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Doddridge Plaza
3765 S. Alameda, Ste 102
Corpus Christi, TX 78411
(361) 857-5087 info@ypbtrainingstudio.com
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  1. Blood-Sugar Lowering Laughter

    Laughing more may be good for your physical health and we do love to laugh at Your Personal Best Training Studio.

    We’ve all heard that laughter is the best medicine, but you may not know this: Negative emotions can increase *blood-sugar levels, while positive emotions–expressed through laughter–can have a beneficial effect on **immune function and overall hormonal environment.

    In a recent study supporting this idea, researchers sought to determine the effect of laughter on blood-sugar levels in both healthy people and type 2 diabetics. Test subjects listened to a boring lecture on one day and a comedy show the next. Following the comedy routine, type 2 diabetics showed a significant decrease in their typically elevated blood-sugar levels.

    Researchers suggested this could be the result of more muscle being used during laughter, which would require glucose uptake for energy, or of the positive emotional state affecting the hormonal environment such as reducing the abnormally high blood-sugar levels. So go ahead and laugh more: It may be good for your physical and emotional health.

    • Laughter is good for your health.
    • Laughter relaxes the whole body. A good, hearty laugh relieves physical tension and stress, leaving your muscles relaxed for up to 45 minutes after.
    • Laughter boosts the immune system. Laughter decreases stress hormones and increases immune cells and infection-fighting antibodies, thus improving your resistance to disease.
    • Laughter triggers the release of endorphins, the body’s natural feel-good chemicals. Endorphins promote an overall sense of well-being and can even temporarily relieve pain.
    • Laughter protects the heart. Laughter improves the function of blood vessels and increases blood flow, which can help protect you against a heart attack and other cardiovascular problems.

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  2. How To Celebrate Your Fitness Milestones

    While your long-term goal may be to lose 50 pounds or more, each pound lost is one step closer and each deserves recognition! Call a friend or write in your journal. You never know who you may inspire!

    Fitness professionals know that success doesn’t come all at once at the end of a long road. We get you started with the tools for dramatic results—who doesn’t want that?  Never forget how important it is to celebrate milestones along the way.  Small celebrations can include:

    • A simple notation in your journal
    • An “eat off” dinner at your favorite restaurant with your favorite person
    • Go buy a gift card to your favorite store NOW and use it when you reach your NEXT milestone.
    • Call a friend and let them know or send them a picture of you as you progress through each stage (milestone)
    • Have a gathering or party
    • Get yourself a little something special—you deserve it!

    Reach outside of yourself. Although the celebrations can help keep you motivated, the true reason for celebrating milestones has to do with others. You are not going to achieve your goals alone.  There are going to be a lot of people working hard to make you successful.  Those people deserve recognition and encouragement all along the way.  And by the way, the celebration itself, in whatever form—only deepens your relationships further.

    THIS WEEK’S MISSION

    Share one of your milestones with a friend you trust and respect.  Ask your friend for some ideas around how you might celebrate the milestone once you achieve it. What other ways might you celebrate this milestone?  How can you show generosity to those who helped you and ensure that your story of success is told?

    At Your Personal Best Training Studio we celebrate milestones and our client’s small successes using social media such as Facebook, LinkedIn, our e-newsletter and website.

    This young client has rheumatoid arthritis. She needs to gain muscle and increase the healthy part of her body to aid in the effects of this autoimmune disease. While her fitness progress is slow due to pain and flare ups, every time we check her body composition she improves.

    In just over 16 weeks, she has changed her body composition by -3.74%, gaining +5.91 lbs. of muscle, and losing -4.91 lbs. of fat. Because muscle is more dense than fat she has even lost – 1 3/8 inches

    Find ways to celebrate your own milestones. Frustrated? Call us we can help!

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  3. February 2012 Workout Calendar

       A February 2012 Workout Calendar is Now Available

    Hey everybody! This is a very simple but effective tool that you can print.

     There will be a new one each month to download.You can pin them up on the
    wall, on the fridge, in the office …. basically wherever you’ll see it.

    It will feel like a great sense of achievement when you see all your designated
    workout days marked off on the calendar. On the flip side, if you see a run
    of consecutive days not marked off, there’s no place to hide in calendar
    terms. Use this as fuel to make sure you are accountable.

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  4. Turkey Bacon Quiche

    Turkey Bacon Quiche

    Prepared by Lisa Wright, CFT, LCI

     

    Eating For Life-By Bill Phillips is the book that we recommend to our clients who have an interest in reorganizing their nutrition. Living in South Texas, tortillas can be a big part of our diet and a diet culprit if we are not careful.

    This recipe is so easy to make in pie dish, makes four servings and even if the rest of my family won’t eat any, I have plenty to take with me to work and reheat. Sometimes I have it for breakfast and it also makes a wonderful lunch or dinner with a small side of fruit and a salad.

    Ingredients

    6 strips lean turkey bacon
    3(8-inch) whole wheat tortillas
    3 whole eggs
    8 egg whites of 1 c egg substitute
    1/2 c skim milk
    1/2 c low fat sour cream
    3/4 c reduced fat cheddar cheese shredded
    1 c broccoli florets frozen , fresh or thawed

    Directions

    1. Pre heat oven to 350 f
    2. Cool turkey bacon according to its package directions set aside to cool.
    3.  Lightly coat a 9-inch pie plate with cooking spray, overlap 2 tortillas and cut the third one in half to form a crust in large mixing bowl, beat eggs and whites with fork.
    4. Mix skim milk and sour cream into eggs.
    5. Chop cooled turkey bacon into bite size pieces.
    6. Add turkey bacon to egg mixture combine thoroughly.
    7. Pour eggs into tortilla lined pie plate.
    8. Bake for approximately 50 minutes until the filling is set.
    9. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before slicing portions.

    Nutritional Info

    • Servings Per Recipe: 4
    • Amount Per Serving
    • Calories: 557.6
    • Total Fat: 32.5 g
    • Cholesterol: 237.7 mg
    • Sodium: 941.2 mg
    • Total Carbs: 29.0 g
    • Dietary Fiber: 5.0 g
    • Protein: 30.8 g

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  5. Is alcohol making me fat?

    A very timely question, we have been asked frequently around the Studio these days.   Now that the holidays are over, we are all trying to get back to our healthier eating and drinking routines.  No doubt around the holidays most of us indulged a bit more than we usually do.  More parties, dinners and socializing.  We all know that alcohol contains empty calories.  So, if you do indulge, think about the pros and cons. Weigh them for yourself and make the best choice for you.

    Alcohol, whether mixed, blended, on the rocks, with salt or without all has a moderately high caloric count.  (7 calories per gram,  to be exact)   Women’s Health Base gives you a look into just how many calories you are drinking in your Cosmo and how to make better decisions if you do indulge, here’s what we found on Women’s Health base:

    So, is there an upside to alcohol use at all?  Let’s take a look at a few popular drinks some of you may be drinking and see what the current science is telling us:

    Red Wine: Why It Wins

    Scientists single out the wine’s polyphenols (antioxidants occurring naturally in the grape skin) which protect the lining of the heart’s blood vessels. An antimicrobial substance called Reservatrol can also help prevent damage to blood vessels, discourage blood clotting, and reduce bad cholesterol. Recently, studies have shown that drinking red wine also can decrease lung cancer risk, along with those powerful polyphenols fighting off Alzheimer’s disease.

    White Wine: Still Good for the Heart, and More

    While many studies argue that white’s weak compared to red, others point to the lighter stuff being just as cardio-protective as the Merlot. What’s missing is the grape skin, removed for white wine fermentation, which provides those antioxidant and anti-bacterial benefits in darker wine. Meanwhile, though, any wine has been shown to control the growth of bacteria involved in tooth decay and sore throat.
    Whiskey: A Shot a Day Keeps the What Away?

    This question brought a smile to my face.  I remember taking a trip to Brownsville, Florida to a revival center a few years back.  The day I was there, just happened to be a parishioner’s 100th birthday. When the tea-totaling pastor asked her what her secret to longevity was, she smiled and said.  “I take a shot of whiskey in my orange juice every morning!”  Wow! Maybe she had something there!

    What if you could substitute the dark stuff for your morning OJ? That’s the good news coming from Australia’s Monash University, where they found a daily shot of Jack could provide the same antioxidant benefits as the recommended intake of Vitamin C. When whiskey is stored in oak barrels to mature, it also absorbs compounds that sheath our body’s healthy cells. Another whiskey substance — ellagic acid, which is found in fruits we eat — is said to help fight cancer by absorbing rogue cells, according to a 2005 conference in Glasgow, Scotland.

    Guinness: Heart-Attack Killer?

    University of Wisconsin researchers found that a pint of Guinness Extra Stout was about as effective as low-dose aspirin in preventing dogs’ blood platelets from clotting — and reducing their risk of a heart attack. Don’t expect the benefit to carry over to your Bud Light, though: the researchers pointed to Guinness’ flavanoid antioxidants (which work as anti-inflammatories) as a possible reason for the difference. And they found that the darker beer was three times as likely as lighter beers to inhibit clotting.

    Other Beer: What’s (Sorta) Good for You

    Any brew — no matter its type — will be a source of silicon, which can contribute to bone growth and development. That’s according to scientists who studied seventy-six brands of beers, only to discover that this staple was a “major contributor” to silicon intake in the Western diet. Other scientists have found that particularly hoppy beers contain a micronutrient called xanthohumol, which can inhibit the growth of tumors and the enzymes that activate cancer cells. In other words, drink up.

     Remember, as with most things in life, moderation is key to a happy and healthy life!  Cheers!

    To find more information regarding alcohol and your body read more on Esquire.

     

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  6. Fear of Change in the New Year

    by Lisa Wright, CFT, LCI

    …and take this quiz from Fitness Magazine

    To change your body would mean to experience a sense of physical or emotional difference in appearance or feeling. For many reasons, you may have come to believe that you NEED to make a change and you just don’t. Fear may be a paralyzing and emotional stumbling block that may now, or has in the past, delayed your progress.

    CHANGE: The common expression “I need to change” would be to say that you feel the need to appear and/or feel differently than you do now.
    FEAR: When you approach your fitness with trepidation, it may take you on an emotional roller-coaster ride through a house of horrors, walled by distorted mirrors. How you should look or feel may be so distorted that you are being held prisoner by this confusion.

    CHANGE: In reality there is nothing to change. I love reminding my clients that they already are everything they desire to be, even if there is a little extra.
    FEAR: It is fear that holds your attention to the belief that, because of your life circumstances, your fitness is just the way it is was or ever will be, eliminating you from any responsibility in the matter. You may even be blaming genetics on your current condition.

    Perhaps you are afraid of hurting or being hurt, physically or emotionally; afraid of losing something that you conceal; fear of inadequacy; fear of lacking potential and ability. The biggest fear I hear, when it comes to fitness, is fear of failure.

    CHANGE: Whether you or aware of it or not, you ARE changing, every day. Growing a little older, a little grayer, and a little grumpier and the attitudes are not getting any better. An interest in getting fit just doesn’t really interest you and feels like too much trouble; and still, you ARE changing perhaps for the worse.
    FEAR: You walk into a wall of fear the moment you want anything more than status quo, because you are tired! As you move toward a new resolve, there are moments of fearful caution; moments of “Can I do this?” “I can’t do this.” “How will it affect or change me?” And so goes the monkey mind up and down the greased pole.

    CHANGE: Change may be difficult to handle and cause emotional turmoil when relating to others. As you attempt to adjust to a new fitness or eating regime, family and friends may become distant. Your friends and family may not immediately understand your change at first. Try sharing with them that you are making short term decisions toward long term health.
    FEAR: You may have the fear of giving up what you have spent a lifetime protecting – the need to be needed by your family, friends, position and wealth. This protecting an illusion has eaten up any time you have for your own self-care.  Taking responsibility for your own health is priceless!

    Remember, I said earlier, “In reality there is nothing to change?” When you are no longer afraid or attached to illusion, then everything is for your use. Position, cars, homes, money, gyms, and personal trainers may be used as necessary for your care.

    CHANGE: Positive change may come very slowly. The old “you” with whom you were comfortable may be resistant to the new decisions you are making. The mind resists and fears what it does not understand.  There may be a longing to slip back into your old ways. For a time, this change may cause an inner/outer struggle and you will forget why you are doing what is necessary and be tempted to succumb to the whims of conditioning.
    FEAR: When we are comfortable and consider change we fear that we are being asked to “give up” this or that. In reality, what is being asked is that we give up our attachments to unhealthy things, not the “use” of them. When we are unattached to certain foods, alcohol and a sedentary lifestyle then we can:

    • choose fatty, salty, sugary food once a week (as an “eat off” day) to stimulate our metabolism
    • choose alcohol once in a while to socialize with our friends
    • lie around on vacation or once a week to rest our bodies

    When you move out of your fear box, you move into perfect love. Love for yourself and the freedom to make healthier choices one moment, one day, and one week at a time for the rest of your lifetime. The lifetime that you have right now!

    Resolve to be fearless about change in 2012!

    …ok, that a little heavy. Have some fun with this quiz!

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Your Personal Best Location
Your Personal Best Training Studio
Doddridge Plaza
3765 S. Alameda, Ste 102
Corpus Christi, TX 78411
(361) 857-5087 info@ypbtrainingstudio.com