8 Minute Workout!!! Get it Done Fast

Hello there,

I hope you are all doing well today.

I wanted to share with you a quick and simple 8 minute interval training workout video.

Perfect Fit Personal Training 8 Minute Workout

If you are short on time but want a good workout, this video is for you! If you want to extend your workout and make it longer or harder, then repeat the video two or three times.

Interval training is a very effective way to burn calories and fat. It’s also more fun than doing eight minutes straight of the same thing; for example running or stationary aerobics.

I hope you enjoy this 8 minute interval training workout. I would love your feedback!

Nicole

Emotional or Mindless Eating

Do you find yourself on the couch after dinner or the kids are in bed, settled in with a bowl of chips, or some other high fat food?

Is this a regular occurence? Are you hungry, or are you just excited about crunching on something while you shut off your brain to enjoy your show?

Nothing wrong with vegetating, it can be great once in a while. But if you are doing this all the time, you may be a mindless eater, or emotional eater. Let’s delve more into that here:

Can you tell me the ways to tell if you’re emotional eating?:
-You eat because you’re bored, not because you’re hungry
-You plan food around tv shows or other activities, not for nutritional purposes
-Certain foods make you feel happy when you’ve had a hard day, are stressed, etc so you seek those things out

What are the dangers of emotional eating? :
-Extra calories consumed mindlessly are usually from fat and sugar; foods that make you feel good
-Not paying attention to the volume of what you eat can cause you to eat way more calories than you should; causing weight gain
-There is a vicious cycle between feeling sad or depressed because you don’t like the way you look, eating high fat/calorie foods to make you feel better, then feeling guilty and sad about eating the bad food mindlessly, then punishing yourself by continuing the cycle again.

And how do we keep ourselves from emotional eating?:

-Keep a food journal and document everything you eat. Having to write it down makes you more aware of the foods you are eating.
-Don’t buy empty calorie foods, just simply don’t have them in your house. Mindless eating carrots or celery is probably not going to happen, but if it did you would be homefree!
-Try to find the root problem; why are you eating this food? Are you hungry or are you just bored? If you get to the real issues, you will stop emotional or what I call “mindless” eating.

If you recognize yourself doing any of these things, try to take a step back and reassess your eating habits. You may not even realize that you are mindlessly eating!

Give it a few days and let me know how you are doing with your newfound knowledge.

Nicole

Thirsty? What You Drink Could Make You Fat…

If you’re thirsty this summer, which I’m pretty sure you will be… think twice about what you choose to drink.

Some of your choices could add up to between 300 and 600 calories if you’re not careful, competing with an entire meal!

Check out this link for more info on choosing the best bang for your calorie buck: http://health.yahoo.net/experts/eatthis/7-worst-summer-drinks

 

Enjoy the heat!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Popcorn is a Great Snack Food!

Did you know that popcorn is healthy?

Yep, it’s true.

Not your movie theater popcorn of course; that is laden with saturated fat and calories (over 1000 in a large bag). Check out this article on movie theater popcorn from the CBC: http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/story/2009/11/19/popcorn-movie-theatre-salt-fat.html

 

However, home popped corn without butter is a great choice for a healthy snack. Did you know it’s a whole grain?

http://www.fitnessandfreebies.com/food/articles/popcorn.html

 

So enjoy some popped corn today and eat up your whole grains the fun way.

Looking for a Personal Trainer?

If you answered yes, then there are some questions that you should ask and things to look for in your personal trainer.

I just came upon this article that I wrote a few years back which talks about this very subject. Please see the link to view the article on finding the right personal trainer for you:

http://www.beautyandlace.com.au/chooseapt.htm

A trainer is an important part of your life for a short or extended period of time; it’s important to pick the right personal trainer for your specific needs and not one that everyone else is raving about.

Ask questions, get answers, and hire a trainer that is worthy earning their fee.

For more information on one on one or small group personal training with Perfect Fit Personal Training, give me  a call at 604-318 6534 or email me at: nicole@perfectfit.ws

Have a great evening!

Sweet or Regular; Which Potato is Better For You?

I have had clients ask me about eating potatoes versus sweet potatoes, and what the difference was health wise.

I always say that you can never go wrong with eating  your veggies, but all veggies are not created equally.

Potatoes are enjoyable as roasted, mashed, fried, and baked; skin on, skin off…they are great and tasty in many forms. However, they have a GI (glycemic index) value of between 56-111 (depending on the potato), which is at the top of the chart. For more info on the Glycemic Index: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glycemic_index

Potatoes

Sweet potatoes, on the other hand are in the medium category on the GI, and have a host of other benefits such as antioxidants and high fiber content. For more info on sweet potatoes, check out this site: http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=george&dbid=69

As with all carbohydrate rich foods, you should take care to eat only what your body needs, and keep your plate mostly loaded with high fiber, colorful veggies with low caloric values, such as spinach,  green leaf lettuce, and celery. For more lo-carb veggie options, check out this link: http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/whattoeat/a/whatveg.htm

That’s all for now; remember to eat well most of the time to enjoy the benefits of your workout program. If you work out hard but eat a ton of junk, you may still remain at the same weight and not look any differently.

One more interesting link on potatoes and their contents: http://breastcancer.about.com/od/cancerfightingfoods/a/potatoes.htm

The Worst Restaurant Foods | Eat This, Not That

The Worst Restaurant Foods | Eat This, Not That.

Check out this link from Men’s Health Magazine; they have some great pages on healthy and not-so-healthy eating that might surprise you!

Emotional Eating, Anyone?

If you’re like most people out there, you eat to celebrate, to wallow, to enjoy, to mourn…the list goes on. Food and emotions often go hand in hand.

If you’re having trouble keeping food out of your emotional reaction to a situation, here is a quick article from one of my favorite sites, Sparkpeople.com:

http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/wellness_articles.asp?id=693

Food and emotion should be separate entities, but they sometimes collide.

Next time you reach for the chocolate when you’re bored, remember that there are other ways to cure your boredom that don’t involve empty (but tasty 🙂 calories.

Good luck on your path to health!

You Might be Skinny…But Are You Really Fat?

Body fat is not always something that is obvious; someone can look quite slim, but when they are tested, their body fat is higher than is optimal for their age and gender.

High body fat can lead to many health problems, like high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, diabetes,  heart disease, and  increased types of cancer.

Here is a link on ways to test your body fat:

http://www.new-fitness.com/body_fat_measuring.html

 

Canadian Guidelines for healthy body weight:

http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/nutrition/weights-poids/guide-ld-adult/qa-qr-pub-eng.php

Learn more about obesity:

http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hl-vs/iyh-vsv/life-vie/obes-eng.php

 

Your health is in your hands; make sure your body fat is in check so that you can stay healthy and happy, living a long and enjoyable life.

 

I am available to do body fat testing; with a portable device I can take it just about anywhere! Call me today to set up your body fat test: 604-318-6534

 

 

 

Fiber, Friend to All!

Here is a very interesting and informative article on Fiber taken out of this month’s IDEA journal.

 

Enjoy!

 

http://www.ideafit.com/fitness-library/fiber-amp-digestive-health-for-active-people-of-all-ages?sourcecode=ACEIFJ