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Getting Passed the “Weight Loss Plateau”

The process of healthy weight loss takes a combination of changing your diet (calories in) and increasing exercise (calories burned). It’s common to see a rapid loss of weight in the early stages of the weight loss process due to diet restrictions, increases in exercise, and losses in water weight. However, after this initial weight loss people tend to hit a wall and the rate of weight lost slows down or stops completely. This “weight loss plateau” effect is caused by the body’s ability to adjust to the changes in diet and exercise intensity. Therefore, the same effort it took to lose the weight initially will not continue to have the same effect going forward.

In order continue the process you must continually alter the factors that contribute to weight loss; i.e. diet and exercise. Here are a few tips to help break through the weight loss plateau.

  • Diet – after the initial stages of weight loss, you may have to further decrease your caloric intake OR maintain caloric intake but modify the ratio of carbohydrates and proteins.
    • Increasing protein intake will aid in the growth of muscle tissue which is responsible for maintaining our metabolism
  • Exercise – an increase in exercise frequency (number of workouts per week) or exercise intensity will be necessary to break the plateau. As our bodies get stronger and more fit we need to continue to challenge ourselves in order to progress.
  • Fluid intake – make sure that enough water is being consumed throughout the day. Dehydration can cause cravings for food and sugary drinks.
  • Sleep and rest – recovery time is pivotal for regulating our hormone activity and keeping our bodies healthy during the weight loss process.

 

By David McCalla

The Right Mindset for the Holidays

The holidays are quickly approaching and we are thinking about all the delicious food that comes with the holidays. It’s important to set your brain up for success, too! It’s time to establish a game plan for keeping your mind and body healthy is during this time of year.

The clients who are the most successful with staying healthy are the ones that plan in advance. Getting your mind to learn how to think healthy is the first step to getting your whole body to be healthy. Break it down into three steps to establish healthy ways of thinking:

  • Anticipate the day or event where you are going to enjoy eating with the family. Keep up with your workout routine before and continue your healthy eating habits. One day of indulging should not ruin all you have accomplished. If you know a big meal is coming, don’t react to a bad meal and then try to workout because you feel guilty about it. You should be able to enjoy the holidays and stay focused on your goals.
  • Plan what you are going to eat for the week in advance. Put your food in containers for the next few days at a time. This is important because it makes it easier to eat healthy and use portion control. If you take two days of your week for an hour each day to prepare your food, the rest of the week is easy. Hold yourself accountable for your actions- you are the only one that can control what you eat. Do your best to maintain a positive and healthy mindset!
  • Enjoy the holidays with your loved ones! The happier you are, the more you will want to take care of yourself. If you do the first two steps, this last step is easy! Don’t feel guilty about enjoying a cookie or two, but don’t eat the whole tray. Savor the foods you enjoy and eat them slowly. Appreciate the time you get to spend with your loved ones. You know how hard you worked up until this point and you deserve to enjoy the holidays!

A healthy mind set is just thinking about you and your health before you think about quick and easy. The saying goes “nothing worth having comes easy;” with hard work and consistency, you will truly appreciate the goals you achieve vs. having something handed to you.

The holidays are not a hard time to stay healthy if you truly want to be. Hold yourself accountable and be positive about your ability to control what you eat and do. If you exercise through the holidays you will feel so good about yourself and your New Years will be better then ever.

 

-Corynne Pereira, MS, CSCS

 

Recipe of the Week: Sweet Potato Pecan Casserole

Ingredients:

  • Cooking spray
  • 3 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes (about 5 medium), peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
  • 1/3 cup honey
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
  • Kosher salt
  • 1 tablespoon packed dark brown sugar
  • 1/3 cup finely chopped pecans

Instructions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Mist an 8-inch square baking dish with cooking spray.
  2. Bring a few inches of water to a boil in a pot with a large steamer basket in place. Put the sweet potatoes in the basket, cover and steam until tender, 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer the potatoes to a bowl and let cool slightly. Add the honey, egg, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, the nutmeg, ginger and 1/2 teaspoon salt; whip with an electric mixer until smooth. Spread the sweet potato mixture in the prepared baking dish.
  3. Mix the brown sugar, pecans and the remaining 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon in a bowl; sprinkle over the potatoes. Bake until hot and beginning to brown around the edges, 40 to 45 minutes.

Nutrition:
Serves: 8
Per serving: Calories 160; Fat 4 g; Sodium 180 mg; Carbohydrate 31 g; Protein 3 g

Original recipe can be found here!

Thank You!

A huge thank you to all our gym members, physical therapy patients, and staff that donated their leftover Halloween candy! Thanks to you, we are shipping out over 125 lbs. of candy to our troops overseas.

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Jump-Start Your New Year’s Resolution

Rule #1: Don’t tell yourself you’re going to start in the New Year!

The holidays are a busy time of year; it can be hard to stay both motivated and strict with your eating and exercise. Between cooking, holiday shopping, and parties, it may seem like there is less time for the gym. We have put together some tips to maximize your efforts and stay on track right through December. This is a perfect opportunity to get a jump start on that “New Year’s Resolution” you’ve been talking about since last January.

  • Scheduling ahead. Make a brief schedule with an overview of specific events you have coming up, this way you can plan around it. Make note of the days you have off from work and use that extra time to fit in a workout. People often tend to forget they have company coming over or an event to attend which leads to canceled workouts. If you’ve planned ahead on your calendar, then you have already made time to do both, and can avoid missing a workout.
  • Increase training intensity. If you are squeezing in a workout, maximize the time you are spending in the gym. Most of us are familiar with high-intensity cardio, but you can also add some intensity to your weightlifting sessions. To increase the intensity of your workouts, decrease the rest periods; add heart pumping movements like step ups, air squats, burpees, or mountain climbers between sets. Try implementing low-rest circuits that challenge your muscles and energy systems. This will help give you accomplish more with limited time. Talk to your exercise physiologist about changing up your exercise routine!
  • Self control. The holidays are a good test of mental toughness, if you can be “good” now, you can continue that self control anytime of the year. Use this as a chance to tell yourself that your goals are worth more to you than extra desserts. You will feel much better about yourself knowing that you made progress during these few weeks rather than having to start over on January 1st.

 

By Tyler Palmquist

 

Recipe of the Week: Sausage, Sage and Apple Stuffing

INGREDIENTS

  • 8 cups sourdough bread, 1-inch cubes
  • 6 oz. mild Italian sausage
  • 1½ cups onion, chopped
  • 1¼ cups fennel bulb, chopped
  • 1 cup celery, chopped
  • 3 cups chopped, peeled Golden Delicious apple (about 2)
  • 6 garlic cloves, minced
  • 3 Tbsp fresh sage, chopped
  • ? cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
  • 1¼ cups chicken stock
  • ¼ cup apple cider
  • 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
  • ½ tsp. black pepper

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Bake bread cubes in a single layer on a baking sheet for about 20 minutes or until golden. Cool and place in a large bowl. Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat and cook sausage until browned and crumbled. Add sausage to bread in bowl.
  3. Return skillet to medium-high heat and add onion, fennel and celery to pan. Saute for about 7 minutes until crisp and tender, stirring occasionally. Stir in apple and garlic; saute for 5 minutes until veggies are tender. Add sage and cook for an additional minute, stirring occasionally. Remove pan from heat and stir in chopped parsley. Add onion mixture to bread mixture and toss well to combine.
  4. In a separate bowl, whisk together chicken stock, apple cider, eggs and black pepper. Gently combine egg mixture with bread mixture. Spoon stuffing into an 11 x 7-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray and bake at 350 degrees F for about 45 minutes until top is browned. Enjoy!

NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION
Serves: 12 servings
Serving Size: ¾ cup
Per serving: Calories: 166 • Fat: 6 g • Carbs: 22.1 g • Fiber: 2.3 g • Protein: 7 g
Original recipe can be found here!

Fitting Workouts in Between the Holidays

We all know that the upcoming holidays can be quite a hectic and stressful time—dinner parties, family gatherings, cooking, and shopping.  With everything that’s going on, it’s easy to lose focus on your health and fitness goals- what was once a main priority takes a back seat to the holiday season.  Moreover, if you’ve been working towards shaving off a few pounds, these times can be especially difficult in terms of your nutritional intake.  Therefore, we at Peak Performance Fitness decided to provide you all with some helpful tips on how to squeeze some exercise and physical activity in among the chaos that this holiday season might bring, whether you’ve recently begun an exercise program or are maintaining your progress.

  • Set reminders. Whether you use your phone, tablet, computer, or even a pen and paper, setting reminders to exercise may be beneficial while your mind is preoccupied with other events.
  • Write down you goals and how you plan on achieving them. I’m positive that the majority of you already have your fitness goals in mind, but by writing them down and visibly seeing them every day, the goals/ideas become solidified and you are constantly reminded of what you plan on achieving; whether it’s to build strength, lose weight, or become overall healthier and fitter.
  • Prioritize. If you find yourself failing to make it to the fitness center or perform regular activity on a daily basis, it is most likely because you are putting other things ahead of your goals. What will probably help is to sit down alone, and readjust what’s most important to you—making your health and fitness one of your top priorities (which it should be) will help influence you to maintain a regular workout regimen.
  • Make a schedule. Whatever modality you use to organize your life (calendar, phone, planner, etc.), plan out the next few weeks of exercise.  Set a consistent time of the day in which you know you will be available on a weekly basis and designate it for exercise.  Many people are more likely to do something if it becomes a normal part of a daily routine at a regular time.
  • Home Workouts. If time is limited, speak to your exercise physiologist about developing a home-based workout regimen.  For example, modified push-ups, sit-ups, crunches, shoulder presses, curls, lunges, and squats are examples of exercises you can do using minimal or no equipment without even stepping outside of your house.  If your goals are weight-loss or to build up cardiovascular fitness, walking up and down the stairs, using a jump rope, or walking/jogging/bicycling around the neighborhood for a minimum of 20-30 minutes a day will certainly do the trick!

Although it’s easier said than done, do yourself a favor and do whatever it takes to fit regular exercise into your schedule.  Whether you have to wake up an extra hour early before work, or get a workout in before bed, I guarantee you will be thanking yourself after for continuing your exercise program during the busy holiday season.  Just ask yourself this question: “Would I rather not exercise because I am a little extra busy and yield no results, or would I rather give a little extra effort, make time for exercise, and reach my health and fitness goals?”

 

By Anthony Locast

Recipe of the Week: Healthier Green Bean Casserole

Ingredients:

  • 2 lbs green beans, trimmed and cut into 2″ pieces
  • Cooking spray

For Creamy Sauce:

  • 10 small white mushrooms, sliced
  • 3 tbsp whole wheat flour
  • 1 cup almond milk, unsweetened
  • 1 cup water
  • 2 tbsp cream cheese
  • 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated (not packed)
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp ground black pepper

For Parmesan Topping:

  • 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 3 small onions, thinly sliced into circles
  • 1/2 cup whole wheat or Panko breadcrumbs
  • 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese, grated (not packed)
  • 3 tbsp water

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees, spray large baking dish (approximately 8 x 11) with cooking spray and set aside.
  2. Bring water to a boil in a large pot. Add beans along with pinch of salt, bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium and cook for 5-6 minutes or until al dente. Green beans should be firm and not too soft. Drain and add a few cups of ice to stop the cooking process. Set aside.
  3. Preheat large skillet on medium high and add olive oil. Add onions and cook until golden brown/almost charred, stirring occasionally. Transfer to a medium bowl. Set aside.
  4. Return skillet to heat, spray with cooking spray and add mushrooms. Cook until golden brown.
  5. Reduce heat to low and add flour. Stir enough to coat the mushrooms. Slowly pour almond milk and whisk while you’re pouring, until no lumps are left. Add water, cream cheese, Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper and whisk again. Bring to a boil and let simmer to thicken, for about 3-4 minutes.
  6. In the meanwhile, add breadcrumbs, Parmesan cheese and water to a bowl with onions and mix with your hands until crumbs appear.
  7. Drain green beans, add the sauce and stir to combine.
  8. Transfer green beans to prepared baking dish and sprinkle with topping. Bake uncovered for 25 minutes. Serve warm. Casserole tastes best within first couple hours after it has been cooked.

Nutritional Info:
Number of Servings: 6, Serving size = 1 cup
Calories: 196, Total Fat: 7.6 g, Sodium: 458.5 mg, Total Carbs: 20.0 g, Protein: 9.3 g
 

Original recipe can be found here at ifoodreal.com!