29Sep

Managing Hunger & Appetite

September 29, 2021 Jessica Bottesch 9

By Michael Raynor, MS, RD, LDN

Maybe you’re a seasoned athlete, have been working out consistently for years, or maybe you’re new to working out consistently. Regardless of which camp you fall in, working out consistently and more frequently can lead to an increased appetite or feeling hungrier because of the additional calories you’re burning, and the additional calories needed for recovery. If you have goals of weight maintenance or weight loss, that can make it more challenging to keep moving toward your goals. Luckily, there are a few strategies you can use to head this off. Keep yourself fueled, keep from being too hungry, and keep moving steadily toward your goals.

Food is Fuel, Don’t Run Out of Gas!

To keep it simple, our body continuously needs energy. Our brains, our muscles, and the rest of our organs are constantly working and, as a result, need a steady stream of energy. When we haven’t eaten recently, our blood sugar dips, and our body breaks down body stores of energy to fuel these necessary processes and keep our blood sugar up. As we dip into these energy reserves, our body produces a hunger signal to encourage us to eat, recognizing that it can’t fuel us forever just based on our body’s energy reserves. When we eat, it provides our bodies with the energy it needs to fuel all the essential processes like fueling our brain, keeping our organs functioning, etc. This influx of energy and nutrients from our food also allows our body to repair and maintain tissues like muscles. So, my first tip for managing hunger/appetite is to ensure you provide your body with a steady supply of energy throughout the day by eating consistently throughout the day (about every 3-4 hours), whether this is a snack or a meal. For example, if you eat breakfast at 7am, aim for a snack around 9-10am, lunch around 12-1pm, a snack around 4pm, and dinner by 7pm.

Mix it Up.

My next tip requires a little background information. When we eat carbohydrates, they leave our stomach and move into our GI tract relatively quickly, and they’re also absorbed and used more rapidly. Fat and protein leave the stomach more slowly and are digested and absorbed more slowly. We can apply these facts to our advantage. If we eat a snack, that’s only carbohydrates (like an apple or a banana), this doesn’t keep us full for very long–it gives us a quick burst of energy and then leaves us feeling hungry again quickly. If we have protein and/or fat with our carbohydrates, it slows down our digestion a bit, keeps us full for longer, and gives us more sustained energy. So, my second tip is to have a mixture of carbohydrates, protein, and fat at every meal, and to have carbohydrates, protein, and/or fat at every snack. This is actually pretty simple. For example, instead of an apple for a snack, try an apple with nut butter. Instead of crackers for a snack, try crackers and cheese or chips and hummus. For lunch, instead of just a salad with chicken on it, try adding some carbs to your salad with chicken (whether it’s fruit, potatoes/sweet potatoes, or a side of toasted bread).

Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate (sound familiar?)

My third tip deals with hydration. If you saw the last nutrition blog, then you know how important hydration is. If you missed that blog, you could check it out here. Outside of all the reasons I talk about in that blog, dehydration can also cause several same signs as being hungry, like fatigue, headache, difficulty concentrating, which can lead us to believe we’re hungry. When we are dehydrated, it can cause us to crave some foods, particularly salty ones, as our body is looking to correct fluid and electrolyte imbalances. The salty foods most people typically reach for when craving salt can be calorically dense and less nutrient rich, which isn’t typically in line with most people’s nutrition goals. Apathy and impatience are also signs of dehydration–things that rarely go hand in hand with making sound nutrition decisions that are in line with our goals. Think about it, when you’re exhausted and impatient after a long or tough day of work, are you going to choose to cook a nice meal at home or are you going to get takeout on your way home? The take home point being, make sure you’re hydrated. Proper hydration can help to curb cravings and help you stay on track with your goals when you must make food choices, not to mention, adequate hydration helps every single system in our body to function better.

Stick with it!

My final tip is consistency. The three tips above are great, but where they really have power is when we can apply them consistently. Work on applying these tips consistently. By making these tips into habits, they get significantly easier and require less thought and work, which also makes them easier to stick with. Many people think they need to make enormous changes or take drastic action to see the results that they’re looking for, but small, consistent changes add up to huge changes over the weeks, months, and years. Plus, smaller steps are typically easier to implement and are certainly easier to stick with!

So, if you’re struggling with increased appetite or always feeling hungry, give these tips a try. Not sure how to apply these to your life or even where to get started? Drop me a line here, I’d love to help!

19Aug

How to Hydrate & Why it’s Important

August 19, 2021 Jessica Bottesch 12

By Michael Raynor, MS, RD, LDN

“Hydration is the key to success” is a phrase I’ve said to nearly every single one of my clients, regardless of their goals. The importance of being properly hydrated for the health of nearly every system and part of our body can’t be overstated. Hydration is important for the health of skin and muscles (and recovery from those awesome workouts that Empower is delivering), the brain functions better with proper hydration, and proper hydration is important for gut and intestinal health and to keep our bowel habits regular, not to mention the fact that proper hydration even helps with oral health. Clearly, I’m passionate about hydration and feel that it is often overlooked. When talking about hydration, I like to break it down into a few considerations.

How much fluid we need?

How can we meet our hydration needs?

How can we monitor how hydrated we are?

First things first, how much fluid do you need to be hydrated? There are lots of different recommendations swirling around regarding how much fluid someone should drink in a day, from 8 cups per day to 1 gallon per day. However, like much of nutrition, hydration isn’t a “one-size-fits-all” approach, and how much water you should drink in a day depends on your lifestyle, your activity level, and even your body size. The easiest, simplest starting place is to aim for half of your body weight in ounces of water per day. For example, if you weigh 160 lbs., you’d aim for.

80 oz of water each day. However, this is just a starting place, and you may need to drink more or less fluid depending on your needs. In addition, sweating and being active increase our needs above and beyond this “half our body weight” number. When exercising, an easy way to see how much fluid you need to drink to rehydrate is to weigh yourself before your workout and again after, and for every pound of weight you lose, aim to replace 16-20oz. For example, if you lost 2lbs over the course of your workout, add 32-40oz of water to your total water needs for the day.

Now, how to meet our hydration needs. We can meet our hydration needs several ways, and it’s important to remember that small things can add up. Ideally, our primary hydrating beverage is going to be water (including sparkling water, seltzer, etc.). Besides water, juices, sports drinks, caffeine free teas, milk, and non-dairy milks can all help us meet our daily hydration needs; however, we shouldn’t rely on these fluids for the bulk of our hydration. In addition, there are lots of foods higher in water that can help contribute to our hydration (albeit to a smaller degree, even so, every bit helps). Especially during summer, foods like watermelon, berries, cucumber, pineapple, and celery can be really refreshing, while also helping ensure we’re hydrated! There are also some beverages that aren’t as productive with our hydration. Coffees, caffeinated teas, and sodas shouldn’t count toward our daily fluid needs. Caffeine is a diuretic, meaning it increases the body’s production of urine. If you consume these caffeine sources regularly, this effect is less dramatic and the amount it dehydrates us doesn’t exceed the volume of the drink; but for this reason, we don’t want to count these caffeinated beverages as hydrating. Alcohol-containing beverages also don’t count toward our fluid needs and actually increase the amount of fluids we need, because alcohol is a potent diuretic and can dehydrate us if we don’t drink extra fluids to offset it.

The final piece of the puzzle is monitoring how hydrated we are to determine if we need more or less fluid. The easiest, cheapest, and most convenient way for us to monitor how hydrated we are is to look at the color of our urine. It may sound weird, but everybody pees. All I’m suggesting is you take a quick look in the toilet before you flush it. Now, some supplements can affect the color of our urine (for example, beetroot juice supplements or B-complex vitamins), and in these cases, you may have to rely on other means to monitor how hydrated you are. For most people, though, urine color is a great tool for monitoring hydration. We want our pee to be the color of pale lemonade or lighter, but not clear. So if your pee is darker than pale lemonade, increase your fluid intake. If your pee is completely clear, lay off the fluids for a little until it darkens up a bit. Over time, you’ll figure out how much water you need to drink in a day and monitoring your urine color just serves to make sure you’re on track throughout the day.

You can see why hydration is so important. You know what things help hydrate you, and you know how to check how hydrated you are throughout the day. The only thing left is to put it into practice. Like any new habit, it takes work and time to build this habit of good hydration, but it’s a habit that makes a big difference regardless of what your goals are. Just start small and work your way up. If you’re consistently drinking way less water than you should be, start by just adding an extra 8-16oz per day until you’ve got that under control consistently,

Then add another 8-16oz per day and keep working until you’re consistently hydrated throughout the day most days. One big thing that helps many people is to just carry a bottle of water around with you no matter where you go, whether it’s around the house, on the coach, running errands—just having a bottle of water there makes you more likely to drink from it.

Still feeling a little confused about how much fluid you need or how to hit that number? Need some accountability in building this habit? Reach out or set up a free Get-To-Know-You call with me!

24Jun

Fueling for Performance, Recovery and Results

June 24, 2021 Jessica Bottesch 26

By Michael Raynor, MS, RD, LDN

Eating the right things at the right times around our workouts is one of the biggest things we can do to improve our performance for our workouts and improve our recovery from them—ensuring that we’re getting the most out of them. It also is one of the most neglected areas of nutrition for active people. The good news is, it just a few tweaks in the pre-, during, and post- workout periods can have a huge effect on our performance and recovery. It also doesn’t have to be complicated, so I want to keep this fairly simple and short so that it’s easier to remember and apply.

Background

Just a few reminders about the macronutrients before we get into nutrient timing around workouts. To keep things simple, carbohydrates are our body’s fast energy source and are the primary energy source during exercise. We can’t store very much carbohydrate in our bodies for future use, so it’s important to make sure we’re topped off on carbs before workouts. Fat is a good fuel source for lower intensity activity and inactivity, but it’s less efficient and less preferred by the body for high-intensity activity, so it’s less crucial right around workouts. Finally, protein is the building block of many tissues in the body, especially muscle, so it’s important to get enough protein in order to rebuild and repair from workouts. So, let’s look at how to time these nutrients.

Pre-Workout

Before a workout, the goal of our meals and snacks is to make sure we’re hydrated and fueled. We want to make sure we’re drinking plenty of water throughout the day; the best way to gauge your hydration is by the color of your pee. The goal is for our pee to be pale yellow (no darker than the color of pale lemonade), but not clear. So, if your pee is darker than that, drink some more water until it lightens up, and if it’s clear, lay off the water for until your pee is back to a pale-yellow color.

We also want to make sure that our pre-workout meal/snack is fueling and helping us, not bogging us down. The closer to your activity, the smaller and simpler a meal/snack should be. The further out from activity, the larger and more complex a meal can be. This is a simple issue of digestion. We take time to break down and process the food we eat, and protein and fat slow down the rate that food moves through our body—this is a really favorable thing outside of workouts because it helps our food keep us full for longer, but right around our workouts, we want to use the energy from our food in a timelier manner. Since digestion takes some time, if we’re having a pre-workout snack in the hour before our workout, we want to keep it a little smaller and simpler (like a piece of fruit, a piece or two of toast, an energy bar, or even a piece of fruit and some nut butter). If we’re eating a little farther out from our workout, say 2-3 hours in advance, that can be more of a normal meal with an emphasis on carbs (for example, a sandwich with a side of fruit or rice with protein and veggies).

Everyone is different, so it may take a little experimentation to find what works for you regarding what foods you eat before a workout and when. Don’t be afraid to test some things out.

During Workout

I always tell my clients that hydration is the key to success. I won’t go off on a tangent on all the ways dehydration negatively affects us, but proper hydration is one of the biggest things we can do to feel and perform better in our workouts. We can set ourselves up for success by heading into workouts hydrated, and by staying hydrated during our workouts.

If your workout is an hour or less, you can drink plain water during the workout to stay hydrated. For workouts longer than an hour, it’s a good idea to incorporate a sports drink that contains electrolytes and carbohydrates to keep you fueled and to prevent dehydration.

Post-Workout

Workouts do a few things to our body. They cause microscopic damage to the muscle, and they cause our body to breakdown stored carbohydrates (glycogen). We have three main goals with our nutrition after a workout. Remember that our glycogen stores are pretty limited, so one of our nutrition goals after a workout is to replenish that glycogen by making sure we eat carbohydrates. One of our other main nutrition goals after a workout is to ensure we’re getting protein in to help repair muscle damage and rebuild muscle. The amount of protein and carbohydrate you need after a workout is specific to your calorie and macronutrient needs, but a general rule that can help to maximize recovery is a 3:1 ratio of carbs: protein (for example, if you have 15g protein, aim for 60g carb).

Our third goal of our post-workout nutrition is to REHYDRATE. You may have gathered by now that I’m huge on hydration and really reinforce it. One easy way to do this is to weigh yourself before your workout and again after; aim to drink 16-24oz of water after your workout for every pound of weight that you lost. For example, if you lost 2 lbs over the course of your workout, aim to drink 32-48oz of water to help with rehydrating. Again, monitoring our pee color is a great way to check in with how we’re doing with rehydrating.

If you have questions or want to know the specifics of how to apply these recommendations, drop us a line HERE to set up a FREE initial consultation with Michael.

21May

Intermittent Fasting

May 21, 2021 Jessica Bottesch 8

By Michael Raynor, MS, RD, LDN, CISSN

What is Intermittent Fasting (IF)?

Intermittent Fasting (IF) is a way of eating that, instead of restricting what you eat, restricts when you eat. This is done by restricting eating to certain time periods with long periods of fasting in between. There’s a lot of variety in how this can be done. Common methods are fasting for 16 hours and eating in an 8-hour window, a weekly 24-hour fast, alternate day fasting in which you consume extremely low calories, and the 5:2 method in which you eat healthfully for 5 days and then fast (only eating 300-500 calories) on the 2 fasting days.

Does it work?

There’s still a lot of research that needs to be done on Intermittent Fasting (IF) for us to better understand the benefits. However, current research suggests that IF can be as effective as eating a balanced diet and exercise for weight loss. With other benefits, IF may also help to improve several risk factors for cardiovascular disease, including blood pressure, triglycerides, blood sugar levels, and markers of inflammation. Intermittent fasting may also help to fight inflammation and help to resist oxidative stress. In addition, fasting may help the cells in our body start a waste-removal process called autophagy, which may be protective against several diseases.

Obviously, all of this sounds pretty appealing! While there are a lot of claims regarding IF that have been circulated, it’s important to keep in mind that some of these assertions are based on research in animals, which is no guarantee that humans react the same way.

The Verdict?

Intermittent Fasting (IF) works for some people because of the structure and rigidity, and there appear to be some health benefits to it. However, for many people, it’s not a sustainable approach to nutrition—you can’t really stick with it if you’re starving all the time and constantly breaking your fast because you can’t wait to eat. I’m huge on sustainability and always tell people that the eating pattern you adopt (your diet) should be something you could do for the rest of your life. Which may seem silly, but think about it. If you’re only temporarily changing the way you eat, everything will go back to the way it was when you resume your normal diet.

If you think IF will fit your lifestyle, then try it. If it doesn’t sound good to you, that’s fine too! There’s plenty of other strategies you can use to reach your goals. In my professional opinion, the quality of your diet is the most important factor whether you are using the IF method or if you choose some other approach to eating. You still need to eat good, lean proteins, healthy fats, whole-food complex carbohydrates, and fruits and vegetables.
If you would like more information about IF or a nutrition plan that would work for YOUR unique body, health and life. Sign up for a FREE getting started call with Michael HERE.

12Mar

Introducing a New Nutrition Partner

March 12, 2021 Jessica Bottesch 27

You have likely heard the phrase “you can’t out-exercise a bad diet,” and the deeper truth is that our nutritional habits have a far greater impact on our body composition and health goals than any other fitness component. Here is just one reason that is so: We eat more frequently than we exercise (we may exercise 5 – 8 times per week, but likely we eat 21–35 times per week), giving us many more opportunities to make healthful choices that can positively affect our body composition and health.

This we know: Nutrition and exercise are BOTH important parts of losing fat, gaining strength, preventing disease and feeling good, so the best way to create positive body and health changes is to implement a combination of a customized fitness program and a well-balanced whole-foods nutrition plan.

Our Empower trainers have you covered on the exercise tip. We have helped you create a customized plan based on your needs and goals and have been keeping you sweating, strengthening, and stretching (many of you for years).

However, it has been a while since we have had a strong Nutrition Counseling program in place. This is a void we are on a mission to fill, and we are so excited to introduce a new Nutrition partner.

Michael Raynor, from Raynor Strength and Nutrition will come on board as Empower’s lead Registered Dietitian Nutritionist – and he is AWESOME!

If you or your family have been struggling with:

weight gain
poor eating habits
being bloated
improper digestion
feeling tired, irritated or stressed
craving unhealthy foods
poor performance
or eating for reasons other than hunger . . .

And you are ready to see how improved nutrition can help you:

increase energy
improve sleep quality
strengthen your immune system
boost mood
increase concentration
lose fat
increase muscle
improve performance
reduce symptoms of disease
and more . . .

Sign Up for a FREE get-to-know-you nutrition consult call, where Michael can help you determine the best plan for you and your family.

SIGN UP FOR YOUR FREE CALL HERE

Meet Michael:

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Michael Raynor, MS, RD, LDN, is a Triangle area-based registered dietitian nutritionist. His interest and love for nutrition started in high school, where he played ice hockey and eventually picked up cycling and bicycle racing—racing at a national and international level. It was through sports that Michael realized the direct link between the food we eat and how we feel and perform.

Michael received his BS in Nutrition from NC State University. He completed his Master’s degree and dietetic internship through Meredith College. Michael is currently serving as the President of the Raleigh Dietetic Association. He has a wide breadth of experience working with clients with cardiovascular diseases, weight management, diabetes, & athletes of all levels.

When not helping clients reach their goals and achieve their best health and fitness, Michael loves to ride his bike, walk his dog, Boone, with his wife, and go camping and hiking.

A note from Michael to the Empower Community:

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Hello Empower Family!

I’m so excited to be partnering with Empower to provide nutrition services to the Empower community. I’m a Raleigh-based Registered Dietitian, and I help people fuel their best health and fitness through food and nutrition. I really enjoy helping clients with weight maintenance, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and athletes, and I especially enjoy helping clients fuel their workouts and fitness endeavors with a well-balanced diet. I discovered my passion and love for nutrition through my fitness journey. So, if you’re feeling overwhelmed or confused by how to eat a healthy, balanced diet, or you aren’t sure how to properly fuel your activities and workouts, I’d love to help untangle the web of nutrition and get you on the right track. Reach out!

Happy eating,

Michael Raynor, MS, RD, LDN

SIGN UP FOR YOUR FREE CALL HERE

26Feb

The Truth About Cholesterol

February 26, 2021 Jessica Bottesch 29

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February is Heart Health Month – so let’s talk about it.

A January 2009 study published in the American Heart Journal found that nearly three out of four patients hospitalized for a heart attack had total cholesterol levels in the “normal” range of 200 or less. Some of them were taking statins to lower their cholesterol, and some of them had naturally low cholesterol. Basically, the statins weren’t preventing heart attacks from happening, and neither was low cholesterol.

So why then is cholesterol STILL a focus with overall health?

What Is Cholesterol?

Cholesterol is a waxy substance, technically a sterol–that is an important constituent of cell membranes. The vast majority of cholesterol in the body is made in the liver, while we absorb the rest from the diet. Cholesterol is the basic raw material that your body uses to make vitamin D; sex hormones, and bile acids needed for digestion. The theory that fat and cholesterol cause heart disease became widely accepted despite much evidence to the contrary.

Cholesterol travels in particles called lipoproteins, the most common of which are high-density lipoproteins (HDL) and low-density lipoproteins (LDL). HDL is the smallest of the lipoprotein particles and enables the transportation of triglycerides through the bloodstream. It also uses and excretes LDL form the body by delivering it to the liver; therefore, HDL is referred to as the “good” cholesterol. An increased level of HDL is protective against cardiovascular disease, lower levels of HDL raise your risk of heart disease. An HDL of 70 mg/DL or higher will give you the biggest benefits for your cardiovascular health. We refer LDL cholesterol to as the “bad” cholesterol. It is actually a combination of two primary types: the large, fluffy Pattern A and the small, dense Pattern B.

Is What We’ve Been Told about Cholesterol Misleading?

All of us have been told to avoid heart disease and heart attacks we need to keep our cholesterol levels in check. The media will have you believe that a low-fat diet that avoids foods high in cholesterol (like eggs) but includes foods high in carbohydrates (like Cheerios), will help lower cholesterol and protect you from heart disease. However, our body only absorbs approximately 15% of the cholesterol we eat, the other 85% is excreted, therefore the cholesterol we consume has very little to do with the cholesterol levels in our bloodstream.

Who are the Real Bad Guys?

The greater danger for everyone is in foods that are high in trans fats. The manufactured form of trans fat, seen on food labels as partially hydrogenated oil, may be found in products, such as packaged cakes, cookies and pies, shortening, microwave popcorn, frozen pizza, refrigerated dough, such as biscuits and rolls, fried foods, like french fries, doughnuts and fried chicken, nondairy coffee creamer and margarine. Trans fat increases your (bad) LDL cholesterol and decreases your (good) HDL cholesterol. It is the oxidized (bad) LDL cholesterol that sticks to the lining of the arteries and begins the process of inflammation–THIS IS THE TRUE CAUSE OF HEART DISEASE. Chronic inflammation is a significant component of virtually every single degenerative condition, especially heart disease, and often flies under the radar with no obvious symptoms.

Another dietary contributor to heart disease is refined carbohydrates, specifically SUGAR. Sugar contributes to inflammation in the artery walls. Processed carbohydrates and sugar increase triglycerides, which are an important and independent risk factor for heart disease. Hypertension, high levels of triglycerides, and a high ratio of triglycerides to HDL are all better predictors of heart disease than cholesterol, and sugar increases every single one of these measures.

In conclusion: The Bad Guys = Trans fats and Sugar

Lifestyle Habits that Increase Heart Health

Eliminate or reduce: sugar, soda, processed carbs, trans fats, processed meats, processed soybean and vegetable oils.

Eat more: WHOLE FOODS–veggies, fruits, lean protein, whole grains, healthy fats–check out this article from Mayo Clinic: Heart-healthy Diet–8 Steps to Prevent Heart Disease.

Manage stress: exercise regularly, meditate or practice deep breathing, express your emotions, play, cultivate intimacy & pleasure, and enjoy life!

Need more help with your Heart Health or Overall Fitness and Nutrition?

Email me to set up a FREE Initial Session with an expert Personal Trainer or a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist.

07Feb

Survey Response

February 7, 2021 Jessica Bottesch 33

As we moved into this new year, with so many changes afoot, I felt it was important to check in with you, our loyal clients, to see how we could serve you better.

We asked, you spoke, we listened!

Now, I would like to share some responses we received and our solutions to the requests or issues you raised, because after all – we do what we do for YOU! This is YOUR EMPOWER.

**These are paraphrased, and similar requests combined.

How Can We Improve In-studio Sessions?

Feedback 1: Would like an area where I could warm up before an appointment.
Our Response: We have two rooms (the smaller and larger group fitness rooms) that can be used for general warm up. The small room has a Peloton bike, ankle bands, and foam rollers. The larger room has a row machine, ankle bands and foam rollers. Please, just notify your trainer that you would like to arrive early to warm up and they can tell you which room is available.

Feedback 2: Would like general access to the studio at times I am not working with a trainer.
Our Response: We have taken the COVID-19 pandemic seriously and have tried to create the safest possible environment for our clients and trainers. With this goal, we created workout area “pods” for each client (or client small group) – so we could limit the amount of space sharing. Therefore and likely until positive test rates drop below 4% and the vaccination rate increases significantly. If we were to allow open studio access, we could not maintain our workout pod set up. However, we have other ways to help you stay active on the days you are not working with your trainer. Please see Your Off-Day Workout Options section below.

Feedback 3: I would like to come in to use the treadmill on days I am not working with a trainer.
Our Response: Our team has decided that we can make a special case for clients who would like to come in on an off day to use a piece of stationary cardio equipment with a few stipulations. Please contact your trainer to “reserve” time on a piece of cardio equipment. They will make sure someone will be present at the studio to let you in and be there for the duration of the time you are exercising. You must use the screens to create a workout pod around the piece of equipment you are using and if another client is in the studio working out you must keep your mask on. Again, our number 1 goal is your health and the safety of our community.

How Can We improve Virtual Sessions?

Feedback 1: I get better visuals when my trainer uses an iPad or computer versus a phone.
Our Response: Luckily, Empower supplies all trainers with an iPad and we addressed this issue in our last team meeting. The only time trainers might need to use their phone instead of an iPad or computer is if the Wi-Fi signal is weak or breaking up and they need to use the cellular signal on their phone to connect with you.

Feedback 2: It would be nice if the trainers had a better set up for the virtual appointments.
Our Response: We agree and as we recover from the financial effects this pandemic has had on our business, we imagine creating space within our studio with better visual and audio tech for virtual appointments. However, currently many of our trainers are training using this format and often are doing it from their homes. We will keep you posted as we improve and evolve our virtual training services.

Feedback 3: I worry about my form and getting injured if I am not doing the exercise correctly and my trainer can’t see me from all angles.
Our Response: This is definitely a concern of ours because seeing you on a screen makes you 2 dimensional and not 3 dimensional and sometimes clients go outside the camera view while exercising. Giving good cueing and helping to ensure suitable form is tougher when we are not in person, but we have addressed this issue at multiple team meetings and believe that a couple things can help. For starters, your trainer can give both verbal cues AND visual cues – so if you are not sure what to do, please ask for them to demonstrate the exercise. Also, our trainers will make sure they have a good view of how you are performing the exercise and ask you to reposition the web cam if they cannot see you. Hopefully, with a focus on form and diligence, all workouts will be safe and effective.

Feedback 4: Need more low-intensity workout videos.
Our Response: Oh, just you wait! We are completely revamping and reorganizing our Empower On Demand video library, and it will be so much more user friendly. And we will definitely add more moderate level and lower intensity workouts in all areas (yoga, strength, cardio circuit, mobility, balance). Stay tuned!
Feedback 5: I would like to know ahead of time what equipment I need for my workout, so I don’t waste time gathering things once the appointment has started.
Our Response: We totally get it, and anyone who feels this way just needs to let your trainer know. They can easily send you a quick text before your appointment so you can be set up and ready to sweat when the virtual sessions starts.

What other service or offerings would make us (more) excellent fitness partners for you in your health journey?

Feedback 1: Would love water-based workouts or if Empower had an affiliation with a local pool.
Our Response: This is a great idea! Empower will probably never have a pool of its own, but partnering with a local pool is definitely doable. This is something we can investigate later this year when COVID-19 is less of a threat and other organizations may be more amenable to having outside members coming into their facility. Thanks for the suggestion!

Feedback 2: Would love partner-based workout videos on Empower On Demand (both exercise and stretching videos)
Our Response: We love this idea – partners working out together at home! We are adding this to the list of videos to produce and will post them when they are ready. Again, we will upgrade the whole Empower On Demand service – stay tuned!

Feedback 3: Would love full locker rooms, sauna, steam room, cold baths etc.

Our Response: You might remember that just a few short weeks before this pandemic hit, we had just signed a lease extension that included an expansion and renovation of our studio. We were hoping to do a big locker room make-over. However, with months of forced closure and decreased business, it would not be fiscally responsible for us to take this on at this time. Our focus turned immediately to our employees and keeping their income stable. That remains the number one goal, but hey it never hurts to dream and put big goals out into the atmosphere. While we might not be adding a steam room soon, see the next section about recovery sessions.

Feedback 4: Would love boxing classes or individual workouts

Our Response: Boxing workouts are great exercise, fun and allow you to vent any pent-up frustrations (which we all have after a year of Covid-life). Almost any trainer should be able to create a fun but serious boxing workout for you, but we have a couple trainers in particular who have great experience and love this style of fitness. Please just let your trainer know this is your jam and they will either serve you up some hard-hitting boxing workouts or get you scheduled with Chuck or Amanda.

Feedback 5: Would love mindfulness or meditation videos

Our Response: YES! We all need more peace in our lives, and this could definitely help. I will reach out to three fabulous meditation guides I know to see if they would take this project on. Stay tuned, I will let you know what I get worked out.

Feedback 6: Would love recovery sessions where a trainer spends a full 30 minute passively stretching me and using the Thera-gun massage tool on problem areas.

Our Response: You read our minds! We are converting the small fitness room into more of a Recovery Zone and all of our trainers are already proficient or training on passive and PNF (proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation) stretching techniques. Soon you will be able to purchase add-on Recovery Sessions to make your workout experience complete. If you need pain relief, increased range of motion, reduced muscle stiffness and soreness, or faster recovery from workouts these sessions, that incorporate corrective exercise techniques, total body stretching or massage gun percussive therapy, are just what your trainer ordered.

We are launching a new Nutrition Services arm of Empower in 2021 – would you be interested in working with an Empower dietitian to bring more focus and attention to how you are fueling your body?

Feedback 1: 43% of survey participants said “Yes, please!”

Our Response: I am excited about expanding our Nutrition Services and I am meeting with a potential Registered Dietitian partner tomorrow! Again, stay tuned for details coming soon.

Thank you to all who took part in this survey. Your thoughts and opinions mean so much to us and we strive to provide the very best service possible. I always have an open door and ear so please email me anytime: Jessica@becomepowerful.com.

21Oct

Mother Nature’s Halloween Candy

October 21, 2020 Jessica Bottesch 18

While ‘tis the season to be stocking up on Halloween candy, we have a challenge for you: See what treats you can find in the produce section of the grocery store instead of the candy aisle.

For us, one of our favorite foods to explore this time of year is **squash.** So, today we are highlighting some different varieties: what they look like, how to cook them, their nutritional benefits, and some recipes you can try. Because soon, temperatures will be dropping, we will want to hunkering down and cooking some fall comfort foods – soups, warm casseroles and roasted winter veggies come to mind
Enjoy!

Acorn – dark green/orange, or buff-colored, has a ribbed rind, and contains a moist yellow or orange interior. This particular variety of squash contains vitamin A, niacin, folate, thiamine, and vitamin B6 but it is especially a high in vitamin C. Acorn squash is also high in potassium, magnesium, and fiber. Great for roasting and then using as a “squash bowl.” Check out this recipe from Elana’s Pantry for Acorn Squash with Cranberry Apple Stuffing. You could serve as a side dish or add ground sausage for a complete

Butternut – probably the most common variety of winter squash. It has a bell shape with a butterscotch colored skin. Butternut squash contains the highest doses of vitamins A & C of any other squash. It also packs potassium, folate, and lots of fiber. It is easy to peel, cube, and then roast. Great for roasting and soups. Check out this recipe from Cooking Light – for a flavor-pack fall salad – Autumn Glow Salad. Or this recipe from easy, vegan, gluten-free and delicious Crockpot Butternut Soup from Show Me the Yummy – nothing beats a warm bowl of soup on a chilly night.

Delicata – also known as sweet potato squash because of its creamy flavor and texture. This squash resembles a giant, fat cucumber and has a pale yellow skin and dark green pinstripes. Delicata squash, much like other varieties, is rich in carotenoids and a source of vitamin C, B1, B6, niacin, and potassium. You can eat the skin and it is great for roasting and stuffing. My favorite recipe for Delicata squash is from Paleomg, Chicken Bacon Alfredo. You can also roast delicata squash and then stuff it with shredded meat and/or sautéed veggies.

Kabocha – has a subtle, honeyed sweetness and smooth texture. The exterior is jade green, has light green stripes, and the meat inside is pale orange. Besides being an excellent source of beta-carotene, Kabochu squash also contains iron, vitamin C, and some B vitamins. Kabocha squash is drier and denser than other varieties, it can be baked or steamed, or pureed for soups. I love to roast it and use this recipe from Nom Nom Paleo as a guide, Roasted Kabocha Squash.

Pumpkin – has a bright orange skin and light orange flesh. Pumpkins have a mellow sweetness and dense flesh perfect for fall baking. They contain vitamin A & C, B vitamins, potassium, magnesium, iron, calcium, copper, and phosphorous. To use for baking look for small sugar or New England pie varieties, not the large ones used for decoration and/or carving. Great to roast or steam, puree, and then add to any recipe that calls for pumpkin. And fall isn’t complete without at least 1 pumpkin pie. Here is a great recipe for THE BEST Pumpkin Pie ever from Joy Food Sunshine!

Spaghetti – oval yellow squash contains a stringy flesh that when cooked separates into mild-tasting spaghetti-like strands. The nutritional benefits of spaghetti squash are that it contains vitamin A & C, B6, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, folate, pantothenic acid, vitamin K, manganese, and fiber. It can be topped with tomato sauce like pasta or flavored with butter and herbs. Great for roasting. However, there are so many delicious recipes to try using spaghetti squash. For a kid-friendly twist on everyone’s favorite – Pizza, try this Spaghetti Squash Pizza Casserole from Raia’s Recipes.

Well, there you have it – our season of squash round-up. Let us know if you try any of these recipes.

Pro-tip: If you are taking part in Halloween in any way this year, wait until Oct. 30th to buy candy and give it all away by Nov. 1st.

Comfort Food is One Way to Warm-Up Group Training is Another!

YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE A CURRENT CLIENT TO JOIN US FOR THESE SESSIONS!

Group training is perfect for the days you can’t find the motivation to make yourself exercise. You get the knowledge, expertise and motivation of an Empower professional AND you get the benefit of working out alongside others in our virtual group sessions.

Our group training workouts are designed just like a personal training session – with the appropriate warm up, attention to detail, and personalization of exercise intensity that you know and love.

If you’re struggling with motivation, you are getting a little bored with your workouts or you KNOW you should get more exercise then give group training a TRY!

Here Are Your Options This Week

Virtual Group Training – Pre-register at least 30 minutes before the group training session, and we will send you a Zoom link to join from the comfort of your home or office. Our workouts are creative, efficient and require very little equipment. Choose from Cardio Circuit or Strength Training. Your first session is FREE or use your class card.

In Person Group Training – Join Judy Raby of JARBarre for a one of kind experience –Yoga Fusion to Barre. This class will be held outside Empower and limited to only 5 participants (to maintain appropriate social distance). Kick off your Saturday with a blend of yoga and barre and be on your way to creating a great day. $20/class and pre-registration is required.

On Demand Group Training – Join our private FB group or request access to our private YouTube channel where we provide support, motivation and a suggested workout every single day from our on-demand library of workouts. Only $30/month.

Sign Up for Group Training

16Sep

Are you REALLY hungry?

September 16, 2020 Jessica Bottesch 15

Last night right before bedtime I mindlessly dove into not 1 but 2 mini snack bags (one popcorn, one Oreos – and I “never” eat Oreos), along with some watermelon and grapes. Can you say sugar overload? I wasn’t even hungry. Not only did I immediately feel bad physically – but I didn’t even enjoy them.

Do you ever stop before eating to check in with your body to see if you are actually hungry? Chances are if you practice some mindfulness around your eating, you would discover that often we reach for food out of boredom, loneliness, anxiety, sadness, or a feeling of being under stress and overwhelmed. This is referred to as “emotional eating.” Because we “feel” with our gut and with the rest of our body, it’s easy to confuse emotions or other physical sensations with hunger. I did last night!

Wanting to Eat vs. Needing to Eat

True hunger is general and non-specific. It can be an empty, growling stomach, lightheadedness, or irritability. Hunger comes and goes, often gradually. Cravings are VERY particular, usually for a certain kind of food. There are few signs of physical hunger, including a powerful urge that is sometimes felt in the back of the throat. A craving will come on suddenly and feels like an immediate compulsion.

Where Do Cravings Come from?

Our brains have to coordinate input from multiple sources: our body fat, gastrointestinal tract, sensory organs, and other body systems. Emotions or physical sensations can feel like hunger because our brains also have to deal with our emotions, our physical feelings, our beliefs, and our thoughts.

Feel-Good Neurotransmitters

Serotonin and dopamine are neurotransmitters. Serotonin makes us feel groovy and relaxed. It also tells us to stop eating. Dopamine, in contrast, is our “reward” neurotransmitter. It gives us a “high.” About 90% of our body’s serotonin is actually in our GI tract. When we eat, we release serotonin and dopamine.

Individuals who struggle with over eating are often just trying to boost their levels of serotonin and dopamine. Eating carbohydrates (particularly simple sugars and starches) can help release serotonin, which soothes and relaxes us.

Dopamine is released in response to the “reward” of good-tasting food. Dopamine is involved in addictions such as gambling, compulsive shopping, and alcoholism. Dopamine is the chemical that encourages us to seek the “hit” of a brief and intense thrill.

Self-Medicating with Food

Eating can be a kind of “self-medication” that helps calm us or boost our mood, and it’s a natural reaction. The movement of our jaw stimulates a nerve that helps release serotonin. Food manufacturers understand the neurobiology and psychology and know that we are more likely to crave sugary, creamy, fatty, and salty foods. Such foods can become our “drugs” of choice because (just like other drugs) they make us feel better, at least for the short term. Unlike genuine hunger, it’s hard to satisfy psychological hunger.

Tips to Help Deal with Cravings

Understand that cravings are normal. They come and go.
If the craving is minor, try ignoring it.
If the craving is moderate, try distracting yourself.
Keep a “craving diary.” Write the craving, when it happens, and what you are thinking. Over time, look for patterns. Once you identify the pattern, you can disrupt it.
Substitute something that gives you the same feeling. For example, take a detox bath when you are craving warmth and comfort. Go for a walk in nature when you crave a distraction. Drink water or herbal tea when you just want something to do with your mouth.

Reduce Food Cravings with Smart Food Choices

The good news is we can reduce cravings with supportive, smart food choices. Whole foods nourish us but don’t give us the intense “hit” of processed foods. Serotonin and dopamine also depend on protein, fat, and micronutrient levels. If we eat plenty of protein and healthy fats along with a wide range of vitamins and minerals from whole foods, our brains and bodies will be happy. ☺

25Aug

Goes Down Quick and Smooth…That’s the Problem

August 25, 2020 Jessica Bottesch 16

If you feel you have been picking up some extra pounds through this pandemic or hit a plateau in your weight loss efforts, you are not alone. We have heard from a lot of you that this time at home, and the increased stress of this situation has led to more drinking and more snacking.

So, today we want to highlight an area we don’t always take into consideration when we think about our daily consumption. WHAT WE DRINK. Our beverage choices can have a profound impact on how much we weigh and our overall health.

Proceed With Caution

Do you know how many calories your favorite drinks are hiding? That 12-ounce can of soda has 124-189 calories! Love your Latte? The 12 ounce nonfat Caffe Latte at Starbucks has 120 calories (yes, the nonfat one). And alcohol?! While I love a good craft beer, alcohol packs a hefty 7 calories per gram–second only to fat. So, a nice cold brew will have over 150 calories, and a small pour of wine 125 calories. Even 100% fruit juice is guilty—a 12 ounce glass of apple juice will set you back around 170 calories.

It’s not that 1 beverage is a problem. It’s that these calories quickly add up – because they often go down quick and smooth, especially on a hot summer day, so you end up having several. However, if you are trying to reduce your caloric intake, be extra careful with what you are drinking. You can drink away almost one fourth of your daily recommended calories in just a few of glasses!

Dangerous Calories

The trouble with drinking calories goes beyond a few pesky pounds. The source of the calories in beverages is usually sugar. Many beverages contain sugar. And it’s not just a little sugar. It’s a lot of sugar, to the tune of 10 teaspoons per 12 ounces of both orange juice and Coca-Cola classic! And don’t turn to Vitamin Water to reduce your liquid calories. It delivers a surprising 4-5 teaspoons of sugar! Trust me: there are better ways to get your vitamins!

Sugar causes weight gain in a few different ways. The obvious way is by slamming your body with extra calories. But there is a more sinister way. When you drink that sugar, it ends up in your bloodstream as glucose and raises the glucose level in your blood. Your body recognizes this as dangerous, so your pancreas works overtime to release insulin to clear out the extra glucose.

But that extra glucose has to go somewhere! And that is why insulin is called the fat storage hormone. Insulin sweeps the glucose out of your blood and stores it in your cells as fat.

Therefore, if you are drinking (or eating) too many calories, weight gain or a weight loss plateau may be the unhappy consequence.

The solution is to train your taste buds to enjoy less sugary beverages. Water is the best choice. We challenge you to get ½ your body weight in ounces of water every day. This may be hard at first but start by replacing 1 sugary or alcoholic beverage with a glass of water, then in a week try replacing 2 drinks with water. This theory is called “crowding out” if you are hydrating more with water you will be less thirsty and less likely to drink other beverages.

Don’t love plain water? Try putting slices of lemon or lime in your water. You can also freeze fruit in ice cube trays and let the fruit slowly flavor your water as the cubes melt.

Think diet drinks are the solution? Not so fast…

Many research studies have linked drinking too much diet soda to higher incidence of serious health conditions, including diabetes, dementia, heart disease and stroke.

It isn’t exactly clear why diet sodas may increase the risk of disease, but some researchers believe that it may cause vessel damage and chronic inflammations that lead to the above conditions.

Our Suggestion

Besides trying to crowd out other drinks with water, learn to drink unsweetened tea and coffee or enjoy a seltzer water instead of soda. Just be patient with yourself—it may take a few weeks for your taste buds to stop complaining and begging for sugar (or alcohol)! For a painless transition, decrease the sugar in your drinks or the number of alcoholic beverages you have each week gradually and get ready to feel better inside and out!

Food is Fuel, Don’t Run Out of Gas!

Mix it Up.

Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate (sound familiar?)

Stick with it!

What is Intermittent Fasting (IF)?

Does it work?

The Verdict?

What Is Cholesterol?

Is What We’ve Been Told about Cholesterol Misleading?

Who are the Real Bad Guys?

Lifestyle Habits that Increase Heart Health

How Can We Improve In-studio Sessions?

How Can We improve Virtual Sessions?

What other service or offerings would make us (more) excellent fitness partners for you in your health journey?

We are launching a new Nutrition Services arm of Empower in 2021 – would you be interested in working with an Empower dietitian to bring more focus and attention to how you are fueling your body?

Comfort Food is One Way to Warm-Up Group Training is Another!

YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE A CURRENT CLIENT TO JOIN US FOR THESE SESSIONS!

Here Are Your Options This Week

Wanting to Eat vs. Needing to Eat

Where Do Cravings Come from?

Feel-Good Neurotransmitters

Self-Medicating with Food

Reduce Food Cravings with Smart Food Choices

Proceed With Caution

Dangerous Calories

Our Suggestion

Welcome, Empower Community. WE ARE OPEN, and now is the perfect time to get your fitness on track! We are following all state and local guidelines, and are now serving our clients in these ways:

Welcome, Empower Community.
WE ARE OPEN, and now is the perfect time to get your fitness on track! We are following all state and local guidelines, and are now serving our clients in these ways: