PORK TENDERLOIN

Good for: Waist-trimming
Lean meats are a great low-calorie source of protein, eating more protein may reduce the fat around your midsection. People who ate 20 more grams of protein everyday than the group average had 6 percent lower waist-to-hip ratios.

Lamb Dijon

Serves 6 (serving size is 2 chops)

1/4 cup Dijon mustard

3 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary, no stems

3 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

5 garlic cloves, minced

12 (4-ounce) lamb chops, trimmed

cooking spray (olive or canola oil preferred)

1. Combine first 5 ingredients in a large zip-top plastic bag. Add lamb; seal and
marinate in refrigerator for 1 hour or up to 8 hours, turning bag occasionally.

2. Preheat grill or grill pan to medium-high heat.

3. Remove lamb from bag. Place lamb on grill rack or grill pan coated with cooking spray; cook 6 minutes on each side or until medium-rare or at desired degree of doneness.

NUTRITION PER SERVING

CALORIES 230 FAT 9.5 g PROTEIN 29.4 g SODIUM 243 mg FIBER 1.5 g CARBOHYDRATE 3.6 g

PB&J or PASTA WITH MEAT SAUCE

Good for: Muscle building and repair
The perfect post-weight training repast has about 400 calories, with 20 to 30 grams of protein (to build new muscle) and 50 to 65 grams of carbohydrates (to repair old muscle). Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches or a small bowl of pasta with meat sauce fits that formula.

Salmon

Good for: Cardiovascular fitness

The fatty acids in fish oil need to become incorporated into muscle and heart cells to have an effect, and that takes weeks of consumption. So either take fish oil pills each day, or try to eat fish rich in fatty acids multiple times a week to see similar results.

Pineapple and Papaya

Good for: Muscle recovery
Both of these tropical fruits are loaded with bromelain and papain, enzymes that not only help break down proteins for digestion but also have anti-inflammatory properties to speed up your post-workout recovery.

Stretching Don't Pt. 2

Don't overextend your joints. Hyperextending can cause injury and doesn't help you in any way.

If it hurts, DON'T DO IT. Always listen to your body. If you're stretching correctly, you should feel tension on the muscles, and possibly some slight discomfort. If you have any sharp or serious pain during a stretch or exercise, STOP, you may do harm to your body.

Spicy Korean Pork Barbecue

Serves 4

1 pound pork tenderloin, trimmed

2 tablespoons granulated Splenda

2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce

2 tablespoons red chili pepper

1 teaspoon peeled and minced fresh ginger

1 teaspoon dark sesame oil

3 garlic cloves, minced

cooking spray (olive or canola oil preferred)

1. Wrap pork in plastic wrap; freeze 1 1/2 hours or until firm. Remove plastic wrap; cut pork diagonally across grain into very thin slices, approximately 1/8 inch or as thin as you can make them.

2. Combine pork and next 6 ingredients (Splenda through garlic) in a large zip-top plastic bag. Seal and marinate in refrigerator 1 hour, turning bag occasionally.

3. Preheat grill to 400°F.

4. Place a wire grilling basket on grill rack. Remove pork from bag; discard marinade. Place pork on grilling basket coated with cooking spray; grill 8 minutes or until at desired degree of doneness, turning frequently.

NUTRITION PER SERVING

CALORIES 175 FAT 6.6 g PROTEIN 26.5 g SODIUM 201 mg FIBER .3 g CARBOHYDRATE 2.9 g

Stretching Don't

Don't bounce! Use slow, even movements when stretching. Bouncing places too much stress on your muscles and joints.

Don't overstretch. Be patient, and never force your body to go where it doesn't want to.

Here are some general Stretching Do's:

Stay hydrated. Drink plenty of fluids before you exercise, as this will allow your muscles to perform and will increase the benefits of stretching.

Remember to breathe. While stretching, remember to breathe slowly and evenly. This gets oxygen to your muscles.

Stretch evenly. Hold each stretch for 20-30 seconds. Be sure to stretch your muscle groups that are tight and need to be stretched.

Q: Is stretching important?

A: Static Stretching is key AFTER workouts. You should do your foam roller/ stick exercises stretch before working out then warm up with cardio for 5 to 10 minutes, train, and then stretch. Static stretching before workouts has been shown to decrease the intensity of your muscle contractions, which can actually hurt your progress in the gym. Stretching after a workout is most effective because it releases the tension in the muscles from the workout. It also improves circulation and promotes healing and optimal recovery from your workout.

Don't Sit Back

So you've mastered one level of exercise. Great! But wait a minute, if you get too comfortable with one set of exercises, you'll lose ground on your fitness goal. That's why it's important to rate your comfort level with each exercise you try.

Inner Drive

It may seem obvious, you can't achieve success if you're not willing to take the first step. We can give you all the tools you need for weight loss, but if you're not willing to get off your seat, you won't get anywhere. You need to find that inner drive to accomplish your goals.

Test Your Thoughts

To see whether your thoughts are predominantly positive or negative, test yourself. It sounds extreme, but you only need to do it once: Carry a small notebook around for an entire day. Each time a thought about yourself pops into your head, write it down, and then write down if it's positive or negative. At the end of the day, tally your positive and negative thoughts. Even if you already suspect you lean toward the negative, seeing those thoughts on paper might give you the kick to be more positive. When you change your attitude, you'll change your life.

Do You Have An Attitude? Pt. 2

The power of the mind is strong. The way you think about yourself manifests as your reality. We all know how easily negative thoughts can lead to lack of confidence, hopelessness, bad behavior and depression. In other words a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you tell yourself that you'll never find happiness, chances are you'll end up unhappy.

Do You Have An Attitude?

Do you have what it takes to reach your fitness goals? If you think it's all about diet and exercise, you're wrong. Exercise and a proper diet are crucial to all fitness programs. But to reach any long-term goal like one that is a major lifestyle change you need the right attitude. You can have all the external support in the world, but if your self-esteem is in the toilet, you'll never have long-term success.

Healthy Pasta Alternative

Veggie Pasta With Italian Chicken Sausage

Ingredients:

· 2 small zucchini

· 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

· Salt and pepper to taste

· 1 garlic clove, diced

· 1 cup diced tomatoes

· 1 teaspoon oregano

· 1/2 pound cooked Italian chicken sausage, sliced into small pieces

· 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, or to taste

Instructions:

1. Using a vegetable peeler and turning the zucchini as you go, slice the zucchini into ribbons.

2. In a skillet, over medium heat, sauté zucchini in 1 tablespoon of oil until it's soft and the edges are clear.

3. Add salt and pepper to taste.

4. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in another pan, over medium heat, and add garlic.

5. Sauté for a minute, then add the tomatoes and oregano.

6. Simmer for a few minutes, then stir in the sausage.

7. Spoon sauce over the zucchini. Sprinkle with Parmesan.

Makes 2 servings

Nutrition information per serving: 309 calories, 29 g total fat, 9 g carbohydrate, 28 g protein, 324 mg sodium.

All or Not

It's time to kill the all-or-nothing attitude. A great way to do that is to get real regarding setbacks. We are all bound to have lapses on the road to fitness, so it's critical that we learn how to handle small failures positively, and to minimize their long-term destructive effects. One setback is just that, one setback, not the end of the world.

Hard Work

We all enjoy happy workers, right? I love when I see people getting excited about doing the work that will help them reach their goals. I found that most people have no idea how strong they are or what their potential is. I know you're strong enough to work and I know you’re strong enough to work hard. Set out to work hard and you will get stronger, both physically and mentally

Testosterone Pt. 4

Eating right, exercising, and managing stress are all crucial to keeping testosterone and DHEA levels high. In other words keep up the hard work.

Testosterone Pt. 3

Unfortunately, as we age, our production of testosterone and DHEA goes down. Our libidos slip, our muscles lose mass, we gain abdominal fat, and our bones weaken. Pure motivation to exercise decreases, which is absolutely disastrous because exercise helps boost testosterone. To make matters worse, as people gain weight, their bodies start to convert more of their testosterone to estrogen. This estrogen can then start to overshadow the effects of testosterone in a vicious cycle: more estrogen, more fat; more fat, more estrogen. The testosterone gets crowded out of the equation.

Testosterone Pt. 2

here are many reasons we have to do everything we can to protect our levels of these hormones, such as testosterone, because as we get older, they start to head south.

Androgens like testosterone and DHEA are anabolic hormones, by definition, they build rather than destroy. And what they build, thank goodness, is mostly muscle. In both men and women, testosterone helps increase lean muscle mass and strength, boosts libido, and improves energy.

Peppered Swordfish with Cardamom-Carrot Sauce

Serves 4

1 teaspoon cardamom pods

3/4 cup carrot juice

1 1/2 teaspoons rice vinegar

1 teaspoon cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon sugar

salt, to taste

1 pound boned, skinned swordfish or halibut

1 teaspoon olive oil

1/4 teaspoon coarse-ground black pepper

1 tablespoon minced fresh chives (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 400° F.

2. Crush cardamom pods; remove seeds.

3. In a l-to-1 l/2-quart pan, mix cardamom, carrot juice, rice vinegar, cornstarch,
and sugar until well blended. Stir over high heat until mixture boils; reduce heat
to low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until reduced to 1/2 cup, 7 to 9 minutes.
Cover pan and remove from heat; let stand 5 to 10 minutes. Taste, and add salt
and more vinegar if desired. Pour sauce through a fine strainer into a bowl.

4. Meanwhile rinse fish, pat dry, and cut into 4 equal portions. Rub fish with olive
oil and sprinkle lightly with salt. Set a 10-to-12-inch nonstick frying pan (with
ovenproof handle) over high heat. When pan is hot, add fish and turn as needed
to brown on both sides, 2 to 3 minutes total. Sprinkle black pepper evenly over
fish.

5. Put pan in oven; bake until fish is opaque but still moist-looking in the center of
the thickest part (cut to test), 5 to 7 minutes.

6. Transfer fish to rimmed plates. Spoon sauce evenly around fish, and sprinkle
with chives.

NUTRITION PER SERVING

CALORIES 171 FAT 5.7 g (saturated 1.4 g) PROTEIN 23 g SODIUM 116 mg FIBER 1 g CARBOHYDRATE 5.5 g

Testosterone

For many women, the word "testosterone" conjures the image of a muscle-bound sports player or a knuckle-dragging Neanderthal. But it turns out that testosterone is not just for guys — it and another androgenic hormone, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), are forces of good in women's metabolic war too. They can help us boost our energy, motivate us to hit the gym, and help us build calorie-burning muscle.

Put Yourself First Pt. 2

This drives the blood back and forth between your upper and lower body, allowing you to burn about twice as many calories! The extra calorie burn results from something called peripheral heart action, or PHA. PHA is a good program, and it's one of the reasons we can get such great results. As if burning more calories weren't enough, following this kind of routine also reduces the formation of lactic acid, which is the cause of muscle fatigue.

Putting Your Heart Into It

Did you know that doing a lower-body workout is one of the most effective ways to elevate your heart rate and burn calories? In fact, it's why your daily routines are designed to work your lower body during each and every training session. This breakdown allows you to combine exercises for your upper body and lower body in a swift sequence.

Put Yourself First

You can't lose weight for someone else, you have to have your own goals. After all, you're the one out there sweating your butt off, right? Finding the right motivation is all about getting real with yourself.

Good Snack To Go

Cumin-Roasted Almonds
2 cups whole blanched almonds2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil 2 teaspoons ground cumin1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1. Preheat oven to 300°F.
2. Place almonds on a baking sheet; toss with oil, cumin, salt, and pepper. Bake until lightly toasted, about 25 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack.
Variation: Use curry powder and cayenne pepper in place of cumin and black pepper.
To make ahead: The almonds will keep in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
Makes 32 servings.

How to Stay Motivated

I personal have a strong team, but I also know that no one who comes to our facility is a slouch. And you just don’t know how proud we are of each and everyone of you. We love to see all you progress. So if you have a testimonial or just want to share an accomplishment email me back we would love to read what you have to say. I believe we should share the ups and downs of losing weight and keeping fit. Motivation is the key to any program, and it's crucial to any successful goal.

Mind Over Matter Pt. 2

To push your body toward “YOUR” ripped perfection, your mind has got to be strong and focused. It is imperative that you hone and train your mind as intensely as you train your body. This means following a few guidelines and performing some mental exercises to replace self-defeating behaviors with positive ones, and to remove distractions and bring mental clarity and self-control. It's your mind that directs and drives everything you do, or don't do… so get it on your side!

Mind Over Matter

You can change your life by changing your mind. Any lingering sense of inferiority or inadequacy will interfere with the attainment of your goals and dreams, while self-confidence and a positive attitude will lead to success.

Visualize the Prize Pt. 3

You can now create an image of your body that fits your genetic type and potential. It must be an attainable vision, not one that will be out of reach. For example, I'm never gonna be able to slam-dunk. But I can be the best player that I can be, and at the end of the day that's what counts. Your imagination can be the source of your fear, but it can also provide the remedy. By harnessing the power of your imagination and practicing visualization, you can make your mind work for you, not against you.

Visualize the Prize Pt. 2

The reason visualization is effective is that in some ways, your brain can't tell the difference between a real event and an imagined one, by using your imagination, you can create positive "experiences" that improve your self-image and your skills, help you release worry, realize your goals, and so on. The possibilities are endless.   Deviled Eggs Serves 6 (serving size is 1 egg) 6 peeled hard-cooked eggs 3 tablespoons low-fat mayonnaise 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard squirt of lemon juice salt, to taste paprika Cut eggs in half, lengthwise. Remove the yolks, and blend them by hand with mayonnaise, mustard, lemon juice, and salt. Spoon the mixture back into thewhites. Dust with paprika.

Visualize the Prize

The technique of visualization is intended to bring about major life changes by means of your thoughts and imagination. It's simple: Picture in your mind the object of your desire as vividly as possible. Spend time concentrating on the image, truly believing in it as if it were already real. Be detailed and comprehensive in creating the image, and be sure to include your emotional well-being in this vision as well.

Chill Out

There is, in fact, a great time to do low-intensity exercise, like when you're just starting any fitness regimen. Think about how you act when you approach something new: You're just getting started. You're pumped. You're motivated. And you're inclined to jump right in and give it all you've got, only to end up burning out or injuring yourself. For the first two weeks of training.

Get Intense Pt. 2

Even though the percentage of fat calories burned is higher during a low-intensity workout, you're burning so many more total calories during a high-intensity workout that, percentages aside, you are still burning more fat calories, not to mention the 200 additional carb calories.

Get Intense

Ever notice the color-coded exercise "zones" listed on cardio machines? There's a "fat burning" zone, an "endurance training" zone, and so forth. The colors look nice, but how many times have you chosen the "fat burning" zone and watched as your fat stayed put? That's because fat-burning programs keep you at a lower intensity level, when to lose weight you really need to burn big calories. That only happens when you exercise at a higher-intensity level.

Let's look at the math. In a half hour of low-intensity exercise, you might burn 100 calories. Of those 100 calories, roughly 80 percent will be fat calories, meaning that you've burned 80 fat calories. In a half hour of high-intensity exercise, you might burn 300 calories. Of those 300 calories, roughly 33 percent will be fat calories, meaning that you've burned around 100 fat calories.

Tricks to Make It

Almost everyone needs to indulge once in a while, even people on a diet.

Here are some ways to limit the damage:

Keep it occasional

Eat the real stuff

Add healthy foods

Mix salt with fat (healthy fat - peanut butter, avocado or hummus are some)

Drink wisely

Be smart about munchies

Spicy Korean Pork Barbecue

Serves 4

1  pound pork tenderloin, trimmed

2  tablespoons granulated Splenda

2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce

2 tablespoons red chili pepper

1 teaspoon peeled and minced fresh ginger

1 teaspoon dark sesame oil

3 garlic cloves, minced

cooking spray (olive or canola oil preferred)

 

1.       Wrap pork in plastic wrap; freeze 1 1/2 hours or until firm. Remove plastic wrap; cut pork diagonally across grain into very thin slices, approximately 1/8 inch or as thin as you can make them.

2.   Combine pork and next 6 ingredients (Splenda through garlic) in a large zip-top plastic bag. Seal and marinate in refrigerator 1 hour, turning bag occasionally.

3.       Preheat grill to 400°F.

4.   Place a wire grilling basket on grill rack. Remove pork from bag; discard marinade. Place pork on grilling basket coated with cooking spray; grill 8 minutes or until at desired degree of doneness, turning frequently.

 

NUTRITION PER SERVING

CALORIES 175      FAT 6.6 g      PROTEIN 26.5 g      SODIUM 201 mg       FIBER .3 g       CARBOHYDRATE 2.9 g

Ways to De-Stress

When you’re stressed out at night and can't sleep, get up and write down all the things that are bothering you and how you might fix them. This gets the problems off your mind and calms you down because you know you have a game plan. Some other ways to de-stress include learning to meditate, getting a massage, taking a vacation, and most important, exercising! Whatever you do, please do not take any over-the-counter "adrenal support" supplements — you could actually do more harm than good. De-stress naturally instead!

Stress Got Your Metabolism Down? Pt. 4

You can help yourself keep cortisol in check by limiting caffeine intake to 200 milligrams a day; avoiding simple carbs, processed foods, and refined grains; and getting plenty of high-quality protein. It's also crucial that you find stress-relief techniques that work for you. If you can tame your stress response and lower cortisol levels, you'll have a much easier time losing weight.

Stress Got Your Metabolism Down? Pt. 3

When you give in to those cravings, your body releases a cascade of rewarding brain chemicals that can set up an addictive relationship with food. Therefore you stress, you eat. If you don't consciously control the pattern, you can become physically and psychologically dependent on that release to manage stress. In fact, people who self-medicate with food tend have hair-trigger epinephrine reactions and chronic high levels of cortisol.

Stress Got Your Metabolism Down? Pt. 2

This response evolved to help people deal with short-term survival situations, like an attack by a predator. The trouble is, it occurs in response to all stressors, including the deadlines pummeling you at work and the traffic that drives you crazy. When stress is always present, your body can't get rid of the excess cortisol built up in the blood. That cortisol just hangs around, causing lots of trouble: It turns young fat cells into mature fat cells that stick with you forever, and increases your cravings for high-fat, high-carb foods.

Stress Got Your Metabolism Down?

I'm sure you've heard of the fight-or-flight response, and you probably know that it's the way your body reacts to danger or stress. But do you know what the fight-or-flight response is? It has to do with hormones.

When you're faced with a danger, your adrenal glands release three hormones: norepinephrine, epinephrine (also known as adrenaline), and cortisol. Norepinephrine and epinephrine cause several changes to help you survive the danger, including a pause in insulin release so you have lots of blood sugar available for energy, an increase in heart rate and blood pressure, and a suspension of your appetite. After the danger has passed, cortisol tells the body to stop producing norepinephrine and epinephrine and stimulates your appetite again.

Release the Past

I don't care if you were the fat kid in high school, or the black sheep of the family, or the lazy teenager who hated exercise. Those old identities are not serving you in the present, and they certainly aren't going to help you achieve your goals for the future. If you let go of old conceptions of yourself, you can maintain an open mind and be open to all possibilities. It is imperative that you let go of the past in order to re-create yourself in the present.

Avoid Dangerous Situations

The key to success on any fitness program is having a game plan for every situation that might throw you off course. Think of yourself as being on a mission: If you take the time to think ahead, you can come up with ways to combat every situation. Here are a few surefire strategies:

• Go through your kitchen and throw out all the junk food and processed garbage immediately. Don't buy these foods anymore just eliminate them from your kitchen entirely. Reacquaint yourself with your local supermarket, find the healthy sections, and try to avoid the foods that make you feel powerless.
• If you run into trouble at the office, make an effort to avoid the high-voltage areas, such as vending machines or cafeterias that features fattening foods. Bring healthy snacks and meals from home to stash in your desk. 

Body Fat: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly Pt. 3

I must have made everyone feel very guilty, because it seems I have struck a nerve talking about visceral fat. So here’s the deal. You increase your risk of having visceral fat when you're overweight, so how can you lose it? Diet and exercise! Taking care of yourself will reduce visceral fat and lower your risk of all the health problems associated with it. And doing hundreds of crunches a night is NOT going to reduce visceral fat and flatten your belly bulge. For the one millionth time, you can't spot-reduce to achieve results. Plus, this deadly kind of fat lives deep within your gut, so the best strategy for making it go away is to eat healthy and exercise. You can, of course, include some sit-ups in your workout routine to help tone, but remember that they won't do the trick alone. You must do cardio and strength training to lose weight and see results. So stick to your trainer for the ultimate workout.

Body Fat: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly Pt. 2

The fat in your stomach area is bad news. Known as visceral fat, it's hidden deep down, so even if you don't have a protruding belly, you could still harbor this "bad" kind of fat. Visceral fat lies far beneath your skin, where it surrounds your organs and sets off a harmful hormonal firestorm. Having this metabolically horrific fat slows your metabolism, lowers growth hormone, raises cortisol, creates insulin resistance, and increases your risk of all kinds of diseases, including diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, and fatty liver disease.

Body Fat: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Let's start with the "good" fat. The fatty layer just beneath your skin in the lower half of your body is good. It's called subcutaneous fat, and it's not necessarily the worst thing to have. Subcutaneous fat gives rise to two beneficial metabolic hormones: leptin, the hormone that tells your body to hang onto or let go of weight, and adiponectin, a hormone that lowers your blood sugar. 

Take Some Goodbye Photos

Want to make a change because of the way you looked in some vacation photos.  When you use pictures, you get a better sense of the way you look. Take some "before" photos today so that you can say goodbye to the old you and make your own changes.

Commit 100%

To see results in any area of your life, you must be consistent and stay the course. This is especially true for fitness, health, and weight loss. You've got to do your part to ensure you're getting the results you want. If you aren't consistent, then you'll always be playing catch-up, and you will make at best some gradual progress rather than getting your body in gear and maximizing results in no time.

Poached Dill Salmon

Serves 6

 Salmon

2 cups dry white wine

2 cups water

1/2 teaspoon chicken-flavored bouillon granules

10 red peppercorns

4 teaspoons fresh dill

2 bay leaves

1 small lemon, sliced

6 (6-ounce) salmon fillets (about 1 inch thick), skinned

Dill sauce

1/3 cup peeled, seeded, finely chopped cucumber

1/3 cup fat-free sour cream

1/3 cup fat-free plain yogurt

2 teaspoons dill seed

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

 

1.      Combine the wine, water, bouillon, peppercorns, dill, bay leaves, and lemon in
a skillet. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 10 minutes.

2.  Add salmon to the skillet mixture, and cook for 10 minutes. Transfer the salmon
to a plate, cover, and chill thoroughly.

3.  Mix all dill sauce ingredients together in a bowl. Spoon the dill sauce evenly
over the salmon fillets.

 NUTRITION PER SERVING

CALORIES 260       FAT 13 g       PROTEIN 24 g       SODIUM 150 mg       FIBER .2 g       CARBOHYDRATE 5 g