RECREATION

Personal trainer moves class from the gym to the kitchen

Jon Speakman hosts classes on healthy cooking for his clients

By Pamela LeBlanc
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Tuesday, February 03, 2009

Jon Speakman is shredding beets, raking the purple, golfball-sized root vegetables over a metal grater.

"Do we have believers that we can do this in 20 minutes?" the fitness trainer hollers to 10 clients, who are staring in rapt attention.

They're more used to Speakman hovering over them at the gym, egging them on to do a few more repetitions, prodding them to feel the burn in their muscles. But several times a year, Speakman hosts a healthy cooking class. The owner of Human Machine Personal Training Center wants his clients to know that buff bodies aren't solely the product of pushups and leg presses.

"My philosophy is it's more than just exercise," he says. "It's eating right, coupled with healthy exercise."

To emphasize that, he's gathered some of his most dedicated clients at Whole Foods Culinary Center on a chilly night last week to show them how to broil up a nutritious meal in 20 minutes flat.

Thus the slightly frazzled look on Speakman's face as he chops, crushes and juliennes under the direction of Allison Heaton, head culinary instructor at the center. He stacks chopped mustard greens in a pan of simmering vegetable broth, adds the grated beets and tosses in some garlic.

"How are we on time?" he asks, securing the lid on the pan and glancing at a clock.

Running late, as it turns out. But Speakman hasn't lost hope. And, he reminds the class, it's faster when you're not stalled by explanations. "Once you do this without talking about it, it will be a lot quicker," he says.

This is the fourth class Speakman has offered to his personal training clients. Other sessions have focused on healthy poaching techniques ("We can't remember how we used to prepare food before we learned that method," he says), healthy saut?ing and wholesome snacking.

For tonight, he and Heaton settled on a menu of broiled salmon, mustard greens with beets and a Mediterranean dressing, and steamed broccoli. Quinoa tabbouleh will also be served, but its preparation is not part of the instruction. The spread reflects a Speakman-approved mix of lean protein, carbohydrates and fat.

"It's a very healthy menu that's not intimidating," he says.

The class piqued the interest of Joe Keys, a 37-year-old corporate trainer for AT&T who hired Speakman as his personal trainer six months ago. He'd gained 70 pounds in the past few years and blames a stressful lifestyle with lots of business travel. Keys started training under Speakman's guidance twice a week, but he needed to go beyond the gym.

"Working out is not a problem for me," he says. "Food's the problem for me. I need some basic skills around the kitchen because I have none. And it has to be something very quick and easy, or I won't do it."

At the moment, he's watching intently as Heaton and Speakman saut? those beets with mustard greens and onion — in vegetable broth instead of oil.

"Has anyone noticed we haven't used any oil, except in the Mediterranean dressing?" Speakman says. "We haven't added calories to the meal by cooking in it."

It's one of many healthy cooking tips emphasized in the class. Others?

\• Use fresh garlic instead of pre-chopped, which is typically packed with water and preservatives. And let it sit for five minutes after chopping before cooking for maximum health benefits.

\• Use sea salt or kosher salt instead of iodized salt. The crystals of iodized salt are round and don't dissolve as quickly; you might unknowingly oversalt your food. Sea salt and kosher salt have jagged crystals that dissolve immediately.

\• Use reduced-sodium soy sauce and rinse canned or bottled items before using.

\• Quinoa is a great source of low-fat protein.

Like many of us, Christine Porvaznik, 44, another of Speakman's clients, struggles sometimes to squeeze in a daily workout alongside her job and family. Managing to cook a wholesome meal is just one more challenge. "I cook fairly healthy, but I want a broader spectrum (of things to prepare)," she says.

The beets fit that bill.

Tiffany and Lee Tillman agree. "We can cook, we just don't cook good things," says Lee Tillman, 31, a network designer.

"We eat too much and don't exercise enough," says Tiffany Tillman, 34, a bank lender.

When Speakman and Heaton finish their demonstration, the students break into pairs and follow the recipes at their own workstations.

"It sounds easy; we'll see how it turns out," Tiffany Tillman says as she and her husband peel beets and chop greens.

Soon, most are pulling their broiled fish out of the oven. And though not everyone finishes in 20 minutes, they come pretty close.

"This is a meal you can be excited about eating," Speakman says.

One that won't sabotage all those hours you've put in at the gym.

pleblanc@statesman.com; 445-3994