2 min read ·
Staying Healthy Together
There are a few simple ways to maintain lean muscle and avoid unnecessary weight gain whilst we enjoy the four walls of our homes together. Let’s be honest, fitness routines are only a piece of the pie — a smaller piece than you may realize. Have you ever heard, “you can’t out train a bad diet!”? Nutrition takes up roughly 80% of our success pie, while exercise swoops in for the measly 20%. So we have good news and bad news. Which do you prefer be dealt first?
(we’ll get the awful news out of the way)
… This means that the majority of your success is based on this one thing — love it or hate it.
(now the good news)
… This also means that even while we are restricted to our living rooms and doing much more sitting and a lot less moving, we still have a great deal of control over our bodies and over our health and wellness goals.
Tips & Tricks:
To maintain your physique through a more sedentary time, simply keeping your protein intake high while minimizing your carbohydrate and fat intake is a great daily practice! Tracking MACROs (or macronutrients) has been proven through clinical studies to maximize muscle growth and achieve caloric goals. While this is a relatively simple idea, it helps to take a quick trip back in time to Biology class. What are macronutrients anyway?
Macronutrients (e.g. fat, protein, carbohydrates) are the nutritional components of the diet that are required in relatively large amounts. Each of these do a different job in the body and produce different results. Understanding what each do and how to track them can create a foundation of health that becomes a lifestyle for many. While figuring out your own “perfect” calculation can be a bit tricky in the beginning, once you’ve found your sweet spot of numbers, it doesn’t take long at all to begin to see what 12g of protein looks like on a chicken breast, and 20g of carbs looks like on your rice portion. We recommend utilizing an online macro calculator to get you started. Find our favorite FREE calculator under “Resources”.
Fitness:
This is a fabulous time to try out new and different fitness elements! We know that maintaining a fitness routine at home can be motivationally challenging and well, monotonous. We suggest keeping it spicy to keep it going!
PureBarre is offering a FREE “barre at home” Foundations Class. Never done barre? Don’t know what you are doing? It doesn’t matter because there are no strangers around to intimidate or relish in your embarrassment. So go ahead, get into it!
Post Workout:
Remember we have a goal to keep protein intake high! To take our goals a step further, try consuming your meal with the highest protein within 60 minutes after your workout.
PB&J Smoothie
This easy-to-make smoothie will have you feeling nostalgic for your favorite drink as a kid. “The juice made with Concord grapes contains polyphenols (a type of antioxidant) which are good for heart health and helps with refueling the body for recovery,” says registered dietitian Jim White, R.D.N., ACSM exercise physiologist and owner of Jim White Fitness & Nutrition Studios.
How to make it: Add 1 scoop protein powder, 1/4 cup grape juice, 1 tablespoon peanut butter, and 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk to the blender. To make it thicker, add ice. To make it sweeter, add some frozen berries or use sweetened almond milk.
Resources:
How to Count Macros: A Step-By-Step Guide
