Monday Nutrition Tip of the Week

One of the lessons I learned from our 10-day Michi's Ladder Food Challenge was that, if you want to keep a mostly clean diet, you cannot regularly eat at restaurants. Why is that? Because a restaurant doesn't care how big your butt gets.

However, when Zach and I got the chance to drop the kids off with the grandparents to go out to dinner and to a playoff basketball game, of course I wanted to go. Now the 45 miles between the bustling metropolises (metropoli?) of Midlothian and Corsicana, Texas do not boast many fine restaurants. You've got your Catfish King, your Sonic, your Big Boy Burger, and the like. So, we went to Chili's. It's not my favorite place, but we had gift cards and it was on the way, so Chili's it was.

We were in a hurry and wanted to order right away, so I looked at the menu en route. Like many restaurants, Chili's posts their nutrition info online. Here's what I found.

Zach and I decided that we were going to order the "Guiltless Grill" Grilled Salmon with Herbs. Chili's has several items on the menu that can be ordered "Guiltless Grill" which is Chili-ese for "No Butter."

Guiltless Grill Grilled Salmon
520 calories, 16 grams fat (4 saturated), 47 grams carbs, 49 grams protein, 5 grams fiber, 1,420 mg sodium

Tangent: So remember a few months ago when I bought beets at the grocery store and the checker told me, "Nobody buys those!" Well, when we ordered the Guiltless Grilled Salmon, the waiter gave us a funny look and said, "Do you work at Chili's?" I said, "No." And he said, "Nobody ever orders that! Only people who work here know about the Guiltless Grill items." I'm sensing a pattern in my life. End tangent.

So, looking at that nutritional info we didn't do too bad for eating out at a restaurant. The salmon was very good, it was a satisfying dinner. Especially considering we didn't have to pay for it with our own money.

But what if I'd decided I wanted to go whole hog there at the Chili's Saturday night. Say I mosey'd over to the burger menu and chose this:

Jalapeno Smokehouse Burger with Ranch
2,160 calories, 138 grams fat (43 saturated), 132 grams carbs, 95 grams protein, 11 grams fiber, 6,450 mg sodium (THAT DOESN'T INCLUDE THE FRIES!)

And just suppose, after I had my nice juicy burger, I ordered a brownie sundae.

Brownie Sundae
1,290 calories, 61 grams fat (30 saturated), 195 grams carbs, 14 grams protein, 8 grams fiber, 930 mg sodium

ACK! Let's calculate the damage on my theoretical meal.

Totals on the Theoretical Meal I Did Not Eat Because I Was So Shocked At What I Saw
3,450 calories, 199 grams fat (73 saturated), 327 carbs, 109 grams protein, 19 grams fiber, 7,380 mg sodium

Oh. My. Gosh. You guys, the brownie sundae alone blows almost an entire day's worth of calories. It's obscene.

So my tip today is this: Everyone is going to eat out sometimes. It's a treat, and you should enjoy life. But before you go, take a few minutes and think about what you're going to get when you order. Looking at the nutritional guide just might be enough to turn you off to the brownie sundae and turn you on to the Guiltless Grill items that "nobody orders." Then maybe Zach and I won't be alone in our crazy beet-buying club.

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Workout of the Day

P90X Plus: Total Upper+

A Happy Byproduct of Clean Eating

It's funny how a stay-at-home-mom marks the passage of time. It's not necessarily by the calendar day of the week -- for me, it's what happens on each day. For example, Thursday is "Grocery Shopping Day," Friday is "Laundry Day," etc. It's these tasks that break up the Groundhog Day of an existence that I lead.

Thursday is also trash day. As I was gathering up the trash today, I noticed just how little trash we have for a family of four. I gathered up one kitchen trash bag and a few bags from the bathrooms, and as I put it in the bin it hardly filled up one-third of the garbage can that I roll to the curb. On most weeks, we could probably go two weeks between trash pick-up and have no problems with overflowing the garbage can.

This lack of trash is due to two things. We recycle cardboard, #1 and #2 plastics, and aluminum, and we also started a compost pile last year. I love having a compost pile, not only because I like to have vegetable gardens each year and it makes for cheap compost, but mostly because I do not have to empty the trash so often. It was the stinky peels and rinds and seeds and whatever else that would quickly rot and caused me to empty a quarter-filled trash bag.

Another factor is my obsessive list and menu making each week. I know exactly what meals I'm going to fix and if it will make leftovers, which means we don't throw out food.

Occasionally I like to meet up with friends and take the kids to Chick Fil A for dinner, particularly if Zach is going to be out late at an extracurricular event. I'm always struck by just how much trash one fast food meal generates. I mean, there's the wrapper around each piece of food, the piece of paper that lines the tray, the cup, the straw, the straw wrapper, the cup cover, the ketchup packet, the wrapper for the toy in the kid's meal, the kid's meal bag, the utensils, the utensil wrapper, the napkins, and on and on. That one meal generates more trash than three days' worth at home!

I don't proclaim to be an extreme Hippy Dippy Loon who is completely obsessed with saving the planet from being overcome by a sea of trash, but to me, if there is a way to cut down on trash by eating at home -- and be healthier because of it -- I'm all for it.

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Workout of the Day

One on One Volume 2: On One Leg for Legs

Black Bean Lasagna

Several months ago I was reading Reader's Digest and came across a recipe for Black Bean Lasagna. I cut out the page and stuck it in my cookbook for "someday." Last Wednesday night I was desperate for items to fill out my week's menu, and remembered this recipe.

I'll cut to the chase: we loved it! (Well, three of us did. As per usual, Kate drank milk and ate bread. Like a prisoner. A prisoner in a vegetarian restaurant.) My regular lasagna recipe usually turns out runny, but this recipe's sauce is thick and tomato-y, and everything stayed together nicely. I'd guess you could even use meat instead of beans with this recipe and it would still be good.

The only thing I would change on the next go-round (and there will be one) is to add about 3/4 tsp. salt and maybe a bit more red pepper flakes to spice it up. Other than that, it was great.

This recipe originally appeared in Taste of Home.

Ingredients

• 9 lasagna noodles (I used wheat noodles)
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 teaspoon canola oil
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 cans (16 ounces each) black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 can (14-1/2 ounces) Hunt’s® Original Diced Tomatoes, undrained
• 2 cans (6 ounces each) tomato paste
• 1 cup water
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro
• 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 4 egg whites, lightly beaten
• 1 carton (15 ounces) reduced-fat ricotta cheese
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
• 2 cups (8 ounces) shredded reduced-fat Mexican cheese blend

Directions

• Cook noodles according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large skillet over medium heat, cook onion in oil until tender. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Add the beans, tomatoes, tomato paste, water, cilantro and pepper flakes. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes or until slightly thickened.
• In a small bowl, combine the egg whites, ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese and parsley.
• Drain noodles. Spread 1/2 cup bean mixture into a 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish coated with cooking spray. Layer with three noodles, a third of the ricotta mixture, a third of the remaining bean mixture and 2/3 cup cheese blend. Repeat layers twice.
• Cover and bake at 350° for 30-35 minutes. Uncover; bake 10-15 minutes longer or until bubbly. Let stand for 10 minutes before cutting. Yield: 12 Servings
• Nutrition Facts: 1 piece equals 279 calories, 7 g fat (4 g saturated fat), 25 mg cholesterol, 455 mg sodium, 36 g carbohydrate, 6 g fiber, 18 g protein.

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Workout of the Day

 Warrior's Resistance Workout #1 from Tony Horton's book, Bring It!

Words of Wisdom Part 2: Craig Holiday

Back in November I attended Beachbody's Game Plan training with Larry Zimberg, and he had some great words of wisdom to share with the group. Last weekend I attended the Super Saturday event in Dallas featuring Craig Holiday, and it was just as informative and motivating.

It's been a rough couple weeks around here, and to be honest, I didn't really feel like going to the event. But once it was over, I was glad that I did. It's good to be around like-minded people who care about ending the trend of obesity and helping people achieve their goals.

Craig Holiday is a leadership consultant for Beachbody. I'm not exactly sure what a "leadership consultant" is, but after Saturday's meeting I do know that Craig is savvy, insightful, and an empowering speaker who knows how to motivate a crowd to do better and be better. Here are a few of Craig's words of wisdom:

• You must find your DNA: Determined Natural Ambition.
• Your significance is more important than your success.
• Struggle is less painful than regret.
• It's not what you eat...it's what's eating you.
• You ought to live your life as if it's not about you.
• Some will. Some won't. So what?
• Never take responsibility for someone else's failure OR their success.
• You succeed in life by running to a dream or running from a nightmare.
• A lot of people buy things they don't want with money they don't have to impress people they don't like.
• Someday doesn't exist. Set goals with an actual date in mind.
• There are two types of people: those who excite you when they come in the room, and some that excite you when they leave.
• What you become on the journey is the real prize.

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Workout of the Day

P90X Yoga

Yesterday we did Core Synergistics, which always kills my lower back. I'm super stiff today, so I'm doing the ice pack/heating pad treatment. Although the ice hurts, I've found that taking the time to rotate ice and heat means my back feels better in a day or two instead of a week from now.

Monday Nutrition Tip of the Week

"How often should you work out? My answer: only on the days that you want to be productive, feel great, and improve your health! When you look at exercise not as a  chore, but as a gift that makes you happy, healthy, and productive -- everything changes!" - Chalene Johnson

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Back in December I wrote about making sure you feed the fire of your metabolism so that it is always working for you. Even though it sounds counterintuitive, you must eat more and more often if you want to lose weight.* There's no arguing that not eating food is an effective method of losing weight. It's called starvation, and it's not my idea of fun. 

I came across an article from October 2006 called "Weight Loss Rules to Re-think." It's a fantastic article, and well worth reading in its entirety. One segment of the article really stuck with me because I learned something I hadn't known before. Here's the segment, and I'll tell you what I learned on the other side:

Old rule: To lose weight, go on a diet.
New rule: To lose weight, choose to eat healthy.
Many weight-loss diets call for a dramatic reduction in daily caloric intake, which tends to deprive the body of the very nutrients it needs to effectively release and process unwanted fat. But eating too little or skipping meals has another extreme downside: It puts the body in a starvation-like "fat-conservation" mode.

When you take in fewer calories than are necessary to fuel your resting metabolic rate (the base amount of caloric energy your body requires while at rest), your body simply compensates by reducing your metabolic rate. Goodbye, caloric burn.

"Your body thinks it's starving to death," explains Hyman. As a result, it not only cuts back on the energy you need to exercise and move about, it also "sets off chemical processes inside you that force you to eat more." Net result: weight gain.

You can get a very rough estimate of your resting metabolic rate, says Hyman, by multiplying your weight in pounds by 10 (if you weigh 150 pounds, for example, your resting metabolic rate would be approximately 1,500 calories per day). "If you eat less than that amount, your body will instantly perceive danger and turn on the alarm system that protects you from starvation and slows your metabolism," says Hyman.

The deprivation mindset of dieting – characterized by "just until I lose this weight" thinking – is another enemy of weight loss. It causes us to alternate between extremes of "on the diet" and "off the diet" behavior. That sets us up to have an unhealthy relationship with food that can turn weight management into a miserable, lifelong struggle. A better approach: Decide to eat healthy for life. Enjoy delicious, high-quality foods in ways that nurture your body and your senses for the long haul.

Before reading this article I did not know that you could get a rough estimate of your resting metabolic rate by multiplying your body weight by 10. If you're not eating that many calories, your body goes into starvation mode, and your metabolism s-l-o-w-s down. With free online tools like myfitnesspal.com, it's simple to count calories to find out where you stand and adjust accordingly.

The trick is to use your calorie allotment wisely. If you're eating healthy, whole foods, 1500 calories can be a lot of food. But if you waste calories on soda, on an extra doughnut, on an appetizer when you go out to dinner, your calorie count is easily shot.

So the tip of the day is to calculate your resting metabolic rate, and understand what that means in terms of the speed your metabolism is running.

* We're talking good food here, not 100-calorie packs of Oreos.

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Workout of the Day
P90X Core Synergistics
Today was the first day of 2011 that I was hot while I worked out. The shop was about 72 degrees, which is perfect. I like to be sweaty after I work out...shows I did something!

A Look Inside an OCD Refrigerator

Not long after I started buying an inordinate amount of vegetables, I realized something: veggies are kind of a pain in the butt. Every time I wanted a little broccoli I had to wash it, cut it, and dispose of the remnants.

It's one thing for me, the stay-at-home-mom, to sit around and wash and cut vegetables all day, but it made Zach grumpy. And late. He likes to take a bowl of veggies and hummus to eat at lunch, and it was cramping his style to have to wrestle with it every morning. His solution most of the time was to forgo washing the produce, which I wasn't OK with. I also wasn't OK with my fridge being a tangled mess of produce bags, errant green peppers, and rotting onions that I forgot due to the mess my fridge had become.

So a few months ago I started taking 30 minutes or so on grocery shopping day (a.k.a: "Thursday") to wash, cut, and container (yes, I'm using that as a verb) the vegetables for the week.

Behold, the OCD Refrigerator:

Did I clean up my fridge specifically for this picture? No. I looked at it, declared myself a freak and decided to document it. Does it look like this all the time? No. But it does on Thursdays!

See those two square containers on the bottom shelf? One is filled with washed baby spinach and the other is filled with washed and cut broccoli, cauliflower, and beets. The two round containers in the middle? One is collared greens and the other is kale (I am experimenting with a kale green monster this week). In the right bottom drawer is washed cilantro, along with loose apples, grapefruit, and oranges. The left drawer is a bit of a mess with a couple bags of squash and zucchini, but it's OK - there's a method to the madness there. 

Even though it's a bit of a pain to take the time to do this, it saves so much time in the long run. This also allows me to see how I'm doing with my procurement skills. Did I buy too much? Too little? My goal at the end of the week is to have a basically empty refrigerator. I don't want to waste food because I couldn't see it and it went bad. (How far will I go to have an empty refrigerator Thursday morning before my grocery trip, you ask? Far enough to stand there and shovel three-and-a-half spoonfuls of cottage cheese and two spoonfuls of plain yogurt down my gullet as my "breakfast dessert." That's how far.)

So, is it a little OCD? Probably. But if it makes healthy eating a little easier, I'm all for it.

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Workout of the Day:

TBD. I have a workout with the ladies up at church today, and I'm going to let them choose which one they want to do. 

The Great Hummus Discovery

We eat hummus by the bucketful around here. It's so tangy and spicy and just...yum. We eat it with raw vegetables, as a spread on sandwiches or wraps, and sometimes with a spoon.

In looking up nutrition info for this post, I learned that hummus is one of the world's oldest foods, eaten by ancient Egyptians thousands of years ago. Michael Pollan, journalist and author of "Food Rules: An Eater's Manual" says we should eat like our grandparents ate. I guess this qualifies!

Hummus is made of chickpeas (also called garbanzo beans), olive oil, tahini (ground sesame seed paste), lemon juice, and some spices. Olive oil, of course, is loaded with healthy fat and chickpeas are an excellent source of fiber. Here's a rough look at the stats for two tablespoons of hummus (rough because recipes vary):

- 50 calories
- 5 grams carbohydrates
- 3 grams fat
- 1 gram protein

I thought I had a pretty great recipe for hummus. Then I visited Ali Baba for my birthday. Their hummus kicked my hummus's tail. It made my hummus cry like a little girl.

So like any jealous chef, I started hunting for their recipe. Long story short, I couldn't find it. But I did find a clue. Someone posted in a comment of a restaurant review that Ali Baba uses yogurt in their hummus. That made perfect sense, because it had a little extra tang, plus it was very smooth and creamy. Not as thick as mine tends to be.

The next time I made hummus, I threw in about a quarter to one-third cup of plain greek yogurt, which punches up both the protein content and the taste.

Voila! I had a very close replica of the yummy Ali Baba hummus. Try it! Recipe below.

- 3 TB lemon juice
- 1/4 cup water
- 6 TB tahini, well stirred
- 2 TB olive oil
- 1 14-ounce can of chickpeas
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1/2 tsp table salt
- 1/4 tsp cumin
- Pinch cayenne
- 4-6 drops Tabasco (optional -- I like mine spicy!)
- 1/4 to 1/3 cup plain greek yogurt
- 1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro

Combine all ingredients except the cilantro in a food processor and mix the dog out of it! Stop the food processor (or blender) a few times to scrape the sides and mix some more. Transfer to a bowl and mix the cilantro in by hand. You can eat immediately, but hummus tastes better as it ages. It will last several days in an airtight container.

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Workout of the Day

P90X Back and Biceps

Glamor muscles today! Get ready for the gun show...

Monday Nutrition Tip of the Week

I ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch every day for nearly 30 years.

People who knew me during my school years know that this is only a slight exaggeration. I was a die-hard brown bagger. One of my most traumatic days of the third grade was when I locked myself and my lunch out of the house and had to (gasp!) buy a hot lunch. On credit! The shame!

I still remember the meal. It was small, gray hamburger on a dry dinner roll, and I sat there in the "Hot Lunch" section (separated from my beloved "Cold Lunch" friends) and cried. After many hours of therapy, I recovered.

I made it through college and got my first job, and I brought my lunch every day. Peanut butter sandwich, chips, yogurt, and a granola bar. I shouldn't knock it, because bringing that lunch every day played a key part in meeting my husband...also a die-hard brown bagger. His lunch? A turkey sandwich (with mustard), chips, yogurt, and a granola bar. That's how I knew we were meant to be together. Hot Lunchers marrying Cold Lunchers is just a recipe for divorce. There's lots of data on that.

So anyway, no one is as surprised as I am at how my lunch has evolved to this:

Avocado toast, sliced tomatoes, cottage cheese, and a greenberry Shakeology. Love it. This meal has it all: protein, healthy fat, carbohydrate, and a vegetable. Here's the nutritional lowdown per myfitnesspal.com:

• 444 total calories
• 140 calories from Shakeology
• 50 calories from the whole wheat bread
• 161 calories from half an avocado
• 13 calories from half a tomato
• 80 calories from the cottage cheese
• Fat: 16 grams 
• 14.5 grams of fat are from the avocado
• 35 grams of protein
• 46 carbs

So the tip of the day is, don't be afraid to experiment with some bizarre food pairings, and try to break out of the rut. If you have chips every day like I used to, move to baked crackers, then try to move to no crackers at all. If I need some crunchiness in my life, I try to turn to thinly sliced beets or carrots. 

If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got. So try something new!

Workout of the Day

P90X Chest, Shoulders, and Triceps.

This is week three of the rotation, and so I can't say I'm sad to see this workout go on the shelf for a bit. It is tough!

Card Trick

It's Friday, which means it's legs day. Since I had such a crummy workout yesterday, I decided to choose my absolute favorite leg workout to do this morning: P90X One on One Volume 2: Bun Shaper. (I say "I" decided because even though Zach and I work out together, he generally lets me decide which one we do. Such a peach, that one.)

This one is nine exercises completed twice. I won't list all the exercises, but I wanted to pick out one very special (read: tortuous) exercise that you can do at home with great results. It's called:

8 Card Pick-up

Here's what you do. Get yourself eight playing cards. Put them down in a vertical row in front of you. Squat down (squat, not bend), pick up the first card. Squat down, put the first card on the second card. Squat down, pick up two cards. Squat down (keep your butt down!), put those two cards down on the third card. Squat down and pick up all three cards and put them on the fourth. And so on. 

It's called 8 Card Pick-up, but that's 64 squats you're doin' there, mister. Obviously, 64 squats is a lot of squats. But at least you've got something to take your mind off of it. Just don't accidentally drop a card or pick up two. That's the worst.

This morning is my Body Gospel Fit Club up at church. Will my legs make it? I guess we'll see!

My Sally Field Moment

A little housekeeping this Thursday morning: observant readers might notice a little new button on the top left just below the title. It's a "Like" button for my snazzy new Smells Like Fitness Facebook page, which I created on my snow day this week.

It's a page for my Beachbody business, complete with an online store and contest page for Beachbody's corporate contests. I'll also be using the wall to post nutrition tips, videos, inspiration, and any other thing that floats my boat on any particular day.

If you're a Facebook user and reader of this blog, can you take a quick second and "Like" my page? My goal is to get 100 "Likes" this year...Not sure how I'm going to accomplish that quite yet, but I think it's important to put a goal out there. If you have friends who might enjoy a page devoted to nutrition and fitness, please pass it on!

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And now: EURO TRAINING!!!!

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Workout of the Day:

P90X Plus Kenpo Cardio

People, I did not want to work out today. At all. It was 16 degrees this morning, which means the shop where we work out was about 38. I've been staying up too late at night reading Unbroken, so I am tired. (By the way, you should read that book. It's an incredible story about an Olympic miler and WWII veteran who survived astonishing brutality in a Japanese POW camp.) But I slogged out there anyway and did the workout. And you know what? I did NOT bring it. I was completely wimpy and went about half speed.

I could have known how much I was not pushing myself if I had bothered to put my heart rate monitor on, but the prospect of strapping a freezing cold strap to my nice, warm chest that had just rolled out from underneath 14 pounds of blanket left me less than thrilled. So I didn't do it. I'll try again tomorrow.

Interval Training

One of the main reasons why people don't exercise is because "they don't have time." But here's some good news: if you're willing to work hard, you don't have to work for long.

Interval training combines short, high-intensity bursts of speed with slow, recovery phases to build speed and endurance. And also burn a lot of calories quickly. Here's the science of it:

Interval training works both the aerobic and the anaerobic system. During the high intensity efforts, the anaerobic system uses the energy stored in the muscles (glycogen) for short bursts of activity. Anaerobic metabolism works without oxygen, but the by-product is lactic acid. As lactic acid builds, the athlete enters oxygen debt, and it is during the recovery phase that the heart and lungs work together to "pay back" this oxygen debt and break down the lactic acid. It is in this phase that the aerobic system is using oxygen to convert stored carbohydrates into energy. American College of Sports Medicine

Yesterday morning we did P90X Plus Interval X, a 40-minute workout (including the warm-up and cool-down).

It's 12 exercises, each performed twice. Each exercise is one minute, and within that minute you exercise at three phases: recovery, moderate, and "gang member is chasing me down a dark alley."

During the workout (which is really only in active mode for about 35 minutes when you take out the warm-up and cool-down), I burned 306 calories. Not too shabby for a quick morning workout!

Whether you're on a treadmill, in a pool, or just jumping rope you can incorporate simple intervals into your workout regimen. If you're running on a treadmill, jog at a moderate pace for 3 minutes, then kick it up for one minute (Look out! There's a gang member behind you!). It'll keep things interesting, and also help you get a good workout in quickly.

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Workout of the Day:

P90X Back and Biceps

We got this one done at regular time (5 a.m.), only to discover that we were going to have the fifth snow day in nine days here in Dallas/Fort Worth. Oh well. At least it's done!

Monday Nutrition Tip of the Week

It's the day after the Super Bowl! Did you eat too much at a party?

We stayed in because we like to actually watch the game (which, we've found, is difficult to do at a party) and ate some barbecue chicken pizza that I made. And then I made some Super Bowl cookies that I had in the freezer. Actually, they weren't "Super Bowl" cookies...they were just cookies that were calling to me from the freezer. So I declared them Super Bowl cookies, and they were eaten quickly. So it wasn't the best day, nutritionally speaking. But that's okay - we need treats now and again to stay sane.

I made an offer to my Beachbody customers this morning that I want to include here, too. If you haven't tried Shakeology yet, but want to, think about trying the Shakeology Cleanse or buying a week's worth of individual packets. I have them on hand and can mail them to you. Here's the lowdown on what the cleanse includes:

• Cleanse Schedule, including detailed instructions on what/when to eat on the cleanse
• 9 individual packets of Shakeology
• 6 green tea bags

The cleanse is $50, plus $6 if I need to mail it to you. And if you want 7 individual packets, it's $35 (plus $5 for shipping). Shoot me a message if you're interested! If you want more info about Shakeology, visit my site: www.shakeology.com/CoachSusanH.

OK, back to our regularly scheduled Nutrition Tip of the Week.

It's kind of a silly tip, but one that can pay dividends in the long run. And that's what this nutrition thing is all about, right? The long run. Simple things you can implement in your life that will impact your health in the long run.

It all started back about four and a half years ago when my son started drinking apple juice. Like all moms, I was warned about how giving your toddler juice meant serious sugar overload and/or non-stop diarrhea. Naturally, I wanted to avoid those things. So I took to diluting his juice to about 85% water and 15% juice (give or take 5%).

Doing this made sure he was drinking mostly water, and also meant I had to buy juice a lot less often. And it also provided another avenue for his grandparents to win "Grandparents of the Year" awards every time he visited their house and got full octane juice.

As he got older (and another juice-loving kid entered the picture), I never got away from diluting the juice. Quite the opposite, in fact. I started diluting my own juice. It just made sense to me - one cup of apple juice has 100 calories and 28 grams of sugar. Why not cut that at least in half? It doesn't taste that different, and after awhile, 100% juice tastes obnoxiously sweet.

It's a simple change that I can live with. I didn't want to cut juice out of my life 100%, but I could but back to 50%. Look for areas where you can cut back or substitute, but still get the satisfaction of eating what you like.

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Workout of the Day:

P90X Chest, Shoulders, and Triceps.

Today I did 5 plyometric push ups (clap push ups) for the first time! Real ones...not on my knees.

The Principal's Message

Each month Zach writes a message to post on his principal's website at school. This month he wrote a particularly excellent message that I think deserves a wider audience than just his school community.

It's a message that can be applied to fitness, nutrition, being a high school principal...and to life in general. (And let it be known that his busybody, English major wife did not touch this post prior to its publish.)

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Reality Check

“Sooner or later (turns out later comes sooner than you thought), your bad behavior will ruin your life.” Tony Horton

“I made a mistake.” “I knew it was wrong, but I did not mean to do it.” “It was an accident.” I hear these phrases or ones similar to them fairly regularly from students. My response is almost always the same. “No, you made a poor choice.”

Or perhaps you can recall a time when you were saying “I made a mistake, okay! So? Everybody makes mistakes!” If the mistake was deliberate, was it really a mistake, or a poor choice? Calling it a mistake helps to absolve the person of some or all of the accountability for the wrongdoing. Intentional unacceptable behavior is not a mistake, but instead a matter of poor choice.

Facing reality means not making excuses for poor choices. For a moment, let’s compare the terms mistake and choice. According to the dictionary, a mistake is “an error in action, calculation, opinion, or judgment caused by poor reasoning, carelessness, insufficient knowledge, etc.” For example, to misspell a word in an assignment for your English class is a mistake. The misspelled word was not intentional. Mistakes are inadequate performance, not unacceptable behavior. 

A choice is defined as “the right, power, or opportunity to choose; option.” It involves some forethought and intent. Speeding is a poor choice, not a mistake. If you hold a driver’s license, then you can read a speedometer and a speed limit sign. To curse at someone is a deliberate choice. You can choose what words come out of your mouth. In these examples, the behavior is a matter of choice, not inadequate performance. You are accountable for your behavior because your behavior is a choice.

It’s pretty obvious there is a difference in the meanings of these two words, yet many young adults confuse them. We make choices every day that keep us from being who we want to be physically, mentally, socially, and spiritually. Many people attempt to label these choices as mistakes. Mistakes are made constantly in our daily lives. Making a mistake is making an error without the knowledge that you are indeed messing up. You can get away with making small minor mistakes in your life. However, nobody gets away with making poor choices over and over. Read the quote at the top of this article again.

At some point those poor choices are going to catch up with you and impact your life. This is difficult for young adults to wrap their minds around. They live in the present and think that the future will work out on its own. I love their optimism, but I think many of us lack realism.

The first step to identifying mistakes as poor choices is to be honest with yourself. Once you acknowledge that you do have choices, you will be able to start taking charge of your life and your future. Mistakes will happen. However, mistakes happen due to lack of knowledge or error and are typically out of your control. You have control of your choices. The sooner we realize this, the sooner we will stop making excuses for our lack of success and start making smart choices that will help us reach our goals. Don’t let your choices ruin your life.

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Workout of the Day
P90X One on One Volume 3: Yoga

Beachbody Product Review: Brazil Butt Lift

You all know I love my P90X. I've spent the last two and a half years push-up and pull-upping till I'm blue in the face (sometimes literally). But I know P90X isn't for everybody, and that's why Beachbody has a whole host of products to appeal to all kinds of people.

Since I take this Beachbody Coaching thing seriously, I feel it's my duty to try out as many Beachbody products as I can and report my findings. And so today, with a special shout out to my friend Sarah who loaned me the program, I bring you: Leandro Carvalho's Brazil Butt Lift.

Here's what you get when you buy the Butt Lift:

• The Booty Makeover Guide, complete with Your Booty Blueprint (to tell you what kind of booty you have - "Too Flat," "Pear Shape," or just straight up "Too Big").
• Fat-Burning Foods Nutrition Guide
• 6-Day Supermodel Slimdown Plan
• Measurement Tracker Card and Tape Measure
• Resistance Band
• Triangle Training Workout Cards
• 7 workouts on 3 DVDs

And Oh! I forgot the pencil! You also get a pencil so that you can perform "The Pencil Test," wherein you put a pencil in the crease between where your butt meets the top of your thigh. If the pencil stays up  (or disappears), you, my friend, are in need of a lift. 

Now let me admit (if it isn't clear already), that I approached this workout with my tongue securely in my cheek. I mean, c'mon, a butt workout. Are you serious? Well after doing these workouts let me tell you: it's serious. And also? Seriously fun. 

First of all, each workout starts with drums and whistles straight out of Carnival and greetings from Leandro: "We are in RIO DE JANEIRO!!!"

Then you're in his studio, backed by six color-coordinated girls whose booties definitely do not need lifting. 

Did I say studio?

Oh, wait! Now you're on the beach!

You're in the studio!

You're on the beach!

You're on a horse!

After awhile I wasn't sure where I was, but I did know that my butt hurt. Leandro's got you lifting, shaking, and dancing all over the place, all the while shouting encouragement like only Leandro can:

"Beat the drums!"

"In Brazil we call the booty the boom boom, so I want you to work your boom boom!"

"Shake your booty! C'mon let it go! I dance!"

"Are you feeling warm? I hope so because I am sooo warm!"

"Did you like that move? I stole it from Shakira!"

Working out with Brazil Butt Lift is not unlike working out with your gay hairdresser. Your really fun, high-spirited, gay hairdresser.

You can't really appreciate what I'm saying until you hear from the man himself. So here he is, with a very important message that I wholeheartedly support:

I know he's Brazilian and all, but you know who Leandro reminds me of?

Oh, Leandro, I kid because I love. This workout seriously works your butt. The nutrition guide is great, the workouts are fun, and every time you work out with Leandro you're bound to work both your butt and your abs...due to all the laughing you're going to do while you try to keep up with him.

Want to try the Butt Lift? Buy it here.

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Workout of the Day
P90X Plyometrics