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Carbohydrates: Where Quality Matters

So what are carbohydrates and why are they important? Carbohydrates are the sugars, starches, and fibers found in fruits, grains, vegetables, and milk products. Carbohydrates are one of three main ways that the body obtains energy or calories. Carbohydrates, according to the American Diabetes Association, are the body’s main source of energy. An individual’s healthy diet should contain foods rich in carbohydrates since it provides the body with glucose; glucose is converted into energy to help with the body’s daily functions and physical activity. However, all carbs are not created equal. There are two types of carbohydrates: complex carbs and simple carbs.

Complex carbs are identified as fiber and starch, whereas sugar is a simple carb. Complex Carbs are the healthiest source of carbohydrates. These are known as unprocessed whole grains, vegetables, fruits, and beans. Complex carbs help the body by delivering vitamins, minerals, and fiber. Simple carbs are unhealthier sources of carbohydrates. Simple Carbs include white bread, pastries, sodas, and other highly processed or refined foods. Simple carbs are easily
digested carbohydrates that may contribute to weight gain, interfere with weight loss, and promote diabetes or heart disease.

Tips to Add Complex Carbohydrates to Your Diet:

  1. Start the day off right with healthy, whole grains in your breakfast. A key way to include more whole grains in your diet is by looking for foods which list whole grains as one of the first ingredients. If you cannot give-up cereal as a breakfast food, you should look for cereals that are above 4-grams in fiber and less than 8-grams of sugar.
  2. Breads that are rich in healthy carbohydrates. When choosing breads, make sure you pick breads that list the first ingredient as “whole.” Examples of this include whole wheat, whole rye, or some other whole grain.
  3. Bread isn’t your only option! Good alternatives to bread are whole grains in salad such as quinoa and brown rice.
  4. Forget the juice and choose whole fruits. Instead of choosing sugary juices try eating whole fruits. Fruits typically contain less sugar than juices and more fiber such as oranges.
  5. Choose beans over potatoes. Beans are excellent source of complex carbohydrates which are slowly digestive carbohydrates and keep you full longer. Potatoes on the other hand have been found to promote weight gain.

Simple carbs are any foods that are high in sugars. Foods to try to avoid:

  • Sodas
  • Cookies
  • Juices
  • Pie
  • Sugary Cereal

Complex Carbohydrates you should eat:

  • Broccoli
  • Apples
  • Quinoa
  • Beans
  • Whole grains

 

By David Daoud

 

Recipe of the Week: Zucchini Tator Tots (Zots)

This week our recipe was submitted by one of our awesome gym members, Cathy. Taste tested and approved!

Yield: 3 servings, Serving Size: 5 tots

INGREDIENTS:

  • cooking spray
  • 1 packed cup grated zucchini
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/4 medium onion, minced
  • 1/4 cup grated reduced fat sharp cheddar cheese
  • 1/3 cup seasoned breadcrumbs
  • 1/4 tsp kosher salt and black pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

  1. Preheat oven to 400°F.  Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray.
  2. Grate the zucchini into a clean dish towel until you have 1 packed cup.  Wring all of the excess water out of the zucchini, there will be a lot of water. In a medium bowl, combine all of the ingredients and season with salt and pepper to taste.
  3. Spoon 1 tablespoon of mixture in your hands and roll into small ovals. Place on the cookie sheet and bake for 16 to 18 minutes, turning halfway though cooking until golden. Makes 16.

NUTRITION INFORMATION

Per Serving:

  • Calories:108
  • Total Fat:3g
  • Sodium:262mg
  • Carbohydrates:5g
  • Fiber:2g
  • Sugar:2g
  • Protein: 7g

Original recipe can be found here!

Strength Training for “Weight Loss”

Most people look to the scale in order to assess their fitness or see results from exercise. However, body weight is NOT an accurate measure of physical fitness. The number on the scale does not necessarily relate to your exercise performance. “Weight loss” is in quotations because it is possible for you to achieve your appearance and performance goals without significantly changing the numbers on the scale.

With that being said, body composition measurements, lean body mass (muscle) and body fat percentage, are better
indicators of one’s progress. Decreasing the percentage of body fat should be the main focus, as opposed to overall weight loss; and strength training has been proven to be more effective for altering body composition than ‘cardio’ (aerobic exercise).

Here’s why…

  • Muscle tissue plays a major role in our metabolism; the more muscle tissue we have, the more calories (and fat!) we can burn.
  • Strength training, when done correctly, increases our lean body mass (amount of muscle tissue) while simultaneously decreasing our body fat percentage.
  • Along with the benefits during a workout, strength training also has the ability to keep your metabolism elevated after a workout. Therefore allowing you to continue to burn fat while you aren’t exercising.
  • Comparatively, during aerobic exercise (long distance running/walking, cycling, etc.) we burn through our fat stores and muscle tissue, as well as losing water weight from sweat. So although we are “losing weight” from cardio, we are also sacrificing muscle tissue.
    • Also, aerobic exercise does not show the same post-exercise effects on metabolism as strength training.
  • Strength training increases the activity and effectiveness of hormones that control our metabolism and body composition.

Strength Training

  • Train the whole body about 3x a week, with rest days in between
  • Beginner lifters should select weights that they can lift for 2-3 sets of 12-15 reps. More experienced lifters can try heavier weights for 3 sets of 6-8 reps
  • Only rest for about 1 minute or less between sets; try to alternate sets of lower-body and upper-body exercises in order to keep the intensity of the workout high while allowing parts of our body to recover.
  • Periodically increase the weights and variety of your exercises so that your muscles are constantly being challenged.


Points to Remember

  • Because we are increasing our muscle tissue, strength training may initially result in weight gain. However, though the number on the scale is increasing, our body fat percentage will decrease and physical fitness will improve.
  • Cardio is still important for improving ones fitness, cardiovascular and respiratory health and should be
    included in weekly exercise schedules. It is just not as effective for altering body composition as strength training.
  • Diet must be monitored– Keep in mind that nutrition goes hand-in-hand with weight loss and changes in body composition. In regards to strength training, it is important to consume a sufficient amount of protein daily in order to build and recover muscle tissue.
  • Rest days- We must give our muscles time to recover from exercise to prevent prolonged muscle soreness, decrease the chance of injury, and ensure the effectiveness of our next workout.

 

By David McCalla

Recipe of the Week: Apple Butternut Squash Soup

Servings: 6

Ingredients:

  • 1 butternut squash, cubed (I used about 4 cups cubed)
  • 1 large sweet onion, chopped
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 4 apples, peeled and quartered
  • 4 cups of vegetable stock
  • 1 cup of rice drink
  • ¼ cup of coconut milk
  • ½ tsp ground nutmeg
  • Sea salt

 

Directions:

  1. In large pot, sauté onion until soft, about 5 minutes. Add squash, apples, stock, rice milk, coconut milk, and nutmeg. Cover, bring to boil, and then simmer for about 30 minutes until squash is soft.
  2. Using immersion blender, puree soup. Add sea salt to taste.

 

Nutrition:

  • Calories 211
  • Carbohydrates 39g
  • Fat 8g
  • Protein 3g
  • Great source of Vitamin A and Potassium

 

Understanding the Fat Burning Zone v. High Intensity Exercise

The fat burning zone is often referenced, and yes it does exist, but most people don’t understand exactly what this means. This concept is that more fat is burned at a lower intensity of training, roughly 60-70% of your max heart rate vs. a higher intensity of training. This is based off of percentages. If you are training at a lower intensity, burning 50% of calories from fat and at a higher intensity burning 35% of fat, part of the puzzle is missing. This piece shows that at a higher intensity, you burn more calories overall.

High intensity training is not always appropriate for everyone for various reasons. Maybe they are new to exercise, recovering from injuries, previous health conditions, etc. For those people able to incorporate high intensity exercise, interval training is a great way to start. Having both low intensity and high intensity exercises in your exercise program is beneficial for your body. Interval training is when you alternate between at least two activities, changing different rates of speed, degree of effort, etc. Each person has a different level which they are able work at. Finding the target heart rate is a good way to monitor the level of effort.

Beginner: This level would appropriate be anyone new to exercise or recovering from injuries. Starting with lower intensity exercise (roughly 60% heart rate) is a good way to ease your body into a routine. Incorporate higher intensity exercise very little the first 2 weeks. At this level, the higher intensity might only be 70-75% of your heart rate. The intervals will change over time, but an example would be to start with 4 min low intensity, 1 min high intensity and repeat 2-4 times.

Intermediate: This level would be for anyone who has been exercising for a while and ready to step up their program. This interval program would start with a lower intensity (roughly 60% heart rate) and a higher intensity of 80%. Maintain the lower intensity for 2 min and the higher for 1 min. This can be repeated 5 to 10 times.

Advanced: This level would be more for athletes. The interval program would start at lower intensity of 70% and a higher intensity of 90-100% of heart rate max. Maintain 1 min low intensity and 1 min high intensity. This can be repeated 10-15 times. Depending on the type of athlete these ratios will change.

Each person has their own limits and should listen to their body. These are guidelines to interval training, but not the only way to do it. The exercise physiologists at Peak Performance would be happy to set you up with a program right for you.

 

By Corynne Pereira

Recipe of the Week: Egg White Vegetable Muffins

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Servings: 12

Ingredients:

  • Coconut oil spray
  • 24 Egg whites
  • 1/2 Red bell pepper (finely diced)
  • 1/2 yellow bell pepper (finely diced)
  • 2 cups Fresh spinach
  • 3 Green onions (for topping)
  •  Salt and pepper (to taste)
  • Or try any combination of your favorite vegetables!

Instructions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Spray a muffin tin with coconut oil spray.
  3. Whisk the egg whites together with the salt and pepper in a large bowl.
  4. Stir in the bell peppers and spinach.
  5. Carefully spoon the egg and vegetable mixture into the muffin cups, dividing the mixture equally between the twelve cups.
  6. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the egg whites are set.
  7. Remove from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes before serving.
  8. Serve warm and topped with green onions. Alternatively, store in the refrigerator.

 

Original recipe can be found here!

 

 

What is the 80/20 Rule for Nutrition?

Often times we tend to struggle sticking to a meal plan or being consistent with our eating. This can be attributed to an abundance of things such as: boredom, lack of discipline, scheduling, etc. A meal plan should be simple and not require you to torture yourself on a day-to-day basis. Yes, eating “clean” may require giving up some of your favorite treats- it requires diligence. However, it should also be something that you learn how to enjoy and fit into your everyday life. This is where the 80/20 rule comes into play.

The 80/20 rule goes under the premise that if you are eating clean and healthy 80% of the time, then it is okay to be not so good or indulge a little the other 20% of the time. The 80% should include whole foods, vegetables, lean protein, and avoiding processed food. Now, this can be easily misconstrued; what the 20% really means is that it should be consumed once per week and not allocating 20% of each day to unhealthy foods. If you have about 21 meals each week (breakfast, lunch, dinner), maybe 3-4 meals are less healthy. Think of this as a more indulgent home cooked meal and not binging on fast food. This “20%” can also be called your “cheat meal.” Sometimes a well timed cheat meal can help you stay on track mentally.

A well timed cheat meal may balance the hunger hormones levels in your body, both of which are correlated with an increase in metabolism and aid in weight loss. One of these hormones, leptin is released into the body as you eat and leaves you with a satiated feeling. When leptin levels are low, ghrelin, the appetite hormone, levels are high. After you eat, ghrelin levels will drop as your digest, helping you feel satisfied. Another benefit of having a cheat meal may be that it gives you something to look forward to.

A meal plan is easy to stick to if you know that Saturday night you can indulge a bit for dinner. If you’re looking for a plan that you can stick to long term or trying to incorporate healthier eating, give the 80/20 rule a shot!

 

By Tyler Palmquist

Fad Diets v. Lifestyle Change

A “fad diet” is a weight loss plan that may over-promises results. These types of diets don’t result in long-term weight loss and are usually not very healthy. You may have heard of some of them or tried one; think of a liquid diet or controlled/limited carbohydrates.

Often times, people are willing to try anything that promises to help them lose weight- especially if it promises to be quick and easy. The main reason for these diets being that everyone wants to look or feel better; or maybe they are worried about developing weight-related diseases. Diets like these are appealing because of their quick fix instead of making the effort to lose weight through long-term changes in their eating and exercise habits.

Your lifestyle is composed of what you eat, how you manage your stress, how often you exercise and more. Lifestyle changes require you to alter these behaviors; whether it is restricting fast food or trying to get 10,000 steps a day. The key is that these habits are maintained as opposed to be a short term fix.

It is important to remember that healthy weight loss is 1-2 pounds per week. Fad diets often promise rapid results which may lead to unhealthy weight loss. Remember, it took time to gain that unwanted weight and it will take time to lose it. Limiting food choices without encouraging a balanced diet is not a healthy way to create lasting changes.

Here are a few simple tips for creating those changes:

  • Don’t skip meals- this includes breakfast!
  • Limit liquid calories- avoid sugary sodas, alcohol, and juices (swap for whole fruits instead)
  • Exercise on a regular basis- the best kind of exercise is exercise that you’ll continue, so choose an activity that you enjoy J
  • Increase daily physical activity- park farther away, take the stairs when you can, work up to taking 10,000 steps per day

 

By Louise Mills-Strasser