Archive for Blog
Physical (Mis)Education
Posted by: | Comments
Is he the guys to teach health and fitness to kids?
Why does it seem like I see so many Physical Education teachers,
and coaches who don’t look the part? Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t feel like
every PE teacher and coach needs to lok like an NFL reciever, or a top ranked
MMA fighter. I do, however, feel that if we are going to employ someone to
teach health/physical fitness to our kids, they should AT LEAST look as if they
practice what they preach.
Seriously!
One thing as a trainer I don’t do is ask my clients to do anything
I can’t physically demonstrate. I can’t recall how many times I’ve walked into
an elementary school gym and witnessed an overweight PE teacher sitting giving
instructions. I’ve also seen waaay too many PE teachers eating at fast food
joints waaay to frequently. Getting 2-3 helpings in the lunchline at school
isn’t too uncommon either.
Let’s look at it another way.
Would you trust an obese personal trainer who eats fast food everyday, and never exercised to help you lose weight? How about a doctor who smoked to give you advice how to stop smoking? Or an attorney who is friends with the person you are sueing.
I think schools need to hold their PE teachers to a certain standard of physical condition to keep their jobs. Same goes for coaches.
C’mon, get yourselves in shape!
Am I off base here? Give me your thoughts below and let me know!
Hey, have you heard about my coaching program? Read more about it here. I’ll assume control of your fitness life and let you focus on other things like updating your social media, lol.
Chad Smith is a fitness expert, columnist, radio show personality who loves praise, and attention. Read this blog often, or you will severely damage his already fragile ego. You can listen his show, “Jumpstart with Chad and Kat”, co-hosted with his wife, Kat weekdays at 12pm est on http://www.ftns.co.
5 Quick Fat Loss Tips
Posted by: | Comments
5 is the magic number...
People frequently ask me for tips how they can lose fat fast. Most of the time, there really aren’t any short cuts to a lean, toned physique. Losing fat begins with a die hard commitment to a complete, systematic lifestyle overhaul. Fat loss is a side effect of total health, so that has to be the main focus of your “campaign. However, if I were going to give a few hard and fast fat loss tips, it would probably look something like this:
1. Get rid of all the junk carbs in your diet. That includes everything from table sugar, fruit juice, all syrups, white flour products, white rice, potatoes. These types of foods get converted into glucose (blood sugar) quickly, and send insulin levels through the roof, causing a large amount of these calories to be sent to the waiting fat stores. Replace these foods with high fiber, insulin stabilizing foods like whole fruit, beans, and non-wheat based grains like Quinoa, barley, and rye.
2. Eat better food. Local grown organic foods tend to have higher nutrient value than their trucked in, big market counterparts. More nutrients from higher quality food give your body more of what it needs to maximize every body system, including fat metabolism. Shop your local farmers market, or find a delivery service like http://www.skylinefoodsource.com, who will bring locally grown food to your door every week.
3. Move more. Add more activity into your day at every opportunity, like standing 15 minute of every hour at work, using stairs rather than elevators, parking farther from your destination, and doing some bodyweight exercises during tv commercials. This accumulated activity adds up, and can help tip the balance of the energy consumption/expenditure. Working more movement into your day in conjunction with better eating can be a real game changer.
4. Have some tea time. Studies show that having a little caffeine before your workouts can actually increase fat metabolism. Caffiene is cheap too! A cup of coffee is about $1.86 at your local coffee house, or you can brew your own. Additionally green tea is a great source of high power antioxidants which will help keep your cells nice and clean. Avoid the high octane energy drinks as they may contain potentially harmful combinations of ingredients.
5. Knock yourself out. Getting 5 hours a night of sleep or less per night may promote fat gain says recent studies. Getting consistent quality sleep of 8-10 hours per night is optimal for body fat regulation, and cell regeneration. Rest is one of the most ovelooked aspect of the fitness cycle. Don’t underestimate the power of of good 20 minute nap either. I’m the King of Naps, lol. Our bodies recover, and repair only at total rest, so get some sleep!
Hey, have you heard about my coaching program? Read more ahout it here. I’ll assume control of your fitness life and let you focus on other things like updating your social media, lol.
Chad Smith is a fitness expert, columnist, radio show personality who loves praise, and attention. Read this blog often, or you will severely damage his already fragile ego. You can listen his show, “Jumpstart with Chad and Kat”, co-hosted with his wife, Kat weekdays at 12pm est on http://www.ftns.co.
What’s In My Pantry
Posted by: | Comments
This isn't my pantry. My pantry refused to sign the model release form...
We try to keep staple foods in regular circulation. Healthy foods that we can use for quick meals, and foods we plan to use for more time consuming recipes. With 2 busy teenagers, and an energetic toddler, we need a mix of both options. Here’s what you’ll usually find:
The pantry:
- The big barrel of oats. One of my morning faves. There are a ton of variations of recipes for super-healthy oatmeal, so this is a no brainer. Here’s a base: half a cup to a cup of oatmeal with double that amount of water, mix in some flax seed, then add in 1-2 Tbsp flax seed, and you’ve laid the foundation for a power breakfast ready to dress up however you like.
- Nuts. We eat a variety of nuts including cashews, peanuts, almonds, and pecans. These are great snack options as they are low in sugar, and high in heart healthy essential fats. A handful or two a day in place of starchy carbs can even help promte weight loss according to recent studies.
- Dried fruit. Dried ranberries, raisins, apples, prunes, cherries, etc are a great add in to yogurt, oatmeal, and salads. Dried fruit (unsweetened) is a great source of vitamins, and quick energy. Be careful, because a serving of dried fruit is significantly less than a serving of fresh fruit. Watch those portions!
- Quinoa. Pronounce “keen-wah”, is a highly nutritious, protein-rich grain from South America that is gaining popularity here in the United States due to it’s versatility, and hearty taste. Prepasre it with vegetable, or chicken broth, and chooped carrots for a super supportive and tasty side dish.
- Beans. Beans are a great source of a fiber, protein, and a multitude of vitamins and minerals. There are a wide variety available, we usually get black, red kidney, cannellini, lentils, and garbonzo.
- Coconut milk. This is a relatively new resident in our pantry. This stuff rocks for so many reasons. One being that coconut milk is a great source of healthy fat, as well as calcium, potassium, and other minerals. I recently started using coconut flakes in my oatmeal, and love it! Coconut isn’t native to the US, so it can be a little pricey, but believe me, it’s well worth it!
So, there is a lil’ peek into what’s in my pantry. Now I want to know what’s in yours. It’s only fair! Lol, tell me below in the comments section…
The Perfect Breakfast?
Posted by: | CommentsNutritionist, fellow FTNS radio show host, and really cool chick Geri Zatcoff, M.S.Ed., M.S., C.N.S. is as good a cook as she is brilliant. In this exclusive guest post for hometeamfitnessblog.com, she shares what she believes is the perfect breakfast!
Zucchini Ratatouille
Geri Zatcoff, M.S.Ed., M.S., C.N.S.
Nothing but the good stuff...
Place on top of ½ cup of the warmed ratatouille. The warm yoke over the ratatouille is so delicious that you won’t even miss the bread.
Here’s what you need:
2 medium zucchini, chopped (see below)
2 medium yellow squash, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped fine
2 Roma tomatoes, cored, seeded & chopped into ¼ inch pieces,or ½ cup grape or cherry tomatoes cut inhalf
¼ cup basil leaves, chopped
Dash red pepper flakes
Olive oil
Sea salt
Fresh black pepper
Here’s how you make it:
Wash squash and trim ends. Cut in half lengthwise. Place flat sidedown and cut in half again lengthwise. Chop in ½ inch pieces.
Preheat a frying pan on medium high. When hot, add oil. Add onion and sauté for one minute. Add garlic and red pepper flakes. Sauté for another minute and then add the squash and tomatoes. Stir fry for 3 or 4 minutes until the zucchini browns but not until soft. Remove from heat. Add sea salt and fresh pepper to taste. Sprinkle the fresh basil and toss.
Enjoy!
Geri Zatcoff is an expert nutritionist, trainer, and FTNS radio personality. To completely obsess over her work, she would love you to follow her at her blog, or find her on Facebook.
Full Frontal Assault…Health Club Chains have to stop!
Posted by: | CommentsFull Frontal Assault…Health Club Chains have to stop!
By Rocco Castellano, CPT
www.Lose30inThirty.com
It’s amazing to me the stupidity that many health club chains still exhibit. A friend of mine asked me to help her out with her workout because she felt she needed to amp it up for the marathon she’s running. She has been a member of a popular “Gym” chain for a couple of years which has now changed its name in order to serve a more diverse population.
I discussed my friend’s goals, time availability and where she was going to train. I produced a workout card that I give all of my clients when they finish a consultation with me and she headed over to her “Gym” for her workout. Although I did my best to orientate her at my facility with exercises, reps and weights, the set up wasn’t the same at “her Gym” so she asked one of their trainers for some help.
Amazing but true: all she got was a few weird looks and a comment about not knowing what a “triangle row” was.
The trainer also went on to say that he was not familiar with most of the exercises on the workout card… so much for some help. As you would expect, I received a call from my friend and she relayed the story to me, asking if I would accompany her to her next workout. She didn’t feel comfortable and thought she would perform the exercises incorrectly. I scheduled some time and off we went.
This is where the bullshit began.
We walked into “her Gym” with my guest pass in hand. I was informed that I needed to fill out a form . . . name, address, age, fitness goals, you get the picture. BANG! Then it happened: “Mr. Castellano you need to meet with someone”. What? Why? I came here to workout with my friend. Are you friggin’ kidding me? Here comes “Smiling Bob”, in his blue dress shirt, looking like he wants to sell me a used car. I have to give it to him, his shirt was pressed to impress. I felt every nerve in my body surge.
Before he even started in on his sales pitch rant, I told him to stop and that I was only there because his inadequate staff couldn’t help my friend and that I would just be working out with her this once. He didn’t know what to do but to let me workout.
I’m really not sure where these “Full Frontal Assault” sales people get their training but it has to stop. I could understand a mild greeting from an assistant manager, manager or sales person to establish a rapport and a “If you have any questions I’d be glad to help” comment and let me be on my merry way. You don’t need to be a sales and marketing genius to know that if you present yourself with a friendly smile, say your name clearly, that’s a good first step in establishing a relationship with your potential customer. Whenever I get that full frontal assault I always feel like I’m under attack and will never buy what they are selling. Something I always try to do is get as much information from the potential customer, present myself in a way that would be positively memorable, let the person experience my workouts, products or websites and then follow up with them in a friendly manner and schedule a time to talk to them about how my products can help them.
If you’re talking at me…I’m not listening. Go sell it somewhere else. If you are sick of the full frontal assault, and want a fitness program you can take wherever you train, check out the Lose 30 in Thirty Fitness program.
Rocco Castellano is an globally recognized extreme weight loss specialist, certified personal trainer (CPT) and the author of the internationally popular fitness program Lose 30 in Thirty. Go to http://www.lose30inthirty.com/?hop=htfit to get your FREE copy of the Lose 30 in Thirty Starter Kit”
