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7 Tips to Make Your Own Healthy Shake

10/18/2017

There's no better (and faster) way to consume your daily nutrients via a healthy shake.

Here’s a few pointers on how to put together your very own healthy shake. Remember that blending it is much better than juicing it, since juicing veggies and fruits actually strip almost all the fiber away. It also takes out some essential enzymes and nutrients. We like to keep everything in there, so blending it is the way to go. I use Magic Bullet which works great!

So here we go:

1.) Add a Green Veggie: Kale leaves, swiss chard leaves, or spinach for a bundle of nutrients. Don’t worry if you don’t like the taste of these, you won’t even know it when you add your healthy fruits in there.

2.) Add Protein: Greek yogurt or scoop of whey protein (vanilla, chocolate or plain).

3.) Add Healthy Fat: This will keep you satiated. Walnuts (chopped), flax seeds, chia seeds/powder, almonds (sliced), organic peanut butter, organic almond butter.

4.) Add Cinnamon (optional): Keep blood sugar levels normal. Oats do the same thing and it’s easy to add most combinations of shake.

5.) Add base: Milk, Almond milk, coconut water or plain water are great options. Fresh squeeze orange juice also works great here. The aqueous setting in the blender will help blend veggies and fruits easier. It’s also easier to drink =)

6.) Add Natural Sugar AKA- Fruits: For higher sugar taste add frozen mangoes, frozen pineapples, or bananas. For a little less sugar reach for the berries; blackberries, blueberries, or strawberries.

7.) Ice, Blend and Enjoy! Here's a nice review on the best blenders available.

Play around with different combinations and see which ones you like the most. Then, buy a bundle of the ingredients, keep it easy to reach in the fridge and freezer and blend away.

Committed to your health,
Kendrick

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Convenient Store Diet- 27lbs lighter

10/9/2017

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This past summer, the K-Fit nutrition team sat down to talk about the "convenient store diet" and it's ridiculous (and confusing) results.

Back in 2010, Mark Haub, who's a nutrition professor at K-State (Go Wildcats!) decided to start a diet consisting of twinkies, doritos, debbie cakes, cereal and other sweet treats.

His premise: That in weight loss, pure calorie counting is what matters most -- not the nutritional value of the food.

And wouldn't you know it, 10 weeks later the premise held up and his results were shocking:

He shed 27 lbs
His LDL (bad cholesterol) dropped 20%
His HDL (good) increased 20%
His Triglycerides decreased by 39%

Amazing and almost science defying right? Hmm, perhaps.

Before the diet, he shifted from consuming 2600 calories to 1800 calories and locked in that number (that's a giant drop and not recommended for most people). He took one protein shake and a multivitamin daily along with some veggies for dinner, this way he wouldn't be completely nutrient deficient.

Basically 2/3 of his diet consisted of sweet treats. He also timed his meals to eat every 3 hours.

How can this happen and what does this prove?

If you're having a hard time losing weight, you must know how much you're consuming on a daily basis. At least initially. It's work, it's not sexy, and it doesn't sell like the latest celebrity go-to diet...but it's simple physics.

If you were having trouble with your finances, your advisor would initially probably want to know where the money is going so you would have to track it down. Similar idea with nutrition. To really take control of what and how much you're eating, one of the best ways is to start writing everything down.

Although, there may be some variation among people with metabolic irregularity (i.e.: thyroid) calories are a unit of energy, and the relationship between matter and energy figures prominently among the physical laws of the universe.

The second thing that's important is the timing your meals. Mark ate every 3 hours and his portions were not enormous (200-500 calories). This kept his metabolism fired up during the day (when we don't eat, the metabolism slows down). Although he had massive surges in cravings because of the sugar spikes, he stuck to his calorie daily goal (which remember was also 800 calories lower than he was usually eating).

Now, there were no long term results recorded and he agrees that it's very likely that his overall health would decline since he was not taking in enough nutrients.

The point of the study was to show that calorie control and timing is very important when it comes to weight loss. You need to set some parameters....and the number can fluctuate depending on the amount of exercise you do daily, but it should stay within a reasonable amount.

Finally, if you're looking to shed some weight without big surges in cravings (and have more energy during the day), you should replace those sweet treats with complex carbs which will help regulate your blood sugar levels and create a more sustainable nutrition plan. Also, round our your plate with plenty of greens, legumes, protein and healthy fat in order to decrease overall sugar cravings.

Committed to your health,
Kendrick

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5 Habits of Fit Clients

10/4/2017

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If history has taught us anything regarding success, it is to look at others who are living the lives we want to live and simply do what they are doing. This can not only be applied to business but also in our personal lives. You can't just browse through Instagram and expect fitness via osmosis.

If you're looking to maximize your health, you must learn to make a shift from the current actions that you are doing, or else you'll continue to get the same results.
The common question I get at the Studio is "How long until I lose "X" pounds?" Or "How many classes do I need to do to lose X pounds."

I usually tell people that the workouts at the Studio is not a replacement for negligent nutrition at home.

The better question to ask is: "Besides esthetic means, why am I doing this?" That usually comes with a more meaningful response that can be carried over to maintaining a regular exercise regimen.

Sometimes, we have people that get frustrated with the lack of results they see. When I ask about their nutrition at home, they list the excuses why they've been eating junk food or drinking too much wine or simply just eating too much.

You can't out train an unhealthy diet.

Yet, there are a number of people that have been with us and achieved incredible results, from losing 80+ lbs, to qualifying for the Boston Marathon to reversing diabetes to keeping up with their kids during a weekend family bike ride (that's in large part to putting work on those airdyne bikes!)

I've found there are some common habits that these life changing healthy individuals share.

Here are five habits they have that you may want to incorporate in your own life for true and long lasting health:

1- They put their health first. People who live healthy lives make their well-being a priority. It isn’t always easy to do, but they make sure they spend time at the gym, make healthy food choices, and get some sort of physical activity each and every day.
You're already sacrificing time, energy and your cognitive bandwidth for your work. Don't sacrifice your health too!

2- They don't let negativity take over their lives. 5% of the news if useful information needed to stay in tune with what's going on in the world, the other 95% is information that uses fear tactics to get you hooked on watching more, sharing the negativity and getting into useless arguments with people about things that are totally our of our control.

That cycle can affect our relationship, our work and our health. Fit people learn to take control of the things that are under their control.
Being positive all the time is a fairy tale, but being aware of what kind of energy you bring into a room is life changing...for both you and whoever is in the room =)

3- They take time to rest. Fit people realize the importance of having some down time. Your body needs time to regenerate and recover because, without it, your muscles, joints and mind become overworked and weak.

4- They eat consciously. Fit people make a habit of monitoring everything that goes into their mouths because they know the harmful effects of mindless eating. Make a habit of eating with purpose and you will soon see how much it affects your waistline.

5- They understand that health is more than just weight loss. Fit people need to exercise to keep themselves sane, their hormones balanced and their mindset in the right place. They understand the positive effects of hormones in their body and realize that it’s not all about what the scale says.

Looking good doesn't necessarily translate to feeling good. I've met people who were skinny, but also starving and angry with the whole world because they hadn't eaten carbs in weeks. Find a deeper meaning and you'll be able to sustain an exercise program for the long haul!

Committed to your health,
Kendrick

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Kendrick Ribeiro, MBA, MS, CSCS

Knowledge is only potential power, until you act on it. Our hope is that this blog gives you the inspiration needed to create healthier habits, and steer you in the direction of developing the best version of yourself.

7 Tips to Make Your Own Healthy Shake

Convenient Store Diet- 27lbs lighter

5 Habits of Fit Clients

Kendrick Ribeiro, MBA, MS, CSCS

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