If you sometimes find yourself getting bored with just going to the gym for your workouts you might consider training for and competing in a fun run. A fun run will offer you an opportunity to take some of your workouts outdoor. Running outdoor can be a different experience each time you go. Head east today, and west tomorrow. Run in your neighborhood this week, on the high school track next week. The variety of your scenery is only limited by your imagination. You can run in the park, on the Seawall, on trails, at the college, or take it back to the gym on the treadmill for some cool air conditioning on hot days.
Just about every fun run offers a 5k distance. That's 3.1 miles for those who flunked the metric system in school. Training to run a 5k can be done in 3-4 workouts a week, each lasting about 15-35 minutes. Of course you can do more if you want, but if you are just getting started running, this is all the time you need to commit to successfully run a 5k. Give yourself about 12 weeks to train if you haven't been running.
If you are in the Houston area you can find a pretty good list of local races and fun runs at the HARRA race list. The list is not quite complete, so you might stop by The Runner's Link, On the Run, or Fleet Feet. These running stores will have flyers for all the local races that are upcoming. Also, you can talk to the sales people, who are also runners, and they will be happy to help you find an event that is well organized and well supported.
Expect to pay $15-25 to participate in a fun run. For your money, you should get an event t-shirt, water stations along the race route, fruit and water after the race (sometime even cookies or hotdogs), and you will be supporting a local charity. Also, you will get an official time. If this is your first race, you are guaranteed to get a PR (personal record). From there, your goal will be to improve on this time.
It will be helpful to find a training program to follow at looks like fits your ability. If you haven't been doing any exercise up to this point, you can search online for a C25K (couch to 5k) program. These training schedules are designed to take a sedentary person and train them for a 5k race in 9-12 weeks. They will start with walking, build up to walking with some running, and take you until you are running all or most of the milage.
If you feel that running is a little to intense for you at this point, you can find a program that trains you to walk a 5k. Fun runs welcome walkers, former high school track stars, and everyone in between.
Here's some great news for anyone wanting to lose weight or fight off the weight creep at comes with age. Walking a mile burns about 75 calories, and running a mile burns about 125 calories. These numbers are dependent on your weight, but you can get a general idea of how many calories you are burning with these numbers. If you want a more accurate number, you can purchase a heart rate monitor for about $100. These devices are able to take your weight and age and calculate it with the information in gathers while you run and give a much more exact number of calories burned.
Where do you go from here? First, find a race that is about 3 months away from now and commit to it by pre registering. Then, find a training program online that you think you can follow. Print it out and stick to it. Try not to miss any of the workouts. If you have to miss one, commit to make it up on another day. Finally, post photos on facebook and show everyone how awesome you are!
Showing posts with label exercise. Show all posts
Showing posts with label exercise. Show all posts
Friday, June 10, 2011
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Hydration for exercise
Knowing how to hydrate for exercise is always important for your best performance and quickest recovery, but now that the heat of summer is here, it's important for safety as well.
Dehydration stresses the body. It causes your body temperature to rise, causes your heart to beat faster, burns more glycogen(your body's energy source), makes it harder to concentrate, and make exercise feel harder.
A water deficit with an electrolyte deficit can also increase the chance that you will cramp during or after exercise.
If you find yourself getting dizzy when you stand from a sitting or lying position later in the day after vigorous exercise, this could be another sign of dehydration. Water is the main component of your blood, and if your blood volume drops from dehydration, your blood pressure can also drop. Drink more water to replenish your blood volume and get your blood pressure back to normal.
Hydration starts before you exercise. Try drinking a couple of glasses of water in the 4 hour leading up to exercise. The goal would be to finish early enough so that the excess fluid has time to pass through your body so you can "dispose" of it. Pre exercise drink can be water or a caffeinated beverage. The caffeine can make the exercise session feel easier.
The easiest rule to follow for drinking during exercise is to follow your thirst. Drink when you are thirsty. For exercise lasting up to 60 minutes or in air conditioning, that is probably all you need to know. But if you would like, it can get somewhat scientific.
To be sure you are getting the best results from your hydration program, you need to find your sweat loss. This will tell you what your water deficiency is during exercise. If you are drinking 10 ounces of water during an hour of exercise, but losing 25 ounces through sweat, you have a deficiency of 15 ounces.
Finding out your sweat loss is actually pretty easy and something you won't need a sports lab to do. Start by stripping down to your chonies and stepping on the scale. Write down your weight, you'll need this number later. Next, do your normal exercise. If you want to find out what your sweat loss is, don't have anything to drink during or after your exercise. If you want to find out if you are drinking enough to avoid a water loss, it's okay to drink as much as you normally would during exercise. After exercise, strip down to your chonies again and weigh yourself once more.
A pound of water weighs about 8 pounds. Since there are 8 pints in a gallon of water, each pound you lost during exercise is equal to 1 pint of sweat loss if you didn't drink, or 1 pint of water deficiency if you did drink.
So as an example, if you weighed 165 pounds before your exercise, and weighed 163 pounds after exercising, you lost 2 pints, or one quart of water through sweat. Your goal would be to drink this amount of fluid during exercise.
Running in he afternoon during the summer, I have measured as much as a half gallon of sweat loss during an hour run. That's a lot of water to try drinking during a run(64 ounces) and unfortunately is probably not possible. We are are limited by our body's ability to absorb fluids. Our bodies can only absorb about 30 ounces of fluid per hour. So if your sweat loss is greater than that, you will be fighting a losing battle with any hydration program. Fortunately, you will only see water loss like that during intense exercise or in intense heat. If it's that hot, you might be better of just staying inside and running on the treadmill.
For exercise lasting less than 45 minutes, I think you will be okay just drinking water. For longer exercise sessions, you need to focus on replenishing more that just water. You will need to replace some sodium (this will also help stimulate thirst if you have trouble remembering to drink), some potassium to replace what is lost in sweat, and carbohydrates (sugar) for energy. Sports drinks like Gatorade and Powerade have these ingredients already included. If you are like me and your stomach doesn't do well drinking these sugary drinks during exercise, another option is to drink water only, and have a gel every 45 minutes during exercise. Gels such as Gu and Clif Shots have the carbs and electrolytes built in and are easy to carry if you are running or cycling.
One caution about sports drinks. They are for sports only! They are good to have during and right after exercise, but they are not healthy alternatives to soft drinks. The calories you would get from drinking these drinks throughout the day are just as bad as drinks from soda. They offer no nutrition outside of exercise.
If you drink so much during exercise that you have water sloshing around in your stomach, you are drinking too much too fast. All this will do is make you uncomfortable at best, and nauseous at worst.
One more note about drinking during exercise: as a rule, drink to hydrate, pour to cool. Drinking water to cool yourself doesn't have much of an effect. Pouring water on your head, on your back, and over your shoulders has a much greater effect on cooling you off.
When exercise is over, it's time to start rehydrating for your next exercise session. If you know what your water deficiency is, you should concentrate on drinking 50% more fluid than you lost. You need the extra fluid to account for what will be lost in your urine. If you lose lots of water, you will need to be more aggressive to replace your water. If you start your next workout with a hydration deficit, you will be starting with a disadvantage and more likely to feel the ill effects of dehydration. Sipping fluids over time maximizes fluid retention over drinking a large amount at one sitting. The other things you lose in sweat such as sodium can be made up through your normal meals, fruits, and vegetables. The carbs can be replace with a diet of whole grains.
Finally, don't forget that the body has it's own way of letting you know if you drinking enough. If your urine is dark, you are dehydrated. If it is clear or a light yellow color, you are probably properly hydrated.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Dehydration stresses the body. It causes your body temperature to rise, causes your heart to beat faster, burns more glycogen(your body's energy source), makes it harder to concentrate, and make exercise feel harder.
A water deficit with an electrolyte deficit can also increase the chance that you will cramp during or after exercise.
If you find yourself getting dizzy when you stand from a sitting or lying position later in the day after vigorous exercise, this could be another sign of dehydration. Water is the main component of your blood, and if your blood volume drops from dehydration, your blood pressure can also drop. Drink more water to replenish your blood volume and get your blood pressure back to normal.
Hydration starts before you exercise. Try drinking a couple of glasses of water in the 4 hour leading up to exercise. The goal would be to finish early enough so that the excess fluid has time to pass through your body so you can "dispose" of it. Pre exercise drink can be water or a caffeinated beverage. The caffeine can make the exercise session feel easier.
The easiest rule to follow for drinking during exercise is to follow your thirst. Drink when you are thirsty. For exercise lasting up to 60 minutes or in air conditioning, that is probably all you need to know. But if you would like, it can get somewhat scientific.
To be sure you are getting the best results from your hydration program, you need to find your sweat loss. This will tell you what your water deficiency is during exercise. If you are drinking 10 ounces of water during an hour of exercise, but losing 25 ounces through sweat, you have a deficiency of 15 ounces.
Finding out your sweat loss is actually pretty easy and something you won't need a sports lab to do. Start by stripping down to your chonies and stepping on the scale. Write down your weight, you'll need this number later. Next, do your normal exercise. If you want to find out what your sweat loss is, don't have anything to drink during or after your exercise. If you want to find out if you are drinking enough to avoid a water loss, it's okay to drink as much as you normally would during exercise. After exercise, strip down to your chonies again and weigh yourself once more.
A pound of water weighs about 8 pounds. Since there are 8 pints in a gallon of water, each pound you lost during exercise is equal to 1 pint of sweat loss if you didn't drink, or 1 pint of water deficiency if you did drink.
So as an example, if you weighed 165 pounds before your exercise, and weighed 163 pounds after exercising, you lost 2 pints, or one quart of water through sweat. Your goal would be to drink this amount of fluid during exercise.
Running in he afternoon during the summer, I have measured as much as a half gallon of sweat loss during an hour run. That's a lot of water to try drinking during a run(64 ounces) and unfortunately is probably not possible. We are are limited by our body's ability to absorb fluids. Our bodies can only absorb about 30 ounces of fluid per hour. So if your sweat loss is greater than that, you will be fighting a losing battle with any hydration program. Fortunately, you will only see water loss like that during intense exercise or in intense heat. If it's that hot, you might be better of just staying inside and running on the treadmill.
For exercise lasting less than 45 minutes, I think you will be okay just drinking water. For longer exercise sessions, you need to focus on replenishing more that just water. You will need to replace some sodium (this will also help stimulate thirst if you have trouble remembering to drink), some potassium to replace what is lost in sweat, and carbohydrates (sugar) for energy. Sports drinks like Gatorade and Powerade have these ingredients already included. If you are like me and your stomach doesn't do well drinking these sugary drinks during exercise, another option is to drink water only, and have a gel every 45 minutes during exercise. Gels such as Gu and Clif Shots have the carbs and electrolytes built in and are easy to carry if you are running or cycling.
One caution about sports drinks. They are for sports only! They are good to have during and right after exercise, but they are not healthy alternatives to soft drinks. The calories you would get from drinking these drinks throughout the day are just as bad as drinks from soda. They offer no nutrition outside of exercise.
If you drink so much during exercise that you have water sloshing around in your stomach, you are drinking too much too fast. All this will do is make you uncomfortable at best, and nauseous at worst.
One more note about drinking during exercise: as a rule, drink to hydrate, pour to cool. Drinking water to cool yourself doesn't have much of an effect. Pouring water on your head, on your back, and over your shoulders has a much greater effect on cooling you off.
When exercise is over, it's time to start rehydrating for your next exercise session. If you know what your water deficiency is, you should concentrate on drinking 50% more fluid than you lost. You need the extra fluid to account for what will be lost in your urine. If you lose lots of water, you will need to be more aggressive to replace your water. If you start your next workout with a hydration deficit, you will be starting with a disadvantage and more likely to feel the ill effects of dehydration. Sipping fluids over time maximizes fluid retention over drinking a large amount at one sitting. The other things you lose in sweat such as sodium can be made up through your normal meals, fruits, and vegetables. The carbs can be replace with a diet of whole grains.
Finally, don't forget that the body has it's own way of letting you know if you drinking enough. If your urine is dark, you are dehydrated. If it is clear or a light yellow color, you are probably properly hydrated.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Why you need to do strength training
If you are not already doing any type of strength training, I recommend that you get started. Strength training's wide range of benefits can help all of us, whether we are trying to perform a sport better, trying to lose extra body fat, or fight the effects of aging.
When you think of strength training, what kind of picture comes to mind? Does it conjure the image of "meat heads?" The guys at the gym who concentrate on lifting large weights, walk around in tank tops, and have more muscle than my whole family combined? That is one type of strength training called body building. And if you want to take your training in that direction you are welcome to. But you don't have to train like a meat head or look like one to get the benefits of weight training.
Weight training can help the average person who is trying to be fit and healthy in the following ways.
First, it can improve your mood and self image. As your muscles become better toned, you will feel better about yourself. It's not all just about vanity. A body that looks toned is one that looks healthy. When you see a healthy looking person in the mirror you will feel good about yourself.
Second, it can help you fight two of the effects of aging. Two things happen naturally as we age, our bones lose density, and our muscles atrophy. Strength training a muscle helps to increase the bone density of the associated bone. So doing an exercise like running or cycling, or leg strengthening exercises will increase the density of the leg bones. I saw a study of tennis players where they compare the bone density of their playing arm with their non-playing arm. What they found was that the playing arm had a higher bone density than the non-playing one. This will decrease the likelihood of fracturing a hip or leg bone as you age. As far as fighting muscle atrophy, I think that is self explanatory.
Here is one for those of you trying to lose weight, or fight future weight gain. The body expends energy(calories) to maintain both fat and muscle, just like any tissue in the body. But muscle burns more calories than fat does. A pound of fat burns about 50 calories more each day than a pound of fat does. While that number isn't big enough to help you lose weight quickly, it will help in the long run. 50 calories a day is 1500 in a month. That's extra calories you're burning with no extra effort. A few extra pounds of muscle can go a long way to helping you maintain a healthy weight.
Other benefits include increased strength, improved posture, and a reduced risk of everyday injuries. Muscles and tendon that are strong are less likely to be injured, and will help you perform your cardio workouts more easily.
You don't need any equipment to get started. Exercises like squats, lunges, and toe raises will benefit your lower body. Push-ups, sit-ups, planks, and supermans will benefit your upper body. If you have a little money to spend, I suggest getting a set of resistance bands, a wheel, and a chin-up bar. You can find youtube videos that show how to use each one. They can all be stored in a closet, and can all be purchased for less than $75. The chin up bar that hangs in a door frame can also be used for push-ups and triceps dips. For those with a little more space and who want to get a little more versatility, a set of dumbbells and a dumbbell bench in your garage will be all the equipment work just about any muscle. I picked up pretty good set of dumbbells on Craigslist for $65, and a dumbbell bench from Sports authority for about $100. Of course, you could just get a gym membership and go work out with the meat heads.
Again, you don't need to do a bodybuilder workout to improve your health and fitness. Personally, I only strength train 2 or 3 days a week. My workout consists of push-ups, planks, supermans, sit-ups, lunges, squats, toe raises, and some exercises with resistance bands. Sometimes I add a few things in with dumbbells. You can see that I don't use very much equipment at all. I'm not going to be selling many tickets to my gun show, but I still get the benefits of improved muscle density as well as improved strength for swimming, running, and cycling.
There's really no reason not to get started today, so get after it….
When you think of strength training, what kind of picture comes to mind? Does it conjure the image of "meat heads?" The guys at the gym who concentrate on lifting large weights, walk around in tank tops, and have more muscle than my whole family combined? That is one type of strength training called body building. And if you want to take your training in that direction you are welcome to. But you don't have to train like a meat head or look like one to get the benefits of weight training.
Weight training can help the average person who is trying to be fit and healthy in the following ways.
First, it can improve your mood and self image. As your muscles become better toned, you will feel better about yourself. It's not all just about vanity. A body that looks toned is one that looks healthy. When you see a healthy looking person in the mirror you will feel good about yourself.
Second, it can help you fight two of the effects of aging. Two things happen naturally as we age, our bones lose density, and our muscles atrophy. Strength training a muscle helps to increase the bone density of the associated bone. So doing an exercise like running or cycling, or leg strengthening exercises will increase the density of the leg bones. I saw a study of tennis players where they compare the bone density of their playing arm with their non-playing arm. What they found was that the playing arm had a higher bone density than the non-playing one. This will decrease the likelihood of fracturing a hip or leg bone as you age. As far as fighting muscle atrophy, I think that is self explanatory.
Here is one for those of you trying to lose weight, or fight future weight gain. The body expends energy(calories) to maintain both fat and muscle, just like any tissue in the body. But muscle burns more calories than fat does. A pound of fat burns about 50 calories more each day than a pound of fat does. While that number isn't big enough to help you lose weight quickly, it will help in the long run. 50 calories a day is 1500 in a month. That's extra calories you're burning with no extra effort. A few extra pounds of muscle can go a long way to helping you maintain a healthy weight.
Other benefits include increased strength, improved posture, and a reduced risk of everyday injuries. Muscles and tendon that are strong are less likely to be injured, and will help you perform your cardio workouts more easily.
You don't need any equipment to get started. Exercises like squats, lunges, and toe raises will benefit your lower body. Push-ups, sit-ups, planks, and supermans will benefit your upper body. If you have a little money to spend, I suggest getting a set of resistance bands, a wheel, and a chin-up bar. You can find youtube videos that show how to use each one. They can all be stored in a closet, and can all be purchased for less than $75. The chin up bar that hangs in a door frame can also be used for push-ups and triceps dips. For those with a little more space and who want to get a little more versatility, a set of dumbbells and a dumbbell bench in your garage will be all the equipment work just about any muscle. I picked up pretty good set of dumbbells on Craigslist for $65, and a dumbbell bench from Sports authority for about $100. Of course, you could just get a gym membership and go work out with the meat heads.
Again, you don't need to do a bodybuilder workout to improve your health and fitness. Personally, I only strength train 2 or 3 days a week. My workout consists of push-ups, planks, supermans, sit-ups, lunges, squats, toe raises, and some exercises with resistance bands. Sometimes I add a few things in with dumbbells. You can see that I don't use very much equipment at all. I'm not going to be selling many tickets to my gun show, but I still get the benefits of improved muscle density as well as improved strength for swimming, running, and cycling.
There's really no reason not to get started today, so get after it….
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Spot burning your trouble spots
Don't let the title throw you. I'll say up front that it doesn't work. For those not in the know, spot burning is the idea that you can workout a specific area of your body to try to burn away the fat from that area, such as doing lots of ab work to get rid of belly fat.
First, you have to understand what fat is. Fat is one way your body stores energy. Each time you eat, your body store the excess energy as fat. Your body stores fat beneath the skin(subcutaneous fat) and around organs(visceral fat). Fat, even on lean people, is by far the largest store of energy your body has.
I've seen these numbers cited for a 154 pound male. Scientists say he has about 1000 calories of energy stored as glycogen in the blood, liver, and muscles. This the the faster burning energy source and is used first in your workouts. Protein is the second largest store of energy at about 25,000 calories (your muscles). Finally, in the same man, you would find about 100,000 calories stored in fat. So besides insulating and cushioning, fat serves the purpose of storing energy. It's what Yogi Bear survives on while he's hibernating.
This fat is predisposed to be stored differently on different people. Men are more prone to store fat in the mid-section (the infamous beer-belly) and women in the hips and thighs. The body stores the fat where it wants, and when it converts the fat back to energy, it takes it from where it wants.
Doing push-ups will make your arm and upper torso muscles stronger. But it won't necessarily burn the fat hanging under your arm. When your body needs energy to do the push-ups and repair the muscles, it may draw on energy stored in your butt fat.
I think where I hear people talk about this most often is the stomach. In an effort to burn stomach fat, you may be tempted to kill yourself with crunches. But, alas, this will not necessarily mean that you will burn off the belly fat any faster. What can happen, is that you tone and strengthen the ab muscles under the fat. This can lead to a leaner looking stomach as those muscles firm up and your posture improves. That is some benefit, but is not the same as burning the fat from just the stomach.
Your body will tend to take the fat somewhat evenly from the body. So if we look at this picture of a pound of fat again
that doesn't mean that doing crunches is going to take that much fat from your belly. Instead, your body will take that fat for energy from throughout the body. The only way to remove that fat solely from your bellied is through surgery (liposuction).
So if you have a stubborn area of fat that seems to be reducing slower than the rest of your body, don't despair. Keep doing what you're doing, controlling your diet and keep at your strength and cardio work, and it too will eventually be returned to energy and melt away.
Until next time, why not take your family out for a 30 minute bike ride?
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
First, you have to understand what fat is. Fat is one way your body stores energy. Each time you eat, your body store the excess energy as fat. Your body stores fat beneath the skin(subcutaneous fat) and around organs(visceral fat). Fat, even on lean people, is by far the largest store of energy your body has.
I've seen these numbers cited for a 154 pound male. Scientists say he has about 1000 calories of energy stored as glycogen in the blood, liver, and muscles. This the the faster burning energy source and is used first in your workouts. Protein is the second largest store of energy at about 25,000 calories (your muscles). Finally, in the same man, you would find about 100,000 calories stored in fat. So besides insulating and cushioning, fat serves the purpose of storing energy. It's what Yogi Bear survives on while he's hibernating.
This fat is predisposed to be stored differently on different people. Men are more prone to store fat in the mid-section (the infamous beer-belly) and women in the hips and thighs. The body stores the fat where it wants, and when it converts the fat back to energy, it takes it from where it wants.
Doing push-ups will make your arm and upper torso muscles stronger. But it won't necessarily burn the fat hanging under your arm. When your body needs energy to do the push-ups and repair the muscles, it may draw on energy stored in your butt fat.
I think where I hear people talk about this most often is the stomach. In an effort to burn stomach fat, you may be tempted to kill yourself with crunches. But, alas, this will not necessarily mean that you will burn off the belly fat any faster. What can happen, is that you tone and strengthen the ab muscles under the fat. This can lead to a leaner looking stomach as those muscles firm up and your posture improves. That is some benefit, but is not the same as burning the fat from just the stomach.
Your body will tend to take the fat somewhat evenly from the body. So if we look at this picture of a pound of fat again
that doesn't mean that doing crunches is going to take that much fat from your belly. Instead, your body will take that fat for energy from throughout the body. The only way to remove that fat solely from your bellied is through surgery (liposuction).
So if you have a stubborn area of fat that seems to be reducing slower than the rest of your body, don't despair. Keep doing what you're doing, controlling your diet and keep at your strength and cardio work, and it too will eventually be returned to energy and melt away.
Until next time, why not take your family out for a 30 minute bike ride?
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Monday, March 7, 2011
Getting started
I think here is where I'm supposed to insert something like "consult your doctor before starting any exercise program." Though I'm not a doctor, I am confident enough in my knowledge to say that you will become healthier by losing weight and living an active lifestyle.
There are two components to losing weight. The first and many say easiest is by controlling your diet. Going back to the fact that a pound of fat contains 3500 calories, and as you consume fewer calories than you expend your body will use these calories, it is easy to see that by eliminating calories from your diet you will lose weight. Start off with cutting out some easy things you consume every day. They don't have to be big things, small things will add up each day, and the days will add up each month. Cutting out just 100 calories a day adds up to 3500 calories in just over a month. There goes a pound of fat! Ka-Pow! It could be switching from regular cokes to diet cokes, using an artificial sweetener in your tea or coffee instead of sugar, getting the apples with your Subway instead of the chips. Do small things now, and as you get into it, you can get radical with it. I got myself down to about 1800 calories consumed a day. Every day. No exceptions. One thing you need to know about me, I don't believe in cheat days during weight loss. They make it too easy to fall of the wagon, and only postpone you being at a healthy weight.
The second component is exercise. This is the harder part, and is not as beneficial as you might think. Don't get me wrong, you have to exercise, and there are many more benefits to exercise than weight loss. But you can cut about 300 calories from your day by cutting out 2 cokes. That is almost no effort, and takes no time. To burn the same amount of calories on the treadmill, you will have to run 2-3 miles, depending on your body size. That will take you about 20 minutes and may be a lot of effort for you. So never, never, never reward yourself for a good workout by giving yourself a treat. The calorie burn in a 2 mile run can be completely wiped out by just 3 Oreos. There goes all your hard work for about 30 seconds of pleasure. Just don't do it!
Notice the benefit of putting cutting calories and exercise together. If you cut out 100 calories from your diet, you will lose a pound of fat in just over a month. Add to that 100 extra calories burn each day through excersize, and that pound will be gone in just over 2 weeks. Sounds easy right? Just this alone could lead to a 20 pound weight loss in a year. And some of you will be okay with that. But if you are like me, 20 pounds in a year is just too slow. For you, I say get started like this, then crank it up as you settle into it. Cut more calories...excersize more. You'll have to find your own limit on the lowest amount of calories you want to eat. If you try starving yourself, you won't be helping your health, and you will find it very difficult to have enough self-discipline not to binge.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
There are two components to losing weight. The first and many say easiest is by controlling your diet. Going back to the fact that a pound of fat contains 3500 calories, and as you consume fewer calories than you expend your body will use these calories, it is easy to see that by eliminating calories from your diet you will lose weight. Start off with cutting out some easy things you consume every day. They don't have to be big things, small things will add up each day, and the days will add up each month. Cutting out just 100 calories a day adds up to 3500 calories in just over a month. There goes a pound of fat! Ka-Pow! It could be switching from regular cokes to diet cokes, using an artificial sweetener in your tea or coffee instead of sugar, getting the apples with your Subway instead of the chips. Do small things now, and as you get into it, you can get radical with it. I got myself down to about 1800 calories consumed a day. Every day. No exceptions. One thing you need to know about me, I don't believe in cheat days during weight loss. They make it too easy to fall of the wagon, and only postpone you being at a healthy weight.
The second component is exercise. This is the harder part, and is not as beneficial as you might think. Don't get me wrong, you have to exercise, and there are many more benefits to exercise than weight loss. But you can cut about 300 calories from your day by cutting out 2 cokes. That is almost no effort, and takes no time. To burn the same amount of calories on the treadmill, you will have to run 2-3 miles, depending on your body size. That will take you about 20 minutes and may be a lot of effort for you. So never, never, never reward yourself for a good workout by giving yourself a treat. The calorie burn in a 2 mile run can be completely wiped out by just 3 Oreos. There goes all your hard work for about 30 seconds of pleasure. Just don't do it!
Notice the benefit of putting cutting calories and exercise together. If you cut out 100 calories from your diet, you will lose a pound of fat in just over a month. Add to that 100 extra calories burn each day through excersize, and that pound will be gone in just over 2 weeks. Sounds easy right? Just this alone could lead to a 20 pound weight loss in a year. And some of you will be okay with that. But if you are like me, 20 pounds in a year is just too slow. For you, I say get started like this, then crank it up as you settle into it. Cut more calories...excersize more. You'll have to find your own limit on the lowest amount of calories you want to eat. If you try starving yourself, you won't be helping your health, and you will find it very difficult to have enough self-discipline not to binge.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
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