How healthy is your county?

There is an important report that came out a few weeks ago that didn’t get as much press as I hoped it would.  County Health Rankings is an annual report, published by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, a think tank in Washington, DC.

They have a great interactive chart and you can look at every county in the US to see how you rank by state.  I live in one of the healthier states (Massachusetts is 3rd overall) and I live in the 3rd healthiest county in the state so I’m feeling pretty good.  Go ahead and see how you rank … then come back!

The findings are interesting … generally you’re going to be healthier if:

• you live in an urban/surburban environment vs. rural
• you’re well educated
• you don’t smoke
• you have easy access to health care
• your income is above the poverty line
• you have access to healthy foods
• you have access to outdoor areas

This report highlights some of the big social issues that are woven into the fiber of our country.  When I see people like Jamie Oliver I applaud them for their efforts to improve the lives of the people who have the least information and the least access. Oliver is about to launch Food Revolution, a show where he goes into a local community in West Virginia and teaches people how to cook healthy food.

If you live in a poorly ranked county, what can you do to help your neighbors?  There is a significant increase of premature death in the poorest counties; you’re literally losing your friends and family sooner than you have to.  What can you do about that?

Something to think about,

Lisa

There are trends in body-sculpting, though, just as there are trends as to whether or not black is in. This year the Oscar Red Carpet has upped the ante for us women.  Here’s what you need to know:

Sculpted arms have been haute couture for a few years now.  A svelte Hollywood arm has a nice musculature that is not cut too hard.  If you’d like to know how to get arms like some of these Hollywood stars, click over to my video for a quick, effective arm workout.  Amanda Seyfried, Zoe Saldana and Demi Moore all showed off their fabulous arms.

Decolletage. It appears a memo went out about not wearing necklaces at award galas, so until the moratorium is lifted we’ll have to focus on our decolletage as well.  This means lots of pushups and chest flys at the gym, then a really good push up bra!  Tina Fey and Elizabeth Banks show off their cleavage.

Derriere. A-line skirts are still popular but quite a few actresses were sporting very fitted gowns.  Their booties were on full display.  Ladies this is typically where our fat settles, so get ready to up the cardio and the leg work.  Think squats, lunges and side-lying leg work.  Vera Farmiga and Elizabeth Banks show off their back sides.

While I said it would be easier to claim an Oscar-worthy body then it would be to garner an Oscar-worthy dress, that doesn’t mean it’s easy!  Actresses getting ready for roles will frequently exercise 3 to 4 hours a day before they begin filming.  But remember, they have an arsenal of personal trainers, Pilates instructors, nutritionists, and massage therapists to keep them looking amazing.

If you’d like to give it a go, set up a workout schedule and clear the rest of your calendar.  You’re going to need it.  Good luck!  Let me know how you do.  :-)

Lisa

Jennifer Love Hewitt

I feel bad for Jennifer Love Hewitt.  She has unwittingly and unfairly become the poster child for body image in Hollywood.

She was just photographed a couple of days ago looking absolutely fabulous for the party celebrating “Ghost Whisperer’s” 100th episode.  More power to her, but it has touched off another round of discussions about her weight and body image in Hollywood.

You always wind up asking the question, did she succumb to Hollywood peer pressure or did she make a conscious decision to drop some pounds?  It’s not a fair question.

As almost any woman can tell you, your weight fluctuates given what’s going on in your life.  Maybe you’ve just been lazy and some pounds have crept up.  Maybe you’ve got a new boyfriend and you’re feeling so dang sexy you don’t need to eat anything and the pounds melt off.  Maybe you’ve got a huge work project that has torpedoed your workout routine and that pencil skirt isn’t looking so svelte.

There are as many reasons to be on the thin side or the not-so-thin side as there are people walking on the planet.

As for Jennifer, she recently turned 30. I don’t know about you, but any number with a zero at the end gets me to work out a little bit more.  :-)

Here’s my question to you … when you were heavier than you wanted to be what was going on in your life and what did you do to right the ship?  Would love some comments here.

Oh, and Ms. Hewitt … keep rocking your bad self … you look great … at every size.

Lisa

Jillian Michaels is a smart marketer, not a yoga expert

I was surfing over to one of my favorite fitness sites, FitSugar, when their banner ad poked me in the eye.  A picture of Jillian Michaels with a yoga mat tucked under her arm, pushing her latest product a Yoga DVD.  Really?  The Yoga mat looked like the plastic sleeve had just been removed and it hadn’t even been unrolled once.  I’m sure that’s the way it’ll remain.

Jillian Michaels is not a yoga expert, she is not a nutritionist, her credentials for personal training barely qualify her to work in the industry.  Why do you want to take any advice that she dishes out?  Yup, she’s cute, she’s sassy, she has a drop-dead gorgeous body but c’mon now she’s doing yoga?

I’d like to let you all in on a little secret.  The fitness industry is about 95% marketing! It’s some guys in suits sitting around figuring out how they can tap into this billion dollar industry.  You know what the easiest way to make money in the fitness industry is?  Throw a celebrity’s face on the cover of whatever gizmo/gimmick you’re selling and sit back and wait.

Because of that we get the Susan Lucci Malibu Chair, the Kim Kardashian diet (I don’t even know what the real name of it is, I just see it plastered all over the place) and Jillian Michaels diet pills.  It’s appalling.

To give you context, Brad Pitt walks up to you and says,” Hi there!” (flash big toothy grin).  I’ve had surgery 5 or 6 times in my life and I’m pretty sure I can remove your gall bladder no problem.  Just lie down on my magic pillow and when you wake up you’ll be good as new.  Would you lie down on the table, with Brad Pitt holding a scalpel and happily let him cut you open?  (If the answer is yes, you need to see a therapist …)

A good yoga instructor has hundreds of hours of certification training before they begin teaching.  Someone like Rodney Yee or Baron Baptiste know how to guide people fluidly, even on a video, to keep them safe and ensure an effective workout.

Please ~ I beseech you ~ consider the source of your fitness information before you swallow it all, hook, line and sinker.  The goal, should always be to make you a healthier, more fit person, not to give some marketing dude the opportunity to buy another Armani suit.

Comments welcome.

Lisa

How to get that darn thing on!

Our first ever guest post had me snorting with laughter.  Since I’m, um, a girl with curves, I heartily related to this post.  I immediately wrote Anna for her permission to bring it here and she agreed.  :-)  Please also check out her great blog, Life Just Keeps Getting Weirder.

How to Put On a Sports Bra

by Anna Lefler

1. Approach the sports bra with confidence, secure in the belief that you will wear it.

2. Holding the sports bra open by its bottom edge, peer into it and locate the medium-sized opening in the center of the cavity. This is your target.

3. Take a moment to ask yourself the following questions:

A. Am I naked from the waist up? B. Have I removed my glasses?

If the answer to either is “no,” make the necessary adjustments and return to Step 1.

4. Snake your right arm through the right armhole as far as it will go. Repeat for left arm and left armhole.

5. Assume power stance: feet shoulder-width apart and knees slightly bent. Hook your thumbs into the sports bra’s bottom-edge elastic and pull it out in front of you as far as possible. (Note: do not let go.)

6. In one, deft motion, pull the elastic toward you and over your head. If you have martial arts training, this would be the time to release your battle cry, or kiai.

7. You should now be standing with arms pointing skyward, the sports bra encircling you at chin level, binding your biceps to your ears.

8. Remain calm. Visualize yourself wearing the sports bra while engaged in a pleasant activity, such as not watching Jersey Shore.

9. Cross your arms in front of your face, grasp the bottom of the sports bra and begin tugging it down to your chest. This process should take 2-25 minutes and can be streamlined by the removal of one of your arms (advanced yoga practitioners only).

10. If you have followed steps 1-9 correctly, the sports bra is now strapped across the rise of your bosom, compressing the breasts downward to the point that you can see your pulse in your areolas.

11. Resume power stance (see Step 5). Holding firmly to the bottom edge of the sports bra, pull it away from your body in a downward arc until it grazes your kneecaps. Then, with a scraping motion, drag the sports bra upward along the front of your body, capturing all excess flesh in its path.

12. When the bottom elastic reaches the desired altitude on your rib cage, release it. Then, while holding the top of the sports bra away from your body with one hand, plunge the other hand into the sports bra to distribute and align its contents, which should include both of your breasts.

Note: If you are unable to locate two (2) breasts in the sports bra, do not become alarmed as they are likely nearby. Remove the sports bra (see “How to Take Off a Sports Bra”) and return to Step 1 of these instructions.

Thank you Anna for sharing with us and I also originally found this post at McSweeney’s another great internet source. You can follow Anna on twitter @AnnaLefler.

By the way I have two great sources for sports bras, Title Nine and Athleta.  Also feel free to check out this article on How to Get Skinny, How to Stay Skinny.

I hope you enjoyed, :-)

Lisa

Sustainably Raised Farming Produces the Best Proteins

I’ve been on a journey for the past few years, trying to eat healthier and devouring books, movies and blogs on eating well. I know all about the dirty dozen of fruits & vegetables and I’m now discovering the complicated world of how our proteins are produced.

There is an epic tale brewing. There are heroes; Michael Pollan and Jonathan Safran Foer and there are villains, Monsanto and Tyson Chicken to name a few. The saga is best left to those with more resources than I. It is a war of well-funded groups with arsenals of lawyers at their fingertips.

What I’d like to share is some quick guidelines of how you can choose a little more wisely, if you choose to eat meat, poultry and seafood.

1. Eat less protein. The average person only needs about 4 to 6 ounces of protein a day to maintain a well functioning body. The fact is, most people meet their daily nutritional needs for protein with their bowl of cereal in the morning. We’ve cut our protein serving at dinner down to about 4 to 5 ounces and we’ve increased our veggies. Good for the pocketbook and good for the waistline.

2. Educate Yourself. Read, a lot. Watch movies like Food, Inc. Do internet searches on sustainably raised. As you begin to assimilate information you’ll automatically make wiser choices. Once you know what they really do to factory farmed chicken and to the farmers who raise them … you’ll never be able to reach for a standard-raised chicken breast again.

3. Eat grass-fed animals. Beef and lamb should be raised in pastures to produce lean proteins with healthy attributes. Studies have shown that grass-fed animals are healthier, happier with tastier meat.

4. Don’t eat anything that comes from a factory farm. It is difficult to avoid this, I’m basically vegetarian when I go out to eat unless it’s to a restaurant that agrees with my personal food politics.

5. Remember to choose wisely for dairy & eggs too.  Laying hens have an entirely different kind of upbringing in the factory farm system that is equally hellish and, frankly as disgusting, as their broiler cousins.  Try to eat organic, sustainably raised dairy products whenever possible, don’t forget the cheese.

6.  Befriend Your Butcher. I got a big smile and a “hi there” from my butcher at Whole Foods today.  He is used to me grilling him about where the meat comes from.  I dutifully write down the farms he mentions and then go home and look them up on my computer.  By asking the butcher for information, I now make more informed choices about which chicken to buy and I am buying more lamb too (turns out they are usually raised on pasture).

7.  Buy at your Local Farmer’s Market. It’s local, it’s fresh and 9 times out of 10 you can ask the farmer directly how he raises his meat.  He’s the guy standing there selling it to you.

8. Consider a CSA.  You might be familiar with the process of buying a Farm Share of CSA from your local vegetable farmer but did you know that they have them for animals too?  It takes leg work and research and you will probably have to go out of your way to source the food.  It’s a big step, one that I myself and still considering.  Although I did just put myself on a CSA wait list for pork.

9.  Cook meat differently if it’s sustainably raised. In general grass-fed food is leaner than the factory farm systems and as such needs to be cooked at lower temperatures.  I’ve left a trail of poorly cooked steaks in my wake until I figured this out.  There’s a great blog post about how to cook it here.  I use it all the time.

10.  Pass it on.  I love to throw dinner parties and I’ll fret over the menu, trying to create the perfect meal.  I also always make sure that everything is organic, sustainably raised, etc.  I quietly announce at the end of the meal that everything was super healthy and why.  I know I’ve made a little progress when someone asks me about how they can get their hands on what I’ve bought. I’m always happy to share.

Let me know if you have any tips you’d like to share about your healthy lifestyle path.  I’d love to talk with other simpatico people.  I’ve also written 10 Food Rules a synopsis of Michael Pollan’s latest book.

Thanks,

Lisa

Do you want to work in a gym?

You go the gym,  a lot.  You look good, you feel good, your friends ask you for fitness advice.  You think to yourself, “This would be my dream job, helping people look fabulous and hanging out in a gym all day.  Where do I sign up?”

Being in the fitness industry certainly has its perks.  You get to wear sweats all day, people are happy to see you when they walk in the door, and it feels amazing when you help a client reach a goal and they give you a big ol’ hug.

But there’s a downside, too.  Getting up at 6:00 am to be at the gym to work out your first client.  Doing split shifts, where you work in the morning and come back in the evening to work out more clients.  Clients blowing you off at the last minute and not expecting to pay for the session.   Even just scrounging up clients in the first place can be a challenge, especially these days.   Do you really want to be in the fitness industry?

Here are some things to know before you leap:

It’s not a 9-to-5 job. This is especially true when you first start and are working nights and weekends. You tend to work when most people aren’t working; that’s when they’re at the gym.  And more senior staff will be scheduled for the plum morning shifts.

You can’t work 40 hours per week.  People don’t realize this, but you really can’t see more than 5 or 6 clients in a row.  In my studio, most of my instructors work no more than 4 straight.  Working with clients requires intense focus; it’s not the same as a desk job where you’re constantly shifting your attention.  Fitness is all about the client and how they’re moving and it is actually pretty draining.

Get good credentials. There is a movement in the fitness industry to standardize certifications, which I think is a very good thing!  There’s also a growing movement for clubs to hire only people with college degrees in fitness and related areas such as physiology or kinesiology.  A one-weekend certification class or (God forbid!) an online certification aren’t going to cut it.  Look at certification programs offered by the ACSM or the NSCA; either certification will get you hired at most health clubs.

Keep learning. The fitness industry is dynamic.  There’s still a lot we don’t know about the human body.  There are new gadgets and theories and research coming out all the time.   As scientists and researchers learn more, fitness professionals need to stay on top of the latest developments and integrate this new knowledge into our client’s routines.

Take time off.  Burnout happens.  When you’ve just given the sixth person of the day their ab set and you don’t even remember what it was 30 seconds after it happens,  it’s time to take a break from the gym.

Keep working out. This seems obvious, right?   You’re standing in a gym all day, but guess what?   The gym becomes your job and at the end of the day you just want to get out of there and relax.  Remember that your joy of fitness is what started you on this career, so continue to pass that on to your clients.  I actually used to pay for a gym membership at another facility so I could work out incognito.  Now I have a home-based gym which accomplishes the same thing.

Be good to the people you work with.  Not just your clients but the business contacts you make, too. Even in a city as large as Boston (where I live) there is a small and influential group of fitness gurus.  You want to be part of this group; it’ll make your life much easier.  Fitness people tend to float from gym to gym over time so everyone gets to know everyone else.  Keep that in mind if you’re thinking of quitting a job in a huff as it could come back to haunt you later.

Don’t do it for the money. Yes, there are a handful of celebrity trainers who make a fortune.  It is unlikely you’ll be one of them.  The average full-time trainer in an urban environment will make between $40,000 and $60,000 per year.  In suburban areas, the pay is $30,000 to $50,000.   As a trainer, you’ll probably earn between $25 and $50 per client.  These figures are important if you’re deciding whether or not you can afford to switch careers.

Are you still interested?  Then click on the links above and get started!  You can also ask me any related questions below and I’ll be happy to answer them for you.

How a nice guy can get a girl at the gym

Today on Twitter someone asked me how a guy could ask out a girl at a health club without looking like a “perv.” I laughed.  I work in a gym, I’ve been in the fitness industry for 14 years, and I’ve seen many attempts, most of them failing badly. So I thought I’d offer some guidelines to the “Cardio Casanovas” of the world.

1. Don’t ask a girl out the first time you see her. Try to hit the gym a little more frequently and figure out her schedule. You ran into her once already so it should be pretty easy to eventually see her again. Plus, by going to the gym more, you’ll look better even if nothing else comes from it…it’s a win/win.

2. Just smile. Don’t strike up a conversation at first, just smile once or twice and let her know you’re around. Of course if she engages, by all means have a great conversation.  Just keep it light.

3. Once she gets used to seeing you at the gym, start making small comments. Here’s a good trick: if she’s a treadmill gal, ask her if she’s getting ready for a race. This is a great way to open the door to conversation. Another trick is to comment on her T-shirt; wait for her to sport a college jersey or a road race tee and then ask her about it. She’ll almost definitely respond.

4. Enlist the gym staff. If the staff thinks you’re cool, it’s likely they’ll help you. Become friendly with a couple of the staff members you see regularly. The front desk workers know all the members and are likely to know who’s available and who has a boyfriend. Wait for a quiet moment at the desk and ask politely. I can tell you from personal experience, the staff thinks it’s fun to help hook people up.

5. Another tip I wish more men would try: take a group exercise class. Look for the less “girlie” classes offered by your gym and head on in. You get lots of points for trying. Really.

Here’s why it’s so hard to hit on women in a gym setting: we’re scantily clad, we’re all pink and out of breath, we are not looking our best. We assume you are looking at the scantily clad bits and not our “inner beauty.” Dropping a quick line that might work at a cocktail party or a bar will not work at the gym because we feel more vulnerable.

And don’t forget, women who work out at gyms regularly don’t want to have to shift their schedules around to avoid you. We’ve got a lot to lose if you turn out to be a jerk, so we will always take our time before we say yes to a date from a guy at the gym.

If you’ve got any tips of your own, I’d love to read ’em. Keep them clean please.  :-)

Thanks to @runnrgrl for inspiring this post.

What would light a fire in you?

Usually I have a little tidbit to share with you.  A new way to look at exercise, health or nutrition.  But when the Olympics come around, I just sit on my couch in awe at what those bodies … all of those bodies can do.

Training to be an Olympic athlete is a life-consuming choice.  You eat, sleep, walk, and work towards your dreams 24/7.  There is just nothing like it.  As a fitness person I have a pretty good idea what it takes to throw yourself in the air and spin around three times, landing perfectly on the opposite foot while you’re on skates.  Or how to haul ass through a cross-country course, stop on a dime, aim at a target with a gun and hit it dead on.

The courage of the skiiers at the top of the hill, peering down at moguls or steep slopes and not just wanting to go down it, needing to go down it.  The boarders in the half pipes flinging themselves 10, 15, 20 feet above terra firma for the thrill of hurling their bodies through space.

It’s spectacular, it’s beautiful, it gives us true hope, we see spirits soar as athletes triumph and we see the dashed hopes of a simple mistake easily overlooked on any other day.

We can tap into that energy ourselves.  When was the last time you had pure joy just from moving?  What sport would get you out of bed early in the morning for extra training sessions?  I bet you have one … for me it was rowing crew, the fluidity of the boat in the water, I love the synchronicity of the rowers, we had to move in unison to succeed and we did ~ it was magical.

These days I’m into hula hooping.  Easy to dismiss I know, but there are so many things you can do with a hoop, if I had 5 minutes to show you the possibilities you’d be pretty impressed with what it can do.

I’d love for people to share what makes their heart sing when their bodies move.  Is it something you’d like to do again?  What would it take for you to be able to do that?

Let’s start a discussion.  I’m happy to help wherever I can with advice or training suggestions.

Thanks,

Lisa

Michael Pollans Simple Rules for Healthy Eating

I love author Michael Pollan as he is a voice of reason in the sometimes shrieky green food movement.  Although, with the way many of us choose the food we buy and eat, those who have taken the time to educate themselves find it difficult not to be shrieky.

Michael, if I can be so bold as to use his first name (he seems like a friend to me), has compiled a list of 86 simple rules in his new book “Food Rules.” (not an affiliate link)  The idea for the book started when a cardiologist asked Michael for something simple and easy to read that the doctor could hand to his patients.

I’ve chosen my 10 favorites from the book, and I urge each of you to adopt one or two rules and see if you start to feel better and maybe even lose weight without trying.

1. Eat food. This has been Michael’s mantra for years: avoid chemicals, preservatives and flavorings.  Steer towards fruits, vegetables and proteins.  If you can recognize it as food, i.e. an apple as opposed to a Pop Tart, you’re choosing well.
2. Cook your own food. It takes as much time to cook at home as it does to eat out.  Really.  Stop whining about it, pick up a spatula, and peruse some recipes.  It’s easy and rewarding.  You’ll save money and consume less calories.
3. Eat at a table. Our “rush, rush society” has led us to shove food down our throats as an afterthought to our schedules.  Eating at a table allows your brain some real down-time and usually results in fewer calories consumed.  And, no you can’t bring reading material or check your email!
4. Pay more, eat less. Here’s what I’ve found: high-quality food tastes better and you don’t need to eat as much of it to feel sated!  At my house, we slightly decreased our protein portions, threw in some extra veggies here and there, and wound up with healthier, lower calorie meals without even thinking about it.  And it tastes good.
5. Eat your colors. Food was not meant to be beige.  Try red bell peppers, blueberries, green apples, or vibrant carrots.  Diets with a lot of color automatically have a broad spectrum of nutrients that protect us in so many ways, from fighting the common cold to preventing cancer.
6. Eat animals that have eaten well themselves. Most meat in the U.S. has a life filled with misery that ends in a terrible slaughter. Jonathan Safran Foer’s book “Eating Animals” covers this thoroughly if you’d like more information.  I don’t eat meat unless I know where it comes from and I’ve spent hours grilling my local green butcher and then going back and researching the farms on the internet.  Just like #4 above, by eating higher quality cuts of meat, smaller portions make me feel full and I get to save some extra calories.
7. Avoid foods that have sugar as the first three ingredients. Check your cereal boxes!  You’ll be surprised how much sugar is in even “healthy” options.  Once you start reading labels on all your foods, you’ll start making smarter choices.
8. Avoid food products that make health claims. If the food is claiming to be healthy, it probably isn’t!  Have you ever seen a cucumber with a “lite” food label on it? (See rule #1 above)
9. The whiter the bread, the sooner you’ll be dead. White bread is highly processed, low in nutritional value (unless the manufacturer adds it back in), and doesn’t even have that much flavor.  Look for breads with whole wheats and blended grains.  Read your labels though; many manufacturers will have only a small percentage of whole grains while the rest is still just white, processed flour.
10. Eat all the junk food you want as long as you cook it yourself. It takes some effort to cook cupcakes and then scarf them down.  If you stick to this rule, you eliminate mindless snacking, which is one of the biggest reasons our waist lines have expanded.  I love this rule!

I would love to have some feedback to this post.  Let me know what you’ve done that has worked for you.  I’d also like to know which “rule(s)” you plan to try.