At some point in our lives most of us have tried a going on a ‘diet’ for some reason or another. We may feel the need for structure in our food choices or feel overwhelmed trying to decide what to eat. Or we may feel like it is the easy fix to dropping weight quickly. We lose 5 or 10 pounds and a couple weeks (or a couple of days for some of us) go by and we find ourselves bored of the routine, or tired of being hungry. An event or occasion pops up and we say we will get back on it after. But after never comes, does it? Excuse after excuse and then we feel like failures.

So why do we still try to convince ourselves there is a ‘diet’ out there that will magically work this time? I think we need to be really honest with ourselves and find out the real reason why we think we need an easy fix. Losing weight is not easy. But it is doable with the right attitude and the right information. Read More »

Sheila before

You most likely won’t lose 100 lbs over night, or even in a few weeks… (unless your on The Biggest Loser), but it can realistically happen slowly and with lifestyle changes and long term commitment.

“I started my journey in June of 2007. I was always a larger girl, but never really dieted. I just became fine with the way I was, however I did not feel healthy. After I kept talking about losing weight I finally made the decision to go to a gym and get a membership. The manager then convinced me that working out with a trainer 2 days a week was a good idea. That’s where I originally met Dawn. It was the best decision I ever made, and money spent!

Something just clicked, and I decided that I was going to accomplish this no matter what. It was a huge sacrifice of time and a life change in how I view, prepare, and eat food. Now, 100 lbs lighter, I feel better than ever, have more energy, and will lead a healthier lifestyle from now on.” Sheila Lozano 12/09

I met Shiela Lozano almost 3 years ago. She was 270+ lbs and wanted to get healthy. We started off working out 2 times a week together. In addition she was working out another 3 or 4 days on her own, with specific homework I gave her. Sheila knew she had to change her eating habits as well, and was ready for the change. Instead of putting her on a ‘diet’ I gave her healthier substitutions for the foods she was already eating and liked. Knowing she had a long road ahead of her, I did not want her to get ‘bored’ of her workouts so I made sure I changed them up every time we worked out together. Now, almost 3 years later, I don’t think we have ever done the same workout twice! Sheila has been very consistant with her workout and eating habits and is living proof that being fit is a life long commitment of daily decisions to make time for exercise and healthy food choices.

Words cannot describe how proud I am of this woman. Sheila has shown determintation, commitment, incredible hard work (lots of sweat!), strength, temprance, balance (dessert is ok) and patience in her journey to become the fit and strong person she is today. Along the way she has to learned how to run and completed her first half marathon!!!

Congradulations Sheila, I believe in you, like you have believed in yourself

The Survivor Diet:

My brother told me he had lost 8lbs in the past 2 weeks and thought he was on the right path - following The Survivor Diet and The Prisoner Workout. I took a deep breathe and began to educate him on the healthy, balanced way to get fit and lose weight. He listened silently and then retorted “I was just doing what the people on Survivor do, they only eat rice, exercise all the time, and lose a ton of weight”. I explained to him that when Read More »

I recently had a conversation with a client about how she always thought white potatoes were “bad’ just as white bread was ‘bad’. Not the case. Where as sweet potatoes have more fiber in them, the good old white potato shouldn’t be shunned…unless their in the form of french fries! Within its red, yellow, white or brown protective exterior, a potato can provide much of the recommended daily allowance (RDA) of a number of vitamins and minerals. For example, potatoes have about 620 mg of potassium-that’s more than a banana. Potassium is essential to the body because of its role in attaining optimal muscle performance and improving the nerves’ response to stimulation. Iron, essential in helping the body convert food to energy as well as resist infection, is also present. Read More »

Not only will you put far less pesticides into your body, but organic food tastes better!

I know prices of everything are going up and up everyday, even food. As an organic junkie myself, I did some research for us and came up with some good information on which items are most important to spend a little extra on and buy organic.
Conventional, or “non-organic” farmers, spray all kinds of toxic poisons onto the food we put into your bodies. When we work so hard at exercising, getting enough sleep, hydration, and eating our 8-10 servings of produce a day (yes I said 8-10 a day!) shouldn’t our fuel be good for us, not hurting us? Conventional farmers utilize human sludge as fertilizer, irradiate their crops, and plant genetically-modified seeds that the human body has never encountered.

Organic farmers rely on natural pest control, nurtured and maintained rich soils, complimentary plant groupings, lunar cycles, etc. They do not use toxic pesticides and do not use seedlings or seeds that have been DNA-altered. Organic farmers use the riches that Nature gives us. It is good for the crops, for the water we drink and the water stills in the ground, for the ocean, for the rain, and for the air we breathe.

Here I comprised a list of the produce that we should consume organic: Read More »

I love cheese, you love cheese, we all love cheese. So which ones fit best into our healthy choices??

There are hundreds of types of cheese, but the 3 most common types are:

Soft cheese - ex. Mozzarella

Semi soft cheese - ex. Blue cheese

Hard cheese - ex. Cheddar and Swiss cheese

Cheese is a great replacement for meat, and if you want a light snack at any time, a 1 oz wedge of cheese supplies you the same amount of nutrients as a 12 oz glass of milk. The casein of cheese contains all the essential amino acids, and cheese contains a high amount of vitamin A and D, as well as calcium.

The downside of cheese is… Read More »

Deep down you thought the ‘healthy choice’ tasted too good to be so low in fat and calories according to the menu promise…turns out you were probably right. Check out this article in the Seattle P. I. about the investigation into some popular chains. Restaurant Menu Promises

Restaurant menu promises buried in calories, fat

We exercise to burn calories, so why would we want to undo this by eating before and after a workout? For one, we need energy to carry us through our workouts. I have actually caught a person, or two, while fainting in the middle of a training session. Oops they tell me, I was too busy and forgot to eat. Dizziness and nausea are the first signs of lack of fuel. We need energy to burn energy, the key here is to make sure you are burning more than you are consuming. We don’t get the green light to eat whatever we want just because we worked out - a huge misconception among many. Additionally, after we workout our body needs food to feed our hungry muscles. We need to quickly (within 30 minutes) get food into the blood flow following exercise. Protein and carbohydrates before and after weight training can enhance recovery, allowing the body to spend more time on building muscle rather than repair.

Some good pre and post workout snacks are : Read More »