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Not Losing the Weight You Want? – Consider These Six Things

March 27, 2012 By

Losing weight can be invigorating… and frustrating, maddening, overwhelming, etc. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could choose a diet plan that would allow you to lose 2 pounds a week (or 5 pounds, or insert your number here ____) every week until you reached your goal?

But if you have ever been on a diet, you know that’s not how it works. Some weeks your effort reflects the number of pounds lost. Some weeks you work your butt of and lose nothing. Some weeks (all be it rare) you slack a little and lose a pound or two.

Calories IN vs. calories OUT is definitely important, but there are other things that creep into the equation.

Here are 6 things to keep an eye on to make sure your effort reflects your outcome.

Eating too few carbohydrates
It’s true that we need to be careful when it comes to carbohydrate intake to maximize fat loss, but we still want to make sure we are getting enough carbs. Did you know that fat molecules will not enter the fat burning cycle unless they have a little glucose (carb) molecule to take them there. It’s easy to get excited when you reduce your carbs and instantly lose weight, but often this is more of a factor of storing less water than fat loss.

Eating the wrong type of carbohydrates
You might be eating the right amount of carbohydrates, but the type of carbs you eat has a big effect on weight loss. There is a buzz around high glycemic index (GI) foods and low GI foods, and the reason is that the type of carbs you eat will directly affect your weight loss. To keep it simple, low GI foods are good, high GI foods are bad.

Good carbohydrates are complex carbohydrates that take the body longer to break down. These carbohydrates typically are high in fiber, which takes the body longer to break down and helps stabilize blood sugar levels. The best sources of good carbohydrates include fresh vegetables, fresh fruit, whole grains and beans. All of these foods provide the body with energy, vitamins, fiber, minerals and phytonutrients. In addition to fresh fruit and veggies, good carbohydrates include whole grain cereals, whole wheat breads and pastas, and brown rice.

Bad carbohydrates are foods that are easily digestible and provide the body with limited nutrients and vitamins. Because these foods are so quickly digested, your body will experience a quick spike in energy followed by a crash. Examples of bad carbs include soft drinks, cakes, cookies, chips, white bread, white rice, alcohol.

Eating too little fiber
When we are eating for weight loss and we restrict our carb intake, it also changes our intake of fiber. Fiber might be the single most important secret to weight loss, and it is an essential factor for maintaining health. It helps you feel fuller and therefore eat less. It also binds with acids in the body and helps carry out excess fat, and it speeds the transit time of the food we eat, keeping the intestines in good order.

Getting too little sleep
When we are constantly sleep deprived the body secretes a hormone called ghrelin. Higher ghrelin levels have been shown to reduce energy, stimulate hunger and food intake, and promote retention of fat. Do you ever notice that some days you feel hungry all day, even though you are eating your regular diet. Think back to your sleep patterns, and you may realize that you haven’t gotten as much sleep lately.

Eating too little fat
Low fat diets have been really popular, but too little fat may actually make it harder for us to lose weight. Essential fats (aka good fats) help burn fat by helping to transport oxygen, vitamins, nutrients, and hormones to the body’s tissues.

Good fats include foods like non-hydrogenated oils (olive, canola, sunflower, peanut, sesame), avocados, olives, raw nuts (almonds, peanuts, walnuts, macadamia nuts, hazelnuts, pecans, cashews), fatty fish (salmon, tuna, mackerel, herring, trout, sardines), and tofu.

Bad fats include things like high-fat cuts of meat (beef, lamb, pork or chicken with the skin) whole-fat dairy products (milk and cream), butter, ice cream, commercially-baked pastries, cookies, doughnuts, muffins, cakes, pizza dough, packaged snack foods (crackers, microwave popcorn, chips), margarine or vegetable shortening, any fried foods (French fries, fried chicken, chicken nuggets, breaded fish), and candy bars.

Drinking too little water
Dehydration happens more than you think. If you want to have steady fat loss and high energy, it’s necessary to keep your body and liver hydrated every day. Our liver converts the fat soluble toxic chemicals (that we consume, breathe in, and absorb through our skin), into water soluble chemicals that are flushed out by the kidneys through urine. With limited water supply, the kidneys cannot completely flush out metabolic and foreign waste and weight loss can be more difficult.

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How to Measure Exercise Intensity with the Talk Test

January 10, 2012 By


Exercise intensity doesn’t come in a one size fits all number, and it can be as individual as choosing the best way to eat an Oreo. Intensity is different for everyone, but the higher the heart rate during physical activity, the higher the intensity, so measuring heart rate can be a good judge. The Department of Health and Human Services recommends Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans include 150 minutes of moderate-intensity or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic activity every week.

But what does moderate and vigorous mean exactly?

Heart-rate training, which can be done in a variety of ways, can determine if the aerobic activity is too easy, too hard, or just right. There is the old fashioned way by finding the carotid (neck) or radial (wrist) artery, taking the pulse for six seconds and multiplying by 10 to figure out the heart rate. It’s also necessary to do some math beforehand to figure out the individual target heart rate. For the techies, the gadget route is another way to go, by using a heart rate monitor. Then there is the RPE (Rated Perceived Exertion) where intensity is based on a scale of zero to ten, with zero signifying a potato sitting on a couch somewhere. But research suggests that the easiest way to measure intensity may also be as accurate, and all it takes is a little bit of talking.

The study took 16 healthy and moderately active people and had them exercise on a stationary cycle and a treadmill. They were hooked up to monitors to determine heart rate and exercise intensity, and they were also asked to perform a talk test where they said the Pledge of Allegiance during specific times throughout the exercise. At moderate intensity, the subjects were able to speak at a comfortable rate, and when exercise intensity went above and below moderate, the ability to talk was well matched to the heart rate monitor readings.

It turns out there is a close correlation between the talk test and the heart rate monitor measurements, indicating that the talk test is a cool tool to monitor exertion and measure exercise intensity.
The talk test works because talking comfortably means breathing frequency, which is related to heart rate, is under control. Even though the talk test is subjective, being able to talk comfortably and therefore breath comfortably, indicates a moderately intense workout. If the words don’t flow as easy, where a breath is required after every word, the workout crosses over into the vigorous range, and on the flip side, if singing show tunes is involved, the workout may be too easy, and the heart isn’t working hard enough to reach the target rate.

Hitting the target heart rate is important to any aerobic activity, and with the talk test there is no need to revisit seventh grade math and no need to spend any money. All that is required are vocal cords and the ability to talk, talk, talk, by reciting a few verses from a favorite rhyme, saying, or song. Choose timed intervals throughout the exercise and start talking, paying attention to how easily the words come out.

The best part is there are no failing grades with this test.

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Encourage Fitness – Do As I Say and As I DO

October 28, 2011 By

It’s never too late to start a healthy habit, especially with kids.

Parents influence kids every day with words and actions, and when mom and dad regularly encourage kids to be active, they help kids to appreciate fitness and have fun along the way.

Teaching practical life skills is one of the many roles that parents have. Things like how to brush teeth, how to tell time, how to tie shoes, and research now suggests that another one to add to the list is how to be healthy and active.

It’s never too late to start a healthy habit, especially with kids. Kids like to move, and though it is highly unlikely that a child goes from couch potato to Olympian, there are several ways parents can influence their children to exercise.

While verbal encouragement or logistical support, such as driving kids to soccer practice, is important, parents’ attitudes about health and fitness and their own patterns of physical activity are equally as important, since kids often follow by example.

Being active together has shown to have a significant impact on how kids view exercise, but it often goes down as a child’s age goes up. Younger children are more likely to want to spend time being active with their parents than teenagers, so there may be a window of opportunity to use it before losing it when it comes to co-activity.

And even though the sphere of influence on kids can be far and wide from friends to teachers to Sponge Bob, few are as direct and important as parents .

Children are well known for their contrary nature. Tell them to do something, and quite often they will do the opposite. So trying to force children to exercise may not be the best strategy.

Every parent has his or her way of approaching life lessons, but the idea with fitness is to get children to appreciate being active, and have a little fun along the way. “Because I said so” may work for putting the dishes away, but encouragement, celebrating small victories, and doing things together can be effective ways to motivate kids to get fit and stay active. And no child wants their brain to turn to mush because of too much television.

Whether is it sports, riding bikes, a martial arts class, or walking the dog every night, it is important to consistently present each opportunity in a positive light. It may take a bit of time and patience, but when children find the fun in being active, fitness can become a part of everyday life.

When kids are active at a young age, the habit can last throughout their lifetime, and influencing kids to be active at an early age is no different than teaching them the golden rule or respecting their elders. So it’s time to put fitness right up there with teaching children how to ride a bike and that there’s no hiding a piece of broccoli in a glass of milk.

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Cooling Down After Cardio – Is It Necessary?

August 20, 2011 By

When you are done with your cardio, and the shower or couch is calling, sometimes the thought of spending any extra time to cool down ranks right up there with organizing the desk drawer. Is it really that important to cool down after cardio?

Well, yes, because the purpose of the cool down is to redirect the blood flow and drop the body temperature back to normal before rushing off to meet the challenges of the day. It also settles down the heart beat quicker than without a cool down to feel better faster.

During a cardio activity, the blood is pumping vigorously through the muscles as they contract, and more blood ends up going to the extremities. When the heart is pumping fast, and there is a sudden stop, there’s a chance that the blood will start to pool in your legs and feet. Can we say head rush! This can lead to a drop in blood pressure, which may cause dizziness, nausea, and even fainting.

Cooling down allows the muscles to contract at a steady pace, which keeps the blood flowing back up to the heart instead of hanging out in the extremities, alleviating the chance of passing out in front of that hottie on the next machine over.

It’s time to chill, as cooling down is the easiest part of a cardio workout, so enjoy it. Ease out of the workout just like easing into it during a warm-up —taking it slow for five to ten minutes (or when breathing and heart rate return to normal), depending on the intensity of the activity.

Not only will cooling down get the body back to feelin groovy, but it punctuates a good workout kind of like a victory (slow) dance.

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Keeping Your Body Engaged In Life

July 15, 2011 By

I read an interesting statement the other day. THE BODY ADAPTS DOWN. This makes sense when you think about how smart our bodies are. They can adapt to the most strenuous situations and challenges, so the opposite must be true, too.

If we are physically inactive, muscles become smaller, bones become thinner, hormone production decreases, cellular conversion of energy gets lazy — nature chooses disintegration.

We are looking at buying a new car, so I turn to the car analogy. Even the most expensive, luxury car won’t run after being left in a garage for too long without use. The batteries will go dead, the tires will go flat. Similarly, a person whose heart, lungs and muscles have gone flat isn’t going to be able to do much.

To avoid this dead battery syndrome, keep yourself active by keeping your body engaged in life.

I’m not talking about extreme exercise, or spending hours at the gym every day, but regular activities that promote deep breathing, sweating, and keeping muscles toned. Walking (especially uphill), swimming, bicycling, resistance training, even just deep breathing are all good activities. How about playing/running with the kids, sweeping the pool (twice maybe), or mopping the floor for that matter, doing some sit-ups or push-ups while you watch your favorite show, get creative, but get moving. Here are a few more suggestions to start you off.

Push-ups – Okay, probably not the most favorite exercise for many people, but there are different ways to do push-ups that don’t make them so hard. You don’t need to pretend you’re “Rocky”, and do them with one hand; just do what works for you. Do them on your knees, instead of keeping your legs straight. Or, do them standing up against a wall. You will be building up arm strength and working out muscles in your chest area.

Jumping Jacks – Does this bring back memories of third grade P.E.? These are always fun, as they bring back memories of being a kid! Well, surprise – they are also great cardio exercises, and good for warming up, too.

Leg Lifts – These are great for building up strength and muscles in your legs. Just like with push-ups, there are a few variations. If you find it hard to do the exercises with your legs straight, try bending them slightly.

Dancing – Dancing is a wonderful exercise, which is great for your heart. Not only that, but it can lift your spirits as well, especially if you do some silly and crazy moves with the kids. Crank up the tunes and get moving.

Jogging In Place – Jogging is a great exercise for your heart. You can jog in place at home while watching TV or listening to music. The only equipment you will require is a good pair of shoes, to eliminate any stress to your legs. Mix it up with some high knees.

Squats – Squats are the “go to” exercise for your legs and buttocks. To get the technique down, you can even try these by sitting and standing up again from a regular chair.

The body is a smart cookie, so use this to your advantage by challenging your body and keep it moving to ensure that your body adapts up instead of down.

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Motivation Tips To Keep You Moving

May 31, 2011 By

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What motivates you?

What makes you want to succeed? It is different for everyone, but once you find what pushes you to be your best, you need to use it every day, so it will get you through those difficult days when you want to skip a workout or cheat when you shouldn’t.

Here are the things that motivate me.  Some days it is all of them, and some days it may be just one.

1. Visualization

There are many tricks for visualizing your success. When I was training for my body building competition, I would visualize myself on stage going through all my poses. Then I would visualize myself taking the first place trophy!

Some need to actually see it in a photo, so they cut out a picture of someone they admire or want to look like. You can even take your head off of one photo and paste it to the body of someone whose physique you want. Just make sure that if you are a Tyra Banks, you don’t visualize looking like a Kelly Ripa.

2. Competition

Many people have that competitive spirit.  I definitely do. This can work to your benefit no matter what kind of exercise program you follow.

Beating someone or achieving victory is a great feeling even if you don’t think of yourself as super competitive. On the flip side, losing and seeing others “win” drives people too.

Another way to compete is to compete against yourself. Whatever you did last week, you can try to beat this week.  This can come in the form of a faster mile, adding 5 pounds to your bench press, doing an extra push up, staying on the treadmill for an additional 10 minutes, etc.

3. Role Models

Most athletes, whether basketball players, tennis players, or bodybuilders have a person that they look up to and want to emulate.

So if there is anyone out there that has done what you want to do, they can inspire you and motivate you to achieve your goals. It doesn’t have to be someone famous, either. Maybe your mom or neighbor has achieved something that you want to achieve.

4. Positive vs. Negative

Both types of re-enforcement can motivate, and it is just a matter of what works for you. A big generalization, but men often do okay with negative re-enforcement, where as women are more drawn to positive re-enforcement.

When we were living in South Korea, we took a Tae Kwon Do class with two other women teachers.  Koreans take their Tae Kwon Do very seriously, and our “teacher” was very serious.  He didn’t speak any English, and we barely spoke Korean, but we could tell by his tone and his facial expressions of disappointment that we were not doing things right.  Almost every class had one of us girls crying by the time we left.  My husband never even flinched.  He didn’t even understand what we were talking about when we tried to describe how the “teacher” made us feel.

If you are one of those people that needs to be comfortable and positive to achieve your best, then make sure you are surrounded by coaches and people who offer that type of encouragement.

On the flip side if you respond better to proving the haters wrong, or showing your coach you are not a weak piece of poo (or whatever), then you know the type of coach or training partner to look for. You are not wrong for either tactic pushing you.

Whether it is any of these strategies or something else completely, as long as it is something that motivates you and makes you more confident in your abilities, then use it to your advantage to reach all of your goals.

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Getting Healthy Takes Time – 3 Steps to Help You Make The Most of Your Time

May 17, 2011 By

The other day I was watching a segment on TV about face creams.  The spokeswoman was talking about the products and how each of them treated the different signs of aging.  For one product, she said that the most important ingredient was patience, because it might take time, up to a few months, to see any results.

Getting fit and healthy is the same, and one of the most important ingredients is patience. It takes time to see results. 

Ironically, people end up wasting a lot of time because they don’t manage their time wisely. They spend too much time doing one thing, not enough time doing important things or wasting time doing anything and everything but the right thing. When people feel as though their effort does not match their results, they give up. 
 

Here are 3 simple steps to help you make the most of your time.
 
Take more time to eat less. Eating right takes time. The whole process starts with grocery shopping. If you don’t shop well, you can’t expect to eat well. You have to prepare the food and do whatever it takes to make sure you have healthy food with you at all times. Packing lunches and snacks are a vital part of avoiding temptation. Paying closer attention to calories and portion sizes will also require some time but the payoff is tremendous.  
 
Take less time to exercise more.  Many people invest a lot of time in what they would call exercise, but it  is really just increased activity. Although activity is good for your health, it’s not as effective for weight loss. Many people are just going through the motions and wasting a lot of time doing minimal effort. I see people doing 60 minutes of cardio casually reading a magazine.  What a waste of 30 minutes.  If  they would do 30 minutes of intense (where it is tough to speak a sentence let alone read a magazine) cardio, the effect would be more dramatic, and they would see results quicker.   Really burn some calories by turning  up your cardio effort. If you do weights, train at a higher intensity with less rest in between. You don’t have to spend three hours at the gym everyday. Commit to one powerful half hour three to five days a week and make every minute count! The more quality time you invest, the greater the reward.
 
Take the time to make sure you are not wasting time. This is a biggie. People spend a lot of time and energy on things that don’t work. Fad diets, weight loss gimmicks, books and fitness magazines often lead you to believe weight loss can be easy. It’s our human nature to try the easy way first. In the end, we just waste a lot of time trying to avoid the inevitable. Other people struggle because they completely go it alone with no guidance at all. A person who is basically guessing their way through their fitness program is doomed. Don’t waste your time floundering around aimlessly. Invest a little time initially to get good information from a trainer, a doctor, a well respected web site, or even me. Diet and fitness work. If you take time to understand why and how it works, you’ll see results in plenty of time.

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The Best Way to Exercise – Watch your Results Soar

May 4, 2011 By

Google ‘health and fitness tips’ and you will find 155,000,000 results. Talk to five health and fitness professionals and get six different opinions. Clearly there is enough information to go around.

However, with all this information, what are we supposed to believe? Have you ever started a workout routine only to read a week later that you are doing it all wrong? It can be frustrating and overwhelming.  One of my favorites is the debate as to whether you should do cardio before or after weight training.  I’m still not sure, so I alternate before and after.  I figure at least I have a 50/50 chance of getting it right.

Fortunately, there are actually a few tips that most everyone will agree on, and one of them is my favorite.

It has changed the way I work out, and my fitness results have soared!

On the surface, this may not seem like an earth shattering, OMG Kristi you are a genius type of tip, but it really is.

The tip is INTENSITY.

Whatever your exercise routine, do it with intensity. Maximum intensity.

For all of you who just said “duh”, this is really one of those tips that is easier said than done and takes some practice.

I have been weight training consistently (and fanatically) for 12 years, and not until this past year did I really understand Maximum Intensity.

I got some advice from a college football coach. He put together a three-week plan that included an all over body workout three days a week for three weeks. No cardio.

My first reaction was serious anxiety. How could I work out so little and not either lose muscle mass or gain fat or both?  However, in his plan, he said something that made me want to try it.  He told me that I had nine workouts, and I must make the most out of every rep, every set, every workout, because there are only nine. So work out at your max intensity and make it count.

My second reaction was excitement about this challenge to make it count.  It was on!  I always thought I worked out really hard until I started focusing all my attention on this make it count stuff.  Immediately, I was doing more weight and more reps than I had ever done, and I saw my muscle tone change (something I hadn’t seen in a while).

An added benefit: my workouts are much shorter now. If I really focus on the exercise and the intensity, instead of the kid’s next field trip, or what I am making for dinner, I can get a better workout doing fewer exercises and fewer sets.

4 Tips for Maximum Intensity

  1. Stop thinking about your list of 46 things you have to do today
  2. Only think about the exercise you are doing right now
  3. Make sure your last rep is as good of form as your first rep
  4. Ask yourself if you can do one more rep or one more minute, then one more, then one more

If you are going to make the effort to exercise, make it intense.

Make it count.

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Exercise for Free – The Two Best Body Weight Exercises

April 26, 2011 By

A friend of mine asked me “if you did not ave any access to weights and only got to choose two exercises what would they be?” As a weight-training fanatic, my first thought was anxiety, but as I ran through the options, there were two clear-cut winners.

1. SQUATS – I have a love hate relationship with squats. I love them because they are so effective.  I hate them because if you do them correctly with a lot of intensity, they can make your legs feel like they are on fire. I think that is called a ‘good burn’.

You don’t need a barbell, stacked with weights, bending across your back to benefit from this great lower-body exercise. The squat works your hamstrings, your glutes, and your quadriceps.
 
Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and with your hands either on your hips or stretched out directly in front of you. Lower yourself slowly until your thighs are parallel to the floor, like you are sitting in a chair, hold in that position for a second, and then rise quickly back to the starting position. To get the correct form, put a chair behind you and lower into the sitting position just barely touching the chair, then raise back up.

 2. PUSH-UPS –  Push-ups are one of the best upper-body exercises you can do, even if an entire gym full of weights were available. Push-ups work your entire upper body muscles.

Use proper form and technique, which includes keeping you hands just slightly farther than shoulder-width apart. If standard push-ups are too difficult for you at this point, try modified push-ups (knees on the ground).

If you are looking to start a resistance-training program but aren’t quite ready to join a gym? No problem because your own body weight is free. And, doing these two body weight exercises will certainly get your muscles moving.

These are exercises you can do during commercials, first thing in the morning, even in your office during a break. Challenge yourself to up your count each time; by trying to do one more than you did the last time. There are also so many variations to make the squat and push-up more challenging.  Are you ready? Email me for ideas on adding intensity to both. Musclemommy@fitchicktricks.com

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Fit Tricks – Tips to Eating Healthy

April 20, 2011 By

So I don’t call my web site Fit Chick Tricks for nothing. Here is a list of my favorite “diet” tricks that I use almost every single day. These are easy little changes that can make a huge difference.

** Fit girls don’t drink their calories. If you want a sweet beverage, don’t go for a soda, juice, or sports drink. They are loaded with calories, usually 100-200 calories per serving. Water should be your number one choice. If you need something sweet, try a flavored sparkling water, iced tea/green tea with lemon or as a last result even a diet soda if you must.

** Fit girls don’t eat chips with their salsa. Carrots are a great alternative to the tortilla chip. Carrots add the crunch without the calories and fat, and you still get the great taste of the salsa.

** Fit girls don’t read the menu at a restaurant. Dining out can sabotage a healthy eating plan. It is good to splurge once and a while, but when eating out on a regular basis, you want to choose the healthiest option available.

(a) When you know you will be going to a specific restaurant on a specific day, plan ahead. After you have had a meal, and you are feeling full, go online and look up the restaurant’s website and menu. In the privacy of your own home, on your own time, you can really read the food options and decide on the best choices. You can take all the time you need, and since you have a full stomach, you won’t be influenced by hunger. Make your choice for the next time you are dining out… and stick with it. Don’t even open the menu when you are at the restaurant.

(b)If the restaurant doesn’t have a website, or you don’t have time to look it up, when you do have to open the menu, look to see if they have heart healthy options. Most places have a little symbol that they place next to the healthy choices. Only look at those options. Don’t read through all the yummy appetizer descriptions; don’t read through all the yummy pasta dishes, etc. Choose only from the heart healthy menu items.

** Fit girls don’t eat in their car. Stop eating major meals in your car like it’s a restaurant on wheels. Skinny girls will eat things like a health bar or some fruit, but no eating burritos, sandwiches, and pizza. How much can you really enjoy your food and pay attention to your portions if you are driving around and paying attention to 10 other things. Also, because skinny girls don’t eat meals in the car, there is no need to go through any kind of drive through which typically belongs to fast food joints.

** Fit girls stop eating before they are full. This is a big one. By taking a few minutes before you feel full, you can cut serious calories from your diet without feeling deprived. You must really pay attention to how your stomach is feeling, and stop eating before you feel full. It actually takes a few minutes for your brain to tell your body that it has had enough food, so eat slowly. (I started doing this, and it has worked every time. I am always amazed that even though I don’t feel full, if I stop eating, within a few minutes I feel full and sometimes stuffed. ) Eating just enough to satisfy your hunger will help you to feel your best, rather than stuffing yourself into a “food coma”!

** Fit girls eat a meal or snack before going to the grocery store. Grocery shopping can sabotage any healthy diet, as there are yummy temptations at every turn. If you go to the grocery while hungry, it can lead to crazy, unhealthy purchases, and in some cases, binge eating when you get home.

** Fit girls don’t eat salads at fast food restaurants. We all think of salads as being healthy, but his can be very misleading, especially at fast food joints. Most Wendy’s salads have over 600 calories each. A grilled chicken breast sandwich open face (remove one of the buns) or a bowl of chili is a much better option at less than 500 calories each. Salads can be a great choice because they are filled with veggies and fiber, but once you add the restaurant dressing (even the fat free option) it can put your calories way over the top. Don’t mistakenly make salad your “healthy” default menu option, because most times there are healthier, lower calorie, higher protein options. My favorite is a broiled chicken breast sandwich. I take off the side of the bun that has the mayo, and eat it as an open faced sandwich with a knife and fork.  Trust me, as a mom with kids who love fast food, I can tell you that almost every single fast food place has a broiled chicken breast in some form or another.

** Fit girls avoid food products that make healthy claims. Generally speaking, a health claim on a food product is a strong indication that it is not really a food but a food-like substance that has been scientifically engineered. You can find any type of junk food that will have a healthy claim tied to it, but just because a bag of potato chips has “no trans fats” doesn’t mean that it is healthy or low in calories.

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