BEST purchase ever! for only $29 via Amazon. Water does the body good and having a large filter such as this is convenient and cost-effective. Make sure to buy a reusable water bottle also to fill up before the gym or to take with you when leaving your house/apt. The filter ONLY needs to be changed every two months for approx. $10. Typically in two months you’d spend $30 to $40 on bottles of water alone
ToastGrade: A+
Winter!! a time for family, holidays, cold weather, and most important (to some) EATING! Winter time is when people gain a couple of pounds without even realizing it like a fast roller coaster finishing while your mind is still on take off. There are a couple of reasons for this weight gain. First is of course the holidays starting with Halloween (crazy amounts of candy), Thanksgiving (juicy turkey with mac and cheese, pumpkin pies and leftovers), Christmas (Ham and family dinner), New Years (alcohol). As you can see things happen pretty fast! THen we have the cold weather (Burrrr), makes you want to cuddle under the covers with comfort food, a nice movie and a warm body next to you. Also your body adapts to the coldness by holding on to the fat it already has to keep you warm (makes it harder to lose weight)
Here are a couple of tips from various sites:
1. Practice Smart Snacking - Trail mix, whole grain crackers, low fat cottage cheese, etc.
2. NEVER go into a party hungry! – this will tend to make you overeat and you’re subject to what menu items that they offer
3. Liquid Calories - they tend to have a high amount of calories that can be consumed in a short amount of time. It also has a faster rate of being converted into fat.
4. Go outside for some SUN - Get some sun even if its cold outside (you’d be surprised how fast you warm up when you workout in the cold)
5. Eat more Protein and Fiber - Keeps you full longer and longer energy. Watch those carbs! ( muffins, cakes, pastries)
6. Go to the Grocery store - Stock up on items in your cupboard before hand, That way, you’ll be able to create a quick and nutritious evening meal at short notice. You’ll save money and avoid the temptation to order a high-calorie takeaway.
7. Wear FITTED clothes - we are constantly wearing baggy jackets, sweaters, and layers upon layers! It’s easy to feel good about our bodies and lose sight on the reality of the shape of our bodies. Wear fitted clothes and regularly weigh yourselves to keep that focus.
Of course ENJOY! and LIVE a little it is the holidays still, just don’t go overboard you won’t want to regret it in spring when it’s beach season.
Ask Men, NHS UK, EatingWell.com, WebMD, Fit Sugar, ThatsFit.com
Salads are one of the most versatile and dynamic foods that we have to eat. No two salads are ever alike! The amount of customizations that one can do to a salad to make it to their liking is unlimited. But with this being said one can take a seemingly healthy salad and make it worst that eating a triple quarter pound sandwich with large fries, large soda and two apple pies. These are some basic guidelines to consider when creating/choosing your masterpiece
Make it COLORFUL !!! Add yellow and red bell peppers, green cucumbers, blue cabbage, orange carrots, red tomatoes and etc.
Greener leaves are better for you as they contain more nutrients (Romaine lettuce and Spinach leaves etc.)
Salad should leave you full, but not heavy
Chew each bite slowly (pertains to all foods) It gives your body time to recognize when you’re full.
Be weary of how much dressing that you use
Salad dressing can take a seemingly healthy salad and turn it horrible with unhealthy calories I.e ranch (a lite vinegrette oil is better)
Add grains and nuts (almonds, sunflower seeds, flax seeds etc) for protein and healthy fats
BE WEARY!! of adding alot of bacon, chicken, beef, cheese, dressing, croutons and raisins. (more…)
As I ran in Deanna Jefferson’s Warrior Workout, I along with a few others felt an intense cramping pain in various parts of our muscles! This is what we call a Charley Horse (Muscle spasm). Basically we experience an INTENSE involuntary muscle cramp in which a painful contraction occurs. g. The most prone sites are in your lower body, but no muscle is off-limits (including your arms, chest, and abdominal). One of the absolutely worst times to get them is when resting or sleeping
Reasons why we might get a Charley Horse:
MERRY CHRISTMAS!! From Toast2Fitness to YOU!
It has been a great year and am thankful for a lot. Your health has been a gift to me and can’t ask for more.
Remember these tips as you eat Christmas dinner and you’ll prevent the famous Santa Belly:
As you’re thinking more on the healthier side of the spectrum, you constantly hear from various people/media telling to give up the sodas, juices, and etc. Alot of people try to, but do you know WHY you should in the first place? This is because your body handles foods vs liquids in two different ways. The way it digests and processes both determines how the nutrients are used and how the CALORIES affects you! Another factor to the liquid calorie attack involves the amount we drink per day.
Most people might not know that the liquid version of a product is not created equally compared to the solid version. i.e an apple vs. apple juice. There is a thermic effect when you eat solid foods, meaning that your body uses energy (calories) to break down the food and nutrients. When you drink, your stomach’s pyloric sphincter doesn’t close so ALL the calories are readily absorbed without any true breakdown from the stomachs enzymes since the brain doesn’t register it as FOOD. Also the denser the food (such as quality protein) the greater the thermic effect. As the saying goes “You have to eat food to lose weight” (more…)
Over the past few years McDonalds has been adding a slew of healthy food choices to its menu, but it still has an unhealthy stigma associated with it. Some of these additions include the parfait, premium salads, grilled chicken sandwiches, snack wraps, and fruit snacks i.e sliced apples. Instead when the name McDonalds is brought up the image of a smothered BIG MAC with cheese and “special” sauce accompanied with large fries and a 32oz soda first pops up in my head. But with its latest addition of the Wild Berry smoothie and Strawberry Banana smoothie, I can truly say that McDonalds is taking strides in improving its health choices in its menu. Each smoothie contains only 210 calories which is great compared to the 550 calories in a frappe and 560 in a milkshake . The smoothies are good if taken alone or with a healthy food choice such as fruit or even with a mcmuffin for breakfast. The taste of the Wild Berry smoothie is great!!, (haven’t tried the strawberry banana yet). One thing I must say from looking at the ingredients is to watch out for the sugar intake since it is added and accounts for the 44 grams of sugar in each smoothie (better than the 71g of sugar in a frappe and 84g in a milkshake) . As you can see from the ingredients below there is a simplicity to it, Fruit blend x Low fat yogurt x Ice. For more nutritional facts click the McDonalds source link below.
4 TOASTS out of 5
12.55 grams of sugar = 1 tablespoon
Wild Berry Fruit Blend
Strawberry puree, water, sugar, blackberry puree, blueberry puree, concentrated pineapple juice, concentrated apple juice, contains less than 1% of the following: cellulose powder, xanthan gum, colored with fruit and vegetable juice, natural (botanical source) and artificial flavors, pectin, citric acid
Strawberry Banana Fruit Blend
Strawberry Banana Fruit Blend: Strawberry puree, banana puree, water, sugar, concentrated apple juice, contains less than 1% of the following: cellulose powder, natural (botanical source) and artificial flavors, xanthan gum, citric acid, colored with fruit and vegetable juice, pectin, ascorbic acid (preservative).
Low Fat Yogurt
Cultured Grade A reduced fat milk, sugar, whey protein concentrate, fructose, corn starch, kosher gelatin. Contains active yogurt cultures.
Source:McDonalds
Breakfast is often the meal most missed by people when they wake up. There are a list of excuses to the reasons why people typically skip the most important meal of the day. Now unless it is a medical then your excuse is INVALID! Here are just some of the excuses: “I’m not a morning person”, “I’m always in a hurry when I wake up”, “I feel nauseated when I do eat breakfast”, and “I hate breakfast foods”. All of these excuses are counter productive in your fitness journey. You need to form a habit of waking up at an early enough time that will allow you to eat a healthy meal of your CHOICE routinely everyday.
The Benefits of Eating Breakfast:
Food choices for breakfast are best when they are something filling and not just empty calories. You want to eat items such as whole grain bagels/bread/muffin, oatmeal, eggs, 2%-fat free milk, bran cereal, fruit, yogurt, and etc
Foods such as sugary cereal, donuts/pastries, candy bars, sausage egg bacon and cheese biscuits, soda, non-100% juice drinks, and etc. These foods aren’t energy dense and have a high amount of calories, meaning that in a short amount of time you will feel the hunger again. Rule of Thumb: It’s better to eat a bad breakfast than no breakfast at all. One option is to mix bad breakfast items with healthy choices as a transfer into healthy food choices! Another option is to eat small healthy snacks at the start of your day approximately 1-2 hours apart if you have stomach troubles from breakfast.
There is a huge cloud of mystery surrounding the concept of “calories”. Typically the first two things notice don the nutritional label of food packaging are the caloric value and the total fat amount. People are often confused whether to count calories or monitor their fat intake. Both are IMPORTANT, but you don’t want to avoid certain types of fats such as Omega 3 fats often found in fish since they are beneficial to overall health. In regards to calories we need a certain amount to gives us energy needed for our body to function properly and efficiently. A “calorie is nothing more than a unit of energy that is available in food amongst other things. The BIGGEST reason why we should monitor our calorie intake is because we need to burn more calories per day than the amount that we take in.
*Explanation: Eat 3000 calories – Burn 2,500 calories = 500 calorie surplus!!
(1lb = 3500 calories)
Over a 7 day period this 500 calorie surplus per day equates to you gaining ONE pound. So to lose 1lb you would have to do the opposite and create a deficit of 500 calories per day in order to lose 1lb a week. (These equations are done without regards to exercise as it will burn calories at a faster rate)
Eat 3000 calories – Burn 3,500 calories = 500 calorie deficit (1lb weight loss! per week)
The caloric needs of each individual is different depending on the person’s age, weight, metabolism, and activity level. No one human is alike so each nutritional plan should be geared only towards that individual. To get a basic idea of your caloric need CLICK HERE and input your information and it will give you a generalization to how many calories needed to maintain or lose weight.
**BE WEARY** of low fat, no fat, reduced fat foods as they tend to be high in calories!
