Adding supplements to your daily regimen while worthwhile can be expensive and a shot in the dark if you are not sure what you are doing.  Try not to add in every supplement you read about in your favorite monthly magazines.  I find athletes are privy to fake food supplements more than pills and dieters are more likely to pop a pill than select a drink.  Before you decide to put any of these things in your diet, know why you are doing it and how you should put them in to be safe.

The Fabulous Four:

Multivitamins

Although you may hear that you can get all you need from your food that is pure fiction.  You would have to eat the broad side of a barn to get enough vitamins in a multi and that’s not very comfortable.  As an athlete, you need more than the general public in terms of nutrients so find a high quality, USP certified multivitamin to add into your regimen.

Fish Oils

Can’t say enough about fish oil capsules.  Buying a good one goes a long way towards avoiding the burps and such, so look for pharmaceutical grade quality and it should be 3^rd party tested.  Besides making you more insulin sensitive, fish oils help boost your memory, soften your skin and shine up your hair.  They are invaluable but not the same as good fat so don’t try to sub one for the other. 

Calcium

The ultimate fat burner is a definite must in your diet.  Better taken throughout the day than in one big lump, calcium’s primary role is an obvious one with bone health but not so obvious with the other roles it plays in your body.  Flexing muscles, aiding in blood clotting and moving nutrients in and out of cells are other benefits from having enough calcium in your diet.  Since it is not readily absorbed, make sure your supplement has Vitamin D in it to get all the benefits.

BCAA’s

Branched chain amino acids are by far one of the most essential nutrients in an athlete’s diet when it comes to performance.  Leucine, Isoleucine and valine are the amino acids that make up the trio but it’s leucine that’s causing all the hype.  Known to enhance performance in endurance athletes and provide muscle back up for strength athletes, leucine and the other 2 keep the Energizer bunny going long after the energy is gone.

The Notables

Supplement:      Creatine

Worth it?           YES

Backed in studies?        Yes

Benefits:           Athletic performance, increased strength, increased hypertrophy, less muscle soreness, etc.

Downfalls:         Water retention…if you think Willy Wonka with the Oompas you are on the right path…

Supplement:      Caffeine

Worth it?           As a pick me up, yes.  Fat burner? No

Backed in studies:         Yes, but for certain things.  Do your homework here.

Benefits:           Get up and go, improved athletic performance, some weight loss benefit

Downfalls:         There can be many.  When taken in moderation like coffee, not much.  If you decide to venture into the world of designer coffees and energy drinks, know what you are taking before you start.

Supplement:      Glutamine

Worth it?           Yes if you can afford it.  No if you cannot.

Backed in studies:         Yes, but very few correlate directly with exercise.

Benefits:           Increased immunity.  Taking it keeps you from depleting your own.

Downfalls:         You could be increasing the value of your urine and that’s about it.  Very hard to prove it is “working”.

Supplement:      L-Carnitine

Worth it?           Only if you are deficient

Backed in studies:         Not as far as I can see…

Benefits:           Supposed to increase fat burning

Downfalls:         No reported health risks other than what happens to your wallet.

There are many more that I could go on and on with but I am saving that for when I do the series on vitamins and ergogenic aids.  I have not covered any of the performance enhancing supplements or the latest in goos/gels/powders and drinks.  When I do, I will go a bit more into detail and how they are taken.  In the mean time, think about the fab four, run it by your doc and then get to improving your performance immediately!

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You ever have one of those days when you just “got nothin’”?  Do you force it in the gym or do you know how to adjust your training?  How in tune are you with your body and your goals to be able to change things up at a moment’s notice?  The robot mindset has got to go.  Read on…

 I get lots of questions all the time about people’s training: when they should train harder or how to get stronger and etc.  And if you have ever been unfortunate enough to ask me whether you should train or not when you are sick, you know it can be as painful as performing a bikini wax on Sasquatch—really, don’t ask! 

 People can talk about common sense and intuition and all that jazz but I want to talk about your goals.  Are they really that important that you lose all sanity and consider hacking up a lung on a cardio machine or tossing an 8 pound weight around because you can’t imagine lifting anything heavier?  Really?  No, really?  And do you really have to ask someone if you have to work out or not?  The fact that you look like the poster child for the H1N1 vaccination is not enough of a deterrent for you; no you have to go and do that work out because your paper says so.  See, it says it right here, “Legs on Monday.”

At some point in your training you are going to have to take responsibility for your results…because they are your results.  No matter how good your trainer is, the results you walk around with are yours.  You did the cardio.  You ate the food.  You lifted the weight.  Yes, we guide you and we love to do it, but we are only with you 1 to 3 hours per week and we guide your plan from afar the rest of the time.  If you have any trainer worth their salt then you should be learning as well as you are doing.  We honestly don’t want you as clients for life that just aimlessly move from exercise to exercise in the gym. (Well the paper said leg press 3 X 10 and the machine was broken so I just skipped it.  OY VEY!)  Instead we want you to own your program and all that comes with it.  If you feel like crap—back it down!  If you feel like a hero and it’s an off day, switch your schedule around!  Start listening to your body and all that it tells you so you can help us to help you more.

I’m not saying add in extra volume or begin to make up a new program, I’m saying if you are scheduled to work out on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and you feel like crap on Wednesday but Superman on Thursday, then switch it up!  Change what you do when you need to so that you have ownership of your results!  Also, if you already know that Thursday is going to be a draining day in work and Friday’s workout is psychotic, change it around ahead of time.

I wish I could predict how you are going to recover from a work out or an activity.  I wish I could look at you and say, “By the 3^rd week you will be ready to progress to the next level.”  Umm, I can’t do that—but you can.  So let’s take this one step further.  What happens if you are on a program that has you upping the intensity the same week that you are moving from one place to another?  Do you really think that you can increase your volume/intensity that week and then on Saturday and Sunday successfully move a bed, 2 couches and a dining room table up two flights of stairs?  Think again killah!  You’ve got another thing coming.  Or better yet, Hercules, you do it but then find yourself on the injured reserve list by Sunday and cannot imagine why.  Now all of the gains you made are out the window because you are now couch bound for 2 weeks.

It’s not that hard to stop and think about what you really want out of your training.  A hot body.  More strength.  Visible muscles.  Basically you want a return for your effort.  You know how I feel about the machine we call the body and how we need to respect it or it will demand that respect from us in a most unpleasant way.  So knowing your goals, your restrictions and knowing that we are entering into the flu/holiday/busy season, all I’m asking is for you to work with us fitness professionals and try a tiny bit of self regulation.  Pull out the common sense, warm up the notion of taking responsibility, shake out the desire to get some real results and become proactive in your life!  Own your training, ya hear me?

With that being said, do you think I should lift tomorrow?  I’m awfully tired…;o)

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You’ve researched your meal plan.

You’ve done metabolic testing.

You wear a heart rate monitor, pedometer, compass, ipod, satellite dish—you get my point.

You know what you are having post workout on lifting days vs. game days.

You have a new workout wardrobe.

You are all set right?  NOPE!

Now you’re like the woman who got all dressed up and forgot to put on earrings.  You are missing something and it is in the form of supplementation.

Supplements are a billion dollar industry and if you don’t think that they work hard for your money, think again.

Right now you can buy a supplement that does just about anything you want it to do.  Or better yet, it will SAY it can do just about anything you want it to do, but that doesn’t MEAN it can do everything that is says it can.  So what’s good and what’s not?  As always with me, it depends on what your goals are!

Keep in mind that there are two camps out there:  those that feel you do not need to supplement if your nutrition is in line and those that feel food is never enough and no one ever has perfect nutrition.  I am in the second camp.  I also firmly believe that we cannot eat enough at times to support the abuse we put to our bodies.  Please keep that in mind, as well, as I give you some very basic guidelines below and when you read next week’s recommendations for supplements.  Need I remind you that I am not a doctor, I cannot diagnose—nor do I try and anything that I speak about with supplements is for information purposes only.  You need to work this out with your doc! 

Here are some statements that you can bank on:

Not all supplements are garbage.  In fact, there are many that are worth your time.

Supplements are not closely regulated so if you are performing in sport that tests participants, it behooves you to know what you are taking.

If it is has a neutral or positive effect on you and you can afford it—take it. 

You must track your progress while taking them or you are wasting your time.

Don’t be numbnut!  Run your supplements by your doc to make sure they are not interfering with anything else.

Make sure you know what interferes with what so that you do not take supps together that cancel each other out.

Rotate them in and out so that you may reap the benefits of many supps and keep the cost down at the same time.

No matter what you may want to experiment with, you should always take a multi vitamin.

Do your research!  Know the company and know the product!  Do not get caught out there taking something dangerous!

The best ergogenic aid to date is still caffeine.  Throw your fat burners away and get a cup of coffee!!

Next week I will wrap up this series by giving you the best supps for performance, weight loss, weight gain and immunity.  Hang tight until then!

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The hardest thing about exercise is to start doing it. Once you are doing exercise regularly, the hardest thing is to stop it.

Erin Gray

Oh my goodness, is this not the truth!

Have you ever had a day long conversation with yourself as to why, when or how you are going to make it to the gym that day only to wear yourself out emotionally before you get there just talking about it so you don’t go? 

Have you ever determined that today was the day you were going to get back on the wagon and get it done and you pack a great lunch and put it in your gym bag to bring to work—and then leave it at the door?  Or better yet, your alarm didn’t go off.  Or you woke up sick.  Or you got called in early for work….

What is that about?  Is there some kind of Universal Sick Joke out there that just plagues us women with this stuff?  Guys do not go through this!  You know it and I know it.  Somehow they are impervious to wavering.  It’s either they are doing it or they are ok that they are not.  We, on the other hand, will begin a torturous rant in our head that starts out low and gets louder throughout the day like that bad music in Damien: The Omen that ends in a crescendo at night with us declaring war on the gym the next day.

When I am not “on”, my husband can wake up, work out in the cold basement, get the kids ready for school, make their lunches, change the oil in the car, re-finish the driveway and set up the Mid East for world peace talks and I haven’t even decided what gym pants I’m wearing that day—AND THEY’RE ALL BLACK!   What is that about?  What hit me over the head and took my mojo away?

And it happens fast doesn’t it?  One day we are on fire.  We are working out every day, packing our food, getting it together, losing inches, losing weight, losing time…just downright losing!  And then…it happens…who knows what it is—it’s as mysterious as ‘other natural flavors’, but it happens.  WHAMMO!  We can’t get out of bed, we can’t get a rhythm, we hate our food, we feel fat (we still weigh the same, though, go figure!)…what the????

OH THE JOYS AND PERILS OF BEING A WOMAN!!

How do we get back on track?  Become a psycho!

Oh we’ve all done it.  We may not admit it, but we have done it.  We’ve pulled out the big guns and we’ve made a pact with the evil exercise and diet spirits.  It goes a bit like this:

Conversation with yourself….

“What worked before?  Sigh.  What’s killing me now is I cannot focus.  How can I focus…?  No choice.  If I just eat chicken, sweet potato and green beans only for 7 to 10 days that’ll get me back on track! 

I gotta get to the gym.  Ugghhh!  I hate my workout right now. (Mind you it is brand new but this is what us women are plagued with).  I need something new and hard to give me a kick in the arse!  That’s it!  I will do a simulated Iron Man race everyday on the treadmill/bike/wave machine at the gym and then try advanced kettle bell training for martial artists to see if I can hang!  And then if I can make it through that, I’ll be good next week!”

I know I am not the only one.  In fact, not only am I not the only one, some of you are reading this thinking, “Hell, I would have taken it one step further and bought myself a gym bag, a matching outfit and a new lunch container just to seal the deal!”  Although, that does sound good!

So we put our psychosis into action, now what happens?

We become gym rats. 

Now 2 weeks later we have a 5 o’clock shadow, mussied hair and keen resolve that borders on scary.  Now we’re lecturing everybody!  Yes, looking down our nose at others wondering why they couldn’t seem to make the same illegal pact we did with the evil diet and exercise spirits and sell their soul to the green bean!  Are you too good for the green bean??  Woman, focus!  Hop on board with us and just get it over with…you know you want to do it! 

But now you have a new problem.  You are addicted…and you know—and I know—that if you stop, you’re done for.  So you keep going like a hamster in a wheel until someone says something to you that just clicks and gets you back to reality.  Sometimes it’s as simple as, “What the heck is the matter with you, you clown!  Get off the treadmill, it’s been 2 hours!”  Or, a loved one like a husband who taunts you with your weaknesses, “Oh we’re back on this now again.  How long is this going to last?”  That gets your head together because you can’t let him know he’s right and you’ve entered the ‘psycho zone’ so you begin to plan a sensible dismount to this insanity.  And you begin to get perspective.  And honestly, you’ve gotten over the hump so you are back to normal again of just working out and enjoying it.  You’ve also started seeing other veggies besides the green bean.  Good thing, too, you were feeling stifled by the relationship.

You can now enter normal civilization again having survived one of nature’s greatest mysteries:  the exercise slump.  Not sure what it is but there is no vaccination for it (thank goodness or NY would make it mandatory in gyms) and you have no idea when it’s going to strike.  Just know, we’ve all been there.

“Good humor is a tonic for mind and body. It is the best antidote for anxiety and depression. It is a business asset. It attracts and keeps friends. It lightens human burdens. It is the direct route to serenity and contentment.”

Grenville Kleiser

Enjoy your day and I hope I didn’t ruin it for anyone who brought chicken, sweet potato and green beans today!:o)

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We’ve talked about sleep before and how important it is to your well being, but now as an athlete it takes on a whole new dimension.  Your workout plus your recovery equal a training effect.  If you have a workout sans recovery, you really did not do much of anything.  Recovery is where the magic happens.  If you desire to be a better athlete and want to Perform Beautifully, it is important for you to realize that recovery is more than just resting, it’s knowing what to eat, when and when to drop back on intensity and volume with your workouts.

I See You One Hour and I Raise You Two

For all intents and purposes in this post today, I will be addressing the recreational athlete.  Since most of the folks out there are not trying to become the next Lance Armstrong, I am going to tailor this to the girl/guy at the office who likes to run a triathlon or two a year as a hobby.  Knowing that, recovery becomes less scientific (i.e. 2.8g of carbs for every blah blah) in the beginning and more about setting and keeping good habits. 

To start, recovery begins before the workout.  Let me say that again.  Recovery begins before the workout.  Before you go for a long run, a tough hockey game, a pickup basketball game or a grueling leg work out, you had better started fueling your body at least an hour before.  Depending on how long you are going to perform, decides what you are going to eat but for us right now, we are going light.  We have a 90 min. run in front of us and we need some fuel.  Sounds like a good time for a quick shake made with protein powder and juice with a 100% SG WW bagel.  Lightly buttered to perfection, toasted just enough to melt the butter.  YUM.  For the pre and post meals you want to think: 

Small amount of protein, 2 to 3 times the amount of carb.  So pp=approx. 20g of protein and the juice and the bagel provide about 60g of carb.  Keep it simple.

What I really want you to remember is for every hour of exercise you do, you need to have that much time in recovery as well.  So we’re going for a 90 min. run, we’re going to recover a bare min. of 90 min.  Let’s see what that looks like:

Immediately after work out:  Gatorade type drink with a bit of protein added (like ½ scoop)*, or chocolate milk

            *premade versions of this exist already,

Within a half hour:  a plate full of food where 1/3 is filled with a pure protein source and 2/3 of your plate is filled with             starches and veggies.  Small chicken breast with brown rice and roasted root veggies.  A grilled chicken sandwich on 100% whole grain bread stuffed with lettuce and tomatoes and a side salad.

Within an hour of that:  a small snack like a yogurt or high protein granola.

This is great if you work out to enjoy yourself but still be competitive amongst your coworkers and friends.  Your reality is much more different than that of a professional athlete.  You still have to go to work and feed your kids every day.  You have obligations outside of yourself that demand your time.  Because of this, you do not have the desire to sit down and calculate pound for pound what you need to succeed.  You are looking for a quick effective formula that is going to give you that edge over the chic that doesn’t have kids and thinks she’s better than you.  (Make sure she doesn’t read this, too;). 

Looking Past Today

The other part of recovery is knowing when to back off so as to improve upon your fitness level.  Almost every athlete I come across thinks the same thing:  every workout needs to harder than hard and the more I do the better I am.  Neither one of these can be further from the truth.  So let’s just cut right to the chase and put it out there:

Yearly

Make sure you have a distinct offseason/recovery time.  It needs to be at least 4 to 8 weeks in length where your exercise does not reach anything close to race/game time or pace. 

Monthly

You need to have one week per month that is easy.  I mean easy.  Go in the gym and kick some tires, run some laps at half of race pace, work on just your shooting—nothing full court, does not matter the sport, just make it easy.  This takes many forms so become a friend of cross training and you will accept this better.

Weekly

You need to have at least one day of a four day schedule to be easy.  You may break a bit of a sweat but you did not set a record here in any way.  In fact, you should feel like you did not work out at all and wonder why you changed your clothes.

If you can incorporate this into your training schedule, you will begin to see changes in your athletic ability and in your body composition as well if your diet is spot on.  That is, of course, assuming you are sleeping and planning your menus!

Stay tuned for more!  WOOP WOOP!:o)

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On a normal work day, I get up at 4 am and start my long arduous commute to work in my basement.  It could take me a whole 3 min. to get down there if there is a lot of traffic that morning.  If there is traffic, it’s always around my kitchen area where there could be something left out and in the way that distracts me from the task at hand.  I try to find alternate routes to work when that happens because I can really be bogged down in there for as long as 15 to 20 min.  I have a very clear objective in the morning: avoid the kitchen.

 I get up that early in the morning because I honestly want my brain as sharp as possible for whatever task is at hand that day.  I love that the house is as quiet as a church mouse and I have free run of the living room, kitchen (even though it’s a boobie trap) and basement.  It is honestly the best time of the day for me in terms of creativity.  That’s huge!  Because as we age we take for granted one of the most precious gifts we have been given—our brains.

Have you ever been mid sentence and just lost your train of thought?

Have you ever been mid sentence and just lost your train of thought and who you were talking to lost it as well?

Have you ever put something down in the house and then for the life of you, have no idea where it is?  Only to find it a day later in a draw or on some obscure shelf?

Ever set up an elaborate color coding system for something in your house or your job and then not remember what it all meant so you had to start over or just scrap it?

Still can’t remember all the names of the parents of your child’s fourth grade friends even though you’ve known them all since your child was in PreK?

Do you remember a time when you were just flowing with creativity and so much around you inspired you?

Have you ever written up a long list of things to do so you could avoid forgetting it all only to lose the list somewhere in your house/office/car and not be able to check it all off?

 Losing your mind is not a normal part of aging; it’s a normal part of everyday neglect.  High stress, poor nutrition (even if eating all the “right” foods), being sedentary, being stuck in a rut and lack of proper vitamins can really do a number on your brain.  Eventually, it translates into poor cognitive response from your brain and you are left standing in Starbucks staring at the menu as if it changed from the day before and they added 10 new items! 

 It’s time to exercise your brain to keep it sharp as a tack and as pliable as clay.

 1)       Break the Chain!

I know it feels good to have a regimented schedule where we get a lot done in a day, but doing the  same thing every day is just as bad for us as eating the same thing every day.  Step outside of yourself at least once per week and do something different.  Learn something new.  Stretch your mind like you do your muscles and your wallet! My nose is always in a book or I am forever in a class of some sort.  Learn, learn, learn! 

2)       It’s Playtime!

Remember when you were younger and you would get those silly puzzle type books for Christmas or your birthday?  They would have connect the dots in them, crosswords, word play and etc.  Didn’t you just love those?  Good, go buy one right now.  Get on it and get cookin’!  Books like those are the “treadmills for the mind”.  You will be that much sharper once you do a few crosswords and word scrambles that challenge your current level of thinking.  Even if you do not get them right, you’ll be that much wiser.  Hurry up, Highlights is waiting for you.

3)       Power Foods to the Rescue!

Omega 3 oils, nuts, fatty fish and some white fish, chocolate (yes, I said chocolate) and tomato juice/sauce are all brain loving foods.  Get them in your diet.  Are you surprised to see the good fat there?  Honestly, I am going to start snorting it now and just cutting right to the chase.  Do we need any more examples as to why it is so important in our lives? 

4)       Ok Killah, Chill Out!

A bit high strung?  Working 25 out of 24 hours in a day?  Packing more in before lunch than an entire city full of workaholics can in a week?  Not good!  Back it down or you are priming yourself for a great brain frying event.  You are going to burn out faster than a cheesy incense stick purchased on a Manhattan corner!  And burn out means only one thing: fried brain cells.  Say hello to confusion, fog, mood swings, large memory gaps and more.  You need to get a handle on your situation now before you incur permanent damage.

Now all of this exercise is occurring outside of the gym and is very doable!  There are no excuses here.  Get to lovin’ and pamperin’ your mind right now and stop the leaky faucet in its tracks.  You may be so far gone right now that you don’t even know you lost your mind—now that’s a shame if so.  Let’s all hope for the best if this is you.  But if you have enough where-with-all about you to know it’s going down, then get on it!  A mind is a terrible thing to waste!  (As well as a good meal and an even better dessert.  Another post for another time, for sure!)

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For everyone, not just athletes, breakfast is crucial to starting the day off on the right track but it truly has to be one of the most neglected meals of the day.  From the “I’ll just have coffee and a muffin” crew to the “I’ll have just coffee and then have a packet of oatmeal at my desk” folks, bad habits rule the morning.  Having broken meals, those that lack protein and those that lack variety can still sabotage your good eating efforts even though you believe you are having a “good” breakfast.  The most common excuse given for poor breakfast choices:  not enough time.  Here are three ways to start your day off fast and different so as to add some fun to your morning and to allow enough time to get ready for work.

1)       Loaded Muffin

1 100% WW English muffin

½ c cottage cheese

¼ cup chopped dried fruit

Toast muffin, spread CC and sprinkle with fruit.

2)       Eggs In a Bucket

1 whole egg

3 egg whites

Finely diced cooked veggies

Salt/pepper/spices to taste

1 Slice thick cut 100% SG Multi Grain Bread

1 ramekin

Slightly mix eggs and veggies.  Pour into a greased ramekin.

Bake in oven on 350 to desired wellness (7 min. or less).  Use

This time to get ready for work.  Flip onto toast when done.  Enjoy.

3)       Breakfast Pizza

1 whole wheat pita

¼ cup marinara sauce

2 ew’s scrambled and crumbled

½ c diced cooked veggies

2 to 3 T shredded cheese

Spread sauce on pizza.  Spread crumbles and veggies on pita.

Lightly sprinkle with cheese to hold it together.  Bake in toaster

Oven until bubbly.

If you have your own version of a fast breakfast, feel free to add it below!

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For the average woman participating in a sport, aside from the performance aspect, there is an undeniable aesthetic component that cannot be ignored.  On or off the court, the female athlete of today must be diligent about her nutrition and training so as they line up with all her demands but they also nuture her feminine side.

Much like the men in this series, the following guidelines have been put together to help women perform at their best but special attention has been added to help them look their best, as well.

VOLLEYBALL, SOCCER, TENNIS, SOFTBALL

Performing:                   1-2 days/week

Eating:                          30% more than baseline

Macro Breakdown:         25 to 35% protein

                                    40 to 50% carbs

                                    Fats round out the remainder

Training:                        3 days lifting—varying volume

                                    2 days endurance, 2 days HIIT

                                    1 day functional SAQ type training

Supplements:                One that supports immune function

                                    One that supports recovery

                                    A few that harness alertness and proper cell function

Hydration:                     Critical

Much like the men, these sports are powerful and require strength and endurance to be competitive.  To keep that physique tight, though, while training for an event, eat for the days that you train and cut back on the days that you are less active.  Balancing this may be hard in the beginning so this requires you to be diligent in your tracking of your sport performance versus your prior day eating.  You will find that very high days on training days and very low days on off days does not work very well here.  Your approach should be maybe a ST or 2 difference on training days vs. not instead of large calorie swings between the days.

MARATHON, TRIATHALON, IRONMAN, CYCLING, ADVENTURE RACING:

Performing:                   4 days/week

Eating:                          40% more than baseline

Macro Breakdown:         45 to 55% carbs

                                    20 to 30% fat

                                    Protein round outs the remainder

Training:                        2 to 3 days lifting—Complexes/compounds

                                    1 day functional with lots of BW training

Supplements:                Many that support immune function and antioxidant properties

                                    A few that support recovery

                                    One that supports proper cell function

Hydration:                     Crucial

The focus for a female endurance athlete is to not lose all of her muscle tone while training for an event.  Physique maintenance should also be done in the offseason—not while training.  While for other sports it’s not as critical, for endurance athletes it is.  Once your runs go over 60 min. at a time, you need to stop whatever type of “dieting” you may have been doing prior.  Not having enough fuel for your runs will ensure that you become a Shar Pei by the time of your race and bonk on the runs.  That’s a lose, lose either way so focus on losing weight and lifting heavy in the offseason and eating right and maintaining in the in season.

GYMNASTICS, SWIMMING, RECREATIONAL LIFTER/EXERCISOR

Performing:                   3 to 5 days/week

Eating:                          25 to 40% above baseline—depending on sport/goal

Macro Breakdown:         30 to 40% protein

                                    30 to 40% carb

                                    20 to 30% fat

                                    This is more of a “Zone diet” approach

Training:                        3 to 4 days lifting—Various techniques added throughout

                                    1 day full cross training

                                    4 days/week moderate cardio—you may use sport as cardio

Supplements:                One that support proper cell function/growth

                                    One that supports anti-inflammatory function

                                    One that supports recovery

                                    Some that support immune function

Hydration:                     Important

Here is where having a balanced plate everyday (divvy in 3 on your plate: meat, veggie, starch) helps tremendously.  A more even approach to the three macronutrients keeps your physique tight and helps you to minimize body fat while allowing you to perform effectively.   Muscle development in these sports is essential but staying light and streamlined is just as important so you find yourself having a larger gap between training and non training days.  You may have as much as a 20% calorie difference between the two days so as to fuel your performance but shape your physique on other days.

I think a beautiful, well fed athlete is like poetry in motion.  Healthy hair and nails alongside speed, agility and quickness make an awesome combination.  You do not have to be a jock to be an athlete and you do not have to be just a girly-girl to care about how you look.  Combining the two is hot and is wildly popular in the media since Nike, Reebok and etc. now sponsor so many of the “hot ones”.   

There is still more to come in the series so stay tuned for more.:o)

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Do you really know how to set goals or do you just write a bunch of ‘wants’ on a piece of paper and hope for the best?  Goals are great things to have because they keep us focused and wanting more of ourselves, but do you write them risk free?  Do you stop short of really demanding something of yourself that might possibly illicit a change out of you?  What I really want to know is…

How High Would You Climb If You Could Not Fall?

I want to know.  If you knew there is was no chance of you falling, how high would you go?  What would you write on that piece of paper as a goal?  Why would knowing you would not fall change anything? 

GOAL SETTING

Here is one task that I truly feel is misinterpreted.  There are many theories about goal setting and I do not want to go into any of them in this post but Mindtools and MyGoals.com both have great theories on how to set goals and put them into action so you can check them out if you want to be super technical about it.  But I want you to think before you even go there to learn how to put any goal you have in action, “Am I already limiting myself when I set my goal?”  When you go to write that goal down and put it into action, is it already clipped at the edges to make it pretty and doable lest you stick your neck out a little and take a risk?

ENDLESS GUARANTEES

(This is for the ladies, guys.  Sorry.  I have one coming for you soon, hang tight.)

We women need to Believe.  We have an insatiable desire to believe in something and invest in it.  It is hard wired into our system.  When we were younger, it was the hot band/singer at the time.  As we aged, it was a college professor.  Getting into the work field had us looking up to our mentors/leaders ahead of us.  No matter what stage of life we are in, we are looking to believe…so that we know we can do it, too.  We need reassurance.  We need a guarantee.  We need to know that we are not just making something up and that it can be done.  And then when we have that, we need it some more.  And then we look in more places for more reassurance.  And finally, we look again!  In other words, we very rarely come to a place where we believe that we too can achieve the task at hand and we are in a never ending search for a guarantee that we can do what we are setting out to do. 

REVERSE THE PROCESS

Instead of having you write down a lofty goal and then filling you with endless quotes as to why you are good enough to do what you want to do, I want to just ask again:

What is going to happen if you do not achieve that goal?  OR

How High Would You Climb If You Could Not Fall?

If there is no risk of harm, why stop climbing?  Can you write that out for yourself?  What is the worst thing that can happen if you set a lofty goal, take a risk and then fall short of it?  Will you lose your house?  Will it end your marriage?  Can you still pay for your kids to go to school?  What’s the worst thing that can happen?  Why can’t we just Trust and Believe that if we do what we are supposed to, that everything else will fall in place?  Where are we failing ourselves?

We buy into products (Mary Kay, Pampered Chef), people (Tony Robbins, Deepak Chopra), methods (The Secret) and etc. and we become motivated enough to sit down and write goals for someone we do not believe in!!  Is anybody hearing me here??  Invest in yourself!  Believe in yourself because I ask one more time, “What’s the worst thing that can happen if you fall short of that goal?”  You would either try again or analyze what went wrong and fix it.  But no matter what, you would be a better person in the end.  You will have learned, grown, expanded, become more confident just knowing the world didn’t explode—you will have done something more than just the usual, “I want to lose 5 pounds.” 

Sticking your neck out is rewarding.  Standing up to your fears is tremendous.  Yes, you did not get the part in the Broadway show that you wanted (totally made up scenario here), but you went to 10 auditions and met 2 influential producers and got some great experience in the mean time.  You would have never done that the year before so yes, you fell short of your goal and you may feel dejected because you did not get the part, but guess what, you are still alive and you can still perform.  What was the risk?

FACING FACTS

I feel like Mondays are a time when everyone sits down and writes up new goals for the week, month or whatever.  Go ahead, write your normal goals down on paper…and then write one helluva whopper of a goal that makes you shake in your boots.  Go ahead, I dare you.  What’s the worst that could happen?

Make this a good week, folks! 

p.s. My little one is much better.  Thank you everyone!:o)

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Ok, honestly…that’s about as rhyme-y as you’re ever going to get me!haha  The only thing better than this would have been One Fish, Two fish, Red fish, Blue fish…man I loved that book!  Or Sam I Am, Green Eggs and Ham…or–I think you get my point…

Well it is time for us celebrate some food!  YUM!!!!!!!!!!  I have had the pleasure of meeting a fellow blogger whose blog I have been following and whose tweets I have been following as well but did not make the connection that they were the same person!  We connected the other day and low and behold, she had a recipe for mango salsa!!   WOOHOO!

Now you may not have known that I have been cheating on my husband with some mango salsa.  I did not intend for this illicit affair to happen—who does—but now it’s on!  I have since informed my husband that if he does not develop a zesty, flavorful personality that I would be replacing him by the end of this weekend!  He seemed to be unaffected by that…not looking good on this end.  I’ll keep you informed.;o)  So when I reached out to Joanna after reading her fun blog, I immediately asked her for a recipe for none other than…mango salsa!!  …And she had it!!!!! 

From Joanna:

Here is the mango salsa recipe I was telling you about. I hope you like it as much as I do!

Mango/Avocado Salsa

2   Fresh mangos peeled; seeded and chopped (I’ve used jarred mango with great success!)

2/3 Cup diced red pepper

2  Tbls chopped fresh cilantro

½  Cup minced red onion

2  T Seasoned Rice Wine Vinegar (If you prefer unseasoned, add 1 T to the recipe)

½  tsp salt

1  tsp ground pepper

1  T Olive Oil

1  Avocado

Mix all ingredients, except for avocado, together.  Chill.  Add avocado when ready to serve. 

Enjoy!

Now if you can believe this, I get an email on the same day from a ‘blast from the past’ client (who I miss tremendously btw)—whose name just happens to be Joanne!–who also had a recipe.  Hers is below…

Mango Salsa

From EatingWell:  May/June 2009, Fall 2004, The EatingWell Healthy in a Hurry Cookbook (2006), The EatingWell Diabetes Cookbook (2005)

The tropical flavors of this quick mango salsa complement chicken, pork or mild white fish.

4 servings, about 1/3 cup each | Active Time: 10 minutes | Total Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 ripe mango, diced (1 1/2 cups)
• 1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
• 2 tablespoons lime juice
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro

Preparation

1.     Combine mango, onion, lime juice, vinegar and cilantro in a medium bowl. Let stand for 15 minutes; stir before serving.

Nutrition

Per serving : 46 Calories; 12 g Carbohydrates; 1 g Fiber; 2 mg Sodium; 121 mg Potassium

1 Carbohydrate Serving

Exchanges: 1 fruit

Tips & Notes

• Tip: To cut a mango:
• 1. Slice both ends off the mango, revealing the long, slender seed inside. Set the fruit upright on a work surface and remove the skin with a sharp knife.
• 2. With the seed perpendicular to you, slice the fruit from both sides of the seed, yielding two large pieces.
• 3. Turn the seed parallel to you and slice the two smaller pieces of fruit from each side.
• 4. Cut the fruit into the desired shape.

Holy moly it’s like I hit the jackpot!!  Now I can be double fisted here with two separate recipes!  Ummm…yum!!  This is absolutely fabulous with salmon!!  (Wait, is that a good fat? WOOP WOOP!)

Grilled Orange and Bourbon Salmon

Yield

4 servings

Ingredients

• 1/4  cup  bourbon
• 1/4  cup  fresh orange juice
• 1/4  cup  low-sodium soy sauce
• 1/4  cup  packed brown sugar
• 1/4  cup  chopped green onions
• 3  tablespoons  chopped fresh chives
• 2  tablespoons  fresh lemon juice
• 2  garlic cloves, chopped
• 4  (6-ounce) salmon fillets (about 1 inch thick)
• Cooking spray

Preparation

Combine first 8 ingredients in a large zip-top plastic bag, and add salmon to bag. Seal and marinate in refrigerator 1 1/2 hours, turning bag occasionally.

Prepare grill or broiler.

Remove salmon from bag, reserving marinade. Place salmon on a grill rack or broiler pan coated with cooking spray. Cook 6 minutes on each side or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork, basting frequently with reserved marinade.

Nutritional Information

Calories:

365 (35% from fat)

Fat:

14.1g (sat 2.5g,mono 6.8g,poly 3.1g)

Protein:

36g

Carbohydrate:

18g

Cooking Light, JUNE 1999

Does that say bourbon?  Darn tootin’ it does!  Shut up and live life will ya! Haha!  Actually, you will cook off most of the alcohol and sugar when you grill this and you will be left with a very yummy entrée.

So what can we wash that down with?  How about a mango coconut shake?  I know I promised to post this because so many people hit me up asking for it, so here it is:

Mango Coconut Shake:

Must have….

1.5 scoops of Designer Whey Mango Whey Protein

1T of Coconut Oil (warmed in MW)

Then you can add any of the following:

½ cup pineapple juice

1 cup water

½ c mango

OR

½ cup coconut milk

1 cup water

¼ c mango

¼ c papaya

OR

If you are living on the edge and it’s just going down that day:

½  cup vanilla yogurt

½  cup unsweetened pineapple juice

¼  banana, sliced

½ c mango – peeled, seeded and chopped

¼ cup nonfat milk

2 tablespoons cream of coconutßyou mean business with this!;)

Ok, so if we don’t put the mango, coconut, pineapple industry in business this weekend, I’m not sure what can!  Enjoy these yummy treats and work them into your life however you may be able to!  If you got the Menu Planning blog blasts this week you know how to do this.  There is one more left so look out for it either today or tomorrow! 

In the mean time, enjoy life and live it to the fullest or you may miss out on the precious things of life:

My 3 year old has a little cold right now and when he has a cold he must be nebulized to keep his lungs open.  Well, of course, we run out of medicine for the nebulizer so we must go to the pharmacy to fill the prescription and a little certain somebody is too impatient to wait (Wonder where he gets that from? Whistling right now while looking at my feet.):

My son:  “I want to get my medicine.”

Me:  “It’s not ready yet, baby.  We have to wait.”

My son:  “Yes it is!  Eleven people are there and they’re real busy!” (holding up 3 fingers the whole time!)

How do you argue with that?  Bwahahaha!!  Have a good one today!!:o)

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