Why No Grains?

Why No Grains?

I know for those of you doing #FatBlast50 with us giving up grains has probably been the hardest thing to do.

Our culture today truly is a grain culture – we eat cereals, toast, bagels etc. for breakfast, sandwiches for lunch and grains in many of their other forms for dinner. They are probably one of the most over consumed foods (next to sugar) in our day-to-day lives.

Maybe you are wondering why we’ve said NO to grains for this 50-day challenge. If that’s the case then this post is for you. Check out this list of why grains might not be as good for you as think (Big thanks to a fellow blogger Jenny over at the Nourished Kitchen for breaking it down so wonderfully for us)…

If you can get it from grain, you can get it elsewhere:

“One of the big reasons that grains are touted as heroes is their nutrient profile which boasts dietary fiber and B vitamins – each grain is different and different grains offer different nutrient profiles.  Yet, one thing remains constant if you can find the nutrient in grain, you can find the nutrient in better quantities of other foods” (Against the Grain).

Jenny goes on to describe how some veggies and meats measure up to their whole grain and whole-wheat partners.  In fact, in some cases, especially that of dietary fiber, veggies beat out the competition each time! So make sure to add in tons of greens and veggies to fill your body with that nutritional goodness!

Grains aren’t good for your gut:

Your intestinal health is critical to your overall health. If you’re gut isn’t healthy, you can’t absorb the nutrients from the foods you eat, and if you can’t absorb nutrients from the foods that you eat, your body is malnourished and is more prone to disease. Grains are associated with a condition called “Leaky Gut,” I know it sounds terrible right? Basically what it means is that the tiny particles of grain that you eat are able to slip through the walls of your intestines, because the grain is so foreign to your immune system your body attacks it as if it were an invader! Because your body is so focused on destroying the invading grains it can’t effectively fight against true threats to your immune system like colds, or flu’s, or other pathogens. (Against the Grain). Who would have thought!?

You are probably Gluten Intolerant:

If you are Caucasian, there is a good chance that you are gluten intolerant to some degree.  Some research on Gluten and Celiac disease indicate that while on 1% of the general population suffers from celiac disease; they also estimate that 30%-40% of people of European descent are gluten intolerant to some degree.  That means that on a regular basis people who may not even know it are consuming a food that is making them sick.

Grains cause inflammation:

Grains are super high in starch and as a result of this high starch content grains are inflammatory foods.  The more refined the grain, the more inflammatory it is. Chronic inflammation is linked to a number of degenerative, modern diseases including arthritis, allergies, asthma, cardiovascular disease, bone loss, emotional imbalance and even cancer. This really makes you think about how the food that we put into our mouths really affects our bodies long term. 

Grains aren’t good for you skin:

Grains have a very high carbohydrate content, and even though the carbohydrates in grain are complex they are still broken down into sugars.  These sugars force your body to produce more insulin, and elevated insulin levels create all kind of hormonal responses – including encouraging the glands in your skin to produce more oil. Before you know it, you may feel like a pre-pubescent teenager all over again…

Eating grain makes you crave grain:

Like we said before, grains have an extremely high carbohydrate content.  Foods rich in carbohydrates give you quick energy, but unfortunately that energy wears off just as quickly as it came.  Since grains break down into sugar, they raise your blood sugar and when your blood sugar dips down again you crave more grains. It’s a vicious cycle my friends! That’s why your trainers at iluvthis Bootcamp talk about maintaining your blood sugar throughout the day, so that you don’t have those intense cravings for all those delicious but oh-so-bad-for-you goodies…

These are all amazing reasons to go grain free, but my favourite one happens to be this last one right here…

Ditching Grains will help you regulate your Blood Sugar… Resulting in Fat Loss!

Our bodies become desensitized to insulin and so need to produce oodles more than we actually need! When you have super high insulin levels your body is unable to burn fat. By maintaining a stable blood sugar through eating lean proteins, omega 3’s, veggies and all that healthy goodness, we are reprogramming our bodies and enabling them to use stored sugar (stored as fat) into energy for our bodies to use! If you are trying to loose weight this is great news for you, because as you begin to re-sensitize your body each of these processes will begin to work in the way that they are intended to work, your insulin levels will stabilize, you will produce more glucagon – and you will drop those extra pounds!

Hopefully all of this helps you understand why we’ve decided on NO grains for our challenge. We’ve heard tons of feedback that you are feeling amazing, and I’ve even heard that one woman is off of a medication that she has been taking for years for asthma! It really is quite amazing what changing your diet can do for your body!

Keep it up, and keep #FatBlast50-ing my friends!

Stronger For Longer: The Benefits of Resistance Training

Stronger for Longer: The Benefits of Resistance Training

Special Guest Post by Melissa Windsor, JQ Fitness

I used to think that cardio was the be-all and end-all of exercise. When someone would ask me if I “worked out”, my immediate thought was well I go to the gym and go on the elliptical, so yes, I workout.  Little did I know how much I was missing out on.

My workouts were always cardio focused, so when I lost weight I merely became a smaller person with the same, pudgy shaped body. So while the number on the scale would move occasionally, I lacked definition, strength and the muscular endurance that I now know comes as a byproduct of resistance training.

If you’re a part of iluvthis Bootcamp, we incorporate resistance training in many different ways rather than your traditional weight lifting at the gym (which is also great for you, don’t get me wrong – I actually do it all the time).  Different forms of resistance training include body weight exercises like squats, lunges, & pushups - exercises with the bands, anything that we get you to use your dumbbells for, as well as kettlebells and your stability ball! Plus, with the added benefit of cardio intervals you really are getting the most time efficient and effective full-body workout.

I know sometimes you might not feel motivated to get to bootcamp and kill your workout, or if you’re a gym-kinda person, you might not feel motivated to get your butt to the gym and hammer it out, but it’s so worth it to take that time for yourself and realize what you are actually doing for your body.

Intentionality is everything. This is something that I’ve come to realize the importance of. I need a clear goal, a direction, a WHY behind the action – otherwise you’ll forget why you’re doing what you’re doing and unfortunately you’ll probably stop doing it.

In addition to being super intentional and goal oriented about your workouts, when you are struggling with motivation or even just to keep the motivation that you already have, remind yourself of these awesome benefits that you can and will experience as a result of resistance training:

Improved muscle strength & tone – aka your ticket to a rockin’ bod…

Weight management & increased muscle-to-fat-ratio – Burning more calories at rest means your body is working more efficiently!

Greater stamina – you won’t get tired as easily, this is awesome for whatever activities you might want to participate in ;)

Increased bone density -  as we age we lose muscle – this will help to keep it and because muscle pulls on bones you’ll also have stronger bones reducing your risk of osteoporosis

Reduced body fat – aka also your ticket to a hot bod (part II)

Better sleep – we’re all exhausted these days, sooo enough said! Catch some awesome Z’s!

Increased ability to perform everyday tasks – its all about functional movements! Building your muscles through resistance training will help in all areas of your life!

Decreased Insulin Resistance – Insulin is the fat fighting hormone & lifting weights will help you be more sensitive to it and therefore you’ll burn more fat – Hooray! I can just hear my fat cells crying right now…

Best of all, you’ll feel stronger, leaner, meaner and be able to survive Jeff’s workouts at 6:00am…

(maybe...)

Until next time,

xx

At A Crossroads

Special Guest Post by Melissa Windsor, JQ Fitness

There are so many times in our lives when we find ourselves at a crossroads. Choice A or Choice B (or C or D or E… you get the picture). When I reach these places in my own life I often find myself crippled and paralyzed by fear – fear of the unknown, fear or the know, fear of stepping out and failing, fear or looking like an idiot in front of the people I care about, or even looking like an idiot in front of complete strangers.

So I wait. I sit on the decisions that I know I need to be making because I feel that if I wait, maybe, just maybe, everything will right itself, or solve itself and I wont have to do any growing or changing.

And every time this happens I realize what a completely silly notion that really is.

Life isn’t about sitting around and waiting for the hard things to pass you by, or watching the people around you struggle and then succeed while you look on…

Life is about living, making mistakes, making the right choice sometimes and other times making the completely wrong choice but being able to pick yourself up and move on, stronger (and hopefully wiser) than you were before.

Often the things that I am the most proud of accomplishing are the things that have frightened me the most. Like losing weight, and changing my lifestyle. 

From my vantage point last year, so many things stood in the way of me accomplishing my goals. Everything I saw was a challenge that needed to be overcome and it felt like too much. Eventually though, the fear I felt about how hard it would be & that “what if I fail” question at the back of my mind became less and less important. I realized the only thing holding me back was me; Not my genetic pre-disposition to be overweight like many of my family members, not my family history of heart disease. I was the one doing this. I was eating crap, and treating my body like a trash can rather than a living, breathing, beautiful thing that needed to be nurtured and cared for.

So I stepped out, I took a risk; I changed my diet and started exercising. I felt like crap on some days, but I kept at it. I realized that one bad day didn’t define me, that one bad day wouldn’t ruin my progress, but that many bad days together would.

I learned to have grace for myself.

And through the process I realized that taking the leap is just the beginning.

Maybe today you find yourself facing a similar situation or even a situation that is completely different from mine. The concept is still the same. Don’t let yourself be held back and paralyzed by fear. Embrace that fear, and press through the challenges you find yourself facing. On the other side you’ll discover strength inside of yourself that you’ll be forever grateful for.

You are strong

You are capable

& You can accomplish  the things you set your mind to.

So go out today, and rock it.

JQ Fitness: A Year In Review

Take a peek back with us as we remember all of the amazing things that we've been up to this year!

Can you believe that 2013 is coming to a close? This year has been filled with some great memories and the opportunity to meet some amazing new faces and continue doing what we LUV! Thank you for making our job the best job out there!

So without further ado we present to you our YEAR IN REVIEW!

2nd Annual iluvthis Bootcamp BE[CAUSE] - A Burpee Can Make a Difference

On April 13 2013, we hosted our 2nd Annual iluvthis Bootcamp BE[CAUSE] charity event to raise money for Free-Them, an Oakville-based charity committed to stopping and helping victims of human trafficking right here at home in the GTA and the Golden Horseshoe. 

A challenging team circuit kicked off the morning with tonnes of sweat and grunting but everyone finished with a smile. This is a family event, so a mini-bootcamp class for kids was next on deck (we start ‘em doing burpees young here at JQ!). To finish off our morning, Johanna and our trainers got over 130 participants pumped up with a high-energy kickboxing session and then had so much fun with our large bootcamp class.  

With your support and participation, we were able to raise more than $10,000 to fight again human trafficking.

There were free massages for the participants, an awesome chat from Dr. Jason Lee of Innermedica and some delicious goodies baked by Deb over at Gourmet Mom – yum! We had such a great time. If you were there with us THANK YOU for supporting Free-Them.  If you weren’t there, don’t worry one little bit because we’ve got another event coming up in February so you can get in on the fun as well J

Our event was featured in an article in the Invidiata The Collection magazine with the photography of Simon Remark from Ecstatic Photography–

  

 

New Hamilton & Brampton Bootcamp locations!

This summer marked the launch of our Hamilton & Brampton locations! We've been so blessed in our ability to expand into over 15 locations across the GTA – we LUV bringing fitness and our community as close to you as possible and are so excited to open up new locations so that you can reap the benefits of our bootcamps!

We’ve been hearing some great feedback from these sites and are looking forward to seeing how they grow to be a bigger part of the iluvthis Bootcamp family.

Mississauga Waterfront Festival

We celebrated this year's Mississauga Waterfront Festival in Port Credit with kids fitness demonstrations and a fun booth!  If you dropped by our booth, we held an awesome bootcamp challenge where a few brave souls slammed that medicine ball into the ground and squatted-and-pressed that kettlebell as many times as they could in 30 seconds – we had a male and female winner who received a free 5 week bootcamp session.

Valiant efforts were taken by the men on stilts - (unfortunately they didn’t win the challenge…)

Locke St Festival

At the trendy Locke St Festival in Hamilton, our trainers Tanya and Emily along with Melissa braved the rain in the morning to hangout with our Hamilton crowd. Our tent didn’t fare as well in the rain as we did though…

Jeff and Johanna arrived in the afternoon to a clearing sky! Once again, our booth became the centre of attention as we challenged people with our kettlebells and medicine balls. Locke St. is such a unique street. So much so, we decided to move our Hamilton site right onto Locke St. at Melrose United Church! 

Half Marathon Clinic & 10th Annual Nike Women's Half Marathon

Summer is the time that we invite all our running clients and those that want to be runners to join us to start with a 5km run and progress to a 21.1km Half Marathon over 16 weeks of training. 

As we have done over the past several years, we capped the clinic off with a trip to San Francisco to run the 10th Annual Nike Women's Half Marathon with 30,000 other women and a few good men! Our trainer Amanda took the reins this year and guided everyone to a successful half marathon finish! We rocked the race...

(not to mention the FAB tutu’s that we all modeled!) did you really expect anything less?

We luved crossing the finish line to claim our Tiffany’s finished necklaces handed to us by handsome firemen in tuxedo’s!

Celebration of our 5 Year Fat Fighting Bootcamp Anniversary!

In June 2008, we started 2 bootcamp classes in Mississauga. We gave it our all, packing those 8 weeks with great people and great workouts. Well, we haven't looked back! Little did we know that iluvthis Bootcamp would evolve into a top notch fat loss and strength and conditioning program that would change people's lives and inspire health in thousands! Five years later, we have a team of 9 caring and inspiring trainers that are dedicated to coaching our community of participants across 15 locations in Brampton, Burlington, Etobicoke, Hamilton, Milton, Mississauga and Oakville. 

To celebrate our 5 years, we gave away some sweet swag bags – with water bottles, pens and our special edition #BurpeesForBreakfast t-shirts this fall! What an amazing 5 years it’s been…

I mean who doesn’t LUV free swag…

Tabata, Kickboxing and Core Small Group Fitness Classes

This fall marked the launch of our Small Group Fitness classes in Burlington, Oakville and Mississauga. We launched with 3 classes to choose from: Fat Blasting Interval Training Tabatas, High Energy Cardio Kickboxing and a Core Ripping Stability Ball class! All of which continue in the new year with NEW LOCATIONS ADDED.

4th Annual Freedom Walk for Free Them

In September we participated in the 4^th annual FREEDOM WALK for Free-Them where we were honoured with the iStand Award, thanking us for our efforts to help abolish modern day slavery by raising $21,000 over the last 2 years. We then warmed up the walkers and off we went... to make a difference!

Girl's Night You - Beautiful You

In November, we hosted our first Beautiful You event, where Johanna talked about how the media affects how women perceive themselves and their value. It was an amazing ladies night and one that we will absolutely do again! Its such a privilege to remind the amazing ladies in our lives how special and truly beautiful they are!

During this event we also held a balloon raffle to raise money for Free-Them and ate delish goodies baked once again by Deb at Gourmet Mom! It was so amazing to see so many of you out for this.  Johanna’s talk was honest, informative and refreshing and we hope that you were inspired to embrace your inner beauty and value – we know we were!

It’s really been an amazing year and we're so blessed to have been able to share it with you! We hope you’ll be able to join us in 2014 as we keep pursuing our health and fitness goals and hopefully inspire you to do the same…

So from our JQ Fitness family to yours… MERRY CHRISTMAS & A HAPPY NEW YEAR!

xx