DaileyFit

It's best to not go heavy with the meals prior to your workout.  Eating too much or eating the wrong thing prior to exercise can be possibly detrimental to your workout.  Imagine putting diesel fuel in your vehicle when it takes regular gasoline; there is misfiring, sputtering, and stalling.  Of course your body will not "misfire" but it could feel heavy, sluggish, you may have a stomachache, and your joints could even hurt.  Light snacks are great for workouts that are less than one hour.  Fruit and watered-down sports drinks offer quick digesting carbohydrates that break down and become available in the bloodstream immediately after consumption.  This creates a seamless production in energy and little distress on the gastrointestinal system.  Bagels, Clif Bars, and peanut butter will sit in the stomach and not break down or convert into energy as quickly due to their complex nature.  Trying to exercise with these things not properly digested wil...

We've all done it, sat down in front of the television at night with a big bowl of ice cream, wings, pizza, or any other large calorie item and said to ourselves "hey I earned this with that awesome workout today."  In reality, that "awesome workout" may have only burned off 300-400 calories, and we could be ready to take in thousands.  In fact, we just earned ourselves 10 more workouts in order to burn off our reward! This practice is very common in the wonderful world of exercise;  amplifying a hard day's work to justify a large caloric reward in the end.  Rewards are great and they do wonders for extrinsic motivation, but they should be healthier, more tangible alternatives such as a movie, a download on iTunes, or an extra hour of sleep, etc.  These types of rewards will actually help continue to fuel your ongoing progress, instead of stunting it with stomachaches or extra pounds! Next time you are finished your workout and are busy raiding the fridg...

The serving size of peanut butter is 2 ounces, that is about the size of a ping-pong ball.  Do you honestly use that amount on your sandwich?  How about this;  the correct serving size of meat is equivalent to a deck of cards.  Cheese? The size of a domino.  Butter?  The tip of your thumb. Although these are the recommended serving sizes of a few of the popular foods we eat, it is obvious that we do not abide by the recommendations, and often overindulge.  Yes, we choose to eat our larger, less healthy portion sizes in this day and age, but these larger portion sizes may be all we know, they are marketed this way, our friends and family eat these portion sizes, and that is what we are served when we go out.  We go to buffets, "all you can eat's", order in bulk from value menus, drink big gulps, super size it, and buy big to satisfy an even bigger appetite. Can you say portion distortion?  Portion recommendations are now laughed at with in...

Had a very good conversation with a client of mine this morning on the subject of stress.  It is the topic of a very good nutrition book I just started reading called "Thrive" which is about vegan dieting and athletes. Stress in the current ages is most likely looked at as a feeling of frustration brought on by financial, emotional, and work-related issues.  We must not stop there, incorrect dieting, incorrect exercising, and incorrect resting are other forms of stress.  Each one as detrimental as the previous.  Possessing personal stresses in each of these categories will compound into one very large problem! This leads me back to the conversation this morning.  First off, if you are stressed, you NEED to dial it back a bit.  Worrying about things will definitely not change the present day other than make you miserable, give you a headache, overeat, or worse.  Focus your energy on the positive things that are currently happening in your life, the ...

When the term "boxing" comes to mind, some might only associate it with a sport where two opponents are beating the daylights out of each other in an effort to obtain a heavyweight championship.  Sure, this is one aspect of boxing, but it can also be looked at in a fitness sense.  Boxing, non-contact kickboxing, and even bodyweight cardio kickboxing/bootcamp are all excellent ways to challenge and improve cardiovascular efficiency, tone the core and muscles of the upperbody, and increase agility and hand-eye coordination.  If you think that your hand-eye coordination is already exceptional then try hitting a speedbag! Incorporate shadowboxing into your general warm-up, go a couple one-minute rounds on a heavy bag, or try out a kickboxing class at a local studio or gym.  These will all be challenging even to the most physically fit.  If you are a runner or biker, incorporate kicks into your workout regime, learn how the core and center of gravity play a dynamic...

Too many times do people give up on something just shy of actually achieving it.  To me, it doesn't matter if you are a minute or a mile away, you need to push through any obstacles that are getting in between you and your goals. My clients often question me why we must continue to stress the exercises that they are having the most trouble with, or the ones that they can't stand the most.  My response always is: "if you hate it, you need it." This seemingly daunting, and sometimes neverending, task of chipping away at something is necessary to achieve it.  Focus, set your mind on your goal, push forward, and learn from what does not work.  Success does not always come easy.  You MUST, you CAN, and you WILL.  Use that or any other mantra that gets you through the tough times because in the end, it pays off. Persevere!

I witness too many people come into the gym, walk around aimlessly from machine to machine, stare intensely at their iPod, text friends on their phone, or stand around and chit chat instead of exercising.  Most people will have to admit that they are guilty of at least one of the above.  Going to the gym or strapping on some running shoes does not guarantee a good and productive workout, the goals and intrinsic motivation do. Chances are, your gym probably offers wayyy more than you are aware of, and it is all there for you to explore.  Schedule a session with a personal trainer, try a group exercise class, look and see if there are running or swimming clubs available, or become friendly with someone you regularly see and agree to meet up for workouts during the week.  If you already are doing these things, make it a personal goal to outperform yourself each week in some way.  Add an additional exercise to your routine, increase the amount of repetitions you c...

More and more brands of soymilk are popping up on the shelves of grocery stores these days, right alongside the ever popular cow's milk that we all know and love.  Some may prefer soymilk to cow's milk due to dairy or lactose allergies, some may be vegan, or some may look to it for the health benefits. If you don't know too much about soymilk then here are a couple facts.  It is derived from soybeans, rather than animals, yielding less saturated fat and not contributing to high cholesterol levels.   Soymilk contains about 7-10 grams of protein per cup and also contains fiber since it is plant-based, providing a more satiating effect (the feeling of being full).   Soymilk contains calcium and also typically has a longer shelf life than cow's milk. There are mixed opinions on soy vs cow when it comes to milk.  A lot of researchers will promote soy largely due to the fact that cows are being treated with hormones which could ultimately be transferred to the con...