Switching to a Healthy Lifestyle: What to Expect in the First 30 days
So, you’ve made the decision to adopt a healthy lifestyle, change your eating habits, and get moving. It may seem simple at first, but the reality is that most people need to give their bodies a chance to gradually adjust to these healthy changes. Below are some of the most common challenges people report when making significant changes to their eating and lifestyle habits, along with some advice on how to manage them. Controlling appetite It’s not uncommon to feel hungry when reducing your overall calorie intake. However, be careful to not reduce your calorie intake by too much in the first 30 days. Although we recommend using our System Guides as a starting point, we’re all different and some [...]
Good Nutrition on Your Rest Days
Rest days, or days off from exercise, are a chance for your muscles and tendons to recover from physical training, and provide a refreshing mental break. Many athletes report feeling more motivated and energised after rest days, so it’s important to include them as part of your routine. But how should you structure nutrition on your rest day? Intuitively it might make sense to decrease total energy intake because you’re performing less activity and therefore expending less energy. However, the reality is that you should consume a similar diet to your training days because of how the process of recovery works. Days after your workout earlier in the week, your body is likely to still be recovering from your training [...]
Caffeine in Isagenix products
In Europe, many of us start our day with a cup of tea or coffee. The decision to consume caffeine is a personal choice but whatever your preference, it’s a good idea to know how caffeine works in the body and which Isagenix products contain caffeine. How does caffeine work? Every cell in the body contains a molecule called adenosine that is produced as a part of normal metabolism. Throughout the day, the level of adenosine rises in the brain and creates a signal that slows down nerve activity, promoting tiredness and sleep. When adenosine builds up near certain receptors in the brain, it can make you start to feel drowsy. Since the level of adenosine increases throughout the day, [...]
Getting Back on Track
With the start of each new year, many people will set themselves New Year’s resolutions – some more realistic than others! The most popular of these tends to be losing weight and getting in shape. However, despite best intentions, many people will find discouragement after only a few days or weeks. In the end, it often means yet another year of resolutions are made and broken. So, how can you break this cycle? The key is to start your new year with specific goals that you know you can achieve. For example, if you aim to lose half a kilo each week, that’s two kilos by the end of the month. Then, once you’ve reached that milestone, celebrate your success [...]
Nutrient in the Spotlight: B-vitamin Complex
Vitamins are a type of micronutrient – essential nutrients your body needs in very small amounts, but that are still important in a healthy, balanced diet. There are eight different B vitamins and each has a slightly different function and benefit to the body. B vitamins are water-soluble vitamins, which means they cannot be stored by the body and so need to be consumed every day. Because of these reasons, it’s important to include a variety of sources of each of the different B vitamins in your diet each day to ensure you’re giving your body what it needs. Let’s have a look at some of the key functions of B vitamins, and where you can find them in Isagenix [...]
Ingredient spotlight: Stevia
Stevia rebaudiana, more commonly known as the stevia plant, naturally produces sweet-tasting compounds. The plant is indigenous to Paraguay, where ‘Caá hê-é’ (or sweet herb) has been used by the Guarani people to sweeten drinks for over a century. Today, stevia is grown in Paraguay, Kenya, China and the US, and its non-caloric and sweetening properties are being used to sweeten many everyday products around the world (1). The sweet taste of stevia Stevia’s unique sweet tasting compounds, steviol glycosides, are produced in the leaves of the stevia plant (1). The structure of these compounds resembles the shape of a glucose molecule and activates the same receptor on our tongue that detects sweetness. Unlike sugar, stevia extracts provide no calories. [...]