Friend or Foe - Energy Drinks

Its been a long day and you are fatigued what do you reach for to get your energy levels back up??? Most people go for soda or coffee. But, since 2006 their has been an increase in energy drink consumption. Imagine picking up an energy drink and consuming more then 3 per day. To some people this may sound excessive but to some young adults and college students this is normal. Most of the boost in energy drinks comes from two things — sugar and caffeine — and the effect is short-term. Then you experience the "downer" were your energy level falls rapidly and you are fatigued even more then before you consumed the drink. Some people become addicted to them because they receive a high off of that increase in energy.

The problem with energy drinks is they are categorized as nutritional supplements and because of this factor they actually avoid the limit of 71 mg caffeine per 12 fluid ounces that the US Food and Drug Administration has set for soda. Consequently the energy drinks can contain as much as 75 to 400 mg caffeine per container, with additional caffeine not included in the listed total often coming from additives( guarana, kola nut, yerba mate, and cocoa).

According to Emma Hitt, PHD and author on medscape.com the maximum daily intake for adolescents is 100mg and up to 300mg for adults. The average adult consumes up to 3 cups of coffee per day and the average adolescents can have as many as 2 -3 energy drinks per day on top of the other drinks they are consuming.

Now what if a different option existed other then coffee, soda or energy drinks. What if you could have a drink that replaced your meal, allowed you to feel energized, helped you loose weight and improved your digestion and regularity. Many people would prefer to reach for an energy drink because they are cheap and easily accessible even if its not healthy and is only causing health issues amongst those that consumer them more often then they should. They are loaded with simple sugars and can be linked to increase in weight and the rapid increase of type 2 diabetes. The sugar in energy drinks causes insulin spikes which later result in a “crash like” feeling so even if you are trying to loose weight the sugar in the drinks can prevent you from reaching your weight loss or fitness goals.

As a substitute for energy drinks I recommend Shakeology. Not only will it energize you but it will also help you loose weight, improve your digestion and regularity and some have reported a decrease in blood pressure, stabilized blood sugar and an improvement in there overall health. Take back your life and control your energy levels and cravings as well. This meal replacement is filled with Protein, Digestive Enzymes, Vitamins, Minerals, Phytonutriens, Prebiotics and it has no gluten. The video below is more information about The Healthiest Meal of the Day - Shakeology.

Shakeology

Yours Truely,

For more information about Shakeology please email me!
STLHEALTHNUT@GMAIL.COM

Turkey Day Blues

As my favorite Holiday approaches I know people are getting excited about the awesome food that will sit before there eyes on Thanksgiving. The turkey, dressing, macaroni and cheese, greens, yams, green beans, sweet potatoe, peach cobbler oh my! Yessss it all sounds so delicious, and its so good that our eyes are become bigger then our stomach and we overindulge in everything. When we would normally have one serving we have two or three large plates throughout the day and nite. But unfortunately a lot of the food we eat doing Thanksgiving are loaded with fat and are high in calories, sodium and cholesterol. These are the foods that clogs your arteries and leave you with the itis(when you eat so much that you can not move and its time to sleep) at the end of the day. The average person consumes over 2000 calories on one plate of food. That's more then a large grown man should have in an entire day. There are many ways to add less calories to your food and have a lite thanksgiving but then it would be thanksgiving so I am not even going there.

Here are a few ways to help keep you from packing on the extra 10-15lbs this holiday season:

• Start working out now, there is no time like the presence to begin a workout routine. It gives you the jump start that you need in order to actually complete your new years resolution.
• Cut out all juice and soda, these are unnecessary empty calories
• Limit your alcohol intake as well (sorry i had to say it)
• Drink 3-4 glasses of water before you sit down and eat your meal
• Do not drink anything while you are eating, drink before or after your meal this helps break down the food faster in your system.
• Begin a healthy eating regime now, low carbs high protein is what I recommend
• Stop eating things that are white...white flour, noodles, sugar, bread, fried chicken(yes I said it) FRIED FOODS PERIOD.( you can treat yourself every now and then but this should not be apart of your daily diet)
• Try to make your food at home and avoid fast foods (this also helps save you money)

Try a few tips hopefully you will not be the one this season gaining the seasonal 10-15lbs. Happy Eating!

Yours Truly,

Dione Neal your,

STLHEALTHNUT

For more ways to achieve your health and fitness goal please visit:

http://www.stlhealthnut.com/

Are You Moving?

As the obesity rate continues to rise in this nation it makes me wonder do people care more about the taste of food then there health, are they not fully informed about the dangers that some food can have on their health or do they not have the right tools to get them up and moving? Its going to take more then Lil ole' me to get people excited about health and fitness. That is why every time I see the First Lady of our country pushing her Obesity Campaign I get really excited. It is about time someone in a higher position begins to tackle the youth first. Let’s inform the children if there parents are not willing to take the first steps perhaps the children will be able to help encourage their parent’s family and friends to begin to move.

"This isn't just a policy issue for me. This is a passion. This is my mission. I am determined to work with folks across this country to change the way a generation of kids thinks about food and nutrition," Michelle Obama.

Michelle Obama Obesity Campaign Components

Let's Move has four areas of focus:

1. Healthy Choices: better nutrition labeling, a revamped food pyramid, and regular monitoring of children's BMI
2. Healthier Schools: reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Act for improved school lunches; expansion of the Healthier US Schools Challenge
3. Physical Activity: modernize the President's Physical Fitness Challenge program and increase participation; partner with professional athletes to encourage 60 minutes of active play daily
4. Access to Affordable Healthy Food: Address the problem of "food deserts," urban and rural areas without access to affordable, nutritious foods

These are great steps that hopefully will help our country fight the obesity epidemic. But it also starts with us individually. Now believe it or not fitness can be fun! You just have to figure out what really works for you. On my fitness journey I have come to understand that for me running is not my thing and I am not a fan of going to the gym and just doing cardio and weight lifting. In many aspects those are some great options for fitness but just not for me. What works for me is cardio kick boxing, I love Turbo Fire by Chalene Johnson a beach body product, the music is hot, the moves are awesome and it keeps me interested and wanting to wake up in the morning to get moving. This workout kicks my butt, but it is fun for me. My older brother is a fan of P90X by Tony Horton and my younger brother enjoys running and riding his bike, all great fitness options which keeps each one of us wanting to continue on our fitness journey. What are you doing or what choices are you making to assure that your fitness journey is fun and a lifestyle change?

Yours Truly,

STLHealthut
http://beachbodycoach.com/stlhealthnut
stlhealthnut@gmail.com

Catch Up!

It has been a while since my last blog. This summer has really got me occupied! But its now time to get back into business. I have goals and I am sure your all have summer goals as well. So where do you stand with you path to good health and fitness. With only two months left of summer...Yes I said two. It still leaves you with plenty of time to jump start your weight loss goal and allow yourself to cruise into the winter months with just weight loss maintenance. If you go hard now and focus on what you are eating and making sure that you are doing some cardio activity 4-6 times a week and lifting weights 2-3 times a week you will be on the track to greatness. I myself am on a 4 week challenge to loose 10-15lbs or just get back into my size 4-6 clothes. What ever motivates me right! I am eating healthy and focusing on a lot of cardio kick boxing to shed the pounds and Pilate's for core muscles and to lean out my body! It doesn't take much to get their just a positive attitude something that motivates you and the right tools!!! Well keep up the good work and the only one you will disappoint is yourself! Go Big or die trying!

What Will You Choose?

          I have been reading a few articles here lately about how America is the most obese country and the State of Mississippi has now declared war on obesity. I understand that a lot of people are a product of their environment and some of the only places individuals can get food from are the local corner stores, mom and pop diners and fast food restaurants. If they are able to shop at a grocery store because they have to stretch their dollars and get as much food with little money then things like fruits and vegetables are out of the question because of the cost. I understand all of that and hopefully one day this government and this country will find ways to make it easier for low income families to afford healthier foods. But right now it is killing many families especially African Americans.

            Now what I do not understand is how individuals whom have all the tools they need to become healthy and to be somewhat in shape still choose to make the wrong choices everyday when it comes to their health. Everyday some  people wake up and by their choices say I am going to choose to eat fried chicken, cakes, pies, fried fish, chips and soda, fried pork chops, burgers and french fries because it taste good. Instead of saying I am going to choose to love me and my body and choose to eat right. I am not saying that everything we put into our mouths has to healthy. You should be able to eat a combination but I do believe 70 to 80% of what you put inside of your body should be good healthy lean foods. The other 20- 30% can be your cheat foods.

            I could not imagine walking around my office out of breath because of the extra weight I am carrying around. I can not imagine not being able to enjoy a beautiful day in the park with friends and family because my knees are hurting. I could not imagine having to go to sleep with a sleeping aid because there is too much fat surrounding my lungs and heart. I could not imagine having medical bills up the wall because of something that I can personally prevent.

            I choose my health over choosing that bucket of fried chicken everyday. I choose to want to live a long healthy life instead of drinking soda everyday. I choose to walk around feeling great about myself instead of choosing to eat that double cheese burger or strawberry shortcake concrete every week. I choose to be disciplined and take the time out to think about what I am putting in my body. It’s okay to overindulge in the foods that you love every now and then but not on the weekly basis. I hope you choose what is best for your health and not choose what is best for your taste buds right now. Live Healthy, Live Long, Live Happy.

Yours Truly,

STL Healthnut

What do you do after you work out?

           I work up this morning and my body was aching (man) from an amazing workout I had yesterday and I could not for the life of me figure out why I was hurting so bad. Yes I had worked out muscles that haven’t seen those positions in while, but that shouldn't mean I have to go reaching for my epsom salt in order to get my day started. Eventually I thought about my workout and realized that I did not have the proper recovery afterwards. After each workout you should take an additional 5-10mins and properly stretch your body. This not only allows the body to cool down but stretching is essential to muscle health and prevention of injuries.

When your muscle is used repeatedly, lactic acid moves into the muscle. This is the stuff that causes pain in your body after working out. When you end your workout or activity, your muscles are at their shortest and in order to reduce the muscle pain, you need to stretch while the muscles are warm and this allows some of that acid to move out of the muscle. After saying all of that stretching simply prevents injuries and reduces muscle soreness.

           

In order to really reduce muscle soreness you should always have a recovery drink after each workout out. P90x has a great Results and Recovery packet that I use which refuels, re-energize, and reduce muscle soreness after-workout.  Also any type of performance recovery formula works as well.

            You can always just go and workout and get results but to ensure great body and muscle health and to also prevent future injuries you really need to make sure you do stretch and also utilize a great recovery shake! Otherwise you will be limping around like an old man or women feeling sorry for yourself or ashamed that your body does not recover as fast. You too can still feel and look young at any age. Just listen to your body and take the proper steps for prevention.

Yours Truly,

STLHealthnut & Beach Body Coach

http://beachbodycoach.com/stlhealthnut

To Sip or Not to Sip

One of the things I find really hard to give up in this weight loss journey and just being fit and healthy is alcohol. Some people don't want to give up there cakes and pies and pastas. I personal do not want to give up my tequila and red wine.

But, drinking alcohol can affect your weight loss progress. The fact of the matter is alcohol is filled with empty calories; there is nothing nutritious or healthy about drinking this useless substance. It contains about 7 calories per gram - which is nearly twice the calorie content found in carbs and protein (4calories/gram). Also, having a few glasses of wine or a couple of beers can equal an entire meal or a snack it just depends on how many you plan on taking back. I limit my alcohol intake to twice a week and those are the days I know I am going to be out with friends or going on a hot date. One thing I felt was helpful for me was knowing the amount of calories certain drinks have. So, if you can count calories and you need to have that glass of wine or beer or mixed drink(which is the worst when it comes to calories) knowing the amount of calories in certain drinks may help you decide what to sip or what not to sip!

Wines are the best place to start they have less then 160 calories. White wines contain about 65 calories and Reds contain about 70 calories. Port wines have the smallest serving size but the highest number of calories starting at 120.

Now beer on the other hand contain anywhere between 95-210 calories. One of the lightest beers is Anheuser Busch Select 55 with only has 55 calories. Then there is Michelob Ultra with 95 calories or a Bud Select with 99 calories. Shoot for the light beers, they have fewer than 100 calories. Most of the darker beers are loaded with calories and I would say stay away from them if possible. So for the heavy beer drinkers if you take 4-6 beers back then you are drinking on average between 400-600 calories in just of few hours of drinking. No wonder people have beer belly’s.

Hard liquor on the other hand ranges from 125 calories + just depends on the type of drink you are getting. If you are drinking hard liquor straight up then you have less calories to worry about, but when you add a mixer that is not a diet soda or club soda that’s when the calories start adding up. Example if you enjoy downing a margarita then a 4oz serving contains 180 calories (all carbs). Now the average margarita glass holds 12oz so you will be drinking 540 calories from one drink. Vodka and cranberry juice is about 167 calories. These types of drinks can really put a damper on your weight loss progress. Most of the mixed drinks contain a lot of carbs mainly from the juice which is one of the reasons you may feel really full after a night of drinking.

I am not saying don’t drink because obviously I do enjoy a glass of wine every now and then. But do watch what you are drinking and know that alcohol can play a role if you not meeting your weight loss goals. So just ask yourself when you are out to sip or not to sip!

Enjoy,

STL Healthnut