Fitness & Wellness

We’ve all heard that snacking is great for the metabolism…but have you taken it too far?

In other words, your excessive snacking may be killing your fat loss results.

Let’s face it, there are only so many extra calories that the body can take before it adds those on as unwanted fat.

Even if you’re eating perfectly healthy meals and putting in your time at the gym, if your snacking is out of control then your results will be disappointing.

Here’s what you need to know to avoid The Snack Trap:

1. Calories Count. Even when you’re snacking on “healthy” food, you’ve got to keep track of how many calories that you’re taking in. Almonds are healthy, but if you down 800 extra calories in them you’ll quickly gain weight.

2. Fill Up on Protein & Fat. A lot of well-meaning people are still afraid of fat. They think that if their snack is high in fat then it will end up on their body as fat. This is simply not true. Healthy fat, such as avocado or almonds, is a wonderful thing to snack on as it fills you up and keeps you full longer.

3. Avoid Sugar Calories. Sugar is an awful thing to snack on when weight loss is your goal. Refined sugar is a catalyst for fat storage, so avoid any snack that contains sugar. Remember that eating sugar will satiate your hunger for a very short period of time, and then you’ll quickly be hungry again.

4. Don’t Be Fooled By 100-Calorie Packs. A popular marketing technique is to package junk food into 100-calorie packs. These could be crackers, cookies, chips…basically any guilty snack food you could think of. The premise is that since you’re only eating 100 calories, the snack is healthy. I’m sorry, folks, but eating 100 calories of junk food is not a healthy snack. You are better off avoiding the junk completely and eating something wholesome.

5. Use The ‘Is It Real’ Test. As a rule of thumb, you should use the “Is it real?” test when deciding if a snack is worth eating. The test goes like this: If your snack can go bad, then it’s good for you. If your snack can’t go bad, then it’s bad for you. The idea is to eat fresh, real foods that are unprocessed and wholesome. These real foods are naturally filled with fiber, vitamins, and minerals and will assist you in achieving your fitness goals.

6. Avoid Refined Carbohydrates. Processed and refined carbohydrates make up the bulk of popular snack foods. Take a look around the snack aisle at the grocery store and you will see that most packaged snacks are made with grains. When your goal is to lose weight and increase lean muscle then eating refined grains will work against you. If you only take one tip away from this article, let it be to remove grain-based snacks from your life. This single change could very well recharge your weight loss.

Now you know how to snack in a healthy way that will not derail your fitness goals.

Remember that exercise plays a huge part in getting in shape and losing weight.

Call or email me today to get started on a results-driven exercise program! I look forward to hearing from you!

5 Fitness Snacks
Hard Boiled Egg and Sliced Veggies.
Sliced Apple and Almond Butter.
Natural, Low Sodium Jerky.
Seasonal Berries with &fraq14; cup of Almonds.
A scoop of Creamy Egg Salad. See recipe below.

Creamy Egg Salad

Most recipes for egg salad call for fat-filled mayonnaise, but this recipe uses fat free Greek yogurt instead. You get all the creaminess without added calories to set back your results.

Servings: 3

Here’s what you need…
8 organic, free range eggs
4 celery stalks, chopped
2 Tablespoons onion greens, chopped
¼ cup non fat Greek yogurt
2 teaspoons champagne mustard
1 teaspoon fresh squeezed lemon
dash of salt and pepper

To boil the perfect egg: place eggs in a large pot and cover with cold water by half an inch. Heat the water to a boil, turn off the heat and cover the pot. Wait exactly 7 minutes, and then place the eggs in a bowl of ice water for 3 minutes.

Peel and chop hard boiled eggs, discarding 4 yolks. Place in a large bowl. Add celery, onion greens, yogurt, mustard, lemon, salt and pepper. Mix well.

Chill and then serve.

Nutritional Analysis: One serving equals: 148 calories, 7 fat, 212mg sodium, 4g carbohydrate, 1g fiber, and 16g protein.

If you want to quickly pack on a few pounds then eat lots of refined sugar. Oh, wait, why would you want to do that? Let’s eat less sugar, instead, and watch the pounds effortlessly slide off…

We’ve been eating more and more sugar over the past 200 years, which has led to rising obesity numbers. Back in 1822 the average person ate only 6.3 lbs of sugar per year, compared to 130 lbs of sugar in 2012. That’s more than 20 times as much sugar in our modern diet! No wonder we are bigger than ever…

One of the reasons that your diet is filled with so much sugar is that some form of refined sugar is included in virtually every single processed food. This is yet another reason that it’s important to cut those processed and packaged convenience foods out of your diet.

Cutting sugar from your diet is easier said than done. Once it is a part of your daily diet, cravings strike, causing you to eat it even more frequently. But there is hope.

Here are 7 Ways To Eat Less of that Sugar that you’re eating that’s killing your results and keeping you from attaining your ideal body:

Eat More Protein
A diet rich in protein keeps you full, satisfied and less likely to crave sweets. A great way to make sure that you are getting enough is to plan each meal and snack around a protein. Plan breakfast around eggs, lunch and dinner around baked chicken breast, and make snacks hardboiled eggs or baked meatballs.

Avoid Artificial Sweeteners
One of the biggest fitness myths out there is the idea that calorie-free, artificially sweetened beverages don’t impact your fat loss results. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but the truth is that the diet soda you’re sipping is making it harder for you to reach your goal weight. While the diet soda itself doesn’t contain calories, it has been proven to cause cravings for sugary foods. Put down the diet soda and instead pick up a refreshing bottle of spring water.

Steer Clear Of Saboteurs
The sad truth is that people in your life will try to sabotage your low sugar diet. You’ll run into that pushy person at the office who insists that you eat a donut, the well-meaning family member who dishes you up a bowl of ice cream, and the friend who comes over with a plate of her home-baked cookies. The best avoidance strategy is to sincerely thank the sugar-pusher for their gift, tell them you wish you could eat it, and then blame me – your fitness mentor – as the bad guy who says that you need to cut back on sugar.

Try Dark Chocolate
For those moments when your sweet tooth is relentlessly badgering you for something sweet, ditch the super-sugary candies and stick with a small square of very dark chocolate. Chocolate that is 70% or higher in cocoa content should be the only candy that you keep on hand. The benefit of the cocoa, in addition to the lowered sugar content, makes dark chocolate an occasionally justifiable treat.

Stick With Fruit
What’s sweet, colorful and comes in hundreds of flavors? Organic, seasonal, fresh fruit, of course! As you remove refined sugar from your life, feel free to add in some natural sugar by way of fresh, local fruit. It’s amazing how satisfyingly sweet fruit is – it’s truly nature’s candy.

Change Your Palate
As you begin to limit your intake of refined sugars, you’ll find that your tolerance for sugar decreases. This means that something that didn’t taste sweet before – say a green apple – now has uncanny depths of sweetness. What’s happening is that your sweet receptors are becoming more finely tuned, now that you’re not overwhelming your palate with sickly-sweet refined sugar.

Workout Like You Mean It
A regular, challenging exercise routine will not only get you into amazing shape, it also reduces your cravings for sugar. The endorphin rush brought on by vigorous exercise is an even more powerful feel-good-feeling than the pleasure gotten by indulging in sugary foods.

Make challenging, consistent exercise a part of your life by signing up for my fitness program. I’d love to get you to your goals using my results-driven method.

Simply call or email me today to set up your first workout.

Why Is Sugar So Bad?

Not only does it promote rapid fat storage, here are sugar’s other dirty little secrets:
Sugar Weakens Your Immune System
Sugar Causes Insulin Resistance
Sugar is As Addictive As Hard Drugs
Sugar Speeds Up the Aging Process
Sugar Raises Your Risk of Disease
Sugar Is Empty Calories

Easy Spinach Salad

Here’s a high protein salad that is bursting with flavor and nutrients. Try the simple homemade salad dressing – it’s much healthier than store bought dressings, doesn’t contain refined sugar, and still lends lots of flavor. Servings: 4

Here’s what you need…
6 cups organic baby spinach
4 hard boiled eggs, chopped
6 pieces bacon, crumbled
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1 teaspoon olive oil
Juice from one lime
dash of pepper

Combine the spinach, eggs, bacon and tomatoes in a large bowl.

In a small bowl whisk the olive oil, lime juice and pepper.

Pour the dressing over the salad, mix and serve.

Nutritional Analysis: One serving equals: 170 calories, 10g fat, 337mg sodium, 5g carbohydrate, 2g fiber, and 13g protein

Sadly, there aren’t actually foods that burn more calories than they contain. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t keep your eyes open for foods that offer very low amounts of calories that will do your diet good. So ready to hunt down some of the best low-calorie foods available? Here are 10 of them.

#1: Black Rice

Everyone loves rice. Most folks are gaga for the white stuff, but many are turning to brown rice. If you want to trim more calories and cram in some more fiber and antioxidants, go even darker. With black rice, your main and side dishes will get a boost in needed nutrients while stripping out calories.

#2: Carrots

There are few foods as dense and filling as carrots that offer so few calories to add to your waistline. How many calories? An entire cup of the orange goodies contain a meager 52 calories! Additional perks include the fact that they’re great cooked or raw and have plenty of vitamin A.

#3: Asparagus

Toss it on a salad, get it fresh off the grill, or steam it up on the stovetop. However you prefer your asparagus, you can take comfort knowing that this filling food comes with just 27 calories per cup. Of course, many prefer their asparagus loaded with salt and butter, and if this is you, be careful! Otherwise you can easily turn a low-calorie stalk of asparagus into an unhealthy addition to your meal.

#4: Arugula

It’s green, has something of a peppery kick, and rings in at 4 calories per cup. Yes, you read right—4 calories. Versatile enough to go wherever green, leafy veggies belong, arugula adds flavor without adding fat, cholesterol, or calories to your salads, soups and beyond!

#5: Broccoli

What is it about green stuff that makes it so low in calories? Whatever it is, broccoli meets the criteria for being one of the top 10 low-calorie foods. Broccoli seems to have some of the greatest benefits of any low-calorie food, as it contains vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants that strengthen and protect your body from a variety of dangerous and deadly diseases.

#6: Lettuce

Weighing in at only 5 calories per cup, lettuce comes with a variety of nutrients, depending on the type you eat. Best choices are those that are dark and rich in color. While you’re not likely to eat a head of lettuce on its own, it provides an exceptional, low-calorie base for all sorts of fantastically delicious and nutritious meals.

#7: Mushrooms

Want to amp up that salad even more? Better grab a handful of mushrooms. Even if you grab a massive handful, you’ll only get 15 calories. And don’t forget that you’ll also get a nice pile of potassium, antioxidants, and various B vitamins. Worn out on salad? Feel free to use mushrooms with other foods and enjoy their versatile abilities.

#8: Tomatoes

Tired of salad talk? Then don’t use that tomato in a salad. Instead, grab a knife, slice up a tomato, and eat it like an apple. When you finish off your medium-sized tomato, it’s okay to feel good about yourself, because you only consumed 22 calories. You also chowed down on vitamin C, potassium, fiber, and an antioxidant called lycopene.

#9: Watermelon

It’s hard to imagine a list of top foods without something to tantalize your sweet tooth. If you’ve ever been at a picnic, you’ve eaten watermelon. Its naturally sweet, has more of those cancer-fighting antioxidants that your body loves, and is exceptionally low in calories. So cut a slice and dig in!

#10: Broth

Rounding out the list of top 10 low-cal foods is good ol’ broth. No matter if you go for chicken, beef, veggie, seafood, or miso broth, it all drops just 10 calories per cup. Chop up some carrots, black rice, broccoli, and mushrooms, and you just made a fantastic soup with just a few more calories than ingredients.

While I fully encourage you to replace the processed, high calorie items in your diet with the 10 foods listed above, all the low calorie foods in the world won’t get you the body that you desire, if you neglect to include a challenging exercise program into your routine. You simply MUST exercise in a way that challenges your muscles to adapt and strengthen in order to be fit and healthy.

I am here to help you do just that: become fit and healthy. Don’t waste another minute of your life wishing that you were healthier and more fit – DO something about it. Call or email me NOW and together we will catapult your results with my proven, results-driven exercise program.

Let’s do this!

Don’t Forget Protein

While it’s great to fill your diet with many high-fiber, low-calorie vegetables, DON’T FORGET THE PROTEIN! Protein, in the form of lean meats, eggs and fish, is a vital part of your diet that allows you to create a lean, strong body. Each of your meals should contain a generous serving of lean protein, in addition to all those tasty veggies!

Chicken & Quinoa Dinner

Here is a simple, wholesome meal that is ready in 30 minutes – perfect for busy weekday dinners. There’s no reason to hit the take-out line when you have this quick and delicious recipe on hand. Eating simple, wholesome meals like this and exercising regularly will get you to your goal weight.

Servings: 2

Here’s what you need…
1 cups cooked quinoa
1 tsp olive oil
1/2 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
1/2 yellow bell pepper, chopped
1 ear of corn, kernels cut from cob
Handful of asparagus stalks, cut into 1 inch pieces
2 cups baked chicken breast, cut into small cubes
1 can of organic black beans, drained and rinsed
splash of lemon juice
splash of lime juice
dash of salt and pepper
splash of soy sauce
1/4 cup fresh parsley, finely chopped

Cook the quinoa and set aside. Place a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the oil, onion and garlic. Sauté for about 3 minutes. Add the bell peppers, corn and asparagus, cook until the vegetables are tender. Add the chicken and beans, cook for another 10 minutes, adding the rest of the ingredients.

Place a serving of quinoa on each plate and top it with the vegetable mix.

Nutritional Analysis: One serving equals: 293 calories, 5g fat, 32g carbohydrate, 4.6g fiber, and 29.4g protein.

The best kind of fat loss is steady fat loss. And while a slow-and-steady approach to weight loss will ensure that you keep the weight off for good, I have a few tricks to help you burn fat as fast as possible.

So if you’re ready to speed up your fat loss (and are willing to do the work necessary!) keep reading…

Rapid Fat Loss Habit #1: Bottoms Up!

It’s not always easy to get to the water cooler or the sink. But if you’re going to shred pounds, you’re going to have to keep a tall glass of water nearby. There are many perks to drinking down plenty of water. Doing this helps you feel fuller, which keeps you from overeating or thinking you’re hungry when you’re actually thirsty.

Drinking water instead of other drinks also keeps you from ingesting additional, unnecessary, and worthless calories. And finally, if your body is going to perform at its peak, it needs to be well hydrated. Drinking plenty of water helps all your bodily functions operate well, which prevents you from holding onto water weight and suffering avoid constipation, while also giving you what you need to push through the final stages of a difficult workout.

Rapid Fat Loss Habit #2: Be a Planner

Like flying by the seat of your pants? Then you’re going to struggle to shave off pounds in a fast or even slow manner. Burning fat fast requires you to be disciplined.

The beginning of discipline is a good plan. Know when you’re going to the gym, how many calories you’re going to eat and what foods the calories will come from, and how you are going to avoid giving in to that tempting piece of chocolate cake. Once you have your plan, you’ve got to do the hard part: stick with it. If you’re willing to do this, your fat stores will burn away in no time.

Rapid Fat Loss Habit #3: Get Intense with Your Routine

Maintaining a steady pace on the treadmill will help you improve your overall health, but it isn’t the best tool for burning fat quickly. To speed up your fat-burning process, you’ll want to add some HIIT into your exercise regimen. During a HIIT (high-intensity interval training) workout, you mingle bursts of intense exercise with lighter exercise.

This could involve running, cycling, swimming, or other aerobic exercises. Whatever exercise you choose to do, do it hard for 30 seconds, take it easy for 60 to 90 seconds, and then go full force again for 30 seconds, repeating the cycle for 30 minutes. You’ll be exhausted when it’s all said and done, a sure sign that you’re burning fat!

Rapid Fat Loss Habit #4: Lift Weights

Think you can burn fat fast by doing nothing but aerobic exercises? You can. But you can do it faster and better by mixing in some weight-lifting sessions. In fact, if you don’t add weight lifting into your regular routine, you may begin to lose muscle. The scale may go down, but if you’re dropping muscle mass, you’re setting yourself up for disaster.

When shooting to burn off fat, nothing helps more than extra muscle. Added muscle helps you feel better and perform tasks of daily living with greater ease, while improving your metabolism and ultimately helping you burn more of that pesky fat!

Rapid Fat Loss Habit #5: Eat Right

You know that what you put in your mouth is either going to fuel you to get through the day or simply add some pudgy inches to your waistline. So choose wisely! Fresh fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, and healthy fats all give you the upper hand on burning fat.

But it’s not just the foods you eat. It’s how you eat them. Chew slowly, use a smaller plate, and leave the food dishes in the kitchen. When you finished your plate of food, relax and give your brain time to figure out that your stomach is full. Then take the cue and stop eating. These small steps may seem significant, but they will boost your fat-burning potential exponentially.

I’d love to give you more of my expert, fat burning tips – call or email today and let’s get you started on my best exercise program that will get you to your ideal, toned body faster than you thought possible. I look forward to hearing from you!

Laser Focus

Focusing on one goal at a time is the most powerful way to achieve it. Taking on more than one goal at a time spreads your time and energy out, making it difficult to accomplish anything. If you have more than one goal on your mind, write them all down and then go after them one and a time until they are all completed.

Easy Teriyaki Salmon

Salmon is filled with healthy omega 3 essential fatty acids, protein, and vitamin B12. This recipe is quick and tastes amazing. Serve it with a side of brown rice and steamed veggies.

Servings: 4

Here’s what you need…
1 Tablespoon sesame oil
¼ cup lemon juice
¼ cup soy sauce
1 teaspoon ground mustard
1 teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
4 (6oz) salmon steaks

In a large re-sealable plastic bag combine the first six ingredients; mix well.

Set aside 1/2 cup of marinade and refrigerate.

Add salmon to remaining marinade, cover and refrigerate for 1-1/2 hours, turning once. Drain and discard marinade.

Place the salmon on a broiler pan. Broil 3-4 in. from the heat for 5 minutes. Brush with reserved marinade; turn and broil for 5 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork. Brush with remaining marinade.

Nutritional Analysis: One serving equals: 392 calories, 19g fat, 2.6g carbohydrate, .2g fiber, and 38g protein. Motivate your friends, family and co-workers! Use the “refer a friend” link below to forward this newsletter and subscribe your friends.