health – Beary Strong

The Power Of Habits

Practical insights for a powerful tool.

The idea of researching about the power of habits was inspired by our friend and first-time client Alexa: she asked us if we can write a guideline about developing good habits and how to get rid of bad habits. Two days later I spotted on Instagram a perfect matching book: Atomic Habis, An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by James Clear. It does not surprise me that the fitness community seems to love the book: habits are a powerful self development tool and most strength trainees strive for improvement not only in the gym. While motivation comes and goes, habits are built to stay, which, in case of good habits, is desirable but may make reaching certain goals more difficult in case of bad habits.

The Non-Weightloss Approach

The traditional dieting approach freaks some people out. They want to do something about their health, but counting calories, weighing food, having a training plan and taking progress pictures is just too much for them. As much as I think this approach leads to optimal results, there should be a way to help everybody. An approach that doesn’t focus on weight on the scale, but on improving healthy habits is appropriate for those clients. How could this look like? Well, let’s take a look!

Protein: Myths and Reality

Whenever I get a new client and they are a few days “in”, eating a healthy diet and experiencing what it feels like having a significant dose of protein with every meal, sooner or later I will get this question: “But isn’t eating so much protein bad?” I’m not sure where this fear stems from, but I blame the crappy fitness and health industry. No, it isn’t bad for you, quite the opposite is the case, it is healthy! Let me explain why. Continue reading “Protein: Myths and Reality”

Fermented Carrots with Star Anise

Fermented food and microbiome are nowadays a hot topic not only in the science community: it has become quite popular in the media too. While some supplement selling companies are making money with it, promising to get you shredded by eating the proper microbiota they sell, scientist are aware that the picture is far more complex. The microbiome definitely plays a role in a lot of physiologic and pathologic processes and you have positive effects from eating probiotica and prebiotica like resistent starches but we still do not know exactly all of the players responsible for the effects. Continue reading “Fermented Carrots with Star Anise”

A Quick Guide To Supplements

Supplements are a hotly debated field: on one hand you have the supplement industry trying to sell as many of their products to unwary customers all over the world. On the other hand you have people rejecting any form of supplementation, almost considering it “unnatural”, believing you just have to eat healthy to get everything you need. As with most things, the truth lies somewhere in the middle. Because of this, I want you to show which supplements I consider (almost) mandatory. Continue reading “A Quick Guide To Supplements”

Alcohol and Dieting

Let’s be honest, in December the alcohol consumption can increase exponentially, especially here in Austria. Every office has its own Christmas party, where free alcohol flows generously. After work you go for a stroll to the “Christkindlmarkt” (Christmas market) and meet some friends for a punsch or a mulled wine. On Christmas you will have two or more generous glasses of wine because you are so bored of talking with the whole family. And there is no New Year’s Eve without bubbles. Well, alcohol throws an additional challenge on the hard dieting folks which should first have a look on Stefan’s great article on how to manage holydays. But is alcohol really impairing your fat loss? Let’s have a closer look to it.

Continue reading “Alcohol and Dieting”

The Holiday Survival Guide

How to make the best of the greatest season of the year.

Autumn is my favorite season: the days are getting cooler, the sun is gently spending warmth and good mood. The food is changing too, some of my most beloved foods are now in season. Quince, duck, pumpkin, game, chestnuts and grapes make autumn an especially tasty time. It is also the season where the big holidays all around the world are starting, making it hard to progress the weight loss journey. But it’s not impossible, let’s have a closer look. Continue reading “The Holiday Survival Guide”