Are you ready to hit the slopes? Avoid the rough recovery after that first time in the powder this year by getting in double black diamond shape. Lower body and core strength are of prime importance to skiers and snowboarders. You want your muscles and joints to be able to withstand the wear and tear you put on your body with tight turns, jumps, landings, falls, etc. Below are some great exercises you can do to help ensure that you can make run after run without wearing out.

Many people in the pacific northwest, especially women, tend to have low iron levels, which often leads to anemia. This can lead to feeling low in energy and fatigued. Some people resort to buying iron supplement pills or in severe cases having their doctor give them an injection. Below is some more detailed information on the importance of iron to the body, and possible symptoms that someone low in iron might display. There is also a list of some of the animal and vegetarian sources of iron that you can add into your diet right away to get your iron levels back up to optimum levels.

Dietary Sources of Iron

Iron is essential to all body cells. Iron functions primarily as a carrier of oxygen in the body, both as a part of hemoglobin in the blood and of myoglobin in the muscles. Iron deficiency anemia occurs when there is not enough iron in the red blood cells. This is a common problem often caused by pregnancy, blood loss, a diet low in iron or poor absorption of iron by the body. There are a variety of possible symptoms of iron deficiency including:

lack of energy or tiredness
extreme fatigue and feeling of weakness
pale skin
light headedness
headache
pale skin on the lining of the eyes, the inner mouth and the nails
rapid and forceful heartbeat
low blood pressure with position change from sitting to standing up
finger nails that become thin, brittle and white – they may grow abnormally and get a spoon-shaped appearance
tongue may become sore, smooth and reddened
decrease in appetite
shortness of breath during exercise
brittle hair
reduction in immunity and increased vulnerability to infection
a strong desire to eat nonfoods such as ice, paint or dirt (a condition called Pica)
disturbed sleep
abdominal pain
Because the typical symptoms of iron deficiency have many causes, diagnosis by a blood test is needed to confirm the presence of iron deficiency anemia.

If your blood iron level is low, your health care provider may refer you to a dietitian to discuss a dietary increase in iron-rich foods. He or she may also recommend a multivitamin pill or prescribe an iron supplement. Although iron is found in a variety of different foods and supplements, its availability to the body varies significantly. In general, iron is not readily absorbed by the body. Availability is partially determined by whether the iron is found in the form of HEME or NON-HEME iron.

HEME iron is found only in meat, fish and poultry and is absorbed much more easily than NON-HEME iron, which is found primarily in fruits, vegetables, dried beans, nuts and grain products.

The following factors will increase the iron absorption from non-heme foods:

A good source of vitamin C (ascorbic acid) – i.e., oranges, grapefruits, tomatoes, broccoli, and strawberries, eaten with a NON-HEME food
A HEME and NON-HEME food eaten together
A NON-HEME food cooked in an iron pot, such as a cast iron skillet
The following factors will decrease non-heme iron absorption:

Large amounts of tea or coffee consumed with a meal (the polyphenols bind the iron).
Excess consumption of high fiber foods or bran supplements (the phytates in such foods inhibit absorption).
High intake of calcium – take your calcium supplement at a different time from your iron supplement.
The Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for iron for non-vegetarian pre-menopausal women is 18 mg/day. The RDA for non-vegetarian men and post-menopausal women is 8 mg/day. Because of iron absorption issues in a healthful, high-fiber vegetarian diet, the RDAs for vegetarians are higher – 14 mg/day for vegetarian men and 33 mg/day for vegetarian women. The upper level of intake should not exceed 45mg/day.

HEME IRON SOURCES

Food Source Serving Size (oz.) / Iron (mg)
Beef, liver 3.0 7.5
Beef, corned 3.0 2.5
Beef, lean ground; 10% fat 3.0 3.9
*Beef, round 3.0 4.6
*Beef, chuck 3.0 3.2
*Beef, flank 3.0 4.3
Chicken, breast w/out bone 3.0 0.9
Chicken, leg w/bone 2.0 0.7
Chicken, liver 3.0 7.3
Chicken, thigh w/ bone 2.3 1.2
Cod, broiled 3.0 0.8
Flounder, baked 3.0 1.2
*Pork, lean ham 3.0 1.9
*Pork, loin chop 3.0 3.5
Salmon, pink canned 3.0 0.7
Shrimp, 10 – 2 1/2 inch 1.1 0.5
Tuna, canned in water 3.5 1.0
Turkey, dark meat 3.0 2.0
Turkey, white meat 3.0 1.2

*Lean, trimmed of separable fat

NON-HEME FOOD SOURCES

Food Source Serving Size Iron (mg)
Almonds, raw 10 – 12 each 0.7
Apricots, dried, med.-size 10 each 1.7
Bagel 1 whole 1.5
Baked beans, canned 1/2 cup 2.0
Bread, white 2 slices 1.4
Bread, whole wheat 2 slices 1.7
Broccoli, cooked 1/2 cup 0.6
Broccoli, raw 1 stalk 1.1
Dates 10 each 1.6
Kidney beans 1/2 cup 3.0
Lima beans 1/2 cup 1.8
Macaroni, enriched, cooked 1 cup 1.9
Molasses, blackstrap 1 tbsp. 2.3
Peas, frozen and prepared 1/2 cup 1.3
Prune juice 1/2 cup 1.5
Raisins, not packed 1/4 cup 1.0
Rice, brown, cooked 1 cup 1.0
Rice, white enriched, cooked 1 cup 1.8
Spaghetti, enriched, cooked 1 cup 1.6
Spinach, cooked 1/2 cup 2.0
Vitamin supplements varies varies

Austin C. of Redmond has been doing personal fitness training with Darren at Define Fitness Studio of Bellevue, for about 4 months now. When Austin first started, he had very little workout experience, and no real prior sports background. When he first started he could barely do 1 pullup, and about 15 pushups. His energy and endurance was so low that he also tended to get dizzy and nauseous by the end of the workout for the first week or two. After 120 days of hard work, consistency, and determination, Austin can now do over 50 pushups, and over 20 pullups. He can also do a very respectable amount of pullups and pushups while wearing a 40 LB vest. Austin had also always struggled to put on muscle or weight. Since joining Define Fitness Studio and going through the boot camp and crossfit type training here, Austin has gained over 10 lbs of lean solid muscle, as well as lowered his body fat by 5%. All of us at Define Fitness Studio are very proud of Austin and what he’s accomplished. Watch the video below to see him in action, and the results of all his hard work.

If any of you out there are in the same boat, you’ve never felt athletic or in shape, you’ve never looked the way you want, you’ve never tested your physical and mental limits, then get off your butt, come on in to Define Fitness Studio, and let us help you evolve and transform yourself over the next 90 to 120 days. You’ll be amazed at what you can accomplish.

One of the most high pressure deadlines you can face is making sure all your wedding preparations are complete by the big day. Looking and feeling your best can be one of the most pressing demands on a woman’s mind leading up to the wedding day as well as the honeymoon. Fitting into the wedding dress, having the wedding photos taken, everybody watching you walk down the aisle, going to a tropical honeymoon destination and strolling the beach in a bikini, all these are huge motivations for a woman to get the body of her dreams.

23 year old Carmen W. of Kirkland, Washington did this by enlisting the help of a personal fitness trainer experienced with helping brides slim down and tone up for their wedding day. With the help of Bellevue Fitness Guru, Janelle Miller, Carmen was able to lose over 25 lbs in about 4 months. Carmen was smart by not waiting until the last minute to get into personal training. She started working out on her own at first, but 4 months prior to her wedding realized she needed the extra help of a certified personal trainer to get better results.

Janelle was able to guide Carmen to the better body she always wanted by boosting her metabolism utilizing heavy strength training, as well as metabolic conditioning workouts such as fast paced circuit training and high intensity interval cardio and strength workouts. Janelle also helped get Carmen on track with a better nutrition program to give her the energy she needed to workout hard and fuel her new revved up metabolism. See what Carmen has to say about her experience at Define Fitness Studio in her own words.

The trainers at Define Fitness Studio often have to get women to reprogram the way they think about exercise and nutrition. Many women as well as many men, think that to lose body fat you have to starve yourself or completely cut out certain nutrients such as fat or carbs. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Many women also fear lifting heavy weights because they think they will develop the physique of a large body builder. This is also an unjustified fear. Dumbells, barbells, and kettlebells can be a woman’s best friend with the proper workout program. Many people also think they have to spend hours and hours each week doing boring, tedious, steady state cardio. Janelle Miller and the other trainers at Define Fitness Studio can show you how to get better results in less time by using shorter, higher intensity workouts, and proper nutrition.

So if you or anyone you know is getting married and wants to slim down and tone up for the big day, then get started at least 4 to 6 months early, and do it the right way and get the professional help of a qualified personal fitness trainer. At Define Fitness Studio of Bellevue, you can work with expert personal trainers such as Janelle Miller, and with an average rate of $25 per session it is affordable enough to get the help you need every step of the way until your big day.

Is it ok for me to say the health care debate is making me SICK?

I know it’s a VERY touchy subject. I know people have VERY strong opinions about it.

But what nobody really wants to talk about is the fact we could simplify the heck out
of this by doing one thing:

Take better care of ourselves.

We have this incredible love affair with making things so complicated. It’s absurd really.

Small, simple changes to the way we live our lives and the entire country would be SOOO
much healthier.

Let me give an extreme example:

I heard of a story of someone eating TWO Big Macs every day for lunch. Yes, two of them.
And yes, EVERY day. At least that is what I was told.

Now, this person started at around 300 pounds when they made one simple change to their
life that caused them to drop 50 of those pounds very quickly.

Can you guess what it is?

This person started eating ONE Big Mac for lunch every day instead of two.

Is that ideal? Of course not.

Is it a start? Sure is.

Now, I’m afraid I do not know what happened to this person. I hope they used this as
a starting point and went on to make similar changes and shed a whole lot more weight.

But the moral of the story is simple: We’re making things a whole lot harder than
they need to be.

Small changes add up to BIG results. They always have and they always will.

Does it solve all our problems? No.

But does it solve a lot? Yeah, it really does.

So what do you do now? I suggest you read this awesome special report on
Six of the Most Powerful Antioxidants to help you better understand the role
nutrition plays in the anti-aging process.

http://definefitness.getprograde.com/anti-aging

Yours in health,

Darren Cobin
Define Fitness Studio

To help you and the rest of the people of Bellevue, Kirkland and Redmond get to know Define Fitness Studio and their personal trainers a little bit better, here is a video testimonial from one of our long time clients. Seth is 44 years young, but don’t let this mild mannered business owner fool you, he’s a superman that can knock out 50 pushups and 10 pullups like it’s nothing. When he first started he could barely do 20 pushups and 1 pullup, but he’s come a long way. Seth always has a positive attitude and hard work ethic, and it is a pleasure to be his personal trainer.

To see what some of our other clients have to say about Define Fitness Studio go check out our Testimonials page.

Need something quick, yummy and nutritious?  This happens to be one of my personal favorites.  If you don’t like some of the ingredients just substitute with your preferred fruits or veggies.

Green Smoothie

Place everything in the blender, adding the greens on top and the water last. Blend until no greens chunks are visible. If you desire, you may add ice, but I find the frozen tropical fruit and cold water does the job.

1 Cup frozen tropical fruit (I prefer mango)

1 Apple

1 Banana

2 -3 Cups of greens (spinach, collard greens, kale, etc.)

½ Of a fresh squeezed lemon

1 Tablespoon of Agave or Maple Syrup

Water ¾ of the way to the top of blender.

BLEND AND ENJOY

Janelle G. Miller

Fitness Guru | Bellevue Personal Trainer | Body Styling Coach

www.DefineFitnessOnline.com has officially launched this week. Now in addition to offering the most affordable personal training to the people of Bellevue, Redmond, Kirkland, Seattle, and the rest of King County, I can offer affordable high quality fitness and nutrtion coaching and guidance to people everywhere. It is a comprehensive online personal training program. It is a great fit for people that either can’t afford face to face personal training, are too uncomfortable to start training in a public setting, live too far away, or have to workout at odd hours. When you register, your workout programs will be designed by me, your certified personal trainer, you can get help with meal planning, there are online video demonstrations of all the exercises, you can track all your results and scheduling online, which I can then view and modify your workouts based on your progress, I will also include a phone consultation every two weeks, but anytime you have a question you can email me or leave a voicemail and I will respond as soon as possible.

The cost of the online training program is only $59 per month. If you want to save some money, as much as 35% to 50%,  you can prepay for 6 or 12 months. I also will offer a family/household discount for multiple signups.

If you have any questions you should call me or email me right away so you can get started towards the more fit and healthier you.

Yours in health,

            Darren Cobin

            206-849-6420

            Darren@DefineFitnessStudio.com

            www.definefitnessonline.com

Online Personal Training | Online Fitness Training | Online Weight Loss | Online Nutrition Coaching

Purpose, Passion, Plan, and Progression. Almost anything you set out to do in life should involve the 4 P’s. What is the purpose of you doing this, what are you trying to accomplish, what is your focus, what is your vision? You can’t be vague in your mind about this. You have to have a crystal clear mindset about what your purpose in the gym is. Vague idea = vague results, Focused purpose = specific results.

Passionate people excel. Apathetic people stagnate. If you don’t embrace your fitness journey with a positive attitude and passion you will not succeed at the same level as someone who is fired up. Going through the motions doesn’t stimulate the metabolism and hormone production in the same way that being passionate and positive about your workouts does.

Plan for success. Without a specific plan for how to accomplish your goals, how do you realistically expect to get anywhere. What if you showed up at college and your professors didn’t have any curriculum or course materials planned. Yes there is room for improvisation, but you still need some form of a plan to guide your way.

Progression. This fits into having a plan. If you keep doing the same workout over and over again for weeks, months, or years, you are not going to see results because you are not progressing. Planned progression for a novice exerciser should take place every week if not every workout. You need to plan in what aspects of your fitness program you are going to progress by challenging yourself to do better each workout, or each week. Are you going to try to lift more weight, are you going to lift the same weight for more reps, are you going to do more sets, are you going to move faster, are you going to run at a higher incline, are you going to challenge your balance or coordination more, are you going to try a more advanced exercise?

Build your foundation on the 4 P’s and achieve the body, confidence and health, you’ve always dreamed of. Apply the same principles to other areas of your life such as work and hobbies, and you will be unstoppable.

P.S. The secret 5th P is a Personal Trainer. You might have the potential to accomplish everything on your own, but your chances improve a lot by having a mentor or coach push you and help guide your way. If you live or work on the east side, and want to have a top notch Bellevue personal trainer motivate you, and guide you to the most effective exercise programs and nutrition strategies then call us right away.

Redmond Personal Trainer | Bellevue Personal Trainer | Kirkland Personal Trainer

This morning I was sitting in front of my computer struggling to come up with a catchy title for this. I was thinking – yet again – about stressing the importance of breakfast to you.

So as I sat there trying to be clever I mumbled out loud, “Breakfast is boring.”

And there you have it. That’s exactly how I came up with this title. But do NOT take this message lightly.

You see, I know you’re heard it a million times before. “You have to eat breakfast.” And I know it’s not a super sexy message. But do you have any idea how many people I meet as a fitness professional that DO NOT eat breakfast? A lot. And do you have any idea how many of those people that don’t eat breakfast are overweight? Pretty much all of them.

Look, I’m not crazy. I know you don’t have much time in the morning. And I know many of you just aren’t all that hungry right after you wake up.

So let’s look at this another way. You get up each morning and go to work every day because you want a roof over your head and food on the table, right? Day after day after day you go to work because you want the RESULT of that effort.

Well, IF you want to burn fat, feel better and have more energy you WILL eat breakfast every morning. Period. End of discussion.

Some things are boring. Some things just have to be done to get the result you want. For those of you that want to burn fat all day long, breakfast is just one of those things.

Bellevue Fitness Trainers | Kirkland Fitness Trainers | Redmond Fitness Trainers