It doesn't sound like it makes much sense but you need to eat if you want to lose weight. Many people have a hard time with that concept but it's true. If you're not eating, you're gaining fat.

This is because your body is set up for you to eat every few hours. If you don't your blood sugar levels drop, and your body will think it's starving. Remember your body doesn't know you can go down the street to a Sobeys. It thinks you're dying and starts taking steps to make sure that doesn't happen.

So it begins to burn the muscle you have and store fat. The next time you eat after waiting a long time, your body takes that food and turns it into fat right away so you have something to fall back on the next time you don't get food. 

But if you eat every two to three hours something different happens. Your body sees you're getting food and aren't hungry. So it doesn't turn as much of the food into fat, since it's not in a starvation mode. Instead it uses that to help repair muscles, and get you in better shape.

Next time you think skipping some meals or not eating regularly will help you get thin, think again. If you eat more often, you'll get in much better shape.

d

So I’m on my treadmill today watching Jillian Michael’s new show called Losing it with Jillian Michael’s.

I was impressed. It isn’t often that you watch a show that actually puts a new spin on weight loss but this one does.

The show focuses on a family that needs to lose weight, get in shape and basically change their lives. It adopts a very holistic approach.
Even Devin liked it!

Not only does she get the whole family on board, but she goes to their workplace, friends, etc. It’s something I’m always saying…it takes a village!
You absolutely have to have a support system in place in order to lose weight and get in shape. I’ve had clients tell me that they find it hard because while they’re eating an apple they’re spouse is sitting there eating a bag of chips! Sound familiar?

When you make the commitment to lose weight and get in shape you have to change your lifestyle. And that means everyone in your life has to get on board. If you don’t have the support of those closest to you…you will fail.

You need to take stock of how you live your life and what you’re going to change to help you reach your goal. Tell all of your friends and family what you’re doing and ask for their support. You’ll be amazed at how many people will jump in to help you on your journey.

Gina

We all get nicked up from time to time, if you're active. It's just something that happens. But it's how you deal with the injury that really matters.

Injuries come in all shapes and sizes. But you need to treat them all like they are serious and take it easy. I really can't stress that enough. 

If you're anything like me you want to get out there and get going again right away. Pushing through the injury is something we all think we can do. But it doesn't help and in most cases makes the injury worse than it was in the first place.

The first thing you want to do with an injury is either heat or ice it, depending on how bad it is. One with lots of swelling needs ice. One without swelling and is ongoing needs heat. After that put up your feet and relax. Just don't do anything. 

Get lots of rest, drink lots of water and let you body heal itself. And it will heal a lot fast if you let it have the time. If it isn't healing anything else it will have more resources to heal the injury you have. 

So go give your body a break. Get healed up and you'll be good to go in no time.

I've always thought there was nothing I couldn't do with my body.  I could throw anything at it, train as hard as I wanted, and it would bounce back and give me  more. Well maybe not so much.

For about the last five years I get blood work done once a year. I think of it as a yearly check-up, like putting oil in my car. This year I've been really tired for about two months. So when I went for extra blood work I figured it was just me not getting enough sleep.

Apparently that wasn't it.

My doctor called me and informed me that my testosterone levels were low. And not just a little low. A lot low. Average for men is between 8 and 20. Mine were 2.1. That's not good.

But looking back at all my other blood work of the past few years we could see a trend. In Oct 09 it was 8.1, Sept 08 it was 8.6, and Sept 07 9. So basically I've been low and getting lower for a long time.

But without the blood work each and every year we never would have known there was a problem, or that it has been getting worse for a while. That's why you need to get blood work every year without fail. Think of it as a check-up for your car. You need it or you won't run all that well.

And if you don't think it's important think of me. My whole job is to be healthy and I have problems! It's worth the peace of mind.

d