There are a lot of misconceptions about the foods that should be include on the dinner plate. The following are some healthy choices as to what you should include. Make sure it is well rounded and includes multiple food groups. The following foods should be considered as options for an “anytime plate” according to Precision Nutrition. The portions will vary depending on your goals (weight loss, weight gain etc), as well as timing (pre or post workout). More information can be found through the Precision Nutrition Plate Guide.
Drink: Choose water or tea instead of juice or soda as your main beverage.
Leafy Greens and Vegetables: You should choose steamed, raw or roast greens such as lettuce, spinach, cabbage, collards, kale, bok choy, chard, watercress, broccoli, brussel sprouts, asparagus, carrots, green beans, cauliflower, mushrooms, corn, onions, green peas, peppers, zucchini, tomatoes.
Healthy Fats: Seeds, nuts, olives, and avocados. Try to eliminate extracted oils and processed fats (example: margarine).
Whole Grains and Starch Based Vegetables: Some foods include rice, oats, Quinoa, buckwheat, millet, spelt, barley, whole grain pasta. This category also includes beets, parsnips, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and squash. Beans, lentils, soybeans, split peas and tofu are also included in this category.
Lean Meats, Poultry and Fish: Lean ground turkey, lean ground beef, chicken, and fish are all included in this category.
Salt: You should minimize your salt intake by using products with no sodium or low in sodium ingredients. Use salt as a seasoning sparingly. Try and stay inspired and use herbs, spices, vinegars, lemons and limes for seasoning.
For more tips on fitness and healthy eating check out
Alicia Bell is a Toronto based Personal Trainer
www.twitter.com/trainitright
wwww.trainitright.com
- See more at: http://livingcivil.com/create-healthy-dinner-plate/#sthash.uHVGrtzo.dpuf
Why You Need To Hydrate More
Did you know that water makes up one half to two thirds of your body weight? That means someone who is approximately 150lbs has about 10 gallons of water in their body at any given time. Keep in mind that each and every day you lose several gallons of water in urine, sweat and breathing. You need to replace the water that you lose. However, who has the time to drink 8 to 10 glasses of water a day?
According to recent studies on average most people consume all of the water they need. Nutritionist, doctors and fitness experts recommend that you drink eight 8-ounce glasses of water a day. If you are more active you need to drink more. Soda and coffee etc do not count. Also keep in mind that if you eat a lot of vegetables or water based foods you don’t need quite as much water. This applies especially towards vegetables which are composed of a lot of water themselves. If you are wondering if you are properly hydrated keep an eye on your urine. If your urine is pale it indicates that you are properly hydrated. The darker it is the less hydrated you are. If you take vitamins it may darken or brighten your urine even if you are properly hydrated so don’t be alarmed. Another way to tell if you are properly hydrated is that you have to empty your full bladder at least once every 2 to 4 hours.
Drinking water also suppresses your appetite and burns calories. Studies have shown that drinking cold water temporarily burns more calories because your body has to warm it up once it is ingested. It also may facilitate weight loss because it helps people feel full. So drink up!!!!
Follow Alicia Bell on Twitter
Sugar - Why You Should Cut It Out Of Your Diet
What a great topic to discuss on Valentines Day. A staple of the day: SUGAR.
Did you know that today’s 12-ounce soda can contain up to ten teaspoons of sugar and that the average American eats 22.7 teaspoons of sugar a day (National Geographic, 2013). The reason the consumption is so high is because sugar is added to processed food to enhance both the flavour and texture. I suggest staying away from processed sugary foods all together, but often times this is hard to do. When you grocery shop the best way to avoid processed foods is to stick to the outside of the store and stay away from the aisles.
According to Phycology Today sugar can be addictive and have severe effects on the brain and body. “Sugar leads to dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens – an area associated with motivation, novelty, and reward. This is the same brain region implicated in response to cocaine and heroin.” How ridiculous is it to think that eating sugar stimulates the same response as an illegal drug does.
Fructose and sugars are also bad for you because they are processed in the liver and turned into fats. These fats can build up and also enter the blood stream. This can cause health risks that include obesity, hypertension and diabetes. According to AMA Wire these are all prevalent problems affecting the greater part of the American population. “Obesity impacts one in three Americans and is a major contributor to cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes,” said AMA President .
If you are addicted to sugar there are a lot of affordable alternatives to sugar that are readily available and that I use regularly. These alternatives are available at grocery stores, health food stores, specialty food shops or even some corner stores. These alternatives include; Stevia, Xylitol, Coconut Sugar, Maple Syrup, Natural Honey and Brown Rice Syrup. Some times they can be an adjustment and when used in recipes and drinks you may not even notice the difference.
Do your body a favour and try to cut out as much processed and refined sugars that you can. Start by slowly replacing refined sugars and sweeteners and eventually your sweet tooth won’t even notice the difference.
Want A Tight Core? Try These Train It Right Approved Moves
The secret to a flat stomach is to strengthen your core muscles. You have probably heard trainers or other health professionals in the gym talking about how having a “strong core” is important, but if you’re like most people, you may not know exactly what that means, why it’s important or how to strengthen it.
WHAT IS YOUR CORE?
Most health care professionals use the word “core” to describe the different muscles that are is located in the middle section of your body as a whole. Many people think that the core is just the abdominal muscles. Although they are part of what makes up your core it actually includes your diaphragm (lower chest), abdomen (belly), obliques (sides), mid-lower back, and lower pelvic muscles. Add all of these muscles up and you get a total of 25 different muscles that make up your core.
WHY YOUR CORE IS IMPORTANT
Your core is where your body’s strength and stability comes originates. It is part of what is called a “kinetic chain” that allows the various parts of your body to function correctly. These muscles are critical for optimal athletic performance, daily activities (e.g., sitting, walking, running, reaching, bending, climbing stairs, to name a few). As our bodies age, it becomes increasingly important to do core strengthening exercises so that you can avoiding injuries and maintain an independent, healthy and active life.
STRENGTHENING YOUR CORE
To strengthen your core, it’s important to focus on keeping your belly button pulled in, a flat back and to remember not to hold your breath.
Try these exercises below For For endurance. Hold each one as long as you can. Repeat 2-3x.
Try these exercises below For For strength. Do each leg for 10-20 reps then switch. Repeat 2-3x.
Alicia Bell is a Toronto based Personal Trainer.
For more exercise tips follow Alicia Bell on Twitter.
Luce On king - promoting non-GMO, hormone and antibiotic free foods - @luceonking - Train It Right
Recently I had a great business meeting with like minded people at this awesome restaurant on King West in the heart of downtown Toronto. The are known as an Italian restaurant but what is unique is that they promote non-GMO, hormone fee and antibiotic free foods! What other Italian restaurant does that?!?! They also have some gluten free items on the menu too. The service was great and they had very knowledgable staff. I was very impressed so I wanted to share with you all! My favourite items were the pan friend cauliflower and the dates. MMMMM! So good! I suggest you head down to King Street and give this restaurant a try!
Luce Restaurant is an Italian Tapas Eatery just steps away from Bathurst, on King West. This hidden gem is known to have the BEST pizza in the city, including gluten free! A mom and pop shop with a health flare, serving their famous tapas menu promoting non-GMO, hormone and antibiotic free foods. Not your typical Italian eatery with a Renaissance Night every last Wednesday of the month. A must try, especially with their weekly specials. @luceonking 647-748-5464
The following are photos of all the items that they served us during our meeting. Don't they all look amazing!?
How To Handle DOMS - Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness
1. Drink plenty of water before, during and after your workout. Make sure to drink electrolytes or BCAA's during your workout. The essential salts will help regulate muscular contractions and nerve function as well as give you energy throughout your workout.
2.Espesso or coffee before your workout will increase muscle strength and endurance as well as help to reduce the chance of soreness.
3. Make sure to do a proper warm up and cool down. This will help clear out lactic acid, regulate the heart and help with blood flow.
4. Eat a post workout meal or snack that contains a ration of 4:1 carbs to protein. This will help restore muscle nutrients lost in the muscle during the workout. Chocolate milk is actually a great post workout options.
5. Massage, stretching, foam rolling, and trigger point release post workout also helps to increase circulation, help with tight muscles and reduce muscle tension like knots etc.
6. Take a cold shower post workout. This will help reduce inflammation to the muscles.
7. If you can't handle the cold shower a hot bath with epsom salts will also help blood circulation and inflammation of the muscles.
8. Proper rest. if you are training hard it is recommended that you get a minimum of 60-70hrs of sleep a week. This includes naps. Sleep is when your body recovers and rebuilds muscle. If you are training hard and often the more sleep you need to help those muscles.
Quick Tips To Get Sexy Abs
The secret to sexy abs isn't crunches. Flexion of the spine caused by crunches isn't always a good thing. Especially if you have back issues. So I wouldn't suggest doing crunches that involve flexion. Also you can do all the crunches in the world but unless you shed that fat over your stomach you will never see your abs that are underneath. You have to lose those layers in order for you abs to show.The following tips will help you get those sexy ab's that you'v always wanted. So get Training It Right for your abs!
One of the first things that people don't realize that leads to a sexy stomach and abs is your diet. Your diet directly affects your body's ability to burn fat efficiently. To clean up your diet to help remove abdominal fat make sure to drink 2-3L of water a day, eat smaller more frequent meals and snacks. I suggest 3 meals and 2-3 snacks a day. No more than 2-3hrs spread apart. Eat lean protein, and healthy fats. Avocado is a great healthy fat and fish high in Omegas help you get that as well as protein. A good amount of protein to aim for is 0.8g per pound of body weight. Stay away fro high salted foods, fried foods and processed sugars and sweets.
The second thing is to stay away from long steady cardio. It's ok to sometimes mix it up but try and stick to interval training that is to say HIIT - High Intensity Interval Training. Why it works? It helps your bloodstream uptake fat out of stage where it can be used for energy. Make sure to alternate the high intensity with lower intensity so you can survive the workout. For example walk for a minute at an incline of 3 and speed of 3, then pick it up to run at speed of 7 and repeat for 20-40 minutes. I suggest to start with 20 and work your way up to the 40 or more.
The third thing would be to still work on your core without the crunches by using planks. There are so many types of planks. Make sure to mix it up. Front planks, side planks, reverse planks, one hand planks, one leg planks, forearms on bosu, feet on boss, use a trx, use a bench etc.
Good luck and Happy Training It Right!
Sex Boosts Your Immune System. Yep you read that right!
According to WebMd having sex often actually increases your immune system and “Sexually active people take fewer sick days,” says Yvonne K. Fulbright, PhD a sexual health expert. People who have sex have a higher immune system. This system protects us from germs and viruses. According to the article, researchers at Wilkes University found that college students who had sex once or twice a week had higher levels of the a certain antibody compared to students who had sex less often. So you should hit the sheets and not only make time for your relationship but tell your partner that it is flu and cold season and that this will help keep you healthy all winter long! It also burns calories so add it in for your workout routine!
Hey Guys! I just saw on twitter that Bodybuilding.com has free shipping today with orders over $49.00 so I just wanted to share with you in case you need to order some supplements or workout gear! Happy Holidays! Train It Right!
Train It Right's very own Alicia Bell had the opportunity to model for Precision Nutrition. The nutrition certification that Alicia has and uses in her nutrition consultations with her clients. It is the best certification for coaches and the best program for client's looking to take their nutrition to the next level. Check out a screen shot of the page!
