Welcome Heather Fields!

Welcome!

WELCOME!

Reshanda Tatum

Cheryl Fidelia

Angela Clemons

Timika Bynog

Gaynor Lewis

We welcome Angie Kopec and Natasha Conboy to our evening boot camp class!

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.

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.

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/

Welcome Melissa Beckham!

Welcome Melissa Beckham!

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!

Breathe!

Everyone falls prey to lies and myths on occasion. But if you buy into one of these and your exercise routine is affected by it, you could be in a world of danger. What lies may be affecting your ability to work out safely and with maximum results? Read on to find out.

Lie 1: Big Size = Big Strength

Okay, so the big guys are often rather strong (you won’t see a lot of skinny folks lifting cars), but you don’t have to be super beefy to be strong. Actually, too much muscle mass can make it difficult to perform certain activities. Instead of focusing on getting bigger, bigger, bigger, go for exercises that help you get in good shape, have good muscle definition, and retain your ability to move quickly. Remember we train for the unknown and unknowable.

Lie 2: Muscle Becomes Fat

Ever wished you could transform all of the fat around your midsection into rock-hard muscle? Of course you have. Unfortunately, you know you have to burn off the fat in order to make room for muscle. Likewise, the muscle you build up won’t turn into fat when you stop working out. You just think it did, because any time you stop working out, you see unwanted pounds show up with such speed. You need to make your eating habits match your workout habits. Make sure you are at our next nutritional seminar to learn about the Paleo lifestyle.

Lie 3: You’ll Get His or Her Results

At every gym there are people with great bodies. Everything is where it should be and every muscle is well defined and shapely. To get the same results, you ask one of these model-looking individuals for the secrets to their picture-perfect bodies. You take careful notes and then attempt to mimic their every move in the gym. Unfortunately, what works for one person may not work for you. Every body is different and responds differently to various exercises. Since there is no one-size-fits-all approach to exercise, try plenty of different workouts to find out what works best for you.

Lie 4: Tons of Gym Time, Awesome Results

If spending an hour or two in the gym five days a week is good for you, then spending five hours every day pushing your body to the max is even better – right? Wrong. Overtraining your muscles and not giving them any chance to rest can actually cause your muscles to begin breaking down and going away. On top of this, you also put your muscles at risk for some serious injuries if you spend too much time exercising – especially if you’re doing the same movements over and over again. With our boot camp workout programming, you will get a great workout inside of 45 minutes.

Lie 5: Slow Is Safe

Commercials that feature outdoor groups of people enjoying a relaxing class of yoga can be misleading. While yoga and pilates can be relaxing and slow-moving ways to get exercise, they can put your body at risk for some of the same injuries other exercises pose. So before hopping into an advanced yoga class without understanding what you’re getting into, start at the beginner’s level and gradually work your way up to the more advanced, demanding classes.

Lie 6: Form Doesn’t Matter

Back when you were first starting to lift weights, you worried about keeping perfect form for each rep. But over time, you began to realize that form wasn’t as important as just getting out there and lifting. Unfortunately, your epiphany isn’t based in truth, because if you lift weights or perform other exercises without using the right form, the negative results are two-fold. First, you aren’t actually targeting the muscle you think you are unless you maintain good form. Second, improper form puts you at great risk for a variety of severe injuries. We are super strict on form here at the gym. Proper posture while lifting can save you pain and suffering and supercharge your workout!

Lie 7: Genetics Are Everything

If your parents and grandparents are overweight and out of shape, it can be easy for you to expect the same fate for yourself. But don’t let your genetics get in the way of exercise. Instead, understand that you may have to make some modifications (including what you eat) to get the results you want in the gym. You may even have to change your goals to better meet your body’s abilities.

So, there are a few of the biggest lies in exercise. Ready to commit and get fit? Call 254-247-4999 or come by the gym and start today!