Don’t Get Tricked By Your Treats
October 30, 2009
My brother sent this over to me in an email. Good Stuff.
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Surprisingly High-Calorie Halloween Tricks
Watch Out for These Sneaky Calories!
During Halloween, it seems like kids and adults alike care more about the candy than the
costumes! Sure, most Halloween treats are tiny and portion-controlled, so they won’t seriously
hurt most people’s weight-management goals. But Halloween marks the beginning of a two-
Beyond the fun-size (and therefore calorie-controlled) candies, several Halloween treats are big calorie bombs. Be on the lookout for these surprisingly high-cal Halloween treats, which can add up fast if you let your guard down.
Pumpkin Flavored Baked Goods
Pumpkin itself is
TRICK: You can bake your own pumpkin treats using less sugar and fat, plus whole-grain goodness. Use a mini muffin tin to help keep your portions in check and steer clear of these seasonal baked goods!
Hot Seasonal Beverages
Sometimes there is nothing more enjoyable than sipping a hot drink on a crisp fall day. Many coffee joints offer special seasonal beverages during the holidays. While plain coffee is low-cal, seasonal lattes and drinks contain a lot of sugar, and most boast a heavy dose of cream, too. A medium pumpkin spice latte with whole milk is 410 calories at Starbucks, and its competitors don’t do much better. As liquid calories do not
TRICK: Order a small beverage (if you must) and lighten the load by requesting fat free milk and holding any whipped topping. Freshly brewed chai tea can be a great alternative that is virtually calorie-free, but look out for blended drinks that are ready to serve; they often contain cream, syrups and lots of added sugar. Many coffeehouses use a sugar syrup as the base for their chai; ask that yours be made with real tea and no added sugar. Request hot water and a teabag of chai tea (black tea with spices) with some low-fat milk on the side. Watch out for these high-cal hot beverages!
Caramel Apple Anything
Yes, it’s obvious. If you cover a healthy fruit with sugar, it becomes a less healthy choice. Simple caramel apples seem innocent, but they can pack 300 calories onto that little wooden stick. Pop extra sprinkles, candies or nuts onto the outside of the apple and it’ll amp the calorie level even further. It’s also good practice to avoid caramel apple desserts and baked goods from most restaurants. Most don’t even contain a single serving of fruit and more than their fair share of calories and fat.
TRICK: Enjoy your apples by cutting them into wedges and dipping them into low fat caramel dip, fat free vanilla yogurt or peanut butter. The following high-cal treats are far from healthy.
Chocolate Fun Size Candies
At an average of about 100 calories a pop, these popular fun-size treats can really add up! Sure they’re smaller than a full size bar and offer built-in portion control, but how often do you stop after just one? It’s far too easy to eat four of five “little” candies, thinking you’re not doing much damage, but that can easily add up to 400 or 500 calories in a matter of minutes. The bars that hide the most calories are those that contain peanut butter, coconut, chocolate, caramel, and nuts.
TRICK: Start reading fun-size labels before throwing out the package so that you’re not eating blindly; these calories do count. Figure out the best choice for you and stick with that particular treat. Fun-size peppermint patties and Twizzlers have about half of the calories of the average chocolate bar but keep in mind these can still add up!
The most important thing to remember during the Halloween season is to look under the mask and to think before you bite. Don’t make excuses about desserts or baked treats being “healthful” just because apple or pumpkin is in the name, and monitor your intake of tiny-size treats, which can easily add up to BIG numbers of calories. Think about what these seasonal treats are doing for your body and put your label reading skills to work and stay in control of your choices.
Happy Halloween!!
4 THINGS YOU CAN DO TO BOOST YOUR METABOLISM
October 28, 2009
Hey I hope you are doing awesome! As many of you know that weight loss really all comes down to our metabolism and whether or not we are burning more calories then we are taking in. So I made a short list of 4 things you can do to give your metabolism that boost to get you on your way to your weight loss goals. OOOPS I meant to have 4 but its 4.5 instead.
Here they are and don’t forget to leave your comments at the bottom of the page.
4 THINGS YOU CAN DO TO JUMP START YOUR METABOLISM
1. DRINK MORE WATER—Water is the most natural thing we can put into our bodies. when we drink water, instead of other drinks our entire body works better and more effenciently. (Some experts say drinking 16 oz of chilled water first thing in the morning will give your metabolism an extra boost.)
2. EAT MORE…THATS RIGHT EAT MORE OFTEN— I am not saying you should eat more food. However how frequently we eat does have a huge impact on our metabolism.Eating 5-6 times a day instead of 2 or three times, tells our bodies that there is plenty of food available to us. 
Because of this our bodies will cut back on storage since it knows that it doesn’t have to worry about getting fed. Our bodies can actually go into starvation mode in a matter of hours. It doesn’t take days like we would think. So eat every 3 hours whether you are hungry or not (just make sure you only consume the number of calories you should have in a day). Every time we eat we get another spike in our metabolism. If you are looking for a good snack for an in between meal check an earlier post I did for some yummy protein bars. The idea is to not get really hungry, otherwise when we do we make bad instead of good food choices.
3. Have a Plan— A meal plan that is. Knowing what you will be eating ahead of time takes out much of the guess work and also keeps us from making bad choices. 
Having everything prepared and ready to go ahead of time makes it much less frustrating to control our diet properly.(If you would like to have a done for you meal plan with a grocery list of exactly what to buy then let me know. I can do a customized meal plan for you. It’s only $39.00)
4. Exercise—-Being in a structured exercise program is absolutely one of the best ways to boost metabolism. As we age our metabolism slows down about 10% per year, however , through diet and exercise we can actually increase our metabolism by up to 50% to 60%. A good exercise program that has a combination of both resistance training and cardio training is essential, when it comes to weight loss. Lean muscle mass on our body alone burns more calories for maintenance reasons than does fat. Cardio is essential for building a strong heart and lungs. So whether it is a routine you do at home or at the gym make sure it has a combination of both weight training and cardio.( As a personal trainer I can help you with your programing whether its, one-on-one training, small group training or even in our new Fit-Werks Boot Camp 2.0 program.
4.5 Rest— It is absolutely necessary that your body has time to rest and heal itself.
The gains we make in our muscle tissue only happen post exercise during rest, not while exercising. So please be sure and take off at least 1 day per week to give your body time to heal.
I hope these tips help get you on your way to a happier and healthier life.
And dont forget to leave me a comment and tell me what you think of these 4 things.
Super Yummy Protein Bars
October 28, 2009
I got this insanely good recipe for homemade protein bars.
I know that a lot of times if you find yourself barely being able to chug another protein shake, but to buy a bar at your local convince store is so expensive.
You have got to try these protein bars. They are delicious.
Homemade Protein Bars
5 TBLSP natural peanut butter (crunchy or creamy)
1/2 cup oats
1/2 cup oat flour (if you don’t have oat flour, use another 1/2 cup of oats)
6 scoops Chocolate Whey Protein
1 tsp vanilla
2 TBSP flax seeds (optional)
1 cup non fat dry milk
1/2 cup water (you may need more water depending on whey protein)
Mix together dry ingredients. Add peanut butter and mix. It will be crumbly. Add water and vanilla. (use a spatula sprayed with non stick spray) and mix completely( dough may be very sticky). Put in a greased 8 x 8 pan and either refrigerate of freeze until hardened. Cut into 9 squares. Wrap individually and take with you.
Nutrition per Square:
Calories 197
protein: 21
fat: 7
carbs: 13.7
Fiber: 1.6
Mustang, OK Jedi Personal Trainer
October 23, 2009
I just had to tell you guys that I ran into a 900 year old, 3 ft tall, green alien last night, and he was full of wisdom. You may know him as Master Yoda. We had a long and very enlightening conversation about the “dark side” and how it gets its evil grip around people and does everything it can to sabotage a persons weight loss and fitness goals. Yoda 
told me that FEAR is the “dark sides” most useful weapon to accomplish this. You see FEAR is the number one thing that keeps us from accomplishing our goals. We are more often afraid of failing so bad that we are scared to even try. A lot of times we try to use humor as a way of dealing with our FEAR. How many times have you said or have heard someone else joke around about their health and fitness status, saying things like “I need this extra weight for insulation so I don’t get cold” or “Just more of me to love”. Saying things like this is nothing more than a coping mechanism to deal with our FEAR that the “dark side” uses to get in our way of what we know is the right thing to do to live a happier and healthier life.
The further you let yourself slip to the “dark side”, the closer you come to letting FEAR take over completely, the harder it will be if and when you ever make a decision to change. I have learned that “pain causes change” and eventually what happens is we either go thru enough physical and emotional pain that we say “enough is enough” and take back control of our lives, or we allow it to consume us completely, and we live in that FEAR for the rest of our lives. Master Yoda always has lots of useful wisdom to offer, However I believe the most important piece of wisdom he has ever given anyone is this “Do or Do not, There is no try”. So take back your life and “Do” , not just try, and you will be on your way to a new leaner, healthier, sexier you. May the Force be with You
Chad Northcutt
Friendly Neighborhood Jedi Personal Trainer