Fitness & Wellness

Realistic Ways To Eat Less Processed Foods

Realistic Ways To Eat Less Processed Foods

Is your finest china a Styrofoam container and plastic spoons your best cutlery? It’s time to make some changes and switch to a healthier eating style. You need to eat less processed foods, but it can sound like a tall order, especially if you aren’t a good cook. Here are a few realistic ways and you don’t need to have any culinary skills to make them. Start by buying fresh fruits and vegetables, wash them and prepare them as snacks. Keep your kitchen stocked so when you want a snack, the snacks will be ready for you to eat.

It doesn’t have to be all fresh fruit and vegetables.

Using frozen fruits and veggies can be just as healthy as using fresh. In fact, in most cases, even healthier. The processing, in this case, is okay, if the packaged fruits and vegetables are processed without any additives, frozen immediately and used within a specific time frame. They may have more nutrients than the fresh veggies that had to be picked early for shipping and may have been on the grocery shelf for a few days. Use frozen veggies as you would fresh ones when you cook them. Cook a batch of quinoa and toss in a mix of cooked veggies for a healthy, quick meal.

Cut out sugary drinks and switch to water.

Seriously, you’re probably paying a lot for that bottle of sparkling sugar water called a soft drink. Make a change and switch to water. You can flavor that water by putting slices of fruits and/or vegetables in the water and letting it sit in the refrigerator for several hours. The water picks up the flavor. There are a number of recipes for the infused water. Pick ones you like and you’ll switch off the soft drink in no time.

Do meal planning and prep.

Meal planning takes a little time but it’s well worth the effort. Once you get into the rhythm of doing it, it becomes easier and easier. You use one night a week, usually when grocery adds come out, planning the meals and making a grocery list. You spend the weekend making the meals. Meal planning also leaves few leftovers, since you can use them for other meals. The meals are frozen or kept in the refrigerator so when you get home from work, it’s just heat and eat.

  • Start adding extra veggies to all your meals. Are you going to have scrambled eggs for breakfast, toss in some red sweet pepper, onions or spinach. Making noodles? Add some broccoli, carrots or other veggie.
  • Even if you don’t meal plan, avoid adding processed foods to your cart when you go shopping. You’ll be surprised how easy it is to make new creations when you don’t have the already processed foods available.
  • Do a switch with processed foods. If you love dessert, try a parfait of Greek yogurt, frozen of fresh fruit, half a ripe banana and walnuts or almonds. If you mash the banana into the yogurt and add the fruit and nuts, it’s like a pudding.
  • Make your changes slowly rather than all at once. You don’t have to give up all processed food at once or forever, for that matter. Try something new each week and gradually make changes, before you know it you’ll be eating healthy.

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


Does Fiber Help With Cholesterol Levels?

Does Fiber Help With Cholesterol Levels?

At Body Sculptors in Louisville, KY, clients get the benefit of both diet and exercise expertise. We provide personalized diets that can help you lose weight, lower blood pressure, normalize cholesterol levels and more. They’re based on your needs, preferences, and goals. Many of the diets contain foods higher in fiber since fiber can provide many benefits for the body. It’s often underrated, but necessary for a healthy body.

Fiber has two forms.

Dietary fiber has two varieties, soluble and insoluble. Soluble fiber dissolves in water to form a gel. It’s a prebiotic, feeding beneficial microbes in your digestive tract. Insoluble fiber doesn’t digest but provides bulk for your stool to prevent both constipation and diarrhea. Fiber slows digestion, so it helps regulate blood sugar levels and aids in maintaing healthy blood cholesterol levels.

It’s the soluble fiber that lowers your cholesterol levels.

Soluble fiber attaches to cholesterol, binding to it and preventing it from getting into your bloodstream, then going to all parts of the body. That fiber and cholesterol complete the digestive process and exit the body via feces. It only lowers LDL—bad cholesterol—not triglycerides. It doesn’t increase the amount of good cholesterol—HDL—either. Studies show that it can reduce your LDL by 18% if you eat about 30 grams of fiber a day.

You’ll get other benefits from fiber, besides lower cholesterol.

If you want to lose weight, fiber can help. Fiber can make you feel fuller longer. That means you won’t eat as much or snack as often. If you’re trying to lose weight and want to increase your fiber, do it slowly. You can increase it too much, too fast. It takes a while for your body to adjust to the increase and too much can cause excessive gas, bloating and stomach problems. Increase it slowly, over a two week period, to avoid the effects.

Food that contains high amounts of soluble fiber include, but aren’t limited to, most types of beans, Brussels sprouts, avocado, sweet potato, and apples. Insoluble fiber is found in food like green beans, potatoes, and wheat bran.

Fiber makes you feel fuller longer, so it can help you lose weight. The foods high in fiber are often lower calorie, providing bulk and satiety, but not high amounts of sugar.

When you increase your fiber intake, you’ll improve your microbiome. Beneficial bacteria and other microbes feed on the fiber. They ferment it in the colon, which produces byproducts that kill pathogens and bad bacteria.

If you have insulin resistance, it can make losing weight more difficult. Increasing fiber can help reduce insulin resistance. Oats, beans, broccoli, and other high fiber foods can help.


Try Eating Slower

Try Eating Slower

If there were Olympic competition for how fast you could eat, would you win? In today‘s busy world, taking the time to truly enjoy a meal, rather than shuffling it down to get through, is rare. If you can eat a three course meal before your friends finish their salad, leave the table still feeling hungry or feel bloated a half hour after eating, maybe eating slower can help. Not only should you eat slower, you should savor each bite and become more aware of eating each time you put food in your mouth.

There are several ways to eat slower.

Whether you choose to savor every bite, take smaller bites or chew more thoroughly, they all help you slow down your eating. Focusing on each bite and savoring the flavor can help you enjoy the texture and pleasure you get from the food. Eating slower allows the food to get to your stomach and message the brain that you’re full so you’ll eat less and have fewer problems of feeling bloated after a meal.

Enjoying your food and savoring every bite also makes you more aware that you’re eating.

It may sound ridiculous, but too often, people eat without even realizing it. How many times have you passed a candy dish and grabbed a handful of candy without even thinking? Have you ever cleaned up dishes and mindlessly eaten that last bite of potatoes in the bowl or snacked on the food you were making for supper? When you focus on the food you eat you not only eat slower, you become more mindful and aware of all the times you eat without thinking.

Eating slower can change your attitude about food and help you lose weight.

If you’re trying to lose weight, the act of eating is associated with shame and it shouldn’t be. You should enjoy every bite you eat. Just make sure you’re really hungry and not eating out of boredom. You’ll be amazed at how much better that food tastes. You’ll cut out the guilt when you make peace with food and eat slower. You’ll also lose weight because you’ll eat less and find food far less emotionally charged.

  • It takes about twenty minutes before your body gets a message to the brain that you’re full, so eating slower lets that message arrive. It helps prevent that bloated feeling and you’ll leave the table feeling satisfied.
  • One study showed that when people ate mindfully, which promotes slower eating, they averaged a 26-pound weight loss over six months that was long-lasting.
  • Chew each bite thoroughly. Not only does chewing longer promote slower eating, it can aid digestion. Studies show that increasing the number of times you chewed each bite reduced food intake and promoted weight loss.
  • You’ll improve your digestion, absorb nutrients better, reduce mealtime stress and feel more in control when you eat slower. Chew more, take smaller bites and savor the flavor.

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


How To Keep Your Digestive System Healthy

How To Keep Your Digestive System Healthy

One thing you can do that will affect your whole body and even your mental health is to keep your digestive system healthy. Your gut is filled with bacteria and other microbes that can make you healthier or sicker, depending on the blend. There are more microbes in your body than cells, which should tell you how important they are. These gut microbes are in the intestines and are necessary to your good health. They break down food, so the nutrients can be delivered via your bloodstream, throughout the body.

Keeping a healthy gut is more than keeping the organs functioning properly.

Microbes keep your gut healthy and are vital to your immune system and help keep detrimental bacteria, viruses, and fungi in check. Mental health, asthma, diabetes, malnutrition, obesity, eczema, colitis, and other diseases are linked to an imbalance of the microbiome. You can improve your gut health by providing prebiotics, food that help healthy bacteria thrive. Soluble fiber is a prebiotic food that feeds healthy bacteria, increasing their numbers. Food high insoluble fiber are apples, sweet potato, most types of beans and oatmeal, plus more.

Keep your gut healthier by including probiotic foods.

You’ll increase the number of healthy bacteria by feeding them right with prebiotics, but another way to do it is to eat fermented foods, such as sauerkraut, yogurt, and kefir. Increasing the probiotic foods can immediately improve the beneficial bacteria in your gut. Beneficial bacteria carry out other important functions, such as getting rid of mutated or damaged cells that can lead to cancer. Cutting out food with added sugar can also improve your gut health.

Increase the amount of sleep you get and consider adding collagen to your diet.

Lack of sleep can affect the health of your gut, so get seven to nine hours on a regular basis. It can cause stress and chronic stress can also cause damage to your gut. Getting adequate collagen in your diet is important. One third of all the protein in your body is collagen. It aids in regulating stomach acid, reducing damage to the stomach lining. Collagen attracts both water and acid, which improves digestion. Collagen is necessary for repairing damage to the gut caused by inflammation and can improve conditions like IBS and leaky gut. Bone broth contains high amounts of collagen, so supplementing with it can prove beneficial.

  • Whole apples can provide a big benefit for gut health. Not only do they contain beneficial fiber, but they also contain pectin, another prebiotic that feeds good bacteria.
  • A program of regular exercise is also beneficial for gut health. Studies show that regular exercise can improve the balance of microbes in your gut by increasing the beneficial bacteria.
  • Your mental health is affected by the chemicals in your brain, such as serotonin. Studies show that the gut makes approximately 90% of them. A healthy gut helps improve your mood.
  • A healthy gut is important for weight loss. Studies show a bacterial imbalance can cause weight gain. Healing the gut with a program of exercise, stress release and a healthy diet can help. Avoid sugar that can feed harmful microbes and cause weight gain.

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


Potassium Rich Foods

Potassium Rich Foods

Eating a wide variety of foods is important to your health. It ensures you’ll get all the essential nutrients your body needs. Potassium is one of those nutrients that play an important role in how the body functions. That’s why consuming potassium rich foods is important. This mineral plays a role in regulating your heartbeat, helps control blood pressure, aids in nerve conduction, glycogen synthesis, nerve conduction and muscle contraction. Your cells require potassium to be healthy. Eating potassium rich foods can help prevent osteoporosis, stroke and kidney disease.

Beans are a great food when you need more potassium.

Lentils and beans are especially good sources of potassium, with white beans being the best source. White beans not only contain potassium, they contain calcium and iron, plus a good amount of fiber. Beans and lentils are good sources of plant protein and can save money as a dish for meatless Mondays. They also help keep inflammation at bay with their high antioxidant content. Combine beans with rice or quinoa or eat nuts and seeds as snacks during the day to ensure you have all the necessary amino acids.

Potatoes are a good source of potassium, regardless of their color.

Whether you choose white potatoes or colorful sweet potatoes, you’ll get a good supply of potassium. White potatoes are the best source, providing 1600 mg for a large baked potato, but sweet potatoes also provide potassium. A large sweet potato contains 1110 mg of potassium. Since you need approximately 3500 mg of potassium a large baked potato could provide about half the daily amount necessary. Eating potato skins is important since it contains quite a bit of the potassium. Potatoes, both types, provide fiber, vitamin A, B6, C and manganese.

Beets are considered a superfood.

Beets provide so many nutrients, they’re considered a superfood. They can aid with lowering blood pressure, not just from the potassium they contain, but also the nitrates. Nitrates are vasodilators that relax blood vessels and allow them to open wider. Combined with the potassium, eating beets regularly can help regulate blood pressure levels. The phytonutrient that gives them their color is a powerful antioxidant that helps prevent cell damage and inflammation. Beets also have folate and manganese for more health benefits.

  • Spinach, kale and swiss chard are also high in potassium. Spinach not only has antioxidants, it contains calcium, manganese, flavonoids and vitamin K and A. Swiss chard also contains those nutrients plus vitamin C, iron and magnesium.
  • While fresh tomatoes are healthy, tomato sauce and tomato products are too. A cup of tomato sauce contains about 728 mg of potassium. The lycopene in tomatoes increases with cooking, but the vitamin C diminishes.
  • Bananas have long been used as a source of potassium. One banana provides 452 mg of potassium. They also provide vitamins C and B6, plus magnesium, fiber and antioxidants.
  • Not only do avocados provide 1120 mg of potassium per mashed cup, they also provide healthy fat, fiber, vitamins C, K, and B6, pantothenic acid and folate. They are high in antioxidants, so bring on the guacamole and enjoy.

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


Reasons Why You're Not Hungry

Reasons Why You’re Not Hungry

If you started one of our new meal plans at Body Sculptors in Louisville, KY, and find you’re not hungry between meals or feel full enough to make it to the next meal from the snacks, that’s normal. In fact, the diet plans are created to help you feel fuller longer, without consuming tons of extra calories.is However, hunger is normal and regulated by hormones, leptin, the hormone that makes you feel full and ghrelin, the hormone that makes you hungry. The hypothalamus also regulates hunger, as does your blood sugar levels and even your empty stomach and intestines.

If you should be hungry but aren’t, maybe it’s anxiety, depression or stress.

Stress can cause anxiety and depression. It can also make you feel sick to your stomach. It triggers the fight or flight response, which can slow your digestion and decrease how hungry you feel. Stress can cause anxiety and the reverse is also true. When you’re anxious, it can trigger the stress response—fight or flight. People who are depressed also find their hunger signaling is interrupted. According to one study, it slowed the activity in the brain that assessed the body’s hunger level.

If you’re sick, you may not be hungry.

If you don’t feel good or are sick to your stomach, you’ll probably not feel hungry. Think about the last time you had a cold or allergies that caused your nose to run like crazy. Food probably didn’t sound good and if you ate, didn’t taste good either. That upper respiratory distress interfered with the sense of smell and ultimately taste. If the stomach flu has you trapped in the bathroom, of course the thought of food is completely unappetizing. Chronic health conditions like cancer, heart disease and kidney failure can cause your appetite to wane. Even pregnant women with morning sickness or heartburn might find they aren’t as hungry as normal.

The older you are, the more likely you’ll experience lack of hunger more often.

As you age, your body makes a lot of changes. Hormone levels, even the hunger and satiety hormone levels, are lower. Your body has a slower metabolic rate and needs fewer calories. The sense of taste and smell diminishes. There’s less saliva production and sometimes fewer teeth, no teeth or chronic dental illness that interferes with eating. Even chronic illness, depression and medications can dull the appetite.

  • Antibiotics, diuretics, sedatives and antihypertensives all may have a side effect of lack of appetite. Some medications make your stomach upset, while others make you feel fatigued, or both. Cancer treatments are known for decreasing appetite.
  • If you’re suffering from chronic pain, there’s a big chance that your appetite will suffer as well. Chronic conditions like arthritis or even cramps from menstruation can cause your appetite to suffer.
  • If you’re losing too much weight, find ways to make your food more enjoyable, whether cooking with herbs or focusing on food you love. Make sure you eat foods higher in calories and if necessary, set an alarm on your phone to remind you to eat.
  • See a doctor if lack of appetite is longer than a week or couple of weeks or if you can’t swallow, keep food down or have symptoms indicating a serious condition. Also check with your doctor if you’re losing weight unintentionally.

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


Could You Be Lactose Intolerant?

Could You Be Lactose Intolerant?

Lactose intolerance acts differently in everyone and can even change within the same person at various times, in various situations. Some lactose intolerance starts early in life in infants who produce no lactase. It’s a genetic form of lactose intolerance and occurs most prominently in people of East Asian and North American Indigenous lineage. It can also occur in premature infants. As children grow older, the need for lactase diminishes as other foods are introduced. If the production diminishes enough, lactose intolerance occurs. Sometimes, antibiotics, illnesses, accidents or surgery can cause lactase to be reduced, making the person lactose intolerant.

What causes the symptoms of lactose intolerance?

Your body produces lactase, an enzyme that changes lactose into glucose and galactose, which then is absorbed through the intestinal lining into the bloodstream. If you don’t produce enough lactase, the milk product doesn’t break down, it goes to the colon undigested. In the colon, water enters the picture, to dilute the lactose. That causes diarrhea. Microbes in the colon then eat the lactose, producing gas as a byproduct. That causes the cramping and bloating people feel after consuming milk products.

Stomach pain, diarrhea and gas are symptoms of lactose intolerance.

A short time after eating dairy, if you find yourself bloated and gassy, you may be lactose intolerant, especially if that gas is extremely unpleasant. That’s from the fermentation in your colon, which is methane, carbon dioxide and hydrogen. The body produces more acid, which can cause even more pain and the bloating can sometime be so rapid and so much that it’s excessively painful. Even if you have a flat tummy before, the distention can make you look like you’re ready to deliver a baby if you have a severe case.

There are other less common symptoms of lactose intolerance.

While most people experience gas, diarrhea and stomach pain in various degrees, not everyone reacts the same. Constipation can be a problem that occurs from the methane gas produced slowing the food moving through the intestines. Fatigue, headache, inability to focus, joint and muscle pain, eczema, mouth ulcers and problems urinating can also be symptoms, but normally very rare ones. A more severe problem is a milk allergy, which can also have vomiting, diarrhea, eczema and stomach pain, but may include asthma and anaphylaxis, which are far more serious and can be fatal.

  • You can identify lactose intolerance by using an elimination diet or keeping a food diary that includes the after effects of a meal. If you find you have symptoms of lactose intolerance only after you consume milk products, you probably do have the problem. Remove dairy from your diet to be sure.
  • Although all studies show that lactose intolerance is primarily genetic, there is evidence that changing your gut microbiome—the microbes that aid in digestion—can help.
  • Exercise can increase the number of beneficial microbes and some people find the more exercise they get, the less dairy tends to affect them.
  • If you think you have lactose intolerance based on a food diary or elimination diet, check with your doctor to make sure that’s what it is and not something else causing malabsorption. A hydrogen breath test can be given by your doctor to identify whether it’s lactose intolerance or not.

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


Nutrition Vs Workout

Nutrition Vs Workout

There are gyms that focus simply on the best workout and places that highlight nutrition, whether it’s to help you lose weight or just be your healthiest. The truth is, you really need both to be your fittest and to shed pounds quickly. While you can’t out-exercise a poor diet, lack of exercise makes losing weight extremely difficult. Not only does exercise help burn calories, it stokes your body’s furnace to burn more calories around the clock and boosts your strength, endurance and flexibility for a fuller life.

It’s about more than calorie or carb counting, it’s about nutrients.

It’s almost impossible to say which is better, exercise or diet. If you’re trying to lose weight, diet will be a top priority, but the two actually go hand-in-hand. It’s why we offer both personal training and nutritional guidance. Eating a healthy diet with a large variety of fruits and vegetables means you’ll get not only the major nutrients, such as vitamins and minerals, but also phytonutrients that provide many additional benefits and fiber.

Healthy eating ensures a great workout.

You have to have enough calories and the right nutrients to have the energy for a good workout. A healthy diet includes all three macronutrients, fats, protein and carbohydrates. You need all three. If you want to start immediately, just cut out processed foods and foods high in sugar. Sugary foods will slow you down and interfere with your energy level. Stick with leafy greens, colorful vegetables, a lean protein source and some healthy fat, such as nuts.

Exercise improves your digestion and your microbiome.

You are never alone. You have trillions of microbes in your body that go with you everywhere. Most of them are in your gut and help to digest your food so you can reap the benefits of healthy eating. When you workout, you actually increase the healthy microbes, making your digestion better. Exercise helps protect the digestive tract and studies show it lowers the risk of colon cancer, diverticular disease and constipation. Exercise increases microdiversity, so you’ll get more nutrients from the food you eat and have better digestion.

  • Do you have a problem with recovery after a tough workout? Maybe your diet isn’t as healthy as it should be. If you’re sore and tired for days after your last workout, it should be the first place to check.
  • Some foods can help you feel fuller longer, such as healthy fat and protein. You still need carbs for the energy to get you through the workout.
  • When you eat is also important. Having a snack of carbs and protein before a workout can make your exercise more effective. Eating protein and some carbs afterward can boost recovery.
  • We feel so strongly that both diet and exercise are equally important, we provide help for both. Our nutrition program, like our workouts, are personalized so you get maximum benefits.

For more information, contact us today at Body Sculptors


How Can I Lose Fat In My Face?

How Can I Lose Fat In My Face?

There is no difference in fat in your body, no matter where it is, so if you want to lose fat in your face, you simply have to lose weight. While there’s no guarantee that it will make your cheeks look less puffy, most people actually complain that when they lose fat, it usually comes off their hands and their face. If you have chubby cheeks on your face, you probably have chubby cheeks elsewhere or at least a higher percentage of body fat.

Is it facial fat or puffiness you’re seeing?

Are you eating too much salt or certain foods that make your face look puffy? Checking your diet and ensuring it’s healthy can help. You can even do an elimination diet to see if any particular food is puffing up your face. Perhaps you don’t drink enough water. Dehydration can make your cheeks puffy and cause your face to look fat. Drinking water also acts as a diuretic, flushing toxins and water weight out as you do. If your body is thin, but your cheeks look chubby, try drinking more water.

Cut out the salt, the alcohol and lower your carbohydrate intake.

Everyone knows salt can cause fluid retention, which leads to a puffy face. Alcohol is even worse, especially if you drink more than moderation. It’s a big contributor to dehydration and can make your face look puffy and not in a cute baby fat way. Too many carbs, especially sugary treats, can pack on the pounds all over your body. Cut sugar and processed food out immediately.

There are facial exercises to help tone the cheeks and under the chin.

If you’ve ever seen facial exercises, you know they’re not faces you want to make in public. Your face has tons of muscles and you can tone them also. Puffing your cheeks out, roaring like a lion, opening your eyes wide and pulling your lower lip up over the upper one are just a few. Closing your eyes and squeezing can help get rid of chubby cheeks. Do they work? Some people say they do. As for me, I’m sticking with weight loss for the best solution.

  • If you’re overweight, lose weight. It’s just that simple. Your whole body will benefit and you’ll look better. Feel lucky, since most people don’t want to lose weight in their face, but prefer it comes from other parts of their body.
  • Lean your head back and purse your lips. That simple exercise can be great for toning the muscles under the chin to get rid of a double chin.
  • Leaning your head back with your face toward the ceiling and pursing your lips like you’re getting ready to kiss someone then holding that pose can work all the muscles in your face.
  • Suck your cheeks in, creating a look of fish lips and hold them for ten seconds can work off some of that cheek fat. Your best bet, however, is to lose five to ten pounds and you’ll see real results.

For more information, contact us today at Body Sculptors