Get F.I.T.T.

Is your body at a standstill?

Are you working out and eating well, but are stumped as why you aren’t getting the results you want?

You are not alone.

Plateauing is a common affect when the body becomes comfortable, and quite frankly, bored, with the same routine. Muscle confusion is the principle of changing your routines to keep your body guessing. Once the body is accustomed to a routine, it needs something new or different thrown into the mix to keep it guessing, and working hard. Sounds kind of like a relationship! And just like a relationship, you gotta spice things up!

Here’s how to get off the plateau, confuse your muscles, and get the results you want.
Apply the F.I.T.T formula. First you will need to use it to self-evaluate your current routine. Then you will use it to make changes to keep your body guessing.

Frequency: Number of sessions per day/week
Intensity: How hard one works
Time/Duration: The length of the exercise
Type/ Mode: The specific exercise (walking, running, weight training, etc.)

Change one or two of the components in your present routine, stick with it for a few weeks (or more depending on how your body reacts), and then reevaluate. For example, change up your cardio. Try some of the intervals mentioned on my fitness page., or go to a different class. The worst thing you can do is continue moving in the same plane, on the same track, doing the same thing over and over.  For resistance training: I

f you are used to grabbing the same dumbbells and doing the same exercises, change it! Get heavier weights. Perhaps do chest presses on an incline rather than horizontally, slow everything down to really concentrate on the muscles being worked, or add an extra move or pulse at the top of a bicep curl. Crank up the weight on the machines, and go for the burn. Remember, no matter what, your muscles should be fatigued in the last 2-3 reps. It doesn’t matter if you are doing 8-10, 12-15, or 20-30 repetitions. Make it burn!

There are so many ways you can adjust your workouts to confuse your muscles. The combinations are truly endless!

Once you make some changes, stick with it for a while. You might try it for two, three, or even six weeks before changing things up again. And don’t forget; it is supposed to be difficult. You may sweat more, suffer from a bit of soreness, or be a little uncomfortable in your new routine. GOOD! That’s how it should be, and that’s how you will know it its working.
 
by K.Dixon

 

Sorry Folks....Size Does Matter

    I'm not sure if you have the same problem as me, but my kitchen cabinets look like this ALL the time!

And, no Mother, it's not because I didn't close them all the way!

While looking into portion control and serving sizes, I found that dinner plates on average are 2 inches bigger than the ones our parents and grandparents grew up using. No wonder all of those Lean Cuisines look so tiny. When it comes to eating out, it's a no brainer that plate and portion sizes are ridiculous. They come out on a platter that could feed a family of four, yet we gobble it up like its our last meal!

Remember in the 80s and 90s when the over-sized chairs came out (my father had two of them in his living room and I thought they were soooo cool), Wendy's made everything BIGGIE, and McDonald's went Supersize! It seemed great at the time, but in reality, it has destroyed us. What was once considered over exaggerated and enormous, is now the standard.

Take a look at the dinner plate with the deck of cards on it. That minuscule looking deck, which is smaller than my iPhone,  represents a serving of meat. The plate swallows it!

The next time you eat out or load your plate up, think not only about the size of your plate, but the size of your portions as well. Use your phone as a reference!

TIP* Use a salad plate for meals rather than a dinner plate. It is actually much closer in size to the dinner plates of the past.

The Revamp...But in Baby steps

For the past two months I have been digging deep within to revamp the way I eat, think, and take care of myself. I have for the majority of my life been health conscious, food conscious,  body conscious, self conscious, fitness conscious, calorie conscious, fat conscious, weight conscious, and so on. Most of my days have been spent counting calories, points, fat grams, carbs, and proteins, as well as figuring how I would burn those little critters off (I suppose I should have been an accountant).  What a waste! Seeing food for what it is and ditching the calculator so to speak has been an interesting trek thus far, and I look forward to what is to come.

Step 1
Within the first month of this journey, I decided to abolish all products in my kitchen that contained hydrogenated oil. It didn't matter if it was 'partially' or 'fully', soy or vegetable; if the ingredients read 'hydrogenated' , it went to the trash...

...OK, so I had to have a farewell spoonful of some of them, but they went in the trash after that. I promise!

Sugar free, 70 calories, low fat...What more could I ask for! These 'yummy' treats were found in the Health food section of my local grocery store; In the diabetic section to be exact!...Never mind that Hydrogenated fats have been linked to diabetes in scientific studies.

Ingredient #3 Partially Hydrogenated Palm Kernel Oil. Once I started rummaging around in the pantry, this product was given a verdict of guilty.

As mentioned in the title, I am taking baby steps. This first step has been enlightening, tricky at times, and freeing. I challenge everyone to take a look inside their pantry and refrigerator to see what lurks inside their food.

more to come, and step two of my journey is underway...

READ THE FINE PRINT

Hydrogenated Oil = Trans Fats = Stay Away

What Are Hydrogenated Fats
Hydrogenated oils/fats are made by injecting liquid fat (animal or vegetable source oils) with hydrogen gas to make them solid and more stable at room temperature. In general, the more solid the oil is, the more hydrogenated it is. This allows the oil to have a longer shelf life than in its natural state.Where Are They

Where Are They?
Hydrogenated fats are hidden in hundreds of products we consume every single day. Coffee creamers, baked goods, breads, so called 'health foods', 'fat free' foods, whipped toppings like Cool Whip (boohoo!!), margarine, butter sprays, and Crisco are just some of the common culprits.

Why the Fuss?
The production process of these oils converts them into indigestible trans-fatty acids which everyone knows nowadays as BAD fats. Trans fatty acids work to increase LDL, or "bad" cholesterol, and they also decrease HDL cholesterol, which is "good" cholesterol. This means that the fats in hydrogenated oil are far more dangerous than even saturated fats, which medical professionals have already determined to be harmful. The consumption of hydrogenated oil has been linked with diabetes, cancer, coronary disease, immune system dysfunction, low-birth-weight babies, weight gain, and obesity in a wide number of scientific studies. All medical professionals agree that people should limit their consumption of hydrogenated oil to avoid exposure to trans fats, and just because a product says zero trans fats, check the ingredients.

What Now?
The unstable fatty acids in oils such as olive oil are unsaturated fats, which have been determined to be healthier for consumers, acting to reduce cholesterol in some cases. As it turns out, its best to keep it real.
Olive oil, nuts, avocados, and dairy fats are a much healthier choice.

Is Coffee Creamer a Silent Killer?

This is in interesting article that covers a lot of info. Check it out!

http://nutrition.suite101.com/article.cfm/is-your-coffee-creamer-silently-killing-you

And So it Begins

                                                                               

So this is all very new to me, but I have decided to embark on   a journey... A blogging journey about what it really means to be healthy, eat well, pass on processed food, and see if it can be done without killing me financially.  I could say 'This all started when I was a little girl. At some point in my childhood, I didn't feel good enough, pretty enough, thin enough, blah, blah, blah, so I dieted, exercised, blah, blah, blah." Who Cares!!! I am certain the majority of people, and women especially have the same story. The fact is, I am a responsible mature adult, and it really doesn't matter how I felt when I was a kid!

In actuality, the thought of 'getting real' with food started about three and a half years ago when I was making my morning coffee. My husband, Tony, who happens to love greasy fatty burgers, fries, and milkshakes, made a comment to me about how "terrible" it was that I was pouring powder creamer in my coffee. "How is THIS unhealthy?" I asked, "It has 10 calories per serving and is FAT-FREE!" He followed up with the very dry response, "You're basically drinking plastic." Thus began the conversation of partially hydrogenated oil and how harmful it is to our bodies. You might ask... Did I stop using the powder creamers? Heck no! I loved that stuff. But the wheels in my head started to turn.

Three and a half years later, only because recently, I have had some time to think about it, I have decided it must come to an end.

...more to come