Sheri Vucick is now a 3 time winner of the coveted Miss Fitness Universe pageant last month! Not only does she have a super athletic husband, but she’s also a mother of 2 kids! WOW! Straight from her tummy. Amazing.

The 10th Annual Fitness Universe Pageant was as competitive as it was traditional in so many ways. Fitness phenom Sheri Vuvickstole the show with stunning looks and a whole new routine highlighting her years of competitive gymnastics. Sheri dominated the scoring taking the Fitness and Swimsuit Rounds with 3 point margins in both. The Pittsburgh native and married mother of two has been competing for that past 8 years and is two-time former FUP Champion. Sheri trained for the show with husband Bill who’s an aspiring professional MMA fighter. The 5′7″ gymnastic coach has always been a Top 5 Finalist in all her national and international outings. “Winning the Fitness Universe title for the 3rd time is such an honor,” said Sheri.

“It’s the first big show of the year and always attracts top fitness athletes from around the world. Competing has been something I’ve always done and I love the feeling of accomplishment when I’m on stage. I do train to win but at the same time I don’t expect it. Winning is the ultimate goal but it’s the friendships and experience that keeps me coming back year after year. These girls might be my competition, but first and foremost my friends.”

yay for Sheri!!!

Top Five!

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Very interesting study! It’s always questionable whether you should invest money into a nutrition program or a fitness program. I used to cringe when people told me they couldn’t sign up for a gym membership because they just invested in Jenny Craig!

This study proves that there are negatives to sticking to one program - I believe in balance - therefore, you can’t just be on a caloric deficit program and NOT a fitness program too. What ends up happening is you lose weight, but it isn’t often just fat tissue. When you are JUST DIETING you are also losing lean muscle mass…mass that helps speeds up your metabolism and protects your bones.

At the same time, this study revealed that some ‘fitness only’ participants didn’t adhere to the program the entire time. (versus the ‘diet only’ people) I have found that if you lack sufficient weight loss or body change you usually don’t adhere to a program - because it’s motivation, right!!??

IF the fitness people had a good diet - they would’ve stuck. If the diet people had a good workout program - they would’ve lost quality weight.

Read the study below and see for yourself!

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Weight Watchers Vs. Fitness Centers

ScienceDaily (July 5, 2008) — In the first study of its kind, using sophisticated methods to measure body composition, the nationally known commercial weight loss program, Weight Watchers, was compared to gym membership programs to find out which method wins in the game of good health. A University of Missouri researcher examined the real-life experiences of participants to determine which program helps people lose pounds, reduce body fat and gain health benefits. The answer is that both have pros and cons and that a combination of the two produces the best results.

Participants who attended Weight Watchers for 12 weeks lost an average of 5 percent of their body weight, or about nine pounds. However, Steve Ball, assistant professor of exercise physiology in the MU College of Human Environmental Sciences, found that a large percentage of the lost weight was lean tissue and not fat.

“Participants’ body fat percentage did not improve at all because they lost a much higher percentage than expected of lean tissue,” said Ball, MU Extension state fitness specialist. “It is advantageous to keep lean tissue because it is correlated with higher metabolism. Losing lean tissue often slows metabolism. What your body is made of is more important than what you weigh.”

The majority of other Weight Watcher studies had not considered body fat percentage change and only focused on body weight.

“This is one aspect of our study that makes it unique,” Ball said. “We used a sophisticated measure of body composition – the Bod Pod – to look at what type of weight was lost: lean or fat.”

In addition, Ball said the study was novel because Computer Tomography (CT scans) were used to investigate changes in abdominal fat, which is more predictive of cardiovascular disease. Although the fitness center group lost very little weight, they probably improved their health because they lost a significant amount of intraabdominal fat (fat around vital organs). These results imply that exercise may have positive influence on the metabolic syndrome despite the number on the scale, Ball concluded.

Ball also found that group support is very important. Most of the Weight Watchers participants stuck with the program during the duration of the study, while many of the fitness center participants quit.

“These results imply that overweight, sedentary women joining a fitness center with the intent of weight loss or body fat change will likely fail without support and without altering their diets,” Ball said. “Nearly 50 percent of people who start an exercise program will quit within six months.”

“This study attempted to discover what takes place in the real world when overweight women attempt to lose weight.” Ball said. “I think the outcome of the study speaks volumes about the necessity for a multi-pronged approach in order to lose weight, body fat and gain health benefits. I hope that this will be the first in a series of studies investigating commercial weight-loss programs.”

 
Expect to spend more on food that the program!

They’ve got a great magazine! I really do like it!

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“Getting my lifelong weight struggle under control has come from a process of treating myself as well as I treat others in every way.” - Oprah

Fitness Motivation:

Some of us have a million things on our ‘to do’ list every day.

Some of us have commitments to children, spouses, animals, work…

Some of us make sure our loved ones are safe -

That our kids are healthy -

And our weekend events are packed.

But most often…some of us care more for other’s than we do ourselves.

We don’t think we deserve that extra 30 minutes or hour to work out for ourselves.

We can’t find the time to eat while running errands…

and when we do - we drive through a fast food restaurant.

In order to get in control of your fitness and health -

You have to start controlling the way you treat yourself.

If you love others - KNOW that your health is essential to them.

KNOW that there is no love if love doesn’t exist inside yourself.

So - take control

Take a bit for yourself

Take care of yourself

And in doing so, you will take care of others.

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Check out their slideshow and be inspired!!!

Natasha Bedingfield Before!

After!

Click HERE for more inspiration!

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