Black Friday: Fitness Shopping to Change Your Future

On Friday, November 24, the doors of the big box stores will swing wide open for sugar-plum visioning shoppers seeking bargain treasures for their family. People load up their sleighs with TVs, computers, appliances and toys that the family will enjoy.

However, this year I want to encourage you to take a different path. Many stores also have great Black Friday deals on exercise equipment that could help to change your family’s future.

For our family, it has been very helpful to have a few pieces of exercise equipment. When we had our kids, we had lost all our motivation to stay healthy, partly because we could not find the time to get to the gym. Once we decided to make a change, we got an elliptical machine and a few weights and committed to work out together. The difference has really been transformative as we have never been more fit and are having a blast doing it together.

So, instead of using those Black Friday deals to get that 42” LCD TV that will contribute to a sedentary lifestyle, choose to give a gift to the healthy you and your family. Here are some of the best fitness deals for Black Friday (click on the store to go to their ad):

Sports Authority

Proform 18.0 RE Elliptical machine: $799 (save $1200)

Proform 290 SPX Indoor Cycle: $199 (originally $499)

Bowflex Select Tech 552 Dumbells: $300

Dicks Sporting Goods

Fitness Gear 225 pound weight set: $150

Powerblock Adjustable dumb bells with stand: $299 (great for limited space!)

Walmart

Perfect Sit Up: $44.77 (about 30% discount)

Costco

Reebok Upright Bike with Ipod Port $200

Body Media Fitlink Armband (body wellness monitor with activity manager): $200 (normally $229)

Kmart

Marcy 80# Combo Bench 89.99 (save $40)

Body Champ Cardio Dual Trainer 189.99 (save $60)

Academy

Horizon T100 Treadmill 299.99

Everlast 4-pc Heavy Punching Bag 49.99

As it gets closer to Thanksgiving, more of the big deals will come out. Keep watching www.blackfriday.com and http://www.blackfriday.info/ If you hear of any great deals, post them here in the comment section below. Happy HEALTHY Shopping! Black Friday Deals Shopping Black Friday Deals Shopping Black Friday Shopping Deals Black Friday Shopping Deals Black Friday Shopping Deals Black Friday Shopping Deals Black Friday Shopping Deals Black Friday Shopping Dealks Black Friday Shopping Deals Black Friday Shopping Deals Black Friday Shopping Deals Black Friday Deals Shopping Black Friday Deals Shopping Black Friday Shopping Deals Black Friday Shopping Deals Black Friday Shopping Deals Black Friday Shopping Deals Black Friday Shopping Deals Black Friday Shopping Dealks Black Friday Shopping Deals Black Friday Shopping Deals Black Friday Shopping Deals Black Friday Deals Shopping Black Friday Deals Shopping Black Friday Shopping Deals Black Friday Shopping Deals Black Friday Shopping Deals Black Friday Shopping Deals Black Friday Shopping Deals Black Friday Shopping Dealks Black Friday Shopping Deals Black Friday Shopping Deals Black Friday Shopping Deals

Insanity Week 4- The Struggle To Maintain Focus

We finally made it to rest week. I must say, I probably feel a little bit softer than I did at the beginning of Insanity. I think the reason for this is that I have not been as disciplined with the nutrition side of the program as I should be.

 

Since nutrition is 70% of a weight loss/ fitness program, it is not fair to expect to see results from an exercise program without focusing in on this crucial component. It is too easy to get into the mindset that it is ok to eat extra because “well, I got my workout in.”

 

However, just think about that fact that it takes about 30 seconds to eat a cookie with 300 calories, but it is going to take 30 minutes of exercising to burn that same amount. That is why it is so much easier to get fat than to lose it!

Another factor may be timing. With the change of summer into fall, my extraneous activities have definitely gotten more sedentary. The extra evening walks, swims with the kids, and afternoon jogs have been reduced to almost zero.

 

So, now that our family birthday season is done, Susan and I are going to renew our resolve to avoid the extra snacks, stop eating the kids crumbs, and avoid the leftover sweets. Just like everyone else, we struggle to stay on track over the winter months.

 

So, next week is “rest week” which means we have a light exercise regimen. That means we are going to have to be extra careful to eat right, avoid grazing like cattle and try to get some extra movement in.

 

Hang tight with your program! Remember, the hard workouts are not an excuse to indulge the sweet tooth. Those holiday treats are just going to end up hanging over your belt in January!

 

In the comment section below, help us with ways you plan to avoid the extra weight gain over the holidays.

World's Greatest Fitness and Weight-Loss Apps

Back in the old days, if you were really serious about losing weight you would have to get a food calorie dictionary and start keeping an old-fashioned pencil and paper list. If you wanted to keep track of your heart rate, you’d put your finger on your wrist or neck and attempt to take your pulse while running.

A lot has changed in the past 25 years. Heck, a lot has changed in the past 25 weeks. So, knowing there are a lot of other geeks out there, I decided to put together a list of some of the best apps around for nutrition and exercise.

Exercise:

Loops (Livestrong): Web : This app allows you to search for and create exercise loops wherever you happen to be. This app is especially good if you travel a lot to large cities and have no idea where to go for your daily walk or jog.

Target Heart Rate Calculator (American Cancer Society): Web : I recommend working out with a heart rate monitor to be sure you are keeping the right intensity level. This site will calculate your target heart rate for you.

Physioadvisor (iphone): This app helps you develop your work out program with common physical therapy exercises. You can search by numerous categories and body parts to help you develop a comprehensive program.

GPS Motion X (iphone): I used this one a lot before Susan bought me a new Garmin watch for our anniversary (I know, she is quite the romantic!). However, if you don't have a watch and are going to run with your iphone anyway, this app will give you your pace and a plethora of other workout tracking info, all while still playing your music. Obviously, though, this app is worthless if you have an ipod touch...unless you just run circles in a wifi hotspot.

Nutrition:

Calorie Tracker (Livestrong): Blackberry / iPhone / iPad: One of the problems with using a calorie tracker is the frustration with not having the foods you need to track. I have found the livestrong app to have a pretty comprehensive data base so that you can find just what you are looking for, or at least get pretty close.

Menu Planner (National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute): Web. This menu planner is only available online, but helps you plan your meals. There is a large variety of food options and serving sizes and calculates the number of calories for you. This one may be really good to help you pre-plan those dangerous holiday meals.

Text-2-Eat (Livestrong): Text messaging. This one is fun, and you don’t even need a smart phone! You just text a food you are considering (or just ate J) to 35242 and they will text you back with the item, calories, fat and protein.

If you want more ideas, I got most of these from an online story by MD Anderson. It has several other categories including kids nutrition and smoking cessation. So, follow this link and "app" to your healthy hearts content:

MD Anderson Apps Article weight loss apps exercise apps iphone droid fitness healthy eating apps calorie tracker app weight loss apps iphone droid fitness healthy eating apps exercise apps calorie tracker app weight loss apps iphone droid fitness healthy eating apps calorie tracker app weight loss apps iphone droid fitness healthy eating apps calorie tracker app exercise apps weight loss apps exercise apps iphone droid fitness healthy eating apps calorie tracker app weight loss apps iphone droid fitness healthy eating apps exercise apps calorie tracker app weight loss apps iphone droid fitness healthy eating apps calorie tracker app weight loss apps iphone droid fitness healthy eating apps calorie tracker app exercise apps

Insanity Workout Chronicle: Week 1

With fear and trepidation, my wife Susan and I started the “Insanity” workout this past week. Insanity is a 2 month program led by trainer and former pro athlete, Shaun T. For the next 2 months I will be journaling through the program and give my thoughts on this popular home workout.

Insanity is quite a bit different from P90X* in that it is VERY heavy on the cardio and sport drills training. In fact, there is very little upper body resistance exercise, in my opinion, though my legs were definitely given a good workout. The set did come with a separate upper body weights workout, but it is not a part of the official “plan”.

The great thing about Insanity is that Shaun makes you dig deep to find another level of intensity and with each set he pushes you harder and harder. If you thought you could sit on a recumbent bike and casually read a book and lose weight, Shaun tries to coach you past that natural passive attitude and show you it is necessary to push yourself to succeed.

Prior to beginning Insanity, we did know that there was going to be a lot of jumping involved, so Susan and I purchased a couple of jump mats on Amazon, and I am pretty glad we did. This workout can be very hard on your joints and if actually done on a gym floor as shown on the video, month 3 would be the “Insanity Joint Replacement Recovery Series”.

If you are trying to use Insanity to lose weight, definitely utilize the meal plan as well. Since the workouts are a bit short, you will need to keep a strong focus on nutrition and perhaps add a few resistance workouts as well.

 *see previous post rating experience with P90x

P90x: The Fitness Road Less Traveled

There are many roads to fitness. There are roads that, unfortunately, are circles and lead right back to where we started. There are roads that are possible but require a level of knowledge that some people just do not have. There are others that lead to success, but require a lot of money and/or time that are not possible at this stage of our lives.  There are other roads that are risky because they require a level of self-discipline and commitment that are difficult to come by but, nonetheless, attainable. I would place P90X in the latter category.

In case you are one of the 12 people in America who haven’t seen the infomercial, P90X stands for Power 90 (for 90 days) X (Extreme). It is a diverse series of fitness videos including resistance training, plyometrics, core strengthening and flexibility training designed to keep challenging your body in different ways to encourage positive change.

 Susan and I decided to do P90X about 6 months ago for a lot of reasons. I was a bit resistant at first because I was comfortable doing what I was doing. But, the chance to do something different and to get to workout with my life partner was enough to give it a try.

After a short period of time I was impressed. Tony Horton (the host trainer) pushed us to a level of intensity that we had not ever been able to do on our own. He also pushed me to try “new” things, such as yoga and jump training, and things I have never been good at, such as pull ups and 1-arm pushups.

The other positive was that every time Tony would change things up, I would end up being sore and exhausted…in a good way. I knew my body was going to make progress, and it has. Another important part of the plan is to track your progress by writing down the weight and number of reps. This is something people rarely do on their own, but is helpful in seeing real meaningful progress.

There are, however, some things that concern me about P90X. One is that the workouts are probably a bit long for some. They vary from a little over an hour to 1 ½ hours. This may discourage some to stick with it.

 It also is, after all, just a video. The trainer is not watching you perform the exercises. Therefore, due to the intensity and speed at which the exercises are performed, there could be risk for injury if not careful. Another inherent weakness with a video series is that it is a cookie-cutter approach and doesn’t take into account each individual weakness.

So, the verdict is P90X is a good, affordable option to help jump start or push you through your plateau in your fitness plan. Finishing the P90X program feels gratifying because the road we chose was the road least traveled: good old-fashioned hard work, intensity, and commitment.

Below are my "before and after" photos. Pic #1 was in around February of 2011 (note the pale shade of winter :) ) and the after was in September 2011 after 6 months of P90x.

Top Physical Therapy Advice To Fuel Your Exercise Program

Every day I find myself handing out advice. It also tends to be the same advice over and over. So, for the next few blogs I am going to share the “tips” I find myself giving out most often that could help with your workouts, keep you from getting injured, and help maintain your focus for hitting your goals.

Part 1: Lifting and body mechanics

1. Knees behind toes- No, I am not suggesting you play Twister…although that sounds like fun. Instead, when doing squats or lunges, look down. If your knees are jutting out over your toes, there is likely undo strain being placed on your knees. Step out a little farther so when you squat your knees are behind your toes.
2. Chest and head up when squatting- if you look down when lifting an object, the tendency is to flatten out the lumbar spine and place increased strain on the back. So, think “head and chest up” when lifting to keep the lumbar spine in its naturally curved position.
3. Lift with your legs- everyone knows this one but so few do it! Perhaps it is because of lack of flexibility combined with lack of energy that people allow gravity to pull the trunk forward instead of lowering their trunk with their legs. You won’t lift with your legs if you don’t use them to get into position. You can start strengthening your legs by leaning against a wall and sliding down to do mini-squats. This can also help control dust around your house!
4. Use a wide base of support- unless you are trying to balance on one leg in the yoga “tree” pose, spread your legs apart when exercising, especially when lifting weights from the floor. It will increase your stability and help you be able to lift more weight safely.

So, there you go. Don’t worry, I’m not going to bill you for a 15 minute therapy unit. This one is on me. But now, it’s on you. As you exercise to achieve your goal, remember to use good body mechanics so you stay healthy and injury-free in the process.

Happy Meals Over Big Macs...What a toddler can teach us about eating to achieve our weight loss goals

When you think about a toddler, what comes to mind? Boundless energy…fun-loving….and generally happy, except when they are mindlessly screaming because they wanted to shut the van door and you accidentally shut it yourself. Lack of emotional filters aside, we can really learn a lot about how to be healthy and lose weight from toddlers. 

1. Only eat the amount you need. Toddlers are great at this. To many parents’ dismay, children go through periods where one would think they are on a Lenten fast, and they won’t eat even their favorite foods. But toddlers will generally only eat the amount their body needs. In a survey by Appetite magazine, 85% of 142 families say they try to get their kids to eat to eat more at meal-time through persuasion. But the old adage that “a child will eat when he is hungry” is really true, and we should follow that rule as well.
2. Take your time when you eat. My son is the master at this…so much so that sometimes we have to set a kitchen timer just to get him to move it along when we are on a schedule. But Jake just really likes to talk at dinner….a lot! That translates into long meal times. It really is helpful to be social when you can with your meals. People that are too busy to sit down with their family to eat are often people who gain weight. Why? Because eating together, talking as you eat, and taking your time will help you feel full faster and eat fewer calories. But no, you don’t have to bring your favorite Thomas the Tank Engine or baby doll to distract you from your food.
3. Just keep moving! Now, your toddler probably does this before, during, and after dinner. I am not suggesting you move constantly during your meal, but I certainly think you could move before or after. Even if it is just to get on the floor with the kids and wrestle around with them after dinner, every bit of motion you can add to your day will help you in your overall weight-loss goals.
4. Happy Meals over Big Macs. When eating out, think about eating a “child’s” meal. A McDonald’s Happy Meal has anywhere from 450-650 calories. Since an adult meal should probably be around that amount based on a 1,500-2,000 calorie/day meal plan, adults should think about eating a child-size portion when eating out. No, you don’t have to eat a child’s hamburger and apple dippers, but you should rethink the size and quantity of your portions if you want to be successful in achieving your goals.

Redefining Normal

I read a great blog that fits in well with my philosophy of peeling away the layers of the fat onion by changing habits and redefining a new you.  Please check out Roger's great but short read on "Redefining Normal":

http://www.roglawfitness.com/redefining-normal/