The New Rules: Spend Time on Your Nutrition

Step Two: Eat your way to your goals

You can make yourself dizzy trying to keep up with the changes in workouts.  HIIT, HR, P90, Insanity, Circuit Training, which one should I do???? Just the same, sometimes you feel like you have to have a PHD in nutrition to know what the right diet is!!! Paleo, Plant-Based, Atkins, No Carb, Slow Carb, All Carb... Ugh!

I'm gonna give you the secret right here. Ready? Lower the shades. Make sure no one is around. Lean in close.  You ready?....

There is no secret!  Isn't that great.  The truth of the matter is, just pay attention to what you eat.  If you feel like dog doodoo after eating cheese, don't eat it. If sugar makes you crash, don't do it. If you feel great after a juicy steak, or a fresh acai bowl by all means, eat it! Your epigenetics will have a big influence on what you can and should eat. Intro to epigenetics here. 

We're all smart enough at this point to know what not to eat. You can't start your day with coffee and donuts, go out for a fast-food lunch, and finish with pizza and beer for dinner, and then expect to be healthy and fit and full of energy. We have to fill our bodies with nutrients, vitamins and minerals, and proteins, and high quality H2O! For actionable tips on how to get back on track go back and read our article here.


Here are FIVE action steps to improve your nutrition right now.

Step 1: Prioritize Water

Water is necessary for every cellular function in the body. We've heard before that we need eight 8 oz. glasses of water per day.  That number doesn't account for differences in our different sizes.  What we recommend instead is to drink half your body weight in ounces of water each day.  For better results, and so you're not up peeing all night, get 20% in before 10 am.

Step 2: Eat the Rainbow

There are many different vitamins and minerals, and in varying amounts, in each fruit and vegetable. You can't get everything you need from just one. Dark green leafy veggies contain fiber, folate, and carotenoids- to name a few. Berries tend to be high in antioxidants. Asparagus, broccoli, and brussel sprouts are a few of the high sulfur vegetables. And if you eat an array of fruits, you'll likely start completing your necessary B vitamin needs. Did you know that plants have an inherent self defense mechanism? If an animal, humans included. eats too much of one plant, it can make the animal sick, stopping the animal from returning to the plant.  These highlights are just a few of reasons why you should opt for a variety of plants and vegetables each day.

Step 3: Level up your Protein

We all understand that if you're exercising consistently, you'll need to replenish your protein. But how much do you need? Women should shoot for at least .5 grams per pound of body weight and men should aim for .75.  Those numbers increase if you're training to grow muscle (hypertrophy). To give you an idea, a 130 lb. woman should consume about 65 grams of protein.  That can be achieved via, 2 eggs at breakfast, a can of tuna at lunch, and a chicken breast for dinner. A 200 lb man trying to get 150 grams of protein will need to consume 4 eggs, 2 cans of tuna, and 2 chicken breasts.

Step 4: Start with the end in Mind

When you're planning your day, start with the end and work backwards. This allows you to space your meals 2-4 hours apart.  If dinner is at 7, snack at 4, lunch at 12:30 and breakfast at 9, checks the box. It's helpful too to know what the end of the day looks like as you fill in the gaps throughout the day with extra veggies, or protein and healthy fats.  Third, you benefit by having a plan that doesn't derail when you make choices based on immediate desires. Same goes for planning your week.  You know your schedule, and you can choose when to fill in the cheat meals.

Step 5: Slow Down, Be balanced not restrictive

Currently, more than in recent years, we have time on our side. We aren't over-scheduled, out late for practice or concerts or movies. We can't go to crowded restaurants. We are putting food on the literal table and eating there. So slow down. Enjoy each bite. And while you're at it, make sure the food you eat is enjoyable. Food is one of the pleasures in life. We can and should occasionally indulge in tasty food. We should balance our macros with a decent level of healthy carbs- think whole grains and fruit and veggies. Eat your proteins and healthy fats too- think nuts and nut butters, avacados and oils such as coconut, olive, flax seed and grape seed. It's ok to have a 40/30/30 split of carbohydrates/protein/fats. And, if you want to know with some certainty, track it using one of the many free and easy tracking apps or websites. We like MyFitnessPal.

You're ready! Get out there. Adapt to what's availble. Use some creativity. Try some new recipes, and enjoy your food.

Want a personalized nutrition plan? Book an appointment with an e3 nutrition coach!

The New Rules - Just Move Baby

Part Two

Step one:- Get moving.

It’s really nothing new here. The thing is that we should have more time. We can take 30 minutes first thing in the morning to walk 2 miles. We can take 30 minutes after dinner to go on a family walk. Get up from your desk and walk for 10 minutes every hour.  Like the slogan goes, Just Do It.

There’s enough information out there regarding the benefits of walking 10,000 steps every day that we should all just put that on our schedule. One study suggests that a chemical, responsible for appetite suppression is released at about 8,900 steps. You may be able to eat less when you move more. 

Given everything that we’re dealing with these days, home schooling, work zoom meetings, reduced shopping hours, lack of social interaction, dining experiences, etc.. we are dealing with more stress to our system. The last thing we need is to press our nervous system further by crushing HITT workouts and burpee challenges. You can read more about stress and exercise here.  The first step for most of us is to move more, and not just any movement. We need to move in a way that drives parasympathetic response.

While you’re walking look around. Pay attention to the stuff around you. If you stare at the ground or your phone, you’ll be using your central vision. Central vision increases tone in the sympathetic nervous system- think fight or flight (or freeze). It’s gonna be real tough to de-stress in this state. If you look around and open up your peripheral vision, you can use your parasympathetic nervous system- think rest and digest.

Getting outside can also provide some much needed Vitamin D.  Vitamin D can make us feel better, reduce high blood-pressure, and improve or retain bone density.  More on Vitamin D from a webMD article. It's responsible at many cellular levels and can do a lot to help us now, especially if you're upping your exercise regimen.  A leading researcher once made the argument that you need the equivalent of 45 min. of naked sun exposure- if you live south of Atlanta, GA.

   Did you know: walking may be a better way to increase flexibility in the body vs. traditional stretching program.

Step one is simple. Move. Bike, walk, run, play. Whatever it takes. Get 10,000 steps per day and create a foundation of movement. Peel yourself off the couch, outta the desk chair or off the floor and get moving.  Let's go. Now's the time to make some changes and some awesome habits.  That body that you dream of isn't just gonna show up without some work.


Want help with your exercise and training plan? FREE 30 min. consultation call here.

The New Rules of Exercising

Empty streets due to COVID 19

Part One:

The world has changed drastically since 2020 started. The current pandemic has found us working from home, home schooling our kids, hoarding toilet paper and perishable foods. We are social distancing. We are staying six feet apart. Our favorite restaurants and bars are closed to dine in services. And we are unable to go to our beloved gyms and fitness studios. What do we do now?

Some people are thrilled to have their home gym space already set up and ready to go. Some have a pile of laundry that was just cleared off treadmill or home gym equipment. Others are turning to live-streaming workouts via Facebook or Instagram or some app that they subscribe too. Many people have taken up walking and some have added running.

Guess what? What we're experiencing now, is not just gonna go away. Life has changed.  There was life before this pandemic, and there is life after.  Life after is will be completely new. Are you going straight back to the big box gym with hundreds of nameless, faceless members sweating and breathing all over the equipment? I didn't think so.

No matter what you're currently doing, you're all wondering, 'Am I doing it right?' What are the rules of exercising now? I'm gonna spend the next few days helping you create the new road map for exercising.

If you want to schedule time to talk about what to do, CLICK HERE and we can talk!

Tabatas

Have you done any Tabata training? If yes, I bet you loved it in a sick way. If not, here's what you're missing. Dr. Izumi Tabata and a team of researchers from the National Institute of Fitness & Sports in Tokyo found that short intense work followed by an even shorter rest period between the work burned more fat than traditional long duration cardiovascular work. The best news... it only lasts 4 minutes!!!! But it may feel like the longest 4 minutes of your life.

So here's the workout: 20 seconds of intense training followed by 10 seconds of rest. Repeat 8 times.

Modes of training: use Kettlebells, Front Squats, Battle Ropes, Burpees, Push Press, or anything that uses the BIG muscles.