As a fitness professional, I work every day with people new to exercise or to personal training. At the very beginning of our fitness journey I explain to them that good nutrition is just as important as a good workout plan in helping them to achieve their fitness goals. One of the most common nutrition mistakes is skipping breakfast. A good nutrition strategy is to have breakfast within one hour of waking up.
Here are a few reasons why we need to have breakfast first thing in the morning:
1. After a night of 8 hour of sleep there is no "fuel" in your body, so eating breakfast provides your body with nutrients and calories that will sustain your energy level for activities throughout the day.
2. Having breakfast first thing in the morning will boost your metabolism, which means your body will burn more calories.
3. Scientists have found that people who skip breakfast are more likely to choose high calorie foods during the day, as well as eating a big dinner.
Just as you wouldn't want to fly on an airplane that's low on fuel, you do not want to let your body run on empty day in and day out. So start your day right by eating a nutritious breakfast and you will feel the difference in your energy level, mood, and metabolism.
Friday, March 26, 2010
Thursday, March 18, 2010
This video is a great inspiration for those of us who want to be stronger and more fit, especially for ladies who think that weight training is not for them. Lifting weight doesn't necessarily make you bulky and muscular unless you specifically train with heavy weights and eat accordingly.
The exercise shown in this video is intended for intermediate to advance individuals. Of course, there are ways to modify this exercise to make it more suitable for beginners. I'll be introducing more exercises to you in the coming weeks.
Saturday, March 13, 2010
About Quick Fatloss
I work with lots of people that are interested in having a toned body and achieving quick fatloss. I often have to slow them down when they tell me they want to speed up their fatloss process. The general population is tricked every day by fake media advertisements promising a rapid and safe fatloss process (ex. drop 15 lbs/7 kg in 7 days). Your body fat took months, even years, to accumulate, so don't expect to lose it in a few days. Be realistic and take it point by point:
1. You want a good shape and a nice toned body. Imagine your weightloss process is so succesful that you're losing 15 lbs/7 kg in 7 days. With weightloss that fast, your skin will not have time to adapt and you'll end up with flabby skin. So you can say goodbye to the desired toned body.
2.It is impossible to drop 15lbs/7kg of fat (you can drop water or lean muscle mass but not fat) in 7 days. You should aim for a weightloss pace of 1-2lbs/0.5-1kg a week. Ask a doctor if you don't belive me. Here is why: to burn 1lbs/0.5 kg of fat you need to burn aproximately 3500 kcal. In one hour of workout (weight training or cardio) an average person is burning roughly 500 kcal. If you're eating on a 500 kcal deficit a day you'll end the week on 7000 kcal deficit.To burn 15 lbs/7 kg of fat you need to burn 52500 kcal which equals 105 hours of workout.
3. When you drop a huge amount of bodyweight very fast, you're losing more muscle than fat. Beside making you flabby, this will also slow down your metabolism as muscles are an active metabolic tissue. So, you are not only jeopardizing your chances of getting a toned body, but you'll also burn calories slower and slow down your fatloss process.
4.At the end of the fast stupid diet you'll gain all the fat back and something extra as a bonus. It is called the yo-yo effect.
So set realistic goals, stick to your weight training routine, pay attention to what you eat, do cardio, and you'll be able to achieve and maintain a fit, toned body.
1. You want a good shape and a nice toned body. Imagine your weightloss process is so succesful that you're losing 15 lbs/7 kg in 7 days. With weightloss that fast, your skin will not have time to adapt and you'll end up with flabby skin. So you can say goodbye to the desired toned body.
2.It is impossible to drop 15lbs/7kg of fat (you can drop water or lean muscle mass but not fat) in 7 days. You should aim for a weightloss pace of 1-2lbs/0.5-1kg a week. Ask a doctor if you don't belive me. Here is why: to burn 1lbs/0.5 kg of fat you need to burn aproximately 3500 kcal. In one hour of workout (weight training or cardio) an average person is burning roughly 500 kcal. If you're eating on a 500 kcal deficit a day you'll end the week on 7000 kcal deficit.To burn 15 lbs/7 kg of fat you need to burn 52500 kcal which equals 105 hours of workout.
3. When you drop a huge amount of bodyweight very fast, you're losing more muscle than fat. Beside making you flabby, this will also slow down your metabolism as muscles are an active metabolic tissue. So, you are not only jeopardizing your chances of getting a toned body, but you'll also burn calories slower and slow down your fatloss process.
4.At the end of the fast stupid diet you'll gain all the fat back and something extra as a bonus. It is called the yo-yo effect.
So set realistic goals, stick to your weight training routine, pay attention to what you eat, do cardio, and you'll be able to achieve and maintain a fit, toned body.
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