small group training Archives - Page 2 of 2

Did Your Diet Explode on July 4th?

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 / By

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 / By

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 »

Eat as Much as You Want of these Foods

The Weekly Burn / By

When people think of dieting, most assume it means eating very small amounts of food. While it’s true you should only eat small amounts of certain foods like sweets and treats, there are some foods – a lot of foods actually – that you can go hog wild on without spoiling your health and fitness progress.

What determines whether you can eat a certain food without restraint? There are a few factors:

Volume: Some foods are made mostly of water or contain a lot of air which increases their volume without adding calories. High volume foods help fill you up quickly.
Protein: Studies have proven over and over that protein is more filling than fat or carbs.
Fiber: Natural fiber in food makes you feel full when you eat it and also slows down food as it moves through your digestive system. This keeps you feeling satisfied long after you’ve finished eating.

Based on this criteria, here are some foods you can fill up on with no regrets.

Citrus fruits like oranges, tangerines and grapefruit are high in water content and full of fiber.

…

Eat as Much as You Want of these Foods Read More »

small group training

Did Your Diet Explode on July 4th?

Are You Addicted to Sugar?

A Food Diary Makeover

Eat as Much as You Want of these Foods

NAVIGATION

CONTACT INFO

PROUDLY BUILT BY