Good Morning

I think this happens to almost everyone who is trying to loose weight, you are watching what you eat, working out and everything is going great guns and then you hit a plateau...

This can be very frustrating so I wanted to include this article with some nutrition tips to get you over the hump and back to your weight loss goals.

• Up your intake of fiber. Fiber helps to prevent surges in blood glucose because it slows the absorption of sugar. Fibre rich foods contain bulk and often require you to chew a bit more to break them down, giving your body more time to process those feelings of satisfaction, and keeping you fuller for longer. Examples include apples, raspberries, blackberries, pears, beans, lentils, split peas, artichokes, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, avocados, nuts, seeds and 100% whole grains. 
• Eat Whole Foods.  Focus on eating foods in their whole form. It’s easy to fall into a routine with food, and succumb to the convenience factor of eating out or grabbing food in a package. While pre-packaged foods may fit into your calorie goals, they are often highly processed—and your body doesn’t have to work as hard to break them down. Compared to refined foods, real foods are more satisfying. Set boundaries on eating foods out of ease (read: granola bars, cereals, chips)—this can also help eliminate boredom and stress eating.
• Power up the protein.  Space your protein intake out during the day to ensure you are maximizing your body’s utilization of amino acids. Protein is particularly high in the amino acid leucine, which research has shown may be one trick to shedding body fat. It takes eating about 25-35 grams of protein every 4-5 hours to get enough leucine to see a positive effect. So don’t skip that mid-afternoon protein snack
• Drink lots of water.  Aim to drink at least half of your body weight in fluid ounces plus 30 additional ounces for every hour you exercise. Fluids help to fill you up, too, so try drinking a full glass or two of water while you are cooking dinner and before you sit down to eat your meals. Carry a water bottle around with you to keep fluids on the top of mind. It’s easy to forget to drink water.
• Adjust calorie goals. As you lose weight, it is important to reevaluate your nutrition goals. While you're still the same height, you're carrying less weight around, so you have less body to feed. A dip in metabolic burn is normal with weight loss, so to continue to to see the numbers trend down, you will need to adjust how many calories you're eating. This is an art. Re-evaluate your current workout schedule, basal metabolic rate and daily activities to form your new calorie goals.
• Eliminate empty calories.  Sure everything in moderation, including moderation, right? While we all should enjoy the finer things in life (like wine and chocolate), it’s easy to get super relaxed and not realize how many days of the week we are indulging. This approach to eating can work for weight maintenance, but if you’re stuck in a plateau, it’s time to take an assessment of your treats. Count up all those cocktails,late night deserts, chocolate from the office candy jar and specialty coffee drinks. For the time being,  reduce the number of sweets.
• Make sure you are accurately tracking your food intake.  If you are currently entering your food into MyFitnessPal, make sure that you are doing so accurately. Use the recipe feature to add recipes, and tailor them to your goals. Break out the measuring cups and spoons to make sure you are entering proper portions. If you have a digital food scale, use it—especially for measuring proteins and starchy vegetables like potatoes and fruit. Don’t know what a medium apple looks like? Most people don’t, so weigh it to get a better idea of the size of the apples you buy. When comparing apples to apples, calories can vary.

To read more follow this link:  https://blog.myfitnesspal.com/8-nutrition-tweaks-to-try-if-youve-hit-a-weight-loss-plateau/?

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Good Morning

I have added running to my routine as I prepare for the Color Vibe 5K and find that some days I feel energized and ready to workout and some days I feel as though I am dragging and my energy levels are lower. While doing research for my next topic I found this article which talks about how to overcome workout fatigue. The advice given is to start out slowly, it is tempting to go all out with your workout, but it is better to build up on your routine gradually as you feel stronger.

The obvious importance of fueling and hydrating correctly needs to be considered. As you exercise more, your bodies need for fuel increases, but it is vitally important to make sure that you are eating the correct foods. Eating a variety of foods will provide you with different nutrients. Lean meats, fresh fruits and vegetables, and whole grains are essential to a healthy body and healthy bodies are capable of doing more exercise.

After your workout, remember to eat a post workout snack like yoghurt and fruit, a banana with one tablespoon of nut butter or a carton of low-fat chocolate milk within 30 minutes after exercising.

Lastly don't underestimate the importance of hydration, you should be drinking before, during and after your workout. Lastly make sure you are getting enough rest, there is nothing like a good workout to ensure that you sleep really well.

The read more follow this link; http://www.livestrong.com/article/282831-how-do-i-overcome-tiredness-from-workouts/ 

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Good Morning

I hope you all having a good summer and taking advantage of the longer days and the opportunity to be to be outside. I found this article which I thought would be of interest to many of you. The article is titled 'The 5 most common muscle building mistakes". Here is the list of common mistakes that we tend to make, you can read suggestions of how to avoid falling for these pitfalls by following this link; http://www.livestrong.com/blog/the-5-most-common-muscle-building-mistakes/  

• Mistake 1: You don’t eat enough food.
• Mistake 2: You’re not consistent with your workout program.
• Mistake 3: You collect too much information.
• Mistake 4: You don’t measure progress.
• Mistake 5: You don’t have a coach or social support.

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Good morning

Last month I had asked you all to submit your favorite healthy recipes, the idea is to share some recipes to break up the monotony of eating the same things all the time. I have the first submission from Kasey Stone, she even included pictures, thanks Kasey this looks delicious and east to make as well!

Mini Egg Muffins

Ingredients

Any veggies you prefer. Example: mushrooms, green onions, peppers or spinach 

Cheese as your prefer ( or as Ron allows you to eat) 

Lean meat such as chicken or turkey. ( I used veggies, a little bit of cheddar cheese and low sodium turkey bacon)  8 egg whites

1 whole egg 

1/4 cup of skim milk. 

Instructions 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Grease a muffin tin

Place dry ingredients in muffin tins

Whisk eggs and milk together and pour over ingredients. 

Bake on center rack for 7-10 min or until muffins are light brown, puffy and eggs are set up.

Eat immediately or let cool completely and store in a plastic container in refrigerator or freezer. Egg muffins can be reheated in the microwave.