Everything you need to know about carbohydrates.

Carbs are the most demonized macronutrient with many people blaming them as the sole source of obesity. Though carbs are not an essential nutrient, you can have a diet without them, why would you want to? They are an amazing source of fuel for your body, Glycogen, in fact the most efficient source. All sources of fiber are carbohydrates which have incredible benefits for your health. So not only are carbohydrates incredible for performance and your health, foods containing carbohydrates taste delicious. I personally would not want to live life without rigatoni, and what is rigatoni without the pasta? And the fact is you can be in shape, even ripped, and still enjoy them like I do.

The majority of my diet is carbohydrates- they account for 50% of my daily calories while maintaining a lean physique year round. In fact, my goal for this summer is to have 8% body fat and I will still be enjoying carbohydrates everyday. And so can you while properly portioned. But how important is it that we track our carbs and set a daily goal? For myself and my clients, I do not have them specifically track macros because the exact breakdown of carbohydrates and fat does not have a bearing on your body fat.

Join me as we discuss tracking macros and explore the significance of carb intake. Get some insight into my go-to carbohydrate sources and why I include them in my diet.

I’m going to take you through my sleep time ritual.

As adults, we should be getting 7-9 hours of sleep every night and we should be going to bed approximately at the same time 7 nights a week. I know that’s impossible for some of us, but the reality is physiology is heartless. It doesn’t care about the stress in your life, your work demands, or the fact that you have little kids at home. This means, we have to make the sleep we DO get as consistent and impactful as possible.

Here’s what I do:

1️⃣ Minimize stress before bedtime. Maybe you have limited time with your partner, but I would avoid having difficult conversations before bed. Maybe you have a demanding career, but I also recommend not checking your emails before bed. This also includes putting away blue light. You don’t need to binge watch your favorite Netflix special before bed.
2️⃣ Create an environment conducive to falling asleep and staying asleep. Bring temperature down, I typically put the thermostat around 65 degrees. I also make sure there is no light in the room; I love blackout shades for this.
3️⃣ Take a hot shower. Taking a hot shower will cause your body temperature to temporarily increase because of the hot water running on your body, but as you exit the shower you’ll be greeted by room temperature which will cause your body to start to adjust to its environment. This entire process will initiates your core body temperature cooling which facilitates falling asleep.

💊Here are some supplements that I find impactful in my sleep routine:

1️⃣ Magnesium Glycinate
2️⃣ Inositol
3️⃣ L-Theanine (This has the same active ingredient as chamomile)

#sleephygiene #healthysleep #sleep #melatonin #closingshift #grwm #gurwm #bedtimeroutine #sleeproutine #eveningroutine #nighttimeroutine #performancecoach #personaltrainer #nyctrainer #nycfitnesstrainer #nycfitfam

Let’s talk about my favorite fruits and the health benefits that they contain:

Avocado – 160 cals and 7g fiber. Avocado has oleic acid, vitamin K, folate, and B vitamins. Just remember to properly portion it due to it being highly caloric.

Blackberries – 45 cals, 5g fiber. Use this as a fiber and antioxidant bomb. It is chock full of anthocyanins which help combat free radicals and promote healthy blood vessels.

Cantaloupe – 35 cals and loaded with vitamin A and C and a host of antioxidants. Cantaloupes are around 90% water which means they are incredibly low in calories but still have a host of health benefits.

Kiwis – 60 cals, 3g fiber, and 155% of your daily vitamin C needs. Loaded with antioxidants – vitamin E, carotenoids, and polyphenols. They have a great flavor and I think a lot of people sleep on kiwis.

#fruit #avocado #blackberries #cantaloupe #kiwis #healthyeating #healthychoices #fiberrich #fitnessgoals #workoutmotivation #healthylifestyle #wellnessjourney #nutritiontips #healthtips #healtheducation #performancecoach #personaltrainer #nyctrainer #nycfitnesstrainer #nycfitfam

Is beef healthy for you?

A lot of people think that steak and ground beef are inherently fattier than chicken or poultry – but that’s not the case.

When you’re looking at animal protein, you want to look at the nutrition label and make sure that per serving size it contains less than 10g of fat total or less than 4g of saturated fat. That will tell you if it is a lean protein source.

In the 93/7 ground beef I have in this video, it only has 8g of fat which means it’s a lean protein source. However, the 80/20 ground turkey in this video has 23g of fat, meaning it is not a lean protein source.

You want your daily saturated fat intake to be about 10% of your total calories. Make sure when you are purchasing meat, you are checking out the nutrition labels.

#highprotein #protein #meat #steak #turkey #chicken #highproteindiet #cooking #healthyfood #healthylifestyle #healthyliving #healthyeating #healthyeatinghabits #healthyeatingtips #healthyeats #dietingtips #caloriecount #caloriedeficit #performancecoach #personaltrainer #nyctrainer #nycfitnesstrainer #nycfitfam

This year, I am consuming a lot more protein post-workout.

Previously, I ate a minimum of 0.8 times my body weight in grams of protein, distributed across five meals with roughly 40 grams of protein each. I’m still eating a minimum of 0.8 times my body weight in grams of protein, however, going forward I’m going to be eating more protein after my lifts.

If you’re struggling to hit your protein goal, I think post-workout (0-3 hours after working out) is a great time to eat a lot of protein.

This is based on a study that looked at two groups:

Group A was given 25g of milk protein
Group B was given 100g of milk protein

Group B was found to be in a state of anabolism (building muscle) for a longer period of time.

So, going forward, I’m going to be having more protein post-workout. The study looked at milk protein, however, I don’t think the source matters as long as it contributes to muscle protein synthesis.

SOURCE: Trommelen J, van Lieshout GAA, Nyakayiru J, et al. The anabolic response to protein ingestion during recovery from exercise has no upper limit in magnitude and duration in vivo in humans. Cell Rep Med. 2023;4(12):101324. doi:10.1016/j.xcrm.2023.101324

#protein #highprotein #proteinpancakes #traderjoes #tjfinds #healthysnack #healthyfood #healthylifestyle #healthyliving #healthyeating #healthyeatinghabits #healthyeatingtips #healthyeats #dietingtips #caloriecount #caloriedeficit #performancecoach #personaltrainer #nyctrainer #nycfitnesstrainer #nycfitfam