Trimming Off the Fat

Are you satisfied with your general physique, or would you like to get rid of a few extra pounds? If your answer is the latter, quit looking for that magic pill and just follow several general guidelines that will help you work toward a healthier body.

Calorie Deficit
Atkins™, South Beach™, The Zone Diet™ and countless other types of diets have each been hyped as the perfect diet strategy to shed those unwanted pounds. While they may have shown initial results, most have failed to demonstrate long-term success in keeping the weight off. Here’s an important tip to remember: Your body must burn more calories than it is taking in to lose weight. One pound of fat equals 3,500 calories, so if you want to lose 1 pound per week you need to average a caloric deficit of 500 calories per day.
Don’t worry—that doesn’t mean you have to get on the treadmill and run until you have burned 3,500 calories to lose a pound. Your goal is to combine increased activity with some cutbacks in your diet.
Basal Metabolic Rate and Calories Burned in a Day
To manage weight, you need to determine the number of calories you eat and the number of calories you burn. Your body has something called the basal metabolic rate (BMR), which is the amount of calories you burn at rest in order to survive. It accounts for roughly 60 to 75% of all the calories you burn in a given day. That’s right—you are actually burning a small amount of calories while you are sleeping.
Use the following website to determine your BMR and daily calorie needs: www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/.
Now that you’ve determined your daily caloric needs, you need to set a realistic goal of 1 to 2 pounds per week and determine how many calories you’ll need to forgo to lose those pesky pounds.

What to Eat
As surprising as it might sound, managing your weight is easier than you might imagine. There is no need to spend hours planning your diet. Just follow several simple guidelines and keep the calorie deficit in mind.
Reduce your portion sizes by 10 to 15% each time you prepare or order a meal.
Eat smaller meals more frequently throughout the day and avoid skipping breakfast.
Consume a variety of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and non-fat or low-fat dairy products to get the nutrients your body needs.
Aim for two or three servings of dairy products daily (e.g., milk, cheeses, yogurt).
Select low-fat foods and avoid trans fats. Limit your total fat intake to 20 to 35% of daily calories, with no more than 7% of your total calories coming from saturated fats.
Avoid eating too many salty foods.
Limit alcohol beverage intake.

Cardio: Burn the Right Fuel
Research shows that lower-intensity exercise uses a larger percentage of fat as fuel compared to higher-intensity exercise. However, it does not burn as many calories as higher-intensity exercise and, consequently will not result in as much body weight or fat loss. Gradually increase the intensity to increase your caloric deficit while continuing to burn fats. Higher-intensity exercise also has a greater impact on keeping your metabolism elevated after your workout, which adds a few more calories to your deficit. Remember, always check with your doctor before starting an exercise program and choose the intensity that is appropriate for you.
Burn Fat With Muscle
Strength training offers many health benefits, including an increase in the number of calories burned. Muscle tissue burns more calories than fat tissue, and building muscles costs a lot of energy. As you increase the amount of muscle you have, you will also increase your resting metabolic rate. To prevent injury and develop consistency, start off with one to two sets of 12 to 15 repetitions for all major muscle groups.
Additional Resources
MyPyramid: www.MyPyramid.gov About.com: www.exercise.about.com/cs/weightloss/a/howtoloseweight.htm About.com: www.weightloss.about.com/od/eatsmart/a/blcalintake.htm

Weight Loss Mistakes

Weight Loss Mistakes
You diet. You exercise. So why is your gut still hanging over your belt? Because of these common pitfalls
By: Elizabeth Ward

1. You Inhale Food
If you were a rat, you'd chow down for about 15 minutes, feel full, and stop eating. But you aren't. You probably eat so fast that your stomach hardly has time to alert your brain to tell your mouth to quit chewing before your stomach explodes.


Solution: Try this drill during your next meal. On every bite, chew, swallow, put down your fork, and take a sip of water. See how long it takes you to eat. Now, during subsequent meals, take just as long to eat, only without the drill. Another meal-prolonging trick for men with regular dinner partners: Turn off the TV, put down the Daily Racing Form, and actually have a conversation.


2. You're Starving Yourself
Slashing too many calories, particularly protein calories, pushes the body to conserve calories rather than burn them. It also forces your body to break down muscle tissue to fuel its vital operations. But that muscle is the key to your metabolism, or the speed at which you burn calories. More muscle means a faster metabolism and less body fat.


Solution: You do need to cut calories to lose weight. (Cut 500 today by eliminating one can of beer, 30 chips, and one Oreo from your diet.) But you need to make sure you're eating at least 1,600 to 1,800 calories each day to keep your metabolism from shutting down. And never cut protein during a diet. If you're a sedentary 200-pounder, you need about 75 grams of protein (about two chicken breasts) a day for muscle preservation. If you're lifting weights, aim for twice that much. Doing aerobics? Pick a number in between.

If you have questions or would like more information on this healthtip check us out at www.ftspokane.com
Or call Craig Hudkins at 448-3732

Weight loss frustration

Are you working on loosing those last few pounds and frustrated with not getting results. Sometimes all you need is a little jumpstart in your workout. Mixing things up a bit. Change one aspect of your workout. Everything is driven by intensity, cals burnt per minute. You can change the amount of reps or the focus of your workout.
If you are having a hard making sense of all the different exercises and want to leave it up to a professional. Give us a try! For more information go to http://www.ftspokane.com/

Craig Hudkins, CPT

Secrets of Weight Control Success

Nutrition Information for the Week

Secrets of Weight Control Success
By Barbara A. Brehm, ED.D.

Losing weight, and keeping the weight off, is difficult because your lifestyle has to change not for few weeks, months or even years, but for life. Most people can lose weight; keeping the weight off is the challenge. You must develop habits that are comfortable enough to live with forever.
Losing weight almost always means swimming upstream in a culture that promotes overeating and a sedentary lifestyle. Dieters are continually challenged by situations requiring self-control, and commitments that squeeze out scheduled exercise sessions. It’s not hard to understand why most people regain the weight they work so hard to lose.
Some people do succeed in losing weight and keeping it off.

Visit www.ftspokane.com for more information.

Massage for pain relief

Health and Fitness Tip of the Week

The Power of Touch for Pain Relief: Basic Facts

Massage is well known for reducing stress and promoting relaxation. And, a growing body of research also shows that massage therapy is effective for relieving and managing chronic and acute pain, a significant national health problem. According to the National Institute for Health, more than one-third of all Americans will suffer from chronic pain at some point in their lives, and approximately 14 percent of all employees take time off from work due to pain. Increasingly, massage therapists are being incorporated into pain management programs of hospitals and health care organizations. The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations has suggested massage therapy as one means to manage pain without use of pharmaceuticals.
(amtamassage.org)

For more information on this article visit us at www.ftspokane.com

Welcome

Fitness Together is a private personal training studio in Spokane. Our focus is on the client. Getting results for the client is our number one goal. At Fitness Together Spokane you can expect the finest health and fitness professionals. Go to www.ftspokane.com for more information and to schedule a free session.