Drop Weight and Your Cravings

Silence a rumbling stomach with a high-protein breakfast.

Everyone wants to look good in a bathing suit, but eating healthy is never easy. A new study published by the British Journal of Nutrition, however, has found that eating more protein for breakfast leads to a greater and longer feeling of fullness if you're looking to lose weight. In other words, if you hear vending machines calling your name by mid-day, lean breakfast meats (not bacon) could cut unwanted cravings

The study, conducted by researchers at Duke University and the University of Kansas Medical Center, had nine men record and score their fullness through five different feeding trials of equal calories. The five diets included a normal amount of protein (.8 grams per kg body weight), extra protein (an additional .6g per kg) at breakfast, lunch, or dinner, and extra protein spread evenly throughout the day. Fullness was reported three hours after every meal and for the whole of the day. The men then tried the different trials with both their recommended daily caloric intake and a 750-calorie reduction.

The results showed little difference between the diets while the subjects had their normal energy intake. But with the calorie restriction, an amount that would add up to one pound of weight loss per week, fullness scores were the greatest with the additional protein at breakfast.

"The findings suggest," says study author Heather Leidy, M.D. of the University of Kansas Medical Center, "that people trying to lose weight should eat more protein at breakfast to help them maintain their diet and avoid overeating. Alternately, if most of a person's protein is consumed at dinner, hunger is reduced at the following breakfast, which could lead to over-eating later in the day."

For a 150-pound man or woman, the extra protein would amount to 40 grams. You can get that protein from six slices of Canadian bacon or eight turkey breakfast sausage links. Those may sound like gut-bombs, but both meats are lean and these serving sizes have less than 300 calories.

If you're wondering how your bowl of cereal stacks up: For the same 300 calories, a relatively high-protein cereal like Kashi GOLEAN, served with a half-cup of skim milk, only registers about 25 grams. Corn flakes with milk, on the other hand, hold only 12 grams of protein, with most of it coming from the milk.

 *To those whom argue against carbs for breakfast.... you're welcome!!

Get Glowing Skin- Without Makeup!

Hollywood nutritionist, 

Kimberly Snyder, 

shares her top detox advice for cleansing your body 

and brightening your complexion

1. Order Wisely:

If you combine food improperly, it slows down digestion. The result? Bloating. 

Good combos: starches and veggies, proteins and veggies, fats and starches. 

Bad combos: proteins and starches, fats and proteins.

2. Be Picky at the Bar:

Sure, booze it fattening. But that's not all: 

Alcohol is also acidic, and too much acid makes your body hold on to fluid in an attempt to neutralize the pH level in your stomach. 

If you can't resist, sip wine. 

It's full of antioxidants and is less taxing on the liver than hard liquor.

3. Chug Your Greens:

Whole fruits and veggies are great, but when was the last time you scarfed  few cups of greens at a meal? 

Snyder's Glowing Green Smoothie (recipe below) makes it easy- and tasty- to make your quota.

Glowing Green Smoothie:

1 1/2 C water

1 head organic romaine lettuce, chopped

1/2 bunch or 3/4 small bunch organic spinach

3-4 stalks organic celery, chopped

1 organic apple,  cored and chopped

1 organic pear, cored and chopped

1 organic banana

juice of 1/2 organic lemon

1. Add water, romaine, an spinach to blender. Starting on a low speed, mix until smooth.

 2. Gradually moving to higher speeds, add celery, apple, and pear. 

3. Add banana and lemon juice. Blend until smooth.

4. Drink Your Vitamins:

Snyder, who recommends a daily multivitamin for everyone, says liquid vitamins absorb better than pills.

5. Stay Spicy:

Snyder sees beauty in your spice rack, noting that turmeric reduces inflammation and nullifies aging free radicals, while cayenne pepper boosts metabolism. 

Cinnamon can regulate your blood sugar so you don't binge.

InStyle Sept 2011

Taste the Rainbow

Healthy Eating is as Easy as Remembering ROYGBIV

RED

Red Bell Peppers are filled with lutein; which helps promote healthy vision

Cherries can help raise melatonin levels and if eaten one hour before bed, can help you fall asleep faster

Tomatoes help guard cancer with their high lycopene levels

Orange

Carrots help against heart attacks by 60% when at least one serving a day is  enjoyed 

Cantaloupe boosts your immune system with it's 113% of your daily Vitamin C intake in one cup

Sweet Potatoes provide 262% of your daily Vitamin A, which keeps your skin looking young  by forming new cells

Yellow

Corn can prevent lung cancer by 27% if eaten regularly (on account of it's beta-cryptoxanthin)

Bananas stave off cardiovascular disease and regulate blood pressure levels

Pineapple fights cancer with it's manganese; one cup of this fruit contains 128% of your daily amount of this essential nutrient

Green

Broccoli, though it can't replace sunscreen, may speed up sunburn recovery. Compounds in this veggie reduce redness and inflammation by 37%

Limes have cancer fighting properties that stay in your bloodstream up to 24hrs after consumption 

Spinach is packed with Vitamin K, a nutrient that slows cell breakdown and bonds calcium to bones.

Blue and Purple

Blueberries are the ultimate brain food, these berries defend against Alzheimer's and people who eat 2 cups a week are 25% less likely to develop Parkinson's disease.

Purple Cabbage has 6 times the vitamin C as green cabbage!

Beets are colored with betalain which help flush the body of toxins

Timing is Everything

Fine tuning your meals according to when you work out can help melt pounds faster!

If you exercise in the morning:

Your body's main source of fuel is glycogen- carbs that have been broken down and stored in your muscles. Before you work out, have a 200-300 calorie meal with fruit or whole grains and a small amount of protein.

If you exercise on your lunch hour:

Save your midday meal until after working out. Reload with lean protein, and vegetables or whole grains within 30 minutes of the end of your workout.

If you exercise after dinner:

Night owls, beware: loading up at supper will weigh you down in more ways than one! Eat  ore at breakfast and lunch, and prepare a low-fat dinner of fewer than 500 calories.

Stop Counting Calories!

There are 3,500 calories in every pound of body weight. An Xtend Barre zaps 8 to 10 calories a minute, which means a 150-pound xtender will burn between 500 and 700 calories—roughly the amount in a 6-inch Spicy Italian Subway sub. (If you're heavier, you shed more calories; if you're lighter, you lose less.)

"Athletes notoriously overestimate how many calories they're burning," says Leslie Bonci, MPH, RD, director of sports nutrition at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. "If you eat an energy bar and drink a sports drink on a moderate bike ride, you've effectively cancelled out any calorie burn." Surveys show that some exercisers overestimate the calories they burn by nearly 1,000—about half a day's worth. "Unless every morsel has a food label, it's difficult to know how much you're taking in," Bonci says. "It can be even harder to know how much you're burning."

A calorie is a measurement of the energy in food. And for years we've been told a calorie is a calorie: Whether you eat 500 of broccoli or pastry, your body will burn or store them equally. That's not true, says Bonci. "Foods close to their natural state, such as fresh vegetables, whole grains and lean, whole cuts of meat, require action—energy—from your body," she says. "You need to work to chew them and to digest them. They create a thermic response, which means you burn more calories just processing them."

She and other experts partly blame the preponderance of "lazy calories" for the current obesity epidemic. "Our food is so heavily processed, it's practically predigested," she says. "That fast-food burger has gone through so much pulverization, you barely have to chew. We're losing the ability to burn calories as we naturally would during the eating and digestive process." And many of these same foods are calorie-dense, so there's more for your body to store.

Bonci doesn't suggest counting calories. "It takes the joy out of eating and ends up a futile venture," she says. Instead, fill your plate with active calories, like those found in fruits and vegetables. Such foods possess more fiber and water, which means you digest them slowly, feel satisfied with fewer of them and gain longer-lasting energy. Bonci says you can consider them "free foods" and eat as many as you want.

By simply changing the composition of your plate, you can lose weight without worrying about hunger pangs, bonking episodes or counting calories. The box below shows what a "performance plate" should look like. "Structuring your meals this way," Bonci says, "will allow you to work out well and fill up without filling out."

The Performance Plate

• One-quarter to one-third of your meal should consist of active and semiactive calories from protein such as lean meat, skinless poultry, fish, soy foods, eggs and low-fat dairy.
• One-half should be active calories from fruits and vegetables (for the fill-and-chew factor).
• One-quarter should be active and semiactive calories from whole-grain starches: brown rice, whole-wheat pasta and potatoes.
• Couch-potato calories should be consumed sparingly; save them for occasional indulgences and snacks.

Active Calories

• Lean meat, fish, poultry
• Fruits
• Vegetables
• Whole grains
• Beans and legumes

Semiactive Calories

• Fiber-rich cereal
• Whole-grain bread
• Low-fat dairy
• Soups

Couch-Potato Calories

• Pastries, cookies, pies, cakes
• Fatty processed meats
• Chips, pretzels, snack foods
• Greasy fast food

7 Ways to a Flatter Tummy

This month's issue of InStyle magazine shares tricks to flatter your tummy... without trying too hard!

1. Go High-Waisted: Whether you wear pants or a skirt, a high waist downplays ab flab.

2. Switch to Green Tea: In a Tufts University Study of moderate exercisers, green tea drinkers lost notably more belly fat than a control group who drank another caffeinated beverage.

3. Stop Obsessing Over Crunches: Cardio is just as important as working you core muscles. Pounds tend to melt off quicker with at least 20 minutes of cardio, 3 times per week.

4. Get a Good Night's Sleep: Researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine found that subjects who sleep from 6-8 hrs a night have significantly less stomach fat thank those who sleep fewer than 6 hrs.

 

5. Work on Your Back Muscles: A strong back is critical to good posture, which in turn sucks in stomach pooch.

6. Avoid the 3 C's: To prevent stomach bloating, nutritionist Lauren Slayton suggests steering clear of the 3 C's-

Canned  (try fresh instead)

empty Carbs (try protein instead)

Carbonated Drinks

 (drink non-carbonated drinks instead)

7. Eat Wheat Berries For Breakfast: Whole grains have been known to fight the belly fat associated with heart disease  and diabetes, whereas refined grains like those in white bread and pasta offer none of those benefits. So skip the bagel, and boil up some wheat berries instead! Served with agave syrup, they're a tasty alternative to oatmeal.

New Moves

(Gosh, it's been a while since my last post!)

Your dedicated instructors at Xtend Barre Encinitas have been busy working on perfecting some new moves for you to enjoy (or love to hate!)

Together, we endured a weekend- long "continued education course," in which our beautiful founder, Andrea Rogers, gave us some great new moves to share with you! 

It was such an inspiration working with Andrea, as well as teacher trainers Rockell and Courtney. 

We've all had a fire lit, so get ready to be pushed in new, exciting ways!

Meet you at the Barre!