Contest! I’m Giving Away A $250 Sports Pack Full Of Goodies!
As a health blogger I am often asked to review different products. From e-books and info courses to real life books, audio and video packs, and sometimes even new sports performance goodies.
Here’s the thing though. You guys actually don’t get to hear about most of the stuff I am asked to review. Even if they offer me stuff for free for either myself or for you.
I have no interest in promoting something I don’t see at least some use for and benefit of. Hopefully several benefits! A recent example is I was offered over $500 worth of free supplements to use at my will (i.e. for a contest such as this one). I said no after doing some research and realising that – even though the brand was very well marketed – the quality was rubbish.
Long story short, if I’m talking about something on Body Incredible or Woman Incredible then you can bet your bottom dollar that I like the stuff! In this case, I’m actually talking about JUICE!
let’s cut to the chase: can juice be healthy?
As you know, I’m not a big fan of regular juice consumption from fruit, and not even really of daily fresh fruit consumption. I believe that we would only have access to even these natural sugars on a random basis rather than daily. Generally I’d even advise you to never drink juice day-to-day, because it can prevent you from reaching your fat loss goals.
Of course as with any ‘rule’, there are always a few exceptions. Green smoothies, for example, so long as they are predominantly vegie-based, can be a really healthy and easy (not to mention yummy!) way to get your greens. And recently I came across a new packaged juice that I actually don’t mind at all for the occasional post-workout (weights!) sugar-load.
why on earth would you drink juice post-workout?
If you are lean and if you are very athletic, then it’s reasonable to assume you want to either increase lean muscle (to further boost your metabolism), or that you want to at least maintain it. After training with weights you are what is called insulin sensitive. This means that your muscles will quickly zap up any sugars you may consume (healthy and natural is still best!), and use them to grow more lean muscle and thus help keep you lean.
Makes sense, doesn’t it? If super-muscle-growth is a particular goal of yours then consuming a small amount of juice first thing in the morning may even be recommended!
This particular juice, which is called GO BEET is actually more of a vegetable juice – it’s 90% beetroot, and 9.9% apple – and it is a naturally rich source of dietary nitrate. According to the online info, scientific research suggests that the high dietary nitrate levels found in beetroot may help boost endurance and stamina during exercise, by allowing muscles to use oxygen more efficiently.
As inferred above, my take on this would be to use it only post-workout, as I’m not a huge fan of spiking insulin pre or during training.
Because it’s mainly vegetable juice, Go Beet is not super-sweet. It kind of reminds me of childhood BBQs actuallly; probably because beetroot was always a staple on home-made burgers! I love the stuff 🙂
If you’d like to know more about GO Beet and check out some of the great giveaways and promos they have on offer, simply head over and ‘like’ the GO Beet Facebook page.
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Hi Kat, this is a great competition, so I’ll provide my tip that certainly works for me. I find that working out as soon as I wake up is best because the longer I wait, the more inclined I am to say “I’ll workout later”, which usually means I don’t workout at all!
So I like to have all my gear set out the night before, my workout clothes, shoes, water bottle, timer, skipping rope, gloves, workout diary, towel, whatever it is I need for my workout. As soon I wake up, I put my gear on STRAIGHT AWAY! I have my coffee, I’m awake, then I am good to go.
Works for me every time!
Dee
Oh, I completely relate to that … if I’m work my workouts are scheduled in so they happen either way, but at home it’s all too easy to put it off and then it never happens. Getting into gym gear straight away is very smart!
My biggest motivational factor is being injury free to keep up with my toddler and prepare for my next pregnancy. Being strong as a mom helps me with better movement during play with my daughter, daily tasks such as grocery shopping and laundry, and energy throughout the day due to, what I call, “muscle insurance”. Packing on the muscle (which we all know decreases body fat) guarantees more glycogen stores within the muscle cell which promotes more efficient energy usage throughout the day! I like moms to know they don’t have to be tired from chasing around their toddler and they can prepare for their next pregnancy by buying insurance in the muscle business!
I know how tiring it all is – I’m acting a single mom here (husband deployed). Be strong moms!
Next pregnancy! Don’t scare me 🙂
Great tip Channing!
I schedule my workouts like meetings, so I have them coded as out of office in my diary, and reminders set for both when I have to get ready for the workout and when I have to leave my house. I find treating them as importantly as a meeting helps me to stay motivated and going even when it is cold (and also because I know I get my long black at the end of a morning workout). I also have my bag packed and ready to go, one for my morning workouts and one for my evening ones, so I always have everything I need ready to go.
I love the reminder idea! And I think your idea of scheduling your workouts as a meeting is fantastic -everyone should do that. I often advise something similar to my clients, but what I think CAN happen is that people merely schedule it in their mind and then allow their busy day to take over … maybe not every-time, but certainly from time to time!
It really works, I value my workouts as much as anything else, if not more. The other day I had a terrible day, bingle in my car, cup of scalding tea over myself, parking ticket, I was frustrated and passed out in what I like to call ‘an angry nap’, exhausted. My phone went off reminding me I had a workout due, I ignored it, but when it went off a second time, I couldn’t ignore it (it was blinking at me telling me what workout was due and where), and having my bag packed and ready to go just meant I had to throw on my clothes and I was good to go. And you know what? I felt so much better for it! (normally I would work out to vent, but it was just one of those days, you know? So the little push really helped).
That’s so cool Lou 🙂 love how you just couldn’t ignore that second reminder!!
For me, it’s a look back to where I have come from, both strength/skill gain and body weight wise (nothing like a photo that was taken 45kgs(ish) ago to get one in the right head space to keep moving forwards), and coming to the realisation that this ‘journey’ is not just about looking better on the outside, but knowing now how much stress my poor body, insides and outsides, were under, and how much better I feel not lugging around another small person with me on a daily basis (which I can barely even lift so I have no idea how iI have no idea how I used to manage!), the human bodies adaptability is an amazing thing isn’t it).
Understanding that I do not want to go through life with a myriad of illnesses and hindrances that can be avoided like some of my family members and the like have been through also keeps me up on the motivated scale.
Sounds like you’ve really thought through your motivators Lauren. Well done! I think a lot of people live their whole lives without considering what drives them in this sort of detail. You can’t help but succeed 🙂
My top motivation…hard to pin point one, so here are a couple…
1) the feel good factor of having a great work out
2) the feel good factor of fitting into those skinny jeans!!
3) knowing that eating “clean” and sticking to it will only help with the two motivation points above!
Ooh … number 1 definitely my fave 🙂
No idea if this competition is still going but thought I’d add what keeps me motivated….
– I always remind myself of what I felt like (physically, emotionally and mentally) before I started training and eating well…it wasn’t pretty.
And for the superficial stuff…
– inside my wardrobe is a picture of a body that is a achievable for me (if i want her stomach I need to keep training!)
– i have a “fat” photo of myself on my mobile…scares me every time i see it! I don’t want to go back to that…ever.
” )
Ah no, it ended a couple weeks back and I posted the contest details on FB. Sorry! Great to have your tips added though Tanya … I love the wardrobe pic idea!
I find the key is to continually set new challenging goals that motivate you to keep going. Whether it be wanting to do a 5km “fun” run or being able to slip into a certain sized dress at a special upcoming event. If you have something to continually aim for, that you want and believe in, you’ll be motivated to do the hard work!
Definitely!