Are You Getting Enough Iron?

Im not talking about pumping iron this time either. If you are low on iron you could have low energy, iron is a mineral that our bodies need. Iron is a part of all cells and does many things.

For example, iron (as part of the protein hemoglobin) carries oxygen from our lungs throughout our bodies. Having too little hemoglobin is called anemia. Iron also helps our muscles store and use oxygen. which is obviously very important while working out and trying to lose weight.

Enzymes help our bodies digest food and also help with many other important reactions that occur within our bodies. Also very important when trying to tone up and lose weight. When our bodies don’t have enough iron, many parts of our bodies are affected.

You should get your iron levels tested by your doctor but I have put together a list of foods that you can incorperate into your diet in order to get more iron in your meals.

• Fortified Cereals
• Chicken liver (eww)
• Clams
• Oysters
• Soy beans, mature
• Pumpkin and Squash seeds roasted
• White beans
• Lentils
• Spinach
• Beef
• Kidney beans
• Chickpeas
• Duck
• Lamb
• Prunes
• Shrimp
• Cowpeas
• Lima beans
• Soy beans, green
• Navy beans

Listed from excellent to good sources.

Photo courtesy of devlyn on flickr

3 Months To a Leaner You!

This First 4 weeks is all about setting a routine. You will learn exactly where to start!

Forget about New Years Resolutions, you will be 6 steps ahead of the rest!

• Clean out your kitchen: Throw out anything with high fructose corn syrup, white flour, sugar, and anything else you cant even pronounce.



• Restock your kitchen with fresh & frozen organic fruit, vegetables, organic lean ground beef, fish, shrimp, scallops, tuna, slow cook brown rice, old fashioned oatmeal, organic cottage cheese, fresh ground peanut butter or adams brand (nothing but peanuts is the point), quality protein powder with low carbs, and a quality meal replacement drink. email me if you would like my recommendation.



• Stock up on your vitamins, B12, D, and a multi. (I will fill you in on their benifits later, they are worth taking.)



• Fill up your water bottle, you need 1 liter (34oz) per 50lb body weight



• Plan out 45min for yourself each day to get healthy and lean! Make it an appt. with yourself.



• Grab a notebook to start keeping a food journal, write down everything.

Go get started....what are you waiting for? Look for this weeks workout for super sexy abs.....

Vitamin D and Weight Loss

Clearly, vitamin D seems to be very important in regulating our weight. There is a correlation between rising rates of obesity and vitamin D deficiency.

If you are having difficulty with insulin resistance or weight gain — or can’t keep the pounds off once you lose them — you may want to have your vitamin D levels checked by your doctor.

Just recently I read that Vitamin D helps regulate your hormones....and what do your hormones regulate? Your weight! Well I'm not telling you if you go out and take your Vitamin D every day you will lose weight. But if you have been struggling with those last few pounds and have been sticking to your clean meal plans and workouts. This may be key in getting your body back in balance.

Living in Washington we miss the sun in the winter. We have been pretty blessed this year as it seems to be shining more often. But my point is no matter where you live if your not getting your Vitamin D from the sun you should be taking 1000-2000 IU per day.

Vitamin D also helps with "Seasonal Affective Disorder" (seasonal depression). Amongst other awesome benefits such as fighting menopause, and osteoporosis, and cancer.

You should be tested by your doctor for deficiency. It could be worth the 15 min. to see if you are.

photo courtesty of flickr

Fat Blasting Boot Camp







The Fat Blasting Boot Camp Program was designed by Angie Schumacher, a Certified Personal Trainer, for her boot camp class in Colorado. She wanted to ensure that her members received a total body workout in just 30 minutes-3 times a week.


With the Fat Blasting Boot Camp Program, you will start out with 2 weeks of "Get Started" workouts that will get your body ready for the upcoming 12 weeks of workouts. Each workout is linked to a video demonstration that will show you how to correctly do each exercise.


The Fat Blasting Boot Camp Program consists of 3 circuits—Strength, Cardio and Core. You begin with the strength training, which includes 4 exercises that will hit every muscle in your body. This will sculpt and tone your upper and lower body and elevate your heart rate, making sure you are burning tons of calories. The cardio training consists of 3 exercises that elevate your heart rate and boost your metabolism to ensure maximum fat burning. You then finish off with core training, which incorporates 3 exercises that will hit every inch of your abs, creating lean, sexy abs. After each workout, your body will continue to burn calories for the next few hours! No matter what fitness level you are at, all the workouts are easily suitable to meet your needs.


Not only do you get the most amazing and effective fat burning workouts, you will also receive Fat Blasting Meal Plan Ideas, which help you to plan your meals and help you achieve maximum results with this program. A copy of simple, Energy Producing Recipes that Angie has used over the years, will also be included. Lastly, you will get a private invitation to the FREE Fat Blasting Boot Camp forums where you can ask questions about the program, blog about your experience, chat with other women who are using the Fat Blasting Program and receive one on one attention from Angie Schumacher.


Why is this program different from the others? This is a program that can be used right in the comfort of your own home, with little to no equipment! No universal gym machines, cardio machines or gym membership is needed. What you WILL need is a medicine ball OR dumbbells OR a kettlebell , stability ball, a chair or a step. That’s it!


No need to spend tons of money on diet pills or diet programs or to be confused over all the contradicting information about fitness and weight loss, the Fat Blasting Boot Camp Program is your answer!


The Fat Blasting Boot Camp Program is backed by a 8-week money back guarantee. If you are not completely satisfied, you will receive your money back, no "ifs," "ands," or "buts." So you really have nothing to lose.

Click HERE to see what others had to say, and even before and after pictures!

Dont fall for the Acai Berry Myth

You can't really miss it on the Internet these days. Seems like everywhere you look there's another company promoting the nutritious Acai Berry as a weight loss miracle. And that's why I thought it was critical to write you today. I want to make sure you know my opinion on the subject.

First, you know better than to believe you're going to pop some pills - ANY pills - and have the pounds and inches melt off like magic. If you've been listening to me for any length of time you know true fat loss comes from a variety of factors, including exercise and proper nutrition.

Second, any fitness expert worth their fees will tell you that any diet that promotes you eat any one food all day long and then eat a sensible dinner, well, don't bother. Yes, you will lose some weight short-term, but as soon as you go back to your old eating habits - and you know you will - you know exactly what happens.

Third, the Acai Berry contains VERY powerful antioxidants and it is getting a lot of good press for that very reason. Yes, antioxidants as in the extraordinary nutrients that help fight the free radicals associated with aging, cancer risk and other degenerative diseases.

And while on the subject, I wanted to fill you in on something that has recently come to light. Did you know that coffee berries (the berry that covers the coffee bean) is one of the most powerful antioxidants on the planet? It's something researchers have discovered in recent years. What's really cool is my friends at Prograde Nutrition have just created an amazing Whole Foods based Anti-Aging formula called Prograde Longevity that includes both Acai Berry and Coffee Berry. Oh, and it also utilizes Green Tea, Pomegranate, Wolf Berry and Biovin Grape (Red Wine extract.) Just to give you an idea of how powerful this formula is, well, you'd have to eat an entire POUND of raspberries to get the same ORAC value. And in case you're not familiar with the term, ORAC stands for Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity.

You can check out Prograde Longevity for yourself here: >> Prograde

Oh, and just so you know, you can't find Prograde products in stores anywhere. They're so exclusive they only let fitness experts work with their company to help them get the word out.

Yours in health,

Carmel

photo courtesy of : Açaí by Breno Peck

Fight Fat With Fiber

Check it out... I was published in the Chicago Sun-Times for this article.... Fight Fat With Fiber

It's all happening very quickly! I just told you a yesterday I was chosen to represent Kitsap County in this year's http://www.12daysoffitness.com/ gift-giving.

Well, I have just put the finishing touches on the recipe ebook I'm giving away and wanted to tell you all about it to make sure you don't miss out. After all, you're one of my own subscribers so I want to make sure that you don't miss out, right?

The new ebook is called "Hot Mama's Recipes For a Flat Tummy" and I've got to tell you, I'm really proud of it. In fact, I think it may just be my best piece of work to date because I've added literally all of my favorite recipes that will help teach you about eating healthy, fast & easy. Something that has taken me the last 7 years to experiment with.

The ebook will share secret recipes that I normally only reserve for my one on one clients like:

* Chocolate Muffins

* Mini Pizza

* PMS Pudding

* Breakfast Burritos

* 5 min. meals for Mamas on the go!

And so many more.

In fact, many other trainers have said I am insane for giving away all these secrect recipes but I dont care what they think, I want to make a real difference with this ebook and help you and the 500,000 other http://www.12daysoffitness.com/ readers to finally achieve a Flat Tummy eating REAL food that doesnt taste like cardboard, and that can be made in minutes.

But the thing is this report is ONLY for 12 days of fitness readers. I've promised Dax Moy, who put the 12 days together that I would create an exclusive gift for the program so it may be quite some time before I'm allowed to share it with you and my other readers.

That's why I want to make sure you get on over to http://www.12daysoffitness.com/ right away and sign up for the free gift giving. That way you'll get my Hot Mama Recipes For a Flat Tummy ebook and as many of the other 250 gifts as you want.

So don't miss out on this, or you will regret it!

Carmel