Fifty plus FIT: HELP! I'M SABOTAGING MY HEALTH AND FITNESS

Fifty plus FIT: HELP! I'M SABOTAGING MY HEALTH AND FITNESS

HELP! I'M SABOTAGING MY HEALTH AND FITNESS

 

FOOD ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND...the spiral affect

Breakfast: You start with a cup of coffee and add Coffeemate, for me it's Italian Sweet Cream, YUM Or you head to Starbucks and get your fav creation of Lattes or Machiatos. That starts it...

All of the sudden you get an insatiable desire for breads "Mmmm a bagel sounds great!" "yes I'll have cream cheese too!"  You finish that simple and filling breakfast and what?  You're dying for something sweet?  "But I just ate?"  

Lunch: "How about a Cheeseburger, Fries and a Coke, no I'll do a diet Coke" "Oh and don't bother bringing the bun, I'm watching my calories" "How about a Wrap, that must be less calories?"  Or you go to Subway and get the 6" - 300 calorie choice and you ditch the regular chips for a bag of baked chips to save on calories and it's healthier too. 

Mid Afternoon: "I am dying for something sweet!"  So you head to the vending machine.

Dinner: "YUMMO!" Grilled Chicken with baked potato and corn! "Now this has to be healthy!" Within an hour of eating you're back in the fridge looking for something to munch on.

Have you ever thought about the 'Why' the cravings start? I mean you think that some of it has to be self control or lack thereof, and just where you are right now, not able to get it together and determine to eat right.  Yeah, we take this all on and feel it's our emotional comfort eating season when truly there is a far greater reason this is happening.

Food producers these days, are first of all using all types of fertilizers and chemicals to treat crops in order to maximize outcomes and of course gain profits.The Farms are using antibiotics in their cattle, chickens etc...and using corn feed.  The true outcome is sabotaging us in several ways.  Many of the chemicals used are carcinogenic and can truly get those radical cells we all have come to life, driving disease such as cancer and others and that's only half of it.

Foods can actually cause your cravings!  That is why for instance when you eat starchy products or bad carbs you suddenly get a craving for sweets!  It's real, the cravings are driven by the foods we eat.  It's insane and we unknowingly allow ourselves to be sabotaged.

Dr Mark Hyman, author of The Blood Sugar Solution says..

"Our government and food industry both encourage more "personal responsibility" when it comes to battling the obesity epidemic and its associated diseases. They say people should exercise more self-control, make better choices, avoid overeating, and reduce their intake of sugar-sweetened drinks and processed food. We are led to believe that there is no good food or bad food, that it's all a matter of balance."

"This all sounds good in theory but...
"New discoveries in science prove that industrially processed, sugar-, fat- and salt-laden food -- food that is made in a plant rather than grown on a plant, as Michael Pollan would say -- is biologically addictive."

"Imagine a foot-high pile of broccoli, or a giant bowl of apple slices. Do you know anyone who would binge broccoli or apples? On other hand, imagine a mountain of potato chips or a whole bag of cookies, or a pint of ice cream. Those are easy to imagining vanishing in an unconscious, reptilian brain eating frenzy. Broccoli is not addictive, but cookies, chips, or soda absolutely can become addictive drugs."
It's all about balancing your blood sugar.  So as much as the junk food hits the spot, you can retrain yourself with balanced blood sugar to enjoy a fresh fruit or crisp veggies in/and to take the place of the junk. 

We have a push from the White House to end obesity, to get healthy foods in schools, yet recently I learned that our government subsidizes the food producers that make the processed foods and the farmers with the chemically treated plants however they do NOT subsidize organic farmers and food producers. What is wrong with this picture?  We're calling for healthcare reform and subsidizing what causes many of our health problems to begin with.

Also I mentioned yesterday that if you are dealing with chronic illness there is a VERY STRONG chance that you can reverse your illness by just changing what you eat rather than doing what most Doctors prescribe.  Medications buffer the affects and only make the pharmaceutical companies fatter.  Wouldn't you like to believe that you have control over your own health and fitness?  Well you do!

It's Insane to keep this up.  Do you want to stop the insanity and not fall for the game that processed foods play in sabotaging you're health and fitness goals?  Then get on board!  Research, read and get your own information and knowledge, to validate this.  No matter what, try hard to limit or eliminate the processed food train and go with fresh natural foods!  IE: Grass fed meats, organically grown veggies and fruits, 

We went to Whole Foods two weeks ago to start ourselves.  Our normal food bill at our local grocer was around $165.00 per week. Our bill at Whole Foods was about the same...it's amazing when you rid yourself of the processed chips, snacks etc..you can afford the 'good for you' food, it really takes the excuse out of the normal response to eating healthy and organic you know which one I mean; "It's way too expensive"!  It's isn't at all too expensive when you cut out the food that is literally sabotaging our minds and bodies into believing it's just motivation that stops us from getting Healthy and Fit.  Try it one step at a time, start incorporating clean food into your weekly grocery shopping and eliminating all processed foods!  

Oh and then there is the whole allergy possibility to Wheat, Gluten and Dairy, but that's a subject for a future blog.

It's Just Me, Val Ciao'!
http://beachbodycoach.com/valstay

HEALTHY & FIT WHERE ARE YOU?

How many people would pay for a can of motivation to get & stay healthy & fit?

Health and Fitness is high on everyone's bucket list.  Obesity runs rampid today, and highlighted in the news daily as well.  Diagnosis of pre-diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol are all on the rise. And popular answers are making pharmaceutical companies fatter and fatter!  There's got to be a better way.  

It's all easy, right?  Wrong!!!  Why?

MOTIVATION MOTIVATION MOTIVATION MOTIVATION MOTIVATION MOTIVATION

I swear if we could bottle MOTIVATION we'd make a Fortune!

You're motivated, you say? Awesome! 

And, you are now healthy and fit, or well on your way and journey

What finally motivated you? Do you know what others would pay for Motivation?

You're struggling with Motivation?  What does Healthy and Fit look like to you?

What would you pay to get healthy and fit?  We certainly know you will pay if you don't get there.

Many train of thoughts exist on BEST PRACTICES for HOW TO lose weight but it gets confusing and hard to follow: 

• Weigh in NO Don't Weigh in
• Check your BMI, NO Check your BMR
• Measure inches NO Measure fat NO Measure both
• Eat Wheat NO Don't Eat Wheat
• Eat Gluten NO Don't Eat Gluten
• Don't Eat Sugar No Eat Pure Cane Sugar
• Drink Coffee NO Don't Drink Coffee
• Eat 5 meals per day NO Eat 3 meals a day
• Eat before bed NO don't eat 3 hours before bed

By now you're screaming "HELP!,  This has to be easier!"

The good news is that there is ONE simple answer to remember - 

The Formula: Calories in vs Calories burned = Weightloss or Weightgain

500 calories burned or decreased per day will result in ONE POUND lost per week

Likewise, eat more calories than you burn and it will result in a weightgain.

That's it!  Simple yes?  Well sort of...you have to keep in mind the types of calories you're consuming.

Here's what we are doing in our home that works:

• Setting small achievable goals
• Weigh in once a month
• Eating Healthy and Clean (what does that mean?)
• 2 portions of fruit daily
• Unlimited veggies daily
• About 3 oz of Protein the size of a deck of cards twice daily
• Limited carbs to 1/2 cup at lunch and dinner, however make them good carbs
• Two healthy snacks daily (stay away from 100 calorie bagged snacks)
• HYDRATE WITH H2o; drink 1/2 your weight in ounces of water per day!
• Exercise daily and the latest train of thought is that muscle confusion works best
• Lastly whenever possible make your food choices Organic Why?  Processed and chemically treated food is full of addictive and carcinogenic elements. (More on this in a later blog) A great book to read on this is: The Blood Sugar Solution by Dr. Mark Hyman

You say you aren't a lover of Veggies?  Fruit?  Or Both?  

There are answers for that as well! Feel free to ask me what we use. I'll be glad to share.  It takes care of all those daily requirements and more.

So there you have it, the formula and best action items for mapping your way to health and fitness. And now you say "But Val, I still can't find the MOTIVATION" You need an 'AHA MOMENT' one that will last and get you going to the next step. Here's my first step to getting there:

Remember, we are creatures of habit.  Habits are formed over 21 days. It has been said that if we  "Do the same thing over and over again and get the same results it is Insanity"   Well that same thought applies to Good Habits!  My fav phrase to drive me in the right direction is: 

"ZERO TO ONE"

We love the sense of accomplishment.  It's healing, It's gratifying, It's MOTIVATING!

ZERO TO ONE is about making a commitment to make ONE MOVE today, any one move.  For instance determine to Drink All Your Water today, OR No Sugar today OR take a walk today, OR whatever it is that you know you need to do to start the process, just make ONE MOVE towards that, GET IT DONE right now. The result?  Amazing, it will set off a sense of accomplishment that will feed your brain with 'feel good' 'motivational' vibes to want more, I PROMISE YOU this will happen.  So commit today to ZERO TO ONE, Get the Job Done!.

I have several fitness groups I run on Facebook and from time to time we do a challenge.  It starts with everyone willing in the group to commit to getting up the next morning and making that move right out of bed, then report back to the group for accountability sake.  IT WORKS!  And we get excited about the results too!

Join me on my journey to Health and Fitness!  Comment below if you are in and I'll help you with your next steps!

Make today your tomorrow before it gets here, we have no promises for anything further AND we can't change our yesterday.  I'm so excited to see you get started!

It's Just Me, Val! Ciao'

http://beachbodycoach.com/valstay

Zero to One - Get The Job Done!

Zero To One
A slogan/phrase I created to quickly trigger the thought:
 "Make One Move in the Right Direction to Start"

So many of us are consistency breakers.  We start with consistency and many times even make our goals but lose that 'mojo' to keep on keepin on.  We need a push and it starts in your mind first and works it way into action.  To my fellow #Beachbody Advocates "#Push #Play" is a command that does that inside the #Beachbody Circuit.  For my groups, it's the phrase:

ZeroToOne - Get the Job Done!

As many of you are aware I started my fitness journey in January of this year and have #YoYo'd much of the year away. In May my husband and I made a commitment to start a program we would stick with and see what the results might bring.   That program was to take the #P90X 90 day #Challenge.  We have repeated a couple of weeks of it to get it right so for us the 90 day challenge will likely be more like 120 days, but that's OK.  We're combining this workout with #Shakeology

Shakeology and P90X are both products of Beachbody.  P90X rocks with Tony Horton well known personal trainer and author of the program leading you into workouts that confuse the muscles and develop tone and strengthen.  It is AMAZING.  Our first month was done a week ago and I reported in with an 8 in overall loss and 6 pounds down.  Rumor has it that it is in the 2nd phase of the program that the weight really drops off. So I'm pumped to see the future results.

Bob and I have also become Coaches for Beachbody.  We are passionate about the change in ourselves and are putting ourselves out there on the line to motivate others. The best part is we get healthy and fit along the way and put ourselves in a position to make $'s while we lose the weight and push play!  How?  Well it's all in the challenge and logging of your workouts.  One of my colleagues and fellow coaches, Ashton Meyer recently completed the first leg of her journey losing 100 #'s!  Yes and got checks totalling $6,500.00 along the way for doing just that!  She was just honored at the Beachbody Coach Summit with an award for doing just that.  Others also received checks for $100.000.00 for their journey of losing as much as 200+ #s.

WHY DID YOU GO WITH BEACHBODY?

You ask, Easy answer...

It took me 1 year to come to terms with this decision.  It was preceded by lots of different eating plan changes and then finally I caved!  You see 2 years ago I learned the importance of core strength and conditioning training from our trainer who is also an MMA Professional.  The key to great results is simply to Eat Clean and consistency with your workout.  BUT not just any workout.  The best workout is the art of Muscle Confusion.  Once I caved to finally embrace that as truth through my own YoYo, it was easy for me to choose Beachbody.  You see Beachbody represents dozens of successful personal trainers developed programs that target core strength and conditioning focused on muscle confusion and HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training).  P90X is just one of them, there is Chalene's Turbofire, Leonardo's Brazil Butt Lift, Len Mills Pump, Hip Hop Abs, Shaun T's Insanity and the list goes on and on.  You could truly keep up doing different programs for all types of workouts with one company, Beachbody.  As a coach I get quite a discount on my purchases which makes it all worth it and the icing on the cake is the potential for winning the challenges and making money to lose weight.  As many of you know I also combine my workout and clean eating plan with Shakeology, also a product of Beachbody used as either a meal replacement or snack it fulfills all the daily requirements I need in Veggies and Fruits plus more much much more.

I am on a journey that is now on a roll, and I feel good, much better than I have felt in a long long time.  Fatigue has turned into energy, my hair is Unbelievable!!!  Even my hair stylist and colorist are amazed at the vibrant look and strength that has returned due to the nutrients we so badly need going back into my system with the nutrition of Shakelogy.  My nails are stronger and growing as well.  Overall performance, condition and strength is vastly improved with only 6 weeks now into this, well entering my 6th week.  ( I took the last week off.)

I want this for others who want it.  Those that have caved and settled for "I'll never be what I used to be" and now go straight to the couch.  Those with health problems that these nutrients can only help to overcome.  Juicing when I did it was awesome but this is beyond that, over the top with results.  It's not rocket science but it is a science and they have cornered the market.

Are you depressed?  Fatiqued?  Giving Up? 10 pounds away from goal?  Whatever you are right now...Come join me in my journey, join my fitness motivational group on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/50PlusFit/   AND no you don't have to be over 50...the group means lots of things:  I have 50 pounds to lose or 50 reasons why I've procratinated or 50 pounds down and still going...just come grow with us and we'll motivate you to go from ZERO TO ONE!

It's Just me, Val  Ciao!
http://beachbodycoach.com/valstay

Who-Da-Thunk? The Ideal Meal Replacement

A Revelation For Me!

 SHAKEOLOGY

I have to be honest, I am a huge breakfast person, love my eggs (1 yolk 2-3 whites) in a veggie omelet w turkey sausage and coffee.  BUT in the last week I have replaced that meal with Shakeology and not only am I more than satisfied, I have broken away from all the coffee/caffeine I was drinking (sometimes a pot a day!)  Yes Coffee has recently been proven to have a good affect on health, HOWEVER a cup of coffee, NOT a POT! LOL.

My energy level has increased and I now know that no matter what I've gotten every Veggie and Fruit requirement as recommended for daily nutrients all in one really good drink!

I mix the Tropical Shakeology with one banana and a cup of Almond Milk...so good and satisfying.

So as much as I'm not a meal replacement advocator, I am now a BELIEVER in Meal Replacement.  Ha ha!  my revelation of the week!

If you can find a nutritious shake, and I don't mean Slim Fast, that's not it, but one that has all the nutrients that fulfill your daily requirements, one that tastes good and you like, JUST DO IT.

My thought originally was "Oh this is too expensive!"  But actually what I'm using only comes to $4.00 per day, less than a Starbucks!  And we actually save money with my drinking this over making Breakfast everyday!  AND Coffee is soooo expensive that we're saving there too.

My advice for this week?  Replace one meal a day with a Healthy Juice recipe or Shake and if you're interested in trying Shakeology I'll send you a sample and recipe FREE!  Just join my site at: http://beachbodycoach.com/valstay

Make it a great Saturday...get out, MOVE and have some fun!  Zero to One!

It's Just Me Val, Ciao'!

ROUND 2 - I'm Baaccckkk!

ROUND 2

"2 weeks down and I really see the difference.  I felt so much more energy and though I rested more I was able to do more revs during upper body, more resistance and speed during intervals and..."

That was the beginning of my last post in March...when I finished my first phase of detox. That was amazing.  Since then I have become a Beachbody coach and am preparing to join my husband through the 1st round of a 90 Day P90X journey.

He's pretty excited too!  Watching him install the Pull Up bar yesterday and trying it out  was neat to see.  You see we both are very aware of healthy lifestyle choices and what choosing NOT to make them can do to your health and body.

Yes, we'll be drinking Shakeology too!  

Since my last blog I've gotten a hold of the new Tropical Shakeology and I'm going to image our workouts on an island with a "Frozen Shakearita"as a treat for getting through each day! 

Nothing like getting 70 superfoods, probiotics, and all the nutrients needed in a day in one delicious cocktail!  

We'll be making a Frozen Shakearita our daily Cocktail! :) YUM!

This will be an intense program but we are determined.  Target date for now is May 1st, however we may have some family health issues that may delay that start date for as much as 2 weeks, so I thought what better way to prepare no matter what by going back into Detox.

Have you ever wondered why Sugar is so addicting?  As Tosca Reno, well known fitness expert and author of Eat Clean compares it to a Crack like Addiction. and going through detox, I do appreciate what addicts go through in rehab.  It is such a difficult withdrawal.  


Some things I've learned have to do with triggers, again very much like an addict, there are triggers that set your body and mind into a sugar craving mode.  

White Refined Sugar/Flour "The culprit and enemy" of our health!

http://macrobiotics.co.uk/sugar.htm

So round 2 of Detox begins Monday - Body get ready, cause here we go!

Thanks again for supporting me and cheering me on - I need it!

It's Just Me Val, Ciao!

Week 2 Days 13/14 Woot!

 Week 2 is Complete!

Day Thirteen/Fourteen...March 24 and 25, 2012

2 weeks down and I really see the difference.  I felt so much more energy and though I rested more I was able to do more revs during upper body, more resistance and speed during intervals and GOT the jive with Hip Hop Dance...so this was a great week!


Weekends bring a different venue for me as the routine is different than during the week.  It likely is a weak point but I don't eat breakfast on either Saturday or Sunday.  Then we do lunch out and I use that for a cheat meal.  Evening is a normal date night dinner and I do have some cocktails.  Sundays are lunch also as my first meal, but I usually do a salad or in this weeks case, Lettuce Wraps.


Workout was great as I did a double workout to make up for Thursday and Friday's rest due to dealing with lots of muscle discomfort, but a good discomfort.  Saturday was my day to gear up, start with Hip Hop Dance and moved right to Intervals.  What I didn't get in this past week was my lower body workout.


Food was on, clean eating for the most part except for one 'real' cheat meal which was not lunch on Saturday as it normally is but rather dinner at Tom and Eddies for a Burger with Sweet Potato Fries.  It was delish but I immediately felt that craving for sweets following that.  I didn't give in though.


So this next week, week 3, is going to incorporate some 'dig deep' workouts for sure!  My eating is going to be more structured and probably will skip the cheat meal this week.  I'm not happy with my weight loss for the week, as I did hop on the scale and I was only down 2 pounds.  Wow, we get so stoked with a great weight loss report and then your body knows when you didn't achieve that same result, you feel that, hard to explain but this week flew by and I knew I hadn't had the same success as last week.  BUT again I am taking the year to do this so I have to relax and know I am going to have off weeks.  So onto next week!  Woot! Woot!


Thanks for checking in and of course your support is so important!


It's Just Me Val, Ciao'!