2015 Holiday Challenge

Week 5 Team Scores

2015 Holiday Challenge

Week 4 Team Scores

Keep up the great work teams! 

We're going to be offering up some BIG points for the last couple of weeks at Bootcamp!

2015 Holiday Challenge Week 1 Scores

2015 Holiday Challenge

Week 1 Team Scores

Introducing the 2015 Holiday Challenge Teams

Laura's "Best Of" List

Making Healthy Choices

Our Favorite Products & Where You Can Get Them

Processed Grains…the case for and against.  Anything time a grain is taken and ground down to a flour to be re-purposed (think pasta, bread, tortillas, crackers), it is processed and much of the nutrients are lost. There are better choices.  Grains more intact like quinoa, millet, steel cut oats, amaranth, wheat berries and brown rice are all healthier choices.  But we want to meet you where you are! If cutting out all processed grains is too great of a leap right now, or if you aren’t interested in losing body fat, at least choose from our best of list below.  If you are trying to lose weight or you are already eating healthy but want to challenge yourself to eat even healthier, try not having the processed grains (even if whole grain) for the 50 Day Challenge.

Bread...Dave's killer bread, Bread & Cie Organic multi-grain and Organic whole wheat

Crackers......Mary's Gone Crackers, Matzo, Back to Nature Stone-ground Wheat

Corn Tortillas...Organic Mi Rancho 

Hummus....Organic Hope Hummus, Organic Bitchin' Sauce, Organic Majestic Hummus

Spaghetti sauce....365 whole foods value brand, Organicville Marinara sauce, Amy's Organic pasta sauces, Mi Rancho Organic

Salsa.....Amy's Organic salsa, Organicville Hot salsa

Snack/energy bar...Kit bar, Good on Ya Bar, Lara bar, Beaming protein bite, Whole Foods Paleo bar (deli) 16.99/lb.

Yogurt...Plain Greek yogurt Organic TJs, 365 Organic Plain Greek yogurt, Chobani plain Greek yogurt (Chobani company claims all ingredients are non GMO verified)

Eggs....organic pastured Organic Valley or from your CSA

Milk....ORGANIC, RAW WHOLE milk is best or Organic Valley whole

Butter...Organic Valley, Kerigold or Ghee (clarified butter)

Protein Powder…Reserveage Grass Fed Whey Protein found at Whole Foods, Jimbo's and Sprouts

Any favorites you'd like to add or have Questions for Laura or Deanne?

Comment on our post now and share with other Forever Fitters!

5x5 Challenge Week Week 4 Oh My!

Hello 5x5 challengers. Can you believe it's week 4 already?  These last two weeks are going to take some serious discipline.  Is anyone experiencing a stall on the scale? If you're like me, the first couple pounds came off fairly easy and now the body is holding on to every ounce for dare life. That's because if the body suspects you are starving it, it will slow down the metabolism to preserve what it has.  Your water, workouts and protein intake are going to be extremely important this week to trick your body into letting those last couple pounds go.  Make your body work hard to break down your calories by making sure you are having approximately 20 grams of protein per meal and lots and lots of veggies. If you can handle raw veggies, even better. There is a thermic effect of eating which means the harder your body has to work to break down and metabolize food, the more calories it's burning.  Things like chicken, fish, grass fed beef, nuts and raw veggies take more energy to break down than fast acting carbs like sugar, bread, pasta etc.  The other thing you can do is to make sure you work waaaaay outside your comfort zone on 3 of your workouts this week. The more you can get anaerobic, the longer your metabolism will stay elevated after the workout is long over. Keeping the metabolism elevated means burning more calories.  Just make sure your 3 hardest days are alternated with some lower to medium intensity days.

Let us know what you plan to do on week 4 to get that scale moving again.  I am going to wear my heart rate monitor to every workout and make sure I am getting to my anaerobic levels. I am also going to up my vegetable intake to 10 servings which will leave less desire and room for "other things".

5x5 Challenge Week 3

Here we go week 3!  Let us know what you will be working on.  I have been successful for 2 weeks now, no wine or alcohol Monday through Friday and I feel great!  Last week I worked on my unplanned nibbling and I did pretty good, except for a couple of days when I didn't have a plan. If I have a plan for the day with healthy food in the house and prepped, it is no problem. Without a plan, I end up getting too hungry and then I eat whatever is convenient. So this week I am focusing on doing prep the night before to ensure a successful next day. And I will continue no wine, intermittent fasting and now adding more planning and prep each day for the following day.  What about you?

5x5 Challenge Week 2!

One week under our belt and I hope everyone sees some progress on the scale tomorrow or Tuesday.  This week I will continue to hold off on all wine Monday through Thursday. I will also be adding another area for myself and that is no unplanned nibbling!  Please let us know what you will be working on.

Challenge: 5 Pounds in 5 Weeks! Week 1

Each week check in with the team and let us know what that one thing is that you will give up or change in order to lose a pound. Or, is there a specific strategy, like Intermittent Fasting that you will be following?

For example, this week, I am  giving up wine, except for one glass on Friday and one on Saturday. 

Intermittent Fasting: What is it...How to Do it and the Benefits of IF

What IF?

       

What if you could eat all your favorite foods in moderation? What if you could train your body to burn its own fat for fuel? What if you could burn fat while you were sleeping?  What if?

   

Have you ever heard of IF??? Intermittent fasting is a practice that allows your body to burn its own fat.  Instead of constantly supplying food for energy, you allow your body a break from food and, in turn, your body burns its stored fat for fuel and your digestive system gets some much needed “time off”.  Generally, this takes a minimum of 8 hours to utilize your food energy and switch over to stored fat for fuel.

There are many benefits from IF that include increased brain function, improved GI health, and a huge surge of natural human growth hormone (HGH).  Oh, and one more really great thing....LESS FAT on your body.

Of course, there are many variations of IF.  The more extreme IF includes fasting for up to 36 hours occasionally. Another variation is every other day.  One method is once a week.  All offer health benefits as long as your food choices are healthy, and you don't binge eat before and/or after a fasting period.

I know, I don't think it sounds easy, either!! I am a hungry girl who wants to eat, enjoys eating, and quite frankly, cannot imagine going 36 hours without eating!  However, I do think we could all benefit from a modified version of IF.  We are so used to fueling our body all day long with snacks, protein bars, etc in addition to our regular meals. We will never know what it feels like to be starving.  And our digestive system will continue to get overworked. 

Here is what I propose...let's give IF a try!  We can start by fasting through the night.  Be done with dinner and commit to only water or herbal tea after 7pm.  By the time breakfast rolls around you will have 12 hours of fasting under your belt!  Try incorporating this into your lifestyle permanently.  Your body needs rest and that includes your digestive system. 

When/if you want to take it to the next level, the next step would be to postpone "BREAK-FAST" until after your workout, to increase the fasting period up to 16 hours.

  

For those of you who crash every 2-3 hours and think you NEED to keep your blood sugar up with small meals throughout the day to rev up your metabolism, I encourage you to reevaluate your diet to see where you can make better choices.  Replace all processed foods with healthy fats like avocados, coconut oil, olive oil, eggs, butter and nuts....in moderation!!  

IF is a great way to eliminate sugar cravings.  When your body does not rely on food for energy every few hours your sugar cravings will subside.  Your body will benefit in so many ways. The key is to rewire your thought process....think of fasting as taking a break from eating not a period of deprivation.

               

What IF it was that easy?

Mindset and Nutrition Challenge of the Week

Mindset Challenge of the Week: Random Acts of Kindness

Want to be the best you can be in 2015? The secret...focus on others!  Each day as an opportunity presents itself (and it will now that this is in your subconscious), do something unexpected to make someone's day fabulous. It doesn't have to cost money or take a lot of time, just something that shows the person you noticed them (even if they are a stranger). These acts are contagious. If you make someone's day brighter, it almost certainly guarantees they will find a way to do the same, later in the day.

Laura's Nutrition Challenge of the Week: Consume at least one probiotic food per day. Probiotics puts the good bugs in your gut.  More bad bugs than good bugs can lead to inflammation and disease. Here are some of our favorite probiotics:
1. organic unsweetened yogurt
2. Kimchi
3. Kefir
4. Organic, Non GMO Tempeh
5. Farmhouse Culture's Sauerkrauts
6. Bubbie's Pickles
7. GT's Kombucha