If you really plan on getting healthier this year, start by sleeping better.
This is why we are challenging you to get 7 to 8 hours of sleep for the next 7 days.
Sleep is a crucial component to everything that makes us healthier and happier versions of ourselves. Why not focus like hell on it this year?
Sooner or later (hopefully sooner rather than later) you will be allowed back into the gym and we can’t wait. Here are a few tips to consider as your dream about your first day back in your favorite fitness club starts to become more of a reality.
It’s safe to say that many of us have now wiped the dust off of those old dumbbells in the garage or resurrected that Bowflex machine in the basement. Others of us have no equipment at all and are reliant on body weight specific exercises only.
Let’s face it, gym floors and locker rooms are a little more crowded during January/February and therefore things can get a little bit weird out there.
Whether or not you enjoy doing “meal prep,” preparing healthy food for the week ahead can have a big impact on your food choices. Therefore, it can make or break your weightloss/wellness goals.
Let’s face it, this time of year one of our biggest hang-ups with getting in a workout is the feeling that we just don’t have enough time.
A few weeks ago I posted a photo of our Sunday dinner on Instagram and received numerous requests for the recipe. The star was a healthy chicken noodle soup.
It is a pretty traditional chicken soup recipe, however, we removed the bouillon cubes to make it less salty and swapped out traditional noodles for Banza chickpea gluten free pasta shells. For some reason it was a little less liquidy than other soups, which we didn’t mind because it felt more like a more hardy meal.
Other than that, it was chock full of chicken, vegetables and fresh herbs! We served it with salad and gluten free cracker. Can’t beat this for a family meal.
Ingredients
STOCK
3lbs chicken cut up (we used a full chicken, bone in for added flavor)
4 cups organic low sodium chicken broth
1 onion, diced
2 tsp italian seasoning
1 tsp lemon pepper seasoning
3 gloves garlic, minced
4 bay leaves
SOUP
2 cups sliced carrots
2 cups celery (use the leafy green tops)
1 cup sliced mushrooms
3 tbs chopped parsley
2 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
2 tbsp of Parmesan
2 1/2 cups Banza gluten free pasta shells
Directions:
Cook Chicken: We added a whole chicken to a pot of 4 cups chicken stock and 2 cups water with bay leaves and onions and let this cook. You want enough water and a big enough pot to cover the chicken about an inch or so. Let it cook for about an hour or until chicken is done.
After chicken cools, remove skin, bones, cartilage and discard these items. You can also remove the onion and bay leaves from the stock and discard them.
Bring the stock back to a boil, add carrots and cook for 3 minutes. Add celery and continue to cook for another 5 to 10 minutes. Lastly add back in the chicken, mushrooms, parsley, rosemary and Parmesan cheese.
Cook pasta: because we were using gluten free pasta, which has a tendency to over cook and get too soft, we cooked the pasta separately based on the directions on the box. Add this in last, shortly before serving.
At this point adjust seasoning according to taste and enjoy.
If there is one thing to limit or even eliminate in your diet, it is added sugar. No, we aren’t talking about naturally occurring sugars found in things like fruit and dairy products, after all weight gain and metabolic disease caused by fruit consumption is usually not the problem.
If you know anything about fitness, you know that having a strong “core” is crucial. This is a topic that has already been well documented by fitness magazines, Youtubers, instagram coaches eager to sell you on their own six pack abs. You would have a hard time reading anything fitness related that doesn’t at least touch on the topic.
One of the most commonly asked questions that we get from clients is...What should I do on my off day [from the gym]?
“Rest days” are extremely important to the recovery and repair process of your body. They allow for muscle to repair and regrow stronger, they help prevent overuse injuries and prevent the negative consequences of over-training. Rest days can also ward off mental burn out.
Just the other day one of my favorite strength coaches made a social media post that went like this,”If you look at your [exercise] programming from 5 years ago and don’t facepalm, you probably need to reconsider your continued education approach.” Facepalm could easily be replaced with, “what was I thinking!?”
While our motto is “Keep Moving Forward,” one of the most frustrating things is expecting results from all your hard work in the gym and not seeing them. It is that dreaded feeling of stagnation.
While fitness may seem like an odd pairing with “gratitude,” surprisingly the two go hand in hand. After all, not only do we need to get our body right, there comes a point when we realize that we also need to get our mind right. It’s very hard to have one without the other. At The Body Shop Studio, we firmly believe in the holistic approach of cultivating both a healthy mind and a healthy body.
If there’s one exercise that every able bodied person, regardless of age or training level, should have in their routine and be able to perform correctly, it’s the squat. When we mention squats, a lot of people think about a grunting 300lb powerlifter with a fully loaded barbell on their back. This could feel intimidating.
Believe it or not, half of us are likely deficient in magnesium and don’t even know it. If you exercise vigorously, which increases urinary and sweat losses, your magnesium daily intake requirements increase by 10-20%. While the best way to find out for sure is to get a blood test, this mineral supplement is inexpensive, and poses little to no risk if taken needlessly.
Deadlifts find their way into a lot of our clients programs because they can help fix/strengthen many areas of the body. They are arguably one of the single most effective movements you can do; benefiting people from all age ranges, skill levels and with varied goals. If you don’t have any limiting injuries, the deadlift is an exercise you should probably incorporate into your routine. Here are a few reasons we love them:
When it comes to figuring out what to do in the gym, the good news is that there are a lot of things that will give you success getting from point A (where you are now) to point B (where you want to be).
When it comes to reaching fitness goals, one of the most commonly asked questions is, what kind of nutritional/ fitness supplements should I take to help me get there? In some cases, consuming a dietary supplement may give you a slight edge on performance and aesthetic goals. However, the multi-billion dollar supplement industry is flooded with sexy ads that make false promises. It can be extremely overwhelming to make an educated decision on what to purchase. Take a look below at our top five most asked about supplements and whether or not they may be beneficial for you!
When it comes to your diet and exercise program, how important to you is your scale weight as a measure of success?
I’m sure we are not the only trainers who sometimes feel like we spend half our time actually getting people healthier and the other half of the time convincing them they are making positive improvements despite the scale not moving as much as they would have liked.
One of the most commonly cited reasons for failing to exercise is “lack of time.” Unfortunately, sometimes we can be made to feel like if we’re not a complete and total gym rat, we aren’t doing enough!
