Did you know that chronic disease often begins in the gut due to poor nutrition? Therefore, it is incredibly important to encourage a healthy lifestyle for our kids from a young age! Here’s how you can help:
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Be the example!
If you are telling your kids they can’t have juice or soda, don’t drink it yourself! Your kids look up to you so lead by example and follow a healthy lifestyle.

It’s never too early or late to start.
Start your kids off from a very young age eating fruits and vegetables. Use things like hummus dips or toothpicks to make vegetables more fun and interesting. If they didn’t like something the first time then you can reintroduce it at a later date, prepared a different way.
 
Do you have a picky eater at home?
If mealtimes are a struggle, try these 4 tips to help your child develop better eating habits.

1. Make it a family affair by planning family mealtime. Eat meals at the table as a family. Do not offer food while your child is playing, watching television, or walking around.

2. Try different preparation methods -- roasting, air frying or using different seasonings.

3. Try new foods when they are most hungry at the beginning of the meal. Continue offering new foods even if your child has said no to them before. It can take as many as 10 times for a child to try a food and like it. Don’t give up!

4. Be a role model. Your child will eat better and be more willing to try new foods if she sees others at the table eating the same foods. Family members, including older brothers and sisters, are important role models for healthy eating. How can you preach eating whole foods when one kid or parent is eating sugary cereals and doughnuts? Doing a pantry clean out is tough, but sometimes necessary to get all the unhealthy processed food is out of the house. 

You can use these tips for a child of any age. It’s never too late to start having a healthier and more enjoyable mealtime.

Everything we do today affects us in some way, shape, or form in the future. I think we learned that when we discovered how bad smoking is for us, or when we discovered what carcinogens are, but what about our other choices?

We choose to drink too much alcohol, eat too much sugar, and fill our grocery cart with processed junk. We also choose to sit at a desk all day, then sit in a car, and sit on our couch, and we avoid movement. What price will we pay for not exercising or for making poor food choices? 

Think about this for a second, we are animals who are made to move and feed off the land. Yet we still drink soda and participate in activities that cause harm to our bodies for enjoyment. The worst part is that we DON’T EVER STOP TO THINK ABOUT THE FUTURE.

One day these choices will catch up to us- saving money to buy the big bag of chips because they are on sale (this is just one simple example) that will cost you in the long run. What will that cost be? Your Health.

This is the cost of all our medical bills, pain, immobility, and independence that could be a result of our current poor choices. In case you didn’t know a trip to the doctor is EXPENSIVE and not having a good quality of life is depressing, to say the least. Who doesn’t want to be able to play with the grandkids (or great-grandkids) or be able to take care of themselves?

The great news is that you CAN CHANGE this outcome!! You have CONTROL over your current habits and research shows by following a few guidelines you can lead a much healthier lifestyle- leading to a better quality of life. Here are the simple steps to being more healthy:

Maintain a healthy diet- this means eating as little processed foods as possible and focusing mostly on whole foods (think the perimeter of the grocery store)

Maintain consistent physical activity- this means working out at least 3x per week and trying to attain a goal of 10,000 steps per day (at least 8,000 for those who feel that’s too much)

Reduce sugar intake! Men shouldn’t consume more than about 36g per day and women should limit it to around 25g per day according to the American Heart Association.

Not smoking

Moderate alcohol intake- this means limiting your intake to an average of ONE beverage per day!! (I don’t mean one of your pours of wine or vodka- we mean the actual serving size)

The hard part is making sure you actually stick to these basic guidelines. Our society is full of bad influences from the people we hang around to the commercials we watch, so living a healthy lifestyle when we are full of influences and busy schedules can be difficult to do on your own. We recommend that you find an accountability buddy and ask them to help keep you accountable.

If you can’t find one- we are here to help! It is our goal to empower YOU to be able to set the habits in place to do this on your own!! All you have to do is get started by booking a Free Intro HERE!
 
Check out this awesome article from Harvard University HERE. 

What does it look like when things are DIALED IN?

When things are considered to be “dialed in” your life flows well, you feel good and are proud of your daily habits. This means work, family, and all of your other personal commitments are made a priority and are well-organized. You may be wondering how this impacts your self-care, in particular, things like consistent healthy eating and exercise? 

When things are dialed in, you may find it effortless to get to the gym regularly, grocery shop for healthy foods, do some meal prep, and eat those healthy foods on a consistent basis. 

That DIALED IN feeling is AWESOME. 

If you are feeling DIALED IN, make a list of what that looks like for you. 

We often worry about life stressors and the impact this has on their health. If you are feeling DIALED IN, it's time to explore ways to maintain that level of wellness. 

Challenge yourself to take a minute to explore what it looks like when your dial is turned down. Very much the opposite to that DIALED IN feeling, when you're stressed you may isolate yourself, find yourself wanting to avoid gatherings, wear baggier clothes, eat unhealthier foods or beverages, and it takes much more effort to participate in healthy activities that once felt effortless. 

Challenge yourself to look at some of these DIALED IN vs NOT SO DIALED IN patterns for yourself. What have DIALED IN patterns looked like for you, what worked, and what didn’t work to help you stay engaged in your health and wellness goals? 

Here’s an example of a
DIALED IN vs NOT SO DIALED IN
list

Remember that your brain loves patterns, routine and comfort. It is easy to resort to behaviors that feel comforting and familiar when we get stressed. It’s easy to resort to things on your NOT SO DIALED IN list when stress hits. Each time you try a new behavior, you are working on changing your brain. 
The challenge lies in recognizing our patterns, and then challenging our ability to participate in behaviors that help us become more DIALED IN, choosing things on that DIALED IN list, even when we are lacking motivation to do so. Practicing new behaviors - the opposite action to emotion- helps to create new healthy patterns and routines and can increase our likelihood of having a happier and healthier end of 2020. 

The next time you feel like your dial is starting to turn down and you are resorting to items found on your NOT SO DIALED IN list, pull out your DIALED IN list and challenge yourself to participate in just one of those behaviors. Treat yourself well, even when you don’t feel like it. 

There is a great sense of accomplishment when you sit back and realize that you were tough enough to not fall back on old patterns that derail your health and wellness goals. By changing the way you think and react to stress, you may find that you are less stressed and happier.

If you need some help TURNING THE DIAL the time is now to book your free appointment with a coach using this link:

Studies have found that most people’s nutrition is significantly different over the weekends versus their week days. One study found that 19-50 year olds consumed, on average, 115 kcals more each weekend day. In a given year, that adds up to 17,940 additional calories or about 5#. 

With sunny days, free hours to get together with friends and families, weddings and birthday, and all other social activities upon us, we can find ways to enjoy our time mindfully! 

Lets talk about navigating your nights out, specifically looking at 4 settings you may find yourself in. 

Scenario #1- Sit Down Restaurant 
SKIP THE EXTRAS: Appetizers can easily contain up to 800+ calories! That is more than an entire meal! An easy way to stay mindful of caloric intake is to opt out of ordering apps! 

STICK WITH WATER: Sugar sweetened beverages (including artificially sweetened drinks) increase risk of weight gain, diabetes, gout, tooth decay, and more. Choosing water is a great way to limit sugar intake at meals and will help to suppress hunger, allowing you to stay mindful.

KEEP IT SIMPLE: Stick to the plate method and use your hands as an easy portion guide. Don’t shy away from asking for a box to hide the extra food! 

Scenario #2- Fast Food
GET PROTEIN: Think about your lean sources of protein such as prawn, chicken, and fish. Find items that highlight those ingredients. 

GRILLED OVER FRIED: Choosing grilled options is an easy way to minimize calories as well as fat. 

CHOOSE BETTER SIDES: Over the years, fast food places have made an effort to offer additional sides that highlight a lighter caloric intake. These sides include fruits, yogurts, veggies, and salads. If you stick with traditional sides like fries, order a kids size! 

Scenario #3- Mamak
CHOOSE THE BEST OPTION, NOT THE FIRST: Before you decide on a mamak option, be sure to check out all the options and choose one with easy staples that focus on protein, vegetables, and mindful portions sizes.

EAT WITH A FORK: Eating with a fork allows you to fill up on the nutrient packed filling rather than the carb loaded vehicle. An observation found that simply choosing a fork cut out close to 300 calories and 33 grams of carbohydrates. 

EAT AWAY FROM THE STALL: The most important thing you can do to assure you are following your natural patterns of hunger and fullness is to T U N E  into them. Removing yourself from distractions will allow you to be more mindful leading to proper portion sizes.

Scenario #4- Parties
START THE DAY RIGHT: We know that when it comes to these types of events, we often have less control over our food options. Focusing our breakfast and lunch to aim for lean protein and vegetables with less fat is always a great way to stay balanced and leave a little extra wiggle room to enjoy the night. 

MAKE A PLATE: Not making a plate and picking off the appetizer or dessert table can lead to mindless overconsumption. Simply put, when the food is within reach, you are more likely to consume it. 

RETHINK YOUR DRINK: We want to stick with simple drinks that are not loaded with sugar and remember to keep a 1 to 1 ratio with water. This will slow down the alcohol consumption while minimizing its dehydration effects on the body! Clear liquors, light beer, red wine and cocktails with soda water are great options. 

Now, enjoy your weekend!

​Let’s face it. Change is HARD. It’s also almost ALWAYS necessary in order to see progress. Here are 3 ways to help you dig deep and inspire change!

#1 - Make yourself feel something! Dig deep and find an emotional connection to your goal by doing the work to find your WHY. Unfortunately knowing something isn’t enough to make you want to change. You need to make yourself FEEL something. During our athlete strategy sessions and nutrition consultations, we help you zero in on and remind you constantly of your WHY, to help inspire change. 

#2 - Focus on progress, no matter how small. Here at FitLah Health and Wellness and CrossFit Lah we have many different ways to track your progress beyond your at-home scale. We focus on energy levels, how clothing fits, how workouts feel, overall mood, digestion - and so much more. Having a coach highlight consistent small wins creates happiness leaving our athletes wanting more!

#3 - Find like-minded people striving towards similar goals. They say we’re the sum of the 5 people we spend the most time with, are they lifting you up and helping motivate you? Or the opposite. Find your people and keep them close! 

 Let us help you make a change!

For many of us, mornings and breakfast time are a challenging time of the day. Either we aren’t hungry, we don’t know what to eat, we fall in the trap of eating the same thing day after day and get bored with the lack of variety, or we are too busy for a healthy meal.

Why are we writing about breakfast?
 
Looking at literature, many sources consider breakfast to be the most important meal of the day citing that people who eat breakfast have improved concentration, improved weight management, are less likely to overeat later in the day, and have more favorable cholesterol levels when compared to those that don’t eat breakfast. 

But… where do you start to make a healthy breakfast part of your daily routine?

We are here to help you with 5 tips to make breakfast a healthy habit:

Many people have read the book “The 7 habits of Highly Effective People” by Steven Covey (if you havent already we recommend it!) In this book, Covey discusses habits that lead people to attain their goals. Definitely check out this book to learn more about these 7 habits. 

In this letter, we wanted to share with you 5 habits of some of most successful athletes surrounding nutrition. We believe that by working these healthy habits, you can stay on track with achieving your health and fitness goals. 

Habit 1: Eat a healthy breakfast- one that is balanced with healthy sources of protein, carbohydrates and fat. Literature suggests that people who eat breakfast tend to have an easier time controlling their calorie intake and managing their weight. One idea as to why this is true is that if you don’t eat breakfast, you may be more prone to hunger and overeating or snacking on unfavorable foods later in the day. Examples of a healthy balanced breakfast include the egg muffins and some Amish Oatmeal topped with a few almonds. 

Habit 2: Eat your veggies: Veggies provide bulk to your diet without a lot of calories, and help fill you up while providing you with many healthy vitamins and minerals. Challenge yourself to eat more veggies. Ideas for eating your veggies throughout the day include spinach to a breakfast smoothie, making salads, a stir fry, or adding them to soups. Another way to eat more veggies is to add them to your 3 compartment containers when you meal prep.

Habit 3:  Eat whole grains like brown rice and oatmeal. Whole grains contain fiber and therefore add bulk to your diet, helping with satiety or that feeling of fullness. They are lower energy density than other refined grains like white bread and white rice.

Habit 4: Eat healthy fats - eating a healthy amount of quality sources of fat has less to do with weight gain than people think. Healthy fats are important to include in a balanced diet especially when you exercise. Examples include using olive oil for a salad dressing or when cooking food, topping foods with a little avocado or guacamole, and snacking on a small portion of nuts. Fats are nutrient-dense, and eating a small amount of them helps us feel full. 

Habit 5: Exercise- Aim for 30 minutes of activity most days of the week. If you are new to exercise, start slowly. Consider moving in 10-minute increments and gradually build from there. Schedule it in your day, involve an accountability partner, and find a variety of activities so it doesn’t get boring. Whatever you do for activity, give yourself some time each day to just move. 

Other healthy behaviors that are common amongst some of our most successful athletes that you can consider adopting to help you achieve your body composition goals include keeping a food log, tracking your activity, gradually increasing your activity level from 30 minutes to 60 minutes a day, eating and prepping real - non processed foods, and setting short and long term goals for the changes you want to achieve. 

Our advice: Schedule a free intro with the nutrition coaches to talk about coming up with an individualized plan to focus on adopting one healthy behavior at a time, and making those part of your foundation. Over time, these small changes add up to big success. ​

One thing that “diet culture” has taught us is to fear hunger. Whether it is an ad for the latest appetite suppressant, or the readily available snacks to prevent from ever being hungry-the message is the same: it is NOT ok to be hungry.  As we start to talk more about mindful eating, let’s discuss 3 reasons why feeling hungry is a good thing:

Our bodies naturally regulate their caloric needs each day. We get a signal when our bodies need more calories, a hunger cue.  If you learn to respond to this cue with the appropriate response (ie you eat) and learn to stop eating when you are full, you will be giving your body exactly how many calories it needs. 

Your hunger cues can let you know if you are eating enough at each meal, and also if you are eating in the correct balance.  If you find yourself feeling hungry 2 hours after you ate lunch, perhaps you didn’t eat enough at lunch, or maybe you didn’t eat in the proper balance (plate method!)

If you are NOT feeling hungry 4-5 hours after you ate, that can be a signal that you overate at your previous meal.  If you are dialed into what true hunger feels like, it can help you learn how to stop eating when you’re full as well.

The first step to beginning to eat according to your hunger cues is to build awareness of what it feels like to be hungry, and to be ok with that feeling. Hunger is NOT an emergency, it is just your body’s way of letting you know that it’s ready for some more fuel.
 
If you would like to learn more about this lifelong solution to weight management