FREE Beachbody workout and Q&A

Accountability and Workout Challenge!

Dear Friends!

No one can be perfect all the time, but if you put an effort and commitment into even a few weeks of exercise and clean eating - you will see results!!!

That's why I decided to start a 10 day Eat Your Calories and Push Play challenge and invite you to join me. Let's take our bodies to the next level!


CHALLENGE DATES: Wed, Oct 7th, 2009 until and including October 17, 2009

RULES OF ENGAGEMENT:

1. You PRESS PLAY Five or Six Times a week, depending on your program. If you miss a workout, you're out of the challenge.

2. You EAT CLEAN six times a week. You have to report how many calories you must eat and how many your ate

3. You MUST report daily for the preceding day on the Challenge thread:

my thread - click here

For example, "Yesterday, I ate ### calories and pressed play."

Please REPORT IN RED LETTERING.

At the end of the challenge, we will put the WARRIORS NAMES IN A HAT TO DETERMINE THE WINNER!

THE PRIZE: Beachbody Video

Will you be the last man/woman standing?!


YOU BE THE JUDGE!!!

These 6 rules will put you on the rigth path for good nutrition to support your new exercise routine

If you are deciding to start on journey to healthier, fitter you, here is something you have to consider: a good nutrition plan.
The thing is - you may drag yourself through your life feeling tired because you don’t eat good food, enough of it and often enough, but you won’t be able to add exercise on top of it!

Here’s the conversation I find myself having over and over with someone close to me:

Her: I am starting to go to the gym.
Me: Excellent! Are you making sure you eating a balanced diet?
Her: No, not yet.

In a little while:

Me: Are you still going to the gym?
Her: I have no energy to go to the gym. I am discouraged and don’t have motivation. Exercise is not for me…
Me: Are you making sure you eating a balanced diet?
Her: No.

People who start a physical program without a sound nutrition plan fail to see results, and a lot of people make a conclusion that exercise is not for them and lose motivation! That is unfortunate, but can be prevented.
Here’s what you need to do when you plan to start an exercise routine:

- Figure out how much you are planning to exercise
For example – if you are planning to run on a treadmill for 30 minutes 3 times a week, and do a toning class 2 a week, try to establish how many calories you burn while doing each type of exercise. Heart rate monitors could be helpful in that respect, or use online to do approximate calories.

- Add 1200 to the calories you burn during the exercise– that is the minimum you need to consume.
1200 calories is how much you body burns while maintaining all normal functions, so going under 1200 is no recommended under any circumstances! The resulting calories is you starting point. This is an approximation, so if you feel that it is too low, adjust accordingly by adding more, mostly in form of protein.

- If you are just starting exercising after years of sedentary life, chances are you won’t be able to sustain high intensity workouts at first. As you get stronger and increase intensity of your workouts (and correspondingly, calories burned) you need to retest yourself and increase the calories you consume in order to sustain the new levels of physical activity. Not eating enough while you metabolism is revving up may lead to food cravings and overeating.

- Make sure you eating quality food. Eating Twinkies won’t nurture you body and won’t get you the results you want. Clean diet is the way to go: incorporate lean meats, Omega-3 rich fish, whole grain cereals, breads and pasta; fresh vegetable and fruits.

- Avoid food that contain artificial additives, preservative, refined flour, sugar and high fructose corn syrup. These slow down metabolism and prevent weight loss.

- Drink lots of water, and avoid sugary drinks. Even sports drinks can be high in sugar, so check labels carefully!

Good nutrition and good exercise go hand in hand. By consistently improving both, you will be able to achieve the best shape of your life!

10 Thoughts You Must Catch to Beat Emotional Eating

"Emotional eating" seems to have entered the vocabulary of the everyday person. We are aware of it in an anecdotal level, same way as we are of other modern over-indulgences - TV, electronic gadgets and Internet. Yesterday at the snack vending machine I heard a coworker say: " I am such an emotional eater!". To which I replied: " Who isn't?"

There is no denying it - food has comforting qualities. We crave food for reasons other than pure energy restoration. We all over-indulge from time to time, but when the degree of emotional eating is very high, it is stops being a clandestine mid-night affair between you and that pint of ice-cream; the results are evident in the plan daylight in spite of artful efforts to cover it with layers of clothes .

Emotional eating is deeply embedded in our psyche, it is not impervious to change. There are ways in which you can train your mind to tell real hunger apart from the emotional eating.
To break away from this dangerous habit we have to learn to recognize when we "eat our emotions".
Pay attention to the way you think when the thoughts of food enter our mind.
When we think like this:

- I have to eat before I tackle this pile of documents on my desk...
- I just worked though a huge pile of documents on my desk and deserve to eat...
- I am bored, I will eat now, since there is nothing better to do...
- I am in pain, if I eat I'll feel better...
- I am happy, I am going to celebrate it with my favorite meal!
- I feel shy, out of place, I better eat all this food....
- I feel dissatisfied with myself, my marriage, my job...eating makes me feel better...
- I feel guilty, eating makes me forget that...
- I really want to please my host/mother/mother-in-law and eat even thought I am not hungry...
- I feel pressure to lose weight and I will eat to show them who's boss...

It is time to stop eating and address the issues at the root of the problem!
The good new is - you can start working on changing this habit right away - all you need to do is carry this list around with you and check it every time your reach out for your refrigerator: am I really hungry or am I eating my emotions again?
I guarantee that combining this approach with other healthy choices will lead you to losing those extra pounds and improving overall outlook on life!