nutrition

How Much Salt is Too Much?

Salt is very important to our diets, in nature sodium and chloride are found together to make our favourite table condiment “Sodium Chloride” or Salt. Excellent at enhancing the flavour of our foods, it’s also plays an important role in maintaining water balance in the body for muscle & nerve function.

Certain physiological reactions and illness including excessive sweating, burns, server vomiting and diarrhea and kidney damage can lead to a loss of salt in the body which should be quickly replaced as low levels of salt in the body can lead to dizziness, muscle cramps and exhaustion and if not treated may lead to life threatening shock.

Salt however is generally not a problem, it’s in many foods especially processed meats, snacks and fast food. High levels of salt contribute to high blood pressure and heart disease. 

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The Truth About Eating Late!

If you have been on a diet or if you are on one now, trying to eat healthy of just lose want to lose a few pounds then more than likely you have heard someone say ‘don’t eat late at night’. This could be true for most of us, however it is important to take into context of the individual concerned. The important factor here is when you normally go to sleep and for most of us the following statement will largely be true. If you work daylight hours, going to bed and waking at what most would consider a normal time then eating & snacking past 7pm is a horrible idea, especially if you are trying to manage your weight.

You know this right!? well’ here is why!

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Why Breakfast Is The Key to a Healthy Lifestyle

Eating breakfast is nothing new, I’m sure you have heard it all before, it’s likely someone has told you “you really should eat breakfast if you want to lose weight” a smart person they are too. The advice is often not received and I am baffled as to why? It makes no sense not to eat breakfast, well perhaps it’s knowledge that is the problem so let me help fill that gap and hopefully make some better decisions with your diet & nutrition.

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4 Simple Steps to avoiding Christmas Weight Gain

Each year over the Christmas period the average person will gain 2kg and really it should be no big surprise. We are eating more and doing less, science will tell you if you don’t burn as much as you intake, you’ll be in a calorie positive state and this will lead to weight gain, easy to put on, not so easy to shift. 

Most of us are lucky enough to have a break from work over the Christmas period, this historically is also one of the least busiest times of the year for gyms and fitness facilities so it’s clear were not spending this extra time at the gym. Therefore we need to manage the positive calorie balance, this can be achieved through increased activity and more awareness about portion sizes and food choices.

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Snacking is key to weight loss

Diet & healthy eating is a hugely confusing area with every book you read contradicting the last one, ditch all carbs, only eat protein or starve yourself 2 days a week. Nearly all complete rubbish, so why do we go for it? Because it’s easier than hard work! When people want to lose weight they pick up the latest diet book, there is a huge market for this stuff and no shortage of so called experts explain their latest diet. In this blog post, I’ll cover one of the most basic weight loss tools which is ‘actually eating’ and often.

My view on diet is that no one needs to go on a diet, unless morbidly obese in which case a massive calorie reduction diet designed by a qualified nutritionist is required. Therefore for the rest of us all we have to do is eat healthy, eat balanced portions and eat often, that’s it!

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Did you think Orange Juice was good for you?

I know what your thinking! Orange Juice! Bad for me? Well, all in moderation however, it’s certainly something I don’t drink, it’s awfully sweet with a lot of sugar which is why people drink it like water!

“It’s OK, I drink 100% Orange Juice!” Wrong! This is still full of sugar and it’s not pure. The one thing we need to learn about diet is that if it’s processed it’s not going to be a healthy choice to sustain a long term healthy lifestyle. Orange juice is seen as the healthy option compared to other soft drinks but the truth is, it’s just as bad as the rest. The worst thing about Orange Juice is the combination of the consumers lack of knowledge about food labelling and the manufactures overwhelming desire to ensure you believe their drink is good for you. While keeping to the ‘legal’ food labeling guidelines, it’s still going to confuse you and look like a good choice by looking at the label.

Most Orange Juices will show No Fat & a bunch of Vitamin C! Good right! Well lets look at a popular Orange Juice Drink label

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How Resistance Training for Women Promotes Weight Loss

Weight training is this super scary, underworld activity performed by huge muscle bound men and looking at a dumbbell is enough to build huge muscles! The truth is, as any man will know who’s tried to gain muscle, it’s not quite so easy. 

Weight training is an excellent way to reduce body fat, tone up, firm up and increase muscular strength and fitness. If you are a women concerned about using weights for your workout or to lose weight, it’s time to think again, it’s one of the most effective methods to stimulate weight loss and maintain your desired weight.

The difference between the huge weight lifters and women wanting to lose weight and tone up. When it comes to training it’s all about freqancy & intensity or more simply reps, sets & weight. Its how we train not the training that will dictate muscle size, tone and strength.

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