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Happy Thursday! Normally, I love Thursdays, but today, not so much. I am just not feeling the day.

It started off great, I had an awesome boot camp, then a great hair cut:

But then I received a text message from Dan.

Apparently, between the time I left this morning (6am) and the time Dan got up (6:45am) Zoe got sick ALL over our living room floor. So much so that the carpet had to be rolled up and tossed out and placed on the side of the road.

Living room is disheveled… 

Because of all the mess, even Nike ended up contaminated and he had to give her a bath. Ever tried to give a long haired, black cat with claws a bath by yourself? Me either and I don’t want to either.

She’s had a rough day.

So instead of the plans I had made for this afternoon, I will be spending some time scrubbing the floor and shopping for a new carpet.

I love Zoe but she’s very stubborn and when she has to go she just goes. We do our best to clean everything up, but apparently when we rolled up the floor there were some pee stains. Gross, right?

How can you not love that face!?

Zoe is almost 9 years old, any ideas on how to deal with her? Is she too old for a crate?

Okay, now that that is off my chest, let’s move on to Top 10 Thursday!

It’s a fun one today and I don’t want to put it off any longer, plus it will help keep my mind off the issue at hand

Top 10 Nutritional Mistakes We’ve All Made

10. Chowing down on protein bars for snacks. 

This isn’t necessarily bad, but sometimes the idea of a protein bar simply makes us think healthy. While there are some good bars available, I think it’s safe to say that 80% of them aren’t as great as we think.

They are often loaded with sugars and if not sugar, than sugar alcohols. They are simply chocolate bars with added whey protein.

Make sure to read the label before taking down your 5th bar of the week. Make sure the brand you get is all natural, lists protein as the first or second ingredient, and that it’s void of sugar alcohols.

9. Thinking fruit should be eliminated because of sugar.

I’ve been guilty of this one and I have clients ask me about it ALL the time! Is fruit bad for you? The short answer is NO, no and no! Sugar is loaded with vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. A lot of the antioxidants available in fruit aren’t available in vegetables making them almost necessary to enjoy.

Yes, fruit does have sugar in it, and while I would limit high sugar fruits (bananas, grapes, pineapple, etc), I would never eliminate them from the diet. Lots of fruits like apples and pears are loaded with good for weight loss fiber!

Bottom line, limit but don’t avoid fruit.

8. Thinking a calorie is a calorie

We all are familiar with the idea that to lose weight all you have to do is burn more calories than you’re taking in.

But it’s not always so cut and dry. That would mean that eating 100 calories of cookies is the same as 100 calories of chicken. And while essentially they are, they can have different effects on the way your body responds to weight loss.

Ever heard the saying that abs are made in the kitchen? That’s because when you eat clean (foods unprocessed, all natural) then your body is more likely to burn off fat, get toned from your workouts and the outcome will be awesome.

On the flip side a side of the same calories but with junk will have a different result. You’ll lose weight but your body will not look the same. Flab, jiggle and love handles will stick around. There’s a lot of science involved, so I will spare you… just take my word for it.

7. Avoiding all red meat.

Have you avoided red meat like the plague because you think that it is nothing but a fatty cut of meat that gives heart disease and high cholesterol?

Red meat has gotten a bad wrap over the years but believe it or not there are actual cuts that are leaner, and have less calories than chicken! Plus the protein is out of this world. Might sound strange coming from a vegan, but keep in mind I haven’t always been. In fact, I love bison. Bison is one such meat mentioned above. Most game meats are.

Red meat is a great source of iron and zinc and incorporated from time to time in your diet can do a lot of good overall. Don’t fear the red, just eat the right ones!

6. Cutting out carbs because carbs are the devil.

Thank you Dr Adkins for making everyone and their mothers afraid of carbohydrates. I feel bad for grain companies when this fad first started. And you know what? I was on it. When I competed in Figure, I was instructed to cut my carbs down to 40 grams per day!

I didn’t know better at the time, so I followed directions.

Carbs aren’t the devil, the wrong kind of carbs are! Whole grains like quinoa, barley, oats, and brown rice are great energy sources. Fruit and veggies are carbs too. Your body uses sugar as it’s energy source, did you know that the brain is fulled only by sugar? So don’t avoid it!

Cutting out carbs can make you lose weight yes, but ask anyone who was on the Atkins Diet and they’ll tell you they gained it back. Our bodies need carbs, fats, and protein… cut one out and the body will suffer!

5. Eating all the same foods, over and over and over.

Variety is the spice of live. If you decide to go on a diet of eating nothing but oatmeal, apples and spinach salads, all I have to say is good luck with that. You’ll get bored and break down. All of a sudden you’re looking at an empty plate of cookies. Oops.

There are so many healthy foods to enjoy, don’t limit yourself! Experiment and test new foods out all the time!

Another down side of the mono-diet is that you’ll likely plateau. What happens when you do the same workout over and over? Your body gets used to it, and what used to burn tons of calories and made you sore, no longer does. The same goes with food. Change things up from time to time to get results.

Foods that go between a lot: Stirfries, meatballs, curry, black bean burgers

4. Avoiding fats because they’ll fatten you up

I don’t think I need to dive down completely into this one since I kind of hit it with the carb talk. But fats are essential, and in fact eating the right kind of fats (unsaturated) can actually help you lose weight.

Fat is slowly digested so it helps keep you fuller, longer. Eat a breakfast of toast (carbs) and the next day eat eggs and let me know which kept you satisfied.

3. Sports drinks and electrolytes are great for workouts.

Oh Gatorade how you’ve changed the way people look at hydration. When I taught gymnastics I used to roll my eyes when parents would buy Gatorades for their 6 year olds. Did I mention the class was 45 minutes long?

Sports drinks are 90% of the time a waste of time, money and calories. Yes, electrolytes are a plus but only if you’re working out for longer stretches of time and your workout is intense and sweaty. If you’re not losing electrolytes why do you need them?

The general rule is that sports drinks are only a plus if your workout is going to last longer than 60 minutes.

AND, the concentration of the mix in that drink is way too much. My coach in high school used to have us dilute ours 50:50 (drink:water). You’ll get what you need, and cut the calories in half.

2. You think frozen veggies are worst than fresh.

I am a fresh veggie eater. I won’t pretend not to be. There is just so much flavor in fresh foods. But here’s the thing, frozen isn’t worst for you. In fact, a lot of times frozen can be better for you!

When you buy produce at the grocery store, it’s been days if not weeks since it was picked. Each day it loses vitamins and minerals. Frozen veggies on the other hand are often frozen right after harvest so all the goodies are locked in!

If you’re like me and just prefer the taste of fresh, then find a farmers market near  you. Most often, the produce is picked the day before. Or even better, see if you can visit the farms and pick yourself… can’t get any more fresh!

1. Overeating because we worked out so hard. 

Don’t tell me you’ve never done this one, because we all have!

You get a great workout in and when you get home you realize there is a pint of ice cream in the fridge. You realize that you just burnt off at least 500 calories during your workout, so that ice cream is fine (it only has 400 calories).

Or the other idea is that you rely on the treadmill or calorie counter to tell you your calories and then you base your food choices off that later. Unfortunately, that calorie counter is so inaccurate. It is notorious for spouting out numbers larger than what really happened.

Make food choices based on what’s clean and will helps support your workout instead of justifying bad choices with your sweat.

• What was the last impulse food you grabbed because of a tough workout?

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