Christmas is exactly 1 week from today, are you ready?? I still have a little more shopping to do but I am confident I will get it done tomorrow. I have my list ready to go!

For the past 10 plus years my best friends and I have been doing Secret Santa together, before we started secret santa we would just do small gifts for eachother! On Monday night we had our girls night and Christmas celebration at my friend Danielle’s house.

The five of us chatted, snacked on good food, and enjoyed our night together! Plus we all got great gifts.

This is Baby Addie, she is 3 months old isn’t she cute!?

We exchanged gifts which was always a blast. My friend Lauren got some awesome slippers to wear on the airplane since she travels all the time.

My Secret Santa got me some awesome workout pants, a manicure gift card, this awesome head massager.. etc.

Cooper LOVED the head massager, it basically put him to sleep!!

I think it is so important to spend time around the holidays with the people that you love. It was so fun!

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SOO.. Now lets talk about Carb Cycling…. a totally different topic. I am a huge Chris Powell fan. I love his approach as a trainer and I love his book Choose More Lose More. It is a sensible program and easy to follow. I enjoy it.

I am not one of those people that can cut carbs. I live on carbs. I need them in my life and when I don’t have them I’m cranky and I crave them!!

Tuesday I started with Low Carb, Wednesday I did High Carb, and today I am on Low Carb again. You alternate back and forth.

Here is a brief rundown of how it works:

• eat 5 meals
• eat a high carb breakfast that includes both carbs & protein within 30 minutes of waking
• Drink a Gallon of water
• eat your remaining meals either High-carb or Low-Carb depending on which day you are following

For more details check out Chris Powell’s website for Carb Cycling 101

When I follow his approach I have noticed my energy is stable and I am not starving through-out the day. This program is great for people trying to lose weight, but It is also great for those who are trying to maintain. I am trying to maintain my weight and it has helped me feel great during my workouts and the best part is that I can eat the foods I love!

Have you ever heard of Carb Cycling? How do you feel about it?

What are some tips you can give that have helped you lose weight or maintain your weight?

]]> http://thefitskool.com/?feed=rss2&p=4888 2 http://thefitskool.com/?p=541 http://thefitskool.com/?p=541#comments Wed, 04 Sep 2013 13:10:34 +0000 http://thefitskool.com/?p=541 Continue reading →]]> It’s Hump Day. Whoot Whoot!

If you don’t recognize the title of this post, it is from the GEICO commercial “happier than a camel on Wednesday.” It makes me laugh every time I see it. So HAPPY HUMP DAY!

Now onto the topic of the day. Dietary fats in our diet. I’ve heard a lot of my clients say they try to cut fat completely from their diet. While cutting unhealthy fats is smart, it’s not good to cut ALL fats.

DON’T FEAR FAT IN YOUR DIET!

Fat provides energy, without healthy “GOOD” fats we might feel sluggish and have more cravings! Fats also play a key role in healthy digestion. Limiting bad fats like saturated fats and trans fats is also very important. Examples of bad fats are butter, cream, animal fats found in meats, margarine, etc.

Healthy Fats

1. Monosaturated fats-

Nuts & Nut butters, Olive Oil, Canola oil, Peanut Oil, Peanuts, Avocado, Olives

2. Polyunsaturted fats

Fatty fish (salmon, tuna etc), Walnuts, Flaxseeds, Soybean oil, Corn oil

When choosing your fats make sure to portion them out. There are 9 calories in each gram of fat, so the calories can pile up. Use a tablespoon to measure your oil when you cook. Remember a little bit goes a long way!

Here are some examples of ways I incorporate healthy fats into my day:

I try to eat fatty fish at least once per week. During the day I snack on trail mix that I throw together (sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, walnuts, almonds, and cranberries) I generally cook my dinners with olive oil and sometimes canola oil. I add avocado to my sandwiches instead of cheese.

Use your thumb as a measuring tool! I learned this from Chris Powell’s book Choose To Lose

Chris powell is one of my favorite personal trainers. He is the trainer on the ABC hit show Extreme Weight Loss.  In his book he recommends using your thumb from the base to the tip.