Low Carb, Low Fat, More protein, Eat all the fat you want..... These are the many things we hear as we are bombarded with the latest and NOT always the greatest diet and eating tips when trying to find the Silver Bullet for permanent weight loss.
Well I thought that we would talk about common sense proven tips that will ensure that along with a solid fitness program, will help support your fitness and health goals for life.
Eating Tip 1
Eat Slow- If you read about the French Paradox, which discusses why the French eat alot of fatty foods, but are a leaner society than that of the United States. They take their meals very seriously and it is one of the most important times of the day. You will get multiple benefits from this tip. Eating Slow will help your body absorb the food at the right level allowing you to fill up much quicker as it will not provide a tendency for you to OVEREAT!!!
The other awesome benefit is that you can spend more time with your family so that you can share the important things in life with each other!!!
Eating Tip 2
Eat 5-6 times per day. Do not allow your blood sugar levels to drop, in between meals. By eating more often and eating the right types of foods that are on the low end of the glycemic index, you can keep your blood sugar levels more even throughout the day, and ensure that you are not getting those midafternoon yawns and also help keep the excess weight off. Remember that when you spike your blood sugar by eating simple sugars and refined carbohydrates, this will potentially cause your body to store fat!!!
Eating Tip 3
Eat Your Breakfast... I was bad at this many years ago, but I learned to fuel up early in the day. Eating a good solid breakfast to start your day, helps supply you with the fuel you need to get started, especially if you are incorporating a early morning fitness program in to your day. You need the fuel to get your engine going in the morning. Do not starve your body early, because you may have the tendency to binge eat later, because your body gets into the craving mode. Feed your body early!!
Eating Tip 4
Slow down as the sun goes down. What do I mean by this? Well just as important as it is to eat a great breakfast to start the day, it is also as equally important to reduce your food consumption as the day goes on. So plan to eat a good solid breakfast, a good lunch, and reduce your meal portions at dinner time. Remember as you get closer to bedtime your body starts to wind down and you will not have the same opportunity at night to burn those consumed meal calories as you did earlier in the day.
So eat more early and back down as you reach sun down.
Eating Tip 5
Give yourself 3 hours!!! Yes 3 hours before going to bed. Do not consume anymore calories. As I mentioned before, your body starts to slow down as the day goes on and gets ready for sleep. You do not want to consume alot of calories right before you go to bed, because you will end of potentially storing those calories as FAT!!!
Your body sometimes give you a false sense of being hungry as you bedtime nears. You get those 9pm cravings... And alot of people end up hitting the Refrigerator and overconsuming right before bed time...
Not good for managing your weight and body fat %. If you just can't resist the munchies, then what I do is eat a few high good fat nuts. Like unsalted Almonds skin-on (good for fiber) or a couple spoonfuls of no sugar added all natural peanut butter. Eating a good quality fat food will satisfy your craving and will keep you from binging on something with lots of bad carbohydrates or simple sugars, like ice cream, cake or cookies.
Eating Tip 6
Stay focused on eating green in every meal. Always incorporate a good high quality low glycemic index dark green vegetable with each meal. I suggest things like spinach or romaine lettuce in your lunch time salads. Eating broccoli, asparagus, or steamed spinach as your vegetable at dinner time. All of these dark green vegetables supply your body with great vitamins and nutrients as well as being great sources of fiber and are naturally low on the glycemic index scale and will keep your blood sugar levels from spiking after eating. So think Dark green at meal time and challenge yourself to keep it as part of each and every eating event.
Eating Tip 7
Blend your foods.. Blending your foods means making sure that if you are eating a food item that does contain carbohydrates, ,make sure that you incorporate a good low fat protein along with it. Eating a low carb tortilla wrap that the first ingredient is whole wheat flour that is unrefined and adding lean chicken breast as part of your filling in the wrap, maybe with some thinly shredded romaine lettuce and other veggies.
Eating Tip 8
Use splenda as your sweetener of choice, when looking for a simple sugar replacement. I have tried many sugar subs over the years an no other product has the taste of sugar like splenda does. Not equal and surely not sweet and low. Splenda is outstanding for sprinkling on low glycemic fresh fruit like blueberries, raspberries and strawberries, and I also use it to sweeten my drink of choice. Caffeine Free Green Tea that I infuse with cinnamon stick and whole cloves. What a refreshing cold beverage that keeps the caffeine out of your diet, provides you a great antioxidant and does not spike your blood sugar levels by using the no calorie sweetner in splenda.
So I hope you enjoy my GREAT 8!!!
These eating tips will help keep you on the right track, when it comes to living a healthy lifestyle.. All of these tips are the tools that I live by every day....
Stay tuned next month for more healthy eating tips @ Body Perfect Fit!!!
FREE Online Fitness Training- Sign up Today!! For your FREE Online Fitness Training with your very own Certified Personal Trainer @
Body Perfect Fitness Online Personal Fitness Training!!
Wednesday, March 16, 2005
Warm Up Activities & Stretching Exercises
Warm up properly, and reduce the risk of sports injury!
The warm up activities are a crucial part of any exercise regime or sports training. The importance of a structured warm up routine should not be under estimated when it comes to the prevention of sports injury.
The Warm Up
An effective warm up has a number of very important key elements. These elements, or parts, should all be working together to minimize the likelihood of sports injury from physical activity.
Warming up prior to any physical activity does a number of beneficial things, but primarily its main purpose is to prepare the body and mind for more strenuous activity. One of the ways it achieves this is by helping to increase the body’s core temperature, while also increasing the body’s muscle temperature. By increasing muscle temperature you're helping to make the muscles loose, supple and pliable.
An effective warm up also has the effect of increasing both your heart rate and your respiratory rate. This increases blood flow, which in turn increases the delivery of oxygen and nutrients to the working muscles. All this helps to prepare the muscles, tendons and joints for more strenuous activity.
Keeping in mind the aims or goals of an effective warm up, we can then go on to look at how the warm up should be structured.
Obviously, it's important to start with the easiest and most gentle activity first, building upon each part with more energetic activities, until the body is at a physical and mental peak. This is the state in which the body is most prepared for the physical activity to come, and where the likelihood of sports injury has been minimized as much as possible. So, how should you structure your warm up to achieve these goals?
There are four key elements, or parts, which should be included to ensure an effective and complete warm up. They are:
The general warm up;
Static stretching;
The sports specific warm up; and
Dynamic stretching.
All four parts are equally important and any one part should not be neglected or thought of as not necessary. All four elements work together to bring the body and mind to a physical peak, ensuring the athlete is prepared for the activity to come. This process will help ensure the athlete has a minimal risk of sports injury.
Lets have a look at each element individually.
1.) General warm up
The general warm up should consist of a light physical activity. Both the intensity and duration of the general warm up (or how hard and how long), should be governed by the fitness level of the participating athlete. Although a correct general warm up for the average person should take about five to ten minutes and result in a light sweat.
The aim of the general warm up is simply to elevate the heart rate and respiratory rate. This in turn increases the blood flow and helps with the transportation of oxygen and nutrients to the working muscles. This also helps to increase the muscle temperature, allowing for a more effective static stretch. Which bring us to part two.
2.) Static stretching
Static stretching is a very safe and effective form of basic stretching. There is a limited threat of injury and it is extremely beneficial for overall flexibility. During this part of the warm up, static stretching should include all the major muscle groups, and this entire part should last for about five to ten minutes.
Static stretching is performed by placing the body into a position whereby the muscle, or group of muscles to be stretched is under tension. Both the opposing muscle group (the muscles behind or in front of the stretched muscle), and the muscles to be stretched are relaxed. Then slowly and cautiously the body is moved to increase the tension of the muscle, or group of muscles to be stretched. At this point the position is held or maintained to allow the muscles and tendons to lengthen.
This second part of an effective warm up is extremely important, as it helps to lengthen both the muscles and tendons which in turn allows your limbs a greater range of movement. This is very important in the prevention of muscle and tendon injuries.
The above two elements form the basis, or foundation for a complete and effective warm up. It is extremely important that these two elements be completed properly before moving onto the next two elements. The proper completion of elements one and two, will now allow for the more specific and vigorous activities necessary for elements three and four.
3.) Sport specific warm up
With the first two parts of the warm up carried out thoroughly and correctly, it is now safe to move onto the third part of an effective warm up. In this part, the athlete is specifically preparing their body for the demands of their particular sport. During this part of the warm up, more vigorous activity should be employed. Activities should reflect the type of movements and actions which will be required during the sporting event.
4.) Dynamic stretching
Finally, a correct warm up should finish with a series of dynamic stretches. However, this form of stretching carries with it a high risk of injury if used incorrectly. It should really only be used under the supervision of a professional sports coach or trainer. Dynamic stretching is more for muscular conditioning than flexibility and is really only suited for professional, well trained, highly conditioned athletes. Dynamic stretching should only be used after a high level of general flexibility has been established.
Dynamic stretching involves a controlled, soft bounce or swinging motion to force a particular body part past its usual range of movement. The force of the bounce or swing is gradually increased but should never become radical or uncontrolled.
During this last part of an effective warm up it is also important to keep the dynamic stretches specific to the athletes particular sport. This is the final part of the warm up and should result in the athlete reaching a physical and mental peak. At this point the athlete is most prepared for the rigors of their sport or activity.
The above information forms the basis of a complete and effective warm up. However, I am well aware that this entire process is somewhat of an 'ideal' or 'perfect' warm up. I am also well aware that this is not always possible, or convenient in the real world. Therefore, the individual athlete must become responsible for assessing their own goals and adjusting their warm up accordingly.
For instance, the time you commit to your warm up should be relative to your level of involvement in your particular sport. So, for people just looking to increase their general level of health and fitness, a minimum of five to ten minutes would be enough. However, if you are involved in high level competitive sport you need to dedicate adequate time and effort to a complete warm up.
© 2003, Walkerbout Health. All rights reserved.
------------------------------------------------------------------
Article by Brad Walker. Brad is a leading stretching and
sports injury consultant with over 15 years experience
in the health and fitness industry. For more articles
on the prevention & treatment of sports injury,
subscribe to The Stretching & Sports Injury Newsletter
by visiting
Get 100 different stretching exercises!
The warm up activities are a crucial part of any exercise regime or sports training. The importance of a structured warm up routine should not be under estimated when it comes to the prevention of sports injury.
The Warm Up
An effective warm up has a number of very important key elements. These elements, or parts, should all be working together to minimize the likelihood of sports injury from physical activity.
Warming up prior to any physical activity does a number of beneficial things, but primarily its main purpose is to prepare the body and mind for more strenuous activity. One of the ways it achieves this is by helping to increase the body’s core temperature, while also increasing the body’s muscle temperature. By increasing muscle temperature you're helping to make the muscles loose, supple and pliable.
An effective warm up also has the effect of increasing both your heart rate and your respiratory rate. This increases blood flow, which in turn increases the delivery of oxygen and nutrients to the working muscles. All this helps to prepare the muscles, tendons and joints for more strenuous activity.
Keeping in mind the aims or goals of an effective warm up, we can then go on to look at how the warm up should be structured.
Obviously, it's important to start with the easiest and most gentle activity first, building upon each part with more energetic activities, until the body is at a physical and mental peak. This is the state in which the body is most prepared for the physical activity to come, and where the likelihood of sports injury has been minimized as much as possible. So, how should you structure your warm up to achieve these goals?
There are four key elements, or parts, which should be included to ensure an effective and complete warm up. They are:
The general warm up;
Static stretching;
The sports specific warm up; and
Dynamic stretching.
All four parts are equally important and any one part should not be neglected or thought of as not necessary. All four elements work together to bring the body and mind to a physical peak, ensuring the athlete is prepared for the activity to come. This process will help ensure the athlete has a minimal risk of sports injury.
Lets have a look at each element individually.
1.) General warm up
The general warm up should consist of a light physical activity. Both the intensity and duration of the general warm up (or how hard and how long), should be governed by the fitness level of the participating athlete. Although a correct general warm up for the average person should take about five to ten minutes and result in a light sweat.
The aim of the general warm up is simply to elevate the heart rate and respiratory rate. This in turn increases the blood flow and helps with the transportation of oxygen and nutrients to the working muscles. This also helps to increase the muscle temperature, allowing for a more effective static stretch. Which bring us to part two.
2.) Static stretching
Static stretching is a very safe and effective form of basic stretching. There is a limited threat of injury and it is extremely beneficial for overall flexibility. During this part of the warm up, static stretching should include all the major muscle groups, and this entire part should last for about five to ten minutes.
Static stretching is performed by placing the body into a position whereby the muscle, or group of muscles to be stretched is under tension. Both the opposing muscle group (the muscles behind or in front of the stretched muscle), and the muscles to be stretched are relaxed. Then slowly and cautiously the body is moved to increase the tension of the muscle, or group of muscles to be stretched. At this point the position is held or maintained to allow the muscles and tendons to lengthen.
This second part of an effective warm up is extremely important, as it helps to lengthen both the muscles and tendons which in turn allows your limbs a greater range of movement. This is very important in the prevention of muscle and tendon injuries.
The above two elements form the basis, or foundation for a complete and effective warm up. It is extremely important that these two elements be completed properly before moving onto the next two elements. The proper completion of elements one and two, will now allow for the more specific and vigorous activities necessary for elements three and four.
3.) Sport specific warm up
With the first two parts of the warm up carried out thoroughly and correctly, it is now safe to move onto the third part of an effective warm up. In this part, the athlete is specifically preparing their body for the demands of their particular sport. During this part of the warm up, more vigorous activity should be employed. Activities should reflect the type of movements and actions which will be required during the sporting event.
4.) Dynamic stretching
Finally, a correct warm up should finish with a series of dynamic stretches. However, this form of stretching carries with it a high risk of injury if used incorrectly. It should really only be used under the supervision of a professional sports coach or trainer. Dynamic stretching is more for muscular conditioning than flexibility and is really only suited for professional, well trained, highly conditioned athletes. Dynamic stretching should only be used after a high level of general flexibility has been established.
Dynamic stretching involves a controlled, soft bounce or swinging motion to force a particular body part past its usual range of movement. The force of the bounce or swing is gradually increased but should never become radical or uncontrolled.
During this last part of an effective warm up it is also important to keep the dynamic stretches specific to the athletes particular sport. This is the final part of the warm up and should result in the athlete reaching a physical and mental peak. At this point the athlete is most prepared for the rigors of their sport or activity.
The above information forms the basis of a complete and effective warm up. However, I am well aware that this entire process is somewhat of an 'ideal' or 'perfect' warm up. I am also well aware that this is not always possible, or convenient in the real world. Therefore, the individual athlete must become responsible for assessing their own goals and adjusting their warm up accordingly.
For instance, the time you commit to your warm up should be relative to your level of involvement in your particular sport. So, for people just looking to increase their general level of health and fitness, a minimum of five to ten minutes would be enough. However, if you are involved in high level competitive sport you need to dedicate adequate time and effort to a complete warm up.
© 2003, Walkerbout Health. All rights reserved.
------------------------------------------------------------------
Article by Brad Walker. Brad is a leading stretching and
sports injury consultant with over 15 years experience
in the health and fitness industry. For more articles
on the prevention & treatment of sports injury,
subscribe to The Stretching & Sports Injury Newsletter
by visiting
Get 100 different stretching exercises!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
