Hi friends!
Here is your weekly Tri-Tip Tuesday, sharing my thoughts on food, fitness, & travel. Please forward this to others if you think they may be inspired.
Food: manipulating ingredient lists
Since adults consume 60% of their calories from ultra-processed foods (UPFs), and children consume 70% of their calories from UPFs, our nation's health is in a crisis. It is tragically sad for the current generation of young children, who are growing up sicker than ever. The CDC reported a decrease in life expectancy in 2021, showing the largest one-year drop since World War II.
Encouraging individuals to start exercising, lose weight, eat better, and stop smoking and using drugs are all needed. Keep in mind, that eating UPFs causes more chronic diseases than smoking and drinking combined. It's time each individual takes control over what we purchase to eat, and what we feed our children.
It's not our fault though. This is happening because our food industry is broken, and our government promotes it. The majority of "food" sold in grocery stores is ultra-processed foods, contributing to this crisis.
Look out for anything that has printed claims of health benefits, including (but not limited to) vegan, plant-based, keto, gluten-free, heart-healthy, fat-free, sugar-free, whole grain, organic, high-protein, high-fiber, etc.
Be vigilant when reading ingredient lists. Even ingredient lists are subject to manipulation to appear healthier than the product actually is.
According to FDA rules, ingredients must be listed “in descending order of predominance by weight”, meaning that “the ingredient that weighs the most is listed first, and the ingredient that weighs the least is listed last”.
However, manufacturers have become crafty. To prevent sugar from being the number one ingredient, they have learned to use several different sources of sugar to create one product, minimizing the dose of each ingredient, and causing each ingredient to run lower on the list. As a result, the more desired ingredient, such as "oats" or "wheat" will steal the #1 ranking spot.
Another tactic is to combine some of the more desirable ingredients, such as oats, quinoa, and others, into a "whole grain blend" and bump it up towards the #1 ingredient. This way you can't tell there is actually more sugar than oats in that granola bar.
For a deeper look at how to break down labels, check out this article.
Fitness: sponge analogy
In the world of wellness, there are many aspects to pay attention to. Fitness, nutrition, stress management, sleep, community, and purposefulness rank at the top.
When starting on your wellness journey, I encourage you to keep things simple and add in one healthy habit at a time, at a comfortable pace, so you can continue progressing at a sustainable pace.
Eventually, with time, your small steps begin to add up. Suddenly, you are juggling several healthy habits daily with ease. It feels amazing, and you are successful with your efforts.
This is where the magic comes together. Think of your wellness as a sponge...To clean out a dirty sponge, you need to squeeze it out and refill it, a lot.
The more you squeeze and ring it out, the more efficient it becomes. You squeeze out the dirty water and refill it with the clean water, giving it a cleansing rinse on each squeeze and fill.
Think of your fitness as is ringing it out. Every time you strength train, do cardio, go on a hike, or take a yoga session, you are ringing out the dirty. Refill it with really nourishing, high-protein, and nutrient-dense foods. The nutrients from whole foods such as animal protein and fibrous vegetables and fruits cleanse your sponge with consistency.
That process is getting fit.
If you're looking for a blueprint of healthy habits to rinse out your sponge, check out my habit challenge that starts September 2nd.
Travel: exercise snacks
We all have those moments in life when a week gets busy and priorities keep us away from our regular cardio and strength training program. In some cases, you can see the crazy schedule ahead of time and can adjust to be proactive.
You may be able to look at your week ahead and reschedule your workout days for different days, or even plan to do shortened, abbreviated versions (hello, breaking the all-or-nothing mindset!).
But other times, no matter how you slice or dice it, you just can't fit it in. Work demands, family demands, travel demands, or unforeseen emergencies happen.
In these cases, use exercise snacks or micro exercises to keep you on track. While you may not be crushing records or progressing during these times, you are keeping your mindset and your identity strong. You are keeping your mental health the best that it can be, knowing that you're doing something. Heck, you may even be doing enough to maintain your fitness level, which is a beautiful thing!
Use cardio snacks such as short sprints or mini incline hikes if you have a few moments and some open space. If you don't have open space, use on-the-spot bursts such as jumping jacks, jump rope, high knees, or butt kicks to get things moving and the heart pumping.
Use strength snacks like wall sits, planks, pushups, bodyweight squats, walking lunges, and tricep dips on a bench to chase a mini pump.
Remember, even if it's 2 minutes here and 4 minutes there, doing something is always better than doing nothing.
Make it a great week!
Christine Irene
NASM-CPT, Senior Fitness Specialist, Precision Nutrition Pn1 + Pn2 Certified, & Avid Traveler
Knowing is not enough, we must apply. Willing is not enough, we must do. - JOHANN VON GOETHE
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