Fitness & Wellness

People choose to become a vegetarian for a number of reasons. I always tell people at Team Worx Fitness in Alexandria, VA, that the best way to lose weight is to eat healthy and don’t make any specific recommendations on diet. However, when asked if you can lose weight on a vegetarian diet, the answer is simple. Absolutely! That is as long as you aren’t supplementing that diet with vegetarian options of junk food and food with added sugar. It’s a bit harder to balance a vegetarian diet, but if you do, and stick with healthy principals, it might even be easier.

Is a vegetarian diet the same as a vegan diet?

Those words are often mixed, and they don’t mean the same things. Vegans don’t consume ANY animal products, including eggs or dairy. Many don’t even use products containing anything from animals, like wearing leather shoes. A vegetarian diet is a lot easier to stick with and balance, since it has both plant and animal protein. Eggs are a great source of protein. Vegetarians simply refrain from eating the flesh of animals, not all animal products.

It’s all about making healthier choices when you select food.

If you’re eating a vegetarian diet and it includes pastries and candy that’s not healthy. Sure, it doesn’t have animal meat, but it has added sugar, which comes from a plant. Too often, I’ve seen meat substitutes that are far less healthy than the original. Take Impossible Burgers for instance. They’re higher in sodium than the real thing, and they still come on a bun, with condiments galore. Choose wisely and don’t be fooled by imitation products that substitute for meat. They might not be as healthy as you think and far more fattening.

It may be easier to lose weight as a vegetarian.

Red meat has lots of calories compared to a boiled egg. Filling up on salad can actually reduce your calorie intake. Be aware that it’s not about the label you choose to call yourself, it’s about the food you eat and the calorie and health benefits or hazards it contains. Sugar comes from plants but is toxic to the system and can cause you to gain weight. Studies show vegetarians and vegans actually tend to be leaner, but it’s a generalization that depends on the food you eat within that category.

• Nuts are a source of protein often consumed by vegetarians. However, if you opt for nuts with a thick coating of sugar, they cease being healthy and definitely won’t help you lose weight.
• One way that vegetarianism can help with weight loss is that it increases fiber in your diet, as long as you opt for unprocessed vegetables and fruit. They help you feel full longer, so you eat less.
• Some vegetarian options, like avocados and nuts that contain healthy fat or protein options like beans, also keep you feeling full longer. They also contain fiber that slows the release of glucose in your blood stream to aid in preventing insulin resistance.
• No matter what your choice of diet, including vegan and vegetarian, losing weight is all about making the smartest possible choices and eating healthy.

For more information, contact us today at Team Worx Fitness

When someone mentions foods that make you feel good, you might automatically think of those comfort foods, like a pint of ice cream, mashed potatoes and gravy or double chocolate, chocolate chip cookies. That’s not the type of food that really changes your body to help lift your spirits, but the type of food associated mentally with feeling better. There are actual foods that can help improve your mood in the long run. In fact, if your comfort food is a sweet, it’s probably prolonging your misery, since sugary processed food causes fluctuations in your blood sugar level, with lows leaving you sad and miserable.

Look for foods high in vitamin B6, tryptophan and Omega-3 fatty acids.

Nuts are a great food for lifting your spirits, particularly cashews, Brazil nuts and peanuts. Flaxseed also joins that group. The vitamin tryptophan in cashews converts to serotonin, which helps stabilize your mood and makes you feel happier and more relaxed, and the vitamin B6 helps with that conversion. Walnuts are high in omega-3 fatty acids, which helps make you less angry and happier. A study focused on changing the diet at a prison with a higher amount of violence and found it reduced the incidences dramatically.

Boost your brain power, fight cancer and improve your mood with berries.

Berries, particularly blueberries, have loads of phytochemicals that fight free radicals that come from our environment. Anthocyanin that makes blueberries blue, is one of the flavonoids that provide brain protection and also helps you feel good. One study compared the effects of drinking a placebo, to drinking a drink made of wild blueberries. The wild blueberry drink improved the mood for people, no matter what their age. Other fresh berries, particularly those that are deep red or purple, also have a similar effect. The same is true for vegetables that are deep red or purple.

Eating your greens helps you body and your mood.

If you have a bowl of leafy greens, you’ve got a bowl of fiber, magnesium, vitamin B6 and folate. As noted previously the B6 helps convert tryptophan to serotonin, increasing the amount the body gets. Serotonin is similar to antidepressants, so the more you have in your body, the lower the risk for depression. You’ll also find B6 in carrots, green peas, sweet potatoes and legumes. The folate (not folic acid, which people often confuse it with) in leafy greens also helps regulate the serotonin and magnesium has been used to treat depression for years.

• If chocolate was on your feel good list, you may be on the right track, but it has to be dark chocolate with a high amount of cacao, very little if any milk or sugar. It’s the polyphenols in cacao that make it good for your mood.
• You need foods high in vitamin C to produce neurotransmitters that are necessary to make hormones like dopamine, noradrenaline and serotonin, which make you feel good. Red bell peppers and citrus fruits and good sources.
• Many Americans have a deficiency of magnesium, which can cause depression. Eating a handful of pumpkin seeds each day can help replenish the magnesium.
• Increasing blood circulation can occur when blood vessels dilate. That can improve your mood. A cup and a half cups of coffee each day can help do that. The caffeine also increases the production of dopamine.

For more information, contact us today at Team Worx

I encourage people to eat healthy and live a healthy lifestyle, which includes exercise. Some clients at Team Worx Fitness in Alexandria, VA, have asked me if OTC vitamins—over the counter vitamins—offer benefits. It’s easy to understand how you might think they help, since Americans purchase over millions of dollars worth each year, and even more if you include other types of supplements. Is it really healthy or is it just good advertising that drives those sales?

Supplements may not offer the benefits you hoped.

There are three studies recently completed at John Hopkins that looked into whether supplements were beneficial or not. They were all large, with the biggest study following 450,000 people. That large study showed OTC multivitamins didn’t reduce the risk for cancer or heart disease. The same was true of one of the smaller, yet significant studies. The last smaller study, which had only 5947 subjects, looked at multivitamins use and the potential for reducing mental decline. The study followed these people for 12 years and found they didn’t have any effect.

OTC products may not be bioavailable.

No matter how dedicated you are to taking your vitamins, your body may not get the benefits. That’s because it can’t absorb the nutrients it offers. Even if it’s a pure form of the vitamin, your body may not be able to use it because it’s not bioavailable. Lots of things determine bioavailability. How quickly the vitamin breaks down is one. If it breaks down too easily, it doesn’t have a long shelf life, but if it has a longer shelf life, you may find it in your toilet amidst the corn and peanuts that also don’t digest. Some drugs taken with vitamins limit their availability and some forms of the vitamin do too.

Taking too much of anything is not necessarily a good thing.

If you’re taking high doses of a vitamin, it can be toxic. While it may not kill you, if you take more vitamin C than you need, you’ll end up with diarrhea and urine rich in vitamin C. The real dangers come with fat soluble vitamins, like vitamin E, D or A. High amounts of vitamin E increase the risk of stroke. People who smoke and take high amounts of vitamin A or beta-carotene may increase the risk of lung cancer.

• Taking calcium supplements, particularly if you’re a senior, may actually be dangerous. It can cause calcium to build up in artery walls. You’re better off doing weight bearing exercises to help prevent osteoporosis.
• Taking multivitamins and thinking you’ve got your basis covered is just as dangerous. You need many of the phytonutrients to work in synergy for more effective benefits or even any benefits at all.
• Not all forms of the vitamin are bioavailability, meaning it doesn’t allow your system to use it. Many of the vitamin forms used in multivitamins are less expensive, but also less effective and harder to break down.
• Some vitamins may be important. For instance, vitamin D is extremely important, but many people have a deficiency, since they get little sun and it’s hard to get in food. Always ask your health care professional before you start taking any supplements.
• For more information, contact us today at Team Worx

Don’t throw away your opportunity to have the summer fun you deserve. Don’t let being out of shape, tired or feeling frumpy stop you from getting that tan, enjoying the sun and enjoying every minute of summer. How can you do that? You can get ready for summer, starting today. In just a couple of short months, you can make a huge difference in how you look and feel and by the end of summer, look forward to even more enjoyment over the fall and winter holidays.

In just two months, you can lose 20-pounds or more safely.

Not only will you lose weight by eating healthy, you’ll even look thinner by adding exercise to your daily routine. Exercise builds muscles and muscles burn more calories than fat tissue does, so the more you have, the higher your metabolism, burning more calories 24/7. When you exercise, it makes you look trimmer. One pound of muscle tissue takes up less space than a pound of fat. It’s similar to comparing the size of container for exactly a pound of feathers and a pound of steel. The one with the feathers will be a lot bigger. Even though you might lose 20-pounds, you’ll look like you lost a lot more.

Boost your energy while you build your strength and endurance.

Not only does strength training build muscles, when you combine it with endurance training it burns off the pounds quickly and builds your energy level. If the beach isn’t your destination, but a trip to the zoo with the kids is, having more energy may be just what you’re hoping to get. The more energy you have, the more active you’ll be and that increases the amount of energy you’ll have tomorrow. It snowballs.

Healthy eating should be a key priority.

Healthy eating isn’t dieting. Instead, it’s about making smarter choices when you eat. Most trainers agree that a great body starts in the kitchen. Your diet also affects your energy level and mood, so getting the most out of life also starts with diet. You’ll be amazed at how delicious healthy foods can taste. Don’t worry, you still can have a favorite treat occasionally, just keep portion control in mind and don’t make it too often.

• You don’t have to want to lose weight to benefit when you workout. You might want to tone all parts of your body. A toned derriere looks far better than a droopy one, and toned arms are better than batwings.
• Working out helps hide cellulite, just as a healthy diet does. Losing weight and building muscle tissue takes a lot of the pucker out of cottage cheese lumpy thighs.
• Don’t forget flexibility training. Your walk will be improved and so will your agility, but most of all, flexibility training can protect you from injury that can ruin a summer of fun.
• Make a bucket list of things you’d like to do this summer that are outside, active or show off your new energy or body. Make it a goal to check off at least five things this summer.

For more information, contact us today at Team Worx Fitness