese
-Salt & Pepper

Preparation:
  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
  2. Rub and 11 x 7-inch pan with cut sides of garlic halves, then discard garlic.
  3. Spray pan with butter-flavored cooking spray.
  4. Slice 6 medium red potatoes into 1/4-inch slices.
  5. Place potato pieces in the pan and add 2 tablespoons of melted butter, 1/2 cup of shredded lite Jarlsberg cheese, 1 cup of skim milk, salt and pepper.
  6. Mix ingredients together, then cover pan with foil.
  7. Bake for 20 minutes or until potatoes soften.