Fitness & Wellness

One of the problems faced by clients in Irvine, CA, and around the world for that matter, is the obsession with weighing themselves when they start a fitness regimen. While weight plays a role in your fitness goals, it’s not all about how much you weigh. If you’re muscular and weigh 120 pounds, you’ll look much thinner than someone with very little muscle mass. That’s because muscle tissue weighs more per cubic inch than fat tissue does, so a pound of muscle tissue can fit in a smaller container—body. Once you understand that weight is just one way to measure progress, you’re on your way to a no scale lifestyle.

Don’t let the scales trick you into getting discouraged or boosting your confidence.

If you’re one of those people that weigh yourself once a day or more or weigh yourself at different times, you won’t get an adequate picture of your progress. You weigh more or less at different times throughout the day, based on a lot of things, including water weight. Your body weight fluctuates for a number of reasons. It can come from hormonal changes throughout the month or even what you ate and the amount of sodium it contained. Those things can make you either feel like you’re not making progress and discourage you or give you false encouragement, even if you didn’t stick with your diet and exercise program.

Measure your body once a week instead.

Taking measurements will give you a better idea of how well you’re doing. If you’re building more muscle, the scales may not show you’re losing weight, but your measurement will show you have less fat. One of the best measurements to show your progress is your circumference around your midsection. That’s where visceral fat collects. It’s deep fat that’s the most dangerous type, since it crowds the organs. When that measurement is smaller, you’re boosting your health and making a great deal of progress toward your fitness goals.

Take a picture, it lasts longer.

Nothing can help you see your progress better than the before, during and after pictures. Getting into shape doesn’t happen overnight. It comes in very small increments. You forget how you looked unless you have a reminder. Take a picture once a month, ensuring you are the same distance from the camera, in the same clothing and it’s taken at the same angle. After the first month, you’ll have a collection to see how much progress you’ve made. It’s useful for those days when you need a boost.

• Your clothing won’t fit the same way after you’ve made progress, so use that information. Find a pair of jeans that fit uncomfortably tight and use them as your guide. When they fit comfortably or even loose, you’ve accomplished a lot.
• You shouldn’t ignore your scales completely, but just remember they aren’t that important and use other ways to measure your progress.
• One simple way to measure progress is to use a tape measure. You can measure your body at key points, like the upper thigh, belly, hips and arms. Depending on your goals, those measurements can be increasing (biceps) or decreasing (hips) to show your progress.
• Use your vitals to measure your progress. Is your resting heart rate lower? Is your blood pressure lower? What about your fasting glucose rate? Getting fit is more than just looking better, it’s being healthier.

For more information, contact us today at Next Level Fitness

Rice does not start out brilliantly white, like you find in the store. It’s highly processed and the husk and bran have been removed, making white rice not only less nutritious, but mostly carbs. That can be dangerous for diabetics, since it can cause spikes in blood glucose levels. Even rice milk may create a problem, since it’s high in sugar content without the fiber to slow the absorption. Compared to brown rice, it has far less fiber, manganese, selenium, antioxidants and lignans. It also can cause weight gain due to the lack of fiber, which leaves you feeling fuller longer.

If you want food that will boost your energy, white rice might be appropriate.

As noted before, white rice is mostly carbohydrates and carbs are a good source of energy. When combined with a source of protein, it could be a great option for a pre or post workout snack. For anyone trying to maintain or gain weight, it’s also a healthy option that’s far better than a candy bar or junk food.

While white rice does not contain as many nutrients as brown rice, it’s not empty calories.

White rice still has significant amounts of nutrients such as iron, calcium, folate, thiamine, vitamin D and niacin. If you’re on a low sodium diet, white rice is a good addition, too. Not only is it low in sodium, it’s also low in fat. It offers approximately 4 to 5 grams of protein per serving, too. If you’re trying to avoid gluten, are gluten intolerant or have celiac disease, it’s an option, since it contains no gluten.

If stomach problems plague you, white rice might be a good option.

White rice is so much easier to digest than brown rice, it’s a good option when you have digestive issues. Brown rice contains phytic acid, which can cause issues with digestion. If you have to eat a later meal, including the easy to digest white rice can fill you up and help you sleep, but since it’s easy to digest, won’t interfere with your quality of sleep.

• While white rice has far less fiber than brown rice, it still has some and is easier on the digestive tract. The fiber is soluble fiber–a resistant starch that are broken down by gut microbes to produce butyrate. It can reduce stomach inflammation
• Recent studies show that you can cut calories in half and lower the glycemic index of white rice by cooking it differently. Add a tiny amount of coconut oil to the boiling water before adding the rice. Let the rice cool in the refrigerator for 12 hours, then reheat and eat.
• Some types of white rice are enriched with additional nutrients. Those varieties may contain more iron, folate and thiamine. If you’re convinced only white rice will do, look for those varieties.
• You can reduce the GI of white rice by combining it with high fiber foods, like vegetables. Unlike some dishes, where the rice is the biggest portion of the meal, use it more sparingly and combine more vegetables and meat.

For more information, contact us today at Next Level Fitness

When you go to a restaurant, where the sugar shaker used to be, there is now a small square container of multicolored packets, each with a different type of sweetener. If you immediately reach for that little blue packet, aspartame, you might want to rethink that decision. While it may seem like a good idea to cut out calories using artificial sweeteners, it seems there are side effects that also come with that benefit.

Watch out diabetics, aspartame may be working against you.

Obesity is the leading cause of preventable deaths and has become an epidemic. Why not use every trick in the book to help prevent it? Sometimes, the preventative has unintended consequences and that seems to be true of aspartame. Aspartame can increase the potential for insulin resistance, a precursor to diabetes and a condition that makes weight loss even harder. It can also help people to have a larger waist circumference, an unhealthy indicator.

Inflammation is linked to serious conditions, just like sugar, aspartame makes it worse.

You might be dodging those calories in sugar, but you aren’t dodging the inflammation effect it has. Just like other processes, such as the fight or flight response, inflammation is necessary. However, when it’s chronic, it ceases to be a good thing and becomes a health issue. It can lead to serious conditions that are lethal, painful or both. Inflammation has many faces. It can mimic an allergic response. On the other side of the coin, if you’re allergic to aspartame, it can increase inflammation. Inflammation plays a role in heart disease and cancer. There are direct links between aspartame and rheumatoid arthritis.

Are you getting migraines or just feeling blue?

There are studies linking aspartame to mood disorders. One study showed that when individuals consumed aspartame for at least 8 days, they showed more signs of irritability and had negative mood swings compared to those that never consumed aspartame. Other studies showed that aspartame might be a cause of blurry vision, migraines, dry eyes and even may deteriorate cognitive functioning.

If you’re sensitive to aspartame or the methanol in it, it has been known to cause seizures. In fact, up to 30% of the non-epileptic seizures are due to it. The FFA suggests pilots avoid it, since it also can cause problems at higher altitudes.

Inflammation can occur throughout the body, including the gut. Aspartame can cause gut inflammation. Gut inflammation can make weight loss even more difficult to accomplish and affect nutritional absorption.

Aspartame can interfere with hormone levels. It can disrupt the balance of ghrelin—the hunger hormone—and leptin—the one that makes you feel full. It diminishes leptin and increases ghrelin.

There are a variety of results, both positive and negative, relating to aspartame and its link to cancer of the colon, blood and intestines. There are also studies that show it can negatively affect metabolism.

Clients at Next Level Fitness in Irvine, CA, often ask about the benefits of having a good balance of omega 3 to omega 6 fatty acids. While the ration should be approximately four omega 6 to one omega three, the average American diet is anywhere between ten omega 6 to one omega 3 all the way to 50 omega 6 to one omega 3. It’s pretty obvious that something needs to be done to get back in balance. That means eating less food with omega 6 and boosting the omega 3 foods.

Why is it important to have a good balance of fatty acids?

Inflammation flares when you have too much omega 6, so do foul, aggressive moods and aggression. Omega 3 promotes brain health, increases good cholesterol, reduces triglycerides, lowers blood pressure and is basically heart healthy. It helps reduce the symptoms of ADHD, lowers the risk of cancer and so much more. Omega 6 does provide energy for the body, but the truth is, we just eat too much of it. Omega 6 is found in corn and soybean oil, mayonnaise, walnuts, almonds, cashews and sunflower seeds. Since it’s high in foods fried in vegetable oils, eliminating fried food helps lower your intake.

How can you boost your omega 3 through diet?

Some of the same foods that are high in omega 6 are also high in omega 3. Walnuts and sunflower seeds for example are two of them. Walnuts have a ratio of four grams of omega 6 to one gram of omega 3, which is the perfect balance. However, peanuts are at the other end of the extreme, with a ratio of approximately 1700 to 1, so if you are hungry for nuts, go for walnuts or macadamia nuts, which are also good. The best sources of omega 3 come from the sea. Fatty fish, like salmon, mackerel, herring and sardines are extremely high in omega 3.

These veggies also provide omega 3.

Those little mini cabbages, Brussels sprouts, are excellent sources of omega 3. There’s approximately 12% of the daily recommended amount in just one cup. Toss a few in your salad raw or roast them and add. While you’re at it, grind some flaxseed and sprinkle on the salad and put in a few anchovies. Both will boost your omega 3 intake. Flaxseed oil can also be used as alternative to butter.

• Ghee, clarified butter, is high in omega 9, another fatty acid. It has no omega 6 or omega 3, so it won’t disrupt the balance and has a high smoke point. That makes it a good choice for frying and sauteing food.
• Even though flaxseed oil is a good alternative to other oils high in omega 6, it’s not useful for frying food. It has a very low smoke point, where the oil changes composition, losing health benefits in the process.
• Other vegetables, besides Brussels sprouts, that will increase the amount of omega 3 in your diet include kale, broccoli, cauliflower and spinach.
• Your overall mental health is dramatically affected by what you eat. For instance, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and depression are all positively affected by increasing omega 3 fatty acids.

For more information, contact us today at Next Level Fitness

While the best treatment for aching muscles is normally provided by a massage therapist, massage guns also can bring relief from sore muscles. These devices were first used by massage therapists to help increase circulation and bring aid for pain. They can provide deep relief at home that other types of vibrating machines and foam rollers can’t offer. It’s known as percussion therapy. Today, they’re found in many homes as a quick answer to painful muscles.

Besides muscle pain relief, massage guns can help improve sleep and reduce stress.

It impacts the immune system positively, by increasing blood circulation, which also helps improve overall focus. There are negative effects to bad circulation, like swollen appendages, fatigue, muscle cramps and cold extremities. You can even feel more comfortable lifting heavier and putting more effort into your workout, knowing if it results in muscle pain, the massage gun can help immediately. One study shows that this type of therapy can help improve muscle endurance and power, while decrease the potential for DOMS.

Athletes love massage guns for improving their performance and dealing with post injury care.

The increased circulation helps boost performance and if an injury does occur, the use of a massage gun can help reduce the recovery time. They help enhance flexibility by providing circulation to both muscles and fascial tissue. Whether it’s sciatica, muscle cramps, spasms or soreness, TMJ, low back pain, shin splints or carpal tunnel, massage gun therapy can help.

The design of a massage gun makes them easier to use on your own body.

If you have sore upper back muscles, you can direct the massage gun to help reduce the pain and it’s far easier to use and better than a foam roller. You can direct a family member to use it on the muscles that are sore. Even if they don’t have much hand strength or any massage skills, you’ll still get a good, deep massage. While there are all types of massage guns, some are light enough you can take them when you travel, providing relief everywhere you go.

• You may run the risk of injury or lack of results if you don’t use them correctly. Read the instructions and check online for the proper way to use them. Better yet, learn from your massage therapist.
• You can’t use massage guns on sprains, broken bones and areas of severe swelling. Check with your doctor if you want to use them where you have varicose veins or have conditions like hypertension, rheumatoid arthritis or other conditions.
• Not all massage guns are created equally. Some are better than others. Do your research to make sure you’re getting the most for your money. Some guns that are lower in price are just as good as more expensive ones.
• Always read instructions carefully and avoid using a massage gun on the same spot for more than 20 seconds or if the area turns red. Make sure you’re using the right speed and pressure. If you feel an electric shock-type of pain, stop immediately.

For more information, contact us today at Next Level Fitness