Being that it's consistently blistering hot outside, I think it's safe to say that many of you are thinking about the same thing... ice... cold...watttteeerrr...ahhhh, refreshing. I drink lots and lots of water daily but am I getting enough? Some days, I'm not. The other day I woke up with a screaming headache, zero energy (after a good 8 hours of sleep), foggy brain, and my eyes seemed like they were shaking because my vision was blurry. Have you ever been startled awake and you're jumpy, anxious, confused... as if there was an earthquake while you were dead asleep and you don't quite know what's going on yet? That's how I felt for most of the day. It wasn't until later in the evening that I thought "hmm maybe I'm dehydrated?" Well that would make sense because it was 4pm and I'd only had a few cups of water, if I'm being generous. I felt like my brain was shutting down so I needed to do something quick. I grabbed 3 bottles of water and chugged. It only took about 30 minutes for me to start feeling somewhat better. What was I thinking? It's 8000 degrees outside! The FEW cups of water I drank I'd probably already sweat out, not to mention my negative oz deficit from my coffee. Smart, I know. I wont make that mistake again that's for sure.

So how much water do you actually need?

Everyone's water need is different. It depends on how much you weigh, your activity level, where you live, and your overall health. I'm sure you've heard "drink eight 8-ounce cups per day" right? Well yes, that's fine... if you're 130 lbs. The 8x8 rule is easy to remember so that's what many people shoot for. I've read many articles that recommend a simple formula that is personalized to every one's individual need for water maintenance. Maintenance. That means at the minimum, this is how much water your body needs to maintain optimal organ function, not including what you need to add with heavy exercise or other exerting activities. So what is it already? Easy. Take your body weight and divide that in half. The number you get is the minimum amount of water YOU need to drink just for your body to work properly. So for example (and because I like to look at numbers because I'm math geeky) if you weigh 125lbs ÷ 2 = 62.5oz of water. See that is just about 8oz of water a day, but wouldn't you think a much larger person would need much more? Lets look at another one... 225lbs÷2=112.5oz of water. One person needs only 8 cups, while the other needs close to double at 14. Just for optimal function.

What if you exercise...outdoors...in Phoenix? While it's hard to recommend a one size fits all solution because everyone exerts a different amount of energy and sweat and need different amounts of fluid to replenish, here is a little chart with some basic guidelines. I say though, after drinking your minimum and you feel like you need more while you're getting your butt kicked at boot camp, go for it. Drink up, buttercup!
* if you weigh your self before you workout, use the same scale afterwards.

You might ask yourself, "How can I possibly DRINK that much water?" Good news is you don't have to actually drink it. Because that could get boring. Keep in mind that you can drink your water with fruit, as green tea (some research says that caffeinated beverages count against your daily intake because it is a diuretic and causes you to lose fluid, some says otherwise...so take it with a grain of salt), coffee (again...diuretic), and don't forget that ice in your water counts towards the total. It's a little harder to measure, but you don't need to be exact. One of my favorite ways to get my water is FOOD.

Which foods have a lot of water?

Watermelon contains 92% water, 8% natural sugar, and essential electrolytes. Watermelon is rich in Vitamin C, beta carotene, and lycopene which will give the body protection from UV light.

Grapefruit contains only 30 calories and is comprised of 91% water. Phytonutrients, called limonoids found in grapefruits, can be detoxifying and may inhibit tumor formation of cancers.


Avocado is comprised of not only healthy monounsaturated fats but also 81% water by weight! Results from a 2010 NHANES study show that the absorption of two key carotenoids, lycopene and beta-carotene, where increased by 200 to 400 percent when fresh avocado was added to meals. This is important to athletes in an effort to decrease recovery time.

Cucumbers have a 96% water content and a good balance of electrolytes. The mineral silica found in cucumber is essential for healthy, lubricated connective tissue, which includes muscles, tendons, ligaments, cartilage, and bone.

How does drinking enough water help with weight loss?

Drinking water can be one of the best tools in aiding your weight loss. When you exercise, your body breaks down fat, you need to drink lots of water to flush out all the fat that is being released. FLUSH THE FAT! Drinking plenty of water can also increase your basal metabolic rate (BMR). Your body has to process the water and burns calories to do so. Studies show that drinking ice cold water burns even more calories because your body first has to bring the water up to your internal body temperature. You might be wondering just how many bathroom breaks you'll be taking if you'll be increasing your water intake drastically after reading this. The answer is A LOT. Just think though, all the upcoming frequent pit stops will be a part of your exercising program! Imagine how many sqauts you'll be doing, the cardio you'll get running to the john, stretching and hip-hinging while pulling up/down your pants, except the guys... lucky. After about 2 weeks though, you're body will most likely be used to it's new level of hydration and the pit stops will level out.

Drinking enough water helps your kidneys and liver function at optimal capacity. This is important because these organs are directly related to weight loss and more importantly fat loss. If you're not getting enough water, your kidneys can't function properly. When the kidneys don't function properly, the liver steps in to take on some of the kidney's work.

One of the liver's primary functions is to metabolize stored fat into energy. If the liver is helping the kidneys, it can't function as its optimal capacity, which results in less fat being metabolized.

So in conclusion......DRINK MORE WATER! For more guidelines, tips, advice, recipes, health and fitness chit chat, make sure to join us on Facebook in our Rock Star Boot Camp Fit & Healthy group.

Horny Toad Farm has teamed up with Rock Star Boot Camp to provide their own C.S.A (Community Supported Agriculture) program! Pick up is on Saturdays at the Roadrunner Farmers Market. See the flier for all the details (such as how to sign up!) and of course, please feel free to ask questions. Sign up and payment is due by July 7th. Thank you camper Anastasia for putting this together for us! View the Announcements & Events page to stay up to date!

(click the image to enlarge)

If haven't already, take a minute to join our Rock Star Boot Camp Fit & Healthy group on Facebook, a place for support, advice and encouragement throughout your fitness journey.

"As an extension of Rock Star Boot Camp, this group will focus on nutrition, over all health, and our daily fitness journey. The group will not berate anyone on their eating habits; nor push one type of diet over another. Suggestions will be made, questions will be answered, and knowledge and experiences will be shared by all - but all aspects will remain positive. If you aren’t meeting your fitness goals, you will know why as you look back on your fitness and nutrition progression. Awareness is a large part of the battle. Be purposeful. Make smart choices and pay attention, day after day. Tracking these decisions will be the “writing on the wall” as to why you are, or are not, meeting your fitness and nutrition goals during this most-tempting time. We will be here to help along the way."

Welcome all new members of Rock Star Boot Camp! If this is the beginning of your weightloss/fitness journey, I encourage you to snap a "before" photo of yourself so in a few weeks you can look back and see how much progress you've made! I will be writing another Before/After picture post in the next few weeks so if you're interested, get snapping!

Ever find yourself standing in the produce department of the grocery store deciding between the $.88 carton of conventionally grown strawberries and the $4.99 carton (the SAME SIZE!) of organically grown strawberries? How do you choose? Is it really worth the $4.00 difference to buy organic? For some fruits and vegetables, the answer is yes.

Eating organic isn't as easy for some as it is for others. The price factor alone is hard to get past, but since the "organic era" is a relatively new concept, a lot of people aren't aware of the health factors of eating organic. Let's start at the beginning and hopefully after you're finished reading, you'll have a better understanding of the benefits of eating organic foods vs. non-organic, conventionally grown foods.


What does “organic” mean?
Organic refers to how farmers grow and process food. Organic farming methods differ from conventional farming in several ways:

• Conventional farming uses chemical fertilizers to promote plant growth, while organic farming employs manure and compost to fertilize the soil.
• Conventional farming sprays pesticides to get rid of pests, while organic farmers turn to insects and birds, mating disruption, or traps.
• Conventional farming uses chemical herbicides to manage weeds, while organic farming rotates crops, hand weeds, or mulches.
• When raising animals, conventional farmers give animals antibiotics, growth hormones, and medications to spur growth and prevent disease. Organic farmers feed their animals organic feed and allow them to roam. They also will make sure the animals have a balanced diet and clean housing.

Why it costs more
The biggest criticism of organic food is its cost. There are several reasons it’s more expensive. Organic farmers pay more for organic animal feed, and the farming is more labor intensive, since farmers avoid chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Because farmers don’t use herbicides, for instance, they rely more on hand weeding. And since they avoid chemical fertilizers, they use compost and animal manure, which is bulkier and more expensive to ship. This also means their crop yield is usually lower. Conventional farming also uses every acre of farmland to grow crops, while organic farmers rotate their crops to keep soil healthy.

All of these production costs mean organic farming tends to be more expensive than conventional farming, and this is reflected in how much you pay at the grocery store. However, when you take into account the true “cost” of food production from conventional farming, including replacement of eroded soils, cleaning up polluted water, health care for farmers who get sick, and environmental costs of pesticide production and disposal, organic farming might actually be cheaper in the end.

In this economy, we would all like to save a few bucks on our groceries. Spend $4 extra on strawberries? No way, that money could be used towards the rent, or car payment, or filling up out gas tanks with these crazy prices! So how do you choose?  I like to approach every big change with baby steps. A change as big as your food type consumption can be very difficult considering you've known one way your whole life.  So your first baby step to leading a healthier, toxic free lifestyle is to eat as much organic as you can. I know it wasn't in my budget to add a few hundred a month (or week!) when we first started eating organic food.. With that, let me introduce you to the Dirty Dozen and the Clean 15.

The Dirty Dozen is a list of fruits and vegetables with the highest percentage of pesticides. Most have a soft penetrable skin and flesh so that when chemicals are sprayed on them, they soak it up like sponges and it seeps deep into the meat of the fruit. Note: although not listed in the dirty dozen, ALL berries should be organic. Print this little cheat sheet off and take it with you to the store next time. If you ONLY buy these 12 items organic, you'll be significantly reducing your pesticide consumption.

On the other side of the chart you see the Clean 15. These are just the opposite of the Dirty Dozen: they have the lowest-zero percentage of pesticides. I read somewhere that onion plants are just not preferred by critters so farmers don't NEED to use chemicals on them. You'll notice that the Clean 15 items have a hard, thicker peel, pesticides can't penetrate down into the fruit so once you removed the peel, you have very little exposure. Lemons and limes are not listed but just note that if you'll be using the peel for zest, buy organic.

Probably the best way to acquire your weekly provisions is through a local farmer’s market. The food travels a shorter distance, which means less carbon emissions and food that hasn’t been shipped hundreds of miles or processed to keep it preserved during transport. The food comes from small farms where the farmers are usually conscious of their impact on the earth and care about the food they’re producing. By purchasing food from them, you also support the local food economy and know where your food is coming from. According to the Center for Urban Education about Sustainable Agriculture, food in the United States travels an average of 1,500 miles to make it to your refrigerator. Why take an apple off the truck when you’re a step away from plucking it off the tree?

Rock Star Boot Camp has teamed with Horny Toad Farms in providing a weekly CSA food bag pick up at the Road Runner Park farmer's market. The latest cycle is ending soon but another will be starting again mid-July. I'll make sure to send out more information on that as soon as it is available. The flier and information will also be posted in the Rock Star Boot Camp Fit & Healthy group on Facebook: a great resource of fitness, health, nutrition chit chat and community support and motivation. (JOIN NOW!)

For a few weeks now I've been eating a very low fat diet because of some gallbladder issues I was having (That's here on my blog: Honey, I Shrunk My Butt). I've been struggling with what I should be doing with my diet, I just couldn't wrap my mind around the topic for some reason. I started getting overwhelmed with all the terms.. no-fat, low-fat, trans fat, good fat, bad fat.. fat fat fat. So instead of worrying about it, I basically cut out as much fat as I could, even the "good fat." Then a discussion came up in the Rock Star Boot Camp Fit & Healthy Group on Facebook {JOIN NOW!} that reminded me that I NEED good fat. In order to be successful in weight loss and health, your body needs fat. It's a little hard to swallow because in our society it's hammered into our heads that fat is bad. So I did some asking around and searching on the interwebs. What is good fat and what is bad fat?

I found this article called Choosing Healthy Fat (<--- read that, it has SO much great information!) and I really liked how the author sums up the no fat/low fat debate in my head:

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Want More??

Rock Star Boot Camp is the official boot camp of the Phoenix Mercury! This is an exciting new partnership and we are proud to be associated with such an amazing sport and group of athletes. Watch for us at all the home games, on the Phoenix Mercury website, on TV and hosting several on-court events. We're also launching a Biggest Transformation Contest in conjunction with the Phoenix Mercury. More details will follow, but needless to say, it's a fabulous time to be a Rock Star!

The following blog post is an old one, already published by Curtis in 2009 but I was reading it and it's hilarious so I figured I' reblog it in case you missed it!


Summer (aka ‘swim suit & bikini season’) is approaching fast. Are you ready?



One of the best ways to get your mid-section looking strong and sexy is by doing high intensity workouts using full body exercises. One of our favorite camp traditions is to include a “finisher” to our already smokin’ workout…something to really ramp up fat loss to start showin’ off the abs.

Oh, and here’s a secret...in our camp workouts, you will NEVER...EVER do a traditional sit-up. Pretty cool, huh? ;)

Check out 3 of the best “ab” exercises that aren’t typically known as “ab” exercises at all…see what I mean here:



Alrighty...let's expose 2 of the biggest "ab exercise" myths on the planet:

Myth #1: Doing ab exercises will make you get six pack abs.

WRONG!

Fact: This is a complete misnomer and one that’s been around forever, and yet...walk into any commercial gym, and what do you see? Misguided folks plugging away at the crunch machine in hopes of revealing the magic 6 in the mid-section.



Let's cut to the point. The most important thing to do, is to GET RID of the fat surrounding your belly. That will reveal the Holy Grail of Abs.

Bottom line: No amount of crunches or sit ups are going to get you to burn fat around the belly. And since there is no such thing as spot reduction, the best way to get rid of belly fat is by doing high intensity exercises that helps boost your metabolism and burn fat throughout the day. Got it? Good. Now check out #2.

Myth #2: Side bends/oblique twists will thin and trim your waist.

WRONG!

Fact: If you are stuck on the crunch or ab/oblique twisty machine thing at the gym...stop it - for fat loss and revealing your slim and trim abs, this is a waste of time.



You want to spend a little extra time training your abs for strength and endurance, go right ahead.

But focusing on this for fat loss? Forgettaboutit.

Bottom Line: The only way to a lean out and thin your waist is by scorching the fat around your belly.

-Curtis

For more tips on getting lean and eating clean for bikini season, make sure to join our Rock Star Boot Camp Fit & Healthy group on Facebook!

Don't forget to check out Rock Star Boot Camp's Fit & Healthy Group on Facebook!

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Summer is here and you know what that means: pool parties, BBQ cookouts, and lots of sunblock! Grilled fish is a healthy alternative for your next cookout menu. Eating fish three times a week has been linked to better brainpower, lowered risks of some cancers, and a number of other health benefits too long to name. But what's the big fuss about farm raised fish or wild caught? Besides the taste (which, I can TOTALLY tell the difference) there are quite a few things to consider.

Farmed: PROS

Farmed fish are raised on land, usually in pools or tanks, but they can also be raised in offshore fish farms—areas of ocean that are netted off to keep the stock fish from escaping. The major plus of farmed fish is that they allow for a high yield of fish without the risk of over-harvesting and depleting wild populations.

Farmed fish are also usually considerably less expensive.

Farmed: CONS

Thousands of fish are crammed into pens, which leads to the growth of diseases and parasites that require antibiotics and pesticides. With offshore farms, nitrogen and phosphorous from feed and waste lead to algae blooms that can contaminate surrounding water. On land-based farms, heavy rains and floods can cause nitrogen to run off into nearby waterways, although many land-based systems use recirculated water that has been treated to remove high levels of the chemicals. Also, food fed to farmed fish is partially composed of wild-caught fish that may be contaminated with chemicals such as PCBs and cancer-causing dioxin. 

Wild Caught: PROS

Aside from chemicals like PCBs and dioxin, wild fish are free of all the problems listed above.

Wild Caught: CONS: Over-harvesting is a serious threat to many species of our favorite fish, such as blue-fin tuna. Thanks to technology and improved gear, ocean fisherman have increased their catch 400 percent in the last 50 years, leading to the virtual collapse of some species, such as New England cod. In addition to that, the techniques used by ocean fisherman lead to the destruction of other ocean ecosystems and to unintended by-catch (other sea creatures caught and killed in the fishing process).  Wild caught fish is pricier.


So what's the answer? Should you eat wild or farmed raised fish? It's not as simple as to choose one or the other for all seafood. Some fish-farming operations are better and more responsibly managed than others, and the same can be true for wild fisheries. HOW fish are caught is another thing to consider.

LOOK FOR THE LABEL! To find the most Eco-friendly fish,  look for the Marine Stewardship Council label, which is applied to responsibly managed wild fisheries.


In my opinion, consuming food from nature is always the best option. We like our vegetables without pesticides and genetic modification right? Well I like my fish to come from the ocean where they originate. You can really tell a difference between farm raised and wild caught fish!

I was born in Rhode Island and lived there for the first half of my childhood. I remember eating some of the BEST fresh caught crab. Crab all day. Crab salad, crab sandwiches... I was pretty spoiled with the fresh REAL crab meat. When I moved to Arizona, I didn't have the luxury of eating fresh coastal fish anymore so I'd lost the acquired taste for it. From the age of 6 to 21 I could not STAND fish. The smell, taste, look.... all of it just grossed me out. Odd for someone born in a coastal state, right? In 2009 I went on vacation in Hawaii. I promised my husband I'd try some fish, if I didn't like it then I wouldn't have to eat it, but I at least had to be open to trying. So I did. We went to a local fish market. The guy behind the counter told us what was available, and when it was caught (THAT MORNING)! Talk about fresh! So I sat at the table, ready to take my first bite... I was dreading it. If I remember correctly it was Opakapaka (red snapper) and IT.WAS.BLISS. I couldn't get enough! From then on, I ate fish the remainder of the trip. The thing was... it was fresh. Came right out of the ocean. Clean water, natural habitat food, and no pesticides or hormones.

When play time was over and had to return to reality we went to the fish counter at grocery store and tried to find something that resembled the most amazing fish we had been eating in Hawaii. No luck. We only found smelly, foggy-eyed fishies that you could just tell had been dead for a while. Whole Foods had wild caught fish on display so we tried that. It was good, (nothing like Hawaiian fish, but what is?) but still wasn't the best we'd had. I found that eating the frozen wild caught fish tasted the best. In Arizona, we have no surrounding oceans (obviously) to deliver us fresh caught fish, in a reasonable about of time from catching. So I believe that if they are flash frozen when caught and THEN delivered to use, we have a better chance of not eating decaying, smelly fish. That's just my two cents.

One fish that is a MAJOR staple in my home is canned tuna. Not Bumble Bee or Chicken of the Sea... I'm talking about the GOOD stuff! Wild Caught, Pole caught, Low mercury, packed in it's own juices and oils, no additives.. get the picture? Our favorites are American Tuna and Wild Planet. We get Wild Planet Skip Jack Tuna. The flavor is unmatched.

Try it and let me know what you think! Do you have a favorite fish recipe? Post it in the comments below!

Now there are a bajillion resources on juicing you can read but I found that this one was easy and simple. It's always tough for me to find good combinations so if you have any please post them in the comments below, I'm sure others want to hear them too!

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Last week Rock Star Boot Camp had the pleasure of being part of an obstacle course race at an elementary school. It was posted before... The Cartwright Elementary School Fun Run. Anyway, the day was a BLAST. The kids had such an amazing time, I mean.... the smiles- infectious. There was a little girl named Yaneli that is in a wheel chair. A group of volunteers planned to carry her through the ENTIRE race, whatever it took- over/under/through... they were going to make it happen for her. At first it appeared that about 10 volunteers were going to help out but as soon as the time came, I was overwhelmed with the site of them all. I think it was closer to 25-30! I got choked up several times watching everyone work together all with one goal: to make this girl happy. Mission accomplished. You can see more photos here. 

Yaneli finishing the race. SO ROCK STAR I can't even begin to describe!