Dream Body at Any Age - Naturally

Power lunch

2011-04-07T12:45:00.000-07:00

Tips: I often hear fitness nutritionalists advising that you should always consume protein with carbs (to modulate the effect on blood sugar especially in insulin sensitive individuals).

On the program Body Fuel episode 107 Dr. John Berardi advises in order to get the muscle building benefits of protein while avoiding the risk of being too acidic consume protein with at least two servings of fruit or vegetables.

Recipe for a five minute power lunch (my version of spinach salad)
1-2 cups spinach steamed
1 medium tomato thinly sliced.
2 slices avocado
1 whole hard boiled egg sliced
3 hard boiled egg whites chopped or sliced
1 tbsp chopped walnuts
1-2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

Spread spinach over plate
Top with sliced tomatoes and avocado
Top with egg
Sprinkle walnut
Drizzle with balsamic vinegar

You can leave the spinach raw if you prefer!

Refreshing and nutritious with plenty of fiber
Calories 319
Carb 20 gm
Protein 24 gm
Fat 16 gm
Fiber 8.4 gm
Sodium 360 mg

40% protein 33.3% carb 26.7% fat

COMPETITION - SANDRA WICKHAM FALL CLASSIC NOVEMBER 13TH 2010

2010-11-08T21:13:00.000-08:00

If you are planning on competing in body building try and watch as many competitions as you can. Sandra Wickham's Fall Classic is coming up November 13th 2010 in Vancouver.

Here is a link for tickets

To her Web Site

The Western Canadians is generally in Kelowna in May - I will post once the date is confirmed.

ANOTHER GOOD REASON TO EAT 6 SMALL MEALS A DAY

2010-11-07T20:03:00.000-08:00

Many years ago a coworker had a gastric (stomach) stappling because of obesity. I believe they use 'bands' now. She could only eat about 1/2 cup of food at a time and felt very full. Remarkably, she soon boasted she could eat a whole burger- guess she worked hard at stretching it again .......but I digress.

One good reason to eat six small meals a day is that your stomach will shrink and it will reduce the amount of food you will be comfortable eating. And of course...it keeps insulin levels and other hormones more balanced.

YOUR BEST BODY NOW - IS HERE! TOSCA RENO'S BOOK IS WORTH THE READ

2010-11-07T19:30:00.000-08:00

I stopped by the book store today and was exicted to find Tosca Reno's new book on the shelves. I bought three copies. I am sure I will buy more to give at Christmas.

It is $22.95 and worth every penny. She looks great as always. It has great information and great motivational stories. It is easy to read and....you may even see someone you know in it.....

I have already designed my next workout from her book. I think I have them all...keep on writing Tosca.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN. Take it easy on the candy.

2010-10-31T18:03:00.000-07:00

I have been away from the blog for a LONG period..I have never been so busy in my life. But the blog keeps me fitness focused...so I have quite a few articles in progress and hope to post not too long from now.

I have been travelling to really interesting places..working full time, commuting, running a business and going to school. Like I have said before - getting fit gives me a lot of energy. I have to let some things go though. I came home to 595 emails. I did not want to delete them because I love learning and I often learn new things from the mail sites I have signed up for. Sadly I had to delete them but have made a commitment to keep up to date both in my blog and my email.

It is Halloween. Usually by now we have had many dozens of kids but so far only a few. It isn't raining either. I am hoping parents have educated their kids to eat clean :) but it is probably another reason they are not coming. People in our neighbourhood tend to live here for years - so maybe the kids are grown up.

The bad part is my husband insists on full size chocolate bars. The driveway is long and I guess he figures to walk all that way, the kids should get more than a tiny bar.

Left over chocolate is bad bad bad - I love chocolate but I can 'eat a square a day' and be satisfied. Unfortunately he can eat a box a day and then eat more. I am glad he is getting back to working out with his best friend tomorrow.

Long as he knows that to burn off ONE Caramilk or Peanut Butter Cup pack or pack of Smarties he would have to:

cycle at 8 mph for 1 hour
walk at 3 mph for 1 hour
run at 5 mph for 1/2 hour or 2 1/2 miles
bowl for 1 1/2 hours
hike uphill for 3/4 hour
jump rope for 2 hours
weight train medium intensity 1 1/4 hours

FOR EACH BAR or package!!!

KAYLEA CROSS WINS ROMANTIC SUSPENSE!

2010-09-24T14:46:00.000-07:00

Both first and second for the Romantic Suspense category in the Heart of Excellent Award!!!!

Even her blog is entertaining reading

Yeah Kari! I mean Kaylea

2010-09-18T08:38:00.000-07:00

7 day belly fat blast

Roasted Chicken Breast with Spinach and Walnuts Stuffing A Free Anabolic Cooking Recipe - DELICIOUS

2010-06-13T21:58:00.001-07:00

I promote eating simply when starting out with a weight loss program, especially if you are eating differently than other family members. After awhile though you may miss cooking and tasting new recipes.

I finally got to that stage of boredom with my diet. But, I had come too far to go back to my former lifestyle.

I research a lot of fitness sites. Recently I found this great E book

Click here for Anabolic Cooking

Here is a sample of a delicious recipe.

Roasted Chicken Breast with Spinach and Walnuts Stuffing

Makes 4 Servings

Ingredients

- 4 large fresh chicken breasts, boneless and skinless (average 8oz per breast)
- 4 cups fresh spinach
- 2 Tbsp of garlic
- 1/4 cup walnuts crushed
- Salt
- Fresh ground black pepper
- Olive oil (not extra virgin)

Directions

1. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Butterfly Chicken Breasts (cut along side and lay out flat leaving attached at one end like a book) and lay out flat on cutting board. You can pound it slightly to flatten a bit if you want.
2. Rub both sides with olive oil and season well with salt and pepper.
3. Lightly wilt spinach in non-stick pan, or if using frozen just thaw.
4. Spread roasted garlic paste onto one half on inside of chicken breasts.
5. Sprinkle with crushed walnuts.
6. Place spinach on top of walnuts.
7. Fold top over and place on a rack fitted inside a sheet pan or roasting pan.
8. Place chicken in oven and bake for 20 minutes on 400. Then reduce heat to 325 and roast for an additional 30 minutes, or until inside stuffing reaches 145 degrees.
9. Let rest for 15 minutes before slicing.

Nutritional Facts
(Per Serving)

Calories: 407
Protein: 55g
Carbohydrates: 4g
Fat: 19g

TIP

A female non body builder likely won't be eating a whole large breast - so the above recipe may be more like 8 servings. Serve with a salad or vegetable such as asparagus or broccoli if you are eating late in the day. If you are having it as a lunch meal you could add a carb such as brown rice pilaf and broccoli or yam and aspargus.

DONT PANIC - ANABOLIC IS A GOOD WORD!

We often hear the word in association with the word 'steroid' a bad thing.

What does anabolic mean? A set of metabolic pathways that constructs tissues, organs etc from smaller units, a reaction which requires energy. Increasing muscle mass is an example. You need a good anabolic diet to build lean muscle.

The opposite of anabolism is 'catabolism' the breaking down of tissues.. if you starve you will waste away which is not a good thing - basically your body is digesting itself. You will lose good tissues as well as fat and create a huge chemical imbalance which can lead to death.

AWESOME FREE WORKOUT FOR TERRIFIC ARMS

2010-06-09T18:27:00.000-07:00

I am always on the lookout for really good free workouts to share on this blog. This one works biceps, triceps, chest, shoulders and works core stability with minimal equipment.
Click on printable format for a made to take with you workout.

http://www.shape.com/fitness/workouts/toned_arms

CALORIE COUNTING? IS IT NECESSARY FOR FAT LOSS?

2010-06-08T20:21:00.000-07:00

YES

WHY? Because we grossly underestimate the quantity AND caloric values of what we eat.

Try a test. Write down every single thing you eat. (Better still - if you can remember - write down what you ate yesterday-everything including condiments and particularly beverages). Guess at how many calories you ate. Then look it up and being honest with the amounts/volumes you ate list the ACTUAL number of calories.

I'll bet you ate double the calories you estimated.

Measuring calories when we first try to get fit gives us the knowledge about the fat, carb, protein and caloric content of the foods we eat as well as the huge amount of 'empty' calories most of us consume. It helps us to make much healthier choices.

Is it exact? Certainly not. You would have to weigh and micromeasure to be certain. The most important thing is you get a good 'ballpark' idea of what you are eating. Most of all you will acknowlege THAT you are eating. How many times have you said 'I hardly eat a thing and I still gained weight" ? Until we write things down or follow a food plan we often eat without even thinking and have no idea what we have consumed.

Once you have things under control and you are maintaining a healthy weight, unless you are doing serious competition training, you should be able to more accurately estimate your intake without micromanaging it.

WEIGHT LOSS TIP # 11 STOP FAKING IT

2010-06-02T22:41:00.000-07:00

Ok. So you stick to a clean diet, sort of. You are working out, sort of. Sometimes we half heartedly go through the motions of what we do. We aren't really into it and just sort of do it - well we eat right some of the time. We work out but don't enjoy it or just get through it. Is this true for you? If it is - take time off - perhaps a week.

Keep active doing something fun. Enjoy food but don't go crazy. Then remember why you want to eat healthy and get fit. Find a way to love eating great healthy food. Explore new foods.

Shorten but intensify your workout. Give it your all.

Bonus? Exercise and clean eating can cure depression! Improved mood can lead to healthier living habits.

So stop faking it and succeed.

WEIGHT LOSS TIP # 10 - ATTITUDE - IF YOU THINK YOU CAN OR YOU THINK YOU CAN'T - YOU ARE RIGHT

2010-04-24T09:14:00.001-07:00

Maybe I should have put this post first. I love the quote because it is so accurate. Attitude is everything in success.You have not failed. Why? Because you are here and you must be here because you have not given up.

You can hear about the people who failed on my site at my Natural Beauty blog post. The people who failed and became bed ridden at 1000 lb. The people who failed themselves and whose family, friends and health care professionals failed them too. That is not you. What you need to do differently this time, is realize that it is your mind not your body letting you down.

You can choose and condition yourself mentally to love or to hate exercise and nutrition.Think about the things you have done in your life that made you feel really successful and gave you a sense of accomplishment. They were the things that took dedication, commitment and effort. Didn't it make you feel great?

You can make this into a wonderful journey. Think of all the positives:

Time just for you
Motivating music
Watch your cellulite reduce and disappear
Find your clothes loose
Wear things you have not worn in a long time
See your muscles appear
Watch your skin and hair glow
Experience strong nails, full thick fast growing hair
Feel incredible energy
Feel and look sexy
Improve your mood

You are the one capable of changing how you feel about absolutely anything. You can change your attitude about exercise and good nutrition and instead of dreading it embrace the journey.

Challenge yourself to find the best nutritional choices in a restaurant. Think about how to make your delicious recipes healthier. Write a cook book! Develop and groom your taste buds to enjoy the enormous choices of healthy foods. Enjoy shopping at farmers markets and food places that stimulate your creativity with healthy food prep.

Challenge yourself every day to do better than the day before even if you only make a 10 second change in your cardio, it will add up quickly until you enjoy the exhilaration and look forward to it every day. Visualize yourself enjoying every minute of the workout before the workout and soon you will train yourself to love fitness activities just as easily as you taught yourself to dislike them. Your mind is a powerful tool. Change your attitude, change your body.

WEIGHT LOSS TIP # 9 MEASURE MEASURE MEASURE

2010-04-18T12:30:00.000-07:00

You need to measure just about everything. At one point I got sloppy with my body building training thinking I would remember the last weight I did - I didn't. I had no idea if I had progressed. I was guestimating serving sizes for meals. Soon as I realized I was not seeing much change in my muscle development, not increasing my weights nor getting body fat loss. I got back on track.

We almost always overestimate how much water we drink and how much exercise we get. We underestimate what we eat. That's why you should not eat at food buffets. Or graze and snack. Just eat your six meals/day and be done.I bought a small digital food weight scale. Interestingly I think I was guestimating my protein serving in my head using liquid measure because I was sure underestimating how much 2.5 oz of chicken or steak was. Believe it or not, it is a fair bit. Especially when you are eating 6 times/day.

Food safety tip: wipe down the scale with a mild bleach solution to prevent cross contamination of raw meat to other foods.

Write down every single thing you eat - it will help to sort out any problems later as well as make you pay attention to what you are eating and when. Measure your food. If you are eating 1/2 c rice - measure it.

Pre-pour your water for the day in a jug. Drinking glass by glass you will lose track and will also forget and then try and drink it all at once - not a good idea.

Always write down the weights you used in your workout. If you could squeeze out more than the required reps - put an up arrow next to it to increase the weight the next time. If you could not do all the intervals up in your cardio, write down how many and try to beat it by 10-20 sec or by adding another interval the next time. If you are using landmarks in the street - try to get to the next house or the next pole next time.

You will underestimate your working heart rate. Try to get a monitor. Take all your measurements as instructed as well as your weight. Weight alone does not give sufficient information to map your progress. If you are spending the time doing this, it makes sense to get it right so a) you succeed and b) you don't waste your time.

Keeping track serves another useful purpose. If for some reason you plateau, and you recorded honestly, you'll know exactly why. Week to week you will see progressive changes which will keep you motivated. I have posted a link for a body fat calculation. It will not be exact. It is just an estimate. The main thing is to use it as a comparative tool. To see if there are changes from week to week. CLICK FOR BODY FAT ESTIMATE In case you are tempted to go to some of the places below I have posted a link to their nutritional information. Most well known franchises have links to nutritional information - just use a search engine with the name of the place and "nutrition" e.g "Wendy's nutrition"Example:
Wendy's Mandarin Chicken Salad Cal 540, Fat 25 Carb 50, Protein 31 - remove the dressing and noodles and you can reduce it but best to make your own. You would have to do one hour of high intensity aerobics to burn that many calories.
Skinny Cow
Arby's
MacDonald's USA
Wendy's
Starbuck's

Sorry to spoil it for you but a mocha frappuccino blended is 380 cal, Fat 15, Sat fat 9 Protein 6 - and that is just a beverage.
Tim Horton's A Breakfast BELT is 440 cal Fat 14 Carb 59 Protein 21
My favourite a cinnamon raisin bagel is 270 cal Fat 1 Carb 55 Protein 10 but I believe that is without butter. Yikes.

EXERCISE A WONDERFUL JOURNEY

2010-04-18T12:20:00.000-07:00

I can barely remember the process I went through for weight loss and fitness anymore because exercise and good nutrition have become so natural to me. I have had so many programs by this point, over the past 1 1/2 years mostly self designed because I made it a point of learning as much as I could to be self sufficient.

For success you have to change it up every 4-6 weeks. I learned you don't have to work out for hours a day as well as how important it is to practice progressive resistance training. I remembered from a prior experience how weight training was incredible for my mind body and spirit. Right from the first work out you get a sense of strength and accomplishment. Hard bodies are healthy bodies. It improves your self esteem with every work out. It is the best stress release around and is more durable than a vacation, a spa treatment or tv. The important thing is to savour the time, the feeling, and most importantly embrace the chance to be alone with YOU and make this a wonderful enjoyable journey not a chore. Feel your muscles working and pointing out to you that you are a strong and vibrant human being.

Whether following a nutrition plan or a work out plan your mind is the most potent part of the process. Dont be in a rush. It took you years to get this way - obese and unhealthy. You can get healthy faster than you took to get unhealthy but be patient. Make changes, a bit at a time, follow your PT advice and learn that there is not much that can sideline you from working out - if you have an injury or disability you will be told how to work around it - there is very little excuse to stop. You will also find that you can be creative in your exercises when away from home and the familiar workout environment. I am 61 and if I can do it you certainly can!

How many women - do everything for everyone and if there is time left over they do something for themselves? How often do we make sure the house and garden are all in order before we do something for us? Well your personal house, your body deserves as much if not more attention. You have to put this journey and you first within reason. Then work other things around it. It is your time. You will find you will give up unimportant things and make time for your work outs and incorporate it ingeniously into your every day activites. Soon along with your nutrition changes and weight/resistance training, you will feel better, look better and find that continuing your journey is non negotiable. Be selfish for a short period. Once you achieve your goals your nutrition and exercise will be so ingrained as part of your life, it will no longer need to be 'fit' in to your life.

WORKOUT PARTNERS - NOT! You heard me - NOT. You only should have a work out partner if you are a body builder and need a partner to spot you so you don't drop excessively heavy weights on your head, chest etc. and crush yourself. It is fine to have a partner to blog with, email, phone or have a coffee with to share fitness goals and info. Trust me it can't possibly work very well to need a partner to work out with for a number of reasons. Two people (or more) generally aren't at the same level, have the same program requirements, have the same motivation, the same motivators, the same knowlege, or the same barriers, like the same music or be motivated to work out at the exact right time. You will find that either the person(s) hold you back because you are more advanced and motivated or you will feel defeated because they are more advanced and you can't keep up. it is not a competition. If it is not the best time for you to work out, you won't give it your best. Not to mention, this time should be for YOU. How can you focus on the muscle you are working if you are chatting about your troubles at work or elsewhere. If you must go to a gym, say quick hellos, put on your IPOD and get focused and make it clear you are not there to chat. Get in, enjoy and savour the experience and get out. Make this about YOUR time. You see people all day long at home, at work, in the stores, on the street. Learn to enjoy yourself and alone time. Completely emerse yourself in the experience.

I don't like commerical gyms. You can work out at home or neighbourhood with a minimum of equipment. Use the savings from not joining a gym to purchase some equipment. Discuss your goals and experience with your PT and the PT will assist you in buying appropriate stuff to start with. This way - you can work out in the privacy of your own home, when you are motivated not just when the gym might be open. You won't have to wait for equipment, have other strangers sweat their body fluids all over it, get athletes foot from the shower room, go out in a cold car after sweating or showering at a gym, and you will cut down on wasted time commuting. You also don't have to expose yourself in public - right now your body composition is your own business, pretty soon it will be worth strutting around a coed gym but you probably won't want to because you will enjoy working out at home.

When I was visiting Toronto I attended a coed gym because the place where I was staying did not have the room to work out. It was 50,000 sq ft. It was beautiful but I hated it. I really did not need to see some male body parts poking out of shorts or see wedgies or watch the strutting around or strain myself because some ass left his 100 lb weight on top of the ones I needed to get at. I also did not enjoy the ogling. I am a little too old and too married to enjoy having strangers with too much testosterone undress me with their eyes or look at me with morbid curiosity. It is just plain creepy. Interestingly the women were considerate and more focused on being there to work out. If you are going to take my advice and work out at home, just ask the family to respect your time and let you get through it in peace - and have your dinner ready because you don't want to eat carbs too late in the day :)

MOTIVATION - the biggest motivator (and thus one more reason to work out alone) is MUSIC. Research indicates people are more motivated and work out harder with upbeat music. It helps you zone out and really enjoy and concentrate on what you are doing. I have a satellite radio to hear the top 20, I write down the ones I like then I download them on Itunes and into my IPOD. Although the top 20 can be considered mindless songs - the music itself is great to workout to. I put the songs in sets of 13-18 to get me through an entire workout with cardio and weights. By downloading from Itunes - I fill my moral obligation to pay for the song but don't have to buy an entire album of unwanted songs. If your music will bother someone - get a good set of runners' type headphones and put those on - just remember when you sing along you will sound weird and probably out of key ;) Watch the audience on Ellen De Generes show - music is ingrained in her show and it motivates the audience to dance in the aisles.

CARDIO OPTIONS - I walk the dogs but because they are Yorkies it is really not a cardio session. On occasion I do add Nordic poles to intensify the walk and have not skewered a dog yet. I walk/run (interval run) after the dogs are walked.

Most trainers promote interval training these days. For example, one minute of intense and two minutes medium intensity five times -total 17 minute work out WITH WARM UP AND COOL DOWN. Your trainer will shown you how to figure out your working heart rate. You should invest in a heart rate monitor and if you don't wear it every time you work out - wear it once in awhile to check your effort - you may find you have dropped off on your effort and rate - common for me - so I always check and pick up the pace. Many E programs include the calculation methods.

DANCE I have always loved dancing. Problem is JFK has two left feet. I gave up on him after he failed the 4th set of ballroom dancing lessons. Really - he flunked. I thought and thought - how can I dance and not have a partner. I thought at first I would find a gay guy - I know a little bit of sterotyping but I felt that way people would not accuse me of having an affair. I came up with pole dancing and belly dancing. I got PO'd at my one and only pole dancing lesson with probably a 19 year old. During the lesson she instructed that we were going to be doing a squat down the pole - watch her first - then she says 'you'd better be careful and not squat as deep as me' (like maybe I would rupture a knee or have a stroke or something)- those were fighting words - I had already been working out and had quads and hams of steel - I not only squatted lower than she did but did not have to use the pole to get back up - I was offended at the sterotyping - she should have noticed with what I was wearing I was fit. So after a lot of research I took up belly dancing. It is not simply jiggling and rolling your belly. It is an artistic athletic dance. It is absolutely fantastic for mind body connection and cardio and self esteem. I love it and was going to 3 classes (including one double class per week). I went a long way for the best instructor, with that and road construction I stopped for a bit. When I return I will keep it at one double class per week. I have to balance all I have to do.

With at least 4 months of a sound nutrition plan and weight training and some cardio - you will really notice the difference and so will others. You will have discarded a number of sizes of clothing. You will have gone from elastic waists to fitted clothing. BUT DON'T QUIT YET. DON'T QUIT EVER. This is a life style. You will really look forward to it! Once you start noticing the significant changes you will want to go further. Now get into more sculpting and watch your beautiful feminine muscles appear. Don't worry you don't have the body chemistry and male genetics to become a hulking muscle bound male type creature.

TESTIMONIALS. A CAUTION. COPYRIGHT/OWNERSHIP OF PICTURES

2010-04-14T23:04:00.000-07:00

A Word About Testimonials

A testimonial is meant to be all positive information - different than an evaluation or a critical review which is supposed to be an objective review whether positive or negative.

Testimonials are frequently used in fitness advertising, particularly E books.

Testimonials are often solicited after you have had a positive experience. A very satisfied customer will give one without being asked but I do recognize that humans are more likely to write about a complaint rather than about a positive experience, so I admit sometimes a testimonial will have to be requested.

Testimonials solicited as a barter for some sort of reward makes it much less valid.

Be honest and factual in reporting the positive aspects of your experience. If you are expected to present a totally positive review, only put that which you actually felt positive about. Don't embelish or make up what is not true.

If you are having a great deal of trouble writing one, it may be because you either did not have a positive experience or that you did not benefit enough from it to support it and attach your name to it.

Before you provide a testimonial make sure you ask yourself truly if you would recommend this product and this person to your best friend or a family member. If the testimonial is in a public venue it will haunt you forever.

Ask how and where this information will be used. Ask if your privacy will be maintained. Be aware that often there is little to prevent others such as affiliates who get commissions for selling the product from copying your information or using it in their own ads - the internet provides free reign for all types of people - in some online sales sites ANYONE can be an affiliate without pemission of the author and the author of the product has little control on what the affiliate writes in their ads. This is true for clickbank. On a site I came across a while I was searching the net I found that an affiliate for a product had used an unflattering picture of a friend of mine with a less than flattering comment.

On the other hand there are internet E companies who allow authors to place restrictions such as requiring that affiliates be screened and approved. The affiliates often must have a professional background. They are expected to maintain standards and follow the author's rules. This is true of ShareASale.

Ask the trainer or promoter what type of site (s)he sells through and what steps have been taken to protect and monitor the information. A written and signed agreement about how the info will be used as well as your signature approving use of the info should protect you and the trainer. The agreement should include a timeline for how long the information will be used. Ask if the testimonial will be used solely for the product you are supporting or if it is going to be used for future products. Hopefully the answer is no. You can include that in the agreement - that it is to be used for the sole purpose of advertising the product you have used or reviewed. Even if the product is good you should be sure that the author or trainer is honest and ethical in the promotion and advertising of the product as well.

If your picture is being used, ask if your face will be blurred in the photos. Will your testimonial be printed as submitted or will it be edited or altered? Will your last name be left out? How specifically is your location identified - country, province or city? The more detailed the info the more valid the testimonial for the product however, you may want to really think about your privacy first.

You should be told how to access the ad so that you can review the information or monitor it if you wish. Ask if the information will be removed if you change your mind. How long will it take? Once you give the info and permission to use it and use your name you will have very little or no control over its use. It may be flattering to have your hard work and achievement acknowledged, but it often is really a sales promotion technique. There are so many products advertising the same benefits, it is hard to know what you are buying. An author who can secure testimonials, particularly unrestricted ones from people who are satisfied with the product has a better chance of attracting clients. But if you freely give permission to use your info without guidelines or restrictions, do so at your own risk.

If you have a profession, you really need to think twice before you give a testimonial or at least before you use your professional designation along with your name. You may have to consult with your professional licencing body before using a professional designation to support a product. In my profession I would consult with my organization before using R.N. However, there would be no problem using the term 'nurse' without the organizational input.

Pictures: In BC Canada a picture/image of a person belongs to the individual whose image it is. The "imagee" so to speak is the copyright owner. I believe that you can sign over copyright but I am not sure why you would want to. Generally, a professional site or venue will ask you who owns the copyright of a picture, make sure the copyright is noted, and ask that person's signed permission to use the picture (not ask you to sign over the copyright). They will generally ask you as well if you wish to have the photo credit (photographer's name) published. You don't have to put in the photo credit. If you wish to you should check with the photographer first letting them know where it will be published.

Generally there is less risk of problems when dealing with a professional publishing company that with an Internet product.

WEIGHT LOSS TIP # 8 DRINK GREEN TEA FOR A SMALLER TUMMY

2010-04-14T23:01:00.000-07:00

Researchers report that catechins in green tea blast tummy fat by acting on enzymes that influence the body’s calorie and fat burning mechanism ..And catechins and caffeine together may boost the body’s metabolism.Green tea has 1/3 the caffeine of black tea but has the same level of effect on energy and attentiveness. It is known to have the highest content of polyphenols which have potent antioxidant properties. These polyphenols gobble up free radicals and improve artery function. Studies note that 16 oz per day can cut the risk of death due to cardiovascular disease by 26%. Although it benefits both men and women, the benefits to women are more pronounced (finally!). However, don't drink it with milk because the casein in milk inhibits the beneficial effect of the tea.

AND YOU STILL NEED TO DRINK ALL YOUR WATER! SEE PREVIOUS POST

IF MICHAEL JACKSON HAD LIVED TO OLD AGE....WATCH THIS

2010-04-08T17:39:00.000-07:00

Too funny ---click here ..be patient

WARNING SIGNS THAT YOU HIRED THE WRONG PERSONAL TRAINER

2010-04-06T22:19:00.000-07:00

If you do your homework (see previous post) you will not have the problems noted below:

WARNING SIGNS

Your trainer is often late or a no show and has various excuses.
The trainer spends time visiting with other clients and socializes at the gym during your session.
The trainer looks bored and unenthusiastic during your sessions.
The trainer does not respond to communication such as phone calls or emails on a timely basis.
The trainer does poor follow up and shows little interest in monitoring your progress.
The trainer pushes supplements, herbs or fitness items for which (s)he receives a commission.
The trainer fails to adequately answer fitness and training questions.
The trainer fails to acknowledge complaints about pain or injury.
The trainer frequently takes phone calls or text messages during your session. The trainer should turn off the cell or blackberry or ask your permission to take an important call during a session. You are paying for the time.
There are unexpected additional add on costs that were not listed in the quote (unless you have requested changes).
The trainer fails to deliver the program promised.
Your personal trainer makes you feel incompetent, inadequate or stupid.
Your personal trainer promotes a fad fitness scheme.
Your personal trainer has all the clients on the same program.
Your personal trainer wears large baggy clothes and you have no idea if (s)he is fit or hiding an obesity secret - really though - your trainer should be the epitomy of fitness. Unless (s)he has a very ugly tatoo, you may wonder why you can't tell if the person is fit or not. It is quite possible they are not.
The trainer is unreliable.
The trainer has unethical business practices.
The trainer is unable to validate testimonials or references. There should be at least a few clients who invite contact to confirm their support for the experience if the trainer is any good.
Your trainer does not ask for feedback about what (s) he can do to improve service. No matter how excellent the service there is always something the trainer can improve to help clients. Requesting honest feedback about your experience, both positive and negative demonstrates interest in you and shows the trainer is interested in continuous improvement of the service.
Your trainer constantly criticizes other trainers. Unprofessional.
Your trainer picks and chooses anecdotal studies to support his/her fitness theories. An ethical and professional trainer will review studies from more than one source or perspective before reaching a conclusion and only use studies which have been validated.
If the opposite sex (s)he is starting to look less cute (just kidding).

A word about arrogance. I find body building trainers in particular extremely arrogant and conceited. Perhaps because they have achieved such outstanding muscle development, a beautiful physique and have won competitions or they have worked hard to achieve their bodies and their knowledge. It reminds me of Ali Ali many years ago. I am from a generation where being modest is generally a positive attribute. To get the best, I have had to ignore this type of behaviour. I guess if you think you are beautiful these days it is fine to say so....just isn't how I was brought up.

Coming soon. A word about testimonials - warnings.

WEIGHT LOSS TIP # 7 DRINK PLENTY OF WATER

2010-04-05T20:09:00.000-07:00

I disagree that the world's most valuable commodity is oil.
It is water.

I won't give a rat's @$$ if I can drive my car if there is no potable (drinkable) water. I will be dead without it. Drinking plenty of water is always a great weight loss or general health tip. There is no truth to the rumour that it "removes fat from the body" but:

What water does for you

Makes you feel full
Assists the digestion, absorption and assimilation of food
Helps regulate body temperature naturally through evaporation
Acts as a natural appetite suppressant
Hydrates skin
Helps the kidneys and other organs and systems work better
Reduces muscle fatigue
Reduces headache
Improves eyesight
Reduces water retention

The body survival system causes us to store water for the coming drought because we rarely drink enough of it so, after drinking adequate water over time, your body will stop holding on to so much of it - that is likely why we have that sudden weight loss initially when we begin a plan that includes lots of veggies, fruits and water - we are dumping water weight. The body is starting to catch on that we have changed our habits and is letting go of the survival mode.

Our body apparently is not too bright and sometimes mistakes hunger for thirst so drinking several glasses of water before heading for food can serve several purposes, feed our body the liquids we need, help us feel fuller, perhaps defer the need to eat particularly if we are having our 6 snacks/meals per day already. Thirst is a late warning sign - you are already dry by the time you are thirsty. I think if we were a basic animal with low level brain we would hear earlier warning signs but we are so distracted with input/output and when busy with other things ignore any subtle warnings until too late. We need to be proactive.

There are some promising but preliminary studies which report that drinking plenty of water may assist increase the metobolism or the rate of burning calories by as much as 30%.

Signs of poor water intake/dehydration

Headache
Blurred vision
Poor concentration
Constipation
Dark/concentrated urine output
Poor skin turgor (poor elasticity)
Furry tongue
Bad breath

I am not sure of contraindications to drinking lots of water. I imagine they are very few - perhaps people with early kidney failure, congestive heart failure or hypertension. If you have a health condition of concern, see you doctor.

The situation in the news a while back, where someone died participating in a radio station water drinking contest was an extreme case involving many gallons which would likely cause a severe electrolyte disturbance.

What kind of water?

At home I have a double filtering system one in-line in my basement and one in-line in my fridge. However my tap water is perfectly drinkable. I drink whatever type of plain bottled water I can get when on the road - mainly because I find restaurant tap water highly chlorinated and I do not like the taste of bleach.

You can do you own research of your own area water. You can drink your own tap water, filter it, purchase bottled water system, buy bottled water - it is a personal choice and a personal taste. For goodness sake don't buy the stuff with fruit flavours added vitamins and minerals etc. JUST PLAIN WATER.

How Much is Enough?

The usual recommendation is to drink 8 - eight ounce glasses per day. However, this will depend on how much sweating you do with weather and exercise. You may need to add more. Check with your trainer.

The recommended intake does not include coffee, tea, pop, fruit juice etc we are talking JUST water so you may want to cut down on the other stuff - coffee particularly is a diuretic and causes you to lose water.

At first you may find it difficult and you may feel a bit nauseated. Sip at it and be persistent. Soon you will be able to drink it all without a problem. I found nothing sat well in my stomach first thing in the a.m. Now I have two glasses of water while putting on my makeup and getting ready. I am able to eat first thing as well.

Don't guestimate how much you drink - that is, keep filling up a glass over and over. Fill up a large container with the daily requirement and have it right in front of you. I am lucky to have good tasting filtered water at work. As soon as I arrive at work I fill up my container and have it on my desk right in front of me.

Should it be Hot or Cold?

I read somewhere that drinking ice water burns more calories because your body has to heat it. I would doubt it makes a significant enough difference to worry about it. I read somewhere else that cold water is bad for the digestion. I drink both. In the a.m. I have a hot glass with fresh squeezed lemon (ok - the only exception to fruit juice) and other times I liked it iced. I have had no problems with my digestion. So best to have it how you like it so that you get it into you.

When to drink it

A good way to get in the habit is to drink two glasses on getting up - I get at least one glass the night before and leave it on the bathroom counter for drinking first thing and then get my hot version when I reach the kitchen. Take two glasses before your workout, one during, one to two after. I have a glass or two while prepping meals. It prevents me from nibbling. Try to have water intake throughout the day instead of loading up all at once. If you commute you have to plan properly rather than trying to make up for lack of water near bedtime. You will be up all night and you won't get your beauty sleep.

One teeny problem. Ok. You are saying "I can't do this or I will have to pee all the time." Well, let me tell you what happened to me. I used to ration the water I drank because embarassingly I had stress incontinence. I later found it was a very common female complaint. I attributed it to remote childbirth and abdominal surgery, never to my fitness level. It was so restricting that I had considered a very painful and not particularly successful surgery. Glad I didn't. Several months into my fitness journey - it disappeared.

I noticed how religiously I drink water the other evening when I was dining with friends. I went to the powder room 3 times during our several hours there - no one else ever left the table. So who do you think was drinking the recommended water amount?

I commute a long way - I make sure I go before I leave the house - I dont drink anything further until I am about 30 minutes away from work. Same on the way home. At work drinking plenty gets me out of my chair for frequent stretch breaks. It may take planning on your part but your health, your weight loss and your skin among other things will thank you.

DRINK UP

WESTERN CANADIAN BODY BUILDING CHAMPIONSHPS

2010-03-30T19:39:00.001-07:00

Are in Kelowna BC on May 22, 2010

HOW TO CHOOSE A PERSONAL TRAINER. WHY HIRE A PERSONAL TRAINER?

2010-03-30T11:45:00.000-07:00

Why Hire A Personal Trainer?

Personal trainers are no longer just a fad for the stars or athletes. Today they are necessary for the average person. Obesity and lack of fitness is an epidemic. Hiring a personal trainer is a step in the right direction to losing weight, toning muscles and learning about nutrition and avoiding injury. A trainer provides coaching to keep you motivated and on track. A trainer can provide an individualized safe fitness plan.

But how do you know who you are hiring and what you are getting for your money?

Credentials

Personal trainers have a variety of backgrounds not limited to but including kinesiology, physical education, physiotherapy, nursing, psychology, body building etc. However, the industry has taken off and there are personal trainers galore. The backgrounds and credentials are very variable. There are winners and losers, the same as in any other profession.

Qualifications – although there are a variety of certifications out there – the certification should be from an accredited training facility. It is beneficial if in addition to the personal trainer and conditioning certification, that the trainer has a professional degree. With a professional degree regulated by a professional body, there is a requirement to maintain professional standards, professional ethics, accountability including continuous education to upgrade knowledge as well as to perform regular self-evaluation. If bodybuilding is your area of interest – you should pursue training with an experienced qualified trainer with a background in body building.

Cost

Face to face trainers

Is it expensive to hire the most qualified trainer? You will be surprised!Costs vary from $25 to $125 per hour. Some trainers offer program package deals tailored to your needs and your budget. I would not recommend judging the quality of the trainer by who charges the highest price. Sometimes an artificially high price is set to simply to screen out poorer clients in order to milk the rich. Often at a gym you may pay $80 per hour with the trainer getting $15-$20 per hour and the gym pocketing the rest. In a quote I received from a gym the cost was $80 per hour for single sessions or $70/hr when purchasing a minimum of 50 hourly sessions with extra charges for gym membership and a personalized training program. The trainer was certified but had no professional background. I declined.

The benefits of face to face training is observation of your form, effort etc – it is much harder to fool yourself or a trainer with face to face follow up. Heart rate, muscle recruitment and breathing, as well as progress or lack of progress are good indicators of effort or lack of effort.

Online training

Online training is a much more cost effective way of training. Demonstrations of exercises can be accomplished with photos, videos, audios etc. The down side is you can see the trainer has good form in the demos but (s)he cannot observe you. I would strongly recommend face to face for the first few sessions with periodic follow up after if you feel insecure with the online method. With the online training method or purchase of E programs, just be aware that some trainers supplement the low cost by volume or by promoting E products (their own or other trainers) for commissions. They offer a cost effective product but they do have to make a living. You may be deluged with emails. Some people are annoyed by impersonal mass emails but it has to be done this way for time efficiency and to reach more clients. This is particularly true of clickbank where the authors are also affiliates to sell and promote the books of other authors for a commission. The simple solution to frequent emails is to unsubscribe if you do not wish to receive them, or delete the ones you are not interested in. If you block or unsubscribe you may miss out on interesting free articles and fitness tips though. Your call.

Don't be turned off or be suspicious of some of the bargain online prices for personal trainers. Many are very good. As noted above they supplement their income with Ebook volumes, commissions or save on advertising by using free testimonials from their clients. Don’t forget about drop-out rates too (see below) - more time for you when others drop out.

There are some amazing trainers out there in the electronic world. Again just make sure their credentials are appropriate.

Other points for online programing is that the author sends you any changes and updates. If upgrades are made you may be offered the new bonus at a great rate and you will generally be sent a lot of good fitness articles if you remain on the mailing list. Some of the Ebook authors offer private online programs as well.

Caution: some E trainers have ‘assistants’ to respond to their emails. If you are signing up for an individual training program be sure to clarify that you expect a personal response to any training questions. Their assistants should only be answering non training questions, such as technical downloading support, payment or refund questions. Clarify if there is a direct email address to reach the trainer with training questions.

Money back guarantee.

Money back would not apply to you if you simply lost interest or for some personal reason you chose to drop out. It would not be fair to ask a trainer to return all the money for a package deal. Time went in to the development of your plan. It is now yours - you own it. However you might ask up front if there is a percentage of money back perhaps early in the process if you decide that you and the trainer do not fit. You may also wish to find out about any refund agreement if the trainer fails to deliver, for example if the trainer cancels a lot or does not fulfill the promise in the quote or contract. Generally though, if you simply have made a bad choice and have not done your research you can kiss your money goodbye. However most of the problems are client related – many Gyms and trainers expect a drop-out rate. It s not a reflection of the lack of a proper trainer but most often related to the client not being ready to make the commitment and not addressing and removing their barriers such as time management, motivation etc.

Prior to embarking on fitness training.I started out with a personal trainer, then an online trainer and now I mostly train myself. You will have to measure how much your health is worth to you. It was worth quite a bit to me. I worked overtime and gave up vacations to fund my journey.

Payment - often trainers will ask for the payment up front. This is really necessary. A great deal of time goes into the development of a program and many people do not pay their bills - even if they are successful. So expect that this is standard practice. The trainer may be willing to break it into several payments if you have established a rapport and a level of trust.

Compatibility/Personality and Business Style. You will want to find a trainer who fits your personality. You don’t have to find a friend but you will be spending time with this person. You need to like them as well as feel liked and respected by them.Working it out –the trainer should be as interested about you achieving your goals as you are. You and the trainer should be up front about goals and objectives. The trainer should counsel you if your goals are unreasonable and unrealistic. You should have a frank discussion about cost – the quote should be detailed and in writing. The program should be in writing. Both you and your trainer should clearly lay out expectations.

Variety/Individuality – the trainer should provide a personalized program based on your assessment and goals – beware of a cookie cutter - one program fits all. For E programs, there is usually one program but various levels of difficulty and clear instructions on how to determine where you should start and how you should progress. If the plan goes beyond 6 weeks or so (for beginners) or beyond 3-4 weeks (for advanced), or if you reach a plateau, the trainer should have provided a review, and program change in the plan.

Style - Do you want a trainer who pushes you boot camp style or someone who provides leadership but lets you decide how much follow up and coaching you require? Both are fine depending on what works for you.

Trainer Preferences - Some trainers prefer to train only fat loss clients, only women, only men, or only athletes or seniors. If your trainer seems bored silly – don’t take it personally - find a trainer more compatible and interested in your needs.

Male or female - in my opinion, it does not matter it is more important that the trainer seems truly interested in your goals and you are compatible. You may wish to discuss this with your significant other to make sure there are no issues with your gender choice.

Young or older – again – it does not matter – you are checking the credentials – that is the main point. In defense of younger qualified trainers – you may catch them when they are fresh and eager and want to please and give you the best service – and before they have family responsibilities to interfere - not to say a more experienced trainer won’t be as equally attentive – I am just advising you not to discount a younger inexperienced trainer.

Appearance-hopefully you won't choose the best looking trainer – go by compatibility and credentials. But what you do want to see in appearance is that the trainer keeps fit. It would be hard to have confidence in their training principles if it is not working for them. I was once sent to a dietician by my family doctor to find that the woman was over 300 lb. I did not feel confident taking nutrition and weight loss advice from a very obese individual.

Interview the trainer either by phone or in person for face to face training. Ask a lot of questions. See if they offer free consultations. Make sure they take a full health history prior to training you and that they have the ability, time and desire to adapt the program to avoid aggravation of any trouble areas. The trainer should be adaptable and be able to provide a program for use in the venue you choose whether it is a gym, at home with minimal equipment or partial equipment or on the road.

Interview E books. You should be able to have any questions cleared up by email. Generally there is a contact email. Usually there is a charge for telephone discussions/consultations. With most E programs there is email follow up for a specific period after purchase - so that should be incentive to get started right away.

References – don’t rely on impersonal testimonials with generic information and non identifying sources. Anyone can make up that sort of information. Ask the trainer for written references from former clients if possible or other information that can be validated or verified.

Coming soon – warning signs you have hired the wrong personal trainer.....more about testimonials (risks and pitfalls), ownership of photographs etc.

GLUTE AMNESIA...GIVES NEW MEANING TO: "YOU LAZY BUM!"

2010-03-17T19:12:00.000-07:00

Or worse. You lazy ass.

Glutes are part of the posterior chain (linkage of muscles in the rear of your body) which play a role in posture, strength, performance, and injury prevention of the back and knees as well as giving a nice aesthetic appearance such as that sported by J-Lo or Tosca Reno.

The glute is supposed to be the largest and strongest muscle in the body.

The glutes are made up of the gluteus maxumus, gluteus medius and gluteus minimus. The primary function (gluteus maximus) is hip extension - moving the thigh to the rear, that is extending the hip that is pushing you forward while your foot is on the ground; the primary function of the gluteus medius is leg abduction, that is moving it away from the centerline of the body. The mimimus like its name is not hugely significant. Functionally the glutes help push you up and out of a chair, get up from a squat.

When I started my fitness journey and shed my baggy clothes, I noticed ‘Yikes. No butt!

How fair is that. I was still obese but had a flat derriere. Why? Well I believe the same things that caused the obesity such as a sedentary job an inactive lifestyle, and habits that included a lot of time saving energy sparing actions contributed to muscle loss there and elsewhere.

I started to look about and noticed there was an epidemic of missing buns in the general population.

Though I was working out not much was going on there. Flat. Along with the aesthetic downside there is a health downside - injury.

There are controversial theories about glute amnesia. Some therapists feel that lack of use of this muscle leads to problems getting the muscle to fire etc. (sort of a neuro - brain/muscle response problem). Whatever. At the very least it is grossly underused muscle which leads to muscle wasting. In my opinion it is fueled by our lifestyles.

We sit a lot. We avoid stairs in favour of elevators and escalators. Even people who work out, often do not adequately recruit their glutes. They spend more time on upper body, or use machines that do not use adequate range of motion or machines in place of barbells and free weights losing the benefit of fuller range of motion and the recruitment of accessory muscles.

My day consisted of at least 3 hours in the car (sitting of course); at least 8 hours sitting at a desk and maybe some sitting time relaxing having meals or watching Tv along with some hobbies that require sitting for the most part. Hard to undo with exercise alone. Particularly with the wrong exercises or the wrong techniques. I noticed with surprise when attending body building competitions, that some of the competitors had awesome bodies until they turned around and walked off stage. All those muscles but a flat unattractive butt.

When glutes are not activated the muscles that step up to the plate are hamstrings and lumbar extensor muscles. When the glute muscle does not carry its fair share of the load during certain movements you could have knee pain or injury, hamstring injury and anterior hip pain just for starters. Weak glutes can lead to injury when doing deadlifts.

Can you get your butt back? Or as the amnesia proponents say 'reactivate the firing of your glutes' Yes. If you are young generally the response is faster. If you are older it will take longer and may not ever be to the J-Lo level, 'butt' you certainly can improve the aeasthetics as well as the function. In fact for health reasons, it is essential.

Reviewing advice from various trainers here are some tips:

Before embarking on heavy weighted squats and deadlifts try isometric and isolation exercises to learn to recruit your glutes. Examples:

Contract your butt muscles sitting in the traffic in the car – vary with alternating contractions then simulataneous Left and Right. Go for 100 contractions.
Waiting in a line up? Yep do more butt contractions. Try holding as long as you can and release. Each ‘workout’ try holding for a bit longer than last time.
While watching TV lower yourself to the chair squeezing your glutes but stop just short of the destination and squeeze as you stand straight up again. Repeat 20-25 times.
Take the stairs two at a time – using handrail for safety
Try to actively use the glutes when walking - concentrate
Incorporate hills in your walks or add inclines to your treadmill.
Don’t use a hamstring curl machine if you have dominant hams – it will make the problem worse
Don’t use the elliptical for cardio (too little range of motion, the stride is too short and there is not enough hip extension; it is more upper body workout than lower and contributes to other issues due to the stride not being appropriate distance for everyone) – so use it with caution and perhaps consult a personal trainer re adjustments to suit you.
When doing squats favour barbells or free weights over machines
When doing squats be sure to go down to at least to 90 degrees (thighs parallel to floor) to recruit the glutes – the lower the more recruitment.
When squatting make sure the knee is not over the foot or it puts more emphasis on the quad. One trainer pointed out the only time this won’t be so is if it is a very deep squat. The lower you go beyond 90 degrees the more the glutes are involved.
When squatting or doing deadlifts concentrate on contracting the glute muscles
Some exercises to try one-legged glute bridges, kickbacks on bench using machine, split squats, lunges, squats, deadlifts, back step lunge, bent knee bridges on ball. There are plenty of exercises to chose from - using balls, body weight, bands, barbells and free weights.

Training Techniques to Call in the Glutes

Most exercise for the glutes are also for the thighs. Many of us have stronger attachments and muscles in the thighs so the quads do most of the work and take most of the benefit if we don't purposely use techniques to recruit the glutes. Some more tips from trainers:

1. Try pre-exhaust. First, use an exercise that works ONLY the target muscle. Then, immediately follow that with an exercise that works the target muscle and several other muscles. The technique virtually exhausts the target muscle first then is followed with one that utilizes other muscles (a compound exercise) to help push that already pre-exhausted target muscle harder.

Two isolation exercises: low pulley extension - a) attach ankle pulley, face machine, extend leg behind you - repeat and perform to muscle fatigue; 2) glute push ups - lay on floor knees bent 90 o , feet flat on floor - push hips toward ceiling squeezing butt hard - can do one leg at a time - cross non working leg over other - perform to muscle fatigue

After pre-exhaust - immediately go to compound exercise such as squat

2. When doing squats visualize sitting back - leaning forward puts more emphasis on quads

3. When doing squats raise your toes in your shoes (to place more weight on heels and subsequently the glutes)

4. When doing lunge push with heels rather than balls of feet.

5. Leg Press - if you place foot with heel at top edge of foot plate and the rest of the foot off the plate - puts more emphasis on glutes

If you don't believe squeezing the butt with exercise works, try this test. Climb a good sized hill squeezing your butt hard. Trust me you will know where your glutes are the next day!

If you have tried and can’t seem to isolate and contract the glutes – see a therapist or fitness trainer professional to help you sort out the problem.

One exercise I did that seemed to really get to the spot where the thigh meets the butt was a slightly bent knee deadlift with heavy weight – wow was I sore in the correct spot.

Don't do deadlifts especially with heavy weights unless you have training on correct form and are able to recruit your glutes.

Recently I have been doing metabolic resistance training involving high rep weights using supersets of upper/lower body – there are a lot of squats, lunges, deadlifts and my butt is burning.

It is working.

I am also doing lots of butt squeezes in boring line ups or in the car or at the office. Last year I got a sit/stand work station because of a hip issue. Sitting less helps my hip and my butt.

Sore? Now is the time to use your foam roller to release muscle tension and increase flexibility and reduce the appearance of cellulite.

Note: I am not a fitness instructor. This information is from my interpretation of research I have done and my personal experience as a fitness consumer. Any mistakes are mine alone. There is plenty information out there on perfecting the butt. My top picks are Nick Nillsons Gluteus to the Maximus, Tosca Renos The Butt Book, and Oxygen magazine which has special feature editions including butt workouts.

OH CANADA

2010-02-28T15:29:00.000-08:00

What a hockey game - nail biting. It could have gone either way. I wondered what all the hype was about Crosby. Kept waiting for him to do something - he did not disappoint!

I know the U.S. is disappointed but they have nothing to be ashamed of. The prediction was that they would not be in the semifinals and they almost won the gold. So very close.

Congrats to Canada USA and Finland!

ALL ABOUT GLUTES

2010-02-27T17:15:00.001-08:00

coming soon.....

EVERYTHING I KNOW ABOUT CHEATING I LEARNED FROM MY GRANDMAS

2010-02-22T22:13:00.000-08:00

I was realizing the other day that many of the habits of body builders and fitness trainers which I now practice, I learned as a child.

I grew up in England in the care of my maternal grandmother for parts of my childhood. I remember that we had frequent smaller meals throughout the day. We had our bigger meal (carbohydrates) at noon.

We had planned 'cheat days'. But to us it was simply called Sunday. That is, each week on a Sunday, my grandma would bake a cake (usually coconut) and that is the only day we had that type of food. It was not made into a big deal - it was just part of our routine. On Sundays, we always visited her mother, my great grandmother.

Great grandma was in her 90s, blind and frail but..she knew my footsteps the second I arrived. Grandma would go visit with her sister in the kitchen. I would sit in the rocking chair by the fire with great grandma (there was no central heat). She would bring out our weekly treat. A Cadbury's chocolate bar. She would break off a square for herself and one for me and put the rest away for the next week. We would let it slowly melt in our mouths enjoying each other's company and the warm fire.

Eating the whole thing never occurred to us. One piece of sweet was plenty. Still..to this day, I buy a chocolate bar and have one square once in awhile. It is enough.

But I did lose my way during the days of my obesity.

It seems we have become nations of super sizing, pig fests and all you can eat bonazas destroying our bodies and our health.

It is a good habit to develop.....having treat foods as something rare and precious to savour and eat slowly, enjoy in small amounts and put away until the next time. And to treat food in general as a valuable fuel to be taken in as required and not as desired.

Olympic Joy

2010-02-22T21:26:00.000-08:00

Ok now I have experienced joy. I screamed so loud I scared all my pets.

Our Canadian ice dancers just won the gold.

They are the youngest to ever win ice dance - 20, 22
They are the first North Americans to win ice dance gold.
They are from my birth Province - Ontario - near London.

Apparently Russia has not lost the gold since around 1966

Ice Dancing and Pairs used to be so full of politics and sleezy back room deals. All the skating so far has shown great judging. What a refreshing change!

I'd like to add - the Americans were awesome too!!!! And it just so happens they train with the Canadian champions - their coaches must be so proud. Athletes - so young - so disciplined - we can learn from them.

Plushenko (Russia) lost the men's figure skating gold to the USA. He felt he should have won simply because of the quad. He awarded himself platinum. Good grief. The rest of his skate in my opinion was clumsy no sign of artistry just continuous planning for the next technical move - he did not have the finesse of the USA athlete.

The medal was well deserved by the USA. As the interviewer said to Plushenko - it is called 'figure skating' not 'jumping' :) Plushenko replied they always won under the old system - he does not like the new system - really? You mean a fair and honest one where biased judges can't affect or influence others. I often wonder how many athletes were screwed out of medals before the judging underwent reform. It is a pair of our athletes that championed the reform - it took guts for them to do it - you might remember the year the gold was shared.

I had to laugh this morning listening to the morning mash up. One of the announcers hates olympics and said it is supposed to be amateurs - what are those professionals doing in the Olympics - and in the same breath said he bets Canada is embarassed about last night's hockey game.

Excuse me oh young one - aren't the hockey players NHL? Well we aren't embarrased. Probably most of them are or were Canadian :)

By the way the IOC changed the charter in 1986 to allow all athletes to compete including 'professionals. '

I wonder if that made it more fair. In the 'old days' communist countries dominated the medals. I am not sure why but I often wondered if their countries gave them a lot more financial support to train - ours sure didn't back then. Nice to see that all can be sponsored equally so they can concentrate on being the best. Why should our athletes give up years of earnings to represent their countries for the glory of us all? Sure the ones who medal might get endorsments but it is not a given.

I can't wait for the curling and hockey - tic toc. I'll bet it will be exciting although this is the only time that curling excites me - sorry. Yawn. Pushing a broom usually just doesn't do it for me. Too much like housework.

UPPER BODY EXERCISE PLATEAU IS OFTEN CAUSED BY WEAK HANDS, WRISTS AND FOREARMS

2010-02-21T10:27:00.000-08:00

My upper body exercises were stalling. Some weeks I could not advance the weight at all. I had difficulty doing upper bodyweight exercises too. Even though I was recovering from a significant injury, my shoulder was solid and pain free. I knew it was not the cause.

I noticed that since my upper body injury I had been having trouble opening jars and even with turning door nobs. My rehab had been aimed at progressing the range of motion of my shoulder. I soon realized I had lost a lot of strength in my hands wrists and forearms. So my biceps, triceps, chest and shoulders were capable of much more weight - but I was restricted by the lack of strength in my lower arms.

I started targeting the hands, wrists and forearms and got incredible results in progressing my program. I am back to where I was and advancing with each workout.

Even if you don't lift weights, it is almost certain, unless you are a labourer that you have weakness in the hands, wrists and forearms - particularly if you are a woman. Yes , we use our hands constantly but we have developed so many labour aids, machines and tools to make everything easier that we no longer require the strength we used to.

Here are a few simple tools that are really inexpensive (and there are plenty of free exercise demos on the Internet for these body parts).

For beautiful younger hands click here for further TIPS:

MORE JOY

2010-02-21T00:39:00.001-08:00

The Canadian Gold Medal winner for Skeleton. He has an infectious personality and is one of the most joyous people I have ever seen - even before he won!

Congrats Jon Montgomery

JOY

2010-02-18T18:08:00.000-08:00

It was so invigorating to watch Shaun White (U.S. snowboarder) win his gold.

He is the picture of joy. Of someone who has chosen a path he loves; something which brings him happiness and joy not to forget a good living.

So many of us follow paths we don't enjoy and never take the risk of finding what makes us happy. I am one of them.

Sometimes I think obesity is just another feature of our joyless paths. We need to either stop complaining and find joy in what we are doing now or find what moves us, what motivates us and makes us happy and take steps to follow a different path.

My life is not bad - pretty good actually, but I would not say it is joyous. I am working on it.

IMAGINE

2010-02-16T22:58:00.000-08:00

How do Olympians do what they do day after day, week after week, year after year? They imagine. They believe.

How do they pick themselves up after a fall, recover, and surpass their personal best? They imagine. They believe.

Not much different than losing weight.

Imagine. Pick your self up. Believe.

OLYMPICS - MOTIVATING OR WHAT!

2010-02-14T21:08:00.000-08:00

I love watching the olympics but especially right now when it is in my home Province.

My cardinal rule to not watch TV while working out - is broken. But nothing is more motivating for me than to watch these athletes who may win or lose by a little as .1 of a point, by a centimetre or a few one hundreds of a second.

They work for years - get up at incredible hours and work incredible hours and most of us whine about not feeling motivated to work out a few times per week.

I cheer for all of them - I don't care if they are Canadian or not. While the Olympics are on - I'll bet I don't miss one workout or screw up on my nutrition plan even a bit. If they can do what they do with such passion, I can keep up my training - small challenge that it is - compared to theirs.

Cheer for your country! But workout while you are doing it! This type of motivation does not come along that often.

MY TRAINERS AND GUIDES

2010-02-11T22:06:00.000-08:00

I have had significant weight loss, body toning, health improvements but I did not do it alone. All of the people listed on the side of this blog have trained me, given me knowledge and motivated me along the way.

I recovered from a very serious shoulder fracture and disclocation which happened April 2009. It was a long wait before I could start heavy lifting again and get my full range of motion but I did it. But, I got just so far and my numbers just weren't increasing. Except my legs of course which have always responded fairly quickly both in growth and higher weights.

I was a bit out of practice with trouble shooting in my training. So, I re-read everything I had from these trainers. I was able to trouble shoot again! I fixed quite a few things using their techniques anabolic windows, carb cycling, working on the muscles that were causing the 'weak link." For example my upper limb weight increases were limited by my forearm, wrist and hand grip strength - not my biceps, or triceps. I initially kept my shoulder exercises at 90 o or less and worked on ROM with bands and stretching with a rotator cuff routine before trying heavy weights above shoulder height. At first because of my loss of range I had a hard time putting the barbell on my shoulders because I could not get my arms far enough back so I had to resort to the leg press until I could use the barbell for decent squats - but now I can!!! I remembered how to better target my glutes as well. I can hardly believe it but the past few weeks I am getting the 5 ot 10 % increase in 'progressive overload' consistently. Such a satisfying feeling.

I really doubt I will compete. In fact the current training program I am doing has a fat loss/gain muscle transformation contest as well - but - although I am doing the program and it is working so well I am not participating in the transformation contest. I don't want prizes. I don't need the motivation. I don't want my before and after pictures posted on a trainer's site. I am doing it because I want to. I have no interest in competing against others. I am competing against me and it is working.

I change programs fairly often. They all work - the ones on this site. Right now I am working at a special program with Vince for the body building training and I am using Joel's Cheat Your Way Thin plan with Tosca's books and Oxygen Magazines tips to top it off.

I really love training. I love eating clean. It is a really good life. I feel strong and 'uncluttered' Now I just need to do the same with my life and my home :)

And I keep hoping the one I love will find the God of fitness soon too. He is so perfect in every other way.

PINK

2010-02-07T19:31:00.001-08:00

Pink. Again. She was on Oprah the other day and was asked how she keeps fit. She uses the Tony Horton P90X when she is on the road. I have that program and although I have another training plan right now and have not done the whole 90 day program I frequently use pieces of it - the ab routine, the yoga, the stretch - there are many components and I enjoy them but work portions into my current training. He always shows various levels of doing a routine so that you can work at your current level. It is nice to see the improvement week to week.

Also fun for a cardio change (also from Beachbodies) is the Core Rhythm CDs.

KALEA CROSS AUTHOR - PERSONAL MESSAGE

2010-02-04T18:26:00.000-08:00

Here is a personal message from Kalea with a teaser about her latest release. (ps I have 10 signed copies on their way to me!)

Hi everyone! It seems like forever since Out of Her League came out, but the sequel is finally here. Cover of Darkness features Bryn McAllister (I hope you remember her from the first book) in a romantic suspense that I hope will leave you breathless. If you liked the last one, then fasten your seatbelts and hold on when you read this book!

Targeted by a terrorist cell, Bryn McAllister survives a bombing at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut only to be left to die in a desert cellar. When she is rescued by Navy SEAL Lieutenant Declan McCabe and his team, Bryn must rely on the handsome officer to get her to safety. But just when she thinks the nightmare is over, family friend and legendary CIA operative Luke Hutchinson recruits her and McCabe to help track down the terrorist mastermind responsible for the attack.

With Bryn determined to see the terrorist brought to justice, Dec joins up to protect her, prepared to do whatever it takes to keep her safe during their dangerous mission. Battling the explosive attraction between them, Dec fights to keep his distance from her so he can do his job and keep her alive. But when plans falls apart and Bryn is captured, he must make the agonizing choice between his duty as a SEAL and the life of the woman he loves.

I hope this read will keep you on the edge of your seat, and make you stay up late turning those pages. Here's the link for the paperback edition: http://kayleacross.blogspot.com/2010/02/cover-of-darkness-is-here-at-last.html

The next two books in the series will be out in May and July, and the final one should be out by the end of the year (we're just starting edits in the next few weeks). For those of you in the lower mainland, I'd be happy to order your copies and hold them here for you if you'd prefer that to ordering them online yourself. Plus then I'll get to see you! If you live too far away, I'm sending a great big hug with each book so you don't feel left out. I truly appreciate everyone's support; it means a lot to me.

Happy reading, and I look forward to hearing what you thought of the story!

Kaylea Cross

THE F WORD

2010-02-02T20:33:00.001-08:00

FOOD just in case you thought I meant something else. When I thought about food I thought back to one of the theories we learned in nursing school.

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

It is a lot more complicated and detailed than I am presenting here. In nursing they simply wanted to point out to us that the very basics of life such as air water and food (clear lungs, fluids and nutrition to put it more nursey) had to be met before a higher level of health or being could be achieved.

Well I read a great deal of fitness experts' material and the one thing I noticed about them and about extreme athletes is that food is fuel to their fine machine - their bodies. I suppose what it was meant to be. Sure they have cheat days when they indulge but for the most part food is a fuel and nutrition for their goals of health and fitness.

Basically this pyramid illustrates that food and water are needed for basic survival (before we can adequately satisfy the other levels of need). But we use food for almost anything but.....

If you read the last post about memes, then you will know that your food intake, cravings, etc are related to memes not the need to take in food as fuel. Otherwise how and why do we:

Incorporate food and drink feasts for just about any reason - birth, death, marriage, divorce, promotion, birthdays, anniversaries etc etc. (In past history perhaps celebrants had to travel many miles on foot to get to the celebration earning the 'feast.')

Eat when we are sad
Eat when we are glad
Eat when we are bored
Eat because it is there
Eat for comfort
Eat because it is free
Eat for almost any reason to celebrate or to mourn - food is always there

We rarely eat because we are hungry or because we need fuel.

Yet we would not take our expensive car and put just anything we felt like in the gas tank. We put in fuel - the right kind - the one that is recommended to keep the longevity of the car, keep it running smoothly and lower our maintenance costs. Similarly we would not continue to pump the gas into the car when the tank is full but we do that to our bodies all the time.

I wonder why we put so much less value on ourselves?

Sometimes learning about foods, caloric, protein and fat values might be boring but learning all you can about what you eat - what is in it - what it can do to help or harm your body - in other words how you are fueling all the fantastic complicated processes going on in your body awake or asleep can astound you.

Take the first step and try to think before you eat. Are you nourishing your body or your soul. Changing the way you think about food and recognizing why you are eating are the first steps to eating clean and getting healthy.

MEMES NOT GENES ARE KEEPING YOU FAT

2010-02-02T20:17:00.000-08:00

A ‘meme ‘ (rhymes with cream from the Greek word mimema meaning “something initiated”), is an element of cultural ideas, symbols or practices transmitted from one mind to another usually with absolutely no foundation in truth. We learn these memes from our grandparents, parents and others. We all have them.

What is the harm? We allow them to influence our behavior and they restrict us from doing things and often they stop us from realizing our full potential. We often use them as excuses and begin a sentence “I can’t……………………….because it is in my genes.”

In writing this post I had an epiphany about a meme that I had been wrestling with some time ago. On April 30th 2009 I had an accident resulting in a significant injury. I had been berating myself and beating myself up trying to figure out just what bad thing I have done to deserve this "bad karma." Who had I crossed? Was I not generous enough or kind enough? You know the old adage "what goes around comes around."

An accident is a fortuituous event. Sometimes SH-T happens to put it bluntly. Whether I am Mother Teresa, a small innocent child, or a nasty serial killer - it does not matter. An accident is just something that happens in a nano second, maybe from a momentary lapse in judgment by self or others or a freak of nature. We do all we can to prevent the inevitable - we wear seat belts and helmets, we have rules and regulations to protect us - we have a weather watch - all signs that we need protection. There are lots of hazards. I know people who behave a lot worse than I and they have not had an accident so my meme is very flawed. My analysis of my meme is that accidents happen to all types of people. It is not punishment for somethimg I have done.

Suddenly that makes it a lot better. Trying to correct some flaw, particularly when I am not sure which one it is, is mind boggling and not conducive to recovery. Frankly worrying about getting hit by a bus if I yell at someone would make me neurotic. Point is, I learned this karma stuff from people I chummed with in my earlier years. So I adopted it and it became my meme.

Why is acknowledging and dealing with our memes important to achieving health and fitness? Because these beliefs, those without any foundation, (memes) we use as excuses to fail or worse still, to not even try.

Some common examples:

My parents and grandparents died of heart disease before age 65. Early death is in my genes.
Everyone in my family is big. We are big boned. Slim people are the unhealthy ones.
People are meant to look old after 50.
My mother and her mother smoked all their life and they did not get cancer.
Drinking , smoking and eating whatever I want is how I grew up. I can’t change it now.
There is nothing you can do to change how you are. You are born that way.
I have always been difficult and I can’t change.
People like us don't go to medical school. It is only for the rich.
Cellulite is genetic.
Being forgetful is a natural part of aging.
Eat everything that is put in front of you ---there are people starving in the world
(so my eating everything helps them how?................)

You get the idea.

How to deal with memes?

Acknowledge them, analyze them, overcome them.

What are the memes keeping you from getting fit?

My memes or beliefs for fitness were that I was too far gone and I was too old - there was no way I could get fit and healthy at my age. This worked against me making any progress with my health until I hired the right person to turn my beliefs upside down.

So keep the ones that do no harm or help you. You may have “inherited “ some fun ones or harmless ones such as how to dress, for example not wearing white after labour day and other cultural norms:)

For the more harmful ones that keep you from achieving your potential, acknowledge them, recognize they have no foundation in truth and that you have simply adopted them to use as excuses to stay the same.

This applies to getting fit as well.

So your MEMES are the barriers to getting fit NOT YOUR GENES.

Create a new cultural belief for your decendants - you are given a precious instrument to carry you through life. Take good care of it!
Now let's get fit and healthy!

Note: see the prior post 'weight of the world' to see some societal solutions to changing memes.

WEIGHT OF THE WORLD

2010-02-02T20:03:00.000-08:00

I truly believe that the obesity epidemic is a sociological issue of grand proportions. It interests me more than what the latest exercise fad is for the fit and famous.

Some time ago I watched the program "Weight of the World" with Dr. David Suzuki as narrator. A Canadian production - yeah Canada. It was fascinating.

The problem is worse than I thought. But it put the blame in the right place - on society not the obese individual.

There are 300 million obese individuals including 100 million in developing nations. Mostly because we have passed on our technology and our fast food outlets.

That should keep personal trainers busy for quite a while.

I was heartened to see that there is recognition to start at the roots - by designing and building healthier communities, including experimental school programs and eliminating fast food. The plan is for counselling and educating in early school years to help drive social change.

The only way the epidemic can be stopped is to prevent it in the first place. We all know how hard it is to change habits that are rooted in us.

PINK

2010-02-01T19:36:00.000-08:00

IF SHORT CUTS AND GIMMICKS WORKED, THE WHOLE WORLD COULD LOOK LIKE PINK

I really enjoyed the Grammys and Pink blew me away - not only with her great body but her acrobatic performance which took strength and stamina.

Recently I had an interesting email conversation with Dan Munday Aussie Fat Blast and DPM Performance

We both are often amazed that in spite of the information out there about what it takes to be fit, health and happy - there will be those who try bizarre passive machines, gimmick food plans and ridiculous supplements.

Well guess what - world obesity particularly in North America is getting worse not better. So there are thousands of products taking people's hard earned cash with false promises.

Dan points out that if it were that easy the health care system would not be under such a strain.

I was quite upset last night when I watched a plastic surgery 'disaster' show. I comment frequently on my other blog about some of the charlatans out there in the dog eat dog plastic surgery world (not to say there aren't a lot of great surgeons doing great work). But last night featured some pretty bad outcomes. I could hardly believe that one diabetic women who wanted liposuction and a tummy tuck, was told it would be perfectly safe and in fact - removal of abdominal fat would improve her diabetes.

Fact: removing subcutaneous abdominal fat through liposuction does not reduce cholesterol, diabetes or anything else internally - the fat is still around all your organs - e.g your liver, your arteries (plaque). It also does nothing to change the dietary habits or sedentary lifestyles which lead to the diseases.

Even those who exercise like mad and eat crap can remain unhealthy - one fitness trainer put it perfectly - "you can't out run a burger"

Back to the poor woman above - her bowel was perforated during the production line procedure - she ended up with a colostomy - then the infection spread and she got gangrene in both legs and both legs were amputated. A big price to pay for a flat tummy short cut.

There are plenty of good trainers out there who can guide you to a healthy outcome. The ones I know about and respect are featured on this site. They provide various methods of training including E-programs which are affordable. Their blogs give you support and access to all kinds of free information. Many have periodic fat loss competitions where you can benefit from free coaching as well as group support.

KAYLEA CROSS BOOK RELEASE DATES

2010-01-30T23:02:00.000-08:00

RELEASE DATE AND LINKS

LINK TO PURCHASE

LINK TO KALEA'S BLOG

AVAILABLE NOW "OUT OF HER LEAGUE"

RELEASE DATE FEBRUARY 26TH 2010 "COVER OF DARKNESS"

RELEASE DATE MAY 28TH "NO TURNING BACK"

RELEASE DATE JULY 9TH 2010 "RELENTLESS"

METABOLIC SYNDROME - HOW I CONQUERED METABOLIC SYNDROME (INSULIN RESISTANCE)

2010-01-29T00:53:00.000-08:00

Metabolic syndrome AKA Syndrome X is a combination or grouping of cardiac risk factors resulting from insulin resistance (when the body’s tissues do not react normally to insulin). A person with metabolic syndrome has a much higher risk of cardiovascular disease and premature death. How would you like to be told that? I was. Lovely.

The most common fat distribution with this syndrome is the apple shape with upper body fat including a waist that pretty much equals hips and chest. A tube. That was me two years ago. Sitting on a time bomb perhaps.

The main causing factors are obesity with aging. Waist circumference is noted to be a significant factor which indicates visceral fat (fat around your organs including fatty liver – which is pre-cirrhosis really). Research studies observed that upper body obesity appeared to predispose to diabetes, atherosclerosis, gout and calculi (stones).

Interesting note: overweight horses can also get this syndrome known as ‘equine metabolic syndrome’ So if you have a horse and can’t get the saddle around the waist – be highly suspicious of weight gain and metabolic syndrome ;)

It is a syndrome of obesity with diabetes or pre-diabetes and insulin resistance, hypertension (high blood pressure) and high ‘bad’ cholesterol , blood clotting and lipid abnormalities.

The World Health Organization Clinical Criteria for Metabolic syndrome is:

Insulin resistance, identified by 1 of the following:
• Type 2 diabetes
• Impaired fasting glucose
• Impaired glucose tolerance
• or for those with normal fasting glucose levels (<110>

Plus any 2 of the following:
• Antihypertensive medication and/or high blood pressure 140 mm Hg systolic or >90 mm Hg diastolic)
• Plasma triglycerides >150 mg/dL =>1.7 mmol/L)
• HDL cholesterol <35>30 kg/m2 and/or waist:hip ratio >0.9 in men, >0.85 in women
• Urinary albumin excretion rate =>20 µg/min or albumin:creatinine ratio =>30 mg/g

Increased waist circumference may be a warning to check for the syndrome but remember that even slimmer women can have insulin resistance (these are most likely the 'fat-thin' people whose ratio of body fat to lean muscle is high).

This syndrome can be prevented and reversed. When we eat foods high in refined carbohydrates insulin levels surge to remove the sugar from the blood and to get it into the cells. For a period of time it works, but if your insulin spikes too often from a diet rich in high carb foods, particularly simple carbs, that cause excess insulin secretion, your cells respond by decreasing their reactivity and reduce the # of insulin receptors on the cell surfaces. This eventually prevents sufficient glucose from getting into the cells and allows more to stay in the blood resulting in high blood sugar. Basically cells are not able to receive enough glucose for energy which they need to function adequately.

Many women with insulin resistance have carbohydrate craving, fatigue, and weight gain. Fatigue because the cells are starving for energy because as mentioned they cannot get enough glucose; craving because your body is trying to get more carbohydrates for energy and weight gain because the sugar is not able to be adequately be utilized and is stored as fat. As you can see by the diagram at the top - it creates a cycle. This is an oversimplification but you get the picture.

Eventually the capacity to generate insulin properly is taxed and leads to type 2 diabetes. Insulin resistance is a major factor in metabolic syndrome.

Why is this happening?

In ancient times our ancestors were hunters and gatherers obtaining and eating whole foods and getting lots of exercise in the process of daily living and survival.

I for one sit on my butt all day and I was used to grabbing whatever I could eat, wherever I could - at fast food places or grazing around the office eating refined carbohydrates, preservatives pesticides, trans fats, toxins, and high fructose sugars. No wonder my insulin manufacturing system was wearing out.

Treatment

Can you reverse this trend?

Absolutely!

You are not going to do it with drugs or surgery though. You are going to do it much more naturally. (But please do not discontinue any medications without consulting your doctor. Once you reverse the condition your testing will reveal that you no longer need certain medications).

Earlier in this blog I mentioned when I was very obese I had this syndrome among other health concerns. I had tried reducing fat and sugar in my diet and took multiple mediations to control blood pressure, and cholesterol etc. The B/P meds ‘just’ kept my blood pressure at an acceptable level and though I tried every cholesterol medication available – they did not work.

One day when I went back for follow up for my high cholesterol, my doctor’s husband was covering (don’t worry he was also a doctor – at least I think so). He was not as nice as she was. He said there are no more medications to try. You are fat and you have to lose weight with nutrition and exercise. That is your only hope. Of course there was no advice offered by this lean runner on how an old fat woman should do this.

I tried but was so extremely short of breath when I did anything and had pain, was dizzy, felt faint and had a rapid heart rate. I was then put through a battery of tests which tied me up in the bottle necked health care system for two years. In the end I was just fat.

I tried for several years trying to lose weight by slowly increasing my activity and watching my nutrition and in the midst of it all I broke my ankle and was non-weight bearing for 5 months. I reached my heaviest weight ever. No surprise.

I finally hired a personal trainer to lead me through the maze of fitness information. With extreme determination on my part and patience on the part of the PT I achieved miraculous results.

I learned more by copious reading and became a huge fan of the Eat Clean Diet books by Tosca Reno.

During the process I found out how carb sensitive I was. I made sure to decrease my carbs, make them complex carbs and always have them earlier in the day as well as fill up on fibrous carbs. Avoiding anything white such as starches – like potatoes, white rice, and sugar (just listen to Tosca on the subject of sugar !).

I discovered on the rare occasion that I had bread or flour products that wheat had been causing my irritable bowel symptoms all those years. TaDa! Epiphany.

I could go into great detail about topics such as the GI diet but have decided not to because it is actually a complex issue and theory which is often misunderstood even by fitness trainers. It is best to stay away from complicated diet theories.

The best way to eat for most people is - simply. Eat as close to the ancestors diet as possible - avoid processed foods, eat natural whole foods.

The most important features to healthy nutrition are: eat 6 smaller meals each day, eat a combination of lean protein, complex carbohydrates, healthy fats, fibrous carbohydrates and you can't go wrong.

Conclusion
You are on a great journey to a new healthy lifestyle. I have been on mine for at least two years and I am still enjoying my journey. I have essentially become a hunter gatherer again with good nutrition and exercise.

Nowhere in the plan did I have gastric stapling, bypass, bands, fad diets, packaged diet foods, diet shakes or diet drugs.

Do things that way and you will not be healthy, you will retain your bad habits and you will have an unhealthy weight loss where your skin will not keep up.

Do things naturally with nutrtion, cardio and resistance training, sensibly and gradually losing weight, and your skin will keep up – natural plastic surgery.

I no longer have syndrome X, metabolic syndrome or insulin resistance – whatever you want to call it. Everything is perfectly normal and healthy. I am not taking any medications.

But I stay this way by eating clean 90% of the time and making exercise a permanent part of my life.

If you reduce your weight to at least within 20% of your ideal body weight and incorporate at least 20 minutes of vigourous exercise per day into your lifestyle you can significantly reduce your risk factors.

The only other thing I have left to do, is coax the man of my dreams to eat clean too. It is a work in progress :)

BELLY DANCE YOUR WAY TO FITNESS! A FUN WAY TO GET FIT AND FEEL SEXY!

2010-01-28T10:56:00.000-08:00

Interestingly my niece just posted in her blog on belly dance too. She has a belly dancer in one of her novels. She loves belly dance as much as I do. We both have been on a hiatus away from it for various reasons but our love of it is taking us back.

See what she says about it including the great work out.

Here are some links for more info on belly dance from two talented women.

SANDRINA

GET BENT YOGA AND BELLY DANCING

Check out all the classes your local area. There are different types of belly dance. After you take a few beginners classes, look around and try them all out - most have drop in rates. Then once you find the style(s) you like you can zero in on those. All you need to start is your feet, a long roomy skirt or comfortable exercise work out gear and a coin scarf to tie around your waist. Before you know it no matter what your size you will lose your inhibition be exposing your belly as you learn abdominal rolls etc. The teachers and class mates teach you to love your body no matter what.

I tend to lean toward Bollywood and Tribal Fusion style dance.

WEIGHT LOSS TIP # 6 - DANCE

2010-01-24T15:18:00.000-08:00

I have always loved to dance. Trouble is my husband has two left feet. We took a series of ballroom dance lessons 3 times and he was just as bad at the end as the beginning. I had my share of bruises to prove it.

He has activities that I don't care to participate in such as non competitive baseball and golf (we do have lots of others we share - so don't worry).

I decided that even without a partner I could enjoy dance. I took belly dancing (Bollywood and Tribal Fusion style) and loved every minute of it. Not only is it great cardio with the right class but great for the belly, you don't need a partner and it allows you to be sexy in a very artsy way.

During my fastest weight loss period, I was attending 3 classes (3 hours) per week and treating it as part of my fun lifestyle/cardio activities. The weight just fell off me. I actually had to significantly adjust the cardio part of my training to slow the loss to a more reasonable level.

I haven't been in quite awhile due to road conditions but will get back at it in spring.

If you watch the TV series "Dancing with the Stars" you will have noticed that any pudgy participants lean out significantly as the show progresses.

So if you want to add a great deal of fun to your fitness regime - consider a dance class - other alternatives are hip hop, jazz, latin etc. There are plenty of adult classes around.

And...this goes really well with tip #3 MUSIC to enhance and intensify your workouts. Remember increasing intensity gets better results.

WEIGHT LOSS TIP # 5 PUT YOURSELF FIRST

2010-01-24T15:10:00.000-08:00

If I pursue figure competition, I believe that is fairly self indulgent - it takes a lot of time, and money. Similarly those who are driven to complete triathalons and marathons need to have a great deal of family support because although it is an amazing feat, the time commitment for training is enormous leaving the rest of the family to fend for themselves.

What you are doing - getting healthy and fit IS NOT SELF INDULGENT.

You are likely used to putting yourself last, putting your house, car, children, job, spouse and pets first.

I am not telling you to abandon them.

Whether you are a missionary or a stock broker, you have to put your fitness and health first - here is why.

If you neglect your belongings, they lose their value. If you are obese, sickly, out of shape, unhealthy etc. eventually you will be no good to anyone else and might be a burden to them. Eventually when you can no longer look after them all - they will either learn self sufficiency or find another person to wait on them.

First as I mentioned in the "time" blog - you need to review how you spend your time. What can be eliminated - what can be changed or combined to make things more efficient? What can you delegate?

If you can afford it hire a maid service or housekeeping service either once every two weeks or once a month. I can't afford it so I use it as part of my 'cardio' activation plan to counteract my very sedentary job. I do ask my husband who is also quite time challenged to help in anyway he can. After all it is his house and his burden too. I don't feel guilty about my expectation.

Over time, consider downsizing your belongings using the 3yr, 2 yr, 1 yr plan. Even if you use only 15 minutes of precious time per week to start the process. If you have not used something for many months - put in in the one year pile - still not used in one year - get rid of it. For items that are typically used less frequently or are expensive move to the two yr or three year pile etc - once at the 3 yr limit - sorry but - time to have a garage sale or put it in the paper. Extra stuff causes extra work (but this is a long term plan not a short term one).

Incorporate your kids into the shopping and meal prep - you will get to spend time with them and they will learn good nutrition and self sufficiency.

Learn to say 'NO' to doing things you really don't enjoy. Politely of course. I don't golf but my husband would invite me to walk around the course (to be polite and include me). I decided I would rather watch paint dry. There are so many things I can do in 4 hours that I enjoy and it was not really quality time watching people swear at a little ball. And it was not good exericse for me.

So now I meet the group afterwards for the social part and use the 4 hours for me. Same with watching his non competitive ball games - not interesting or exciting and not a good use of my time. Again I meet with the group afterwards and I find listening to the play by play conversation, I don't really miss anything ;)

If you really think about it, you will find lots of time wasters and the time can be better spent on your health and your great new body.

And the interesting thing is, the trade off is that you are going to have so much more energy as the weeks pass that you will be able to accomplish much more anyway.

WEIGHT LOSS TIP # 4 - SET GOALS

2010-01-16T21:01:00.000-08:00

I can't stress enough that you need to set goals. Big ones, little ones, short term, long term.

Don't short change yourself and set too small a goal just because you think you might not make it and you don't want to fail.

I would not put a limit on what you want to achieve unless of course it is an unhealthy goal.

A fat loss contest will give you a medium term goal - one to be able to wear a swim suit on the beach in 8 weeks. There are plenty of them being offered on the Internet - usually free to promote the trainer who is looking for testimonials for his/her service or products. Fitness magazines and health web sites also offer similar weight/fat loss incentives. Eat Clean Diet has had a number of transformation contests.

What I would use this goal for is to promise yourself that you will follow a nutrition and exercise plan solidly for 8 weeks - no cheating - no copping out. That is not a long time and it will fly by.

Once you have changed your priorities, your eating habits and your exercise habits for 8 weeks, it will pretty much become a habit.

If you have stuck to it for eight weeks, you have made significant body changes and believe me there is no way you are going to stop and go back to old habits. You will want to go on.

Along with your eight week goal, have mini goals - something you can commit to doing for one day, one week, one month. Habits that you add to your new lifestyle one at a time.

Examples:

If you are deconditioned you may be having trouble at first with your cardio HIIT intervals - lets say you are doing 8 intervals and you are at 3 intervals or you can't keep up the intensity for the required time. Make a goal to increase the interval by 10 sec or so at a time and/or gradually increase the number of intervals which will happen as your conditioning improves. Having goals will help you make sure you are progressing and measuring (to be covered later) will help you identify lack of progress and causes.

Other types of goals:

I will make out a workout schedule that fits with my lifestyle and stick to it. I will set my alarm to remind me and so that I do not procrastinate.

Today I will purge all the bad junk foods from my home.

This Sunday I will spend one hour planning my meals for the week. Then I will make a grocery list, shop and prep my meals.

Today is the last day I will eat butter - olive oil or other healthy fats for me.

I will buy a cooler and pack everything I need each day so that I am never caught without my planned meal.

I will not be embarrased to ask for a 'special' order in a restaurant. For example my favourite breakfast meal out is spinach feta omelete. I make sure that they do not put the potatoes or bread on the plate and ask for sliced tomatoes instead. I eat half and have the other half for another meal. I am not embarrased to trouble the server to bring me a side of low fat milk for my coffee instead of cream. I ask for a side salad - no cheese - no dressing to have with it. They rarely charge extra. In return, I make sure I tip for the service.

Today I will make sure I get plenty of servings of veggies and fruit.

I will always eat a complete protein with my carbohydrates.

From today forward I will not eat fried food - grilled BBQ baked or steamed only.

Monday I will try green tea instead of coffee.

By Tuesday I will be drinking at least 8 glasses of water every day.

By next week my pants are going to feel looser.

For every two inches I lose I will buy one new outfit.

Today I will stop going to drive thru on my way to work - I will enjoy a healthy breakfast at home.

I will take my loose clothing to a consignment store and swap it for a better fitting outfit. I will not keep my large clothing 'in case I fail.' I will take 'fail' out of my vocabulary and replace it with 'I will get back on track.'

I will measure my progress - for each inch I lose or each 5 lbs I lose (for example)
I will reward myself - please don't reward yourself with unhealthy foods! - try a manicure, massage, pedicure, have a sexy weekend away with your significant other, or go to a movie (no crap popcorn tho) or do something you love.

I will take up some fun fitness activities (try dancing!)

These are just examples. You will have your own goals. Your own ideas of how you want your body to look and how you want to feel.

Author's Note:
One of my short term goals in 2008 was to get rid of bat wings and remaining excess fat in 8 weeks to attend a special event. The event was cancelled but I met my goals and have maintained. I would have to say that adding the three classes of belly dancing per week as well as a few intervals to my cardio program sped up the process. And...I had so much fun!

FIGURE COMPETITION 2010 - BODYBUILDING COMPETITIONS AND ORGANIZATIONS

2010-01-11T16:01:00.000-08:00

I have been reviewing the dates of bodybuilding competitions for 2010. While I was at it I found a lot of the links to the bodybuilding organizations world wide which give the detailed competition rules for various venues. I have only attended the IDFA Amateur and Pro Competition in Toronto and the Western Canadians. Attending and watching is educational and crucial to a new competitor. Knowing the dates of the appropriate competitions helps you plan your season or your year - counting backwards to figure out where you should be with your physique and when.

There were many many competitors (females... mostly in the figure category) very few in the fitness category. My best advice is be ready or wait until a future competition - the competition is fierce.

Note that not all competitions have grandmasters division in figure competition. Go to individual sites for categories, divisions and rules.

Some of the bodybuilding competitions and organizations in Canada and elsewhere:

ABBA Alberta Bodybuilding Association http://www.abba.ab.ca
BCABBA (British Columba Amateur Bodybuilding Association) http://bcabba.org/

MABBA Manitoba Amateur Bodybuilding Association http://www.bodybuilding.mb.ca/

FCPAQ Federation de Culture Physique Amateur Quebecoise http://www.fcpaq.com/

NBPFA New Brunswick Physique & Figure Association http://www.nbpfa.com/

OPA Ontario Physique Association http://www.bao.on.ca/
SABBA Saskatchewan Amateur Bodybuilding Association http://www.sabba.net/
NLABBA Newfoundland & Labrador Amateur Bodybuilding Association http://www.nlabba.com/

Other Info:
http://bcabba.org/ site gives info on introduction to bikini division by CBBF and new rules

CBBF only federal Canadian org which awards/qualifies IFBB Pro Cards in Canada
http://www.cbbf.ca
http://www.cbbf.ca/entryform.asp?type=wq&cid=36

CBBF categorizes masters as over 40 and grandmasters 50+. Note: It may differ with various organizations.

2010 competitions (some of them)
Western Canadians – May 22 2010 Kelowna BC

Northern Classic TBA (2009 was in Fort St John)

BC Provincials July 24 (usually in Vancouver)

Sandra Wickham Fall Classic TBA (usually in November – in Vancouver)

March 27th 2010 Annual Fame West
http://www.naturalbodybuildingevents.com/Intl/canada.htm

Neutron competitions
http://neutronsports.com/
East Coast Natural Classics
Ms Fitness Model East Coast

MEMSPORT Athletics Women’s All-Strength & Fitness Challenge Kamloops BC http://www.femsport.tv
March 2010 Date TBA
FAME West
Vancouver BC http://www.bodyproud.org

Apr 10 2010 UFE Spring Bash – http://www.UFEshows.com

Apr 11 2010 UFE Bikini & Fitness Model Showdown London Ontario Canada http://www.UFEshows.com

Apr 17 INBF Canadian Natural Bodybuilding & Figure Classic Calgary Alta http://www.inbfcanada.com

March 27 2010 13th annual FAME West Vancouver http://www.bodyproud.org.events/2010-fame-west
May 2010 IDFA Calgary Classic Natural Bodybuilding, Figure & Fitness Model IDFA Pro Qualifier – http://www.idfa.ca

May 8 UFE http://www.UFEshows.com

May 15 2010 IDFA Natural Novice Classic – Toronto http://www.idfa.ca

May 22nd FAME East Montreal http://www.bodyproud.org

June 5 UFE Showdown – http://www.UFEshows.com

Provincial Natural Championships & Ms Fitness North Eastern Canada Ottawa Ontario Canada http://neutronsports.com/

June 19 IDFA Montreal Classic http://www.idfa.ca

July 10 IDFA Toronto Classic Natural Bodybuilding, Fitness & Figure Championships IDFA Pro Qualifier and Pro show – Toronto http://www.idfa/ca

July 24 West Coast Natural Classics Ms Fitness West Coast Canadian Ms Fitness Model West Coast Vancouver – Qualfiier for Ms. Fitness World http://www/neutronsports.com also check out http://www.naturalbodybuildingevents.com/Intl/canada.htm

Aug 7 Canadian Natural Nationals – qualifier for Ms Fitness world Oshawa http://www.neutronsports.com

Oct 9 IDFA Eastern Canada Classic Natural Bodybuilding, Fitness & Figure Championships – IDFA Pro Qualifier Montreal http://www.idfa.ca

Oct 23-25 IDFA Western Canada Classic IDFA Pro Qualifiers Calgary Alberta http://www.idfa.ca

Oct - Fame Canadian National Championships LOCATION/DATE TBA http://www.bodyproud.org

Musclemania Toronto http://www.musclemania.com/

Nov 6 IDFA Canadian Classic Amateru & Pro –Toronto http://www.idfa.ca

Nov 13 UFE national championships Hamilton ON – over $60,000 cash prizes http://www.UFEshows.com

Other Organizations:
Northern Physique http://www.northernphysique.com/
United States Bodybuilding Federation http://www.usbf.net
World Natural Sports Organization http://www.wnso.com
International Natural Bodybuilding Federation http://www.inbf.net
World Natural Bodybuilding Federation http://www.wnbf.net
North American Natural Bodybuilding Federation http://www.nanbf.org
Midwestern Bodybuilding Federation http://www.midwesternbodybuilding.com
Alaska Bodybuilding, Fitness and Figure http://www.alaskabodybuilding.com
Ultimate Fitness Events http://www.UFEshows.com
Ohio Natural Bodybuilding Federation http://www.onbf.org
Australian Natural Bodybuilding http://www.anb.com.au
USNBF United States Natural Bodybuilding Federation http://www.usnbf.org
International Natural Bodybuilding Association of Canada http://www.naturalbodybuildingcanada.com/
IDFA International Drug Free Athletics http://www.idfa.ca/

The IDFA has branches all over Canada and the world

Comprehensive list of organizations

http://mrolympia.altervista.org/links.html
http://www.naturalbodybuildingevents.com/default.html

LOOK GOOD NAKED EH? AIRPORT SECURITY IN CANADA

2010-01-06T09:29:00.000-08:00

Well.....another reason to lose fat and get fit in 2010.

President Obama wants all travellers entering the US to have 2ndary security checks. In Canada they were only used if there was a question at security level one - e.g the wand alarms and removing clothing does not address it or other suspicions.

If travelling to the US, Canadians can choose pat down/frisk or body scan.

Body scan: apparently the radiation from the scan is 1/10,000 of that in a cell phone so I figure that it is fairly safe. I am just glad that I graduated from obese with baggy clothes to fit as the scanner shows the outline of the rolls of fat etc. As a privacy protection apparently the person reviewing the scanning film does not see you and it is promised the scans will be deleted immediately as soon as they are examined and found to be benign.

Frisk/pat down. Boy for the first time ever this happened to me in the US travelling from Seattle to Vegas. The screw in my right shoulder kept setting off the alarm even tho it had not in any other airport after numerous trips. I showed them the scar but was pulled aside and in front of the entire world (at least those at the airport) I was physically searched albeit by a female officer. Even tho she was polite and professional, I felt thoroughly violated.

I will be choosing body scan.

I think it is a waste of time as 99.9% of the travellers are like you and me. The ones that mean harm will be hiding the items in their body cavities as the scanner or external searches will not detect cavity items or terrorists will find new ways of creating havoc.

It is interesting that in the case of 911 as well as the most recent episode - there was blatant info and intelligence and it still happened. What has been gained by this reponse? The terrorists have frightened our leaders into a knee jerk reaction and gotten the attention and fear they want. Although from watching President Obama's video on the subject he has more far reaching plans for homeland security than that and I am not sure what Canada has planned to address security - pitifull that watching Canadian news all I have seen so far is the superficial stuff like scans and searches. Of course our Canadian security may keep the more detailed info to themselves and - secret.

By the way Canada has put scanners in 9 airports at a cost of $250,000 each. I am not sure what the maintenance and upkeep is.

I will agree that carryon policies should be changed. For me carryon is more of annoyance and customer service issue than a risk issue. I have stood on the steps of a plane freezing many times while passengers clog the aisles trying to squeeze their numerous carryons in the overhead bin.

I think that other than a money belt with velcro straps that no carry on should be allowed. However, recently on the news a Canadian couple returning from New York were made to remove their camera (worth $3000) and put in luggage. It was gone when they reached their destination. So the airlines should be providing locked boxes at check in with two keys somewhat like a safety deposit box. The flight crew will have he 2nd key to pass on to the ground crew - I will let them figure out the logistics :)Yep probably more lineups at the airport - guess the lesson is travel light as far as jewelry, cameras and other valuables are concerned. There airlines will also have to figure out something for those travelling with kids.

Several years ago I travelled in Canada for 36 flights. On flight 32 in cleaning out my purse I was alarmed I had been carrying a multi tool with good sized blades and cork screw etc for 32 flights without detection. I quickly removed it and on flight 33 had nail clippers removed from by bag - go figure.

So back to my point.If you want to look good for "virtual nakedness" for Canada's scanners - get fit for 2010! At least then something positive will come out of it :)

The Magic Bullet for Weight Loss - Nutrition

2010-01-04T22:44:00.000-08:00

Ok. So here is the part you have been waiting for right? The magic nutrition formula. Hmmm.

Nutrition is supposed to be 80% of the solution to obesity.

At the beginning of my weight loss journey "Be patient" I was told. I was to watch portion size and just do not eat CRAP. This is apparently a PT nutrition term. Keep a journal. Oh yeah - sitting on my @$$ writing a journal is going to help me keep my goals and lose weight.

Funny thing happened. I soon realized the journal was not for the trainer to later scold me on my eating habits. It was for me. The "Hawthorn Effect" was alive and well! There was a study which resulted in a conclusion that when people are studied or observed, they change their behaviour.

There was no point in lying in my own journal - that would just be ridiculous. I did not want my trainer to think I was eating garbage - so I started making better food choices. (The Hawthorne Effect). The most important thing was that instead of mindlessly eating on the run, I paid attention to everything going into my mouth. It was quite the awakening. I also wasn't eating because I was hungry or because I enjoyed the food I was eating. I was eating without much thought.

Once I submitted my journal - I found that although I was now making better choices, I was not eating often enough, not eating breakfast and not realizing the hidden salt, sugar and fats and chemicals.

I advised the PT that if I needed to follow a special meal plan I would not have time to cook two different meals - one for JFK (my husband - junk food Kevin) and one for me - what about I sign up for one of those preplanned pre-packaged weight loss program food plans. NOT! He pointed out, why would you want to change your life to become healthy and fit and pour CRAP into it. Those meals are able to stay on the shelves a long time for good reason - preservatives and chemicals. Basically it does nothing either to retrain you to a better nutrition plan. Although it probably gives guidance on portion sizes - tiny little amounts of food though for big bucks.

As I was using this excuse I had an epiphany. My husband is a mature adult who choses his own lifestyle. We both work full time and why is it up to me to feed him? Well he had never asked me to. I just had assumed the responsibility. It was time to un-assume the responsibility. After all, anyone can cook ahemm....crap.

I was struggling quite a bit with what on earth to eat. Although this new eating style was great, I was so ingrained (literally) in the old diet that I was at a loss on what to eat. Luckily through reading Oxygen Magazine I learned about Tosca Reno and the Eat Clean Diet Book. I liked it so much that I bought it over and over for friends.

So.. when you are including others who have not yet found the god of nutrition you can often make a healthier version of the recipe for you and separate ½ for the other person to add their poison.

Sometimes just following a very simple meal plan that repeats itself often enough to make it efficient is not really that much different than how you used to eat. Just less starch and more fibrous and complex vegetables and leaner protein. Generally we eat the same cycle of foods anyway.

The most important thing I learned during weight loss was PLANNING.

Tosca is big on prep and planning as well as always being prepared. I picked Sunday which worked well for me to shop, prep and plan meals for the following week with a freshen up day on Wednesday. The other thing I quickly practiced was carrying one of those padded coolers with a shoulder strap everywhere including work - I always have a healthy snack at my finger tips to avoid drive-through and other non nutritious eating habits when I am hungry and there are limited healthy food choices available.

I guess books have to have the term‘diet’ in them to find them in a bookstore but I really don't think of it as a diet. Diets set you up for failure. It is a slow steady education to change your nutritional habits to long term healthy ones. If you go on a restrictive short term diet - you lose weight briefly then pack it back on because the 'diet' is impossible to maintain over the long term. Or it is so restrictive that you binge. Or most of all because in your mind it is 'temporary' and was not a lifestyle change. Dieting particularly yo yo diets mess up your metabolism.

You will find that slowly educating yourself and making small changes and adopting them as permanent over time, watching portions sizes, avoiding obvious garbage, and eating 6 times per day (3 smaller meals and 3 snacks) you will no longer be dieting but chosing a long term eating habit. Your metabolism will fire up. Yes that is right - eating often keeps your metabolism working better. BUT don't graze - I mean don't eat all day long - have meals and be done with it till the next meal which is soon enough. You will never be hungry. You will never get bored - the options are endless.

You will feel terrific. You will look terrific. Your skin will glow; your hair and nails will be strong and healthy. You will look sexy and shapely so why would you go off it? You will find that as soon as you eat badly - you will self correct immediately. After eating clean the impact of bad foods is so immediate and obvious in how you feel that you will mentally associate it with bad and not want to do it. Trust me. I am not saying you never will eat crap. Sometimes I get cocky and I think I'll bet this little bit won't hurt - I do it - feel horrible and then don't do it again for a long time because it makes me feel so terrible. Soon the short term satisfaction will be overcome by the preference to feel well.

I see lots of people who binge then just do a lot of cardio to wear it off. I even used to work with a diabetic nurse who binged on forbidden foods and just took more insulin to counteract it. Is this a good idea? Never. Although you can burn off the calories from the bad foods with cardio, the long term accumulative effect to your organs, blood vessels, cholesterol levels, blood sugar/insulin mechanism and general health won't be reversed with exercise if you continue to make bad food choices.

You can pretty much start right away with better eating habits:

-Drink plenty of water.
-Always eat breakfast.
-Eat 6 smaller meals a day. Three meals and 2-3 snacks. At first you might want to try cutting your meal in half and eating the second half in 2-3 hours.
-Make sure each meal includes: a lean source of protein, a complex carb, a fibrous carb and a healthy source of fat.

I limit starchy carbs to before 2 pm. For dinner I just have protein and fibrous carb - e.g. grilled fish and salad and spinach or asparagus. I eat raw cabbage often as well as add it to soups and salads - I really believe it has weight loss properties. Not to mention how much fiber it adds. My last snack of the day may be celery with natural peanut butter; humus and veggies; low fat cottage cheese and veggies, almonds; low fat yogurt with berries; granny smith apple with natural peanut butter or almond butter etc.

I don't really care for starchy foods anymore and the fatigue and bloating that results - so I have to eat a lot more fibrous ones to get my calorie intake up. Or eat only a bit and for sure with protein. THIS IS NOT THE AT---S DIET. AT---S is high in fat (not good fat -it almost encourages putting butter on your bacon) - it does not stress quality protein - e.g the highest yield of protein for the least amount of calories and healthiest level of fat per gram of protein.

BEST FRUITS in my mind from a fiber and antioxidant perspective hands down, are berries. But do some research on insulin resistance and glycemic indexes etc. If you are having berries, or any other fruit - have it with protein to avoid the blood sugar surge. The only other fruit I eat on a regular basis is granny smith apples or sometimes pomegranites.

DONT DRINK FRUIT JUICE - it is just a concentrated form of the fruit including sugar and you miss out on the fiber and who knows what other components of the fruit is lost in processing - eat the damn fruit - a little more work but worth it.

FRUIT/PROTEIN SNACKS. My favourites:
1/2 cup probiotic low fat vanilla yogurt and 1/2 berries - strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries etc.

Granny smith apple - core then slice into 6 equal pieces - make 3 sandwiches with a total of 1 1/2 tbsp of organic natural (no sugar or salt added) peanut butter. For some reason tastes like a candy apple. MMMM.

Humus and anything - celery, yam chips, veggies.

You can also eat 10 nuts such as almonds (unsalted natural) when you have a piece of fruit.

I do carry protein bars for emergencies on rare occasions - I use the Myoplex light and I don't eat a whole one - I eat 1/2 with lots of water. You can get them at GNC. Ok for once in awhile and a tasty sub for a chocolate craving.

I only use PROTEIN DRINKS sometimes to feed muscles after doing a heavy workout - remember beverages can contain a lot of calories without satisfying hunger for long.

DONT EAT ANYTHING WHITE. Ok maybe a little probiotic yogurt, low fat cottage cheese and some milk in your coffee - substitute brown rice for white, yams for potatoes, either avoid bread altogether - or have a small amount of 'ancient grain' whole grain bread. Eliminating bread tho even for awhile as well as pasta will make a great impact on your weight loss. (Try slicing zucchini into ribbons and only very lightly steaming them so they are still crisp and make your own plum tomato sauce and try to aleviate your pasta urge this way - don't forget to add a low fat cheese for protein - or some other form of protein - you can also make zucchini lasagna or use eggplant).

EAT GOOD FATS BUT STILL IN MODERATION. My favourites: fish (for omegas), avocado, flax oil, olive oil, safflower oil, walnuts. I am not a fan of canola oil - I believe it is a man engineered plant - I heard it is insiduous and acts like a weed choking other plants - but it seems to cause IBS in me - so I use olive oil and safflower oil and occasionally peanut oil. I am pretty sure canola is widely used in restaurants. Both JFK and I race for the bathroom when we come home from restaurants and I have always wondered if this is the culprit. It isn't the garlic because I use tons of that at home and that doesn't bother me. There is a book called the Thrive Diet that a niece introduced me to. I really enjoy reading it - especially the research the author has done but I don't follow it because I find the recipes too complicated and the ingredients too exotic for me right now - as I mentioned I enjoyed reading some of the theories including how we have engineered wheat for flour etc for better yield, better gluten etc and basically our bodies have not adapted well which may explain the number of people who suffer from IBS from consuming it.

May be right.

You may want to read Tosca Reno's Eating Clean Diet. I can't say it any better than she can that is for sure. She provides some meal plans and recipes. She also addresses eating clean for those on a budget.

Interestingly after eating clean for while, I am now instantly tuned to what foods really make me sick, feel tired or cause IBS.

DIET POP. I may have had 4 diet colas in a year - used to drink 2-3 per day. It is full of garbage. How else do you think something with one calorie can taste so good? Not to mention I have clearly identified aspartame as one cause of my IBS. The sodium! - on the rare occasion I have had a diet cola - within hours I have ankle edema (swelling). Dont drink diet pop. You will retain lots of water weight. Drink water - flavour it with a lemon or lime slice. Citrus helps with cleansing and weight loss.

The IBS triggers for me are anything wheat, aspartame, some dairy products, msg, cannola oil. Relieving triggers of IBS have given me the flattest stomach ever. So it wasn't just fat but a lot of bloating as well. Eat clean and then slowly add back some of the eliminated stuff and see what really is not healthy for you.

Complex carbs - yams, brown rice, quinoa (high in protein), whole grains etc - you can make a very tasty brown rice pilaf with a vegetarian or low salt no msg chicken broth, nuts, onions, peppers, celery, garlic and spices.

OATMEAL is an essential complex carb for me. I have a mix of oats, nuts, dried fruit, cinnamon, protein powder. By using vanilla protein powder, dried fruit and cinnamon I don't need either a sweetener or milk and I just add water. I preprepare and put in a zip lock bag and cook up as needed. It is a great form of fibre, and is cholesterol lowering as well as filling.

Use your imagination to change your favourite recipes to a healthier version. I have a few recipes here in the recipe section and will add more as I get around to it.

Take your glasses to the supermarket and ALWAYS CAREFULLY READ LABELS (the print is so small). Often prepared, canned or packaged foods contain salt or sugar or fat or msg so it tastes good or why would you buy it again? Remember the first ingredient is usually the highest content.

Try to always cook from scratch. But if you make my lentil soup from canned beans/lentils - buy Eden or other low sodium product and rinse them prior to adding to the recipe. Raw lentils cook up quickly so you don't really need to buy the canned - no soaking involved.

Spice it up - I will cover that later - very briefly spice reduces the need for salt and often spices have health benefits. Some of the hot spices are thought to increase metabolism and burn more calories. Cinnamon and other similar spices reduce the need for sugar in many recipes.

Lastly - watch those fad diet ads disguised as news articles. Anything that promises huge benefits over a very short period should be thoroughly investigated. In some cases all you have to lose is your money. In other cases it may affect your health. Research pros and cons or better yet don't go there! A lifestyle change with good nutrition and physical activity wins every time.

My basic groceries necessities: whole eggs, egg whites, quinoa, oats, cinnamon, dried cranberries, berries (fresh or frozen, oregano, thyme, cumin, nuts (natural unsalted), seeds, sage, onions, garlic, spinach, asparagus, yams, fish, tomatoes, low salt canned plum tomatoes, avocado, zucchini, cabbage, low fat vanila yogurt (probiotic) as well as low fat plain yogurt, protein powder, glutamine, celery, low fat cottage cheese, low fat low sodium feta, parmesan cheese, romaine lettuce, cukes, any colourful veggies particularly those in season, beans (all kinds), low sodium, msg free vegetable and/or chicken broth, healthy oils, organic no added sugar or salt-peanut butter, lemons/limes and lemon juice. Occasionally ancient bread, spelt bread. I stay away from flours but I am exploring other types such as rice, almond. Lean meats.

STOP DRINKING YOUR MEALS - THE EASIEST WAY TO REMOVE CALORIES AND LOSE FAT

2010-01-03T10:39:00.000-08:00

The one thing everyone can do to immediately make a difference in calorie intake is to change drinking habits. I am not necessarily referring to alcohol.

Many people drink their way to obesity. How? By drinking 500-1000 additional calories daily with their beverage choices.

Fruit juices: Drinking fruit juice instead of fruit. Read the labels - pure fruit juice is not really pure but reconstituted from concentrate. Having a glass of fruit juice gives you a huge caloric/sugar jolt in a short period of time without the health benefits of eating the whole fruit. Some research indicates that the vitamins in fruit may be absorbed because of the nutrients in the whole fruit including the skin or pith so you may be missing out on the essential nutrients provided with the whole fruit.

Gourmet coffee drinks. I know people who consume 2-4 of these pricey beverages per day. Google search any well known gourmet coffee place adding the search words 'and nutrition' and see how many calories are in these drinks! And this is without adding extra sugar.

Flavoured water: water is the healthiest beverage around. Why add calories and flavouring - stick to lemon or lime slices.

Smoothies: yes you can make or buy nutritious smoothies however, a research study concluded that when we take in calories in the form of liquids we consume more calories in a day because dietary compensation is weaker than for solid foods - in other words the liquid does not appear to satisfy our body's caloric need or hunger and we still duplicate the calories with solid food. Unfortunately although these drinks do not satisfy our caloric cravings they do satisfy our thirst so it will also decrease our water consumption.

Alcohol: this info would not be complete without a comment on alcohol. When people diet they often still consume alcohol but switch to a 'lower calorie beverage' but they miss that the effect of alcohol goes beyond the number of calories in a drink. I must admit I was recently intrigued by the ads for a beer that only has 67 calories per bottle until I researched a bit further.

Alcohol (regardless of the caloric value) reduces the amount of fat you burn because:
- it increases appetite - severals studies have shown significant increase in meal calorie intake when using alcohol
-lowers testosterone (a muscle building hormone) levels for up to 24 hours.
- increases cortisol (a muscle wasting hormone)

Apparently the damaging effect of alcohol on hormones is even worse if exercising before drinking. Interestingly many people involved in fun sports activities follow it up by going with the team to the pub for drinks and appies. I guess the psychology is that if you have worked so hard at play you have earned the booze and eat fest. But if you are trying to lose fat or build muscle be the DD and eat a healthy moderate meal.

The effects of alcohol on metabolism.
- a small portion of the alcohol converts to fat
- the liver converts most of the alcohol to acetate
- the acetate is released into the bloodstream and replaces fat as a source of fuel.

So remember, alcohol has a greater negative effect on fat loss than simply the number of calories in the drink!

If you want to make a real difference in your caloric intake and fat loss, begin very simply by having a critical look at your beverage intake and water up!

2010 promises about fitness

2010-01-02T16:10:00.001-08:00

If you have made a promise to yourself about getting healthy and fit in 2010 or about changing direction in your current fitness program, then report in to someone.

Make long range goals (reasonable ones) for the year but include shorter goals such as weekly or monthly mini goals as well.

Sure, keep a journal if it helps you but make sure that you communicate your goals and objectives to someone else in writing - either your partner, a fitness companion, friend or relative - someone who won't mind you reporting in to them on a regular basis about which goals you are reaching, and which ones you are having problems with. Make it a person who will ask the right questions such as whether your goals are too unrealistic or who will ask you why you are having problems if you aren't reaching plan. It will help keep your goals and objectives clear and your promise serious.

I will be setting up my plan and reporting in to my husband by email. So..... step one is to make my plan achievable. If I exceed the plan - well that is simply a bonus!

FIGURE COMPETITION SHOES - OUCH!

2009-12-31T20:44:00.001-08:00

Okay so years ago I traded spike heels for more....comfortable types of shoes. I never quite warmed to old lady shoes but have always treated my feet well by wearing good well made shoes rather than fad shoes which inevitably look great but cause a lot of foot problems.

I bought competition (body building - figure competition) shoes early on in my training. The buying experience alone was interesting. Guess where you get them other than the Internet? In my area it is a store in Kelowna called "Wild Kingdom."

Now I have not led a sheltered life but I honestly always thought it was some kind of pet store. Ahem. Not. So okay. You find them in adult 'love shops'.

The black ones as well as the cinderella ones with the impossibly high heels. I was told that it was wise to start practicing posing in them early on - no kidding. The women on stage make it look easy but it is certainly not. I always have the sense of falling...a long way.

I used them just the other day and believe me I have not practiced nearly enough! So if you are going to compete - I would wear them very short periods occasionally to get used to them but don't overdo it or you will wreck your feet!

I wonder. Did men make the rules for competition? It certainly would not have been someone who has to wear them!

Body building category is almost starting to look easier :)

I see that Dr. Scholls (link) has insoles for high heels - I will be checking those out

If you buy on line you will have to order well in advance - they really are an individual fit.

WEIGHT LOSS TIP # 3 - THE NUMBER ONE FITNESS MOTIVATOR! MUSIC - OXYGEN MAGAZINE READERS AGREE

2009-12-31T17:09:00.001-08:00

The December issue of Oxygen Magazine published a customer survey confirming that for 80% of responders, music was the top motivator. It is the one thing they can't live without when working out.

During personal training sessions I never could get quite the same intensity in my workouts as I could when I was alone with my music blaring. For obvious reasons I couldn't blare music or wear headphones during the traning sessions.

I have an ecletic taste in music but when it comes to working out - I download mostly top 20 tunes or 70s upbeat stuff....Using my Ipod and itunes I can get only the music I want and keep my music list fresh inexpensively.

There are mixed reviews in studies on the effect of music on exercise. Overall though it is highly recommended.

Music can be:
• a terrific motivator
• lets you shut off from the outside world
• music is known to affect concentration and improve cognitive function – you will be more able to concentrate on your workout – at the least it is a creative distraction
• music improves mood - looking forward to your workout music will help you look forward to your workout making it a positive experience and leading to better compliance with your program
• the effect of music on your mind and emotions significantly helps to decrease the feeling of strain during exercise and helps you to concentrate on your workout
• some research found that upbeat music actually increases muscle tension which makes it easier to do your exercises without feeling strain
• on the other hand sedating music has a negative effect and it is better to have silence than sedating music for workouts
• some studies found that music may stimulate motor functions in the brain
• enjoyable music automatically brings a person to a happy and positive mood
• music is being used therapeutically and is found useful in rehabilitation for gait abnormalities to improve gross motor skills and improve mobility
• personal trainers have found upbeat music can slightly increase the respiratory rate and heart rate as well as prepare the clients better mentally for the anticipated workout
• upbeat music is a great distraction allowing us to forget about time and breeze through our workouts.

My pick:
Apple Ipod. Itunes software (free from Apple)downloadable from the Internet. You can buy individual songs for 99 cents to around $ 1.29 without having to buy a whole album. You can download your CD s to the program and mix it up. I put the songs in playlists so I don’t get tired of listening to the same ones all the time.

Music:
Music is a very individual choice. When my husband and I used to use our gym together, I had to get an IPOD and wear headphones so that I could be motivated by music I love. He likes 50s music and country - I would rather rip my hair out. . I am an anomaly for my age. I love the top 20. I listen to satellite radio on my commute. I write down the songs I like and which I find motivating. About every two weeks I go onto Itunes and download a new playlist of around 15-17 songs.
If you don’t know how to download the IPOD – buy it at a reputable place with support or find a niece, newphew, son, daughter, grandkid or neighbour kids to help you with it. It is quite easy – must be - I learned it at 58.

FEMALE FIGURE COMPETITION

2009-12-19T23:00:00.000-08:00

I have provided numerous resources on this site that will give you all the info you need for weight training and body building in general.

Train yourself with these valuable resources or sign on with one of the authors for online training now or closer to competition.

Whether you have a year to train or more it is not too soon to start planning.

The programs are listed down the right side of the blog.

The information covers but is not limited to:

How to eat prior to contest.
How to eat to maximize muscle gain.
How to get at those body parts which are slower to get to competition stage.
All the tricks from one year prior to competition right up to the day of..
How to lean out and reduce body fat safely.
How to tan.
How to find out about competitions.
Common mistakes of body building competitors.
How to plan out your training regime milestones by counting backwards from your competition date.
How to tailor your nutrition for the best body.
How to adjust your cardio during building as well as during leaning out.
All about carb cycling.
All about HIIT.
What supplements you may wish to consider.
The right protein, complex carb, fibrous carb, fat ratio.
When to eat.
What to eat.
Why you may not be eating enough.
When to work out.
When to do cardio.
Competition suits.
Competition shoes.

I have found Karen Sessions E Books to be comprehensive and valuable. She is experienced in women's competitions and will take online clients. Her prices are very reasonable and it is a cost effective way of having a professional trainer.

Nick Nilsson also known as 'the mad exercise scientist' is a genious at coming up with ways to better target muscles, increase and maximize muscle development and target hard to get at areas. As well as his general book, he has many other books including those which target specific areas such as butt, chest, abs.

He recently came up with a great exercise to target the inner pecs giving a boost to cleavage. You certainly can feel the exercise working on that muscle!

I love finding out what he will come up with next.

FITNESS MAGAZINES

2009-12-13T22:00:00.001-08:00

I often read blogs and articles by fitness trainers criticising fitness magazines while in another breath they anxiously report being unable to 'break in' as an author for the same magazines they trash.

The prime complaints I have heard and read:

1. They advertise harmful supplements.

2. They present unrealistic bodies (meaning that fitness models usually lean out for photo shoots so their muscles will show) and of course tan to accentuate the muscles.

They are all airbrushed to perfection.

3. Their articles are boring and uninformative.

1. I think they are wrong. Sure they advertise all sorts of things - how else can they support the magazines. Have you seen a magazine without ads? I have seen my share of Cialis and antidepressant ads. I think readers will come across these supplements at many other venues and are adult enough to decide not to put garbage in their bodies.

2. Well duh....of course the bodies are gorgeous - I don't think it would be motivating to see unfit bodies in a magazine which promotes fitness. I don't even mind that most of the models are younger - at least Oxygen does a layout of Tosca Reno every so often which is quite motivating as well. They have to give what the readership wants.

Sure they are airbrushed. Photographs often bring out and accentuate flaws which are then frozen in time and not apparent in person when you see the three dimentional view of the person as well as their personality and character. Nothing is as mean as a photograph. The photographer puts the personality back in to some extent. Again, whether airbrushed or not, great bodies are motivating. I think we are mature and educated enough to know that perfection is rare rather than the norm. I think the muscular fit bodies are not as harmful as the waif model bodies of the past.

3. To the lay person (like me) I find the articles very informative and not the least boring. Fitness magazines have kept me going and have kept me informed in the absence of having a personal trainer. Only the stars can afford a personal trainer forever. It is not my only source of research but an important one.

During the beginning of my fitness adventure the personal trainer introduced me to a women's fitness magazine. Now that one was boring. I seached the shelves for alternatives and initially bought 3 or 4 different ones. Currently I only buy Oxygen Magazine because I like it. I have tweaked many of my own fitness programs with ideas from the pages of Oxygen.

So how do trainers break in to women's fitness magazines? Well first off quit criticising them publicly ! Or, provide constructive helpful opinions to the editor. Your blogs are public you know?

CELLULITE - THE LEAST EXPENSIVE WAY TO REDUCE THE APPEARANCE OF CELLULITE - THE FOAM ROLLER: CELLULITE TREATMENT, MUSCLE RELEASE, STRETCHING EXERCISES

2009-12-13T14:25:00.000-08:00

This medium density green 36 x 6 is the most often recommended

see at

http://www.athleticaffair.com/custom.em?pid=858825

First try your local fitness store.

The prices vary from seller to seller - from about $25 to $35. I have included more links at the end - free demos as well as books you can purchase. You should check your local fitness store to see if they have one or can order one in for you.

About the foam roller:

Massage is known to be of benefit for many reasons- relaxation, trigger point treatment, muscle spasms, tight muscles, improved circulation, lymph health, pain treatment just to name a few. Body builders often have weekly treatments to improve their overall muscle appearance.

Nothing can replace a great massage by a qualified registered therapist. I attend massage for overall health as often as I can, sometimes weekly, but as an adjunct to that I use a foam roller, the < $30 self- massage or self-myofascial release tool. I used one since quite early on in my fitness training for tense or sore muscles as well as for stretching and the reported reduction in the appearance of cellulite. I would like to pass on the information I have learned and hope you can make this inexpensive addition to your home gym. This is one tool you can use while watching Tv!

· A foam roller is thought to increase body awareness – sure does – it really hurts –but in a good way – it often points out tight areas you did not even know you had

· Is a form of ‘myofascial release – loosening tight muscles

· It is reported to reduce the appearance of the dimples of cellulite

· Breaks down adhesions or scar tissue

· Increases blood flow and circulation to soft tissues

· You will notice some of the attached foam roller exercise routines are very ‘plank like” so the activity involved in using the tool is beneficial exercise.

I am sure you are anxious to begin. Here are several sites on how to use the tool.

http://www.sport-fitness-advisor.com/self-myofascial-release.html (scroll to bottom of article for animated routine)

excellent video http://www.mypypeline.com/store/video/prehab-foam-roller-stretch/ it shows how to increase the resistance as well

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnEiYxbzM4Q from the workout muse

http://www.willpowermatrix.com/public/126.cfm

(for part two of the above article you have to sign up and pay a membership fee - don't bother - the first part provides an overview and there are plenty of free resources on the topic).

http://www.smiweb.org/roller.pdf

http://www.pulsept.co.nz/Why-I-Fell-for.1103.0.html

http://www.optp.com/userfiles/file/V23%20PDF

http://www.runjunk.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=461

http://www.ballsnbands.com/proroller_foam_rollers.html

AUSSIE FATBLAST and The Truth About Fat Loss Gimmicks and The One FAT LOSS 'PILL' That really works

2009-12-13T13:39:00.000-08:00

Daniel Munday an Australian Fat Loss Expert is one of my favourite trainers and authors. He has produced an E program which capitalizes on workouts at home and body weight exercises - so.. little or no equipment and no gym fees. As well as being one of the nicest people around, he seems very ethical in his business dealings and most of all he has a sense of humour. Ethics in advertising is very important to me. If I am aware of any false advertising, an author's product will not appear on this site.

Research, time and experience in fitness training leads to changes in a trainer's formerly held beliefs. It is called education and personal growth. I don't care for it when trainers blast other trainers for some of their fitness methods and beliefs when you know darn well they promoted the exact same thing in the past. This is pure arrogance.

What is impressive about Dan is that he is not afraid to say that he is always learning and growing and when he provides critiques he readily admits the occasions that he may have promoted some of the same sort of thing in the past.

I bought and read every word in his E program and find that it is a keeper. I would be remiss in not adding it back during my site reconstruction. His exercises are invaluable to me when I am on the road - I hate using poorly equipped hotel gyms or going where the 'muscle heads' go :)

You can read more about Aussie Fatblast by clicking here.

Enjoy Daniel's article below:

The Truth about Fat Loss Gimmicks and the Magic Pill That Actually Does Work! By Daniel Munday BHSc

I have seen everything when it comes to the so called latest and greatest way to rip money out of your pocket. Sorry, I mean to get the fat loss results and the supposed body that you have always desired.

First came the Ab Roller, followed by the Ab King Pro, the Vibratron 3000 and a bunch of other useless pieces of dust gatherers which promised the world but delivered little in terms of real world fat loss results without the big asterix leading to a disclaimer that says you actually had to eat right. You may have missed that in the ads as it was so small I only found it when I had my glasses on.

Sure, I may have had a little bit of creative author’s license with the Vibratron 3000 but I think you get the point. All of these gimmicks were designed to get us the fat loss results while we do not much at all.

Which is what most people want in life. A quick fix for everything.

The truth about fat loss is that if it sounds too good to be true, than it probably is. In most cases. I am about to share with you the fat loss secret that is actually as good as it sounds.

Did you know that there is actually a pill that will let you burn fat while you sit on your backside? I am being serious here. Sure, a pill is a strange way to label interval training but that is what it basically is.

When taken correctly as directed, this pill can boost your metabolism for up to 48 hours after you finish training and no, that is not a misprint.

This is because of a scientific theory called EPOC, which stands for Excess Post Oxygen Consumption. I will not get too technical here but basically you burn more calories after doing intense exercise than your mate at the gym who is doing the traditional aerobic training session (long boring cardio).

The best way to take your interval training pill is to do short bursts of high intensity exercise followed by recovery, or periods of less intensity. Perfect examples are hill sprints where you walk down the hill for recovery, or sprints on an exercise bike followed by slowly turning your legs over for the designated recovery period.

This pill gains superhuman results when you combine the interval training with another great form of exercise, the supersets method of resistance training.

The supersets method is where you perform one exercise for one body part, followed by another exercise for an opposite body part straight after without a rest.

Some people may choose to use an upper body exercise followed by a lower body exercise. Some people may choose to use a chest exercise followed by a back exercise or to use two full body exercises back to back.

Whatever method you choose will depend on your current fitness level, but the end result of supersets training is increased fat loss results and the boost in metabolism for up to 48 hours after your training session.

The only catch is you have to work hard and sweat your backside off but at least you will finally achieve the long lost fat loss results that you have been looking for.

Don't let fear hold you back. Take the next step.

Daniel Munday is a Sydney based Fitness Conditioner and creator of the Aussie Fatblast training method that gives busy corporate professionals the fat loss results they deserve in short workouts. It is the ideal fat loss solution for the busy person who does not have the time to exercise the traditional way.

Learn more about EPOC and Interval Training and blast your way to a new body with the Aussie Fatblast Secrets Revealed FREE audio and eBook report that will address the 5 reasons why you are not achieving the fat loss results that you deserve. Simply visit AUSSIE FATBLAST to download your personal copy today

MAXIMIZE YOUR BICEPS WITH NICK NILSSON'S TOP TIP

2009-12-13T12:51:00.000-08:00

Nick Nilsson is always coming up with imaginative ways of making exercises more effective just like in his THE BEST EXERCISES YOU'VE NEVER HEARD OF

Now he tells you "How to REALLY Do Incline Curls To Mass Up Your Biceps FAST!" CLICK HERE for a free demo.

I will be giving it a try in my workout tomorrow.

FACIAL REJUVENATION WITHOUT PLASTIC SURGERY

2009-12-10T15:12:00.000-08:00

I have found you can exercise anything - your body, your eyes, your mind, your teeth/jaw.

I had stabismus as a child - in those days they did not cut the muscles and try to correct them. I was given simple exercises following my finger out beyond my nose and back again - it completely corrected.

At one point I had TMJ. I had numerous dental filings, drillings and splints. In the end - exercise cured it.

I remember a long time ago I was told - don't pull on your face or it will stay like that. Don't frown or you will get deep furrows. I have always been gentle with the area around my eyes - it is delicate tissue there and I have taken good care of my skin. Before I was out of my teens I considered that in the future it would be necessary to have a face lift. Each decade I delayed it. I am now 61 and was able to improve my body significantly. Why could I not do the same for my face?

An esthetic physician told me it was essential I have Botox preventatively to avoid wrinkles. Even though I understand it is an inactive toxin I declined for several reasons. It is not natural to the body and it is a paralizing agent and is not without risk. And most of all, I dislike the unnatural expressionless face. I think facial expression makes the person.

A while back I came across a facial exercise program. I used it and had results but instead of doing the maintenace part I put it aside and eventually forgot about it. Then I came across it recently in a very timely way. I had been reading numerous articles about the benefits of facial exercise. While reorganizing my office I found my program. Of course! The face has muscles just like the body. I sure needed to resume the program.

I happened to contact the author and found the program was now available through the Internet. I did not buy the creams and facial products because I have my own repertoire of products I am happy with so I cannot give you feed back on those but the exercise program is a keeper. I might try the lip product. I will keep you posted if I do.

Before you undergo the risks of plastic surgery, check it out - Facial Magic Exercise Program! It can be done in minutes a day increasing to 10 minutes when you have incorporated the whole plan as designed. Do it 6 days/week for 9 weeks, then continue the maintenance three times per weeek. You can easily incorporate it into your daily beauty routine.

Don't forget though that whole body exercise, excellent nutrition, sun protection, cleansing and moisturizing contribute to healthy skin.

FACIAL MAGIC

SOME LAST MINUTE GIFTS FOR THE FITNESS ENTHUSIAST AND WHAT NOT TO BUY

2009-12-09T21:44:00.000-08:00

In no particular order and variable price ranges.
Water Bottle - help stop polution caused by plastic bottles.

Here is a link about the types of 'green bottles.'

IPOD - get a gift certificate for the ear buds though - earphones are really individual taste - and the price varies from around $10 to well over $100.

Heart rate monitor. There are many price ranges and many features. Some calculate heart rate, estimate calories, act as stop watches, have alarms for various rates to tell you to pick up the pace. Some more elaborate ones can be connected and downloaded to the computer to graph your workouts.

Here is a link with some comparisons for monitors.

Green Tea - Antioxidant and weight loss accelerator.

A subscription to Oxygen Magazine. Full of interesting articles, workouts, recipes. I look forward to every issue.

Any of Tosca's books. I have given so many as gifts I have lost count - as well as the Eat-Clean Diet Books she has workout books.

Myotape - you can buy one for around $8 from Bodybuilding.com or from GNC.

Why do you need one. Measurements are more accurate that weighing for charting your progress. This tape is easier to use for self-measurement - the end hooks into the body of the tape and it is spring loaded to tighten just right. A great stocking stuffer - you can't have too many - might drop a weight on one or something.

Equipment: Weights, weight gloves, medicine balls. bosu balls etc

Bonus big gift - particularly in cold climates - treadmill!!!!! Make sure it has a good deck as well as the ability to add hills, a good motor, and warranty. Sometimes the bells and whistles for choices of computer programming, stereos and tv screens are not as important as the structural integrity, mechanism and motor. Size and foldability may be an issue for some.

Things not to get (unless asked for):

gym membership - that is really personal choice - which gym or no gym - might be insulting as well if the recipient had not planned on joining a gym

personal training - no no no - boy - did my husband and I make this mistake! ...people are not motivated when someone buys them the gift, they may be insulted, they likely want to choose their own trainer, they will feel pressured and resentful to try to meet your expectations for success.

WI fit - come on!!! if you want to buy it as a game - great. There is no research supporting that this game will contribute to an improved fitness level...and it still encourages computer and tv use rather than real outdoor activities! Get snowshoes or something instead - see your great country.

WEIGHT LOSS TIP # 2 USE STRESS AND ANGER CREATIVELY

2009-12-09T18:16:00.000-08:00

I was disappointed in a situation as well as quite angry the past few days. My old self would have gone to the fridge to eat 1/2 gal of chocolate ice cream.

Instead I did a cardio workout - 25 minute interval and 20 minute steady state. By the end of the session I felt great and decided to do a dance work out later.

By the end of the cardio my anger dissipated. I decided to forgive the perpetrators and not let their negative energy impact me or my health. And...the action will improve my fitness level as well as remove the cortisol effect from stress.

Kind of a win win situation.

There are so many hassles in life for all of us. Too many to count sometimes. Direct your negative energy from these potentially devastating situations into a positive experience!

BEFORE PICTURES. Fat loss - do not be surprised if nobody recognizes you.

2009-12-09T14:10:00.000-08:00

Ok. This was me at my largest in 2007. Don't know how the photo survived the scissors but my family is resourceful.

I guess I must have been complaining again about running into 'so and so' and they walked right by me.

My husband threw a couple of pictures at me the other day. "There." he said. "That's why people are ignoring you. They don't recognize you!"

One of the pictures was a 'before photo.' I guess one which was unable to escape from my destruction of every picture of me ever taken between 1989 and 2007. And of course one since my transformation. Ok. I get the point. I find that often I have to reintroduce myself.

I guess my point to you, is that no matter how painful it is, take the before picture and post it somewhere private. Each time you think you would like to give up, look at it and remember that it is not really you. You are hiding under the distorted facade of obesity waiting to come out. Keep going. It gets easier and with the right attitude - extremely enjoyable.

ARE YOU OBESE AGAIN?

2009-12-08T21:22:00.000-08:00

No. Not me. Got rid of it in 2007 and I am never going back. Recently I was thinking. “Why did I have success when others, even those who hired the same personal trainer did not?" There were some who got some results but not as good as mine; some who got no results and others who got results but soon ‘reoffended.’ Why?

I had an epiphany not long ago (I am sometimes a bit slow at coming to conclusions). I had given all the credit for my success in finding great health and a new physique to my personal trainer - although he was great, obviously he was not the magic bullet for some others to achieve the same type of success. Could I have had the same success with a different trainer? Maybe, but does it really matter? I would have paid any price and given him my first born for the great results I got. The training was incredibly valuable. I found out what I was doing incorrectly, learned proper form for weights, had someone with expertise blow my previous beliefs that I was too old to get fit right out of the water - but I did not give nearly enough credit to my part in my transformation.

Since then I have had 12 weeks away from training in 2008 due to major abdominal surgery and 16 weeks away from training in 2009 due to a serious shoulder fracture. Both times, I did not gain weight during the hiatus. I stayed on my clean eating nutrition plan, and did what I could within my limits. Sure there was some loss of muscle bulk, higher body fat and less lean muscle tissue. But both times I came back with a vengeance, alone, no trainer in sight. So how am I achieving prolonged success and why not everyone else?

(I am noting the following reasons simply because they were the reasons for my failures before... with one exception - booze - I am not a drinker)

Maybe they really don't want to.
Belief that everyone likes you the way you are.
Hiding the problem by avoiding mirrors and wearing oversized clothes.
Blaming health issues for not being physically active.
Suffering from an untreated or improperly treated major depressive disorder.
Not going into the fitness journey with the mind-set that it is for life – a lifestyle change.
Having previous trainers who failed to 'teach you to fish'
Having the wrong catalyst to ‘down-size’ such as a short term gain for example looking good to attend a high school reunion or wedding.
When the latest health scare is over, old bad habits return.
Belief that their genetic profile makes obesity inevitable.
No association with the bad habits and future damage. Immediate gratification is not overcome.
No self motivation - once the personal training segment is done, they can’t continue without a whip.
They set themselves up for failure by wanting results too fast. This interferes with the process of making a lifestyle change. It is NOT magic. It is hard work.
Using expensive alternatives such as purchased pre-packaged food plans. Money runs out and once they have to eat ‘normally’ they have no idea how. These foods are not nutritious, they are usually just portion control plans. Only whole foods will give the health boost needed to know how great you can feel.
Too many people ‘diet’ not knowing that significant reduction diets do not work and are not sustainable long term. Many do not realize that one can actually eat more eating clean and never be hungry and that they will really taste food for the first time once all the crap is out of their diets.
Many refuse to give up their booze, French fries etc using these types of foods as rewards for 'having to work out.' You can't out run French fries.
Many undo a whole week of clean eating and exercise with an overindulgent eating and drinking fest. (Eat clean for a sustained period and then use moderation when having a treat. Once you have eaten clean and felt the benefits, you will immediately notice the difference in how you feel and you will be much less likely to do it again).
Deprivation. Totally removing yourself from social activity to avoid the temptations will soon lead to failure. (There are lots of healthy choices even at social events. Make it a challenge to find tasty but healthy foods on menus when out to dinner)
Impatience - many jump from fitness plan to fitness plan and diet to diet, never giving enough time to measure or see results.
Lack of record keeping and estimating food intake and guestimating progress with cardio and weights leads to failure. Measuring will help track even small changes keeping you motivated.
Most do not change the attitude toward good nutrition and exercise going at it as if it is something horrible instead of using visualization, rewards, and other methods to truly learn to love exercise and good food. Associating pleasure with feeling and looking great instead of with deep fried foods and lying on the beach goes a long way. If you don’t change this one thing, you will not be successful for very long.
They hang on to their fat clothes, telling themselves psychologically that they are going to fail.
They are not willing to spend as much on maintaining their health and bodies as on their house, cars, vacations and toys.
They fail to research and learn all they can about their health and fitness so that without a trainer, friend, diet outfit or other structure, they cannot succeed on their own.
There is too much television and computer use in their lives.
They don't increase activity to compensate for a sedentary job.
They downsize in summer and upsize in winter totally screwing up the metabolism.
They yoyo diet.
They fail to believe in themselves.
They play the martyr always putting others first.
Too much cardio and insufficient or no resistance/weight training.
Start too aggressively and get injured.
They always go back to an old fitness or diet plan. If these programs really worked, they would be part of the lifestyle and not something to return to when weight is regained.
They don’t pay attention to what they ingest, scarfing food down indiscriminately to ‘fill the hole’ rather than nourish the body.
They don’t stay on a nutrition plan long enough to lose cravings.
They associate success with the scale instead of how they feel and how clothes fit and feel. Weight can fluctuate significantly and one can be still on the right track.

The only other thing I can think of as to why I finally succeeded is because I was tired of failing and tired of being tired, ugly and obese. Not to forget when I was unable to avoid a camera I actually saw what I looked like and it was nobody I recognized.

I guess until you reach your saturation point and you stop accepting your condition as irreversible and not in your control, you won't succeed.

You are the only one who can find the determination within yourself to change to a better healthier life.

WEIGHT LOSS TIP # 1 TIME

2009-12-07T22:45:00.000-08:00

Time.

Believe me. You have the time. It is simply a matter of changing your priorities.First get organized and schedule your meal shopping planning and execution as well as your fitness time. This is the time for YOU. Put it first and fit everything else in. In the end I promise you will have so much energy you will be able to accomplish more than you ever have.

Next delegate. It is time you stopped being a martyr.

Prioritorize. Just like when you clean house and downsize, downsize your unnecessary activities. How much TV do you watch? Try watching the first few and last few episodes of your favourite reality show for example. They repeat enough of the information - you won't miss anything. Exercise will be your new way of unwinding in short order and you will get much more benefit from it.Identify all your barriers and find creative ways to overcome them.Identify your time wasters and get rid of them. Avoid busy line ups for example by changing your timing a bit. I love driving through Tim Hortons for coffee on my commute but I just don't line up - if I am occasionally later and it is a busy time - I skip it. I want to get to work and then get home for my work out time - not spend it in long line ups.

Meal planning goes a long way to save time in the long run and saves money too. Always have a cooler to take to work or on a trip so you can have a variety of health snacks at hand.

Friends and Family. Combine some of your fun weekend cardio with your family - so you are sure to spend time with them - you can always make your particpation more active.

Workout Alone - I really don't promote working out with anyone - you really need time for you. Playing to someone's schedule, will only waste your time. If you attend a gym, say your hellos, then get down to business. Put on your music headphones and politely go do your thing.

Working out at home can save you time (no commute) or waiting for equipment or trying to fit the gym schedule to your own.

Meal prep - you don't have to cook entirely separate meals from your family. You can learn easily to adjust and adapt your portions and meals along with the regular meals with a few changes. Who knows maybe your family will join you with eating clean.

Double up - there are many things you can do while doing another task to save time(we women are good at multi tasking). I get caught up on things I have to read during the car wash, while stuck in construction traffic zones etc - always be prepared.

Your job - you say you have to work extra to get ahead at work. I think that you can examine your day at work too. How much time do you waste chatting and visiting - go round and say good morning then goodbye at the end of the day. When you are at work - give it all you've got - then get out. Some people are promoted because they are hard workers but often it is a) who you know b) your personality c) luck d) education. Don't be a martyr

NEXT TOPIC: ONE OF THE BIGGEST EXERCISE MOTIVATORS - STAY TUNED

Chronic Neck Pain and Exercise

2009-12-07T22:01:00.000-08:00

According to A Denmark Research Center, chronic neck pain can be reduced by 80% in less than 12 weeks by strength training.

The recommendation is for 2-5 lb dumbbells - 3 sets of eight reps - three times per week (non sequemtial days) of the following:

Shoulder shrugs

DEMO

Reverse Flies (with a band)

DEMO

Reverse Flies (with dumbbells)

DEMO

Upright row

DEMO

THE EAT CLEAN DIET - ANOTHER TOSCA RENO EAT CLEAN CONTEST

2009-12-03T17:15:00.000-08:00

Tosca Reno is having another eat clean contest challenge. I really encourage you to partipate - even if you do not win the contest - you will have won back your life. You will feel great, look great and 'ace' your next medical.

Remember sound nutrition along with resistance/weight training and cardio activity can reverse aging, increase general health, endurance, strength and give you healthy hair, skin, nails, bone, joints and organs. Healthy inside and out.

It is not only a 'diet' but a true lifestyle change. Before you know it your nutrition will be non-negotiable and you will be carrying around the obligatory cooler so that wherever you go you won't be stranded without healthy food choices. There is just no going back! Enjoy.

I have provided the link below for the contest page as well as the link to my story.

EAT CLEAN CONTEST!!!

MY STORY

FEMALE COMPETITION PHYSIQUES: DIFFERENCE BETWEEN FITNESS, BODY BUILDING, FIGURE, FIGURE MODEL

2009-12-03T10:59:00.001-08:00

Link to the topic

MACHINES VS FREE WEIGHTS (2)

2009-12-02T10:16:00.000-08:00

A while back I wrote an article about the controversy about machines vs free weights. Link to the article listing the pros and cons of each

Although overall - professional trainers recommend free weights for serious muscle training I remembered that machines certainly have their value.

I have both because when I started out, I was a newbie at weight training (at least I hadn't done any for over 20 years) it was the safest way for me to start.

More recently I recalled one of the values of machines - training after an injury. I had a serious injury back in April and after 16 weeks of not being allowed to do anything of value in training I started my long climb back. I was struggling a bit but remembered it is probably a good idea to go back to the machines while regaining strength and muscle. I have some muscle wasting but the tone is coming back. I was careful with my nutrition so I did not gain any weight to speak of but my body fat/lean muscle composition changed somewhat. I am changing that ratio with nutrition, cardio and weight training.

YOUR FIRST CHIN UP EVEN IF YOU HAVE NEVER DONE ONE BEFORE!

2009-11-28T12:18:00.000-08:00

Even when I had achieved a fairly good level of fitness I thought doing chin ups was just a muscle head thing. However, I soon realized that it is a great indication of upper body strength. I started training to do one and was thrilled when I actually achieved not only one but 10. After a serious injury I am back at increasing my upper body strength and attempting my first chin up.

Nick Nilsson of "The Best Exercises You Never Heard Of" has provided this great chin up training guide.

How To Do a Chin-Up If You've NEVER Done One Before
By Nick Nilsson

Performing your very first bodyweight chin-up is a GREAT goal to have. But it's a goal that not many know exactly how to achieve. Learn how to build the strength to do your first chin-up here!

If you've never done a full bodyweight chin-up before, don't worry! With the right training, just about anybody can work themselves up to performing one or more full range chin-ups. In this article, you'll learn all the steps and progressions you need in order get from zero to one!

And it's NOT going to require pull-downs OR self-spotting machines like the Gravitron (I'm not going to take ANY resistance away from you!).

So first off, we need to distinguish between a chin-up and a pull-up. A pull-up is generally done with a wider grip and an overhand grip on the bar. This is actually a HARDER exercise to perform than the chin-up.

The chin-up is done with a close grip on the bar (hands only a few inches apart) with an underhand grip.

The reasons the wide-grip pull-up is harder is that first, the biceps are not able to contribute as much to the movement because your arms are directly out to the sides. Second, the lats (the muscles of the back) don't have as good of leverage with the arms out in this position.

The chin-up places the lats in a better position to contract and allows the biceps to contribute more to the movement.

And this is what we want, because to do that first chin-up, you're going to need ALL the muscle power you can get!

The first consideration to look at when it comes to chinning is your overall bodyweight. If you're carrying a lot of extra weight, it's going to make it that much harder to perform a chin-up because obviously, you're going to have to lift that extra bodyweight up, too!

Dropping extra weight is definitely going to help you achieve your goal of that first chin-up, though it's not 100% necessary...it just means you'll have to build up that much more strength in order to perform the exercise.

When it comes to building up strength for that first chin-up, I prefer to do it over the long-term rather than trying to get there all at once.

The only thing I ask is that you NOT try and perform a full chin-up until I tell you to. That's it. I don't want you trying and failing and getting discouraged. So take it step-by-step, build the foundations...I'll let you know when you're ready.

PHASE 1

So the first step you're going to take is one that is very simple and straightforward...you're going to grab the bar and just HANG from it for as long as you can. That's it!

The reason? I find that a lot of people simply don't have the necessary GRIP strength to perform a full chin-up and building it up with a very specific drill like this helps tremendously.

So at the beginning of every single workout and at the end of every single workout you do (NOT just back workouts but EVERY workout), you'll stand under the chin-up bar, reach up and grab it with a close, underhand grip, then just hang at arms-length for as long as you can until your grip gives out.

This is going to help you get used to supporting your entire bodyweight on the chin-up bar and it's going to build up that very specific grip strength we're looking for.

Repeat this drill until you're able to hang from the chin-up bar for at least 30 seconds before your grip gives out. Once you can do that, you're ready for Phase 2.

** One tip I find very useful is to cross your feet when doing any chin or pull-up related exercise. For some reason, this locks your body into the position more and gives you more pulling strength.

PHASE 2

The second phase of training is going to be partial reps in the bottom range of motion of the chin-up.

Now that your grip strength is built up enough that you can support yourself on the bar for a good length of time, we're going to start adding in movement.

Assume your hanging position. Now pull yourself up 2 or 3 inches and hold for several seconds. Lower yourself back to the hanging position then immediately pull back up a few inches again and hold for several seconds.

Repeat this until either your grip gives out or you can no longer pull yourself up those few inches. Remember, it's a VERY short range of motion but we want to hold that position for at least a few seconds to get target stress on the muscles.

You'll do one set at the beginning of every workout and one set at the end of every workout you do.

I've found this high-frequency approach to work extremely well because it allows your body to gradually adapt over time. You don't set giant goals that you get spooked about and don't think you'll ever achieve - you set small, achievable, repeatable goals that build on each other to get you to the end result.

Once you can do at least 10 reps of this partial-range and pause training, then it's on to Phase 3...

PHASE 3

Now we move on to Negative Training. You may have heard of this before...now you're going to put it to use!

We've built up a foundation of grip strength (which is HUGE) and a foundation of pulling power in the strongest range of motion of the exercise (the bottom few inches). It's time to test yourself against gravity.

Set a chair, bench or box in front of the chin-up bar. Ideally, it should be a height where you can stand on it and put yourself into the top position of the chin-up (chin just above the bar) while still standing on it.

Because what you'll be doing next is gripping the bar, getting into position then lowering yourself down slowly. This is called a "negative rep."

But here's the key that a lot of people miss when it comes to Negative Training...

The idea is to not just passively lower yourself down...the idea is to ACTIVELY FIGHT GRAVITY all the way down!

So when you take your grip on the bar and take your feet off the bench, I want you to try your darndest to pull yourself UP, even though gravity is pulling you DOWN.

This generally will result in a slow downward rep, with you fighting it all the way. When you get to the bottom, let go of the bar, climb back onto the bench and repeat.

In your negative set, perform reps in this fashion until one of two things happens...

1. You grab the bar, take your feet off the bench and can't slow your descent at all, dropping right into the position within a second or two.

2. You get to 6 reps of this negative training in your set.

What do those guidelines mean? In the first one, it means your muscles aren't actually doing any more work and there's no reason to continue.

In the second, when we hit 6 reps, that's plenty when it comes to negative training. If, on that sixth rep, you can still control your descent, you're doing well!

So here's the deal...in your workouts (again one set at the beginning and one set at the end of every single workout you do), do this negative training. This will probably amount to 3 to 5 times per week, depending how frequently you're in the gym.

Keep going in this fashion until you are able to do 6 negative reps and on the SIXTH rep, you can still pretty well control your descent and don't just crash down.

Now, for one calendar week, NO chin-up training. You're going to give your muscles a break from the specific training and allow them to recover.

PHASE 4

The last step before hitting chins on your own is the Flexed Arm Hang. Now that your muscles have recovered from the Negative Training, we're going to set that bench back up and get you into the top position of the chin.

Take your feet off the bench and HOLD that top chin position for as long as you can. Hold it until your arms start to straighten and your lats start to give.

Now FIGHT that all the way down until you're hanging at arms-length on the bar. That's it! Just one set and one rep, done ONLY at the beginning of each workout (when you're strongest), not at the end.

Repeat this procedure (one set of hanging at the start of each workout) until you can hang for at least 30 seconds before you start to lower down.

Once you can do that, it's SHOW TIME!

YOUR FIRST CHIN-UP

Give yourself a few days off from the Flexed Arm Hang phase before doing your first chin. You want to be fully recovered and feeling strong!

Grab the bar (at this point, you will be so used to grabbing the chin-up bar that there will be NO fear associated with it, as there may have been before). You'll KNOW you can do this.

Tighten your grip, tighten your muscles, then PULL!

Because of all the background work you've done, I have a feeling you're going FLY right up!
Heck, when you get the first one, if you feel good, try a second one!

And finally, if you do go through this chin-up program and WHEN you do your first chin-up, send me an email and tell me your story! I want to hear from you!
------------------
Nick Nilsson is Vice-President of the online personal training company BetterU, Inc. He has a degree in Physical Education and Psychology and has been inventing new training techniques for more than 17 years. Nick is the author of a number of bodybuilding eBooks including "Muscle Explosion! 28 Days To Maximum Mass", "Metabolic Surge - Rapid Fat Loss," "The Best Exercises You've Never Heard Of," "Gluteus to the Maximus - Build a Bigger Butt NOW!" and
"The Best Abdominal Exercises You've Never Heard Of" all available at BetterU ). He can be contacted at betteru@fitstep.com.

MY MAY - DECEMBER ROMANCE STORY

2009-11-21T08:05:00.000-08:00

'K' MY HANDSOME SOLDIER

My 28th wedding anniversary is coming up on Monday. It has been an amazing paring.

We still hold hands.

Our story.......

During a break up with my fiance in 1979, acquaintenances set up a blind date between K and me 'as a joke.' They thought it would be amusing to see a 'worldly' 31-year-old divorcee and a shy 18-year-old army reservist together.

I was shocked when I got to the dance and realized how young my date was. I went with the flow not wishing to hurt his feelings. I had a fantastic time with this handsome man but I did not plan on a follow up date. My fiance and I were patching up our broken relationship and were tentatively setting our wedding date for December. I never thought in a million years K would want a follow up date either.

A month or so after the 'date', K phoned me and asked if he could board with me. It would help me with the mortgage and he would be there at night for my daughter when I was working shift work at the hospital. He needed an address in my City to get a full time call out with the army.

My fiance and I discussed it and it seemed like a good solution. My husband-to-be "P" was attractive, self confident, conceited and had not one bit of jealousy toward K.

K became part of my immediate family, I met his friends and family. He was a great tennant.

As my wedding date approached K became more alarmed at my relationship with my fiance - P was a flirt and went off on frequent skiing vacations with the 'boys'; he was financially irresponsible, had unstable jobs and likely drank too much. We were attending pre-marriage counselling classes and week by week the counsellor and I were becoming similarly alarmed.

It was an easy decision to break up with this man really. I had two failed marriages from following my heart and not my head. Rather than string him along, I told him I could never marry him and broke off our engagement. K was wiser than his years. He was right, the marriage would never have survived the first year.

Over the next year, K professed his love for me. I was on the rebound and I adored him but the math sure scared me. When I am 50 he will be 37 -when I am 70 he will be 57 etc. After two years the barriers finally wore down. He is the most incredible man - devoted, kind, caring, gentle and loving. His only flaw is his age. I struggled with it. My parents disowned me for many years and would not speak to me for even contemplating a relationship. His parents were more worried about me than him. They stated they did not want me ending up having to support 'two kids' as their son had not yet decided on a post secondary education.

The other flaw in the potential marriage was that I could no longer have children - what a sacrifice for a 20-year-old. It would be doubtful that any adoption agency would help us with our age discrepancy problem. So he would have to accept a life with no children of his own. And he would be dealing with a daughter about to enter the 'terrible teen' years as well.

But, I did fall madly in love with him. Along with the love, I felt a healthy dose of guilt and worry about the 'what ifs' of our age difference. I did not want to be a 'mother figure.' Apparently I was never that. Due to my good genes and fairly clean lifestyle, I did not look my age. I am no "Demi Moore" but I have faired ok.

On a night shift when I was lamenting the torture of my decision a colleague said "Even if the marriage only lasts 10 years, that is more than you got out of your other marriages. Do you love him? My answer was " Yes." From a purely selfish perspective her statement was true. But what about him?

There was no talking him out of loving me. In the back of mind, I made it a promise that I would ask him every year on our anniversary if he wanted to change his mind - should he realize his terrible mistake and want someone his own age or should he want to have his own children. I am not asking this year. I realize I can no longer give him up without a fight.

He has stuck with me through all kinds of crises and vice versa. He loved me when I have been obese or sick or fit and healthy; when I was contributing to income and when I was not.

I came to love his family and friends as my own. My mother reluctantly accepted him to rekindle her relationship with me but was never warm and fuzzy toward him which he stocially endured. She has since passed away as have both his parents. My remaining parent, my step father adores him.

It is amusing that I put up with years of waiting for him and our friends to get through their party years - while they stayed up till 6 am I would pack it in before midnight and now it is often reversed - in their late 40s they want to go to bed fairly early and I generally want to stay up later. We old people don't need as much sleep.

The most recent challenge is retirement. I could feasibly retire in the near future, but I have enough health and energy for two people. I have always had a professional career. I concluded if I work longer he could retire earlier. All retirement would mean for me is quitting my current job and putting my energy into my own business. I doubt I would ever stop productive employment regardless of the age of my husband.

Has it been easy? Of course not. Every marriage has its ups and downs. I cannot lie that at times I want everything I have now but have wished that K was older. But each year the 'what ifs' lessened and eventually disappeared.

Here's to the sweetest, most considerate, loving and gorgeous man anywhere!

Happy Anniversary to the Love of My Life - My lover, my partner, my friend....

p.s. I REMEMBERED THE DATE :)

NO NONSENSE MUSCLE BUILDING - DO YOU WANT TO LOSE FAT AND GAIN MUSCLE????

2009-11-19T18:15:00.000-08:00

IF YOU WANT TO LOSE FAT, GAIN MUSCLE AND GET OUTRAGEOUSLY BUFF READ ON...

I have tried many fat loss, exercise and fitness programs, and gimmicks in my lifetime. I only intend on featuring those which have value and which I know work.

For those of you training to build muscle and you have dubbed yourself a 'hardgainer' you really need to purchase the following program. The author will prove you are no such thing!

His program has one years worth of training. It is probably best if you have some experience with weight training but there is a starter program (upside down training) and beginners program and lots of instruction. You will never be bored.

The program has something for everyone - there is a specific fat loss program, and as I mentioned an 'upside down training program' which you really should do at the onset - particularly if you have been training awhile and are stuck or at plateau, or have not been training for quite awhile. It completely shakes things up and turns things around and prepares you for the next phase.

There is a 26-week beginner for both men and women; a 26 week advanced training for men and women. Great online member site. And fantastic animated exercise demonstration tools which can also help you with selection of an alternate exercises should you not be able to do a particular exercise or if you have different tools and equipment.

It includes a stretching flexibility program which I do almost daily. The author encourages most to do the shoulder stability exercises with your upside down training/stretching regime. That is often the area most prone to injury particularly in older adults.

There is nutrition planning - it is all done for you.

The program is quite large - you will need to have your printer cartridge full and a good sheaf of paper - but trust me it is worth downloading and printing. He insists you should read as much as possible before beginning the training - it is worth the read.

You can get going and download the upside down training to get going with your training and prep yourself for the 26-week-training while you are reading all the material. This program is for you if you are absolutely serious about gaining lean muscle and losing fat.

VINCE DELMONTE'S NO NONSENSE MUSCLE BUILDING

Vince is a kinesiologist, author and personal trainer from Ontario Canada

HOME GYM - THE 4 MOST CRITICAL PIECES OF EQUIPMENT FOR MORE SERIOUS WEIGHT TRAINING

2009-06-23T13:50:00.000-07:00

HOME GYM - THE 4 MOST CRITICAL PIECES OF EQUIPMENT

Everyone knows how much I dislike commercial gyms - I prefer to train at home. Often I am asked what equipment to start with for more serious weight training.

Many people immediately think a multi station exercise machine is the first essential piece of equipment. Wrong. See my article on MACHINES VS FREE WEIGHTS. You will be amused to know that exercise machines were invented to "make exercise easier." How dumb is that? They do serve a purpose but if money is limited certainly do not make them your first choice. Yes I have one and use it as a supplement to my equipment. But I can achieve amazing results without it. By far my free weights such as barbells, bench, and dumbbells are predominant in my workout.

The only other essential equipment you will need (and your cheapest purchase) is a foam roller. Choose this over liposuction! Click here for my article on FOAM ROLLERS.

I think the article below from Nick Nilsson covers the essential home equipment well. It is much less expensive than you think.

The Four Absolutely CRITICAL Pieces Of Training Equipment You NEED To Start Your Home Gym WithBy Nick Nilsson

When you're putting together your first home gym, it's easy to get caught up in the promises of fancy multi-station machines and infomercial products. But before you do, save your money and have a close look at these four critical items that you SHOULD start your home gym with!

So you've got some space set aside in your home for a gym. You're ready to take the plunge and get some equipment so you can train without having to wait for equipment, listen to music you can't stand or wipe other people's sweat off machines.But where do you start? What equipment should you get in order to maximize what you can do in the space you have available? Should you get a multi-station machine? Maybe a Bowflex?

What's all this talk about being able to do more than 50 "club quality exercises?"

Right now, put that all out of your head. The equipment you need in order to maximize your space is simple and VERY basic and it will allow you to do literally HUNDREDS of exercises!And the best part is, you can get it CHEAP if you know the right sources...

Essential Home Gym Equipment #1 - Adjustable Dumbells

If I could only have one single type of equipment in my home gym, it would be a good set of adjustable-weight dumbells. You can do a HUGE variety of exercises for every single bodypart with just a simple pair of dumbells.

Getting adjustable dumbells means you can very easily change the weight you're working with while still not using up a whole lot of space in your home gym. If you have pre-made dumbells, you have to set aside space (or get a good dumbell rack) for rows of individual dumbells.If you've GOT the space (and the money!), pre-made dumbells are certainly more convenient to use. But if you're tight on room, lining up your dumbells may not be an option. And, of course, the pre-made dumbells are going to be a lot more expensive to get a decent range of weight for.

When it comes to adjustable dumbells, you've got several options. By far, the most convenient are the Powerblock style of dumbells (Bowflex and Nautilus also have products like this).With this style, all you have to do is basically flip a switch to set your weight on the dumbell. The whole thing is interlocking - they fit into the space of just two dumbells and give you a good range of weights to work with.

The other main options are the "make it yourself" free weight dumbells. With these, you've basically got weight plates and posts. With a good selection of weight plates, you can make a great range of weights.This style of dumbell will be a good deal cheaper than the Powerblock style but, on the downside, it does take more time to put the dumbells together and the weight posts sticking out can be a bit awkward. But overall, for the money, this style is still a very good investment, especially if you're looking to make some heavy dumbells.

Heavy Powerblock dumbells can be quite expensive (they have expansion sets that go up to 130 lbs) but even then, are still a substantial savings over the equivalent amount of pre-made dumbells.

Essential Home Gym Equipment #2 - Adjustable Incline/Flat/Decline Bench

Once you've got the dumbells, the next thing to get for your home gym is a solid bench. Ideally, you want a bench that is easily adjustable to incline, flat and decline settings. The more versatile it is, the more use you'll get out of it and the more exercises you'll be able to do with it.And when I say solid, I mean SOLID. Don't skimp on this piece of equipment. You don't want a bench folding up under you when you're in the middle of a hard set (or EVER for that matter!).

The adjustable bench will open up a wide range of exercises for you to do with your dumbells.

On a side note, you might wonder why I place a bench in front of a barbell set in order of "must-have." To be honest, it's a toss-up. Ideally, it would be best to get all four of these pieces of equipment that I'm going to talk about in this article at the same time! You would do just fine getting the barbell set before the bench as well.

Essential Home Gym Equipment #3 - 300 lb Olympic Barbell Set

So you've got your dumbells and a bench. Now it's time to get your barbell set. The nice thing with barbell sets is that at most sporting goods stores you can get a decent set for a good price brand new.When you're getting a barbell set, I HIGHLY recommend going for the Olympic bar set (the 7 foot long bar). The thinner bar (known as a Standard bar) has a much smaller capacity and will start to bend if you load it with more than 200 pounds or so. The thicker bar will be easier to grip as well.Once you've got the basic barbell set, you can very easily get more weight plates as you need them.

*** One VERY IMPORTANT thing to note about free weight...if you can, ALWAYS get it at a local place. If you buy it online, shipping charges will just about DOUBLE the price of your order (they charge for shipping by the pound).

Essential Home Gym Equipment #4 - The Power Rack

You've got resistance (the dumbells and barbell)...you've got apparatus (the adjustable bench)...now you need a "framework" to REALLY maximize the number of exercises you can do.When you have a rack, it opens up not only a much wider range of exercises, it also dramatically increases the safety and potential productiveness of your training.Because here's the bottom line with training at home by yourself...if you don't have a power rack/safety cage, it is NOT in your best interests to do barbell bench press or heavy barbell squatting. If you get stuck under a bench press bar with no help around, you're in big trouble!If you have to bail out on a heavy squat with no power rack to catch the bar, you have to release the bar, let it roll down your back and try and get out of the way as it crashes to the floor. And as fun as THAT sounds, it's no picnic (especially if your home gym isn't on a concrete floor)!

To be honest, I even recommend people who train at commercial gyms to do their barbell bench pressing in the power rack. It's an exercise that has the potential to injure you pretty seriously if you get stuck under it with no help around! Training it in the rack is much safer AND allows you to really push yourself without fear of getting stuck under the bar, which is INVALUABLE when you really want maximum results.

Even a VERY small home gym has space for a rack. My first home gym was in a 10 x 10 room and it worked like a charm! The barbell can be stored on the rack itself, the bench fits right inside the rack when not in use. Many racks also come with weight posts to hold your plates right on the sides of the rack itself, which saves even more space.Here's another great feature about some racks...the possibility of adding a weight-stack pulley to it. I got this with my rack and it was a GREAT investment. It opens up not only all the potential exercises you can do with pulleys but also exercises you can do that combine pulleys with the rack!

Honorable Mention of Essential Home Gym Equipment - The Swiss Ball

While the Swiss Ball (also known as an "exercise ball") isn't listed as an essential here, I also highly recommend grabbing one of these. They're inexpensive and they allow for a great variety of exercises to be performed, especially in combination with dumbells.Be sure to look for a ball that is good quality - burst resistant is a feature you definitely want. If a ball gets punctured (especially while you're on it!), you don't want it exploding underneath you and you falling to the ground. This is not good when it's just you on the ball...MUCH more so if you're using weight while you're on the ball! If the ball gets punctured, it should just slowly let out the air, giving you time to get off the ball.

WHERE TO GET THIS TRAINING EQUIPMENT:

When it comes to free weight, such as barbells and dumbells, your best is to stay local. As I mentioned above, shipping prices will KILL you if you order free weight online or by mail order. You can scout out garage sales for people getting rid of their stuff, or head directly to the sporting goods store.Sports Authority (if you're in the U.S.) generally has good prices on barbells, weight plates and dumbells.

If you're interested in getting a set of PowerBlock dumbells, you can read more about them here:http://www.fitstep.com/goto/powerblock.htm

When it comes to the bench and power racks, there are a lot of different options in terms of brands. Personally, my bench and rack are Body Solid, which I'm quite happy with. They're good quality and were very reasonably priced. Other good brands include Yukon, Nautilus, BodyCraft, and Ivanko.

As far as where to get racks and benches, online is generally your best bet, whether it be retail or getting them used through fitness classified ads.

EBay is another excellent option.

Some online retailers that I've had good success with in terms of overall price and shipping are:
Fitness Blowout http://www.fitnessblowout.com/
MuscleMag NE Pennsylvania http://www.musclemagnepa.com/

Bottom line...search around and compare prices. Feel free to find a good price and shop it around to other places to see if they'll beat it!

CONCLUSION:

If you have the space for it, setting up a home gym is TOTALLY worth doing IF you're the type of person who can self-motivate. Some people don't have the space or simply need the atmosphere of a gym to really make progress - nothing wrong with that!

Your home gym doesn't need to be (and shouldn't be!) complicated. Just a few basic pieces of equipment are all you need to do a tremendous variety of exercises and get great results.The best bodies aren't built with fancy machines or with "club quality exercises." The best bodies are built with hard work and gold-standard exercises like squats, bench press, deadlifts, barbell rows, etc., all of which can be done with the four pieces of "must-have" equipment that I've mentioned here: dumbells, barbells, benches and racks!

Nick Nilsson is Vice-President of the online personal training company BetterU, Inc. He has a degree in Physical Education and Psychology and has been inventing new training techniques for more than 16 years. Nick is the author of a number of bodybuilding eBooks including "Metabolic Surge - Rapid Fat Loss," "The Best Exercises You've Never Heard Of," "Gluteus to the Maximus - Build a Bigger Butt NOW!" and "The Best Abdominal Exercises You've Never Heard Of" all available BY CLICKING HERE . He can be contacted at mailto:betteru@fitstep.com

SHOULD YOU STILL WORK OUT WITH MUSCLE SORENESS?

2009-06-21T22:32:00.000-07:00

Nick Nilsson answers this "burning" question! I am sure with a bit of controversy :)

Training With Muscle Soreness - Should You Do It? And Can It Actually Help You Get BETTER Results?

By Nick Nilsson

Muscle soreness is something that every trainer has experienced. The typical advice is to wait until you're notsore to train that muscle again. But what if you can actually get BETTER results by training when sore!

It's safe to say that muscle soreness is something EVERY trainer has experienced at some point in their career. Severity of muscle soreness (known as Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness or DOMS for short) can range from mild discomfort when you move to the point of being almost crippling.

One of the most frequent questions I am asked is "should you train when your muscles are still sore?" The answer is not quite as simple as some people make it out to be, though. Many trainers will tell you "if the muscle is still sore, don't train it." And, in truth, for many people that's the safest answer.

But, in fact, by NOT training when you're sore, you could actually be missing out on results AND slowing down your recovery!

So what is muscle soreness? Muscle soreness is basically damage to the muscle fibers as a result of training. Without going into great detail on how it happens and how the recovery process occurs (which is beyond the scope of this article), muscle soreness is your body telling you that it's in need of repair.

Now how can it possibly be GOOD for you to train a muscle again while it's still sore? Here's where we get into a contentious area. After reading this, you may choose to agree with me or disagree with me (if you've read my articles before, you know I'm anything BUT conventional) but all I ask is that you consider my arguments...

Now, if you've never trained a muscle hard two days in a row or trained it while it was still quite sore, you're going to be in for a shock at how unique a stimulus it can actually be. Sure there are arguments against doing that, e.g. the muscle hasn't fully recovered and you'll be tearing it down even more.

But consider this...from an adapatation standpoint, of the following two scenarios, what would give your body the greater stimulus for growth?

If you train the muscle hard once, you'll get a good growth stimulus. Your body immediately starts sending nutrients to the damaged area and starts rebuilding. When the muscle is fully recovered and is no longer sore, you train the muscle again and restart the process. This is the standard way of training and it usually means directly training a muscle twice a week with at least 2 or 3 days in between sessions for that specific muscle.

In the next scenario, you train the muscle hard then the next day, train it hard again. Recovery is nowhere near complete and the muscle is sore when you train it on the second day.

Here's the key...if you think about it, would the body see this second scenario as a greater threat to its survival? Would the body then ramp up its recovery processes to try and prepare for the next challenge, which it (from its recent experience of being hit with the same hard stimulus two days in a row) thinks is coming again very soon?

In my experience, this absolutely happens. The body's response to training is a very simple "stimulus-response" system, but your body is also fully capable of sending more resources where more resources are perceived as being needed.

When you eat, your body sends more blood to the digestive system. Your brain doesn't tell it to do that, it just happens. When you get hot, your body produces perspiration. The same thing happens with training. For example, when you train your biceps, your body sends blood and nutrients to the biceps for recovery. It doesn't send it to the calves if the calves haven't been worked.

If you train your biceps hard two days in a row, your body sees this as a big threat to the biceps and will ramp up recovery processes to specifically protect the biceps. If the biceps are still sore... VERY big threat! THEN you allow the biceps to recover. The two days of training has built much greater recovery momentum, getting more results out of your training.

Here's yet another advantage to training a muscle when it's still sore...even if you don't train it hard, you will still be sending blood (and therefore nutrients) to that muscle, helping it to recover faster than if you didn't train it at all. So even if you're not up for a hard workout for a sore muscle, even giving it some light to moderate work will still help with recovery.

So I've talked about training a muscle two days in a row...what about when you're scheduled to train it a couple of days later and it's still sore at that point? The same concepts apply - your body will STILL perceive that as a greater threat and increase recovery.

The only times I would NOT recommend training when sore is if the soreness causes you to use poor form in your exercises or if the soreness is so bad that it makes the exercises too painful to do.

For instance, if you just did deadlifts for the first time in your life and the next day, you have a VERY hard time sitting down without falling down into the seat, you may want to wait a bit before doing deadlifts again. Your form will change because of the pain and it could lead to injury.
But if your muscles are a bit stiff or sore, go ahead and train them. Your body will ramp up your recovery processes in response.

How do I know training the body with this frequency can be effective? I'll give the best example I know (WARNING - if you're a proponent of high-intensity, very infrequent training, this will make you shiver in your boots!). This is NOT a program I would recommend lightly to anyone because at this time, being on vacation from work, I was basically only eating, sleeping and training...no stress, no extraneous activity.

This was one of the most extraordinary programs I ever put myself on, not only in terms of workload but results as well. It involved doing total body workouts twice a day, six days a week.

This meant 12 total-body workouts per week, increasing the workload every week.
I used partial training, negative training, low reps and high reps. For the entire first week, I was EXTREMELY sore but I stuck with it and trained everything twice a day, no matter how sore I was.

After 3 weeks of this training, I backed off, still doing 12 training sessions per week but splitting the body in half - I was still working my whole body every single day and doing partials and negatives.

During the back-off phase, my recovery processes were practically unstoppable! NOTHING I did could make me sore (and believe me, I tried!) and my strength and muscle mass shot way up.

Conventional wisdom would believe I would be completely totaled at the end of a program like this, overtrained, small and weak. My results? In 6 weeks, I went from 208 lbs in bodyweight to 228 lbs. And as an example in strength gain, I went from a 295 bench press for 1 rep to 350 lbs for 1 rep.

This is a VERY extreme example of training through muscle soreness and using maximum workout frequency. But the take-home lesson from it is this: you CAN get great results by training even when you're sore! Your body will react to the stress and ramp up recovery in response.

One quick tip: if you want to decrease post-workout soreness, try taking 500 mg of Vitamin C about an hour before your workout. This helps protect against muscle soreness.
------------------
Nick Nilsson is Vice-President of the online personal training company BetterU, Inc. He has a degree in Physical Education and Psychology and has been inventing new training techniques for more than 16 years. Nick is the author of a number of bodybuilding eBooks including "Metabolic Surge - Rapid Fat Loss," "The Best Exercises You've Never Heard Of," "Gluteus to the Maximus - Build a Bigger Butt NOW!" and "The Best Abdominal Exercises You've Never Heard Of" AVAILABLE BY CLICKING HERE . He can be contacted at betteru@fitstep.com.

STOP WORRYING ABOUT LOSING YOUR BREASTS THROUGH WEIGHT TRAINING. MYTHS ABOUT BREASTS AND WEIGH TRAINING

2009-06-18T07:52:00.000-07:00

DON'T WORRY THIS WON'T BE YOU

We are a mammocentric society. I won’t go in to how a functional body part became a sex object.

Many women worry about losing breast size when embarking on a weight loss and weight training journey. Breast tissue in younger women is most often made up of glands and milk ducts. Later in life it is mostly fatty tissue. Breasts also contain lymph vessels and nodes.

When I was a teen I was a bone rack and my breasts were in proportion. Most of my friends had early development and from age 12 or 13 were extremely well endowed. I was jealous for a nanno second. They wore baggy clothes to hide the objects. Why? They were annoyed by the fact that the only thing noticed was their breasts as evidenced by cat calls and whistles, not to mention that during conversations with the opposite sex, there was no eye contact. The males just could not seem to focus on their face.They complained a lot about their shoulders and backs from the stress of the weight of the breasts. You will find very few large chested women displaying their breasts except perhaps those who display them for a living. Women with large breasts generally dress conservatively.

I hear comments from women worried about the flat chested women in body building but mostly I hear comments from their significant others about not wanting their wives to lose their breasts. Glad my partner is a butt/leg man. However, after attending the body building show with me he was a tad alarmed. I explained a) I am not training for body building – I am training for figure and b) the leaning out or cutting is for a short period so the muscles are predominantly in view and any fat loss from the breasts will resolve when normal body fat is restored after competition (if I competed).

A body building trainer Karen Sessions told me she has been body building for 20 years - she leans out for competition and after - she is still full chested!

Have I lost breast size during my weight loss body transformation? You bet. Thankfully. In my obese stage I was fat everywhere. I did not appreciate my breast size. It was not comfortable and I hid it with elastic garments and baggy clothes. Being a 40 DD was not a pleasant experience for me. Not to mention that the weight was causing drooping and I fully anticipated my breasts would end up at my knees eventually. There was nothing attractive about it at all.I am still reducing body fat. I can tell I still have a bit too much body fat by the size of my breasts and my waist but I am almost there. Am I flat? Not at all. My body fat is 19% and I am still a 36 D. I am hoping that comes down a bit more. It will be nice to have my chest in proportion with the rest of me but that seems to be the last place I an losing fat.

Interestingly, because my chest muscles are developing as well as my lats, traps, shoulders,

arms and abs – I have not only created an awesome frame for my breasts but the strong musclular support structures all developed through weight/resistance training have given me a non surgical lift and great cleavage which is scar free and better than any surgeon could accomplish with implants.

Body builders who compete a lot and have very low fat for longer periods (not healthy) may get implants. I can spot them from a mile. They are very fake, disproportionate and obvious. I don't know what is attractive about purchased breasts. I chuckled during the body building show when my husband could pick them all out. He did not find them the least attractive. Who likes ‘fake’?

What I really enjoy is buying bras again. I have not worn them for 20 years because it was too painful and the large support bras are so ugly. I am having a blast buying sexy clothing from La Senza and Victoria’s Secret. I have the right to be sexy even at 60. Now that I am more balanced I can wear anything and it is much easier to get clothes. It will be easier still when I reduce body fat a tiny bit more and reduce bust size a bit.

Here are some body building myths plus awesome chest exercises to build great support for your beautiful new breasts (built from weight loss from resistance training and great nutrition).

Don’t forget the whole body should be trained – all the other muscles act as a frame and create balance. I have provided links on various methods of performing these chest building exercises.

The message is, don’t worry about your breasts. Unless you are competing and lowering your bodyfat % briefly to around 12% or lower (for some - 18% or lower), your breasts will be fine and very much in proportion. Support them well during exercise. Don’t overdiet or overtrain – lose weight and tone up at a steady reasonable pace and watch out! You will have awesome breasts and outstanding cleavage. Have fun shopping.If you are competing there are plenty of bra types with uplift, push up etc to get you thru until your body fat is back to normal. For goodness sake think twice or a dozen times before considering implants.

From Pauline Go an article on myths of weight training

“Many women associate weight training with reduced breast size. This again is a misconception garnered from watching professional female bodybuilders. A woman's breast is made up mostly of fat tissue and when this tissue reduces, breast size gets smaller. However, weight training strengthens and firms the underlying chest muscles and helps to perk up the breasts. Women will find their breasts getting more curves and a cleavage, which was earlier non-existent.

”This link discusses the topic and explains how developing the underlying chest muscles is uplifting to your chest and provides beautiful cleavage.

Iron Dolls author Karen Sessions

Here are some links on performing chest exercises

Machine bench press

Flat Bench Press (barbell)

Dumbbell bench press

Incline Press (Smith Machine)

Incline Press Barbell

Chest Dips (difficult)

And this link also for chest dips

Chest Flyes with Dumbbells and Ball

Chest Flyes

Note the difference in the hold of the dumbbell and direction of arms between the press and the flye .

DRAMATIC LEG GAINS - TRAINER REVEALS IMPROVING YOUR HAMSTRINGS WILL IMPROVE YOUR SQUAT

2009-06-03T16:02:00.000-07:00

Hamstring Training Tips

Build Your Hamstrings for Balanced Legs
By Karen Sessions NSCA-CPT

Author of Killer Quads - Advanced Leg Training System

Are your hamstrings hindering your overall leg development, strength and leg balance? Did you know that you can increase your squat up to 25% just by developing your hamstrings with proper hamstring training?

The truth is that many people don't have the slightest clue how to properly train their hamstrings for development, growth, or strength. It's time to break out of the norm, push the sissy exercises aside and get to some real hamstring training.

Hi Karen
Great information on hams! I had just been trying to find some real info and bam! here it was . I am grateful. Thanks!

~Myra Colmenero-Macmillan

Hamstring Training Tips
Build Your Hamstrings for Balanced Legs

If you are like most lifters there's a good chance that you have been not giving
your hamstrings the full attention they need. Hamstrings seem to be one of the most neglected muscle groups and this can be for many reasons:
• Out of sight out of mind
• Intimidation
• Failure to train a weak muscle group
• Didn't see any progress after 2 hamstring training sessions

Well-developed hamstrings are a commodity in the gym. Sure, they are wanted by most people, but very few will put in the time and dedication it takes to build a nice set of hamstrings.

If you are planning to compete in a physique competition, then you better start working on those hamstrings. Every back and side pose involves them, and having a great set of hamstrings will give a balanced and polished physique.

Even if your goal is not to step on stage, having well-developed hamstrings can benefit you in many other ways in the gym, such as adding power to deadlifting and squatting movements.

While most people claim to train their hamstrings, they really neglect them in the form of leaving them to just a few sets of leg curls at the end of an intense quad workout. This gives the hamstrings an unfair advantage, as they don't really get any real quality training.

The muscles of the hamstrings cross the knee and hip joint, allowing you to flex your knee and bend at the hip. Since the hamstring muscle crosses at these two locations, you must train hamstrings using both joint movements to take full advantage of hamstring development.

Let's build some hamstrings...

Advanced Leg Training Secrets REVEALED!

Stiff-Legged Deadlifts

The stiff-legged deadlift (SLDL) is a compound exercise and one of the best mass building exercises for the hamstrings. Form is of considerable importance. If you do not have proper form, you can be a victim of injury. Be sure to begin this exercise using light weight until you learn the form.

The SLDL is not a back exercise. Too many people put their lower back into the exercise as they lower the bar. This is wrong. The proper way to do the SLDL is to move the hips back and out of the way as you lower the bar. Lower the bar as far down as comfortable. Don't force yourself to go lower than you naturally can.

Romanian Deadlifts

The Romanian deadlift is another good compound ham exercise. Again, form is of essence. While this exercise is similar to the SLDL in the sense that you have to move your hips out of the way, the difference is that you bend the knees a little more so they are not “stiff” throughout the movement.

Build Shapely and Well-Balanced Legs
Hamstring Curls

Hamstring curls put more emphasis on the lower portion of your hamstrings. You won't build large hamstring with just curls, but they do have their place in quality hamstring training.

Curls can be done lying, standing, or the seated position. The challenge in hamstring curls is keeping the focus on the hamstrings and not using your glutes or calves to move the weight.

Hamstring TrainingTips:
1. If your hamstrings are inferior to your quads, give them a training day of their own so you can give them 100% undivided attention.
2. Always start hamstring training with a compound exercise.
3. Put your hamstring training at the beginning of the week when you are motivated and fresh.

Hi Karen,

Thank you so much...this newsletter is what i was needing this month..you always come though for me.
Thanks Again,
Vanessa Sellers

Conclusion to Hamstring Training Tips

Everyone has a body part that lags behind and the best thing you can do is give that body part more attention to bring it up to speed for physique and strength balance. When your hamstrings are balanced with your quads, you will have a beautiful set of legs.

Build a set of head-turning legs TODAY!

Fitfully Yours,
Karen Sessions NSCA-CPT
aka: MsFit

P.S. Are you looking for the most advanced leg building information? You get get all the facts on how to build a great pair of legs in Killer Quads - Advanced Leg Training System! ________________________________________

About the Author

Karen Sessions has been in the fitness industry since 1988 and is a certified personal fitness instructor and specialist in performance nutrition. She is a nationally qualified natural female bodybuilder, holding numerous titles in the southern states including two overalls.

Karen has written six eBooks on fitness. She also writes articles for several fitness websites, and distributes two monthly newsletters regarding weight loss and female bodybuilding.

Karen has helped hundreds of clients reach their goal of transforming their
body. Her success and success stories speak for themselves. http://db2a1gpkt9h0bbv9t3gkr7dk3s.hop.clickbank.net/________________________________________

6 COMMON FEMALE BODY BUILDING MISTAKES - FROM AUTHOR OF IRON DOLLS

2009-05-16T00:27:00.000-07:00

I have read Iron Dolls cover to cover several times. It is full of the best female body building information I have read to date. Here are some tips from Author Karen Sessions.

6 Common Female Bodybuilding Errors
By Karen Sessions NSCA-CPTMsFit

How to do build beautiful female muscle? Many might say muscle is built by weight training, but that's only part of the equation.

Now, how do you build beautiful female muscle? The answer is weight training with the proper intensity, right form, and training just enough to stimulate growth.

If building muscle was so easy, how come so many ladies aren't building desired muscle mass so easily?

It's because many ladies are falling victim to the 6 common female bodybuilding errors.

When you can identify the 6 common female bodybuilding errors you can tweak your training

program and successfully make satisfying muscle gains.

Female Bodybuilding Error #1

Not challenging oneself is the biggest muscle building mistake I witness. Granted, some women train hard, but few challenge themselves each training session.

You can squat 185 pounds for 8 reps and work hard, but unless you challenge your body to do one more rep or 5-10 more pounds, your muscle gains will be stagnant.

Muscle growth occurs when maximal force is applied using progressive overload.

Female Bodybuilding Error #2

Failure to employ heavy compound exercises is another training issue. You are not going to build well-developed and dense muscle by doing chest flys and leg extensions.

A compound exercise is a multi-joint exercise, where all the muscles and joints of that specific area are called upon to execute the movement. Compound exercises are the backbone to any muscle building program.

If your training program is lacking compound exercises, it's lacking muscle growth potential.

Build AMAZING Muscle in Minimal Time!

Female Bodybuilding Error #3

Lack of consistency is the third muscle growth error I witness. You are not going to build muscle by working out haphazardly. You have to set a scheduled plan and follow it with full force.

Female Bodybuilding Error #4

Failure to give a program enough time to prove itself is another common error. If you want your muscle building program to give you results, you have to be patient.

Jumping from one program to the next is only cheating yourself. How are you going to find out

what works for your body if you continually change programs each week without rhyme or reason?

If you want to ensure muscle building success, log your workouts so you can visually see the progression, and be sure that you are challenging your muscles every workout.

Female Bodybuilding Error #5

Expecting overnight changes is a very common female bodybuilding error. You can make changes, but they are not going to appear overnight.

When you see well-developed built ladies, they worked hard for that physique. They didn't just pick up a weight and eat right and have that body overnight. Such well-built physiques followed the proper training principals and avoided these common female bodybuilding mistakes.

Burst Though Muscle Building Plateaus!

Female Bodybuilding Error #6

Another common female bodybuilding error is training too often. Don't say you are not guilty of it because everyone has trained too much at one time or another.

Weight training for muscle growth doesn't need to be a weight training marathon, and you don't need endless sets and reps every day in the gym. In fact, if you are guilty of overtraining, you will halt your muscle growth.

The purpose of weight training is to tear down the muscle so it can rebuild into a stronger and dense unit. Once you tear down the muscle in the gym, the work is done.

You can have a stable muscle building program just by training 3 times a week for 45 minutes, doing about 3 exercises per muscle group, 2-3 sets of 4-8 reps.

That's it. More is not always better.

Conclusion to 6 Common Female Bodybuilding Errors

If you are serious about building muscle, then stop the training marathons. Set a schedule of training 3 days a week and follow one program for atleast 8 weeks to give it a fair shake. Be consistent and don't expect overnight miracles.

Fitfully Yours,Karen Sessions NSCA-CPTMsFit

P.S. If you have absolutely made up your mind that you want to be build serious muscle, then I suggest you read Iron Dolls - Female Bodybuilding Secrets REVEALED . This eBook is jam-packed with detailed information on everything from dieting to advanced training techniques.

About the Author
Karen Sessions has been in the fitness industry since 1988 and is a multi-certified personal fitness instructor and specialist in performance nutrition. She is a nationally qualified natural female bodybuilder, holding numerous titles in the southern states including two overalls.Karen has written six eBooks on fitness. She also writes articles for several fitness websites, and distributes two monthly newsletters regarding weight loss and female bodybuilding.

Karen has helped hundreds of clients reach their goal of transforming their body. Her success and success stories speak for themselves.

**The contents of this article should not be considered as medical advice. You should consult a physician before starting a fitness program.

REPORT ON THE BODYBUILDING SHOW - FIGURE COMPETITION - AGAIN

2009-04-11T22:01:00.000-07:00

It was soooooooooo long.

I was always taught that it is rude to arrive late and leave early during a live show.

I learned something today. You frigging have to do it at a body building show or die of starvation,dehyration and extreme boredom.

The 'theatre' does not allow food to be consumed inside (not even a damned protein bar although the lobby is full of sales booths) yet people were bringing the judges food and snacks - I almost grabbed stuff off their plates and I was a spectator. And eating in front of starving competitors - how mean is that?

It is the second show I have attended. The first was in November in Toronto. That show was short and sweet.

There were a whole bunch fewer competitors in Toronto. I don't know why that was. It is a very big city. Perhaps the competition had qualifiers such as prior wins where the Kelowna one does not.

It was the "Western Canadian Tested Bodybuilding Show"

Categories: body building men - junior, light, medium, heavy and ?light heavy, masters, grand masters - same with womens - minus the junior category. Then short, medium, medium tall, tall figure competitors, masters figure and fitness.

Yikes there were a lot of competitors. Particularly women. The other interesting thing is most of the figure competitors had far better physiques that the ones in Toronto. Go figure! Way to go BC - you are getting it right.

All I could say - was - how the heck are the judges going to pick? They all have similar beautiful physiques - I have no idea how they will choose.

That is when the fun began. Jeepers Creepers. Because there were so many in each lineup they had to bring up smaller sub groups and put them all through the poses, then the next subgroup and so on...it was a blur

The morning prejudging which I though should be over in no more than 2 hours - went on for 5 hours. I ran out of steam at 4 hours and had to leave. My tapeworm fainted at least three times. I wasn't even competing. Those poor women having to hold their poses soooo long and in the starving and dehydrated competition mode.

I would not leave however, until I saw the entertainment part. For me that is watching the fitness class routines - holy cow those women are flexible, strong and entertaining.

The evening show was no faster - for that part, they give 'bios' too. As well as the manditory I'd like to thank my mother, father, cousin Emilio, sister Sheila, Body Fit Gym etc etc...2 1/2 hours into the evening show, they still had not yet made it to the figure competition class - the group I really wanted to see. We were only about 1/3 way through the show. Heck - had to leave without seeing what I went for so I will have to look up the winners on line.

Yes the male body builders were hot and one Vernonite Darrin won his class but believe it or not I don't have time to spend looking at hot men. Although I very much admire the female body builders dedication and accomplishment, it is just not my area of interest either. Just not me. So both those categories and sub categories of each were first.

And hubby, bless him, sat through all of it with me uncomplaining (him not me)but in the end it was me who wanted to leave first - weird. But I am not toning my @$$ as long as I am sitting on it watching others pose for hours on end.

I was in learning mode so I did learn a few things.

Lesson 1. Get the schedule ahead of time and go only in time to watch the class of interest and leave when they are done. That is acceptable spectator behaviour for this type of show. Some people just attend to see one competitor and leave immediately after.

Next.
A group of older women I met last year were lobbying to have the grand masters figure added otherwise we over 50 year olds are competiting against 35 year olds. I am 26 years older than that. For some reason they have grandmasters bodybuilding but not figure. I guess the group I mentioned did not succeed because the category is still absent and I see they did not bother to compete this year. I don't blame them. What is the point.

So.

Lesson 2. If I want to compete in this show next year it would have to be in the women's grand masters body building not figure and I don't I am not interested. So...I'll find another show.

And
I find it is easy to strike up conversations at these things. So I happened to notice the woman behind me was very 'bodybuilding' looking and had a perfect tan. I was 'pre-worried' about the tanning stuff and was hoping to find a sunless, tanning bedless method of tanning. So I asked her "What tanning method do you use?"

She said it was an airbrush method which she does herself and told me she air brushed her competitors the day before. She said it was much better than the tanning spray booths and added that no pre-tanning in the sun or tanning bed was required. It was awesome - I got her business card. She also mentioned she was a personal trainer and had 6 girls in the competition. She teaches posing and I have been looking for someone who at least lives in the Province who teaches posing. But I was most interested in the tanning method.

Lesson 3.

One of her competitors was sweating a bit holding excessively long poses under hot lights. OMG. Big brown/black streaks with a streak of white where it dripped off streamed down her neck, chest, and tummy. I don't think she knew. We were very very embarassed for her and I have no idea how she would feel when she realized what happened when she got backstage. I for one would kill my trainer/tanner. Or at the very least maim them.

Eeeewww kay back to square one on the tanning.

On to the next lesson.

During the morning pre-judging I recognized a Vancouver personal trainer/promoter who I happened to know had a bunch of her personal training clients in the show - she was at the judges table. I thought that is weird. I said out loud isn't that ..........so and so??!!!!What'sup with that?

A guy beside me whose wife was competing in figure said - yeah and oh boy is it hot backstage. The competitors are livid and saying what a conflict of interest it is.. and how unfair is that... and it is all so political....

Lesson 4. Appears body building may be like olympic skating. Just great.

Lesson 5 - ignore, put head in sand, train, eat clean, get ripped ;)

BODY BUILDING COMPETITION - HOMEWORK - ATTENDING ONE - AGAIN

2009-04-09T21:50:00.000-07:00

Attending as many body building competitions as I can is part of my homework for training for the body for one.

Ok for those who wished me luck today......I am not competing! I am watching.

It is educational and inspirational. Sometimes long and boring too :)

My first was the IDFA Natural Body Building competition in Toronto in November 2008. It left me a bit confused at the time although I found it exciting. Tosca Reno and Robert Kennedy of Oxygen Magazine were sitting right in front of me.

Tosca explained on one of her blogs that even though the figure category sort of came about for the 'in between competitors' the ones who weren't interested in model competition and the ones who did not want to compete in body building, it appears that the judges are tending to pick the more muscular women. This almost requires another category once again - I guess it would be the in between in between.

I found that in most cases I did not understand the judging choices but Tosca's comment probably sums it up - the contestants seem to be migrating toward the body building physique again in figure competition. So I am very interested to see what the upcoming competition is like in the judging.

In was in the Gym Bag buying my tickets when a very tall attractive woman came in. I overhead the conversation and it was not a stretch that she was competing.

I thought thank God I am not tall - or young - I would hate to have to be competing against her. At the same time she inspired me.

So ..we'll see what the local competition is like....

TRAINING AND DIET ON THE GO

2009-04-06T19:07:00.000-07:00

I was just on the road for four days.

The first hotel I stayed at - I arrived at 9.30 pm and after a long drive looked forward to a hard work out in the gym. Not. The gym was under renovations. It was too dark and an unfamiliar neighbourhood to go for a run. I could have figured out something but preferred to wait until I could do my full workout the next day. We went out for the most delicious Thai meal instead. I just concentrated on dishes with lots of veggies and protein and no rice or noodles.

The next few days were great - I had the Vancouver sea wall to walk/run as well as a great gym at the next hotel by the time I was due to do my weight training.

The gym was packed and all the participants very lean - a number of Gwyneth Paltrow type physiques from way too much cardio and no toning along with a few awesome female physiques - lean and toned with great muscle definition - that inspired me.

And what a great venue - on the treadmill watching all the activity of hundreds of people walking, jogging, cycling, roller blading outside along the ocean. I briefly found it hard to believe there was an obesity problem in Canada.

The biggest problem was diet. Generally I pack a cooler but the trip was too long for that and I was short on time.

Oh boy. Upscale restaurants just do not want to do plain unadorned food and a lean plate. One morning at breakfast the closest thing I could find to healthy without a ton of carbs and fat was an egg white veggie omelete with low fat goat cheese. Hold the tropical fruit, hold the potatoes and hold the toast. They want to load you up with starches. I rarely eat starches so I am sure that diet habit is one of the secrets of my successful weight loss. It basically is a filler. Think about that. Do your body and GI system a favour and fill up with fruits complex carbs and fibrous carbs - veggies

The waiter just could not leave it alone. He wanted to bring me stuff. He felt the plate was bare - I should have had him bring a smaller plate ;) Finally I let him add some broiled tomatoes 'pesto.' I didn't have the heart to tell him I eat about every 2 to 2 1/2 hours and eat six smaller meals and I don't need a huge 3 meal a day diet.

Everyone else had the buffet a total waste of money for me. If you have a buffet it is because you intend to get your money's worth - not a great idea for your body. It will simply store your 'money's worth' as fat.

I tell my husband "don't worry about me" I can usually adapt something off the menu but dinner on Friday night was a real challenge. At the chosen restaurant there was nothing unadorned - everything was dripping in rich sauces. I could not even find a simple salad.

Finally for an appe I had the iceberg lettuce wedge NOTHING ON IT. The waiter looked at me increduously his eyes saying "you have to be kidding" People especially staff at restaurants don't seem to believe I actually prefer to eat plain and simply. I love the way I feel. Anytime I eat rich foods I feel awful after and I don't enjoy feeling that way.

Anyhow, I had the plain lettuce brought. He was very relieved when I agreed to accept olive oil and balsamic vinegar. I did not say I would not put anything on it. I just wanted to make the choice.

Ooohkay so next came the entre. I wanted Ahi tuna rare nothing else - no rice - no potatoes. They had to throw something on the plate so I asked for seasonal veggies and a few tomato slices. It was great. I eat carbs but I am very carb sensitive and I eat mostly fibrous carbs and eat complex carbs earlier in the day or I would be asleep in my plate. We were also going to be attending a formal dinner where I would have no control over what was being served and I would have to eat clean until then so that I would not end up ill.

After my meal instead of having to undo my pants and feel drowsy and sick and have stomach cramps and bloating, I felt great.

My dessert was coffee. My friend and I asked for a side of milk instead of cream. Hey maybe I am demanding but isn't it interesting that I like things very plain but I am the demanding one? Huh?

So at the formal I did have all the things that usually make me sleepy, bloated and ill no choice - if I didn't I would have been starving. It just isn't cool to pack a cooler to a formal military dinner.

I felt dreadful within hours and the next day. I guess I will have to eat ahead of time next time and forego the pre-picked meal.

SANDRINA TALKS ABOUT KEEPING FIT IN MEXICO

2009-04-06T18:05:00.000-07:00

Byline by Sandrina

I live in Mexico and am a professional dancer. I teach, perform and attempt to keep in shape by walking everywhere. In this country full of fabulous meals that consist of staples like beans and rice, flour and corn tortillas, the richest sour cream, the most amazing custard flan and not to mention the best junk food I've ever encountered, it can be a challenge to eat healthily all the time. Tequila doesn't count as food does it? There are gyms in my city, but I never see any women in them. I have been tempted to attend the one down my street, but have fears about what I will encounter in a place full of so much testosterone. Best to go for walks with my dog Magdalena, although she sniffs incesantly at every corner and has happily embraced mexican time. Not a brisk walk by any means.

Once we finally make it the 6 or 7 blocks to the beach, she gets to run free, and chase her ball while I finally get to walk faster and run after the ball to keep it from getting swallowed by the Pacific when she loses interest for something smelly and more interesting. Who would think that a stroll on the beach could be so exhausting, but we seem to always work up an appetite. No really, believe me, it is a very long beach.

Ah, where to start about the food. There's no reason to cook at home although I do enjoy it when I'm feeling inspired and have company. But at the outdoor market near where I live, there are three little lunch counters all in a row that serve meals all day. I like to watch the amazing women rolling masa harina into balls and pressing them into tortilllas. I can order a whole meal for less than four dollars. Today I had Carne Asada; which is a fancy term for a thin piece of beef steak, with a little salad, and of course: tortillas, beans and rice. There is a major lack of green vegetables with food served in restaurants. Unless you cook veggies at home yourself, you can go weeks without ever encountering a bit of broccoli.

But really, tacos are the most popular food in Mexico, cliche as it sounds. Even in the middle of the night, one can always find a taco cart on the street. They also exist for breakfast, lunch or whenever. Some tacos are served sit down at the front restaurant portion of people's homes. Tacos look and taste nothing like what we are taught in Canada is a taco. These are soft flour or corn tortillas, about 6 inches round, freshly made and warm and what goes in them is almost unlimited. Whatever it is, it's just a scoop on top of the taco, you add the garnish of onions, salsas, cilantro etc. and then fold it over and that's it. Tacos with roasted meat in little pieces either beef or pork and cooked in a myriad of ways. The organs and other parts of the pig are never wasted and make wonderful tacos. I"m talking lips, tonque, brains, feet, deep fried skin, you name it. And it's very tasty, each in its unique gravy. You can get tacos with shrimp, fish, or made with prickly pear cactus called Nopal. It is de-needled, and cut up in lovely green slices and fried. And very good for you. On practically every corner, you will find a roasted chicken stand.

Carbohydrates seem to be the most apparent and abundant food, and of course the most inexpensive. Corn is everywhere, in cakes and deserts, in tortillas, and soups and also served as Elote; which is taken fresh off the cob and served in a plastic cup with a little of the cooking water, mayonaise, powdered cheese and lots of salsa and lime. It's actually very tasty, however, the evidence of a high carb diet is really noticeable in the love handles of almost everyone over the age of 25. Nobody eats a meal without a handful of tortillas and Coca Cola ranks as a national beverage. Fitness isn't really a high priority for a society where getting enough to eat is often the main goal for the day. Keeping healthy and fit is a luxury for many. But it does exist, in the more financially stable. As in any country, its a question of economics.

And another thing I've noticed; Mexican women in general, are definitely more curvaceous than what is thought to be a typical American standard of beauty. And what is cool is that these curvy fleshy women are adored by their men. This is one of the reasons I love latin society; large bottoms, curvy hips and a "little extra" of everything are highly desirable traits. Here, I notice the women move with grace and sensuality, they don't fuss about whether their tummy is sticking out of their pants, or whether there is a jiggle at the back of their legs as they strut their high heels down the steet in short shorts that I would loath to be caught wearing in public. They ooze confidence while retaining the charm of vanity since like most women I know, they have a love affair with clothes, makeup and hair products. Perhaps as my time here increases, I too will don a pair of short shorts and high heels and (in public view) walk effortlessly over the crazy cobblestones roads.

DON'T MAKE CARDIO MISTAKES - CARDIO QUEEN SYNDROME

2009-03-22T22:16:00.000-07:00

I made cardio mistakes for about two years and hardly lost an ounce until I decided to work with a personal trainer.

Karen Sessions provides tips on cardio

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Cardio Queen Syndrome
By Karen Sessions NSCA-CPT
MsFit

By now you are well aware that increased activity burns calories and fat. Exercise is essential to your health and well being, but could you be taking part in too much of a good thing? The old adage, more is not always better, is a good rule to live by.

When it comes to fat loss, you need to be in tune with your body and learn how to listen to it. The idea behind fat loss is to manipulate the body often. As long as you are a step ahead of your body's actions, you will be on top of the fat loss game.

What exactly does that mean? How do you stay a step ahead of your body? Let's explore this concept a little further.

Megan is an e-client of mine. When she began her fat loss endeavor she started cardio six days a week for forty-five minutes and saw great results in a matter of weeks. Her new cardio program was exhilarating. It pumped her up mentally and physically and gave her a newfound energy she hadn't felt in years.

It wasn't long before she extended her forty-five minute ritual to an entire hour for six days a week. With the extended time, she saw even more results. She was delighted.

Eventually, the daily hour cardio chore was wearing on her. Her changes ceased, she was constantly fatigued, and began to hate cardio with an intense passion.

To combat the plateau, she added yet...more cardio on top of fatigue and hatred for exercise. Her grueling hour sessions turned into an hour and fifteen minutes to even longer, an hour and a half.

Nothing is more aggravating than putting all your time and effort into something that takes you no where.

Her fat loss results stalled dead in their tracks and even seemed to reverse. How could something once so productive now be destroying her weight loss efforts?

What may surprise you is that excess cardio can be counterproductive. Any cardio or weight training session lasting over a continuous hour does more harm than good.

Get a Figure or Fitness-Ready Body in Weeks!

Keep Cardio Productive

Cardio is heart healthy and it's a great exercise, but if your goal with cardio is to burn fat, you need to take it with a stride and make it fat burning productive.

I come across many ladies who are quite active. This is all fine and dandy, but when they are active and top that with teaching spinning classes, kick boxing, high energy videos, and general cardio machines, this can be a recipe for disaster, setting your further back than when you started.

Don't go overboard with cardio. Keep it simple, yet effective.

Cardio Intensity

Cardio intensity is a factor to keep fat burning beneficial. This does not mean to do an all out killer cardio routine that leaves you crawling from the gym in a near death status, but to simply shake things up a bit to force the body to respond.

A good way to master cardio is with HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training). There are many variations of HIIT and my favorite is the 2/2 ratio.

Example of 2/2 Ratio HIIT

Minutes 1-2 - Warm up
Minutes 3-4 - Low intensity
Minutes 5-6 - High intensity
Minutes 7-8 - Low intensity
Minutes 9-10 - High Intensity
Minutes 11-12 - Low intensity
Minutes 13-14 - High intensity
Minutes 15-16 - Low intensity
Minutes 17-18 - High Intensity
Minutes 19-20 - Low intensity
Minutes 21-22 - Cool down
With HIIT, your body never falls in a rut because you are constantly changing the intensity to prevent cardio adaptation.

Progressive Cardio

Another successful cardio tactic to use is Progressive Cardio. Your body can adapt to anything in a short amount of time and Progressive Cardio can stop adaptation before it occurs. Progressive Cardio is simply increasing your cardio each week by either the numbers of day or the amount of time to invite change and prevent staleness, provided you don't overdo it.

Example of Progressive Cardio

Week 1 - 4 times a week for 20 minutes
Week 2 - 4 times a week for 25 minutes
Week 3 - 5 times a week for 25 minutes
Week 4 - 5 times a week for 30 minutes
You will notice how each week is a step advanced from the previous. This is how you make cardio work in your favor to burn fat.

Get the Competitive Figure and Fitness Secrets!

Adopt Weight Training

Have you even seen someone in the gym doing endless hours of cardio and still look soft and unfit? That is because she is lacking lean muscle, which is built from weight training and excessive cardio burns muscle.

Weight training builds lean muscle mass. The more muscle you add to your frame, the less you need to rely on cardio. Muscle is metabolically active and allows you to burn more calories at rest and at play. Of course, this does not mean to kick cardio to the curve, but having a balance of both in your program will keep things interesting and will give much better body transformation results.

Summary to Cardio Queen Syndrome

Once you understand how you can manipulate cardio, you will be able to master the fat burning game. Realize that you don't need three or four different cardio methods stacked on top of one another. Just use cardio wisely and you will have the advantage. Remember, cardio is a fat loss tool, not the determining factor.

To learn more on how to make cardio more effective, check out my eBook Figure Competition Secrets. With this information in your possession, you can stop out fat and build a beautiful and fit body.

Fitfully Yours,
Karen Sessions NSCA-CPT
aka: MsFit

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About the Author

Karen Sessions has been in the fitness industry since 1988 and is a certified personal fitness instructor and specialist in performance nutrition. She is a nationally qualified natural female bodybuilder, holding numerous titles in the southern states including two overalls.

Karen has written six eBooks on fitness. She also writes articles for several fitness websites, and distributes two monthly newsletters regarding weight loss and female bodybuilding.

Karen has helped hundreds of clients reach their goal of transforming their body. Her success and success stories speak for themselves.
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**The contents of this newsletter should not be considered as medical advice. You should consult a physician before starting a fitness program.

This newsletter is protected by copyright, 2005, Karen Sessions, All rights reserved. You may use this newsletter in your e-zine or website as long as the copyright and links remain intact.**

© Copyright 2005 Karen Sessions All Rights Reserved

IT'S OFFICIAL. I AM A RUNNER UP IN THE TOSCA RENO EAT CLEAN CHALLENGE CONTEST

2009-03-22T09:20:00.000-07:00

I have an official letter from Tosca Reno advising me I am a runner up in the contest along with a $1000 cheque which is going into my figure competition training fund.

I would like to thank Tosca Reno, Robert Kennedy Publishing publisher of Oxygen Magazine and other muscle magazines as well as publisher of Tosca's books, as well as Editorial Assistant Vinita Persaud for encouragement.

Tosca who still competes at almost 50 years old, along with Oxygen Magazine have inspired me to train to develop the figure/fitness physique at almost 61 years old.

There are a few before and after pictures of me on this site. I have posted Tosca's before and after above. If she and I can achieve this level of fitness at our ages, so can you!

WOMEN'S WEIGHT TRAINING MYTHS

2009-03-18T19:36:00.000-07:00

I find Karen's ebook IRON DOLLS a must have resource for women who are interested in weight training or body building. I have learned SO MUCH!

She is allowing me to publish this article. I hope you enjoy it!

4 Myths on Women and Weight Training

By Karen Sessions NSCA-CPT
MsFit

Guys...your wife is watching your biceps getting bigger! Is she jealous? Does she want to start “bodybuilding” but is afraid of getting TOO big? She’s secretly want’s that finely chiseled body, too!

Here’s how she can build muscle for a lean, sexy physique without the fear of embarrassing you with bigger arms as you walk down the beach...

There are a lot of myths around women and bodybuilding and they just don’t seem to die. I’d like to share with you an article that sheds light on women and weight training that will pave the path for your wife or girlfriend to adopt the bodybuilding lifestyle with you.

That’s right. We’re going to bust the women and weight training myths right NOW!

Who better to do that than a woman who weight trains and understands your wife’s fears regarding women and weights?

Women and Weight Training Myth #1 – Weight training will make woman huge and manly.

BUSTED - Like most people, when you think of women and weight training you automatically relate that image to the professional female bodybuilder strutting her oiled-up mammoth physique across stage and striking a pose.

What’s NOT mentioned is that 99.9% of the professional female bodybuilders supplement with steroids to develop superhuman muscles.

By the law of nature, women do not produce near the amount of muscle building hormone, testosterone, necessary to build huge swollen, vein-popping muscles. A woman is just not capable of building that type of massive muscle simply by lifting weights.

Bottom line: Weight training will NOT make a woman big and overly muscular.

Women and Weight Training Myth #2 – Women who weight train will lose their breast size.

BUSTED – (pardon the pun) Breast tissue is made up of primarily fat tissue. A loss of body fat will result in smaller breast size.

Weight training develops muscle tissue. Adding strength training will develop the underlying chest muscle on a woman and can add more shape to her upper body, creating those eye-pleasing and sexy curves. In addition, a good chest training program will add stunning high cleavage for that perfect fit in a dress or bikini.

To put it bluntly, the only way for a woman to lose her breast size is if she loses a lot of body fat.

Women and Weight Training Myth #3 – A woman’s muscle will turn into fat if she stops weight training.

BUSTED – There is an astronomical amount of women who won’t weight train for fear their muscle will somehow magically turn into fat if they stop weight training.

Again, muscle and fat are two completely different tissues responsible for their own functions. Muscle is metabolically active (calorie burning) and fat is metabolically inactive (fat storing).

Muscle CANNOT Ever, In Any Case, turn into fat any more than fat can turn into muscle. One can only build or lose muscle OR gain or lose fat. The two separate tissues are not interchangeable.

Women and Weight Training Myth #4 – Muscle weighs more than fat.

BUSTED – It’s no wonder women believe this ridicules statement. Dr. Phil has been known to say it in his highly publicized weight-loss book.

It’s a fact that a pound of muscle and a pound of fat weigh the same, a pound. What most women don’t realize is that a pound of muscle is denser and takes up less space than a pound of fat.

Therefore, having more developed muscle on the female frame with less body fat will make her leaner, tighter, and give off that “toned” look they are after.

Bottom line: Adding natural muscle mass through weight training accentuates a lady’s femininity.

Endless Benefits for Women Who Weight Train:

* Has training partner by default * Improves stamina
* Improves sex life * Lifts and shapes the booty
* Relieves depression * Builds a shapely physique
* Improves posture * Controls weight
* Builds positive self-image * Creates a positive attitude
* Builds character * Boosts immune system
* Clears the mind * Creates more energy
* Benefits other sports * Raises resting metabolic rate
* Slows the aging process * Decreases chance of injury
* Builds a stronger heart * Creates anti-aging effect
* Improves digestion * Relieves chronic pain
* Builds stronger bones * Improves circulation
* Improves flexibility * Lowers LDL (bad)
* Increases HDL (good) * Lowers hypertension
* Lowers risk for cancers * Lowers risk of heart disease
* Lowers the risk of diabetes * Makes you a happy partner

A woman with a well-shaped body through weight training will feel better about herself. In addition, she’ll better understand the process you go through to develop your physique, and have a better appreciation for weight training.

There’s a special bond with a couple that trains together.

Fiftully Yours,
Karen Sessions NSCA-CPT
MsFit

P.S. If your lady want's to develop a stunning and feminine body, Iron Dolls - Women's Bodybuilding Secrets is the ultimate guide for such goals.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

About the Author

Karen Sessions has been in the fitness industry since 1988 and is a multi-certified personal fitness instructor and specialist in performance nutrition. She is a nationally qualified natural female bodybuilder, holding numerous titles in the southern states including two overalls.

Karen has written six eBooks on fitness. She also writes articles for several fitness websites, and distributes two monthly newsletters regarding weight loss and female bodybuilding.

Karen has helped hundreds of clients reach their goal of transforming their body. Her success and success stories speak for themselves.

**The contents of this article should not be considered as medical advice. You should consult a physician before starting a fitness program.

This newsletter is protected by copyright, 2007, Karen Sessions, All rights reserved.

NATURAL BODY BUILDING - IS IT? NATURAL?

2009-03-01T19:26:00.000-08:00

I gotta tell you when I read ahead (I am a control freak what can I say) about figure competition, I seriously thought I just might not be able to make it jive with my new found love of health and fitness or my nursing “hat.
"Why you say?"

Well I was not feeling that there was anything natural about natural body building and figure competition.You know, the muscle hypertrophy, the tanning, the leaning or cutting, the 5” heels, the supplements, the temporary lost breasts,dehydration to make the muscles pop, pre-comp enemas, preparation H muscle wraps. I have been wrestling with this for some time.

It hasn’t kept me from continuing training – I love that too much to give it up..but I was concerned. Then I really thought about it (not much else to do on the commute to work) and figured, what the heck IS natural these days. Even NATURAL stuff can make you sick.Some examples..people who try to grow 'organically' and are not aware of some dangers like – improperly composted or rotted heifer dust (manure) AND can infect themselves with Ecoli.

I read about a person who took all kinds of Chinese herbs without proper advice and ended up hallucinating and becoming psychotic. Have you BEEN to a natural treatment appointment? Bet you can’t leave without a whack of medicinal herbs supplements, and testing with a plethora of strange machines for which there is no or little scientific research to support. Most of our foods have been tinkered with over the years to produce better bigger more copious crops while we have not evolved as fast to be able to assimilate the end result. So what is ‘natural’ about what we eat?

But still...there are some challenges I will have to work on and see if I can come up with a compromise.Tanning for example. I have spent years protecting my skin. I thought in this day and age there would be a product to put on topically and there are…but apparently you still need a ‘base’ such as the sun or tanning beds or the products look streaky. That really is not an option for me - tanning that is.

My clinical esthetician says it well “A tan is damaged skin.” Not to mention the skin cancer risk. So I will have to do more research on that.

During my initial weight loss program which had worked too well for a short period I lost weight fast and furiously (my trainer adjusted everything very quickly to slow the weight loss down) but for a brief period I had lost quite a bit in the ahem…hooter department. Actually with my weight loss I actually enjoyed that part of the downsizing – it sure spared my overtaxed shoulders and I had a lot more clothes choice. Not to mention I could wear some of most gorgeous bras comfortably from Victoria's Secret or La Senza. Before I was only able to wear ugly elastic garments.

Now I feel am am the perfect size but I worry after perusing numerous body building pics devoid of breasts (except for the obvious tear drop silicone ones) that I would have a boy figure. I guess I should have tried to find some ‘off season pictures’ because apparently the cutting and leaning is a very brief period for competition and everything including the ‘girls’ come back when out of the competition mode.

Phew.. I really really did not want to be mistaken for a boy – I was once on the beach when I was 12 and I certainly do not want to relive that experience!

In a later post you will find out how you actually get a breast lift through weight training - along with a healthy body fat level - you will retain and enhance your breasts better than ever before.

So..onward … I have a strong feeling that everything will work out fine. If you want to know a lot about figure competition or women’s body building you may want to check out Karen Sessions ebooks. They are excellent.

Iron Dolls
Figure Competition Secrets
The Competitive Edge

Her books are very professional, and detailed and she gives great online support. You can also train online with her and it is very very reasonable.

And always remember to Eat Clean AND DRINK LOTS OF WATER - IT IS FREE (well at least till they put the water meters up - but still good value for the money ;)

EAT-CLEAN CHALLENGE CONTEST

2009-02-28T22:35:00.000-08:00

My daughter knew I was a fan of Tosca Reno and had encouraged me to enter the Eat-Cleam Challenge Contest.

I am not really a contest person - I know I know - I am training for figure competition....but

I had been eating clean for a long time and had all Tosca Reno's books. I knew there would be a lot of great stories. I am not the only one who ever accomplished weight loss fitness and health. But what the heck - I was a fan, I was using the diet and I had made a remarkable journey - nothing to be ashamed of or be shy about. I had worked hard and my daughter felt the recognition should I win would help reward me and provide some $ for my competition journey.

So I entered. I had a struggle finding before pictures. I had destroyed them all..I thought but both my husband and daughter had managed to keep a few pictures out of my clutches. See in the prior post.

Then the winner was announced. And a run of other stories on the web site. I certainly did not expect to win but thought I might be in the honourable mention.

Then...

One day I saw a message from Vinita at Robert Kennedy Publishing asking me to contact. I thought maybe I was infringing on copyrights as I had Tosca's book info all over my other blog site. So I called tail between my legs the next day

And...

Vinita told me she was pleased to tell me I was a runner up. I was really really pleased. The downside of not winning the big one was I don't get to meet Tosca but that is ok. The lady who won was very deserving.

As I mentioned I eat clean because I love it. I feel great and have the best body ever at 60. I was very glad to see the large number of entries and success stories of people who are eating clean and getting fit.It is not a diet. For me it is a way of life. I can't imagine going back to bad eating habits. I like what I eat and it likes me :)

Although I am not a first prize winner .....I feel like the winner. How can I have succeeded in this amazing journey and not consider myself a winner already?! I have no regrets. I went on this journey to get my health back.

Eating clean is a term often used by natural body builders and athletes who follow a 'clean' diet with good quality protein, complex carbohydrates and plenty of fibrous carbohyrates along with healthy fats. Tosca's book guides you in the process of eating clean. Remember 80% of the process for getting fit and healthy is nutrition.

I won't stop eating clean. Anyone who practices this style of eating and cuts out unhealthy foods will feel and look great and find amazing health. Don't wait for a contest! Do it now.If you are going to embark on a journey like I did - take a picture with some way of proving it is current and take updated pictures along the way. (I didn't and hid from the camera and destroyed most of my fat pictures until I met my goals). Pictures will act as incentive and if you are having a bad day you can see how far you have come, not how far you have to go. They can also serve a purpose down the road - to encourage others for one thing.I can't stress enough that when you start resistance/weight and cardio training along with eating clean - for awesome results - get a qualified trainer. I had absolutely fantastic results with the combination of good training and clean eating.You can access Tosca's eat clean site on the right side of the page.

FITNESS AND HEALTH AT ANY AGE - INCENTIVE FOR YOU I HOPE

2009-02-28T22:22:00.000-08:00

Just thought I would provide these pictures hopefully for incentive for your 2009 health journey. These pictures don't show you the most important facts...that I went from very sick and unhealthy with a high risk of cardiac disease to very fit and healthy.In the first photo my "giant tube photo" I was around 155 lb. In the second one at least 170 lb. maybe a bit more. My measurements were unpublishable. Suffice to say my waist was about 37 inches. The third picture is recent and since I began the gain phase of body building so my weight is 110 lb and waist up a bit at 27 inches. I guess I should not complain.If I can lose over 60 lb and reduce my dress size from size 16 to size 1-2 at age 60...just think what you can do!

My best advice is to invest in yourself and start out with a well qualified personal trainer particularly if you have no experience with weight training.

FEMALE COMPETITION PHYSIQUES: DIFFERENCE BETWEEN FITNESS, BODY BUILDING, FIGURE, FIGURE MODEL

2009-02-28T21:31:00.000-08:00

This picture is from the competition I attended in Toronto in November 2008. The category is fitness. She also competed in the figure portion. She was the only entrant in fitness. It is grueling. She showed amazing strength, flexibility, poise, and she put on a great show!

The above photos depict female body builders' physiques

These photos depict the anticipated figure competitor physique. These women look amazing. Do you have any idea how hard they work and for how long? They are athletes.

This is a figure/fitness model. As mentioned previously, some figure competitors do figure modelling but there are also figure models who do not do figure competition.As you see each has a different level of muscle development.I would equate most figure models to being lean and toned, figure competitors as lean and muscular and body builders as very lean and very muscular.

I was pursuing the figure competitor - the middle one before my accident.

There are more 'older' body builders competing than figure competitors and I would doubt there are any older figure models :) at least not ones who aren't famous for other reasons.

I have done plenty of research on the topic and I will provide some links to the best figure training info I could find --stay tuned.

By the way I would have been competing for the first time at age 61 but that is delayed now due to recovery from injuries. However, more recently, one of my idols (Tosca Reno) packed it in after the Vegas competition in which she came 3rd at age 50. On her "Flexing at 49" on Viva TV she lamented that it was too difficult to compete against the younger set. (also saying it is all about T & A not muscle development :)

She began her fitness journey at age 40 and is still actively pursuing another fitness journey albeit not via figure competition.

I thought that if she is giving up competing at 50, who am I to think I can start at over age 60? I will continue training for me, but I am not convinced I want to face the humiliation of competing against younger competitors. The grand masters category is rarely available in competition and even when it is, the age group is much younger than 60 -so unfair odds.

I can only keep training and hope, that perhaps a new category will arise out of the aging baby boomer population - hopefully it won't be called the cougars or the great grannies :)

FIGURE COMPETITION TRAINING - EAT MORE WORK OUT LESS - EVERY WOMAN'S DREAM

2009-02-28T21:28:00.000-08:00

FIGURE COMPETITION TRAINING: LIVING EVERY WOMAN'S DREAM: EAT MORE WORK OUT LESS
I know. Isn't it great. For the hypertrophy phase of training, that is the part which builds bigger muscles, an althlete is in the gain part of their training. Believe it or not - I have to eat more (good stuff of course) and train less. That is, less cardio, and heavier weights with less reps. Even when you are not training for a body building event, you need to work harder, not longer.

I recently read that gyms have 2:1, 3:1, 4:1, 5:1 ratios - for example 5:1 means that for every one person attending the gym, 5 paid up members have dropped out. Why do you think that is?Because they were not successful. They either did not get RESULTS, or their results did not last.

Results are what will keep you motivated; it certainly was what kept me movitated.Very generally there are all sorts of reasons people quit but I will bet they just can't sustain the time commitment because they are working out too long and not hard enough. They do way too much cardio and far too little weights. So, the long time spent in the gym cannot be sustained on a long term basis and it just sets up the person for failure. Before I got fit and healthy I did two hours per day of cardio while away from home with minimal results and did this over almost two years. I was working too long but not hard enough. When I got home I just could not sustain this time commitment and certainly it wasn't worth it. Once I hired a PT to set me straight, I got phenomenal results and with a very manageable time commitment.

So don't be mad at me that I can eat so much and still stay in shape with reasonably short workouts. I worked hard to get here!

FIGURE COMPETITION DECISION 2010

2009-02-28T21:24:00.000-08:00

I varied my potential (or real - who knows) competition goal date for a number of reasons.

At the competition I attended mentioned in a previous blog, it leaped out at me through the bios of the competitors, including novices, that they had trained at least two years prior to competition.

A few bumps in the road slowed me down a couple of times. I just keep picking myself up, dusting myself off and keep going.

Challenges can more easily be overcome with time. I had been in a rush to meet my goals because of my age. Does it really matter if I am 60 or 62. I think not. I think Heidi's (the body building trainee I met in Toronto) goal of 2010 is a fantastic one. It arrives during a milestone - the Vancouver Olympics.

Am I going to stop training or eating clean 99% of the time. Absolutely not. This is the time I NEED the stress release. I have an athletic goal whether I compete or not - likely not. If I do this just for me, I won't have to worry about tanning, costumes, posing classes and all the other time consuming non training part of the competition prep right now.

I am researching and learning a lot about body building. Wow - there is a lot to learn.I will share what I learn and anyone who is interested can visit and read about it. I will have to do it over time because if I spend all my time blogging I won't be able to balance the time needed for training and personal responsibilities.

I will provide what I learned as a beginner as well as some of the more intense body building info.

FIGURE COMPETITION/ATTENDING ONE/TOSCA WAS THERE!!!

2009-02-28T20:37:00.000-08:00

I had wanted to attend the Sandra Wickham Classic November 8th 2008 in Vancouver (as an observer). However, in place of the cancelled Paris trip (which was to be a birthday present) my daughter Jen generously spent many hours on the Internet getting tickets to a Tina Turner Concert in Toronto for my 60th birthday.

I was going to be in Toronto for the date of the competition in Vancouver. So, I searched for shows in Toronto and got in touch with IDFA. Just so happens there was a pro and amateur body building competition on the same night in Toronto November 8th 2008. There were two parts to the competition. The morning session - presentation - and the evening - judging. I hear that the judges actually know who they are narrowing it down to from the presentation portion.

It was quite the experience. I arrived in the lobby in the morning after a harrowing drive - the tall downtown TO buildings made it impossible for my GPS to locate the satellites. Anyway - there was a sign in the lobby something like - You will be on camera, there is a filming of a documentary about Tosca Reno for W Network. YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING! Holy cow - my favourite magazine guru and somewhat of an idol for me. Wonder if she is going to be there?Well I had a great seat up front. She and the publisher of Oxygen Magazine, her husband Robert Kennedy were a couple of seats in front of me. I thought maybe I'd had another mini stroke :) I struck up a conversation with a number of people in the crowd, many of them body builders. I met Heidi, a body builder in training and the mother of a friend of Heidi's who was competing in the body building part (the daughter was competing not the mother). The crowd was very warm and friendly.

I did not want to pester Tosca Reno or shove a camera in her face, so I hung back but with Heidi trying to convince me to go speak to her. I said I will go home before the evening part and bring back my O2 Magazine and get up the nerve to ask them to sign it. Alas - they did not come back to the evening portion. You snooze you lose.

My daughter decided to attend the evening session with me but as her ticket was bought late - she ended up in the balcony. She met a PT. I googled him later and found he was associated with a training method known as 'slow burn' theory - or superslow. Yikes!!! My former personal trainer (in answer to my question about it) blogged negatively about it and WOW the reactions... very lively and controversial....But I digress.....

I picked my choices for anticipated winners. I was right on for the men's and women's body building and the men's body building posing but not even close for the women's figure, the women's masters body building or the women's masters figure choices. I will make a point of reading some of the articles I have filed without reading as to what judges generally are looking for. I think I was looking at overall esthetically pleasing outcome but they likely were looking more closely at other things like muscle development, symmetry, shape and tone, posing etc - not sure but I assume they know what they are doing.

Hopefully it is not political judging like in figure skating. The crowd around which included body builders was similarly confused. There was a contestant in the novice category I believe represented by Oxygen who did not place I COULD NOT BELIEVE IT! She was awesome.

But it is important to say that all the competitors stepped up to the plate from a dedictation, hard work, point of view and that it is incredibly brave of them to be there. I was also surprised to hear in their bios that many had been training two years prior to competition.

It sure was having me rethinking any possibility of me competing. I was in a hurry because of my age but having to spend even more time training to their level, I will only be all that much older - not fair competition at all - I might have to wait for a grand grand masters division.

The bios of the competitors gave a long list of the people they thanked for support. So that makes it even clearer that you have to have a supportive family and fitness network to help with your success.

FIGURE COMPETITION - WHAT IS IT?

2009-02-28T20:31:00.000-08:00

Well first and foremost it is an athletic endeavour. Body building is different than most sports in one single way. How often would you be able to look at a ball player, soccer player, or triathlete on the street and know that is what they do? Not often. A body builder - you pretty much know what they do - they wear their sport.

I admire women body builders - holy cow the work, the strength the muscle development. I look at Heidi's stuff (a bodybuilder I met at the IDFA competition) and think she looks ready now - but she won't compete till 2010. But it is really not for me.

The main difference between body building and body building figure competition is muscle mass and body fat. Body builders have huge muscle mass and are extremely lean with low body fat for competition. They are stronger, harder, leaner. Figure body building is more feminine with good muscle development, but much less muscle mass than body builders and they are less lean.

ALAS. I have heard from reliable sources that with figure, although it is supposed to be a category with more feminine lines, the judges often choose the most muscular contestant. Soon there will have to be another category or perhaps a totally different competition with different judges?

Figure modelling - for that you also need to have a drop dead figure type body and be quite attractive and photogenic and I imagine - young or famous. There are figure competitors who do figure modelling as well, and there are figure models who only model.

Ok. So far I have found that many people mix up figure competitor and figure/fitness model. Now people, I am sixty and I have no illusions that I am going to be a figure model! I am stretching it to train to the figure competitor level but I know I can do it.

Seems there are more over 60 body builders than figure competitors.

For a brief period (might have had a mini stroke) I thought I might try to find a sponsor and compete for real. So I started with the Oryx the protein product I use. I emailed the distributor and asked if they sponsored women's figure competitiors? Guy must have been sitting at his computer - a nano second later I was asked to send posing pictures and advised I could work at a booth in California.

Hah! I didn't send a picture - he would have croaked to see a bikini clad 60 year old - told him I wasn't looking for a job - I was looking for sponsorship - nope - don't do that -I briefly though maybe Depends or Geritol would sponsor me but gave up that idea.

I would rather be working out that trying to come up with my off season training plan. But I have to get on it. There is a huge amount of info out there - lots of it conflicting - my head is swimming. But, I will approach it like I do everything else - like a business plan. I have read copious amounts about the 'look' the V taper - dont overdevelop obliques - overdevelop upper lats, tone and underdevelop lower lats etc - there is some critical thinking to do on how to get the end result.

There are also different plans for each stage - e.g. off season, pre-season, pre-comp etc. So I will start at the end and work my way backwards to try and figure out the business plan. Most of all, I will concentrate on the basics of competition training, most of the other 'out there' theories are to get past plateaus and to zero in on specific areas. I have to keep it simple for now. I don't want to get so bogged down in the process that I can't actually do the work.

And I want to try the "competition leaning out process" just to see if it is doable and if my abs pop out :)

MOTIVATION CRAVINGS/IF YOU CAN DREAM IT YOU CAN DO IT

2009-02-28T19:30:00.000-08:00

One day I got a smack recharging me. While shopping in a local drug store, a motivational sign leaped out at me. "IF YOU CAN DREAM IT. YOU CAN DO IT"

I had been dealt some challenges and was feeling sorry for myself. I wallowed in self pity and did not work out and ate crap. Ten days into it, I felt ill, my chronic pain returned, I had new pains and I was very depressed. My daughter (who before we got together recently couldn't really understand my fixation on my health and fitness goals) was trying to push me out of it and back to my workouts. She felt that if all I preached was abandoned and I became unfit, fat and unhealthy again - that it would just not be a good thing for others I had tried to influence to better health. She loves me no matter what my size, so again, it is not about appearance as much as health. Although I know she is quite proud of my appearance at sixty.

Between her concern and feeling so sh--ty, as well as Heidi's (my new body building friend) email encouragement along with the lack of desire to go on antidepressants, which I had taken most of my life until a few years ago - I forced myself back. After only a few days, my exercise endorphins kicked in, and I was feeling better from both a pain and depression perspective. My mind put me in a funk and my mind got me back out.Which brings me to the 'mind' and how invasive, pervasive destructive or awesome it can be.

I had dabbled in ESP in my younger years meditating a lot to find my existential experience. I scared the heck out of myself and quit doing it. I had also taken some nursing 'healing touch' seminars and was amazed at how when in the 'zone' of meditation and concentration you can 'feel' through temperature changes over someone's body the area where an illness problem is situated. I plan on doing more in that field in the remote future. Would not be able to focus right now.

When I took up belly dancing I was getting impatient waiting for my body to do what I was trying to tell it to do. My instructor, kept telling me to enjoy the journey and one day it just would happen - the mind body connection. She teaches yoga as well and is very spiritual.

I was too impatient and tripled my classes. One of the younger students with years of background in dance told me it took her 8 months before her body 'got it.' I was able to do the moves but it was mechanical. My PT gave me some stretches to move me along which helped. At work I spoke to our neuropsychologist and said there has got to be something I can do. She said pretty much the same thing but suggested that visualization, that is picturing myself doing it, may be just as valuable as overpracticing (similar to weights - overtraining is not a good thing). Everything I have read about weight training is much the same. To get the most out of it, instead of mindlessly watching tv and going through the paces, listen to motivating music and concentrate on the muscle you are working, feel the strength and energy and the feeling of being spent after a truly hard work out effort. What a sense of accomplishment. Enjoy the journey. Enjoy the time to yourself.

I started using visualization at the very beginning in my fitness and nutrition goals and it apparently has worked. Picture yourself on vacation one year from now. You are walking on the beach toned and sculpted and wearing a bikini. Picture yourself already there. Is that frivilous? to imagine the perfect body? I don't think so. We were given a wonderful instrument that can be as beautiful as it is as powerful. Why abuse the body with food and inactivity? We weren't meant to be flabby and weak and short of breath. But we no longer have to hunt for days or toil in the fields for months to eat. We don't have to wash the clothes on rocks and beat rugs by hand. Everything is automated, relieving us of physical labour causing us to lose our tone and strength. But we also don't have to fatten up for the coming famine :). At least most of us don't in this country.

The line from the song everyone's gone to the moon says it all "arms that can only, lift a spoon" although it refers to a gravity-less situation - the picture is the same. IF YOU DON'T USE IT YOU LOSE IT. So true. Good grief a common tendon injury these days is to the thumbs from blackberries! Is that what it has come to? So I started using visualization for everything which brings me to cravings. Sure smoking, alcohol and caffiene are addictions but food? No. A lot of research supports that obesity is caused by psychological factors. Somewhere along the line someone (maybe even ourselves) fed us when we were down and rewarded us with food when we were up. We have tried to overcome adversity by eating to try to get pleasure - something which becomes a psychological craving. "Comfort food." It isn't the same for everyone. Some people will crave chocolate cake and ice cream; some mashed potatoes and gravy. But before you undergo years of psychoanalysis trying to figure out what caused it, just simply unlearn the conditioning and recondition yourself to get pleasure from healthier foods.

I never liked any of those things when I was a kid but somewhere along the line they became my downfall. And to top it off - I did not enjoy exercise activity particularly any which involved sweating. I hated team sports and still do. So instead of avoiding mirrors, I first had a good look at my cellulite and flab and how ugly it actually is from an esthetic and health perspective. I pictured all the known offending foods in association with the cellulite. I also visualized the inside of my arteries and organs clogged with cholesterol, fatty plaque and all that other crap from bad eating. I visualized all the good foods with the desireable shaped body, lean muscle, with organs and vessels clean as a whistle. Everytime I was exposed to those kinds of bad foods - I conjured up the pictures. At night before sleep I visualized the good stuff - the goal body and health status I was aiming for. I pictured myself participating in exercise activity and smiling and enjoying it.I like the advice that if you are feeling sad smile. If you are out in public, often people will smile back and soon you are actually feeling less sad.

So it goes with exercise - believe it or not - I have gone from a dread of exercise to really really looking forward to it. I get ornery and very restless if I miss a workout. There is no high as great as that from exercise. It really is preventative for depression and a release for stress.It is great watching how much I have increased my weights, and monitoring changes in muscle shape and size. I remember once when I was having laser hair removal done on my legs, my esthetician remarked on how toned my hams and quads had become. Seeing muscles emerg from hiding is quite an exciting experience. My PT was right - age is not a barrier to getting toned and fit - that is just a myth or an excuse. It is never too late.

If you visualize it enough soon you actually start to not enjoy those foods and prefer the foods that really do make you feel good. And once you haven't had heavily salted and sugary foods - and then try them - they are quite overwhelming and actually sickening. At least that is what happened to me.

When I see someone gorging on bad food, I can't help but picture their heart attack or stroke in progress. Buffets in restaurants are horrible. Most people eat so much trying to get their money's worth. It doesn't seem fair to pay $16 or more for salad and veggies - so I avoid those situations.Now I get excited about experimenting with recipes to reproduce healthy versions of favourite foods. Recently in Toronto I went to the St Lawrence Market - wow - it was a harmony of smells and sights and sounds. There were fish markets, deli s , awesome produce sections with unusual fruits and veggies. It was a farmer's market to die for. I still get excited about food but "good for me food" and I never overeat.

Getting ready for the Tina Turner concert I was panicking as we traversed through the Air Canada Centre with kiosk after kiosk of junk food. We found Longo's market (likely the family of one of my old boarding school mates -the drummer for our short lived "girl band") wow - I found everything I needed and more for a healthy supper. I thought I had died and gone to heaven. So, you see you can actually look forward to healthy foods and seek them out, particularly when you associate them with feeling good.

Give it a chance. Give it a try. That is the missing component in your tries at fitness and health so far. You did not unlearn bad habits. You did not understand the connection of bad food and feeling bad. Once you have eaten clean for awhile, like me, you will find out the foods that make you sick and the ones that make you well and your unlearning and relearning will be complete.

Incorporate the changes into your life. Don't make it a diet or short term goal. Make it a permanent nutritional habit, you won't regret it.Motivate yourself - no one else can - enjoy the journey - picture yourself loving it, picture how you are going to look and feel and be patient.Take pictures - keep the first ones to yourself until you reach your goal. Shed the person you have become and find the real you hiding underneath the disguise you have created. Ask yourself why you want to remain unfit, sick and unhealthy. What is in it for you?Lots of people do great things in spite of adversity. My situation is a little bump in the road compared to what others have faced. I am on the road back. It won't be an easy one but only I can make it harder than it has to be. So I will dream it and I will do it.