by Christy Maskeroni, MS RD
As Summer approaches, many of us are frantically trying to get ready for Beach Season. Whether you are a self-motivated health nut, or a newly-motivated convert, now is a great time to kick-start your health. You may be thinking you are in need of those no-real-food juice cleanses or the say-no-to-carbohdyrate diet to get you back on track or detoxify your body of all that excess it tends to store. What if I told you that just eating from a variety of real foods and food groups could have you on your way to achieving your fitness goals. Sounds too good to be true?
After the mindless eating and drinking that many of us engage in, your body may be in need of a detox. What exactly is a detox? It is the removal of harmful substances such as poison or toxins from the body.
Every one of our bodies detoxifies on its own. Whether you are working, running after the kids, or meeting friends for dinner, your body is taking care of you. However, as you are moving through your busy routine, you are also surrounded by many harmful toxic materials.
Toxic substances can be in the water we drink, the air we breath, the clothes we wear, the food we eat, the alcohol we sip, the cleaning supplies we use, the deoderant or make-up we use…you get the picture. Your body absorbs these harmful substances, but this is partly why you have those wonderful organs in your abdominal region. Your liver, kidneys, colon, gallbladder, blood, and skin all play a part to help get rid of these toxins. Some of the materials will easily be excreted and cause no harm. However, others can accumulate in your cell membranes and fat cells and create a build-up which can cause mild reactions (headaches, fatigue, allergies, rashes, muscle pain, mental confusion) to more severe problems (autoimmune diseases, hormonal imbalances, nutritional deficiencies, cancer). Basically, the longer you expose yourselves to these toxins, the greater the damage. So what can you do?
Quality food is one solution. You can assist your body in its own detoxification processes by eating a varied, nutrient-dense, fiber rich, balanced diet. We may be feeling the effects of our over indulgence due to a poor-quality or restricted diet that lacks the essential vitamins and minerals. However, you can easily change that pattern by following these easy 10 steps:
10 steps to assist your body in its own natural detoxification process.
1. Increase fiber consumption. This helps move toxins through the body by adding bulk to your stool for elimination. This includes fruits, vegetables, beans, legumes, and whole grains (brown/black/wild rice, quinoa, whole wheat couscous, whole wheat breads, etc.)
2. Drink more water. This too assists in the movement of material through the digestive system as well as through the kidneys for elimination.
3. Eat more fruits and vegetables. These offer fiber and several vitamins and minerals that assist in the detoxification process and removal of free radicals from the body. Choose organic as often as possible and avoid those that have been waxed, sprayed, dyed, or fumigated.
4. Get more sleep. Your body does most it’s rest, repair and recovery at night. Lack of sleep has been shown to cause hormonal imbalance leading to numerous problems including diabetes and obesity. More sleep can help control hunger levels, cravings, mood and anxiety.
5. Decrease additives and preservatives. Examples of this include MSG, nitrates, nitrites, BHA, and BHT. These are toxins that can begin to build in the cell membrane and lead to problems.
6. Eat less refined carbohydrates/sugars. This includes white breads, cookies, cakes, candies, sugar, white pasta, etc. Refined carbohydrates lack the necessary nutrients that your body needs to assist in the detoxification process.
7. Reduce the fat in your diet, especially saturated fat. A high fat diet has been known to increase your risk for disease.
8. Reduce your stress levels. The accumulation of stress in the body can throw the body’s natural function off. This can eventually cause an imbalance and lead to a multitude of problems. Yoga, meditation, journaling, and exercise are a few effective ways to reduce stress levels.
9. Drink less caffeine. Too much caffeine can disrupt liver and endocrine function as well as many other functions in the body.
10. Reduce your alcohol consumption. Alcohol is high in calories and has little nutritional value. Drinking alcohol produces a toxin as it is metabolized in the liver and can deplete several vitamins and minerals in the body.
Many of these ideas might seem obvious but the truth is, they work! Food is your fuel. If you know your car runs most efficiently on premium gas, then that is what you put it in the tank. It is the same thing with food. When you feed your body the food it needs, you will be amazed at how much better you run and feel.
Where should you start? Here are a few foods that are very beneficial in helping you reach your body’s full potential.
- Yellow, red, green vegetables like peppers, spinach, collard greens, swiss chard & kale
- Lean proteins like chicken, seafood, eggs
- Fruits like raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, tomatoes, bananas, grapefruits, lemons
- Beans and legumes like peas, lentils, and soybeans (edamame)
- Nuts and seeds like pumpkin seeds, black currant seeds, brazil nuts, walnuts, and almonds
- Avocados
- Whole grains like brown/black rice and quinoa
- Sea vegetables like hijiki, arame, seaweed
- Cabbage and brussel sprouts
- Wheat grass, spirulina, chlorella
- Oils like flaxseed, primrose, fish oil, and olive oil
- Milk thistle
- Sweet potatoes and potatoes
- Burdock root
- Garlic and onions
Christy Maskeroni is the Director of Nutrition at CLAY Health Club & Spa as well as a Master Trainer and Yoga Instructor (RYT-200). She holds a Master of Science in Nutrition and Applied Physiology from Columbia University, Teachers College and is a Certified Personal Trainer through NASM. For more information on Christy and her nutrition services visit www.insideclay.com/nutrition or follow her fun tips on Twitter @cmaskeroni
I have below a Q&A with Morgan Mclellan who as a journalist living in Toronto completed my BuiltLean Program with some impressive results. Despite having a busy job and being completely out-of-shape when he started, Morgan lost over 20lb of fat in only 8 short weeks.
As Morgan completed the program, we exchanged some emails to help him get the most out of the program. The before/after photos speak for themselves. To learn more about Morgan and his insights into successful body transformation, check out the Q&A below.
from Evidence Based Fitness Academy
It is believed that many factors play a role in the
development of athletic performance. From cardiorespiratory capacity to
skeletal muscle function, can our genetic and musculoskeletal makeup predict
our talent as an athlete?
With many sports performed in closed chain
environments our foot is highly integrated in lower extremity kinematics,
postural stability and force production. Exactly how important is the
foot type in determining athletic skill?
With most attention on the association between foot
types and risk of injury, what if instead we took a moment to look at certain
foot variances and the advantages each may have on athletic performance?
Foot-Typing
Due to the variances in foot type and arch height
we need to begin with a classification system that is reliable and consistent.
Simply classifying a foot as a high arch or low arch does that reflect the
dynamic biomechanics of an athlete’s foot-type.
One such foot-typing system that does provide
validity and reproducibility is the Foot Posture Index. The Foot Posture
Index is a 6 point static foot assessment performed in multiple planes which is
used to classify foot-type and degree of severity (Cornwall 2011).
A 2011 study by Cornwall et al. evaluated the
reliability of the Foot Posture Index to predict dynamic foot function. After
evaluating 203 subjects it was concluded that the Foot Posture Index can
predict dynamic foot mobility. Those subjects with the greatest foot mobility
correlated with the over-pronated or low arch foot type. Conversely those
with decreased foot mobility were associated with a more supinated or high arch
foot type.
Over-Supinated Foot Type
In the over-supinated foot-type the heel and
subtalar joint are in an inverted position with a lateral shift in body weight
and slight adduction of the forefoot on the rearfoot.
Typically we think of an over-supinated foot type
as more rigid with an increased risk for stress fractures, tendonitis and
plantar fasciitis. But could there be any advantages to this supinated
foot position?
Advantage #1 – Rapid Re-Supination
In sports such as soccer, changes in direction and
cutting maneuvers require rapid activation of the posterior tibialis in order
to create a rigid foot lever and push off. Although it is purely anecdotal,
perhaps a more supinated foot type allows the athlete to quickly change
direction and push off of the ground.
Advantage #2 – Decreased Contact Time
For a runner or athlete the ability to decrease
contact time, not only makes them faster but also decreases the risk of injury.
In endurance sports, time spent in contact with the ground is when the
athlete gets injured.
A 2007 study by Hasegawa et al. found that when
comparing different foot strike patterns, running speed and contact time, those
runners with a midfoot and forefoot strike had a shorter contact time when
compared to runners with a rearfoot strike.
In addition it was observed that regardless of foot
strike pattern, those runners who had the greatest degree heel inversion
at foot strike also had the shortest contact time. Because
an over-supinated foot type has increased calcaneal inversion this may provide
an advantage in reducing contact time when running (Hasegawa 2007).
Over-Pronated Foot Type
In the over-pronated foot-type the heel and
subtalar joint are in an everted position with a medial shift in body weight
and abduction of the forefoot on the rearfoot. This foot type is typically
associated with increased plantar pressures and force distribution over the
plantar foot.
Typically we think of an over-pronated foot type as
more mobile with an increased risk for posterior tibial tendonitis, knee pain
and bunions. But could there be any advantages to this pronated foot
position?
Advantage #1 – Improved
Balance
A 2002 study by Hertel et al. compared balance and
stability in different foot types. Interestingly it was found that the
over-pronated foot type had better balance when compared to the over-supinated
foot type. It was hypothesized that eue to the increased plantar contact
in an over-pronated foot type there was an increase in plantar cutaneous feedback
which is critical in stabilization. Sports requiring balance, such as
karate, boxing or gymnastics may benefit from this foot type.
Outside of increased plantar distribution, the
over-pronated foot type may not be as advantageous when it comes to athletic
performance. Since many athletics are dependent on force, speed and
agility – all of which relate to rapid foot contact time – the delayed strength
and activation of the posterior tibialis may put this foot type at a
disadvantage.
Conclusion
Although much of this information is anecdotal due
to the lack of research, it does provide important considerations for the coach
or parent of an athlete.
We are all born with a specific foot type, so it is
up to us to understand our foot type and use it to our advantage whether it be
for agility or balance & stabilization!
***
To learn more about foot-typing and how to create a foot-specific program for your clients and athlete’s – check out EBFA’s Barefoot Training Specialist®
from Brooklyn Boot Camp’s Slim and Strong blog
eating. My strategy has been to keep it simple, and hopefully I’m making
some correct choices. The problem is that I keep eating a lot of the same
things, and I worry that I will get tired of them. But I’m not creative
or very knowledgeable in the kitchen, and I’m really learning this as I go. I
don’t know enough yet to expand my options. I will have to spend some
time really looking at the examples you have suggested reading, and seeing if I
can figure out how to make them work for me.
spoon!)
Fructose Corn Syrup)
vinaigrette
with touch butter and sprinkle cinnamon
find new options, but as long as you think of having a protein with a veggie at
every meal, the options are endless. The Zone cookbooks are great (for example this one: Zone-Perfect Meals in Minutes
) and you canfind recipes online as well. Or, check out the Clean Eating website and you’ll find
numerous options along those lines.
diet.
sugar from the Wallaby yogurt. Take a look at the nutrition label and you’ll
see that one small cup has 31 grams of carbs and 26 of those come from sugar. That
means you’re eating 5 teaspoons of sugar in each cup! Not only will this
skyrocket your blood sugar and make you hungry for more sugar, but it also
tells your body to store body fat. I see you’re eating 2 yogurts a day, which
adds up to 62 grams of carbs (52 grams of sugar!). That’s half the carbs you
need per day just from yogurt and I’m sure that’s not even filling.
- 5x a day. Skip the sugary yogurt and replace it with Greek yogurt (Fage,
Osikris, Chobani). Skip the sunflower seed butter as it’s not filling enough
and provides too much fat that it can stall your fat loss. You’re having 3 tablespoons
a day, which is 300 calories and 30 grams of fat. That’s more than half of your
fat intake per day that you’re getting from nut butter. Choose a better
breakfast: eat 3 eggs or make an omelet. Or, add a slice of bread as
carbohydrate. You’ll feel full 3x as long as your current breakfast keeps you
full.
enough protein. Double that and you’ll be full much longer.
a week because it’s high in mercury. Your body can’t break down mercury and it gets
stored in your fatty tissue and can even lead to toxicity issues. Try making tuna salad with Greek yogurt
instead of mayo and you’ll save on a lot of fat calories.
few things. If you don’t cook then why not buy some nice prepared salads from
Whole Foods. You can also check out how I made 10 days worth of simple and quick meals from Trader Joe’s for $103.
search for ‘recipes’) and look at other people’s food diaries to get some
ideas. Variety is key so you don’t get bored and keep your brain occupied, but
you also need to get your nutrients in through veggies.
from Brooklyn Boot Camp’s Slim and Strong blog
last week/weekend’s excesses.
“flabby” in the lower front. Are there any exercises I can do
specifically to get rid of that flabby appearance?
flabbiness due to fat loss. When you lose fat, your fat cells under your skin
empty out their fat contents (they’re called free fatty acids) into the blood
stream and then to the muscles. The muscles then use them as energy (that’s
basically fat burning!). When your fat cells empty out their fat contents, the
cell itself doesn’t disappear. It simply shrinks. What remains is the stretched
out skin that held so many full fat cells previously. Now that you’re losing
the fat, the skin has to shrink back together. The problem is that skin doesn’t
shrink as fast as fat cells, so you temporarily feel flabby and soft in the
areas in which you lose fat. You just need to be consistent in your clean eating,
working out, and skin care and soon your skin will be back to its old tight
self. Unless you have hundreds of pounds to lose, your skin is very forgiving
and elastic and can expand and shrink back together – just think of a pregnant
belly going back to normal size after birth.
anything to tighten that area. I suggest you get a skin brush made from real
hair (horse hair) or non-synthetic bristles and brush your skin in circular
motion towards the heart. This stimulates the lymphatic system to move along
toxins, waste products and stimulate the breakdown of fat lost from fat stores.
Skin brushing also helps your cells turn over faster. You want to do this on
dry skin, then shower and then moisturize. Do this regularly and along with
your clean diet, the regular exercise and taking care of your skin in a matter
of a few weeks your skin will have tightened up again and rather than seeing
flabby abs, you’ll be psyched to see that flat toned stomach.
An elliptical and treadmill are two of the most common cardio machines found in gyms. Both machines can provide an effective cardiovascular workout and help burn calories and improve aerobic capacity, but each machine has unique benefits and drawbacks.
Is an elliptical or a treadmill more effective at burning calories? Which machine should you choose for cardio workouts? These questions and more will be answered in this introductory article, which will examine the pros and cons of each exercise method and explore some research studies.
Treadmill Benefits | Elliptical vs. Treadmill
- Versatility- From a brisk walk to an uphill sprint, treadmills offer a wide range of options in terms of speed, incline, and multiple training programs.
- Emulates Natural Movements- As technology continues to develop, fitness moguls are developing new machines that can be awkward or confusing. The treadmill is familiar and emulates natural movement for walking, jogging, or sprinting.
- High Work Output- Propelling your body weight requires substantial effort. As a result, your body will burn calories at a higher rate.
- Weight Bearing Effect- Contrary to popular belief, running and walking can help strengthen your bones and muscles which can aid your posture and sustainability as you age.
- Well-Researched- Treadmills have been around since the 1800′s and are a staple at every gym and many homes. Naturally, they have been researched, developed, and perfected more than any other piece of cardio equipment.
Treadmill Cons | Elliptical vs. Treadmill
- Can Be Tough On Joints- Running on a treadmill can put stress on your spine, hips, knee, and ankle joints, especially if you do not warm up, or stretch, or run on it all the time with excessive volume. While some treadmills have more shock absorption than others, the impact is still significant.
- Safety Issue- High intensity training such as incline sprints can be dangerous if your skill level is not adequate to be performing these exercises.
- Unnatural Handles- Often times, people like to know their heart rate and find their target heart rate zone. Trying to hold on to the treadmill handles while you are running can be challenging and awkward.
- Posture Problems-Some studies show that the size of the belt can cause people to change the way they walk or run, leading to muscle imbalances and posture problems. The quality of treadmills can vary significantly.
- Difficulty- Running (especially on an incline) is hard. Most people will inherently gravitate towards machines they find to be the most comfortable and use that specific machine as a way to burn calories.
Elliptical Benefits | Elliptical vs. Treadmill
- Non-Impact Conditioning- The elliptical allows your body to emulate a running motion without causing the strenuous impact on your joints that occurs on a treadmill.
- Cross-Training Ability- Most elliptical trainers are now equipped with moveable handles which allow you to exercise your upper body and lower body simultaneously.
- Reverse Stride- Most elliptical allow you to stride in reverse which can activate different muscle groups and put more emphasis on your quads and offer an adjustable variety mid-workout.
- Perceived Exertion Is Lower- Studies show that people are actually working harder than they actually perceive when operating an elliptical. Subjects in the studies were asked to rate their perceived output when operating an elliptical and the majority of research showed subjects underestimating actual output based on their heart rate. Therefore, the elliptical can burn close to the same amount of calories with less effort.
Elliptical Trainer Cons | Elliptical vs. Treadmill
- Less dynamic- With a treadmill, adjusting the incline and speed can lead to exceptional variation in intensity, whereas most treadmills either lack this incline feature, or it is not nearly as effective.
- Less Weight Bearing Effect- While less impact can help prevent injury, there is a downside. Because the elliptical pedals are suspended off the ground they lack the “weight-bearing effect” that is utilized when running. Weight-bearing exercises strengthen bones and muscles and are particularly important for older people in preventing osteoporosis.
- Momentum- Operating an elliptical, especially on lower levels, can allow you to use the machines’ momentum to power the machine
Calorie Burn Comparison | Elliptical vs. Treadmill
A study by the Medical College of Wisconsin found the average calories burned jogging on a treadmill for one hour was 705 to 866. By comparison, an estimate by Health Status found using an elliptical trainer for one hour will burn approximately 773 calories. Based on these and other similar studies, the treadmill may have a slight advantage in calorie burn, although oftentimes the amount of variance is considered negligible compared to the elliptical.
In terms of fat loss and increased aerobic capacity, another study found that people using a stair climber, treadmill, and elliptical at similar exercise intensities experienced similar physiological changes in 12 a week program.
Bottom Line | Elliptical vs. Treadmill
The elliptical can be used as an effective cardiovascular machine for those who want to help improve cardiovascular health with minimal impact. For optimal fat loss, high intensity interval training should be implemented when using an elliptical. Beware that the calorie burn calculators on an elliptical trainer tend to overestimate calorie expenditure, which can dupe people into thinking they are burning more calories than they are. Treadmills offer more versatility and the motor of a treadmill forces you to work out of your comfort zone. If you’re an experienced exerciser, the treadmill offers the most calorie burn because you’re supporting your own body weight. The few extra calories you might burn on the treadmill come with greater potential for injury and stress on your joints, which is why the elliptical is an adequate alternative.
If you have a nagging injury that is made worse by the weight bearing effect of running, then the elliptical may be the most suitable option. Consider incorporating both machines into your regimen to reap the most benefit. Varying exercises and machines will help to avoid monotony and activate different muscle groups versus doing the same exercise on a continual basis.
Elliptical & Treadmill Research
Here are some research reports on elliptical and treadmills:
- Similarity of joint kinematics and muscle demands between elliptical training and walking: implications for practice.
- Joint loading in the lower extremities during elliptical exercise.
- Physiologic response to a prescribed rating of perceived exertion on an elliptical fitness cross-trainer.
- Mechanically Braked Elliptical Wingate Test: Modification Considerations, Load Optimization and Reliability.
- Comparison of elliptical training, stationary cycling, treadmill walking and overground walking.
- Comparison of energy expenditure on a treadmill vs. an elliptical device at a self-selected exercise intensity.
- Physiological changes following a 12 week gym based stair-climbing, elliptical trainer and treadmill running program in females.
- Metabolic cost of stride rate, resistance, and combined use of arms and legs on the elliptical trainer.
If you have any questions or comments, let me know!
from Brooklyn Boot Camp’s Slim and Strong blog
workout, is it ok to just keep drinking water, or should I eat something to prevent
feeling lethargic later? I don’t presently have access to any protein shakes,
and I don’t want to eat anything that will undermine the fat burning!
opportunity to refuel your body and help your muscles rebuild and repair. Eating
nothing at all would be detrimental to your muscle growth. Even if you’re not
hungry, drink at least a protein shake or eat a cup of Greek yogurt. Eat two
hard boiled eggs or a few slices of turkey. It is important that you refuel your
muscles with about 20-30 grams of protein (depending on how much muscle you have) so they can get started on repairing and rebuilding
themselves. If you don’t have any protein coming in, then they will over time
actually break down, rather than build up. You’re not undermining fat burning
by eating as long as you’re not loading up on sugar and starches), but you’re actually slowing muscle growth by not eating.
to pair your protein with some carbs (the good kind) because the carbs help
raise your insulin just a bit, which is key in driving the protein to the
muscles. A perfect post-workout snack would be a cup of Greek yogurt with
a few oats and berries on top, or grilled chicken with broccoli. If you are
already at your goal body fat and goal weight and just want to work on
maintaining your weight, then you can refuel by eating more carbs after your
workout, such as brown rice or sweet potatoes. These carbs will be shuttled to
your muscles and liver and when you work out the next day you will draw the
energy from the muscles.
from Brooklyn Boot Camp’s Slim and Strong blog
from Brooklyn Boot Camp’s Slim and Strong blog
I’m really enjoying your class. I wanted to take you up on your offer to send
you a day of food diary for a normal day for me. I’m really trying to loose
10-15 pounds before June-ish…then I want to be able to maintain a healthy
life style of working out and eating until my wedding in August (and the rest
of my life!).
to a working kitchen. Luckily, my office has a great cafeteria that has lots of
healthy choices and everything is made on the spot to your personal order. I
also go to Whole Foods a lot and stay away from their fried or baked foods. So
any tips on what to look for when eating out or quick places in the city that
are healthy would be great. Come July 1st, I will have access to a full working
kitchen but until then I need to fend for myself. I buy my snacks in advance
and recently I’ve started making shakes at my fiance’s apartment, freezing them
in ziplock bags and then eating them like frosty for snacks. I started that
this week.
Omelet (3 egg whites) with Spinach, Mushrooms, Broccoli, and a small sprinkle
of chedder cheese. Black Ice Coffee (no milk, no sugar).
Almonds.
grill chicken wrap with 1/2 an avocado, balsamic vinegar, salt/pepper, and half
a slice of muenster cheese. With a side of a red apple and two teaspoons of
almond butter.
Butter Bar and an Ice Black Coffee (no milk, no sugar)
(no bread just the patty) with a side of broccoli and some sauteed tofu.
glasses of water a day.
without a kitchen, but eating out can be clean too as long as you stick to
choosing lean proteins with veggies. They can be ordered at any restaurant. Don’t
hesitate to order off the menu.
quite good but here are a few pointers to maximize your fat burning:
add a full egg. 3 egg whites add up to only about 12 grams of protein and you
need about 20 per meal. A little cheese will add some, but it also adds fat, so
watch out for that.
as long as you can stick to just about 15. Nuts are high in fat, so you
want to limit your intake.
you mean Nature Valley bars? While the bars sound healthy, they’re by no means
a fat burning food. Each has about 28 grams of carbs and only 5 grams of
protein, so they will actually spike your blood sugar with the 11 grams of pure
sugar they contain (that’s almost 3 teaspoons of sugar!). That means they’ll
make you store body fat and make you hungry for more. If you eat a lot of carbs, then you need to balance them out with adequate protein to avoid a blood sugar disaster. Remember that protein slows the absorption of carbohydrates in your blood stream, so don’t eat your carbs alone. Add protein or fat.
can load up in the carb department. A single wrap (just the wrap itself without
contents) can easily have 40 grams of carbs, so make sure you read the label.
If you can’t read the label, then you might be better off ordering two slices
of bread (whole grain), which is more filling and satiating.
is about 10 grams of fat. Add the cheese (about 5 grams), plus 2 teaspoons of
almond butter (about 18 grams of fat) and before you know it you had about 33
grams of fat, while you should have about 10g per meal – 5x a day.
that lunch and with that you’re overloading on the carbs. The wrap has about
30-40 grams of carbs, then add the apple with about 30 … so you’re getting
twice as many carbs as you need. They’ll end up being shuttled to the liver and
muscles until you need the energy and if you keep loading up on carbs they’ll
get stored away as fat. Your best bet would have been to have a dinner with
very little carbs to balance out the overload of carbs and fat you had for
lunch.
eating a real meal is better than snacking on foods that seem ‘healthy’. You
could have eaten 3 chicken breasts with 3 plates of veggies to get the same
number of calories and you wouldn’t have been able to get all that food down
because it’s so filling…
much while you thought you were eating clean, but hopefully I pointed out a few
things that make sense. Send me another food diary of tomorrow’s foods, ok?
calculating the amount of carbs I eat. I feel like I just need to carry around
the chart you gave us. But here is what I had yesterday. Let me know if that is
better or what you think I need to adjust still. I have a HUGE sweet tooth, so
cutting out all fruit on top of any chocolate etc would be so hard for me and
feeling extremely deprived. So instead of reaching for chocolate I reach for a
fruit to give me that little bit of sweetness.
weeks I do feel better, I’ve been running 3 miles at least twice a week in
addition to your class and I do feel better in my clothes and just in how I
feel in general. Hopefully I’ll start losing weight.
raspberries, strawberries, almond milk, ice and whey powder.
beans, artichokes, and a light drizzle of olive oil.
and then I was full so i stopped. I didn’t want to force myself into eating a
snack.
little bit of onions for flavor) and a piece of grilled chicken.
give up sweets, I’d much rather have you eat dark chocolate (80% plus) than
fruit. The fructose in fruit gets converted to fat so much faster than other
sugar. Plus, dark chocolate is low in sugar, high in fiber and has lots of
antioxidants.
to digest but has been linked to an increased risk of colon cancer due to the
prolonged passage time through the colon.
If you’re hungry quickly thereafter, eat something solid, such as an egg omelet
and have the shake as a snack. Liquids are absorbed much quicker than solids
and therefore keep you full only for a brief time.
morsel you eat:
limit (except for white potatoes).
you know it’s not your friend because it makes you store fat. So, eliminate all
you can.
potatoes), then limit your food intake to only a few bites. I’d say 6-8 bites
max is ideal.
from Brooklyn Boot Camp’s Slim and Strong blog
Many of you asked me about our weekend retreat Upstate over Easter/Passover weekend. I took 11 women with me to Phoenicia, New York for 3 days and we had an amazing time.
We started our Friday with a delicious vegetarian lunch at Menla Mountain Retreat Center for Health & Happiness. The center’s director is Robert Thurman, not just well known for being Uma Thurman’s dad but he’s is also a Professor for Tibetan Studies at Columbia and a leading expert on Tibetan Buddhism. You can check out the website for many other retreats held there every year.
After lunch we headed out for a hike up a steep mountain. The wearer was absolutely gorgeous and we were rewarded with a spectacular view over the valley.
After everyone settled into their rooms and unpacked, the group got their first taste of a butt-kicking. We had a beautiful yoga studio to ourselves and enjoyed working out being surrounded by nature. We took half the class outside to explore the huge campus. The retreat center has a spa, a sweat lodge, a beautiful pond and streams, is surrounded by mountains and forests and is set in the middle of nowhere, so the quiet is absolutely amazing.
After a delicious dinner that everyone devoured (the chef was absolutely amazing at making us miss meat not for a second) we played the game Therapy as a group of 12 and we had an absolute blast. Not only because I hadn’t played the game for several years and had pretty much forgotten all the rules and ended up instructing everyone completely wrong, but it was also the perfect way to get to know one another.
Saturday started with a 6am morning run. We started while it was pitch black but the sun rose over the horizon right at that time and by the time we finished our run it was bright and sunny. We saw 3 deer in the woods, saw chipmunks and heard the birds wake up. There’s nothing like a morning run in nature. Who needs headphones….? The run was followed immediately by a boot camp session in our studio and we all headed to breakfast to enjoy eggs, oatmeal, fruits and coffee and lots of other delicious things.
Everyone joined the nutrition workshop in which we discussed the impact of foods on the body. What foods promote disease and fat storage and what foods promote a lean and healthy body. We discussed a few people’s food diaries and one was in complete shock over the fact that she had eaten her allowance of carbs for the day in just one breakfast. Needless to say she learned a lesson and for the rest of the day we joked about the fact that eating bagels wasn’t necessarily a fat loss approach.
After lunch everyone signed up for a massage at the beautiful new spa. We enjoyed a sauna session and everyone was so relaxed in the afternoon that I was teaching a bunch of rubbery people how to do donkey kicks. By the time we were done everyone was ready for a nap!
In the evening we came back together for a workshop that was supposed to challenge everyone’s status quo in life. I called it “Create the Life you Want”. Part of wanting to change your health is changing how you live your life. If what you aren’t happy with your life, then chances are it will affect your health and fitness. Starting outside changes from the inside is key or else all changes will remain superficial and won’t last. I started off the workshop by reading a powerful article I had read recently about having regrets (you should read it). By using a worksheet we then identified areas in our lives that needed improvement and we noted specific steps necessary to create an ideal life. We looked at areas such as relationships, finances, career, spiritual, fun and social and identified specific action steps that would turn an unfavorable situation or a problem into a solution or positive experience. Once everyone had identified their ideal outcomes in life, we created vision boards.
If you’re not familiar with this, I highly recommend making one and keeping it up to date. A vision board is a place where you post visual representations of what you want in life. For example, you may cut out newspaper or magazine articles that inspire you or you may collect pieces that remind you of what you want in your life.
A vision board is a constant reminder of the good things you are pursuing in your life. The more you focus on what you want, the more energy you’re giving these things to create themselves in your life. Naturally, you need to take action towards these events, but keeping the eye on the prize and believing that you can actually accomplish them and you deserve them, is key. Here are the wonderful boards we created.
Before we knew it, three hours had passed by as everyone was so engrossed in creating the life they wanted, time just flew by. We sent off our wishes into the universe by letting off wish lanterns. It was a stunning sight to watch them fly off into the night sky.
Sunday morning started with a morning run through the woods and a boot camp workout.
We also gathered for a hypnosis session that was focused on stress reduction, overall wellness and weight maintenance. Everyone felt beyond relaxed and ready to return to their lives with a renewed sense of motivation, willingness to tackle areas in their live that may not have been ideal, and with recharged batteries.
We headed into Woodstock to check out the local stores and enjoyed a delicious lunch at Oriole 9, a very popular breakfast/ brunch spot that serves locally sourced and organic fare. We ended the weekend with a celeb sighting and headed back to the big crazy city for our wild and insane lives 
If you’re ready to recharge your batteries, kickstart your outlook on life and get away from it all for a week, then join me for my Detox Retreat at Menla Mountain Retreat from June 15-21. In addition to twice daily workouts, we’ll have several day trips, such as a Zipline tour on America’s highest zipline, a river tubing adventure, a visit to a Zen Buddhist Monastery for a meditation lesson and a trip to the Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary, where old farm animals get a happy home. Details here. Hope to see you there!
Cheers, Ariane
Yoga Local NYC:
