Think Twice Before Eating These 5 Breakfast Foods

A good, healthy breakfast can set the tone of a day filled with inspired food choices. Eating a healthy breakfast will give you great energy, that lasts. Good breakfast foods will boost your metabolism, fight disease and help you maintain your weight. Bad breakfast foods will do the exact opposite: lead to mid-morning crashes, slow down your metabolism and cause weight gain. One thing to live by, though, is to not skip breakfast - doing so will make you gain weight, lose energy and concentration. But you should skip the worst breakfast options. To help you, we’ve compiled a list of our top 5 breakfast foods to avoid when possible.

1. Boxed Cereal

Cereal that is high in carbs and sugar and low in fibre will cause the sugar levels in your blood to spike, then quickly drop, which can lead to mid-morning cravings. Boxed cereal is usually packed with carbs and sugars, and has insufficient amounts of fibre. We recommend choosing cereal with at least 3 grams of fibre per 100g. You can also add natural ingredients, such as flaxseed, berries and nuts to increase its nutritional values.

2. Fruit Juice

Many of us have very busy lifestyles and are usually on the go at breakfast. Some people grab a glass of orange juice and call it a meal. Regardless of the nutrients and vitamins of juices - from cold-pressed green juices, to the popular orange juice, they don’t pack enough protein, which will most likely accelerate your hunger by mid-morning. They also contain lots of sugars (albeit natural), which, again, will make your sugar levels go up and then drop quickly. A better version of a glass of juice is a smoothie with more fibre and protein - for example, a banana, flaxseed and peanut butter smoothie.

3. Pastry and Muffins

You can find them in any cafe at breakfast and they always look lovely. They look even more appealing when they seem to be made of bran or look dark. But don’t be fooled: most of them are just cake in disguise, as they still contain loads of sugar. A typical bakery muffin will have over 400 calories; an apple turnover will have over 350 calories and a yum-yum, 300. As an alternative, why not bake a batch yourself at the weekend, using protein powder instead of flour, as well as good ingredients such as fruit and yogurt. We have found some great recipes here.

4. Bagel

Most bagels, especially those loaded with cream cheese or butter, are about 300-500 calories worth of starch. Cream cheese and butter also add more saturated fat - not to mention the amount of carbs in the actual bagel. There are also wholegrain, low fat alternatives, however, if you’re buying it on the go, you’re probably not getting a calorie-conscious, whole bagel with low fat cream cheese. Why not buy wholegrain bagels from the supermarket and toast it at home in the morning. You can also use low fat toppings, such as cottage cheese, natural peanut butter, or soy butter.

5. Processed Meats

Who doesn’t love a good sausage and bacon bap in the morning? Well, it turns out our hearts don’t. Processed meats are the most harmful type of meat, and consuming 50g can raise heart disease risk by 42%, according to research. We only recommend consuming these foods a  special occasions, such as family breakfasts every once in a while. Also, if you do indulge, make sure your diet in the rest of the day is made of healthy foods.

Avoid Skipping Breakfast

One important thing to remember is it's best to avoid skipping  breakfast. Eating almost anything may be better than skipping breakfast.Why? Because skipping breakfast increases the likelihood you will overeat later in the day, and also miss out on healthy nutrients consumed at breakfast. If you are one of the people who don’t feel hungry when they wake up, why not look at your overall eating habits - eating too much at dinner may be the reason why.

Does the amount of sleep you get affect your results in the gym?

Rest is one of the key principles of exercise and not getting enough sleep can affect your performance, both physically and mentally. Most adults need between seven and nine hours of sleep each night - but may vary depending on the quality of sleep as well as genetics. Not getting enough sleep can limit motivation, energy levels, as well as your body’s ability to recover from exercise. But let’s be honest - we live in a hectic world and achieving seven hours of sleep can be a luxury at times - let alone nine! Even studies show that we’re getting less sleep than we did five years ago. And whilst our bodies can absorb around one night with less sleep per week, sleep deprivation is a common problem amongst adults.

Sleep and Exercise

It is crucial we get enough rest to keep us going, especially when having an active lifestyle. Rest is extremely important in helping relax our muscles, as well as getting some mental rest - hence why rest or recovery days are also incorporated in workout plans. Also, if you are after results, you need to make sure you create the perfect environment for your body to get there - from a nutrition point of view, to performing the right exercises, and ensuring you give your body enough time to recover. Sleep can and will affect your results otherwise: psychologically, your metabolism, your energy levels, as well as muscle and bone repair.

Psychological Effects

If you do not regularly get a full night’s sleep, you will experience several negative psychological effects: you will feel lazy and less motivated, which will not give you the same performance as an optimal day. You will also experience a decreased level of concentration and memory impairment, which will make it less likely for you to chart your progress and stay on track at the gym.

Effects on Your Metabolism

Sleep deprivation can actually cause you to gain weight. Sleep deprivation decreases your body’s levels of leptin, a hormone responsible for making you feel full, which means that your appetite will increase and you will want to eat more. Also, by being awake for longer, you will need more fuel for the body, causing you to consume more calories.

Energy Levels

As you will not have enough rest for your body to be satisfied, not getting enough sleep will decrease your energy level and make it harder for you to get a good workout. Low energy levels at the gym will also make you feel more frustrated and less motivated - going back to those psychological effects.

Muscle and Bone Repair

Believe it or not, sleep (or lack of) can affect the way your muscles and bones recover. While you sleep, your body releases a growth hormone which helps strengthen these parts of your body. Therefore, sleep deprivation might limit your body’s ability to recover after an intense workout or make your muscles and bones stronger. When strength training in particular, sleep deprivation can limit the growth hormone secreted by your body to make your muscles stronger and allow you to lift more weight.

Are you getting enough sleep?

The best way to know if you’re well rested is to see how you feel when you wake up - if you’re refreshed and ready for the day ahead, then you’re good to go. If not, try to have a power nap during the day. Getting the proper amount of sleep will help you face the world at your best: it will help you on the road to good fitness, good eating and good health - physical and mental.

Group Exercise Classes and Their Benefits

When going to the gym, especially when joining, some members may not know what to do once they’re in the building. While some struggle with the exercises they need to do, others simply don’t know how to structure them. A great way to ease into exercising is by attending group exercise classes. Fitness classes are great fun as they offer something a bit more different to the gym in a relaxed, but competitive environment, in which class goers experience many benefits.

1. You can easily find your motivation

When seeing other members tackling various exercises and doing their best, the only way to carry on with the class is to give it your best as well. It is inspiring to be surrounded by like-minded individuals, who are willing to put in the work and encourage others at the same time. This is how many members find their motivation - either through encouragement from others including the class instructors, by encouraging others or just through some friendly competitiveness during the session.

2. Group exercise classes give more structure to your workouts

They are a great way to get a workout without doing any planning. Each class is  structured with a warm-up, a workout and a cool-down, and the knowledgeable instructors would have done all the planning in advance. The only thing you need to do is turn up.

3. You have and maintain good form throughout the session

Each group exercise instructor is there to help our members. They are there to help you achieve good form and to give you tips for performing the exercises or routines in the right way. This is where the benefits really start to show: good form is important for your muscles to make the most of each exercise, but also to help prevent injuries.

4. Fitness classes add variety to your workout

Box fitter, spin, Insanity, circuits, yoga, Zumba and the list goes on. Here at Synergy we offer a wide variety of classes, suited to individual needs and performance. Having some variety in your workouts helps limit the effects of plateaus, as not having a set routine that you perform every week will keep your body guessing what’s coming next. This will help ramp up your metabolism and burn more calories. Not to mention the added advantage of preventing boredom!

5. Accountability

The Synergy class booking system offers you the chance to book all your sessions for the following week in advance. This way, you can plan ways to challenge your body differently every day. Also, by doing this, you also commit to going to the sessions - increasing your accountability and reducing the chances of losing motivation and not turning up at the gym on the day.

6. Group classes are fun

By going to sessions regularly, you will meet people and build relationships with like-minded individuals, in a laid-back environment, with good beats, people who motivate you, as well as a structure to follow - which you didn’t have to create.

Why not pop in and experience something different? Synergy has the widest variety of sessions in the area, spread throughout the day, to suit everyone’s lifestyle and fitness level. And with instructors with years of experience, knowledge and passion behind them, you will be supported all the way to your results

Visit www.synergyclubs.co.uk to book your class today

Why tracking your workout progress will get you better results

I think we can all agree that we go to the gym because we want to improve in one way or another: whether it’s shredding weight, becoming leaner or more bulky, or just keeping fit, we all want to become better versions of ourselves, through perseverance and determination. To maximise your chances of succeeding you should track your progress.

Progress is defined as ‘forward or onward movement towards a destination’. But how do we know if we’re moving forward towards our fitness goal? Simple. By knowing where we’re standing initially. This is why, if you’re serious about wanting to make physical changes, we cannot stress enough how important it is to track your progress. This does not mean going on the scales every day and panicking if our bodies retain some water, this means creating a plan and structure that can support this progress, by tracking your workouts.

Challenge Yourself

The main reason why we don’t usually track our workouts is because we have a workout routine we are comfortable with and that we feel does the job so we stick to it. The problem with this approach is that if the workout remains the same for too long, progress becomes limited. In fact, as your body adapts to the workout, you actually require less strength and effort, due to your body becoming more efficient at performing the same exercises. By writing everything down, you ensure you can spot the trend and add some variety to your workout. Even if it’s one extra rep per workout - that means that the volume of work or intensity your body is going through does not remain constant and as a result encourages further adaptations. By doing so, you’re also being challenged by competing with yourself and constantly aiming to do better.

Add Structure to Your Workout

Sometimes it's easy to simply pick a piece of equipment and starting training. Whilst this is great because we are being active, repeating this over and over without a structure in place makes it more difficult to compare workouts and assess if progress is being made. To add some structure, start by defining your goal e.g. losing 10lbs over 8 weeks and then plan a workout routine that will help you work towards that goal. Once you have your workout, follow the routine for a few weeks and track your progress over that period. After a period of 8-12 weeks, assess your progress so far, review your workout plan and change it so your body doesn’t get too used to the same workout (see Benefits of Changing Your Workout). This could involve changing the exercises involved, varying tempo, rest times, loads, duration or intensity.

Track Your Progress

Here's how to do it: To track weight loss, fat loss or muscle gain start by measuring your body once a week, on the same day and at a similar time. Be careful, don’t do it more often as you don’t want to trigger an OCD-type behaviour of constantly measuring yourself. Take some pictures of yourself, take measurements (neck, shoulders, chest, bicep, waist, hips, thighs - can be all or just a few of these), measure body fat % using calipers or scales designed to do this or even go on the scales, but be aware that the scales are not always our friend - for example, if you start building muscle, you might become heavier, but leaner than before.

Tracking does not have to be limited to weight goals. You could measure your 1 rep max (1RM) to measure change in strength or the maximum number of reps you can do with a certain weight e.g. 70% of 1RM. There re also many other measurements you can use to monitor aerobic performance progress.

Track Your Food - whether it’s with the help of an app or just writing down your meals, tracking your food helps make you aware of your daily intake and by visualising everything it becomes easier to know which dietary changes may be beneficial.

Applying The Numbers

To track your numbers you can use apps such as Workout Log, Fitness Point or any of the apps found in the paraphernalia available online, or simply the notes function of your phone or an old-school diary. Regardless of the way you log it, now you need to try and use the numbers to push yourself. So if you did 10 press-ups last week, you need to be able to do 11 or more this week. If you ran 5 miles in 45 minutes, aim to run 5 miles in less 45 minutes. If you did squats with 130lbs yesterday, try to squat with 130.5 today. Aim for small increments on a daily if not weekly basis.

Have A Plan

By adding some structure to your workout, you can commence that forward or onward movement towards your destination. By focusing on getting stronger or fitter and being more knowledgeable of what you eat and track your progress, you will get there.

Want to start tracking your progress and still don’t know how to go about it? Why not pop in and speak to our Synergy Mentors who can offer you free fitness advice and support to help you reach your goal.

Is cutting carbs the key to fat loss?

Carbs, short for carbohydrates, have acquired a somewhat negative reputation, as many popular diets, such as Atkins, South Beach or Dukan promote eating less carbs and more protein. However, while these high-protein diets aid weight loss, cutting carbs may be detrimental for our health.

What are carbs?

Carbs are components found in food that, once consumed, turn into glucose and supply energy to the body. There are three main types of carbs: sugar, starch and fibre. Sugar is found naturally in fruit, honey, milk, as well as vegetables, but it is also manufactured to be added to food and drink. Starch is made up of several sugar units bonded together and can be found in foods such as bread, rice, potatoes, pasta etc. Starch provides a slow release of energy throughout the day. Fibre is only found in food that comes from plants; it helps keep our bowels healthy and reduce cholesterol. Some good sources of fibre are vegetables, wholegrain bread and pasta, beans and lentils.

How do carbs help us stay healthy?

Carbohydrates are important to our health. As they are the main source of energy of the body, we should aim to consume good carbs regularly as part of a balanced diet. Carbs help the body through all its activities, from breathing to training. The challenge is consuming the carbs taken in, as unused glucose can be converted to fat, for long-term storage of energy. For this reason we should all aim to maintain a healthy, active lifestyle.

Carbs are not just the fuel of the body, they also help with digestion, as starchy foods and fibre promote the movement of material through the digestive system. Also, when good carbs are consumed as replacement for sugary foods, they can actually aid in weight loss. Furthermore, by replacing fatty, sugary foods and drinks with high-fibre starchy foods, you are likely to reduce your calorie intake as well.

But why not just have protein instead?

One gram of carbohydrate has about 4 calories. One gram of protein contains around 4 calories as well. Fat, however, contains about 9 calories. One could argue that, because carbs and proteins have the same amount of calories, they can be interchangeable, so replacing carbs with protein could work in our favour, as proteins are burnt more rapidly when digested. But the way our bodies behave is a lot more complex.

As carbs are the body’s preferred source of energy, even our brains need them in order to maintain alertness and concentration. While a high-carb diet may increase your sugar levels, high-protein diets may affect your kidneys and cause calcium to be lost from your bones. Also, when training, if your carb intake is low, the body will still need to take energy from somewhere and it might just use your muscle mass. So, as always, moderation is key and both proteins and carbs should be consumed as part of a balanced diet.

So, is cutting carbs the key to fat loss?

Yes, if you are cutting carbs that are sugars. However, starches and fibre can actually aid in weight loss and should be consumed, as they have a slow release of energy, meaning that, once taken in, you won’t feel hungry quickly after eating. Also, for durable, long lasting results, you should consume carbs, including sugary ones from time to time, so you can reward yourself after certain milestones – but always compensate by training so they don’t turn into fat storage. At the end of the day, losing weight should be an enjoyable process, where you feel better and closer to your goal every day.

Could doing an active recovery in the swimming pool help you get better results in the gym?

Here at Synergy we recommend swimming at least once a week, due to numerous benefits, and we believe that swimming can be an awesome aid for active recovery as part of your workout schedule.

Swimming is a great sport, where you use your whole body to complete a low impact, relaxing workout. It has a calming effect over the body, helping people improve their overall breathing technique, and studies even show that being in the water actually makes people happy. Not only is it fun and utilises the whole body, swimming also has a plethora of benefits.

So what is Active Recovery?

The aim of a recovery day is to give you a physical, as well as mental break from your workout routine. But having a recovery day doesn’t necessarily mean not doing any type of physical activity. Active recovery focuses on completing a workout at a low intensity, but just high enough to get the blood moving and reduce fatigue in the muscle. Active recovery is known to be the most efficient way to clear blood lactate (what makes your muscles sore after a workout) and an active recovery day can include around an hour of low intensity activity such as running, cross-training, walking, swimming or any other low-impact workout.

Swimming Benefits

Swimming is an amazing way of increasing muscle tone and strength, while helping you enhance your cardiovascular fitness. Swimming is very effective in comparison to other aerobic workouts as it exerts your whole body through water, which is much more denser than air, making every movement have more resistance and working your body more intensely than non-water activities. Because your body experiences a tougher muscular workout, swimming is also great for making you look leaner.

Another great benefit of this workout is reduced stress on your joints. While you swim, you don’t put your body through a lot of stress or impact, like other activities such as running, jumping or sprinting. This means that the risk of getting injuries is lower as well. Swimming allows you to work your body at ease, without causing stress to your joints, ligaments, bones, tendons and muscles. All this while giving you a stress-free, full body workout. This activity is also known to boost endorphins in the body, increasing the feeling of wellbeing and studies even show that swimming produces the same type of relaxation responses as yoga.

Recover smart after your workout

After completing a full weekly routine at the gym, where you would have probably worked your muscles in isolation (today: leg day, tomorrow - core day etc.), it is likely that you will need at least a day a week to recover. Because swimming is a full-body workout, incorporating a variety of motions which are easy on the joints and muscles, while preventing stiffness in your ligaments, it is a great way to relax those muscles who worked hard throughout the week. Also, swimming enables you to increase the flexibility of your body and you strengthen its every muscle, including the heart. While swimming, the water surrounding you exerts pressure on your body, enhancing blood circulation to the heart, reducing blood pressure and the risk of coronary heart disease. Research also shows that regular swimming can lower bad cholesterol. So while you may argue that you should be resting on your recovery day, no rest could bring you as many benefits as this awesome activity, which also helps you prepare for the following workout week.

Get Involved

So why not pop into the pool this week on your recovery day and experience these benefits? What’s great about it is that you can also get your family or friends involved and encourage each other during the activity. You can also join the Swimfit initiative, which aims to encourage the local community to get more active in the water at Montem and Langley Leisure Centres. The programmes are built to incorporate fast swims, slow swims, kicking, single lengths and multiple lengths, so they can suit different levels. Or if you don’t know how to swim, you can get involved by booking some swimming lessons at the Montem or Langley reception with our skilled instructors, who can teach you the right breathing and movement techniques in a fun, relaxed environment.

Creating a workout plan and following it can be quite a challenge. You need to take into account every aspect involved, from training every muscle group to making sure the exercise is right for your overall aim, whether it’s losing weight, toning up or just keeping fit. As we are all creatures of habit, once we step out of our comfort zone and start attending classes or training at the gym, we tend to stick to a routine.

Escape The Routine

What if I told you that you need to break that routine and challenge yourself even more? See, like us, our bodies tend to adapt to certain situations and get comfortable. So that workout plan or class you found challenging eight weeks ago won’t be as challenging today. What should you do? The answer is switch up your routine. Depending on your fitness level, we recommend changing your workout plan every 6 to 8 weeks as a beginner, 3 to 6 weeks as an intermediate, or 1-2 weeks as advanced. This is because the better your fitness level, the most likely you are to adapt quickly to a workout routine. It may sound a bit drastic, but in order to see those results you want, you should continuously challenge yourself.

Break Through the Plateau

I will give you an example of your truly: during my workout sessions, I like to monitor my activity with my sports watch, where I can see the calories burnt and other insightful information. What I found peculiar at one point was that, whilst attending my regular fitness classes, I was burning fewer and fewer calories, although I was working as hard as before. So I did a bit of research and found out that, when you do the same routine several times, your body gets used to it and becomes very efficient in the sense that it burns fewer and fewer calories, because it’s accustomed to that workout plan. So in order to challenge our bodies, we need to constantly switch up our workouts so we make sure we’re always working.

Build New Muscles

Did you notice how, when the Olympics were on, you could tell the sport of different athletes by just their body shape? You can quickly identify a swimmer by their powerful arms or a runner by their chiseled legs, as, when training, professional athletes solely focus on the muscles they need for their sport. But gym goers should do a bit of everything, to build endurance, stamina and improve overall health. This way, you’ll look great and be ready to take on a variety of activities, while constantly challenging your body and building new muscles.

Avoid Overuse Injuries

Another good reason to change your routine is to prevent injuries caused by repetitive motions - called ‘repetitive strain injury’. This occurs when you do a set of motions repeatedly - whether it’s running, playing tennis, kicking or punching, or even performing the same swimming stroke. When you mix up your activities, you give overused areas of your body a chance to rest and recover, while working other muscles. Equally, if you do have an injury, by performing an activity that doesn’t strain that part of the body, you enable yourself to stay in shape and heal at the same time.

Train Your Brain

Yes, you read that right. By always challenging ourselves and using different parts of our body to perform various activities, we use different neutrons in our brain, which keep the brain active, engaged and challenged. This is why they say that, when you exercise, you train your mind and
your body.

Be More Social and Learn New Things

By performing new activities, you learn new things while challenging your body. This way, the likelihood of getting bored is very dim, as you’re always engaged. Also, by stepping out of your comfort zone, you enable yourself to meet new people and workout partners, who can motivate you to work harder, as well as have fun learning new things.

Did we convince you or would you like more information on the subject? Either way, why not come in and have a chat with the Synergy Mentors, who can advise you on how you could change your workout so you can make the most of it.