Happy March!!

Can you believe it is already here? I sure can't. I feel like Christmas just happened 2 seconds ago. I love this time of year. The weather is starting to warm up, the trees and grass are turning green, and my shorts start to call my name from the bottom of my dresser!

Soon those shorts will be jumping out of my drawer and on to my legs. Thank you to everyone who gave me feedback about what you wanted the March challenge to focus on. The votes were pretty even, so I thought we would start with legs and glutes and save arms for Awesome Arms April!! ;)

Without further adue, here is our schedule for Lean Legs March! If you click on the picture, it will appear larger and easier to read.

Here are pictures and descriptions of the exercises included in this weeks workouts!

Bridge (source)

When you are doing your bridge, be sure to keep your shoulders on the floor so you are not putting too much pressure on your neck. Squeeze your inner thighs together and avoid rolling to the outside edges of your foot. Most importantly, don't forget to breathe!

Wall SIt (source)

Are you having flash backs of PE right now! Wall sits are an oldy but a goody. Make sure you keep your entire back on the wall and don't lean on your legs. You also want your knees to be over your ankles. Have fun!

Donkey Kick (source)

Begin on all fours with hands underneath shoulders and knees under hips. Lift right leg up to a 90 dgree angle until your knee is in line with your hip. Bring it back down in line with your knee. Repeat for the number of repetitions indicated on the chart. Switch legs.

I hope you love it! I will post the new exercises at the beginning of each week! Lean legs here we come!

Do you love this time of year?

Is the weather warming up where you live?

In health,

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Hello All!

I apologize for my absence yesterday. I was playing catch up all day from being sick on Tuesday. I am super excited for today's topic, because so many people ask me how to bust out of a training rut or what to do when they hit a plateau. The reason we hit plateaus, is our bodies adapt to a certain types of exercise over time, which results in our metabolisms slowing down. The key to busting out of any rut, is adding variety to your workouts! Intensity is also an important factor to keep in mind. Exercising at a higher intensity will help increase lean muscle mass and burn more calories before and after your workout! The two training programs below, will help you Pump Up the intensity of your training routine and Rev Up your sleeping metabolism!

[Source]
Pyramid Training

How it works: Pyramid training consists of doing three or more sets of the same exercise, beginning with light weights and high reps, then increasing the weight and decreasing the reps with each set. An entire workout of pyramid sets can be extremely challenging and not to mention time consuming, so try adding one upper-body and one-lower body exercise in at the end of your workout. If you split your workouts into upper and lower body days, maybe you can add in two upper-body pyramid sets one day and two lower-body pyramid sets another day.

Why it works: This lifting technique emphasis muscular endurance, which can increase your fat-burning rate.

How to do it: Holding one 10lbs dumbbell in each hand, perform 15 standard squats (feet hip distance apart). On your next set, increase your weight to 15lbs in each hand, and perform 10-12 repetitions. Finally, increase your weight one more time and drop your repetitions to between 6-8.

Tabata Method

[Source]
How it works: This method of training has become increasingly popular over the past few years. Americans are not getting any less busy, and this type of training allows you to work at an all out effort for a shorter amount of time and still see results. Tabata training consists of 20 seconds all out effort followed by 10 seconds of rest. You repeat these intervals eight times. According to Researchers at McMaster University in Ontario, exercising as hard as you can for short periods of time is as effective at improving muscle and metabolism as sweating it out for longer at a lower intensity.

Why it works: The all-out effort keeps your heart rate and metabolism soaring the entire workout and for hours after you've finished, which results in a higher calorie burn.

How to do it: Try the following three move sequence:
1) Lunges with overhead shoulder press: Holding the dumbbells at shoulder height, step back and lower into a lunge, as you step forward press the dumbbells overhead.
2) Squats with hammer curls: Holding the dumbbells by your side (knuckles facing in towards your legs), lower down into a squat. As you stand up, curl the dumbbells up towards your shoulders.
3) Uneven Pushups: With one hand elevated on a step, curb, or BOSU, bend your elbows to lower your chest toward the floor. Be sure to alternate sides.

Starting with exercise one, do as many repetitions as you can (with good form) in 20 seconds and then rest for 10. Repeat exercise one 8x's. Rest for two minutes, and then move on to exercise two, completing eight intervals maintaining the 20/10 ratio. Take another two minute breather, and then complete eight intervals of exercise number three.
Try swapping one of your normal workouts for one of the above training methods each week. Your body will be shocked into action!!

Now for the Exciting Announcement:

I have recently become a distributor for Nutrilite Vitamins and Supplements! Nutrilite products are all natural and filled with the highest quality vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients. We have everything from vitamins, protein powder, snack bars, and meal replacement bars, to energy drinks, recovery products, and my personal favorite antioxidant twist tubes! I will be hosting the Grand Opening of my online store the week of November 1st-7th. This entire week, I will be giving away fun products, and offering discounts to all of my blog readers!

Don't worry, Fun, Fit and Fabulous will still remain a purely informational and fun blog discussing the latest news in fitness, nutrition and health. I will not under any circumstances turn into a crazy sales person. The majority of Nutrilite activity will take place on its own separate page (which is in the works). I just had to get that off my chest! However, I am so excited to be able to bring these wonderful products to my amazing readers! Stay tuned for more information!

Food for thought:
Have you ever tried either of the above training methods?

Yours truly,

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Summary of this book in one sentence: Most of our body fat comes from ingested sugar not ingested fat!

Sugar Busters! is an oldie but a goodie! I give this book four stars for it's usefulness and sound information. Sugar Busters! is written by four men- H. Leighton Steward (CEO of a fortune 500 energy company), Dr. Morrison Bethea (cardiac surgeon), Dr. Samuel Andrews (endocrinologist), and Dr. Luis Balart (gastroenterologist). Talk about a line up! The basic concept of this “diet,” is to have a positive influence on insulin and glucogon secretion through nutrition. The Sugar Busters! way of eating includes a diet composed of natural unrefined sugars, whole grains, veggies, fruits, lean meats, fiber, and alcohol (in moderation). So why cut out sugar? Sugar stimulates insulin secretion, which instructs our body's metabolism to create, store and hold on to fat. That is never good! On the other hand, protein stimulates glucagon secretion, which does the opposite of insulin. Glucagon instructs our metabolism to mobilize and convert fat back to glucose, which reduces our fat stores and waistlines! Gooooo Glucogon! Sugar Busters! isn't the Atkins diet, but it does recommend cutting out all overly processed carbohydrates and excess sugars. Overall, this book was very informative without being overly confusing. I was a little nervous about a book written by three doctors and a CEO. I was half way expecting to need a dictionary every other word, but that was not the case at all! 

• Avoid refined carbohydrates at all cost!
• “Potatoes are for pigs and corn is for cattle” (old french saying)nthey are both quickly converted to pure sugar and have a very high insulin response. Other high offenders are beets and carrots.
• Beware of sauces- ketchup, BBQ sauce, and salad dressing can all be loaded with sugar. 
• Whole grain (stone ground not whole meal) products are ok, but avoid ones with dextrose, maltose, honey, molasses, brown sugar or corn syrup. Read the ingredient labels! You might be surprised by what is hiding in your favorite loaf of bread. 
• Opt for smaller more frequent meals versus two or three larger meals. Less frequent larger meals will alter the body’s response to insulin secretion and increase fat storage.
• Proper portion sizes are still very important. This book does not give you a free pass to eat three plates of fatty steak for dinner!
• Since most cholesterol is manufactured at night (while we are sleeping), try to finish your evening meal by 8:00pm. Then close the kitchen.
• Healthy snacks are encouraged, and most fruits (except watermelons, pineapples, raisins, and bananas, which all have a high glycemic index) are great for this occasion. This part of the book almost brought me to tears due to the fact that watermelon is my all time favorite food! I’m talking even more so than ice cream!
• Fruit contains the basic sugar fructose and stimulates approximately 1/3 the insulin response of glucose. Fruit is great when eaten alone, but loses the advantage of lower insulin secretion when consumed with other carbohydrates.
• Caffeine should be limited because it makes the stomach produce gastric acid, which stimulates appetite.

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Article of the Day: Lately, I have been having more than my fair share of headaches, so when I came across this article I had to share it with everyone! 5 Foods That Can Fight Migraines 

We have all hopped on our favorite elliptical or stair master, pressed the quick start button, completed our workout, and then celebrated as the calorie read out told us we burned 500 calories in only 30 minutes! That sounds too good to be true…..Because IT IS! Most cardio machines yield cardio readouts that are reflective of the average person. So if it says you burned 400 calories, your actual caloric burn could be anywhere between 323 to 491 calories (TheWashingtonPost.com). These machines are inaccurate (especially when you use the quick start function) because they do not take in to account your personal characteristics such as resting heart rate, muscle mass, overall fitness level, and working heart rate. Many machines simply use averages and then compare those to the distance you covered on the machine and come up with your total calorie burn. Experts agree that these machines can over predict the amount of calories burned by apporximately 25%! To investigate this matter further, my friend Alison and I decided to conduct our own experiemtn. We each wore our polar heart rate monitors (which we have input our personal information in to) while exercising on different pieces of cardio equipment. On each piece of cardio equipment we used the quick start program. After our workout, we compared the calorie readout on the machine to the calorie readout on our heart rate monitors. Here is what we found out:

Now, I’m not telling you to disregard the calorie readout completely, just keep in mind that is not always 100% accurate. Wearing a heart rate monitor is one of the most accurate ways to calculate caloric expenditure during exercise. However, if you do not own a heart rate monitor, you can increase the accuracy of the machines by taking the time to type in your sex, height, age, and weight. So next time you jump on your favorite piece of equipment, type in your information and remember, even if the calorie readout says you burned 1000 calories, that does not give you permission to eat a whole chocolate cake when you get home.

Yours truly,

Lauren G.

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Article of the Day: Do Negative Calorie Foods Really Exist? Many people say that eating celery can help you lose weight because it takes more energy to digest than it contains. But is that really true?? Check out this article for the truth on this commonly asked weight loss question!

We have all been told over and over that keeping a food journal can be our best ally in the battle of the bulge. I will admit that even though I know it is good for me, I often fall of track and stop logging my food for a few days or even weeks. (yikes bad bad me!) But I am determined to stick with it for the long haul this time. I have my super cute journal and I am ready to go!

Food journals are a great tool to help you lose, maintain, or even gain weight. Tracking everything that passes your lips can be really eye opening (and in some cases jaw dropping)! The American Journal of Preventative Medicine conducted a study that followed 1,685 overweight or obese adults aged 25 and older for six months. The participants kept food diaries and were encouraged to eat a healthy diet and exercise regularly. They also met weekly to share their food diaries and go over skills like how to judge portion size. Those who were diligent with their food journals six days a week or more lost twice as much weight as those who only wrote in the journals one day a week or less. That’s all the proof I need! Journaling here I come!

Top 12 reasons to keep a food journal:

• Helps keep track of food intake (main purpose).
• Holds you accountable.
• Assists in developing an accurate picture of factors contributing to weight gain or preventing weight loss.
• Enables you to monitor calorie intake.
• Encourages focus on food choices, makes eating a mindful, conscious activity and not mindless or unconscious.
• Creates a record to monitor progress or failure.
• Helps control binges.
• Encourages development of new eating habits
• Reinforces commitment to weight loss goals, changing eating habits and improving diet.
• Helps identify problem eating times, food triggers, types of foods and foods used for comfort.
• Documents the relationship between food and mood.
• Helps identify where, when and why you are eating.

What to Track:

• What you ate
• How much you consumed
• When you ate
• Where you were while eating
• How you felt before, during and after you ate

Tips to making the most out of your food diary:

• Include the small details: Include even the small details in your food diary such as the extra topping, extra cheese, or a candy etc. This will help you to realize and avoid the foods which add extra calories
• Track as you go. Don’t wait until the end of the day to write down what you ate.
• Keep reviewing: Keep reviewing your food diary. This will help you to know your eating habits and set new goals to lose weight
• Watch the portion size: Watch the amount of food you eat. Using measuring scales or cups at home can help you learn to recognize portion sizes. Check out Portion Distortion for help with correct portion sizes.
• Don’t Skip indulgent days. I know we don’t want to admit to ourselves that we fell off the wagon, but don’t skip over your journal on an indulgent day. Tracking what you indulge in can help you recognize emotional and environmental triggers.

Are you convinced yet? Now go out and find a cute journal and get to writing. If you are more of the techy type, get excited about tomorrows blog. Tomorrow, we will talk about the best websites and iphone apps to track your food and exercise intake!

Yours truly,

Lauren G.

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 Not So Fun Fact of the Day: In 1970 15% of Americans were obese, where today 30% of considered obese.

Articles of the Day: Portion Size, Then Vs. Now. Take this quiz to see if you can recognize What 100 calories look like. 

Sometimes we know what we should eat, but we are just not sure HOW MUCH we should eat. Portion sizes in America have grown out of control in the past 40 years. In 1970, 47% of Americans were overweight or obese, compared to today where 66% of the population is overweight or obese. A bagel in 1970 was 3 inches and 140 calories, but today a normal bagel is 5-6 inches and 350 calories. Even our dinner plates have grown from 10 inches in 1990 to 12 inches today! So how do you know what a proper serving is?? Below you will find tables for each nutritional group (click on one to make it bigger) that outlines the correct serving sizes of most basic foods. Next time you sit down to eat a steak, remember the picture of the deck of cards and decide how many servings your steak really is!

When eating packaged foods, it is very important to look at the nutrition label to check the serving size. Many seemingly single serving packages, like bags of chips, pretzels, and muffins are really multiple servings. For example, Uncle Wally's fat free gourmet corn muffins have 130 calories per muffin, but there are 2 servings per muffin (which will cost you 260 calories). Who walks around cutting their muffins in half? Not me! Another sneaky food is cereal. Especially the very dense cereal like granola and grape-nuts. Pay special attention to the serving sizes here, because what many American's consider a bowl of cereal, is really 2-4 servings! Talk about starting your day off with a bang (more like a calorie bomb)! Moral of the story is, until you can properly eye ball serving sizes bust out the measuring cup just to be sure!

Yours truly,

Lauren G.

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Quote of the day: "Happiness is not a station you arrive at, but a manner of traveling." -Margrart Lee Runbeck

Article of the day: Check out these delicious skinny cocktails! Drinks under 200 calories.

Most of the time, alcohol and weight loss are enemies, but an occasional drink can definitely have a place in a healthy lifestyle. Cutting out alcohol completely would not only leave you feeling deprived, but make you miss out on some highly potent antioxidants as well! So everything is good in moderation.  First let’s take a look at the ways alcohol can be sabotaging your weight loss efforts, and then we will talk about ways to slim down your favorite cocktails! 


Why alcohol is (sometimes) the enemy:

Alcohol is metabolized differently than other food and beverages. Normally, the body receives energy when carbohydrates, fats and proteins are slowly digested in the stomach, but this is not true when alcohol is present. Alcohol trumps all other nutrients in the body because it does not have to be digested. Alcohol molecules simply diffuse through the stomach wall and can reach your brain and liver in mere minutes. When the alcohol arrives n your liver for processing, your liver focuses all of its attention on digesting the alcohol. Since the liver is distracted by the alcohol, it can not properly process the carbohydrates, fats and proteins leaving them to be permanently stored as body fat. Not Good!

Alcohol contains more calories per gram than carbohydrates and proteins. Alcohol contains 7 calories per gram (and offers no nutritional value) while carbohydrates and proteins contain 4 calories per gram. So you’re consuming more calories, but getting zero out of them.

Alcohol is a diuretic. Diuretics cause water loss and dehydration which also causes you to lose important minerals such as potassium, calcium and zinc. These nutrients are crucial for your body to maintain normal fluid balance, chemical reactions, and muscle contraction and relaxation.

Alcohol can make you forget your healthy eating habits! Unfortunately, alcohol actually stimulates your appetite. Most of the time, drinking the same amount of calories you would normally consume in a meal will not fill you up. Alcohol also lowers your inhibitions and willpower, which can cause you to eat things (like Whataburger, Taco Bell and Taco Cabana) that you would never dream of eating under normal circumstances!

Skipping a meal to save your calories for drinks will not help you in the long run! Not only will the alcohol absorb faster into your system, you will also be more likely to snack on unhealthy foods throughout the night. If you know you are going to be hitting the town with friends, it is a much better idea to add 30 extra minutes of cardio to balance out those extra calories.

So what is more important, the carbs or the calories in alcohol? Many people think that it is the carbs in alcohol that are the enemy. This myth causes many people to think liquor is a more diet-friendly drink. However, dieters need to watch calories as well, and liquor only has a few less calories than beer or wine. Another thing to be careful about, is what you mix with your liquor. Many mixed drinks contain a ton of sugar and added calories! For example, a 4 oz. whisky sour contains 200 calories and a 8oz long island iced tea contain over 400 calories! Ouch that one hurts just to type!

How to Slim Down your Cocktails!

Choose lower proof liquor. Lower Proof = Less calories. For example, 80 proof vodka has 65 calories an ounce while 100 proof liquor has around 80 calories an ounce.

Just say no to frozen drinks. Many restaurants serve ridiculously oversize frozen drinks that can contain more calories than your favorite dessert! Some frozen margaritas can have over 800 calories!

Avoid premade drink mixes. These are usually made of nothing but corn syrup, artificial flavors and sugar. Mix your own drinks with zero calorie mixers like diet sodas and water with lime.

Switch to soda water. If you like vodka or gin and tonic, you could save over 90 calories a drink by switching to soda water.

Swap your glass of wine for a wine spritzer. By diluting your wine with soda water or diet sprite you will save mega calories. A wine spritzer made with 3 ounces of wine and spritzer only contains 60 calories. My favorite drink is Sangria and  diet sprite loaded with real fruit!

Take a break every once in a while! Alternate between alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages to stay hydrated and cut back on calories.

Avoid fancy cocktails and martinis. These can be calorie bomb shells! If you can’t name all of the ingredients, don’t order it. These are often laced with sugar, syrup and other unnecessary garnishes.

The clearer the better. Stick with drinks you can see through. Many creamy martinis have twice as many calories as their see through counterparts due to the heavy cream in them.

Choose low-calorie or calorie free mixers.

• Zero Calorie mixers: diet soda, diet tonic, coffee or tea, sugar-free margarita mix, sugar-free sweet’n sour mix
• Low-cal mixers: light lemonade (5 cal.), Lemon or lime juice (10 cal.), Light cranberry juice 8oz (40 cal.), Light orange juice 8oz (85 cal.)

Check the table below for your drink of choice. Can you upgrade (or should it be downgrade) to a healthier choice??


Happy Mixing!

Lauren G.

P.S. Today marks day 1 of the 100 Push Up challenge!! Good Luck, and keep me posted on your success!!

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Quote of the day: "There are no short cuts to any place worth going." - Unknown

Article of the day: 5 Great Moves with the Resistance Band, The Ultimate Resistance Band Workout, and Get Fit on The Go.

Healthy Eating On Vacation

Conscious indulgences: Even though you are on vacation, still indulge consciously. If you have an ice cream sandwich as an afternoon snack, skip the key lime pie at dessert. You are on vacation, so you don't want to deprive yourself completely. But indulging every meal can make you come back from vacation with more than a few souvenirs.

Repeat after me... Alcohol has calories! Many people don't think about how many calories they consume a day from alcohol. If you have 4 light beers while at the beach that is 400 extra calories. That is about the same as a full meal! Make sure you are conscious of how many calories a day you are consuming from alcohol. If you have a couple of beers at the beach, skip the margarita at dinner (which cost you over 500 calories a piece).

Explore the local farmers market: Check with your hotel's front desk and find out where the local farmers market is located. Stock up on local produce and bring it back to your hotel. Now you have fresh fruit and veggies to snack on in your room (bye bye vending machine) and take with you when you go out and explore the city!

You don't always have to pack lightly: If you are not in danger of exceeding your suit case weight limit, save a little space to bring your favorite healthy snacks with you on vacation. Whenever I travel, I always bring packets of oatmeal with me for breakfast, Kashi granola bars and 100 calorie packs of almonds for on the go snacks, and dried fruit or 100 calorie pack kettle corn bags for a healthy late-night snack. When you have healthy options with you, you are better equipped to fight off the lure of unhealthy processed food!

Research, Research, Research: Google can be your best friend in the war against unhealthy restaurant foods! Most restaurants have their nutrition facts posted online. Check out the restaurants around your hotel before you leave. This way, when you get there you know what restaurants and dishes won't ruin your hard earned beach bod!

Don't be afraid to be picky: Whenever you go to a restaurant, don't be afraid to ask to make changes to your entree. Subbing fries for a side salad, cutting the bacon and cheese on a cobb salad, asking for dressing and sauces on the side, ordering grilled instead of fried chicken, swapping mayo for mustard, or ordering wheat bread instead of white bread can all make a big difference in the caloric and fat content of your meal! I'm so bad about changing entrees, I usually just tell the waiter or waitress before I order, "I'm sorry, but I'm probably going to be really annoying." They usually just laugh and say no problem. But hey, at least I warned them!

Working Out on Vacation

Vacation in a Fitness Friendly City: Shape Magazine rated the top 10 Fittest Cities in the U.S. Check out if your city made the list: 1) Washington D.C. 2) Boston 3) Minneapolis/St. Paul 4) Seattle 5) Portland, Oregon 6) Denver 7) Sacramento, California 8) San Francisco 9) Hartford, Connecticut 10) Austin, Texas (Yes! At least one Texas City made the list!) Researchers at the American College of Sports Medicine evaluated the 50 largest metropolitan areas looking at factors such as personal health indicators, rates of chronic health concerns, and community and environmental issues (such as number and size of city parks, farmers markets, pools, and Rec Centers).

Make a fitness center a requirement: Whenever I research hotels, I always check out the fitness center. Cardio equipment...check, free weights... check, cute foreign gym assistant...check! (just kidding on the last one) Make sure the fitness center is well equipped and inviting. Anyone can spare 45 minutes a day to hit the gym, even if you are on vacation!

Look for fun outdoor activities around your hotel: Think outside the box when you are planning your vacation activities. Does your hotel have kayaks you can rent, or group exercise classes you can take? When we went on our honeymoon, the resort actually offered two spin classes and one yoga class every day. It was fun to take a class from a brand new instructor. Going to a big city? Check to see if your hotel provides jogging maps or walking routes? On the beach, go for a jog in the sand! At a ski resort, try cross country skiing one day (it's a killer workout). Hiking is a great way to explore the great outdoors, burn calories, and tone your lower half all at the same time.

Take a walking or biking tour: Many cities offer walking or biking tours as an alternative to the traditional bus tour of the city. You will get to experience the city up close and personal. Walking and biking will let you explore the city at your own pace and see it from a local’s perspective. How much can you really take in from the top of a bus going 40 mph anyways?

Bring the gym with you: If you do end up at a hotel without a gym, have no fear you can take the gym with you on vacation! Resistance bands are light, portable and easy to pack. You can do a total body resistance workout using just the bands! It really is the frequent travelers’ best friend. Check out the articles of the day, for a total body resistance band workout!

Remember you are on VACATION: Don't forget this is a vacation. It is suppose to be relaxing and enjoyable. Don't beat yourself up if you skip a workout!

Yours truly,

Lauren G.

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Quote of the day: "Yoga is invigoration in relaxation. Freedom in routine. Confidence through self control. Energy within and energy without." - Ymber Delecto



Articles of the day:
Slim down with Yoga brought to you by Prevention Magazine. 
Yoga Moves for a Pick-Me-Up, and my favorite Burn, Baby Burn by Women's Health Magazine



We all know that yoga is good for the mind, body and spirit, but can it really help us lose weight? Some experts think that it can! First, let’s talk about all of the well known benefits of yoga, besides weight loss.

According to WebMD, Yoga can help you:

• Increase Flexibility
• Improve Muscle Tone (especially ashtanga and power yoga)
• Improve Posture
• Increase lung capacity
• Decrease stress levels
• Improve focus and mood
• Decrease symptoms of asthma, back pain, insomnia and arthritis

All of these alone make yoga worth adding to your fitness routine, but how does it help you lose weight? Yoga can actually lower the levels of stress hormones in your body and increase insulin sensitivity. When your body is more sensitive to insulin, it can better burn food as fuel rather than store it as fat. These two factors can help turn your body into a fat burning machine instead of a fat storing machine!

Yoga can also help you connect to your body in a way no other form of exercise can. Through this mind body connection you become better able to recognize hunger and fullness cues.  This is often called mindfulness or mindful eating. Since yoga also gives you an outlet for stress it can help prevent emotional eating. If you are more mindful of what you are eating, you are more likely to only eat when you are really hungry and stop when you are full.

A fairly new phenomenon in the yoga world is, “Power Yoga.” It is an Americanized, pumped up version of traditional Kundalini techniques. Power yoga combines faster breathing and more active movements that produce aerobic and strength training benefits.  These classes can definitely help you build lean muscle mass; which burns calories even when you are at rest. It’s not quite the same as pumping iron in the gym, but there is no doubt that plank, crocodile (chaturanaga) and crescent lunge all have muscle toning capabilities!

Yoga will never burn as many calories as traditional aerobics.  A 150 pound person will burn approximately 150 calories during a traditional yoga class, versus 311 calories for an hour of walking at 3mph. (Prevention Magazine) However, there is no doubt yoga can improve your flexibility, strengthen your muscles (especially your core) and help you connect with your body. It doesn’t matter if you are trying to lose weight, train for a marathon, or just live a healthy life; yoga can be a rewarding and rejuvenating part of your weekly fitness routine.

Please try out some of the workouts listed in the "Articles of the Week" section above. They are perfect  to do on your own in the comfort of your living room. Or even better, find a yoga class at a gym near you and give it a try! If you do, let me know what you think!

Yours truly,

Lauren G.

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Quote of the day: "People often say that motivation doesn't last. Well, neither does bathing - that's why we recommend it daily." -Zig Zigler

Article of the day: click, print, and hit the pool! Swimming is the perfect summer workout to get you fit in no time! http://www.womenshealthmag.com/fitness/swimmers-workout

According to the food guide pyramid, carbohydrates should make up the biggest percentage of our daily nutritional intake (45%-64%). However, the low carb/no carb craze has given carbohydrates a bad reputation. They are like the leper of the food world, with no one wanting to come within a ten foot radius of them! But is that completely necessary? Are we all forever doomed to have to skip over the rolls at dinner, and stare longingly at our favorite dessert? For a while, all we heard about was the Atkins Diet, then came the “Zone Diet,” next was the “South Beach Diet,” and now it’s the “High Protein diet.” So what is a low-carb diet exactly?

Definition:  A low-carb diet limits carbohydrates — such as bread, grains, rice, starchy vegetables and fruit — and emphasizes sources of protein and fat. Many types of low-carb diets exist, each with varying restrictions on the types and amounts of carbohydrates. Examples of low-carb diets include the Atkins diet and the Zone diet. (mayoclinic.com)

What most people really want to know is: Will a low carb diet help me lose weight and is it safe?

Will it help you lose weight?

Yes and No. In the short run, a low carb diet CAN help you lose weight, but this weight is often water weight and is regained after you reintroduce carbs to your diet.  When you drastically restrict carbohydrates, the body goes into a different metabolic state called ketosis. During Ketosis, the body burns its own fat for fuel, instead of carbohydrates (which is normally your bodies’ main source of fuel). When the body is in ketosis, you usually feel less hungry, and therefore are likely to consume less food. However, during Ketosis your body forms substances called ketones; these can cause organs to fail, cause kidney stones or kidney failure, or result in gout. Ketones are usually a result of eating less than 100 grams of carbohydrates a day. With this type of diet, your body changes from a carbohydrate-burning engine into a fat-burning engine.  So we want to burn fat, but there are some pretty severe consequences of eating this way. (Web MD.com)

Dangers of a Low Carb Diet

• Kidney Failure- Consuming too much protein can put extra strain on the kidneys, and make some individuals susceptible to kidney failure.
• High Cholesterol- Many people assume that as long as they don’t eat carbs, they can eat whatever else they want; including high fat/high cholesterol foods like red meat and full fat dairy products. Scientists have found that high cholesterol can lead to other health problems like heart disease, stroke and cancer.
• Osteoporosis and Kidney Stones- Low-carb diets have also been shown to make individuals excrete more calcium from their urine than normal leading to osteoporosis and kidney stones.
• Cancer- Since people on low-carb diets often cut out foods such as fruits, vegetables and whole grains, they often miss out on many cancer fighting vitamins and minerals.
• Unhealthy metabolic state called Ketosis (see above)

Now, I’m not giving you a mandate to go out and eat 5 rolls at dinner or 2 cupcakes for dessert. Remember, simple carbohydrates like white bread, cake and candy still turn into sugar in your body and are often stored as fat if not burned off by physical activity. The food guide pyramid recommends that between 45%-65% of your daily intake come from carbohydrates, 20%-35% from fat, and 10%-35% from protein. I try and stay at the higher end for protein and the lower end for carbs. I also try and make sure my carbs come from complex carbohydrates like whole grain bread, whole grain rice, vegetables, and fruit. When I don’t take in enough carbs, I often feel lethargic and don’t have enough energy for my workouts. So you don't have to cut carbs completely, just eat healthy complex carbohydrates whenever possible!

Everyone is different. There is no one perfect diet that works for everyone, so you have to listen to your body and make sure you are feeding it healthy nutritiously dense food! I hope this answers some of your questions about low-carb diets! Please feel free to post any additional questions!! If I don’t know the answer, I will try and find it for you.

Yours truly,

Lauren G.

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Quote of the Day: If we wait for the moment when everything, absolutely everything is ready we shall never begin." - Ivan Turgenev

Article of the Day: Smoothie Smart (http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/nutrition_articles.asp?id=490&page=3) This article shows you ways to make your summer smoothie even healthier.

Everyday we are faced with thousands of decisions. Do I have time to his snooze this morning? What do I want to eat for breakfast? Should I eat that piece of cake in the staff meeting? (This one happens to me all too often!) With a little help from the table below, hopefully we can all make a few healthy (and painless) decisions today! Below, you will find "Lauren's Favorite Healthy Swaps." I have collected these over the years from magazine articles (thank you Prevention and Woman's Health), recipe books, and personal experiences. Try swapping out your full fat latte for a skim milk latte, or making your favorite pizza with low fat mozzarella instead of full-fat. Every little bit counts!

Do you have a favorite healthy swap of your own? If so, please feel free to share below!! I hope everyone has a great weekend, and a Happy Friday!!

Yours truly,

Lauren G.

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Everyone wants to eat healthier, but where do you start?? With all of the nutrition books, fitness magazines, and weight loss tv shows out there it can all seem a bit overwhelming. With a little planning, you can make small changes today that equal big rewards tomorrow. Below, are six easy changes you can make today, that will start you down the road of creating healthy eating habits for life!!

1) Drink water throughout the day. I know, you're thinking duh Lauren... but hold on. Water is great for your skin, your digestive system, helps prevent cellulite and aids in weight loss. Many times we mistake dehydration for hunger. If you feel hungry at atime you probably shouldn’t be (like when you ate lunch less than an hour ago) you are probably just dehydrated.

2) Start each day with protein! Lean protein keeps you satisfied for longer than other nutrients because it takes your body longer to digest them. According to a Purdue University study, eating lean protein (such as egg whites or low-fat yogurt) at breakfast keeps you more satisfied than if you ate it later in the day. Aim for around 30 grams of protein at breakfast each day.

3) Don’t drink your calories. Start to cut out sugary sodas and calorie packed alcoholic beverages (unfortunately the frozen ones are the worse). Some margarits have over 1,000 calories!! Yikes! Also, whenever possible choose whole foods over liquid alternatives. For example, eat a whole orange instead of drinking orange juice. Real food is usually more filling and chewing always makes us feel more satisfied. Why do you think Oprah loses her mind every time she goes on one of those liquid only diets?

4) Serve/order ALL dressings and sauces on the side. There is no reason to ruin a perfectly delicious salad or grilled chicken breast with fat laden dressings and sauces. Use the fork trick: dip your fork in the dressing and then pick up your food. I promise you won’t even miss the hundreds of calories you just saved yourself!

5) Snack smarter. How many times have you been so “good” at breakfast and lunch only to succumb to the callings of the dreaded vending machine come 3 o’clock?? I know I’m guilty! A big part of eating healthy, is being prepared. Make sure you keep healthy snacks on hand, so when hunger rears its ugly head you are prepared. Great options include: portable fruit (such as apples and bananas), almonds (they make amazing 100 calorie packs now), cheese sticks, low fat yogurt, and whole grain crackers. Remember to stay away from sugary snacks that cause your insulin to spike, and will just cause you to be hungry again in 30 minutes.

6) Shrink your plate and your waist! You know the old saying our eyes are bigger than our stomach?? Sometimes I think our eyes are bigger than our stomach, but we are so out of tune with what full feels like we just keep eating anyways. Try switching out your dinner plate for a salad plate. You can fill your plate up without having to lay on the coach bloated for an hour after dinner! I know this might sound cheesy, but I promise you would be shocked how much less you eat without even noticing.

See those weren’t too bad!

Coming tomorrow: Lauren's Eat This Not That Tables! Easy swaps that save mega calories!


Yours truly,

Lauren G

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