Did you know that the grocery store is the source for most of your unwanted pounds?
Well, that and the fast food restaurants, but we'll leave that for another day.
If you're like most people then your shopping trips aren't exactly organized. In fact, your grocery cart is likely to be more fat than fit.
The good news is that with a few small modifications to your routine you'll be able to turn your grocery shopping trip into an easy opportunity to slim down.
I've broken down the process of healthy grocery store navigation with an easy-to-remember acronym - FITNESS.
Come, take a walk with me through your grocery store and we'll improve your shape and the shape of your family members.
F: First Veggies
Your mom always told you that you had to eat your veggies before dessert-so this will be an easy one to remember. When you start shopping, first go to the produce section. The bulk of your shopping should take place here. Fresh vegetables, lettuce for salads, and fruits are the best things to eat when you want to look and feel great.
Don't skimp on produce-aim to fill most of your cart here.
I: Is it Wheat?
When it comes to bread you only need to ask yourself one question. Is it wheat? White bread products have been processed and filled with simple carbohydrates – these will easily stick to your body as fat. Wheat breads, on the other hand, contain more fiber and are much healthier. Make it a policy to never purchase white bread, wheat bread is the right choice even for the little members of your family.
Always choose hearty wheat bread products-the more whole grain, the better.
T: Trim the Fat
In the meat section you are faced with a major decision. Do you go with your taste buds or do you go with your health conscious side? I urge you to stick with the latter. These days lean meats are more available than ever, and the benefits to going lean are numerous. When you choose lean meats you avoid extra saturated fat (your heart will thank you for this) and you also avoid the extra calories that come packed into each fat gram.
Want to be lean? Then eat lean meats.
N: Never enter the Junk Food Aisle
I have a simple policy that has saved me from thousands of unnecessary calories. I don't walk down the junk food aisle. You and I both know that it is nearly impossible to walk past rows of chips, candies and cookies without putting something into the cart. The bright packages stamped with mouthwatering images will give your will power a run for its money. My two cents? Avoid that row altogether and save yourself from the whole ordeal.
Nothing good ever came from walking down the junk food aisle-just say no.
E: Edge around the store
Here's a really easy trick for healthy shopping. Edge around the store, as in shop the perimeter and avoid the inner aisles. Think about it-the healthiest products are kept around the perimeter of the store: produce, meat, dairy. The inner aisles are where you run into trouble: processed food, baked goods, and sweets. Don't get me wrong, there are healthy products kept in the inner aisles too, but a majority of the items are waist-expanders.
Shop in a circle-stick to the perimeter of the store, do less shopping in the aisles.
S: Skinny Cow
The dairy section is filled with many healthy items; it is also filled with extremely high fat items. Your job is to pick out all those calcium-rich foods that you love in the low fat and non fat versions. I realize that many people have a prejudice against low milk or yogurt, simply because they've always eaten the full fat version. Making the switch to low fat is such a simple way to cut unnecessary fat and calories from your diet, while still getting all the benefits of dairy.
Fat free dairy products are the way to go-you'll only lose unwanted pounds.
S: Stick with Water
Warning: mini lecture to follow. I'll make it short and sweet. Drink more water-period. Sodas, sugary juices and calorie-laden alcoholic beverages are responsible for a large number of unnecessary calories in your diet. Don't fill your cart with these sneaky calories. Keep them out of your kitchen and out of your life.
Looking for a tasty beverage? Look no farther than crystal clear water.
There you have it-your FITNESS shopping plan that will take your cart from fat to fit. I suggest that you write down the FITNESS steps on a note card and take it to the store with you.
Are you ready to take your body from fat to fit? I've got what it takes to get you there! No guess work, no fad diets, and no super long workouts.
Call or email today to learn more about my fitness, strength and conditioning programs that will quickly change your life.
Joel Molina
1822 Fitness, Inc.
www.1822fitness.com
joel@1822fitness.com
About Me
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Discovered: The Fountain of Youth!
What if I told you that the Fountain of Youth had been discovered and that you could reap the benefits of its life-extending, body-enhancing powers today? You would probably think I had either lost my mind or that I was about to pitch a new line of supplements to you! But it's true, the Fountain of Youth exists, and I need you to read on, because these next few paragraphs will change the way you view your body forever:
Age creeps up on you in the form of lowered metabolism, easier weight gain and aching muscles and joints. In fact, at the age of 50 most people begin to lose 12% of their muscle strength and 6% of their muscle mass with each passing decade. It's no wonder that for centuries people have been so intrigued with finding the Fountain of Youth!
But did you know the real culprit behind age-related ailments? Disuse That's right - your body feels the effects of aging most when you don't use it! Makes sense, doesn't it? In youth we are generally active and vigorous, and as the years pass by we tend to be more cautious and less apt toward physical activity. This disuse takes quite a toll on our bodies.
Exercise is the Fountain of Youth.
Exercise is the only proven way to drastically combat aging and to regain your youthful body. In fact, most people are able to regain up to 1/3 of their muscle strength and mass after participating in an exercise program for just a couple of months. Many studies have also shown that seniors who exercise regularly live longer than those who don't. Isn't that amazing!
What if you aren't 50 yet - maybe not even 40? Should you simply sit back and relax, since aging is so far off in your future? No! If you are younger than 50, I still have one piece of advice for you - exercise! By making exercise a part of your daily life you are in the position to arm yourself against ever feeling the full effect of aging on your body. What a powerful thing! And guess what? Exercise brings you a plethora of other benefits as well.
And you thought that exercise was only useful for losing weight! Not only will exercise increase your strength and muscle mass, check out this list of the proven benefits of exercise:
improved sleeping patterns
improved blood profile
increase in bone density
increased life expectancy
improved cardiovascular health
decrease in life-threatening conditions, such as diabetes, insulin resistance and heart disease
increased muscle strength
decreased blood pressure
improved psychological health
increase in mobility and flexibility
Wow! Did you know that exercise could do all of that for you? It has been proven that regular exercise will help keep you younger even as your age increases. And we are talking about both physical and metal youth.
So now that you know the secret power of exercise, what should you do to harness it? Participate in a regular exercise program and feel younger and more vibrant than ever! Making the decision to get into shape will be the best one you make in your life, and I encourage you to contact me to jump start your exercise program.
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!
Grilled Chicken & Spinach Salad with Orange Dressing
Sweet fruit flavors deliciously complement peppered chicken in this tantalizing salad. It can be enjoyed for a healthy lunch or dinner.
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients
1 (10-oz.) pkg. pre-washed fresh spinach, torn
1/2 cup orange juice
3 tablespoons brown sugar
3 tablespoons vinegar
1 teaspoon grated orange peel,
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 medium shallots, minced
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts halves, pounded slightly to flatten
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
6 slices orange, halved
1 1/2 cups strawberries, halved
Instructions
Heat grill. Place spinach in large bowl. In a small sauce pan, combine orange juice, brown sugar, vinegar, orange peel, salt and shallots; mix well. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Immediately pour over spinach; toss to combine. Divide evenly onto 4 plates.
When ready to grill, lightly sprinkle 1 side of the chicken breast half with 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Place chicken, peppered side down, on gas grill over medium heat or charcoal grill 4 to 6 inches from medium coals. Cook 5 minutes. Lightly sprinkle chicken again with remaining pepper; turn chicken. Cook an additional 3 to 5 minutes or until chicken is fork-tender and juices run clear.
Slice chicken breasts crosswise into slices; do not separate slices; arrange 1 breast half on spinach mixture on each plate. Arrange halved orange slices and strawberries around chicken.
Nutritional Analysis: One serving (1/4 of recipe) equals 260 calories, 4g fat, 25g carbohydrates and 30g protein.
It's time to do something about it. Let's get together and I'll show how to get there twice as fast, guranteed!! Log onto www.1822fitness.com for mor info. And if you want me to include you in our bi-monthly newslettter, email me to joel@1822fitness.com with the following info: name and email, and if you want to include your phone number if you want to redeem your FREE session with me.
Dedicated to your fitness success,
Joel Molina
1822 Fitness, Inc.
www.1822fitness.com
joel@1822fitness.com
Age creeps up on you in the form of lowered metabolism, easier weight gain and aching muscles and joints. In fact, at the age of 50 most people begin to lose 12% of their muscle strength and 6% of their muscle mass with each passing decade. It's no wonder that for centuries people have been so intrigued with finding the Fountain of Youth!
But did you know the real culprit behind age-related ailments? Disuse That's right - your body feels the effects of aging most when you don't use it! Makes sense, doesn't it? In youth we are generally active and vigorous, and as the years pass by we tend to be more cautious and less apt toward physical activity. This disuse takes quite a toll on our bodies.
Exercise is the Fountain of Youth.
Exercise is the only proven way to drastically combat aging and to regain your youthful body. In fact, most people are able to regain up to 1/3 of their muscle strength and mass after participating in an exercise program for just a couple of months. Many studies have also shown that seniors who exercise regularly live longer than those who don't. Isn't that amazing!
What if you aren't 50 yet - maybe not even 40? Should you simply sit back and relax, since aging is so far off in your future? No! If you are younger than 50, I still have one piece of advice for you - exercise! By making exercise a part of your daily life you are in the position to arm yourself against ever feeling the full effect of aging on your body. What a powerful thing! And guess what? Exercise brings you a plethora of other benefits as well.
And you thought that exercise was only useful for losing weight! Not only will exercise increase your strength and muscle mass, check out this list of the proven benefits of exercise:
improved sleeping patterns
improved blood profile
increase in bone density
increased life expectancy
improved cardiovascular health
decrease in life-threatening conditions, such as diabetes, insulin resistance and heart disease
increased muscle strength
decreased blood pressure
improved psychological health
increase in mobility and flexibility
Wow! Did you know that exercise could do all of that for you? It has been proven that regular exercise will help keep you younger even as your age increases. And we are talking about both physical and metal youth.
So now that you know the secret power of exercise, what should you do to harness it? Participate in a regular exercise program and feel younger and more vibrant than ever! Making the decision to get into shape will be the best one you make in your life, and I encourage you to contact me to jump start your exercise program.
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!
Grilled Chicken & Spinach Salad with Orange Dressing
Sweet fruit flavors deliciously complement peppered chicken in this tantalizing salad. It can be enjoyed for a healthy lunch or dinner.
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients
1 (10-oz.) pkg. pre-washed fresh spinach, torn
1/2 cup orange juice
3 tablespoons brown sugar
3 tablespoons vinegar
1 teaspoon grated orange peel,
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 medium shallots, minced
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts halves, pounded slightly to flatten
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
6 slices orange, halved
1 1/2 cups strawberries, halved
Instructions
Heat grill. Place spinach in large bowl. In a small sauce pan, combine orange juice, brown sugar, vinegar, orange peel, salt and shallots; mix well. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Immediately pour over spinach; toss to combine. Divide evenly onto 4 plates.
When ready to grill, lightly sprinkle 1 side of the chicken breast half with 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Place chicken, peppered side down, on gas grill over medium heat or charcoal grill 4 to 6 inches from medium coals. Cook 5 minutes. Lightly sprinkle chicken again with remaining pepper; turn chicken. Cook an additional 3 to 5 minutes or until chicken is fork-tender and juices run clear.
Slice chicken breasts crosswise into slices; do not separate slices; arrange 1 breast half on spinach mixture on each plate. Arrange halved orange slices and strawberries around chicken.
Nutritional Analysis: One serving (1/4 of recipe) equals 260 calories, 4g fat, 25g carbohydrates and 30g protein.
It's time to do something about it. Let's get together and I'll show how to get there twice as fast, guranteed!! Log onto www.1822fitness.com for mor info. And if you want me to include you in our bi-monthly newslettter, email me to joel@1822fitness.com with the following info: name and email, and if you want to include your phone number if you want to redeem your FREE session with me.
Dedicated to your fitness success,
Joel Molina
1822 Fitness, Inc.
www.1822fitness.com
joel@1822fitness.com
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Tips for Proper Squatting
The squat is one of the most or the most beneficial exercise among the lower body exercises. When squatting make sure to follow the following tips to maximize the benefits of one of the greatest exercises of all time.
1. Preparation: Set the bar in the power rack at about mid-chest level. Get in front of the bar with your feet directly under the bar and squat untill you’re underneath it. Take a deep breath and hold it and squat up to unrack the bar and then exhale. Take one step back with one leg and another step back with the other leg and then squat.
2. Before execution: Make sure that before squatting, your chest is up, you look slightly down– look forward and slightly down to keep your back straight and neck in line, the bar will rest on the muscles of your upper back, to have a narrow grip to tighter your upper back, keep your wrists straight, tighten your upper back, elbows back, toes out around 30 degrees, and have your weight on your heels.
3. Execution (phase1-squatting down): At this point you're about to perform the first rep. As you go down make sure to have your hips back like you're about to sit on a chair, don't allow your knees to go over your toes as you squat down, that's why is so important to throw your hips back and to have your weight on your heels, squat parallel to the ground or beyond parallel, the deeper the better (butt-to-heels)
4. Execution (phase 2-squatting up): At the bottom position of the squat, you want to push through your heels to return to the standing position. While going up: squeeze your glutes,
stay focused on the target, keep your knees out or aligned with your toes, and push up with your hips without compromising any of the points discussed above (#1-3).
Don't forget to establish a proper breathing pattern throughout the preparation and execution of the exercise. For more info refer to the blog posted before this one.
PS. If you're ready to change your lifestyle and would like me to take you through the proccess I would be more than happy to do it. Redeem your FREE pass by logging onto www.1822fitness.com and click on the area of contacting Joel and send me an email and I'll send you the pass to see me for FREE without obligation.
Dedicated to your fitness success,
Joel Molina
1822 Fitness, Inc.
www.1822fitness.com
joel@1822fitness.com
1. Preparation: Set the bar in the power rack at about mid-chest level. Get in front of the bar with your feet directly under the bar and squat untill you’re underneath it. Take a deep breath and hold it and squat up to unrack the bar and then exhale. Take one step back with one leg and another step back with the other leg and then squat.
2. Before execution: Make sure that before squatting, your chest is up, you look slightly down– look forward and slightly down to keep your back straight and neck in line, the bar will rest on the muscles of your upper back, to have a narrow grip to tighter your upper back, keep your wrists straight, tighten your upper back, elbows back, toes out around 30 degrees, and have your weight on your heels.
3. Execution (phase1-squatting down): At this point you're about to perform the first rep. As you go down make sure to have your hips back like you're about to sit on a chair, don't allow your knees to go over your toes as you squat down, that's why is so important to throw your hips back and to have your weight on your heels, squat parallel to the ground or beyond parallel, the deeper the better (butt-to-heels)
4. Execution (phase 2-squatting up): At the bottom position of the squat, you want to push through your heels to return to the standing position. While going up: squeeze your glutes,
stay focused on the target, keep your knees out or aligned with your toes, and push up with your hips without compromising any of the points discussed above (#1-3).
Don't forget to establish a proper breathing pattern throughout the preparation and execution of the exercise. For more info refer to the blog posted before this one.
PS. If you're ready to change your lifestyle and would like me to take you through the proccess I would be more than happy to do it. Redeem your FREE pass by logging onto www.1822fitness.com and click on the area of contacting Joel and send me an email and I'll send you the pass to see me for FREE without obligation.
Dedicated to your fitness success,
Joel Molina
1822 Fitness, Inc.
www.1822fitness.com
joel@1822fitness.com
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