Ambassador of Wellness

When I imagined that I would be skating in rollerderby, I didn't necessarily imagine that I would be blocking every body hit & skating with the fluid moves of a butterfly: zipping in & out of other girls around me. I guess I thought that it might be a little difficult at first, but with a little time & stick-to-it-ness, I'd be okay. After I invested in all of my equipment, I certainly felt the pressure to make it work. But after 8 weeks of skating 2-3 times per week, neither did I imagine that I would lose my balance & fall when I was just standing on my skates!

I'm completely in awe of my coaches, Sparkle Plenty & Devil Grrl. They're both so at ease on their skates. When Sparkle talks, she "paces" in her skates - backwards, forwards, sideways... it's as if her skates are part of her body. When I was telling Gary about how at ease she is, he reminded me of a topic that I cover in my Corporate Wellness Speaker Series: the Stages of Competency.

He said, "She's unconsciously competent."

Yeah - she is.

It made me think about learning new skills and how difficult it can be. It doesn't matter if that new skill is roller skating, or recycling, learning a new language, changing your eating habits (cooking, limiting processed foods, choosing organic or local foods), or exercising. It doesn't matter - changing behavior is difficult.

The first stage that we encounter is Unconscious Incompetence; we don't know what we don't know. This is usually when we get the idea to do something. "I want to learn Chinese!" We have no idea what it takes to become competent at that skill.

The second stage is Conscious Incompetence. This stage is HUGE & so important in changing behavior. At this point, we start to see how much we don't know. It becomes overwhelming. We know what we're supposed to be doing, yet, we're unable to make it happen. This stage is also known as the Valley of Despair.

If you're starting a new habit, I think it's important to know that you are in this stage. This is the part where we tend to give up on that new skill - lapsing back into our old ways because it's too difficult to continue. If you knew that you were on the cusp of things getting easier, you might not give up. And it does get easier in the next stage.

Once you pass through the Conscious Incompetence stage, you start to get the hang of things in the Consciously Competent stage. There's still a lot of attention focused on the activity; you're thinking about every movement you make, every decision is deliberate & calculated, however, you're starting to see successes. You think to yourself "I can do this!" and you are doing it.

Be careful when you are in the Conscious Competence stage, as you may go back and forth to consciously incompetence. It can be frustrating, but if you keep your initial motivations for starting the behavior in mind, you can be successful.

What we're ultimately striving for is the fourth stage: Unconscious Competence (aka: Sparkle on her skates) some of the things that we do that are unconscious competence are driving, tying our shoes, typing.

Try to remember when you were learning a new skill: cooking, using the Internet or Windows for the first time (did I just show my age?) or learning a second language. Remember how it was uncomfortable and confusing. You made a lot of mistakes. Somehow though, through practice & time, it became more comfortable; and now, something that was so difficult is easy. It's second nature.

So, the next time you find yourself frustrated & find yourself thinking, "Why don't I just give up? It was easier to do it the old way." Give yourself some slack. Learning a new habit/skill is difficult. Stick to it, keep your motivation in mind, and with time & practice it will all click.

You've seen the titles of books & magazine headlines: "Fat Burning Foods"; "Eat More to Weigh Less" and it goes on & on. So what are these articles & books trying to teach us? THey're trying to get us to use the Thermic Effect of Food (TEF) to burn more calories, and yes, it does work.

Thermic Effect of Food Defined: "the increment in energy expenditure above resting metabolic rate due to the cost of processing food for storage and use" or, the number of calories our bodies use in eating.

Yes, we burn calories by eating.

NancySBrandt: I'm thinking this #bodybugg thing might be too good to be true. How can I have 747 calorie deficit after eating fast food for two meals?

bodybugg: @NancySBrandt Ucould eat donuts all day &still hv a calorie deficit! it doesn't mean tht it's a good thing. Uburn fewr K digesting fast food

I had the above conversation on Twitter & when I was looking through my blog posts to refer her to a resource, I realized that I had never written about the Thermic Effect of Food - even though I talk about it all the time.

Starting at the beginning, we consume calories through 3 macronutrients: Protein, Carbohydrates, and Fat. Macronutrients are compounds that we need on a large scale. Micronutrients (minerals and vitamins) are compounds that we need on a smaller scale (milligrams versus grams).

Each gram of Protein & Carbohydrate contain (roughly) 4 calories. Each gram of Fat contains 9 calories and each gram of alcohol (not a macronutrient, but a source of calories) contains 7 calories.

Your body uses about 3% of fat calories to convert that fat into energy. So, out of every 100 calories of fat consumed, you really take in 97.

Your body uses anywhere from 7 - 20% (more on this later) of carbohydrate calories to convert your carbohydrates into energy. So, out of every 100 calories of carbs ingested, you really consume 80 - 93.

Now protein is where things get interesting; your body uses 30% of protein's calories in processing those calories. Therefore, out of every 100 calories of protein consumed, you really only get the energy from 70.

In addition to the post I wrote on water weight, you can now see why folks who adopt a high protein diet drop weight very effectively for the same calorie burn:

1. Their body is using more of the calories consumed to process the food
2. Their body isn't storing the water along with the carbohydrates previously consumed

Refined Carbs vs. Carb Thermic Effect

So, I'd like to revisit my earlier statement that the thermic effect of carbohydrates ranges anywhere from 7 - 20%. Why is there such a discrepancy? It really has to do with the thermic effect of processed foods & refined grains.

When food manufacturers process foods, they make it easier for your body to absorb those calories; your body doesn't have to work as hard to convert the carbohydrates to energy that your body can use. Some of the ways that they "process" foods are:

• polishing off the bran (outer layer) of grains. The bran is filled with vitamins, minerals, and fiber - but it can add a tougher texture to foods
• adding chemicals to change the food's appearance, flavor, texture & generally trying to make food more appealing (visually, mouth feel, or taste)
• adding chemicals & other products to extend the food's shelf life (butter vs. partially hydrogenated oil, i.e.:trans-fat)
• substituting cheaper versions of similar products to produce the same result (sugar vs. high fructose corn syrup)

Identify processed foods in the grocery store by reading the ingredient list. If the ingredient list is either longer than a 1/2 inch, or has ingredients listed that you have no idea (how to pronounce or) what they are, it is a processed food.

One of the biggest changes that I see my clients make in their health is by switching to better quality foods, or raw food ingredients. By simply making this change, and not changing anything else about diet (portions), your body will start shedding weight, and you'll start feeling better.

@dasschus ? for the week: do you burn more calories if you have something to eat first? Went on hike but past lunch & was hungry. on same hike after eating picnic bodybugg said I burned more calories. So does fueling up before exer. burn more calories?

This question is a hotly debated topic among the fitness community: do you exercise on an empty stomach or not? The current theory is that when you perform cardiovascular exercise on an empty stomach, you'll burn more calories from fat than you would if you ate prior to performing the same cardiovascular exercise. The rationalization is that while you're sleeping, your body uses up all of the reserve energy in your muscles & when you wake, your body has no choice other than to use the body's fat reserves to create energy.

Let's evaluate the pros & cons.

Pros

• Exercising on an empty stomach burns a larger percentage of calories from fat (versus carbohydrate) - but it's really a small percentage
• Depending on the intensity of exercise performed, your stomach may feel better while empty

Cons

• Exercising when your muscles are depleted may not allow you to exercise at your optimal intensity
• Exercising when your muscles are depleted may not allow you to exercise as long as you possibly could

There are few rules that are gospel across all people. This rule is no exception. I feel nauseous if I exercise within 2 hours of eating, and what I've learned is that my body is very good at maintaining it's energy stores; I don't feel my blood sugar drop like many folks do, my body (and brain) performs very well on low carbohydrate diets. I acknowledge that not everyone's body works the same as mine. [reference blog post You Are What You Eat]

So, to answer the question, a few things may be a factor here:

1. possibly you had more energy after the picnic & therefore moved more vigorously
2. perhaps you were perspiring more because the outside temperature rose, which would register a higher calorie burn too
3. and although it's possible, perhaps the Thermic Effect of Food  had something to add to the rise in calorie burn

Great Questions! Keep 'em Coming!

There's been a TON of discussion recently about Heart Rate Monitors (HRM) & the Bodybugg: The bodybugg should have one... Why doesn't the bodybugg have one?... an HRM can do the same thing as a bodybugg at a fraction of the cost...  and so on. So, I'd like to address some of the questions about Heart Rate & the Bodybugg.

Heart Rate Monitors

HRMs can range from $60 - 400. The most basic will tell time & HR. More sophisticated ones may also track GPS location, calories burned, speed, & allow you to upload the data to a website to look at it, and may keep history of several previous "files" (or workouts). I used a HRM for years because it was the only tool available to tell me how many calories I burned when I exercised. However, I tried wearing it the entire day once had no luck as far as how many calories I had burned during the day. I can't remember HOW it was off, but I knew it was.

I found my HRM most useful when I started running; and today if anyone asks me about how to get started running, I will tell them to buy an HRM. HRMs are fantastic for running because one problem that many beginning runners have is that they want to run fast. What happens is that if the body isn't warmed up (by walking or running slowly), there won't be adequate blood flow to adequately produce oxygen to the working muscles. So, by using a HRM, a new runner can ensure that they're running slow enough by keeping their HR low enough.

Eventually, when I was trying to run longer distances, I also used my HRM. I configured it so that it would start beeping at my anaerobic threshold. [Here's a good explanation of anaerobic threshold] Simply put, your body can only run on the anaerobic threshold for short periods of time. After about 10 seconds of being in the anaerobic threshold, your muscles start burning (from lactic acid build-up) and you can no longer continue at the same level of effort. If I was running and heard my HRM start to beep, I immediately knew to slow down; if I kept running at that same speed, I wouldn't be able to continue for very long. By slowing down, I was able to run for a longer period of time & eventually built my endurance up to where I could run for 1 hour without stopping to walk.

For this purpose, I highly recommend Heart Rate Monitors. They're fantastic!

Time for Some Math

One of the questions that I get a lot is, "Where should my Heart Rate be when exercising?" The most common way of finding out your Target Heart Rate is to start with the Karnoven formula:

220-age=Maximum Heart Rate
Maximum Heart Rate - Resting Heart Rate = Range
Range x .55 (minimum intensity) + Resting Heart Rate = THR zone

Or you could just use this calculator. When performing steady state cardiovascular exercise, you want your heart rate to be ~70% of Maximum.

One of the biggest problems with HR is that it's a generic formula that much of the population won't follow. Everyone is different.  Additionally, many things affect an individual's heart rate: heat, stress, and medication just to name a few. The only way to truly find out what your maximum heart rate is, is to get a VO2 Max Test. Be aware that the results of this test will change as you become more fit. Folks who haven't exercised before aren't going to be able to exercise at the intensity that a seasoned athlete would be able to.

Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE)

For folks who are just starting to exercise, the Rate of Perceived Exertion Scale might be a better indicator. This scale is a rating from 1-10 & relies on the individual to determine intensity. Sitting, reading a book would be a level 1, walking is about 5, and sprinting (or anything you can do for only 30 seconds) would be a level 10.

The nice thing about RPE is that it pretty much lines up with Target Heart Rates. RPE 5 = 50% Maximum Heart Rate; RPE 7 = 70% MHR and so on. As a person becomes more fit, exercise becomes easier, and physically, their heart rate is lower doing that same exercise.

The Question

Okay, so all of that to answer this simple question:

@lalady29: Always worked out with HR monitor. None on bodybugg. How do you know how many cal/min you should burn?

The Bodybugg doesn't have a HRM. It doesn't need one. It has 4 sensors that determine calorie burn: motion, skin temperature, skin perspiration, and air temperature. Yes, it would be nice to have a HRM on the bodybugg (just so all of us data geeks out there don't need to exercise with a bunch of technology strapped to our bodies), but for the bodybugg to be 90% accurate, it doesn't need HR.

Lots of things influence my calorie burn: weight, how much muscle I have, gender, age, and again level of fitness. Because my husband and I are at different fitness levels and he's got about 90 lbs on me, we could go for a 30 minute walk & burn very different numbers of calories.

So, unfortunately @lalady29, I can't give you a direct answer to your question. Not only don't I have that information, but as we age, we can't exercise at the intensity that we could when we were younger.

Math Time Again

But, what I can point you to is a new term: Metabolic Equivalent (MET). You may have seen MET on a treadmill or other exercise machine. METs are based on your metabolism; the number of calories you burn at rest. METs are similar to RPE, so sitting quietly reading a book, would produce a MET of 1, walking=5 METs, and running = 10 METs.

To revisit the walking example of myself & my husband, Gary: I burn 1.1 calories per minute at rest. Gary burns 1.8. So walking at a MET level of 5 for 30 minutes, I would burn (1.1 x 5) = 5.5 (calories per minute) for 30 minutes (5.5 x 30) = 165 total calories. Gary would burn (1.8 x 5) = 9 (calories per minute) for 30 minutes (9 x 30) = 270 total calories. (I know - it's totally NOT fair!)

The Answer

The ultimate answer, @lalady29, depends on your aerobic capacity, and how much time you have. You probably want to exercise at a MET level of about 7 (same as your RPE), but ultimately it comes down to a question back to you: If you're not burning enough calories per day to satisfy your daily target, kick up the intensity. If you can't do it for very long, it's okay; your body will eventually adapt & if you keep trying, it will get easier.

Copyright Elizabeth Sherman. Purchase a Bodybugg through Elizabeth Sherman.

A few months ago Gary & I took a knife skills class at our local Whole Foods Culinary Institute. It was a FANTASTIC class! I cook a lot, and I knew that I wasn't doing some things properly. Also, I knew that I could be quicker when it came to slicing, dicing, chopping & mincing.

I highly recommend that if you haven't taken a knife skills class, that you should! It will make cooking MUCH easier & enjoyable.

One of the recipes that we made in class was this Jicama Orange Slaw (pictured). I just posted the recipe to my website. It's great for summer because it's light & refreshing. If you've never had Jicama before, it looks similar to a potato, but tastes like a cross between a potato & apple. You've probably had it in a salad before & never realized it.

Enjoy!

Yesterday, I posted an article about whether the Bodybugg is useful for fitness pros. It was spurred by a conversation on twitter with another personal trainer, out of Seattle, @Targettraining. He asked if he could post a response. Here it is:

Guest Post by Shayne P. Norton

In the small article I will discuss why the Bodybugg is not for everyone, and why would you want it. So there are many controversies about calories in versus calories out, fat loss and weight loss. Well I am here to tell you the difference and obsession with the people of today.

I have learned in my field of personal training that personal trainers will lie to you at a corporate gym due to the pressure of sales from the management. Trust me I have been there and done that, also if there is a personal trainer that has said that they haven’t I would not trust them. A lot of trainers also do not know much about nutrition as well, especially with gadgets like the Bodybugg out there. Equipment like that is more focused on weight loss instead of the main idea of a wellness coach or nutritional consultant, which should be what do you eat? Why and what times do eat? How often do eat? These are things that trainers lack now days. Did you know that most trainers now have a garbage certification or none at all? A lot of gym now will hire trainers without experience, and then just have them take a 40 hour class getting them an Apex certification or Bodybugg Certification and all these teach you are how to use the Bodybugg and sell the apex supplement line. That is not what people need these days, they should actually be explained on why the need to eat the right foods and how important it is to eat throughout the day. People with the Bodybugg do seem to do a few things one is not entering everything that they have eaten so in that way the Bodybugg is not useful if you do not enter everything, and another is they become so OCD on having a calorie loss that they constantly have the calorie deficient to long in turn lowering their metabolism. So what that means is when they first started it is good weight is going down starting to see some results, then the body does its job…it adjusts to what you have done and starts to be more efficient at burning calories. Which we know as a plateau. This also happens when people do the same thing with cardio. Adaptation and your body overcomes what you are doing. So there is no reason to spend the money on a Bodybugg when it is all about education. The bottom line is if you do have a personal trainer that knows what they are doing, they will not sell you a Bodybugg; that person will educate you enough to overcome any of the obstacles that will happen to you. It should be focused more on getting rid of the fat on the body than dropping weight. Example of this is when you see someone doing the same thing over and over how much change do you see? You may see that person get smaller but not get anymore definition, which is what you are trying to do…get RID OF THE BODY FAT!!!! That is my focus and I have had total and optimal success doing this without the Bodybugg.

My response:

I agree with most of what Shayne is saying, however, I still think that they bodybugg is a fantastic tool. Again, it allows people to self monitor. It allows people to see the impact of being sedentary all day. It clearly illustrates that although I exercised today, if I don't keep moving for the remainder of the day, all of my hard work is going to be gone.

I have no response to personal trainers not being qualified in exercise science or nutrition as I have never worked in a mega-mart gym. I don't think you can blame the bodybugg for having a crappy personal trainer. It reinforces the fact that everyone should be an informed consumer - do your research on anything that you purchase.

EDITED 6/11/09:

I'm an introvert (at least that's what the Meyer's Briggs Test tells me), and that means that sometimes it takes me a bit to process my thoughts. I'd just like to add that not everyone has a personal trainer. Personal trainers are expensive and not sustainable. Hopefully, if you use one, you'll be able to get enough information from them in order to be able workout on your own. But for people who aren't fortunate enough to afford a personal trainer, and aren't sure if they're working out at the intensity that they should be, I still believe that the bodybugg is a fantastic tool. You don't need a personal trainer to lose weight. Yes, they will help get you to your goals faster, but they aren't required to lead a healthy life. And for people who don't know where to start, it's eye opening. Although I had kept a food journal for years, the difference that the bodybugg made for me was that it motivated me to move more when I wasn't working out, and I AM a personal trainer!

I also reverted the article to how it was submitted to me. I had edited the piece & decided that it wasn't fair to the author.

Copyright Elizabeth Sherman. Purchase a Bodybugg through Elizabeth Sherman.

I mentioned in my last post that I've joined Twitter. I have two logins: @esherman that is more personal & I tweet about health stuff that interests me, and @bodybugg where I support the bodybugg twitter community. I've gotten to "meet" some great people, and have some interesting conversations. [click here to learn about the bodybugg & what it does]

Here's one that I'm currently having (keep in mind that twitter only allows 140 characters per post)

@Targettraining The Bodybugg sucks, it is for those with no discipline and people that focus on the wrong part of fitness.

@bodybugg that is absolutely false

@Targettraining The BBugg is for trainers that are lazy or don't know much about nutrition!!! That is how I feel..

@bodybugg As a trainer it's a HUGELY valuable tool; it allows you to see into your client's lives outside of the 3 hrs they're with u

@Targettraining how do you know that they are correctly workingout and eating what they say...that is what I thought most people wont log correct

Okay - so this is where 140 characters just won't do.

I remember seeing the bodybugg in a magazine a few years ago; at the time it was $500. Although I was definitely drooling at the thought of knowing how many calories I actually burned in a day, "Oh, H*ll No!" was my opinion of the price. Well, just like all technology, the price came down to a point where I was able to buy one. It was fascinating to see what activities burned how many calories.

I immediately inquired to Apex to find out if I could resell them to my clients. I knew that it would be incredibly beneficial to them! The initial fees to become a licensed reseller were pretty high & after a LOT of spreadsheets, I became a licensed reseller of the bodybugg.

Now on to answering @Targettraining's question: Trainers have been requiring their clients to keep food journals for years. Some prefer pen & paper, others use online so that they can login while they're away from their clients. So this doesn't really change as far as the bodybugg is concerned. People will report what they report & omit those things that they don't want their trainers to see. In this previous blog post, I discuss how the bodybugg uses that information and gives corresponding feedback.

It's almost impossible to be 100% correct, but people will most often under-estimate the number of calories that they consume, and over-estimate the number of calories that they burn. So as a trainer, when a client isn't reaching their goals (mostly weight loss for me), it's confusing when I look at their journals & it seems as though they're eating the right stuff... "Why aren't they reaching their goals?" Well, the answer is: They're eating too many calories than their body needs in order to lose weight. Simple. [Exception: once people get down to a certain level of body fat do other factors come into play, but for most folks, the formula is calories in versus calories out]

So then, are they underestimating their portions? or are we over estimating the number of calories they burn in a day? Enter the bodybugg. The bodybugg is to activity what food journaling is to eating. It makes you aware of how much you are/aren't moving in the day - and it's quantifiable. I know within 10% how many calories I burn in a day; I also know that for each of my clients.

Now when someone isn't reaching their goals, we can take that one unknown out of the equation. We know that they aren't reporting their food accurately - and I can see how much they're moving! Some of my clients say that they've gone for a walk - was that a power walk or a leisure walk with the dog? Now I know their intensity. I can look into their profile & check.

So @Targettraining, that is why I think the bodybugg is such a great tool. It allows folks to self-monitor. It allows me to monitor my clients more closely.

Copyright Elizabeth Sherman. Purchase a Bodybugg through Elizabeth Sherman.

I received a question on Twitter today that I thought warranted a blog post. @dasschus asked "how long does it take for a surplus of calories to show up as a weight gain? How long until is shows as stored fat? Curious."

The answer to this question is pretty complex & like everything in health & the human body, what may be the answer for one person may not be the solution for all. Therefore, I'm going to answer this question from my own personal experience.

The short answer is that it doesn't happen instantly. That's good and bad news because just as one day of eating poorly isn't going to derail your weight loss goals, neither will one day of excessive activity make a noticeable difference either. The body ultimately takes an average of my calories in & calories out over a period of time. I notice a lag time of about a week.

That being said, we all notice weight fluctuations on the scale that can happen instantly. Those weight fluctuations are typically water & waste; not fat. Scale weight is very deceiving because it doesn't accurately reflect our intention for losing weight. In actuality we want to lose fat & the scale doesn't accurately reflect that. Our scale weight is determined by fat and lean mass. Lean mass is typically defined as muscles, but also organs, bones, water and waste (stuff in our stomachs & bowels). One pint (two cups) of water weighs 1 lb. There are a number of factors that determine how much water the body is holding: hormones, carbohydrate levels, lean mass, and sodium levels.

• hormones - most women experience bloating and weight fluctuations at different times of their cycles by no fault of their own. At this time in the menstrual cycle, the hormone levels in a woman's body are high, which causes gas and stool to move more slowly through the intestinal tract.
• carbohydrates - when we eat carbohydrates, the carbohydrates are broken down & stored in our muscles and liver in the form of glycol. Each molecule of glycol stores four water molecules along with it.
• lean mass - muscle is comprised of ~75% water, where fat will hold ~25%. Additionally, the more lean mass you have, the more glycol your body can store.
• sodium levels - when your electrolytes are out of balance (typically through consuming too much sodium), your body will retain water until they are back in balance.

Okay - so now you can see why folks who are on low carbohydrate diets will see quick fluctuations in their weight: because as they deplete the glycol in their muscles by not eating carbohydrates, their muscles are also shedding water. Then, if s/he eats a large amount of carbohydrates s/he will see a weight gain because where their muscles were depleted of glycol before, they are now replenished & the water is added too. Therefore, the more muscle you have, the more glycol and water you can store.

I personally don't intentionally keep my sodium levels low. I tend to not eat processed foods, which is where high sodium lurks. But, I can tell immediately when I eat something that is high in sodium because my fingers swell. The best way to reduce swelling is to drink lots of water. It reduces the concentration of sodium in your system & will help you shed that water that the body is holding on to.

So, let's say it's a holiday & you've eaten foods that you haven't been eating in a while. The next day, when you weigh yourself, you'll notice a huge gain in weight. Typically those foods that we eat in social gatherings are high in sodium, carbohydrates and low in fiber. Since fiber helps food move through our digestive tract, we have the physical weight of the food in our bodies, and the retained water from over-indulging on carbohydrates, and sodium.

Even if you overate for your calorie level for that day, if you're in a calorie deficit or equality for the week, the over eating should not show up on the scale long term (as fat). You will notice that the scale will go up immediately, but fear not. Resume your normal eating and exercise routine & all of that water weight will fall off again. I notice that the fruits of my labor usually take about a week to show up as fat loss or fat gain.

And for what it's worth, I don't weigh myself for at least a week, if not two, after I've come home from vacation.

I joined the Texas RollerGirls Recreational Roller Derby League! I don't know what the heck I was thinking. Actually, I know exactly what I was thinking. I was thinking that summer is approaching in Austin, and since I've been running, I enter summer a really strong runner (running 10 - 13 miles on my long runs) & by mid-June, I can barely run for 40 minutes without taking a walk break. So, summer is the time when I start thinking about cross training.

I am highly influenced by the power of suggestion, so when someone suggested that I sign up for Roller Derby, I did it. Aaack! After not being on roller skates since I was in high-school (maybe) I googled "how to roller skate", and came up with some good sites. After watching a bunch of videos, I put on my pads, laced up my skates & promptly fell on my left wrist & tail bone. Awesome!

First day of practice I was petrified, but my coach, Sparkle Plenty is a doll. We learned to fall - that's all we did in our first session & you know what? It wasn't that bad. In fact it wasn't bad at all!

As we were falling and getting up from our falls this morning, I was thinking about a few exercises that I could be doing that would strengthen the muscles that I was using to get up off the floor.

Firstly, I want to mention that it is completely common that each of us finds strength, agility and flexibility differences on each side of our bodies. For that reason, start being aware of which leg or arm you use when doing various tasks (first step up the stairs, which leg crosses the other, getting up off the floor, which arm you typically push off from a low chair, etc.), then switch sides; It'll be uncomfortable, but it builds independence in your movements & each side of your body.

Here are a list of exercises & the skills in Roller Derby that they're going to help you with:

D Stroke (Skating):

• Sliding Side Lunges

Snow Plow (Stopping):

• Plie Squats
• Travelling Squats (directions)
• Travelling Squats (video)

If you're finding that your lower back needs some strength, because we're constantly in a bent over position:

• Cobra
• Back Extention
• Supermans
• Planks

Fantastic Quad & Knee strengthener:

• Wall Sits

Finally, to help you get up after you've fallen:

From all fours:

• Mountain Climbers
• Burpees

Figure 4 Fall:

• Turkish Getup (I suggest doing this without weight to start & add weight as it gets easier & don't forget to do both sides!)
• another video instruction that I liked a lot-

Also, none of these exercises need equipment, so you can do it at home. Enjoy!

PS: Since I don't want anyone to steal my very cool roller derby name, I'll tell you what it is after I've registered it.

Happy Cinco de Mayo Everyone! One of the most common questions I get, is "What do you eat?" Up until now, I've omitted this meal. Gary & I probably eat tacos, chips & guacamole at least once per week. BUT WAIT! It's not what you think. You can do this with relatively little damage to your diet.

In honor or Cinco de Mayo, I'm publishing my recipe for tortilla chips & guacamole.

Tortilla Chips:

About a year ago, I found Mission Extra-Thin Corn Tortillas. The nutritionals on these tortillas are great! Considering that most flour tortillas start at 140 Calories for one, and go up from there, and typically one regular corn tortilla will be around 80 Calories. With the Mission Extra-Thin Corn Tortillas, you get two 6" tortillas for just 80 Calories! That's fantastic! By dividing the chips into 6 wedges, each chip is ~7 Calories.

• 6 Mission Extra-Thin Corn Tortillas, cut in 6 wedges each
• Cooking Spray
• Coarse Salt

Directions

1. Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees. Place parchment paper over cookie sheet. Spread tortillas evenly, so that they're not touching.
2. Spray with Cooking Spray. Sprinkle with Salt.
3. Bake in oven for 12 minutes. Remove when Golden, Brown & Delicious!

Guacamole:

Avocados get a bad rap too! Yes, they can be calorie dense, but again, if you look at the nutritional breakdown, they have a TON of fiber & 2/3 of the fat is heart-healthy Mono-Unsaturated. I use a lot of fresh-made Pico-de-Gallo from the grocery store to lower the calorie density of the guacamole.

• 1-3 Avocados (depending on size ~200 grams of flesh), diced
• 1 cup fresh pico di gallo (recipe here if you can't purchase from your store)
• Coarse Salt

Directions

1. Mash Avocado with spoon or fork to desired consistency. Add and combine pico and salt to taste.

Tacos:

The tacos I make are super simple. It's not even really a recipe. I LOVE, Love, love the rotisserie chickens available at the grocery store. I skin & bone them when I get home.

• Mission Extra-Thin Corn Tortilla
• 1 Tbs Guacamole
• 1.5 - 2 oz Rotisserie Chicken (flavored is fine or plain)
• Pre-packaged coleslaw

That's pretty much it. Enjoy!

A Note to the purists out there: No, this may not be authentic chips & guacamole, but it gets the job done, AND I like it. If I ate authentic chips & guacamole once a week (like I do this recipe) I would probably be a little less happy with my body's shape. This is a win all around.

Everyone is doing it these days; How about you? I'm of course talking about Twitter! Twitter is best described as a micro-blog. Everything must fit within 140 characters or less. Where a blog allows one to express thoughts and opinions, and expand on it, "tweeting" is short & concise & basically what's interesting to you at that minute. Honestly, I didn't get twitter when Gary first introduced it to me; "I don't care that John is going to the grocery store! I don't need to know that." but as I started "following" interesting folks in my industry, I realized that it's a way of connecting with others that is completely unique.

Occasionally folks who are on Twitter will have a TweetUp. It's where folks who tweet get together & meet face to face.

Stephanie, from Venus Envy Training (@venusenvyaustin) and I (@esherman) have organized a Tweetup with a Workout. We're calling it a #TWorkOut. I don't think anyone has done this yet, so we're excited to pave the way! Here are the details:

Where: The Park at the Triangle (Here's a map)

When: Saturday May 5 @9AM

Bring: a towel & device to Tweet (optional)

Price: Free!

We're going to workout & then scoot over to Galaxy Cafe for some food. YUM! We may even have some surprises for you!

Stay Tuned as we'll edit this post for changes & search twitter for #TWorkOut!

I was talking to one of my clients yesterday about what great exercise walking is, when I realized that everyone else might want to know too!

Years ago, when I started my quest for fitness, I would walk my neighborhood. Eventually, I got an elliptical machine and a treadmill - I had always wanted to be a runner, and was finally able to make that happen through the help of the treadmill. I spent hours on each of those until I started running outside & the rest is history.

I was a gym rat for a really long time, spending countless hours on the cardio machines - even on perfectly beautiful days because I thought that I was burning tons of calories that way.

One of the most fun aspects of the bodybugg, is discovering how many calories each of my activities burns. For example: cleaning the house can burn 5 Calories per minute, preparing dinner & cleaning up is around 3, doing laundry about 2.5 - but still that's more than sitting at my computer, which is about 1.

So that's everyday activity. What about exercise? When I run, I can burn anywhere between 10 & 11 Calories per minute, treadmill is 1 calorie lower. The elliptical is about 7-8, same for the rowing machine. What's shocking for me is that walking in my neighborhood burns about 5.5 - 6 calories per minute, which is 1 calorie more than bicycling! So on days when my body doesn't want to run, it makes no sense to me to spend the day inside on the elliptical when I can be outdoors walking for just a little longer for the same calorie burn.

You don't need special equipment to get started (a good pair of shoes helps!) & there aren't any health risks associated with walking (disclaimer: if you're extremely overweight or have a history of heart problems, check with your physician before starting any exercise program). And, as mentioned in this article, there are tons of health benefits including:

• Reducing the risk of coronary heart disease
• Lowering blood pressure
• Reducing high cholesterol
• Reducing body fat
• Enhancing mental wellbeing
• Increasing bone density
• Reducing the risk of cancer of the colon
• Helping to control body weight
• Helping osteoarthritis
• Helping to increase flexibility and co-ordination

I've rediscovered walking. I find it completely relaxing & rejuvinating. The weather here in Austin is gorgeous these days & the weather around the country is changing to spring time. It's time to get out & enjoy such fantastic exercise. The most awesome thing about walking is that everyone can do it.

I just updated my website with a new recipe. It's kind of an invention, kind of a rip off of Skwigg's Lazy Fiesta Mix. I'm calling it Tex-Mex Zucchini Succotash & I think I've been making it once a week: Gary's probably sick of it. The nutritionals on it are great though; just about 135 calories for 1/4th of the recipe!

You can use this recipe as a side dish or as a filling for vegetarian tacos. YUM!

Also, the price of the bodybugg is lower! $209 + $26 activation!

Studies show that one of the keys to losing and maintaining weight loss is a strong social support system. But what if you don't have a strong social support system? Are you doomed to a future of being overweight? Nope. Not at all. If you know my story, you know that it took me a long time to get where I am today, and I don't know if I would be where I am without my support family.

I don't really remember when it happened, but Gary had started working out with his trainer, Mike, who was really into bodybuilding. It was through Gary that I learned about the user forums on bodybuilding.com. I started participating in the online forums there, & learned a LOT about lifting weights, eating cleanly, and losing weight. I also learned that although the forums were moderated, any shmoe with a keyboard can write whatever they want; that everything you read on the Internet is not necessarily true, and take everything you read with a grain of salt - research your information. I mainly stayed in the female forum & got to know the women there pretty well.

Soon, I was introduced to a new, smaller, forum where I really got to know the other women on the site. We learned a lot from one another about what worked, we experimented with training periodization, style, intensity & diet. Ultimately we created our own forum & closed it off from the rest of the world. It is a place where we can go to be safe; we have the support of each other, we trust that the information we get is good, or the best that the person on the other side of the keyboard is able to give. Even though I've never met these women in person, and I could potentially walk by them on the street & not recognize them, I consider them my friends. They live all over the country, from 'Bobbie' & 'Jeep Lady' in Florida, to 'Sunshine Kathie' in New Jersey & 'Calorie Assassin' & 'T' in Washington state. I've communicated with these women for at least 6 years now. I knew them when they were single, and now they have children. I met them when they were married & supported them through their divorces.

A support system doesn't have to be only people who you have physical relationships with. There are a lot of fantastic people out there in the world who are going through the same things that you are going through. Use each other as support. Learn from each other. Online tools are a great way of connecting with people that you may not otherwise have had a chance to meet.

I started thinking about my cyber-sisters because there's a new forum that has recently opened it's doors in Austin. It's called No Short Cutz - because there are no short cuts in the quest for life long change (I mean really -- did you read that blog post about everything I've tried?). Sign up, get involved & get support. You'll meet people who have the same interests as you, get answers to questions you might have & maybe even offer some advice or opinions.

PS to Amazon Chick, Stixx, Hibiscus, Digger, Tonya, Jeep Lady, One Buff Mom, Calorie Assassin, Bobbie, Mariska, Yvette, Sugar-Free, Sunshine Kathie, BluePoof, Laura1962 and Wendy: Y'all are the coolest FitChicks I know - to think we started out as MsFits! I do hope that we can meet one of these days

I watched King Corn (free on iTunes) a few months ago & have been meaning to write a blog post on it. I've only now gotten re-motivated to write about it now because I'm currently reading the Omnivore's Dilemma & the two compliment each other beautifully.

The movie, King Corn is a documentary about two college buddies who through some random events decide to get their hair analyzed. The results come back that they have an enormous amount of corn byproduct in their bodies. Confused, because corn isn't a food product that they typically eat, they decide to move to Iowa, plant an acre of corn rented from a farmer, and follow that acre of corn from production to consumption.

The two film-makers, Ian Chaney and Curt Ellis do a really good job of explaining how corn gets into our food - through corn-fed beef (not only are we what we eat, but we are what we have eaten has eaten), partially hydrogenated corn oil (i.e.: trans fat), food thickeners (guar gum, xantham gum to mention a few that are produced through corn), ethanol, and High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) the only factory they weren't allowed into, to just name a few. They also explore how we as a nation became so corn-centric.

They were able to trace the beginning of corn saturating our diets back to 1971 when Earl Butz, US Secretary of Agriculture instituted the Farm Bill. Through the Farm Bill he encouraged farmers to "get big or get out,". Farmers started over-producing corn. With a surplus of corn available, companies (Cargill & ADM) started creating additional uses for corn.

Food is now cheaper to produce due to the fact that corn is cheaper &  we are using those cheaper corn products to make our food. Because of the Farm Bill, we can see a direct drop in spending on food in the American household, from 25% to 10%. Is there a relationship between cheaper food and the increase of obesity, diabetes and cancer? Is it coincidence that corn is the main ingredient in the two manufactured foods that seem to point directly to these diseases: HFCS & trans fat? Research is still out on that, and I think the answer is much more complex than removing HFCS & trans fat from our diets.

After reading Fast Food Nation (read the book - DO NOT rent the movie) a few years ago, I've been fascinated/scared/curious about what exactly we do to our food and why. We trust food manufacturers to do what's right & have our health in mind when they're producing & promoting their product. But they don't. Although Fast Food Nation focuses on the growth of fast food restaurants, there are some common themes running through each of these presentations & analysis of the modern diet: most of the key factors in what got us here today (what we eat and how it's produced) is economic. Anyone who is interested in their body (what goes into it, how it works, how it looks, how it performs among other things) MUST watch this movie. It really makes you think about the monster we've created.