Make Fitness Part of Your Travel Plans
-- By Zach Van Hart, Staff Writer
You may have read our article on easy exercises for when you are on vacation, but there is more to it than that. There are so many different vacations out there; exercise cannot be the same for each one. Would you exercise the same way on the beach as you would in the Smokey Mountains? Probably not, so here is some help for vacations at different places with different people.
Going to the beach seems to be a favorite of many. We know it’s so easy to just lie in the sand all day, sip margaritas, and forget about physical activity, but there is plenty of exercise you can do. First, there is the ocean. Swimming is possible, but fighting the waves, either with your body, boogie board or surf board, is great for working your core and your balance. If you go with family, especially kids, then playing games on the beach is great. Bring a baseball and glove, a football, a Frisbee, or anything else you can use to play a game. Clear out some room on the sand and enjoy.
Cruise ships are also great because most come equipped with a weight room. While these may not be as extensive as the gym you are used to at home, you can get the same complete workout as you would anyway. Take advantage of this. Also, cruise ships have pools, where you can do water exercises.
Some vacations are exercise trips and no additional fitness routines are really needed. Good examples are skiing, hiking and whitewater rafting. Not only are these strenuous activities, but you usually spend all day doing them. You are getting all the exercise you need.
Another couple of vacations are either visiting a big city, like New York City or Chicago, or going to visit family or friends. A great way to exercise and take advantage of your surroundings is walking or running. Not only are you getting in good aerobic exercise, but you are taking in the sites of the city. If you are visiting family, maybe hop on a couple of bikes and let your host show you around the town.
Finally, how about getting to your vacation destination and back? Some of us spend an entire day either driving of flying to our destinations. Some of us even spend a couple of days getting there. Here are a few exercises you can try in the car or the plane, or at a rest stop:
No, seriously. I’m not asking to get your attention. I’m asking because I’ve been trying to share this secret for YEARS! I’m asking because I’m frustrated. I’m asking because despite the best efforts of many very knowledgeable people it is STILL a secret.
You ARE right; there IS a secret to getting in shape. Dr. Phil, Dr. Atkins, Dr. Laura, and Dr. Seuss are all going to tell you that it is not your fault. That it is your metabolism, your genes, your hormones, upbringing, blood type, horoscope, skin color, eye color, job, house, or 3rd grade teacher.
This is complete rubbish.
It’s NOT your thyroid! Actual incidence of low thyroid disorder is about 0.4% (that is 4/1,000). I’m not saying it’s impossible that you are one of the 200ish people in the Wenatchee/East Wenatchee area that have Hypothyroidism. I’m saying that is INCREDIBLY rare, and even if you ARE one of those who have it, exercise helps.
It is NOT your asthma! Does the name Flo Jo ring a bell? The woman started her running career with a monster inhaler AROUND HER NECK to use immediately across the finish line. If you HAVE asthma, get a heart rate monitor, an inhaler, and a trainer. Planned, controlled aerobic exercise below the lactate threshold REDUCES symptoms and episodes of asthma.
You are NOT Big-Boned- Even if you ARE big boned, the human skeleton weighs 35-60lbs. Truely “big-boned” people can add about 15% or about 8 more pounds. Having an extra 8 pounds more calcium is NOT the issue, so stop using it as an excuse.
You are NOT too busy- EVERYBODY has the same 24 hours in the day. Lance, Arnold, Michael Phelps, you, me, EVERYBODY. We all have jobs. We all have family. We all want more time to pursue our hobbies. We all make decisions about how to spend that time. The average American spends 2.5 hours per day watching television. And what has it gotten us? Fatter. We are all short on time, but you manage to get a shower and
brush your teeth every day. Why is muscular or cardiovascular health any different than dental health?
That new diet is NOT a miracle cure- I don’t care if you eat right for your blood type, your ethnic heritage, get shots of hormones harvested from the placenta, or put your body into over-proteined ketosis (which will destroy your liver). What the research says, what nobody wants to hear is, THOSE DIETS WORK BECAUSE YOU ARE BRINGING IN FEWER CALORIES!!! and they ALL say they work best “when combined with a
sensible exercise program.”
It is NOT money- You can buy training sessions for less than your weekly coffee habit. And if you simply put the amount you spent on tortilla chips last month towards some personal coaching, it would be a double bonus. Over the past 10 years, as obesity rates have risen faster than the stock market, Americans have spent $58 BILLION on exercise equipment, clothing, shoes, and DVD’s. That does NOT include
gym memberships, classes, or trainers. And none of it made a difference.
I want to share with you the secret of getting in shape; the secret of getting the body you want. Do you WANT to hear the secret that Billy Blanks, Jake Steinfeld, Suzanne Somers, and Joe Weider are praying that Americans NEVER figure out? Can I tell you what the people who won the Gold’s Gym Challenge figured out? What the people who dropped out didn’t?
The secret is this: IT SIMPLY TAKES WORK. Nobody can buy it. Your ethnic heritage is irrelevant. Your genetic predisposition, and medical conditions will play a part, but it’s not the 90% that we want to think it is; it’s more like 9%. And you are going to have to drop the excuses before you can pick up a weight. To get what YOU want, YOU HAVE TO MAKE THE TIME AND PUT OUT THE SWEAT. Nobody can do it for you. We are
here to help, but YOU HAVE TO DO THE WORK.
Summers remind me of fresh fruit, home made smoothies after a workout, fruit over ice cream, and sitting in the kitchen enjoying day light savings. Summer is the perfect time to pick up your favorite fruit whether it is at a local farmers market or the store! Remember, you can purchase fresh fruit or buy your fruit frozen!You should be getting at least 3-5 servings of fruit per day!
Some benefits on eating fruit are they are packed with vitamins, minerals, anti- oxidants and many phyto- nutrients.
Listed below are some on fruits benefits:
1. Fruits are low in calories and fat and are a source of simple sugars, fiber and vitamins which are essential for optimizing our health.
2. Fruits provide plenty of soluble dietary fiber which helps to ward of cholesterol and fats from the body and to get relief from constipation as well.
3. Fruits contain many anti-oxidants like poly-phenolic flavonoids, vitamin-C, anthocyanins. These compounds, firstly, help body protect from oxidant stress, diseases and cancers, and secondly, help body develop capacity to fight against these ailments by boosting our immunity level. Many fruits, when compared to vegetables and cereals, have very high anti-oxidant values which is something measured by their "Oxygen Radical Absorbent Capacity" or ORAC.
4. Anthocyanins are flavonoid category of poly-phenolic compounds found in some "blue fruits" like blue-black grapes, mulberries, acai berry, choke-berries, blueberries, blackberries, and in many vegetables featuring blue or deep purple color. Eating fruits rich in blue pigments offers many health benefits. These compounds have potent anti-oxidant properties, remove free radicals from the body and thus offers protection against cancers, aging, infections etc. These pigments tend to concentrate just underneath the skin.
5. Fruit’s health benefiting properties are because of their richness in vitamins, minerals, micro-nutrients, anti-oxidants which helps body prevent or at least prolong the natural changes of aging by protecting and rejuvenating cells, tissues and organs in the human body. The overall impact! Fruit nutrition benefits are many. You are protecting yourself from minor problems like wrinkling of skin, hair fall, memory loss to major ailments like age related macular degeneration of retina in the eyes, Alzheimer’s disease, colon cancers, weak bones (osteoporosis)… and the list of fruit nutrition benefits never ends!
Source: Nutrition- and- you.com
Fruit has always been one of the healthiest foods you could eat! However, there has been a lot of controversy and talk about amount of natural sugar in fruit. Considering all the talk and tis the fruit season we have broken down a list of fruits with the lowest in sugar to the highest in sugar!
Fruits Lowest in Sugar
Fruits Low to Medium in Sugar
Fruits Fairly High in Sugar
Fruits Very High in Sugar
Source: Oodora.com
We need to talk about some of the language that I’ve been hearing in the gym. I’m not talking about exclamations of frustration when you lose your balance or drop a kettle bell. I’m talking about crud e words, gutter-talk, locker-room language, foul language, verboten verbage. I’m talking about the kind of language that would inspire George Carlin to do a monologue about the 7 dirty words that NEVER, EVER belong in a gym. 
Here is my list.
Should, wuss, right, can’t, usta-could, outta-shape, and bad.
Should sounds like a word that ought to be OK. If all were right in the world, I should be able to bench press my own weight, touch my toes, run a 6 minute mile, hike 20 miles in a day, or see lines in my abs; Right? NO!!! “Should” is a value judgment. “Should” is the movie in your head; “Should” is the way you think things “ought” to be. But where did this picture come from? Advertising agencies, television executives, and people who sell beauty magazines created it to point out every place that you are not a rock star, not a movie star, size 2, or Superman. “Should” because it lets them tug that little string that brings you in to the store to buy their crap. “Should” keeps you comparing yourself to other people and focusing on where you are behind. What does it really get you except a handle for all that baggage? Let it go. I promise you will run faster and squat more without all the extra guilt weighing you down.
Wuss. There is no excuse for this one. Most people direct this at themselves. YOU may feel like it, but would you put up with anyone saying that about your spouse? Everyone in the gym has PROVEN that they have the fortitude to set a goal and take action to make it happen. There are enough people OUTSIDE the gym cuing up to take a shot at your dreams. The gym is a place to build yourself and others.
Right is another one that sounds good. We want to do an exercise properly. We want to make sure that we are not making a fool of ourselves. We want “the right answer”. But “right”, like “should” keeps us focused on “wrong. Who said there was ONE right way to do something? There are certainly some methods of doing Lat raises that are less efficient at building strength than others. Over the years I’ve learned 2 dozen ways to do push-ups. Which one is THE right way? Each one will change my body in subtly different ways. Let’s stop thinking about “the RIGHT way” to do something, and start thinking about an effective way to target the body part we want to work on.
Can’t say can’t. I keep hearing that something is impossible; usually right after it has just happened. And telling ME that you can’t do something is a whole lot more believable if I haven’t just watched you do it 3 times.
Usta-could. Exercise is about NOW; today; here in THIS moment. What you did yesterday doesn’t matter. And if you notice, people only talk about what they “usta-could” do when it usta-be more. No, you don’t have the body that you did 20 years ago. So what? If you stop trying to be the person that you were 20 years ago, and focus on making the most of who you are NOW.
Outta-shape is simply not possible. ROUND is a shape. The question is “what shape do you want to be?” Very few people ARE the shape they WANT to be. It’s one main reason that people come to the gym. I’m certainly not going to enter a figure competition any time soon; at 10% body fat, with 13” biceps, I’m too outta-shape. And for a power lifter I’m too small, but my wife will hit me if I claim to be outta-shape. Love the shape you ARE, and let your workout transform you into the shape you are becoming.
Bad is a bad word. I know it sounds so small and innocent. It sounds like a Michael Jackson song from the late 80’s, but bad is another value judgment. Whether it is a person, a rep, a set, or a skill like balance, there is no reason for such a put-down. As soon as you do, you mentally write it off. And as soon as you do, you stop improving. I have never managed to walk a tightrope; does that mean my balance is bad?
Words shape our perceptions in the same way that exercises shape our bodies. Let’s make sure everything is taking the shape we want.
-- By Karen Gardner, Health & Parenting Writer
Heart disease is not a disease that only affects men. According to the American Heart Association (AHA), heart disease kills more than 500,000 women annually. In 2001, well over half of the people who died from heart disease were women.
Yet, "Women still think they cannot have coronary disease," says Dr. Massimo Guisti of Cardiovascular Associates of Virginia, PC. "They are more afraid of ovarian or breast cancer, but coronary disease is the actually the leading cause of death in women."
Heart disease often presents itself differently in women than it does in men. That includes the warning signs of a heart attack as well. In addition to the classic heart attack warning signs, such as chest discomfort, shortness of breath and pain in one or both arms, women may experience these less common signs:
The National Heart, Lung & Blood Institute reports that one in 10 American women, ages 45-64, has some form of heart disease. In women over the age of 65, these numbers double. For women, like men, the major risk factors for heart disease include increasing age, heredity, tobacco use, diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, physical inactivity and obesity.
While some of these factors, such as age and family history, cannot be modified, there are plenty others that can. The first step a woman can do towards reducing her risk of coronary disease is to take more responsibility for her health. Women must insist on a thorough risk assessment from their healthcare provider, and not be afraid to ask questions.
The American Heart Association suggests that every woman ask her healthcare provider these 10 questions about cardiovascular disease:
For mature women, the question of menopause and heart health is particularly important. Long gone is the misconception that estrogen protects post-menopausal women from heart disease. Therefore, mature women need to maintain an open dialog with their primary care physician and gynecologist on the subject, and again do not be afraid to ask questions.
"Women are underrepresented in terms of the workup we do in the cardiac world," says Henrico Doctor’s Hospital cardiologist Dr. Gary Zeevi. "After menopause all women should have a fairly extensive evaluation of their coronary risk."
For more information on women and heart disease, visit the American Heart Association's Website.
So my body is really pissed at me right now. Went out to dinner, ate two onion rings, some fries, and a teriyaki chicken sandwich (but left most of the bread.) ICK. I feel like CRAP! I went straight to the gym and worked out for about 45 minutes in the hopes that my body will forgive me. I used to eat like that all the time. I used to order something like that and clean my plate and barely be able to walk out of the restaurant because I was so full. I just don't eat like that any more! Bleh! And now my body is telling never to do that shit again. Ok! I won't!
Progress update: I'm no long counting the Challenge beginning as my beginning and the Challenge end as my end because (1) I started working out and eating right three weeks before I weighed in officially and (2) I'm not done yet. So here's the non-Challenge stats:
Starting weight (right after Christmas) 237
Last weight (April 21) 200
Yep! 37 pounds of pure, unadulterated blob are no longer part of my physique and I have guns. Here's the picture proof. This is me last August and me yesterday:
It's REALLY hard to look at that 'before picture. Bleh. I avoid cameras in general so I didn't realize how awful I looked. When you've been fat as long as I have, you get used to seeing yourself a certain way. So much so that it looks almost...normal. You don't realize just how fat you really are, even when the scale is screaming for mercy and the buttons on your clothes become projectiles with every added ounce. We fatties don't even think we look THAT BAD. We compare ourselves to other fatties and think "whoa, at least I don't look like that!" Well, ya, we do. We totally do. Our body types may be different and we carry our weight in different places but let's not kid ourselves, k? The photo on the left is what 237 pounds looks like on a 5"2" chick....period. The photo on the right is still 200 pounds but it looks way better.
I always kinda freak out when I'd see what athletes weigh as listed on the team rosters. Cuz all the ones that weigh the same as me are over 6 feet tall. (Still, I didn't think I looked THAT bad.) So, allow me to present to you my small reality-check list:
Here's a list of people I used to weigh more than:
Mike Tyson (at his championship fighting weight - 218)
Dez Bryant (Dallas Cowboys WR - 217)
Ken Hamlin (Ind. Colts DB - 208)
All but 6 players on the Yankees current 40-man roster
And only three players on the 2010-2011 Wenatchee Wild team would wrestle in my weight class.
All that said, even at 5'2" I'll never weigh 105 lbs. I have huge hands and huge feet and I wasn't built to be tiny. Plus, I like being curvy! I think 130 would look great on me. So that's my goal. A nice, curvy, TONED 130. I haven't weighed 130 since jr. high. 70 more pounds in 8 months is totally doable.
Fer sure!
Why do you train? If someone had asked me 5 years ago I would have answered getting my bench to 300 lbs. Go back further and it would be a desire to not be skinny and weak. Ask me 3 years ago and I would have said so that Others May Live (Pararescue motto.) Ask me today and I will reply with one word. Zombies... Yes I am serious. One of the main reasons I train is for the impending zombie horde. Do I think zombies will ever happen? No! However I force myself to prepare for such an event and it creates a fun scenario for which to train. One of the best motivational tools I have found for training is the use of “urgent” scenarios. “Zombieland” training is one great way to accomplish this! But, it could be any type of scenario. For Zombieland you have to be fast, agile, strong, and have lots of endurance.
Scenario training can be relative to any time period. You could create a scenario for a single workout, a weeks worth of workouts, or for months on end. A single workout scenario might be I have to lift this trailer off of my son. If I were creating one to last over a period of 12 workouts then the options increase like crazy.
There is the classic Road Warrior scenario. You must dispense justice on your bicycle and each day is a new challenge just to survive (dramatic much.) The workouts for Road Warrior would be something similar to:
Day 1: Bike 5 miles, 5 deadlift, 1 fireman’s carry (mimic pulling and carrying someone from a car), and repeat 5 times as fast as you can. Basically see how fast you can pull those people from a wrecked car.
Day 2: Bike 7 miles, 50 meter run (chasing suspect), 10 cable pulls (grabbing suspect), 10 cable punches (fighting suspect with some ROAD WARRIOR JUSTICE) and repeat 4 times. Making the Road safer, one bad driver at a time.
Another one could be, you are a firefighter and you have a small house fire one day: Small House Fire: weighted sled pull for 50ft (dragging hose), Ball slams against a wall (breaking down a door with an axe), Run 1 flight of stairs (running a flight of stairs), 1 Sumo Deadlift (picking someone up), and fireman’s carry down the stairs, out the door, and to the fire truck. Repeat
The point is you gotta have fun with your training. It does say “you gotta have fun” on our front door after all.
Have fun. Get in the gym daily. Go out and play.
Wenatchee Fitness Blog is following a local Wenatchee blogger named Shelley. Her blog, named "Fat, Interrupted." is filled with Shelley's 'random thoughts and experiences while trying to become less woman.'
I feel like my body is revolting. No, well, yes, it isn't pleasant to look at but I don't mean that kind of revolting this time. I feel like my body was perfectly happy the way it was and I'm really pissing it off with all this fitness crap. For the last two weeks, I've been up and down 2 to 2.5 lbs and it's making me a crazy person. See, the last time I tried to lose weight seriously, I lost 16 pounds in 6 weeks doing this:
Now, I'm doing this:
And I've lost 16 pounds in 5 weeks. Which, comparatively, sounds fab. 16 in 5 vs. 16 in 6. Victory! But it doesn't feel that way. It feels like I'm working 10 times as hard to get the same results. I would have to be at 25 lbs lost by the end of this week to be on goal for my challenge target. So I got to thinking....
Maybe I'm putting way too much pressure on myself for the challenge. Honestly, other than working out for TWO hours a day, SEVEN days a week and reducing my caloric intake to that of a 2-year-old, I can't think of anything I could be doing differently. And until I can afford a maid, a chauffer, someone to do my errands and basically handle everything in my life, that two hours isn't going to happen. So I guess it's time to change the thought processes and stop beating myself to a pulp.
I need to focus on the life change, not the challenge. I need to remember that it took me a long time to get this way, and it will take a long time to change it. I don't have to be The Biggest Loser and drop 10 lbs a week in order to be successful. If I had nothing to do with my time other than work out, I could probably do the 10 lb thing. But I have stuff to do. Lots of stuff. I'm a mom and I have to work and I have to do everything to take care of my fam. Because I'm the only one to do it.
Monday - Friday
5:00am-10:00pm
Saturday - Sunday
7:00am-7:00pm
