Posted by Milena Glusac on January 3rd, 2012
Have you ever sat in the middle of your room, everything in total disarray but yet you feel at total calm and peace with where you are? That is exactly how I spent my New Year’s day. I wasn’t suffering from a horrible sunburn and completely dehydrated. I wasn’t frantically flipping through photos on my iPhone trying to piece together the lost memories of what happened the night before. And I definitely was not trying to figure out why I got a tattoo. No, there was no personal reenactment of “The Hangover.” Instead I was turning through the memories in my mind of where I was at this point last year in my life and how I got to where I am now. I remember I spent last New Year’s Day hobbling in a walking boot through the San Diego car show. Not exactly the Jimmy Choo’s I had hoped to still be wearing the day after New Year’s eve but the stress fracture in my shin (and my orthopedic) would allow for nothing else. So I spent four more weeks in the non-designer boot and five more months of no running. During that time I managed to move in with my dear friend Kurt and ten year old Maggie the Golden Retriever. The Spanish Colonial revival home that over-looked the San Diego Harbor is where I spent many nights drinking Merlot on the patio, watching 747’s land at Lindberg Field and writing articles for Kevin’s triathlon website flmstri.com. I learned a tremendous amount during the six months I spent with Kurt and Maggie. I learned that it is okay to ask for someone’s help. I reaffirmed to myself that my journey is better and easier if I surround myself with people who support and love me unconditionally. I accepted that it is ok to be who I am and to accept people unconditionally for who they are. I also began working for Vitalyte Sports Nutrition in the early spring of 2011. I spent an incredible two weeks with VSN at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, CA where I met some of the world’s finest tennis players, and where I learned that a hot desert spring day and margaritas on an empty stomach lead to quick and rapid intoxication. That is how I discovered that Orange Vitalyte is the best cure for an unintentional hangover. On July 1, 2011 Kurt and I had to part ways as roommates as he moved east into University Heights and I headed west towards the surf of Pacific Beach. Today I unpacked the vanilla candle and crystal little dog that looks like my Basset Hound, Mala. They were both gifts from Kurt and I keep them as a reminder of our friendship. Now they site in my bathroom in the new house I just moved into last week. It’s North in Carlsbad and I am roommates with my sister’s best friend, Madeline. I have known Maddy for sixteen years so it is nice to be sharing a place with someone I know so well.
This morning I went for a great five mile run up coast highway. The surf was pretty mellow and the sky was so clear. Last year at this time I wasn’t even running so I feel happy with the progress I have made in the last 365 days. Now I am training for my first race back in seven years and I am really looking forward to racing the streets of Hollywood. Yes a lot has happened in a year…I moved three times, suffered a stress fracture, healed a stress fracture, got a new job, broke up with a boyfriend, became at peace with myself and my relationship with my father, put on my big girl boots and finally took the adult role in my own life instead of playing the adult role in my family’s life. And you know I like it a lot. 2012 is going to be a great year and it felt great to start it out by going through the pictures in my mind and not the ones you find on your iPhone.
Posted by admin on January 2nd, 2012
Top 3 Reason’s New Year’s Resolutions Fail
by Evan DeMarco
For so many people out there, there comes a moment shortly after Christmas where you recognize a startling and somewhat scary fact. It is that moment that comes when getting dressed for work, or when reaching for the remote on the coffee table, or even while preparing that third plate of leftovers. Your brain finally recognizes your expanding waistline brought on by overindulgence consistent with the holiday season. Enter New Year’s Resolutions. They usually sound something like: I’m going to finally lose those ten pounds, or I’m going to get back in shape, or I’m going to get back into those jeans I love so much.
Whatever the actual resolution, a vast majority of fitness or lifestyle based resolutions fail for all the same reasons.
#1 – Setting Unrealistic Expectations
The Problem - The TV is ripe this time of year with infomercials selling the latest and greatest exercise and diet fads. They all seem to have the same ridiculous sales pitch. Lose 20 pounds in 2 weeks. Take 5 inches off your waistline. Get back that sexy more confident you in only 4 minutes a day. Crap, Crap and more crap. These infomercial products all offer a quick fix to a big problem and history has always shown that these never work.
The Solution – Throw away the scale, stop watching those infomercials and set a realistic goal. Just because you put on 15-20 pounds in two months doesn’t mean you can take it off that quickly. How do you set that goal? Time to do some math. Get a pen and paper and do the equation below based on your gender.
Women: BMR = 655 + ( 4.35 x weight in pounds ) + ( 4.7 x height in inches ) - ( 4.7 x age in years )
Men: BMR = 66 + ( 6.23 x weight in pounds ) + ( 12.7 x height in inches ) - ( 6.8 x age in year )
This equation is the Basal Metabolic Rate. It determines how many calories you need to function if you did nothing but lay in bed all day long. Now on to Harris Benedict:
Harris Benedict Formula
To determine your total daily calorie needs, multiply your BMR by the appropriate activity factor, as follows:
• If you are sedentary (little or no exercise) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.2
• If you are lightly active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.375
• If you are moderatetely active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.55
• If you are very active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days a week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.725
• If you are extra active (very hard exercise/sports & physical job or 2x training) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.9
The Harris Benedict Equation determines the calorie intake required to maintain weight based on your activity level.
Now we get into the most complicated aspect of weight loss called the Evan DeMarco Equation (that’s me by the way). This is a principle of weight loss that is so complex, most people have a hard time following it. Are you Ready? Here it is:
Eat more calories than you burn in a day and you gain weight.
Burn more calories in a day than you eat and you will lose weight.
Ok, so it really isn’t that complex at all, but so many try to make it that way so they can sell you something. Let’s break this down so it all makes sense. To do that, we will use Bob as our test subject. Bob is a middle aged insurance underwriter with two kids, a dog and mini-van (shame on you for the mini van Bob). Bob is 38 years old, 6 feet tall, weighs 195 pounds. He walks the dog every day and plays with his kids on the weekend but doesn’t really get any other exercise. Bob’s BSM is roughly 1911. That is the number of calories Bob will burn if he does nothing but lay around all day long.
Bob is lightly active so is Harris Benedict number is 2627. That number represents the number of calories Bob must eat to maintain his 195 pounds at his current activity level.
There are roughly 3500 calories in a pound of fat. Bob would like to weigh 185 pounds so he has a calorie differential of 35,000.
Let’s say Bob joins a local health club to get back in shape and starts off jogging on a treadmill for 30 minutes a day. He will burn roughly 310 calories. Assuming Bob doesn’t change his eating habits and sticks with his regiment, he will have to repeat the same 30 minute exercise for 112 days to reach his goal of 10 pounds.
So back to setting realistic expectations. Bob represents the most simplistic way of looking at weight loss and doesn’t factor in other concepts that we will get to later on but you can see why many people will get frustrated when it comes to weight loss.
Use this formula to understand what it takes to lose a pound of fat. Knowing is half the battle.
