February Newsletter

So the Christmas and holidays are definitely over. January crowd at the gym is disappearing, new years resolutions are forgotten,  and just these "old trainees" are left. Including myself. I am back to the gym on my regular schedule. Not that I was skipping, but my parents from Europe were visiting from December 9th to January 29th. My eating and training got out of control. Lucky me, that I can blame my parents. Smile.

A couple of days ago, after my workout, I reached 202 lbs. Big girl, huh? Did you know that they call me "Big Butt" at Gold's gym? I like that. Smile.

During January, I decided to try a new thing in the gym: I cut down a little bit on my training. Instead of 5 days a week, I only did 3 days. Fewer sets, more intensity, no cardio. Reading in Don Lemmon's Know How, how to separate  foods and virtually not working out and grow muscles and lose fat. Sounds great, huh? I thought maybe all these people talking about overtraining and yadda, yadda, might have some point, so lets try. The only thing that happened was that I got a little bit stronger (yuppee) and a big bit fat. And besides that, I was stiff and tight like 60 years old. So enough with experimenting with Don Lemmon's Know How and lets get back to my "regular" training. Five weight training sessions a week, intense and short, finished with a short interval-cardio. Lets get rid of some of the fluff. Summer is knocking on the door. While I was gaining in January, I put my parents on a diet and they've lost about 10 lbs fat in 4 weeks each, and gained some muscle at the same time. That's cool isn't it? They feel about 10 years younger too.

And my nutrition now? From Don Lemmon's back to mine. The only thing that I am going to change is in my post workout meal, I'll  take away all protein from my carbs. Just plain carbs. The rest of my meals are high protein, medium fat, low carbs. I am not going to bother with separating a la Don Lemmon. It seems like for the stomach it doesn't make any big difference if I eat my veggies 5-10 minutes after my meal, or if I mix it. Eating green vegetables just after eating protein or/and fat won't help digestion that much.  Besides, most protein digestion occurs in the small intestine, and to get there from stomach  takes about 4 to 8 hours for protein, and 12 to 24 hours for fats.  So, eating vegetables just after eating protein or fat or at the same time as eating proteins /fats is not going to make much difference.

Do you also want to get lean for the summer?  Eat 5-7 smaller meals a day. Skip all sweets, breads, rice, pastas, potatoes. You might hate it at first, but after three days, you won't even crave these things. You cat eat some oats and fruit (the best ones are apples, raspberries, cherries, blueberries, peaches, pears, strawberries, grapes, apricots), just don't overdo it. Eat lots of lean meat, lean or fat fish, and lean birds. Use olive oil in your meals and salads. Watch out for all these dressings, they are either loaded with fats, or simple sugars or both. Make your own dressing form olive oil, vinegar, some garlic and spices. Yum, yum. Eat LOTS of vegetables. Did you know that they are some vegetables that you can eat almost in unlimited amounts? (yeah, I like that idea!). These are vegetables that are most thermogenic per unit of carbohydrates (which means that it takes more energy for the body to digest these veggies, than they give you). These are your future "miracle" food: cabbage, celery, broccoli, lettuce, spinach, onions, asparagus, radicchio, mushrooms, peppers, radishes. If you find them boring, a click of melted cheese or cottage cheese and some spice can make a wonder! Don't forget to drain all your body in water, from inside is the best. Drink 2-3 gallons a day and watch your body fat to drop off. And lets get the six pack out from the winter coat! I am starting too. Challenge me, if you want.

Do you have problems to stick with your goals and promises? Like to get a new body (or a new partner) for the summer? Try this: 1) Make only one goal and choose one within your control. Try to adopt a new positive behavior instead of to break a lifelong bad habit. 2) Share your goal with all your friends and family. Now when you've made a promise to yourself and to them, you just have to stick with it. 3) Put reminders everywhere - above your desk, on your bed side, on (or in) a refrigerator or bathroom mirror...  4) Visualize your goal and yourself reaching the goal. It's enough with five minutes a day to picture yourself accomplishing your goal. You can do it on a treadmill when you do your cardio. 5) Start from small. You don't need to make huge changes. Most often, small changes over long time make the biggest difference.

Gossip from Gold's  gym. Ironman Pro is coming, February 19 is the day. So the preparations at Gold's are in full. Flex Wheeler and Chris Cormier are looking awesome. Chris is often checking his ripped abs in the mirror and makes us girls (and even some guys) to drool. Craig Titus is ripped too. After his over one year "vacation" he seems ready to step up on the stage and get the trophy. Tom Prince is as ready too. He wants to get Craig. Tom got even some nice tan! (and you who know him know how light his skin is). Where did he get the golden color? Rio Tan, a former bodybuilder tanning saloon, that has changed ownership MANY times last two years and now is back in  bodybuilder hands, Joe DeAngelis' and his wife Helle. So here we all go, again. $29 a month for unlimited tanning, you cannot beat that. Guess if I am BROWN??? Especially as it is conveniently 4 blocks away my house and the gym.

My doggie Peanut is a super star. A picture of her, that I submitted to an amateur photo contest made it to finals. And not just that. It's been selected by The International Library of Photography for a photo art publication released in summer. They said that the picture had  a unique perspective and artistic vision. The picture is called "I Really, Really Want it", and guess what it is that my doggie is hypnotizing? Of course a peanut butter jar!

So now when Peanut is a star, I have to go back into my acting business. Not that I've done much, but last year I was really lazy and procrastinating. My agent ran out of my pictures and resumes and I was not able to send some new ones. Waiting until I get in shape. Never satisfied, when I was in my best shape ever, the Christmas came and 9 % body fat was a history again. So this year I promised myself to do at least a few movie jobs. I loved that national commercial that I did two years ago. So much food on the set! All these jumbo cashew nuts smiling at me, screaming eat me, eat me. Just that is worth of a try, right?

Do you need to get some new music to listen to? Go and pick up the latest Dr. Dre, called "2001". Even though you might not be hip-hop lover, this one is hilarious. The lyrics are so bad, that you have to laugh from the beginning to the end. A really piece of work. And by the way, the beat is great, so at least you get moving!

Wellness Tips that I learned from my dog
 

'Phantom Fat'

First it was cholesterol, then saturated fat. Now trans fatty acids are the latest dietary demon. Like those nutrients, trans fats raise blood cholesterol levels and significantly increase the risk of premature heart disease. Trans fat has been nicknamed "phantom fat" because the Food and Drug Administration does not require it to be listed on food labels. As a result, even health-conscious consumers are often unaware that hundreds of popular foods-from margarine, baked crackers and biscuits to cookies, fish sticks and french fries-pack significant amounts of trans fatty acids. Much of this fat comes from liquid vegetable oils that have been converted to solids because they stay fresh longer than conventional shortenings.

This hidden fat raises low-density lipoprotein (LDL) ? the harmful form of cholesterol ? and lowers protective high-density lipoprotein (HDL) ? the so-called "good cholesterol." The combination makes trans fatty acids much worse than saturated fat.

It's not easy to sort out the health effects of saturated, polyunsaturated and mono-unsaturated fat. Butter and other whole milk dairy products, as well as meat, poultry and other animal products contain saturated fat, which raises the risk of heart disease. Corn oil and safflower oil are rich in polyunsaturated fats, while olive and peanut oils contain mono-unsaturated fats. Research has shown that these types of fat do not promote heart disease. And studies suggest that in some cases these fats may help lower risks. Those who try to reduce trans fat will find it tough because most food labels don't have the information that you need to do that. Nutritional labels on prepared foods list the total grams of fat in products and that total does include trans fat, but there is no separate line showing, as they do with saturated fats, the actual amount of trans fats.

Why the sudden concern about trans fats? Beef and high-fat dairy products have always contained minuscule amounts of trans fat, which is produced in the gastrointestinal lining of cattle. But in the 20th century food manufacturers discovered the stability and long shelf life of trans fat. During the past 50 years, trans fat has become one of the most common ingredients in both grocery store food and restaurant fare. Trans fats are produced when food manufacturers take liquid vegetable oils, heat them and add metal catalysts and hydrogen to the mix. Called partial hydrogenation, this process produces hardened vegetable oils that remain solid at room temperature. They can then be made into shortening and margarine and are less likely to spoil.

With the proliferation of prepared foods in recent years, it's a small wonder that a long and varied list of products now contains hidden trans fat. Food surveys suggest that the typical American eats about 34 grams a day of saturated and trans fat combined, well over the recommended daily intake of 20 grams of saturated fat for an average 2,000 calorie-a-day diet.
A close look shows clearly how the numbers creep up. Think that biscuit with three grams of saturated fat on the label isn't too bad? Add in the four grams of trans fatty acid and it jumps to seven grams of artery-clogging fat. Peruse the label of those chocolate chip cookies that boast only two grams of saturated fat per serving. Surprise! They contain double the amount of fat when the trans fat is taken into account. Ditto for the fish sticks, which tout just three grams of saturated fat per serving but actually pack another five grams of hidden trans fat. Same goes for some of the most popular brands of baked crackers, which boast just one gram of saturated fat on their labels but contain an extra two grams of trans fat. And that piece of apple pie? It has seven grams of saturated fat in the crust, but contains another seven grams of trans fat per serving. In the dairy case, there's more confusion between butter and margarine. Butter contains no trans fatty acids. But it's not that simple. Each tablespoon of butter still has seven grams of saturated fat ? or roughly a third of the recommended daily intake. Many margarines ? particularly stick margarines ? are low in saturated fat, providing just two to three grams per tablespoon, but they come loaded with trans fat, sometimes as much as three additional grams per tablespoon. Stick margarines are almost as bad as butter, but the tub margarines are much better and the lower-fat tub margarines are much, much better.

How much trans fat does the food contain? You can only guess. The easiest way to check is usually to read the ingredient list. If partially hydrogenated oils or fats appear, the food has trans fat. But knowing how much is difficult ? unless the label happens to list mono-unsaturated and polyunsaturated fat grams, which are not required but are sometimes included on the label. Even then, consumers need to calculate the amount of trans fat by adding grams of polyunsaturated, mono-unsaturated and saturated fat and subtracting that sum from the total fat listed on the label. The difference is a ballpark estimate of trans fat.

For now,  it's recommend limiting total fat to 30 percent or less of total calories. That works out to about 600 calories in a daily diet of 2,000 calories. The rule of thumb generally used is that saturated fat and trans fat combined should make up no more than 8 to 10 percent of total calories, or about 160 to 200 calories daily. Polyunsaturated fat should hover around 10 percent of total daily calories ? or about 200 calories per day, while mono-unsaturated fats, such as olive or canola oil could comprise the rest of the daily fat allowance, roughly 12 percent of total calories. The bottom line is to try to get saturated fat and trans fat as low as possible in your diet.