News

  • Jun 07, 2016

    My Big Fat History - Moving from low-carb to high-fat long ago

      On a recent Tuesday, while working with a group of great women at a mountain biking clinic, there were several questions about the book, Become a Fat-Burning Machine and how I discovered/decided that eating more fat was better. My journey began in the mid- to late-1980s when I was working as an aerobics instructor part-time and working a full-time corporate job. In 1986 I did my first triathlon and moved away from instructing aerobics. During this time I followed mainstream recommendations to eat a low-fat diet, keep calorie count at 1200 kcal per day (in order to lose weight)...

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  • Apr 18, 2016

    The Fit Heart’s Story: A Survivor, He was “A Ticking Time Bomb”

    When Jerry Nichols heard the results from his February CT Calcium Scan, at first he was in complete disbelief. After all, the only reason he got the scan done was to confirm what he believed to be true. His belief was that he was free of heart disease due to eating healthy, exercising, managing his weight and keeping an eye on his blood pressure and cholesterol numbers. All of his marks were good. He had no symptoms that would raise a red flag.  Jerry Nichols leading the pack at Nationals 2015. After the disbelief came shock. After the shock he...

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  • Mar 10, 2016

    I have high cholesterol and I’m NOT going on statins

    Before I tell you my personal cholesterol story, I think it is important that you know why I’m telling you this story. On August 5, 2015 I lost my father, age 78, to heart attack. Just 10 days later I lost one of my best friends, Scott Ellis. These experiences sent me on a long, investigative journey to learn more about heart disease and early detection. In January, I wrote a blog on some of what I found in a story about Scott. But there was more. So much more. I had many, many questions about our health care system....

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  • Feb 26, 2016

    Alpine skiing, Nordic skiing or indoor cycling – what is best? A study took a look.

      Yesterday I revealed my list of 15 Winter Fitness Secrets. Today I'll touch on items 1) Alpine skiing, 4) indoor cycling and 9) Nordic skiing. If you've followed my blogs and Facebook, in the past few years I've posted heart rate profiles for all of the activities mentioned. Before launching into my own analysis of the activities, I wanted you to know a recent study looked at these three activities. A study titled, "A Comparison between Alpine Skiing, Cross-Country Skiing and Indoor Cycling on Cardiorespiratory and Metabolic Response" was published by the Journal of Sports Science & Medicine just...

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  • Feb 25, 2016

    15 Winter Fitness Secrets

      Someone asked me what my secrets are to keeping fitness during the winter months so I can enjoy mountain biking come summer months. I don’t really have any secrets – but – I do things that, perhaps, seem counter-intuitive and other people don’t do. In no particular order, here are items I believe contribute to my winter fitness: Alpine skiing Sunday group ride and Estes once per month Running with my dogs Indoor riding Miracle Intervals Easy road riding Strength training Swimming Nordic Skiing Enjoyment - Fun High octane foods around 80% of the time I set myself up...

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  • Feb 23, 2016

    Did you know your iPhone automatically tracks walking and running for you?

    On the iPhone 6, there is an app that is a white square with a heart in it and it's titled "Health." When I select that app, the main screen shows Steps, Walking + Running Distance, Flights Climbed. If I select Walking + Running in the Week view, it looks like this:   If I select "Show all Data" the view changes to showing the date and the mileage. It was a harsh visual reminder that I sat in my office most of the day on February 15th. The dogs only walked around the block that day. It was a...

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  • Jan 21, 2016

    The Fit Heart’s Story: Recognizing Signs of a “Silent Killer”

      I encourage you to read the full story about Scott Ellis for three key reasons: - You are dead wrong if you think exercise and eating a "healthy diet" makes you immune from heart disease. - There are heart disease screening tests that you probably don't know about. - There are subtle warning signs for heart disease that mimic common training and racing symptoms experienced by endurance athletes. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ On August 15, 2015 Scott Ellis was riding in his 19th Leadville 100 Mountain Bike Race in the Colorado mountains. After 8 hours and 25 minutes, 80 miles of racing...

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  • Dec 11, 2015

    Fat-Burning Machine - The new book that helps your change from fat-storing to fat-burning

    I couldn't be more excited to announce the publication of my new book, with co-author Mike Berland. We are aiming to turn around the obesity crisis in America by addressing Metabolic Syndrome. Simply put, Metabolic Syndrome is a disorder that causes calories to be stored instead of burned. If you have Metabolic Syndrome you're not good at using calories from sugar for energy. It's called insulin resistance. Insulin is a hormone that shuttles glucose into cells to be used as energy. The insulin receptors on your muscles operate under a lock and key system. The insulin docks in an insulin...

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  • Nov 30, 2015

    A Great Strength Exercise You Can Do at Home

    Beginning a strength training program doesn't have to include a gym membership or the purchase of fancy equipment. You can begin your program with simple, yet highly effective exercises. Let's begin with a chair squat or chair sit. As Cathy demonstrates in the first photo, face away from the chair with your feet roughly shoulder-width apart. Use a foot and leg position that feels natural for you. Using the muscles in your legs to control your motion, slowly sit down in the chair. Hold your arms loosely to the side. Notice how you could run a straight line from the...

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  • Aug 31, 2015

    My Fat-Burning Machine Nutrition Details for the Leadville 100 Mountain Bike Race

    For those of you that want the facts first and details later, let's dive in with a summary: I had my second best Leadville 100 Mountain Bike time at 10:09:56. I consider this a huge success because the race was HOT this year. This year was my 11th finish, so I am very familiar with what it takes to compete at, and complete the race. For the first time ever, I was at race weight in March. By race day, I was three pounds lighter than any other previous year. Achieving my fighting weight was relatively easy. I did have...

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