Free delivery on all UK orders above £60

30-40 Year Olds

Get the Best Out of Leg Day With These Top 6 Exercises
,

Get the Best Out of Leg Day With These Top 6 Exercises

1 Comment

Our legs contain some of the most powerful muscles in our body. They carry most of our weight all day and it’s essential that we keep them strong and sturdy with regular exercise. Even though we are out of lockdown, a lot of home leg workouts can be used when at the gym and I would even suggest that they work better for you than assisted machines.

Still worried about getting jelly legs or those terrible aches that you feel the next day? That’s where protein shakes come in. Protein is essential to the recovery and refuelling of our muscles. You will notice a huge difference in how your muscles feel when taking a protein shake straight after a workout (obviously after stretching). We have our own tasty Nutrishake that will work wonders for your recovery!

Alright, let’s get into the 10 workouts that will change how you look at leg day!

1. Squat hold

The first exercise we have is the squat hold. for this, you need to have your feet spread slightly wider than your hips. Sit down roughly to the height of being seated in a chair. keep your chest up, whilst making sure to squeeze your glutes. If the tension begins to hurt your back you may want to curve your back in slightly more. If you need balance, you can hold your arms out in front of you. For this exercise try to stay on hold for 45 seconds.

2. Split squat hold

Quite similar to the squat hold, Stand with your feet hip distance apart. Then place your right foot forward putting you into the lunge position. make sure that your knee is perpendicular to your right foot which should be placed firmly in front. Make sure that your chest is kept upright and hold this position for 45 seconds. Switch to the opposite foot when the 45 seconds have been completed.

3. B-stance Romanian deadlift

If you are doing this exercise in the gym, then you could perform this with a flat barbell. If you are working out from home then we would recommend purchasing a resistance band. With the resistance band, to begin place your right foot about half a foot behind your left foot. bend the right knee slightly and grab each end of the resistance band that you’re stepping on with your left foot. keeping your back straight, bend down from the hip until your elbows roughly reach your left knee height. When the band goes slack squeeze your glutes and stand. Repeat for 45 seconds then switches to the opposite leg.

4. Single-leg Romanian deadlift

woman pulling black kettle bell

This is another exercise that will be more effective if used with equipment, in this case, a dumbbell. Holding the dumbbell with one arm down by your side and your feet together. Lift up your preferred knee to a 90-degree angle. From the hip, bring your torso forward to also a 90-degree angle whilst kicking your lifted leg straight back. once completed return back to the original position and repeat for 45 seconds. Perform this on the other leg once the time has finished.

5. Forward to reverse lunge

woman wearing grey tank top doing exercise

Standing up straight step forward into a lunge position with your preferred foot. With the opposite foot planted, step into a backward lunge position. Return to a standing position with both feet hip distance apart. Repeat this for 45 seconds and then switch onto the opposite foot leading first.

6. Kneeling step-ups

Holding a dumbbell or some form of weight, kneel with both knees on the floor. Then with your preferred leg, step it forward to a lunge position and press through so that you’re now standing. Reverse these steps back to your original kneeling position. Repeat this process for 45 seconds and then switch with the opposite leg leading first.

If you want to get the best out of your exercise take a look at our Protein Pro for Muscle Mass in order to keep up your gains and ensure your body is happy and healthy.

How Can Insomnia Take a Toll on Your Mental Health
,

How Can Insomnia Take a Toll on Your Mental Health

0 Comments

Insomnia is a widespread condition all over the world. Even those who do not suffer from chronic insomnia frequently battle with sleep issues. As a result, it is critical to comprehend the possible impact of sleep deprivation on health, particularly mental health and well-being. However, many of us struggle to get a decent night’s sleep.

Poor sleep affects one in every three of us, and the implications may be far more serious than feeling irritable or distracted. Sleep and mental health are inextricably linked: having a mental health illness may influence your sleep, and sleeping poorly can damage your mental well-being.

Sleep deprivation may also make us physically ill. It has been related to heart disease, diabetes, rapid ageing, and fatal car accidents. It impairs our ability to manage our emotions. In the long term, this increases our chances of acquiring a mental health problem. Anxiety and despair, for example, might create more sleep disturbance.

We all need to sleep soundly in order for our bodies to recoup from the day and for healing to occur.

The Relationship Between Sleep and Mental Health

It’s no secret that sleep is essential for excellent physical and mental wellness. Short-term sleep deprivation might make you irritated and weary, but it can also have major long-term health repercussions and issues. Sleep deprivation has been related to a variety of negative health outcomes, including heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and depression.

In other words, sleep problems can lead to changes in mental health, while mental health issues can exacerbate sleep problems. Sleep deprivation may precipitate the emergence of some psychiatric issues, while experts are unsure of the underlying causes. Because of the cyclical link between your sleep habits and your mental state, it is critical to consult with your doctor if you are experiencing any of the following symptoms.

What Causes Sleep Problems?

There are several factors that might influence our sleep. They include stress or concern, a change in the noise level or temperature of your bedroom, a changing habit, such as jet lag, too much caffeine or alcohol, shift work, physical or mental health problems, and so on.

Sleep is necessary for the physical maintenance of the body, but it also aids in the maintenance of cognitive functions such as attention, learning, memory, and emotional control

How can mental health problems affect sleep?

  • Mental health issues can have a variety of effects on your sleep.
  • Anxiety might lead your mind to rush, making it difficult to sleep.
  • Depression can cause oversleeping, either sleeping late or sleeping a lot throughout the day. It might also induce sleeplessness if you have disturbing thoughts.
  • Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can result in nightmares or night terrors. These may wake you awake and/or make you feel nervous about falling asleep.
  • Mania might make you feel exhilarated or active, so you may not feel exhausted or desire to sleep. You may also have racing thoughts that make it difficult to sleep.
  • Medication might cause adverse effects such as sleeplessness, nightmares, and excessive sleep. Sleep issues might arise after you stop taking your medicine.

If you have insomnia, try out VitaPro Health’s Early Bird Energy for Insomnia. For more information, visit https://www.vitaprohealth.com/product/early-bird-energy-for-insomnia.

How Stress Causes People To Overeat
, ,

How Stress Causes People To Overeat

0 Comments

Anxiety can have a significant impact on your food intake, resulting in your overeating. Stress eating can derail your weight reduction efforts. The idea is to discover stress-relieving activities that do not involve food.

We’ve all experienced being stressed, whether it’s from a quarrel with a spouse, a job deadline, or simply having too much to accomplish. And if you’re exposed to a lot of it, it might influence your eating patterns. There is a clear link between stress and our hunger – but it isn’t the same for everyone. Being stressed can lead some people to disregard their hunger cues and go for extended periods without eating. Others become emotional eaters who mindlessly nibble as a result of stress.

When we are stressed, our brains transmit signals to our bodies. That is part of our fight-or-flight response to perceived threats in our surroundings. When you are stressed, your body produces cortisol, often known as the stress hormone. Cortisol might drive you to seek sweet, salty, and fatty meals because your brain believes it needs fuel to combat whatever threat is generating the stress.

You may, however, learn how to manage stress without resorting to food. First, you need to understand the connection between being stressed and binge eating.

Stress and Binge Eating Cycle

Being stressed can lead to binge eating disorders as well as the desire to overeat. It is normal for people with the disease to use food to cope with stress and other feelings they desire to suppress, such as anger, grief, and boredom.

It can result in a bingeing cycle that looks like this:

  • You overeat when you’re anxious.
  • When you overeat, you feel guilty or anxious about gaining weight, which adds to your stress.

One in every four persons who binge eat has a mental health condition known as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

How to Avoid Binge Eating When You’re Stressed

Keeping a food journal might be beneficial. Keep track of the time you binge eat and how you feel while doing so. Once you’ve identified what causes you to overeat, you may attempt these healthy stress-reduction strategies:

  • Exercise. Take a long stroll outside or enrol in an aerobics class. Staying active also takes your focus away from the fridge and pantry.
  • Meditate. For a few moments, concentrate on your breathing. It can help with anxiety and tension. Doing this on a regular basis may help you make more deliberate dietary choices.
  • Consume nutritious “comfort meals.” When you want something to eat, choose meals that will make you feel good without adding fat or calories.
  • Seek assistance. Seek help from professionals such as a therapist or counsellor, a nutritionist, and/or a trainer. When things get rough, even chatting to a friend or relative might help.

If you are experiencing problems with stress eating or overeating, you can try VitaPro Health’s Metabolic Miracle Capsules.

Lose Weight with Dieting: What You Need to Know
, ,

Lose Weight with Dieting: What You Need to Know

0 Comments

There are different types of diets that are currently being used around the world. Each has its own restrictions and health benefits. The only thing that is consistent when you look at each of the diets is that they will help you shed a significant amount of weight. One of the easiest ways to lose weight is by dieting.

Why Dieting Is The Best Way To Lose Weight

Losing weight is simple and easy to understand. To lose weight, you have to intake fewer calories than you use up. This is known as a calorie deficit.  While there are plenty of factors that can affect your weight loss, such as sleep, stress and even your genetics, the most obvious factor that affects people is looking at their diet.

If you have a poor diet; full of fatty, processed foods that are short on nutrition, the basic framework of most diets can help to restrict the unhealthiest foods you consume, while promoting the increased consumption of healthier foods, like leafy greens, healthy fats, lean meats and more. This will, of course, help you to both cut down on your calorie intake by eating lower-calorie foods, and will make you satisfied, and less likely to turn to unhealthy snacks to satisfy you.

Dieting Is Only One Step

lose weight with Dieting

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you’re overweight, or not happy with your current body weight, it can be easy to view weight loss as merely a goal to achieve. This could lead to quick and easy plans to help you burn weight fast. However, the best way to reduce weight is to have a diet that can promote weight loss.

If you are looking to lose weight through a certain diet plan, this will cause a change to your lifestyle, temporarily, to reach the end goal of losing weight. If you choose a diet that you don’t enjoy doing, you are far more than likely to not continue that diet for the recommended amount of time until you see results. While a healthy diet is critical, it isn’t the only way to lose weight.

A good healthy diet, in combination with regular exercise, a stable pattern of sleep and good control of your stress levels, is by far the best way to manage your weight. Losing weight is affected by multiple things when you only focus on reducing your food intake level, which misses the big picture of a healthy lifestyle. For example, you might have discovered the best diet plan that will restrict all your bad habits. But, if it’s a diet that causes you unnecessary anxiety, that is followed with little to no exercise and poor sleep patterns, weight management will be very poor. Losing weight and maintaining a healthy weight should come as a benefit of an overall healthy lifestyle.

Make A Plan

Before you pick and choose your diet, it is recommended that you create a plan on what you will be eating during your diet. The key thing to remember is that your metabolism is how your body turns calories into energy. If you cut too many calories from your daily intake, it will have a bad effect on your weight loss. This is due to your metabolism slowing down and it won’t be able to burn enough calories to make the energy needed.

There are many ways you can do this without cutting too many calories. You can do the following:

  • Cut portion sizings
  • Figure out ideally your calorie intake (this is so you can have a calorie deficit)
  • Read the nutrition information on your food
  • Drink more water

Whichever diet you choose, always pick one that is more suited to you and your lifestyle. For example, if you decide to try intermittent fasting, pick a method [8/16 method] that is better for you. If you are looking to change the different types of food to eat, there are certain food groups you should try to eat more to maximise your weight loss. Working with a dietitian is a good idea, so you can make sure your plan covers all that you require. A good way to ensure these guidelines are met is with the NHS diet plan.

How Can We Help!

At VitaProHealth, we value you as the customer and want you at your best. We have specialists that know what you need to better your physical and mental wellbeing. Regardless, do not hesitate to visit our website for lifestyle advice and supplements. Look at our lifestyle page for general health and slimming for tips and tricks. Contact us today by email at info@vitaprohealth.com.

What Diets Are There and What’s Best for Me?
,

What Diets Are There and What’s Best for Me?

1 Comment

It’s natural that most people want to become slimmer or fitter. There are, of course, many ways to achieve this, such as exercising, dieting, or slimming tablets. Both exercising and dieting require hard work and dedication to be able to see them through. Today, we’ll discuss the different types of diets and how they vary from one another. Which diet is best for you?

How does the Keto Diet work?

vegetable salad in gray bowl

Keto, also known as a ‘low-carb diet’ is a type of diet that limits your intake of carbs to 20-150 grams a day. How does the Keto diet work? Well, when your carb intake is low, fatty acids are moved into your liver where they’re changed into ketones. Your body is able to use these ketones as its primary energy source. Following this diet will put your body into a state of ketosis, dramatically increasing weight loss by up to twice that of low-fat diets.

What is the Atkins Diet?

Many people wonder, what is the Atkins Diet? Atkins is one of the most well-known low-carb diets. The idea is that if you don’t eat any carbs, then you can eat as much fat and protein as you like. This has the effect of reducing your appetite and means that you’ll eat fewer calories without realising it. The Atkins diet has been shown to lead to faster weight loss than low-fat diets.

What is the Dukan Diet Plan?

The Dukan diet plan is a low-carb, high-protein diet that works in phases to help you lose weight. Because of this, the meals leave you feeling full, but it can lead to you missing out on important nutrients. The Dukan diet plan is extremely structured, meaning it’s good if you want a lot of rules to follow when dieting.

What is Intermittent Fasting?

Intermittent fasting has you cycle between periods of eating and fasting. Instead of restricting the types of food that you eat, it restricts when you are allowed to eat. Intermittent fasting leads to easier calorie restriction but can be difficult to keep to, given how long you have to restrict yourself.

How We Can Help

It can be very difficult to keep to a diet. Though they’re effective at helping you lose weight fast, that’s only if you’re able to stick to them. If you’re looking for an easier way to lose weight, our slimming tablets might be just what you need. Our slimming tablets are of the highest quality, and a guaranteed to help you on your weight loss journey. Or, if you’re looking to keep to your diet, we have a variety of vitamins to help ensure you’re staying healthy. Plus, if you’re starting a meal replacement diet, we have a number of meal replacement shakes to help your meal replacement diet go perfectly.

Intermittent Fasting vs Conventional Dieting
,

Intermittent Fasting vs Conventional Dieting

0 Comments

There are currently hundreds of different diets you can go on to slim down for special occasions or if you want to lose some weight. Recently, there has been a huge influx of people starting intermittent fasting diets, rather than trying conventional dieting to lose their ideal amount of weight. However, what exactly is the difference between them? Does one offer you more benefits than the other does?

Intermittent Fasting

Intermittent fasting is currently one of the world’s most popular health and fitness trends. There are many different reasons why someone would decide to choose to do intermittent fasting. These are to lose weight, improve their health and change up their lifestyles.

How exactly is it done?

Intermittent fasting is the alternating cycles of fasting and eating. Unlike other diets, e.g. some conventional diets, intermittent fasting does not tell you which foods to eat but tells you when you can eat them. If you were to look at your day, you ‘fast’ every day while you sleep. This simply extended that fast for a longer period.

There are different forms of intermittent fasting you can do. The most popular form is known as the 16/8 method. This is when you are fasting for 16 hours every day and restricting you’re eating to an 8-hour window.

Things to be aware of before you start intermittent fasting

As you can expect, hunger is a big issue that will occur to anyone who starts intermittent fasting. This is because your body is not used to you not eating for a long period of time. Even though no food is allowed during the fasting period, you are allowed to drink water, coffee, tea and other non-caloric beverages.

Taking supplements is allowed while fasting, as long as there are no calories in them.

If you are interested in using intermittent fasting in helping you slim down for the New Year, HealthLine has a 101 beginner’s guide on how to conduct it.

Benefits of Intermittent Fasting

As Intermittent Fasting allows you to have periods where you don’t eat, there are studies that have found this method of weight loss improves your way of life.

Here are some of the benefits of intermittent fasting:

  • Cause weight loss
  • Improve metabolic health
  • Protect against disease
  • Reduce inflammation in the body
  • Help the health of the heart
  • May prevent cancer
  • Help the health of your brain
  • It May help you live longer
  • Lower blood pressure

Conventional Dieting

There are many different types of conventional dieting each one having its own list of benefits.

Plant-based Diet

What can you eat?

  • Fruits
  • Vegetables
  • Plant-based substitutes

Benefits

  • Reduced inflammation
  • Improved kidney function
  • Lower risk of type 2 diabetes
  • Reduced risk of heart disease
  • Lower levels of “bad” cholesterol
  • Reduced risk of dementia
  • Reduced cognitive development
  • Improved gut health
  • Reduced risk of certain cancers

Paleo Diet

What can you eat?

  • Vegetables
  • Fruit
  • Unprocessed meat
  • Eggs
  • Nuts
  • Seeds
  • Seafood
  • Fish

Benefits

  • Improved Cholesterol
  • Lower Blood Pressure
  • Healthy blood glucose
  • Longer life span
  • Improves insulin sensitivity

Low-fat Diets

The low-fat diet follows a low-fat plan where meals contain less than 3 grams of fat per 100 calories.

What can you eat?

  • Whole grain
  • Lean meats
  • Whitefish
  • Lentils
  • Vegetables
  • Fruits
  • Reduced-fat dairy

Benefits

  • Lower chance of heart disease
  • Short term weight loss

The Mediterranean Diet

What can you eat?

  • Bread
  • Pasta
  • Fruit
  • Vegetables
  • Fish
  • Products made from veg oils
  • Eating less meat

Benefits

  • Prevents heart disease
  • Increase life span
  • Reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s
  • Reduce the risk of Parkinson’s
  • Prevents Type 2 Diabetes

Weight Watchers

What can you eat?

  • Most foods in moderation

Benefits

  • Don’t have to reduce the number of foods you can eat
  • Fits in with a busy lifestyle
  • Reduce the risk of diabetes

The DASH Diet

DASH means Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension, this is recommended for people who wish to prevent/treat hypertension and reduce their risk of heart disease.

What can you eat?

This diet doesn’t list certain types of foods to be eaten but lists serving sizes per day.

  • Fruit – 4-5 servings
  • Veg – 4-5 servings
  • Lean meats: no more than 6 servings
  • Whole Grains – 6-8 servings
  • Dairy products – 2-3 servings
  • Nuts, seeds – 4-5 servings
  • Fats and oils – 2-3 servings
  • Candy and added sugar – no more than 5

Foods to avoid

  • Red meats
  • Salt (high amounts)
  • Sugar (high amounts)
  • Fats (high amounts)

Benefits

Following the DASH diet reduces the amount of daily salt intake, this aids in the decrease of blood pressure among other things. Here is a full list of benefits:

  • Helps to lose weight
  • Reduced blood pressure
  • Decreased risk of heart disease
  • Reduced risk of diabetes
  • Lowers risk of metabolic syndrome
  • The risk of cancer reduced

Low-Carb Diet

Benefits of a Low-Carb diet

  • Reduces your appetite
  • Lose weight quickly at first
  • Reduces harmful belly fat
  • Triglycerides in the blood lower
  • HDL at a good level
  • Reduce blood sugar levels and insulin levels
  • May lower blood pressure
  • Metabolic syndrome effective
  • Increase in heart health
  • Helps prevent brain diseases

If you are interested in using a low-carb diet to help you to lose weight EverydayHealth has a beginner’s guide for how a low-carb diet will help along with some tips and tricks.

How We Can Help

Here at VitaProHealth, we provide the highest quality supplements available to help you through the slimming process. Our slimming supplements are the best. If you have any questions about exactly the best slimming vitamins are for you or want to know more about our slimming lifestyle page, please contact us via email at info@vitaprohealth.com.

How Bad Habits Affect the Human Body

How Bad Habits Affect the Human Body

1 Comment

When it comes to bad habits, everyone has some sort of bad habits in their lifestyle. These habits can have an impact on your health long term if it doesn’t change.

It is important to know how bad habits will affect our health mentally and physically. First, you need to identify the bad habits in order to live a healthier life. Breaking bad habits can be difficult but when you do break the habit you will realise the benefits of breaking that habit. Below are a few examples of bad habits that affect our daily lifestyle.

Examples of bad habits

Overeating

Overeating can lead you to gain weight and become seriously unhealthy. As a result, overeating can lead to long term health problems affecting your sleep and daily life. Eating too much food requires your organs to work harder. They require extra hormones and enzymes to break the food down. This may lead to indigestion or heartburn. You should plan for your meals, control what you eat and have balanced meals. Snacking on junk and processed food is a bad habit that’s hard to break. The excess salt and sugar so frequently found in these foods are more likely to stick to your teeth, attracting acids that break down tooth enamel. Snacking may contain many calories which are bad for you so keep an eye on your snack.

Solutions to Break the Habit

Make yourself familiar with the suggested portion sizes.

Portion size is quite important. Use nutrition food labels and recommended food amounts from credible sources to keep your eyes on the prize. These rules aren’t perfect, but they can help you establish a benchmark for what a reasonable serving size is – which is often difficult to determine on your own. Knowing the appropriate amount also makes it easier to keep on track of how much you should be eating.

And, while we’re on the subject of accountability, you might want to consider eating from a smaller plate. This tricks the mind into thinking you’re eating more than you are.

Include a source of fibre in your meals and snacks.

Consider the difference between a platter of roasted veggies and several slices of cheese. Although both have the same number of calories, roasted vegetables are more likely to fill you up because they include fibre, which can help you avoid overeating.

Stay hydrated

If you’re hungry or seeking a snack when you shouldn’t be, a few swallows of water can help you figure out if you’re genuinely hungry or just thirsty. Keeping track of your water intake throughout the day may also help you avoid those pesky hungry feelings that aren’t actually caused by hunger.

Too Much Alcohol

Heineken bottles

Binge drinking is not good for your health even if it’s once in a while. It can cause long term problems to your liver and heart.  Excessive alcohol use can lead to chronic diseases such as high blood pressure, cancer, mental health problems etc. The more alcohol you drink the greater your risk of developing both short and long term health issues. Drinking too much can also weaken your immune system, making your body more vulnerable to diseases. To maintain good health it’s best to drink in moderation and not to exceed the legal limit.

Solutions to Break the Habit

Set objectives and plan for change.

Taking one day at a time can help you overcome an alcohol addiction.

There is no quick fix or magic remedy, and if you want to have a long and successful recovery, you must be willing to make significant adjustments in your life. This entails creating personal objectives and working toward them. This will provide you a sense of accomplishment as well as proof that you can permanently overcome alcoholism.

Effective Communication

You may have spent a long period avoiding other people, consumed by your own need for booze and desire to be alone. If you want to live a long and sober life, it’s critical that you learn how to communicate successfully. You will learn how to be open and honest with your feelings during recovery, and it is something that can help you prevent relapse if you are confronted with temptations and triggers.

Exercise

Exercise is also a vital part of any recovery programme from alcohol addiction. It is crucial to take it slowly in the early days, but if you incorporate exercise into your daily routine, you will soon reap the rewards. Exercise will strengthen not only your body but also your mind. It will keep you fit and healthy, improve your appearance, and boost your confidence.

 

Not Enough Sleep

cant sleep

Sleeping is an essential function that allows your body and mind to recharge. Without enough regular sleep, the brain will not function properly. Most adults should aim for at least 7-9 hours’ sleep. Many of us lack sleep due to poor sleeping habits. If you sleep lesser than six hours for a long duration of time it could weaken your immune system and lead to other harmful diseases. A good night’s sleep is essential for maintaining good health and breaking the habit of not enough sleep.

Solutions to Break the Habit

Stick to a sleep schedule

Allow for a maximum of eight hours of sleep. A healthy adult should get at least seven hours of sleep per night. To be properly rested, most people do not require more than eight hours in bed.

Every day, including weekends, go to bed and wake up at the same hour. Consistency helps to maintain your body’s sleep-wake cycle.

Keep track of what you eat and drink.

Avoid going to bed hungry or overstuffed. Avoid eating anything heavy or substantial within a few hours of going to bed. Discomfort could keep you awake.

Nicotine, coffee, and alcohol should all be avoided. Nicotine and caffeine have long-lasting stimulating effects that can interfere with sleep. Even though alcohol makes you tired at first, it can impair your sleep later in the night.

Have any questions?

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any enquiries. Contact us by email via info@vitaprohealth.com. Our team would be happy to assist you with any of your enquiries.