Goals are great, plans are awesome and action gets it done.

Just like a road trip, you have to map out directions from Point A to Point B.

We have to do the same thing with our health and fitness goals.

Spiring is here.  Warm weather is on the way, now’s the time!

What do you want to look like and feel like this season?  Envision your goals, then work it back from there.  Imagine yourself as you want to be.  See yourself wearing what you want to wear and being free to feel good in your skin.  What will you be eating in that state? What will you be feeling?  How will you be moving and exercising?

Ultimate health and fitness is what works best for you.  But for any plan to work you have to work the plan.

Doing nothing has never helped anyone.  At least not when it comes to being healthy and fit.

For ideas and products that can help you with a plan of action to reach your goals, please visit us at: http://www.MyTrainerFitness.com

Yesterday I was at a business luncheon buffet.  You know the kind with lots of tantalizing desserts laid out just waiting to be picked up.  Last year I wouldn’t have given it a second thought because I was off of sugar for the entire year.  But this year…well, choosing to dessert or not dessert, added minutes of unnecessary tension and distraction.

We’ve all done this right?  Spent time debating on whether to eat or not to eat that special treat?  The justification arguments are incredibly convincing, and yet the truth is that I have never ever been glad AFTER giving in to the desire, have you?

Looking around the room, I noticed that the table located next to the dessert table housed two very slim young professionals.  Just seeing them there, I immediately knew that I did NOT want to walk by them to pick out some sinful delectable that I did not need.  I immediately felt a wave of tension leave my body; tension I was not even aware of… shoulders relaxed, I sat back and was then able to more fully enjoy the rest of the luncheon meeting unfettered by the noise–and even stress–that my internal battle had created.  If I had chosen the dessert, that would have set up another stress… a post-regret dialogue.

Then I realized that if they had been sitting at my table, it would have been the same thing:  I would NOT want to eat bad foods around such others.  But, if at my table there were only people heavier than I…well, then I could feel okay about it.  Similarly, if that slim and fit couple hadn’t been sitting there, my little voices, the proverbial angel and devil on each shoulder, might still be arguing.

A favorite mentor, Dr. Jade Teta, of Metabolic Effect, http://www.metaboliceffect.com/ just wrote about this a week or so ago, and here it was for me in 3D.  So take heed and hang out with those who you wish to become more like, and as importantly, be that kind of person for your friends and family!  It’s not about judging those who are overweight for the choices they make.  Rather, it’s about making the right choices for you, and the best friends and most supportive family members will understand our needs and support them.  Better yet, for friends and family who also need to lose weight, create a fitness pact and work on helping each other become healthy and fit, not fat!

Inflammation in the body can be uncomfortable at best and lead to fatal illness at worst.  Most inflammation comes from what we eat…or what’s eating us.

My 2012 resolution was to eliminate all sugar.  This included my favorite daily addiction of Tazo Chai.  I succeeded.  I allowed the occasional honey or maple-sweetened homemade treat about midway through 2012, but absolutely no sugar until Christmas Eve, at which time I gave myself permission to enjoy the seasonal treats…and regretfully, more than just a little.

In less than three days major joints were painful and swollen and my body ached all over, feeling as through I had the flu, with every ache and pain magnified.  In less than three days I went from being spry and fit, from jogging, and sprinting, and workouts at the gym to hobbling and limping and feeling older than my 53 years.

But it wasn’t just me.  My partner-in-crime, my 17 year-old daughter, Devani, commented on the third day of enjoying treats normally reserved for one day a week, that the sugar caused her skin to be extremely sensitive to the touch…a hypersensitivity or inflammation that was most uncomfortable.  Clothing tags and seams were irritating and chafing, when she hadn’t noticed them previously.

Then there were the morning food hangovers…waking up feeling slower and groggier and not at home in my own body.  Five pounds gained in three days…yep, that would do it.  I have one of those unforgiving metabolisms, where a little bit of bad goes a long way, and then hangs around for awhile.

For others in my family I noticed irritability and grumpiness, and more sibling squabbles than usual, and a generally heightened self-absorption and relational disconnect, so it’s a relief that the treats are over and we’re all so ready to get back to ourselves!

So, if you don’t think you’re affected by sugar and processed foods, it could be that your body has adapted, and this is bad news.  The body that has adapted to a poor diet is often a body that is harboring disease…the kind that strikes us unaware and bewildered, as if there was no warning, because your body has lost its ability to get your attention.  If you are overweight, don’t have energy, vitality, enthusiasm, exuberance, and passion, then it could be that your body is burdened in ways that are inhibiting these natural life energies.

If you have inflammation, this is your warning sign.  Heed it because it could save your life.  Pay attention to the aches and pains as your body’s way of getting your attention… to change something that isn’t good and replace it with something that is.  I healed chronic back pain and reversed osteopenia with exercise and eliminated inflammation and skin problems with diet.

Remember that the majority of physical maladies are reversible, and that road to recovery starts the moment we begin making better choices.  It make take more than a few days to get to our best health and weight, but each step in the right direction is one step closer, and usually produces positive changes virtually immediately, especially psychologically.

There are few things more disorienting than being out of sorts with your own body, but the good news is that the obverse is also true:  Getting right with your body is the first step to getting right with yourself and your life.  There is no better time than now to begin your journey back to YOU.

You know what to do.  You know how.  Now you just need to do it.  Begin each day anew, resolved to be the healthy, vital you, because you are worth it.  Your life is worth it.  Return to You.

LeAura Alderson
Strategic Interventionist and CEO, My Trainer Fitness

“He’s a big boy”….

Read the rest of the article on the Corporate Wellness Magazine: http://www.corporatewellnessmagazine.com/article/the-emperor-s-new-clothes-are-extra-large-by-leaura-alderson.html

  Machines: 

Machines are easier to use and allow you to really focus on one muscle group at a time. This can be beneficial for creating a

powerful mind-to-muscle-connection as you lift. Movements are predictable and safe.

Free Weights:

On the other hand, free weight exercises tend to be more advanced and require more education and safety precaution on the part of the exerciser.   Free weight training is great to work multiple muscle groups at once, such as bench rows, barbell squats and lunges.

Free weights introduce the need for stabilizing muscles, like the abs, lower back and obliques, so the “core” muscles are

more involved.  Also, free weight exercises allow each person to move through a movement using their own individual movement pattern, instead of “locking” you into one set potation.

Dumbbells can usually be found in any weight range, from 2lbs to 22.5lbs in some gyms.  A wider variety of weights to choose from allows for a more tailored workout.

Take aways: 

Machines: 

• Easy to use
• Allows you to focus on one muscle group at a time.
• Creates powerful mind-to-muscle connection

 Free Weights: 

• Works multiple muscle groups, including the core.
• Stabilizes muscles such as the abs, back and obliques.

Many people share this problem:  lots of exercise, not enough results.  If this is you, you’re in good company.  Even if you’re getting adequate results from your workout efforts, you may be wasting valuable time if you’re not incorporating high intensity interval training (HIIT).

We tend to think of doctors as experts who also know about fitness, but more often than not they don’t unless they’re also trained in exercise science.  One of our favorite cutting edge MD’s shares our desire to save you precious time and not repeat his mistakes.  You can use this principle with many exercises…elliptical, bike, track, steps, treadmill, plyometrics, and even resistance training such as weight circuits.

Can you manage 20 minutes, three times a week?  Check out Dr. Mercola’s intro video on how to get more results in less time, safely.

I first learned about HIIT from my first fitness mentors, brothers Jade Teta, ND, CSCS, and Keoni Teta,

ND, LAc, CSCS, authors of The New ME Diet, and creators of the highly popular and s

uccessful Metabolic Effect™ exercise system, along with my first personal trainer and MTF co-
If you’re investing in yourself with health and fitness, you will get a better return on investment with HIIT such as Metabolic Effect, Mercola’s, Peak Fitness, as well as through applying this same HIIT intensity concept to your numerous My Trainer Fitness/My Gym Trainer workouts as well.author, Jill Coleman of JillFit Physiques.  These are amongst the best in the industry.

Just be sure to warm up adequately, stretch lightly, and begin carefully, and always listen to your body first.  If you’re in the

Triad area of NC, be sure to check out the Metabolic Effect Studio and sign up for some personal trainer sessions and/or

Metabolic Effect exercise classes to really help you learn the principles of the best fitness training in the least amount of time with some of the best professional personal trainers who live it.

Not in the NC Triad area, but know some great HIIT pros?  Please post their names, location, and contact info here or on our Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/mygymtrainer

If you’re already doing HIIT, please chime in with comments about your experience.

Wishing you the BEST health and fitness success,

LeAura Alderson, CEO

My Trainer Fitness

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Ask most Americans and they will tell you they eat “pretty healthy.”  They will admit to the occasional sweet treat or fast food indulgence, but for the most part, they claim to eat according to the food pyramid or in line with diet experts’ guidelines on healthy eating.  Then why are two-thirds of Americans overweight or obese?  And why are these exact recommendations not helping us slim down?

Is this whole grain bagel healthy? Good for fat loss?

It is because there is a difference between eating for fat-loss and so-called healthy eating.  “Healthy” is a way of eating that assures sufficient intake of important vitamins, minerals and nutrients, like fiber.  However, most assume that if they eat this way, they will lose weight too.  Unfortunately, that is not always the case, mostly because the ratios of nutrients provided by this diet are not in line with fat loss.  On the other hand, “fat-loss” eating entails consuming not only adequate amounts of vital nutrients, vitamins and minerals, but implementing nutrient ratios that will provide fat-loss at the same time.  So healthy eating is not necessarily fat-loss eating, but a fat-loss plan is almost always a healthy plan.

Let’s first take a look at an average “healthy” day of eating; one that many dieticians would say incorporates plenty of healthy fiber, vitamins and minerals:

“Healthy” Daily Meal Plan:

Breakfast: 1 cup high-fiber cereal, 1 cup skim milk, 1 banana, 8 oz orange juice
Lunch: 1/8 lb sliced turkey, 2 slices whole wheat bread, 1 granola bar
Mid-afternoon snack: 1 cup nonfat yogurt w/ berries, ½ cup granola
Dinner: 1 chicken breast, ½ cup whole wheat spaghetti with tomato sauce, 2 oz parmesan cheese
After dinner: Skinny Cow ice cream sandwich

In fact, the above meal plan is probably healthier than what most Americans eat daily.  If most ate in a way they consider the ideal, it would like something like the above.   Here are the nutritional facts from the above meal plan:

1650 calories
19 grams fat
316 grams carbohydrates (35 grams fiber)
100 grams protein

Now, let’s contrast this with a fat-loss diet plan, as derived from typical diets followed by physique competitors like bodybuilders and figure competitors whose main goal is to decrease their body fat percentage for competition.  Though you may not want to look like a bodybuilder necessarily, there is no denying that eating this way sheds significant amounts of fat:

Fat-loss Daily Meal Plan:

Breakfast: ¼ cup oatbran (dry) made with water, 6 egg whites scrambled with 2 cups spinach, mushrooms and onions, ½ cup frozen blue berries, black coffee
Mid-morning: 1 small grapefruit, 20 raw almonds
Lunch: Large greens salad, 1 grilled chicken breast, 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar, ½ sweet potato, large unsweetened hot green tea
Mid-afternoon: ½ lb ground turkey, 1 cup broccoli, ½ sweet potato
Dinner: 6 oz halibut, 10 asparagus spears, small mixed greens salad
After dinner: Spoonful natural peanut butter

This meal plan requires more frequent eating, and has noticeably more vegetables and lean protein sources.  Many diet experts will worry about this plan, saying that it is low in fiber or low in nutrients; let’s look at the nutritional profile:

1600 calories
50 grams fat
115 grams carbohydrates (31 grams fiber)
160 grams protein

Calorically, these diets look very similar, and are in a good range, despite the fat-loss plan containing a much greater volume of food.   Similarly, both plans contain adequate fiber (>30 grams) to help lower cholesterol and stabilize blood sugar.  However, in the healthy meal plan, only 11% of total carbohydrates are in the form of healthy fiber, while in the fat-loss diet, 27% of total carbohydrates come from fiber (note: all carbs that are not listed as “fiber,” are sugar).  Also, the two diets are drastically different in their ratio of carbohydrates to protein.  These key differences in the meal plans impact the extent to which the eater will burn fat or not.

Metabolic Differences

The ratio of protein to carbohydrate, as well as absolute carbohydrate intake will have a huge impact on one’s ability to burn fat or prevent fat storing.  The hormone insulin is released in response to either a large absolute amount of carbohydrates consumed or in the event of a small amount of high glycemic index (GI) carbs eaten, like a single donut.  Insulin not only facilitates the metabolism and storage of carbs, but also aids the conversion of excess carbs into fat for storage, while also effectively shutting down all fat-burning machinery to boot.  It is literally impossible to burn fat when carbohydrate-induced insulin is present.

In the healthy diet plan above, 316 grams of carbs are consumed.  Divide that by the 4 meals and that is an average 79 grams of carbs at each sitting; well beyond what is needed to release a lot of insulin and considerably increase fat storage.  By contrast, the fat-loss diet contains 115 grams of carbs.  When divided by the 5 meals, that leaves 23 grams of carbs per sitting.  This absolute amount is not only much more manageable for the metabolism (i.e. a very low insulin response), but will not lead to “spill over” of carbs into fat storing.

And for this reason, fruit is kept to a minimum in the fat-loss plan since it contains the natural sugar fructose, which can quickly increase carb totals.  However, adding a small amount of low glycemic carbohydrates from fruit (such as from berries) can provide essential vitamins, minerals and fiber, without affecting the metabolic outcome.  Since fruit is generally contraindicated in the fat-loss plan, vitamins and minerals are obtained instead from substantially more vegetables.

Furthermore, the amount of protein consumed is crucial in the quest to burn fat.  Protein, above all other nutrients, burns the most calories while it is being digested and also helps lower the cumulative insulin response if eaten along with carbohydrates.   Protein also helps to maintain lean muscle mass, the amount of which is the #1 determining factor of metabolic rate.

Performance vs. Fat-loss

One important point to address is the necessary distinction between a dietary recommendation for athleticperformance versus that for an ordinary person trying to lose fat.  Elite athletes and those training for endurance day after day need to replenish depleted carbohydrate stores (glycogen) constantly.  However, most average people have plenty of glycogen to sustain daily activity without having to eat large amounts of carbohydrates.In fact, if glycogen becomes depleted through exercise, the body will begin to pull from fat stores to sustain the activity; hence, fat loss.  Unfortunately, most “healthy” dietary recommendations are more appropriate for endurance athlete types than for the average fat-loss-seeking American.

Thus, there is indeed a difference between a healthy diet and a fat-loss diet.  To successfully lose fat and optimize health, keep the starchy carbs in check, focusing on lean proteins and green, leafy veggies first, while eating more frequently throughout the day.

~ By Carrie Tidwell

When was the last time you played in the mud, scuffed up your knees or climbed under barbed wire?!  All while racing against a slew of people, some even dressed in silly costumes, but having a blast along the way.  I’m talking of course about Mud Runs and they are starting to really gain popularity with each passing year.  Giving the typical runner a break from the mundane paved course and opting for a trek in the woods, trudge through waist deep water, climb over (and under) obstacles, then finishing off when a good dose of mud!

These are typically 5K races that are more emphasized on having a great time rather than who can cross the finish line first.  You can find a mud run in just about every state; a simple search will show you various runs of all types.  Here are just a few off the long list…

Mud Crusade:  Whether you are running in Mud Crusade to push your body to its limits or feel the rush of adrenaline… looking for an activity to reconnect with your friends, family, co-workers… or just in a dire need to have a gut busting, laugh-filled, entertaining life moment… spend the day with us so we can provide the

experience.  http://mudcrusade.com

Down and Dirty Mud Run:  National Mud and Obstacle Series – Getting dirty in a city near you!  www.downanddirtymudrun.com

Run A Muck Mud Run:  For the tiniest fraction of a second you realize running a race through forests, obstacles, walls, ropes – and yes, muddy muck – is surely the most insanely off-the-wall lifetime event you ever signed up to do.  And then you come to your senses…. Heck Yeah!  http://runamuckfestival.com/

Go Dirty Girl Mud Run:  In the end, everyone’s shoes match their outfit.  Don’t worry about it, here everybody runs like a girl.  It’s like a day at the spa but way more

therapeutic.  You’ll find excitement, laughter, and camaraderie – as well as lots of great music!  http://www.godirtygirl.com

The Marine Mud Run:  Jomeokee Park, Pinnacle, NC hosts this every June, and here’s what they say, reposted from their site:  http://www.usmcmudrunnc.com/

TOP 10 REASONS TO JOIN THE MUD RUN: 

10. You’ve already done every other run in town, out of town, down town, around town…

9. You need a new t-shirt, or at least one with a cool graphic.

8. You’ll have something good to talk about on Monday morning.

7. Bonding! You’ll never be in another situation where total strangers now feel like your closest friends.

6. You’re looking for an excuse to throw out those grungy old running shoes.

5. Remember splashing in mud puddles as a kid? Here’s your chance to tune into your inner child and not only splash in them, but crawl through them.

4. Running on pavement doesn’t make that satisfyingly squishy sound.

3. You’re looking for another place to wear your Halloween costume, wedding dress, or plaid pants.

2. You’ve heard about the therapeutic benefits of a mud bath, but a trip to a California spa is out of your budget.

1. A fun event that requires being sloppy, helps our Marines AND offers a chance to win awards…it’s a NO BRAINER!

And my personal favorite – Warrior Dash:  A mud-crawling, fire-leaping, extreme 5K run from hell. Warriors conquer extreme obstacles, push their limits and celebrate with music, beer, and Warrior helmets!  warriordash.com

I had a group of friends go through a Mud Run in 2010, but I was too chicken to go with them; thinking that I wasn’t in good enough shape and didn’t want to make a fool out of myself.  But in 2011, I made up my mind and signed up for my very first mud run!  I was so anxious, nervous, excited, and hoping I could make it through all of the obstacles with out ending up on the injured list!  I actually ended up going with my boyfriend, my sister and her husband, and some good friends.  I – had – a – BLAST!!  All my fears and anxiety got left in the dust… err, mud!  The adrenaline and competing with close friends really helped to push me through every obstacle, even climbing a wall 25+ feet high!

Of course I had to go back this year, and with an attitude that I was going to dominate the course!  I brought some new friends to give it a go and it was so fun to see them go through what I went through the first time.  All the same nervous feelings: Can I really do this? What have I gotten myself into? Is it starting already?!  But once the race started, it was all fun and games.  Needless to say, they are now hooked and already planning on going back next year. :^)

So my advice to you — Just Do It! Just sign up for one! If you feel you must put yourself through some sort of training for it before hand, by all means, but these races are for having a great time!  Don’t get too worked up about the obstacles (a little secret, if you really feel you cannot do an obstacle, you can always simply go around it).

Have Fun – Smile – Laugh

Go out and make some great memories!