The Myth: If I eat a salad every day for lunch, the weight will fall off!
For most of us, salad is the quintessential diet food. It’s the first thing we all think of when we decide to put ourselves on a “diet.” And restaurants are all too happy to help, offering many varieties of salad loaded with tasty goods, like croutons, bacon, hardboiled eggs, olives, cheese, corn, tostada shells, dressing... REALLY?! Order a hamburger already, darling, because putting these things on top of your greens makes that lunch almost as fattening!
Let’s sit down and get our facts straight, shall we? Complex carbohydrates are our friends, as much as the greens in a salad. They stabilize your blood sugar, and give you energy to last through the day. Ever wondered why most people crash and burn by 4 p.m.? Because the last time they saw a hint of a carb was 9 hours before, at breakfast!
Consider this too: go without carbs and you’ll suffer from low blood sugar, no concentration, memory loss, dizziness, weakness, fatigue, slow metabolism, excessive fat consumption, weight gain, malnutrition, and increase risk of diabetes.
Next time you're dining, skip the salad section of the menu and make sure you’re getting enough complex carbs. The benefits will astound you: reduced risk of some chronic diseases, vitamins and minerals essential for the maintenance of your body, reduced diverticulosis and constipation, lower cholesterol, proper bowel function, and a feeling of fullness, which guess what: leads to weight control!
Be a carb smarty pants, and know where they come from. It is NOT just about the bread basket! Brown rice, quinoa, beans, vegetables and fruit all contain the best of the best carbs. Slow down, and keep your diet balanced, and everything, including your mood, will feel better and more stable. Still thinking of eating a salad for lunch? Didn’t think so!
Monday, December 13, 2010
Friday, December 10, 2010
The Truth About Cardio
Maybe it was all those hours of Jane Fonda tapes, but somewhere along the line, ladies got it stuck in their heads that hours and hours of cardio is what will make us lose fat and, ultimately, weight.
Not only is this extremely false, but convincing people of the benefits of strength training remains every trainer’s challenge. Most of us seem to believe that weight training is going to put weight on, not take it off. Women especially are so petrified of looking like a she-male that we easily buy into the myth that if we pick up anything heavier than a 5 lb dumbbell we'll grow chest hair. Gross! All those hours on the elliptical, and no wonder your mind is doing circles.
The grand irony here is that building muscle will actually take weight off better than hours of cardio. Skeptical? Of course you are! Listen. It’s a simple formula, really: muscle burns calories. The more muscle you develop, the more calories (and fat) you will burn, even while you're sitting on the couch watching Glee.
Interval training – small, intense bouts of cardio mixed with weight training – is the best and most efficient way to get in shape! That also means challenging yourself with those weights. Don’t be afraid to pick up the heavier weight! You will build muscle, but that doesn’t mean size. It means strength and definition, and, wait for it… a rockin’ metabolism too!
See? The truth doesn’t always have to hurt!
Not only is this extremely false, but convincing people of the benefits of strength training remains every trainer’s challenge. Most of us seem to believe that weight training is going to put weight on, not take it off. Women especially are so petrified of looking like a she-male that we easily buy into the myth that if we pick up anything heavier than a 5 lb dumbbell we'll grow chest hair. Gross! All those hours on the elliptical, and no wonder your mind is doing circles.
The grand irony here is that building muscle will actually take weight off better than hours of cardio. Skeptical? Of course you are! Listen. It’s a simple formula, really: muscle burns calories. The more muscle you develop, the more calories (and fat) you will burn, even while you're sitting on the couch watching Glee.
Interval training – small, intense bouts of cardio mixed with weight training – is the best and most efficient way to get in shape! That also means challenging yourself with those weights. Don’t be afraid to pick up the heavier weight! You will build muscle, but that doesn’t mean size. It means strength and definition, and, wait for it… a rockin’ metabolism too!
See? The truth doesn’t always have to hurt!
Monday, December 6, 2010
Mythbuster Monday: Sixth Edition
The Myth: Doing tons of crunches will give me six pack abs!
Oh, the ever elusive six pack. We all want one, and most of us dream of it every bathing suit season. Unfortunately it isn’t as easy as stopping at your local liquor store.
Watching infomercials alone is the best example of our obsession with perfect abs, and the crunch seems to be the one way we all think we’ll get there. Time to reboot your six pack navigation system, sweethearts!
To get a six pack, several things are necessary:
1. Intense exercise. Yes, it takes dedication in this area and that means movement. Exercising a few times a week or doing only cardio won’t cut it, or YOU.
2. The right diet. As they say, abs are made in the kitchen, not the gym. No matter how many crunches you do, a layer of fat will hide any muscle you do manage to build.
But to truly expose those beauties to the world, you’ll need to get your body fat down to between 7 and 9%. That's a brutal task for any woman, that involves serious AM and PM cardio sessions, at least one hour of weight training per day, and a diet so clean you can hardly taste it! (e.g. no gluten, no dairy, and no bad fats) If you're like most women and you're content with a flat tummy, you can expect it at about 15-20% body fat.
Whether your goal is major cuts or just a sleek, flat stomach, a combination of aerobic and resistance exercise should definitely be on the menu. Do those things consistently, and a slimmer midline is yours to behold!
Oh, the ever elusive six pack. We all want one, and most of us dream of it every bathing suit season. Unfortunately it isn’t as easy as stopping at your local liquor store.
Watching infomercials alone is the best example of our obsession with perfect abs, and the crunch seems to be the one way we all think we’ll get there. Time to reboot your six pack navigation system, sweethearts!
To get a six pack, several things are necessary:
1. Intense exercise. Yes, it takes dedication in this area and that means movement. Exercising a few times a week or doing only cardio won’t cut it, or YOU.
2. The right diet. As they say, abs are made in the kitchen, not the gym. No matter how many crunches you do, a layer of fat will hide any muscle you do manage to build.
But to truly expose those beauties to the world, you’ll need to get your body fat down to between 7 and 9%. That's a brutal task for any woman, that involves serious AM and PM cardio sessions, at least one hour of weight training per day, and a diet so clean you can hardly taste it! (e.g. no gluten, no dairy, and no bad fats) If you're like most women and you're content with a flat tummy, you can expect it at about 15-20% body fat.
Whether your goal is major cuts or just a sleek, flat stomach, a combination of aerobic and resistance exercise should definitely be on the menu. Do those things consistently, and a slimmer midline is yours to behold!
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Unhealthy Snacks Are Wack
Let’s face it – we love our snacks. But we also love making excuses for our poor snacking habits. We’re either too busy, too lazy, or too broke to make good choices. Cut the crap and let your inner food snob come out. Its time for a snack intervention!
Snack companies feed our minds with excuses and our bellies with processed junk. They'll say and do anything to make us believe that their crap is healthy. Meal replacement bars or bags of chips are being waved under our noses like French fries, lulling us into a false sense of comfort. Consider this blog the thunder that wakes you up!
With just a little time and some ziploc bags, you can whip up healthy, tasty snacks in under 1 minute and kick your old snacking ways to the curb. With options like this, you’ll never reach for a bag of Fritos again:
Apple & unsalted peanut or almond butter
A handful of nuts
A sweet, juicy pear & string cheese
Cottage cheese & vegetables
Low sodium deli slices + hummus
Fat free yogurt
Ezekiel toast + almond butter & strawberries
Unsulfured dried fruit
Banana & Cheerios
Edamame
Pitted olives
Tuna + sesame crackers
Wasabi peas
Cherry tomatoes + triscuits
There. Now you have no more excuses.
Snack companies feed our minds with excuses and our bellies with processed junk. They'll say and do anything to make us believe that their crap is healthy. Meal replacement bars or bags of chips are being waved under our noses like French fries, lulling us into a false sense of comfort. Consider this blog the thunder that wakes you up!
With just a little time and some ziploc bags, you can whip up healthy, tasty snacks in under 1 minute and kick your old snacking ways to the curb. With options like this, you’ll never reach for a bag of Fritos again:
Apple & unsalted peanut or almond butter
A handful of nuts
A sweet, juicy pear & string cheese
Cottage cheese & vegetables
Low sodium deli slices + hummus
Fat free yogurt
Ezekiel toast + almond butter & strawberries
Unsulfured dried fruit
Banana & Cheerios
Edamame
Pitted olives
Tuna + sesame crackers
Wasabi peas
Cherry tomatoes + triscuits
There. Now you have no more excuses.
Monday, November 29, 2010
Mythbuster Monday: Fifth Edition
The Myth: As long as I exercise, I can eat whatever I want.
You figure if you’re not losing weight, it totally has to do with exercise, and that you should simply get your sweat on more often.
Darlings, they don’t call it a diet and exercise plan for nothing! One without the other makes as much sense as filling your car’s gas tank with mud. Here’s the skinny on eating fat: even if you exercised 7 days a week, ice cream and potato chips will glue those extra pounds to your body no matter how much you sweat. And what good is building muscle tone if you have a layer of fat covering it?
But… (come on, you know there’s always a but) reducing your Cheeto's intake down to one bag is not going to solve the problem, so STOP. Put down the artificial cheese flavored corn puff, wash the food coloring off your fingers, and listen: it’s all about what you eat and how much.
A nutritious, healthy diet is packed with vegetables, fruit, carbs, fiber, lean protein, good fats, and water. Fill your dietary empire with these foods, and your exercise won’t go to waste. Soon your body will become accustomed to getting what it really needs and you won’t even miss all the deep fried, mineral-deficient, high fructose corn syrup disaster snacks of your past.
And trimming the fat is an important part of any well-run kingdom, right? So stop lying to yourself. Get to eating healthy, keep moving, and you’ll feel so invincible, that world-domination won’t seem so far off.
Make a list of everything you ate and drank for the last 3 days. Be honest. It will make you accountable for what you put into your body.
You figure if you’re not losing weight, it totally has to do with exercise, and that you should simply get your sweat on more often.
Darlings, they don’t call it a diet and exercise plan for nothing! One without the other makes as much sense as filling your car’s gas tank with mud. Here’s the skinny on eating fat: even if you exercised 7 days a week, ice cream and potato chips will glue those extra pounds to your body no matter how much you sweat. And what good is building muscle tone if you have a layer of fat covering it?
But… (come on, you know there’s always a but) reducing your Cheeto's intake down to one bag is not going to solve the problem, so STOP. Put down the artificial cheese flavored corn puff, wash the food coloring off your fingers, and listen: it’s all about what you eat and how much.
A nutritious, healthy diet is packed with vegetables, fruit, carbs, fiber, lean protein, good fats, and water. Fill your dietary empire with these foods, and your exercise won’t go to waste. Soon your body will become accustomed to getting what it really needs and you won’t even miss all the deep fried, mineral-deficient, high fructose corn syrup disaster snacks of your past.
And trimming the fat is an important part of any well-run kingdom, right? So stop lying to yourself. Get to eating healthy, keep moving, and you’ll feel so invincible, that world-domination won’t seem so far off.
Make a list of everything you ate and drank for the last 3 days. Be honest. It will make you accountable for what you put into your body.
Monday, November 22, 2010
Mythbuster Monday: Fourth Edition
Myth: When trying to lose weight, diet drinks and diet foods are a convenient, healthy way to cut calories.
Our answer to that involves a simple math problem:
Faux sugar + faux fat = faux weight loss!
Here’s the skinny on those “diet” foods: they contain fake sugars and fake fats to make them taste good. Simulated fat and sugar can only be created using chemicals, and chemicals have no place in a healthy eating and weight loss plan.
Sure, they are packaged beautifully; they're advertised with happy, ethereal people floating on a cloud of sugar free decadence. They come in cute, convenient little packets containing 100 calories each. The boxes are labeled with ZERO, or FAT FREE, or SUGAR FREE to lure you into buying them. DROP THE BOX and keep moving!
Your new BFF while dieting should be the word "clean". That means no ingredients you can't pronounce or that you need a PhD to understand. Natural, healthy foods do not need packaging or market research to prove they are good for you. Grains, fruits, veggies, lean protein, and of course H20 are still what's best for you while you create the new you!
Convenience, while tempting, should not stop you from choosing wisely. Power bars and diet sodas are not the answer simply because they are fast. Foods like bananas, apples, and raw unsalted nuts are just as fast, healthier, and easier on the wallet. Convenience = laziness, and laziness doesn't serve you here. In fact, it takes you backwards. Go to the market, plan ahead, and cook your own healthy meals. Knowing and controlling what goes into your body will pay off. You'll be sleeping better, you'll have glowing skin, more energy, better sex, and the golden egg: a bangin' body.
Lastly, if you’ve fallen victim to “diet food” scams, don’t beat yourself up. They are carefully designed to get you to buy them, so don’t let advertisers fuck with your brain and your body. Now that you know better, stop wishing, start reading, and do it right!
And may all your weight loss, be REAL.
Which 3 faux foods can you let go of right now?
Our answer to that involves a simple math problem:
Faux sugar + faux fat = faux weight loss!
Here’s the skinny on those “diet” foods: they contain fake sugars and fake fats to make them taste good. Simulated fat and sugar can only be created using chemicals, and chemicals have no place in a healthy eating and weight loss plan.
Sure, they are packaged beautifully; they're advertised with happy, ethereal people floating on a cloud of sugar free decadence. They come in cute, convenient little packets containing 100 calories each. The boxes are labeled with ZERO, or FAT FREE, or SUGAR FREE to lure you into buying them. DROP THE BOX and keep moving!
Your new BFF while dieting should be the word "clean". That means no ingredients you can't pronounce or that you need a PhD to understand. Natural, healthy foods do not need packaging or market research to prove they are good for you. Grains, fruits, veggies, lean protein, and of course H20 are still what's best for you while you create the new you!
Convenience, while tempting, should not stop you from choosing wisely. Power bars and diet sodas are not the answer simply because they are fast. Foods like bananas, apples, and raw unsalted nuts are just as fast, healthier, and easier on the wallet. Convenience = laziness, and laziness doesn't serve you here. In fact, it takes you backwards. Go to the market, plan ahead, and cook your own healthy meals. Knowing and controlling what goes into your body will pay off. You'll be sleeping better, you'll have glowing skin, more energy, better sex, and the golden egg: a bangin' body.
Lastly, if you’ve fallen victim to “diet food” scams, don’t beat yourself up. They are carefully designed to get you to buy them, so don’t let advertisers fuck with your brain and your body. Now that you know better, stop wishing, start reading, and do it right!
And may all your weight loss, be REAL.
Which 3 faux foods can you let go of right now?
Friday, November 19, 2010
Ditch Dairy!
We all heard the words “DRINK YOUR MILK!” growing up. We were told it helped us grow, strengthened our bones and was "good" for us. Fast forward to life as an adult. You’re eating right and exercising, but the scale is moving slower than sap in winter. What could be the problem? Believe it or not, your beloved dairy products may be to blame, at least in part.
Yes, dairy can supply you with many nutrients such as calcium, potassium, protein, and vitamins D, A and B12. But studies show that dairy products can actually be far worse for you than the vitamins they provide. Scoop this: skim milk is over 50% sugar, and dairy products in general are crammed full of bad saturated fats and cholesterol. Butter is 100% fat, cheddar cheese is 74% fat, and even the “2%” milk you think is as close to fat-free as can be, is actually 35% fat! It’s little wonder how this can translate to fat on your frame. With those kinds of numbers, it may be time for you to ditch the dairy.
We know, imagining your world without it is pretty painful. The good news is it doesn’t have to be, so dry your milk-loving eyes. Almond milk or coconut milk are fabulous substitutes that are not only better for you, but are FAR more flavorful than regular milk. Add almond milk to your oatmeal and you’ll wonder what you ever did without it! Sweet, delicious, and SO much healthier! From smoothies to baking, your culinary cup will runneth over.
Ditching dairy is a move worth making. Soon you’ll hardly miss it, and seeing those numbers finally move on the scale will be the proof in the pudding. (Dairy free pudding, of course.)
Yes, dairy can supply you with many nutrients such as calcium, potassium, protein, and vitamins D, A and B12. But studies show that dairy products can actually be far worse for you than the vitamins they provide. Scoop this: skim milk is over 50% sugar, and dairy products in general are crammed full of bad saturated fats and cholesterol. Butter is 100% fat, cheddar cheese is 74% fat, and even the “2%” milk you think is as close to fat-free as can be, is actually 35% fat! It’s little wonder how this can translate to fat on your frame. With those kinds of numbers, it may be time for you to ditch the dairy.
We know, imagining your world without it is pretty painful. The good news is it doesn’t have to be, so dry your milk-loving eyes. Almond milk or coconut milk are fabulous substitutes that are not only better for you, but are FAR more flavorful than regular milk. Add almond milk to your oatmeal and you’ll wonder what you ever did without it! Sweet, delicious, and SO much healthier! From smoothies to baking, your culinary cup will runneth over.
Ditching dairy is a move worth making. Soon you’ll hardly miss it, and seeing those numbers finally move on the scale will be the proof in the pudding. (Dairy free pudding, of course.)
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