Jun

Review: My Fit Foods

Today my fitness/beach/stylist partner-in-crime Jen and I stumbled upon My Fit Foods in the Boystown neck of Lakeview. I had seen it open up shop in Chicago on North Ave., just east of Wells and this was my first opp to check out a fast food concept that “strives to make fresh, healthy meals to go that are designed to increase energy levels and help you lose weight safe and naturally.”

“Ok, let’s give it a shot,” we say as we shift gears away from our go-to snack spot (Starbucks).

When you’re literally running your business from your cell phone and trying to fit in that all too important beach date with the dogs in, eating on the go is a must. That’s why a company that boasts 90% of their meals gluten free, calorie and fat reduced and has several portion size options is a road we’re willing to traverse.

Walk in and go immediately to the fridge where the meals are broken down into easy to decide categories; snacks, breakfast, lunch, dinner. Okay, easy enough.

View Larger Map

We head over to snacks. Not only do they have a ton of options (in this category alone, I saw 8), they also have portions–small, medium and large–with the calories and fat literally printed on the side. So even these lazy beach combers can’t plead the fifth when it comes to not being aware of what we’ve just stuck in our mouths.

I had the tuna salad snack which consists of a yummy scoop of spicy and crunchy tuna salad, some zucchini wedges, grape tomatoes and a few rice crisps for good measure. Turns out, this was the perfect serving size and I felt full and satisfied after.

I love that it’s fast, love that it’s portion controlled and that it displays the nutritional information as clear as day. You really can’t screw it up when you eat here.

Be sure to pick up the snack cookie and gluten-free energy bar too for later. They were both low cal, high protein and extremely tasty. Especially the cookie

Jun

Rain and Joint Pain

The rain is upon us and if joint pain and inflammation has got you down, you’re not alone. There’s a very real correlation between barometric pressure and inflammation. So let’s break down the facts:

Barometric pressure is the weight of the atmosphere that surrounds us. When it’s warm out, our bodies pull fluid into the tissues and joints.

If you imagine the tissues surrounding the joints to be like a balloon, high barometric pressure that pushes against the body from the outside will keep tissues from expanding.

But barometric pressure often drops before bad weather sets in. This lower air pressure pushes less against the body, allowing tissues to expand and those expanded tissues can put pressure on the joint.

When there’s less pressure we expand. For example, on a plane, despite a pressurized cabin our feet and legs swell. Some are at risk for deep vein thrombosis. Our blood pressure goes up as our body swells and expands.

Furthermore, when people have chronic pain, sometimes nerves can become more sensitized because of injury, inflammation, scarring, or adhesions.

For whatever reason, the nerves are just hypersensitive, and they just keep firing, based on what you do — or not for any reason at all. But if there’s some expansion internally — in other words, the body can either expand or contract based on outside pressure changes — then that’s going to affect how pain is signaled.

4098 days ago Short URL Comments

Bone/Inflammation/Joint Pain/Weather

barometric pressure/chicago/core fit/core fitness/corefitchicago/inflammation/joint pain/personal trainer/physical therapist/shayna robinson/Weather

Jun

Lululemon and The Rabbit Hole

Heard mentality– it’s a dangerous thing. I love yoga, but exercise and fitness can be a dangerous thing. You convince people that all this is for your body and it’s good and they will literally do ANYTHING to win this race. People LOVE extremes, let’s face it. They will, for instance, follow you into a store and purchase massive quantities of overpriced articles of clothing. And apparently, that’s not all. If you want to indulge yourself in a little extremist herd mentality behavior, check out my favorite example Lululemon. Lofty ideals, they elevate your badonka-donk to a holy height.

If you haven’t been keeping up with the dramatic downfall of my favorite cult Lululemon, then you may be in for a surprise. This week Christina Day, CEO (formerly of Starbucks fame) stepped down after five and a half years. This wouldn’t come as a shock for many who watched the brand take a nose dive after the see-through pants snafu and Founder Chip Wilson’s Ayn Randian demands on employees that they follow his training protocol, “or else.” This is a man who named the company, infamously as a marketing technique because “Asians would have a hard time pronouncing it.”

Wilson, who remains lulu Chairman, sold $50 million worth of stock just days before Day

4111 days ago Short URL Comments

Uncategorized

000 days to live/40/Chip Wilson/Christina Day/Health and Fitness Blog/Lululemon/Personal Trainers Chicago/Physical Therapy Chicago/shayna robinson/Whil/yoga pants

Jun

I Love This

“”

She closed the door with the intention of not looking back
But missed her step because she didn’t have a steady track
She can’t be bothered by the mistakes she’s made
But she’s forgetting that’s what guides you to the rightful path

4114 days ago Short URL Comments

Uncategorized

corefit/corefit chicago/corefitchicago/lucius/shayna robinson/summer songs/turn it around/you tube

Jun

Statins Linked to Muscle Pain, But Evidence Is Minimal

My favorite thing about living in America is the choices we get to make everyday. We can choose to get Starbucks or Dunkin. We can choose to ride our bike or take the car. We can choose what type of job we want to work at everyday. These choices also come with responsibility to educate yourself about potential side effects in making the choices we do everyday.

Here’s a great example: “STATINS LINKED TO MUSCLE PAIN, SPRAINS” (read the headline of Reuters Health this morning)

The BREAKDOWN:

I read the article which cites the Journal of American Medical Association–a hefty and well established journal. It represents diagnosis and studies done in the past as well as peer reviews and editorials of today’s medical research.

Today Reuter’s reports that JAMA claims in a recent study that statins are linked to MUSCLE PAIN and SPRAINS/STRAINS.

Unfortunately the evidence is shaky:

For all of us not on Statins (drugs used for high cholesterol levels), 85% reported problems with muscles or joints.

For those of us on Statins, 87% reported problems.

That pretty much sums up this study: nearly everyone has muscular and/or joint pain.

This girl is now Laughing out loud. Cheers.

Jun

Apps Are So Out

I know, I know… Apps are the next “It” thing if you are in business. But I am proposing that you NOT carry your cell phone everywhere you go. And hey, especially when you are exercising. Because, if anything, exercise is your hour to yourself everyday. And it should be peaceful and quiet and you shouldn’t have emails buzzing and text messages being sent and you shouldn’t be looking at yet another florescent screen just to follow an exercise routine. No, I’m thinking all you need is your eyes, your ears, your heart, your arms and legs to carry out the most physical part of your day. Forget technology, get in touch with something even more intelligent and complex–your body.

So I’m developing a CoreFit Deck that you can take with you. Get the first of these workouts here and print out so you can just grab them and go to the gym. In fact, why not just take a few in your gym back so all you have to do is follow the pictures and do the routine. Simple. And it won’t even show up on your data usage.

Jun

Fruit and Veggie Goodness Smoothies

Green Machine

1/2 cup of mango juice

1/2 cup of passion fruit juice

1/4 cup of kale

1/4 cup of spinach

1 cup of bananas

Protein Berrilicious

1 cup of soymilk

1/2 cup of strawberries

1/2 cup of bananas

4122 days ago Short URL Comments

Uncategorized

Posted in June 2013 …