What Would You Pay to be Slim and Healthy?

I posted this blog about this time last year but thought it was worth repeating!


I asked this question to an overweight 30-something a few months ago, and here's what happened. She thought of it from lots of different angles -- from a selfish perspective, she said feeling better about the way she looks is worth $1,000; being able to play frisbee with her kids, $500; being a good example to her daughter, another $2,000; saving on future medical bills associated with the loads of weight-related health problems, potentially tens of thousands of $; reduced future earnings due to weight (unfortunately), again, potentially tens of thousands of $. That adds up to, well, a lot. Do you know what she did when she saw the hard numbers? Economy be damned, she got a personal trainer twice a week and is paying more for good quality food. And she's lost 25 pounds so far. The avocados are NOT too expensive and the super-size chips are NOT such a good deal. Money spent of yourself for fresh produce and regular exercise classes is NOT too much of a luxury. Do you find finances stand in the way of you and better health? What do you not spend money on, that you think you maybe should spend money on?

Slender with a Blender

A blender is a tool that is highly essential when following a specific weight-loss plan. They can be used to make low-calorie protein shakes, fruit smoothies, and other assorted soups. A blender not only keeps the amount of fats consumed in check, but also lowers the intake of processed food by helping you make fresh, instant foods. This, in turn, reduces the intake of sodium, sugar, trans fats, and saturated fats. I like the Oster personal blender. 


You can experiment with your own ingredients. Whatever fruits and vegetables you like can be combined for a tailor made snack. I like to use frozen fruits in my protein shakes. If you have one of these sitting on your counter you are more likely to use it. If you have to pull out a large blender form under the counter, chances are, you won't. Get one of these and sit it on you counter!


Here is a great recipe. Again, I use frozen fruits and sometimes add greek yogurt. ENJOY!

Wild Berry Boost
Ingredients:
2 scoops Vanilla Whey Powder
8 raspberries
4 strawberries
15 blueberries
16 ounces nonfat milk1/2 cup ice cubes

New Olympia Qualifications for 2012 and Beyond

For those unaware, the 2012 Olympia is aiming to be more elite with some new changes. Here's the official IFBB Advisory Notice on Olympia qualifications, beginning next year:

Photo credit: IFBB Pro

When you stop to think about it, it's a great way to make the Olympia more special then it already is. Yes, this does mean there will be LESS competitors on the Olympia stage from this point forward, but the Olympia is supposed to represent the absolute BEST of this industry, right? I have no problem with it. Besides, For those divisions that might lack a few competitors, invites could be issued. So placing in the top 3 in ANY competition is still important, as it can do a long way in possibly seeing yourself on the Olympia stage beginning next year and the years to come. Also, there's men's and women's physique that's going to be part of the Olympia soon. The rest of this year's shows are NOT affected by this rule. This will take place at the start of the 2012 season.

I'll admit, when I first heard about these changes, I wasn't too keen on them in terms of women's fitness is concerned, as there are not as many shows for fitness as there are for figure and bikini. But after reading this, my worries died down...for now, at least. I guess we'll just have to wait and see how much this will truly affect women's fitness.

What are YOUR thoughts on the new Olympia qualifications? Do you think this will positively or negatively affect women's fitness? Post your thoughts below or send a Tweet to us at SaveFitnessNow.

Try Something New, your Body and (mind) will Thank-You

Strength training class for women. Tuesday's and Thursday's, 6:00PM at Hope Ridge Church 9870 Johnnycake Ridge Rd. Mentor, Ohio 44060. New session will start on Tuesday 09/27/11 - 10/20/11. If you are a woman over 40 you NEED to be here. Follow this link for all the benefits you will reap from adding strength training into you life.

http://fabulously40.com/article/id/strength-training-benefits-women-over-40-2699

Email me at charsin@roadrunner.com with any questions or to sign up for class!

NPC Fitness Spotlight for September 2011: Babette Mulford

The NPC Fitness Spotlight for September 2011 belongs to Babette Mulford!

Photo credit: FitnessRx

Babette is an NPC Fitness Competitor from Iowa. She was, as most competitors were back in their days as a child, and active person, doing water ski, soccer, track, flaggirl, and cheerleading, among other things. Prior to becoming a fitness competitor, she competed in figure and bodybuilding. In fact, she started out as a bodybuilder (as it was the only thing offered for her at the time), then she went into fitness, then did figure for a while (as well as a few marathons) and now she's back home in fitness. Her journey started when she was part of a dance team and danced at an intermission of an area bodybuilding competition. She stayed after the intermission and totally fell in love with the sport. Her love has transformed into a lifestyle that has seen her place very well in several competitions, as she strives to one day become an IFBB Fitness Pro.

Photo credit: FitnessRx

COMPETITION HISTORY
2011 IFBB North American Championships 3rd
2011 NPC Team Universe & National Fitness Championships 6th
2010 NPC Junior USA Championships 1st
2010 NPC Team Universe & National Fitness Championships 4th
2010 NPC Junior National Championships 3rd
2009 NPC Team Universe 6th
2009 IFBB North American Championships 3rd
2009 NPC Junior National Bodybuilding, Fitness & Figure Championships 5th
2008 NPC Junior National Bodybuilding, Fitness & Figure Championships 5th
2007 NPC National Championships 8th
2007 NPC Junior Nationals Bodybuilding, Fitness And Figure Contest 4th

You can learn more about Babette in an interview she did with Jason Adams of Promoting Real Women at http://promotingwomen.blogspot.com/2010/12/babette-mulford-interview.html.

2011 Olympia Webcast Details

The good folks at Bodybuilding.com will once again be providing a free webcast of the Olympia, taking place this weekend. Here's the direct link to the Olympia webcast:

http://streaming.bodybuilding.com/2011-olympia-webcast/

Mr Olympia prejudging, Ms Olympia Finals, Fitness Olympia Finals & Bikini Olympia Finals will take place on Friday evening. with the finals of Mr Olympia & Figure Olympia taking place on Saturday evening.Women's prejudging will not be live via Webcast, however the prejudging is usually taped by Bodybuilding.com, so they will probably post the video a few days after the Olympia has concluded.

Are Modern Day Conveniences Making us Fat?

Don’t get me wrong theses modern day conveniences are great for saving time. But, could they be contributing to our laziness and the obesity rate? Hmmm...I’m willing to bet we move a lot less than our grandparents did because of all the gadgets we have. 

How about the remote control for the TV, we never leave our seat to change the channel. I remember when I was a kid and my Dad would say “get up and change the channel”. I’m not even sure my current TV can be turned on without a remote. What a panic my house gets into when we can’t find the remote. Is there anyone out there that still gets up off there butt to change a channel? I’m just curious.

How about elevators? I am guilty of the remote control thing but you will never see me taking the elevator if there are stairs available. Unless you have a baby stroller, you should be taking the stairs. You may get winded and have to stop to catch your breath but you have burned more calories than the person in the elevator.

I came across this the other day. EXPECTANT MOTHER PARKING, not kidding, its right next to the handicap parking.  I was expecting twice in my life and never used these. Ok, in all honesty, they did not have them then. At first thought this sounds pretty good. On second thought unless you are bed ridden (in that case you shouldn’t be shopping anyway) moving around is good for you. My doctor never told me not to walk. Was it harder for me at 8 and 9 months to walk? Sure it was, but moving is still good for you.

Do you have caller id that show up on your TV screen, so you don’t have to get out of your chair and see who is calling. OK, I’m guilty of this one too. Doesn’t this just seem insane? These modern day conveniences are saving us time, but saving our fat is not a good thing.

And then there are the drive through windows everywhere? I don’t really eat to much fast food but if for some reason I do, I’m going to try and get out of my car, WALK in, and WALK back out. After all that little bit of walking won’t burn an 1/8 of the calories I will buy in there. Sure the drive through will save time and since we are always in a rush these windows are huge in America, and also making us huge.
This is a picture I took on my last shopping trip. Do you mean to tell me this person is healthy enough to drive to the store, walk into the store, shop, walk back out of the store, load their car with purchased items, but can’t take another 5 steps to return the cart to its proper place? Sure they may be tired, it may be raining or cold but this is just lazy. Would 5 more steps really kill you?

I could go on and on about these modern day conveniences, but I think you get the idea. Do you have any modern day conveniences you are guilty of, or any that really annoy you?


"No matter how slow you are, you are still lapping the people sitting on the couch"

IFBB Fitness Spotlight for September 2011: Adela Garcia

With the Olympia this month, the IFBB Fitness Spotlight for September 2011 was a no-brainer. This month's IFBB Spotlight goes to one of the most successful IFBB fitness champions in history: Adela Garcia!

Photo credit: Muscular Development

Adela is arguably THE top fitness competitor in the world today, and for good reason. She's competed (AND WON) many titles, including multiple Fitness Internationals and Fitness Olympias.She was born in Cabrera, Dominican Republic and raised in San Juan Puerto Rico along with two older brothers. For those wondering, yes, she was a tomboy. Growing up active, she tried anything and everything you could think of in sports, including volleyball, softball, and basketball. This wasn't a sport, but there was a time that she (along with her brothers) putting forks in electrical outlets to see if they could see their skeletons!! Crazy, huh?! Despite all of that, there was one sport she never officially participated in, and it's the main sport that is credited a lot for fitness competitions: gymnastics.  She wanted to take gymnastics classes, but financial issues kept her from doing so. So what did she do? She tried cartwheels and back-walkovers at home and kept myself busy playing games with my two brothers.

At the age of 17, she was introduced to weight training. In college, she joined the Army’s ROTC program,  After being in the ROTC for a couple of years, she decided to take a trip throughout the states to learn English. While I visited California, I remember a couple of people suggesting that I try to compete in a fitness show. She was a bit skeptical because she did not have any type of dance background to compete. She declined that time and moved back to Puerto Rico in 1995. During that time, she taught aerobics classes and did some personal training at the gym on a military base. It was there where she saw a poster for the NPC Armed Forces Fitness Championships in North Carolina. She entered that contest and ended up placing second and was immediately hooked from that point on. She would compete in more local and nationals shows until 1999, where she took the overall fitness title at th 1999 USA Fitness Championship and earned my IFBB pro card. And the rest, as they say, is history.

There have been many great fitness competitors to come and go, but Adela has proven time and time again that she's among the all-time greats, and she hopes to cement her place in history at the 2001 Olympia, as she will be looking to win her 6th Fitness Olympia title, a feat no other fitness competitor has ever accomplished. When you think of fitness, bottom line, there's no one who solidifies the sport more than Adela Garcia.

Photo credit: Fitness Rx

COMPETITION HISTORY:

2011
Arnold Classic-first place

2010
Fitness Olympia-first place
Arnold Classic-first place

2009
Fitness Olympia-first place
Europa Super Show-third place

2007
Fitness Olympia-first place
Houston Pro Figure-third place
Arnold Classic-third place

2006
Fitness Olympia-first place
Arnold Classic-first place

2005
Sacramento Pro Fitness-first place
Fitness Olympia-third place
Arnold Classic-second place

2004
Fitness Olympia-first place
Arnold Classic-first place

2003
IFBB New York City Pro Fitness-Overall
IFBB Fitness International-second place

2002
IFBB GNC Show Of Strength Fitness-second place
IFBB Fitness Olympia-fourth place
IFBB Pittsburgh Pro Fitness-Overall
IFBB Atlantic States Pro Fitness-Overall
IFBB New York City Pro Fitness-Overall
IFBB Fitness International-fourth place

2001
IFBB Fitness Olympia-fourth place
IFBB Pittsburgh Pro Fitness-third place
IFBB Fitness International-third place

2000
IFBB Jan Tana Classic Pro Fitness-second place
IFBB Fitness Olympia-fifth place
IFBB Pittsburgh Pro Fitness-fifth place
IFBB Atlantic City Pro Fitness-sixth place
IFBB Fitness International-eighth place

1999
NPC USA Fitness Championships-Overall (IFBB Professional Qualifier)

1998
NPC Junior National Fitness Championships-second place short class
IFBB North American Fitness Championships-sixth place short class
NPC National Fitness Championships-eighth place short class
NPC USA Fitness Championships-ninth place short class

1996
NPC Pennsylvania Fitness Championships-fourth place
NPC National Fitness Championships-twelfth place

1995
NPC Europa Sports Fitness Championships-second place

For more on Adela, visit her website at http://www.adelafitness.com.  

Are you DISCOMBOBULATED yet?

I actually looked this word up, and its meaning is, confused and upset. I was looking for a word to describe how I felt in my “before” picture. Yep, this pretty much sums it up. Look into the eyes of any person in their “before” picture and you will see that they are discombobulated. They are not able or willing to accept the body that they have. You are in your current shape, because you have been ok with it. I know you are not excited about it, and have talked about losing weight – but you have not changed what you will accept. We all have excuses, jobs, weather, no time, kids, but ultimately you have excepted your body the way it is.

You have the body right now that you are willing to accept.

Look into the eyes of any “after” picture. You will see satisfaction. They are living in the body that they are willing to accept. They have decided they couldn’t live in this “before” body another day, they were discombobulated.

Why are you still living in your “BEFORE” body?

Take action by contacting me for a fitness consultation.

I can help take you from your “Before” picture to your “After” picture.


Look into the eyes of these before and after pictures. I want to post your pictures too! Once you have reached the discombobulated state of mind, call me.