Blog Posts by Brett Blumenthal - Sheer Balance

Yesterday, my friend Lindsay and I discussed her new found love of Kettlebell classes. Her love for these classes are rooted in the mere fact that they 'kick her butt.' Kettlebells are traditional Russian cast iron weights that look like cannonballs with handles and they are used for total body conditioning workouts. The 'bells' vary in size and weight, accommodating students with various levels of fitness.

Lindsay has been taking these classes for only about a month and has just decided to invest More...in a second package of classes. Apparently, she deliberated a bit over this decision, as each class costs, on average, $18.00. She admitted that her decision to fork over the mullah required her to reevaluate her expendable cash, and as a result, she gave up cable television. Seems like a fair trade, right? I guess it depends. In Lindsay's case, she really doesn't watch much television, so it really didn't phase her. However, if she was a TV hound, it probably would have been a

Well, the New Year is just around the corner and you have been actively pursuing your New Year's Resolutions pre-New Year. It must feel great! You have gone through three weeks of preparation and you are finally in the last leg of preparing for 'A New You in 2009'.

Last week, we focused on making smart choices in regards to your diet and nutrition, and rounding out your workout to include not only cardio, but also strength training, core training and flexibility training...all important to ensuring you are taking good care of your body.

This final week is meant to give you all that you need to continue on with your journey to a new you. So, you should think of it as 'the final week and moving forward'.

General To-Dos. Now that you have had a few weeks of preparation, it is time to be serious and to commit to yourself. You are ready to fully work on living a healthier lifestyle!

• Start a Lifestyle Journal.Use this to help you record your progress. You can write

Happy Happy Hump Week! You are now entering your 3rd week of the four week series of 'A New You in 2009.' Last week, we focused on getting rid of bad nutritional habits with a 'detox' and revving up your workouts by increasing your intensity and duration. All of these steps should help to make this week's 'to-dos' easier. As I've mentioned before, make sure you have successfully completed the second week steps prior to moving forward. This will give you a sense of accomplishment and help you to not feel overwhelmed.

Week 3's Roadmap is outlined below!

Nutrition: Making Smart Choices. Last week we focused on getting rid of the excess sugars, toxins and chemicals in your body. You now should be ready to start fresh and eat the foods that your body really needs to be nourished and function properly.

• Healthy Starchy Carbohydrates. If you like bread, pasta and cereals, that is ok, just stop eating those made with bleached and refined flours or non-whole grains. Whole

Whether you are new to exercise or have been exercising for awhile, there are great benefits to having a Workout 'Buddy' (WB). A WB can be someone who works out with you, side by side, or someone who just gets you to physically go with them to classes or the gym. A buddy can often help you stay motivated, challenge you and make exercising fun. That said, there are certain qualities to a WB that are crucial to making the 'buddyship' work. If those qualities aren't there, the buddy system might fail. Further, if YOU are considering being a WB to someone else, you too should possess some of the qualities below:

1. Commitment: A lot of people have good intentions about exercise and about 'Buddying Up'. At the same time, a lot of people, can be a lot of talk with very little action. As a result, you want to make sure that you choose a WB who is committed to your buddyship. If an individual tends to give a lot of lip service, stay clear.
2. Likes a Challenge: The worst thing

I travel a lot. I'm on the road at least 3 days, every other week. My grocery shopping tends to reflect this, as I buy food the week I'll be in town, and then skip shopping the week I'll be out of town. And, for those weeks I skip food shopping, I tend to eat out both on the road and while at home. Needless to say, I don't really cook as often as I'd like. And, with $1.5 billion in Restaurant-industry sales on a typical day in 2008, there is a good chance that I'm in good company.

Whether it be a result of a lot of travel, busy schedules and limited time, or just a bit of laziness, there are many reasons why people are choosing to eat out. And, although restaurants are providing more healthier options today than they were five years ago, this may not be so great for our waistlines, or for that matter, our pocketbooks. Although eating out shouldn't be abolished all together, it isn't necessarily the best way to go ALL of the time. Here are a few reasons you might want to

Congratulations! You are now entering your 2nd week of 'A New You in 2009.' Last week, we focused on laying a foundation for a healthier diet and increasing basic activity into your life. Hopefully, your 'to-dos' were easy to get into and not too overwhelming. If so, take an extra week and stick with the First Week plan to get adjusted.

For those of you ready to jump into your 2nd week, your roadmap is outlined below!

Nutrition - It's Detox Time! When our diet includes unhealthy foods, ingredients and chemicals, our digestive system functions less efficiently and has to work overtime to eliminate toxins and waste. Further, the more of these you eat, the more you crave them. In week two, we are going to retrain your brain and your stomach by eliminating these from your diet, which will hopefully reduce your cravings and dependency on them.

Cut out sugar. Sugar is one of your biggest enemies. In any form: raw, as part of a food, processed,etc.

• If you put sugar in

Your health is about many different things. It is about physical health, mental health and even your environment. When it comes to assessing your physical health, specifically, there seems to be so many tests and numbers and equations that you can use, that it can be daunting. How do you know what measure is the most accurate?

In reality, it depends on multiple factors, and as a result, using multiple measures is a great way of getting an overall assessment of your health. Each one has its own merits, and each has its own drawbacks.

• Body Mass Index (BMI): Body Mass Index is a statistical measure of the weight of a person against their height. It gives you a loose sense of whether or not you are in a healthy weight range. Drawbacks: It does not factor in a person's frame size or what a person's weight is made up of (Fat or Muscle). If you are muscular, you will weigh more than a person who is your same size, but has more fat.
• Lean Body Mass (LBM) / Body Fat

As we quickly approach the holiday season, it seems that the urge to entertain becomes progressively stronger. Personally, I love to entertain and I take a lot of pleasure and pride in the effort that I put in to make an event enjoyable. I love creating an experience: setting an ambiance, putting a music playlist together and decorating when appropriate. When it comes to food, I tend to overestimate the hunger level of my guests. I get this excessive food preparation quality from my mom, who loves to entertain as much as I do, if not more.

When I was younger, I didn't pay much attention to the health factor of what I served. I believed that parties were a time when people should indulge...eating and drinking 'til their hearts' content. This belief, however, has changed over time. Most people who know me well, know that I eat healthy. And in all honesty, I feel like it would be a bit hypocritical to serve a lot of junk or fattening foods at my parties, when I don't subscribe