Weight Loss Tips

A couple of weeks ago I did a post on not over eating. Since this time of year is prime time for weight gain here are a few tips for weight loss. Trying to do the whole list every day can be very daunting, so maybe focus on one this week and see how you do. When you feel up to, try adding another.

This article had great tips that I think we can all use in our daily living...

Easy Ways to Lose Weight : What you Eat

Change what you eat...
-reduce red meat intake
-cut out fried foods
-start with soup or salad
-end with fruit

Change what you drink...
-cut or reduce soda intake
-drink lots of WATER!
-stop drinking diet drinks

Change what you do...
-keep a food diary
-learn about nutrition
-get a handle on emotional eating
-get MOVING!! (exercise, walking etc.

Ab work out

So lets talk abs for a minute...everyone wants them, and we all know how hard they are to get. I have been looking for great ab exercises and have found 10 that if done 3-4 times a week a know you will get the results you are looking for. The link is at the bottom of the page, so for now, I will just list the ab exercises you should do. Many of you have already done these, but it is always good to have them listed again so you can get crunching!

***For best results combine with cardio and strength training.

1. Bicycle Exercise
2. Captain's Chair Leg Raise

3. Exercise Ball Crunch


4. Vertical Leg Crunch

5. Torso Track
(sorry...no pic.)

The Torso Track is a tough exercise because it can hurt your back if you're not careful.

1. Grip the handles of the Torso Track and pull the abs in without holding your breath (as though bracing them).
2. Exhale and glide forward as far as you comfortably can. If you collapse in the middle and feel it in your back, you've gone too far.
3. Contract the abs to pull your body back.
4. Add tension by using more tension chords.

6. Long Arm Crunch

7. Reverse Crunch

8. Full Vertical Crunch

9. Ab Rocker
(sorry, no pic.)

The Ab Rocker (or roller) is number 9 for targeting the rectus abdominis. To do it right:

1. Sit on the Ab Rocker and grab the bars in each hand.
2. Contract the abs and rock forward, originating the movement from the abs rather than using momentum.
3. Release and repeat for 1-3 sets of 12-16 reps.
4. Go slowly to reduce momentum. Try to focus on the abs rather than pushing with the arms.

10. Plank (on elbows and toes)



Top 10 most effective ab exercises

Tips For NOT Overeating

Well folks it's that time of year again, the Thanksgiving feast will be served in three days. During this festive time of year many of us have a tendency to overeat...not only on Thanksgiving, but until the New Year has begun and we decide to re-evaluate our goals and our health. I have found 7 tips that I feel will be very useful during the holidays. I'm not saying we shouldn't enjoy and indulge a little, but my hope is that these tips will be good reminders to you through-out this season so we aren't continually feeling like we are bursting at the seams.

1) Most people tend to eat when they are bored.
Keep yourself pre-occupied between meals. Play games with friends and family, read a book, watch a movie, go for a walk (yes, even if there is snow on the ground. the fresh air will do you good) go sledding, etc. The list could go on, the point is, have a plan and stick to it!

2) Many eat much snack when they are stressed out.
Again, a 10-minute walk outside will help you to relax. A hot bath at the end of the day is always a great way to relax.

3) Socializing makes you eat more than you should.
At parties you will be offered many delicious foods, making it hard to control yourself to reasonable portions. What you can do is to eat a piece of fruit before you go out so your stomach feels less empty. Also, start with small portions, you can always go back for more and you will be surprised how quickly you get full.

4) Do not eat too fast.
Eat slowly. Sip water between bites. Chew thoroughly before swallowing.

5) Eat satisfying foods. Stay away from foods that give you a lot of calories for very little volume, such as soda drink and chocolate. The higher the fiber, protein, and water content of a food, the more likely it is to be satisfying in your stomach. Avoid eating lots of processed foods.

6) Use a smaller plate. When you looks at the small plate, your brain will tell you the portion is adequate.

7) Don’t eat while watching TV. You are looking at TV and not on your food. So, you tend to overeat even if you are already full.

***One more tip we don't really think about...GET ENOUGH SLEEP!! When you aren't getting enough sleep your body will be lacking energy, to compensate you will eat more. Your body needs to get energy from somewhere, if you aren't willing to sleep then your body will make you want to eat so that it can perform the daily tasks you require of it.

It's your turn to talk...

Have you ever had a ‘bad’ weekend as far as being healthy goes? Maybe you didn’t get your workout in or you ate your sugar intake for the month in one day…that was my about how my weekend went.

For me, having a bad day or a bad couple days has its benefits. It pushes me to really kick it into gear the next few weeks. I guess I can say I’m lucky that way, that falling below the line I like to meet daily pushes me to recommit and make new goals for myself immediately.

I know for most people when workouts are missed and diet plans goes down the drain it, more often than not, tends to turn into a snowball effect of bad events. One bad day leads to two, and then three and then before you know it it’s been three weeks and you may or may not be aware of how long it has been since you hit up the gym.

So this post is for the readers, what do you do to come back from a rough couple of days or weeks? Is it hard? Is it easy? Do you have a good friend or workout buddy that holds you accountable for the choices you make when it comes to exercise and eating good? Maybe it’s nothing that you even think about. SO tell me your story, this week I want to hear from you. Share your tips, because come on….who doesn’t like good advice?

Stability Ball Exercises

A good way to mix up you work outs is to incorporate a stability ball into your strength training. You might be doing bench press with weights while your neck and head rest on the ball, but at the same time you are engaging your core and getting a killer ab work out as well. There are many different exercises that can be done with a stability ball, but to get you started we will go over 4 different moves that I use frequently.

***Note-stability balls are for those who are more advanced and ready for a challenge. If you are just getting in to exercise I would recommend starting with more basic strength skills and working up adding a stability ball.

1. "Ball Pass"
This is a great exercise to work deep into your abs without even realizing you are doing so.

• Lie on your back holding an exercise ball and lift your feet so your shins are parallel to the floor.
• Lift your head, neck, and shoulders, and place the ball between your legs.
• Now lower your legs and reach your arms back.
• Come back up and grab the ball.
• Continue to pass the ball back and forth from your hands to your legs 10 to 12 times.

2."Stability Ball Hyperextension"
This is a great exercise to work the lower back muscles.

1. Lie on the belly on a stability ball. Position the legs straight in back with the toes touching the ground,and place the hands behind the head with the head down.
2. Raise the upper body off the ball and slowly return. If you are a beginner, your range of motion may be smaller than if you are more advanced.
3. To make this exercise more difficult, hold a weight plate behind the head.

3. "Stability Ball Sit-Ups"
Want to mix up your everyday sit-up routine? Try using a ball to make things just a bit harder. You can do side to side sit-ups and front sit-ups to start with.


4. "Stability Ball Bench Press"
Allow your upper back, neck and head to rest on the ball. You can use dumbbells or a bench press bar to perform this exercise. The less weight you use the easier the exercise becomes.

Hold the weights above your chest, elbows at a 90 degree angle. Push straight up and slowly come back down to starting position. Be careful not to let your arms go deeper than a 90 degree angle.

ZUMBA

The class highlight today is ZUMBA! This is one of my favorite classes to attend, there is so much energy in a Zumba class. It's fun, different and makes you want to come back for more.

About

Let's face it, working out can be healthy, rewarding and beneficial. Working out can be lots of things, but it's never been known to be an exhilarating experience…UNTIL NOW!

The Zumba® program fuses hypnotic Latin rhythms and easy-to-follow moves to create a one-of-a-kind fitness program that will blow you away. Our goal is simple: We want you to want to work out, to love working out, to get hooked. Zumba® Fanatics achieve long-term benefits while experiencing an absolute blast in one exciting hour of calorie-burning, body-energizing, awe-inspiring movements meant to engage and captivate for life!

The routines feature interval training sessions where fast and slow rhythms and resistance training are combined to tone and sculpt your body while burning fat. Add some Latin flavor and international zest into the mix and you've got a Zumba® class!

In the past years, the Zumba® program has become nothing short of a revolution, spreading like wildfire, and positioning itself as the single most influential movement in the industry of fitness.

As of July 2009, the Zumba® program is being taught at over 40,000 locations in 75 countries, has sold millions of DVDs, and has changed the lives of Zumba® Fanatics worldwide with an astonishing five million participants taking Zumba classes every week.

Why? Because it's the best party around.

History

Celebrity fitness trainer, "Beto" Perez, stumbled upon the concept of Latin-inspired dance-fitness in his native Cali, Colombia in the mid-‘90s.

One day, he walked into his aerobics class and realized he had forgotten his aerobics music. Thinking quickly, he grabbed whatever tapes he had in his backpack. Beto's tapes were comprised of songs he loved, the traditional Latin salsa and merengue music he listened to all his life. But it was a challenge to improvise a whole class on the spot using non-traditional aerobics music. Beto rose to the challenge and from this last-minute improvisation a revolutionary new concept in fitness was born – the Zumba Fitness-Party™! The class soon became the most popular class at his fitness facility.

*More Info. at- Zumba Fitness

So go to a class! Try something new and you will be amazed at how much fun you really can have while working up a sweat.

Check out these great Zumba Sites-

Pojo Fitness

Zumba with Allison

Zumba Fitness

Pomegranates

Fresh pomegranates are generally found in the produce section of your local market between September and November.

Now you know what a pomegranate is, but what does it do? Pomegranate juice has properties that are similar to aspirin in that it helps prevent blood clots. Pomegranates are high in antioxidants, which are believed to prevent atherosclerosis.

Another health benefit found in pomegranates is the increase in the amount of oxygen that gets to the heart muscle. It is believed that drinking three 8 ounce glasses of pomegranate juice can be beneficial to the heart. It has been report that prolonged drinking of pomegranate juice may help fight erectile dysfunction. Researchers are also optimistic that that pomegranate may prevent prostate cancer or possibly even inhibit the progression of the disease. Investigators are even finding evidence that pomegranate can reduce the risk of breast cancer.

There is a lot of recent evidence that shows that pomegranate juice has many health benefits and would be a value to your diet. Scientists are starting to look into pomegranate juice for reducing the effect s of arthritis. Swelling is believed to be reduced. While this is still in the early stages of development, there is no harm in adding pomegranate to you diet and it just may help.

While pomegranate juice is known as a remedy for diarrhea, if you drink too much of it you could end up with constipation. One other problem that you may encounter with pomegranate juice is the way it can interact with medication. It is similar to grapefruit juice in that respect.


Check out more info. about the above article at 'Pomegranates: The New Super Food'

While this is all great information, when I was in Jr. High my nutrition teacher taught me that anything (veggie or fruit) that is deep in color, eg. spinach, beets, rasberries, etc, is full of all kinds of vitamins and minerals and is super good for you. I think that pomegranates definitely fall into that category, so eat up!

Calf Muscle

So last week I had a comment left wondering about the calf muscles and good ways to strengthen them. I knew some of the good basics but decided to do a little bit of research to see what else I could find. To sum it up the best exercise for the calves is calf raises, BUT it can be done many different ways and with different types of equipment. Here are some that I really liked.

***With all of these exercises you can keep both your feet facing forward, turn both of your feet in, or turn both of your feet out facing away from your body. This will help to work the different sides of your calf muscle.

Seated Calf Raises-
This is a picture of a calf raise machine. Beginners start with little to no weights and add weights as you feel you are ready for more of a challenge. To do this exercise take a seat, there will be pads that rest right above you knee, place the your toes and palm of your foot on the given bar and press up engaging your calf muscles. Start with 3 sets of 6-8 repetitions or if you are able and want more of a challenge do 6 sets of 8.

Standing Calf Raises-

***Note that these can be done using the machine pictured above or free-standing on the ground without weights, with dumbells or a barbell.

Here is a great picture of standing calf raises. I actually think that this picture does a great job of showing how this exercise needs to be done. Stand with feet hip width apart, with neck spine and pelvis in a neutral position. This can be done with no weight or with lots of weight. If you are on the machine start by sinking your heels to the ground and then pushing straight up on your toes really focusing on using your calf muscles to perform the exercise. I really like to do 3 sets, low weight, 15 reps. slow (slow up and down), 10 reps. fast. Next set 10 reps. slow, 15 reps. fast. Finally 15 slow, 10 reps. fast.

This can also be done standing on one leg if you really want to isolate the calf muscle.

Jumping Squats-

To do this exercise stand with feet shoulder width apart, with your neck, spine and pelvis in a neutral position. Start by squatting down and back, watching that your knees never go out past your toes. From this position jump as high as you can really utilizing your calf muscles for the end part of the jump. This should be a continuous motion squatting down, jumping up, landing with your knees soft ready to squat right back down.

This exercise can be done a few ways. First, arms to your sides, this will help keep the momentum going as you do repetitions as you jump up and squat back down. To make it more difficult you place your hands behind your head as shown above. This will make so you don't have the swinging motion of your arms and it will make you work your legs even more.

Start by doing 8-10 repetitions to see how you feel and how your knees feel. If you feel like you can do more try doing 3 sets of 10-12. If you are in any pain, discontinue this specific exercise.

***For other good calf exercises check out MyFIT.ca Health & Fitness

(I started this post a few little while ago, but published it 10/19/09)

Muscle of the Week...

TRICEPS. Your triceps are located on the posterior side of your upper arm. This post is for all those woman out there who are don't like their flabby upper arms. There are many exercises that you can do to tone the arms but one muscle you can work that will really make a difference, if consistent of course, are the triceps. Do this exercise 2-3 times a week and I promise you will see results and your arms will start to firm up.

The Tricep Kickback Exercise

***If you haven't used weights before I would recommend trying this without weights to start, and then adding light weights to begin with.

To do this exercise you will need a dumb bell, weight of your choice, and a bench is recommended although this exercise can be done on your hands and knees on the floor also.

Place one hand on the bench as well as the same side knee bent up on the bench, as shown in the above picture. You will hold the weight in your free hand. You want your back to be flat, head and neck straight, and abs tight (pull that belly button to your spine). Bring you arm up in a 90 degree angle next to your side, elbow tucked into your side nice and tight. Then leaving your upper arm in place next to your side kick your lower arm back until you can feel your tricep getting tight. Repetition is key when doing weighted exercises. I would recommend doing 3 sets of 10. To make this exercise harder as you become more advanced try using heavier weights and up the number of repetitions you do, try 5 sets of 12.

Feature Food: Tomato

Since this is the harvest season and there are so many good foods to choose from this time of year I decided to highlight one of my personal favorites...tomatoes.


1. A large consumption of tomato can help improve skin texture and color.
2. Tomato is a good blood purifier.
3. Tomato helps in cases of congestion of the liver (protects the liver from cirrhosis) as well as for dissolving gallstones.
4. Tomato is a natural antiseptic therefore it can help protect against infection Nicotinic acid in tomatoes can help to reduce blood cholesterol, thus helps prevent heart diseases.
5. Vitamin K in tomatoes helps to prevent hemorrhages.
6. Tomato contain lycopene (the red pigment in tomato), this pigment is a powerful antioxidant that can also fight cancer cells.

I love to just eat tomatoes fresh from the garden with salt and pepper. So eat up, and reap the benefits of this lovely red food.

Spin/Cycle

Highlight for the week, and one of my personal favorites, spin class. If you want a high intensity workout with loud music and lots of energy I definitely recommend trying out a spin class. For those who haven't ever been to spin class or even seen inside a spin room let me lay out a mental picture for you. At first sight it is a room full of stationary spin bikes, anywhere from 20-50. All the bikes are facing towards the front of the room. One, sometimes two, bikes are facing the 20-50 spin bikes; these are for the instructor.

Setting up the bike

You start by adjusting the bike. Ask the instructor to help set up you with this. Adjust the seat height as well as how close or far away you are from your handle bars. Also adjust the height of the handle bars. In the center of the handle bars and right below the top where you put your hands, there is a knob the turns; this controls the resistance of the bike. Resistance meaning how hard or easy it is to pedal. Once you are situated, get on the bike and get comfortable because this is where you will be for the next 50-60 min!

The Workout

The class will start off with a warm-up which consists of continually pedaling while the instructor leads you in upper body stretches that last about 5 minutes (arms, upper back, neck). Next the main part of the work-out. This changes everyday depending on what the instructor plans. Here of some examples of what to expect. Intervals: short sprints lasting anywhere from10 sec to 1 minute. It could also mean short time segments with high resistance, all of which are repeated multiple times. Hills: starting with low resistance and slowly increasing the resistance over a period of time. This could go on for 15-25 minutes depending on the day. Standing: this is where the resistance is turned up either a little or quite a bit. Holding on to the handle bars you stand while pedaling. This can be done as short intervals, where you rotate between standing and sitting, or for a long period of time.

Helpful Tips

Believe it or not there are things that you can do wrong with riding a bike. These few tips will allow for an enjoyable workout with out the pain.

First, while pedaling make sure your knees are pointing straight ahead, not turned in or out. When resistance is high there is a tendency to not pay attention to what your knees are doing. Knees pointing in or out can cause pain, so keep those knees straight and pointing in front of you.

Second, keep your back straight and your shoulders down. This means your whole back, from lower to upper. No hunching over, no rounded backs and no arching in the back. This will help alleviate lower back pain. Keep those shoulders down, don't bring stress to a new part of the body, let your legs do all the work during your spin workout.

Third, your quads are stronger muscles than your calves, so lets use them. When pedaling keep your foot flat on the pedals, no pointed toes. Flat as you pedal forward and heel down as you come back up. A good visual is act like you are scraping dog poop off the bottom of your shoe, heel down and pull up. Better utilizing your quad muscles will help your legs sustain a longer workout. Bigger muscles, such as your quads, will allow for more energy.

Fourth, allow your elbows to be slightly bent. This will take any added pressure off of your arms as well as allow for continual circulation to your arms.

Fifth, when doing sprints if your butt is bouncing up and down off the seat then your resistance isn't high enough. Be in control of the bike and your body. While sitting you should feel very stable and not out of control.

Finally, DRINK LOTS OF WATER!! Bring a water bottle and don't forget to drink through out the entire workout. During aerobic exercise your body needs 8 ounces every 15-25 minutes.

Deltoid Muscle

Muscle of the day is the Deltoids or the shoulder muscle. Deltoids are the thick flat muscle responsible for the round shape of the shoulder. It has three heads, front head, medial head, and rear head. Each of these three heads have different actions and therefore need different exercises to work each one. Below is a diagram of each side of the deltoid muscle we will be working anterior, medial, and posterior.

***while doing the following exercises consider starting will lower amounts of weight and working your way up as to not strain the muscle.

You will need hand weights and a work out band to perform the following exercises.

Front Raise/Anterior Deltoid

To perform this exercise correctly stand with your feet hip width apart, knees slightly bent, and neck, spine and pelvis in neutral position. Shoulders are down and wrists straight. Keep your trunk/abs tight and slowly lift weights to a 90 degree angle out in front of you. Movement is slow and controlled. Avoid using momentum to get weight back up in front of you. Repeat 10 times each arm.

Lateral Raise/Medial Deltoid

Start with legs hip width apart, knees slightly bent. Shoulders relaxed and down, elbows tucked into your side and bent at 90 degrees in front of you (as if you are holding a lunch tray). Keeping arms bent lift upwards until arms are at shoulder level. Slowly take back down and repeat ten times.

Seated Row/Posterior Deltoid

Sit on the floor with legs out in front of you, knees slightly bent. Spine and pelvis are aligned over your sit bones. Spine is tall and in neutral position. Shoulders and scapulae relaxed, down and back. Abs are tight and strong. Hold handles of work out band in front of you and pull back until elbows are at sides in a 90 degree angle. Release slowly allowing arms to reach out in front and slowly pull back again repeating 10 times.