July 2014 - Blitz Your Body

Monthly Archives: July 2014

Why You’re Not Losing Weight

Jul 29th, 2014 in Diet, Fitness, Uncategorized by AmyBlitz

Netflix = fitness? Yes. Having recently finished the awesome second season of Orange is the New Black, I decided to switch over to documentaries. I just finished Hungry For Change, which I highly recommend if you have 90 minutes and an interest in our ridiculous wacked-out diet industry.

No time to watch? Here’s the film in a nutshell:

It’s not our fault that we as a society are overweight and not able to lose the extra pounds. Human beings are genetically predetermined to consume high calorie foods, so that we’ll be prepared in times of famine. And of course, since there is no famine, we get stuck with all that extra weight.
The food industry employs tactics used by “Big Tobacco” in the 1960’s to make their products more addictive, like adding more sugar and MSG than ever before.
The combination of seeking calories and consuming fast and processed foods means that we are over-fed, yet malnourished. This state of being leads us to seek yet even more calories.
We can heal our bodies by eating the right foods like chlorophyll rich foods (dark greens) and gelatinous cleansing foods, like chia seeds and aloe, and obviously avoiding processed foods.

It was a truly insightful film, and well worth a look. It’s not exactly a date movie, but it will make you want to eat a date. That’s for sure.

Grand Opening

To me, checking out the hot new club in NYC always means a new health club. You wouldn’t want to see me dance anyway.

What the hell am I doing here?

Last week I was lucky enough to snag a reservation for the opening of new group exercise studio, BFX in Chelsea. If you like indoor studio cycling, Pilates, and TRX, this place is definitely worth checking out. I took a “Classic Ride” and am looking forward to trying out Pilates. The place is brand new and gorgeous.

TRX Room, new bikes, and a light show while you ride.

What’s the difference between BFX, and Spinning in general–from places like Soul Cycle and Flywheel? At Soul and Flywheel, the instructors take time to do an arm routine with 2 lbs weights while cycling on the bike. Sometimes they do push-ups on the handlebars! BFX (which is an official Spinning facility) is cycling at its purest form, and only focuses on the ride. It’s more athletic than the others, and feels more like actually training and riding outside.

Without totally geeking out on Spinning talk, I do enjoy an energetic Flywheel class everyone once in a while. I just never do the arm routine. When I’m cycling, I like to cycle. When I want to weight train, I do real push-ups and strength training with my feet on the ground. To do otherwise is actually unsafe. Read this article if you want to hear about why it’s not such a great idea do to things on an indoor bike besides ride it: http://www.spinning.com/media/spinning_instructor_news/2013-4-1.html

Now let’s dance!

How Much Does Sitting Negate Your Workout?

Jul 22nd, 2014 in Fitness, Uncategorized by AmyBlitz

Misery loves company, so I’m sharing this Runners World article about how a day spent at your desk can almost totally negate the run you did that morning. Lately the health community has been focusing on the importance of moving and standing more throughout the day, instead of being glued to your chair. Now a study published in the Mayo Clinic Proceedings explains how to subtract the negative effects of sitting all day from the positive effects of your workout. AWESOME.

If you don’t have time to read the RW article here are the highlights:

“According to a research team from the University of Texas Southwest Medical Center, each time unit of sitting cancels out 8 percent of your gain from the same amount of running. In other words, if you run for an hour in the morning, and then sit for 10 hours during the day, you lose roughly 80 percent of the health benefit from your morning workout.

People who engage in an hour of moderate-intensity exercise–running is considered vigorous exercise–fare much worse. They lose 16 percent of their workout gain from each hour of sitting.”

What? A 10 hour day of sitting negates 80% of your run?

What can the average person, who has an hour of commuting plus an 8-9 hour work day, do to counter this?

Stand up on the subway and don’t hold on to the pole, even when the train stops and starts (urban surfing, woo-hoo!)

Stop G-chatting your coworkers and get up to gossip about your boss with them face to face.

Walk more by getting off the bus before your usual stop or taking the stairs.

Just find any excuse to move and stand more throughout the day!

Here’s the entire article:

http://www.runnersworld.com/health/how-much-does-sitting-negate-your-workout-benefits?cid=social_20140715_27815816

Thanks to my fabulous client, Gwen for sending it to me!

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Vegan, Schmegan: Why I Couldn’t Wait to Eat Meat Again

Jul 13th, 2014 in Diet, Fitness, Recipes, Uncategorized by AmyBlitz

My experiment is over and I’m more than happy to be back to eating an all-inclusive diet again! For each the past three months, I have been following a different lifestyle diet. I kicked things off with Paleo, then went vegetarian, finally ending with vegan. Veganism was tough, but I perservered! Ok Ok, I admit, this is how I really felt:

Yes, I HATED IT! Sorry vegan friends, it’s possible that if I tried it first I would have loved it, but sadly, that fortune wasn’t written on the back of a soybean. Part of my dislike for the plants-only diet was that I did it last, and after two months, I was totally over having restrictions on my diet. Or maybe it was my terrible and terrifying belly-bloat from all the fibrous foods.

Me, looking down at my belly. NO. I’M NOT PREGNANT.

Vegan Diet: The Breakdown

Difficulty: Hard to stick with. Boring. I really missed fish and cheese (not together, that would be gross).

Expense: As inexpensive as vegetarian since plant products are cheaper than animal ones. However, I spent more on vegan restaurants than I normally would. I spent about $250 on groceries that month, but probably $150 on ordering out.

What I Ate: I pretty much ate my weight in nuts, nut butters, and avocados. I even put almond butter on my sweet potatoes (it’s actually really good, I think you should try it). Dinners were mostly huge bowls of sauteed veggies with either beans on tops or a baked sweet potato. I ate more tofu than ever and discovered a love of Soba noodles. I ate a lot of avocado toast for breakfast or even a snack (probably too much).

Energy Level: Normal, I did not notice a change from the previous month.

Body Changes: This is interesting. One would expect a new vegan to have some weight loss but I actually gained weight. Nothing dramatic, I am actually the same measurements as I was before I started the project. Why the weight gain? I believe this has a lot to do with all the fat I was eating. Yes, they were healthy fats. But too much of a good thing…well you know how it goes. Also, those vegan restaurant meals aren’t always healthy, just because they’re made of plants. There is such a thing as vegan junk food, and I definitely partook.

So, now what?

I am blending all three diets into one super healthy, super “clean” diet by going vegetarian during the day and eat paleo-style at night. This way I get the best of everything the market has to offer, without over-doing it on a certain food group.

Also:

I will have less reliance on cereal grains. This does not mean none, my paleo peeps. Just less.

I’ll get my carbs by eating starchy vegetables and beans. You must eat these if you are active. Otherwise you will burn out during your workouts.

I’ll try to eat only grass-fed beef, organic chicken, and fresh-caught fish as much as possible. This is something I never thought too much about before I tried Paleo, but now I’m hooked.

Before I close the page (FOREVER) on veganism, let me share a recipe I came up with to minimize my time chopping veggies in the kitchen. I use the term “recipe” loosely, as there’s not too much to this meal. I made it specifically for the cooking-challenged folks out there, which includes myself. It is a no-chop, no-prep, meal that is also totally vegan.

No-Prep Tofu Stir Fry with Peanut Sauce

Feel free to add whatever you want to this; different veggies, chopped garlic, cilantro, etc…just keep in mind that it will no longer be “no-prep”

1 cup bagged kale

1 Tb coconut oil

1/2 bag of broccoli slaw

1 package of diced organic, firm tofu

Start by steaming the kale for about 5 minutes in a pan with a little water and a pinch of salt. Add the coconut oil, broccoli slaw and tofu. Stir fry for about 3- 5 minutes. You don’t want the broccoli to over-cook and get soggy, so keep an eye on it.

While that’s cooking, start on the sauce

3 TB soy sauce

1 TB natural, smooth, peanut butter

1 tb apple cider vinegar or rice wine vinegar

1 tsp chili flakes

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp of coconut sugar (optional, if you want a little sweetness to your sauce)

Chopped nuts

Add the sauce and cook for a minute or two.

Your no-chop, no-prep meal is done!

Boom! Drop the mic. Walk away.

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