How To Be Consistent

When trying to make health and fitness changes to your life, the most important thing to know is that consistency is key. It's important to make a plan and stick to that plan. 

Set Goals.

First, set your long term goal which is your ultimate goal. Your ultimate goal could be to fit into an old pair of pants, or to have a healthier diet for the rest of your life. Whatever your long term goals are you'll need to set short term goals to help you get there. A short term goal may be to start exercising or a grocery store run to buy healthier foods. Everything should be planned. Then plan out how to meet your short term goals, like making a grocery list before going to the grocery store. 

Be realistic.

It is important that you keep it real with yourself. For instance, if I haven't worked out for much of my life then I'm not going to make a short term goal to run a marathon. Make sure all of your goals are attainable, otherwise you won't be consistent because it's just too hard. 

Take things slow.

It's okay to take things slow. Don't worry about anyone else's pace but your own. It's important to crawl before you walk.  For example, try illuminating a few unhealthy foods instead of illuminating them all at the same time. Do it this way so that the chances of you sticking it out are greater. 

Lifestyle.

For me, being healthy and staying fit is worth a lifestyle change. I want to be as healthy as possible as I grow older. Being healthy and staying fit can help reduce and sometimes prevent illness like diabetes, heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, colon cancer, and obesity. 

Make a plan that is attainable that way you can be consistent, and remember starting off slow is okay. Your future depends on it!

Healthy Weight Gain

To gain weight one would need to consume extra calories. Sometimes weight gain is vital to a person's health so it's even more important to gain weight in a healthy way. Steer clear of loading up on junk food, fast food, or fried foods because there are better options. 

Eat every 3 to 4 hours. Very important because waiting too long to eat can result in loss of muscle mass. 

Drink your meals. This allows you to not feel bloated or stuffed while packing on those extra calories with fruits and veggies of course. You can also add all kinds of good stuff like protein powder. 

Eat right before going to bed. A healthy snack before you sleep will allow those nutrients to work while your asleep. 

Eat more protein. A lack of protein can cause a loss of lean body mass. Try foods like chicken, tuna, tofu, tempeh, beans, quinoa, or peanuts. 

Eat healthy. No need to eat larger portions just eat nutritious foods with more protein and carbohydrates. 

• Bread - whole wheat, oat bran, pumpernickel, ezekiel, rye, are more nutritious than white bread. 
• Vegetables - the starchy ones like potatoes, corns, peas, squash, carrots, or beets. Avoid veggies that are mostly water like broccoli, zucchini, cauliflower, cucumbers, or green beans. 
• Fruit - Pick dense fruits like pears, apples, bananas, pineapple, or dried fruit. Avoid fruits that are mostly water like peaches, oranges, berries, plums, or watermelon. 
• Supplements - Some nutritional supplements are designed specifically for weight gain. Try Herbalife's Formula 1 shake, Protein Powder, Rebuild Strength, or Rebuild Endurance. 

Weight training. This will convert your extra weight into lean body mass. 

Keep in mind that you cannot gain weight in one spot. The way your body distributes weight has to do with your genetics. For instance, if you usually gain weight in your mid section but want to gain in your butt, you should focus on building your butt muscles instead of trying to eat more. Happy, healthy weight gain everyone!

Have You Hit a Plateau in Your Weight Loss Journey?

When a person makes up their mind to lose a desired amount of weight, they usually shed the bulk of it with a strict diet and exercise routine. Then somewhere along the end of their journey they reach a plateau and can’t lose the last 5 or 10 pounds. The reason being is that the body’s metabolic rate has changed.  Studies show that for every pound you lose, your metabolism slows by up to 20 calories a day.  So the thinner you get, the less calories you burn doing the same exercise routine as before.

The Switch Up

When you hit that plateau then it’s time to switch things up. I said it before and I will say it time and time again… 

• High Intensity Interval Training. Do your regular cardio routine and add in 30 to 60 second extra hard intervals. Example: While riding a stationary bike at moderate speed give it your all spinning as fast as you can for 30 or 60 seconds then go back to your moderate speed for 2 minutes or so and then repeat at least 5 times. Interval training is a great metabolism booster, for that reason more calories are burned. 

• Gain Muscle. Building and maintaing muscle accelerates our metabolism. Just a few 15-20 minute weight training sessions a week can tone up the body and burn extra calories. Studies show that a pound of muscle can burn up to nine times the calories. It’s okay to do exercises that rely on body weight if you don’t have access to a gym or weights such as push-ups, squats, and lunges. 
  

• Stress less. Studies show that stress makes it hard to lose weight and contributes to causing diabetes. Balance life, find a way to relieve stress, and get a good nights sleep. 

Bye Bye Plateau!

Banishing Belly

Does belly fat seem to be more stubborn then other areas of the body? 

Did you know that diet easily accounts for 75% of the results you will see in belly fat loss? A huge effort is going to have to be put forth to trim that midsection, because it is not as easy as one change to your diet or adding one new exercise. 

If your eating bad your probably gonna have trouble getting rid of belly fat. Here are some foods to include in your diet to help banish that belly fat.

Walnuts: Nuts in general are a healthy source of dietary fat but walnuts contain essential fatty acids. 

Plain Unsweetened Oatmeal: Oatmeal is high in protein, dietary fiber, and nearly sugar free. (I love Oatmeal check my previous post on it!)

Apples: Due to their dietary fat content, apples will help you feel fuller longer. (Try eating an apple before every meal to eat less.)

Broccoli: Vegetables are essential in losing belly fat especially green ones for being low in calories and high in fiber. Broccoli is high in vitamin c and vitamin k. 

Blackberries: Low calories, high in dietary fiber, and about 2 grams of protein per serving. 

Try adding these foods in your regular diet with consistent exercise, and see if you can banish some of that belly fat permanently.  

Waist Trimmers

Waist trimmers typically advertise that their devices aid in burning calories and losing weight. 

Fact or Fiction?

FICTION for sure, but lets examine the facts. 

• The rubber material used to make waist trimmers will cause you to sweat more profusely in that area. 
• The temperature of your body and the amount you sweat are unrelated to the calories you burn. 
• Your not burning extra calories because you sweat more. 

Water Weight

Devices such as waist trimmers and sauna suits help to sweat in excess and lose water weight, but not calories to lose fat. Water weight loss is not effective because as soon as you consume water or any other drink the small weight you lost is quickly restored. 

Losing Weight

You need to burn calories to lose fat successfully through a combination of healthy eating and exercise. You have to burn 3,500 calories to lose a pound of fat. Heart pumping cardio or aerobic exercises such as running, riding a bike, or stair climbing are great calorie burners. 

Bottom Line

Waist trimmers can give the illusion of a tighter midsection when worn under your clothes., but it’s not necessary to put it on to workout. 

Crunches Not Getting You The Abs That You Desire?

There is no way to lose weight in one targeted area of the body. Heart pumping cardio is needed to burn calories and lose your overall body fat. More specifically, interval training is proven to target the fat around your belly. 

So give it a try giving it your all with one minute sprinting intervals and recovering with two-minute walking intervals. Thank me later because not only will you be trimming down that belly fat, sprinting will also increase your endurance and speed while toning your booty and legs. 

Same Breakfast, Different Day.

You can never go wrong with plain old fashion oatmeal. It's a very healthy breakfast choice, consumption of whole grains has been linked to a reduced risk of diabetes, heart disease and some forms of cancer.  You can have it your way by using your choice of fruits, nuts, peanut butter, and etc. Enjoy!

Herbalife

I lived by this stuff when I first started my weight loss and I still do. If you’re trying to drop weight then I would try herbalife. You do 2 shakes (breakfast and lunch) a healthy dinner and two healthy snacks in between. Also drink lots of water. I started losing weight so fast. Even days I didn’t workout I still was losing. The shakes are good and they come in different flavors. I add fruit to mine for taste and to make me more full. The personalized protein powder I use to add to the shake for more protein. Cell u loss is used for water weight. It eliminates all the extra water in your body. I love it. The tea and total control I use before I go workout. It gives me so much energy and speeds up my metabolism so I’m able to burn more calories/ fat. Lastly of what I love is the protein drink mix. You mix it with water, shake it and drink. I like to have it with me while I’m working out so after I’m done I can have something to curve my appetite. For those who do try herbalife out I promise you’ll love it. It really works!

Make No Excuses

Replace excuses with effort.