Beginning in January 2006, we will be holding a variety of competitions. The first of which will be our Biggest Loser Challenge. The entry fee for this competition is $10 and the winner will recieve all proceeds. The winner will be selected based on the best results from a combination of weight, bodyfat, and measurements. Sign up with Brandon to be weighed and measured.

Congratulations goes to Laurie Perkins! In 6 weeks, Laurie lost over twenty pounds, 11 and 3/4 inches, and 6.5% bodyfat. Great job Laurie and keep up the good work.

Balsamic-Glazed Salmon Fillets

• INGREDIENTS
• 6 (5oz) salmon fillets
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon white wine
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
• 4 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano

• NUTRITION INFORMATION
• Calories: 275
• Total Fat: 5.8
• Total Carbs: 6.1
• Protein: 27.8

• DIRECTIONS
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray with nonstick cooking spray.
• Coat a small saucepan w/ nonstick cooking spray. Over medium heat, cook and stir garlic until soft (about 3 min). Mix in white wine, honey, balsamic vinegar, mustard, salt and pepper. Simmer uncovered for about 3 min or until slightly thickened.
• Arrange salmon fillets on foil-lined baking sheet. Brush fillets wth balsamic glaze and sprinkle with oregano.
• Bake in preheated oven for 10-14 minutes, or until flesh flakes easily with a fork.
• Brush fillets with remaining glaze, and season with salt and pepper.
• Use a spatula to transfer fillets to serving platter, leaving skin behind on the foil.

Force of habit: Making health and fitness a priority: If you have difficulty finding time to exercise, you are not alone. A perceived lack of time is one of the most common reasons that people fail to stick to their exercise programs. Even people with the best of intentions find themselves overwhelmed when tugged in too many directions at once. Somehow when others need you, self-care is the thing that gets put on hold. Many busy people do manage to exercise regularly. How do they do it? By making their health and fitness a priority. One of the qualities that characterizes success in any arena of life is an ability to take a long-range view of things, to see the total picture. Too often, we get caught up in short-term demands, and spend our time putting out fires at the expense of long-range strategical thinking and planning. This observation applies not only to the development of a healthful and satisfying lifestyle, but to every area of life, such as the development of meaningful careers and well-balanced families. The little things that have to get done somehow do get done, but the larger, really important issues can get put on indefinite hold. Make your health a priority before it becomes a priority We take our health for granted until we get sick. People who swear they don't have a minute for self- care find themselves hospitalized for bypass surgery and out of commission for weeks. When our bodies force us to stay in bed, we do. We somehow manage to make the time when our health becomes that strong a priority. But why wait? Think about your future and all that you hope to do, in all the realms of your life. Isn't your health essential for the achievement of those goals? Unless you take care of your health, you cannot take care of business, family and other interests. If not now, when? If you are too busy to make exercise a priority now, when in the near future will you be less busy? Maybe you are lucky, and things will slow down in the next couple of weeks or months. But when most people ask themselves this question, they see the pace of their lives accelerating, rather than slowing down, at least until retirement, or until the children are grown and out of the house. If you are waiting for a better time to make exercise a priority, you may have to wait too long. Look for the benefits of regular physical activity. When you look for the benefits of regular physical activity in your daily life, you reinforce the importance of fitness as a high-priority goal. After all, regular exercise is not only necessary to prevent chronic disease and disability. It boosts your energy and helps you manage stress from day to day. Enjoy the increased productivity that comes with good health. We're not just referring to the productivity of your work life, but to all parts of your life. Employ the force of habit. While any exercise is better than none, and it's never too late to benefit from an exercise program, the greatest benefits come from regular, vigorous, lifelong participation in physical activity. Irregular exercisers tend to encounter more frustration because they are constantly "starting over" and feeling out of shape. Since scheduling exercise is not part of the routine, the barriers to participation are greater.