Fitzy Bitzy: Fitness Blog – Weight Loss Blog – Trainer Blog

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These past few months, I've read some interesting comments from readers who feel there method of eating and fitness is the only way to go.  I'm sure you've heard of them before.  Those that don't eat carbs … those that stay away from fat … those that eat and drink an enormous amount of protein … those that don't exercise ever … those that exercise way too much, those that only exercise with slow movements, etc.  You know what I've realized.  All of these schools of thought are extreme.  Out of all of these, I bet you can guess which one really gets to me.  That's right, low-carb eating.  I have to say, of all the comments I receive, those that leave comments in support of low-carb eating are the most mean-spirited.  I never have understood why the people who leave these comments seem to want to start a fight over why their way of eating is the best way to eat.  Then it dawned on me – with all the extreme ideas in fitness, low-carb eating is just one of them. 

My feeling is, and I've seen this from first-hand experience with clients, extreme fitness concepts never work.  Sure, they may bring quick results, but I've never seen lasting results.  Why is that?  I think it's because extreme concepts are not easy to live by.  It's easy to pump yourself up for a few months of following an extreme dieting and workout plan, but the majority of us will start to fizzle out.  That's not necessarily a bad thing.  If the body is overtrained, it's defense mechanism is to fizzle out before serious damage results.  Same with the other extreme fitness and diet approaches.  The mind and body have a hard time staying in an extreme state, and as a result, you start to lose accountability and drive to continue.

My conclusions … just stay consistent and balanced.  Instead of working out until you pass out, try consistently performing moderate-level workouts your body and mind can handle.  Instead of trying to eat no carbs, no fat, or no sugar, make smarter chooses in what you do eat and try for a balanced approach instead of an extreme approach.  Not only is a balanced approach a more natural way of living, it will also lead to a mind and body that is more consistent and accountable, and it will help prevent you from stressing out so much about trying to live on the extreme side of some concept in diet and exercise.  I'm sure I'll still get heated comments/feedback from the extreme wellness individuals, but oh well.

Here's one of those short posts I was talking about.  I love it when I find great content to share with others! 

Weight loss tips for moms

I was in Barnes & Noble the other day and started skimming through Tom Venuto's The Body Fat Solution.  From what I read, it looked like a pretty good book.  Finally, a book without a specific program that needs to be followed.  Anybody who's read it have any thoughts?  Anything you wish would have been done differently with the book?  What did you like most about it?

On Thursday of next week, April 2, from 6 to 8 PM, I’m going to be speaking at a fitness seminar for my company.  We’ve decided to bring in different health and wellness resources from around town, so what does that mean to you?  It means that you get in the doors for FREE!  That’s right.  We don’t want to charge a cent for you to be able to come listen, and thanks to our sponsors, you won’t have to.

The topic of the seminar is on designing a game plan to help you reach your fitness and weight loss goals.  I’m going to be throwing out all kinds of information that will simplify how the body works and what you need to do to get results.  None of this take this pill or buy this contraption and lose 6 inches in 6 days junk.  No, this seminar is for those that want real results … the kind that take some time but that are legitimate and last.

If you’re in the Columbus, OH area, I’d love to see you there.  It’s going to be a fun environment that allows you to ask any questions you want and network with wellness resources and other like-minded individuals around the city.

Look forward to seeing you there; it’s going to be an exciting evening!  Sign up today!

So you want to raise that metabolism, huh?  I don't blame you; an increased metabolism means increased calorie burn and faster weight loss.  Here are 6 simple strategies to get that metabolism up there:

1. Exercise: This is one of those that makes you say, "Duh!"  Exercise requires energy, energy being calories.  Increased energy equals increased calories used.  Also, as a result of exercise, your overall energy levels will go up, and your body will be rejuvenated to process calories more efficiently.  This means less excess fat storage.
2. Anaerobic training: Aerobic training is one thing (walking and jogging), but anaerobic is an entirely different animal.  Anaerobic training (sprints, jumping jacks, etc.) utilizes a concept that stimulates increased oxygen consumption by the body … even after you're done working out.  What does this mean?  It means that even after working out, your body is still using up excess oxygen, meaning more energy is used for the respiration process.  More energy used equals more calories burned.
3. Resistance training: Just like anaerobic training, excess oxygen is being used after completing resistance training.  Again, increased oxygen consumption equals increased metabolism equals increased calorie burn and fat loss.  Plus, after resistance training, your metabolism is raised because your muscles have to repair themselves.  On top of that, studies have shown that resistance training creates a longer, healthier life, more so than any other type of exercise, so it's a must.
4. Eating less but more frequently: Excess calories means increased fat storage, which means our bodies get weighed down.  By eating smaller, more frequent meals, our bodies are given just enough fuel to keep the fire burning brightly (our metabolism).  If you throw a lot of wood on a campfire in the morning, and then wait until the evening to throw more on it, the fire will dwindle during midday.  If you eat a big meal in the morning but wait till the evening to eat again, your body's metabolism will slow during the day.
5. Multivitamins: By taking a multivitamin everyday, you help maintain the health of your muscles.  Healthy muscles equal a higher metabolism and more calories burned.
6. Laughing: Studies have shown that laughing increases calorie burn … enough said.

By following these simple strategies, you can help your body achieve that extra bit of calorie burn that it may need.

That’s right, the iPhone can now act as a heart rate monitor.  Thanks to a new module and wireless technology, the iPhone can be incorporated with chest straps or the pre-existing heart rate sensors on many cardio machines.  Instead of having to stop and check your pulse, the iPhone does it for you without you breaking stride.  Couple that with some nifty technology to track your workouts, and now you have a cool tool to evaluate your workouts.

Thanks to several websites, the data your iPhone collects can be downloaded to these sites and used to compile all kinds of workout results for an assessment.  What does something like this cost?  Well, the apps are free, but try $155 for the module, plus the added costs for the different assessments you want and any sensors you want to buy (besides the ones on cardio machines).

I’m sure you’ve wondered this before.  With bodies such as The President’s Challenge and The President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, one has to wonder if the President sets a good example.  After all, the President only has the small task of running the United States, not that that should take too much time away from a fitness program.  You’ll be happy to learn that surprisingly, a lot of our presidents have incorporated staying fit into their daily schedules.  Here are some neat pictures of our presidents in action … you might get some different workout ideas, although I’m not sure if golfing really counts as exercise … unless you hoof it.

Presidents breaking a sweat

One of my readers, and a past guest blogger on Fitzy Bitzy, emailed me with this post that was recently done by her organization.  It lists all kinds of different fitness apps you can use on your iPhone.  I thought it was so unique, I had to share it with you.  Technology is such a wonderful thing; does anybody really have an excuse not to exercise anymore … other than laziness?

100 fitness apps for your iPhone

This last month has been a great month for me.  I’ve been able to meet a lot of really great people, and after explaining what Your Live Trainers does, I got all kinds of interesting responses.  Some people loved the idea, some weren’t sure about online fitness training, and some were confused all together.

Being the “Curious George” that I am, I decided to tackle this problem head on.  So what did I do?  I created a survey.  Yea for surveys!  My goal is to get feedback from you so that we (Your Live Trainers) can figure out how to serve you best.  Everybody knows they need to be healthy, but so many people have different issues that prevent them from achieving that level of health they want.  We want to provide the best approach for you to get there, so that’s why we created this survey.  I would extremely appreciate it if you would take 5 minutes of your day and complete it.  With your help, we really feel we’ll be able to help you even better.  

Here’s the link to the survey: http://www.fitzybitzy.com/fitness-survey.html.  Thanks in advance!!!