Biggest Loser Challenge Week 6

Exercise Homework

100 + run

Duration: until done

Equipment: You

Intensity: As hard as you can go

Progression: 100 pushups + runs, 100 squats + runs, 100 crunches + runs

100 pushups + run stairs 10 times

100 squats + run stairs 10 times

100 crunches + run stairs 10 times

Run through as fast as you can.

Make sure you push yourself hard. You should be breathing hard and it should be tough.

I've been banking on my muscle having memory and actually coming back someday. I hope it remembers it used to have a home on my body.

After 3 weeks of being sick and lying down, my body is looking like a marshmallow.
I miss working out. I miss lifting weights and feeling tight.

I have tried the treadmill for a few days, but I just can't last more than 30 minutes. I fear this may take awhile.

So, I thought to myself, "Well, at least muscle has memory, and it shouldn't take too long to get back to where I was."

In my research I have changed my mind...muscle doesn't have memory. Your brain stores the information and sends the correct signals to the muscles. If you think about it, it makes perfect sense. After taking time off weight lifting people have reported significant gains the second time around.

It's like riding a bike. Once you've learned, you keep it with you forever. So when you get back to lifting weights again your body does it effortlessly, without a learning curve or hesitation. The brain remembers exactly how to lift the weights. This is why people can get back into shape more quickly than someone starting from scratch.

This new development has made me feel a little better. At least my brain will tell my muscle that it's safe to come back now!

The moral of my story...put your mind in your muscle and your muscle in your mind!

Gina

Everyone wants to know if they should go fast or slow on their reps. I've heard a lot hyping one style of training over the other. Some people like Superslow Zone argue that super slow movements on machines will give you the best results.

Others like Crossfit will argue that the fast you go the better, no matter what the form looks like.

For me, I think it's best to have a good constant pace with form is important. Flying through something like Crossfit does is begging for injuries. You will get hurt if you do every rep as fast as you can possibly go. The jerk on the joints and muscles will cause an injury over time.

On the other hand going super slow on a machine does stress the muscle, but let's face some facts. No one moves that way and it doesn't get your heart rate up so you won't burn fat. It's not going to help you in your day to day life.

That where a happy medium comes into play. Keeping a brisk pace will allow you to move in a manner you will in everyday life. At the same time you'll be able to control the reps speed a little (not going as fast as you can) will allow the muscle to work better and have you feel the exercises more.

There will always be people on every side of an idea. Some people want to lift super heavy, some super light. Some super fast, and some super slow. When it gets down to it, these are mostly gimmicks to get you interested. Somewhere in the middle is best.

360 wellness and fitness

d

Biggest Loser Challenge Week 5

Exercise Homework

100s x2

Duration: until you are done

Equipment: You

Intensity: As hard as you can go

Progression: 100 pushups, 100 squats, 100 crunches x 2

100 pushups
100 squats

100 crunches

Run through once then repeat as fast as you can.

Make sure you push yourself hard. You should be breathing hard and it should be tough.

I get asked why I work out so hard all the time. I think people just can't understand what I'm doing it all for. Now maybe some of my compulsive exercising habits come from being an ex-athlete and needing some sort of outlet, but I think the real reason is that it makes me feel better.

Every single time I workout, even when I'm not in the mood, I always feel better after I did. Even on days when it's hard to fit in, I'm busy and I have to jam it into half an hour I still am happy I did it. The reason is that I feel so much better about myself and life when I'm done I can't believe it.

The reason for this is simple. Your body was made to move. It wasn't made to sit behind a desk and work on a computer. That's just what we do now. Your body was made to move, to help you find food, find a mate and stay alive.

When we don't move you feel bad because all of the things your body needs to do are helped along by movement. You blood flows better, you heart beats more slowly, your lymph moves. Everything in your body is made to move and be moved.

I think that's why we have so much depression in our society. Everyone is sitting. We only walk from the car to the house. No one breaks a sweat. Nothing is flowing as it should and we all feel terrible because of it.

But as soon as you start moving and exercising, no matter what kind it is, you feel like a new person. Your mind is clearer, you thinking better, breath more deeply, feel good about yourself and your life. That's why doctors tell everyone who is depressed to exercise.

So don't skip a workout or sit home watch TV when you could do something else. You'll feel like a new person after you've done it.

www.360online.ca

d

So, I'm home from a week long stay at the QE2.

Two weeks ago I had what seemed like a flu that originated somewhere deep in the Amazon jungle. I had a fever, sweats, aches and pains that took my breath away, and I was extremely weak.

I went to Cobequid emergency and they tested me for H1N1 (which was negative), told me I had a walking pneumonia and sent me home.

The next day I felt even worse and even shorter of breath so I went back to Cobequid emergency. My oxygen levels were extremely low, and my pulse was really weak, so they took me by ambulance to the QE2 where I spent the night in emergency, next to a public washroom where I could hear every detail of every person's washroom visit... not fun.

So, the next day the doctor said there were no beds for me, I could go home and rest. The doctor said, if it gets worse, come back. So I went home. I thought to myself, "This cot outside of the washroom will kill me before the pneumonia."

At home things got worse again quickly. My stomach distended and made me look 5 months pregnant, I could barely lift my head, and I felt like I was being smothered. At this point I had 15 pounds of fluid on my organs.

Back to the Cobequid emergency I went, only to be sent home again and told to come back in the morning. The doctor said that my kidneys and spleen were enlarged, my liver was over functioning and there was a small amount of fluid around my heart. But he didn't feel admitting me again was a good idea until they could do an ultrasound in the morning.


So, again I went back to Cobequid the next morning for my ultrasound and was rushed again by ambulance to the QE2 where I was put in IMCU, which is a step down from intensive care. I was freaking out!
Twenty four hour nursing care is no joke. You know you're sick when every breath you take has to be monitored. My pneumonia had worsened and my body was reacting by retaining fluids. The doctor said it looked like the pneumonia had punched holes in my lungs. It was quite impressive from a medical standpoint.
I stayed on I.V. antibiotics for the nest 6 days before they finally let me go home.
Things I did learn...

...no matter how well you take care of yourself you can still get sick.
...It pays to know your body. When the doctor asked me my weight, average blood pressure, resting heart rate etc., I had all of the answers.

...Listen to your body. When it tells you to sit still....sit still. And when it tells you to go seek out medical attention, listen to it. If it weren't for Devin harassing me to get up and go to the emergency room I'd be dead.

I knocked on the door of the hospital for a long time before they let me in. The doctors didn't really think I could be as sick as I was because of my age and health. They didn't really take me seriously until I was close to death.

Take charge of your medical health and demand to be taken seriously. You have one body, and no one else knows how you feel but YOU!

And a HUGE "Thank You!" to all of my friends who visited, helped out with the kids and said lots of prayers! Also a big thanks to the giant burrito that found its way to my hospital room!

Watching Canada win it's first Olympic Gold on home soil with lex Bilodeau blasting down the Moguls was a very cool sight last night. I'm sure everyone else was just as amazed as I was about the  physical ability he showed. But it also got me thinking how much we are all alike.

Now you might not be planning on going to the Olympics. Hey neither am I. But when you get right now to it Alex Bilodeau has all the same muscles, and bones you have. In fact he's almost exactly like you and me. The only real difference is that he's been training and working his whole life to do that one event.

What he can do with his body is truly amazing, but remember he started somewhere too. At one time he wasn't able to do all that. He had to learn, train and get better. It took years to get to where he is right now.

It makes me think of someone who works out. It's a lot of work, sweat and time. But when you put in the time, you'll get results. just like Alex Bilodeau did.

Some times it can be easy to look at a finished product and say, "I could never do that, or it must be easy for them." But that's because you're looking at the finished product. If you saw all the hours of work and time it took you'd have a different feeling.

Next time you think about how hard it is to exercise and eat right, just think about Olympic athletes. They started from scratch just like you. They have the same bodies, muscles and bones you do. They put in time sweating and second guessing themselves just like you do.

You can do anything, if you put your mind to it. So go out there and do it!

360 wellness and fitness

d

Biggest Loser Challenge Week 4

Exercise Homework

 10/10/20/10

Duration: 20 Min non stop

Equipment: You

Intensity: As hard as you can go

Progression: 10 pushups, 10 squat jumps, 20 Mountain Climbers, 10 Leg Lifts

10 pushups
10 jump squats

20 Mountain Climbers
10 Leg Lifts

Repeat for 20 minutes.

Make sure you push yourself hard. You should be breathing hard and it should be tough.

Since Gina has been in the hospital for the last few days, I've been trying my hand at single parenting, and man it's tough. My hat is off to all you single parents out there. I have no idea how you do it.

But while on my new found single parenting adventure I found out first hand something I have been telling people for ages. If I skip working out, I'm more tired.

It happened the second day Gina was away. I looked at my schedule, crammed full of clients, bootcamp, kids school, daycare and dentists appointments and said, "I can't fit it in today."

That's not like me. I'll move heaven and earth most days to get in a workout. But I just felt overwhelmed and thought I'd better skip.

Well I was about as tired and cranky that days as I have been in a long time. Wow, it was no fun. I really had to work to be nice to people.

The next day I worked out, and I felt like myself. Even with all the running around, kids arguing over the Wii, making time for clients etc, I felt normal. Like I could handle it all.

I've been saying to people for years if they workout they will feel better and do better in all parts of their life. I always knew it, but this week brought it back to me ten fold.

Next time you want to skip to save time, don't. You'll be happy you fit it in.

360 wellness and fitness

So with the amazing weight loss for Kennetcook Biggest Loser Group (42 lbs just last week and 65 in two weeks) I decided to loosen some of the rules and give them some more food to eat. :)

Choose one of the three options for each meal and snack.

Meal 1

Option 1
Oatmeal, Protein powder and fruit

Option 2
4 Egg whites and one yoke, fruit and 1 piece of multi-grain what wheat bread (no butter)

Option 3
Protein shake with fruit, 1 piece of multi-grain what wheat bread (no butter)

Meal 2

Option 1
Protein shake, fruit, and 10 almonds

Option 2
Rice cake with tuna, and veggies

Option 3
No fat Cottage Cheese, no sugar yogurt, and fruit

Meal 3

Option 1
Chicken breast pita wrap with veggies (whole wheat pita)

Option 2
Tuna pita wrap with veggies (whole wheat pita)

Option 3
Veggie burger on pita (or rice cake) with veggies

Meal 4

Option 1
Protein shake, fruit, and 10 almonds

Option 2
Rice cake with tuna, and veggies

Option 3
No fat Cottage Cheese, no sugar yogurt, and fruit

Meal 5

Option 1
Chicken breast, salad

Option 2
Fish, Salad

Option 3
Beef, Salad

Meal 6

Any kind of protein (half of normal size) and veggies.

Biggest Loser Challenge Week 3

Exercise Homework

Stair Run +3 10/20/10/20

Duration: 20 Min non stop

Equipment: Stairs and you

Intensity: As hard as you can go

Progression: 10 pushups, 20 situps, 10 squat jumps, 20 mountain climbers

Start at the bottom of your stairs. Run to the top, hitting every stair on the way up. At the top, drop and do ten pushups.

Run back down the stairs and do 20 situps.

Run back up to the top of the stairs and do 10 squat jumps.

Run back to the bottom and do 20 mountain climbers.

Repeat for 20 minutes.

Make sure you push yourself hard. You should be breathing hard and it should be tough.

I've been thinking a lot about how to make diet rules simple. There are a million diets our there and many of them are total junk. Drinking only juice, drinking only lemon juice, eating only raw food etc. Most of them are just ways to catch people so they will buy the book or the DVD. They don't really help you.

But this week in a moment of inspiration while making my kids supper I came up with a simple rules to follow which work well and are easy to remember. Just think of 360.

3 - The number of L of water you need to drink each day. This is important so your body can flush fat and run at it's best. Think of it as oil for you car, but in your body.

6 - The number of small meals you should eat everyday. This helps to keep your blood sugars stable and you healthy and shedding fat while storing muscle.

0 - The number of grams of starchy carbs you should eat after 3pm. It's an easy one. If you eat starchy carbs later in the day when you can't burn them off you'll get fat. Period.

To recap just remember 360. 3L of water, 6 small meals, 0 starchy carbs past 3pm.

So there you are. Three simple rules to follow to eat well and feel your best. Good luck!

360 wellness and fitness




d