HOW ALCOHOL CAN RUIN YOUR HEALTH AND FITNESS GOALS

How Alcohol Can Ruin Your Health and Fitness Goals comes mostly when you over indulge, meaning more than 1-3 drinks per week, and consume mixed drinks. Mixed drinks are among the worst alcohol beverages you can drink because of the juices, sodas, and other sugary substances that make a mixed drink just that, a mixed drink. Then if consuming more than 1-3 drinks per week this can pack on a lot of calories and calories that your body has a more difficult time processing. When your body struggles with processing calories, they become sugars and can be stored as fat.

HERE ARE SOME SIDE EFFECTS OF THOSE OVER INDULGENCES AND MIXED DRINKS:

1. Alcohol has more calories per gram than the macronutrients protein, carbohydrates, and fats. Therefore you are consuming less in quantity but far more calories.
2. Decreases your Inhibitions which means your decision making is decreased and you are more likely to choose foods and other things that you would not normally choose.
3. Alcohol can damage your liver, kidneys, and digestive system. All things we need running at their best to have a more balanced health.
4. Alcohol lowers testosterone levels in both men and women. It is never good to have lowered hormone levels for any reason.
5. Alcohol has been found to increase your appetite because it triggers the brain to send the signal that you are hungry. Again striking up the possibility for over indulgence of food.

It has been proven that the choice of alcohol and the amount drank will negate any efforts to lose body fat and will alter performance for the worst. The best advice would be to totally abstain to keep peak performance and hit your weight loss goals. Once your goals are obtained it would be highly recommended that you stick to the best choice which would be wine. Beer is okay, but if you consume more than 12 ounces 1-3 times per week it would be added to the How Alcohol Can Ruin Your Health and Fitness Goals list.

HERE IS THE NEWS THAT I KNOW MOST OF YOU WANT TO HEAR…

Click HERE to read the rest of the article, including what alcohol you can start to add back in once you have hit your goals! 

Daily Protein Requirements for Men and Women

Are you eating too much protein?? There are so many fad diets going around, including low carb/high protein. But did you know you can eat too much protein? Check out this article to see how too much protein can sabotage your weight loss.

http://www.gettingfittogether.com/daily-protein-requirements-for-men-and-women/#!74

Daily Protein Requirements for Men and Women

What are the Daily Protein Requirements for Men and Women? The average man in the United States consumes about 100 grams of protein per day, while the average woman takes in approximately 70 grams, according to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The amount of protein you need daily really is dependent on your gender and activity level, as well as your goals because this determines your total caloric intake which has an effect on the amount of protein you need to consume.

Daily Protein Requirements for Men and Women

The Institute of Health and Nutrition finding is that for general health, men should get around 56 grams of protein per day and that women should get around 46 grams. It is also important to know that the human body cannot properly utilize more than 20 grams of protein in one consumption. Therefore the grams should be spread out throughout the day in smaller doses. When consuming protein it needs to be of higher quality to ensure that you are getting the nine essential amino acids that are needed but your body cannot produce on its own. Meat, fish and poultry provide all of the amino acids, but if you are a vegetarian, you can combine foods, such as rice and beans, or whole-grain bread and peanut butter, to get a complete array of amino acids.Shakeology which is a total nutrition shake, will also provide all the nutrients you need from the protein to the amino acids. Including this shake in your daily nutrition will help you reach your protein needs without overloading the body with hard to digest animal proteins.

It is also recommended that 10 to 30 percent of your total calories comes from protein. This guideline is general and is dependent on goals. Example: 1,800 calories per day, 180 to 540 of those calories should be from protein. Each gram of protein is 4 calories. This would put your consumption at 45 to 135 grams of protein. This proves why it is dependent on gender, activity level, and personal goals.

Most People Get Too Much Protein

To avoid weight gain, water retention and extra wear and tear on your digestive system, do not take in more protein than recommended. Your body will only use the protein it needs and can process at one time. If you are consuming more than your body needs you will either store it as excess fat or eliminate it. Therefore consuming too much at one time is bad for your body and a waste of money.

Eating large amounts of meat and animal protein each day can be especially unhealthy and hard on the body. Animal products should be eaten in moderation. Plant-based proteins, such as beans, whole grains and legumes are choices that keep the protein levels where you want them and provide a lot of other nutrients. Of course eating a variety of protein sources ensures your body balanced nutrition with all the essential amino acids and prevents it from being bogged down when there is too much of one food item.

Best Result with Your Protein Consumption

Most people don’t realize this, but the muscle gains and recovery do not come from just protein. You need to have a balanced proportion of proteins with complex carbohydrates for your body to actually assimilate the protein for muscle gains and recovery. Therefore you need to consume protein in small amounts, keeping the total grams in one sitting to no more than 20, and include carbohydrates that will optimize protein utilization. This is why we mention plant-based protein sources, as they provide both protein and carbohydrates.

If you are looking at supplements for help getting good protein and carbohydrates you want to use something that is natural and does not have additives or artificial sugars and ingredients. Two of the best sources of high quality supplements are the superfood shake Shakeology, and Beachbody’s Recharge and Recover Protein from their Performance Nutrition Line. These products are clean, high quality protein sources that are perfectly balanced with carbohydrates for optimal assimilation of the protein and super nutrient dense carbohydrates to aid in the process of muscle gain and recovery. When you are providing your body the proper macronutrient quantities, you will get the greatest results. Too much or too little will keep you from having the gains and results you are looking to obtain.

With the knowledge of protein requirements and overall balanced nutrition, great things will happen for you.

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Veggie Lasagna

When I think of comfort food, one of the first things I think of is a nice warm cheesy lasagna! So here is a version that is packed with veggies instead of packed with carbs and greasy meat!

I have tried it without any noodles and it doesn't hold its consistency. So if you can see, I just have two layers of noodles. That way it holds together better, but is a fraction of the carbs!

 I precooked the spaghetti squash. If you don't, you can't get it out. Cut the squash in half, put a few teaspoons of water, then covered in tin foil. Bake at 425 for about an hour. (You can steam in the microwave if you know how)


I sauteed my veggies - I used peppers, onions, mushrooms, carrots, and corn. But I have used broccoli and asparagus in the past. It's really whatever veggies you want!



I also steamed some spinach to use in the cheese mixture. I only steamed it for about a minute.

Precook the noodles. I only used about half a box because I only did two layers of them.

 The cheese mixture is similar regular lasagna. 16 ounces of low fat cottage cheese, 1 egg, 1 tsp of Italian seasoning, 1.5 teaspoons of dried basil, 1 teaspoon of garlic powder and 1 cup of low sodium Mozzarella, .5 cup Parmesan and the steamed spinach.


 Then layer everything similar to a regular lasagna. Pour some low sodium canned tomatoes down first, then veggies, cheese, and your first layer of noodles. Keep layering and top with Mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Bake in the oven at 375 until top is golden brown.


The great thing about this recipe is how customizable it is. I know I'm not very good at making recipes, but I am really good at taking recipes and customizing them! Use veggies that you love; try goat cheese instead of mozzarella, make it your own and enjoy!

If you have any great ideas on how to make this your own, I would love to hear about it! Leave me a comment and tell me what you used!