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Favorite Health Food Stores

Published by superadmin on November 5, 2020 | Leave a response

I am writing this blog because so many clients ask about the best health food stores and want information on where to go. You’ll really be surprised at my answer. Any grocery with an organic fruits, vegetables and meat selection are the best places for health foods. I love the organic section, but it’s not necessary to buy only organic fruit and vegetables. Food on the Clean 15 list are relatively free from pesticides, so choosing non organic avocados, sweet corn, pineapple, frozen sweet peas, onions, papaya, eggplant, cauliflower, mushrooms, asparagus, cantaloupe, broccoli, kiwi, honey dew melon and cabbage will save you money.

Organic meat, eggs from free-range chickens and butter or milk from grassfed cows are also a high priority.

You might have expected a different answer, but any store that sells these products gets an honorable mention from me. What the animals eat makes a difference. Butter from grassfed cows actually has more nutrients, including conjugated linoleic acid, which is good for heart health. Eggs from free-range chickens have more vitamin D and less cholesterol. Organic meat doesn’t contain hormones and let’s not forget choosing sea food and fish from wild sources.

Go to local Farmer’s Markets for in season fruits and vegetables.

If you want to get food at it’s peak, choose local options. Another source of health food is the Farmer’s Market. Local farmers, particularly those that do organic farming, provide healthy options for all meals. You get to talk to each vendor and get a feel on how they farm and whether they use pesticides. Remember, the healthiest options always contain the least amount of ingredients and no preservatives or pesticides. So starting with fresh fruits and vegetables from locally grown sources is a great idea.

Look for whole food markets and natural food markets for a good selection.

I don’t want to name specific markets, since I like all the local whole food stores and natural markets around and go to several of them, particularly when items are on sale. Some of the healthiest stores I go to actually have some lower prices than you might expect. I focus more on whole foods than nutritional supplements, unless you have a special need that requires supplementing nutrition, such as not digesting food as well.

We’re lucky enough to have many groceries and whole food markets dedicated to healthy eating, but also several healthy options for a dinner or lunch out. If you’re going out to eat, look for natural food options.
If you do meal planning, you’ll save money. It is often a savings that’s more than the extra you spend buying organic.
Grow your own. Some people have a chicken or two for eggs. Others don’t want to be that involved, but raise a garden. Just one tomato plant in a tub can provide both satisfaction and tomatoes for meals.
Shop where you can buy whole foods in bulk. You’ll save money and time getting some ingredients in bulk. If you’re near a pick-your-own farm, it’s a money saving way to get healthy ingredients and have some family fun picking.

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

Posted in Fitness & Wellness

Why Is Salmon Recommended Over Other Types Of Fish?

Published by superadmin on October 25, 2020 | Leave a response

If you’ve just started focus on eating healthier, you’ll often find salmon, more than any other fish. Why is that? What makes salmon so healthy? First, most fatty fish are healthy, they have high amounts of omega-3 fatty acids, which are known to play an important role in the health of the brain and heart. These fish include salmon, lake trout, sardines and albacore tuna. Some fatty fish, such as swordfish, shark, king mackerel and tilefish, have the potential for high levels of mercury

The type of salmon you choose makes a difference.

If you can, avoid farmed salmon, although it’s far cheaper. It has fewer vitamins and a less healthy balance of omega-6 to omega-3. Wild salmon contains 3.4 grams of Omega-3, while the farmed kind contains 4.2 grams. While that might seem better, the difference comes from the amount of omega-6. Wild salmon has 341 mg, while farmed has 1,944 grams of omega-6. Studies show that the American diet already has too much omega-6. It also has more saturated fat. Wild salmon is more expensive, but it’s worth the extra investment. The difference in the profile comes from the type of food the two eat. Farmed fish eat processed food for fish, while wild salmon eat what nature provided, various invertebrates. It’s similar to the difference of nutrition between grass fed beef and grain fed beef. Grass fed is healthier.

Salmon has high amounts of protein.

The amount of protein you get depends on the type of salmon you’re eating. Three ounces of wild Atlantic salmon and sockeye salmon both have 21.6 grams of protein. Coho salmon has more with 23.3 grams. The amount of potassium also makes a difference. Wild Atlantic salmon contains the most with 534 grams, while sockeye and Coho salmon both have 387 for a 3-ounce serving.

Salmon contains potassium and phosphorous.

Phosphorous is necessary to help calcium build strong bones and teeth. Salmon is high in phosphorous, with a three ounce serving containing from 218 milligrams to 286 based on the type you serve. Wild salmon contains the least with sockeye salmon containing the most. Salmon also contains potassium, which helps support your muscle functioning and keeps your heart beating normally.

Salmon contains a higher amount of selenium that gives your immune system a boost and keeps your thyroid in good working order. You need approximately 55 micrograms a day. A three ounce serving of pink salmon has approximately 44 grams and sockeye, wild and coho salmon has about 36 micrograms.
Salmon is heart healthy. It’s the omega-3 fatty acids that help protect your heart by keeping your blood vessels in food health. It helps prevent clots, lowers blood pressure and lower triglycerides.
If you choose salmon, rather than red meat, you’ll lower your cholesterol, which helps reduce the potential of clogged arteries that increases the risk of heart attack.
Salmon can fit into any type of diet. It doesn’t contain any carbohydrates, making it good for low carb diets. It also is versatile and can be made a number of ways, including grilling or baking.

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

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How To Stay Physically And Mentally Healthy When You’re Stuck At Home

Published by superadmin on October 15, 2020 | Leave a response

Everyone has coped differently during the quarantine, unfortunately, many people found their coping skills wanting and didn’t make the best use of time. It’s tough stay physically and mentally healthy when you’re stuck at home unless you have a plan of action. While you thought you’d get a lot done with all the time from work, you may have found that the only thing you accomplished was putting on weight. Here are some ideas to help if you find you have free time and are stuck at home.

Focus on healthy eating and planning meals ahead.

Maybe it’s time to get a start on meal planning. Of course, it all starts with finding out what you already have, so cleaning cupboards and the refrigerator and freezer should be your first step. Your meals should have a protein, fruits and vegetables and a starchy food, like Brussels sprouts and sweet potatoes or brown rice. If fresh produce is on sale, buy it and freeze it for later. Create menus that are healthy and freeze portions for later, when you aren’t stuck at home. Get healthy snacks like fresh veggies to munch on between meals. We offer an online nutrition program to make meal planning easier.

Get exercise.

If you don’t have a formal exercise plan, just taking a walk will do. Get outside and enjoy. For those ultra cold, hot or rainy days when getting outside is impossible have an exercise routine written down. If you’re a client, get help from your personal trainer to create a go-to workout plan. Staying active can help prevent stress eating and lower the stress level dramatically. Remember, stress hormones like cortisol can cause the accumulation of abdominal fat.

Create a sleep schedule and stick with it.

Getting adequate sleep is important for your health, but when your schedule is thrown asunder, is often difficult to get. You either stay up late watching television or sleep too much to avoid the depression that isolation can cause. Keeping your daily schedule can help you get back to normal when you’re no longer stuck at home.

Go through your daily rituals each morning, showering, getting dressed and brushing your teeth. It’s easy to skip them, but can make your day more normal.
Busy hands are happy hands. Create a list of things you need to do around the house that you never seem to have time to do. Do one each day and check it off your list. You’ll love that feeling of accomplishment.
Appreciate what you have. Being grateful for what you have, rather than feeling sorry for yourself for what you don’t is good advice whether you’re stuck at home or not.
Stay connected to family and friends. Whether you use a video option, phone call or text, communicating with family and friends can help improve your day. Humans are meant to socialize and today we have ways to do it without leaving the house.

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

Posted in Fitness & Wellness

Calming Herb And Spices To Fight Anxiety

Published by superadmin on October 5, 2020 | Leave a response

You can help yourself and make your food even better when you add calming herb and spices to fight anxiety. While clients who workout at Body Sculptors in Louisville, KY, often find that working out helps, sometimes you need even more. That’s where eating right and adding a few extra herbs and spices to your food can be a huge benefit. Best of all, herbs and spices add health benefits and don’t add extra calories.

Have you tried a cup of chamomile tea?

This age old herbal remedy was used by both Greeks and Romans to help bring a sense of calm and relaxation. Studies verify that chamomile helps you relax and can have a profound effect on reducing anxiety. It contains antioxidants like flavonoids, phenolic acids and quinones. Not only does it help stress, it’s also used for headaches. You use the flowers of German or Roman chamomile. Dry them and mix 2 teaspoons of dried flowers with 2 cups of boiling water. Let it set for a minute and strain. A tea ball makes it easier.

Lavender can be eaten, but it’s relaxation comes from the scent.

Whether you use it for aromatherapy or massage oil, lavender has many properties that will help you. If you have trouble sleeping, which can come from anxiety and lead to anxiety, try putting a few drops of lavender essential oils on your pillow. Just one FYI, while the flower and plant is edible, the essential oil isn’t. Inhaling it has proven to lower blood pressure and heart rate. It’s also good in oil for a massage. Studies are showing it may help relieve asthma and allergic inflammation. It also could lower the effects and frequency of hot flashes.

Purple passion flower tea is another relaxing remedy for a better night’s sleep.

While the fruit of passion flower is delicious and often used for jams and beverages, it’s the leafs, stems and flowers you use for the tea to help you relax. It’s been used by native Americans for centuries to aid relaxation and sleep. Scientists believe it increases GABA—gamma aminobutyric acid levels in the brain, which causes the feeling of relaxation. If you can’t sleep, drink a cup. You can use premade tea bags or grow your own, dry it and use a tablespoon of dried passion flower to a cup of hot water. It’s also good for menstrual cramping and PMS.

St. John’s wort is another herbal tea that can bring relaxation. It’s a herbal remedy used for years for sleep problems, anxiety, SAD—seasonal affective disorder—and mild to moderate depression.
Eating healthier can help reduce stress. For instance, ensuring you have adequate L-lysine and L-arginine in your diet can affect the neurotransmitters involved with stress and reduce both anxiety and stress levels.
Kava has been known to reduce stress. Just make sure you don’t overdo it, since too much could potentially be harmful.
Turmeric is another spice that’s a good addition for your health. It’s an anti-inflammatory, which also can help people with mood disorders such as depression and anxiety.

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

Posted in Fitness & Wellness

Why Variety In Workouts Is Important

Published by superadmin on September 25, 2020 | Leave a response

If you’ve ever tried to create a workout program on your own, you’ll find there are hundreds of different exercises and many different ways to do them to reap benefits. It can be confusing, which is why we provide the programs live or online. We make sure you get variety in workouts for several reasons. The first is easy. It prevents the boredom that can occur when you do the same workout repeatedly. You simply go through the motions after four to six weeks and eventually that boredom will make it harder and harder to workout, until eventually you quit.

You’ll push past the plateau when you switch your workout regularly.

When you do the same workout repeatedly, plateauing often occurs. It’s when the body becomes too efficient at doing an exercise or specific group of exercises and burns fewer calories. Efficiency is good in our daily life, but when it comes to weight loss, not good at all. You’ll see slower weight loss and less progress, which is why trainers offer a wide variety of workouts to help you accomplish your goals.

When you do the same workout repeatedly, you can develop stress injuries.

Runners often have stress injuries like shin splints, Achilles tendinitis, stress fractures and plantar fasciitis. Those come from doing the same type of movement continuously. You’ve heard of tennis elbow and workout injuries from strength training that start with pain, but if the exercise continues, ends in chronic persistent pain even when not lifting. Overuse injuries mostly occur in older individuals, but if you run constantly, it can happen at any age.

You need to work muscles on all planes to ensure functional fitness.

There are three planes of motion. The first divides the body into left and right halves. It’s called the sagittal plane and encompasses backward and forward movements. Bicep curls and back squats exercise that plane. The second is the frontal plane, that divides the body into a front half and back half. It involves side to side movements, like side bends. The third plane is the transverse plane and that divides the body into the top half and bottom half. When you do twisting movements you’re working that plane. Switching exercises frequently focuses on strengthening muscles on all planes.

There are many muscles in your body, some very small, some large. When you vary your workout, you ensure that you build all the muscles in your body.
Switching your workout is good for both your body and brain. Learning new exercises, like learning movements in ball room dancing, stimulates the creation of neurons in your brain and keeps the ones you have in better health, boosting your memory and aiding your learning skills.
Switching your workout keeps you more excited about exercise. Some people find that it also helps to find a different way to workout, like bike riding, when you don’t go to the gym or exercise with an online program.
Every time you switch your workout, your body has to adapt to the change. You might feel sore for the first few days, until it makes the adaptation.

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

Posted in Fitness & Wellness

How Often Should I Do Cardio Per Week??

Published by superadmin on September 15, 2020 | Leave a response

Whether you’re working out with us at Body Sculptors in Louisville, KY, or using our online workout program, you have to be consistent and get the right amount of exercise to ensure you get the benefits you want. How much is enough each week? You need to get approximately 150 to 300 minutes of moderate cardio per week or 75 to 150 minutes if it’s vigorous, according to the US Department of Health and Human Services. That’s about 30 to 60 minutes of moderate cardio five days a week or 15 to 30 minutes of vigorous exercise.

Try alternating days with cardio and strength training, which include flexibility training every day.

Do intense cardio three days a week and strength-building two days. If you do 25 to 40 minutes of intense cardio each session, you’ll have 75 minutes to 150 minutes in each week. If you aren’t fond of intense cardio, do a 40-50 minute session three days a week and fill in the void with walks on your days away from the gym. On the two days you don’t do cardio, do strength training, making sure you get a day of rest between the days. If you prefer, include both strength training and cardio five days a week, but focus on different areas of the body for strength training to let your muscles repair, such as upper body one day, core muscles the next and lower body the third. Skip the fourth day and do total body strength training the fifth day.

Combine strength training with cardio using HIIT—high intensity interval training.

You can use any type of workout to create a HIIT workout, even strength training exercises. What is HIIT? It’s exercising at top intensity, raising your heart beat high for a few seconds to a few minutes, based on your fitness, then switching to lower intensity for equal or longer time to get your heart rate back down to 60-65% of maximum. When you use that technique, it provides plenty of cardio, plus you’ll be doing strength training to achieve it two days a week.

Focus on total body training.

If you don’t work out five days a week, but just three, you must cram a lot of exercise into your workout in a short amount of time. HIIT is a great way to start. You can also do total body training two of those days with just cardio on the third. Ways to do that can include using kettlebells or ropes. Total body strength training workouts with limited rests between exercises, such as circuit training, can provide a good cardio/strength workout two days a week with just cardio on the third day.

On your days off of cardio, you can end each session with cardio sprints for five to ten minutes. You can fill in the rest of the time with walks at lunch or on the days you don’t workout.
How can you gauge intensity of cardio if you don’t take your pulse rate? If you have rapid, deep breathing, are sweating after a short time and can’t say more than one or two words without stopping for a breath you’re working out at high intensity.
If you hate running and rowing machines are too boring, try some fun cardio workouts. Go dancing and dance every fast dance for a real cardio workout. Skip rope or go bicycling. Even power walking is a good workout.
Studies show that you don’t have to do all thirty minutes of cardio consecutively. You can break up your brisk walks to ten minutes each and still get the benefit of thirty minutes that day.

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

Posted in Fitness & Wellness

Is A Food Journal Important?

Published by superadmin on September 5, 2020 | Leave a response

Have you ever had a food journal, or even heard of keeping one? If you haven’t, you’d be surprised at how this simple tool can really help you lose weight. People sometimes eat mindlessly, a handful of M&Ms as you pass the candy bowl, that last cookie on the plate so you can wash it and far more than one serving size of dinner, even though you considered it one serving. Keeping a food journal used to require carrying around a paper and pad, but with Smartphones today, your memo section or voice recording makes it easy to transfer to a journal at the end of the day.

Food journals can be about more than just how much and what you eat, but also how you feel.

Keeping an accurate record can mean more than just recording food, the amount of food, when you ate it and the number of carbs or calories it contained. In fact, some people don’t even record calories if they’re trying to learn to eat healthier and just look at the type of food they eat and when they’re more apt to eat junk. Others record how they feel emotionally. If they find they turn to candy when they’re upset or emotional or potato chips when they’re angry, they can choose an alternative method of dealing with the emotions and make a smarter choice, like walking a bit or working out and crunching on some veggies.

Food journaling can be vital if you have an illness nobody can identify.

You don’t have to feel desperately ill to get the benefit of a food journal. Just feeling gassy or queasy could be a sign. If you have symptoms that seem to always appear after eating certain foods, like next step would be eliminating it from your diet to see if it brings relief. Recording how you physically feel, and specific symptoms helps you with this. It can help your doctor narrow the search and even eliminate unnecessary medication. Remember, at one time gluten and lactose intolerance weren’t heard of so were misdiagnosed. Many people were given an ulcer diet before 1960, which was high in cream and milk, when in reality they were lactose intolerant and it made their situation worse.

You have to learn portion control to journal.

That’s a good thing. Identifying portion size can help you track your food better and see just how many calories you eat. You also have to be precise. Instead of noting you ate an order of fries, you have to note how many you ate. There are all sizes of French fry orders, but 12-15 in one serving size.

You can trick yourself into eating more or less by varying the size of the plate. A large serving plate will make you feel like you’re eating less than it would if you put the same amount on a smaller plate. It’s another reason serving size is important.
When you food journal, you can track your macro and micro nutrients to ensure you have a balanced diet. Whether it’s a vitamin, mineral, phytonutrient, fiber, protein, carb or fat, you’ll have a record.
Food journaling can help pinpoint your problem losing weight. If diligently record every bite, and your carb or calorie count indicates you should be losing weight, but aren’t, you need to consider going to a doctor for help. If you find you’re overeating, there’s no more excuses.
A study had two groups of people, one who journaled, but did nothing else and the other that didn’t journal and did nothing else. The group that journaled lost weight, despite the fact that they didn’t diet.

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

Posted in Fitness & Wellness

Why Meal Planning Is Important

Published by superadmin on August 25, 2020 | Leave a response

What is meal planning? It’s more than just planning meals ahead. It’s cooking them ahead, too. It’s a process that not only can save time during the week, but also ensure you are eating nutritious meals that are lower in calories. Meal planning can save you money, while it also boosts your nutrition. Eating healthy doesn’t have to cost a fortune or require hours of cooking at the end of the day and meal planning proves it.

The process doesn’t have to be difficult.

The hardest part of meal planning is actually planning a week’s worth of meals. It can take some study and calculations to ensure your meals are high quality and perfect for your needs, whether it’s gluten free, low calorie or any other need. You could spend hours going through online recipes to find the right mix. Luckily, we’ve got you covered on that part. We have a great app that takes all the work out of it. It has meal plans for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks, recipes for all meals and even a grocery list. All you have to do is shop and you’ll have the grocery list with you at all times.

When you shop for food for the week, do it all at once.

Not only should you do all your grocery shopping at once, you also should do it after you ate. If you’re like many people, if you go to the store hungry, you come home with bags of snack foods and sweets. On the weekend, you cook all the meals for the week. Most people double the recipes, so they have meals to freeze for those weekends where they’re too busy. You don’t ever have to cook during the week again or use a drive through. Your meals are ready to heat and serve.

Meal planning saves calories and money, while boosting nutrition.

If you thought eating healthy had to cost a lot, you’ll be surprised at how inexpensive it really can be. Not only do you save time during the workweek and improve your nutrition, before you shop, you can check for coupons and look for sales to save money. Using fresh fruits and vegetables from the Clean Fifteen lists means you don’t have to buy everything organic. They include: Avocados, sweet corn, pineapples, frozen sweet peas, onions, papayas, eggplants, asparagus, kiwis, cabbages, cauliflower, cantaloupes, broccoli, mushrooms and honeydew melons.

Having meals in the freezer is like having money in the bank for those times your budget is stretched to capacity. It also means you’ll have extra, just in case and unexpected guest arrives.
You’ll be amazed at how good healthy meals taste and how much you save avoiding the drive through. If you’re a frequent flyer at the premade meal section of the grocery freezer, you’ll also find how much cheaper, fresher and better tasting home-made can be.
Make it fun for the whole family. When you’re cooking meals, let everyone help. Kids will love the idea of being part of the process and learn a lot in the process. It will become some of their best memories.
Healthy snacks are important. That’s why having fresh fruit or vegetables cut and ready to eat or individual serving sizes of nuts and seeds packaged for the week.

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

Posted in Fitness & Wellness

Stay Healthy And Fit As You Get Older

Published by superadmin on August 15, 2020 | Leave a response

We love working with people of all ages at Body Sculptors in Louisville, KY. While it’s satisfying, no matter what your age, it’s particularly enjoyable to watch seniors. We can help you stay healthy and fit as you get older. Aging doesn’t have to sentence you to a rocking chair or limit your energy. You can be more mobile and self-sufficient no matter what your age if you practice healthy habits. You do have more of a challenge the older you get, since the body doesn’t produce as many enzymes for digestion and muscle tissue breaks down faster. That may make it harder, but definitely not impossible.

If you can start earlier, by all means take the challenge.

You don’t have to wait until you’re frail, begin today. If you’re in your 40s, you already have probably noticed changes. Think of people like Jack Lalane or Jane Fonda who spent much of their lives exercising and look fabulous. That doesn’t mean it’s ever too late. You may not have heard of Charles Eugster, who was the world’s oldest runner at 97, or Ernestine Shepherd, 84, the world’s oldest competitive body builder. Charles didn’t start working out until he was 87. Ernestine started body building in her late 50s and still competes today. It just proves that while it’s harder the older you get, it’s still possible. Always check with your health care professional first.

Making lifestyle changes is the key to staying healthy and fit.

As people age, they often become more sedentary. Hormone levels also drop. Both of those things increase the loss of muscle mass. What can change that is simple. A program of regular exercise, a healthy diet, adequate hydration, lack of sleep and more. Start with eating healthier. Switching to a diet high in whole foods, such as fruits and vegetables, lean protein—especially fatty fish—and fewer processed foods containing sugar and white flour is a great start to healthy eating. You won’t have to cut calories to lose weight, just focus on healthy eating.

A program of regular exercise can help maintain and build muscle mass.

Building back muscle tissue or stopping the natural loss that occurs all starts with a great program and a consistent effort. Don’t ever get discouraged because you don’t see the immediate changes you got when you were younger. It takes a little longer, but is well worth the effort. If you have mobility issues, there are chair exercises you can do. Start where you are. If you can only walk to the corner, walk there and tomorrow take a few more steps until you can walk miles. It’s all about improving, not competing with others or even your younger self. If you have physical limitations or health conditions, don’t give up. Seek the aid of a personal trainer for a program designed specifically for your needs.

Weight training is just as important to older people, if not more important. Not only will strength training slow and reverse the loss of muscle mass, it also can help keep bones strong and healthy.
When you’re working on building more muscle strength, increase your protein intake. While younger people need approximately 1.8 grams of protein per pound of weight, seniors tend to need 2.6 grams for the same results.
Get adequate sleep. Lack of sleep can cause hormones to become imbalanced, creating more ghrelin—the hunger hormone and reducing leptin—the hormone that makes you feel full. That can lead to overeating. Sleep is also important for heart health.
Drink plenty of water. It will help you physically and mentally. Seniors are more prone to dehydration, which can lead to kidney stones, stroke, infectious disease, constipation and even cause symptoms that resemble dementia.

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

Posted in Fitness & Wellness