Estrogen Invasion

Enjoying more snuggle time than ever in bed these days? Is he all too happy to have you in his arms while you talk about your day? It’s great….for a while…until a month goes by and you’re stuck wondering what happened to his libido!

Let me ask you another question, is he feeling more like a cuddly teddy bear than every before? If the answer is yes, you’ve found his libido…in his extra cuddly pounds and expanded waist.

That’s right, his libido is in his fat cells. Those fat cells are converting his testosterone to estrogen. Though estrogen is commonly associated with women, men have estrogen too. As they age, their testosterone levels naturally begin to decrease and estrogen levels increase causing a vicious cycle of weight gain leading to higher estrogen levels causing more weight gain, loss of libido and erectile dysfunction.

Because testosterone is converted to estrogen in fat cells during what’s called aromatase reaction, the best defense against this is to get moving and burn as many fat cells as possible. Reducing alcohol consumption is also highly advised as are taking vitamin B and flaxseed.

So before you go to the Dr. and start talking about “a friend” whose husband can’t get it up, can’t keep it up and can’t talk about it, get him off the couch and get him active. Do it together and he’ll see where your libido’s been hiding too!

-fwded by kd

Test Your Trainer. Are you in good hands?

When joining a gym you are offered a free personal training session or two in hopes that you will purchase sessions. Of course I think that working out with a trainer is a great idea to get you on the right path, but not all trainers at the gym are required of a certification! How do you know you are in good hands?

- Ask them what certification they have and how long they have been certified for. I know that you will not understand the different certifications, but you can read the trainers body language and confidence.

- Ask them if they are CPR and AED certified. I know this may seem irrelevant, but all trainers should be up to date with this for two reasons. 1.) It is usually required. 2.) It shows that they care about what they do.

- Test them on their knowledge. A lot of trainers are great a word vomiting fitness talk. Unfortunately, although it sounds good, not all of it is true. If you have pain n your leg or want better strength in your upper body ask them about the anatomy. All trainers should have a good understanding about where muscles connect and what their purpose is.

- While you are in that first free session the trainer should be helping you with your form and giving you exercises that are best suitable for your body type and goals. Don't go with a trainer who just stands there and counts your reps. You know how to count!

In the end you have to go with your gut. Choose a trainer that you feel comfortable with and that you feel will motivate you the most. If your goal is weight loss, find a trainer who specializes in weight loss. If you have knee problems, find a trainer who has experience with injury prevention and post rehab.

Forever Young

As I waited for my tofu bowl to arrive today, I surfed the web on my little blackberry and came across this interesting article explaining how and why men do not live as long as women. I know that I can not argue with statistics and there are so many factors involved, but I feel that men can prolong their life expectancy simply by taking care of themselves.

I've noticed that a lot of people associate eating right with a healthier inside and exercise with a healthier outside, but they go hand in hand. As you get older, lack of exercise and healthy eating can lead to so many diseases:

Heart Disease
Hypertension
Risk of Stroke
Type 2 Diabetes
Colon, prostate or kidney cancer (among others)

It is no coincidence that one of the packages I offer I refer to as "LiV Longer". It is largest package I offer, giving you more bang for you buck. "LiV Longer" is 20 sessions and includes:


- Consultation and Movement Assessment.
- Customized workouts that address your specific muscle imbalances.
- Core Training.
- Balance Training.
- Reactive Training.
- Resistance Training.
- Food journal analysis including a customized eating plan. ($260.00 value)
- A visit to your kitchen and the grocery store. ($370.00 value)
- Accountability e-mails to make sure you are staying on track outside of training sessions. ($80.00 value)

So, Men, for $1,699.00 or 3 easy payments of $579.00 ( I like to say "easy payments" like the infomercials.. ) you can "LiV Longer"! ;)

www.livpersonaltraining.com

Best!

Stretch .. and KICK!

Q: It's a good idea to stretch before a workout right??

A: Yes and No.

Static stretching, the the kind of stretching we are all the most familiar with, can hinder your performance and decrease the effectiveness of your program. So, save the "reach for your toes" until after your workout. I use a foam roller with my clients to perform a technique referred to as Self Myofascial Release or SMR. This will release the muscles to a more neutral position for optimal performance.

Those of you who have worked with me know that choose which muscles to stretch wisely. I base it on movement assessments. As a Corrective Exercise Specialist, I work to correct muscle imbalances.

Jump Higher!!

As most of you know, I became a personal trainer after my knee continued to get worse and worse taking me away from the love of my life, dance. When I was dancing, I knew that it was important to keep up on my training. Even when I started working as a dancer, I continued to take class. (I was obsessed with ballet.) The thing was, I never took a step back to look at the big picture and see what could have improved my performance until it was too late.

Some of you, like I, were discouraged to engage in resistance training because they didn't want us to become more bulky then we already were. I now know that resistance training would have kept me leaner, healthier, injury free and it would have improved my performance. It has been proven that resistance training can improve your vertical jump.

"Strength training has an immense effect on other performance variables as well. It can increase muscle endurance for high power output and maximal rate of force production, and it can improve a client's vertical jump ability." - 2010 IDEA Health & Fitness Association.

Of course, there is a specific way to train your body. Every person's body is different and corrective exercise is key for injury prevention. So, don't go into it blind. I would be happy to perform a movement assessment free of charge for anyone who is interested.



K*

The Truth about Protein

We all know that protein is an important part of our diet. To get protein we mainly eat fish, poultry, meat and eggs. You may also know that there is protein in legumes, grains and nuts, but did you know that by themselves they are not a complete protein? They lack certain amino acids that link together to make the chain complete. Don't worry, though, it's an easy fix. By eating two incomplete proteins together, they form a complete protein like beans and rice or whole wheat toast and peanut butter. This is great information for vegetarians, but can also be a less expensive way to get protein when you are on a budget.

Grains	Legumes	Nuts/Seeds
Barley	Beans	Sesame seeds
Bulgur	Lentils	Sunflower seeds
Cornmeal	Dried peas	Walnuts
Oats	Peanuts	Cashews
Buckwheat	Chickpeas	Pumpkin seeds
Rice	Soy products	Other nuts
Pasta
Rye
Wheat

Combine Grains and Legumes	Combine Grains and Nuts/Seeds	Combine Legumes and Nuts/Seeds
Peanut butter on whole-wheat bread	Whole-wheat bun with sesame seeds	Humus (chickpeas and sesame paste)
Rice and beans	Breadsticks rolled with sesame seeds	Trail mix (peanuts and sunflower seeds)
Bean soup and a roll	Rice cakes with peanut butter
Salad with chickpeas and cornbread
Tofu-vegetable stir-fry over rice or pasta
Vegetarian chili with bread

Eating Healthy with NO cooking for less than $9 a day!

The No Cook meal Plan for less than $9 a day!
	Calories		Notes
Breakfast
Kashi Heart to Heart Cereal	110	Kashi cereals are great tasting! This one has 5g of fiber and 4g of protein!
Almond Mik (or sub cow milk)	60
Snack
Bartlett Pear (or apple)	80	This is a great balanced snack that will
Peanut Butter	170	keep you feeling satisfied until lunch!
Lunch
Ezekiel Tortilla	150	This tortilla alone has 5g of fiber, 6g of
Edamame Hummus	60	protein and 24g of carbs to re- fuel the
Spinach	5	body. See which kinds of hummus you
Cucumber	5	like. Edamame is my fav! Plus you are
Carrots (shredded)	5	getting in veggie in a tasty way!
Snack
Baked Tortilla Chips	100	If stress at work is getting to you, this
Salsa	20	option is great for a comfort food sub.
Dinner
Brown Rice (frozen)	160	Did you know that black beans have 7g
Black Beans	100	of protein? Pairing it with rice makes it
Chicken Broth	20	a complete protein which makes up for
Mixed Vegetables (frozen)	50	no meat. Just throw it all in a bowl!
Desert
Dark Chocolate	60	Choose chocolate that has 70% cocoa or more.
Grapes (or berries)	100
TOTAL	1255