Is breakfast the most important meal of the day?

What should I eat for breakfast by CSC Trainer, Tom Nyilis

It’s a fair enough question and like so many things with nutrition it is a complex one and different for different people. Here is MY personal take on the question. YES, breakfast is the most important meal of the day and a healthy habit for long term health, weight management, athletic performance and cognitive thinking. For example, one 2021 systematic review of 14 observational studies found that those who eat breakfast seven times per week have a reduced risk for: Heart diseaseDiabetesObesityHigh blood pressureStrokeAbdominal obesityCardiovascular-related deathElevated low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol Weight management---by having breakfast you have more control of your

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9 Foods To Help You Get Through Your Workout

9 foods to help you get through your workout

It’s quite simple, if you don’t have any fuel in the tank then your workout will suffer.  If you come to the gym at 6pm and the last thing you ate was a salad at 1pm your workout will suffer and you will be more susceptible to injury. Pre-exercise meals should be mainly composed of "slow-burning" complex carbs, such as fruits, vegetables, whole-grain bread, rice, pasta, and cereals. Given that they are your body's main source of energy, 65% to 70% of the total calories of your pre-workout meal should come from carbs. Complex carbs take longer to convert to

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Food as Medicine

"An apple a day keeps the Doctor away" - We've all heard this phrase before, even my kids ( 6 & 9 years old ) go… Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, I know dad ! At that young age , it is really hard to convince them that a bowl of broccoli is better for you than a bowl of skittles. Those colorful and chewy candies, so cute , so sweet and tasty…how that can be bad for you ? And , the truth is , they are not really that bad for you. It's pure sugar, and a little bit of

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How to be successful at the gym, Part 3: Consistency

It doesn’t matter what your goals are, consistency is key. That being said, it doesn’t mean that you can’t miss a workout (it happens to all of us). In that case, try to find a way to move a little more during the course of that day. Don’t think you need to start over and definitely don’t give up! Move on and understand that there will be thousands of other workouts to be crushed. Exercise Sometimes we get bored of our workouts and don’t want to repeat the same things over and over again. An easy solution to this dilemma

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Why Booties and Cookies Don’t Mix

Let’s face it, the holidays can be very challenging. Getting into the festive spirit tends to mean abandoning all notion of self-control and consuming insane amounts of sugar.  But you know what…? It’s OK!  The cookies are colorful and pretty, the punch looks beautiful and there is loads of candy, pies and all kinds of chocolatey treats at every party. So let your inhibitions go and give in a little! I gave myself just 24 glorious hours where I allowed myself unchecked treats including cookies, midnight snacks and candy all day long. I let myself splurge like this because I

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Understanding Supplements

The world of supplements is vast and confusing. Everywhere there are manufacturers claiming their pill will help you lose twenty pounds fast, boost your libido, help you gain more muscle, or reduce soreness and help you work out longer. There are so many products out there, all claiming to have the solution to our problems or be ‘the next big thing’ in fitness, it can be almost impossible to sift through them all and understand what is beneficial and what is snake oil. (more…)

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Fueling Your Workouts

You’ve probably wondered how to make the most out of your time at the gym, or you wouldn’t be reading this. One of the pillars of success in fitness is eating right for exercise. This means eating the right foods, at the right times, to get the best possible workout. You shouldn’t be showing up to the gym starving, or totally stuffed. You should be properly hydrated, and you shouldn’t be feeling hungry or weak by the end of a training session. (more…)

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What is “clean” eating?

There are many foods in our diets, especially in the US, that have preservatives and other chemicals that don’t belong in the human body. Many of us already know what a lot of the problem foods are. We call them junk food, fast food, or guilty pleasures, and we absolutely love them. Why wouldn’t we? They’re delicious! But we should also avoid them like the plague. (more…)

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What should you be eating to lower your body fat?

One of the most important things we can do to lose weight and achieve the body shape we desire is to change the way we eat. Many of us have probably heard the phrase “abs are made in the kitchen,” and this is one of the most accurate mantras in the fitness industry. There are many elements of a healthy diet, but this article is going to focus on the simple and most important changes we can make to begin to fix the problems with the American diet. (more…)

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