Nixie Dee

Confession#1: I have a huge sweet tooth.

Confession#2: I have a huge bitter tooth.

I crave sweets, candy, chocolate, sugar, pies, cake, whipped cream, ice cream, and well, you get the point. We all get cravings but they are just psychological. We can control them.

I crave spicy arugula, kale, brocoli, grape leaves, spinach, black coffee, and pretty much everything that goes in a salad.

Funny thing is, when you start to eat cleanly, you start to crave those healthy foods you are loading up on. I’ve recently discovered my “bitter tooth” to be quite helpful in my healthy eating. It’s not always “bitter” but just plain vegetables. Some are sweet like carrots and some are spicy like jalapenos. Altogether though, my body wants healthy food and yours will too, once you start to be consistent with your clean diet. If you’re interested in starting a clean lifestyle, contact me today. Why not right now?

When you consistently eat healthy, indulging in junk food or alcohol makes you sick. I can handle some organic baked goods or some tofu mousse, but having real, processed white bread or sugar makes me slow, nauseas, and full of headaches. On the other hand, fruit, which is technically sweet and sugary, does not make me sick. The sugar is natural, organic, and straight from nature. It’s full of nutrients and fiber. I love it. ^_^

Do you have a sweet or bitter tooth? 

Hello Everyone!

I’ve just finished reading “Eat Stop Eat” (Intermittent Fasting for Weight Loss) by Brad Pilon and have found some facts that I was surprised to see. I figured I should share the knowledge so you and your weight loss journey can benefit as well.

Myths

1. When you fast, your metabolism slows down. 
2. When you fast, your body eats your muscles.
3. When you’re not eating constantly (5-6 small meals day), you go into starvation mode and your body holds onto all the fat it can. 

Truths

1. The part of your metabolism that is “slowing down” is called the thermic effect of food. When you eat, your body has to use calories to digest food. (Very few at that) So in studies where people fasted, their metabolism was a VERY tiny percentage lower because they weren’t digesting food. If you’re not eating food, you won’t need to burn the calories to digest it. And then later burn the calories of the food itself. So if you’re just sitting on a couch all day, your body will still burn the same amount- food or not.
2. Your body doesn’t eat your muscle. When at rest, the human body uses FAT to stay energized. During high heart rate movements, your body will use the sugar (glycogen) stored in your liver. And your muscles will use the glycogen stored in them to move. Note: Which ever muscle has glycogen (energy/sugar/glucose) stored in it, has to use it. It can not break it down and send it to your brain or other muscles.
   When people think of this myth, they think of anorexic people and their low muscle mass. That is because they have NO fat or glycogen left in their muscles or body, and they have been fasting for weeks and months without exercising their muscles to build them. So if you do some weight training or body-weight training, you can go more than a few+ hours without eating and have no issues. Technically, you can go 72+ hours without food and still not have your body eat your muscles. Of course you would never want to go this long!
3. As seen above, starvation mode isn’t after a few hours of not eating. It isn’t even after a few days of not eating. It happens after you’ve used ALL your fat and stored glycogen (sugar), and have been in bed rest or absolute no movement or doing anything that requires strength. Then your body finally realizes it is stressed out and needs energy from somewhere to survive. Only truly ill and anorexic people go through this. If you are too busy to eat all day, don’t worry. Your body is fine. Just get a meal when you can, and make sure it is healthy!

Some other facts about fasting:

1. It’s been going on since the dawn of history and religion. Many religions even fast once per week or month for a holiday or sabbath. Have you ever fasted for your religion, beliefs, or protest?
2. When your body is not digesting food, it can focus on healing, rebuilding, and restoring the broken cells and muscles. It can focus on your immune system to make you feel better and be better when you’re sick. (Ever wonder why you have no appetite when you have a flu? Your body is telling you to give it a rest from digestion so it can heal you faster! Ever heard the saying, “Starve a fever”?)
3. Fasting for 18-24 hours shows a 50%+ increase in growth hormone & fat burning. Growth hormone stimulates growth, cell reproductions, and regeneration in humans. That means if you worked out recently (the day/hours before) your body will focus on repairing and reBUILDing muscles. Score!

Conclusion
Overall, if you take in less calories – no matter if it’s spaced out through out the day, or if you fast 1-3 times per week for 18-24 hours, you are taking in less calories. Therefore burning more fat and losing weight. That’s what we all want, right?

Unnecessary Personal Tidbit: Most of the time I eat strictly and cleanly, but sometimes I get a sweet tooth or want to bake some yummy stuff – so I indulge. Then I’ll feel guilty (which isn’t necessary) and want to just not eat to make up for it. Some people may see this as unhealthy, but in a scientific weight loss perspective it makes sense. If you have a huge feast, you’re not going to want to eat for a while. Maybe even a day. Your body will have the energy stored and you can use it up while you live. When I found this site a while back I thought it was crazy. Then I realized I already do that pretty often in my life! If I have a long work shift, I won’t eat till around 9-11pm anyway, and that’s usually after a workout! Of course this is NOT suitable for all people, but if you can handle it, and don’t want to worry so much about that baked whoopie pie (me) then fasting after feasting is not a bad idea. As long as you don’t get all obsessive (which is what I always do) then you’ll be fine. Fast.Feast.Fast.  Or eat healthy every day. Or do both. (Me) Have a Thanksgiving feast.  Don’t eat again till the same time the next day. And then enjoy a faux-turkey, cranberry, and mashed potato sandwich. Yum! It’s all about balance. Do it your way. 

The anatomy of the body is complex. You should not just throw it around and twist it any way you see fit. Moving improperly can be dangerous and actually defeat your efforts at exercise completely, making your gym a pointless waste of time and money. Here are three things people commonly mistake as correct movements.

Lat Pulldown

What I See: Big dudes sitting on the seat and yanking the bar behind their heads. They jerk down a super heavy weight, thinking this is going to make this move better. This failure is incredibly common, partly because it feels like it’s doing something. When performed correctly, this move can strengthen the lats a great deal. (The muscles on the sides of your back.) However, pulling the bar behind you actually has the opposite effect and causes the head to jut forward even more, possibly injuring your neck and ruining your posture. Humpback anyone?

What I Want to See: After you’ve grasped the bar, try to think of this movement in two parts: First, drop the shoulders down away from the ears without bending the elbows. Second, lean back slightly, keeping the abs engaged, your head in line with your spine, then pull the bar to the upper part of the chest near the nipple line, keeping your shoulders back and down. Use a fluid motion, making sure you do not let the weights smack back down, or your body is doing any jerking motion. Start with a lower weight and move up, not the other way around big boys.

Bicep Curl 

What I See: Guys (and ladies) sitting on a bench, curling super heavy weights, leaning left then right to muster it up. They make a struggling face and breathe super hard and think that they will get sexy arms doing this. Wrong! They’re not burning any calories by just sitting there using ONE muscle.

What I Want To See: Turn your bicep curl into a total body exercise. Start in a basic squat with your arms in front of you. As you stand up from the squat, do your curl simultaneously. Squat down, arms down. Stand up, curl up. If you want it more complex, press straight up after you curl to hit your shoulders. Now you are working something!

Gym Wandering

What I See: This is the most annoying one, besides all the bad form and useless bicep curls. Ladies, I’m talking to you. I see ladies start by walking on the treadmill, maybe jogging a little bit, and then continue to walk at 2-4.0mph thinking they’re burning calories because the machine says so. (News Flash: Machines over rate calorie burn an average of 50% more than what you are truly burning!) They then go over to the huge room of machines and do about 5 minutes each on the inner legs, outer legs, chest press, etc. They’re not sweating, they’re not breathing hard, and they’re hardly burning anything. They think they’re getting a workout because they’re using these machines, but honestly, you’re not.

What I Want To See: Stop gym wandering, find a focus, and do it with purpose. If you want a total body workout, give yourself one without those stupid, useless machines. I’m a personal trainer and would never use the sit down machines. Here is an example of a total body workout at the gym: (Something I may do.)

• 10 Minute Warm-Up on the Stair Climber
  • Interval 80 steps per min for one minute, to 50 spm for 15 sec recovery
• 5 Intervals of each of the following:
  • 1 minute on, 15 seconds rest
  • (5 minutes on each, and 75 seconds rest total, then go to next exercise)
• Bicep-Curl to Shoulder Press *one fluid movement*
• Plie Squat-Hammer Curl *one fluid movement*
• Dead Lifts with Barbell + Tricep Dips on Bench (Switch each minute)
• Pull-Ups + Push-Ups on Smith Bench – Switch each minute. (Use the bar at a low setting, get under it for pull-ups, and grasp over it for push-ups)
• 15 Minutes of Interval Treadmill – 3 minute run, 1 minute jog
• 5 minute cool down
  • Set the treadmill to 10 incline, Walk on 3.0