Max Body Slim Down Secrets…

Are you looking for new ways to help you slim down?

We know you have changed the way you are eating.
And you have definitely changed the way you are
exercising. So what else can you do to help you slim
down or maintain your new healthy weight?

Here are a few tricks that may help push your diet
and fitness to the next level.

Start Smart – When sitting down for lunch and dinner,
begin your meal with a small salad or vegetables. This
will help fill you up and will be lower calories then the
other options on your plate.

Sneak a Snack – A few minutes before each meal,
eat some healthy fat. A couple of nuts, a few slices
of avocado, or a spoonful of peanut butter will help
to activate ghrelin, a hormone that lets you know that
you are full.

Try the 3 hour rule – Keep your metabolism going by
eating every 3 hours.

Fill Up on Fiber – Fill up on fruits and vegetables and
you will be less likely to go for more calorie dense foods.

Check out these and more tips for slimming down in this
article from cnnhealth.com

Do you have any of your own slim down tricks?

What has worked for you?

Post them to the blog by clicking the link below…

Comitted to Your Success,

Your Coach, Mark

Good Food vs. Bad Food

We have told you to clean out your kitchen of “bad” foods and go shopping for “good” foods, but what is good and what is bad?

Recently Michael Pollan, a food author, gave a lecture to scientists at the CDC.  He shared with them his seven rules for eating and the seven words that sum up those seven rules.  He believes that you should “Eat food, not too much, mostly plants.”

So what does that mean?  Well, it means to eat real food – vegetables, fruits, whole grains, fish and meat.  And to avoid “edible food-like substances”.

So here are his Seven Rules for Eating:

1) Don’t eat anything your grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food. 

2) Don’t eat anything with more than five ingredients, or ingredients you can’t pronounce.

3) Stay out of the middle of the supermarket.  You should shop the perimeter of the store where you find the fruits, vegetables, and meats. 

4) Don’t eat anything that won’t eventually rot.  There are exceptions to this rule, as in honey, but avoid things that never go bad…like Twinkies.

5) It is not just what you eat, but how you eat.  When you are eating a meal, stop eating before you are completely full.  You should be satisfied, not stuffed.

6) Enjoy meals with the people you love.  Eat your meals at the dinner table, that is what it is for!  Avoid eating meals in front of the TV.

7) Don’t buy food where you buy your gasoline. 

Is this all you need to know about how to eat right?  Probably not, but it is a good start.  You should also remember to eat 5-6 smaller meals throughout the day instead of 2-3 large meals.  And remember to drink a lot of water.

The Marvelous Monthly Boot Camp Awards…

We had a great group of girls this past boot camp and I wanted announce all of our monthly boot camp awards winners from the March session…

A Recipe and the Boot Camp Photo…

Thanks to everyone who came to boot camp
today for our boot camp photo and I hope you
were able to take a few minutes and read my
last email regarding the weekend.
 
I just wanted to send you girls a quick 30-minute
recipe that makes a great dinner option during
the week.
 
From Shape Magazine…
 
Flaked-Salmon Salad with Black Beans
 
Ingredients
Dressing
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup bottled fat-free vinaigrette
Juice of 1 large lemon
1 teaspoon Dijion mustard

Salad
12 ounces boneless salmon fillet
2 cups broccoli florets
1 15.5-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
Salt and Black Pepper
4 cups torn assorted salad greens (trimmed, washed,
and dried)
1 bunch fresh basil
2 carrots, peeled and shaved into long strips
 
Directions
Whisk together olive oil, vinaigrette, lemon juice, and
mustard. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 400°F. Place salmon in a small roasting
pan. Cook for 10 to 20 minutes, depending on the
thickness of the fish (plan on 10 minutes per inch), or until
an instant-read thermometer registers 140°F. Remove
salmon from oven and set aside. Once it’s cool, flake into
bite-size pieces with a fork.

Meanwhile, bring a 2-quart saucepan filled with water to
a boil. Add broccoli and boil for 1 minute or until florets
turn bright green. Drain and rinse under cold water. Shake
to remove as much water as possible and place in a large
bowl. Toss broccoli with dressing; set aside.

In another bowl, combine salmon, black beans, and
tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper. Divide salad greens
and basil among 4 plates. Top with broccoli and salmon
mixture and garnish with shaved carrots.
 
Stats: 4 servings (2.5 cups each), 293 calories, only 28g
carbs, and 23g of protein
 
Committed to Your Success,
 
Your Coach, Mark 
 

Surviving the Weekend…

From Rebecca Pratt of Sparks People

Don’t Let Weekend Mishaps Ruin Your Weekday Efforts

How often do you keep your healthy habits during the weekdays, and spend your entire weekend falling off the wagon? Somehow it’s easier to eat veggies, fruits, and whole grains during the workweek, but seemingly impossible to pass up chips, desserts, and beer after 6pm on Friday! Weekends often bring all-day indulging, and relaxing (a.k.a. sedentary)activities like watching TV—and that’s true for most Americans. On average, we consume an extra 345 calories per day every weekend, which can add up to an extra 5 pounds per year!

Take heart—there are things you can do to ward off the weekend woes, even as you make Saturdays and Sundays a relaxing departure from your workday world. Though your schedule may vary widely, dictated by social outings, household chores, and Little League practice, you can master the shift with a bit of thought and creativity.

First of all, recognize that weekends are a common problem for most of us striving to maintain fitness. Next, diagnose the major pitfalls of your own weekends: Do you make bad food choices? Eat too much? Hibernate instead of hitting the gym? By examining what throws you off course, you can institute some strategies that will get you back on track. For starters, try these tips:

• Keep up with your diet and exercise journal on the weekends. Use it to pinpoint your difficulties, so that you can evaluate ways to attack your weaknesses.
• Look for ways to combine family time with exercise, both indoors and out. Ride bikes, skate, play soccer or tag, or take a simple nature walk. Let the kids play basketball at the local recreation center while you lift weights or run the treadmill. Your weekend exercise will be worthwhile even if it’s not as regimented. Plus, you’ll be instilling healthy habits in your kids without them even knowing.
• If the weekend is your time to cook, either for fun or to get a jump on the week ahead, try some healthy new recipes, adding the successful ones to your repertoire. You can also adapt old favorites into healthier versions through such simple modifications as less sugar, applesauce instead of oil, canola or olive oil instead of vegetable oil, plain yogurt instead of sour cream, etc.
• Try new foods that you don’t usually have time for on a busy weekday. Make fruit smoothies, which are diet-friendly and can satisfy a sweet tooth.
• Give yourself a day off from exercising. Recharging your battery will help you remain faithful to fitness in the week ahead.
• When it comes to weekends, you’re more likely to exercise if you get it out of the way. Plan your workout for early Saturday morning—before you slip into relaxation mode.
• Limit dining out to just one meal per weekend. If something happens that you didn’t “budget” for, try to compensate. If you overindulged, plan additional activity to help offset the extra calories.
• Spice up your workouts so you’ll stick with them! Try the Saturday morning Spinning or the Sunday afternoon yoga classes. Whatever you normally do during the week, find something new and different for the weekend.
• Look for new exercise opportunities that aren’t necessarily available during the week. Can you walk to church, or return library books on your bike? Things that might not be feasible during the week because of time constraints might be a nice change of pace on the weekend.
• Save vigorous chores (scrubbing floors, raking leaves, washing and waxing the car) for the weekend so that you know you’ll get at least a minimum amount of exercise.
• Don’t save all your splurging for the weekends. Allowing yourself a few treats throughout the week will help you avoid the mindset that the weekend is an excuse to go bonkers. And by spacing your treats evenly, you’re less likely to get sudden, irresistible cravings.
• Don’t forget to drink your water! Carry convenient sports bottles to your weekend activities.
• If you know you’re going to dine out or be in a social situation with special food, eat a light snack beforehand. Then, you can enjoy the treats without being so famished that you go overboard.
• Find something to keep you motivated, even at home on weekends. Discussing health on the message boards or reading the latest fitness news from a magazine could give you the willpower to resist temptations that might otherwise pull you in.
• Avoid alcohol. Not only does it contain 7 calories per gram (not including the calories in mixers), but drinking can also lower your inhibitions, causing you to eat more. Plus, when you’re dehydrated and groggy the next day, the last thing you want to do is exercise.

You don’t have to regret the weekend—or start over every Monday morning. By adopting strategies that work for your life, you can relax and once again enjoy the weekend. So, next time your co-workers tell you to “Have a good weekend”…you will!

Recipe of the Week: Fruit-filled Melon

I’ve had a lot of requests for easy desserts and snacks so I plan to start posting a lot more fat burning recipes. Every recipe will be properly portioned to give you the right ratio of protein, carbohydrates, and healthy fat.

 

Here’s a great one to kick it off…

Fruit-filled Melon (2 Servings)

Ingredients:

1/2 cup low fat cottage cheese

1 small melon

1 peach, cubed

1 orange, sectioned

¼ cup maraschino cherries

2 tsp. slivered almonds

Directions: 

Cut the melon in half. Using a melon baller, cut melon flesh, leaving a thin border wall inside each melon half to be used as bowls. If necessary, cut the bottom of the halves to stay in place. Place cottage cheese in mounds in the center of each melon bowl.

Combine peaches, oranges, and cherries in a large mixing bowl. Divide fruit evenly into the four melon bowls and top each with 1 tsp. of almonds. Serve.

Enjoy!

Committed To Your Success,

Your Coach, Mark

First Day of Boot Camp and Pics from the Hawaii Trip…

Great job today at the first day of Max Body

Boot Camp, April Edition. You all did amazing

and I’m glad to hear that all of you kept it

active on our one week break.

 

Bikini season is here so it’s time to take boot

camp to a whole new level…

 

I’m going to do my part when it comes to

providing you with a plan of action, but you

have to act on it.

 

That means…

 

- Eating Right -

(Mostly whole foods, no white breads, cereals,

or pastas, little starchy carbs at dinner, don’t

drink calories, and eat every 3-4 hours)

 

-Writing it in your food journal -

(by the way, I do have food journals available

but you only get one if you commit to writing in

it the entire month of April <==You’ll thank me in

4 weeks)

 

- Being consistent with your workouts -

(Coming to boot camp everyday and doing your

cardio assignments < 3-Day Campers> )

 

 - Getting Enough Rest -

( I know this is a hard one for a lot of girls but

it’s been proven that the healthiest individuals

get at least 7 hours of sleep < Do Your Best> )

Committed To Your Success,

Your Coach, Mark