Fit For Life Solutions

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Why Fad Diets Don’t Work (And a 6-Week Challenge Taco Seasoning Recipe)

6-Week Challenge Taco Seasoning RecipeEveryone is looking for that magical, painless shortcut to weight loss. Who wouldn’t want to eat cookies and lose weight, or consume tacos all day for a “cleanse”? (Speaking of tacos, there’s a 6-Week Challenge Taco Seasoning recipe below for you.)

Sorry, Cupcake. There are no magical shortcuts to permanent weight loss and health.

Why Fad Diets Don’t Work

Any time you change up your diet from the processed standard American Diet, you will likely experience some level of weight loss. The problem with fad diets, however, is that fad diets are difficult to maintain as a permanent lifestyle. You might lose 10 lbs. but once you go back to life as usual, it’s likely that you’ll gain back that 10 lbs. and then some. The other problem with fad diets is that, over time, the lack of variety of foods can deprive the body of necessary nutrients to function.

Lifestyle Change is the Only Thing that Works

Adopting a permanent lifestyle change, which includes a diet void of too many processed foods and rich in whole food nutrition is the only thing that will provide permanent health benefits, including weight loss and lower risk for disease. In many cases, the human body has an amazing ability to heal itself if you provide it with the basic building blocks to do so. Giving your body anything other than what it needs to function properly will usually result in a pattern of unhealthy up-and-down weight loss ( also known as “yo-yo dieting”).

The 6-Week Challenge – It’s About Nutrition

The 6-Week Challenge is our way of helping you learn the basics of building a balanced, nutrient-dense diet – as a permanent LIFESTYLE change. It’s a jump-start to learning how to use whole, nutritious ingredients to take back your health and form new habits to keep you there.

And while it’s not a fad diet, who doesn’t like tacos? This 6-Week Challenge Taco Seasoning recipe is void of the crap usually found in store-bought blends and delicious.

6-Week Challenge Taco Seasoning Recipe (Makes apx. 1 Cup)

  • 4 TBSP Chili Powder
  • 2 TBSP Ground Cumin
  • 4 tsp Pink Himalayan Salt or Sea Salt (fine)
  • 4 tsp Erythritol (optional; this is a sugar alcohol, found at Whole Foods or online)
  • 4 tsp Fresh Ground Black Pepper
  • 2 tsp Garlic Powder or Granulated Garlic
  • 2 tsp Onion Powder or Granulated Onion
  • 2 tsp Ground coriander
  • 2 tsp Paprika
  • 1-2 tsp Red Pepper Flakes (more for spicier)
  • 1 tsp Dried Oregano

Tip: Buy your ingredients in the bulk section of places like Sprouts, Winco or Whole Foods, shake it up and store in a small mason jar. Great for taco salads, fajitas, or tacos with lettuce “tortillas”.

 

Stay Hydrated – 7 Symptoms of Dehydration

symptoms of dehydration

When we are on a weight loss journey, the temptation to skip drinking water completely on weigh-in day is tempting, but there are some dangerous risks you take when you don’t stay hydrated. We lose water through things like sweating, using the bathroom, and through vapors when we breathe. When this water isn’t replaced quickly enough, it causes dangerous imbalances in electrolytes and other bodily functions. Symptoms of dehydration should be taken very seriously because if they aren’t addressed, they can lead to fatigue, heart problems, organ failure, and eventually, death.

 

7 Symptoms of Dehydration

 

  1. Thirst (or Thirst Mistaken for Hunger) – Our bodies are pretty smart. If you’re feeling thirsty, drink some water, and if you’re eating enough but feeling hungry, drink a glass of water and wait 20-30 minutes to see if the hunger subsides.
  2. Dryness – Dry mouth, mucous membranes, skin, chapped lips, etc.
  3. Using the Bathroom Less – Dark colored urine when you do eliminate is also a sign of dehydration.
  4. Light-headed or Dizziness – Also headaches, fatigue, and risk of fainting.
  5. Confusion – Trouble concentrating, thinking, or feeling “foggy”.
  6. Increased Heart Rate, Palpitations or Quicker Breathing Patterns – Caused by electrolyte imbalances. Your cardio-respiratory system depends on electrolyte being in balance to function properly.
  7. Inability to Sweat – After working out or in the heat, if you aren’t sweating normally, you might be dehydrated.

 

Staying Hydrated on Weigh-In Day

 

Morning Weigh-Ins

Still drink your water, but for morning weigh-ins, sip only a little before you weigh, and weigh before a workout if you can. Drink normally for your workout and the rest of the day.

Evening Weigh-Ins

Get most of your water in early in the day so that your body has enough time to eliminate any extra water weight. Stop drinking water about 3 hours before you are supposed to weigh in, and only sip on water until after you weigh. Bring more water along with you for during and after your workout.

If at any point during the day you to start to experience any of these symptoms of dehydration, it’s very important that you drink more water.

Cortisol, Stress and Weight Loss

Stress and weight lossYou’ve got the diet down, you’ve got the exercise routine down and you’ve even been putting in extra hours at the gym. You step on the scale, fully expecting that you had to have dropped at least 5 lbs. To your surprise, the digits either haven’t moved, or haven’t moved enough. The likely culprit? Cortisol. You might be shocked to learn that stress and weight loss work against each other in a big way.

What is Cortisol? Stress and Weight Loss

Our adrenal glands are responsible for regulating the stress hormone, cortisol. Cortisol is released when we are under stress. These stresses can be triggered by:

  • Not Enough Sleep
  • Poor Diet
  • Emotional Stress
  • Over-training
  • A combination of all of these

What Does Cortisol Have to Do with Stress and Weight Loss Problems?

Elevated levels of cortisol within our bodies will trigger us to hold onto fat, particularly in the abdominal region. Not only will we struggle to lose this weight (and possibly gain) but stress can also mess with leptin; a hormone responsible for making us feel full and satisfied. This means that when we are chronically stressed, we are likely to consume more calories than we need.

How Do I Reduce Stress and Lower Cortisol Levels?

  1. Go to Bed – Get plenty of sleep each night, between 7 and 9 hours is ideal. Some people may need more. If you’re having trouble sleeping, try a zinc and magnesium supplement like ZMA or ZMA-5 (with 5-htp which helps promote better sleep.)
  2. Eat Right – Eat a natural, nutrient-dense diet void of processed foods. Reduce or eliminate caffeine consumption and drink more water.
  3. Self-Care – If you’re dealing with emotional stresses, schedule time for self-care or seek help from a trusted friend or counselor.
  4. Cut Back on Your Workouts – Exercising more than 50-60 minutes at a time releases cortisol. There is nothing wrong with pushing hard for a few workouts, but if you’re doing this every single day and not seeing the losses you expect for that hard work, you may need to consider that you’re over-training. Take a rest day as well.

Keep Your Resolution to Be Healthy – 5 Tips

Keep Your Resolution to be healthyEach year, we have this funny habit of making promises to ourselves. We start the year off with high hopes that maybe this year will be different. About a month later, these “resolutions” start dropping like flies as life gets busy and seemingly more important things come up. We make excuses for returning to unhealthy habits and lifestyles and forget the strong resolve we felt coming into the new year. So how can you keep your resolution to be healthy in 2017? Here are five tips:

5 Tips – Keep Your Resolution to be Healthy

  1. Don’t make a New Year’s resolution. What I mean, is that you need to change your focus from temporary goals to lifelong goals. Resolutions are typically focused on finite goals instead of sustainable life change. For challengers, this isn’t really a goal to lose 20 lbs. Ideally, it’s a goal to learn new, healthy habits and the 20 lb. goal is just to kick-start it.
  2. Don’t Make Promises to (just) Yourself. Life change is hard and the chances that you’ll see your resolution to be healthy through without help is almost none. Accountability is a huge part of making big changes because our emotions are fickle. Motivation from your accountability “cheerleaders” can help carry you through the slumps and temptations that will come (and they will come).
  3. Set Smaller Goals for Along the Way. “I want to lose 50 lbs. this year,” is a pretty big goal and can be discouraging if there is one week you aren’t seeing the pounds fall off. Instead, set a few smaller goals to focus on along the way and celebrate/share those victories with those keeping you accountable. For example, if you’re just starting out (and you’re not already in a 6-week challenge), make it a goal to get in a gallon of water each day and commit to “X” number of days in a row you’ll do it. Once that’s a solid habit, add in something else, like going to bed at the same time every night, walking a mile every day, or to lose 5 lbs by a certain date.
  4. Understand that Setbacks are a Part of Life. So often people feel like they have to be perfect and will fall into a trap of shame if they goof up. Setbacks happen. Acknowledge your mistakes, learn from them, and keep moving forward or all of your previous effort were for nothing. Even if you don’t quite make your big goal(s) by the end of the year, you’ll have those smaller victories to keep you in focus.
  5. Find Your Motivation for Change. Don’t ask what you’re doing, but rather ask WHY you’re doing it. Is it so you can be there for your kids or grand kids? Did your doctor hand you an unfortunate prognosis? Joints hurting? Tired of feeling bad? See, we find our motivation for permanent, sustainable change when the pain of staying the same becomes greater than the pain of making changes. When the road gets tough, remind yourself of the pain (physical, emotional, the idea of not being there for your family, etc.) to help push you through.

If you’re new to the Fit for Life 6-Week Challenge, you’re about to experience a culture which fosters this idea of permanent life change. Fit for Life isn’t just a gym; we actually want to see you succeed. It’s going to be hard, and it’s likely you’ll make a mistake or two. Don’t fall off the wagon. Communicate early on with your trainers if something isn’t working or if you’re struggling in some area of the challenge. That’s what we’re here for, Fit for Life family!

6-Week Challenge – Five Foods for Dry Skin

Foods for Dry SkinJust as high cholesterol or blood pressure are indicative of an unhealthy diet and lifestyle, did you know that dry, blemished skin can also indicate malnutrition? It’s true, and one of the secondary benefits you may notice by the end of this challenge is a noticeable improvement in the tone of the biggest organ of your body – your skin! Here are five foods for dry skin improvement on the 6-Week Challenge:

6 Week Challenge – Five Foods for Dry Skin

  1. Wild fish – Rich in omega 3 fatty acids, consuming wild fish, especially cold water fish, can help “cool down” visible skin inflammation. Good sources are salmon and tuna.
  2. Sweet Potato – Contains plenty of Vitamin A and antioxidants responsible for repairing tissue damage.
  3. Cucumber – With the skin, cucumbers are also rich in vitamin A and vitamin C which both help with skin repair. Our connective tissues will also benefit from the silica (a mineral) content, as well as increasing skin elasticity and moisture.
  4. Coconut Oil – Used for cooking, coconut oil can help improve your skin’s moisture. It’s a healthy fat but high in calories, so take it easy on this one and use extreme moderation.
  5. Avocado – Avocados are rich in antioxidants and vitamin E, which speed up cell regeneration. Avocados contain monounsaturated fats which keep your skin moisturized and reduce inflammation. Challengers, you’re allowed half an avocado on training days, or instead of coconut oil, you can cook with avocado oil or make your own salad dressing.

You signed up for the challenge to lose 20 lbs, but chances are, you’re going to notice more than just pounds falling off. You’ll likely be consuming lots of these foods for dry skin, so don’t be surprised when people start to notice your “glow.” Be sure you’re drinking your gallon of water too, which helps combat dehydration!