Improve Your Posture with this Exercise!

Every month I post an exercise to Better Living's website. This month's exercise is for the lower trapezius. Use light weights at first and make sure you keep your elbow straight and close to your ear.

Watch My Video for an Exercise to Improve your Posture and Shoulder Stability

Can Food Make Me Smarter?

Back in December I started eating less bread, rice, pasta and cereal. This was tricky because I already follow a plant-based (with occasional fish) diet. When you have already stripped out meat, cheese and eggs, what's left? However, I was motivated by a nagging reminder...I kept forgetting words.

I've been reading several books on brain health and there is a theory that the rise of dementia, Alzheimer's Disease and general brain deterioration may be the quantity of grains we eat. Grains raise our blood sugar and, consuming too much of them, can produce insulin resistance. Furthermore, some people experience inflammation (another brain combatant!) when they consume wheat-based (gluten-containing) products. While I am not in this camp, I thought I'd do an experiment on myself and eat more vegetables and fruit to replace the extra grains. What came was a surprise.

Kale and Carrot Salad

After a month of eating a daily salad, I actually started craving salad. Salads became my base for most dinners. Throw a piece of smoked mackerel or a can of sardines on a salad. Roast walnuts and sprinkle tofu on a salad. Crumble a veggie burger on a salad. What's more, while I used to think of salads as the thing that came before the main meal. Now, I feel full and satisfied with just a big salad. Beyond salad, I learned several tricks for making meals delicious without grains...

Matar Tofu on Cauliflower 'Rice'

Frozen "riced" cauliflower can be a substitute for rice under stir-fries and Indian dishes. Roasted vegetables make a fantastic, filling side-dish replacing white potatoes. Zucchini noodles (prepared correctly) are just like pasta. Pureed turnips and cauliflower make a mashed "potato" that is sweet and creamy. Lay a piece of pecan-encrusted perch on your mashed turnips for a mouth-watering dinner. Yum.

Nearly 3 months into my experiment, I've lost weight, discovered boundless energy and I've run two Spartan races. I spend a lot of time in the produce section of the grocery store and race through the rest. Am I thinking more clearly? Not yet. But, case studies show dietary changes can take 4-6 months to have an effect on the brain. 

Every dietary improvement can impact your life. Want to work on your nutrition plan? Email me at mark@betterlivingfitness.com to get started. www.betterlivingfitness.com

Thai Curry Soup with Zucchini Noodles

Better Gifts for Better Living – Our 2017 Guide to Health and Fitness Gifts!

By Better Living Staff Writer Dawn Weirauch

Finding the best health and fitness-related holiday gifts can be pretty difficult – after all, there are a lot of fads out there. Remember the Thighmaster? Not to mention the Shakeweight...

via GIPHY

Funny (and ineffective) fitness fads aside, this year our Better Living Fitness staff has come up with a number of great suggestions for the fitness buff (or would-be fitness buff) on your holiday shopping list.

Whether your friend or loved one wants to learn more about healthy nutrition, is interested in building their strength and cardio fitness, or wants to stay on track with their goals while out on the road, we've got the gift for you.

A Better Book for Better Eating: Better Living's Nutrition Counselor, Becca Body Kindness by Rebecca Stritchfield. “Body Kindness is about taking care of your body and treating yourself with compassion,” says Becca. “It discusses healthy eating, but also emphasizes the importance of allowing yourself to enjoy all foods and not go on crazy diets.”
Addison, recommends the book

A Creative, Budget-Friendly Solution for Better Wrist Strength: Wrist and forearm health aren't just essential for strength training but for daily living as well – and Better Living trainer Will Burchfield has the perfect do-it-yourself solution.
“Just pick up a para cord and a dowel from your local hardware store. It'll cost about $3, and them BOOM! You've got forearms for days!”

Here's a quick guide to creating a wrist roller from scratch.

Portable Strength, Cardio, and Better Balance In One: Better Living's Office Manager, Nina Carlson, recommends the TRX Suspension Trainer for anyone on your list who is both health conscious and frequently on the road.

According to Nina, “I love this product because you can do so much with it! Not only can you strengthen your whole body, you can add cardio elements and really work on your balance. The TRX is also small and lightweight. It doesn't take up a lot of suitcase space, and you can easily hook it up to your hotel room door for a great workout on the go. I've had several clients who wouldn't travel without their TRX!

Also, when you purchase the TRX directly from the company's website, you get access to a personalized app to guide you through different exercises and routines.”

More Fitness On the Road – Resistance Bands: For solid resistance training for a much lower price point than the TRX, Better Living trainer Eduard Font recommends this cost-effective four pack of resistance bands, which are just $9.99 from Amazon.
“Resistance bands are easy to use, lightweight, and you can take them anywhere,” Eduard says.

A Perkier Butt and Better Hip and Knee Health – The BootyCo Booty Belt: The Booty Belt may sound like the next Shakeweight, but according to Better Living trainer Mallory Ghrist this inexpensive product is a great gift to help your friends and loved ones build their glute strength – “...and everyone needs stronger glutes to support the health of their hips and knees.”

A Better Gift for Better Posture – Foam Rollers: Our trainer Josh Plonka swears by foam rollers, both to help with posture and to help ease tight muscles after a busy day. According to Josh foam rollers are, “inexpensive, yet versatile piece of equipment that anyone on your Christmas list can make use of. You can get foam rollers just about anywhere that fitness equipment is sold – here's a link to a nice, inexpensive model from Kohl's.

Better Hydration On the Go:  Better Living founder Mark Thiesmeyer recommends the Yeti Rambler because, “...drinking enough water and staying hydrated is so important, and water is a lot more delicious when you can keep it nice and cold all day long!” You can also use the Yeti to keep hot drinks hot, and – bonus – it's dishwasher safe.

Of course, no Christmas gift list would be complete without a gift from the Better Living Fitness Center. This year we've got something extra special: Purchase any membership or small group personal training package and receive a $100 FREE Service Package on us!

Buy the membership or small group training package for yourself and give the Service Package to a friend. Or, better yet, introduce TWO of your friends or family members to the Better Living Fitness by giving the membership to one and the Service Package to the other!

This year's Better Living Bonus is only available until December 23rd, so click here to get yours today!

If you're looking for even more health and fitness Christmas gift ideas, we've got you covered – check out last year's gift guide, which includes a look at wireless headphones and a comparison of the Garmin GPS watch vs. the Fitbit Blaze.

Choosing the Best Tomatoes for Your Summer Table

It's that time of year again – beautiful, juicy tomatoes in shades ranging from orange to purple are appearing on produce tables and in farmer’s markets. But with all the varieties available today the tomato aisle has grown more attractive, but it's also more confusing.

Here are few easy tips to getting the most nutritious, delicious fruits.

Fruits with a legacy: heirloom tomatoes. “Heirloom” tomatoes are tomatoes from lines of seeds that are at least fifty years old. Heirloom plants aren't genetically modified, and they are open-pollinated by nature – in other words, by insects and the wind instead of being hand or machine-pollinated by farmers.

But while tomatoes labeled as “heirloom” are supposed to be grown in this fashion, there aren't any regulations governing what is and is not an heirloom tomato. 

I'm not aware of rampant misuse of the term, but grocers wouldn't even receive a slap on the wrist for mislabeling tomatoes as heirloom. It's also important to note that heirloom tomatoes aren't necessarily organically grown.

Getting the best of two (or more) plants: hybrid tomatoes. Hybridization is the process of cross-pollinating two different varieties of a plant to create something new. Just as you get a “Labradoodle” offspring from poodles and Labrador retrievers, you can also cross plants to get a single tomato that combines the desirable traits of each different variety – for example pest resistance and improved flavor.

Hybridization is the earliest form of genetic modification, and farmers have been doing it for over 100 years.

From the lab to the table: genetically modified tomatoes. Genetic modification uses laboratories to speed up the process of hybridization. But instead of just cross-pollinating plants, scientists have taken things several steps further and now splice genes from different kinds of produce together.

Whether you're in the camp that sees GMO foods as progress or you're someone who thinks of them as “Frankenfoods,” the fact remains that GMO tomatoes can be higher in nutrients and grow more prolifically in your garden than heirloom tomatoes.

Keeping it real: organic tomatoes. Unlike the “heirloom” label, “organically grown” means something very specific. Organically grown tomatoes are NOT genetically modified, (like heirloom varieties), and the plants have been grown without synthetic fertilizers and pesticides.

While I don't think you need to spend the extra money to buy the organic varieties of all of your produce, I do think there are compelling reasons to go organic when it comes to tomatoes. Conventionally-raised tomatoes are 10th on the Environmental Working Group's list of highest pesticide-containing produce – this means that there are actually pesticides underneath the skin of the tomato. No amount of scrubbing that tender skin will get a conventionally-raised tomato clean.

Yes, most synthetic pesticides are approved for use on food. But we also used to think that asbestos was safe. Our knowledge of how to grow the healthiest, safest food is still evolving – so for now, to avoid ingesting synthetic pesticides, choose organic tomatoes whenever you can.

**Image courtesy of Jeremy Keith via Flickr