Stear Clear of the Sweet Stuff

Everyone loves a good cheat meal, and chances are you plan yours out long before it comes around.  And if you're the type who dreams about Chili's Molten Lava Cake, you may want to think twice about how you are going to utilize your calories for your long awaited cheat chow.

The fact is that simple sugars, such as those found in most baked goods, candy, and other ready-made sweets, can be a real killer to your training or weight loss efforts for a host of reasons including the large amount of stress they put on the body due to the spike in insulin, you may have experienced this before as jitters, headache, or dizziness due to an intake of more simple sugars than your body was prepared to handle.  Other reasons to avoid this dangerous pantry villain include weight gain, diabetes, suppressed immune system function, poor absorption of vitamins and minerals, as well as hyperactivity followed by an energy crash, just to name a few.

But don't throw the baby out with the bathwater just yet.  A cheat meal can be a great way to sharpen the saw mentally and become refocused and motivated for another great and nutrition packed week, not to mention the likely benefit of revving up your metabolism after a week of slightly suppressed caloric intake.  Briefly boosting your calories can be a great way to keep your body guessing and your metabolism burning.  Pizza is undoubtedly one of my favorite cheat meals.  It too offers a type of sugar, but not those mentioned above.  The carbohydrates found in pizza dough burns slow, so it feeds the body longer, avoiding the undesired spike in insulin by supplying a steady flow of glucose to the blood.  It will also provide great energy even into the next day without any type of crash to follow.

So in summary, be wise when selecting how you are going to spend your cheat meal.  Be conscious and continue to be strategize what foods will provide you with the best satiation while fueling your body with all of the good stuff it needs to preform at its peak.  If you follow this guideline simple sugars will not make the cut due to their many negative short and long term side-effects.

Commit to Getting Right Back Up

One thing is certain, it is that we are bound to hit road blocks or experience the brief sense of failure when we are striving to be our best self. 
The key to ultimate success is to pick your self up in the face of despair.  This may mean you ate one too many slices of cake during that one cheat meal at your cousins birthday party, or you missed an entire week of gym time during finals week.  It is these challenges and disparities that provide opportunity for growth and learning.  These opportunities might help you to understand how you can better prepare to succeed when faced with these obstacles or challenges in the future.
There is absolutely no excuse for failure and no reason to not reach your goals.  Often we find that our goals must be modified to better suit the realistic boundaries of our individual life, but within these boundaries we can achieve anything.

Get Movin' & Playin' with the Fam

There are a lot of great activities that get you up and moving with your kids.  Just about anything outdoors will do the trick.

Outdoor Activities:

But if the weather is cold you can understand how this can become a greater challenge, however, here are just a few ideas as to how you can have fun with your kids inside.

Indoor Activities:

Switch it Up

Always keep your workouts interesting by switching them up every couple of weeks.  It's a great way to stay excited about what you are doing and it can lead to opportunities to tone and sculpt multiple areas of your body.

Another Reason Why You Should Avoid Low Carbohydrate Diets

"When dietary carbohydrate intake is restricted, the fastest way to generate glucose intarnally is by degrading protein from amino acid pools, muscle tissue, and, if needed, from essential organs.  The breakdown of amino acids occurs when glucose is not plentiful and fat breakdown cannot keep up with energy needs.  Thus, carbohydrate can be said to be protein sparing, because when dietary carbohydrate intake is adequate it prevents the breakdown of protein and amino acids. Simply put, the body can't work efficiently without carbohydrate available as the primary source of energy."
"Dietary carbohydrates are converted to glucose which is used for energy production, glycogenfor replenishing carbohydrate stored, and fat given excess energy intake when glycogen stores are full. " Thus, if you are trying to lose fat you should keep your carbohydrate intake around 40% of your intake.  Once optimal weight is achieved you should resume the DRI of 60%.

Soluble Fiber= Heart Health

Soluble Fiber binds fat and cholesterol thus promoting heart health. nut 123

Why is whole wheat or whole grain foods better for you?

"During the processing and refining of a whole grain the bran layter containing fiber and the germ layer containing vitamins, minerals, and fatty acids are removed.  This leaves the endosperm for use in refined-grain food products.  The endosperm contains starch and protein, which are both needed for baked-food product quality, but it has far less fiber, vitamins, and minerals."

Health Journal- increase your chances of success.