October Fitness Newsletter - Diane Merritts Fitness Solutions

Exercise Spotlight: Shoulders (Deltoids)

Vitamin Update: B9, Folic Acid

10 Minute Recipe: Dijon Chicken

Fast Nutrition: Foods with the most Fat

Healthy Habits: Weight Loss and Hypertension

Client of the Month: Rebecca

October Savings: Buddy Training

Grocery Item of the Month: Snyder's Multigrain Pretzel Sticks

Thinking of eating out and not sure what to choose? Considering that (for maintaining bodyweight) average women fall in the 1500 calorie / 35g of fat per day range and average men in the 2000 calorie / 50g of fat per day range, here are some choices you should probably avoid:

Chinese

PF Chang's Kung Pao Chicken

1230 calories

    81g protein

    51g carbs

    78g fat

Italian

Pizzeria Uno's Shrimp Scampi

1190 calories
    32g protein
105g carbs
    68g fat

Pizzeria Uno's Fettuccini Alfredo

910 calories
    27g protein
104g carbs
    43g fat

Mexican

Baja Fresh's Charbroiled Steak Burrito, Enchilada style

1550 calories
80g protein
113g carbs
85g fat

Not knowing what food choices to make is a common predicament when eating out. It's important to understand the nutrition for each individual component of a meal and from my experience the best way to do that, when trying to be healthy, is to start a food log.

To date, I've never had a client succeed in losing weight who hasn't had a food log that they kept up. Call me or email me if you have questions on how to start one!

**nutrition info gathered from restaurant websites

Shoulders!

The shoulder muscle, also called deltoid or "delts", are comprised of 3 distinct parts -- anterior, medial, and posterior. Basically that means you need to work the front, middle, and back of your shoulders to have balanced muscle development. So what do you do to work your shoulders? Here are 3 exercises, one for each part, to ensure you have balance:

Front Raise (front)

Sit or stand in neutral position with your arms at your sides, gripping a pair of dumbbells.
Slowly raise each arm to the front to eye level.
Hold and then lower with control.

Shoulder Dumbbell Press (middle)

Sit with your back straight, holding the dumbbells on top and just outside of your shoulders with palms facing forward.
Push dumbbells straight up.
Slowly lower weights to the starting position.

Bent-over Dumbbell Fly (rear)

Stand with your knees bent and bend over at the waist.
Hold the dumbbells hanging straight down with your palms facing each other.
Raise the dumbbells upward and outward until your arms are slightly above parallel with the floor. Keep your elbows slight bent.
Slowly lower your arms back down.

Shoulders provide extra curves to your upper body and give the lower body a slimmer look. Further, shoulders provide a core functionality for all upper body movements. Ignoring them is a serious oversight if you are looking to improve the overall agility of your body.

Folic Acid (Vitamin B9)

What does it do?

Vitamin B9 or Folic works closely with vitamin B12 to regulate formation of red blood cells and to help iron function.

It is necessary for the growth of all body cells, including nerve cells, and for manufacturing a number of nerve transmitters.

It aids in the production of DNA and RNA, and is important during periods of high growth, such as infancy, adolescence and pregnancy. Folic acid is a vital nutrient for pregnant women and improves lactation.

Folic acid helps in the building of antibodies. It is essential for the health of the skin and hair, and helps prevent premature graying.

Vitamin B9 works closely with other vitamins and nutrients to control blood levels of the amino acid homocysteine. Elevated levels of this substance appear linked to certain conditions such as heart disease, depression and Alzheimer's disease.

Sources of Folic Acid (B9):

spinach and dark leafy greens

asparagus, brussels sprouts

lima beans, kidney beans, white bean, soybeans

brewer's yeast

root vegetables

wheat germ, bulgur wheat

oysters

salmon

orange juice

avocado

milk

RDA: 400 mcg for men, 200 mcg and more for pregnant or lactating women.

Deficiency: B9 is the most common B vitamin deficiency. Folic acid deficiency may result in anemia and serious skin disorders, loss of hair, impaired circulation, fatigue, and mental depression. Spontaneous abortions, difficult labor, and a high infant death rate can be caused by deficiency. Deficiency may also lead to loss of libido in males.

Almost all anticonvulsant drugs used in the treatment of epilepsy reduce folate concentrations. In addition, other drugs such as oral contraceptives, pyrimethamine, co-trimoxazole, and alcohol may impair metabolism.

Dijon Chicken

Ingredients:

Dijon Mustard
Lightly Seasoned Italian Bread Crumbs
Murray's Certified Humane Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast

Pam Cooking Spray

Fresh Spinach

"I Can't Believe It's Not Butter" Spray

1 piece Flatbread, cut in half

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
Coat chicken breast with mustard.
Dredge chicken breast in bread crumbs.
Cover a non-stick pan with tin foil and spray with Pam.
Bake, uncovered, until lightly brown and cooked through.
Meanwhile, lightly steam the spinach.
Warm the flatbread in a toaster and cut into quarters.
Serve the Dijon Chicken with spinach sprayed with "I can't believe it's not butter" cooking spray and the 2 quarters of warmed flatbread.

(click here)

Rebecca

If you are looking to lose weight, then the most important task you need to do is to maintain your food log. In the end, you can workout and be healthy but you won't lose any fat if you are eating more calories than you are burning.

Rebecca has not always been perfect but she has continued for months to track her food. I love hearing from her about the new things she has discovered with her eating and how important her food log has become to her.

Additionally, her workouts are going great. She has recently completed 2 5ks and signed on with her husband to do the Disney half marathon.

I'll be out there to cheer her on! Great job, Rebecca!!

more clients...

You’ve heard it before – weight loss AND exercise is the key to lowering blood pressure, and therefore reducing the cardiovascular risk associated with being overweight.

But a new study out of Paris drives that message home. It’s not the fat that kills in obesity, but the high blood pressure that often accompanies the extra poundage.

If you are obese AND have high blood pressure, look out – your chances of suffering a fatal heart attack or stroke double, according to the study published recently in Hypertension, Journal of the American Heart Association. The study included nearly 140,000 men and more than 104,000 women. The high blood pressure risk was determined when researchers followed up on the nearly 3,000 cardiovascular deaths among men and more than 4,000 among women. Yikes!

The best way to reduce risk is to focus on treatment that targets both blood pressure AND weight reduction, according to the report. That means a super high protein diet and a lifestyle void of exercise is NOT the way to go. If you want to lose weight, lower your blood pressure, or both, eat a BALANCED diet – Diane’s approach is ideal – and get moving.

Stephanie Doyle is a freelance writer who has worked as a medical reporter at several newspapers.

Upcoming Area Events

Oct 15 Altamonte

St Mary Magdalen 5k

Oct 15 Earl Nobles

Pine Hills 5k

Oct 23 Deland Running

Festival 5k - 30k

Oct 23 UCF 5 miler

Oct 29 Dick Batchelor

Run for Children 5k **

Oct 30 Howey in the Hills

1/2 marathon, 5k

**I will be attending

Your opponent, in the end, is never really the player on the other side of the net, or the swimmer in the next lane, or the team on the other side of the

field, or even the bar you must high-jump. Your opponent is yourself, your negative internal voices, your level of determination.

--- Grace Lichtenstein

Snyder's 12 Multi-Grain Sticks

Twelve grains, including whole wheat, rye, oats, buckwheat and more. Seasoned with sesame and poppy seeds.

1 oz =

120 calories

2g fat

23g carbohydrates

3g protein

Refer a Friend,

get a free training session.

Jumbo

LUNCH BYTE:

Bahama Breeze

Lemongrass Chicken Sandwich

Oak grilled, citrus marinated chicken breast in warm flatbread with spring greens, cucumber & wasabi mayonnaise

TIP:

Get the wasabi mayo on the side and use very sparingly if at all! Order the fresh fruit as a side. This is an awesome sandwich.

This week's goal:

Try to eat more antioxidant-rich foods such as blueberries, blackberries, spinach, strawberries, plums, broccoli and raspberries.

Antioxidants help ward against things such as cancer and

signs of aging.

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