The Strength

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Broccoli...Yummmm

I love Broccoli! It was one vegetable in my garden that I did NOT give away...Mine, mine, all mine! You should love broccoli too, and I'll tell you why.

Broccoli is full of nutrients and phytochemicals thought to reduce cancer risk. Broccoli helps maintain bone structure, boosts the immune system and supports the digestive system.

Broccoli is an excellent vegetable to eat if you are fighting a cold or flu bug due to its high vitamin C content. A bowl of steamed or cup of juiced broccoli may be more potent than orange juice.

Broccoli is rich in folate and carotenoids, including betacarotene and luten (great for the eyes). It is also rich in vitamin K and has adequate amounts of zinc, manganese, vitamins B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, sulforaphane and indole-carbinol.

Instead of giving myself reasons why I can't, I give myself reasons why I can.

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Bodyweight Exercise Cardio

Try turning body weight exercises into a cardio circuit. To set up your circuit, select a calisthenic exercise (jumping jacks, mountain climbers, burpees) an upper body exercise (pushups, pull-ups, and chin-ups) a lower body exercise (squats, lunges) and an abdominal exercise (mountain climbers, lunges, stability ball jackknifes).

Use a repetition range of 10-15 reps per exercise and do the circuit continuously until you complete the time you are going for. The continuous motion keeps your heart rate up and helps build muscular endurance.

Beginners should start out with 10 minutes of body weight cardio intervals, 15 minutes for intermediates and 20 minutes for advanced. These are a great replacement for long boring cardio sessions on the treadmill.

There is nothing permanent except change.~

Monday, September 12, 2011

Goals

I am a goal oriented kind of girl. When I was 208 pounds, my goal was to exercise everyday during my boys nap time. My goal was to get out of my husbands jeans and into mine. It took almost a full year, but I lost 60 pounds.

One winter after I packed away many holiday treats, I needed a new goal. I decided to train for a sprint triathlon. That summer I participated in 3 sprints, one June July and August and I lost the 10 pounds I had gained over the winter!

Create an attainable, realistic goal. Now take that goal and break it down into short weekly goals. For me to look at the 60 pounds that I wanted to lose, was daunting! So I broke it down to small attainable goals, like exercising during nap time, 2 pounds weight loss per week. If I lost 1 pound one week, I felt like "Half way to 2 pounds, not bad". If I looked at that same pound and my ultimate goal, I would have been like "Big freakin deal...I've got 59 more to go, I suck!" Accentuate the positive! It works!

So think about where you want to be, make a goal, break it down and achieve it! You can do anything you set your mind to!

You don't drown by falling in the water. You drown by staying there.~Unknown Author

Friday, September 9, 2011

What I'm Lovin'

What I am lovin' over here is a challenge that I accepted from my fine friends at R.A.W. Training facility! No sugar and no grains for 10 days! Are you thinking...ARE YOU NUTS?? Nope! Click on the two links I've listed below and you too will drop sugar and grain too.

http://nourishedkitchen.com/against-the-grain-10-reasons-to-give-up-grains/

http://rheumatic.org/sugar.htm

"You can't be a winner and be afraid to lose."
~Charles Lynch

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Yum...Spaghetti Squash!

My Spaghetti squash is ripe! This is what I made last week for several meals. Let me tell you...its VERY filling! I could only eat 1/2 of this plate!

3 cups steamed spaghetti squash (poke holes with a knife in your squash and microwave 1 minute for every pound)
1 oz diced onion
1 oz diced green pepper
3oz portobella mushroom chopped
4 oz ground turkey breast
small tomato
basil chopped
sea salt and pepper to taste

Saute turkey breast, when almost done add in onion and pepper. Saute for 3 minutes. Add in portobella, tomato, basil and sea salt and pepper. Let it cook down a bit 3-5 minutes...pour over the spaghetti squash. Loved it Loved it Loved it!!
Nutritional break down for the entire recipe:
Calories: 334
Fat: 11.2
Carbohydrates: 40.5
Protein: 29.2

Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did.
Newt Gingrich

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Six Rules for Fat Loss Nutrition

Weight loss, Fat loss, Get fit, Be healthier, Drop a dress size.... What ever your goal is, it all comes back to your nutrition.

Six Rules for Fat Loss:

Eat 5-6 small meals every 2-3 hours throughout the day, rather than three large meals. By eating 5 to 6 times a day it elevates your metabolism and keeps you from ever being hungry and gorging yourself at each meal because you are starving.
Eat lean, clean protein at every meal (chicken breasts, egg whites, lean ground turkey, fish, whey protein powder, game meats like bison/elk). Eating protein at every meal keeps you full longer and raises your metabolism. It takes your body longer to break down protein than a starchy carb. (think pizza, crackers, bread, pasta, rice...)
Add a fruit or vegetable to the meal. (Non-starchy vegetables like green leafies, berries etc..)
Starchy carbohydrates should be the meal's last priority, and choose ones that have the lowest metabolic impact like oat bran, sweet potatoes, brown rice and beans.
Sweets and refined grains (like white bread and pasta) have no place in a fat loss nutrition plan. If you must indulge, keep it to three bites.
Include healthy fats like those from nuts (watch portion sizes), olive oil and fatty fish like salmon. To harness the fat burning power of omega-3 fats, consider a PCB-free fish oil supplement.

Great ideas to impliment into your life right now!

You cannot out-exercise a bad diet. ~ Tammy Friedt

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Low Back Pain

The strength of your abdominal muscles has a direct effect on lower back pain. Having a strong abdominal section is the key to supporting the lumbar and pelvic areas. Ab workouts aren't just for show; they are for fitness and good health.

So don't skip or skimp on your ab exercises!

The road to success is dotted with many tempting parking spaces. ~ Author Unknown

Motivational Quotes

You must act as if it is impossible to fail.
Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself!
Happiness is an attitude. We either make ourselves miserable, or happy and strong. The amount of work is the same.
Whether you think you can or you think you can't, your probably right!
If you are sick of starting over, you have to stop quitting
You won't fail if you're not perfect, you'll fail if you're not committed to improving yourself slightly each day.
We can reverse years of damage to our bodies by deciding to raise our standards for ourselves, then living differently. Old wounds heal, injuries repair, and the whole system improves with just a few changes in what we put into our bodies and how we move them.
Failure is not fatal; failing to change will be."
Food for Thought: The starting point of all achievement is desire. Keep this constantly in mind. Strengthen Your Desire! Weak desires bring weak results, just as a small amount of fire makes a small amount of heat.
Success is not a race, be patient.
It's not about how good you are, but how bad you want it!
Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go..."
"Never trade what you want the most for what you want at the moment"
"Success is not a place that we aspire to, it is a process in which we live by. Often the only ingredient being the ability to not quit"
Be specific in what you want, and use specific words. Empower yourself, and become the person you dream about
That which we persist in doing becomes easier to do; not that the nature of the thing itself is changed, but that our power to do is increased."
The odds of hitting a target go up dramatically when you aim at it." ~Mal Pancoast
At the beginning of any task, more than anything else, your attitude will affect it's successful outcome.
Do or do not. There is no try.~Yoda
Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means, effort, pain, difficulty.
Focus on where you want to go, not on what you fear."
There is no one giant step that does it. It's a lot of little steps."
Start doing what's necessary, then do what's possible, and suddenly you'll be doing the impossible!
"My life tomorrow will be the result of my attitudes and the choices I make today."
People often say that motivation doesn't last. Well, neither does bathing, that's why we recommend it daily. Zig Ziglar
"Clear your mind of can't." ~Dr. Samuel Johnson
"Any experience can be transformed into something of value. Everything depends on the way you look at things. You cannot have the success without the failures.
What are stumbling blocks and defeat before you, can be stepping stones to victory if you remain determined.
Listen closely: the only time it's too late to change yourself is when you're dead. Until then, you're simply making excuses or lying to yourself.
If you keep doing what you've always done, you'll get what you've always got!
"Failure is the opportunity to begin again more intelligently". ~Henry Ford
What we think or what we know or what we believe is, in the end, of little consequence. The only consequence is what we do. ~ John Ruskin
Your goals, minus your doubts, equal your reality." ~Ralph Marston
One definition of insanity is: Doing the same thing again and again and expecting a different result.
"If we defend our habits, we have no intentions of quitting them."
Your past does not equal, nor does it dictate, your future
Do you choose to simply know the path, or do you choose to walk it?
Your body keeps an accurate journal regardless of what you write down...
When one approach is not working to reach the desired goal, that's not a reason to abandon the goal. Instead, it is time to devise another approach."------Ralph Marston
Discipline is remembering what you want.
Knowing is not enough, you must apply.
Make the decision, then do something - no matter how small - toward accomplishing what you want.
Don’t live down to expectations. Go out there and do something remarkable. ~Wendy Wasserstein
Food for Thought: The starting point of all achievement is desire. Keep this constantly in mind. Strengthen Your Desire! Weak desires bring weak results, just as a small amount of fire makes a small amount of heat.