Two Interesting Nutrition Reads

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Check out this article: Link

It doesn’t seem like long ago when all the dieting craze centered around eating a low-fat diet. From a caloric standpoint it makes sense as fat has nine calories per gram while protein and carbohydrates only have four. People would munch on fat-free snacks like knock-off brand Lucky Charms marshmallows and Snack Wells cookies (“They’re fat-free so they must be good for me!”).

Thankfully common knowledge seems to be changing its tone lately to include fat in diets due to its unique health benefits and effects. The above article does a great job explaining which oils are better than others to consume as well as the background rationale.

Here’s one on fresh meat versus processed meat: Link

A quote from the article “Countless scientific studies have concluded that eating red meat is bad for you. But in those studies, researchers routinely fail to differentiate between processed junk meat versus free-range, grass-fed organic beef which isn’t processed with chemicals. And in doing so, they cast a dark shadow of doubt over all red meat when the reality is that there is a huge difference in the health impacts of fresh meat versus processed factory-made meat.”

It seems obvious to distinguish between eating a few Ball Park hot dogs versus a lean steak from a happy and locally grown cow but I suspect many of us believe that meat is meat, regardless of the source. The author concludes that just because someone follows a vegan diet doesn’t necessarily mean they are healthier than a meat-eater. Our nutritionist warned us about this before our vegan challenge week (link to the blog recap) and cautioned us to stay away from “junk vegan” foods such as white, refined grains, popcorn, chips, and cookies.

Fortunately most of the staff seemed to stay away from that stuff and stuck with healthier whole grains, vegetables, and fruit. Look for us to try a Paleolithic diet (Wikipedia page link) challenge in September where we’ll only eat free-range, grass-fed organic meat, seafood, fruit, vegetables, nuts, and roots.

Paul Piracci, BS CSCS

Paul brings a background of athletics and education to the Empower team. He believes that wellness should be viewed as a blended lifestyle that balances nutrition, a healthy mind, and fitness which incorporates fun recreational activities. For more information about Empower Personal Training please call (919) 401-8024.

Want to lose weight?

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Are you someone who needs to lose weight? Have you tried everything under the sun but find yourself chalking it up to a slow metabolism? Here are some tips that will help you:

Exercise hard at least 30 minutes, three times per week. This can be anything that gets you out of breath, sweating, uncomfortable, and just plain working hard.

Do something to elevate your heart rate five times a week for an hour. Walking, cleaning the house, washing your car, playing with the kids, sports, or basically anything that doesn’t involve sitting and watching TV. And no, lifting the remote does not count as bicep curls.

Cut out the following foods from your diet: sugar, alcohol, refined starches, and anything that comes from a container with more than three ingredients.

Consume 75% less dairy and the bread, cereal, pasta, and rice section of the food pyramid.

Eat two or three servings of fruit everyday, no more and no less.

Eat lots of vegetables (don’t do bicep curls with the ranch dressing bottle either!).

Follow these rules and I’m certain you will lose fat.

Paul Piracci, CSCS Professional Trainer

Paul brings a background of athletics and education to the Empower team. He believes that wellness should be viewed as a blended lifestyle that balances nutrition, a healthy mind, and fitness which incorporates fun recreational activities. For more information about Empower Personal Training please call (919) 401-8024.