The Top 5 Health Mistakes Made by Women's Fitness Elite

5. Your Faucet Is Set To The Same Temperature

-Seriously Bryen?  Dead Serious. Hot showers are fantastic, but differs when it comes to consuming water.  Water is more likely to contain lead when heated, the EPA even reports that 15% of our lead exposure comes from water.  Watch out guys.  Hot water in showers to get rid of bacteria...Cold water to help lower the lead risks.

4. You Avoid The Scale

-I tell my clients all the time that there are two kinds of people.  The scale people and the mirror people.  The Mirror people do not like the scale as long as they look great in the mirror.  The Scale people could care less what the mirror shows, but freak out if they gain 1 lb of muscle.  You want to be right in the middle of these two schools of thought.  Try weighing yourself once every couple of weeks or once a month to level set and make sure that you are achieving your fitness goals.

3.  Assuming Home Cooking is "ALWAYS" Healthier

-This is another one that may have you scratching your head.  Look at "The Joy of Cooking" cookbook.  They found in a Cornell study that the recipes from the Joy of cooking (made in the 1930's) has dramatically increased in portions and calories over the past years.  Cornell found this increase to actually be 40% more than their original print in 1930. Make sure that you are checking calories and Protein/Fat/Carbs as the main three to consider.

2.  You Don't Lift Weights

-This is what I hear from my clients on their consultations as #1 requirement.  "Please don't make me look like Hulk Hogan" ..."I don't want to be a bodybuilder"....etc.  Scientifically most Women do not have the genetic components to get as big as bodybuilders without additional help (steroids/testosterone/etc.) according to the American Council of Exercise (ACE). Lifting weights and doing high reps actually adds toward muscle tone and promotes overall strength.  This is critical to having arms "like cameron diaz" as many of my female clients have requested of me :o).

1.  Your Friends Have Bad Health Habits

-I should have capitalized this lol.  I can't say this enough.  It is very important for your friends to want the same goals as you.  It is important for your friends to be on the same track as you.  So important that if they are on the unhealthy track it can increase your risk of gaining pounds by 57%.  And if this friend just so happens to be your same gender.  You can go ahead and tack on some more percentage points (71%) according to Harvard University. Happy Hours...Dinner Dates....Friends In Town...we all know the symptoms of this, but how do you fix it? Get a backbone.  You need to stand up to your friends and make them realize that if they are truly your friends they will not force you to do something that will de-rail them from their goals.  If it is important to you, and they are your friend.  It will be important to them.  Who knows...maybe you can influence them to follow a more active and healthy lifestyle.


OVER AND OUT!!!!!

Did You Notice a Missing Ingredient in Gatorade Lately???

If you didn't notice this missing ingredient the first thing I would say to you is that you need to start paying more attention to Nutrition Labeling!!!!!

The missing ingredient in Gatorade after their new launch of G2 and Protein packed drinks is (drum roll please)

HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP

Yes people...they completely took it out of their product. Don't believe it? Check the link below

GATORADE ELIMINATES HFCS!

My point with this is simple.  People actually dictate the food industry not the other way around.  Food companies change with our own behaviors and our own consciousness.  If we change our ways of eating to more efficient ways and demand more natural products, the food companies will have no choice but to go along with our elevated consciousness or they will be left out of the loop.  It is the old principle of supply and demand.  If we demand better, they will supply it.  They will literally lose out on billions if they do not.  This is one example of Consumerism changing the way the food industry thinks.  What can you guys do to change some of the other things? Quite simply...don't buy them. 

OVER AND OUT!!!

Who Needs Milk When You Have Beer To Strengthen Bones??!!!

What do you think of when you think of having a brew.  Beer Belly...Beer Gut...etc? All negative connotations unfortunately.  Well maybe not for long. 

Beer actually contains "silicon", which is a mineral that helps protect your bones. According to a new University of California study, Beer has more silicon in it than fruits and vegetables. 

It is also high in B vitamins and antioxidants.  So what's the bad news...? Well....ummm....lol. it's still beer and it has 200 calories per 12 oz class so don't go for the oatmeal stout, you want to jockey back and forth between this beer and water in order to help keep your waistline in tact.

And don't go crazy over this one article lol. As with most things, it is all about "moderation."

***always remember to drink responsibly***

OVER AND OUT!!!

Are You In a Cardio Plateau? We Have A Simple Fix.

Jumping rope can burn up to 1000 calories per hour.  Jumping rope also tones and leans the entire body, which is a look many people desire.  It is a fun exercise that will help you increase your agility and coordination as well.  This is how you use it. 

1). Run on your treadmill/Track for 2 minutes at a higher than normal pace.  For example.  If you are at a 6.4 pace, you want to be right around 6.9 or 7.
2). Step off the treadmill and jump rope for 1 minute straight.
3).  Repeat this pattern 5 times thus giving you 15 minutes of High Intensity Interval Training.

This should help you break through your plateau!!!!

*Note:  If you aren't good at this at first don't get discouraged.  AS you can tell by the video below, I am no master either :o)



OVER AND OUT!

Ladies....Are you Overdoing It In the Gym? ---BE CAREFUL

Many women who are hard working, goal oriented and focused want to look good and want to be fit.  Wrinkles bother them and the smallest sign of weight gain puts them into fitness DEFCON-4.  This can be a good thing; in that you recognize when you need to start hitting the gym, but this can also be a bad thing.  This can actually also pose many problems. These women can develop Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) where you are obsessed and paranoid about your looks and image to the point where it starts to interfere with school, work, and relationships.  This particular disorder can actually be so severe that persons with BDD often commit suicide because they can no longer live with themselves and look in the mirror.

UCLA researchers have found that this disorder can be linked to genetics and emotionally-traumatizing experiences. Although you would think that this may be more linked to women, this is also equally common in both sexes, and affects people worldwide without any prejudice against socioeconomic status and circumstances.

Source: (New York Times, March 22, 2010)

You all know that I want you to work hard.  But I want you to be safe as well.  If this sounds like you, maybe you should take it easy for a little while.  Changing your way of life does not include neglecting those who love you and your priorities with work and school. Life is always a balance that you must juggle, but if you are centered, you will never fall off track. 

OVER AND OUT

Does The Color of Your Food Matter?

In short...YES.

This color-coded system of fruits and vegetables will help you get a diverse supply of phytonutrients (cancer-fighting agents). Key components of using this color-coded system:
- Eat one food from each color per day.
- Eat 7 or more servings of vegetables/ fruits per day
- Eat a VARIETY of these foods.

Based on the UCLA  Center for Human Nutrition Code the Colors are as following:

White/Green:  Garlic, onions, leeks, celery, asparagus, artichoke, endive, chives, mushrooms

Green: Broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, Chinese cabbage, bok choi, kale

Yellow/Green:  Spinach, collard, mustard greens, turnip greens, yellow, corn, avocado, green peas, green beans, green peppers, yellow peppers, cucumber, kiwi, romaine lettuce, zucchini, honeydew melon, muskmelon

Orange/ Yellow: Orange juice, oranges, tangerines, yellow grapefruit, lemon, line, peaches, papaya, pineapple, nectarines.

Orange: Carrots, mangoes, apricots, cantaloupes, pumpkin, acorn squash, winter squash, sweet potatoes

Red: Tomatoes, tomato products (pasta sauce, tomato soup, tomato-based juices, ketchup), pink grapefruit, watermelon

Red/Purple: Grapes, grape products (red wine, grape juice), prunes, cranberries, blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, red peppers, plums, cherries, eggplant, red beets, raisins, red apples, red pears


This is a great way for people who are just getting into fitness and aren't necessarily sure what to eat or how much.  Good Luck out there guys!

OVER AND OUT!

Can You Get Fit By Watching TV??

You've heard it a million times before.  "Don't watch TV while you do your cardio"....

Of course to get the MOST out of your workout, you have to focus on the task at hand but what if you really, really......(really) don't like cardio? Use the TV on your EFX/ Treadmill to your advantage. 

Instead of letting magazines or television inhibit your workout, do things to make your cardio more interesting.  For example.  Read one page while maintaining your current speed and then make a promise to increase your speed as soon as you get to the next page. 

If you are watching your favorite TV program at the gym, try doing interval training by speeding up the pace during the commercial breaks and then lowering them again when you get back to the program.

Even better keep your treadmill going and do elevated lunges on the treadmill while still watching your program and hop back on and continue your workout.

Again.  Staying FOCUSED on your workout is always going to be the best thing I will recommend, but this is a good way to have your workout and get off the couch at the same time!


OVER AND OUT!

How do I cut excess belly fat before New Year's Eve?

Many times during the holiday season we buy a cocktail dress, stockings, or a fresh button up before the beginning of the holidays only to find out a week before New Year's Eve that it doesn't fit anymore!!! Has this ever happened to you? If so, I have ten foods that you need to avoid this next week prior to New Years Eve.

10. HIGH ACIDITY DRINKS

-Drinks with high acidity such as alcohol, coffee, tea, or fruit juices can irritate your GI tract and cause swelling. You can have these drinks starting during the New Year, but in the future consume with moderation.

9. CARBONATED DRINKS

-This one is an easy call, the bubbles in the drink of course bubble up in your stomach. Insted of Carbonated drinks try flavored water that is not artificially sweetened with High Fructose Corn Syrup. The best alternative of course is plain water.

8. SPICY FOOD

- Onions, Garlic, Tabasco, etc are all things that can potentially upset your stomach and stimulate the release of stomach acids, which again can cause irritation to your GI tract.

7.  FRIED FOODS

- A safe bet to stay away from during the holidays.  These foods will stay in your body and can be hard to burn. 

Note: Do not confuse "bad fats" such as fried foods with "good fats" such as Mono-Unsaturated Fatty Acids, i.e. Olive Oil, Low fat Peanut Butter, Nuts and Seeds, etc.  The MUFA's will help to burn the ever-so-hard to reach visceral fat on your torso around your midsection.

6.  SUGAR ALCOHOLS

- Sugar alcohols are seen in things such as energy bars and candy bars. The problem with these sugar substitutes is that most of the time your GI tract cannot absorb them so they can cause bloating and/or diarrhea.

5.  CHEWING GUM

- This one may be a surprise to most, but when you chew gum air gets trapped into your GI tract which can cause bloating and expansion of the belly.

4.  GASSY FOODS

- An obvious choice for the countdown.  Gassy foods such as Legumes, Cauliflower, Cabbage, Brussel sprouts can all produce more gas in your GI tract.

3.  EXCESS CARBOHYDRATES

- Carbs are mainly used for the body's energy.  What you don't know is that the body backs up its own energy storage in the carbohydrate form called "glycogen". For every 3g of water consumed, one gram of glycogen is stored in your body fuel's resovoir tank.  The problem with carbs is that if they are not expended, they sit...they stay on your stomach...and if you limit this intake your body will start getting trained to use the backup energy storage of glycogen versus constantly needing more carbs. 

2.  BULKY RAW FOODS

- Carrots are an example of a bulky raw food.  If you steam these vegetables LIGHTLY*** instead of eating them raw they will take up less space in your stomach thereby causing less bloating. 

DRUM ROLL PLEASE!!!!!

1.  SALT!!!!

- Probably not a surprise to most here.  Salt is one of the number one factors for making your midsection not look as tone as it possibly can.  High consumption of salt also helps you retain excess water which will make your stomach look more puffy and adds to water weight.

Follow these steps and you should be ringing in the new year with all the puffiness and excess water off of your midsection!  So don't return that cocktail dress just yet!!!!

OVER AND OUT!

Kettlebell vs. Medicine Ball.....why choose?

Why choose when you don't have to! Here is a great product that will allow you to use a traditional medicine ball in an anything but conventional way! It is a normal medicine ball, but it has a handle that can attach to the medicine ball making it a kettlebell! A great way to save room if you have a home gym!


http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/aa/powermedicineballandkettlebell.html

(Source: www.bodybuilding.com)

Check Yourself After The Grocery Checkout

Have you ever gotten home from the grocery store thinking that you had made healthy choices and then suddenly when you unpack your bags you realize that you done exactly the opposite much to your chagrin? Don't be upset. Fix the problem. Next time when you get home follow these steps:

1. Locate your receipt
2. Get 3 different colored highlighters
3. Mark up your receipt as following

BLUE

For every fresh food that you purchase including vegetables, or fresh fish

YELLOW

to note the "not so healthy" products that you purchased such as cookies, pizza, cupcakes, or crackers

PINK

For those "in between" foods that are good for you, but packaged such as brown rice or low fat yogurt.


Your receipt should be mostly blue or pink. If its not 60-75% Blue or Pink, take the receipt with you the next time that you go shopping and it will remind you to make great choices and to not repeat the same mistakes!

OVER AND OUT!

What the "TABATA" are you talking about?

Have you ever heard of Tabata Training? This is a training style that was developed by Izuma Tabata, PhD. At the National Institute of Fitness and Sports. This is considered "interval" training that will help you burn more fat than your standard workout. Here is how you do it:

1. Decide your exercise/ cardio activity

2. Do a warmup (5-10 min) on a bike to get the blood pumping

3. Do the first "set" of your exercise for 20 SECONDS ONLY. Counting reps is not as important as completing the 20 seconds allotted.

4. Rest for 10 seconds.

5. Repeat #3 and #4 for a total of FOUR minutes.

These will be THE WORST four minutes you will spend working out. Trust Me.

Over & Out!

The REAL reason you might not be losing weight

Many people who are gaining weight instead of losing, are doing so because of the notion that when u exercise more you 'eat more'...yes. It is true that u will need more energy to workout efficiently but NO that does not mean u reward yourself by replenishing your body with dairy queen post-workout. EAT RIGHT post workout and remember the old addage--if you burn more than you consume your body has no choice but to lose weight!

Over & Out!!

SSSLLLLLooooowwwww DDDDOOOOoooowwwnnn

How fast are you eating your food? Studies have shown that eating slower can actually help you shred unwanted pounds! So in this case, in order to get faster results...you might wanna slow it on down!!!

http://ihealthbulletin.com/blog/2007/01/05/more-evidence-for-simple-one-step-diet-plan-eat-slower-to-lose-weight/

Do you want to GAIN weight?

Remember that the age old rule is to consume more than you burn. So you will need to sit down and really EAT. Now that being said, this does not mean that you will eat sugars/fatty meats/donuts. You must do it the healthy way! In order to do this you will need HIGH protein. Specifically about 1.3 grams per day. When you get those grams in for the day finish it off with a milk and Protein smoothie before you go to bed. It is possible for you to LOSE pounds or 'sleep off' pounds at night, so make sure that you have a high protein weight gaining shake before you go to bed with a big spoon of peanut butter. This should do the trick! Remember that the magazines will tell you 'eat 6 times a day' but remember that is only SPEEDING UP your metabolism. You want to slow it down so EAT 3 huge meals per day, your biggest one at night. Any questions?

Which Has Fewer CAlories? Take A Look!

http://caloriecount.about.com/cc/challengefriend.php