Fitness & Wellness

I’ve worked with people who eat for emotional reasons. It’s easy to do. If you’ve had a bad day, you deserve a treat, so you pile up ice cream in a dish and drizzle with chocolate to make everything better. Before you know it, every day is a bad day. If your feelings have been hurt, you go to a donut for solace or rejoice with a cupcake or two. It’s time to imprint in your memory the phrase, “He who indulges – bulges.” Remember it the next time you reach for your favorite happy, comfort or angry food.

Just this one time won’t cut it either.

Sure, you’ve been faithful to your healthy eating for almost two days, so it’s okay to have a milk shake “just this one time.” Before you know it, just this one time happens at least once a day or more. When you’re learning to eat healthier, it’s all about changing old unhealthy eating habits. It’s hard to stick with at first if you’re giving yourself a pass every few hours. While healthy eating is versatile, focus on sticking strictly with the program for at least thirty to sixty days until you’ve formed some new habits.

I’ll exercise twice as much tomorrow.

Do you want to skip a day of exercise and double up the next day? It doesn’t work that way. You have to be consistent to get results. Not only will you lose some ground, if you double up, you face the potential of overdoing your workout and facing injury. Speaking of injury, always check with your doctor before starting any fitness program. Schedule your workout every day and keep it as you would any appointment. Whether you’re working out online or in person, developing a habit of fitness is the goal.

I messed up already so why bother trying?

Everyone has setbacks, but that doesn’t mean you’ve lost the battle. When Thomas Edison was asked about the 10,000 failures he had trying to create a long burning light bulb, he said, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” You won’t have to have 10,000 setbacks to find the right way to look and feel your best. Just be a winner and stick with the program.

• Everyone goes through problems when they want to give up. That’s why I created Team Worx Fitness, because I’ve gone through those problems myself. We’re always here to encourage and believe in you, even when you can’t believe in yourself.
• You’ll be surprised at how good you feel the longer you workout. That increased energy level is a powerful driving force.
• Food will taste different the longer you eat healthy. Food with added sugar blunts your taste buds, so you have to eat more sugar to get the sweet taste. When you eliminate food with added sugar, your taste buds recover and fruit will taste deliciously sweet. It boosts your enjoyment of other healthy food, too.
• If you want to feel and look your best, but still aren’t unsure, dip your toe in the water of fitness and try our five days for $5 option. It’s an easy way to get started. Every journey starts with the first step.

For more information, contact us today at Team Worx

No matter what type of workouts you do, they all can help during menopause. The key is to get 75 minutes of vigorous exercise or 150 minutes of moderate exercise. It can be cardio workouts like jogging, riding a bike, swimming or just walking or you can use the time for strength training. If you’re doing cardio, it boosts your heart rate, burns calories and improves circulation. Just getting exercise is regularly is what is important.

Strength training, especially weig0our body makes changes and estrogen levels drop.

The estrogen helped the body maintain bone strength. It’s estimated that 10% of the bone mass is lost during menopause and if the person is inactive or has other risk factors, it can be as high as 20%. When you do strength training, your muscles tug on the bone and that sets into motion the absorption of calcium to deal with the added force and prevent the bones from breaking when muscles tug on them. People tend to gain weight during menopause and strength training can help burn fat and build muscle tissue, which requires more calories for maintenance, so you’ll boost your metabolism.

Flexibility and relaxation training, like yoga and tai chi can help with hot flashes.

Each person going through menopause has different symptoms. Some have hot flashes, while others think they have no symptoms at all, until they realize that insomnia is one of those. Exercise of all types can help the insomnia, since you sleep better at night after working out. There are also poses in yoga that can help relieve the fatigue, irritability and hot flashes of menopause.

Do something you enjoy.

If you want to relieve some of the irritability of menopause, then do something you enjoy. Having fun and staying active is what it’s all about. Maybe you love playing tennis. It’s a good cardio workout and also improves flexibility. Dancing is another exercise that can improve overall body fitness. It builds strength, flexibility and endurance, too. It can be regular dancing like you’d do on an evening out on the town or take special classes in jazz, ballet or even belly dancing. The key is to enjoy it, not necessarily to prepare yourself for a chorus line.

• You can use a StairMaster or take the frugal route and simply climb stairs regularly. I know someone that runs up and down their stairs at home as part of their workout. As your estrogen levels drop, your risk of coronary problems increase, so getting this type of cardio can keep you heart healthy.
• If you don’t have time to workout, you can combine exercise with household duties. Just do your jobs with more speed and vigor. Washing windows, doing yardwork and scrubbing the tub can actually be quite a workout when you do it that way.
• The food you eat also makes a difference in the severity of your symptoms. Eating healthy with plenty of greens, healthy fats and lean protein sources are important. Green tea, flax and oatmeal have also been shown to help relieve symptoms.
• If you’re finding it hard to stick with a program or simply aren’t sure where to start, we can help. We’ll help you create realistic goals that are realistic, specific and attainable. At The Worx, we create personalized programs for you.

For more information, contact us today at The Worx by Maia

In Alexandria, VA, there are all types of eating philosophies. They include vegetarians, vegans, flexitarians and etc. There are benefits and drawbacks for all types of nutrition philosophies. For vegans, getting adequate nutrition is one concern and whether taking supplements is necessary. By eliminating all animal products from their diet, which includes meat byproducts like gelatin, honey, seafood, milk products and eggs, it’s harder to get certain nutrients.

It takes time to ensure you get adequate complete protein.

Complete proteins contain all nine essential amino acids that our body doesn’t make. There are some complete protein sources in the plant world, such as quinoa, tofu, tempeh, edamame, buckwheat, pistachios, chia seeds and hemp seeds. Even though there are eight sources, three are from soy products and there is a link between too much soy and some forms of cancer. For variety, you can mix and match food to make complete proteins. A whole wheat peanut butter sandwich is one example. While lack of adequate complete protein is of the concerns, with careful planning, it shouldn’t be.

Vitamin B12 may be lacking.

People normally get their vitamin B12 from animal products. Vitamin B12 is necessary to build prevent anemia and build red blood cells. Women need it in early stages of pregnancy to prevent birth defects. It boosts bone health, reduces the risk of macular degeneration and improves brain health. It also plays a role in metabolism. Unless you’re taking nutritional yeast, eating shitake mushrooms or eating B12 fortified foods, you may need supplements.

Vitamin D and other nutrients may be missing from vegan diets.

You’d think that vitamin D would be the easiest nutrient to get, since it comes from exposure to the sun, but both vegans and non-vegans are often deficient in this vitamin. Constant sunscreen is one reason, your location, skin color, age and weight are others. While fortified foods contain D, mushrooms are another decent source. It’s necessary to activate calcium, but calcium intake is another problem for vegans. It’s in broccoli, kale and other greens. Iron is also a problem, since most people use fish, chicken or beef as a source. Fortified foods are one option.

• Balancing your omega6 and omega3 fatty acids is important. If you’re vegan, focus on walnuts, chia seeds and flaxseed to boost omega3.
• Two good sources of protein for vegans are lentils and chickpeas. Lentils have 8.84 grams of protein per half cup and chickpeas provide 7.25 grams. Hummus is made from chickpeas, so choose it for a healthy dip.
• Zinc is a difficult nutrient to get on a vegan diet. Even non-vegans suffer from deficiencies. Zinc is high in animal products, but you can also get it from eating pumpkin seeds, chickpeas, lentils and cashews, to name a few sources.
• Fat and protein help you feel full longer and faster, but vegan protein sources provide less protein and more bulk. You may have to eat several times throughout the day to feel satiety. Be careful you aren’t snacking on unhealthy vegan options, like fries or potato chips.

For more information, contact us today at Team Worx

I love the holidays and it’s that time of year to start planning for them. I have a lot of clients at The Worx in Alexandria, VA, that want ideas for healthy meals and sugar free snacks kids love. Of course, they also want ones they’ll enjoy eating, too. Let’s face it, even if you made a spaceship out of Brussels sprouts, that wouldn’t encourage kids to eat them. Children have a more vivid sense of smell and taste than adults do, so many of the foods we love, they hate. Here are some ideas that will be healthy options for both kids and adults.

How about turning a veggie tray into a scary scene?

While some kids automatically love veggies, not all kids do. You have to entice them. Get creative with the food and even let them help. For Halloween, you can make spider deviled eggs. Make the deviled egg, placing half a black olive on top for the body and cutting eight slices from the other half for the legs. You can also make eyeballs by cutting cheese and topping with half an olive cut lengthwise to eat plain or put on top of a healthy dish.

Make the turkey the center of attention with creative snacks that are healthy.

A half a pear can be the turkey’s body with edible candy eyeballs and two thin slices of cheese for feet. Create the tail out of other sliced fruits for a colorful display. If you want a veggie turkey, make a healthy dip and top it with the bottom of a three lobed orange pepper. Put two lobes on the bottom for the cheeks and one lobe on top for edible candy eyes. Slice holes for two small yellow pepper slices for a beak and one for a red pepper waddle. Fan out cut veggies for the tail. Healthy pumpkin oat cookies and cinnamon apple chips are easy to do. Coat apples with cinnamon or a cinnamon/sugar mixture and dry in the oven at 200 degrees for 2-3 hours.

Green grapes topped with a banana slice and half a strawberry make great Grinches.

You just need toothpicks, a banana, strawberries, green grapes and a mini marshmallow for the ball on the end of Grinch’s Santa hat to make a treat perfect for watching the holiday special. Frozen Greek yogurt bark is also a special holiday treat when topped with kiwi slices shaped like a Christmas tree with dried cranberry and strawberry decorations. Spread out the Greek yogurt in a pan, decorate and freeze.

Pecan pie snack bites just takes five ingredients and no baking. Use a cup of medjool dates that are pitted, ¾ cup pecans, ¼ cup rolled oats, ½ tsp cinnamon and 1 TBSP maple syrup. Then use a food processor to mix it, processing the dates first, and form into balls. Chill and store for up to a week.

• Homemade microwave popcorn just requires a small brown paper lunch bag, some coconut oil and popcorn. You can even add toppings like Parmesan or American cheese.
• Create your own trail mix and let the kids help. Have nuts, dried fruit and even some dark chocolate bits ready to mix together. Let the kids help with mixing and dividing into individual bags for snacks.
• Pull open the end of string cheese to create a string cheese octopus. Lay the legs over a slice of apple for a tasty, healthy treat that will boost enjoyment and creativity.
• Banana ice cream takes nothing more than bananas sliced into small coin shapes and frozen. When you’re ready to make the ice cream, throw it in the blender until smooth. It’s ready to eat.

For more information, contact us today at Team Worx Fitness

Every part of your health that can be controlled with diet and exercise is important at The Worx in Alexandria, VA. In the past, we’ve focused on weight loss, feeling good, building strength and improving your overall health. It’s time to focus on the body’s largest organ, the skin, and how the food you eat can make a difference. Just like all fitness and dietary programs are different because each person is unique, there’s no one perfect diet for everyone. Instead, you have to find a diet for your skin type.

The first step is to identify the type of skin you have.

You may use lotions and other beauty products on the skin, but beautiful skin starts from within. In fact, all the magic creams may actually prevent you from identifying your skin type. Wash your face thoroughly and don’t use any products. Instead, wait an hour or two and examine your skin. If it feels tight and has some red, flaky patches, it’s probably dry. If there’s oil that is just in some areas, like around the nose, but dry other areas, it’s a combination. If you can put a tissue on your face any place and it shows signs of oil or shiny everywhere, it’s oily. The more visible the pores, the oilier the skin.

Dry skin needs more oil and maybe more hydration.

Are you drinking enough water? If not, you may be adding to the problem of flaky, dry skin. Besides including more water in your diet, increase juicy fruits, like oranges, grapes and watermelon. You need some healthy oil in your diet, too. Add some avocado or salmon for starters. Increase your food with vitamin A and vitamin C, which can add to skin’s dryness, like red bell pepper, broccoli and spinach. It’s not all about what you eat, but also about what you shouldn’t. Avoid alcohol and drinks with caffeine, both can be dehydrating.

If your skin is oily, don’t immediately eliminate oils.

It’s not always oil that makes your skin oily. In fact, healthy oil can actually help it with anti-inflammatory properties. Again, avocado, salmon and flaxseed are good choices. Avoid refined carbohydrates, especially those with added sugar. Keep fried foods to a minimum or ditch them altogether. Focus on eating whole grains, rather than refined carbs and reduce the amount of red meat in your diet.

For combination skin, taking the healthiest food from both the diet recommendations for oily skin and those for dry skin is beneficial. Processed carbohydrates cause inflammation and contribute to problems with combination skin.

If you have acne prone skin, you have oily skin with inflammation and bacteria. Vitamin C is important, so oranges are great. Zinc can also help prevent acne. Consider adding shellfish, chicken and pumpkin seeds to your diet.

While reducing the amount of sugar, unhealthy fat and dairy in a diet, or eliminating it entirely can help with acne prone skin, Greek yogurt may actually help the skin. Everyone is different, so experiment a bit.

If you want more vibrant skin, increase antioxidants, like lycopene in your diet. Lycopene is found in tomatoes. Eating food rich in collagen, such as bone broth, will slow the development of wrinkles.