superadmin

One reason I went into the area of fitness is because I knew that physical activity was a key factor to good health and extremely important. My aim was to provide the knowledge that could help people become their best. There are three four types of physical fitness, aerobic, strength, flexibility and balance. A healthy program focuses on all four, since each plays a role in your overall good health.

You’ll get immediate benefits from participating in physical activity.

As you exercise, you’ll burn off the hormones of stress and increase circulation. Immediately following a moderate-to vigorous workout, you’ll experience other benefits, such as improved cognitive skills and thinking. It reduces the feeling of anxiety and sharpens your skills and judgement. Physical activity makes learning and remembering things easier.

Exercise is heart healthy and can help control diabetes.

Studies show that getting at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise can lower your blood pressure and reduce the risk of coronary disease. Getting more than 150 minutes is even better. Exercise also helps For people with metabolic syndrome or type 2 diabetes, it’s even more important. It lowers the risk of complications and if you lose weight as you exercise, can even help reduce the medication necessary. Studies show that obese people with diabetes can reduce their insulin resistance by up to 57% by losing as little as 7% of bodyweight.

Strength training can help prevent osteoporosis.

When you do weight bearing exercise, you’re not only building your muscle strength, you’re building the strength of your bones. Around age 30, bone mass peaks and then starts to decline, unless you exercise regularly. People who don’t exercise or get little weight bearing or strength building exercise lose the most bone mass.When the muscle tugs on the bone, the bone strengthens itself by becoming denser. Studies show that regular strength building and weight-bearing exercise can slow the decline and in some cases, increase bone mass.

• Exercise can help you lose weight in two ways. It burns additional calories to create a greater calorie deficit and can boost your metabolism, since muscle mass requires more calories to maintain than fat tissue does.
• The older you get, the more important exercise becomes. It helps stabilize you and improves balance to prevent falls that can break bones and alter your life forever.
• Regular exercise can help relieve the pain. It helps prevent muscle pain in the back and can lubricate joints to prevent joint pain. It can help relieve the pain of arthritis, fibromyalgia and chronic pain.
• A program of regular exercise can help lift your spirits and prevent depression. Not only does it burn off stress hormones, it also increases hormones that make you feel good.

For more information, contact us today at Prime Fitness Studio

The American diet is laden with sugar. In fact, the average American eats approximately 152 pounds of sugar every year. When you compare that with the amount of sugar Americans ate just 200 years ago, which was approximately two pounds a year, the change is significant. It’s one reason diabetes is on the rise and why so many people look for alternatives. Most people think of those little pink, blue or yellow packets when they hear the words, sugar replacements, which are saccharin, aspartame and sucralose. Each of these come with the potential for negative side effects when used too frequently.

Natural sugar substitutes include Stevia.

Stevia comes from the Stevia rebaudiana bush from South America. It’s the leaves of the plant that are used and have a sweetness that’s 200 times that of table sugar, but with no calories. It does come with several health benefits, such as the ability to aid in lowering blood pressure and reducing the risk of metabolic syndrome. However, the body also recognizes it doesn’t provide energy and animal studies show that when fed stevia, they consumed more calories and gained more weight from other food than those fed food flavored with glucose, which may counteract their benefit for those who want to lose weight.

A new option to the market that’s been used hundreds of years is monk fruit.

Monk fruit is between 150 and 300 times sweeter than sugar and it doesn’t have any calories or affect blood glucose levels. Other names for monk fruit include Luo Han Guo, Buddha fruit and longevity fruit. Those names came from the fact that Buddhist monks picked the fruit and used it for medicine.Like stevia, it has an aftertaste and even a when eating it, a taste that isn’t pleasing to everyone. It’s high in vitamin C, so can boost the immune system, is good for reducing the respiratory distress of allergies and can improve heart health, while reducing inflammation. People with pumpkin allergies or problems with their pancreas shouldn’t use it.

Opt for fresh fruit and fruit paste instead of sugar.

There are many ways to use fresh fruit and fruit paste in cooking to substitute for sugar. Date paste, for instance, is exceptionally good in sweetening baked goods and has a low glycemic index—GI rating. You can use unsweetened applesauce as a substitute for some of the sugar and oils in baked goods too. If you want a fruit and yogurt mix, don’t buy the ready made type; it has added sugar. Instead, get plain yogurt and add frozen fruit. Put it in a blender for a substitute for ice cream.

• Honey has slightly fewer calories than sugar, but does provide many health benefits and nutrients. It has antioxidants, calcium, potassium, vitamin B6, riboflavin and niacin to name a few, but with a low GI rating.
• The root of the yacon plant looks like a sweet potato and when eaten raw tastes like a combination of watermelon, apple and celery. When boiled down, it creates a sugar substitute that lowers blood sugar levels.
• While coconut sugar does have calories, it contains far less than sugar. It also has nutrients like polyphenols, iron, antioxidants and potassium. It’s good to use when baking.
• Some of the original substitutes for sugar, like xylitol and other sugar alcohols also have fewer calories and some health benefits, such as reducing the risk of tooth decay and antioxidants. However, they also can cause diarrhea and gas.

For more information, contact us today at Prime Fitness Studio

Why would anyone have a food journal? One big reason is the health benefits of journaling and it’s relatively simple. It helps you learn more about your eating habits, without focusing every second of the day on them. Simply write in your journal when you eat and go on about your business, reviewing the journal at the end of the day or week. If you can’t figure out why you’re gaining weight, since you don’t eat much, you may be surprised at how many nibbles you take throughout the day.

A food journal must include everything you eat, but it doesn’t mean you have to write a book.

You don’t actually have a book and write everything down, unless you like old school. You can track what you eat via smartphone. If you’d like, later transcribe it to a book when you add the calorie or carb values into the information. There are a variety of apps you can use that are offered free online. Some of them do the calorie calculation for you. Since you normally carry your phone with you, it’s one of the best ways to ensure you log every bite.

Include other information in your food journal.

Tracking calories is just one use of the food journal. You can note your mood when you eat. You may notice a pattern. When you’re angry do you choose chips and crunchy food? When you’re sad is comfort food your first go-to? People who feel stress often opt for sweets. How does that information help? You can opt for an apple and get the benefit of having a crunchy food that also helps you eliminate anger. Journaling tells you more about yourself and helps you learn ways to cope more effectively.

Do you have issues with your health?

If the doctors are stymied, maybe the problem is in your diet. While an elimination diet is often best if the problems are severe, for those less pressing, use a food journal. Instead of noting your mood every time you eat, add symptoms that occur afterward, when they occur. If you see a consistent pattern, such as stomach pain every time you consume milk or a headache when you eat peanuts, you may find the food that triggers the symptoms and avoid constant doctor’s visits or chronic discomfort.

• When you food journal, don’t forget to record what you drink, too. Soft drinks, fruit juice and even fancy coffee drinks contain tons of calories and a lot of additives that can affect your health.
• Before you start your food journal, learn more about portion size and how to record it. Use descriptive terms like a fist-size portion or card deck sized one. Portion size is extremely important if weight loss is your goal.
• You can track sugar intake, micro, such as vitamins and minerals, and macronutrient, protein, carbs and fat, intake when you food journal. That helps you learn whether your diet is healthy or not.
• One study followed non-dieting people who food journaled for three months compared to those who didn’t. Those who journaled lost weight during that time, while those not journaling didn’t.

For more information, contact us today at Prime Fitness Studio

You probably have heard me encouraging everyone to drink more water and stay hydrated while they workout and may even get a little tired of hearing it. I say it a lot because it’s important no matter what the termperature, but expecially during summer. During the hot summer months, you sweat more outside and then start your workout at a deficit of fluid. That can affect your performance and the benefits you get from the workout. Sipping your water throughout the workout—-not guzzling it all at once—-can give you the boost of energy you need to burn more calories and succeed!

You don’t need sports drinks, plain water will do.

I see people bringing in bottles of sports drinks and congratulating themselves on all the electrolytes they’re replacing. The truth is, unless you’re running a marathon or working out at top intensity for over an hour, you probably don’t need a sports drink and plain water will do. Not only will it save you money, you’ll save calories, too, since most sports drinks contain sugar. A light snack before you workout and a post workout snack, with plain water between should keep you hydrated and provide all the electrolytes you require.

Hate plain water?

If you hate water, here’s a great alternative that won’t pack on the pounds and tastes great. Make some infused water. It’s easy. Just add your favorite fruits and vegetables sliced up in water and let it sit in the refrigerator until the water picks up the flavor of the fruits or vegetables—between 30 minutes to 24 hours, depending on how strong you want the flavor. The more fruit and vegetables added, the shorter the infusion time. Blend fruits, like lemon and berry or pinapple and

How much water should you drink?

While conventional wisdom says 8- eight ounce glasses a day—64 ounces, that’s just a generalization. You’re not the same weight as everyone else, nor do you have the same needs. Newer estimates of how much water you need are more personalized. Take the number of pounds you weigh, cut it in half and drink that many ounces of water a day. If you weigh 120 pounds, you’d need 60 ounces. Someone who weighs 200 pounds would need 100 ounces or about 12 ½ glasses a day. Older people need to drink more water and people trying to lose weight should also increase

Sometimes thirst disguises itself as hunger, so drinking water can save calories. If you want to lose weight, drink a tall glass of ice cold water before eating. It will fill you up and since it’s cold, the water cause your body to burn extra calories.

• If you need an afternoon pick-me-up, grab a glass of water. Sometimes, even mild dehydration can make you tired and give you brain fog. Hydrating increases mental alertness, improves mood and can help ease a headache, too!
• Avoid a hangover by drinking water between drinks and at the end of the evening. The hangover from drinking comes from the dehydration caused by the alcohol. Drinking water between drinks can help you wake up feeling great.
• Save tons of calories and hydrate better with plain ole’ water. Soft drinks have tons of calories and actually can cause dehydration because of the caffeine in it. The same is true of coffee. The caffeine acts like a diuretic.
• If you’re buying the most expensive facial creams and still not satisfied, drink more water and buy a spray bottle to spritz it on your face before applying your moisturizer and throughout the day. The water moisturizes and the moisturizing cream seals it into the skin.

For more information, contact us today at Prime Fitness Studio

If you found your blood pressure is slightly elevated or even high, there are foods to lower blood pressure that might save you from having to use medication. Of course, always check with your doctor first before changing your diet and never go off blood pressure medication until your health care professional gives you the okay. There’s a good reason to believe that avoiding foods that raise blood pressure and focusing on those that lower it can bring those numbers down naturally. In other words, your dinner table becomes your pharmacy.

Add omega-3 fatty acids to your diet.

Salmon, tuna and other fatty fish are high in omega-3 fatty acids. Cod liver oil and caviar are also high in it. If you aren’t fond of fish or cod liver oil, and caviar is not in your budget, flaxseed, chia seed, walnuts and soybean also contain it. Omega-3 fatty acids reduce inflammation and decrease levels of oxylipins that constrict blood vessels, which can cause blood pressure levels to drop. Studies show that increasing this fatty acid can significantly reduce both systolic and diastolic blood pressures.

Add some swiss chard to your salad, add it to your soup or as a side dish.

If you want your blood pressure regulated you need potassium in your diet and swiss chard is loaded with potassium. One cup provides 17% of your daily need for potassium, plus has 30% of your daily required amount of magnesium. Magnesium naturally blocks calcium movement into the heart and the arteries, which lets them relax and lowers your blood pressure. Beans also provide both magnesium and potassium, plus contain high amounts of fiber and protein.

Beets are considered a superfood.

Beets and beet greens are quite popular today because of all the health benefits they provide. They contain nitrates and nitrates relax the blood vessels, which helps lower blood pressure. Several studies show that eating beets or drinking beet juice can lower blood pressure, but the effects don’t last that long. However, the nutrients are plentiful in beets and make it a food you should add to your diet.

• Anthocyanin is found in blue, deep red and purple fruits and vegetables and especially in berries. Anthocyanin boosts the amount of nitric oxide in your body.
• Pistachios not only are nutritious, studies show they lower both systolic and diastolic blood pressure numbers. They contain potassium and other nutrients that are heart healthy. New studies show that walnuts help lower your blood pressure, too.
• Use Greek yogurt to lower your blood pressure. It contains both calcium and potassium. Consuming 3 servings of dairy every day can reduce your risk for high blood pressure by 13%. For a treat that’s super healthy, combine berries, Greek yogurt, bananas and pistachios or walnuts in a parfait.
• Snack on celery and a Greek yogurt dip. Celery contains phthalides that lower blood pressure by helping vessels relax. Just like carrots, cooked celery also significantly reduces blood pressure. Add it to soup.

For more information, contact us today at Prime Fitness Studio