Insulin For Life Long Health and Wellness



Insulin is a hormone produced in our body to regulate and control blood sugar levels.  Insulin is secreted by the pancreas to supply cells with glucose.  Food that we eat is converted to glucose, which is the main source of energy for our bodies.  Everytime you eat the pancreas must work to secrete enough insulin to keep blood sugar levels from reaching too high and give your cells the energy they need.  High blood sugar levels can damage organs as well as lead to diabetes.  Diabetes occurs when, either your body stops producing insulin or your body builds an intolerance to insulin.  The lack of insulin in the body to supply energy to cells can lead to unconsciousness and even death.  A lack of insulin or an intolerance to insulin in your body is a result of an unhealthy diet and very little exercise.

Here are some tips to help your body produce insulin normally throughout your entire life:

• Never miss breakfast. (spark your insulin in the morning!)
• Eat more frequently smaller meals. (5-6 normal sized portions!)
• Avoid refined sugars and complex carbohydrates. (no processed foods and minimal starches!)
• Exercise your muscles and do cardio regularly.  (Helps to maintain lower blood sugar levels!)
• Drink adequate amounts of water. (6-8glasses a day!)
• Eat according to your activity level.  (A starch is good before exercise but not before bed!) 
• Eat more natural foods like leafy green veggies and low fat meats.  (Your body absorbs it easier!)

Insulin secretion plays a vital role in maintaining normal blood sugar levels.  Your goal, in maintaining lifelong health and wellness, is to maintain normal insulin levels so that your body will never be deprived of this essential hormone.  With strong commitment to a balanced nutritional diet plan, the less likely you are to becoming a diabetic.  Forcing your body to work extra hard to maintain normal blood sugar levels overworks your pancreas.  Your pancreas will stop producing insulin efficiently due to an unhealthy, over-demanding diet.  Insulin is like a key that glucose needs to get inside of a cell.  Without this key your body cannot function properly. 

What Did You Eat Today?

This is a questions that every trainer should ask their client. It is important to incorporate a pre-workout and post-workout meal into your nutritional plan on days that you are training. Never workout on an empty stomach! It is important to eat enough energy that is required for whatever activity you perform. When you do not eat before you workout you are jeopardizing your lean mass and limiting the amount of energy that you will have for your workout. When you force your body to work hard on no energy it finds ways to store energy on it’s own. A fitness plan should be for the purpose of maintain your active tissue which is your muscle, skin, and bones. A car cannot start without gas or oil and it must have the right kind of fuel to run efficiently. As a vehicle is a mechanism, so is your body. It is recommended that you consume a pre-workout meal 30 minutes to 1 hour before you workout and a post-workout meal 30 minutes to 1 hour after to training. A post workout meal is for the purpose of replacing calories lost and restoring energy to restore muscle tissue. It is also important never to miss breakfast.

Not eating proper meals can lead to:

· A plateau
· Unwanted results
· Muscle loss
· Increased body fat
· Weakness & fatigue
· Injuries

The three most important meals of your day should be breakfast, pre-workout, and post-workout meals. With this outlook you will get better result and your nutritional plan and workout routine will compliment each other. You will have more energy, better recovery, and your body will store less fat due to you feeding into your lean mass. Remember, if you do not properly energize your body then your body will energize itself. That is why camels have humps!

Healthy Sleeping!

Are you getting enough sleep at night?  To maintain a healthy lifestyle it is recommended that you get at least 6-8 hours of sleep every night.  Sleeping adequately and consistently leads to a longer life, increased productivity throughout the day, and aids in the overall healing and recovery process.  Your body need to be rejuvenated, especially if you have a very busy schedule.  Getting enough sleep will also ensure that you recover and get results from your fitness routine.  If you are not getting enough sleep at night then you are unable to function at your optimum level.  A lack of sleep, less than 6 hours at night,  can have long term damaging effects on the mind and body.  

Not getting enough sleep at night can cause:
·    Increased risk of heart attack and strokes
·    Weight Gain
·    Increased appetite during the day
·    Stress
·    Problems with focusing and paying attention
·    Muscle loss
·    Depression

Vitamin C to Recover and Heal The Body

It is important to eat products with Vitamin C daily to maintain a healthy body.  Your body needs Vitamin C to build and repair tissue, bones, cartilage and fight off diseases.  Vitamin C is an antioxidant that fights off free radicals or byproducts which are produced when your body converts food to energy.  Free radicals can cause damage to healthy cells while antioxidant block them and make cells stronger.  Vitamin C is water soluble and necessary in your diet daily.  It cannot be stored by the body for later use, so when you deprive yourself you are at greater risk of disease, illness, and injury.  Vitamin C consumption contributes to maintaining and healing every part of the body.  From strengthening your immune system to aiding in muscle recovery after a strenuous workout, this vitamin is proven to be essential in your nutritional plan.  The recommended daily amount of Vitamin C is 60mg or 1 orange.  Avoid exceeding over 2000mg a day because it can cause adverse effects.
Sources of Vitamin C can be found in:

·     Citrus Fruits and juices

·     Kiwi

·     Strawberries

·     Green peppers

·     Kale

·     Spinach

·     Cabbage

·     Broccoli

·     Tomato

TRX Suspension Training

TRX Suspension Training is a style of training that maximizes your efficiency and level of exertion by using your own body weight.  In a little amount of time you are able to complete more exercises and heighten your intensity while combining multiple muscle groups.  These Suspension bands, which would usually hang from an attachment to a ceiling or a wall, can target every muscle group in the body.  Most exercises conducted in TRX training incorporate your core as well as a targeted muscle group.  TRX Training allows you to perform movements along multiple planes.  This training is good to improve balance, total strength and prevent injury.  This training can be used to improve athletic performance in top conditioned athletes or aid in the rehabilitation for a normal person.  

TRX Suspension Training may seem complicated and impossible to execute when you first try it out.  Once you get a hang of one exercise and feel the effects, you will be ready to do more.   There are over a hundred exercises that can be performed in TRX Suspension Training.  To prevent you from getting discouraged, a lack of results, or injury, seek proper instructions from a fitness professional.  TRX Suspension Training will make your fitness goals more attainable while also adding a lot of fun and excitement to your routine.

Functional Training

Functional training is a style of training that targets all areas of your body.  Functional training incorporates and combines all your different muscle groups to perform an exercise or activity that maximizes your energy exertion.  Traditional resistance training with weights or machines only target a specific muscle or muscle group and isolate a lot of muscles during exercise.  Functional training exercises target multiple muscle groups through a more natural range of motion.  Instead of a controlled unnatural movement, functional training exercises improve your natural ability and core strength.  The role of this style of training is to become more advanced in your resistance training routine for better results.

To perform functional training exercises you can use body weight, resistance bands, weights, basically anything that creates a resistance.  This training benefits a lot when rehabbing injuries, sports conditioning, strengthening weak areas, and also avoiding plateaus.  Functional training is good for improving balance and strengthening stabilizer muscles which control your balance.  This type of training can not only improve your overall physical conditioning, but can also prevent injuries when performing normal activities at work or at home.

Functional training is recommended to everybody who wants to follow a fitness plan that will give them the best results for the rest of their life.  It is important that you seek instruction from a fitness professional to perform these exercises.  Their are a broad range of exercises that can be categorized as functional.  As your fitness plan progresses it is important to be more creative with your routine for better results.  Functional training will open up a world of creativity that will also add excitement to your workout!

Are You A Hard Gainer?

A Hard gainer is a man and woman who is a natural ectomorph (a thin person who does not gain weight easily).  If your parents are thin and you are thin, it is probably hard for you to gain weight.  With this natural occurrence due to genetics and heredity you have to work extra hard on committing to a plan that is going to help you grow the right way.  You are not doomed, you do not have to be thin the rest of your life.  You can have a muscular or more toned look! You must follow a balanced total body resistance training routine and a nutrition plan that feeds your muscles.

Here are 6 nutritional tips for Hard Gainers who want to add 10-20 pounds of muscle.
1. Eat 6-7 meals a day depending on activity levels.
2. Eat breakfast around or before 8am and every 3 hours after.
3. Eat more natural sources of protein.(chicken, fish, steak, eggs, dairy products)
4. A whey protein supplement is necessary.
5. Eat more healthy carbohydrates and fats.
6. Make sure your calorie intake is higher than your calorie burn each day.