healthy eating Archives

Sun’s Out Buns Out!

Healthy Summer BBQ Tips

Nothing says summer like a cookout and the smell of a flaming hot grill. But if you’re trying to maintain a healthy diet, a weekend BBQ can be more of a test of your will power than a chance to relax and enjoy time with friends. That’s because most traditional BBQ foods are loaded with calories, fat, sodium and sugar. So, should you stay away? Of course not! Here are some strategies to help you enjoy without completely throwing your nutrition off track.

Don’t deprive yourself completely. If there’s a food that you really love, by all means have it. But, focus on portion control. Choose one favorite to savor and enjoy in moderation.
Bring something healthy. Volunteer to bring a dish and prepare something healthy. That way you’ll know if all else fails, you have at least one healthy option to fall back on.
Choose a lean protein. Grilled chicken or turkey are great high protein options and you can enjoy more without all the saturated fat of a burger or a steak.
Load up on vegetables. It’s always a good idea to fill half your plate with vegetables.

Sun’s Out Buns Out! Read More »

Good Carbs vs. Bad Carbs

The Weekly Burn /

If you had to describe a holiday based on its menu, the word for Thanksgiving would be carbs. Mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, stuffing, rolls with a little turkey thrown in for good measure, of course. It occured to me as I enjoyed my holiday meal that carbs have gotten a bad rap lately. With so many people adopting a low carb lifestyle and diets like keto being all the rage, carbs have really been vilified. But if you ask me, carbs have an important place in our diet – they are the body’s primary energy source – and should be embraced instead of avoided.

I feel like a lot of the negativity around carbs stems from misunderstanding. There are good carbs and bad carbs; carbs that you should incorporate into your meals and those you should avoid. Here’s my best attempt at breaking it down so you can easily figure out what is what.

There are two categories of carbohydrates – simple and complex. Foods fall into either category based on what they’re made of and how your body breaks them down. Some people think simple carbs are bad and complex carbs are good.

Good Carbs vs. Bad Carbs Read More »

Did Your Diet Explode on July 4th?

The Weekly Burn /

All across the country people celebrated Independence Day with parties, fireworks and time with friends and family. As fun as they are, holidays like the 4th of July are very common times for people to fall off the wagon when it comes to their diets and fitness routines. But, slipping up (even a few times) over the holiday week doesn’t have to completely unravel all the progress you’ve made.

Here’s what to do if fireworks weren’t the only thing to blow up over this holiday week.

Acknowledge your slip up and move on. What’s done is done. Acknowledge that everyone, including you, is going to slip up once in a while. You’ll only set yourself up for personal disappointment if you expect perfection 100% of the time. If you live a generally healthy lifestyle, a short period of veering off track won’t turn you into an out of shape slug. Beating yourself up and wallowing in guilt will only prolong your episode and put more time and space between you and your overall healthy habits. In fact, a negative mindset has just as detrimental an effect on your body as eating bad food.

Did Your Diet Explode on July 4th? Read More »

Are You Addicted to Sugar?

The Weekly Burn /

Lots of people may find sugary foods hard to resist and for many people their sweet tooth drives them to eat foods that are unhealthy. But there’s a study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition suggests that sugary foods can be more than just a preference. They can actually be addictive.

Author David Ludwig who wrote Ending the Food Fight, and his group of researchers at Harvard conducted a study that showed that high sugar foods and others such as white flour and refined starch have an especially high glycemic index and trigger the the nucleus accumbens region of the brain. This is the area that is also sparked in response to alcohol, drugs, gambling and other things we think of as addictions. Scientists used brain scans to show that high sugar, high carb foods spurred a brain response similar to that of cocaine! So, it’s easy to see how eating highly processed and sugary foods regularly can lead to a habit that is hard to break.

The American Heart Association recommends no more than 6 teaspoons (25 grams) of added sugar per day for women and 9 teaspoons (38 grams) for men.

Are You Addicted to Sugar? Read More »

A Food Diary Makeover

The Weekly Burn /

This week’s newsletter was inspired by a Synergy member experience. In an effort to lose weight, this member was on a diet of 1,500 calories per day. After an initial weight loss of about 20 pounds, she found herself at a plateau. Although she was keeping up with her small group training sessions at Synergy and kept a meticulous food diary to ensure she did not exceed 1,500 calories per day, her weight loss seemed to have stopped.

To try to understand why she had plateaued, we sat down and reviewed her food diary together. It was detailed and tracked each meal and snack she was having over the course of the day. And while it was clear she was not “cheating” or taking in more calories, I noticed that the majority of the food she was eating was processed or packaged. Her diet was seriously lacking in whole, natural food.

So, to help her make a transition to a healthier whole food diet, we decided she would start by just changing her breakfast. From then on she had eggs and fruit instead of her usual processed breakfast of a bagel or cereal.

A Food Diary Makeover Read More »

healthy eating

Sun’s Out Buns Out!

Good Carbs vs. Bad Carbs

Did Your Diet Explode on July 4th?

Are You Addicted to Sugar?

A Food Diary Makeover

NAVIGATION

CONTACT INFO

PROUDLY BUILT BY