Sodium in Moderation

A high sodium diet increases your risk of stroke, hypertension and heart disease. The recommended daily allowance of salt is 2300mg a day. This is for people who are not at risk of heart disease, hypertension or stroke. A high sodium diet equals not only poor health but also some other bothersome symptoms such as, water retention and thirst. People who do have a predisposition to hypertension, stroke or heart disease should limit their sodium intake to 1500 mg a day. This daily allowance can easily be met, if your not careful of what you eat. For example, a slice of pizza can range from 200-875 mg of sodium. Most people eat more than one slice of pizza in one sitting. Even an uncooked chicken breast without seasoning can contain 150mg of sodium as a preservative. This poses a problem because most people will apply additional salt prior to cooking.

Salt is in just about everything you eat and that means even pastries as well as some candies. Processed foods still remain the biggest culprit of salt but can be avoided by preparing your own food using fresh ingredients. Here are a few tips if you’re trying to lower your sodium intake.

· Use herbs and spices to season your food.
· Try olive oil, pepper and lemon as a salad dressing.
· Read food labels. Look for foods containing less than 300mg of salt per serving.
· Watch your food portion size.
· If you’re eating at a restaurant ask for a nutritional guide.

Cutting salt might be a challenge if your not use to low sodium foods, but it’s not impossible. Overtime with patience, your palate will get an acquired taste. Keep in mind that salt is salt. In other words, Sea salt is not a better alternative. Sea salt does contain trace amounts of minerals but still needs to be monitored.

Women & Strength Training

This week I had a client who was concerned about putting too much lean muscle on her body frame. She didn’t want to promote a less than feminine appearance. This seems to be an issue for some women who want to get into weight training, so I’m going to touch on this subject a little. Women gaining too much muscle from weight training should not be of concern. It’s not possible, unless you have the genetics. For example, if you genetically carry more muscle than the average female or partake in drug use such as steroids, you will not turn into Mr. Woman. Also, women carry less muscle mass than men. In fact, we carry more fat than lean muscle tissue and because of that, it contributes to a more feminine appearance. So weight training will not morph you into a man. One of the many benefits for not only women but men as well is, building lean muscle means more calories burned. For every pound of lean muscle your body has, you will burn 6 calories a day. On the other hand, for every pound of fat your body has, it burns only 2 calories (per pound of fat). What this comes down to is, strength training has more pros than cons such as helping your body be more efficient at using energy. Strength training not only builds lean muscle but it has many other benefits such as, a decreased risk of osteoporosis, reduces the risk of muscle loss due to aging, helps to transform your body composition, resulting in a better appearance. Also, an increase in strength, reduces stress, improves your immune system and helps to increase your sex drive.

The facts are in and women have a lot to gain from strength training, so pick up those weights and start lifting :).

Moderate exercise 5 days a week vs. high intensity, less days a week?

Recent studies have shown that exercise moderate in duration for less than 4 days a week is not likely to produce the same results as exercising four or more days a week. The study showed that people who exercised less than four days a week did not achieve the results of the group that exercised four or more days a week. In fact, the group that worked out more lost 13.3 lbs and showed significant fat lost compared to the 4 lbs that the other group lost while working out less than 4 days a week.

What this means is those infomercials that claim you can workout less than 4 days a week for 20-30 minutes and get the same results as someone who worked out more is not true. Following a moderate to high intensity routine for 20- 30 minutes 2 days a week, don’t get the same results as someone who has worked out more than 4 days a week. Some of the latest exercise crazes claim you can burn significant calories by doing an extremely high intensity workout. If anything these intense routines will increase your chance of injury and the amount of effort that is required to follow such workout will eventually burn you out. One can get good results by working out several days a week at an intensity of 70% of your target heart rate. Even experts say, “There is no secret to weigh loss beyond that which we already know to be true.”

So my advice to you is quick killing yourself by following an extreme routine for 20 minutes 2 days a week. You’re better off working out 5 days a week for 30-60minutes at moderate intensity and following a nutritious diet.

What’s For Dinner?

Wednesday was one of those days where I had several clients booked with a 1-hour gap in-between each appointment. At the same time, I had my priorities so I made sure I had time to help my son with his homework and spend time playing with him. And during the other time gaps, spend time working on my psychology paper that was due this week. Long story short, it all worked out but what I hadn’t figured out was, “what’s for dinner?” I knew I wouldn’t be back home until 5:30pm and I certainly didn’t not want to be prepping my dinner for 30-minutes and cooking it for 45-minutes. Usually I’m pretty good about planning a menu for the week that’s healthy and wholesome and provide leftovers but some how Wednesday escaped me. I quickly grabbed a copy of Real Simple magazine and found a great looking recipe for a vegetarian dish called “Linguine with Asparagus & Pine Nuts.” At my house we eat a lot of nuts because we’re nuts and I like variety, so I happened to have a bag of pine nuts on hand, and the other ingredients that were required. The best part was this recipe said it would take 25-minutes from start to finish. This of course was for the rest of the population, not me. If a recipe says 25-minutes for me that’s 2 hours, however I was willing to give it a try, besides it didn’t seem too complicated. Surprisingly, it did take 25-minutes to make, we were able to eat dinner by 6pm, I had leftovers, it was delicious and it looked just like the picture! If you like vegetarian or are up for trying something new then give this recipe a try! Bon appetite and happy Mother’s day to all you moms!

Linguine with Asparagus & Pine Nuts

¾ box of linguine
¼ cup olive oil
¼ cup pine nuts
4 cloves of sliced garlic
2 lbs of asparagus (trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces)
1 cup of shaved Parmesan cheese

1.Cook pasta according to directions. Drain and return to pot.

2. In a skillet over medium heat, add pine nuts & garlic stirring frequently, until golden (1-2 min). Add asparagus & cook, tossing occasionally, until tender (2-3 min).

3. Add asparagus mixture to the pasta along with 1 tsp of salt and ¼ tsp of pepper and toss together. Sprinkle with Parmesan and serve.