Why a personal trainer is making himself obese… on purpose

I read an article on yahoo today about this personal trainer making himself obese. Normally I share weight loss tips, but I had to share this one. I want others to know about this guy and his success. I wish him luck...

Yahoo Article

Watch Video

You can follow his journey click here.

What do you think of the NuVal Score system?

I don't know if any of you are aware of what you will be seeing in our grocery stores soon. It is called The NuVal™ Nutritional Scoring System, which helps you quickly and easily compare the nutritional value of the food you buy.

The system scores the overall nutritional value of food on a scale of 1 to 100. The higher the NuVal™ Score, the higher the nutrition.Grocery stores will be posting this information soon.

What they are saying about the NuVal System:

The science behind it.

The NuVal™ System was developed by a team of nutrition andmedical experts from leading health organizations and universities.Using a patent-pending algorithm, the system considers more than 30 of the following nutrients found in food and beverages then summarizes their nutritional quality in a single number:· Carbohydrates· Protein · Fat· Fiber· Vitamins· Minerals. The Score considers how these nutrients influence health outcomes and relate to USDA and Institute of Medicine dietary guidelines.

How the NuVal™ System benefits you.

The NuVal™ Nutritional Scoring System helps you make informed decisions about food quickly, easily and with confidence - right inthe supermarket aisle. Why the NuVal™ System is so important.

The NuVal™ System considers more than 30 different nutrients,nutrition factors, and their impact on health outcomes to give youa fair account of a food's true nutritional value.

The NuVal™ System puts better nutritionright at your fingertips.

In addition to the overall nutritional score, you'll also find other vital attributes right on the NuVal™ shelf tag, including:· Gluten-free· Good source of fiber· Low saturated fat· 100 calories or less· Low sodium· Good source of vitamins Want To Learn More About NuVal™?

For more info, visit the Nuval™ Nutritional Scoring System website. (Click here)

To see NuVal Video & Website

My brain just does not work anymore….

I had a client inspire me to write this blog. She sent me and email stating she went to email me three times and got side tracked. It seems I do this all the time lately and I am hearing the same from more women in my circle. I ask myself is it the added stress we put ourselves under every day? Is it more stress these days because of the economy? Yeah, right let's blame the economy. I am so sick of hearing that! Is it our environment? Is it the foods we eat and the microwaves we use eating our brain cells? Alternatively, is it the cellular waves in the air interfering with our brains? On the other hand, is it just we are getting old and our brain is not producing as it was.

I am not the only one trying to figure out how to get smarter or at least keep what little smarts you have. I have given up on us getting smarter. I am looking for ways to boost our brainpower and let me tell you it is big business. In addition to ever-popular alertness boosters like coffee and Red Bull, pills like Focus Factor and Brain Advantage are hot items, with customers shelling out $70 per month or more to stay on top of their mental games. Ginkgo biloba, an herbal supplement billed as a memory enhancer, generates nearly $1 billion in annual sales in the U.S. alone. Some folks go even further: as the prestigious journal Nature recently reported, 20 percent of scientists responding to a survey admitted to taking so-called cognition-enhancing drugs like the stimulants Ritalin (to aid focus) and Provigil (to stay alert without caffeine’s jitteriness), without apology. “It is my duty to use my resources to the greatest benefit of humanity,” said one respondent. One-third said they’d even feel pressure to give their own children these drugs if other kids in their circles were also using them. No, I will not resort to doing that to my children or even myself.

There is no way I am ready to pump myself with drugs in order to remember something more quickly, I did want to regain control of my mind, and, if I could,head off cognitive decline. The main question I ask now is could improving my diet help? I began scouring the science to find out. I also wondered whether the American diet I’ve been spoon-fed (and am currently spoon-feeding my children) was to blame for my mental malaise. I wanted to figure out whether a smart menu at each stage of life could fend off dullness and make me—and my family—sharper.

I am still researching and testing these diets, but here is what I found.DHA, or docosahexaenoic acid, a long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid in the omega-3family that’s found in fish and their roe (particularly fattier types like salmon and sardines) is the magic nutrient du jour. I have seen literally hundreds of studies investigating its power to prevent cardiovascular disease.Now the focus has turned to the brain: dozens of studies report that mother animals deprived of DHA have offspring with memory, sensory and visual problems, and that supple menting them with DHA improves their performance on learning, memory, and problem-solving tasks. This makes intuitive sense: DHA forms the back bone of much of the brain cells’ membranes.

So, I found that test have been done when the mother eats omega-3 foods, the baby is in the womb and after birth, could have the same positive effect on human infants. Researchers collected umbilical cord blood from 109 newborns. They analyzed the DHA concentration in their cord blood (a good measure of how much DHA the mother consumed during her last few months of pregnancy), and then tested how well the infants performed on tests throughout their first year. They found that at 6 months and 11 months, infants whose cord blood had the highest concentrations of DHA performed better on a number of different tests—such as recognizing faces—than those with lower levels. “The mother’s intake during the third trimester, when the brain’s neurons and synapses are developing at a veryrapid rate, is most important. When we focused on that period, we found the most evidence of beneficial effects,” researchers say. I say "Wow, that is huge to any of my clients that are soon to be mommy's". I will pass this info on to everyone I know, just another good reason to write this blog.

So what does that tell me? Yes, we are what we eat, and we need to really analyze what we are feeding our children even before they are born and even the first stages of life. So, I want to get this information out there to my readers and let you know it is not too late. Try these few changes to your diet and let me know the out come. 

Here is a list that I found on Eating Well’s website

Smart food for every age...

Are you getting enough of the right nutrients to support healthy cognitive function and improve memory? EatingWell’s quick guide to food solutions willshow you how.

1)      Go fish.

Women who eat fatty fish,such as salmon, during their third trimester of pregnancy have babies who tendto perform better on cognitive tasks. Researchers think the omega-3 fatty acidDHA is needed during this time to build neurons and their connections. Can’t do fish then take an Omega-3 supplement or even buy Omega Eggs. The whole family can benifit from this.

Food solutions: Salmon and other fatty fish, DHA-fortified eggs and yogurt.

2)    Infant/Baby

Add Iron. By 5 or 6 months,babies have used up the iron stores they’re born with and need to get iron fromfood or supplements to support brain development.

Food solutions: Iron-fortifiedcereals

3)    Child/Teen

Morning fuel. School-agedchildren should start their day with low-glycemic-index breakfast foods.

Food solutions: Bran cereals,oatmeal, or whole-wheat bagels.

4)    Young Adult

Got iron? 10 percent of women areanemic and new studies show that being even mildly iron-deficient affectslearning, memory, and attention. Luckily, restoring iron levels to normal alsorestores cognitive function.

Food solutions: Dark leafy greens,beans, meat, or soy.

5)    Older Adult

Eat your antioxidants. People who eat more brightly colored fruits and leafy vegetables have less cognitive decline than those who don’t; antioxidants in produce may mop up free radicals and protect neurons from damage.

Food solutions: Berries and other fruits, greens and turmeric (which contains curcumin).

So, what I have concluded from doing this blog is that I will be adding more Omega to my clients menus. I will now use Omega Eggs, and Add more Fish to my Menus. Plus, include a lot more Antioxidants on the menu too. This should help keep my family and my clients healthy. Which is my main goal.After all my family and I eat from the same menus as my clients.

Thank you for reading this blog. Please give me your input and if you know something that works, please share with my readers.

Healthy Happy Cooking,

Chef Linda

The Old Food Pyramid has been changed

Old Food Pyramid above

There's a new food pyramid in town, and it's a plate.

The USDA's new food icon is a brightly colored plate that breaks a healthy diet into four main sections: fruits, vegetables, grains and proteins, with a small side of dairy.

I personally like what I see. I think this is very user friendly and even a child can understand it. The question is will American's follow it. Yes, it looks like a very well balanced diet, which I am very much for. I do not think you should be without anything unless a doctor has told you that you are alergic to the food. There are times that you need to not eat a perticular food but not cut it out for ever. I beleive that as we grow older our meals size should get smaller, unless you are very active. Take a look at the new pyramid and the new website and let me know what you think. I like what they have for weight loss and kids. See the website http://www.choosemyplate.gov/

New Food Pyramid below:

First Lady Michelle Obama unveiled the USDA's update on America's visual nutrition guide, replacing the familiar - and much maligned - pyramid with a plate.

The food pyramid has been around since 1992, but nutrition experts don't seem to be mourning its demise.

"It's going to be hard not to do better than the current pyramid, which basically conveys no useful information," Dr. Walter C. Willett, chairman of the nutrition department at the Harvard School of Public Health, told the New York Times.

The new design incorporates seven key dietary messages:

- Enjoy your food, but eat less

- Avoid oversized portions

- Make half your plate fruits and vegetables

- Drink water instead of sugary drinks

- Make at least half your grains whole grains

- Switch to fat-free or low-fat (1 percent) milk

- Compare sodium in foods like soup, bread, and frozen meals - and choose the foods with lower numbers. Experts argued the now-defunct pyramid lumped all types of foods in its design - including unhealthy ones at the top of the pyramid . That made it hard to tell which foods were better choices.

From Forbes: "We're working to make healthy choices easy choices," said Surgeon General Regina Benjamin at this morning's unveiling, who linked the new diagram to First Lady Obama's Let's Move campaign. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack followed by explaining the need for the tool, "My Pyramid was simply too complex," he said, and is confident the new tool will be effective is a "simple visual research based icon about proportion sizes and what should be on the American plate."

10 Tips: These are from the website and I like them. I had to share...

The Ten Tips Nutrition Education Series provides consumers and professionals with high quality, easy-to-follow tips in a convenient, printable format. These are perfect for posting on a refrigerator.

These tips and ideas are a starting point. You will find a wealth of suggestions here that can help you get started toward a healthy diet. Choose a change that you can make today, and move toward a healthier you.

• Choose MyPlate 
  
• Add More Vegetables to Your Day  
  
• Focus on Fruits  
  
• Make Half Your Grains Whole  
  
• Got Your Dairy Today?  
  
• With Protein Foods, Variety Is Key  
  
• Build a Healthy Meal  
  
• Healthy Eating for Vegetarians  
  
• Smart Shopping for Veggies and Fruits  
  
• Liven up Your Meals With Vegetables and Fruits  
  
• Kid-Friendly Veggies and Fruits  
  
• Be a Healthy Role Model for Children  
  
• Cut Back on Your Kid's Sweet Treats 
  
• Salt and Sodium

Let me know what you think.

Look what I was up to last weekend

I had fun making 25 cuties ever baby shower cupcakes. The whole cupcake is edible and the babies and blankets are made  out of Fondant. They were a lot of fun but very time-consuming making that many. Next time I think I will do a tiered cake and just top them with these cute little babies.

If You Do not Prevent Type II diabetes Now,

 You will certainly Hate Yourself Later

Diabetes type 2 is amongthe most common kind of diabetes. Lots of Americans seem to be identified ashaving type 2 diabetes, and more are unconscious they're at high risk. Somegroups have a very higher risk for developing diabetes type 2 than others.

Diabetes type 2 is muchmore common in African Americans, Latinos, Native Americans, and AsianAmericans, Native Hawaiians or other Pacific Islanders, in addition to the agedpeople.

In diabetes type 2,either one's body will not produce enough insulin or the cells ignore theinsulin. Insulin is needed to the body to be able to use glucose for energy.Whenever you eat food, the body reduces all the sugars and starches intoglucose, that's the basic fuel for any cells in the body. Insulin takes thesugar from your blood in to the cells. When glucose increases in your bloodrather than going into cells, it can result in diabetes complications.

You have the capability toenhance and protect your well being. With proper nutrition and physicalexercise and by making good life style choices (like not smoking), you possiblycan feel better, stronger, and healthier, and will reduce your risk of diseaseslike the cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and heart stroke.

What is a Healthy Weight?

There's a great way todiscover in case your current weight puts you in danger of developing seriousdiseases. Visit www.diabetes.org/bmi and take the Body MassIndex (BMI) test. The results will allow you to decide if you need to stressabout your weight.

Better You Consume, Better You Experience

Below are a few basicguidelines to assist you and your family make healthier food decisions.

 * Eat plenty of fruit and veggies.

 * Choose whole grain foods over processedgrain products.

 Try brown rice instead of white. Substitutewhole wheat bread for white.

 * Eat fish 2 to 3 times weekly.

 * Select leaner cuts of meat like the onesthat end in "loin."

 * Remove the skin from chicken and turkey.

 * Eat low fat dairy

 * Drink water and calorie-free non-carbonateddrinks.

 * Use liquid oils for cooking as analternative to solid fats.

 * Reduce high calorie snacks like chips,cookies, cakes, and regular ice cream.

 Consider baked chips and reduced caloriesnacks. Or have a bit of fruit instead.

 * Be careful about your portion sizes. Eventoo much "healthy" food can cause fat gain.

Tips:

 * Compare labels of similar foods, then selectthe one with smaller amounts of saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium.

 * Adults should consume lower than 2400 mg. ofsodium on a daily basis. If you have hypertension, you should target even less.

 * Try adding spices and herbs within yourcooking to take the place of salt for enhancing flavor.

A little bit Work out Goes further

Anything that gets you upand moving is designed for you. Some tips about what it may do:

 * Reduce your risk of developing diabetes type2 symptoms

 * Lower your risk of cardiovascular diseaseand stroke Lower high blood pressure and cholesterol

 * Reduce blood glucose (sugar) levels in caseyou have diabetes, which often can lower your risk of developingdiabetes-related complications

 * Alleviate anxiety * Allow you to slim down

 * Offer you more energy

 * Make it easier to sleep better

 * Build stronger bones and muscle mass

It’s not necessary to goto a gym, play sports or use fancy equipment.

Of course, you mustdiscuss with a medical expert before beginning any exercise routine.

In case you have Diabetes.

Maintaining a healthydiet and staying active are a lot more important if you have diabetes.

Well-balanced meals mighthelp keep your glucose (sugar) level as nearly normal as possible.

Being active also helpsyou lower your blood glucose. In case you increase your physical activitylevels, you might possibly

take less insulin ordiabetes pills. For anyone who is very inactive, have heart disease or maybe ahistory of foot ulcers, talk to your doctor about safe exercise to suit yourneeds.

Check your blood glucose before exercising. If it's under 100 mg/dl, eat some fruit, crackers or have aglass of milk or juice.

Check it again after exercising to know how your blood glucose reacts to exercise. Bring a snack if you will be active for a few hours.

About me -Patricia Harriswrites for the <http://www.diabeticmenus.org

Her personal hobby sitefocused on tips to eat healthy to prevent and manage diabetes.

The Day After.....

After cleansing, I feel very energetic and light on my feet. I am not working out today knowing that I need to gradually work in to my normal program after cleansing. I just took the dog on a long walk this evening.My pants are very loose. I will have to messure myself. I know I have lost a couple of inches already.

After cleansing if find it not put any more impurities into mybody. It's time to get serious and decrease the non-nutritional foods anddrinks that you haven't yet eliminated from my daily diet.

Things like sugary drinks or even diet soda or coffee, today would be an ideal time to quit. If you can’t hand quitting then drastically reduce your intake.By changing my habits now, it will help me make my upcoming Cleanse Day easierto complete and I will feel better, lose more weight quicker, and just overall be healthier.

I have already replaced my morning coffee to an herbal tea called Good Earth, Sweet & Spicy tea. This tea I don’t even need honey in because of the sweet spices of cinnamon. It tastes so yummy.  I got four boxes at Costco for $6. and some change. This tea has cinnamon in it, which balance your blood sugar.  So, if  you replace your morning coffee with herbal tea or water. Iced herbal tea is a great substitute for soda this GoodEarth tea is really good cold too. In addtion to it being great for this summer,  I do love drinking plain water most of the time. If pure water is too plain, add a squeeze of organic lemon or orange for a subtle flavor and fragrance. I love doing this to my water to make it more exciting when I need something else besides plain pure water.

Tomorrow I will be going to the gym to do Pilates workout. This is an ideal exercise for Everyone. It is a popular fitness trend, so unless you’ve been living on another planet you’ve heard of it-Pilates. It’s an enduring trend because it’s ideal for beginning and experienced exercisers alike. It’slow-impact. Convenient and easily modified to any fitness level.

Core strength, flexibility and awareness of the body are emphasized in Pilates.

Pilates practitioners have testified to:

• Long, Lean muscles
• Improved Posture
• Increased core strength
• Enhanced Functional Fitness
• Heightened Body Awareness
• To Lean the proper Techniques for Pilates, take a class or renta DVD, shoot I am sure there are things free to watch on the internet. Don’twait another moment to get healthier = do it today!

Get moving our bodies are made to move.

The Cleanse Day

Most dread this day with doing the "Cleanse Days" but with these products it is really easy. I don't dread it at all.

Today, I was participating to do a ancient health tradition, which Isagenix® has improved with nutritional systemsthat help accelerate the release of impurities. This seems to be a lot easierto handle then before having to starve yourself. At the same time, I know theseformulas nourish my body to help improve health. Hundreds of thousands haveexperienced optimum wellness, increased energy and safe weight loss afterembracing the Isagenix Nutritional Cleansing lifestyle. I have had improvementin my health after doing this wonderful process.

Cleansing steps

You'll drink four-ounces of Cleanse for Life™ four times today. Mix it witheight-ounces of purified water; or drink Cleanse for Life™ alone and drink thewater immediately afterward.

Take your first serving of Cleanse for Life™ shortly after awakening in themorning. Each serving should be taken approximately four hours apart. Here's asuggestion, take one to two Isagenix Snacks!™ 15 minutes prior todrinking your first serving of Cleanse for Life™. This helps prepare yoursystem for this super-nutritious drink.

Make sure you drink plenty of water throughout your day, at least half of yourbody weight in ounces.

During the day, drink more water and eat system-approved snacks if you gethungry. IsaDelight™ is an excellent treat that may also help alleviate nagging cravings and hunger, while lifting your mood. Take 1 – 2 up to twice daily.

Your System Guide has a list of snacks that are appropriate for Cleanse Days.

Take one Natural Accelerator™ capsule with snacks or water, once or twicedaily.

Your 30-Day System does not includes Essentials for Men™ or Essentials forWomen™, but these multi-vitamins provide a foundation for good health. Take amulti-vitamin today. For extra nutrition, take at least one serving of Ionix®Supreme.

Believe in your goals

Follow the system as closely as you can to get the best results. Moreimportantly, believe in your goals and commit to doing your best for your body.Focus on your success and you’ll be able to complete your first Cleanse Daywith ease.

We’ll be back tomorrow with more tips.

Tips on Carefree Cleansing

• The best determination of cleansing success is preparation. Make sure you havesystem-approved snacks on hand, your Cleanse for Life™ chilled and your supportteam in place. Below, we have a few suggestions on how to easily get throughyour Cleanse Days.
• Enjoy a hot bath with rose petals and relaxing scented oils.
• Enjoy a facial or massage.
• Avoid the grocery store.
• Find a cleansing partner for encouragement and support.
• Don’t forget to take IsaFlush®, Natural Accelerator™ and Ionix® Supreme.
• Drink plenty of purified water to help improve your skin, boost your immunesystem and aid in weight loss.
• When intense emotions surface, write them in your journal.
• Try new caffeine- and calorie-free drinks, such as peppermint or herbal teas.
• Enjoy reading a fun mystery, romance novel or your favorite guilty-pleasuremagazine!
• Listen to your body.

Well, it is Friday and I have been a pretty good girl.

Tomorrow is my birthday and I plan on going out to Olive Garden with friends and my daughters for dinner. It will be hard to behave myself on my birthday with everyone wanting to buy me drinks, desserts, and a big meal, but I will only 1/2 of the servings or maybe even 1/4 depending on how big it is. Someplaces just serve way too much food, but for people like me that have been eating less, our stomach is shrunk it makes about two to three meals for us.Yes, you can get full off of 1/2 of a meal after doing this diet. Hey, I am a Cheap Date! My dessert will be split with everyone at the table; yes I will have a few bites of my birthday Ice cream Gelato then pass it around.

I can tell my stomach is getting smaller now because of this yummy diet my pants are fitting loser. I can eat about half of what they serve you and be full. So, portion control will help here and it is only one meal. Splurging once a week will not hurt you on a diet. Sunday I will be doing my first cleanse day and can't wait. I have an easy day planed. I am feeling good on this diet and not deprived of anything. Shoot, I can even have chocolate. I have these yummy Isa Chocolates that are just wonderful and the Isa Snacks taste like cake batter so if I am ever craving sweets like I was earlier todayI just have one of those treats then I am not craving anything anymore. Those chocolates are amazing what do they have in them that stops you from craving throughout the day. Amazing!

Drink plenty of water every day —

I am getting ready to prepare for my first cleanse day on Sunday. Here is something important tips.

Let's discuss theimportance of water in helping you cleanse impurities and support weight loss.

Your body gets rid of impurities in several different ways: through elimination, perspiration and breath (that's why cardiovascular exercise isessential to Nutritional Cleansing!). Water is important to cleansing for theobvious reason - it helps your body remove impurities naturally.

Your body is about two-thirds water. When you don't get enough water, you become dehydrated. Dehydrated cells don't function as well as hydrated cells.If they aren't working properly, then your cells may not be removing impurities efficiently, which affects the body's overall health.

Water is also important to weight loss. A build up of impurities in your body may affect how well your metabolism works. Water can also help quell hungerpangs for short periods of time.

The bottom-line is you must drink adequate amounts of water each and everyday. A general way to calculate your daily requirement of water in ounces is tocut your body weight in half. A person who is 150 pounds should drink 75 ounces of water, while a 200-pound person should drink 100 ounces.

If you exercise vigorously or live in a very hot region, your water requirementsmight be even higher.

Keep a water bottle with you at all times - in the car, at work and alwayswhile exercising. Make a conscious effort to drink from your bottle every 10 -15 minutes, even if you're not thirsty. Some experts believe that when you experience thirst, you're already dehydrated. So, drink continuously throughout the day.

If you are wondering what diet I am on take a look at this website http://chef_lindag.isagenix.com/us/en/home.dhtml

Here is what a typical day looks like

Early Morning

Drink IsaLean® Shake with banana, blueberries and strawberries

Mid-Morning

Take 1 Natural Accelerator™. Eat a healthy snack, if desired—1 - 2 IsaDelight™,1 Isagenix Snacks!™, small organic apple or 5 - 6 unsalted almonds.

Noon

Healthy 400 - 600 calorie meal

Mid-Afternoon

Take 1 Natural Accelerator™. Eat a healthy snack, if desired.

Evening

Drink IsaLean® Shake ot IsaLean Soups

Every Day

Drink water—at least half your body weight in ounces.

Drink one to two ounces of Ionix® Supreme.

Take 1 to 2 capsules of IsaFlush!®. Which these products come with the 30 day cleansing system. The shakes are so yummy that my kids ask for them every morning as well.

Help them keep their doors open! It's FREE to Help!

Vote for: Agee Memorial Wildlife Fund Inc, El Dorado Hills, CA

Don’t forget to vote to help out the animals it is FREE:

http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/clickToGive/shelterchallenge.faces?siteId=3&adId=48206&placementId=127142&origin=ERA_042310_ARS_Html

They really need your help.

Thank you,

Chef Linda