nutrition
Great Results On Fit Test!
Amazing effort tonight with some awesome gains in strength and crazy weight loss.
Totals:
Since last fit test a loss of 17 more pounds.
24 more strict push ups
12 more sit ups
16 more squats
Amazing results! Congratulations, your hard work is showing through…
The Slow Food Movement
More than a movement, it’s becoming a way of life.
Yummo
Cook your own food using fresh ingredients. Know where the vegetables, meats, and fruits you eat come from. Meet your local farmers if you can. It sounds like some sort of Utopian view of eating, and maybe it is. Known as the Slow Food Movement, this new view of an old way of life is garnering lots of attention from food lovers across the globe.
But is there something you can learn from this slow-and-steady approach to mealtime?
Good Things Take Time
While the Slow Food Movement may have only recently become a household name, it’s been around for quite some time. In fact, according to the web site for Slow Food International (slowfood.com), it all started in 1989. Just remember this the next time you’re frustrated with the amount of time it takes to cook a meal the old-fashioned way. Or when you’re tied up in traffic, building a boat from scratch, or teaching your children good manners. Because while you can get a high-fat, unhealthy meal at the snap of a finger, good nutrition and life takes a bit longer.
Conformity Is Bad
Sit down for an hour or two of television and you’re guaranteed to see multiple commercials for fast food and other restaurants. You’re likely not going to see commercials espousing the benefits of purchasing your own food from local growers and spending time cooking it. If you do see commercials for making homemade meals, it’s probably a grocery store pushing their prepackaged “homemade” meals that only require a little time in the microwave.
You knew it in high school and it bears repeating – conformity is not always a good thing. Yes, conforming to traffic laws and accepted etiquette is a good idea. But conforming to what the media says you ought to eat will do nothing but beef up your waistline, leave you feeling sluggish, and put you at increased risk for all sorts of diseases.
Patience Is a Virtue
One of the most obvious differences between Slow Food and other means of eating is the amount of time it takes to plant, harvest, and prepare foods. Whereas you may be accustomed to sprinting through life without giving a second thought to any of your actions, the Slow Food Movement forces you to think twice.
Where did this piece of celery come from? What chemicals were used to force it to grow faster and with fewer bugs? Did the person who grew and cultivated the celery get paid fairly? In the Slow Food Movement, emphasis is placed on buying local, enabling you to better appreciate the process of growing food.
At the same time, cooking your own food helps you learn patience inside your home, as it is impossible to whip up dinner in the three minutes you allow the people behind the counter at a fast food restaurant. Who knows? The Slow Food Movement may even encourage you to spend more time with your family, which everyone desires.
Support Local
Wondering how you can get your hands on more locally grown and raised produce and meats? Here are a few tips.
- Find your local farmers market and shop there regularly. It’s wonderful to develop a relationship with the people who are responsible for growing your food.
- Contact your local chamber of commerce. Having a hard time finding out where the farmers market is? Head to the chamber of commerce and ask. Someone there will either know or know someone who does.
- Talk with local grocery stores. Individually owned and some chain grocery stores are often willing to stock local fruits, veggies, and meats. Tell a manager that you would like to buy locally as much as possible, and you may have a better local selection in the near future.
Thin from 40 to 60
Beating the odds and maintaining a healthy figure throughout middle age.
Strong Is The New Skinny
Gaining weight during middle age is only natural, right? Wrong. If you dread the pounds of midlife, cheer up! With the right attitude and an appropriate diet and exercise regiment, you may be able to keep your youthful figure and good health for a healthy start to your silver and golden years.
Weighing Responsibility
Midlife weight gain is unfortunately very common.There are definite factors working against you as you age. Besides fluctuating hormone levels, your metabolism begins to slow down. This means it takes more work to burn the calories you consume. Another problem is that most adults lose between 30 and 50 percent a pounds of muscle each year. The smaller your muscles are, the fewer the calories you are able to burn. Weight gain during your midlife is also a danger to your health as it increases your risks for a range of serious medical conditions from diabetes to heart disease to Alzheimer’s disease.
Despite these possible setbacks to maintaining a healthy weight as you age, it is very important to prevent those extra pounds. There are four main reasons why people gain weight during their 40s and 50s: hormones, overeating, lack of exercise, and stress. Though it would be easy to blame weight gain on changing hormones, research has shown that hormones are responsible for only two to five extra pounds. Poor lifestyle choices account for the rest.
Looking for an answer to combat your lack of good lifestyle decisions? It comes down to maintaining a healthy diet, regular exercise, and stress management. In other words, you’re going to have to start making good decisions soon.
Eat and Burn
The key to avoiding gradual weight gain is to burn as many calories as you consume. This will probably mean eating smaller portions at meals and including more physical activities in your daily routine. When you eat smaller portions, it is important to make sure you include a balanced diet of high protein foods such as meat, dairy, and eggs, and high fiber foods such as fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Not only will these healthy foods contribute to your weight control, they will also improve your mood and give you more energy throughout the day.
After watching your calorie intake, you must make sure you burn those calories and speed up your metabolism with aerobic or cardiovascular exercise. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends a “minimum of 30 minutes of exercise most days to improve health.” A good goal would be to burn 400 to 500 calories a day, and here’s the good news – it is never too late to begin exercising! Whether walking, swimming, biking, gardening, or weight lifting, find something you enjoy, and make it a part of your everyday routine. Not only will you burn those extra calories, you will feel better about yourself and have more energy to face your day.
Decompress the Stress
A third reason for why people in their middle ages gain weight easily is because of the high level of stress in their lives. When under stress, many people tend to overeat, not exercise enough, or attempt to ease stress through unhealthy behaviors such as drinking or smoking. To manage stress, you must first identify the causes. Then you must take charge of your thoughts, emotions, work schedule, family life, and environment. Aim for a balance of fun, work, and relaxation. For some extra help, find support from a friend, spouse, or therapist to reduce the stress in your life.
No matter how common midlife weight gain seems, it is not necessarily inevitable. You just have to take control. So eat a balanced diet, exercise for your physical and emotional well-being, and reduce the stressors in your life. Then kick back and relax, knowing you won’t be another victim of midlife weight gain.
Your Food, Your Migraines
Understanding the link between what you put in your mouth and what you feel in your head.
Must Have Coffee!
If you’ve ever experienced a migraine headache, you have one more life goal than those who haven’t. That goal? To never have a migraine again. However, to meet that goal, you have to be well aware of the triggers that set you on the painful path to a migraine.
Since some of the most common triggers are those things you put in your mouth, you may want to keep reading to find out what foods and drinks you should avoid to keep migraines from getting inside your head.
Regular Stuff
In your day-to-day routine, you probably come across a lot of potential migraine triggers. From peanut butter and sour cream to raspberries and pizza, nearly every food can be a trigger. Some, however, are more common than others. In most cases, a food-induced migraine begins to rear its ugly head within 20 or 30 minutes of consuming the food or drink.
To avoid migraines, consider avoiding the following foods and drinks that are known to cause migraine headaches:
- coffee, tea, cola, chocolate, and other foods and drinks that contain caffeine
- extremely cold foods, such as ice cream, particularly when you’re hot due to weather or exercise
- alcoholic beverages, such as red wine, champagne, whiskey, and beer
- cheeses that have been aged to perfection and other foods containing tyramine (substance formed when foods age)
- foods that contain nitrates and various other additives, preservatives, or artificial sweeteners
Special Instances
In addition to specific food and drink, other diet-related issues can result in the mind-boggling pain of a migraine headache. Your body requires a healthy balance of vitamins and minerals to function properly, and your head comfort requires the same. Any time this balance is thrown off, you put yourself at risk for a headache.
One of the easiest headache-inducing dietary mistakes you can make is missing a meal. Life is busy, you’re always on the go, and sitting down to eat isn’t always possible. But when you opt out of mealtime, you’re upping your risk of a migraine substantially. Another simple way to mess up your diet and your head is through dehydration. Unless you are regularly drinking from a tall glass of water, you’re probably a little bit dehydrated. Decide to drink even less one day and your head could pay the price. A final cause of food-related migraines is fasting. Less common than the others, fasting from all sorts of food causes an immediate lack of everything your body needs to keep going strong.
A Hot Headache Problem
While some people suffer migraines after chomping into a spoonful of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream, others have the opposite problem. They suffer migraine headaches when the temperature outside starts to climb. And there is actually research that backs their claims of high-temperature headaches.
According to one study, the risk of suffering a headache climbs seven and one-half percent for every increase of nine degrees Fahrenheit. What’s this mean for you? Either live somewhere with a cool climate, stay inside during the hot days, or be prepared to suffer heat-induced headaches.
Causes You Didn’t Consider
The list of migraine triggers can go on forever. But if you’re suffering from migraines and still aren’t sure why, you may want to consider these triggers.
Your Exercise. It may seem odd, but pushing yourself too hard in the gym can lead to stress-related headaches.
Your Hair. It may look great, but if you keep your hair pulled back tight or in braids all the time or wear an improperly fitting hat, the stress could result in a headache.
Your Perfume. More than likely, you know someone who claims to get headaches around strong scents. If you suffer migraines and are around strong scents regularly, it may be time to give up your favorite scents.
Your Habit. Smoking has long been known to bring on headaches of all shapes and sizes. Put out your risk for cigarette-induced migraines by kicking the habit.
Your In-Laws. Actually, anyone or anything that raises your stress level puts you at increased risk for a migraine.
HCG…Should I? No!
I have been asked by several of our athletes and prospective clients what I thought about the HCG diet. I am extremely vocal about fad and crash diets and say so all the time. I didn’t know much about the HCG diet, so I did some research. Here are some of the things that I found. I listed my resources so that you too can read up and form your own conclusion.
What is the HCG Diet?
This diet plan was formulated by Dr. Albert T Simeons, who stated that a hormone HCG, can help men and women lose unwanted body fat, thereby assisting in weight loss.
The human chorionic gonadotropin hormone is a glycoprotein hormone naturally produced in pregnant women by the placenta, to nourish the growing fetus and provide nutrients.
The function of the HCG hormone is to signal the hypothalamus gland in the brain to mobilize fat stores and release the fat from the reserves. The hormone thus fuels the body with required energy by using up the fat from the reserves in the body.
Okay, okay enough of the science…
The HCG diet plan claims that it can help a person lose 1-3 pounds of weight per day. A person on the HCG diet plan is required to take HCG hormone (125 i.u. to 200 i.u. of Hcg everyday) on a daily basis. The number of days in this particular weight loss will depend on whether a person is taking injection or drops and the amount of weight wants to lose. Mostly, this diet plan runs over a period of 23 days.
One of the many things that scares me is that a person on this diet is strictly allowed to consume only up to 500 calories. Thus, besides taking HCG hormone, one also has to supplement the hormone intake with an extremely low calorie diet. The diet comprises of raw, steamed or grilled vegetables like spinach, celery, cabbage, etc. Organic fed veal, beef and skinned chicken are also permitted.
But is this diet plan safe?
HCG Diet Side Effects
Nevertheless, there are some human chorionic gonadotropin side effects that people on such a diet face. They are as follows:
Some HCG diet side effects in women are stomach ache, swelling of extremities, pelvic pain, etc. which occur due to Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome (OHSS), that has been caused as a result of an HCG diet. People on HCG diet injections are also seen to experience additional side effects of HCG diet, such as muscle cramps, lumps, gynecomastia, premature puberty in men, etc.
Another side effect is sudden weight gain. What!!!
Well, an HCG diet calls for consumption of only 500 calories a day, which is not enough for supporting normal brain function. The body compensates the deficit by using up the stored glycogen, protein and fat. The additional hormone will suppress appetite, however, once one is off the diet and begins to eat normally, the weight lost is gained back. Moreover, since people have starved for over 3 weeks (500 calorie diet!) they usually tend to eat more once the diet program is over.
Irregardless of the alleged HCG diet side effects, it is important to remember that even though the HCG diet proposes to help with weight loss, it is yet another crash diet and is not a healthy way to lose weight.
Here is what our Food and Drug Administration has to say about HCG as a dietary supplement,
It is not FDA approved for weight loss at this time for the following reason, and I quote ” It is not possible to obtain uniformity in the reporting of results solely through the use of a common standard, since hCG is a complex molecule.”
To lose weight in a healthy manner there is no shortcut. Eating a balanced diet and exercising regularly is mandatory for losing weight the right way!
Just get yourself to the gym and do Boot Camp! Call me at 254-247-4999
American Journal Of Clinical Nutrition http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/reprint/29/9/940.pdf
American College Of Bariatric Physicians http://www.asbp.org/resources/uploads/files/HCG%20Position%20Statement.pdf
http://www.dietsinreview.com/diet_column/06/hcg-diet-reviewed-by-fullbars-dr-michael-snyder/
Best Black Beans
This simple black bean side dish works well with Mexican or Cuban meals.
Categories: Lunch, Low Calorie, Dinner, Low Fat, Low Cholesterol, Heart Healthy Diet, Dairy-Free, High Fiber Diet, Vegetarian
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 1 clove garlic, chopped
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- salt to taste
- 1 (16 ounce) can black beans
- In a medium saucepan, combine beans, onion, and garlic, and bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat to medium-low.
- Season with cilantro, cayenne, and salt.
- Simmer for 5 minutes, and serve.
Servings: 4, Calories: 112, Fat: 0.4g, Cholesterol: 0mg, Sodium: 510mg, Carbohydrate: 20.7g, Protein: 7.1g
Eat Your Age
What your age does to your need for calories and how you can help your body respond appropriately.
Keep It Real...
When you were a kid, you only ate when you were hungry. Everyone said you ate like a bird until you became a teenager. Then you couldn’t eat enough.
By the time you hit your 30s you stopped listening to your stomach and started listening to your eyes.
But you were working out enough to keep off unwanted pounds. But now you’re starting to see the effects of eating too many calories.
So how can you avoid age-related weight gain?
By keeping these three age-appropriate tips in mind the next time you decide to grab your favorite fattening treat.
1. Age Changes Everything
You may feel like a teenager, but when you’re out of your teens and into your 20s, 30s, 40s, and beyond, your body tells a different story. Whether you’ll admit it or not, you realize that you can’t move quite as quick in your 50s as you could in your 20s. Likewise, your body can’t burn through calories like it could a few years ago. With that in mind, the need to curb your calorie intake as you age makes sense. Because if your body can’t use all the calories you’re eating, consuming excessive calories only leads to excessive weight.
Live your life and forget your age. – Norman Vincent Peale
2. Activity Takes More Effort
When you were a kid, getting out and about for a two-hour game of neighborhood football was no problem. Ever since you started working at an office, stuck behind a large oak desk, getting physical activity has become more and more difficult. Thanks to this increased difficulty of getting a work out, your body’s metabolism has dropped dramatically since your skinny high school days. Ideally, you should get at least 30 to 60 minutes of exercise five days a week. Since this isn’t always possible, you’ll need to chop even more calories from your diet to make sure the calories you eat are being used rather than stored as fat.
3. You Have to Cut
Regardless of how much exercise you get, you’ll probably need to reduce the amount of calories you consume as you age. A good guide to help you understand your calorie need is to start with 1,800 calories for women age 31 to 50 and 2,200 for men of the same age. If you’re younger than 31, add another 200 calories. The over 50 crowd should subtract 200. With certain levels of activity, you can also add calories to your diet. However, since every person’s caloric needs are different at every stage in life, you should consult with your physician before making any minor or major changes in your diet. To get a more precise idea of how many calories you should eat each day, a number of calorie calculators are available on the Internet. Using your age, height, weight, gender, and level of activity, these calculators help you have an idea of how many calories it will take for you to maintain a healthy weight. If you find the amount of calories you’re eating isn’t helping you meet your weight goals, modify your diet as needed.
Junk It Up
Along with all those healthy calories that you chow down on each day, you may be wondering how many of the delectable and not-so-healthy calories you can eat on a daily basis.
An easy way to keep your bad calorie consumption in check is to have no more than one-eighth of your calories come from foods that offer no nutritional value. This includes cookies and cakes, potato chips and bonbons, and those sugar-filled drinks that you can’t live without in the morning and afternoon.
Welcome New Athlete In Killeen’s Best Boot Camp!
Welcome Melissa Beckham!
Welcome Melissa Beckham!
Welcome New Fitness Boot Camp Athletes!
I want to welcome Paige Claro and Norma Martinez to our evening Boot Camp class! Oh and they totally rocked the “Murph” workout today. Just sayin.
Five of the Fattiest Foods
You may love these foods, but they’re no good when it comes to your good looks and good health.
Oh Man!
Need to hit the store or a restaurant to pick up something to eat? There are some things you’d be better off avoiding. What makes these foods even worse is that the fat found isn’t just your everyday, run-of-the-mill fat. Much of it is trans-fat. These do much more than add unwanted weight to your arms, legs, and middle. Trans-fats are a highly dangerous fat that turns into cholesterol once in your body. In other words, these fats increase your weight and instantly increase your likelihood for suffering heart disease and stroke.
Here is where to watch for fat in the course of your dietary day.
Breakfast
Overflowing with 659 calories and 45 grams of fat, the Bob Evans Country Biscuit Breakfast may be the worst way to start your day. While it may taste good going down, the long-term effects of eating such an unhealthy breakfast counteract any happiness the flavor may provide. And if you’re drinking soda with your breakfast, it’s time to stop. There is no nutritional benefit to drinking soda, and when matched with the Bob Evans Country Biscuit Breakfast, you’re setting your body up for a short and diseased existence.
Lunch
If you’re heading out for lunch, you may want to steer clear of the Wild Buffalo Chicken Strip Basket at Dairy Queen. While you may expect chicken to be relatively healthy, these fried up goodies pack an 870-calorie, 96-gram punch. In the event you choose to take a drive to pick up some fries from another establishment, stay away from Jack in the Box’s large order of Natural Cut Fries. Dipped in grease and fried to fattening perfection, they come with 300 calories and 33 grams of fat.
Snack
Between meals, you need something to keep your energy level on high. What you don’t need is excessive fat. So stay away from Nacho Cheese Doritos. If you think there is nothing dangerous about those little chips, you may be surprised to learn that a single ounce (approximately 11 chips) has 8 grams of fat. Since you probably never eat a mere 11 Nacho Cheese Doritos, you’re probably getting a lot more fat than you think. Oh yeah – there are also 140 calories in that tiny bag, another reason to steer clear of the chips.
Dinner
It may not be the fattiest dinner dish available, but the 12-inch Blimpie Veggie Supreme is listed here because of the cunning nature of the item. The Veggie Supreme sounds like a perfectly healthy option for you and your family. However, with 1,106 calories and 56 grams of fat, this sandwich is not nearly as healthy as its name implies. If you’re hungry for a hoagie loaded with all kinds of goodness, you can easily cut the fat grams in half or more by making it yourself at home.
Dessert
If there’s one food item to avoid purchasing, Baskin Robbins’ large chocolate Oreo shake is it. Containing an amazing 2,600 calories (yes – that’s more than you should eat in an entire day), 139 grams of fat, and 1,700 milligrams of sodium, this seemingly innocent after-dinner delight is one of the most dangerous additions to your diet. While it may look beautiful and taste fantastic, eating a large chocolate Oreo shake cannot be excused by anyone with a desire to live healthily
Swap It Up
Feeling down because some of your favorite foods are on the fatty list? Cheer up! With a few substitutions, you can easily make your favorite dish a little less fatty. Sometimes, all it takes is asking your server for a lighter option. At other times, you may need to request a food be cooked a different way (grilled instead of fried). In yet other circumstances, you may have to cook it yourself or change your order altogether.
Whatever it takes, remember – you’re doing it for the health and longevity of your body, so any sacrifice you have to make is well worth it.
Kissing (or Kicking) Unwanted Pounds Goodbye
Got some extra pounds hanging around? With the right steps, you can get rid of them and get on with a thinner, fitter life.
Bust The Fat Away!
Pounds, pounds, go away, come again another day! If only losing weight were as easy as singing this simple rhyme over and over. Though shedding unwanted pounds is a good deal harder than that, you can do it. Do the following four action items and you’ll get rid of those unwanted and unsightly pounds faster than you can say fad diet.
Don’t Binge
You’ve had a rough day and the only thing that could possibly help you feel better is a tub of ice cream. Or so you think. In actuality, gorging yourself on super double chocolate chip ice cream isn’t going to do you any good right now or in the future. If you want to get rid of weight, you’re going to have to learn self-control. When you’re by yourself and feel hungry for something unhealthy, find something else to do. Pick up a good book, call a friend, or drink a glass of water. If you’re especially intent on losing weight (which you must be if you’re reading this article), follow the next tip.
Be Exercise Minded
In the comfort of your own home, it’s easy to eat whatever you want whenever you want. Learn to identify what causes you to want to eat unhealthy foods or unhealthy amounts of food. Then, begin to modify your behavior when you come face to face with the trigger. If coming home from work is usually followed by an hour on the couch, bonbons in hand, redesign your post-work routine around exercise. When you first get home, don’t hit the couch. Hit the closet for a change of clothes, and then get to the gym or go for a walk around the neighborhood. Changing your mindset takes time and dedication, but putting exercise first on your to-do list is vital to taking off excess pounds.
Deny the Treats
Many dieters feel they’re obliged to a cake or cookie now and then to celebrate their small victories. Unfortunately, this good idea can often become a trap, as the treats become more and more common. Just remember that every time you’re offered a special treat, you have the option of accepting or denying the offer. Force yourself to say “No” 10 times more often than you say “Yes,” and the special treat will actually be a special treat instead of an everyday necessity. By doing this, you’ll also watch your weight slowly and steadily decrease.
Sweat It Off
For the best chance at losing weight, you’re going to have to sweat. While a quick set of push-ups during lunch break will help your body a little bit, you’re not going to get the results you seek without making yourself sweat. No matter if you choose to walk or run for miles on end, participate in a local spin class, join a kickboxing class, or work out with free weights or elliptical machines, you need to sweat. If your workout leaves you dry, you’re not pushing yourself hard enough to lose weight. Increase your workout intensity and prepare to become the thinner, healthier you that you’ve always wanted to be.
Something Extra Needed
If you’ve been working to stay fit and eat healthily but you just can’t seem to get rid of extra pounds, it may be time to stop going at it alone. Instead, contact your physician, dietitian, and personal trainer to find out what specific steps you can take to begin dropping unwanted extra pounds from your body.
In the event you’ve never interacted with a personal trainer, be ready for the shock of your exercising lifetime! It is your personal trainer’s job to make sure you work harder than you’ve ever worked in the gym. Follow your personal trainer’s rigorous recommendations to the letter, and you’ll be utterly exhausted. Of course, you’ll also be on your way to losing the extra pounds you’ve picked up over the years, and shedding pounds is well worth a little sweat and soreness – right?
Good Turn Out For Nutrition Seminar
Yummo
Just wanted to thank all the athletes who came to the nutrition seminar yesterday on a sunny Saturday. We even had two folks who had heard of the gym and dropped in to hear the class. Thanks again! Now go clean out your kitchen!
