Sister Kit on Fire!

This inspirational note came from my bad-ass sister Kit this morning. Got me so pumped that I had to post it here. Enjoy!

BE INSPIRED!!    

I don't know about everyone else, but the Olympics are a favorite time of year around our house. Can you not help but be truly inspired when you watch these amazing athletes!!?? This is the one time I will allow a stretch of 3 hour TV watching for my kids.

 

Yes, you can sit back and say they are young, devote their whole lives to their training and have lots of money to have multiple trainers, physical therapists, massage therapists, nutritionists and the like around them 24/7. But, all those people don't run the race or swim the laps for them. They are the ones who get in the pool, run on the track, and go to the gym everyday, several hours per day. Their commitment to their sport and determination should be inspirational to us all.

 

One nuance to this year's games that truly inspires me is the age of many of these athletes. Let's just give a big hurrah for all the "old" (I use this term very loosely) moms in the Olympics this year. 41-year-old Dara Torres began swimming again just to get in shape after having a baby. Now she's making her fifth trip to the Olympics and won a silver medal last night!! 39-year-old Sheila Taormina has become the first person to qualify for the Games in three different sports. And cyclist Jeanne Longo, 49, who has competed in seven Olympic Games, is already talking about the next one. I believe the Romanian female marathoner who won gold yesterday is 38 years old! Gals, NO MORE EXCUSES!!

 

I just got back from vacation and did my share of indulging. Kept with my workout routine, though, and was so glad I did. Getting right back on it this week with the Olympic inspiration and the picture of my new idol, Dara Torres hanging on my mirror!!

This week's schedule

 

Today: Conditioning class (strength, slide, kickboxing)

Monday: Spinning-1 hour (9:30 am)

Tuesday: Chest and Back and Ab Ripper (5:00 am)

Wednesday: P90X Plus Intervals (5:00 am)

Thursday: P90X Upper Body Plus and Ab Ripper Plus (5:00 am)

Friday: Spinning-1 hour (10 am)

Saturday: Rest

 

The First Meal Of The Day

When it comes to health, fitness, and staying happy, every positive thing you do for yourself helps. So, why not start at breakfast? According to Dr. Kathleen DesMaisons, author of “Potatoes, Not Prozac”, there are four simple rules you can follow at breakfast time to help you shed pounds, fight sugar crazvings, and boost your mood to boot.

1. Get into a daily habit. Breakfast really is the most important meal of the day. Eating a healthy, well-balanced meal in the morning helps you sustain your energy levels and can prevent those late-day sugar/carb snack cravings that are a lot of people’s downfall.

2. Don’t wait. Breakfast packs the most energy sustaining punch if you eat it within an hour or so of waking up. When you first wake up, your brain is still washed with a chemical that masks hunger pangs, but your blood sugar is low. To cut those sugar cravings that will come later, eat early - even if you’re not hungry.

3. Eat complex carbohydrates. Go with things like whole-grain cereals, steel-cut oats and/or high-fiber fruits. The fiber helps your blood sugar stabilize and the bulk helps you feel full longer.

4. Bump it up with protein. Protein in your stomach slows digestion, it acts to keep your blood sugar on an even keel, and protein containing a bit of depression-fighting tryptophan helps your mood. The Doc suggests eating 1/3 of your daily protein at breakfast.

Need more reasons to make a healthy breakfast part of your routine?

Studies show that people who eat breakfast have greater success at weight loss and weight maintenance than those who don’t.

A high fiber breakfast will help you stay more alert than if you start your day with a high-fat meal.

Eating whole rather than refined grain cereal can lower your risk for heart disease.

Are your mornings rushed? If you don’t think you’ve got time for breakfast in the morning, stock your fridge with ready-to-eat goodies for the go. Throw some fruit and veggies in one sandwich bag and a hard-boiled egg in another. Then, grab a yogurt cup (and maybe a napkin while you’re at it) – and you’re off. Eat an early, nutritious to-go meal like that and you won’t be hit with those sudden hunger pangs that make the drive-thru seem tempting later on.

Putting On Healthy Weight

The desire to shed extra baggage and firm up is a goal for lots of folks, but not everyone.  If you’re underweight for

your body structure and have started your program to PUT ON healthy weight, or if your current weight is in good range, but you want to transform it into healthy proportions of skeletal, muscle, and fat; this tip is for you.

 

In addition to building your major and skeletal muscle groups through your fitness program, developing healthy eating habits (including what you eat and how you eat it) are essential.  Here’s why:

 

If you’re significantly underweight, chances are you may have a weak digestive system.  A healthy digestive system is what makes absorbing and using the nutrients in the foods you eat possible.  Being at a healthy weight doesn’t guarantee that your major organs are working well, but getting up in the normal range does improve your chances of regulating blood sugar and insulin levels and avoiding osteoporosis – and this means a lot for your overall health and longevity.

 

Building and maintaining healthy cells (including muscle cells), means supplying them with a steady stream of healthy nutrients. And you need all your organ systems, including your digestive tract and liver to function at a high level in order to achieve this.  Nourishing cells for growth and maintenance begins in the digestive tract.

 

Here are a few simple things you can do to ensure optimal digestion:

 

1.       Chew your foods until liquid.

Especially if you are underweight and your digestive system is weak, by chewing your foods until liquid, you take burden off of your digestive organs and increase the likelihood that most of the nutrients in the foods that you eat make their way into your bloodstream.

 

2.       Eat at rest, not on the go.

Being physically active or emotionally upset while you eat diverts blood away from your digestive organs and to your skeletal muscles and nervous system. Optimal blood supply to your digestive organs is crucial to keep them functioning well.

 

3.       Ensure regular exposure to friendly bacteria.

Having healthy colonies of friendly bacteria in your digestive tract is critical to optimally break down and extract nutrients from the foods you eat. Easy fix?  Eat yogurt every day.

 

To keep your liver healthy, avoid regular consumption of alcohol, deep-fried and sugary foods, and acetaminophen (Tylenol).  Regular exposure to these substances can impede liver function and even cause injury to your liver cells over time.

 

In addition to doing simple things to maximize digestive tract and liver health, gaining healthy weight means getting those extra calories from healthy, nutrient-rich foods. 

 

Foods like sweet potatoes, organic eggs, avocados, olives, and yummy smoothies made with nut or soy milk are all good choices for promoting growth and providing your cells with health-promoting nutrients. Raw, organic nuts are also good choices, but it's best to eat only about a handful of nuts per day since eating more than that on a regular basis can lead to a decrease in digestive efficiency.

 

Adding extra protein to your diet does help build skeletal muscle mass, but you don’t want to overdo it.  Aim to consume about half your body weight in grams of protein.  So, that means if you weigh 150 lbs, consuming 75 grams of healthy protein per day is right on track.