If you've heard it once, you've heard it a thousand times....eat your fruits and vegetables!! Doing so will make you healthier and help you avoid chronic illnesses such as cancer. Well, here is a great guide to follow. Now eat your......!!

Red/Purple Group - Grapes, grape products (red wine, grape juice), prunes, cranberries, blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, red peppers, plums, cherries, eggplant, red beets, raisins, red apples, red pears

Red Group - Tomatoes, tomato products (pasta sauce, tomato soup, tomato-based juices, ketchup), pink grapefruit, watermelon

Orange Group - Carrots, mangos, apricots, cantaloupes, pumpkin, acorn squash, winter squash, sweet potatoes

Orange/Yellow Group - Orange juice, oranges, tangerines, yellow grapefruit, lemon, line, peaches, papaya, pineapple, nectarines

Yellow/Green Group - Spinach, collard, mustard greens, turnip greens, yellow, corn, avocado, green peas, green beans, green peppers, yellow peppers, cucumber, kiwi, romaine lettuce, zucchini, honeydew melon, muskmelon

Green Group - Broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, Chinese cabbage, bok choi, kale

White/Green Group - Garlic, onions, leeks, celery, asparagus, artichoke, endive, chives, mushrooms

This information is based on the UCLA Center for Human Nutrition's color code system. It encourages a variety of fruits and vegetables to ensure a diverse intake of phytonutrients (cancer fighting nutrients). You should aim for one food item from each color group per day, eat seven or more servings of fruit and vegetables per day and eat a variety of fruits and vegetables. Mother did know best about what you should eat!

1) Don't stop or slack off on your exercise program during the holiday season! And, if you aren't exercising, then this would be a great time to start (don't wait until January). I have a goal of at least trying to maintain my pre-holiday weight during the holiday season. This is not easy because every holiday gathering that I go to has food attached to it! Yikes!!

2) Go easy on the condiments. The holidays are famous for people coming up with special "sauces, dips and toppings for the season." Don't splurge on these sauces---just sample.

3) Now that Thanksgiving is over, go back to your normal diet. Don't make Thanksgiving through January 1 one long eating binge!

4) This rule always applies to any season---if its fried, let it slide!

5) Alcohol has calories too---7 calories per gram to be exact. Don't tank it too much!

6) You don't have to eat until you are stuffed. If you are like me, you pile too many goodies on your plate. You don't have to finish it.

7) Don't spend all of your time eating at the holiday parties. Work the room and talk a little.

8) Snack on some walnuts or almonds before you go to the party. They are good for you and you won't arrive at the party starving.

9) Drink lots of water at the party and you will eat less.

10) Allow yourself one dessert (or a sample of a few) during the party. It's okay since you are going to exercise tomorrow----right?

People with a lower percentage of body fat have a higher metabolism than those who are less muscular because muscle uses more calories to maintain itself. A slow metabolism actually causes you to store fat. Use these tips to speed up your metabolism, burn more fat and lose more weight:

Some Things That Slow Your Metabolism:

1. Fasting. It causes your body to switch to survival mode and store fat.
2. A diet that is too low-calorie. See number 1.
3. Snacking throughout the day on high sugared foods (such as candy and sodas).
4. Drinking too many sugary drinks.
5. A lack of physical activity (cardio and weight training).
6. You have an underactive thyroid.

Some Things That Speed Up Your Metabolism:

1. Do not skip meals (eat 4 to 6 small meals a day).
2. Regular exercise (cardio 5-6 days/weight training 3 days).
3. Build more muscle.
4. Avoid too much alcohol and sugar.
5. Drink 8-10 glasses (8 oz.) of water daily.
6. Eat foods with high nutritional values (such as fiber).

Other Facts About The Body's Metabolism:

Fact #1: A slow or sluggish metabolism is not the major cause of weight gain.

A caloric imbalance is the cause of weight gain (taking in more calories than you burn in a day). If you have a slow or sluggish metabolism? A brisk 30 minute walk each day would get you started in the right direction to speed it up.

Fact #2: Lifting weights (or other resistance exercises) and cardio exercise will give you a higher metabolic rate.

Most aerobic exercises give you a calorie afterburn of 10% to 15% of calories used during a workout. So, if you burned 300 calories in a cardio session, you'll burn an additional 30 to 45 calories over several hours. You should do at least 30 minutes of cardio 5-6 times per week (with intensity at least 60% to 70% of your maximum heart rate). Combine your cardio with weight/resistance training (at least 3days a week) and it will speed up your metabolism even more because muscle increases your body's capacity to burn calories during and after exercise.

Fact #3: Sweating is not a gauge of how many calories you are burning.

Weight loss or gain is a product of calories consumed or burned. If you burn more calories than you consume, you will lose weight and vice-versa.

Fact #4: The best time to exercise is whenever you have the most energy.

Working out at any time of the day will increase metabolism for several hours, depending on intensity.

Fact #5: Your metabolism doesn't necessarily have to slow down as you get older.

Your metabolism may get sluggish because of fat gain and lost muscle mass. The easiest way to keep a healthy metabolic rate for life is to engage in consistent exercise.


"I don't have enough time to exercise!" When was the last time you said that or heard it on the lips of someone else. We all know that it is an easy excuse to use when we don't want to do something (or commit to something). You have heard this saying: "You get out of it what you put into it." This is certainly true when it comes to the health benefits received from regular exercise (you actually get more than you put into it). These are some benefits of just 30 minutes of daily exercise activity like walking, jogging, biking, dancing or swimming:

1. Lost Weight
2. Reduced Body Fat
3. Lower LDL Levels (bad cholesterol)
4. Lower Blood Pressure
5. Improved Heart Function
6. Reduced Risk of Chronic Diseases such as diabetes, cancer and heart disease
7. Improved Appearance and Boost of Self-Esteem
8. Increased Energy
9. Reduced Healthcare Costs

Do you have a spare 30 minutes in your day? Of course you do! Go ahead and get started! Walk around the neighborhood for 30 minutes every day and before you know it you will progress to running and lifting weights also!

For the final part (5) of this series, I will discuss what it means to functionally train your body. Functional training is basically training your body for how you want to live and play. For example, an athlete will train differently from someone who just wants to maintain general fitness.

What does it mean to weight train in all three planes of motion? It is important to remember that although an activity might be one-plane dominant (running straight ahead is sagittal plane dominate), the other two planes of motion must be stable in order to perform the activity efficiently. Also, no motion occurs in one plane only. The three planes are explained below:

1. Frontal Plane – imaginary bisector that divides the body into equal front and back halves. The motions primarily involve abduction and adduction (side-to-side motions). Abduction takes a limb away from the midline of the body and adduction takes the limb closer to the midline of the body. Examples include exercises performed on a hip abductor and hip adductor machines. Other frontal plane motions would be side lunges, dumbbell lateral shoulder raises and lateral spinal flexion. Quickness and agility movements made by athletes require adequate frontal plane stability, strength, power, flexibility and balance.

2. Sagittal Plane – imaginary bisector that divides the body into left and right halves. The motions involve forward-backward and up-down movements relative to the body and/or joint. Examples would be walking, running, bicep curls, leg curls and seated back rows. Traditional training techniques (such as training with machine weights) have focused on the sagittal plane of motion. This is not an effective training technique if the other planes of motion are ignored during training.

3. Transverse Plane – imaginary bisector that divides the body into top and bottom halves. The motions are primarily rotational. Obviously, this will be a dominate plane of motion for many athletes and everyone in general. Baseball players (swinging, turning, pivoting, etc.), football defensive backs (hip rotations, quick turns, etc.) are just two examples. Transverse lunges and many medicine ball exercises will train you in the transverse plane.

Part of functional training involves doing exercises that train all three planes of motion. You will have to get off of the weight machines and diversify your training methods! Your body will thank you!

About the Author:

Mark Dilworth, BA, PES, CPT is a Certified Personal Trainer and former NCAA Division I athlete. Mark’s Fat Blaster Athletic Training System has been proven to give his clients the fit, sculpted and athletic-type bodies they want. Visit Mark’s sites:

My Fitness Hut http://myfitnesshut.blogspot.com

Her Fitness Hut http://herfitnesshut.com


Sports Fitness Hut http://sportsfitnesshut.blogspot.com