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Thank you to guest blogger, Maxine Tatlonghari of Vanity Girl Hollywood, who speaks about everything glamorous, including how to look great training for your first triathlon.

I am a girly girl who was often picked last for kickball and had PTSD from running in Jr. High.  Sports was never my thing, but I had such admiration for those athletic girls who could effortlessly jet ski, play basketball and run without people laughing at their flailing arms.  And when I saw people doing tri —  I was awestruck. Three sports and lots of gear just made me think these women were committed and strong.  I wanted to do one.  After talking about it for five years, I decided to take the plunge and try a Tri (sorry, couldn’t resist).

1.  Find someone else who wasn’t athletic who has done and likes Tri.  For me, it was my BF’s formerly pudgy cousin who told me that I could “totally do a Sprint Tri” while we were kayaking in Florida.  I felt completely motivated, like “if he could do it, I can too!”  Feel free to use me.

2.  Find a Tri that speaks to you.  For me, I liked the idea of short distances, all women, and a fashion brand associated with it.  Enter Danskin Tri – at Disneyland.  Disneyland?  How cute is that?

3.  Get into a training group.  My group, Vixen Training out of Venice, met on Wednesday nights and Saturday mornings.  Our coach was a perky blonde who was a serious athlete.  She gave us homework and made us wear heart monitors.

4.  Speaking of which, get the right gear.  Tri ain’t cheap.  Three sports — wetsuits, bikes, etc. can get pricey.  But it is incredibly fun buying the stuff.  You can also find gently used gear through the LA Tri Club.

5. Open Water.  The LA Tri Club holds clinics where you don your wet suit and swim with other triathletes.  Swimming in a pool is totally different than the ocean.  The ocean by yourself is totally different than ocean with hundreds of other athletes on top of you. Practice.  Now.

6.  Do the Mock Tri.  Just like it sounds, you will do a dress rehearsal.  How to rack your bike, how to mark your arms, how to set up your gear, how to get the sand off your feet before getting your running shoes on …

7.  Get your cheering squad together.  You want to see faces you love at the finish line.

8.  NOTHING NEW ON RACE DAY.  No new socks, no new nutrition bars, gels, or drinks.  Get a good understanding of what Race Day will look and feel like for you.

9.  On race day, get there early so you can get prime positioning for your bike and gear.  And expect that late people may knock your stuff out of the way. Just like real estate, location is EVERYTHING.

10.  Run YOUR race. Sure, that  85 year old man may cross that line before you (happened to me in my 2nd Tri in Long Beach) but so what.  This is your race, enjoy it!!

+1 BONUS.  Finally, listen for your name when you cross the line.  It is a beautiful sound!

Maxine Tatlonghari is an entrepreneur and philanthropist based in the heart of West Hollywood.  After spending 11 years raising money to fight cancer both domestically and internationally, she launched her vanity project, Vanity Girl.  This was her chance to be an entrepreneur, pursuing her love of glamour, and maybe …. be the one writing the big checks that make the difference! Vanity Girl manufactures a niche line of lighted make up tables and vanity tables right here in the City of Angels, and of course, where they continue to support causes that change the world.

Image found on http://www.simplystated.realsimple.com

The first day of Spring was Friday, so I thought I’d post one of my favorite beverage recipes: mint lemonade. Although most of us are awaiting Spring weather, this will be a refreshment to anticipate as the climate warms up again.

5 medium lemons, juiced

3 small limes, juiced

1 bunch of organic mint leaves with stems

organic raw agave or honey

carbonated water

Boil approximately 12 ounces of water. Steep the mint leaves in the hot water for 3-5 minutes, making a mint tea.

As the mint steeps, juice the lemons and limes into a pitcher.

Add cold water to the brewed to mint liquid to bring the tea temperature down. Pour into the pitcher to combine the mint tea and lemon-lime juice. Add agave to taste, approximately 1/2-2/3 cup, and stir. Pour your mixture into a glass of ice, approximately 1/3 to the top. Add cold spritzer water to the glass, garnish with mint leaves, if desired, and enjoy! (You can add more agave for extra sweetness.)

Featured on episodes of the Today Show, MSNBC Nightly, and so many other television news segments, the SAME Cafe, in Denver, Colorado is inspiring lots of good will. What makes this cafe different, and not the “same” as all others, is in its name; SAME stands for “So All May Eat”.

Owners, Brad and Libby, after having volunteered at soup kitchens, realized that all people deserved a choice to eat healthy, organic foods, but soup kitchen patrons did not have that choice or the budget. Soon, they opened SAME Cafe, where they serve soups, salads, and artisan pizzas in exchange for cash donations or a few hours of work. What is amazing is not just how this cafe’s business model is constructed, but how it has inspired large demographics across the social board to dine together and help one another. Affluent patrons are seated next to people who may have walked over from a local shelter and enjoying the same fare. This must warm hearts on cold Denver days. If it warms yours, and you feel so inspired, you can donate to their cause by visiting their website.

I hope this inspires to do the same elsewhere in our country…anybody here in Santa Monica feel inspired? I’ll help!

One week after the above study was published, the Journal of Nutrition published a study done by Donald Layman of the University of Illinois. This study followed 130 people, separated into two groups–one consumed a moderate protein diet (40% carbohydrate, 30% protein, 30% fat) and the other consumed a diet based on the USDA’s food guide pyramid (65% carbohydrate, 15% protein, and 20% fat). Total caloric consumption were identical amongst both groups. The result–both groups lost the same amount of weight. However, the higher protein dieters lost a greater percentage of fat, thus improving their overall body composition.

Are you confused as to what to do? Simply, if your goals is to lose scale weight, you must reduce your caloric intake and adopt a regular exercise routine. If your goals are to look more “sculpted” and improve/maintain athletic performance, a moderate protein (good quality protein from lean meat, egg whites, whey, etc.) diet is advised, which ensures that most of the weight that is lost is fat weight and not weight from your muscle.

In addition to the above studies’ findings, I recommend including regular strength training in your exercise routine, which will further ensure your prevent osteoporosis, maintain muscle mass, and improve ratio of fat:lean mass weight loss.

Here are my five flubs that keep the flab on:

1. Overeating. Your workout does not give you a green light to eat whatever you want, unless your goal is to gain weight (even then you need to make conscientious food choices). An easy estimate of how many calories you ought to be consuming daily, to support your life function, is multiply your body weight in pounds by 10. Add approximately 400 calories per hour of moderate intensity exercise.
2. Undereating. You already realize that you should be at negative calorie intake, consuming less than you burn, so you eat just 1200 calories per day. Unless you are a 120 pound, sedentary woman, that is not enough for you. If your do not consume enough calories throughout your day to sustain your body’s organ function, your body will go into famine mode, conserving your fat stores and burning your lean tissue-muscle.
3. Overtraining. Yes, you can workout too hard. Intersperse your highly intense workouts (the ones that leave your body exhausted until the next day) with medium and low intensity workouts. You should not do more than two high intensity workouts per week. Appropriate recovery is just as important as your workouts in attaining your athletic performance and weight loss goals.
4. Not crosstraining. Just as your mind gets bored when performing the same activities over and over again, so does your body. When your body gets bored with your workouts, it stops responding. To continue on a path of fitness improvement, mix up your workout routine by varying the mode of exercise (running, biking, stairclimbing, swimming, etc.), the types of strength exercises (strength training machines, cables, dumbbells, body weight, etc.), and pace (slow, medium, fast-only when you have mastered the exercise at slower speeds).
5. Underhydrating. There is scientific research reporting that drinking more water promotes weight loss by altering your metabolism, helping it work more efficiently.

How do you respond when your overweight child asks if she is fat? Do you sugarcoat the truth and tell her she is perfect? Do you go for the hard love angle and tell her that yes, she is fat? I would advise for something in between.

It is not easy to talk about something as sensitive as weight, particular with a pre-teen or a teenager. Parents must walk a fine line between acknowledging the problem and promoting self-confidence.

Children know they are overweight. And if you don’t mention it, their peers certainly will! If you pretend everything is fine, your child will learn that her weight is a shameful topic that can’t be discussed. She will then try to lose weight with her own methods, usually by starving herself or binging. These are the children who are most at risk for disordered eating. Studies show that if you acknowledge and treat an overweight child in a sensitive manner, you actually decrease the risk of disordered eating!

Ideally, the conversation would go something like this…

“Mom, am I fat?”
“What makes you ask that, honey?”
“The kids on the playground called me names today.”
“Well that is not nice. But maybe we would be healthier if we did learn to eat better. We could all use to revamp our diets.” Notice how I have chosen to say ‘we’ could be healthier and ‘we could all use to…’ This sounds less accusatory and alerts your child that you are both in it together. I have also turned it around to be about health and eating better rather than about fat or thin. This way, even a thin parent can have this conversation. Most thin people I know could eat healthier if they tried. “Why don’t we try to make some changes together. We can learn how to eat right and we can start getting more active. Would you like that?”

I have had many parents call me after this conversation, worried that they said the wrong thing. Often, the parents responded with, “Don’t be silly. Of course you are not fat. You are beautiful.” And then they want to know how they can help their children. It is better off not to lie. If your child demands an answer to the question, I would say…

“Fat is such a nasty word. You look good but you might be healthier if you weighed a little less. Let’s work together to learn to eat better and exercise more.” Notice again that I didn’t say ‘you would look better if you weighed less’. It is important to focus the discussion around health- not around looks. Again, bring it back to the ‘we’ as soon as possible. And always end the discussion with next steps… “Why don’t we go online and look at some websites about healthy eating.” “Let’s call the pediatrician and see if she has any suggestions.” “Let’s go to the supermarket and pick up some healthy foods so we can get started right away.”

Good luck. And if you are still nervous about broaching the subject with your child, feel free to call my office (516-801-0022) or e-mail me (jdmd@drweigh.com) for more advice.

For many Americans, lower back pain is a result of being in a seated posture for most our days, without changing our body positions. The following are a few tips to prevent lower back pain:

• Change positions at least, every 30 minutes, during your workday. Cross one ankle over one knee and lean forward to stretch your glut. Stand up. Walk to the water cooler or copy machine. Take a phone call standing up.
• Stay well hydrated. Sufficient fluid in your body keeps your joints “lubricated and padded”. (This also will induce more frequent restroom breaks, which will force you to be more active during your day, and utilize your muscles.)
• Exercise regularly. This will increase circulation to those muscles that were “turned off” while your were seated throughout the day. This will also help you manage your weight.
• Maintain a healthy weight. Too much weight on your body can stress your body’s frame to the point of strain, causing back pain.
• Keep a well-balanced strength workout between the muscles of your back and abdominals.

You can also find exercises that you can do at your desk and at home that will keep your core strong and help you prevent lower back pain at the new online health club, V4 Fitness, launched by my company, Balanced Strength. You can still register for a free account through this Friday, February 13. Log on at http://v4fitness.com to set up your account. You can find the exercises by going to the Exercise Library and entering “core” in the search field.

See you there!

Image found at http://punditkitchen.files.wordpress.com

The majority of us Americans have not-so-fond memories of the Presidential Fitness test. In our youth, some may have asked, “Who wrote these tests?” Even Junior Seau jokes about how he dreads doing pull-ups, on Insider Training with Gabby Reece, because they remind him of those days of old. Now, we have a President who sets a fantastic example of healthy and fit living.

However, I have read that our President has been accused of being workout obsessed because he spent two hours working out, one day during his campaign. Exercise has been proven to alleviate one’s stress. President Obama is going into the White House with a healthy, low blood pressure level, healthy BMI, and body composition, with one of the most stressful jobs in the world today. I tip my imaginary hat to the man for keeping up his daily fitness routine, so that he can remain our healthy Commander-in-Chief for the term of his presidency. In fact, 2/3 of the American population (yes, that’s how many Americans do not get the recommended amount of physical activity) have lost the excuse that “I am too busy/too stressed to exercise.” If the President can do it, yes, you can you, too! “Yes we can.” (Sorry, that is not getting old for me anytime soon.)

I was going to finish this post here, but I am sure that single parents are saying that they don’t have help at home with their kids, thus restricting exercise options. My solution: visit your local YMCA or Boys & Girls Club (if necessary, they also offer financial assitance for families who qualify), parents can workout while the kids get to participate in various programs. Some locations even offer childcare for the kids who are not yet old enough to participate in the art and fitness classes that they provide. For those of us in California, where there isn’t snow or sleet, take your kids out on a walk with you. Getting/staying fit is easy, if you let it be.

In addition to the above suggestion, the next one applies to each and everyone of us: Make a daily appointment with yourself to exercise, and keep it. Your date can be with the well-lit stairwell at your office for 15 minutes per day.

If you would like more guidance, feel free to contact me offline, comment, our visit my website~www.balancedstrength.com. Also, register for a V4 Fitness account for free through January 31, 2009. It is an online health club, complete with daily exercises, fitness tips, and interaction with our total fitness coaching staff of nutritionists, personal trainers, and life coaches.

Our new President, Barack Obama, said it in his inaugural speech yesterday. I, too, was inspired by his speech, so I’m dedicating the next few blog posts to the themes and values that our new President is asking us to pay attention to. In this post I’m asking you to think about what you want to change in your life or what it is that you’ve been putting off.

We all have it within ourselves to incite change and make things happen. However, the thought of change is very overwhelming for most of us. I am sure many of us will put it off until tomorrow. Then tomorrow comes, and we discover, we don’t have to until tomorrow. Thus, the cycle continues.

People, that cycle is called procrastination! We all suffer from this syndrome every now and again, so there is no need to feel any guilt over it. In fact, a study reported in Psychological Science reports that despite extrinsic motivators (money), one group still put off completing their tasks. This was the group that was given given their task without any “how-tos” or instructions to follow. The group that had the details broken down and instructions to follow actually completed their task early, without a second thought.

Here is your how-to:

1. Identify your goal/what you want to change. (Example 1-Lose 50 pounds; Example 2-Volunteer 5 hours per month to charity)

2. Set a date for accomplishing that change. (Ex. 1-December 31; Ex. 2-May 1)

3. Break it down into manageable chunks. (Ex. 1-Lose 15 pounds by March 31, 10 pounds by June 30, and so on; Ex. 2-Commit to 1 hour every other week in your first 1-2 months, 1 hour per week by month 2-3)

4. Assign yourself tasks for each week or month. (Ex. 1-Week 1-find activities you enjoy, Week 2-find workout buddies, Week 3-Exercise at least, two times per week, etc; Ex. 2-Week 1-Write down all social issues you feel passionate about, Week 2-Identify local charities that are in line with your passion (try asking neighbors, friends, or check the internet), Week 3-Call the local offices to see when and where you might be able to volunteer your time.)

5. Schedule it. Write those tasks into your calendar, as if they were that doctor’s appointment you couldn’t miss.

Try it out and procrastinate, no more. If you need a little extra guidance feel free to contact me by posting below or sending me an email at chriskfit@yahoo.com. You can also find help with your health and fitness goals at http://www.balancedstrength.com/v4fitness/register/. Sign up by February 1, 2009 for a free one-month membership.