We all know that soft drinks are bad for us, but does one coke really hurt us? 

I found this on blisstree and it was a fascinating article.

Have you ever wondered why Coke comes with a smile? It’s because it gets you high. They took the cocaine out almost a hundred years ago. You know why? It was redundant.

• In The First 10 minutes: 10 teaspoons of sugar hit your system. (100% of your recommended daily intake.) You don’t immediately vomit from the overwhelming sweetness because phosphoric acid cuts the flavor allowing you to keep it down.
• 20 minutes: Your blood sugar spikes, causing an insulin burst. Your liver responds to this by turning any sugar it can get its hands on into fat. (There’s plenty of that at this particular moment)
• 40 minutes: Caffeine absorption is complete. Your pupils dilate, your blood pressure rises, as a response your livers dumps more sugar into your bloodstream. The adenosine receptors in your brain are now blocked preventing drowsiness.
• 45 minutes: Your body ups your dopamine production stimulating the pleasure centers of your brain. This is physically the same way heroin works, by the way.
• >60 minutes: The phosphoric acid binds calcium, magnesium and zinc in your lower intestine, providing a further boost in metabolism. This is compounded by high doses of sugar and artificial sweeteners also increasing the urinary excretion of calcium.
• >60 Minutes: The caffeine’s diuretic properties come into play. (It makes you have to urinate.) It is now assured that you’ll evacuate the bonded calcium, magnesium and zinc that was headed to your bones as well as sodium, electrolyte and water.
• >60 minutes: As the rave inside of you dies down you’ll start to have a sugar crash. You may become irritable and/or sluggish. You’ve also now, literally, urinated away all the water that was in the Coke. But not before infusing it with valuable nutrients your body could have used for things like even having the ability to hydrate your system or build strong bones and teeth.

I know it’s kind of odd for me to talk about soft drinks on my blog, but I found some new news about pure sugar soft drinks to be interesting.  It turns out there are a few new pure sugar soft drinks coming to the market soon.  If you aren’t sure why pure sugar soft drinks are a big deal, it’s because they don’t contain high fructose corn syrup or artificial sweeteners.  While I still won’t buy pure sugar soft drinks for myself, I would suggest these soft drinks over the regular soft drinks, anyday.  There are two major companies

Pepsi is one of the companies coming out with new Pure Sugar Soft Drinks

moving this way right now.  Two of the pure sugar soft drinks comes from Pepsi and Mountain Dew.  These are produced by the same company.  The pure sugar soft drinks they are producing will start coming out around April, but will only be available for a limited time.  They are called Pepsi Throwback and Mountain Dew Throwback.

Snapple is the other group coming out with a new pure sugar version of their drink.  While it’s not exaclty a soft drink, it does get away from the high fructose corn syrup. 

I’m not sure if this is going to be a new trend or a temporary fad, but I think that will be determined by the sales of the pure sugar soft drinks that hit the market.

Personally, I love chinese food.  I had the opportunity to have a lot of friends from different cultures (Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese), and they introduced me to a lot of different types of food.  Some of the foods I loved, and some I will never eat again.  Some of the things I ate I still don’t know what it was, and there were other times I wish I hadn’t found out what it was that I ate.  But I loved the variety and I really love the opportunity to use chopsticks.  I guess because it took so long for me to learn how to use them properly; I like to show off what I learned.  =)  I have to admit though, I rarely eat many of the foods that I love anymore.  The reason is that I won’t eat them unless I can find a way to eat them in a healthy way.  I can make my own sticky rice and stirfry, but I admittedly rarely do it.  Well, I recently ran across an article from Men’s Health on how to eat healthy Chinese food.  If you love Chinese food as much as I do, it might just be worth a look.

Have you seen these bars yet?  I had a client that mentioned them to me a few weeks back.  You can find them in the yogurt isle of the grocery store.  I finally saw them for the first time on Sunday and picked up one.  I must admit, it had a great taste.

So what is the deal with these bars?  Well, they have live cultures in them like yogurt does.  Kind of unusual for a bar, which is why they keep it in the refrigerated section.

If you’d like to learn more about this company and the bars, you can visit their website at http://www.attunefoods.com/

I often see couples trying lose weight together.  It never fails, 3-4 weeks into their program I see the frustration in the wife because her husband is loosing more weight without trying near as hard.  You can count on men losing weight a little faster due to having a higher metabolism, more muscle mass, and more testosterone, but there is also something else that comes into play (but we will get into that in a moment.

More muscle mass is obvious.  Most men have more muscle mass.  Muscles burn calories, even at rest.  More muscles therefore = more calories burned.   3,500 calories = 1 pound of fat.  Therefore if someone has more muscles and burn more calories, they burn more fat.  When men workout they use heavier weights which burns even more calories which means they lose weight easier.  And when they walk/run, they are usually moving more bodyweight, therefore burning more calories and losing more weight.  And since we now know they burn more calories throughout the day doing the same basic things as their wife, this explains the higher metabolism.  I’m sorry if that all sounds confusing, but basically men burn more calories a day than females, which allows them to lose weight faster.

But new research has come out that shows there is more to it than just that.  It turns out that men are better dieters than women too.  No way!  Really?  Well, according to an article on Time.com, it’s true.  They has a group of men and women fast for 17 hours.  When the time was up, they put them in front of their favorite food and wouldn’t let them eat it.  Think that’s bad?  It gets worse.  They start describing the food to them, telling them how it’s prepared, and even give you a tiny, cotton ball size taste of it!

“Now forget about it!” 
For the next 40 minutes, with their eyes open, they were told to take their mind off of the food staring in front of them.  (They measured everything by brain activity.)  Turns out men were able to take their mind off of the food much more easily than the women.  Interesting.

Now the study only involved 23 people, so a larger sample size of people would have been nice, but it sounds like an interesting study.  Anyway, if you would like to read more about it, here’s the link.

Here is a short video where I go through the foods that I eat on a daily basis.

Taking the foods listed above, my nutrition plan looks something like this.

Breakfast
Egg Whites, Cheese, Oatmeal, Peanut Butter, and sometime honey or jelly

Snack
Turkey and tortilla wrap

Lunch
Spinach, asparagus or broccoli, chicken sandwich, yogurt, and sometimes some carrots if I’m still hungry

Snack
Granola, almonds, and dried cranberries

Snack
Another tortilla and turkey wrap if I’m still hungry

Dinner
beans, vegetable, shrimp or beef or fish, yogurt

Personal trainers meet new people every January who are determined to lose weight.  And as a personal trainer in the Katy area, I have discovered that a lot of people don’t see results simple because they aren’t sure how.  Sure, they know to lose weight they should exercise and eat healthier, but beyond that, they really aren’t sure exactly what to do.  If you are one of the people who are unsure of what to do, here is a simple guide to make sure you achieve your weight loss results.

1. What is your goal? – The first step is the easiest step.  You have to figure out what you want to accomplish.  There is more to it than that though.  As a personal trainer, I often ask people what their goals are, and I usually get the common response, “lose weight”.  “I want to lose weight” is not a goal.  You need to be very specific for your goals.  “I want to lose 20 pounds by April 15th,” is a good goal.  Write down your specific goal and keep it in a place you will be able to observe it so you can stay focused and lose weight.
2. What is my plan? – You have to have a solid plan if you want to lose weight.  What is your plan?  “Exercise and eat better.”  As a 12 year veteran of personal training, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard this response.  That’s great, but it’s not a plan.  A plan would sounds like this, “I plan on working out 5 days a week.  I will spend two days a week doing total body strength training workouts and 3 days doing a 30 minute interval based cardiovascular workout.  My calorie intake will be approximately 1,500 calories and will be 40/30/30 split, etc……”  I know it sounds like a lot of stuff to be held accountable to, but let me ask you one question.  Of the two answers, who do you think is more likely to get results?
3. What am I going to eat? – Since we just talked about this, let’s expand on this a little more.  If you want to lose weight, you have to know what you are going to eat.  “Healthy” is not a plan.  You have to have a general idea about how many calories you are going to consume, a general idea of what you are going to eat for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks, and the mixture of carbohydrates/protein/fat intake you are going to consume.  That is a plan to lose weight.  Of course you won’t know every little detail every day, but you should have a plan in place for those times when you can control what you are eating.  Nutrition is the biggest part of weight loss.  If you don’t have this step in place, expect about a 70% decrease in the amount of results you want to achieve.
4. How much cardiovascular activity are you going to do? – Cardiovascular activity is important, but I would say that 90% of the people I meet do this step completely wrong.  And these are usually the same people that usually don’t make it past March because they get so frustrated with their lack of results that they give up.  Some will get on a treadmill and walk.  They start losing a little bit of weight, only to see the results suddenly stop.  They get bored and tired of exercising for nothing and eventually give up.  Honestly, I would give up too if I didn’t get results.  The other people are the ones whose face is so red from killing themselves on the treadmill that they look like they are going to explode.  They are going as fast as they can, and usually hanging on for dear life, simply because if they fall off, they will probably get hurt.  Unfortunately, neither of these groups of people get long lasting results.  Your goal should be focusing on interval based training that allows you to both work hard, improve recovery heart rate, and see a gradual increase in your cardiovascular capability over time.  Not only does it produce faster results (to see the research studies on this, subscribe to my newsletter), you will be able to work out for less time to see those results.
5. What does your strength training program look like? – “I don’t want to do strength training
   

   Strength Training is essential to have a tone body.

   because I don’t want to get big.”  This is one of the biggest weight loss mistakes there is.  It’s a myth that strength training will keep you from losing weight.  In fact, if done properly, strength training will make you lose weight faster than if you avoid it.  If you tried it in the past and it did not work out for you, I bet it’s because you did not do the steps listed above at the same time.  A proper strength training program will not only help you increase bone density, muscle tone, and give you more defined shoulders and triceps, but will also help you lose weight faster.  If you avoid this crucial step, not only will you cheat yourself of achieving faster results, studies have shown you will be less likely to stick with your weight loss goals for the long term.

Katy residents, this year, make sure you get results.  For 12 years I’ve watch a lot of people succeed, and even more fail.  You can be successful, but you need to make sure you follow the steps above.  If you don’t have all of the steps in place to get results, contact me with the form below.  Don’t take chances on not achieving your results.  Contact me for a free consultation to discuss your goals and I will help you devise a plan to make sure your New Year’s Resolutions are a success.

If you are thinking about joining a gym, but are intimidated with the typical gym environment, I may have the perfect solution for you.  Contact me about the small, private facility I train at that will help you get results, without worrying about other people watching you.

New Year’s Resolution Complimentary Consultation

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If you are looking for a way to cut calories, skip the restaurants.  Both fast food and sit down type establishments typically have more calories in a meal than when you prepare your food at home.  I think a big reason for this is the amount of butter and creams that are used as a way to enhance the taste at your local establishment.  Let’s face it, if we are going to eat out somewhere, we are going to go to the place that has the best food, not the “lowest fat”.  The Department of Agriculture did this study that showed the differences between the calorie intakes in the different kinds of meals.  The bottom line is this, if you are looking to lose weight, your best option is to prepare the meal yourself.

I just finished my newsletter that list my favorite things from 2008.  I want to add a little more information about each product.  If you aren’t a member of my newsletter yet, you should subscribe.

1. Nature’s Own 100% Whole Grain - No Sugar Added Bread
   I know this is kind of a weird thing to include on a favorite things list, but I really do like this bread.  It is 100%  Whole Grain and my favorite thing about it is that it is Sugar Free.  Most people don’t realize that a lot of breads have added sugar.  (Check the one you have in your refrigerator to see what I mean.)  Another plus is that it only has 50 calories!
   Ezekial Bread is another bread is a close second for me, only because it’s so small.
2. The Laughing Cow – Babybel Cheese
   This is another odd choice on my part, but I really do like this cheese because it is low calorie, and convenient.  It comes in a variety of flavors (original, light, bonbel, gouda, and mild cheddar) and is great for a snack. 
   These are small and convenient, it’s hard not to like these.  The serving size is perfect, and the light version weighs in at only 50 calories.  You can find them at your local grocery store.
3. Skinny Cow
   This is my favorite dessert next to yogurt.  I love yogurt for a dessert, but I feel like I am getting a special treat when I eat Skinny Cow Ice Cream Sandwiches.  The calories on these are about 140 calories for each sandwich (you only need to eat one).  And while they aren’t as low calorie as I would like, it’s a lot better than how many calories you would normally consume while eating a bowl of ice cream.  Eat these sparingly.
4. The Lebert Equalizer
   The Lebert Equalizer is a great little exercise product I just got in the mail.  There are a ton of exercises you can do with it.  If you think you are interested in it, come try mine out, and if you like it, you can pick them up for yourself.
5. Foam Rollers
   I can do so many things with a foam roller. I can do balance activities or self myofascial release.  So it’s great for proprioception and working on reaction.  It is wonderful for breaking up the knots in the fascia of the body.  Sometimes when you get a muscle that’s tight that just won’t break lose, this will do the trick.
   If you are in need of one, let me know.  I order them for people all the time.  I personally keep one for me in my house all the time.  (Sorry, that one is not for sale.   )
6. Pumpkin Workouts
   Unless you are one my clients, you will have no idea what I’m talking about.  I did this in October just before Halloween and had a lot of fun.  I’m not sure if my clients had as much fun, but I think they enjoyed the change.  Take a look at some other people doing pumpkin workouts.
7. Eat This, Not That
   I love this book!  The one you see pictured is the new book for kids.  While I don’t have this one yet, I’m sure it’s a great book.  I have the original Eat This, Not That book. 
   The great thing about this book is that it talks about a lot of the local restaurants and helps you make informed decisions on what to eat.  The drawback is that many restaurants change their menu (Panera Bread does this) and it then leaves the book outdated.  I think once you read it, you will have a better idea about how to choose healthier choices at your favorite restaurant.
8. Flatout Wraps
   Flat out Bread is something I just started using instead of my normal tortilla.  It has a great taste to it, and I just find it easier to use than a normal wrap.  I am probably a sucker for gimmicks, but it just seems to work better for me.
   Another plus is that they are great about adding recipes ideas to the package.  Sometimes you run into a roadblock for coming up with something new, but between the back of the package and the website, you will have lots of options.  I would highly recommend it for something different.  I haven’t tried out many different recipes yet, but give it a try and see what you think.
9. Kashi Pizza
   I first had Kashi Pizza on my honeymoon.  I had never seen it before I visited one of the grocery stores in Florida.  I was afraid I wasn’t going to be able to find it once I got back home, but I resisted packing my suitcase full of them. 
   I don’t eat them often.  I would say that it’s one of my favorite cheat meals now though.  If I ever have a temptation to eat pizza, this can satisfy the craving.  I don’t know if you are one to order pizza, but if you are looking for an alternative, you should definitely give this a try.  It may just save your diet.
10. Nintendo Wii
    I know the Nintendo Wii has been out for a couple of years now, but I finally got one.  It’s such a great alternative to the typical video games.  It gets you off the couch, gets the whole family involved, and you can even have fun while you are doing it.
    With the addition of the Wii Fit, Nintendo has done a great job at adding fun, interactive tools to an already excellent system.  I don’t know if your family is into games, but I would consider this a better (though more expensive) alternative to the typical family board game.
11. Tabata Training/Interval Training
    I have been having a lot of fun with Tabata and Interval Training lately.  The great things about it is that your heart rate is constantly moving up and down.  Interval training has been shown to be much more effective that normal cardiovascular training and the Tabata workout is much faster and produces better results than typical machine strength training workouts. 
    I don’t know how good your results are with your current workout, but if you are looking for a way to get results fast, this is the way to do it.  Science backs it up with research, and if you give it a try, you will see results as well.
12. The Stick
    I have been hated by many people because I use this on them.  This is taking the foam roller and making it 10 times harder.  I’m not sure how else to describe it.
    Why would someone want to use this?  Because they can get results in 2 minutes versus 2 months with a typical foam roller.  It’s not exactly fun, but it does work.  If you need one of these, let me know.  I love them. 

If you’re like most Americans, more and more of your meals these days are being prepared by restaurants and other eateries – meals that you take-out and munch on while at work, bring home to share with your family, or enjoy in a restaurant.

Restaurant diners seeking to make healthier choices, however, face challenges, because identifying the lighter options on a menu isn’t always easy. In fact, research shows that even dietitians cannot accurately judge the calorie and fat content of restaurant meals. But now, a recently launched website – developed by Healthy Dining, a California-based team of health and nutrition professionals – has come to the rescue of those whose lifestyle or personal preferences involve frequent restaurant visits. 

At HealthyDiningFinder.com, you can “search” for restaurants that offer a selection of healthier choices.  You start by submitting your zip code, or city/state, and preferred price range. Next, a list of restaurants matching your specified criteria appears. Click on any of them and you’ll be linked to that restaurant’s Healthy Dining choices and corresponding nutrition information: calories, fat, saturated fat, protein, carbohydrates, cholesterol, sodium, sugar, fiber, and fruit/vegetable servings.

Everything from fast food to upscale dining is included on the site. To qualify for inclusion on HealthyDiningFinder.com, restaurants don’t need a reputation of being “healthy.”  In fact, all types of restaurants are encouraged to join and list their “better for you” choices. Menu items posted on the site must meet Healthy Dining’s nutrition criteria, meaning entrées or full meals must include lean protein, fruits/or vegetables, or whole grains; and they may not contain more than 750 calories, 25 grams of fat, and 8 grams of saturated fat (and many of the featured dishes weigh in at much less).  For appetizers, side dishes and desserts, the cut-offs are scaled down to 250 calories, 8 grams of fat, and 3 grams of saturated fat.   No fried foods are listed, aside from very small amounts, a garnish, for example; and a maximum of two red meat dishes is listed for any restaurant.  Healthy Dining’s registered dietitians review and approve all menu items before the items are posted on the site.

Some menu items include a “Special Request,” a simple modification in the dish’s preparation that reduces the amount of calories and fat – for example, less cheese, oil, sauce, or dressing.  Specific amounts are always noted in a Special Request, as follows:  

Chicken ‘n Vegetable Stir-Fry – Special Request

White meat chicken sautéed with fresh seasonal vegetables in a garlic-scallion sauce, served with rice.

Request less oil (½ oz.)

When you order according to the Special Request instructions, the nutrition profile for the dish corresponds with the posted nutrition information.

Whether for business or pleasure, convenience or necessity, the meals Americans are enjoying are increasingly being prepared by restaurants.  Armed with nutrition information, there’s no reason you can’t enjoy such meals while also maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

In breaking news, it’s revealed that exercise suppresses your appetite.  However, if you have ever been hungry, and then had to workout, you probably already realized this.  (Sometimes science has to prove to use that something is true.) 

In all seriousness, they are showing that aerobic exercise does a better job of suppressing the appetite than anaerobic exercise by affecting 2 key appetite hormones.  It’s an interesting read if you are into the science of how the body works.  Read more.

Newsweek just came out with a list of their top 10 Healthy Christmas gifts this holiday season. I have to admit the list is a little unusual, but it has to do with the economy and the things that a lot of people need the most. Here’s the top 10.

1. Teeth Cars (whitening or dental work)
2. Healthcare Gift Cards
3. Healthy/Fancy food (fruit baskets or fruit of the month club)
4. A gym membership
5. Yoga mats, clothes, or classes
6. A Massage
7. Exercise Gear (shoes and clothes)
8. Healthy Monitoring Gadgets (think blood pressure or blood sugar levels)
9. Restaurant Gift Cards froms one of the restaurants at Healthy Dining Finder (this is a great website if you don’t know about it already)
10.  Healthy Cookbooks and informational books

To read more, visit Newsweek.

Gluten free food can be hard to find, and I can’t even imagine how hard that would be if you have to travel.  I found an interesting website online today that helps those who need to consume a gluten free diet.  They offer:

• Restaurant tips
• Recipes
• Travel tips
• and tons of links to other websites

I think it’s a great website if you know anyone who has celiacs or has to be on a gluten free diet.

A gluten-free diet is recommended amongst other things in the treatment of celiac disease and wheat allergy. It is a diet completely free of ingredients derived from gluten-containing cereals: wheat (including kamut and spelt), barley, rye, and triticale, as well as the use of gluten as a food additive in the form of a flavoring, stabilizing or thickening agent. Additionally, the diet may exclude oats. Some people for whom the diet is recommended can tolerate oat products and some medical practitioners say they may be permitted, but there is controversy about including them in a gluten-free diet because studies on the subject are incomplete. Source

Celiac Disease (CD) is a lifelong, digestive disorder affecting children and adults. When people with Celiac Disease eat foods that contain gluten, it creates an immune-mediated toxic reaction that causes damage to the small intestine and does not allow food to be properly absorbed. Even small amounts of gluten in foods can affect those with Celiac Disease and cause health problems. Damage can occur to the small bowel even when there are no symptoms present.
 
Gluten is the common name for the proteins in specific grains that are harmful to persons with celiac disease. These proteins are found in ALL forms of wheat (including durum, semolina, spelt, kamut, einkorn and faro) and related grains rye, barley and triticale and MUST be eliminated. Source