Personal Best

september 2011 pb magazine 3

In This Issue...Cover StoriesApps That Can Help

You Lose Weight10 Ways Yoga Can Improve Your LifeRun a 5k This Fall

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10.15.

Also In This Issue:Letter from the Editor

Ask DanielleAthlete of the Issue

Product ReviewsShuffle This!

Gardening Tips from the Pro

Quick & Easy Home Makeover

Vitamin 411Cauliflower: Food of

the Issue

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13.p. 10

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4 pb magazine september 2011

Letter from the Editor

When the going gets tough, the tough get going...Or at least that’s what they say. But that’s not always easy to believe when the goings are tough. In fact, the tough forget that they are tough. We all do it, we have all been there, caught like a deer in headlights, hand

in the cookie box at 2 a.m. or in the McDonald’s drive-thru when we know that we had packed a healthier lunch for yourself. Maybe we’ve plateaued. Maybe our workout got boring. Or maybe we’ve just become too busy, too overwhelmed by our regular day to day lives that we missed more work-outs than we know we should. Whatever it is, it’s okay. Don’t get frus-trated over it. Often times, we will get so down on ourselves for a mistake or slight slip-up. And since we’ve already got ourselves down, we might as well have another piece of cake. No. Stop right there. There’s no need to feel this way. What you are going through is perfectly normal. I once heard a story from my mom about a woman who went to Weight Watchers with her. The woman had lost over 100 pounds. She was very successful until the holidays hit, and she gained 70 pounds back. I re-member thinking to myself, “Oh my gosh, how could she slip up so bad?” But I realize now how easy it is to happen. If this has happened to you, let me tell you, I know from experi-ence, don’t panic. You’ve been here before. Before, as in the days where your diet was out of control. And you know what, you can do it again. In fact, it might even be a good thing. You can learn from the mistakes in your workout or diet regiment that might have slipped you up or injured you previously. So jump back on your horse (or bike or whatever your sport of choice is!) and get a move on! Those extra pounds, that fatigue, that lack of strength and self confidence, it’ll be gone before you know it! And you’ll soon bee on to bigger and better things!

danielle lukeeditor-in-chief

Health & Happiness,

pb magazine’s editor, Danielle Luke, is a health and fitness nut from Chicago, IL. She studied fine art at Columbia College Chicago and graphic design at Robert Morris University. Danielle grew up playing soccer and played throughout high school. During college she gained a considerable amount of weight. After losing over 50 pounds, Danielle went back to her soccer roots but this time just did the running part. She has done countless 5k’s, several 8k’s, obstacle courses, and a half marathons twice. She is always in training for something. There isn’t an exercise or work out she won’t try and is always trying to improve her physical self; Danielle has a little bit of knowledge of a lot of different things.


Tricia Salefski (T-Rex)26, Chicago, IL

AskDanielleGot a question? Not sure where to turn? Ask Danielle! Every issue, Danielle answers questions submitted by readers like you. She answers everything from questions about food to fitness to health. Tweet her your question, and the answer could appear in our next issue!

Q: In your opinion, what are the best running shoes?A: In my opinion, everyone should go to their local running store and get fitted for the proper shoes. Everyone’s feet are different and will require a different type of shoe. Personally, I would recommend anything by Brooks. So go get measured for the perfect shoe for you. Oh! And don’t forget, your running shoes should be replaced about every 6 months or 350-550 miles.

Q: I’m a beginner at running, and I was wondering if you could

tell me a good distance to strive for?A: A mile? Two miles? It depends on your fitness level, if you’re a very new runner and haven’t really ever ran, maybe try doing some intervals. Run for five minutes (or for one song on your ipod!), walk for five, and repeat. If you’ve been kind of running off and on, I recommend gradually increasing your distance by a mile every week or two until you get where you want to be. (See page 15 for an easy 8 week 5k training plan.) Good luck!

Q: When working out weekly, how many workouts should include

strength? A: You can do strength as many days as you want or need to. I would recommend doing strength three days a week. One work out should focus on legs, the other on arms, and the last on core and back.

Q: What is the benefit of fish oil in your diet?A: Fish oil is good for your heart. Studies have proven that fish oil in your diet will reduce your risk of heart attack and stroke. Some other studies also show that fish oil reduces the risk of certain cancers. The Omega-3 in fish oils are proven to also alleviate symptoms of depression.

Favorite pre-race meal: I don’t really have one, I’m usually so nervous, but it usu-ally involves eggs and something fast. Absolutely no milk.Best part of a race/what you look most forward to: My time! See-ing how I’m going to perform, and

if I trained hard enough. Future ath-letic goals: I’m taking MMA classes, it’s a great way to work other muscles. Maybe one day I’ll com-pete, I won’t say never, because I said I’d never do a half marathon. I also really want to do a triathlon one day, it’s on the list of things to do.

An accessory you can’t leave your house with-out (for any workout): Water… I don’t re-ally have too many gadget’s. If it’s a long run I need my glorified fanny pack (water belt) and if its winter, I need chap stick and tissues. Best running

or workout song: The band Decapitated the whole CD gets me “pumped”.Favorite training workout: Jillian Michaels for cross train-ing, her books are great. I love to do hill sprints just because they’re so hard and really make a difference

in my long runs. Favorite/most memo-rable race: Disney half marathon…such an accomplish-ment and just an overall amazing race and weekend. The next day (my race partner) and I cheered on the full marathon runners, and that was an awesome experi-ence.

Athlete of the Issue


New to the Skinny Cow line are two

different flavored candy snack packs. These perfectly portioned snacks will only cost you 110-120 of your daily-allotted calories, but they will taste like so much more! The Heavenly Crisp candy bar is comparable to a Kit Kat but even better, and the Mini Turtle pieces are to die for! Available in milk and dark chocolate, you can find these candies for 99 cents a piece or by the box for $4.29. Catch them while they are on sale or check your local paper for a coupon for an even better deal.

ShuffleThis!

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SnacksYou Will

ProductReviews

This Hoover pet series is excellent for any

pet owner, even for the heaviest shedding dogs. It works great on hard-wood floors, tile, and any carpet. A feature that makes it stand out - a retractable cord that winds itself up with the push of a button! The handle folds down which shrinks the vacuum down in size and makes it easy to carry and store. Compared to a Dyson vacuum, the Hoover pet series is half the price retailing at $199.99 and worth every penny. If you have pets that shed, this vacuum is an absolute must have!

Hoover Wind Tunnel Pet Rewind Plus

Skinny Cow Individual

Candies

David Guetta featuring Nicki Manaj

& Flo Rida “Where Them Girls At”Gucci Mane & OJ Da Juiceman “Wasted”Bad Meets Evil featurning Bruno

Mars“Lighters”Britney Spears “I Wanna Go”Black Eyes Peas “Don’t Stop the Party”La Roux “Bulletproof”Young Jeezy featuring Lil Wayne “Ballin”Tech N9ne“Everybody Move”Jay Sean featuring Lil Wayne “Hit the Lights”Yelawolf “Pop the Trunk”

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10

3:33

4:13

5:07

TOTAL: 41:38 When you hit the gym or go out for a run, pop on your list of these 10 great tracks. Before you know it, you’ve kicked butt in an almost 42 minute workout!


Everyone once and a while there seems to be a new diet fad that hits the streets, promising to help you lose weight. South Beach diet. Lemonade diet. Cab-

bage Soup diet. Hollywood diet. Low Carb. Low Fat. Any of these diets sound familiar to you? Have you ever tried any of these ridiculous diets and had any success? Most likely, these diets either haven’t worked or weren’t done long enough to work. We’ve all been there, we’ve all had a diet plan we’ve vowed to stick to, but for one reason or another, it ended up not working.

With today’s technology, your smart phone can help you achieve your weight loss goals. Let’s face it, your cell phone has become a part of you. It’s carried in y our pocket or purse all day long. It’s on you night stand when you go to bed at night. It’s your whole life wrapped up into one neat little device. You can use it for everything under the sun (or even the stars with Google Skymaps!) So why not put it to use for you in your goals of losing weight? Take a seat, because I’ve got some shocking news

Apps That Can Help You Lose Weight


for you! All these diets, diet pills, weight loss videos, as seen on TV workout machines...They vow to get you the body of your dreams...right after they get your 3 easy payments of $99.95. Here’s the shocking part - the only real way you are going to loose weight is to count calories. Yes, that’s right, counting calories. The old-fashioned way of counting calories. And you thought you would never need math! Gaining and loos-ing weight is just a numbers game - calorie intake versus calories burned. One day, just for fun, write down everything you eat and how many calories are in all those serv-ings. You will certainly be surprised by the result. All the calories in those potato chips, extra helping during dinner, or that candy bar add up - and real fast! Before you know it, you are eating way too many calories that you are not burning off. The solution: keep track. If you don’t have a smart phone, no worries. The regular paper and pencil method works just as well; all you need is a notebook. Having a smart phone or accessibility to an app market will just make things a little easier. The first thing you need to do is figure out your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) to find out how many calories you need to consume to maintain your current weight. The equations differ for men and women and are in weight in pounds and height in inches:Women: BMR = 655 + (4.35 x Weight) + (4.7 x Height) - (4.7 x age)Men: BMR = 66 + (6.23 x Weight) + (12.7 x Height) - (6.8 x age) For example, a 26-year-old

woman who is 5 foot 6 inches and currently weights 155 pounds would need to eat 1,517 calories a day to maintain her current weight. Eat-ing more calories than this daily will cause her to gain weight, while eating less calories than this will help her lose weight. 655 + (4.35 x 155) + (4.7 x 66) - (4.7 x 26) = 1517.25 Then you adjust this number, depending on how much or how little weight you want to lose. Without ex-ercise, if this female cut her calories down by 200 a day, she could even-tually reach her goal weight of 135 pounds. Exercise, of course, speed this process of losing weight up and also helps produce muscle mass for a

more lean body. All this math sucks. Good news is that if you have a smart phone, you don’t have to do this! There are plenty of apps out there that will do the

work for you. In addition to figuring out all of the BMR stuff, depending on the app, it will keep track of your calorie intake and let you know when you are getting too close to you allotted calories. Here at pb magazine, we’ve researched, tested, and rated 3 differ-ent FREE apps for counting calories and diet tracking available through the Android marketplace.Calorie Counter by MyFitnessPal. To begin with this app, you will be asked a series of questions, such as height, weight, age, and how much weight you are planning on los-ing/gaining (i.e. 1/2 pound per week, 1 pound per week, etc.) The home screen displays a number in bold, the number of calories remaining with a summary underneath of your nutri-

Women: BMR = 655 + (4.35 x Weight) + (4.7 x Height)

- (4.7 x age)Men: BMR = 66 + (6.23 x

Weight) + (12.7 x Height) - (6.8 x age)

ent information. In the diary tab, you add your breakfast, lunch, and dinner foods as well as exercise, water, and food and exercise notes. The progress tab keeps track and records input weight data. This app allows you to scan barcodes on food packages to input their data as well as searching or cre-ating a food or meal. You can also use quick calories which is just adding the number, if you already know it.Calorie Counter & Diet Tracking If you learn best from pie charts and graphs, then this would be the app for you. The home screen displays a scale balancing how many calories burned versus consumed. It also breaks it down by carbs, pro-teins, fats, etc. so you know if you’ve taken in too many or not enough of those also. This app allows you to (continued on page 13)

Screen shot of Food Diary of Calorie Counter by FatSecret

Screen shot of main screen of

Calorie Counter by MyFitnessPal

Screen shot of Food Diary of Calorie Counter & Diet Tracking


Gardening Tips from the Pro

Organic vs. Traditional Gardeningwith fadi hasan

This months’ interesting topic convention-al gardening versus organic gardening. We’ve all been to the store and seen what appears to be the same fruit and veggies on the other side of the produce depart-ment labeled “Organic” and costs twice as much. Here’s the difference and how you can produce your own organic garden at home. Organic: An organic garden uses all natural ingredients when growing plants. It does not use any chemicals as either primary means of plant nutrition or as a supplement. Natural fertilizers and organic materials can be used to help the vegetable grow. Worms can be used as na-

ture’s tillers and soil conditioners. Make sure you choose natural products. Old ani-mal manure (from rabbits, horses, sheep, chickens, and cows) is a great source, or you can check your local store for pack-aged organic materials. Remember to buy seeds that say “organic” on the package. These seeds are not genetically modified to grow faster or have brighter colors. Traditional: A traditional garden uses chemically induced ingredients when growing plants, such as chemically induces soil and nutrition such as miracle grow. Seeds that are genetically modi-fied are done so for the purpose of having plants and vegetables grow faster and

have brighter colors for a more appealing visual look. In addition, modified seeds and plants ten to grow in more abun-dance. Chemical sprays are used to help keep bugs and animals from eating and destroying plants. There you have it! Now you know the dif-ference between organic and traditional gardening. Decide which way works best for you and, start growing!

Quick & Easy Makeover Tipsfor the Home

Area before remodel. This area seems cluttered with random things that aren’t even useful or match.

Area after remodel. More plants were added to the room for color, scent, and the ambiance. They were arranged descending by height.

In just 5 easy steps, under an hour, and for under $15, you can transform the look of a room with plants!What we did...

We picked up some cheap glasses from the local thrift store to use as vases.

1.

Carefully clean the glass and remove any stickers or price tags.

2.

Pick out plants to use. Here we stopped at Walmart and picked out some spice plants for under $2 each.

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5.

4.Remove soil from plant’s roots.

Display plant in vase with water.


Stress and tension reduction.The precise move-ments involved in yoga put attention in other areas such as holding a diffi-cult pose or which leg needs to move where.

10 Ways

Your LifeHelp Improve

Yoga Can

We have complied for you, ten really, really good reasons why, if

you haven’t already, you should start doing yoga. It’s more than just stretching...Yoga can and will improve your life! Open your mind, body, and spirit, and let yoga in.

1.

Tree pose. Beginners can hold their hands together at heart center. For a more advanced pose lift your arms and turn your head to the sky.


5.

Reduces back pain and improves posture. Back pain is a result of poor posture which yoga helps improve.

Boosts self esteem and self acceptance. Doing tricky maneuvers give you the “I Can Do It Attitude”. The first

time you are able to hold a pose you never thought you could, it give you empowerment to keep on striving for more, both on and off

the yoga mat.

Improves circulation. The stretching involved in yoga helps supply oxygen rich blood to the heart and rest of the body improving your circulation

Increased Fitness. Yoga improves balance, flexibility, range of motion and muscle strength. It’s the natural version of weight lifting.

2. 3.

4.

Down Dog. Basic yoga pose. Stretch out hamstrings by bringing

heels to the ground. For an advanced pose, come up on your toes.

Up Dog. Basic yoga

pose usually following

down dog. Beginners can start with legs resting on the

mat, raising only the chest

off the mat.

Side Plank. Come up off the mat on one arm and one leg. For advanced pose, bring one leg on top of the other into tree pose and extend the arm. Beginners may kneel one knee on the ground with the other leg balancing and extending on the mat.

Twisting Side Angle Lunge Pose. From a lunge, stack your shoulders on

top on another and extend arm out over head to form a diagonal with the leg, or for

beginners extend arm straight up.6.Spinal Twist with Back Pocket. A variation on Warrior I, use the hand closes to bent knee to rest on naval while the other hand is “tucked in your back pocket.” For advanced pose, bring hands to shake in between legs.

Helps with insomnia and improves sleep.

(continued on next page)


8.

10.

Create a sense of well being and calmness. The soothing movements and music in yoga, during relaxation, lowers the heart rate and gives you an overall sense of calm after a yoga session. This sense of calm follows you throughout your day.

Improves concentration, creativity, and memory. some studies of yoga have shown that this workout helps improve functions of the brain such as memory. It is believed to be linked to doing a routine of movements over time, remembering how to do them and their names.

weight loss. enough said.

9.

7.

Stimulate the Immune System. Get sick less, feel better. Your body works its best when your immune system is functioning at it’s max.

Pigeon. This pose can be can done with the knee

brough up the the chest with the other leg extended back. Lay your chest on the floor. For advanced pose,use the same side arm to hold one

leg up; the flying pigeon.

Boat Pose. While lying on your stomach, use your core muscles to , one at a time,

reach your arm behind your back and grab your foot. Open your chest and look forward.

Warrior III. This is the most advanced of the warrior poses. For

beginners, foam yoga blocks can be used to hold while balancing on

one leg. .


(continued from page 8)input the foods you have eaten for every meal by searching foods or imputing just a calorie number. The activity field allows you to select an activity and how many average calo-ries burned. Like the food section, the activity section lets you just enter a number of calories burned, let’s say, if you did a long workout of various activities and wore your heart rate monitor. It also keeps track of your weight on a line graph to show you your progress.Calorie Counter by Fat Secret On the main screen of this app, you are given a summary of your daily calories, exercise, and weight remaining to lose to reach your goal weight. By selecting the menu icon

in the top left corner, you are able to better navigate through the app. It can take you to your food or exer-cise diary, diet calendar, and weight tracker. Like the other apps, you can search for your food or scan the barcode; however, it does not allow you just simply input a number. The upside is that this app has a restau-rant and chain food selection tool. You can for example, select Burger King, then Burgers, and you are given a list of their menu items with the nu-trition info. This can help you to also make better choices while at a food or sit down restaurant. You were go-ing to order the Angry Whopper, but then saw it was 880 calories while the BK veggie burger with no mayo is only 310 calories. Do you want fries

with that? Try the value size fry for 220 calories over the medium sized fry for 340 calories. While the differ-ence in price may only be a dollar, you are saving yourself 120 unneces-sary calories. Another plus to this app is that the search feature contains several supermarket named brands. Great Value from Walmart, Market Pantry from Target, and Trader Joe’s brand items can be found using the search feature of this app.

Vitamin 411Do you feel overwhelmed by information on all these different types of vita-mins that all do different things? Do you know which vitamins you are supposed to take

and how much of it you are supposed to have? There’s lots of information out there on whether or not we should be tak-ing a daily multivitamin. Truth is, if you are eat-ing a healthy diet, then a multivitamin might not be necessary. But if you are worried about not getting the proper vitamins, taking a multi won’t do you any harm.

Here’s a list of popular vitamins and what they do, and then you can easily decide which ones you should take that will not poison you and are water soluble.Vitamin B1: nervous system, digestionVitamin B2: skin, nails, hairVitamin C: im-mune system, pro-tection from virusFolic Acid: protec-tion of red blood cellsThese vitamins should be taken in moderation:

Vitamin A: eyesightVitamin D: bones and teeth

Magnesium: converts en-ergy from food.


Cauliflower is an annual plant that reproduces by seed. Typically, only the head of the vege-table is eaten, while the stalk and surrounding

thick, green leaves are used in vegetable brother or discarded. Cauliflower is mostly known for it’s white color, but it also available in orange, green, and pur-ple. This veggie is low in fat and high in fiber, water, and vitamin C. High intake of cauliflower is associ-ated with a lower risk of prostate cancer. It can be cooked several ways including steaming, broiling, boiling, frying, and eaten raw. Steaming the vegeta-ble better preserves the anticancer compounds. Selecting the best cauliflower while at the supermarket You want to select a cauliflower that is fairly heavy in weight. These cauliflower will have more meat (delicious, edible area) on them. The perfect cauli-flower will be somewhat yellowish in color. Avoid

cauliflower that has brown patches on the top. These are older plants and won’t last as long. At the store, line up several veggies in a row and compare the white to yellow shades of the flowerets. Pick the one that is somewhat yellow, but not yet brown.

Cauliflower!The Food of the Issue

Recipe: Jillian’s Mashed Cauliflower Serves 4

(from Jillian Michael’s Making the Cut) What you will need4 cups cauliflower florets1 oz. I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter Spray1 oz. half & half1/8 tsp. freshly ground black pepperWhat you do1. Steam cauliflower until soft2. Puree in a food processor, adding butter spray and half and half.3. Season with pepper(Calories: 101; Fat 8g; Protein 2g; Sodium 82 mg; Fiber 3g; Carbs 5g)

Try this recipe for Mashed Cauliflower in place of mashed potatoes


3.1 Reasons to Do a 5k This Fall!Football games, cooler weather, and of course the

holidays. The fall is a great time of the year. It can also be pretty dangerous if you are watching your

weight. Here’s 3.1 (and yes we had to throw in the .1!) Reasons why you should do a 5k this fall.

1Stay in shape during the fall and through the winter. These small races keep you in shape and keep you training during the less active months.

Your PB! It’s not too hot. It’s not too cold. It’s great running weather. It’s the perfect oppor-tunity to get in your personal best race time.

Cheap races! Some local towns have 5k’s for about $17. Check with your local municipality to see if your town has a turkey trot race, and sign up! Signing up right away will give you the motivation to train for it.

...and...you get a the t-shirt for your collection!1

8 Week Training Schedule for your First 5k.

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