Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Fit and Fabulous Over Forty

 Hi Everyone,

Hope you're all enjoying this fine spring weather! I'm announcing the launch of my Facebook page, Fit and Fabulous Over Forty. You will find there are quite a few entries, as the page was in it's experimental phase. You can find the page here.
 https://www.facebook.com/fitandfabulousoverforty

We all know with age comes extra baggage (as in body fat) that we just don't want. Before we know it, we're engaged in extreme dieting and / or stringent exercise programs. You know where that can lead you, right? Fitness burnout! Very few programs work and I'm here to share which programs create results, based on what I have accomplished!

The photos below are my before and after photos. I'm still in the process of building muscle and dropping another twenty five pounds of body fat, so this photo will be updated shortly. Right now, I am enjoying my nutrition program and have enough energy to go to the gym.

Cheers!
Ellen Eustace




Wednesday, March 18, 2015

The World's Oldest Female Bodybuilder! An Inspiring Story!

Do healthy, ripped bodies only belong to the young? Not if you're Ernestine Shepherd. At 77, she's the world's oldest female bodybuilder and in our original documentary short, we follow a day in her life.

Wednesday, March 11, 2015

The Truth About Cardio

Are you cardio happy? Matty discusses the reasons you could be working your butt off in the gym and not making much progress. Remember the 80/20 rule. 80% nutrition, 20% exercise.

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Is Your Fitness App Hurting Your Progress?

Fitness apps are great, but they are only as good as the information you enter into them. Wrong info can quickly send you down the wrong path.

Biggest Fat Loss Mistakes While Cutting

Here is a great video about the biggest mistakes people make when trying to lose fat and gain muscle.

Enjoy!




Pass The Splenda Please? NOT!

Okay, I know I sound like the food police, lately. Last week warning about the effects of margarine and this week artificial sweeteners. For the most part only Sweet & Low and Equal got the bad press, but Splenda is equally as bad for you.

Generally, "substitutes" for real foods are no substitute at all. Foods made in a lab are never good for you. Splenda will not only cause you to keep the weight on, it's toxic. So next time you're out for coffee with friends, do not pass the Spenda!


Thursday, March 5, 2015

Pass The Butter Please



This is interesting . .. .
Margarine was originally manufactured to fatten turkeys. When it killed the turkeys, the people who had put all the money into the research wanted a payback so they put their heads together to figure out what to do with this product to get their money back.

It was a white substance with no food appeal so they added the yellow colouring and sold it to people to use in place of butter. How do you like it? They have come out with some clever new flavourings....

DO YOU KNOW.. The difference between margarine and butter?

Read on to the end...gets very interesting!

Both have the same amount of calories.
Butter is slightly higher in saturated fats at 8 grams; compared to 5 grams for margarine.

Eating margarine can increase heart disease in women by 53% over eating the same amount of butter, according to a recent Harvard Medical Study.

Eating butter increases the absorption of many other nutrients in other foods.
Butter has many nutritional benefits where margarine has a few and only because they are added!

Butter tastes much better than margarine and it can enhance the flavours of other foods.
 
Butter has been around for centuries where margarine has been around for less than 100 years .

And now, for Margarine..

Very High in Trans fatty acids.

Triples risk of coronary heart disease ...

Increases total cholesterol and LDL (this is the bad cholesterol) and lowers HDL cholesterol, (the good cholesterol)

Increases the risk of cancers up to five times..

Lowers quality of breast milk

Decreases immune response.

Decreases insulin response.

And here's the most disturbing fact... HERE IS THE PART THAT IS VERY INTERESTING!

Margarine is but ONE MOLECULE away from being PLASTIC... and shares 27 ingredients with PAINT.

These facts alone were enough to have me avoiding margarine for life and anything else that is hydrogenated (this means hydrogen is added, changing the molecular structure of the substance).

Open a tub of margarine and leave it open in your garage or shaded area. Within a couple of days you will notice a couple of things:

* no flies, not even those pesky fruit flies will go near it (that should tell you something)

* it does not rot or smell differently because it has no nutritional value ; nothing will grow on it. Even those teeny weeny microorganisms will not a find a home to grow.

Why? Because it is nearly plastic . Would you melt your Tupperware and spread that on your toast?
 
Pass the butter please - THANKS NATHAN NEELY

Wednesday, March 4, 2015

What Is Your Why?




One way to stay motivated to stick to your program is to determine your "why". Why do you want to shed some weight? Is it for health reasons? Do you want to fit into your favorite jeans? Are you wanting to go back to your "hunting" weight? Determining your biggest "why" or "whys", will help keep you focused and stay motivated. Write down ten of your biggest reasons for wanting to get into better shape. Write whatever comes to mind. Your list could look like this:

1. Look great in a swimsuit at my in-laws beach house on Cape Cod
2. Lose thirty pounds for my twenty year high school reunion.
3. Husband is complaining I'm not the person he married.
4. Feeling overtired, worn-out and just plain grumpy.
5. Can't keep up with the kids.
6. My friends are all so fit and trim. I hate them!
7. I don't look "right" in fashionable clothes.
8. I look at my pictures and I cringe.
9. I'm just not comfortable in my skin.
10. I'm hungry all the time and have mood swings.

This list was similar to my list. Except the hubby and kids part. I'm not married, nor am I a parent. So if this is what your list looks like, let's break it down. In this example, the woman wants to lose weight to impress or gain the approval of others. Secondly, she doesn't feel comfortable in her own skin and comparing herself to others. She's also feeling hungry, lethargic and has low energy. To sum it up, her "why" would be to feel good about myself, have more energy and be more active.

Tuesday, March 3, 2015

80 / 20 Rule

Most of us gym rats don't want to hear this, but weight loss is 80% nutrition. I've had the best luck with releasing unwanted pounds by eating a body builder's diet - protein, complex carbs, fruits that are low in sugar and lots of veggies. I stay away from dairy, except for eggs. I avoid foods that are high in fat. I aim to eat foods that are low sugar and low sodium. Most of all, I ditched processed foods.