Athlekinetix Blog

Moms have to be so many things to so many people. As if it’s not hard enough to balance family and career, there are always new expectations thrown at mothers to be asked to achieve. The latest mommy book getting quite a buzz is called The Hot Mommy Next Door: A Quick, Easy, and Effective Way to Drop Your Baby Weight and Achieve Your Personal Best After Pregnancy by Allison Fadoul.

Now it’s not enough being nurse, short order cook, chauffeur, homework helper, activity director, and bedtime story reader. Let alone being a friend, lover, and confidant to your significant other who may or may not be your baby’s daddy. Throw in everything you do at work and you are lucky if you can watch “Dancing With The Stars” without seeing stars yourself. Moms can’t even find two minutes to themselves a day that do not revolve around the needs of others.

It’s no surprise then, that when it comes to diet and exercise, the number one reason moms give for failing to commit is that they just don’t have the time. Now all of a sudden this book comes along and tells us moms that we now need to be “hot” too. The only hot most women my age are feeling comes in the form of hot flashes. Maybe this book is about living next door to a hot mommy instead of requiring us to be a hot mommy ourselves.

The truth is no matter how chaotic life is and how drained and exhausted you feel at the end of the day, you are only as good to others as you are to yourself.  Instead of being always last on the list in the family pecking order, give yourself the best Mother’s Day gift ever and put yourself at the front of the line. It is no different than putting the oxygen mask on you first during an emergency airplane landing before placing the oxygen mask on your child. Your family and success in your career are dependent on your overall health and wellness.

I don’t think being “hot” means donning thigh high stiletto boots and a bustierre. I can barely spell bustierre, let alone wear one.  Justin Timberlake said that President Obama brought swagger back into The White House. To me, being a “hot” mom means bringing your swagger back into your life. It’s bringing back your essence, your joy, and your sense of self. It’s about not settling for eating the cut off crusts of your kid’s sandwiches and knowing you’re worthy of every bite of a whole one.

Eating well, exercising, prioritizing, and owning and being proud of the “you” you are now is the new presecription for moms. To be able to walk with confidence and feel beautiful inside and out will make your neighbors take note that they are living next door to a true “hot” mommy.

Have you or someone you loved ever boasted about  a feat of athletic prowess such as ‘I can run a 7 minute mile’ even if the last time they ran a 7 minute mile was 20 years ago. Ex high school and college athletes are particularly guilty of speaking this way while resting a plate of nachos on their expanding beer bellies. It is sort of like someone who was obese and then went on to lose a tremendous amount of weight, but still looks at themselves in the mirror and sees a fat person staring back. The perceived reality is often quite different from actuality. It is an interesting phenomenon with competitive athletes, in particular, that they always consider themselves one step away from being able to reclaim their physical achievements of the past, even if they never exercised a day since then.

What is so fascinating about this way of thinking, however, is that there is some hidden truth to this. This past weekend Coach Raphael Lima of Midtown Weston Aquatics swam the Miami Open Mile. Basically, this is a mile long swim in the ocean instead of a pool. Why this is noteworthy is he came in second out of over 1000 swimmers and was only 30 seconds shy of coming in first place and beating Gary Hall Jr., a 3 time Olympian and gold medal swimmer.

Raphael, at the peak of his swimming career, was the 7th fastest sprinter in the world and is the current Brazilian world record holder for the 4×100 relay. With this resume, why would I be surprised he almost finished first this past weekend against an Olympian? The truth is Raphael is 28 years old and is not in any way close to being in the shape he was at the height of his swimming career.  In fact, he hasn’t trained seriously in a pool for years. Gary Hall, who won the Miami Open Mile, just this past Olympics in Beijing, was a finalist in the Olympic Trials. Raphael’s recent swimming has consisted of 2 or 3 times a week with adult swimmers who are swimming for recreational exercise. In addition, Raphael has never swam in the ocean before and is not a long distance swimmer. What makes his achievement even more remarkable is he was wearing a “drag suit” which adds extra resistance in the water. He thought he was going to swim this just for fun.

Something happened, though, the second the buzzer went off. The competitive athlete in him that he thought was long ago retired resurfaced in all its glory. All of a sudden, a champion swimmer emerged in the water determined to win gold.

Anyone can be an athlete, if they train like an athlete. And anyone who used to be an athlete can become one again. Raphael’s minor victory in the ocean was a major victory in his mind. He proved to himself that he still has what it takes to win. Better yet, so does everybody who has ever dedicated years of discipline and training to their sport. All Raphael could think at the conclusion of the race was ‘Wow, imagine if I actually started training again.’

If you were an athlete in your past, take this opportunity to wake up the athlete you used to be. Be careful to not expect to be at the top of your game after a very long hiatus. But, instead realize that the athlete you once were never abandoned you. Your body may look and feel different today, but that competitive spirit that once drove your success can be reignited. Look at Dara Torres if you need extra inspiration, a 41 year old Olympic silver medalist with a baby. Train your body as the athlete you once were, and that athlete will re-emerge before your eyes.

Fad diets are not only unhealthy, unsuccessful weight loss tools; but they are potentially deadly as well.
The problem with these kinds of diets specifically is that they are recommended by celebrities to drop pounds quickly and are not regulated by the FDA. Anyone can say anything about weight loss diets and consumers are given no warnings by the medical community or the government that these weight loss diets can be hazardous to your health.

The Grapefruit Diet is a perfect example of this. If you are trying to lose weight, it is commonsense knowledge that the best way to do this is to eat more fruits and vegetables in your diet and less processed foods. Therefore, when you hear about a diet where the cornerstone ingredient is grapefruit, it doesn’t automatically send alarm bells. Grapefruit is a hydrating, vitamin C rich food, low in calories and fat free. On paper, it sounds like everybody should eat it as part of a healthy diet. Grapefruit is healthy and delicious, but it is not safe for everybody and it is certainly not safe in large quantities.

One of the biggest dangers of fad diets, in general, is when there is an imbalance of food required in order to adhere to the plan. No diet is healthy if entire food groups are banned. Yes, Atkins, I am referring to you! No meat, no dairy, no carbohydrates, no ‘anything’ is not a good idea for lasting weight loss or lasting health. The same principle applies to diets that are so “inclusive” that only one type of food is allowed. The infamous Grapefruit Diet fits in this category. It’s one thing if I said the Grapefruit Diet is bunk, which it is. You may lose weight initially, but will gain it all back and more. But, it is another thing entirely to share the sad truth that the Grapefruit Diet can be dangerous and even fatal to your health. Grapefruit is a complicated fruit. It is healthy on the one hand, but interacts negatively with many prescription drugs taken by millions of people in this country.

Drugs that lower cholesterol, treat heart arrhythmias, anxiety, and seizure disorders have been found to dangerously interact with a compound found in grapefruit. This compound also slows the absorption of estrogen hormones to the body, lowers contraceptive effectiveness, and makes you more susceptible to blood clots if on estrogen replacement therapy.

It is interesting, yet frightening at the same time, how grapefruit at the grocery store doesn’t come with any of these warning labels attached. Now these contraindications with drugs occur just by consuming any amount of grapefruit. Imagine for a moment, someone wanting to lose weight and unknowingly eating obscene amounts of grapefruit on the Grapefruit Diet.

Unfortunately, this is exactly what happened to a 42 year old woman in Washington. She was on birth control pills and strictly adhered to the Grapefruit Diet for 3 days. To make a long story short, the estrogen combined with the juice of the grapefruit produced a toxic effect in her body. She suffered a severe blood clot in her leg, almost had to have her leg amputated, and could have died.

The best way to lose weight is to eat a healthy, balanced diet and to exercise regularly. No fad diet is worth these adverse risks to your health and to your life.

Spring is a time for renewal and for reawakening. Animals come out of hibernation, flowers bloom, and
leaves return to naked trees. We are supposed to clean out our houses and brighten up our surroundings for the warm, sunny months to come. Even food gets lighter. Stews, pot roasts, and hearty soups are replaced with fruits, salads, and sorbets.

This week with Passover and Easter, it is a concrete reminder of spring. I think that this is a perfect time to reflect on rebirth of yourself and your recommitment to your diet and exercise goals that have faded away since your New Year’s Resolutions.

The great thing about spring is we are still in April. There is plenty of time to get back on track and be bikini ready by summer. I know I’m not alone in thinking if Valerie Bertinelli can look that good in a bikini at 48, it’s not too late for any of us to get our act in gear.

Unlike in January, when resolutions are made almost like wishes, spring is a call for action. It is a time of doing something about our wishes. The opening pitches that ring in the beginning of baseball season should ring in a new beginning of us as well. All teams are even again, what happened last season is irrelevant, and every team has the opportunity to be a champion. This time of new beginning is like a giant restart button on the computer. Everybody gets a do-over.

Actress Jenny McCarthy has joked that relationships should be like driver’s licenses, where they come up for renewal every seven years. At the end of the seven years, couples should reevaluate whether to renew their licenses or let them expire. Spring should be like this for our bodies. Spring should be a time of evaluation. What are we doing well when it comes to our nutrition and exercise programs and where can we make changes so our bodies and our minds are running more efficiently and healthily?

Spring is a time for new beginnings. Embrace the opportunity to begin again and make the resolutions you made in January a reality.

Vacations are supposed to be a time of rest, relaxation, and enjoyment. The only stresses on vacation are whether you made dinner reservations at your favorite restaurant in time and if you got up early enough to save a chaise lounge at the pool. Sometimes it’s a refreshing break from life to be able to contemplate the plusses and minuses of frozen vs. shaken margaritas instead of studying for your kid’s spelling test. Read more »

Who doesn’t want six-pack abs and toned, beautifully sculpted legs? The problem most people make with designing their exercise programs is focusing their efforts on creating the perfect body part instead of working to strengthen the entire body. This emphasis on ‘spot reduction’ is not necessarily the best strategy you could use to get the desired effect you are looking for.

Before you spend all of your time needlessly exercising one body part, ie. doing hundreds of crunches a day or Jane Fonda leg lifts, concentrate your efforts on lowering your total body fat percentage first. You can have all of the muscles in the world, but if they are hidden under layers of fat, they will not be seen by you or anybody else for that matter. The goal is to reduce your body fat to less than 22% if you are a woman and 15% if you are a man. The best way to reduce your body fat is to focus on eating fruits, vegetables, and lean proteins and increasing the intensity and duration of your cardiovascular exercise.

In the age-old debate of cardio vs. resistance training, for the initial purposes of fat burning, cardio wins by far. However, once you have successfully lowered your total body fat percentage within the recommended guidelines, then it is time to introduce resistance training into your workout.

Women are unnecessarily afraid of adding resistance training to their lower bodies, especially weight bearing exercises for their glutes and thighs.  Unfortunately, it is far too common to hear “I already have big thighs, resistance training is going to make my thighs even bigger!”  This is a major misconception. Sculpted, toned muscles make your legs leaner, more defined, and more beautiful. Muscles do not make your legs bigger, they actually make your legs leaner.

Some great leg exercises that can be done with dumbbells are lunges, squats, dead lifts, and inner thigh plies. Incorporate these exercises into your regular workout routine and your legs will look amazing by summer. Strive for 3 sets of 15 to 20 reps.

One of the most common complaints of harried adults has to do with feeling tired all the time. In fact, the “I’m tired” has now been replaced with “I’m so exhausted!” Tired does not begin to describe how people feel trying to negotiate all of the tasks they have to accomplish during the day to keep on top of their careers and families.

Therefore it comes as no surprise that being too tired is one of the top excuses people make to avoid exercising. When in reality, exercising is the perfect prescription for chronic fatigue and low energy. Adults and children are not getting enough sleep each night and this sleep deprivation is affecting their daily functioning.

Exercise not only boosts your energy levels during the day, but is also a vital tool in helping you get a good night’s sleep as well. It sounds counterintuitive to think that by exercising even if you feel tired will make you feel clear-headed and rejuvenated, but it is biologically true. Exercise actually provides an adrenaline rush in our bodies which produces an “exercise high.”

There are several ways you can fool your body into exercising even when it’s the last thing you want to do. First, make exercise a non-negotiable. If you remove the mental part of exercise from the fitness equation, it doesn’t matter if you feel like exercising or not. Just exercise regardless if don’t want to.

Have you heard of the expression that ‘thin just feels better’? So does exercise. If you don’t exercise, you will inevitably have regrets later. Not only will your body be less toned, but you will feel sluggish and worn down by the end of the day. On the other hand, if you exercise regardless if you want to or not, you will always be glad you did. Focus on how you will feel after you exercise instead of letting your feelings before you exercise sabotage your workout.

Finally, pay attention to when you work out. Research indicates that women, especially during the menopause years when insomnia is a problem, are better off exercising in the morning than at night. Exercise before bed stimulated them and affected the quality of their sleep. But, a similar study showed that active men in their 20’s weren’t affected by exercise even when they exercised right before they went to bed.

Don’t let the timing of exercise deter you from exercising. Exercise is not only good for your body, its good for your mind. Experiment with what time of day is best for you when it comes to exercise. Exercise wakes some people up in the morning and sets a positive tone for their day. For other people, there is nothing more stress reducing than exercising after a long day at work. It recharges their batteries and makes them ready to unwind and relax for the rest of the day. To find out what works best for you, exercise at different times of day for a week. The best time of exercise for you is the time that makes you feel your best and is one you will most likely stick to.

The best way to energize your body and mind is to exercise at a moderately intense level for at least 30 minutes every day. Your stress will be reduced, your body will be physically engaged, and you will sleep better at night as a result.