What’s in a Smoothie?

A healthy smoothie consists of protein, fruit, vegetable, and liquid that should be made to taste. Therefore, everyone will make their smoothie slightly different using fruit and veggies they like (or maybe don’t like to chew!).

In Core FITClass this week we’re focusing on rediscovering old favorites! It has been a while since we’ve completed this exercise and quickly remembered just how awesome it is. Check it out for yourself:

Weighted Lunge Hop

A great exercise for increasing the heart rate and toning your legs. Maintain your stance during this exercise by keeping the legs in a lunge position during the entire series. (Complete 8-12 repetitions on each side, 3-4 sets.)

It may come as no surprise that balance and coordination deteriorate with age. Below is a great article outlining reasons for regular exercise, along with ways to keep the mind-body connection strong. Hafner's article also brings to light possible negative effects of long-term medication use. 

New York Times article written by Katie Hafner on November 3, 2014.

Preventing a fall, and the resulting injuries, isn’t simply a matter of being more careful. Indeed, experts who have studied falls wish that people would take measures to protect themselves much as they do against heart disease or viral infections.

Inquiring minds want to know which nutritional supplements are best and how to choose the right product. To answer these questions, I've asked a nutrition specialist, Beth Schupanitz of Inspiring Health Solutions, to shed some light on the subject.

What to look for in Nutritional Supplements.

There are hundreds, if not thousands of different brands of supplements on the market today. This creates a ton of confusion about which to choose. I am going to cut through some of this confusion today by answering your most pressing questions.

Teaching numerous core strength classes each week, I see people with varying fitness abilities. Over the years I've noticed that gender doesn’t matter when it comes to core strength. Not many people have sufficient strength in the abdominals, low back, and buttocks to protect from injury.

Americans spend hours of time sitting in a chair without noticing the physical damage being done to the body. Over time, muscle fibers break-down.

To reverse the effects of sitting, stretching is essential. I also highly recommend incorporating at least 1-2 core strength movements into your routine at least twice per week to get your body moving in the right direction.

Major life-events cause many women to internalize feels of loss, anger, and resentment. In turn, becoming our own worst enemy. In a struggle for emotional comfort during times of pain and discomfort, we may make poor food choices, feel too exhausted to exercise, and simply shut-down.

Viewing divorce as a positive, life-changing event helps women regain power and drive to transform an unhappy lifestyle into a self-confident, exuberant person. The answer lies within and change happens when we start paying more attention to caring for our body.

Eating healthy foods, chock-full of leafy greens, colorful vegetables, clean proteins, and fruit is a great first step toward breathing more energy into each day. Next, spend more time doing activities you enjoy, such as taking a 10-15 minute walk most days of the week, stretch in the morning or before bed, or find a class that makes you want to move.

brentbrookbush.com

Tight hip flexors result from sitting for long periods of time. The human body was made to hunt for food and stay warm through movement.

To combat pain or stiffness related to sitting, it's best to get-up from your chair and move around every hour to keep muscles from getting bound-up in the first place. Regardless of the brand of chair, it's important to change body position often by standing to remove the amount of pressure placed on the spine. Stretching is Important!

Specific areas to stretch when sitting are:

An interesting premise of the article Think "Fun" When Exercising to Eat Less Later, written by Sandy Todd Webster states "Anything that brings a smile is likely to get you to eat less."

Based on research conducted by Marketing Letters, people believing they were exercising for FUN ate less food than individuals under the impression they were "working out."

In the first study, adults were led on a 2-kilometer walk around a small lake; some understood they were taking an exercise walk, while others were told it was a scenic walk. Fifty-six adults completed their walk and were then given lunch. Those who believed they had been on an exercise walk served and ate 35% more chocolate pudding for dessert than those who believed they had been on a scenic walk.

In the second study, 46 adults were given midafternoon snacks after their walk. Those thinking they had taken an exercise walk ate over twice as many M&Ms (124% more, or 206 more calories’ worth) compared with those who had been told they were on a scenic walk. "Viewing their walk as exercise led them to be less happy and more fatigued," says lead author Carolina Werle, PhD, professor at Grenoble Ecole de Management in France.

Together, these studies point to one reason why people in exercise programs often find themselves gaining weight. According to Werle, the notion is that some exercisers have a tendency to reward themselves by overeating after a workout.

Even though food consumption should be based on the calories we use throughout the day, this article speaks to psychological and emotional feelings of "entitlement" for many exercisers. Could this mindset change impact YOUR relationship with food?

We've heard it a million times . . . if you want to reach your goals, stop making excuses and just get your workout done.

I'm here to admit - it can be really hard! When someone in my life needs something, I jump and put myself on the back burner. (Sadly, the back burner gets turned off at night.)

It helps having the kids back at school, but that doesn't stop the mental excuses on busy days.

Excuse/Response: 

• I don't have enough time to get all my sets in, so I'll do it on X-day!
   

Do what you can with the time available and move on

• The day got away and I'm tired


•  

Focus your energy on a basic workout session

• I'm sore and need an extra day of rest


•  

15-20 minutes of Yoga will do wonders!

"Excuses" turn into set backs and we all know it. The point is to just keep going and do your best. Not every single workout will be spectacular because life gets in the way. Stopping derails all your effort up to that point and makes getting back on take WAY longer!

So there you have it, my excuses for everyone to see. Feel free to share your excuses, no judgments ;)

Wishing you bountiful energy and drive to get on track and stay there!!

Summer went by in a flash with kids home and daily activities. Not all fun and games because I let my guard down this past month and went down a poor diet spiral. Eating out, summer cocktails, and carbs - oh my!

Cleanup Time

Reigning in and getting back into the swing of a healthy diet needed to happen ASAP. This comes down to a few necessary eliminations:

1) refined sugar

2) gluten