A-Z Fitness - Support

Some people seem to have so much support in everything they do. Is that you? Not everyone has the support they feel they need, but it's needed none-the-less. Perhaps you don't feel you need the support? If not, how much better would it be if you found a friend or family member to share in your goals and ambitions? I've found blogging can be one way to find the support when I'm lacking. Don't be afraid to ask your close friends and family for support if you think they are not giving it to you. Find a friend to walk with or go to the gym with. Share your success with others in an on-line community. Do what it takes to find the support you need, you'll find it won't be difficult at all.

Tips: Make sure you pair up with someone who has similar goals in mind. If you're looking to work on cardio, pairing up with someone looking to strength train is hardly going to work unless you are simply looking for support getting to the gym. If you are still feeling support is waining feel free to comment on the support thread I've set up in my blog: Support

Remember: Never go it alone. Even if you have to do your workout's and food planning alone, sharing with someone can give you additional thoughts and motivation. Don't forget, as long as they are supporting you, you need to support them as well. Support goes both ways and making sure you are just as supportive makes for a team with positive results.

Goal: Discover who your biggest support is and make sure you are giving them as much support as they giving you. Try finding someone new to support and you'll likely find new support coming your way as well.

Last Weeks Goal: For the past few weeks I've been having a problem with looking at the big picture, one step at a time. With last weeks goal to be more realistic I decided to step back and look what I was doing. I wasn't working towards an immediate realistic approach, but how much I wanted to lose as a whole. By stopping and looking at what my immediate short short goal is, I've become more realistic in my approach and taking it one day at a time. How did you do on last weeks goal of looking more realistic on your fitness?

What fitness words starting with the letter "S" inspire you?

S11E04 - I Did Nothing Wrong

Original Air Date: 01/25/11

The contestants are given a food challenge to start the week off and are presented with some of their favorite foods. The team who eats the most calories gets to choose which team will have to work with the unknowns for a week. Most teams refuse to eat any calories but Arthur eats a chicken leg which gives him control. He sends the green (Jay & Jennifer) team to the others.

Meanwhile, the rest of the contestants on the ranch let Don know they are upset with him for throwing the weigh in last week. Jillian tries to talk to him, but Don claims he's innocent and refuses to admit he's done anything wrong.

Letters from home are next offered to both the Ranch and the Unknown teams. Whichever group can come closest to guessing the number of calories in various meals they will win the letters. The players from the ranch win the reward. Despite the tears, they are all encouraged from home not to give up. Even Don seems to take the encouragement to heart.

No weigh-in this week.

S.U.P.P.O.R.T.

It's not an article, it's a support thread. Looking for support or want to give your support to those in need? This is a chance to look for and receive specific support in your fitness goals. Sometimes, knowing others are dealing with the same thing you are, is half the battle.

The goal is to help others succeed by urging them along and giving them positive persuasion. Remind them of their objective and show your reliability. Individually, fitness can be a challenge but teamwork can help us all out.

If you need support in a specific area, leave a comment. Want to offer support to myself or others? Leave that in the comment section as well.

S11E03 - Losing Weight, You're Doing It Wrong

Original Air Date: 01/18/11
It's week three and the new trainers are finally revealed. Cara is a boxer and Brett is a fitness instructor. Both are upset with Q for taking advantage of his four week immunity, and he's not doing as much work as he should be.

Both groups meet later at a challenge although a partition divides them. Each group is challenged to keep an egg balanced on the underside of a skillet. The last person from each team will meet at a dinner with Curtis Stone. There is also a two pound challenge at stake. Marci and Denise win and meet Curtis Stone. He prepares them lunch and the one who comes closest to guessing the calories will win the two pound challenge. Marci comes closest and wins the challenge.

For the latest challenge, each contestant has a large bucket, and when filled they will be out of the challenge. The final person remaining will have the only vote at the elimination, that turns out to be Irene.

At the Weigh In: Things don't look good for Arhtur who only loses four pounds. But the twins Dan and Don both GAIN nine pounds. Irene opts to vote out Dan.

A-Z Fitness - Really Realistic

Sometimes in our journey to fitness, we become over excited and tend to make big plans. It's good to think big, but are you being realistic in your goals and ambitions or are you dreaming? Wanting to lose 20 pounds is great, but are you expecting to lose that in a week or two? Shows like the Biggest Loser might make you think it's achievable, but it's not realistic. Let's keep in mind, the contestants on the Biggest Loser are on a fitness ranch, with personal trainers, working out several hours each day. Is that something you will realistically do? Probably not. Also, be realistic in what you eat. Suddenly deciding to cut off every food you like isn't very realistic either. Before long, you'll be craving the foods you've cut off and likely over indulge. As I've said before, it takes baby steps. Make your goals attainable and realistic and you will have better success.

Tips: If you are realistic about your goals and want to do all you can besides joining the Biggest Loser there are other options for you. Join a gym, hire a personal trainer, join Weight Watchers. Weight Watchers is nice because of the support, motivational encouragement from the team leaders and the help in tracking. If these are viable options for you, go for it. Looking for ways to be realistic in your goals without spending money is also doable. Get an ipod and go for a walk in the mornings, or take up running. Perhaps you have a friend who'll run with you. There are various games now available to help keep you active. Having fitness goals can be realistic without having to spend lots of money on a monthly basis. There are also various web-sites designed to help you track your daily calories, some are free.

Remember: Sometimes it's easier when you are not think about your ultimate goal. If you want to be realistic, think small. Being realistic and tackling smaller goals will help keep you focused and give you the confidence to succeed. Being unrealistic or merely planning and wishing to get in shape will only aggravate and disappoint you.

Goal: It's time to review your immediate goals. What are your immediate goals and are they realistic? Remember to think short term, make a realistic goal for the next week. Losing one pound a week can be realistic, losing 5-10 not so much. Try making a realistic weight-loss goal, a realistic exercise goal or a realistic dietary goal. Feel free to share it here.

Last Weeks Goal: What small steps did you make this week to change the quality of your food? I made a point to put out fruit this weekend, and I bought myself several packages of gum to lay around the house. Having a quality food within easy reach can sometimes make or break your decision to eat an unhealthy food.

What fitness words starting with the letter "R" inspire you?

A-Z Fitness - Quality Control

Last week we talked about how much you eat, the quantity. This week we're talking about quality. It's the kind of yin-yang of healthy eating. Watching your quality will help you focus on quantity, watching your quantity forces you to keep better tabs on your quality. So why watch the quality if you are watching quantity? Remember the old saying, 'you are what you eat'? If we put nothing but junk into our body, we shouldn't expect our bodies to perform well. Watching calories is fine, but if all the calories are a result of doughnuts, McDonald's, beer and nothing more, we won't feel satisfied, we won't feel refreshed and we won't feel motivated.

Tips: If you are unsure what changes you can make, don't be afraid to ask for help. If you are like me, you'll likely have many friends who are into fitness and will consistently offer suggestions for quality foods to try. Or perhaps post a comment in an open forum like twitter, facebook or something similar. You'll be surprised to find how many people are willing to give you great ideas for food substitutes. As an example, I just posed the question "Looking for suggestions to change to better quality food when snacking. 100 cal bag of chips fine or something else be better?"* I received back the following list of suggestions; Raw carrots, broccoli, an apple with natural peanut butter, stove popped popcorn, protein shake, parsnip chips, the entirety of the fruit and veg chart. So even if you can't think of a better quality food to substitute with, there are others who'll gladly offer suggestions.

Remember: Choose foods that will give you lasting energy throughout the day. Snacking on carrots rather than chips will keep our bodies satisfied. Craving something sweet, there is nothing like the natural goodness of a fresh fruit. Sometimes people are prone to eat less fruits and vegetables even if they are watching what they eat. True, chocolate might taste better but it certainly won't have the lasting effects healthier options will have.

Goal: Do your utmost to watch the quality of what you are eating. Is there a food choice you can substitute this week? Try a piece of gum instead of eating a snack. Cut up some fruit for dessert instead of eating a cookie. Changes start with small steps, and slowly changing the quality of what you eat will have lasting effects.

Last Weeks Goal: What did you notice when taking note of portion sizes consumed by yourself or others? Did you make the effort to keep tabs on this, if so you likely took some interesting notes. What were your observations? Care to share?

What fitness words starting with the letter "Q" inspire you?

*This question was posted on twitter so I had to keep the message short, thus the grammatical errors.

S11E02 - Doughnut Stompin'

Original Air Date: 01/11/11
Irene is really upset about her mother going home, but more bad news comes when Alison tells the contestants those with the mystery trainers beat their weigh-in percentages. As an incentive, the contestants on the ranch are told if they beat the other teams percentage they will all win immunity for the week.

But the other team plays dirty pool when they send the contestants at the ranch a box of donuts. Arthur realizes he's very tempted to grab one so everyone decides to stomp on the box of donuts. Arthur takes the remains to the dumpster, though is still tempted, despite them being stepped on and mushed.

The challenge for the week has the contestants making a bridge across water with air mattresses. The winner of the challenges gets a three pound advantage. The contestants from the ranch lose, but win the weigh in anyway. All teams are safe for the week.

S11E01 - The Mystery Trainers

Original Air Date: 01/04/11
11 teams arrive on the ranch and discover Bob and Jillian are not the only trainers this season. 5 teams will have the option of working with the new trainers, and receive four weeks of immunity. Each team work together towards completing 5K on a treadmill. The order the contestants finish will determine who gets to pick which set of trainers they want to work with; Bob & Jillian or a mystery two.

Choosing the Unknown Trainers:
Yellow (Justin & Rulon)
Grey (Moses & Kaylee)
Pink (Denise & Sarah)
Red (Jaquin & Larialmy)
Brown (Ken & Austin)

Teams with Bob & Jillian:
Aqua (Marci & Courtney)
Green (Jay & Jennifer)
Orange (Ana & Irene)
Purple (Hannah & Olivia)
Blue (Jesse & Arthur)
Black (Dan & Don)

At the weigh in: The Orange team falls below the yellow line and the rest of the teams decide to send home Ana and keep Irene.

A-Z Fitness - Portion Control

What you eat is only as important as how much you eat. Feeling guilty because you are craving a piece of lasagna? Why feel guilty? There is nothing wrong with eating your favorite food, especially when you keep it under control. Who says you have to bury your plate with your food? Keeping portions under control means you can enjoy more foods. Don't be fooled by restaurant gimmicks making you think eating more in your meal is a better value. There is no value greater than your health. For example; the typical meal ordered at McDonald's when it first came out carried about 590 calories with 20g of fat. That's typically what's in the 'kids meal' now. The typical person ordering a 'value sized' meal can have as many as 1310 calories and 51g of fat. And that's on the low side! Choose wisely, and you can enjoy your favorite foods from time to time, choose poorly and motivation for your fitness goals will wane. Conclusion? Eat smart.

Tips: Try to keep fruits and vegetables the first focus on your plate next to your protein. Don't be afraid to have that extra helping of peas and carrots either. Vegetable are seldom what you need to look out for when it comes to portion control. Just watch things like potatoes, which can add up the calories. The piece of meat you eat doesn't have to cover your plate either, a portion the size of a deck of playing cards is perfect. Sometimes, buying smaller plates will help you make sure your portion sizes are small. Why not give that a try?

Remember: The harder you strive to keep your portions under control, the easier it will be to enjoy foods you like, guilt free. Having a piece of pizza isn't so wrong, eating an entire pizza - no good. Are you used to larger portions? Unsure what is a safe amount to eat? That's when you need to talk with your doctor or dietitian and find out what your caloric goal should be for the day. It'll be much easier to plan your portion sizes, when you know how much you should be eating.

Goal: Keep an eye on your portion sizes this week. Make a concerned effort to identify where this is not taking place. You don't even have to target yourself in this exercise, watch how others eat at work, the mall, or the local restaurant. Do you feel others are keeping an eye on portion control? If not, identifying it will help you to make wiser decisions. If they are, it'll motivate you to do the same. Keep track of what you see, especially the best and worst offenders.

Last Weeks Goal: Where did I put my notes from last week? Oh, that's right I organized them in a folder and are sitting right here. How did you do in your organization? Did you create a binder or start keeping everything in a folder? Share your story.

What fitness words starting with the letter "P" inspire you?