Ever had one of those days where you just can’t seem to get enough sleep and you keep hitting the snooze button? How about one of those mornings where you look up and you realize you should have left 5 minutes ago?
I know I have those days and when I do, I don’t have time to get a balanced breakfast in, so I skip it. Sound familiar? Here’s the harsh truth: Skipping meals can cause you to overeat later in the day. One thing many of my clients have had success with is to prepare breakfast options that are grab and go- so when we are running out the door we can snag our breakfast on the way. When making your grab and go breakfast options (or any breakfast for that matter), you want to work on balanced options that include protein, carbs and healthy fat. Check out the 3 balanced recipes below that are not only quick and easy, but also kid-approved (for you parents out there)!! You can find all of these recipes on our website Double chocolate overnight oats -- the secret to this recipe is the greek yogurt, it’s loaded with protein and makes the overnight oats creamy. Green Machine Smoothie-- smoothies can be a great option. The problem is many times they are loaded with carbs and missing protein and healthy fat. This recipe is very balanced. Egg muffins -- make it your own by adding your favourite toppings. Pair with fruit for a balanced breakfast. These are also great reheated! Add these three recipes to your breakfast rotation for meal prep! P.S.---> Don’t forget to set a reminder to grab your breakfast- my athletes like to put a sticky note on the front door that says “Don’t Forget Breakfast.”
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Lifestyle. I mean, I’m sure you’ve heard this term before. Your lifestyle, the lifestyle you live. But what exactly does that mean?
In the simplest form, it is the way in which you live. Lifestyle can be a combination of the people that you surround yourself with, where you live, religion, as well as culture. According to the World Health Organization, 60% of related factors to individual health and quality of life are correlated with your lifestyle. But unfortunately, millions of people follow an unhealthy lifestyle. Let’s make the switch, here are 3 things you need for a healthy lifestyle: #1 Support System It is important to have support that is going to positively reinforce what you want to accomplish. If your spouse, significant other, coworkers, or roommate are not on board, it is going to be so tough. Think of your WHY, and share it with your support system. Let’s be honest, if someone loves and cares about you, and they know something is important to you and understand the emotion behind what you’re trying to accomplish, they are going to support you. #2 Strive for progress over perfection Life happens, things happen and it’s okay. It’s what’s important to strive for with progress is finding the bright spots. Find the things that you are doing well, so that positively reinforces those habits and behaviors, and gives you motivation to continue. How are you moving better? How’s your mood? How’s your energy level? There’s so many other factors. How are your clothes fitting? #3 Keep it simple Ditch the all or nothing mentality. This is a problem because we live in a microwave society. Everything in our culture is instant gratification, many people want to see results yesterday for work that they haven't even put in yet. It’s not possible when talking about achieving a healthy lifestyle and achieving lasting results. In order to see lasting results, you really need to slow down and focus on only one thing at a time. Sometimes it’s tough to figure out the one thing you should be focusing on and that is where coaches come in. Nutrition coaches are there to guide you every step of the way, and most importantly, keep you accountable If you need a nutrition coach- we have got you covered. All you have to do is book a free intro to get started. Did you know that 95% of your success or failure can be attributed to WHO you surround yourself with. You need a friend, accountability partner, coach, neighbor, or roommate to support you on your journey. Do the people in your inner circle help SUPPORT or INHIBIT your progress towards your goals?
As much as we don’t like to admit it sometimes there are people we surround ourselves with that just aren't on our side when it comes to reaching health and wellness goals. Here are two tips to help you find who is on your side and keep them there. Tip #1- Do an Inner Circle Inventory One of the things I love to do with nutrition athletes is to have them go through the 5 people they spend the most time with and answer the following questions--- 1. Do they support your health and wellness goals? 2. Do your core values align? 3. Are they growth-minded? 4. Do they bring you up when you are feeling down? 5. Do they keep you accountable or enable you? Tip #2 -Bring people closer who support you and distance yourself from people who do not. This can be as simple as making more of an effort to spend time and communicate with those who support you. Try scheduling a workout with them or something more social like meeting up for dinner or game night. If you need someone out of your inner circle to be on your side and help keep you accountable we are here to help! All you have to do is book a free intro to get started. So, I have a question for you…have you ever started a workout and quickly realized that you didn’t have enough gas in the tank to finish it, or execute it like you thought you should be able to?
Or have you ever hit that wall and just looked at the clock wondering why it’s moving so slow? Odds are, you have experienced that feeling before, myself included! The truth is that nutrition plays a large role in fueling your body for performance. So I wanted to share 2 tips to help you power through those workouts and hit your PRs! Tip #1: Keep it consistent Many of us were told that we should carb load the day before a big workout or event but this is wrong! The secret to success is to ensure you are focusing on consistency with eating whole foods, getting a balance of carbs, fat, and protein, and staying hydrated. This means all of the time! Not just the day before your workout or event. Consistency is key. Tip #2: Fuel around your workout Morning warriors should consume a carbohydrate and protein source before your workout. If you struggle to eat early in the morning, try a liquid source of fuel like a smoothie. If you workout in the afternoon or evening you should stick with your normal balanced meals and snacks throughout the day. Then aim to get some carbs in about an hour before the workout. After your workout, be sure to replenish your energy stores and assist with muscle building by consuming a post workout shake or snack that contains protein and carbs. My go-to is whey protein powder and oat or almond milk. For optimal results and recovery after your workout 1. Eat a balanced meal 2. Hydrate 3. Get adequate rest You may also consider adding an omega source to further help with the recovery process! Start implementing these 2 tips if you are ready to take your performance to the next level! Looking for more customized support to reach your performance goals? Apply for nutrition coaching today! The KINSTRETCH system is one born out of scientific research. All of the movements and training techniques have been selected based on a meticulous and rigorous investigation of evidence, conducted by physical conditioning and medical experts, as it pertains to body control, injury prevention, joint health, and physical longevity.
Unlike many training systems, KINSTRETCH practice is complete with a self-assessment system allowing you the ability to monitor your own body for dysfunction that may be causing pain, loss of performance, or that may be putting you at an increased chance of injury. Why Kinstretch : 🔴Improve movement capacity ⚪Improve flexibility, mobility and ability 🔴Improve physical performance ⚪Improve body awareness and control 🔴Injury prevention / mitigation Coach Jo is Malaysia's first certified Kinstretch Instructor. Having 7 years of training clients and 4 years teaching Crossfit, Weightlifting movements, she has developed a deep passion to help people to move better and lead a pain free active lifestyle. She is also certified in Functional Range Conditioning (FRC)® making her extremely knowledgeable in human movement, biomechanics, and body control development. That means she is highly trained in spotting, and correcting dysfunctions in your body as you practice. This membership is suitable for all fitness/non fitness level. Whether you want to improve your squat strength, increase body control on weightlifting & gymnastics movements, or want to improve performance on the new hobby sport you picked up during the MCO period, Kinstretch Mobility is your passport. If we polled our members to ask if eating healthy food was important, most of us would say ‘of course’. And if we asked whether exercise is key for health and wellness, everyone would most likely respond with a ‘yes’. So if we know that nutrition plus fitness is the magic key to a thriving, healthy life, why don't many of us dial into it? Why do we prioritize one over the other? Why do we put some of these factors on the back burner and only get serious about it when we’ve been slapped in the face by a wake-up call, such as no longer being able to wear that favorite pair of pants or a poor health screening?
In our experience working with hundreds of individuals at Lah and beyond, the key component is accountability. We’re all too often willing to let ourselves down again and again, but when someone else is counting on us, we show up. We show up for others because we don't want to disappoint them, but yet we knowingly disappoint ourselves over and over. We justify why we can't follow through on our nutrition, why we can’t get 10,000 steps a day or make excuses for why we have to skip the gym and we follow it up with a promise to try again tomorrow—or to start fresh on Monday. Meanwhile, we’re subconsciously tabulating every time we don't succeed as another failure, and over time, we begin to see ourselves as incapable. Relying on others to hold us accountable works for the short term. When we’re getting started in any new habit, we need that assistance and support. At Lah, we have a framework of accountability to help those wanting to get started. We send reminders, we check in, we acknowledge you every time you walk through the door, we high-five, we follow up and we celebrate with you each time you reach a milestone. Our #famiLAH also helps in this accountability effort. That friend who is normally in class with you notices when you haven't been there and sends you a friendly text asking how you’re doing. Or someone notices that huge PR posted in SugarWOD and gives you a fistbump and a GIF for it. We’re all in this together. We want each other to succeed. Now here’s where the truth hurts: No matter how you get started with being accountable, it ultimately comes down to you. It’s up to you to consciously choose every day to keep taking steps toward your goals. We will always cheer you on and help you, but if you haven’t bought into the process, it won't stick in the long term. You need to want it. You need to be dialed in. So how do we stop letting ourselves down and instead create a path to reach our goals? Here are 10 tips for holding yourself accountable to your goals: 1. Engage with the #famiLAH. We want to help you! If you don't engage, you are missing out on a big piece of the magic. Who wouldn't want a group of like-minded people cheering you on every step of the way? 2. Set reminders. Schedule your classes like appointments that you can't miss. Put a reminder on your phone to get up and walk every hour to ensure you’re getting movement throughout the day. Set an alarm for when you need to start prepping dinner so that you don't look at the clock, realize you have no time and do Grabfood instead. 3. Tell a coach or class friend when you’re planning to come to class. By putting your intentions into the universe, you have created an expectation that you will want to follow through on. 4. Print off a calendar, hang it in a visible spot and cross off the days you hit the gym or stayed on point with your nutrition so that you can literally see all the marks of your success. It’s satisfying to see your efforts adding up and will reinforce your habits! 5. Share on social media. There’s something to be said for putting it all out there! Even if no one on social media follows up with you on your progress, making it public will make you more likely to keep to your goals and your word. 6. Take progress pics. These are powerful, far more than you would imagine. We get used to how we currently look because change is subtle and seems slow. You see yourself naked every day. You may not notice the change, but by looking back and comparing to where you are now, you can literally see the progress you’ve made. 7. Set quarterly goal-setting meetings with a coach. If you are a member at Lah, we want to schedule these meetings FOR FREE with you every quarter, so reach out to get yours on the calendar! If you aren't a current member, find a friend who needs accountability, and set some dates to review your progress and set goals for the future. 8. Constantly remind yourself of your "why". A goal is great, but if we don't know why we want to reach it, it doesn't mean much. Ask yourself why you want to focus on these goals you set for yourself. How will it impact your life? How will it make you feel? Once you have a solid "why," remind yourself of it daily so that you internalize it and keep it close to your heart. 9. Don't make it all or nothing. Instead focus on that 1% better every day. We are on a journey, not a quick trip to the mall. There will be ups and downs. There will be plateaus. There will be stress, hurtles and self-doubt. Don't let those things mess with you. Acknowledge them and move on. 10. Reward yourself for reaching micro-goals. We all like to win, let's’ be honest. Set micro-goals along the path to your BIG goals and reward yourself for hitting those milestones along the way. An example is if someone wants to lose 20kg, they can give themselves a little gift for every 5 kilo’s lost. These rewards don't have to cost anything, either—get creative with things you enjoy and treat yourself! There are many other ways to keep yourself accountable, so find what works for you. Something that worked once might not work forever—switch things up often to stay excited and motivated about your success. If you need help getting started on your health and wellness path, feel free to reach out! We would love to set up a Strategy Session (or a No-Sweat Intro for new members) with you where we talk about your current lifestyle and your goals, and help you make a plan of action. ‘Tis the season for family, festivity, and food—lots of food. Temptations are everywhere, and office parties, get-togethers, and our sweet seasonal favorites fill our schedules. Problem is, all those foods are just so good. But they’re like sugar minefields. There’s no doubt the holiday season is THE HARDEST time to eat nutritious food and make smart choices.
So how do you stay on track when everyone around you seems to be splurging? Too many of us walk through the holidays with no plan. Here are 4 tips that can help you plan for the holidays: Eat close to your usual times. If your meal is served later than normal, eat a small snack at your usual mealtime and eat a little less when dinner is served. Invited to a party? Offer to bring a healthy dish along. Don’t skip meals to save up for a feast. You’ll be really hungry and more likely to overeat. If you have a sweet treat, enjoy it and move on. Even though you may not be able to control what food you’re served, you can meet potential challenges armed with a plan. Remember to: - Set goals - Make a plan to stay on track - Get an accountability partner for support Enjoy the Holidays! 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:
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. After almost 5 years as gym owners, our vision has changed.
When we opened Lah in 2016, our vision was simple: make people strong AF. As we evolved, our vision was adopted by our awesome team, and has become more complex. We wanted to introduce functional fitness to our greater community. We wanted to be countercultural. We wanted to stomp out the social media myths around fat loss, performance and “health”. So over the years we built a supportive and hardworking community. We planted seeds and cut back the weeds and grew in a hundred directions. In early 2020 we sat down, individually, and later with our team, to map out what it was we were continuing to create and WHY. We had cultivated a gym and community we were proud of, but we needed to put that in words too. There came the evolution of our new mission and vision. Vision: To fundamentally enhance the health and overall wellness of our members and those they love. Mission: Constantly striving for coaching excellence by focusing on member results while nurturing a community that we and our members take pride in being a part of. When we opened Lah, we chose to do things our way. We didn’t want to bring every single person in Bangsar through Lah for a short period of time. We didn't want to be social media influencers. We wanted to make a difference in the lives and wellbeing of our members and their families. We wanted to educate. We wanted our members to stay around so long they became family. We wanted to have to make people leave at the end of class instead of them wanting to leave. We wanted to make people love working out. We recognized that we could change the community by enlarging the lives of our members. They (you), in turn, can ask their friends to go for a walk, or share their healthy meals for lunch. We can be industry leaders in the health and fitness industry of Malaysia.. Why “enlarge”? Because our method of fitness is more than life-extending; it’s life-broadening. If you cut out processed carbs and sugar, and start doing squats, deadlifts and presses, you’ll live longer. But you’ll also live better. You’ll stay independent to an older age. You’ll have strength and mobility and the will to live right up until the end–you’ll practically be your own pallbearer. You’ll be younger for longer. And while you’re young, you’ll do more things. Our personal favorite goal is “to die young, as late as possible.” and we mean that. This is our number one fitness and wellness goal. You’ll Spartan Up. You’ll play more sports. You’ll run more road races. You’ll hike that volcano, or go to Everest Base Camp. You’ll get down on the floor with the kids, up on your feet to dance, and over the walls of diabetes and depression. You will go, you will see, and you will conquer. You will live a larger life. The Lah Vision is to fundamentally enhance the health and overall wellness of our members and those they love. What's yours? 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. |
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December 2020
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