Hello Friends;
In case you didn't know, March is National Nutrition Month. What better time then for me to blog about my food obsession.
I'm pretty sure that I am not alone in this obsession. Just take a look around and you will see that I have lots of company. Fortunately, for me, I am obsessed with finding a way to eat a healthy, satisfying diet that keeps me lean, strong and happy.
Standing in line at the grocery store yesterday I saw bags of fried pork rinds and thought, "I'm really glad I'm not obsessed with those". Now, some organic dark chocolate or grain sweetened chocolate chips is definitely where my obsession starts to kick in!
Recently, I blogged about going Primal. You can find out more about The Primal Blueprint at marksdailyapple.com. I'm making my way there, slowly preparing by using up things that won't belong in my nutrition plan once I go Primal. David is currently reading The Primal Blueprint and is really liking it and becoming very motivated by it. I promise to continue to keep you posted on our progress.
Recently, I saw a commercial about constipation. Actually, let me correct myself. I saw a commercial about a remedy for constipation. The commercial didn't really talk about why a person might be constipated and how to make some dietary changes to alleviate that uncomfortable situation, it just encouraged it's viewers to take a pill or two every day and VOILA! promblem solved!! I see this so much in commercials. Nexium is another good example. For those of you suffering from heartburn, again, don't bother making dietary changes, just take a Nexium or Zantac a day and again VOILA!! no more heartburn.
There is no doubt that we are a nation that is food-obsessed, but we are also a nation obsessed with getting rid of the excess weight often caused by our unhealthy food-obsessed habits. It's a vicious cycle. Overindulge on the weekend, start your diet on Monday morning. Been there, done that and I am DONE WITH THAT!
I know that I am on a bit of a rollercoaster of a journey when it comes to my diet but I know it's a journey worth travelling. Problem is there is so much conflicting information out there that sometimes it's hard to know what's right, what works and what's just plain crazy. Okay, the plain crazy ie: The Cookie Diet, they are pretty easy to spot. But how much protein, carbs, fat to ingest in a day, how many hours in between meals, what foods to eat together for optimal fat burning, yadda, yadda, yadda, it just becomes overwhelming to me. As a personal trainer and someone who has done a fair amount of reading about nutrition, I have bought into the "Eat every four hours" theory and often encourage my clients to do the same. What I have found though, is that my day becomes driven around mealtimes. I MUST eat NOW! It's been 3 hours and 59 minutes since my last meal! I believe that this way of eating works for many people, especially those who are disciplined and are eating clean. But, if I am being honest, it's not really working for me. I am not achieving my goal of feeling comfortable in my skin and with my current body fat percentage. So from here on out my goal is to eat whole foods and eat when my body tells me I'm hungry, that's if my body remembers how to do that!
I encourage all my food-obsessed friends (you know who you are) to reevaluate what you have been doing nutritionally and see where some practical changes could be made. Please share your thoughts as they will be helpful to those of us in food-obsessed rehab :)
Happy Eating!
Monday, March 1, 2010
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
A New Baby, Airports and 8000 miles
Hello My Friends;
I am trying to get back into the swing of things since I returned home from Alberta, Canada on Saturday.
My brother and his fiance, Nathalie, welcomed their first child, Sydney William MacInnis on February 13th at 3:45 am, approximately 8 hours after Aunti Allyson arrived on their doorstep! Mom, Dad, Baby and Auntie are all doing well despite several sleepless nights. Fortunately, for me, my sleep schedule can resume to it's normal state. It will be a different story for Nathalie and Chris for a little while I'm sure.
I arrived home Saturday evening around 7 pm, went to bed around 10:30 and slept until 11:15 the next morning!!!!! I couldn't believe I slept that long. Obviously, my body had some catching up to do.
I'm wondering if other people struggle while on vacation as much as I do. I find it much harder to stay disciplined nutritionally. I made a decent attempt at drinking water, but as usual, sugar and carbs were screaming my name every day! Now home, I am working on getting back on track. Actually, I'm pretty sure I wasn't quite fully on the track before I left. Maybe that's why I became completely derailed on vacation. No sense in beating myself up over it as it won't negate what I ate. I'm on a journey, at least that's what I keep telling myself.
Now let's talk airports. I don't really know how to start this rant. I just get so sad and frustrated at all the overweight people in airports. Yes, I know, overweight people are everywhere, but it just seems that I take more notice in airports when all I have to do is sit and people watch. I saw this one obese man sitting on a bench drinking a bottle of coke. He took a can of chewing tobacco out of his pocket, unwrapped it and threw the wrapper on the floor. Of course, getting off the bench and walking to a garbage can would have been clearly too much effort for this man. I realize that I am probably sounding quite judgemental here but seriously it was just a sad sight to behold. And while we are on the topic of airports, how about all that lovely airport food. It's everywhere you turn. I do appreciates the Starbucks Chai latte and Cinnamon Dolce latte :) And who can afford it all?? This time I was smart and brought my own snacks so the only indulgence I enjoyed was Starbucks. Perhaps airports should consider putting workout areas throughout the space and see what happens. If you have a long layover why not get some exercise in while you wait for you next plane. I think I'm on to something.
Anway, I taught HIT last night and am feeling it this morning. Taking a break from exercise is good but oh so hard to jump back in. But I'm back and ready to take the next step on my journey to optimal fitness and health. I just started reading Primal Blueprint and what I am really excited about is that David wants to read it to!! If you haven't already, check out marksdailyapple.com. I look forward to keeping you posted on my progress. I hope you can keep this little secret....I'm going to gradually change Evan's (my 14 year old son) diet as well (at least at home). It will be interesting to see his reaction :)
As for the 8000 miles, that is roughly how far I travelled in 8 days to see my new nephew. I'm not sure if I'm feeling the effects of the long distance or could it be the lack of clean eating and exercise?
I hope all is well in your world and look forward to any comments you are willing to share.
Peace
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
No More Chronic Cardio!
What would you say if I told you it was okay to stop spending hours a week on a treadmill?
Every time I walk into my local gym and see the same people doing the same thing on the treadmill, elliptical or stepper day in and day out, I feel sad and a little bit frustrated. I have suggested to people in the past that they are doing too much cardio and they look at me like I have three heads! Yet, they rarely achieve the results they are looking for by doing the hours of cardio.
I don't think getting fit needs to be as complicated or time consuming as we make it. I'm here to tell you that 80% of your fitness success comes from your nutrition. That's right, 80%. The other 20% comes from the genes you inherited and exercise. So the adage "You are what you eat" is very accurate. And I'm not the only one who thinks so. Check out what Mark Sisson, from Mark's Daily Apple has to say on the subject of long bouts of cardio.
"The fact is, our hunter-gatherer ancestors didn’t ramp up their heart rates significantly for over an hour every day, and I don’t think we should either. They walked at a very low level of exertion, burning almost entirely stored fats. Once you get into the zones where less fat is burned and where there’s a big dependency on glucose to fuel muscles, your body goes into a less efficient mode of fuel oxidation. There are biochemical costs associated with this shift. Your muscles and liver can only hold 500-600 grams of precious glycogen (stored glucose) at any one time, which means about 2 hours’ worth for the best trained individuals and less for most people. That means that to come back and work out hard the next day requires at least 600 more grams of carbs every day. That’s just too much glucose and insulin to deal with every day."
"This kind of training (and diet) raises cortisol levels, increases oxidative damage, systemic inflammation, depresses the immune system and decreases fat metabolism. About the only thing good it does is improve cardiac muscle strength – and even then you get too the point of diminishing returns fairly quickly."
Instead of spending hours in a gym, Mark suggests instead a few sessions of sprints and interval training along with lifting heavy things. He is also a firm believer in lots of play and spending some time in the sun every day (when the sun is available of course). I don't know about you, but I really like the sounds of that!
I'm heading out of town to spend time with family, but plan on starting the process of going primal when I return. I'll keep you posted on my progress.
Be well :)
Every time I walk into my local gym and see the same people doing the same thing on the treadmill, elliptical or stepper day in and day out, I feel sad and a little bit frustrated. I have suggested to people in the past that they are doing too much cardio and they look at me like I have three heads! Yet, they rarely achieve the results they are looking for by doing the hours of cardio.
I don't think getting fit needs to be as complicated or time consuming as we make it. I'm here to tell you that 80% of your fitness success comes from your nutrition. That's right, 80%. The other 20% comes from the genes you inherited and exercise. So the adage "You are what you eat" is very accurate. And I'm not the only one who thinks so. Check out what Mark Sisson, from Mark's Daily Apple has to say on the subject of long bouts of cardio.
"The fact is, our hunter-gatherer ancestors didn’t ramp up their heart rates significantly for over an hour every day, and I don’t think we should either. They walked at a very low level of exertion, burning almost entirely stored fats. Once you get into the zones where less fat is burned and where there’s a big dependency on glucose to fuel muscles, your body goes into a less efficient mode of fuel oxidation. There are biochemical costs associated with this shift. Your muscles and liver can only hold 500-600 grams of precious glycogen (stored glucose) at any one time, which means about 2 hours’ worth for the best trained individuals and less for most people. That means that to come back and work out hard the next day requires at least 600 more grams of carbs every day. That’s just too much glucose and insulin to deal with every day."
"This kind of training (and diet) raises cortisol levels, increases oxidative damage, systemic inflammation, depresses the immune system and decreases fat metabolism. About the only thing good it does is improve cardiac muscle strength – and even then you get too the point of diminishing returns fairly quickly."
Instead of spending hours in a gym, Mark suggests instead a few sessions of sprints and interval training along with lifting heavy things. He is also a firm believer in lots of play and spending some time in the sun every day (when the sun is available of course). I don't know about you, but I really like the sounds of that!
I'm heading out of town to spend time with family, but plan on starting the process of going primal when I return. I'll keep you posted on my progress.
Be well :)
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
The Primal Blueprint - Paleolithic Diet
Good Morning My Friends;
Although I am sitting here nursing a nasty head cold, I feel peaceful. I did something to take care of me for a change. Feeling really lousy last evening, I made the decision to cancel all of my clients today. That gave me the opportunity to rest this morning and to research and blog.
I have been doing some research on the paleolithic diet. I'm intrigued. I think it makes sense. I think I'm going to try it. Being in the fitness profession, I do alot of reading on many schools of thought regarding nutrition. I recently came across a popular blog called Mark's Daily Apple. This guy is 55 years old and in incredible physical condition. His book, titled The Primal Blueprint, outlines 10 laws that Mark lives by. They are:
Law #1 - Eat Lots of Plants & Animals
Law #2 - Avoid Poisonous Things
Law # 3 - Move Frequently at a Slow Pace
Law # 4 - Lift Heavy Things
Law # 5 - Sprint Once in a While
Law # 6 - Get Adequate Sleep
Law # 7 - Play
Law # 8 - Get Adequate Sunlight
Law # 9 - Avoid Stupid Mistakes
Law # 10 - Use Your Brain
You can find this book on Amazon with several very good reviews.
With so many "newest and best" diets flooding the market today, it's hard know which is truly "the best". My advice is be willing to try different things. Listen to your body. Don't get stuck in a nutrition rut. Educate yourself. Eat foods in their natural form as often as possible. Avoid prepackaged food. Breathe. Forgive. Laugh. Love.Follow your Passion.
Have a wonderful day.
P.S. The next blog: No More Chronic Cardio!
Although I am sitting here nursing a nasty head cold, I feel peaceful. I did something to take care of me for a change. Feeling really lousy last evening, I made the decision to cancel all of my clients today. That gave me the opportunity to rest this morning and to research and blog.
I have been doing some research on the paleolithic diet. I'm intrigued. I think it makes sense. I think I'm going to try it. Being in the fitness profession, I do alot of reading on many schools of thought regarding nutrition. I recently came across a popular blog called Mark's Daily Apple. This guy is 55 years old and in incredible physical condition. His book, titled The Primal Blueprint, outlines 10 laws that Mark lives by. They are:
Law #1 - Eat Lots of Plants & Animals
Law #2 - Avoid Poisonous Things
Law # 3 - Move Frequently at a Slow Pace
Law # 4 - Lift Heavy Things
Law # 5 - Sprint Once in a While
Law # 6 - Get Adequate Sleep
Law # 7 - Play
Law # 8 - Get Adequate Sunlight
Law # 9 - Avoid Stupid Mistakes
Law # 10 - Use Your Brain
You can find this book on Amazon with several very good reviews.
With so many "newest and best" diets flooding the market today, it's hard know which is truly "the best". My advice is be willing to try different things. Listen to your body. Don't get stuck in a nutrition rut. Educate yourself. Eat foods in their natural form as often as possible. Avoid prepackaged food. Breathe. Forgive. Laugh. Love.Follow your Passion.
Have a wonderful day.
P.S. The next blog: No More Chronic Cardio!
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Commit2Blog
Ugghh.....so this blogging deal isn't as easy as one would think. First of all, it's to find the time to sit down and do it. Second of all, it's to come up with something clever and interesting to blog about. Neither of which are easy tasks!
I have this fantasy that I am going to become famous by blogging. The things I blog about will be so inspiring and life changing that everyone will be checking my blog every day just to see what I have to say. But really, who am I kidding? I am just a simple girl who lives in Maine and helps people sweat and attempts to motivate people to take charge of their health and fitness. But hey, you never know, people become famous for the strangest things. William Hung comes to mind here or Larry the General with his catchy tune "Pants on the Ground". Let's not forget Monica Lewinsky, Paula Jones, Rielle Hunter......the list goes on. So I guess it's possible that I could become famous for inspirational and motivational health and fitness blogging. I suppose I have to commit to blogging on a regular basis in order for that to happen.
So my promise to you, my loyal and dedicated followers, is to blog at least once a week. Oh sure I'll do it more often if I can make the time, but for now I won't put too much pressure on myself. I don't want to become famous too quickly :)
Have a great Saturday!
I have this fantasy that I am going to become famous by blogging. The things I blog about will be so inspiring and life changing that everyone will be checking my blog every day just to see what I have to say. But really, who am I kidding? I am just a simple girl who lives in Maine and helps people sweat and attempts to motivate people to take charge of their health and fitness. But hey, you never know, people become famous for the strangest things. William Hung comes to mind here or Larry the General with his catchy tune "Pants on the Ground". Let's not forget Monica Lewinsky, Paula Jones, Rielle Hunter......the list goes on. So I guess it's possible that I could become famous for inspirational and motivational health and fitness blogging. I suppose I have to commit to blogging on a regular basis in order for that to happen.
So my promise to you, my loyal and dedicated followers, is to blog at least once a week. Oh sure I'll do it more often if I can make the time, but for now I won't put too much pressure on myself. I don't want to become famous too quickly :)
Have a great Saturday!
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Friday, January 1, 2010
Happy 2010
Yes it is here....a new decade awaits us. Imagine the possibilities! Let me share my New Year's Eve with you :)
The day started off uneventfully. I arose at 7:00 am and David said to me, "I thought you were going to sleep in." To which I replied, "I did." I had a leisurely breakfast of oatmeal with blueberries, walnuts, ground flaxseed, cinnamon, some of Kimberly's delicious sugar-free banana bread, and some green tea. I ran some errands, called my uncle in Cape Breton, and waited for David to come home from work.
Our plan was to travel to Waterville to spend the evening with friends. We questioned the safety of driving to Waterville in the snow but decided to go anyway. Well, it almost didn't happen because David and I had a huge argument over the clothing choice of our 14 year old son. Let's just say the drive to Waterville was a quiet one.
Now if you recall from my last blog, these friends of ours live in the land of sugar. Yes, there is candy in virtually every corner of this home. There is an entire candy table downstairs in the family room. There was a gumball machine in our bedroom, get the picture. We had only been there about 20 minutes when Evan came to me with a chocolate in his hand demanding that I eat it because it was so delicious. I told him I would but I wanted to have something a little more substantial first. This appeased him and he went away. Well I am here to tell you people that I held on to that chocolate until 12:10 am!!! At one point, the hostess tried to throw it away but I rescued it! I ate that chocolate and some other chocolate and went to bed. I drank no alcohol, instead I enjoyed some pomegranate sparkling water and some seltzer. I dreamed of chocolate overnight and ate some on the drive home this morning. I have continued to consume chocolate periodically through out the day and will enjoy some wine given to me by my step-son for Christmas with dinner this evening. I will then taste some gingerbread that has been in my freezer for about three weeks and yes, I may even consume some more chocolate before all is said and done!
You see, I decided to give myself this day to indulge in some sugary delights but tomorrow it's back to business. I feel too good to let it all go by the wayside now. I had honey in my tea for the first time in a month and it was a little slice of heaven. I will most likely continue to have honey in my tea as honey has so many healthful properties. I haven't quite figured out how I will incorporate sugar into my diet from this point forward but I can tell you this, I have changed! I have discovered discipline where I thought there was none. I am stronger than the sugar that tempts me and my strong healthy body will be the proof.
I will leave you with this and my wish for you to find the discipline to do what you thought you could not do.
Allyson
There's No Challenge You Cannot Face
Challenges make us stronger.
They push us to try harder.
They allow us to be brave.
They offer us courage.
They engender hope in us.
And sometimes we go farther
than we ever dreamed possible.......
just by believing that we can.
~Ashley Rice
The day started off uneventfully. I arose at 7:00 am and David said to me, "I thought you were going to sleep in." To which I replied, "I did." I had a leisurely breakfast of oatmeal with blueberries, walnuts, ground flaxseed, cinnamon, some of Kimberly's delicious sugar-free banana bread, and some green tea. I ran some errands, called my uncle in Cape Breton, and waited for David to come home from work.
Our plan was to travel to Waterville to spend the evening with friends. We questioned the safety of driving to Waterville in the snow but decided to go anyway. Well, it almost didn't happen because David and I had a huge argument over the clothing choice of our 14 year old son. Let's just say the drive to Waterville was a quiet one.
Now if you recall from my last blog, these friends of ours live in the land of sugar. Yes, there is candy in virtually every corner of this home. There is an entire candy table downstairs in the family room. There was a gumball machine in our bedroom, get the picture. We had only been there about 20 minutes when Evan came to me with a chocolate in his hand demanding that I eat it because it was so delicious. I told him I would but I wanted to have something a little more substantial first. This appeased him and he went away. Well I am here to tell you people that I held on to that chocolate until 12:10 am!!! At one point, the hostess tried to throw it away but I rescued it! I ate that chocolate and some other chocolate and went to bed. I drank no alcohol, instead I enjoyed some pomegranate sparkling water and some seltzer. I dreamed of chocolate overnight and ate some on the drive home this morning. I have continued to consume chocolate periodically through out the day and will enjoy some wine given to me by my step-son for Christmas with dinner this evening. I will then taste some gingerbread that has been in my freezer for about three weeks and yes, I may even consume some more chocolate before all is said and done!
You see, I decided to give myself this day to indulge in some sugary delights but tomorrow it's back to business. I feel too good to let it all go by the wayside now. I had honey in my tea for the first time in a month and it was a little slice of heaven. I will most likely continue to have honey in my tea as honey has so many healthful properties. I haven't quite figured out how I will incorporate sugar into my diet from this point forward but I can tell you this, I have changed! I have discovered discipline where I thought there was none. I am stronger than the sugar that tempts me and my strong healthy body will be the proof.
I will leave you with this and my wish for you to find the discipline to do what you thought you could not do.
Allyson
There's No Challenge You Cannot Face
Challenges make us stronger.
They push us to try harder.
They allow us to be brave.
They offer us courage.
They engender hope in us.
And sometimes we go farther
than we ever dreamed possible.......
just by believing that we can.
~Ashley Rice
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