written by Paul Rosenberg \\ tags: 5k, 5k event, Dave Hall, Denny Silva, FOX 5 Las Vegas, goal setting, Heidi Hayes, James Johnston, Linzie Sawyer, real results, Ted Pretty, The Athletes Foot

James Johnston on the news!

written by Paul Rosenberg \\ tags: fitness trainer, goal setting, Half Marathon, i.t. band syndrome, Injury Prevention, James Johnston, Marathon, real results, Rockin Runners, The Athletes Foot, triathalte

Broccoli, cauliflower, Collared Greens, Asparagus, Kale.  Yum!…ya right.

If you are anything like me, you may have never developed a craving for veggies.  When I was pre-teen I can remember disliking vegetables with a passion.  My mother would “order” me to eat them.  I couldn’t leave the dinner table unless I cleared my plate.  I would resort to many skillful tactics to avoid consuming veggies.  I often fed them to the dog…thank god he ate them.  Particularly Brussell sprouts.  I could barely stomach them and I would chuckle when “snoopy” ate them because I couldn’t believe he could tolerate them.  Other times I would wait until my parents went to the kitchen to do the dishes and when they weren’t looking, I would put the veggies in my mouth and chew them briefly them spit them into a napkin, fold them up and drop em in the trash en route to unloading my plate to be washed.  Of course I also did the ol’ hold my nostrils shut while I chewed and quickly swallowed my with a big sip of water along with my veggies.  For some reason or another my mother would also buy frozen veggies which to me were even less appealing.

I really hated vegetables and I couldn’t understand why my mom was so adamant about me eating them.  She really worked hard to discipline me to eat them but I’m sorry to say ma, your efforts were falling on deaf ears.  Even my brother resorted to them same tactics as I did.

As a responsible adult however,  I really make a strong effort to eat veggies…at least 5 servings a day.  Guess what?  I still don’t like them.  I still hate brussell sprouts and I can’t really stomach green beans.  But I now make a very strong conscious effort to consume them.  Not the brussell sprouts or green beans (because I still can’t stomach them) but a big variety of other fiberous veggies.  Its just a matter of my health being one of my top priorities in my life.

The veggies that I consume on a daily basis:

• Collard greens
• Broccoli
• Kale
• Mustard greens
• Cauliflower
• Cabbage
• Swiss Chard
• Red Leaf Lettuce

Do I like any of these veggies?  Not particularly.  The only one I can somewhat tolerate is cauliflower.  However, because I am aware of the importance of veggies to a healthful diet rich in anti oxidants, fiber, minerals, and phyto-nutrients, I make it a priority to eat them daily.  The only way I am able to do this however is that I have discovered ways to tolerate them.

For example, and you may think this sounds crazy, but I mix broccoli and cauliflower in with my steel cut oatmeal.

Here’s how.

From the recommendation of my good friend Danny (a self proclaimed chef) a few years ago I purchased a Zyliss food chopper for $20.00.  I bought it at “The Kitchen Store” located in the Belz Factory outlet mall on S. Las Vegas Blvd. I love this thing.  It dices veggies within 5 seconds.  All it takes is a few pounds of my hand to chop the veggies into tiny little (tolerable) pieces.  I then stir the “fist size” serving of minced broccoli and cauliflower into a serving of Steel Cut Oatmeal.  The taste of the oatmeal is strong than the minced veggies.  This is how I can tolerate two large servings of those RAW veggies in one meal. I couldn’t eat them outright on their own that’s for sure.

Here is another example:

For lunch, I eat a huge salad that is loaded with fiberous veggies.  It includes minced Collard greens, Kale, Mustard greens, Cabbage, Swiss Chard, and chopped Red Leaf Lettuce as my filler.  After mixing them all in a huge bowl, I separate the salad into portion sizes of separate Tupperware containers.  When I am ready to eat a serving, I then add Balsamic vinegar and oil.  This is really the only way I can tolerate all those greens.  Again, the dressing masks the nasty taste of all those greens.

But look!  I just consumed 4 of the 5 recommended servings of veggies for the day and I did this all by lunchtime.  As you can see I have found ways that I can tolerate my veggies and get the nutrients I need for optimum health.

In order for you to be successful with the RealResults 12 week Eating plan here is the main key:  You must commit to eating no less than 5 servings of RAW “Rougage/fiberous” veggies every day.  This is not an easy task.  I know this from personal experience and from looking at our clients food logs every day.  But this is how it works and that’s just the way it is.  Fiber is one of the big keys to weight loss.  I didn’t make up this rule…it’s just the truth.

written by Paul Rosenberg \\ tags: Blood Sugar, fat loss, fitness trainer, goal setting, Paul Rosenberg, real results

Below is a Post from RealResults fitness trainer Nancy Dickinson:

The best kept secret in fitness…SWIMMING!

The benefits from swimming are virtually endless! Here’s just a few of the most important reasons to get your butt in the water:

1. Swimming face down, front crawl style swimming burns more calories an hour than any other form of cardio due to the fact that all muscles in the body are enlisted making your heart work a great deal harder than something just enlisting the legs.

2. Swimming is the only form of exercise where you get gravity off your body. This makes it rehabilitative allowing spine and joints to decompress which is impossible with most land cardio. It’s ideal for people with injuries, arthritis, or tendinitis whom cannot safely handle weight bearing cardio. Although training with weights and doing power exercises with your trainer is good stress, it’s still stress on the body. Swimming can help reverse the muscle/tendon damage from weights/impact exercise whether you’re swimming for rehab or fitness.

3. You can swim when you’re 100 years old thus provoking fitness longevity throughout all your days!

So how do the Nancy’s swim clinics work?

All clinics will be held at LVAC pool on 215 and Eastern. We will decide together if you the swimmer would be best placed in GROUP 1 or GROUP 2.

Group 1 is for total beginners working on basic breathing and becoming comfortable with placing face in the water. This is held in the warm pool as there’s not enough movement yet to keep heart rate up and stay warm. May advance to kickboard work. May also advance to group 2 if necessary.

Group 2 is for individuals comfortable with ryhthmic, face down breathing in the water. Their goal is focused on eventually swimming continuous laps for fitness. They will, depending on ability be receiving stroke mechanic drills or actual swim workouts.

How much does it cost?
Simply the cost of a Real Results Fitness single session, $19. But talk about a priceless skill!!

Swim clinics will be held once or twice a month. For more info, text me anytime 702 767 7917

I look forward to seeing you there!

written by Paul Rosenberg \\ tags: fitness trainer, goal setting, Injury Prevention, Marathon, Nancy Dickinson, Paul Rosenberg, real results, swimming

This post is going to be the start of a series of posts on some boring recipes that I make on a weekly basis.  I say boring because I am not a brilliant chef.  Matter of fact, most of the time I eat for fuel and sustenance.  Many of you may find this a strange way to live but honestly, I have grown quite accustomed to it.  My goals may be different from yours.  For example:  I want to keep my body fat low, I want to have healthy food available to me so I am not left to making unwise choices, I want to save money by not going out to eat all the time, and I don’t want to spend a lot of time cooking. Don’t get me wrong, if I had someone cook for me I would be thrilled to eat a variety of selections and have them prepared a number of different ways.  However, being a bachelor for quite some time has led me to this style of eating.  When I was younger I would eat toast, spaghetti, cereal with milk and heat up a bagel.  As a responsible adult now,  I am glad that I have finally found healthy foods that I can prep on my own so I don’t have to resort to Lucky Charms, Taco Bell or Villa Pizza.

I hope you find this upcoming series of recipes helpful and maybe even enjoyable.

Sweet Potatoes or Yams

Sweet potatoes and Yams are a couple of the best sources of carbohydrates that you can consume.  They will help to keep you blood sugar stable, help satisfy cravings, give you energy, taste good (in my opinion) and they are inexpensive and easy to make.

Sweet potatoes are rich in complex carbohydrates, dietary fiber, beta carotene (a vitamin A equivalent nutrient), vitamin C, and vitamin B₆. Pink and yellow varieties are high in carotene, the precursor of vitamin A. In 1992, the Center for Science in the Public Interest compared the nutritional value of sweet potatoes to other vegetables. Considering fiber content, complex carbohydrates, protein, vitamins A and C, iron, and calcium, the sweet potato ranked highest in nutritional value.

Sweet potato varieties with dark orange flesh have more beta carotene than those with light colored flesh. Despite the name “sweet”, it may be a beneficial food for diabetics, as preliminary studies on animals have revealed that it helps to stabilize blood sugar levels and to lower insulin resistance.

Sweet Potatoes and Yams

• Select potatoes that are about the size of a clenched fist.  You can cut them to size of course.
• Select potatoes that are firm and don’t have little sprouts growing on them.  Purchase organic at Whole Foods.
• Begin by filling up a large pot with water.  Fill pot with quite a bit of water because water evaporates during cooking.
• Place into pot desired number of sweet potatoes or yams.  I like to cook 4 at a time.  This lasts me 4 days.
• Place temperature on high so potatoes will boil.

• Let potatoes boil on high until they are done cooking.
• Texture is up to you.  I like my potatoes very soft so the skin peels off easily.
• Cooking time will vary depending upon size of potatoes (the more width, the longer the cooking time.)
• Remove potatoes from pot (careful…very hot!)  Best is to use utensil below pictured below.
• Place the potatoes in  Tupperware containers.
• Let cool then store in the fridge for consumption throughout the week.

written by Paul Rosenberg \\ tags: Blood Sugar, fat loss, goal setting, Paul Rosenberg, real results, recipe

If you haven’t had a fitness evaluation lately, now would be a good time to do so.  I recently purchased a body fat scale by Tanita and this thing does everything except clean the dishes.  The problem is however, that the scale is a little too accurate and it will tell you one thing in particular you may or may not want to know….your “Metabolic age.”

Tanita Body Composition Monitor

For example, Real Results trainer Nancy Dickinson (who is a competitive triathlete) has the metabolic age of a 12 year old!  Conversely, I have tested some people recently who may only chronologically be in their twenties yet they had the metabolism of an 80 year old!

This may seem like bad news but it can also explain why some people have a battle with body fat and others don’t.  But the good news is now you have a starting point of measurement.  Additionally, no matter what your metabolic age is now, you can do something about it by getting in better cardiovascular condition and by building muscle.  Then when you test again later you will be proud of the results you’ve attained.

How the scale works…

Tanita uses a state of the art method of body composition assessment called “Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis (BIA). Body impedance is measured when a safe, low electrical signal is passed through the body, carried by water and fluids.  Your fat tissue does not contain much water and thus creates resistance or impedance to the signal.  (Fat is approximately 10-15% water, whereas muscle is normally 50-70 %.)  This impedance information is then used by the scale to estimate the amount of lean and fat tissue within the body.

Desirable body fat ranges:

Females                                               Males

Age 18-39 / 20 %                               18-39 / 8-15 %

Age 40-59 / 20-24%                         40-59 / 12-20%

Age 60-69 / 25-30%                         60-69 / 15-25%

Different methods to test body fat:

DEXA: Which is a very accurate but expensive.

Hydrostatic Weighing: Very accurate but quite expensive

Conventional BIA: Like the Tanita.  Very accurate and inexpensive

Skinfold Caliper: Accuracy dependant on ability and skill of tester.

Previously, I used “Lange” skinfold calipers during fitness evaluations but now I am exclusively using the Tanita BIA scale.  I switched because of the number of features the machine delivers and quite honestly, many people found the skinfold caliper to be embarrassing.

Here are all the readouts you get by standing on the scale for about 5 seconds.

• Body Water % (The total amount of fluid in the body)
• Body Fat % (The amount of body fat as a proportion of your body weight)
• Scale weight
• Muscle Mass (The weight of muscle in the body)
• Bone Mass (The weight of bone in the body)
• Basal Metabolic Rate “BMR” (How many calories the body requires to maintain its weight)
• Daily Caloric Intake (How many calories can be consumed in the next 24 hrs to maintain weight)
• Metabolic Age (Compares BMR to the average age associated with that level of metabolism)
• Visceral Fat (Fat in the abdominal cavity (stomach) surrounding the vital organs)

I would encourage you to come for a test.  At the very least, do the Tanita scale test.  This can really motivate you to make improvements.

written by Paul Rosenberg \\ tags: body fat measurements, fat loss, fitness test, fitness trainer, goal setting, Metabolic age, Nancy Dickinson, Paul Rosenberg, real results, Tanita

Nancy riding at Silverman

Nancy crossing finish line at Silverman

Hey all my Real Results family!
Here are a few pics from my Half Distance Iron Man Triathlon in November (1.2 mi swim, 56 mi bike, 13 mi run). A lot of you witnessed some of the training involved, and most of you joined me and lovingly supported me. For that I thank you endlessly and attribute my second place age group finish and eighth overall woman’s finish to all you loyal and blessed fitness family. We learned so much together! And I intend to keep training hard and keep sharing the undying interest and information with all of you. My sources of endurance athlete expertise are available to all of you: my awesome coach and Real Results trainer Cyndee Platko; and my dearest friend/RR trainer/tri-athlete extraordinaire Denny Silva. I will tell you all again that if you are interested in doing tri-sports, take advantage of the wealth of knowledge these two professionals have. And you know I will run, swim, bike side by side with you!

written by Paul Rosenberg \\ tags: goal setting, Nancy Dickinson, real results, triathalte

Dr. John Ormand back in action. This video was taken at the tail end of a very tough 40 minute sequence. Hence why he is breathing so hard.

written by Paul Rosenberg \\ tags: client, dr. John Ormand Chiropractor, fitness trainer, goal setting, Paul Rosenberg, real results

Real Results Trainer Linzie Sawyer

…just competed in her first figure competition.  She lost a whopping 40 pounds in approximately 16 weeks!  Her eating habits were flawless (mostly chicken, asparagus, celery, and oatmeal with an occasional cheat of whole wheat bread.)  She did a significant amount of cardio (45 minutes per day) to work the weight off.   She had maybe 1 glass of wine a month the whole time. Linzie is now an official master at removing body fat.  She did weight training 5 days a week for at least an hour a day. Her current body fat is about 16%, from her original body fat with the picture below was 30%. Her previous scale weight was 158 but during the contest it was 121!

Linzie trains clients at the 95 and Rainbow location of the Las Vegas Athletic clubs.  We couldn’t be more proud of how far she’s come!  Congratulations again Linzie for the incredible job you’ve done.

Real Results Trainer Linzie Sawyer

Linzie contest picture!

written by Paul Rosenberg \\ tags: before and after, body fat measurements, fat loss, fitness trainer, goal setting, Linzie Sawyer, real results, ripped

Real Results Personal Trainer Nancy Dickinson

Another fantastic element of endurance racing or training is the community involved.  The people I’ve met with the same beautiful sickness have become like another family.  A veritable support group.  Fellow colleagues and Real Results trainers Cyndee Platko (my coach and idol) and Denny Silva (one of my closest friends and training partner), have guided my training and introduced me to some of the finest athletes/people I’ve ever met.  These athletes are moms, dads, teachers, lawyers, waitresses whatever all sharing the same passion.  No matter what level of athleticism be it first timers or seasoned athletes, someone will ALWAYS be ready to accompany me at Lake Mead.

I suppose you have been waiting to hear about the aesthetic perks that follow diligence in intense cardio training…lookin’ good naked! Just kidding, but seriously weight loss is an inevitable result of well rounded fitness training ESPECIALLY with triathlon workouts.  But I’m only mentioning this to lure you in.  I’ve found many more things just as satisfying as the skinny jeans being loose, like for instance, pushing my body and therefore mind way past comprehensive limits.  Talk about endorphins.  One of my clients starting a small career in running told me about how it made her evaluate her tendency to be a project starter, but not finisher.  When she finished her first race, it caused a positive chain reaction in her life suggesting the possibility of finishing more than just a race! (People may pay a fortune to hear that from a Life Coach I’m sure, she probably just bought good shoes.)

1st Place winner!

Surely everyone may find a different reason or reasons to adhere themselves lovingly to this type of training.  Perhaps the gym and workouts with me or your trainer have more of a purpose.  Maybe the stretching and foam roller following a long run is no longer “because I’m supposed to” but more like “because my legs carried me to the end.” Possibly life could get a lot simpler as draining idiosyncratic life dramas are replaced with a pace watch.  I’m not sure what positive growth may occur within you if pursue endurance training…so make sure to invite me along!

For any questions about triathlons or swimming, biking, running, our very own Cyndee and Denny are the BEST resources around.  I’m not a bad bet either as you can definitely learn from all my mistakes.

written by Paul Rosenberg \\ tags: goal setting, Half Marathon, Marathon, Nancy Dickinson, real results, triathalte