What is Eating Clean?

What is clean eating? Well I get asked this question often, especially from my new clients or potential clients interested in nutrition coaching. Clean eating is eating whole foods in their natural or near natural state. This means eating fresh fruits and vegetables, complex carbs, lean cuts of meat and fish and healthy fats, while cutting out trans fats and unhealthy saturated fats, canned, boxed, pre-packaged and processed foods, fast food and all added sugars.
Clean eating is a lifestyle and is not a diet. When you eat clean you often eat more food and in turn you keep your blood sugar levels stabilized and feel better, healthier and often have more energy throughout the day.
Here are a few things to keep in mind when trying to switch to or continue the clean eating lifestyle.
1. Eat fresh fruits and vegetables, organic is not a must for eating clean but for some foods it is much better. Cook them by steaming, roasting or grilling or eat them raw in their natural state.
2. Eat lean cuts of meat or fish including chicken, turkey, grass fed beef like sirloin or buffalo, fishes including tilapia, salmon, shrimp, cod, mahi mahi, halibut, etc and eggs. Cook and eat your meats and chicken by steaming, baking, roasting, broiling or grilling them and removing the skin. Incorporate lean protein in every one of your meals and pair it with complex carbs and/or healthy fats and/or your favorite vegetables or fruit.
3. Choose complex carbs like sweet potatoes, oatmeal, yams, brown or wild rice, lentils and whole grain or sprouted breads. Cook these by baking, boiling grilling or broiling them and try and eat them in your earlier meals to fuel your energy for the day and limit them later as you wind down for the day.
4. Cut out all the sugary drinks and added sugar and stick with water, black coffee, teas and juice your own fruits and vegetables for juices.
5. Eat healthy fats in moderation like raw nuts, raw nut butters, avocados, and healthy oils like olive, coconut, avocado, and sesame oils.
6. Make sure that you are eating throughout the day and spacing your meals out 2-3 hours apart to keep up your blood sugar levels and this will keep the hunger down. Also avoid overrating by dividing your meals equally and allowing your body to digest each meal before the next.

Last, when you eat clean you can cheat every once and a while but there are so many clean healthy desserts and foods out there that you can cook that you may never eat anything again but good clean food.
If you choose to eat clean as a lifestyle you choose to live a lifetime of health, and your body, mind and wallet will thank you.

Coaching Services Offered... Accepting New Clients

For most of you who are unsure what I offer, here is a list of services that I offer and what I currently charge as of 4/17/2012

____ Monthly Nutrition Coaching (3 month minimum)

____ Monthly Nutrition and Fitness Coaching (3 month minimum)

4 weeks of personalized detailed _____ Weight training and cardio schedule (can only be purchased with monthly Nutrition and Fitness coaching) or _____ Nutrition menu (can only be purchased with Monthly Nutrition coaching)

____ One-on-One In Home Personal Training (5 session minimum)

____ One-on-One In Home Pre-Natal Fitness Training (5 session minimum)

Coaching is an alliance that helps bring out the best in the client and helps the client achieve personal
goals. Kristin Berard Fitness Training with Lifetime Health Consulting (LHC) is $65 an initial consultation, which must be paid prior to setting up the first consultation session to review initial intake information with client.

 Monthly Nutrition Coaching will be charged in advance, for a minimum of 3 months at the rate of $75.00 per month, this includes weekly emails or scheduled phone calls for a maximum of 15 minutes, an adjustable and personalized nutrition plan, and supplementation guide and weekly weigh ins

 Monthly Nutrition and Fitness Coaching will be charged in advance, for a minimum of 3 months at the rate of $135.00 per month, this includes weekly emails or scheduled phone calls for a maximum of 25 minutes, an adjustable and personalized nutrition, weight training and cardio plan, and supplementation guide and weekly weigh ins

 4 weeks of personalized nutrition menu, which will be charged in advanced, includes personalized recommended menu for 4 weeks at the rate of $125.00 per 4 weeks of menus which will be based on nutrition recommendations made through nutrition coaching. This service can only be purchased in conjunction with Monthly Nutrition Coaching and has a 5 day turnaround time.

 4 weeks of personalized Weight Training and Cardio schedule, which will be charged in advanced, includes personalized recommended workouts including weights, functional, stretching and plyometric exercises and specific cardio workouts for 4 weeks at the rate of $125.00 per 4 weeks of workout which will be based on fitness and nutrition recommendations made through nutrition and fitness coaching. This service can only be purchased in conjunction with Monthly Nutrition and Fitness Coaching and has a 5 day turnaround time.

 One on one In Home Personal Training or Pre-Natal Fitness Training will be charged in advance, with a minimum of 5 sessions pre-purchased, at the rate of $85 per 1 hour session. Each session will be held in Client or Trainers home and includes one-on-one training specific to clients’ needs and goals.

If you have any questions or are interested in any of my services please email me at klberard@gmail.com or message me on Facebook.  I am currently accepting new clients and only take on a limited number of clients at a time. Lets work together to make a healthy change for your Lifetime.

Mowaa Fitness Wear

I recently started working with Mowaa Fitness Wear, please visit them at http://mowaafitnesswear.com/womens-workout-clothing/ or click on the Mowaa picture to the left of my blog and check out the variety of cute fitness wear they have to offer

Learning what our bodies need?

We all need to learn what our body needs in order for it to survive and operate properly and in turn get the results we want or meet the goals we have set for ourselves. In order to learn this, it takes patience, motivation and time because for most of us we have been giving our body the wrong things for so long that we have to play trial and error to get it right.
The reason I say this is because there is no-one exercise or nutrition program that fits all, nor is there one that fits most or in all reality, even a few individuals. Every person is different, we live different lives, have different lifestyles, have different body types and different ways of eating and exercising.
It is so important to find out what only your body needs and not anyone else's.
The biggest problem today is that too many people follow other people's diets and work out regimens and they don't realize what works for one person may or most likely will not work for another. Too many trainers are repetitive and do the same thing for each client, when each client they have is different and needs different things in order to reach their own individual goal. The worst thing is a nutrition coach who try's to give the same exact advice to each of their clients. Nutrition is 80% of the work in order to have a healthy body and that means that each plan needs to be even more individualized and custom to each person.
It takes a lot of knowledge, experience and patience to nutritionally coach individuals, but more importantly it takes a lot of trust, patience and will power for someone to work with a nutrition coach.
An individual can learn what there body needs on their own, but it may take much longer, a lot more trial and error, and time doing research while weeding out all the crap there is out there to read.
If you are really serious about learning what your body really needs, how to make it healthier and meet those goals you have for yourself, hire a nutrition coach to help you on your way. I am currently accepting new clients online and I coach for a minimum of 3 months. If your not interested in my program buy want to hire a nutrition coach, make sure you find one that works with your goals and your body individually and doesn't try and give you cookie cutter advice and plans to follow, because I can promise you, you will most likely not get the maximum benefit of a program in order to reach your goals and not someone else's.
You can email me at klberard@gmail.com or message me on Facebook if your interested in nutrition coaching and strive for a lifetime of health. Remember, we all only have one body and one life, so treat it well.

Traveling again equals more planning and dedication

Well I'm traveling again, this time I am about 14 and 1/2 weeks out from my first show and I'm visiting family and friends in Michigan and taking care of some business. This was a last minute trip, but much needed. So, with that said I have planned very well for this trip because I need to keep on my normal daily routine and I will also be traveling alone with my 4 month old while my husband stays back home, which will be a challenge in its self, but I'm always ready for a challenge so bring it on. I am all packed, one bag holding everything for the both of us, a stroller, a diaper bag and most importantly a COOLER. I packed 5 days worth of work out clothes, I found a gym so I can head there as soon as I get off the plane for my for Wednesday cardio workout. I planned my trip with exercise in mind and created a plan in order to make it to the gym and get my normal work out in and do everything else I need to do in the mean time. I also packed my cooler full of raw protein bars, oatmeal packs with whey protein, flax meal and a few raisins, all of my whey and casein protein bagged and ready to blend, water packed tuna and salmon, some frozen banana's, rice cakes, protein pudding and pre made bags of chicken, brown rice and cooked veggies which is early meal ready. I also bring a ziplock bowl, plastic silverware, my shaker bottle to fill up with water and my supplements. This way I don't skip a meal and when I need to eat I'm good to go. I give myself a meal to eat out for lunch, with the idea in mind it will be clean and including some carbs, protein and a little bit of healthy fats. I will also stop and pick up a salad or steamed vegetables to eat with my tuna or salmon for dinner. With a little bit of planning and a list to make sure I don't forget anything I can continue to keep living my healthy and clean lifestyle without getting off track even when I'm 1200 hundred miles from home. If I can do it by myself with a 4 month old I believe anyone else can do it. All you need is a little planning and determination and motivation to keep yourself going strong.

Growing the BACK

Here is an update pic of my back while working pull ups. 15 weeks out from my first competition and Im feeling great!!