I’ve been working out now for 5 days. I had quite a bit of soreness the first few days, especially from the abs workout and the pushups. The muscles are feeling better, so I’m happy about that.

P90X is a 90 day workout program. You do workouts 6 days a week for 3 weeks, then you do different workouts for a recovery week. Then 3 weeks of slightly different workouts and so on for 3 phases. So I’m almost done with week 1, which for timing reasons will only be 6 days long.

I hope to post pictures soon and more about my workouts.

Barbara

I recently came across an interesting nutrition and workout program called Real Time Transformation. After reading the sales pitch, I bought it. It’s very useful and helpful. But for me, it’s not just how to eat and workout properly that’s most important. There is a lot of explaining about how to get your head right, how to keep yourself focused on the goal of getting a fit, healthy body.

I have just started a workout and nutrition plan (not the one in the RTP system, although that one is excellent). I plan on using many of his principles here, to provide public accountability for my body transformation.

I am using P90X, from Beachbody. I have done part of the program before but had to stop due to knee issues. My knees are much better now and I am giving it another go. It’s really not targeted at people like me, but I love it anyway. I like to be challenged and this program is definitely a challenge.

Barbara

I’ve recently become involved with a new company with an exciting new product. It’s called Moxxor and it is a powerful omega 3 oil combined with antioxidants from grapes.

The supplement comes from New Zealand and the omega 3 oils come from green-lipped mussels. One gelcap of Moxxor is equal to 248 capsules of salmon oil. It has high concentrations of Omega 3 oils and it is extracted carefully to get the full benefits into the product. It also includes, in one very small gelcap, a powerful antioxidant made from grapes grown in pristine New Zealand.

There is much more to this, including an opportunity to become a distributor. This is a brand new product (with more in the pipeline) and this is an opportunity to get in early with a great product, no fillers at all, and a chance to have a safety net for you and your family. If you are interested in this, please contact me through the website, or if you want to go for it, you can click the Enroll Now link on the website.

The website (mymoxxor.com/realhealth) is also the place to go to place an order. Give it a try, I think you’ll like it. It’s done great things for my bad knees and ankles and I’ve only been using it about 3 weeks.

Barbara

I’ve been working out hard this month and I hope that you’ve found some time to exercise as well. Eating good healthy food is important, but exercise is vital as well. Your body is an amazing machine, not the least of it that it works better the more you make it work. It grows and adapts to the stresses you place on it.

Of course, you want these stresses to be good ones. Stress from weightlifting, rebuilds your muscles stronger and fitter. Stress from cardio workouts, makes your cardio-vascular system work better and more efficiently. Bad stress from work or worry, wears down your body.

So get out, exercise, walk, run, bike, lift weights, whatever. Get moving and your body will thank you for it!

Barbara

Real health, as I’ve posted about before, is about health that comes naturally, through eating healthy foods, working out, watching what you buy and how you fuel your body. It’s avoiding prescription drugs and food additives that harm your body.

This year has been a good one. I personally have continued learning more and more about how to lose bodyfat, how to get fit, and what to eat for health. The mainstream press is reporting more and more about health issues, particularly the obesity epidemic and its causes.

For 2007, resolve this:

No trans fats, hydrogenated anything, no MSG or autolyzed or hydrolyzed protein of any sort. No aspartame, or splenda or any other chemical sweetener.

Eat more vegetables, especially broccoli and kale and tomatoes. Make fresh food from local, organic ingredients. Eat smaller, more frequent meals, with high quality, low fat protein at each meal. Skinless chicken breast, salmon, tuna, turkey breast, beef bottom roast, and egg whites should be a mainstay in your house.

My personal new favorite is an oldie. Fat free cottage cheese, mixed with peaches in juice. Perfection!

Workout at least 3-4 times a week, preferably more. Make it a priority in your life. This year I have worked out an average of 4 times a week. Next year I am shooting for 5 times a week. Lift weights to build muscle, which burns more calories. Do high intensity cardio for shorter workouts and greater effect on calorie burning for the rest of the day.

You can do it. I have been and will continue to do so. Eat healthy and clean 90% of the time and you will lose weight, exercise and make sure that the weight you lose is body fat and not precious muscle.

Have a great 2007!

Barbara

There are so many foods that parents buy and kids regularly eat, that seem to be good for you. I’ll be posting a series of foods that parents need to pay attention to and just by buying something different, you will help improve the health of your children.

First is peanut butter. I did a little research online. The two biggest sellers in peanut butter are Skippy and Jif. Surprisingly, you can’t get any ingredients list from the Skippy web site. They do offer a natural version (Skippy Natural Creamy). It advertises that you don’t have to stir it. It does this by adding palm oil to the peanut butter. Palm oil is a source of added fat and unnecesary saturated fats. All so you don’t have to stir it. The actual ingredients list is peanuts, sugar, palm oil and salt.

Jif does have listings of ingredients on it’s website. The standard Jif Creamy has:

MADE FROM ROASTED PEANUTS AND SUGAR. CONTAINS 2 PERCENT OR LESS OF: MOLASSES, PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED VEGETABLE OIL (SOYBEAN), FULLY HYDROGENATED VEGETABLE OILS (RAPESEED AND SOYBEAN), MONO- AND DIGLYCERIDES AND SALT.

I have a jar of Trader Joe’s Natural Creamy Peanut Butter. Ingredients: Roasted peanuts. This is the unsalted version.

You should always buy natural peanut butter for your kids. Yes, you need to stir it, because oils collect on the top. But, my experience has been that you need to stir it throughly once. After it’s open, store natural peanut butter in the refrigerator, and I’ve never had to stir it again. You get the real peanut taste. Peanut butters like Jif and Skippy taste like sugar with a little peanut taste.

Natural peanut butter is good for you. There is nothing added and the fats in peanut butter are healthy ones. Of course, you need to not overeat nuts of any sort. But you don’t need sugar, molasses, and added oils in your peanut butter. The fact that the oils added are partially and fully hydrogenated means that they have trans fats and are very bad for your health, particularly heart health.

So, one easy way to make your child’s diet healthier, is to buy peanut butter with one ingredient (roasted peanuts) or maybe two (if you like salted peanut butter). Skip the Skippy and the Jif. Read the labels and see what it is you are buying.

Barbara