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Natural Doesn’t Always Equal Healthy Ok, so this is most definitely my favorite way to explain marketing and reading labels! Think about it, just because something is natural doesn’t mean we want to eat it right? Companies are selling you an experience, an emotion, a state of mind. Quite brilliantly they use words like “Just for you” (that idea of you deserve it) & words we mistakenly associate with healthy, like gluten free or sugar free. Marketing is not just a product. It is a tested and perfected package in bright pretty colors that practically jumps into your shopping cart.  In order to know what’s really in your food, you have to know how to get past the words that don’t actually promise nutrition or value. Let’s review a few words that do not equal “healthy” for you: Natural, natural flavoring, Organic, Gluten Free Natural flavoring – Beaver anus glands (used in some vanilla extract) & crushed beetles (red dye) both fall into the category of “natural flavoring” Some foods labeled “natural flavor” may have 50-100 ingredients under that one ingredient. Natural – Raw chicken can be injected with corn syrup because corn is “natural”. Organic – Check out the clean and dirty list for produce. As far as processed foods you’re not increasing your nutritional value. An organic cheese curl is still a cheese curl. You are however ensuring there are no pesticides like round up. Gluten Free – In short gluten can be hard to digest and should be avoided like the plague for those with celiac. For others it may be an intolerance and you just feel better avoiding it. Buying regular pasta compared to gluten-free pasta is not going to help you lose weight if that is your goal.   Other words include Sugar Free, Zero calories, Fat free, diet, no sugar added, free range, and cage free! What about foods that are listed on the label but you may not know what they mean? Sodium Nitrate (lunch meat, hotdogs, bacon) Monosodium Glutamate (soups, seasoning, chips) Aspartame (artificial sweetener accidently discovered by scientist) Partially Hydrogenated Oil (many processed snacks) Soy Lecithin (waste after processing soy oil, not to be confused with lecithin that can be found naturally in eggs and other foods)  All of the above are specifically added to food to increase shelf life, keep fat and oil from separating, and/ or change the color. These foods should be avoided (in excess) whether they are marked organic or not. Many of them are associated with carcinogens (cancer causing), inflammation, gastrointestinal issues, wreaking havoc on the nervous system and more. The best thing you can do is try to get the majority of your foods from whole foods. Remember, it should have a mother or grow from the ground!   Facebook Instagram Pinterest

Surviving Holidays We love them, we hate them, and we can’t live without them! The holidays can bring an array of emotions from anticipated excitement to downright anxiety. A full season of celebrations means lots of eating, drinking and for many, packing on a few unwanted pounds. So how can you accomplish staying cheery but not going off the deep end? Follow these 7 tips and you’ll be sure to enter the new year making new resolutions instead of getting setback with last years. Have a game plan. If you know you’re heading to a big holiday party where you might indulge keep your fat and carbs on the low side during the day. What does that look like? Breakfast could be egg whites, lean turkey bacon and a Greek yogurt. For lunch try grilled chicken with mixed veggies. Sticking to less carbs and fat during the day will give you plenty of wiggle room later Know your alcohol. Beer, wine and mixed drinks can pack a serious punch to your caloric intake. Stick with clear, light colored alcohol like light beer, rum or vodka. Avoid sugary drinks and dark beers. Drink 8 oz of water for each drink you have to help keep your body hydrated. Don’t set yourself up to fail. If baking brownies, cookies, and pies galore leaves you with a full blown sugar binge, skip it! Trust me when I say, the gift of giving sweets is over-rated. But don’t miss out on the memories you’d be making in the kitchen with friends and family. Check out sites like Pinterest where you can get tons of easy, fun craft ideas. Your gift will still be thoughtful, fun to make, and home-made. When in doubt, have a backup plan.Think of it like a “bug out bag.” Keep a bag with water, fresh fruit like an apple or banana, nut mix & granola bar. These dense foods will help curb your appetite and keep you full on the go. This way no matter where your holiday plans take you, you’ll have a healthy snack to keep you feeling energized and hold you over. Don’t let family and friends pressure you! Chances are, anyone giving you a hard-time is one of two things. 1. Envious of your will power and ability to stick with commitment. or 2. That relative that always makes everyone feel bad. Whichever it is, don’t let them get under your skin and make you feel bad! Backup plan fails? Sweat it out.Over indulge? Not the end of the world. Take the extra time to regroup, prep your next couple meals and sweat it out. Even adding in a couple walks can make a big impact. Focus on balance and you’ll be right back at it. Exercise is not a form of punishment for what you ate, but it can help you feel great! Most importantly, enjoy the holiday season! Using these tips can be a big help, but no matter what don’t beat yourself up. Remember the commitment you made for a healthier you. Health and wellness isn’t a temporary diet or a fad; its lifestyle. Happy Holidays!  Coach Jenn  Looking for more guidance? Consider joining the “Shape Into You” Program. This custom one of a kind program encompasses everything from workouts, nutrition coaching, to lifestyle skills to help tackle your everyday obstacles. This program equips you to finally reach your goals and make them a lifestyle. Learn more about a tailored program here.  Facebook Instagram Pinterest

Looking At Weights Will Make My Muscle Big This topic comes up all the time. You hear someone say they can’t pick up more than 5-10lbs in fear of looking incredibly fit and sexy, I mean strong, ok ok, dare I say it, muscular… Maybe this is something we assume, or maybe it’s something we’ve been told. Let’s start by saying what must be said, the very idea that simply lifting weights will make you jacked is false. That would be like saying “looking at weights will make my muscles big” It just doesn’t happen. In truth, strength training, especially big muscle movements like squats & deadlifts, are incredibly beneficial. Movements that demand large muscle groups are like getting more bang for your buck. Take squatting for example. The concentric phase of the squat (coming up) your body requires your hip, knee, and ankle joints along with over a dozen muscles. (Brookbush Institute) That’s just part of the squat! Utilizing all of these muscles demand energy from the body. This can be helpful in weight loss because muscles require more energy than fat. Another added bonus is we also tend to use these movements every day. Ever try pooping without squatting? Strength training can have many goals. We train our muscles for endurance, power, size and strength. Saying that all strength training programs produce the same results is like saying every shoe serves the same purpose. You have heels, flip flops, sneakers; all for your feet – not the same functions! Let’s use big man Dwayne Johnson’s workouts as an example. Almost every workout you find claiming to be “The Rocks” workout includes 3-5 sets. This means he’s doing each set of exercises three to five times. So if he does front dumbbell raises 4 sets of 12 reps, he’s doing 36-48 front dumbbell raises in all. This many sets and reps falls under the category of “muscle hypertrophy” which is a fancy way of saying making muscles bigger. He’s also doing a higher % of reps closer to his max rep. For the average Joe, the goal is muscular fitness. That program would include 8-12 reps 1-2 sets. That’s about 8-24 front dumbbell raises in all. Starting to see the difference? You’d also be doing each rep at a smaller % of your own 1RM. (1 rep max) Training volume is backed by science. The many variables of sets, reps, how long you rest in between, and your 1RM% all play a large part in the overall outcome. That doesn’t even touch hormone levels, age, muscle types and lengths and so on. So even if you do increase weight and reps doesn’t mean you get she-hulk muscles if you wanted to! In closing, strength training is awesome and you shouldn’t be afraid of weight because you don’t want to “bulk up”. If you’re concerned about some physical limitations or health issues always check with your doctor prior to starting a workout routine. If you’re still not convinced, check out a few more benefits per American Heart Association: Increased strength of bones, muscles and connective tissues (tendons and ligaments) Lower risk of injury Increased muscle mass, which makes it easier for your body to burn calories and thus maintain a healthy weight Better quality of life Facebook Instagram Pinterest

Weekend Sabotage How To Keep Your Momentum Rolling Into The Weekend? 4 Tips So The Weekend Doesn’t Sabotage Your Hard Work One of the biggest obstacles I see clients face is the weekend. You might think that’s crazy because a lot of us live for the weekend; its our time to catch up on sleep and enjoy family. But the weekend for many of us also involves social functions, meals out, increase in alcohol and less time to work out. You may even have a name for this repeated self-sabotage known as “cheat days”. Truth is, these two days can have some pretty ugly effects on your overall efforts to lose weight, increase energy and other health goals. Ever wonder why most fitness professionals say “don’t ever miss a Monday workout”? That’s because in addition to starting the week off right, so many of us wake up Monday feeling like a bloated puffer fish! When you work hard at something it can be frustrating to feel like you’re not gaining the results you deserve. Instead of treating the weekend like a well-deserved 2-day free-for-all, try to stop separating the week and weekend completely. Instead allow yourself time throughout the week to enjoy little things and check out these tips to stay on track. Going out to eat? No problem. Check out the menu ahead of time. Don’t be side-swiped by a menu that overwhelms you. Most menus are available online & even include some helpful nutritional facts. When in doubt, choose grilled over fried and reach for complex carbs instead of simple carbs.(Examples sweet potato instead of white potatoes, brown rice instead of white rice etc.) Your effort will be well rewarded & you won’t feel like you ate a baby elephant come Monday. Pre-Game it with a full, healthy meal. Having a couple drinks with some friends? To reduce the beer munchies while drinking, plan to eat a full well balanced meal beforehand. Did you know, when you start drinking alcohol your body switches all energy to remove the alcohol from your system? Unlike macros, (fat, carbs and protein) your body doesn’t utilize alcohol; therefore, it must work hard to remove it. That means your digestion is essentially put on “hold” while your body tries to burn off your alcohol. This does NOT mean to drink on an empty stomach or avoid eating if you didn’t get to eat prior. This is simply a suggestions to help curb your appetite while drinking. Remember to drink water in between each drink too. Think of it like flushing toxins. Consider fun without the setbacks. Whaaaat? No booze? Did I really just say that? YES, yes I did. Drinking & eating out seems to be one of the biggest culprits to sabotaging weekly efforts, so why do we fill our weekends with it? Honestly, you probably don’t even try to. Every celebration, from holidays to kid’s 1st birthday parties are usually accompanied with alcohol and food to clog your arteries. But ask yourself, is it worth it? I don’t know about you, but I’ve never had a sober experience watching others drink and think, “man, I wish I was having trouble formulating my sentences or making posts I won’t remember in the morning”. You might surprise yourself by enjoying your time with friends and choosing fun that doesn’t include alcohol. While a couple drinks can be enjoyed, if your weekends are continually surrounded by heavy drinking & eating out, you may not have to look far to see why you’re not reaching your goals. Remember balance is key. Your diet shouldn’t restrict you from ever enjoying yourself. For this reason, I loathe the idea and fads associated with the word diet. Diets tend to set a negative stigma to restrict things we as humans love. No carbs, no chocolate, no beer, no sugar, um… no thank you? If you follow a restrictive diet and find it works for you, more power to you! But either way we can agree that we should limit the things that don’t directly benefit our well being. But it’s also important to not obsess over the things we try avoid. Allowing yourself a little bit of leniency throughout the week will help lessen the want or need to jump overboard every weekend. Just the idea of staying away from everything all week makes that impulse to “cheat” way more appealing by the weekend. Look at it like maintaining a balance everyday. Balance is everything. Facebook Instagram Pinterest

Adulting Is Hard   Did you ever wake up and think to yourself “this is not how I pictured life would be?” Sometimes I’ve been left feeling like I can’t take on one more thing. In a world that demands so much, it’s easy to fill our days with late fees, fast food, and everyone’s priorities but our own. Over the years I’ve discovered ways to help myself stay sane… for the most part. Here are my top three worst Adulting obligations and how I learned to make them manageable. Adulting problem 1– Bills – Do they ever stop? I mean really, there are soooo many bills! You can pay most online though. That’s simple enough? Wrong! Making a login and password for each one gets overwhelming quick. You need one uppercase letter, one special character, at least 8 long and how about the security questions you most definitely will not remember. So how do I keep it together? Solution – Create an organized space for all your bills. Even if you use simple ledger paper or something fancy like excel, jot down each and every one of your bills. Put them in chronological order, with the date and time they are due. There are even apps you can use to track them if you prefer. In addition, create a password book. All online bills require passwords and login, along with security questions. Keep this in a safe place to refer to when you’re making payments. This helps avoid changing your login every time you have to pay a bill, hypothetically speaking… Adulting problem 2 – Breakfast lunch and dinner – Every time I try to focus, my stomachs growling or someones complaining their hungry again. It literally feels like I work to pay for food most days! On top of this, I enjoy eating real food. I also don’t want to spend every waking hour preparing it. So what do I do? Solution – Food prep two days of the week. For me Sundays and Wednesdays are my days. This doesn’t mean I cook 10 lbs of chicken and veggies and put them in cute little containers marked each day of the week. This may work for some, but I do not enjoy eating the same meal over and over. What this means is, I shop and plan meals for three days at a time. I don’t plan what meals I make each day either. Honestly I might not feel like eating what I planned so I know I have a couple choices. I also take the time to wash and cut veggies and fruit. I then fill containers with easy ready to go snacks like the fruit and veggies along with cut up block cheese and granola bars so they are quick and easy to grab. If you have kids, get them in on the prep time too. Label a container just for them so they know what snacks to pick from. This way its time spent together and they feel part of the process. Kids LOVE to help in the kitchen! Adulting problem 3 – Everyone & everything else rules your schedule except physical activity – In all my conversations not enough time is ALWAYS the biggest excuse for not being active. For parents the most common reason is always their kid’s schedule filled with sports, band, youth groups etc. And those who are kidless, no time is also the biggest issue typically because social obligations or work tend to rule your schedule. Solution – There are a ton of fitness centers who schedule sports for adults. You can often find yoga in the park, basketball and baseball leagues; if you can’t, start one! You can also keep a basketball, football and/or Frisbee in the car so you can play anytime. If you tend to drink in your social time, try planning a game of Frisbee golf or kickball to replace happy hour sometime. You’d be surprised at how many adults jump at the opportunity to shoot hoops or throw around a football. Whatever you do, get back into the game and back in your own schedule with some fun physical activity. Previous Next Facebook Instagram Pinterest

What Is Health? When we think about health we tend to think about the obvious things like the heart, brain, lungs etc. Our major organs can certainly tell us a lot about our health. Check out the body systems like the digestive system (bowels), lymphatic system (lymph nodes), and endocrine system (hormones). These systems give feedback everyday.  The body is created from many parts to create a whole. One small part can effect the entire body. Positive or negative changes might create small impacts but overtime they add up. Let’s take a look at two examples. Mary is a young woman who eats balanced, goes to the gym 3-5 mornings a week, loves to ride her bike, go hiking & enjoys playing guitar. Recently, Mary got a competitive, high-stress job. This isn’t just any job, this is “her dream”. At first Mary is excited but with the long hours she doesn’t have time to play the guitar. She still manages to eat balanced, go to the gym 2-3 days and ride her bike. A month goes by and work has Mary working all hours. She keeps her phone on her 24/7. Getting in her morning workouts is just too much. She’s exhausted with low energy levels and battling constant stress headaches. Mary still tries to watch what she eats, but most her time is being spent working and she doesn’t leave a lot of time to grocery shop. Another month goes by and Mary notices some of her clothes are fitting snugger. Meals at this point are always on the go and never prepared at home. Mary has given up all physical activity, her energy is low,  and shes gaining weight. In just a few months time Mary, a fit, well-rounded and active women has put her work before all else & her health is beginning to feel the side effects. Bob the truck driver, middle age, over weight, is plagued with medical issues. Bob’s got high-blood pressure & is pre-diabetic. He loves to drink soda and eat on the road. His food selections tend to be filled with low nutrient, high fat and salt. After 20 years of driving trucks, his doctor tells him his health is in dire need changes or he may lose his license to drive. He is worried and decides to make some changes. In the beginning Bob incorporates some walking on the weekends. He thought it would be awful but finds it relaxing. After a couple weeks he decides to start making some cooked meals for his shifts instead of eating out. He even hires a health coach to learn how to food prep and grocery shop. After all he doesn’t want to lose all that hard work he does walking. Turns out, he’s not too bad at cooking. After a month or so of changes Bob is down 15lbs. He’s given up soda and most junk food, better yet he’s saving a lot of money. After another 10lbs down he decides to treat himself to new sneakers. His weight loss has allowed him to gain a little confidence and he starts jogging & incorporating lifting weights. He’s losing inches in his waist and gaining energy. He keeps up the hard work and a couple months pass by. Now Bob is down 45lbs, eating well balanced meals and improving his health! His doctor is thrilled and his job is secure.  Our body and all that contributes to its ability to function, be good or bad, is directly impacted by your everyday choices. Mary’s health or lack of, was driven by her work. Bob on the other hand found himself scared. He felt an immediate need to put his health first. Every drink, food or substance that enters your body is your choice. Each activity or lack of activity you decide to incorporate each day is your choice. What does your health look like? What does it mean to you? Try a quick exercise (pen and paper, no weights involved 🙂 Make two columns. “Good health” & “Needs Work health”. Consider all the things that contribute to your health – work, sleep, relationships, food, physical activity, things you enjoy. Once you’ve created that list take a look. Take time to reflect and see how you feel about your list. Does anything stand out? Go head and pick one thing you can change right now, this week. Write it on the fridge, set a timer, or see if there’s an app to help you. Did you know there’s apps to help you drink more water?! One small change over time, leads to great things! Feel free to share your changes with me or in the comments below!  #shapeintoyou Facebook Instagram Pinterest