humble mortal

I went to the beach today...

It's been very long since I had ventured out there, since it's at least 5 minutes from me, and it requires so much preparation, I just never spent the energy to go. Today I really wanted to!
So after carefully covering myself in SPF 50 and wrapping a bottle of water from the fridge in a hand towel, I threw a beach towel in the car and grabbed one of my textbooks and a writing pad and a pencil and set out to make this journey.

I got to a Park that used to be free, now had numbered spots and a machine to sell you time there. $2 for an hour. No worries (though I didn't take my expensive phone and my expensive iPod with my expensive headphones, nor my wallet) I had my $20 hurricane cash made up of two tens, in the car, so I went back to the car to get one and pay for two hours. I am equipped with flip flops and bathing suit, no shorts or shirt or skirt, since I just drove to the beach the way I wanted to stay at the beach. My trunk always contains a couple of mats and a straw hat and finally I got to use them.

At the parking machine still, I am trying to figure out the instructions and realize that it's not taking the bill. A teenager comes by to get his ticket so I tell him "don't mind me, I just want to see how you get this thing to work" while her realizes, too, that it's not taking paper money. But he has quarters. I don't. I have a buck I save for meters and air and stuff. That's a half hour.

So another couple of ladies are watching this while unloading their SUV and one comes to get their ticket so I ask her if she is able to pay with paper. No, but she has change too. Oh! I say... She then proceeds to give me her left over coins (4) and goes back to the SUV to get some more. I tell her to break the 10 but they cannot, so they just hand me the money. I thank them and give them one of my fliers, just in case they need $2's worth of personal training some day... we laugh.

So this takes me about 10 minutes. Off to the beach now! It's beautiful and I feel my size shrinking as approach the waterline. The beach is quiet and the water is awesome, the sky is... well, the sky was up there, with a great big strip of black a little ways out, over the horizon. So I lay down and feel lucky and tiny and peaceful and sticky. All in mixed order.

I think how great it is to have strangers help out with money at the parking meter. I think how great it is to be able to hop over the bridge and dig my toes in the sand. I think how great it is that the wind picked up and the dark stripe is eating up distance at great speed and I wonder if my books are going to get wet. I stay and I am determined to stick it out. I have been here for fifteen minutes, crying out loud! Everyone is packing up and leaving, I know better, I live here, the rain will never make it to shore and I will have a wonderful time at the beach alone.
The wind gets cold and sprays some water on my glasses. I stay...

I think how much I feel the passing time and the fragile life of even the sunshine. It makes me feel tiny in the universe. But at least I feel. I feel the rain taking over the sky.

Hesitantly, I pick up my stuff and leave... but what a beautiful day at the beach! I must go back soon....

organic vs. green

I woke up thinking of my last night's entry because I realize I made a mistake so I'd like to correct myself here.

I was only ranting about the all mighty organic/raw munchkins. I didn't mean to mix "green" in there. Why? Well, I am a green head, if you will, and I think everyone should be too. Being green minded simply means to care about this Earth and except responsibility for everything we do to it!
The problem is with our inability to think globally and recognize that our careless deeds and every thoughtless action will effect this Earth and us living on it. What happens in Iran or Russia will effect Bob and Gracie in Georgia. Littering on someone else's property is going back to the Earth, yes, the one and only, the very one we all live on. Dumping waste, flushing things down, using and using and consuming... how much can we drain and abuse our planet, you think?

So going green means being Eco friendly and is easily done without spending any money, you just have to make an effort, and expend some energy. Your own. Loose the convenience and make an effort. Walk to the trash basin, don't use plastic for everything, don't litter and don't take unnecessary things just because they save you half a second. In Europe, or rather, Hungary, there are no shopping bags given away, you either buy a great big plastic bag (that people reuse) or you take your own bags to load up. This also cuts down on overbuying, since everything you buy have to pack and carry with you. Ok, so we are not as advanced as the great big US of A, but are also much much less wasteful!
I see more and more supermarkets going with permanent shopping bags, plastic should be outlawed soon! And I LOVE how they have to give you a bag for one item, or separate two items into two bags because they don't get along in one...a razor would get offended sitting next to eggs, right?? Is that crazy, or what? Wasteful!
So go green, save resources and don't litter. Don't take things for granted. Nature has a balance - we cannot just take and take and expect it to last forever. Oh, wait! It won't effect ME, because I won't live long enough to see it gone!! Now ask yourself this: Is that going to get you into heaven's gate?

Have a great green weekend, I think Lake Worth is having some sort of Eco fest next month, I'll post something about that. Just be aware of your actions, all of the time, every day, and make a teensie effort to save resources. Adios!

My green thoughts

For all of you green heads and organic raw food maniacs, congratulations! Because, you are so much better than everyone else, you have now created a market to sell food at a yet more inflated price while the rest of the world is dying of hunger. Such as Iraq and Africa and many more nations and people, even in our own back yard. But never mind that! We can block so much out, but not our stomach!!!

I am not mad, only amused by how narrow minded some organic brains are. Because, here's the real story.

Organic stuff only has to comply with a certain percentage of wholesomeness, it's not like that food is all natural. I wonder if there is such thing anymore, anyway...Yes, it is much more healthy than ordinary food but here's the low down on the actual harvesting and creation of organic labels. And first of all, I have a problem with the treatment of animals, whatever the heck they happen to be eating, if they are stacked on top of each other in a cage with their little faces smashed against the bars. Hmmm. Mental picture...go away!

BUT! it's ok, because they are eating organic feed. Whatever the heck that means. Most of us don't really know it anyway. The organic feed that comes from grains that are raised on somewhat contaminated soil irrigated with water that contains drugs and chemicals, than fertilized with poop that comes from organically raised organic animals that are free roaming and not genetically modified or cloned (not even cousins!), which feed is than sent through a processor that may or may not have come in contact with peanuts (the wandering type) and... you get the point? And we buy it for at least twice the price of good ole, steroid laden, cloned and enhanced, genetically plumped and hand colored and waxed food that we are used to eating.

Here's another news flash. It's all business. All of it. No one is better off, and organic carrots break your teeth! It makes me sick thinking about the stuff that goes into growing vegetables and raising animals to eat. It really IS sick. So I don't think about it... I gotta eat. So does the rest of the world. And profits have to be maximised. So if you think you are better off eating organic stuff, in most cases, yes, but please don't preach to everyone about how ignorant they are for not spending $1500 a month on a grocery bill. Plus, I like to eat my meat, and I try very hard not to think about how it grew up. As far as vegetables go, I just rinse everything well and go for deep colors. Not size. Or shine.

So, with that said, most of our food is modified and/or contaminated but yes, I can see how organic is a better choice. It's simply not nearly as pure as the green heads think it is. Nor is it imported from Chernobil.

Ultimately, I would like one day to live like I have when I was growing up. Go to the garden before cooking and literally get everything out of the ground. Send dad to kill a chicken. Have a couple of cows and pigs in the back 40 grazing grass. OK, we didn't have a back 40. Or weekends in front of the TV. But anyway... that, or have everything delivered to the house from someone down the lane who has all of this. Yeah...Some day!

Till then, look for the seal of "safe for human consumption" or "how hungry are you?" or "from our toilet to your pot" heeheee... that one was funny...

Have a lovely weekend people!

nuttin' new

I just feel I have to give a "check in", a shout out to my readers and a reminder to myself to get mad about something before the weekend.

Hmmm...

it's a shoe thing

Those who know me and see me in the gym are aware of the fact that I own a few pairs of shoes. Which, at first glance, seems to be so that I can match their colors to my tops, or shorts, or the hair color of the week. Not so!!! Really!

Let me tell you a little story of how I came to be the owner of so many shoes. Sneakers, that is.

I like to run and train hard, which puts extra stress on my feetz and joints that have been so neglected and abused during my short military career. So, in order to keep going, I need a little extra help. This is what I found so far, searching for the right kind of running shoe.

Adidas, my all time favorite, is durable and well made with superior cushioning and a true fit.

Asics, light and fitting like a sock, tends to wear out faster and "expand" through wear. 3 months tops - cushioning problems that might induce new, or reinactivate old injuries. Great for races, not for training. The snug fit is phenomenal!

New Balance has a patented shoe lace design that I absolutely adore, it's their little twisty laces that will never slip or come undone! What a genius! Great fit and well made but lacks cushioning and if it doesn't, it may get a little heavier than, say, Adidas. Another plus, they are available in a narrow fit too, not just wide, to accommodate us mutants.

Brooks are clunky, Sauconies are, eh, I don't know. Haven't really run in them, they don't seem to have the right toe boxes for a good fit. Some seasoned runners swear by them...

Nike, well, I resent the fact that they manufacture shoes with big name athletes' endorsements that will cost the kids $130, and are horridly ugly! Never mind non-functional. Their running shoes are not well designed, they just look good. I've had clients suffering shin splints and stress fractures I(I believe) due to their Nike's poor cushioning. It's like they've become the cool shoes, not the good shoes. And what's with the little pillars in the heels? Square hamburger patty?
Dismissed.

Fila and Puma are trying to break into the market, but for now I think they are also focusing on good looking and/or racing shoes that are light, colorful and not all that well cushioned. I would be very sceptical to train in them.

Let's see, who else? Oh! My favorite, the NTB shoes that let you walk (for $250) as if you would if you were barefoot. Am I the only one who sees this??

One last thing about shoes. OK, two last things.
One is, I've read about this sneaker shoe business and how, in some people's opinion, it is almost better to run in light weight and plain cushioned shoes and to train the body and allow it to perform in its natural habitat. All of the joints and muscles are, after all, designed to work together and rebound, distribute energy, and propel the body forward (without carrying extra weight) in a very efficient and magnificent manor. This source also argued that a lot of the problems that create overuse injuries come from the very source of artificial cushioning and compensation for what we already have, naturally. Interesting. I do too remember training barefoot running sprints across the socker field, even running on clay track. Than again, the military issued boots - that we had in basic training when we ran everywhere and marched 18798675 miles with extra weight - had caused severe overuse injuries that were never given the chance to heal and created serious set backs.

So where's the golden median? I think a neutral shoe with some cushioning should suffice for most, and if someone has issues with body mechanics than that should be corrected or at least addressed by retraining to walk, jog and run in proper form. As much as the degree of handicap allows, of course. It can also be argued that today's technologically adaptable shoe design allows those with such handicap to participate and practice in sports that they would not be able to without compensating with special gear. Look at Oscar Pistorius the double amputee smoking down the 400m track! Ok, those are not the shoes, they are actually the limbs. But you get my point, right?

So this is the reason for my shoes galore, I am still in the process of identifying my degree of handicap and looking for the perfect fit (in the right color).

Thing two. If there was someone smart out there who wants to make some bucks designing and selling running shoes to special order here is what I would like:

An Asics Nimbus upper over an Adidas Cushion 6 bottom with a New Balance lace in Puma colors. That's not too hard, is it?

Snacking is bad... here's how to make it a little better

When adhering to a fitness or weight loss goal most of us realize that nutrition is a fundamental part of the plan and it can literally make or break the outcome, yet it is increasingly difficult to stay away from snacking and eating for indulgence, stress relief, or just for the pure pleasure of tasting something that we know is "forbidden"; breaking the rules!

And in all honesty, can anyone not deviate from the daily calorie plan and turn down every single temptation and not ever buy ice cream, chips, cookies and chocolate? Stuff that mostly has no nutritional value but does have tremendous "psychological" value. Stuff from which we preach to stay away, stuff that makes us "blow" our diet, stuff that is evil and made us fat in the first place. Can anyone be so disciplined, all of the time, really?

I know. NO! I know I can't. And you can't either. We have different "triggers" and different vices but cheating backwards a little bit may help balance the scale back to where it should be.
The following are tips to make a bad snack better or even good. I don't have a solution for everything but I know I feel better when I cheat "back" and make a smart(er) decision while indulging a little.

For chocolate fans:
Find Hersey's whole bean squares, made with whole cocoa beans that contain almost 40% less sugar. They are individually wrapped and delicious! Don't eat the whole bag, there aren't a lot of pieces in it.
Or take the dark chocolate covered almonds, or pomegranate or blueberries. And portion. A few pieces at a time.

For chip lovers:
Try my favorite pretzel sticks from Snyders, they are organic and crunchy and you can portion them easier. They are also whole grain.

For condiment users:
Go for mustard, and mustard only! It is my absolute favorite condiment and it is available in many different flavours and textures and gives sandwiches and burgers (should you eat those terrible things!) a great flavour. No mayo and no ketchup, they're fat and sugar laden, bad, bad stuff. Do you really need extra calories with a burger anyway?

For sweet tooths:
Ginger. I love it! It comes in different forms, you can also buy some fresh roots and grind it, use it in smoothies and add it to dishes. I even like the crystallized ones that are covered in sugar... or the pickled ones that are in a jar. Great little root and very good for you!

For ice cream likers:
Make your own, from fresh or frozen fruit, you can even add a teaspoon of sugar or some fruit juice and make a delicious sorbet in minutes, portion it well, and vary the flavours as you wish, can you think of anything better?

To keep you occupied with chewing:
My all time favorite snack, the apple. Eat 3 a day if you want. It takes a while. It cleans your tooths. It's good for you, no hidden dangers. Just don't dip it in caramel or candy coating!

Ok, I've run out, but if I think of anything else I'll add it to the list. I hope this helps...
Please look for my Daily Assessment Point System to be posted on my website, that will help you identify your problem areas and give you a clearer picture of where you fall short and what to improve in your daily fitness and nutrition. It will be posted soon.

something more about training styles

As I have discussed with myself many times before and have tried to tell YOU TOO, it is OK to participate in different training programs and disciplines, to mix and mingle and dibble dabble and waste your hours with the fancy classes in your fancy outfits and Zen floor mats and color coordinated tops and bottoms and Logo laden equipment.

I, however, will always be partial to the disciplines I practice, naturally, and therefore may be a bit apprehensive when the OTHERS try to claim fame and market themselves with lies.

What am I talking about? For instance, since I don't want to single out any one thing but rather to present and example: running and weight training against spinning and Pilates.

One way I think of it is this: if you want to mold, change, re-form an iron rod you'd have to put it under duress, hot fire and heavy pounding. You wouldn't sings songs to it and try to charm it to change, or do other sissy sh... to it to make it bend. Would you?

What do you think the human body resembles, how tough it may be against the elements and how complex it could be to survive 10s of thousand of years without significant changes. Now, how do you think we should treat our bodies if we want it to change? Against all genetics and evolution? Well, my guess would be to put it under duress. Make it do something taxing, stressful enough to initiate a change.

I am also partial to my sports because they are so easily "improvised" and casually executed even without the proper equipment. For about $200 you can have a nice getup to go running ($100 shoes, another hun for singlets or tanks and running shorts) that will last you 3-6 months. Only because today's shoes only last 300-500 miles and we have to have the latest and the greatest. For weights, all you need is a gym membership and a pair of old shorts and a few old Ts. Better yet, if you have no access to gym or weights, you can always do body weight exercise anywhere without any equipment at all. Come to my boot camp, I'll show ya...

Spinning, though it has helped many to loose weight and develop some overgrown quads, is so freakin' boring and ridiculous, when you are smelling everyone's sweat and getting no oxygen in a stuffy room, pretending that you are going somewhere when you actually in there because you chose not to go anywhere. Do you really think that riding on the road is anything like spinning? Are you using your body like you are on the road? I'd say maybe 5% of all spinners adjust their resistance to get a workout that resembles an actual ride. And I would still like to see them go anywhere outside, without the music. Don't get me wrong!! I have subbed spinning classes and have taken different instructors and my a.. was fried - but I don't cross train or ride, and I'd still like to be able to run (or walk). Plus, I find the hour unnecessarily long and not efficiently used by spinners.

Than take the sculpting classes. The kick boxing classes. The body works classes. The cardio circuit classes. Look closely at the participants going to those for years. Do they come out sculpted? Anyone? So why would people not listen to a trainer??? Wouldn't it be so easy for us to send the clients to a class? Prescribe a class schedule and call it a day?

Well, at the end of the day it all depends on individual goals. What is your goal? Do want to stay fit and have fun? Go to classes. Do you want to improve and boost metabolism and build strength and endurance? Get a professional, get a plan and live the life style that will get you there. Don't compromise! What are you? Are you not steel and iron? Are you macrame or a little twig?

I VILL KRUSH YOU!
lol

Do and train as you are and what you are. Just don't wear blinders...
Have a great week!

stand up for weight training - again!

By now I am sure I have expressed my beliefs and voiced my opinion about different types of training, cross training and bogus training alike. Given the many different attributes, preferences, abilities and exposures of people to exercise coupled with the delicate balance of nature where everything has some kind of place and function; I have concluded that knocking any one thing over the other and bad mouthing various forms of exercise is not the answer.

I do, however, believe that no compromises or substitutes can or should be made with the "core stuff", such as high intensity cardio vascular training, heavy weight training, stretching and having fun! With that said, I repeatedly see claims (of marketing experts) to hype up a particular routine by discrediting one of the core routines, or pointing out made up advantages over the old fashioned work outs. And guess what: I am not alone seeing through this brown curtain of crap. eeeewwwwww!

Check it out, someone with a lot more credentials than I has written about it and I think it doesn't hurt to read it, though I want to say that I am not trying to put down any particular routine, only to point out the obvious: be aware of marketing scams and don't give up on hard work!

See what Jamie Hale has to say about how much "better" Pilates is than weight training here:
http://www.elitefts.com/documents/pilates_magic.htm

BAD DAY or sad day

I must tell you; I LOVE what I do!
I love the field, I love the people, I love the "work", and I love the gym, the home base, the atmosphere, the challenge, the versatility, the adversity, the flexibility and all the ilities I cannot think of.

Today, however, my faith has been rattled and shaken and a little bit broken and I got sad...
I had a bad day. I had a difficult client and I gave up on her. I had a moment where I decided (not so tactfully) that my dignity and self respect had to come before my duty. The WRONG duty. I am very clear about what my duty is, as a trainer and as a professional. With this one person though I had broken that code and I had compromised only to indulge her. Only to play psychologist, and do something I am not qualified or paid or appreciated or even ASKED to do. So it was my stupidity. Because, in the end, I had to walk out on her, and embarrass her in her place of "safety and peace". I stormed out steaming, but not before I spewed my frustration out and yelled my disapproval for everyone to hear. Sp wrong!

What surprised me in the whole event that might not make sense to any of you because you have no clue what I am talking about, is that after the initial getting mad phase I just got really sad. I am not sure if I felt that I had failed, or if I had felt guilt for not making better decisions and not being an adult and a professional without emotions, I don't know... I just know that I was really really sad. I felt like I lost something, something I cherished and treasured and it's slipped away. I tried to tell myself that I was doing the right thing and that it was inevitable and I had indulged her too long... I shouldn't have, in the first place. One cannot call herself a professional and start acting like a mindless child only to turn around and yell like a mad grown up. How the hell did I not see that? Or am I just a sucker for indulging the mentally manipulative and the broken spirited people?? I have to quit. I must stop or else, I will never be a professional.

I am deeply saddened by how my efforts were futile, and by how my judgement was flawed and my actions immature and reactive. I guess I have failed and failed on many levels.

Well, for one thing, I do still love to train and am grateful for all of my clients and most everyone I meet doing this. I am just still learning, that's all...that's all, folks!

snack rec

Snacks recommended by me:

Snyder's organic multi grain and pumpernickel pretzel sticks. Very good!

Wonderbar. Very good and simply wholesome! Ingredients: 4. Things that you can pronounce, such as honey, pumpkin seed, raisin and macadamia nut. HHHHHm.. No 0iyfwhjj gum? Or corn syrup? Try it!

Apple. Awesome! It's my favorite driving snack! It's easy to eat, you can keep it in between your teeth if you have to answer the phone and shift at the same time, you can calm yourself down by taking big bites and chewing it down fast, and it's hard to yell with a mouthful of apples, and if all else fails you can throw the uneatable part at the other driver(s). Good fun!

Things I don't recommend:

Tuna - hard to keep in the car...

Pomegranate - whaaa..? How do you eat that?

Turkey leg - messy and takes too long to finish

BalanceBar - it just tastes like KAKA... and it may or may not have have been processed in a factory with anchovies, cat hair and dandruff, if you happen to be allergic to those. Oh yeah, contains lactose from soybeans too. haha. Crap!

So you see, healthy snacks are impossible to eat. So stay with a big bag of something or other, or a fruit tree. Cannot go wrong...

till later
(you know half of this was not serious, right?)

Gym Etiquette

Etiquette is French for .....hm... in my own words... it is a set of social engagement rules in a given society in a given social setting. I have no clue what the dictonary migh tell you, this is just my interpetation.

What is "gym etiquette"?

Rules of engagement, such as:

Although I don't think enough people sweat enough, you should not leave any of it for others. Wipe your stink off everywhere! Trainers, educate your clients, you spend all day in there...geez!

Unload your impressively huge weights! Unless your housekeeper is working out with you... or wife. In which case, make her do it.

Don't hog the equipment, if you are super setting, take your towel with you and let people "jump in" for a set before you reclaim your place. It is not exclusively any one's spot for any length of time so share!

Wear shoes, not flip-flops. Unless you are just dropping in from WalMart. In which case, you should've stayed there flipping and flopping. No one wants to count your bad toenails and it's unsafe and also against the rules, except in the cardio room (i.e. yoga class).

If you want to speak to someone wait till they finish the set, don't try to be cute and make them loose concentration and stop breathing, neanderthal!

I could say more, but bottom line is: leave things the way you found them and be clean and neat and courteous.

chutney in my gulyas

For all my psycho clients: You are draining the life out of me - I am not paid to be YOUR punching bag, so get off me! Also, I cannot fix you.

For all the non-driving citizens: Be glad I don't have a really big truck!

For all the slow driving nondrivers: Walk! It burns calories and saves lives!

For all the miserable people: Your repeated attempts to get me mad have failed, I pity you...

For all the lazy people: Maybe in your next life, you'll get another turn to do something.

and just so you don't think I am having a rainy day:

for all my clients and all the people who have crossed my path and made me smile: I am grateful and lucky! Thank you!

motivation

Here's a little something to consider while fighting the urge of NOT going out, not getting up and just skipping your work out: when you do conquer your fatigue and your moody and weak moment and do get to your work out, even if it's not your usual but you do finish it, the pay off is exponential! I really mean it! We have all experienced it; feel like NOT running or making it to the gym but going anyway... and somewhere halfway through you realize how freakin' great it feels to be out there, to be doing something good for your body, and to have conquered your weakness in the moment! It is exponential! And some of those routines turn out to be the best ones, so go ahead, fight it out amongst yourselves and let the strong one win, drag yourself to your work out and really truly get those endorphins moving! Have a great one!

your responsibility as a consumer

I am writing this because our human nature makes us easily conned and tricked into buying products and services we don't need, or that are not even good for us. When we listen to adverts and if we were to believe most of it than by gosh, everyone one would be a slim, younger looking perfectly healthy individual, with no dandruff... heehee

It is not so. Dandruff is still here, and so are your extra pounds and your cholesterol. Artificial sweeteners are terrible for you and not saving you from getting fat. If you could eat blueberries and garlic all day and chase it with some fish oil and pomegranate juice, you will not be a picture of health, but you may become a bathroom fixture, if you know what I mean...

Eat chocolate, don't eat chocolate. Eat margarine, don't eat margarine. Eat soy, don't eat soy. You know what?! Whatever, that's what! Whatever they need to sell at the time, is what we focus on. Do you really think that eating a balanced diet has to be so specific and has to zone in on one thing or another, changing on almost daily bases? No... nor should you watch every bite you eat constantly! I tell you what TO watch! Portions! Bad fats and sugar. Water consumption.

Here is my theory. Well, not really mine, I was reading about this in my favorite magazine, "Onfittness" and couldn't agree more! The article analyzed why our society is having such an obesity crisis today and how it came about. The fact is, that in ten thousand years, our genetic make up has not changed in essence, not changed much at all! What has? Our lifestyles and eating. We do not hunt, gather, carry things and build by hand, walk across great planes and mountains, we do not USE our bodies as we have, say a thousand years ago. But we have more to eat. Less to move and more to eat. We go from a comfortable house to a car to an office, to a place where we pick up our foods and eat and eat and eat. We have foods that are processed to oblivion, but can be eaten in a matter of minutes, last for years and are available everywhere. We are the caged animals that are being pumped full of stuff to consume and we like it. We want more! We have to figure out how to keep eating and not gain weight.

Try putting a leopard in a cage and only walk it for an hour or so every day but feed it regularly, and feed it, say, beef jerky and hot dogs and hamburgers. When it acts out, throw him a cookie to keep him occupied. Let him play video games of hunting for food. So he'll get hungry and we can feed him more. I guarantee you, he'll turn into a flabby lump of hair! Such as we have...and with dandruff...

So what's the solution???
Go out and hunt, for God's sake!
No, I'm kidding, of course, stop eating like you are a polar bear! Eat clean, eat colorful and drink plenty of water. Don't be a pig, or you'll end up looking like one. And may smell like one too. With dandruff!
Get up, get out and move around! We live in Florida, crying out loud!!! No, the sauna is not the solution, stupid and lazy ones, you have to "expand" calories by moving about. Eat what you NEED and keep moving! Make your kids and your husband move too! No, golfing is not an aerobic workout!
Take the stairs, walk the park, park AWAY from the front door and stop snacking when you're not hungry. Dessert is not a food group, nor is it a part of any meal, ever! Just because it's there you don't have to eat it! Or better yet, put it away! Don't buy it or get a to-go-box right away and make it disappear! Not in your belly, just out of sight!
If you are too tempted by all the goodies this life (in this country) has to offer, than indulge put pay for it, work and work out hard and consistently!

Have a nice weekend people, I will be back for more!