Becoming a Vegetarian is a personal choice that can be a bit confusing. Many people are able to do it successfully love it, others may be doing more harm than good. Correct nutrition is a very controversial subject but let's look at some major drawbacks of going veg. 
How to do it wrong:

Just omitting animal consumption. Vegetarianism needs to be about more than just omission. Those who want to take on vegetarianism should be thinking about all the new sources of nutrients that they will be adding into their diet. Make a list of grains, beans, legumes, vegetables, etc.. go shopping and plan ahead. Making sure your nutrition plan is complete may take some planning ahead. Discovering new food sources will be fun and exciting!

Using dairy for all protein needs: problem. Most dairy that is available to us these days contains hormones and antibiotics. In small doses it may not create a problem, but for those consuming milk cheese & yogurt several times a day as a main source of protein...it might become a problem, most likely to show up later down the line. Not to mention that many people are lactose intolerant..meaning gas, bloating, and other unpleasant side effects. Hint: your tummy shouldn't be upset every single day. Sounds obvious, but I've met people who didn't know the difference.

Not using supplements: Supplements are not necessary for everyone, but for vegetarians who are more susceptible to deficiencies, supplements can help. I recommend doing your research, reading about common deficiencies among vegetarians and then making a well informed decision about what to include.
Listen. No matter what you eat or don't eat someone is always going to find a problem with it! I say just enjoy your life, find the best nutrition plan for you that makes you happy and produces the results you want! Life is short, live it how you want to and not by anybody else's words! Cheers to your happy belly, gorgeous body and healthy mind!

Want to see what I'm eating? Visit my food and diet page for photos and descriptions of what goes in my diet. 

I'm debuting a brand new look this year! Long dark hair. Tell me what you think! 

Have you ever wondered why your trainer is making you do something, or why exercising has to be so hard? Well if you are training without a clear purpose in mind...then maybe re-evaluating the whole thing will help clear up the confusion. I just completed a NASM Live workshop in New York City for Sports Performance Training. It was awesome. I highly recommend this course to anyone who is interested in improving their sports performance or even just general workouts. What's great about sports training is that it is designed with specific goals in mind that have a direct result on the type of exercises that will be performed. Program design is important for everyone, athletes and non-athletes, because the result is the most important part of any training program. Let's face it, the probability of someone continuing to train or even increasing the intensity of their training depends directly on whether or not they get a good result. If there's no result, there's no need to train. To an athlete the result is something like jumping higher, running faster, moving quicker. To your average person the result may be more like dropping a dress size, reducing body fat, feeling better. Either way, we need to have clear goals and clearly defined pathways to get there. What I'm interested in, is how we can to the least amount of "effort" to get the best "result". Let's work smarter. Hard work has it's place, but what most people's fitness routine is missing is a well thought out plan. If I can get just one person to train more thoughtfully rather than more often or "harder" then I will feel accomplished! My first guinea pig as always is myself, and I'll be updating you on my training progress as we go along. 

Hello calorie counters. Is anybody out there struggling to lose weight despite eating a low calorie diet? I often hear this complaint in the gym: "I'm hardly eating anything and I exercise all the time but I can't seem to lose this last 5 or 10 pounds".
What is going on here? Well.. how long have you been "hardly eating anything?" and "how long before that were you over-eating and not exercising?" ooohhh....now it's different. hm.....
Why is it that people expect results overnight when clearly the weight didn't come on overnight. If you were to eat an entire pizza and a pint of ice cream one night and wake up the next morning with 10 lbs of fat on your belly  you wouldn't do that again right? Well..since weight loss, very much like weight gain, does not happen instantly, people tend to repeat the same mistakes over and over until one day they realize the weight gain has gotten out of control. It's not that the weight wasn't there a month or a year ago, it's just that it took time for it to accumulate enough to become a problem and a source of unhappiness. Check out this article below from the National Academy of Sports Medicine(NASM), that explains why the law of thermodynamics (calories in, calories out) may not be the answer to our dilema, and what truly matters when you are determined to bring your weight back to balance.

Unfortunately our society has adapted to hours of sitting per day thanks to media, entertainment, and what we now think of as "work". I'm guilty of it as well, I'm sitting at my computer typing right now. But I think it's important to raise awareness on this issue and ensure that we decrease the amount of sitting hours as much as possible. Our bodies are having a hard time adapting to this new style of life; obesity, heart disease, and chronic pain are the result. This article is made to raise awareness about our lives and learn about what we can do to reduce the risk and change our behavior in a positive way. Click here for the whole infographic http://dailyinfographic.com/sitting-down-is-killing-you-infographic

To increase your health, natural fat burning ability, and overall wellness, get up from your chair, go climb a stairs, stand while reading online articles, and do whatever you can to avoid recreational sitting. Instead of going to the movies go for a walk in the park, instead of watching TV at night join an exercise group. There are plenty of non-sitting activities available, all you have to do is make the choice. 

Part of your success with training and dieting and changing your body to the body you want is believing in yourself. If you don't believe it can be done then do you really think it will happen? I don't. If you don't believe it then you won't bother to make efforts towards it. No efforts, no results. 

My new favorite exercise! Let's be clear, this move is VERY hard to do, especially for females! But I'm making it my new personal mission. Stay tuned for a video of me performing this move, for now you can watch this guy who not only can do them, but is showing off all the variations. Enjoy! http://www.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D-97T8pJVFaE&h=2920a

I must say it. LOW FAT PRODUCTS ARE BAD FOR YOU! If you see something labeled "Fat Free" you should read it as "ADDED SUGAR AND STARCH". Sugar and starch may be the underlying culprit for seemingly uncontrollable weight gain. Contrary to popular belief fat in our diets does not make us fat. This is a mistake and a misconception created by heart disease research decades ago. Unfortunately it has created a fat-phobia that seems to last and last. 

That's right, every thought you have contributes to your current physical state. If you believe you are strong capable and fit, you'll be more likely to eat well, exercise and take care of yourself, if you believe you don't matter, you're weak, and that exercise doesn't benefit you, well...guess what? your behaviors will reflect this and lead you to do all the things that in fact will make you weaker and more out of shape. So.....What's the first step to becoming what you'd like to be? THINK ABOUT IT. That's all. Just practice a few thoughts a day, say it out loud if you want to! 
Try these thoughts for starters "I am strong" "I can do this" "Every bit counts" 
Don't change your whole life at once. Drastic measures usually lead to drastic failures, take it step by step, start thinking positively, making small easy changes, and before you know it, you will surprise yourself.