Should You Avoid Acidic Foods?
There are people who swear by the alkaline diet, saying it makes them healthier and can even be a cure for cancer. To add to this, many any people are confused on the subject of acidic foods. Should you avoid acidic foods or should they be included in your diet? Before that question is answered, you have to know exactly what acidic foods are. You might think a lemon is acidic…and you’d be right and yet wrong at the same time. While lemons are high in acid, they actually leave an alkaline ash in the urine. Sugary products, on the other hand, may taste sweet and have no sign of acidity when you eat them, leave an acidic ash in the urine. According to the myth of alkaline and acid forming foods, the foods actually change the blood pH, which is untrue. They only change the pH of the urine because of the ash left behind.
Acid forming foods leave your body acidic and forced to work harder to normalize.
Water is neutral with a pH value of 7.0. Below 7.0 is acidic and above it is alkaline. The body needs blood to be at a pH of approximately 7.3 to 7.45. When you eat food, it doesn’t remain the same pH. It goes into the stomach that has highly acidic stomach acid. When all is said and done, the residue of the food, the ash, evacuates the body in the urine. That’s why testing urine can show alkalinity or acidity.
Fruits and vegetables leave an alkaline ash.
While the diet may be based on bad science, since the ash doesn’t change the blood in any manner, it’s actually very healthy. Foods that leave the highest alkalinity are often plant based, those leaving ash that’s higher in acidity are often processed. While the basic theory for the diet is a bit flawed, the foods it recommends are actually very healthy. They tend to be primarily fruits, sprouts and vegetables. These are included in healthy eating.
Acid forming foods are often highly processed foods and normally not part of a healthy diet.
While there are some healthy foods on the acidic list, there are also many foods you would want to avoid or limit on any type of diet. You are allowed to have some of these foods, but focus mainly on alkaline ones, like greens. Meat, dairy, legumes, nuts and eggs should be eaten in moderation according to proponents, with alcohol, refined sugar products and refined white flour products avoided. It sounds like a healthy diet plan to me.
– Does the alkaline diet make the body healthier? The answer is yes, but not for the reasons given by proponents. It provides foods that boost the body’s immune system and improves overall health, as long as it’s not adhered to rigidly—omitted important sources of protein.
– What are some of the claims of the alkaline diet? The diet has claimed to cure everything from kidney problems to cancer. While there is research that identifies that the foods you eat play a huge role in your overall good health, there are no studies showing this diet does that. It’s healthy and does give the body a fighting chance to heal itself.
– The alkaline diet requires you to test your body’s urine with a pH strip to find its alkalinity. Instead, you’re simply measuring the alkalinity of the waste products from your body.
– Those who strictly adhere to the diet, leave out important sources of protein necessary to for a healthy diet. This can actually create health problems.
Healthy Foods That Can Make You Fat
Everyone who is concerned about their weight and overall good health knows that to be healthy and fit, you need to eat healthy. Eating healthy is important in weight loss too, but there are healthy foods that can make you fat if you make them the star of your diet and consume too much. While you’ll never get fat no matter how much celery you eat every day, these healthy foods should be consumed with more caution because of their effect on your weight.
Is your granola or trail mix snack packed with nutrients or calories.
A healthy snack is important and two of the easiest snacks to carry and munch on in the afternoon are granola and trail mix. The fruit and nuts of the trail mix provide nutrition and energy to help you make it through until supper time, curbing your appetite in the process. The problem occurs with ingredients and portion size. Many of the commercially made mixes contain honey to make it more palatable, dried fruit and even chocolate. The serving size is about four tablespoons or a quarter cup. If you stick to one serving and check the ingredients, it’s not a problem. Most people don’t and wonder why this healthy snack is making them fat.
Are protein bars your nemesis or friend?
Again, manufacturers have taken a good thing and run with it to the far end of the field. Most protein bars are loaded with sugar or they would otherwise taste…well…healthy. In this case, it’s not a good adjective. Before you grab a box off the shelf as your go to snack, read the label. Does it provide as many nutrients as it should for the amount of calories you’re consuming or is it just a glorified candy bar? In many cases, a piece of fresh fruit would be lower in calories, be more filling and have more nutrition.
That healthy avocado should be eaten in moderation.
The avocado has come into its own in the world of healthy eating. It’s packed with healthy fats that keep your heart in better shape by lowering cholesterol levels. It can improve your skin, reduce the risk of cancer and help prevent diabetes. So, what’s not to love about this amazing superfood? It’s high in fat. Even though it’s loaded with healthy vitamins and minerals, it’s also loaded with fat. No matter how healthy the fat is, it’s still loaded with calories and when weight loss is important, lowering caloric intake is the goal. You can eat them, but sparingly.
– Dried fruit provides nutrients packaged in a smaller wrap than its fresh counterpart and that’s the problem. While it’s healthy, it’s less filling than fresh fruit and easy to eat more calories than you should. It’s also loaded with sugar that can play havoc with blood sugar levels.
– If you’re going gluten free because you think it’s healthier, not because of celiac disease, be aware that many gluten free products are calorie dense and more fattening than the gluten containing products they replace.
– Yogurt is good for you and a great addition to a diet, unless it’s flavored yogurt. The manufacturer sweetens the taste with sugar and fruit. You can create a healthier version by adding your own fresh fruit to plain yogurt.
– Tofu may be a healthy alternative, but it can also add pounds if it’s fried. It’s a sponge for the oil and soaks up calories to pass on to you.
From Heavy To Healthy
Going from heavy to healthy doesn’t have to be a chore. In fact, it can be both fun and revitalizing. Anyone can do it, but they have to be willing to pay the price. The price is hard work, healthy eating and determination. Don’t let that fool you into thinking it will all be work. When you use boxing as one of the vehicles to get fit, you get lots of bonuses. No, you don’t have to spar with large cuts of beef or get up at the crack of dawn to run around town like Rocky Balboa, but you will have to stick with a program designed to get you to your goal.
Where you do it, how you do it and who you do it with makes a difference.
While getting fit isn’t easy, it’s far easier when you have a supportive environment than it is doing it on your own. It’s just to easy when you’re on your own to slip back into old habits and skip today’s workout, until there’s no workout at all. If you’re like most people I’ve trained who wanted to shed pounds, you know exactly what I’m talking about. A supportive friendly environment is one where you share common goals with others. They care about your success as much as their own and you feel a sense of belonging.
Setting a goal necessary.
You can have several goals at once. That’s right. While your primary goal may be weight loss and fitness, another goal will be improved performance. One reason people love boxing is that they tend to forget about losing weight and focus on getting better at boxing. Getting better at boxing means getting fitter, stronger and losing weight in most cases, by focusing on footwork, form, strength, reflexes and more. It’s all exercise, but you quit thinking of it as exercise and the drive to get better keeps you going so there’s no “bored out of your mind” waiting to finish reps or watching the clock intently to get done as soon as possible.
You won’t be fit if you use the wrong fuel.
Nutrition plays a huge role in getting fit and slimming. There are no top-notch boxers that earned titles while eating fries and burgers during training. Having the right nutrition does not mean dieting. It means eating healthy. There’s no starvation, no hunger and definitely no junk food. Sure, you can occasionally indulge, but only occasionally. Once you get into the spirit of boxing, you won’t even want do that. You’ll want to find all the ways to become your best and win, not only in the ring, but in life.
– The mental side of boxing is ultra important and accounts for the successful weight loss of most participants. It teaches mental toughness and the drive to succeed.
– Whether male or female, you’ll find you have a whole new confidence about yourself. You’ll know you can handle anything and even defend yourself in a tough situation.
– You’ll notice the pounds coming off, but the real victory will be in the boost of energy, improvement of strength, newly gained flexibility and agility.
– You’ll make friends who are also hungry for victory against excess weight. They’ll not only provide motivation to continue, they’ll often share experiences and even some healthy recipes that they’ve learned on their journey.
Questions You Should Ask Before Starting A New Workout Routine
If you finally decided to get up off the couch and start a new workout routine, you need to start with one important question. How is my health? While you need exercise to maintain good health, overdoing it if you have a health condition already can be disastrous. Get a check-up first to determine if you need to approach any areas with caution. High blood pressure, diabetes, joint problems and risk factors for stroke or heart disease need to be considered when creating a plan. I want to know about your special needs and adjust for them, but if you don’t know, you can’t tell me. Check with your health care specialist first.
Is this the best workout for me?
You may have read about the workout all the celebrities do or the latest craze at the gyms and decided to try it. Because something is popular, it doesn’t mean it’s the best for you. One of my clients is almost 70 and while she needs a lot of work on cardiovascular exercises, she’s stronger than women in their 40s and far more flexible than most women in their 20s. Her workout is not what normal women her age require. Everyone is different and that’s why personal trainers take the time to assess each person individually.
Am I overdoing or slacking off when I do this routine?
That question is one of the reasons many people choose to work with a personal trainer. Judging your own fitness level can be difficult. Some people push well beyond their ability and make two potential mistakes. They either are too sore to continue the routine for a week or two or injure themselves because their form suffers when trying to do more than their body can handle. On the other end of the spectrum are the people who pamper themselves and quit just before the exercise is most effective. Again, this is why a personal trainer is important and can help provide the guidance necessary to get the results you desire.
Is this routine going to be the best to help me achieve my goals?
If your goal is to shed weight, but you don’t have any strength building exercises, it will help you reach your goal, but not as much as if you included strength building. Anyone who needs to improve endurance, still needs some flexibility, strength and balance exercises, but not as their primary focus. As a trainer, I want to know your goals first, before I create your program. It’s part of the process to achieve the best workout for your needs.
– Am I going to have time to do this type of workout? If you’re planning a two hour a day regimen and only have a half hour a day, you won’t achieve your goals. Tone it down and get realistic.
– Does my schedule accommodate this workout routine. This is different from having time to do the routine. If you choose a gym that only is open while you’re at work, you’ve eliminated five possibly six days when you can exercise.
– Am I motivated to stick with the program? If you’re exercising on your own and decide running is the way to get fit, but you hate running, you’ll fail. Switch to something you like, such as biking.
– Can my budget afford it? I do believe that exercise is so important, but not if it jeopardizes putting food on the table or paying a mortgage. That’s why I have so many different types of classes and even some free ones. There’s even one that’s slightly more than $2 a day. Reduce your stress and keep fitness workouts affordable.
How To Get Past Your Biggest Fitness Hurdles
No matter who you are, there’s always a voice in your head giving you reasons not to workout that day. Sometimes, those voices are barely perceptible and don’t affect your dedication. However, at other times they scream and are your biggest fitness hurdles. Some of these seem like legitimate reasons, but they fall apart when you actually analyze them.
Time is a huge factor for many people, but it shouldn’t be.
No matter how busy you are, getting in shape should remain a high priority. Good health allows you to remain on the job, beat the stress of the day and enjoy your life more. One method of battling this block is to consider the extra energy that exercise and healthy lifestyle brings, you realize getting fit can actually be a time saver, helping you get through tasks faster and having energy left at the end of the day to enjoy.
Self-consciousness and embarrassment can stop you from exercising with others.
Whether you should feel embarrassed or not about your body image or understanding of fitness doesn’t make a difference. Almost everyone feels awkward and uncomfortable the first few times at the gym. Even if it nobody judges, the potential it might happen could stop you from working out and shouldn’t. At the Worx, everyone is friendly and that comradery makes it fun. The best way to overcome this hurdle is to remember that these are strangers and you don’t need to impress them or worry about what they say. Of course, it only takes a week or two of working out to realize nobody is judgmental. In fact, our one week free trial is a good way to do it.
Financial reasons may seem legitimate, but not if you look at it closely.
Look at your budget closely and see if you spend slightly over a few dollars a day on unnecessary items. The price of a Starbucks grande coffee that many people pick up on their way to work is a few dollars and that candy bar you pick up at the gas station counter or grocery on the way home adds another few. We offer an online service to guide you that’s just slightly over $2 a day, making it very affordable and another hurdle breaker is realizing it costs you nothing to workout at home.
Sometimes people think exercising is boring. That’s only because they haven’t been challenged with exciting programs like Group Fitness P90X.
Sometimes health conditions or fear of injury can stop people. If your doctor said it would be bad for your health, then it’s a definite NO. However, most people simply worry without basis, particularly if they have personal trainer that considers their special needs.
Eating healthy shouldn’t be a problem, but when you’re first learning what to change, a sample diet is helpful.
Running out of day before you exercise is a hurdle many people face. That’s one reason signing up for boot camps or using a personal trainer is so effective. It’s a scheduled appointment. You can do the same even if you workout at home by putting your workout in your schedule and make it an appointment with good health.
Great Apps To Help You Stay Fit
You don’t spend yur entire day in the gym or with your personal trainer, so for the times you’re on your own, consider using technology as an aid. There are great apps to help you stay fit that can track your food intake or steps, help you make smarter choices in food and provide a host of other help. One of my favorites is RunKeeper. This app tracks you as you run and gives you information about things like distance, pace, number of calories burned and time. It offers audio coaching with a tool to share socially.
Fuducate helps you make smarter decisions when it comes to food.
Just like a personal trainer, this app doesn’t provide a diet, but teaches you how to make smarter decisions when it comes to buying food. What’s even better is that it makes label reading easier by providing a tool that scans the bar code and instantly provides all the ingredients, healthy alternatives and nutritional facts about each product on the shelf. There’s a database of 200,000 products, so it spans most of the choices available. It also has food tracking tools as well as a grocery list.
Get the beat to keep you moving.
Some of my clients love to exercise “freeform” on the days they’re not at the gym. Some do simple calisthenics at home, others run, while many often dance to fast music putting their heart and soul in each movement. There’s nothing wrong with those options. Just walking is good for the heart, so you can imagine how great boogying down can be for cardio. Fit Radio provides non-stop streaming high-energy music that will make your workout easier and fun.
Paprika helps you eat healthy and is good for your budget.
Do you find yourself stumped when it comes to grocery shopping and even more confused when you’re trying to decide what to eat. This app helps you plan meals and even helps you shop. You can save recipes on it and make a record of the food you have already. That way when you choose the recipes you want to make, it can tell you the ingredients you need. You can plan meals for a week or for as much as a month, so there’s no last minute quest to figure what’s for supper, which might otherwise end up as less than healthy.
IEatWell is an app that focuses on how well you eat providing rewards for eating healthy judged by what you tell it you’re eating or the photo you provide.
Fooducate helps educate you on how healthy food is, grading it on its nutritious value. It also helps you find the healthiest foods.
Eat This Much first learns your eating goals and food preferences, then makes suggestions with recipes also based on the number of meals you eat daily and the amount of calories you want to consume.
If you want help creating workouts at home, the Johnson & Johnson Official 7 minute workout app will provide them. It not only has the original 7-minute workout, it also has many others that vary in length and intensity.
See What Happens If You Don’t Give Up
Too many people get discouraged when it comes to achieving their fitness goal. They don’t see the results in the first few days, so they give up. If you keep the prize in mind, your goal, and persevere, you’ll be amazed to see what happens if you don’t give up. You’ll achieve far more than you ever expected possible, while looking and feeling fitter than ever.
Becoming overweight and out of shape didn’t occur overnight.
You didn’t go to bed one night and wake up the next morning 20, 30 or 40 pounds heavier. It happened over time. Don’t expect the change to be sudden. However, it can be quicker than you think to see some results from your efforts, especially if you follow the plan we created together to a T. The amount of rewards you get back are directly proportional to the amount of effort you put into anything. Keep at it and you’ll achieve any goal you really want.
Never quit believing.
The power of belief can take you a long way toward success. When you first start working out and eating healthier, you may so no improvement for a few days. Suddenly, as if by magic, you’ll shed a pound or two. The belief in a program of healthy eating and regular exercise, plus the belief in your own abilities to change your future kept you going until you saw the results you hoped to achieve. YOU CAN DO ANYTHING!
If you doubt anything can help, use that to your advantage.
Sometimes, everyone gets discouraged. I see it all the time with people who come to me for help. They’ve tried to lose weight before and either didn’t succeed, quit after a few pounds or lost the weight they wanted, then regained it again. They never made the changes in their daily habits that are necessary for permanent success. I tell those doubting people they have to follow my instructions to the letter in order to prove me wrong. If it doesn’t work when you do that, you can say, “I told you so.” In fact, I even recommend they take the special 21-day training, follow everything and see what happens. I know they can succeed, just like you can, because I believe that everyone has the ability to get back into shape.
Drink plenty of water on your way to fitness. That may sound odd, but water not only helps you lose weight, with your new workout plan, you’ll need to replenish and rehydrate.
Make smarter choices when it comes to food. I won’t give you a diet, but help you learn how to eat healthier. The combination of healthy eating and regular exercise takes weight off faster.
Always believe you can achieve. Don’t weigh yourself every two hours to see if you weigh less. Weigh yourself once a week at the same time. Even if you don’t shed a pound, you’ll probably lose inches.
Take note of other signs of improved fitness, such as more endurance, strength and flexibility. Appreciate every gain you’ve made on your road to getting fitter.
Undo the Weekend (48 hour recovery)
What a weekend that was! You went out, you ate and drank and had a blast! And now the fun is over and the consequences are setting in…you feel terrible. You woke up with a headache, an overall feeling of bloating and a sluggishness that you can’t shake.
It’s time to undo the damage brought on from that epic weekend. Here’s how…
- No More Junk! It may sound obvious, but the first step to recovering from all that fun you had is to stop the damage. No more naughty foods. No more alcohol.
When you are vacationing or partying it’s easy to remove your mindful eating and drinking mechanism, and to replace it with the anything-goes mindset. This makes sense for party-mode, but once you come back home and get back to real life it’s important to firmly put an end to the junk food and calorie-laden beverages. If you don’t then your weekend diet may continue into your week, resulting in tons of extra calories that quickly add up in unwanted pounds.
- Flush Your System. For the next 48 hours your main mission is to drink as much water as possible.
All of those poor food and drink choices result in dehydration, which manifests in a pounding headache and a feeling of sluggishness. Plan to sip on water throughout the next two days, adding in fresh sliced fruit, cucumbers, mint or basil to add a refreshing and rewarding flavor.
- Get Some Rest. End the party or vaycay Sunday afternoon so that you can get into bed early in preparation for the week ahead.
It may not sound super exciting to plan an early-to-bed night at the end of your weekend but, come Monday morning, you will be functioning much better with a little rest under your belt. Plan to get to bed early the next couple of days as well, and fit in a nap if possible.
- Eat Cleansing Foods. You’ve stopped eating junk, now fill your diet with small light meals consisting of fiber and a serving of protein. Stick with only whole foods for the next 48 hours.
Fruits and fresh veggies should make up the bulk of your calories as you recover. Asparagus, leafy greens, citrus fruits, and raw veggies are all wonderful items to enjoy in addition to high quality, low fat protein.
- Avoid Going Extreme. Yes, you ate and drank a LOT this weekend, but swinging the pendulum too far in the other direction isn’t actually going to help. Overcompensation is rarely a winning idea.
Fight the urge to skip meals or to over-exercise in response to your indulgences. Going from one extreme to the other creates a bad cycle that leaves you feeling even more tired. In addition, taking your body from feast to famine will actually make you more prone for fat storage.
Getting and staying in great shape will not only help you bounce back from the weekend faster, it will also help you achieve healthy habits that will stick with you even as you party and vacation.
My programs are designed with your overall lifestyle in mind and I’m here to get you (and keep you) in your best shape ever!
Call or email me now to get started on a fitness program that’s specially designed for you. Let’s do this!
Reasons To Workout In The Morning
There are good reasons to workout in the morning. That doesn’t mean that if morning is an impossibility for you that you should skip the gym and give up, just that if you’re one of those people who have the ability to choose between a morning workout and another time of day, choose the morning. Normally, the gym is less crowded and you’re not yet wound up in the dramas of the day, so it creates a peaceful atmosphere, like a mini vacation with sweat.
You’ll jump start your metabolism for the day.
Whether you’re a morning person or not, an early morning workout gets your body going. I’ve had clients that told me it takes several cups of coffee and about two hours before they could mumble cohesive sentences whom I convinced to come to the earliest session. Their day was already hectic and a workout became harder to fit into their schedule as each hour passed. Each one of them took me up on the challenge and each one of them were amazed at how different they felt once they did. One study at Brigham Young University showed that when people worked out in the morning, they were more active the rest of the day. Another showed they burnt more calories throughout the day than those who didn’t exercise early.
When you workout early, you’ll be more likely to be consistent.
You know it yourself, as the day wears on, there are new demands on your time. A project can run overtime and before you know it, you’ve missed your workout session. Getting an early bird start avoids many of the conflicts that occur throughout the day. If you’re the checklist type of person, you’ve checked it off your list and can focus the rest of your day on other things.
You’ll become a human dynamo.
Even though you go into the workout with one eye closed, it will soon change before the end of the first set. While you might want that first cup of coffee to make it to the workout, once the workout begins, your body will provide the wake up call and become the source of energy. Studies show that exercise is a better stimulant than even coffee. It gets the blood circulating and wakes up the mind. That super zip to your step is one reason you shouldn’t exercise at night or you’ll find it hard to fall asleep. The water you drink to rehydrate also provides more energy than coffee.
You’ll do a better job throughout the day and be mentally quicker. One study shows that a brisk workout can boost your cognitive abilities by 12 percent. Coffee only gives a 6 percent boost.
Do you shower in the morning? Then a morning workout actually saves you the time it takes. You’ll get your after workout shower/hair/make-up prep and morning shower all at the same time.
Start your day with a smile. Sure you’ll face many challenges and rigors of the day, but you’ll have the happy hormones on your side that the body creates during a workout.
You’ll get many health benefits, one of which is lower blood pressure. One study at Appalachian State University showed that people who worked out in the morning had the benefit of lowering their blood pressure by 10 percent and that not only stayed lower throughout the day, lowered to up to 25 percent at night.
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