April 9^th, 2011 – Katia Rice of Atlanta, GA won 1^st place in her division (Bikini Swimsuit, Short) and was declared Overall Winner in the first Supernatural Bodybuilding & Fitness Championship event of 2011. Impressively, this was only the second formal competition for Ms. Rice, having placed 5^th in her  competition debut in November 2010.

Katia began fitness training with Eddie Medina (of Medina Personal Fitness in Atlanta) back in May of 2009. Shortly after obtaining her original fitness goals with Medina Personal Fitness, Katia declared her desire to compete. With this new goal in mind, Eddie Medina tailored a specific training and diet regimen for Katia and informed her that she would be ready for the stage by the end of 2010. Her hard work and passionate dedication has payed off and brought her incredible success!

The lovely Ms. Rice works for State Farm Insurance as an insurance representative, and is also a model with Pink Entertainment out of Atlanta. She continues to train with Medina Personal Fitness and with her gorgeous smile, positive energy, and commitment to excellence, she will no doubt continue to impress in future competitions!

Q. What does a personal trainer do?

A. As a personal trainer I will prepare a health and fitness plan personalized specifically to your unique goals and needs. I offer guidance on the kind, frequency, length, and intensity of training activities you should execute. I also offer feedback on proper form, body alignment, and exercise safety. Most importantly, you are encouraged to accomplish your own optimal physical fitness level!

What are the benefits of using a Personal Trainer?

Inspiration – A personal trainer assists you in remaining focused and committed to a steady work out plan. As a trainer I also offer encouragement, framework, accountability, and enthusiasm to help you cultivate a balanced lifestyle.

Efficiency – As a seasoned personal trainer I will help you acquire maximum results in the minimum period. I’ll also help you remain targeted on outcomes so you do not waste time carrying out ineffective physical exercises. In addition, you will receive fundamental and appropriate nutrition information.

Improved energy and stamina levels – Life can certainly be insane at times. You will certainly appreciate having the additional energy to enjoy time with the kids, go out with good friends, and so forth.

Why utilize a Personal Trainer instead of going to the health club?

You will receive practical knowledge, based on my professional training and experience, as part of your personalized training plan. One of the very best things about this assistance is the motivation it provides you. The personal training you will receive at a health club will certainly never be as serious as the personalized one, which concentrates much more on building a trustful working relationship, and adapts the program to you and your lifestyle.

More than 95% of health and fitness center memberships lapse simply because of a lack of enthusiasm It’s a fact, that for many men and women just knowing that you have your program booked in with your trainer is sufficient to commit to the training schedule. Also individuals who workout alone frequently find a justification to put it off till tomorrow (the whole procrastination thing…sound familiar). As your person

When trying to reach your fitness goals, maintaining a healthy diet is essential. Snacking is necessary component of any well-designed diet plan, but not all snacks are equal. Additionally, how you snack is just as important as what you choose for a snack. Here are five tips to help you snack healthy:

1) Plan ahead – stock healthy foods.

Most people can reasonably filter “healthy” snacks from “junk” – choosing fruits and vegetables instead of chips or cookies, or low-fat yogurt instead of ice cream. When we snack, we often reach for whatever is convenient. It’s important to plan ahead and have healthy snacks on hand, curbing the temptation to reach for junk food.

2) Think about how much you’re eating in addition to what you’re eating

It’s vital to control how much you are eating when picking a healthy snack. Eating an apple is a good, healthy choice. Eating three apples and a half pound of grapes in one sitting is a bit overdoing it. Once you have chosen your snack, put it in bowl or on a plate in the appropriate quantity. Eating slowly is often helpful in getting the most enjoyment out of a good snack.

3) Don’t eat just because you’re bored

Generally, we choose to eat because we are hungry. However, many of us also eat because we’re bored, or because we’re stressed or emotional. It’s important to recognize these patterns and find ways to pre-empt unnecessary snacking. If you are bored, find something to do to occupy your time, other than food. Pickup a new hobby, read a book, or even go for a nice walk – anything that keeps your mind or body engaged will help curb boredom-snacking.

4) Don’t skip meals, and have a set time for snacking

Because snacking is primarily driven by hunger, it’s crucial not to skip meals. It’s very easy in today’s world to skip breakfast because you woke up late, or skip lunch to get some errands done at work. Though it sounds counter-intuitive, skipping meals often leads to an increase in the amount of daily food consumed, as meal-skippers overcompensate with larger meals and increased snacking. In fact, the best method to avoid weight gain is to eat several small meals a day. Even if this is not practical for you, eating three healthy meals a day is almost as effective. Within that three meal cycle, slip in a set time for snacking. Most people find the late afternoon hours an ideal time for a snack. It’s several hours after lunch, but still a couple of hours away from dinner. Having a set snack time every day will help will planning out your snacks and healthy snack availability.

5) Don’t snack while doing other activities

Snacking while doing something else, such as watching TV, playing a video game, or even while socializing with friends can easily lead to overeating. When your mind is focused on something else, it’s natural to get distracted and lose track of how much you’re consuming. The easiest solution is to try to enjoy your snack as its own activity, and when you’re with friends, pay a little extra attention to what you are eating and try to stay out of arms reach of all the goodies!

Get Info on the Race

One of the benefits of getting into great shape is looking good while on vacation, especially if you vacation entails a trip to the beach. It’s also unfortunately true that the more fit you become, the harder it is to maintain – it’ not fair! Here are a few tips and tricks you can use to help stay in shape during your vacation.

Try and maintain a healthy diet, but allow for special occasions. You may be tempted to binge on all the delicious food you’ve been avoiding while working towards your fitness goals – hey, it’s a vacation, right? Focus on eating healthy foods as much as possible, look for quality dishes with lots of vegetables and fresh fish or other foods that are low in carbohydrates. If you’re going to go for that yummy dessert, consider splitting it with one or more friends, if that’s an option.

Staying active while on vacation will help you maintain your cardio levels – in fact, your more likely to lose aerobic power before you lose any muscle gains. Taking a week off will have little to no effect on muscular strength, but could result in the loss of up to 5% of your aerobic power. Plan for your vacation to involve some physical activity. It doesn’t have to be a full-on workout schedule, there are plenty of things that will help keep your cardio levels up. Walking on the beach is a great example – you can burn up to twice as many calories walking on soft sand as you do walking on hard surfaces. Depending on the nature of your vacation, you may have access to biking, hiking, swimming, or other sports activities like golf or tennis. Even shopping trips can help you maintain cardio levels if you walk fast and take the stairs.

While finding fun activities to maintain cardio levels is fairly easy while on vacation, lifting weights is more of a challenge. Thankfully, muscle gains decay slowly over short periods of time. Even so, if your hotel has a gym or workout center, lifting free weights for 10 minutes a day a few times a week can go a long way to retain muscle tone. If you don’t have access to equipment, you can still give yourself a decent quick workout. Spend a few minutes in the morning doing 3 sets each of push-ups, crunches, and squats, with 12 repetitions per set. Just a small amount of exercise will help you maintain your strength and tone until you can get back to your regular workout routine.

And lastly, stay hydrated! Drink plenty of water while on vacation, especially if you are out in the sun all day. Water is key to several vital functions of the human body. It transports nutrients and oxygen into cells, helps with metabolism, regulates body temperature, detoxifies, protects and moisturizes joints, and hydrates your skin. Muscles need to have water to make them look full, as they consist of about 75% water. You’ll look and feel much better if you stay properly hydrated on your vacation, and it’s easy!

Sleep is the time the body uses to repair and rebuild the muscles exercised during workouts. Muscle stimulation occurs at the gym, but muscle growth happens afterward during rest. Lifting weights temporarily weakens muscles by tearing the muscle fibers. Without proper rest, you deny your muscles the opportunity to recover, repair, and grow. During sleep, your body reacts to the stresses and strains you put on it prior to resting. This principle is known as Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demand, or SAID. It’s a very simple principal – your body reacts to specific demands with specific adaptions. Take a look at the thighs of a speed skater, or the calves of the Tour de France cyclists, and you can see SAID in action. When you work out specific muscle groups, those muscles will strengthen and grow in direct reaction to the demands you place on them. This process of growth occurs during rest, not during exercise. As they say, “You don’t grow in the gym, you grow out of the gym.”

The most common recommendation is 8 hours of relaxed sleep per night. Keep in mind that it is not possible to “store up” sleep, so sleeping 11 hours one night and 5 hours the next is not desirable. A consistent daily 8 hour sleeping pattern is necessary, although it can vary slightly from person to person.

An additional benefit of healthy sleep is that the body gets the energy to build and repair muscles from fat. So while you are comfortably snoozing and your body is regenerating, you are also burning away fat stores!

Come and take the journey with me to a fit, fulfilling, and whole life. I will equip you with the necessary tools to achieve a healthy lifestyle: body, soul, and spirit.

If your tired of the big box gyms or “one size fits all” fitness programs, then you’ve landed at the right place.  Check me out, YEP…. Give me a call and ask me the HARD QUESTIONS !  My professional background, certifications and most importantly my real world success stories will give you confidence that you can change your life for the better, by doing a few simple things and getting personalized one on one training.

Whether your looking for a personal trainer, fitness counselor or fitness mentor in Lawrenceville, Duluth, or pretty much anywhere in the Atlanta metro area, you should always meet the trainer before you commit to paying any money or signing any contracts.  I can’t tell you how many times I hear from a client that has had a bad experience with a supposed fitness trainer who thought that just because he or she was in good shape themselves, that made them qualified to teach others.

If your still with me here, then I suspect you really are interested in finding the RIGHT trainer.  Give me a call and let’s talk.  When I’m working with my clients, I don’t answer the phone… my clients are paying me hard earned money and they deserve my undivided attention.  If you get my voice mail, leave me your name and phone and just tell me your interested in learning a little more about Medina Personal Fitness.  I’ll call you back after I’m finished with my client.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Eddie