I had to share this with you!!! It is amazing what the human body is capable of once you are fully committed. All you have to do is make the change. I am afraid to say it, but these women are putting most people half their age to shame! Listen to the reason why the second lady started working out.

Darren McDuffie
Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist
Certified Nutrition and Weight Management Specialist
Certified Exercise Foundations Specialist
Certified Fitness Testing Specialist

I wanted to announce the winner of the Kick Start the Summer Giveaway! The winner is….. (drum roll) Shari Goss. I’ll be sending Shari a pair of Pumas. I’ll be having another giveaway soon so keep your eyes to the blog for it. Thanks again to all the subscribers who entered the contest.

Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist
Certified Nutrition and Weight Management Specialist
Certified Exercise Foundations Specialist
Certified Fitness Testing Specialist

Back in my unhealthier days, the four food groups took on a whole new meaning for me. You know what the “real” food groups are, but mine were burgers, fries, cookies and cake. I had the poorest dietary habits. I am glad I made the decision to live a healthier life and changed the way I ate. It has made a big difference for me, but way back when….

The Honey Bun Bandit

In South Florida, they have these stores I like to call “bread houses.” A bread house is where bread companies send their surplus to be sold at cheap prices. I would go there and buy 3 to 4 loaves of bread at a time. I had a sandwich fetish, and I needed the bread to make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, if you’re wondering about it. Yup, I had a bad habit! I don’t eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches anymore and I certainly don’t eat white bread now…yuck! I am going to finally “come clean” here, so pay attention. The bread was not the main reason I went to the bread house. I don’t think you’ll ever guess what my first reason was for going, so I’ll tell you. It was for honeybuns! Yes, I loved honeybuns and the bread house just happened to have them 3 for a $1.00. I started off buying three then six, and my habit grew out of control to 9! I was buying 9 of these things at a time and I would go home and eat three at one sitting!

Can you feel it?

I would sit down with a tall glass of milk, juice or koolaid and devour 3 honeybuns in no time at all. These honeybuns were not your normal honey buns, they were huge! At 6’7, I have pretty big hands and if you placed the “bun” in my hand it would cover it. I can’t believe I ate 3 of those darn things in one sitting. I continued to do this until one day I took note of how I felt after eating them. I didn’t know food could change your mood, but I experienced it myself with my honeybun habit. I would feel great after and right before eating the honeybuns. My mood would then suddenly change within an hour after eating them. I would go from being happy to slightly depressed and tired. Have you ever felt that way after eating something? I took notice of the way I felt after eating the “buns,” and started to pay attention to other foods as I ate them. I can tell you “honeybuns” weren’t the only thing that made me feel that way. I now know the foods I need to stay away from by using my “feeling” method.

The Missing Link

Years after I made my self discovery, I came across an article in a magazine which talked about foods and how they altered your mood. Did you know pasta and white sugar are linked to depression? I have also heard certain foods can trigger migraine headaches. Most people don’t make a conscious effort to “feel” their food. They just stuff their faces. Your body knows what is good for it, you just have to be still and listen. If you pay attention to the food and how you “fell” after eating it, it would make it easier to resist the foods that make you gain weight. Start to “feel” your food and see what happens.

Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist
Certified Nutrition and Weight Management Specialist
Certified Exercise Foundations Specialist
Certified Fitness Testing Specialist

“Find a fool, hit them up side the head and keep them dizzy”.

Kevin Williams

I heard this quote from my friend a while ago and I laughed at it. I didn’t give it any thought past the conversation we had that day until now. Read the quote again, do you know what it means? I’ll explain it to you because it hit me like a baseball bat the other day.

Have you seen the commercial for the Shake Weight? If you don’t know what it is, its a weight you shake (hence shake weight) which works on the idea of dynamic inertia. What the hell is dynamic inertia? Is that even a word? I had to laugh, as I sat down and watched the commercial. I thought,”who the heck is going to fall for this?” I would be willing to bet alot of people are falling for this, especially women! I am not saying women are any different from anyone else out there, but the commercial was geared towards women to tone up their flabby arms. It came complete with testimonials and the guarantee of only 6 minutes a day. I watched how they held the weight and what they were doing and it didn’t make any sense. Ok, let me let you in on something…women by predisposed genetics carry more fat on the back of their arms than men. So from the date of birth, women are at a disadvantage when it comes to toning the back of the arms. Did you know that? I bet the person marketing the Shake Weight, did. Marketers play on our fears and worries and convince us we need something even when we don’t really need it. Everyone, and I do mean everyone falls for it at sometime or another because its based on emotion. We rarely buy on need, but always buy on emotion. Don’t believe me, check this out. All of us were kids at one time, and begged our parents to buy us a toy because the commercial persuaded us by appealing to our emotion. I know some adults who are still buying on emotion not to mention eating on emotion. But, do you remember getting the toy you begged for and most of the time it didn’t even amount to what you saw in the commercial. Most of us played with it for a minute and after the “shine” wore off so did our need for it.

I wonder if we get caught up in the “marketing” of the product versus the product itself? I remember when I first started training I wanted to get my six pack back, so I bought some fat burners. I used them religiously for the first couple of weeks and now they are sitting in my pantry gathering dust. I didn’t even finish them. I have done that many times thinking that this time the “answer” was finally coming. How about you? Have you ever had that experience? The fitness industry will always give you the “answer” if you are looking for it. I bet at any given time you can go on your computer and get several different answers to your question, but only one will be the truth. Please realize this if you haven’t already… there are basics to everything and those things always work. Don’t get caught up in the marketing because marketers are only trying to, “ find a fool and hit them up side the head and keep them dizzy”. Be smart and buy on reality and not the “promise” of reality. See you on the lean side.

Darren McDuffie
Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist
Certified Nutrition and Weight Management Specialist
Certified Exercise Foundations Specialist
Certified Fitness Testing Specialist

What is the one thing we lose as we age? No, its not our minds. (smile). It’s our flexibility! When I am training clients, the first thing I notice is that many of them are “tight”. As we age, it is very important to maintain our flexibility to avoid unnecessary injuries and pain. Did you know tight hamstrings and hips can lead to back pain? I remember when I suffered from lower back pain, I stretched my hamstrings and within weeks the pain went away.

Many people walk around everyday with tight muscles wondering why there joints hurt. Most of the time it can directly be contributed to being inflexible. As we age, our muscles become increasingly tight if not used, and for many of us we never recover. Have you ever seen the little old lady hunched over or the old man who can hardly walk? This is related to tight muscles . If you take the time to stretch, you’ll become limber and prevent tight muscles. One of the best ways to combine stretching with strength exercise is Yoga. Yoga can also be a very relaxing method of exercise. If you have not tried Yoga, I encourage you to give it a try. Now, for a final word on stretching.

Is it good to stretch before exercising? I have recently given up stretching my clients before exercising. Why? I always go through a warm up with them, and I find warming up properly makes the body pliable for exercise. So why would we need to stretch? I have also seen studies where it has not been proven that stretching prevents injuries before exercise, but it does weaken the muscles. Why would I want to weaken their muscles before a workout? This is just my opinion and I know there are many out there.  What is yours? Leave it on the blog. Until next time, see you on the lean side.

Darren McDuffie
Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist
Certified Nutrition and Weight Management Specialist
Certified Exercise Foundations Specialist
Certified Fitness Testing Specialist