EllipticalHome.com Blog

December 2006 Holiday Issue:

1. Introduction
2. Blog Facelift
3. Special Holiday Gift!
4. Looking Forward to 2007

Welcome to the December Holiday issue of the
EllipticalHome.com Fitness Newsletter.

I got busy with a few other things last month and missed
sending out the November newsletter. I hope those of you in
the US and Canada had a great Thanksgiving. This is the
time of year where temptations of the edible variety
abound. My approach is to go with the flow and not fight it
too hard.

I think the best way to balance the extra calories is to
keep up with your exercise program. Of course that’s hard
to do with the increased demands during the holiday season.
There are gifts to buys and parties to attend and for many
of us, it’s also the end of the work year and we may have
to work extra hours to meet business commitments.

That’s why it’s even more important to try extra hard to
not miss workouts. You don’t want to dig yourself too big
of a fitness hole that you will have trouble climbing out
of at the start of the New Year.

————————————————————————————————-
The EllipticalHome.com Blog Gets a Facelift
————————————————————————————————-
Dr. Guido W. Stiehle of EasyWebTutorials.com created some
custom templates for the blog that give it the same look as
the main EllipticalHome.com site. They look great and are a
big improvement over the boring old WordPress template that
I was using. Many thanks Dr. Guido!

I’m archiving back issues of the newsletter on the blog and
will be posting shorter blog posts more often (my
resolution for 2007!). I will also begin posting the
newsletters directly to the blog and just sending out a
very short email to let you know when the monthly
newsletter is online.

Have a look at the blog’s new look here:

http://ellipticalhome.com/blog/

————————————————————————————————–
A Special Holiday Gift For You!
————————————————————————————————–
Blake Bissaillion of http://tinyurl.com/2sfcl6 has put
together a 90-page Weight Training Guide complete with
illustrations of the major weight lifting exercises. Blake
is a weight-training enthusiast from Canada and his site
has loads of great tips for weight lifting and other
fitness-related topics such as nutrition and cardio
training.

Blake’s Weight Training Guide is a terrific complement to
my “Getting Started With Elliptical Training” eBook.

My eBook has a chapter on super-charging your elliptical
training with weight lifting. Unfortunately, I didn’t have
the space to include illustrations and descriptions of the
weight lifting exercises. So now, with Blake’s guide, that
gap has been filled!

You can download the guide at the link below and you don’t
even need to sign up for Blake’s newsletter – just download
it instantly!

http://tinyurl.com/2sfcl6

Of course, you’ll want to subscribe to Blake’s newsletter.
I’m a subscriber and I eagerly await his newsletters. Being
a weight-training enthusiast myself, Blake definitely
speaks my language!

Subscribe to the Building-Muscle101.com newsletter here:

http://tinyurl.com/3b8yxt

————————————————————————————————-
Looking Forward To 2007
————————————————————————————————-
As we close the book on 2006 it’s a good time to reflect on
what we accomplished over the past year and also plan out
some goals for next year. Regarding fitness goals, I
certainly learned a lot about cardio fitness. I
experimented with HIIT as well as training in the “cardio
zone”. Cardio Zone training has proven to be a winner for
me and I’m going to stick with it during the start of 2007.

Diet and nutrition continues to be a challenge for me and
my number one goal for next year is to get back to basics
and really tighten things up on that front.

Speaking of New Year’s Resolutions, here’s an article, sort
of tongue and cheek, that I wrote at the start of this
year. Have a read when you get a chance:

http://www.ellipticalhome.com/new-years-article.html

Best wishes to you and your loved ones for the holidays
and much success and good health in 2007!

In This Month’s Issue:

1. Tips For Resisting Halloween Temptation
2. Ellipticals in New Zealand
3. What’s in the works?

Welcome to the October issue of the EllipticalHome.com
Fitness Newsletter.

I’m a little late in getting the newsletter out this month,
but hopefully it’s reaching you in time to prevent any
Halloween candy mishaps. I think you know what I mean –
giving in to a bag of miniature Reese’s cups or bag full of
Sweet Tarts and then coming up short when the Trick or
Treaters come ringing your doorbell.

I’ve been there myself. I used to live in a condo complex
where maybe 2 kids would come by asking for candy. Of
course, to make sure I didn’t run out, I’d buy 2 bags of
candy. It was just a coincidence that they happened to be
my favorite chocolate treats.

Then in my disappointment at the paltry turnout, I’d
console myself by enjoying the leftovers for the next week
or so. Many times, I’d begin helping myself the week before
Halloween!

As you can see, it’s all mental. I would use Halloween as
an excuse to indulge my fondness for chocolate. Ordinarily,
I wouldn’t buy candy for myself.

 Here are some strategies for dealing with the temptations
of Halloween:

–Be a Halloween Scrooge and don’t participate. Yes I know
this sounds mean-spirited, but many communities have a
policy of using porch lights to signal participation. Just
keep them off if you don’t want candy in your house.
However, this method only works if you don’t have kids.

–Don’t buy the candy until the day of Halloween. There
will be less opportunity to sneak the tasty morsels for
yourself. And only buy enough to cover the volume of Trick
or Treaters — avoid leftovers!

–If you help yourself to some of the goodies, then take a
page from the Weight Watcher’s manual and treat the
calories as points towards your daily allotment. In
exchange, sacrifice dessert or a snack or two and be extra
sure that you don’t miss any exercise sessions!
Just remember, that the road gets a lot tougher as we head
into Thanksgiving and then the celebrations of the Holiday
season. So stay focused and stay strong!

————————————————————————————————–
“Elliptical Trainers In New Zealand”
————————————————————————————————–
I received an inquiry from a reader in New Zealand recently
asking my opinion on an elliptical trainer advertised for
sale on TradeMe.com in NZ. At first I thought it was a
Kettler model from the photo, but saw that it was actually
a “DM-700E”.

 This is a brand that I’m not familiar with, but I did a
little research.

Turns out that “DM” stands for Dingming Fitness, which is a
company in China. Based on the asking price and the
somewhat bold claims in the ad, I got suspicious. I’m not
against Chinese made products, but at the moment, fitness
equipment manufactured in China is not of the highest
quality. Though the elliptical looked compact, it also
looked a bit flimsy and without the protection of a
warranty, I couldn’t recommend that the reader go through
with the purchase.

Sometimes, in a desire to save money on what is a fairly
big investment, we get tempted by fitness equipment that
looks good and also carries a cheap price tag. However,
ellipticals in this class seldom prove to be good
investments. I continue to believe that you can get a
quality elliptical trainer for home use between $1200 -
$2000.

I’m sure the major brands of ellipticals from ICON Health &
Fitness, such as ProForm, NordicTrack, Weslo, etc. are
readily sold throughout the word, including NZ and
Australia. Unfortunately, these are American imports that
don’t make the US very proud.

Perhaps readers in NZ and Australia could let me know what
brands are available your region and what your experience
and opinions are about them.

One option is the Mercantila Superstore. They carry a very
large selection of elliptical trainers from quality
manufacturers such as Precor, Life Fitness, Sole,
Bodycraft, and many others. Their prices are also quite
competitive and they will ship ellipticals to just about
anywhere in the world.

You will need to call them and get information on shipping
charges and you will also need to pay any custom fees, but
with the discounted prices your net cost may still be lower
than from other distributors for ellipticals that you
cannot find locally.

Their elliptical pages are also loaded with specifications
and detailed photos:

http://tinyurl.com/347e5j
 
————————————————————————————————–
What’s in the works?
————————————————————————————————–
It’s been a while since I’ve posted new elliptical trainer
reviews to the site, but that’s about to change. I’ve been
trying out a different elliptical trainer at the gym from a
well-known manufacturer and have found it to be a nice
complement to my high-intensity training. But, I didn’t
think much of it when I first tried it. I’ll have the full
report out soon. I’m working on reviews for some very
affordable home ellipticals that I’m getting good feedback
on.

As I pay more attention to my overall health beyond just
keeping my weight down I’ve found some valuable resources
concerning blood pressure and cholesterol. I’ll let you
know about my progress with these methods after I give them
a fair tryout.

That’s it for this month’s newsletter. Happy Halloween and
save the candy for the Trick or Treaters!

 
————————————————————————————————-
Nutritional Tip: “Easy Ways To Get Extra Protein”
————————————————————————————————-
Protein is an essential nutrient in anyone’s diet. It’s the
source for amino acids that are necessary to build muscle
tissue. Lean sources of protein are vital to bodybuilders
looking to pack on muscle mass, but are also important to
the rest of us who exercise hard and wouldn’t mind a bit of
muscle tone.

However, there are only so many dry chicken breasts you can
eat. Wouldn’t it be great if you could get additional
protein in a quick and easy way? I’m going to tell you
about 2 great methods that I use personally.

The first is hard-boiled egg whites. I love eggs and
they’re also packed with protein – about 6.5 grams for a
whole egg and 3.6 grams for the white. The while has very
little fat compared to the yolk and this is the part we
should consume. I boil up a dozen eggs at the start of the
week and discard the yolks after they’ve cooled. I know it
sounds like a waste, but I don’t need the extra fat and
cholesterol in my diet. I then put them in a plastic
container and keep them in the fridge. I’ll take 2 or 3
whites with me to work as a snack. They’re tasty and
provide the extra protein I need during the afternoon.

An even easier way to get some extra protein is by using
protein powders. Just mix with juice, water, or milk and
you’ve got protein-packed boost. There are various types of
protein powders, but the one I prefer in whey protein.