Nutrition and Your Workout

Last month I was out having food and drinks for my friend's birthday. I'm not much of a drinker anymore. I had a few beers and tons of food. I didn't wake up with a hangover the next morning since I drank water in between. But, I did feel it Monday morning, especially when I weighed myself. Was it worth it? Yes! I had such a great time with my husband and friends.

During dinner a topic came up about talking to strangers. So, where am I going with this and why does this feel like it has nothing to do with the subject line?  I always try to be courteous to others. That applies at the gym, too; with other members, front desk, trainers, instructors, even locker room attendants. There is no end to what you can learn from different people. One of the front desk staff at my gym recently became one of the floor trainers. I was always amicable with Danny, made small talk while he was at the front desk. Now when he is on the floor in his blue shirt he is more than willing to help me train. He even offered to do a personalized plan for me. Equinox has different trainers. If they are wearing a black shirt they are working with someone one-on-one. If they are wearing a blue shirt they are working the floor and you can ask them for assistance. 

One day, a trainer in a black shirt stopped me. I was getting off of the treadmill and Angelo asked me if I was done with my workout. Social me continued the conversation with him and told him I was going to do abs to finish off my workout. He offered to do abs together. We did about 15 minutes of one of the toughest core workouts I've ever done. What's better is that he was impressed!  He said that his clients would've given up halfway through what I completed. He was so impressed that he offered to train with me. 

A couple of months later and we have trained together a handful of times. In the last two months I've learned more about fitness and nutrition than I've ever known before. I feel I owe it to you, my blog readers, to share the knowledge I've gained.

I always had a hard time eating first thing in the morning. I would

have my tea when I first woke up and didn't eat until I got to work. That's about 2-3 hours. Overnight your muscles are repairing, working. You can't allow your body to work that hard and not fuel it. You should have something to eat within the first hour of waking up. This is the time to have carbohydrates; oatmeal, cereal, toast. We are made to think that carbs are bad. Carbs give you energy. You also have the rest of the day to burn it off. An hour before your workout you should have your pre-workout meal. This should also contain a carb. The point behind it is to be able to make it through a tough workout, to not lose energy midway and to be able to push through until the 60th minute of that hour.

After my workout is when I have lunch since I workout during my lunch hour. This next meal should be eaten within an hour of completing a workout and should be high in protein.  Protein aids in muscle repair and promotes lean muscle mass. An active man should shoot for .8 - .10 grams of protein per day for each pound that he weighs. An active woman should shoot for .6 - .8 grams per each pound. If you are in between meals after your workout have a snack that is high in protein; almonds, boiled eggs, a protein bar is worst case scenario. Your dinner should also be high in protein and low in carbs. Have fish or chicken with vegetables.

Another one of my bad habits was snacking late at night. I mean well past 8 PM. That's not really good considering I'm normally in bed around 10 PM. The solution is casein protein.  Apparently it's so heavy that you won't want to eat anything after you drink it. Also, it takes your body a long time to digest it. While you're sleeping and your muscles are repairing you're digesting the protein you need. Win-win!

Time to re-do your meal plan y'all. You want to promote fat loss accompanied by lean muscle gains. Tweak your diet and let me know how it goes. I want to know how it makes you feel and what kind of results you get.

In good health,

Alana

Reducing Refined Sugar

"If you're still blogging I would love it if you wrote about low sugar eating plans. I'm having a hard time keeping my sugar intake down. I like to think I eat pretty healthy but then I realized that I just can't give up the refined sugars!"

I received my first blog topic request! This is really exciting for me because the reason why I started this in the first place is to help people. The request comes from a faithful reader and is someone near and dear to my heart. I asked for a rough layout of what this person eats on a daily basis.  I took into consideration what this person enjoys and tweaked. I think a lot of us can benefit from this because many convenient foods are high in sugar and/or extremely processed. Remember that this is a lifestyle change. So change one meal at a time.  

"For breakfast I rotate between yogurt, bagel with cream cheese, cereal, some sort of granola bar or eggs with bacon and potatoes."

Yogurt is good for you especially if you're female. Greek yogurt is your best bet because it typically has double the protein than regular yogurt. Just watch out for the ones that have added cornstarch. The cornstarch is used to thicken the consistency. If strained properly Greek yogurt doesn't need a thickener. Try it with a cereal that is high in fiber and low in sugar. If it has fruit in it the yogurt should be sweet enough. If you opt for plain yogurt add fresh berries along with the cereal. You'll feel fuller longer than if you eat just cereal, yogurt or a granola bar. If you want your eggs try it with a slice of cheese and tomato in a whole grain English muffin. You can also fill your English muffin with cream cheese, tomato and turkey bacon. When you want breakfast potatoes, accompany it with a veggie omelet.

"Lunch and dinner are usually home cooked but will include a starch."

Starch is not bad as long as it doesn't take up most of your plate. Your rule of thumb should be a quarter protein, a quarter starch and half vegetables. The type of starch matters, too. Rice is good, but have brown sometimes. Have whole wheat pasta instead of plain. Try Ezekiel, rye or pita bread instead of white or wheat.

"I've been drinking a glass of chocolate milk to curb the sweet tooth about 3 times a week."

I have a better idea. Eat fresh fruit. You can satisfy the craving for something sweet and add a serving of fruit to your diet. If it's after dinner and it's later in the evening have a cup of herbal tea with a teaspoon of honey.

"I have the biggest sweet tooth. I end up snacking on crap after lunch and dinner; a cookie, gummy bears, chocolate, etc."

Snacks like that are empty, meaning there is no nutritional value. Get rid of these foods in your house. You shouldn't even give yourself access to this stuff. Clean out your fridge and pantry. Keep healthier snacks around. When you snack like this you're probably not hungry. There are two parts to this habit. One side is physically eating and the other is the craving for something sweet after a meal. This lines up with eating fresh fruit. Have it as part of your meal. Truth is we can all use something sweet sometimes. Try dark chocolate covered almonds or a raw nut mix and toss dark chocolate chips into it. Have you seen the new frozen Greek yogurts? Try them, they are delicious. You are giving in, but at least there are nutritional benefits.

The key to this is meal planning and food shopping. Groceries should be bought once a week. One, you won't want to waste it so that will be the food you prep and the snacks you grab for. Two, it's a way to add variety into your diet so that you don't get bored. Keep in mind that when I say "diet" I don't mean a temporary eating plan. I mean your new way of healthy eating.

"It's the sweet tooth! The truth of the matter is I HAVE NO SELF CONTROL! And I LOVE FOOD!"

We are supposed to love food. You need food. Food is fuel. You should not go hungry. Keep a food journal to keep track of how often you indulge. This is real life so the cookies and the gummy bears will always be there. Just limit yourself. I allow myself to indulge every 4 days or so. If there is a special occasion coming up I plan for it. For example, my husband, my son and I love pizza. We'll usually have it on Fridays. But if we have a kid's birthday party during the weekend we'll keep Friday's dinner healthy. Baby steps y'all!

In good health,

Alana