2019 | Page 2 of 2

Micros: Easily Overlooked and 3 Ways to Get Them

What are Micros?

Macro is a word often heard in the fitness community. Many of us have probably heard people say, “I’ll eat it as long as if it fits my macros.” But, something that is easily overlooked is micros. “Micronutrients are dietary components, often referred to as vitamins and minerals, which although only required by the body in small amounts, are vital to development, disease prevention, and wellbeing,” (CDC.gov). A lot of times when we focus on eating healthy, we direct our attention to the protein, fats and carbs on the nutrition labels, but we don’t focus on all the vitamins and minerals we may or may not be getting. Ultimately it comes down to food choices. For example, let’s compare an orange and a jellybean.

10 Jelly Beans Nutrition:

Fat: 0g

Carbs: 10g

Protein: 0g

1 Small Orange Nutrition:

Fat: 0.1g

Carbs: 11g

Protein: .9g

On a Macro level, these two foods look like they are pretty similar – about 10g of carbs per serving. But, on a Micro level, these two foods are very different:

Here are 3 Ways to Ensure You are Getting the Micronutrients You Need:

1. Shop the outer rim of the grocery store: Food choices are very important when it comes to micronutrients. The outer rim is typically fresh whole foods, which means that they will be packed with both macronutrients and micronutrients. Typically things that are frozen or come from a bag or box will not give you the micronutrients you need.

2. Eat Your Fruits and Veggies: Fruits and Veggies are packed with all kinds of micronutrients.

3. Supplementation: Food is always the best source to get your micronutrients, but this can often be a challenge. This is where supplements come into play. Taking a multi-vitamin and fish oil is very foundational for most adults. If you’re not a huge fan of veggies, or have some digestion issues, adding a green supplement into your regimen could be a good idea too. Here’s the supplement stack we recommend: https://1stphorm.com/products/stacks/sports-performance/the-essential-stack (You also get FREE shipping using that link!)

Balance is Key

The key to optimal nutrition fueling is consuming a variety of fruits and vegetables, healthy proteins, and carbohydrates. You want to limit your consumption of refined process carbs like sugary cereal, syrups, candy, cookies, ect. Aim for one meal every 2-4 hours to meet your daily caloric requirements. This may vary from person to person based on sex, age, weight, height, and activity level.

For more information schedule a nutrition consultation today!

Nutrition

Macros: The Building Blocks to Fueling Performance

Proteins, carbohydrates and fats are the three main suppliers of nutrients in our diet. These are known as macronutrients or “macros”. Macros play a vital role in our ability to perform at our peak level. Athletes can practice for hours but unless they fuel their bodies properly they will not reach their peak performance. Food is our fuel source for our body to be able to get stronger, faster, recover and perform. If you feel tired, sluggish, have a decrease in performance, always sore muscles, injuries that won’t heal, or a crash in the middle of game or practice; these are all signs that you are not fueling correctly. Below is a guide for building healthy macronutrients into your nutrition plan.

Protein

Protein is essential to building and repairing muscle to enhance strength and power. It is commonly found in animal products, although it is also present in other sources, such as nuts and legumes.

Here are the benefits of consuming protein.

Build and repair muscle tissue
Heal tissues/injuries
Building blocks of bones, muscles, cartilage, skin and blood.
Keeps us full and satisfied

Protein Sources

Beef:Grass fed ground beef, bison, elk, venison, pork
Fish: Salmon, shrimp, tuna, scallops, halibut (or any white fish)
Poultry: Eggs, Chicken, Turkey (white or dark meat)
Dairy: Milk, Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, string cheese, cheese
Beans: Beans (any variety? Or only specific ones) contain more protein than any other vegetable protein. Plus, they’re loaded with fiber that helps you feel full for hours.
Nuts/Seeds: One ounce of almonds gives you 6 grams of protein-almonds, cashews, pistachios, peanuts, pumpkin seeds, chia/flax etc.
Protein bars and Powders: Rx bar, Dales raw protein bars, bullet proof bars, oatmega bars, primal kitchen collagen bars, Epic or tanka meat bars

Aim to have a protein source at each meal!! (about 20-30g per meal)

Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates are sugars, starches and fibers found in fruits, grains, vegetables and milk products. Carbohydrates are very important to supplying energy for high performance during sport activities. There is a lot of information on carb-free diets, these are detrimental to an athlete. Carbs are the bodies preferred source of fuel. There are healthy and non-healthy carbs. Any carb that involves processed sugar would be a bad carb (cookies, cake, sugary cereal,). Good carbs are listed below.

Benefits of Carbs

Fuel training and help with recovery
Preserves muscle and glycogen (fuel sources)
Helps with recovery to be ready to go for next game or practice

Best Carb Sources

Whole grains:oats, quinoa, wild rice, brown rice, faro, couscous, whole wheat pasta, whole wheat bread
Fruits:Bananas great pre/post workout snack. Include a variety of fruits in your day
Vegetables:starchy-sweet potatoes, squash, parsnips, beets, potatoes, peas, corn. Non-starchy-broccoli, cauliflower, celery, tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, greens, asparagus etc. Make sure to have a veggie at every meal
Beans:Great source of fiber to help stay full and satisfied

Fats

Although it gets a bad rap, fat is an important nutrient that the body needs in order to function. Eating the right amount and the right form of dietary fat is key to maintaining good health and performance. Fat plays a key role in sports performance because it functions as an energy reserve.

Helps fuel our workouts during low intensity bouts
Primary fuel source at rest
Slow Digesting to keep you feeling full and satisfied longer

Best Sources of fats

Nuts and seeds-1/4 cup is approximate serving. Include all varieties.
Avocados
Dairy(2% or higher) Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, cheese, string cheese, milk, butter, ghee
Oils-extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil, avocado oil
Meats and fish-Wild salmon, grass fed beef, pork etc.

Healthy Smoothie Recipes: These incorporate a protein, carb and fat.

1 scoop protein powder

1 fist of veggies (spinach works great)

1 Cup of berries

1-2 TBSP of nut or seed butter

8 oz Milk or unsweetened almond milk

Ice if desired

1 cup of Greek yogurt

1 big handful of spinach

1 banana

1-2 TBSP nut or seed butter

8oz of chocolate unsweetened almond milk

Balance is Key

The key to optimal nutrition fueling is consuming a variety of fruits and vegetables, healthy proteins, and carbohydrates. You want to limit your consumption of refined process carbs like sugary cereal, syrups, candy, cookies, ect, the less you have, the better. Aim for one meal every 2-4 hours to meet your daily caloric requirements. This may vary from person to person based on sex, age, weight, height, and activity level.

For more information schedule a nutrition consultation today!

Uncategorized

The Sugar Epidemic

Are you still feeling addicted to sugar from all the holiday indulging? Did you know that sugar cravings can last for 10 days (for most people)? Today I’m going to analyze the sugar epidemic in our culture and give you some steps to get rid of sugar cravings.

“Sugar is addictive and does stimulate the same pleasure centers of the brain as cocaine or heroin.” Daily Burn

Sugar is addictive, clearly. It can cause weight gain, increase your risk of heart disease, cause acne, increase your risk of diabetes and depression, drain your energy, and lead to a fatty liver and more. Why has sugar become such an epidemic? Sugar and sweeteners are the main ingredients in a lot of America’s food and drinks. The average American consumes about 20 teaspoons, or 80 grams, of sugar a day according to Healthline.

Many of our food choices that sound healthy, sneakily are packed with sugar. For example, eating low-fat yogurt and a granola bar may sound like a good choice for breakfast.

In reality, a 6-ounce container of Dannon All Natural Plain Lowfat Yogurt has 12g of sugar.

A two-pack of Nature Valley Oats ’n’ Honey Granola Bars has 11g of sugar. Did you

Did you know that the FDA does not regulate the verbiage “natural,” “pure,” and “nature?” Often times foods that are being marketed in this way typically are not as healthy as they seem.

13 percent of American adults’ total caloric daily intake come from added sugars! It’s important for us to stop reading only the front label and start paying attention to the nutrition label. The American Heart Association and the World Health Organization recommend that less than 10 percent of a person’s diet should come from added sugars.

Ideally, most women should not consume more than 100 calories from sugar a day, or about 6 teaspoons. Men should only consume 150 calories from sugar, or 9 teaspoons.

Here are some popular drinks and their sugar content:

12oz Pepsi: 10 Teaspoons of Sugar

23oz Arizona Iced Tea: 17 Teaspoons

32oz Powerade: 14 Teaspoons

20oz Starbucks White Mocha Frappuccino: 18 Teaspoons

There’s no doubt sugar is an epidemic and there’s vast amounts hiding in our foods and drinks. So, how do we avoid the sugar and get rid of the sugar cravings?

Check Labels – read your labels, specifically the sugar content. Also check the ingredients. There are tons of other names for sugar including: syrup, corn syrup, crystalline fructose, dextrose, ethyl maltol, fructose, fruit juice, glucose, high-fructose corn syrup, honey, lactose, sucrose, and many more.
Stay away from Soft Drinks and Juice
Try to Avoid Adding Sugar – this included artificial sweeteners such as stevia.
Eat Fruits instead of Sweets – fruit contains fructose, which will hit the spot, but your body metabolizes this differently than sweets.
Out of Sight, Out of Mind – Simply create an environment where you can be successful! Don’t leave treats laying around, you’ll be more tempted when a sugar craving does come up.
Manage your Magnesium Levels – research shows that people who are deficient in magnesium crave chocolate. Eating rich leafy greens, legumes and nuts can help!
Balance – have a sweet every now and again. Allow yourself to have it when you crave it, just don’t overdo it. We tend to get into the restrict – binge cycle easily, so allowing yourself balance with your food choices will help you maintain good choices for long-term success.

In conclusion, sugar has become an epidemic in today’s culture and we need to start paying attention to this ingredient.

Check out our Fit Tip Episode below!

Sports Performance, Workouts

Decrease in Performance: Undertraining or Lack of Recovery

“Coach, my vertical decreased.” “Why did my 10 yard dash get slower?” “I played well the first half of the game, but in the second I tanked.”

Coaches have you ever had a new athlete come to you with these questions or concerns? Sometimes even after “grinding” in the gym for months, following a “science based” program, or even training with another coach, an athletes performance doesn’t improve or even gets worse. So, what happened? As performance coaches, we often celebrate the increases in performance by our athletes, but rarely examine the “why” the performance decreases. Below are two major reason why some athletes see their performance decrease when training.

What is Undertraining?

Undertraining is when an athletes training program or routine does not cause enough stress for the body to adapt to. The purpose of training is to elicit specific stressors that the body adapts to. If the stressors are not at an optimal level for that individual, there will be minimal to no performance increases. This can happen when athletes are continuously prescribed a generic training program that may not be suitable for their physiological ability. An example is performing ten pushups three times a week. To start this might be strenuous, but after three weeks if there is no increase in reps or intensity the body will no longer adapt and there will be no increase in performance. To avoid undertraining, athletes and coaches should use simple methods such as, *RPE scales after training sessions, and the *Daily Readiness test before. These tools can give athletes and coaches an idea of what level of stress was placed on the body during training.

Lack of Recovery

There are three recovery pillars: nutrition, sleep, and hydration. From my experience, most if not all athletes don’t spend nearly as much time recovering as they do training. Ideally, the training to recovery ratio is 1:2. This gives the body enough time to adapt to the new stressors of the previous training session and to prepare for the next session.

Simple recovery methods such as eating at least three meals a day, sleeping eight hours each night, and drinking a gallon of water each day is the best prescription for any athlete. Recovery is vital to performance and should be the first topic discussed with athletes as they start a new training program.

Key Takeaways

Training is testing. Athletes should be evaluated daily to ensure an optimal training program
Athletes should focus on recovery just as much or even more than the training

*RPE Scale

*Daily Readiness Scale

Fitness, Sports Performance

Self Talk: The Real Motivator

A huge part of motivation is what we tell ourselves, or self talk. Having positive self talk is key to success when it comes to fitness goals. According to expert neurologist we average 70,000 thoughts a day. These thoughts include both conscious and unconscious. Conscious thoughts are dictated by our surroundings and environment, along with past experiences. Our views, outlook on life and perception of ourselves is determined by our different upbringings and life experiences. these experiences will dictate whether you have positive or negative self talk.

What is self talk?

Self-talk is the act of talking to yourself either outloud or mentally. The messages you tell yourself will encourage and motivate you, or they will limit you if they are negative. It’s important to recognize your inner voice so you can identify when you’re having positive or negative self talk.

Here is negative self talk that you want to avoid

Mind reading: assuming we understand what other people are thinking without any real evidence.
Overgeneralization: the habit of telling ourselves that a negative event is bound to continue happening in the future.
Magnification: when we take our own errors or flaws and exaggerate them.
Minimization: the mirror image of magnification, being dismissive of our strengths and positive qualities.
Emotional reasoning: the habit of making decisions based on how we feel rather than what we value.
Personalization: assuming excessive amounts of responsibility, especially for things that are mostly or entirely outside our control.
Fortune Telling: the mental habit of predicting what will happen based on little or no real evidence.
Should Statements: are a kind of self-talk we use to try and motivate ourselves by always telling ourselves what we should and should not do.

In order to combat negative self talk use these positive self talk strategies

Have a purpose higher than yourself
Cut negative people out of your life
Be grateful
Don’t compare yourself to others
Use positivity with others
Believe in your success
Don’t fear failure
Replace negative thoughts with positive one
Positive affirmation
Don’t dwell in the past
Visualize your success
Limit your intake of news and media
Help others
Be physically active
Dream and set goals

When and how to be effective at self talk?

In order to be effective at self talk you must make it a habit. To start, Every morning think of something that you are a grateful for and give thanks. Then give yourself positive affirmation such as:

I am determined and successful
I am confident
I am strong
My life has meaning and purpose
I am in control of my choices
I am not afraid to fail because it will help me grow

How is self talk is critical to building confidence?

Do you feel shy in front of a big audience? Do you have little belief in your talents and skills? Positive self-talk can Positive self-talk can make you feel more confident in these situations Negative self-talk will hinder you from performing at your fullest by allowing doubt to come into your thoughts. With positive self-talk, you can put your doubts aside and focus on accomplishing your feat successfully. Confidence and success go hand in hand. Those who are successful at what they do, truly believe in themselves and their abilities. Confidence is so important to success that many psychologists believe that it is one of the primary prerequisites to personal and professional success. Be confident in everything you do by lifting yourself up with positive self talk.