Fitness & Wellness

Constipation isn’t a new problem, but it has become far more prevalent with today’s diet. It affects about 20 percent of the population and while diet plays a big role, so doe lifestyle. The definition for constipation is less than three bowel movements a week and the symptoms include bloating, pain passing hard stools and long unfruitful trips to the bathroom. There are natural remedies for constipation that can help most people and are normally quite effective. .

What you eat makes a huge difference.

Eating more whole foods like fruits and vegetables can decrease the potential for constipation. That’s because these foods contain fiber. There are two types of fiber, soluble and insoluble, and both help get things moving, but insoluble may offer less help, and in some people, no help at all. Insoluble fiber is the fiber found in whole grains, bran and vegetables. It adds bulk and helps the waste travel through your system more quickly. Soluble fiber is in seeds, beans, peas, some fresh fruit and vegetables and oat bran. It helps absorb water to soften the stool and make it easier to go.

Get moving to get things moving in your colon.

While there are mixed reviews in studies as to the effect of exercise on constipation, but for centuries, it was one of the cures recommended. Studies found that exercise can help reduce the symptoms of constipation such as bloating and pain, even if it doesn’t increase frequency. Riding a bike, walking or other mild exercise is thought to work the muscles and massage the colon, helping to eliminate gas that builds up, too.

Drinking more water is a definite plus if you’re trying to beat the bloat of constipation.

It probably won’t surprise you to find that dehydration adds to the potential of constipation and many people who suffer from chronic constipation are frequently mildly dehydrated. The solution is easy, drink more water. One study found that carbonated—sparkling—water worked faster than tap water to get things moving again. It works better even for people with IBS or idiopathic constipation. Don’t mistake that for soft drinks. Those actually make you more constipated.

• If you find you have to use the bathroom right after your morning coffee, it won’t surprise you to find out that caffeinated is a good treatment for constipation.
• When you think of cures for constipation, prunes usually come to mind first. Prunes not only provide fiber, they also contain sorbitol, which acts like a laxative. Avoid this cure if you have IBS, since it’s a sugar alcohol.
• Eating both prebiotic and probiotic foods can help you get your digestion healthier. The prebiotic foods not only help feed the healthy bacteria, they also provide more fiber. Probiotic foods help balance the bacteria in the gut.
• Whether it’s eating healthier foods, drinking more water, getting plenty of exercise or adding pre and probiotics to your diet, even if they don’t provide a cure for your constipation, you’ll be helping your body get healthier.

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

You probably thought that losing weight was all about what you ate and how much, but did you know that when you eat makes a difference, too? Of course, not as much as the food you choose or the calories you consume. You may have heard that breakfast was the most important meal of the day. There’s a lot of truth to that, although it’s not that simple. Everyone is different, so for some body types, it can be different.

Eating carbs earlier in the day is important for weight loss.

If you want your best performance right from the start, eat a healthy breakfast. Studies show that if your first meal of the day provides healthy calories, you have the energy for improved cognitive performance, which includes better focus and task performance all day long. These studies are primarily focused on children under the age of 18. What eating your carbs earlier in the day does for everyone, is to give your body time to burn off the energy, rather than allowing it to be stored as fat while you sleep.

Some conditions not only require eating healthy in the morning, but also throughout the day.

If you have diabetes or other health conditions, keeping your blood sugar level is top priority. A consistent pattern of eating with food that maintains blood sugar levels, rather than spiking them, is important. For the rest of us, switching your food intake from late at night to earlier in the day can help benefit your health. If you don’t like cereal or a farmhouse breakfast of flapjacks, eggs, grits, potatoes and bacon, don’t follow the breakfast tradition. Eat your favorite healthy food, such as egg salad, lentil soup or a stir fry with a side of cantaloupe or watermelon. Have healthy breakfast muffins with a hidden baked egg inside, veggie muffins or even a zucchini bread muffin with nuts.

Boost your performance with healthy eating in the morning.

If you simply can’t stomach food the first thing in the morning, why push it. Instead, create healthy snack “breakfasts” to eat mid morning. It can help you from grabbing a quick candy bar or sugary treat from the snack vendor, while boosting your performance. Carrot cake oatmeal muffins with nuts provide great nutrition, so does cheese and herb muffins, without spiking your blood sugar levels.

• Before you exercise, fuel up. Eat some carbs and protein two hours before you workout. PB&J, trail mix or some whole grain cereal sprinkled on top of unsweetened yogurt with fresh fruit can do the trick. If your time is limited, eat a small piece of fruit a few minutes before you workout.
• Don’t forget to drink a bottle of water and hydrate. You should always have a bottle of water at hand and drink it before, during and after a workout.
• Within 45 minutes after you workout, eat a snack bursting with protein and some carbs, such as a turkey wrap with lettuce, spinach, tomato and even some avocado. Your body needs protein to build muscles. Even Greek yogurt with fresh fruit is good.
• Our Body Sculptors online nutrition program offers recipes and help for eating healthy and eating at the perfect time for your body to work most efficiently.

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

If you want fitness success, you have to have the right mindset. Exercising and eating healthy is more than just a physical activity, it takes focus and is just as much of a mental activity, too. When you workout, you’re not just training your body, you’re training the neurons in the brain. There have been a number of studies showing that mental practice helps improve performance as much as physical practice. Visualization has helped both Olympic champions improve their performance, as well as helping POWs survive and remain as healthy as possible in extremely poor conditions.

When you change your mindset, you can also change your outcome.

Do you dread going to the gym? It might show in how hard you workout and even in your results. It’s far easier to skip a workout when you have a negative attitude and allow things like feeling slightly out of sorts or a tough day get in the way. Find ways to give yourself a mental hug for every successful activity or each time you not only conquered your goal but exceeded it.

Being a curmudgeon never got anyone fitter.

Picture all the crabby people in your head. You don’t often think of attractive ones, but old curmudgeons that could kill Tinkerbell with their bad attitude. If you’re overweight, don’t beat yourself up because of past indiscretions with food. You can’t change the past, just make a better, more appealing future. Leave negativity at the door and don’t think of your workout as punishment, but a treat for your body to become healthier.

Don’t let the scales slap you around, they’re your helper, not your master.

Too often I see people fearing a weigh-in and even getting depressed when the numbers aren’t what they hoped. Of course, you have to track your progress, but weight loss isn’t the only one to track. Some times, you lose inches instead of pounds. Muscle weighs more per cubic inch than fat does, so a pound of muscle will take up less space, which means you lose inches, but not pounds. That’s still great!!! AND IS PROGRESS. Don’t weigh in every hour, but save it for once or twice a week at the same time each day.

• The gym may be where you start your effort for a healthier life, but it’s not the ultimate place. You workout to have energy for an active lifestyle. Remember that. Doing fun, active things for enjoyment is just as important. Go out dancing, take a hike or ride a bike!
• Find ways to boost your fitness on a daily basis. Park further from the grocery store door, take the stairs at work or get up and walk a few minutes of each hour.
• Enjoy your workout more with a workout buddy. Not only will working out with someone keep you accountable, it makes it more fun. It’s one reason our small group training is so popular.
• If you want to create more of a social atmosphere, get a group to sign up for Body Sculptors’ online program for healthy eating and exercise. Make it a guys’, couples’ or girls’ project toward good health and use it for socializing and fitness.

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

When the temperature rises here in Louisville, KY, it’s extremely important to keep hydrated, especially if you’re working out. Water is your friend. Don’t turn to soft drinks! The caffeine in coke will act as a diuretic and you’ll flush away any hydrating benefits it brought. Instead, always carry a bottle of water with you and sip on it frequently as you workout. Your body is mostly water, so keeping it hydrated keeps you functioning at peak performance. You should be drinking at least eight 8-ounce glasses a day normally and more in the summer.

Make drinking water a habit.

I focus on water and not on sports drinks, because you don’t need a sports drink during a regular workout. If you’re working out longer, like over an hour, you may need to replace electrolytes, which is where sports drinks shine. Some are better than others are. For instance, Gatoraid contains a lot of sugar, whereas BodyArmor has electrolytes that aid in hydration, but is also lower in sodium and higher in potassium since it’s based on coconut water. Water should be the drink of choice most of the time. It’s easy to access, free from the tap and has always done a great job hydrating. Make it a habit to start each day with one or two eight ounce glasses of water.

Your brain and your heart are 73% water and your lungs are 83%.

If you want a healthy body that won’t fail you during the day, stay hydrated. You can imagine how dehydration can affect your body and make it harder to function. It helps regulate your temperature and aids in new cell development. Your joints will feel achy if you don’t drink enough water, since it acts as a lubricant. Water is the quicker picker upper, too. You’ll get a boost of energy from a glass of water if you’re slightly dehydrated. Too little water can make you feel the brain fog.

If you’re trying to lose weight, water can help.

Have you ever found yourself hungry, but for something juicy? You’re probably thirsty and not hungry. The body gets tricked and sends out a hunger signal, when a thirst signal should be at the top of the list. Carry a bottle of water at all times and when you feel hungry, drink some and wait to see if that hunger subsides. Staying hydrated helps you in all areas, even weight loss.

• Dehydration can be far more than just getting achy, mentally foggy and thirsty. It can be life threatening. Besides headache, muscle contractions in your arms leg and back, it can cause convulsions, heart failure and other serious conditions.
• Seniors dehydrate faster than others and often don’t drink enough water, sometimes signs of dehydration like mental confusion, are mistaken for senility. Dehydration can also cause frequent UTIs.
• If you want to look younger, stick with plenty of water and hydrate often. It keeps your skin from looking dry and less plump. Staying hydrated helps prevent premature wrinkles and keeps your eyes more youthful.
• Whether you’re working out at Body Sculptors, outside or have chosen online training, staying hydrated is important. If you haven’t started a healthy diet and exercise program yet, contact me for a free personal training evaluation.

For more information, click here today:  bodysculptorspersonaltraining.com

If you think lifting weights is just for men, step up to this century. We have a lot of women in Louisville, KY, that press weights or do body exercises to build strength. It’s just as important or women to build strength as it is for me. It’s not just for heavy lifting they may have to do, it’s for aiding in weight control and the health benefits strength building brings. I love to refer to these women as girls gone strong because I’m so proud of their accomplishments. They know all the benefits of strength building.

The “Girls Gone Strong” know that building muscle tissue helps them lose weight faster.

Strength building isn’t about building bulging muscles, but it is about building muscles. The more muscle tissue you have, the easier it is to lose weight. That’s because muscle tissue requires more calories than fat tissue does, so you’ll be boosting your metabolism. Strength training also burns a high amount of calories, both when you do it and for hours after you quit. Unlike running, which burns calories from both fat and muscle tissue, leaving you with a lower metabolism, strength training tends to burn fat tissue.

Don’t worry about getting bulky and looking like the Hulk!

One of the biggest fears I hear when I suggest strength training to women is that they don’t want to look like the female body builders that could put the Hulk to shame. Those women spend hours and hours in the gym, eat special diets and unfortunately, sometimes take supplements to help them build. It’s not easy for a woman, since they don’t have the necessary hormones, like mien, to get big and bulky. You’ll get a toned, sinewy appearance that’s super sexy. You’ll look more like Linda Hamilton—Sarah Connor—than the Terminator.

Not only do you preserve muscle mass as you age, you preserve bone density.

The amount of muscle mass you have affects the amount of bone density you have. As the muscles tug on the bone, the body sends in materials to reinforce the bone and keep them dense. No tug? No need to keep them strong and loss of bone density. It can prevent and slow osteoporosis and some say it might even reverse it. Studies show, weight bearing exercises work better than some medications.

• Getting strong also helps you avoid injury. You have better balance and coordination, besides preventing muscle tears and injuries.
• Strength training improves heart health by lowering blood pressure and improving cholesterol levels. It boosts the good cholesterol levels.
• Strength training makes you look slimmer. People with more muscle mass tend to look slimmer than those that weigh the same, but have a higher ratio of fat. That’s because muscle tissue weighs more per cubic inch, so one pound of it would be in a smaller container than a pound of fat.
• Strength training helps you feel stronger and more independent. You’ll be amazed at how feeling strong can give you confidence to face any oncoming problem. It boosts your confidence and self-esteem.