Monday, June 28, 2010

Hints for the Weekend

Navigating the weekends can be tricky. After a week of work we all feel entitled to eat, drink and relax on the weekends. Unfortunately, two days of overindulging can derail your weight loss goals. Here are a couple of suggestions to help you stay on track but also enjoy your weekends.

- Drink a low cal beer such as MGD 64 or Select 55.
- Add ice to your wine. This is a perfect trick in the summer.
- Have a lighter breakfast or skip it.
- Increase the amount you workout by 10-20 minutes.
- Clean your house, run errands, just MOVE more.
- Pick one day or night to indulge on the weekends, not the entire weekend.

Life is all about balance. You deserve to enjoy your weekend but you don't want to offset all the hard work that you put in during the week.

If your goal is to maintain your weight, as long as you are incorporating exercise and not bingeing, your weekend activties shouldn't have an effect on your weight.

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Calories

MSN Health and Fitness has a great calorie calculator. To find out how many calories you need a day check it out : www.health.msn.com/weight-loss/bmi-calculator.aspx. Once you know how many calories your body burns a day, decrease that amount by 500 through diet and exercise and you will lose a pound a week!

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Gym Boredom

If you are an avid gym goer you know that your routine can become boring and you need to spice it up. For the past few months my routine has consisted of mostly body combat and body pump classes but this week I started to spend more time on the treadmill and stair stepper. I have always been a runner so the treadmill is a staple in my workout routine but the stair stepper isn't and it has been a challenge. I started with 10 minutes on the stepper and now am up to 30 minutes. Seeing the improvement has been exciting and motivating. I look forward to getting to the gym to see if I can improve from the day before.

I encourage you to try out a new exercise or activity. I bet you will find the same joy in seeing your progress.

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Move More!

The first step in getting active is to move more. It is hard to take the leap to a gym setting so start by incorporating more movement into your daily routine. Bringing movement into your daily life is a great building block for better health and weight loss.

Today take the challenge to incorporate one of the following activities into your day:

1) Take a 10 minute walk before work, at lunch or after work
2) Take the stairs up three flights up steps
3) Get up and walk to a co-workers office three times
4) Stand up during a phone call
5) Do squats while making dinner
6) Park in a space that is 10 spaces farther than you normally would park

Check out this site for more suggestions: http://www.takeonestep.org/Pages/yourhealth/getfitforlife/getactive.aspx

Let me know how it goes!

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

The Math Behind Losing Weight

In order to lose weight you need to use more energy (AKA calories) than you consume. The first step to determine how many calories you need is to figure out your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR). Once you know your BMR you need to determine the amount of calories your body expends performing daily functions, such as working and cleaning. Together the BMR and amount of calories needed for daily functions will allow you to determine the number of calories that you need to maintain your current weight. Many websites will calculate your total daily calorie needs. A few websites that I prefer are:

http://www.webmd.com/diet/calc-bmi-plus
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/calorie-calculator/NU00598

My total calorie needs are 2,051. In order to lose one pound I need to decrease my calorie consumption by 3,500. (3,500 calories = 1 pound). It is best to do this through a moderate diet and exercise plan over an extended length of time. For instance, decrease your calorie consumption by 200-300 each day and increase your exercise level by 200-300. This way you will be shedding 500 calories a day and losing a pound a week.

Losing weight is simple math but getting motivated to begin a new diet and exercise program and maintain it takes a lot more. I can help!

Monday, June 21, 2010

Let's tone our beach bodies together. E-mail today!







Who I Am

I am a certified yoga instructor (RYT 200) and an avid runner with a passion for health and wellness. I teach many styles of yoga, including Power Yoga and Yoga for relaxation, but I favor Yogalates (more on that later).

My personal training sessions focus on building a strong core and strengthening and elongating the muscles through low weight and high repetition exercises. I try to make each session fun and rewarding through incorporating exercises that the client likes and by modifying the sequence. I love exercise and I think that my enjoyment and passion rubs off on each client.