Holiday Thoughts

With another holiday week/end upon us I find myself back on the usual rant about eating well, making good choices and not falling off the band wagon of exercise and stretching. We are all human and you have to live a little but make good choices, and eat smaller portions. Yet again the morning after the holiday....'THE DAY AFTER" everyone drags themselves back into the gym or out on the road to 'burn it all off', and while I would normally applaud this proactive behavior the point is health and wellness is a full time job. Live it, be it, practice it and encourage it from and for others. Of course I'm not saying don't have fun, have a little of the bad stuff but keep it small. If you have set strict goals for yourself, which you should never sent them that tight, keep your eyes on the ball and continue to strive for that goal.

Fast Weight Loss

I came across the most fantastic diet. A friend of mine lost 7 pounds in just 3 weeks without changing his lifestyle. His wife lost 5 pounds in just 2 weeks, fantastic results. what is this amazing breakthrough diet you ask?
They stopped eating fast food, cut sugary drinks completely out of their diet, began to eat at home for dinner and bring their lunch with them to work.
They drank 8-10 glasses of water a day, added JUICE PLUS and a fiber supplement.

Really does not seem all that hard does it?

Exercise of the Week

WALK, seems so simple to just go for a walk. Amazing how few people actually walk each day. The act of walking at a brisk pace will loosen muscles in your back, hips and legs which consequentially are the same muscles that when tight actually contribute to your back hurting. 'Mall Walking' slow and with no purpose has the opposite effect, it actually makes you stiffer, that is why when you shop your back gets stiff. We are creatures of motion, so move. Studies have shown that just walking 20-30 minutes each and every day will significantly decrease pain, halp weight loss and release chemicals that make you feel better. So get up and go for a walk.......Now.

A Simple New Years Recepie Trick

The new year is upon us, and a heartfelt congratulations for surviving 07'. So, I thought I would start out it giving you a very simple but very effective solution to making some proactive changes in 08'. As you all know, portion control, and good food choices are equally as important as exercise. There are some very simple food substitutions that you can make on a daily basis to cut your caloric intake and decrease your portion size. One of my favorite recipes that allows you to indulge in that chocolate fix that so many love is to simply take a box of devils food cake mix and simply stir in a can of pumpkin. Mix well, add in some cherries if you like bake and enjoy. By adding in pumpkin instead of oil and eggs, you have substantially decreased the amount of calories and lowered the fat content. As long as you remember to enjoy only one piece per day this recipe will get you far from overindulging in those sweet and chocolate cravings.

The Christmas Ache

Well, the season is upon us to forget all the we have worked on from the past year. Now is the time to become irresponsible, forget your diet, stop exercising, don't stretch... just fall off the wagon. A little known fact is that during the holiday season the risk of heart attacks and strokes roughly triples. The reason this occurs is that people forget to take their medications, eat foods that they don't normally eat. This causes a cascade effect of increasing blood pressure and changes in body composition, coupled with the stress of the holiday season. An unfortunate fact is that the rate of suicides also increases exponentially during the holidays. So the best advice I can give during the stressful season is that the best path to take is to continue on the path you're on. keep exercising, manage your diet carefully, avoid stressful situations, and just have a good time. If you have not begun a regular habit of diet and exercise now is absolutely the best time to start. Staying true exercise and diet program this time a year will make it much much easier to continue a healthy habit good lifestyle changes with the upcoming new year. And as I'm always fond of saying Summers comming!

Eat Like a Bird

Just a few quick thoughts for the upcoming holiday. The average American will eat soooooo much food that they can actually re-set their metabolism LOWER. That's right, from now until past new years most people will consume so many calories (food, alcohol, sweets) that they send a signal to their bodies telling it to burn fewer calories, the net result is that you can actually re-set your caloric furnace lower. If this happens every year over a lifetime, do the math!.
The trick is simple, eat smaller portions. Eat what you want just eat less. Take a walk before you eat, play with the kids, throw the ball around. Become or remain active over the holiday, eat smaller portions-graze instead of binge. To end on a sobering thought, alcohol calories have the same weight and effect as fat calories, roughly double that of protein. make good choices!

Big Belly, Big Bench, Bad Shoulders

Sorry for the lack of posting this week, new employee to train and start of the holiday rush. While I was in the gym this past week I noticed a lot of new faces getting a start on the new years resolutions, good for them. There was a 'guy', you know the one, big belly and obviously out of shape. He walked in and went strait to the bench, which he lay on to exercise. One of my favorite questions to ask anyone who is dead set on bench pressing is....... "IF YOU LAYING ON YOUR BACK ON THE PLAYING FIELD OF LIFE, YOU LOST!". There is no reason to bench press-ever. The damage it does to your shoulders alone is just sick. Try to do a chest press standing, it is much better for you and much more functional.

Simple Nutrition Substitutions

BAD GOOD

Meat Pizza -Vegetable Pizza
Plain ‘white’ bagel -Whole Wheat bagel
White bread -Whole wheat
Mayonnaise -Mustard
Cookies- Fruit
Soda -Water
Fried foods -Baked-broiled-grilled
Burger -GRILLED chicken sand.
Fries -Salad / fruit
Baked potato -Sweet potato / yam
White rice -Brown rice
Creamy salad dressing -Oil based salad dressing
Roast beef -Turkey or lean ham
Ice cream -Frozen yogurt
Cheese- No cheese
Bacon or Sausage -Turkey Bacon or Sausage
Milk -Skim or soy milk
Chips -Pretzels
Candy Bar -Protein or energy bar or
Raisins

Enough said!

The Day After (all hallows eve)

SOOOO, it's the day after. The kids are crazed on sugar and the adults have stashed away their favorite treats. Make today a special day, take all the leftovers (adults!) and get rid of but a few pieces. Treat your self to one piece a day for one week, the calories saved will amaze you. As I sat in my yard last PM contributing the the problem I began to read the ingredient list of the candies. Excuse me by saying @#$%^&*()-+, I do not eat that stuff, so I do not know what is in it, and trust me it is not good stuff. The sad fact is that most of the ingredients are also found in common foods you eat each day, the sugars and colors and stabilizers.....scary!

You are what you eat

Seems like a simple statement!, but the fact is that our foods are loaded with bad stuff. hidden sugars, fats, preservatives, stabilizers etc. few of which are good for you. It make sense to most that if you put sand into your gas tank the car will not run so good. Why is your body any different? We constantly overeat, intaking unbalanced foods deficient in nutrients, but as long as you take your processed vitamin you're OK. Did you ever stop and wonder why the incidence of cancers and other diseases is so high yet medical technology is the best ever? Mom was right, eat your fruits and veggies, but you definitely do not need to clean your plate.

Thought For the Week

While riding around town this past weekend I noted just how many people are obese. When you are overweight / obese it creates an amazing amount of strain on your joints. You are forced to move differently because of girth, your joints take an incredible amount of force and compression that they were never designed to take. Over time this all wears down to the point of failure. Couple the metabolic effects (high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol, kidney issues) and you don't have a chance. The rate of lost days from the above factors spirals upward and the obese person quickly becomes a burden on society (medical, insurance, employer). An interesting fact is that the majority of the obese are obese because of lifestyle and personal choices, most have no metabolic issues that make them obese. If you were to drop them in the middle of nowhere with only water they would be able to survive off their stored fat for weeks with little or no problems......just goes to show you what a little portion control will do!.