"Grin for Inner Peace"

Today I want to share with you a simple trick that will help change your mood for the better and jump-start your motivation. How? Change your brain’s chemistry by naturally increasing the levels of a special neuron-transmitter called serotonin. Research has shown that higher amounts of serotonin in our brains make us feel better, while lower amounts make us feel depressed and scattered. The key to maximizing serotonin is not found in Prozac or St. John’s wort. It’s in a smile. You can literally increase the amount of serotonin in your brain by changing your facial expression. By smiling, you change the flow of blood to your brain and provide an internal environment ideal for producing serotonin  So if you want to immediately feel better, just smile. Even better, smile while you get busy performing your weekly core exercises! Do your strength-training sessions 2-4 times a week, and remember to focus on different muscle groups with each session. ✿   

"Are Your Habits Make You Fit or Fat?"

If you had to rank your lifestyle as “fit” or “fat,” which would it be? Don’t let your weight influence your decision; think about your activity level and both the good and bad habits you have. Do you circle around the parking lot waiting for a good spot, or do you park farther away from the store entrance for a little impromptu exercise? Do you snack on celery and carrot sticks, or are you more likely to grab something from the vending machine? 

When you think about it, it’s not just the big choices you make that influence what kind of a lifestyle you lead; it’s really in all the little choices you make every day. If you’re truly looking to shape up and ship out bad habits, it’s really important to take a moment to dissect your everyday doings to figure out why your lifestyle may be more “fat” than “fit.” Start with one or two changes, such as switching from pepperoni to fresh veggies on your pizza and putting your sneakers in your car for a mid-afternoon power walk. Make more changes little by little and you’ll soon be leading a fit lifestyle you can be proud of.

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"Are You Cheating? On Yourself"

You skipped you workout and decided to stay home to watch TV...for the third time this week. It's OK, because nobody's watching, right? When you're the only person you are accountable to for your actions, or lack thereof, you're walking in dangerous territory. Why? Because it's easy not to feel guilty about skipping a workout if nobody is there to chastise you. And when you fall off the workout wagon completely, who is going to be there to point fingers? Nobody. You may be getting away with being lazy now, but an unhealthy lifestyle will catch up with you sooner rather than later. And when it does, you'll wish you hadn't plopped down on the couch with the TV remote in hand every night.

If you don't have someone who can help reinforce your healthy lifestyle needs, it's clearly up to you to learn a little self-discipline. But what if you don't feel like exercising today? Think about the implications laziness will bring tomorrow. So what if you'd rather have the pepperoni pizza than the grilled chicken salad...your body doesn't need the extra 500 calories. You're not outsmarting anyone when you cheat yourself out of the healthy body you deserve. You're just delaying the healthy rewards that are rightfully yours if only you'd practice some self-discipline now. Yes, it's difficult to overcome the day to day temptations, but it's also so worth it . 
Each time you are tempted to cheat, remind yourself that the only person you are hurting is you. After all cheaters don't prosper, or have a fit, healthy body. Remind yourself of how you want to look and feel when you're tempted to cheat and miss your workout or eat unhealthy food choices. Hang some motivational pictures that are sure to inspire you and when you see them they will trigger that inner motivation and get you out of your lazy comfort zone and back up in to your healthy fitness routine.

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"Sculpting a Full Belly Muscle"

You’ve seen him in the gym - the guy on the biceps curl machine who grunts loudly as he yanks on the bar with such speed that the weights clank loudly with each repetition. He’s loud, he’s annoying and he’s also not lifting correctly.

If this guy (or gal) is you, listen up: If you lift a weight too fast, your body will rely on momentum, not on muscle, to complete the set. This means that your muscles won’t work as hard, and you’ll cheat yourself out of the amazing benefits of strength training. If you want to get the most benefit from your resistance workouts, slow down. Feel the weight as you lift it and feel it as you're releasing it. It's not a race to see how face you can go or get a set done.

Just yesterday I was in the gym and there was a guy doing dumbbell rows and doing them too heavy that he was only doing half of the movement he should of been doing. It was like he was in a race to see how fast he could do the 8 reps he was doing, yet he was only doing half of the entire movement he should of been doing. I guess he only wants half of the muscle, because he was lifting half ass and way too fast for his muscles to get full benefit from the exercise. I see this a lot and I it's sad that they don't realize that they aren't getting the full benefit of their lift when they try to go too heavy and not complete the full rep. Just go a little lighter and do the full movement from start to finish and really feel the weight you're lifting and releasing. If you want a full, beautiful muscle you need to do the reps, strict, controlled from start to finish. Don't try to go so heavy that you rush and try to out speed the set by going fast and compromise the full complete movement. It's just not going to benefit you or your muscles. Don't train half ass and cut corners to get the workout done, or to show off that you can lift heavy because you're only hurting yourself and you're body because a half ass lift makes for half ass muscle growth if any at all.

If you’re doing a biceps curl, count to two as you lift the weight, and then count to four as you slowly lower the weight. Spending more time on the “lowering” phase of your lift will strengthen your muscles eccentrically (as they lengthen) as well, instead of improving only the concentric (muscle shortening) movement of your lift. You want long belly muscle and lifting correctly and executing the full movement is essential to obtaining a full belly muscle. If you’re going to spend time working out, you might as well do it right, otherwise you’re wasting your time. 

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"Don't Be a But Head"

If there is one thing I can point to that definitely interferes with one's ability to get fit and healthy, it's the dreaded But Syndrome. I think we all know some 'but people,' and you may actually be one yourself. Now don't misunderstand me, because I'm not referring to any physical feature here. The 'but' I'm talking about is the word. It's the one word that follows almost every sentence that 'but people' complete regarding getting fit and healthy.
 

Here are a few examples I am sure we've all heard before or even said ourselves... I was going to exercise after work but... I didn't want to eat that piece of cake but... I was going to start my diet today but... If you want to have that fit body and healthy life you dream about, it's time to get off your 'but.' Butt! Get off your butt and start doing, moving and making it happen instead of using but excuses to keep you from achieving your fitness goals.

It's really true when you think about it. That single word negates everything said before it, and it's that very word that separates you from healthy living. Just to drive this point home even more, you will notice that 'u' is right smack dab in the middle of 'but.' Excuse my pun here, but 'u' have got to get your 'but' out of there. Your assignment for today is to give this some honest thought and decide if you suffer from the But Syndrome. Listen to your sentences today regarding healthy living, and see how often they end with this debilitating word. It's time to stop this nonsense and get your 'but' moving. And I suggest you move it far, far away from your procrastinating and excuse-making sentences. Once you do that, healthy living is close at hand.

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"Challenge Your Comfort Zone"

Why is it that every time life starts to get a little more comfortable, something comes along to force you out of your comfort zone? Because it makes you a better person, that’s why. And the same is true for your exercise routine. If you’re feeling too comfortable, it’s time to kick it up a notch. For example, if 30 minutes on the stationary bike is barely making you break a sweat, take your workout to the treadmill. You might find you can only complete 15 minutes of running, whereas you could go forever and ever on the bike. That’s because you were stuck in the same old, same old comfortable routine. Same thing goes for the treadmill. Running on the treadmill day in and day out your body will become accustom to it. Push past that and go outside and hit the pavement, grass or track and do some real live running and see how different you feel and how much harder it is than the treadmill. It is extremely different and you will see once you try it. One thing I do when I use the tread mill at the gym, I will do interval sprints to keep my body from ever being comfortable while on the treadmill. I will do 12-15 60 sec. interval sprints to 60 sec. rest and I will do this until all 12-15 sprints are completed. Once this becomes easy and I feel too comfortable I will change the speed from 7.0 to 7.5 - 8.0 and also change rest time to only 30 sec. between 60 sec. interval sprints. Just keep pushing yourself and keep yourself out of that comfortable zone and easy going exercise style. It's not suppose to be comfortable, it suppose to be uncomfortable and we need to make it that way be excelling and pushing ourselves past that breaking point. "Uncomfortable Zone"

Don’t forget to take this lesson to the weight room with you too. If you’re still using weight machines and have hit a weight plate plateau, you’ve mastered the machine and would be better served by switching to free weights. Since free weights (dumbbells, barbells, medicine balls, etc.) literally have no strings attached, they force your muscles to work harder to stabilize the path of the movement. On a machine, the attached pulleys and levers are doing it for you. I'm a firm believer in mainly using free weights with a few exception machines for legs, and back. I was raised on free weights from my first days of learning to be a bodybuilder and competing. Free weights are much harder and take more strength. They make for better, bigger muscles and they surely take you out of your comfort zone. So, leave the machines alone for awhile and only use for defining or finishing off a muscle group. Use the free weights to hit your muscle groups harder and to get you out of the regular weight plate plateau and push yourself past your comfort zone                                                                                                                                       

So if you want to see results at the gym and in front of the mirror, it’s time to step out of your comfort zone. You're body will show the results I promise you that. It's worth the pain and being uncomfortable to see your body become unstoppable in all that you set out to physical challenge it with, and to see the beautiful changes in the mirror every day. 

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"Are You Undereating?"

Sure, overeating is a big problem for many people, but chronic undereating may be an even bigger problem. Most people get caught up in the idea that the less they eat, the more they’ll lose. But, unfortunately, the body is a bit more complicated than that.The problem with severe calorie restriction is that it sends your hormones out of whack.  When you try to speed up weight loss by skipping meals or by eating extremely small portions, the body begins to think it’s starving, and ultimately you get the exact opposite effect of what you’re working so hard for. Fat-burning hormones plunge, and fat-maintaining hormones spike in order to hold onto the fat you’re trying to lose as a survival mechanism

I can admit this happens to be one of my problems that I fail to eat enough food, and knowing that I have to really stay on top of myself or I will easily slip into not eating enough calories for my body to be satisfied. I feel it comes from having suffered from anorexia and it's and aftermath that even after many years it sticks with you. Just like an alcoholic or drug user when they have become clean, but they will always have to be careful not to slip back and will still be called Alcoholic or user even if they have been clean for 20 years. It's sad to think of it that way, but it's reality and for me it's never done deliberately or knowingly yet it happens sometimes and comes the disease. Just like people who over-eat there are used to eating a lot and it's easy for them to do if they aren't careful or aware of it being a problem. Mine happens to be not eating enough and I work on it daily so that it doesn't effect my body. I do fall short some days as I am sure many do, but if you're aware of the negative effect it has on your body you can take steps to make sure you feed your body enough food each day to keep it happy and burning those calories off.

Remember this: The fastest fat loss always comes with moderate calorie restriction. For most women, that means consuming somewhere around 1,500 calories daily, give or take. Keep your body happy with adequate calories and you’ll really begin to see the scale drop.

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"Purge 2 Avoid The Binge"

You probably thought you’d never hear purging is good for you, but in this case I highly recommend it. If you really want to stick to your diet, you must purge your cupboards, fridge, freezer, and pantry of any foods that are too tempting for you to ignore. Don’t be like the person who’s trying to quit smoking but keeps a pack of cigarettes hidden away in the back of a drawer, just in case. Kick the habit of eating junk by not having it around to test your limits. 
Not only should you purge your home of naughty nibbles, you should always have an abundant stock of healthy foods on hand that you can turn to when temptations run high. Purchase fresh fruits and vegetables at the store each week, and stock your pantry each month with dried fruit, nuts, no-sugar added applesauce, turkey jerky, and other healthy snacks. Just make sure you buy items you actually enjoy and can be satisfied munching on in place of naughtier items. Having the right foods on hand and the wrong foods out of reach is the perfect formula for long-term dieting success. So don’t waste another minute: Purge your cupboards and you’ll avoid the binge.

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"5 Minuets To A Successful Day"

There are 1,440 minutes in a 24-hour period, but it only takes five to ensure your success for the entire day. In this short amount of time you can write a daily to-do list that schedules your weight-loss goals into your calendar. Each night, pencil in your morning exercise session, write down what you plan to eat and make note of any other goal-oriented plans you have for the day. 

Keeping a training and diet journal is an added benefit which can keep you successful, on track and motivated as well. In the evening you can check off completed workout and record exercises, sets, reps amounts and rest time. Log your cardio time, heart rate and calories burned etc. Any information that needs to be filled in for the days workout. Keep a record of your diet and how many meals, calories, water amount.. etc.  Each night when you prepare for the following you day, you can also be filling in your training journal information so you never lose track of what you've done each day. This will be beneficial to you as you make progress you'll be able to go back and see the exact approach you took. If you're not making progress it will also help you, because you can look back and see maybe where you went wrong and change it. It doesn't take much time to keep up with it daily if you take the few minuets to do it as you are preparing for the next day.

Lay out the next day’s clothes near the bed, so you don’t have to scramble to find them in the morning. Make your lunch, and check to make sure you have the food you need for a healthy dinner. The whole process can take as little as five minutes, especially once you get into a routine of doing this each evening. Writing down your goals serves as an incentive and a well-laid plan to make them a reality. 

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"Fight Stress with a Sweat-Pumping Workout"

Most women feel like they must be superwoman. They have to balance growing career responsibilities and motherhood a while maintaining strong relationships with friends and loved ones. This whirlwind of responsibility and activity can have a debilitating effect when it becomes overwhelming! It can stop us from achieving results and accomplishing our goals. Stress at high levels can cause many health problems as well as stop you from making gains from you workouts as well as cause both weight gain and weight loss. Stress comes in all shapes and sizes as we know the everyday stress of maintain our busy schedules, stress from grief which is a biggie and can it be a grief of any loss in our life. We need to recognize it and nip it in the bud so it doesn't cause damage or hurt any progress we will be gaining.

So what’s your No. 1 weapon against debilitating stress? Exercise. Yep, working out at least three times a week will trim excess fat and sculpt your bod, but more importantly, it causes your body to release endorphins. These feel-good hormones make you feel exhilarated as well as calm and relaxed. And best of all, it’ll give you an emotional advantage that will help immediately alleviate stress. Scientists agree that exercise can enhance the body’s ability to respond to stress. So don’t forget to work out – your well-being depends on it. Even if you tired from a long day you need to try to get in that workout for you own well being, relieve the stress from the day and to keep your sexy fit body. Once you start you'll be happy you did. Make it a daily habit and commit to you overall healthy and kick stress in the butt! #Okole

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"Scale vs Mirror"

Get off the scale and get your nude booty in front of the mirror. It may not be your favorite household item, but the mirror is truly your best ally when it comes to seeing your weight-loss progress. Unfortunately, it’s difficult for many women to wean themselves off of the bathroom scale because it gives them what seems like "direct" feedback. But consider this: The scale does not differentiate between your body’s lean mass and fat mass. So, if you’ve been working out for two weeks and the number on the scale has gone up, don’t freak out. You’ve most likely gained muscle mass as you’ve lost fat mass, and you may even be retaining water, all of which add to that higher number. 

My late husband, god bless him would always tell me to just look in the mirror either in my bikini or naked to get the real truth. He was so right as much as we don't want to admit the mirror doesn't lie. You can see that you lost 5-10 pounds on your scale, but if you don't see it in the mirror there is a problem. Granted if you trying to lose a lot of weight a few pounds would be hard to noticed right away, but after you have been workout and training hard, eating clean and losing weekly you should start to see changes to your body in the mirror. Especially if you're lifting weights because we all know muscle weighs more than fat. The mirror should be you main scale to show you the real truth and it will also show where you might need more work. Don't be afraid to look, it's just you and the mirror. I know that can be scary but don't let it scare you, let it guide and empower you to do what you need to do to feel great about yourself and soon you will be naked in the mirror and see exactly what you want to see and know that you worked hard for it. Then you need to keep it and keep looking in the mirror to make sure you're on point!

Instead of going to the scale for feedback, take a good long look in the mirror. As your body composition changes from fat into lean tissue, you will notice visual improvements in muscle definition and body shape. And that’s the best kind of motivation for continuing with your fitness program. 

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"Eat Alone"

It’s time you got rid of all your mealtime distractions and learned to eat alone. Don’t worry, you won’t have to abandon your friends or family to follow this diet trick. We’re talking about eliminating other forms of distraction that can lead you to overeat, like the television.

Multi-tasking as you eat may sound efficient, and it really is – an efficient form of delivering extra calories that’ll end up on your thighs, that is. As unfortunate as it may seem, eating while you’re not paying attention is a quick way to pack on the pounds. TV-watching, reading or zoning out to music or an audio book while chowing down are all activites that can cause you to eat more without even realizing it.

So eat alone. Turn off the television, shut the book and take out the ear plugs. Set yourself down at the table or outside in front of a beautiful sunrise or sunset and actually take the time to enjoy what you’re eating. And while you’re at it, don’t eat out of the bag or container that your food came in. Serve yourself a reasonable portion ahead of time and then put the rest away.

Take your time eating and wait to serve yourself a second helping until at least 20 minutes have gone by so that your hunger signals have time to catch up. When you become more aware of what you’re eating, you also become better at practicing portion control, which can then translate into better control of your diet to help you reach your weight goals. 

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"Tomorrow Is Too Late"

From “I’ll start my diet on Monday” to “I can overeat today and make up for it by eating less tomorrow,” there are endless excuses for putting off healthy lifestyle changes. It’s not that waiting one day – or weekend – to put down that donut and pick up a dumbbell is bad, but rather that those “tomorrows” never arrive. This is a form of procrastination, and it always results in disaster.

Few people actually start their diet on Monday and stick with it or make up for today’s excess calories “tomorrow.” And those who do go all out on Monday or eat less to make up for yesterday’s indulgences end up starving themselves and slowing their metabolisms. When you truly respect your body, you’ll stick to healthful food portions all the time and never punish yourself by waiting until “tomorrow

There is no making it up. It's a nice thought, but once today is gone it's gone and the best, most healthy and honest thing you can do for yourself and your body it to make the here and now, the day your in healthy, fit. Then continue each day the same exact way without making deals with yourself allowing cheating and making unhealthy decisions to continue on. There is no end when you do it that way and I think you know that because it hasn't happened yet. Just do it and do it the correct way and you will not go wrong. I promise you that you will see results if you do the work and you'll be more motivated to keep up exactly what you're doing without fail. The more fit and healthy you are the easier it is to continue and feel great doing it!

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5 Keys 2 Fat-Loss Success

1. Set realistic short-term goals. Think of these as mini-goals. If you’re training to run in a long-distance marathon, start out with smaller mileage races. Slowly your time will improve and your distance will lengthen, and before you know it, you’ll be running a competitive marathon. There is no way to reach a huge long-term goal without a few mini-goals along the way.

2. Short-term goals should lead you to long-term goals. Allow for occasional setbacks along the way, but regard them as learning experiences and stepping stones on the pathway to a better more fit you. That's the beauty of short-term, or mini-goals. You can make a few missteps along the way and still reach your ultimate goal, as long as you learn from your missteps and get back on track. Never let a setback or misstep stop you from continuing to move forward to your fitness goals.

3. Set a training schedule and stick to it. It helps to have a contract with yourself. Some clients put the schedule in writing; others tack it to their fridge or keep a sticky-note in their wallets; and many keep it in their heads. I suggest to keep a training journal and keep your daily workouts, daily diet and you can also keep your fitness contract, and workout schedule in your journal and refer to it everyday. Nonetheless, these methods share a common objective: to urge you to stick to your goal.

4. Listen to your body. Your body sends you signals when it's too full or too empty; paying attention to the signals is one way to stay in balance. Your exercise should be the same. Fatigue is a sign to take a break, and it's OK to do so. The old adage of "no pain, no gain" has gone by the wayside. Because if your body is feeling tired, or fatigued it's your body's way of telling you it needs rest. Rest is a must just as food is to our muscles. Without sufficient rest our muscles will not grow or repair and that will hinder any gains you hope to make. It's great to hit your body hard when your working out and feel that pain to make your muscle gains, but remember to also give your body love and let it rest and recover. Love your body and your body will love you back.

5. Constantly challenge yourself. Life is meant to be a challenge. We strive to meet challenges and move beyond them. If we don't learn, we can't grow. Success is like a muscle; it doesn't grow if it isn't stretched. So how far will you stretch today? Make each day a challenge and conquer it!!!

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"Embrace a Complement"

What went through your mind the last time someone complimented the way you look? Did you accept the comment graciously, or did you think to yourself, It’s just flattery. They don’t really mean it. If your response was something along the lines of “Oh, come on… you’re lying,” then you’re not giving yourself the respect you deserve. 

There was a long period of time where I couldn't take a compliment from anyone, not even my now late husband. It just didn't seem right for me to accept a compliment that I didn't feel I deserved in anyway. I wouldn't even say thank you to the giver of the complement. I would just say make a reply that I am no where near the way I want to be or that I look bad and thought in my mind that they were just being nice and didn't really mean it. I even felt my husband was just giving me compliments because he felt he had to because I was his wife and it was his duty. No matter what the complement was it was extremely hard for me to accept when it was directly towards me physically.

Then one day my Mom caught me in one of my replies to someone giving me a sweet complement at work and I just laughed and said no that I looked bad and made a face. My mom took me aside and told me that it was disrespectful to not accept a complement and that I make that person feel bad when I don't say thank you and accept it. They make the effort to give you a complement and when you just fluff it off and don't say thank you it makes them feel bad, me look bad and they probably think why did I even go out of my way to give the complement. So, in not accepting the complements given to you, you not only are ungrateful to the giver of the complement but you're disrespecting yourself as well. 

Since that day at work when my Mom told me that I need to accept complements more graciously not only out of courtesy to the giver, but out of respect for myself most of all. I was worthy of these amazing complements that were given to me and I needed to embrace them and let them make me feel good about myself and my accomplishments. I put so much hard work in to making myself fit and healthy and I worked hard getting myself ready for competition that I needed to accept that I deserved to feel good about myself on the outside and on inside. From that day on I have accepted any complement given to me, even if I was having a bad day and not feeling too good about myself physically I just looked past my insecurity and embraced the complement given and was thankful for it.

My Mom also said one day as you get older you may not get as my complements and I needed to enjoy it while I was receiving them. Even if you feel the person giving the compliment isn’t being sincere, don’t think the situation reflects poorly on you. Remember, you need to accept and respect yourself unconditionally right now as you work toward your health and fitness goals. The best answer to a compliment is an honest “Thank you.” or as we say in Hawaii "Mahalo"

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"Fats Help Keep Your Salad Healthy"

Think you have to ban fatty salad dressings forever? Many dieters think losing weight means you have to cut corners (which is true) by cutting out fatty foods like salad dressing (which is not true). While it’s a fact that when you leave off fatty salad dressings you may be reducing the total number of calories in your meal, you’re also reducing the total number of carotenoids you absorb from the phytochemical-rich assortment of veggies in your salad.

Carotenoids are a class of pigments found in vegetables. They make carrots orange, green peppers green and tomatoes red, and they also act as powerful antioxidants. These healthy compounds, however, are fat-soluble, meaning they need to be digested in the presence of fats in order to cross the intestinal wall and be absorbed into the body. That means if you’re not eating some amount of fat with your salads, whether from the dressing, shredded cheeses, avocado, or other source, you won’t be able to benefit from the all the fat-soluble nutrients, carotenoids and antioxidants found in the vegetables.

How much fat do you need then? Research shows that you need to eat at least six grams of fat along with your meal in order to absorb these healthy, fat-soluble compounds. Check the label of your favorite salad dressings and opt for one that has a healthy amount of unsaturated fats, like an olive-oil based dressing. Or just add a quarter of an avocado to your salad for seven grams of fat, six of which are heart-healthy unsaturated fats. 

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"Timing is Everything"

You’ll hear from a lot of fitness experts that you should work out in the morning. And while there are plenty of good reasons to start your day off with exercise, you should also consider your personal circumstances. Some people are naturally more energetic in the morning, while others hit their peak at the end of the day. If you’re a night owl, schedule your workout for the evening – you’ll have more energy and burn more calories.

The same philosophy goes for other daily tasks. Try to accomplish as much as you can during the time of day that you’re most alert, rather than force yourself to be productive when you just don’t have the energy. On the flipside, make sure you make the most of your low-energy moments by setting aside time during that part of the day for a nap or sit-down tasks that won’t leave you feeling drained.

I have most of my good energy in the afternoons and have always done my heavy workouts in the afternoons or early evenings. I have tried many times to force myself to do early morning workouts and there were times in my life I had no other choice to do morning workouts, but if I have a choice I choose to workout when I have the most energy and feel good working out. Even when I run I prefer to run after lunch time to late afternoon. It's when I have the most energy and can put so much more into my running or workouts than if I push myself to workout too early.  I have had some great workouts at the early time of 5am and been able to excel, but I know my body has it's most stamina and  power in the afternoons or early evenings. So, everyone needs to find that perfect time where they are at their strongest, and can give their best performance possible. Don't force yourself to do what others are doing, you need to do what works best for you and your own body. That's when you will excel the most and be happy doing so. Be happy in being fit and healthy.

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"Peanut Butter Crazy"

Is natural peanut butter a good source of "healthy fat" and protein? And what are the recommended servings per day? Natural peanut butter is a great source of healthy fat, but take caution:

First, do not substitute peanut butter for a major source of protein, such as chicken or fish. Not only does peanut butter not contain a significant amount of protein per serving, but the protein is what is known as “incomplete” protein, meaning it lacks several important amino acids. For protein, go with animal sources or milk protein-based products that contain whey and casein. These are much better “complete” sources.

Also, a peanut allergy is one of the most common food allergens out there. While that doesn’t mean you’re going to blow up like a fish and have a major allergic reaction, it can slow fat loss. Many people find that when they cut peanuts out of their diet it makes a big difference in their rate of fat loss. However, if you are not sensitive to peanuts, then all-natural peanut butter can be a great source of healthy fat, as nearly all of the fat is unsaturated.

I would recommend sticking with a single serving a day. I love adding peanut butter to a cut up apple as special treat, and it's a great sweet tooth buster too.  I also love blending peanut butter with a chocolate protein shake. It tastes just like a peanut butter cup – yum!

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"Olympic Track & Field Inspired Workout"

Warm-up:
For a general cardiovascular warm-up, perform 5-10 minutes of a low-to-moderate- intensity aerobic exercise, such as walking, riding a stationary cycle or using an elliptical trainer. When training for a super fitness competition my brother had me to all of these exercises to get me prepared. I was preparing for a 1/2 mile sprint beach run and believe it or not all these exercises do help you in your running ability. Some of these you may feel silly doing, but the just remember you may feel silly but you'll be prepared and ready to run like a track star. Try it out and add a new thing to your workout schedule.

Then:

1. Jog for 3-5 minuets

2. Preform high knees for about 20 meters (66 feet) walk back to starting position to recover. repeat 2x

3. Preform butt kicks for about 20 meters.. Walk back to starting position to recover. repeat 2x

4. Preform 10 reps of side-high knee step-overs on the right and then repeat of the left. Complete a total of 2x on each leg.

5. Jog about 30 meters 3x

6. Stride out 30 meters (98 feet) 3x

 Workout

1. Run 100 meters (about 328 feet) twice. To recover, take 4 minutes to walk back.

2. Run 80 meters (about 262 feet) twice. To recover, take 4 minutes to walk back.

3. Run 60 meters (about 197 feet) twice. To recover, take 4 minutes to walk back.

Cool-down
Watch the video to see how to do these stretches:

Kneeling Triplanar Lunge
Maintain an upright posture and engage the abdominal muscles while moving into this stretch. Hold stretch for 20-30 seconds. Switch legs and repeat. Complete 2 sets of this exercise on each leg.

Seated Side-Straddle Stretch
Hinge and reach forward to the point of tension in the stretch, but don't bounce or push to a point of pain. Hold this position for 20-30 seconds. Relax and return to your starting position. Complete 2 sets of this exercise on each leg.

Supine Hip Flexor Stretch
Hold stretch for 20-30 seconds, switch legs, and repeat. Complete 2 sets of this exercise on each leg.

Supine 90-90 Hip Rotator Stretch
Hold stretch for 20-30 seconds, switch legs, and repeat. Complete 2 sets of this exercise on each leg.

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"Loser Zone Activity"

There aren’t enough hours in the day to get everything done. Or are there? How great would it be if you could find an extra 3-4 hours this week? All of us have what I call a Loser Zone, where we spend way too much time. You fall into this zone when you do something that produces no significant improvement in your life.

Can you guess what the #1Loser Zone activity is? It’s something the average American spends 30 hours a week doing. If you said watching television, you’re right! You may enjoy zoning out to your favorite shows, but think of how much you could be accomplishing with that time. Even if you just reduced your daily TV time by one hour, you’d have seven extra hours a week.

Your Loser Zone time might also involve aimlessly chatting on the phone or surfing the Internet. Identify your Loser Zones and add up how many hours per day you spend there. If your number is greater than 6-8 hours, you have just found some time that could be better spent on creating your best body ever. I think everyone would agree that the loser time you find yourself participating in daily, really could be spent making your body fit and beautiful it will be very easy for you to give up that loser time and make it body beautiful time instead.

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"Make Breakfast BIG"

If you’re stuck in the American rut of skipping out on breakfast – or at best consuming coffee and toast – you may want to switch up your strategy and make breakfast BIG. The truth is, if your goal is to optimize both fat loss and metabolism, you MUST make breakfast your largest meal. Since your body feeds on stored carbohydrate in muscle and the liver as you sleep, your stores are somewhat depleted upon awakening. This, in turn, makes the carbohydrates you consume at breakfast highly unlikely to spill over to fat storage.

Insulin sensitivity and carbohydrate tolerance are at their peak in the morning hours, which simply means there’s no better time for your body to process carbs than at breakfast. Additionally, a generous-sized breakfast consisting of both lean protein and complex carbohydrates helps to maintain calorie-burning muscle, as it quickly delivers nutrients to muscle tissue after an overnight fast. And if that wasn’t enough, regular consumption of an ample-sized breakfast is linked to increased metabolism and fat burning, while skipping breakfast has been associated with a slower metabolism and increased body-fat levels. So next time you’re deciding what to eat for your morning meal, consider today’s tip and make breakfast BIG! 

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"You are Your Greatest Ally"

The most important weight-loss buddy you need is you. You’re the only one who has the power to take complete control of your life, so it’s YOU who needs to be nurtured and cared for. Don’t be afraid to put numero uno (that’s you!) first.

After all, who feeds you? Who determines whether you exercise in the morning? Who puts you to sleep? Who makes the decision to eat right? You! Therefore, it’s you who must become your own greatest ally and friend. Only then will you ignite your deepest motivation to take better care of yourself and treat yourself with the greatest care and respect.

Once you do this, others will feel more able to unconditionally nurture, comfort and support you. To become your own greatest friend, there are three steps you must take: 

1. Accept your current self (no matter what)
2. Find your Passions (What drives your passion)
3. Use a journal to express your feelings

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"Your Not A Super Hero"

We all have those days when it feels like we could conquer the world. Chores – check! Errands – check! Workout – check! World peace – check! In reality, the daily demands of a hectic lifestyle pile up, leaving you feeling worn out and a lot less like Wonder Woman. Don’t attempt to do too much at once. You may feel like a super hero, but you’re not. No one is.

Too often, we get caught up in the “I can do everything” trap and take on too many responsibilities. From evening classes to social obligations to taking kids to sporting events and practices – there’s not always enough hours in the day to accomplish it all. The danger of the Wonder Woman syndrome is that you’ll spread yourself too thin and not give all of your responsibilities the attention they deserve. You’ll also become exhausted and risk becoming lazy in your healthful eating habits, missing your workouts too. So quit trying to be a super hero! Just be the super person – productive, unproductive or somewhere in between – that you are.

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Top #26 Plus Ways To Beat Bloat~Banish Your Belly~ #26 "Excessive Gas From Bacteria"

Top #26 Best Ways To Beat Bloat~Banish Your Belly...

#26 Excessive Gas from Bacteria Common causes of bloat are irritable bowl syndrome (IBS) and  constipation. However there are other causes for bloating. If you suffering from chronic  bloating you should see your doctor.  There are several reasons that the bacteria in the gut may cause excessive amounts of gas causing bloating.

1. The amount of gas bacteria produces varies for each individual. Some people may have more bacteria or bacteria that produces more gas. 

2. Poor digestion/ absorption of the food in the small intestines. This means more undigested food reaches the bacteria that live in the colon. The more undigested food the bacteria have to feast on the more gas they produce. Poor digestion/ absorption of food in the small intestine may be caused by.. Lactose intolerant (lactose is found in dairy products) Sorbitol intolerant (sorbitol is commonly used  sweetener in low calorie foods. Fructose intolerant (fructose commonly used sweetener, candies, and drinks. Pancreatic insufficiency (lack of enzymes that break down food) HCL deficiency (insufficient stomach acid) Celiac disease   

3. Bacteria overgrowth can occur in the small intestines. Bacteria is usually confined to the colon (large bowl) However, sometimes bacteria will spread into the small intestine (bowl) In the small bowl the food is still being digested, which means that the bacteria have a lot more undigested food on which to feast on than they would in the colon, and this is what produces a lot of gas. This is know as small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO)

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Top #26 Best Ways 2 Beat Bloat~Banish Your Belly~ #25 "Natural Remedies"

Top #26 Best Ways To Beat Bloat~Banish Your Belly... 

#25 Natural Remedies to Reduce or Prevent Bloating

. Parsley. A natural diuretic that helps reduce bloating

. Activated-Charcoal caplets (Sold at most drug stores)

. Probiotics Helps break down food.. preventing bloating and gas.

. Prebiotics Encourages the growth and or friendly activity of gut bacteria 

. Tea Peppermint, camomile and fennel tea can relieve gas and bloating. Also try lemon/lime in hot water.

. Pineapple  Is high on the enzymes bromelain, which breaks down protein and thus aids in the digestive process.

. Ginger Grate some fresh ginger and put in a pan with water.. bring to a boil and you've made fresh ginger tea which can be incredible effective in relieving bloating.

. Bitter orange tea  Relieves bloating as well as belching.

. Caraway and Peppermint oil capsules  This calms the tummy and relieves bloating.

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Top #26 Best Ways 2 Beat Bloat~Banish Your Belly~ #24 "Calcium for PMS"

Top #26 Best Ways To Beat Bloat~Banish Your Belly...

#24 Calcium for PMS

Bloating, abdominal fullness and feeling gaseous can be all signs of PMS (Premenstrual Syndrome) If you think bloating is related to PMS, calcium may help. Supplementing with calcium, magnesium and vitamin B6 just before you know you're going to be suffering from PMS will help prevent bloating. You can also drink plenty of water and other fluids to reduce fluid retention and bloating.  taking the calcium supplements will significantly help in early tiredness, depression, bloating and appetite changes prior to menstruation. Calcium may also help reduce menstrual pain, such as abdominal cramps, bloating and breast tenderness. It's definitely worth it to take some calcium to prevent all of these PMS symptoms along with the benefit of bloating, especially if your PMS comes up at a time you're definitely not wanting any bloat in your tummy area.. Like a vacation or special event. Take no chances and take some calcium and prevent the dreaded bloating and all the other unpleasant symptoms PMS come with.

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