This was my workout from Friday.
I will post a video soon!
Standing Single Arm DB Press
3 sets of 15 reps with 10 lbs.- I did one side then the other and then went back and forth for 3 sets with NO Rest!
Double Side Laterals… with…. DB Punches
5 lbs. x 25 reps …………………………… 5 lbs. x 50 reps
Front Lunge/Front DB Raise… with…. Bent over DB Raise
10 lbs. x 10 reps ………………………………………….. 5 lbs. x 20 reps
DB Plank/Tap… with…. Ott’s over Bench
30 reps ……………………………. 20 reps
(From the South Beach Diet- Phase 2)
This tasty twist on the traditional apple crisp is the perfect ending to any holiday meal. Made with fresh apples and dried cherries, it’s a healthy way to enhance the holidays.
Description
Warm and fruity, this seemingly familiar apple crisp is spiked with sweet and tangy dried cherries. Fresh or dried, cherries contain impressive amounts of antioxidants, as well as soluble fiber and potassium. Ounce for ounce, dried cherries are higher in nutrients than their fresh counterparts, but they also have more calories, so it’s best to enjoy them in moderation — as you will here.
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 45 minutes
Makes 12 (1-cup) servings
Ingredients
1/4 cup unsweetened dried cherries
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1/2 cup trans-fat-free margarine
1/2 cup whole-grain pastry flour
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons granular sugar substitute
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
9 Granny Smith apples, sliced (9 to 10 cups)
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly coat a 9″ by 13″ baking dish with cooking spray.
Place cherries and water in a bowl, and soak cherries until ready to use. Meanwhile, combine oats, margarine, 1/4 cup of the flour, 1/4 cup of the sugar substitute, and 1 tablespoon of the cinnamon in a medium bowl; stir until mixture is crumbly.
Toss apples and lemon juice together in a large bowl. Add remaining 1/4 cup flour, 2 tablespoons sugar substitute, and 1 tablespoon cinnamon; stir to combine.
Place apples in baking dish. Pour cherries and soaking water over apple mixture; toss gently to combine. Sprinkle oat topping evenly over fruit. Bake until apples are tender, about 40 minutes. Serve warm.
Nutritional information
Per (1-cup) serving:
150 calories
7 g fat (2 g sat)
23 g carbohydrate
1 g protein
5 g fiber
60 mg sodium
Reno Personal Trainer, Clifta Coulter Perez, won the 2010 INBA Team USA on September 25, 2010 in Las Vegas Nevada.
So… what’s next??? Clifta is preparing for the biggest show of her life… the 2010 INBA Natural Olympia. To be held in Reno, Nevada at the Grand Sierra. Here Clifta is posing and flexing her muscles after a great workout! Weight 100.6 lbs.
More and more studies are showing how important vitamin D is to women’s health — and that many women aren’t getting enough of this essential vitamin.
The Importance of Vitamin D
Vitamin D promotes the body’s absorption of calcium, a mineral that helps keep bones and teeth strong. Vitamin D also regulates the body’s calcium levels in the blood, as well as levels of the mineral phosphorus, which also helps to promote healthy bones and teeth.
Vitamin D deficiency can be serious, causing bones to deteriorate and weaken. In adults, a vitamin D deficiency can lead to the bone condition osteoporosis and, in children, it can cause rickets — soft and weak bones.
Although more research is needed, vitamin D also appears to have many other beneficial effects. Studies have shown that vitamin D in sufficient levels can help boost the immune system and possibly decrease the risk of getting some cancers.
Research shows that vitamin D deficiency may increase the risk of:
Where to Get Your Vitamin D
Image via Wikipedia
The body produces vitamin D, but it needs sunshine to do it right. You can also take a vitamin D supplement or get vitamin D from certain foods.
Foods rich in vitamin D include:
The Vitamin D Conundrum
So just how much vitamin D do you need? It depends on your gender and age. Get too little vitamin D, and you’ll feel the effects of vitamin D deficiency. Too much of it — and your blood can contain too much calcium, harming your lungs and heart.
Here are the standard recommendations for vitamin D intake for women:
Many physicians are now testing vitamin D levels in their patients and finding that many women (and men) have low vitamin D levels. If your level is low, your doctor may recommend much higher supplement doses, often 1,000 to 2,000 IU a day.
How to Boost Vitamin D Levels
To get enough vitamin D from the sun, you need to spend about 5 to 15 minutes in the sun, just three times each week, without sunscreen. Too much sun exposure can cause sunburn and increase the risk of skin cancer, so make sure you limit your exposure. Also, you can expose your arms and legs, but you should always protect your face with sunscreen. If you don’t feel safe in the sun, turn to your diet and a vitamin D supplement to get the vitamin D you need.
Remember that you still need vitamin D in the winter. For many people, especially those in northern climates, it’s hard to get enough sun during those months, and a supplement may be necessary. African-Americans and others with darker skin tones may also be less able to absorb enough sunlight for sufficient vitamin D production from the sun alone.
Other Essential Vitamins
One of Vitamin D’s main roles is to help ensure that your body can absorb calcium, but you’ve also got to make sure you’re getting enough calcium so that vitamin D can do its job. You should try to get between 1,000 and 1,200 daily milligrams of calcium through diet or supplements (calcium supplements are available with vitamin D, enabling you to get both in one pill).
A daily multivitamin can also offer essential vitamins to help protect women’s health. Multivitamins usually contain vitamin D — often 200 IU or 400 IU — so be sure to read labels. Look for a multivitamin that also contains these vitamins:
Vitamins, including vitamin D, are an important part of women’s health. But still, be careful to limit unprotected sun exposure and to get enough dietary vitamin D or take a vitamin D supplement if you want an alternative to the sun.
Funny how things just happen. lol. At this show, it was just Nicole and me. We started calling ourselves TEAM PHAT… and it has grown since.
Clifta Coulter Perez
Reno Personal Fitness Trainer
Reno Bootcamp Instructor
Just wanted to list some really clean & healthy sources of proteins & carbs.
Follow these nutrition guidelines & tips and watch the body fat melt away! Good nutrition is about 70% of it. The rest is your cardio and your training regiman. All combined together in a 3 tier approach… gives you results like these!
Nicole Augustine- 30 years old and Mother of 3! (April 2010 to August 2010)
Before photos= 121 lbs. —- After photos= 102.2 lbs.
Me, Clifta Perez- 42 years old (February 2010 to August 2010)
Before photos= 23.6% Body fat —— After photos= 8.2% Body fat
This approach below will get you headed in the right direction!
Proteins
Egg Whites
Egg Beaters
Chicken Breast
Turkey Breast
Salmon (can)
Tuna (can)
Orange Roughy
Tilapia
Cod
Flank
Carbs
Oatmeal
Plain Ricecakes
Brown Rice
Potatoes
Sweet Potatoes
Yams
Pasta (occasionally, as a treat)
My Favorite Veggies
Broccoli
Spinach
Carrots
Zuchinni
Green Beans
Asparagus
*I eat about every 2.5 to 3 hours and usually have a protein, carb, & veggie with every meal except my last meal before bed… no carbs.
Examle:
Meal 1: Protein + Carb + Veggie
Meal 2: Protein + Carb + Veggie
Meal 3: Protein + Carb + Veggie
Meal 4: Protein + Carb + Veggie
Meal 5: Protein + Veggie Only
Meal 6: Protein + Veggie Only (or sometimes just a low carb, low fat protein drink)
Another Option (if the above seems like too much)
Meal 1: Protein + Carb + Veggie
Snack
Meal 2: Protein + Carb + Veggie
Snack
Meal 3: Protein + Carb + Veggie
Meal 4: Low fat, Low carb Protein Drink
More Notes…
*I also use stevia, ketchup, bar-b-que sauce, fat free dressing, & spices that contain NO SALT.
*I don’t use butter, mayonaise, or sugar.
*I drink about 1.5 to 2 gallons of water per day. If you’re not used to drinking water, a good rule of thumb is to drink 1/2 your weight in ounces. I also use crystal light, tea, coffee (1 cup in A.M.), & diet pepsi (maybe 1/2 to 1 per day).
These nutrition guidelines should get you started and moving in the right direction! If you’d like a nutrition program designed for your specific needs with proper supplements… email me at cliftafit@yahoo.com and we’ll get you set up on your own program tailored just for you!
Individualized Nutrition Programs are very reasonable and are as follows…
$75 for the initial Plan and $30 for updates. If you take one of my bootcamps or personal train with me you get a discount on the nutrition plans… then it’s only $50 for the initial Plan and $15 for updates. Updates are done about every 3-5 weeks. This keeps you from getting bored and also keeps your body constantly changing.
Clifta Coulter Perez
Reno Fitness Trainer
Reno Bootcamp Instructor (teaching 2 locations now)
Phat Physiques in Reno
Thank you and CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OF YOU who participated in the “1st PHAT Physiques Body Transformation Challenge”!!!!! I was very impressed with the changes that all of you made! Wow! Great job!
Just so you know… This has been a VERY HARD decision to make because you ALL have done a great job the past 16 weeks! I’ve gone over it and over it as to who should be the winner because the top 3 were VERY close! You all had one different thing that was equally a little better than the other. I even thought of a 3 way tie, but figured you would want to see 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, & 5th, huh? And I also figured… if you didn’t win this time… you have a chance to win the next challenge… and it will give you something to work and push for. 🙂
Out of the top 3… Each of you sent in all of your pictures, but I had one that didn’t join the challenge until half way through. So I thought, should I count off for that because this person didn’t go the full 16 weeks? But then this person and one other of the top 3 sent in goals and not only reached their goals, but made even new goals and went even farther than they thought they would! Then I had another person that had GREAT before and after photos, but the percentage of weight loss wasn’t quite as high as one of the others. Whew… what a decision!
So since the top 3 were that close… I decided to go with who had the highest percentage of weight loss.
The 4th and 5th place winners also made great changes as well and should be VERY PROUD of themselves. Part of the reason that they weren’t considered in the top 3 is that they didn’t send in all of their photos throughout the challenge, so although they made great changes… sending in photos during the challenge when they were due, counted as part of the judging.
Are you guys ready to see the Placings?????
The top winners in the first “PHat PHysiques Body Transformation Challenge” are….
1st Place… Nicole Augustine
Nicole is the one that didn’t come into the challenge until April, which was about half way through, but lost the highest percentage of weight in the shortest time! She reached her first set of goals and then had to change them and kept on going. She even enter her first Bikini Divas Contest before the challenge was over. She joined PHAT Camp in April and started with a weight of 121.2 lbs. and ended up at 107.8 lbs. That’s a 13.4 lb. loss, making her percentage of weight loss 11.06% ! Good job, Nicole!
2nd Place… David Duyvejonck
David started the challenge from the beginning and sent in all his photos and made great changes in each set of photos that he turned in! I was very impressed with the difference from his first set of photos to his last set! David looks awesome and has good shape and ALOT of GREAT, quality muscle! He had a starting weight of 207 lbs. and ended with a weight of 185 lbs. That’s a 22 lb. loss, making his overall percentage of weight loss… 10.63% ! Great job, David!
(No before pictures for David, but he had an awesome transformation!)
3rd Place… Emily Eckstein
Emily is so INSPIRING and has worked so hard since I’ve known her. I met her in November when she first joined PHAT Camp and has lost over 30 lbs. since then! She had just started running a month or two before then and could barely make it 2 miles without having to walk. Since then she’s done several races, even including a Half Marathon! Her motivation is so contagious… I’ve done a couple races because of her example. She’ll be getting ready for her second Half Marathon next month and is now thinking of doing a Triathlon maybe next year! For this challenge… Emily had a starting weight of 183.4 lbs. and ended with a weight of 167 lbs. That is a 16.4 lb. loss, making her total weight loss percentage… 8.94%! Good job, Emily!!!
4th Place… Rachel Sanchez
Rachel is another very inspiring person who is also a runner and very active. I can’t believe all that she does… She Runs, Weight trains, & does my PHAT Camp every week! Rachel is also getting ready to do a Half Marathon in about a week! Running is just sooo easy for her. She has worked hard to get the results that she’s gotten in her before and after and should be very proud of herself. And… she’s even thinking about doing the next Bikini Divas Contest in August with “Team PHAT”! Rahcel had a starting weight of 144 lbs. and ended at 135 lbs. That’s a 9 lb. loss, making her total weight loss percentage 6.25% ! Good job, Rachel!
5th Place… LeAnne Quinn
LeAnne is an amazing woman that I met on YouTube! She saw the challenge on my YouTube Channel and wanted to join in. She was getting ready for the Nevada State Bikini Divas Competition that was held on June 5th. I went to the show to cheer her on and she looked soooo good! I don’t know her stats as to what her weight loss was, but I know she worked really hard and made some great changes! LeAnne is the one I haven’t heard from yet about her ending weight and if it’s ok to post her before pics, so I’m just going to post one of her after pictures that I’m sure she’s proud of. Good job, LeAnne!
________________________________________
I’d like to say… “CONGRATULATIONS to the rest of the Challengers! Thank You ALL for participating in the “1st PHAT Physiques Body Transformation Challenge”! You ALL did an Awesome job and should be PROUD for making a commitment to Yourselves, Sticking to it, and Changing your Physiques!
You all deserve a BIG… “Way to Go”!!!”
Clifta Coulter Perez of… PHAT Physiques
Reno Personal Fitness Trainer
Reno Bootcamp Instructor
775-996-7183
EstraCort – The Secret to the Body of Your Dreams!Estrogen, cortisol, hormonal imbalance… Chances are you have heard these terms and they probably either confused or scared you. Estrogen is quite a word. To some it might mean femininity and signify the essence of being a woman. But to someone interested in getting in shape, it might mean something altogether different. Estrogen is not bad, but excessive estrogen can lead to fat gain, cause difficulty losing fat, water retention, mood swings, cravings….and the list goes on and on! Combine that with excessive cortisol—the STRESS hormone, and reaching your goals and feeling your best will be extremely difficult to do! In todays fast-paced, stressful world it is not uncommon for estrogen and cortisol levels to get out of whack, creating a hormonal imbalance. Knowing this, PGN Nutrition with the help of world renown fitness trainer Chuck Rudolph, MEd, RD, and Two-Time Miss Olympia and Miss Fitness International, Jen Hendershott, created the PERFECT supplement to help women control estrogen and cortisol to help achieve their goals and get the body they have always dreamed of! The future of the fitness-minded woman’s supplement is here, and it is PGN Estracort™. The FIRST supplement designed to specifically address this essential need!
PGN EstraCort – Estrogen and Cortisol Support for Women
Hormones are chemical messengers that signal the body to perform certain actions. For example, after you eat carbs, the hormone insulin is released to signal the body to absorb these carbs from the blood stream. The body releases various amounts of insulin depending on the type and amount of carbs you eat. Controlling insulin levels through smart diet choices is important since high levels of insulin lead to fat gain. Insulin is not the only hormone that contributes to controlling your weight, there are many. Of prime importance are the hormones estrogen and cortisol.
Estrogen is the primary female hormone (comparable to testosterone in men). Estrogen gives women their feminine characteristics and testosterone gives men their masculine characteristics. Estrogen has numerous actions in the body. Estrogen is needed for normal functioning of the body but too much or the wrong types of estrogens can have negative effects on your body. The same holds true for another hormone called cortisol.
Cortisol is called the “stress hormone” because it is released in response to stress and anxiety. When released at a normal level cortisol helps restore homeostasis after stressful events. But, like estrogen, when too much cortisol is released or cortisol levels are elevated for too long negative affects arise.
Knowing all of this PGN has created a formula to control estrogen and cortisol levels, leading to increased fat loss, less water retention and an overall leaner figure.
Summary Of EstraCort Ingredients:
DIM (Diindolylmethane)
DIM, a phytochemical found in cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, is an estrogen metabolism modulator, meaning it favorably shifts estrogen metabolism. Estrogen is not a bad hormone, it is needed for normal functioning of the body, but certain metabolites of estrogen have more positive actions while other metabolites have more negative actions. DIM increases the amount of “good” estrogens (2-hydroxy) and decreases the amount of “bad” estrogens (4-hydroxy and 16-hydroxy). The good estrogens protect the brain and heart due to potent anti-oxidant activity, along with other positive actions, while the bad estrogens promote weight gain and are linked to cancer (breast and uterine). By supplementing with DIM your body’s natural estrogen metabolism becomes primed to create more of the good and less of the bad estrogens, leading to a health-promoting estrogen balance.
Calcium D Glucarate
Calcium D Glucarate is a botanical extract found in fruits and vegetables that promotes the removal of toxins and excess estrogens from the body. Calcium D Glucarate helps detoxify the body through a process called glucuronidation. The body naturally tries to removes toxins and excess estrogens through glucouronidation, but this process can become reversed by the enzyme beta-glucuronidase, which releases the toxins back into the body. Calcium D Glucarate increases the detoxification process by inhibiting the beta-glucuronidase enzyme, allowing the glucouronidation detoxification process to work its magic. Supplementing with Calcium D Glucarate increases the elimination of cancer-promoting toxins and estrogens.
PhosphatidylSerine
Phosphatidylserine is a phospholipid found in the membrane of all cells, particularly in the brain. Phosphatidylserine keeps cells flexible and primed for nutrient absorptive. Supplementing with phosphatidylserine has been shown to improve cognition, memory, and mood and decrease blood concentrations of cortisol. Excessive cortisol levels can lead to suppression of the immune system and the accumulation of abdominal fat. Supplementing with Phosphatidylserine not only will improve brain functioning but will also help control cortisol levels.
Green Tea
Green tea is a type of tea leaf (black and oolong are other types of teas). Green tea has been used by the Chinese to treat a variety of disorders for years. Green Tea has powerful antioxidant properties, specifically from the active EGCG, and has been shown to help protect against various cancers. EGCG has thermogenic effects and has been shown to assist in weight loss by decreasing dietary fat absorption, appetite suppression, and catechol-O-methyl-transferase (COMT) inhibition. COMT is involved in the breakdown of catecholamines (i.e. NE). By inhibiting COMT, NE breakdown is slowed and it is able to activate the adrenergic receptors to a greater degree and enhance lipolysis (fat breakdown). Supplementing with green tea extract improves overall health and helps promote fat loss.
Summary
Supplementing with DIM, Calcium D Glucarate, Phosphatidylserine, and Green Tea together will optimize a women’s hormone levels, promoting a leaner, more healthy figure.
Not only will Estracort support your overall health, but it might just be exactly what you need to shift your body into the DREAM ZONE – obtaining the body you have always dreamed of having! So stop wasting time and letting estrogen and cortisol spoil your results. Get the body you have always wanted with Estracort today!
Clifta Coulter Perez of PHAT Physiques
Reno Personal Fitness Trainer
Reno Bootcamp Instructor
775-996-7183
Honor God with Your Body 