Happy Halloween from Snap Fitness North Raleigh!

Have a safe and fun Halloween! 

Fall back this Sunday!

Fall is here! Time to set our clocks back one hour! Have a safe Halloween and a restful weekend!

Eating smart when traveling for the Holidays

Prepare, prepare, prepare! This is the best advice I can give you as to how to eat smart when you are traveling this Holiday Season.

Take a cooler and pack your fresh fruits, vegetables and bottled water.

In addition, take along your granola bars, fiber bars and protein bars.

Peanut butter travels well, even without a cooler. Peanut butter is high in protein, so bring along your peanut butter, healthy bread and crackers. This will provide you with lunch or a snack.

Unopened Gatorade is also easy to travel with because you do not need a cooler for that either. (Although water is the best option for quenching your thirst...water does not contain sodium as the sport drinks do.

Always pack nuts: almonds, walnuts, cashews, pistachios, etc. These are great for protein and snacking.

Along with the water in your cooler, pack nitrate free sliced lunch meats and cheese for sandwiches.

Don't forget the vitamins!

Easy ways to cut fat and calories from my diet...yes please!

Looking to cut out fat and calories from your diet? Most of us are! Here are 7 easy ways to go about it:

Cut fat from your pizza: Double the tomato sauce and go light on the cheese. This will cut 20 grams of fat per pie.

Order the steak fries: Order the fat ones instead of the skinny ones, they absorb less oil.

Use juice concentrate in your stir fry: Use a couple of spoonfuls instead of oil and cut the fat.

Soften your butter or spread: Warm to room temp and use less than straight from the fridge.

Refrigerate canned goods: Such as meats, soups and gravy. The fat will rise to the top and you can skim it off.

Dilute your juice: Add water to your juice and drink less calories.

Use olive oil on your potato: Use olive oil in place of butter and sour cream on baked potatoes.

Information taken from: Yahoo! Health / Men's Health  

Snacking on walnuts? Yey or Nay?

Walnuts are actually an excellent snack! They are high in omega-3 fatty acids and are naturally cholesterol free. In addition, walnuts are also sodium free.

You can easily eat them for a mid-day pick me up. You can also cook and bake with them. Adding chopped walnuts to your oatmeal is a great way to add these into your diet.

In addition, walnuts are economical. They are definitely one of the better priced nuts to buy. You can easily replace other nuts called for in your favorite recipes with walnuts. By doing this you not only save money, but you will be investing in your health as well!

To learn more about walnuts and get new recipes, please visit:  Walnuts.org

Is running good for you?

If you enjoy walking and running, here are a few good reasons to keep it up! 
If you do not walk or run, these are great reasons to start:

• You may be less likely to have cholesterol issues.
• You may be less likely to have blood pressure issues.
• It will strengthen your bones.
• It may help you be more productive throughout your day.
• It can help you have a better nights sleep and/or fall asleep faster.
• It may boost your immune system.
• If you suffer from asthma, it can help keep it under control.
• It can help you live a longer life.
• 
  
  

Join Snap Fitness: North Raleigh today to get started! 

Information given by: Runner's World on Active.com

Do parents neglect their health?

According to Yahoo! Health and Self magazine, parents do neglect their health. Here are the ways they can:

We:
Rarely or never exercise
Do not make eating healthy top priority
Do not take enough "me" time

Here are some ideas on how to improve in these areas:
Choose activities you enjoy and do them with your friends. This will help get in regular exercise.
Join a local gym close to home and set aside days each week to workout.
Download myfitnesspal to your smart phone and use it!
Choose healthy snacks, pack your lunch.
Sit down for dinner, eat breakfast and stop eating when you are full.
Schedule time to snuggle with your significant other.


Time savers to allow more time for "you":

Pay bills online to save time.
Change air filters in the house to cut down on dusting.
Use online shopping to order groceries, pick them up on your way home from work, school, etc.
Make chore lists for the children to help keep things around the house clean and organized.

Hydration during exercise...drink your water!

Staying hydrated while exercising is so important!

First of all, by drinking water and staying hydrated, you will not have as much if any: muscle cramps, gas or light headedness.

Drink water before, during and after working out.

Try not to wait until you are thirsty to drink water, sip on it as you work out.

Great ways to assure you have water handy when exercising:

Have a waist belt that will carry a water bottle.
If you are riding a bicycle, you can get a water bottle holder made for bikes.
In the event you are walking or running with a stroller, you can always stash your bottle in there. Walking with your working dog? Get him/her a vest and place your water bottle in there.

There are many places to store a water bottle when you are out exercising!

Small ways to cut sugar from your diet

Guess what! Sugar is not only consumed in chocolate and ice cream! True story. It is hidden in the little things we eat every day too. Reading labels is the best way to find out if what you are eating has sugar in it and if it does how much is in there.

Here is a short list of foods that contain sugar, how much is in there and what you can eat instead:

• Ketchup has 3 Grams per Tablespoon / Mustard has ZERO
• Tomato soup has 8 Grams per cup / Chicken noodle soup should not have ANY
• Honey mustard salad dressing has 5 Grams in 2 Tablespoons / Ranch has about 1 Gram
• 1 Chocolate chip muffin has a whopping 43 Grams / 1 Chocolate glazed donut has 16 Grams
• 1 Mocha latte has 18 Grams / 1 regular latte has ZERO
• These numbers were taken from an article in Eating Well Magazine.

On a side note:
The liquid flavor additives you may have added to your morning coffee drinks do contain sugar. They do offer "light" options, and by choosing those you are then adding "fake sugar" into your body, which is actually worse for us than the real thing. If you must choose between sugar or an unnatural sugar alternative, choose sugar...unless of course you have been instructed by your Doctor to choose otherwise

How to make the most of your walk...

Walking is very good for you! There are some things we can do to get the most out of our walks:

Walk instead of talk. If you walk with a friend, that is a wonderful thing! Just be sure you focus on your pace and not the topic of conversations. Keep up a quick walking pace as you walk, you will burn more calories!

Change up the program. You may have a certain place you always walk or a certain way you walk around the neighborhood. Change it up! This will work new muscles and may burn more calories.

Never forget to stretch. Stretching is very important. If you do not stretch you could get muscle cramps.

Drink your water. Stay hydrated before, during and after your walk. Water makes the muscles work better!

Try and walk further today. Walk just a little bit further each day!

Or... Try a bike ride!