This week the ADOFitness trainers will be addressing some of the most common things we get asked about. Coach Jennifer talks about what what supplements you can take while pregnant.
( with healthcare providers approval)

So being pregnant I wanted to know the healthiest route to take for me and my growing baby. At the time I found out I was pregnant I was on prep so I was taking BCAA’s, Green tea extract, CLA, ALA, Vitamin C, high volume pump and a multivitamin. After I saw my doctor she told me to quit taking everything I was taking besides the vitamin C and BCAA’s aren’t necessarily bad but many companies don’t test their products so it’s better safe than sorry. If you wanted to keep them in your diet, unflavored would be safest route to take. Fat burners, pre-workouts, and volume pumps are pretty much out of the question.

I started taking a prenatal vitamin and I really liked Garden of life! I also take a probiotic daily from that same company. Probiotics help with a healthy gut, heathy digestion and can help prevent yeast infections.

Calcium is necessary for bone formation and teeth and if you don’t get enough the baby will suck it all out of the mother and make her bones weaker. So make sure you get your calcium in! Nobody has time for weak bones ? I personally like to drink 3 glasses of almond milk each day.

Magnesium which also helps with bone formation but also tissue formation and can help prevent leg cramps! Garden of life has a great Orange magnesium drink you can drink before bed. It also helps relax you and keep you regular.

Vitamin D helps with calcium and phosphorus absorption and is needed for healthy bone formation it also helps with cell growth , reduces inflammation and helps your hormones!

Whey protein is good too! I generally eat Whole Foods but sometimes a bar is good! I love Garden of life vegan protein bars they are delicious! If you’re someone who’s having a hard time getting that protein in supplementing whey could be very beneficial to you to get it in. You could put in anything and drink or eat a bar!

Last two I personally take each day is spirulina and wheat grass. These are both pure nutrient dense nourishment and greens are SO good for you!! I buy wheat grass and take daily shots and put spirulina in things I eat! There’s a GREAT popcorn called Shawnees Green Thumb popcorn that has spirulina all over it and it’s delicious !

Folate or folic acid is also extremely important but good prenatal vitamins should have 800 Mcg of folate ( garden of life) and that is enough unless directed otherwise by your healthcare provider. Also a lot of people don’t know but folate is a water-soluble B vitamin and folic acid is the synthetic version of that. So always try and get folate over folic acid.

A prenatal vitamin is a vital but deficiency can still occur so listen to your healthcare provider and do not exceed the dose that is recommended. Eat lots of Whole Foods, listen to your body and drink all the water. You’re growing a little baby you in that belly and they deserve the best nutrients and love possible. ❤️

I don’t work for Garden of life I just truly love all there products! They never disappoint ??

This week the ADOFitness trainers will be addressing topics we get asked a lot of questions about. This week coach Trista discusses how sleep affects weight and weight loss.

One of the biggest factors in progress that I am always discussing with my clients is sleep! During sleep is when our bodies go through a lot of healing and repairing, it is just as vital and eating and exercising. It impacts our immune system, hormones, appetite, and cognitive function. Now how does sleep connect with the number on the scale? Well many things can cause the scale to increase even when you’re doing everything right and following your plan to a T. One of the biggest culprits is lack of sleep. Most people need at least 7-8 hours, however if you get under 6 hours even once, this can cause the scale to increase. The reason this happens is your body is stressed and is producing a hormone called cortisol. Cortisol is not inherently bad, we need it for survival, it is when it is chronically elevated is when it starts causing health problems. In a typical day our levels rise in the morning and decrease by nightfall preparing the body for sleep, if your body does not receive adequate rest, this will cause you to hold water and even look bloated. The good news is usually one nights lack of sleep is a quick fix. Catch up on sleep and the next day you’ll shed that water retention and the scale will come back down.

However, if you are consistently sleep deprived, your cortisol over-production will become chronic and weight loss efforts will be hindered. Other hormones such as Leptin is decreased during sleep deprivation. Leptin is a hunger suppressing hormone produced by fat cells and signals satiety to the brain, while the hormone ghrelin (produced by the stomach to stimulate hunger) is elevated causing increased appetite.

Sleep deprivation can also affect glucose tolerance (your body’s ability to recognize glucose in your blood and pull it into the cell to fuel activity) with all of these metabolic contributors in play, you’re more likely to over eat while craving high carb, high fat foods. The problem here is your blood sugar is more likely to stay elevated when you aren’t efficiently utilizing glucose because your body is under stress. Our metabolism actually slows down, as well as our digestive processes. Individuals who may experience constipation will see their condition worsen during sleep deprivation. One of the best things you can do when trying to achieve weight loss is make sure you make sleep a priority! This is especially important if you are dieting and training when your body needs time to recover. The scale isn’t everything but it will cooperate in our favor (other factors aside) if we give our bodies enough rest!

This week the ADOFitness trainers will be addressing some of the most common things we get asked about. Coach Joey explains how fat intake is vital for hormonal health, brain function and more.

Fats are one of our primary energy sources and an essential nutrient for our bodies. Fats do a lot for us in terms of our overall heath. They help aid in weight management, absorbing nutrients, supporting our immune function, regulating body temperature, as well as brain function and hormonal balance.

I am going to touch base on a few thing that healthy fats provide us and that I am often asked a lot by clients. First and foremost is hormonal balance. Clients will often tell me that they haven’t had their cycle in months or sometimes years. Due to being on extreme diets from either their own judgment of thinking fat is something that needs to be avoided to see results or someone coming off of a prep from a coach that had them eating very minimal to almost no fat at all in their diet.

Eating enough fats is one of the MOST important things you can do to balance out your hormones naturally. Many don’t know or realize that certain fats, including cholesterol act as antioxidants and precursors to brain molecules and transmitters, which is very important for our overall health. When you are on a low fat diet you risk missed cycles that can lead to infertility. Some hormones that get affected the most by a low fat intake is testosterone, estrogen and Vitamin D. Yes vitamin D is a vitamin but our bodies utilize it more like a hormone then actually a vitamin.

The next thing I want to discuss is our brain function. I have had clients tell me during their preps with former coaches or diets that they have experimented with that they feel “off” or can’t really think clearly. Almost like their brain is “foggy”. This doesn’t surprise me if you are eating a very low fat diet when the brain is made up of fat and requires a steady stream of fatty acids to perform optimally. Believe it or not, cholesterol levels being very low can be often worse at times then having high cholesterol due to the role of it helping the brains function of neurons and neurotransmitters. In laymen terms that is basically saying fat is needed for your brain to have help you think more clearly, have abstract reasoning, attention/concentration, executive functioning along with word fluency.

Their are many more areas of concern when someone’s diet is lacking in fat. Some include heart health, having a higher risk of insulin resistance which can lead to diabetes, gut related problems and even can cause you to have a higher risk of anxiety and depression.

Some healthy saturated fats to consider including into your diet are plant based vegetable oils like sunflower oil, salmon, nuts, walnuts, sunflower seeds and avocado. Unhealthy saturated fats that should not be consumed in excess include french fries, fatty meats and foods that are packaged like chips or cookies.

As you can see fat isn’t such a bad thing after all. Everyone is different in terms of what their fat intake should be. Which is why you should do your research and also consider hiring a coach to help you reach your goals and get to a fat intake that is going to work for your body.