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Have You Ever Done A Cleanse?

Have You Ever Done A Cleanse?

There’s a lot of hype about all the good a cleanse or detox can do for both weight loss and what ails you, but there’s very little evidence. One thing is certain, it does provide an opportunity to reboot your body, like you would a computer, and then start on a healthy diet adding new foods each day. It can be a way of finding food intolerance if you have problems after you eat and won’t really hurt you unless you have a medical condition.

Be aware of the best type of cleanse to use.

If you’re doing a fruit juice cleanse, you’ll be subjecting your body to a lot of fructose. That can set your body into a roller coaster of sugar highs and lows. Aside from that, a few days of drinking juice doesn’t have any long term negative effects. There are good effects from the fast type of cleanse where you simply sip on water. Unlike regular fasts that last for days, this is intermittent fasting, which means you fast for a period of time, such as 16 hours and eat during the 8 remaining hours. There are studies that show this type of cleanse won’t put your body into starvation mode and will help you lose weight and even live longer.

No matter what type of cleanse you choose, if you go back to unhealthy eating, it won’t do any good.

It all boils down to resetting your eating pattern and learning how to eat healthier. With a cleanse, you can reboot your body to eat healthier foods and shed those extra pounds. With intermittent fasting, you eat all your meals in a shorter time frame, so you often eat less than you would in the course of a normal day. Again, if the food you eat is cake, donuts and fried foods, you won’t get the beneficial effect you hoped to achieve.

Eating healthy and exercising is the best way to lose weight and keep it from returning.

While what you eat and when you eat it is important, exercising regularly is just as important for a healthy lifestyle and freeing you from the worry of extra pounds. Not only does exercising burn calories while you’re doing it, it builds muscle tissue in the process. Muscle tissue requires more calories for maintenance, so you’ll be burning more calories 24/7 and boosting your metabolism.

  • Studies show that intermittent fasting can actually make you look younger for longer. It also can help you burn belly fat. It doesn’t require you go without eating, just start eating later in the day, noon for instance, and quit at about 8 o’clock.
  • While there’s little evidence a cleanse helps, it can train your body to eat less. When you go back to eating, you’ll be more aware of how much you eat.
  • The body naturally detoxes and cleanses itself, but if you’re feeling bloated and eating too much food, you’ll probably feel better after a day or two of a cleanse.
  • Jack Goldstein wrote about a water fast and vegetarian diet he embarked. When he tested tongue scrapings, feces, perspiration and urine, he did find that their make up changed and even environmental toxins like DDT were eliminated.

Good Family Workouts

Good Family Workouts

Good family workouts don’t have to be limited to the types of exercises done at the gym, although there’s nothing wrong with that and it could be fun to do together. When you’re working out with kids, make it fun. Planking, squats, push-ups, crunches and lunges are easy enough exercises for the whole family to do. Stability ball exercises are also fun to do and super good for building a strong core. The age of the children make all the difference in the world. Young children will love exercises that mimic animals. There are all sorts to do from a puppy dog walk to a crab walk. Once you workout with the kids, you’ll notice that they’re playing with glee and you’re the one who is getting tired.

Take an adventure walk.

While taking a walk is good exercise, there’s nothing exciting about it unless you have a place to go or maybe even a treasure map. Choose a final location that’s fun, like a park or even playground. Pack a healthy lunch to eat there and make it a picnic. If you have a friend that’s far enough from your home to make the walk a healthy distance, but not so far that you’re too worn out to walk home, get permission to hide or bury a treasure at their home. You then need to create a treasure map to their house giving everyone a copy. It’s a super fun game that keeps their mind off the walk and on the adventure.

Participate in sports to keep active.

Participating in sports doesn’t necessarily mean joining a ball team. It could mean swimming, snow or water skiing, walking are running marathons or even bicycling. A family bike ride is active and you can help your children learn safe bicycling in the process. If you have a pool nearby, take swimming lessons so you all can enjoy the beach safely. Snow skiing isn’t exactly a Texas pastime, but there are places to water ski just north of San Antonio.

There’s plenty to see in San Antonio with a lot of walking to see it.

The San Antonio Zoological Gardens and Aquarium is a 35-acre zoo. That means a lot of walking for both parents and children. Natural Bridge Caverns is another site that involves walking, combining it with some amazing sites. Go to Phil Harberger park on weed Wednesday to help combat exotic weeds that have invaded the area and are overtaking local plants. You spend time in the great outdoors pulling weeds and replanting native plants, which is extremely tiring exercise, but it gives an appreciation of nature in the process. Of course, you can go to the park anytime for nature walks and enjoying the great outdoor.

Take a trip to a trampoline park. It’s fun an will keep the family active.

Plant a garden together and do yard work. Keep it fun and about an hour. Gardening is a combination of movements, depending on the season. Digging, pulling, planting and etc. go into creating a great garden. Grow at least one plant that produces something to eat.

Turn up the music and have a dance fest in the living room.

Get out the jump ropes and hone your skills. Jump ropes have been around for a long time and aren’t at all high tech, but you’ll get a lot of exercise jumping rope together and have fun in the process.


Fruits That Make A Sweet Dessert

Fruits That Make A Sweet Dessert

If you crave something sweet after meal, it may be just habit, but there’s no need to quit eating a dessert. Fruits that make a sweet dessert can hit the spot and leave you feeling satisfied after a meal. While some areas of the country have a limited growing time, Texas has the benefit of fresh fruit almost year around, so it can be an inexpensive way to satisfy a sweet tooth.

Take advantage of seasonal fruit.

When fresh fruit is in season, it’s normally picked later in its growing cycle, at its peak, and local. The later its picked and the fresher it is, the more nutrients it has. The sweeter it is too! Spring and summer fruit includes cherries, grapes, berries, figs (which also grow in the fall), peaches, plums, nectarines and all types of melons. Fall fruit also include all types of melons, late grapes and pears. Pomegranate season is from October to December, while citrus fruit ripens from October to April. A dish of fresh fruit or mixed fruit doesn’t need anything extra. It’s sweet, delicious and healthy.

Spruce up that fresh fruit by making a sorbet.

Just cut up any combination of fresh fruit in chunks, put it in a covered plastic container and freeze it overnight. Use an ice crushing blender and blend until smooth and creamy. If I’m making enough to store in bags, I found that freezing the fresh fruit on a cookie sheet first to make sure the pieces don’t stick together, then transferring them to the bag is excellent. When you’re ready to use, just grab a handful. You can also create rich fruit ice cream with no milk or sugar by freezing a chopped banana and blending it with other frozen fruits. Bananas, grapes, jackfruit, mangosteen, papaya and persimmons are sweet fruits you can combine with others rather than sugar.

A little dark chocolate can be decadent and even good for you.

Making your own dark chocolate-dipped strawberries is simple and allows you to enjoy a bit of decadence that is rich in vitamin C, manganese and antioxidants. When you make it yourself you can select the healthiest dark chocolate option with the lowest sugar content and the highest concetration of cocoa solids. You also can control the amount of chocolate on each berry, dipping it midway up, rather than coating the whole berry to save calories. Eat just two or three, since the chocolate adds extra calories.

Keep it simple, save time and calories. A quarter cantaloupe filled with berries is a delicious filling dessert.

There’s no need to add sugar, but other healthy ingredients will do. I love celery with apples and pecans, sometimes in a dab of Greek yogurt. Fruit is naturally sweet, so creating a sugary sauce or adding sugar isn’t necessary.

Chilled citrus fruit is a treat when you peel it and remove the membranes around the flesh. It’s not that hard to do, especially for grapefruits and you can have a chilled treat ready in the refrigerator for dessert and snacks.

Create frozen fruit laden yogurt. Get healthy yogurt with no sugar added and mix with a generous portion of fruit. You can eat it immediately or freeze it for a special treat.


Beat The Heat Workouts

Beat The Heat Workouts

When the sun is shining and the temperature soaring you can use these beat the heat workouts to stay safe. Hot weather can be uncomfortable and even downright dangerous. While studies show that working out in hot weather can improve your performance, but you can take it too far and pass out. Hot weather stresses your body more than a normal workout, which is why taking extra precautions in hot weather is important. Getting acclimated to the temperature when exercising outside for several weeks can help prevent problems when working ot.

Enjoy the sun, but workout in the gym in hot and humid weather.

It just makes sense that on the warmest days, you move your workout inside. If you normally workout in an air conditioned room, hot weather is not the time to start jogging for an hour or bicycling for miles. You can still enjoy an outside workout, but keep it safe and take it easier for five to ten days to start acclimating your body to the weather. On days with high humidity and temperature, consider staying inside if you’re just starting outdoor workouts or go for a swim for fun in the sun.

Exercise early in the morning.

Even if you love to go for a run during lunchtime, the hottest days of the year, switch your workout to early morning when its coolest. The hottest part of the day is between noon and three. When the weather is hottest, avoid outside workouts at those times. Switching to early morning will help you get your day started with a boost of energy, so it’s a good idea no matter how hot it is.

Know your limitations.

The hottest day of the year is not the time to try to beat your personal best if you workout outside. Don’t think of it as taking a day off from working out, instead, it’s a day to go back to the gym or exercise in air conditioning at home. When you do an outside workout, watch out for symptoms of health problems from heat, such as weakness, fatigue, muscle cramps, headache, dizziness, nausea, confusion, high heart rate, visual problems and excessive sweating.

Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate! Keep water close and drink frequently. Don’t wait until you feel thirsty. Dehydration can cause a number of problems. When you sweat profusely, it may be time to switch in a sports drink for electrolytes.

Stay a step ahead and know what the weather will be by checking the forecast for the days ahead.

Dress for the heat. Keep your clothing color light and make sure it’s loosefitting so the sweat evaporates.

Stick with your workout program, just make the adjustments to keep healthy and safe.


The Millennials Workout

The Millennials Workout

If you want fast results, you don’t have to be a millennial to benefit from the Millennials workout. These workouts are based on the latest scientific studies are just what the 20+ group loves. They use exercises and equipment to improve the effort and maximize the efficiency of the workout. The Millennials represent the age of information and finding the smartest way to accomplish a goal. That doesn’t mean other groups don’t do that too, but it’s just more prevalent in a group that grew up with a mouse in their hand and knew how to swipe a phone before they could walk.

Always looking for something new and better.

When you exercise, new isn’t always better, but it can be. Taking the best of the old and updating with newer techniques is one of the ways this trendsetting generation likes to roll. The kettlebells have a long history, but are relatively new to the fitness area in the US. They provide a total body workout that’s quick and produces fast results. That’s one of the types of exercises Millennials like, but also fits the active lifestyle of baby boomers and the GenX group.

Living healthier through regular workouts and healthy eating.

This is not the meat and potato generation of the past. Nor are they the body abusing love children of the 60s who took every drug they could find because….well, they could. You don’t have to be born at a certain time to qualify for millennial thinking. It’s the new attitude that you’re given one body and one life, so treat it nicely. In fact, some of those same hippies from the 60s now embrace the healthier lifestyle and tech savvy of Millennials.

Millennials get loads of info online.

No matter what the project or task, someone has made a YouTube video or blog about it. That’s not to say every word or video you find on the internet is legit and correct. People with a millennial attitude dig deeper, while also finding the newest workout techniques. Circuit training, for example, is one of those techniques that when used with weight training, can bring huge results.

If you have a support system through social media to help you stick with healthy eating and a program of exercise, you qualify for Millennial status, regardless of your date of birth.

People who consider a healthy diet and regular exercise is more than just for losing weight, but for feeling good too, have a Millennial mind set.

The less time consuming full body workout is now super popular. Getting strong, while building endurance is the key to the latest workouts.

No matter what your age, getting healthy involves more than just shedding pounds and eating right. It also includes keeping a positive attitude and enjoying each day.


Remember Why You Started

Remember Why You Started

To stick with a workout program, it helps to remember why you started. If your goal was for external reasons, such as a spouse encouragement to workout, it may not work. You have to do it because you want to feel good and feel good about yourself in the process. Studies show that people who have internal reasons for exercising and healthy eating, who are doing it for themselves, stick with the program longer and are more successful. That doesn’t mean that getting fit for a class reunion still can’t be a driving force. It can, but will only drive you to the date of the reunion. You may feel so great at that point, your purpose may change to a “just for you” reason.

Don’t expect miracles and stick with it.

You probably won’t find perfection the first, second or any future workouts. You’re a work in progress. Remember that when you want to go full steam and do a zillion push-ups, but find one is too hard. Everyone struggles at first. You should remember not only why you started, but how hard it was when you started. That gives you a good idea of your progress. When you struggle at first, take note and use it as a benchmark to measure future progress.

Just work your hardest and let your body do the rest.

If you’re following your trainer’s instructions and working your hardest, sometimes you just have to have a little faith. I know one client that was amazing. She did everything precisely as I asked and worked like a crazy person. She had great results and when I asked her about it, she said when I told the group that anyone that sticks with the program will get great results. She had failed many times before and was bound and determined disprove my statement, but had to follow every instruction to the letter to do that. She didn’t prove me wrong, but it was the determination to do so that drove her to success. Use whatever works.

Get a visual to help.

People have used dream boards to achieve all types of success. You can use a picture of yourself before you gained the weight and one now, buy clothing in a smaller size and prominently display it or whatever tangible visual works for you. Maybe weight loss isn’t a goal, but endurance and strength is. Fill a bucket until it’s hard to carry more than a few steps and then once a week measure how far you can carry it. You’ll be amazed at your improvement.

Workout with a friend to get extra support and be generous giving it back to them.

If you overate or missed a session at the gym, don’t feel guilty. It’s only one day. Just continue your program as though there were no interruption.

Make working out and eating healthy a habit. That’s tough to do at first, but once you do, you’ll feel odd doing anything different.

Pat yourself on the back occasionally. Give yourself a little credit for all the work you’ve done thus far, rather than thinking you should be doing more. A positive feeling will keep you going to the gym.


Does HIIT Work?

Does HIIT Work?

If you’ve never heard of HIIT—High Intensity Interval Training—you haven’t read much on working out. It’s one of the hottest ways of maximizing your workout time. It involves a rotation between giving any type of exercise a 100 percent effort followed by a period of recovery for an equal or longer time. If you’re a runner, you’d run at top speed for a minute and then jog for one or two and back to top speed again. Not only is this great for achieving cardio fitness faster, since it gets the heart pumping at top speed, but it also helps burn fat fast.

HIIT does the job faster.

You won’t have to workout as long to get the same results. Studies on the HIIT exercise technique show that the results for middle-aged and young healthy individuals were better than other types of endurance training for improving the amount of oxygen brought into the body. It also helped reduce the risk of type II diabetes and improved muscle endurance in record time. While traditional cardio workouts using HIIT may not be great for weight loss, non-traditional ones are.

Circuit training is a combination of strength training and HIIT.

The original HIIT exercises were aimed at running and cardio, but that shouldn’t limit the uses of it. Consider circuit training as a whole body workout. You’re trying to get as many muscles worked in as short of time frame as possible, with a little rest in between. Unlike HIIT, which works to exhaust total energy in a short period, then rest for an equal or longer period, circuit training works one muscle group hard, then allows a quick breather between exercises and works another group of muscles, giving the first rest. It’s more of a total body workout.

The benefit of varying muscle groups and intensity.

By doing both, you’ll not only build muscle strength and endurance, you’ll boost your metabolic rate, too. It provides an afterburn of calories for up to 48 hours after the workout ends. The EPOC—excess post-exercise oxygen consumption occurs after a hard workout to counter-act the deficit of the workout. This deficit occurs with both types of training, so it boosts your metabolic while trying to normalize the body and eliminate the oxygen debt.

You can convert any type of exercise to HIIT training. You don’t have to run or jog. Lifting heavy weights rapidly and then doing the same exercise with lighter weights at a normal pace gives both cardio and strength training.

Do a short version of circuit training using HIIT. Kettlebells work well for this. Your trainer can show you some great exercises.

Why do dancers stay healthy and in shape for so long? They’re actually doing HIIT training on the dance floor. When the band starts up with a fast-paced song, the intensity begins. After two to three minutes, the band stops, allowing the dancer to rest a bit before the next intense session.

Want a HIIT routine you can do at the beach or pool. Swim laps and then rest a bit. Remember, Michael Phelps ate 12,000 calories a day to maintain weight, so it must burn calories.


Get Into Sports As An Adult

Get Into Sports As An Adult

Adult sportsIt doesn’t matter how active or athletic you were in high school or college, it’s time get into sports as an adult. One of the great parts of doing it is that you can prepare for the task even before you choose a sport or find a team. Preparation, of course, is getting your body in shape and fit. As a personal trainer, I create a program specifically for you to do that. It won’t take a long time, but while you’re getting into shape, choose the sport you want to try. I’ll adjust your program to get your body ready for it.

Choosing a team sport is an excellent way to make friends and have fun.

Whether you’re signing up for a team sport at the local Y or joining your work buddies for a company team, you’ll have more fun when you’re working toward a win with other people. Office teams build a good relationship amongst coworkers and creates a better working environment. If you’re getting your body ready ahead of time, you’ll surprise them with your athletic ability, endurance and strength.

Maybe it’s not a sport, just an athletic endeavor.

Competitive dancing is sure athletic, but some may not class it as a sport. I do. It works your body out to the max and rewards you for your effort with a good performance. Dancers tend to live longer and healthier than others and that’s important, since you can dance well into your 70s and even 80s. You can take lessons at a dance studio and often find a partner to dance with there if you don’t have a significant other. It’s social, it’s fun, you can do it anywhere and it keeps you fit.

Swim, ski or run to beat the competition.

Swimming, skiing or running usually have age groups and/or levels of proficiency. If you’re a beginning woman skier in the older age bracket, the chances of winning a trophy are pretty great, since you won’t have much competition. Not only are all these sports good for your body, the competition gives you a goal. It makes running more exciting if you’re training or in a race, which adds extra motivation to train.

Getting into sports can include hiking and rock climbing. Hiking gives you a serene look at the great out of doors. Most newbies to rock climbing do it inside where it’s safer to make a mistake.

It’s not always easy to find a team if you want to get into competitive team sports. Sometimes you can go to the park or local school and find people shooting hoops. There are also several football, softball and baseball leagues for adults in most areas.

Ironman competitions are the ultimate in fitness. There are a wide variety of other types of challenges like these that will satisfy your urge for competition and comradery while challenging your body to tough workouts on the way.

Whether it’s a team or a solo sport, finding something you love to do is not only good for the body, it’s good for the soul.


Motivate Yourself To Get Fit

Motivate Yourself To Get Fit

motivate yourselfThe human brain is wired to find the easiest method of doing something. If it weren’t, we wouldn’t have all the labor saving devices. That’s one reason it’s so hard to start and stick with a program of exercise and also one huge reason most of America could use a program. In order to achieve success, you have motivate yourself to get fit. That motivation shouldn’t be in the form of food, particularly if that was always the reward for doing good when you were a child. You need to dig deep and find the perfect motivation.

Watch active kids have fun.

I had to preface with the word active, because too often kids today tie their fun to their cell phone, I-pad or computer. Many never get out and run in the sun or play basketball or dodgeball on the playground. When active kids are playing hard, you’ll hear squeals of laughter because they’re having fun. They’re also exercising. Take a cue from these kids and find something you enjoy doing and people who you enjoy doing it with. That’s one reason group training is so effective. It’s fun and social so you’re more apt to continue.

Do it for your family.

Sure, you should always create your own goals, but that doesn’t mean your motivation can’t be your family. Whether getting into shape is a way of having more energy to play and do fun things with them, live longer and watch them grow or set a great example of what you can achieve when you set your mind to something, your family is powerful motivation.

Set a goal…and then another…and then another…and then another.

I know that’s one of the things I asked you when you signed up was your goal. It’s extremely important to have one. It challenges you to continue even when you’re ready to take a break from working out. Have several goals that lead to the ultimate “OMG, I never thought I could do it” goal. If you want to make it dramatic, choose a special event to have the unveiling of the “new” you.

I love this motivation from one of my clients. She’s meticulous in her personal care and won’t let wash her hair unless it’s at the gym or after working out at home.

Write down the reason you started working out and look at it every day. Sometimes after a week or so, people forget their reason. It’s good to have a reminder available.

Work out with a supportive group of people. That’s one reason working out at Iron Fit gets such great results. Everyone is helpful, supportive and striving to reach a goal.

Take it one day at a time. When you first start working out, don’t think of how long it will take you to get back into shape. Focus on just that workout and doing it your best. Take each day at a time.


Foods To Eat That Build Muscle

Foods To Eat That Build Muscle

foods that build muscleHealthy eating should be a goal for everyone, but some people want specific goals, such as losing weight or building muscle tissue. They often ask about foods to eat that build muscle, so I’ve prepared a list of some of my favorite muscle building foods that many of you have requested. One of the first on the list is lean meat. Lean meat, such as lean beef or skinless chicken shoould be a staple in your diet when muscle building is part of your program. Lean beef provides iron, zinc and vitamin B, plus high quality protein and amino acids. Skinless chicken is also good, aiding in building muscle tissue, while also lower in calories.

Dairy, such as cottage cheese, yogurt, milk and whey protein are great muscle tissue builders.

Like Little Miss Muffet, you can eat your curds and whey and grow big muscles. Curds, such as cottage cheese and whey are both milk products and contain a super rich source of amino acids necessary for building strong muscles. Unlike Miss Muffet, there will be no tuffet sitting at Iron Cross. You have to workout to add to the healthy eating if you want muscles.

Check the hen house for the next source.

Just like meat and other animal products, eggs are a good source of good protein. They contain nine essential amino acids to help build muscle tissue, choline—which is neither a vitamin or mineral, but a water soluble nutrient that helps improve liver function, is important to nerve and brain functioning, supports muscle movement, energy levels and metabolism. Eggs contain healthy fat and vitamin D. They give you the most bang for your grocery dollar if you’re budgeting and steak from grassfed beef is out of the question.

Let’s try some vegetarian options.

Beets are excellent sources of trmethylglycine—betaine, which improves liver functioning and joint repair. More recent clinical studies show it also is invaluable for increasing muscle power. Break out the borscht and build some muscle tissue. There are some very good recipes using beets that would be great additions to any meal. Oranges, canteloupe and other fruits and vegetables also provide necessary nutrients to build muscles quicker.

Try adding some brown rice to the menu. Brown rice boost the levels of GH—growth hormones. These are important to build lean muscle tissue and build strength.

Get a slow-digesting carb and protein in one with quinoa. This has growth factor-1 that builds lean muscles.

Popeye used it for building muscles and you should too. Spinach has the amino acid glutamine that plays an important role in building lean muscles.

Ezekial 4:9 bread helps build muscles in Biblical proportions. It’s name is actually taken from a Bible verse “Take wheat and barley, beans and lentils, millet and spelt; put them in a storage jar and use them to make bread for yourself.” It contains organic sprouted grains, legumes and is a complete protein since it contains all nine amino acids.