To Diet or Not to Diet?

I would hope by now everyone would know how I feel about diets. Just in case you don’t, let me tell you.

THEY DO NOT WORK! WHY?

Have you ever been on a diet? Atkins, South Beach, Cabbage Soup, low-calorie, low-carbs, and so on and so on….. Too many to name! You were on this diet and doing great losing weight and you ate something not on the diet and then something else, and now you feel like a failure. No matter how much weight you have lost you fall back into the same old way of eating. You’re eating the foods you love, and now the weight comes right back on and then some! “Yo-Yoing” can sometimes be worse for you. Why should you deprive yourself of something you love? Not eat that cake you really enjoy? Some of you are reading this thinking I must be crazy, you’ll never lose weight eating things you love! YES you can!

How, you ask? How can you take off the weight and keep it off? Start small with changes that are manageable for you and your life. We are all busy and can find tons of excuses why we cannot change what foods we eat and why we don’t exercise. I would rather have excuses that will keep heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, cancer, and other diseases away. I want to be able to live a healthy, active life when I grow old!

So let’s start with a few small changes that will get you started in the right direction on your journey to living a healthy life that is SUSTAINABLE for you and your family. Not a diet!

-          Drink more water! Our body gives the same signal for thirst as it does for hunger, so have a glass of water. 8 glasses of water a day! I know plain water sometimes can be unappealing, so add a little flavor- Lemon, Lime, Orange, Cucumber, whatever you like. Try to stay away from things that are made with artificial sweeteners in them. Limit your alcoholic drinks, soda, and juices they have lots of calories you don’t need.  Seltzer, coffee and tea are ok as long as you don’t add sugar and cream.

-          Learn what high volume foods are and what smart foods are so you can make better choices. If you have high volume foods you like on hand it will be easier to eat that than a bag of chips. Here are some examples of high volume foods: Bananas, Blackberries, Blueberries, Figs, Oranges, Peaches, Plums, Asparagus, Broccoli, Carrots, Kohlrabi. Some smart choices: 6 egg whites scrambled with cheese & mushrooms, 1 slice of wheat toast, and 1 baked apple with cinnamon instead of a cheese omelet, 3 strips of bacon, and home fries.

-          Eat breakfast! Something small to start just to get your metabolism moving! After about 2 weeks your body will get used to it and be looking for FUEL. When you don’t feed your body it shuts down and stores everything when you do eat. The more you feed your body the more you burn!

I will talk more about this in the weeks to come to help keep everyone stay on track and add some new great recipes also. Until next time I want everyone to TAKE 3 before you eat something! Take 3 seconds to ask yourself 3 questions-

1.       Am I Hungry?

2.       Is it smart?

3.       How much do I need?

Why are my clothes tight?

You were combining strength training and cardio into your workouts and then doing cardio days also, and you changed your eating style. You lost weight, body fat, and inches! Not only were you feeling great, you were looking great too! Then one day life got in the way and you stopped your normal workout routine due to money, lack of motivation, life is just too busy, etc. Whatever the reason, it happened! You can now fit in cardio only; that’s great, right? You are still eating somewhat healthy. So why are my clothes feeling so tight? I am still exercising and following my “diet”.  I have the answer!

While cardiovascular exercise is very important to losing weight and then maintaining it, it does not help your body work efficiently when burning calories. You are now losing the muscle you just built! Here is an example: I worked out on the elliptical for 1 hour and burned 450 calories; great! Do you know that your body is done burning the calories once you stop? That is it!

When you combine cardio and strength training together in your routine, it helps your body be more efficient in burning calories, while toning and tightening. How? Example: During Kettlebell Boot Kamp group training you burn 360 calories, and for the next 24-48 hours your body is still burning calories and becoming more efficient!  As your metabolism is working more effectively, you are still burning calories throughout the day and night! Don’t forget that you are building lean muscle, which is why your body becomes a well-oiled machine!  Building lean muscle tones and tightens your body - bonus! 

We all know that cardio workouts are a must in your workout routine, but so is strength training. Finding the right program that works best for you is important, and you must like it to stick with it. This is a life change, not just a quick fix to lose some weight for the big event coming up (although we can help you with that too!) I know I have given examples of a good routine in the past, so yes I am repeating myself.

Monday – Kettlebell Boot Kamp

Tuesday – Yoga

Wednesday – Kettlebell Boot Kamp

Thursday – Run on the treadmill

Friday –Kettlebell Boot Kamp

Saturday – Elliptical

Sunday – Active rest

If you are not sure if you have a good routine, let’s get together and talk about it, and see what needs to be tweaked.

 Fat takes up more space the muscle, so here is a visual to see why inches increase.

What is Tabata?

Tabata is a type of training named after Izumi Tabata, a former researcher at Japan’s National Institute of Fitness and Sports. Izumi performed studies with athletes using different styles of training to see what was most effective. In a 6-week study with the athletes split into 2 groups, Group 1 trained 1 hour a day, 6 days a week. Group 2 did Tabata training 4 days a week for just 4 minutes each time. The results showed that both groups improved their performance dramatically.   

Tabata is very simple, but very intense! True Tabata training is only 4 minutes long, and it should be the hardest 4 minutes of any other workout you do. True Tabata is 8 cycles of 1 exercise: 20 seconds of work and then 10 seconds of rest, repeated for the 8 cycles.  The exercise is performed to failure; you want to work with intensity and ramp it up quickly! 

We have done both Tabata timing and Tabata Type training in Kettlebell Boot Kamp! Using the 20/10 method, we did a whole class recently where the stations we did were both Tabata timing and type. Everyone has done great with it, and it is hard, as hard as you make it. That is what is so great about it - anyone CAN DO IT! You work your hardest! When we did the stations that day, one gal was at the Burpees station (a fan favorite!) and was doing 5 per 20 seconds (AWESOME) and continued to hit 5. That is what it is about! Knowing I only have 20 seconds, I can do it. The next gal up at that station was doing  5 also, then after the first cycle she realized she could do more! So she did! 

So why is this so great, and why am I switching more to the Tabatha style of training? Research! I have done more research about this type of training, and I like what I am hearing! Recent research has revealed that high intensity interval training (HIIT) with resistance training is more effective at reducing body fat for a longer time than steady-state aerobic exercise. One reason for this is due to the “afterburn” effect known as EPOC (exercise post oxygen consumption). When your body is in this state it continues to burn additional calories and metabolizes more fat after the workout for a longer period of time. 

Why does EPOC burn fat longer? 

The amount of oxygen consumed after exercise can accelerate weight loss by elevating the rate of oxygen consumed as well as expending energy. Here are the 4 ways this is done: 

1.  Your phosphate system is immediately replenished with energy that was lost during exercise, and the body resets the muscle glycogen which was consumed during exercise.  
2.  Post-workout, the body also continues to expend energy to re-oxygenate the blood and restore the levels of circulatory hormone back to normal.
3. .During EPOC the body expends energy to cool off after exercise. 
4.  To return the body to a normal breathing and heart rate, energy is also consumed.

So now that I am a certified Tabata Boot Camp trainer, you know we will be doing more Tabata training in Kettlebell Boot Kamp!  In the next couple of months I hope to integrate the 2 together to give you a better Boot Kamp experience. Does this mean I am not going to use kettlebells anymore? ABSOLUTLY NOT! It just means I will be changing my programming to match the Tabata method. It also means I will be adding some additional components not just in the workout— some things for you to do when you are not with me!

 I am very excited to be offering more to you guys, and shortly I will! I just have to get everything up and running first and then you’ll see what I am talking about!

: self.com

: self.com

Check out this link for 7 great Peanut butter breakfast Recipes