Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Better Bone Health

Other than when you hit your "funny bone" or accidentally whack yourself on a hard surface, how often do you really think about your bones? Well, it's time to start. Your bones have several important functions. In addition to forming your skeleton and supporting your whole body, they shield your organs and keep your muscles in place. They also store calcium, which is essential to maintaining strength and healthy bone density.

But bones start losing density as we get older, which increases the risk of osteoporosis — especially for women. When the ovaries stop producing estrogen during menopause, it takes an even bigger toll on our bones, since estrogen is a natural protector against bone loss. The threat of bone tissue deterioration and fractures associated with osteoporosis should be taken seriously.

What's the best thing you can do to make sure that your bones stay in tip-top shape? Simple — get your calcium! Our bodies can't produce calcium on their own, and we need this miracle mineral to keep our bones and our teeth healthy and to facilitate proper function of the heart, muscles, and nerves.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends the following sources for getting your calcium:

* Dairy products: low-fat or nonfat milk, cheese, and yogurt
* Dark green leafy vegetables: bok choy and spinach
* Calcium-fortified foods: orange juice, cereal, bread, soy beverages, and tofu products
* Nuts: almonds

In addition to consuming calcium, the resistance training that you do will help keep your bones strong and healthy.
Keep up the good work!

Are you a binge eater?

Are You a Binge Eater?
If you're inclined to binge, the most important thing to do for yourself is to examine the emotional reasons behind your problem. I know that processing those emotions is hard and takes time, but here are some good techniques to help you modify your behavior and combat binge eating in the future:

Banish binge foods from your environment. Don't buy or purchase stuff that you can binge on. You can't eat what's not there, so get rid of it.

Try taking up a hobby. Keep yourself occupied so that rather than focusing on food, you'll distract yourself with something productive.

Decorate your fridge with stuff that motivates you. I have three pictures on mine: One is a picture from before I started a healthy lifestyle and the other two are pictures of 2 ladies I admire, Jillian Michaels and Tami French. Let me tell ya, there is nothing that will turn you off to food like Jillian and Tami's rock hard abs next to my extremely fatty soft abs.

Call a friend. The next time you want to stuff your face, reach out for support and try talking through your feelings instead of anesthetizing them by binging.

Do something to screw up your binge. In other words, pamper yourself with something that's positive as opposed to self-destructive. Get a mani-pedi. Take a bubble bath. Go to the gym. There are many places to go and activities to take part in that'll also lead you away from food temptations.

Real work takes time, so it's good to have some techniques to fall back on when life gets the better of you! And remember: one day at a time. If you do end up in a binge, work out a little harder the next day. Every day is a new one. Got it, kids? Cool.

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

TIme for a new challenge for the rest of my first round of P90X!

So, I was talking to a good friend of mine, Steve, about my results and some goals of where I would like to get to. I am going to share them here so I can be kept accountable.

My top 2 goals:
1. get my weight down to between 120 and 130
2. get my body fat % down to 15%

What I need to do to get there:
1. Drink a minimum of 80oz of water every day
2. set my calorie intake at about 1400 and then vary depending on the workout that day
3. keep the intensity of every workout high and continue to push myself and challenge myself with each rep

I know I can do a lot better in the areas of hydration and nutrition which are two things that need to be pretty much spot on in order to get the extreme results that are possible with P90X. I have always blamed my lack of hydration on work and how it can be difficult to get proper hydration on the flight line. Well I need to get real with myself and take responsibility for the lack of hydration. So with that said, for the rest of my current round, which ends Dec 28, I am going to make sure I drink my water (hydration is extremely important), count my calories and continue to BRING IT with my workouts.