Good Choice or Bad Choice?

My husband was in a restaurant the other day and overheard an interesting conversation. A man walked in for his usual afternoon coffee and announced to the cashier that he was trading in his afternoon Tall Dark Roast for a bottle of Cranberry Juice. He explained that he was trying to be healthier.

What do you think: good choice ... or bad choice?

Let's look at what happens to your body when you drink "juice" alone. It doesn't matter if it is 100% juice or a juice "cocktail". Both are 100% sugar (fructose or the white stuff), and when consumed alone skyrocket your blood sugar so you get the "sugar high". In addition to this high, your body then starts a chain reaction of all sorts of bad processes including excess insulin, which makes you fat, accelerates heart disease, and shortens your life span. After the "high" is over, your blood sugar drops quickly and 1 hour later guess what happens? You're hungry again!! Now you reach for another high sugar snack to lift you up, and the same reaction starts all over again.

If this man is trying to eat healthy, more nutritious foods what would he eat for an afternoon "pick-me-up" snack? He needs to eat a balance of protein, carbohydrates and fat. Instead, he could choose one of several healthy, tasty alternatives: (one from each category)

2 oz. cheese (protein) OR 1/2 c cottage cheese (protein)
1 small apple (carbohydrate) OR 1/2 c berries (carbohydrate)
1 tsp peanut butter (fat) OR 1/2 serving peanuts (fat)

Get the idea? This combination snack will keep blood sugar levels constant, give you an energy boost and keep you from crashing. Give it a try!

What Inspires You?

Inspiration

Where does it come from?

I just finishing watching an episode of the Biggest Loser and I am in awe of the contestants on this show. If you've never watched it before, this show starts with ten duos. The teams of 2 are either best friends, sisters, mother and daughter, husband and wife - connected in some way. The contestants are morbidly obese by definition, and have struggled with their weight most of their lives. They come to the Biggest Loser "ranch" and work with trainers to lose weight, get in shape, but, most importantly gain their "life".


Brutal is the word to describe the workouts that their trainers, Bob and Jillian, put them through each week. This week's episode found the competitors participating in a challenge where basically they were doing burpees in the mud. The first one to 100 won the prize. Have you ever done a burpee? (My junior high cheerleading coach used to call them squat thrusts.) Now imagine being 100 pounds overweight, squatting down, shooting your legs behind you, bringing them back in, then jumping up and hitting a target - IN THE MUD!!! Now repeat this exercise 100 times! Not one contestant quit. Are you inspired yet?



2 days later the contestants competed in a 24 hour bike challenge. They divided themselves into 2 teams of 6 and took turns biking. The team that logged the most miles won. At the 15 hour mark some of the competitors wanted to call a truce and stop the contest, but they all agreed that "quitting" was not an option - that quitting was the reason they were at the ranch to begin with. So they finished - even though they were exhausted, sore and hungry. Inspiring?


Sometimes when I am doing a crazy workout that is pushing me so hard I want to quit, I think of the Biggest Loser contestants and how they do not give up and push themselves through the pain. That, my friend, inspires me to keep going. It might sound silly and simple, but it works for me.

What truly inspires you?

Is it the example set by others?

Is it a picture in your mind of how you see yourself?

Maybe for you it's a quote that really hits home.

The next time you find yourself struggling,

reach for that inspiration, grab it and GO!

Preparation is the Key

If I can offer 2 words to my clients regarding

exercise or diet it would be

PLANNING and PREPARATION

What do I mean by this? Let's look at diet first.



Let's say you have an extremely busy day in front of you - taking kids to school, going to work, meetings during the day, evening activities. It is imperative to look ahead to your meals and not let them happen by "accident". No time for breakfast? Fix a protein shake in the blender and take it in the car with you, or buy pre-mixed shakes to have on hand. That way you can literally "grab and go". Pre-mixed shakes are also great to have on hand at work and in the car. My favorites are Muscle Milk and Myoplex (both available in regular and lite). Just make sure whatever shake you choose has an equal or higher amount of protein than carbohydrates. The protein will help keep you full for a longer period of time.



Overplan I tell all my cleints to keep their desk drawer and refrigerator at work stocked with healthy foods. If you have to run from meeting to meeting then you can always grab a piece of string cheese, a handful of nuts, or a protein bar to get you through. Remember if you go longer than 3-4 hours without eating your blood sugar will drop and your metabolism will slow down. The result: increased fat storage!!!

Planning exercise

Just like planning your food, you need to plan your exercise. What days and times are you going to workout? Again, the less you leave to chance the more likely you will be to follow through. Always keep a set of workout clothes with you in the car or at work. If you happen to get an unexpected break in your day or finish earlier than expected, you won't be able to use the excuse of not having anything to wear.

As with everything else in our hectic lives, planning and preparation are the key to success. Remember:

1. 
   
   Plan your meals and exercise ahead of time


2. 
   
   Have an extra set of workout clothes on hand


3. 
   
   Keep healthy food with you at all times

All or Nothing

When it comes to exercise and diet are you

an all or nothing person?

Do you say to yourself," Well I already blew it today so

I'm just going to keep on blowing it."

This kind of stinkin' thinkin' gets us into trouble!

You've heard the saying that moderation is the key. Well I believe it is partly true.

When deciding to embark on a new nutrition regimen it is important that you allow yourself a "cheat" meal or a "cheat" day. Otherwise you will have deprived yourself of your favorite things for too long and really go crazy.

We all need to live our lives and feed ourselves with enjoyable activities. For me I love having a date night with my husband once a week which will usually entail dinner out by ourselves or with friends. This not only allows me to deviate from my nutrition program, but more importantly it enhances my life as a whole. I would hate to think how grumpy I would be if I didn't go out and ate only what was good for me all the time! Not to mention how this would overflow into every other area of my life.

Your 3 simple steps to positive progress:

1. Follow your preferred regimen
2. Allow yourself a cheat day
3. Forget all or nothing

Just the Facts Ma'am

Here's rule #1 I give all my clients:

Never eat carbohydrates alone!

Why is this the most important rule? The answer is two-fold.

1. When you eat carbohydrates alone (bread, crackers, chips, fruit - yes you heard me right, fruit!) you have an immediate spike in blood sugar (blood glucose). As blood glucose levels rise, the body secretes insulin, which is responsible for storing glucose in muscle and organ cells. Normal glucose levels are between 80-120 mg/dl. Whenever blood glucose levels fall well below 80 mg/dl we feel hungry, and the body reacts by slowing down its metabolism to save energy. Conversely when the blood glucose levels rise above 120 mg/dl the residual glucose is stored as fat! So the secret is to control and maintain blood glucose levels so you don't end up with a slow metabolism and high fat storage.

2. When eaten alone, carbohydrates empty from your stomach within 1 hour so you are hungry again. Then you reach for more carbs and the cycle continues. When you couple your crackers with a piece of string cheese or some turkey (both protein), you stay fuller longer. Protein takes 2-3 hours to empty from your stomach, so "coupling " cheese and crackers is actually a great idea. You are satieted for a longer period of time, and blood glucose will remain more constant.

Why Do You Exercise?

Do you exercise because you feel good or feel good because you exercise?

The first time I was posed this question I responded, "I feel good because I exercise of course!" At the time I was listening to Dr. Alex DeSouza talk to a group of ladies about beauty from the inside out. The more I listened the more I was persuaded to reverse my answer.

Have you seen Oprah's new live your best life series? In this series, she and trainer Bob Greene pose a series of questions to followers about their happiness in life and how it has affected their health, specifically weight loss/weight gain.

The point they and Dr. DeSouza are trying to make is this:

You can try and even succeed at losing weight and getting in shape,

but if you are not happy and fulfilled in other areas of your life

the likelihood of you regaining the weight is extremely high.

So for this new year I suggest that you do not think about resolutions, but examine ALL areas of your life to determine if you have any old "junk" you need to deal with. Get to the real reason why you are not acheiving your health and fitness goals. Once you face the "icky" stuff , you will be astounded at how everything else falls into place.