Daniella Dayoub, Nutrition Counselor and Personal Trainer
Here at DFitLife.com you will find the tools necessary to combine fitness and nutrition for optimal balance to fit your lifestyle.
Daniella Dayoub will help you find ways to feed your body and train it so that you not only prevent illness, but also combat chronic conditions
you may already have.
Food choices and exercise selection is based on your individual needs, goals, and challenges. There is no blanket prescription for everyone. In fact, there are no prescriptions here at all, just sound educational information and helpful advice so that you can make your own fitness decisions. No matter who you are, or what your situation is, there is always something
you can do to take yourself to the next level of fitness and health.
Shoulder rehabilitation stretch
This video demonstrates how to do a simple daily stretch for your chest and help your shoulders into a depressed position. This helps to place the shoulders into a healthy position while letting gravity do the work. An ounce of prevention…..
I recently read this article in the NY Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/27/health/biological-changes-thwart-weight-loss-efforts-study-finds.html), and was astonished at how bad it was. Let me backtrack for a minute. First of all, everyone knows that losing weight is tough work. We also know that keeping it off, is even harder! Not a major news bulletin. However, I find that most people who are not successful at keeping weight off after a big loss are looking for a great excuse as to why. We all want to blame our challenges on something else. The reality is, you have to keep your head in the game to attain your ideal weight, and actually work just as hard (if not harder) to keep it there. It’s a matter of dedication to your workout regimen and unrelenting focus on your nutrition. I wish is were easier, but sadly, it’s not.
This article sites a study that takes a handful of subjects, puts them on a minuscule 500-550 calorie diet, has them lose 10% of their weight or more, and then tracks their maintenance over the next year. Anytime you put someone on such a highly restrictive diet you are going to do major damage to their metabolism. In addition, you are also depleting the body of necessary vitamins and minerals that allow for nutrient transport for proper muscle activation, sleep cycles, and a host of other physical needs.
The real key to successful weight loss and weight maintenance is doing it slowly and steadily. If you starve yourself, your metabolism is going to hit the floor. As soon as you finally start eating a decent amount of calories again, you are going to gain weight even faster. However, if you restrict calories within reason and combine it with regular moderate-to-high intensity, you will lose weight steadily but more slowly. I would caution anyone against going on a diet that restricts calories to below 1200/day. I also don’t know how you increase metabolic rate without increasing muscle mass. Like I said, it’s never an easy path, but it is attainable. And more than that, it is maintainable. Don’t let articles like these side-track you. If you are ready, and you do all the right things, you will reach and keep your fitness goals.
I’ve had some questions lately about the importance of eating an alkaline diet. Before I get into the details, let’s discuss what an alkaline diet is. The human body is pretty good at maintaining a pH of 7.4. When we eat foods that cause acidosis, the body has to work harder to maintain it’s alkalinity. In general, calcium is leached from its other needed uses to return pH back to 7.4. Those who are proponents of an alkaline diet claim that it can help to prevent osteoporosis, decrease allergies and increase immunity, decrease inflammation, and even lead to substantial weight loss.
What is an alkaline diet? Basically, it means a lot of vegetables, moderate protein, and avoiding processed foods, sugar, caffeine, and alcohol. Not exactly a bad idea for anyone! If truly following the diet, you would eat foods only with a high pH to counterbalance that acidosis we get from the day. It is recommended to get 7-9 servings of veggies per day to balance acid from sugar, meat, etc.. Drinking mineral water with bicarbonate and calcium is also helpful. If your curious about the details, you can read more and see an alkaline food chart at http://www.rense.com/1.mpicons/acidalka.htm.
While I cannot say that an alkaline diet will be a panacea of all of your ails, the general principles are sage advice. Make sure to get vegetables in at every meal of the day, keep your sugar intake very low, avoid processed foods, drink plenty of water (try adding some lemon), and keep stimulants to a bare minimum. You may not get rid of all your allergies or lose all the weight you need to, but you will definitely be on your way to healthier state (pH at 7.4 or not 
Research has finally shown that it doesn’t really matter whether you eat 3 squares or 6 mini-meals a day. Having set small meals is no more helpful at controlling hunger than eating 3 larger meals. Why? Because we are all individual and all have different nutritional needs. Not only that, what we need to eat at certain times today is totally different than what and when we’ll need to eat tomorrow.
So what is the best way to stay in control of your appetite? Well, nature has blessed us with this amazing ability to sense our own hunger, satiety, and even know what we need to eat. However, most of us have long-since lost touch with this ability. Our bodies like to be a certain weight and condition, and will give us cues on how to attain and maintain that. The reason we get overweight and out of shape is that we stop listening to our bodies innate wisdom. We eat out of boredom, exhaustion, loneliness, stress, etc….
I challenge each and every one of you to try to eat by sense for one whole week: Wait to eat until you are truly hungry (regardless of your dinner reservations or Mom’s cooking). Try to get a sense of what you’re really in the mood to eat, and enjoy exactly that (even if it’s for chocolate). And focus on your food so that you can get an idea of when you’ve had enough. Hint: if you’re full, it’s too late.
Trust your body and it will will serve you well!!!
We all know we are our own hardest critics. We are constantly pushing ourselves to be stronger, work harder, be better parents, earn more money, and of course, lose more weight. But when do we draw the line between being hard-working and ambitious and being self-deprecating and self-destructive??
It’s a very fine line indeed. It’s my job to constantly push you all to new levels of intensity and reach for new goals in your workouts and fitness. But what happens when it’s never good enough? What happens when the internal dialogue you’re having pushes yourself to think you’re a failure because you can’t meet your own expectations?
That’s the point when we end up with eating disorders, depression, and self-destructive addictions. There is a movement afoot whose motto is “friends don’t let friends fat talk.” They are trying to stop people from saying things like, “I feel so fat today,” or “Do I look fat in this,” etc..
Check out this article on cnn: http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/10/21/no.fat.talk.week/index.html?eref=mrss_igoogle_cnn
I encourage all of you to try to pay attention to how many times this week you either say things like this, or think these thoughts. And when a loved one says something like this, remind them: this is not the only way that society sees them, and that while they may have fitness goals to achieve, there’s a lot more to them that just the size of their jeans.
I spend a lot of time telling clients that they need to work out harder, longer, or more often. But it’s also important to listen to what your body is telling you. If you’re feeling like a slug on the couch or in your office chair, and your joints are achy and energy is in the toilet, what is your body telling you? Get off your bum and go get some exercise! However, if you’re getting ready for your 6th workout that week and your back hurts and your knee is screaming at you, your body is saying “Take a break already!”
The one part of overall health and fitness I cannot teach you, is how to listen to your body’s innate needs and sensibility. If you can tap into how your body is feeling (not your brain), then you’ll know when to workout, what type of exercise to do, when to rest, and even when to eat. However, it takes some practice.
Here’s a little test to try out how connected you are with your body’s needs: For one week, every time you get ready to eat, exercise, or flop out on the couch, ask yourself: “Is this what my body needs right now, or am I doing it out of habit/boredom/frustration/etc..” Then, after you have finished exercising, eating or resting, ask yourself, “Do I feel better now that I’ve done that?” Sounds simple, right? You’ll be surprised at how often you chose the wrong activity because you were working off of what you wanted to do because it’s a habit versus what your body needed to do.
If you chose the right thing to do (and in the right amount), you should feel good and content afterward. If you feel tired, lethargic, or just plain blah, then you probably should have done the opposite. It’s just a little game you can try to start tapping into your body’s innate sense of what it needs and when.
So the kids are back in school now. Gone are the days of having to make sure they are entertained all day. You may have fallen into new routines with them over the summer, and now have to adjust to their new busy schedules. And of course, this makes your schedule busy too!
Every good parent knows that a nutritious lunch is important for their kids to take to school, but what about yours? Why do we spend so much time and energy packing their lunches, but not ours? Instead, we find ourselves grabbing something quick at Starbucks, or noshing on the bagels left out at a meeting. By the time we get home, we’re ravenous, and malnourished. And yet, we make sure the kids get a healthy snack after school to tide them over until dinner. What do we do?: snack on whatever nibbles they haven’t finished and continue to starve until dinner.
And then we wonder why kids aren’t too hungry at dinner time, and only eat a few bites. Yet we not only clean our plates, but then raid the freezer for ice cream well after the kiddos are in tucked into bed. Are we seeing the problem yet??
When you’re making the kids lunches the night before, make sure to pack one for you too. It’s not hard since you’re already doing it anyway. And who’s to say you can’t have a PB&J for lunch like they do? Just make sure to include an apple or some carrots to snack on, and maybe a handful of almonds or walnuts. When you get home, have a small snack with them: a yogurt and berries, some cheese and crackers, a piece of fruit and some nuts. That way you can all sit down to dinner without it becoming a feeding frenzy that lasts all night long. Oh, and don’t forget to whip up a bowl of cereal with berries or a protein shake for breakfast. It’ll keep you from devouring the tempting office treats that are lurking around every corner.
I’d like to introduce you all to the first new baby in our little DFitLife community: Jake Dana Anderson. He was born to April and Jeremy this last Monday night. Weighing in at 6lbs and 15oz, with a length of 21 inches, he was on fit kid. Mom worked out her entire pregnancy and kept up with her weight training and core work all the way up until the day before she went into the hospital. All that core work paid off, as she only had to push for whopping 20min!!!! Go April. Jake is as healthy and happy as they come. I dare say he’s pretty darn cute too. 
In case you didn’t catch the news this week, a major article came out about how young girls (as young as 7) are getting “precocious puberty.” Researchers estimate that about 10% of 7 year old girls are developing into puberty. The reason? Obesity. Some ethnic groups seem to be more prone to having their children develop early, but the average is around 10%.
When I was 7 years old, my biggest concerns were: if it rains, can I still go play outside?, what is Santa bringing me?, and why is my little brother such a pain? I certainly wasn’t worried about getting my period, wearing a bra, or having sex!!! In fact, I didn’t know what most of that was about yet. Nor should I have. Children are being robbed of their childhood because their obesity is leading to early development.
There are, of course, some cases where there is a hormonal or medical reason for early weight gain, but parents of such young children are really the gate keepers of what their children should be eating! As our society as a whole gets fatter and fatter, so do our children. We are not setting good examples for our youth and clearly not teaching them good eating behaviors. The result: early puberty, which then leads to early motherhood, early menopause, and even increased chances for breast cancer. This is on top of the assumed increase risk for type II diabetes and heart disease that are clearly linked to obesity.
I have included the article below. Please encourage your children, their friends, and everyone in your family to take their health and nutrition seriously. Start by setting a good example yourself: make fresh vegetables and fruits available for snacking, include unprocessed foods in meals, and try to get your child involved in the food shopping and preparation. Exercise yourself, and get them to participate with you. Make activity fun and part of a daily routine. Start now! For some children, it may already be too late!
http://www.businessweek.com/lifestyle/content/healthday/641926.html?campaign_id=rss_topStories
It was an easy decision on our first client of the month: Vera Pesotchinsky. Sadly, she fell and broke her foot in 5 places in late July. It was a severe injury, and many people would have used it as a good excuse to take a break from their training. Not her! She called me immediately, and I was over to her house 4 days a week starting the next week! We also got her on a solid nutrition plan to work on building strong bones. Between the workouts at home (in a wheelchair nonetheless), good eating habits, and regular visits from her PT and occupational therapist, Vera was back on her feet in one month’s time! Her doctors are a little suprised at her quick recovery, but she’s not. She refused to let this get in her way, and she tackled the challenge like she does every thing else in her life: with gusto! Congrats Vera!!! You give us all inspiration! And enjoy your free session this month
DFit Life is Located at Premier Personal Training
744 San Antonio Rd, Suite 2, Palo Alto, CA 94303
www.siliconvalleyfit.com
Daniella Dayoub, DFit Life
650.799.9669
www.DFitLife.com
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