Summer is in the air bringing changes to weather, wardrobes and waistlines. With the holidays and cold weather months behind you and plans for summer vacations, pool time lounging and outdoor activities, this is the perfect time to focus on healthy eating.

In light of National Nutrition Month, now is the time to shake off the winter doldrums and make the transition to healthier eating habits.  Here are five nutrition tips and tricks to help you spring into action and transform your eating habits one step at a time.

Nutrition Tip #1: Don’t do it Alone

The most important step to successfully transitioning to healthier eating is to establish a strong network of support in preparation for your journey. Breaking old habits and making healthier lifestyle changes is a difficult task, so don’t be afraid to ask for help. By enlisting support from family, friends and a health and fitness professional, you will get started on the right path to continued nutrition success.

Nutrition Tip #2: You Bite It, You Write It

The simple act of writing down and keeping track of all food or beverages that enter your mouth will increase awareness of the amount and variety of foods you eat each day. Keeping an Accountability Food Journal is the best tool available to help increase your consciousness regarding the foods you eat. A journal also enables you to analyze the circumstances that contribute to making less healthy food choices. Journaling should be as specific as possible and include the date, time, amount of food, situation and hunger level. Your journal will not only help you keep track of your daily food consumption, but also serve as an insightful follow up tool.

Nutrition Tip #3: Take Baby Steps

Few people are successful with major lifestyle changes when they dive in head first. The best strategy to achieve major goals in life is to break the goal down into small doable steps. For instance, if your goal is to improve your eating habits and you have a problem eating too much high fat, high calorie fast food say, then it would probably not be realistic to cut it out completely. Instead, come up with a better plan, one that is doable for you such as cutting back on fast food consumption or even choosing healthier fare at fast food restaurants. Rome was not built in one day and neither should your transition to healthier eating.

Nutrition Tip #4: Focus on the Positive

Some people equate healthy eating with deprivation and eliminating favorite foods from your diet. To keep your nutrition transition from stalling before you take the first step, give yourself the gift of positive thinking and keep your momentum toward healthy eating moving strong. Instead of putting the sole focus on eliminating foods from your day, switch your mindset to a more positive approach…what healthy foods can you add into your day? For example, if you want to cut back on your red meat consumption, perhaps commit to Meatless Mondays; or reserve one day a week dedicated to trying different kinds of fish from around the world; Fish Fridays. Have fun with it and make your journey to healthy eating an adventure.

Nutrition Tip #5: Break it Down

A marathon is 26.2 miles, and is run one step at a time. Many people fail in making the transition to a healthier lifestyle when they take the all or nothing approach. The key to successfully making this transition is to embrace the opportunities, work through the challenges and learn from your mistakes during each step of the journey. By breaking your nutrition transition plan down into one step, one meal and one day at a time, you will cross that finish line healthier and happier.

For motivation to get started towards healthier eating, call us today! Fitness Together 619-794-0014. Also, join us on Facebook at Fitness Together San Diego-Mission Hills and follow our blog at BetterBodySanDiego.com.

Spring is here, the flowers are blooming and the birds are singing—the time of year for new beginnings. Now is also the time to shed your winter coat and seize the season as most likely, by now, your New Year’s resolutions have melted away just like the winter snow. Let the beauty of the weather, with its cool, clear, sunny days, not too cold and not too hot, inspire you to spring forward on your health and fitness commitments.

What’s the best strategy for getting back on track?

Make a commitment to yourself to slowly reincorporate both cardio and strength/resistance training exercises back into your schedule. Combine exercise with attention to your nutrition—don’t forget to take advantage of the glorious spring bounty of fruits and veggies—and you will be on your way to bathing suit season. Here are four scientifically proven lifestyle changes you can make that when combined together are the best way to help you get that spring training in gear.

Four Tips for Getting your Health and Fitness Back on Track. Make time in your schedule to make fitness happen.

#1 Accountability is one of the most important tools at your disposal for helping you make and keep health and fitness goals. The first step is to carve out time in your daily schedule for exercise. Once you pencil the exercise time in your calendar, then it’s easier if you treat the time as any other appointment such as a doctor’s visit. Make the appointment and keep the appointment!

#2 A nutritious, calorie-controlled diet. This begins with a high quality breakfast to jumpstart your day, AND your metabolism. Now is the time to change those unhealthy eating habits. Try to bump up your intake of colorful fruits and vegetables, whole grains, lean protein and good fats. If weight loss is your goal, then keeping track of what you eat on paper or electronically is essential for helping you to take control of your eating habits.

#3 Daily cardio exercise. You are probably already aware that regular cardio exercise is key for keeping your body lean and your cardiovascular system fit. Health professionals recommend daily cardio exercise such as walking, running, swimming or biking for at least thirty minutes a day. A brisk walk to take a break from the work day can do wonders for your mental outlook too.

#4 Strength Training. A regular program of strength training is essential for maintaining muscle mass as we age. The problem is that with every decade of life, we lose a considerable amount of muscle. We also tend to gain fat in its place. This leads to a condition called “sarcopenia,” the degenerative loss of skeletal muscle mass and strength associated with aging. A decline in quality of life and loss of independence is associated with elderly who have this condition. For women the “double down” is the loss of bone mass. Bone loss for women and muscle loss for all; tend to accelerate as we move in to our 40’s. The best way to attenuate muscle loss and bone degeneration to help you both now, and in your golden years, is to strength/resistance train on a regular basis. Being “more golden” in the golden years is optimal.

Let us help you to get inspired to spring forward on your health and fitness goals today! Give us a call at Fitness Together 619-794-0014 for more information. Join us on facebook at Fitness Together San Diego-Mission Hills and follow our blog at BetterBodySanDiego.com.

To get the most from your fitness program, you must commit to cardio with regularity. One of the keys to the fitness kingdom is your cardiovascular system and keeping it in top form. With anything, familiarity breeds contempt. You hate on familiarity and your body hates on familiarity. People reply often when asked about cardio exercise “well I walk”. That’s great of course, but my reply is always “your body knows how to walk”. Simply put it is not being challenged by walking as it already acquired that skill back when. It is familiar with walking. But what if you walked as if you were late to a meeting? I mean late, as like your gonna be the VERY last person to walk in to a crowded “all hands” meeting where every one goes silent and looks at you as you enter the meeting, with that “ I’m glad I am not YOU” look on their faces, jaws agape. Now there, you have something. A brisk walk can raise your heart rate enough to give it a cardio vascular benefit. Just walking is just that….JUST walking. Have you ever tried walking backwards? How about walking in sand? Give it a go and see what it tells your body. It’s all about change and shaking up your norms to get real gains.

Take your age and subtract it from 220. That result represents your maximum heart rate. The goal is to train such that your heart rate has a sustained period of time in the 65% to 85% range of that MHR number found by taking your age from 220. The lower end of that range; 65%, is more in tune with fat burning and the upper end; 85%, more for high end cardio endurance building. For an added boost use resistance training in combination with cardio. Weight lifting has its own cardiovascular benefits and the combination of the two is a powerful weapon. Using cardio for a warm up followed by a weight session then closed out with a full on cardio session can be most effective. During weight training your body will burn through most of its stored fuels and when you hit the cardio post weight training, it has to reach deeper in to your fat stores for energy. For more information call us today! Fitness Together 619-794-0014. Join us on Facebook Fitness Together San Diego – Mission Hills and follow our blog, Betterbodysandiego.com.

Tight muscles, cramped joints and a lethargic body is not how you want to bring in this spring season. Instead, prepare your body for exercise by introducing stretching into your overall health and fitness routine. Don’t worry, you don’t have to schedule tons of time to make stretching beneficial and effective. Ten minutes will do the trick.

Start with the Basics

When incorporating stretching into your workout, you should take a two-phased approach. The first phase should focus on preparing your body, joints, heart and lungs for a dynamic workout, while the second phase should focus on cooling down your muscles and preparing your body for an active recovery following your workout. In essence, it is most effective to sandwich your strength and conditioning workout routine with two short, but effective, active stretching routines.

Phase One – Warm Up and Dynamic Stretch

If touching your toes and taking deep breaths to start your workout is your idea of warming up and stretching, then you are missing out on an excellent opportunity to set yourself up for a great workout. According to research by The National Strength and Condition Association, passive static stretching can lead to reduced performance when compared to an active, dynamic warm-up alone.

A great workout starts with a great warm-up so the first step to an active warm-up that is going to increase your performance is spending a few minutes on a foam roller. The purpose of the foam roller is provide soft tissue flexibility in preparation for a more fluid and free-moving workout. The few  minutes it takes to foam roll will pay dividends for the remainder of your fitness session.

After you’ve established more flexible muscles with the foam roller, the next step is to prepare your body for elevating heart rates and getting down to business. The warm-up should not be easy. It should start easy, but then progress to the point that when you’re finished five minutes later, you’re ready to go full steam ahead into your workout. A dynamic warm-up should include explosive movements such as high knees, skipping and moving lunges. It is important to remember that the purpose of these types of exercises is to prepare your joints and ligaments for the high intensity portion of your workout. Make sure not to push yourself too hard, but instead focus on starting slow and revving up your body for an effective and dynamic workout.

Phase Two – Cool Down and Recovery

After you’ve left all of your effort, sweat and tears on the gym floor during your high intensity strength and conditioning workout, it is now time to take three to five minutes to incorporate some light stretching and cool down techniques to finish off your fitness routine. The purpose of this stretching phase is to loosen up any knots that might build up in your muscle fibers during your workout and prepare your body for proper recovery that will last hours after your workout has ended. It is important to stretch the major muscle groups you exercised during your workout and to focus on any problem spots that you may have. Some simple, but highly effective cool down and recovery stretches include the child’s pose, lower leg lunge stretches and the cat stretch for your back and shoulders.

If stretching is typically an after-thought for you during your workouts, focus on incorporating these ten minutes of pre- and post-workout stretches this spring to prepare your body for optimal performance during and after your workouts. Call us today to learn more about how to look better, feel better and perform better with a total body stretching and fitness routine. Fitness Together 619-794-0014. Follow our blog at BetterBodySanDiego.com and join us on Facebook at Fitness Together San Diego-Mission Hills.

Attitude

You are worthy of having the best life, the best health and the best future, but you do have to will it in to existence by working at it consistently, thinking you can. When the voice of self doubt talks to you along the journey, cast it to the curb and think thoughts that propel you. “I am strong, I am able, I am getting better/stronger each day, I will do it, and I can do it. I must do it.” Where your mind goes, your body follows.

Listen, fitness is a journey, it is not a destination. Destination fitness is finite in that it has an end. “I’m going to lose weight for the reunion” has an end date…………the reunion, the wedding, the birthday, the vacation, the whatever, all are finite. Once it hits, the goal attained, caution is thrown to the wind, game over. Fitness takes consistent effort over time, over one’s life time. Take it one day, one week, and one year at a time living fitness as lifestyle, using significant events as “incentives” for an extra push along the way.  

Alcohol

Remind yourself that alcohol is poison to your system. That’s how our body reacts to it, jumping to hyper drive to cleanse the blood and defog our brains. If you are trying to be calorie conscious, alcohol is the super saboteur. It has calories in and of itself, and when you drink, say, before a meal as an example, it dulls your senses and impairs decision making regarding portion sizing and quality of foods. Drink more, eat more is the end result along with pay more, both at the diner and in the morning. Recovering from alcohol is a physical process that takes time and does not tend to make one “raring to go” to the gym. Getting fit and maintaining it is hard enough in its own right. Adding alcohol to the equation makes getting to the gym and getting results nearly impossible. If you are serious about your fitness journey, abstain. One can act crazy, and have fun with a water, lemon/lime wedge and a straw, then tell em, “the water made me do it”.

Acquaintances

Yes your friends, in a myriad of ways, can unintentionally and some times intentionally sabotage your fitness journey. First and foremost is how they live, and what they eat and drink. We are all social creatures and social grouping is a way of life, but peer pressure can lead one astray.  The pressures to drink, drink more, or eat, eat more of the things that hamper your journey, are usually, always there in group settings. If alcohol is in the mix, it becomes even more pervasive. When it is easier to give in, than stand your ground, consider other social plans. When we get on a fitness health minded journey, some of our relationships are bound to change, and NEED to change. This becomes readily discernable and an easier choice when you get serious about your fitness and health. It is not so much about you not being part of the “in crowd”. It’s the fact that you are a crowd of your own. If they can’t, won’t, or don’t join you, perhaps another crowd beckons.

Apathy

Once you let apathy in, blowing off workouts, tends to take on a mind of its own. Miss a few workouts and the next step is you are finding reasons to blow off workouts for other day timer seemingly important “things”. Your sense of care about you and your fitness health journey fades. Getting back on course is so difficult, and then you look up with regret wondering what happened. Your fitness must be top priority as it is about you, your care, and your longevity. There is no one to care more about you, than you. If you don’t keep you in the top spot on the priority list, YOU slide down a list of things, that yes, may need to be done, but most of which can get done, at other times outside of your fitness “me time”. Keep fitness first as it pays the highest long term dividends in your self care, health care program, as compared to your laundry list of to do’s.

For help on “saboteur list” management contact us at Fitness Together 619 794 0014. Join us on Facebook at Fitness Together San Diego-Mission Hills. Summer is just around the corner.  Now is the time to get started!

Still not a breakfast eater are ya? Mom was right in that breakfast IS the most important of all meals. It is the meal that kick starts your day and should be the highest calorie meal of your day. I know I know, you don’t have time, you never have eaten breakfast, you hate eggs, you’re not hungry, you grab n go coffee. I get it. But start somewhere. Your body as it slept last night repaired itself from all of the damages you laid in to it yesterday and prepared itself for the next round today. But it takes work to fix you. IT IS hungry. Your last calorie intake was when? What? Yep that’s right it was last night sometime, early or late, good or bad content. So your body works all night for YOU, in reality burning the midnight oil to get you lined up to take on today. Breakfast is about breaking the fast of not eating over the time period in which you slept, and your body continued its’ toiling over your repair and preparedness. Do with out a “break the fast” meal, and the body slows down metabolically working at a less than optimum pace, robbing you of restorative calorie input to get the most from your body.

Look, start simple but start somewhere. How about a meal replacement shake to begin the day’s journey? It is simple, easily obtained from a variety of sources and can provide balanced nutrients and calories. It’s a start yes? Get in the habit of at least this. In a few days or perhaps a week or two you’ll find that you ARE hungry when you awaken, and you can then add a cereal, oatmeal or bagel to the line up and then pretty soon you’ll be a full fledged breakfast eater. Your body learns and adapts to what you teach it in the gym or at the table. Do the same things in the gym, teach your body just that, and get no results. Teach it to go hungry by not eating breakfast, it learns to live with it. “Learns to live with it” does not mean it likes to live with it. Want to live better? Want to train smarter and get better results faster? Eat breakfast! For more information call us today! Fitness Together 619-794-0014 and join us on Facebook at Fitness Together San Diego-Mission Hills.

Resolutions are merely a group of solutions that you intend to find and use as you move forward on the road of self improvement. The important thing is to seek out those solutions and embrace your new beginning with anticipation, positive attitude, visualizing the end goal as being already accomplished. That is, “live as if” it has already happened. It may not be as much about the end goal as it is about the steps, that is, the solutions needed along the way to realize the goal. If our solutions are out of line, or our goal too high, we’ll easily defeat ourselves regardless of the living “as if” principle. The most significant solution is to visualize you now “as if” the resolution has been obtained. Those who use visualization are 6 times more likely to reach their goal. You, living today “as if”, helps you fend off temptations more readily. If your resolution is to be a more healthy and active for example, you have to be asking yourself today, “would an active healthy person do this” behavior you are currently contemplating? If the answer is no, then do as they do becomes your mantra rather easily. “An active healthy person would not do this, nor will I.”

We all have to deal with the part of us that wants to do better, as well as the part that is resistant to change. We all know that voice inside that whispers “I can’t do it”.

You want to eat better and be more active…..

You want to stop smoking……..

You want to better manage money……..

You want to lose weight……..

Future vision, that is seeing who you are going to become, and living as that person today combined with tracking progress creates “I can do it.” Kaiser published a study last year focusing on the efficacy of various weight loss programs in more than 1500 overweight adults, showing that after 5 months participants lost on average 13 pounds. However, those that used a food diary to track progress almost lost twice as much, and perhaps more importantly they kept the weight off. Tracking creates visualization, accountability and self reward.

Wishing is passive, resolving is action oriented. ”I hope I can lose 20 pounds in 2012”, is different from “I am going to lose 20 pounds and here are the steps (the solutions) I plan to take in order to accomplish it.” In a wish there is no commitment, no action. In commitment there is clear understanding that it “won’t be easy, I expect some set backs but I am ready to fight for what I want.” Visualizing yourself as a lighter, more confident you, combined with smart solutions and tracking, then actually living today “as if” you’ve already lost the weight keeps you on track. In essence it negates “I can’t do it” because you see it in your minds eye, you then live it now, and it’s reinforced in your tracking.

Break Big Goals down to smaller solutions

Track progress

Visualize

Live “as if”

The New Year has begun and you are pumped up about it, full of hope and anticipation at a brand new YOU! “This year I am going to do it!!” Correct? Believing in yourself is THE most important solution to your resolution. You can DO IT! Believe, Achieve.

For more information on how to stick to it, call Fitness Together 619-794-0014. Join us on Facebook at Fitness Together San Diego – Mission Hills.

You’ve decided, “I’m going to get into shape”. You are motivated, you are determined; you are ready to get after it. There’s no stopping you, this time. A delicious ad for a treadmill appears, and “that’s it”, “I’ll buy a tread mill and use it everyday”. You execute your purchase, obtain delivery and set up your new “get fit now treadmill” and you are off to the races. But wait a minute, “I need some new “get fit clothes”. So, you go out and buy the newest whisk away sweat, svelte trendy outerwear. Heck, just trying on the stuff makes you feel tighter, and fit. “I feel good” you exclaim as you look in the mirror at your new fitness attire. At first you’re so excited because you’re going to get in shape! You get the chart out, you go on the internet, find the exercises and you get a routine and you get all that stuff prepared. You have the equipment and the clothes, but up to that point, are you any more fit or healthy? No. Because application makes all the difference!

Now, for some, your exercise equipment has evolved into, like, a clothes hanger hasn’t it? You’ve got clothes hanging on the rails of your treadmill, boxes on the tread, and dust in most places. Simply buying the exercise equipment was kind of a fitness experience. There was euphoria of “I’m going to get into shape”, but what you discovered was that owning exercise equipment doesn’t do it. Because, application makes all the difference. It’s in the doing, the consistent doing that gets one in shape.

Have you have ever purchased a book on a specific diet you plan to go on? You bought the diet book, you started reading and understanding and highlighting. You’re so excited, you have that feeling again of “I’m going to get into shape” and you go to your pantry and throw a bunch of stuff out. You might have even gone to a health food store and bought some healthy foods. You’re moving in the right direction, but having read the book and having cleaned out your pantry….have you made any REAL progress yet? No. Because, application makes all the difference. Buying the stuff, committing to the stuff, believing in the stuff, paying your bills for the stuff, intending to get into shape, telling your friends about your plans, doesn’t do any good, if you don’t apply it.

How do you beat “application blues”? Set your alarm clock 15 minutes earlier to create needed “me time”. Make “fitness appointments” in your day planner just like any other important priority appointment you have. Use short term, daily and weekly goals as motivators. Write them down, place them somewhere visible and refer to them often. You told your friends about your plan, so have one of them hold you accountable to what you said you’d do. Weigh yourself once a week against your weight loss plan, and don’t get discouraged, it takes time. Create and receive self rewards along the journey, when key fitness goals are met. Laugh at you. You are not the only one with clothes, boxes and dust on your fitness stuff. Clean it all off, reinvigorate and get going. You can!

For help getting in the best shape of your life, call us today! 619-79Fitness Together 619-794-0014. Join us on Facebook at Fitness Together San Diego-Mission Hills for Fitness, Nutrition, Weight Loss & Health information.

Are you doing crunches until you turn red in the face and still have belly fat?  Take a deep centered breath and keep in mind the culprit may be your diet or high stress lifestyle.  The truth is you need align your nutrition to go with your crunches to rid that belly jiggle.  In order to go from Flab Abs to FAB Abs pay attention to what’s going into your mouth and kick up the cardio.  Your belly will thank you later!

Bye Bye Belly Bloat!! Feeling sluggish and bloated can make you feel like a blimp vs. a babe.  Some ways to eliminate that belly bloat is to eat more fiber, fruits and veggies and avoid sugar and foods with gluten.  Fruits and veggies like bell pepper, cucumber, watermelon, and celery are high in water content and make great snacks.  Speaking of water, drink up!  Drinking water throughout the day will flush sodium out of your body to reduce bloat.  Aim for at least 8 glasses of 8 ounces of water daily.  And no, your morning grind of coffee doesn’t count as water intake and back away from that soda pop and no one will get hurt!

Kick the salt shaker habit! Choose fresh foods over processed or packaged which are loaded with sodium.  Read labels since many foods we consume already have sodium added in so there is no need to add more salt with our addiction to the salt shaker.  Reducing salt intake will not only decrease dreaded bloat, but can help prevent heart problems down the road.  The American Heart Association recommends no more than 2,400 milligrams of sodium daily, which is less than a teaspoon of table salt.  Fresh basil and cilantro can be used to spice things up and are some of my favorites to add to any meal.  Try adding chili powder, chili flakes, cayenne, or ginger to a meal to up your metabolism and burn fat.

Alcohol = empty calories and beer belly bloat. Limit your alcohol intake to avoid consuming empty calories.  Keep in mind, moderation is your motivation.  If you know you have a special event coming up don’t deprive yourself from the beverages you enjoy.  Plan ahead and manage your calorie intake and add in extra cardio to your day to allow for that tasty treat you deserve.

Super Charged Cardio creates Shredded Abs. Remember abdominal exercises alone do not remove belly fat.  They build and tone the waistline.  In order to see the tone and definition effectively, it’s a must to eat clean and kick up the cardio.  Cardiovascular exercise will help to burn the layer of unwanted fat off your belly so that stellar abs can shine through.  If you already have a cardio plan kick up the intensity to power up your results.  Also mix it up to keep it fun and challenging.

Feel the burn.  Of course in order to get chiseled looking abs incorporate variations of crunches to work all angles of the abdominal muscles.  There are many modifications to the basic crunch or sit-up and you must mix things up to achieve the burn you love to hate on your abs.  Come in and learn a few new ab burning exercises to compliment your current repertoire, so you can better show off your efforts.  Intensity and variation are key.

Incorporating clean eating, limits on salt and alcohol, kicking up your cardio, and using a variety of ab exercises will have you saying “bye bye belly bloat” and “hello Stellar Abs of Steal.”  To get your abs back into shape, call Fitness Together of Mission Hills 619-794-0014 today to get better results faster. Join us on our Facebook page at Fitness Together San Diego-Mission Hills.