Tag: personal trainers in las vegas

March 26, 2012

The Leanest Cut of All

delicous!

Is it possible to eat beef on a regular basis and not get beefy in the process? Absolutely, says an article that appeared in a supplement to the October 2005 issue of Tufts University Health & Nutrition Letter. The trick is to select the right cut of beef and to exercise portion control.

Here’s a look at 10 of the leanest cuts, which, according to the National Cattleman’s Beef Association, contain on average only 1 more gram (g) of saturated fat than a skinless chicken breast per 3-ounce serving:

1. eye round (1.4 g saturated fat, 4 g total fat)

2. top round steak (1.6 g saturated fat, 4.6 g total fat)

3. chuck mock tender steak (1.6 g saturated fat, 4.7 g total fat)

4. bottom round (1.7 g saturated fat, 4.9 g total fat)

5. top sirloin (1.9 g saturated fat, 4.9 g total fat)

6. round tip (1.8 g saturated fat, 5.0 g total fat)

7. 95% lean ground beef (2.4 g saturated fat, 5.0 g total fat)

8. brisket (flat half) (1.9 g saturated fat, 5.1 g total fat)

9. shank crosscuts (1.9 g saturated fat, 5.4 g total fat)

10. chuck shoulder roast (1.8 g saturated fat, 5.7 g total fat)

—
original article from IDEA Fitness

Comments Off

March 24, 2012

Army Steps Up Efforts to Get New Troops Fit

Shape Up, Soldier!

Soldiers can still find pancakes on the chow line at the U.S. Army’s Fort Leonard Wood training facility in Missouri. But now they’re made with whole-grain batter — adding more fiber and protein.

Courtesy from NPR Health

The new focus on nutrition is part of a ‘Fueling the Soldier’ initiative that aims to teach soldiers to make healthier choices during military training and in combat.

“The Army must treat our soldiers as tactical athletes to improve not only physical training but also trying to get them to adapt the right nutritional aspects to help prepare them for the battlefield and for their life,” Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling said in a statement.

Hertling is overseeing an overhaul of physical readiness training. In fact, the Army is tossing out the old training manuals, and taking a new approach to basic training.

Gone are the long endurance runs, which officials say can lead to injuries in new recruits who aren’t accustomed to the mileage.

Instead, soldiers will be coached by trainers to do a whole range of exercises that build core strength, flexibility and endurance. Training will be tailored to a soldier’s level of fitness.

A new cafeteria Fort Leonard Wood was also unveiled today. As soldiers walk down the cafeteria line, they see foods marked with red, yellow or green labels.

Green marks high-performance foods, and posters nudge the soldiers to “Go For Green” frequently.

In addition, the cooks have turned off fryers and started baking more entrees. They’re also adding lots of ‘nutrient-dense’ menu options made from fresh food.

To help reinforce these messages, drill sergeants will give one-hour courses in “performance nutrition.” Maybe Shots can invite them over for dinner with our kids?

Why the change in approach? Well, army recruits mirror the general population, which is trending toward the ‘heavier’ side—to put it politely.

More than 9 million Americans of prime recruiting age are too heavy to join up, according to Mission: Readiness, a group of retired senior military officials pushing for better fitness for young people.

Enlisted men and women are no exception. A 2008 Department of Defense survey found that 38 percent of people enrolled in the military health system were overweight or obese.

The new training plan incorporates physical therapists and sports trainers at the unit level to promote proper techniques and injury prevention

If you’d like to see how the Army is putting its soldier-as-athlete model into action, you can download a free iPhone app called “Army Physical Readiness Training.” It was developed by programmers at the U.S. Army Center of Excellence at Fort Gordon, Ga.

The Army plans to make the changes at its other training installations in Fort Sill, Okla.; Fort Benning, Ga.; Fort Jackson, S.C.; and Fort Knox, Ky. in the coming months

—

Original Article from NPR Health

Comments Off

March 21, 2012

How to Stop Yourself Eating from Boredom

People who struggle with their weight are often prone to “emotional eating”, consuming food as a response to mental triggers rather than physical hunger. Often, dieters fail to lose weight not because their diet plan itself is flawed, but because they are knocked off course by feeling stressed, tired, upset or bored.

The last of these is an especially common cue for many people to eat. For some, it’s a habit learned in childhood (“I’m bored, mum!” – “Run down to the shop and buy yourself a candy bar, then.”) For others, it’s a reaction to the dull parts of adult life: munching on biscuits while rocking the baby to sleep, or getting yet another handful of chocolates because the afternoon is really dragging at work.

Avoid Snacking When You’re Bored

When you find yourself thinking, “I’m bored, maybe I’ll have a cookie,” then get straight out of that mindset:

If you’re genuinely hungry, have some fruit or a small sandwich.
Cravings can be beaten, just by sitting them out. Force yourself to wait 20 minutes before getting that snack, and nine times out of ten, you’ll no longer want it.
Find something to do – ideally, an activity that makes it hard to eat at the same time.

Understanding Your Danger Points

Keep a food diary for a couple of weeks, and write down not only what you ate and when, but why you ate. (Hunger, because friends were eating, because it was lunch-time, boredom, stress..?)

When are you most likely to eat from boredom? Maybe it’s when you have to hang around at home, waiting for a delivery. Or perhaps it’s when you get in from work and you’re waiting for your partner to come home. Once you’ve figured out the pattern, work out how to change it!

Find a hobby or interest to occupy you, if you’ve got too much time on your hands
Use those “hanging around” moments, to blitz through all the little jobs you keep putting off (cleaning the oven, anyone?)
If you’re regularly twiddling your thumbs at work, see if there’s a stressed colleague who could use your help.

What are your tips for avoiding boredom-induced snacking?

—

Article courtesy of: diet-blog
Image courtesy from: Tony Jalicea

Comments Off

March 20, 2012

Fuel Up!

Wow, this is great!

Fuel Up!

This one simple step alone will not only lengthen your workout, but it will also increase your performance, which is the key when training and exercising. That step? Fill ‘er up! If you don’t eat before exercise, you will likely feel light-headed, fatigue and nausea. Your body is then forced to turn to muscle protein for fuel because it doesn’t have enough carbohydrates to perform.

By starting your workout well-fueled, your body will burn a combination of the carbohydrates and stored fat. So fill ‘er up…and here are the food and beverage tips from your coach Max: Eat 1 hour before a workout or event. Choose a high carbohydrate, low fat, moderate protein meal or snack. And don’t forget to hydrate. Drink at least 10 ounces of water to help offset perspiration loss during your workout.

Comments Off

April 29, 2011

Interval training may help obese and overweight people slim down

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: best personal trainers in las vegas, boot camps, cardio, cardiovascular fitness, carol strom, Encore Fitness, encore fitness las vegas, encore personal training, encore training las vegas, exercise, fitness, health, Las Vegas Athletic Clubs (LVAC), LVAC, lvac personal trainers, Nevada health & fitness, personal trainer, personal trainers in las vegas, personal training, PhD Custom Meal Plans, rockyourbody.com, vascular system, weight loss, www.RockYourBody.com — Encore Personal Training @ 9:45 pm

A group cycling class can offer high-intensity cardiovascular training. (Jewel Samad / AFP/Getty Images)

The one-two punch of high-intensity exercise and healthful eating was helpful in getting overweight and obese people to slim down, a study finds.

The study, presented this week at the National Obesity Summit in Montreal, Canada, focused on data on 62 overweight and obese men and women involved in a nine-month program at the Montreal Heart Institute. The participants engaged in two to three weekly one-hour supervised exercise sessions and were instructed on how to follow a Mediterranean diet.

The exercise sessions concentrated on high-interval training, or alternating between short periods of vigorous workouts and rest periods. Interval training has been shown in some studies to promote weight loss as it boosts cardiovascular health. Participants had a five-minute warm-up followed by repeated bouts of exercise at 80% of peak effort. Those were interspersed with brief recovery periods, and the workout finished with a five-minute cool-down. In addition, the study subjects did a 20-minute weight training circuit and were encouraged to do one or two moderate 45-minute exercise sessions a week.

At the end of the study, the men and women on average lost 5.5% of their body mass, reduced waist circumference by 5.15% and increased cardiovascular capacity by 15%. They also had an average 7% decrease in LDL (bad) cholesterol and an 8% increase in HDL (good) cholesterol.

In the study the authors concluded that the supervised twice-weekly interval training program “appeared feasible, safe and time-efficient in this obese population.”

Comments Off

April 15, 2011

7 Breakfast Foods to Swap In, Not Out

Is breakfast really the “most important” meal of the day? Maybe, at least that’s what they told us in health class.

So if breakfast is the first meal of the day and you’re trying to lose weight, it’s probably a smart idea to make your first meal a good one.

And since most dieters judge food by two simple factors: fat and calories. Here are seven foods you should ditch and seven foods you should switch to if you’re looking for a better breakfast.

English Muffin or Bagel?

Sorry, but a bagel with a schmear of cream cheese just isn’t Kosher – at least not for dieting. You’re better off switching to toasted nooks and crannies dripping with melted butter.

*English Muffin, with butter
5.8g total fat
189 calories

Bagel, with cream cheese
8g total fat
436 calories

Apple or Banana?

Let’s face it, both apples and bananas are awesome – probably the healthiest foods on this list – but, if you’re looking to cut calories, go with the apple.

*Apple
0.17g total fat
50 calories

Banana
0.33g total fat
100 calories

Blueberry Yogurt or Oatmeal?

Even without the “probiotics,” eating a light yogurt is smarter than a bowl of old fashioned oatmeal.

*Dannon Light’n Fit Blueberry Yogurt (6oz)
0g total fat
80 calories

Old Fashioned Quaker Oats, with water (1/2 cup)
3g total fat
150 calories

Coffee with Skim Milk or 2% Milk?

For most people, missing their morning coffee is grounds for murder. So please, drink up! But make sure you stick with non-fat milk, not 2%

*Starbucks Coffee, with non-fat milk (short)
0g total fat
35 calories

Starbucks Coffee, with 2% milk (short)
2g total fat
50 calories

Wheaties or Raisin Bran?

One cereal uses professional athletes to push product. Another is peddled by the sun. The sports stars win, go with a bowl of Wheaties.

*Wheaties (1 cup)
1g total fat
110 calories

Raisin Bran (1 cup)
1.3g total fat
190 calories

Turkey Bacon or Pork?

It isn’t real bacon – it might not even taste like it – but the fat and calories don’t lie. Spare a pig, eat a turkey!

*Butterball Bacon-Style Turkey (1 slice, 18g)
3g total fat
40 calories

Pork Bacon (3 slices, 19g)
7.9g total fat
103 calories

Grapefruit Juice or Orange Juice?

Grapefruit juice might not taste as sweet, but choke it down. It’s better than orange juice. And when you drink grapefruit juice, it’s less likely to squirt in your eye.

*Tropicana Grapefruit Juice (8 fl oz)
0g total fat
90 calories

Tropicana Orange Juice (8 fl oz)
0g total fat
110 calories

Comments Off

April 12, 2011

Does Dieting Make You Angry And Stressed?

The idea of reaching for a stick of celery when all you really want is a big slice of chocolate cake, would probably make most people a little grumpy.

And, according to results published in the Journal of Consumer Research, exerting self-control while dieting can in fact make people feel angry and irritable.

The researchers set up four experiments to compare the attitudes of volunteers who were on a diet, with those who ate what they wanted. They found that:

Participants who choose an apple over a bar of chocolate were more likely to choose movies which had angry, revenge-filled plots.
Those who choose a gift certificate for groceries rather than one for a spa service, showed more interest in looking at angry faces as opposed to more fearful ones.
And, in an other experiment, people who chose a healthy snack instead of a less healthy one were more irritated by a public service advert promoting exercise.

Interestingly, the researchers have linked these feelings of irritation, stress, and anger to the act of exerting self-control while dieting, rather than the “dieting” itself.

The researchers point out that public policy makers should be more aware of the potential negative emotions, which can result when the public are encouraged to exert more self control over their daily choices.

What about you — does being on a diet make you feel more irritated or angry? How do you make healthy food choices without feeling like you’re denying yourself?
—
Article Courtesy from: diet-blog
Image courtesy by: Kreutziana

Comments Off

April 8, 2011

“Vegetarian” Diets Reduce Heart Risks

Eating a meat-free diet may lower your risk of developing heart disease, suggests a new study, helping to lessen the likelihood of metabolic syndrome.

Metabolic syndrome is a collection of diseases that contribute to cardiovascular disease, including diabetes, obesity, and high blood pressure.

Researches found vegetarians had better blood sugar, blood fat, blood pressure, waist size, and body mass measurements than non-vegetarians.

In the study, 23 out of every 100 vegetarians were found to have at least three metabolic syndrome factors, compared with 39 out of every 100 non-vegetarians and 37 out of every 100 semi-vegetarians.

For the study, published in the journal Diabetes Care, scientists analyzed the diet of three different groups of people: vegetarians, non-vegetarians, and semi-vegetarians; in total, more than 700 adults.

The researchers used a questionnaire to obtain information on participants’ eating habits. People were classified as vegetarian, eating meat less than once a month; semi-vegetarian, eating meat less than once a week; and non-vegetarians. However, the term “vegetarian” is incorrectly defined; true vegetarians never eat meat.

Results showed vegetarians had an average body mass index (BMI) of 25.7. Unlike non-vegetarians who had an average BMI close to 30. Semi-vegetarians’ BMI fell between the vegetarians and non-vegetarians.

A BMI between 25 and 29 is considered overweight and a BMI from 30 and up is obese. Normal weight is between 18.5 and 25.

The findings remained steady when researchers combined all the readings to determine the risk of metabolic syndrome.

In 2008, Vegetarian Times reported that 7.3 million Americans follow a vegetarian diet: 59% are female, 41% are male. As of 2009, the total U.S. population was nearly 308 million.

According to the American Heart Association, a vegetarian diet – with its heavy vegetable consumption and low intake of saturated fat from animal products – has been shown to reduce the risk of heart disease, heart attack, obesity, high blood pressure, and some forms of cancer.

Article courtesy from diet-blog
Image courtesy from first reason blog

Comments Off

March 29, 2011

Sleep patterns affect weight loss

Is shedding weight harder while stressed or missing sleep?

Managing sleep and stress levels can help in the battle against obesity, according to scientists in the US.

People getting too little or too much sleep were less likely to lose weight in a six month study of 472 obese people.

Their report in the International Journal of Obesity showed that lower stress levels also predicted greater weight loss.

A UK sleep expert said people need to “eat less, move more and sleep well”.

Approximately a quarter of adults in the UK are thought to be clinically obese, which means they have a Body Mass Index greater than 30.

Nearly 500 obese patients were recruited for the first part of a clinical trial by the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research in the US.

For six months they had to eat 500 fewer calories per day, exercise most days and attend group sessions.

Weight loss

The authors report that “sleep time predicted success in the weight loss programme”.

People with lower stress levels at the start also lost more weight.

The researchers added: “These results suggest that early evaluation of sleep and stress levels in long-term weight management studies could potentially identify which participants might benefit from additional counselling.”

Dr Neil Stanley, from the British Sleep Society, said the sleep community had been aware of this for a while, but was glad that obesity experts were taking notice.

“We’ve always had the eat less move more mantra. But there is a growing body of evidence that we also need to sleep well”, he said.

“It’s also true that if you’re stressed, then you’re less likely to behave, you’ll sit at home feeling sorry for yourself, probably eating a chocolate bar.”

Dr David Haslam, chair of the National Obesity Forum, said: “It’s a great idea to find predictors of who will respond to therapy, if this is a genuine one.”

Original artwork and article courtesy from: BBC News

Comments Off

February 24, 2011

Health Tip: Cramp Got Your Leg?

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: cramping, Encore Fitness, encore fitness las vegas, encore personal training, encore personal training las vegas, encore training program, exercise, great las vegas personal trainers, henderson personal trainers, Hot Yoga, las vegas athletic club personal trainers, Las Vegas Athletic Clubs (LVAC), legs, muscles, personal trainers in las vegas, Pilates, rest, sleep, spasm, sport injury, sporting, sports — Encore Personal Training @ 3:45 pm

A muscle cramp occurs when a muscle involuntarily contracts. It often occurs during a sport or other exercise, but a muscle can spasm even during sleep.

The ADAM Encyclopedia offers these suggestions for alleviating or preventing a muscle cramp:

Stop your activity right away, and perform some gentle stretching or massage.
Heat the muscle while it’s cramping. Apply ice for pain later.
Take a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug to help manage pain.
Drink plenty of water, a sports drink or take a salt tablet.
Don’t push yourself beyond your limit while working out.
Be sure to include enough potassium in your diet.
Stretch your muscles regularly.

—
Article from HealthDay News
Image from LegCrampsRemedy.com

Comments Off

Older Posts »

The Encore Fitness Blog Resources and information from top Las Vegas personal trainers, fitness and dietary experts. Carol Strom.

March 26, 2012

March 24, 2012

Shape Up, Soldier!

March 21, 2012

Avoid Snacking When You’re Bored

Understanding Your Danger Points

March 20, 2012

April 29, 2011

April 15, 2011

April 12, 2011

April 8, 2011

March 29, 2011

February 24, 2011