Fitness and Nutrition Information that Sparks!

I'd like to talk to you about an amazing website I've been using for years: SparkPeople.com!   This website has been around for several years and offers a wide variety of information for anyone trying to improve their health, not just lose weight.  You can access the sites information from any mobile device or PC through a web browser but they also have a app that you can download on an Android based phone or an iPhone.  No matter the device, when you first see the site you're greeted by a deceptively simple layout that highlights the main stories, recipes, or exercises of the day and any new challenges the site has started.  It's a very inviting home page to a site that has a lot to explore!

My favorite, and most used, section of the site is the nutrition tracking.  You can use this tool in three different ways.  It can be a place where you actively track the foods you intake throughout the day under the categories of: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, and Snack; it can be used by you to plan out a meal plan you've made on your own; or it can be auto-populated by the site itself based off of one of Spark People's meal plans.  No matter how you track your food the magic really happens at the bottom of the page.  Here, you can see how on target you are with your macronutrient (carbohydrates, fat, protein, and fiber) and energy intake (calorie) goals.  These values are based off of information you provide the site while making your personalize profile, which includes your health/weight loss goals.

Another great feature of the site comes in the form of graphs.  The visual learners will love these because you can see almost every aspect of your nutrition and fitness life in graph form.  For example, you can track energy intake, inches lost, and even your mood over time!

Outside of the tracking portion of the site lies the fitness component.  There are hundreds of free workouts in video or text forms for you to use!  They have videos on weight training, cardio kick boxing, stretching, and more.  No matter your fitness level or the type of equipment you have (I started with no equipment!), they have a video or exercise for you that you can quickly add into your tracker.  If you start a workout program using Sparkpeople let me know!  I'll support you with their system too for free! 

While the food tracking and exercise are a huge part of this site, an equally large side comes in the form of education.  They utilize a blog format and have several nutritionists and dietitians who write blogs for them on a regular basis, as well as motivation coaches and fitness experts.

The most surprising aspect of this site is the community.  It's amazing how supportive everyone on this site is.  You can find community groups set up for almost every faith, age, gender, and sexual orientation.  No matter how you feel in your day to day life, there are people who can very well become your second family in the Spark People community.   I can safely say that I love the Spark People community and I'm happy to see it growing!

I think I would find a way to include this site in every nutrition training I do, and I have in the past.  As a Beachbody coach and I have my clients get an account here.  It's a great tool for them to track their meals so they can see they are meeting their nutrient goals.  It's also a great tool for them to find even more support outside of me and our (bi)weekly check ins.  I also have them use it for the reports.  They post a copy of their meal report and their progress reports to the group so that everyone can encourage each other and share their accomplishments.

Even when I have my own practice (that's my goal), I'll likely have clients sign up for this site because it has motivated me through my weight loss more than a measuring tape ever could.  It gave me ideas of things I could do in my house and outside of the house that would get my heart rate up and put a smile on my face.

(I am affiliated with Sparkpeople.com in NO WAY.  I just really love their site.)

New Shaun T Workout Program Coming This Summer!

Hey guys!  Marquita here!

I just found out about a new workout coming JUNE 20th!  It's called Cize and it's the latest workout program by Shaun T, the man behind Insantiy, Insanity:Asylum, Hip Hop Abs, and Focus T25!  

Cize is an all new dance based "workout" that's designed to not feel like exercise.  You'll be using REAL dance moves, yes real dance moves, to build muscle and take your fitness to the next level!


So, what do we know so far?

Workout DVD length = 30 to 40 minutes
Total program length = 4 weeks (28 days)
Beachbody On Demand = Yes!


Beachbody On Demand?

This Netflix for Beachbody!  Any program you buy, PLUS a bunch of workouts from programs you don't own, you can stream as part of the premier Beachbody.com membership service, for $2.99 a month.  I love it because I don't have to remember to pack my DVDs when I go visit my parents.  And, since I own six Beachbody programs, I can switch it up on the fly!

Want more info?
Click the banner below and sign up by giving me your email!  You'll also be entered to win a FREE COPY when you sign up!

Me as a Guinea Pig with Thrive

As a Beachbody coach, I have mixed feelings with trying other company's products but I also can't resist the urge to jump at the opportunity to be in a focus group (aka guinea pig) with something new and exciting and this is very new and exciting to me.

From what I have gathered, this is a nutrient and energy packed system designed to give you the fuel and energy you need to be active.

I'm supposed to work my way up to taking two supplement pills, one shake, and one patch a day.  Today I took one pill and...wow.  The instructions said take it on an empty stomach.  I will never be doing that again.  Too much energy in a short amount of time went into my system.  I didn't crash when I finally came down...but I was highly uncomfortable.  Uncomfortable enough to not even try the patch.

I should also note that I'll be using Shakeology for my shake instead of the Thrive shake because it contains soy, which I'm allergic to.  There doesn't appear to be a soy free option, so this is a double experiment for me.  I know Shakeology aids in weight loss, I've been drinking it for almost a year now, so Thrive could, potentially, increase that.

Tomorrow I will be taking a supplement after eating breakfast and I'll be doing 1/4th of a patch.

The reviews said that people react very differently.  Some people can start with the full doses and not really feel any difference, others (like me) are on the opposite side of the spectrum.  I can certainly say, if I ever need an energy boost those little pills will do the trick and then some!!

Wish me luck!  <3

Love and Light everyone!

Research Quickie: Is working out after fasting a good or bad thing?

This is a question that has been floating around the internet for, what feels like, forever.  It seems like you can read an article that says "YES!  Fasting is the key to SUCCESS in fat loss!" and then turn around and find one that says the polar opposite.  With that in mind, I present my random research into the subject.  Again, I haven't performed a study myself but I have found quite a few.

Eating carbohydrates 30 minutes before exercise, in Coyle, E and team’s 1983 study, resulted in a faster decrease in muscle glycogen and blood glucose concentration during exercise. This would in turn, result in less endurance during prolonged exercise. The team suspects that cause of the loss of endurance is from the process the body goes through following a carbohydrate meal, i.e. increase in insulin levels. Interestingly to me, their study, amongst others, found that providing carbohydrates during exercise frequently delayed the onset of fatigue.

What is muscle glycogen? (Elmhurst College)
* The storage form of glucose in the muscles. Glucose is one of the monosaccharides absorbed by the body when breaking down plant based material. The other two are fructose and galactose. In a nut shell, glucose is sugar. During intense exercise, when he energy stores in the form of fat aren’t enough, the glycogen stored in the muscle is converted back into glucose for immediate use via the bloodstream.

Carbohydrates are a key fuel source for exercise, with the major source during exercise being the muscle glycogen stores (Ivy, 1991). “The greater the muscle glycogen stores, the longer the exercise time to exhaustion.” After its depletion during exercise, assuming you eat an adequate amount of carbohydrates, muscle glycogen levels return to pre-exercise levels within 24 hours. “For the average endurance athlete, a daily carbohydrate consumption of 500 to 600g is required.”

Now, you’re probably saying “But these are all talking about endurance exercises! What about me?!” Well, I have news for you, you can choose to eat nothing or to eat something. The difference for the rest of us isn't large enough to matter, in my opinion. According to the recap of a 2010 Belgian study, by Jennifer Sygo (2013), a registered dietitian and sports nutritionist, the group that fasted before exercise had the best results in weight management at the end of the study while the people who didn't fast had gained weight but more endurance by the end. I would like to point out that the men in this study consumed a breakfast high in fat. If you’re not consuming a breakfast high in fat then...well you’re likely still fine having breakfast before the workout. If you do have a high fat breakfast, then I would suggest exercising and then eating.

Another study by Paoli and team (2011), found that people who ate before exercising burned more calories throughout the day vs those that fasted. So this is something else to keep in mind.
In my opinion, for what it’s worth since I’m not a medical professional…YET!, if you’re doing to be doing light to moderate exercise and you’re not hungry then don’t even worry about it. If you’re going to be running a marathon or doing an intense program like P90X3 or Insanity then I would suggest you eat
first and wait an hour for the insulin spike to normalize before working out and then, during the breaks, munch on some carbs (veggies or fruits, ideally) or have a well-rounded protein shake.

Personally, I have a protein shake or a smoothie with some Greek yogurt and wait at least 25 minutes before I workout. It’s not a meal high in fat and since it’s liquid, it gets into my system faster, so I don’t see a problem. I find that when I don’t have something before I start I am sluggish and don’t push as hard as I could.

Let me know if there's a topic you'd like me to cover next Monday!  This topic was suggested by my friend Pam.

Belgium study recapped by Jennifer Sygo: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3002457/

References

Coyle, E., Hagberb, J., Hurley, B., Martin, W., Ehsani, A., & Holloszy, J. (February 4, 1983). Carbohydrate feeding during prolonged strenuous exercise can delay fatigue.

Elmhurst College (2003). Glycogen. Retrieved from http://www.elmhurst.edu/~chm/vchembook/547glycogen.html.

Ivy, J. (January 1991). Muscle glycogen synthesis before and after exercise. Department of Kinesiology, University of Texas, Austin.

Kravitz, L. (n.d.). Eating or fasting for fat loss: A controversy resolved. Retrieved from http://www.unm.edu/~lkravitz/Article%20folder/fasting.html.

Krssak, M., Petersen, K., Bergeron, R., Price, T., Laurent, D., Rotheman, D., Roden, M., & Shulman, G. (October 27, 1999). Intramuscular glycogen and intramyocellular lipid utilization during prolonged exercise and recovery in a man: A10C and 1H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy study. Retrieved from http://press.endocrine.org/doi/abs/10.1210/jcem.85.2.6354.

Sygo, J. (February 7, 2013). Fasting and fitness: Should I eat before I exercise? It depends on your workout goals. Retrieved from http://life.nationalpost.com/2013/02/07/fasting-and-fitness-should-i-eat-before-i-exercise-it-depends-on-your-workout-goals/.

Exercising when others are home...

I love, LOVE, the idea of working out at home. There's no gym membership, no need to remember to pack a bag when I go to work, no having to drive across town after work to get to a gym. These are all great perks, especially the not having to pay a membership fee.  Heck, I became a Beachbody coach not only because I want to help people and because I believe in the product, I became one because they're amazing programs to do AT HOME!!

However, I have a mental block when I comes to exercising when other people are home. In my old townhouse this wasn't an issue because I exercised in the basement. In my 439 sq. ft. apartment...It apparently is. Thoughts of "I'm being too loud." or "This is just embarrassing." pop into my head. And while I push myself through because bettering yourself, internally or externally, is worth it I feel uncomfortable the whole time. I don't push as hard as I could. I don't feel as connected with the workout. 

Eventually, I began to dread exercising at home when I knew someone else was going to be there. I'll admit, even today I'll skip a workout and just do a different activity outside or power walk the mall instead. 

This just isn't going to work for me anymore though. It's harder to lose the weight when I'm not giving it 100%. So now, I'm searching for a place to have my workouts. Since I work in a hotel now, I'm going to be asking if I can use a conference room that's not in use. It's the only solution I have right now, though I'm still thinking of more.