Your Sweater Can’t Help You

I was out with my family this past week and as we were walking around I was seeing a number of people wearing layers of clothes to stay warm, myself included. When I got home that night I realized that spring and summer are quickly approaching and the layers of clothes and sweaters will no longer hide what the winter demons have stored on you. You will no longer be able to wear that puffy jacket and get away with looking good, unless you think the sweaty look is in… It is not, take my word for it.

Your sweater can not help you anymore hide what damage has been done from the holiday season.

We are literally weeks away from spring break and then after that it will be spring in full bloom. The good news is that it is not too late to take steps in the right direction. Here are a couple tips:

Start drinking more water than normal. It will help your body flush out the toxins as well as get a head start on keeping you hydrated when it starts to get warmer. Start with a manageable amount. Maybe it is one extra bottle a day.

It is a trend that most people gravitate to fruits before vegetables. They are sweeter and easier to eat raw. If your normal daily ratio is 70/30 fruits to vegetables, start balancing the ratio and ultimately lean more on veggies than fruit. Even the “natural” sugar adds to the belly fat. Side note for you guys: the more sugar we intake whether it is natural sources or artificial has a direct effect on our testosterone levels. So limit it.

Take your body out of its comfort zone. Do something different, something new, something that is a challenge. You will never make progress if you always stay comfy cozy in your bubble. To stimulate your bodies natural growth hormone and create new muscle it has to be challenged. Take a class that you would not normally do. Lift more weight then you are accustomed to. Do a extra rep of a particular movement. I obviously want to see people do this in a safe environment that is always under supervision and not just go out and willy nilly do something.

Stick with those three and master them over the next couple weeks.

My Valentine’s Day offering to you

Every year that Valentine’s day comes upon us I feel this urge to sigh and become annoyed at Hallmark. This year I wanted to look at it differently and in doing so I have done some well needed research. The origin of St. Valentine, and how many St. Valentines there were, remains a mystery. One opinion is that he was a Roman martyred for refusing to give up his Christian faith. Other historians hold that St. Valentine was a temple priest jailed for defiance during the reign of Claudius. Whoever he was, Valentine really existed because archaeologists have unearthed a Roman catacomb and an ancient church dedicated to Saint Valentine. In 496 AD Pope Gelasius marked February 14th as a celebration in honor of his martyrdom.

What does this have to do with fitness? Well I will tell you…

St. Valentine never gave up what he believed in. He never broke his faith and belief system. Ultimately, he was willing to die for it. Now, I am not saying that we have to be that extreme but I am saying that there is peer pressure and outside forces everywhere around us telling us to eat this, eat that, drink this, drink that; all of which are all bad for you. There are also people with the next best exercise. This exercise that they speak of is the new “magic fat eliminator”.

At the end of the day, stick to your belief system. Do what truly makes sense, not what the current trend or fad is. Build that system around good things and you will get the results you want.

In two weeks, our new Yoga classes start here at 730pm Monday-Thursday for 6 weeks. Take this opportunity to add this to your system. This is no trend or fad. These are proven methods that produce results for people. Space is limited so please respond with any questions to reserve your spot.

P.S. – Most of our new clients come as a result of referrals. If you know a friend, family member, or small business owner who might benefit from our services, please let us know. Be assured that anyone you refer to us will be treated with the care and provided the same extraordinary experience that we extend to all of our clients.

Coffee, Fat Loss and Yoga

What a combination of things to talk about; coffee, fat loss and yoga. I hope to make sense of them all in this post for you.

I have never been a coffee drinker and until I had kids never thought I needed it. In fact, even with my kids I never drank coffee after a long night, and believe me there have been plenty of long nights. I started drinking coffee within the past 2 months after reading a study about caffeine, how you metabolize it and its affects on your performance. Now I want to make clear that it is about performance not fat loss, I will get to that in a second. Furthermore it is only for those of you that feel a “jolt” from caffeine. So, taking me as a example, after I drink a cup of coffee I am like a Mexican jumping bean. It affects me hard and fast. If you are like me and caffeine affects you then studies have shown that drinking a cup prior to your workout will improve your overall performance. I used to mix it with chocolate protein and drink it in a shake.

One might think that if it helps your performance then it must have a positive benefit on fat loss. Seems logical, right?

A recent study challenged just that and looked at a comparison of caffeinated coffee and decaffeinated coffee on fat loss. They found that the decaffeinated coffee reduced the feeling of hunger and increased the feeling of satiety. What? That is like the magic formula for fat loss. Basically, they are saying that it decreases you appetite and makes you feel hungry longer. That is like having your cake and eating it too. At the end of the day I think coffee has numerous health benefits to it and I think both caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee has its place in any diet.

Speaking of health benefits… Starting Monday February 25th at 730pm BeWell Fitness and Total Body Yoga will team up together and offer yoga classes at BeWell Fitness. They will be held Monday through Thursday at 730pm for 6 weeks. Anyone can attend at any level. We have various packages that will fit into anyone’s budget and schedule.