Rut-Busting Nutrition Tips

A dozen smart, simple ways to overhaul your diet.

A well-balanced diet is the essential foundation necessary to reach your health and fitness goals. Adam Friedman, a Gold’s Gym Fitness Institute trainer, is quick to point out how large a role your diet plays in your health. “Everyone’s body is different,” says Friedman, “but on average, diet accounts for somewhere between 70% to 80% of a person’s overall health and fitness.” Luckily, with Friedman’s help, improving your diet doesn’t have to be an all-consuming undertaking. Here are a dozen of his top tips for making smart, simple food choices throughout the day. While Friedman points out that “there’re no set rules that apply to everyone,” these everyday tips offer healthy alternatives to common nutritional pitfalls.

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Eat the whole fruit, not just the juice

Fruit juices are high in sugar; so instead of drinking juice with breakfast, eat a piece of fruit. You’ll 

Make it an open-face sandwich

Bread, particularly those made with processed flours, can be high in calories and sugar. Removing one piece of bread from your sandwich is an easy way to make lunch a little healthier.

Make your own dessert, island-style

Frozen coconut milk makes a great replacement for ice cream. You’ll still enjoy the rich, cold, creamy taste, but your body will thank you for skipping the added sugars.

Vary your veggies

Foods like kale and avocado are having a cultural moment. Both make terrific additions to a meal, but it’s never a good idea to consume one vegetable exclusively. Balance your nutritional profile by eating an assortment of them.

Use the right oil

Vegetable oils are high in omega-6 polyunsaturated fat, which, when consumed in large quantities, can be deleterious to your health. Cook with coconut or grapeseed oil, instead.

Snack better

Eating healthy doesn’t mean giving up snacking altogether, but it does mean avoiding processed foods that are high in fat and sugar, like chips and candy. Instead, try pairing apples with any nut butter (some good ones are almond and walnut).

Ditch the piña colada

Mixed drinks that include fruit juice, while tasty, are often high in sugar. For a healthier choice, try mixing liquor with water or club soda. Or keep it classy and order a scotch—neat.

Graze throughout the day

Instead of three large meals, try eating smaller meals whenever you feel hungry. This is a good way to avoid overeating and will also help you maintain a consistent blood sugar level, instead of spiking after a big meal.

Get a food scale

Especially if you’re just beginning to monitor your diet, a food scale can be an invaluable ally. Weigh out single servings of food to help control your portion size.

Write it down

Keeping a food journal is a great way to fact-check your eating habits to see when you’re reaching for unhealthy foods or snacking too often. In addition to recording what you eat, jot down how you feel after each meal. Over time, this can help you decide what foods are best for your body.

Buy a glucose monitor

Test your blood sugar before a meal, then test it again two hours after eating. This way you can figure out if certain foods cause your blood sugar to spike, which will help you learn how your body reacts to different kinds of foods. Information like that helps you gain greater precision in constructing your optimal diet.

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GGX Schedule for Friday, Jan.29:
AM: Pilates (Valerie)-8:30am-9:30am
PM:Boxing Circuit (Jasper)-5:30pm-6:30pm

The Most Overlooked Muscles

While big biceps and strong six-packs might be weight room headliners, these underrated muscles can literally stop the show.

There they are, every day, helping you walk forward, sit up straight and keep your eyes on the road, but when it comes time to hit the gym, you might overlook these crucial muscles, and that might lead to injury or pain in the future. We gathered together a panel of Gold’s Gym Fitness Institute experts and trainers to get their votes on the most ignored muscle groups.

“People tend to neglect the muscles we can’t see in the mirror,” says Adam Friedman. But important muscle groups are back there—ones that are vital for good posture and everyday activities, like walking and bending. Robert Reames, head fitness trainer on the Dr. Phil Show, concurs: “These are the muscles you normally don’t start training until you’re in physical rehab for back pain or some other injury.”

It’s all about balance, explains Dr. Eric Plasker, author of The 100 Year Lifestyle. “If you favor certain muscle groups over others, it causes the spine and nerves to age much more quickly and leads to injury,” he says. “Just like with the tires on your car, you can wear down your body unevenly.”

Below are our findings. Luckily, many of these muscles can be strengthened with simple moves that can be done while you type away at a computer or channel surf. These few extra moves are like flossing—they might not seem critical at first, but they’ll pay off in the long run.

Click on the glowing circles to find out why these muscles are essential and how you can start training them.

GGX Schedule for Thursday, Jan.14
AM: Spin Bike (Gerald)-5:45am-6:45am
Circuit Training (Sami) -8:30am-9:30am
PM:TRX (Ferleen)-5:00pm-5:30pm
Abs/Core (Ferleen)- 5:42pm-6:20pm
Spin Bike (JP)- 5:15pm-6:15pm
Zumba (Elly)-6:30pm-7:30pm

GGX Schedule for Wednesday, Dec.30:
AM: Pilates (Valerie) -8:30am-9:30am
PM:TRX (Ferleen)-5:00pm-5:30pm;5:30pm-6:00pm
Spin Bike (Beth)- 5:30pm-6:30pm
Tone and Sculpt (Bel) - 5:30pm-6:30pm
Zumba (Nats)-6:30pm-7:30pm

Top 6 Components of a Safe Workout 
Robert Reames, CSCS, CN, CPT/CES/FNS
Safety barring any other aspect of an exercise program is the No. 1 priority both in the short and long term. Longevity and quality of life as a result of your workouts and your total wellness plan is the name of the game. The objective is to challenge yourself for a given workout at a high level for YOU at your fitness level, work hard and above all work smart. Pain is always your body's method of communication, and if it comes on, listen to your body. You want as a result of each workout and event to be stronger and better for your next bout of physical activity and ongoing. Should you exert yourself? Yes, absolutely... at an APPROPRIATE level and activity for you.
That said, here are the top Robert Reames ("RR") six components to a SAFE and effective workout. (These are not in any particular order because all are important.)
- Know the "motor skill" of what you are doing. In other words, know how to execute the given movements of the workout well. Be good and skilled at the motions especially if you're going to add load to a motion (weight lifting, plyometrics, etc.). Injury many times is the result of just poor form or execution of a given motion or exercise or just too much load before you really know how to do the exercise. So be good at it!
- Keep your focus during the workout ON the workout. Your mind must be in the game in order to execute the components of the workout properly and safely. Distraction is something that can take you out of proper form... and risk some form of injury or the beginning of a "syndrome" that can eventually result in injury.
- Enjoy what you're doing (or dislike what you're doing the least). If you like the mode of exercise you'll stayed focused, you'll most likely be good at it, have practiced the motions over and over... and you'll thrive and be stronger, work harder and be better on subsequent workouts.
- If you feel compromised -- sick, extreme fatigue or some relatively excessive muscle or joint pain or discomfort -- on a given day, then skip and or modify the workout with the mindset of safe and effective execution. Again here, listen to your body. Rest completely or modify the work and come back stronger and better the next day.
- Keep the environment safe: Work on even, no-slip surfaces and get regular safety checks on workout equipment, maintenance of cables etc. Faulty equipment or unsafe environments can be sources of injury.
- Make sure you properly recover ongoing from your workouts. Foam rolling, maintenance stretching, strengthening specific muscle groups used in exercise... and most of all, get your sleep.
Be safe and enjoy, everybody!
--http://www.huffingtonpost.com/…/top-6-components-of-a-saf_b…-