New Blog Site

Readers, if you get to this blog site, please take note that I am no longer adding any new posts here. I keep it open because it allows me & you to read my older posts. They did not transfer over to my new blog site.

YOU CAN SEE MY NEW BLOG AT:

www.truth2beingfit.com

Email me at jody@truth2beingfit.com

Thank you for your support!

Scale Busting Tips!

Many of you are struggling to lose weight & others are struggling to get that last 5 pounds off. What can you do to get that scale to budge so that it moves downward rather than standing still.

(1) First, you have to take a hard look at what you are eating & what you are doing that may be a cause for the lack of weight loss. Are you telling yourself that you are eating less but you really don't know that for a fact because you are not even paying attention to what you are eating and have no clue. This is where logging your food or taking cell phone pics of your meals can help you understand what you are eating & where you need to make changes.

(2) Are you chatting away easily as you exercise at the gym? If you can talk with ease while doing cardio, you are not working hard enough unless you are in a recovery period. Are you reading a book or magazine with no sweat marks over the print? I don't get this. I could never read anything during my cardio sessions. The book, magazine or paper would be covered with sweat. Try listening to music. Studies have shown that people exercise harder & longer while listening to your own music that you like. You can get the cheapest iPod shuffle for $50 & probably less if you search online.

(3) Did you just eat a bag of chips & did not even realize it until the bag was empty. You need to eat mindfully & consciously!

I have a couple great articles from my Shape Magazine newsletter that will help you work through ways to budge the scale.

The first, 5 Smart Ways to Lose Weight, is great! YOU HAVE TO READ THIS ALL THE WAY THROUGH! The beginning paragraph states: "It's called "mindful eating." Mindfulness means being fully aware within the present moment. When you practice mindful eating, you pay attention to your body's subtle and natural cues, specifically the ones that say "feed me" and "that's enough." I have posted about this many times. Read the article here: http://www.shape.com/healthy_eating/articles/5_Smarter_Ways_to_Lose_Weight.html?newsletter021009=true

The second article, What to do When the Scale is not Budging, offers up a few ideas to help you move forward with your weight loss goals. Read that here: http://www.shape.com/healthy_eating/articles/21-Day_Makeover_Day_20_When_The_Scale_Isnt_Budging.html?newsletter021009=true

I hope this helps you all to take charge & lose weight. I know it is hard. I have worked hard my whole adult life to keep fit, healthy & keep my weight loss off. Now, going thru "the change", I have had to revamp my food program even though I am working out as hard if not harder than before .... so I do understand!!!!

Exercise & Diet Re-Resolution!

OK, we are not even into the middle of February but many people have already "given up" on their new year's resolution to exercise more, eat better and lose weight. Many have just tried to do too much, too fast & you overwhelmed yourself. Others did not do the up front work to understand what they are eating, how much, how many calories (logging your food) so you understand the steps they need to make to lose unwanted weight. If you don't know where you are starting from, how can you put together a plan. Others need to face the emotional issues first in order to get to the root of the problem for why they are eating too much & eating without consciously thinking about it. For others, it is just, I like it, I want it and I am going to eat it but there is no portion control going on either.

There are so many reasons why people stop trying to lose the excess weight or stop exercising. I found a couple articles that discuss this & offer up some advice to get back on track like: Setting short & long term goals, setting specific and measurable goals that you can achieve long term, allowing non-food rewards at certain points, planning ahead, putting yourself first and more. Check out the two articles below and see if they help you get back on track!

Diet Detective's Get Back on the Diet Track: http://www.dietdetective.com/content/view/3613/3/

Diet Blog's Getting Back on the Fitness Wagon:

http://www.diet-blog.com/archives/2009/01/28/getting_back_on_the_fitness_wagon.php

By the way, while you are at it, read this article from Hungry Girl about more restaurant disasters and better choices for you when you do go out to eat. http://www.hungry-girl.com/girls/biteoutdetails.php?isid=1662

Intervals-Reader Question

As I posted Friday, intervals are a great way to blast fat & burn more calories. I got a reader question that I thought I would post & answer since some of you may have had the same issue as this reader. The question to me was:

"I have a question about doing intervals. I tried to follow a plan very similar to the one in the article on yahoo health but was frustrated. I was using a treadmill and the lag time to change the incline (I also upped the speed but did not want to run fast as it is hard on older knees) is so great that it seems that about 1/2 of the interval time is spent in the changeover.So should I be starting my "timer" after the treadmill gets up to its new level.I ended up not feeling very much of a workout so I must have been going at it wrong. Any suggestions? "

Well, first, there was a misunderstanding by of the Yahoo Health article & I can actually see why because I had to read it twice before I got it. The "levels" they discuss in the article are not incline levels on the treadmill but are levels of perceived exertion with 1 being the easiest and 10 being the hardest. Perceived exertion is the feeling of how hard you are working at that time vs. if you were to calculate it with an online tool that tells you what your target heart rate should be in beats per minute for your age. See a target heart rate calculator at this link from The Diet Detective:

http://www.dietdetective.com/weightloss/thr/.

I use rate of perceived exertion for myself since I am in much better shape for my age than the normal person so I can work at a higher level than the average woman at my age. The target heart rate calculator would show a rate that would not work me hard enough.

Now, let's say you are using inclines & declines as part of your interval training. Why not use the time for the treadmill to incline or decline as part of your recovery period. For example, if you are doing a sprint on a flat or lower level, once you finish that sprint, reduce the speed to the recommended exertion level as you incline to a higher level (and if necessary, reduce the speed as you incline to keep at that recovery exertion level) before doing another sprint at the higher incline per the recommended exertion level. Now, vice versa, if you are doing the higher exertion level at the increased incline, use the time it takes the treadmill to decline as your recovery per the recommended exertion level.

I sure hope this helps and if not or I have confused you more, please write again! You can also email me directly at jody@truth2beingfit.com. Thx for reading my blog!

Blast Fat, Burn More Calories!

I have posted before about the benefits of interval training. Intervals not only burn more fat & calories but the benefits keep working after you finish your workout! I added intervals to my routine in my late 40's and I can say that they work!!!!! My friend, Paula, sent me this article from Yahoo Health. I have not been on that site for a bit so I am glad she forwarded this my way.. thx Paula! This article is all about intervals and says this:

"Women who spent 20 minutes mixing sprints with jogging lost three times the fat off their legs and butt in 15 weeks than those jogging steadily for 40 minutes, a study from the University of New South Wales in Sydney finds. Burn triple the fat in half the time? Bring it on!" Read how to do the interval routine & also click on Self link at the end of the article for some exercises from Jillian of The Biggest Loser.

http://health.yahoo.com/experts/healthieryou/8471/sizzle-calories-in-18-minutes/

Intervals are tough stuff so if you are new to exercising, be careful. Work up to it. Don't hurt yourself before you are even a week into your exercise & health program! I will say this and have said it before ..... your body can do more than your mind tells you! I remember telling myself in my late 40's that how could I possibly do intervals or plyometrics but I tried them, I did them & I still do them at 51 years old. We really can do more than we think we can do!!!

Also, I want to share a short article from Care2 on how to incorporate 10 minute workouts into your day. These are very simple things & I am sure you can think of more yourself. In fact, how about when you are driving..... just trying to sit up straighter will work the core, do butt squeezes & pelvic tucks at red lights. Small things add up to big results! Read about the 10 minute workouts here:

http://www.care2.com/greenliving/effective-10-minute-workouts.html

Safe Seafood, Recipes & More

We have all heard how healthy it is to eat certain types of fish & we get the benefit of the healthy fats. In fact, off of the Environmental Defense Fund website, they had this to say about why eating fish is so good for you: "Fish is a high-protein, low-fat food that provides a range of health benefits. White-fleshed fish, in particular, is lower in fat than any other source of animal protein, and oily fish are high in omega-3 fatty acids, or the "good" fats. Since the human body can’t make significant amounts of these essential nutrients, fish are an important part of the diet. Also, fish are low in the "bad" fats commonly found in red meat, called omega-6 fatty acids." My sister sent me this link to their site which has a comprehensive list of Eco-best, Eco-OK and Eco-worst fish to eat. Along the side of the page, you will see other links to read including Seafood and health. If you love to eat fish, I highly recommend you checking out this link to smart choices for seafood: http://www.edf.org/page.cfm?tagID=1521&redirect=seafood08

I also want to share an older Oxygen's Clean Eating Magazine newsletter which has a recipe for poached salmon along with other recipes for vegetable lasagna, bean dip and a cheesecake. I really included this link because I was "talking fish" and the salmon recipe was on here but why not check out all the other great recipes & information as well. Read the recipes here: http://www.cleaneatingmag.com/newsletter/january2009/.

For those that crave more recipes, you can find Oxygen's Clean Eating Magazine & Oxygen Women's Fitness at your local bookstore, Target and many other locations. Check them out & you may just have to subscribe because you can't live without them!

Strength Training Info

For my regular readers, you already know that I am "obsessed" with weight training. It is a good thing to be obsessed with as long as you do it right! Resistance training helps prevent bone loss, decreases injuries during your every day activities by strengthening the body all over, muscle burns way more calories than fat & the more muscle you have the more calories you burn at rest along with many other positives! Also, when you hold your body in the correct form to execute the exercises, you are also working the core!

For people new to resistance/weight training, you can start out by doing multi joint exercises that often work more than one body part at the same time. This also gives you the opportunity to start learning your body, the correct form & how the body works together. Examples are shoulder presses rather than side lateral raises for the shoulders, squats, chest press etc.

If you have been working out for a while, you may see that some muscle groups are weaker than others. Once I had established a good muscle base for myself, I started prioritizing my workout based on doing my weaker muscle groups first. Now, this has changed with time as my workouts change with time. I am always reevaluating to make sure I am working to my best potential.

Diet Blog had a great article on 10 essentials of strength training & I have used all of them & still do.... this is a must read for new & seasoned people. Not only does the article discuss the points above but also things like breathing, speed of repetitions, alignment and more. Read the article here:

http://www.diet-blog.com/archives/2009/02/03/10_essentials_of_strength_training.php

Also off of Diet Blog, read another good article on how to help overweight friends or family members on how to take positive steps to a healthier lifestyle.

http://www.diet-blog.com/archives/2009/02/04/helping_an_overweight_friend_or_family_member.php