The season’s upon us, it’s that time of year.  With an abundance of rich food, there’s plenty to fear. You don’t have to have a Blue Christmas, though. You can still indulge yourself without losing sight of your health goals. Sweet treats and rich meals can feel like landmines for health-conscious people, yet no one...Read More

When it comes to dieting, eating healthy, and trying to reduce fat on our bodies, we tend to try to avoid sugars, carbs, and processed foods. We also tend to believe that reducing sugars in our diet can be easy when we make food at home. But sugars can still be found naturally in foods...Read More

Fall is here and that means it’s time to add things to the menu! One of my favorite foods ever, a fall favorite, is banana bread. Today I wanted to provide for you a recipe that retains the experience of traditional banana bread with a more calorie/macro conscious twist: Banana bread muffins! Ingredients 1 cup...Read More

It’s amazing how satisfying weekly meal prepping can feel. If you don’t love cooking, cleaning dishes everyday, or want an easier way to stay on your diet, the best thing you can do is meal prep.  Not only can meal prep curb the urge to call in your favorite takeout on a nightly basis, it...Read More

Smoothies are a meal option if you need something, quick, nutritious, tasty, and balanced in macronutrients and whole food groups. Below are three simple-ingredient smoothies that can provide a well-rounded meal in drink form. Instructions are simple, just combine all ingredients and enjoy!: Green Smoothie: 1 frozen banana ½ avocado 2 handfuls spinach or kale...Read More

Summertime is the season of BBQs, and we wanted to share a few tips on how to enjoy a party and stay on track with your health goals. Keep in mind that you don’t need to sacrifice one for the other. Here are 7 tips: Don’t “save room” for the party. Waiting until the party...Read More

As we enter into the summer months we will all have more opportunities to get more sunlight and thus more vitamin D. Yet many regularly still take vitamin D supplements if they are unable to get daily sunshine. Another factor to consider is magnesium status. People who take vitamin D supplements but who have low...Read More

https://www.instagram.com/tv/CA7Z9CjAIxa/?igshid=1fall8bdiyczhRead More

Red meat often gets bad press in popular media.  This is unfortunate, because red meat, and in particular beef, is one of the most nutritious foods available. Eating for a healthy heart and enjoying one of your favorite foods, aren’t at odds with one another! Recent research actually shows that eating lean beef as part...Read More

During a pandemic, you may be faced with having limited availability of foods you normally eat. To make matters more difficult, many have their jobs put on hold, or needing to save money otherwise. But regardless when putting a meal together, you can get creative using simple combinations of your basic macronutrients: carbs, fat, and...Read More

Coach Brandon Reilly discusses some ways to optimize your immune system. https://www.instagram.com/tv/B-kTqcaF40e/?igshid=1mgozw4egmx48Read More

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Did you know February is National Berry Month? Older adults are recommended to eat 1.5 – 2 cups of fruit daily. You can add berries to your daily fruit intake for a nutritious AND delicious boost. Noteworthy Nutrients of Berries:Antioxidants, Fiber, Folate, and Potassium Ways to Boost Berry Intake: Enjoy them as a fresh snack.Add...Read More

All across the internet inevitably you’ve been seeing articles about New Year’s resolutions; some that speak affirmingly and some that speak about them negatively. Frankly, I’m unbothered when someone tells me they have a fitness New Year’s resolution. Statistically it’s no different that setting a fitness goal any other time of the year. Many fail,...Read More

December is here again. It always seems to sneak up on us so fast. Great news is that this is the time to enjoy family, friends, and rich traditions. Be aware, it is also the time of year when tempting treats are everywhere we turn. Unlike other times of the year when the occasional wedding...Read More

My husband has heart disease. He is 51 years old and was diagnosed this year. Both of his parents have heart issues and have had bypass surgeries. He’s genetically wired for the same, but does that mean he will suffer the same fate? We’re not panicking, but we are dedicated to educating ourselves to prevent...Read More

About 40 percent of the United States food supply (1,500 calories/ person/day) goes uneaten. Discarded food in homes and foodservice accounts for 60 percent of this total food loss and is mostly avoidable. Here are several tips to help reduce food waste and save money! Look for recipes on websites that can be searched for...Read More

While Halloween is typically a day full of costumes and imagination, it can also be full of candy. It does not have to be so scary, however. While Halloween occurs one day a year and habits ultimately provide the consequences to our health, what we do can magnify our usual habits when surrounded by so...Read More

Today I would like to contribute to a topic that people have been fighting about on the internet since its inception: Nutrition. Every couple of years, a fad diet will emerge with its very own rules, restrictions, and claims of being the best way for all human beings to eat and live. We’ve seen Zone,...Read More

Can you feel it in the air yet? Fall will soon be upon us! In order to honor the season and to promote good health, here is a tasty, simple, and healthy recipe to kickstart the Fall. Ingredients:  1/3 cup old fashioned oats uncooked1 teaspoon dried chia seeddash of salt to taste1/3 cup unsweetened almond...Read More

Supplements are a popular topic among not only your friends at the gym but the general population. There is a supplement for just about everything these days. The industry has grown tremendously in the last few decades, and with that growth, endless options have become available to us, making it more difficult to know which...Read More

This is more fun way to make zucchini than in the pan, but a better alternative to potato chips that also can improve fruit and vegetable intake. Enjoy! Ingredients:  ‐ Cooking Spray  ‐ 2 Medium Zucchini (about 1 pound)  ‐ 1 Tbsp. Olive Oil  ‐ 1/4 Cup Grated Parmesan (3/4 oz) ‐ 1/4 Cup Plain...Read More

In the New York Times Bestseller “Make Your Bed”, U.S. Navy Admiral William H. McRaven discusses the importance of Teamwork, specifically the need to rely on others for help through difficult tasks. One difficult task that we face on a daily basis is our nutrition. With so much conflicting information available at our fingertips on...Read More

Fruits and vegetables are often not the most palatable foods, however it is strongly recommended to make them a priority in diet. The truth is, they are not often the most enjoyable part of meal prep, however there are ways to get them in without excess prep. One of those ways is through smoothies, which...Read More

Invariably when many of us, especially in our younger days, begin a relationship with someone, there is the initial bubbly “everything is good” phase where you and a partner are experiencing the very surface of each other, which is also the surface that most people see anyway – the common likes, dislikes, jokes, things that...Read More

Do you sometimes hit a wall during your training sessions? You know, that feeling when you are struggling with a weight that usually goes up much faster, or tapping out halfway through your intervals? Maybe you’re new to training or getting back in the swing of things and can’t seem to find your energy. Wherever...Read More

With Summer upon us, that means loads of fresh fruits and vegetables!! Here are some tips on how to save them from early death! Important things to keep in mind are : Don’t keep your produce in the door of the refrigerator where temperatures fluctuate. Keep them in the middle or bottom drawers to keep...Read More

Many people struggle finding quick breakfast recipes that are well-balanced and whole food-based. In today’s fast-paced culture, readily available breakfast foods tend to be either high in fat or sugar (or both) and often also lacking in colorful nutrient-dense plant foods. You have fruit or an omelet with vegetables. This recipe provides a healthy, well-balanced...Read More

If you’ve ever made a dietary change that you took seriously for even at least one day, you know the feeling. You’re trying to stick to a plan but there is someone who insists that you eat something. And it’s usually not their favorite meal prep recipe if you catch my meaning. For most situations,...Read More

With the new season, comes new festivities, warmth, people out and about at Shelby Farms, brunch or beers on the patio, and also new seasonal food. One of those foods I particularly enjoy in season is asparagus. Asparagus is often seen as a boring but necessary meal prep vegetable that hits your nose when you...Read More

As a registered dietitian, I have numerous roles to fill. In clinical settings, we assess, identify, and diagnose, and make recommendations as interventions for which nutrition is the primary form of treatment or as a means to correct nutrition problems in the management of disease. Developing diet plans of action for a given goal, whether...Read More

NBS Fitness is happy to announce the Spring Nutrition Challenge! In honor of National Nutrition Month, the challenge coordinator and registered dietitian, Tim Burbeck, will kick off the 6-week challenge with a seminar on March 23rd for all registered challenge participants. This is a challenge for anyone who is looking for a fresh start, to...Read More

There are several things to understand when your goal is feeding strength. Number one, like any athlete, you have to consider overall calories. If you not eating enough, you will be weak. Secondly, you have to consider the macronutrients, carbs, fat, and protein. Strength athletes are recommended to consume 1.6 -2.0 g/kg of bodyweight (or...Read More

There are many ways people misperceive the role of food in their approach to goal-setting. This is a dog I’ve walked before, but it is a reoccurring phenomenon and I want to expand on some of the wrong approaches people often take as it concerns to manipulating their food intake. Diets  The first way, is the “this...Read More

It’s a new year and time to get back on track. Yayyy, right? Not so fast. It doesn’t mean you have to give up all things tasty and eat only chicken, broccoli, and rice. I wanted to provide for you today something that can ease the transition from ciders, hams, and dressings to your normal...Read More

I’ve been in the fitness industry over a decade and have seen the full spectrum of people’s successes and failures. Everyone shows up motivated. Some of them take action. A few less keep up that action in the short term. A few less train smart and follow an intelligent program. And even fewer keep it...Read More

And food is made in the kitchen. I know. There’s a part of you that wants to think that as long as you eat less enough, the abs will be there. And the harder you cut, the sooner you see them all nice and defined. Consider this the Tyler Durden in your head, the person...Read More

Did you know… The drop out rate for fitness is higher than that of Navy Seals? About 80-90% of people will give up on their fitness routine within the first 5 months. Of those that do stick with it, many will eventually hit a rut, get complacent, stop making progress and quit. I’ve been there...Read More

During one wellness presentation, I asked a group of people what they thought was the average amount of weight gained during the holiday season every year in the U.S. Some people on the far end guessed an average of 10-15 pounds. Others had a little more conservative guess of about 5-7. The answer is closer to about one pound. With...Read More

Chances are if you are an athlete of any sport or a fitness enthusiast of any discipline, you care about performance. And intuitively you probably already  know on some level that fueling yourself and recovering with the proper macronutrients and micronutrients is essential to this process. However one nutrient tends to not get as much...Read More

Recently I have been trying to diet down and get lean again.  2 weeks ago, I got an update from my coach, that resulted in lower carbs on low and medium carb days, and 104 min HIIT cardio per week, broken up over 6 days. The HIIT sessions are done on the newly repaired air...Read More

For the most part, no supplement is going to beat out hardwork, and sometimes pre-workouts can severely hinder your ability to get an accurate RPE on activity, skews heart rate, and can lend to an enormous crash later. For those reasons, I have a tendency to stick to a strong cup of coffee unless I...Read More

I first started lifting weights in the early Fall of 2005 to get stronger for high school wrestling. Like most gym rats, I ended up having a much higher affinity for the gym and lifting weights than I did for wrestling. I started reading everything I could get my hands on: bodybuilding magazines, Arnold’s Encyclopedia...Read More

I’ve had many people over time ask me what the best diet is. I am a “dietitian” after all so I should know, right? There is usually combination of shock, disbelief, and/or disappointment when I tell them that none of them are. The expectation among beginners in health and fitness, though with good intention and...Read More

Cardio timing   Insulin Let’s talk insulin for a second. Insulin is a storage hormone, and it gets released by beta cells in the pancreases in response to rising blood glucose. As the blood glucose raises, the pancreases secrete insulin. Insulin binds to an insulin receptor on a cell, which will cause GLUT4 proteins to...Read More

I want to outline and explain a few things that dramatically improved my performance in training and ultimately in competition at the 2017 World’s Strongest Man u90kg competition. These changes were lifestyle and diet based, and for their relatively minor investments they could be considered force multipliers with how much of an impact they had....Read More

Fructose Fructose is the sweetest of all-natural sugars. It is somewhat special compared to other sugars. It has its own GLUT transporter which is cool and could potentially make fructose a better option as a carb source, by lowering the total amount of insulin secreted due to specific glucose transporters. Fruit could be a better...Read More

Summer Heat Has Arrived We often don’t think of the necessity of hydration until Summer is upon us. While we have hydration needs during cooler months, it is especially necessary to focus on hydration during Memphis’ summers. A good way to monitor your child’s fluid intake is by using this 3 point system: Prehydrate –...Read More

I am taking a foods class at the University of Memphis, and we went over apples in one of our class periods. I thought there were a few interesting takeaways in the lecture. We went over the 3 types of apples: Cooking, eating, and combination. The main difference between the apples is the sugar/fiber content....Read More

This time last year I was weighing in right at 280 lbs. Fast forward to present day and I’m hovering around 220. That 60 lbs of weight loss has come from a number of different factors. I got off testosterone supplementation, started doing CrossFit, started running, and went through many dietary changes. In this article...Read More

Supplements can be confusing.  Many are absolutely worth the time and effort, while others are clever marketing ploys that don’t really make much, if any, difference on your performance.   Further, of the ones that are worth while, the truth is that *situationally* they aren’t appropriate.  So how do you know what to take and when? ...Read More

I usually suggest people to eat whole foods as opposed to protein shakes, and to drink protein shakes as their last option. Whole food meals are going to be your best bet for improving body composition, and your diet should consist of mostly whole foods. I do think however, there is a time and a...Read More

The vast majority of my clients are not physique competitors looking to do well onstage but are instead regular people who just want to lose some body fat, build some muscle, feel better, and be proud of their bodies. What this means is that packing all their food and taking it with them everywhere they...Read More

Sports Performance is a buzzword that holds a high amount of value in competitive athletics. When most people think about performance in sports, they think about training, lifting, agility drills, or other activities that increase the athlete’s abilities. Athletes invest a large amount of time pushing their bodies through extremely high levels of physical stress...Read More

I can never emphasize enough the importance of eating a healthy diet.  I also cannot believe how often this is ignored.  You don’t have to go on a fish-and-broccoli only diet, but American’s have a terrible relationship with food as a whole.  Make sure that the food you are consuming each day SERVES A PURPOSE....Read More

Welcome to our third and final installment of the NBS Fitness Guide to Supplements. In Part 1 we discussed the importance of protein and the different types and qualities available. In Part 2 we discussed the importance of a peri workout protocol. We are going to finish this series off with talk about products that can help...Read More

When I was younger, I managed a commercial gym.  During this time, I became very close and familiar with the members of that gym. As a result, I became a sounding board for frustrations for many of them.  So it wasn’t surprising when Pam* asked if she could come talk to me about some concerns...Read More

Welcome back to the second edition of the NBS Fitness Guide to Supplements. In Part 1, we talked about he benefits of protein supplements and what differences between different kinds are. In Part 2, we will discuss the peri workout window, why it’s so important, and what we can do to maximize it. So without further...Read More

Seriously. One easy trick allowed me to have the most productive year of training I’ve ever had. I am now in the best shape of my life, the leanest I have ever been, and the least injured I have ever been. And the greatest part is you can do it too! Whats the secret? I hired a knowledgable professional...Read More

I feel like we all sound like broken records with our talk about nutrition, dieting, cardio, and everything else that goes hand-in-hand with shedding weight and leaning out. Well, I’m going to “weigh in” on the issue. See what I did there? Now, do you want to lose weight? That seems to be what the...Read More

Its easy to get confused about nutrition.  As we have discussed in numerous articles and blogs, there are a million ways to manipulate your intake for a number of different results.  And honestly, for the most part, most ways work to a degree.  This is why its important to understand nutritional components on a base...Read More

Since the beginning, athletic endeavors and sports supplements have gone hand in hand. We’ve come a long way from ancient Greek wrestlers chewing on rhodiola leaves to the multi-billion dollar supplement industry we see today and we will continue to make progress in the future. The purpose of this series is to educate you on...Read More

Don’t you just love a catchy title. Catchy, effective, and truthful. If we’re going to define “fat” as having more body fat than the ideal amount for health (ie overweight/obese) then at least 2/3 of the population falls into that category. That number is also on the rise, by the way, which means there is...Read More

The age excuse is a topic that I encounter on a regular basis in my personal and professional life. “I am to old for ‘X’ activity.” “Getting old sucks.” “Back when I was younger…” People talk about age like its an unescapable, constricting prison. It’s as if age simply deteriorates you and keeps you from being active,...Read More

In the wake of yet another report of insurance hikes set for 2017, more and more people will find themselves asking one question: Why are health care costs SO HIGH? Now I know “tis the season” to start getting all political. I know everyone wants to begin blaming the Affordable Care Act (Obama Care) or the top...Read More

Since joining NBS almost 2 years ago when I was just interning here, I have managed to add about 100 lbs to my bench press, well over 100 lbs on my squat, and well over 100 lbs to my deadlift. Needless to say, if you are wanting to become a stronger version of yourself, then...Read More

Summer is coming up and it’s time to show off those beach bods. But what if you’re struggling to get the physique you want? These 5 reasons may be why: You don’t actually want it What a way to start an article right? But I think it’s important that we address the obvious elephant in the...Read More

Are you a beginner? I bet you don’t think you are but you are. See, being a beginner has nothing to do with how long you’ve been training and I’d even argue that it doesn’t have as much to do with your abilities and performance either. Instead I believe it has everything to do with...Read More

I recently read the book “Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain” by John Ratey. The book talks about the positive chemical, hormonal, physical, and psychological effects that exercise can have on the brain. As well as how exercise can have specific positive effects on learning, depression, anxiety, aging, menapause, and pregnancy....Read More

If you have several years of quality training and nutrition under your belt, these three concepts can help further your training success. If you’re still new to this whole health and fitness thing or have been struggling with consistency, I suggest reading this article on goal setting and this article as well before implementing these...Read More

Nutrition is a lot like religion and politics. Uneducated people looking for answers hear something that they like and hold onto to that one particular idea without question and vehemently attack anyone or anything that so much as challenges that idea. In a society of fatties looking to a fitness and health industry that is...Read More

Link to EliteFTS Version of the Article http://www.elitefts.com/education/motivation/training-and-dietary-considerations-for-women-needs-formatted/ Ever since I began training several years ago, I have had the chance to work with both men and women of varying levels of experience and with differing goals. Although my approach for both genders is very similar, there are a few considerations I take for both...Read More