Ways to Improve Your Nutrition

https://www.pexels.com/photo/sliced-vegetables-952479/

Maybe you have fallen into bad eating and snacking habits. Or maybe you realize that there are additional ways to get the most out of your caloric intake to boost your performance. Either way, improving your nutrition is not only important; it can be fun and easy.

There are some simple ways to make sure you are eating a healthy and well-rounded diet. Plus, you can still enjoy some delicious flavors and satisfying meals. So take these steps to improve your nutrition to benefit your overall health and wellbeing.

Get Plenty of Protein

Eating plenty of protein is essential for many of the body’s systems and functions. You can lose muscle, see decreased energy, and weaken your immune system if you fail to get enough protein in your diet. It’s also important that you are mindful about what types of protein you are eating as well.

Getting enough protein doesn’t have to take a ton of work and research. Eat a well-rounded diet and make sure a form of protein is included with each meal. If you are an athlete or someone that works out regularly, you might need more protein in your diet. You can also supplement with amino acids to ensure you are meeting all of your protein needs.

Clean protein is also the healthiest form. Look for organic soy products, wild-caught seafood, and grass-fed beef. If you eat lunch meat, look for options without nitrates and with minimal sodium content. Prepare your protein in healthy ways like broiling or grilling instead of using fatty methods like deep-frying.

Prepare Your Food at Home

When you cook, you have more control over exactly what goes into your food, and into your body. So make it a priority to prepare your food at home. And plan your meals ahead so you always have something healthy when hunger strikes.

Typical restaurant food can be full of preservatives, additives and artificial ingredients. You can avoid these things by prepping and cooking nutritious meals at home. Fill your fridge and pantry with healthy, organic and whole-food ingredients to get started.

If you live with others, you can have fun preparing meals together. What may seem like a chore becomes a fun, social occasion when you cook together. So enjoy each other’s company while you whip up a fresh salad or colorful soup. Then, relish in the delicious and nutritious meal that you made together.

Planning ahead makes cooking at home easier. Make a meal plan for the week and stock up on the ingredients so you never have to wonder, “what’s for dinner?” Take some free time to chop veggies, wash fruit and put together lunches for the week so you can grab a healthy meal as you head out the door. 

Avoid Processed Sugars

https://www.pexels.com/photo/assorted-sliced-fruits-in-white-ceramic-bowl-1092730/

Sugar is a tough thing to avoid and can be found nearly anywhere. Plus, one little nibble of a sweet treat can lead to a full-scale sugar binge. Sugar’s addictive properties often make avoiding it all together the best practice when trying to improve your nutrition.

Try subbing out your favorite sugary treats with ones that are sugar-free but equally delicious. Look for healthy, all-natural sweeteners and avoid artificially produced ones. Candy made from monk fruit can be just as sweet and satisfying without sugar. Or, look for drinks like soda made from stevia for a refreshing beverage.

If you find yourself with a sugar craving, look for other foods that are still sweet without added sugar. Berries and citrus fruits can give you the sweet taste you are looking for with the added bonus of nutrients. Or, chew on a piece of sugar-free gum to distract your taste buds until the craving passes.

Explore New Foods

One of the quickest ways to reach for unhealthy standbys is boredom. Explore new foods to keep your diet exciting. Plus, you’ll likely find some healthy new foods that you actually enjoy experimenting with.

Your local farmer’s market is an amazing place to find new produce that you have never tried before. Look for heirloom varieties from small, local farmers for fruits and veggies that are fresh and have unique tastes. Make it a point to look for new foods every time you visit. And since they likely change seasonally, there will be no shortage of variety.

If you find yourself struggling to come up with new meals, why not treat yourself to a healthy cookbook? Explore new recipes and try new ingredients you’ve never tasted before. You might just find your next nutritious favorite to add to your meal rotation.

When a new health food eatery opens near you, check it out with an open mind. Many of these chef-driven kitchens use healthy ingredients in unconventional ways that are super tasty. Plus, maybe you’ll get some inspiration for food and flavor combinations to try in your own kitchen.

Hydrate, Hydrate, Hydrate

It can’t be said enough, getting enough hydration throughout the day is essential to your overall well-being. It’s also important for you to keep up your nutritional habits. So, make it a point to sip consistently throughout the day and hydrate well before and after workouts. 

Oftentimes, your body can confuse thirst with hunger. This can lead you to reach to the nearest, most convenient snack, whether it’s healthy or not. Keep these feelings at bay by making sure you are always well hydrated. If you feel unusually hungry at an off time of day, drink a glass or two of water to see if you satisfy the feeling.

Water is a key part of your digestive system. You can eat all of the nutritious foods you would like but your body still needs to be ready to take in all of those great nutrients. Water actually aids in breaking your food down so these nutrients can be readily absorbed. So drink up!

Boosting Your Nutrition for Long-Term Health

https://www.pexels.com/photo/person-holding-sliced-vegetable-2284166/

Good nutrition is a key component of your overall well-being. It’s well worth it to take the steps to improve your nutritional habits and find ways of healthy eating that work for you. And you’ll find some delicious new lifelong habits that you can enjoy for long-term wellness.

https://www.jaquishbiomedical.com/blog/amino-acid-supplementation-a-guide/.

The post Ways to Improve Your Nutrition first appeared on FitnessRX for Women.

* This article was originally published here

Modern Family's Ariel Winter Is On TikTok Now And She Does A Lot Of Booty Workouts - Cinema Blend

Modern Family's Ariel Winter Is On TikTok Now And She Does A Lot Of Booty Workouts  Cinema Blend

* This article was originally published here

30 Minute At Home Barre Workout (Video)

This 30-minute at home barre workout is perfect for women who are short on time but want to get an awesome workout! Barre is a great option to modify for beginners, those who want to build strength and endurance, and want to focus on lower body and glutes.

Hi friends! Hope you’re having a wonderful morning and looking forward to a relaxing and delicious feast day tomorrow for Thanksgiving. I wanted to pop in and share a quick barre workout that you can do anywhere over the holidays – especially if you’re traveling! Heads up that I’ll be sharing a special Black Friday offer to my newsletter friends later tonight, so make sure you’re on the list here if you want first dibs. 

 30 Minute At Home Barre Workout (Video)

This total body barre workout combines some of my favorite elements of barre: leg shaking series, glute burn, core work, balance challenges, strength, and endurance work. It’s strictly bodyweight exercises, so you can do this one anywhere! Barre is easy to modify for beginners and low-impact; it was one of my go-to workouts during pregnancy. As always, check with a doctor before making any fitness changes and honor your body. Modify as needed!

What is barre?

Barre is a low-impact workout that fuses elements of ballet, Pilates, yoga, and dance. You’ll work the muscle groups of your entire body with an emphasis on legs, glutes, and abs. Barre is low-impact, but can be high intensity. The beauty about barre is that you can adjust the intensity depending on participants’ fitness levels and how they’re feeling. There are always different ways to add or remove extra stressors, like heavier weights, bands, or other equipment. It tends to be lower on the cardio side, but you’ll find that many of the exercises will still increase your heart rate and make you sweat. It’s an effective workout option, and one of my very faves, that you can do at a studio, gym, or at home. You can read my blog post all about barre here!

What equipment do I need for barre?

Typically, barre workouts use a variety of tools, from bands, loop bands, balls, light dumbbells, and gliding discs. You don’t need any equipment for this particular barre workout – just your own bodyweight, a bottle of water, and an exercise mat.

What do I wear for barre class?

I typically recommend wearing leggings and a tank top or sports bra. These are my favorite leggings for barre!

Here’s the full follow-along workout video! Pin this one for the next time you need a quick and challenging low-impact workout.

 

Favorite barre workouts on Youtube:

Check out my YouTube channel and hit subscribe for all of my newest workouts. There are lots of barre, strength, and bootcamp workouts on my YouTube channel. I have a full post of YouTube fitness faves here. 

Did you try this one? Leave a comment below and let me know!

If you’d like a full barre workout calendar and plan, check out Barre Bootcamp 2.0 here!

Have a lovely afternoon and a Happy Thanksgiving! See ya on Friday and thanks so much for stopping by the blog today.

xo

Gina 

More barre workout videos you can do at home:

Band and ball booty and legs workout 

Yoga barre combo workout

20-minute cardio barre

Barre abs and core

Barre strength workout with dumbbells

The post 30 Minute At Home Barre Workout (Video) appeared first on The Fitnessista.

* This article was originally published here

Thanksgiving 2021 + Black Friday finds

 Hi friends! How are you? I hope that my fellow US friends had a lovely Thanksgiving. I just wanted to let you all know that I am so thankful for all of you. Thank you so much for being here and for supporting this lil blog, especially my friends out there that have been readers for a long time. I’ve been able to connect with so many amazing friends all over the world, and every day, I’m grateful for this blog and our incredible community. Thank you for reading, for being so awesome, and for giving me the opportunity to connect with you on this little corner of the internet. 

 

Our Thanksgiving was low-key and wonderful. We woke up early and I popped the cinnamon rolls into the oven – Alton Brown’s recipe is usually my go-to but lately I’ve been using this recipe since it’s faster and still tastes amazing – and my mom, stepdad, Trevor, his girlfriend, and nana all came over for Thanksgiving breakfast. We were just going to have cinnamon rolls and egg casserole, but in pure madre fashion, she brought enough food for 40 people AND her famous homemade Bloody Marys. We ate and chatted while the kids ran around outside with the dogs.

(Trevor brought his husky Nova over and the dogs all love each other)

They all headed home and the girls watched Home Alone while I caught the Peloton Thanksgiving ride on demand. Next, we got ready to head to my uncle’s house.

Everyyyything I ever wanted. Also, why do we only have Thanksgiving food once per year?

(We brought some maple and turkey bacon Brussels sprouts and these brownies, which were delicious)

We had the usual giant feast with my dad’s side of the family. It ended up being insanely windy all day, but it died down a bit while all of the guys went golfing. I curled up in a blanket and talked with cousins while the girls played in the backyard, and it was a perfect day.

The dessert spread:

And now BRING ON the holiday decorating, holly jolly festivities, and Christmas movies. I’m so ready 🙂 It’s also one of my favorite holidays of the year : Black Friday! I usually use this chance to finish out our holiday shopping, and also buy some of the things we’ve been needing for the house at an excellent discount. 

So many awesome Back Friday deals!

I’m sharing one of my own: nutrition coaching is 50% off for the first month for this weekend ONLY.

I’ve been working with a handful of 1:1 clients since I completed my certification and am ready to add 15 new clients. This is super limited because I want to provide the best possible experience. If you’ve been looking for some help with nutrition foundations, healthy habits, assessing your routine, eating to meet your goals and unique needs, or want to try macro tracking, I’m your girl. I have some clients that are working on the basic foundations of nutrition – you can’t build a house on a shaky foundation. I have other clients who are level 2s and 3s working on skills like macro tracking and carb cycling. 

If you’re feeling burned out, overwhelmed, or uninspired on the nutrition front, I’d love the chance to work with you. Many of my clients are UNlearning previous habits from dieting and deprivation, and it’s been incredible to see their progress and their relationship with food completely change. If you’re tired of obsessing over food and *food rules*, jump in and join us. 

When you sign up for your first month, you can start right away or start in January – it’s up to you! Think about how great it will feel to start 2022 knowing that you have a coach in your corner to help you develop sustainable nutrition habits for life. No more guessing what or when to eat. No more deprivation and dieting. Think about starting the new year with actionable steps you can take and a solid plan to help you get to your goals.

Read all of the details and sign up here! (50% off deal ends Monday at midnight PST or sooner, depending on when the 15 spots are filled) 

Barre Bootcamp 2.0 is 50% off with the code blackfriday. If you’ve been wanting to try this workout program, click here and get 50% off! Follow-along videos you can do anywhere, plus a 4-week calendar. The downloads are yours to keep and stream forever.

Sakara! This is their ONLY sale of the entire year, so if you’ve been wanting to try it, now is the chance! I LOVE their meals and they have so many cute holiday items in their clean boutique. I have and love the water bottle, robe, milk frother, and sweatershirt. Use the code XOGINAH-BF21 for 25% off sitewide. 

You can also use the discount for their meal delivery service (I get it once a month as a treat for myself and it feels like a gift to eat this beautiful, vibrant food I didn’t have to prepare), gifts, and clean boutique items (highly recommend the beauty chocolates, protein + greens, granola, and metabolism bars). Check it out here and use the code XOGINH-BF21 for 25% off!

HigherDOSE. You guyyyyyys. My beloved sauna blanket is on sale for Black Friday! I use this thing 2-3 times a week, every single week, and it makes me feel amaaaaaazing. The toasty warmness is especially lovely over the cooler months! It makes my skin glow, I get an awesome sweat, and sleep so well on the nights I use my sauna blanket. Check it out here and use the code DOSE2021 for 20% off! This was a Black Friday gift to myself last year and an excellent choice indeed. I also have and love their LED face mask and the copper body brush. 

Beautycounter! It’s 15% off sitewide and free shipping on orders over $50. I’d definitely recommend stocking up on gift sets (they’re expected to sell out), like the hand creams, bath oils, and Clean Dreams set. I also love the Beyond Gloss minis and the new Smooth and Bright Duo (new face mask alert!). I’d also use this chance to order daily faves, like the All Bright C serum, Overnight Peel, Countertime Supreme Cream, Color Intense Lipstick, and Charcoal Mask. Check it out here and if I can help you with skincare recommendations or holiday gift ideas, please email me gina@fitnessista.com and I’d love to help. 

Madewell 30% off with code OHJOY. This smocked mini dress is so cute and I love this sweater.

gap is 40% off! This is where I buy most of the girls’ clothes, and they love these soft twist shirts, this velvet dress, and all the leggings.

Old Navy 50% off sitewide. P wore this sweet plaid dress for our family holiday pictures.

Athleta is 20% off! This is where I get all of the girls athletic clothes, which are really like their comfy *weekend* clothes. They live in Athleta all summer. 

The best matching holiday pajamas for 40% off.

Lumen, the metabolism tracker I’ve been using, is on sale for Black Friday, plus you can use my code FITNESSISTA for an extra 10% off. I’ve been using this thing for a few weeks now and absolutely love it. It’s been insightful to know if my body is burning mostly carbs or fat, and it customizes your nutrition plan based on this data, your sleep, activity level, workouts, etc. Check it out here.

So tell me, friends: are you holiday shopping this weekend? How’s it going on your gift lists?

Here are some of this year’s gift guides:

For your fitness-loving friend

For her

For him

For the kids

We are about 80% done and I’m so relieved haha.

What was the highlight of your Thanksgiving? 

xo

Gina

The post Thanksgiving 2021 + Black Friday finds appeared first on The Fitnessista.

* This article was originally published here

Physique Phriday

Welcome to the Physique Phriday thread

What's the point of having people guess your body fat? Nevermind that it's the most inaccurate method available, (read: most likely way wrong - see here) you're still just putting an arbitrary number to the body you have. Despite people's claim that they are shooting for a number, they're really shooting for look - like a six pack.

So let's stopping mucking around with trivialities and get to the heart of the matter. This thread shall serve two purposes:

1. Physique critiques. Post some pics and ask about muscles or body parts you need to work on. Or specifically ask about a lagging body part and what exercises worked for others.
2. An outlet for people that want to show off their efforts that would otherwise be removed due to Rule 4, and

Let's keep things civil, don't be a creep, and adhere to Rule 1. This isn't a thread to announce what you find attractive in a mate. Please use the report function for any comments that are out of line.

So phittit, what's your physique pheel like this phriday?

submitted by /u/AutoModerator
[link] [comments]

* This article was originally published here

Taking it easy as you get older? Wrong

A team of evolutionary biologists and biomedical researchers lay out evolutionary and biomedical evidence showing that humans, who evolved to live many decades after they stopped reproducing, also evolved to be relatively active in their later years. The researchers say that physical activity later in life shifts energy away from processes that can compromise health and toward mechanisms in the body that extend it. They hypothesize that humans evolved to remain physically active as they age -- and in doing so to allocate energy to physiological processes that slow the body's gradual deterioration over the years. This guards against chronic illnesses such as cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and even some cancers.

* This article was originally published here

CANTEEN^® is designed to provide your body with the vitamins and electrolytes needed to keep your body hydrated and functioning at its highest state of readiness.

Staying properly hydrated is crucial to performance and a well-functioning body. And hydration is a vital component of not just your training goals, whether you want to add lean muscle or drop fat, but hydration (and diet) also plays a key role in building and maintaining a strong immune system to fight infection. In fact, the body is made up of approximately 70% water and no reaction happens in the body without it. There is no getting around it; you need to be properly hydrated to function at optimal levels – and there has never been a more effective and better tasting way to achieve that goal than Blue Freeze-flavored CANTEEN^®.

Performance Hydration Powder

CANTEEN^® from Redcon1 a performance hydration powder, designed to provide your body with the vitamins and electrolytes needed to keep your body hydrated and functioning at its highest state of readiness. Electrolytes are electrically charged minerals that carry energy in your body. When mixed with water, electrolytes can help support the electric tissues in the body, which are essential for maintaining proper organ function and overall health. Electrolyte powders like CANTEEN^® help replenish your body with essential vitamins and minerals, while giving you the hydration you need to feel and perform at your best. They play a role in muscle contraction, metabolism, and various other cell functions.

Better Than Water Alone

We are used to carrying our gallon jugs of water around with us all day, but Redcon1 has taken hydration to an entirely new level with CANTEEN^®. Once we took our first sip of CANTEEN^® we could feel the vitamins and electrolytes flow through our body and we realized this was an energizing, invigorating experience that was better than water alone. And the Blue Freeze taste provided a light and refreshing sensation that was a definite upgrade over flavored water. CANTEEN^® is also available in Plum Fusion flavor, which for many people hits the spot quite nicely as well.

Stay Properly Hydrated

To stay properly hydrated, make sure you always have your CANTEEN^® with you and you’ll be fortified to take on whatever the gym or the day brings your way. CANTEEN^® can be taken on training and non-training days. And it’s easy to use. Mix 1 scoop of CANTEEN^® with 8 to 12 ounces of water or your favorite beverage and drink it any time of day. Drink in the morning before heading to work to ensure you’re alert and ready to get the day started. CANTEEN^® can also be consumed during your workout or athletic event. Or use it during or post-workout to reduce soreness and make sure your muscles don’t cramp. And, add to your water bottle and sip throughout the day to help your body recover and run at its best.

CANTEEN^®

• Refuel

• Hydration

• Electrolytes

• Recovery

For more information, visit redcon1.com

The above statements have not been evaluated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

The post CANTEEN® first appeared on FitnessRX for Women.

* This article was originally published here