Workout Trainer: 6 Easy Shopping Tips for A Healthier Life

Workout Trainer by Skimble: 6 Easy Shopping Tips for A Healthier Life

The trick to losing weight and saving money is to learn how to fill your shopping cart correctly. Your kitchen plays an equally important part in your weight loss journey as your gym, so it’s important to make sure you shop smart and have access to the right foods to help reach your health and fitness goals. The food you eat has the biggest impact on your health, your body weight, and your wallet. Skimble Trainer Darlene Adamusik has 6 easy shopping tips to help you find the correct foods while saving money, calories, and improving your time management—all without breaking a sweat!

Workout Trainer by Skimble: 6 Easy Shopping Tips for A Healthier Life

You’ll want to get familiar with your local grocery stores. Compare prices and figure out what your best options are. You may end up bouncing back and forth between different stores for certain items, so don’t be lazy if you want to save money. If you have Sprouts, Trader Joe’s, or Aldi I would recommend trying those first since they tend to be the cheapest. Whole Foods is usually more expensive, but if you can’t find certain items at other stores, it may be your only option at times. Let’s start with some basic tips to help fill your cart in the best way!Workout Trainer by Skimble: 6 Easy Shopping Tips for A Healthier LifeLook out for these two labels while you browse around the grocery store; Organic and Non-GMO. Both suppliers and products carrying these labels have been put through a USDA approved screening process, so you can rest assured of what you’ll be putting in your body when consuming them.Workout Trainer by Skimble: 6 Easy Shopping Tips for A Healthier LifeIf something has the USDA Organic label on it, it means it’s produced without the use of pesticides and synthetic fertilizers, including no antibiotics nor growth hormones. If a food item has the Non-GMO label, it contains no genetically modified organisms such as those created to chemically resist or produce pesticides. You can learn more about GMOs by heading over to the Non-GMO project website and downloading their handy iOS or Android app. You can often find affordable Organic and/or Non-GMO labeled grocery options through Trader Joe’s, Sprouts and Whole Foods generic store brands.

With that, let’s learn about general grocery shopping tips to help you eat healthy while saving money:

1. Start Outside and Work Your Way In

Start on the outer edges of the grocery store first and save the middle aisles until last. This means you’ll be starting in the produce and the bulk sections. Make sure to go all around these sections, your clean eating starts here! Look for what’s in season, on sale, and think “rainbow” to add some color. This is where you’ll find the natural, non-processed foods. Stock up well on these items first. The foods that are contained in the center aisles are mostly processed, so as a general rule, the less of your food that comes from the center aisles, the better. A lot of bulk items are cheap too, so don’t forget to check them out to compare prices!

Workout Trainer by Skimble: 6 Easy Shopping Tips for A Healthier Life

Workout Trainer by Skimble: 6 Easy Shopping Tips for A Healthier LifeIf you want to save money on your produce, find a local farmer’s market near you. Farmer’s markets are often cheaper on produce, so if can, take advantage and support the locals! The goal should be to get all your fruits and vegetables for $20 or less per week.


2. Scan the Top and Bottom Shelves

When it’s time to go to the center aisles, try to avoid selecting foods from the eye level shelf and focus more on the top or bottom shelves. Many of the larger food companies pay extra money to place their products on eye level shelves, which usually means that more unhealthy and processed foods will be there, and conversely more of the healthy options will be on the top and bottom shelves.

Workout Trainer by Skimble: 6 Easy Shopping Tips for A Healthier Life


3. Read the Ingredients

Always take a look at the ingredients first, even before you look at the calories! Another general rule here is the shorter the list of ingredients, the better because a shorter list of ingredients will tend to have less chemicals overall and therefore be healthier. Look for ingredients that are whole foods—ingredients that you already know without having to Google them. When comparing two items and deciding which one is better for you, pick the one that appears to be the least processed.

Workout Trainer by Skimble: 6 Easy Shopping Tips for A Healthier Life


4. When it comes to Ingredients, Order is Important

When looking at the list of ingredients on a particular product, look at the order of the list. The first three ingredients listed are typically what they use the most of. If an item includes sugar, high fructose corn syrup, or natural sweetener amongst the first few ingredients, put it back on the shelf!

Workout Trainer by Skimble: 6 Easy Shopping Tips for A Healthier Life


5. Avoid Key Words

It always helps to know the marketing strategies of certain key words. These key words are usually expensive because they know how to target an audience. Some key words are “gluten-free”, “ sugar-free”, “natural sweetener”, “fat-free”, “natural“, “mom approved”, and so on… Learn the lingo because it can get tricky! For example, if a product says “less fat”, that may only mean 1-2g less fat, but it can also mean that the product is more processed, contains more sodium or sugar, and costs more money. Another key word to be aware of is “multigrain”, which can mean that a lot of the nutritional value was stripped from the product. Whereas “whole grain” means that the entire grain kernel was used, which is better for you.

Workout Trainer by Skimble: 6 Easy Shopping Tips for A Healthier Life


6. Avoid Packaged Products

Pre-packaged foods are generally not good for you and usually cost more money. Essentially, when packaged and processed, a lot of the nutritional value is stripped away from the foods. Avoid products that are packaged and just eat the real versions of that food. For example, instead of eating vegetable chips or drinking fruit juices you’re much better off eating real vegetables or whole fruits. Packaged foods are simply empty calories, lots of sugar, tons of sodium, and cost more money.

Workout Trainer by Skimble: 6 Easy Shopping Tips for A Healthier Life

Workout Trainer by Skimble: 6 Easy Tips for a Healthier Life

Workout Trainer by Skimble: 6 Easy Shopping Tips for A Healthier Life

Workout Trainer for Android - Google Play store downloadWorkout Trainer for iOS - iTunes App Store downloadTeam Skimble

Skimble’s Trainer Spotlight: Tina Filippi

Skimble's Workout Trainer: Trainer Spotlight: Tina Filippi

Meet Tina, Workout Trainer‘s latest featured Verified Trainer! This busy bee decided to combine her background in medicine, fitness, and business to do something she’s truly passionate about. A few years ago, Tina Filippi started her own brand called Team Fearless Fitness to offer online personal training that thrives on helping clients reach their health and fitness goals.

We recently had the chance to chat with Tina about her business in the bay area and how Skimble makes her life, as well as her clients’ lives easier every day.

Q 1. Tell us a bit about your background and how you initially got involved in fitness?

Tina: In 2011, I started my own fitness journey. I needed to loose the 20 lbs I gained since high school, but I didn’t know much about fitness nor weight loss training since I only ever participated in team sports and dance in school. This is when I first discovered Beachbody programs and their amazing motivational coaches. They really helped me get back on track, and I knew I wanted to pay it forward.

Skimble's Workout Trainer: Trainer Spotlight: Tina

Q 2. What is your favorite workout style?

Tina: I love all forms of working out, from running to CrossFit to yoga. I like doing short, effective training sessions myself. Get in, work hard and get back to living life!

Q 3. How does Workout Trainer help you as a fitness professional? 

Tina: This app helps me share and motivate others so they can be inspired to live a healthy and fit lifestyle. I’m able to reach more people virtually and make a bigger impact on the world this way.

Q 4. What is your favorite feature in the app?

Tina: I love the ability to build your own workouts as well as boost morale with pictures! It goes a long way with clients in customizing their experience.

Skimble's Workout Trainer: Trainer Spotlight: Tina

Q 5. What keeps you motivated to stay fit yourself?

Tina: My clients keep me motivated! Seeing them healthy, happy and hitting goals keeps me on my toes and motivated to continue becoming a better coach.

Q 6. Share a secret fitness/health tip! 

Tina: Personal development is the key to success! You can eat clean, train every day, but if your mind isn’t in it, you’re bound to go back to unhealthy habits or give up easily when things get tough. I always tell my clients it’s a process. In order to see results, having a positive mindset is key.

Thanks for sharing with us, Tina! We’re looking forward to trying out the next workouts you create.

Skimble's Workout Trainer: Trainer Spotlight: Tina

Want to follow Tina and other great trainers? Download the Workout Trainer app for Android & iOS, then head on over to the new Trainers tab!

Are you a fitness professional? Want to become a Verified Trainer like Tina, and have access to free coaching tools and more? Get started on Skimble’s Trainer page.

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Skimble’s Trainer Spotlight: Micah Greer

Skimble's Workout Trainer: Verified Trainer Spotlight: Micah Greer

Meet Micah, Workout Trainer‘s latest featured Verified Trainer! He’s collaborated with the Skimble Team from the very beginning, so you may have noticed him in some Skimble workout photos and videos. Micah Greer lives in Austin, Texas and has a Masters in Physical Education with a concentration in Exercise Physiology. He’s been a professional fitness coach since 2006 with Personal Trainer qualifications from ACE and NASM, as well, he is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist® through the NSCA.

We recently had the chance to chat with Micah about his 10-year fitness career and his experiences with the Skimble Team so far.

Skimble's Workout Trainer: Verified Trainer Spotlight: Micah Greer

Q 1. What is your favorite workout style?

Micah: I do all types of workouts, but my favorites are always set outdoors in nature. Trail running and mountain biking have been a couple of my staples for several years. 

Q 2. You just got married — congrats! How did you train for your big day?

Micah: Yes! Thank you. I got married on March 4, 2016. Training was pretty similar to the norm. I usually do 2-3 days of weights, 1-2 days of a higher intensity weight/cardio mix, and another 2 days of trail running and/or mountain biking.

Q 3. What is your fondest memory from a multimedia shoot with Skimble?

Micah: Honestly, all of the shoots have been great! Some of the highlights are: breaking out the superhero costumes, seeing a Skimble push-up performed in person, and just being back in San Francisco after being away for a while.

Skimble's Workout Trainer: Verified Trainer Spotlight: Micah Greer

Q 4. What is a funny fitness moment you’ve had when training a client?

Micah: I’m going to tell you the first thing that popped in my head! This is a bit embarrassing, as well as funny. We laugh about it now so it’s worth sharing. A few weeks into training an older client, I had him finishing one of his harder workouts on the rower. This guy really liked to push himself! He was huffing and puffing, and almost done with his workout. As I was cheering him on, he exhaled forcefully and POP, out came his dentures. We were both in shock for a hot second. I didn’t really know how to deal with the situation. I felt so bad that I almost picked them up for him, but decided he should probably get them. Luckily he was a great sport and laughed it off. 

Q 5. LOL, indeed! What keeps you personally motivated to stay fit? 

Micah: My hunger for health, my wellness-focused career, other people, my wife, my dog, my love for the outdoors… You can find many motivations in your life, it’s only a matter of seeing them. Just pick one!

Q 6. To end it off, what is a ‘secret’ fitness tip you want to share?
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Micah’s fitness tip:  I love to emphasize isolated glute activation exercises, such as floor bridges and single leg floor bridges. This works especially well with newer clients, as it rids a lot of people of back pain and problems (if performed properly). It can also lead to bigger gains in weightlifting, and usually a bit more muscle on the backside.
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Thanks for sharing with us, Micah. See you next time, with or without your fancy fohawk!
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Skimble's Workout Trainer: Verified Trainer Spotlight: Micah Greer

Want to follow Micah and other great trainers? Download the Workout Trainer app for Android & iOS, then head on over to the new Trainers tab!

Are you a fitness professional? Want to become a Verified Trainer like Micah, and have access free coaching tools and more? Get started on Skimble’s Trainer page.

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