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#1 Fat loss enemy: The Scale!

#1 Fat loss enemy: The Scale!

How many of us step on the scale every morning to determine our progress? I know some of us are even in “scale denial”…ok, I made that up, but there’s something of an addiction out there!

I don’t even own a scale, and am recovering from years of torment of that metal beast. It’s somewhat liberating to not be bound by those numbers.

In my humble opinion, if you’re using your scale as your number one way to determine your progress, then you may be sabotaging yourself and not even knowing it!

Why is the scale such a deceptor? Because it measures (or weighs) your overall body composition, and takes into no account how much of your weight is fat, muscle, fluid, or tissue. here’s a few examples of how this can be misleading.

Take two ladies, both 5'4?. One has worked out and weight lifted for years, looks great and wears a size 5. She steps on the scale and weighs 135 lbs.

The other leads a sedentary lifestyle, wears a size 7 and is unhappy with how her body looks. She gets on the scale and weighs 130 lbs.

It’s true! This has happened!

In fact, I have just recently had a client that has been working really hard and has come in on more than one occasion completely frustrated because the numbers have not budged on the scale! Well, we took her measurements on Tuesday, and in less than two weeks, she has lost a total of almost five inches! Her clothes are fitting better, and she feels better, yet she’s allowed that to be overshadowed by the scale!

I’ll tell you what, if I had a “magic” machine, and you could step in it and weigh 15 lbs less, but look the same, would you be happy? What if you stepped in it, weighed the exact same, but looked amazing, how ’bout that?

Using the scale can be a complete mind game, and something I encourage you to stop doing! Have your body fat % measured, take your circumference measurements, try on a pair of tight fitting jeans and use them as measurement, take before and after pictures!

All of these can be much better judges of progress. You may even save your sanity too ;)

Pay Attention To Pain & Soreness
by Chad Tackett

When any workout or specific exercise causes you pain, pay attention. Knowing how to react can help you avoid a serious injury. Strength training can cause several types of pain including:

Muscle Soreness When you use muscles you have not used for a while or try a new exercise or training technique, it is normal to feel a dull ache of soreness in the muscles that were trained. This pain is caused by microscopic tears in the fibers of the connective tissues in your body--the ligaments that connect bones to other bones, and the tendons that connect muscles to bones.

This microtrauma may sound harmful but is in fact the natural response of your muscles when they experience work. This is the primary reason it is so important that you get enough rest between specific muscle workouts. Each time you work out with weights, you cause this "damage"--these tiny tears in your muscles; they need ample resting time to rebuild and become even stronger, bigger, and more firm.

Pain During or Just After a Workout During a workout, repeated contractions cause lactic and other acids, as well as proteins and hormones, to build up in muscle tissue. This can cause pain even without injury. But if you experience a sharp, continuous pain, or pain accompanied by a burning sensation, stop lifting and get it checked.

Cramps These happen when muscles, often in the calves or feet, knot up in intense contractions. Cramps occur most commonly in endurance sports like cycling and running, where the athlete loses a lot of fluids through sweating. This is why it's very important to stay well-hydrated during exercise. If you do get cramps, the best way to stop them is to gently stretch the cramped muscle.

Injury When working out with weights you need to be in full control of both the weights and your own body as it lifts and uses the weights. Careless weightlifting can result in injury. Not warming up, attempting to lift too heavy a weight, using momentum or jerky movements, letting the weights drop, not using correct form, or forgetting to stretch or cool-down after your workout can indeed result in injury.

The following injuries can occur as a result of carelessness:

1.Tendonitis: This is inflammation of the tendon and can occur if you begin your first set with too heavy a weight and/or are not properly warmed-up. Rest is the best treatment for this painful injury.

2.Fascia injuries: Can occur if you suddenly jerk or pull the weight. Fascia is basically the packaging tissue of muscle. When fascia is torn, it becomes inflamed and the pain is severe. The injury should be treated with cold packs and wrapped with an ace bandage.

3.Ligament injuries: Can occur when people use momentum and jerk the weight to accomplish a lift. This injury is treated by using cold packs and rest.

4.Sprains or muscle tears: Are uncommon if you warm-up, stretch, and cool-down properly and implement the safety precautions and principles we teach.

Any time you do have inflammation or swelling, use the R.I.C.E method of reducing damage and speeding healing. For injuries, R.I.C.E. is nice.

1.Rest: When you are hurt, stop your workout immediately and take weight off the affected area.

2.Ice: Wrap ice in a towel and hold it against the injury for 10 to 20 minutes, three or four times a day until the acute injury diminishes.

3.Compress: Wrap the injured area in a snug, but not tight, elastic bandage.

4.Elevate: Raise the injured limb and rest it on a pillow to reduce swelling.

Strength training provides many important benefits that cannot be achieved by any other exercise or activity. However, when enjoying this great form of exercise, be sure to pay attention to pain and soreness so that your program is not only effective, but safe as well. Good luck: I hope you enjoy all the wonderful benefits of a safe and effective strength training program.

3 Simple Ways to Build Consistency

Because Consistency is the Key to Success! -- By Dean Anderson, Fitness & Behavior Expert

You don’t have to be an expert to figure out that consistency is pretty essential to successfully change your life, your health, and your weight. But it’s also pretty clear that building a consistent routine of regular exercise and healthy eating is not an easy thing to do.

You start off the day with the best intentions—to exercise, track all your food, and make healthy choices. But then life happens. One of the kids is sick, the babysitter is late, the snowplow blocked your driveway, the boss asks you to work overtime, or any one of a hundred other surprises that can really wreck your day. Before you know it, your plan is in trouble and your prospects for "sticking to it" aren’t looking very good. In fact, things are probably going to get worse as the day goes on. By the end of the day, you have no energy left for exercise, and the task of preparing a healthy meal feels like a big burden when what you really want is a break. Something has to give.

More often than not, "what gives" is your plan to exercise and eat right. When it’s hard to do everything, the things most likely to go undone are those that don’t affect or involve anyone but you—especially if those things aren’t exactly your favorite things to do anyway.So how do you change this pattern? With the three rules for building consistency.

These three simple rules, when followed faithfully, will make it easier for you to be consistent with your healthy lifestyle habits—even on the toughest days.

Rule #1: Never tell yourself “I’m not motivated.” That’s not the real problem, unless you really don’t want to lose weight or live a healthy lifestyle. As long as you do want these things, you have all the motivation you need.

It may be true that sometimes you don’t want to exercise, or that you really want to stop and get fast food rather than cooking dinner. That’s understandable, but it doesn’t mean you’re not motivated. It just means that you want two different and opposing things, and you have to make a decision. Telling yourself that you lack motivation is just a way of denying that you really do have a choice. It makes the problem seem mysterious and out of your control, and it makes you feel less powerful than you really are, because you lack something (the motivation) you need. Not true!

In the long run you’ll do better if you acknowledge that the choice is yours to make. You can choose either option, without making excuses or inventing a theory like “lack of motivation” to justify it. Then, pay attention to how you feel about the choice you made, and decide whether that is how you want to feel most of the time.Being consistent does not mean being perfect. (There are going to be days when you decide to do something other than stick to your exercise and diet routine, and that’s fine.) But becoming consistent does mean giving yourself the power to choose.

Rule #2: Build momentum one step at a time. It’s never easy to change old habits or start new routines. Studies show that it takes anywhere from 21 to 40 days to really turn a new behavior into a persistent habit. And during that time, you’re going to have to work at it pretty diligently—even when you don’t feel like it.

The key to long term consistency is building momentum. The hardest part is always getting things started. But once you’re moving, staying in motion and picking up speed becomes a lot easier. There are a lot of ways you can gradually build momentum during those first few weeks. Here are some examples:

* Start with something that’s pretty easy to manage and build up from there. Set a goal of one 10-minute exercise session per week. Then increase it to two 10-minute sessions. Gradually add minutes to each workout (and eventually add one or more additional workouts to your week), until you're exercising as long and as frequently as you should in order to reach your goals. The simple act of setting aside some time for exercise every day, no matter how little, and sticking to it is enough to start building the habit. * Find an accountability buddy—someone who knows about your plan and is willing to give you a push when you feel like slacking off. * Join a Team or Challenge here at SparkPeople. It’s always harder to let someone else down than it is to let yourself off the hook. * Employ an excuse buster. Find a friend, family member, or SparkPeople member whose judgment and opinion you respect. Each time you find yourself thinking about skipping an exercise session or blowing your meal plan, write down the reason for your choice. Share this reason with your excuse buster and get her honest opinion about whether the reason for your choice is reasonable or just an excuse. You’ll probably find that this makes it a lot harder for you to believe your own rationalizations.

Rule #3: Always have a plan B. Because life is unpredictable and complicated, you need to have plan B ready—even before you actually need it. Plan B is an alternative way to stay consistent with your goals when your regular routine (or something else) doesn’t work out as planned. Obviously, you can’t foresee every single problem that might come up. But most of the time, the things that get in your way are things that happen fairly often—like kids getting sick, extra hours at work, or days when you just don’t feel very energetic. Those surprises won't throw you off track if you plan ahead. For example, have a friend or family member lined up to stay with your kids so you can make it to the gym; stock your freezer with some healthy meals when you're short on time; stash your exercise clothes at the office for a quick workout when you can't get away.

Put a little time into identifying the most common problems that disrupt your healthy routine, and plan (in advance) what you can do to handle these problems without sacrificing your diet and exercise routine. Then all you’ll have to do is put your plan B into action.

Following these three simple rules will help you overcome some common obstacles while building the momentum you need to stay consistent. At the very least, you’ll be able to take all those lemons that life hands you, and make some good (and diet-friendly) lemonade out of them.

"WARM MARBLE" The Lethal Physique of Bruce Lee - Nov./Dec. 2008

By John Little Introduction by Mike Mentzer

It is absolutely amazing how much of an impact that Bruce Lee's strength and physical development have had on athletes, bodybuilders and average men all over the face of the globe. As a young boy in high school, I can clearly recall all of the talk among my friends about the great Bruce Lee; they all were intimately familiar with Bruce's films; and they would discuss not just his epochal martial arts skills, but, also, his incredible strength and lean, shredded physique.

As Mr. Little reports in his article, even such a personage as Joe Weider remarked on the astounding muscular refinement and definition of Lee's physique, especially the master's abs. As Mr. Little also explains, Bruce Lee's physique had a remarkable influence on some of today's top physique champs. Bodybuilding luminaries, including Lou Ferrigno, Lee Haney, Dorian Yates, Rachel Mclish, Lenda Murray, Flex Wheeler and Shawn Ray have all spoken on record concerning the enormous impact the physique of Bruce Lee had on them. Why? Why would the physique of the mighty mite, never massively developed along the lines of the bodybuilding greats I just enumerated, but described by some "as the most defined physique in the world." I leave that unanswered, as author, John Little, will provide an incisive, eloquent answer...

Subsections in the article will titillate the legion of existing Lee fanatics, and whet the appetite of those for whom this article will serve as their initial introduction to the subject. For instance, Functional Strength, Unbelievable Strength, A Battle in San Fransisco, The Bodybuilding Connection and The Routine, will rivet the reader's focus such that he will finish this article in one reading, and prompt him to want to re-read it and re-re-read it.

I've been extremely impressed over the years as to how many bodybuilders are also highly trained martial artists. In fact, over the years I having personally supervised the training of many martial artists, with many of my phone clients already being rabid Lee fans, and martial artists seeking the most efficient manner of training for strength and speed; which was the goal of Lee's training. Also, I receive more e-mails, letters and phone calls from martial artists than any other type of athlete. This I believe follows from Lee's well known concern with weight training to develop efficiency and strength.

I am extremely proud to say that one of my best friends, for the past 22 years, wrote this article, which is excerpted from one of the 11 books he's written on Bruce Lee. I first met John Little at Eaton's department store in Toronto where Arnold, Franco and I had made an appearance for Weider and the IFBB, in 1979. We hit it off immediately, as John was philosophically oriented, along with having a passionate interest in bodybuilding. After that initial meeting, we met at Lou Hollozi's gym in Toronto in 1980, where I conducted a seminar; and, with that, John and I further cemented our friendship. Subsequently, John made a number of trips to Los Angeles, where he'd usually stay with me in my apartment in West Hollywood. His primary purpose in traveling to southern California was to pursue the subjects of those he wrote books about, including Steve Reeves and Lou Ferrigno.

It was finally, in 1992, that Joe Weider brought John to Los Angeles to write for Flex. This only lasted three years, as John was more interested in writing freely about his passion, namely - philosophy, martial arts, the philosophy of Bruce Lee's, who, too, was a fervent student of philosophy, his personal library packed with philosophy books that extended from the floor to the ceiling and spanned the length of the room. His quest for the truth saw him avidly studying philosophies ranging from that of Krishnamurti's to our most revered, Ayn Rand.

Bruce Lee's life was most interesting as he rose from a starving, poor boy in Hong Kong to the world's most celebrated movie star in Hollywood, having a greater impact on more people than that of Elvis Presley's, James Dean's and Marilyn Monroe's combined!

I trust that you, dear reader, will gain much knowledge from John Little's article, along with the added inspiration that will act to have you approach your own training with greater inspiration and motivation than ever before. Above all else, I ardently desire that you will read John Little's superlative article mostly for the sheer pleasure of it.

Mike Mentzer

"If you're talking about combat -- as it is -- well then, baby you'd better train every part of your body!" -- Bruce Lee (from the video, Bruce Lee: The Lost Interview)

There's an anecdote that has endured some 28 years concerning the texture of the muscles that adorned the physique of the late martial arts pioneer/philosopher, Bruce Lee.

It concerns a lady named Ann Clouse, the wife of Robert Clouse, the man who directed Lee's last film Enter the Dragon for Warner Bros. It seems that Clouse's wife had ventured onto the set of the film and was mesmerized by Lee's incredible physique as he went through his paces choreographing the fight scenes for the film, stripped to the waist under the hot and humid Hong Kong sun. In between takes, Ann approached the young superstar and asked if she could "feel his biceps." "Sure," Lee responded -- it was a request he'd received on numerous occasions -- tensing his arm and inviting her to check it out for herself. "My God!" she exclaimed, drawing her hand back instantly, "It's like feeling warm marble!"

It's fascinating that almost three decades later, people are still talking about the body of Bruce Lee -- although it is by no means surprising. The Lee physique, once described by no less an authority on such matters than bodybuilding magnate Joe Weider as "the most defined body I've ever seen!" has attracted (much like the man's martial art and philosophy) a following that not only rivals but exceeds those of Elvis Presley, James Dean and Marilyn Monroe -- combined! Certainly his following exceeds that of any bodybuilder of a similar vintage. And even more fascinating is the fact that almost everyone gets something different out of Bruce Lee -- martial artists revere his physical dexterity, power, speed and the genius he displayed in bringing science to bear on the world of martial arts; moviegoers are impressed with the man's screen presence and animal magnetism, along with the fact that he single-handedly created a new genre of action film thus opening the door to the Stallones, Schwarzeneggers and Jackie Chans who were to follow in his footsteps; philosophers are impressed with Lee's ability to bridge the philosophical chasm separating East and the West and to synthesize the best aspects of both cultures. But there exists another pocket of humanity that sees in Lee something else -- although not entirely unrelated -- the bodybuilders. Bodybuilders, young and old, know from one quick glance at Lee's physique exactly how much labor went into its creation -- and they are, one and all, very impressed.

Ironically, bodybuilding luminaries of no less stature than Flex Wheeler, Shawn Ray, Rachel McClish, Lou Ferrigno, Lee Haney, Lenda Murray and former Mr. Olympia, Dorian Yates -- that is to say, the best in the business - have all spoken on the record regarding the impact the physique of Bruce Lee had on their bodybuilding careers. "How could this be?" I can hear you ask, perhaps somewhat incredulously. After all, Lee was only 5'7" tall and checked in at a weight that fluctuated between 126 to 145 pounds! What could a behemoth like Dorian Yates, for example, see in Bruce Lee's physique that would give him grounds for any form of inspiration? The answer, in a word, would be quality.

There has seldom been seen - this side of a jungle cat -- the incredible sinewy and ripped-to-the-bone quality of muscle displayed by Bruce Lee. He was ripped in places that bodybuilders are just now (28 years later) learning they can train. Every muscle group on his body stood out in bold relief from its neighbor -- not simply for show (unlike many bodybuilders) but for function. Lee was, to quote his first student in the United States, Seattle's Jesse Glover, "above all else, concerned with function." Lee's body was not only a thing of immense grace and beauty to watch in action, but it was supremely functional. Leaping eight feet in the air to kick out a light bulb (as evidenced in Lee's office-wrecking scene in the MGM movie Marlow), landing a punch from five feet away in five-hundredths of a second and catching grains of rice -- that he'd thrown into the air -- with chopsticks were things Lee had trained his body (and reflexes) to accomplish. In fact, during his famous "Lost Interview" Lee referred to his approach to training as "the art of expressing the human body." Indeed, perhaps never before has there been such an incredible confluence of physical attributes brought together in the form of one human being -- lightening fast reflexes, supreme flexibility, awesome power, feline grace and muscularity combined in one total -- and very lethal -- package.

Furthermore, the Lee physique was balanced and symmetrical and, while not everyone can be said to admire the massive musculature of our Olympians, everyone -- or so it would seem (including the world's greatest bodybuilders) admire the "total package" that was Bruce Lee.

See one of the best and most controversial championships of all-time Who should have won? Judge for yourself. All of the aforementioned champion bodybuilders have indicated that Bruce Lee was a major influence on their bodybuilding careers, which is no small accomplishment when one considers the fact that Lee never entered a physique contest in his life. Ironically, despite his influence being, felt by the hardest of hard-core bodybuilders, Lee himself was never interested in developing a massive musculature. One of Lee's closest friends and an instructor in Lee's art of Jeet Kune Do, Ted Wong, recalls that "Bruce trained primarily for strength and speed." The physique -- while certainly appreciated by Lee -- came almost as a by-product of such training.

According to those who met him, from Hollywood producers to his fellow martial artists, Lee's muscles carried considerable impact. Taky Kimura, one of Lee's closest friends (in fact, the best man at Lee's wedding in 1964) recalls that Lee was never loath to remove his shirt and display the results of his labors in the gym -- often just to see the reactions of those around him. "He had the most incredible set of lats I'd ever seen," recalled Kimura, "and his big joke was to pretend that his thumb was an air hose, which he'd then put in his mouth and pretend to inflate his lats with. He looked like a damn cobra when he did that!"

Lee's physique holds up under scrutiny and has survived the passage of time simply because it possessed what many consider to have been the perfect blend of razor-sharp cuts, awesome muscularity, great shape and an almost onion skin definition. The muscles that bulged and rippled across the Lee physique were thick, dense, well-chiseled from their neighbor and, above all, functional.

Functional Strength

Dan Inosanto, another of Lee's close friends and himself an instructor in Lee's art, adds that Lee was only interested in strength that could readily be converted to power. "I remember once Bruce and I were walking along the beach in Santa Monica, out by where the 'Dungeon' (an old-time bodybuilding gym) used to be," recalls Inosanto, "when all of a sudden this big, huge bodybuilder came walking out of the Dungeon and I said to Bruce, 'Man, look at the arms on that guy!' I'll never forget Bruce's reaction, he said 'Yeah, he's big -- but is he powerful? Can he use that extra muscle efficiently?"

Power, according to Lee, lay in an individual's ability to use the strength developed in the gym quickly and efficiently; in other words, power was the measure of how quickly and effectively one could summon and coordinate strength for "real-world" purposes. On this basis, according to those who worked out with Lee from time to time such as martial arts actor Chuck Norris, Bruce Lee -- pound for pound-- might well have been one of the most powerful men in the world.

Unbelievable Strength

Lee's feats of strength are the stuff of legend; from performing push-ups - on one hand! - or thumbs only pushups, to supporting a 125-pound barbell at arms length in front of him (with elbows locked) for several seconds, or sending individuals (who outweighed him by as much as 100 pounds in some instances) flying through the air and landing some 15 feet away as a result of a punch that Lee delivered from only one-inch away, the power that Bruce Lee could generate -- at a mere bodyweight of 135 pounds -- is absolutely frightening. Not to mention some of his other nifty little habits like thrusting his fingers through full cans of Coca-Cola and sending 300 pound heavy bags slapping against the ceiling with a simple side kick.

Strength training -- qua strength training -- was Lee's primary objective with resistance exercise. Later, as we shall soon see, his training evolved into more specialized applications that were beneficial to his specific goals as a martial artist. But before we get to there, let's first take a look at how Lee was first drawn to bodybuilding.

Ideals & Possibilities

For a number of years, Lee had made a concerted study of exercise physiology and anatomy. Refusing to merely accept tradition for tradition's sake - a stance that made him increasingly unpopular with the majority of his fellow martial artists who had been raised and were now in the process of passing on (without questioning) the various martial traditions of the East -- Lee's background in physiology and kinesiology had imbued him with the ability to discern a useful exercise from an unproductive one and therefore he was able to avoid the obstacle of wasted time in any of his workouts. Lee believed that the student of exercise science should aim at nothing less than physical perfection, with all that it implies in its totality; he should want great strength, great speed, great coordination, exuberant health, and, by no means least, the muscular beauty of form which distinguishes a physically perfect human being. To Lee, the whole secret of success in bodybuilding lay in the principle of progressive resistance, but he also recognized that there was another component that had won a place in the vocabulary of physical culture and that word was persistence.

Certainly Lee was nothing if not persistent in his quest to fully explore and express the potential of his body, a physique that not only looked phenomenal on a movie screen but that also possessed a musculature that was geared for function. Given the physiological fact that a stronger muscle is a bigger muscle, it was only natural that Lee would in time come to appreciate the superior health-building benefits of bodybuilding -- but I'm getting ahead of myself.

Let us now examine the situation that first caused Lee to appreciate bodybuilding and then we shall focus on what routine he utilized to build the muscles that served him with such tremendous efficiency. While Lee may have been aware of the general benefits to be had from a program of progressive bodybuilding exercises, it took a violent encounter to make him fully cognizant of the merits that a more regular and dedicated approach to bodybuilding could provide.

A Battle in San Francisco

One evening while Lee was preparing to teach a class to a group of select students in his modest San Francisco kwoon (kung fu school), the door to his school suddenly flew open and in walked a group of Chinese martial artists led by a practitioner who was considered to be their best fighter and the designated leader of the troupe.

According to Lee's wife, Linda, who was both present and eight months pregnant with the couple's first child, Brandon, at the time, Lee had on a prior occasion been served with an ornate scroll saying in bold Chinese characters that he had an ultimatum: stop teaching non-Chinese students Gung fu (the Cantonese pronunciation of Kung Fu) or be prepared to fight with San Francisco's top Kung Fu man. Now, the day of reckoning had come.

Lee handed the scroll disdainfully back to their leader. "I'll teach whomever I choose," he said calmly. "I don't care what color they are." While Lee's non-racist views are today generally applauded, in San Francisco's Chinatown in the mid 1960s they were tantamount to treason -- at least within the Chinese community. Indeed, teaching Chinese combative "secrets" to non-Chinese races was perceived as the highest form of treason in the martial arts community. By his words and demeanor, Lee had effectively thrown the gauntlet back at the feet of his would-be challenger and, while Lee had many virtues, it is well known among his friends, family and students that patience in suffering fools and their ignorance was not one of them.

A fight immediately broke out and, in a matter of seconds, Lee had the previously bold and self-righteous kung fu "expert" running for the nearest exit. Finally, after much legwork, Lee was able to throw his man to the floor and extract a submission from him. In a rage, Lee threw the entire troupe off the premises, cursing them out in Cantonese, en route. However, Lee quickly learned -- to his shock, given that the fight had lasted all of three minutes -- that he had expended a tremendous amount of energy in the altercation. "He was surprised and disappointed at the physical condition he was in," recalled Linda of the occasion. "He'd thought that the fight had lasted way too long and that it was his own lack of proper conditioning that made it such a lengthy set-to. He had felt inordinately winded afterwards."

It was this fight more than any other single event that had given Lee sufficient cause to thoroughly investigate alternate avenues of physical conditioning. His conclusion? He would need to develop considerably more strength -- of both his muscles and cardiovascular system -- if he was ever to become the complete martial artist he had envisioned becoming.

The Bodybuilding Connection

Knowing that the muscle magazines were the only existing source of current health and strength training information, Lee immediately began to subscribe to all of the bodybuilding publications he could find. He ordered bodybuilding courses out of the magazines and tested their claims and theories. He made a habit out of frequenting second-hand bookstores and purchasing books on bodybuilding and strength training, including one written by Eugene Sandow entitled Strength & How to Obtain It -- which was originally published in 1897. Lee's hunger for knowledge in the field of bodybuilding ran so high, that he purchased everything he could get his hands on -- from "hot off the press" courses to back list classics. No price was too high for knowledge, particularly if its application resulted in the acquisition of greater bodily strength, power and physical efficiency.

From this point on until his eventual death in July of 1973 (of a cerebral edema), Bruce Lee amassed a tremendous personal library of books on philosophy, martial art and an extensive selection of tomes that dealt extensively with physical fitness, bodybuilding, physiology and weight lifting. Lee would underline certain passages of text that he found particularly meaningful and would constantly jot down thoughts of how this information could be applied to martial art in the margins of the books. "Bruce used to come into his school in L.A.'s Chinatown with an armful of articles from the muscle magazines," recalls Inosanto. "He'd say 'look at this: these bodybuilders all say that they do this in order to increase their strength -- it's a common denominator running throughout all of their writings.' He'd look for consistency in things like that and would compare and eliminate the additional data that he felt was superfluous."

The Routine

After much research, and with the help of two bodybuilders who were also his close friends and students in the San Francisco Bay area, Lee devised a three-day-per-week bodybuilding program that he felt fit his strengthening and bodybuilding needs perfectly. According to one of these men, Allen Joe, "James Lee and I introduced Bruce to the basic weight training techniques. We used to train with basic exercises like squats, pullovers and curls for about three sets each. Nothing really spectacular but we were just getting him started." This program actually served Lee well from 1965 through until 1970 and fit in perfectly with Lee's own philosophy of getting the maximum results out of the minimum -- or most economical -- expenditure of energy.

The every-other-day workout allowed for the often neglected aspect of recovery to take place. Lee coordinated his bodybuilding workouts in such a way so as to insure that they fell on days when he wasn't engaged in either endurance-enhancing or overly strenuous martial art training. The program worked like magic; increasing Lee's bodyweight from an initial 130 pounds to -- at one point -- topping out at just over 165 pounds!

According to Glover, however, Lee wasn't particularly pleased with the added mass; "I noticed that he was bigger after he was weight training. There was a time after he went to California that he went up to 165 pounds. But I think it slowed him down because that was real heavy for Bruce. He looked buff like a bodybuilder. And then, later on I saw him and this was all gone. I mean, one thing that Bruce was [about] was function -- and if stuff got in the way, then it had to go. Bruce wanted his weight training to complement what he did in the martial arts. A lot of what Bruce was doing was about being able to maintain arm positions that nobody could violate in a fight. Like, if you take most people who are into bodybuilding or weight training, most of them are interested in simply building up their muscles to a bigger size, particularly the major muscle groups -- not much attention is paid to the connective tissues, like ligament and tendon strength. Well, Bruce's thing was 'let's build up the connectors and we won't worry so much about the size of the muscle.' Again, Bruce was about function."

Gearing his training for function, Lee's bodybuilding routine incorporated the three core tenets of total fitness- stretching for flexibility, weight training for strength and cardiovascular activity for his respiratory system -- the original cross-trainer!

Bruce Lee's "Lethal Physique" Bodybuilding Program (performed on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays) Exercise Sets Repetitions Clean & Press 2 8 Squats 2 12 Pullovers 2 8 Bench Presses 2 6 Good Mornings 2 8 Barbell Curls 2 8

The Breakdown of the Routine:

1.) Clean & Press: Lee would begin this movement by taking a shoulder-width grip on an Olympic barbell. Bending his knees, he would squat down in front of the resistance and, with a quick snap of his arms and a thrust from his legs, clean the barbell to his chest and stand up. After a brief pause, Lee would then thrust the barbell to arms length overhead, pause briefly, and then lower the barbell back to the top of his chest. After another brief pause, he would lower the barbell back to the floor (the starting position). With absolutely no rest, Lee would then initiate his second repetition of the movement and continue to do so until he had completed eight repetitions. After a very brief rest, so as to take full advantage of the cardio-respiratory benefits as well as the strength-building benefits, Lee would perform a second -- and final -- set.

2.) Squats: This staple of bodybuilding movements was the cornerstone of Bruce Lee's barbell training. He had dozens of articles that he'd clipped out on the mechanics and benefits of squats and he practiced many variations of this exercise. In his routine, however, he performed the exercise in the standard fashion. Resting a barbell across his shoulders, Lee would place his feet approximately shoulder-width apart. Making sure that he was properly balanced, Lee would slowly ascend to a full squat position. With absolutely zero pause in the bottom position, Lee would then immediately return -- using the strength of his hips, glutes, hamstrings, calves and quadriceps -- to the starting position, whereupon he would commence rep number two. Lee would perform 12 repetitions in this movement and, after a short breather, return and re-shoulder the barbell for one more set of 12 reps.

3.) Pullovers: Although there exists no physical evidence that Bruce Lee supersetted barbell pullovers with squats, there is reason to believe that this was case -- if only for the fact that such was the method advocated in the articles he read. Squats were considered a great "overall" muscle builder, whereas pullovers were simply considered a "rib box expander" or "breathing exercise." Consequently, the fashion of incorporating pullovers in the late 1960s and early 1970s was as a "finishing" movement for squats. This being the case, Lee would perform the movement in the standard fashion; i.e., by lying down on his back upon a flat bench and taking a shoulder-width grip on a barbell that he would then proceed to press out to full extension above his chest. From this position, Lee would lower the barbell -- making sure to keep a slight bend in his elbows so as not to strain the elbow joint -- behind his head until it touched the floor ever so slightly and provided a comfortable stretch to his lats. From this fully-extended position, Lee would then slowly reverse the motion through the contraction of his lats, pecs and long-head of the triceps. He would repeat this movement for two sets of eight repetitions.

4.) Bench Presses: Bruce Lee was able to develop an incredible chest musculature. His upper pecs were particularly impressive, bunching and splitting into thousands of fibrous bands. And, as far as his personal training records indicate, the only direct barbell movement he performed to develop his chest was the good old fashioned bench press. Lying down upon a flat bench, and again taking a shoulder-width grip on an Olympic barbell, Lee would press the weight off the support pins to arms length above his chest. From this locked-out position, Lee would then lower the barbell to his chest and, exhaling, press it back up to the fully-locked out (or starting) position. He would repeat this movement for six repetitions and then, after a brief respite, return to the bench for one more set of six reps.

5.) Good Mornings: A word of caution about this exercise. Lee performed this movement to strengthen his lower back. However, one day in early 1970 he loaded up the bar with 135 pounds (his bodyweight at the time) and -- without a warm up -- proceeded to knock off eight repetitions. On his last rep he felt a "pop" and found out later that he had damaged the fourth sacral nerve of his lower back. The result was the Lee had to endure incredible back pain for the remainder of his life. This is not to say that the movement is without merit, just make sure that you perform an adequate warm-up prior to employing, it. Placing a barbell across his shoulders, Lee would place his feet three inches apart (Lee would later confide to Dan Inosanto "You really don't need any weight but the empty bar on your shoulders Dan -- it's more of a limbering movement") and bend over from the waist keeping his hands on the barbell at all times. Lee would bend over until his back was at a 90 degree angle to his hips and then return to the upright position. Lee performed two sets of eight repetitions of this movement.

6.) Barbell Curls: Bruce Lee performed barbell curls not only in his garage gym on Roscomare Avenue in Bel Air, but also in his studio office in Hong Kong. They were a staple or "core" movement in his weight training routine and were also responsible for building a very impressive pair of biceps on Lee -- not to mention incredible pulling power, which he used to such good effect in all of his sparring sessions! To perform this movement properly, Lee would take a comfortable shoulder-width grip on the barbell with his palms facing forwards. Keeping a slight bend in his knees for stabilization purposes, Lee would then contract his biceps and curl the barbell up to a point level with his upper pecs. Pausing briefly in this fully-contracted position, Lee would then slowly lower the barbell back to the starting position. Two sets of eight repetitions of this movement would typically wrap up Lee's bodybuilding routine.

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Going Beyond "Routine"

According to Inosanto, Lee didn't just train with the above listed exercises. He would also incorporate weight training into his martial art workouts. "Bruce would always shadow box with small weights in his hands and he'd do a drill in which he'd punch for 12 series in a row, 100 punches per series, using a pyramid system of 1,2,3,5,7 and 10-pound weights -- and then he'd reverse the pyramid and go 10, 7, 5, 3, 2, 1 and finally "zero" weight. He had me do this drill with him and -- Man! -- what a burn you'd get in your delts and arms!"

It didn't stop there however. When Lee wasn't training with weights in his martial art workouts or during one of his three designated whole-body training sessions, he could be found curling a dumbbell in the office in his house. "He was always using that dumbbell," recalls Linda in looking back on her husband's training habits. "Bruce had the unique ability to be able to several things at once. It wasn't all unusual for me to find him watching a boxing match on TV, simultaneously performing a full side splits, while reading a book in one hand and pumping a dumbbell in the other."

Incredible Abs

By far the most impressive of all of Lee's bodyparts was his abdominal muscles, which he trained daily. "Bruce always felt that if your stomach wasn't developed, then you had no business sparring," recalls Wong. "He was a fanatic about abdominal training," concurs Linda, "he was always doing sit-ups, crunches, Roman Chair movements, Leg Raises and V-ups." Chuck Norris has gone on record recalling the time that he went to visit the Lee family and seeing Bruce lying on the living room floor bouncing his son Brandon on his abdomen while simultaneously performing dumbbell flyes for his pecs and leg raises for his abs - and watching television to boot!

Forearms of Steel

In order to improve his gripping and punching power, Lee became an avid devotee of forearm training, While many champion bodybuilders shy away from direct forearm training, Lee made it a point to train his forearms daily. "He was a forearm fanatic," laughs Linda in retrospect. "If ever any bodybuilder -- such as Bill Pearl -- came out with a forearm course, Bruce would have to get it." Bruce even commissioned an old friend of his from San Francisco, George Lee (no relation) to build him several "Gripping machines" to which Lee would add weight for additional resistance. "He used to send me all of these designs for exercise equipment," recalls George Lee, "and I'd build them according to his specs. However, I wasn't altogether foolish," he says with a laugh, "I knew that if Bruce was going to use it, it must be effective, so I'd build one to send to him and another for me to use at home!"

Allen Joe recalls that Lee had a favorite dumbbell exercise that he used to train his forearms with constantly: "Bruce was always working on his forearms. He'd pick up a weight and go to the edge of the sofa and start doing wrist curls while he was watching TV. Then he'd do his abdominal work -- and then he'd return to his forearm training. The dumbbell curl he liked best was a Zottman curl, where you would curl the weight up one side of your body and then you twist it and bring it down on the other side. He'd do that all the time!"

Knowledge Is Power

For the past seven years I've been hard at work compiling all (and I mean ALL) of Bruce Lee's training programs, notes and annotations on physical training for a book series that, like Lee's training methods, has proved to be constantly evolving (the training material has been presented in the book entitled The Art of Expressing The Human Body, Tuttle Publishing, Boston). And what amazes me after having looked through all of his materials is just how thorough his knowledge of training actually was. Lee collected over 140 books on bodybuilding, weight training, physiology and kinesiology during his lifetime, in addition to well over 2,000 books on philosophy and the martial arts. Lee believed that you could never know "too much" about a subject that could benefit your health and he lived his entire life trying to acquire as much knowledge about health and fitness as he could.

Although Lee is no longer with us, his teachings and his example live on. Certainly this is so in the realm of exercise science. Lee epitomized the athletic ideals of diligence, hard work, bearing up under adversity and refusing to short-change either oneself or one's potential. "Low aim is the biggest crime a man can commit," he once told Tae Kwon Do Master, Jhoon Rhee. "Remember, Life is a journey, not a destination."

The Roman philosopher Seneca once said that, "Life, if thou knowest how to use it, is long enough." If this is so, then Bruce Lee's life was long enough to be a fulfilling one, perhaps - given what he accomplished and the enduring influence of his example -- it might just be considered one of the more meaningful lives of the twentieth century. And it was Lee's commitment to excellence - and to a principled approach to training - that resulted in the creation of one of the greatest physiques in modern history.

Why Is There So Little Time? -- May/June 2008

Following in the footsteps of our friends in the US, the UK are a nation of growing obesity. Cutting down on processed food and taking more exercise are tips that we read all the time. Gyms are springing up all over the place, as are slimming clubs, health warnings are in every single paper or magazine that we pick up, medical insurance comes with its own set of guidelines for healthy weight limits and adjust our premiums accordingly.

However, you can lead a horse to water but you cannot make it drink. Similarly, you can give people all the advice in the world and even make them incur penalties in their finances through increased medical insurance premiums, but you cannot make them change their lifestyles or diets unless they really want to.

Endless excuses are heard by doctors as to why people can't lose weight. No time is the most bandied about excuse on the circuit but let's look a little more closely at the statistics.

It has already been deduced that women spend one year of their entire lives exercising but men spend two years on it. Can't women do more, I hear you ask. Actually, no! Because women have to spend two years shopping and men only have to do it for one year, because women do it for them. Even it out a little guys and we'll gain another six months to exercise.

For medical insurance purposes, we could count having sex as exercise, unless of course, you have the passion of my ex-husband. It seems men and women each spend six months of their lives having sex, again I refer to my ex-husband and suggest this is not entirely equal.

Women spend an extra 18 months, on average, more than their men getting ready to go out. That's 18 months less exercising time because men don't have hair to do or make up to perfect and can stride around in their comfortable flat shoes speeding up the whole process instead of tottering around like a Chinese woman with her feet bound too tightly on a pair of spikes.

No great surprise is that women spend two and a half years of their lives on housework where men contribute just a year and a half. Even that up and we gain another six months of exercise time. This will make women's exercise time the same as men's.

And don't tell me it's because men are at work that they can't do those things. In a recent survey, it was found that men spent ten and a half years working while women go out to work for eight and a half years, that's two years longer at work for a man. Given that the average woman will spend a fraction under three years growing new life I think that evens it out somewhat.

Of course, men need to work more to pay for all the medical insurance that we need to dig us out of the problems brought on by this busy lifestyle. Like all the time women spend cooking - three years of their lives cooking for the men that only spend a year and a half on it. Each sex spends an average of four years of their entire lives queuing. The difference is that women queue for the necessities of life - like buying those new shoes whereas men queue for their beer.

Some tips that the medical insurance companies would do well to give out would be for women, who on average, spend eight and a half years on the phone, walk around while doing so. Get a cordless phone and wander the house while you decry the downfall of your man who is probably, right at this moment, in the toilet, seeing as they spend two and a half years longer than women carrying out this basic function. Just what goes on in there!

Then we have the age old time stealer of watching TV with women being able to rack up thirteen years as opposed to the man's ten years. But when you think about it, that's three years difference, two and a half of which is when the man is in the toilet.

If we all halved our TV watching time and spent that time indulging in exercise, how much healthier would we be? How much would our medical insurance be reduced by? We could use some of that time enjoying a little more than six months sex which doesn't sound anywhere near enough but then again that would produce more babies, more time the women would spend out of action and more reason for the man to hide away in the toilet.

The moral of this story for women is that you simply cannot have cheap medical insurance and a bloke, and for men - just pull your finger out and help a little more.

Author Resource:- Life coach expert Catherine Harvey looks at the way we can bring down medical insurance premiums by exercising more.

Minimizing Sore Muscles - Feb./Mar. 2008

Minimizing Sore Muscles

Arghh, the dull pain from sore muscles, is a repeated complain from women involved in fitness training! Hard exercise causes muscle damage. If you looked under a microscope at your sore muscles after a hard workout you would see torn and ruptured individual muscle cells, and breakdown of the membranes between them. High intensity exercise causes muscle soreness.

However you can reduce the incidence of pain and sore muscles by following the following tips.

Adopt good training habits.

Avoid being a weekend warrior. A weekend warrior does little exercise during the week. The words "couch potato" come to mind. Then, with a burst of enthusiasm, the weekend warrior "seizes the weekend", running, playing, dancing, etc. A better strategy is to exercise regularly. Get into motion 2 or 3 times a week for 20 min at a stretch!

Do a bit of stretching.

Slowly bend down, reaching for your toes. Hang forward, counting to 15. Let gravity do the stretching. Don't force the stretch. Then lean over to each side, making a giant letter "C", again for 15 seconds. Then bend your knees and shift from side to side, stretching the groin muscles. Lastly, roll your shoulders around a couple of times. Now you're ready for more vigorous activity. Have fun.

Start with a slow warm up.

Cold muscles suddenly put to work are more likely to become damaged than ones that have been warmed up properly. Warming up gradually will increase your heart and breathing rates, increasing the flow of oxygen and nutrients to your muscles before you begin to work them hard. In addition, your joints secrete more synovial fluid and become less stiff. With a warm-up, the body is properly adapted to the demands of exercise.

Be sure to drink lots of water.

And remember to eat a high carbohydrate, low fat diet so your muscles have plenty of fuel.

Do not increase both intensity and duration during the same week.

If you are on a strength and endurance program keep your intensity or duration increase to 10% or less each week. Allow your body to recover properly and adapt slowly to improved performance levels.

Split Workouts

It may seem that doing full body workouts will benefit you the most but you can actually push yourself harder and work your muscles more effectively (avoid muscle soreness) if you work different body parts each day. Modify your strength training routine by, working back, chest, biceps, triceps, shoulders one day and quads, hamstrings, calves, abs the next day. The advantage is that you can easily incorporate supersets, combination sets, and tri-sets into your workout. The disadvantage is that the full upper body workout can get really lengthy.

Get a massage Even though research hasn't proved this to speed healing, massage has been shown to lower levels of muscle soreness by stimulating neutrophils (white blood cells that fight inflammation). It goes without saying that athletes feel better after a massage.

Relaxation You can also take an epsom salt bath or use the pool and hot tub for 15 minutes of relaxation to reduce muscle tension.

Diet Tip

Maintain a regular intake of 1000 mg of vitamin C and 100-200 mg of bromelain, an enzyme from pineapples, for two days - these are natural anti-inflammatories.

Good blood flow through your muscles is the key to quick, natural healing.

Watching Your Health This holiday Season -- Nov./Dec. 2007

Hello Everyone.

It is once again time for the holiday season, complete with office parties, Christmas shopping, lunch dates with friends and late night movies, snacking and decorating. We at P.M.A.T.S. know the joys of these festive activities, as well as the sorrowful regrets the next morning or the next month when stepping on the scale or looking in the mirror after a long, hot shower. This is why we felt it was important for this month’s Fitness Check article to address staying healthy during the holidays.

For almost all of us, holiday eating is our number one downfall. Colder weather, seasonal music and decorations, combined with plates of fresh, hot brownies or platters of succulent meat and gravey or buttered rolls proves too much for our weakened willpower. We pile our plates high with steaming goodies, content with our thick, comfortable sweaters to hide our after-dinner tummy bulges, and indulge. We pour on the gravy, the buttered sauces. We down our fruity-sugared punch, our cocktails or creamy eggnog. We go light on our vegetables and heavy on our dip. We go back for seconds of dessert, or possibly even a “very small” third of our favorite dish. And we revel in our excuse to indulge in all the goodies we’ve tried to deny ourselves throughout the year. The new, roomy sweater we bought while Christmas shopping the day before does not help our waning will power.

So how can we avoid the ‘inevitable’ holiday binge? Furthermore, how can we stay healthy during the holidays without giving up some of the very things that make the holiday season so enjoyable? The following paragraphs address this issue.

Everyone has heard the best thing to do to avoid over eating, especially on sugared or fattening sweets over the holiday season, is to limit the size of your portions, or not go back for seconds. There is, of course, a lot of truth in this. But once you arrive and get in line at the food table, this idea looses its appeal very quickly.

One nutritionist expert offered the following solution - eat a small, healthful meal BEFORE going to the party. If you know in advance that there will be food served, most of it probably unhealthy, eating a smaller, more nutritious meal before going will leave you not feeling starved when you see the dessert table or gravy dishes sitting next to roast beef and mashed potatoes. Another way to manage the amount of food you eat, without FEELING so much like you are, is to choose the smaller size plate. Even if you fill it up full of food like usual, the smaller size will automatically mean you have eaten less food, and still LOOK like you have a lot.

Once you have sat down at the table, another recommendation is to pause for a second and take a deep breath, looking at your food. If you take just a moment to really focus on the fact that you are eating, you will be more likely to notice when you’re getting full and stop.

Another reason is many people are social eaters, and use food to blend in and feel comfortable in a social setting. If you are one of these people, what you eat is not the important issue for you - instead of grabbing a plate of chips or cookies or a slice of pie, get a small plate and fill it with cheese or fruit. Instead of munching idly on fattening foods without enjoying the full benefit of it, your healthy food choice will suit you much better as your social eating throughout the season goes on.

At places where the point of the social gathering is to eat, dinner with in-laws or at a friends for example, it is much easier to over eat and especially go too far on the sweets. If you fill up on healthy food first, you won’t have room to comfortably eat that big piece of your Aunt's German Chocolate Torte, and certainly not for two, before you begin to feel sick. However, these are usually the people with iron-clad will power and not the majority. For the rest of us who can’t pass up the fatty dishes with thick creamy sauces and mounds of butter on our rolls before hitting the buffet table, there are other tactics.

Rather than only limiting the size of our portions, also limit the amount of those delicious sauces and creamy cheese or vegetable dips. One tablespoon of gravy made from turkey drippings can have up to 70 calories alone and celery or carrots loose most of their nutritional value with mounds of ranch dressing on them. Simply letting the majority of these sauces drain from the serving spoon before the food gets to your plate will save a lot of time in the weight room later.

Sweet and salty foods are most people’s downfalls. We have more taste buds for sweets than any other and salt enhances the flavor of any food. Even worse, you can build up a resistance to it so you end up needing more and more over time. The holiday season however is a perfect opportunity to try these tasty alternatives: vanilla and peppermint enhance foods natural sweetness, cinnamon, nutmeg and mint can be used instead of sugar to sweeten foods, and spices such as oregano, basil, rosemary, garlic and onion lessen the need for salt. Most stores sell bottled mixes of spices that make this easy to use when cooking.

Low fat foods don’t have to taste bad either. Olive oil, canola oil or corn oil are much healthier choices when baking that limit the amount of “bad” fats in your food. Low-fat yogurt, fat free half and half or evaporated skim milk instead of whole or cream milk will also dramatically lessen your calorie count. Low-fat or fat free eggnog is also a good choice. And if your going to eat fattening foods, forego the fruit pie that you kind of like in favor of the lemon meringue one that you love; don’t sample both.

Alcohol is another big calorie ticket. The best and easiest thing to do is to limit yourself to one of the high calorie ones-your favorite-and then drink only low calorie diet sodas, white wine or seltzer with lemon or lime. The healthiest drink is, as always, plain water.

Eating healthy doesn’t just apply for dinner or lunch parties. The best thing you can do to stay healthy-food wise-over the holidays is to eat a simple, healthy breakfast. McDonalds or Hardee’s doesn’t count. Eggs, oatmeal, cheese and toast or soup are all quick, easy breakfasts that will keep you from making a meal out of the mini candy bars on the desk at work. Remember that just because you mess up one day doesn’t mean you’ve messed up for the entire season-go back to healthy eating the next day.

The final easiest thing you can do to stay healthy during the holidays is to sneak in some exercise while shopping. Take the stairs instead of elevators-especially when carrying your bags. You know you’re probably going to be too tired regardless to go to the gym after your shopping, so sneak in lunges and weights this way. Instead of stressing to find the closest parking space, park farther back and walk briskly to the store and back, as well as through the mall. This allows you to sneak in some cardio.

If you make these combined efforts-doing these little tricks to limit your calories and sneaking in exercise during the days your too busy to go to the gym, when New Years comes around, you will be that much closer to your resolution to reach that certain weight.

Have a Blessed and Healthy Holiday Season

By Delisa Leonard



Truth About Training The Abdominal Muscles
by Deborah L. Mullen, CSCS -- May/June 2007

The fact that millions of Americans desire a trim waist is what keeps the ab equipment industry booming. Unfortunately, many of the abdominal exercise gadgets on the market are ineffective and sometimes even unsafe. The advertisements for these products perpetuate misconceptions about what really works and what doesn't.

Spot Reduction

"Trim" is a word used frequently in ab products. In reality, no exercise equipment will trim or reduce your waist. If you haven't heard by now, you cannot spot reduce fat (except by liposuction!). So don't believe ANY abdominal toning equipment advertisement that promises to decrease fat around your waistline. The fact is that ab exercises will train your abdominal muscles, but you will have the same layer of fat sitting on top of these muscles unless you create a calorie deficit by burning more calories than you consume. The most effective combination is aerobic exercise, strength training and healthy eating habits. You might not like this answer, but it is the only one that will work in the long run. Don't look for quick-fixes--as we all know, if it sounds to good to be true, it probably is!

The Flat-Stomach Myth:

Many people are on a quest to achieve a "flat stomach". The obsession with the abdominal area can cause frustration, anxiety, and can even lead to eating disorders. Unfortunately for many people it's not physiologically possible to achieve a flat-stomach. Our abdominals aren't designed to be flat. Instead, the abdominal muscles form a rounded, not flat, shape. Gender, age, and individual body types can effect the size and shape of your abdomen. This is especially true of many healthy and fit women who, when they reach about 40 years old, tend to get a lower abdominal "pooch" due to hormonal changes.

So instead of worrying about something you can't change, try focusing on something you can--like your posture. Poor posture can contribute to a "pot belly" look, while good posture can add to a trimmer-looking physique. Good posture consists of a slight bending of the knees, contracting the abdominal muscles to point the tailbone toward the floor, and keeping your shoulders back and your head balanced on your neck (not leaning forward). Think of a string attached to your head which is being pulled upward. Better posture will make you feel taller and slimmer.

Effective Abdominal Exercises

As mentioned earlier, ab exercises won't reduce fat from your waistline. Genetics, age and gender determine the shape of your abdomen. That said, with the proper exercises, you can improve the abdominal muscles. The abdominal muscles react to resistance training just like any other muscle group. Performing 100 biceps curls is not the proper way to overload the biceps--neither is doing 100 crunches to work the abdominals. Effective exercise will fatigue muscles in less than 20 repetitions and will produce better results.

You can achieve results without any equipment. You can even work your abdominals by performing a "pelvic tilt" while sitting in a chair. This method can strengthen your abdominals for better posture and for supporting the back. People with weak abs find this very helpful and easy to do. Other exercises:

Standard Crunch:
Lie on back with knees bent. Lift your shoulders off the floor, concentrating on moving your ribs towards your hips. Pretend a grapefruit is under your chin so you don't move your head. Easier: hands on chest. Harder: Hands on sides of head, but don't pull on head. Hardest: Hands straight out above head. Go slow and keep breathing. Try 2 seconds up, hold for 2 seconds, then 2 seconds going down.

Reverse Curl:
This targets the lower fibers of the front abdominal muscle and also the side abdominals. Lie on your back and bend your knees toward your chest as far as is comfortable, keeping hips on the floor. Contract your abdominal muscles to lift hips off the floor and bring knees toward chest. Don't swing your legs! Concentrate on using your abs to lift your pelvis toward your lower rib cage. Go slow and keep breathing. Easier: Hands on floor. Harder: Elbows on floor, hands in air.

Combination Crunch:
Do the standard crunch and the reverse curl at the same time. If you need a challenging ab exercise, this will work great.

Ab Exercises on the Ball
There are some legitimate ab products like the exercise ball (aka swiss, gym, stability ball, Fitball), which has been used by physical therapists for decades. It's one of the safest and most effective training devices for the abs and low back. Lying on the exercise ball, your hips curve down so you start your exercise at a greater range of motion than you would lying flat on the floor. This means more of the abdominal muscle gets trained.



Train The Body, The Mind Will Follow!
By Ross Enamait--- July/August

How does one gain confidence and develop mental toughness?

This is a common question, asked by many aspiring athletes. While searching the Internet, I typed the phrase “mind power” in the Google search engine. I received several thousand hits with this phrase. Many of the links were to expensive information products dedicated to the subject. For a few hundred bucks, some guru will tell you how to develop a strong mind, which will then supposedly improve athletic performance.

One thing that I’ve learned in my life is that if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Training the mind does not require an investment in an expensive course, nor does it require a degree in psychology or neuroscience.

Although I am all for strategies such as pre-competition visualization and positive affirmations, there is one commonly overlooked way to develop an indomitable mindset.

If you train the body, the mind will follow. By pushing yourself in the gym, your mind is forced to come along for the ride. If your mind is weak, you will quit as soon as fatigue mounts. Fighters are trained to work through fatigue. The ability to display skill in a fatigued state is a unique skill in itself.

Such abilities are developed through intense physical training. If you want a strong, confident mind, you must develop this mindset in the gym.

Consider the words below from Bernard Hopkins, one of the greatest middleweight boxers of all time. These words came in a pre-fight interview earlier in his career. Bernard said the following:

“I’m always going to come in (to the fight) overconfident and I have a reason to. I always come in overconfident because I train so hard that I leave no room for doubt in my mind. I never go in there to lose. The word is not even in my dictionary. I train confident, and I train to think overconfidently. If I didn’t, I’d be a fool.”

By pushing through strenuous workouts, you will gradually improve physically. As your strength and conditioning improve, you will gain confidence in your abilities. This process does not happen overnight. It takes time, dedication, perseverance, and a regular dose of hard work.

There is no room for doubt in an athlete’s mind. You must gain confidence in yourself. As you push through difficult challenges and routines, your mind will become increasingly resilient.

It is easy to quit when the going gets tough. A strong mind will enable you to keep plugging away despite the fatigue that will inevitably mount. As Vince Lombardi once said:

“Once you learn to quit, it becomes a habit.”

Tour De France bicycling king Lance Armstrong perhaps said it best with the following words:

"Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever. That surrender, even the smallest act of giving up, stays with me. So when I feel like quitting, I ask myself, which would I rather live with?"

Obviously, you need a strong mind to live with such conviction, but you also need a strong body. Quitting offers an easy way out of any challenge. Everyone has a breaking point. By continually raising the bar in the gym, you can avoid reaching this point during competition. Train your body to go the distance, and the mind will be prepared for the journey.

Don’t just coast through your workouts at the gym. Crank up the intensity and gain confidence in your training. Don’t enter your competition wishing that you had one more week to train. Plan ahead of time, put in the work, and develop a strong body AND mind!

To drive home this point, let’s look at one brief conditioning workout. Set a timer and challenge yourself to perform 100 burpees as fast as possible. Can you perform 100 burpees in 10 minutes? What about 9, 8, 7, 6, or 5 minutes? How fast can you go?

As you work through this brief challenge, your mind will start whispering in one ear, convincing you to stop completely or take an extended rest period. It will become difficult to maintain a fast pace as fatigue starts to rear its ugly head.

Upon completing the routine, the mind may add another piece of advice, something such as “Let’s never work through that routine again…”

When working through a difficult challenge, it is useful to ignore the mind. Don’t let the mind convince you to quit. Stay focused on the task at hand. Make the decision to complete the challenge in its entirety BEFORE you begin the workout. You may even find it useful to post motivating words on the walls of your gym. It is always useful to glance up to a motivational phrase from a dominant athlete such as Lance Armstrong. A quick glimpse may provide that extra spark that you need to keep working.

Before closing this section, I’d like to provide one last quote. These words come from former heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali. He once said:

"I hated every minute of training, but I said, Don't quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion."

Many readers may consider these words harsh. After all, we live in world where the easy road is most often traveled. You must remember however that the fight game is harsh. Combat sports are not for everyone. Anyone who suggests otherwise is talking out of his ass. If you wish to partake in such an event, you must take the training seriously.

Prepare the body and mind, or be prepared for injury.

About the Author - Ross Enamait is an innovative athlete and trainer, whose training style is among the most intense that you will find. Ross is committed to excellence and advancements in high performance conditioning and functional strength development. He has a sincere interest in helping today's athlete in their quest for greatness.

Ross has authored several training manuals, and is available for private training in the New England area. You may contact him directly at ross@rosstraining.com

Speeding Towards Fun --
March/April 2007

There really is a magic bullet towards getting a younger body, trim thighs, smaller hips, less flab, and all those wonderful things. And it makes you feel like a kid again, racing off into the sunset on whatever adventure you chose, whether it is chasing the bad guys on that old TV series or crossing the line in glory at the Olympics. All this and a stronger heart, lower blood fat levels stabilized insulin levels, lower stress levels, and just plain fun, burning calories at 400-800 per hour in a non stress, easy on the body fashion. Did I mention it also happens to be fun?

So, the name of this magic bullet? A bicycle. Yes, that two wheeled piece of your history that you took to school, and around the block and down the street. Like you, bikes have grown up a bit. Banana seats are gone, and not too many adults have tassels flying off the ends of their handlebars, and forget the playing card clothes pinned on your back wheel so it hits the spokes and makes that noise we thought was so cool. But you can find your starter bike in many places, and once you start, your local bike shop can set you on your way to the latest and greatest as your interest and budget dictate.

Safety first—helmets are not only your first line of defense; they are required by law in most places. Today’s helmets have vents that lower the weight, heat index and permit that feeling of air flowing over your head. Make sure your bike is properly fitted to you, and has working brakes front and back, you know how to inflate the tires to what pressure, and you have reflector on the spokes. A headlight for low light conditions and a flashing red light for the back will complete your basic set up. Clothing—just be comfortable at first. After you work up to more than 30 minutes, padded shorts will make your ride much more comfortable. Later, you may want to add jerseys, shoes that clip onto your pedals, mirrors, and bike computer so you can track your mileage and speed. All those are toys, however useful they may be. You can start with just a bike and a helmet. I didn’t even spend money on my starter bike—I borrowed my daughters! I now have my own, and yes, I wear the funny shorts! (I also keep a skirt in my car for those times I have to run into my kid’s school while dressed for a ride.)

In the beginning, just ride. Go for consistency, but get out 3—4 times a week, even if you only have 10 minuets. Add about 10% a week until you reach your goals. Find the local bike club, and patronize your local bike shop. You may pay a few dollars more than a catalog, but they can only be there to help you if they can stay in business. Catalogs are fine for some bike stuff, but can never replace the human showing you how to adjust your brakes or get out of those clip in pedals.

And those health benefits? Obviously, you will be working major muscle groups, and by now most people know about aerobic training strengthening the heart. You may not know that it decreases the bad cholesterols and increases the good. It evens out your blood sugar by making your body more sensitive to insulin, thus helping to prevent Type 2 Diabetes, which is currently rising to epidemic levels. Most people will be riding in a lower state of intensity than professional racers, so more fat is burned, also helping to prevent fatty liver disease. And working those muscles—glutes, legs, arms, back, and all of your core—means toning and firming, So do plan on going shopping for new jeans.

I started riding because of some worrisome results from what was meant to be routine blood work. Yes, I watched my diet (some) but mostly I just rode. In less than 4 months, I brought all but one risk factor down to normal levels. That one was closer to normal than it has been in five years, and is barely out of the normal range. Inches disappeared, the scales went down, and my Dr smiled at the next set of results. This year I am planning on a 300-400 mile ride across middle Tn. —the BRAT. My risk of cancer, diabetes, heart disease, stroke and a host of other ills are all down. All by acting like a kid and riding my bike.

See you on the road!

By Mrs. Valerie Leonard



12 Keys To Super-Charging Your Metabolism For Weight Loss! - Feb. 2007

You hear it all the time - "metabolism", but what is it? It's the process of converting food to energy (movement and heat). Metabolism happens in your muscles and organs and the result of it is what we commonly refer to as "burning calories". Metabolism is essentially the speed at which your body's motor is running.

"Basal metabolism" is the metabolic rate or caloric expenditure needed to maintain basal body functions such as your heart beating, breathing, muscle tone, etc. It's how fast your "motor" is running when you're still in a reclined position or sleeping. Basal metabolism accounts for about 75% of the calories you expend on a daily basis!

The good news is that there are 12 ways you can "boost" your metabolism! The more of these you're able to incorporate into your life, the more you'll boost your metabolism. That means you'll be expending ("burning") more calories 24 hours a day!

1. Always eat breakfast! Skipping breakfast sends the message to your body that you're starving because you haven't had food in 18+ hours. As a protective mechanism, your metabolism slows down. Food, especially complex carbohydrates, fuels your metabolism.

2. Eat earlier in the day! Research has demonstrated that you can lose weight simply by eating a substantial breakfast and lunch, and a light dinner. Dinner should be eaten as early as possible, preferably at least four hours before bedtime.

3. Never eat less than 1200 calories per day! Less than 1200 is usually not enough to support your basal metabolism and thus will slow your metabolism.

4. Snack frequently! Complex carbohydrates (fruits, vegetables, and grains) fuel your metabolism. Also, snacking prevents you from becoming too hungry. The hungrier you are, the less control you have over what and how much you eat.

5. Eat more carbohydrates (food from plants), and less fat (food from many animals and other food with added fat)! Carbohydrates boost your metabolism and have fewer calories per weight than fat.

6. Do some type of aerobic exercise (walking, jogging, swimming, stationary cycling, aerobic dancing, etc.) on a daily basis (preferably in the morning)! Forget this twice-a-week stuff. Our bodies were designed to be active on a daily basis! When we are, our metabolism soars!

7. In addition to your regular aerobic exercise, take a brisk 10 to 15 minute walk at lunch or in the evening. This serves to boost your metabolism even more!

8. Tone your muscles with weight training three days per week. Toned muscles send your metabolism through the roof. Do it!

9. Look for situations to be active. Park as far from the store as you can rather than looking for the closest parking spot. Use the stairs rather than the elevator, a broom rather than a blower, etc. Look for the "hard" way to do things!

10. Avoid alcohol! Alcohol depresses your metabolism and stimulates your appetite.

11. Drink 60+ ounces of water a day. Your metabolism needs plenty water to function properly. Carry a bottle of water with you and drink frequently throughout the day.

12. Avoid the"3 P's".....pills, powders, and potions! There are NO quick fixes!

Get started today! You'll feel better and your metabolism will be in "great shape"!

Author and exercise Physiologist, Greg Landry, offers free weight loss success stories and articles, and unique weight loss programs at his site.. http://www.greglandryfitness.com

Getting Back Into Shape AFTER The Holidays -- Jan. 2007

Hello Everyone,

It is that time again - the start of a brand new year, where everything seems bright and new and it is the perfect time to reinvent ourselves. No doubt most of you made New Years Resolutions, and are excited about the chance to follow through with them in order to make this year the best one ever. If you are like most people, your New Years Resolutions probably included getting back into shape or eating healthier this year, paying off any debts and staying out of debt, getting a better job or getting a raise at your current one, quitting a bad habit like drinking too much, smoking or excessive worrying, and going on a trip or spending more time with family and friends this year. If any of these sound familiar, then your in good company. All of these routinely fall in the top 10 most common New Years resolutions.

As all of you know, last months article focused a lot of how to eat healthy during the holidays, in order to limit the number of cookie calories you consumed. Often times, it's too much to expect to keep our current regular work outs going during that time of year, so instead we concentrated on holiday diet. However, part of the holiday fun and cheer is being able to cut loose and let go of our usual self discipline and ignore the common sense side of our brain that knows these calories will add up. Now that the holidays season is over and the cookies and cakes and fruit punch and and steak and potatoes with gravy have mysteriously disappeared from your mothers and grandmothers and friends houses, and the number of parties you are expected to attend has gone down, it's time to focus on moving our bodies again. So, for the great majority of us who gave into this happy, selfish side and are now feeling the effects, January's article is devoted to booting ourselves back into shape now that the New Year is upon us and we failed to listen to the good advice from last months article.

For most people, getting into shape, loosing weight, eating healthier, or some variant of these themes will be high on their To-Do list at this time. This idea of living a healthier and fitter life is almost always in the top three. And after the holiday flush has cooled from our systems and we start thinking about the upcoming summer months and realizing the clothes we bought on the holiday sales are fitting snugger than we'd like, we often decide to sign up for gym memberships and vow to eat only whole-grain foods and organic fruits and vegetables.

Gym owners know that January is commonly the BEST month for them to sign up new people because everyone is feeling the weight on of holiday guilt around their middle. Restaurants that sold bunches of cookies, cakes and other savory desserts, hot chocolate and hot spiced teas see a sudden drop in the number of costumers, and the people foregoing the desserts and extra fries they indulged in just a few weeks before rises.

Yet, despite all this, most New Years resolutions don't make it past the end of February. What happens then is, we start to slip. Our schedules are simply to full to make healthy home cooked meals every night or to go to the gym every day after work. We over sleep one morning and miss our morning run. One morning becomes two, two becomes three, and then we blink and realize it's been two weeks since we've really worked out and we're eating takeout from our favorite restaurant for the third night in a row because it's on the way home. Gym memberships collect dust on dressers and restaurants are busy selling fries and desserts once again. Before too long, it's February, and chocolate is filling up the stores. We sigh and say we'll do better next year.

30% of New years resolutions make it to success. That means 70% fail and are forgotten by the next New Years. What happened to that enthusiasm we had at the beginning of January? How can we keep it year round and become a part of that successful 30%? Why don't we already keep that enthusiasm?

Actually, that enthusiasm is part of our problem. We get so excited on New Years eve, we make wild plans we know in our heart of hearts we're never going to be able to keep. But in the magic of the moment, these goals are possible, anything is possible. WE buy the gym memberships and the groceries, and give ourselves ultimatums. We will NOT eat any more of this or drink that second frappacino. We will not skip our work outs.

Don't let this happen to you. By knowing the causes of our difficulties, we can make very simple changes that will take us from being in the failing 70% to the victorious 30%. The key to keeping a successful New Years resolution is moderation. Don't make bigger goals than you know you can realistically keep. Don't start off at the hardest level; build up to what your goal is. Realize that even making a small change, or adding one more minute or one more lap to your work out a week will add up over the course of a year.

The first mistake many people make is to wear themselves out at the gym. Take a look at what your routine was before the holiday season. If you were going to the gym 2 times a week before the holidays, go three times a week now in order to maintain your current level of fitness and to work off your unwanted cookie calories. If you were going 3-4 times a week before the holiday season, go 4 or 5 times a week afterward, but only until you drop the holiday gains. Most people gain on average only 5-7 lbs over the holidays season, and while this seems like an enormous amount on the scale and feels like it in our clothes, it's really a very manageable amount to loose. Once you have lost your holiday bulge, don't worry about making and maintaining an aggressive work out. For the average person, working out three times a week for 30-40 minutes is a reasonable goal to expect of yourself. If you decide to take it to the next level, that is the time to make and keep a bigger commitment.

Another problem that stops alot of people from reaching their goal is keeping their momentum. Once the holiday season is over, it is important to establish a routine for yourself right away. Start out your New Year by using that gym membership and get your body used to regular work outs again. Concentrate on making your gym visits regular - having a set time length on prearranged days. Do high bursts of cardio mixed with lower intervals of cardio to work off the holiday weight and boost your metabolism. Once you set a routine for yourself, don't drop the ball.

But herein lies another key issue that daunts many people. Exercise starts to seem like a chore when you have to go every time your scheduled and burn off a certain number of calories in a set length of time. This can be especially frustrating if you have a busy life and need to get home to take care of your family or do home work. Once your workouts become another job you have to do, you greatly increase your likely hood of loosing interest and skipping on your own self-made job. To keep it fun, once you loose your holiday gain, stop counting calories. Instead, set a time length for yourself and change your routine up as you need to but keep going until your time is gone. Don't worry about whether or not you met your calorie quota, because then you start taking the fun out. If you go one step further, you can change the way you even look at working out and make it a fun thing to do. Look at your work out as a chance for you to work off all the stress that has accumulated on you through out the day. Take advantage of this time as a chance to be alone with your thoughts and work off any anger or upset feelings you may have had. This is your time, so treat it accordingly. Also, consciously recognize before you begin that by the end you WILL feel better. Exercise releases endorphins, the feel good hormones. By the time you finish, you should be happy and relaxed, and ready to go home and spend that extra time you wanted with your loved ones, and really enjoy it.

The last thing that get most people down, is that working out in a gym on the treadmill or elliptical machine every time can get very monotonous. But it doesn't have to be. Don't get hung up on the idea that there's nothing to do in winter as a substitute for the gym, either. Many people automatically think that when it gets colder, the gym is the only place left for them to stay active, even though if you take a few minutes to think about it, you can find lots of other places to go.

When the gym becomes monotonous, move on to something new. Since by now you are not worried about counting calories, (remember, this is unnecessary now and takes away from the fun) you should be just as satisfied with alterior cardio activities. The first one that most people think of is ice skating. This is an excellent exercise for any time of year, because not only does it give you a cardiovascular workout moving around, but balancing on the ice while you skate forces you to work your notoriously difficult to train core muscles in order to balance. In addition to this, your body burns several extra calories in order to keep warm in a chilly environment.

If this is not a viable option for you, but you want the same benefits, roller skating will give you the same results, with out the ice. Other winter specific activities include skiing and snow boarding. Getting a groups of friends together and going away skiing for the weekend has the double effect of giving an intense workout unlike anything you'll find in the gym and giving you an intense bonding experience with the people you bring along.

For the less adventurous types bored with the gym room, power walking an excellent alternative because it does not stress any specific joint and can be done almost anywhere. Most people who power walk for exercise average between 12 and 15 minute miles. If you want to stay inside the gym setting but need something different, a work out video could be what you need. There's a vast array to choose from and most don't require any more space than you have in your living room.

Swimming is also a popular choice because indoor pools and swimming give you a sense of summer in the middle of winter. Once you find yourself starting to get bored with your current work out, find another alternative that suits you and switch up your work out once or twice a week. This will keep it fun and interesting for you to keep your work outs going.

In the mean time, even while we are dutifully exercising and drinking more water and less coffee, our bodies seem to be sabotaging us by craving the very foods we inundated ourselves with only a few weeks before. Food cravings are often the culprit behind every failed diet and can be very hard to ignore. The problem is, once we load our bodies up with sugar for a few weeks, we have to detox afterward, causing with drawl symptoms which our bodies try to ignore by causing cravings for the foods we're no longer eating. As millions of people who have dieted before can attest, once you start denying yourself a certain food, you start to crave it more than ever. Don't test your will power too hard by denying yourself everything at once. Very rarely can you go from eating everything to eating almost nothing successfully with out relapse.

The successful 30% of New Years Resolutions are mostly made up of people who controlled their resolutions with stages. They allowed themselves one or two days a week to eat what they wanted in moderation, rather than saying no desert for X number of months. They cut back on their favorite 'bad for you' food one bit at a time. To be successful at eating healthy, you must build up to it gradually, rather than jump right in and hope it will stick. Look at your diet before the holidays and return to that, but make one or two specific changes you want to make right now and work on those, like eating apple with peanut butter for a snack instead of a candy bar, and not drinking coffee after 10 am. once these things become habit, you can add a few more changes at a time.

Using these keys to prevent problems from upsetting our goals, we can keep our resolutions to get back in shape and stay there, with less work than we think.

Have Fun and Be Healthy this New Years!
- Delisa Leonard



Watching Your Health This Holiday Season! -- Dec. 2006

Hello Everyone.

It is once again time for the holiday season, complete with office parties, Christmas shopping, lunch dates with friends and late night movies, snacking and decorating. We at P.M.A.T.S. know the joys of these festive activities, as well as the sorrowful regrets the next morning or the next month when stepping on the scale or looking in the mirror after a long, hot shower. This is why we felt it was important for this month’s Fitness Check article to address staying healthy during the holidays.

For almost all of us, holiday eating is our number one downfall. Colder weather, seasonal music and decorations, combined with plates of fresh, hot brownies or platters of succulent meat and gravey or buttered rolls proves too much for our weakened willpower. We pile our plates high with steaming goodies, content with our thick, comfortable sweaters to hide our after-dinner tummy bulges, and indulge. We pour on the gravy, the buttered sauces. We down our fruity-sugared punch, our cocktails or creamy eggnog. We go light on our vegetables and heavy on our dip. We go back for seconds of dessert, or possibly even a “very small” third of our favorite dish. And we revel in our excuse to indulge in all the goodies we’ve tried to deny ourselves throughout the year. The new, roomy sweater we bought while Christmas shopping the day before does not help our waning will power.

So how can we avoid the ‘inevitable’ holiday binge? Furthermore, how can we stay healthy during the holidays without giving up some of the very things that make the holiday season so enjoyable? The following paragraphs address this issue.

Everyone has heard the best thing to do to avoid over eating, especially on sugared or fattening sweets over the holiday season, is to limit the size of your portions, or not go back for seconds. There is, of course, a lot of truth in this. But once you arrive and get in line at the food table, this idea looses its appeal very quickly.

One nutritionist expert offered the following solution - eat a small, healthful meal BEFORE going to the party. If you know in advance that there will be food served, most of it probably unhealthy, eating a smaller, more nutritious meal before going will leave you not feeling starved when you see the dessert table or gravy dishes sitting next to roast beef and mashed potatoes. Another way to manage the amount of food you eat, without FEELING so much like you are, is to choose the smaller size plate. Even if you fill it up full of food like usual, the smaller size will automatically mean you have eaten less food, and still LOOK like you have a lot.

Once you have sat down at the table, another recommendation is to pause for a second and take a deep breath, looking at your food. If you take just a moment to really focus on the fact that you are eating, you will be more likely to notice when you’re getting full and stop.

Another reason is many people are social eaters, and use food to blend in and feel comfortable in a social setting. If you are one of these people, what you eat is not the important issue for you - instead of grabbing a plate of chips or cookies or a slice of pie, get a small plate and fill it with cheese or fruit. Instead of munching idly on fattening foods without enjoying the full benefit of it, your healthy food choice will suit you much better as your social eating throughout the season goes on.

At places where the point of the social gathering is to eat, dinner with in-laws or at a friends for example, it is much easier to over eat and especially go too far on the sweets. If you fill up on healthy food first, you won’t have room to comfortably eat that big piece of your Aunt's German Chocolate Torte, and certainly not for two, before you begin to feel sick. However, these are usually the people with iron-clad will power and not the majority. For the rest of us who can’t pass up the fatty dishes with thick creamy sauces and mounds of butter on our rolls before hitting the buffet table, there are other tactics.

Rather than only limiting the size of our portions, also limit the amount of those delicious sauces and creamy cheese or vegetable dips. One tablespoon of gravy made from turkey drippings can have up to 70 calories alone and celery or carrots loose most of their nutritional value with mounds of ranch dressing on them. Simply letting the majority of these sauces drain from the serving spoon before the food gets to your plate will save a lot of time in the weight room later.

Sweet and salty foods are most people’s downfalls. We have more taste buds for sweets than any other and salt enhances the flavor of any food. Even worse, you can build up a resistance to it so you end up needing more and more over time. The holiday season however is a perfect opportunity to try these tasty alternatives: vanilla and peppermint enhance foods natural sweetness, cinnamon, nutmeg and mint can be used instead of sugar to sweeten foods, and spices such as oregano, basil, rosemary, garlic and onion lessen the need for salt. Most stores sell bottled mixes of spices that make this easy to use when cooking.

Low fat foods don’t have to taste bad either. Olive oil, canola oil or corn oil are much healthier choices when baking that limit the amount of “bad” fats in your food. Low-fat yogurt, fat free half and half or evaporated skim milk instead of whole or cream milk will also dramatically lessen your calorie count. Low-fat or fat free eggnog is also a good choice. And if your going to eat fattening foods, forego the fruit pie that you kind of like in favor of the lemon meringue one that you love; don’t sample both.

Alcohol is another big calorie ticket. The best and easiest thing to do is to limit yourself to one of the high calorie ones-your favorite-and then drink only low calorie diet sodas, white wine or seltzer with lemon or lime. The healthiest drink is, as always, plain water.

Eating healthy doesn’t just apply for dinner or lunch parties. The best thing you can do to stay healthy-food wise-over the holidays is to eat a simple, healthy breakfast. McDonalds or Hardee’s doesn’t count. Eggs, oatmeal, cheese and toast or soup are all quick, easy breakfasts that will keep you from making a meal out of the mini candy bars on the desk at work. Remember that just because you mess up one day doesn’t mean you’ve messed up for the entire season-go back to healthy eating the next day.

The final easiest thing you can do to stay healthy during the holidays is to sneak in some exercise while shopping. Take the stairs instead of elevators-especially when carrying your bags. You know you’re probably going to be too tired regardless to go to the gym after your shopping, so sneak in lunges and weights this way. Instead of stressing to find the closest parking space, park farther back and walk briskly to the store and back, as well as through the mall. This allows you to sneak in some cardio.

If you make these combined efforts-doing these little tricks to limit your calories and sneaking in exercise during the days your too busy to go to the gym, when New Years comes around, you will be that much closer to your resolution to reach that certain weight.

Have a Blessed and Healthy Holiday Season

By Delisa Leonard

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