Happy Independence Day!

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How are you fueling your tank?

Which picture do you think most people are fueling their bodies with? The left or right? 

How do you like the images above? Pretty cool right….Well Yes and No. We all have heard of the term “You are what you eat” and it is a really true statement. The two pictures above really puts this saying into perspective. It took me a while to realize that the kinds of food that I ate either had a negative or positive effect on my health and physical performance. I’m not perfect, there are sometimes I will eat junk food when hanging out with close friends or if I am celebrating an occasion but I am sure to get back on track the next day.

Foods that are whole and natural are full of vitamins and nutrients that supply our bodies with energy and the fuel it needs for maximum performance, weight loss, and healthy blood sugar levels. Foods that are processed such as fast food, potato chips, cookies, and sodas does just the opposite. The body is not designed to digest processed, junk and fake foods and when it does most of all of it is stored as fat. Yes, this food can be worked off but you would probably have to triple or even quadruple your workout times just to burn off the calories. Is it really worth it?

Ultimately, it is ok to have cheat food from time to time but we should not make it apart of our daily eating routine. Some people like myself have it bad. Once I start eating bad its kind of tough to turn it off therefore I don’t do it much. On another note, some people can have one slice of pie and be perfectly fine after that. Fast food nutrition should make up a very minimal part of a healthy diet. Fast foods and junk foods are high in fat, sodium and sugar, which can lead to obesity and a wide range of health problems, including diabetes, heart disease and arthritis.

Benefits of healthy eating

• Eating a diet rich in vegetables and fruits as part of an overall healthy diet may reduce risk for heart disease, including heart attack and stroke.
• Eating a diet rich in some vegetables and fruits as part of an overall healthy diet may protect against certain types of cancers.
• Diets rich in foods containing fiber, such as some vegetables and fruits, may reduce the risk of heart disease, obesity, and type 2 diabetes.
• Eating vegetables and fruits rich in potassium as part of an overall healthy diet may lower blood pressure, and may also reduce the risk of developing kidney stones and help to decrease bone loss.
• Eating foods such as vegetables that are lower in calories per cup instead of some other higher-calorie food may be useful in helping to lower calorie intake.

Negative Effects on junk food

Junk food is often high in sugar, salt, white flour, and fat, particularly saturated fat. It is often heavily processed and prepackaged, making it easy to prepare and consume. A few examples of foods often considered to be junk food include fast food, sweets such as ice cream, candy, donuts, and prepackaged treats, soda, and potato chips, among many others. Most people have no trouble identifying junk food; it is when they want to stop eating junk food that the trouble starts.

The first effect of eating junk food is its impact on energy levels. Many people skip breakfast or other meals throughout the day, choosing instead to grab a quick snack or a soft drink. The junk food causes energy levels to spike, which people like, but then energy levels will quickly plummet, sending one back into the kitchen for another quick snack. In addition, junk food can cause moodiness, and make it difficult to get enough sleep at night, so energy levels are never restored to normal.

So I encourage you today to start thinking about the foods that you eat and how they will benefit your health and your physical performance before you eat it. If you are about to eat a piece a cake, think of all the nutritional benefits that it has…… which is probably zero unless it is a Paleo cake :). If it doesn’t have any benefits then you may want to choose a better alternative.

Thanks for reading as always,

-LJay

LA Marathon Weekend

The LA Marathon on 03/17/2013 makes my 4th marathon. I expected to finish in 3:45:00 however I was not expecting all the hills in LA which slowed me down just a little. Almost 25,000 runners showed up for the event which is pretty awesome. My training for the marathon consisted of 3-4 runs a week with weight training on my off days. My eating was really good and I made sure to avoid anything that wasnt healthy. I can really tell a difference in my runs when I eat good and when I don’t. I flew across the country all the way from Florida to California. However, I met people who were from Australia, Europe and Africa in LA just to run the marathon.

 

The Course

The LA Marathon course was pretty eventful. We ran through all the major attractions such as the Dodger Stadium, Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Downtown LA and Santa Monica beach. If you haven’t ran the course before I highly recommend it but be sure to train for hills 🙂 One thing that I also liked is that there was a huge support system from locals, family members and friends. About 90% of the race was filled with spectators cheering the runners on and handing out food and water. I think that all the cheering keeps the runners motivated! The weather was cool and overcast which made for an even better race.

Unfortunately, I didn’t see any celebrities running the race but I heard some were in disguise. I did do a little site seeing at Huntington Beach, Santa Monica beach, Long Beach, Hollywood, Downtown LA, Rodeo Dr, and Marina Del Ray. My friends Jim, Sam and I took a tour with the TMZ show which was really fun. We spotted all the celebrity hang out spots, restaurants and gyms. Amanda from the TMZ show was our tour guide…I gotta tell you she is something else and very funny.

What’s Next for LJay? 

I am training for marathon #5 in Nashville on April 27,2013 and a 50K (31 miles) in May. People ask me all the time “Why do you keep running marathons?” To me, that is a very tough question to answer but deep down inside I do it because it makes me happy and I love running. Everyone has their thing that they enjoy like golfing, fishing, skiing, hiking etc…and mine is running!

What’s Next for you?? Comment and let us know…I look forward to it. 

Another runner who has changed herself through running! Awesome progress

The Possibilist Runner

That girl on the left was me just two years ago.

I was pushing 200 lbs when I realized I needed to make some BIG changes. I joined MyFitnessPal & lost over 70 lbs in about a year & have been maintaining since.

How did I do it? I logged my food on MFP to track calories, ate healthier, & started exercising for the first time in my life. It was actually very simple, challenging & a lot of hard work, but completely worth it! I went from extremely lazy to loving distance running in a relatively short amount of time. Now, looking back, I have no idea how I lived such a sedentary life for so long. I feel so much happier & alive now!

In the past year I’ve completed Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred, Ripped in 30, & Six Week 6-Pack. I’ve completed the Couch-2-5k program &…

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How does Ronald McDonald look nowaday?

I was doing some research and came across an article on McDonalds and thought to myself “When was the last time I ate there”? Thankfully I could not remember the last time I ate fast food at all. It seems like everywhere you go there is a McDonalds restaurant on the corner. Now they are in hospitals, colleges, airports, and even churches.

I remember watching a documentary Super Size Me and it was very interesting but sad of all the negative health effects that Morgan Spurlock developed just by eating fast food all those times, not to mention all the weight he gained as well. He put his health on the line just to educate and demonstrate how our bodies react to these foods. If you haven’t seen the documentary I highly recommend it.

Fast food costs are inexpensive and tastes very good, but the negative effects on physical health last much longer. With the high-calorie meals come more fat, cholesterol, salt and sugar — and therefore fewer vitamins, minerals and other nutrients — than in healthier foods. The USDA Dietary Guidelines for Americans reports that these eating habits create nutritional deficiencies along with weight gain. The health problems that stem from overweight and obesity alone can severely limit lifestyles and shorten life spans.

Fast food can be the biggest contributer to obesity. Fast foods are loaded with fat and calories. Ordering without limits may have negative effects on your health and weight. Hamburgers with multiple  patties, cheese, bacon and mayonnaise may exceed the 65mg fat limit recommended by the USDA for the whole day.

Many drive-through foods and drinks have high sugar content, including milkshakes, 62g of sugar, and colas, 44g, in 16-oz. servings as per the USDA. Fast foods contain high amounts of cholesterol and salt, two nutrients that contribute to cardiovascular health problems. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report a direct link between sodium intake and negative effects on blood pressure, and note that Americans consume most of their sodium in processed and restaurant foods.

What have fast food companies done to make things better?

Fast food companies are developing healthier options to meet the desires of healthier consumer needs.. Many fast food chains now offer healthy options including low-fat, low calorie foods; fresh foods; bottled water; and salads made with fruits and vegetables. Some stand-outs in fast food nutrition include low-fat salads and sandwiches and grilled chicken.

Other healthier options have been added to many fast food menus. Low-fat yogurt, fruit cups and wheat buns can replace some of the higher fat and lower fiber meal options. However, these healthy choices have the ability to take a wrong turn when mixed with unhealthy selections, such as fried chicken and high-fat dressing on the salads, cookies, candies or high-sugar granola mixed into the yogurt or whipped toppings on the fruit. Stick with the food in its most natural form to get the highest nutritional benefit from it.

Thanks for reading LJAY HEALTH

References
USDA: Dietary Guidelines for Americans
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Sodium Fact Sheet
USDA: Nutrient Database
AHA: Eating Fast Food
Office of the Surgeon General: Overweight Consequences

 

Cutting the Salt Intake

I recently read in article on USA Today website regarding salt and figured I would post some comments about the article. Salt is not only table salt but it is Sodium found in almost every food especially frozen foods, chips and fast foods. Very important that you look on the nutrition label and keep track of the sodium amount. Sodium increases water retention in the body so you weight more, increases blood pressure levels, may lead to kidney failure and clogs the blood arteries.

Most recently, a study published in the journal Stroke made headlines confirming a direct link between sodium intake and increased stroke risk. The Institute of Medicine estimates that 100,000 deaths a year could be prevented with population-wide sodium reductions. And while the U.S. Dietary Guideline’s sodium cap is 2,300 milligrams, the American Heart Association has lowered its recommendation to no more than 1,500 milligrams a day. That’s less than one teaspoon of salt. But most of us are getting at least double that — a whopping average of over 3,400 mg. daily.

• An estimate of over 100,000 deaths per year could be prevented just but a reduction of sodium. This is a powerful statement and eye opening that this amount is as high as it is. The recommended amount for sodium intake is about 1,500 mg a day. However on average people are consuming 3,400 over twice the recommended amount.

Things to do to lower your sodium intake according to the USA Today article:

1. Focus on fresh
Up to 75% of the sodium we eat comes from prepared and processed foods, so simply cooking at home from fresh, minimally processed ingredients will give you a big head start. For example, pre-cooked seasoned chicken breast can have more than 500 mg. sodium in 3 ounces. If you buy it fresh and season and cook it yourself, even if you use some salt, it will likely have half the sodium.

2. Boost flavor healthfully
Instead of leaning on salt for flavor, amp up healthy seasonings such as citrus and citrus zest, fresh and dried herbs, ground spices, chile peppers, vinegars, onion, garlic, and ginger.

3. Buy low-sodium
When you do use products in cans or jars, buy the low-sodium or no-salt-added versions. You can always add other seasoning and even add a touch of salt if necessary, but this way you are in control of how much.

4. Add salt sparingly and reduce incrementally
Don’t think “all or nothing.” A little salt can go a long way in terms of boosting flavor and there’s no need to eliminate it completely. Cut back a step at a time so your taste buds can adapt, starting with three-fourths of the salt you might typically use, then reduce to half over time.

Foods with high sodium levels according to WebMD:

• Frozen dinners= 787 mgs per dinner
• Cereals= 250 mgs of sodium per cup
• Vegetable juices= 479 mgs of sodium per cup
• Canned vegetables=730 mgs per can
• Packed deli meat=363 mgs
• Soy Sauce= 1,024 mgs

Most of these foods almost reach our recommended daily intake of 1,500 mgs of sodium a day. There are such as fast foods burgers and fries which exceeds our daily intake in one serving.

Things that you can do to start limiting your salt intake:

• Don’t go cold turkey and cut all the sodium out at one time. However, make smalls strides to cutting it. Every day try to reduce your sodium intake by 3-5 mg.
• Use garlic salt or sea salt as a substitute.
• Avoid eating frozen foods and eat fresh foods instead.
• Drink more water to help flush the sodium out of your body. Drinking water helps to flush the sodium out of your kidneys when filtered.

Lets spread the word today and help reduce the illness and death toll by educating friends, family, coworkers on some of the health benefits of reducing sodium intake.

Thank you for reading as always!! -LJayHealth

Row Machine Basics

3.24.2012 Workout

Great workout video. Simple workouts you can do at home, that will get you energized and your heart pumping.

My First Half Marathon

I ran my first half marathon (13.1 miles) on March 4, 2012 in Tampa, FL for Gasparilla. It was alot of fun and over 4,500 racers showed up to run the event. The race started at 6am in the morning and it was raining a little but the wind was blowing strongly against us. This was definitely a fun experience but very tiresome around mile 10. So much of me wanted to stop at mile 10, my legs were sore and the wind was blowing against me making it very tough to run forward 🙂 I had only 3.1 miles to go but I knew that I did not want to give up or stop so I stayed strong and focused mentally on running instead of focusing on how I was feeling. I thought about my family, dad, mom, brother and sister and not wanting to let them down so I finished it for them. 🙂

My finish time was 2:17:07 which I thought was pretty good considering this was my first half marathon and that my training wasnt up to par because of my busy work and school schedule. I was also wearing a 15 pound backpack. 🙂 I am very proud of myself and it felt really good crossing that finish line. It would have been even better to see my family waiting at the finish line for me but they live in another city so it would have been difficult for them to come.  Over three years ago I wasn’t really in shape, didn’t know what running was, and had a not so good diet regimen. Looking back to where I am now, I see a huge accomplishment.

Word of Advice

If you want to do something or have a desire in your heart that you want to do something, set your mind to it and get it done.
Don’t let anyone discourage you of your dreams. Life is too short to be held back by others and their negativity. Surround yourself with positive people and you yourself will stay positive. You wont believe how many times I had people tell me, oh you’ll never lose the weight, you’ll never be able to run a half marathon, its impossible for you to move up in that company. When I hear words like this I just simply tune it out and keep moving and work hard to prove that person otherwise.

Going forward

Going forward I plan to keep living a healthy lifestyle, running and working out. By the end of this year I want to run my first Marathon (26.2 miles) 🙂 Lets see what happens!!

Thanks for reading.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Great article on supplements

MG Fitlife

“What supplements do you take?” This all too common question can be heard in gyms all over the world. As a strength and conditioning coach for a very upper class high school, I got asked so many questions about what are good supplements to take and where to get them. Most of these athletes had parents who were willing to dish out the cash for anything to make their kid the next super star athlete. I answered questions varying from protein powders, to creatine and even to testosterone boosters. (Yes, high school boys asking about how to boost their testosterone, like they need it…) The first thing I would do when asked these questions was to ask a question of my own. “What does your diet look like?” Some common answers were, “Well, I didn’t eat any breakfast” or, “I had a pop tart” and even, “I go to Burger…

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