Eating During The Holidays

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Well, I know you are probably expecting a blog that will say what most other health sites or trainers/experts will say.  You know, the ones who will tell you to avoid everything this time of year...don't go overboard, etc.  The ones that scare you into thinking that this ONE MEAL per year will make you gain 100 lbs in one day.  You might be reading this and thinking "Um, aren't you a personal trainer.  Shouldn't you be telling me NOT to indulge?  Don't all trainers feel this way?"

NO, not me.

It drives me nuts when reading or hearing the "experts" that would have you believe you can never enjoy life and have things from time to time and still maintain a fit  and healthy body (externally and internally.)   While there are things that I will never consume again (beef or pork for example), I DO allow myself to enjoy everything else from time to time.  It's all in moderation.  By moderation, I mean EVERY SO OFTEN, not whenever you get the urge.  While I won't go into any long blog about watching calorie consumption like a hawk this holiday season (all my clients know my philosophy on this:  Enjoy and eat what you want during special occasions such as birthdays and holidays and CLEAN THE DIET BACK UP after it's over.  Just try to keep your calories from hitting 5 digits) I do want to give my Top 5 List of signs that you went a little TOO far at the dinner table.

My Top 5

1.  IF you happen to wake up with your face in your plate because you blacked out from 10 lbs of food entering your body in less than 15 min, you may have went too far.

2.  IF your family felt the need to have the Guinness Book Of World Records on hand this year to document you at the dinner table, you MIGHT be getting Ready to go too far.

3.  IF you have to go out the day after Christmas and buy a 2nd scale so you have one for each foot, you may have went too far.

4.  IF you want to install a dinner table that's larger than the one the students eat on at Hogwarts, you have the capability to go too far.

5.  And number 5...IF you get a personal letter from your local gym offering to train you for free because they feel so bad for you, you WENT too far.
If you went overboard, ask me for more information on an excellent cleanse you can do the day after a huge feast.  Truly cleanses you out internally quickly and you probably already have the ingredient in your kitchen cabinet right now!

James D. Clark
Personal Fitness Trainer/Specialist
Tukwila, WA

"My Goal Is To Help You Reach Yours!"

Web: http://www.jbodyfit.com/blog
Email: James@atcfitnessandweightloss.com
Toll Free: (866) 606-5923

Eat This Not That Supermarket Survival Guide by David Zinczenko and Matt Goulding

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AppId is over the quota

"Eat This Not That Supermarket Survival Guide" is David Zinczenko and Matt Goulding's answer to shopping with their series of books on what they like to call "The No-Diet Weight Loss Solution." What they did for eating out with their first book, the Restaurant Survival Guide, they now do for the supermarket. It is a very handy little book to assist you as your walk the aisles filling your shopping cart.

After a short introduction regarding food and what the book can do for you, Chapter one covers basic rules for your trip to the supermarket. Rules like working the edges and learning the lingo. This chapter includes 11 secrets the food industry doesn't want you to know and the 20 worst packaged foods in America. The worst happens to be Marie Callender's Creamy Parmesan Chicken Pot Pie.

Chapter two focuses on the produce aisle and how to supercharge your meals. Good little primer on fruits and vegetables. From there, we go to the meat and fish counters in chapter three. This is a short chapter to help you make sense of meat. Chapter four then covers the refrigerator. This is the first chapter that starts to divide foods into "eat this and not that" categories. For example, on the Deli Meats page, you find Hormel Natural Choice Carved Chicken Breast on the "eat this" page, and Oscar Mayer Deli Fresh Grilled Chicken Breast Strips on the "not that" page. (Calories, fat, and sodium are all listed, and lower on the first choice) Some of the other categories in this chapter include hot dogs and sausage, cheese, and yogurt.

Chapter five is the chapter to review when it is time to stock your pantry staples. Categories include: grains, rice sides, dry noodles, bread loaves, breakfast breads and pastries, cereals, condiments, nut and seed butters, jellies, jams, preserves, pasta sauces and much more.

Sure, snacks and sweets are not top choices for anyone on a diet, but if you are going to eat them, chapter six will help you make smarter choices. Some good advice on snacks here, and then categories contrasting corn chips, potato chips, dips, pretzels, snack mixes, crackers, popcorn, cookies, and much more.

In the seventh chapter we get to the freezer section. Contrasted foods include ice cream, frozen yogurt, sorbet, frozen pies, frozen pizza, meat substitutes, and other foods found in the frozen aisles.

Chapter eight covers drinks. Juice, smoothies, shakes, tea, milk, beer, and a few others are covered here. I know an entire book just came out on what to drink, so this chapter is just a teaser compared to what the book contains. This is still a good primer on what you are buying to drink.

The final chapter, nine, provides you with a guide to save money while shopping. It contains a couple of tips and then ten popular dishes that you can make at home to save money and calories. The book then concludes with a food additive glossary.

I really like this series of books. They are small, so you can carry with you, colorful so easy to read and use, and packed with information. Sure, not every single food you might find is covered, but enough are listed to make you a savvy shopper. By understanding the differences between the eat this foods and the not that foods, you will then be able to read labels and make healthier choices even when not found in this guide. Reading this book also provides a lot of good information about eating healthy, and after reading it you'll be much better prepared to hit the supermarket and fill your cart with healthy selections.

Alain Burrese, J.D. is a performance and personal development expert who teaches how to live, take action, and get things done through the Warrior's Edge. Alain combines his military, martial art, and Asian experiences with his business, law, and conflict resolution education into a powerful way of living with balance, honor, and integrity. He teaches how to use the Warrior's Edge to Take Action and Achieve Remarkable Results. Alain is the author of Hard-Won Wisdom From The School Of Hard Knocks, the DVDs Hapkido Hoshinsul, Streetfighting Essentials, Hapkido Cane, the Lock On Joint Locking series, and numerous articles and reviews. You can read more articles and reviews and see clips of his DVDs as well as much more at http://www.burrese.com/ and http://www.aikiproductions.com/

Eat Stop Eat Diet Program Saves Time and Money

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AppId is over the quota

This past summer I used the Eat Stop Eat diet program that I found through a fitness forum. Many people in the forum that were getting results were using some type of fasting in their diet. My first though was that it did not sound healthy. I was under the impression that I had to be eating every 3 hours or my body would go in to starvation mode. I got this in my head from another diet program that I previously used. Sometimes it is hard to know what to believe. I desperately wanted to lose weight and it sounded like an easy program to follow. I had nothing to lose so I gave it a try.

The whole philosophy of the eat stop eat program is to do a 24 hour fast for one or two times a week. How much simpler can you get? Most other diets will require you to eat smaller meals five times a day or eat the exact foods that they tell you. Some of these other diets get so complicated that people give up before they even start them.

Foods that I ate on the Eat Stop Eat Program

The eat stop eat program does not restrict what you eat, just during your fasting. Eat as you normally would. I had many foods that I probably would not be allowed to eat on other diets. I had hot dogs, pizza, hamburgers, ice cream and other goodies as well. I was not stuffing my face with them. You are allowed them once in a while in moderation. The program does not require you to count your calories but I did count mine. I just wanted to make sure I was not eating more than I should if I wanted to maintain my weight.

During the 24 hour fasts I only drank water, tea, black coffee and any 0 calorie diet sodas. I also chewed some sugar-free gum when I felt like I wanted to eat.

Eat Stop Eat Program Benefits

I did not have to eat for two full days a week. Eating and preparing food takes up time. Usually when you eat you have to stop what you are doing to make the food and then eat it. Following that you usually get tired since your body is using more energy to break down and use what you just ate. Without eating your body just stays the same and you gain all that extra time to stay focused on your tasks. This is great if you are working on projects or studying.

My grocery bills were less because of the meals I was cutting out. If I usually ate out at restaurants frequently I would have saved even more money following the program. At the least you would probably save ten dollars a week. What other diets can say they save you money? Most of them require you to buy expensive health foods.

If you are healthy and looking for a simple diet that you can follow for the long haul then this may work for you.

My Transformation blog has my Eat Stop Eat Review which goes into more detail about how I used the program.

I am currently using Boot Camp Exercises along with the Eat Stop Eat program.

The Life You Want: Get Motivated, Lose Weight, and Be Happy by Bob Greene

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AppId is over the quota

"The Life You Want: Get Motivated, Lose Weight, and Be Happy" is the newest book by fitness author Bob Greene, who also wrote "Make the Connection: Ten Steps to a Better Body and a Better Life," "Keep the Connection: Choices for a Better Body and a Healthier Life," "The Best Life Diet," and a number of others. This book, written with psychologist Ann Kearney-Cooke and nutritionist Janis Jibrin focuses on common barriers to weight loss success and provides practical tips in regards to emotional eating and lack of motivation.

After an introduction, where Greene tells a personal story that involves his looking into the emotional and psychological side of weight loss, and what this book can do for the reader, it begins with a chapter on barriers to weight loss success. Greene addresses eight barriers, and none of them are eating or exercising, but rather mental or emotional aspects.

In chapter two, Kearney-Cooke addresses overcoming emotional eating. This is a big problem for many, and this chapter reveals some simple ways to find your motivation, overcome barriers, and find replacements for eating to deal with emotions. It's a practical chapter with advice on how to achieve your goals in these areas.

The third chapter is by Jibrin, and it focuses on rewiring your sugar, fat, and salt loving brain. There is some interesting information on why we eat what we do, eight reasons why we should get control of our eating, and her nine step program for sticking to a nutritious, calorie appropriate diet.

Greene is back with chapter four, where he covers conquering exercise aversion. If you have trouble getting up and getting going, this chapter may just help you find some motivation to move. He lists thirteen reasons to exercise, and you really only need to pick one to motivate yourself to do it. He addresses many common excuses and to overcome them, as well as different types of exercises you should be including into your workouts.

Chapter five is on transforming your body image, and in it Kearney-Cooke addresses a topic that many people need help with, especially with the images we are bombarded with on television and the print media.

Greene is back again with chapter six, which covers maintaining weight loss. He looks at what works and what doesn't, and provides some good suggestions and tips in making sure when you lose weight, you keep it off.

Being happy is important, and Kearney-Cooke looks at what it takes to be happy in chapter seven. I liked this chapter and think a lot of people could benefit from following the simple guidelines set forth in these pages.

Following chapter seven, there is Appendix 1 which contains The Lifestyle Log. This is an encouragement with a sample worksheet, to record important things about your lifestyle such as your sleep, hunger, food and drink consumption, etc. Appendix 2 covers Body Mass Index, while Appendix 3 has the Goldberg Depression Scale. Appendix 4 has instructions on goal setting worksheets with a sample, and Appendix 5 has The Motivational Interview to help you assess yourself. Appendix 6 is The Best Life Approach to Exercise by Greene. Simple plan with suggested exercises. Short descriptions of the exercises, but no pictures.

Overall, this is a good book for many people who are having difficulties losing weight, or keeping it off, due to emotional hangups or the lack of motivation. The authors offer simple and practical guidance to overcome such barriers, get motivated, lose weight, and be happy. If you need assistance in these areas, check out this book, but more importantly, apply what the authors teach.

Alain Burrese, J.D. is a writer, speaker, and mediator who teaches how to live, take action, and get things done through the Warrior's Edge. He is an expert on conflict and mediates and teaches conflict resolution and negotiation. Additionally, he teaches physical conflict skills in his Hapkido and Self-Defense courses, lectures, and seminars. Alain is the author of Hard-Won Wisdom From The School Of Hard Knocks, the DVDs Hapkido Hoshinsul, Streetfighting Essentials, Hapkido Cane, the Lock On Joint Locking series, and numerous articles and reviews. You can read more articles and reviews and see clips of his DVDs as well as much more at http://www.burrese.com/ and http://www.yourwarriorsedge.com/