Not too long ago Tobacco companies were using cartoon characters to influence
children into thinking smoking was cool. They got in a lot of trouble for that,
eventually.

Fast food companies partner with Hollywood and have all sorts of action figures from
popular movies at their restaurants.

And corporations do the same to sell all kinds of thing – including vitamins – for
children.

Have you ever taken a good look at the labels of the leading brands of kid’s vitamins?

On there you’ll find:

Aspartame, which is a VERY controversial artificial sweetener.

DiCalcium Phosphate, which is used in the “feed” that poultry eats.

Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil, which NOBODY needs to be ingesting.

And all sorts of artificial colors.

Does that look NUTRITIOUS to you???

Ok, I know what you’re thinking:

“Yeah, that’s great. But what other choice do I have? If it doesn’t TASTE good,
my kid’s not going to take it.”

Well, we may just have the answer to your prayers. But your child’s taste buds are
going to have to decide. As a proud Prograde Partner we’re THRILLED to let you know
they have just released an all-natural children’s vitamin. And they’ve gone to great
lengths to taste test it with kids.

But again, your child will have to decide if it tastes good or not. So that’s why
you can try Prograde Essentials for Kids for FREE! (Yes, there is a small S & H
fee)

Just go to this link right now and discover how Prograde Essentials for Kids
delivers the nutrition your child needs and deserves.

Prograde Essentials for Kids –> http://bit.ly/5ZPFGg

Yours in health,

Rommel Acda, CSCS and Belton Lubas, NASM-CPT
Your Element 5 Fitness Coaches

PS – Again, we understand, and so does Prograde, that your child MUST love the taste
of their new chewable vitamin for kids. That’s why you can try it for FREE.

Prograde Essentials for Kids –> http://bit.ly/5ZPFGg

It’s mid-week and your energy and enthusiasm to get a workout in is starting to fade. You’ve done well the past two days, but you might have gone too hard and your mind and body are simply telling you to back off a bit.

So what do you do?

Well, you just need that extra motivation and inspiring workout to get you excited again. And, have we got the perfect workout for you. Just follow the advice of our friend from “Beefy’s Gym”, especially when he explains, “That was the pre-warmup, to get you ready for the warm-up, to get you ready for the pre-workout, followed by the workout, which precedes the post-workout, then we’re going into a 60-minute warm-down…”

Ok, better yet, I’ll just let you watch the video and you can follow from there, enjoy

Element 5 Fitness founders and creators of Strong & Sexy Boot
Camps Rommel Acda, CSCS, and Belton Lubas, NASM-CPT are proud to announce the
grand opening of their first fitness training center in Kirkland, WA.  The Element 5 Fitness Training Center offers
group fitness and fat loss programs, one-on-one personal training, Muscle
Activation Techniques (MAT), sports performance enhancement, and is also the first
licensed Underground Strength Coach Gym in the Pacific Northwest. 

Rommel and
Belton believe that their unique fitness programs are the answer for fitness
enthusiasts feeling the effects of the economic crisis currently facing
Americans. They state: “People are really struggling right now with these hard
financial times.  Though we feel
fitness is a necessity item, most people still do not, and the bottom line is
that it tends to be the first thing that gets cut when people are short on
funds.  Our fitness programs provide
the solution to maintain staying in shape.”  Our Strong & Sexy Boot Camps are thriving in spite of a
struggling economy due to its mission of offering large group workouts lasting
60 minutes in length for as little as $20 per workout. This offers a
significantly more affordable alternative for busy people than traditional
one-on-one personal training rates that start at $65 per one-hour session. 

Strong
& Sexy Boot Camps has some ravings fans, none more vocal than Briony Stow, “I
first heard about the Bootcamp from a friend, naturally we were a little
skeptical, but they promised amazing results and money back guarantees, so why
wouldn’t you try it out? So I did. A few months later, I achieved my weight
loss goal. In fact, EVERYONE that came to train and followed the nutrition
guidelines achieved amazing results. I would recommend these guys to anyone and
everyone! Oh, and even though I reached my goal, it became something that I
enjoy so much that I continue to train with them 2-3 times a week and will do
so indefinitely.” 

Element 5
Fitness training center is also home to the United Source Martial Arts
Academy.  The United Source Academy
specializes in authentic Muay Thai
kickboxing,  Western Boxing, Bruce Lee’s Jeet Kune  Do, Filipino
Weaponry, Clinch/Ground Boxing, and Fitness Kickboxing.  The academy offers a multifaceted experience for the beginning to
advanced practitioner. Their focus is not limited to the insufficiency of
solely creating the ‘toughest fighter’ but rather in the equally important
value of introducing individuals and families to the life long benefits of
martial edification and personal development.

The Element 5
Fitness Training Center will be holding a free boot camp from 10-11am this
Saturday to kick off the grand opening.
The United Source Academy will be holding martial arts demonstrations every
30 minutes starting 10am.  Come join us for a great workout at 10am, food, drinks, and prizes to follow at 11:30am.  We are located at 11626 Slater Ave NE, Suites 4 and 5, Kirkland, WA 98034 behind NAPA Auto
Parts.  For more
information call us at 425-823-4400.

Yesterday was very very interesting.  A couple of things were repeatedly brought up to me and I had to finally blog about it.  At first, I thought maybe it  was pure coincidence, or maybe we were all on the same page?  So, out of the many conversations, comments, and eavesdropping in the gym,  I heard two main topics:

- My Blue shirt looked good and I should wear blue more often as told to me by 5 different people.  The 6th one (Allen our new trainer) said it was weird on me because he was used to seeing black and red.  Whatever…hehe.

- “My schedule is too busy.  I can barely eat or even drink water!  I’m rushing to work and so I skip breakfast!”  Blah blah blah

Well, the blue shirt did look good and it represented our ultra sound body fat testing device by Bodymetrix.  But that’s not why I am writing.  That’s a different topic.

I’m writing because people are telling me that they go four to six hours without eating because they are BUSY.  I had a long talk with a client yesterday about eating every 2-3 hours and that it was a struggle for her!!  The work environnment doesn’t allow for her to eat on a regular basis.  I scolded her and now she is taking a stand for her health and going to talk to her boss about getting some time to actually take a break and eat some food and drink water.  Hey, I’m not responsible for what happens if her boss reacts differently.  But Good For Her!

SIDE NOTE: A message to employers, bosses, managers, and all those who make those decisions; “What the Hell?!”  You want happier healthier employees? Geez

Seriously?!

Ok so these clients are busy.  I understand.  And to put it in perspective for those who gave me an excuse…  Let me give you an insight how my “BUSY” day went.

Tuesday Night:

I finished training a client who barely eats because she is “busy”.  We talk about shakes and quick healthy snacks.  I don’t give her any excuses so I gave her my personal jug of chocolate powder shake, flax seed, and organic fiber.  Ah ha! Now she can’t say anything. hehe.  I then lecture her about making time to workout outside of meeting with me; but I myself haven’t worked out yet that day.  Cmon, It was a BUSY day right?  I have an excuse.  I was about to walk out the door when Willie (Element 5 Fitness Master Trainer) suggested we do a workout that entails:

ANGIE WORKOUT:

100 double Kettlebell squats, 100 pushups, 100 pullups, 100 hanging abs. 

Instead we were inspired by a member doing some boxing so we boxed for 45 minutes and perform thai  kicks in the combo.  Boy that was tough!  As we ended, Willie and I both agreed that it was well worth the time to stay an extra 45 minutes to get that workout in because it reset and renewed our spirits!

SO here we are to Wednesday:

YOU WANT BUSY?

4:00 am – wake up and get ready

4:45 am  – drive to Redmond from Bothell.  Pound a shake and an apple while driving

5:30 am to 6:00 am – measure bodyfat for two clients using Ultrasound device

6:00 am to 7:00 am - Strong and Sexy Bootcamp

7am to 7:30am – Measure Bodyfat again

7:30 am – Train the “Welcome back from Vegas” format for this client. HA!

8:30 am – Train the “Welcone back from Palm Springs, San Diego, Mexico, LA, was just sick, and leaving again to LA” format for these two clients. Double Ha

9:30 am - Train the “Just came back from San Diego, gained 10 pounds but lost 5 since coming back and then heading to China WORKOUT” format; but client and I call the session 15 min early as he is BEAT! Good work.

SIDENOTE: Is there a pattern here? hmmmm

10:15 – Run to QFC and Starbucks and grabbed turkey, zuchinni, squash, snap green peas, oatmeal at starbucks. ARGH have only 15 minutes till 10:30 appointment!

10:30 am - Train and talk to client about boss who wont allot time to eat and replenish fluids.  Encourage client to talk to boss.

11:30 am - Leave to Noon Strong and Sexy Bootcamp at Downtown BellevueFirst Street Fitness with Water Babies Crew.  Yes EAT and DRIVE! Turkey and veggies.

12:00 pm – Train noon crew in “They didn’t go to vacation” format

1:30 pm – Train and gave client the  frustrated look.  Suddenly she wasn’t “trying” she  just DID IT!!

2:30pm – Train, Nutrition talk, uh oh…stopped exercises to perform Muscle Activation Techniques Jump Start low grade exercises.  Talked with client about Red Carpet event she is preparing for Bobby Engram Foundation to fight sickle cell disease.

3:30pm – Head to Woodinvilleto train Basketball crew on Strength Format.  Finished Turkey and veggies and ad some grapes from a friend’s cute daughter who offered me some.  Was reminded to wash grapes first to make sure they are clean.  She was too cute.

4:30 pm – Head to Downtown Bellevue for Strong and Sexy Bootcamp evening class and new client. 

5:00pm   – Arrived earlier so I grabbed a Labrada Lean Body shake at Emerald City Smoothie about 4 blocks away.  Water base, adams peanut butter, fiber, calcium, glutamine, amino acids, flax oil, and a small stick of Ostrich jerky.  Popped open computer and sent some files (SSbootcampmanual) but wireless died and I didn’t want to deal with it, so I WORKED OUT! 

5:30 pm – class time…

6:30 pm – New Client, 15 yrs old.  I call him G35 because thats the car he wants.  His mom came to watch…Um NOT on my watch! (sorry for the pun) I put her on a bike and had her do 35 minutes while she watched.  Don’t think she liked that very much in the beginning.  She was loving it later though.

7:30 pm – wrapping up

UGH TRAFFIC

8:00 ish pm – Brown Rice chicken and an orange.

Popped open computer and still did some more work. 

So essentially I went from 4am straight till 9pm ish.  Don’t give me this “I cannot eat” crap and “I cannot workout”.  I have used that before.  You just saw my day.  ‘Nuff said…

If you need some great information on quick exercises for you BUSY folks… Go to

http://www.fitinahurry.com/

Your Fitness Coach,

Belton Lubas

In the quest to burn fat, build muscle and attain a flat belly right in time to show it off at the park or beach this summer there are many obstacles and challenges that will get in the way.  Getting to the gym has become much easier than eating right.

This is where a good protein shake comes in handy.

There are so many options available now that it makes it even more confusing.  However, knowing what to look for will make this process a convenient “no brainer”.

What To Look For

First look for a brand of whey protein powder that is 100% All Natural.  It should state “no artificial sweeteners”, “no artificial flavors”, “hormon free”, “antiobiotic free”, and “BSE free”.  On the ingredient list you’ll ideally want to have 10 ingredients or less on the label.  Depending on the brand they may have a combination of whey protein sources, and that’s ok.  The flavor protein powder you choose will depend on which recipes below seem tasty to you.  For more variability it’s usually easier to go with vanilla.

Shake It Up

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup

Mix one serving of chocolate protein powder according to directions with a heaping tablespoon of all-natural peanut butter and half of a banana.  Blend it with crushed ice cubes and enough water to your liking in terms of thickness.

Banana Split

Mix one serving of vanilla or chocolate protein powder according to directions with half a banana, half cup of chopped pineapples, and four frozen strawberries.  Blend it with
crushed ice cubes and enough water to your liking in terms of thickness.

Cookies and Cream

Mix one serving of vanilla or chocolate protein powder according to directions with four to six drops of peppermint extract.  Blend with ice for about 30-45 seconds, then add about four low-fat all-natural chocolate wafers, and blend at a slow speed for an additional 10-15 seconds.

Cinnamon Roll

Mix one serving of vanilla or chocolate protein powder according to
directions with half a teaspoon of ground cinnamon.  extract.  Blend with crushed ice cubes and enough water to your liking in terms of thickness.  This one is especially good with skim milk, soy milk, rice milk, or almond milk.

PB & J

Mix one serving of vanilla or chocolate protein powder according to
directions with a heaping tablespoon of all-natural peanut butter and four to six frozen strawberries (or any berry of choice). Blend
with crushed ice cubes and enough water to your liking in terms of
thickness.

Post-Workout Power Juice

Blend six to eight ounces of all-natural orange juice with one serving of vanilla protein powder, half a banana, half cup of plain yogurt, and ice cubes to your liking.

So these are just a few easy protein shakes to get started.  Add more or less fruit or other ingredients to suit your taste buds.  If you opt for milk as your fluid of choice try to stick with skim milk, low fat soy, rice, & almond milk, or non-fat to low-fat plain yogurt.  Keep the juices for ONLY post-workout shakes, but try to keep it between six to eight ounces (gotta still watch out for the excess sugars).

Are you already a protein shake aficionado?  Share your recipes in the comments section.

PS – These are my brand recommendations,

MRM 100% All Natural Whey (Vanilla or Chocolate) – for protein only, and can be found in most local health food stores

Prograde Lean – for a full meal replacement shake

Prograde Workout – for pre or post workout only (has been university tested and featured in Men’s Health)

You may or may not have heard of the term “TEF”, or “Thermic Effect of Food”.  For whatever reason “TEF” isn’t widely discussed.  Maybe it’s because talking about good nutrition can be boring, or because there’s so much advice out there that we almost become immune to it.

However, you might want to listen up for this one simple tip, because it’s going to help you (if you apply it) burn an extra 100-300 calories per day.

Here we go.

Every time you eat, at least 10% of your calories is being used for digestion.  This is your body’s natural furnace, aka “TEF”, and it represents the calories burned in order to process the calories consumed.

[Photo Credit: sheedypj]

Protein has the highest TEF at 25-30%, with carbohydrates and fats not even being close at 7% and 3% respectively.  For every 100 calories (25 grams) of protein you eat, your body burns 25-30 calories to simply digest and use the protein.  This is one of the reasons we recommend that you build your meals and snacks around good sources of lean protein, especially if your goal is fat loss.

In comparison, if you ate a meal or snack that was 100 calories of carbs only, such as toast and jam, your body would only burn 7 calories.  Obviously, not the way to go if you want to burn more calories so throw away those useless “100 Calorie” snack bags pronto.

[Photo credit: 3liz4]

So again, if your goal is fat loss then imagine if you combined lean protein with a good carb source that totaled 400 calories and half of those calories came from protein.  That’s 50-60 calories burned from protein, and 14 calories burned from carbs totaling at least 64 calories of TEF.  If you ate four meals like this that would be an additional 256 calories you burned in a day not including the fat blasting calories from your workout.

The simplest thing to do to burn more fat and increase your energy levels is to increase your protein intake, and not only your meal frequency but the regularity of those meals.  Doing this will boost your metabolism quickly and will keep it elevated for several hours.  Talk about an easy way to fight fat, especially if your combining the right foods.

Now go chow on some fat-burning protein!

- Rommel Acda, MATS, CSCS

Have questions or comments?  Please let me know in the comments section.

Valerie Bertinelli was on the Today Show this morning and talked about how she lost 40 pounds and looks and feels sexier than ever at age 48.  She’s the face of the new Jenny Craig campaigns, which took her goals to a whole new level of responsibility and accountability.  It allowed her to stay true and hold strong for her fitness goal in front of a national audience by not only losing the weight, but to prove to herself and to us that she can keep it off.

I can’t stress this enough when it comes to weight loss.  Social support and accountability is a huge component to get you to your goals.  It’s often overlooked or downplayed, because too many people are afraid of putting themselves out there.  Who cares what people are going to think.  They can’t make you feel inferior without your consent anyways so forget about the naysayer’s.  

Valerie didn’t care about what people would have thought, and by putting herself out there she was able to help many women believe in themselves to go for it too.  Especially in their late forties where most women think it’s nearly impossible.  It’s never, ever too late.

So how did Valerie do it?

Believe it or not, she lost majority of her weight without hiring a personal trainer and by doing five days of moderate walking, and sticking to the Jenny Craig nutrition plan.  The Jenny Craig system focuses on a fixed diet plan, and a reduced calorie diet using a 60/20/20 ratio (60% – carbs; 20% – fat; 20% – protein).  Most people would have a hard time losing weight with this plan, but it worked very well for Valerie.

As for her exercise, I would have incorporated at least two days of strength training, because it further stimulates your metabolism by building fat burning muscle.  However, I believe her routine worked well for her simply because she BELIEVED it would.

You see, most people overlook what’s going on in their heads and are usually somewhat skeptical of trying out a new fitness program.  Losing weight is not rocket science, but the problem is that most people have poor follow through, get frustrated, try a different routine (but still have doubts), get frustrated again, and then it becomes this vicious cycle over and over.

The result is being obsessive about exercise, but see absolutely no results.  If this is you, I encourage you to take a step back.  Choose a workout routine and nutrition plan that will complement your schedule.  Then implement it with a passion and believe that it will give you the results you desire.  

If you can do this I guarantee you’ll enjoy your journey.

Ok – Comment time.

Did you enjoy this post?  Have you tried Jenny Craig, and if so how was your experience?

Please share in the comments section below.

- Rommel

PS, Take a look at my simple home/office workout routine ==> Click Here.

This year we decided to start featuring and awarding the top boot campers per each phase of our Strong and Sexy Boot Camps in 2009.  First one up is Miranda Maurits who attends our Redmond boot camp location.  Congratulations to Miranda for being our top performer in Phase 1 (January 5 – January 31, 2009).

Here’s what she has to say about her experience…

Who’s going to be our next top performer?

- Rommel

This will be a quick post.  Just wanted to share with you examples of a high-carb/high-protein post-workout meal and a high-protein/high-fat breakfast meal on my non-workout days.  The first two meal pics were taken last Friday morning after my workout.  This was breakfast at Gilbert’s on Main Street in Old Bellevue.  I had a spinach and havarti cheese omelette with baby red potatoes, a blueberry bagel, a glass of all-natural Odwalla OJ, and a glass of water.

BUT, Rommel you said we should try to eliminate liquid calories, such as juices.  If you limit it to post-workout you’re usually in the clear, because your body can utilize the insulin spike to shuttle amino-acids into your muscle cells for recovery.  However, it shouldn’t be abused or it will backfire on you if your goals are fat loss.  There’s definitely a delicate ratio of carbs to protein that should be followed.

The photo below was my breakfast on Saturday at Hector’s in downtown Kirkland.  I think it’s called the “Protein Power” breakfast.  It’s a ground chuck and ground sirloin patty over a bed of steamed spinach, an egg on top, tomatoes, plus I added a small side-salad.  This meal has no starchy carbs, just antioxidant rich veggies, serious protein, and normal fats to go with it.  BUT, Rommel that’s a fatty meal!  Yes, but I didn’t combine it with starchy carbs, and according to Dr. Berardi and his Precision Nutrition system it’s all good!  More on his system next time.

90% of my nutrition adheres to “Protein plus Fat and Veggies/Fruit”  unless it’s post-workout, in which those meals are “Protein plus Starchy Carbs/Fruit”.  This is a system I’ve incorporated into my lifestyle since 2003, and for me this has been the most effective program.  The other 10%, well cheat meals of course!

Ok, this just made me hungry again, so see ya later, gonna chow on some muscle building protein!

- Rommel

The James Bond Girls have become as famous as 007 himself.  With exotic looks and far out names it’s hard not to notice the women who portray Bond’s girls.  Their presence is almost as necessary as all of 007’s cars and cool hi-tech gadgets.

I came across an article in which three of the Bond girls shared their secrets to maintaining a sexy physique.

The latest Bond girl, Olga Kurylenko said she cross-trained with martial arts and high-intensity circuit weight training.  Her nutrition tip was to not overdo it with sugar, and said “The only time I had dessert was at friend’s houses!”

Halle Berry’s tip was along the lines of using an external motivator.  Her motivation was knowing that she had to wear that orange bikini in Die Another Day, and to “walk sexy” coming out of the water.  She too cut out sugar, ate more fruits and veggies, and focused on short, intense, and effective circuit weight training.

Michelle Yeoh explains that regular exercise is part of her life, and it’s important to incorporate it into your everyday lifestyle.  She doesn’t diet, eats most things in moderation, but eats a lot of fruits and veggies.

These tips are great examples of how you don’t need to overcomplicate your fitness routine and eating habits.  Cutting out refined white sugar and increasing your consumption of fruits and veggies is something we’ve been preaching consistently.  Make exercise a priority in your life, but find a way to make it fit seamlessly even if it’s literally just doing 1-2 sets of bodyweight squats and pushups.  You perform those two sets intensely enough it will still provide you great benefits in as little as four minutes per day.

So get off your butt right now, bust out as many squats as you can in 20 seconds, followed by as many pushups as you can in 20 seconds, and repeat that five more times.  You’ll be worked for sure, and when you’re done you can bite into your favorite fruit.

Have fun with that!

- Rommel