Although obstacles can sometimes knock us down, coming back up says a lot more than overcoming in the first place. This rings true for the Kaizen Naturals story. After some unfortunate impacts of the pandemic, one resourceful entrepreneur stepped up. It was long-time Kaizen customer and businesswoman Jennifer Ducharme.
Jennifer purchased the Kaizen Naturals brand along with the state-of-the-art manufacturing facility and quality control laboratory, providing the ability to produce products from start to finish. She cared about Kaizen Naturals because she saw the impact clean, natural supplements had on her sister’s health. Providing nutritious food and supplements to those who may not have access is part of her vision for the new company. Now, under Jennifer’s leadership, Kaizen Naturals is back.
With natural ingredients and no artificial colors, flavors or sweeteners, Kaizen Naturals is still committed to delivering a quality nutritional supplement to help you tackle those everyday obstacles. In fact, Jennifer has brought back the same team of award-winning formulators so you can expect the same great taste and mixability. Our commitment is one we truly believe in and that we’ve stayed true to since the first product formula*on. Why? Because everybody deserves the opportunity to feel good about what they’re puttng in their body.
And we’re more than just great products; we’re a team of people looking to make a positive impact in our community and environment – it’s the heart of what we do. Recently, we’ve taken a close look at our impact and look forward to continuing with the following commitments:
Kaizen Naturals is now available online and at stores across Canada! We look forward to reconnecting with our consumers and bringing even more people along the journey to better health.
We recognize, acknowledge and honor the Indigenous land that we work and produce our products on and our community that continues to inspire us.
Kaizen Naturals – Naturally Clean Nutrition.
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Let’s start by getting this point across: it’s best not to associate any food as forbidden, only to indulge on it when you’re “cheating” on your otherwise healthy nutrition plan.
Having this attitude is going to lead you to feel like you’ve failed on your fitness goals when you enjoy calorie-dense foods such as cheesecakes, burgers, or pizza. Those foods are pretty delicious, and if you greatly restrict when you can and can’t consume them, you’re much more likely to overeat when you do. These kind of mindset pitfalls can very quickly develop into disordered eating (remember, binging is an eating disorder) and can further develop unhealthy relationships with food.
Instead of obsessing over what your next cheat day will include, try to establish a nourishing meal plan that doesn’t make you feel limited. If you eat a variety of whole foods, with some not-so-healthy ones mixed in, you’ll feel more satisfied throughout the day and able to eat any kinds of foods you like, with moderation in mind.
Too many fad diets cut out entire food groups, leading the participant to fall off the wagon and eat the foods they missed. Often, any weight lost during that difficult diet phase is quickly regained.
Now, full transparency here, I personally choose not to eat things like pizza on a regular basis—but that’s my preference. I enjoy grazing throughout the day, eating smaller meals to keep cravings at bay and keep my energy levels stable.
When I do have dreams of chocolate cheesecake or a fully-loaded burger, I consider them treat meals—not cheat meals.
Why? Because I’m not cheating on anything—I’m enjoying my life.
In these situations, I refuse to worry about how many calories are consumed or starve myself the rest of the day to make up for it.
When it comes to losing weight, or maintaining a healthy body, what you eat 90% of the time is going to determine results. Remember, there are no good or bad foods, but nourishing your body with nourishing, whole foods will always reign supreme!
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Coach Julie Germaine is a NFLA-certified fitness expert and prenatal trainer, and a NASM-certified nutrition specialist. She is also a fit mom and a 2x world-class fitness champion who has been featured in and contributed to numerous fitness, fashion, and lifestyle magazines and other media. She has loved helping men and women lose belly fat and maintain inspiring body transformations as a virtual coach since 2005.
]]>These stressors can have both immediate and long term effects for our overall health—but, the good news is, how we deal with these stressors can dramatically change how much of an impact they have on us.
First off: what is stress?
Stress is defined as “a state of mental or emotional strain or tension resulting from adverse or very demanding circumstances.”
Some life examples of stress can be:
How does stress affect your health?
Our bodies react differently to the varying types of stressors we put on it. Short-term or temporary stress (also known as acute stress) typically causes your nervous system to jump into action, releasing hormones that give you the “fight or flight” response. This is why you may notice your heartbeat speed up during times of anxiety.
Signs of short-term stress:
When we get into long-term stress (also known as chronic stress) this is where we see more correlation between stress and more serious health problems. Chronic stress puts consistent strain on the body and has been linked to illness and even pre-mature aging!
Signs of long-term stress:
Some general dos and don’ts
As humans, we are meant to move. We are meant to be active in order to properly maintain a healthy functioning body and immune system. One of the worst things we can do to our bodies—not only related to stress, but all types of illnesses—is to be inactive.
Now, activity looks different for everyone—so it’s important to find the type of movement that works for you. But what’s even more important is that you actually do it! If you’re not a gym person, consider a class, a YouTube video, or even a walking buddy. Get at least 30 minutes of activity in every single day, and I promise that you will feel less stressed.
We are all busy people with work, family, friends, and other commitments—but I’ll always fall back to this one question:
The answer: YOU.
This is reason enough that you need to prioritize you and your health. The number one suggestion that all of the following tips fall into is to find time for yourself.
How do we do that?
It comes down to prioritizing your time, and there are many ways to do that.
Set alarms or reminders on your phone, journal for two minutes every day to note on your progress, or even leaving sticky notes around your home.
I personally choose to go to bed early and wake up at 3am to do my workouts and stretching because I know that, as the day gets busy, my time will be consumed by work and family things.
So, on that note, here are my tips to reduce stress on your body, including recommended types of physical activity:
Strength training
Weight training or bodyweight exercises will increase your overall health in general, but also directly reduces stress because working your muscles releases feel-good endorphins in your body, which lift your mood.
Go for a walk
Getting some steps in—preferably outside, if possible—is a great way to bring down those stress levels for several reasons. First, a change of scenery sends a signal to your brain to think about something else. Second, the physical movement of walking helps us feel like we’re moving away from or toward something, which can be a soothing feeling during times of stress. And third, walking outside allows your body to focus on sensations other than that work project you haven’t gotten to yet. You can smell the fresh air, feel the breeze on your skin, hear the sounds of the neighbourhood, etc.
Don’t you just want to go for a walk now?!
Play a sport
Nothing beats stress like team morale! Sure, you can opt for going for an hour-long walk everyday—that’s great! Or, you can change up your routine by joining a rec-league soccer team and get the same amount of steps in within half the timeframe.
Sports are a ton of fun and a great example of exercise that you don’t even realize you’re doing!
Meditate
Some people might be sick of hearing this one by now, but there’s a reason why it’s so prevalent. Taking even two minutes practice stillness is a great way to improve both acute and chronic stressors on the body. There are a bazillion meditation videos on YouTube and thousands of books to help get you started! A simple way to start practicing meditation is to simply experiment with breathing exercises. Try this one:
How do you feel?
Yoga
Another buzzword, and for good reason! Yoga has been around for over 5,000 years, so how can you argue against its effectiveness? In my opinion, it’s one of the top ways to de-stress the body. Yoga requires you to do three things:
And this combo is an absolute super power when it comes to reducing stress!
Eat a balanced diet
Your diet affects almost every aspect of your health, including mental health. If you are constantly eating highly processed foods, a lot of added sugars, or foods with high amounts of trans fats, chances are you’ll likely experience higher perceived stress levels too. Find a healthy diet plan that works for you and one that you can be consistent with.
At the end of the day, in order to maintain a healthy body and mind, we need to minimize stress—and one of the biggest ways is to take time for yourself and focus on staying active in your everyday life.
By Jeff Cody
]]>Amazing!
All day you’ve been on point with your diet, resisting temptations and chugging that H2O. This is a great opportunity to keep that momentum going by choosing a bedtime snack that won’t spike your blood sugar levels.
Why is your blood sugar level important for muscle development and fat loss? When your body runs out of food for energy, the absence of dietary glucose prompts insulin levels to drop. The body then starts using stored glycogen for its functions, eventually leading to burning fat.
To further motivate you to heed this advice: high blood glucose levels reduce the body's ability to perform protein synthesis.
What it all means is this—without the right foods, you will could be missing out on both fat burning and muscle growth during sleep!
Now I know I have your full attention.
Here are some guidelines and suggestions for bedtime snacks that fit the bill— providing essential nutrients, easing hunger pangs, and preparing you for a deep, relaxing rest.
It’s best to adjust your evening meal to your overall fitness goals and have a nutrition expert review your body’s response with you.
—
Coach Julie Germaine is a NFLA-certified fitness expert and prenatal trainer, and a NASM-certified nutrition specialist. She is also a 2x world-class fitness champion who has been featured in and contributed to numerous fitness, fashion, and lifestyle magazines and other media. She has loved helping men and women lose belly fat and maintain inspiring body transformations as a virtual coach since 2005.
]]>Pair any two exercises together and do each for 60 seconds, then rest for one to two minutes. Repeat two more times including rest periods, then move on to the next pair of exercises. Perform each exercise three times.
Exercise |
Sets |
Reps |
High Step Ups with Knee Drive |
3 |
1 minute |
High Toe Taps |
3 |
1 minute |
Lower Body Elevated Glute Hip Thrusts |
3 |
1 minute |
Bench Jump Overs |
3 |
1 minute |
Banded Side Shuffle |
3 |
1 minute |
Lower Body Elevated Plank Walk Overs |
3 |
1 minute |
Check out Julie's full video demonstration of this workout here!
Coach Julie Germaine is a NFLA-certified fitness expert and prenatal trainer, and a NASM-certified nutrition specialist. She is also a 2x world-class fitness champion who has been featured in and contributed to numerous fitness, fashion, and lifestyle magazines and other media. She has loved helping men and women lose belly fat and maintain inspiring body transformations as a virtual coach since 2005.
Positive change doesn’t happen overnight, but your life will 100% continue to improve if you apply these mental tricks to get motivated again.
Having a community to support you in achieving your fitness goals is a huge benefit! Talk about your fitness journey, listen to other people share their weight loss experiences, and never hesitate to reach out to me if you have questions – I love to help!
—
Coach Julie Germaine is a NFLA-certified fitness expert and prenatal trainer, and a NASM-certified nutrition specialist. She is also a 2x world-class fitness champion who has been featured in and contributed to numerous fitness, fashion, and lifestyle magazines and other media. She has loved helping men and women lose belly fat and maintain inspiring body transformations as a virtual coach since 2005.
]]>Seasonal eating is very healthy for you, too! This can also be considered ‘eating local,’ which supports your community and benefits your body since the produce is very recently harvested.
As soon as fruits and vegetables are collected, they begin to lose nutrients. This means that something transported across seas arrives on your plate with less nutritional value than it had originally. You are also paying more for these travelled items, since the cost of the supply chain is left on the consumer.
To have the best options to eat seasonally in the winter, you should plan in the summer. Preserving items in their peak brings wonderful flavour to your table all winter! Don’t purchase off-season items from the grocery store for this, but use those picked at their intended ripeness in their natural environment so they are bursting with optimal nutrients.
The base of your winter meals should be late fall produce. My five favourites are listed below:
Embrace seasonal eating into the rhythm of your life!
Coach Julie Germaine is a NFLA-certified fitness expert and prenatal trainer, and a NASM-certified nutrition specialist. She is also a 2x world-class fitness champion who has been featured in and contributed to numerous fitness, fashion, and lifestyle magazines and other media. She has loved helping men and women lose belly fat and maintain inspiring body transformations as a virtual coach since 2005.
]]>Are you someone who loves cardio? No? Well, then read on, because I’ve got a trick to allow you to cut your fat-burning cardio time in half without sacrificing results—or even eliminate the need for straight cardio completely.
You may have heard that you cannot build muscle while burning body fat. This is not entirely true. If you adopt a fitness program that incorporates cardio intervals, supersets, drop-sets, circuit training, and compound movements, you will consistently raise your heart rate to burn stored fat while challenging your muscles for strength and size development.
Yes, you can build muscle while getting leaner.
You should always start your weight lifting workout with five minutes on your chosen piece of cardio equipment to warm-up, particularly when hitting the gym during cold seasons.
Your fat-burning resistance training workout can be as short as 30 minutes to see a fantastic body transformation and lose belly fat. Here is a great full body routine to try:
3 to 5 sets, 8 to 12 reps
If you want to turn up the heat and blast away excess body fat even faster, then add 20 minutes of cardio or more after you lift. This can be via the stair climber, treadmill, or upright bike—and switching it up can keep your body guessing and your mind from getting bored.
You’ll want to allow your body to use food as fuel to push yourself on the weights first, then burn off excess fat following resistance training—never the reverse. Cardio before weights has been shown to pre-fatigue your muscles, so your strength and intensity could suffer if this becomes your routine.
Blog by Julie Germaine.
]]>As we welcome another year, you may or may not be setting New Year resolutions for 2022. Goal setting is always a great way to focus your mind and develop a plan to achieve your dreams, however many people put too much pressure on themselves in the process. Exercising self-compassion is important right from the start.
How do you set 2022 goals keeping self-compassion in mind? Begin by shifting your thoughts away from negativity, including perfectionism, and lead with your heart. Approach your fitness program with the dedication to "do your best" and write down guidelines that are reasonable, not overwhelming.
Sure, it would be wonderful to train 5x/week, but can your schedule realistically allow for that? Remind yourself that consistency in your exercise routine is the ultimate flex – and getting that nailed down is how you will embrace good lifestyle habits long-term.
This principle applies to your dietary choices too. There are fantastic nutrition experts that can provide you with healthy fat loss diet plans that are not too calorie restrictive, which makes your chance of success skyrocket. Many dieters make the mistake of eating too little. Starving yourself is self-harm, and is not a lasting solution to manage your weight. You will actually end up causing damage to your metabolism by choosing this method, not to mention experiencing horrible mood swings, low energy, terrible sex drive, and likely food binges.
Finally, self-compassion expert Kristin Neff, Ph.D, shares a ‘bite-sized’ recipe to increase happiness that may help you follow through on your plans with a big smile on your face. The professor from the University of Texas suggests taking a ‘self-compassion break’ regularly, including writing a letter to yourself. This could be a chance to validate your struggles without judgment and express your feelings. Please try to avoid turning this into a pity party. The key is to allow common humanity to flow from within, surprisingly something we often do not give to ourselves.
End your letter with feel-good flattery! Who doesn’t feel tingles when receiving compliments? You’ve earned them!
Blog by Julie Germaine.
]]>
You are going to get it this year, I feel that energy!
I love the vibe in January as everyone shifts away from holiday pace and back into work mode. You’ve likely begun to get up early, train more regularly, and have set goals for yourself. These are all very good things, but have you made sure to pace yourself appropriately so you see results and avoid injury?
All active individuals need to consider rest time into their fitness routines. Believe it or not, muscles do not grow during workouts, but actually rebuild and recover while you sleep, hours after you stopped sweating! This means that if you want to make progress, your fitness program has to provide downtime to individual muscle groups.
For example, you can’t hit delts every day and expect your shoulders to start popping. This is actually an excellent way to damage your glenohumeral joint, the ball-and-socket joint that connects the upper arm to the shoulder blade. Talk to anyone who has over trained and suffered the consequences – your body is never quite the same after an injury so you should respect it and accept its limits.
Here are some pro tips to create a safe training schedule:
While you don’t want to be lazy and slack on your fitness goals, you also don’t want to over-due it and burn out! Forced rest to nurse a muscle strain is not going to help you make progress either, so plan ahead and train smart.
Blog by Julie Germaine.
]]>Appetite can be described as the drive to eat. Feeling satisfied by eating has two distinct descriptors: Satiation and satiety.
Satiation = the set of processes that signal the body to stop eating
Ex: "I've had enough."
Satiety = is the suppression of hunger and a maintained inhibition to eat for a period following the consumption of food.
Ex: "I'm not hungry yet—I'm still full from lunch."
The body has different mechanisms for regulating appetite and for achieving satiation and satiety, which, when used correctly, have a significant impact on both energy intake and ensuring we're getting enough nutrients.
Some research shows that even a small daily excess of calories – as much as 50kcal per day – can have a significant cumulative impact over the course of months and years. This is the equivalent of about one small biscuit every day. Any adjustments or deviations in the regulatory processes that govern appetite have a significant impact on body weight and adipose tissue regulation.
The reason for craving a particular food or flavour is different from genuine hunger.
In general, most humans possess a strong liking for the taste and texture of foods, particularly aspects like sweetness or crunch (we'd bet that some of your favourite junk foods are either sweet, crunchy, or both!)
The need for energy is often cited as one of the main reasons why we get hungry, yet some experts say that diets with a low energy density are associated with higher levels of satiety.
Simply put: a diet that is low in high-calorie foods is actually more likely to keep you feeling satisfied, over a diet that is full of high-calorie meals.
Let's break this down more.
Clearly, a need for energy cannot be the only stimulus of appetite and hunger. This could be related to satiety signals, such as chewing and food volume in the stomach. Stomach expansion is one signal that many people use to stop eating—and low energy-dense foods tend to contain a lot of fibre and water, which empty from the stomach more slowly and can lead to a sustained sense of fullness.
Glucose also tends to be released into the bloodstream more slowly and steadily from these foods compared to processed food options. Since low blood glucose can stimulate hunger, this sustained sugar release can stave off appetite.
To break it down even further...
A key hormone in appetite mechanics is called ghrelin. Ghrelin is the hormone primarily meant to regulate appetite. It is released from the stomach and circulates in the bloodstream, affecting regions of the hypothalamus, especially the arcuate nucleus and the brain stem. Ghrelin levels rise and fall cyclically throughout a normal day—increasing after eating and then falling immediately after a meal has been ingested. Ghrelin also facilitates the sensations of hunger and fullness, and it promotes fat storage.
A person needs ghrelin in their body to maintain and regulate some vital bodily functions. However, as ghrelin plays a key role in hunger and satiety, reducing levels of it may cause people to have
So, let's get to some quick tips you can use to achieve this:
Remember, you know your body better than anyone. Take these tips on regulating hunger and satiety and see which ones work for your lifestyle!
]]>Vitamins
Vitamins are essential to nutrition and health, as they play a myriad of important physical functions. The term “vitamin” itself is taken from two Latin words, namely “vita” meaning “life” and “amine” because it was originally thought they contained amino acids. Having healthy levels of vitamins can help keep your immune system strong and prevent you from getting sick.
If you have a deficiency in a certain vitamin, you could experience specific symptoms that range from mild to severe. Often, your doctor may task you with taking supplemental vitamins in order to correct the deficiency. Because of their reliability, vitamin supplements have shown consistently favorable results when consumed in order to bring up one’s inclusion of vitamins to a more suitable level.
Vitamins are both fat soluble and water soluble, meaning that another entity is needed in order for them to be absorbed properly, such as pairing your fat-soluble vitamins with healthy fats like oils, nuts, seeds, or avocado. Vitamins are distinct from another micronutrient, minerals, because they are organic and can be broken down by heat, air, or acid.
Ideal nutrition is something we all should strive for, but that doesn’t necessarily mean consuming fewer calories. In order to improve your training, feel better, and look your best, its vital to meet your body’s caloric requirements and fill your diet with micronutrient-rich foods and a mix of all three macronutrients.
]]>Each nutrient (what many personal trainers refer to as a ‘macro’) has a certain role to play in your health and a specific quantity of energy it brings to your body in terms of calories.
The three macronutrients are carbohydrates, protein, and fats.
Fats
“Fat is the enemy,” you often hear. But is it really? To a large part, yes — certainly the group of unhealthy fats which tend to be high in cholesterol can be damaging to your health and body composition. And this is for the most part the way fat has been viewed over the last century. However, simple virtue of the fact that you have a daily recommended allowance of consumption of fat indicates that your body does need a certain level of healthy fats.
You may be unaware that fat is actually necessary for the production of our natural hormones—that is, testosterone for men and estrogen for women. Without fat, the rate of production of these hormones would be less efficient. Healthy fats also have an important role in terms of cognitive function, which is why foods like salmon are considered “brain food.” You shouldn’t be too concerned with exceeding a moderate level of healthy fats each day, but the unhealthy fats which include “trans” fats are something you should consider avoiding.
Common Examples of Fats:
Healthy Fats: Fish, Cheese, Dark Chocolate, Avocados, Whole Eggs, Nuts, Chia Seeds
Unhealthy Fats: Fatty Cuts of Beef, Pork, Lamb, Dark Chicken, Fried Foods, Processed Foods.
Calories per Gram: 9
Recommended Daily Allowance: 40-100g
Recommended Proportion of Daily Diet: 15 – 25%
Ideal nutrition is something we all should strive for, but that doesn’t necessarily mean consuming fewer calories. In order to improve your training, feel better, and look your best, its vital to meet your body’s caloric requirements and fill your diet with micronutrient-rich foods and a mix of all three macronutrients.
]]>Water
There’s a high probability that you don’t drink enough water. The outdated concept of eight glasses a day has fallen by the wayside, as science repeatedly demonstrates that many factors relating to our daily life these days necessitate drinking more water.
Such factors include:
The more of these circumstances you find yourself in, the greater your need to consume water.
As human beings, approximately 60% of our bodies are made of water, and there are certain body parts that have a higher water composition than others.
For example:
Finally, the basal daily recommended requirement for water is predicated upon one’s body weight. It’s commonly theorized that human beings should have a minimum of half-an-ounce to a full-ounce of water per pound of body weight; this is before all other factors are accounted for.
Bodyweight (lbs) | Daily Water Consumption |
100 | 50-100 oz (1.5-3L) |
150 | 75-150 oz (2.25-4.5L) |
200 | 100-200 oz (3-6L) |
Minerals
Of equal importance as vitamins, minerals are also essential to one’s health and nutrition. Whereas vitamins typically come from living things such as animals, minerals are extracted mainly from the soil of the earth. Also, whereas vitamins are organic and can be broken down, minerals are in fact inorganic and hold onto their chemical structure.
Minerals are many in number and even the tiniest amounts can play a big role in the function of our organs. The mineral zinc, for instance, is responsible for approximately 200 enzymatic reactions in our body. Many of these relate to supporting your immune system so you can ward off colds and disease; they also relate to one’s endocrine system as they help ensure healthy levels of hormones.
]]>Each nutrient (what many personal trainers refer to as a ‘macro’) has a certain role to play in your health and a specific quantity of energy it brings to your body in terms of calories.
The three macronutrients are carbohydrates, protein, and fats.
Protein
Protein is the essence of life. It’s what builds your muscles, keeps your brain functioning, and is responsible for the function of many of your body parts. Protein comes from a pool of amino acids, usually referred to as “the building blocks of life.” The most common scientific mindset suggests there are 22 amino acids. Protein is what makes you who you are.
The average individual has a basic requirement of protein for the purpose of healthy organ and muscle function. Those who train, and especially those at a competitive athletic level, require more than this minimum. The timing of protein consumption is often an important consideration for athletic people, particularly after training when their muscle fibres are broken down and need re-building in order to grow.
If eating nutritiously is a priority to you, then it’s also important for you to realize that foods which comprise a lot of protein can also possess a lot of unwanted fat. For example, hamburgers and steaks can have (depending on portion size) anywhere from 25 to 60 grams of protein, but they may also come with the same volume of fat. Depending on your goals and personal requirements, it may be best to consume leaner protein sources and/or meal replacement supplements.
Common Examples of Protein:
Protein Sources: Salmon, Tuna, Steak, Beef, Chicken, Pork, Turkey, Bison, Eggs
Calories per Gram: 4
Recommended Daily Allowance: It varies per person depending on a number of factors, including height, weight, age, and activity level.
Recommended Proportion of Daily Diet: 25 – 30%
Ideal nutrition is something we all should strive for, but that doesn’t necessarily mean consuming fewer calories. In order to improve your training, feel better, and look your best, its vital to meet your body’s caloric requirements and fill your diet with micronutrient-rich foods and a mix of all three macronutrients.
]]>Each nutrient (what many personal trainers refer to as a ‘macro’) has a certain role to play in your health and a specific quantity of energy it brings to your body in terms of calories.
The three macronutrients are carbohydrates, protein, and fats.
Carbohydrates
Often referred to as “carbs,” this nutrient is your first source of energy. Even sedentary people require carbs for simple physical functions. People who train for fitness — and athletes especially — require more than the average recommended daily allowance of carbs in order to perform cardio or resistance training effectively. One current weight loss fad is to cut all carbs from your diet. This can help you achieve such a desired effect, but it’s not always a healthy endeavour and may come with a lot of side effects like lethargy, weakness, emotional instability, and short-term memory lapses. You should never cut all carbs from your diet for more than a two-day period, and even in doing that, you should exercise caution.
Carbohydrates can be further broken down into fast carbs and slow carbs. Fast carbs digest quickly (sugar is an example) and can give you an energy spike, while slow carbs require a longer time to digest and supply a more steady stream of energy to you.
Common Examples of Carbohydrates:
Fast Carbs: Sugar, White Bread, Baked Potatoes, Sweets, Cereals, Biscuits, Cookies
Slow Carbs: Oats, Whole Grain Cereals, Brown Rice, Pasta, Lentils, Squash, Bananas
Calories per Gram: 4
Recommended Daily Allowance: 250 – 350 grams per day
Recommended Proportion of Daily Diet: 50 – 60%
]]>This excludes unhealthy elements that can influence your body in a detrimental way. Therefore, nutrition unto itself can be associated with the healthiest level of foods.
Diet, on the other hand, is the total combination of everything you consume. You can have a good diet or a bad diet. The terms “dieting” or “being on a diet” are a bit misleading since they have come to immediately connote weight loss and fat loss. You have a diet no matter what you consume, but it’s in your best interest to possess a diet that is healthy and nutritious.
Understanding “Calories”
At the root of the word “calorie” is heat. In fact, in the Spanish language, the word for “hot” is “calor.” Whatever you ingest provides a certain level of energy, which comes from the heat generated by the quantity of calories of the food or drink. Over the next few blog posts, you’ll learn more specific information on the breakdown of each macronutrient, as well as the quantity of calories that each provides.
The 3 Macronutrients
“Macronutrients” is the technical term for the different classes of nutrients. There are three distinct classes of macronutrients which essentially group everything we eat and drink according to their composition and function.
Each nutrient (what many personal trainers refer to as a ‘macro’) has a certain role to play in your health and a specific quantity of energy it brings to your body in terms of calories.
The three macronutrients are carbohydrates, protein, and fats. There are also two micronutrients in the realm of nutrition, namely vitamins and minerals. Check out our other blog posts that dive into each one in detail.
]]>If you don’t track your macros, I'd encourage you to experiment with it a little for this! Try using an app starting today, like MyFitnessPal, to become aware of how many proteins, carbs, and fats you eat regularly. Your carbohydrate calories should range between 45-65% of your daily total, or roughly a third of your plate at each meal. Less than this and you won’t get enough fiber to keep your digestive system functioning optimally.
If you are snapping at your co-workers or kids, it’s possibly because your body is not able to product enough serotonin to keep your mood level and balanced. And remember, carbs are fuel for your brain, so it will make every aspect of your day easier and more manageable if your diet is on point. You will not be your best self if you feel foggy and exhausted.
Other surprisingly side effects of not eating carbs:
Remember: carbs are fuel and are never the enemy! Incorporating healthy whole-food sources like grains (oatmeal or wild rice), legumes (lentils), fruits and vegetables (including sweet potatoes and spaghetti squash) will help you achieve your fitness goals. You will have more energy for your muscle-building training and will continue to lose fat by consuming more satisfying, healthy meals rather. Win-win!
I also have a ton of great recipes available for FREE on my website!
Develop a Ritual
Establish a ritual in your day and week that requires repetition and preparation. This could be (in this order) waking up at a 5AM, taking a cold shower, drinking a coffee, reading the newspaper, and then exercising. Establish the routine that both benefits you and fits into your life. Do not create rituals based on someone else’s time or schedule—if you want it to work, it has to come from you.
Schedule Schedule Schedule
Develop a workout schedule that you can stick to based on the outcome you want from the exercise. Are you a morning person? Do you only have time to workout at lunch? Or is after-work the best time for you? Really think about these times in your day / week and schedule them in either on paper or in a daily planner app. Throw a big checkmark next to your completed workouts you have scheduled out. Find meaningful ways to hold yourself accountable.
Consider your Mindset
Instead of saying “I want to go to the gym,” try saying “I am going to the gym.”
Instead of “I wish I could look or like that,” say “I’m going to look like that.”
When we change the perspective of how we speak to ourselves, we will eventually believe ourselves—and that’s what ultimately enables us to reach the goals that feel so big. Self-respect goes a long way in your journey to becoming a healthier person, so embrace that and accept the challenge because it’s not an easy road.
Preparation = Key
We all have the same 24 hours in the run of a day and time management plays a big role in how well we succeed. Have you ever found yourself scrambling around the house, running short on time, trying to pack a bag or find a specific item? We’ve all been there, but how we set up our home environment makes a huge difference in how well we utilize our time.
If you work out early in the morning, have all of your items together and ready. The night before, pack your gym bag, get your lunch together, and even have your coffee right by the coffee maker. Take 10 minutes to set your next day up for success before you’ve even started it!
Learn Something New
Exercise can sometimes be daunting, especially if you’ve never considered yourself a lifter, runner, etc. However, if we go into our workouts with an open mind and just consider that this might be fun, we are not only way more likely to reach our goals, but also to enjoy the experience more too. Success all around!
Learning new exercises can be fun and challenging at the same time, but it’s so crucial that we’re always expanding our physical capabilities.
Your Process is Yours
If you are a beginner to exercise, you’ll want to be flexible with how you approach the overall process of it. If you find you are doing something that doesn’t feel right, or something that you’re not sure is getting you your desired results, then switch it up.
We are trying to create a long-lasting habit, not a yo-yo habit that works sometimes and then it doesn’t. Find what feels right for you and your goals and drive forward with the right mindset. Remember, it’s very easy to try to copy what others are doing, but your body is your own and you’re on your own journey. Embrace it by making you the main character in your life!
]]>Snacking can lift your energy in the middle of the day, prepare you for (or help you recover from) a challenging workout, or act as the ultimate way to chill in the evening.
I’m never going to tell you to stop snacking, even if you’re currently focused on weight loss goals. However, too many people reach for foods they think are healthy but are actually hindering fat loss.
So, what are the best snack foods when you are trying to lose weight?
*Some health conditions require you to avoid certain vegetables and limit your overall intake. Speak with your health care provider about what your daily servings of fruit and vegetables should be.
Static Stretching vs. Dynamic Stretching
What is the difference? Static stretching is holding a specific stretch for a longer period (typically 10-60 seconds) whereas dynamic stretching is essentially stretching with controlled movement in which the muscle is moved through its full range of motion. Static stretching has been a highly debatable topic in the sports and fitness world, and the research has shown that prolonged static stretching before a workout could actually weaken performance. This has drawn more people to shift to a larger emphasis on dynamic stretching; however this solely depends on your goal with how you want your body to perform.
What is your goal?
If your sole purpose is to gain more flexibility, range of motion (ROM), and relieving joint stress, then static stretching is the right path for you. If your goal is sports and fitness based performance, the research leans toward dynamic stretching. As a side note, post workout dynamic stretching is recommended to reduce activity related injuries.
The findings on static stretching show a small reduction in athletic performance because, by lengthening the muscle pre-exercise, it reduces the amount of power and force that can be generated.
What is right for you?
You need to understand what you are training for and how you want the results to be focused. As individuals, we are all on different paths and we need to understand how to optimize what is right for us at this given moment.
Take the time and properly plan out your goals, your activities, and your training routine and with that information you can choose the right type of stretching to meet your specific needs. Typical stretching routines average around 5-10 minutes, however the overall warm up phase of your workout could also include a light cardio, mobility drills, and movements with rubber bands.
Jeff Cody is a plant-based certified personal trainer and nutritionist.
The term "metabolism" can feel like a loaded one that can be confusing to the average joe who's just trying to live a healthy lifestyle. Put simply, metabolism refers to all the chemical processes your body uses to produce energy. Your body converts food to energy to carry out the every day functions it needs to maintain itself.
Factors Which Affect Metabolism
Role of Food in Metabolism
Food provides critical nutrients for a healthy metabolism. For a person's metabolism to function effectively, we must give our bodies enough vitamins, minerals, essential amino acids, and essential fatty acids—which must be ingested from an outside source. This means that our food choices have a huge impact on how well our bodies function.
Increasing Metabolism
Do some people have a faster metabolism than others? Yes. The rate of a person's metabolism depends on several factors, including the quality and amount of food they consume as well as their physical activity level.
Incorporating a mixture of healthy foods and and plenty of exercise can help increase the metabolic rate of an individual. However, because muscle cells require more energy than fat cells, those with more muscle tend to have a higher metabolic rate. Also, when examining the difference between men and women, men tend to have more muscle mass, heavier bones, and less body fat—and therefore their daily calories requirement and metabolic rate tend to be higher. The average man requires approximately 2,500 kcal a day, whereas for an average woman requires about 2,000 kcal a day.
The Thermic Effect of Food (TEF)
Macronutrients (proteins, carbs, fats) each have a unique effect on the body’s metabolism due to each having their own level of ‘difficulty’ when being broken down and digested. Our caveman ancestors would have had more hurdles to jump through here, having consumed most of their food raw, but modern-day food prep methods allow us to almost ‘pre-digest’ foods by breaking them down and making them easier to digest. These methods include cooking, steaming, or even curing (think about how raw fish can be almost cooked when exposed to natural chemicals like acidic lemon juice).
So, what is “TEF”? In short, it's best described as: “The amount of energy required to digest and process the food you eat."
What this means on paper is that for every 100 calories of any given macronutrient, you will only be left with a percentage of that initial 100 for bodily functions due to some calories being used to breakdown/transport/use of the individual macronutrient.
The (generally accepted) TEF for the following macronutrients are:
Remember, foods with minimal processing tend to have the highest thermal effect. This also applies to proteins, carbohydrates and fats. Hence, you should prioritize these in your diet to maximize TEF.
You can increase your daily TEF by eating more protein and whole foods, but not increasing the frequency or size of your meals (eating more often will not “get your metabolism going”).
Additionally, there is good evidence that strength training can also increase the thermal effects of foods. But we'll get into that in another blog!
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Warren Dias is an international men's physique athlete, certified personal trainer, and nutritionist with the goal of motivating and inspiring people to achieve their fitness goals through his years of knowledge and experience.
]]>Branch Chain Amino Acids (BCAAs) are a supplement which you can get in a powder form, tablet form, and even on-the-go bottles that are ready to drink. These typically contain 3 essential amino acids.
When you compare different BCAAs, you may sometimes see statements such as "New improved 2:1:1 ratio," which is a fancy way of saying that there is twice the amount of leucine in comparison to valine and isoleucine. The reason for this is that twice the amount of leucine has heavily been linked to aiding and stimulating protein synthesis and suppressing the breakdown of muscle protein.
Why take BCAAs?
Are there any adverse effects of BCAAs?
BCAAs are relatively harmless in that our bodies will either utilize them or simply excrete them through urine, so users generally don't need to worry about adverse side effects. It has been suggested that to most effectively reap the benefits of BCAAs, they should be supplemented daily as opposed to an “on off” basis.
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Warren Dias is an international men's physique athlete, certified personal trainer, and nutritionist with the goal of motivating and inspiring people to achieve their fitness goals through his years of knowledge and experience.
]]>For example, let’s take a look at the past year: a global pandemic threw everyone into a panic. The APA (American Psychological Association) expressed health concerns after reporting that eating disorders and weight gain hit an all-time high, with 42% of U.S. adults gaining an average of nearly 30 pounds. It is entirely understandable how and why this happened, since many men and women became less active, turned to food to alleviate stress, and experienced changes in sleeping patterns as their regular routines were basically cancelled. Sadly, even children fell victim to this, as pediatric obesity climbed from its pre-pandemic rate of 13.7% to 15.4%.
External stressors are to blame for this weight gain—yet, by understanding men and women’s differing responses, this unfortunate outcome can be avoided.
Surprise, surprise… I’m about to talk about hormones (be sure to read to the end for a twist!). Three particular hormones are involved when stress comes into play: cortisol, epinephrine, and oxytocin. Both men and women react equally to the onset of stress through a raise in blood pressure, brought on by cortisol and epinephrine. Where the genders differ lies in the amount of oxytocin released from the brain that acts to relax and soothe anxious emotions. Men release far less oxytocin.
What does this mean? This is best explained using the “fight or flight” theory regarding one’s natural response to stress. Men tend to follow this two-choice rule due to their reduced oxytocin levels, by either fleeing or fighting back. However, women have a more complicated way to deal with stress. They may, at times, follow the previous theory but have also been shown to “tend and befriend,” choosing to alleviate their discomfort by nurturing those around them, thanks to the blend of hormones released during stress and those of the female reproductive system.
So, who handles stress better? There is no good answer, the important take-away is that knowing the difference between how men and women react to stressful situations will help us better understand and support one another during difficult times.
Women self-sacrifice in relationships to show love, whereas men can be driven by achievement to solve their problems and contribute to the solution by throwing themselves into their work.
The sexes also manage stress in vastly different ways, but both can be challenged into physical activity to promote wellness and movement to combat negative side effects of stress. Generally speaking, women seek companionship through supportive environments, so they could look for a yoga class where they can connect with others. Men may look for distraction and competition, perhaps by playing (sometimes that’s a loose term) a round of golf with friends.
It is extremely important to search for a healthy way to cope with stress, as it is simply an unavoidable component of life. If you need help, speak with your doctor, or reach out to someone you trust, to help you establish a nutritious diet and exercise regime that is manageable and aids you in working through difficult times.
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Coach Julie Germaine is an NFLA-certified fitness expert and prenatal trainer, and an NASM-certified nutrition specialist. She is also a fit mom to an active toddler and a 2x world-class fitness champion who has been featured in and contributed to numerous fitness, fashion, and lifestyle magazines and other media. She has loved helping men and women lose belly fat and maintain their incredible body transformations as a virtual coach since 2005.
Resources:
https://www.apa.org/monitor/2021/07/extra-weight-covid
https://www.webmd.com/women/features/stress-women-men-cope
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Unfortunately, as adults, we often lose that ability to acknowledge when our stomachs are full. This frequently leads to overeating and weight gain when the body converts the surplus of calories into body fat.
Making an effort to use the Hunger Scale can be a game-changer when it comes to losing weight and maintaining a healthy body type.
What is the Hunger Scale and How to Use It:
With 1 = you are so hungry that you feel dizzy, and 10 = you’ve eaten so much that you actually feel sick. Sitting at 5 would be ideal after a satisfying meal.
Note that this is not intended to make you feel like eating is something you should feel guilty over. Food is fuel and is something that should be savoured and enjoyed! This is just one method for being mindful of your body and avoiding those over-eating occurrences.
Practice makes perfect, so don’t expect this to be something you easily remember before each meal. If you’ve been doing a lot of different types of calorie-restrictive diets, then your body needs time to develop a healthy sense of hunger again. Be patient with yourself.
Finally, remember that over-eating happens sometimes! Don’t beat yourself up—rather, look back on the situation and pinpoint what happened to lead you to eating so much, and try to correct that behaviour in the future.
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Coach Julie Germaine is an NFLA-certified fitness expert and prenatal trainer, and an NASM-certified nutrition specialist. She is also a fit mom to an active toddler and a 2x world-class fitness champion who has been featured in and contributed to numerous fitness, fashion, and lifestyle magazines and other media. She has loved helping men and women lose belly fat and maintain their incredible body transformations as a virtual coach since 2005.
It may not be cold out, but people are spending time indoors in closer proximity as if it were -40! Aside from washing your hands, drinking hot fluids, and taking immune system boosters, the best way to stay well is to keep your immune system strong—and regular exercise plays a starring role in keeping you healthy and preventing illnesses. Never underestimate the effects of regular fitness as it strengthens your immune system and helps fight viral and bacterial infections like no other.
So, could fitness be the key to keep you from getting the flu this year? In short—yes. Studies have shown that as little as 20 minutes of exercise each day can have anti-inflammatory effects that boost your immune system and keep you healthier than those who are not active.
Fitness empowers the body to fight viruses and bacteria. To simplify the process: when you exercise, your white blood cells—which are the body’s immune system cells that fight disease—start to circulate more rapidly and are able to do their jobs better. This allows them to detect illnesses earlier. You are also flushing bacteria out of the lungs and airways, which will reduce your chance of getting a cold or the flu. The brief rise in body temperature during and right after exercise also prevents bacteria from growing. This temperature rise helps the body fight infection better, similar to what happens when you have a fever.
Exercise also slows down the release of stress hormones. When our bodies are stressed, there is an increased chance of illness as we have lowered immunity. Thus, the lower our stress hormones, the better we are able to protect ourselves from illness.
Now, let’s talk about sleep for a moment. Sleep is also a very large factor in the stress equation. Getting good quality sleep is crucial to keeping our immunity in top bacteria-fighting form. I personally sleep so much better on days when I have been physically active. Again, it doesn’t need to be an intense workout, but it does need to get your heart pumping and your temperature up. Use fitness to sleep better, to stress less, and to boost the body’s ability to deflect various illnesses.
The best part: it’s as easy as going for a walk or light run, taking the stairs, or enjoying a swim. You don’t need a gym membership –though that’s always nice!
So, you are also probably wondering what to do if you have the flu or the common cold. Is exercise recommended? Below are some general suggestions, but please always use your best judgment here, and listen to your body!
Here are a few DOs and DON'Ts:
So, in general, if your symptoms are from the neck up, go ahead and do some light-moderate activity (e.g. a light jog or light lifting). However, if you have general aches and pains or a fever, it's important to rest well and allow your body to combat the illness.
My hope is that your body is primed by regular physical activity before the cold, so it will respond faster. I strongly believe those with a fever should skip the workout altogether while the body battles the infection. Keep in mind the flu is highly contagious and working out while sick can increase the spread of germs, risking infection to others.
Additionally, if you are suffering from the flu, you should be mindful to get plenty of rest and fluids. Rest allows the immune system to work better against an active illness and fluids can help replenish moisture lost due to high temperatures.
A good thing to always remember is that the healthier you are, the easier you'll find it is to fight off infections. I am a firm believer that physical activity is the best way to boost our immune systems in an effort to prevent the flu and or speed up recovery. People who are physically active on a regular basis generally have efficient immune systems; therefore, recovery times are usually faster. Although it's impossible for people to indefinitely avoid ever getting sick, fitness is one of your body’s natural defenses against cold and flu all year round.
Looking for some new ways to add fitness into your routine?
Give this 20 min circuit a try!
*add weights where applicable for an added challenge
Do each exercise for four minutes, alternating between 20-second intervals of intense work and 10 seconds of rest.
After eight intervals of each (four minutes total), move onto the next exercise.
Burpees | 20 seconds |
Rest |
10 seconds |
Repeat | x 8 |
Speed Skaters | 20 seconds |
Rest | 10 seconds |
Repeat | x 8 |
Crab Toe /Touches | 20 seconds |
Rest | 10 seconds |
Repeat | x 8 |
Jump Squats | 20 seconds |
Rest | 10 seconds |
Repeat | x 8 |
Curtsy Lunge | 20 seconds |
Rest | 10 seconds |
Repeat | x 8 |
Blog by Sabrina Virdee.
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So, why do most people struggle for success when it comes to losing fat? The answer lies in the details beyond just food and exercise. Here are three examples of ways to easily improve your weight loss results that are not diet or exercise:
There are so many ways to tackle weight loss. You can find an incredible amount of options regarding fitness programs, drastically different dieting techniques, and coaches who provide support, motivation, and education using their own unique style and method. These three things I outlined for you today, however, have to come from YOU.
It’s your life, your physique, and your health on the line. You need to be the one to pay attention to the details that will not only lead you to achieving your fitness goals, but embracing long-lasting change that will keep you from regressing and regaining the weight again.
No one said it was easy, but, then again, maybe I did in the title of this column!? Really, when you look at it with some perspective, I’m not asking for a lot. And I do promise you’ll understand why when you put these simple tips into action.
By combining these important skills, you will create the strong healthy habits and daily rituals of an active lifestyle to make staying in shape easy.
Do you feel you are lacking in these areas? Thankfully, skills can be learned! Let’s dive into why these two skills are so important and how you can develop them to immediately improve not only your physical fitness, but your mental fitness too.
How to Improve Self-Motivation
Self-motivation is that internal drive to achieve, make, or do something. When the task becomes difficult, self-motivation is a skill that enables you to keep going, or even encourages you to start in the first place.
Let’s create an example and say that someone named Christina has been advised by her doctor to lose some belly fat. Her goal, or finish line, is to see and feel a difference in her midsection within six months.
Once you’ve made your list, post it up somewhere where you’ll see it often.
Refer back to this list when you’re feeling unmotivated and are tempted to give up, reminding yourself of why you’re on this journey in the first place.
How to Become Better at Preparation
Preparation is defined as something done to get ready for an event or undertaking—and most people who have achieved any amount of success would agree that to be successful demands good preparation.
Let’s break this down into three easy steps to help get better at being prepared.
If she’s decided that she really doesn’t know how to safely, healthily, and happily get to her end goal, she may opt to hire a personal trainer who can help her do so. Her working backwards list might look something like this:
Christina now knows that her first step will be doing some research and finding herself a fitness and nutrition expert in her area that she can contact and work with. This is a great start and would help her bridge the gap in her knowledge for the results she’s hoping for.
Christina will likely receive a lot of helpful information and tips from her trainer, and she can help keep herself on track by breaking down big to-dos (like eating healthy and exercising) into smaller, organized tasks.
Christina knows that she tends to be a stress-eater, so she commits to being more mindful of when she’s feeling stressed and will instead try going for a walk or calling up a friend when it happens.
Think through where your temptations will be, what your possible obstacles are, and how you can help your future self to feel less overwhelmed.
Skills take time to develop, so don’t get frustrated when you find yourself sleeping in and missing an early morning cardio session or forgetting to thaw chicken so you can’t food prep when you wanted to.
Every little mistake you make is an opportunity to learn and improve! Soon things you struggled with will become second nature. One day soon, you’ll be teaching others how to reign in their self-sabotaging habits to lead healthier lives too!
Author Bio
Coach Julie Germaine is an NFLA-certified fitness expert and prenatal trainer, and an NASM-certified nutrition specialist. She is also a fit mom to an active toddler and a 2x world-class fitness champion who has been featured in and contributed to numerous fitness, fashion, and lifestyle magazines and other media. She has loved helping men and women lose belly fat and maintain their incredible body transformations as a virtual coach since 2005.
Let’s face it; sitting for long hours has become the norm. Whether it’s driving in rush hour traffic or spending long hours at the computer, this can wreak havoc on your posture. With the day-to-day demands at the office, we are exposing our bodies to long hours of excessive flexion and internal rotation. Hip flexors become tight and shortened and shoulders become rounded forward while the muscles along the backside of the body become weakened.
If you want to alleviate problems like back pain and poor posture while improving overall health, it’s imperative to take a postural approach to your strength-training program. Too often, people place an over-emphasis on training the front of the body (in order to look good) while neglecting the posterior chain of muscles, namely the back, rear shoulders, glutes, and back of the legs. I like to call this the ‘mirror athlete ’approach, training only what you see in the mirror. This approach will only exacerbate the ill effects that our busy lives have on our posture. Here are some postural training tips to ensure that you prevent chronic pain and promote muscular balance.
Change your perspective and pre-plan your routine with exercises that target the posterior chain of muscles (back of the body) twice as much as the anterior chain (front of the body). Taking this 2:1 ratio approach can have a positive impact on balancing out your strength and enhancing posture.
Target these very important posture and pelvic stability muscles by implementing exercises like single leg squats and lunges into your routine. Aim to emphasize a full range of motion with these exercises while placing your weight into the heel. Taking this approach will maximize the recruitment of your glutes and hamstrings.
Counteract the forces of sitting (which promotes flexion and internal rotation) by training the muscles responsible for the opposing actions (extension and external rotation). Focus on training low back extensors, rear deltoids (back of shoulders), and the mid and upper back muscles responsible for extension, spine stabilization and scapular retraction (drawing your shoulder blades together).
Most of us nowadays have tight hip flexors, chest muscles, and rotator cuff muscles. Be sure to include mobility and flexibility exercises that will assist with loosening these tight muscles and improving mobility and posture.
Consistency is also crucial when it comes to postural improvement. To get the most out of your workouts and to promote muscular balance, include a postural strength training workout into your routine three times per week.
Author Bio
Brent Bishop is a celebrity trainer, on-air fitness expert, author and founder of Think Fitness Studios
More about Brent: IamBishop.com
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