It’s three weeks into the New Year, and by now, many of your are no doubt having second thoughts on your ability to exceed the challenges ahead of you. If fitness, health or weight loss are on your agenda, here are some helpful tips to keep you moving forward.

1. Eliminate junk food. Most fast food restaurants, along with most pastries and processed foods, contain high amounts of fat, sodium and sugar (usually simple sugars). The consumption of these foods will do little for your energy, except promote a high then a low in your blood sugar levels. In addition they offer high levels of fat, usually of the saturated type. And they quite often contain large amounts of water-retaining sodium. None of these qualities are beneficial to any type of athlete or individual.
2. Drink eight to ten glasses of water each day, or more (I personally drink a LOT more – over 3 gallons per day). This will ensure you are replacing fluids lost during exercise. You need not wait until you are thirsty. By then, you are in a depleted state. Drink these glasses of water throughout a day’s time, not all at once.
3. Determine your daily protein requirements. Proteins that include the essential amino acids (those that your body does not manufacture) are of utmost importance. Protein powder provides a great means to obtaining additional quality protein. And remember, proteins are best assimilated when accompanied by some carbohydrates. Where do you start? Try 1 gram per pound of body weight.
4. Consume high fiber foods. Not only does high fiber in your diet help in the reduction of cholesterol, it also makes fats less likely to be absorbed into your body.
5. Exercise to increase your lean body weight. The more lean weight you have, the more efficient your body moves and the higher your metabolism, even at rest. By increasing your lean body weight, your bones become more dense and your muscles, tendons and ligaments become stronger. The great side effect of all this is that it’s easier to avoid getting fat. Remember, bigger muscles burn more calories than little ones. You DO NOT want to lose lean body mass!

If you aren’t already, whether your goal is to lose fat or gain muscle, you should be eating smaller meals every 2-3 hours! Eating at regular increments:

• Increases metabolism
• Gives your body a constant supply of nutrients
• Keeps your blood sugar stable and alleviates the post-meal “crashes” (ever feel lethargic after lunch?) since you’re not spiking your insulin
• Keeps you relatively saturated and stops you from eating a huge amount at one time, which is an easy way to cause your body to store fat
• Gives encouragement! When you get hungry, you know that you’re going to be eating again in a very short time! No more waiting 6-7 hours between meals!

You should always eat at least five meals a day. Two or three meals simply isn’t often enough. If your muscles don’t get the calories they need, how are they going to keep going? By CANNIBALIZING (eating) muscle tissue! That’s the same muscle tissue you spent hours training to get.

On the other hand, overeating even one meal a day keeps the fat-building enzymes in your body more numerous to turn the excess food into body fat. Always ask yourself, “What will I be doing over the next 3 hours?” and eat based around your activities. If you’re going to be busting your tail in the gym, you’d eat more than you would if you were going to sleep.

Remember, when you overeat at a meal, the excess calories get stored as fat. So, if you skip a meal, do not eat to make up for it, eat for what you are going to be doing.

Good luck and hang in there! If you “fall off the wagon,” you have 11 more months ahead of you to reach your fitness goals. It’s a marathon, not a sprint.

Many people don’t know that when you take antibiotics you actually kill the good and bad bacteria in your body.  This poses a problem after you get off the antibiotics because your body has no way to correctly fight off the bad microbials in your body, such as candidas, which can quickly spread and cause a multitude of problems. Most people don’t realize that slowly but surely the “targeted microbes” are transforming to become immune to the drugs, in the end making the proscribed drugs useless.

Now don’t get scared, help is in sight!  There has been a natural and safe solution to this problem for centuries; it’s called Olive Leaf Extract.   This amazing extract not only fights against pathological microbes but it also is effective against bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites in the body!  It also enhances the elasticity of arteries, which in turn improves blood flow, and prevents the development of some forms of heart diseases.

You might be wondering how Olive Leaf Extract is effective against viruses. Well first of all, we will look at some of what it can treat effectively: herpes, vaccinia, pseudo rabies, Newcastle’s, polio 1, 2, and 3, leukemia, and many influenza types. Also, we will browse over some of the types of bacteria and parasitic protozoan’s it fights against: malariae, lactobacillus plantarum W50, brevis 50, pediocococus cerevisiae 39, leuconostoc mesenteroides 42, staphylococcus aureus, bacillus subtilis, and so on and so forth.

So how does it work? Olive leaf extract interferes with several functions of the virus and bacteria cells, by inhibiting their shedding, assembly at the cell membrane, and budding. It also interferes with particular amino acid constructions that are essential for the survival of the cells. A really awesome thing olive leaf extract does is that it can actually penetrate infected cells and hamper further virus or bacterial reproduction. Olive leaf also encourages development of immune system cells to help fight off the virus or bacteria!

Not only does it fight against viruses and bacteria, olive leaf extract also fights against fungus, yeast, and parasitic infections. Many studies have confirmed that most of today’s common health problems are due to parasites, fungus, and yeasts. Many factors play a roll in how people come about getting these infections such as diet, use of antibiotics and other drugs, and lack of exercise. It has been shown too successfully fight against Candida albicans, Candida krusei, oral candidiasis, pin worms, tapeworms, ring worm, and many others. It also is effective against chronic toenail fungus infection which many Americans have.

On top of all of these amazing things olive leaf extract helps with, it also aids in the reduction of high blood pressure. Olive leaf extract has been clearly shown to help with the expanding and contracting of the arteries which in turn promotes healthy dilatatory action in the coronary arteries. It actually causes the constricted arteries to relax and become more flexible. Studies have shown that olive leaf extract can reduce blood pressure on an average of 68 percent in some animals, and in others as high as 36 percent. It has also been shown to have other cardiovascular benefits such as helping with barium chloride-induced arrhythmia and calcium- induced arrhythmia.

There are so many benefits that people can get from this extract and some of them I didn’t even list such as; it is a wonderful antioxidant, helps with hypoglycemia/diabetes, fights against free radicals, increases energy, can act as a microbial agent against herpes, AIDS, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, arthritis, and other autoimmune disorders. The list goes on and on.

I suggest picking up a book about Olive Leaf Extract and just reading on its wonderful healing powers. There may be one “side effect” that comes along with taking this extract; it may cause a “die off effect.” That is when all of the microbes die and your body detoxes causing symptoms which include headaches and flu like symptoms.This will reside in a week or so depending on your body.

Reference:
N.D. Ritchason, Jack, Olive Leaf Extract. Woodland Publishing 1999.

This article is for educational purposes only and is not recommended as a means of diagnosing or treating and illness.  All matters concerning physical and mental health should be supervised by a health practitioner knowledgeable in treating that particular condition.  The author does not directly or indirectly dispense medical advice, nor do they prescribe any remedies or assume any responsibility for those who choose to treat themselves.

Here is a recipe from another trainer friend of mine – staying fit doesn’t mean you can’t bake healthy recipes!

- Natural Nut Butter of your choice
- Heavy/Double Cream
- Pro Complete 40 Protein (flavor of choice)
- Use chocolate whey and crunchy peanut butter for the snickers taste.
- Also you can add a teaspoon or two of granulated splenda to sweeten it a little.

Instructions:

1) Put 50 grams of nut butter and 25 grams of whey protein into a bowl
2) Mix a little until dry and clumpy
3) Add 40ml of heavy cream. Now it magically smooths out quickly when mixed
4) Take out of bowl and shape into a bar
5) Enjoy!

Another good recipe for you – thanks to my friend!

Banana Breakfast Shake
Prep: 5 min.
1 quart lowfat milk
1 scoop vanilla or banana Pro Complete 40 Protein
2 bananas, without peel, medium, frozen
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. almond extract
1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Place all ingredients in a blender. Blend until smooth. It’s that simple – and absolutely delicious!

Personal trainers are perfect, right? They eat healthy every day and they have the body you wish you had, right? WRONG! We are human, too, and we struggle with the things you struggle with every day. The difference, though, is our approach to our lifestyle, and our ability to let ourselves slip up sometimes. Accountability gets us back on the wagon.

So, to demonstrate how much I am just like you (and hopefully to motivate you into action), here are 5 things you probably didn’t know about me.

Number One: I despise cardio
I think it is from the devil himself! I will do it if I absolutely have to but if I don’t, I refuse.  Example: When I am prepping for a competition I will do whatever it takes to I look my best, which includes cardio. It is great for the cardiovascular system and fat lose but I like to think that I get my heart worked out enough when I throw heavy weights around.

Number Two: I don’t like vegetables
I force myself to eat them because I know the health benefits of them but I’d rather eat a cardboard box than cooked veggies!

Number Three: I’m pretty much addicted to an energy drink called A.C.T
I ask my clients to stay away from caffeine and those kinds of energy drinks but I justify this one because it is ALL natural and it only costs $1 a day. I basically have to have it or I am a cranky ol’ lady in the gym. It actually makes me smile and get excited when I think about the next time I can drink one!

Number Four: I used to have an eating disorder
I was bulimic and anorexic. My nickname back in ’05 was Mary Kate Olsen (bad, I know)! My awesome personal trainer and mentor (my mom still calls her my second mother) helped save my life would call me that; jokingly and in love of course. I would just shake my head and say, “yep, that’s me..” because I had accepted the fact that I needed help and it didn’t hurt to joke about it because I was on the right track to get my life back in order. I had reached out for help in time and I will never regret being honest with myself about that situation. Now I am healthy and happy for it.

Number Five: I wish I could cook for all of my clients
Some of my clients think they can fib to me about their diets and lifestyles.  Not exactly. I know when they have been eating well and when they haven’t – their bodies tell the story! Most individuals don’t realize how much I do care about their goals. If I could, I would cook and pack all of my client’s meals for them so that they would REALLY know what true clean eating was and how fast it would help them reach their goals. If only there was enough time in the day!