Tart Cherry Cider

This recipe for Tart Cherry Cider is sponsored by The Cherry Marketing Institute.

Tart cherry cider

I look forward to fall every year. With the hint of briskness in the air, it gets me so excited for the holiday season. It’s a great chance to revamp your routine, tackle those remaining goals or resolutions, and get back in the swing of school routines.

With the impending busy season, it can make it trickier to stick to a healthy lifestyle. I thought I’d share some of my tips for getting the most out of your mornings and routines as the kiddos head back to school and things get a little more hectic.

How to Stick to Your Healthy Lifestyle This Holiday Season

Wake up earlier to work out.

I’ll have to admit, this one is tough for me. I used to be SO GOOD at waking up early to crush a morning workout, and now, I cling onto every last second of sleep that I can. I’m going to make a conscious effort this fall, because I’ve found that on the days I don’t teach, if I don’t get a morning workout, it doesn’t happen. A bonus for early workouts: I don’t realize what I’m doing until it’s almost over haha.

Get A more Effective Workout in Less Time

Even though I’m admittedly terrible at waking up early for fitness, I am pretty good at crushing my workout in the time I do have.

Get to the gym with a plan. Know exactly what you’re going to do when you walk in the doors, so you don’t waste precious sweat time by trying to devise a plan on the spot. If you’re looking for ideas, check out my fitness page or Summer Shape Up!

Circuit train. While I do enjoy traditional hypertrophy training (3-4 sets with rest in between), it’s not the most time-effective strategy. Work in circuits or superset exercises to keep your body moving and your heart rate elevated. Rest in between circuits or supersets.

Add in cardio blasts. If you don’t have time for a traditional strength + cardio workout, intersperse heart-pounding cardio moves with your strength exercises. I like to do quick bodyweight squats, plyometrics, sprints or row intervals for 30 seconds to 1 minute in between strength exercises. 

Do little bits at home. You can absolutely split up your training into smaller bits throughout the day if it works better for your schedule. My favorite method: 10 minutes cardio, 10 minutes strength, 10 minutes core and flexibility.

Here’s a workout that you can split up into pieces if you need to:

Three quick workouts you can squeeze into your day! These 10-minute workout segments let you fit in working out even with a packed schedule. Get in an intense cardio, strength and core workout! fitnessista.com

A workout that you can split up into 3 10-minute segments depending on your schedule. Get in an intense cardio, strength and core workout! fitnessista.com

Maximize Your Recovery

If you recover properly in between training, it improves fitness gains, minimizes injury, and you’ll feel more energized for your next training session. Some of my favorite recovery tips:

Adopt a smart strength training split so you’re not working the same muscles on consecutive days.This will give the muscles enough time to recover and repair before you break them down again through strength training.

Alternate cardio intensities.Your heart is a muscle, and just like any other muscles in your body, you don’t want to work it to its max every day. Make sure that you have a balance of interval training, easy steady state, short cardio workouts, and longer endurance days in your weekly schedule.

Eat foods that will encourage recovery. One of my very favorites is Montmorency tart cherry juice.

Tart cherry juice

Benefits of Montmorency Tart Cherry Juice

-Studies suggest that Montmorency tart cherry juice can reduce muscle soreness and weakness following intense strength training or a long distance run. A new study demonstrates the impact of Montmorency tart cherries on inflammation and oxidative stress after high-intensity cycling. Cyclists who drank Montmorency tart cherry juice concentrate before a three-day simulated race experienced less inflammation and oxidative stress compared to those who drank another beverage.

-Montmorency tart cherries have a high amount of anthocyanins, which are beautiful in color and have been demonstrated to protect the body against inflammation and various diseases. They can help the body fight inflammation linked to arthritis and gout.

You can check out more details about this power-packed fruit here.

I’ve got a fall-appropriate tart cherry cider recipe for a delicious way to help with your recovery this holiday season!

Tart Cherry Cider Recipe

Tart cherry cider

The deep red hue has always reminded me of mulled wine, and I thought the tart cherry juice would be fantastic with some fall spices. Since tart cherry juice also helps with sleep, this autumn-esque drink is perfect to sip, snuggled up and winding down from the day. Olivia took one sip and said, “It tastes like Christmas.” It totally does.

Tart cherry cider

 

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Tart Cherry Cider

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A delicious and warming mug of spiced tart cherry juice. It tastes exactly like mulled wine, minus the alcohol. Try it for the anti-inflammatory and sleep-promoting benefits!

  • Prep Time: 5
  • Cook Time: 5
  • Total Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

Scale
  • 16 oz tart cherry juice
  • 1 teaspoon orange zest
  • Juice of 1/2 an orange (slice the rest and reserve)
  • 1 teaspoon whole dried cloves
  • 4 star anise
  • 2 cinnamon sticks
  • 1 tablespoon coconut sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 generous pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

Instructions

  1. In a saucepan on medium heat, bring all of the ingredients to a simmer (including the orange slices). Reduce the heat to low and let simmer for about 5 minutes, until fragrant. Strain and serve immediately.

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 2

Let me know if you give it a try! 

How do you plan to stick with your healthy lifestyle this holiday season?

xoxo

Gina

This post is sponsored by my friends at the Cherry Marketing Institute. Thank you so much for your support of this blog. I truly appreciate it.

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12 Comments

  1. Megan @ Skinny Fitalicious on August 24, 2016 at 8:03 am

    I am all about cherry juice for recovery! I love putting it in a smoothie during the summer but this cold weather cider sounds great for winter!

  2. julie @ peanut butter fingers on August 24, 2016 at 8:07 am

    mulled wine is my FAVORITE in the fall!!! i feel like this would also be delicious mixed with red wine in the crock pot for a warm party drink. your pics are gorgeous, friend! <3

  3. Jessica @ Semi-Sweet Tooth on August 24, 2016 at 8:23 am

    I feel as though you had mentioned that you drink tart cherry juice before. I need to get on board! Especially within this peak season… yumming, the Michigan cherries are just oh so good!

    Next time I go to the grocery store, I’m in! It’s already on the list. 🙂

    Thanks for the tip!
    XO, Jessica
    http://www.semisweettooth.com

  4. Erin @ Her Heartland Soul on August 24, 2016 at 10:27 am

    This sounds SO good!! I’m making it this fall for sure!

  5. Lisa @ Lisa the Vegetarian on August 24, 2016 at 1:45 pm

    It’s funny – my husband recently brought home a jug of tart cherry juice because he had been reading about the benefits of it. Meanwhile I had never heard of it and now it seems like it’s blowing up! Love the sound of this recipe – and I’ve already been getting into fall flavors, so this is extra appealing!

  6. Stephanie on August 24, 2016 at 1:50 pm

    I have never even heard of this before! But it def makes me want to try it!

    Stumbled onto your blog and loving it!

    ~Stephanie~
    http://www.infinitelifefitness.com

  7. Sam @ Barrister's Beet on August 24, 2016 at 6:54 pm

    This drink looks delicious! I also love your tips for getting back into the swing of things for fall. I’ve really adopted #1 the last few months and have seen such a drastic improvement just by starting my mornings off earlier. I say this, though, as a 28 y/o without kiddos, so I can imagine myself slapping myself one day lol ; )

  8. Katie on August 25, 2016 at 8:50 am

    I would be really interested to know who funded the exercise studies on tart cherry juice. I certainly believe there are health and nutritional benefits to eating cherries, but I wonder if funding from the Cherry Marketing Institute influenced the extremely positive outcomes of the research. Another potential title to their studies: “New cherry growers/processors-backed study touts the benefits of eating cherries.”

    Regardless, it looks like a great recipe!

  9. Grace on August 25, 2016 at 1:32 pm

    Gina,

    Do you buy tart cherry juice at Whole Foods? If, so what aisle of the store?

    • Fitnessista on August 27, 2016 at 11:36 pm

      i get it at the co-op here, but they have it at whole foods too. it’s on the shelves (not cold) in the juices aisle, like where whey have juice boxes and other types of juice in jars.

  10. masala girl on August 25, 2016 at 5:33 pm

    i love tart cherries for their benefits! This cider sounds perfect for fall. I know I’ll be running more and I’ll love it for my body!

    • Fitnessista on August 27, 2016 at 11:28 pm

      let me know if you give it a try!

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