If you eat what you've always eaten...

FITT

When thinking about starting an exercise program or wanting to change your current program there are a few things you need to think about. FITT
Frequency
Intensity
Time
Type

Depending on whether you are looking for Health and Wellness Benefits, Fitness Benefits or Performance benefits those four things should be different.  Here are some guidelines.
                   Health & Wellness                 
Frequency    3-5 days Moderate intensity
Intensity      50-60% MHR                 
Time            30-60min @ 50-60mhr                    
Type            Steady and continuous. low intensity                
                 Fitness Benefits
                  5-7days Moderate intensity.
                  70-85% MHR
                 20-60min @ 70-85mhr
                 Steady continuous
                 Performance Benefits
                  5-6 days moderate-high intensity
                  90% MHR
                 20min-2hrs depend on intensity

                 Steady, continuous
- for health & wellness, fitness and performance you should incorporate as much large muscle mass as you can i.e. legs and hip muscles, core (ab and back). Incorporating small muscle groups (such as arm and shoulders) at the same time will burn more calories.

(MHR = max heart rate calculated using the formula  220-age )

Quick Tips

To move more and boost your metabolism by keeping your muscles active throughout the day.

1. Walk when you talk - when you're on the phone, walk around, or pace back and forth.

2. Walk down the hallway to speak to a co-worker rather than emailing. Standford Research Prevention Center found that emailing rather than talking will result in a 10 pound weight gain over 10 years.

3. Lift while you watch - get yourself some weights and do arm exercises while you watch TV. Try bicep curls, tricep curls, shoulder press, shoulder fly..

4.  Fidget More - shaking your foot, bouncing your leg, tapping your fingers, doing calf raises - it all adds up and studies show that fidgeting actually burns a lot of calories.

5. Laugh more - and I mean laugh - laugh til your belly and your cheeks hurt. Belly laughing 100 times is an aerobic exercise similar to 10 minutes on the rowing machine.

-All these tips and more can be found in the Best Health Health Weight-Loss Revolution summer edition.  On stands now

eat at home

The average Canadian household spends about 30% of their food budget on eating out.  People who eat out more often tend to eat less-healthy foods and be heavier.
Want to try saving some money and maybe cut back on some calories? Eat at home.
besthealthmag.com suggegests keeping track of how often you eat out and how much money you are spending at restaurants and then cutting back gradually.

Interesting fact:  the rise in obesity over the past 30 years has fallen closely inline with the decline in cooking meals at home.

to check out 9 otherways to drop a few pounds or be healthier click here






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Diet vs. Exercise

Women's Health recently discussing whether its diet or exercise that is the most important. They looked at 6 common situations.
Here's what they found

To Lose Weight - Diet
To Boost Energy - Exercise
Reduce the Risk of Heart Disease - Diet
Prevent Type 2 Diabetes - Exercise
To Prevent Cancer - BOTH - plant based diet and consistent exercise
Improve Mood - Exercise

To read the full article including reasons why they came to these conclusions check out the article here

To sum up - both diet and exercise are vital to living a healthy lifestyle. Avoid yo-yo dieting or yo-yo exercising and try to maintain consistency with both. Everything in moderation

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Megan's story

First, a little background: Megan and I met about 10 years ago.. maybe closer to 11. We met in Jr.High and have been friends ever since. When Megan told me she wanted to start working out I was excited to offer up all sort of information I was learning at school. We went to the gym, I showed her some exercise, we did a circuit that nearly killed us, and we talked about goals. Cut to 9 months later and Megan is still at it. Here's her story

One day in September 2009 I looked in the mirror and muttered "how did I let it come to this?!" I am 5'3" and at the time weighed 171 pounds, size 12. That day was a huge eye opener for me, a chance to make a positive change. My plan was to go to the gym and hope to find motivation there. I worked out at the gym for about 3 months but I didn't look forward to working out. I just didn't seem to enjoy it, and so i stopped going.
I decided to look into routines that I would be able to do at home (in my room). I already had a few random exercise DVD's, so I went out and bought a set of weights. I found a great source for exercise instructions and routines that have been working perfect at home; The Women's Health Big Book of Exercises. As the name states the book is full of exercises for the entire body. I find working out at home to be more comfortable for me and of course more convent.
My motivation is all within. I want to make a positive change to my life! I try to record my progress and this challenges me to work harder and make sure I meet my weekly goals. When setting weekly goals for myself I try to make them a challenge, yet obtainable. And when I feel like I can not push through one more set my music keeps me going!!
PS I currently weight 135 pounds, size 6. :)

3500 calories

Yesterday I mentioned that you need a deficit of 3500 calories to lose 1 pound of fat. So what exactly does that mean?
Everyone has a unique daily recommended calorie intake. This is based on age, weight, activity level and whether you are male or female.  Lets say your daily recommened intake is 1500 calories.
This is how many calories you need to eat in order to maintain your weight.
So lets say you eat 2000 calories a day, and burn 500 calories a day at the gym. Your net intake equals your recommended intake and you will maintain your current weight.
If you eat 2000 calories a day and burn 700 calories exercising every day after 7 days you will have a deficit of 4900 calories, or 1.4 pounds.
If you eat 2000 calories a day and don't exercise at all you will be in excess 500 calories each day. After 7 days you will have accumulated 3500 calories or 1 pound of fat.
How exactly do excess calories become jiggly thighs?
Anytime you have an excess of any food group - carbs, protein or fat - the body coverts it to fat and stores it in your adipose (fat) tissue.
So the trick is to not consistently take in more calories than you need.

Trying to lose a bit of weight? Don't fall for the latest fad/product/diet ect that promises "lose 7lbs in 7 days" - instead aim for slow and stead. A deficit of about 500 calories a day is a safe number to aim for. Try to cut out 250 calories a day from food, and burn 250 extra calories a day through exercise.
Trying to gain a bit of weight? Increase calorie intake through complex carbohydrates (ie. whole grains, fruit and vegetables), lean proteins (chicken, turkey, salmon, tofu), and unsaturated fat (ie avacados, salmon, almonds).  Avoid the unhealthy versions like simple sugars (ie. white sugar, white rice, and white bread), too much red meat or cured meats (ie. deli meat, bacon, steak), and saturated fat and avoid Trans Fat whenever possible.