10 Stupid Things That Are Keeping You from Having the Body You Want

Tired of spinning your wheels in the gym?

1)  Stupid Cardio-Are you still hanging all over the Stairmaster with your arms “rolled in” for 45? 60? minutes or more?  Even Shape magazine doesn’t still promote that kind of cardio. In case you haven’t noticed “we” don’t do cardio like that anymore. It’s a waste of time and may even be detrimental to your   fitness efforts (it raises stress hormones and breaks down muscle.) Moderate intensity, long-duration cardio is a thing of the past.  Frequent, short bursts of very high intensity cardio done either as a rest-based workout or, integrated with your resistance workout is the only way to go.  It builds muscle, boosts immune function, and burns more calories at rest. 

Best of the Natural Products Expo

After eating my way through another trip to Anaheim and the Natural Products Expo, I finally got wise and took only a select few “healthy” food samples home with me. More than that, I’ve learned, and I just continue the binge indefinitely.  Healthy food samples are relatively few and far between as this show caters to every kind of manufacturer that wants to call him/herself “healthy" or "natural.”  Be that as it may, the show is a blast and new products are sprinkled throughout the expo hall-which is really saying something because there are upwards of 2,400 exhibitors at the show. Needless to say, I only saw a small portion of the total number of exhibitors that were present. Oh well. 

Here is a recap of my favorites:

Plank Power

Who needs crunches!?

The practice of yoga is 5,000 years old.  I knew that!  And as Wikipedia and the other internet info centers mentions, no one knows who created yoga because 5,000 years ago because human beings weren’t putting pen to paper quite yet to record that.  The traditional purpose of Yoga, I’ve found out, has always been to bring about a profound transformation in the person through the transcendence of the ego.

Hmm…then explain to me why, in recent months, I’ve noticed that

Conscious Capitalism

A kinder, gentler, capitalism

“Capitalism is unquestionably the greatest system for innovation and social cooperation that has ever existed.” Those words, written by John Mackey and Raj Sisodia are powerful, thought provoking and incredibly important. It’s hard to believe they came from that long-haired, long-bearded hippie from the 70’s, John Mackey.  Or should I say former long-haired, long-bearded hippie since it's been about 40 years and Mackey's hair and clean shaven face were transformed a time long ago.

In their book, Conscious Capitalism, Mackey explains how he sold-out and abandoned his liberal progressive roots and became just another Bourgeois capitalist pig (shake head in shame.) The End. Well, that’s not exactly the way it happened nor is it the end by any stretch.

Guiltless Chicken Breast Tenders

Thank you Tana Amen, RN for this great recipe bringing chicken fingers out of junk food land and into the health food realm.  I chose to continue following the recipe to make these crispy (I had no regrets.)

Enjoy

Healthy chicken fingers? Yes, honestly!

Ingredients

1 teaspoon sea salt
½ teaspoon pepper, if desired
½ teaspoon garlic powder
1 cup almond meal (or gluten-free flour), or you may grind almonds finely in the food processor
1 pound chicken tenders (free-range, hormone-free, antibiotic-free)
1 egg, lightly beaten (organic, Omega-3)


Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
In a bowl, mix sea salt, pepper, garlic powder, and almond meal and blend well with a fork.

Dip the chicken pieces in the egg, coating both sides. Immediately dredge in the almond meal mixture, covering both sides completely.

5 Cool Tools to Jumpstart Your Workout

Why did you join that gym (or get serious about your home-based training?) To get leaner, tighter, fitter and stronger, right?  So how’s that working out for you? For some, probably great! And for others…well,…maybe not so great.

If you’ve been working out for months or even years and your progress has been slow to undetectable or, you’re doing fine but your motivation could use a kick in the pants; listen up.

A piece of equipment alone will not likely transform your body. But, a new toy can get you charged up and motivated all over again and that can get you back on the road to transformation. Check out these 5 cool tools that can jumpstart your workout:

The Burn Machine

The Burn Machine: Created by martial artists to simulate punching a speed bag, the burn machine is a shiny chrome contraption that when held away from the body, at shoulder height-and while turning its rotating grips at high speed, will burn those shoulders into amazing shape. Vary arm placement to hit the muscles from all angles. Can be used sitting or standing. Available in several weights. Priced from $116.00-$150.00, it’s available at www.theburnmachine.com. Insert the code UGW at checkout for a 10% discount.

It Doesn't Get Better Than (Healthy) Chocolate

A reason for living

If you believe that the four major food groups are milk chocolate, dark chocolate, white chocolate, and chocolate truffle, we really understand each other. But believe it or not, chocolate can be good for you.

Dark chocolate containing 72% cocoa solids or more, is best enjoyed when it hasn’t been treated with alkali... a standard process called Dutching, which destroys most of cocoa's beneficial polyphenols and anti-oxidants. Then there’s milk chocolate, which should be avoided (if you got the guts.) It’s high in calories, saturated fat and sugar. Dark chocolate contains more cacao and less sugar.

A 2006 John Hopkins study showed that eating a little bit every day is good for your health. Here are some of the health benefits associated with eating chocolate.