Keys to an Effective Fitness Program (Part 3 of 5): Lifting Weights

The third key component to an effective fitness program is:

LIFTING WEIGHTS

Who wants something that works for you while you're not doing anything? I'm assuming everyone does, which means everyone wants muscle! Besides making your body toned, helping you do everyday things more easily and allowing you to do new things with your added strength, muscle burns fat while you aren't even working out.

Ladies: don't worry about bulking up! That just won't happen. You'd have to be lifting lots of low reps of seriously heavy weights, eating tons of protein, or using some "supplements" you shouldn't be.

Weight lifting should be a part of everyone's fitness program.

It increases your metabolism.

It makes you perform better in other activities i.e.. legs with more muscle have more power and run faster.

It increases bone density, which is very important as we age.

It makes you strong. This may not be one of your goals, but it should be. You should be able to lift your groceries, laundry, children, etc without struggle and injury.

It makes you look good. Who doesn't want a toned body?

And, all of these things make you feel better and more confident. So...get lifting!

Check back tomorrow for the 4th key component to achieving a better level of fitness :)

Keys to an Effective Fitness Program (Part 2 of 5): Mixing It Up

The second key component to an effective fitness program is:

MIXING IT UP!
The majority of the time, when people are working out on their own, they wind up doing the same thing—over and over—for weeks, months & even years. I was guilty of this in my 20's. For years, I ran the same course, every day. I got to a point where my body stopped changing and I wasn't getting any faster. I just assumed I had gotten as thin, fit & fast as I ever would. (Wrong.)

Then, when the running took its toll on my knees, I started taking spin classes—5 days a week. My body changed. And, the cardio was different from the steady-state cardio I had been doing, so it was challenging. But after months of doing the same thing, once again, I stopped progressing (and now my thighs were bigger from spinning so much). But, I continued to spin—day after day, week after week—thinking I was getting a great workout and I had just reached my peak.

Don't get me wrong, I do think spinning is a great workout, and, I do enjoy a long run. But, if you do any exercise or workout program over and over, your body becomes more & more efficient at it. Therefore, you burn less calories and will see less and less differences in your body as time goes on.

One of the quotes up in my gym is "You can't change your life without making changes". This is true for your body. When I started mixing up what I was doing (which included lifting weights), my body started to change. And, I was shocked by the changes.

I know you're comfortable in your routine. I know you love running / spinning / kick class, and the thought of stopping it and trying something new freaks you out. It freaked me out. But, if you've been doing the same thing for an extended period of time and have "plateaued", you need to at least mix it up, if not take a break from it for a while.

Try something new. Lift weights; take a boot camp class. Hopefully, you'll find new things you enjoy doing and, in the process, make changes that may shock you!

Check back tomorrow for the 3rd key component to achieving a better level of fitness :)

Keys to an Effective Fitness Program (Part 1 of 5): HIIT

Often, when people contact me about training, it's because they are not seeing results from what they've been doing on their own. I know that's very frustrating—to actually be putting in the time and effort to workout & not notice a difference in how you look & feel.

There are 5 key components to making sure your fitness program is effective. I'm going to discuss them in 5 separate posts over the next 5 days.

The first key component is: HIGH-INTENSITY INTERVAL TRAINING

Steady-state cardio (walking, running, cycling at the same pace for the whole time) is certainly better than sitting on the couch and watching tv, but if we're ranking exercises by return-on-investment, it goes at the bottom. It's necessary if you're training for a long distance event, and some people (myself included) enjoy a long run. If you fall into either of those categories, then by all means, run like Forrest Gump :) 

But, if your goal is fat loss you'll want to do something that works harder for you. And, if you are short on time, as most of us are, you'll want to do the most efficient workout possible. The answer to both of those scenarios is high-intensity interval training.

The higher the intensity of what you're doing, the more it will benefit you—not only will it increase your cardiovascular endurance and fire up your metabolism, but it will keep your metabolism raised for hours after you've stopped working out. 

Since you won't be able to sustain a high-intensity for an extended period of time, you'll vary the intensities to give yourself time to lower your heart rate, catch your breath and feel ready to push yourself back up. For example: run 1 minute at a fast pace, then slow down to a slow jog for 2 minutes, then speed up again... You can do this with running, cycling, plyometrics, and even strength training.

Good news! These workouts won't be as long as the steady-state cardio you were doing. You can get a great cardiovascular, calorie-scorching, metabolism-raising workout in under half an hour. You just have to push yourself to those high intensities. If you haven't done this before, don't push it too hard—take time to build up your intensities. 

Give it a try and start feeling fit in a whole new way!

Check back tomorrow for the 2nd key component to achieving a better level of fitness :)

Time to Get Back on Track

For many of us, Labor Day is a lot like New Year's.

Summer, like the end of the year, is filled with family gatherings, parties, holidays and vacations. And, that means we often over-indulge and slack-off on our workouts.

Then, we look at Labor Day or New Year's as our fresh start. The time to get back on track. The time to try to undo the damage we've done over the past few months.

So, it's that time of year (or one of those times of year) again. It's time to get back on track. It's time to get back on a regular schedule. It's time to feel better. Sounds great, doesn't it?

Of course, it'd be better to stay consistent year-round - we all know that. And we will try better at doing that, right? 

In the meantime, what's good about Labor Day and New Year's, is that we are excited about being healthy. So, use that enthusiasm and take action right away—before it starts to fade!

But, be realistic. The enthusiasm that is driving you also can lead you to set unrealistic goals. Create a plan that you can stick to. Schedule what days you're going to workout. Plan your meals and meal preparation. Think about challenges you may face in keeping with your schedule and come up with ways to stick with it.

Ready? Great! Get started and you'll be feeling better in no time!

As always, I'm here to help you achieve your fitness goals, so feel free to reach out to me with questions :)

Fitting Healthy Meals into Your Busy Schedule

A common excuse I hear for people not sticking to healthy eating is lack of time. Since your health should be one of your top priorities (besides looking out for yourself, you can't take care of your family if you are in poor health!), it's important to find ways to eat nutritious meals.

Food can fuel your body in a  positive way—giving you energy and helping to fight off disease & inflammation, amongst other good things.  It can also make you feel sluggish, bloated, give you diabetes & clog up your arteries, amongst other very bad things.

Hopefully you're convinced now that you & your family should be eating healthy meals. But, you might be struggling with how to manage your busy schedule and find time to grocery shop, prepare and cook meals for one person, much less a family.

Here are a few ways to help:

1) Block off time at the beginning of the week—maybe Sunday evening—when you prepare ingredients & maybe even whole meals for the week.

• Chop vegetables & save in baggies/tupperware.
• Cook large portions of food that you can use over a few days.
• Grilled chicken is a great example of something you can cook in advance & use in multiple recipes (throw in salads & wraps; have as an entree with a side of veggies).
• I make a large serving bowl of quinoa with vegetables and eat it over the week (you can throw meat into it if you like). It couldn't be easier to make.

2) To save even more time, you can buy some things already chopped, mixed & cooked (I'm not talking about a pre-made foods or frozen dinners that have lots of preservatives! Stick to whole, healthy, unpreserved foods.) You'll pay extra for it, but it'll save you time, so you might decide it's worth it:

• Pre-cooked grilled chicken
• Pre-mixed greens (Trader Joe's has a great one called Cruciferous Crunch Collection. They also have some great prepared salads that aren't too expensive & last a couple of days in the frig.)
• Pre-chopped vegetables
• Cut-up fruit

3) Use a crock pot. Throw a bunch of ingredients in it in the morning; come home at night & your dinner is ready!

4) Shakeology—my favorite, easiest, healthiest meal. For those of you already drinking it, you've experienced its many benefits, but at the very least, it only takes about two minutes to prepare.

Use these ideas to help you do something great for yourself & your family—eat well! You deserve it!

Enjoy the Summer Without Packing on the Pounds

In some ways it's easy to eat "clean" in the summer—there is an abundance of fruits and vegetables available and grilling is a quick and healthy way to prepare meat and fish.

In other ways, summer poses a big challenge in terms of eating well. There are a lot of parties, happy hours, ball games, water parks, and pool & beach clubs that don't offer a lot of (if any) healthy food options. Instead, they serve a lot of junk & fried food, along with a lot of sugary and alcoholic drinks.

I know after last weekend, I was feeling a few pounds heavier & the summer has just begun. It's easy to get caught up in all-day grazing (& possibly drinking) while you're hanging out at the pool or beach. Before this gets too out of hand, be conscious of it & plan ahead.

If you're eating well all week, you are entitled to a "cheat meal". The problem is, many of us find ourselves in the predicament of being in these situations multiple times a week. I've been hearing this a lot and being asked what to do. So, here are some suggestions:

1) Eat before you go. Eat a healthy meal that fills you up & you'll be less likely to dive into the cheese fries & fried dough as soon as you get wherever you're going.

2) Bring your own food. I realize a lot of these situations are day outings, where a healthy breakfast before you go won't satisfy you for the entire day. In these situations, bring what you can. 

• If you're going to the beach, you can bring food for the day. Pack healthy wraps or pre-packed salads for lunch and fruit & veggies to snack on. 
• If you're going to a party, look for some healthy options (veggies) to fill up a little bit before you head over to the wings. Better yet- bring a healthy dish that you enjoy. If your hosts aren't serving anything healthy, at least you'll have what you brought.
• If you're going to a ball game or water park, you'll have a bigger challenge. You can bring some small snacks (nuts, Kind bar, apple) in your bag. 

3) In cases where you are stuck without your own food:

• Look for a salad. It might not be great, but usually there is some version of a salad available. Choose a vinaigrette dressing if you can.
• Salvage the good stuff. Look for something that contains grilled chicken & eat that with any lettuce or tomato that you can get with it.  Scrape off heavy sauces, cheeses & ditch the accompanying fries (telling them to serve it to you without that stuff is the best option, so it's not tempting you).  If chicken's not an option, do the same with a burger—ditch the bun & fries.
• See if you can find frozen yogurt. While this is more of a desert, it's better than most of the food options at those places.
• Pretzels are probably the best snack option at most of those places: either a big, soft, ball park one with mustard, or pre-packed hard ones.

4) Drink lots of water! Besides helping to keep you hydrated, flushing toxins & boosting your immune system, water increases your metabolism, helps build & repair muscles, and makes you feel full.

5) Stay active! While controlling what you consume is the most important part of controlling your weight, staying active will burn calories. AND, time spent playing tennis, riding your bike,  swimming, etc, will keep you away from those tempting foods & drinks for a while.

Summertime fun may be a challenge to your healthy lifestyle, but YOU CAN ENJOY IT without packing on the pounds! Start these habits now and continue them throughout the year :)

It's Hot! Stay Hydrated!

This week the tri-state area experienced temperatures in the 90s and humidity that makes it hard to breathe. Without even looking at the calendar, we know that summer has finally arrived.  But, after the horrible winter we had, even with the oppressive heat, we're outdoors. We swore during those snowy days that we wouldn't complain about the heat—if it would just get here! So, now we're running, biking, hiking, playing beach volleyball & soccer in the blistering sun. 

It feels great to be outdoors and active, but we need to make sure we stay hydrated. I can't stress this enough. I'm constantly telling my clients to drink water and they respond that they don't need it. Well, guess what? You do need water! All day long! And, you need to drink more water when you are working out. And, you need to drink even more water when it's hot out.

A good measure for how much water you should normally be drinking is half your bodyweight in ounces. So, if you weigh 150 lbs, you should be drinking 75 oz of water a day. Sound like a lot? We need it! Water is essential to almost all bodily functions. It helps digestion and metabolic function, hydrates brain cells, eliminates toxins, provides elasticity to muscles & joints, and regulates body temperature, amongst other things.

When you're working out in the in heat, you need to consume even more water. And, don't wait until you're thirsty! By the time you're feeling parched, you're on your way to becoming dehydrated. 

You should start drinking water before you exercise—17-20 oz 2 hours prior to exercise, then another 8 oz 30 min before your workout. You should continue to drink 8 oz every 15 minutes during exercise and for 30 min afterwards.

If your workout lasts one hour or less, water is sufficient for hydration. For longer bouts of exercise, you can have a sports drink or coconut water.

Fruits are another way to hydrate. Berries and melons have as much as 80% water content. So, enjoy the fruits of summer!

Alcohol, on the other hand, is not another good way to hydrate. It is a diuretic, taking water from the body. So, if you're enjoying a few beers during or after your activity of choice, make sure you are also drinking water!

You get the point. Enjoy the summer. Get outside. Be active. Stay hydrated.