Another great health article as we get the new year started! Notice the curry comment!!! Enjoy!
By Joe Wilkes
If you spend any time perusing the fashion mags and tabloid rags in the supermarket checkout line, you'll see a wide array of articles claiming to have discovered the latest "miracle food" that'll burn off the pounds while you sit on your butt and eat. Well, sadly, the news isn't quite that good. Without regular exercise, a decent night's sleep, and a thought-out meal plan, your metabolic rate is going to be dragging. However, there are some things you can eat that'll move the needle into the fat-burning zone. And all of these foods are delicious, nutritious, or both, so why not? Here are eight of the best ones.
1. Fish. Most of us have read about the benefits of fish oil, which is full of heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids. Found in many common oily fish like mackerel, trout, sardines, herring, tuna, and salmon, it can also be taken in capsules (at least 300 mg/day) by those who are averse to seafood. Fish consumption has been found to boost your calorie burn by as much as 400 calories a day. Fish is also full of great, low-fat, muscle-building protein (which requires your body to burn more calories to digest it). And now's a great time to get fishy, as fresh wild-caught salmon is in season.
2. Dark green leafy vegetables. These include arugula, chard, chicory, collard greens, dandelion greens, kale, mustard greens, and spinach. They are full of vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium, and lots of fiber. While the vitamins are great antioxidants and very healthy for you, the fiber is where the rubber really meets the road as far as your metabolism goes. Your body expends a lot more calories digesting fiber and protein than it does simply digesting carbohydrates. This is called the thermic effect—the amount of calories required to digest food can sometimes be almost as much as the number of calories in the food itself. Dark leafies also contain many B vitamins, which are necessary to produce the enzymes for metabolism. Most other vegetables are high in fiber and low in calories and can boost your burn, but the cream of the crop, nutritionally speaking, are the dark green leafy vegetables. So listen to Popeye and eat your spinach!
3. Tomatoes. Tomatoes have gotten a lot of good press lately, as they contain high levels of the antioxidant lycopene, which has been proven to have several anti-carcinogenic properties. And like the dark green leafy vegetables, tomatoes are a good source of fiber. But tomatoes can also work overtime to flush fat, as they contain citric, malic, and oxalic acids, which support your body's kidney functions, helping your body eliminate more waste and fat from your system.
4. Blueberries and other whole fruits. Whole fruits contain lots of fiber, and many contain so much, they can be said to have "negative calories," meaning your body burns more calories digesting them than it stores. One cup of blueberries only has about 80 calories, but it has 4 whole grams of fiber. Your body will expend much of those 80 calories digesting those 4 grams of fiber. Blueberries also contain lots of antioxidants, and are believed to lower cholesterol and regulate blood pressure. Plus they taste great! Try adding them to a high-fiber unsweetened cereal or oatmeal in the morning to get your metabolism up and running at the start of your day.
5. Whole grains. Well, if you've read this far, you've probably gotten that fiber is key to keeping the metabolic fires burning. Whole grains are one of the best sources of dietary fiber. This is where careful label reading comes in. Lots of items that are purported to contain whole grains only have just enough to make the claim truthful, and may in fact be full of insulin-spiking carbohydrates or sugars, which will take your metabolism in the wrong direction. Check the ingredient list of your breads and cereals carefully and make sure the lion's share of the ingredients is whole grains.
6. Chilies, curries, and other spices. Ever eaten a particularly spicy meal and felt your heart race a bit faster and your forehead start to perspire? The capsaicin found in many hot peppers and other spices can fire up your metabolism while it fires up your mouth. In fact, some studies have shown a 50 percent increase in metabolism for 3 hours after eating capsaicin. So it helps to keep a bottle of hot sauce on hand at mealtimes. You can also use spices to add flavor to recipes instead of salty or fatty ingredients to help kick your metabolism into a higher gear.
7. Green tea. Researchers have found that green tea consumption can increase calorie-burning by up to four percent. It's believed that green tea accomplishes this by helping to increase metabolic rates, as well as fat oxidation. Studies have also shown that green tea can reduce sugar cravings and help inhibit enzymes that slow digestion, thus raising metabolic rates. Green tea's thermogenetic properties are convincing enough that Beachbody includes it in its ActiVit® Metabolism Formula. In addition to its metabolic properties, green tea is loaded with antioxidants and polyphenols, making it one of the most healthful beverage choices around.
8. Ice water. Almost every nutritionist will recommend drinking eight 8-ounce glasses of water every day, but did you know that if you drink ice water instead of room-temperature water, your body will burn an extra nine calories per glass? Drinking room-temperature water can burn about 16 calories per glass—that's 25 calories per glass for ice water. So eight glasses of cold water a day can be responsible for burning 200 calories! Besides, water is necessary for all your bodily processes, including the ones that control your metabolism. If you're underhydrated, your body will underperform. Water also flushes out fat deposits and toxins, which can hamper your energy.
Remember, a good night's sleep and smaller, more evenly spaced meals can be your best metabolic friends. And the best thing to really get your metabolism going is exercise. You can burn up to 1,000 calories an hour with Turbo Jam®. And because stress has been found to produce cortisol, a steroid that inhibits the metabolism, we recommend that you try and relax . . . and have a blueberry. Or a fish!
Showing posts with label health. Show all posts
Showing posts with label health. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
20 Secrets of Very Fit People
Great article! Enjoy!!
By Chalene Johnson, creator of Turbo Jam®
Here are a few helpful, healthy "TurboFired" tips. Read them, then print and post them so you have them as a daily reminder.
1. Keep a water bottle with you at all times and drink from it often. Water is the drink of choice, but if you don't enjoy plain water, than liven it up! Try adding a squeeze of fresh lemon or lime juice to your water bottle. You can also drink Propel Fit Water®, VitaminWater®, or some other form of healthy enhanced beverage with zero or very few calories, but remember: pure water is best.
2. Look at exercise as a pleasure and privilege, not a burden or chore. Think positively about the changes regular exercise will bring about in your body and your life. Rather than obsessing about your next meal, get excited about your next workout!
3. Eat well-balanced meals and remember that excessive calories, even if they are fat free and high protein, will turn to excess weight. No matter what the latest fad diet is, extra calories always equal extra weight!
4. Limit your caffeine intake and your exposure to smoke—even secondhand smoke.
5. Focus on short-term fitness goals with an emphasis on completing daily exercise.
6. Keep a daily log of what you're actually eating. This includes grabbing a handful of chips here, the crust of your kid's sandwich there, and ALL your snacking.
7. Enjoy an occasional (once a week) "unhealthy" treat, but never an "unhealthy" week or "unhealthy" vacation.
8. Enjoy contributing to the health of others by having a partner or friends to exercise with, as well as recruiting others who have the desire to feel better and have more energy. Have a neighbor who walks every morning? Ask if you can join in!
9. Avoid monotony by introducing new forms of exercise to your routine—in addition to your regular workout, try biking, hiking, swimming, or rollerblading to keep you motivated and inspired.
10. Subscribe to fitness magazines to keep focused on health as an overall way of life.
11. Invest in the right tools—new workout shoes, a portable MP3 player or iPod with great music, the right fitness equipment, a new series of exercise videos, etc.
12. Make it your goal to do some form of exercise 6 or 7 days a week. If some days you exercise once in the morning and once in the evening, even better! If you're eating right, exercise will fuel your energy level!
13. Don't compare your body to other people's. Instead, work to be your personal best.
14. If your diet is unbalanced, work to balance it, and make sure you take daily vitamin and mineral supplements for total health.
15. Work to take your exercise to new levels of intensity.
16. Create an exercise schedule the day before, instead of leaving it to chance or waiting to "find" the time. Everyone from busy heads of corporations to mothers who work full-time to the President of the United States can make time to work out every day—you can make time too!
17. Move beyond the boundaries of weight loss and into total fitness. Measure success by the way your clothes fit and not some number on a scale.
18. Stick with eating plans you can maintain indefinitely. Remember that no matter how hard you're working out, if you're consuming too many calories, you'll never see the muscles that lie beneath the layers of fatty tissue.
19. Get adequate amounts of sleep, but remember that people who exercise regularly fall asleep faster and sleep more soundly.
20. Limit alcohol intake to special occasions.
By Chalene Johnson, creator of Turbo Jam®
Here are a few helpful, healthy "TurboFired" tips. Read them, then print and post them so you have them as a daily reminder.
1. Keep a water bottle with you at all times and drink from it often. Water is the drink of choice, but if you don't enjoy plain water, than liven it up! Try adding a squeeze of fresh lemon or lime juice to your water bottle. You can also drink Propel Fit Water®, VitaminWater®, or some other form of healthy enhanced beverage with zero or very few calories, but remember: pure water is best.
2. Look at exercise as a pleasure and privilege, not a burden or chore. Think positively about the changes regular exercise will bring about in your body and your life. Rather than obsessing about your next meal, get excited about your next workout!
3. Eat well-balanced meals and remember that excessive calories, even if they are fat free and high protein, will turn to excess weight. No matter what the latest fad diet is, extra calories always equal extra weight!
4. Limit your caffeine intake and your exposure to smoke—even secondhand smoke.
5. Focus on short-term fitness goals with an emphasis on completing daily exercise.
6. Keep a daily log of what you're actually eating. This includes grabbing a handful of chips here, the crust of your kid's sandwich there, and ALL your snacking.
7. Enjoy an occasional (once a week) "unhealthy" treat, but never an "unhealthy" week or "unhealthy" vacation.
8. Enjoy contributing to the health of others by having a partner or friends to exercise with, as well as recruiting others who have the desire to feel better and have more energy. Have a neighbor who walks every morning? Ask if you can join in!
9. Avoid monotony by introducing new forms of exercise to your routine—in addition to your regular workout, try biking, hiking, swimming, or rollerblading to keep you motivated and inspired.
10. Subscribe to fitness magazines to keep focused on health as an overall way of life.
11. Invest in the right tools—new workout shoes, a portable MP3 player or iPod with great music, the right fitness equipment, a new series of exercise videos, etc.
12. Make it your goal to do some form of exercise 6 or 7 days a week. If some days you exercise once in the morning and once in the evening, even better! If you're eating right, exercise will fuel your energy level!
13. Don't compare your body to other people's. Instead, work to be your personal best.
14. If your diet is unbalanced, work to balance it, and make sure you take daily vitamin and mineral supplements for total health.
15. Work to take your exercise to new levels of intensity.
16. Create an exercise schedule the day before, instead of leaving it to chance or waiting to "find" the time. Everyone from busy heads of corporations to mothers who work full-time to the President of the United States can make time to work out every day—you can make time too!
17. Move beyond the boundaries of weight loss and into total fitness. Measure success by the way your clothes fit and not some number on a scale.
18. Stick with eating plans you can maintain indefinitely. Remember that no matter how hard you're working out, if you're consuming too many calories, you'll never see the muscles that lie beneath the layers of fatty tissue.
19. Get adequate amounts of sleep, but remember that people who exercise regularly fall asleep faster and sleep more soundly.
20. Limit alcohol intake to special occasions.
Monday, March 8, 2010
Great Health Quote!!
"The number one cause and cure of America's health care crisis is right under your nose. It's what you put in your mouth." - F. Matt Brown, MD
Saturday, May 9, 2009
World-Class Fitness in 100 Words
This is from the CrossFit website and sounds like excellent advice. Now the challenge is to do it!! Sounds like being a kid again!
* Eat meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch and no sugar.
* Keep intake to levels that will support exercise but not body fat.
* Practice and train major lifts: Deadlift, clean, squat, presses, C&J, and snatch.
* Similarly, master the basics of gymnastics: pull-ups, dips, rope climb, push-ups, sit-ups, presses to handstand, pirouettes, flips, splits, and holds.
* Bike, run, swim, row, etc, hard and fast. Five or six days per week mix these elements in as many combinations and patterns as creativity will allow.
* Routine is the enemy.
* Keep workouts short and intense.
* Regularly learn and play new sports.
* Eat meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch and no sugar.
* Keep intake to levels that will support exercise but not body fat.
* Practice and train major lifts: Deadlift, clean, squat, presses, C&J, and snatch.
* Similarly, master the basics of gymnastics: pull-ups, dips, rope climb, push-ups, sit-ups, presses to handstand, pirouettes, flips, splits, and holds.
* Bike, run, swim, row, etc, hard and fast. Five or six days per week mix these elements in as many combinations and patterns as creativity will allow.
* Routine is the enemy.
* Keep workouts short and intense.
* Regularly learn and play new sports.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
How to Break a Bad Diet Habit—Forever!
Jillian Michaels is one of the trainers on The Biggest Loser!
By Jillian Michaels
Get this: Research has shown that behaviors like what you eat and whether you exercise are deeply set into physical neural connections in your brain. All of your beliefs, your habits, everything making up your mental reality, is contained in physical neural-pathways. So in order to make real changes to your lifestyle and slim down, you've got to learn how to get in there and change your brain!
The first time you have an experience or learn something new, chances are a new pathway is created. Then the next time you have that experience, your brain will search to see if you have experienced it before. If you have, it'll follow the same pathway. The more often you have that experience or think that thought, the stronger that neural pathway holding that thought or behavior will become. This is how a thought or action becomes a habit.
By repeating a pattern, we strengthen the neural pathways being used for this behavior and essentially reinforce our propensity to be "stuck in a rut"—literally. Here's an example: Let's say that you have been binge eating late at night in your home off a certain set of plates and now you have decided you want to stop that behavior. But, every time you eat off those plates you have been hard-wired to overeat, making it exponentially more difficult to break that destructive habit.
You cannot rationally "think" these physical networks away. But you can change them in two ways:
1. You gradually force the pathway to weaken and atrophy over a period of time by not using it.
Every time you resist the urge to eat an extra cookie when you're upset, or use the ranch dressing at the salad bar, you're allowing those old patterns and pathways to die away so that you can slim down and get healthier. You can do this by pausing and thinking through your choice. Ask yourself what the consequences of that choice will be. That allows you to move from the impulsive part of your personality to the part of your brain that can reason before automatically reacting.
2. Override the old pathway by wiring in a new behavior.
Let's say you've been going to the same supermarket for years—and buying garbage foods that don't support your efforts to lose weight. Try a new supermarket! It seems strange, but simply being in a new location will help you not fall into old patterns of grabbing your same-old old junk food from the same old shelves. Then repeat. Something that will help create a strong neural pathway is repetition. It's not as complicated as the term "neural pathways" makes it sound: Just know that you actually can create physical changes in your brain, hard wiring yourself for success.
Okay, now what old habits are you going to break? And what will you replace them with?
Jillian Michaels is the author of the new book Master Your Metabolism and the motivation coach for the Body by Glamour shape-up program. She's helped dozens of people get slim and healthy as a trainer on "The Biggest Loser," and has helped thousands of others through her DVDs and books.
By Jillian Michaels
Get this: Research has shown that behaviors like what you eat and whether you exercise are deeply set into physical neural connections in your brain. All of your beliefs, your habits, everything making up your mental reality, is contained in physical neural-pathways. So in order to make real changes to your lifestyle and slim down, you've got to learn how to get in there and change your brain!
The first time you have an experience or learn something new, chances are a new pathway is created. Then the next time you have that experience, your brain will search to see if you have experienced it before. If you have, it'll follow the same pathway. The more often you have that experience or think that thought, the stronger that neural pathway holding that thought or behavior will become. This is how a thought or action becomes a habit.
By repeating a pattern, we strengthen the neural pathways being used for this behavior and essentially reinforce our propensity to be "stuck in a rut"—literally. Here's an example: Let's say that you have been binge eating late at night in your home off a certain set of plates and now you have decided you want to stop that behavior. But, every time you eat off those plates you have been hard-wired to overeat, making it exponentially more difficult to break that destructive habit.
You cannot rationally "think" these physical networks away. But you can change them in two ways:
1. You gradually force the pathway to weaken and atrophy over a period of time by not using it.
Every time you resist the urge to eat an extra cookie when you're upset, or use the ranch dressing at the salad bar, you're allowing those old patterns and pathways to die away so that you can slim down and get healthier. You can do this by pausing and thinking through your choice. Ask yourself what the consequences of that choice will be. That allows you to move from the impulsive part of your personality to the part of your brain that can reason before automatically reacting.
2. Override the old pathway by wiring in a new behavior.
Let's say you've been going to the same supermarket for years—and buying garbage foods that don't support your efforts to lose weight. Try a new supermarket! It seems strange, but simply being in a new location will help you not fall into old patterns of grabbing your same-old old junk food from the same old shelves. Then repeat. Something that will help create a strong neural pathway is repetition. It's not as complicated as the term "neural pathways" makes it sound: Just know that you actually can create physical changes in your brain, hard wiring yourself for success.
Okay, now what old habits are you going to break? And what will you replace them with?
Jillian Michaels is the author of the new book Master Your Metabolism and the motivation coach for the Body by Glamour shape-up program. She's helped dozens of people get slim and healthy as a trainer on "The Biggest Loser," and has helped thousands of others through her DVDs and books.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Great Health and Fitness Website!
Please check out this excellent health and Fitness website. Lot's of great articles! Enjoy!!
http://www.landry.com/
http://www.landry.com/
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
A BETTER WAY TO BURN FAT!
Not that I have any FAT friends, or that any of my friends need the information in this article, but maybe some of my friends have friends that are FAT and might need this information. Get my drift? :)
by Sheila Mulrooney Eldred is a Minneapolis-based freelance writer.
It's not fair, you say: You're eating right and you're working out for hours every week, yet your unwanted fat is barely fazed – in fact, it's just plain ignoring you. What gives?
Well, it could be that you haven't yet trained your body to burn fat efficiently. Or it could be that you've adapted to your current program and, as a result, you're burning fewer calories than you were a few months ago.
Either way, stalled weight loss can be frustrating, but here's the good news: Using strategic heart-rate training, you can drop those stubborn pounds. Heart-rate training is a personalized form of cardiovascular training that serves more than weight-loss goals. It establishes optimal exercise intensities – or zones – based on your unique metabolism, heart rate, current level of fitness, and health or fitness goals. By strategically working out within these parameters, you encourage your cardiorespiratory system to become stronger and more efficient. This leads to improved athletic performance and a tendency for your body to use stored fat rather than its circulating and stored sugar (glucose and glycogen) for energetic fuel.
The bottom line? Regardless of why you undertake heart-rate training, you'll probably wind up burning more fat, more easily. And if you're trying to lose weight, that's probably especially sweet music to your ears.
Gauge Your Intensity Whether you run, swim or do step aerobics, you can use your heart rate to personalize your weight-loss program. The idea is to train at the right intensity for the right amount of time.
All you need is a heart-rate monitor or a keen sense of your exertion levels. This approach removes some of the traditional focus on "per-session caloric burn" and instead places it squarely on metabolic fitness. "Heart-rate training changes your physiological structure," says Kevin Steele, PhD, vice president of research and development at Life Time Fitness. "The goal is to improve cardiorespiratory strength, increase lean body mass and elevate metabolism in the process."You'll first need to determine your anaerobic threshold (AT), the heart rate at which your body transitions from burning primarily fat to using primarily carbohydrates (sugars) for energy. When your body kicks into sugar-burning gear, lactic acid begins to accumulate in the bloodstream faster than you can use it. While this intensity produces a high rate of caloric burn and significant fitness gains, it's difficult to maintain for long. Happily, you don't have to. By simply cycling your intensity up and down (interval training) so that your heart rate repeatedly approaches, crosses and then drops below your AT, you can achieve dramatic fat-burning results, both during exercise and while you're going about your daily business. Find Your Happy Place You can calculate your AT by taking a Metabolic Assessment Profile (MAP) test at your health club, or you can get a general sense of it by referencing the heart-rate-training chart at lifetimefitness.com/heart_rate.
The heart-rate training zones are based on your individual AT and form the backbone of your weight-loss program.
Zone 1.
Use this warm-up and active recovery zone to begin and end your workout, and when you're fatigued, sore or overtrained. Your heart rate is 60 to 70 percent of your AT, and you generally burn more fat calories than carbohydrates.
Zone 2.
In the aerobic development zone (70 to 90 percent of your AT), you build your aerobic base and efficiency, which improves your overall conditioning and endurance. In this zone, you are typically still burning more calories from fat than carbohydrates.
Zone 3.
Just below or at your AT (90 to 100 percent), the aerobic endurance zone is where your body begins to use an equal combination of fat and carbs as a fuel source and creates a higher caloric burn rate. This "hard" zone challenges your cardiovascular system and results in improved endurance and cardio efficiency.
Zone 4.
The anaerobic endurance zone (100 to 110 percent of AT) raises your AT and increases your tolerance to lactic acid, training the body to reuse it as an energy source. In this zone, your body primarily uses carbs for energy.
Zone 5.
In this zone – the most difficult of all – you pour on effort and intensity for short intervals that challenge your body to reach its full athletic potential. Carbs are nearly the sole fuel source. This level of exertion is extremely difficult to maintain for more than a few minutes (or for the untrained, seconds).
If your primary goal is weight loss, you can apply heart-rate training to your program by initially spending a significant portion of your workout in zones 2 and 3, which help you develop a solid aerobic base. Concentrating your efforts there allows you to exercise harder and longer while burning fat as the primary source of energy.
Once you've developed an aerobic base, you'll begin to exercise at intensities closer to your AT (the boundary which separates zones 3 and 4). You'll burn a greater number of calories, but more important, you'll teach your body how to shift between the aerobic and anaerobic energy systems, building your metabolic rate and encouraging your body to burn fat at increasing levels of intensity, thus improving your exercise endurance. (You'll recognize that you've built a solid aerobic base when you can spend time doing cardio exercise without experiencing the high fatigue level you felt when you first started the program.)
From Stalled to Stellar Caroline Connor, of Shelby Township, Mich., had just about given up on trying to lose weight when she learned about heart-rate training. Connor's fitness had stalled so much that she started to wonder if her body was actually immune to exercise. As a last resort, she decided to give Life Time Fitness's O2 heart-rate-training program a try. Twice a week with a trainer, Connor did group workouts based on her unique AT, exercising primarily in zones 1, 2 and 3. She also did similar workouts on her own twice a week. By the end of the six-week program, the 48-year-old nurse had dropped her body fat from 20 to 18 percent, and lowered her four-mile running time by more than four minutes.
Most people embarking on a heart-rate-training program for the first time see changes in as little as three to four weeks – provided they exercise three to four times per week in the zones appropriate for their current level of fitness.
The following changes will be evident in both your cardiovascular and musculature systems: Cardio. By introducing training stimuli, the heart becomes more efficient at working above its resting heart rate.
Translation: It becomes easier to work out harder for longer – thus you burn more calories with greater ease, and in less time. Your resting heart rate also decreases, meaning your heart is capable of pumping the same amount of blood with fewer beats. Ultimately, your cardiac output and efficiency improve.
The key to metabolic-training success, says Steele, is consistency and variety. Working in different zones helps boost your overall fitness level, increasing the range in which your body uses fat for fuel. It also helps maximize the number of calories you burn postworkout and encourages your body to store carbs as quicker-burning glycogen instead of fat. Musculature. Mitochondria, often referred to as "cellular power plants," are responsible for burning fat. Regular exercise increases the number of mitochondria in your cells. Thus, increasing mitochondria through exercise helps you burn more fat calories – not only when you're exercising, but also when you're at rest. By strategically working out in zones 2, 3 and 4, you can increase your mitochondrial count, build lean muscle mass and increase your metabolic rate, resulting in fat burning that extends hours beyond your workout.
Breaking Through Running 30 minutes at the same pace every day is great for general health, but over time, this type of repetitive workout is likely to lead to a fitness – and weight-loss – plateau. Heart-rate training helps you cleverly avoid this trap by empowering you to work out at an appropriate and constantly varying level of challenge – one that your unwanted fat can't possibly ignore.
by Sheila Mulrooney Eldred is a Minneapolis-based freelance writer.
It's not fair, you say: You're eating right and you're working out for hours every week, yet your unwanted fat is barely fazed – in fact, it's just plain ignoring you. What gives?
Well, it could be that you haven't yet trained your body to burn fat efficiently. Or it could be that you've adapted to your current program and, as a result, you're burning fewer calories than you were a few months ago.
Either way, stalled weight loss can be frustrating, but here's the good news: Using strategic heart-rate training, you can drop those stubborn pounds. Heart-rate training is a personalized form of cardiovascular training that serves more than weight-loss goals. It establishes optimal exercise intensities – or zones – based on your unique metabolism, heart rate, current level of fitness, and health or fitness goals. By strategically working out within these parameters, you encourage your cardiorespiratory system to become stronger and more efficient. This leads to improved athletic performance and a tendency for your body to use stored fat rather than its circulating and stored sugar (glucose and glycogen) for energetic fuel.
The bottom line? Regardless of why you undertake heart-rate training, you'll probably wind up burning more fat, more easily. And if you're trying to lose weight, that's probably especially sweet music to your ears.
Gauge Your Intensity Whether you run, swim or do step aerobics, you can use your heart rate to personalize your weight-loss program. The idea is to train at the right intensity for the right amount of time.
All you need is a heart-rate monitor or a keen sense of your exertion levels. This approach removes some of the traditional focus on "per-session caloric burn" and instead places it squarely on metabolic fitness. "Heart-rate training changes your physiological structure," says Kevin Steele, PhD, vice president of research and development at Life Time Fitness. "The goal is to improve cardiorespiratory strength, increase lean body mass and elevate metabolism in the process."You'll first need to determine your anaerobic threshold (AT), the heart rate at which your body transitions from burning primarily fat to using primarily carbohydrates (sugars) for energy. When your body kicks into sugar-burning gear, lactic acid begins to accumulate in the bloodstream faster than you can use it. While this intensity produces a high rate of caloric burn and significant fitness gains, it's difficult to maintain for long. Happily, you don't have to. By simply cycling your intensity up and down (interval training) so that your heart rate repeatedly approaches, crosses and then drops below your AT, you can achieve dramatic fat-burning results, both during exercise and while you're going about your daily business. Find Your Happy Place You can calculate your AT by taking a Metabolic Assessment Profile (MAP) test at your health club, or you can get a general sense of it by referencing the heart-rate-training chart at lifetimefitness.com/heart_rate.
The heart-rate training zones are based on your individual AT and form the backbone of your weight-loss program.
Zone 1.
Use this warm-up and active recovery zone to begin and end your workout, and when you're fatigued, sore or overtrained. Your heart rate is 60 to 70 percent of your AT, and you generally burn more fat calories than carbohydrates.
Zone 2.
In the aerobic development zone (70 to 90 percent of your AT), you build your aerobic base and efficiency, which improves your overall conditioning and endurance. In this zone, you are typically still burning more calories from fat than carbohydrates.
Zone 3.
Just below or at your AT (90 to 100 percent), the aerobic endurance zone is where your body begins to use an equal combination of fat and carbs as a fuel source and creates a higher caloric burn rate. This "hard" zone challenges your cardiovascular system and results in improved endurance and cardio efficiency.
Zone 4.
The anaerobic endurance zone (100 to 110 percent of AT) raises your AT and increases your tolerance to lactic acid, training the body to reuse it as an energy source. In this zone, your body primarily uses carbs for energy.
Zone 5.
In this zone – the most difficult of all – you pour on effort and intensity for short intervals that challenge your body to reach its full athletic potential. Carbs are nearly the sole fuel source. This level of exertion is extremely difficult to maintain for more than a few minutes (or for the untrained, seconds).
If your primary goal is weight loss, you can apply heart-rate training to your program by initially spending a significant portion of your workout in zones 2 and 3, which help you develop a solid aerobic base. Concentrating your efforts there allows you to exercise harder and longer while burning fat as the primary source of energy.
Once you've developed an aerobic base, you'll begin to exercise at intensities closer to your AT (the boundary which separates zones 3 and 4). You'll burn a greater number of calories, but more important, you'll teach your body how to shift between the aerobic and anaerobic energy systems, building your metabolic rate and encouraging your body to burn fat at increasing levels of intensity, thus improving your exercise endurance. (You'll recognize that you've built a solid aerobic base when you can spend time doing cardio exercise without experiencing the high fatigue level you felt when you first started the program.)
From Stalled to Stellar Caroline Connor, of Shelby Township, Mich., had just about given up on trying to lose weight when she learned about heart-rate training. Connor's fitness had stalled so much that she started to wonder if her body was actually immune to exercise. As a last resort, she decided to give Life Time Fitness's O2 heart-rate-training program a try. Twice a week with a trainer, Connor did group workouts based on her unique AT, exercising primarily in zones 1, 2 and 3. She also did similar workouts on her own twice a week. By the end of the six-week program, the 48-year-old nurse had dropped her body fat from 20 to 18 percent, and lowered her four-mile running time by more than four minutes.
Most people embarking on a heart-rate-training program for the first time see changes in as little as three to four weeks – provided they exercise three to four times per week in the zones appropriate for their current level of fitness.
The following changes will be evident in both your cardiovascular and musculature systems: Cardio. By introducing training stimuli, the heart becomes more efficient at working above its resting heart rate.
Translation: It becomes easier to work out harder for longer – thus you burn more calories with greater ease, and in less time. Your resting heart rate also decreases, meaning your heart is capable of pumping the same amount of blood with fewer beats. Ultimately, your cardiac output and efficiency improve.
The key to metabolic-training success, says Steele, is consistency and variety. Working in different zones helps boost your overall fitness level, increasing the range in which your body uses fat for fuel. It also helps maximize the number of calories you burn postworkout and encourages your body to store carbs as quicker-burning glycogen instead of fat. Musculature. Mitochondria, often referred to as "cellular power plants," are responsible for burning fat. Regular exercise increases the number of mitochondria in your cells. Thus, increasing mitochondria through exercise helps you burn more fat calories – not only when you're exercising, but also when you're at rest. By strategically working out in zones 2, 3 and 4, you can increase your mitochondrial count, build lean muscle mass and increase your metabolic rate, resulting in fat burning that extends hours beyond your workout.
Breaking Through Running 30 minutes at the same pace every day is great for general health, but over time, this type of repetitive workout is likely to lead to a fitness – and weight-loss – plateau. Heart-rate training helps you cleverly avoid this trap by empowering you to work out at an appropriate and constantly varying level of challenge – one that your unwanted fat can't possibly ignore.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Secrets of Big Losers; How to Keep the Pounds Off
I have always struggled with my weight and therefore have an ongoing interest in weight control. There is some much out there on this subject that you have to do lots of reading to get to the heart/truth of the matter. This is a great artcile that I thought you guys would all enjoy! Stay healthy!
By Jay Dixit, PsychologyToday.com
There's no question that losing weight is hard and keeping it off even harder. But it's not impossible. The National Weight Control Registry lists thousands of people who have lost more than 50 pounds and kept it off more than five years. Here's how to do the same.
Make radical changes.
People think moderate dietary changes are easier to stick with. But as with quitting drug addiction, drastic changes are actually easier. "We don't tell heroin addicts if you stay clean all week, you can reward yourself by shooting up a small amount on the weekend," says Deirdre Barrett, a psychologist at Harvard Medical School and author of Waistland. "Sugar derails glucose metabolism in a similar way." She advises cutting out sugars, refined foods, simple carbohydrates, and trans fats.
Reprogram your brain.
Losing weight means developing new eating habits—like reaching for an orange instead of an Oreo. The hardest part is the first 72 hours, when eating right is an act of will. After two or three weeks of sticking to it, your hunger and cravings subside, and control over eating choices becomes more automatic. Voilà, your brain is rewired.
Eat breakfast.
Without breakfast, your body plunges into starvation mode, slowing your metabolism and tempting you to binge later. Over 78 percent of the registry's successful losers eat breakfast every day.
Exercise like you mean it.
An evening walk every other day isn't going to cut it. Ninety percent of registry participants exercised—for a full hour, on average, most days of the week.
Stretch your mind.
Stop living on autopilot. A study shows that people who push their comfort zones and try new things—like reading a different magazine or listening to a new radio station—lose weight and keep it off. Breaking out of your routine may make you more aware of your choices in general, and less likely to engage in mindless eating.
By Jay Dixit, PsychologyToday.com
There's no question that losing weight is hard and keeping it off even harder. But it's not impossible. The National Weight Control Registry lists thousands of people who have lost more than 50 pounds and kept it off more than five years. Here's how to do the same.
Make radical changes.
People think moderate dietary changes are easier to stick with. But as with quitting drug addiction, drastic changes are actually easier. "We don't tell heroin addicts if you stay clean all week, you can reward yourself by shooting up a small amount on the weekend," says Deirdre Barrett, a psychologist at Harvard Medical School and author of Waistland. "Sugar derails glucose metabolism in a similar way." She advises cutting out sugars, refined foods, simple carbohydrates, and trans fats.
Reprogram your brain.
Losing weight means developing new eating habits—like reaching for an orange instead of an Oreo. The hardest part is the first 72 hours, when eating right is an act of will. After two or three weeks of sticking to it, your hunger and cravings subside, and control over eating choices becomes more automatic. Voilà, your brain is rewired.
Eat breakfast.
Without breakfast, your body plunges into starvation mode, slowing your metabolism and tempting you to binge later. Over 78 percent of the registry's successful losers eat breakfast every day.
Exercise like you mean it.
An evening walk every other day isn't going to cut it. Ninety percent of registry participants exercised—for a full hour, on average, most days of the week.
Stretch your mind.
Stop living on autopilot. A study shows that people who push their comfort zones and try new things—like reading a different magazine or listening to a new radio station—lose weight and keep it off. Breaking out of your routine may make you more aware of your choices in general, and less likely to engage in mindless eating.
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