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Sticking to Your Exercise Program

Posted on April 24, 2018 by LetlerFit

Did you know sport psychologists have actually conducted research on why people begin exercising and why they do or do not stick to it? After 6 months, 50% of people who begin exercising, have quit!

We know that people begin exercising because they want to:

control their weight
reduce their risk of cardiovascular disease
reduce levels of anxiety and depression
enhance self esteem
socializing
because they enjoy it

The problem is people love to make excuses like:

lacking in motivation
perceived lack of time (number one documented excuse by the way)
no social support
lack of finance
feeling tired and lacking energy

Here’s why people struggle to adhere to their exercise program:

Sometimes trainers ignore a clients psychological readiness and focus on prescriptions solely based on fitness data without taking into account their mental state
trainers create an overly restrictive program
boring exercise prescriptions based on principles of intensity, duration, and frequency can be too much for beginners
traditional exercise prescription does not promote self-responsibility or empower long-term behavior

So what can we do as trainers or fitness goers to make sure we become part of the 50% who sticks to it?

Understand that life happens, plan for vacations, sudden deaths, last minute interferences–but do not let them derail you and defeat you
develop healthy coping strategies for dealing with stressful situation–i.e. do not eat your feelings
replace the work “should” with “want” Should puts pressure and expectations on you. How much better does I want to lose 10 pounds sound compared to I should lose 10 pounds?
Positive self-talk and avoiding negative self-talk is key!
identify situations that put you at risk for unhealthy behavior (possible bars, fast food restaurants, tail gates) and find a healthier solution (organic restaurants, farmers markets, going kayaking)
Do NOT view temporary lapses as catastrophic (for example “i already had a piece of cake and ruined my diet. Might as well eat the whole cake and start over on Monday.”

Learn more about the best online fitness program which includes comprehensive programs focused on shifting towards healthier eating habits, staying fit, and building a better booty. You’ll also find a variety of fitness apparel to help get you that extra motivation to take your goals to another level. Contact me today to learn more about the best fitness programs available to get your body in gear.

8 Things That You Should Be Teaching Your Children About Nutrition

Posted on September 26, 2017 by LetlerFit

While I do not currently have kids, I work with a lot of parents and I observe a lot of parents and what they teach their children about nutrition. Before I begin, I get a lot of heat from people whenever I opine about pregnancy, infant nutrition, adolescent health and fitness. The same way your male Dr. does not need to know what it feels like to be pregnant in order to help guide you through a healthy pregnancy, an exercise physiologist with an extensive back ground in academic nutrition (not jo shmo nutrition blogs) can help you establish healthy habits for you and your family. There are 2 critical periods for when children establish the number and size of the adipocyte tissue (aka our fat tissue) in infancy and in adolescence. The goal as a parent should be to do your best to keep the fat cell size to as small as possible and fat cell number to as little as possible. Here are 8 things parents should be doing in order to help set their children up for health success! These are not my opinion, they are all backed by the sciences.

In infancy, stick to infant ONLY foods! No need to sneak an infant soda, friend food, lasagna, or processed sugar before 12 months! While it may seem like they can handle it, inside their body react adversely
In infancy, if you’re a parent who gives your baby anything that is not labeled for infants because you want to or that’s “how you grew up” (only science is now realizing the way you grew up has lead to a ridiculously obese population), please do NOT give your baby anything that has honey or corn syrup in it. I see it all of the time and a little piece of my soul dies because you are potentially exposing your baby to something called botulism. Botulism is a death sentence, if they contract it from honey or any food that has corn syrup because their organism cannot fight it off.
Go as long as you can (goal 12 months) if you are able to breast feed. Make the sacrifice because the immunological, health, cognitive, you name it benefits far surpass the benefits of formula. Understand that formula is a first world commodity. In 3rd world countries it’s either you breast feed or the baby unfortunately passes. Formula is meant to keep your baby nourished enough to where infant death is not an issue in case breast feeding does not happen.
Moving away from infancy and into childhood, one of the biggest mistakes parents make, especially those in the hispanic community (It’s the anthropological studies saying it, not me!) is impose the “clear your plate” mentality. We have something in our brains called the hypothalamus and it lets us know when we are hungry and when we are full. The beautiful thing about children (and babies too) is that they have not fried it the way most adults do. Meaning, their brain still tells them when they should stop eating before they get to a place of over eating. The clear your plate mentality breeds obesity. If your child doesn’t want to eat anymore, don’t force them to eat twice as much as they want. Trust me, they won’t die of starvation.
Don’t make dessert something they can have only if they eat their vegetables. Find a way to make them enjoy their veggies without bribing them. If they eat their veggies every day that would mean they get dessert everyday.
Which, brings me to my next point, junk foods, processed sugars, fried foods, sodas, etc. are not foods we should keep at our children’s reach all of the time. They do not know what nutrient density is, they only know that those foods taste yummier so without realizing it you are allowing them to build poor habits when you aren’t around. In my house we bring ZERO of the aforementioned and I plan to keep it that way when we have kids. We do this so that when we go out, it’s OKAY to have a fried shrimp or lava cake because it’s something that we do not eat every day at our home.
This leads me to point number seven. Teach kids about balance! I’m not by any means saying forever forbid your kids from eating junk food. What I am saying is make junk food 15-20% of their overall diet. Fill the rest with a plethora of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, non-antiobiotic/steroid packed protein sources, nuts, seeds, and legumes. Growing up chips and sodas were something my mom would save for when friends came over, the few times we went out to eat, or for the holidays. I personally, love this approach because what do all of those events have in common? They happen in a minority, meaning the majority of the time you are nourishing your child.
Try to pack your child’s lunch. It’s a great way of controlling what goes in to fuel their bodies and NEVER let them skip breakfast! Myplate.gov has killer tools and articles to help you choose healthy lunches. These plates also from mygov are GREAT to help YOU as a parent portion out each food group while teaching them at the same time what their plate should look like.
Bonus: Try to teach them how to make healthy choices and why it’s important. If you are clueless, find a health professional who CAN! When you understand why something needs to be done it’s easier to do it.

6 Supposedly Healthy Foods You Should Be Avoiding

Posted on August 9, 2017August 9, 2017 by LetlerFit

The thing about the food and fitness industry is, marketing and advertising goes farther than science. It’s a sad reality, and is one of the reason so many people are quick to fall for gimmicks, nutrition labeling etc. Just today I went grocery shopping and was baffled at how the industry charges more or hides poison in their labeling. Here were the top 6 offenders that stood out to me today.

Fit and Active brand popcorn versus the generic brand popcorn: Fit and Active brand was almost a dollar more expensive and when you compare the labels…the EXACT same thing. Just because something is labeled fit and active or something along those lines does not necessarily make it any better.
Sugar: A bunch of BS, and WORSE for you! Your brain gets the same stimulation only instead of being natural, it’s synthetic, can mess up insulin regulation, and most are metabolized in to carcinogens…cancer causing agents. Go for REAL sugar, avoid the sugar alcohol. Even in moderation, real sugar is better than fake. Same goes for regular vs diet sodas
Arctic Zero Ice Cream: People love it because it is low calorie, has minimal protein, but just like sugar free labels are ridded with sugar alcohols. Limit sugar alcohols as much as possible (generally anything that ends in “ol” ie. sorbitol, erythritol, maltitol)
Low Fat anything: Your body NEEDS healthy fats. Low fat labels are usually a guise for companies to add sugars and MORE sugar alcohols in order to make the food tastier since removing fat makes food less appetizing. Whole fat is totally OK!
Organic Tostitos: While the ingredients may be “cleaner” they have more sodium and do in my opinion more harm because people consume more of it thinking it’s healthier.
Organic Granola: uhmmmm 36g of sugar per serving and only 8g of protein? what?! READ your labels!! Ideally there will be no added sugar.

Day 25: Favorite Family Night Activities

Posted on June 25, 2017June 25, 2017 by LetlerFit

I am the definition of a home body. 9 times out of 10 I will choose staying in as opposed to going out. Luckily, my husband is the same way. Our usual Friday, Saturday, AND Sunday night consists of netflix or firestick, home popped popcorn, and cuddles with our 2 cats, and dog. We wouldn’t have it any other way.

The days we don’t stay home we usually are visiting family.