Sorry for the long break between postings. As many of you know we spent ten days on Oahu, and it always kicks my butt the week before and the week after our vacation!

During our vacation, I worked out in our condo every day, as we were 40 minutes away from the nearest gym! Here are a couple of the workouts I did. Having an ipod with good music really helps!! Also, a timer, band a jump rope round out your portable gym (I went to Big 5 and bought all three right before the trip)

Workout #1

1. Step up and down on a low table, couch, whatever you can find (about shin to knee height) for five minutes in each of the following directions

--Facing the couch (5 minutes per leg)

--Back to the couch (5 minutes per leg)

--One side to the couch and then repeat on the other side (5 minutes per side)

2. After each 5 minute segment, do 20 push-ups and then 20 tricep dips (with hands on the same surface you are stepping up and down on) until you have done a total of 5 sets (100 push-ups and 100 dips)

Workout #2

1. Elbows on a surface about waist height and "run" with your feet for 1 minute

2. Keep elbows on the surface and do back leg lifts on one leg for 1 minute and then repeat on the other side

3. Stand up and do stationary high knee lift runs for 1 minute

4. repeat #1 and #2

5. Squat and then jump in place for 1 minute (alternate between squat and jump)

6. Repeat #1 and #2

7. Jumping jacks for 1 minute

8. Repeat #1 and #2

9. Plie squats (pelvis is tucked under, feet are wide and toes are turned out) 2 minutes

10. Repeat #1 and #2

11. Lunge switches for 1 minute (lunge and jump in the air to reverse lead foot on the lunge)

12. Jump rope for 1 minute

13. Bicep curl and then tricep kick-back with the band for 20 reps each (e-mail for instructions)

14. Jump rope for 1 minute

15. Repeat #13

16. Jump rope for 1 minute

17. Repeat #13

18. Jump rope for 1 minute

19. Plank center, left and right for 1 minute each (e-mail for instructions if needed)

20. Crunch for 2 minutes twisting corner an alternating corner to corner

Repeat 19 and 20 a total of three times each

If you want more ideas, e-mail to let me know. Hope you like these ideas!!!

Food for thought

Rethink breakfast and you will cut overall calories, and increase your energy all day long!

Have you ever noticed we think nothing of serving dessert for breakfast? Muffins are just cupcakes with a new name. Cinnamon roles are laden with butter and sugar and white flour. We cover pancakes and waffles with syrup, whipped cream, butter, and jam.

After fasting all night, our bodies are starving for food to help restart and function at their highest capacity. Fruits, vegetables, lean protein and whole grains will do that. Sugar, fatty meats, and white flour will fill you up and then make you want to go back to bed again.

I'm all for eating things that taste good, but let's keep dessert where it belongs. Not as the main course, but as a small treat at the end of a meal now and then!

That being said, if we can agree that it's weird and unhealthy to eat dessert for breakfast, I'm going to put another weird (but healthy) idea on the table. How about a breakfast salad? Nice dark greens, dressed with lime juice, salt and turbinado sugar (just a pinch) and topped with 4 ounces of lean protein. Top with 1/4 of an avocado and round out the meal with a glass of milk and a piece of good quality toast with a tsp of butter. Now that's a power breakfast that will give you energy and keep you going until lunch!!!

Here is a copy of a great question I just got and my answer to it. Hope is helpful to someone!

I got your website from Heidi, your sister-in-law, I think, and I just looked at it. I have some questions for you and was hoping that you may have some ideas for me. I excercise lots but KNOW that my eating habits are a problem. I love my food! Anyway, I do not want to lose weight perse, but I would like to lose my body fat. I have the typical fatty pockets that I hate, mostly on my thighs, and now that I have hit the prime age of 33, I also have the donut, not bad, but not something that I am used to. You know, just softer around the edges now!! Just so you are aware, I do excercise at the gym prob 3-4 times a week, but closer to 3. I do an hour of cardio as well as about 45 minutes of weight training. I have been doing it for a long time and have learned to mix it up and what excercises to do. Not that I am perfect, but more of my concern is with my eating. I have ZERO self control when it comes to that. Anyway, I was just wondering if you could throw some pointers my way. If we need to meet that is fine with me, and if there is a fee, that works too. We all have to work! Well, thanks for the time, I hope this makes sense. Thanks a ton and can't wait to hear from you.

You could exercise 7 days a week and be very, very strong and have a great aerobic capacity, but if you are carrying extra body fat, that is what you will see. The only way to get rid of body fat is to consume less calories than you burn. That can be done by exercising more than you do, eating less, or a combination of the two.

You could certainly add another 1-3 days of exercise to your routine. If you are doing weight training on the three days you already exercise, add three days of doing 30-60 minutes of intervals (short bursts of high-intensity exercise followed by a period of recovery). This could include sprinting, jumping rope or running stairs (at home or at the gym). Each day of added exercise could be up to another 500 calories per session (if you work out hard for an hour). Another three sessions a week would be another 1,500 calories burned.

Here's the hard part...the more we exercise, the hungrier we get. I've worked with many clients who increased exercise but didn't lose any weight or maybe even gained weight. We tend to overestimate how many calories we burn in a workout session and underestimate how many calories we consume, so it's easy to justify more food and treats when we are working out more often or harder.

Journaling is a must if you want to lose weight. I've tried every way to work around it with clients because it is time consuming, but there is no other way to track what you have eaten and at what calorie mark you lose weight or body fat.

I encourage you to begin journaling exactly what you eat each day for a week. Make sure you measure what you eat so you can get an accurate reading. The website calorieking.com is a great resource and is very user friendly. Use the website to determine the number of calories you consume each day for 7 days and then, feel free to e-mail me the entire thing. I will take a look at your calorie count and the food that you are eating and from there, I will be able to make some suggestions.

A couple of things to remember...

--If we are dehydrated, we will feel hungry. Make sure you are drinking plenty of liquids. Try to drink a cup of water 15 minutes before each meal and drink between bites as well.

--Eat until you are no longer hungry, not until you are full.

--Get used to not having that full feeling. It's really not good on your system to be completely full, and once you get used to feeling not hungry instead of full, you will realize that you have more energy throughout the day!

--Get rid of anything with high-fructose corn syrup, food coloring (especially red dye) and try to eat as few processed foods as possible. These products are taxing on your system and can give you false hunger signals and lead to fatigue.

--Use only dairy products and meats with no added hormones...you don't have to go organic and there are lots of options available that are still affordable.

--Try to get in 10 servings of fruits and vegetables every day. These foods will fill you up and give your body essential vitamins and minerals.

I am happy to give you some advice online. If you would like to meet in person, let me know, and I can give you my hourly rate and we can discuss a time to meet. It may be worth your while to schedule a session or two to mix up your workout.

Good luck.

Hope to hear from you in a week!

The 10-minute workout

10 minutes of running up and down your stairs at home, jumping rope, running around the block a couple of times, or working out on your home exercise machine will relieve stress, boost your immunity, help you sleep better, and can improve your mood drastically.

Just do it...and then pat yourself on the back and reap the benefits!!!

(You can do anything for 10 minutes!!!!!)

Have a fantastic day

Simply a new way to eat!

Happy New Year!

I have a client who I am custom-designing a weight management program. It is not a diet, but a new way of thinking about food and creating meals that is simple, healthy, and something that can be maintained for a lifetime. I guarantee that if you eat the way I recommend, you will have more energy, think more clearly, and maintain a better mood overall.

A couple of things to take out of your diet completely and forever:

Food coloring (especially red dye)

High fructose corn syrup

Hormones in your milk, meat and cheese

(For questions about why I am so adamant about these things, please contact me)

I am going to post the exact information I am sending to my client and I would love your feedback!

calorieking.com is a great, free website that will give you great information about any type of food you are unsure about. I use it regularly!

Finally, I welcome e-mails with questions and comments to tetfitness@yahoo.com

Here is the first installment:

There are a couple of things that will help you be successful. Number one, is to use pre-measured ingredients, or to measure so we know how much you are eating. Number 2 is to pick one day of the week to weight yourself. Each time you weight yourself it should be the same time of day. It doesn't matter if it is morning, noon, or night, but it should always be done at the same time of day and exactly a week apart. We will need to track this.

You do not need to let me know your weight, but I will ask for an update on plus or minus each week, so let me know when you have done the first weight check. Please also note that it is best to do every weigh-in on the same scale.

Here is a starting point for your food

This menu has about 1300-1400 calories or so for the day. I'd like to know what you think after you've eaten this way for 1-3 days. Are you still very hungry? What are you craving? Are you still snacking on junk food?

I didn't add in the 1 ounce of dark chocolate, but find a high quality 85% would be great! 1 ounce any time of day...once per day.

Day #1:

Breakfast: 1 cup of 0% fat greek yogurt (120 calories) + a dash of vanilla and stevia to taste

Espresso

Snack: 1 piece of fruit + 1 low-fat string cheese (120 calories)

Lunch: 4 ounces of salmon (233 calories) or chicken (142 calories)

1 prepared salad from Trader Joe's or other such retailer. Dressing on the side...instead of the dressing they provide, dress your salad with lemon or lime juice and sea salt. (200-300 calories?)

Snack: 1/2 package of Trader Joe's eggplant hummus (70 calories for 1/2 package I think)

As many veggies as you would like to dip.

Dinner: 3 egg whites and 1 whole egg scrambled with as many veggies as you like. I like to use yellow summer squash, onion, zuccini, spinach, yellow peppers...etc. 1 ounce of a good sharp cheese. Sea salt to taste

1 serving of good bread with butter

Snack: Trade your bowl of cereal for a serving of low-fat cottage cheese topped with 1 TBSP low-sugar jam (Trader Joe's has some good options) and a small handful of pomegranate seeds for crunch.

Let's keep this simple by keeping this menu for the next few days if you think you can stand to eat the same way for that long. I think it will be too complicated to add much more quite yet.

Shopping list: 0% fat greet yogurt (3 cups worth)

Fruit you would eat with string cheese (apples are my favorite)...3 pieces for you

Low-fat organic string cheese

12 ounces of salmon or chicken to pre-cook and take to work

Lemons or limes to dress your salad

3 pre-made salads of your choice...you will not be using the dressing

2 dozen eggs

A high-quality sharp cheese to put in your scramble

Cut mushrooms, zuchinni (cut), pre-washed baby spinach, tomatoes (chopped)...enough for 3 scrambles

2 cups of low-fat cottage cheese

Low-sugar jam (Trader Joe's has great stuff!)...no fake sweeteners or food coloring...25 calories per TBSP

Good, hearty bread....your favorite kind

Eggplant hummus from Trader Joe's (Has half the calories of most hummus so must be this brand and type)