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Jeff Angel

nutrition

My Top 5 Ways to Be Healthier

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My top five ways for being a healthier person:

  1. Stay hydrated by drinking plenty of water. Especially for those of you that work-out regularly and exercise outside during these hot summer months. Water helps your skin stay youthful and keeps the nutrients flowing throughout your body. I drink a minimum of ten 8 oz. glasses of water a day.
  2. Be physically active everyday for at least 60 minutes. Exercise, walking, running outside with your kids, gardening, even golf. These activities have been proven to help keep your heart strong and release stress. My favorite physical activity is High Intensity Circuit Training and running around my backyard with my sons, Max and Will.Vacation 2014 245
  3. Eat the recommended amount of vegetables and fruit every day. These are high in vitamins, minerals, and fiber. Fruits and vegetables will certainly help to keep your energy levels high throughout the day. My favorite veggies are broccoli, spinach, and brussel sprouts. My favorite fruits are bananas and any type of berries.
  4. Get your sleep! Most Americans are not getting the recommended amount of sleep, which is 7-8 hours a day.  A good night’s sleep helps to energize your body for the next day, helps the body to repair and regrow cells, and helps to keep your immune system strong. My work day starts at 5:45 a.m. every week day. Therefore, I wake up at 4:40 a.m. Getting to bed by 9:00 p.m is essential for me to get enough sleep (7.5 hrs) to make it through a long day of training 8-10 clients.
  5. Have a happy and positive attitude. Negative stress can have a very negative effect on our bodies. Stress can actually increase the risk of heart attacks and cancers. At the end of the day, reflect on your life and think about all the joys you encounter. For me, my joys are: my two sons, my beautiful wife Stacie, our wonderful families and friends, my fun and loyal clients, sharing my knowledge of fitness and exercise, and a big glass of wine!

These are my top five ways for being a healhier person. What are yours?

Food

5 Mistakes When Trying to Lose Weight

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Weight loss

 

Over the years of training I’ve seen many people succeed and fail on their journey of losing weight. The success stories are of those that change their eating behaviors, are discipline and motivated, and exercise regularly. Those that fail tend to go on fad diets, starve themselves, and exercise too much or too little. Excessive exercisers usually burn out before their target weight loss has been reached or get injured in the process. Too little exercise will, of course, not burn enough calories to reduce body fat and weight. Losing weight is a very difficult challenge and needs to be accomplished with focus and consistency. Short cuts are not the answer when it comes to losing weight.

I’ve seen people make many mistakes when trying to lose weight. However, the following five mistakes are the biggest ones I’ve seen.

1. Doing ONLY cardio exercise to burn calories and reduce body fat.

Yes, cardio exercises such as walking, running, spinning, jumping rope, etc. is very important in the fight against fat. However, doing only cardio and not including strength training in your exercise program will certainly slow down your weight loss plans. Cardio exercise is great for burning calories and fat, but can also burn away muscle. Strength training must be done in order to maintain your lean body mass (muscle) which helps to keep your metabolism running high and keep you strong. Bottom line, you must do both – cardio and weights.

2. Eliminating all carbohydrates and fats.

Complex carbohydrates and certain fats are needed in your body for energy and several physiological functions. You need both for high energy in order to get through long, intense workouts. Do stay away from saturated fat and processed carbs. These will certainly keep energy levels low and keep that unwanted weight on.

3. Not being consistent with healthy eating.

This is the biggest problem I see with clients that want to lose weight. I find that people do great with low caloric intake and healthy foods Monday through Thursday. But look out on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. All that heathy eating is thrown out the door on the weekends. Heavy dinners out at restaurants, desserts, over abundance of alcohol, fried foods. The list goes on and on. Listen, if you are on a mission to lose weight, you have to put forth 100% effort until your goal is reached. Once the goal is reached then splurge every now and then. You can’t eat whatever you want on weekends and expect to lose weight. Simple formula to remember – calories in/calories out. If you are taking in more calories than your body needs, then you will not lose weight!

4. Starving yourself.

Not eating will certainly help reduce your weight. However, how long can you go without food before you have a break down and pig-out on an entire pizza? Starving yourself does not work over a long period of time. Research shows that these people will gain the lost weight back, plus an extra 2-3 pounds or more. You must feed your body healthy foods in moderation in order to keep your metabolism running on high throughout the day.

5. Weighing yourself every day.

Do not do this! When that number on the scale doesn’t move for five days in a row, people get disappointed and frustrated which leads to lack of motivation and questioning all the effort put into healthy eating and exercise. Be patient! If you are sticking with the program and eating properly, the weight will come off. Weigh in once a week, preferably the same day and time and first thing in the morning (after a visit to the bathroom).

Losing weight takes time, consistency, and a lot of motivation and hard work. You must be discipline when it’s time to make the decision to eat dessert or not. Or deciding to have that third glass of wine. Or ordering steamed broccoli instead of french fries. When it comes down to it, it is YOU that has ultimate control over your weight loss. Be patient and consistent with your eating habits and exercise and you will surely see that number on the scale get lower and lower.

Importance of Eating After Your Workout

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Micronutrients

Eating is an extremely important part of staying fit and healthy. We need food in order to fuel our bodies for physiological functions, daily activities, and exercise. An automobile, for instance, needs clean gasoline to make it go. Without gasoline, the car will not move. As with our bodies, we need the proper fuel to give us energy to get through our day. Without proper nourishment, our bodies feel tired and run down. Eating foods that are highly processed, full of sugar,  and high in saturated fat will certainly make your body feel slow and sluggish. How can you get through a long day of school, work, dealing with your kids, and exercise when proper fueling for your body is not in place? It’s difficult!

If you exercise regularly, your body needs proper nourishment throughout the entire day. Most importantly, immediately following your workout. No matter what type of training you are doing for the day, your body’s nutrients need to be replenished immediately after your training session. Immediately means within 20-30 minutes of finishing the workout. This may be difficult for some of you, however with proper planning you can certainly accomplish this.

After a hard workout, the body is drained of many of the nutrients it needs in order to grow, heal, and become stronger. Complex carbohydrates, protein, fats, vitamins, and minerals are all needed after your workout. These nutrients are vital in helping with repair and recovery of broken down muscle tissue, replenishing drained glucose levels (energy) needed for tomorrow’s workout, and keeping all physiological functions of the body performing with high-efficiency.

This is where the planning comes in to place. If you know you are training tomorrow, then have a pre-packaged meal, or meal supplement, prepared that can be immediately consumed after the workout. Some ideas for a post-workout meal are as follows:

  • Protein shake that contains some carbohydrates and plenty of vitamins and minerals. There are so many of these on the market and may be difficult to choose the proper one. Choose one that has whey protein, contains 15-20 grams of protein per serving, has low sugar (less than 15 grams), can be mixed easily with water, and, most importantly, tastes good.
  • Broiled or grilled chicken breast and a small, baked, sweet potato.
  • Turkey sandwich, with fresh spinach leaves and tomatoes on whole grain bread.
  • Natural peanut butter and low sugar preservatives on multi-grain bread.
  • Arugula and spinach leaf salad with chopped grilled chicken breast and red, yellow, and orange peppers. Use your favorite dressing sparingly.

These examples of post-workout meals are some of my favorites. There are plenty of choices out there for everyone. Remember, you must plan and prepare ahead of time.

The post-workout meal is one of the most important meals of the day. You are not only replenishing the nutrients you burned up while exercising, you are also fueling your body for tomorrow’s workout. Fueling your body with complex carbs, lean protein, and plenty of vegetables and fruit will have a direct effect on your energy levels, lean muscle mass, and weight loss. So be prepared, have a plan, be consistent, and stay focused with your refueling. You will find yourself increasing your exercise intensity and continually improving your fitness levels.

5 Secrets to Weight Loss

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People are always looking for easy fixes and fast results when it comes to losing weight. It seeems like every other month there’s a new fad diet that the news is reporting on: fat-free, sugar-free, low-carb, high-protein, gluten-free, juicing, gabbage soup, low-calorie, and the list goes on and on. I’m sure that if you’re reading this article, you’ve tried at least one of these diets. Sure, diets may work for a period of time. However, these are quick fix remedies to weight loss. Most likely, individuals doing these diets will stay on them for a few weeks, lose a few pounds, go back to eating poorly, and gain the weight back plus a few extra pounds. People are not learning the proper way to eat healthy and exercise daily in order to keep the weight off. Behavior modification is most important when wanting to lose weight, maintain healthy eating habits, and living a healthy lifestyle for the rest of your life.

Of course, it’s easy for me to give you the advice. The most diffficult part is to implement this advice into your life and change your current behaviors. There are several actions that need to take place in order for you to live a healthy life, lose weight, keep the weight off, and stay physically active. I have provided Weight Control Guidelines on our website. These Guidelines will help you to stay on track when trying to lose weight. These are not secrets to weight loss. This is information that most of you already know, however, you may not be implementing in your life.

The following list includes the most important guidelines to follow when trying to lose weight. Please remember, these are not quick weight-loss solutions. These are guidelines you should be following all the time for the rest of your life. When on the journey of losing weight, you should keep in mind that the weight should come off slowly. I recommend losing 1 to 2 pounds per week. Studies have shown that people that lose 1 to 2 pounds per week tend to keep that weight off permanently. Studies also show that people that go on crash diets lose weight, then go off the diet, and gain that weight back plus an extra 3 to 5 pounds. This is due to not changing their eating behaviors permenantly.

  1. Reduce your intake of processed food and refined sugars. Examples of these include: white bread, pasta, white rice, fast food such as McDonald’s, Panera Bread, and Taco Bell, cookies, cakes, snack foods such as pretzels, chips, and soda pop. These food products tend to be high in calories, trans fats, and sugar. Substitute these foods with whole grain and multi-grain products and increase your intake of a variety of vegetables.
  2. Portion control. Eat 6 small meals a day rather than 3 large meals a day. This will help to keep your metabolism higher. Three large meals a day can be higher in calories and makes it more difficult for your body to burn these calories up. Six small meals a day will keep your energy levels higher, keep you feeling less hungry, and will help you to reduce your caloric intake.
  3. Eat lean protein with every meal. Protein plays an important role in the development of muscle, hair, and nails. Studies have also shown that protein helps to keep people more satisfied and less hungry later in the day.
  4. When trying to lose weight/body fat, reduce your daily caloric intake by 500 calories. 3,500 calories equals one pound of fat. So if you can cut out 500 calories every day for 7 days, you can lose one pound in one week. This sticks with the recommendation of losing 1 to 2 pounds per week in order to keep that weight off for the rest of your life. One way of reducing your caloric intake is to cut out carbs such as pasta, breads, and rice at dinner time. Replace these with a variety of vegetables. Do not completely cut out complex carbohydrates from your diet. Complex carbohydrates are the body’s number one source for energy. You need these “good” carbs early in the day in order to perform your daily routine such as going to work or school, running the kids around town, and EXERCISE!
  5. Drink water throughout the day. Avoid soft drinks, soda pop, and juices. These are high in calories and sugar. Our bodies are 80% water. Water is important for healthy skin, proper physiological functions of the body, and, of course, keeping you hydrated for your workouts.

These 5 important guidelines are just a few of several tips that you should be following when it comes to proper daily nutrition. Please click here to learn more important nutritional information. Combining these weight control guidelines with daily physical activity and exercise will certainly help you to reduce your body weight and body fat. I understand that changing behavior is a very difficult thing to do. So start off slow. Try changing one thing in your eating habits. Accomplish that for 6 weeks and then add on another. Remember, these are lifestyle changes that will stay with you for the rest of your life. These changes will not only help you to lose weight but may help to decrease illnesses and diseases and prolong your life.

 

Macronutrients

Macronutrients

Micronutrients

Micronutrients

Cooking Tips

Cooking Tips

Recipes

Recipes