Posted by Amy Kistler, Certified Personal Trainer at Athlon Elite
Yes, it is Halloween and candy is everywhere. Just because you decided to get bags of those small candy bars doesn’t mean you tricked yourself into eating any less than a whole candy bar. At an average of about 100 calories a pop, these popular fun-size treats can really add up quickly!
The bars that hide the most calories are those that contain peanut butter, coconut, chocolate, caramel, and nuts, say’s Registered Dietitian Sarah Haan.
Hmmmm, that pretty much sounds like ALL OF THEM!!!
When these "insulin poppers" are present and you’re anything like me… you find yourself saying, "just one more, or one extra won’t hurt, or my kids aren’t going to eat all of these."
Well, don’t do it. These babies will sabotage your fitness goals (and health in general) so fast and will completely frustrate you and your efforts toward that lean, thin, sexy body… as well as…
Just don’t do it! Read the fun-sized candy labels before throwing out the wrapper so you’re not just eating them blindly; first, these calories count…
Example: Two Mini-Snickers
90cals
4g Fat
12g sugar
It would take about 40 minutes of brisk walking just to burn off the two tiny candy bars. Is it worth it??! As they say… "a moment on the lips, a life-time on the hips!"
Secondly, these little corn syrup nightmares will:
cause energy spikes and dips,
increase your chances of diabetes and metabolic diseases
rot your teeth
decrease your bone density and muscle performance due to increased acidity in your body
make you even hungrier
distract you from getting your work done because you keep being pulled toward the candy dish, over and over and over again
waste your money (on the candy and the medical/fitness services you’ll have to spend extra on because of the above reasons
etc., etc., etc.!
Artichoke Dip with Carrot Fingers (carrot sticks with almond slivers)
Take time this Halloween to be aware of what you are putting into your body and come up with some better alternatives. Like:
Drinks
Spooky Fruit Spritzer (a touch of fruit juice in sparkling water with floating blueberries or black grapes… or plastic spiders frozen in ice-cubes!)
Tomato juice with "carrot fingers" (see above)
Main Dishes Fit for a Monster
Monster meatballs (find a recipe without sugary sauces)
Monster vomit (Chicken or Egg Salad in small bibb/endive leaves)
Spooky Sides(children are not for the faint of heart or stomach)
Veggies & Monster Snot (guacamole)
Eyeballs (olives)
Monster fingers (see above) and artichoke dip
Treats
Keep it to dark chocolate
Trail mixes
Fruit related snacks like fruit leathers, raisins or real fruit roll-ups
Consider dollar store items to help decorate and make the "healthy" food fun for the kids. Fill ‘em up on this stuff first then set them loose on the neighborhood if you must.
And for you…
Well if you do decide to indulge in the delicious chocolate…
The world of health and fitness is constantly changing as new research and technology is released, and we at Athlon Elite are always testing and improving the services and products we offer based on this. It is our mission to continually strive to make things simpler, easier, faster and better for you, our clients. This is how we can offer a money back guarantee on everything we do.
As you all SHOULD know by now, you get out of your body what you put in to it! So, you should be puting the best possible nutrition into it, including nutritional supplements. After a long and tedious process of sampling and researching the best products out there we have decided to change Athlon Elite’s supplement line to Jarrow Formulas.
There are a few reasons for doing this but a big one is independent laboratory testing. Jarrow Formulas’ products have been backed by an independent testing laboratory, people that are not affilitated with the company that test the products for:
Content (it has what it says it has in it),
Purity (it has good quality of content), and
Additives (it doesn’t contain illegal or banned substances).
Jarrow Formulas passes the mark on all criterion with flying colors. Many other supplement companies refuse to do this, and that’s why we are happy and confident in our change. Plus, with our wholesale agreement with Jarrow we can continue to offer our supplements at very affordable prices.So pick up your new supply ASAP!!!Or ask one of our trainers about the new supplements at your next session and how they fit into your fitness plan.
And if you’re not a current Athlon Elite client come in for a consultation today and learn how we can take your fitness to the next level (or just get it started in the right direction) with sound nutrition, supplementation and exercise advise and direction.
Call (805) 440-0215 and ask for Alicia to sign-up. Or click the link below.
Mike Mentzer was a big advocate of High Intensity Training
Back in the 1970’s Arthur Jones, founder of Nautilus, popularized a training method for building muscle called High Intensity Training (or HIT). The basic premise was to do high quality weight lifting exercises at very slow speeds to momentary muscular failure. This increased "time under tension" would create greater muscle building adaptations and lead to that chisled greek god or goddess body faster than "normal" exercise.
Well, whether you’re an advocate of this type of training or not, it definitely worked for some people in the past (see picture above) and we’ve decided to bring it out of the closet at Athlon Elite and implement it in our famous group training program for a week to shake things up a bit. And guess what…
It’s working!
Pete Freitas doing HIT Bulgarian Split Squats in Athlon Elite (three reps before the tears start flowing!)
I’ve gotten a few comments already from guys (and gals too) that they feel a little more "pump" in their muscles through the day and a "feeling of fitness." And people are liking the break from the high metabolic training that we usually do.
So how would you like to take a week off of your usual training method and actually increase the amount of muscle tone and strength in your body. Simply implement HIT. Here’s how you do it:
Either use the same exercises that you usually do or find some new ones using the machines in Athlon or any health club for that matter.
Perform one regular warm-up set of 8 repetitions,
Then perform a single set of around 10 repetitions at the very slow pace of 2 seconds on the way up (the positive or "concentric" phase) and 3 seconds on the way down (the negative or "eccentric" phase) to complete muscular exhaustion (till you absolutely cannot do another rep because of lactic acid pain or muscular failure).
Then move to the next exercise.
And that’s it. You usually want to perform about 5 or 6 exercises total in any given training session and then finish the rest of the one hour workout with some moderate cardio.
Here’s 13 year old Brandon Kim of the Puma Swim Club doing Sumo Deadlifts HIT style… No wonder he smokes the competition in the water!
Make sure you get plenty of sleep while performing this routine. And if you’re trying to lose fat be sure to watch your food intake, this type of training will make you really hungry!
If you want to learn some other ways of mixing up your training routine and get some serious results fast call us today at Athlon Elite and schedule a free private consultation with one of our lead trainers to discuss it: (805) 440-0215 or Click Here.
We had a blast this weekend at the Client Appreciation Event! I can’t tell you how much we appreciate all of you that train (or support the one’s who train) at Athlon Elite. You are truly a wonderful group of people.
We’re collecting all the photos and videos right now to put up on the blog in the coming days. But until then check out the "Payback Workout" video that you all put us through and the fun slide show John put together for the event. It shows Athlon Elite from the beginning stages… some old pictures and some new ones… pretty cool!
By the way, we had two winners of the "Trainer Matching Game," Sunny Atchison and Kyle Aber. They got all eight trainers correctly matched. Come in to pick up your T-shirts.
The correct answers to the game are now posted on the board in Athlon Elite… come in and laugh again at how ridiculous these trainers are!
Posted by Amy Kistler, Certified Personal Trainer at Athlon Elite
I have to admit, I love sushi. Back on Labor Day a group of my friends and I got together and went out to dinner at a local sushi restaurant. And it was painfully obvious that sushi is my… "WEAKNESS FOOD."
Once I start, it’s VERY difficult for me to stop!
If you’re trying to lose weight or just keep your body fat down you have to be very careful about your "weakness foods."
Here are nine strategies from Sarah Haan, registered dietitian, to help prevent you from over-eating and sticking to your calorie count… even if it’s your "weakness food!"
Enjoy every bite – SLOW DOWN RELAX AND ENJOY YOUR FOOD. Set a timer and see how long it takes you to eat your food. It should take you at least 20 minutes to finish a meal.
Use smaller plates, cups and bowls– DON”T LET YOUR EYES BE BiGGER THAN YOUR MOUTH! Research shows this to really work. You’d be surprised by how much we Americans let external cues govern our eating habits rather than internal cues like, "I feel full!"
Pre-portion your food – DON’T EAT STRAIGHT FROM THE BAG, you’ll almost always over eat. Put one serving on a small plate or bowl and then proceed to eat.
Know Your Pitfals – WHAT IS YOUR FOOD WEAKNESS? Make a list of your "weakness foods" and where you come across them. Write down solutions to avoid these foods and how to deal with them.
Keep a food journal – WRITE DOWN EVERYTHING YOU EAT AND PORTION SIZE. Athlon Elite sells a very easy and useful log that will definitely help you keep your eating down to the exact science! Even if you don’t list protion sizes, calories, proteins, fat, etc., at least list what foods you eat.
Use the proper plate method – Fill half our plate with disease fighting vegetables, a quarter with lean protein and a ¼ with whole grains… and make sure it’s a small dish!
Pack in the protein – Protein helps increase feeling of fullness because it takes longer to digest. It also burns a lot of calories digesting it. A good rule is to eat at least a "palm-sized" portion of complete protein EVERY time you eat!
Doggy bag it – Almost every restaurants serves you more than one serving. It’s true we aren’t going ot eat every meal at home. Ask your server to put half the meal on your plate and the other half, in a to-go box!
Eat Breakfast – Studies show that people who eat breakfast have a lower BMI and consume fewer calories compared to people who don’t eat breakfast. If you aren’t hungry in the morning at first, start small (Yogurt, grapefruit, banana, half an avocado, etc.).
Follow these tricks and I guarantee you’ll eat less. I dare you to try it!
And if you’d like more help figuring out your diet, click the link below and sign-up for a FREE private consultation with a Lead Trainer at Athlon Elite and we’ll point you in the right direction…
Posted by Amy Kistler, Certified Personal Trainer at Athlon Elite
