Carb Addiction

I Live to Eat

I have my degree in Dietetics and Nutrition.  I am a Team Beachbody Coach.  I blog about nutrition, fitness and weight loss.  Most who don’t know me personally may think since I have reached my goal weight that maybe I am super human.  Ok that might be a bit much, but when you follow someone you think they never have problems with their diet and eating.  Now I am sure there are “experts” out there that thanks to phenominal genes don’t have food issues.  But if you are following me, Julie Linhart, then you should know that I am very human.  The reason I have the background I have and why I became a Beachbody coach is because I have real issues with food.  My healthy weight comes from hard work and healthy eating.  And honestly, every so often, my addiction to food takes over. 

My Confession
That being said – I have realized over the past couple of weeks that i have let my eating get totally out of control – Yep the carbs and the sugar cravings had taken over.  I would find myself eating hot fudge right out of the jar -no need to heat it up or even put it on something – just the jar and a spoon – within minutes a half a jar gone.  I picked up some Oreos for my kids…ha ha who was I kidding, for my kids.  I really did buy it for them but they did not get even one Oreo.  I managed to finish the whole pack in a matter of two days.  When my kids asked me where the yummy sugary carbs (they didn’t really call them that) went off to – I jokingly said “I think mom has a problem” – ” I might need to go to sugar rehab”.  Although said in jest, the truth was I did have a problem a really big problem.

Get Rid Of So Called Friends
So it was time to say goodbye to my old friend Carb (who really has been more enemy than friend).  I had to before the pounds started piling on.  So yesterday I went radical – completely cut off of the carbs and I am pulling myself back into control mode.  I will tell you just one day without I already feel like myself again and my cravings already subsiding.   Does that mean that I wouldn’t love to have some more Oreos?  Heck no!  But it does feel good to be in control again and not feel like I have to have them.  Now one day is not enough, I will be following my new eating plan for 21 days.  Right now I am on Day 2 – the first 4 days are very strict detox days.  I will let you in on the name of this plan in a few days.  I really just want to see how doable it is before I give you all the details.  Nothing worse than someone giving you a plan they can’t even do themselves, right? 

So here is what I am hoping for

I want and need Buddies & Cheerleaders.  I want you to join me.  I want you to help me stick to my plan and stick to my workouts.  I want to do the same for you.  If you are not already a free member to Team Beachbody,  join!  It really is free (yes there is a paid version, but the free one works for what I am asking you to do).  So again, I want you to get your free membership through me and I want you to log in a workout (any workout, doesn’t have to be a Beachbody workout) 5 to 6 times this week and every week until Memorial Weekend.    You may not be able to workout at the exact same time as me, but workout.   Feel free to comment, email, IM me – let me know that you are with me. 

Finally, from today until May 23, I want you to really eat healthy and be in control.  Whatever eating plan you are following, really rock it for the next 25 days.  Maybe you have loosened up the reins lately, well tighten them up.  Put full effort into it.  25 days – you can do it, I can do it, we can do it.  Let’s cheer each other on. 

Today I started a facebook group call Team Up To Be Fit – another way we can stay in touch and cheer each other on.  Join the group – it won’t cost you a thing, but maybe some pounds that you want to get rid of.    

Check out this video of April $1000 Beachbody Winners for more inspiration.  

Chalene Extreme Review

I’m a big fan of Chalene Johnson’s workouts.  I loved, loved loved Turbo Jam.  They were such fun workouts.  So as soon as I heard Chalene was coming out with a new extreme workout I could not wait to get my hands on it.  I got myself on the email list and waited and waited.  Finally the workout came out.  Woohoo!

So I got the workout.  Right now I am in the last phase of the workout, the Lean Phase.  I just have to say Turbo Jammers – this aint your old Turbo Jam.  This workout is for people that really want to push to their bodies much further than Turbo Jam can.  Chalene Extreme incorporates weight training circuits and cardio interval days.  Originally I started documenting the workouts, but sorry I stopped doing that – I just got too busy. So this is my run down of the workout.  Now first I have to disclose, if you didn’t already know, I am a beachbody coach.  I started the Beachbody Coach home business right around the same time as I got Chalene Extreme.  I am sort of biased to Beachbody workouts, but in all honesty I don’t love them all and I do enjoy other peoples workouts as well.  So hopefully, with that being said I can just tell you what I think of the workout.

Chalene Extreme

Ok, so you have 3 phases, Burn, Push and Lean – each are 30 days.  You will need weights or resistance bands.  My personal preference is weights.  I had quite a bit of weights at home so that is what I used.  Chalene uses Select Techs by Bowflex, which are extremely expensive, but I really wished I had purchased them because you really will end up using a variety of weight based on your own strength and Select Tech’s increase in 2 1/2 pound increments, which would have been handy – as well as the fact that I have tons of weights lined up near my tv vs one set of weights.  But that is neither here nor there – my weights did the job.  I have had tons of people ask this question, How heavy of  weights does a woman need.  So far I have not needed anything heavier and 30 pounds.  Most exercises, depending on the body part, I end up using 8 to 20 pounds.  Depending on your strength, I think if you have up to at least 20 pounds you will be good, if you had up to 30 pound weights even better.  Men, sorry I am not sure on the weights for you, maybe up to 50 particularly during the Push phase.

The burn phase and the lean phase use combo moves and 10 to 12 reps.  An example of combo moves would be lunging while doing a lateral raise.  So in keeping with the honesty, non biased portion of the review.  I am not a fan of combo moves.  I am more a fan of supersetting the moves.  For those that don’t know what a super set is – instead of the combo lunge and lateral raise at the same time, you would do a set of lunges and then a set of lateral raises.  The reason I prefer super sets is because I can do much heavier weight on leg movements than shoulder exercises.  But if I combo them my legs will suffer somewhat as I will have to pick a weight that I can do proper form for the shoulders.  Also I find combo moves a bit awkward.  That being said, I still did them and some were good and some annoyed me but I did find most effective.  I guess if Chalene were to come to me and say hey Julie how would you improve my workouts (as if she would ever do that – considering we don’t know each other) Super Sets would be my answer.

So that was Burn and Lean – by the way the moves although combo for both phases, are completely different – so that is fantastic.  The exercises are quite interesting as well.  One really good combo move that was very challenging was a plank with a tricep kickback.  Combo moves like that were very cool.

In between the Burn and Lean phase was the push phase.  This was the phase where you use much heavier weight – only 6 to 8 reps.  I loved this phase.  I felt like this phase really pushed the results and on top of that…No combo moves.  I could really concentrate on form which is so important all the time but especially when you are lifting heavy.

The Cardio Portion of Chalene Extreme

Finally there is the cardio days – Burn Intervals and Burn it off.  Both are interval type of cardio workouts which I really prefer.  I am not a fan of cardio so I prefer to get bang for my buck and find intervals to be the most effective cardio you can do.  Even if you love Chalene and Turbo Jam – these interval workouts are killer.  The first week I did them I couldn’t do them without stopping and walking, I think I even had to sit down once (that was hard to admit), but that was only in the first week.  Now I do them like a champ and they are still very challenging for me but they are good!  Real quick – Burn intevals you will do a hard anaerobic drill followed by a recovery drill (but the recovery drill is a light weight based “active recovery” exercise).  Burn It Off  is 5 hard anerobic drills then a 1 minute rest and then 6 more hard anaerobic drills – I did this one today – darn if it isn’t still a killer.

Ok so there you have it.  I hope you found this helpful, particulaly if you were trying to decide to purchase the program.  If you have any other questions regarding this workout please feel free to contact me anytime.

Optimum Muscle Recovery

My 15 year old son and I had an argument/debate the other day regarding what your body needs after a workout.  You see he came up to me and said “You know your supposed to have protein after a hard workout right!”  (Notice the use of the exclamation mark not question mark – remember I’m telling you what my teenage son said – they never ask a question they just tell you what they think they know.)   He, of course, told me that he learned this in high school PE.  I told him that although I am not trying to say his teacher is wrong and that for the purposes of passing any tests he should listen to her, but that actually this was incorrect.   This is what then lead to a debate over the next few minutes.  When will I realize that teenagers think they know everything and no matter what I say, even though I have a degree in Dietetics, that first off I’m his mom and by most teen boys standards – he considers me generally stupid.  With that being said let me fill in the blanks for others who are more willing to listen.

When you exercise anaerobically (weight training, the high end of intervals, etc.), you burn blood sugar and glycogen. If you give it your all for about an hour, you’ll probably deplete both of those resources. This is the time to put carbs to good use.  Personally I am a fan of Beachbody’s P90X Recovery Formula.  I may be biased since I am am a Beachbody coach, but I truly believe they came up with a fantastic product that really meets the needs of the serious fitness enthusiast.  The carbs in Recovery Formula rush in to replenish that blood sugar and glycogen. Meanwhile, the protein piggybacks in, getting to muscles for a head start on resynthesis.

This 4:1 recovery drink model was conceived by John Ivy and Robert Portman in a landmark study you can read in the book Nutrient Timing: The Future of Sports Nutrition.

That’s my main answer to this query, but there are sometimes subtle variations on the question. Let’s address a few of those here.

First off, the carb-protein balance should be between 3:1 and 5:1 to work optimally. If you take in more protein than that or you add fat or fiber, it slows the absorption of the carbohydrates and you miss the post-workout window of about 1 hour during which nutrients are absorbed readily.

Secondly, while Recovery Formula primarily works for strength workouts, there’s an anaerobic component to most of our “aerobic,” or cardio, workouts, which you know if you’ve done P90X’s “Plyometrics” workout.

Because not every workout is going to hammer you, you should decide how much Recovery Formula you need on a sliding scale. If you’re so wasted that you’re having difficulty moving the muscle groups you just worked, then a full serving of Recovery Formula is called for. If you feel a little shaky but not trashed, you probably have a little glycogen left over, so drink half a serving.

Another factor in deciding how you use Recovery Formula is how much blood sugar you began your workout with. If your diet is very lean, you may be tapped to begin with, so sipping a little during your workout would be hugely beneficial. There’s no hard and fast rule. If you feel perfectly good post-workout, you likely didn’t train hard enough for Recovery Formula. It’s really up to you to gauge how you feel, and use some common sense.

Finally, Recovery Formula is specially designed for maximum absorption, and it has a lot of extra goodies in it. But if you’re getting fit on the cheap, you can make your own recovery drink with apples or grape juice (the acids in orange juice mess with the absorption process, so don’t use that) and a couple tablespoons of vanilla protein powder.

My husband I and swear by the P90X Recovery Formula.  People who try it say it is like heroin for fitness enthusiasts.  I don’t have experience with herion but I highly recommend you give the recovery formula a try.  When you order you will need to sign up for a free Beachbody membership.  It truly is a free membership so don’t be afraid – it just like registering on any site.  If you chose to sign up for the club membership instead, you will save 10% on everything you order, every time.  If you want to save more and get everything at wholesale cost contact me and I will show you how.