People ask me allot, "What do you eat to look the way you look?" Well, sorry to admit there is no secret formula and no tricks up my sleeve. Why would I as a personal trainer hide a special formula to stay lean & healthy! My desire is to have all my clients lean and mean. That is a secret that would make me RICH! ha ha
However, the formula was discovered a long time ago. The problem is very few people are willing to walk that road. Just as the gate to heaven is narrow and the road to common is wide. Ok, I shouldn't compare fit & lean to going to heaven...It is just that the road to a healthy & productive body is less travelled.
WHY? It takes self discipline, determination, and sacrifices that people are unwilling to commit. If only they would realize how awesome it can be if they would be convicted about the physical gift we have been given..
Once a person realizes the discipline & sacrifices are worth it...somehow it is no longer a sacrifice. It becomes a way of life. And when your discipline becomes a way of life YOU become powerful in your choices thus leading to an amazing outcome.
Here is a normal day in the life of Shelley Gray:
6:30 am glass of high quality h2o (tap)
Coffee with powdered creamer and real sugar.
Breakfast:
3 eggs and 2 whole wheat toast
Or
Kashi cereal with skim milk
Or
Greek yogurt with FiberOne bar
Snack:
Almonds and banana
Or
Pineapple and yogurt
Or
High Fiber tortilla (80 calories) with cheddar cheese
12:00 Lunch:
Spinach leaves (a HUGE bunch)
2 Boiled eggs
4 baby carrots
Can of chicken or grilled
Banana Peppers
Jalapeño peppers
Sunflower seeds
Tomatoes (if worthy)
Maple grove balsamic vinegar
Or
Subway chicken or egg white on Italian bread
loaded veggies
mustard
Or
Rice
Beans
Tomatoes
Corn
Green chiles
Snack
Popcorn
Or
Cliff bar
Or
Fruit and pretzels
7:00 Dinner
Steak, chicken or fish
Salad, Grilled veggies
Or
High fiber tortilla
Black beans
Tomato
Feta cheese
Spinach leaves
Snack
Greek Yogurt
With kasha cereal in it
Or
Skim milk
Total Cereal
AND YES! I do eat junky food every now & then. I am a human I love pizza, cookies & chocolate. I do not let food rule my day. If I did I would eat crappy & feel worse for it. Choosing to eat healthy increases my attitude, productivity and my mood.
Monitor your mood and tell me junk doesn't make you feel bad.
JUNK makes you:
Fat
Moody
Depressed
Light headed
Gastric problems
Headache
Guilty
Hungry
and Unsatisfied
Tuesday
Think Yourself Stronger
Competitive athletes often use a technique called visualization to help give them an edge over their opponents.
By imagining every aspect of a race or performance, from start to finish, they bring themselves one step closer to making it a reality. New research suggests technique may apply to strengthening muscles as well.
''Just thinking about exercise can help maintain muscle strength,'' says Dr. Vinoth Ranganathan, who, with a team of researchers from the Cleveland Clinic Foundation in Ohio, investigated the strength benefits of imagining exercising a muscle.
Thirty healthy young adults were divided into three groups. For 15 minutes a day, five days per week for 12 weeks, the first group imagined exercising their little finger muscle, the second group imagined exercising their biceps muscle and the third group served as a control by not doing any imaginary exercise.
''We asked the subjects to think as strongly as they could about moving the muscle being tested, to make the imaginary movement as real as they could,'' explains Ranganathan.
Muscle strength was measured before, during and after the training sessions.
The finger exercisers increased their strength 35 percent, while the biceps group increased 13.4 percent. Measurements of the participants' brain activity during their mental exercises suggest that these strength gains were due to improvements in the brain's ability to signal muscle.
Researchers hope these results will assist in the therapy of stroke and spinal cord injury patients, and follow-up studies are planned for healthy older adults as well.
''We believe that anyone who has difficulty doing physical exercises can use our mental training method to improve the muscle strength they have lost or maintain the muscle strength they have,'' researchers wrote.
Of course, actual strength-training exercises — as opposed to imaginary ones – are still the most effective means of building strong, healthy muscles.
By imagining every aspect of a race or performance, from start to finish, they bring themselves one step closer to making it a reality. New research suggests technique may apply to strengthening muscles as well.
''Just thinking about exercise can help maintain muscle strength,'' says Dr. Vinoth Ranganathan, who, with a team of researchers from the Cleveland Clinic Foundation in Ohio, investigated the strength benefits of imagining exercising a muscle.
Thirty healthy young adults were divided into three groups. For 15 minutes a day, five days per week for 12 weeks, the first group imagined exercising their little finger muscle, the second group imagined exercising their biceps muscle and the third group served as a control by not doing any imaginary exercise.
''We asked the subjects to think as strongly as they could about moving the muscle being tested, to make the imaginary movement as real as they could,'' explains Ranganathan.
Muscle strength was measured before, during and after the training sessions.
The finger exercisers increased their strength 35 percent, while the biceps group increased 13.4 percent. Measurements of the participants' brain activity during their mental exercises suggest that these strength gains were due to improvements in the brain's ability to signal muscle.
Researchers hope these results will assist in the therapy of stroke and spinal cord injury patients, and follow-up studies are planned for healthy older adults as well.
''We believe that anyone who has difficulty doing physical exercises can use our mental training method to improve the muscle strength they have lost or maintain the muscle strength they have,'' researchers wrote.
Of course, actual strength-training exercises — as opposed to imaginary ones – are still the most effective means of building strong, healthy muscles.
Big Breakfasts for Big Results
This was a good article I read from P90X
Enjoy!
Big Breakfasts for Big Results
By Joe Wilkes
Breakfast. It seems like forever since Mom told us breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but one study shows it's actually true—she wasn't just nagging us. Breakfast is a key component of weight management: A study presented at the 90th annual meeting of the Endocrine Society showed that participants who consumed large breakfasts high in protein and carbohydrates followed by a low-carb, low-calorie diet for the rest of the day lost almost five times as much weight as the participants who followed a low-carb, high-protein diet throughout the day. So what's the big deal about breakfast? And what is a big breakfast anyway? It doesn't seem like the lumberjack special at the local diner would do much to get the pounds off, so what should we be eating?
The study supported the idea that when we wake up in the morning, our bodies want food. You've burned through all the fuel from the previous day, and now your body's ready to burn anything—even muscle—to get a jump-start on the day. And if you skip breakfast, muscle is indeed what your body will burn. Later in the day, your brain is still in starvation mode from breakfast (or lack thereof), so your body will store all the calories you eat as adipose tissue, or fat, to save up for the next day when you try to starve it again. This study also found that levels of serotonin, the chemical responsible for controlling cravings, were much higher in the morning, which is why breakfast is the meal so many of us are willing to skip. But if our bodies are left unfed, our serotonin levels drop, and our bodies' craving for sweets begin to rise throughout the day.
But before you hit McDonald's® for their 800-calorie Big Breakfast, or worse, their 1,150-calorie Deluxe Breakfast, or you swing by Denny's® for a 740-calorie Grand Slam® or 950-calorie All-American Slam® with hash browns, keep in mind these weren't the breakfasts the study participants consumed. The big-breakfast group had a 610-calorie breakfast as part of a 1,240-calorie day. Breakfasts included milk, lean meat, cheese, whole grains, a serving of healthy fat, and one ounce of chocolate or candy to defray the craving for sweets. The other group's participants consumed 1,085 calories per day as part of a high-protein, low-carb diet; only 290 of their daily calories were consumed at breakfast. Both groups were on their respective diets for 8 months. The high-protein group lost an average of nine pounds, but the big-breakfast group lost an average of 40 pounds. And, perhaps not surprisingly, the big-breakfast group complained less about cravings and hunger.
The big-breakfast group's breakfast consisted of 58 grams of carbs, 47 grams of protein, and 22 grams of fat. Study reviewers attribute some of the success of the big-breakfast group to the fact that the protein and healthy fats eaten kept the participants full and reduced cravings. They also said that nutritional requirements were well met and that there weren't empty calories consumed, because the breakfasts included lots of whole grains, fruits, lean proteins, and healthy unsaturated fats. So bad news for the lumberjack-special devotees—a big plate of greasy hash browns, bacon, and biscuits with gravy isn't going to get the job done, unless the job we're discussing is clogging your arteries.
Here are some healthy big breakfasts, similar to the ones consumed by the study's participants.
Chicken and the Egg
2 large eggs, scrambled
2 slices whole wheat toast
1 boneless, skinless chicken breast, grilled
1 grapefruit
Oats 'n' Berries Breakfast
1 packet plain instant oatmeal, prepared, with 1 scoop Beachbody® Whey Protein Powder
1 cup fresh blueberries
3 oz. roasted turkey breast
1 large hard-boiled egg
1 oz. dark chocolate
Two Egg Sandwiches
2 whole wheat English muffins, toasted
2 large poached eggs
2 slices low-fat Swiss cheese
2 slices Canadian bacon, grilled
Vegetarian Breakfast
1 cup cottage cheese (2% milk fat)
1 cup sliced peaches, canned in juice, not syrup
1 slice whole wheat toast
1/2 avocado
2 vegetarian sausage links, cooked
Pescetarian Breakfast
1 6-oz. can light tuna, canned in water, drained
2 Tbsp. mayonnaise (preferably olive oil or canola oil-based)
2 slices whole wheat toast
1 oz. dark chocolate
Enjoy!
Big Breakfasts for Big Results
By Joe Wilkes
Breakfast. It seems like forever since Mom told us breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but one study shows it's actually true—she wasn't just nagging us. Breakfast is a key component of weight management: A study presented at the 90th annual meeting of the Endocrine Society showed that participants who consumed large breakfasts high in protein and carbohydrates followed by a low-carb, low-calorie diet for the rest of the day lost almost five times as much weight as the participants who followed a low-carb, high-protein diet throughout the day. So what's the big deal about breakfast? And what is a big breakfast anyway? It doesn't seem like the lumberjack special at the local diner would do much to get the pounds off, so what should we be eating?
The study supported the idea that when we wake up in the morning, our bodies want food. You've burned through all the fuel from the previous day, and now your body's ready to burn anything—even muscle—to get a jump-start on the day. And if you skip breakfast, muscle is indeed what your body will burn. Later in the day, your brain is still in starvation mode from breakfast (or lack thereof), so your body will store all the calories you eat as adipose tissue, or fat, to save up for the next day when you try to starve it again. This study also found that levels of serotonin, the chemical responsible for controlling cravings, were much higher in the morning, which is why breakfast is the meal so many of us are willing to skip. But if our bodies are left unfed, our serotonin levels drop, and our bodies' craving for sweets begin to rise throughout the day.
But before you hit McDonald's® for their 800-calorie Big Breakfast, or worse, their 1,150-calorie Deluxe Breakfast, or you swing by Denny's® for a 740-calorie Grand Slam® or 950-calorie All-American Slam® with hash browns, keep in mind these weren't the breakfasts the study participants consumed. The big-breakfast group had a 610-calorie breakfast as part of a 1,240-calorie day. Breakfasts included milk, lean meat, cheese, whole grains, a serving of healthy fat, and one ounce of chocolate or candy to defray the craving for sweets. The other group's participants consumed 1,085 calories per day as part of a high-protein, low-carb diet; only 290 of their daily calories were consumed at breakfast. Both groups were on their respective diets for 8 months. The high-protein group lost an average of nine pounds, but the big-breakfast group lost an average of 40 pounds. And, perhaps not surprisingly, the big-breakfast group complained less about cravings and hunger.
The big-breakfast group's breakfast consisted of 58 grams of carbs, 47 grams of protein, and 22 grams of fat. Study reviewers attribute some of the success of the big-breakfast group to the fact that the protein and healthy fats eaten kept the participants full and reduced cravings. They also said that nutritional requirements were well met and that there weren't empty calories consumed, because the breakfasts included lots of whole grains, fruits, lean proteins, and healthy unsaturated fats. So bad news for the lumberjack-special devotees—a big plate of greasy hash browns, bacon, and biscuits with gravy isn't going to get the job done, unless the job we're discussing is clogging your arteries.
Here are some healthy big breakfasts, similar to the ones consumed by the study's participants.
Chicken and the Egg
2 large eggs, scrambled
2 slices whole wheat toast
1 boneless, skinless chicken breast, grilled
1 grapefruit
Oats 'n' Berries Breakfast
1 packet plain instant oatmeal, prepared, with 1 scoop Beachbody® Whey Protein Powder
1 cup fresh blueberries
3 oz. roasted turkey breast
1 large hard-boiled egg
1 oz. dark chocolate
Two Egg Sandwiches
2 whole wheat English muffins, toasted
2 large poached eggs
2 slices low-fat Swiss cheese
2 slices Canadian bacon, grilled
Vegetarian Breakfast
1 cup cottage cheese (2% milk fat)
1 cup sliced peaches, canned in juice, not syrup
1 slice whole wheat toast
1/2 avocado
2 vegetarian sausage links, cooked
Pescetarian Breakfast
1 6-oz. can light tuna, canned in water, drained
2 Tbsp. mayonnaise (preferably olive oil or canola oil-based)
2 slices whole wheat toast
1 oz. dark chocolate
Monday
Set up for Success
Set yourself up for success, think about planning a healthy lifestyle as a number of small, manageable steps rather than drastic change. Approach these changes gradually and with commitment, you will have a healthy lifestyle sooner than you think. A few tips to get started:
- Simplify. Instead of being overly concerned with counting calories or measuring portion sizes, think of your diet in terms of color, variety and freshness. Then it should be easier to make healthy choices. Focus on finding foods you love and easy recipes that incorporate a few fresh ingredients. Gradually, your diet will become healthier and more delicious.
- Start slow and make changes to your eating habits over time. Trying to make your diet healthy overnight isn’t realistic. Changing everything at once usually leads to cheating or giving up on your new eating plan. Make small steps, like adding a salad (full of different color vegetables) to your diet once a day or switching from butter to olive oil when cooking. As your small changes become habit, you can continue to add more healthy choices to your diet.
- Every change you make to improve your diet matters. You don’t have to be perfect and you don’t have to completely eliminate foods you enjoy to have a healthy diet. The long term goal is to feel good, have more energy and reduce the risk of disease. Don’t let your missteps derail you—every healthy food choice you make counts.
Friday
Review Food Labels
Look at the nutrition label before you buy.
LOOK AT:
Serving size
Calories / serving
Fat / serving
Ingredients
Avoid foods packed with sugar and trans-fats. The ingredients are listed in order of highest to lowest. Meaning the first ingredient is the most prevalant in the product. Avoid or minimize if they are one of the top ingredients listed in the ingredients list: Sugar, High Fructose Corn Syrup and Hydrogenated or Partially Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil.
You should be looking for more natural foods and not highly processed foods.
LOOK AT:
Serving size
Calories / serving
Fat / serving
Ingredients
Avoid foods packed with sugar and trans-fats. The ingredients are listed in order of highest to lowest. Meaning the first ingredient is the most prevalant in the product. Avoid or minimize if they are one of the top ingredients listed in the ingredients list: Sugar, High Fructose Corn Syrup and Hydrogenated or Partially Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil.
You should be looking for more natural foods and not highly processed foods.
Wednesday
Tuesday
Sugar WOES!!!
Why worry about sugar? Aside from providing empty calories, one of sugar's major drawbacks is that it raises the insulin level. An influx of sugar into the bloodstream upsets the body's blood-sugar balance, triggering the release of insulin, which the body uses to keep blood-sugar at a constant and safe level. Prolonged, elevated insulin levels can increase the risk for disease by causing inflammation within your body and by inhibiting key hormones that regulate the immune system. Insulin also promotes the storage of fat, so that when you eat excessive sweets high in sugar, you're making way for rapid weight gain and elevated triglycerides, both of which have been linked to cardiovascular disease.
Twas the week after Christmas...
Twas the week after Christmas and all through the city,
Not a person was pleased with their weight, what a pity.
A Fitness Trainer devised such a plan,
To fight our love handles and be the best that we can.
So wipe off that frown and post Christmas blues,
2011 has a plan just for you!
9 weeks of heart thumping, lifting, and sweating,
Muscle toning, stretching, and a whole lot of begging.
No mercy will be shown for that pecan pie belly.
If you have any questions you need to call Shelley
Step4wardfitness@suddenlink.net
Couch Potato to RED HOT Tomato
January 10 – March 10
Mon, Wed, Thurs
9:00 am
and
Mon, Tues, Thurs
5:45 pm
All class access
Body Composition (before and after)
Nutrition
Weekly weigh in
Texts
Videos
Emails
ACCOUNTABILITY!
$220
Not a person was pleased with their weight, what a pity.
A Fitness Trainer devised such a plan,
To fight our love handles and be the best that we can.
So wipe off that frown and post Christmas blues,
2011 has a plan just for you!
9 weeks of heart thumping, lifting, and sweating,
Muscle toning, stretching, and a whole lot of begging.
No mercy will be shown for that pecan pie belly.
If you have any questions you need to call Shelley
Step4wardfitness@suddenlink.net
Couch Potato to RED HOT Tomato
January 10 – March 10
Mon, Wed, Thurs
9:00 am
and
Mon, Tues, Thurs
5:45 pm
All class access
Body Composition (before and after)
Nutrition
Weekly weigh in
Texts
Videos
Emails
ACCOUNTABILITY!
$220
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