I'm Learning About Nutrition, So You Can, Too!

Having finished one adventure in continuing education, I have embarked on the next:  fitness nutrition!  I have acquired an enormous textbook (qualifies as weight lifting!) and am busily importing the information into my wetware, so to speak.

I chose fitness nutrition as my next focus because there is need.  While we are bombarded with headlines about miracle foods or the latest food of doom, we remain confused about how to choose our foods wisely.  I want to eat better and I know my clients do, too.

Consider this list of top ten calorie sources for Americans over age 2 from 2005 to 2006, as compiled by the US Department of Agriculture and the US Department of Health and Human Services, as seen in my text:

1.     Grain-based desserts (e.g., pies, cakes, cookies)

2.     Yeast breads

3.     Chicken and chicken mixed dishes (e.g., chicken strips, casseroles, stir fries)

4.     Soda/energy/sports drinks

5.     Pizza

6.     Alcoholic beverages

7.     Pasta and pasta dishes (e.g., mac and cheese, spaghetti, ravioli)

8.     Tortillas, burritos, and tacos

9.     Beef and beef mixed dishes (e.g., meatloaf, beef stew)

10.  Dairy desserts (e.g., ice cream, frozen yogurt, pudding)

That’s a lot of sugar, people, and a big pile of fat to go with it.  We can do better.

Monday Workout: Balance!

This week we have a few exercises that both challenge and improve our balance.  The asymmetrical exercises (single arm clean and press and single leg squats) require us to calibrate our stabilizers.  YTA, when we do it on a stability ball, creates a core challenge while it builds up our muscles.  Lunge to curl, as a compound exercise, also amps up our metabolism and improves our concentration.  Three rounds.

plyo/reg/mod jacks	30
bench press	20
YTA	10
1 arm clean and press	30
1 leg squats	20
skullcrushers	10
lunge to curl	30
upright row	20
plank

Two questions

There are lots of ways to evaluate workouts.  Here are two key questions to ask about a workout system:

Is it fun?  If it isn’t, we’re not going to do it for long.  We have lots of options and we can probably find something we like or at least something to make it closer to fun.

Is it working?  If we’re not getting stronger or faster or less out-of-breath or leaner, it’s probably not a good choice.  We need to find the right combination of cardio, strength, and flexibility for our unique self to be as awesome as possible.  We need to keep searching until we find the right sport/trainer/class/buddy.

We can do it.