East West Information

Measles cases occurring in more than half of states in the U.S. as epidemic's surpassed a 25-year-old record.

When I first started working with a personal trainer (in college) I had no idea what to expect. I got suckered into a contract through a big box gym – it was a pickle to get out of it, let me tell ya – and had a guy with very little experience training me. He had a high school degree and no fitness-related certifications. I learned a lot about muscle groups and how to strength train in the first couple of weeks, but it went south very quickly. For example, he told me to get a bagel with cream cheese after each training session but also said I should only eat 1000 calories per day. (<— never ever do this) 

Now that I’ve been in the fitness industry and have been certified as a personal trainer for 10 years (!), I thought I’d share some red flags I wish I would have known as a personal training CLIENT. We all know that personal trainers should support clients as they work towards their goals in a safe and strategic manner. There are so many incredible trainers out there, but unfortunately, there are some jokers in the mix.

Here are some red flags to look out for when you’re considering working with a personal trainer:

– They don’t do any type of movement assessment before training you. A good trainer should be able to determine your strengths, weaknesses, and body composition, and use this information to develop your training plan. You should also complete a Par-Q (which determines your readiness for exercises), a health history form, and a form that indicates your exercise experience and goals. The first meeting should be very little training; lots of paperwork and movement assessments. You’ll often have to do something like a 3-minute walk or jog, an upper body strength and/or agility test, lower body strength and/or agility, overhead squat assessment, push, and/or pull assessment. 

– They don’t help you with proper form. As a gym-goer, it’s surprising for me to see trainers with their clients, and they’re not actively watching them. They should be correcting you along the way to make sure you’re executing the moves safely and with proper form. If they’re daydreaming, or looking at someone else: red flag. 

– They tell you what and how much to eat. This is a huge NO. It’s outside the scope of our practice to tell clients what and how much to eat. We cannot give specific eating plans. However, we can share healthy meal ideas! If your trainer writes you a meal plan without any background training (like an RD or reputable nutrition certification), bye Felicia. This also holds true for supplements. The only person who should consult you on the types of supplements to use is a medical professional. This also holds true for medical diagnoses. A good trainer will always refer you to a medical professional if you need specialized care.

– They spend the whole time talking about themselves. Yes, friendly banter is important (and makes the session more fun) but the emphasis should be on YOU: your goals, your family, your jobs. If you want to talk about it! And if you want to be silent while your trainer counts reps and corrects form for you, totally cool. 

– They don’t create a plan for you, and seem to “wing it” each time. Many trainers will wing sessions based on a goal they have in their mind. At the same time, they should have a file for you with weight progressions (how much you’re squatting, etc.) so they know how to build up. They should also phase your training (an endurance phase, a max strength phase, and a hypertrophy phase) so you don’t hit a plateau. 

So tell me friends: have you worked with a personal trainer? What was your experience like? 

Any red flags you’d add to the list? 

xo

Gina

The post 5 personal trainer red flags appeared first on The Fitnessista.

We pay special attention to restoration of magnesium in the Wheat Belly lifestyle. This is because magnesium deficiency is universal, affecting virtually everyone, is severe, and has substantial implications for health.

But why? Why has everyone become so depleted in magnesium in the modern world? There are five major reasons:

1. Water filtration—We filter our water out of necessity, since modern waterways are contaminated by sewage runoff, pesticide/herbicides, algal overgrowth, etc. So, rather than drinking from a nearby stream or river that runs freely over rocks and minerals rich in magnesium, we drink water filtered by your municipality or your home device. Water filtration removes 99.9% of all magnesium, meaning you obtain virtually zero magnesium from drinking water.
2. Reduced magnesium content of modern produce—Modern agricultural practices have led to widespread soil nutrient depletion. Larger, high-yield, high-volume strains of vegetables and fruit have led to reductions in potassium, calcium, vitamin A, magnesium, and others. The quantity of magnesium in modern produce is typically 30-50% less than that grown several decades ago, sometimes much more.
3. Wheat and grain consumption—I continue to be shocked that conventional sources of dietary advice advise whole grains because they are rich in magnesium, ignorant of the fact that the phytate content—enriched in modern strains of wheat for their pest-resistant properties—blocks the absorption of most magnesium, causing you to pass it uselessly into the toilet, regardless of the magnesium content of grains. Grains are magnesium-depleting, not restoring.
4. Prescription drugs that deplete magnesium—Among the worst culprits are thiazide diuretics such as hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ) or chlorthalidone that are the first choice among primary care physicians to treat hypertension; thiazide diuretics cause substantial loss of magnesium in the urine, thus the occasional sudden cardiac death from diuretic use. Widely-prescribed stomach acid-suppressing drugs (PPIs) such as Prilosec and Protonix likewise cause magnesium depletion.
5. Diabetes and pre-diabetes cause urinary magnesium loss—The 100+ million Americans with type 2 diabetes or pre-diabetes—nearly one in three Americans—have reduced ability to reabsorb urinary magnesium. (Combine type 2 diabetes with a thiazide diuretic and/or a PPI and you have a recipe for magnesium-depletion trouble.

Inflammatory bowel diseases, especially those associated with diarrhea such Crohn’s and celiac disease, also cause magnesium loss.

Magnesium deficiency is therefore the rule, not the exception. Restoration of magnesium accordingly provides substantial improvements in numerous aspects of health. Magnesium supplementation exerts bone density-increasing effects on reversing osteopenia and osteoporosis, for example, with a magnitude of effect that matches or exceeds that of osteoporosis drugs. (Then why doesn’t your doctor advise magnesium supplementation first before resorting to prescriptions for Boniva or Fosamax and advocating ineffective strategies such as calcium supplementation? You should no longer be shocked that mainstream doctors are not doing their jobs if restoring health is their mission.) Add improvements in insulin sensitivity, reduction of blood pressure, reduction in heart rhythm abnormalities, relief from migraine headaches and muscle cramps, and improved bowel regularity to the list.

Don’t be falsely lulled by “normal” serum magnesium blood levels, or even the somewhat more accurate RBC magnesium levels, as they underestimate the severity of magnesium depletion in tissues such as bone. You can have a normal blood level but still have deficiency. But if your blood level is low, you know that you have profound deficiency, even life-threatening. (In my days of working in coronary care and intensive care units, megadose intravenous magnesium was a staple, as people come to the hospital with life-threatening magnesium depletion, often due to diuretic use. Severe magnesium deficiency leads to sudden cardiac death via unstable heart rhythms such as ventricular fibrillation, ventricular tachycardia, and Torsade de pointes.)

As I’ve discussed previously, oral magnesium supplementation is problematic, as magnesium supplements are excellent laxatives, limiting dose tolerance. So if restoration of magnesium is among your goals—and it should be—go for the best absorbed form of magnesium that money can’t buy, Magnesium Water that you make from my recipe here.

The post Where did all the magnesium go? appeared first on Dr. William Davis.

Michael McLachlan vividly remembers the moment he consciously decided to disconnect his mind and his body during his battle against cancer. Luckily, Colleen McBride was there to help put the pieces back together.

These almond raspberry cheesecake bars have only 190 calories or 8 WW points per bar, and yet they’re rich, creamy, ...

Extra fats and sugars show up unnoticed in so many of our food choices that empty calories can be hard to avoid. And they can slow your progress to your weight loss goal, even when you’re eating well. Good news: Cutting out those empty calories without losing any of the pleasures of tasty food is easier than you realize. We’ve got some simple swaps you can make this summer that will add up to a big difference in your daily calories.

Here are 10 easy ways to trim empty calories:

1. Cooler coffee

Frappuccinos and other cold coffee drinks can come with more than 200 empty calories in a small, 12-ounce cup. Simple iced coffee with almond milk and a sprinkle of cinnamon has less than 20 calories, according to United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). If you’re craving a bit more sweetness, try our easy recipe for making your own Caramel Faux Frappuccino. It has just 134 calories per serving.

Calories saved: 160

2. Whole benefit

Real fruit juice may be better than soda or other artificially sweetened drinks, but many still come with lots of sugar and empty calories. Plus, often fruit juices are created by straining out the fruit’s pulp, which means you lose the benefits that come with fiber. Whole fruit gives you all of the sweet taste you’re after, but you also get fiber to help you feel full. A cup of apple juice, for instance, has 110 calories. You get 57 calories in a cup of apple slices.

Calories saved: 53

3. Nicer cream.

Want a frozen treat on a hot day? Whip up our luscious Mint Chocolate Chip Nice Cream, with only 134 calories per serving, about 20 percent fewer than the 160 calories in store brands.

Pass on the sprinkles and you cut out another 50 calories (per tablespoon), according to the USDA.

Calories saved: 76

4. Oil free

Sauté vegetables to bring out their rich flavors and get them to that perfect balance between crunchy and tender. But keep them from sticking with zero-calorie cooking spray rather than vegetable oil, such as canola, which adds 120 calories per tablespoon.

Calories saved: 120

5. Dressing light

Creamy salad dressings pile extra fat, sugar and calories onto a healthy bowl of fresh vegetables. Just two tablespoons of ranch dressing comes with 110 calories, according to USDA. Try one of our delicious and light salad dressing recipes, or go with calorie-free red wine vinegar or lemon juice instead.

Calories saved (using red wine vinegar or lemon juice): 110

6. Leaner burger

Ground turkey makes tasty burgers that have less than half the calories of ground beef (166 vs. 349). To trim even more calories from your burger, hold the bun (220 calories) and wrap your patty in a sturdy lettuce leaf (one calorie).

Calories saved (turkey in lettuce vs. beef in a bun): 402

7. Homemade marinade

Marinating adds flavor to grilled foods, but beware of those with lots of oil or sugar. Popular brands can have more than 30 calories in two tablespoons. Instead, stir up a  homemade marinade for less calories.

Calories saved: 20

8. Better drinks

You can enjoy a drink with alcohol or two each week and stay on track toward your weight loss goal, if you remember the important guidelines from our expert nutritionists. When you choose a drink, pick a light beer (103 calories per 12 ounces) or dry wine like Chardonnay (123 calories per five ounces). Regular beers have 145 calories and mixed drinks such as margaritas can have 300 or more calories in eight ounces, according to the USDA.

Calories saved light vs. regular beer: 42

Calories saved dry wine vs. cocktail: 277

9. Hold the mayo

Plain, nonfat Greek yogurt gives your potato salad the same creamy texture as mayonnaise, but it comes with just 73 calories in seven tablespoons vs. the 700 calories in the same amount of mayo. Substitute steamed cauliflower (12 calories per half-cup) for the potatoes (170 calories) and save even more.

Calories saved yogurt vs. mayo: 627

Calories saved Cauliflower vs. potatoes: 158

10. Primo pasta

Likewise, pass on the mayo for pasta salad and dress it with a simple vinaigrette, which has just 245 calories in seven tablespoons. Add fresh or dried herbs for even more flavor—they have less than two calories in two tablespoons.

Calories saved: 455

*All calorie estimates come from the USDA Food Composition Database.

The post How to Trim Hundreds of Empty Calories: Summer Edition appeared first on The Leaf.