A collection of holiday nutrition advice to get you to January 1st

Like perhaps many of you, I follow a variety of blogs - many of which are food, nutrition and fitness based. Instead of re-inventing the wheel, I decided to provide a few great posts I have seen over the last few days. I am hoping this will give you some great advice all in one place. Happy reading and Happy Holidays!

Delicious & Healthy Recipes from 2015

Looking for something to serve that you won't feel guilty about? These are some great dishes that make my mouth water just reading the recipes.

Low-Fat Egg Nog Recipes

Love egg nog (like me), but don't love the calories that come with it? Check out this blog for some easy recipes to lighten up this favorite holiday drink.

Christmas Brunch Recipe!

I mainly like this post for the first recipe listed - healthy, fast and delicious! Check it out for an easy option while you are busy focusing on Christmas dinner prep.

11 Tips to Stay Fit this Holiday Season

While food choices make a huge difference, making sure you get up and move contributes to a successful holiday season as well. I love this post because it provides practical and creative tips to work in some fitness in between all of the eating and conversing. Check it out!

Your Nutrition Coach,

RDKate

Picture source

Eating Tips for the Pregnant Athlete

 

Pregnancy no longer means stopping all exercise. Nowadays, with the okay of a doctor, women can keep exercising right up until they deliver. This is great, but also poses questions about eating. If you are pregnant and exercising, here are a few things to keep in mind.

1. Without exercise, you need to add approximately 300 Kcal per day during the second trimester and 300-500 Kcal per day during the third trimester for proper growth of the baby. So, should you choose to keep exercising, be sure to increase intake too. Pregnancy is not a time to lose weight.

Make the Time, Mom!...Five ways for super busy moms (and dads) to fit in exercise

This week, enjoy a guest blog post from Nick Perri - a fantastic Naperville in-home personal trainer. Check out his website here.

Be extraordinary,

RDKate

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Recently, I was interviewed and asked three questions regarding exercise and the pursuit of a healthful lifestyle. They were all great questions but the last question was of a subject matter that can really stir up debate and emotion in trainer and client alike. Here is the question and here is my answer...

Q: Why is it important to carve out time to exercise (even if you're a super busy mom, etc.)?

Post-Thanksgiving Nutrition: Recovering after the pie is gone

There comes that moment around 9pm on Thanksgiving Day when many of us think, "Wow! I ate a lot of food." So how do you recover from your day of eating without feeling like you have to turn to dieting extremes for the next week? Here are a few tips:

1. Start Thanksgiving Day with a workout
Hopefully most of you will read this today...before Thanksgiving. Start your day with a workout to kick up the calorie burn. After dinner, why not Incorporate a family walk or touch football game? Start a new tradition! Anything you can do to increase your metabolism on Thanksgiving day is a plus.

2. Wake up the next day with a fresh start
Okay so lets say you know you didn't make the best choices on Thanksgiving and you just need to start fresh on Friday. The worst thing you can do the day after Thanksgiving is skip breakfast. Perhaps you overate late into the night on Thanksgiving so you don't feel hungry at all for breakfast. Focus on high-protein options: Greek yogurt, eggs, protein shake. Stick with protein to provide yourself with slow-burning calories.

Tiny eating and exercise tricks for big weight loss

About this time of year, many of my athletes come into my office asking about dropping weight. Whether it is for health, performance or vanity reasons, a request to drop 5-15 pounds is common. Perhaps with the snow thawing and weather warming, your overall health and/or summer races are on your mind too. One thing I emphasize with my athletes is that weight loss is not easy. It takes commitment every day and throughout the day. However, there many tricks with respect to eating and exercising that will increase your chance of success.

Methods of Eating
1. Eat slowly. Commit to at least 10 minutes for a snack and 20 minutes for a meal (minimum). Chew your food thoroughly. Put the fork down and drink water between bites.
2. Eat with someone. Enjoy conversation; this will naturally slow your eating pace.
3. Cut food into small pieces. This creates the allusion of a greater volume of food, as well as - again- slows your eating pace.

What to Look for in a Fitness Facility: Does Yours Measure Up?

Dear Readers-

 

Today, please enjoy a guest blog by a fellow friend in academia - Kimbo Yee, Kimbo is a PhD student in Exercise Physiology at Michigan State University.

 

Be Extraordinary,

 

RDKate

 

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Hello everyone.  I’m thrilled to be guest blogging for Katie today.  It’s an absolute pleasure for me that I get to share some of my thoughts with you. As someone working in the exercise science field, there are a multitude of topics I could’ve chosen to write about today, but after visiting a friend this past weekend and working out with them at their gym, I’d actually like to share some of my thoughts about what you should look for in a fitness facility.

When I asked my friend why they chose that particular fitness facility to workout at their primary reasons were: 1) Cost and 2) Location.  Those are two of the biggest factors that most people would comment about if you asked them why they workout where they do.  Although both cost and location are important, I believe the choice in a fitness facility goes much deeper than that and should be made while considering other important factors that are often overlooked.  In the rapidly growing health and fitness industry, more and more fitness facilities are opening left and right and of all varieties.  You see everything from a lot more 24-hour facilities, YMCAs, “everything and more” globo clubs like Lifetime Fitness, CrossFit gyms, and the good ol’ standard fitness facilities like Powerhouse Gym and Gold’s Gym.  It can be a tough decision figuring out which place will work best for you and the obtainment of your goals.  This is a common problem I get from people looking to start working out somewhere so here are a few key things I tell them to think about and look into when determining what fitness facility is the best for them.

Environment with Positive Energy

I’m a firm believer in that you have to have fun when you workout.  It’s one of the drawing traits to the particular forms of exercise a person engages in.  It only enhances the motivation to go to a place and get a workout in.  A fitness facility that is fun, welcoming, and that is full of positive energy only enhances the motivation to workout and lead a healthy lifestyle.  It should be a place where anyone can come in and feel that someone is interested in their goals and wants to help them achieve them and live an overall healthier lifestyle.

Interpersonal Service

I’m talking about service as in the interpersonal relationship between a client and the personnel at a fitness facility.  From the personal trainers to the front desk worker, everybody should care for every member that comes through the doors and should be ready to provide any support and motivation you may need.  You should not be viewed nor treated as just “another member of the gym”. 

Cleanliness

Nobody wants to work out in a place where germs are aplenty.  Any proper fitness facility should be clean around the clock.  A high priority should be placed on the sanitation of equipment, locker rooms, bathrooms, and floors.  When deciding on a fitness facility, try to keep a lookout for the availability of clean towels and personal sanitizers and equipment sanitizers.  You’ll want to make sure that the cleanliness of the facility is up to your own standards.

Professional Staff

A well establish fitness facility should have a team of dedicated fitness professionals who are well educated, experienced, and certified.  This team is usually comprised primarily of personal trainers and coaches, but can also include exercise/fitness specialists, dietitians, coaches and instructors.  These are the individuals who help clients achieve their goals by steering them in the proper direction and giving them the motivation, support, and instruction to properly use exercise as a means to achieve their goal.  You’ll want to be part of a fitness facility with a team of professionals that are passionate about what they do day in and day out.

There are many other factors that I did not talk about in this blog, but I believe the ones I’ve written about are some of the most important to consider for anybody looking to exercise in an established fitness facility.  Choosing a gym is quite the important investment in living a healthy lifestyle, so one should take adequate time in determining what fitness facility is best for their needs and goals. 

Thank you for reading my guest blog.  If invited again in the future I would gladly accept and write about various exercise physiology topics (e.g., body composition testing, high intensity training etc.) or perhaps any topics any of you readers would like to hear about.  If you would like to contact me for any reason my e-mail is: yeekimbo@msu.edu.

Again, thanks for reading!!! 

Exercising the Body by Motivating the Mind

This week's blog was written by a guest blogger: Allison Brooks. On her down time between travels, she enjoys writing guest articles about the things she's passionate about, such as natural and nutritional therapies for everyday ailments. Enjoy!

Good health may be the most important thing but a traditional understanding of medicine and diet may often lead to more harm than good. Natural remedies for health are safer, cheaper and more effective. Natural health has a lot of options but some neglect the simple importance of exercising the mind and body.

Physical exercise is not just a way to lose weight, but the quickest way of achieving overall well-being. Many hospitals and rehab facilities promote the use of exercise, physically and mentally, to expedite healing and reduce stress. Since many cancers have harsh treatments, exercise, or other mind-body therapies are great ways to balance the body. Many patients have said they feel better about treatments when combined with exercise. Doctors hope the use of physical and mental exercise can prolong the survivability of cancers like pancreatic, mesothelioma, and late-stage breast cancers.

 
But as you know exercise should not be limited to the hospitals or people trying to get their high-school body back. Exercise is a great way to relieve stress, improve mood and overall well-being. However, before even moving the body, a lot of people need help getting their minds on board with physical exercise. Organized planning and daily task checking can help keep people active and lead them to accomplishing their goals.

When presented with the health benefits of exercise, motivation sets in. But sometimes after a day or a week the motivation dies down. Other daily chores and work issues can get in the way of exercise, which often mistakenly falls under the free-time category. By rearranging priorities people can ensure they fulfill their obligation to their mind and body by getting exercise, which in turn helps keep them active and motivated to complete their other tasks for the week.

A feeling of accomplishment will not only help with the current day’s motivation but will feed into the next. Keeping a calendar that is marked off for each day a goal is met will manifest patterns in the mind. If a big check mark is made in marker on a large calendar placed in a highly visible location, the mind will notice when a whole series of checks occurs and feel a great sense of achievement. Visual reminders like a calendar can help lead to re-prioritizing goals and ensuring that they are met.

Physical achievements can also help keep the mind motivated. Being able to increase the length of a run without getting winded or the amount of weights lifted in a set can fuel the drive needed to maintain a desire to exercise. Most importantly, the body when consistently exercised will feel healthier, more upbeat and recognize the changes. This can lead people to start changing other areas of their health, enjoying the benefits of natural remedies.

Thanks Allison!

Be Extraordinary,

RDKate