Clean Eat Education: Eating Before a Workout

It's a question we all ponder through the course of our fitness journey - Should I eat before a workout? Should I train on an empty stomach?  The quick answer... EAT BEFORE YOU WORKOUT! There is quite the controversy regarding the answer to this question online, among fellow trainers and among fitness fanatics. If you are a morning exerciser, this really pertains to you. For those of you that workout later in the day, chances are you are well nourished prior to your workout, but just in case, please read on...

If you remember from my article on metabolism, your body has been working through the night, burning carbohydrates, fats and proteins to carry out the restorative process that is: sleep. 

Just a refresher... here's the your metabolism eating 6 meals per day vs 3 meals per day:

As you awake in the morning, your body yearns to be fed - your metabolism has dipped below the fat burning zone and into the muscle burning zone due to lack of food. This is reason enough to eat as soon as you can! When you couple this phenomenon on top of your desire to shed pounds, it becomes apparent that if you are already burning muscle for energy when your body is almost at rest (when you first wake), think about how much more muscle your body will have to burn to generate enough energy to power through a workout or cardio session. A whole LOT! Can you afford that... NO!

Keep your muscle and eat a little snack of 100-200 calories prior to exercising in the morning and your body will thank you for it! 

Stay tuned... I will be discussing great options for what to eat prior to a morning workout soon!

Update: Click here to learn what to eat before & after your workout

Clean Eat Education :: Farm Raised vs. Wild Caught Fish

Do you know the difference between farm raised and wild caught fish? Did you even know there was a difference? Check your grocery store's offerings next time you visit the Seafood counter - you will be shocked to see how many varieties are farm raised vs wild caught (warning: the price may shock you too!).

So, what's the BIG deal? Farm raised fish are "farmed" in man-made ponds and pens with thousands upon thousands of other fish, often located near oceans and larger waterways. Instead of eating other fish (as they do in the wild), these fish are fed a diet of fish meal, grains and soy (yes, I said SOY!). The grains they are fed are farmed on land; therefore, you can't be sure that these grains are free from pesticides or other harmful chemicals.

Moreover, farm raised fish are susceptible to ingesting PCB's (Polychlorinated biphenyl) and dioxins since they often encounter run-off and harmful chemicals from large manufacturing plants and facilities before their fellow wild fish do. What do the farms do to combat this? They pump your fish full of antibiotics to try and "kill" off any bad bacteria. 

Are all farm raised fish at risk for these conditions and chemicals? No. However, how can you tell? Most packaging doesn't specify. Therefore, when in doubt, I go wild-caught - EVEN for my canned fish (tuna, salmon, etc). 

Have a great day and don't forget to make sure you are buying wild-caught fish at the grocery! 

Sources Used in This Article:

• Scientific American
• CNN

Eliminate Excuses - Clean Eating and Hypothyroidism

My friends and family that know me well, know much about my struggle with the metabolic disorder, hypothyroidism and thyroid disease.

This is a guest post written by Tiffany.

For those of you that do not know what thyroid disease is, let me break it down for you in an incredibly basic (you can read more about the disease if you want, this is just an overview) sort-of way:

Your thyroid is a butterfly-shaped gland in the front middle of your neck that secretes hormones, specifically T-4 (or thyroxine), among others. These hormones influence your metabolism, overall growth, and development, as well as your body temperature. There are two types of thyroid malfunction:

• Hyperthyroidism is the increased (high) production of thyroid hormones, including T-4. Often individuals with hyperthyroidism have a very fast metabolism, are underweight, often warm/hot to the touch, have an increased heart rate and may even feel nervous or jittery.
   
• Hypothyroidism (the much more popular of the two) is a decreased or low production of thyroid hormones, including T-4. Individuals with hypothyroidism tend to feel cool often, have slow metabolic reaction to foods (metabolism), gain weight or find it hard to lose weight, may experience bouts of sluggishness, lack of energy, hair loss or thinning and even problems with regular hormonal and reproductive function.

Both of these diseases MUST be controlled with medicine for your body to function normally and the only way for you to find out if you have either is to get a blood test administered by your doctor's office.

Now that we are clear... I wanted to share a little of my experience with you just in case you are going through the same thing. I am hyperthyroid and was originally diagnosed with the disease when I was 19 years old (I am 28 now). I have been taking medicine on and off (yes, I know the off part is bad - that never should have happened) for 9 years now. I originally began on thyroxine, the drug used to treat hypothyroidism, my dose was 25mcg. Today I take 135mcg. A huge step, huh? I attribute A LOT of that to my previous dietary habits (and heredity, but since my mother only takes 50mcg daily, I don't think that's mainly it).

Prior to eating clean, my body would react to my new medicine dosage doing exactly what the doctors wanted it to do and then BANG! All of a sudden, it was like I hit a brick wall and the medicine would no longer work... they would increase my dosage and the cycle would start again. Since I have been eating clean consistently (6 months), my dosage has NOT been altered and I can see gains in my energy levels. I no longer crawl back into bed at 10 am in the morning, my hair no longer falls out and I have faith that this will continue! Nourish your body correctly and with aid from the right dosage of medication, your body will begin to heal itself.

DO NOT let people tell you they are overweight because of a thyroid problem (unless it is untreated)! And don't think that is the reason you are either (if you have a thyroid problem). There are NO excuses HERE - just hard work! I work EXTREMELY hard and watch everything that goes into my body and I am 5'2'' tall, 120 lbs, and 19.5% bodyfat. It CAN be done! I am living proof! You can do it too - don't fall into the trap of excuses.

Good luck on your journey! Even if my story touches one of you today, it's worth it!

Tiffany