Is it More than Just "Looking Great?"

For the people that don’t know me (outside of the cyberspace fitness world) and for the ones that do, I am not only a Personal Trainer, wife and mother but the proverbial “meat” on the sandwich of the “sandwich generation”. Meaning, I cater to and take care of my kids, husband, my lovely golden retriever Daisy May, the other kids on the block, animals and whoever else knocks on my door. In addition to all this craziness, I also take care of MY MOTHER.

Isn’t that what the definition of the “sandwich generation” is? The generation that takes care of their kids and parents at the same time.

As the old saying goes “when it rains it pours” and as for me, well there’s a black cloud over me that’s been creating thunder storms for a few weeks now. The clincher was a couple of days ago when my 76 year old mother lost her balance and fell while planting flowers in a pot on my front stoop. Thankfully, she didn’t seriously injure herself but did fracture her wrist and seriously hurt her hand. For an older woman this will set her back and will take a long time for her to recuperate. I’ve watched my mom struggle with pain, stiffness and arthritis for years now and can’t help to think that if she had followed an exercise routine and was more active as a young adult would she be suffering as much from her ailments today?

Rachel and I started LoseFatLiveHealthy.com because we truly believe from our hearts that part of living life to the fullest involves a healthy diet and exercise. By now most of you are familiar with the newsletters and articles we have sent out. We’ve written about healthy diets, poor nutrition, workouts that burn fat and boost metabolism, how to get tight abs, sexy arms and rock solid buns. Some of you embrace the information and crave for more. Others dismiss it thinking it’s not for you, too advanced, you’re not ready to commit, these workouts are only for gym rats yada, yada, yada…..BUT did you ever think that all the information that we send can be used as preventative medicine?

Eating healthy, exercising and living a fit life isn’t all about tight butts, sexy arms and ripped abs. Yes, they are all welcome benefits to being fit and who wouldn’t want a tight fit body to show off. BUT following a daily regimen of good healthy foods, plenty of water and staying active all adds up to a strong body, strong immune system and defying the odds when it comes to growing old. Let’s face it, as we get older we are more and more susceptible to illness and disease. If not taken care of, our bodies can break down and our bones can and will become weak and brittle. If my mom had years of moderate exercised behind her, maybe she wouldn’t have lost her balance and if so been strong enough to break her fall without fracturing her wrist.

As fitness professionals we encourage people to strengthen their bodies by offering them many different training methods that can and are intended to be modified for any level fitness enthusiast. Turbulence Training , Truth About Abs, and Better U Fitness are all programs that will strengthen your whole body starting with the Core. Stability and balance originate from the Core. A strong Core reduces risk of injury and helps in daily functions such as; lifting grocery bags, climbing steps, walking, running, reaching.

When we send out “sexy” arm workouts it’s not only to get sexy arms. Strong arms aid in lifting and carrying. A strong back helps with your posture. Strong legs will enable you to walk with a better stride and help climb stairs. All of which are preventative medicine that will enable you to journey through life healthy and fit.

Our nutritionist, Isabel Del Rosi, founder of The Diet Solution talks about eating healthy and how to create a healthy body with good nutrition and the dangers of aspartame and dairy. What works for different body types, for YOU! Again, preventative medicine!

Rachel and I are committed to building healthy bodies. When you open up our newsletters consider it to be an invitation to a new healthy you. Not just another workout to get ripped abs but rather ammunition to ward off all of the toxins that will take a toll on your body over time. It’s in our interest to modify any exercise in order to get the beginner started or to challenge the experienced athlete. The E-Books, we are currently working on, will be full of challenging workouts and information on how to get motivated and stay motivated, nutrition and helpful techniques to get you wearing the body and living the fit life you want and deserve!


To Your Health!

Rachel and Linda

Grilled Rosemary-Lemon Skewers

Here is the perfect dish to serve at your next barbecue. It is tasty, low-fat and easy to prepare. Give it a try and PLEASE let us know what you think!

The rosemary, lemon and olive oil marinade gives this easy dish a Mediterranean flair. It’s easy to make, light and delicious.

Serve with a fresh green salad and a side of brown rice or quinoa for a complete meal.

Recipe: (serves 4)

• ¼ cup fresh lemon juice
• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp. minced fresh rosemary
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken tenders
• Bamboo skewers

1. Combine first five ingredients in a resealable Ziploc bag. Add chicken tenders and marinate in refrigerator for about 30 minutes.

2. Soak Bamboo skewers in water for 30 minutes.

3. Heat grill to medium. Thread chicken onto bamboo skewers and grill 3-4 minutes on each side or until juices run clear.

Nutrition facts (per serving):

194 calories, 24 g. protein, 2 g carbs, 7 g fat, 0 g fiber, 64 mg cholesterol, 222 mg sodium, 0.5 g sugar.

I promise it won’t disappoint……and if you are looking for more healthy, low fat meals, check out The Diet Solution.

Healthy Pancake Recipe

Hi all

Since we are constantly trying to come up with healthy choices when it comes to fat loss, I decided to share one of my favorite recipes. It is a simple, yummy breakfast idea for the whole family....and it's healthy too! Not to mention, delicious!

It's my oatmeal pancakes. Now... before you decide, yuck, I don't like oatmeal or cottage cheese or whatever it is you think may turn you away from trying them...keep reading. Not only are they delicious, but I promise, they do not taste like oatmeal. They actually taste like real pancakes and the way I know that is because my 4 kids (pickiest eaters ever), all love them! (Of course, I didn't tell them what was in them until they tried them). My kids who range in age from 11-15, all said they taste like "regular pancakes". They ate them with syrup, as they always eat pancakes and they actualy loved them.

So, here's the recipe. Give them a try and be sure to let me kow what you think.

Oatmeal pancake recipe:

• 1/2 cup instant oatmeal (quaker or Irish-Not Sweetened)


• 1/2 cup cottage cheese (low fat)


• 1/2 cup eggwhites (I use egg whites from EggWhites International)


• 1/2 scoop vanilla protein powder (optional) can use vanilla extract


• Cinnamon
• 1 packet of stevia (or sweetener of choice)
  

Put all ingredients in a blender and blend until it is the consistency of pancake batter.

Use Pam or whatever cooking spray you prefer and cook like pancakes.

Serve and enjoy!!

Also, I had leftover, so after they cooled off I put them in a ziploc bag and stuck them in the refrigerator. I don't always have time to make them, so my daughter loves to heat them up and eat them before school. So, my tip is......make more than you'll eat and save them. They're easy, quick and YUMMY!!

Let me know what you think and if you have any great, healthy recipes, please share them with us. We love new recipes.

To good Health!!!

Rachel and Linda

Low Carb vs. Low Fat

I'm sure you've probably seen all of the headlines and media debate lately over the low carb vs low fat study results that were released recently.

I'm not going to talk in detail about that today, because it seems everyone has been talking about it, and the study itself had many flaws and inconsistencies.

The fact that so many people are STILL searching for some type of diet "gimmick" saddens me.

I recently had the pleasure of meeting someone who I consider to be one of the most knowledgeable nutrition experts I've come across over the years.

Her name is Isabel De Los Rios and I was extremely impressed by her new program she put together at:

The-non-diet <=== Click Here

If you want to sift through all of the confusion out there these days about nutrition, this site is definitely for you.

Here are some of the great topics that Isabel demystifies regarding your diet:

*How to determine the exact types of foods that are most appropriate for your specific body and metabolism type. After all, we are all different, so 1 specific diet is NEVER right for everyone.

*The dangers of eating certain types of soy products... which types are ok in moderation, and which types shouldn't be eaten at all, unless you WANT more belly fat!

*What you need to know about dairy before ever buying another dairy product again

*Why "whole grains" are not always as healthy as the label claims, but how this "other type" of grain is a contender for superfood lists

*Is organic food worth the price?

*Over 100 healthy meal plans and even detailed shopping lists

*The honest truth about carbohydrates and how much you really need

*The major misconceptions about dietary fat that you need to know about

*Ideal protein-carb-fat ratios based on your specific metabolism and body type

*Everything you need to know about salt, sweeteners, alcohol, and more

In my opinion, this program is a MUST-READ for everyone that cares about their health and that of their loved ones, and wants to finally fully understand nutrition and how to get a lean body for life.

Make sure to grab a copy of Isabel's program today:

The-non-diet <=== Click Here

I loved this and I know you will too... Enjoy!

I'll be back soon with more lean-body training and nutrition secrets.

Don't be lazy... be lean.

Mike Geary Certified Nutrition Specialist
Certified Personal Trainer
Founder - Truth About Abs

Skip the Elevator, Take the Stairs-NYTimes.com

Fitness Great Workout, Forget the View

THE 1,576 STEPS Competitors in the 2009 Empire State Building Run-Up on Feb. 3. The winner climbed 86 floors in 10 minutes 7 seconds.

By LIZ ROBBINS
Published: February 18, 2009

EIGHTEEN years ago, Ronnie Guie considered buying a treadmill or a stair-climbing machine to stay in shape. Then one day on his lunch hour at Con Edison in Astoria, Queens, two co-workers invited Mr. Guie to take a walk to the top of the 10-floor building. He was breathing heavily by the time he got there, but was hooked: he had found his workout for free.

“For me, it’s a quick fix,” he said.

At 59, Mr. Guie says he still has the same waist size (30 inches) and weight range (150 to 155 pounds) that he did when he was 17, thanks to his five-day-a-week regimen. He climbs the concrete stairs usually 10 times or so in an hour, depending how much time he has. “I get the results out of it — and it’s not easy,” he said. “But I always feel great.”

Stairs are everywhere, of course, but they are rarely embraced as an option for getting into shape. They wait in the stale air wells of high-rises (especially in dense urban centers like New York City), or on stationary machines in the corners of health clubs now inundated by the more popular, but less strenuous, elliptical machines. Many stairwells aren’t even accessible, often because of post-9/11 security concerns. But when they are, or are opened especially for runners going up, they provide a workout that returns maximum value in minimum time, with low impact. And going up is much better for your knees than going down.

“Stair climbing will give you a little more bang for your buck because of the vertical component,” said Cedric Bryant, chief science officer for the American Council on Exercise. Compared to jogging or cycling at a moderate pace without much of an incline, stair climbing, Dr. Bryant said, “will be a bit more challenging and therefore allow you to burn more calories for that same amount of time.”

Once a year, Mr. Guie goes for the ultimate burn. On Feb. 3, he and 318 other climbers competed in the 32nd annual Empire State Building Run-Up, racing up 86 floors and 1,576 stairs. Taking two at a time, Mr. Guie reached the observation deck in 19 minutes 34 seconds. The winner of the invitational race, Thomas Dold, 24, of Germany, finished in 10:07.

The New York Road Runners organizes the invitation-only event to satisfy stir-crazy runners seeking to vary their winter workout on the one day the Empire State Building stairwell is open to foot traffic. A gimmick, perhaps, but also part of an extreme sport trend.

Tower running events, many of which benefit charities, are held in world skyscrapers, from Taipei, Taiwan, to Milan, that open stairwells just for the occasion. This weekend, races will be held in Chicago (“Hustle up the Hancock”) and Las Vegas (“Scale the Strat”), Denver, Des Moines, Grand Rapids, Mich., Omaha and Philadelphia.

“I find it a good cross-training event because it gets the heart and lungs pumping fairly hard,” said Andrew Femia, a New York triathlete who competes with his wife, Jeanette Baer, every other week in one running race or another.

“It’s 14 minutes of pain,” Mr. Femia, 35, said before the Run-Up. Or worse: he finished in 16:49, Ms. Baer in 21:33.

The couple trained by climbing the 13 floors to the top of their Manhattan building and then taking the elevator down — repeating 12 times.

Mr. Femia, a lawyer, said he tried to train in his 54-floor office building in lower Manhattan, but ran into a common obstacle in post-9/11 Manhattan office buildings: some stairwells are inaccessible except in an emergency.

Mr. Femia wrote two letters requesting permission, even offering to waive the building’s liability, but was told stair running was “completely impermissible.”

(A New York Department of State spokesman said no uniform state building code existed to close stairwells, but added that companies make independent decisions based on security.)
Debbie Blankfort and Suzanne Iovino, real estate agents, trained in the 21-story Blue Hill Plaza, Rockland County’s tallest building. Ben Oliner, 27, received permission to run the 22 floors of the Yale Club in Midtown because he teaches squash there.

As the No. 5-ranked United States squash player, Mr. Oliner said the exercise helped him develop strength in his gluteus, quadriceps and calf muscles, which he uses on court lunging and backpedaling for the ball. He won the preliminary division of the Run-Up in 13:15.

Dr. Bryant said that walking up stairs at a moderate intensity should burn 5 calories a minute for a 120-pound person, 7 for a 150-pound person, and 9 for a 180-pound person. Running stairs multiplies the caloric burn and the cardiovascular benefit.

Steven Loy, professor of kinesiology at California State University, Northridge, and a consultant for StairMaster in 1993, said stair climbing could appeal to those who were not competitive. “For people who are overweight and not as well conditioned, they may not be able to run, but they could climb stairs,” Mr. Loy said.

The impact on knees and feet is relatively low, with the pressure equivalent to two times one’s body weight walking up stairs (compared with three to four times when running), Dr. Bryant said. The pounding on the body going downstairs, however, equals six or seven times one’s body weight, he cautioned.

Sheri Harkness, 40, of East Stroudsburg, Pa., took the stairs to jump-start her final chapter in a dramatic weight-loss story. Weighing 282 pounds in 2007, Ms. Harkness devoted herself to a fitness routine and cut her food intake by half. She started working out on a treadmill (at first only able to go 3.1 miles an hour for 15 minutes) and worked up to an hour on the elliptical machine as she lost half her body weight.

Until three months ago, though, she had stayed away from the StairMaster. “I had always seen it in the gym as a little devil,” Ms. Harkness said.

She decided to tackle it to “shock off” the final 40 pounds she wanted to lose. She augmented stair workouts by running the stadium at East Stroudsburg University, and now weighs 140 pounds, with a goal of 15 more pounds in her sights. She ran up the Empire State Building in 23:10 last week — but thought the StairMaster remained the hardest exercise she’s ever done.
Mr. Loy described some drawbacks to tower running. “The lactic acid production is high,” he said. “And the higher you go, the worse you feel.”

“Personally,” he added, “It doesn’t appeal.”

Ronnie Guie has heard that before when recruiting others to take the stairs for a workout. “Believe me, I have tried,” he said. “They don’t have the discipline.”

Happy Mother's Day

Lose Fat Live Healthy is going to give you a gift……

Beautifully, cut, sexy, buff arms! That’s right, it’s possible
............And we’re going to prove it to you!

You don’t get sexy arms without a bit of old school basics.
Follow these simple arm exercises and get results…..

Awesome arms that you’ll be proud to show off in the sexiest tank top!

While doing these exercises it’s extremely important to focus on your form and to make sure you are using the muscle that you intend on working. Often people think they’re working a specific muscle but compensate by using another muscle group to move the weight. Put your mind in the muscle, focus on the movement and go slow. Go progressively heavier with the weight and do fewer repetitions over time. Feel the burn and reap the benefits of all your hard work!

Do 3 sets of all of these exercises 1-2x’s a week.

Choose a weight that will fatigue your muscle by the last repetition, or use a medium tension resistance band.

Give yourself 30-60 seconds rest in between sets.

Always stand tall, with your shoulders back and your core tight.

BICEP CURL
Make sure to keep your elbows close to your waist palms facing up. Curl your hands into your shoulders and slowly resist gravity as you lower them back down to the starting position.

10 reps x 3 sets

HAMMER CURL
Elbows close to your waist with palms facing each other. Curl your hands up and across your chest and slowly resist gravity on the way down.

10 reps x 3 sets

SHOULDER PRESS
Stand tall, shoulders relaxed (no shrugging). Both hands starting at your ears, arms at a 90% angle, palms facing out. Press up and over your head.

12 reps x 3 sets

TRICEP KICKBACK
Bend at the waist and hold your arm in a 90% angle close to your body with your elbow in at your waist. Keep your elbow high as you push back the weight and extend your arm behind you. Make sure not to bend your wrist.

10 reps x 3 sets

OVERHEAD TRICEP EXTENSIONS
Hold one weight over your head with palms facing in. Slowly lower the weight down behind you head and then squeeze up. The weight should travel down your neck giving you a good stretch in your triceps.

10 reps x 3 sets (each side)

SIDE LATERAL RAISE
Hold the weights at your sides. As you raise your arms out to the side you want your elbow and hand to be even. Keep your elbows slightly bent and raise your arms to shoulder height. Make sure to keep your shoulders down and relaxed! Your hands should be in line with your shoulder at the top of the movement.

10 reps x 3 sets



In Good Health!

Rachel and Linda

http://losefatlivehealthy.com/

Is your Grocery List Sabotaging your Fat Loss?

Hey there, it's Mike Geary from Truth About Abs

I was at the grocery store today picking up some ingredients for a black bean & brown rice with seasoned venison strips dish I was planning to make, when an interesting thing happened.....

I had gone straight to the grocery store after training a couple clients at the gym. Well, as I was grabbing some frozen veggies, a friendly lady (who must have seen that I was a fitness coach from my shirt), asked me my advice on a couple frozen prepared box meals she was picking out (by the way, those prepared frozen meals are usually highly processed crap loaded with sodium and other chemicals).

Now I will say that this woman was VERY overweight, and she mentioned that she has "tried everything" to get rid of all of the excess body fat and always failed.

Keep in mind I hear about 50 people a day tell me they've "tried everything" to get in shape. The problem that they don't realize is that they're trying all of the wrong things...they're trying all of the gimmicks and fads that are out there instead of just adopting a TRUE healthy active lifestyle.

Back to the woman in the store...

So we started chatting about her struggles with getting in shape, and I began scanning her grocery cart. If I can remember, these were some of the contents she thought were healthy:

*Slim fast shakes (far from healthy...they're actually loaded with high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oils, and a bunch of other chemicals)

*Fat Free Rice Cakes (ok...despite so many people believing these pieces of crap are healthy...they really are nothing but pure refined starch with zero fiber, which basically breaks down immediately into sugar in your body, spiking insulin and promoting fat storage...doesn't sound so good anymore, huh)

*Protein bars "Scientifically Slim Body Engineered" or some BS statement like that (I took a gander at the ingredient list of these so called "healthy" protein bars and sure enough... hydrogenated oils, high fructose corn syrup, and enough sugar alcohols to give you diarrhea for a week!)

*Canned fruit in syrup (I guess she could do worse here...but still, why not just eat fresh whole fruit which still contains the skins, fiber, active enzymes, etc, instead of resorting to processed, canned fruit that's been cooked and loaded with syrup)

*Reduced Sugar Dessert Cakes (ok, so these are loaded with artificial sweeteners, sugar alcohols, preservatives, and a chemical ingredient list about 15 lines long)

Do you see what's going on here? This is the same scenario that I see all the time.

Most people are fooled by what the FRONT OF THE BOX says; leading them to believe what they are buying is healthy. On all of these items, the FRONT of the packages had all kinds of great sounding things like "fat free", "reduced sugar", "high protein", "low cholesterol", "low carb", etc.

However, the TRUTH is on the BACK OF THE BOX! Ah yes, the ingredient list and nutrition info is where the real truth is. However, I've realized that most of the general public doesn't know how to fully understand the ingredient list and nutrition info, so they rely on the advertising claims on the front of the package to guide them.

BIG MISTAKE!

If you notice, this woman thought she was doing great with her grocery shopping and buying all kinds of healthy stuff for her and her family.

In reality, EVERYTHING she was buying was highly processed and full of chemicals and industrially refined ingredients. No wonder "nothing has worked" for her to get in shape and lose the body fat... she actually hasn't been doing anything right. She's been mislead by all of the confusing marketing, labeling and conflicting nutrition info in the mass media.

If you want to discover the TRUTH about what it really takes to eat a truly healthy diet that maximizes your metabolism, brings your hormonal balance back to normal, reduces cravings, and strips off body fat faster than you'd believe is possible... it's all found in my Truth about Six Pack Abs program at Truth about abs

Here's what some of my readers from all over the globe are saying about their experiences with this program:

CLICK HERE ====> Truth About Abs Testimonials

Have fun and choose wisely on your next grocery store trip!

Feel free to pass this email on to any friends, family, or coworkers you think might enjoy this discussion.

Stay lean,

Mike Geary
Certified Nutrition Specialist
Certified Personal Trainer
Founder – Truth About Abs

Stop the Negativity and Find the "Power to Change"

By Linda Juranich- ACE Certified Personal Trainer


Recently I was faced with the challenge of pulling a person out of an emotional ditch and motivating her to be the best she could be. For a trainer that should be an easy task. Trainers are trained to encourage and excite people to be the best they can be through teaching exercise and good nutrition. But this person was extremely distraught due to lack of positive body image and self esteem. She was overweight and couldn’t see clear of a way to shed the extra pounds.

There’s a lot to be said about the psychology behind the motivation to become healthy and fit. It starts with the “between the ears” self talk that goes on when a person is overweight and struggling.

What makes a person get to the point when they are ready to make a change? How does one get to the crucial moment, the deciding factor that pushes a person to the point of committing themselves to working toward changing their body, their health, their life?

As an overweight kid growing up in an Italian household, the idea of dieting was eating one loaf of bread instead of two. Emotionally I felt defeated. Although I now look back at the Italian traditions with heartfelt memories, at the time I wanted to hide under a rock with my bowl of pasta in hand. There was no help in site with regard to losing weight. No remedies that I could grasp onto that would transform me into a thin young lady.

Like many others, my avoidance of committing myself to a weight loss plan was directly related to low self esteem, hating myself, my body image and the number I saw every time I stood on the scale. Where do I begin? The perception of losing weight and the struggle of the challenge frightened me and convinced me that it would be torturous. I was afraid of failing!

Human nature can be our worst enemy! It’s our ally when defending ourselves from pain and humiliation. A person will avoid facing the challenge of becoming fit until the pain of living in a fat body far outweighs the pain of the discipline of loosing the weight.

The crucial moment of change, “getting pushed to the edge” happens at different times for everyone. Usually the red light goes on because you’re afraid of gaining more weight and becoming bigger than you already are. Or maybe it’s seeing yourself in a photo and realizing how big you look, not fitting into stylish clothing or becoming a candidate for one of the many health risks that are attributed to obesity. The breaking point for me was that I refused to hit the 200lb mark and at that time in my life it wasn’t too far away. So, the real question is……..what is the trigger that will push you to the point of the crucial decision to change? It’s different for everyone, but the time inevitably comes.

Isn’t it easier to focus and commit from the beginning in order to avoid the pain of not committing at all. Consider how much time is lost by avoiding a situation and not giving yourself the time you deserve for you! Why is self discipline so difficult when it comes to taking care of our bodies and our health? We are disciplined enough to go to work, school, do our homework or take care of our homes, families, pets. So….why do we put off “being the best that we can be?”

Honestly, one of the main ingredients for losing weight and becoming fit is what’s going on between your ears! In your head! All the negative self talk; “I’m too fat”, “I can’t do it”, “nothing will work”, “where do I begin?” Sound familiar?

Well, I’m here to tell you that the first step, once you’ve reached the point of wanting to change, is to wipe out all of the negativity and start believing that you can do it! By retraining the voice in your head to say, “I can exercise and lose weight”, “I am on a solid diet plan that I enjoy and trust” and most important “I deserve the time to create a fit, healthy body” you will have the power to change!

The idea of accomplishing any goal can be overwhelming. In order to be successful you have to want it……and then begin by focusing on other accomplishments in your life. Try to recall the way you felt at the time you accomplished that goal, how it motivated you and the confidence it gave you. Write it down in a journal and apply those positive feelings to your goals to become fit. Refer back to your journal every time you feel all the negative self talk in your head.

You will see that over time you will turn your self defeatist attitude into a positive, supportive, appreciative attitude that will open the doors to a new healthier YOU! Don’t wait another day!

I hope you will take this first step! And keep in mind that I am always here to answer questions, provide motivation and support and help you take that first step to “being the best you can be”. You deserve that.