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The easy way to keep a food journal

Keeping a food journal is an important step in understanding what you eat, when you eat, and why you eat.  Understanding that information can help you see those bad habits and food triggers and keep them under control. 

But, if you’ve ever tried to keep a food journal you know that it can be quite a hassle.  Logging calories, protein, carbohydrate, and fat means that you have to gather all that info, figure out what it means, and then write it all down.  Once you’ve got it written down, now you have to figure out how to use it.  I’ve got great news for you!

Check out Daily Burn.  They’ve put together a ridiculously simple way for your to track your intake, measure it against your energy output, and learn how you can get and stay on track.  Their food database has a few hundred thousand foods already loaded, taking all the detailed calculations off your shoulders.  If you’ve got an iPhone, they even have an app that you can use to track all your data on the go.

One of the most important parts to the equation is breaking down the macronutrients: protein, carbohydrate, and fat.  Too many people focus on just counting calories and that can be dangerous.  Weight loss is not as simple as ‘calories in vs. calories out’.  Instead, you have to have the right balance.  One-thousand calories of Twinkies is different than 1000 calories of fruits and vegetables.

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Work those abs with the bicycle

There are lots of very effective exercises that you can do, other than the standard boring curl up, to work your abdominals. 

The bicycle is just one of many that you’ll find on my YouTube channel and I’ll be adding even more over the coming weeks.  With this exercise, you’ll activate the obliques, rectus abdominus, and transverse abdominus helping to improve core rotational strength.

Give it a try and leave me a comment to let me know what you

Work your abs doing the bicycle
Work your abs doing the bicycle

 think!

P.S. I wish I could do every video from that dock.  It’s truly one of my favorite places in the world.

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The Cure Starts Now Holiday Cards

Our daughter’s friend Brianna is one of twelve brave kids who have battled, or are battling brain cancer and who have created holiday cards for The Cure Starts Now.

Help honor them, and all children fighting brain cancer, by purchasing these holiday cards. Each pack includes 15 cards with one of each of the designs.  (Brianna’s has a snowman and a Christmas tree

The Cure Starts Now 2009 Holiday Cards
The Cure Starts Now 2009 Holiday Cards

on a blue background).  The inside includes a message “May the spirit of the holidays bring you hope and happiness.” Envelopes lined with silver foil are included.

Proceeds go directly towards The Cure Starts Now which helps families battling brain cancer and funds pediatric brain cancer research. Help a worthy cause and spread holiday cheer!

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Get Smart, get a goal!

There are many reasons fitness programs fail.  One of the biggest is most people show up at the gym with no meaningful goal or at best, a pretty flimsy one.  More often than not, those goals usually don’t have a way to be measured and lack true meaning.  

To be meaningful, your goal has to have a few components: 

  • Specific
  • Measurable
  • Attainable
  • Relevant
  • Timebound

No weak goals allowed.  Lose 10 pounds doesn’t cut it here.  Why?  There’s no timeframe and no relevance.  By when do you want to lose 10 pounds?  For what reason?  Is the goal attainable in your timeframe?

Lose 10 pounds in ten weeks so you can fit into that favorite little black dress to go to your high school reunion. 

Now, that’s a goal.  You know what is to be accomplished (specific), you know when it is to be accomplished (measurable), it’s not outrageous but challenging (attainable), why it’s important (relevant), and has a reasonable deadline (timebound).

Why is the goal important?  A good goal will help you make sure you stick to the plan.  We all have a reason for working out.  There’s something that we want to do that we cannot do today, and introducing exercise and proper nutrition is a tool that can help you reach your goal.

If you haven’t downloaded it yet, get your copy of 10 Reasons Most Fitness Programs Fail.

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Be a Superhero with the Spiderman Push Up

Learn the Spiderman Push Up
Learn the Spiderman Push Up

Push ups are great exercises for developing strength.  But let’s face it, they can get boring.  If you’re looking for a unique variation on the tired old push up, try the Spiderman push up.

The movement goes like this:

  1. Begin in the standard push up/plank position with your arms extended and hands under your shoulders.
  2. Lower your body by bending at the elbows while keeping the body in line and not sagging.
  3. As you lower, bring your right knee out to the side and touch it to your right elbow without twisting your torso.
  4. Raise yourself back to the start position while bringing your right leg back to it’s start position.
  5. Repeat with the left side. 
  6. Keep repeating

Enjoy your workout!