Over the past forty years, the number of overweight people worldwide has almost doubled, according to research by the World Health Organization (WHO). It's no wonder, then, that so many people are trying their best to lose weight. Yet, it turns out it's not that easy. In this blog post, Danny Kors, head nutrition coach at Happy Bodies Lifestyle Clubs, shares his perspective on nutrition and weight loss.

Personalized nutrition plan

In the previous blog post, Frank already talked about the smart nutrition app we use at Happy Bodies. This app, combined with our nutritional expertise, allows us to help people create a personalized nutrition plan. This way, we can advise them not only on calorie count and frequency of meals, but also on making healthier choices.

OERstrong

Because that's often where the crux lies, with those healthier choices. People often think they're eating healthy, but when we zoom in on what that actually entails, I see things differently. My perspective on nutrition is definitely different from that of a "standard" dietitian. I look much more at nature, how nature intended us to interact with our food. In addition to my Sports and Exercise training, I also completed a coaching program at OERsterk. The OERsterk concept for optimal health is based on three pillars: relaxation, nutrition, and exercise. With nature as the starting point. We're becoming increasingly disconnected from nature, and that's one of the main reasons why we're experiencing more and more health issues. Unhealthy weight is one of them.

Healthy weight loss is about eating well and not filling up

Many people who want to lose weight and enthusiastically start working out consider protein to be very important. They then eat a lot of cottage cheese, yogurt, and other dairy products. It's actually strange, considering we're the only mammals that still consume dairy products in adulthood. Of course, you need protein, but it's also found in fruit and green leafy vegetables. Nature takes care of that very well for us. Moreover, glucose is an even more important fuel for your muscles. Glucose is mainly found in fruit. It's also important to eat products that contain valuable nutrients, such as vitamins, minerals, and fiber. Many products today—think white bread and white pasta, for example—contain empty calories. Your body can't handle much of that. Healthy weight loss is about nourishing yourself, not filling yourself up. By eating plenty of fruit and healthy products like salads and zucchini spaghetti, and also exercising and relaxing regularly, you change your lifestyle for the better.

Eat a lot and still lose weight

Losing weight has nothing to do with going hungry. Your body needs fuel, after all. By eating as many unprocessed foods as possible, you'll lose weight faster. People we help lose weight often say, "I have to eat so much, and yet I'm still losing weight!" That's how it works when you nourish your body well instead of filling it up. The nutrition program we offer at Happy Bodies allows me to fully express my creativity. Currently, twenty people have completed the first eight-week program, and a remarkable ninety percent have achieved good results. People lose up to two pounds per week. That's the beauty of such a customized program: the Milon circle, which is completely tailored to your body, and the VYTAL nutrition app with a personalized nutrition plan.

Frank Reijn has been working in the fitness industry for almost 30 years. It's safe to say he's a veteran. At the end of 2019, he switched to Happy Bodies. He fell for the concept because effective training in 35 minutes with the Milon circle is the solution for a large group of people. In this blog post, Frank explains who he is and why he believes Happy Bodies is the perfect balance between the masses of large-scale gyms and the price tag of a personal trainer.

From DJ to own fitness club

In 1993, I more or less fell into the fitness industry. My then-wife was teaching aerobics classes, but there were far too few good music mixes available. I figured, "What's not there, needs to be there," so I started working as a freelance DJ and producer of music mixes for all kinds of sports classes. It wasn't long before I started teaching fitness classes myself, and in 1996, I opened my own fitness center. At that fitness center, we also used the Milon circle, the fully automated circle with fitness equipment that Romano mentioned in his previous blog post. I met Jibbe, one of the three owners of Happy Bodies, at Milon Benelux, and he told me about the concept he and his partners had created with Happy Bodies. That sounded like music to my ears. In 2020, I decided to become a franchisee and opened a club in Noordwijk.

Perfect middle ground

What's great about the Happy Bodies concept is that it's the perfect balance between the masses of large-scale gyms and the price tag of a personal trainer. While many large gyms do offer guidance, it's often one-time and certainly not intensive or personalized. On the other hand, not everyone can afford a personal trainer, as they generally come with a hefty price tag. With Happy Bodies, we combine the best of both worlds. You pay considerably less than for a personal trainer and still receive the personalized guidance that many people value.

Personal guidance, without the price tag of a personal trainer

Our coaching is very intensive. You'll have two initial sessions with your coach to ensure all the equipment and exercises are perfectly suited to your needs and body. Initially, we'll simply walk you through the entire program. This allows us to provide additional explanation where needed and make any necessary adjustments. After that, we'll schedule five more sessions to help you get into a good workout routine. Just like a personal trainer, we'll be the friendly yet forceful motivator to truly commit to your workouts. Every seven sessions, we'll evaluate how you're doing and measure your body fat and muscle mass percentage. We'll adjust your plan as needed. We don't let anyone mess around and ensure you make consistent progress.

Smart nutrition app

At Happy Bodies, we recently started using a smart nutrition app that allows us to create personalized meal plans. Nutrition is crucial when training, whether you want to lose weight, gain weight, build muscle, or lose fat. With over two thousand recipes and a personalized daily menu, everyone can work towards their goals, together with the coach. We take macronutrients, allergies, dietary preferences, and preparation time into account.

If losing weight were a sport, it would be the most popular sport in the Netherlands. Unfortunately, for most, if not all, people, losing weight is a necessary evil. Sometimes it's purely aesthetic, but more often than not, it's truly essential for health. While everyone associates losing weight with nutrition and exercise, almost no one knows that stable blood sugar levels are the secret to a healthy weight. Curious how that works? Read on.

In this article

• What is your blood sugar level?
• Risks of high or low blood sugar levels
• Losing weight with unstable blood sugar levels
• Tips for stable blood sugar levels

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What is your blood sugar level?

Your blood sugar level is a measure of the amount of sugar in your blood. You're probably thinking, "Ugh, sugar in my blood?" But that's not how it works. Your body needs fuel to function. Energy is burned for all the tasks you perform, including unconscious tasks like breathing, digestion, and your heartbeat.
Your body gets this energy from several sources, but the most common are:

1. Glycogen stores (fast energy, stored in your muscles)
2. Fat reserves

To maintain our energy levels, we need to eat enough. In our current society, that's not the biggest problem. A bigger challenge is getting the right food, but more on that later.

Fuel for your body

Food is, of course, our fuel. But our diet consists of various macronutrients and micronutrients. Today, we'll focus on macronutrients, and more specifically, carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are very important for our bodies; they provide essential sugars.
It works like this:

1. When you eat, carbohydrates are converted into glucose by your body.
2. Glucose is a form of sugar that provides your cells with energy
3. Your blood transports the glucose through the body
4. If you have too much glucose in your body, your pancreas produces insulin.
5. This insulin binds to the glucose and ensures that it is removed more quickly.

Risks of high or low blood sugar levels

High Blood Sugar

High blood sugar means there's too much glucose in your blood. An ideal level is between 4 and 7 mmol/liter. Above 7 mmol/liter, we call it high blood sugar, or in medical terms, hyperglycemia (hyperglycemia).
In our consumer society, high blood sugar is a common problem. This is because we eat so many processed foods, which are primarily composed of carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are very important for you, but we (unconsciously) eat so much of them that we constantly have high blood glucose levels.
Risky products:

• white bread, white pasta, white rice
• potatoes
• sugars in sweets, biscuits and pastries
• snacks, in-between meals and,
• ready-made meals.

Our body therefore spends a lot of time getting rid of that glucose. Your body uses insulin for this. Insulin is produced by your pancreas.

There are two possible risks here:

1. Your body is no longer sensitive to insulin
2. Your pancreas no longer produces enough insulin.

The danger is that your body will no longer be able to properly eliminate this sugar, resulting in persistently high blood sugar levels. At that point, you run the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

Low Blood Sugar 

Low blood sugar means there's too much insulin in the blood. Insulin removes glucose (sugar), so if insulin works too hard, you develop low blood sugar. This is also called hypoglycemia (hypo).
Too much insulin in your blood occurs in the following way:

1. Diabetic patients who inject too much insulin
2. By eating a lot of processed and refined products

In the latter case, your body actually reacts too late and too harshly. Our blood sugar levels initially rise faster than our bodies realize.
The pancreas's delayed response then causes an excess of insulin, which is why your blood sugar drops so sharply.

You recognize low blood sugar by:

• Feeling listless after a meal (After Dinner Dip)
• Feeling hungry after meals (binge eating)
• Irritation from a delayed meal.
   

Losing weight with unstable blood sugar levels

Losing weight with unbalanced or unstable blood sugar levels is very difficult. There are several reasons for this. We'll start with where we left off in the previous chapter: the after-dinner slump and binge eating.

Vicious circle

The well-known after-dinner dip, or feeling of hunger after a meal, puts you at increased risk of eating again (and usually poorly). Too much sugar leads to high blood sugar, which in turn leads to excess insulin, resulting in low blood sugar.
To turn that listless feeling into an energetic one, you reach for quick energy. This quick energy is often loaded with calories, which prevents you from losing weight.

Burn sugar instead of fat

As long as your body has sufficient sugar, it sees no reason to switch to burning fat. As we mentioned earlier, our bodies have multiple energy systems and stores. For quick energy (a sprint, a quick walk up the stairs, getting up from a chair), your body uses its glycogen stores. This is its glucose supply. Only when this is depleted does it switch to another store.

Too much sugar turns into fat

Insulin transports excess glucose from your blood to your body's cells. The idea is that it transports this to your muscles so it can be stored as quick energy (glycogen stores). However, these stores fill up quickly. As a result, the excess glucose is absorbed into your fat cells. And that's exactly what we don't want, right?

Tips for stable blood sugar levels
Stable blood sugar levels give you energy throughout the day, allow for a higher degree of controlled eating, and have significant long-term health benefits.
Below are some tips to promote this:

• Exercise and movement are the best medicine against chronic diseases and high blood sugar levels => 1 x every 5 days and only 35 minutes at a time is sufficient
• Try to add enough healthy fats to your meal.
• Try to eat plenty of fiber, which acts as a cushion against your intestinal wall, preventing sugars from entering all at once. You can get fiber from vegetables, for example.
• Eat some vegetables half an hour before eating a large plate of spaghetti or sandwiches.
• Or, less tasty, take a glass of water with ten percent vinegar half an hour before your meal
• Take a walk after eating, even if it's just a short one. Exercise requires energy and helps you use up excess sugar.