Nutrition Tip for the week from Kayla Matrunick:

Can you believe that Vitamin D3 was 2009’s most deficient vitamin? Why is vitamin D so important? It is an immune booster, helps fight cancers, wards of depression, important for growth of hair/skin/nails, regulates blood pressure, maintains normal levels of calcium and phosphorus in blood, and is important for bone development. So as you can see it’s important that we get enough Vitamin D3!

Some great foods sources of Vitamin D include fish, cod liver oil, eggs, and fortified dairy. However, these sources need to be activated by 10 minutes of sunlight (UVB rays of the sun) per day in order to transform into the usable “D3” form.  With today’s sunscreens, busy lives inside, and sun protective clothing, we fail to reach 10! Luckily, there are also supplements available that can be found at the Health Shoppe.  Are you getting your Vitamin D3?

Fitness tip for the week from Becky Fox:

If you’re not doing so already it’s important that you include some cardio in your fitness program. The key is to find an activity that you enjoy, so you can stick with the program. Cardio activities include walking with a friend, bike riding, swimming, or playing soccer with your kids. Really anything that gets your heart rate up for an extended period of time and keeps you sweating!

You’d be amazed how quickly you can start losing pounds, increase your endurance, increase your energy, and become healthier by incorporating more cardio activity into your daily life.

A good goal is to eventually participate in some type of cardio activity for 30minutes, 3- 5 days a week. If your goal is weight loss, you may need to up the number of minutes you are active every week to burn more calories. This could be 45-60 minutes or simply stick with the 30 minutes and really up the intensity so you are working extra hard.

And if you’re day is jam packed and you know you can’t take 30 minutes for a walk, then by all means break it up into shorter segments. This may mean walking for 15 minutes in the morning, at lunch, and after dinner for a total of 45 minutes. Hey every little bit of activity is definitely going to be beneficial in the long run! So get out there and sweat.

Anyhow, I wanted to share with you all some of the great tips that these challengers received along the way so you too can be motivated to transform your body and be your best.

Setting Goals and Eating Often for Success!

The key to lasting change is to set a specific goal and immediately start taking action steps to reaching that goal. You all had some great goals at the start of the new year. Some of you are trying to lose weight, tone up, or be able to run a race. So keep reminding yourself about these goals EVERYDAY! Write them down and put them where you can see them so you are constantly reminded. Visualize what you will look like when you reach them.

Also, determine the action steps you will take to reach those goals, whether that be hitting the gym 3 times this week or cutting out sugar and sweets from your diet. It’s important that you think ahead and have a plan so that you can be successful.

So keep working at it because in my book you are all winners for taking the challenging and making the effort to change your life. Stay focused and you will achieve great things.

That is my tip for the week. Kayla Matrunick with Food2Fit and the Health Shoppe has also provided you some great nutrition tips that I will be sending out on a weekly basis. This weeks tip:

It’s important to incorporate small frequent meals into your healthy eating plan!

- Aim for 3 main meals that include lean protein, whole grain, and fruit/vegetable.

- Aim for 2-3 mini meals; shoot for 250 calories, including 5-10 grams of protein and fiber.

Two individuals that have made substantial changes in their  physique already are featured below. Congrats ladies!!

Donna Paul – Down 6 Pounds with some great tips to share!

Donna entered the Transformation Challenge with a goal to lose 10-15 pounds. So what is she doing to work toward that goal?

Cardio: Two 45 minute spin classes

Strength Training: Two days of circuit training for all over strength training and toning.

What’s her biggest obstacle? Portion control!

What has she done to battle that obstacle? Use smaller plates and containers for all meals. Donna also plans what she will eat the next day so she won’t be tempted to eat unhealthy.

Donna’s Nutrition Tip: Watch those nutrition labels! There are so many foods you think are healthy and they really aren’t. So learn to read those labels and do it every time.

Donna says it’s all about reprogramming your mind. It is difficult but is a necessary part of reaching your goals.

So how is Donna doing? She has lost 6 pounds and now can fit back into a size 6!! An hey she even took her pic at the gym Congrats Donna!

Bonnie Harlow – Lost 3 Pounds and Gained Lots of Tone!

Bonnie was ready to make some real changes in her life and is willing to do what it takes to lose the weight and lead a healthier life.

So what is Bonnie doing? Bonnie is working with dietician Kayla Matrunick and sticking to a healthy diet. Bonnie eats 3 main meals and 3 mini meals to keep her metabolism revving so it burns fat and to ward off hunger so she can easily stick to her plan of healthy eating.

Her workouts consists of about an hour a day of cardio and weights. She is also working with a personal trainer twice a week to  give her that extra push and accountability.

At typical day or eating for Bonnie looks like this:

• Morning Breakfast:  1/2 cup oatmeal, 3 egg whites, hand full blueberries
• Post workout: recovery shake w/ 2:1:1 made w/ one cup plain greek yogurt
• Lunch: 4 oz shredded chicken, brown rice, broccoli
• Afternoon mini-meal: ultra energy acai bar or myoplex meal replacement shake
• Dinner: tilapia, quinoa, green beans
• Mini meal: 1/4 cup cottage  ch, 1 tbsp greek  yogurt, sprinkle of crushed almonds
• As for beverages, Bonnie only drinks water or an occasional coffee – w/ splenda and powdered/ non-dairy creamer.

Bonnie’s Motivational Tip: It is a slow process, and you may have to implement little changes at a time. I’ve had to change the way I look and think about food.  Now, I consider food  fuel for my goal and energy for my workouts. I don’t think of it as “Oh, that looks sooo good,” because I don’t feel like it is “good”/( taste good, maybe yes) but not good for my goal and the me I want to be.

Bonnie is ultra committed and determined that she can do anything for 12 weeks. After that time these new healthy habits will be second nature and she’ll be able to passionately continue with the same diet and exercise routine even after the challenge is over.

So  how is Bonnie doing? She has lost 3 pounds and has increased her muscle tone!