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Your momma was right!
Breakfast is the MOST important meal of the day. Eating after 6 or more hours of fasting (which is what is happening when you sleep) is absolutely key to maintaining a healthy body weight. Making breakfast a daily ritual will help set your metabolism (your fat-burning furnace) for the entire day, and help you refrain from those mid-morning junk food binges, or pulling into the first fast food drive in on your way to work in the morning.
Here are my top foods for a healthy breakfast that will contribute to energizing your day, helping you lose weight, and maintaining a healthy body weight.
Whole grainy goodness – Quinoa, kamut, spelt, amaranth or good old-fashioned oatmeal – all are extremely healthy examples of whole grains. Look for cereals that are organic. These are made with less preservatives and salt (yes, some cereals do contain a lot of salt), so be conscious of what your putting in your breakfast bowl.
Raise and shine to good fats - Sprinkle flaxseeds or walnuts on your oatmeal, and get a serving of Omega 3’s. These help maintain a healthy body weight, lubricate joints for less injury, and keep your hair and nails healthy, strong and shiny.
Make fruit a morning staple – Fresh is always best, but frozen will do! Berries such as raspberries, blueberries, strawberries and blackberries will spruce up your cereal with natural sugars (fructose), so you don’t have to use sugar or artificial sweeteners. A ½ cup of fresh or frozen fruit on your cereal serves up a bounty of natural antioxidants. When you’re buying frozen fruit, look for those with no sugar or syrup added.
Your morning protein punch! This is especially essential if you work out pre-breaky because protein will help your body recover and rebuild muscle faster after your workout. Try an egg white omelet or a cup of fruit and whole grain cereal mixed with low fat cottage cheese.
It’s a soy-o-day! If oatmeal or plain whole grain cereal is a bit dry for your liking, mix it with some soy milk. It will add a little moisture and flavor – you can buy soy milk flavored with vanilla or almond. You can also use it to make a healthy protein pancake.
What are your favorite, healthy breakfast options? Come on, share them with us...
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 It's a gorgeous day here in Guleph!
And one of the best things about this weather is that it inspires us to get outside and to get moving. Even if you were sluggish, and a bit more lethargic than you should have been over the winter months, this weather will beckon the worst couch potatoes outside to the sun - even if it's just for a walk.
Speaking of walking, it's important that you keep good posture in mind when you hit the pavement, beach or hiking trail. You can injure yourself if you don't practice safe walking posture. For those of you looking to shed some of that excess winter weight, here are some of my favorite safety walking tips that I share with my clients:
- Proper posture - don't slouch as you walk, it puts excess strain on your lower back and shoulders. Instead use this time to be mindful of proper posture - head forward, chin up, shoulders up and comfortably back.
- Tackle some hills - walking is an excellent way to get the blood circulating in your legs and entire body, but if you want to kick things up a notch add some resistance by tackling some hills on your walking route.
- Get your whole body involved - don't just let your arms hang limp at your sides, get them pumping to the rhythm of your pace. Maybe even add some wrist and ankle weights for resistance.
- Wear sun protection - sunglasses to protect your eyes and apply a sunscreen that's at least 30 SPF, 30 minutes before heading outside.
- Stay hydrated - your water bottle is your hiking best friend. Remember to stay hydrated during your workouts.
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 We all know that the key to losing and maintaining a healthy body weight is your metabolism. The speed of your metabolism will determine how fast your body is able to burn calories. So obviously a faster metabolism has its benefits. The body is like a furnace, and you can think of your metabolism as the fire that fuels that furnace - a hotter fire will burn calories faster.
So how do you stoke the metabolism fire? Try 'Anna's 4 Metabolism Stoking Tips' on for size:
Weight train - if you don't figure any resistance training into your weekly workouts you're missing out. Think of it like this - the more muscle mass you have in your body, the faster and more effective your metabolism will be.
Eat small, frequent meals - Eat every 3 hours, and keep your meals small and healthy (roughly 400 calories).
Water, water, water - is your best friend, and you should drink at least 8 to 10 glasses a day - more if you work out. It keeps you hydrated, stops you from eating when you think you're hungry, but are actually just thirsty.
Stop dieting - it's confusing your body. Kick the fad diets and just aim to maintain a healthy, balanced eating plan. You should be incorporating lean protien (chicken or turkey breast, fresh fish, lean beef) and complex carbohydrates (whole grains like brown rice, couscous or quinoa and fresh fruits and veggies) into every single meal.
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 Good Monday morning Fitness Gear 101 readers. I hope you all enjoyed a wonderful weekend, I know I did. Even though it was a gloomy one I still got in a day of shopping in with my favorite girls Michelle and Marlo, which meant a few hours of walking, that's roughly 150 calories burned (hey, hey)! And I got in a night of dancing as well, which means I shook nearly 550 calories off!
Speaking of burning calories, my female clients are always asking what the best activities are for toning the butt (or the glutes) and hips? Well Oxygen Magazine released a list of their Top Butt Blasting Moves and I'd like to share their top 5 with you:
- Rockclimbing - burns approximately 850 calories
- Inline skating - burns roughly 875 calories
- Mountain biking - shreds roughly 780 calories
- Kickboxing - sweats off roughly 700 calories
- Boxing (in the ring) - blasts approximately 865 calories
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And it's already Friday again folks! It's been a fun and rather quick week. For me, it's been a week of learning, making some amends and a healthy re-evaluation of my lifestyle...am I really doing my best?
On that note, I wanted to see the readers of FitnessGear101.com make amends with a word! Yes, a word that has stricken horror and deep loathing in many, and left many kitchen cupboards vast and tasteless - that word is DIET!!!
Before you run screaming to hide your last bad of Doritos - don't worry - I'm not about to try and wrestle them from your cold, stiff hands. No I just want to clear up the meaning of the word diet. Dr. Lindberg, Oxygen Magazine's resident medical expert says that the word "diet" actually harkens from the Ancient Greek word "dieta," which translates to "way of life".
And see, all this time you've been associating the word diet with deprivation - tisk, tisk. This weekend I challenge each and every one of you to shake all of the bad connotations you've come to associate with the word "diet" and start approaching it as a lifestyle choice...something wonderful and vital that we all need to partake in to survive.
I can't wait to hear how it went on Monday.
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Every once in a while we all need a bit of a self-evaluation - even good ol' Anna!
As soon as summer hits I make it a point to get outside more, eat more fresh produce and clean up any sluggish winter habits. Over the weekend a friend and I had a discussion about my so-called willpower - to workout regularly and stick by a fairly clean diet. Then this morning I uncovered a study by the Mayo Clinic in my latest edition of Oxygen magazine. According to Mayo researchers self-control is much more effective and different than willpower...who woulda known?
The folks at the Mayo Clinic lay it out like this:
Willpower is this: "I am going to a friend's BBQ this weekend and I'm making brownies for everyone else, but I'm just going to eat salad."
Self-control is this: "I am not going to make brownies because I will be too tempted by them. Instead I'll bring a fresh fruit tray and a healthy salad so I know there will be something that I can eat at the BBQ."
So I believe what they are saying is that willpower is stating you'll make a change, but not removing the temptations in your life; whereas self-control is making a change and taking action to make it happen (no brownies for fear of temptation). I think I'm going to take action and start focusing on self-control a little more so than just old fashioned willpower. You know, pre-making healthy meals so that I'm not stuck stopping at a convenience store, etc.
After all - I'm only human :p
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Welcome back from the long weekend Fitness folks! It goes to figure that it was so cold on the weekend and today is so gone dang beautiful! If you’re going to hit a patio tonight for a well-deserved shot of vitamin D, then please go protected. Everyone wants to enjoy the warm sun, but no one wants to be left with wrinkles, dull, blotchy skin, or worse – skin cancer. So wear a sunscreen with an SPF of at least 30 if you’re going outside, and if you’ll be outside for any length of time bring it with you and reapply, reapply, reapply…
Anna’s Tips for Protecting your Skin:
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Apply your sunscreen at least 15 minutes before you head outside.
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Reapply every 2 hours if you continue to be outside.
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Protect the delicate area around your eyes with sunscreen and sunglasses – the wrap around kind give the most protection – and hats.
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Remember, just because it’s cloudy outside doesn’t mean you don’t need sunscreen.
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Bring an awning, umbrella or tarp with you to the beach. It will give you and your family shelter from the sun.
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Remember, pets can get sunburned too, bring an umbrella for shelter and plenty of water for Fido, and wet him down in the water to keep him cool. Don't keep your best friend on the beach too long, he may get dehydrated.
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The sun is at its highest from 10am to 4pm.
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Good golly it’s Friday – and a long weekend to boot! So I wanted to end this glorious week on a positive note.
I have a friend named Jim that I’ve known since I was 6-years-old. Now just to give you an image of our history…this is the boy, who when I was given the job of crossing guard in Grade 5, used to run out in front of traffic to scare the crap out of me…as you can tell we have a long history of him tormenting the heck out of me. Well it’s been well over 25 years of friendship for us, and during this time Jimbo has had a mess of health ailments stacked up against him – heart problems, being overweight and then developing type II diabetes.
Well last week I met with Jim for coffee, he’s now started a very successful photography biz by the way, and he’s lost 40-pounds! And better yet, he tells me that he feels better than he ever has in his whole life, and what's even more inspring is that he says he's taking risks with love and business, thanks to his newfound self-esteem, that he would have never had the courage to do in the past. What caused this transformation in my friend? Well it all started with him adopting a healthy diet, and doing a combination of strength training and cardio workouts to help manage his diabetes. And good news, last week his doctor cut his diabetes medication in half. The doc told him that if he loses 20 more pounds he’ll be off the meds forever, and he'll be able to control his diabetes with diet alone.
So I use today’s blog to congratulate my friend Jim. I’m proud of you buddy! And I hope his story inspires you, in some way, to take control of your health.
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 Your doctor has given you a stern warning – cut down the sodium in your diet! So you start adding just a pinch of salt to your vegetables at dinner time. You think you’ve cut the sodium in your diet in ½ right?
Wrong!
Unbeknownst to you, the processed foods in your diet contribute a whopping 77 percent more sodium to your daily diet – and that’s even before you added that pinch of salt!
True, your body does require a certain amount of sodium to function properly. Essential sodium maintains the fluid levels in your body by replacing vital electrolytes after you sweat them out during rigorous activity. It also helps muscles relax and contract, and it aids kidney function. However, when you consume too much sodium, the body begins to store it in your bloodstream, making your heart and kidneys work harder – which can eventually result in kidney or heart disease.
According to the National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine, sodium levels, for an average healthy adult, should not exceed 1,500 to 2,400 milligrams per day – less if you are over 50-years of age, or if you have diabetes or an existing heart or kidney condition.
Keep your eyes peeled for the following sodium-rich culprits:
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Processed foods – such as crackers, chips, pickles, canned vegetables and soup, lunch meats and
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Condiments – such as margarine, butter, mayonnaise ketchup, pasta sauces, soy sauces and dressings.
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Meats – especially red meats and meats like bacon and ham tend to be higher in sodium.
So how do you cut the sodium in your diet? Consume a diet largely made up of fresh foods.
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 This should be a no-brainer
By Fitness Mike
A study reveals that exercise can make people smarter. New nerve cells developed in the brains of subjects after a 3 month aerobic workout plan. Growing new nerve cells in the brain was thought to be impossible and all it took was a simple 3 month aerobic plan. Gee, who would have thought?
I always thought it stood to reason that with all the health benefits exercising provides that an increase in mental abilities would also be a benefit. Increasing the blood flow to your brain is ideal when it comes to using your noggin without the need for a special cap. When someone tells me to put on my thinking cap I can tell them I don't need one because my new nerve cells make my brain more efficient.
Neuroscientists "armed with brain-scanning tools and a [sophisticated] understanding of biochemistry" are now realizing the mental benefits are much more than once thought. Armed? That sounds just a bit tacky. Hey, I can be cool to. When I go to perform my workout, I am armed with my trusty, reliable water bottle and workout gloves to tackle whatever workout I need to do.
Keeping the brain active by learning new things and exercising your brain can help prevent Alzheimer's disease. Research indicates that vigorous physical exercise can help stave off Alzheimer's and other mental conditions. The brain develops dense pathways designed for an overall increased brain function. One of the more interesting points was that the self-esteem improvement was not from watching your waist slim up but from changes in the brain. Something the average person would now know due to lack of brain-scanning tools and the biochemistry understanding.
While vigorous exercise is still the preferred, moderate exercise should not be ignored. People try to make any excuse they can to not exercise. Even 10 minutes of physical activity is better than nothing. This sounds similar to eating several smaller meals throughout the day, as opposed to a few bigger meals. Eating 2-3 bigger meals leaves gaps in metabolism whereas eating 5-6 smaller meals helps keep a steadier metabolism that burns calories continuously.
Scientists still haven’t uncovered all the benefits of exercise, but armed with their brain-scanning tools, I am sure they will figure it out one day. I would not mind seeing some before and after pictures of the new nerve cells in the brain. Who's with me? Anyone? Hello? Is this thing on? Where did those crickets come from?
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 Good Tuesday morning FitnessGear101 friends! I'm back today - after a day's absence spent fighting the evil flu bug. You'll be happy to know that this morning I'm 40% snotty mess and 60% fitness diva! Must get blog up...sniffle...ok back to business...
I know that I spend a lot of time criticizing the media and celebrity stereotypes in this blog, but sometimes...just sometimes...a Hollywood star does some good in the world. Who, you might ask? Well In Style Magazine reported that Fantastic Four star Jessica Alba has put her money towards promoting the self-esteem of 8 teen girls. Last fall, 28-year-old Alba donated $1,500 a month to Step Up Women's Network, a national organization that encourages strong self-esteem and body image for underpriviledged teen girls through a variety of supportive mentorship programs.
Now that's what I call using your superpowers for good!
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Ok fitness folks…as promised here are my Top 5 faves from the Problogger contest! For those of you who are just hearing about this for the first time, these posts came from a writing project sponsored by Darren Rowse at Problogger. Participants were invited to submit a Top 5 on any subject. I wrote and posted an article on the Top 5 ways exercise can improve your sex life.
I’d just like to mention that this was a hard decision to make. There were a ton of creative, useful and hilarious posts submitted, but these 5 stood out from the rest for me personally. You’ll notice that not all are exercise related. In fact, most aren’t, but we all know that being a healthy, balanced person take so much more than just exercise. Check them out by following the links I’ve provided below.
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How to Reclaim your Couch, by Mahala - Five hilarious tips for getting your college kid off the couch…and hopefully outside for a run!
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My Top 5 Photowalking Locations, by Trevor Carpenter - You all know that I love walking, and recommend at least 30 minutes a day for health maintenance. Why not bring your camera along? Trevor recommends some stunning locations for your next photo/walking vacation.
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Congrats to all participants on your great posts! It was wonderful exchanging links with you and getting the opportunity to read your blogs :)
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My friend and co-worker Mark runs a fantastic finance site called Rock Your Stock. This site is great because it offers readers a daily dose of investment news, tips and, the best, a Rock Your Stock 'Pick of the Day'! The other day he asked if I had any swag to donate to his reader give-aways, so I donated some FitnessGear101.com socks...I figured that even money types get sweaty feet - right? I also figure that because FitnessGear101.com readers are the best-looking and smartest Internet audience (love you guys) that you might like to get up on your money news....and get a pair of groovy FG101 socks in the process!
Enjoy...and stay tuned for my Top 5 Problogger picks. I'll post them later this afternoon.
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Happy Thursday fitness freaks!
I have some great health and fitness-related posts from the Problogger writing project to share with you today. I will be sharing Problogger submissions with you until tomorrow (Friday), when I will choose my own Top 5 faves.
Also, check out these other non-fitness-related, but equally excellent posts:
I’d like to thank everyone who has linked to my post so far – I feel the link love :p
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In yesterday's post I mentioned that I submitted it to the Problogger Top 5 project. In it I promised that I would be keeping my eye out for great posts submitted by the other bloggers. So today I'd like to share a link with you to a great post called Get Fit & Sexy While You Blog - The Top 5 Unusual Things to do at your Computer. It was submitted by RT over at RealMuscle.com, and it has some excellent suggestions for how to mix a little physical activity into your cubicle-ridden day.
I particularly like RT's suggestions to do pushups or crunches between emails, and to sit on an exercise ball instead of a desk chair. I do this, and I've noticed a lot of improvements in my posture and balance because of it.
Let me know what you think of this post, and how you stay fit, even though you work a desk job.
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