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5/1/2008 |
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First off
let me say that if you ever find yourself with time to waste or simply bored
head over to http://break.com. It is filled
with hysterical videos & pictures that for the most part are only mildly
inappropriate. It was on Break.com that I found the following picture so now
on to our story.... I get a
lot of "Curves" refugees. So for the most part I am glad they are
there. They are what they are, and if you are a Curves devotee than good for
you- I applaud your effort. I know that for some people it is just what the
doctor ordered (sometimes literally). Just because I think that it is a
wussifed version of what a workout should be, well it is just my opinion. And
as you know opinions are just like, well you know. No matter
my thoughts on the Curves workout philosophy apparently they can do something
I cannot - lighten you. Literally.
This is an
actual photo from a box of Curves Honey Crunch cereal. Notice the belly and
head do not match. I guess "...take it off and keep it off" means
your color. She seems to be happy about it anyway. Many have speculated that
since there is no belly button that It should
also be said that the cereal itself is crap. Below is the nutritional label.
45 carbs per cup. Who eats only one cup? It is a high carb cereal just like
all the rest. I'm sure it tastes great. I'm sure I could plow through a box
in no time. But a good fat loss cereal - I think not.
It seems I
am going all over the place on this one but lets think for a sec: carbs are a
fuel source. Body fat is a fuel source. When fat loss is the goal why would
your body choose to burn its stored energy reserves (bodyfat) when Yummy Honey Crunch
is being funneled down your pie hole? Your body strives for efficiency. It
will always choose the energy source that offers the least amount of effort
to access. In this case we are talking about Curves Duo-Tone Crunch. You see body
fat is relatively hard to access and digested carbs relatively easy. This is
why your body will always choose the path of least resistance. When
putting together your fat loss nutrition program you need to make bodyfat the
preferred energy source for your body. It takes some work, but your nutrition
is completely under your control so make smart decisions. Hopefully good
decisions will lead you to products that will not make your belly a different
color than your face. Got
questions - Ask.
PS: This
has been posted on my Blog for a few days. Let me say the Curves crowd are a
vocal and hardy group. I have a new found respect for their dedication to
bettering peoples lives.
As some of
you may know, in the beginning of April I was forced to close my North
Hollywood location. It was what I call a perfect storm of events, but the
bottom line is my lease was up and the owner of the building was selling it,
which meant I had to go. It was a
very sad thing (to say the least) for me to close the gym that I love. It was
my first gym and I had worked my butt off to make it a great place to workout
for 6 years. But things happen and it was time to move on. The good
news is I have a great nearby place to train the clients (although I do not
own it). West Hills is running strong and I have a butt load of time left on
my lease. I was in
the process of cleaning out the place when something unbelievable happened:
We were robbed. Late on the night of Wednesday the 23rd someone took 99% of
our mirrors and the 1% they left, they broke.
They took
the rubber flooring and the locker room floor tiles. They also took a
wheelbarrow. Basically anything that was not tied down. Thankfully the vast
majority of my stuff (equipment, office stuff etc.) had been removed the week
prior. It is
unfortunate that my last memory of the gym will be seeing it in that violated
state. I just don't have the words. I will try
to keep positive and not let the actions of a cowardly thief cloud my
memories of the 6 amazing years I spent there. It is now in the hands of the
police. There was a witness and there were finger prints, but I am not
holding my breath. I am a
firm believer in Karma and what goes around comes around. I am fine,
and no one was hurt. All they took was stuff. Replaceable stuff. They cannot
take my drive and determination- that is mine and will be with me forever.
Whoever it was can go on hurting people, and I will go on helping - I will
not be deterred.
In life
there will always be set backs. Do not let them define you. Like the saying
goes - "If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you
could possibly imagine." or for you non- Star Wars fans what does not
kill you will only make you stronger. So the
joke is on you, thief - I am now stronger than before.
Smart
trainers have long known that there are differences when you train men versus
women. Most studies have used men and assumed the results would transfer over
to women. Not necessarily the case.
While men
and women are *mostly* the same physiologically (certain exceptions
immediately come to mind) turns out there are some important differences
below the surface. I just read an interesting article in MSNBC about
the current research and findings regarding gender differences in training
effects. There is
obvious stuff like men are stronger, but the really fascinating stuff is what
is happening hormonally. Men and women have the same hormones, but at very
different levels. A key difference is men have much more testosterone and
women have much more estrogen. This stacks the deck in men's favor. From
MSNBC:
Yikes.
That means that a woman has to work that much harder to trick her body into
losing body fat. This confirms what many trainers have seen for years. The
research is now coming out to back up what we have been seeing in the gym-
women just get the short end of the stick. For men it
is much easier (not easy, just easiER).
The high testosterone levels in men help build and maintain muscle. Muscle
increases metabolism, a higher metabolism means more calories burned per day
which leads to more fat loss. Women just have less testosterone. That throws
a wrench into things.
That is
just not fair. So why not just give women testosterone? This is why:
Yes that
is a woman. In all seriousness testosterone treatments in much lower dosages
have been tried, but there's just no way to avoid the negative effects (ie
masculinization) completely. It is simply not a feasible solution. Fear not.
The above is only part of the bigger picture. There is a lot more to fat loss
and fitness than just estrogen and testosterone. Sets, reps, rest periods,
exercise selection, intensity, workout duration are just some of the training
parameters that can be tweaked for individualized and even gender specific
fat loss programs. . Science
geeks continue their quest to research all conceivable aspects of
trainingExercise geeks like me can use the information we have available now
to create drastic changes in body composition while taking into account the
hormonal differences in the genders. As the
research continues the training programs and results will only get better. It
is always refreshing when research actually has a real-world application. If you
want a personalized fitness program let me know, I can help. Free Body
Diagnostics Evaluations are available. Joshua
Carter, CPT Backward Fitness As you can
imagine, I hear a ton of excuses from people on why they don't
exercise. Be Excellent The
most important aspect in becoming and staying fit is to be persistent. You
can exercise every day for a week, but if you follow that week with a month
of no exercise then you've lost all ground. Find an exercise program that you
are able to consistently do and then stick with it. In the words of
Aristotle, "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an
act, but a habit." Simple Spaghetti Squash
Nutritional
Analysis:
One serving equals: 42 calories, 0g fat, 10g carbohydrate, 2g fiber, and 1g
protein. |
Joshua
Carter The Body
Transformation Expert 818-337-6175 Successes
Blog I have a
new blog. Yippee! I know, I know. When you just can’t get
enough of me drop by and see what I am up to or what I am doing or just come
by and heckle me. Don't know what a blog is? It is basically a newsletter that
is updated regularly. I have been posting every few days or
so. Check it out: |
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Email: joshua@carterfitness.com |
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![03apr23-black-face-white-gut[1]](http://carterfitness.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/03apr23-black-face-white-gut1.jpg)
![img0010_bg[1]](http://carterfitness.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/img0010-bg1.jpg)
![marsvenusmantegna[1]](http://carterfitness.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/marsvenusmantegna1.jpg)
![547583.1106163005698.nogi2[1]](http://carterfitness.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/5475831106163005698nogi21.jpg)
![HP3D7629[1]](http://carterfitness.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/hp3d76291.jpg)
Spaghetti squash is one of the easiest
vegetables to prepare without adding fat in the cooking process. Each squash
is filled with folic acid, potassium, vitamin A, and beta carotene - and best
of all it is a low calorie food. 
