What’s Your Excuse?

A Little Inspiration from Mike Mahler…

“Go after what you want in life now. Procrastination built over many years equals tons of missed opportunities and enjoyment of life. Life is not meant to be dull and boring in which you just clock in hours. Decided what you need to do to be happy and jump into action now. Don’t waste your life away watching 8 hours of TV daily and doing a job you hate.”  – Mike Mahler

Our Boot Camp Workout Today…

For part of our fitness boot camp today we did a fitness challenge.  It was an AWESOME workout so I thought I would share it with you!  Here you go!

Boot Camp Ladder Workout: Complete 2 Rounds as fast as possible with good form

10 Burpee Deadlifts

20 Dips on the bench

30 Walking Lunges (15/side)

40 Double Unders OR 120 Singles with the Jump Rope

50 Full Sit-Ups

400 meter run

Enjoy!  Just make sure you complete a nice warm-up before you start and cool down and stretch when you are done.

MSG: What is It & How to Avoid It.

Most people have heard of MSG and know that it’s bad for you.  But what exactly is it, and why is it STILL in our foods? 

MSG makes your food taste really good.  Companies put it in your food because it enhances the flavor to make it taste better and keep you buying more of it!  MSG manufacturers even admit that it addicts people to their products!

MSG is also unfortunately found in MOST restaurants.  It’s in just about every fast food item, in most sauces, salad dressings, chips, soups, and even Boars Head products!  The list goes on and on, and it is ultimately your responsibility to control what goes into your mouth.

Glutamic acid is naturally occurring and can be found in many things we eat like tomatoes, mushrooms, and milk.  When it’s found naturally in our food, the glutamic acid is bound, or “attached” to another amino acid, and our bodies are designed to slowly digest it.  The damage occurs when it’s chemically processed (hydrolyzed, autolyzed, fermented, etc.) and the amino acid becomes “unattached” and transforms into a free roaming glutamate, or MSG (monosodium glutamate)- all to make t taste better!  This can be VERY dangerous to our bodies.   

MSG is s an “excitotoxin” which will over-activate the nerve cells (MSG specifically in the brain) until they are damaged and killed.  This can lead to ALL sorts of brain and neurological problems and has been connected with Autism, Alzheimer’s, Cancer, Diabetes,  Migraines, Blindness, Diabetes, and many, many more. 

Not only does it affect your brain cells, but it will probably make you fat.  Studies have shown that after eating MSG, you may tend to prefer foods higher in carbs and lower in nutritional value.   

It all comes down to profitability for the food industry, so your health will always take a back seat. 

Food corporations KNOW that people are reading the labels- so they make sure it doesn’t say “MSG” anywhere in the ingredients.  To avoid this, they cleverly use the scientific names for MSG that most people haven’t heard of. 

Names that MSG masquerades around as:  (MSG is ALWAYS found in these)

• Glutamate Monosodium glutamate
• Monopotassium glutamate
• Yeast extract (any)
• Hydrolyzed Protein   (ANYTHING hydrolyzed)
• Glutamic acid
• Calcium caseinate
• Sodium caseinate
• Yeast food or nutrient
• Hydrolyzed corn gluten
• Gelatin Textured protein
• Autolyzed yeast
• Natrium glutamate

If that’s not enough…here’s a lit of ingredients that MSG is OFTEN found in:

• Carrageenan
• Maltodextrin
• Malt extract/flavoring
• Natural pork/chicken/beef flavoring (not so natural!)
• Citric acid
• Bouillon and broth
• Soy protein/soy protein isolate/concentrate
• Whey protein/whey protein isolate/concentrate – be careful of your protein powder!
• “seasonings”
• natural flavors/flavorings

Be pro-active and be aware of what you are really putting into your bodies.  Read the labels and understand what they mean!

If you are interested in finding out more, you check out the following websites:

1. http://www.msgtruth.org/
2. http://www.msgexposed.com/category/products-with-msg/
3. http://www.truthinlabeling.org/
4. http://www.rense.com/general52/msg.htm

A MUST-SEE Movie: FOOD, INC.

If I were a teacher, I would make Food, Inc. a required movie for everyone to watch this summer.  It will open your eyes to the way our food industry is regulated. 

Food, Inc. will show you  how automation, efficiency, profitability, and our government  regulates our food industry instead of nutrition, food safety, and preservation of our planet.

If you are interested in knowing where the food you are eating is really coming from, I highly recommend renting this movie! 

Here are a few tips I found right on their website…

Small things you can do to make a BIG difference:

1.  Stop drinking sodas and other sweetened beverages.

You can lose 25 lbs in a year by replacing one 20 oz soda a day with a no calorie beverage (preferably water).

2.  Eat at home instead of eating out.

Children consume almost twice (1.8 times) as many calories when eating food prepared outside the home.

3.  Tell schools to stop selling sodas, junk food, and sports drinks.

Over the last two decades, rates of obesity have tripled in children and adolescents aged 6 to 19 years.

4.  Buy organic or sustainable food with little or no pesticides.

According to the EPA, over 1 billion pounds of pesticides are used each year in the U.S.

5.  Protect family farms; visit your local farmer’s market.

Farmer’s markets allow farmers to keep 80 to 90 cents of each dollar spent by the consumer.

6.  Make a point to know where your food comes from—READ LABELS.

The average meal travels 1500 miles from the farm to your dinner plate.

For their entire list, click here to visit their website. Some of the info is shocking…so be prepared!

Kettlebell Meltdown 300 Workout…

Our Orlando Kettlebell Conditioning class is focused on revving up your metabolism, increasing total-body strength, endurance, stamina and flexibility.  Here’s a sneak peek into our workout scheduled for tonight’s Kettlebell Conditioning Class…

25 V-Ups

50 Snatches

25 Pushups

50 Swings

50 Burpees

50 Clean & Press

50 Mountain Climbers

Enjoy!

HUGE Boot Camp Transformation Contest!

 

6-Week Baldwin Park

 

Body Transformation

 

Contest!!! 

How much you can change your body in 6 weeks??? 

I am challenging YOU to find out! 

    

6-Week Contest Includes:

PRIZES for the top Winners! (Cash & other great prizes!)

6 weeks of UNLIMITED Boot Camp Classes

BEFORE & AFTER Body Composition Measurements 

Nutritional Guidance for 2 GREAT Diet Plans

Access to Tons of Healthy Recipes

Complete Grocery Shopping List

Fitness & Nutrition Tips

Built-In Motivation

and Lots MORE!

Jump Start Your Workouts for the Summer and Get Beach Ready in just 6-Weeks!

 

(June 20th-July 30th) 

call or email for details!

 

Memorial Day Workout…

Try this Memorial Day Workout! 

Guaranteed to kick your butt…we did this in our boot camp class yesterday.  This is a VERY HIGH CALORIE BURNING workout!

Complete this in the fastest time possible with minimal rest… 

• 1/4 mile run
• 50 push-ups (regular or modified)
• 1/4 mile run
• 50 body weight squats
• 1/4 mile run
• 50 floppy burpees
• 1/4 mile run
• 50 Jack-knife Crunches (on EACH side)

Enjoy!

In case you don’t know what a jack-knife crunch is, here it is:

How to do it:  Lie on your back with one leg extended out and one knee in towards your chest.  Raise your extended leg about 2 inches off the floor and hold in this position.  Crunch repeatedly with your hands crossed over your chest keeping both legs off the ground.  Switch legs and repeat on the other side.  When it is time to switch legs, make sure not to drop your legs to the floor. 

 

Train Hard and with Purpose

This is one of my favorite commercials from last year…

Why You Should NEVER Eat Before Bed…

I wrote an article for “The Park Press” coming out next month that talks about how to stay in shape over the summer….but I wanted to give you a sneak peak into one of my favorite parts!

So…..back to why you should NEVER eat before bed.  You are probably thinking that you know the answer to this:  “Everything I eat will just get stored as fat because I am not burning off the calories that I am eating, right?”  Actually…..NOT RIGHT! (well, not entirely) 

Here’s How it Works….

You work hard all day at the office, finally get to leave work, and sit in a little bit of traffic.  Once you finally get home, it’s late and you are probably starving because you haven’t eaten anything since lunch.  Your sugar levels have dropped and you NEED to eat something! 

Here’s the deal…Eating late at night (especially sugars) will increase the level of sugar in your blood stream.  Insulin then gets released into your body to try to normalize this spike in blood sugar. 

Why This is Bad:  

Most of your Human Growth Hormone, (a VERY important hormone in  maintaining a healthy body weight because it controls metabolism, cell growth and repair, and regulates your lean body mass to fat ratio,) is released while you sleep.  When there are high levels of insulin in your bloodstream, your body restricts the amount of HGH that is released and it is DRASTICALLY LOWER that it should be! 

This is not even including any of the effects that stress and lack of proper sleep can have on your body!

Since around 80% of HGH is released when you sleep, eating before bed can completely sabotage a well intentioned diet!   Try not to eat 2-3 hours before going to bed.  Also, try to avoid foods like pasta, bread, and sugary deserts at night. 

Guaranteed this ONE THING will make a huge difference on your waistline!

 

I hope this helps!

Anatomy of the Kettlebell Clean…

Here’s the breakdown of the Kettlebell Clean.  The goal is to keep the bell as close to your body as possible throughout the movement and let it “roll” off your arm.  My husband says that this is the only type of “cleaning” that I do. (It’s not true!) 

1.  In the rack position: grip the kettlebell tightly, keep your abs tight, shoulders down, elbows tightly pressed against the body, hips pushed slightly forward, glutes tight, and wrist straight. Note: Women rest arms on the side of their breast and men line up with their Adams apple.

 

2. “Drop” the kettlebell between your legs with a loose arm; hinge back with your butt and turn your thumb slightly down and the kettlebell will roll off your forearm. Keep the kettlebell close to your body on the way down. Don’t let your elbow flare out to the side. Keep turning your fist as you drop so the thumb almost points straight down.

 

 

3.  As in the 1-arm swing, the kettlebell will land in between your legs. Keep it close to the groin and weight in your heels. From this position, thrust your hips forward to drive the kettlebell back up to finish in the original rack position.

  

 Tip:  If you don’t use your hips, you will pull with your arms and cause the kettlebell to bang your forearm. Keep the arms loose and let your hips do the work. Keep eyes looking forward the whole time. When the kettlebell passes wrist level imagine that you’re doing an uppercut and get your hand around the kettlebell.

Weekend Warrior Workout!

Give this kick-butt workout a shot this weekend…I’m doing it today!

(Find a park bench and a jump rope and you’re all set!)  This can easily be modified to your level of fitness by lowering the # of reps or decreasing the intensity.)

Time yourself and try to beat your score next time you do the workout!

3 Rounds of the Following Exercises: 

50 Jump Rope

40 Squats

30 Box Jumps (on the bench)

20 Walking Lunges (10 per side)

15 Push-Ups

10 Floppy Burpees

ENJOY!!!