Monday, February 4, 2008

MSF CLASS: New Cooking Class!


SIMPLE, EASY, NUTRITIOUS - Gourmet Cooking with Janet G.

For those of you who can't cook, won't cook or hate cooking ... but want to learn, client Janet G. will be teaching a hands on, in-your-face (and eventually, in-your-mouth) Gourmet Cooking Class this coming year.


Janet is a superb cook (I know firsthand; I have eaten her meals) and has offered to teach a basics class to all clients, offering a pretty cool menu of items I think you will find yummy.
This Cooking Class will cover appetizers, salads, entre's, prep times, prep ingredients, specific, hands-on and how-to for preparing meat dishes as well as the all important after-dinner dessert. This cooking class is open only to clients and seating will be limited.


Janet has provided us with a sample menu:


Menu 1

-Appetizer: Jimica sticks with white bean dip.

-Salad: (Mixed greens with apple, nuts, cheese, oil and vinegar).

-Main entre: Salmon with soy and ginger honey + Carrots with honey ginger (or brown rice with veggies (which can be used for stir fry as well).

-Dessert: chocolate cupcakes with berry sauce and cool whip or Pears with cheese.


Menu 2

-Appetizer: TBD.

-Salad: Same as above.

-Main entre: Pork chops or Pork Medallions or Pork tenderloins with Baked roasted new potatoes and roasted carrots.

-Dessert: Baked apple with almonds and cool whip or fruit ice.


Future menu items may include:


-Pollenta with Maranara Sauce.

-Pasta with mushrooms and breast of chicken.

-Turkey Meatloaf with black bean salsa

-Black bean Corn Tomato Chicken Soup.


If you are interested in taking part in this class, please email me, call me or list your name down on the sign-up sheet in the Gym. We will then determine a class size, cost of items, cost per person. We will probably only be able to take 10-15 people. First come first served. Sign up now. Don't miss out!


eat healthy * lift heavy

(c) Copyright. 2000-2008

Mike Stewart Fitness



ARTICLE: Pec Implants?

Article sent to us from client Janet G.:


Monday, January 21, 2008

FOX NEWS ONLINE

Saturday, February 2, 2008

OPINION: Straight Talk on Fitness

Michael W. (Mick) Stewart CFT BST


Straight Talk on Diet
By Mike Stewart


I am asked all the time about "how to lose weight", "gain muscle" or eat right.


Just yesterday I was in Randall's (wearing my Fitness Trainer shirt) when an elderly gentleman approached me and asked me how to "put on lots of muscle." When I told him it was all about diet, he said, "Nah thats not what I'm interested in - I just want to know how you lift and what exercises you do." When I repeated (again) that diet determines how much weight you will lift, he turned on his heel and walked off.

Recently, I was in Sears (again wearing my shirt) purchasing some autoparts for my car when a young, obese lady (about 25) came up to me and asked me this gem: "Pardon me sir, are you a personal trainer?" When I replied in the affirmative, she asked, "how do I lose weight?" I immediately asked her, "well, first what do you eat?" She was honest and said: McDonald's, Taco Bell, Burger King, etc. I told her that first, she had to stop eating crap in order to lose bodyfat and gain muscle and second, she had to establish a fitness lifestyle. As I began to give her my usual spiel about proper diet, she too then replied, nah, I enjoy fast food too much to stop, and thanked me and walked off.

What ignorance.


Its interesting. Most people I speak with are clueless about diet but refuse information about why they are obese or what it takes to lose it. They are looking for the quick fix. The magic pill. They have been led to beleive (eroniously) that

(a.) working out,
(b.) taking a thermogenic (Hydroxcut, TrimSpa, etc.) while still being able to
(c.) eat at McDonald's ... will allow them to loose weight.

They beleive they will some how drop a dress size or be able to buckle that belt by taking (or finding) the magic pill.

The simple conclusions are this:


1. We are what we eat. Think about that for a moment.

2. You must eat breakfast. If you don't your starving your body of nutrients for the rest of your day.

3. You must drink several glasses of purified water a day to clean out your colon and 'insides.' Its best to drink a glass of water RIGHT when you wake up.

4. You must eat 3-4 small meals per day with two GOOD snacks to provide your body energy to survive those 40-, 50-, 60-, or 70-hour a week jobs. For those of you who are working 50+ hours a week, ask yourself this question: is it healthy for you? And second, does your boss care about your health? The bottom line here is your health, not his.

True story:

Years ago, I was assistant property manager of a large real estate firm in Southwest Houston. My boss, an incredibly overweight, dictatorial, obese female (age 49), was typical of the "martyr employees" I have met in my 25 years of working in office jobs; she never ate lunch, worked late (every night), ate crap at her desk (but would not allow you to eat) and requested all employees to work through their lunch hour ... "for the benefit of the corporation." She was obsessive-compulsive about "the success of the corporation" and told me on several occassions that if I "sacrificed now for the company" I would be rewarded in the future with a large office, big desk, a wrist watch and a four-fold increase in pay. Instead of quitting right then and there, I spent the next three months, worked my rear-end off, - 70 hours per week (salary), gained 17 pounds of fat, slept 4 hours per night and never saw my family. I eventually passed out at work one night from exhaustion (at my computer) and was woken up by the night cleaning crew. I saw how insane this was and quit to join a different company with a different philosophy. Several years later (I was told by another former employee) the night-time cleaning crew arrived in her office at 3am and found her on the floor next to her desk. She was pronounced dead at the scene by Houston EMS and was later told she died of a major myocardial infarction (heart attack) in her office; the resultant autopsy showed arterial decay due to her incredibly bad diet and overwhelming stress. Satisfied that she had "given her life for her work", this company simply rehired another martyr employee in her place. Question: Is your work bad for your health? Only you can answer that question.

Another true story:

While driving to work in 1999, a man in a car next to me on Highway 6 (near Westheimer) had a major heart attack. His vehicle (a white, Jeep Cherokee) veered next to mine and when I swerved to avoid him, I pulled off the road. I watched as he swerved off the highway, down into a ditch, up onto an embankment, plowed through a barbed wire fence, into an open field where he finally stopped after slamming directly into a tree. I stopped my vehicle, jumped out and ran to this man's car. When I opened the car door, I found the driver ... a man who looked about 70 (was actually 47), blue in the face (which meant heart attack). I pulled him out on the ground, began CPR and pounded his chest (while several people stood around and watched) for 30 minutes until EMS arrived and took over. They shot him up with athropine to stop the m.i. He was immediately transported to West Houston Medical Center where he was pronounced dead on arrival (DOA). Several days later, his family contacted me (through the Harris County Sheriff's Office) to thank me for attempting to save his life. They told me that he had been employed at a major brokerage firm, had been working 70-80 hour weeks (urged on by his boss to work more), that his diet was horrible and he was mentally stressed to the breaking point. What they told me next was incredible, "Dad beleived that if he worked more he could retire early."

Who are you working for? You or them?

5. You must get 6-8 hours of sleep per night, period. If your working more than your sleeping then you need to decide whats more important: having a good life or living exclusively for your job. The American Heart Association has linked work-aholism with significant risks of heart attack.

6. You must exercise. And that means lifting weights.

7. You must do cardio. At least three times a week. If all you can do is walk down the block, then do it every other day for five minutes. But DO it. Dont say your gonna do it, but never get around to it. Get your butt outside and sweat.

8. You must eat proper, lean protein (chicken, fish, beef, steak, tofu, etc.) to build lean body muscle.

9. You must eat proper carbs (grains, breads, sweet potatoes, etc.)

10. You must stick with it. Remember -its your body, its your life.

Regardless of how productive you are as an employee, you can be replaced. Everyone can. Your boss will even tell you that. One of my bosses told me that every employee should work at least 30 hours more a week to impress the corporate executives!! What insanity!

Dedicate yourself to a good lifestyle not a deathstyle build exclusively on making someone else wealthy!


To lose bodyfat, gain muscle and have a life free of disease and stress, you *must* eat right! But you must also establish a zest, a zeal, a fanatacism for fitness ! Fitness is not about going to the gym and going through the motions; it's a single-mindedness - a lifestyle.


While everyone else has fallen for the over-consumptive American lifestyle in our must-have-it-now culture, with the your-life-is-your-job deathstyle ... be the person who breaks out of that mold! Be the person who makes fitness if not a primary, then a secondary goal within your life.

Remember, you have one body and one life. Your given only so many years so make it count!

(c) Copyright. MikeStewartFitness.com
eat healthy * lift heavy
All Rights Reserved.
2001-2008.

TRAINING IDEAS: You Tube Videos

Check out how in-shape these guys and gals are in these videos:

URBAN NINJA
CRAZY GYMNAST
MSG KEN WEIGHART: THE DIVE BOMBER PUSH UP

Airborne!
eat healthy * lift heavy
Mike Stewart Fitness

The "300" Workout - VIDEO

See video here: 300 WORKOUT at Cross Fit Gym, Los Angeles, CA.
eat healthy * lift heavy
Mike Stewart Fitness

MSF UPDATE: New Hours for 2008






As most of you know by now, I have established new hours starting January, 2008:



Monday - Friday: 11:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m. (last client at 8:00 p.m.)

Saturday: 7:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. (last client at 5:00 p.m.)

Sunday: OFF.

If you have any questions or want to schedule, call me: 713.683.0399 or contact me by email: Admin@mikestewartfitness.com

eat healthy * lift heavy
Mike Stewart Fitness
(c) Copyright. 2000-2008
Mike Stewart Fitness
All Rights Reserved.




New Year's Resolution Party a Major Success!


2008 MSF Client "New Years" Resolution Party
We would like to thank everyone that came to our 2008 New Year's Resolution Party! From left to right: David and Stephanie Olsen, Lynn Schwartz, L. D. Reynolds, Kevin & Russ Hanna, Dana Hurowitz, Robert and Kimberly Joseph, Israel & Dr. Carmina Angeles, Janet Grothe, Mike Petrini, Tao Jiang, John "Scotty" Hurles, Glenn Mahiya, Ethan Yang and yours truly.
I would like to thank Ethan for helping make it a success, Tao (Ricky) for the pics (enjoy your trip in the Far East, Ricky!) and to everyone who came and broke bread with us. Thanks also to Tony "The Wine Guy" Elinga (from the Tasting Room) for providing six bottles of fine wine. Tony also spent time describing the vintage and vineyard ... not sure if our "only nutritional food" menu was good enough for pairing, but what the hell!
2008 is now upon us - make this year count toward your fitness goals! Remember guys, its 90% diet, 10% fitness. Its up to you to make those proper nutritional choices and allow your body to burn good food for energy while building muscle with proper protein and carbs.
Regards,
Mike
eat healthy * lift heavy
(c) Copyright. 2000-2008
Mike Stewart Fitness
All Rights Reserved.

*** CONGRATS: Client Kevin H. for 23lb weight loss!

We would like to take some time and congratulate client Kevin H. on his latest Body Mass Index (BMI) and weigh in. Since his last weigh-in (October, 2007) Kevin has lost a total of 23 lbs. A steady diet of healthy food, a weekly spinning class and of course hard-core weight lifting at MSF Gym has set Kevin on the right path to gaining hard-core, lean muscle. It's all about diet and exercise ... and sticking with it! Well done Kevin! Keep up the good work ...

eat healthy * lift heavy
Mike

(c) Copyright. 2000 - 2008.
Mike Stewart Fitness (MSF)
All Rights Reserved.