What do we eat in a day? Hmmm ….  Most of us go through the day and work hard, play hard and grab bites to eat here and there.  I know, we all live fast paced lives at times and it’s difficult to keep track of everything.  The kids need to go to daycare, the dog needs walked, the groceries’ need to be put away, got to go to the dentist, have to take the kids to soccer, music lessons, the doctor, have to go to work and on and on and on ….. I’m tired just thinking of it all.  And in between we eat.  If it’s not fast food, it’s rushed through at the dinner table with us hardly having time to talk with our family and share the day’s events.

But what do we really put in our bodies each day?  I’ll say it up front,  some of you do a great job of watching what you eat and how much.  But for the vast majority of you ……..  think again.  People stop by the golden arch’s and grab coffee, bacon and eggs, hash browns,  biscuits with who knows what on it, Danish’s , and that’s just to start.  On to school or work, we get there, more coffee, candy or crackers from the machine, doughnuts from the kitchen, bagels with cream cheese and on and on.  We haven’t even got to lunch, dinner or all the snacks in between.  So what’s my point?

My point is that we eat too much.  (As a general statement of course).  Honestly people, have you even tried to figure out how many calories you’re consuming?  Not to mention the right nutrients that your body needs instead of what we tend to feed the craving little guy buried deep in our body that screams out “I WANT THAT HOT FUDGE SUNDAE”.  I remember a long time ago listening to Bill Cosby when he produced comedy skits on record.  For those of you who don’t know what a record is …. It’s that black circular vinyl thing with grooves in it that music used to be recorded on.  Sheesssshhh another 10 years and that will totally be lost on ya’ll.  Anyway, Bill Cosby had a skit where his wife was pregnant and Bill kept trying to give the yet unborn child things to play with, such as asking his wife to swallow a ball so the kid could play, etc.  Then from the babies point of view, when the mom was eating healthy, the baby cried out ‘get those Brussels sprouts outta here, and so on”  He just wanted the junk food that tasted good that mom would eat………..I digress so …..   The CDC (Centers for Disease Control) says that every State in the country has a large population that is obese with a BMI of 30lbs or more.  We’re gaining, not losing.  Very sad.

So, let me just say that if you want to lose weight, you must take in fewer calories than you burn in a day.  I’ll refer you to a prior article to help you figure that one out, but let’s just say…..those coca colas are not helping!  Also, starving yourself is not helping.  Did you know that your body literally shuts down on you if you stop giving it food?  Yep, the little guys inside keeping you running start chatting with one another when their food source stops.  They raise mortal cain for awhile.  They convene a little board meeting and planning session and determine that since you are not going to feed them, they’ll just shut down your metabolism, slow it way down and then they decide to burn your muscles for fuel instead of the fat you were trying to get rid of.  Why should they burn the fat, hey that’s their winter protection, like the bears and other hibernating animals.

So there is a happy medium and a way to get the little guys active again (That’d be your metabolism).  Eat right, eat often (about 5 small meals a day spaced evenly) and you’ll find that your metabolism will kick into gear and with the right foods, your sugar levels will be maintained on an even keel and couple that with the correct calorie intake, you can either maintain your weight or lose some.  So what’ll it be, a life of hibernation or a life with high energy and a kick ‘in metabolism?  You choose!

If you found this post even remotely interesting, please share it with a friend or click the SHARE button below and maybe even send out to our favorite Twitter page by tweeting it up top.  Thanks!

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Hi There!  I’m so glad that you stopped by for quick bite! Well, at least maybe I’ll make you a bit hungry after this post.

So why is it everyone I see says they just can’t eat healthy when they go out for lunch or breakfast or dinner.  Bah!  Humbug I say!  Where’s your spirit of adventure?  Where’s that quest for the 66 lb. turkey hanging out in the market?  Will it take a Bob Marley to lead you by the hand to find the good out there?  No I say ………Okay, I got carried away a bit, he, he…. But seriously folks, you can eat well at restaurants.  You just have to look close at the menu and become educated.

Now I’ll post some well known restaurant menus items in a future article so you can really see what you’re eating, but look at the few things I found below.

Waking up early here on the Sun Coast, hopping in my little convertible and blasting over the St. Armand circle bridge I head to a favorite of mine, “The Blue Dolphin”.  Two of my favorite people in all of Sarasota, Pam and Alex greet me warmly as I enter the small café’.  Well known in all of Sarasota for having some of the best breakfast fare around, I quickly find a seat before the rush sets in.  Pam slides in the booth with me and we enjoy catching up on what’s been happening and the news of her daughter and such.  Pam knows my order by heart and places it with the chef.  So you see in the picture a huge omelet with egg whites, spinach and tomatoes. Oh my gosh!  The taste is incredible!  They must use 8 to 10 egg whites and I literally have to be wheeled from the café’.  Order a side of whole grain toast and you’ll be sure to start your day off right.  Now just do the same at your local café’.

For lunch I find a local restaurant serving a mix of American fare.  Once again treated like a King, they seat me in a booth by the window and promptly take my order.  This time I’ve ordered fish tacos.   Now at one time I really wasn’t a fan of these, but have quickly caught on.  Halibut, shredded cabbage tomato, and their sauce on tortilla.  Okay, now the tortilla and sauce could be nixed, but I generally only eat one with the tortilla and the rest I leave on the plate.  Sometimes I do sacrifice a tad, but all in all it was a great lunch with not too much to be guilty for.

For dinner I found Vino E Pasta.  The owner and maitre d’ seats me in the corner.  Now is that the power table or is the center table in the room, hmmm.  Ordering snapper, grilled with tomatoes, herbs and onions, with a side of pasta I complete my day of eating out with a renewed since that I can do this and still eat well.  Once again I forgo most of the pasta so I’m left with a very healthy meal and getting some of those Omega 3’s that we all need.

So can you do it?  Do you want to do it?  That’s the question.  Do you think that triple burger from Wendy’s and being super sized with the fries and cola are going to get you to the weight you’re looking for?  Well if that weight is upwards than be my guest.

But don’t be surprised some December night, late, late at night you hear a rattling sound, a chain clunking down the hallway, mist rolling under your door and you find me materializing right in front of you saying in a loud voice what your life could have been like if you had only chosen the right path.

Okay, again,……seriously, make some healthy choices today!  Your body will love you for it!  Please take amoment and SHARE this post bu clicking below and then just give it a little “Tweet” up top.  Thanks!

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Fast Easy Weight Loss

OK……so what’s fast?  That’s one of the questions I’m sure is on your mind because how to lose weight quick is pretty common for most people.  The second one may be, how much can I lose?  The third may be, how to lose weight easy?  Fast easy weight loss can be broken down into just a few simple thoughts, ideas and actions.

As the summer sun warms the white sandy beaches around here, a lot of people bring out those bathing suits and try them on only to look in the mirror gasping at how much weight they’ve gained over the winter and Holiday’s.  Now it’s crunch time, the vacation is set, hotels booked and the new bathing suit at the store is on your mond as the one you want to wear.

Let’s look at this a moment…

• How to lose weight quick -First you need to know how many calories it takes for you to breathe, pump blood, grow hair, blink…you know, basically to stay alive.  My number (called RMR, resting metabolic rate) is 162 lbs. x 10 or 1600 calories.  Second, I need to know how many calories I burn in a day apart from any exercise. So 1600 x 20% is 320 calories.  So leading a sedentary life, only doing those things to get me around town, the house and the sofa is 1920 calories.

Here’s the fun part.  I know that I want to lose 5 lbs.  And I want to do it quick.  So the simple math behind this is, burn more calories in a day then you take in.  One pound is equal to 3500 calories.  The “fast” part of this question is, what are you willing to do?

• How much can I lose – Staying with the 5 lb example let’s apply the math above.  If I want to lose these 5 lbs. in 5 weeks.  That means 1 pound a week which I think is a good goal.  So that means I have to eat less than 3500 calories than I normally would have.  So… each day I need to consume 1420 calories.  I’m saving 500 a day and at the end of 7 days I will have lost one pound.  Five weeks will yield a 5 lb. loss.

• How to lose weight easy – OK, so now you know the magic formula.  But let’s kick it up a notch.  Let’s say I do some exercising each day of the week.  And that exercise burns 500 calories.  So the simple equation here is that by eating less and burning more, I can lose 2 lbs. a week.  Now I will say right here that your body needs fuel, so I would not encourage eating less.  Take the one pound of weight loss by doing the exercise.  Not only will you lose weight, you may even build a little muscle which will also help you to burn more calories in the future. So I may have embellished a bit on the headline how to lose weight easy.

Have fun!

All lifestyles aren’t created equal, so take that in mind when reading through this post.

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3 Day Cleanse

Well guys, I did it!  I did the Shakeology 3 day cleanse.  I have to admit I was a bit scared going into it as I have NEVER done anything like this before.  But having read up on Master Cleansing and what that’s about and then what the Shakeology cleanse was about I knew that this one was for me.  It’s not really calorie deficit, but is calorie efficient as mentioned by my friend Steve Edwards in his blog about the Shakeology cleanse.

I had been looking for a colon cleanse recipe and really everything I read didn’t sound like what I wanted to do.  There were all things out there that showed you how to cleanse the body.  Cleansing fast, cleansing slow, cleanse like this, cleanse like that…. good grief it was confusing.  But this 3 day cleanse that found with a product that I already love and use regularly was just the ticket for me.

The 3 day cleanse is just that.  Three days of putting into your body what it needs and wants.  My mind was telling me “cleanse the body”, “cleanse the body”.  My stomach was telling me other things as I went through it.  Here’s what Steve Edwards had to say about how to do it …”The plan consists of three Shakeology shakes* a day with a salad in the evening. If the shakes are plain (Shakeology and water only) I can add three pieces of fruit. The salad is unrestricted as far as veggies go, with 4 ounces of a protein source (if it’s meat or fish and slightly more if it’s a veggie source like legumes), and two tablespoons of an olive oil/vinegar dressing. For fatty acids, each salad will also contain a tablespoon of chia seeds (or flaxseed or hempseed). Plenty of water washes it all down. Coffee, tea, and herb teas are fine as long as they are sans additives, as all are performance enhancing.”

So that’s what I did.  I started out weighing 164.5 lbs. and ended up 161 lbs.  Now I know a lot of that wasn’t body fat loss, but some of it was.  I felt better for having done this and I set myself up for eating right going forward.  If you decide to do this one, make sure you do your own research first and make the decision that is best for you.  Come back here and write to tell me how your 3 day cleanse went.  If you don’t have the product Shakeology yet, just click on my link at the top of this page “Shakeology” and get it delivered to your door in now time flat.  The best thing about Shakeology is that it gives me absolutely the best meal of the day regardless of doing the 3 day cleanse.  In my opinion you’ll not find a better product on the market.

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Here’s an approach to muscle repair and muscle growth vs. consuming it. Yuck! I’ve done a bit of research from online websites, fitness magazines and gurus on the subject and I’ve tried to put this together in a non-technical sounding way (as best I can) so that you can have some information to use in your next workout sessions. Please note that gaining muscle mass will also help you burn more calories throughout the day. So shoot for those muscle gains by adding these muscle building secrets to your gym bag.

• 90-120 minutes BEFORE you workout – Eat an energy bar such as the P90X Peak Recovery Bar or an equivalent that has about a 3-2-1 ration of Carbohydrates to Proteins to Fat.
• 45 minutes BEFORE you workout – Take some BCAA’s (Branched Chain Amino Acids), a tablet is easy at 3-4g
• AFTER a good hard 45 minute workout – Mix up a delicious Recovery drink such as the P90X Recovery Formula or equivalent in a 4-1 Carbohydrate to Protein mix. Now there’s sugar in this, but your body needs it! Another 3-4g of BCAA can help too.

So in a nut-shell (nuts are good too…see SuperFoods) knowing what you need to fuel your body with as you exercise during the day is important to our physiology. Muscles need the fuel at different times and we don’t want them to “eat their own” as in a recent Lost In Space movie, but we want to protect them, allow them to recover and to grow. Now if you’re really into digging deep into more of the techie stuff, just look up Catabolism and anabolism as it relates to muscles and exercise.

Now eating throughout the day to help you gain muscle mass is for another story, probably right after this one! Chow!

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Peanut Butter

I live on this stuff. Well, not really but when I’m struggling to come up with something to eat and am tired of everything in the frig, then I go for my Natural peanut butter on a slice of whole grain bread. Yum! It’s a bit high in fat and calories, but I moderate what I eat. Not only does it satiate my appetite, it taste great. The fat in this peanut butter has been found to be associated with lowering total cholesterol levels and lower LDL and triglycerides levels.  Cholesterol reduction I’m sure is on a lot of our minds.

I’ll have to post you my blood work that I had done before I started exercising with my favorite P90X home workout routine and eating right per the meal plan that comes with it. Peanut butter was a small part of that diet and I know it contributed to helping my cholesterol levels go from borderline High to normal. Look for a future blog about that real soon.

Walnuts and Nuts

I’ve always known that eating a few nuts each day was good for my health. Now I’m not saying the Salted in the shell peanuts or boiled peanuts that have become so popular, but the nuts that take a bit of getting used to. Walnuts, pistachios and Almonds are all great nuts to name a few.

I’ve even heard eating Walnuts after a meal higher in bad fat could reduce the damage that meal can cause. This from a 2006 study in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. So part of my five meal plan a day consist on one of these snack meals being a small handful of nuts. Usually almonds, but I’m open for variety.

Avocado

A lot of people shun away from this food that has fat. But now the avocado has been found to be one of the healthiest fat sources out there. Loaded with antioxidants which help fight cancer and phytonutrients that help with absorbing other foods tahtwe eat. Shakeology has a lot of these properties too, but that’s for another article.

Here are three Superfoods that you should be able to incorporate into your diet and feel good about eating them. Still not interested in these? Then check out the Shakeology that will definitely get you on the right track to putting something in your body that will absolutely be the best meal of the day! Join my Newsletter for lots of fitness, health and nutrition tips to use every day. I may also have just a few funny and comical new in the news offerings as well to help you LAUGH a little!

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Shakeology is taking this country by storm.  It’s nutrition made simple.  But what’s the cost?  that’s what a lot of people have been asking me lately and when I tell them, they kind of hesitate.  But yet when I ask what are they taking for nutritional supplements they rattle off a long list of this and that and “Oh by the way, I have to go to GNC tonight” and stuff like that.  Mentally I add up what they’re taking and they’ve already doubled the cost if not more than what Shakeology cost.  Someone once said that their husband was like a 3rd grader not eating his vegetables.  But now that he has Shakeology in his bag, he’s not missing out on a thing.  But you do have to get it into your cupboard, so it involves spending a little just like you would for broccoli, carrots, spinach, … well you get the idea.  So, please take a moment and see what a friend found when he tried to buy all of the ingredients that was in this bag of Shakeology.  He said it was a close approximation and he couldn’t find 8 of the ingredients…

So, to wrap up, Shakeology will cost $119.95  and you will get so much nutrition in that bag you might be tempted never to eat a vegetable again.  I invite you to take another step and really dig deep and learn the details about Shakeology by clicking here ro simply going to the top of this page and click on Shakeology.  Your body will love you for it.

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Ok, as promised in my earlier blog, Body mass Index or BMI, here’s some information on how WE are trending in the United States.  Now I was being politically correct when I said WE.  I know this isn’t you, so for everyone else out there, let’s take action and do something.  I wanted to do this article in a video so you don’t have to read a lot, and it’s a short video any way, so why am I continuing to type?….  Take a look!

So again, my hope for you is to share this information with your family and friends.  Tell them to take nutrition and exercise seriously, or they may be on the path to a statistic on our map we just saw.  Get into a great at home work out routine such as P90X, Insanity, Chalean Extreme, Slim In 6, Rev Abs, Turbo Jam or something else.  If not they might just have to start using the Kathy Smith’s Project You Type 2 program that helps those fighting Diabetes.

So take action NOW!

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I can’t believe that someone hasn’t thought of this sooner!  Most of us don’t like to eat vegetables and I have to include myself in that statistic.  Broccoli, cauliflower, beans, spinach, you know the foods we all love to hate.  Well most of us anyway.

Now the company I’m associated with has gone the extra mile and developed a truly transformational product called Shakeology.  In my opinion, they have put together a daily shake that will revolutionize the nutritional market as we see it today.  Sort of “I can have my cake and eat it too!” or maybe “I can have my vegetables and like them too”.  Well in a shake anyway.  It’s now my healthiest meal of the day.

So you aren’t turned off right away, let me say that this shake taste like a chocolate milkshake to me.  And I get to have all these nutrients that I could never have eaten in one day.  My body has really felt rejuvenated and if it had a voice I know it’s thanking me to no end.  I could go into the macro-nutrients and the micro-nutrients but let me say it easier.  It’s Nutrition Simplified!   It has Pre-biotics, Digestive Enzymes, Protein & Amino Acids, 23 vitamins and minerals, Anti-oxidants and Phyto-nutrients!  Wow did I just say all that?  Look at the picture on the right….  How could I possibly eat all of those vegetables that is in just one meal?  Talk about a tummy overload.

By itself it only has 140 calories, 1 gram of fat, 15-17 grams of protein and 17-19 grams of carbs.  Now I do kick up the chocolate just a tad (cause I want too) with 1 banana, 1 tbsp of peanut butter and a teaspoon of my favorite instant coffee.  I have to have my caffeine with my morning meal.

Now it is not on the “cents per day” side and you WILL NOT find anything that’s good for you in that price range any way.  But I will tell you that in my opinion, you will not find anything out there in the market that is more nutritious and good for you.  I’ll do a side by side comparison in a future article so be on the lookout for that one.

So my advice to you is; take action and take control of your diet and give Shakeology a try.  Click HERE and find out more detail then just add it to your shopping cart and check out at the cashier with a better basket of nutrition than you have in the past!  And Shakeology is Guaranteed.

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ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

WOW!  As a yearly State Fair attendee, I love going and seeing the sights and sounds and smells of the Fair.  The animal competitions from cows, horses, pigs, bunnies, chickens and all the rest of Farmer McDonald’s crew.  But this year I was especially shocked as I passed by one vendor serving the typical fair food.

If you’re going to the Fair we all know that we’re going to consume something that is just not quite good for us.  And actually I’m OK with that.  ONE meal or one day of splurging on some fair food probably will not kill you.  Just as ONE day of eating purely healthy food is not going to make you healthy.  It’s a daily process, turned into weeks and months and years where the benefit OR the destruction pays off.

But I just had to write about the “Over The Top” food I saw.  Over the years the Fair has found new life in serving new stuff.  Deep fried Twinkies, Snickers bars, Oreo’s, pickles and pretty much everything you can think of has made it’s way onto the boulevard. This year was the first time I saw this.  Krispy Kreme burgers.  WOW!  I left the picture large so you could get the feel for what I saw.  I was drooling and sickened in my heart all at the same time.  That little voice inside me that I so long ago repressed and at times have to continue to beat down awakened to those doughnut memories of times gone by.  I really think the sign said it all “Over The Top”.  Kind of reminded me of the vendor selling deep fried Twinkies and asking “would you like powdered sugar on that Sir?”.  Answering no, because that would “put it over the top” wouldn’t it?

Okay I’m being a little silly here I know, but here’s the REAL implication of caving in and downing one of these burgers.  This gem consists of one Krispy Kreme glazed doughnut, one burger patti, cheese, 3 slices of bacon, mayo, lettuce and tomato.  For a whopping 800 calories and 75 grams of FAT!  Now some of you know from reading my earlier article on Abs are Made in the Kitchen, you have just done some quick math and found that you’ve almost reached your daily calorie count with just this ONE burger.   This same vendor also had the following fare offered to those who might not think the burger was too much.  Deep Fried “Butter”!

So I’m going to let you decide for yourself.  I admit, I did have a corn dog at the Fair today, but I also had a lean grilled pork loin later on.  I hope that you make food choices throughout the day, week and months that will help you to live longer, be healthier and curve this trend of Obesity that our nation seems to be on.  I can help you make some good choices with substituting one meal a day with Shakeology.  Look again at these pictures in this post, then visit my page, prepared especially for YOU on a better, healthier choice.

Decide today! Commit to you decision! Succeed in your Health!

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