2008 ULTIMATE CYCLE CHALLENGE: An Indoor Team Cycling Event

Join me for an event that is sure to get your heart rate up, be inspiring and team-building and promote wellness! The Ultimate Cycle Challenge is a fundraising event I participated in last year and had an absolute blast. The fact that the net proceeds are donated to the Lance Armstrong Foundation makes this a not-to-be-missed opportunity. Come ride with me this year!
*You do not need your own bike or previous cycling experience to participate.

WHAT:

An indoor cycling event full of non-stop motion, music and fun! Help raise money for the Lance Armstrong Foundation by getting a team together and riding an indoor bike (stationary spin bike or personal bike with back-wheel trainer) in segments for 12 hrs or 24 hrs. The UCC Committee, along with the Lance Armstrong Foundation, believe that in the battle with cancer, unity is strength, knowledge is power, and attitude is everything. Funds raised through Ultimate Cycle Challenge will be donated to the Lance Armstrong Foundation to aid in the progress against cancer and to empower people with cancer to never give up hope.

WHO:

Anyone interested in an event full of entertainment, exercise, friendships, fundraising, and promoting cancer awareness. Participants ages 8 and up are welcome and will include everyone from elite athletes to those who just want to make a difference. Regardless of who you are, everyone who comes is promised an unforgettable time! This event can be done just by yourself or up to 24-people breaking up the time in segments as a relay team for 12-hrs or 24-hrs.

I would like to get a TEAM VALEO 12-hour group together and, if you're interested, this is what I need from you:

1. Your name and/or name of friends interested.

2. $30 entry fee per person, payable to Ultimate Fitness and Health, to go to the Lance Armstrong Foundation.

3. I will create a schedule once I know how many people are interested and you can let me know the time-frame you would be willing to cycle (typically 1-hr to 3-hr segments - or whatever you'd prefer!).

WHEN:

The 12-hr ride will take place:

Saturday, February 16th, beginning at 8am and ending at 8pm.

WHERE:

Ultimate Fitness and Health

91 Douglas Ave, Ste 140

Holland, MI 49424

Contact me today and be a part of TEAM VALEO 2008!

CYCLO-CROSS RACE

Road Bike meets Dirt Bike = Cyclo-Cross.
Hills. Dirt. Snow. Lactic Acid. Grass. Cold. Barriers. Fun!

On Saturday, I participated in a KissCross (Michigan's local CycloCross group) event and was the stoker on a tandum with captain Mike Clark, owner of Velo City Cycles (Thank goodness Mike did all the bike handling; I just had to close my eyes and pedal hard). :)

Cyclo-Cross is a autumn and winter sport and, according to MC,

"Cyclo-Cross is the fastest growing segment of competition nationally and right here in West Michigan - and it’s a great way to extend your season, stay in shape and have a blast. The races are short and furious, the venues are usually city parks or other local areas and the terrain ranges from single track to pavement to pretty much everything in between. Don’t wanna race? Come and watch then! ‘Cross is spectator-friendly to the nth degree and the vibe is nice and mellow. (Around here anyways). We count 19 races on the Michigan calendar alone, not to mention Chicago and rumours of races farther north."

[ check out www.velo-citycycles.com for schedule and other cycling news! ]

Each Cyclo-Cross event is done in laps (this race was about 8-min per lap for a total of 3-9 laps), with each lap combining some sort of varying terrain, with multiple dismounts off your bike to climb up steep hills or jump over logs or other barriers. It's tough and crazy but the good 'ol atmosphere, campfires, soups, beer tents, and people made it one of the coolest winter sports I've seen and done!

Jumping the barriers.

Climbing the hill -'bout the time I lost feeling in my legs...lactic acid burn or numbness from the bitter cold?? Crazy Mike is wearing shorts. Whaaaaaat?!

Me and "Velo City Mike" - Finished! Whew.

"Boyfriend Mike" also raced (individually) and did awesome! I'm very proud of him. :)

HEALTHY HOLIDAY TIPS

Think about this for a moment…What if 2008 was the year that you took control of your body? The year that you threw your fat clothes away…the year that you were proud to put on a bathing suit…the year that your doctor congratulated you on your improved health...the year that your family and friends - and that special someone - showered you with compliments. It's possible. Even more possible than you think.The thing is that you need to direct your effort in an effective way. It all comes back to enjoying sensible nutrition and introducing new and challenging exercise into your routine.

My good friend and fellow Personal Trainer from my time in Florida, Taylor, sent this helpful list to her clients and I thought it was well worth sharing with you as well!

Here are 10 great tips that will help prevent you from gaining weight over the holidays:

1. Limit your intake of calorie laden beverages. Eggnog, champagne, mochas, and hot chocolate all have one thing in common: they are packed with empty calories - avoid these beverages and load up on water instead.

2. Officially schedule exercise into your calendar. It's just too easy to let workouts slide this time of year - make a commitment to exercise and keep it.

3. Forego the goodie making. By keeping your home free from Holiday treats you will undoubtedly gain fewer pounds. However, if you simply have to make those Christmas cookies then chew gum during the baking process to prevent snacking.

4. Have fun being active. Winter is a great time to burn calories outdoors. Go skiing for a day or take the kids sledding. No snow in sight? No problem - take a brisk bike ride or power walk through the mall.
5. Use healthy ingredients. Your Holiday meal will taste even better when you seek out fresh, organic and low fat ingredients - and you'll feel better too.
6. Learn to compromise. Dying to have that peppermint mocha? Go ahead - but have it with nonfat milk and pass on the whipped cream.
7. Don't go hungry. The Holidays are a dangerous time for your metabolism. Focus on eating small balanced meals every few hours to keep your metabolism going strong.

8. Enjoy a sample. No one says you have to completely avoid the appetizers and desserts at your Holiday party - just enjoy in moderation.
9. Focus on family not food. Let's face it, this time of year is big on two things: family and food. Make an effort to place your focus primarily on your family.

10. Stick to your strategy. The best way to gain weight over the Holidays is to approach them without a plan. Using the above tips, write down the ways in which you plan to avoid weight gain this year - then periodically check up on yourself.

In this season of gift giving don't miss the opportunity to give yourself the gift that you really want - a leaner, stronger, healthier body and a lifestyle worth celebrating.

You deserve it.

PHYSICAL EDUCATION FUN!

Last week I had the opportunity to teach an Adaptive PE Class @ Hudsonville High School for my good friend and triathlon-training buddy, Elizabeth. I had such a blast with the kids - their energy and spirit absolutely made my day and we had so much fun rockin' out to the music and doing the Strength Training and Cardio Circuit I made for them. Here are some pics from our time together!

GR PRESS ARTICLE

I was honored on Tuesday to be featured in a Health Profile Section in the Grand Rapids Press called Vital Signs. Yay!! :)

Health profile: Jessica Oosting
Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Age: 26

Occupation: Owner of Valeo/Personal Training LLC, Trainer, Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist

Biggest health challenge: Getting enough sleep to refresh and energize my body and mind. I'm a night owl with an early-morning, physically demanding career; not the best combination.

Exercise routine: I try to do three moderate or longer runs and one speed workout each week. I bike 50 to 70 miles a week and, during the sprint triathlon season, I add swimming a few miles each week. I do a focused strength training session two to three days a week.

Exercise tip: Spice it up. It's lack of change in our routines that causes lack of change in our bodies; plus, it's fun. Safely progress in intensity and find ways to venture beyond the typical. Swap the treadmill for a run on the trails, or hit the stairs at the beach, then take a swim in the water to cool off. Sneak in strength training throughout your day, do core work during commercial breaks on TV, push-ups off the counter after you brush your teeth, or add some cardio with a run to drop off a movie at the rental store.

Dieting history: I've always maintained a healthy weight. I credit that to good genes, a consistently active lifestyle and being nutrition-conscious. I eat according to how and when I need to fuel or repair my body. Fruits, veggies, whole grains and lean proteins make up the bulk of what I eat, but I'm not adamant about avoiding the occasional junk food or treat. We eat for so many more reasons than physical hunger, so I make sure to fuel my body properly but allow leeway for the "just-because" foods.

Guilty pleasure foods: Brownies, cookies, pizza and, in the summer, ice cream

Favorite healthy foods: Dark greens (spinach, fieldgreens, asparagus), apples and natural peanut butter, anything on the grill

Breakfast today: A Juice Plus+ Complete protein shake with a banana

Daily doses: I take Juice Plus+, a whole-foods, fruit/vegetable supplement.

Healthy advice: Do the best with what you have. For most, this might mean shifting your health motivation from solely weight loss and to enjoying a breath of fresh, outdoor air, having the energy to play with your kids, being a force on the sports field, holding your head a bit higher than you used to, or simply moving and functioning better in everyday life. Have fun with the life God created you to live.

QUOTABLE

"The news isn't that fruits and vegetables are good for you. It's that they are so good for you, they could save your life."
- David Bjerklie, TIME Magazine, October 20, 2003

THE NEW SCIENCE OF WEIGHT LOSS...Part I

This is one of the best articles I've read that reinforces the approach to weight loss I encourage (high-intensity circuit or threshold training combined with proper nutrient timing). This focus goes beyond the old paradigm that weight loss or gain is soley dependent on the number of calories in vs. calories out. The latest Nutrition and Exercise Science has been showing more and more that weight gain and weight loss IS ALL ABOUT ALTERING YOUR METABOLISM!


Here is Part I of a III-point series I'd like to share with you. The article, called "The New Science of Weight Loss" is written by Lou Schuler and found in the fook "The New Science of Lifting" by Schuler and Alwyn Cosgrove.


Part 1: Energy Balance Is The Key To Weight Control

If you want to understand energy balance in an instant, think of your body as a car that operates 24 hours a day, says Dan Benardot, Ph.D., R.D., a nutrition researcher at Georgia State University in Atlanta. You would never expect your car to get you from one place to the next without systematic refueling, just as you know there's no point in putting more gas in the tank than it's designed to hold. But that's how many of us operate our bodies.

We try to run on empty for hours, then dump in more fuel than we can handle. Benardot's research shows how self-destructive this strategy is.

Let's say you really want to lose fat, and decide to jog first thing in the morning, on an empty stomach. "The easiest way to get energy is to break down muscle mass," Benardot says. Your body can convert specific amino acids--the building blocks of muscle--to glucose, the sugar that powers human activity. "Someone running before eating may actually be breaking down the very tissue he's trying to improve. Sounds counterproductive to me."
Call it the "muscle loss" diet.

The second way is probably more typical of most of us. You can call this one the "fat gain" diet. You wait a long time between meals, and then, when you're ravenously hungry, you wipe out an entire buffet line. This guarantees that you'll get a larger surge of the hormone insulin than you ordinarily would. That means more fat storage. And you can probably combine the "muscle loss" and "fat gain" strategies and turn your body into a perfect muscle-burning, fat-storing machine. Hard exercise slows down appetite in the short term, but as you get used to it, your appetite matches your exertion level. So if you go out and run 10 miles on an empty stomach, then eat enough to fuel a 15-mile run, the net effect is that you've lost muscle on the run and gained fat from the postrun meal.

Energy balance, the focus of Benardot's research, is the answer to both of these dilemmas. The athletes in his studies get the best results when they stay within 300 to 500 calories of perfect energy balance throughout the day.

This means . . .
1. Eat as soon as you wake up in the morning.
2. Make sure you eat something before you exercise, no matter what time of day it is.
Not only does the food prevent your muscle tissue from becoming cardio chow, but it increases the number of calories you burn during and after exercise. A 1992 study at Arnot-Ogden Medical Center in Elmira, New York, shows that exercise following a meal enhances metabolism.
3. Eat soon after exercising, when your body has depleted its energy stores. Act fast, or you'll start burning muscle for energy.
4. Eat a total of five to six small meals a day.

One of Benardot's studies showed that athletes who added three daily snacks to their three squares lost fat and gained muscle, on top of improving in all the other things that are important to athletes, such as power and endurance. Of course, you can't simply add a few hundred calories to your diet and lose weight, but you can redistribute your daily calories so you're eating more often but consuming less at individual meals.

However you do it, it's clear to Benardot that the worst strategy is cutting out tons of calories indiscriminately in hopes of sudden, dramatic weight loss. "If you're more subtle and try to lose a pound a week or 1 pound in 2 weeks, not only can you do it, but you'll be less likely to regain the weight," he says.