Tag: weight loss

The Perfect Full Body Home Workout With Resistance Bands

Post author By Remson
Post date February 4, 2021

Tribe By Noire

The Perfect Full Body Home Workout

2020 has completely reinvigorated the buzz around home fitness and along with that we’ve witnessed the rebirth of the resistance band industry. I saw this coming before the lockdowns started and sprung into action to create a whole game plan for building muscle and burning fat from home with minimal space and equipment. Let’s take a look at full body home workouts.

Fat Burn & Full Body Workouts

Full body workouts are the best way to maximize fat loss while building muscle because you’re targeting every muscle group in the body rather than just 1 or 2. Using more muscle groups within a workout forces more stimulation of your nervous system and a faster metabolic rate. All of this combined maximizes caloric burn.

The ideal fat loss method when it comes to full body workouts is the use of super sets and giant sets in conjunction with time intervals.

Super sets are when you do 2 exercises back to back as a pair with little to no rest time between them.
Giant sets are when you take 3 or more exercises one after in a group with little to no rest time between them.
Do each exercise on a fixed time interval of 60 seconds. Try to keep your rest time between exercises to a minimum of 10-15 seconds.

Full Body Workouts For Muscle Building

The most important training factors that drive muscle growth are intensity, frequency, and volume. With full body training you can utilize all 3 of these factors in a very time efficient way.

Intensity is how hard you push a muscle or muscle group in a given set or training session.
Frequency is how often you train a muscle or muscle group.
Volume is how many sets and reps you use to train a muscle, or muscle group.

Full Body Workout Structure

Every Workout should be centered around compound exercises that target multiple muscle groups at the time. Each exercise fits into 1 of 7 categories.

Squatting/lunging – targets quadriceps and glutes
Hip Hinging- targets lower back, glutes, hamstrings
Horizontal Pressing – targets chest, shoulders and triceps
Vertical Pressing – targets shoulders and triceps
Horizontal Pulling – targets lower back, upper back, biceps
Vertical Pulling – targets upper back and biceps
Spinal Flexion/Trunk Rotation – targets abs and obliques

Each workout should have 6-8 exercises grouped together in giant sets, or super sets. With the right amount of intensity and rest time, you can finish the workout in 20-30 minutes. Here’s an example.

Play

3 Giant Sets

Banded Prisoner Squat
Banded Standing Leg Curl
Banded Upright Row

3 Giant Sets

Banded Row
Banded Push Up
Banded Bicep Curl

3 Super Sets

Banded Wood Chop
S. Leg Hip Bridge + Leg Extension

*Do each exercise for 60 seconds (per side if it’s a unilateral exercise), or for a rep total of 16-20 reps (per side if it’s a unilateral exercise).

*Keep the rest time between 10-15 seconds between sets.

Looking for a good set of bands for a good price?

This is a good package that comes with everything you need to have a versatile and effective home workout. You can even train outside like I prefer to do.

The handles make it easy to grip the bands
The door anchor allows you to do pull downs, wood chops, and leg curls if you don’t have anything to tie the band around.
The ankle cuff is the ideal tool for leg curls, leg raise, and kick backs.
Everything fits in a fairly small bag, which makes it convenient for tavel.

Tribe By Noire

I’ve created this platform to help you become the most powerful version of yourself through fitness, plant based nutrition, and mindset coaching.

Tags 30 minute workout, Full Body Workout, home workout, muscle building, resistance bands, weight loss

Nutrition & Supplements

The Best Way To Deal With Food Cravings

Post author By Remson
Post date December 7, 2020

Tribe By Noire

The Best Way To Deal With Food Cravings

In my 10+ years of coaching I’ve learned that excess weight gain is almost exclusively driven by food cravings. When you think of your food cravings, what comes to mind? Maybe it’s sweets like cakes, pies, or doughnuts. Maybe other times it’s heavier things like Mac n Cheese, pizza, or something simpler like chips and dip.

Whatever your cravings are, they all can be traced back to 3 main things.

The 3 Ingredients Of Food Cravings

Sugar | Salt | Fat

Every single one of the foods you crave has at least 2 of these 3 ingredients, I guarantee it.

Understand that this goes way deeper than just taste. These cravings are directly linked to your emotions, chemical reactions in the brain, and the messages that certain gut bacteria and parasites may be sending to your brain.

Let’s start with your emotions

Sugar cravings are driven by a low energy, or low vibrational state. This can be caused by lack of sleep or poor sleep quality, under eating and/or overworking, general feelings of sadness, and depression. Sugar acts on us in 2 main ways.

Sugar turns into glucose in the body which is our primary source of energy. when energy is low, sugar serves as a quick boost.
Sugar causes an endorphin release in the brain, which makes us feel good. This ends up turning into a sugar addiction over time.

Salt cravings are driven by anxiety and depression. Studies show that elevated levels of sodium inhibit stress hormones that are normally released in stressful situations. Add crunchy foods to the mix and you have something that is irresistible, like chips.

Fat cravings are a bit different because no one actually craves fat in and of itself. there’s a few different high fat food sources, nuts, avocado, and oil, but there’s one source in particular that ends up being super addictive, dairy.

Ice cream, cheese, and creamer are in almost every single food people typical crave and end up binging on. Dairy has a protein in it called casein which acts on the brain as mild opiate. When processed into cheese, this addictive property becomes heightened. Dr. Neal Bernard refers to it as “dairy crack“

Get Your Fix & Drop Body Fat

I’ve got all kinds of good news for you! To start, I just want to let you know that you don’t have to cut sugar, salt, or fat from your diet. You don’t even have to limit your food intake. No this is not an ad for a special supplement, or meal replacement shake.

All you have to do is find smarter replacement for your sugar, salt and fat and combine them in a way where you can enjoy great taste and eat until you’re full. Let’s talk about sources.

Sugar

A big mistake that people make is trying to cut all forms of sugar from their diet. This is a horrible idea for someone who battles with sugar cravings. The demonizing of sugar in my opinion can create a toxic relationship with food.

Our bodies, especially our brains primarily run on sugar, which is why we need plenty of it. The caveat here is that sugar needs to be packaged with other essential nutrients that regulate it.

Sugar needs to be accompanied with fiber, water, vitamin C, potassium, calcium, and magnesium. All of these nutrients are essential for regulating blood sugar and insulin levels.

It works similar to how car traffic works in terms of speed limits. If there’s nothing regulating the sugar you consume, it’ll all just spill into your blood stream at one time causing a massive spike in insulin levels, follow by a severe drop in blood sugar, ending in an energy crash.

Doing this repeatedly will put you on a chaotic roller coaster that not only shows up on the scale, but also manifests in your mood, and overall health.

Having a stable and gradual release of sugar (glucose) into your bloodstream allows to have more balance and sustained energy levels. In addition this will also inhibit cravings.

So what should your sugar sources be?

The short answer is fruit, sweet juicy fruit! Fruit is nature’s multivitamin and/or medication. A good template is 1 serving of 5 different types of fruit. This can be a mixture of fruits that have a variety of traits.

sweet (berries)
mildly sweet (watermelon)
citrus (orange)
bitter sweet (grapefruit)
non sweet (cucumber)

Try to have a variety of colors on your plate like a beautiful painting. The variety insures that you’re getting an abundance of all the nutrients you need while stimulating your taste buds to the fullest extent. Make love to your gut.

Salt

Unfortunately it’s a very common belief that salt is bad for you because it causes hypertension. Some people goes as far as to say you should avoid salt at all costs, but scientific research on this issue shows that this just simply isn’t the case.

When people refer to salt, they’re often talking about sodium, which is is an essential electrolyte that helps maintain the balance of water in and around your cells. It’s important for proper muscle and nerve function. It’s even important to maintain stable blood pressure.

Salt is good stuff, but the source is what makes the difference. Roasted salted nuts are my personal favorite for satisfying that salty and crunchy craving. Peanuts, almonds, cashews, pistachios, walnuts, macadamia nuts, pecans, brazil nuts are all great alternatives to things like potato and corn chips. The main reason for this is the fiber and nutrient content of the nuts. Potato and corn chips are mostly just empty calories that easily lead to over eating.

A second good option is to drizzle a sauce or dressing with a bit of added sea salt, or himalayan salt on to some raw or steamed greens like spinach, spring mix, bok choy, or kale. The sauce can be anything from tahini sauce, to a spicy curry sauce with a bit of lime juice.

Fat

This is probably the biggest struggle because in terms of weight management. You want to lose fat, but you also need to consume fat, so it’s a bit of a love hate relationship. I’m feeling a bit repetitive here, but once again, the source matters.

I almost put fat and salt in the same category because of how well they go together when it comes taste and food combination. For example, the roasted salted nuts I mentioned earlier, which are a great source of fat. Another example guacamole with some added sea salt, or himalayan salt, lime juice, diced onions, and bell pepper. Mixing this in with a few cups of raw or steamed greens is a phenomenal meal that will definitely satisfy the craving for fat and salt.

The Objective

Ultimately everything is about food choice. you want to be able to get all of the nutrients you need to reach your goals, and improve your gut health, while still being able to scratch that itch for whatever cravings you may have.

Tribe By Noire

I’ve created this platform to help you become the most powerful version of yourself through fitness, plant based nutrition, and mindset coaching.

Tags binge eating, diet, fat loss, food cravings, meal plan, plant based diet, vegan diet, vegan diet plan, weight loss, whole foods

Nutrition & Supplements

Successfully Overhaul Your Diet In 3 Simple Steps

Post author By Remson
Post date October 13, 2018

Tribe By Noire

Successfully Overhaul Your Diet In 3 Simple Steps

I’m writing this because in the fitness and wellness industry, we put way too much emphasis on DIETS. Every time you turn around someone’s pitching a keto diet, a paleo diet, a blood type diet, juice cleanse, etc. Let’s back up a second, get real, and ask ourselves one simple question, “What about just adopting simple eating HABITS?”

The only way your diet works for you is if it’s comprised of practical eating habits that you can sustain. This means not being a slave to your food, not going to bed hungry, and not being crushed by cravings. Let’s talk about these 3 simple steps that will allow you to get your diet on track successfully.

Step 1 - The Observation Phase

Before you start making any changes you first have to identify exactly what you need to change. You may think you’re eating too much when in fact you’re eating too little. You may be eating the right amount of calories, but just making the wrong food choices.

Take a week to track your current eating habits and develop some self awareness. Doing this is a real wake up call. You can start this process by downloading an app on your phone called My Fitness Pal, or chronometer. My fitness pal is a bit easier to use, but chronometer gives you way more information on what you’re eating.

At this point you don’t need to worry about making any changes, just log what you’re eating. By the end of the week you’ll have plenty of data to look at to see where your problems are. Here’s a few things to look out for.

Does your calorie intake fluctuate up and down drastically?
Is your saturated fat, sugar, and cholesterol intake really high?
Is your fiber, vitamin, and mineral intake really low?

Step 2 - The Mapping Phase

Once you can clearly see where the holes are in your diet, you can start mapping out how you would ultimately want your diet to look. Make a simple list of nutrition goals like this.

Set a reasonable calorie goal that you can stay within 5% of.
Set a reasonable balance in your macros according to your fitness goals.
Have a list of at least 5 categories of food that you target daily.

Choosing a calorie goal – First you’d want to find out what your maintenance caloric intake is. Finding out your basal metabolic rate (BMR) will give you that number. You can download a mobile app on your phone for that or google “basal metabolic rate calculator” for the easiest way to do it.

If you want to lose weight, targeting 15% below maintenance calories would be a good idea. However, if you’ve been already under eating habitually and not losing weight, a calorie deficit is not going to be of much use.

If you want to gain weight, targeting 10% above maintenance calories would be ideal. Typically going further above that would cause you to gain unwanted body fat.

Setting macro goals – Typically the best macros are the ones that give you the most variety in your diet, while still getting you to your goals. For example, this is what that may look like.

Carbs – 50-55%
Protein – 20-25%
Fat – 30-20%

Carbohydrate and fat intake will vary from person to person, but in regards to protein calculation, 1 – 1.8 grams of protein per kilogram of lean mass would be the range to stay within. Getting above or below will result in a pretty unbalanced diet.

Targeting food categories – This would more than likely be the simplest place to start because its the least technical. All you’d really need to do is pick 5 food categories that are the most beneficial and make sure you eat foods from each of them daily. Here are the categories I suggest.

Veggies
Fruit
Nuts/Seeds
Legumes
Grains

Ideally each meal should incorporate at least 3 of these.

Step 3 - The Implementation Phase

Finally, implementation is done best when its done gradually. Too much at one time becomes overwhelming and food cravings will likely get the better of you. My advice is that you make 1-2 changes a week and see how you do. If you can stay consistent with those changes for the week, add more improvements. Here’s what some of those changes may look like.

WEEK 1

Eat 2-4 cups of fresh greens daily
Track each meal daily

Week 2

Eat 3.5 servings of legumes daily
Reach but do not exceed calorie goal by more than 10%

Week 3

Eat at least 3 servings of fruit daily
Drink at least 64oz of water daily

Week 4

Eat at least 1-2 servings of nuts and seeds daily
Reach your macros daily

Its easy to focus on getting rid of all the bad stuff from your diet, but that requires a focus on all the negative stuff in your diet. That focus on the negative is not good if you’re trying to take a more positive approach to life.

A good alternative is the process of elimination through addition. Focus on adding the good stuff first. You don’t have to deny yourself some of that cake right now, just save it for the end of the day AFTER you’ve eaten all the most beneficial meals first. That way its like a reward for good behavior.

Eventually the food cravings will die out and you’ll have more self discipline.

Tribe By Noire

I’ve created this platform to help you become the most powerful version of yourself through fitness, plant based nutrition, and mindset coaching.

Tags diet strategies, fat loss, muscle growth, nutrition plans, plant based diet, weight loss

Nutrition & Supplements

5 Major Tips To Stop Bad Eating Habits Permanently

Post author By Remson
Post date January 31, 2018

Tribe By Noire

5 Major Tips To Stop Bad Eating Habits Permanently

Diet is a big struggle for most people, especially those trying to lose weight. We all at least have some what of an idea of what a good food choice is and what a bad food choice is, but there’s one obvious element to diet that no one really talks about. That element is the psychology behind your food choices.

There are 5 major tips to stop bad eating habits and if you do them long enough, you can get rid of these habits permanently.

Prioritize the right foods
Make good food choices more available
Time your meals in your favor
Setup a reward system
Study what is motivating your eating habits

Prioritize The Right Foods

Just simply cutting out the bad food from your diet doesn’t work so well for most people, and even if it works, it doesn’t work for very long. The reason this fails is because just removing things creates this empty void which eventually leads to intense food cravings. To avoid this pitfall, try eating in order of priority.

Eat the most beneficial foods first and the least beneficial foods after. An example of this could be having a meal packed with fruit, veggies, raw nuts, seeds, high fiber grains, and legumes. Afterwards if you’re still having a craving for the not so beneficial food craving, indulge…a little.

Keep Good Choices On Deck

People tend to make bad food choices simply out of convenience. Stopping off at a fast food spot is way more convenient than cooking your ideal meal. Those of us with busy exhausting schedules are at the highest risk for this, but there is a simple solution to this. Keep good food choices handy wherever you go, this is even more important for people following a vegan plant based, or at least trying to.

Ideally you should be packing your food daily, but for the times that you might have dropped the ball on that, bring filling snack foods that you can just grab and go. These snacks can be simple foods like cashews, almond butter, a bag of apples, dried fruit like dates, some pre-packed carrots and celery with hummus on the side. These are just a few things that you can keep on hand to hold you over until you can get to your ideal meal.

Time Your Meals In Your Favor

One of the worse things you can do is wait until you’re starving to decide what to eat. Get into the habit of planning your meals at least a day in advance. This premeditated approach to diet is going to give you a new level of control over your eating habits that you’ve never had before. I’ve put together an article on meal prep. Check that out here!

Setup A Reward System

Developing all this discipline over your diet and can feel like a real chore at times, and can even be a bit discouraging. You need a way to keep your morale up and stay in the game, so you may want to start thinking about setting some sort of reward system for yourself. The most typical method to this is the “cheat meal”. Basically a cheat meal is that one weekly meal where you allow yourself to eat the things you’ve been cutting out. The problem with the cheat meal is that it can end up becoming a cheat weekend and even the cheat week!

I’ve found a better approach to be a daily reward at the end of the day after you’ve stuck to your meal plan. Have those 4-5 cookies, or that donut at the end of the day, but only after you’ve eaten all the good stuff first. Doing this will make the challenge of impulse control easier because you’ll have something exciting to look forward to.

Study What Is Motivating Your Eating Habits

Its all about self awareness here. What eating habits are you trying to overcome? Now study and identify the mindset that is driving those habits. What is happening in your life when you follow these habits? A lot of us are emotional eaters, but you don’t have to beat yourself up about it. You just need to first practice awareness deliberately and then make the lifestyle changes that are going to help you develop the emotional discipline you need.

If a certain environment is triggering bad eating habits, get out of that environment, or develop a way to protect yourself in it. If a certain person, or people are triggering bad habits, get some distance. At the end of the day you need to develop a solid mindset and protect it. I’ve saved this solution for last because it is the best, but the catch is that it can be the most challenging one.

Tribe By Noire

I’ve created this platform to help you become the most powerful version of yourself through fitness, plant based nutrition, and mindset coaching.

Tags diet strategies, fat loss, mindset, plant based diet, vegan, weight loss

Nutrition & Supplements

7 Simple Diet Tips To Improve Insulin Sensitivity

Post author By Remson
Post date October 23, 2017

Tribe By Noire

7 SIMPLE DIET TIPS TO IMPROVE INSULIN SENSITIVITY

Its really important to understand how insulin works in the body and why insulin sensitivity is so important in relation to your fitness goals. To put it all simply, insulin is a hormone that your pancreas secretes to shuttle blood sugar into cells like your muscle and fat cells.

Being insulin sensitive means your body uses less insulin to transport blood sugar. Being insulin resistant means your body needs to use a lot more insulin for the same amount, which leads to fat gain, fatigue, and type 2 diabetes.

Increasing insulin sensitivity helps to cut body fat and use sugar for energy a lot more efficiently. This is also a good idea in the fight against type 2 diabetes.

Here are the 7 simple diet tips to improve insulin sensitivity.

1- Start Intermittent Fasting

Intermittent fasting is 1st on my list because it is the quickest and most effective way to increase insulin sensitivity and normalize blood sugar levels. This is why intermittent fasting is one of the most powerful ways to cut body fat and do it in a timeline fashion.

To start with intermittent fasting, set up a 6-8 hour eating window that works well with your schedule. This will leave you with 18-16 hour fasting window. After that you’ll want to plan out your meals for that eating window and preferably prep your meals, so they’re ready to go.

2- Add A Teaspoon Of Ceylon Cinnamon

Cinnamon improves insulin sensitivity and lowers fasting blood sugar levels. The 2 compounds in cinnamon that help with this are chromium and polyphenols.

The two types of cinnamon are cassia and ceylon. Cassia is alot more common and known for its strong flavor. Ceylon, also known as true cinnamon, is a lot harder to find, but one of the perks of it is that its taste is not as strong, which may make it easier on the liver.

A teaspoon a day of cinnamon with your first meal over time can help a great deal especially with fat loss. I personally add it to the smoothie that breaks my fast.

3- Add Apple Cider Vinegar

Apple cider works very well with improving insulin sensitivity after high carb meals by 19-34%. It also lowers blood sugar levels by slowing down the emptying of the stomach.

Finishing your last meal with 1-2 table spoons of apple cider vinegar is a great strategy for improving insulin sensitivity while you sleep.

You really have to earn the benefits of this stuff because it tastes terrible to most people. Try mixing it in with a salad, or a green juice smoothie.

4- Add Turmeric

Turmeric is one of the most powerful things you can add to your diet because of all the benefits that come with it. A few of those benefits are anti-inflammation, which helps to fix gut health issues, and arthritis. It also protects brain function, and fights depression, Alzheimer’s, and other brain related illnesses.

More specific to this topic, turmeric improves insulin sensitivity, and regulates blood glucose levels. A few of the ways it does this is by improving beta cell function of the pancreas, improving fatty acid oxidation and utilization, and improving insulin receptor function.

The benefits of turmeric come from anti-oxidant called curcumin. Checkout this study on curcumin for the details.

5- Add Ginger

Ginger is very similar to turmeric being that they are both from the Zingiberaceae family and have a lot of the same benefits. Unique to ginger, it can help reduce muscle soreness, chronic indigestion, LDL cholesterol levels, and menstrual pain.

Like turmeric, you can use it as a spice to cook with daily, and it works basically the same way over time. For the details on how this works, checkout this study here.

You can also get it in the form of of an essential oil and mix it with tea. If you don’t like the taste of ginger, you can also take it as a supplement in capsule form.

6- Add Spirulina

Spirulina is an amazing heavily nutrient dense food created from algae. In fact, gram for gram, it holds the reputation of being the most nutrient dense food in the world. It is heavily loaded with protein, B vitamins, iron, calcium, iron, calcium, anti-oxidants, and omega 3 fatty acids.

Spirulina improves insulin sensitivity by regulating blood lipid levels and cholesterol, and the anti-oxidants reduce oxidative stress and inflammation. All of this combined improves pancreas function and reduces lipotoxicity.

You can take it in a capsule, or powder form. It doesn’t taste too good by its self, so I’d advise mixing in with juiced vegetables, and a fruit like apples and pears.

7- Add More Magnesium

Magnesium is a key micro-nutrient that is responsible for improving and correcting insulin sensitivity. In fact, magnesium deficiency is the fundamental defect found in people who experience pre-diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and even diabetes. There is a huge variety of tasty foods that you can add to your daily diet. Here’s a few of those foods.

Dark Chocolate

Dark Chocolate is a great source of magnesium, but is also a great source of anti-oxidants. Its prebiotic fiber also feeds your good gut flora, which is a major asset in improving gut health.

Avocado

Avocado is one of the easiest ways to get magnesium in your diet because its versatile and delicious. Its also a great source of potassium as well which helps purge toxins from the blood.

Nuts

Nuts like almonds, cashews, and brazil nuts make for 20% of your RDI with just 1 serving.

Legumes

Legumes like black beans account for 30% of your RDI with just 1 cup. This is also a great source of protein, and iron.

Seeds

Seeds like pumpkin seeds account for 37% of your RDI with just 1 ounce. This is also another great source of protein that you can add to your smoothies and use as a topping.

Tribe By Noire

I’ve created this platform to help you become the most powerful version of yourself through fitness, plant based nutrition, and mindset coaching.

Tags diabetes, fat loss, insulin sensitivity, vegan diet tips, weight loss

Fitness & Training

3 Reasons To Not Do Cardio Before Lifting

Post author By Remson
Post date May 8, 2017

Tribe By Noire

3 Reasons To Not Do Cardio Before Lifting

One of the most common mistakes that people make in the gym is setting cardio as priority number one. The first thing most people do when they first enter the gym is hop on a treadmill, elliptical, or recumbent bike. In a society plagued with overwhelming levels of obesity, cardio becomes an obsession, due to the belief that its the best and quickest way to lose weight. The truth is, resistance training should be priority number one if your goal is weight loss, and body re-composition. Let’s talk about 3 reasons to not do cardio before lifting.

Lifting is way better than cardio for weight loss

First lets talk about cardio and its primary focus. The purpose of cardio is implied in the name “cardio” as in training your cardiovascular system. There is great benefit to improving your cardio performance, and you’ll even lose some weight from it, but primarily focusing on cardio for weight loss will cause you to neglect training the bodily systems that use the most fat for energy.

Its during rest and other low intensity activities where you burn the most fat. This is why cardio activity like running isn’t the best for fat reduction and definitely not good for your knees. You’re better off walking long distance rather than running. During your workout, your body will use carbs for energy which brings me to my next point. If fat is mostly used during rest, it would be wise to prioritize the activity that causes the most energy usage after the workout (rest). That activity is weight lifting, or resistance training in general.

The reason for this is recovery. It takes longer and requires more energy for the body to recover from lifting than cardio does. I wouldn’t tell you to completely cut out cardio, but if you’re gonna do it, do it at the end of your workout, or on days where you’re not lifting.

3 Reasons To Not Do Cardio Before Lifting

Cardio Before Lifting Will Hurt Your Training Performance

You only have a certain amount of energy to give within your workout, so you don’t want to be wasting it on cardio if you’re trying to build muscle and drop body fat. Lifting or any type of resistance training only builds muscle if the muscle is challenged and stimulated enough. You won’t be able to really challenge your muscle enough if you’re fatigued.

Cardio Before Lifting Will Hinder Movement Quality

When I say movement quality I mean muscular function and range of motion. The reason why this happens is because pre-exhausting the body will cause certain muscles to not fire with the amount of force that they are supposed to. For example, running can cause fatigue and tightness of the quadriceps and calve muscles, often results in excessive stress at the knee joint, hip, and lower back. This will not only hinder movement and create discomfort, but it often results in various injuries.

Cardio Before Lifting Can Lead To Over Training & Muscle Loss

Overall work volume is a big component to effective training. One of the fatal flaws that hold most people back from their fitness goals is doing too much! Doing cardio and then pushing your body through a rough lifting session on a consistent basis can lead to over training and muscle loss. A lot of work and not enough recovery leads to frustration and often causes people to lose motivation and quit. For more info on how over training works, read this.

The Perfect Warm Up

As far as warm ups go, the best way to warm up is to work your way through a couple of dynamic mobility exercises that specifically prep the muscle groups you’ll be using in that training session. For example, if you’re going to be doing legs, prep and get blood flow to the muscles that move your hips, knees and ankles.

Tribe By Noire

I’ve created this platform to help you become the most powerful version of yourself through fitness, plant based nutrition, and mindset coaching.

Tags bodybuilding, fat loss, fitness tips, muscle growth, powerlifting, training strategies, weight loss, weightlifting

Nutrition & Supplements

Lose Fat And Fix Your Gut With Prebiotics

Post author By Remson
Post date May 8, 2017

Tribe By Noire

Lose Fat And Fix Your Gut With Prebiotics

Anyone who has taken an interest in gut health more than likely has heard about probiotics and the benefits of them. If you don’t know, the live bacteria of probiotic foods help tremendously in fighting off any issues in the gastrointestinal tract and maintaining a positive environment in the digestive system which ultimately lead to fat loss. They also play an important role in strengthening your immune system. Probiotics are found within the cultures of dairy foods, and yogurt also. However there is the vital resource that is not nearly as popular, but just as important, prebiotics. This guide will teach you what you need to know about prebiotics, how they are related to probiotics, how they help you, and the abundance of foods that contain them.

How Are Probiotics & Prebiotics Related?

Probiotics and prebiotics are essential to healthy gut function. Probiotics are live microorganisms that live in your gastrointestinal tract. They help the digestive process by cleaning out the gut so things can continue to flow smoothly. Like any living organism they need to be fed in order to survive and grow. This is where prebiotics come in. Prebiotics act as a food source for probiotics.

How Do I Get Prebiotics?

Prebiotics are un-digestible plant fibers that live inside the large intestine. When you consume foods high in prebiotics, those prebiotics will then fuel the growth of probiotics, resulting in healthy gut function.

You’ve more than likely already ingested prebiotics and not even realized it. Prebiotics are found in a variety of foods, mainly in high fiber vegetables. Vegetables that are high in fiber are typically also high in probiotics.

Here's A List Of My Top 7 Prebiotic Foods

Raw Chicory

You can find chicory root in healthy food stores as a supplement or in grounded form. People often use it as a replacement for coffee because it tastes like coffee, but without the side effects that some people experience like jitters, headaches, and trouble sleeping.

*The prebiotic statics of Raw Chicory Root are, 65% weight in fiber. Amount of daily serving needed would be 9.3 grams

Raw Jerusalem Artichoke

It looks more like ginger, but its name comes from it tasting like an artichoke. You can put it in salads and you can also boil it, satee it, or roast it to get a creamy potato. The Jerusalem Artichoke has a low glycemic index so it can be a good alternative to potatoes for diabetics.

*The prebiotic statics of Jerusalem Artichoke are, 31.5% weight in fiber. The daily serving amount needed is 19 grams.

Raw Dandelion

To get the prebiotics of Raw Dandelion Root into your diet try putting it in with your salads, sandwiches, stews, casseroles, soups or herbal teas. The taste of it can be a bit acrid so to deal with that, you can blanch them in boiling water for 10 – 20 secs, but not too much, or you’ll neutralize the prebiotics.

*The prebiotic statics of Raw Dandelion Root are, 24.3% weight in fiber. The daily serving amount needed is, 24.7 grams.

Raw Garlic

Add Garlic to your diet in many different ways.

Guacamole
Hummus
Vegetable Stir Fry
Add it to pasta for some extra flavor.

*The prebiotic statistics of Raw Garlic are, 17.5% weight in fiber. The daily serving amount needed is, 34.3 grams.

Raw Leeks

Aside from the fact that raw leeks are a great source of prebiotics, they actually taste pretty good and go well with just about anything. Try’em in garden pastas, salads, and also as anedible garnish if you feel like getting fancy.

*The prebiotic statics of Raw Leeks are, 11.7% weight in fiber. The daily serving amount needed is 51.3 grams.

Raw Onion

Most of the flavonoids are in the outermost layers of the onion, so try to peel off as little as possible before chopping, dicing. Onions are a tremendously potent food and are a great source of prebiotics, but cooking them will lower the nutritional quality and kill off a large quantity of the prebiotics.

*The prebiotic statistics of raw onion are, 8.6% weight in fiber. The daily amount needed is 69.8 grams.

Raw Asparagus

Raw asparagus is another great source of prebiotics. For many of us, raw asparagus is tough to eat, but it can be pretty tasty and less tough when its fermented. You can also try blending it into a smoothie.

*The prebiotic statistics of raw asparagus are, 5% weight in fiber. The daily amount needed is 120 grams.

How Much Prebiotics Should I have?

In order to get the full effects of prebiotics, you should try to consume at least 5 grams of prebiotic-dense foods per day.

*Note that cooking these food source can also lower the quantity of prebiotics in them, so I’d suggest eating raw if you can.

Over all, prebiotics is the key to having a healthy gut and speedy metabolism. Eat your greens and get lean!

For more info on gut bacteria and the micro biome, click here.

Hope this helps you guys out!

-Remson

Tribe By Noire

I’ve created this platform to help you become the most powerful version of yourself through fitness, plant based nutrition, and mindset coaching.

Tags diet strategies, fat loss, gut health, improve metabolism, nutrition plans, plant based diet, vegan, vegetarian, weight loss

Nutrition & Supplements

5 Important Things To Know About Fiber

Post author By Remson
Post date May 7, 2017

Tribe By Noire

5 Important Things To Know About Fiber

Generally when people talk about diet, they talk about protein, carbs, fat, and calorie counting. You may even hear a general mention of fruits and vegetables, but when was the last time you heard an in-depth discussion about fiber and gut health? Well if its not something you’ve heard about often, I want to talk to you about 5 important things to know about fiber.

1. What is Fiber & Where Is It Found?

Fiber is basically the threads that make up the tissue of plants. In regards to your diet this fiber is known as dietary fiber, or roughage. Its a type of carbohydrate that can not be digested by the human body. Due to the fact that it can’t be broken down by our bodies, it passes through our digestive tract pretty much intact, but what it does along the way is what’s important.

Here are some of the functions of dietary fiber.

Regulating digestion
Regulating blood sugar
Maintaining cholesterol levels

Dietary fiber is exclusive to a plant based diet and is not found in meat, dairy, or eggs.

2. Soluble Fiber & Insoluble Fiber

There are two different types of fiber that both important to have in your diet called soluble fiber and insoluble fiber. Most plant based foods have a mixture of both even though its not specified on the label.

Soluble Fiber

Soluble fiber dissolves or swells in water almost becoming a gel like substance. This is also soluble fiber interacts with the fluids in your gut. To give you a quick visual, think about the consistency of oatmeal when it sits in water. That’s a sign of a particular food being high in soluble fiber. Soluble fiber reduces cholesterol levels and stabilizes blood sugar levels. Foods that are high in soluble fiber are beans, fruits, and oats.

Insoluble FIber

Unlike soluble fiber, Insoluble fiber does not dissolve in water. The purpose of insoluble fiber is to add fecal bulk which is great for preventing constipation. All plant based foods, especially vegetables, wheat, wheat bran, rye, and brown rice, are full of insoluble fiber.

3. Fiber Fermentation & Gut Bacteria

Fiber fermentation is a process that both soluble and insoluble fiber goes through in the large intestine that result in the production of certain gases and acids that have many significant health benefits. Here are some of those health benefits.

Stimulation of good bacteria production in the colon
Stabilization of blood glucose which helps people avoid diabetes
Suppression of LDL (bad cholesterol) which helps avoid the hardening of arteries and heart disease
Increase of lower gut acid levels, which protects against cancerous polyp formations and helps the body absorb essential minerals such as iron, calcium and magnesium
Inhibition of inflammation by improving the protective layer in the lower gut
Stimulation of the immune system by boosting production of helper cells and other antibodies
Reduction in the number of dangerous conditions associated with an unhealthy diet, including obesity and a diverse array of gastrointestinal disorders such as inflammatory bowel disease, diverticulitis, Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis

There are 7 foods that are highest my list in regards to fiber.

Chicory Root
Jerusalem Artichoke
Dandelion Root
Garlic
Leeks
Onion
Asparagus

For more information about how to fix your gut health and increase good gut bacteria, read this article here.

4. How Much Fiber Should You Consume Daily?

Statistically the average adult only consumes about 15 grams of fiber per day which is nowhere near enough. I won’t give you an exact cookie cutter amount, but a good baseline minimum is around 20-25 grams per 1000 calories. This is only a minimum and in reality your fiber intake should end up much higher than this on a balanced plant based diet.

5. can you consume too much fiber?

Having too much fiber in your diet is a very unlikely circumstance, but it is possible. This can be caused by overeating foods that are very high in fiber. Here are some signs that you’ve consumed too much fiber.

Gas and bloating – caused by the expansion of soluble fiber.
Loose stool – caused by excess water retention in your fecal matter
Constipation – soluble fiber absorbs water and too much water absorption can harden fecal matter
Dehydration – fiber uses up a lot of water in your system so increasing fiber intake without increasing water intake can deprive your organs of water.

In order to avoid these issue, increasing fiber intake should be gradual process, not anything drastic because your body needs to acclimated to these dietary changes.

Tribe By Noire

I’ve created this platform to help you become the most powerful version of yourself through fitness, plant based nutrition, and mindset coaching.

Tags diet strategies, fat loss, gut health, improve metabolism, nutrition plans, plant based diet, vegan, vegetarian, weight loss

Nutrition & Supplements

Improve Gut Health With These 5 Plant Based Fermented Foods

Post author By Remson
Post date May 3, 2017

Tribe By Noire

Improve Gut Health With These 5 Plant Based Fermented Foods

More and more now, scientific studies are showing the importance of bacteria in regards to gut health. This information is changing the way we view food and the approach to diet. Fermented foods have been in human history for generations, but now the science has brought them into the spotlight. Let’s talk about fermented foods and how to improve gut health with these 5 plant based fermented foods.

Why Are Fermented Foods Good For You?

Fermented foods are foods that have been through the process of lactofermentation where natural bacteria feed on the sugar and starch in the food creating lactic acid. This process preserves the food, and creates all kinds of beneficial enzymes, b-vitamins, Omega-3 fatty acids, and various strains of probiotics.

The natural fermentation of foods has also been shown to preserve nutrients in food and break the food down to a form that’s easier to digest. This, along with the cultures of probiotics created during the fermentation process, is why the consumption of fermented foods leads to the improvement of gut health and digestion.

Simply put, fermented foods are nutrient dense foods that end up being alot easier to digest and absorb because of the fermentation process. For more information on gut bacteria and digestive health, read my article on gut flora and the key to gut health

5 Great Feremented Foods To Put Into Your Diet

Sauerkraut

Sauerkraut is fermented cabbage that comes very thinly sliced. Its loaded with vitamin C, B, and K. It also contains a ton of probiotics, including leuconostoc, pediococcus, and lactobacillus. If you decide to go to the store and get some of this stuff, make sure you get it unpasteurized because pasteurization kills the good bacteria. Look for it in the refrigerated aisle.

Kimchi

Kimchi is an extremely popular South Korean food that they typically eat as a side dish. This type of fermented food is made with cabbage, radish, or cucumber. It’s packed with flavor, filled with vitamin C and carotene, and can either be eaten on its own or incorporated into a whole wide array of different dishes.

Miso

Miso is made from fermented soy beans and is often used in soups and can also add a nice flavor to other dishes like miso hummus. Its packed with micro nutrients like manganese, zinc, and antioxidants.

Coconut Yogurt

Coconut yogurt is packed with probiotics, and since it’s non-dairy, it’s a great vegan alternative and a lot easier to digest than conventional yogurt. Coconut is antiviral, anti-fungal and antibacterial, plus it’s high in calcium, potassium and magnesium.

Pickles

Pickles are filled with active bacterial cultures and enzymes. Like sauerkraut, buy lacto-fermented pickles unpasteurized from the refrigerator section, not the kind made with vinegar. They may taste similar, but they don’t have the same health benefits. Its also a good idea to drink the pickle juice.

Tribe By Noire

I’ve created this platform to help you become the most powerful version of yourself through fitness, plant based nutrition, and mindset coaching.

Tags diet strategies, fat loss, gut health, improve metabolism, nutrition plans, plant based diet, vegan, vegetarian, weight loss

Fitness & Training

3 Keys To Building Muscle And Burning Fat At The Same Time

Post author By Remson
Post date May 1, 2017

3 Keys To Building Muscle And Burning Fat At The Same Time

One of the biggest myths in fitness today is the belief that you can’t build muscle and drop body fat at the same time, atleast not a substantial amount. Because of this belief, it is a common practice to alternate between 3 different phases known as bulking, cutting, and maintenance. My goal here in this article is to simplify the process and explain the 3 keys to building muscle and burning fat at the same time.

The Vicious Cycle Of Cutting & Bulking

This vicious cycle will have you bouncing back and forth from one extreme to the next. You want to get lean and sexy, so you neurotically cut calories in efforts to drop weight fast. You drop the weight, and a clothing size or two. You feel good about it for a bit, but the feeling fades when you realize you look flat. You’ve gotta put some muscle on, and add some shape to this now thinned out physique. Popular opinion says you’ve gotta eat big to get big, so you begin doing just that, over eating. You hit it hard in the gym and pack on some good size, but only a small portion of it being actual lean mass. Ladies and gentlemen, the vicious cycle of bulking and cutting.

Debunking the calorie myth

Before we go any further I need to clarify what calorie is and is not. A calorie is not a form of nutrients, it is actually a measure of thermo energy. To be specific it is the energy needed to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water through 1 °C. Basically food works in the body much like how gas works in your car. The fuel heats up creating a caloric output (energy use). The more “calories” we consume, the more potential caloric output we have.

Understanding that, we can now see that the only purpose for increasing calorie intake is to have more usable energy. Whatever potential energy we have left over is stored in either the liver, muscle tissue, or fat cells. If you have your calorie surplus too high, you’ll gain body fat. If your calorie deficit is too low, you’ll lose muscle. Sounds simple enough, but this is actually where calorie counting falls on its face.

Are all calories created equal?
Does it matter where the calories come from?
How do you calculate how many calories you need?

I’ve often had clients drop body fat and increase muscle mass by increasing their food intake, so what’s the missing link here?

Quality Over Quantity

When thinking about food, quality comes first. The quality of your food is its macro and micro nutrient balance. A good example of this would be fruit vs cake.

Cake has little to no nutritional value, and very high in “calories”. Cake is known to be fattening because not only is it high in “calories, its also low in fiber, so you end up eating way too much of it before actually feeling full.

Fruit is low in “calories” but loaded with vitamins, minerals, and fiber which greatly improve energy, recovery, and digestion. This means more muscle growth and fat burn.

The 3 Keys To The Right Gains & Losses

1. NITROGEN SURPLUS

Consuming protein increases the nitrogen levels in your body. This nitrogen is what builds the muscle tissue in the body. Simply put, you will build muscle as long as you have a nitrogen surplus in the body during recovery. Studies show that the optimal consumption of protein per day for muscle building is 1.5 to 1.8 grams per kilogram of lean body mass.

2. TRAIN INTENSE & TIME EFFICIENT

Your training sessions should be fairly quick and intense, typically within 40 – 45 minutes. Having long drawn out training sessions can drastically reduce performance and inhibit your recover because of over use to the nervous system. Your body only has but so much fuel available at a given time so make every minute count.

3. RECOVERY

The body builds muscle at rest almost entirely when you sleep, which is why the best thing you can do for muscle growth is sleep. The body also metabolizes the most fat at rest in order to generate and stabilize your hormones and other functions. Its pretty much impossible to get the results you want without sufficient recovery.

Leave a comment below! Let me know what info you’ve found most useful here and feel free to ask if you have any further questions. Thanks for reading!

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