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Biotin For Healthy Skin, Nails and Hair

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Woman touching her faceBiotin is a B vitamin which is naturally present in the human body and which is important for numerous metabolic functions. It is a carbon dioxide transporter and also expedites the processing of carbohydrates, protein and fat. As a result biotin can be a great component in a weight loss plan. Biotin’s involvement in carbohydrate processing also makes it responsible for maintaining normal blood sugar levels. It can also help to lower cholesterol levels, but be aware that it may interfere with the effects of some cholesterol-lowering medications.

There is extensive evidence to suggest that biotin plays an important role in the maintenance of healthy skin and nails. Those who suffer from eczema, seborrheic dermatitis or brittle nails often benefit from supplementation with this nutrient. Biotin is also helpful in treating a number of hair issues such as hair loss, reduced growth, thinning hair, and dull, brittle hair. I have put patients on biotin who have reported stronger, healthier and thicker hair after taking biotin for a few months.

This supplement is relatively inexpensive and carries rare and minimal side effects. The most common side effect reported is cystic acne at the chin and jawline and subsides after a few weeks. If this is something you experience while taking biotin, decrease your daily dosage to 25 micrograms per day.

Most sources recommend a dosage of 30 micrograms per day. However, I have taken 5,000 micrograms daily for many years and have not experienced any untoward effects.

The BEST Hair Treatment – Enjoy Hair and Skin Treatment Oil

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Enjoy Hair OilThis is hands down the BEST hair treatment product I have ever used, and believe me, I have tried them all!  This is applied to slightly damp hair and gives wonderful shine, great conditioning and imparts the loveliest fragrance.  If your hair is parched or damaged, this will restore bounce to your hair.

Swat Fuel Fat Burners – Superior Products!

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If you are looking for a revolutionary fat burner which provides sustained energy for an entire day and which also works as a potent pre-workout booster, you need to check out 9mm and 9mm+P from Swat Fuel. I am not joking – prepare to be amazed.

I am not easily impressed by sports supplements because there are so many products out there that over-promise and under-deliver. However, I can honestly say that Swat Fuel 9mm and 9mm+P are unique and superior to any other thermogenic fat burners on the market. These products were originally formulated for law enforcement individuals and military personnel to specifically provide sustained stamina and energy which lasts the entire day and does not produce jitters. These products optimize fat metabolism and are excellent for use as pre-workout boosters to maximize your energy and stamina during your lift. Even if you don’t work out, you can count on these powerful formulations to increase energy levels without the usual jitters or crash that many thermogenics cause.

9mm is a powerful thermogenic and pre-workout formula, but if you are trying to lose weight or you want to become ripped, opt for 9mm+P which also contains a natural appetite suppressant.

Prepare to SWEAT LIKE A PIG during your workouts when you take these supplements! Also make sure to hydrate very well when taking either product. Even from the first time I took 9mm, my reaction was one of total surprise. As the sweat poured off me and I noticed that I had laser focus with my lift, I just kept saying, WOW. I was truly blown away, and I continue to be impressed by the fact that this product delivers true to its description.

Every time I take this stuff, I am drenched in sweat about five minutes into my lift. No other thermogenic has ever had this effect on me. What amazes me is that my heart does not race, I do not get the jitters, and my workouts are much more powerful than on the days when I don’t take it.

Go to http://swatfuel.com/solidfuel.aspx to order, and remember to enter discount code 1HOTHAPA for a generous discount at the time of your order. 9mm and 9mm+P

Pregorexia

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nakedpregnantwomanI was utterly shocked when I first learned of this term and could not believe that some pregnant women were willing to endanger the health of their unborn infants as well as their own health in an effort to avoid weight gain. Pregorexia is a psychological condition in which a woman’s obsession with being thin persists during pregnancy. It has the same features that anorexia does, with the stark exception the fact that a developing fetus is also endangered by the restriction in calories and nutrients.

About half of pregnant women will only eat certain foods which they have determined to be thin figure-friendly, while about one-fifth of pregnant women will actively restrict caloric intake. A small percentage of pregnant women will engage in excessive exercise, induce vomiting or take laxatives in an effort to rid themselves of ingested calories. Other pregnant women will binge, which exposes the infant to widely varying levels of nutrients. These erratic behaviors increase the risk of gestational diabetes, post-partum depression, c-section, miscarriage, stillbirth, prematurity, low birth weight and breech delivery, yet these risks fail to deter many women from engaging in them.

More than half of women end up feeling more insecure about their bodies while they are pregnant, and many will harbor such intense fear of gaining weight while pregnant that they will starve themselves or employ some of the methods mentioned earlier. Even breastfeeding behaviors may fall prey to the psychological mechanism of restricting calories. Some women may resort to breastfeeding or pumping for the sole reason of shedding calories, an activity known as “pump purging”.
Pregnant women need to ingest an additional 10% more calories per day, which usually amounts to about 300 extra calories per day. As for ideal weight gain during pregnancy, women of normal weight should expect to gain between 25 to 35 pounds. Women who are overweight should aim for a pregnancy weight gain of 15 to 25 pounds, while obese women should only gain between 11 to 20 pounds.

The number one most important concern a woman should have while she is pregnant is the health of her unborn baby.

Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness

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DOMSThe New Year has caused many new gym-goers to experience delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) which may have taken them by surprise. The sad truth is that many people will become so discouraged from experiencing DOMS (usually because they don’t understand why they are so sore) that they will back off from exercising after a brief effort at maintaining consistency. This is one time when welcoming the pain instead of running from the activity that caused it would be most appropriate!

DOMS develops between 24 to 72 hours after physical activity and is considered a normal and common result of activity that challenges muscle tissue. Small microscopic tears actually occur in the muscle fibers, and when coupled with localized inflammation, manifest as soreness. These aches and pains, provided they are minor, are a sign that your muscles are adapting to the activity which caused them to develop in the first place. Rather than shying away from physical activity in the long term, just take it easy for a few days until the pain subsides.

Stretching can speed up the process so that DOMS dissipates more rapidly, as does massage and application of heat and/or ice. Anti-inflammatories can be taken as well, though I tend to lean more towards natural forms such as curcumin and arnica. If the pain does not respond well to natural anti-inflammatories, you may want to take ibuprofen instead. I see a huge difference in the time of recovery in people who stretch when they are experiencing DOMS, as stretching helps to prevent muscle spasms in the affected area.

My Recipe For Yummy And Competition-Friendly Sweet Potatoes

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Please note that this makes a BIG batch!

INGREDIENTS:

3 pounds sweet potatoes or yams
3 tbsp. olive oil
2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

Cut the sweet potatoes/yams in cubes (I peel them beforehand if not too lazy) and place in a clean bag. Mix remaining ingredients in a separate bowl. Add mixture to bag, secure opening and shake until potatoes are evenly coated. Place on roasting pan that has been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.

Bake for 55 minutes at 450 degrees.

Makes 16 3 ounce servings. YamsYUM!

How To Split Your Weight Training Routine To Avoid Overtraining

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BetterBodyWeightExerciseWith the New Year here, many people have either thought about embarking on or have already begun a weight training program in an effort to either shed excess pounds or improve their overall level of fitness. However, many people have little to no clue about how to split up their routines in order to maximize results while also avoiding overtraining.

Probably the best advice I can give to most people (with competitors the stark exception) is to train no more than four days per week. I also recommend that you weight train for one to two consecutive days, take a rest day, then resume weight training after the rest day. Competitors who are accustomed to hard training are on intense regimens which often include only one or two days of rest per week, which is part of the reason why they are more prone to overtraining.

If you are brand new to weight training, or have been away from it for many years, I recommend a three day full body split in which you will work the entire body during each workout. A good sequence is Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, as is a Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday sequence. This ensures at least one day of rest between workouts.

Three Day Full Body Split:

Monday – Full Body
Tuesday – OFF
Wednesday – Full Body
Thursday – OFF
Friday – Full Body
Saturday – OFF
Sunday – OFF

For those who are more accustomed to working out with weights, I recommend a four day split in which the upper and lower body are worked on separate days with at least one day of rest afterward. An example would look like this:

Intermediate Upper/Lower Four Day Split:

Monday – Upper Body
Tuesday – Lower Body
Wednesday – OFF
Thursday – Upper Body
Friday – Lower Body
Saturday – OFF
Sunday – OFF

Another variation is to split each upper body and lower body workout further so that different muscle groups are worked on different days:

Intermediate Upper/Lower Four Day Split Variation:

Monday – Chest, Shoulders, Triceps
Tuesday – Quads, Calves
Wednesday – OFF
Thursday – Back, Biceps
Friday – Hamstrings, Glutes, Abs
Saturday – OFF

If there is enough interest, I can provide sample routines which fall within the above split schedules. Simply post a comment on this post so that I know you are interested.

Trying To Get Into Fitness Modeling?

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Natalie Minh CollageThough I have modeled for the majority of my life, I didn’t become involved in fitness modeling until after I turned 43. As I approach my 47th birthday I realize more and more how intimidating and confusing it can be for an aspiring fitness model to navigate through the industry and know what will propel their careers instead of putting them on a path of wasted time, effort and money as they try to make themselves known. I truly wish I had a guide like this http://tinyurl.com/aoeabbr to help me when I was revamping my modeling career! This guide is INVALUABLE if you are serious about embarking on a fitness modeling career.

Many aspiring fitness models ask me questions about the best way to direct their efforts. Now there is a fantastic and comprehensive guide which takes all the guesswork out of the process. I am so fortunate to know the author of this guide and have worked with her on numerous projects over the years. She has been kind enough to extend an offer to my friends and clients which will save you all the headaches you could be dealing with if you do not have such a great guide to lead you on your path to fitness modeling success.

Click here http://tinyurl.com/aoeabbr to take advantage of this amazing offer, and remember to use code STACEYNAITO to get special pricing!

The Eyes Have It – A Brief Childhood Story

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Eye collageFrom the time I was a little girl I have always been fascinated with eyes. I was mesmerized by the different colors of irises and fascinated with how eyelashes grew. I sort of think it’s a shame that I did not hold a fascination with my own eyes, because I inherited my maternal grandmother’s large, almond shaped eyes, complete with very dark brown irises and an epicanthic fold which serves as a small clue that I am of Japanese descent.

By the time I was three years old, I began drawing constantly and would lose all sense of time as I allowed my imagination and my more skilled left hand to create image after image on paper. My mother always encouraged me to express myself, and I never felt like I had to put a rein on my creativity. One day when I was four years old I was in my room and my mother was in the kitchen. She realized that I was very quiet and figured I had to be up to some mischief, so she crept quietly into my room. She found me sitting cross-legged in front of the wall in the far corner of the room, drawing a human eye on it. What she found more disconcerting was the fact that I had been working on my little masterpiece for a while and had managed to cover a poster-sized expanse of white wall with an assortment of eyes, some complete with eyelashes, pupils, and irises. Needless to say she was not pleased and I was punished for my creative foray into wall murals!