Title Nine - Food As Fad!

"Atkins diet, Grapefruit diet, Lo-carb diet, No-carb, Icecream diet, Donut Diet. It's enough to make ya crazy. Even some seemingly reasonable claims as organice, all-natural, and local can get elevated to cult status. How to make sense of it all?? There's no money to be made in it, but he truth to the matter is the best "diet" of all is one that's heavy on common sense and light on wishful thinking. A couple of my rules of the road eating: If you can't pronounce it, I probably shouldn't eat it. Avoid oxymoronic food: fat-free french fries, sugar-free cookies. When all else fails, I try to embrace moderation...just one _____"
The above are the words of Missy Park, Founder of Title Nine clothing company, I can't argue with any of that!

I just received a catalog from the store Title Nine and I really like their clothes. They are sportwear type of clothes that look really comfortable. I think they have some of the best sports bras. Title is one of the few clothing company that does not use skinny models. The models look like they are athletic and healthy!

Heart-Healthy Foods

Take care of your heart and enjoy these foods:

·Oats are nourishing whole grains and a great source of omega-3 fatty acids, folate, and potassium as well as cholesterol-lowering fiber. Top hot oatmeal with fresh berries.
·Brown rice is another heart-healthy grain that contains B-complex vitamins and fiber. B-complex vitamins, like vitamin B-12 (folate) and vitamin B-6, protect against blood clots and atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries. Like oatmeal, brown rice contains Niacin (vitamin B-3) which helps to increase HDL "good" cholesterol.
·Ground flaxseed, containing omega-3 fatty acids, fiber, and phytoestrogens, is a whole grain that hides easily in all sorts of foods. Add a teaspoon to your morning cereal.
·Nuts, such as almonds and walnuts, are an excellent source of healthy fat and nutrients, including fiber and phytosterols. In your next salad, add walnuts for a delicious crunch. You can also add nuts to pastas and pancakes, or you might find it fun to make your own trail mix.
·Blueberries top the list as one of the most powerful disease-fighting fruits because of their potent antioxidants. These delicious berries are also packed with fiber and vitamin C, and are available all year long. Other heart-healthy fruits include cranberries, strawberries, raspberries, papaya and cantaloupe.
·Add a bit of avocado to a salad to up the amount of heart-healthy fats. Avocados can help lower LDL “bad” cholesterol and they allow for the absorption of other carotenoids.
·Spinach is a powerhouse. Its rich, dark color comes from the multiple phytochemicals, vitamins, and minerals (especially folate and iron) that help to fight disease, protect against heart disease, and preserve your eyesight. Broccoli, red bell peppers, asparagus, and sweet potatoes are also heart-healthy vegetables packed with vitamins A, E and fiber.
·Use olive oil instead of butter when cooking. Full of monounsaturated fats, olive oil lowers LDL cholesterol. Look for an extra-virgin variety as it is the least processed.
·Give soup or salad a heart-healthy nutrient boost with black or kidney beans, which contain B-complex vitamins, niacin, folate, magnesium, omega-3 fatty acids, calcium and fiber.
·Salmon and other omega-3 rich foods, eaten twice a week, may reduce your risk of a heart attack. Omega-3 fatty acids help boost the immune system, reduce blood pressure and keep blood clots at bay. Consider choosing wild salmon over farm-raised fish to reduce exposure to insecticides, pesticides, and heavy metals.
·Chocolate, yep chocolate, you can even include chocolate in your heart-healthy diet! Make sure that you choose dark chocolate with 70% or higher cocoa content to get the potential blood pressure lowering benefits.

Enjoy!

My New Favourite Snacks

These are now my favourite snacks - Sensible Portions Garlic & Chives Pita Bites and Veggie Straws. The problem with them is that they are way too addictive, I can't stop eating them. Each Garden Veggie Straw is made from real potatoes, tomatoes and spinach so you can taste and enjoy their all natural flavor. One bag contains 130 calories, 7 grams of fat, 15 carbs and 1 gram of protein.

I am limited only by my vision of what is possible!

"According to the US News and World Report, a recent study has shown a link between obesity and the loss of neurological tissue. The brains of elderly patients who were obese had on average 8% less tissue than their trimmer counterparts. Overweight patients had brains lighter by about 4%. Just one more risk factor to add to the growing body (no pun intended) of reasons to try and stay trim."

For every excess pound piled on the body, the brain gets a little bit smaller.
That's the message from new research that found that elderly individuals who were obese or overweight had significantly less brain tissue than individuals of normal weight.

I found this interesting, your body is getting bigger but your brain is shrinking!

Week 1 Training

This week was my first training session with my trainer John and he made me do some difficult stuff. I would not have done all those reps if I was training alone. We did some training using the TRX, a lot of core and legs. The most difficult exercise was the suspended crunch(side pic). I have no idea how many I did because I was counting each side as 1 rep and John was counting both sides as 1 rep. I was expecting to have way more muscle soreness but I think taking glutamine helped.


Yesterday I had a rewarded (also called cheat meal to some) and I had some cheesecake. My husband was going to The Cheesecake Factory and he bought me some cheesecake. It’s my fault since he didn’t like cheesecake until I introduced him to cheesecake from there, and now he likes cheesecake.

I have everything I need in me to create everything I want!

It's been so cold this winter and as a result I've been going to the gym less frequently however I've been working out downstairs doing bodyweight exercises and cardio. Next week I have a training session and it's my first with this trainer so it should be interesting. I am extremely selective when choosing trainers since I've met a lot who were not very knowledgeable.
This week I am training 3 days with weights and 2 days of cardio. Two days of upper body and one day of lower body. I am still working on developing my shoulders and biceps. I was doing one arm dumbbell rows this week with 45 pounds and I remember when I only able to lift 25 pounds and I was so excited thinking that was such a heavy weight, I was pretty pleased with my progress.
I am also changing my diet a bit and I am eliminating diary, and processed foods. So far so good!

Happy New Year

Happy New Year
It’s that time of the year again. It’s time for people to create New Year’s Resolutions and hopefully keep them. I can already see an increase in gym membership at my gym. Let’s see how it will be in about 2 months.

Here are a few things on the horizon for my this year.

1. TRX Training: My husband got me some personal training sessions for Christmas so I am going to start TRX training with a trainer.
2. Biosignature Modulation (details to come)!
3. Competition: I am considering entering a competition this year which will be held on May 1st (more to come)!

Below are some interesting New Years Resolutions facts:

The top resolutions usually involve promises to exercise more (37%), increasing the time devoted to study or work (23%), losing weight, stop smoking or drinking (alcohol and/or coffee), and eat healthier.

People make more resolutions to start a new habit (84%) , than to break an old one (16%).

63% of people are still keeping their resolutions after the first two months.

So go ahead, make a few 2010 Resolutions or Goals as I prefer to call them. You have nothing to lose (except maybe a few pounds if you choose)!

TRX Suspension Training

I've been so busy that we were in December already and I had not created a December workout. I don't think I will follow any scheduled workout this month because I have so much going on. My husband gave me his training session with this trainer last week because he wasn't feeling well and he wanted me to try out this new workout that his trainer has him doing. This training is called TRX Suspension Training and I really like it. It really focuses on core training and it appears to be less stressful on your joints. It's basically your body working against gravity using suspension. It was voted the best Total-Body Tool by Men's Health magazine. I think I am going to start doing TRX Training once a week. This month I will not follow any scheduled workout, I will just do whatever I feel and starting January set a 2010 fitness goal. Come January the gyms will be filled with all those people who created New Years Resolutions and by March the gyms will be empty again. Sad but true!Here is what the TRX Training looks like: