Get Motivated With Music

Think about being in a library where everything is extremely quiet and someone tells you to exercise as hard as you possibly can without making much noise.  You then find yourself trying to do jumping jacks, squats, pushups, etc in pure silence.  That’s a tough situation.  You can push your body, but only to a certain point.

Now, take that same situation but change one variable; turn on music.  As you are told to exercise and begin doing jumping jacks, squats, pushups, etc your hard work doesn’t seem quite as tough.  This is because music is a great motivator. 

One song that comes to my mind is “Eye of the Tiger” by Survivor from the motion picture Rocky. I have seen time and time again this song elicit a response in people that makes them work harder to become faster, stronger, and leaner.  They associate that song with a hard working world champion boxer and they want to train like that; they want to be a champion. 

Find music that works for you.  Plug in, turn up, and sweat!

 

The Body Garage

Your body is a car. 

Your bones are the frame. 

Your heart is the engine. 

Your eyes are the headlights. 

Your food is the fuel. 

 

Are you a clunker or a sports car?  The way that you fuel your body directly affects the way that your body operates.  If you are constantly putting soft drinks, fried foods, and processed foods into your body then your bones will start to become brittle, your heart will be required to do more work, your arteries will begin to harden, your vision will decrease, and you will be on your way to becoming a clunker destined for the junkyard.

If you are constantly putting water, fruits, vegetables, whole grains, healthy fats, and lean protein into your body then your bones will strengthen, your heart will work with great efficiency, your arteries will be nice and elastic, your vision will increase, and you will be on your way to becoming a sports car destined for the open road!

Give your body a tune-up by eating the following:

Engine (heart) - Apples, artichokes, bananas, beets, blueberries, broccoli, cabbage, and carrots.

Frame (bones) – Bananas, beets, broccoli, and cauliflower.

Headlights (eyes) – Apricots, broccoli, cantaloupe, and carrots.

 

Pictured: IFBB Pro Patty Zariello

Check her out at www.pattyzariello.com

Go for Gold

It’s that time of 2012 when the Olympics take place in London and students all around the country return to school.  Both of these events can bring feelings of excitement, uncertainty and anxiety. 

Each Olympic athlete has the opportunity to excel athletically and win medals for the country that they represent.  They have trained many years for the opportunity to compete on this global level.  Even though they have poured their heart, soul, and sweat into these events it doesn’t mean that they will walk away victorious with a medal around their neck.

With school, each student has the opportunity to excel academically and receive a diploma, scholarships, degrees, and certifications.  A student educates for many years so that they can obtain great knowledge and use that knowledge on local, national, and global levels.  This education doesn’t guarantee success, but it guarantees a pathway on which success can be reached. 

A strong body is ineffective without a strong mind.  One hundred percent should be given at all times to guarantee that both mind and body are as strong as possible.  As each day is started, go for the gold by remembering a simple mantra,

Wake up with determination. Go to bed with satisfaction.

The Sodium Shakedown

Everyone knows someone that has been affected by high blood pressure, heart attack, or stroke.  There is also a good chance that those affected had an excess of sodium in their daily diets.  This mineral is necessary for certain body functions, but not in the quantities that many people consume daily.

This week as I looked over food journals from my clients it wasn’t the calories or the fat in their diets that concerned me, it was the sodium.  The American Heart Association recommends keeping daily sodium intake to 1,500mg or less.  In many of these journals, I would see anywhere from 2,500mg per day to 4,000mg per day.  When talking with these clients, their food choices seemed healthy but the sodium amounts were a surprise to them.  A couple of the items with larger amounts of sodium were deli meats and pickles.  Eating a turkey sandwich on whole wheat bread with a few dill pickle chips seemed like a good option at the time.  However, that one sandwich had approximately their full daily value of sodium.  Think about when you have been at a restaurant and your meal was served with a single dill pickle spear.  Well, that pickle alone can have approximately 700mg of sodium. 

Pay special attention to items such as deli meats, frozen dinners, pickles, salad dressings, salsas, and soups.  Keep your eyes open for low sodium versions of those food items.   With low sodium options, monitor other values such as fat and sugar to make sure that those numbers don’t increase while the sodium decreases.  Heart disease is the number one cause of deaths in the United States, so please monitor your sodium intake.