Peer Pressure

Peer-pressure is a serious thing, especially since it does not stop at the childhood or teenage years, it continues on into our adulthood. Most peer pressure is on young girls and women who see all of the magazines, the beauty products, the commercials and bulletin boards on how to stay young and good looking. Men and women in general are always bombarded with images from the media that make them feel inadequate. For a person who is out of shape and overweight, it is tough enough to be starting on the journey to better health and the look that they desire. So as soon as they start eating better, exercising and making some real progress, they go out with their friends and choose to get a healthy dish from the menu, and are looked at as a "health nut" and pretty much ridiculed or made fun of by their friends for making the healthy choice. For someone who has just begun this long journey, it can be extremely easy to succumb to the peer pressure and give into eating bad for one day, then two, then three, and before they know it they are back to where they started.

My question is when did being called a "health nut" become such a bad thing? And why do people consider being called a "health nut" a negative label? Let me tell you something; because you CHOSE to eat better and healthier, to train regularly and improve your health, you should be proud of the label "health nut". Think of it as a badge of honor that you worked really hard to get. The people that are calling you that recognize your hard work and that is why they say it. But they are a little jealous because it is really hard for them to turn down that piece of cake or the 7th cocktail that they are having at the office party. You do what you intended to do. Stay the course. Keep your goal in mind, which is getting healthier, living a better and longer life. Every time you are called a "health nut", take it as the highest compliment. Once you see things from this perspective there won't be any peer pressure for you and you will only do what you choose to do. Don't get me wrong, the peer pressure is for both women and men. For men it's mostly about looking macho and most of it stems from drinking. Who can out drink who? You would think that this behavior would be over in college. But that is just wishful thinking.

The bottom line is that no matter what kind of peer pressure you are exposed to, know that you are the one who is in control, because you are the one who chooses what to eat and what to drink. Make the right choice.

Questions or comments please contact me at yuri@absolutefitnj.com

Who Do We Need to Listen to About Health Advice...

In our society, celebrities are looked at as role models. In general, male athletes are role models for young boys and female celebrities are role models for women of all ages. Since these celebrities are looked up to, when they become a spokesperson for some sort of diet or product, or do a "health cleanse", many people follow in their footsteps.

Celebrities are just regular people who are fortunate enough to be in the spotlight. Just because they have all this money does not mean they are the healthiest, or that they make proper decisions. Oprah is a great example. She is a great person who has done so much with her life. She built a huge company from the bottom up, and has been a tremendous voice that has reached out to people for years. However, this does not mean she is the person to look to or listen to about nutrition. She has battled weight issues all of her life, always going from one diet to the next, or trying different master cleanses and exercise programs. Now mind you, this is Oprah. She has the best doctors money can buy, the best nutritionists and the best personal trainers. Yet still, for some reason, it's difficult for her to stay healthy and keep the unwanted weight off. Most of us are not fortunate enough to have all the money and help that she has, which is why we should not try to imitate the crazy diet fads that the celebrities are trying.



Keep it simple. Eating whole fresh foods is all you have to do to start your journey toward a healthier lifestyle. Do not follow crazy diets and master cleanses, because they do a lot of damage to the body. Adopt a diet that you can use for the rest of your life, and make it a part of your healthy lifestyle.

Check out Nutrition 101 and Different Levels of Health

Questions or comments eamil me at yuri@absolutefitnj.com

Different Levels of Health

Here are some levels of health from the worst to the best. Be truthful with yourself and find out exactly which health category you are in. Once you have the answer, your goal should be to get to a better, healthier level.




Fast food and junk food. Eating out at fast food places or when eating at home, eating meals out of a bag, such as chips, frozen dinners, cookies, everything extremely processed. In this category huge alcohol consumption may be added.



Junk food. This level means that you’ve limited your fast food to a couple times a year. But you still have your junk food at home. Ex: cakes, pies, cookies, candy, chocolate, sodas, store bought juice.



Processed food, but without junk food. This means that the junk food from the previous category is gone, but you are still eating lots of processed foods. Processed foods are any foods that come in a box. For example: cereals, breads, pastas or foods that most people consider carbohydrates. (There is more to carbohydrates than these processed ones, look below for answers.)



Switching off to whole foods. You’re starting to eat mostly whole food. This means eating whole vegetables and fruits, meat and fish. Everything is cooked and prepared at home.



Whole foods Raw. Eating mostly whole foods, but instead of cooking your vegetables, you’re eating them raw. Same goes for the fruit. Raw vegetables have a much higher nutrient content than cooked, making it more nutritious for the body.



Whole foods organic. Same as eating whole foods, but you’re slowly switching to organic.



Whole foods organic raw. You’re eating mostly organic with all of the vegetables and fruits raw. Meat can be raw if you choose.



Some of these categories may overlap. That’s fine. The whole goal is to get as much nutritional value out of your food as possible; well that’s my goal anyway. What is yours? To learn more about why nutrients are important, read Surviving or Thriving.



Any questions contact me at yuri@absolutefitnj.com

Intermittent Fasting

Intermittent Fasting is currently the new health craze. I read a fantastic Ebook on the subject and I will post the link below so that you guys can check it out. This is a free Ebook, and yet at the same time, it’s worth 100,000 dollars.
Why did I give it such a high price especially since it’s free? Is it that effective?
The reason why I enjoyed this book so much is: A) it’s a quick read. So this is the perfect solution for those of you who don’t like to read, or don’t have the time.
B) It is very easily understood. It uses simple terms and flows so easily that it makes you want to keep reading. And finally, the most important reason: C) The way that everything was recorded was extremely detailed. The author of the research is a scientist, and he uses himself to test out different diet crazes. Talk about self sacrifice for a greater cause. He is extremely unbiased and records everything that he encounters, whether it’s positive or negative.
**His approach to finding and handling a problem was the most fascinating. As he only changed one variable at a given time (usually 2 weeks) and studied how his body reacted to it.** This is extremely important for anyone who is trying to get any results.
Let’s use weight loss as the goal that we are trying to reach. Since most people are so eager to get started, especially if it’s a New Year’s resolution, they tackle it full force. This is great if it works and continues to work but sadly most of the time it does not. What they do is they change their diet (or at least I hope they do), they may start a supplement program, and start exercising. Which is all good and great, these are the basics of getting to your goal. But what happens if, after doing all of that, they don’t get any results. What to do next? They have no idea whether it’s their diet that’s bad, if the supplements they are taking are a total waste of money, or the exercise program is boring, stale and is not producing any results because it is the total opposite of what their body needs. To avoid running into this problem, first and foremost, READ THIS EBOOK. As I mentioned before you will feel like you have found 100,000 dollars. And, most importantly, make sure you always work with a professional that can help you with whatever your goals are.

Enjoy the read. And make sure that you apply the knowledge.

Feel Free to contact me with any topics that you would like discussed at
yuri@absolutefitnj.com

Age The Limmiting Factor

In our youthful years, we look forward to getting older so that we may be able to do more things; Being able to go to sleep late, watch rated-R movies, drive, vote, and legally drink. It's very exciting to reach those new ages and to gain the so-called benefits of being older. Along that journey of trying to get older, we get to a point where we’ve gone too far and as hard as we try we cannot force back time. We start regretting our age. We use it as an excuse to get out of doing things that we used to hold dear; such as sports, playing outside in the sun, and most importantly, being healthy. Why is it that when you are 50, 60 or even 70 you are too old to be healthy?

The older you get, the better you are supposed to be because of the vast experience you’ve gained. Age is not a limiting factor; it's a super human power. You, have so much more of an advantage over the younger generation. So if age is not the limiting factor, then what is? Unfortunately, many people have their minds set. Common phrases that slow down the "older" folk from reaching their full potential are: ‘I'm too old for this’, ‘you are much younger than me so you are able to do this’, ‘when I was your age…’, ‘I wish I could’, ‘I just don’t have the time’, or ‘when I was as young as you my metabolism was much better’. If you have ever uttered any of these phrases, know that you are not alone, but also know that there are 70 year olds

that are even more fit and healthier than most 20 year olds. Don't make excuses for your age and start
taking responsibility. Harness that super power that is age and get more efficient at living a healthy, excuse free, life. Be the one that says this to the younger generation: ‘its ok you could not beat me this time, I have years of experience over you’.