Wow! That is such a fantastic title for this article. I’m glad you’re still with me… I often have clients ask questions about “what is a protein?” or hearing that carbs are bad, not realizing the vast difference between the carbohydrates found in cookies versus the carbohydrates found in a tomato. This is a list of different types of foods, broken down into their MAIN category. I say “main” category because inevitably I’ll get the question about beans and or cheese: “But Elizabeth, beans & cheese have protein in them, don’t they?” Yes, they do. Beans have protein in them, but they are an incomplete protein [more on that in another blog post]. And although cheese has protein in it, it really has more fat than protien, so I put cheese and nuts in the fats category. And no. By all means, this is not a complete list. but it Read More . . .
bodybugg vs fitbit: Round 4 – Activity & Accuracy
<< Previous Round bodybugg vs fitbit: Round 3 – Sleep Tracking So the reason I was initially drawn to the bodybugg was that it allowed me to see how many calories I was burning in a day. I knew how many calories I was eating. What I didn’t know, was how many I was burning; but why is that even important? Weight loss is a simple equation of consuming fewer calories than your body burns. There are TONS of food logging websites & tools, and as I mentioned, I knew what I was eating, because I was logging my food for years prior to knowing about the bodybugg. But eating is only half of the equation in weight loss and weight management. I can tell you that if you eat 500 fewer Calories per day than your body needs, you will lose 1 pound per week; I already knew that. Read More . . .
How to Rock a Strapless Dress
Hey there, I just had a few questions that aren’t derby related. I am getting married in April and have been working out 4-5 times a week on top of derby now. I am concerned about toning my arms (among other things) because my dress is strapless. I have some okay biceps going due to my job but my triceps are pretty squishy. Do you have any tips on focusing on lengthening and toning arm muscles? I have a few small weights and treadmill, as well as doing push ups and working with a resistance band. Any advice to add to my routine would be much appreciated. Thanks! Chelsea Handle Her This is such a great question that I decided to answer it in a blog post because I think it’s a topic that many folks want the answer to: whether getting married, or preparing for a school reunion, getting Read More . . .
bodybugg vs fitbit: Round 1 – Getting Going
Hello, My name is Elizabeth & I'm a data geek. That's why I love my bodybugg. I've loved my bodybugg pretty much since the day I got it. The bodybugg is the first tool available that allows you to really see how many calories you're burning in a day. This is a fantastic insight for folks who are trying to lose weight, or maintain their weight loss because how do you know how many calories to eat if you don't know how many calories you burn? Since I'm a nutritionist, wellness coach and personal trainer, I instantly recognized how powerful of a tool this was & became a licensed reseller, which affords me the opportunity to distribute them to my clientele. Initially, the bodybugg didn't have any competition. The first competitor was the GoWear Fit, which is the same product distributed by the company that actually makes the bodybugg armband; Read More . . .
Bodybugg Calories Burned
Another Frequently asked question about the bodybugg application is: "Why do I have two different Calories Burned Numbers? I just got my Bodybugg last night. It seems to be working and when I uploaded data from the armband to computer, at the bottom it said I had burned 31 calories-had only been wearing it for a few minutes. The top display for the overall day is completely out of whack says 381 calories burned so far which can’t be done in wearing it a whole ten minutes?" The Red arrows in this screen shot point out the conflicting data. Clearly the numbers are different, but why? The top number shows the total number of calories burned during the entire day. The bottom number shows the number of calories burned during a specific time of day, typically your waking hours, which is illustrated by the darker gray area that the blue Read More . . .
How Do I Edit my Meals in the Bodybugg?
The most common first question I get with the bodybugg application is, "I’ve entered my food, now I want to go back & change it & I cant." As far as editing the food log, yes you can do it & it’s easy; it just happens in a different place than where you initially log your food. I agree that it’s a little confusing. You click the “Calories Consumed” button when you’re entering in new meals, but not when you’re modifying previously entered meals. Editing Food Step 1: Using the Date selector, select the date for the food you want to modify. Step 2: Select the “Nutrition” sub-tab just below the “Calories Burned”, “Calories Consumed” buttons & just to the left of the Calories Burned graph. Once you’re on that sub-tab, you can edit any meal by clicking the “EDIT” button associated with the meal you’d like to change. Read More . . .
Let Your Food Burn Calories For You
You’ve seen the titles of books & magazine headlines: “Fat Burning Foods”; “Eat More to Weigh Less” and it goes on & on. So what are these articles & books trying to teach us? THey’re trying to get us to use the Thermic Effect of Food (TEF) to burn more calories, and yes, it does work. Thermic Effect of Food Defined: “the increment in energy expenditure above resting metabolic rate due to the cost of processing food for storage and use” or, the number of calories our bodies use in eating. Yes, we burn calories by eating. NancySBrandt: I’m thinking this #bodybugg thing might be too good to be true. How can I have 747 calorie deficit after eating fast food for two meals? bodybugg: @NancySBrandt Ucould eat donuts all day &still hv a calorie deficit! it doesn’t mean tht it’s a good thing. Uburn fewr K digesting fast food Read More . . .
Exercising on an Empty Stomach
@dasschus ? for the week: do you burn more calories if you have something to eat first? Went on hike but past lunch & was hungry. on same hike after eating picnic bodybugg said I burned more calories. So does fueling up before exer. burn more calories? This question is a hotly debated topic among the fitness community: do you exercise on an empty stomach or not? The current theory is that when you perform cardiovascular exercise on an empty stomach, you’ll burn more calories from fat than you would if you ate prior to performing the same cardiovascular exercise. The rationalization is that while you’re sleeping, your body uses up all of the reserve energy in your muscles & when you wake, your body has no choice other than to use the body’s fat reserves to create energy. Let’s evaluate the pros & cons. Pros Exercising on an empty Read More . . .
Is the Bodybugg Useful for Fitness Pros?
I mentioned in my last post that I’ve joined Twitter. I have two logins: @esherman that is more personal & I tweet about health stuff that interests me, and @bodybugg where I support the bodybugg twitter community. I’ve gotten to "meet" some great people, and have some interesting conversations. [click here to learn about the bodybugg & what it does] Here’s one that I’m currently having (keep in mind that twitter only allows 140 characters per post) @Targettraining The Bodybugg sucks, it is for those with no discipline and people that focus on the wrong part of fitness. @bodybugg that is absolutely false @Targettraining The BBugg is for trainers that are lazy or don’t know much about nutrition!!! That is how I feel.. @bodybugg As a trainer it’s a HUGELY valuable tool; it allows you to see into your client’s lives outside of the 3 hrs they’re with u @Targettraining Read More . . .
How Quickly Will I See Results?
I received a question on Twitter today that I thought warranted a blog post. @dasschus asked “how long does it take for a surplus of calories to show up as a weight gain? How long until is shows as stored fat? Curious.” The answer to this question is pretty complex & like everything in health & the human body, what may be the answer for one person may not be the solution for all. Therefore, I’m going to answer this question from my own personal experience. The short answer is that it doesn’t happen instantly. That’s good and bad news because just as one day of eating poorly isn’t going to derail your weight loss goals, neither will one day of excessive activity make a noticeable difference either. The body ultimately takes an average of my calories in & calories out over a period of time. I notice a lag Read More . . .
TweetUp + Workout = #TWorkOut
Everyone is doing it these days; How about you? I'm of course talking about Twitter! Twitter is best described as a micro-blog. Everything must fit within 140 characters or less. Where a blog allows one to express thoughts and opinions, and expand on it, "tweeting" is short & concise & basically what's interesting to you at that minute. Honestly, I didn't get twitter when Gary first introduced it to me; "I don't care that John is going to the grocery store! I don't need to know that." but as I started "following" interesting folks in my industry, I realized that it's a way of connecting with others that is completely unique. Occasionally folks who are on Twitter will have a TweetUp. It's where folks who tweet get together & meet face to face. Stephanie, from Venus Envy Training (@venusenvyaustin) and I (@esherman) have organized a Tweetup with a Workout. Read More . . .
There are No Short Cutz
Studies show that one of the keys to losing and maintaining weight loss is a strong social support system. But what if you don’t have a strong social support system? Are you doomed to a future of being overweight? Nope. Not at all. If you know my story, you know that it took me a long time to get where I am today, and I don’t know if I would be where I am without my support family. I don’t really remember when it happened, but Gary had started working out with his trainer, Mike, who was really into bodybuilding. It was through Gary that I learned about the user forums on bodybuilding.com. I started participating in the online forums there, & learned a LOT about lifting weights, eating cleanly, and losing weight. I also learned that although the forums were moderated, any shmoe with a keyboard can write whatever Read More . . .
King Corn
I watched King Corn (free on iTunes) a few months ago & have been meaning to write a blog post on it. I’ve only now gotten re-motivated to write about it now because I’m currently reading the Omnivore’s Dilemma & the two compliment each other beautifully. The movie, King Corn is a documentary about two college buddies who through some random events decide to get their hair analyzed. The results come back that they have an enormous amount of corn byproduct in their bodies. Confused, because corn isn’t a food product that they typically eat, they decide to move to Iowa, plant an acre of corn rented from a farmer, and follow that acre of corn from production to consumption. The two film-makers, Ian Chaney and Curt Ellis do a really good job of explaining how corn gets into our food – through corn-fed beef (not only are we what Read More . . .
The Gift of Elizabeth
NOTE: pronouns (he/she) were intentionally interchanged in this post A few years ago I had a client approach me for a Valentine’s Day gift-certificate of Nutritional Counseling for her husband. "He really needs to start working out and eating better. He’s getting fat & I think he could really use your help." He never called me to schedule his appointments. I knew that he wouldn’t. One would probably think that I would be a huge advocate of giving the gift of Elizabeth; after all, it’s a win for everyone. Right? Well, not necessarily. Purchasing health related gifts for your loved ones is a delicate gift to give. This applies to purchasing personal training, nutritional counseling, gym memberships or even workout equipment and fitness gadgets like the bodybugg. If you’re reading this blog, you are probably somewhat interested in your health. You know how good you feel by eating foods that Read More . . .
8 Reasons Why You Keep Falling Off The Diet Wagon
Guest Blog Post By Tom Venuto www.BurnTheFat.com Clearly, we have an obesity problem in America and many other countries across our planet. Yet, I propose that we do not have a weight loss problem today. In case you’re confused at this apparent contradiction, consider these statistics: According to a study from Oxford University published in the International Journal of Obesity, within 3 to 5 years, about 80 percent of all ‘weight losers’ have regained the lost weight, and often gained back a little extra. According to research by the National Weight Control Registry, that relapse rate may be as high as 95 percent. For comparison, relapse rates for drug, alcohol and tobacco dependency have been reported in the range of 50-90%. This means that lots and lots of people have “successfully” lost weight. But not many have kept it off. Therefore, we don’t have a weight loss problem, we have Read More . . .
3 pounds
One of my guilty pleasures is that I watch Oprah. No, I'm usually not home at that time of the day, but thank goodness for DVRs so that I can record it; saves a lot of time skipping over commercials, but also, if I'm not interested in the topic being aired that day, I'll just delete it. Yesterday she had Gwyneth Paltrow & Mario Batali on her show to promote a new series that is coming out where Gwyneth & Mario travel around Spain eating their hearts out. The first segment of the show was an interview with Gwyneth about her workout routine (see the video). I can only imagine that they did that so that America wouldn't curse Gwyneth after seeing her eating her way through Spain; giving rise to the fact that no one gets a free ride as far as the calorie formula goes – Calories In Read More . . .
Is Eating Healthy More Expensive?
For years, I've heard the argument that eating healthier foods is more expensive. It's hard to argue with that when you have McDonalds and Burger King supersizing meals for a measly $0.39, yet a salad can run you $9.00 at a to go restaurant. Not too long ago, I saw a post on what 200 calories of food looks like. I wondered what 200 calories of food cost. Lucky for me, someone already did that. As a general rule, you want to "eat from the rainbow". Foods that have lots of color have more nutritional value. Unfortunately, everything looks pretty beige (except for the brightly colored candies, cereals, and chips) until you get to just above the "Cost of 200 Calories: Over $1.00" category. The Avocado makes it's debut at $0.99. It makes me sad that not only is bad for you food cheaper, but it's so readily available – Read More . . .
Healthy Eating: beyond poached fish and celery sticks
I love food. I love the flavor of it, texture & aroma. I love eating. I am a self-described foodie. Wikipedia defines a foodie as "A gourmet is a person with a discriminating palate and who is knowledgeable in fine food and drink. The word is a corruption of the French word gourmet, a valet in charge of the wines. It is often used as an adjective for meals of especially high quality, whose makers or preparers have used especial effort or art in presentation or cooking the meal, or for facilities equipped for preparing such meals, such as a restaurant." I don't know if I fall into the gourmet part of this explanation; I certainly don't waste my calories on "common foods" like candy bars or fast food. Although it has to be good, it doesn't have to be gourmet & I'm all about volume. Why do I tell Read More . . .
Intrepidation
Much fear goes along with creating a blog for me. 1) I need to think up witty titles for each of my posts. 2) I must be witty, at least most of the time within the body of my post, 3) There's no spellcheck or grammar check! All of that aside, my goal in writing this blog is to explain about my quest to be an Ambassador of Wellness. It's a title that Gary gave me several months ago, that I enjoy much more than the title given to me several years ago of "Princess". So what does an Ambassador of Wellness DO? Well, I guess I am trying to spread the word of health, fitness, and a balanced life through lifestyle choices that we make on a daily basis. It's easy to get caught up in the minutia of everyday life & blow off those things that are truly Read More . . .