The general principal behind weight loss is a simple one: you have to burn more than you consume. This totally works- its only logical, but it could be completely unhealthy. Take anorexia for example. It works, too, but is obviously not the way to go about things. This is my main problem with only counting calories. You could fill an entire day of “100 calorie packs” of cookies, crackers, etc, and never consume any real nutrients you need. So you could essentially be filling your belly with calories,but not supplying your body any of the things it needs to run properly. What is good about those diet foods anyway? You can justify all you want and say they taste “pretty good for 50 calories” or whatever, but we all know most of it tastes like cardboard. I realize I recommend some less-than-scrumptious foods, but there is a reason for eating them. Maybe you don’t want to eat that pile of roasted vegetables, but you know they contain tons of vitamins, minerals, fiber and protein (yes, some veggies have protein ie: leafy greens). I happen to enjoy a big mess of veggies. Most low calorie processed foods don’t care about anything except keeping that calorie number low, not what nutrients (or anti-nutrients) they contain. Bottom line is they don’t DO anything for you.

Counting calories is very imprecise, unless you carry your kitchen scales around with you everywhere. There are many sites to look up calorie count, but you may not know what they used to measure the count. Calories are different in raw chicken and cooked chicken. Your pasta sauce may have olive oil in it, while the website you check measured a pasta sauce without oil and will result in totally different calorie numbers and fat grams. There are simply too many variables in life to make counting every calorie realistic. Restaurants do not make every single dish exactly the same with exactly the same amount of ingredients, so how do you know that meal is only 550 calories? You can’t.

But guess what. Vegetables and fruits are naturally low in calories! On Weight Watchers, they allow you to eat as many fresh fruits and vegetables as you want. They usually don’t even factor into their point system- they’re freebies, if you will. Doesn’t it make sense to eat a majority of foods that are low in calories and high in nutrients? Your body is fueled by what it needs, without being weighed down by what it doesn’t need. I’ve talked before about the importance of good fats, and that’s where many of your calories will come from. Again, it’s illogical, to me at least, to compare an avocado and some Snackwells cookies based on calories. You know how good avocado is for you, but it is probably higher in calories than those cookies because it is high in fat.

Get your priorities straight. Eat what you need to live your best life. Think about when you eat a bad meal. It makes you tired and want to lay around which is clearly not conducive to weight loss or an active lifestyle. When you have proper fuel, you will be properly energized for whatever your day may have in store for you. Read the ingredients on everything. If the list of ingredients is longer than your arm and looks like another language, PUT IT DOWN. Know that you are eating real food and not fillers and preservatives.

By: Ashley Dance

The hardest part about our job is forcing you to be disciplined. Sure it seems like that would be easy–being here whenever you need us as early as 5:00am till 9:00 at night. And that’s for the people that actually show up! Plus being energetic and informative with every client during our work and that takes a lot of discipline. Do we still have a lot to learn? Yes! We continue in our education for you, because we want you to have the best understanding of what we want you to do. We only have one hour to give you the best workout possible and motivate you to not fail with food when you are not here. Sometimes it’s a wonder it works at all…

If you want a new you, remember these keys to success.

1. Discipline
2. Research
3. Commitment
4. Willingness to surrender your pride
5. Honesty

We will give the foundations of nutrition and slowly feed you more information as we feel you are understanding it. I want you to succeed! That means in 3-6 months you just need me to give you the best work out I can while you teach others all that you’ve learned from us.

By: Terry Barga

You can pre-order below ($30) or contact us! Let us know in the notes when you checkout what size you would like.

Let us know any ideas you have or ways that you incorporate working out at your desk!

We have time to think about workouts and food and recipes ALL DAY LONG. You have a job and families and friends to also think about. A trainer can give you direction, help you make a plan, set goals or just kick your butt when you need it. Trainers will save you valuable time ruling out things that don’t work. You don’t want beach season to come around and realize that “switching one thing a day for a Yoplait Light” isn’t cutting it. Nutrition is beyond crucial to whole health and weight loss or gain. Lucky for you all, we are obsessed with food and will talk all day about the benefits of certain foods and how to best prepare them, saving you hours scouring the internet for “healthy recipes.” If nothing else, a trainer will keep you accountable. Which is point number two: Don’t quit.

Unfortunately, there isn’t one easy, fast miracle weight loss solution. It is simple, though. You have to train hard and eat better. The other unfortunate thing is that it takes time. You aren’t going to healthily, safely, and permanently lose weight in a matter of weeks. On numerous occasions clients have commented on my legs and how they want their legs to look like that. Well they didn’t happen overnight. You might forget that I was a competitive gymnast my entire young life. I was in that kind of gym four days a week for three hours a day until I was 16. Then I ran track for nine years, a couple of those years overlapping. I’m not encouraging that kind of craziness for the normal population, don’t worry. What I’m saying is that for your best body, you need to give yourself time.

Don’t stress about losing three pounds exactly every single week or whatever. Don’t even bother with a scale for a few weeks–or months even. The first weeks feel the worst and you don’t need any negativity slowing you down. Instead pay attention to how your clothes are fitting and how you feel. With exercise and the right food you won’t be worn out, you will be more energized! It’s not only that energetic people are trainers; the lifestyle leads you in that direction naturally. Which brings me to my last point: don’t get bored.

So many people who resolve to get healthy think they have to go and jog on the treadmill for an hour, then stair climber for half an hour and then fart around on the bike for two hours. Kill me now. You don’t need to waste that much time on your fitness. A trainer will help you find the most effective way to use your free time to reach optimum fitness. Whether it’s a 30 minute lunch break workout with me, and I suggest a 2 mile run the next day after work, or an intense hour long boxing class with Russ or whatever insanity Terry has cooked up for you, make it work with your life. I know you’re busy and have tons going on, but in the grand scheme of things, what’s a couple of hours a week to focus on your body? Your body is what keeps you running around to all that other stuff you have to do, ya know.

Make 2012 your healthiest year yet! Ask for help, give yourself some time, don’t give up and make it fun! Reward yourself when you reach goals. When you accomplish something, take a day off and relax, get a massage, buy some smaller pants–anything! Your couch and Taco Bell won’t miss you, I promise. Get in the gym now so you can rock that bikini or speedo (yikes! just kidding!) this summer!

By: Ashley Dance

Some natural remedies are:

1. Massage
Massage helps circulation and eases tension. Try massaging the muscles of the back, feet, and head. Massage near, and around pressure points. Massage the area on the sides of your nose (all the way up and down) and the area behind your ears.

2. Magnesium
Magnesium can help reduce migraines by helping to relax the blood vessels and prevent the compression characteristic of migraines. Foods high in magnesium include, black beans, quinoa, halibut, pumpkin and squash seeds, spinach, and okra.

3. White Willow Bark
Willow bark is the whole plant from which aspirin was derived. It is tolerated much better in its natural form and rarely has any side effects. It also works to reduce inflammation. Like most painkillers it is important to not become dependent upon it.

4. Feverfew
One of the best and most popular remedies for headaches, feverfew is a short perennial plant used to prevent migraines. Typically the dried leaves of the plant are used, but sometimes the flowers and other parts are used as well. Look for capsule or liquid extract forms. Sometimes people are allergic to feverfew and as always start with a small controlled dose or supplement.

5. Butterbur
Butterbur is a plant in the daisy family and has shown effectiveness in treating seasonal allergies. It is especially helpful if your headache is allergy related. For other uses it is best in combination with feverfew or another headache relieving herb.

6. Cramp Bark
Cramp bark works well for muscle tension headaches as well as muscle pain relief. It is most commonly used to treat menstrual cramps, but it is also effective for other muscle pain and muscle spasms. Cramp bark is excellent in that it has little to no side effects and it may improve your overall health, so it is suited for short and long term use.

Some other herbs to consider:
Peppermint – has a cooling effect and can ease inflammation

Cayenne – the capsaiciin can raise the pain threshhold

Vervain – can help with pain, headaches, asthma, and ulcers with no known side effects.

Peony – can relax muscles and relieve spasms and cramps

Some products that have a nice combination of some of the above mentioned herbs:

MigreLief – contains feverfew, magnesium, and riboflavin

Now Foods Butterbur with Feverfew – contains both butterbur and feverfew

Now Foods White Willow Bark

We hope this gives you some help and insight into natural headache relief!

We are going to take our fitness up a notch while delivering solid, reliable nutrition education. Better Bodies Workshop will work side by side with our already in progress boot camps with one day a week dedicated to nutrition. In addition, we will be adding new class times for everyone. Better Bodies Workshop will track your results once a week as well as give you homework based upon your nutrition education.

Better Bodies Workshop will begin on January 9, 2012, with new times for boot camp that will fit your schedule… dare I say better! Let us know if you would like more information or if you would like to sign up before the new year and receive the end of the year discount that includes a discount smoothie card! It will be a renewable six week commitment and is geared to be at least three days a week.

Times are:

Monday, Wednesday, Friday at 8:00am
OR
Tuesday, Thursday at 7:00am and Saturday at 8:00am

Price: $15/class
Term: 6 weeks, 3 times per week

One of the best arguments against using a microwave is that microwaved food tastes worse than non-microwaved food. Growing up in a household that used a microwave, I always wondered why the food tasted and seemed so different after microwaving than when originally cooked or leftovers eaten cold. Microwaved food tastes more lifeless and sterile than non-microwaved food. And right there–I am more than halfway sold on not using a microwave.

Another argument against using a microwave is the reduced nutrition in the food. While all cooking, processing, and heating can reduce nutrients, the potential varies greatly. For example, a study found that heating garlic for 60 seconds in the microwave was enough to completely inactivate some of garlic’s anti-cancer properties, while it took forty-five minutes of oven heating to do the same thing (by the way, allowing your garlic to stand for a few minutes can prevent the total loss of anti-cancer properties). Microwaving heats food by non-ionizing radiation which causes water molecules to vibrate rapidly creating heat by friction–also causing a lack of structural integrity on the molecular level as water molecules are torn apart and deformed. Water is the carrier for nutrients as well as wastes, thereby this can pose a great problem for health. Just ask your plants which water they would like to have: microwaved water or non-microwaved water?

Another hazard of microwaves is the simple fact of radiation. As mentioned before, microwaves cook by non-ionizing radiation. Non-ionzing radiation can change the position of atoms but not break them apart like ionizing radiation. While not breaking apart atoms, non-ionizing radiation can cause physical alterations (for example, damage skin and eyes). Radiation accumulates over time and we do not know the cumulative effects of such radiation on our body. It is also true that we should then limit or take measures to minimize the radiation from computers, cellphones, cordless phones, radar, etc, in addition to limiting microwaves.

So with the above information in mind, consider, taste, nutrition, and radiation, when making your decision about using a microwave. Educate yourself and use some common sense. Try some experiments, smell, taste, look, plant, and grow–and have a good time while doing it. Then go out and get yerself a toaster oven. Out.

By: Tim Mallon

RAW Dairy!

Raw milk and butter from pastured cows, goats, and sheep are some of the most healing foods you can consume. These foods contain conjugated linoleic acid, lactoferrin, lecithin, activator-X, Wulzen factor, lauric acid, and loads of fat soluble vitamins A, D, K, and E.

Brussel Sprouts!

Cruciferous vegetables, high in sulfur compounds, are known for their anti-cancer properties particularly because of their high glucosinolate content. While all cruciferous vegetables have some glucosinolates, brussel sprouts in particular have a unique combination of glucosinolates that make them the most potent of the anti-cancer crucifers.

Keep your eyes open for our next workshop and as always, if you have any questions or are looking for more specific help, don’t hesitate to contact us!

Dr. Chad McClellan is committed to helping families in the community experience improved health and vitality. He speaks regularly to local schools, businesses, and organizations on health, wellness, and safety topics. He enjoys educating others on how to manage stress better, how to prevent injury in the workplace and at home, and how to maintain peak performance in all facets of life. His mission is to empower as many people as possible to experience their optimal health potential through genuine care and education.

Dr. McClellan graduated from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville in 1991 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology. He received his Doctor of Chiropractic degree from Palmer College of Chiropractic in 1998. Specializing in family wellness care and sports injuries, Dr. McClellan is the managing partner of Chiropractic Nashville with his wife.

Dr. McClellan was recently named by Elite Racing as Associate Medical Director for the Country Music Marathon admitting him, as the first and only chiropractor, into the International Marathon Medical Directors Association. He was the chiropractor for Nashville’s Olympic-hopeful swimmers for the 2004 summer games in Athens. He is a member of the Tennessee Chiropractic Association (TCA), who recently honored him with the Young Chiropractor of the Year Award.

Dr. McClellan lives in Spring Hill with his wife, Jennifer, and their three boys, Mac, Boone, and Creed. He enjoys boating, running, traveling, and spending time with his family.