Raspberry Keytone/supplement scams

You may have heard the name of a famous health guru thrown around out in the world of health sciences and nutrient. His name is Dr. Oz. He has his own show mainly directed towards women. He talks about diet and fat loss A LOT. Dr. Oz has always promoted the weirdest treatments, supplements and remedies for various things. A few years ago he was responsible for a huge rage about something called "raspberry ketones". Apparently it was some miracle weight loss supplement that was all natural.
Now usually I'm pretty skeptical about supplements that are supposed to aid in weight loss and improve fitness. A lot of  the time I hear about awful side effects or they turn out to be a huge marketing ploy. I've never taken any myself, but I know people who have. There are hundreds on the market that each claim to be your quick fix to being slim and healthy.
Anyways, raspberry keytones were rumored to be so wonderful and fix all of your problems. Many different brands claimed that they were the best. Of course those are the brands that I think are sketchy. They all claim to be "Number 1" but are they really any better than the other 50 brands? Probably not. Another problem I have with supplements are that they are selling a product in a fraction of the recommended dosage that Dr. Oz would approve. This is incredibly misleading to me because if I were a targeted consumer, I'd think a few pills per day would be fine. But in reality, just to get the recommended dosage, I'd have to take several doses of the product at least 4 or 5 times a day. That's a lot! It's obviously also another way that the companies keep you coming back for their product because almost all of it is filler. (310)
























http://consumeradvisoronline.com/raspberry-ketones-reviews/?utm_source=Bing&utm_medium=CPC&utm_term=raspberry%20ketones%20side%20effects&utm_campaign=Raspberry-Ketones-Top-Tier

Eat This! Not That!

So, I've been really into sharing my favorite health and fitness items lately. This time I have a book series that I should probably let you know about.
I LOVE the book series "Eat This! Not That!". I remember my dad talking about this book that my aunt told him about. He lent her a copy to take home and that was the first time I ever saw that yellow book. I think it was the 2008 edition. So I guess that means I've loved the book series since I was 10 years old!
If you're thinking about a thick book with lots of words, you're thinking the wrong thing. The series is formatted with colorful pictures and pages. It's a guide that compares similar foods to each other, weighs the benefits, the micronutrients, the macronutrients, and the overall quality. There are tons of different editions. I think I own about 6 of them now. I have 2 versions of the original which compares the most popular restaurant chains, common pantry items, typical holiday meals, etc. I also own the drink edition, the best and worst of 2011, the kids edition, the supermarket edition, the comfort food edition and the dessert edition. I actually asked for those last two for my birthday this year (Yeah, that was a typical Sarah move to ask for health books) and my mom somehow found them both on Amazon for super cheap! Amazon should have almost all of the editions or the discount book store will have some too!
I love this book because it gives such great visual comparisons and ways to save yourself some nutritional sacrifices that you may not have otherwise realized. Plus these books aren't the type that you read through once and never touch again. I love to refer back to them every few months when I need a refresher or something new to learn about. It's impossible to catch every bit of information just by reading them once. I always seem to miss something and find it the 3rd or 4th time I read it.
My all time favorite edition is the supermarket edition. It's only comparing groceries and not fast food. I like it because it's relevant to me since I rarely ever eat out. There are lots of different categories for whatever you favorite types of food are. If you love crackers, there's a whole section about the popular ones and the slightly healthier versions of them. There's a frozen food section, a dessert section, a condiments section, bread section etc. It's super helpful to me because there are so many choices at the store that sometimes I can't compare them all on my own. I take what I learn from the books and apply it to my own groceries so I know what to look for (It's how I learned about sodium and sugar content.) It's really relevant and helpful when out in the real world. I feel like it could even double as some type of plan. My dad eats fast food every day (We're polar opposites) and he used this as a tool to lose a bit of weight a while back just by being more wise about his choices. For example, he loves Burger King Whopper Jr.'s and he started ordering them without mayo and saved himself a significant amount of fat in his meal. It's not something everyone thinks about doing.
I definitely recommend these books for an easy and interesting read if you're interested in health swaps! (587)

"Complete Cookie" Review

In my Muscle Brownie review, I mentioned that I also bought a Complete Cookie to review as well. I think you already know where I'm going with this post, but I finally got around to trying it this weekend. The store I got them at only offered one type although they do sell more varieties online. I paid $1.49 for the cookie which is expensive for a single cookie but it's healthier than buying a box of chips ahoy and plus, it was a pretty big cookie.
The cookie smelled really good when I opened the package. It smelled fresh. I ripped off a piece to try. The texture was really soft and chewy, almost a bit doughy. It tasted like exactly like a thicker version of a subway cookie for the most part but there was a bit of an aftertaste that gave away the fact that it's a health cookie. It's not exactly a bad taste, it's just different. Maybe it was just the particular cookie I bought, but there weren't a ton of chocolate chunks in it. I would have like to have seen more in them.
Because the cookie is so big, the wrapper says that there are 2 servings per cookie, so don't get too carried away and eat the entire cookie because it'll cost you around 380 calories and 40+ carbs. I think it would be a better idea to split the cookie into two smaller ones to make the portions a little easier to control.
I still can't decide which I like better; the Muscle Brownie or the Complete Cookie. I took a second trip to buy some more and after trying both of them, I think I like them equally the same. It really just depends on what kind of mood I'm in. Or it may depend on how much money I have on me at the time and how much I feel like spending. After all, the cookie IS 50 cents cheaper than the Muscle Brownie.
If I had to compare both products to Quest bars, Quest bars will always win. Nothing can beat Quest. NOTHING. I haven't bought Quest Bars much lately because I've been trying to find other things to try for more of a variety. If I find anything I really like (or hate) I'll write more reviews in the future! (393)

IIFYM- How Healthy is it?

A popular method of keeping track of how much you eat, and what the macros are of each meal is by using apps such as myfitnesspal (I personally love the app and I use it every day) but I have seen almost every one of my favorite fitness guru’s on Youtube (i.e. Maxx Chewning, Matty Fussaro, 1FitAshMom, Michael Kory) depend on a program called “If It Fits Your Macros” to make gains. Basically all there is to it is calculating all of your macro needs. If you can fit it into your macros, you can eat it. That piece of cake worth 86 carbs? Sure, you can have it. Just as long as it “fits your macros”. That greasy slice of pizza from the food court in the mall worth 36 grams of fat? Sure, just make sure to eat a lower fat dinner so you can make the pizza “fit into your macros”. If you haven’t caught on yet, you can eat whatever you want and still make gains. It seems too good to be true! While all of my favorite Youtubers are making gains and getting lean, I can’t fully jump aboard to the If It Fits Your Macros bandwagon. A lot of things are overlooked when following If It Fits Your Macros. Many people who follow this way of eating often eat processed, packaged meals along with fast food items too. One of my biggest concerns are the sodium content (the answer as to why I get concerned with sodium is in my post about Gatorade) and additives. SO many food additives are present in so many of our foods today that are often toxic, yet still allowed and viewed as “safe” for consumption. Many have been found to cause cancer and mutations in lab animals. (A future post will discuss my thoughts on food additives so I’ll save it) If It Fits Your Macros is a number game and instead of focusing on eating lean proteins and whole foods, are focusing on how much crap they can fit into their diet and still be “healthy”. IIFYM can be helpful to gauge your efforts and to try and help give you a more broad outline on how much you should be eating to make gains, but not if you pack your days full of frozen weight loss dinners and reduced fat ice cream. (400)

Plans For Winter Workouts?

Now that cross country season has ended, I am beginning to slow down on the running. I have been running for over 7 months straight now without resting more than 3 days. I think it's time to give my body a break from all of the pressure and stress that running brings. I plan on running 2-3 miles about 3 times a week. The challenge is now trying to get in better shape for training for track in the spring. Track starts in February/March. I have plenty of time to build back up and resume running. What will I do in the mean time to get into shape? Why, lifting of course. I've missed it so much in the last 3 months. I just started back about a week ago and have been seeing some results already! I'm amazed and I realized how much I love it.
I know that lifting is going to be very effective in getting me stronger and faster over the winter to prepare for the spring. We all know that muscle mass increases the resting metabolic rate, but there are so many more benefits. (Not to mention this could not have come at a better time because those inevitable off days from healthy eating will come and by having extra muscle, I'll burn off Thanksgiving dinner quicker.) I know that I will miss running every day but I have to keep reminding myself that I need to take a break. I will have plenty more seasons in my running career and I want to improve my times. The benefits of weight training will bring me that stronger core and solid muscle to help propel me in the right direction. It's a lot of hard work but it's really encouraging when I can see and feel myself getting stronger. 
I've found it helpful to switch up the workouts frequently to maintain interest. We've talked about lost motivation and what you can do to save it. Switching up and altering workouts is a great way to get yourself excited about what you do. Working out with friends is also really fun to do. I lift with my cross country guy friends and I've learned a lot of new exercises from them that I had never even thought of before. Ellie, (All Things Athletic) has taught me so much about squatting in the last week that it's completely changed my form! Help and inspiration from friends is really nice. 
I'm just beginning my quest to get stronger over the winter and so far it's off to a great start, I just hope that all goes well and it'll only help me in the future. (446)