Big Boned Fitness Gives Back! Fitness Gift Basket!

Congrats goes to the winner of our fitness gift basket raffled off at Salon Elegance's Magazine launch and 5th year anniversary party. Our gift basket contained a sports bottle, skip fit skipping rope, a pedometer, hand towel, and a lovely 16 inch zebra print duffel bag. Congrats to Nicole and Salon Elegance for 5 years of service and for the successful launch of her new hair magazine. All the best!

Mini Magic Bullet Product Review and Demonstration

#FightingObesity

On my journey to fighting obesity I have realized the strongest weapons of warfare are the diet. Fresh fruits and veggies give you key nutrients that help eliminate toxins and build up a healthy body. I have found I feel best when I have just eaten a salad or a nice serving of fruit. After realizing this, I wanted to find a way to consume more servings of fruit and veggies. It is hard for me to sit and eat the servings of fruit at one time, but as a smoothie?!... I can sip all day almost.

On my TV show that airs in Atlanta, I would show different mixes of fruit smoothies that provide some type of health benefit. I say taste the rainbow... the more colors of fruit you have in a day, the more diversified the antioxidants you will be consuming. So drink and be merry... Great health to you!

I wanted to do a product review to see how easy this mini magic bullet was. I have watched the infomercials but never bought into the hype. But at this time I was looking for something small and portable where I can mix my smoothies at work and on the go. And I found this through the mini magic bullet. #FightingObesity... the mini magic bullet... a means to an end... MUAH!!

#FightingObesity

We people of the United States of America are under attack in our personal health and we don’t realize it. The American Food Industry has sold us out to the obesity epidemic. Technological advances in communication and transportation has placed everything we could ever need at the touch of a button. Now as a result of the times, our waist lines continue to expand, our pancreas’ can’t excrete enough insulin to keep up with our intake of excess calories, our hearts work overtime to shove around the excess weight, and as a community, we are beginning to lose the battle of having a rich and productive lifestyle.

At one time I was raised in a family where my dad was in the army and my mother stayed at home. My mom prided herself on making home cooked meals. We rarely ever ate out. It was just the norm. My brother and I were always outside playing and riding our bikes. I look back at our pictures and see how thin we were. But then there was a divorce, now dad is no longer there and mom is working. The family dynamic was strained. Now mom is doing fast food two times a week, Twinkies and Star Crunches babysit us when we get home, and now we are no longer the same little kids just a year ago in Oklahoma. Within a year’s time of this new lifestyle our bodies were now well on their way to being obese. And the only thing that really changed was our diet.

Fitness and food intake goes hand in hand. In order to maintain a healthy level of fitness you must intake foods that are rich in nutrients. When you eat healthy, your body feels healthy. Healthy foods are your fruits, leafy green vegetables, peanuts, and whole grains, brans, and oats. These foods are not overly saturated with empty carbohydrate calories. These foods help you in digestion. They make your skin glow. Your mind is clear. You can think and process information. Performance in the workout class or just normal physical activity will almost seem effortless. There is a sense of balance within the body.

The moment you eat fast food, processed foods, and all these sugary sodas and sweets, your body will feel the difference. Most processed foods, even though they look and smell like real food, have gone through an intense process where the nutrients have been lost. There are so many hormones and chemicals added for the purpose of delivering a beautiful looking entrée while sacrificing the most important part of eating, consuming nutrients.

Look around and open your eyes and see what I’m telling you. We are losing this battle. Far too many people know a grand mother or an auntie that is taking dialysis three times a week due to kidney failure. More people are walking around with a loaded gun for a heart attack… excess belly fat. There used to be that one obese kid in class growing up that would bully everybody. Today there are many morbidly obese kids in class, and now they have high blood pressure and juvenile diabetes. We have got to get physically active. We have to stop this attack. We have to fight this obesity epidemic. For more ways to get active visit www.BigBonedFitness.com.

Just "Sitting" For Long Periods Brings You Closer to Death

I am reading this book, "South Beach Diet Wake Up Call" by Arthur Agatston. He is the same person who wrote "The South Beach Diet". He happens to be a cardiologist and has a lot of research dedicated to heart disease and metabolic disorders. Now mind you... I have a desk job working for a tax software company. I sit 8 for hours a day and up to 14 during the heavy tax season. After reading this I have considered new possibilities in my career... I don't want to be a part of that statistic... Cubicle culture... an early grave... Gotta get more active...

Here's an excerpt from Chapter 8 The High Cost of Inactivity

"Chair time was a strong risk factor for dying of a heart-related event and for many forms of cancer as well. Women who sat more than 6 hours a day had an especially high risk of death as compared to those who spent half time sitting."

"A research group at the University of Missouri found that in addition to deconditioning your body (if you don't use it, you lose it) sitting alters the way the body metabolizes fat. Among other things, it shuts off lipase. a pancreatic enzyme that is key for the absorption of fat into muscles. Lipase deficiency allows fat to build up in the bloodstream. This can result in elevated levels of bad LDL cholesterol and triglycerides, excess belly fat, and , ultimately, prediabetes, diabetes, and heart disease."

Please read this book, it will challenge the way you think about your health and give you ideas to make healthier lifestyle changes.

SPIN, SPIN, SPIN I say!!!

Langston Walker
Director of Prevention at Georgia Network to End Sexual Assault

I have to say I am incredibly blessed with friends in my circle that inspire and motivate me.  I met Langston when I transferred my LA Fitness job to Atlantic Station in Atlanta. I had heard his voice long before I had ever met him. He is a spin instructor. And he has taught over 1500 classes in his career. How is that for dedication.

I was afraid to talk to him because he has this huge commanding voice. I thought he would start telling me in a loud and authoritative tone my shortcomings in fitness. And at that time I had many. But when he started telling me his story of how he lost over 100 pounds and went from bedridden with chronic back pain to healthy and fit I had to give him a few props. Oftentimes you hear stories about people who went through incredible life challenges and lost a lot of weight. But to actually see the "after" in full effect, it makes you say, "wow, I really can do that too"!

Read Langston's Life Changing Weight Loss Experience

So finally I've taken his spin class. I refuse to take any other class but his. He is very technical and detailed and he shows you the proper way to spin so you don't get injured. I've only taken his class twice but I am already starting to see a change in my body. The bike is set up where you can adjust the resistance so you have the feeling of climbing hills and riding back down. You can stand up or sit down. For the most part you would be doing some type of interval training. And this is what makes spin effective, the ups and downs in levels of intensity. Don't know why I waited so long but I'm so glad I spin!

Please don't forget to read his story, it is one of the most inspirational weight loss stories I have heard in a while.