Why work out?

If I asked a group of people in a gym why they were working out I would get a variety of answers that all focus on looking better. Statements such as, I want bigger arms, I want smaller legs, or I want a six pack. Not to many people would say they want to lower their cholesterol or they want to lessen their chances of getting diabetes.

In today's society, we are all so focused on looks. We see athletes, actors, and models in magazines and on television and believe we will never look like that, so why try? The truth is, it's hard work to look like that. But the truth also is that they are paid to be in that kind of shape and they have time to work out 3-4 hours a day, unlike the normal person.

Even though we may never have that six pack or those 21 inch biceps, exercise does help us to be healthy in ways other than looking good. With 20-30 minutes a day of light to moderate exercise, we can:

• Lower our risk of heart disease
• Lower our cholesterol
• Lower our chance of diabetes
• Improve our flexibility
• Lower the risk of some forms of cancer
• Increase weight loss
• Improve our mood
• Boost our energy
• Promote better sleep
• Lower high blood pressure

Sure, 20-30 minutes a day of exercise will not give you the body of a Greek God, but it will increase your chances of living longer and will increase your quality of life. So get going! What are you waiting for? Go for a walk or a bike ride. Go play catch with your kid in the yard. Get up off the couch, away from the television and get moving!

What it takes to lose 10 pounds

Everyone knows what it takes to lose weight. You must exercise and eat healthier. You lose weight when you burn more calories than you take in. It sounds simple. And in fact it is. I want to talk today about what it takes to lose 10 pounds.

One pound of weight is equal to 3,500 calories. If you want to lose 10 pounds, you must create a deficit of 35,000 calories (3500 X 10). The healthy way to do this is to lose 1-2 pounds per week. So in my example of trying to lose 10 pounds, your goal would be to do this in 5-10 weeks.

So let's say you make a goal of losing 1 pound per week for the next 10 weeks to get to your 10 pound weight loss goal. To lose 1 pound a week, you need to have a deficit of 3,500 calories. 3,500 divided by 7 days a week equals 500 calories a day. If you have a deficit of 500 calories a day for 7 days, you will lose 1 pound in that week.

So what do I mean by a deficit? Let's say you normally eat 2500 calories per day to keep your body weight steady. In order to lose that 1 pound for that week, you would need to either eat 2000 calories per day or burn an extra 500 calories per day through exercise. That would create a 500 calorie deficit.

The best way to go about this is to do a combination of exercise and eating less. For instance, only eat 2200 calories and then do some form of exercise that burns 200 calories. That would get you to the 500 calorie deficit also.

I mentioned in my last blog a online tool that helps track the food you eat and the calories you consume. That website is Myfitnesspal.com. The website is free to use and it will help you in your goal to lose weight.  I highly recommend it as a food journal and to help you create and track the calorie deficit that you need to succeed to meet your weight loss goal.

Good luck!!

Fitness Website

Hi,

I just wanted to talk today about a very good fitness website that will help you stay on track with your fitness goals. The website is Myfitnesspal.com. The website is free to join and use.

On the website, you can enter your weight loss goals and it will calculate your nuitritional needs based on those goals. It tells you how many calories you should eat, how many carbs, how much protein, etc to be able to lose 1-2 pounds per week which is the healthy way to lose weight.

It also has a huge food database where you can keep track of the food you eat every day and it compares it to your goals to show how you are doing for the day.

There is also a section to add your workouts. This is helpful because it will take your workouts into consideration when calculating calories. For example, if the website tells me that I should be eating 2400 calories a day to lose 1-2 per week, but I burn 600 calories in my workout for that day, I can still eat 3000 calories for that day since I am at the 2400 overall.

Take a peek at Myfitnesspal.com. I really do think it would be beneficial to your weight loss goals.

Something To Think About

If a doctor told you that you had do chemotherapy for 2 1/2 hours a week in order to eliminate cancer, you would do it, right? Then why do we not exercise?

The American Heart Association says that 2 1/2 hours of exercise a week is enough to lower the chances of these life threatening diseases:

 

1. Coronary heart disease

2. Stroke

3. High Blood Pressure

4. Type 2 Diabetes

5. Colon Cancer

6. Breast Cancer

7. High Cholesterol

8. Obesity

 

And along with a lower risk of these diseases, exercise also improves cardio respiratory and muscular fitness, improves our body composition, reduces symptoms of depression and increases our flexibility.

I know a lot of people say the reason they do not exercise is they don't have the time. You need to make the time. Exercise needs to be a top priority in your life. The lack of physical activity in our lives is slowly killing us and it is easily preventable. Instead of sitting down and watching 3 hours of American Idol (and eating a bag of chips in the process) go for a walk, ride a bike, go for a swim, lift some weights, do some yoga, etc. You can watch your show AFTER you exercise.

If we exercise for a 1/2 hour a day, 5 days a week, we will start to see health benefits in as little as 3 weeks. We will start to feel better and look better.

Start today! Make a goal of doing some sort of physical activity for 1/2 hour a day, 5 days a week for the next 3 weeks. Track your progress. I guarantee you will see improvements in your health and you will feel better about yourself.

 

Healthy Breakfast

Today I have a recipe for you that is a healthy and energy filled way to start your day. I found it in the Body Beast workout program which is one of the many programs created by Beachbody.

2/3 cups Instant Oatmeal

1 Tablespoon Walnuts

1/4 Cup Blueberries

1/4 Unsweetened Almond Milk (Can be found in most grocery stores)
1 Scoop Chocolate Gold Standard 100% Whey Protein (I use Optimum Nutrition 100% Whey Gold Standard)

 

Make the Oatmeal according to the package and then mix it with all other ingrediants. Simple.

 

Nutritional Information

 

Calories: 439

Carbs: 39 grams

Fat: 14 grams

Protein: 34 grams

 

I usually eat this on the mornings that I know I will be doing some cardio work later in the day. I've noticed that my energy level has also increased on the days that I've had this in the morning.

 

 

 

 



Fact or Fiction.....

I haven't written anything in a very long time but now I'm back. My topic today is Fact or Fiction....Does working out at lower intensities really burn more fat (the fat-burning zone) than higher intensity workouts? I have heard of a lot of people that don't quite understand what this means. The theory behind it is that if you exercise in a zone of 50-60% of your maximum effort, you will burn more fat than exercising in a higher intensity level.This is incorrect and I'm going to explain why.

It's true that a higher percentage of body fat is used as fuel at lower intensities. However, at higher intensities, more total calories are burned. Therefore, even though a higher percentage of fuel comes from fat during low-intensity exercise, more total calories are burned during high intensity exercise thereby increasing the amount of fat burned. Working out at higher intensities improves body composition more effectively and also contributes to larger increases in cardiorepiratory fitness.

Just remember, it's all about the calories. The more calories you burn, the more fat you are going to burn. That's it for today.