The REAL Reasons Women Shouldn't Lift Weights

Hey there - just Lindsay today! As a fitness professional and a woman, I felt it was my duty to share this with you guys. In no particular order, here's the REAL reasons women shouldn't lift weights:

#1 You'll gain confidence. Like makeup-free pics all over your Instagram confident. CAN YOU IMAGINE?!

#2 You'll get stronger. 5 flights of stairs is suddenly easy. Lugging your toddler plus the 10 bags it takes to just go to the grocery store is no problem for your strong arms. WHATEVER WILL YOU DO?!

#3 You'll lose body fat. You know, the stuff actually related to chronic health conditions, your body's proportions, etc. But that doesn't matter because the scale won't go down as much.

#4 You'll look better in your clothes. Less frump, more tight. What will you do with all your Spanx?!

#5 You'll have a faster metabolism, which means you can eat more food. THE HORROR!

There you have it - you definitely shouldn't lift weights as a woman unless you want to be more confident, stronger, have less body fat, and a higher metabolism. Just the thought of those things makes me shiver.

In Health,

Lindsay

P.S. - kinda hope y'all get the sarcasm, but because one never knows, here's the disclaimer: THIS IS HEAVILY LACED WITH SARCASM. I *LOVE* lifting for all those reasons and more. GO LIFT WEIGHTS!

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Coaching Opportunity

If you're reading this blog - it's probably because you have some level of interest in health and fitness and how it all fits into a "regular person's" busy lifestyle!!

Please take a little less than 5 minutes to watch the video at the end of this post to find out how we turned our journey going from this:

December 2007

To this:

Nearly 100 lbs GONE! Photo Credit: Laura Gordon Photography

....into an income for us!

Hope to hear from you soon!!

In Health,

Lindsay and Timothy
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Nutrition 101: Part 4 - Fat!

Welcome all to the fourth and final installment of our Nutrition 101 series! If you've missed any of the pieces so far, please take a moment to review:

Part I - What and How Much
Part II - Protein
Part III - Carbs

Now that you're all up to speed - let's jump right in!

Fats - they are absolutely essential for normal body function, for ALL bodies (big, small, tall, short, ALL!) They are a major source of energy, help your body in absorbing vitamins, and are vital for proper growth, development and keeping you healthy. Fats also provide taste to foods and help you feel fuller longer.

Life would be all peanut butter and chocolate if that's where it stopped, right? Well, life isn't and nothing is ever that easy :-) There are different kinds of fats and not all of them are created equal!

Trans Fat - can be both naturally occurring (small amounts in the fatty parts of meat and dairy) and artificial (foods that contain partially hydrogenated oil). A lot of people just say avoid all trans fat, when in reality, it isn't the small amounts in meat/dairy that get ya - it's the artificial trans fat in processed food products (read: Twinkie). As with virtually everything, avoid and limit processed foods!

Saturated Fat - a lot of conflicting information out there on this little bugger. Saturated fat is often found in high-fat cheeses, high-fat cuts of meat, whole-fat milk and cream, butter, and ice cream. The whole "saturated fat causes heart disease" stands on really shaky ground from a data perspective, but the overall takeaway is: we're not saying gorge yourself on butter, bacon, and cheese, but there is no reason why these things can't be a part of a healthy diet!

Polyunsaturated and Monounsaturated Fat  - most of your fat should come from these sources! Nuts, vegetable oils, and fish fall into these two categories. Great sources of Omega-6 and Omega-3!

Cholesterol - fatty substance that's found in animal-based foods (meats, poultry, egg yolks, and whole milks). Not only do you get cholesterol from the foods you eat, but your body also makes cholesterol to use in normal body functions. Here is where HDL ("good" cholesterol) and LDL ("bad" cholesterol) come into play.

The amount of fat one should have in their diet varies based on a person's current state, their goals, any dietary guidelines they follow (Paleo/Caveman diet, for example, is high fat), etc.

Most important takeaway is this: Make the majority of your fat come from these: fish, avocados, eggs, olive/canola/coconut oils, and nuts/nut butters.

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In Health,

Timothy and Lindsay

These are a few of our *new* favorite things...

A couple items you might want to keep an eye out for in your next shopping trip!

Disclaimer with this first product: We wouldn't say this is the healthiest or cleanest thing to have, but hey...sometimes, you just want some cinnamon butter! :-)

Land O'Lakes Cinnamon Sugar Butter Spread....this stuff is the bomb.com!! It goes wonderfully on a slice of gluten-free bread. It's 70 calories per tablespoon (so go easy) and has 4 grams of sugar. For those interested, the ingredients list is pretty good, just cream, sugar, canola oil, water, cinnamon, salt, and citric acid:

Another item new to our kitchen is powered Chia seeds. Chia is all the rage (probably largely due to Dr. Oz's endorsement), but in all honesty, it does have great nutritional value. Chia is full of healthy omega fats, protein, antioxidants, and dietary fiber. Chia POWDER is even better for you than the SEEDS. Any seed that has been germinated (made into a powder) is easier for your body to absorb nutrients. This is also true for flax seeds/flax powder.

The serving size for this particular brand is two tablespoons for only 25 calories! We put it in our shakes and cannot taste it! You could add it to your shakes, oatmeal, put it in virtually anything you make and get good support for your intestinal and cardiovascular health!

The last item involves a subject that is very near and dear to our hearts.....peanut butter. GLORIOUS peanut butter. Clearly a gift from the gods, but even the natural kind, is high calorie and high fat (albeit good fat!) Well the good people at Bell Plantation took note of this and created an even more amazing product: PB2!!

It's peanut dust! Powdered peanuts!! You get the taste and texture of peanut butter WITHOUT the high calories and fat. GENIUS! Just mix with water to get actual "peanut butter" - but we mostly use this in our shakes. One tablespoon is enough to turn chocolate Shakeology into a Reese Peanut Butter Cup delight!

Have you tried any of these products? What are your thoughts? We want to hear from you! Leave a comment or send us an email! fitwithfarrar@gmail.com


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In Health,

Timothy & Lindsay