Wellness Corner

July 2008

If you just whistle every now and then; skip every thousandth step or so; skim the odd stone across the odd pond; go dancing on the occasional blue moon, in only alone in the dark; dress up sometimes, even with nowhere to go...for simply stirring up some little bit of hope, no matter how silly or disconnected your actions seem to be with the rest of the world, magic flashes in the unseen, friends are summoned, connections are timed, stars are aligned, opportunities are crystallized and serendipities are calculated, creating possibilities for new realities that cannot now even be imagined from where you presently stand.

March 2008
By Tammy Parkinson

How has your exercise routine been lately?  Are you in a rut?  Do you get a little bored?  It’s bound to happen to all of us and if we don’t switch things up occasionally, we might sabotage our own efforts towards keeping our routine on track. Our bodies need change, just like our mind and spirit do.   I’d like for you to relish the  blossoming of spring and consider a new sport, class, routine, trail or event you’ve secretly wanted to try,
but for some reason never have.  Grab a buddy who will help support you or hold you accountable. I can guarantee if you choose to mix things up you will feel recharged and might even get addicted to a new sport!

Tammy Parkinson, Intero's fitness and nutrition coach
Body Firm Personal Training and Nutrition Consulting www.mybodyfirm.com

December 2007
By Kristie Agan

The 50 Best Fat-Loss Tips Ever - Continued
Yes, I’m afraid it’s that time of year--that time of year that even those who hate to shop, shop.  Here’s the good news.
Go shopping.  That’s right, you should go shopping.  All that walking between stores and the armful of bags will turn you into a fat burning machine.  (Just steer clear of the food court.)
Lay off the lattes.  We all deserve a treat from time to time, but now a days that treat has turned into our daily coffee consumption.  Just take a look at the calories and fat grams your drinking and you are sure not to circum to designer coffees that can pack up to 500 extra calories to your day.  Keep it simple and order plain coffee—better yet, tea.
Eat before you go grocery shopping.  I think we’ve all heard this one, but just in case, have a snack before you hit the market.  You’ll not only buy less overall, you’ll also buy healthier—avoiding things like ice cream and candy that seem especially tempting when you’re famished.
If you have any questions about fitness, please feel free to contact me, Kristie Agan, Certified Personal Trainer, Fitness Instructor and Nutritionist at Gold’s Gym Hollister 831-637-6523.

November 2007
By Kristie Agan
Kristie is a Certified Nutrition Consultant and Fitness Instructor with an A.S. Degree in Medical Assisting and an I.D.E.A. member.

The 50 Best Fat-Loss Tips Ever - Continued
Soon it will be getting dark at 5:00 and what does that mean?  It means more time indoors sitting on your rump!  These tips are geared toward fitting the winter pounds gained from a less active lifestyle and holiday foods.
1. Weigh in.  Studies show that weighing yourself daily improves your motivation to workout and eat right.  Keep tabs on your weight and realize, a 2-3 pound gain or loss could be associated to water retention or water loss, so do not get too excited or too depressed at this type of difference in the scale.  Also, a scale does not decipher between fat and lean body mass, so use a mirror to monitor changes in your appearance, as well.
2.  Snack on soup.  Low-fat, water-based soups don’t contain many calories, yet they are a great way to fill up.  Soup can help curb your afternoon hunger pains and is a great way to start a meal so that your appetite is suppressed.
3. Buy a TiVo.  Sounds like a funny tip, but TiVo allows you to watch your favorite TV show in a shorter period of time, therefore, spending less time being a couch potato.  You also do not skip workouts because of you not wanting to miss a minute of American Idol.
4. Extra tip of the month—add plyometrics.  What’s plyometrics?  Plyometrics are exercises like short sprints, climbers, jumps, or any type of conditioning drills that are short term, high intensity, and get your heart and muscles pumping as hard as they will go.  Spend 10-20 minutes going through a series of 1-4 drills and see the results as your muscles lean out and your lung capacity increases.  An example:  stratel step or bench and jump up and down for a count of 20-50 then do 10-50 push-ups, proceeded by 20-30 jump switch lunges.  Repeat until 10-20 minutes go by.

September 2007
The 50 Best Fat-Loss Tips Ever—Continued

September is the month to gear up for looking and feeling your best through the upcoming winter months that are packed full of holiday calories.  You have the time now to step it up a notch in your workouts and be diligent with your eating habits.  Here are some more tips to help you out.

Extend your cardio workout to make sure fat is being burned.  Once a week do a longer cardio workout adding 20-45 minutes.  A long cardio workout, at least once a week, will be sure to access your fat stores.  Your body utilizes mostly stored sugar or glycogen for the first 20-35 minutes of your workout and then it looks for the fat stores to help out.
Turn off the machines.  When you’re working out, opt for free weights over machines.  They activate more muscle when you lift, burning more calories and causing greater strength gains.
Dip your fork in salad dressing instead of pouring the dressing directly onto the greens.  This gives you max control over how many calories of dressing you get in each bite.

July 2007
The 50 Best Fat-Loss Tips Ever
Hopefully last month I was able to spark your metabolism and give your body fat a challenge by discovering a new way to “lose your saddlebags, flatten your belly or increase your metabolism by building muscle.”  Since there is more than one way to do so though, here are three more tips to pick from.  Just remember, your body, your lifestyle, and your personality is unique.  It may take more or less or even a variation to the tip to give you the results you want.

1. Wake up and exercise.  You’re more likely to get it done if you do it first thing in the morning.  Besides, exercising in the a.m. helps raise your metabolism and keeps it chugging away, burning more fat all day long.
2. Take the carbs away.  Make your time at the restaurant table less stressful and damaging by saying no thank you to the chips or bread on the table.  Besides, no one at that table needs those wasteful calories anyway.  Your entrée calories will be plenty.  Also, open up that sandwich or burger and eat it without the top bun or slice of bread.  Yes, it’s messy but, that full bun or two slices of bread will be sure to surge your body’s insulin levels which only means, straight to fat storage.
3. Social circle have a big impact.  If getting together with friends means pizza and beer then consider spending less time with those friends and meeting up with a people from the gym or joining a running club to meet new friends with habits that are less likely to sabotage all your hard work.  May seem harsh but the reality is you wouldn’t expect a recovering alcoholic to hang around their drinking buddies on a daily bases, would you?

June 2007
The 50 Best Fat-Loss Tips Ever
Want to flatten your belly, lose your saddlebags, or increase your metabolism by building muscle?  Here are the first of 50 ways I can recommend doing it.  More will follow in the next few months.  Pick the ones that seem most appropriate for your situation and work them into your daily routine.  If you don’t notice a change, add a few more.

1. Pack ahead.  Most people give up their diet or skip the gym because they’re pressed for time.  Avoid the problem by making your meals and packing your gym cloths for the work week ahead on Sunday afternoon.  Barbeque 5 chicken breasts, make a big pot of brown rice, and separate 1-2 cups of rice with a chicken breast and a cup of raw or steamed broccoli into 5 baggies to grab in the morning.  Put a towel, water bottle, T-shirt, workout pants/shorts, socks, and workout bra into 5 separate plastic bags and kept it all it in the car along with two pairs of gym shoes, one pair you use to workout in and the other, probably your old pair, to change into after your done working out so you don’t wear you workout shoes home and forget them the next day.
   
2. Avoid drinking calories.  Downing regular soda, juice and milk are all ways to consume a lot of calories quickly.  You could see 5 pounds slide right off with switching to plain water or low calorie versions.
3. Do exercises that work all muscles.  Squats, lunges, presses (e.g. chest, shoulder) and rows should be the basis of any program.  Doing 100 to 300 walking lunges will get the heart pumping and the legs shaking.  Good old fashion pull-ups, dips and push-ups can be done practically anywhere, anytime and will torch calories and build muscles fast.

If you have more question, please feel free to contact me, Kristie Agan, Certified Personal Trainer, Fitness Instructor, and Nutritionist at Gold’s Gym Hollister (831) 637-6523.

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