ELIMINATING EXCUSES | fitness

Alright folks, we had a week of nutrition tips for work/school and now let’s get back to more exercises to add to our workout routine. Forearm curls are great for strengthening and toning the forearms. Get your weights and a chair. Before you get started, make sure you have stretched and are ready. Sit down and pick up your weights. Keep your back straight while seated with your feet together infront of you. The backside of your hands should be facing forward. Curl the weight upward keeping your hands in the same position. Don’t rotate your hands. Alternate between right and left. This is a simple exercise but very effective. DO SOMETHIN’!

This week’s focus is nutrition at work/school.

Friday is finally here! After a long day at work, it’s nice to go to a happy hour and get the weekend started proper. Be mindful of your diet routine and don’t drink or eat your progress away with all of the half-price specials going on during happy hour. Yes, it is true that one day of excess will not completely ruin your progress. But, we are creatures of habit and we are working on discipline here. Right? So stay focused and let’s stick to the program. DO SOMETHIN’!

This week’s focus is nutrition at work/school.

Back to the topic of eating out for lunch. Be careful of what you eat and how much you eat at a buffet. These restaurants often make for a convenient and low priced lunch; and with the option of eating as much as you want, it is tempting to act as if there’s an eating contest occurring. Do not make it part of your routine to eat at buffets . At some of these places, the food is not the highest quality meaning that many of the choices are high in fat, high in cholesterol and generally not healthy. Before you arrive there, make a conscience decision about how much you will eat; and stick to the plan.

DO SOMETHIN’!

This week’s focus is nutrition at work/school.

During the work or school week, there may be days when you go out for lunch especially if you are having a case of the Mundays (my “Office Space” fans know what I am talking about). Depending on where you are in your diet routine, you might choose to make it a healthy lunch like you usually prepare at home; or you might take it as an opportunity to treat yourself for sustaining your healthy diet for a significant period of time. Regardless of what you are having for lunch while you are out, do not make it a habit to have dessert with lunch. This behavior can cause you to consume more calories than your body needs leading to more fat and ultimately frustration with your lack of discipline (in addition to fat, think about cholesterol, clogged arteries, etc.). When you look at your food, always think about what impact it will have on your fitness and health goals. Ask yourself, will this strawberry frosting covered, double chocolate cheescake with extra whipped cream help me get that 6-pack I am working on? I say this not to take the fun out of eating but to be practical. A little discipline will go a long way.

DO SOMETHIN’!

This week’s focus is nutrition at work/school.

Watch your coffee and soda intake throughout the day. Be careful not to rely on these as a “pick me up” and not to let either one of these replace water. Coffee and soda both contain caffeine which is addictive and in excess amounts has been linked to sleep disturbance, nausea, headaches and increased severity of stomach ulcers. In some extreme cases, it has lead to irregular heartbeats. Many sodas also contain phosphoric acid which damages teeth and the lining of your esophagus.

If you are feeling sluggish or drowsy, take a walk and get some water.

DO SOMETHIN’!

This week’s theme is Nutrition tips for work/schoool.

Many of us spend the majority of the weekdays away from home at work or school. Eating properly at work or school can be challenging with all the meetings, classes and activites occuring. So sometimes we skip meals or eat whatever is nearby so that we can eat quickly and move on to other tasks. Futhermore, school and office cafeterias can make eating healthy a challenge due to limited options and to low quality of food; after all, most cafeterias’ focus is to provide food in a cost effective manner for the establishment. Providing healthy food is usually not the number 1 priority.

As we work towards our fitness and health goals, it is important to continue to eat properly at home and away from home. Therefore, I recommend that you take the time to prepare a lunch and snacks the night before work/school or that morning. By you preparing your own food and snacks, you can control what you eat and how much you eat. Also, you will know exactly how the food was prepared as well as the source. By taking control of your food intake in this manner, you will be more likely to reach your fitness goals.

One example of a lunch you can prepare is grilled chicken breast, brown rice and mixed vegetables. Vegetarians can substitue pasta or a salad for the chicken. For snacks, you can have any one or combination of the following: fresh fruits, nuts or boiled eggs.

DO SOMETHIN’!

Yesterday, I shed some light on a myth related to fat. Today, I want to give you more details on the different kinds of fat so that you know which are good and which are bad. The key message is to know the ingredients of what you are eating as well as how they affect the body so that you can make informed decisions as you choose what to eat and to be mindful of how much you eat. You only need about 20% of your calories from fat.

GOOD FATS. . .
Omega-3 fatty acids - Type of fat found in fish, hemp seed, pumpkin seed and flax oil. Experts believe we should consume more of these fats, since they reduce inflammation and produce a wealth of health benefits.

Monosaturated fatty acids - The type of fatty acids found in olive oil and nuts like peanuts, macadamias, almonda and walnuts. These fats are believed to lower risk of heart disease and cancer.

BE CAREFUL . . .
Omega-6 fatty acids - Group of fatty acids abundant in the American diet. While these fats are not necessarily harmful, they may foster heart disease and other chronic illnesses when consumed in large quantities without sufficient omega-3 fats. Corn oil, safflower oil and soybean oil are rich in omega-6 fats.

Unsaturated fat -Type of fat found in plant oils and considered less harmful than saturated fats. However, experts now feel that unsaturated fats rich in omega-6 fatty acids can increase your risk of chronic disease if you don’t consume enough omega-3 fatty acids. They are called unsaturated because chemically, their molecules have room for the addition of more hydrogen. Oils high in unsaturated fats that some experts recommend include olive oil, hemp oil, peanuts oil and macadamia oil.

AVOID THESE . . .
Trans fat - Damaged fats formed when oil is hydrogenated or foods are fried. They may raise your risk of cancer and heart disease.

Hydrogenated Oil - Oil that has had extra hydrogen added to keep foods like margarine firmer and longer lasting at room temperature. Hydrogenated oils are found in most supermarket margarines, cookies, doughnuts, cakes and many other processed foods. This type of fat has been linked to an increased risk of cancer and heart disease.

Saturated fat - Type of fat found in abundance in butter, red meat, lard and whole milk. Saturated fat has been blamed for increasing the risk in obesity, heart disease and cancer. These fats get their name from the fact that they are saturated with hydrogen atoms.

—- Now you have the facts! DO SOMETHIN’!

(Information on fat taken from “Macrobolic Nutrition” by Gerald Dente with Kevin J. Hopkins pages 66 - 67)

The week’s theme is dispelling exercise myths in order to make you better equipped to reach your fitness goals. Some people believe that cutting all fat from their diet will get them in better shape. This statement is a myth. The body does need fat for some crucial functions like the formation of hormone-like substances that regulate blood pressure and fight infection. There are good fats and bad fats. It’s key to consume the right amount of good fats. Aim for 20% of your calories to come from good fats. So if you eat 2500 calories/day; 500 calories should be from good fats. Keep this in mind as you train toward your fitness goals by following your workout routine and eating right. Also, come back to the blog tomorrow for more specific details on the different kinds of fats so that you know which are good and which to avoid. If you have any questions or comments, drop me a line and I’ll get back to you. DO SOMETHIN’!

This week’s theme is dispelling exercise myths in order to make sure that you have accurate information to assist you in reaching your fitness goals. Some personal trainers have told their clients to EXPECT to gain weight when they first start training. MYTH or NOT? Yes, you are right. This statement is a myth. Why should everyone gain weight once they begin exercising? You should only be gaining weight if that’s your goal and if your workout routine was designed with that goal in mind. Furthermore, a personal trainer’s job is to develop a workout routine to meet your SPECIFIC fitness goals. Thus, he/she should be knowledgable of a variety of exercise techniques and the objective of those techniques (build mass, burn fat, etc.). Make sure that your exercise routine is designed to get you to your fitness goals. Need any advice/tips or have a comment? Drop me a line in the comment section, and I’ll get back to you. DO SOMETHIN’!

This week’s theme is dispelling exercise myths. I have heard folks say that they want to turn fat into muscle by working out; or if they are not working out, they’ve expressed concern about muscle turning into fat. Both of these statements are myths! Muscle and fat and built from different compounds; and there is no metabolic pathway that turns one into the other. The building block of muscle is protein which is made of amino acids that contain nitrogen. Fat, on the other had, is made from compounds that only contain carbon, oxygen and hydrogen. Got it? If you have any questions or comments, drop me a line. DO SOMETHIN’!