Movement: Weight Training

So when it comes to movement and workouts, you really want to prioritize weight training. Weight training is a great way to not only build muscle but it's gonna help with your mobility, it's gonna help prevent injury especially as we get older, we lose muscles as we get older. So you really want to make a focused effort to make sure you get enough protein, that you are lifting weights. If you're unsure where you'll get started, start with body weight workouts. So squats, push ups, pull ups. Those basics will set you up to be able to start getting into more weights using heavier dumbbells. That is really how you "get toned". Its not "getting toned", it's building muscle. And you really need to challenge yourself and lift heavy to do that.

So if those two-pound pink dumbbells don't feel like a challenge and you could quickly do reps, you really want to lift a weight where it is a challenge to get thru ten reps, eight reps because that is really how you build muscles. So I always tell...

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Movement: Cardio

This month's theme is all about movement and the first topic I want to cover is cardio I know many people try to kill themselves with cardio in an effort to lose weight. But when it comes to losing weight and making sure that your metabolism is operating at the most optimal rate, it's really important to build muscle. So you want to prioritize weight training, which I'll talk more about in a separate video, but cardio should be used as a tool for weight loss. If your primary goal is heart health or you're marathoner or triathloner, then cardio is going to be your primary workout.

 

However, if you're just looking to lose weight, build muscle, and get lean (or a lot of people like to call it "get toned"), you really want to use cardio sparingly and for overall heart health. What does that mean? That means using cardio maybe one high intensity workout a week, maybe one steady-state workout. But it's really important to make sure that you rest enough. A lot of people like to focus...

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Product Review: 3 Reasons Why I Love Naked Energy Wellness Shots

How excited was I when I saw a huge box of Naked Fire Shots arrive in the mail? I swear by Naked Nutrition supplements, so it’s a thrill when they release a new product. And I was not disappointed! 

 

This daily detox and energy supplement is great to use as a pre-workout boost or a mid-afternoon pick-me-up. You have an option to use ½ a bottle for moderate energy or the whole bottle for maximum energy. Best of all, there are only 35 calories due to the healthy ingredients that you won’t have any trouble pronouncing, unlike many supplements on the market today.

 

Here are some of the other benefits:

 

  1. Healthy, clean ingredients with no fillers
    With the motto of “nothing to hide,” Naked Nutrition continues to uphold this value with these energy shots. The ingredients include: water, wildflower honey, lemon juice concentrate, pear juice, concentrate, and pink Himalayan sea salt. That’s in addition to apple cider vinegar, green...
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Nutrition: Importance of Protein

Let's talk about the importance of protein in your overall nutrition. Protein is typically a macronutrient that is not eaten enough by most people. We typically focus on carbohydrates and fats, but protein is super important for a number of reasons.

First, protein helps you to feel full and satiated, so when you focus on having protein at meals and snacks, it will make you feel fuller throughout the day. Protein is also the building block of muscles. If you are trying to build muscle, and muscle at rest burns calories, you want to try to build as much muscle as you can. To do that, you need to prioritize protein.

And then there is also something called TEF - the Thermic Effect of Food. TEF means that certain foods take more calories and energy to break down, and protein is one of those. That's another reason why protein is important for your diet and should be the foundation of your meals and snacks. Make sure you have a good quality serving of protein. It could be 3-4 ounces of...

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Get Off The Diet Train

diet diet tips mindset Apr 27, 2022

If your goal is weight loss, let's talk about getting off the diet train and not focusing on quick fixes.

There are so many fad diets out on the market today, from Keto to Whole 30 to a variety of plans where entire food groups are eliminated. The key is to not starve yourself, which negatively impacts your metabolism as you're trying to lose weight. For example, if you're using MyFitnessPal and your goal is weight loss, the app will automatically set your calories to 1,200, which is not enough for the average person. Eating enough is so important! It may sound counter-intuitive, but you actually need to eat enough to lose weight, otherwise your metabolism suffers. That means don't eat until you're overly full. Don't eat until you're still hungry. It's really being intuitive and self-aware of when you eat, how it impacts you, and how it makes you feel. You want to target 80% to 90% full.

I talk a lot about macros -- protein, carbohydrates and fats -- and that's because it's...

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Mindful Eating

diet diet tips mindset Apr 21, 2022

Let's talk about "Mindful Eating." What exactly is it? When you eat, do you typically eat and do something else? Maybe you're scrolling through social media on your phone, watching TV, reading a book, or some other form of multi-tasking. Well, here's a tip and some homework to help you be more mindful...

I challenge you to try eating and only focus on eating. That means not doing anything else but focus on your meal. That means really taking the time to taste the food, explore the texture and focus on whether you're actually full or not. When you eat distracted, you often don't realize how much you've eaten or you're not full because you're not consciously aware of how much you've consumed. When you mindfully eat, you really hone in on how the food tastes. Take your time to slowly eat, chew and swallow. Typically, we rush through our meals instead of taking the time to enjoy the experience. My challenge to you is to be mindful when you eat. Try it! You'll be surprised at how...

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Nutrition: Are You Eating Enough?

diet diet tips Apr 13, 2022

Here's a question people frequently don't think about -- "Are you eating enough?"

When you're dieting down, obviously you cut your calories. However you'll reach a point when you can no longer reduce your calories anymore, you hit a plateau, you're not losing your weight, and you're stuck with what you do at that point.

That's when you may need to either do a little reverse dieting or look at taking a diet break. Once you reach the bottom of your calorie intake (typically not lower than your BMR or basal metabolic rate) your body will most likely adapt to that set point and not lose any more weight. That's when you need to gradually add calories back in, taking a a diet break to let your body re-adapt. Many times, you'll start increasing calories, and you won't gain weight. Doing this helps you start your calorie deficit or next round of dieting from a higher calorie point. To summarize, you cut calories, hit a plateau, take a short break and increase calories, let your body adapt,...

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Nutrition: Tracking Calories Versus Macros

Uncategorized Apr 06, 2022

Nutrition is one of the most important parts of transforming your body. Workouts are important as well, but nutrition really accounts for around 90% of your efforts.

When you think about nutrition, you want to make sure -- if your goal is weight loss -- that you're in a calorie deficit, which means you're taking in less calories than you're burning. That is how you lose weight, regardless of what diet you follow, whether it's Paleo, vegan, Whole 30, whatever diet you follow, you want to make sure you're taking in less calories than you're burning. That's how you lose weight. But it's also super important to track your calories and your macros.

Macronutrients are essentially what make up your calories. MacrOnutrients -- or macros for short -- are protein, carbohydrates, and fat. When you track macros, that is how you change your body composition, depending on your goal. If you're trying to build muscle, protein is going to be super important. If you're running a marathon,...

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Metabolism: The Role of Mindset

mindset Mar 30, 2022

There's one component that many people disregard when it comes to your metabolism, and that's your mindset. Some of the vital pieces I've covered in the past are nutrition, movement, rest and recovery. The last piece of the puzzle is mindset. And sometimes that can be the hardest part.

So what do we mean by mindset? It's really your attitude or how you approach different situations and challenges. And having a positive growth mindset is going to make all those aspects of your metabolism that much easier. Ultimately, you want to look at your health holistically. And your metabolism is very adaptable. So it's going to adapt to all those different changes. Whether you have hard workouts, light workouts, eat a lot, eat a little, and then having that strong mindset is key to bringing all the pieces together.

When it comes to ways that you can ensure you nurture a growth mindset, you want to focus on things like being grateful or having a gratitude journal. I've found that's one of the...

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Metabolism: The Role of Rest and Recovery

mindset sleep Mar 23, 2022

When it comes to your metabolism, another key component is rest and recovery. Now I know most people will be like, "that doesn't seem like it's important." But that is a vital aspect of your metabolism.

As you're working out, and you're trying to build muscle, and you're running, you're doing all the things, it's really important that you get adequate amount of sleep and also look for ways to engage in active recovery. That could mean more long walks, yoga, pilates -- different ways where you continue get movement, but you're not stressing your body.

Why is that important? Rest and recovery are not only important for muscle building, but key for hormonal health. Cortisol, the stress hormone, spikes after an intense workout. So it's super important to look for ways to calm yourself down. There's active recovery and there's also things like massage, meditation, breath work, stretching, going to the sauna, going to a steam room --all of these things aid in recovery and bringing your...

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