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If you’re considering a Keto diet, it’s probably because you’ve heard that it can help you lose weight. While healthy eating is the best way to lose weight, without actually dieting, a keto diet has some benefits. It consists of lowering the amount of calories you eat from carbohydrates to approximately 5% and increasing the amount calories of fat to approximately 70% with the last 25% coming from protein. This is just one version. Other versions include doing a cycle of keto followed by a cycle of a high carb diet, increasing the protein intake and reducing the fat intake or slightly increasing the carb intake.

The key is the type of carbs you eat.

When you think of carbs, you probably think of cake, cereal, white bread and pasta. Not all carbs are bad or high in calories. Vegetables are in the carbohydrate group, so is quinoa, dairy and nuts. However, vegetables, such as broccoli, lettuce and green beans are low in calories, so you can eat healthy and still be on a keto diet. What the diet limits is underground or root vegetables and refined carbohydrates. When you think about it, cutting out added sugar and refined carbs is the first step to a healthy diet.

What foods are on a keto diet?

Avocados may be a fruit—even though most people think of them as a vegetable—but they’re high in fat and count toward your fat intake. Fatty fish, eggs, butter, nuts, seeds, low carbohydrate vegetables and meat are included in a keto diet. Since 70% of the calories come from fat, the high fat intake may not be a good habit to form. Most of the diet includes healthy foods, which is a good habit to develop. While eating most types of fat is encouraged, trans fats are not allowed.

If a keto diet sounds too good to be true, you should know there are dangers.

If you take medication for diabetes, always talk to your health care professional. In fact, do that if you’re making any dramatic changes to your diet. Try to avoid too much saturated fat, since it isn’t heart healthy. Keto diets can also cause constipation, kidney stones, low blood pressure, nutritional deficiencies and increase your risk of heart disease. If you have a liver disease, a thyroid condition, or problems with your gallbladder or pancreas, you should avoid a keto diet for the sake of safety.

• It can be hard to stick with a keto diet, especially if you’re constantly on the run and eat out frequently, where you don’t control all the ingredients in the food.
• Be aware there’s a potential for low blood sugar, which is important for diabetics to remember, so they can monitor medication. It does offer benefits of lowering blood pressure, increasing energy and providing quicker weight loss.
• The keto diet was originally used to help control epilepsy. In the 1920s, they found that it produced similar benefits as fasting, which was used up to that point.
• Some people experience what is called the “keto flu.” It causes an upset stomach, can cause low energy, mood swings and even dizziness. It takes a while for the body to adjust to the change in diet.

For more information, contact us today at Revolution Training

At Revolution Training in Stamford, CT, we put you and your goals first. We emphasize that in order to succeed, you have to stick to your fitness goal and I’m proud to say that our clients do. Their dedication inspires me. One of the reasons is their goals are well-defined. We help them narrow them down to an achievable goal that’s big enough that it’s exciting, but still within grasp. Sticking with a goal starts with identifying not only your goal, but what you’re truly capable of achieving. Being realistic, but your goals should be ambitious and excite you, too.

Keep a daily calendar with an activity list each day and stick with it.

Focus on the day and what you need to achieve. Whether your workout schedule calls for a walk at noon or a tough workout at the gym at 3:00, do it. Don’t worry about what you planned for the next day or next week. While your overall larger goals will take time to achieve, you’ll get there by taking one day at a time. Consistency counts.

Schedule the workout.

Part of putting daily goals should include scheduling your workout at the same time every day. It doesn’t matter where you’re doing the workout or how you’re exercising, doing it the same time each day and having it on your schedule will make it more automatic. It becomes like brushing your teeth in the morning or getting dressed. Scheduling your workout at the same time daily means consistency and consistency means success.

Find a workout buddy.

One reason personal trainers help clients achieve success is that just the fact you have an appointment with them makes you more accountable. The same could be true of a workout buddy. Meet your friend at the gym and workout together. You’ll probably work harder because someone is watching and be more apt to show up for your workout. It also makes it more fun when you exercise with a friend.

• Don’t wait until right before you leave or exercise to lay out your workout clothes. Do things that make it easier for your to workout, like layout your exercise clothes or pack your gym bag.
• You’ll also be more likely to stick with your program if you enjoy the workout. If using the same old machines is more of a turn off, try boxing. It’s active and a total body workout that will keep your interest.
• Don’t forget to increase your workout and make it harder as you go. Not only will that give you better results, it will keep your head in the game.
• Learn to enjoy the challenge of each workout. Make it more about the journey than arriving at the destination. Don’t be afraid to change your goals if you’re getting great results and make them even harder.

For more information, contact us today at Revolution Training

At Revolution Training in Stamford, CT, we focus on total body workouts and building strength, flexibility and endurance. However, you can’t always get to the gym, so any exercise is better than no exercise. In fact, there are simple options you can do anywhere and almost at any time of the day. It’s walking or running. Running helps burn off stress hormones, too, which makes it ideal when your day isn’t going the way you want, since running can lift your mood.

Why does running help relieve stress?

Mother Nature has the perfect plan. Early man faced many dangers, warring tribes and wild animals were just a few. He needed to run or fight those dangers. When you’re under stress, your body creates hormones that prepare your body for running or fighting, so you can escape the danger or end it. The hormones cause blood to be sent to extremities and away from digestion. They make the heart pound faster, muscles tighten, breath quicken, blood pressure increase and all the senses to become more focused and sharper.

What happens if we don’t burn off the hormones of stress?

Unless the hormones are burnt off by running or fighting, those changes can leave you feeling sick to your stomach, mentally foggy and lead to chronic heart conditions, high blood pressure, stroke, anxiety and depression. In fact, cortisol, one of the hormones associated with stress, is also associated with the accumulation of belly fat, visceral fat, which is one of the most dangerous types since it crowds internal organs. It’s also one of the hardest types of fat to lose.

The runner’s high is real.

You’ll also feel great after a run, or tough workout in the gym, not just because it burns stress, but because of the endorphins the exercise causes the body to make. Endorphins make you feel great and in addition to burning off the hormones of stress, the endorphins created can also lift your spirits and help you cope with life better, while increasing your sense of well-being. In fact, exercise has now been noted as a powerful tool for fighting off anxiety and depression. It’s used as a complementary therapy that can reduce the need for medication.

• Have you ever noticed people pacing when they’re nervous? In many cases, these people find that the pacing makes them feel better and do it without thinking. It’s an alternative to running.
• When you’re under stress, it’s important to do some form of exercise. While we promote regular visits to the gym, since boxing is also great therapy, simulating the fight in “fight or flight,” it’s not always possible. Stay active to stay happy and healthy.
• The endorphins released when you’re exercising are natural pain relievers. They stimulate the opioid receptors in the brain to bring that sense of peace and well-being.
• Any type of exercise can help you by either improving your endurance, flexibility or strength. It gives you a feeling of confidence as your body becomes better looking, more energetic and powerful.

For more information, contact us today at  Revolution Training

There is a lot of controversy on whether taking vitamins will help you live longer and healthier. Health guru and pioneer fitness expert Jack LaLanne, who opened the first nationwide chain of fitness gyms and was on TV for 34 years touting everything fitness related, took 40 to 50 vitamins a day. While it seemed it worked, since he managed to towed 65 boats filled with 6,500-pounds of Louisiana Pacific wood pulp while handcuffed and shackled crossing Lake Ashinoko, near Tokyo, Japan, it also could have been the great shape he was in, his healthy diet and genetics. Do vitamins really help? The answer isn’t a simple “yes” or “no,” but more of a “sometimes yes” and “sometimes no.”

Diet and sunshine are more beneficial than supplements.

A 2019 study, discovered that modifying your diet to make it better was far superior to supplements if you wanted to live longer. That’s because food contains phytonutrients that aren’t in supplements and enhance the benefits of the vitamins. Other vitamins may be in the supplements, but aren’t bioavailable. The bioavailability is how well the body absorbs the vitamin. No matter how many supplements you take, if your body doesn’t get the benefits, you simply eliminate them in your waste and urine.

Women past menopause need vitamin K2 to avoid osteoporosis.

If you’re a post-menopausal woman and worried about bone density, taking a vitamin K2 supplement could actually help. While studies aren’t always in agreement as to its efficacy, many studies show that it does. Many foods contain vitamin K1, which is an anticoagulant, but not nearly as many common foods contain K2 a vitamin necessary to ensure that calcium is deposited in bones, cartilage and teeth, while also preventing it from going to places like kidneys and blood vessels that causes coronary artery disease. It’s also important for brain functioning. Vitamin K2 is found in fermented soy called Natto, goose liver, egg yolks, dark chicken meat, butter from milk from grass fed cows and some types of cheese.

Vitamin D may also be beneficial as a supplement.

While safe sunning is one way to increase your vitamin D, most people just slather on the sun block or simply don’t go out in the sun. Vitamin D is extremely important for strong bones and teeth, reducing the risk of cancer and diabetes, boosting immunity, reducing the risk depression and improving brain health, improving metabolism, building muscles and aiding heart health. Studies show that a large portion of Americans have a vitamin D deficit. Fatty fish like salmon, beef liver and egg yolks contain vitamin D.

If you supplement with vitamin D or even do safe sunning, make sure you have adequate magnesium in your diet. It activates the vitamin D.

If you’re pregnant, supplementing with folic acid is important. It helps prevent birth defects. It also potentially lowers the risk of stroke and cardiovascular disease for everyone.

While many people supplement with vitamin C when they feel a cold coming on, you can get too much of a good thing. It can be dangerous if you have liver disease or kidney stones. It also can cause stomach problems with nausea, diarrhea and headache for everyone if taken in too large of a dose.

Unless you have a specific problem of absorption, you’re far better off eating healthier rather than supplementing a bad diet. Add to that healthy diet a program of exercise and you have the perfect blend for a healthier life.

We promote any type of exercise that a client likes and will do consistently at Revolution Training in Stamford, CT. You should look forward to working out and getting healthy exercise. We often get questions on what the best type of exercises are and one that come up frequently is whether running is good for cardio. There’s a lot of evidence that running, or any type of physical activity, is good for the heart. It lowers blood pressure, helps regulate sugar, lowers the risk of blood clots in vessels and arteries, increases circulation and regulates cholesterol levels. It also helps burns calories and aids in weight loss. However, there are some negatives.

Some studies showed that running helped some people live longer, but not all people.

At a discussion at a meeting in 2012 of the ACSM— American College of Sports Medicine—based on 31 years of following 50,000 patients from Cooper Clinic in Texas from 1971 to 2002, the follow up showed that after 15 years, the 14,000 people at reported running, were shown to live 19 percent longer. However, when the runners were divided by distance run, only those that ran less than 20 miles a week got the benefits. Those that ran more than 20 miles a week had the same longevity as the non-runners.

Another study showed that running too long, too much and too far was bad, but soon refuted.

Later in 2012, a paper came out that said running should be no more than 30 to 50 minutes a day. The author of the study said that if you ran too fast for too long or too far, it might shorten your life. While all those that hated running loved this conclusion, but there’s more to it. Data now shows that even running longer can be beneficial. The problem with many of the studies is that they don’t identify all the risk factors the runners had previously. Some people take up running to help health conditions. The latest data shows that people who run 30 miles a week get benefits, but as little as five to ten minutes of running can provide benefits for heart health.

It’s all about doing what you love doing.

One of the factors that doctors now consider is whether you love running or are stressed every time you have to run. If you love it, do it. It helps reduce stress. It’s one of the reasons boxing is so good for your heart health. It gets the heart rate going, strengthens the heart, aids in blood pressure control and reduces the risk of both diabetes and heart disease. When you train to box, you do other cardio activities to prepare you, like jumping ropes, riding stationary bikes and yes, even running.

• Why is enjoying the exercise important? You’ll be more apt to do it. Finding a workout you enjoy will drive you to make other changes so you can do it better. It’s one reason boxing can make long term changes in your overall health.
• No matter what your age, boxing can strengthen your back, core muscles, legs, shoulders and arms. It boosts your endurance and aids in keeping you mentally and physically fit. It’s good for all types of fitness.
• Part of the reason that boxing is for everyone, no matter what your shape, sex or size, is that it’s a challenge you train to achieve. Not only is the boxing healthy, so is the training.
• No matter what your favorite form of fitness is, do it, but also get variety to encourage all types of fitness, cardio, strength, flexibility and balance. We support all types of exercise and encourage healthy eating.

For more information, contact us today at Revolution Training