Fab Fit Squad

These 5 letters that crept into my brain this week. I am roughly 7 weeks away from my next fitness competition and DOUBT crept into my mind. Can I do this? Should I do this? What the hell? Is this my life? Imagine this all going through my head within 30 seconds. Here’s a little background. I have been competing since 2005. I started competing after I lost 30 pounds because I needed a goal. I lost the weight, but now what. What was my next fitness endeavor. My trainer at the time was a former bodybuilder and suggested I give fitness competitions a try.

Now I’m not a glamour girl by any stretch of the imagination and walking in a bikini with clear heels didn’t seem like my cup of tea, but in April 2005 I took the stage at the Fitness America, show in New Haven, CT and I’ve been competing ever since. I typically compete in 4-5 shows/year like a machine. I wind up every January and wind down each June and the process begins again. Except this time!  (more…)

You heard this term from your bodybuilding friends or you heard about the book from Tosca Reno. Clean Eating means,  eating food as close to its natural state as possible. Basically, if you can grow, fish for it, pluck it, that’s clean eating. When you eat clean your goals are to avoid eating additives as much as possible. So what are additives?  I tell all my clients read the back of your food to really understand what is inside the box. The front of the box is where food manufactures try to sell you on what’s inside, the back of the box is where the FDA requires them to come clean with what’s inside. So the less ingredients you see the closer to the source the food is.

Here are just a few of the more popular additives.

• Aspartame: better known as Equal/Nutrasweet and is 180 times sweeter than sugar, plus in my humble opinion has an after taste. Be careful with how much you eat, as too much may cause headache and vision issues. For more information on Aspartame dangers.
• High Fructose Corn Syrup: is a highly processed sweetener made from corn that more than 40% of all food products in the US contain. When processed by your body, it’s sent directly to your liver, because it can’t be absorbed by your cells. Once processed by your liver, it’s stored as FAT!
• Mannitol: the sugar alcohol that is in many of those “sugar-free” products.  While it doesn’t have calories, it does a dosey on your stomach, causing some to spend some quality time in the bathroom, if you know what I mean.
• Partially Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil (trans fat): This is the “trans fats” that you have been hearing so much about.  They are in baked goods and margarine. It’s a low cost way of increasing the shelf life of foods.  Why are they so bad for you? They aren’t good fats, and increase your changes of heart disease, raise the bad cholesterol levels while reducing the good cholesterol levels. Bottom line — STAY AWAY!
• Sucralose: Also known as Splenda, it’ 600 times sweeter than sugar and honesty the jury is still out. So similar to aspartame, take in small doses.

For more grocery shopping tips.

Americans spend between $33 and $40 billion on diet programs, books, products and other gimmicks.  We are obsessed with getting leaner and meaner, but we aren’t obsessed with the hard work that it takes to achieve the slim trim figure that they are seeking. Below are the top 10 reasons why diets don’t work.

1. You follow a diet that you can’t stick with because a friend of yours has seen results.
   You’re better off finding a diet that works for the type of eater that you are.  Carb junkie, try the Mediterranean diet the high good fat content will help keep you satiated. Meat lover, try a slightly, again slightly higher protein intake level. Take your weight in pounds ÷ 2 = grams of protein/day.

1. You don’t eat breakfast or eat enough for breakfast.
   Eating breakfast can help you lose weight, yes, it can.  If you answer for why you don’t eat in the AM is because you don’t feel hungry, take a look at what you are eating in the evening prior. Breakfast eaters have lost on average 30 pounds more than non-breakfast eater.  Be sure to include a carbohydrate, and a protein. Below are to examples of great breakfasts.
   No cook breakfast recipe
   Ricotta Pancakes
2. You don’t count calories.
   Trust me, when you don’t write down what you eat, you may be eating MORE than you think. Especially if you are a nibbler, you know who you are, you pick all day long. Guess what it ADDS up!! Or are you that person who doesn’t eat ALL day and then gorges yourself in the evening. Get a grip on what you’re eating by keeping a food log, this will tell you what type of eater you are and how many calories you are actually consuming.
3. You skip meals.
   The USDA recently reported that waiting 4-5 hours between meals will cause you to overeat.  If your excuse is that I can’t get away from my desk or I have back to back meetings and don’t have time to eat.  Stock your drawers, glove box, gym bag what have you have with healthy snacks ~ whole grain cereals, pre-packaged nuts, Greek Yogurt or fresh fruit.
4. You load up on superfoods.
   These may be good for you, but too much of a good thing is bad for you. Make sure you are eating, nuts, avocados, dried fruit in MEASURED quantities.
   Superfood: Blueberries
5. You workout so you can eat whatever you want.
   So you just go back from a kick out spin class or lifting weights, so now that means you can eat whatever you want right, I mean you EARNED, right! AHHH, NO!!!! Unless you are wearing one of those heart rate monitors that can accurately measure that amount of calories you expended and you are tracking what you eat with a fine tooth comb, you are very likely to OVEREAT! A great post workout meal includes quick acting carbohydrate such as a piece of fruit and a protein like a yogurt. Instead of rewarding yourself with food have about a nice massage after a certain number of workouts.
6. You live it up on the weekends.
   Monday-Friday you are watching every morsel you put in your mouth, then the weekends come and you lose your GOD DAMN mind. These activities bring all your dieting efforts to a screeching halt.  Be sensible on the weekend, give yourself a cheat meal, no one needs to be deprived.
7. You’re a stress eater/drinker.
   You had a bad day so you dive deep into the chocolate, the ice cream or cocktails. Give in, but put a limit on it. Instead of shotgunning a whole pint of Ben and Jerry’s go and have 1 scoop, yes 1 scoop will help feel better without putting it on your ass.
8. You are sleeping enough.
   You go to bed to late, stress or children keep you from sleeping. Poor sleeping conditions will cause you to overeat or under eat. See I’m Exhausted for more tips on how to get a good night sleep.
9. Not getting enough exercise.
   Just watching what you eat will not help you lose weight, you will need to MOVE. You heard me MOVE. You will need to budget 25 minutes 5/week to exercise. Now am I saying go out run 5 miles, not at all. You can start simply by walking at lunch or going a extra few blocks with the dog during your morning or evening walks, Fido would appreciate it.
10. Not drinking enough water.
    When we don’t drink enough water, its easy confuse hunger with thirst. I know they say you drink a gallon. Pick yourself up off the floor, I know a gallon is a lot, but I’m not saying walk around like the bodybuilders you see at the gym loaded up with their gallon of Poland Springs.  But what I am saying is that if you purchase a waterbottle that holds exactly 1 quart and you give yourself a goal to drink 4 of your waterbottles in 12 hours, guess what you’ve drank your gallon of water SURPRISE.

Do you have any other reasons why you think diets don’t work. Do you have any tips that might help others achieve their goals.

Courtesy of Nothing Relevant.com

Jennifer Love Hewitt, Tyra Banks, Brittney Spears, you name it they have all been portrayed in the media as being heaven forbid FAT!!! What exactly does Fat mean? They are human aren’t they allow to have their weight fluctuate.  As a women, do we all know when we hit a weight that we are unhappy with. Do they put this news other their to make others feel better about themselves, what would you do if you weren’t exactly at your “ideal weight” and you were splashed all over the news.  Does any really think her Daisy Duke body was sustainable.  If she feels comfortable at the weight she’s at and it’s healthy, so BE IT!!

"Living a healthy lifestyle will only deprive you of poor health, lethargy, and fat." -Jill Johnson

So, it’s t-minus 21 days since New Year’s when said by end of the month you were going to lose 30 pounds, workout everyday, eat nothing but salads, cure cancer and secure a ticket to Obama’s inguration.

Well how are you doing on your resoultions.  Well this is National Healthy Weigth week. Meaning that losing 30 pounds in 1 month woudl not be considered a healthy wegith.

So here are 5 suggestions for setting a healthy weight loss goal.

1. Calories in = calories out: you need to burn more calories than you consume and to lose a pound a week you need to reduce you rconsumption by 500 calories
2. Make time in your day for activity — just 10 -20 minutes a day will get your heart pumping
3. Change take time so don’t expect huge results overnight — there is no magic pill
4. Share your goals to help go have accountability
5. Give yourself permission to not be perfect

Do you have any other tips?

“Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going.”

This week is healthy week, so what does that mean? That means this week we are going to focus on what we can do to reach our healthy weight and maintain it.

With January comes everyone thoughts of losing those last 10 pounds, within weeks of January 1st.

Stop right their, thoughts like that are self-defeating.  Ideal weight loss is any where from 1-2 pounds per week.

So, what are you thoughts around healthy weight?