Blog Archives

This is Why You’re Bloated

The foods that you put into your body directly effect your ability to lose, maintain or gain weight. While  fast foods, frozen foods/prepackaged foods may be convenient and quick for your schedule, these foods are making your fitness goals less convenient…in other words slowing down your potential progress.

This is why you’re bloated- Lack of fiber, cheese and over-processed foods are blocking up your system and inhibiting natural digestion. The liquids that you are drinking (soda, alcohol, etc) are the exact ones that are dehydrating and bloating you. Our bodies weren’t designed to handle some of the foods that are now popular to the majority.

Beat the bloat- Eating balanced meals is a challenge if you allow yourself many hours between meals. Keep healthy snacks like sliced celery, carrots or fruit on hand so that your body doesn’t go into starvation mode/fat storage mode. Have you ever noticed that if you wait many hours before eating dinner, when your meal is finally ready to be consumed, your stomach hurts and you end up bloated after the meal?

Drink lots of water – You should be drinking at least half of your body weight in ounces of water each day. I don’t believe in the “don’t drink water if you’re not thirsty” saying. Stay hydrated to beat bloating.

Stay regular- This means eating lots of fiber, especially in the mornings to enable healthy digestion and elimination. Add flax seed to your morning oatmeal or some leafy greens to your morning smoothie.

Limit sodium intake- This means straying away from any pre-packaged foods, frozen foods and sauces. These foods are loaded with sodium to preserve their taste. They will do nothing good for your body.

Eating balanced meals, keeping track of your portions, and drinking your daily quota of water will help you manage bloating and stay on track with your fitness goals. Consult with your personal trainer or nutritionist to find the best plan for you!

Posted on | Image

Your Workout Nutrition

Are you showing up for your workout sessions on an empty stomach? Or leaving your training session feeling starving and weak? If you answered “yes” to either of these questions or both, you’ll love this quick lesson in workout nutrition.

Pre-Workout Nutrition- Your body needs fuel in the form of food to function. When you first start a new workout routine along with a healthy diet, the general tendency is to skimp on calories before and after a workout. Most people think that this is necessary to lose weight- this couldn’t be further from the truth. I notice it with some of my clients who show up feeling tired before their training sessions. Either they haven’t eaten in a few hours or they ate the wrong things before the session. I have also seen dizziness, nausea, headaches and overall fatigue which are all symptoms of hunger and/or improper nutritional preparation before their sessions. Nine out of ten times when I ask a client when the last time they ate was, the answer is 2 hours ago or more. This is catastrophic to your weight loss goals.

So how can you avoid this feeling and what pre-workout rules should you follow?

What you must realize is that the energy you get from the foods you eat is ultimately what is going to decide how your workout goes. If your metabolism is already slowing down from hours of not eating, it is going to be difficult to rev it back up and start burning calories, that your body is now clinging onto for dear life, in your workout. You are exercising to burn calories, right? Make it a habit to eat a high carbohydrate healthy snack prior to your training session. This could include an apple, Lara Bar, banana or carrots-NOT a protein bar, save his for post-workout.  You may be saying to yourself that these snacks are sugary, but you need carbohydrates to get through your workouts efficiently. (If you or your personal trainer are pushing hard enough, you will burn off the sugar, so don’t worry.)

Post-Workout Nutrition- Post workout nutrition is for muscle recovery and development. Immediately following a run, for example, you want to replace electrolytes lost through sweat during your run by drinking an electrolyte beverage. Think about it, have you ever seen an athlete NOT with a water bottle? And guess what, that’s not just plain old water in there. There are many electrolyte beverages out there like Gatorade to try. After a workout (think legs, upper body, abs day) you want to support the workout you just did by having a protein shake or protein bar immediately following the workout to aid in muscle growth and recovery. (when i say growth, I don’t mean bulk- I mean muscle breaking through and saying goodbye to cellulite!) You might also want to consider having a snack. The body is in fat burning mode immediately following a workout so it’s okay to consume a few extra HEALTHY calories at this time.

So no more starving yourself before and after sessions, okay? Do we have a deal? Your body will thank you for it in the long run and I know you will thank me when you start to see a major breakthrough in your training results. If you have any questions as far as healthy snacks, brands and recommendations go, please don’t hesitate to ask!

Posted on | Image

My New Veggie Diet Detox

Over the past few weeks I have been experimenting with my nutrition. For a while I had been feeling like my energy level was low, I was taking frequent naps during my breaks between clients, and I couldn’t seem to get rid of excess bloat around my midsection. I started reading books about “beauty detox” and even considered going Vegan but realized that would mean giving up fish which is really the only type of protein I eat anyway. So I opted to go back to my Vegetarian roots.

You can never eat too many of these!

I feel very lucky to have been brought up vegetarian. When my athletic performance started to suffer in my late teens I decided to start forcing myself to eat some meat (not red). This helped me out tremendously as a dancer and helped me to develop some gorgeous lean muscles. As more time went on I slowly introduced chicken and fish into my diet and now fish is pretty much the only protein that I consume. But I was starting to decrease the amount of vegetables and fruits that I consumed.

Avocado is a great addition to your salad.

My lunches used to consist of things like tuna or turkey sandwiches and I would always feel extremely lethargic after eating. So tired that I was taking a nap between clients in the afternoon (even after getting 8+ hrs of sleep each night). I began eliminating the sleepy carbs and protein from my lunches and replaced them with an abundance of vegetables. Now my lunches consist of salads with tons of veggies and avocado or stir fry veggies over brown rice. If I worked out in the morning I will have a protein shake after lunch too. For dinner I have been eating veggies like broccoli or green beans with a lean protein like chicken or salmon.

Could defnitely eliminate a few items from this picture...

I have noticed a big difference in my energy levels and abdominal progress since adding more fruits and veggies to my diet. I think it is very important to listen to your body and make adjustments if something just doesn’t feel right. For example: if your stomach burns after you eat a certain food, chances are you may be allergic to an ingredient in that food. So why eat it again? At the end of the day nutrition is common sense.

Posted on | Image

Healthy Fall Comfort Foods

I don’t know about you but Fall is my favorite time of the year. The weather is starting to get cooler, the leaves are changing my favorite shades of red, orange and brown, and the smell of comfort food is in the air. So how can you resist those Fall sweet temptations? Don’t resist at all, just spice things up the healthy way! Today I am going to talk about my favorite Fall comfort vegetable, the sweet potato.

While staying fit and healthy may require skipping the stuffing and mashed potatoes, it also means loading up on healthy comfort foods like yams (or sweet potatoes). In fact, yams are one of the best vegetables that you can eat. They are loaded with Vitamin A, B, C, fiber, iron, and potassium which are an important part of any diet but especially for those of you who are weight training. It definitely helps that they taste good too.

How to prepare- Sweet potatoes can be prepared a variety of ways. You can boil them, bake them, saute (sliced or cubed), mash them, or even throw them on the grill wrapped in foil.

What to serve with- My favorite healthy way to serve up a sweet potato is with a piece of grilled salmon and asparagus. The flavors will blend for the ultimate healthy Fall treat.

How to season- The popular way to season sweet potatoes is with loads of fatty butter, but there are alternatives. Try a low fat margarine and add just a touch of brown sugar for a decadent dinner treat so good that you won’t crave dessert.

So next time you are craving a Fall comfort food dinner on a chilly night pick up a few sweet potatoes from your local market and get creative!

Posted on | Image

Strawberry Spinach Salad Recipe

May 1

Posted by

As the Summer approaches and the strawberries ripen we need a way to put those sweet berries to good use. What better place to put them than in a salad! Here is my recipe for a superb strawberry spinach salad;


Ingredients:
4 cups baby spinach leafs
4 ripe strawberries sliced
4 slices of cucumber
2 tbsp blue cheese
2 oz grilled chicken breast (optional)
2 tbsp Trader Joes Raspberry Vinaigrette

Directions:
Combine all ingredients over 4 cups of baby spinach in a bowl. Voila!

Posted in fitness, nutrition, weight loss

Leave a Comment

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Favorite French Fry Alternative

Feb 1

Posted by

Hello friends and San Diego personal training clients! I just finished up dinner and it dawned on me that I should probably tell you about the awesome meal that I had.

Tonight we had grilled salmon burgers with a super healthy french fry alternative…green beans! I have to say that the green beans were my favorite part of the meal and a perfect alternative to french fries without the added grease.

Green beans are packed with fiber and vitamins A and C. But don’t buy the canned version that is packed with preservatives.

To cook my “green bean fries,” I first steam them over the stove-top. When they are 80% cooked, I remove them from the heat and set them aside. Meanwhile, on another burner, I heat up a skillet with olive oil. I add the 80% cooked green beans to the skilled and saute them, allowing them to cook the rest of the way through. Pan sauteing the green beans will also give them a great crispy texture. Add a bit of salt and pepper and voila!

So next time you are having burgers or a sandwich that call for fries, why not try green bean fries!

Posted in fitness, nutrition, weight loss

1 Comment

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 3,708 other followers