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To Skip or Go? Exercising While Sick

March 9, 2010 in Health by admin | No comments

sick

I’m feeling sick.  My throat is swollen and scratchy and it’s uncomfortable to swallow.  My roommate is sick as well, so I blame her.

Here’s the question: do I work out?  Aside from my throat, I feel fine.  My energy is good.  So is it a good idea, or will it make me worse?

I did a little digging, and here are some guidelines:

If you have a slight cold: Tone down the intensity. If you have a lower energy level, and feel like you are dragging, listen to your body and pull back a bit. Your body needs all the energy it can get to fight your illness and keep it from coming to a head, so don’t make it expel most of it’s energy at the gym.

If you are achey and congested: skip your workout. You are full blown sick and your body needs all the energy it can to heal. Working out can extend how long you are sick at this point.

If you have a fever: this one’s obvious, you need to rest.  Also, no one at the gym wants your germs, so keep them to yourself.

Cramps (ladies only): you gotta workout! It might be the last thing you want to do, but working out gets the blood pumping which speeds up the crampy process and aleviates pain.

So where am I?  I’d say slight cold, if that, which means I’m off to the gym.  To be honest, writing this post was just the kick in the butt I needed, because I was prepared to use my slight sore throat as an excuse.  And what does Dave always say?  NO EXCUSES!

In (mostly) Good Health,

Kelly Turner

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Why Are You Giving Away Your Control?

February 25, 2010 in Nutrition by Dave | No comments

Aiga_restaurant_inv

According to the National Restaurant Assn., 49% of every food dollar in the U.S. is now spent in restaurants.

Basically, half. 

Half of the money spend on food, the substance that nourishes our bodies, provides us energy, vitamins, minerals, controls our metabolism and keeps our body functions going is spent on meals out.

The average meal at a restaurant contains about 700 calories more than if you made the same meal at home.  Those extra calories come from giant portions (which we eat in one sitting anyway) extras like cheese, and prep methods, like extra oil, to just plain make it taste better.

When you eat out, you hand control of your body over to the greased up chef in the kitchen, who’s only worry is about making the food taste good, not good for you.

EAT AT HOME.  For the love of God, cook something, and not in the microwave.  Save money.  Save calories.  Save your waistline, your blood pressure and your self esteem.  Eating out should be an occasional treat.  We’ve got goals, people.  Don’t put half of your diet into someone else’s hands, who you know is going to wreck it for you.

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Eat Clean and Workout Dirty

February 19, 2010 in Fitness, Motivation, Nutrition by Dave | No comments

Eat clean and work out dirty.

Say it again.

Eat clean and work out dirty.

The secret to success.

Eat clean:  No junk.  No extras.  Think fresh, natural, unprocessed and in it’s natural state.  If you can’t pronounce an ingredient in it, it’s not clean.  If it comes wrapped in cellophane, sealed in a bag(most of the time) or a box  or is microwavable, your aren’t eating clean.  If you can pick it from a plant, from the ground, or if it was once attached to an animal, you are eating clean.  Eat like a caveman.  Cavemen didn’t eat sauces, add cheese or have a dinner roll before their meals.  They didn’t bread, dip, smother, drench or fry their food.  They didn’t eat sugar, bleached flour or trans fats.  They ate when they were hungry and stopped when they were full. Eat ingredients not things made from ingredients.

Workout dirty:  Get nasty.  Sweat.  Grunt.  Yell.  Swear. Let it all hang out. Success is cooked in a messy kitchen.   You aren’t supposed to look good working out- working out is supposed to make you look good.  If you don’t have pit stains, smell like crap, messed up hair and a beat red face that’s grimmacing more than smiling, you aren’t working out dirty.   Using the mirrors to check your appearance instead of your form, you aren’t working out dirty. Get on the floor, get off the floor, faster, jump up on benches, drop dumbbells from exhaustion, test yourself, see what you’re made of. Make a bet, push yourself and encourage others.  Don’t worry what people will think. Don’t be intimidated- You’re an animal act like one.

Eat clean and workout dirty.

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This is Your Metabolism. This is Your Metabolism on a Low Calorie Diet

February 16, 2010 in Health, Nutrition by admin | No comments

MetabolismEngine

Oh, Metabolism. You have been our scapegoat for so many years. Our excuse. Our foe. ‘It’s my metabolism’s fault.  I have a slow metabolism.  It changed.  I can’t eat the way I used to.  I try, and gain weight, and blame my metabolism.’

Your metabolism responds based on how you treat it.  So be nice.

There are millions upon millions of books and gurus telling you how to “change” your metabolism. This implies that you were somehow given the wrong one and can swap it out for a new, faster model.

Its not about what metabolism you have, its how well you metabolism is functioning.

There is no better way to explain metabolism than with my infamous Furnace Analogy:

Your metabolism is like the fire in the furnace of a train. Just as a furnace burns coal for fuel to power the train, your metabolism burns energy to power your body. To get the most power from that furnace, you must consistently add fuel to the fire to keep it burning its brightest and hottest. If you don’t put fuel in the furnace, the fire will die out, and the train will stop moving. Then if you come back hours later and throw a shovel full of coal on top, it stacks up- it doesn’t burn. If you continue to shovel coal into the unlit furnace, the coal will pile up, storing for future use.

Along the same lines, if you continue to dump more and more coal onto the fire before it has a chance to burn what you have already added, the extra coal will smother that fire and again, begin to pile up. Too little or too much fuel has the same effect on the fire.

If you don’t eat for hours at a time, your metabolism slows down. Then, next time you eat, your body stores that energy for later use, when your metabolism finally (hopefully) starts up again. A slow metabolism causes your body to store food as fuel for later use, just like that train furnace has turned into a coal storage room.

To keep your metabolism running and revved to power your body like an unstoppable calorie burning freight train, you must consistently feed it a steady stream of healthy food. Small meals and snacks evenly spaced throughout the day will keep your metabolism running at its strongest: never letting the fire die down, and never signaling your body to store fuel.

You cannot “change” your metabolism, but you can definitely make it run more efficiently. Then, if you do occasionally dump a wheelbarrow full of coal into your belly, that fire is burning brightly enough to eat it right up- like it never happened.

No guilt, no blame. Now apologize to your metabolism for the emotional abuse you inflicted upon it, the starvation and the binges, and give it a healthy snack.

Kelly Turner is an ACE Certified Personal Trainer and health and fitness writer from Seattle, WA.  Her writing has appeared in numerous magazines, and she currently blogs for Breathe Magazine, Kidglue.com is the Health and Fitness Expert for Twirlit.com and feature fitness writer for FitPeeps.com.  To contact Kelly with any questions, you email her at kellycturner@hotmail.com.

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Guest Post: Valentine’s Day Guilt-Free Treats

February 11, 2010 in Nutrition by admin | No comments

valentines_day_chocolate-11818

Yay! Fun stuff!

I don’t think Valentine’s Day was made up by greeting card manufacturer’s, I think I was invented by chocolate and sweat pant manufacturers so you eat and bloat and leaves you definitely not in the mood for any lovin’ that night.

Here are some V-Day snack ideas that will satisfy your sweet tooth and your skinny jeans.

Chocolate Covered Strawberries

Look! Fruit! and chocolate!  Line a baking sheet with wax paper. Buy microwavable melting chocolate at the grocery store (or go old school and melt down some chocolate chips in a sauce pan.) Wash and dry a carton of strawberries, and leave the stem on. Dip the strawberries into the melted chocolate and place on the wax paper. Place baking sheet in fridge until chocolate sets, or you are ready to serve.  To mix it up, try different fruits, like bananas.

Strawberry Shortcake

Mini angel food cakes (one per person)
Strawberries, sliced and hulled
Fat free whipped topping (like Cool-Whip)
Fat free chocolate syrup (just a drizzle)

Place cakes on four plates. Top with strawberries. Top with whipped topping. Drizzle with chocolate sauce. Yeah, that’s it.

Enjoy!  Sweet, figure friendly sweets for you and your sweet!

Kelly Turner is an ACE Certified Personal Trainer and health and fitness writer from Seattle, WA.  Her writing has appeared in numerous magazines, and she currently blogs for Breathe Magazine, Kidglue.com is the Health and Fitness Expert for Twirlit.com and feature fitness writer for FitPeeps.com.  To contact Kelly with any questions, you email her at kellycturner@hotmail.com.

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Women Don’t Work Out Hard Enough To Get Results? Actually Here They Do.

February 10, 2010 in Fitness News, Motivation by Dave | No comments

Hard Enough For Results?

Hard Enough For Results? by davefannin

This makes sense. I’ve seen it but it’s a tough sell.

At least I’m not the one saying it: doctors claim the same thing.

Endocrinologist Dr. Ken Fujioka says that hormones cause women to want to eat more after exercise, and since a woman’s metabolism is nearly one-third slower than a man’s, those extra calories have a significant impact on their weight, making it harder for them to drop those pounds than for a man, and the average woman simply doesn’t work out hard enough to offset the difference.

Common sense would tell us that to combat this, you simply don’t eat those extra calories, good luck with that, you can literally see people’s faces glaze over when you recommend they simply eat less. Then they stop returning your calls.

So how is this fixed? Work out harder.(Remembering still you can’t out-exercise a bad diet!) How do you do that? Well I’ve never, and I mean never, had a client note how easy their training was and they feel like they could pull it off themselves.

And Yes! I ask! Because I have to know!
Me : “Could/would you do this on your own?”

Client:” When I have the energy to get off this floor. You’re getting a punch”
Me: “That would be a No”

Now every work-out isn’t an all-out slaughter. I’ve seen it attempted and injuries and burn-out follow quickly. And that’s as bad as no training.

It definitely helps with the motivation and pushing when a trained coach is getting you into the “5 More!” “1 More You! CAN DO THIS!” Zone. And if you have a trainer that doesn’t get you excited enough to get after it and isn’t invested enough into you to get excited about your progress get rid of him or her- today.

The video notes that if you are talking to your friends, or able to read a book, you are not working out hard enough. Interesting to note that absolutely all of the people that were on the cardio machines were talking and reading and um. “power walking”. I think I threw up in my mouth a little.

The lady doing crunches on the ball? Well everyone looks the same doing crunches on a ball. Me, you, circus elephants all the same.

So bottom line is you have to push.

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Find Your Comfort Zone- and Stay Out of it

January 29, 2010 in Fitness, Motivation by Dave | No comments

I was reading on LATimes.com about Dr. Jeffry Life, and his prescription for a life long exercise regimen.

One of the things he said made me want to jump out of my seat and shout it from the rooftops…

Find your comfort zone, and then stay out of it.”

If intensity is the key to results, then your comfort zone is your worst enemy.

Your comfort zone comes in many forms: doing exercises you are familiar with, training methods you are used to, the same time every week, pushing yourself just as far as you think you can go, or as far as you went your last workout. 40 minutes on the treadmill because you did 40 minutes the day before- sound familiar?  Routine, routine, routine.  Staying in your comfort zone is going to keep you in the same size pants and with the same body fat percentage. 

Doing the same thing each time and expecting different results is the definition of insanity.

Pushing yourself beyond your comfort zone also takes many forms: trying new exercises, new ways to break a sweat, doing more and lifting heavier than you ever thought you could, working out more often, pushing yourself as far as you can go, and then pushing a little further.  That is how you get results.  You challenge your body.  You continue to grow, change, improve.

Comfort is complacency.  You should not be comfortable when you work out.  You should be uncomfortable, exhausted, sweating and out of your element. 

How can you grow if you don’t challenge yourself?  How can you know what you are truly capable of if you never try?

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Guest Post: Is Your Salad Hiding a Dirty Secret?

January 27, 2010 in Nutrition, Tips and Tricks by admin | No comments

salad1

You want to lose weight- so what is your go-to meal?  Salads.  Full of veggies, low on starchy carbs, and toss in a little bit of lean protein and you have a low calorie delicious meal made in weight loss heaven, no?

Probably not.

Most people trying to lose weight, or those trying not to consume their daily allowance in one sitting, will automatically order a salad when they go to a restaurant, feeling like it’s the only safe bet.  More often than not, those salads contain the same amount of calories as a burger.  Seems like a waste.

Just because you throw a bunch of crap on top of a bed of lettuce, doesn’t mean it’s going to be good for you.  To get the most (and the least) from your salads, listen up:

• Choose nutrient-rich dark green, leafy vegetables, such as spinach, romaine, and endive over iceberg lettuce which offers little nutritional value.  It’s pretty much water,m which is low in calories, but doesn’t nothing for your health.
• Fill up with tons of veggies like cucumbers, peppers, broccoli and tomatoes. The brighter the colors, the more nutrient packed the veggie is so look for deep greens, bright reds, yellows and everything in between.
• Add a little lean protein to keep you fuller longer. Opt for beans, lean meat, turkey, and tuna over fatty meats like ham, pepperoni, salami and definitely anything deep fried.
• All salads are not created equal.   Pasta salad, potato salad, tuna salad, chicken salad and macaroni salad are loaded with fatty mayo and oils.  I feel like I shouldn’t even have to say that, but there it is, just in case.
• Skip extras like croutons, crackers, crumbled bacon, and shredded cheeses, and go easy on healthy, but calorie dense extras, like nuts and seeds. These little additions can easily add hundreds of calories to you salad.
• Dressing is probably the easiest way to undo a healthy salad. Choose low fat or fat free dressing, oil based dressings, or just a little vinegar. Always put dressing on the side and dip each bite so you control how much you use.
• Add some sweet with fruits. They are great on the side, or try interesting combinations on top of your salad, like pineapples, blueberries, orange segments or strawberries.

Fast food salads are pre-made and rarely give you the option of choosing your toppings. However, they usually give you the topping in individual packets so you can choose what you put on. Skip crunchy noodles or croutons, bacon and cheese. Always ask for the low fat or fat free dressing choice, even if it isn’t the dressing that comes with your order- most places will accommodate.

Never order an already designed salad for you at a restaurant.  Make substitutions and eliminations.  Their job is to make it taste good, not to ensure you can button your goal jeans, so be your own watch dog.

Salads can be your be your best friend, or your worst diet enemy. Make smart choices with what you load onto your lettuce.

Kelly Turner is an ACE Certified Personal Trainer and health and fitness writer from Seattle, WA.  Her writing has appeared in numerous magazines, and she currently blogs for Breathe Magazine, Kidglue.com is the Health and Fitness Expert for Twirlit.com and feature fitness writer for FitPeeps.com.  To contact Kelly with any questions, you email her at kellycturner@hotmail.com.

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Guest Post: Meet Kelly Turner. Gasp! A Girl!

January 12, 2010 in Fitness by Dave | No comments

Female_weights

Yeah, that’s not me.


Ahhh, time for some estrogen up in here.

My name is Kelly Turner, I am an ACE Certified Personal Trainer and health and fitness writer.  Dave asked me to post on the blog every so often to offer a fresh, female perspective on everything fitness, to which I happily agreed (cause you know you can’t say no to Dave, right?)

To start things off right, I’m going to complain about fitness for a bit.  Yes, I have devoted my life and career to fitness and healthy living, but there are a few things about the fitness industry that drive me insane, especially as a woman.

I mainly blame the misinformation about fitness on women’s fitness magazines.  You know who you are.  First, they assume that every woman wants to lose weight, which I find insulting. I’ve stopped reading you, magazines, because even though I do not need to lose weight, you keep telling me I do.  Therefore, you are not allowed in my house.  I get enough of that from the TV and internet and I will not let anyone tell me how I should look.

My biggest gripe with those magazines, though, is that they shove all women into a box, and then give them The Perfect Workout and Diet Plan (even though they have no idea what your goals, injuries, health, weight, age and attention span is) which goes against what, you know, actually works. They shout “cardio and cutting calories!” with every article and whisper about strength training, or their version of it, which usually caps at 5 pound dumbbells.  Or a towel.  How the hell do you work out with a towel?

Ladies, weights are your friends.

Do not be scared of weights.

Weights are what gives you that awesome tricep line that will have you wearing halter tops in the winter.  Weights are what will lift your butt higher than any surgery could ever hope to.  Weights are what will get your metabolism running it’s fastest, your heart rate up higher than any treadmill, and give you the satsifaction of knowing you can carry your kids, the groceries and your purse all while fighting off a would-be attacker.

And guess what? The heavier the weights, the better.  But what about bulking up!?  What about building so much muscle I can’t fit through a doorway straight on?   Short answer: what crack pot gave you that idea, and anyways you don’t have enough testosterone.  For my mildly professional answer: click here.

Here is the truth:

Cardio will burn some calories, which may result in weight loss, but you are just going to be a smaller version of your soft self.  Soft is not attractive.  Firm and ripped and confident are attractive. I’m 5′6″, 120 pounds but, while I have a smaller frame, I love me some heavy weights and it shows.  Not to toot my horn, but I have the 6 pack, I have the Kelly Ripa arms, and I can lift more than most people think- and I can tell you, cardio had nothing to do with it.  I fell in love with weights because they are the only way you can truly change your body shape, which is actually what most women who say they want to lose weight are looking for.

I view my job as a personal trainer as being responsible for teaching clients everything I know about fitness so they can weed out the crap information they get other places, go into a gym setting and be comfortable because they know exactly what to do, how to do it, and where to go from there once it becomes too easy.  I feel women struggle with this most because they get a watered down version of what true fitness looks like.  With my next upcoming posts, I will smash common fitness myths and misconceptions that have women chained to their treadmills and calorie counters with nothing to show for it.  Maybe you guys will even learn a little something, too.

Kelly Turner is an ACE Certified Personal Trainer and health and fitness writer from Seattle, WA.  Her writing has appeared in numerous magazines, and she currently blogs for Breathe Magazine, Kidglue.com is the Health and Fitness Expert for Twirlit.com and feature fitness writer for FitPeeps.com.  To contact Kelly with any questions, you email her at kellycturner@hotmail.com.

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Bootcamps are Best? I Could Have Told Your That

January 5, 2010 in Club News, Fitness News by Dave | No comments


Seems the LA Times is reporting on what I knew all along ….

Bootcamps are the best.

The article is a little dry but reporters have lot of people to please. It’s hard to say the chance of you feeling completely out of control the first day of camp is 100%.
The chance you’ll feel like vomiting 30% I don’t want you to. You don’t want you to. But it happens.
Chance of soreness 100%.

Fitness Camps, where Clients meet up, generally at 5:30-6am, or before, to burn fat with the most intense workouts of their lives, with few breaks, little or no rest, and the triple hit of bodyweight/resistance, plyometrics and ultra fat burning HIIT workouts are the perfect recipe for weigh loss success.  Don’t believe me?  Check out Kim’s story.

Blood, guts, sweat, tears…and still having the drive to pound out 10-20 or Um.50 more reps.  Because it’s exercise disguised as FUN.

Man you know what’s so 2007. Trudging through the same old gym workout you have been doing for years(and years and years), with no one to push you, no one to care if you show-up much less finish with a huge push, equals little or no results. 

They are called bootcamps. But it’s really a name for the format. There’s no yelling just positive motivation. No fancy equipment, no gadgets, no distraction,  no mercy.  Just you, your mates, and results.

How can pushing yourself to collapse be fun if there is no one to laugh with you when you face plant in the grass after your arms give out after pushups, presses, burbees, and planks?

Oh. That incredible sense of accomplishment and exhilarating feeling of really living life to it’s fullest. That comes with the bikini ready body.

Hope you’re willing to experience what I’m talking about.

Dedicated to Your Success,
Dave
p.s. Jan 11th it’s go time. And the 4 week cycles will be over. The program will run continuously. No breaks. Cients will be able to join anytime during the month when there’s space available. Don’t miss your window to get in.

Click here for more information on The Body Firm’s Fitness Boot Camps

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