Align and Thrive Therapy

02/20/2012

Part 2: Diet Soda

I'm confident we've been over this before but I can't say it enough. NO SODA IS GOOD SODA! Even the diet kind. And yes that includes the 'zero' and '10 calorie' ones. As this article and many others like it state, the research is still being done on what the links, causes and effects are. But so far all of the news is bad news. The artificial sweeteners and chemicals are simply not good for you so put down the soda and drink some water!!

Regular consumption can increase risk of heart attack or stroke.

01/28/2012

Part 1: Obesogens

Your “healthy” food could be making you fat! Seriously don’t eat another grape until you watch this video. If you’re making all the right diet and exercise choices and still having trouble losing those last 10 pounds don’t miss the “Healthy foods that could be making you fat” series.

Stephen Perrine, author of "The New American Diet," spoke to Harry Smith about certain chemicals found in common foods called "obesogens" and how they play a...

10/06/2011

This is an amazing event! There's a 5 mile run and a 2 mile run for those who are just starting out. Or if your crazy like me there's the distance dare where you run the 5 miler and then the 2 miler shortly after. The course runs all through the beautiful UCF campus. Check it out! Sign up and run with me!

Date, Time & Location Sunday, October 23, 2011 7:30 a.m.: 5 Miler 8:30 a.m.: 5 Miler Awards Ceremony 8:45 a.m.: 2 Mile 9:15 a.m.: 2 Mile Awards Ceremony 9:15 a.m.: Healthy 100 Kids' Run

08/27/2011

Today Orlando Wellness Coach is competing in The Savage Race. It's going to be insane!! Wish us luck.

SavageRace.com is the only place to sign up for a totally intense 5Kmud run! The most badass mud running /obstacle race yet! If you’re afraid of extreme obstacles, fire, mud, and bruises, DO NOT sign up for mud run races at Savage Race!

07/26/2011

LIVEN UP A BORING WORKOUT.
Finding the motivation to workout frequently is difficult enough. Trying to keep up that motivation with the same old boring workout routine is nearly impossible. When you’re tired and bored with your workout you actually don’t get as much out of it as you should. Or if you’re that bored you’re likely to quit early or worse yet, not start it at all. Here are a couple of tips to freshen things up a bit:

1. Buy something new. Whether it’s a pair of socks or new sneakers buying something new to wear to the gym is stimulating and motivating. Even changing the color of the case on your ipod works.

2. Mix it up. Do you stick to free weights and machines? Switch to cables and body weight exercises. Do you walk around the same neighborhood every time? Go to a different neighborhood. The possibilities are endless here. Search the internet for new ideas or hire a personal trainer to teach you new techniques. Or read through the OWC posts for ideas.

3. Write or rewrite your goals. If you haven’t written your goals down already, do it! Don’t stop with what you want; write down why you want it. Why is your goal important to you and what can you do each and every day to achieve your goal(s).

4. Log your workouts! No you don’t have to write down every exercise with how many sets and reps but a simple overview is enough to feel responsible toward yourself. For example: Jog/Walked 20 mins, Total body lifting high intensity circuit style 40 mins. Next time try sprint/walks. Document if you focused on certain body parts. Also, document how you felt during the workout in terms of energy/strength level. You can use your smart phone calendar, make your own spreadsheet on excel, search the internet for free and cheap downloads. I personally like this one http://www.squawkfox.com/2009/01/06/free-printable-workout-log/.

07/08/2011

No Time to exercise? NOT AN EXCUSE!
By far the most common excuse I hear from people about not exercising is lack of time. My first question is what are you doing right now? You’re reading this post on facebook aren’t you? Yes, so exactly how much time in a day do you spend on facebook, or searching the internet, or surfing the channels??? Hmmmm? The fact of the matter is that, YES you do have time. You don’t have to be an exercise nut like me and spend up to 2 hours a day at the gym. Do you see results faster by committing at least 45 minutes to an hour per workout? Yes. However is a 30 or even a 20-minute workout better than no workout? Absolutely! YES YES YES! Are you so busy that you don’t even have 20 consecutive minutes to commit to your health? Fine split up that 20-30 minutes into 4-6, 5-minute workouts per day. Yeah I said it “4-6, 5-minuite workouts per day.”

If you do exercise regularly try adding in some of these exercises for that extra burn. Or if something happens to your normal routine, don’t just do nothing. DO SOMETHING!

Here’s how:

1. Do 10-20 crunches in bed before you get up. Another 10-20 after you shower
2. Lunge or squat or do knee ups while brushing your teeth.
3. While driving straighten your posture and tighten your abs for 15-30 second intervals.
4. In the office (if its private) or at home, do wall sits or side-kicks.
5. Do push-ups or wall push-ups and planks (hold for 30 second intervals).
6. Do jumping jacks while holding soup cans. (Stay clear of windows and tv’s)

7. At home with the kids?
Go ahead and do 1-6 and then add on these great ideas: Tread water in the pool while your kids are playing in it. Depending on their age play an invigorating game of tag with them. If you’re much faster, play on one leg. Play leap-frog. Do the crab walk. Come on you remember the crab walk don’t you? Have relay races. Get creative make cleaning up games and toys a race. (Make sure to set the rules). There’s really no limit to the things you can come up with.

Do you need any of the above exercises described? Don’t hesitate to ask. I’ll happily provide you with a more detailed description. So not knowing what to do is no excuse either.

06/19/2011

06/17/2011

Come out and cheer on team Orlando Wellness Coach at the Orlando Metro Dash on saturday!

05/19/2011

You hear quite often that high fructose corn syrup is bad for you. This article contains valuable information regarding why. Check out #3 under "what the science says" Yikes!! I particularly like this article because it's not the sugar cane industry bashing the corn industry. It's simply reported science. Enjoy.

The current media debate about the benefits (or lack of harm) of high fructose corn syrup in our diet misses the obvious.

05/12/2011

Trim Tummy Tip #10. Vary your caloric intake.
If you’ve ever been on a diet of any kind you probably followed a strict regimen Monday through Friday and then splurged on the weekends. Allowing yourself a treat here and there is actually a good practice. But an entire weekend of splurging can actually derail and completely undo all the hard work you did the week before. But on the flipside- being overly strict and having no splurging allowances only lasts so long before the will-power wears thin and cravings take over, leading you back to a big splurge or binge. So to stay on track and still feel satisfied and not deprived try this: Eat strictly 4 days per week, and moderately 3 days per week. The splurging opportunities make it easier to stay on track by sending your body mixed signals. The moderate days can vary. Check out the examples. The actual days can be whatever days you want or need them to be. Just make sure the ratio is 4:3.

Example A:
Strict days are M, T, Th, F. Moderate days are W, S, Sun. Spread out your moderations.
1 moderate day is Wednesday- Happy Hour with Friends!
Have a healthy breakfast but go ahead and add a little cheese to that egg white sandwich. You pushed yourself hard at that 6am spin class didn’t you?! Snacks can be close to the norm but somebody brought doughnut holes to the office for Pete’s birthday. Damn birthdays!! Go ahead and have 2-3 but NOT half the box! To help yourself not go back for more, pair the holes with a huge glass of water. Lunch should also be close to the norm because you’re saving your bigger splurge for happy hour right? At happy hour you treat yourself to 1-2 glasses of wine, and instead of ordering your usual, a mixed greens dinner salad, you order a small side salad and splurge by sharing that spinach & artichoke dip with Jenn. Remember this is happy hour so have your 1-2 drinks and some water. You’re still working for that 6-pack so refer to trim tummy tip #8 to help you stay on track. Note that these seemingly small additions actually add about 700 calories to your daily intake so stick to the plan of being moderate not extreme. And, make sure that on the moderate calorie days you put your time in at the gym. Your body will be more likely to metabolize and use the extra calories rather than store them away.

Example B:
Strict days are M, T, Th, F. Moderate days are W, S, Sun. Chunk Moderations.
On the moderate days you eat almost the same as your strict days except for one whole meal or snack. For the snack example lets say your meals are basically the norm except someone ordered a pizza for lunch and there’s 1 slice left, so you and your officemate split that slice as part of your afternoon snack. It was yummy, you feel satisfied, and you feel good for indulging just a little and not having the whole thing. For the meal example lets say on Sunday you splurge on breakfast and have the Eggs Benedict with potatoes. Yummy! You might even share the Belgian waffle with the table. But now for the rest of the day you revert to all healthy foods. This might not be so easy because the added carbs and fat at the beginning of the day could lead to more unhealthy cravings, so you’ll have to plan this day out to ensure you don’t overindulge. Also, remember to get some exercise that day. Do a quick workout in the morning or plan an afternoon bike-ride. It’ll help you stay on track for the rest of the day and efficiently burn those extra calories.

Example C:
Strict days are M, T, Th, F. Semi-strict days are W, Sun. Splurge day is Sat.
This example is quite common and I recommend it only when seemingly necessary. Because the planned splurge on Saturday is so great the moderation on the remaining 2 days must be small. On the small splurge days you might add a slice of gouda to your wrap or have 1 glass of wine with dinner. This method if done consistently can weaken the will-power just like a too strict diet. Why even mention it? Well summer is here and in addition to swimsuit season it’s also BBQ season. So this Saturday you have BBQ during the day and a friends birthday dinner at night. When you think it all through you realize you will probably consume 4,000 calories that day! Yikes, that’s about double your normal daily dose. You’ve got a plan though so you’re ready to indulge. Your BBQ is at noon and you have plenty of time to do cardio and weights in the morning. You make yourself a hearty protein shake afterwards, which will replenish lost nutrients and help you stay partially satiated so you don’t arrive at the BBQ starving. You pretty much eat whatever you want at the BBQ within reason. If you don’t think about it at all and if you’re having alcoholic beverages you can easily consume over 5,000 calories at 1 BBQ. So enjoy yourself but be mindful, eat some of those veggies and hummus and that vinegar-based coleslaw. Besides you like those things anyways and you really want to have dessert tonight. The same motto applies at dinner, splurge on something you normally don’t have and go ahead and share a dessert. Remember you only had 1 chocolate chip cookie at the BBQ instead of 5 because you knew you wanted dessert! And since you knew you’d be over-indulging today, you have plans to play tennis with your friend tomorrow.

The trick here is PLANNING. You must make a concerted effort to be mindful of your choices and track your progress. The 3 different examples can be mixed throughout the months. However you should pick one for the week and stick to it. But you can pick a different one for the next week and the next week and so on.

05/07/2011

Trim Tummy Tip #9. Take a vitamin & mineral supplement.
The best source of vitamins and minerals comes from the food you eat. If you already consume foods rich in nutrients like fruits vegetables and whole grains you’re probably close to getting the recommended daily dose of vitamins. However, when you’re working out hard your body quickly uses up the nutrients that are floating around, leaving you deficient. Taking a daily multivitamin to supplement your nutritious diet is a good practice to ensure you have the building blocks you need to chisel that body you want. It is important to know that vitamins are not replacements for food nutrients. Healthy foods also contain antioxidants which help remove waste from your body after exercise. At the very least supplementing will give you the minimum daily requirements for proper nutrition. Remember to take your supplement with food and water to ensure absorption in the body.
To read more about the importance of vitamins and exercise check out this article. http://www.livestrong.com/article/110314-benefits-natural-vitamins-exercise/

04/28/2011

Trim Tummy Tip #8. Don’t drink alcohol.
Yes even 1-2 drinks a day can add up to over 2500 calories in a week! Yikes! Alcohol provides calories but no nutrients, having double the amount of calories per gram than protein and carbs. And alcohol calories are burned first before stored fat. If you’re trying to get rid of stubborn belly fat drinking alcohol will slow down the fat burning process by as much as 36%.

To be blunt, alcohol is a poison and your body must fight to get it out of your system. It directly impairs liver function, severely hampering the metabolizing of fat. When your liver is processing alcohol it will stop ALL other metabolic functions until it rids your body of ethanol toxicity (which is the by product of alcohol consumption.) During this detoxing stage your liver halts its release of glucose and blood sugar levels can drop which leads you to hunger and wild cravings.

Also contributing to hunger is the fact that alcohol decreases the amount of testosterone and increases levels of estrogen in your body. Now not only are you having cravings but your testosterone (a key muscle building hormone) is deficient. Alcohol also robs your body of key nutrients involved in the muscle building process including B, C, A, phosphorus and calcium. In order to sculpt muscles, the process of breaking down and rebuilding proteins must occur. Alcohol greatly interferes in and slows down this process. So when you drink you are going against your goal of trimming and toning up.

If your goal is to get 6 pack abs alcohol should be strictly limited during your training phase. Limit alcohol intake to once per week if you want to show off your beach body. Once you reach your goal you can have a little more but don’t go overboard or all your hard work at the gym will go to waste.