TRX Suspension Training

I've been so busy that we were in December already and I had not created a December workout. I don't think I will follow any scheduled workout this month because I have so much going on. My husband gave me his training session with this trainer last week because he wasn't feeling well and he wanted me to try out this new workout that his trainer has him doing. This training is called TRX Suspension Training and I really like it. It really focuses on core training and it appears to be less stressful on your joints. It's basically your body working against gravity using suspension. It was voted the best Total-Body Tool by Men's Health magazine. I think I am going to start doing TRX Training once a week. This month I will not follow any scheduled workout, I will just do whatever I feel and starting January set a 2010 fitness goal. Come January the gyms will be filled with all those people who created New Years Resolutions and by March the gyms will be empty again. Sad but true!Here is what the TRX Training looks like:

Pull-up Chin-ups Anyone?

Attached is a video of me doing pull-ups and it seems like I amaze everyone whenever I do these? So I do know that most women can't do pull-ups/chin-ups and when I first tried to do a pull up I was only able to do 1 but I kept to it, and now I could do between 8 and 10 reps. This past week this lady saw me working out (mainly bodyweight exercise) and said to me "you are so strong and you don't look it, you don't look that muscular". I am not sure what to say about that! I was also told by someone who I work with that I don't look like I weight more than 50 pounds. This I hope, was a joke, and if it wasn't it was just a stupid thing to say. I don't think I will every get used to the ignorant comments I get about my size. It's often the assumption that I don't eat and that because I am small that I am not strong. My response to the person who said that I don't look like I weight 50 pounds nethertheless lift 50 pounds was that I can bench press at least 100 pounds, squat at least 150 pounds and dead lift at least 160 pounds.

I have said it and I will say it again: 1. Lifting more than 10 pounds does not make you big and muscular. 2. Assuming that I am small therefore I don't eat is as dumb as saying that overweight people are fat because they eat too much.
3. Eating several times a day does not make you fat (eating crappy, junky food makes you fat). Someone said to me this week that if they ate as much as me they would be huge. She also went on to say that she has to starve herself to say at her present weight. The said part is that she was overweight so obviously not eating was not the solution!
4. Eat breakfast. So many people skip breakfast, this is unbelievable to me. I normally wake up with a growling belly, so I know I have to eat breakfast. People often tell me that they can't eat that early. I most admit, a long, long time ago I didn't eat breakfast and would say the same thing but not anymore. I forced myself to eat and now I have to eat breakfast each and everyday!

Still Here Keeping Busy & Working Out!

I am still here but have not posted for quite some time. I have been extremely busy with a number of things, some of which include: starting a new job, I've been working on a few orders for Bernee's Naturals orders, my hair products are doing well (people with curly hair seem to like my products the most), I am also creating new products, of course getting my training in and working out at least 5 days a week. Recently, I've only been weight training 3 days a week and I've been doing other things like bodyweight exercises and some cardio. My favourite warmup before working out is now jumping rope/skipping to warm up before working out, I find that it takes warms me up quickly. It is so much fun and now I am jumping rope backwards (the rope turns from front to back, I am not actually jumping backwards). The next 6 weeks will be extremely busy for me but I am going to post more frequently!

Fruit Loops is a smart choice?

There is a labeling program called Smart Choices, which is suppose to help shoppers identify smarter food and beverage choices. Products can now display the Smart Choice label on the front of the packages. This symbol is suppose to help you make smarter food and beverage choices.The concept of this program could be a great idea if used properly, but foods such as Fruit Loops have the Smart Choices label? Since when is Fruit Loops a smart choice? Are you suppose to get your daily requirements of fruit by eating Fruit Loops? Or maybe it's all the "natural" grain and fiber in the cereal?

My solution is just read the ingredient labels on foods to see what it actually contains instead of relying on a company's marketing campaign to have people believe that they are making "smart choices"! Fruit Loops is not a Smart Choice in my opinion!

Importance of vitamin D

This year's cold and flu season is supposed to be more risky than usual and I am already stocking up on supplements. I am a bit of a germophobe, so I already have the disinfecting and hand washing part covered. I have the regular preventative supplements including Echinacea and Air Borne, but this year I am including zinc tablets and vitamin D. I don't usually take extra vitamin D supplements (except for what's already in my multivitamin), but I have been reading a lot about vitamin D lately and how beneficial it is to overall health.

Vitamin D is known as the "sunshine vitamin" and is critical to keeping your immune system functioning. The immune system contains vitamin D receptors. If there is not sufficient vitamin D present to bind these receptors, immune cells become weak and cannot protect the body from infection. I used to think that I would be able to get all of my vitamin D from the sun (it is produced when ultraviolet rays from sunlight strike the skin and trigger vitamin D synthesis). There are not too many foods that contain vitamin D so it's difficult to get it from food (most foods that contain vitamin D have it added, such as milk). I read recently that in the winter, it's impossible to produce vitamin D from the sun if you live north of Atlanta because the sun never gets high enough in the sky for its ultraviolet B rays to penetrate the atmosphere. So now I am supplementing with extra vitamin D!

7 Benefits of Exercise

If you wanted some more reasons to exercise here they are:

Daily exercise, just 20 minutes a day will help you:

1. Sleep better: The more active your body is during the day, the more likely you are able to relax fully at night and fall asleep easily.

2. Better mood: A study was reported recently, in which an exercise program was equal in benefit to routine doses of Zoloft, a common antidepressant (I am sure you have all seen the commercials).

3. Reduced risk of breast cancer: A USC study found that women exercising for five or more hours per week experienced greater decrease in risk of developing invasive breast cancer compared to less active women. Remember, this month is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

4. Less cellulite: Exercise can reduce or eliminate cellulite by toning and firming the skin.

5. Live longer: The three-year survival rate was about three times higher for active 85-year-olds compared with those who were inactive.

6. Builds self confidence: In a recent magazine poll, women stated they felt the most sexy after exercising.

7. Reduce bad cholesterol: Studies have shown that regular exercise can help reduce cholesterol. One of the best exercises to reduce cholesterol is to simply walk for 30minutes.

Just Do It!

Men's Health Magazine

President Obama is on the cover of the October Men's Health magazine. My husband purchased this issue and there are a lot of interesting articles in this magazine. I was quite surprised by all the content. It is definitely worth getting a subscription.

Some idiot wrote that President Obama should not be on the cover because he isn't healthy. Their belief is that since he smokes he cannot be healthy. As if smoking is the only method of measuring someone's healthy!

Hilarious Shake Weight Exercise for Women Video

Every time I think I’ve seen it all, a new ridiculous fitness gadget comes out on the market. Now there is the Shake Weight! I don’t even know where to start with this one. When I first saw this I didn’t think it was real. I thought it was a joke and a skit from SNL. If someone thinks they will get toned arms using this gadget, then I don’t know what to think. The website states the following “get strong, sexy, sculpted arms”. Whatever! The website also states “An Independent Scientific Study shows that the Shake Weight™ causes over 300% more EMG activity than the traditional dumbbells of the same weight”. Do most people even know what EMG (electromyogram) activity is, and who funded this independent study?
Perhaps this device might be useful for someone who is bedridden! Why not just us free weights? What's interesting is that the ads show women with toned and muscular arms using the Shake Weight. Do people really think they got those arms by using this device?
All I can say is don't waste your money. Why not just pick a bottle of Coke and shake it? Afterall, that may be more useful than drinking it!

Stability Ball Push Ups

On Saturday I did a circuit training workout that included things like box jumps, jump rope, mountain climbers, burpees, and stability ball push ups. Stability ball push ups are not easy and when I first started to do them earlier this year I could only do about 4, now I am happy to say that I can do 20 consecutive stability ball push ups. So there I was doing my circuit workout and I was doing it in one of the group training exercise rooms at my gym. There was another guy working out in the same area. Well, I noticed that he grabbed a stability ball and tried to do them. The poor guy could not do them. I kinda wanted to go to him and tell him to first start with the ball against a wall, but I didn't because I don't really offer advice at the gym unless someone asks me. It sort of irritates me when people give me advice at the gym and for the most part they tell me crap. Like one day this guy told me not to do step ups because I could get injured? Basically you can get injured doing almost any exercise if you don't do it properly!

I've attached a link to how a stability ball push up should be done correctly, click on the title above to view, enjoy!

Are you Loving it?

I continue to hear over and over again that eating healthily is too expensive and many people do not eat healthily because it is too expensive. This woman wrote the following comment on a website “I believe one of the reasons so many Americans are overweight has a lot to do with the high cost of eating healthy. The average hard working American cannot afford to go to the grocery store and buy Meats, Vegetables, and Fruits.” This woman claimed that she would go to McDonalds and get 2 double cheeseburgers and feed a family of five for $10. Okay, I have not been to McDonalds in like forever, but since when can you feed a family of five with 2 cheeseburgers? All I remember about McDonalds is that their burgers were not that big and definitely did not look like those in the McDonalds commercials.
Personally I went to Safeway last week and chicken breasts (okay it was not free range chicken) were $1.99 a pound, so I got about 3 pounds of chicken for about $6.00. Do you realize how many meals 3 pounds of chicken can make? I can buy an entire cabbage for less than $2.00 and it will serve several meals. In my opinion, if you were to give people a choice of free food and one choice was a healthy meal and the other was junk food, they would choose the junk food. If the choice was fruit over a bag of chips most American’s would choose the bag of chips. When are people going to stop making excuses? The fact is Americans like junk food and that is what they eat! I was buying blueberry yogurt yesterday and the cashier said to me, “blueberries and suppose to be good for you but I don’t like them because they don’t have a taste”! My thought was what the hell is wrong with your taste buds – Nuff Said!

Change Your Thoughts - Change Your Life

I’ve been reading this book Change Your Thoughts – Change Your Life by Dr. Wayne Dyer. This book is an application of the Tao Te Ching. Many scholars consider this book to be “the ultimate discourse on the nature of existence”. Change Your Thoughts - Change Your Life is an interesting book but it’s one of those books that you have to read slowly, the chapters (called verses)are extremely short, so it sort of forces you to read one chapter at a time. In the 9th verse, the author states the following “come to grips with the radical concept of ‘enough is enough’. Make this commitment even though you live in a world addicted to the idea that on one can never have enough of anything. The obesity crisis in the Western world, particularly in America, is a direct result of not understanding (and living) this concept. Eat, but stop when you’re full – to continue stuffing food into a satiated body is to be trapped in believing that more of something is the cause of your happiness.”
This made me think to the many dinners, whether it was Thanksgiving, Christmas etc when there was so much food that by the end of the night you eat so much that you are stuffed. I know I’ve done it and I don’t like the feeling of being too full. Eating too much makes me lethargic.

One way to tell if you’re eating correct food portion sizes is to use your fists as a guide to measurement. Your stomach is about the size of your fist and this is the amount of food to eat at each meal.

Anti-Fat Ad

Apparently there is lots of controversy about this ad that's posted all over NY city. I see no problem with it but I am very anti-soda so it should be no surprise!

MSG is in everything!

Today I was eating Quaker Rice snacks and I was having a difficult time putting down the bag, I just kept on eating and saying to myself "this will be my last one", but I just kept on eating. My thought was what ingredient is in this that makes it so addictive that I can't just have one? Of course the first thing I thought of was MSG (monosodium glutamate). I recently read an article that mentioned that MSG is in a lot of snack foods. MSG is usually associated with Chinese food but it is now frequently in salty snack foods. MSG is primarily used to enhance the flavor of foods. Pick up a bag of potato chips and it is very likely to have MSG. Unfortunately it is also in my rice snacks so no more rice snacks for me!

I love chocolate - Homemade protein Bars!

I love chocolate, I get chocolate cravings every now and then and my cravings aren't usually for dark chocolate, which is healthier, so I sometimes cave into my cravings and get my favourite which is chocolate truffles. Well, I figured out how to satisfy my chocolate cravings in a healthier way...homemade chocolate protein bars! Yep, I have a recipe for chocolate protein bars that I love. The recipe is simple and includes the following: old fashioned rolled oats, cranberry trail mix (I used the one from Trader Joe's that has the almonds, walnuts, pistachios) water, chocolate protein powder (I used ON Whey milk chocolate).

The recipe is as follows:

Ingredients:
Cranberry trail mix (unsalted)
1.5 cups old fashion rolled oats (toast oats if desired)
3 scoops chocolate protein powder
1/2 cup water

Equipment:
Food processor/chopper
Saran wrap
Square Pan
Bowl












Directions:
Line the bottom of a pan with Saran wrap
Chop the cranberry trail mix in a food processor/chopper (one similar to the one below is ideal). Do not over chop.
Combine the chopped trail mix, oats, and protein powder to the bowl and mix thoroughly with a spoon.
Slowly add the water and mix until the mixture is moist but do not add too much water. If mixture becomes too soggy, feel free to add more oats or trail mix.
Firmly press the mixture into the pan with a spatula. Refrigerate overnight or for a few hours. Cut into bars and voila!

I had to take a few days off from training last week because I wasn't well, but I am back this week and since it's a new month, I started a new training program. Basically it's an old program I had from one of my old trainers and I modified it a bit. I want to increase my pullups so I added some pullups and will be doing negative pullups. This program will be 3 days of strength training and 3 days of cardio intervals. This workout includes 2 days of high reps and 1 day of low reps.

Ab Circle Pro: Does it Work?

As the infomercial states all you need to do is 3 minutes a day on this machine and you will have abs like Jennifer Nicole Lee the fitness model who is promoting this product on QVC.
I found the promotion of this product to be extremely misleading, 3 minutes a day on this piece of equipment is not going to give you abs like Jennifer Nicole Lee. Jennifer had those abs way before this piece of equipment was invented (unless she had it hiding in her basement). Spot reduction is a common exercise myth! The reviews I’ve read about this product are mixed. The most common complaint is that using this machine resulted in sore knees (after all you have to be on your knees to use this machine) and that it breaks easily. Most people stated that they “felt it working” (their muscle I guess) and were sore the next day. This is not unusual since you are now using muscles you may not have used in the past. The Ab Circle Pro does come with a nutritional guide and most people who followed this guide and used the Ab Circle Pro for about 20 minutes a day (not 3 minutes) did start losing weight. Well of course if you start exercising for 20 minutes a day and start a calorie restrictive meal plan you are going to lose weight, duh! But you can probably get the same weight loss results by going for a 20 minute walk (and eating healthily).
I do believe that using the Ab Circle Pro and following the nutritional guide is better than doing nothing (sitting on the couch) but I wouldn’t recommend it anyone. Basically after a while, your body will get used to any exercise program and you stop seeing any improvements or gains. Any new exercise plan works for about 6 weeks then your body just gets used to it. I am not quite sure how the Ab Circle Pro gives you a full body workout? The infomercial demonstrates that you can do pushups on this machine but you can also do pushups on the floor (everyone has a floor)! I think I will be able to purchase a lot more effective workout equipment for $200 + shipping & handling! Sorry, as I mentioned before, there is no quick fixes, magic pills etc, etc.

The Worst Drive-Through Meal in America

THE WORST DRIVE-THROUGH MEAL IN AMERICA
Carl’s Jr. Double Six Dollar Burger with Medium Natural Cut Fries and 32 oz Coke
2,618 calories
144 g fat (51.5 g saturated fat)
2,892 mg sodium

Wow! 2618 calories is much closer a man's daily caloric intake instead of 1 meal.

Should the Surgeon General be Slender?

The headline on the Washington Post magazine read “Should the surgeon general be Slender? President Obama recently appointed Regina Benjamin as the surgeon general and she is fat. Yes, I said the “F” word and don’t want to sugar coat it with one of those other words people often use to describe fat people, such as thick, plump, big boned , voluptuous etc.
What surprises me is that this is even an issue. The question should be “is she qualified”? Shouldn’t we be looking at her resume instead of her waistline? Not hiring a qualified person for a job because they are too fat (thin, black, white, short etc) is considered discrimination! This is not the first time a surgeon general has been over weight and I understand that a slender surgeon general would make a better role model, but would you prefer a less qualified surgeon general who was thin?

According to the surgeon general being fat cost America $117 billion a year in health care costs. Maybe the new surgeon general should lose some weight and help motivate American's to do the same!

Jump Rope Workout

Since I had issues with shin splints last week I am still taking it easy (I think), so instead of doing sprints or running I decided to create a jump rope workout that I can do at home. Jumping rope kicks butt, this workout is tough, my arms are like Jello right now and lifting up a cup of tea is a chore right now. My workout consisted of 2 minutes - jumping rope, 1 minute - bodyweight squats, 1 minute - diagonal wood chops, 2 minutes - jumping rope, 1 minute - squat thruster, 1 minute - standing trunk twists, 1 minute -mountain climbers, 1 minute - pushups and so on. I basically did this workout for 30 minutes. My arms got tired before my legs when I was jumping rope!

Golf Lesson

It's official, I have taken up golf and had my first lesson on Saturday. I think I did okay for my first lesson. I am looking forward to my first game. Craig plays a lot of golf and I told him that I would learn to play, and now it's finally happening. I am really excited. I didn't realize how much flexibility and core strength is needed for golf. I am going to have to incorporate more stability and flexibility exercises in my workouts. I've been surfing the net for golf gear to see what's out there and my only question is why are there so many pink womens golf bags? I am not a pink person and I refuse to purchase a pink golf bag! Pink is for babies!

Why would you deep fry cheesecake?

I am frequently looking for new recipes to try. Earlier today I was looking for a cucumber salad recipe that I had seen, and unfortunately I had had not bookmarked the recipe and unfortunately could not find it. I ended up making creating my own recipe with cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, almonds feta cheese and my homemade vinaigrette salad dressing. During my search for this recipe, I stumbled upon some disgusting, calorie dense and greasy sounding recipes, some that I would never think of trying. Some of them included deep fried cheesecake, deep fried Oreos, deep fried Twinkies, deep fried ice cream and deep fried Snickers. (You see the common theme here is deep fried!) Why would anyone every think of frying these foods? All I have to say is clogged arteries. Of course I had to look to see how these foods could be deep fried because you really cannot just add cheesecake or Twinkies to hot oil and expect it to fry! Basically the way to deep fry cheesecake is to you have to coat it with Tempura batter and then deep fry it. Yuck!
I have said before that generally the average American knows very little about nutrition. But come on, how could someone not know that frying cheesecake and Snickers isn’t healthy? I don’t like Snicker, Twinkies, Oreos but I love cheesecake and would never think of frying cheesecake or eating fried cheesecake. I read an article recently about the healthiest foods on earth (vegetables, fruits, tea) and someone’s comment on the article was the following: “I think most of us know what is good for us… but tell me why I keep eating sweets, cookies, muffins, chocolate…. It's because we don't eat for nutrition but for entertainment, or from boredom, or habit, or many other psychological needs. Cure that itch and we would all eat better.”
I never thought about that, I know I eat for nutrition, maybe it’s the years of my mother telling “eat it, it’s good for you”!

Five Pounds (5lbs): The amount the average American could potentially gain each year, simply by drinking sweetened beverages like coffee and sodas, according to a new study in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition!

You have the power to change anything about yourself or your life!

This healthy food diet that I started last week was not too different from my regular meals so it was extremely easy. I did miss my rice cakes. Since I couldn't have rice cakes I started making frozen yogurt. I basically got greek yogurt (because it is creamier than regular yogurt), fresh strawberries and stevia vanilla cream sweetner and I blended it and placed it in the freezer. Every hour I would blend it again and continued doing that for a few hours until it was frozen and creamy. I was quite surprised that my husband liked it. He liked it so much that he bought us a yogurt/icecream maker. My nice recipe will be mango frozen yogurt!

Unfortunately I had to cut my workout short today because of shin splints. Today my husband and I were running at the track and my right leg was so sore that I had to stop. I guess I will have to give up running for a while! I iced my shins when I got home which helped a bit. I am also going to do some of these preventative strengthening exercises:

Walk on my toes
With socks off, gather up a towel that is flat on the floor, using only the toes.
Walk on heels
Draw each letter of the alphabet with the big toe of each foot in the air

I hope I will be able to run next week.

Natural Food Diet

I don't eat a lot of processed foods, but I do eat some processed foods every now and them. This week I am going to take it even further, I am going totally hardcore and I am going on a Natural Food Diet. The goal of this diet is not to lose weight, I have to make this clear since people often associate diets with weight lost. With this diet I will be eliminating all processed foods, foods with additives and will be eating only foods that once grew, were alive and are natural. Some of these foods will include vegetables, fruits, nuts, legumes, sweet potatoes/yams, beans and of course lean proteins. I am not eliminating diary, so I will be eating yogurt, cottage cheese, eggs, whey protein. I need to have my protein shakes after I workout so I need to have my protein shakes, but I will not be eating rice cakes which is often my post workout snack. Finally, fish oil and olive oil will also be included.

Why a natural food diet?
Natural foods are more likely to provide the vitamins and nutrients the body needs and also has a cleansing effect on the body.
Finally for those dieters who want to lose weight, natural foods are less likely to be fattening and more likely to be healthy. So why not eat real foods and no processed foods for a week? Summer is a perfect time to do it with the abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables!

2009 US Annual Obesity Ranking

It’s that time of year again. It’s time for the US annual obesity rankings. Surprise, surprise, obesity rates rose in 23 states over the past year, hikes!
America’s fattest state is Mississippi, followed closely by Alabama. It is a bit alarming that 32.5% of adults in Mississippi are obese and 44.4% of children are overweight or obese. I’ve never been to Mississippi or Alabama, nor have I ever wanted to visit those states, but now here is even more reason NOT to go. I would probably have a difficult finding foods that I like to eat.
Colorado has the lowest obesity rate at 18.9%. I think I will head west (the closer to California the better) instead of south.
There are a number of health risks associated with obesity some of which include: diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and high blood pressure.
Unfortunately most American’s are clueless about health and nutrition and believe that as long as they include a supersized diet coke/pepsi with their Big Mac and large fries it’s okay. Everyone wants that magic/miracle pills that will give them washboard abs and a toned midsection! I say, step away from the junk foods and by all means stay away from the 7 C’s: cookies, crackers, cream, chocolate, cakes, cereals and colas!

Happy Fourth of July

This Fourth of July weekend will be pretty quiet, no major plans. Craig and I are planning on going to the Tiger Woods golf tournament which is not to far from where we live. We aren't planning to go to see fireworks. Since we live on the 15th floor we can stay on our balcony and see lots of fireworks from our condo. Craig is on a low carb diet so he will probably eat whatever food I cook and not eat junk food. I went grocery shopping and I purchased some fish (grouper) one of my favourites. I've never cooked it before so I hope it turns out well. I just love summer for so many reasons including all the fresh fruit at the grocery stores. I bought the best mangoes, blueberries, and cherries yesterday. This summer I've been indulging in lots of fruits. Last summer I was unable to eat a lot of fruit because I was preparing for my competition. My theory is if I indulge in fruits and vegetables then I won't be tempted to eat junk food! Plus I love fruits and vegetables.

Hope everyone have wonderful and safe holiday weekend!

Happy Canada Day

I had someone ask me what is Canada Day, and my first thought was why don't you just google it! But seriously the easiest way to describe it to Americans is it's our Fourth of July. Canada Day celebrates the events that occurred on July 1, 1867, when the British North America Act created the Canadian federal government!

Mel B's Totally Fit DVD

Mel Brown, also known as Mel B and Scary Spice has a new exercise DVD. Along with her new DVD, she is sporting a new toned body and looks amazing. I have the picture below of her as motivation for myself. My husband saw the pic of Mel B and said to me, when did you take that picture? He was actually serious and thought is was me! I guess that is even more motivation, a huge complement know that the goal is realistic. Often people make goals that are not realistic and as a result fail.

About Mel B's exercise DVD, I did read reviews and they were extremely favorable. A number of people stated that they lost weight as a result of the doing the DVD. However, most of the reviews stated that the DVD is not for beginners since Mel B doesn't instruct or explain how to do the exercises. The DVD is broken down into 8 segments that you can play in any order you like: Warm Up (5 min) Cardio (15 min) Advanced Cardio (20 min) Abs (10 min) Legs (10 min) Bums (10 min) Tums (10 min) Cool Down I personally would not purchase the DVD since I really don't use exercise DVD's anymore. I did use exercise videos in the past and have nothing against them. You name the DVD, I did it: the entire Body of Steel series, Jane Fonda, Billy Blanks Taebo etc, etc. In my opinion, if this exercise DVD going to get you to exercise, and you already have some level of fitness, I say why not purchase Mel B's exercise DVD!

Figure Athlete - The Anabolic Diet: It's a Lifestyle

Figure Athlete - The Anabolic Diet: It's a Lifestyle

Shared via AddThis

I thought I should post the above link for this Anabolic Diet because I found it interesting!
I normally hate diets and in my opinion people should never diet but instead choose a healthy lifestyle. The reality is most people once they stop dieting they go back to their bad eating habits and gain the weight back! I found this diet interesting because it did not deprive people of the foods they would normally eat and allowed them to eat stuff like pancakes and fruit on the weekends. It was more about a lifestyle change!

Anti-Gym Workout

Yesterday was a beautiful day and I did not feel like going to the gym and instead I did the anti-gym workout. I went to the track and ran sprints, box jumps, step-ups, hill climbs, and split squat jumps. I felt great and didn't want to leave. Going to the track is a great way to get a workout in without going to the gym. I also know that I got plenty of vitamin D!

Motivation comes from within, nobody can give you motivation!

Can I buy a pound of motivation please? Sorry, but it's not that easy. Motivation comes from within you and you have to find what it is that motives you to help you accomplish your goals. Whether it's a goal to lose weight, to start and exercise program, or to change your eating habits. I think it comes down to the belief in yourself that you can! That you can do it.

Basketball is one of my favourite sports to watch and I always notice that when a player (Kobe. Lebron, or any player for that matter) is having a good game, when they are making shot after shot, that it's like they believe that the ball is going in the basket and they don't even have to wait to see it go in. I always say, "they are willing the ball in the basket".

I guess it's difficult to get motivated if you don't believe in yourself, maybe the first lesson in motivation is belief!

Vitamins Myths Busted?

Recently there has been a lot of talk in the media about vitamins. I read an article in the June 2009 Oxygen magazine called Vitamin Myths Busted and last week on The View there was a doctor giving his opinion about vitamins.
According to this article and this doctor (on The View) people should not use vitamin supplements for the following reasons:
1. People can get all the vitamins and minerals from the foods they eat and most people have adequate access to the types of fruits and vegetables needed to stay healthy.

In my opinion the above reason is ridiculous, adequate access does not equate to adequate use! Unfortunately the average American diet does not include enough fruits, vegetables, or fiber and as a result do not consume an optimal amount of all vitamins by diet alone. Seriously how many people get the daily requirement of 35 grams of fiber or vitamin D?

2. Supplemental vitamins do not protect against cancer and heart disease.

I found number 2 to be interesting and contradicts many other studies as well as the Journal of American Medical Association who claimed the following: “suboptimal levels of vitamins B6 and B12, are a risk factor for cardiovascular disease, neural tube defects, and colon and breast cancer; low levels of vitamin D contribute to osteopenia and fractures; and low levels of the antioxidant vitamins (vitamins A, E, and C) may increase risk for several chronic diseases.”

3. Vitamins are dangerous, poisonous and are not strictly regulated by the FDA.

Considering the FDA often approves drugs that later get pulled off the shelf because of ill side effects such as the recent Zicam Nasal spray ban, I really don’t care if vitamins are restricted by the FDA. Furthermore, many things if taken in excess can be poisonous and dangerous. Alcohol for example can be poisonous, if you take too much Tylenol it can be dangerous and Tylenol is approved by the FDA. Most vitamins have a required daily allowance (RDA) on the bottle, the RDA helps prevent over consumption! Two nutrients that can be toxic if too much is taken include vitamin A and iron but a water soluble vitamin such as C is not generally toxic.
Although I believe in supplementing with vitamins, I don’t think they should be a substitute for fresh fruit and vegetables, but they can be used as insurance against eating a diet poor in nutritional quality!

Are Chain Restaurants Making Americans Fatter?

The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) awarded their 2009 Xtreme eating awards to The Cheesecake Factory, Olive Garden, and Applebees for offering appetizers, entrées, and desserts that give you a whole day's worth of calories in one dish. The average person needs about 2,000 calories a day and should limit their intake of saturated fat to 20 grams, and of sodium to 1,500 mg, keep this in mind when you read the list below of the nutrition (or lack thereof) in some of the meals at chain restaurants:

· Cheesecake Factory's Fried Macaroni and Cheese which contains 1,570 calories and 69 grams of saturated fat. Why on earth would you fry macaroni and cheese? “You would be better off eating an entire stick of butter”
· Olive Garden's Tour of Italy invites you to pile Lasagna, Chicken Parmigiana, and Fettuccine Alfredo onto a very large dinner plate.
· Uno Chicago Grill, The Melting Pot and Olive Garden's Red Lobster Ultimate Fondue, described as "shrimp and crabmeat in a creamy lobster cheese sauce served in a warm crispy sourdough bowl," contains 1,490 calories, 40 grams of saturated fat, and 3,580 mg of sodium.
· Applebee's Quesadilla Burger is essentially a bacon cheeseburger inside a quesadilla and contains two flour tortillas, two kinds of meat, two kinds of cheese, pico de gallo, lettuce, Mexi-ranch sauce, and fries. This dish has 1,820 calories, 46 grams of saturated fat, and 4,410 mg of sodium. Plus there is an option to top up the fries with more sauce and cheese.
· Chili's Big Mouth Bites is four mini-bacon-cheeseburgers with fries, onion strings, and jalapeno ranch dipping sauce. Apparently each of these mini burgers is about a quarter pounder. This dish comes as an appetizer or an entrée. The entrée version contains 2,350 calories, 38 grams of saturated fat, and 3,940 milligrams of sodium.
· The Cheesecake Factory's Chicken and Biscuits has 2,500 calories. In my opinion this is the worst meal I have ever seen (notice I say seen and not eaten). I have a story about this meal... when I first moved to the US, I went to dinner with one of my co-workers. We went to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner, and there was a long wait so while he waited I browsed around the mall (the restaurant was in a mall). The wait wasn’t as long as expected so when I got back, he was already sitting, and had ordered a meal for me. He ordered Chicken and Biscuits! When the meal arrived, I took one look at it and said “I can’t eat that”. I lost my appetite just by looking at it. The chicken was white and looked uncooked, there was gravy all over it with some biscuits plopped on top. Okay, I don’t like biscuits, I don’t like thick gravy and I don’t like chicken that looks uncooked. I knew that I would get sick if I ate that meal and thought to myself, “NO WAY am I eating that!”

I really don’t believe that the restaurants are making people fat, people have to take responsibility for their own actions. But I do agree with what organizations like CSPI are trying to do. They are trying to get restaurants to show calories and other nutrition basics on the menus. Their argument is “consumers can’t make an informed choice without the nutrition and calorie figures." Hopefully people can start making informed choices and stop blaming restaurants on making them fat!

You don't have to cook fancy or complicated masterpieces - just good food from fresh ingredients. Julie Child

I am rarely bored with the food that I eat but this week I am bored and I am looking for more clean foods to eat. A few weeks ago, my husband Craig, asked me if I ever got tired of eating chicken. Of course I said no since I cook chicken a variety of different ways. Below are lists of my top 5 carbs, vegetable, fruits and proteins.

My 5 top natural starchy carbs and whole grains

1. Oatmeal (old fashioned not that instant crap)
2. Yams & Sweet potatoes
3. Brown rice (a favorite is basmati, a long grain aromatic rice)
4. 100% whole wheat bread or Ezekiel bread
5. 100% whole wheat pasta

My top 5 vegetables

1. Broccoli
2. Asparagus
3. Spinach
4. Tomatoes (I love sun-dried tomatoes) Zucchini
5. Zucchini

My top 5 lean proteins

1. Egg whites (whole eggs in limited quantities)
2. Whey protein (I am going to try Hemp protein powder soon)
3. Chicken Breast
4. Fish - salmon (wild Alaskan), flounder, halibut
5. Ground turkey Breast

My top 5 fruits

1. Blueberries
2. Blackberries
3. Grapes
4. Raspberries
5. Strawberries
   (My favorite fruit is mangoes but it’s difficult to find good mangoes).

Also included in my meals are sources of good fats include almonds, olive oil, walnuts, and coconut oil.
I like trying new recipes and I am always looking for new recipes. I found the recipe below and it’s a recipe that the Obama’s chef Spike Mendelsohn makes at the White House. I am going to try this recipe and I will rate it once I do.

White House Turkey Burgers
Ingredients:

• 2 lbs ground Turkey
• 1 Cup diced celery
• 1 Cup diced apples
• 1 Cup diced red onions
• 1 Tblsp mango salsa
• Handful of chopped Parsley
• Juice of 2 lemons, and fine zest from the lemons
• 1 Tblsp Olive Oil
• A dash of Cayenne Salt & pepper to taste
• Slices of Munster cheese (optional)

I will modify the recipe by including some of my mom’s homemade hot sauce since I include it in almost everything I make).

Method: 1. Heat olive oil over medium heat, and toss in the red onions, turning them so they don't burn; "sweat" this for about 45 seconds, turning with wooden spoon so it doesn't burn

2. Add apples and celery and mango salsa, sprinkle in cayenne then salt & pepper, and season to taste. Keep stirring while everything binds; scrape the pan, and toss in chopped parsley at the last minute, then set aside to cool.

3. When ingredients are cool, combine with turkey meat. Squeeze in the lemon juice while combining, and add the lemon zest. Mash it all together well, so fruit and onions are well distributed throughout the meat. Re-seasoning a little at this point, to taste (add some of mom's hotsauce). Make eight balls with the mixture, (balls can be flattened with a spatula to look like burgers) and refrigerate until ready to cook. Once the burgers are almost done, add the munster cheese to melt.

4. Serve on toasted Multi-grain buns, with lettuce and tomato slices.

Bon Appétit!

National Walk Day...After eating donuts on National Donut Day

So I designate that today is National Walk Day after eating donuts on Natioanl Donut Day. For those who did not eat donuts you can still participate. Her are some benefits of walking:
1. Managing your weight. Combined with healthy eating, physical activity is key to any plan for long-lasting weight control. Keeping your weight within healthy limits can lower your risks of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, cancer, sleep apnea, and osteoarthritis.
2. Controlling your blood pressure. Physical activity strengthens the heart so it can pump more blood with less effort and with less pressure on the arteries. Staying fit is just as effective as some medications in keeping down blood pressure levels.
3. Decreasing your risk of heart attack. Exercise such as brisk walking for three hours a week — or just half an hour a day — is associated with a 30% to 40% lower risk of heart disease in women. (Based on the 20-year Nurses' Health Study of 72,000 female nurses.)
4. Boosting "good" cholesterol – the level of high-density lipoproteins (HDL). Physical activity helps reduce low-density lipoproteins (LDL or "bad" cholesterol) in the blood, which can cause plaque buildup along the artery walls — a major cause of heart attacks.
5. Lowering your risk of stroke. Regular, moderate exercise equivalent to brisk walking for an hour a day, five days a week, can cut the risk of stroke in half, according to a Harvard study of more than 11,000 men.
6. Reducing your risk of breast cancer and type 2 diabetes. The Nurses' Health Study also links regular activity to risk reductions for both these diseases. In another study, people at high risk of diabetes cut their risk in half by combining consistent exercise like walking with lower fat intake and a 5% to 7% weight loss.
7. Avoiding your need for gallstone surgery. Regular walking or other physical activity lowers the risk of needing gallstone surgery by 20% to 31%, found a Harvard study of more than 60,000 women ages 40 to 65.
8. Protecting against hip fracture. Consistent activity diminishes the risk of hip fracture, concludes a study of more than 30,000 men and women ages 20 to 93.

The list goes on and on. Many other studies indicate a daily brisk walk also can help:
Prevent depression, colon cancer, constipation, osteoporosis, and impotence
Lengthen lifespan
Lower stress levels
Relieve arthritis and back pain
Strengthen muscles, bones, and joints
Improve sleep
Elevate overall mood and sense of well-being.
Keep it Steady
A steady routine is the most important factor in getting the most out of your exercise program. Walking for at least 30 minutes a day, 5 or more days a week is recommended. (Source AARP).

Today is National Donut Day

Can you believe it? There is a National Donut Day! Every first Friday in June is National Donut Day where you can get free donuts from Krispy Kreme and Dunkin Donuts. I am not a big fan of donuts, so I am not promoting this day. But here is some motivation to stay away from the donuts!

I Krispy Kreme glazed donut has 350 calories, 20 grams of fat, 39 carbs and 4 grams of protein. Basically that's almost a meal!

Happy Friday and stay away from the donuts!

Plastic Bottles & Ocean Pollution

I drink a lot of water but I stopped drinking bottled water for several reasons. I stopped purchasing bottled water for several reasons:
Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

Plastic Bottles & Ocean Pollution

View more Microsoft Word documents from Jeff Bennett.

I've always had a water filter for drinking water in my home but now instead of purchasing bottled water to carry in my car, I now carry a stainless steel water bottle. Other reasons for not drinking bottled water include the high cost, and that it may not be safe. The plastic can leach into your water and plastic #7 is known to be unsafe. More information about plastic #7 can be found at this website Earth911.com.

"The nature of man is always the same; it is their habits that separate them." - Confucius

Yesterday I was training at my gym, I was doing step-ups and this man was looking at me while I was doing them. Later on after my workout when I was doing me stretches, he came up to me and felt that he should give me some advice. He recommended that I not do step-ups since it can cause injury. He told me that I should do the hack squat instead and that it would get me the same results as step-ups? Well my first thought was that you can get injured with almost every exercise, particularly if you don’t use proper form, but step-ups are not on my list of high injury exercises! Seriously, doing a step-up is not much different from walking up stairs. This man claimed to be a coach, I am not sure what he coached? It’s really interesting because you will always find trainers giving people conflicting advice. I had one trainer who insisted that I use the Smith Machine to do squats and another who thought Smith Machines where the most useless and injury causing machine at the gym. In cases like that, I listen to both sides and then decide on my own.

Now that it's month end, I have to create a new workout program for myself for next month. I change my workout regimen every 4 to 6 weeks and now it’s time. I had a brutal training program last month. It was extremely difficult because I was doing 2 days of high reps/short rest and 1 day of low reps/longer reps. I am not a fan of high reps exercises. Now it’s time for me to set a new goal and create my workout plan for next month.

One of my favorite trainers, Craig Ballantyne just posted this on his blog today.

“Here's the bottom line...
If you plan, and I mean really plan things out (not just making your lunch the day before, but plan out meal by meal, grocery trip by grocery trip, workout by workout for the next 4-12 weeks), you will lose fat and achieve more than you ever thought possible. This is the stuff of legends.”

Happy Training!

Cover Girl Alicia Marie

I just received my June copy of Oxygen magazine and Alicia Marie is on the cover again. She looks wonderful as usual. Alicia has been competing since 2002 and below an example of her meal plan and training. ALICIA MARIE’S MEAL PLAN
Meal 1 • 6.5 oz grapefruit (peeled) or 3.5 oz orange (peeled) • 1 whole egg scrambled with 6 egg whites• ¾ cup oatmeal (measured dry)• 12 almonds (used in oatmeal)• 8 oz 1% lactose-free milk• 12 oz water
Meal 2 • 6.5 oz grapefruit or 3.5 oz orange • 3 oz of one of the following: canned, water-packed tuna, grilled chicken breast, turkey breast, halibut or tilapia• 1 cup cooked brown rice • 3 oz avocado (¼ cup salsa can be used to make guacamole)• 12 oz water
Meal 3 • 4 oz of one of the following: canned, water-packed tuna, grilled chicken breast, turkey breast, halibut or tilapia• 4 oz baked sweet potato• 2 tbsp almond or peanut butter (used on sweet potato or eaten alone)• 1 cup steamed broccoli or 1 cup spinach or green beans• 12 oz water
Meal 4 • 4 oz of one of the following: canned, water-packed tuna, grilled chicken breast, turkey breast, halibut or tilapia• 1/3 cup cooked brown rice or 2 oz baked sweet potato• 3 cups chopped lettuce and 1/3 cup chopped cucumber• 2 oz chopped avocado• 2 tbsp reduced-fat dressing• 12 oz water
Meal 5 • 2 oz grilled chicken breast (chopped)• 4 egg whites scrambled with chicken • 2.5 cups steamed spinach • 2 oz avocado with ¼ cup salsa to make guacamole (used on eggs or spinach)• 12 oz water

Her favourite cheat is Krispy Creme donuts!

ALICIA MARIE’S WORKOUT
Monday: Chest and triceps
Tuesday: Shoulders
Wednesday: Legs
Thursday: Back and biceps
Friday: Bleacher workout (she runs them – her favorite!)
Saturday: Pilates
Sunday: Rest
She does abs exercises three to four times a week, sliding them in between workouts

How to get arms like Michelle Obama

Everyone is talking about Michelle Obama’s arms. First my MIL asked me what I thought about Michelle Obama wearing sleeveless tops. I thought that was a weird question since I never really thought about it and my response was if she has nice arms why not go sleeveless. In the next conversation she mentions that Michelle had nice arms. I guess people are not used to seeing a First Lady wearing sleeveless tops/dresses without flabby arms!

The number one question is how to get arms like Michelle Obama. She is said to workout out 90 minutes 3 days a week. Most women have week upper bodies and a simple arm workout like the one below will help tone your arms like Michelle Obama's.

Start with a warmup doing some cardio for about 10 minutes and then stretch.
1. Bar bell curls - 4 sets of 10-15 reps
2. Narrow grip bench press - 4 sets of 8-10 reps
3. Alternate dumb bell curls - 4 sets of 8-10 reps
4. Tricep kickbacks - 4 sets of 10-15 reps or tricep dips on a bench.

A rep number of 8-10 should cause you to fail in that rep range so if you can do more than 10 reps the weight is probably too light and you can increase your weight. Perform each exercise with proper form and try not to swing the weights.

Happy Workout!

Biggest Loser

One of my favourite shows is The Biggest Loser and the finale was this week. I love show and at times it makes me cry (tears of joy), when the contestants reach their goals. The winner this year was Helen Phillips who lost 140 pounds and about 54% body fat. This is Helen's before and after pictures. Amazing! Congrats Helen and to all the winners because they are all winners!




Here is a video of what the final contestants had to say. This is how they did it!

http://www.people.com/people/videos/0,,20278528,00.html

Change your attitude, change your body!

The 2 top reasons people do not exercise/workout/train:

1. Lack of time


2. No motivation

Lack of time: Unfortunately there is only 24 hours in a day and there isn't much anyone can do to add more time to the day, but what you can do is prioritize so that you can sneak in a 20 to 30 minute workout. That's all that is needed. I personally do not believe that anyone except a professional athlete has to spend more that 1 hour a day in the gym.

Motivation: How to get motivated? That is the million dollar question since everyone gets motivated differently. My husband told me recently that I motivated him workout. I was quite surprised by that statement since for years he sat on the couch while I headed to the gym or trained in our home gym. See we had a small home gym and he insisted that if we purchased the equipment he would use it since it was so be convenient and he would not have to leave the house. I am not quite sure exactly what I did to motivate him but it worked and I wish I could motivate a few more people. What people have to do is find out what motivates them and then use it.

It takes 21 days to change or establish a new habit! Just starting a workout plan and stick to the plan for 21 days. You might just find out that you may actually enjoy working out!

Get Fit for Summer Program

Get Fit for Summer Program!
I just started a new training program and my husband is now training with me. I am happy about this since I’ve always wanted a training partner, but in the past he refused to train with me, we would go to the gym together but never train together. I don’t think he wanted to train with a girl! I also think it’s because one of the trainers at my gym continue to tell him that he is scared to train with me because I will beat him up. That is absolutely not true.
The training program I’ve created for us includes 3 days of weight training consisting of 2 high rep days and 1 low rep day. The high rep days will include 10 reps and 4 sets of 6 exercises and will be done as a circuit with only 30 seconds rest in between. This circuit will keep the heart rate up thus helping burn more fat. The high rep day will be heavier weights and will be only 4 exercises of 5 reps and 5 sets with about 75 seconds of rest between each set. This Get Fit for Summer Program will also include 1day of plyometrics and body weight exercises such as body weight squats, burpees, mountain climbers etc. These will all be done in 1 minute intervals. So far that’s 4 days of training, the other 2 days will be optional cardio. I personally will try to get to the track to run the bleachers and do sprints for 1 day and then do some yoga on the 6th day. Voila, this is my Get fit for Summer Program.

I also think that my husband started training with me because he is seeing my results. In the past, he has always encouraged me to hire a personal trainer and I didn't want to but did anyway. There is absolutely nothing wrong with hiring a personal trainer but I think after all these years of training and reading about fitness, I know enough about fitness where I don't need a personal trainer. Also, I know the areas where I need to improve and I want to focus on those areas. This past year, I've been doing training that focuses on my shoulders, back and biceps since those are areas that I need to improve. I must be doing something right since I (as well as others) have noticed improvements in my shoulder development. What I've I also noticed is people at the gym copying my exercises. Since I've been focusing on shoulder development, I started doing a unilateral should press exercise. This exercise was great for me since I noticed that one shoulder was stronger than the other, and I wanted to even them out. BTW, this is not a common exercise and when I do it I put my hands on my abs so that I can remember to keep a tight core and suck in my stomach. So last week, I am doing this exercise and this girl comes right next to me and starts doing in it as well (with her hands on her abs)! Pretty amazing!
TGIF!
Happy Mothers Day to all!

Top 5 Stupid Questions Asked

Here are some stupid questions I am often asked:

1. You are so skinny, do you eat? Why is it okay to tell someone that they are skinny when it is not okay to tell someone that they are fat? And no, I don't like being called skinny, just like no one likes to be called fat!
2. You must workout a lot? Okay, I train 4, 5 and sometimes even 6 days a week for 1 hour only. So that's really only between 4-6 hours a week. If you think that's a lot then that is your opinion, but since there are 24 hours a day and 168 hours in a week then training only 6 hours a week is only a bit over 3% of my time spent training. Now, how many hours do you spend watching TV? The average American spends over 4 hours of watching TV a day.
3. You lift weights, aren't you scared that you are going to get big bulging muscles? Getting big bulging muscles is the least of my concerns. I started lifting weights since I was in college and I don't have big bulging muscle so I am not worried. But then again, maybe some people think I have big bulging muscle or/and think that I am too muscular. But then, everyone is entitled to their opinion.
4. Is that all you are going to eat? Yes it is, and I eat 5 or 6 of these small meals a day. You eat 2 or 3 large meals so leave me alone! I am sure I eat more food than you, maybe not more calories but more good clean food!
5. Do you need help getting those weights off that rack? Men at the gym often want to help me remove plates off the equipment, and that's noble and all, but I put them on, so I think I can get them off!

So that was my venting for the day.

FDA Warns Consumers to Stop Using Hydroxycut Products

An extremely popular weight loss supplement (Hydroxycut) was pulled off the market and the FDA is warning consumers to stop using it. The supplement is linked to one death and other health problems including liver injury, jaundice, kidney failure and other cardiovascular diseases. I am not sure how effective Hydroxycut is but there were about 9 million packages sold last year. Unfortunately there is no magic pill for weight loss and many are dangerous or ineffective. My former trainer’s client did advertisement for Hydroxycut and he claimed that her weight loss results were due to his meal plan and she didn’t really use the product.

My cousin called me yesterday and she mentioned that she is dieting and was starving. I don’t understand why people go on diets and starve themselves? There are so many things wrong with that! One of the main reasons is that as soon as you stop the diet, you gain the weight back because you start eating the same way you were in the past. It’s about living a healthy lifestyle, not starving yourself. The sad part is that there are all these diets out there and people think they need to diet and it's often not about a lifestyle change. There was this man on Oprah this week who weighed over 1000 pounds, he lost about 1000 pounds and was at a comfortable weight of 198 pounds (for about 1 day). As soon as he got to his goal weight of 198 pound he went out and ate hotdogs, french fries, basically a lot of crap and gained all the weight back, and then some. Unfortunately the average American does not know very much about nutrition and there is a lot if ignorance surrounding micronutrients. Micronutrients are carbohydrates (carbs), fats, and protein, eating a balanced meal should include all of those micronutrients. It’s not about eliminating fats or carbs from your diet (unfortunately a lot of people don't even know what a carb is). It’s not about starving yourself or dieting, getting to your desired weight and as soon as you do, gain it all back because you go back to old eating habits It’s about a lifestyle change!

Kim Kardashian workout DVD – Fit in your jeans by Friday!

Kim Kardashian has a workout DVD called “Fit in your jeans by Friday. How ridiculous is that?
Kim Kardashian was on The View this week promoting her DVD and what was surprising was that she did not seem to be completely clueless. She knew that one of the exercises was targeting the obliques and she also knew that you can’t spot reduce. What is ridiculous is the expectation that is in the title of the DVD. Do people really think that they will be able to fit in their jeans by Friday if they do the exercises in this DVD? This Friday? Is that really realistic? Since I have not viewed the DVD, it’s hard to judge but this DVD is obviously marketed to mainstream America, people who want the quick fix, the magic pill. The question is whether or not Kim could fit in her jeans with that big butt?

On another note, KFC now has grilled chicken. That’s a step in the right direction, maybe people are eating less fried chicken and KFC wants to stay competitive. Perhaps KFC’s goal is to make the list of Americans Healthiest Restaurants?

If it’s labelled “Sugar Free” – DON’T HAVE IT!

The Dangers of Aspartame:
For several years, I’ve been hearing about the dangers of Aspartame and I avoid it whenever possible. Aspartame is so many products that for some, it may be difficult to avoid. Since I don’t drink soft drinks, one of my only sources of aspartame is gum. I’ve been trying to cut out gum because most sugar-free gum has aspartame. Unfortunately, like high fructose corn syrup, aspartame is in everything.
A few years ago I bought a bag of sugar-free gummy bears and I ate the entire bag all in one day. I got sick and had major stomach issues, I was also in the bathroom for a while. I wasn’t sure it was the gummy bears although that was the only thing that was different that I ate. I ignored it and some months later I ate gummy bears again and I had the same symptoms. Let just say that I no longer eat sugar-free gummy bears.
“The EPA announced that there is an epidemic of Multiple Sclerosis and Systemic Lupus and they did not know what toxin was causing this to be rampant across the US. Scientists have now found the answer to this question - Aspartame. Symptoms of Aspartame Disease are: Fibromylagia symptoms, spasms, shooting pains, cramps, vertigo, numbness in the legs, dizziness, headaches, tinnitus, joint pain, depression, anxiety attacks, slurred speech, blurred vision, blindness and memory loss.”- American Health Magazine
Want more information about aspartame, check out this link below:

The Dangers of Aspartame And read: Aspartame's Toxic Contents

Brown fat is Good Fat!

Brown fat is good fat?

This week on The View, there was a discussion about this new discovered brown fat which is called “good fat”. Apparently having more brown fat will help you burn more calories. What is interesting is that now scientists are trying to develop a pill to figure out how you can get more of this “brown fat”.
Having more muscle also help burn more fat, why aren't scientists also developing a pill to help people gain more muscle?
Again I see this as people seeking a quick fix. If you eat McDonald’s 3 times a day, do you really think having more “brown fat” is going to make a difference? Also will a pill that allows you to have more brown fat also give you the benefits of working out? People so often fail to see the benefits of exercising. Exercise can help prevent many diseases including heart disease, diabetes, stroke, osteoporosis, not to mention the psychological benefits. It's unfortunate that society often only associates exercising with losing weight!

The weather was beautiful last weekend and on Saturday I just couldn't get myself to go to the gym. Instead of going to the gym I went to the track to train. There is a school with a nice track close to my home and I thought I would go to do sprints and run the bleachers. Unfortunately, when I got to the school there were kids playing Lacrosse and the bleacher were full of spectators. I couldn't do sprints so instead I did a walk run workout followed by a hill run. We are suppose to have another great weekend and I just may be at the track again!

Obese Children on Dr. Phil

Recently I was watching Dr Phil and I was amazed! Why was I amazed? The issue that Dr. Phil was addressing on his show was obese children. There was a 5 year old who weighed 113 pounds and a 3 year old who weighed 88 pounds. That was unreal to me! What was even more amazing was that the parents were clueless when it came to health and nutrition. None of these children had medical problems that caused them to be over weight, but their obesity was resulting in health problems like diabiates. One child was snacking on chips etc and her mother told her that she should not be eating that and her response was “why did you buy it, if you didn’t want me to eat it’. The parent was unable to answer this question. But this child was asking the right question. It was not surprising that the parents were also over weight. So of course I was telling my mother about this program and her comment was that this should be considered child abuse! Seriously though, children are taken often away from their parents when a child is disciplined by a slapping etc, (I am not at all condoning child abuse when children are punished to the extreme). So why are children not taken away from their parents if the child is morbidly obese and the parents do not provide balanced nutritious meals. Should children be taken away from their parents in cases such as those shown on Dr. Phil?
I remember I once told someone that the first time I ate McDonald’s food (since my parents didn’t believe in McDonald’s) was when I was in my teens. This person’s comment to me was “didn’t you feel deprived”? I thought that was the strangest question. Why would I feel deprived of junk food? But maybe those obese children on Dr. Phil are deprived of healthy and nutritious meals and living healthy lives as a result of their health problems?

5 Most Common Gym Myths

1. Crunches blast belly fat
This is the number 1 biggest gym myth. If I had 1 dollar for every time someone asked me how to lose belly fat! You can’t spot reduce and doing a zillion crunches, sit ups etc will not help you lose belly fat. The answer to losing belly fat or any excessive fat, wherever it may be is to burn excess calories. Burning more than you eat (starvation or not eating is not an option!)
2. Weight lifting bulks you up. It amazes me that women are more scared of gaining muscle than gaining fat. Personally, if I had a choice to have some muscle or fat, I would choose muscle. Muscle is more dense and the more muscle you have the more fat you are likely to burn. More muscle makes you stronger, who would not want to be strong? I simply don’t understand why anyone would believe that lifting 10 pounds in the gym would make them big and bulky? There are probably so many things you lift throughout the day that weighs at least 10 pounds that you don’t get big and bulky from lifting.
3. Sweating = good workout. Thank goodness that this is false because I do not sweat a lot. If you never walk, just getting up and walking is a good workout. It is way better than the nothing you may usually do! Getting your heart rate up is a good sign of a good workout.
4. Working out with machines brings better results. Actually working out with free weights is way better for so many reasons, but if you don’t know how to use free weights then it’s best to learn how to use proper form first. One advantage of free weights is that free weights are more versatile and can work your muscles in more ways.
5. No pain, no gain. Some people believe that working out should hurt and pain is good. Actually some of the pain may be lactic acid build up and high reps generally cause lactic acid buildup. Personally I like some of the muscle soreness the day after training but I have to remember that no pain does not mean no gain. The other side of this is that just because you have some muscle pain/soreness does not mean that you have to give up. A great man once said "some pain is a sign that you are still alive"!

America’s Healthiest fast-food restaurants

This list of healthy fast-food chains include:
Chick-fil-A
Subway
Jamba Juice
Au Bon Pain
Panera Bread
Noodles & Company
Chipotle
McDonalds

I am not sure why McDonalds was included but since I have not entered a McDonald’s restaurant in about 10 years, perhaps their menu is now healthier? Panera Bread was included because they serve apples as sides (instead of a bag of chips, an apple is better). At Chich-fil-A only 2 entres on the menu are over 500 calories, which is a good start. Bon-a-petit!

The starting point of all achievement is desire, Keep this constantly in mind. Weak desire brings weak results! - Napoleon Hill

My cousin, Wendy recently asked me this question and and since it's a common question, I thought that I should post it.

I have a quick question. I know you are doing the body building etc. I have been going to the gym now to get back in shape and to lose some weight I have reached my goal and can fit into clothes that I have been trying to fit into but I'm having problems still with trimming down my thighs and arms, abs is not too bad. Any suggestions? Thanks and take careWendy

Hi Wendy,
Congrats on your weight loss and going back to the gym! Believe it or not, this is a common question. Unfortunately the areas where you gain weight the quickest are also the last areas where we lose. Most people’s fat deposits aren’t equally distributed. Women tend to gain weight in their thighs/hips (pear-shaped), or in their stomachs/breasts (apple-shaped). Unfortunately we can’t spot reduce and lose fat only in one area or in the areas of our choosing. You may have to lose some more overall fat and firm those areas by lifting weights. You didn’t mention what you currently do at the gym so I am assuming that it may be mostly cardio therefore I would recommend the following:
1. Incorporate some light weights into your workout. I would recommend using light weights and high reps. For example, 12 to 15 reps with short 30 second rest between each set. Don’t be too concerned about getting too muscular. You don’t have enough testosterone and you are not lifting heavy so you should not be concerned about getting too muscular. Lifting weights will help tighten these areas.
2. Include some pylometrics and body weight workouts in your routine. Here is a link to examples of plyometric exercises. http://www.sport-fitness-advisor.com/plyometricexercises.html.
3. Change your workout and include some variety. If your regular workout includes running or walking on the treadmill, add do some interval work and increase the incline on the treadmill. For example, walk on the treadmill for 1 minute then increase the incline and speed for a minute, then reduce the incline and speed for a minute then increase for a minute. Make sure you include a regular 5-10 minute warm-up and cool down. Good luck!

If we all did the things we are capable of, we would astound ourselves! - Thomas Edison

I decided that I will not compete this year. The reasons are that I enjoy working out way more when I am not preparing for a competition and I really want to focus more on doing more shoulder and core exercises. I’ve also started doing body weight workouts which are fun, but challenging.

I always read the ingredients listed on food packages before I purchase foods. Some of the things I avoid and will not purchase are foods with high fructose corn syrup and trans fat. Basically, trans fat is made when manufacturers add hydrogen to vegetable oil--a process called hydrogenation. Hydrogenation increases the shelf life and flavor stability of foods containing these fats.
I was extremely surprised to learn that there was high fructose corn syrup in fat-free half .y husband adds it to his coffee in the morning. I am not sure why high fructose corn syrup would need to be included in fat free half and half but there it was? Needless to say, I will no longer be purchasing fat free half and half.
I am not sure why but I haven’t been sleeping well for the past 2 nights. Not sure if it has to do with the Daylight Saving Time change. My goal for the next few days is to get lots of sleep.

3 foods you must NOT eat if you want to lose fat.

3 foods you must NOT eat if you want to lose fat.

My cousin recently told me she wanted to lose weight. I really don’t think she is really serious so until she is there is not much I can do to help her. But my suggestions to her would be to try to lose fat, not weight. I say fat and not weight because if I wanted to lose 10 pounds I would prefer to lose 10 pounds of fat and not 10 pounds of muscle. Mainly because fat takes up way more space than mucle (pic below), and the more muscle you have the more fat you burn.

3 foods you must NOT eat if you want to lose fat.
1) Processed foods from a bag or a box. For example, avoid breakfast cereal. Most breakfast cereals have way too much sugar.

2) Carbohydrate snacks. For example, a bag of chips or granola bar. Does anyone really get full from eating a granola bar? I know that I don’t!

3) Liquid calories – Such as Coke, fruit juice. Most fruit juices are filled with high fructose corn syrup and I don’t think anything is worst than Coke except maybe Pepsi. Also if you are hungry will drinking a can of Coke and drinking juice really help? You might as well just drink water – zero calories!
4) Breakfast from fast-food restaurants. Just to give you an idea a Bacon, Supreme Omelet & Cheese on Croissant from Dunkin Donuts has 680 calories and 44 grams of fat.

Luckily my cousin likes to cook so I don’t think she has to be too concerned with #4.

What I am giving up for Lent

Every year I try to give something up for Lent. This year I am going to give up chewing gum!
I seem to have an addiction to gum and I am going to try hard to try to give it up. Forty days of no gum and hopefully I will be able to give it up completely after 40 days. I gave up gum for about 1 week last year. My trainer insisted that I give it up for about 1 week before my last competition (mainly because it causes bloating). Unfortunately on some days a chew as much as 1 pack of gum a day! Maybe it's the sweetness that I am really addicted to? Maybe I am really addicted to sweets! To help determine if it's really an addiction to sweets, I am also going to give up candy.

What's the big deal about chewing gum? Well the problem is the artificial sweeteners in the gum. Some artificial sweeteners are not really good for you. I finally made up my mind after reading the following:

"Artificial sweeteners always seem to have a significant downside to them whether it is causing cancer (saccharin), seizures and headaches (aspartame), tumors (acesulfame K) or possible immunologic disorders (splenda). Now research shows they also promote weight gain."

I really don't use artificial sweeteners except for some stevia I add to my oatmeal so all I have to do give up gum! It's that easy! Not!

Hard Work or Genetics?

I recently heard a fitness expert say that if you want to look like a sprinter "do sprints", if you want to look like a yoga instructor do yoga, or a Pilate's instructor do Pilate's. Pretty crazy, so if I start playing basketball, I will look like a basketball player? I wish it was that easy. I know my husband wouldn't mind having shoulders like Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic's but he certainly isn't going to get those shoulders just by playing basketball! Basically genetics has a big part in a person's physique. With that being said, this does not mean that you should not work with what you have and try to make it better, some hard work will go a long way! Each of us has limitations. Since I tend to store most of my body fat in my mid section, I may not get that six pack that I long for, but I am not going just give up and say well, I have poor genetics so why bother? I may not have the genetics to become a professional figure competitor, but I will try to look the best that I can. BTW, my goal isn't to become a professional figure competitor but I wouldn't mind having abs like this Alicia Marie

Latest Diet Craze!

People will try almost anything to lose weight. On the radio this morning there was an ad for a diet shake that will supress your appetite. There is always some new diet shake, pill, tea, or strange procedure to help with weight lose. When are people going to stop wasting their money and just exercise and eat healthily?

"North Americans spend $50 billion a year on pills, potions, diets and programs promising nothing short of miraculous weight loss. Many of them are nonsense, according to an editorial in this week's Canadian Medical Association Journal."

'The majority of commercial weight-loss providers manipulate vulnerable consumers with impunity, cultivating unrealistic expectations and false beliefs.

" Vulnerable consumer" is the key word. I had a friend who spent lots of money at a clinic that hooked her up to electrodes, which were suppose to melt the fat off her. When I told her that it was a waste of money and would not work, she proceeded to tell me that I wouldn't understand because I wasn't fat. I will certainly agree with that, I don't know what's it's like to be fat. But what I did understand was that she should stop eating at Popeye's, and that might help! Unfortunately people will always be duped by the latest diet "craze".

I am an exercise addict!

I was speaking to my sister today and she called me an addict...an exercise addict! I know some may not think being an exercise addict is a bad thing, but I don't believe that any types of addictions can be good. I am definitely not an exercise addict, and I know that the first step is to admit it. Now, I don't think I can stop exercising, I always have to be active whether it's just going to the gym or playing a sport. Last night I was actually looking into taking up a new sport. Perhaps taking tennis or swimming lessons. I know how to swim, but I want to be be able to do all the strokes and swim laps. I am definitely not a strong swimmer. Considering all the couch potatoes out there, being an exercise addict may not be that bad, but I really don't think it's good either.

Here are signs that you are an exercise addict:

• You feel that more exercise is better. An addict feels that more exercise is better therefore they spend hours in the gym, everyday and don't take a day off!

Excessive exercise is actually not good for you and can lead to injuries. I personally only workout 1 hour a day and after 1 hour of working out, I am out! I do not exercise everyday either. Your body needs time to recover!

• You workout even when tired or injured. This is generally not a good idea. Unless you are a professional athlete who gets paid then why risk it.

I don't like getting injured and don't like pain, hospital, stitches, etc so I am usually really cautious about this. When I am tired, I know it's time to rest.

• You prevent interactions and fail to attend functions and invitations because you cannot miss a day of not working out.

Sometimes I do exercise because I don't have anything better to do, but I don't turn down invitations because I need to workout. I do sometimes avoid situations where it involves drinking alcohol and eating foods that I don't usually eat.

• You believe in the "no pain, no gain" principle. Some people actually believe that unless it hurts, they are not working out hard enough?

So these are some signs that you are an exercise addict! The answer is no, I am not an exercise addict!

So I still have not completely decided whether I will compete in May. I worked out really hard on Monday and during my workout, at times, I thought to myself, "do you really want to do this...it's not easy"! You see, I tend to workout harder when I am preparing for a competition, and I make sure I do every rep. Do I really want to make all those sacrifices I will need to in order to prepare? The diet part is the easier part of competing (except for the last 2 weeks). What is even most difficult is maintaining muscle and not losing muscle. I do have to decide soon but in the meantime, I am going to continue to train as if I am going to compete on May 10th!

The Biggest Loser

Okay, I watch The Biggest Loser, it's actually one of my favourite shows. The shows provides good information about eating more healthily and helps motivate people to workout and lose weight. The most recent show was interesting because it exhibited many examples of people making excuses - excuses for not working out hard and excuses for not following their diets. One of the contestants had her 1 month "weight in" and she had not lost any weight, Her excuse was that she put on muscle, yeah right! Not that it's not possible, because people can gain muscle and lose fat and therefore show no difference on the scale but really now! What was the basis of determining that she lose fat and replaced it with muscle? Now if they had taken her measurements and there was a reduction in her measurements then it would justify making such a statement but lady, stop fooling yourself.

What amazes me when I watch the show is how ignorant people are when it comes to nutrition. I shouldn't be surprised since I witness is everyday. Recently I was at a restaurant and the person with me was eating a fajita and they were trying to tell me that it was healthy! Whatever!

Fitness Universe 2009

I am considering doing the Fitness Universe competition in May this year. I am seriously comtemplating it??? It will give me about 100 days to prepare!

It Was Easy!

Those were the words uttered by my hairstylist. Words you don't hear too often, particularly pertaining to weight lost. I was getting a hair cut last week and one of my hair stylist's clients told her that she noticed that she had lost weight and looked great. My hairstylist actually said "it was easy, all I did was give up sugar and soda"! I can tell you, I was shocked because you don't hear that too often. I often hear people say "it's so hard to lose weight" and my thought is "whatever"! Of course if you continue to eat the same junk foods and sit on your couch instead of getting off your butt and at least go for a walk, it's going to be difficult! If you continue to do the same thing, you are going to get the same results, and you are not miraculously going to lose weight! Losing weight is simply burning more calories than you eat. Losing weight is easy, what is not easy is changing your habits to allow you to lose weight! There are so many habits people can change to help them lose weight. Some examples include:

• Park a bit further and walk. I often see people sitting in their cars waiting for a closer parking spot and I'll park my car at a further spot and walk all the way to the store and they are still waiting!!!
• Walk up a flight of stairs instead of waiting for the elevators. The washroom on my floor at work is getting renovated and it's amazing the number of people who wait for the elevator to go up 1 flight of stairs intead of just walking up or down 1 flight.
• Eliminate soda (including diet soda) and sugar in your diet.
• Just be more active, instead of a couch potato!

Those are all easy things to do, aren't they?

My New Website

I have been extremely busy these past few week building my new company Bernees Naturals and the website http://www.berneesnaturals.com/, that I have not had a lot of time to write. Although I've been busy, I am still getting in my workouts and eating healthy. Unfortunately yesterday I did have a Lindor chocolate truffle binge. I ate way too many truffles, but that was yesterday and now I must move on.

Bernees Naturals is my new project! I've been using and creating natural products since my teens. I am a night owl and during the summer months I would stay up reading almost every book in my parent's house. I read all of mom's Harlequin Romance novels and after a while I figured out that they were all the same plot, just different characters, so I moved on to read my mom's herbal remedies/cures and self help books. My mother had all these books about natural facial masks and basically things in your refrigerator for facials, natural moisturizers, conditioners etc, that you can use instead of purchasing all those store packaged products. For example, I made yogurt masks from natural homemade yogurt (of course my mother also had a yogurt maker), the yogurt mask is one of my favourites and is excellent for dry winter skin.

I am a big believer of natural and organic products and foods. I avoid artificial and processed foods and products as much as possible. When I purchase foods, as well as products I put on my skin, I read the ingredients. What I've often noticed is that there is so often so little of the ingredient in the product although the product may be given the product name. For example, a bottle of "Cocoa Butter Lotion" may have cocoa butter at the bottom of the ingredients list. I am not sure why manufacturers are allowed to do that?
My products contain no artificial preservatives, or parabens and are full of stuff that's good to put on your body and looks good enough to eat. For example, my kiwi/mango scrub looks and smells like kiwi but my products are NOT edible! I also have a cocoa butter lotion, Shea body butter, mango body butter, and a conditioning hair creme. Feel free to visit http://www.berneesnaturals.com/ to learn more about my products!

Train Hard and Live Healthy!

BMI - Body Mass Index

I've added a BMI chart to my website! Body mass index (BMI) is a measure of body fat based on height and weight. It is applicable only to adult men and women. Nothing is perfect, so at times a Body Mass Index percent may state that you are overweight and it may be incorrect. This is expecially true for really athletic individuals. This is because this index doesn't really know the percentage of bodyfat you are carrying. For example, you could weight 140 lbs and if your percentage of fat is only 15% and you are carrying a lot of muscle, this index could calculate that you are over weight. It may be best to use the BMI along with a body fat percent to help determine if you are over weight.

Last week I was listening to this radio program, The Michael Baisden Show and he had callers calling to explain the difference between fat, voluptuous, curvy, big boned etc. It was amazing how many people, in my opinion were in denial. All of the callers were women, and I don't think anyone who called weighed less than 200 pounds, but for the most part insisted that they were voluptuous or anything else but fat. I really felt like calling in to say "get a grip", you are 5 feet 2 inches and you weigh 200 pounds! Reality bites! Really now, will someone who is 6 feet 5 inches tall tell you that they are not tall? So why is it so difficult for someone to say the 3 letter "F" word? As they say, the first step is admitting it!