Baby steps to a better diet in Bath

Big diet adjustments have you overwhelmed? Then start with baby steps.

Whether you need to change your diet in order to shed pounds or improve the health of your heart, it can be hard to know where to start. If you've set a weight loss or health goal for yourself, the best way to achieve and maintain that goal isn't to completely overhaul how you live your life overnight. You're more likely to maintain good habits if you start out slow and steady.

So what baby steps can you take to make a healthy diet a life habit instead of a mere goal?

Sip on This

It may sound simple, but drinking more water is a great goal to get your healthy lifestyle started - especially if you love soda. Did you know that if you drink two glasses of soda every day for a year, you will gain 24 pounds? Sound crazy?

Consider this: The sugar found in sodas, caffeine products, and juices taste great, but these drinks may actually make you thirstier instead of quenching your thirst like water does. That's why you wind up downing glass after glass of soda when you go out to eat.

Try replacing at least one soda a day with a cup of ice water. You'll cut out excess sugar and calories, and the cold water will help you burn calories by forcing your body to warm up the water. If you simply can't cut soda completely out of your diet, drink diet soda instead of regular.

At the same time you're cutting soda out, you should also switch to skimmed milk.

Even drinking one-percent milk adds hundreds or thousands of grams of fat to your body each year. Skimmed milk may taste a little different, but it still has the same amount of vitamins and minerals and less fat. If you're currently drinking whole milk, switch to two percent. Give it a few weeks, and then jump to one percent for a couple weeks, and finally work your way to skim.

Go Color

When you think of colorful foods, don't think about red velvet cake or green icing. Think about fruits and vegetables. Having a colorful plate at each meal is a healthy thing to work toward, so take small steps to add them into your meals and snacks. If you find yourself reaching for chips or cookies at snack time, try an apple or baby carrots instead. And don't worry about becoming a vegetarian. Including at least one fruit or vegetable at each meal will help you take great strides toward a healthier diet.

Stay Balanced

Breakfast is often overlooked and forgotten. After all, many people are too busy in the morning to sit down to eat or perhaps they just aren't hungry first thing in the morning. However, eating even a small breakfast can make a big difference in your health. Skip breakfast, and you can expect to be extra hungry when lunch rolls around, causing you to overeat and add extra, unneeded calories to your physique. Don't think you can become a breakfast eater? Go with a small piece of toast, a hard-boiled egg, or a spoonful of peanut butter to get started.

Also, be sure to include healthy snacks as part of your day, and don't let more than a few hours go by without food. Otherwise you will suffer the same fate as if you didn't eat breakfast. You'll become overly hungry and eat more than necessary at the next meal.

Other small changes to make in your meals include using olive oil instead of butter, switching to whole grain breads and pastas, and checking nutrition labels to reduce sodium and sugar in your diet. But don't sweat making all these changes at once. Remember - baby steps!

Beetroot - Can this wonder food promote good health in Bath?

Want to boost your stamina or lower your blood pressure? Try some beetroot.

When you were a child, your mother probably had to force-feed you beetroot at dinner. While this dark purple-red vegetable may have a strong flavour that didn't agree with your young taste buds, your mum was on to something. That's because beetroot has been found to have significant health benefits.

Whether you're an endurance athlete; are well over the hill; or if you suffer from respiratory, cardiovascular, or metabolic diseases, beetroot should be of special interest to you. What is it about beetroot that gives it such powerful qualities and how much do you need to consume to get its benefits? Your answers await!

Endurance Enhancement

Beetroot juice contains many essential vitamins and minerals, including potassium, folate, and vitamin C. Often mixed with other juices such as carrot, lemon, or apple to improve its taste, beetroot juice has an uncommonly high nitrate content. Thanks to that nitrate content, beetroot has some serious perks for those who drink it down. Scientists suspect that nitric oxide, the byproduct of nitrate, gives you the ability to exercise with less oxygen and gives you more energy than usual. This is possible because you can exercise for longer periods of time when less oxygen is burned by your muscles during exercise. Green leafy foods such as spinach and lettuce, as well as cabbage and radishes, are also rich in nitrates, but beetroot may be one source you've not tapped into yet. In the past few years, research has shown that juice from the beetroot has the power to increase your stamina, allowing you to exercise up to 16 percent longer than your normal limit. Yes, 16 percent. Starting to thirst for some beetroot juice yet? Then keep reading.

Drinking beetroot juice a few hours before training seems to give athletes a boost in their performance that can't be achieved through additional training. Studies have shown that individuals who drink two cups of beetroot juice daily for a week improve on their race times by one to two percent for a set distance.

While this may seem like a small amount to some, this is very significant for elite athletes for whom every second counts. Not a world-class athlete? Don't leave beetroot juice on the shelf. It may be just what your body needs to make exercising more tolerable or even enjoyable.

Reduce Blood Pressure

If you're looking for a natural, home remedy to lower your blood pressure, look no further than our good friend, beetroot. Because on top of enhancing your athletic performance, the nitrate found in beetroot juice has been found to lower your blood pressure, cutting your risk for stroke or heart attack.

A recent study found that drinking two cups of beetroot juice a day keeps your blood pressure in check for up to 24 hours. While this study was small and did not take place over a long period of time, the results are fascinating and warrant additional research into the relationship between beetroot juice and cardiovascular diseases.

More than Root

If you want to amp up your workout routine or lower your blood pressure, beetroot juice can't be the only weapon in your arsenal. To achieve these goals or overall health, you'll need to go with a healthy, varied diet full of fruits and vegetables, and exercise on a regular basis. Otherwise, all the beetroot juice in the world won't be enough to give you good health.

No Mas, Por Favor.

Beetroot juice is a great addition to your diet. Just be careful. Drinking too much of it can lead to purple urine, abdominal cramps, or diarrhea.

Why do I need a personal trainer?- Personal Trainer in Bath

Wondering if a personal trainer is for you? Wonder no more.

You've been in the gym for days, weeks, months, or years, and for some reason, you've never sought the assistance of a professional trainer. Now you're wondering if you've made a mistake. Should you have enlisted the help of a pro a long time ago? Maybe.

Here are a few reasons to get a professional trainer on your side.

You Want to Get Fit (Safely)

Anybody can walk into a gym and start slinging weights around or sprinting on a treadmill. However, doing any kind of exercise without having someone to tell you if you're doing it properly or not can put you at risk for all sorts of injuries. On top of the potential for getting hurt, using improper form also reduces your likelihood of getting the full benefit of the exercise you're performing.

Instead of letting your poor form keep you from getting healthier, get a personal trainer. He or she will know the ins and outs of good form and will correct you when an arm, leg, or your torso isn't in the right place. Eventually, having this professional by your side will instill good form that you can maintain even when you're worn out at the end of a workout.

You Need Motivation

Getting to the gym isn't always as easy as you wish it would be. After all, you've got a busy enough life without having to squeeze exercise in there. Hence why it's a good idea to have a friend or family member join you for exercise. That way, when one of you isn't up to hitting the gym, the other will be there to make sure you both workout that day.

But what if your exercise partner could be someone with specialized training in exercise? And what if this exercise partner helped you keep track of your progress, so you could use small improvements to keep yourself motivated? That's the power of a professional personal trainer.

You've been at It a While

If you've been hitting the gym hard and heavy for a while but have stopped seeing improvements, making a few tweaks to your routine can reap big dividends. The problem is that it's not always easy to figure out what tweaks you should make. Enter stage left: your professional trainer.

With years of studying, training, and experience, a professional trainer should be able to watch your workout and figure out where you can make changes. A good trainer can also monitor the changes made in your routine to make sure they're having the desired result. Over time, your trainer will offer even more suggestions to ensure your routine never causes your good health to become stagnant.

You Realize Exercise Isn't Enough

While a personal trainer's main focus is exercise, a true professional trainer realizes that good health depends on more than just working out. When seeking a trainer who fits your needs, look for one who also understands how what you eat affects your performance in the gym and overall good health. This way, you can get eating tips before, during, and after your exercise routine to make sure you are living a lifestyle that complements what you're doing in the gym a few times each week.

By having a fuller view of what it means to obtain and maintain good health, you're more likely to get and stay healthy for the long run. So you'll not only look better than you ever have. You'll also feel better as well.