12 Healthy Tips for 2012

I run fitness boot camps and I like to provide my campers with great information to help them meet their fitness and fat loss goals. To this end, we did a conference call with my ‘go to’ nutritionist, Danielle Cobbet from Simply for Life.

I know you love challenge workouts, but they get a ton easier when you have less flub to move around. Even though many of you can’t participate in my boot camp, you can still benefit from the info I provide to my clients.Whether you’re training in boot camp, a gym or your basement, eating habits need to be dialed in to get the most out of your workouts.

Here’s the download link so that you can listen in on the call.

In summary, here are the points that we discussed:

1. Breakfast

Eating within 20 min of waking up increases metabolic rate right away
Breakfast helps to ensure you don’t fall off the nutritional wagon by 10 am
Variety of breakfast – shakes, egg whites, greek yogurt, oatmeal

2. Add more veggies

Increase to 4 cups/day
Try new veggies

3. Be aware of sugar intake

Look for sugar content when reading labels!
Look for <10 g of sugar/serving
2 tsp of sugar (<10 g)/serving is an acceptable sugar content
Sugar consumption compromises the immune system

4. Eat more probiotics

Probiotics boosts the immune system, reduces inflammation, helps with lactose intolerance, helps those who suffer from IBS
Probiotics are live bacteria
Recommended amount is 40 billion active bacteria/day
Good sources include: yogurt, miso soup, fermented milk, kefir (a type of yogurt)
Store in probiotics in the fridge
A good Canadian brand is Bio K (found at Super store in capsules or liquid form)

5. Increase fiber

Try to have 30 g/day
Benefits include: feeling fuller longer, stable blood sugar levels, regular bowels
Great sources include: 2 kiwi, increased veggies, whole grains vs whole wheat, flax seed, chia seed

6. Eat coconut

It is a short chain saturated fat
For 1.5 oz you’ll get 14 g fiber
It’s a great snack idea that’s very portable and easy to pack
Coconut water is a good elecrolyte replacement drink (but beware of liquid calories)
Recommended product is found at Costco (dried $10/bag)

7. Eat more dark chocolate

Dark chocolate is one of the highest anti oxidant food on the planet
Look for 85% cacao or higher
It can be bitter (start at 65% to 70% to work up to 85%)
1 oz is a good snack to kill chocolate craving
Very easy to over eat chocolate so make sure to pre portion

8. Eat more fish

Brilliant source of omega 3’s found in cold water fish
Great examples include sole, halibut, salmon
Expose kids to fish early on to help them develop a taste for fish
Eat wild fish not farmed when possible
Stay tuned for an update from Danielle on high mercury fishes

9. Get your Vitamin D supplement

Helps with a variety of things including weight loss and disease prevention
Most people in northern climates are deficient in vitamin D from Oct to May
Health practitioners won’t even test because deficiency is so prevelent
Recommended daily dose is 2000 IUD for adults
Milk drinkers can supplement with 1000 IUD/day

10. Drink red wine

Great health benefits!
Melbac is a great choice because it’s lower in sugar
Argentinian and French wines are best
European wines have less pesticides and sugar so can be a good choice too
Limit American wines
Limit consumption if weight loss is a goal since 4 oz is 70 calories

11. Reduce processed foods

Shop on the perimeter of grocery store
Eat more natural foods, or foods as close to nature as possible
Look for less chemicals and preservatives
Be aware of advertising and marketing, not all claims are correct
Read ingredient list on all foods and learn how to interpret labels
Try to find foods with ingredients you can pronounce, if a 3^rd grader can’t pronounce the ingredients it’s likely not a good choice
Eat out less
Eat home cooked meals so you know what you’re eating

12. Get prepared

Plan your meals in advance
Cook in batches
Keep nutrition ‘top of mind awareness’ versus an after thought

If you live in the Calgary area, check out Simply for Life. It’s a great resource and support for those of you that may need that extra push. The phone number is 403-220-9306

Again, you can listen in on the conversation with my nutritionist and take away 12 tips to help you get 2012 dialed in nutritionally. Click this link to listen.

I run fitness boot camps and I like to provide my campers with great information to help them meet their fitness and fat loss goals. To this end, we did a conference call with my ‘go to’ nutritionist, Danielle Cobbet from Simply for Life.

Here’s the download link so that you can listen in on the call.

In summary, here are the points that we discussed:

1. Breakfast

Eating within 20 min of waking up increases metabolic rate right away

Breakfast helps to ensure you don’t fall off the nutritional wagon by 10 am

Variety of breakfast – shakes, egg whites, greek yogurt, oatmeal

2. Add more veggies

Increase to 4 cups/day

Try new veggies

3. Be aware of sugar intake

Look for sugar content when reading labels!

Look for <10 g of sugar/serving

2 tsp of sugar (<10 g)/serving is an acceptable sugar content

Sugar consumption compromises the immune system

4. Eat more probiotics

Probiotics boosts the immune system, reduces inflammation, helps with lactose intolerance, helps those who suffer from IBS

Probiotics are live bacteria

Recommended amount is 40 billion active bacteria/day

Good sources include: yogurt, miso soup, fermented milk, kefir (a type of yogurt)

Store in probiotics in the fridge

A good Canadian brand is Bio K (found at Super store in capsules or liquid form)

5. Increase fiber

Try to have 30 g/day

Benefits include: feeling fuller longer, stable blood sugar levels, regular bowels

Great sources include: 2 kiwi, increased veggies, whole grains vs whole wheat, flax seed, chia seed

6. Eat coconut

It is a short chain saturated fat

For 1.5 oz you’ll get 14 g fiber

It’s a great snack idea that’s very portable and easy to pack

Coconut water is a good elecrolyte replacement drink (but beware of liquid calories)

Recommended product is found at Costco (dried $10/bag)

7. Eat more dark chocolate

Dark chocolate is one of the highest anti oxidant food on the planet

Look for 85% cacao or higher

It can be bitter (start at 65% to 70% to work up to 85%)

1 oz is a good snack to kill chocolate craving

Very easy to over eat chocolate so make sure to pre portion

8. Eat more fish

Brilliant source of omega 3’s found in cold water fish

Great examples include sole, halibut, salmon

Expose kids to fish early on to help them develop a taste for fish

Eat wild fish not farmed when possible

Stay tuned for an update from Danielle on high mercury fishes

9. Get your Vitamin D supplement

Helps with a variety of things including weight loss and disease prevention

Most people in northern climates are deficient in vitamin D from Oct to May

Health practitioners won’t even test because deficiency is so prevelent

Recommended daily dose is 2000 IUD for adults

Milk drinkers can supplement with 1000 IUD/day

10. Drink red wine

Great health benefits!

Melbac is a great choice because it’s lower in sugar

Argentinian and French wines are best

European wines have less pesticides and sugar so can be a good choice too

Limit American wines

Limit consumption if weight loss is a goal since 4 oz is 70 calories

11. Reduce processed foods

Shop on the perimeter of grocery store

Eat more natural foods, or foods as close to nature as possible

Look for less chemicals and preservatives

Be aware of advertising and marketing, not all claims are correct

Read ingredient list on all foods and learn how to interpret labels

Try to find foods with ingredients you can pronounce, if a 3rd grader can’t pronounce the ingredients it’s likely not a good choice

Eat out less

Eat home cooked meals so you know what you’re eating

12. Get prepared

Plan your meals in advance

Cook in batches

Keep nutrition ‘top of mind awareness’ versus an after thought

If you live in the Calgary area, check out Simply for Life. It’s a great resource and support for those of you that may need that extra push. The phone number is 403-220-9306

Again, you can listen in on the conversation with my nutritionist and take away 12 tips to help you get 2012 dialed in nutritionally. Click this link to listen.

Try to find foods with ingredients you can pronounce, if a 3^rd grader can’t pronounce the ingredients it’s likely not a good choice