FALL IS HERE

I'm depressed. Not only did Chicago not have a Spring, we did not have a summer. Although Fall is in fact my favorite season, I am saddened because the transition never happened. Yes, now I can run comfortably, wear a sweater and not sweat walking to work. But I never got to lay out in the sun, take a walk on the beach (without my dogs), attend any events (although I suppose that's my own fault b/c we bought a house and that took up most of our time). Where did the Summer Sun go?!?

Another thing about it being fall: THE MARATHON IS IN ONE MONTH. Holy crap batman: I'm running 26.2 miles in less than a month. Yes, it's for Cystic Fibrosis but am I going to be able to walk afterward? This Summer heat (humidity and rain) has been so horrendous that training has mostly been taking place in a gym - and I don't know about you, but I can't run more than 5 miles on a treadmill until I am bored out of my mind. So, while I know I can run the half marathon this weekend - I also know that I'm going to have to train my little non-existent butt off in the next four weeks to be able to complete the marathon in good time.

Here goes nothing...

Quick and Easy Snacks

Need an energy boost without the calories? Try out these cool snacks:

1) Pomegranate & Mango Fruit Cup: 3 ounces of plain fat-free yogurt layered with 1/4 cup of diced mango and topped with 2 teaspoons of pomegranate seeds. Prepare the night before buy purchased prepackaged pomegranate seeds (you don't have to dig them out yourself if you don't have the time), chopped mango and yogurt. 78 calories

2) Apples (or Pears) and Peanut Butter: 1/3 pear (or apple) sliced and topped with 1/2 Futters Pumpkin Seed Butter (or Smart Balance PB). 69 cals.

3) PB & Banana: 1 tablespoon dried banana chips with 1/3 cup Barbara's Bakery Puffins Peanut Butter and Chocolate Cereal. 70 cals.

4) 2 tablespoons Sahale Snacks Glazed Nuts Cashews with Pomegranate and Vanilla. 75 cals

Keeping it Off - Through BIG Life Events

TIS the season to get married...at least for a large handful of my closest friends. I couldn't help to think that they all will start participating in 'loose it for the wedding' type fitness classes. In some cruel way I think, why can't you have that attitude all the time? Be fit and be happy! But for most people, that's just not the case and a lot of the time, it has nothing to do with will power. But for those of you that have will power, here are some tips or reminders on how to keep it off during life's big events (that includes babies. which I'm pretty sure comes after marriage and sitting in a tree).

Several Fat Traps: Getting Married, The Holidays, Having a Baby, and Menopause. 

Several Tips to Avoid the Traps:

A: Getting Married
1. PORTION CONTROL: Women tend to eat more when dining with their significant other, than when they eat with a handful of girls. As a general rule, you should keep to the dietary guidelines portion suggestions OR eat  fist full of carbs, a palm-full of protein, healthy fat and fill your plate with non-starchy vegetables. Another great tip is to use smaller plates: no, not the bread plate - but the salad plate - the middle sized plate that you probably never use. In my life, I have to use portion control DAILY. My significant other eats over 3,000 calories a day (where I lean more towards the 1200-1600 calorie/day). I eat off the salad plate, and he eats off the diner plate. End of story and end of him mocking me for eating 'nothing'.

2. LEAVE THE HOUSE: Be social, go to the gym, go the beach, get a dog - and walk it. Once you move in together or get hitched, it may feel like something has to give. Keep your girl time by making gym dates (not always food dates). And bring your man along with for some good old fashioned man time.

3. NO MO' DRAMA: Alternate days to choose dinner - just because he likes Steak and Potatoes every day, doesn't mean you have to eat it. Trust me - if my man had the control on dinner every night, I'd weigh 300lbs. Instead, I ask for his recommendations and then make it healthy. He might complain, but by the end of the meal (when his plate is clean and there is a look of contentment on his face) I know I've done good for all. It's ok to cheat - but cheating is the exception, not the rule.


4. HONEYMOON DONT'S: Don't forget to go on a jog, or a swim, or something active every day (this can include sex). A lot of couples stop their aggressive work out habits at the honeymoon, and from there can gain 6-10 pounds of additional, permanent weight. Keep up your hard work through out the year. You'll be happy you did for when the holiday's come around.

B: Holidays
1. SWEAT MORE: Bump up the intensity during the holidays. We all become indoor creatures of habits because it's cold outside - but that doesn't mean you have to pack on the pounds.  Holidays usually mean LOTS and LOTS of calories you don't eat regularly. If your regular diet gets blown out of control, you have to pump up the iron (or the jams) to thwart off the extra pounds. Seems simple but if calories in = calories expended, you'll maintain weight. If calories in is greater than calories expended...they'll add up on your waist line.

2. NO DOGGIE BAGS: Grazing on leftovers for weeks will do you in! Save treats for the special events. You DO NOT have to eat that pumpkin pie until it's gone. Trust me.

3. DRINK LESS: Booze = extra empty calories. IT might be fun, but try to keep your limit to 2-3 or one per day.

C: Having a Baby
A married woman who has a baby gains an average of 20 lbs over 10 years according to the AJPM. Women also face an average of 7% increased risk of obesity over a lifetime per child born. That means, after three kids you have a 21% increased risk of developing obesity. Pregnancy increases insulin production and accumulation of fat. Beat those states with the following rules:

1. EAT: you need to eat every three hours, otherwise, you'll get worn out and famished, and binge!

2. EAT WHAT IS YOURS: Don't eat your kids' food. Stock healthy foods with low prep time, like canned tuna and frozen vegetables.

3. BURN: Breast feeding can burn an extra 300 calories per day - but that's just an extra half pound per week. You still need to exercise regularly and eat right to get your body back. Keep working!

Rosemary - How it Helps You

Rosmary (Rosmarinus Officinalis) is a well known herb used for both medicinal and culinary purposes. It’s two most active ingredients are Caffeic Acid and Rosemarinic Acid – both have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant agents. Perhaps not so well known, is its beneficial effect on the liver. Rosemary has been found to stimulate the liver to make it work more efficiently, make an individual feel better and more energetic. Furthermore, it can help improve kidney function significantly and help to preserve the essential minerals sodium, potassium and chlorium.

Choleretic is an agent that stimulates the liver to produce more bile, while hepaprotective refers to the protection of the liver. Both of these are effects of Rosemary. Scientists have found that there is a significant increase in bile flow and a significant reduction in plasma liver enzymes when extracts are given as a pretreatment before carbon tetrachloride. This was shown by using lyophilized ethanol and aqueous extracts of young sprouts of rosemary.

Rosemary also has anti-tumorigenic effects in that it inhibits Killer B cell activity, as well as induced mammary tumorigenesis and carcinogen DNA adduct formation in mammary epithelial cells. Rosemary effects the central nervous system by stimulating the CNS, respiratory and locomotor activity (found in mice); it effect the skin by stimulating the skin, improving circulation and improving hemodynamics in occlusive arterial disease; and effects smooth muscles by inhibiting contraction of the tracheal smooth muscle seen in respiratory illness or asthma.

You can use Rosemary when cooking by adding it to chicken, fish or bean dishes; adding it to tea and using when sick or if you have a respiratory illness; and always use it as a functional food – not as medicine. Rosemary can be incorporated to a lot of other meats and vegetarian dishes as well. 

To be honest, my boyfriend has Cystic Fibrosis which is a Respiratory and Digestion disease that targets not only the lungs but the liver and kidney as well. I’m wondering if there is any significant research with Rosemary and CF – although at first glance the only Rosemary + CF research on google relates to a person named Rosemary.

(http://www.thehealthierlife.co.uk/natural-remedies/herbs/rosemary-health-benefits-00145.html)
(http://www.morgellons-disease-research.com/Morgellons-Message-Board/complementary-alternative-therapies/2698-health-benefits-rosemary.html)

Childhood Obesity & Ethnicity Correlation

Up to 1/3 of the childhood population has a BMI greater than 85% for age and more than half of these children have a BMI greater than 95%. Obesity is a serious health concern for children and adolescents. According to the CDC, the percent over overweight children from ages 6-19 rose to over 11% from 1963 to 2002. 

In a recent NHANES survey, it was found that obesity prevalence among children and adolescents showed no significant changes between 2003-4 and 2005-6. Based on that study, 16.3% of children and adolescents from 2-19 were obese, at or above the 95^th percentile of the 2000 BMI for age growth charts. A normal BMI is 18.5-24.9, overweight is 25.29.9 and obese is over 30. Data from the NHANES surveys (’76-80 and ’03-06) show that the prevalence of obesity has increased: for children aged 2-5 years, prevalence increased from 5% to 12.4%; for those aged 6-11, prevalence increased from 6.5% to 17%; and those aged 12-19 years, prevalence increased from 5% to 17.6%. In the past two years, however, it has not significantly increased. 

One of the national health objectives for 2010 was to reduce the prevalence of overweight from the NHANES III baseline of 11%. However, the NHANES 1999-2002 overweight estimates suggest that since 1994, overweight youths has not leveled off or decreased, and is increasing.  NHANES has shown that adolescent non-Hispanic black boys experienced the largest increase in the prevalence of obesity (12.2%) compared to the increase among Mexican American (7%) and non-Hispanic white boys (4.4%).  Mexican-American children ages 6-11 were more likely to be overweight (22%) than non-Hispanic black children (20%) and non-Hispanic white children (14%). In addition to the 16% of children and teens ages 6-19 who were overweight in 1999-2002, another 15% were considered at risk of becoming overweight (a BMI for age between 85^th and 95^th percentiles. 

Minority populations in 2003-04 were at greater risk of being obese or overweight than non-minorities. Mexican and African American children aged 2-10 who had BMI values greater than 85% made up 37% and 35.1% of these populations of children compared to non-Hispanic white children of the same age and range, who made up 33.5% of these populations. 

Expert panel recommendation includes the following:

1)      Structure of the home environment to make healthy food choices easily available and remove accessibility to tempting energy dense foods – don’t bring it in the house and you won’t eat it. Or buy smaller portion size treats.

2)      Parents, family and caregivers should be good examples and consume healthy foods themselves, to avoid ‘do as I say, not as I do” mentality.

3)      Caregivers should be consistent in the practice of these healthful feeding styles.

4)      Avoid food as a reward (especially for good behavior). Use time spent together playing outside or completing an activity together as a reward instead.

5)      Establish daily meal and snack times.

6)      As a caregiver, decide which foods will be provided to the child and when. It’s up to the child to decide how much to eat.

Running Conditioning

Proper training for running begins by first determining your specific goals. Are you training to compete? If so, what is the distance, duration, tempo and terrain you need to adapt to for this event? As with any competitive sport, focus on conditioning the specific energy systems, speeds and additional demands required by the competition itself to elicit the best results. Aerobic Conditioning Perhaps you are running just to help with fitness goals such as cardiovascular endurance and increased calorie expenditure. If this is the case, use a variety of aerobic activities, and keep the running down to no more than fifteen miles a week. Altering the distances and speeds through interval training and occasional sprint work would also be helpful for overall fitness improvement.   Always look to reduce impact by wearing properly fitted and well-constructed shoes, and move to softer surfaces such as grass when sprinting. Strength Training  Strength training is important for added power, stability, and injury prevention. Lower Body Strength Training Strength training for the lower body is effective when done twice a week with one session dedicated more to strength gains and another to endurance. If most of your runs are on the weekend (competitively), then your first leg workout of the week should be your strength day. Utilize compound exercises such as squats, presses and lunges for 4-6 sets, progressing up to resistance loads that only allow for 6-10 repetitions. This type of training will help with the hills, high winds and the occasional sprint work needed in most competitive races. The second workout of the week should concentrate on endurance and stability. Implement more balance-type and reaction-type exercises such as wobble-board squats or reverse lunges off a stability disk. Some light isolated work may also be added with the lower body performing 2-3 sets with much lighter resistance for approximately 12-17 reps. Upper Body Strength Training  Focus the upper-body portion of the training mostly on the trunk and back muscles as opposed to chest, biceps or triceps. This will help support and control the torso during running and will help maintain posture. Shoulder exercises such as rowing may also be helpful as the swing of the arm is extremely important for adding inertia to the body. In other words, the added power of the arm swing will help the body move faster with less effort. Rowing exercises help prepare the needed muscles to decelerate and return the arm during the swing.   Include integrated trunk work on all training days by selecting exercises that require more trunk strength and stability. For example, perform pulling exercises in a standing, non-braced position. Add occasional pushing exercises performed on a resita-ball as opposed to a bench or machine. This type of training integrates more trunk muscles for balance and stability. Isolated trunk movements such as an incline reverse trunk flexion or a cable trunk rotation may also be added, but don't typically help to improve posture or translate to sport movements. Note: Plyometric or explosive training may be introduced once a week, particularly for sprinters. Keep in mind this is advanced training with added impact and requires significant strength preparation. You should consult a qualified coach or trainer before getting into this area.

Running Sample Workout A Exercise Sets Reps Dumbbell Chest Press 3 10 Lat Pull Ups 3 12 decreasing to 10 with increasing load Dumbbell Front Delt Press Overhead 2 10 Cable Standing Lat Row 2 10 Barbell Squats 3 10 Machine Seated Hamstring Flex 3 10 decreasing to 8 with increasing load Hanging Leg Raise 2 12 Dumbbell Biceps Flex 3 10 Cable Standing Rear Delt Row 2 10  Running Sample Workout B Exercise Sets Reps Dumbbell Incline Chest Press 3 10 Cable Overhead Lat Row 3 10 Dumbbell Biceps Flex 3 10 Dumbbell Rear Delt Row 3 10 Dumbbell Triceps Extension 3 10 Dumbbell Reverse Lunges 3 10 Machine Seated Hamstring Flex 3 10 Machine Seated Calf Extension 3 12 Barbell Standing Hip Extension 2 12 Trunk Rotation 2 12 Disclaimer: The above training protocol/program is a general summary, designed to address the specific demands of the sport presented. Programs may be modified for individual needs. It is advised to consult with a trained professional strength coach or personal trainer if you are preparing for a highly competitive sport. As with any exercise program, consult your doctor before beginning.

Kitchen Shape Up

Want to get healthier by eating at home, but just don't have the time or effort? Or think you don't? Follow these tips (provided in part by Health Magazine) to shape up your kitchen, and yourself.

1. NO SODA
I gave up soda years ago. I honestly didn't think I could do it, because my family ran on it. You think you need need need it, can't live without it: but it's just like any other addiction that isn't healthy for you. And yes, while Diet Soda has no calories - it doesn't have anything good for you either. It's still full of sugar and causes bloating. IF you need the caffiene - try replacing your soda with Iced Green Tea - it's antioxidants can help boost metabolism and burn more ab fat when combined with exercise. If you don't like Green Tea - try this recipe: 2 Quarts of Brewed Green Tea (8 cups) with orange, lemon and lime slices. If it's not sweet enough for you, try adding some nectar honey :-)

2. Cheese it Up
Don't buy fat-free cheese if you're a cheese lover and don't want the calories. It tastes like crap and you know it. Replace your fat-free cheese with organic 2% varieties (feta, cheddar, etc). Fat free cheeses don't contain the polyunsaturated fatty acids found in full-fat or reduced fat organic dairy products that have been shown to diminish belly fat. Remember, cheeses are still high in fats so don't go crazy on the cheese platter - self control is a must.

3. Ground Turkey!!!
You've seen my recipe for Turkey-Turkey burgers - if not, please go here. In general, you should stock up on lean ground turkey and lean turkey breast instead of regular turkey which can include the skin (more saturated fats!!). Other lean meats you can stock up on are pork tenderloin, skinless chicken breast and top round roast. Don't think you're routine will get boring just because you've eliminated fatty meats (and red meat :-( ). Adding the right spices and side dishes will help compliment lean meats and provide for a tasty and satisfying meal.

4. Add some Spice!
Use fresh salsa's, cayenne pepper hot sauce, and other hot spices on your meals. Capsaicin (the zing) has been shown to boost metabolism (small amount of studies) AND it's calorie Freeeeeee! If you don't like spicey things, I can't help you here (not yet anyway).

5. Pre-Pack your Fruits and Veggies!
So you've gone shopping for the week, you've got a head of broccoli, four peppers and some asparagus and you're thinking - if only these would cut themselves... Well, since you've been productive, continue onwards and cut away. Pre-cut all your veggies (or separate your fruits) and put them into fridge/freezer safe Tupperware. Then, by tomorrow you've got a side dish or two for all your meals and your main work will be the dishes instead of prep time. Don't  forget you can freeze those fruits and bake'm later to make a delicious dessert. Yummy!

Other things you can do to help skinny your kitchen are to keep your knives easily accessible, invest in a steamer (goes in the pot, costs about $10), get a blender (make shakes, soups, dressings), declutter, ditch the stools and ad a speaker for your i pod or other music playing needs - because shaking it to cooking will help you burn more calories and make the daunting boredom of cooking (if you're that person) so much more fun. Just remember to put a timer on when you're cooking and make it loud if you're playing music. Furthermore, you can do "fun things" like squats in between baking sessions, kitchen counter push-ups, stationary lunges AND i you're mixing, a fun forearm burn!