Berry Smoothie - Healthy Eating

This is a  meal in a glass smoothie. I love the burst of flavor from the berries and oranges juice. Packed with carbohydrate and powerful antioxidants . Getting plenty of antioxidant-rich foods makes sense for active people, since free radicals are produced any time the body's cells process oxygen.

1 1/4 cups fresh or frozen berries
3/4 cup coconut yogurt or low-fat plain yogurt
1/2 cup orange juice
1 scoop protein powder
1 tablespoon toasted wheat germ
1 tablespoon honey (optional)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)

From http://lifeplusfitness.blogspot.com

Maybe Tomorrow. . Ideas for Overcoming Workout Procrastination

It’s something that we all struggle with on occasion, or maybe we struggle with it MORE than just on random occasions. All these thoughts run around in our heads feeding us random lines of excuse. Filling our brains with all the reasons we just can’t fit in our workout for the day. Common thoughts are. “I just finished eating”, or “I am so burnt out today”, or “I just don’t have the time to fit it in”. I know these feelings all too well because I deal with my own self destructive patterns when it comes to working out. So in an effort to help us all overcome our workout objections and procrastinations, I have compiled a list of suggestions to help combat workout derailment.

~WORKOUT IN THE MORNING This suggestion is something continually recommended in all the reading I have ever done on getting your workout done for the day. If you would rather get your workout out of the way, and not have to worry about it the rest of the day, this option is most definitely for you. Now, if you are not a morning person like me, this may not work for you. I have tried working out in the morning and most days it just feels like I am dragging, so I work out around two or three. But I know plenty of people who solidly work out in the morning and they love it. They love it because they have accomplished their workout goal early, and they feel great the rest of the day.

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I Gave Up Hope - by Mark Carson

Ever since I gave up hope I feel a lot better. I know hope sounds like a good thing to have; an essential for a life of meaning and purpose. But I got tired of hoping and waiting and getting depressed when nothing changed and starting over; so I stopped giving up and gave up hope instead.

Hope is the light at the end of the tunnel perpetually reminding you that you are IN a tunnel. Hope is the idea that there is something better out there, and if the stars align, if you blow on the dice just right, if you get the right cards from the dealer, or the little ball falls in just the right spot, everything will be different...perfect...ideal. Hope tells you that there is something better than where you are, but you don’t have the power to get there. Hope constantly tells you that you are NOT WHERE YOU WANT TO BE!

That’s depressing.

When you think about it, gambling is nothing but quantified hope. The fine print on a lottery ticket tells you exactly how far to get your hopes up. Las Vegas is a town built on (and bankrolled by) hope, but the most successful people there aren’t the ones winning million dollar jackpots. The people making all the money don’t really gamble, because nobody gambles to win. People gamble to lose. If someone actually does, by freak accident, win that huge wad of cash they were hoping for...the one they thought would solve all of their financial problems... they rush to give it (and more) back to the casino.

How many people do you know who have actually come back from Vegas with more money than they left with?

My point exactly.

You don’t get what you HOPE for, you get what you WORK for. Success never blindsides anyone. Fitness is never shocking. Athletic achievement is rarely a suprise. A 400 lb bench press does not catch an athlete off-guard. Nobody ever got to the end of the Boston Marathon and exclaimed “I just hoped I could finish!” Finishing well is not a miracle; having the courage to make a shaky start toward a goal which is well beyond your current ability IS.

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A Skeptic's Guide to Pilates

Think Pilates Isn't for You? Think Again!

  -- By Nicole Nichols, Fitness Instructor

As a fitness instructor, I get a lot of questions about Pilates, from what it is to how it benefits the body. I too was skeptical about how this gentle form of exercise—which, to me, looked a lot like lying on the floor—could boast such big benefits. I like a workout that's challenging and intense—heavy weights, high inclines, fast speeds. Those floor exercises are for beginners who are weak and unfit…or so I thought.

I decided to learn more about Pilates by taking a few instructor workshops and training in "the method" myself. What I discovered surprised me. Pilates, when done correctly, offers major fitness benefits, requires mental focus, connects the mind and body, and truly does sculpt the abs like nothing else I've ever tried. Starting as a skeptic, I became a believer, practitioner and instructor in a matter of months.

For all of you skeptics who think that Pilates has nothing to offer you, think again! Almost one hundred years since Joseph Pilates (1880-1967) created and refined the exercises of his namesake, more and more people continue to practice Pilates around the world. Research has shown that Pilates also improves:

• Spinal mobility
• Flexibility
• Muscular endurance
• Posture
• Body awareness
• Lower back pain
• Bone density
• One's ability to properly engage the transverse abdominals (the deepest core muscles)

It may sound too good to be true, but let me clarify what Pilates does NOT do (these statements are backed by research conducted by the American Council on Exercise and other organizations):

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