Understanding Adrenals Workshop

I’m going to make a bold statement straight away. You can lose weight and never count a calorie. This seems like health-nut blasphemy, I know. Counting calories can make you into an insane person. In some cases it simply doesn’t make sense. Eating natural, whole, nutrient-rich foods is the best way to a healthy, active and slimmer lifestyle.

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

Sound familiar? If you think the new year is the best time to get into some fitness you may be right. If you ask us we will say the best time is now! But we are a little biased. Or is it because we know that the longer you wait the harder it could be. Consider this, breaking habits, good or bad, takes at least 30 days for most people. Add to that the fact that we will have to approach one habit at a time in order to NOT overwhelm you. We are now possibly talking about a six month commitment! Seems daunting right? Well without help it can be–the good thing is that you have us! We make this stuff simple, and accessible.

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

Right now you can pre-order our newest hoodie: Nutrition Is Key.

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

How often have you wondered if or when we would find a cure or successful treatment for debilitating diseases with no side effects? What part does nutrition play in healing? Is it fact or fiction that food can promote disease prevention, treat major and minor symptoms or even wipe out cancer and other life threatening health problems? Why aren’t doctors more involved in nutrition? Why does the F.D.A. sue people for using words like “treats” or “prevents” on foods and supplements?

Join LFA as we try to shine some light on this controversial topic while giving you an education in nutrition that could change your life. With a combined 20 years in nutrition experience and research we can answer questions and educate you on:

-Common nutrition myths
-Is healing possible
-What can I do to change nutrition
-How important is prevention

Spend some time getting to the bottom of these questions and so much more in our next nutrition workshop–Healing Foods: Fact or Fiction. Seating is limited and refreshments will be served. It all starts with education. Must RSVP by Thursday 12/8/11. Contact us with any questions!

December 10, 2011
12:00 pm
$25
Life Fitness Academy
1200 Villa Place, Suite 406
Nashville, TN 37212

By Terry Barga

Hey everyone! I know it’s been a while since we last talked, but I have been a little busy. I know you have enjoyed articles by Ashley and Tim–they both are on their way to great things in this company and I’m thankful for their writing abilities. What am I so busy doing? Well, I’m glad you asked!

Running.
Yes running my butt off! I have been training for this relay called the Ragnar Relay. It was this past weekend and might I say, it was a blast! I thoroughly enjoyed it! I enjoyed the team, the energy, and the sites and sounds of the countryside. As a matter of fact the relay race is my inspiration for this article. I had such a delightful experience with my running nutrition I just had to write about it so that you could learn the how’s and why’s as it pertains to running nutrition.

I always see and hear things about what people think are good or acceptable food choices for running. A lot of runners think that because they are running so much they can eat whatever because they will likely burn it off. Then there are some runners that follow the leader and read all the magazines following the crowd with shot blocks, gels, and other high sugar, high carb things. Some know that it’s not quite right, some have no idea what to do, and others don’t care at all. We hope this appeals to some of you from every area of that broad spectrum. In this article I want to give you the do’s and why they DO so good. The bad and what the “bad” does to your system.

The bad.
These things are bad for all kinds of reasons, some of which I will list at the bottom.
-Shot blocks
-Clif bars
-Gels
These things are not easy to digest and can give a runner the false sense of energy with little benefit for the rest of the body. Filled with artificial stimulants, sugars and simple carbs–your body’s filters are going to have a hard time with digestion and distribution at some point. Some of the side effects to these “foods” are headaches, nausea, dehydration and stomach cramps. Don’t believe me? Just listen next time you have ran with a group of people and they have hit all of these. They won’t say why, but just that they have a headache or that they need to sleep. It is a false sense of doing good for your body. Just because you are running does not mean you can ignore your body when it is trying to tell you something about what you ate. Listen to your body and learn, always ask “what did I eat?” that’s where you should always start.

In the bad list there are a slue of bad foods that aren’t artificial but aren’t that great for you either. They get used as per tradition or the good ole’ game of follow the leader.
-Pancakes
-Pizza
-Donuts
-Bagels
-Chips

This list could go on and on but I’ll leave it here for times sake. Although not artificial, these foods are often suggested to all runners assuming that they all are in the exact same shape. This is NOT true and you know that–but you often still indulge. Let me paint the picture for you. The night before a race you and some friends hit up the local pizza joint and then hit the sack to get up and grab a bagel before your run. Or maybe you carb load all week prior to your race, either way you are putting quantity over quality and that will always be a bad idea when it comes to food.

Why is this bad form when it comes to run nutrition? Because you are filling your body with sterile foods, anti-nutrients and simple sugars. Instead of storing energy up for your body to feed on during a run your body will use the simple nutrients first giving you instant energy while trying to break down the unusable stuff and in most cases instead of storing your simple carbs you are only storing toxins. Yes, you can store carbs even if they are bad–the same goes for sugars and fats and they are all laden with toxins and anti-nutrients that your body will use because it is down right worried about its next nutrient dense meal. So worried in fact that it could let a salad that would normally be good for you, pass rapidly through your system and never be fully utilized because your body is conditioned to build cells out of these bad foods. This will set the tone for all kinds of problems and at the very least would be low energy for running.

What we do for ourselves and other runners is this: Nothing artificial, no simple versions of anything and train to be better than the sport you are competing in.

First, nothing artificial means that after knowing what these things do to your system, I wouldn’t even give them to my dog let alone myself or any other client. Slow food is the best food, minimally processed and easy to digest plus absorb. We never suggest anyone eat simple sugars or carbs i.e. whole grains, white flour, sugar, nutrasweet, splenda, agave nectar, oatmeal or pastas. The reason being you will actually make it harder on your body to perform, control insulin swings and to maintain your weight.

The solution is to eat things living, raw and at the very least easy to digest! There’s no reason for anyone that is a runner to have a heart attack, to be overweight or to have trouble losing weight. Not only will you succeed at staying fit and in shape with even less running than you did before–you will also posses the energy to stay longer in the race and run faster than you did the day before, not to mention recover in half the time.

Replace your running food with:
-Soaked oatmeal
-Coconut water
-Coconut oil
-Avocado
-Plenty of greens! More than 6-8 servings per day the week of race
-Lot’s of berries
-Eggs

For grains that you eat they should be:
-Sprouted grains
-Spelt flour or sprouted pastas
-Sourdough or sprouted breads

If you would like more info or recipes or help on this topic please let us know! You’ll be surprised at how much your body will change when fueled well. I’m 32 and have set records for myself in areas of physical fitness, running and energy levels this year that I didn’t have the capacity for when I was 22. Learn more!

Every now and again we like to talk about spices and spicing up your life. Today we want to talk about an excellent spice in a little bit more detail: Cayenne Pepper.

Cayenne packs a mighty punch in heat, flavor, and nutrition. Cayenne contains capsaicin which gives it the heat and the bite! Ouch! It stimulates the body’s blood flow and improves circulation, particularly to the extremities, which can be desensitized by disease and chronic illness.

Cayenne pepper also acts as a digestive aid. It helps to create hydrochloric acid which is necessary to breakdown and digest food. Also, being that it is anti-inflammatory, cayenne can help heal stomach ulcers and rebuild the tissue in the stomach.

One of cayenne’s most fascinating features is that it can be used to bring patients out of a heart attack. When administered quickly enough, cayenne can stop a heart attack within 30 seconds as it regulates blood flow, changes the elasticity of veins and capillaries, and changes blood pressure. Also, it has been reported that capsaicin (the main ingredient in cayenne) was found to destroy prostate cancer cells.

Cayenne pepper’s list of healthful benefits could go on and on. We like to use it in everything from smoothies, to chocolate, to meat/poultry, and in classic mexican dishes. Add some spice to your life today!

Last week, I talked about the importance of fats to transport vitamins, minerals and antioxidants to your cells. This time, I’ll be sharing a way and get these nutrients: with kale! I’ll even tell you a scrumptious way to eat it.

Kale is not a very common vegetable in most people’s diets, but it should be. It is a dark leafy green that is one of the most nutrient-dense vegetables out there. It is a wonderful anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory food. It is not a new or exotic vegetable. It has been in the same form for over 2,000 years. Records exist of Greeks and Romans eating kale.

It has a high content of calcium, vitamin C, vitamin B6, folic acid, vitamin A (in the form of beta-carotene), vitamin K, potassium, manganese, copper and the plant form of omega-3 fatty acids (alpha-linolenic acid). In addition to the carotenoid beta-carotene, kale contains other very important carotenoid molecules called lutein and zeaxanthin and a variety of others.

Extensive research is being done with kale in cancer prevention and treatment because of its anti-oxidants, mainly the carotenoids and flavonoids. Specifically lutein and beta-carotene are the antioxidants that are so beneficial because they work to protect against oxidative stress in the body. Oxidative stress is what happens when oxygen is not properly used by cells, and it can cause cataracts, atherosclerosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and of course, cancer. These antioxidants are prime examples of what fight the free radicals running rampant in our bodies.

So how do you prepare kale? I’ve seen tasty kale salads, which can just be a nice change from spinach and lettuce. However, it does sometimes have a kind of bitter flavor, so a lot of people don’t like it raw. I have found the most enjoyable form of it is kale chips! It’s so easy to prepare and really and truly delicious!

The stem is pretty tough, so pull the leaves off of it and tear them into smaller pieces, not tiny, though. Spread them out on a baking sheet and drizzle melted coconut oil over the leaves. Lastly, sprinkle them with sea salt and stir them around to coat them evenly (if you’re a little OCD like me). Then pop them into the oven at 375 degrees for about 15 minutes. Oven times and crispness preferences differ, so just watch them. You want them to be crunchy and dark green in color. I usually let the edges turn black so I know they will be crispy. If you’re feeling really adventurous try sprinkling some garlic powder on them before you cook them. Everyone I’ve made them for are amazed at how good they taste. What a nice surprise–enjoying healthy green food! Another easy way to include kale is to throw a leaf in your smoothie. Be sure to include plenty of berries so you don’t get a bitter smoothie, and blend really well or you’ll get kale chunks in your teeth!

By: Ashley Dance

Fat is not the enemy! In a world full of grocery stores packed to the max with low-fat this and non-fat that, it’s easy to be confused. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying you can eat doughnuts and cook with Crisco. Quit that. What I am saying is that good fats are essential to body functions. Specifically, vitamins A, E, D and K are all fat-soluble, which means they are transported by fat cells and not water, like vitamin C and the B vitamins. So if you don’t have enough fats to do the transporting, you will not receive an adequate supply of these key nutrients.

I’ll quickly run down what the primary functions of each vitamin are:
Vitamin A: is principally responsible for vision functions. It is most commonly and naturally found in the form of beta-carotene. Beta-carotene causes the foods it is in to have an orange pigment. Your parents were right when they told you to eat your carrots to help you see… kind of. Another example of a beta-carotene rich food is a sweet potato. Deficiency in Vitamin A can result in night-blindness, dry skin and hair, and increased frequency for urinary, digestive and respiratory infections.

Vitamin D: can be synthesized by the sun! Go outside! (without sunscreen, gasp!) It is necessary for calcium absorption by the body. You know you need calcium for bone and teeth health. It helps production of a variety of cells that fight disease and infection. It is as vital to the immune system as vitamin C. (People are more often sick in the winter-they are outside less then, too… connection?) Research is being done on cancer treatments using vitamin D.

Vitamin E: is usually in the form of tocopherols and is mainly an antioxidant. This means that it protects you from the free radicals from the bad fats you eat. In the same way it protects skin from ultra violet rays. It promotes DNA repair and is crucial in forming red blood cells. Signs of vitamin E deficiency in infants include poor physical and mental development and delayed growth. Deficiency symptoms include ruptured red blood cells, abnormal fat deposits, degenerative changes in muscles, and neurological disorders. It is also associated with pancreatic, gallbladder, liver, and celiac diseases characterized by poor nutrient absorption from the digestive tract.

Vitamin K: is required for blood coagulation and that is its most famous function. It is also used in the pathways for blood and tissues. Infants are at an increased risk for deficiency, but most people receive enough from their diets.

These vitamins can be stored in fat in the body for later use. Toxicity can occur from too much of these vitamins, but it is impossible to get too much vitamin D from the sun. Your body just won’t synthesize it–change it to a useable form. Most all toxicity cases are from supplementation of the vitamins, not from food. You will not get vitamin A toxicity from eating too many carrots.

So if you don’t have any fats to transport these essential nutrients, your health will suffer. In fact, your body may think it is starving if it can’t receive its key nutrients. It may then start to store everything! So by eating that low-fat cracker, besides ingesting bad oils, flour and preservatives, you are actually sabotaging your weight loss! Your body should not have to search for nutrients and the means to transport them from your diet. It is imperative to have fats in your diet.

Of course there are stipulations. Like I said, doughnuts won’t do. Bad fats are mostly what cause free radicals. At high temperatures vegetable and canola oils hydrogenate producing free radicals. Remember free radicals do damage on a cellular level. So as far as oils go, use coconut oil in cooking because it is stable at higher temperatures. Most of the hype on olive oil is correct, it just cannot physically be used at high temperatures because it smokes. Avocados are another fantastic source of good fats. Plenty of Omega-3s in those guys. Buy full-fat yogurt! It has to go through extra processes to remove the fat anyway.

Don’t starve your body, give it what it needs to run properly!

By: Ashley Dance

It seems to me in a world where everyone is so obsessed by looks, appearances, body image etc., there would not be such an obesity problem–because you can change what your body looks like. You can’t do much about your face; if you’ve got an ugly one, you’re out of luck. Your body, however, can be shaped to your liking. So as I’m wondering why there are so many obese people, I realize it must be because they just don’t know. It boggles my mind that people are unaware that eating fast food is so terribly unhealthy for you, or that you have to get off your butt and move around a little!

Granted, there is a lot of bad information out there and a lot of people get confused and go wrong. How do you know which information is correct, and which is gibberish? I say look at nature and how things naturally occur. For instance, with working out, say you want to have nice shapely legs like a sprinter or jumper in the Olympics (maybe not to that extent, but you know). It makes sense to me that if nearly all sprinters have nice, muscle-y legs, you should work out like a sprinter;even if you aren’t one. They do bursts of powerful motion. They jump. They work their fast-twitch fibers. Next, look at cross country runners or long distance track runners. I know there are exceptions, but generally those dudes (and gals) are super skinny, with less muscle than the aforementioned sprinters. So, if your goal is to use up a lot of energy and lose weight, you should run long distances. And I mean long. Those guys are crazy, going for hour(s) long runs all the time.

The trick is to find the balance, because most people want both. And there are a lot of different ways to go about it. Obviously running isn’t the only way to loose weight or build muscle. Although it is one. Again thinking about nature, animals that run are lean–cheetahs, lions, gazelles, etc. But when perusing other options think about it logically and compare it to what you know based on your own observations and experiences. Have an open mind about trying new things, but be wary of programs that seem too good to be true. Use your common sense, people forget about it too often.

By: Ashley Dance

Are you stuck in a rut with your current job, relationship, eating habit, or fitness schedule? Are you tired of being tired, moody, not losing or gaining the weight you have been trying to get rid of? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you need to learn about your adrenal glands and why they are always taking the brunt of your stresses.

Join Life Fitness Academy and Diana Budde LMT, RN as we navigate the road to adrenal recovery. This is a workshop that will teach you how to optimize your adrenal function which will in turn change your body and mind.

Here are a few things you will learn:
-Foods to heal adrenal stress
-Supplements and their effect
-Things to avoid
-What to expect from optimized adrenals

This class will take place on Wednesday, July 13, 2011 at 7:00pm. We will provide testing of the adrenals, beneficial research, as well as help you understand practical steps you can take to replenish your adrenals. Refreshments will provided for this class. Come out and educate yourself on the importance of whole health as it pertains to your adrenal success.

Early registration is now open! $20 for this class.
7/10 the price goes up to $25 seating is limited.

Contact us to RSVP or with any questions you have!