Fitness & Wellness

I appreciate our faithful clients to come to Habitat Health and Fitness and put the design of their workout in our hands, going through each guide workout with intensity and passion. However, even the most committed client has occasions when they can't make it to the gym and need no equipment workouts to fill in the gaps until they can. Here's a few workouts that you can do in a hotel room or your living room, virtually anywhere you have privacy and time.

Try a quick workout using calisthenics and body weight exercises.

People have been exercising for centuries without equipment. The exercises done in military boot camps start with those types of workouts using calisthenics and bodyweight exercises. If you want a total body workout, start with reverse lunges that work the thighs and hips. Do six reps on each side and move on to lateral split squats, also doing 6 reps on each side. Ten pushups are next followed by 10 hip bridges and 30 seconds of mountain climbers.

Dr Zach Bush created a four minute workout you can do three times a day.

This four minute workout is also called a nitric oxide dump. Nitric oxide opens up the blood vessels by relaxing the inner muscles of the vessels and allows increased circulation and more nutrients and oxygen throughout the system. This workout also works 16 different muscle groups. It starts with five to fifteen squats, jumping jack arm motions for the same number of reps, outstretched arm circles and finally overhead presses. Do four sets of this combination three times throughout the day. If you're fit, do the highest number of repetitions and those less fit start with the lower amount.

Get back to the basics.

There's nothing better than good old push-ups or lunges. If you want to maximize your workout time, get a combo of four bodyweight exercises you can do in a circuit training style. Repeat the combination for five to ten sets. One sample is 10-push-ups, 20 crunches, 10 Supermans and 10 body weight squats. If you're in good shape and these don't provide the challenge you hoped for, ask your trainer for some variations to make them more difficult.

• Turn a simple walk to a HIIT workout. HIIT---high intensity interval training---can get you into shape faster than other styles of working out. By varying the speed and intensity, you can even make walking more challenging.
• You don't have to have official equipment to get a workout. If you have plastic detergent bottles or gallon milk jugs, you have a replacement for kettlebells or weights when they're filled with sand or water.
• Planks and other yoga poses also provide great workouts when you don't have access to the gym. Learning a few of these can add variety to your workout program and provide exercises when you're miles away from the gym.
• At Habitat for Health and Fitness, our personal trainers are ready to help you with a program that travels with you, no matter where you go. Come in and our three free fat-burning workouts for a sampling of the benefits we offer.

For more information, contact us today at Habitat Health & Fitness

Winter is a great time to make soup. While our weather is far warmer than most areas, it still can get chilly at night in the winter. Now, you can make soup that warms you up, while also helps burn fat. These fat burning detox soups are also delicious and you can make them ahead and store them in the freezer for later use. These provide clean meals that everyone in the family will love.

Detox soups not only help your body eliminate toxins, it also improves digestion.

You may not realize the effect that processed food, dairy, sweeteners and sugar have on your body, but if you give them up for a while, you'll notice the difference. Detox soups also provide fiber to aid in elimination. When you add soup to the menu each day that's full of nutrients, you'll lose weight faster. One study showed that even when calories were the same, people who chose soup over junk food snacks lost more weight. It helps keep your blood sugar more level, which helps you avoid that low dragged out feeling and the potential for overeating.

This yummy green soup is filled with nutrients and has a touch of licorice taste from the fennel.

What do you get when you combine the flavors of kale, fennel, spinach, asparagus and garlic? You get a delicious soup that's packed with nutrition and energy to boost weight loss. Heat a teaspoon of coconut oil in your soup pot, then add a small diced onion, 2 minced garlic cloves, a pound of chopped asparagus, a diced fennel bulb and two celery stalks chopped in half inch chunks. Cook for five minutes at low. Add a cup and a half vegetable stock and bring the mixture to a boil, then simmer on low for seven minutes. Add ½ lb fresh chopped kale leaves and 1 cup fresh spinach, then remove from the stove. Put it in the blender and add the juice of one lime. Blend until smooth and if necessary, add more vegetable stock. Top it with seeds or toasted nuts as garnish.

If your work schedule is tough, you can still make this soup, but make the base a day ahead of time.

Make the base for this lentil soup the day before, so you have less to do the next night. Put a cup of each, chopped carrots, chopped celery and chopped onions. Add one dice red bell pepper, 6 minced garlic cloves, 1 ½ cups brown lentils, rinsed, a pound of sweet potatoes peeled and cut in small pieces and seven cups of broth. Mix in a teaspoon curry powder, ½ teaspoon of each nutmeg, ground cinnamon, turmeric and paprika and 1 ½ teaspoons of both coriander and cumin powder. Cook on high in the slow cooker for 4 to 6 hours. Refrigerate and the next night, put half the soup in a blender, with a half cup of broth, blend mix with the remaining soup. Heat in the slow cooker on high and add 2 ½ chopped baby spinach and ¼ cup lemon juice. Serve with a sprinkle of cilantro.

• Green cabbage soup is probably the best known detox soup. Chop the cabbage and add broth, carrot onion and herbs for flavor. A little apple cider vinegar adds more benefits and for improved flavor, add instant miso soup mix. Adding lemon juice and tomatoes also boost nutrition.
• Brighten your table with a beet soup. It contains red onion sautéed in coconut oil, with cubed beets, minced ginger root and garlic are added as it sautés longer. Mix coconut milk, vegetable stock and sea salt in and cook 40 minutes, then stir in cashews five minutes before serving, lime juice. Puree and serve with cilantro.
• A simple broccoli soup can be ready in ten minutes. Put a 14 ounce can of coconut milk, a bunch of broccoli, stalks and florets in a pan with salt, pepper and nutmeg to taste and cook for 5 minutes. Blend it until smooth and serve with chunks of avocado and parsley in it.
• At Habitat Health and Fitness, we provide a workout program that helps you on your weight loss quest.

For more information, contact us today at Habitat Health & Fitness

It gets pretty discouraging to step on the scales and see it display the same weight for weeks. That's plateauing and one of the reasons many people often give up their efforts to shed pounds. There's no reason to quit. You can beat a plateau by making some changes. I help clients in Lakeland, Florida push past that plateau and help them begin to lose weight again.

One of the most common reasons for plateauing is repeatedly doing the same exercise routine.

The body works like a magnificent self-healing machine that gets more efficient with every repeated movement. While that efficiency is important most of the time, it's not good if you're trying to lose weight. The more efficient a body is, the fewer calories it burns. That's why doing the same routine without changing it can eventually bring about plateauing. It's also why I use a variety of workouts and change each person's routine frequently.

It may not be that you're plateauing, it may be that you have too high of expectations.

While having high expectations can help you shed weight, it also can be quite depressing when you don't get the same results you did when you first began. Consider the person that started with an ambitious goal of shedding 50 pounds. That first few months, weight came off rapidly and you lost 30 pounds, but it slowed slightly as the months continued. It's to be expected. When you started, it was like you were carrying a 30 pound weight everywhere you went. Now that your body weighs less, you'll be carrying less weight and burning fewer calories. The solution is to up the ante and make the workout tougher as you get fitter.

A good weight loss program should also include a program of healthier eating.

If you haven't changed what you consume, don't expect the results to be stellar. You can't out-exercise a bad diet. Consider those people who go to the gym and immediately go for a beer or two and a pizza after they workout. Not losing weight isn't because of lack of effort or the right workout, it's the food you eat before and after you workout. Sometimes, people don't realize that they're consuming extra calories, since they come in the form of soft drinks, like cola. Jut one 12-ounce Coke contains 140 calories and the same size Pepsi contains 150 calories. You can see how drinking two or three during the day can set your weight loss efforts back and maybe even make you gain weight.

• Maybe you're successful, but not measuring it the right way. When you workout, you build muscle, which weighs more per cubic inch than fat tissue does. You may be slimming down and losing inches, but not shedding weight. Use inches as a guide to success, too.
• Don't give up. You may and probably will fall off the weight loss wagon a few times. Get back on and continue your plan. One indulgence isn't a failure. In fact, healthy eating means you can eat high calorie foods occasionally.
• Find ways to increase your daily activity. Park further from the store and walk, take the stairs and not the elevator and get up at least five minutes out of every hour. You'll burn extra calories and be healthier.
• Enjoy your workout and know that you'll get results with my program. If I see a problem in your progress, I adjust the workout to get you back on track.

For more information, contact us today at Habitat Health & Fitness

Just like everywhere else, the cost of organic food in Lakeland, Florida, is slightly higher than conventionally grown food. However, there are benefits of eating organic that make the extra price worthwhile. There are very strict standards set by the USDA---the United States Department of Agriculture before a food product can be called organic. For crops, there are no synthetic pesticides, irradiation, biotechnology or artificial fertilizers used. For animal products, the feed must be organic and the animals need to be free range at least part of the time. Animals don't receive growth hormones or antibiotics either.

Just eliminating the pesticides and hormones can make the food healthier.

Several studies link pesticides to many serious conditions and events. These can be as minor as headaches or as debilitating as cancer. Some studies show it can cause birth defects, which is why it's important for pregnant woman or new mothers to be extremely cautious. While there's evidence that conventionally grown food can be safe for most healthy adults, it doesn't hurt to error on the side of caution. Animal products that contain hormones and antibiotics can also affect your health, including antibiotic resistant bacteria.

Studies show that organically grown foods contain higher nutritional value.

A new mega study found that after reviewing more than 343 studies found that while the amount of traditional vitamins and minerals didn't vary in organic food. However, they contained more antioxidants. Antioxidants are a phytonutrient that play a significant role in our health, protecting every cell in the body from oxidation. The organic fruit and vegetables had from 20 to 40 percent more.

Organic food doesn't have to break your budget.

When selecting vegetables and fruit, there's a list called the "Dirty Dozen" and another called the "Clean 15." The EWG---Environmental Working Group---tests hundreds of vegetables and fruit from groceries to find which ones have pesticides, even after washing. The results of those tests are ranked by the amount of pesticides they contain. The Dirty Dozen are the worst and the Clean 15 the most pesticide free. You can save money by choosing organic for the Dirty Dozen, while buying traditionally grown fruits and vegetables that are often lower in cost from the list of the Clean 15.

• Pregnant and lactating women should focus on using more organic vegetables from the "Dirty Dozen list.
• The Dirty Dozen list includes strawberries, spinach, kale, nectarines, apples, grapes, peaches, cherries, pears, tomatoes, celery and potatoes.
• The Clean 15 list includes sweet corn, pineapples, frozen sweet peas, onions, papayas, eggplants, asparagus, kiwis, cabbage, cauliflower, cantaloupes, broccoli Mushrooms and honeydew melons.
• To be your healthiest, you need nutritious food and regular exercise. At Habitat Health and Fitness, we can help you shed weight, while getting other health benefits.

For more information, contact us today at Habitatfit.com

I see a lot of clients come into our gym in Lakeland, FL angry, stressed and sometimes ready to blow, but by the end of the workout, they're in a better mood. Why the change? It's one of the benefits of working out. Working out burns off the hormones of stress that can make you ready to hit the next person that looks at you or scream at the top of your lungs. The process of working out actually mimics the very things that the fight or flight response was meant to prepare you to do, fight or run like the wind.

When you start a workout, hormones cause changes in your body.

While the body makes changes, so does the brain. It releases brain-derived neurotrophic factor---BDNF---to protect itself and repair any memory neurons, while also allowing it to be a reset for the brain. Don't worry about the pain from running or fighting----or in this case, exercising---endorphins are released to block pain or discomfort. If those weren't present, you'd focus more on how your legs hurt when running from a predator than looking for places to hide or how to get away successfully.

Your brain increases neurotransmitter production, such as serotonin and norepinephrine.

Serotonin and norepinephrine are both neurotransmitters and hormones. In fact, they're often called happiness hormones. They boost your feelings of happiness and peace in your brain. You get the biggest boost in the first 20 minutes of working out and the effects can last all day. Clinical psychologist, James Blementhal, PhD from Duke University, found that adults suffering from major depression had higher rates of remission, comparing exercise to antidepressants for treating patients suffering from major depressive disorder and that exercise also preventing a relapse in a follow-up a year later.

Healthy eating can increase your sense of well-being.

You may already be aware that eating products with added sugar or simple carbohydrates can cause fluctuations in your blood sugar levels that can take you from a high to a deep valley. Cutting out sugar and simple carbohydrates is one change that has a positive impact on your mood. One study found that people who ate almost no servings of fruit and vegetables and switched to eight portions a day had a boost in the feeling of satisfaction.

• Exercise can be the cornerstone for building habits that make your life better and more productive. Sticking with the habit of working out boosts your self esteem and adds to the feel-good response.
• While nobody is sure why consuming more vegetables and fruit makes you feel good, most hypothesize it's the nutrients like carotenoids that boost optimism or vitamin B12 that increases serotonin.
• Studies show that just starting a program of regular exercise boosts your self-image, even before any results are seen. Knowing you're doing something good for yourself that's tough to do is part of the feel good results.
• Get a boost of happiness today. Habitat Health and Fitness offers an opportunity to get three free workouts to become familiar with our program. Take advantage of this offer and you'll see the difference.