Most of us consider fruit to be healthy – something that we can enjoy without restraint. And while fresh fruit does contain essential vitamins, minerals and fiber, the market place has been flooded with “fruit products” that are sabotaging your fat loss results.
Is any product with the word “fruit” in the name a valid way to meet your fruit quota? Nope. Here’s what I mean:
Problem Fruit #1: Juice
Fresh fruit juice can be wonderful. It has great flavor, great color, and good amounts of important vitamins and minerals. At least it does when it is actually fruit juice. Unfortunately, many drinks labeled as fruit juice, contain a very low amount of actual fruit juice. For these hardly-fruit fruit juices, sugar and water make up the bulk of the contents, robbing you of the important benefits of all-natural fruit juice and leaving you primed and ready to fill your fat cells.
Always keep fruit juice indulgences to a minimum, as even the fruit-only kind is loaded with simple sugars.
Problem Fruit #2: The Fruit Smoothie
Now, now, don’t get all up in arms. Smoothies have long been considered a healthy treat, but this often a misconception. It’s not that all fruit smoothies are unhealthy. In fact, a smoothie can give you a big boost of vitamins and minerals that help you feel energetic and ready to face the day. However, it’s very easy to add more sugar than is found in many desserts, losing all the healthy benefits and putting you at risk for fat storage.
To keep your smoothie lean and healthy, don’t add ice cream or frozen yogurt, processed sweeteners, or other items that are high in sugar and filled with empty calories. Keep your smoothie nothing but fruit, ice, juice, yogurt, and a nice scoop of protein powder to ensure it is high on the health chart.
Problem Fruit #3: Fruit-Filled Desserts
Lots of desserts are based around fruit. Cheesecake, pie, and upside down cake just to name a few. Though most of these desserts are unhealthy, there are a few healthy fruit-based desserts to enjoy. Fruit parfait and fruit sorbet are usually lower in sugar and calories than most desserts. And if you just have to have your cake and eat it with berries too, a light angel food will do just fine. Just make sure the slice of cake is thin.
Problem Fruit #4: Fruit-Flavored Cereals
Hopefully eating bowl after bowl of fruity cereals that leave your milk pink and orange is only a problem for your kids. But if you’re still hooked on cereals that claim to have some semblance of fruit, while being filled with added sugars and calories, it’s time for a change. Yes, these cereals may taste good, but sugar-laden breakfast cereals are ruining your fitness results—even if they supposedly have real fruit flavors. Wean yourself from the fruity cereals by chopping some real fruit into a bowl of healthy, sugar-free, whole grain cereal.
Stick with the Real Deal. The best way to avoid unhealthy fruit flavored products is to only eat raw, whole fruits and avoid packaged fruit in any shape or form. This will keep you on track with your fitness and fat loss goal.
Don’t forget that true fitness success comes from a combination of a consistent, challenging exercise routine coupled with a diet of wholesome, unprocessed foods.
I’m here to help you meet your fitness and weight loss goals.
Call or email today to get started on a fitness program that will have you seeing results before this year’s end.
Are You Hungry?
When you find yourself reaching for a candy bar—WAIT! Are you really even hungry? Or are you simply eating out of habit? Next time you find yourself gravitating toward a junk food fix do a short burst of physical activity instead. A dozen jumping jacks, 15 crunches, a walk around the block… you get the idea! By the time your heart rate returns to normal you will find that your craving has passed—and not only did you save yourself from empty calories, you burned extra calories as well!
Sure, you consider yourself to be a healthy person, but do you really have healthy food in your kitchen? You’d be surprised how many fattening foods you’re still buying and eating. Keep reading to learn the 7 Worst Items inside your kitchen cabinets and refrigerator.
1. Breakfast Cereal
It’s delicious, it’s easy to prepare, and sometimes it even gives you enough energy to get to lunchtime. Unfortunately, breakfast cereal is often jam-packed with extra sugars that will do more to drag you down than build you up for your day. Prefer the flavorless kinds? Then be ready to be hungry soon, as they often don’t provide enough good calories to fill you up for long. Still hungry for a bowl of cereal? Consider this: they’re one of the most processed foods on the market.
2. Flavored Yogurt
Yes, flavored yogurt tastes much better than its plain peers, but going with a pre-flavored yogurt will instantly double the amount of sugar you consume. Fortunately, overcoming the flavorless thing can be done healthily. All you have to do is add chopped, fresh fruit of your choice and enjoy!
3. Frozen Entrees
It’s hard to believe how many people rely on frozen TV dinners on a regular basis. If you’re a frozen believer, it’s time to put your health before convenience. On top of frequently lacking all the vitamins and minerals you need for optimal health, frozen dinners often ooze with trans-fats and sodium. This means that while your palate may be pleased, your waist, arteries, and heart will not.
4. Diet Soda
One of the most dangerous items to ever be invented was the diet soda. By trimming certain things from the ingredients list, soda manufacturers guaranteed a giant market share, consisting largely of people who are attempting to be health conscious. Unfortunately, diet soda messes with your body’s ability to recognize and manage sugar properly. And while diet drinks may be calorie-free, those who drink them are at a much greater risk for weight gain than those who do not.
5. Popcorn
No, all popcorn is not to be avoided at all costs. But more than likely, a lot of the unpopped kernels in your kitchen should be ditched. Here’s a good way to determine if your popcorn is at war with your good health. Is it in a prepackaged bag that simply has to be tossed in the microwave to be cooked? Then stay away! Those prepackaged popcorn packages, whether lightly buttered, drowning in butter, or candied, offer no benefit. If you’re going to do popcorn, you’ll need to pop it the old-fashioned way, preferably via air popping.
6. “Skinny” Desserts
The word “skinny” is alluring. It’s what you want to achieve. And marketers know that. Unfortunately, marketers are not tied to some code of ethics that prevents them from using words that are not factual. What they are tied to is doing whatever it takes to sell more of their product. A great way to do that is to toss the word “skinny” on your favorite dessert item. You’ll buy it, thinking you’ve saved yourself valuable calories, but all you’ve probably done is buy a smaller portion of the same stuff, only there isn’t any natural sugar and flavor. It’s all artificial.
7. Granola Bars
Enjoyed by healthy hikers around the world, granola bars are the final unexpected bad choice in your kitchen. This one may have you scratching your head when you consider that your favorite kind is crammed with every fruit and nut you can imagine. But read the ingredient label and you’ll soon see that there is probably more sugar—make that high-fructose corn syrup—than goodness your body can use. Are you ready to ditch the unhealthy items from your kitchen in order to take your fitness to the next level? Would you like to know without a shadow of a doubt that you are going to lose weight in the coming months?
It’s my goal to see you achieve greatness. I believe that you’ve got what it takes.
It’s so simple. Call or email today to get started on a program that will improve your health and well being, and will get you amazing results.
Here are the 6 Best Exercises for Your Booty:
An amazing exercise that targets the muscles of your butt, thighs, and hips is the lunge. Putting one foot out in front of the other, lower your body toward the ground, keeping your abdominals tight and your torso straight. Lower until the front knee is bent at 90 degrees and not extended past your toes. Stand back up and then extend the opposite leg and bend. Perform 10 repetitions. For an increased workout, hold dumbbells in each hand.
A great exercise to work your glute muscles is the hip lift. To do this exercise, lie on the floor with your back flat, knees bent, and feet resting on the ground. While keeping your arms at your sides on the floor, lift your bottom and lower back off of the floor. Hold for a few seconds, and then slowly lower yourself. Repeat. To work your muscles even more, lift a leg in the air when you raise your bottom off the ground. Lower yourself and then repeat, lifting the other leg.
This is a great exercise to get your heart pumping and work your buns. To do this exercise, you'll need an elastic sports band. Stand up straight with your legs hip-width apart and tie the band around your lower legs. Squat down until your thighs are parallel to the floor, your back is straight, and your abdominals are tight. While in this squatting position, take several steps to the left, then several to the right. You may need to use your arms for balance, but your butt muscles should feel a workout.
To do a leg lift, lie on your side and prop yourself up on your elbow. Raise your top leg slowly into the air, as high as you can, so your legs make a "V" shape. Hold for a few seconds, and then slowly lower your leg. Repeat 10 times, turn onto the other side, and lift the other leg.
Running or walking outside or on the treadmill are other great exercises that work your butt while giving you a cardio workout to burn fat at the same time. Make it your goal to exercise 30 to 45 minutes at least three times a week, including walking or running each time.
Another form of squat is the plie squat. This is the exercise to add definition and shape to your butt. Start by standing with your legs slightly more than shoulder-width apart and your toes pointed out to the sides. This is what ballerinas call the plie position. For balance, hold your arms in front of you. While keeping your back straight, slowly squat to the ground until your thighs are parallel to the floor. Hold this for five seconds and stand back up. Repeat 10 times.
These 6 exercises are excellent ways to burn extra fat off your booty while adding the definition you desire. Not used to working your gluteal muscles? You'll definitely feel the burn the first few days, but the end result will be worth the effort!
Please resist the urge to let past failures get you down. I don't care how many times you've tried and failed to transform your body – and you shouldn't either. What matters is that you're motivated NOW, so let's grab that momentum and get moving!
The one and only way to reshape your body (and your booty) is with a combination of cardio exercises, a healthy diet, and the right resistance workouts targeted for the butt and thighs. This is the winning combination that will see you through to your goal.
Come on, your excuses for being out-of-shape are getting old. Yes, getting up off that couch and into a gym may be intimidating. And, yes, it takes effort. But it's worth it.
Focus on the big reason why you want to transform your life and body through exercise. Make a list of the benefits you'll enjoy once you achieve your goal, and read these each morning.
Remember that you can only have two things in life: excuses or results. Which do you want?
Don't allow excuses to ruin your life any longer.