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Personal Trainers at Shape Up Helping With Your Fitness While Traveling

6 Hacks on How to Stay on Track When Traveling

A lot of people have to travel regularly. They often come to my facility and tell me that they are doing great while in town, but every time they travel, they have business dinners, luncheons, and no place to cook.

Bloated Food Intake

The USDA posted in 2010 that a person eating out one meal a day eats about 150-180 kcal/meal more than they would when staying in. This can mean that during the days you are gone you can eat anywhere from 450 kcal to 600 kcal more than you would on any given day at home. No wonder you struggled to reach your goals.

Hack Your Trip

It is definitely not easy to eat healthily while being gone but there are some ways you can stay on top of your nutrition, and not sabotage yourself:

  • You might not be able to pick the hotel you go to, but you can pick the restaurant you are going to eat at. Before your trip browse menus of local restaurants and look at their healthy options. Choose veggies, protein, some fat and follow the 80% rule. Stop eating when you are about 80% full (you should not be hungry for 3 hours). You know you had too much if you have to open your belt or loosen your waist band :). As always fried foods etc are off limits [insert common sense].
  • If there are not any local restaurants with healthy options use postmate to have food delivered to you.
  • Choose a room with a kitchenette and prep your food on site. Ask the hotel staff for a local grocery store or do some research online prior to your visit!
  • Something that works for some people is shipping your food prior to your trip. Not necessarily my preferred method, but whatever works for you!
  • If you are driving you can always bring a big cooler with food in it. This way you have food for the trip itself and after your arrival, giving you some time to scope the area!
  • Bring powdered veggies, protein or homemade bars

Those are just a couple of hacks you can use to stay on track while you are gone.

Now, I need a drink!

The one issue I have not addressed yet is drinking. As much as you might like your [insert preferred alcoholic beverage], it contains mostly empty calories. Yeah, yeah, wine is good for you, blah, blah. Let’s be honest: You, living an overall healthy life will do more for you, then a glass of wine a day.

Having said that 🙂 I understand that you actually might enjoy a glass of x here and there, and that some perceive it being a social a must…. If you want to drink alcoholic beverages, then have one drink followed by 20 oz of water. It will let you be part of the group but cut down tremendously on your consumption of empty calories and as a nice side benefit: the headache the next day. Your body, as well as your self perception will thank you!

Conclusion

Traveling is not easy on your body and eating habits but it can be managed. Make the right choices and see the body fat melt off. If you are looking for more help with your goals contact me at michael at charlottepersonaltrainer.org.

Have an amazing day,

 

Michael

 

 

Men's athletic training at Shape Up Fitness & Wellness Consulting

Increasing Testosterone Naturally Through Lifestyle

Today’s blog is primarily for the guys. We sometimes get asked what a client can do in order to increase testosterone naturally. This is crucial for us since we refuse to work with clients who use anabolic hormones for fitness gains.

Two of the most common dietary supplements that can help are zinc and vitamin D. If you do not take in enough zinc in your diet (sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds, wild game, crab, poultry, beans, cashews, chickpeas, almonds, peas, yogurt, mushrooms, oyster & shrimp) it might be appropriate to supplement zinc in your diet.

Vitamin D is important for people living far away from the equator or like most office jockeys stay inside for the most part of their day. An intake between 400-800 IU is commonly recommended in most countries but still might be subclinical deficient.

Examine.com recommends a year round supplementation of 3000 IU of Vitamin D which increases serum vitamin D above 30nmol.

Magnesium (250-400 mg/day) as well as Creatine (5g/day) seem to have a positive impact on testosterone as well.

Interestingly talking to an attractive woman seems to increase testosterone production temporarily by about 30% but that is hardly enough to have a positive impact on your fitness results.

The testosterone increase through sexual arousal diminishes after the arousal is gone but it does not completely vanish and unlike some common myths portray: ejaculation does not negatively effect testosterone levels.

I know this is kind of an odd topic but we are occasionally asked what men can do to increase their testosterone levels without going for hormone treatment.

Have a great day,

Michael

Resources:

Examine.com

Influence of Vitamins on Fat Loss

I think most people agree that it does matter what you eat when seeking weight loss, fat loss or increased sports performance. Vitamins play a crucial part in that process.

Nutrition Matters

Can you lose weight by ignoring what you eat and simply focusing on calories? Yes you can, many people have proven that. That does not mean though that you cannot optimize your goal achievement by paying attention to the detail.

A collage of vegetables
Do you have all your vitamins?

Role of Vitamins

Vitamins are an organic compound that only exists in small amounts in the body. They play roles in growth, energy transfer, nervous system function, and most importantly as co-enzymes, which means they provide the non-protein part of the enzyme. Enzymes are catalysts and they highly accelerate or enable metabolic functions.

What Does That Have To Do With Weight Loss

If you have a lack or overabundance of a certain vitamin (the latter due to unnecessary supplementation) certain functions of your body won’t work as efficiently anymore, or have deficiencies in some areas. You cannot build up new protein structures well, you have a delay in recovery from exercise and stress, part of the energy metabolism does not work properly, and many more issues.

Vitamin B5 (Pantothenic Acid) for example is responsible for the formation of acetyl-CoA which is part of the energy chain.

What Does Science Say?

Many of us are taking a multivitamin supplementation. Recent research indicates a couple of things though:

  1. Not everyone needs to supplement
  2. Athletes have a need for a higher vitamin intake and may benefit from supplementation
  3. Supplemented vitamins may be taken up differently from vitamins contained in food and may be less effective.
  4. Excessive vitamin supplementation intake may have negative health consequences, including cancer.

What You Can Do:

Eat a diverse diet of whole, unprocessed foods including dark, leafy, green vegetables, mushrooms, colorful fruits, grass-fed meats, poultry, fish, etc. Focus on foods that are naturally rich in vitamins.

I personally avoid enriched foods and concentrate on having a wide variety of natural, whole foods that provide me with the vitamins I need. Due to my heavy training schedule (10+ h/wk) I supplement with a multivitamin once a day but monitor closely for signs of toxicity, etc.

There are people who will tell you that foods nowadays do not contain vitamins anymore and that you need to supplement. This is simply not true. Choosing seasonal foods from your local farmer increases your chance of having vegetables & fruits that ripened longer and are richer in vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients.

I hope you have a fantastic day,

Michael

You don’t like Vegetables, you might like this Smoothie!

Hey guys, this is an awesome smoothie recipe and gives you about 2 litres of green smoothie.

You need a high powered blender.

 

  • 2 Mangos, peeled and de kerneled or 3to 4 peaches
  • 1 Orange
  • 1 Apple or seasonal fruit
  • 16 oz of water
  • Kale + Salad Spring Mix + Wheatgrass and / or other green leaves (start with less and add to taste)
  • blend until smooth
  • to add sweetness use dates
  • to add fruitiness use lemons
  1. The ration should be 60% fruit to 40% green leaves.
  2. Make sure the green leaves are not too spicy like for example mustard greens
  3. to get the smoothie smooth it is necessary to use mangos, peaches or bananas, otherwise the consistency is watery

This drink is full of vitamins and minerals. Enjoy!

 

If you have any more questions feel free to contact us

 

Michael Anders

Head Trainer Shape Up Fitness & Wellness Consulting

www.charlottepersonaltrainer.org

Supplements, yes or no?

Well most of you know me pretty well. I don’t really endorse a lot of supplements for various reasons. That does not mean, though, that I myself am not taking any. I do take supplements, very few and very specific to my training needs. Your training might require different supplements or none at all.

Personally, I use some protein powder for my milk shakes in the morning, especially if I am in a hurry (I am always in a hurry). It seems to work great for me. Throw some fruits in there, some honey and milk and I am ready to roll. I supplement Magnesium as needed, Omega 3-6-9 fatty acids,  as well as electrolytes and Hammer Gel on longer runs (15+ miles/run). I don’t take a Multi-Vitamin due to the fact that in recent years more and more studies show that uninhibited supplementation of vitamins can have negative effects on health. I use a recovery drink after my long endurance workouts if real food isn’t readily available.

Basically, what all this means is that supplements should supplement your diet, not replace a healthy balanced diet. They are no excuse to eat fast food and unhealthy crap.

Now that you have got your diet in order you can check and see what your needs are. Good people to talk to are your physician as well as certified nutrition counselors.

The place I go to is Max Muscle. The people there know their stuff and would never try to get you or anyone else to replace a healthy, balanced diet with a ton of supplements. They respect the fact that I am a minimalist. I feel taken care of and that is what matters most. Because I like them so much and I wanted to give them a chance to introduce themselves. Here they are:

Max Muscle Sports Nutrition
5110 Park Road, Suite 1-J
Charlotte, NC 28209
www.charlotte.maxmuscle.com

Vitamin C, the super vitamin?

A lot of people take vitamins. Physical active people even more, some take doses of 10 to 10 000 times the Recommended Daily Intake (RDA) hoping to supercharge their body. Especially now in the winter time people are often taking vitamin C like candy.
What people need to understand that excess vitamins behave as chemicals in our body.
Megadoses of vitamin C can precipitate gout in persons predisposed to it. Some ethnic groups also have a genetic metabolic deficiency that transforms to hemolytic anemia with excessive vitamin C intake. Irritable bowl can also happen and leads to diarrhea. Against common believe excessive intake of vitamin C does not protect from Upper Respiratory Infections.

So what is the actual RDA for Vitamin C?

Adult Males: 90 mg/day
Adult Females: 75 mg/day
Recommended Intake for Athletes: 200 mg/day (ranges up to 500 mg)

The best sources for vitamin C are fresh fruits and vegetables.

Try to get as much fresh food as possible. I know we are in a pill popping society but supplements are not a replacement for a healthy diet.

Have a fit and healthy day,

Michael Anders

http:/www.shapeupfitnesswellness.com

Sources used:

Bernardot, Dan (2006) Advanced Sports Nutrition – Fine tune your food and fluid intake for
optimal training and performance. Human Kinetics.

Clark, Nancy (2008) Sports Nutrition Guidebook (4th Edition). Human Kinetics.

Mc Ardle, William D. et. al Exercise Physiology – Energy, Nutrition & Human Performance (6th
Edition). Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

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