Body Beats

Should you eat 10,000 calories a day like Phelps or train 4 to 7 hours a day like Shawn Johnson? Of course not! These are the best athletes in the world, but there’s no reason why you can’t apply some of their training ethics to improve your own routine.

Here are my 6 tips to ‘Train Like an Olympian’!

1.) Set a goal – Olympic athletes train with a goal in mind….Olympic medals. Setting goals gives you a reason to push hard, eat healthy, and get your workout done. Set a goal and be specific. Create a plan to reach that goal and remind yourself of it every single day.

2.) Build a support group – The world’s top athletes have trainers, nutritionists, sports therapists, friends and family members who all know their goals, support them in their goals, and celebrate with them after their goals have been reached. Build a network of people around you who will support you!

3.) Eat with a purpose – Athletes look at food as fuel for their bodies. Junk in, equals junk out. Their meals consist of fresh fruits, vegetable, lean proteins, and whole grains. If they need more energy, they’ll consume more complex carbs. If they need to build more muscle, they’ll add more protein. Athletes know how to adjust their diet in order to make their bodies do what they need them to do. You can apply these same principles to your own diet to reach the goals you’ve set for yourself.

4.) Train every day – Olympic athletes train like machines, every single day. But so can you! You may not be training for 3 hours when you wake up, but you could train for a 1/2 hour. If you’re not training, you’re not burning calories or building strength and endurance and sporadic exercising could lead to injury.

5.) Avoid over training – Be in tune with your body and know when to rest. Resting allows your body time to recover and keeps you from getting burnt out.

6.) Match your interest – Athletes have a passion for what they do. If you don’t enjoy your training routine, you probably won’t stick with it. Instead of picking a workout that popular or training at the same time that your friends are training, pick a time and intensity that fits your lifestyle and your level of fitness. What you do for yourself in order to reach your goals may be completely different from your friends’.

A diet heavy in proteins and cereal grains can cause blood to become too acidic. When this happens, muscle tissue can waste away. Fruits and vegetables, which have a high potassium content, make your body’s pH more alkaline. So it makes since that a recent study showed that a diet heavy in potassium rich fruits and vegetables helped preserve muscle mass, giving your muscles what they need to stay toned, healthy, and able to do their jobs. The volunteers in this study, whose diets were rich in potassium could expect to have 3.6 more pounds of lean tissue mass than volunteers with half the higher potassium intake.

Hum….It always comes back to having a well balanced diet.

Some potassium rich foods are:

• Baked potato with the skin
• Sweet potato backed with skin
• White canned beans
• Bananas
• Kidney beans
• Blackberries
• Spinach
• Apricots
• Cantaloupe
• Honeydew
• Kiwi
• Winter squash

Need to gain some lbs? Here’s some info on how to do it in a safe, natural, and healthy way…

You want your extra weight to come from muscle and not fat. However, it’s highly likely that you will add a little fat while you’re attempting to gain muscle, but there are ways to minimize the amount of fat you could gain. It takes about 2,500 calories to add a pound of muscle, so you need to consume an additional five grams of protein each day for every five pounds of muscle you want to gain. Take it slow and increase your calorie intake by only about 400 calories per day. If you don’t see the results you’re looking for, up your intake by 50 or 100 calories per day.

Remember…you want your extra calories to come mostly from healthy, lean proteins and whole-grain carbs. Don’t increase your calories with processed, sugary foods or drinks or you’ll pack on unwanted fat and not the muscles you desire.

Here’s some tips on how to put on healthy lbs and not have to resort to pill or bottle supplements:

Eat more protein – The amino acids in protein repair torn muscle tissue that are temporarily damaged after a strenuous workout. This process will increase your muscle mass and make your muscles stronger. To gain muscle in a natural, healthy way, you need to consume one gram of lean protein per pound of body weight every day.

Consume good carbs for fuel – Whole-grain breads, pastas, and rice and starchy vegetables like sweet potatoes will give you enough energy for those intense workouts.

Hydrate – When you increase your protein, you must also increase the amount of water you drink. Consuming more than one gram of protein per body pound a day usually doubles urine output, which means you need to drink twice the amount of fluids.

Food choices for a healthy gain:

• Chicken, turkey or pork w/o skin
• Fish such as salmon, tuna, halibut, & talapia
• Lean ground beef, chicken, or turkey
• Pinto beans
• Brown rice
• Plain sweet or white potatoes (omit the bad calories you’d get from sour cream & butter)
• Fresh veggies…particularly the dark, leafy greens.
• Fresh fruits…especially berries which are loaded with anti-oxidants.
• Oatmeal
• Fat-free milk and other dairy products like yogurt.

Go ahead….add a few cups of coffee to your post workout pasta!

New research shows that athletes who consume both carbohydrate and caffeine after an exhaustive exercise, had a more rapid muscle recovery. The athletes in the study had 66% more glycogen in their muscles four hours after finishing intense, glycogen-depleting exercise, compared to when they consumed carbohydrate alone. (Glycogen is the muscles’ primary fuel source during exercising.)

If you’re looking for your ‘edge’...this could be it! Obviously, if you have 66% more fuel for the next day’s training or competition, you will be stronger and go farther or faster!

Want to know the science behind it all? Click here or expand this blog to read the entire article.

Here is a healthy alternative to the higher calorie commercial sports bars that can sometimes crash your diet. You can make them at home and they provide a similar ratio of carbohydrates, protein, and fat.

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole-wheat flour
1/8 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 cup Grape Nuts

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400. Set aside 2 tablespoons Grape Nuts. In bowl, blend all ingredients. Roll dough into 2” by 1/2” balls. Press into rectangular bars. Coat bars with remaining Grape Nuts and place on nonstick cookie sheet. Bake 15 minutes or until slightly brown. Cool completely before eating. Store in airtight container for up to a week.

Nutritional Information:
Nutritional Analysis Per (1) Bar / Recipe Makes 18 Bars
90 calories
17g carbohydrates
2g fat
2g protein

Recipe by: Susan Kleiner , Ph.D., R.D. and author of Power Eating

We’d like to give MyBodyBeats members the opportunity to motivate others and prove that training like an athlete with MyBodyBeats.com downloadable workouts really works!

All you have to do is submit your story about your own personal fitness journey and why you train with MyBodyBeats.com and include two photos of yourself. Your team here at MyBodyBeats.com will review your submissions and post the most inspiring stories and photos on our large main feature banner on our home page! We’ll also post stories and photos on our blog.

So what are you waiting for?!? You could be the reason someone takes that first step towards their goals! (Talk about self motivation!)

For details click here and scroll >>

Donate your old sneakers to Nike’s Reuse-A-Shoe program. Nike accepts all brands and recycles them to create new playgrounds, tracks, and fields. To find a drop off location near you, visit www.letmeplay.com/reuseashoe/ .

Purple-skinned eggplant is full of phenols that help your body better use blood sugar. Phenols have antioxidant actions and they may also inhibit an enzyme tied to high blood pressure .
This warm, grilled summer sandwich is packed with the purple disease fighting power vegetable. Look for a medium-size, purple eggplant with firm skin and no mushy spots.

Grilled Eggplant Panini
Recipe from EatingWell Magazine

Ingredients
2 tablespoons reduced-fat mayonnaise
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
8 1/2-inch slices eggplant (about 1 small)
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
8 slices whole-grain country bread
8 thin slices fresh mozzarella cheese
1/3 cup sliced jarred roasted red peppers
4 thin slices red onion

Directions
1. Preheat grill to medium-high.
2. Combine mayonnaise and basil in a small bowl. Using 1 tablespoon oil, lightly brush both sides of eggplant and sprinkle each slice with garlic salt. With the remaining 1 tablespoon oil, brush one side of each slice of bread.
3. Grill the eggplant for 6 minutes, turn with a spatula, top with cheese, and continue grilling until the cheese is melted and the eggplant is tender, about 4 minutes more. Toast the bread on the grill, 1 to 2 minutes per side.
4. To assemble sandwiches: Spread basil mayonnaise on four slices of bread. Top with the cheesy eggplant, red peppers, onion and the remaining slices of bread. Cut in half and serve warm.

Nutrition Information
Makes 4 sandwiches / Nutritional Analysis Per Serving
337 calories
16 g fat
6 g saturated fat
22 mg cholesterol
36 g carbohydrate
12 g protein
7 g fiber
659 mg sodium.

1. Drink six to eight glasses of fresh, clean water daily.
2. Eat one serving of fruits & vegetables at each meal.
3. Include a protein source at every meal
4. Limit white flour in your diet. Substitute whole grains like wheat, multigrain, flax, oats.
5. Don’t drop the carbs. Just eat the right type of carbs, such as vegetables, fruits, whole grains and oats that are rich in fiber.
6. Drink Green Tea! Avoid empty calories like soda.
7. Incorporate good fats into your diet including nuts, seeds, avocados, olive oil and flaxseed oil.
8. Eliminate the saturated fats from your diet such as deep fried foods and foods that have partially hydrogenated oils
9. Don’t Skip Breakfast! You’ll give your metabolism a jump start and you’ll eat less as the day progresses.
10. Eat 6 smaller meals throughout the day rather than 3 big meals. You’ll maintain more energy during the day and you’ll avoid the slump that follows a big meal. You’ll also keep your metabolism burning throughout the day which will mean more fat burn. And, you’ll just feel better!

Don’t lie. Your gym bag smells, too. Here’s some smart solutions to tame the odor.

• Remove your gym shoes, sweaty clothes (especially socks), and anything else that’s warm and wet as soon as you get home from the gym. This helps prevent the growth of bacteria on these items and in the bag…...and the bacteria is what really stinks!

• Allow your bag to breathe by leaving your bag open or unzipped when ever you can.

• Clean your bag at least once a week. Baby wipes work great. I highly recommend keeping some in your bag at all times. My personal fav is Huggies Cucumber & Green Tea wipes. They smell fresh and won’t leave you or your gym bag smelling like a babies bum. Use the wipes to wipe down the interior and exterior of the bag, especially the bottom of the bag where it sits on the germy gym floor.

• Use a gym bag with a vinyl or plastic exterior so it’s easier to wipe down and clean.

Still need help? Try the BagBall . Throw it in your bag gym bag to neutralize the odor.

Today is the first official day of summer, so I wanted to give all of you my 5 tips for making sure this summer leaves you feeling healthy, energized, and fit!

1. Don’t Stress. Chronic stress can lead to emotional eating, alcohol consumption, and sleep deprivation. Emotional eating packs on the pounds around your belly, where it’s most harmful.

2. Catch Your ZZZs. Diet, exercise, and sleep are the three major factors in maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Getting ample sleep encourages weight management , better brain function, and…..a nice nap under the shade in the summer time is priceless.

3. Protect Your Skin. SPF 30 lasts about 25-35 minutes before it’s UV-protecting properties start to fade. Reapply every 1/2 or so to be sure you’re always protected.

4. Try Something New. Have fun! Trying a new activity provides loads of excitement and is a great way to shock your muscles. How about kayaking The water will cool you off and you’ll burn upwards of 400 calories an hour!

5. Get Outside. Sunlight is believed to affect the production of Endorphins. These hormones play a role in giving us a sense of “well-being” and happiness. (Just remember to put on your sun screen.)

I’m going to begin posting Lean Eating and Performance Eating recipes for all of you to add to your tool box. Now, there are no excuses for eating crap.

This first recipe comes from Ellie Krieger ,one of my favorite cooks who happens to be a best selling New York Times author, a nutritionist, and has a show on The Food Network called Healthy Eating with Ellie Kreiger .
Fried rice is a great comfort food, but it can be brutal to your diet. A regular order of this take out king is a whopping 1,500 calories, 10g of saturated fat, and 2,700 mg of sodium! So do yourself a favor and make your own next time.

Fried Rice with Scallions, Edamame and Tofu
2007 Ellie Krieger, All rights reserved
Ingredients
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon canola oil, divided
2 large cloves garlic, minced
4 scallions, greens included, rinsed, trimmed and thinly sliced
1 tablespoon minced ginger
4 cups leftover cooked brown rice
3/4 cup finely diced red pepper
3/4 cup cooked, shelled edamame
1/2 cup fresh or frozen, thawed, corn
6 ounces firm tofu, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
2 eggs, beaten
3 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce

Directions
Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a wok or large skillet until very hot. Add the garlic, scallions and ginger and cook, stirring, until softened and aromatic, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add the rice, red pepper, edamame, corn and tofu and cook, stirring, until heated through, about 5 minutes. Make a 3-inch well in the center of the rice mixture. Add 1 teaspoon of canola oil, then add the eggs and cook until nearly fully scrambled. Stir the eggs into the rice mixture, then add soy sauce and incorporate thoroughly. Serve hot.

Nutrition Information
Nutritional Analysis Per Serving
Calories 400
Total fat 12.5g
Saturated fat 2g
Sodium 465mg
Protein 16.5g
Carbohydrates 56g
Fiber 7g

The tragic news comes as a devastating shock to the tennis, bodybuilding, fitness, and figure community. Amanda Jo Earhart-Savell was a rising IFBB pro, placing 5th at the 2007 Figure Olympia in Vegas last year. She was a stunning beauty, an inspiration to many, and had an amazing career ahead of her.

Amanda was found early this morning (Thursday) alongside convicted steroid dealer David Jacobs, both dead from gun shot wounds. According to reports, Amanda’s family placed a missing persons report, sending police to David’s home where the two were found. Details about the deaths, whether it was a double homicide or a murder-suicide are still being investigated. Reportedly, David had just met with NFL security officials two weeks ago, where he allegedly named names and provided e-mails, cancelled checks and other evidence from players he had supplied with performance-enhancing drugs.
David’s home was raided in the spring of 2007. Feds found that he was producing and selling large amounts of performance-enhancing drugs. He made a plea deal with the Dallas prosecutors on to steroid-distribution charges and was sentenced to three years probation and fined $25,000 on May 1.
Amanda’s family and friends have posted their thoughts and condolences on her MySpace page . It’s a very sad ending to two young lives and our hearts go out to both families.

There are so many different ways to burn calories, but it’s hard to estimate just how many calories you’re actually burning. There are 3,500 calories in one pound of body weight, so if you’re trying to drop pounds, you’ve gotta be burning more calories than you’re consuming. The safest way is to burn 500 calories or cut back your calorie intake by 500 calories every day. (I suggest a combo of both.)
Here, I’ve broken down different ways you can burn hundreds of calories to help you reach your 500 calories burned a day. It’s important to know how many calories you’re sweating off during your workout activity, because overestimating the amount burned could lead to zero weight loss.

Research performed recently on mice by the Boston University of Medicine (BUSM), found that weight training increases muscle mass, which can reduce body fat, which in turn reduces overall body mass and improves metabolic parameters such as insulin resistance.

Skeletal muscle consists of two types of fibers. Endurance training such as running or cycling increases the amount of type I muscle fibers, while resistance training such as weightlifting increases type II muscle fibers. “We’ve shown that type II muscle does more than allow you to pick up heavy objects,” said Kenneth Walsh of Boston University School of Medicine. “It is also important in controlling whole-body metabolism.”

What’s exciting about this research is it proves that weight training may be the tool to obesity and obesity health related problems such as diabetes and heart disease.