Understandably, there is a lot of skepticism and confusion about the quality and efficacy of food supplements.

For decades, many nutritionists told us unequivocally that supplements were not necessary, and that eating a balanced diet of whole foods supplied us with all the vitamins and minerals needed.

In the last decade, however, this party line has crumbled under the tremendous weight of scientific evidence to the contrary.  Now, most nutritionists commonly recommend supplements to their clients to fill gaps in nutrition.

Yet, unlike prescription drugs, the supplement industry is not regulated by the government.  So what does that mean to you as a consumer and product user?

Quite simply, buyer beware!

All supplements are not the same.  And as supplements have become a billion dollar industry, there has been no shortage of  folks starting there own supplement company, eager for their slice of the pie.  

The sad truth is that very few supplement companies put your welfare ahead of their profits. This means that the quality of the products is often compromised.  What’s sadder still is that most consumers don’t know the difference, choosing to wrongly believe that all supplements are the same.

From personal experience, I can tell you that 90% of supplements out there don’t do anything, though some actually do more harm than good (ephedra etc).  I’ve been fooled by magazine hype and wasted my share of money on supplements that failed to deliver on promises. As it turns out most fitness magazines are actually owned by supplement companies.  Interesting.

These are 3 questions that I think you should ask (and know the answers to) before you buy food supplements for yourself or your family:

1. Is there sound scientific rationale for the products?
2. Were sound manufacturing standards used in the making of the products?
3. Is there evidence that the products work?

If you ask these questions, compare the completeness and balance of the products, and read the published studies of independent scientists as I have, I am confident that you will discover that Shaklee Canada is a different kind of company.  

For more than 53 years, Shaklee has been at the forefront of scientific research into food supplements, and provided safe products of proven benefit and high quality.  I was so impressed by the quality and integrity of this company and its products that I became an independent distributor of Shaklee.  Once you’ve done your due diligence, I’m sure you’ll see the difference, or at least think twice about what you put in your body each and every day:)

To learn more, I encourage you to visit: http://www.shaklee.ca.supplements 

Water is dull – plain and tasteless (except when it tastes bad!) and you can’t chew it.  However, you should consume 8 to 10 glasses of water per day! Remember, just because you don’t feel thirty doesn’t mean that your body doesn’t need water. Our thirst mechanism isn’t one of our better regulatory devices – it tends to lag well behind our fluid requirements. By the time you feel thirsty, you are already dehydrated (don’t leave it until then!). We are constantly in a state of water loss. When we aren’t sweating, we are losing water through skin evaporation.

Likewise, every breath we take removes another drop or two of the moisture that coats the surface area of our lungs. More than any other element, water is what keeps us going. Water is the body’s transport system – the medium for the delivery of the oxygen and nutrients we need and the elimination of what we don’t need. Water is one of the vehicles for regulating our internal temperature. Water acts as a cushion for our joints and it fills our cells and intercellular spaces. Water is what gives form to our bodies.

Consuming adequate amounts of water is one way to postpone and relieve kidney problems. Given the rate of increase in kidney disease, this is a matter of growing importance to our health. Memory loss, dizziness, fatigue, poor cognitive function, And headaches may stem from dehydration and can often be alleviated by increased water intake. When you are feeling tired, on edge, experiencing a slight headache, or hunger pangs, you may actually be experiencing mild dehydration. Drinking water rather than having a nap would make you feel better. Drinking lots of water can help improve your health, your appearance and your cognitive function. Attempt to consume 2 glasses of water when you first wake up, and 2 more glasses of water before every meal. If you follow this rule, you will find it much easier to reach your goal of 8 glasses of water a day!

Cheers!

If you’re looking to lose weight, whether you’re in Uxbridge or anywhere else, chances are you’ve probably heard a lot about protein - why you should eat MORE, or why you should eat LESS.  With so much contradiction and misinformation, it’s hard to know what to make of it all.  After all, protein has been touted both as the essential nutrient, and the nutrient that will ruin your kidneys if you eat too much, etc, etc.

However, scientific research has shown repeatedly that protein is key to weight loss, helping to provide the feeling of fullness, and that it is safe. 

Here are my top 3 benefits of protein that directly help us burn more calories and lose excess fat. 

1. Protein is key to weight loss because not only does it help you feel fuller faster and longer it also burns more calories than carbs or fat.  That’s right the thermic effect of protein is nearly double of carbs and fat. When you eat it your body burns energy to break down that food. Well, protein causes your body to burn nearly twice as much energy to breakdown the food as does carbs or fat. This added Thermic Effect of Food (TEF) is an added boost to your metabolism. By eating some type of lean protein at every meal 4-6 times a day will keep your metabolism at a higher state all day long. You could essentially burn 100-200 more calories per day by just adding protein at every meal. 
2. Another benefit to adding protein at your meals is the fat releasing effect. Eating protein leads to the release of glucagon, a hormone that aids in the release of stored bodyfat to be used for energy. It also helps prevent the storage of fat by creating a lower insulin response. 
3. Of course, most are familiar with protein/amino acids as the building blocks for creating new muscle. Adding muscle increases our metabolism and force our bodies to burn more calories which results in more fat calories being burned off. 

I suggest to my Uxbridge personal training clients that they incorporate a lean protein source (ie.  Bacon does not count – Sorry!) at every meal to enhance utilization of fat for energy, provide satiety(fullness), increase the TEF of their meal and to provide the building blocks to add new metabolism friendly muscle.   I suggest you do the same.

Now my buddy Nick Nilsson has gone and finally done the unthinkable…

For those of you in Uxbridge that don’t know Nick, he is a “mad scientist” when it comes to packing on muscle and losing fat, and he does it all from his “laboratory” otherwise known as his Illinois basement.

He’s here to tell you what you want to hear, and let you know that it is totally possible to lose all the fat you want while eating nothing but junk food. The only hitch is that all the fat you want to lose is going to have to be zero!

I hope you enjoy his latest training rant as much as I did:

“Here are some tongue-in-cheek (or burger-in-belly) suggestions for how you can turn even the greasiest, sugariest, most overprocessed calorie bomb into lean, mean diet food.

How is this done? Here’s a hint: it’s all in how you choose to look at the food…

1. Eat donuts instead of solid pastries. You will be saving a tremendous number of calories by eating something with a hole in the middle. You can save upwards of 3 to 5 calories per pastry by doing this. That means if you eat 10 donuts,
you’ve saved yourself almost 50 calories! Besides, everyone knows nuts are good for you…

2. French fries can help prevent heart attacks. It is a fact that French people suffer fewer heart attacks and have lower rates of heart disease. French fries are obviously from France, therefore it naturally follows that French fries can prevent heart disease.

3. Pizza is one of the healthiest foods on the planet. There are many reasons for this:
- The bleached flour in the crust sucks up all the grease that drips down from the toppings, trapping it so you don’t see it while you’re eating. If you don’t see it when you eat it, it has no calories.
- It’s round (stay with me here). Because square-shaped food shave corners, they contain a lot more calories than round foods. To save even more calories, cut a hole in the center of the pizza (refer back to #1 for full details).
- The cheese on the pizza is loaded with calcium — even more than the Tums you’re going to need after eating the whole thing.
- You can easily reduce your servings without sacrificing enjoyment. Instead of cutting the pizza into 8 slices, try cutting it into only 4. You’ve just eaten HALF the number of slices you ate before! Imagine how many calories you’ll save by doing that!
- Vegetables covered in grease are still vegetables. Never mind that all the nutrition has been baked out of them, you’re still getting you’re recommended daily servings of veggies.
- There is plenty of fiber in the paper that’s stuck to the bottom of the pizza. Don’t be afraid of it.

4. Beer is the absolute best beverage you can drink when you’re watching your waistline. It helps to put it right out there in front you where you can see it.

5. Look for foods that have air bubbles in them. Examples include chocolate bars, Twinkies (after you suck the cream
filling out), soda pop, sponge cake, and cheese puffs. As you know, air has no calories. Look at these foods as the wrapping for a low-calorie, low-fat serving of air.

6. Putting ketchup on anything makes it healthy. Think about it. You’re getting your vegetables in a concentrated paste.  It’s like stepping into the future… today!!

7. Here are a number of delicious, zero-calorie foods you may not be aware of:
- Anything eaten while standing has zero calories.
- Anything eaten off somebody else’s plate has zero calories.
- Food sampled for “tasting” purposes during preparation has no calories.
- Food sneaked from someone after you distract them is also calorie-free.
- Anything eaten after the expiration date contains no calories.

8. Eating ice cream can actually help you burn an enormous amount of calories. The key to this lies in its temperature.  Ice cream is very cold. When you eat ice cream, your body must expend energy (a.k.a. calories) to warm it up to your internal body temperature. When you work through the scientific formulas for heat conversion, you can see you will end up expending approximately 6,000 calories to heat up a small dish of ice cream to body temperature. Drinking ice cold beer with your ice cream amplifies this effect.

These diet tips should have you well on your way towards effectively peeling off pounds of unsightly fat.  Think of me next time you’re eating a pizza with french fries and ketchup on top, dunking your donuts in a glass of cold beer, and shoving down Twinkies (with the filling sucked out) mashed into a dish of nice cold ice cream!

DISCLAIMER: The preceding information is not medical advice and should not be taken as such. If you feel the urge to take any of this “information” seriously, please lie down until the feeling goes away. Thank you.”

Thanks Nick.  That’s great stuff.  Now, everyone in Uxbridge can have a happy Canada Day!

But hey, seriously, you might just want to make sure that you’re on the right track by signing up for your FREE Dietary Analysis at http://uxbridgefitness.com/uxbridge-dietary-analysis.html