Grab your nearest friend or gym buddy and take 10 minutes to try this amazing two-person partner ab workout.
It doesn’t require any fancy gym equipment – but it does take some real stamina and dedication to power through! Fortunately, Ashton and I have plenty of that 
Check out the video.
The other day, I referenced empty calories in a post – and I received a number of emails asking about the term.
The USDA defines empty calories as:
Calories from solid fats and/or added sugars. Solid fats and added sugars add calories to the food but few or no nutrients. For this reason, the calories from solid fats and added sugars in a food are often called empty calories.
Solid fats are solid at room temperature like shortening, lard or butter. Added sugars are sugars or syrups that have been added to foods during preparation or processing.
In order to stay in a calorie balance and avoid weight gain, it’s important to stay within your daily calorie allowance. For example, many people may aim to eat 2,000 calories in a day. While this number may sound lofty, those calories can go fast; it’s important to get the vast majority of calories from foods that provide the essential nutrients our bodies need. Let’s spend our calories on foods that actually nourish us!
With all that in mind, here are 18 foods and beverages loaded with empty calories; these should be consumed sparingly. Empty calorie calculations provided by the USDA:
Soda – 100% empty calories
Fruit drinks – 100% empty calories
Beer – 100% empty calories
Cheddar cheese – 66% empty calories
Frozen yogurt – 53% empty calories
Ice cream – 76% empty calories
Fried chicken – 80% empty calories
Chocolate chip cookies – 68% empty calories
Chocolate cake – 77% empty calories
Fruit flavored low-fat yogurt – 61% empty calories
Cinnamon sweet roll – 61% empty calories
Onion rings – 58%
Butter – 92% empty calories
Margarine – 89% empty calories
Frozen whipped topping – 92% empty calories
Cream cheese – 88% empty calories
Glazed doughnut – 67% empty calories
Beef bologna – 57% empty calories
This list isn’t exhaustive – but you get the idea. In a nutshell, it’s all about replacing foods that are high in solid fats or added sugars with healthier options.
Should you do only free weights at the gym or use weight training machines? Something you need to keep in mind and never forget is that when you exercise, you are training for life. You still may spend an hour a day in the gym, although that will still leave another 23 hours or so for your muscles to function without using any fancy equipment.
Whenever you do any type of exercise, the movement of your body during the exercise is known as the range of motion. The more difficult the range of motion is, the more effective the exercise will be, because your body has to work twice as hard to perform the movement.
Bicep curls – Free Weights or Weight Training Machines
Take for the instance the classic dumbbell bicep curl. If you aren’t familiar with the exercise, it is performed by standing up straight with your palms facing forward, and a pair of dumbbells held down by your sides. You’ll contract your biceps to bring the dumbbells up to your shoulder height, then repeat the exercise as many times as you wish.
Using that same movement for exercise on a bicep curl machine, you should sit down, brace your upper arms on a pad, grasp 2 handles that are in front of you, then perform the same movement as above to move the handles in an upward motion.
Now, looking at the muscle contractions in this exercise, you are contracting essentially your biceps if you are using the curl machine, and that is pretty much all you are doing. When you use the machine you are sitting down, which will limit just how much your shoulders give. The machine has several muscles used in this exercise limited to the biceps, as well as the muscles in your forearms and fingers.
Limited Range of Motion with Machines
Weight Workout Machine
Most of the time, when using machine weights, you will always be limited as to what type of exercise you can perform. You must always follow a strict procedure, which is pretty much the same with free weights. Unlike free weights, machine weights offer a certain degree of resistance.
One of the best thing about free weights is the fact that you move a little chuck around to select the weight you want to use. Instead of dragging it over to your exercise area, you simply select it on the machine. When you are tired during a workout, this can be a blessing.
A lot of people argue in the fact that free weights are the best for your body. While this is normally true, many people out there feel that machine weights are the best. There are pros and cons with both machines, although free weights have been around a lot longer and have been proven time after time to achieve dramatic results.
Body builders for example, have used free weights over the years to build very impressive bodies. If you ask most of them about machine weights, they would probably laugh at you and tell you that you need to quit joking around.
Should You Use Free Weights or Machines?
In a nutshell, free weights will use more of your muscles than the weight training machines do, which makes them more effective overall. This doesn’t mean that the machines are a waste of use, as they offer some great advantages. In some cases, it is best to stabilize the muscles that are being used in a movement, which is where machines are the best to use.
The decision on which to use for you should be based on what you hope to achieve with lifting weights and where you plan to use the equipment, such as home or at a gym. Both systems are great for your body, although the free weights are best to use if you want the best possible workout, and always ensure that your muscles are getting the right workouts they need.
The post Free Weights or Weight Training Machines appeared first on Fitness Tips for Life.
If you liked this post then these otehrs should be right up your alley as well:
How to Lift Weights Properly for Strength Training
Weight Training Bench – Important Things You Should Know
Rowing Machines
Some days when you do your work things go just as planned.
On some days there are a few small bumps in the road.
And on some days things simply get overwhelming in school, at work or in your business.
You feel the pressure and stress rising inside of you. You become unfocused and dark thoughts start to brew and fill your mind.
But such days don’t have to continue that way. You can often turn them around or at least make them a lot less uncomfortable and more focused again.
Here’s what I do when I feel trapped in one of those days.
1. Breathe.
First, just breathe and calm your mind and body down a bit so that you can think a little more clearly.
I do this by first sitting down. Then I breathe with my stomach for a minute or two. During this time I keep 100% of my focus on the air going in and out.
I find this is always a good start when the mind is racing and the stress and overwhelm make everything feel tough.
2. Zoom out.
I have often found that zooming out a bit alleviates stress and inner pressure.
When you feel trapped and like the world is pressing down on you then it is easy to get a very unhelpful perspective on things.
So I ask myself: Will this matter in 5 years? Or even 5 months?
This allows me to see things from a broader perspective.
3. Unclutter your focus.
When you feel overwhelmed and stressed out it’s easy to get stuck in thinking you have to do 5 things at once to get a handle on things and to get back on track.
So I ask myself:
Honestly, which ones of these things can wait until tomorrow or next week with no or small consequences?
This usually helps me to find a bunch of things that can wait and that I don’t have to think about anymore today.
4. Go for just taking care of the rest of today one small step at a time.
After I have alleviated pressure, overwhelm and stress by using the three steps above I narrow my focus.
I do not look forward because then I’ll see all the things I have to do to reach my goal or get all the way to done with a project.
Instead, I go smaller and focus on just taking care of the rest of today.
Nothing more.
This makes things feel even easier and less stressful.
And then it is time to take action. So I narrow my focus even more and ask myself:
What is the most important thing to focus on right now?
What is the most important step I can take right now to get that one thing done?
When I find that first step I focus on just that and nothing else until it is done or the work day is over. And after I am done with the first step I focus on the next step until I am done with that. And so on.
If that first step leads me to procrastinating instead of taking action then I chop it up into even smaller steps. And I take action on the first one of them.
Image by Steve Snodgrass (license).
P.S: One of my favorite bloggers, Scott H Young, has been kind enough to give Positivity Blog / Positivity Newsletter subscribers an exclusive offer on his Learn More, Study Less Video Course until midnight EST, Friday the 1:st of March. In this course Scott shares to how to get much better results in school, manage stress and procrastination and how to have more time for other things than just studying.
Click here to learn more about the course and this offer
This February we are listening to our hearts. And what better way of doing this than by following our intuition. Today we are joined by Roland Magyar of Handcrafted Travellers who will share his and his wife’s vision of simple sustainable living through following your intuition.
Many of you will likely agree with me that some (if not all) of the best decisions in life are made when one follows the whisperings of the heart and not the computations of the mind. It has certainly been true about the evolution of both my individual and my family life course.
However universally understandable the heart-mind division may seem though, I venture to call it an oversimplification of how we, “humanimals” function or should function in our decision making processes. It might pull a haze over one’s eyes: the cataracts of a binary system of sort that our modern lives are so much conditioned to, from the electoral campaigns (yes or no) and the way most appliances work (on or off), down into the most innocent childhood game of loves me/loves me not.
Photograph: Cheryl Magyar
It takes real effort to break out of this habit and relearn to appreciate nuances at their true value, notice patterns and try to understand the multidimensional way those interconnect.
Instincts and intuition
Where I am going with this, is trying to draw your attention to the hugely undervalued or – on the contrary – much mythologized realm of the instincts and intuition. Without going into how these relate, it is enough to point out that they do and they relate strongly. All animals follow them while foraging, when choosing mates, paths to take or places to rest, give birth or pass away. Once we accepted that we, too, are animals, it seems only natural to do the same.
In fact that is what our subconscious automatically does or at least tries to do. Nevertheless, way too often we override these messages with infantile action responses and replace the hugely complex and fine tuned suggestions with dumbed down, poor alternatives.
Listen to your heart or use your brains?
In
simple language, I believe it is the kind recommendation of “listen to
your heart” that is meant to address intuitive existence. And it indeed
seems to be a much better guidance than the sheer slogan “use your
brains”. Why? Because intuition, instinctive feelings incorporate so
much more than just attempting to mechanically add up the most apparent
bits of information into a coherent image.
When using
intuition one reaches back to and effectively accesses in an instant the
wealth of information otherwise surely overwhelming for the strictly
rational judgment. It taps into our common evolutionary wisdom,
emotional intelligence that is far older and far more tested to be good
than the fragmented, traditions, customs based and often erroneous
(ethnic) cultural heritage.
How could one harness this protective and life-affirming power?
Well
yes, by adjusting pace of life to the natural rhythm of the locale,
turning the volume of white noise off or down enough to hear what our
conscience tells us. It will most likely tell us to be more humble,
divorce from our material type desires that are in excess over our real
needs and spend more time with whoever and whatever we love most.
Photograph: Cheryl Magyar
Being a father who made the conscious decision to watch closely his daughter’s personal development from day one of her life, I am very inclined to believe that as individuals we are born with good intentions, innocent curiosity and genuine love, strong draw for helping others, sharing what we have.
Most definitely this “givence” can be and is altered in any direction, good or bad, by the kind of environment that comes to nurture the forming sense of self. As a result, the individual inherently attuned to intuitive behavior, is – and I was not exempted either – progressively drifted away from it with age. But no matter how common this phenomenon is, I am convinced that it is not irreversible.
My very life as a soon to be married young man’s and later as spouse’s, settler’s and father’s stands to show proof. And I am but one of the many…
Now it’s your turn, do you trust your intuition? Let us know in the comments.
February 22, 2008 – When It All Started
Last Friday this blog celebrated it’s 5th birthday. I thought the best way to celebrate 5 years blogging here on Losing It and Loving It was with an impromptu giveaway.
One lucky winner is going to get a box of goodies from me. I have no clue yet what exactly will be in that box but it will probably contain a workout DVD or two, a healthy living book and more. AND my good friend Diana has kindly offered to give you a copy of her very popular Craving Secrets ebook. I have had this book for years and it’s great.
I’m doing this to THANK all of you for being with me over the last 5 years and for making this blog a success. I get so much inspiration from so many of you to keep the blog going and to keep pushing through to live the best life possible. I still have a long way to go but without all of you, my Polar USA and FitFluential peeps and my family & friends, I would not have made it this far.
So I wanted to celebrate all of YOU with a little impromptu giveaway. Just a little way to say thanks!
No huge steps to jump through to enter, just answer one or more of the following questions and share this post with your friends and family. That’s all.
My big questions:
What is your favorite workout?
Do you like to cook? If so, what is your favorite EASY recipe?
If you could go anywhere in the world, where would it be?
What would you like to see more of on my blog?
Giveaway Info:
This giveaway is open to everyone. IF a winner outside of the U.S. is chosen, you will get a gift card instead of the goodie box.
Required entry: Answer at least one of the questions above (but more than one would be fun to read *wink*)
Additional daily entry: Share this post on your favorite social channel, blog, etc.
Separate comments for each entry please. You can enter up to midnight Eastern on Tuesday March 5th. Winner will be chosen by random.org on Wednesday, March 6th.
Have fun!
P.S. And here’s a deal for you. Ellie mixes essential fashion-forward looks with high-tech performance activewear for the most stylish fitness experience.
Oooo… you’re in for a treat! Who wants to stay healthy during the winter, increase your mood AND do it by eating tasty food? Here’s another recipe guest post by our favourite guest blogger and Flexitarian cookbook author, Bindu Grandhi!
Salads aren’t just for spring and summer. Embrace the nutrient-rich winter greens, fruits and vegetables that are in season now. Bright, colorful and delicious winter salads – cooked or raw – can be just as appealing as any spring or summer creation and are guaranteed to make you feel better during a season that seems devoted to fatty comfort foods.
The key is in the selection of ingredients.
Choose greens like Belgian endive, radicchio, frisée, escarole, kale and Treviso.
Select fruits, like grapefruit, kiwis, oranges, pears, pomegranate and persimmons.
Load up on vegetables like broccoli, brussels sprouts, beets, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, and kohlrabi.
Use heartier & fuller dressings like yogurt, mustard, red wine vinegar and soy sauce.
Top with shavings of your preferred cheese or nuts.
So forget those pricey bags of withered greens and treat yourself to a fresh winter salad. Try these three fabulous salads that are sure to warm your spirits and satisfy your palette!
Hot Fruit Salad: This recipe uses canned fruit but of course use fresh if available.
Pineapple, Cucumber, and Beet Salad
Red Kidney Bean, Chickpea, and Kohlrabi Salad
About the Author
Author of Spice Up Your Life, Bindu Grandhi is passionate about healthy and flavourful cooking, especially when it’s flexitarian. She shares her health knowledge with the world by providing practical, healthy and tasty recipes as The Flex Cook.
Hmm… I don’t know which one to try first… Do you?
Related posts:
Fresh & Tasty Summer Salads
Beat The Winter Blues With These Top Tips!
Winter Blues & Decreased Work Productivity: Is There a Connection?
You’ve just finished a tough workout. You burned lots of calories and created microscopic tears in your muscle fibers that will hopefully lead to greater strength and definition. Now, it’s time to recover. How you recover from your workout is more important than you think. It can have an impact on your fitness gains and reduce the risk of overuse injuries and soreness. Here are steps to an effective exercise recovery.
Don’t Skip the Cool-Down
When you’ve just finished cardio and your heart rate is up, don’t plop down in a chair and celebrate the fact that it’s over. A cool down should be gradual. If you’ve just completed a run, slowly decrease the intensity by jogging and then walking to allow lactic acid to be removed from your muscles. A slow cool down also gives your heart and blood vessels a chance to adjust. Suddenly stopping can cause your blood pressure to drop and lead to lightheadedness or fainting.
Replace Lost Fluids
You lose up to 4 pounds of fluid every hour that your exercise if you’re working out in a hot environment. It’s important to replace those fluids as quickly as possible. Unless you’ve worked out for longer than an hour, water is a suitable fluid replacement beverage. If you’ve exercised greater than 60 minutes, especially at a high intensity in a warm environment, a sports drink or diluted fruit juice may be more appropriate since it has glucose and electrolytes. A better alternative to a sports drink is low-fat chocolate milk. Chocolate milk not only has electrolytes and carbs, it has protein too. Some research shows that protein boosts muscle recovery after exercise.
Refuel
After a hard aerobic workout, your glycogen stores are low and need to be replaced. This is the time you can be a little more liberal with your carbs even if you’re trying to lose weight. Eat a meal that contains both carbs and protein within an hour of completing your workout. If you don’t have time for a meal, eat a cup of Greek yogurt with fruit or tuna on whole wheat crackers. After a strength workout, you need between 15 and 20 grams of protein to feed your muscles. If you’re in a hurry, mix a scoop of whey protein with milk. Whey protein is rapidly absorbed and makes its way to muscle tissue quickly where it can be used for growth and repair. Research suggests that whey protein boosts muscle recovery.
Rest and Relaxation
Most people undervalue the importance of rest after working out. Muscles repair and adaptations occur during the time after your workout, but you need to give your body the downtime it needs to recover. Do something relaxing after exercising, and don’t skimp on sleep. Not getting enough sleep raises cortisol levels. This can lead to weight gain and increased belly fat. Give yourself a full day off from exercise once a week to recover physically and psychologically. This helps to prevent overtraining, boredom and burnout.
The Bottom Line
Exercise hard, but keep these four principles of a successful exercise recovery in mind. It’ll help you maximize your gains safely.
References:
CBS News. “Chocolate Milk: The New Sports Drink?”
Exercise Physiology. Theory and Application to Fitness and Performance. Seventh edition. 2009.
One approach to reducing your calorie intake without feeling deprived is to eat healthy foods that rank high on the satiety scale. Satiety refers to the sense of fullness and satisfaction you get after eating a meal. Not all foods are equally satiating. For example oatmeal will fill you up more than a slice of white bread, and munching on an apple is more satiating than snacking on a croissant. What are the characteristics of foods that make them more satiating?
Characteristics of High-Satiety Foods
Researchers at the University of Sidney developed the satiety index, a way to compare one food to another in terms of its appetite suppressive effects. To do this, they fed a group of participants 38 different foods and asked them to rate how full each food made them feel. The food that topped the list may surprise you. It was the humble potato. This food that low-carb dieters typically shun outranked other well-known high-satiety foods including apples, fish and oatmeal.
Foods that rank high on the satiety scale usually contain more water. That’s why fruits and vegetables are winning food choices if you’re trying to control your weight. In terms of satiety, fruits were almost 1.7 times as satisfying as white bread. Plus, whole fruits are non-processed and contain natural vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. You won’t get those when you eat a piece of white bread.
High-Satiety Foods Are Often High in Fiber
Fiber is another dietary component that makes foods more filling and satisfying. Fiber has no calories, yet it draws water into the intestines, which causes them to expand. Soluble fiber also slows down the rate of stomach emptying. This helps to boost satiety and reduce the rise in glucose that occurs after a meal. In addition, soluble fiber helps to lower cholesterol levels, while insoluble fiber has the added benefit of reducing constipation and, possibly, lowering the risk of colon cancer.
Foods High in Protein Reduce Appetite More Than Fatty Foods
High-protein foods stimulate the secretion of PYY, a hormone that sends signals to the brain to turn off hunger. Protein also increases secretion of another intestinal hormone called CCK that also increases satiety. Fat and carbohydrates trigger PPY but to a lesser degree. That partially explains why eggs, fish and beef rank high on the satiety scale.
The Best Appetite-Suppressing Foods
So how can you get the benefits of satiating foods? Add more high-volume fruits and vegetables to your diet. Apples rank high on the satiety scale because they contain lots of water as well as a fiber-like compound called pectin that makes it more filling. Broth-based soup and stews are good choices because they’re high in volume. Beans and lentils are fiber-rich as are whole grain foods such as oatmeal, barley and quinoa, all of which are more filling than processed grains and sugary cereals. In general, processed foods are less appetite-suppressing because most of the fiber is removed. They’re also usually high in calories and sugar, which makes them poor choices if you’re trying to lose weight.
Don’t forget about protein. Adding protein to every meal triggers the release of greater amounts of PPY and CCK to help subdue hunger. Choose lean protein sources such as fish, turkey, Eggland’s Best eggs or egg whites to get the appetite-suppressing effects of protein without the added fat. Protein has minimal effect on blood sugar, so you can reduce the glycemic impact of a meal by simply adding more protein.
The Bottom Line?
The foods you choose to eat can make a difference in how satisfied you are and reduce the risk that you’ll end up hanging out in front of the refrigerator or vending machine later in the day. Make your choices wisely – for health and for your waistline.
Hungry All the Time? How to Choose Foods That Will Keep You Full Longer
We all have them from time to time – those insatiable cravings for specific foods. You could crave something salty, sweet, or fatty. Or you could crave one specific food like chocolate. Assuming that they are not brought on by emotions, cravings could be trying to tell you that you have a nutritional deficiency. Here are some of the most common cravings and what to eat to satisfy them.
Salty Snacks
People that get hit with a salt craving can down a whole bag of chips without even thinking about it. Salt cravings can indicate high levels of stress hormones in the body. Salt cravings could also be an indication that chlorine or iodine are lacking. To ward off stress, try deep breathing or meditation for an instant reduction in stress hormones. And if you still find yourself wanting a salty snack, reach for dried seaweed or soybeans instead of chips.
Sweet Snacks
A craving for sugar does not happen because you lack sugar in your diet. On the contrary, it’s usually the consumption of too many simple carbohydrates that causes this craving in the first place. The typical diet consists of low-nutrient, highly-processed, starchy food which causes major fluctuations in blood sugar levels. This is why cravings for sweets tend to hit a couple of hours after a high-carbohydrate meal. Blood sugar spikes rapidly then comes crashing down after a short period leaving you with an insatiable craving. When you eat a sweet snack, the cycle begins again. Combat your sweet tooth by eating protein and fiber with every meal. If you still find that you want something sweet, reach for fruits that are high in nutrition but low in natural sugar such as apples, blueberries, or strawberries.
Chocolate
A craving for chocolate is different from a craving for sweets. Specifically craving chocolate is often an indication that you are running low on magnesium. The fourth most abundant mineral in the human body, magnesium is required for over 300 biochemical processes including many immune system functions. Ironically, the cocoa bean is a source of magnesium, but most chocolate products are not. In order to get beneficial amounts of magnesium from chocolate, you must consume the kind that is at least 70% cocoa. Unfortunately, this bitter but beneficial dark chocolate is not what most chocoholics reach for. Battle your chocolate cravings by loading up on spinach, nuts, seeds, and certain fish like halibut.
Fatty Foods
Some people crave fatty foods like butter, ice cream, or cheese. This could indicate either a calcium deficiency or an Omega-3 fatty acid deficiency. Combat this sort of craving by eating several servings of leafy greens and salmon per week. In addition, eat a few walnuts on a daily basis.
If cravings for certain foods are sabotaging your diet and your health, you are not alone. Most people suffer from some sort of craving at some point. Cravings can be brought on by emotional states, but they can also indicate a nutritional deficiency that needs to be addressed.
Breaking News Everyone! I’m excited to share with you my new workouts I have planned for 2013. Even more exciting is that we will be filming 8 new workouts that will be released on 7 individual DVDs.
The Pre-Sale for the new workouts will begin Friday, March 1st and here are some important details you should know:
Great Savings
By Pre-Ordering Now you will save 50 to almost 70% depending on which discount bundle you select.
Double Free Shipping
Get Double Free Shipping which means if you order any of our other in stock DVDs and/or qualified fitness equipment along with your pre-order, we will ship your current in stock items now worldwide for FREE. When your pre-order DVDs are available they will ship for FREE Worldwide too!
Just an Additional $20 Gets You Both DVDs and Downloads
For just an additional $20 you can get both DVDs and Downloads when our Pre-Sale starts March 1st for my 7 new DVDs plus my Greatest Hits Vol 1 DVD. After the Pre-Sale ends it will cost you $160 to purchase these same downloads, so don’t miss out on this amazingly low price opportunity to pre-order both DVDs and downloads!
Get My Greatest Hits Vol #1 Video for Free!
Pre-Order my New Videos (6 or 7 discount bundle) during the Month of March and get my Greatest Hits Volume 1 DVD (or download) for Free. Cathe’s Greatest Hits DVD will ship with your pre-sale DVDs when they are ready. Purchase of either the 6 or 7 discount DVDs or Downloads bundle is required for Free offer. Free offer starts March 1st and ends March 31st
About the New Videos
Rockout Knockout: What do you get when you combine Kick, Punch and Crunch and Hard Strikes? A ROCKOUT KNOCKOUT!!! If you just got really excited reading that then this workout is for YOU!!! Build up various kickboxing combinations “KPC Style” followed by various “Hard Strike Style” interval blasts for the ROCKOUT KNOCKOUT of your life. Put some fun back in your fight with high energy kicks, jumps and punches guaranteed to make you come out a winner!!!. Gloves are optional!
Pedal Power: Think you’ve mastered all the elements of Cycle Max and RIDE and wonder “what’s left”? Well get ready to put the pedal to the metal and cycle your heart out with Pedal Power…. another hill pumping, heart thumping, speed jumping workout that leaves you soaked and spent. Two water bottles and possibly even two towels are recommended to meet the demands of this workout!
X10: Let me just say this once….You can do anything for 10 minutes!!! Enjoy five 10 minute power packed workouts that are perfect for when you are either short on time, need a quick mid-day energy fix, want a finisher on an existing workout or love to string one, two or more of these workouts together to create the ultimate highly explosive workout. Each 10 minutes will be a breathless mixture of power and strength with its own signature feel……on your mark, get set….GO (for 10 minutes!!!!)
FLEXTrain: A non-stop total body workout that mixes the concept of Supercuts with Power Hour. Minimal equipment will be used to unleash your strength, endurance, and shapely muscles. This will quickly become your favorite go-to workout when you want to feel like you’ve thoroughly worked everything from head to toe without using a lot of equipment to do it.
Party Rockin’ Step: Two party rockin’ workouts in one DVD! Let’s hear all about this double crowd pleaser…..
Party Rockin’ Step Workout One:
Who’s up for some party rockin’ steps ala Cathe style? Are you wishing I would make a workout that put combos together like I did back in the day of Power Max and Rhythmic Step? Something a little more steady state and less circuit-like? Something more choreography driven and drizzled with doable fun footwork? If so, then this Party Rockin’ step workout is for you!!!
Party Rockin’ Step Workout Two:
Ok, did you just read about Step Workout One and say “yikes, while I love a great solid step workout, I can’t do all that tricky choreography. It makes me feel like I have two left feet.”? Well, good news…while just as interesting and challenging as the first workout, this workout will be similar in choreography but with less fancy steps and more straightforward movement patterns.
Great Glutes: Who doesn’t want Great Glutes? This workout focuses on the backside of the legs with the strongest emphasis on the glutes. A mix of new innovative glute exercises (research tested and approved) along with the most effective “best of the best” hamstring, glute and inner thigh exercises will leave you with the firmest rock bottom you could ever imagine!!! I love how these exercises get in the deepest trouble spots and melt off all the unwanted extra fat. Minimal equipment will be used to get the job done.
Lean Legs and Abs: An action packed workout, Lean Legs and Abs is the perfect compliment to Great Glutes. Lean Legs & Abs focuses on the front and outer thigh muscles of the leg with both innovative and traditional exercises. The sequence is designed to keep the heart rate up while you incinerate your thighs. Although all parts of the thighs are used in this workout, most of the emphasis is placed on the quadriceps and outer thigh muscles. A special bonus barre segment (as well as a awesome ab segment) will also be included in this workout to totally toast your thighs….between Lean Legs and Abs and Great Glutes you will be ready for the “Rockettes”….
FAQ:
What will the music be like?
All of the music for the new workouts is being produced by the same company that made the music for XTrain, CrossFire and To The Max. We’re once again doing “sound a likes” with every song selected by Cathe and custom created for each workout.
When will the new workouts be ready?
It’s still too early to say for sure , but to play it safe our best guess at this point is anywhere from mid to late summer 2013. This is only an estimate and will be defined further as the project progresses.
Can I use coupons for the new workouts?
No, we never allow coupons to be used for our pre-sales as the items are already discounted. However you can use coupons on any of our current in-stock items with your pre-sale order. Any current items you order with your pre-sale items will ship now and in most cases will ship free worldwide. *see our free shipping details on shop.cathe.com
How are the DVDs packaged?
This is not a series so each DVD will come in an individual case just like all of our other single DVDs.
When will the Greatest Hits DVD Volume #1 ship?
Our free Greatest Hits DVD Volume #1 will ship when your pre-order DVDs ship.
Can I pre-order the individual DVDs?
Yes, you will be able to eventually pre-order any of the individual new workouts, but the savings will not be anywhere near the savings of ordering all of the workouts. In the beginning of the pre-sale we will only be taking orders for the discount bundles. We will not allow individual DVDs to be pre-ordered until later on. We do this to speed up the shipping process once the DVDs become available.
Do I get the free Greatest Hits Volume #1 DVD if I order the individual DVDs?
No, the free Greatest Hits Volume #1 DVD is only available if you order one of the discount bundles during the month of March.
Should I order DVDs or downloads?
It depends, each has its own advantages and disadvantages. But why not get both? During the pre-sale, all of the downloads cost only an extra $20 to add to your DVD order. After the pre-sale, downloads alone will cost you almost $160 (including Greatest Hits Volume #1).
Can I cancel my pre-order?
Yes, you can always cancel your pre-order up until 14 days before your order ships. However, if you cancel and then re-order you will not be allowed to cancel again.
What equipment will be used in the new workouts?
Once again, we keep the equipment to a minimum in these new workouts. The equipment you can expect to see (which varies per workout) includes: a step, bands, dumbbells, barbell, discs, and stability ball. As always, workouts will go through many revisions between now and when we film and this means the equipment used in any video may change.
Will the workouts have Pre-Mixes?
Yes, all of the workouts will have premixes. However, these will not be determined until after we have filmed.
How much do I save by Pre-ordering Now?
Your savings will depend on the discount bundle you select, but you will save anywhere from 50% on DVDs only to almost 70% on DVDs and Downloads.
How much will the pre-sale workouts cost?
DVDs Only:
6 pack DVD discount bundle (doesn’t include Pedal power) – $79.97
7 pack DVD discount bundle (includes Pedal power) – $89.97
It’s Time to Put Some Fun Into Your Workouts! – Announcing Cathe’s 2013 Videos!
Have you ever wondered how skinny people stay that way? If you watch these people eat, you may notice that they somehow manage to maintain a healthy weight while pretty much indulging in whatever culinary delights that they desire. But how can this be? Their secret lies in the fact that they have mastered the art of portion control.
What is a Portion?
It probably comes as no surprise that portion sizes have gotten bigger over the last couple of decades. In fact, serving sizes at many restaurants are more than four times what they should be. What does that mean for those that are battling the bulge? Unfortunately, it means that you are probably taking in way too many calories – even if you only eat half of what you are typically served. To get a better idea of how portion sizes have grown, consider these comparisons:
• A cup of coffee in the 70’s was about 8 oz. and you were limited to putting small packets of cream and sugar in your cup. Even all dolled up, your cup of restaurant coffee would have only come to about 25 calories back then. Compare that to today’s 350-calorie or more, latte with fancy syrup and whipped cream.
• Bagels used to be about three inches and approximately 150 calories. Today, the typical bagel is five to six inches and contains roughly 350 calories.
• Hamburgers. The Journal of Public Health Policy published a study on portion sizes that found that burgers at fast food chains were two to five times larger than when they were first introduced. For example, when McDonald’s first opened its doors in 1955, it offered one burger option that weighed less than two ounces. Today, their largest hamburger patty weighs about eight ounces.
We’ve gotten so far from healthy portion sizes of food that we may not even know what normal looks like. For instance, a serving of meat should be the size of a deck of cards. A serving of dry cereal is ½ cup which is equivalent to the bulb part of a standard light bulb. A cup of pasta is equal to a baseball. And a serving of cheese is roughly the size of your thumb.
Getting Portion Sizes Right
Taking control of serving sizes is as much a mental game as it is physical. We are conditioned to regard bigger as better. But what is “supersizing” doing to your health? Start reducing your serving sizes by changing your thought patterns. Begin to evaluate the nutritional quality of your food and not the size. Here are more tips for scaling down your portion sizes:
• To-go boxes are your friend when dining out. Immediately upon ordering an entrée, pack up half or more of it to take home.
• Eat on a smaller plate. Studies have found that those that struggle with their weight are also the kind of people who feel that they must clean their plate at every meal. Eating on smaller plates is a great way to cut portion sizes.
• Treat your entrée as a side dish. Instead of a plate of spaghetti with a tiny portion of broccoli, try to reverse the ratio. Eating mostly veggies will automatically cut your calories.
• Divvy up snack foods. You can eat a lot of chips, crackers, or cookies right out of the box before you realize how many extra calories you have just consumed. Re-package these types of snack foods into smaller bags when you bring them home from the store to avoid over eating them.
Portion control is the key to losing weight or maintaining a healthy weight. But it can be difficult given that society has come to value massively inflated serving sizes. The secret is to realize that you don’t need to exaggerate portion sizes to be satisfied. Use these tips to get your serving sizes back in check.
The month of February is dedicated to raising heart disease awareness. The number one killer of Americans each year is heart disease. Death by heart attack his highly preventable but most people do not know that they are at risk. One very small and simple step that every person can take is to know their numbers.
• Blood Pressure. High blood pressure or Hypertension can lead to heart disease, stroke, or kidney failure. A healthy blood pressure is less than 180/20.
• Total Cholesterol. High Cholesterol affects 42 million Americans and twice as many have borderline high cholesterol.
• BMI. Having a high body mass index can increase your risk for diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease.
• Waist size in inches. Women with a waist circumference of more than 35 inches and men with a waist circumference of more than 40 inches are at a much greater risk for heart disease.
Being aware of these numbers and making small lifestyle changes can make a huge difference in your risk for heart disease. Sometimes something as simple as diet can prevent a life threatening heart attack. During the month of February many hospitals offer free heart health screenings. If you do not know your numbers check with your physician or local hospital to schedule a check-up today.
Frontline Learning is making over 40 online learning courses available to 5000 unemployed individuals. Any currently unemployed person is eligible to receive these programs simply be registering online (see link below).
There is no hook or catch or “fine print” here – these are full featured online courses and Frontline Learning’s objective is to help unemployed individuals improve their ability to compete in the current challenging employment climate.
Please forward this message on to anyone who might benefit, or anyone who might know someone who could benefit.
These online courses focus on general workplace capabilities as well as selling, customer service and productivity skills. A course titled “Win the Job War” is designed to help unemployed people compete in a tough job market.
For unemployed individuals these free online courses can:
• Keep skills sharp as their job search progresses
• Help them stay motivated and engaged
• Provide them with completion certificates to present during job interviews
Here is the link to learn more and register to receive the free courses:
http://frontlinelearning.com/Giving-Back.html
Thanks in advance, for your willingness to forward this message on to anyone who might benefit.
Best Regards,
Dan Rust
763.443.9557
Related posts:Being Unemployed – Some StrategiesMoving Beyond BoxesVideos for the Week of September 27, 2009Courage – Master the FearAnger Management Skills For a Healthier LifeCopyright
By Apoll
o Akora -
Stop Lying to Yourself
“Don’t Lie to Yourself” – is a phrase guaranteed to annoy the targeted recipient. Just think about it. You sketch out a business idea, or a plan to learn a new language. Surely it would hurt, if in response, you are told not to lie to yourself.
Now why does being told not to lie to ourselves make us angry? Have they fingered out an underlying flaw in our big idea? Of course not!
The phrase “don’t lie to yourself” attacks you. Not your idea. Not your picture of the future. Not your version of how things could be. It says, very simply, that the idea as it stands is probably sound, it probably will work, and things could turn out the way you have sketched out. But wait. There is a spanner in the works. That spanner is YOU.
The idea is a vehicle. You are the driver. And because you are in the driving seat, this vehicle will not be getting to its destination any time soon. Most likely, it will be derailed.
It will be derailed because you lack the ability to keep it on the road all the way to wherever it is you are going.
Let us be frank. It is your inability to desist from taking detours that is being criticized. Maybe you are the type that gets bored quickly. Soon, there will be another flavour of the month. When that comes, off you’ll go, in another direction.
He’s Lying to Himself
If we could read the minds of others, we’d be Olympic finalists at being hoping mad, going through a step change, and jumping to conclusions.
Every time you are told not to lie to yourself, you can be sure that there are four others that have said to themselves – “he’s lying to himself”. Maybe they put the phone down, turn to their significant other, and say – “don’t worry, it will never happen, she’s just lying to herself”.
Success Boils Down to Knowing Yourself
To not lie to yourself, to be honest with yourself, requires that you know yourself. Herein lies the rub. Success boils down to, or at least kicks off with, one thing. Knowing yourself.
What it means to be Successful
The time has come to square the circle by associating lying to yourself, with being successful. To do this, take a butchers at the current body of knowledge on the subject of success.
These works, by their own admission, are not about making YOU successful. (Note that success is synonymous with leadership. It is virtually impossible to have an abundance of one without the other).
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey
The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership by John C. Maxwell
The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader by John C. Maxwell
Without taking anything away from the above world bestsellers, they describe what qualities successful people have. They tell you the laws that those who live in the land of success abide by.
Mapping out Success – Wish U Were Here
Imagine you have a map in front of you. Imagine there is a place on the map labelled success which is clearly, for want of a better term, mapped out. That’s cool for those that live there. Yes, one of the inhabitants may send you the occasional “wish you were here” postcard. The sad truth, for you and I, is that we aren’t there. We need two things to get us there.
We need to know where we are. Knowing where we are means knowing ourselves. Being honest with ourselves. Not lying to ourselves. Then we need a route. A way to get ourselves to where we want to be.
We doodle and drool over what effective people are, the 21 irrefutable laws that define them. We pour over vivid depictions of how the other half live. The other half being the citizens, the inhabitants, of “successful spaces”.
Start out by Knowing Yourself
Dreamers need to do as well as dream, in order to live their dreams. To do this, you must get to know yourself, not just your one self, but the many incarnations of you, in the past, present and future.
Knowing yourself is the first step you must take, by hook or by crook, on the road to wherever it is you need to go!
This essay on success is brought to you care of intelligent-files.com – Visit us to see how we can transform your website into a web presence.
Why not view some of our other creative work. Like the 10 things you can be happy to lose.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Apollo_Akora
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The trial over the BP oil spill begins today and it may become the biggest civil trial in history.
While organic farming practices are certainly good for the environment, there’s been little evidence to show that organic produce is any healthier. In fact, with the exception of organic milk, the vast majority of research has found no link between organic food and nutritional or health benefits.
Even the American Cancer Society found no link between organic foods and reduced cancer risk:
At this time, no research exists to demonstrate whether such foods are more effective in reducing cancer risk than are similar foods produced by other farming methods.
Having said all of that, a recent study by researchers at the Federal University of Caera in Brazil found that organic tomatoes are higher in vitamin C and antioxidants than conventional tomatoes. Though smaller in size, organic tomatoes had 55% more vitamin C and 139% richer in antioxidants. In other words, the organic tomatoes may be smaller in size – but they’re of higher quality.
One theory suggests that because organic farmers don’t reduce environmental stress through pesticides, the tomatoes fortify themselves with higher levels of nutrients.
Still, it’s just one study against a myriad of studies that demonstrate otherwise – and it’s impossible to apply the findings to all tomatoes, fruits or vegetables grown elsewhere in the world. But it may help breathe new life into the nutritional case for organic produce – and provide some justification for the higher prices when compared to conventional produce.
Hi Davey,
I’m a long time Blog Buddy, having watched your videos and read your blog for about four years now.
I finished my workout the other day and saw the tiniest of contours starting to form around my abs and got so excited! But then kind of nervous… and I couldn’t pinpoint the source of that concern for the life of me. I thought you might be able to shed some light on why we get scared of physical progress.
From,
Anonymous
Dear Anonymous,
Thank you for asking this question.
Through the lens of fitness, let’s ask the question: What are you afraid of? Some obvious answers might boil up. I’m afraid of being fat. I’m afraid that I’ll fail at the gym and not get results. I’m afraid that I’ll never be able to successfully manage or control my weight.
But there is a much deeper fear for some people, and it’s one that your answer points toward.
In her book A Course in Weight Loss, Marianne Williamson says it perfectly:
Your deepest fear isn’t of being fat; your deepest fear is of being thin. Your deepest fear is of being beautiful.
It’s a powerful hypothesis – and, of course, it’s not true for everyone. But consider the example of sexual abuse. As Williamson notes:
The number of women whose excess weight can be almost directly traced to sexual abuse is significant. When I was beautiful, I was molested. Or, when I’m beautiful, I don’t know how to handle the sexual attention. Such thoughts run rampant through the minds of many who are overweight, men as well as women.
Diane Petrella, a spiritual weight release coach, notes that excess weight is a “sexually abused child’s solution to the fear of unwanted sexual advances. Wearing layers of flannel pajamas to delay the inevitable transformed into layers of protective fat in adulthood. Compulsive overeating was the only way to self-soothe when no one was available for support.”
To replace fear with love isn’t easy – and it’s not always something that you can do alone. Assuming that your environment is safe and secure, Petrella recommends confiding in a trusted friend or family member and giving yourself the gift of professional help.
It also takes time. Petrella continues:
Have patience and realize that this process isn’t just about releasing weight. It’s about releasing your fears and your pain. The longer it takes to release weight the more you can trust that an inner shift is happening… Your developing inner strength then becomes the foundation that will help you release weight with confidence and self-love.
Whether or not this advice resonates with your personal experience, it’s an important topic that’s rarely discussed – so I appreciate the opportunity you’ve given us to bring it into the light. For further exploration, I recommend this article on weight loss and sexual abuse and Marianne Williamson’s book, A Course in Weight Loss.
Love,Davey
Zumba is the dance fitness craze that is slowly taking the world by storm. The best thing about the Zumba basic workout is the fact that it’s fun! Unlike traditional aerobics, this workout is disguised in the form of a fun dance. Don’t let that fool you though: you will be getting a full body workout in your Zumba class. But what exactly can you expect?
A Zumba class is fun, but don’t expect them to easy. They will require you to work hard! That said, you don’t need to have any experience in dance to join in.
What is a Zumba Class
Your Zumba class will usually take place in a traditional dance/ exercise studio with the instructor demonstrating the moves at the front of the class. There are often mirrors to make it easier to see what’s going on. Classes typically last for one hour, with a warm-up at the beginning and cool-down with stretching at the end.
The good news is that it’s nearly impossible for a Zumba class to get boring. The music is a mix of samba, merengue, cumbia and reggaeton. Each track is different from the last one, and a new dance routine comes into effect as the music changes.
Depending on your current fitness levels, you’ll probably start to sweat early on in the class. It helps to wear sweatbands to wipe this away from your face as you dance.
What Are The Zumba Workout Moves Like?
Any Zumba workout will depend on what the instructor is like. Some of the common moves include cha-cha-chas, mambas, side touches and V-steps. It can be difficult to keep up at first, when you have no experience with this kind of dance. However, the more you repeat it then more you’ll find that it sinks in.
What If You Can’t Dance?
Let’s face it, we aren’t all born with the gift of coordination. If you’ve not got the best rhythm, or feel you have “two left feet” when it comes to dancing, can you still benefit from a Zumba basic workout?
Yes, you may find it difficult at first, but this is true with anything new. Just with anything else, however, you’ll find that it gets easier as you go along. The best thing about the Zumba basic workout is that you can start at beginner level. Nobody is scrutinizing your dancing skills here; it’s all about having fun along with the music! As long as you’re moving, even if you don’t get the moves just right, you’re doing it right!
What If I Don’t Enjoy a Zumba Class?
Although few of us associate exercise with fun, Zumba is meant to be just that. The only way you can decide whether or not it’s for you is to try it out! Most people find it a great way to burn calories – a lot more fun than working out at the gym. That said, most instructors will let you test out the Zumba class once before you make a decision to stay or not.
The post What is a Zumba Class? appeared first on Fitness Tips for Life.
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Types of Zumba Classes
Benefits of Zumba as a Workout
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Many people are wondering what to eat when getting ready for competition so I thought this would be a good article on pre-competition meals.
For forty-eight hours prior to competition the athlete’s workouts must be canceled or markedly curtailed. This allows his muscles a couple of days to recover from the persistent training he has been doing. It allows that little extra bit of spring and kick to creep into the muscles, ready to burst forth at the moment of challenge.
Carbs and Glycogen in pre-competition meals
Another reason for tapering off the training program during this period is that of allowing the liver specifically and the body generally to replete their glycogen (synonymous with carbohydrate and starch) reserves. An adequate supply of available carbohydrate is invaluable in endurance events, first to provide ready calories for work consumption and second to protect against low blood sugar, which in turn may be associated with feelings of marked fatigue.
The diet is not otherwise altered until the pre-competition meals which is consumed three hours before competition. This period of time allows for absorption and digestion but does not extend long enough to allow hunger or starvation to ensue.
pre-competition meals
In the digestion and metabolism of protein, there is a residue of acid which can only be excreted by the kidneys. Carbon dioxide, the acid of fat and carbohydrate, can be blown off via the lungs. During exercise, effective kidney function ceases, preventing egress of acid by this route.
The athlete who eats a large steak (protein) prior to competition invites the onset of acidosis with all its unpleasant manifestations. For traditional yet stupid reasons, athletes are encouraged to wolf down rare meat, eggs, and milk before competition, when, in fact, they should be eliminated.
What should a pre-competition meal have in it
The pre-competition meal should be easily digestible since the implications of competing “on a full stomach” are well known. Fat in any form slows stomach emptying. Unless food passes from the stomach into the small intestine, no appreciable absorption can occur. Anxiety alone is sufficient to slow the stomach emptying. Since most athletes experience “butterflies in the stomach,” this should not be aggravated by eating fats. Fats should be kept to an absolute minimum in the pre-event meal.
Carbohydrate is the most readily available and quantitatively significant source of calories in athletics. Although fats and fatty acids are utilized, carbohydrates are pre-eminent. Moreover, their final breakdown products of carbon dioxide and water are readily excreted via the lungs and skin. They thus do not contribute to an acid load, which can only be excreted by the (non functioning) kidneys. Sugar, potatoes, bread, cereals, and honey are sources of starch commonly used by athletes.
During exercise, perspiration may be huge. Marathon runners lose eight to ten quarts of sweat during a race. Laborers while working at the Boulder Dam construction lost up to ten to fourteen quarts per day. Adequate hydration prior to competition is essential. The harmful effects of sweating off a few pounds to make a weight limit are now well recognized. As to the liquids in the pre-event meal, these should be readily absorbable and low in fat content, hence the need to restrict milk. They should not cause laxation, hence the need to restrict juices, particularly prune juice. Usually two or three glasses of fluid with the pre-event meal ensures adequate hydration.
Salt and pre-competition Meals
Salt supplies are important. If no salt is taken, the dangers of heat stroke and heat exhaustion are more likely, especially in warm weather. A practical and effective way to give salt is in bouillon. One bouillon cube dissolved in a cup of water is excellent. Salt tablets should not be taken just prior to competition because they may be very irritating to the stomach-and more so if the stomach is “nerved up” before the event. Another glass or two of water can be taken one to one and a half hours before competition.
These are the basics for most people for pre-competition meals and I hope you have learned lots to get ready.
The post Pre-competition meals appeared first on Fitness Tips for Life.
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The downside of post workout meals
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