Your Automobile

The definition of insanity is continuing to do the same thing and expecting different results. If that's true, then why do you keep eating the same things and expect different results? At some point that old diet is going to come back to haunt you. Think about your body as if it were an expensive automobile. If you fill it with regular gas, if you don't change the oil every two to three thousand miles, if you don't rotate your tires,if you don't check your fluids, at some point your expensive automobile will break down on you.

If you continue to eat BAD food your BODY will break down on you. You can spend lots of time washing that car and making it look good on the outside, but if you don't take care of the inside what's the point. We spend an inordinate amount of time washing our automobiles and not enough time maintaining them on the inside. If you want to move forward with adopting and maintaining a healthy lifestyle you must change your old eating and start an exercise and strength training regiment. Do not go on a diet. I repeat, do not go on a diet. CHANGE THE WAY YOU EAT, incorporate an exercise and strength training plan and move towards building a better body.

Follow me as I practice what I preach and move towards maintaining a healthy lifestyle. I'm not an expert, however I do have a degree in physical education and some knowledge on exercise and nutrition. I will share what works for me. I understand everyone is different so you have to find out what works for you. On May 1, 2011 I made the change and after 61 days I feel and see results. Get on board and see what you can do.  

Crunches Won’t Flatten Your Stomach

People think that if they do 500 crunches a day they will melt the fat off of their waistline. The problem with that train of thought is that you can not spot reduce. In other words, no amount of crunches will shrink your waist any more than doing neck exercises will get rid of a double chin. The body gets rid of fat all over the body at the same time regardless of what exercises you do. We all have problem areas like the waist, and unfortunately the problem areas are the last to go; otherwise they wouldn’t be problem areas. Even if we could spot reduce, it would take a little over seven million crunches to burn one pound of fat! So now what?

Remember when I said that we need to let the six pack out? That is exactly what we do. To do that we must combine the trinity of health and fitness: diet, resistance training and cardiovascular training. By combining all three of these powerful techniques, you will lose weight, burn fat and unleash the abs!

DIET-
The basics of a diet include a proper ratio of your three macro-nutrients: Protein, Carbohydrates and Fat. A good rule of thumb for basic fitness is a 40/40/20 percentage respectfully. Protein is responsible for building muscle tone. This will help you burn fat. Good sources are lean cuts of meat, fowl, fish and dairy. Carbohydrates are what give your body energy. You will need them for your workouts and normal body functions. Good carbs include oatmeal, sweet potato and beans. Fat is probably the most important because you need it for heart function. Bad fats will lead to bad problems, but good fats like fish oil, krill oil, peanut butter and almonds can aid in the reduction of cholesterol, blood pressure and joint pain.

RESTANCE TRAINING-
Resistance can be anything from body weight in a push up to weights in a bench press. You need to perform resistance training to add muscle tone to your body and create the shape you are after. For every pound of muscle tone you develop, you will burn an additional 50 calories per day. Build ten and that is 500 per day. When you multiply that times seven days in a week you will burn an additional 3500 calories which is equal to one pound of fat!

CARDIOVASCULAR TRAINING-
Cardio is anything that makes you sweat. This includes running, jogging, biking, sprints and even cleaning house if you do it right. The greatest benefit of performing cardio is it will keep you heart healthy. Cardio helps you lose overall weight by burning calories. Not as important as resistance training, but it will help you unleash your abs. The best form of cardio is what is called interval training. This means you work hard for a short time, and then rest for a short time. The ideal is sprints. Try doing ten short sprints with no more than 60 seconds rest in between. The old idea of spending 30 minutes in your target heart rate zone is the worst way to burn fat.

Sore Muscles? Don't Stop Exercising

Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness

Delayed onset muscle soreness is common after exercise and usually means your muscles are getting stronger.
Starting a workout program can be challenging. Making the time to exercise, creating a balanced routine, and setting goals are hard enough, but add to that the muscle soreness that comes with adapting to that regimen, and it may be difficult to stay on track. Chances are, you won't be leaping out of bed to get to the gym when it hurts to hold your arm up to brush your teeth.After participating in some kind of strenuous physical activity, particularly something new to your body, it is common to experience muscle soreness, say experts. "Muscles go through quite a bit of physical stress when we exercise," says Rick Sharp, professor of exercise physiology at Iowa State University in Ames.

"Mild soreness just a natural outcome of any kind of physical activity," he says. "And they're most prevalent in beginning stages of a program."

Exercise physiologists refer to the gradually increasing discomfort that occurs between 24 and 48 hours after activity as delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS), and it is perfectly normal.

"Delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) is a common result of physical activity that stresses the muscle tissue beyond what it is accustomed to," says David O. Draper, professor and director of the graduate program in sports medicine/athletic training at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah.

To be more specific, says Draper, who's also a member of the heat-responsive pain council, delayed onset muscle soreness occurs when the muscle is performing an eccentric or a lengthening contraction. Examples of this would be running downhill or the lengthening portion of a bicep curl.  "Small microscopic tears occur in the muscle," he says. The mild muscle strain injury creates microscopic damage to the muscle fibers. Scientists believe this damage, coupled with the inflammation that accompanies these tears, causes the pain.

"The aches and pains should be minor," says Carol Torgan, an exercise physiologist and fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine, "and are simply indications that muscles are adapting to your fitness regimen."

No Sugar

Today is my 60th day of NO SUGAR, my self proclaimed sugar detox. I haven't had ANY SUGAR or anything with sugar in it for the past 60 days and the experience has transformed the way I eat. 

No this is NOT a DIET! It's a total transformation. I now pay closer attention to what I consume. I have a better understanding of how what you eat plays a big part in how your body reacts to it. 

The way we have been socialized into believing that we can eat what ever we want and think it won't have a dramatic effect on our body is crazy. All the fried foods, red meat, cakes, pies, cookies, processed fast foods, junk food, sugary drinks, juices, pasta, white rice, white potatoes, breads, white flour, vegetable oils, and sugar are slowly killing us. 

In the short period of time of me eliminating those things from my body my health has improved dramatically . My blood sugar levels have dropped form the 300's to the 100's, ( 143 yesterday), my vision is clear, I have more energy to run/walk, exercise, and weight train, my skin and nails are clear, and my body is looking better every day. 

I know for some it's a hard adjustment to make but look at it this way, when your car breaks down you get it fixed, when you need your hair and nails done you go to the salon, when you want to look good you buy a nice outfit, but when it comes to YOUR BODY you don't give it the same attention, then later you wonder why you're tired, keep getting headaches, feel stressed out, and why you're always in the doctor's office. It's because you're not giving YOUR BODY the same attention as you give the things that you THINK are more important. 

STOP saying " I'm going on a diet after this and that" DO NOT GO ON A DIET!!! 

***Make the transformation into changing the entire way you look at food and how you eat**** 

Erase those old BAD habits and adapt NEW habits and TRY to make the change. You'll be surprised with what you see. Get on board and start the BBB plan. Building a Better Body. Stay tuned.......