Butt Blasting Leg Workout and Thoughts on Caffeine..

The moment is finally here.  I have gotten several requests regarding specific workouts.  I decided I will do my best to let you in on at least a couple of my workouts each week.  Let's be honest, if I posted every single workout it would be exhausting and bombarding you with more information than you choose to care about!  So for this week I am posting my favorite workout of the week:  Heavy Leg Day.

Important to note:  Yes, I generally lead a low-carb lifestyle, with the source of nearly all of my carbohydrates being vegetables.  For this workout, my pre-workout meal about an hour before had some sweet potato and post-workout I had some greek yogurt and a small amount of oats.  As a rule of thumb, try not to consume fats around your workout, after all you want to BURN fat stores you already have so it wouldn't make much sense to put it in your system.

MY definition of good glutes..she is no skinny girl!

Heavy Leg Day:
Warmup - walking in the gym...hahahaha
Standing Hip Abductors - 4 sets, 20 reps (4x20)
Back Squats (rather DETAILED explanation of how I perform these) - 10 sets, 10x45 lb., 8x65, 6x85, 6x95, 6x115, 6x125, 6x125, 6x125, 6x125
Split Squats - 3 sets - 8x65, 6x75, 6x75
Side Step Ups - 3 sets, 10 reps with 30 barbell
Unilateral Leg Press - 3 sets, 8x50, 6x70, 6x90
Standing Calf Raise - 4 sets, 20 reps at 110
Glute Machine (Butt Blaster) - 3 sets, 10 reps
(45 minutes)

Cardio - 20 minute HIIT on stair master consisting of 1:20 work intervals at 1:1 ratio of work:rest. Work intervals at level 15 (of 20) and rest intervals at level 5.  Basically I gave the stair master a bath ;)
(20 minutes)

And in and out of the gym in a little over an hour.  Let me tell you it is now Thursday and I am STILL feeling Tight Tush Tuesday in my tush it IS quite the feeling.  I also have to note that this was a pretty light day for me weight wise because I had not hit legs that hard in a while so I did not want to push the weight.  That being said, when you feel like you are ready to push the weight hard for the 6-8 rep range make sure that you have built yourself up in the 10-15 rep range first.  The link I sent you to for the squat form is the Lab Gym in St. Louis, MO where I used to train.  He has a large collection of videos on You tube that you guys can check out for proper form on nearly every exercise (those worth doing at least!).  Do NOT trust the first link that pops up when you Google some random exercise.  I see some of the most ludicrous things in the gym on a daily basis and sometimes I have to cringe.

Caffeine:

Also a hot topic these days it seems.  This won't take long.  I used to be a caffeine junkie, I will admit.  I believe it is something that is WIDELY abused by the American public.  If you are using a pre-workout with caffeine in it (i.e. "fat-burner") it is not doing ANYTHING for you if you are consuming 2-3 cups of coffee a day.  And before you say, "But I only have 1 cup of coffee a day."  Let me remind you the 1 cup of coffee is defined as about 8 oz. so next time you might want to measure the amount you put in your jumbo mug.  You know who you are.  In any case, it might be wise to switch to decaffeinated so that when you utilize caffeine as a pre-workout stimulant, you actually feel the effects and it can improve your workout.  I only use caffeine when I absolutely need to and the results have been great.  I take in about 50-70 mg pre-workout and I can feel the effects now.  Before, when I was consuming 200-250 mg of caffeine a day I would have felt nothing off of 50-70 mg.  Like any stimulant, you will need to cycle it every 2-3 weeks if you want to keep feeling the effect.  Otherwise you will continue to increase more and more caffeine until it has no effect on you at all.

Tip:  Gradually lower your caffeine to reduce withdrawal effects by using "half-caf" coffee, pouring half cup of coffee and half water, or switching to green tea (usually around 20-30 mg of caffeine in one cup compared to 80-100 mg in coffee).  Comprehensive list of caffeine in various drinks here.  Also, VERY interesting to note for all you Starbucks junkies.  Pay particular attention to paragraph 3.  I mean wow!!

That's all for now, time for some cardio.  One simple YES could change your life forever..

Your diet isn't working?? SURPRISE!

For those of you who don't know, I am a Sagittarius so catch on to sarcasm or find a new blog to follow.  Some call it rude, I call it real!  But that's just me so on to the topic today..

COMMITMENT!

 
Ok not THAT kind of commitment but it is kind of funny.  I am talking about commitment to your plan.  You individual plan for fitness.  For some it could be as simple as going to gym three times a week and "watching what you eat."  For other like me, it is more of a strict regimen of counting and measuring foods down to the gram and hitting the gym twice a day for very specific, rigorous workouts to achieve an optimal physique.  Then again I recognize we aren't all freaks.  My point is this, we commit to things we want (desire not need) such as homes, cars, and jelly of the month memberships for YEARS.  If you own a 1997 Ford Taurus that slightly resembles a demolition derby car and has mileage approaching a nice income you would dream of having then you probably wouldn't say something like this:  "You know what, I am going to buy a brand new 2013 Dodge Charger and I'm going to go on the 8 week plan to pay it off."  That's right 8 weeks is all you are committing to the car and then it is yours to keep.  Sadly, that isn't how it works.  If you want that car and you are in with the majority of the population in the working middle class, you have to commit to that car for YEARS.

Along the same lines, let's consider the gym.  Why do the majority of gyms not sell 3 month memberships?  I know there are some out there, but let's consider the majority.  Two reasons here:  first, gyms want to maximize longevity of memberships to ensure profit (it's a business), but second the gym knows that if by some miracle you actually DO utilize your membership you will need longer than three months to actually experience RESULTS.  And results = retention = revenue (again, it's a business).

So here is the questions I pose to you.  Have you ever committed to a diet or workout plan for 1 YEAR with at least 90% adherence?  Let's be honest!  Before you answer consider this hypothetical situation.

AVERAGE JANE
Diet plan: Zone Diet
Duration: 6 months
Cheats: She always followed the diet 100% every week so on Saturday's she would go out and treat herself.  But back to strict diet on Sunday.  Also in the 6 month time frame was her birthday, one random day of weakness each month (LADIES!) and some major holiday so that's another 9 days of cheating (1 for your birthday because you HAVE to have a drink, 6 "weak" days in 6 months, and 2 for the holiday because you CAN'T eat healthy when family is in town).

Math:
Let me break it down for you since most don't like math.
6 months =  approx. 180 days
24 Saturdays + 1 birthday + 6 "weak" days + 2 holiday cheat days = 33 cheat days

AVERAGE JANE cheats 33/180 days or about 18% of the time.

This means she stuck to her diet 82% of the time.  Psh just another example of Americans putting out "C" effort and expecting an "A+" result!

But I don't know WHY my diet isn't working?!

But let's look at the bright side.  I know many of you were reading that and thinking, wow that is  just like me.  Good news is this, if you are 82% effective, you are MUCH more effective than the majority. And, you WILL see positive changes OVER TIME.  How much time will be totally dependent on how long you stick to it.  Most people would be inclined to give up completely after 6 months if they only saw 10 pounds of fat loss because hey, it's only 10 pounds right?!  But in reality, that 10 pounds could be 15-25 pounds if they were 95-99% effective.

In conclusion, what I want you to take away is that it is less important what you are doing, but rather your consistency.  Don't waste your time on cookie-cutter, fad diets.  Do your research.  Your individual "diet" will be one that is about you finding what foods and in what combinations work for YOU.  Find a plan that works, one that you can maintain, and STICK to it.  Fad diets will come in and out of popularity and you will no doubt experiment with different things.  How do you know that your plan isn't working unless you adhere for an amount of time such as a whole year?  You will never know until you try.

What are my recommendations??  Well you have to keep reading to get more info on that but if you have scrolled through my blogs you will see that I generally consume a diet high in lean protein with balanced carbohydrates and fats.  Keep in mind, I use carbohydrates to FUEL and REFEED workouts (rather strenuous ones at that) so if you aren't hitting the gym very often and lead a relatively sedentary lifestyle, you should probably limit your carbohydrate intake, especially complex, high calorie sources i.e. bread, pasta, cereals, rice.

Remember, consistency and commitment are the keys to building the body you want in your nutrition and gym programs.  So grind it out, and don't sweat the small stuff.  Get 1% better every day, that is what it is all about.  One simple YES could change your life forever!

HIIT Cardio: Maximize Your Fat Burn

Let's explore a little further...what is HIIT?  How long?  What intensity?  Why should I do it?

What is HIIT:
I have answered before what HIIT is but to refresh:  High Intensity Interval Training.  Before you scoff and say "I can't do HIGH INTENSITY I am just a beginner," hear me out.  This type of cardio can be done by anyone because it is based on your individual tolerance.  I recommend that you get yourself an inexpensive heart rate monitor and use that to track your progress unless you are one of those freaks like me who judges based on feeling like throwing up!

Duration:
You only need 20-30 minutes to perform you intervals.  They will be short in duration, with each interval lasting approximately 60-90 seconds.  You can alternate work intervals and rest periods until you reach your total time.  The rest period should be long enough for your heart rate to return to 60-75% of your max heart rate or in simple terms, you become "conversational" again.  If you still feel like you can't talk then your heart hasn't recovered enough.  TIP:  Make sure you have some motivational music on for those work intervals to get you really moving!

Mode:
Many have asked what is the best machine for me to use for cardio?  Well the answer is there is no answer.  You can perform HIIT cardio machines such as the elliptical, treadmill, spinning bike, stair mill, or stair stepper, or you can also swim or do sprints outside.  No matter your preference of mode of exercise, you should be able to perform HIIT cardio.  As long as you are taking your heart rate up for a period of time and then letting it recover, you are doing it.  Many bootcamps are run as a HIIT cardio type of routine (and you could argue P90X and Insanity are variations of HIIT).

I like to do HIIT on the elliptical that has the arm movement incorporated so I use my total body.  In the following picture you can see my calorie burn in only 25 minutes.  I set the resistance to 10 (out of 20) and used the intervals on a program to keep track of time.  I alternated 1 minute of work with 1 minute of rest for 20 minutes with a 2.5 minute warmup and cooldown.  On the work minutes I kept the RPM around 85-90 (bustin it!) and on the rest I just tried to keep moving.

25 minute HIIT on elliptical calorie burn

Finally, I wanted to show you all my breakfast today.  I am switching things up a bit and trying organic wheat bran in the morning instead of oats.  It will take some getting used to (I love oats!) but let me give you some reasoning.

Organic Wheat Bran (1/2 cup):  20 g carb (14 g fiber), 0 g fat, 4 g protein, 60 kcal

Whole Grain Oats (1/2 cup):  27 g carb (4 g fiber), 2.5 g fat, 5 g protein, 150 kcal

You could also sub an oat bran as well.  Consider switching to an organic bran over the "whole grain." Basically you are getting the part of the grain that contains the best source of insoluble fiber.  Insoluble fiber is good for keeping the digestive system working properly and giving you the extra "roughage" you need.  I would say that most out there are not taking in enough fiber, so this is a great way to up your intake.

Here is my breakfast:

1/2 cup Organic Wheat Bran (cooked with water)

1 packet Truvia

1/2 Tbs. 100% natural cacao

1 scoop whey protein (peanut butter flavor)

Dunkin' Donuts French Vanilla roast with 1 packet Truvia...delish!

Gets my day started right and kills the chocolate craving!

Keep the comments coming because they fuel the content!  I love to hear what you guys think.  One simple YES could change your life forever..

A peek inside my kitchen..

I did just get back from the pool so lookin' rough..





Hope this answered some questions!  As always remember, one simple YES could change your life forever!

Real Life RESULTS

Finally convinced my client Markita to give me some before photos.  She was even blown away by her transformation!  Just to give you a little background, when I first met her she was very reluctant about trusting me.  I mean what do I know I just have a couple degrees, a couple certs, and years of experience..pshhh..  Ok enough kidding around.  She followed my advice for nutrition and this is the result of working with me on NUTRITION ALONE.  I repeat, we have not trained a session together. We are going to start very soon, I just had to get some pounds off her to get her to trust me :)

But we are getting there...

Hard work pays off.  Remember one simple YES could change your life forever..

All About Cardioooooooo

I have some time to kill at the airport so I thought I would answer a question I often get from clients..

Liz, what should i do for cardio?

?????

There a couple different options for you.  First let me reiterate that you SHOULD BE LIFTING WEIGHTS.  Any questions about what is the best exercise for fat loss should see earlier post "Cardio or Weight Training???" but just I will save you some reading and say WEIGHT TRAINING.  But yes cardiovascular training otherwise known as moving, cardioooooo, or taking the stairs is important for cardiovascular health, endurance, and maintaining stamina as you age (hint, hint).

He needs to work on those chicken legs!

There are three main points I want to make about cardio, an emphasis on intensity, duration, and frequency.  Mode of exercise is much, much less important than many so called "fitness gurus" make it out to be.  You should perform the type of exercise that you enjoy doing, otherwise the odds of you doing it are pretty slim.  If you enjoy walking, you should walk not run.  If you enjoy a spin bike, you should spin not run.  Not that have anything against running, just that most people absolutely destroy their body by overtraining.  If you are interested in a more specific running program, message me directly.  That's all the time I will spend on that.

There are two paths you can take.  You can go low intensity or high.  If you choose low, that is fine but it will impact your duration.  I define low intensity as exercise during which you break a sweat but you are still able to have a conversation.  For most people, this will be about 50-65% of your heart rate max (220-age).  My low intensity exercise consists of walking on the treadmill at full incline and speed 2.5-3 mph for 45-60 minutes.  I do the incline to emphasize the glutes but for many beginners this incline might kick you into a moderate intensity so find a good baseline and work your way up.

My favorite image that describes why moderate training is NOT a good way to exercise:

Moderate intensity vs. HIIT

If you choose high intensity, you best bet will be high intensity interval training (otherwise known as HIIT).  HIIT consists of short, high intensity bursts of activity followed by rest periods.  You can achieve this in a number of modes of exercise.  Often people get caught up in thinking sprints are the only way you can achieve HIIT, but this is not the case.  You can perform interval training while swimming, cycling, or even performing short circuit exercises such as burpees (AKA updowns or get in push up position then stand up and jump).  For beginners, start out with a 20 second interval followed by a 1 minute rest.  You should aim for 20 minutes of interval training when you first start out and you may build up to 30 minutes.  The best part about interval training?  You can do it in your living room.  If you need a burpee tutorial call me and we will set that up!

For duration, you should perform low intensity for a minimum of 30 minutes.  The reason is that you want to get into fat-burning mode and it takes longer.  Your best bet is to build up to 45-60 minutes of low intensity cardio.  For HIIT, you can get great workouts in only 20 minutes.  HIIT should be performed no more than twice per week unless you are an athlete training for a specific event.  I know the Olympics are coming up, but don't get any crazy ideas and get hurt because that will only kill your fitness goals.

One more point I want to make about timing.  If it is possible, perform your low intensity cardio in the morning upon waking BEFORE BREAKFAST.  The reason is this:  get your body burning fat and activate the metabolism right when you wake up.  Do NOT do HIIT before breakfast.  Your body cannot handle high intensity exercise without being properly fueled but you should be able to handle low intensity on the stores you have.  If you don't have time to go to the gym then power walk the dog for 30 minutes.  You both will benefit.  And if you don't want to wake up 30 minutes earlier than normal you should analyze how important your goals are.  Try to wait 30 minutes after you exercise to eat breakfast.  Walk the dog, get ready for work/school, then eat your healthy breakfast and you will be ready to tackle the day and be well on your way to hitting your goal.

In summary, your weekly cardio might look something like this:

Monday: Incline Treadmill 30 minutes AM
Tuesday: HIIT on the bike 20 minutes PM
Wednesday: Walking outside 30 minutes AM
Thursday: HIIT (burpees, jumping jacks, squats) PM - in the your living room
Friday: Walking stairs 30 minutes PM
Saturday: staying active
Sunday: staying active


It may not seem like a lot of cardio to some of you that have been told you need to kill it every day for hours upon hours.  If you follow a clean, healthy diet and lift weights you will not need to do obscene amounts of cardio to lose weight.


One simple YES could change your life forever..

FOR WOMEN ONLY! Men Have Been Warned...

Annnnnnnnnnndddddd I'm BACK!  Whew thanks again Apple for being the absolute best company in the world and saving my laptop :)

Men have been warned, this post pertains to women!  Although if you are smart, you might continue reading and gain some very useful insight that might save your life one day...

In light of some recent requests and speaking with women in my life, I have come to the conclusion that many sources of information regarding health and fitness ignore a topic that should be covered.  Maybe it is due to more men writing fitness articles than women, but I am going to go out on that limb and talk about all kinds of controversial topics so here we go.  Periods, menstrual cycles, mother nature, that "time of the month," or whatever you want to call it.  Let's just get it out in the open.  We (women) all have them, at least most of us do.  The reason I bring it up is that often it affects workouts with female clients and I know there are those of you out there who just can't workout for 3-5 days every month.

First, make every effort you can to continue to get moving and get your workouts in.  The key here is increasing BLOODFLOW.  Which, now that I type it, may seem counterproductive but let me explain. When you lay on the couch in the fetal position because you feel like your insides are being ripped out of your body, all you can feel is the pain.  If you can bring yourself to take the dog for a walk, your internal bloodflow will begin to redirect to working muscles, and also your uterus.  This sets off a cascade of effects resulting in released "good feeling" endorphins, reduced cramps, and elevated mood. If your mood and fatigue improve, then so will everyone else's in your life..

I do realize that some of you girls reading this may think there is no way you can exercise.  The pain is just too intense.  For this, I am going to suggest a different remedy.  There does exist a solution to the inconvenience of a heavy menstrual flow and/or cramping.  This remedy is not coming from a doctor and I recommend anyone to consult their physician before trying any new vitamins or supplements.  In other words, I am just sharing what works for me!

As most of you know, I do take a number of vitamins daily to improve my health and workouts, and supplement my diet.  However, on the first day of the month that I feel symptoms start, I start a specific vitamin cocktail that saves my butt and allows me to keep rocking my workouts.  I take this one time a day for the duration of the cycle (usually 4-6 days).

-------******** I AM NOT A DOCTOR! ******** ---------

WOMEN'S MONTHLY COCKTAIL:
200 IU Vitamin E
8000 IU Vitamin A
50 mg Zinc
18 mg Iron (note: I always take 18 mg of iron daily but I take an additional one with the cocktail)

-------******** THIS IS NOT A PRESCRIPTION! *******-----------
-------******** INSERT OTHER DISCLAIMER HERE!******------

Now, I am going to give credit where credit is due.  My client Angel gave me the tip of taking these vitamins TOGETHER.  I was taking zinc, iron, and E but not together and vitamin A only occasionally.  Please, please, please be careful with vitamin A as it is very toxic when taken for a long duration.  Vitamin E and A are both fat-soluble vitamins, meaning that the are not excreted through water-soluble means such as urine and can build up in the body quickly.  So as soon as you are done with your monthly cycle, I recommend you go back to your regularly scheduled vitamins.  I also take other vitamins and I continue with those like normal.

All things considered, I encourage you to give a shot and see if it helps you out.  The more excuses you can eliminate for getting your workouts in the better!  Remember, one simple YES could change your life forever..

For more info on VITAMINS:
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/vitamins.html

Cardio or Weight training???

I have to address this as many people often ask me which type of exercise is best for them based on condition x, y, z, etc.

Excuses (as I so gently label them):
"I only have 30 minutes.."
"I only have a treadmill in my basement.."
"Lifting heavy weights is hard..."
"I don't really want to gain muscle.."
"I just want to lose weight.."
And my personal favorite:  "I don't want to get bulky."

Okaaaaaayyyyy.  Brace yourself.  If you only have time for one type of exercise choose WEIGHT LIFTING (resistance training).  It works 100% of the time every time.  Get it?  Now for the ladies, don't worry.  Resistance training encompasses everything from dumbbells and barbells to resistance bands and plyometric training.  Any situation in which the body is placed under a load, be it from gravity or a weighted object, you are participating in weight training.  And NO you will not get bulky, unless of course you are injecting something I don't know about.  If you are not taking anything synthetic and you get bulky I will be making you rich anyways because you are a freak of nature and you will be the next bodybuilding champion with endorsements from every meathead supplement company this side of the Atlantic ocean.  Just sayin.

This lady lifts weights!!!!

And so does she!!

I don't see much wrong with the way they look and I am sure you don't either.  But that isn't what most women do.  Instead when I go to the gym, this is mostly what I see:

And usually she is more out of shape than this lady!

This usually goes on for rows and rows... and I have to wonder what juice these people are drinking.  Next time you go in the gym, look in the free weight section of the gym.  Then look at the cardio section.  What do you notice about the people?  I guarantee you more tone, in shape people are LIFTING WEIGHTS.  "But I am not in good enough shape yet to lift weights.."  Well do you use the toilet?  Oh you do?!  Guess what: you squat.  Do you ever pick something up that is dead weight off the ground?  Guess what: you deadlift.  Do you ever lay on the ground and then have to get up?  Guess what: you do a version of a Turkish get-up.  Look at you all rocking advanced moves and stuff.

I am a little hard on cardio aren't I?  Ok yes it is good for your "cardiovascular health" to move around. And if you need a machine to make you move then go ahead and hop on the treadmill.  Like this guy...

I swear I didn't make this up.

Yes that's right.  A treadmill with wheels...not to be confused with...THE GROUND.  If someone actually made money off this invention there may be no hope for humanity.  To me, when I go in gyms and see people on cardio I see this:

Makes sense when you think about it.  We made boxes for us to go inside to move.  There's a whole world out there and we need to get back to using it!

Ok I'm off my soap box.  Moral is this: do some resistance training and get off your butt and move!  Do whatever is fun for you as long as you move, but if you only have room, time, energy, money for one, make it resistance training.  You will increase your EPOC (excess post-exercise oxygen consumption) and burn more calories throughout the day as well as increasing strength, flexibility, and stamina.  You will increase blood flow to your muscles, increase insulin sensitivity, increase lean body mass, increase bone density, increase HDL, and increase your basal metabolic rate.  Your blood pressure, LDL, cholesterol, and body fat will all decrease.  Not to get too scientific on you but in summary, it will help you REACH YOUR FITNESS GOALS faster than any other mode of exercise.

In other news, tonight I made a fantastic Mexican frittata and because I am awesome I will share.  The prep and cook time takes about 15-30 minutes depending on if you use a food processor.  My ingredients included eggs, almond milk, lean ground beef, spinach, peppers, onions, mushrooms, bok choy, and cilantro.  I threw it all over some eggs and almond milk (to give it some consistency) and cooked on medium.  Great thing about this recipe is it is packed with lots of colorful veggies and low-carb so good for the evening.  Time to take this puppy for a walk...remember as always, one simple YES could change your life forever..

Ingredients prepped and ready to go..

Everything in the pan...

Ready to enjoy!

Obviously it was a hit...no I did not eat half by myself!

Grocery Shopping and Thoughts

Homemade Trail Mix = roasted unsalted
almonds, dried cranberries, sunflower seeds,
wasabi peas

Got some much needed grocery shopping done tonight!  Many times a grocery run happens on Wednesday and Sunday because it is always better to get that produce fresh!  On the list tonight included some ingredients for a homemade trail mix (recipe below), Greek yogurt, blueberries, ground turkey, lean ground beef, avocado, kale, bok choy, spinach, almond milk, eggs, peppers, zucchini, mushrooms, and EVOO.  Probably a few other things I left off too!  Believe it or not all that shopping included two stops in under an hour.  You gotta know where to go to get the best stuff!


The first few blogs I make I am going to give you a little more insight into my opinions.  I feel this is only fair to you to know how I am before you get too involved!  First, if I hear another person, public figure, famous trainer, news story, etc. about calorie counts I might implode.  If there is one thing you take from reading my blog, and this is evidenced above in my grocery list and you will see it in pictures, the best way to eat is SEED TO FEED.  If it grows from the ground or has a face it is fair game for grub as far as I am concerned.

Frozen yogurt blueberries = dip berries in plain
Greek yogurt (mix yogurt with cinnamon
 and Truvia)

To prove my point, what do you think would be more healthy in this situation:  a 6 oz. cut of sirloin beef (we can even say it's local grassfed!) or a veggie burger that comes from a box.  Now hold on.  If we count calories, a veggie burger is going to run about 200ish calories and that juicy sirloin more than likely doubles the calories and fat of the veggie burger.  So what should you eat?  Well, here is where I might be too controversial for your liking.  I say: EAT THE STEAK.  Why??  The steak is as you were intended to eat it...cut right from something with a face.  The veggie burger is made of veggies....and preservatives, fillers, "natural flavorings," and whatever else fell on the conveyor belt during production.  The fact is this: a calorie is not a calorie.  Your body does not tolerate preservatives and artificial flavorings produced in the lab the same way it breaks down the natural animal protein found in the steak.  Even though the steak trumps the veggie burger in the calorie department, I go with the steak 10 times out of 10.  Real always beats out fake in many areas in life.  Stick to natural foods and you will be well on your way to a healthier you.

As always remember, one simple YES could change your life forever...

Welcome to SBS Nutrition and Fitness!!!

Hello there!  Wow this has been a long time coming and let me say...I am so HAPPY that this moment has finally come. SBS Nutrition and Fitness is up and running and live for you to view!  Be sure to check back often as I will be making updates to the page often and you will see many new options on the page.  Be sure to subscribe to updates as this page will be a GREAT SOURCE for all your nutrition and fitness info.  My goal for now (due to life being hectic as a new start-up!) is to add some new content at least twice per week.  As always, I appreciate comments, concerns, questions, and criticisms!  That being said...

WHO IS EXCITED FOR SUMMER?!  I know this girl is and you can be certain that I will be keeping you up to date and summer workouts.  It is bikini season and time to break out the two piece and show off how hard you worked this winter!  As for me, no more cold winters to pack on the "winter weight" so I will be keeping the bikini shape all year long!

That's all for now because I have a workout to get to!  And if I didn't get it in that would make me one heck of a hypocrite wouldn't it??!!