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You Are What You Eat

You Are What You Eat

Published by on July 25, 2024 | Leave a response

It’s easy to eat unhealthy in Louisville, KY. There are many restaurants, bakeries, and delicious temptations everywhere. Clients at Body Sculptures understand that you are what you eat. That doesn’t mean the food is poor quality. It might be expensive. It means it doesn’t contain nutrients but may contain many things that cause harm, like sugar or lard. Filling your body with empty calories that contain little fiber, nutrients, or protein packs on the pounds without providing any benefits.

You eat what your food eats.

If you’re consuming animal products, you’re eating what they eat. If they’re pastured and feed on grass, plants, or insects, they are healthier, and their products, like milk and eggs, are more nutritious. Just look at the yellow yolk of an egg from a pastured hen compared to an egg from a caged hen. Its yolk is a deep, rich color. It also tastes different and is more nutritious. That’s because the animals are living their best life. They are living closer to the way they are supposed to live. The same is true when YOU eat whole foods and avoid food with chemicals, processing, or sugar. You’re living your best life and eating your healthiest.

Your food doesn’t have to be right out of the garden.

Shopping only in the produce department can be expensive. The produce can go bad before you use it. If you’ve ever gotten home and found hidden mold in your container of strawberries, you understand that many of the fresh alternatives have been picked a while back. Frozen fruits and vegetables may be fresher. The processing plant is close to the fields, so they’re picked at prime ripeness. They’re immediately frozen and contain maximum nutrition. Canned foods have slightly fewer nutrients than fresh or frozen. You’ll save money and save time using these two options.

It’s the type of processing that makes a difference.

Manufacturers remove all the good stuff from highly processed flour. The good stuff is the nutrients. Highly processed flour, like white flour, is made from the endosperm. Manufacturers remove the bran and the germ. The endosperm is the starchy part. The germ is the part that contains all the nutrients. It improves heart health, immunity, cellular metabolism, and muscle health. The bran provides fiber that’s necessary for good health. Whole grain flour provides both bran and germ.

  • If you want energy, the quick energy of sugar may sound enticing. However, even though it increases rapidly, it drops just as dramatically.
  • If you want to maximize nutrition, choose colorful vegetables and fruit. Each color is from a phytonutrient that provides specific benefits to the body.
  • If you put sugar in your gas tank, it ruins your car. The same is true of your body when you eat food with added sugar. Sugar negatively affects all parts of the body.
  • What you drink also makes a difference. Some drinks, like unsweetened coffee and green tea, contain added benefits. Water is also a good choice. Soft drinks negatively affect the body and add empty calories to your diet.

For more information, contact us today at Body Sculptors Personal Training

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Don't Forget Your Water Bottle

Don’t Forget Your Water Bottle

Published by on July 15, 2024 | Leave a response

Keeping a bottle of water with you is good advice, especially during the summer. Even mild dehydration can cause your energy to slip away. Your body is mostly fluid. Your brain is 73% fluid, lungs are 83%, and kidneys 70%, Water is necessary for the body to function correctly. It’s easy to dehydrate, especially on windy days when sweat evaporates quickly. You may feel cool, but your fluid reserve will drop rapidly. You may end up with heat exhaustion from dehydration. Even mild dehydration can make you exhausted, confused, or dizzy. It may present itself as dementia in seniors.

You might not think you need a bottle of water if you work at a desk.

You may work in an air-conditioned room and think that since it’s cool, you don’t have to worry about dehydration. After all, you’re not sweating. That’s not correct. Because you’re comfortable, dehydration is easier to miss. Air conditioners cool the air by removing the moisture. When it’s removing the moisture from the air, it’s also taking it from your body. Instead of grabbing a snack to reenergize, drink a bottle of water. You’ll be surprised at how much more alert you’ll feel. Even in winter months, heating any building dries the air and you.

Drink water to boost weight loss.

About a half hour before you eat, drink a bottle of water. To burn the most calories, make the water icy cold. It takes extra calories to offset the cold and warm your body. The water will fill you so you’ll eat less. It also is a good substitute for sugary soft drinks like colas. You’ll be surprised at how some of your food cravings are the body’s response to dehydration. If you drink a glass of water and your craving disappears, you have the answer and save hundreds of calories.

Do your joints ache or muscles hurt?

It may be that you’re slightly dehydrated. Sore joints can come from dehydration. Synovial fluid lubricates the joints. If you’re dehydrated, there is less fluid. The synovial fluid helps reduce the friction. The body struggles to get adequate fluid for the joints when it’s focusing on the heart, lungs, and brain. Your body also needs water to make cartilage to make joints move easier. About 65 to 80% of cartilage is water. Water keeps joints lubricated and helps create more cartilage to reduce pain in the future.

  • Lack of adequate fluid from dehydration can lead to low or high blood pressure. It can cause a sudden drop due to low blood volume or an increase in an attempt to move thicker blood.
  • If you want to look your best, stay hydrated. The older you are, the easier it is for your body to lose fluid that dries your skin and can cause wrinkling.
  • Water can help reduce bloating and water weight. Drinking water ends water-hoarding by the body when your intake is low. Extra water also flushes out excess sodium, which causes water retention.
  • The very old and the very young are more susceptible to dehydration. The very young are because of their size and the amount of bodily fluid. The very old lose fluid faster.

For more information, contact us today at Body Sculptors Personal Training

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What Are Your Summer Goals

What Are Your Summer Goals

Published by on July 5, 2024 | Leave a response

Spring and summer are the times for growth and renewal. If you haven’t made goals this spring, it’s time to start on summer goals. It’s the best time to create weight loss and healthy eating goals since fresh vegetables and fruit are plentiful. You can make it fun by hunting out the vegetable stands of local farmers. The sun is shining, and for the most part, the weather is inviting, so outside sports and activities are plentiful.

Focus on hydration.

Even mild dehydration can cause health issues. At best, it can cause muscle and joint aches and pains. In seniors, it can cause mental confusion that may resemble dementia. It’s hot, you sweat and it’s more apparent that you need water to replace the amount you lost in sweating. When you’re inside, air conditioning dries out the air as part of the cooling process. That can also dry out your skin and ultimately cause mild dehydration. Some of the signs are lethargy and total lack of energy. Focus on drinking more water or drink water when you need a pick-me-up.

Maybe you want to look better in summer clothing.

Summer clothing is far more revealing than its winter counterparts. It can cause you to feel self-conscious. Instead of hiding under a beach umbrella or wearing loose-fitting clothing, it’s a great time to get into shape. Exercising should be one of your summer goals if that description rings true to you. There are many activities you can do in the summer that also burn tons of calories. Swimming is one of them. It’s easy on the joints due to the body’s buoyancy, yet the viscosity of the water makes it harder to move, burning extra calories.

There’s no better time to start eating healthier.

Fresh fruit and vegetables are abundant. They aren’t picked early, so they taste better. The hot weather also makes juicy produce taste better than heavier fried foods. You might combine a more active lifestyle by growing produce. It always tastes better when you grow it yourself. If you don’t have space for a garden, create a container garden. Bush beans and determinate tomatoes are easy to grow in a container.

  • Your goal may be to spend more time in Mother Nature. If you do safe sunning, you’ll boost your vitamin D intake. If you’re spending a long time in the sun, don’t forget to use sunscreen.
  • Make your goal learning to relax. Sitting outside in nature, gardening, and learning breathing exercises helps. Walking barefoot on the grass or earth is called earthing. It draws energy from the earth to help you relax.
  • Improve your social life in the summer. Join an active group that does biking, swimming, hiking, or other sports. People who socialize more live longer.
  • Make summer your time for renewal and don’t beat yourself up if you don’t stick with it for a day. Just start anew the next day. Even if you have to lose weight, get fit, quit smoking, or whatever your goal is, treat yourself with kindness and forgive slip-ups when they happen.

For more information, contact us today at Body Sculptors Personal Training

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Natural Pain Relief That Works

Natural Pain Relief That Works

Published by on June 25, 2024 | Leave a response

There are many reasons not to take OTC pain relievers like NSAIDs such as ibuprofen or anti-inflammatories like aspirin. If you take them frequently, they can affect your health. Aspirin can cause Reyes syndrome, liver and kidney problems, and issues digestive issues. Chronic long-term use of NSAIDs can lead to heart and digestive problems. You can opt for natural pain relief that doesn’t involve drugs.

Quick relief can come from heat or cold therapy.

Heat or cold therapy can reduce arthritis pain. Dipping your hands in hot wax is a well-known measure people often take to reduce arthritis and muscle pain. Originally it was in the form of ice baths and ice packs. Recently, whole-body cryotherapy has been used by athletes or in spas to relieve pain after an intense workout. It’s proven to be effective for other types of pain, including arthritic pain.

Exercise is a natural pain reliever.

If you’re in pain, exercise is the last thing you think about doing. However, it can help. One of my clients had a horrible toothache and couldn’t see a dentist until the next day. He spent all night pacing and moving about because it seemed to relieve the pain. It triggered endorphins, the body’s natural painkillers. Exercise also stimulates circulation and can help heal muscle injuries. It causes the joints to lubricate to bring relief.

Drink herbal tea, eat anti-inflammatories foods, or get a massage with essential oils.

Herbs are natural, just as aspirin is, but like aspirin, ingesting them too frequently may cause other health issues. Herbs and other foods with anti-inflammatory properties like ginger, turmeric, berries, avocados, broccoli, and dark chocolate help reduce chronic pain. Cutting out inflammatory foods, like those with added sugar, also helps. A massage with essential oils like peppermint, clove, or lavender can help you relax and reduce pain.

  • Create a massage cream with hot pepper seeds, body cream, and aspirin. The capsaicin in hot peppers combined with the aspirin and a massage offers natural pain relief. Soaking your feet in Epsom’s salts can also relax muscles to bring relief.
  • One of the first natural pain relievers used by Native Americans was white willow bark. It contains a substance called salicin that changes to salicylate acid in the stomach. It’s the original aspirin.
  • Reduce stress in your life and learn relaxation techniques like deep breathing or meditation. Stress exacerbates pain. A cup of chamomile tea can also help you relax.
  • Go outdoors and walk. If possible, take off your shoes and walk in the grass. Walking barefoot on the ground, not on concrete, can help reduce stress and bring pain relief.

For more information, contact us today at Body Sculptors Personal Training

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Natural Ways To Fight Aging

Natural Ways To Fight Aging

Published by on June 5, 2024 | Leave a response

Most people in Louisville, KY, understand that getting older is natural and desirable. It means you lived another year, month, or day. Aging is quite different. Aging affects the cells, causing physical changes that range from wrinkling to conditions like heart disease or dementia. The harder you fight aging, the higher the probability you’ll live longer and get older. Genetics plays a vital role in how you age, but you can control many forces that promote aging. Here are some ideas to help control both mental and physical aging.

It starts with a healthy diet.

Some people are lucky. No matter what they eat, they don’t gain weight and stay healthy and youthful. You may only see the unhealthy part of their diet. Most of it may be nutritious. Another possibility is they have superior genetics. Choosing whole foods over highly processed food is one way to make a difference. It helps control weight, reduces inflammation, and reduces artery-clogging trans fats. A healthy diet can reduce cognitive aging and help prevent atherosclerosis which can clog the blood flow to the brain.

Stay active.

While a program of regular exercise is desirable, just staying active can help. If you walk frequently, keep your walk as brisk as possible. It increases your heart rate and improves circulation. Walking briskly for an hour three times a week helps lower blood pressure. It boosts cognitive skills. One study followed four groups of people. Two of the groups had the e4 gene associated with the development of Alzheimer’s. Two groups did not have the gene. One group with and one without the gene exercised regularly for 18 months. The other two groups did not change their lifestyle. The group with the e4 gene that didn’t exercise had significant changes in the hippocampus that signaled early onset Alzheimer’s.

Get adequate sound sleep.

Not only do you need to get enough sleep, but your sleep cycle should also be uninterrupted and go through every sleep stage. Lack of sleep can cause heart issues and affect all body parts. Your sleep position also has an effect. If you’re right-handed you’re programmed to sleep on your left side. It leaves your right hand free to protect yourself. Sleeping on your side also helps the brain clear itself of waste and reduces the risk of Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s. When you sleep on your side, you’ll lower the risk of sleep apnea or snoring.

  • Get out in the sun. Studies indicate that a large portion of society has a vitamin D deficiency. Studies showed that people who are obese, had severe cases of Covid, or have dementia have vitamin D deficiencies.
  • Develop a social life and smile more. People who smile and laugh more frequently are healthier. Those with a healthy social life live longer.
  • Find your life’s purpose. If you’re at retirement age, don’t retire if you love your job if that’s possible. Develop a new hobby that makes you feel useful and create goals. Having a purpose in life prevents aging.
  • Learn ways to lower stress. Meditation, mindfulness, earthing, and breathing techniques can all reduce stress. Learn a technique you can use anywhere.

For more information, contact us today at Body Sculptors Personal Training

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Is It Better To Eat Veggies Raw Or Cooked?

Is It Better To Eat Veggies Raw Or Cooked?

Published by on May 25, 2024 | Leave a response

When people think of increasing the veggies in their diet they picture adding more raw vegetables to their salad or smoothie and often ignore cooked ones. Most people feel that cooked vegetables just aren’t as healthy. Is that true? There are a lot of misconceptions about eating healthy but in this case, the answer is both true and false. Cooking may enhance the nutrients you absorb, destroy the nutrients, or make no difference at all. It also depends on the nutrients and vegetables.

Vitamin C is hard to protect.

When you cook vegetables containing vitamin C, like tomatoes, broccoli, and sweet peppers, it destroys it. Vitamin C is water-soluble, so the vitamin C leaks into the water when boiled. Cooking food in a cast iron pan or exposure to oxygen destroys it. If you cut the fruit or vegetables ahead of time cover them tightly and store them in the refrigerator. Steaming food, stir-frying it, or serving it in a casserole can help preserve some of the vitamin C in the vegetables.

Cooking may increase the content of some vitamins.

Even though cooking tomatoes destroys nutrients, most notably vitamin C, it also enhances others. Lycopene, the phytonutrient that gives tomatoes its red color, is one of those nutrients. Lycopene is an antioxidant that protects the body from aging, disease, and death at a cellular level. It offers heart-healthy benefits, can slow skin aging, and promotes eye and brain health. Lycopene supports strong bones, reduces the risk of cancer, and can reduce pain. It is similar to ibuprofen for pain reduction. While you lose the vitamin C in tomatoes, you gain a different potent antioxidant.

Even though the vegetables may contain nutrients, does your body absorb them?

No matter how many nutrients you eat, you won’t get any benefit if you don’t absorb the nutrients. Studies show that cooking vegetables may make nutrients more easily absorbed. One study followed three groups of women. The first group was a control group that ate an average diet. The second group ate a raw food diet, and the third group ate both cooked and raw vegetables based on dietary recommendations. The group eating the raw food consumed more nutrients, but the group eating both cooked and raw vegetables absorbed more nutrients. Cooking made the nutrients more bioavailable.

  • Some vegetables are better when cooked. Eating raw sweet corn, eggplant, asparagus, or potatoes isn’t as pleasant as eating them cooked, so you eat more.
  • Heating not only helps release lycopene, but it also helps release the nutrients in carrots. They’re healthier when they’re heated. Cooking destroys the oxalate in spinach. Oxalate binds to calcium and makes it unavailable.
  • You can eat crucifers like Brussels sprouts or broccoli, cooked and raw. However, the raw version can give you gas or digestive issues if you introduce it too fast into your diet.
  • Experiment with ways to increase the variety of vegetables in your diet. If you’ve never included Brussels sprouts in a salad, try it or add leftover roasted vegetables. Include vegetables at breakfast by adding them to scrambled eggs.

For more information, contact us today at Body Sculptors Personal Training

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Should I Push Myself Or Pace Myself?

Should I Push Myself Or Pace Myself?

Published by on May 15, 2024 | Leave a response

We offer diversified workouts at Body Sculptors in Louisville, KY, because everyone is different. Some people like to push themselves. Their program will differ from people who prefer or have to pace themselves. Our programs do both, but we do it in varying proportions based on the person’s goals and preferences. Pushing hard can help you achieve more, but when it’s too hard, it can cause an injury that can set you back months. On the other hand, pacing yourself can improve your endurance or limit your progress if you do it too much.

It’s good to pace yourself when you’re first learning an exercise.

Form is everything. It determines whether you’ll reap the benefits of an exercise or cause you to have an injury. When you’re first learning something new, pacing yourself is best. You can pace yourself for the first few sessions when you’re learning and focus only on form, then start pushing harder each time. The older you are or the more sedentary your lifestyle, the longer you need to pace yourself until you get into shape. You’ll take longer to heal and experience more exhaustion initially.

If you’re half-heartedly exercising and calling it pacing, you won’t get the results you want.

You’re not maximizing your exercise time if you never break a sweat or can sing throughout the workout. Push yourself a little harder to make sure you get into shape. When you do the same number of reps at the same pace as you did several months ago, your body becomes efficient at the workout and burns fewer calories. Constantly change your workout to keep it challenging. Just how difficult it should be depends on you.

Know your body.

Feeling extreme stress or difficulty breathing should tell you to back off a little. If you’re doing strength training, don’t push yourself too much with daily intense workouts. Strength training causes micro tears in the muscles. The healing process creates scar tissue that builds muscle and strength. If you don’t allow the muscles to heal they won’t get stronger. It can affect your immune system, diminish muscles, and cause personality changes and problems sleeping.

  • If you can still gasp out a few words while you’re working out and don’t feel like you need to quit, push a little harder. If you can barely stand or breathe, give yourself a break and pace yourself.
  • Give yourself between 48 and 72 hours between tough workouts or strength training on the same muscle groups. You can still do recovery exercises like walking. It’s one way of pacing yourself.
  • If you can’t push very hard for any reason, especially health, do something. Even if you aren’t maximizing your workout time, you’re still getting exercise. Don’t give up. After a few weeks or months, you’ll be able to push yourself harder.
  • Pushing too hard during the first week can cause aches and pains that make you want to quit. Unfortunately, it’s when most people don’t pace themselves, and one reason exercise programs end.

For more information, contact us today at Body Sculptors Personal Training

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Benefits Of Green Tea

Benefits Of Green Tea

Published by on May 5, 2024 | Leave a response

What you drink is just as important as what you eat when it comes to health benefits. If you drink soft drinks regularly, consider switching to green tea. Don’t add sugar or cream to keep it healthier. If you need a bit of sweetener, add a drop or two of honey. Green tea aids in weight loss and shedding visceral fat—also known as belly fat. Both diet and regular soft drinks increase belly fat. Green tea contains nutrients that can keep you healthier and extend your life.

The antioxidants in green tea provide some of the health benefits.

Green tea contains polyphenols. Polyphenols are antioxidants that reduce inflammation. That can help prevent cancer and heart disease. Green tea also contains catechins. EGCG—epigallocatechin-3-gallate—is a catechin that is also a powerful antioxidant that protects cells from damage. Cell damage leads to serious conditions. It’s also the cause of aging. Studies show that drinking more green tea daily helps you live longer and healthier.

Green tea may boost your metabolism.

You’ll get cell protection from EGCG and a boost in your metabolism. It works with the caffeine found in green tea. Some long-term studies show that people who drank two cups of green tea daily had lower body fat. Other studies show that people taking caffeine and EGCG for 12 weeks had significant weight and fat loss. The EGCG also helped prevent brain damage from diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and dementia. The EGCG can also help reverse damage. Studies show that people who drank three cups a day for years had less cognitive impairment. It also reduced the potential for Parkinson’s by 30 to 40 percent.

You’ll have healthier teeth and gums when you drink green tea.

Green tea helps fight gingivitis, kills germs, and fights tooth decay when you drink it daily. It has antifungal and antibiotic benefits for your mouth and can improve oral health. It’s a good option for improving your breath because of its antibacterial effect. Have a cup after a meal or midday as an oral refresher. Green tea can also help keep bones stronger, especially during perimenopause. For bone strength, use matcha, a type of green tea.

  • Green tea has caffeine that boosts energy and concentration without causing the shakes. It increases the production of dopamine and contains L-theanine, increasing an anti-anxiety effect.
  • Green tea boosts antioxidants that help stop LDL cholesterol oxidation in the blood. That can cause arterial disease. Studies show drinking it lowers the risk of heart disease by as much as 31%.
  • Green tea can help maintain stable blood sugar levels. That can help prevent insulin resistance. Insulin resistance is a precursor of type 2 diabetes. It also causes sugar cravings and increases belly fat.
  • Green tea can fight signs of aging. It also reduces the effects of photoaging. It contains vitamin C, with matcha tea having the most significant amount. Vitamin C can boost your immune system.

For more information, contact us today at Body Sculptors Personal Training

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Is Yoga Good For Anxiety?

Is Yoga Good For Anxiety?

Published by on April 25, 2024 | Leave a response

Many therapists now use exercises as an adjunct therapy. Studies show that it helps speed progress toward reducing depression and anxiety. Exercise is as beneficial as some medications and has no negative side effects but makes you healthier. It stimulates endorphin production, burns off stress hormones, increases circulation, and boosts the production of beneficial bacteria in the gut that affect mood. Compared to other exercises, yoga may offer even more benefits toward reducing anxiety.

Yoga can help you train your body to reduce the signs of anxiety.

Shortness of breath, heart palpitations, chest pain, and dizziness are all signs of anxiety. Deep breathing exercises from yoga can help you control many signs of anxiety. You can break the cycle of its physical manifestations by using deep breathing exercises. Deep breathing switches the body from the sympathetic nervous system that controls the fight or flight response, to the parasympathetic nervous system that puts your body in relaxed mode. You’ll feel almost instant relief from stress when you focus on deep breathing.

Yoga helps you clear your mind and meditative practices can reduce stress.

One internal manifestation of anxiety is a racing mind. Your body undergoes the same changes from the perceived danger as it would from real danger. Meditation isn’t necessarily part of every yoga session, but quieting the mind often is. In some ways, it diverts your focus from your problems and focuses them on getting into poses. Just changing your focus does a lot to reduce an anxiety attack.

Yoga can improve flexibility and stretch the muscles.

One symptom of an anxious person is muscle tension. While the cause of anxiety is more complex, prolonged stress can cause anxiety and also cause muscle tension. The movements in yoga can help reduce the tension in the muscles. By doing that, it can also reduce the feeling of anxiety. Each stretch and movement can bring relief. It can make you more aware when you’re tightening muscles so you can relax them immediately.

  • Yoga can help you modulate your stress response and give you tools to help manage anxiety. If your anxiety is mild, traditional yoga classes help, but there are yoga classes specifically to treat anxiety.
  • Yoga can make you more mindful of your body processes and give you more control. It makes people more aware of the body-mind connection. The practice of yoga can create new neural pathways.
  • If you suffer from anxiety and don’t have time for an entire class, using breathing techniques can help. Deep belly breathing, alternate nostril breathing, and lion’s breath are three examples that help anxiety.
  • Yoga can improve your posture and make you feel stronger and more confident. That boost in self-confidence can help you overcome social anxiety.

For more information, contact us today at Body Sculptors Personal Training

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