Eggs are an excellent source of healthy fats and protein to keep you feeling full. They are also very easy to prepare and relatively inexpensive.

Studies reveal eating eggs can help people lose weight because they contain just 75 calories but 7 grams of protein each, simultaneously satisfying and satiating hunger. Plus, one egg only has 5 grams of fat, and offers iron, vitamins, and minerals. It also has disease-fighting carotenoids, including lutein and zeaxanthin, which may lower risks of macular degeneration—the leading cause of blindness in elders.¹

Despite all these benefits, the challenge is that eating scrambled eggs every day can become boring fast. To add variety to your breakfast options, here are 7 different ways to cook eggs along with simple and tasty recipes so you enjoy.

1) Scrambled Eggs

Probably the most typical way to cook eggs is to scramble them. Make sure the stove is set on low with gentle heat, and allow the eggs to start setting before scrambling. To make them extra fluffy, try adding in a half cup of cottage cheese for every two eggs, before pouring the mixture into the pan to scramble. To spice up your scrambled eggs, add in your favorite veggies or cheese.

Scrambled eggs with feta (serves 2):

Cooking Spray, ¼ cup chopped onion, 4 eggs beaten, ¼ cup chopped tomatoes, 2 T crumbled feta cheese, and pepper to taste. Heat the oiled pan, sauté onions, then pour in eggs and occasionally stir. When eggs look near finished, add the cheese, tomatoes, and pepper.

2) Poached Eggs

Poaching eggs is probably the low-fattest option to enjoy eggs because it aids in stopping the egg yolk’s fat from being oxidized or changed before and during cooking. There is also no added fat from butter or cooking oil.

Easy poached eggs:

2 eggs, 2 t rice vinegar, shallow saucepan with cover, spoon, and pepper to taste. Bring water to a boil in the pan to nearly boiling and add vinegar. Crack each egg one at a time into a small cup, put the cup near water and drop the egg into the pan. Gently push the egg whites closer to the yolks with the spoon, turn off the heat, cover, and let it sit for about four minutes, until egg whites are cooked. Lift eggs out of the pan, add pepper, and enjoy with a piece of whole-wheat toast for a simple yet delicious breakfast.

3) Omelet

Making omelets is super easy and one of the best ways to get creative with your eggs. Possible fillings run the gamut — smoked salmon, mushrooms, avocado, kale, peppers, any kind of cheese – you name it. It can take a few times to perfect the omelet-making technique, but once you have it, it’s quick and painless. Cook one omelet at a time with either two or three eggs, depending on how hungry you are. If you are making multiple omelets, you can keep the others warm in the oven while still cooking one on the stove.

Spinach and goat’s cheese omelet recipe (serves 1):

1 T water, ½ cup spinach, 1-1 ½ T goat’s cheese, 2-3 eggs, olive oil or olive oil cooking spray, and pepper to taste. Beat the eggs with the water, pour into a heavy non-stick skillet and allow the eggs to spread across the pan and set. Add the spinach and cheese to one half of the pan, and sprinkle pepper on top. Use a spatula to fold one side over. Rotate the omelets as needed, until ready to serve.

4) Hardboiled Eggs

Hardboiled eggs can be used alone, for salad toppings, or just a plain, high-protein snack. They can also be transformed into mouth-watering and healthy egg salads. But sometimes peeling eggs can be a pain. For easy to peel hard- boiled eggs, buy eggs at least 7 or 10 days before cooking them and peel right after cooking. To store eggs, put them in the refrigerator within two hours of cooking and use during the next week.

Veggie Egg Salad recipe (serves 4):

3 T nonfat plain yogurt, 3 T reduced-fat mayo (or substitute of choice), ¼ t freshly ground pepper, 1/8 t salt, 8 hard-boiled eggs, ½ cup finely chopped carrot, ½ cup finely chopped cucumber, and ¼ cup sliced scallions. Mix yogurt, mayo, pepper, and salt in a bowl. Halve eggs and discard four of the yolks (or save), add whites and the remaining four yolks to the bowl, and mash. Finally, stir in carrot, cucumber, and scallions, and eat with whole-wheat bread or crackers, or on top of a green salad. To hard boil, place eggs in a single layer in a saucepan and cover with water, and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Then, reduce heat to low and cook at a slight simmer for 10 minutes, remove from heat and pour out the water. Cover the eggs with ice-cold water and let stand until cool enough to peel.²

5) Baked Eggs

The best alternative to frying eggs is baking them, which is a generally basic process. Just crack one or two eggs into a baking dish coated with nonstick spray, and sprinkle some pepper or other seasoning on top. Then, pour one tablespoon of water or milk over the eggs and bake 325 degrees F until the egg whites are completely set (about 12 minutes). To spice things up a bit, you can try adding toppings to your baked eggs, like cooked spinach, salsa, shredded cheese and chopped tomato.

Baked Eggs and Herbs in Portabellas (serves 2):

4 large eggs, 2 medium portabella mushroom caps, 2 T chopped fresh chives, 1 T chopped scallions, pepper, and olive oil cooking spray³. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees, line a cookie sheet with foil, and coat with a thin layer of cooking spray. Rinse & dry the mushroom caps and top of the stem. Sprinkle each cap with ground pepper and about half of the herbs. Crack two eggs into each, bake until the eggs are set (25 to 35 minutes). Let cool for five minutes, spread the rest of the herbs on top and add pepper to taste.

6) Sunny Side Up Eggs

While it is one of the most popular ways, cooking Sunny Side Up eggs can be hard because it is easy for the yolk to run too much. They can be easy to do in a skillet in the oven if you have not mastered them on the stove yet. Just make sure your nonstick skillet is oven proof. Then, carefully and evenly crack eggs into the skillet and place in the oven (at 350 degrees) for about four minutes.

Easy Sunny Side Up Pizza (serves 1-2):

1-2 pieces Naan whole-wheat bread, 4-5 T feta or goat’s cheese, 1 cup chopped spinach, ½ cup sundried tomatoes, 2 eggs, freshly ground pepper, and herbs to taste.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Top the Naan evenly with cheese, then spinach and tomatoes. Add pepper and herbs and slide in the oven until fully baked and cheese is melted (20-25 minutes). When the pizza is almost done, cook the eggs and add one or two on top of the pizza. Bake for about two more minutes. (OR you can crack the egg directly on the pizza and bake for about five minutes).

7) Deviled Eggs

Deviled eggs are traditionally eaten as finger foods at parties in the spring and summer time, but they may be called “deviled” for a reason. While delicious, deviled eggs can be prepared with lots of mayo and other unhealthy fats. Don’t fret, because there are easy ways to lighten up the little delicious bites.

Healthier Deviled Eggs:

6 Hardboiled eggs, peeled and cut lengthwise, ¼ cup nonfat plain Greek yogurt, ¼ t pepper, 1/8 t salt, 2 t Dijon mustard, and paprika for garnish. Hard boil the eggs and let them sit still for 12 minutes. Peel the eggs and cut them lengthwise, place the whites on a plate and yolks in a bowl, and add the rest of the ingredients (except paprika) to the yolks and mash everything together until well combined. Put the mixture back into the egg whites, and sprinkle with paprika.

Keep in mind, eggs must be stored in the refrigerator and cooked thoroughly to provide full health benefits. Anyone with high cholesterol levels should adhere to his or her doctor’s dietary recommendations regarding eggs.

The post 7 Different Ways to Cook Eggs appeared first on BuiltLean.com.

We all know that different foods affect our bodies in different ways, and that certain foods are better or worse for our health and weight. There are certain tools that people use in order to calculate why specific foods elicit a negative response – and can lead to weight gain – or vice versa, but these tools are not always 100% accurate. One of the most controversially used is called the glycemic index because while it does provide some good information, it can be very misleading in terms of how good, or bad, a food can be.

What Is The Glycemic Index?

The glycemic index (GI) is a method to assess how a certain food will impact your blood glucose levels.

To determine the GI of a food, the increase in blood glucose is measured after a person ingests an amount of that food that provides 50 grams of carbohydrates to the body. This increase is then compared to the increase in blood glucose that would occur after a person ingests 50 grams of pure glucose.

Foods that are high on the index include dates, baked potatoes, and popcorn, medium index values between 55 and 69 include sweet potatoes, wild rice, and pineapple, and low index values are below 55 include bananas, carrots, and peanuts. Here’s a Glycemic Index Chart if you would like to see more foods.

In general, carbohydrates increase the glycemic index, whereas fat and protein decrease it – however, exceptions to this abound and some of them are discussed below.

Why Is The Glycemic Index Important?

In determining the physiological impact of different foods on your metabolism, GI is an important factor, but it is not the best indicator of how foods really affects you.

In part, this is because GI refers to one single food item consumed by itself – the GI of mixed meals is usually much lower than that of any single carbohydrate-rich food, and we generally tend to eat more than a single item when we sit down to a meal.

It is also important to note that high glycemic foods with a high insulin index lead to fat storage, whereas low glycemic foods that have high insulin index (generally foods high in protein) will normally be stored in muscle tissue – and this has a very different effect on the body.

Is the Glycemic Index Misleading?

Yes, equivocally. There are numerous other indicators of diet quality which shed light on the shortcomings of GI as an assessment method:

Glycemic load (GL):

GL is a product of the GI and the amount of carbohydrates contained in 100 grams of the food. Recall the GI is the amount of food which contains 50 grams of carbohydrates – the difference is this: to get 50 grams of carbs from watermelon (to calculate GI), you need to eat almost 2.2 pounds of watermelon. Apparently somebody might have done this because we know the GI of watermelon is 72. BUT there are only 5 grams of carbs in 100 grams of watermelon. Thus, (72 * 5)/100 = 3.6. The GL of watermelon is 3.6, which is very low, despite its high GI. This is one of the flaws of GI: it doesn’t take into account carbohydrate density.

Insulin index:

This is determined by comparing the body’s insulin response to 239 kilocalories of a given food relative to the same amount of white bread. Since insulin is responsible for much of the negative effects of carbohydrates, some consider the insulin index superior to GI and GL in terms of its measurements on how food affects your body and your health.

As previously mentioned, foods with a high GL and high insulin index will inhibit fat loss and promote fat storage. However, some foods with a low GL also stimulate insulin secretion, but this is expected to favor muscle growth. For example, lean beef causes a greater insulin response than what would be predicted by its carbohydrate content, which is close to nil, and lean beef definitely favors muscle over fat. And while the fat added to baked goods would be expected to reduce the GI, the high overall level of easily digestible carbohydrates still leads to a sizeable insulin secretion.

Fructose index (FI):

The fructose index hasn’t received wide attention – yet – but offers another insight into the failing of GI & GL. Whereas carbohydrate-induced insulin secretion can be responsible for body fat accumulation, fructose doesn’t cause insulin secretion, but it may cause much more severe metabolic deterioration. Fructose, in excess, is thought to directly contribute to insulin resistance, the precursor of type 2 diabetes. Essentially, the insulin index measures insulin secretion, whereas the fructose index would assess how likely a food is to contribute to insulin resistance.

Thus, some researchers have suggested in addition to GL & II, a FI should be instituted to account for foods rich in free fructose, sugar, and high-fructose corn syrup. This index would be most applicable to fruits, baked goods & confectionaries, and soda & processed foods.

Below are some charts for further reference on the GI, GL, and FI:

• Glycemic Index / Glycemic Load
• Insulin Index vs Glycemic Index
• Fructose Chart

So, while all three are tools you can use to calculate certain effects of a food, it’s wise not to put your trust in one of the measurements in order to decide whether or not a specific food is good for you. Focusing on eating whole, unprocessed foods is likely your best bet, not worrying about what an index implies is healthy.

The post Is The Glycemic Index Misleading? Yes, Here’s Why appeared first on BuiltLean.com.

Proposed legislation to restrict consumption of large sugar-sweetened beverages in food service establishments, according to researchers at Columbia, would affect 7.5% of Americans. If the proposals are enacted, it would cut 63 calories on average from an adult’s diet. Since the average number of calories consumed from soda per day is 301, which takes more than a 5 mile walk to burn off, it might make a huge difference. The critics argue that it discriminates against the cost conscious and the data sourcing is highly unreliable.

Articles this week also include news about what algae and probiotics can do for you, warnings about lifting too much weight too early, and studies on obesity and brain circuitry.

Please Note: The articles and videos listed below are informative, popular, newsworthy, or a combination of all three. Just because we have included an article within FitLinks does not necessarily mean that BuiltLean supports, or agrees with its contents or views. If you have a question about our position on any article, please leave a comment and we will be happy to respond!

TRENDING NEWS

1. Can Changing Soda Marketing Make A Difference? (Medical News Today)

2. Can Walking Help Type II Diabetes? (Science Daily)

3. The Most Dangerous Fitness Advice (Fox News)

4. Obesity Linked To Obsessive Compulsive Behavior (Medical News Today)

5. Are Probiotics Miracle Food? (Fox News)

TRENDING ARTICLES

1. New Anti-Inflammatory Diet (NY Times)

2. Food Journal: Tech Makes It Stick (LA Times)

3. Superfood: Algae (Greatist)

4. Should Kids Refuel After Exercise? (US Report)

5. How Accurate Are Fitness Trackers? (NY Times)

TRENDING VIDEOS

Mobility is a very important part of keeping your body fit, so we’re including a video from Eric Cressey this week that has some moves you can try out and keep limber:

The post FitLinks: Can Changing Soda Marketing Make A Difference? appeared first on BuiltLean.com.

You’ve got questions, we’ve got answers. Every week, the BuiltLean Team addresses your fitness and nutrition questions. Read on to find out more.

1. Why do I fall backwards when I squat?
2. Am I calculating my ideal body weight correctly?
3. What are the best abs exercises to lose belly fat?
4. Does the water in my food count towards my total water intake?
5. Should I “shock” my system to improve my results?

Question #1 – Why do I fall backwards when I squat?

Question #2 – Am I calculating my ideal body weight correctly?

Question #3 – What are the best abs exercises to lose belly fat?

Question #4 – Does the water in my food count towards my total water intake?

Question #5 – Should I “shock” my system to improve my results?

The post Why Do I Fall Backwards When I Squat? appeared first on BuiltLean.com.

You may have a plan for healthy eating – a wholesome breakfast, home-cooked dinners with simple whole foods. But making healthy choices when you’re stuck in an office for 8+ hours a day can be more difficult than it seems. If you’re starving around 4pm, even if you have a solid nutritious dinner planned out at home, it’s hard to resist when your desk mate breaks out the bag of potato chips.

We asked our experts what their favorite healthy office snacks are and how to plan a little bit in advance to make sure your office fridge full of soda and sweets doesn’t throw your diet off track.

Best Healthy Snacks #1 – Nuts & Seeds

Here’s a list of my 5 favorite healthy snacks: I like keeping things simple with (1) nuts/seeds – almonds, or sunflower, (2) apple – also my favorite pre-workout snack, (3) greek yogurt, (4) veggie bag (takes more work but ideal snack), and (5) a simple bar, like an almond rise protein bar can work well for carrying on the go. All of these selections are easy to carry to the office and eat, are relatively lower calorie, yet fill you up. That’s what I want out of a snack. Something to take the edge off, yet does not make me feel stuffed, or bloated. The sixth healthy snack, which really isn’t a snack but deserves mentioning, is water. I keep water at my desk. Staying hydrated definitely helps with controlling hunger and improving how you look and feel. - Marc Perry, CSCS, CPT

Best Healthy Snacks #2 – Carrots

The simpler the food, the better. Some great snacks to keep at the office are baby carrots, fresh fruit, raw (unroasted, unsalted) nuts and seeds, and unsweetened trail mix. You could also keep a few healthy protein bars, although these should only be used occasionally. It’s better to eat real, whole food than to rely on pre-packaged bars. Think of them as your “emergency” stash and eat whole foods as much as possible. - Kristin Rooke

Best Healthy Snacks #3 – Flax Snax

Flax snax with some cashews are my favorite “anytime” snack. Since most people don’t have access to flax snax, a piece of fruit or cut up vegetables with a handful of nuts tend to be low calorie, nutrient-dense snacks that can hold you over to the next meal. - John Levya, CSCS, CPT

Best Healthy Snacks #4 – Jerky

It depends if you have access to a fridge or not, in which case the possibilities are endless. If you are looking for something to keep in your desk and snack on while you are working my two go-to options are beef (or other animal) jerky and mixed nuts. Just make sure to keep an eye on the sodium content of both especially if your diet is already high in sodium. If not, a little salt in your diet is a good thing and will help athletic performance. - Stephen Bergeron, CSCS, CPT

Best Healthy Snacks #5 – Greek Yogurt

There are many healthy options to bring to the office. If you have access to a refrigerator, a single serving a nonfat Fage Greek Yogurt with an apple and 100 calorie almond pack provides over 20 grams of protein with fiber and healthy fats for fewer than 300 calories. An apple with 3 slices of fat free cheese will provide 12 grams of protein and only about 160 calories. If you don’t have a fridge, consider investing $10 in a small cooler with an ice pack. If this isn’t feasible, a protein bar is a good alternative. Nuts can also be a decent snack, though their high fat content makes portion control very important. - Charlie Seltzer, MD

The post 5 Best Healthy Snacks To Bring To The Office appeared first on BuiltLean.com.

BCAAs, also known as “branch-chain amino acids” are three essential amino acids (1) leucine, (2) isoleucine, and (3) valine, each of which has unique properties.

Amino acids are the building blocks of protein; they are chemical compounds that, when linked together, form proteins. When protein is ingested, our bodies break it down into amino acids before it’s absorbed into the bloodstream and used by the body.

Of the 20 amino acids our body uses, 11 are non-essential, meaning they do not need to be directly consumed to be formed. On the other hand, there are 9 essential amino acids – 3 of which are BCAAs – that the body cannot make, and thus must be supplied by food.

The reason BCAAs are important is because they are the only amino acids which are not metabolized by the liver, making them directly available to muscle tissues, where they act in a number of positive ways.

Meat and whey protein contain high concentrations of BCAAs. And if you’re trying to watch your weight, one of the benefits of using supplementation versus whole foods is that the benefits of BCAAs can be realized without the consumption of extra calories. Additionally, particularly around workouts, supplementing with BCAAs versus eating whole proteins keeps blood flow in the working muscles and away from the GI tract. When you ingest intact protein, you divert blood to the gut to aid in digestion.

1. BCAAs enhance protein synthesis. There is a gene in muscle cells called mTOR which essentially “turns on” muscle protein synthesis. Ingestion of BCAAs, particularly leucine, activates this pathway and leads to increased muscle protein formation. This begs the question “Why take all 3 BCAAs when leucine alone stimulates protein synthesis?” Since discovery of this pathway is still relatively recent, there is not a lot of research looking at the benefits of BCAA supplementation versus leucine supplementation alone, despite a large body of research supporting the anabolic properties of BCAAs and leucine alone (just not head-to-head).
    

   As of now, until that research is available, and given what we do know about the other benefits of BCAA supplementation, I am still recommending a mix of BCAAs, though perhaps with a higher percentage of leucine.¹ It should be noted that mTOR activation has also been implicated in the proliferation of cancer cells.² As with any supplement, the risks should be weighed against the benefits before a decision is made whether to use it.

2. BCAAs support fat loss. There have been a number of studies which show BCAA intake correlates to decreased obesity rates. One large study examined over 4000 people and found that those with the highest intake of BCAAs had the lowest bodyweights.³ It is important to understand that correlation doesn’t mean causation. Still, the results are pretty convincing.
3. BCAAs lessen the loss of lean body mass. BCAAs are well-known to be anti-catabolic, and this is especially important to anyone who is trying to lose body fat, as lean mass loss is a very real risk when a person is in a calorie-restricted state.
4. BCAAs combat age-related decreases in muscle mass. The process by which they accomplish this task is outlined in the first entry of this list. Still, its implication in the elderly warrants repeating. Many older individuals look at supplementation in general as something “young guys and bodybuilders do.” This is the wrong way to look at things.
    

   Supplementation, in many ways, is more important for the older population than it is for younger people. Specifically, mTOR activation by leucine is decreased in advanced ages. That, coupled with the metabolic slowdown that occurs with aging and the need to avoid excess calories which can lead to fat accumulation, makes leucine-rich BCAA supplementation a very good idea in older people.

5. BCAAs may offer other beneficial effects. BCAAs might enhance brain function, contribute to a more positive mood, and help regulate blood sugar. When viewed in light of the other known benefits, BCAAs should be near the top of any supplement regimen list.

BCAA Supplement Recommendations

Here are my recommended BCAA supplements. BCAA Keto is in tablet form and GNC RapidDrive BCAA 5000 is a powder form of BCAAs:

Again, nothing can replace real food and I am not suggesting that BCAAs are necessary for fat loss and muscle gain. However, given how hard it is to optimize body composition, it is worthwhile to look at BCAAs as a possible part of a healthy lifestyle plan.

The post What Is A BCAA Supplement? Benefits & Top Pick appeared first on BuiltLean.com.

Walk into any commercial fitness gym and you’ll see a combination of both free weights and machines for various strength training exercises. Some people use just free weights for their workout, some go from machine to machine to get their pump, and some use a combination of both to optimize their physique. This creates the question: which is better for you?

Free Weights vs. Machines: The Debate

The debate on whether machines or free weights are better for building muscle has been around for decades. There was a time not too long ago when machines ruled in the gym world and were ‘the’ way to train. This was what all the cool kids were doing!

Then, people realized that while machines are good for training size and strength they neglect key core & stabilization muscles. This paved way to ‘functional’ fitness and people started believing that machines were now bad for you. But I’m sure if you wait another decade or so machines may reign supreme once again, who knows!

So, when it comes to the question of, “Which is better?” I think it is safe to say that it depends on the person and their ultimate goals. Basically, exercises that may be good for some people may not be for others. Let’s find out the pros and cons of weight machines vs. free weights and which one is right for you.

Weight Machines – Pros and Cons

Pros

• Easy to learn and use – Most machines have a picture demonstrating its use, which for most machines is pretty self explanatory. This makes them easy to use on their own or with other machines to create your own circuit. If hiring a personal trainer is out of your budget, they are easy to figure out by simply watching the person ahead of you.
• Isolate muscle groups more efficiently – Since most of your body is pretty stable on most machines you are able to target the larger muscle groups more efficiently. This is beneficial to those who have a solid foundation and are looking to improve their physique by building bigger muscles. This can be the preferred method for some bodybuilder types.
• Allow you to train with heavier weights without assistance – If you are fairly inexperienced with proper technique when using free weights, it may be difficult to add resistance. Some machines will allow you to slap on extra weight without risk of injury. This may also be useful if you are pressing or squatting without a partner or spotter. (Note: proper technique is paramount before you need to worry about adding weight. Train smart.)
• May be useful for elderly populations and/or rehab – For someone that has a really low level of fitness and/or is recovering from an injury, machines may be the tool to get their strength up quickly and safely. Since machines isolate it may also be easier to work around certain injuries.

Cons

• Non-functional – Although machines will make you bigger and stronger, they don’t train complete human movement patterns (See: primal movement patterns) that are necessary to, well, move. Perhaps the worst machine is the Smith Machine which locks you into place for heavy exercises like squats and bench and doesn’t take into account different body types, which is a recipe for disaster. Weight machines just don’t translate well into strength and fitness for daily activities, not to mention athletics.
• Neglect smaller stabilizing muscles – Since you are isolating target muscle groups, the important stabilizing muscle groups around the joints take a back seat. If you neglect these smaller muscles for too long, you run the risk of chronic injury and poor posture.
• May cause injury directly and indirectly – Although safer to use with lower levels of skill, it is still possible to use too much weight and enough poor form to cause a serious injury. Overloading the same movement day in and day out is also an easy way to set yourself up for an overuse injury. Form is important and like anything else the danger is in the dose!
• Fill up during peak hours – If you have ever worked out in a commercial gym during peak hours you may have noticed that every machine in the place seems to be filled up. Instead of waiting for that guy that has been on the machine bench press for 20 minutes to get up, head over to the free weight area for some more breathing room.

Who Should Use Weight Machines?

• Beginner – Someone who is very new to the gym and doesn’t know how to properly utilize the free weights just yet. Even though there are pictures on the machines I recommend asking for a personal trainer’s advice for proper use.
• Bodybuilders – When size and aesthetics is your main goal there is a lot of efficacy to using machines to pump up those muscles! For a better more well-rounded physique I do recommend a combination of both weight machines and free weights though.
• Rehab – Machines may be an easy way to rehab an injury if you don’t have a physical therapist or trainer to work with you. Once you are feeling better it may be better to move to bodyweight exercises and take preventative measures.

Free Weights – Pros and Cons

Pros

• Allow you to train functional movements – This could be a topic on its own, but basically free-weights and bodyweight exercises have greater carryover to what you do in real life such as daily activities as well as athletics.
• You can use full range of motion – You have complete freedom to move around rather than being locked into a specific range of motion or pattern. This allows your body to do what it is naturally built to do, move.
• Place a greater demand on stabilizing muscles – Using free weights will activate more synergistic stabilizing muscles while you are training. Will help to keep your joints healthy and fully operational when done properly!
• More bang for your buck exercises – If you have limited time to train and want to get a lot accomplished with few exercises then free-weights are the way to go. My two favorites are deadlifts and Turkish get-ups. There isn’t a muscle in your body that doesn’t get worked with these two alone!
• Allow for endless variation – With machines you are really limited to what you can do depending on what is available. With free weights, all you need is one dumbbell and you can do hundreds of different exercise variations. One of my favorite circuits to do is to choose one dumbbell and do as many exercises as possible for time. Press, squat lunge, swing and carry are just a few!
• Train anywhere – Learning how to train with free-weights or body weight allows you to literally train anywhere since machines aren’t always available. When I go on vacation and travel by car it is easy to bring a kettlebell, some bands and a TRX to get in some quality training.
• Less expensive – Free weights are the way to go if you don’t have access to a gym since they are much less expensive than machines. You can easily build a killer home gym for under $200!

Cons

• Takes some skill to learn proper technique – Free weight exercises have a higher learning curve than machines and you may need someone to show you proper technique. Having a trainer show you or reading a book on weight training may be the way to go. Take your time and try to avoid creating bad habits by copying others that have bad form (e.g. Youtube).
• Greater risk of injury when not done properly – When using bad form it is easy to move a bodypart or joint out of proper alignment and tweak something. This can cause injury so make sure you know what you are doing and use the appropriate weight.
• Need a spotter to lift heavy weight on squat or bench press exercises – Some exercises are difficult to improve on if you don’t have a training partner or which may slow down progress. At the very least you can ask a trainer to check your form and maybe give you a quick spot. There is nothing wrong with asking for help.

Who Should Use Free Weights?

• Most people – Pretty much anybody can benefit from using free weights properly to build a strong and lean body using a good program like the one here at BuiltLean. It is important to build functional strength and muscle to be able to do the things you enjoy and stay active later in life!
• Athletes – To compete at high levels and remain injury-free, athletes’ bodies have to move synergistically and the best way to achieve this is to train the same way. A combination of free weights and bodyweight exercises is the way to go!
• Bodybuilders – The best way to get bigger is to get stronger and the best way to get stronger is through free weights. Once you build up your strength, you can add in some weight machines to isolate and ‘build’ specific muscle groups. I recommend the bulk (no pun intended) of bodybuilding training to come from free weights but it is ok to add in some isolated machine work too!
• Rehab – Free weights may speed up the rehab process by adding in functional movements to get you moving and feeling better. They may also help you get back to the condition you were in before your injury much faster than using machines would.

Free Weights vs. Machines: Recommendations

For my own strength training programs, I prefer to use mainly free-weight exercises that focus on compound movements and total body strength. Every once in a while, though, I will throw in some bicep curls or use the row machine to change it up a bit.

I hope this list helps you decide which is best for you. At the end of the day, the form of strength training you choose should be based on what your goals are and what makes you feel good. After all, isn’t that what exercise is all about?

The post Free Weights vs. Machines: Which Is Better? appeared first on BuiltLean.com.

Free range. All natural. Fat-Free. These are just a few of the seemingly endless food labels staring at us from the grocery store shelves. It seems they’re on everything — our eggs, meat, fruits and veggies, and snack foods. But what does it all mean? Get the facts behind those labels and why they may or may not offer real health benefits.

Nutrition Label #1: Free Range

For anyone who consumes animal products, the term “free range” may require a second thought. It is nice to think the bolded “free range” on your egg carton means the chickens that hatched them had a blissful life roaming around a beautiful, clean farmyard. However, that is only sometimes the case.

“Free range” applies only to poultry raised for meat under the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and means the poultry has had some outdoor access. But there are no specific requirements for the quality or size of the outdoor space or how long the chickens are allowed to spend there.

Even though the term “free range” is printed across eggs cartons in many grocery stores, the USDA does not place any standards on the term for hens making eggs. It simply means they are un-caged inside barns or warehouses with some outdoor time, and are allowed to nest. However, restrictions on food or beak cutting do not exist.

Eggs, poultry, and other meats like beef and pork, require no governmental certification to guarantee that the product is free range, allowing some companies to make false claims and leaving the consumer in the dark about how the animals were raised.¹

Nutrition Label #2: Organic

If a food label reads “USDA Organic” or “100 percent organic,” it has the highest mark of organic approval. It basically guarantees the product was made without synthetic fertilizers, radiation, and genetic engineering and sewage sediment.

In meats and poultry, the organic seal means the product has no antibiotics and growth hormones and it requires 100% organic feed for the animals. Produce can be called organic if it grew on soil that had no substances like synthetic fertilizers and pesticides for the past three years.

For organic packaged foods, like crackers or cereal, standards include more specifications, prohibiting them from containing artificial colors, preservatives, or flavors. For example, when the cereal box says, “made with organic,” it will not have the USDA seal but it contains a minimum of 70% organically produced ingredients, and the other 30% must be produced without using the USDA’s prohibited practices, like genetic engineering. The cereal still identifies the USDA-accredited certifier, however, they will include some ingredients that are not 100% organic. To make sure a packaged grocery item marked “made with organic _____ (particular food group),” meets USDA’s regulations, check for verification of the certifier on the box.²

The big question is: Are organic foods healthier than conventional foods? The USDA actually makes no claims that organic foods are safer or more nutritious than conventional foods, and many have the same amount of fat and calories. However, studies show organic foods have a much higher level of cancer-fighting antioxidants.³

Nutrition Label #3: Low-Sodium

The Food and Drug Administration defines the label “Low-Sodium” as fewer than 140 milligrams of sodium per serving, and “Sodium-free” as fewer than 5 mg per serving. It is important to recognize that if more than one serving a food is eaten, the sodium intake instantly increases. Also, remember to check the sodium level, because even a package that says “Unsalted” or “No Salt Added,” does not necessarily mean it is sodium free.⁴ Common foods with high levels of sodium include pizza, cheese, soup, cold cuts, poultry, and snacks like pretzels, chips, and popcorn.

While sodium (See: Electroytes) is a necessity to maintain body fluid balance and keep muscles, nerves, and organs working properly, Americans tend to overdo it. In fact, around 90 percent of them eat too much of it. It is important to make sure daily sodium intake does not surpass the recommended 2,400 milligrams of sodium per day, which is equal to one teaspoon of salt. Americans eat an average daily amount of 3,300 mg.⁵

Nutrition Label #4: Grass Fed

The term “grass fed” is turning up more and more on restaurant menus and grocery store aisles, most commonly with beef and bison products. To be considered “grass fed” meat products, the USDA requires animals like bison and cattle to be fed only grass and other foraged foods during their lifetime. The animals are fed no grains and must have consistent access to a pasture.

Animals, which are not “grass fed,” usually have a diet including grains. While it feels healthier to chow down on a grass-fed burger on Friday night, it is still unclear whether or not grass-fed beef adds nutritional benefits. However, studies show it may have heart health benefits, including less total fat, more omega-3 fatty acids, and more antioxidant vitamins like Vitamin E. It also has shown to have more conjugated linoleic acid, a type of fat, which helps to decrease cancer and heart disease risks.⁶

Nutrition Label #5: All Natural

While the term “All Natural” does not have any relationship to animal welfare when used on meat and poultry products, it does mean there is no artificial flavoring, chemical preservative, or coloring ingredient in the food under USDA rules. It also does not always mean the product is hormone-free or antibiotic-free. However, the USDA seal when placed on meat, poultry, and eggs, stating, “a product containing no artificial ingredient or added color and is only minimally processed” regulates the word “natural.”

Each “All Natural” product’s company must elaborate on what they mean by it. However, this particular label can be misleading, especially when placed on packaged foods like granola bars yogurt and salad dressing. The Federal Trade Commission and the USDA’s definitions of “All Natural” are still hazy, which leaves its interpretation up to the food industry.

Look out for the very unnatural ingredients like modified starches, corn syrup, fructose, invert sugar, cellulose, carrageenan (in cheese), erythretrol, and crystalline fructose (in sports drinks), when deciding on whether or not your next grocery purchase is truly “All Natural.” ⁷

Nutrition Label #6: Sugar Free

It seems almost all of America’s favorite foods now come in “Sugar Free” form. Sugar-free foods and drinks abound, including soft drinks, gum, baked goods, candy, fruit juice, ice cream, and yogurt.

The FDA controls the use of these words, and a sugar-free food must have fewer than 0.5 grams of sugar per serving while “reduced-sugar foods” must have at least 25 percent less sugar than the regular product.

Keep in mind, if sugar-free cookies, for example, are on the market shelf, they will always have a second statement explaining they are not a reduced or low calorie food, or used for stabilizing weight, unless of course it meets those requirements.

All sugar-free foods are made with artificial sweeteners and other sugar replacements. While no evidence shows FDA approved artificial sweeteners in the U.S. cause serious health problems, studies dating back to the 1970s show a correlation to bladder cancer. Plus, some more recent studies show consuming artificial sweeteners may aid in weight loss because they have no calories, while one gram of regular sugar, or ¼ of a teaspoon, contains four calories. But contradicting studies show artificial sweeteners are actually associated with increased weight for an unknown reason.

And don’t be deceived by foods labeled “Naturally sweetened,” with things like agave nectar, honey, and maple syrup, because they are also processed and refined. However, they are generally safe when used sparingly, as with all kinds of added sugars.⁸

Nutrition Label #7: Fat Free

The term “fat-free” can be enticing, especially to those trying to shed some weight. However, foods labeled fat-free can still be very high in calories and tend to be low in nutrients. Think fat-free cookies, chips, and other processed snack food. Instead, it is better to opt for fresh and naturally low-fat or fat-free foods like fruits and veggies, fish, and whole grain cereals and pasta. The FDA requires foods labeled “Fat-free” to have less than ½ gram of fat per serving, while foods labeled “Low-fat” must have 3 grams or less.⁹

When trying to lose weight, decreasing the amount of fat is obviously one way to limit calories but eating fat-free and reduced-fat foods is not always the key, especially when more of the lower-fat or fat-free foods are consumed. Remember, low fat or non-fat does not mean low-calorie. For example, two tablespoons of regular peanut butter totals 191 calories, while the reduced fat version is a mere four calories less at 187.¹⁰

The solutions to wading through food labels at the grocery store seem to be moderation and awareness. Overdosing on any specific food item is never a good choice for our health, and knowing the story behind the labels can help us make better food decisions.

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