Tag: HealthWellnessFitness

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Blood Sugar | Insulin Resistance | PCOS Diet | Nutrition | Recipes Latest News

Fruits and Veggies—More Matters Month

berries-antioxidants

Fruits-Veggies-More-MonthWhat is in for you?

  • More DIETARY fiber, vitamins, and mineral
  • More plant-based protein — YES, vegetables have protein!
  • Keep appetite in check
  • Reduce risk of cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and more
  • Organic or not, just eat more of them!

Isn’t it a great excuse to eat more fruits and veggies? How about today? Sub any other food for a colorful and fun veggie or fruit and you got it. NO EXCUSES. It’s that simple!

Fruits

berries-antioxidantsThey come in a variety of colors, shapes, tastes and sizes. Fresh fruits are generally high in fiber and are a good source of vitamins and minerals.

Regular consumption of fruit is also associated with reduced risks of several diseases and helps to fight aging. Whatever your preferences are for fruits, my recommendation is to have two servings a day. Berries are low in sugar and great antioxidants!

Vegetables

Most persons do not associate vegetables with high levels of protein but there are lots and several that we eat everyday. Broccoli, asparagus, and spinach are great examples of greens foods with protein. Cup of sautéed spinach has 3 grams of protein. Broccoli has 2.6 grams per cup. It is important that you eat 5-7 servings of both cooked and raw vegetables a day. When selecting do your best to have at least 3 colors of vegetables on the plate for more phytochemicals and antioxidants.

A diet rich in vegetables and fruits can lower blood pressure, reduce risk of heart disease and stroke, prevent some types of cancer, lower risk of eye and digestive problems, and have a positive effect on blood sugar which can help keep appetite in check. Whatever fruits and veggies you choose, it is my recommendation that you buy organic when possible. They give you higher nutritional value and less toxicity inhibiting your body from being 100%. Don’t forget to properly wash vegetables and fruits very well.

Organic or not, just EAT MORE of these nourishing foods–your body and mind will thank you. I use the app Dirty Dozen to decide when or not buy organic. EWG is a great organization and provides great information for FREE!

What’s stopping you from eating More Fruits and Veggies?  NO EXCUSES! 

Call 770-835.5490 when you’re ready to Elevate Your Energy and Take On Life with confidence and joy! Let’s discuss your health, goals, and a path that works for you to reclaim energy, focus, productivity and feel your best again!  I am offering a limited number of  ‘Energy Audit‘ 45-min sessions at no cost to you.

Sources

https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/what-should-you-eat/vegetables-and-fruits

http://www.fda.gov/downloads/Food/IngredientsPackagingLabeling/LabelingNutrition/UCM169234.pdf

http://www.bodybuilding.com/content/8-high-protein-vegetables.html

 

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Fitness | Exercise Latest News

Be Fab – Be Moving! Hurt So Good!

Hurt So Good
Hurt So Good!

Hello Wellness Warriors! Have you heard people who enjoy physical activity say “It hurt so good“?

That was me on Monday, a day after steep and speedy 5.1 miles hike, and after yesterday’s 38:30min workout.

Hurt So Good
Hurt So Good!

5 Rounds:

10 Pull-ups

10 Push Press 45lbs bar

30 Kettlebell swings 35lbs

20 GHD Sit-ups

20 Abmat sit ups

50 air squats

Averaged 7:15 minutes rounds 1, 2, 4. Rounds 3 and 5 dragged my overall timing down as I broke down routines into smaller reps to breath.

I did this workout alone; everyone else was doing a different WOD. It is always interesting to listen and evaluate the ‘conversations’ between the ‘let’s go’ and ‘you are tired’ sides of the brain are having. I like to win the battle with  ‘LET’S GOOOOO!!!!!‘. I feel awesome after I exercise, so why do I let the conversation take place? Well, I am a human. Winning the battles makes us stronger, help build consistency, strength, confidence, and we feel better!

As a personal trainer and health coach, I must be there for my clients. Would you agree most of us need a push, vote of confidence, motivational words, kick to believe in our abilities? When I work out, especially on my own, I tell myself (what I tell my clients):

  • KEEP MOVING!
  • BREATH AND GO!
  • I CAN DO IT!
  • MOVE YOUR FANNY, MARIA!

That said, how are you moving your fanny today, tomorrow, the day after, and the day after that?

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Corporate Wellness Latest News

Corporate Wellness Fact

corpoate_wellness_BeFabBeYou

67% of employers say poor employee health habits are a top challenge of maintaining affordable coverage!

Be Fab – Be You LLC customizes programs for corporations of all sizes. Become the role model for your employees and colleagues– help them achieve wellness inside and outside the workplace.

We offer a complimentary Wellness Energy Bites Lunch & Learn ($350 Value FREE). Don’t miss this opportunity.

To learn more, call 770-835-5490 or email us at info@BeFabBeYou.com.

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Fitness | Exercise Latest News

Core Strength. 1-500 reps. What?

Bench Press
Bench Press
Bench Press
Bench Press

When was the last time you did 500 reps of abs/core?

Sounds a lot, I know. Never? Cannot remember? How about getting started with 50 and add 5-10 a day or every two days? Break reps down thru the day if needed. Regain and strengthen your core. Why? Keep reading.

Several years ago, I did 250 reps of core/abs, first thing out of bed, for a couple of weeks before I went to trip. On Thursday, prescribed workout was purely sprinting. That’s not my body cup of tea—my motto is protect my body parts for longevity and knees and hips wouldn’t be happy! Thus, I decided I was going to do one rep max of bench presses and core.

Stopped presses at 95 lbs then decided to give 500 reps of abs a try. Twenty sets of 25 reps of different movements including ab-mat sit-ups, bicycles, crunches, leg lifts, leg crosses, bridges, Russian twists, and a few personal creations without names  🙂 

23:25 minutes later, including short breaks between, I was done. That was a little over 21 reps/minute. Some sets took me longer than others (bicycles, twists, crosses were 50 for 25/side). Since I had no baseline to compare to, I am happy with the results. Baseline is set for next time. 

Remember core muscles provide stability, power, balance, and lower risk of injuries.

EVERY exercise performed, especially when standing versus machines, should engage abs. Always ask yourself whether you’re engaging the core muscles during a movement. If you are not, get a trainer to help you because you could be easily overusing other muscles, including our back! I am available to help  😛 

Find a here an article from the Mayo Clinic and another from Harvard for greater knowledge and motivation to get started.

It will be a beautiful day in Atlanta. Hope wherever you are, you can go outside for fresh air and move your fanny.

Categories
Diet | Nutrition | Recipes Latest News

Mexican Burrito Recipe

naked_burritoMexican Burrito

Happy 5 de Mayo! If you are looking for a recipe for a healthy burrito, you found it here. This recipe offers great substitutes for rice, beans, and flour wrap. It will nourish four people or two people with leftovers. You can eat it naked or wrap it with collard green leaf, which i recommend for added nutrition. Plus is a much healthier alternative to any kind of overly processed flour product. Make it a fun and enriching activity for yourself and family or friends. Help spread the concept of eating healthier but replacing inflammatory foods for nourishing foods.

Ingredients For Beef

 

1 pound ground beef, grass fed if possible to reduce inflammatory components in conventional meats

1 medium white onion, diced

1 long red chili, diced with seeds

1 can diced tomatoes

4 garlic cloves, finely diced

1 1/2 tsp sweet paprika

2 tsp cumin powder (you can grind whole cumin seeds)

1 tsp coriander seeds powder (you can grind whole coriander seeds)

1 tsp turmeric powder

1 tbsp ghee (or grass fed butter)

1-2 tsp Celtic salt or sea salt (use 1 teaspoon for those with hypertension or whatever other reason)

For roasted sweet potatoes

2 large sweet potatoes, cut in cubes

1 tsp smoked or sweet paprika

1/2 tsp cumin powder

A good pinch of black paper

A good pinch of sea salt

2 tbsp olive oil

redpepper_tomato_salsaFor salsa salad

2 tomatoes, cut in quarters, seeds scooped out

2/3 cup diced roasted red peppers

1 medium cucumber, diced

1/2 cup diced spring/green onion, about 2-3 springs

1/2 cup chopped coriander, leaves and stalks

1/2 lime, juice only

1 small garlic clove, finely chopped

1 small red chili chopped or chili flakes to your heat taste

2 tbsp olive oil

A pinch of sea salt

Instructions

Heat 1 tabslepoon of ghee in a large, deep frying pan or a casserole dish. Sautee onion until soft and golden. At the same time turn the oven to 390F.

Bring the heat back to high and add beef mince in small chunks. Stir and cook until browned on all sides, about 5-7 minutes. At this time I peel and cut the sweet potatoe – it’s all about efficiency. Remember to stir and break the beef apart regularly at the same time.

Add spices, garlic, salt and chili to the beef and cook for a couple of minutes. Add diced tomatoes and a little water, about half a cup, stir and bring to boil. Then turn to low-medium heat and cook for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Once beef is under way, mix sweet potato cubes with sweet paprika, cumin and olive oil and scatter in a large baking tray. Bake for 15 minutes at 190C.  Take out of the oven, sprinkle with a generous pinch of sea salt and pepper, toss around and put back in the oven for a further 5 minutes.

Final step is to prepare the salsa salad. Dice tomatoes, cucumbers and red peppers, add chopped coriander, garlic, spring onion and chili and season with lime juice, sea salt and olive oil. Mix together well and set side until serving.

Cut avocado into quarters and drizzle with some lime juice to prevent discoloration. Once everything is ready, divide between four bowls and serve with a quarter avocado each.

collard-green-wrapsOr add everything to a large leaf of collard greens!

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 30 minutes

 

Adapted Recipe from Eat Drink Paleo

Categories
Fitness | Exercise Latest News

Rowing Easy 5K – How Are You Moving Your Fanny?

5K Row
5K Row

Moving My Fanny: Day 5 = 5K row

How did you move your fanny?

Friday afternoon, 4/29/16, I felt it was a good day for an easy 5K row. Dragged the rowing machine outside for fresh air, turned my pandora dance music station of phone on, placed water bottle next to me, and GO!

Set damper at 5.5 and focused on form (didn’t lean too forward or back, used full range of motion, kept your arms straight). Every 750m, I reversed grip (palm-up) to engage more of my biceps. Rowing with palm-up doesn’t provide the same power and that’s OK. It was a day to recovery muscles, not to break records :-). As long as arms are maintained next to the body, it’s totally fine to row with palms up.  Completed 5K in 24:12 minutes. 

 

Broccoli Casserole
Broccoli Casserole

Got home and got busy in the kitchen.

Had this 3 lbs bag of broccoli that was going to expire soon. It was time to do something with it. Made a delicious broccoli casserole. 

Stay tuned for recipe!

 

Categories
Blood Sugar | Insulin Resistance | PCOS Fitness | Exercise Latest News

Is Exercise Your Ticket To Weight Loss?

Tabata Training
Tabata Training

Exercise ≠ Weight Loss Ticket. Yet, Exercise = World’s Best Drug?!?!

The notion that exercise is the ticket to the weight loss express still prevails. Unfortunately, looking at long-term studies, exercise does not drive weight as it ‘should’ (= as it is perceived or believed).  Why is that? A few reasons…

  • People eat back their exercise. A little extra dish or drink because they have moved their fannies. We’ve been told to refuel, so eat away. That is true to elite athletes doing endurance sports. Chances are most people don’t need to do any of that. I certainly do not.
  • The concept of constrained energy expenditure is interesting. Recent research (http://www.cell.com/current-biology/abstract/S0960-9822(15)01577-8) looked at the impact amount of exercise has on total number of calories burned in a day. It suggests that the more exercise we do, the more our bodies slow down during down time. This might explains why people who hit the gym really hard are NOT seeing results they want. This might discourage people from exercising. The indirect benefits of exercise to diet and weight management is significant. That include blood sugar and insulin management, energy level, sleep, hormone balance, brain and digestive health. These benefits will in turn drive dietary changes more.  Think about the overall health benefits thousands of people of join the gym every January and leave it a couple of months later are missing out because their driver is weight loss!
  • The notion that more muscles we have, more calories we burn. That is true but it seems highly overrated…isn’t a fair fight. World-renowned exercise physiologist Claude Bouchard went on record to say, “Skeletal muscle burns about 13 calories per kilogram of body weight over 24 hours when a person is at rest.″ In other words, Bouchard ascribes the resting metabolic requirement for 1 pound of muscle at less than 6 calories per day. He also states that, “Weight lifting has virtually no effect on resting metabolism.”.

    Let’s say one gains 15 pounds of muscles while shedding 15 pounds of fat, one might be burning an extra 90 calories only or a couple of oreo cookies. So well, well…are there any benefits to increasing skeletal muscle percentage? You bet!  I can address another day.

I say, let’s rebrand the role of exercise. From weight loss and management ticket to overall health management ticket. Understanding its indirect benefits to diet and weight management might help people building a long lasting relationship with it, making it part of their lifestyle forever!

Would you like to learn more and techniques how to apply all this? Tired of procrastinating? YOUR health is the only one you got!  Reach out and let’s get started. 

 

Four Tabatas = Energy Boost = Moving Fanny Works!

It was one of those days. I went to the gym not really certain whether I should have gone. My body and mind were feeling a little tired and it was my forth day in a row working out. I considered going because it was a tabata of movements I feel very comfortable with and there was not heavy lifting involved. Otherwise, it would NOT have been a good idea. Tired body during technical lifts can lead to injury instantaneously and in the long term.

A Special Loving Reminder

Four minutes into the routine and I was reminded why I love to move my fanny and encourage everyone to do the same and become a personal trainer as well. Total workout lasted 18 minutes. I was sweating like if I had just left a shower and fully energetic.

Full Mixed Tabata*
•Box Jumps (20 inches)
•GHD Sit Ups

– Rest 2 Mins –

Full Mixed Tabata*
•Lunge Steps
•Kettlebell Swings (35 lbs)

*Tabata is a time interval of 20 secs of work followed by 10 secs of rest, for 8 rounds (4 total mins).
The mixed Tabata alternates movements, with the same interval. A full mixed Tabata is alternating movements for 8 rounds EACH (8 total min).

Soon after the tabatas, Bianca and I did 3 rounds of 10 reps of 4 different core movements. Hello to abs. 

Cheers!

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Fitness | Exercise Latest News

Jen Widerstrom – IDLife – Training

Jen Widerstrom, Biggest Loser Trainer and IDLife investor…

…shares a few training tips for those considering a race like Tough Mudder. Completing any portion of the race is a win, she says. I could not agree more. IDLife makes high / clean quality products and evidence base individualized nutrition that no other supplement company offers in the market. Ingredients your body will absorb. Take the FREE HIPAA Compliant Assessment at www.BeFabBeYou.idlife.com.

Jen’s 28-Day Challenge

Jen has also developed 28-Day Challenges for IDLife. Not only i endorse IDLife products, but also take IDNutrition daily, have done the Performance Challenge, and have products such as Pre and Post Workout, Hydrate, and Shake handy. Excellent products supporting exercise routines. For those looking to shed weight, Lean is the product. Last but not least, try Whey and Vegan shake protein powders in your smoothies.

‪#‎BeFabBeYou‬ ‪#‎fitness‬ ‪#‎healthwellnessfitnesscoach‬ ‪#‎wellness‬ #IDLife

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Diet | Nutrition | Recipes Fitness | Exercise Latest News

Test your Strength with RM (Rep Max)

bench pressAre You Tracking Your Strength?

I didn’t notice how sore my upper body was until I started to stretch before the workout. Ouch! To help out, two of the 1x Rep Max movements were upper body. Had not done 1x RM done in a while. 

If you’re in the gym lifting moderate to heavy weights often and muscles aren’t building up as they ‘should’, I encourage you to look into your nutrition, sleep & rest, and timing. Reach out for a few tips to help you understand what, how, and when. 

Quick 5:15min workout:

15-12-09 reps of 
Burpees
Wall Ball Shots (14 lbs)

Then…all mostly shoulder RMs. It was a good test for my shoulders. They felt OK.
15 mins to find 1xRM Squat Clean (max at 95 lbs)
15 mins to find 1xRM Bench Press (max at 95 lbs)
15 mins to find 1xRM OHS or Overhead Squat (max at 75 lbs)

 

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Fitness | Exercise Latest News

Front vs. Back Squat

Moved my fanny with several movements, including front squats, and got a pretty good sweat within minutes. Completed the workout in 17:13 minutes. Considering that I was fasting and without food for 21 hours, timing wasn’t bad.

50 Calorie Row
40 Front Squats (75 lbs)
30 Toes To Ring
20 Push Jerks (75 lbs)
30 Pull Ups  – My sensitive skin on hands didn’t resist the pull-ups. The last 6 reps were a little bloody 🙁

For a quick cash-out, Bruna and I did 3 rounds of 20 sit-ups passing 14lbs ball to each other. Keeping core awake!

The front squat is great to lower body including muscles such as gastrocnemius, gluteus maximus, and especially quads.  Back squat requires more core for stabilization, hips, and spinal erectors. If back squat is performed with bad technique, the movement will be blamed for lower back pain. That is because a person might use lean forward and compromise back. When performing front squat, it is hard to lean forward without losing power or dropping bar weight on the floor. Thus, in general, front squat promotes better or proper back squat technique.

Front squat
Front squat