So What is it Exactly that you DO??

Okay so whenever a healthy product is advertised the announcer is quick to say...."Full of Vitamin C, Zinc, Iron, Vitamin E, yada yada yada."

All of this sounds good but I hardly ever know the purpose of this stuff.

Well today let's take a closer look at Magnesium. Magnesium is a bone mineralizer and a building protein. This mineral aids in the transmission of nerve impulses and it helps to maintain your teeth.

You can find magnesium in nuts, legumes, whole grains, dark green vegetables, seafood, chocoalate, cocoa.

What a great excuse to go to my favorite places:Red Lobster for seafood, the farmers market for nuts and veggies, and the supermarket for some chocolate.

The recommended daily allowance (RDA) for men is 420 mg and for women it is 320 mg.

And now you know ;)

THE DEVIL IS IN THE DETAILS

So you accomplished Step 1:go to the gym or workout.... GREAT!! And you checked off Step 2 buying and eating healthy food.... AWESOME!!! Now comes the tricky part. Doing steps 1 and 2 consistently every week, day in and day out. Which is super hard!! Sure eating healthy is great but just eating twice a day isn't cutting it.

Neither is going to the gym and just walking on the treadmill at 1.9mph.

The key is to put your body on a schedule and develop an overall health plan. I know it's hard but you really have to revert back to when you were a child and how your mommy took care of you. Remember she couldn't just whisk you away while running errands and not bring any food.... you would holler her ear off!!! Instead she packed enough food to keep both baby and mommy happy! Well let's fast forward to the present and use those old school habits. Keep eating well and often with a challenging exercise routine and you will see results.

The key is consistency. Slow and Steady!!!

It’s ok…Im in training

So last week my friend and I went to my charity wrap up meeting at the Fox and Hound Bar. When we got to the venue my homegirl thought she would be the odd person out because she was not an athlete. I told her that although my fellow teammates have been training hard they by no means look like your typical Olympic athlete. When we went to the bar she saw all the athletes gorging on fine delictable bar cusine (nachos, wings, pizza, and ice cold beer). Not for nothing it was disgusting to see them eating that crap and I know my homegirl was thinking, “ummm are they going to finish the race???” And not for nothing so was I!!

A lot of times when people workout they asume that their bodies are some sort of super human garbage disposal that will burn anything in it’s path. Well that my friend is wishful thinking. When you are training your diet is just as is important as your workout routine. Your body is a fat trapper and it will hold on to every single fat, carb, or protein that enters your body. Just because Michal Phelps can eat a Big Mac doesn’t mean that you can too.

Homeboy works out a crazy amount of hours (I mean that is his job )so he can get away with having ice cream if he wanted to. But you my friend are no Micheal Phelps and you must play by a different set of rules. Which means you have to eat clean!!!

So put down the nachos and pick up some unsalted nuts instead.
Happy Monday folks!!!

Update…a special shout to Kristine Rosario and Elizabeth Gordon for bidding on the Ferragamo bag. And congrats to Elizabeth for winning the bag. I have now reached my fundraising minimum and I would like to thank everyone for their generous donations. Thank you all!!

Glycemic Index

Hi peeps!! Okay so last week I spoke about insulin sensitivity and how it affects your blood sugar levels. NEWSFLASH All carbs are not created equal. Certain foods will spike your blood sugar levels more rapidly than others. What you typically should eat are foods that have less of an impact on your blood glucose levels (ie fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and legumes [beans]) versus foods that will spike your insulin levels (bread, pasta, rice, cereal, and baked goods). Continuously eating foods that raise your blood sugar levels drastically can reduce your body’s insulin sensitivity. When this happens your body keeps on releasing insulin which in the long turns into triglycerides absorbed right in your fatty tissue. In the long term continuously eating processed or refined carbs can lead to higher body fat, heart disease, and diabetes.

Monitoring GI is a good start in the weight loss game but it is not the end all be all cure to eating right. I eat a lot of foods with high glycemic levels (i.e. white rice or red potatoes) right after a workout because white carbs restore your blood sugar levels faster than brown rice . So this doesn’t mean you should not consume foods with a high GI, rather it is a science of when to use it and common sense.

A food's GI should also be considered with:
1) The amount of fat or protein in the food,
2) How it is prepared (ie sweet potatoes fries are not the same as a regular sweet potatoes),
3) How your body reacts to the food.

Again stay away from overly processed foods. It is better to eat whole, organic products with as little to none modifications made to it. The more natural a food is the healthier.

Click here for a comprehensive list of GI levels.

Happy Memorial Day!!!

I love a good ol' fashioned barbecue. There’s yummy potato salad,peach cobbler, and mouth watering ribs that fall of the bone smothered in BBQ sauce mmmmm (flashback- Brother’s Ribs in Newark, NJ sopping the bread in gravy..ohhh and ahh!!!) okay I'm back to reality now. Despite the calorie packing foods on the picnic table there are plenty of healthy options.

1) Grilled Meats

Many people who barbecue offer a healthy array of foods to put on the grill besides the regular hot dogs and hamburgers. You can ask the host to grill some chicken, a lean cut of steak, or a very lean turkey burger. If the host doesn’t have these items on the menu do yourself a favor and pick some up. (Caution bbq meats do contain a lot of carcinogens but just be cautious not to grill too much.)

2) Kabobs

Whether it’s chicken, steak, shrimp, or a combination kabobs are fun healthy and easily portable meal for an outside celebration. Roasted peppers, onions, and mushrooms make a great additions to these fun treats.

3) Low Calorie Desserts

I found this gem on fitness magazine.com It’s Greek Yogurt with Oranges and Mint. All you do is add oranges, honey, a mint, and plain yogurt . It’s only 200 calories has 11 grams of protein, 34g of carbs, 5 g of fiber, and og of fat!! Can’t beat that. They have a quite a few low calorie/fat desserts to select from. Click here Write down your favorite and impress your friends

4) Low Calorie Alcoholic Drinks

The more alcoholic content of your beverage the more calories it has. For instance 80 proof vodka has 64 calories but 90 proof vodka only has 73 calories. Most glasses of wine have 125-150 calories depending on how big the glass is J Beer fans steer better at ordering light beer to soothe your taste buds. Chain restaurant drinks are just a no no. TGIF’s mudslide for instance has 1100 calories!!!

So eat smart, choose your appetisers wisely, and do what the Barcardi commercial says and drink responsibly!!

Have fun peeps!!

Let's kick the Natural Factual

One of your biggest natural allies in the weight loss game is fiber. So don’t sleep on this bad boy. Think of fiber as an efficiency expert. Its job is to identify and mobilize substances (including harmful chemicals) out of your body in a short time . Fiber makes you feel fuller for a longer period of time because it slows down the rate carbs are absorbed.

It is recommended you consume 20-35 grams of fiber a day but many Americans do not even consume this small amount. And I say small because in other countries (aka the less "advanced" ones) people consume between 40 -100 grams of fiber a day . It’s not surprising that they are much healthier and aren’t plagued with the Western diseases: obseity, cancers heart disease, and diabetes.

Just so you know for every one gram of fiber you eat you burn 7 calories!! So that means that if you eat 35 grams of fiber you will burn 245 calories. So are you interested now????

Here’s a small list of foods that are a good source fiber:Oat Bran, wheat germ,oatmeal, almonds, peanuts, avacado, pears, strawberries, whole wheat spaghetti, grapefruit, any leafy green veggies, and all bran cereal (the new Fiber One cereal is great too!!!)

P.S. guacamole at your favorite mexican restaurant is not healthy. After all the salt that is added you lose the nutritional value!!...im just saying people..