What is Intermittent Fasting (IF)?
What are the benefits of IF?
What is the science behind IF?
It's much harder to overeat in 8 hours than it is to overeat in 16 hours! You are still encouraged to track your macros and calories during your eating window as you still need to incorporate a balanced diet and focus on hitting your calorie and protein goals everyday, females may find hitting their protein requirements harder if they are only going to have 2 meals per day. Take home points
Thanks for reading, any questions about anything fitness or nutrition related flick me a message and I'll get back to you as soon as I can!
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So you've been into supplement shop and you're wondering exactly what are all of these bright coloured boxes are and which of these do I need to be taking to reach my goals. I'm going to go into a little detail of my top 3 supplements I would recommend to the general population, Ireland in particular, that most people actually need more of to reach and maintain a better level of optimal health, rather than the ones someone in a supplement shop is going to advise you. First thing is first...Get all of these from food sources where you can, supplementing is the final port of call...not the first! However, realistically, with work, kids, stress etc. very few people reach the World Health Organisations recommendations and that is why supplementing is key for so many people, after all, it's better to supplement than not get these at all! In no particular order; 1, Greens Powder, do you get your 5-a-day, every day? Like the majority of Ireland, you probably don't. In Ireland the numbers are quite bleak. With only 21% of Men and 19% of Women reaching the World Health Organisations recommendation of 5 portions of fruit and vegetables a day, with children getting even LESS! This makes a greens supplement probably the most overlooked supplement out there and it's incredible that more people haven't copped on to this...the weather is getting worse...you're coming down with a cold...days off work...days off the gym...binge eating because you're sick? Get more vital micronutrients! All of which found in fruit and vegetables and these greens powders and by doing so you will boost your immune system and be much less prone to colds and flu's throughout the winter! TIP- Buy online from http://myprotein.com or http://bulkpowders.com to get better savings, these last for months and can be a game changer for your nutritional intake and all the health benefits that come with it...Stick a few scoops in a smoothie or shake! 2, Fish Oil. With all the major health benefits proven a million times over by the top researchers by eating 2 portions of fish per week (1 of which should be oily) is still an area in which most clients I see seem to be lacking. Bear in mind 1 in 3 people in Ireland are consuming no fish. Spain tops the list in Europe with an average consumption of fish at 40kg per head a year, much above the European average of 24kg per head. Whereas in Ireland the average fish consumption is only 16kg per head, much below the European average. If you are not reaching those portions each week you should be supplementing, aiming for 3g-5g of fish oils a day, whilst trying to actively get more fish into your diet, then you can start to come off the soft gels or liquid fish oil when you begin to get into the habit of eating more fish and oily fish. Fish oils are proven to aid recovery after a workout by helping to prevent inflammation and all of the other health benefits like preventing cardiovascular disease, lowering your LDL cholesterol (bad cholesterol) and much more, makes it a vital supplement! Tip- Get better bang for your buck with the fish oil liquid rather than the soft gels, keep an eye out in health food stores, it's a very inexpensive product with enormous health benefits. Try get a ratio of 2:1 of Omega 3 and Omega 6. Omega 3 is your flaxseed, linseed etc, fish oils. Omega 6 is the coconut oil, nut butter, extra virgin olive oil. 3, Whey Protein Powder The 2 previous supplements I would class as essential due the staggering statistics in Ireland across the board in regards to the lack of consumption. Protein is completely obtainable from good, lean food sources alone. Eggs, Beef, Chicken and Turkey to name a few. These are foods that most people eat on a daily basis, the others can be obtained from natural food sources but it's far less realistic and the studies prove that to be the case. So, why is whey protein powder in the list? Whey protein powder is widely consumed post-workout to aid recovery and promote muscle growth, but this powder is nothing that real-food wouldn't do if ingested at the same time you would usually ingest the protein shake. It's just very handy to have after exercise and goes down much easier than a chicken breast! If you think you need to be taking a protein powder, then read this... http://www.fitmalahide.com/blog/previous/2 Keep it simple when selecting a Whey powder, make sure there are no added ingredients it is just the Protein that you require! 4. Vitamin D We ALL need to supplement with this! We simply don't get enough of it in Ireland and the UK! Get a daily tablet and take it religiously. No amount of supplementation will help a bad diet. Sort out your diet and then use supplements to aid you in the areas where you are falling behind! If you need any more advice then get in touch with me directly! Gary Robb garyrobbpt@gmail.com 083-179-66488 I have been chatting to a few of my clients over the last few weeks and a few times the words Chinese Takeway have popped up, OK so everybody gets a takeaway once in a while but when it becomes your "Friday night thing", it's no longer a treat it's now a part of your weekly routine. I'm going to single out the Chinese fast food industry as recent research has found that Chinese takeaway and restaurants are the single most popular style of take-away or restaurant meal in the Island of Ireland (IOI). I'll also go into how bad it really is and the nutritional content of some of their dishes and how they match up against your GDA (Guideline Daily Amounts). So as I was doing a bit of research into this topic I came across a study commissioned by Safefood, an implementation body who promote nutrition issues in Ireland. Visit http://www.safefood.eu or http://www.fsai.ie if you want to look into anything regarding food safety and nutrition in Ireland, they are great sites. The study took 3 of the most popular starters and 3 the most popular mains in Ireland along with boiled rice and egg fried rice, over 220 dishes were ordered and the nutritional composition analysed, these dishes were ordered from all parts of Ireland and the results found were quite eye-opening. If you would like to read the study in full click below. http://www.safefood.eu/SafeFood/media/SafeFoodLibrary/Documents/Publications/Research%20Reports/What-s-in-your-Chinese-Takeaway-FINAL.pdf I have taken a few screenshots of some of the key aspects of the study, note that on average a meal containing Vegetable Spring Rolls, Sweet and Sour Chicken and Egg Fried Rice provides approximately 2184 calories. For females that is 109% of your calories for the day, 106% of your Fat and 160% of your GDA for Salt!! All this is without including a bag of Prawn Crackers they throw in for free, which on average comes in at a whopping 608 calories...but you only have half a bag right? So 304 calories. All of the red coloured circles indicate the highest parameter values and all those circles green represent the lowest.
Boiled rice as you can probably guess is much less in all aspects when compared to the egg fried rice which comes in at 727 calories. The King Prawn Satay has the least of the parameter values on most aspects when compared to the Beef Curry and the Sweet and Sour Chicken. It's fair to say that most people know that Chinese food isn't great for you, but when you do choose to treat yourself always bear in mind that there are slightly healthier options on the menu. This will be a lot easier from 2016, you may have heard earlier in the year that the Irish government passed a bill which states that every restaurant, take-away and food service outlet will have to display calories on their menus. This information will have to be posted alongside the price for the item and at the point where the food is ordered, whether at counters or tables. The action came after recent research showed that 2 out of every 3 adults in Ireland and 1 out of every 4 children is overweight or obese. This tool has been tried and tested in the U.S and has proved to be very effective. The Food Safety Authority of Ireland has created http://www.menucal.fsai.ie, an online calorie counting model, for all outlets to use for free to calculate the calorie content of each product. 95% of consumers want the calories displayed on menus and currently on 8% of fast-food outlets are currently displaying calories on menus so 2016 will be a big year of change. Hopefully this will encourage more people to make the right choices when it comes to eating out! Gary Robb Garyrobbpt@gmail.com 083-179-6648 As a Personal Trainer this is something I hear regularly, should I be taking a protein shake? The answer is....it depends. Before even thinking about getting protein from a powder source you should ask yourself is my diet right? In my experience people who want to take Protein shakes are often on all types of unbalanced or FAD diets, when you should just seriously think about how your daily nutritional intake is now. Is it sustainable? Is it balanced? Am I getting enough micronutrients? Do I eat enough carbohydrates? You should assess your whole diet before rushing to supplement, no matter what your fitness level is. The easiest way to get a gauge on your nutrition is to use something like the myfitnesspal app, this is something I get my clients to do to get an insight into their diet for 3-4 days, if you are honest with yourself in regards to your portion control and snacks and drinks etc. you will get a true breakdown of your Macros...your Protein, your Carbohydrate and your Fat intake, from this it will give you a fairly accurate measurement of your daily caloric intake at present and you can use this as a base to your goal setting. Any good Personal Trainer can help you with this. Get your nutrition right first and you are 80% of the way there, that extra 20% is your hard work and sweat in the gym. You cannot out-train a bad diet. Once you have logged your protein intake you can see how many grams you are getting per day, depending on your goals you can make adaptations to your protein requirements based on your weight etc. if you need help with nutrition or creating and achieving goals we can help you with that. http://www.fitmalahide.com/personal-training.html My advice to everyone would be to eat as much protein as possible from natural sources, eggs, meat, milk etc. Your Protein requirements will vary on your sex, weight and your goals. Chances are you will have to reevaluate your protein ingestion to suit your goals e.g some males will look to get 1g of protein for every 1lb of bodyweight if looking to put on muscle and size. The reason protein shakes are so popular, especially Whey Proteins, is that they are much easier to consume post workout than say eating a piece of chicken, I have touched on the benefits of consuming protein in the anabolic window previously. So, not to complicate the protein shake issue, you should get your protein from natural food sources first and only supplement if you have to, however, if you are lacking in your Protein requirements then there are many types of ways to supplement e.g protein powders, ready to drink protein shakes (RTD) bottles and protein bars, plenty to choose from and if you are lactose intolerant or vegan etc then there are rice and pea protein powders out there but a high quality whey protein would be most people's first choice. When choosing your protein powder make sure it is of high quality, but overall keep in mind, protein shakes are there to assist with your nutrition and not to become the foundation of your protein intake, use them as an addition if you are not reaching YOUR daily protein needs. Gary Robb PT The easiest thing to remember when it comes to Carbohydrates is that we need them! This is our bodies main energy source and if you are low in carbs...you will be running low on energy, that's straightforward! So where do these low carb diets come in and play a role and where do these fit in with the average Joe working a 9-5? Elite athletes and serious gym goers know the importance of carbohydrates and the effect they have on your body and mind, bodybuilders can enter bouts of Ketosis to reduce body fat but they also understand the benefits of carb cycling but these can be the extreme lengths they go to with carbohydrates for competition worthy aesthetics. The basic stigma that the "average Joe" in the gym has towards carbs is that most people see them as bad and the best way to lose weight is to cut back and stay off them...to an extent this can be true if you are overeating and if your energy intake is greater than your energy expenditure but overall if you can eat carbs and stay in a caloric deficit Women - Under 2000 Kcals/day. Men - Under 2500 Kcals/day then you will still lose weight...again, these are the basics. These figures are a rough figure for the "average male and female" to Maintain their weight. I've touched on finding your TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) previously. Remember - Maintain = stay the same, no one trains to remain the same!! So sort out that diet. Carbohydrates are a Macronutrient, along with Protein and Fat. Carbs, along with protein are 4 calories per gram, this is where the high protein and low carbs diets come into play, they are equal on calories but if you are eating simple carbohydrates e.g white bread, cereals, white pasta etc, this can be detrimental to your fat loss. These are called simple carbohydrates, simply because they are made up of only 1 or 2 sugar molecules and are very rapidly digested in the body making you hungry sooner and causing a spike in your blood glucose levels. As for Complex carbohydrates e.g Sweet Potato, Wholewheat Pasta, Oats etc. they are made up of much longer chains and take longer to break down in the body (keeping you fuller for longer), these foods are generally high in fiber and often high in vitamins and minerals - You must choose Complex carbohydrates when you are in a caloric deficit, they will not spike your blood glucose as severely and you will be fuller for longer. The Paleo diet is a way to reduce your starchy carb intake and promote a higher protein and low carbohydrate intake, whilst still getting in a ton of fruit, veg and fats. I wrote about this here: http://www.fitmalahide.com/blog/archives/06-2015 Fitness is Science - This picture is for the visual learners...a tiny insight into molecular breakdown of Glucose (Monosaccharide) and Complex Carbs (Polysaccharide) - note how the chain is longer on the complex carbohydrate making it more "complex" to be broken down by the body. The Polysaccharides are just composed of long chains of the monosaccharide units bound together! To make it slightly more complicated, we must then must look at when we take our carbs; Personally I start the day with a mix of complex carbs like oats and whey protein powder with milk - microwave or blended cold. That gives me that extra protein and a good hit of complex carbs that will slowly release energy to me until my next feed and I function well with it which is key. If you can't function with the foods you are taking in, especially breakfast then you seriously need to reconsider what you ingest! I would recommend this to people who struggle to get that breakfast protein and carb mix, also good for those who don't like eggs! - ditch the coco-pops and cheerios folks, full of sugar and wheat Ladies, there are far better ways to get your Folic Acid in so don't let the bright packaging fool you! We talk so frequently about Macronutrients that some people tend to forget to include those vital Micronutrients - see foods high in Folate here - mainly from those foods high in micro nutrients - http://www.globalhealingcenter.com/natural-health/folic-acid-foods/ The bulk of your carbs ideally should be taken post workout, this will replenish your Glycogen stores that have been depleted during your workout - this will serve as the best way to get the protein you ingest post workout to the muscle to maximize the protein synthesis and muscle repair - vital if you are training frequently! The more you workout and the leaner you get the less carbohydrate ingestion will have an impact and you can get away with a higher carbohydrate intake to match your firing metabolism and energy expenditure. As I said before Fat is essential in your diet, Fat equates to 9 calories per gram so factor that into your calorie intake and don't over do it on the nut butters and the avocado's those of you already eating "clean". A few key points to take in with your carbs and general diet;
1) Get better food quality, ditch the sugar and heavy wheat-laden carb meals especially when energy expenditure is minimal. 2) Always choose from complex carbohydrates 3) Get more protein, most people get nowhere near enough - ask yourself, how many grams do I get with breakfast? Ditch the sugary cereals, aim for 25g-30g of protein, be consistent and witness the changes. 4) Most people need to eat more fat, those of you who add avocado's and nut butters to smoothies be mindful of the calorie content! Remember - Eat fat to drop fat. 5) Take regular body fat tests, track your progress. Eat well, train hard and see the results in facts and figures rather than just guessing. 6) It's your trainers job to keep your program varied and interesting and it's your job to stick to your nutrition plan! 7) Track your calories, it's so easy and so effective and if you want to see any form of results you just need to do it at least for a few weeks. This will make it easier to nail your Macros I've talked about before https://www.myfitnesspal.com/ download it for your phone - it's free and easy to use. 8) Include weekends- Yes liquid calories exist...and that pizza you had! 9) Last but definitely not least - Portion Control - Women stop eating like Men and Men stop eating like pigs! Gary Robb garyrobbpt@gmail.com 083-179-6648 So you want to get nice, toned abs? I want to touch on a common myth about your core work, it's a thing that many are sold on that if you do your "7-minute workout" or read in a women's magazine, "5 core exercises to get you bikini ready" that by doing more core work you will get a flat stomach and the toned abs you have been working for. Get your diet sorted first, use the tools available to track calories and find your macro nutrient breakdown in relation to your goal...otherwise you could spend a lot of time and money seeing minimal results. Consistency is the key, if you want the fat loss and all that comes with it then you need to work for it 7 days a week, cheat meals not cheat days...your routine can't stop on a Friday after work! If you need help with any of this then get in touch with me on 083-179-6648 or e-mail garyrobbpt@gmail.com It's no secret in the fitness industry that caffeine enhances your performance, from marathon running to short HIIT workouts. Caffeine comes in many forms and many supplement manufacturers add it into several of their supplements to promote weight-loss/fat-loss products.
The idea of a Thermogenic tablet or Caffeine tablet is to increase metabolism and boost energy production needed to improve your performance or workout, making you train harder and essentially burning more calories leading to potential weight loss, obviously you must still be in a caloric deficit for the weight to shift! I am a coffee lover and that's why I have spent quite some time reading papers and researching, I've read many great studies based around athletes and caffeine consumption or caffeine intake and performance, as a Personal Trainer with a rugby background I have selfishly chosen this one as it relates to caffeine ingestion with a well-trained amateur rugby union team. The results from this study were very interesting (to me anyway), it shows how caffeine ingestion with conditioned athletes showed a 10% passing accuracy improvement under high-pressure conditions using a 6mg/kg formula and just as importantly, how sprint times at the beginning and end of a session were maintained with the supplementation of caffeine. As a team sport, rugby involves a prolonged duration of exertion with intermittent high-intensity bursts making it a great example of caffeine effects for high-intensity exercise and prolonged aerobic exercise. (page 8-9.) These studies put together here give you all the answers you need to know about caffeine intake. http://www.jissn.com/content/pdf/1550-2783-7-5.pdf "Caffeine conditioned subjects were able to maintain sprint times at the end of the circuit, relative to the beginning of the protocol" Stuart et al. (33) page 9. There is of course a downside to caffeine ingestion and it is very straightforward. Most people tend to use caffeine (coffee) to get a quick jolt in the morning and take several poor quality cups during the day to take them out of energy dips, by doing so you are abusing the substance and its benefits. Coffee, as a substance, should not be abused like this. The studies above were all related to performance and exercise, an exact measurement was taken with each athlete. The main problem with caffeine is that you can build up a tolerance, the best way to get out of the caffeine tolerance is to cycle your caffeine intake. This can be 3 days with caffeine/2 without etc. If you cannot go without your coffee for a few days you really need to reevaluate your diet and where you are lacking in your energy consumption. The next main factor would be the quality of caffeine that you consume, if you only consume high quality sources of caffeine (coffee), you will be less likely to overindulge on it, and if you consume high quality caffeine before you workout/team sport exercise, you will be directly benefitting from the caffeine ingestion during your high-intensity or aerobic endurance exercise. Last but certainly not least, the type of coffee you are having! If you can't understand why you are struggling with fat loss or even weight loss but are drinking 2-3 latte's per day, that is close to 200 liquid calories of garbage per serving that doesn't fill you up, then you need to have a smarter approach. Cut it out and switch to a high-quality Americano or Espresso and reduce the fat and calories whilst benefitting from the caffeine. Here is the starbucks breakdown of a Latte, I would like to highlight the 22% RDA of saturated fat also!! http://www.starbucks.com/menu/drinks/espresso/caffe-latte#size=42&milk=63 Always willing to give advice and tips so get in touch if you would like any more info or help reaching your goals. Gary Robb PT For those of you that don't already know, the Paleo diet is becoming increasingly popular around the globe and everyone from professional athletes to TV chefs are all giving their opinion. It has had recent coverage in a few high profile magazines and TV shows in the Ireland and the UK so I am here to elaborate a little further on it before you condemn it or jump on the bandwagon so you know the ins and outs. So what is Paleo? Paleo is short for the Paleolithic era, a period in time which started 2.6 Million years ago and is believed to have ended about 10,000 years ago, a long period in time but not that long since it ended in terms of evolution. Rightly or wrongly, this has Paleo pioneers firmly believing that 10,000 years is not enough time for the human metabolism to adapt to the foods that are now produced and consumed in the modern world, along with the introduction of agriculture, hence the spike in dietary diseases that were not around in the Paleolithic era. Personally I do like the Paleo diet and how people like Robb Wolf are trying to educate people to living and feeling better, follow the link and enter your email address to recieve a free online Paleo starter pack... http://robbwolf.com/ plenty of useful free information on his site. What I like about Paleo is that it is a far more sustainable diet than many of the fads that people follow, it is Coeliac friendly as there is no grains and the simple concept of cutting out grains, refined foods, trans fat and sugars which are some of the main factors in modern day degenerative diseases such as Obesity, Diabetes, Heart Disease and more, makes an enormous amount of sense. Essentially reverting back to the "caveman period" or the Paleolithic era where these types of foods were not available Paleo diet - What can you eat:
What to avoid:
By turning into cavemen and women you will be increasing your protein and your polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fat or "good fat" intake and reducing your carbohydrate and trans fat/saturated fat intake. Aside from the obvious health benefits of cutting out the modern day junk, with sustained effect and alongside a good fitness programme, this is a great way to see results in your weight loss and more importantly your fat loss, which is hard to knock. Each meal will consist of Protein, Vegetables and Good fats. Your snacks will be on fruits and nuts. For females, a palm-sized amount of protein and a thumb-sized amount of good fats at each meal with up to 1 cup of vegetables depending on your requirements, males can go up to double again depending on your dietary needs. Your Carbohydrates and Fibre will come from your Fruit and Veg intake and this will be much less as you are not overeating on grains, Ketosis will not occur in the body as you will still receive more than enough Carbohydrates and Fibre if you are doing it right to keep you fuelled. A Paleo man ahead of his times. Mr Fred Flintstone. So, on the flip side of the argument there are researchers who say the Paleolithic era was very long and we can't be sure if indeed lean meats were a staple in this era or if it was a luxury as to when it was hunted and gathered, which may not have been often. However, a general assumption is that it would be mainly protein based. Some believe in the paleo era the diet would have been more plant based as opposed to protein based and that their nutritional needs would have adapted as to what was readily available over the duration of the Paleolithic era and perhaps they were more nutritionally flexible than widely believed. The truth is no side can be 100% certain, but we can be certain about the increase in dietary diseases since the introduction of these modern-day refined foods and the effect that these diseases are having on our health systems. With 4/5 children in Republic of Ireland not reaching the Government's Physical Activity guidelines we can't afford to be introducing children into bad eating habits also. Read This: http://www.safefood.eu/Childhood-Obesity/Facts.aspx If you would like any more information or help reaching your own goals, get in touch and I can get you started ASAP. Gary Robb PT. Myofascial Release or "Foam Rolling" is becoming increasingly more popular and many health and fitness professionals are recommending it to their clients regardless of their age and fitness level. I want to give you a little further insight as to what it is, why you need to be doing it and how to do it. First of all you need a foam roller, if you don't have one I strongly recommend that you purchase one, I guarantee you will notice the difference in your pain levels and range of motion in the muscle tissue on the days after a workout. When purchasing a foam roller I recommend buying one which has the foam wrapped around a PVC pipe, these will last forever and will not need to be replaced like other foam rollers that tend to soften and sink in the middle. A roller like this can be thrown in a gym bag or be stored easily at home or in the car and won't take up a great deal of space. If you look around online you can get a good Foam Roller like the one pictured for €20-€30 or slightly more if you go into a fitness shop. By foam rolling you are breaking down any adhesions found in your muscle tissue, by doing so it will increase the blood flow and aid in your recovery as well as add the elasticity back into the muscle. If you are constantly feeling sore for days after a workout or you seem to be prone to injuries then you should definitely consider using a foam roller as part of your daily routine. Also, if you have poor flexibility e.g you can't touch your toes when performing a hamstring stretch then the foam roller is a great tool to use to increase your flexibility. The video below shows most of the main exercises to perform when using a foam roller. The key is to identify the trigger points in your muscle and then localise the pressure in that area by rolling. This should become a part of your daily stretching routine and your warm-up and cool-down routine. TIPS
Gary Robb PT So we have all heard of someone who has tried the green juice diet or even worse the "cleanse" or something similar and you may have even tried it yourself, I want to touch on the pro's and con's of this in relation to your health and even the possibility of greens supplementation for those who rarely get their 5-a-day. So the idea behind the green juice diet is that you get your juicer/nutribullet and you add a mixture of fruit and vegetables and maybe some fruit juice and you have this 2-3 times per day, maybe slightly more for hardcore juicers. This in place of "real food" means you only ingest Micronutrients and no Macronutrients, claiming to make you lose weight and feel better. In reality, you lose weight solely from the caloric deficit you put yourself in by only ingesting the juices, as for the "feel-good factor", have you ever spoke to anyone on a juice diet at 2/3pm? ask them how good they feel. The Pro's of the Juicing diet;
Con's of the juicing diet;
So as a whole, the juicing diet in NOT a complete and balanced diet and should never be used as a "quick fix" to losing weight, as for the "cleanse", if you were eating only fibre from fruits and vegetables it is quite obvious your body will need to excrete all that Fibre (you will just go to the toilet more often). Your energy stores will be greatly depleted and your ingestion of Proteins, or lack thereof, will cause your muscles to take longer to recover and grow leading to you skipping workouts because of muscular pain. The Green Juice diet or "lifestyle" as he calls it was made popular a few years back after the 2010 documentary Fat Sick and Nearly Dead, which is on Netflix and Youtube, if you haven't seen it it's just about worth a watch, he is an Aussie who travels around America trying to "educate" America to a healthier life. The guy is called Joe Cross and he was quite sick and overweight and on many types of medication and by juice fasting he managed to lose weight and discontinue his use of medications from his increase in antioxidants and vitamins. The juice fasting was done under the strict supervision of a Doc called Joel Fuhrman, but what you must remember is that the film was like a 2 hour commercial for these guys and they are now making great sums of money from the film and from the books and advice they sell. The health benefits of having your 5-a-day are enormous and more importantly proven, if juicing once or twice a day as an addition to your daily nutritional intake sets you on your way to this then I would absolutely recommend juicing. The key is to juice as an ADDITION to your daily nutritional intake, especially if you are finding it hard to get fresh fruit and vegetables into your diet. If you have a really tough workout you can juice a few times the following day to aid in your recovery and increase the protein synthesis allowing for quicker muscle repair, but the key is to feed your muscles with Protein in the anabolic window post workout and get some Carbohydrates in to restore your Glycogen levels post workout. Balance is key, your body requires a mixture of foods, vitamins and minerals to keep you at optimum health whilst you are trying to achieve your goals. In regards to supplementation of the greens in your diet, this is also another easy way to increase your greens intake. I would recommend getting your greens from real food every time but as I said, we do not live in a perfect world and if you can supplement your greens on a day that you have had little to none, it is better than not getting your greens in at all. These greens powders can be bought on websites like www.bulkpowders.ie and most decent health food shops and they are very cost-effective and most of them contain more than 5 of your 5-a-day. This will give you an array of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants that your body needs. This is something for you to think about if you are constantly getting sick or take longer to recover from illness and are in a bad habit of not working enough of these essential vitamins and minerals into your daily nutritional intake. However, just like my advice for any other supplement, you should be trying to get it from real food first, powders are just handy, but if you can't, this is another way for you to supplement it into your diet making you have a more balanced diet and hopefully a more balanced lifestyle. Find your balance, measure your caloric intake in relation to your goals https://www.myfitnesspal.com/, eat good clean food and supplement if you have to. Yours in Health and Fitness, Gary Robb PT |
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