Make it Fiction

Fact or Fiction? 

Age 40 = A Slow Down in Metabolism = Potential Weight Gain

Fact: But you can make it FICTION

Iit’s true that our metabolism naturally slows down after the age of 40, but it only slows by about 2% – 5% per decade, and there are plenty of things we can do to fight back and speed it up.

What is Metabolism?  Metabolism is the amount of energy (calories) your body burns to maintain itself. Whether you are eating, drinking, sleeping, cleaning etc… Your body is constantly burning calories to keep you going.

Metabolism is affected by your body composition. Body composition, meaning the amount of muscle you have versus the amount of fat. Muscle uses more calories to maintain itself than fat. People who are more muscular (and have a lower percentage of body fat) are said to have a higher metabolism than people who are less muscular. 

Exercise is key to taking charge of your metabolism, especially at 40.

Aerobic exercise 4 to 5 days a week: Aerobic activities like running, brisk walking, swimming and bike riding burn calories and increase metabolism while you’re working out.  Aerobic activities also cause your metabolism to stay increased for a period of time after exercising. Keep in mind, that this afterburn is usually fairly insignificant compared to the amount of calories you burn in total… but every little bit helps.

Work your muscles: Lifting weights and/or other strengthening activities on a regular basis (at least 2-3 times each week) will boost your resting metabolism 24/7. That’s because these activities build muscle, and muscle burns more calories than body fat; if you have more muscle, you burn more calories — even sitting still.

Diet is also key to taking charge of your metabolism.

Because our bodies work hard to digest and absorb the foods we eat, our metabolism gets a boost when we eat. This is called the thermic effect of food.  Eating all foods creates a thermic effect and will boost metabolism after consumption. Protein has the greatest metabolic boost when compared to carbohydrate and fat. This means that your body burns more calories to digest protein than it does to burn carbs and fat.  (That is one reason that high protein diets were a popular trend)

By eating smarter, keep your metabolism going strong with these tips:

Eat enough food: Your body and metabolism thrive on food; your metabolism revs when it gets food.   It is important to note that when you fast, crash-diet or restrict calories below 1000, your metabolism will SLOW down in a response to conserve energy, so know your daily calorie requirements to maintain your weight, and then you can adjust it accordingly if you want to lose weight.

Calorie requirements for weight maintenance

For sedentary people: Weight x 14 = estimated cal/day

For moderately active people: Weight x 17 = estimated cal/day

For active people: Weight x 20 = estimated cal/day

Note: Moderately Active is defined as 3-4 aerobic sessions per week. Active is defined as 5-7 aerobic sessions per week.

 

Eat every 4-5 hours: This means that you are boosting your metabolism, revving it up throughout the day.  You must choose your foods and snacks wisely, though.

Incorporate lean protein with every meal: As I mentioned before, protein has the greatest metabolism boost after consumption, PLUS, eating the appropriate amount of protein helps to maintain and build muscle mass (the more muscle mass you have, the greater your metabolism).

Daily Protein Requirements: At least 50% of your weight = daily grams of protein

Some of the best protein sources include: fish, chicken, turkey, lean sirloin steak, skim milk, yogurt, eggs and egg substitutes, tofu.

So, if you are 40 something, speed up that metabolism!  You will be glad you did… especially when you hit 50!

Vigorous Activity (Zone 7)

How vigorous should your workouts be for the most effective weight loss?

You may have heard that exercising at a slower pace is more effective for fat loss than working out more intensely. In fact, many cardio machines have “fat burning” programs that keep you at a slower pace. But this is very misleading.

During low-intensity aerobic exercise, your body does use fat as its primary fuel source. However, and this is key, picking up the pace allows you to burn more total calories, as well as more fat calories.  The most important factor in exercise and weight control is not the percentage of fat calories burned, but the total calories burned during the activity. The faster you walk, bike or swim, for example, the more calories you use per minute, and you will be burning more total calories, and in turn, will lose more weight.

 

Here’s how: If you go walking for 30 minutes at a leisurely roll, you might burn about 100 calories — about 80 percent of them from fat (so that’s 80 fat calories). But if you spend the same amount of time running, you might burn 300 calories — 30 percent of them from fat (that’s 90 fat calories). So at the fast pace, you burn more than double the calories and 10 more fat calories.  Which is better for weight loss? Burning 100 calories or 300 calories (in the same amount of time).

Keep in mind; if can’t sustain a faster pace long enough to make it worth your while., a slower pace will allow you to exercise longer, so you’ll end up burning more calories and fat that way.  So you need to find a good balance, and change it as you gain more endurance.  As your endurance increases, your intensity must increase. For the best weight loss results, you should try to complete at least 15 minutes of your cardio exercise at the most vigorous pace you can.  30 minutes is even better.

 

There are all sorts of formulas for figuring out your target heart rate and then using that number to calculate your desired intensity.  This is another area where my eyes start to glaze over a bit…. One of my favorite websites for advanced training makes this question easy for you to answer on an individual basis without having to figure out all those numbers and continually take your heart rate.  Askthetrainer.com has a great chart . (See below)

 

  As you can see, this “formula” is based on how you feel, not a bunch of numbers.   Don’t get me wrong, finding out your target heart rate is very beneficial, but for me, this is a better guide and easier to utilize on a consistent basis, especially as I gain more endurance, and strength.  It also takes into account how I am feeling on low energy days and high energy days (see exercise tip of the week for more information on that).  The zone for the most effective weight loss is zone  7. Vigorous Activity.   

 

TOP 5 FOODS to eat everyday

1.  Sweet Potatoes / Yams

The complex carbohydrates and B vitamins in sweet potatoes make them the best dietary carbohydrate source, especially for active people. 

 Include Sweet Potatoes in Your Diet:    If you cook them beforehand, sweet potatoes are good cold or hot and taste great alone without any added calories.    I wrap up two or three  in foil and put them on the grill while I am grilling dinner.  Then I have enough ready for the entire week. Top with a little sprinkle of cinnamon and it is like eating dessert.

 

2.  Oats

Oats are a great source of complex carbohydrates which provide long lasting energy for active individuals.

Include Oats in Your Diet:  Oatmeal comes in different varieties such as rolled oats, steel cut oats and instant oats, all which are great for the breakfast of champions.  Oatmeal for breakfast is one of the best gifts you can give yourself to start the day. Oats are also the main component of museli which is a tasty, energy rich mixture of different grains, fruits and nuts.  It makes for a great breakfast cereal or trail mix type snack. 

 

3.  Cottage Cheese 

Casein is the protein in cottage cheese and has the advantage of being the slowest digested protein.  Digesting slowly carries advantages for all fitness goals with the exception of getting extremely fat.   

 Include Cottage Cheese in Your Diet:  Cottage cheese is the perfect protein source to mix with fruits, berries, and nuts to create a healthy, nutrient rich, low calorie meal or snack which will help you keep your body healthy inside and out.

 

4.  Spinach

Eating spinach is the easiest way to include those dreaded green leafy vegetables in your diet.

In addition to being very, very low in calories, the list of the benefits of spinach goes on and on. 

 Include Spinach in Your Diet:  A spinach salad is always a good way to get a full serving of spinach but spinach is a very versatile superfood to include in your diet every day.

Spinach can be added to many cooked foods, to supercharge their nutrition without altering the taste. Cooking spinach and then pureeing it allows you to add it to almost anything without the strong taste.  I add it to pasta sauce, hamburgers, baked beans, etc.

 

5.  Apples  

Apples provide a nutrient dense snack full of vitamins, minerals, fiber, antioxidants, and water.  There are so many varieties available all year round.

 Include Apples in Your Diet:  Apples are the easiest food to include in your diet.  They have a very long shelf life for fruit and you can pack them, and eat them anywhere.  You have no excuse not to eat them every day.  Dried apples are another great option

Bat Wings and Saddlebags and Belly Fat… OH MY!

I recently had two friends ask me the exact same question about different body parts.  I thought I would throw in belly fat for good measure.

 Question:  How do I get rid of my underarm flab/ saddlebags/ belly fat/  (insert your problem area here)?

 Everyone has their “trouble area”… EVERYONE. I am particularly sensitive to saddlebags.  I carry all my excess weight in my legs (thighs/butt area).  I gain weight there first and lose it there last.  It has been this way since I was in middle school.  I have tried every exercise and every combination of exercises for over 20 years to get rid of these stupid saddlebags, and only one thing really works.

 Answer:  Getting rid of the fat under your arms, on your butt and thighs, or around your belly comes more from diet/cardio than weight lifting exercises.  It’s impossible to reduce fat in one specific spot on your body – it comes off from all over, and each body will uniquely reduce fat from different places first, last, etc. Your genes and hormones determine where you lose fat, so, step one is to start losing fat, through a combination of calorie reduction (whatever eating plan you choose, the point is to consume less calories) and cardio.  You will begin to lose inches everywhere.  

 The importance of the weight lifting exercise is to tone the muscle that’s under the flab by doing the best exercises. Toning will not reduce the amount of flab there, but when the flab begins disappearing because of your reduced calorie diet, the tone will be solid. If the muscles are weak, sometimes the muscle itself may appear flab-like. So, you’re best off toning the muscle as you lose the flab. Result is no more flab or at least a lot less.

 

FOR TRICEPS

Dips are a great exercise for triceps and also easy to do anywhere. Start sitting on a stable chair, feet on the floor. Put your hands, palm down, fingers forward, on the chair next to your legs. Then move your butt forward so your body is being held up by your arms, on the front of the chair. Bend your elbows to “dip” your body lower, and then straighten. Repeat 10 times, and rest. Do this 3 times. You can adjust how much weight you put on your arms vs. on your feet by how far in front of you put your feet. It should be difficult to finish the last set.

 Push-ups are also great for your triceps. Do the push-ups with your hands spread wider than “normal.” You can do these on your knees when you’re just starting out.

 

 

FOR LEGS

Squats are one of the best exercises you can do for your hips, butt and thighs. The chair squat is one that you can do anywhere. Stand with feet hip-width apart and squat, keeping back straight, abs in and knees behind your toes. Lower yourself like you are going to sit in your chair and let your butt lightly touch the chair and then stand back up.  When you stand up, squeeze your butt.  Repeat for 2-3 sets of 12-15 reps and add weights for more intensity.

 Walking lunges are another favorite. Stand upright, feet together.  Take a controlled step forward with your left leg. Lower hips toward the floor and bend both knees (almost at 90 degree angles). The back knee should come close but never touch the ground. Your front knee should be directly over the ankle and the back knee should be pointing down toward the floor. Push off with your right foot and bring it forward to starting position (standing upright feet together). This completes one rep. Next step forward and repeat with the right leg. Do 2 sets of 15 reps.

 

 

FOR STOMACHS

Stomach exercises are so plentiful; there are just too many good choices.  My advice is to choose a stomach exercise that you will do, that you will stick with.  Crunches, reverse crunches, bicycle, sit-ups, leg raises, ball crunches, etc.  Whichever exercise you choose, make sure your reps are slow and controlled and your abs are tight.

Your Time

Fact or Fiction?  Morning is the best time to exercise.

 

 

FICTION

 It makes no difference if you exercise in the morning, afternoon, or evening.  The important thing is to exercise.

The best time to exercise is the best time for you. Choose the best time for you and your schedule.  Choose a time that you know you can stick with. Some days it may be mornings, some days it may be evenings.  And, don’t forget that every little bit helps.  Many of us don’t have a 30 minute block of time every day that we can devote to exercise.  That doesn’t mean on those days you don’t have to exercise.
Researchers say that intermittent exercise–taking three 10-minute walks during the day instead of one 30-minute walk–is good for you too. Little chunks of physical activity will burn calories and help you stay fit.

 

Just like eating consciously, you can also move consciously all day long.

 

1. Walk three flights of stairs instead of taking the elevator
2. Do 10 – 20 toe touches while you are on hold
3. When grocery shopping/ or peeling carrots for dinner (or whatever) squeeze your butt 30 seconds on / 30 seconds off
4. While waiting in a line, do 10 calf raises (stand on your tip toes and hold for five seconds)
5. While watching TV, do 20 jumping jacks
6. Do 10 leg raises from your office chair (while sitting, kick your leg out so it is parallel to the floor and squeeze your thigh (quadricep) for five seconds)

Life Changing

There are a few things that I have learned during the past few years that have changed my life with regards to fitness and nutrition.  One of the most important life changing ways of thinking for me is to eat consciously, especially when it comes to the bad calories and junk foods. 

In my last post, I realized that two important points that I wanted to get across may have appeared as a passing comment.

1. Eat consciously – especially the bad calories

2. Find what works for you to eat fewer calories

I found a way of eating that has worked for me for over 20 years.  The college years were rough, but overall, I know it is something that I can stick with.  For me, I have a cheat day once a week. (Sometimes I go through a stage where I have two cheat days or just a cheat meal, but right now it is an all day cheat day)

I guess I am somewhat of a control freak… just ask my husband.  This is why my cheat day strategy works so well for me.  As a stay at home mom, control is somewhat of a luxury, as most of my day is filled with the chaos of kids.  I CAN control my food, however.  So, I choose a day to cheat.  Lately, it has been every Tuesday, but it can change as plans change.  If we are going out to dinner on Saturday with friends, I may change my cheat day to Saturday.

All week, I stick to eating healthy and eating about 1400 calories.  I try not do not deviate at all, not even a bite, because I know that in a few days I can eat whatever I want.

Today was my cheat day.  I love Costco Pizza, and I have been looking forward to it all week.  So when I got to Costco this afternoon and ordered my pizza, I couldn’t wait to “dig in”.  This was my first pizza since my training began for my competition over six months ago!  As I ate consciously and paid attention to every bite, I began to realize that this pizza had probably been sitting under the heat lamp for sometime. I asked myself, as I always do when I am cheating, is this the best pizza I have ever tasted?  The answer was a clear NO… not even close.  I had eaten at least half of it, but threw the other half away.  There was no way I was going to waste my cheat day and all those bad calories on a mediocre slice of pizza.

If I am going to eat junk food or something truly decadent, it better be the absolute best thing I have tasted.  I make it count, and I don’t regret it because I know that I really enjoyed what I have just consumed.

Even if the cheat day strategy sounds crazy to you, and is not suited to your lifestyle, eating consciously must be a part of every diet.  Don’t be the one who sits in front of the TV and polishes off a bag of Doritos, and then wonders where they all went.

Conscious Eating:  mentally choosing what and how much food you eat and being in a conscious state, right before, during, and right after you eat.

Is there a secret to Fat Loss Diets? Well, YES… sort of.

First let’s talk about common misconceptions about fat loss diets

Low carbohydrate diets are best for fat loss.

Low fat diets are the best for fat loss.

Diets with no sugar the best for fat loss.

The Adkins diet is best for fat loss.

Diets with no food after 6pm are best for fat loss.

Diets high in fruits and vegetables are best for fat loss.

Diets eating spicy foods are the best for fat loss.

Very high protein diets are the best fat loss diets.

Diets rich in dairy products are the best for fat loss.

While any of the above strategies may work for some people, and may have a place in a fat loss diet, they are not scientifically proven for a successful fat loss diet.

 

OKAY – HERE IT IS, THE SECRET TO WEIGHT LOSS and FAT LOSS:  All Fat Loss Diets are lower calorie diets and must be based on calories IN being less than calories OUT.  This means if you burn more calories than you consume you will lose weight (and fat), period.

The best foods to include in a diet depend totally on you. The best low calorie diet for you is as individual as your personality, style, likes and dislikes.  There is no one low calorie diet which works best for everyone.  The optimal fat loss diet for you may depend on numerous factors including your upbringing, lifestyle, job, genetics, overall health, weight, bad habits. 

Here is the best fail proof way to begin to create a fat loss diet : SIMPLY MAKE BETTER CHOICES!

Use common sense when it comes to your body weight and your dietary choices. 

Most of the time when you make a poor diet choice you know it, and hopefully regret it.

If the average person would cut their poor diet making choices in half,  it would significantly affect their body weight.

Making a bad choice once in a while is not going to kill you.  The thing that does kill you is when you make a bunch of bad choices in a row.  Sometimes this is purely done unconsciously or just out of habit.

This is more serious than just making a bad choice.  Bad habits can last a long time if you get in the routine of making bad diet choices.   Stop and think before you choose your food.  Take 30 seconds or a minute to run through a quick pro/con list of the food you are about to eat. Make a conscious choice!

Things to consider before picking up the weights

 

Always warm up before you start lifting weights. This helps get your muscles warm and prevent injury. You can warm up with light cardio or by doing a light set of each exercise before going to heavier weights.  Sometimes I will just do the motion of the exercise without weights.

 Lift and lower your weights slowly. Don’t use momentum to lift the weight. If you have to swing to get the weight up, chances are you’re using too much weight.  Form is so important so that you are not cheating yourself.  Your muscle is no longer working to its maximum.  You will be working harder NOT smarter.

 Breathe. Don’t hold your breath.  Try to pay attention to your breathing and keep it controlled.

 Use a full range of motion throughout the movement but keep the weight moving.  Try not to rest at the beginning of the movement or the end of the movement.

 Stand up straight. Pay attention to your posture and tighten your abs in every movement you’re doing to keep your balance and protect your spine.  Keep your chin up and look forward.  This allows the muscle to work at it’s best.

 Stretch. Always stretch after your workout.  Stretch the muscle group that you have just worked.  Make sure you can feel the stretch, but it should not cause any discomfort.

 

 

 

 

 

Best Sources of Protein

Protein is essential for a  healthy diet.  You may only think of meat when you think about protein, but protein actually comes in a number of different forms. Choose a variety of protein-rich foods but still pay attention to your fat intake.

Protein serves as an important building block for cells and tissues throughout your body. You need it for every function in your body — for healing purposes and for building muscles.

Make sure you give your body what it needs, but don’t overload on protein. Remember that a healthy balance of foods is your best bet for a healthy diet. Experts say most women only need about 50 grams of protein per day, while men may need 60 to 70 grams — that works out to between two and three servings.  You also don’t want to have more than 25 grams at a time.

To work protein into your diet, look for healthier, lower-fat options. Fortunately, there are many healthy sources of protein, including beans, nuts, fish, and low-fat dairy products.

What’s considered the ultimate source of protein? Commonly the egg is used as the best source of protein. If you are concerned about fat and cholesterol, you can still get your protein by just eating the egg white — the fat and cholesterol is all in the yolk.  When I make omelets or scrambled eggs, I will combine one or two whole eggs with four or five egg whites. 

Healthy sources of protein include:

• Low-fat or fat-free milk, cheese, yogurt, and other dairy products
• Whole grains including quinoa
• Lentils, beans like kidney and black beans, and dried peas
• Fish , chicken, lean red meat
• Soy products including tofu and soy milk
• Protein-fortified pastas
• Protein meal replacement bars
• Protein drinks
• Nuts and nut butters, like peanut butter (make sure nut butter ingredients are only nuts and salt)

Just show up

Exercise is the key ingredient to a successful health and fitness plan but for most, getting started is challenging. The easiest way to get started is to incorporate small changes into your daily routine and suddenly, you’ve had a 30 minute workout without even trying! Start by creating short bursts of cardio and strength building throughout your day. Take the steps instead of the escalator. Carry the bags of groceries to the far spot in the parking lot instead of pushing them in the cart. Take a walk to the other side of the office instead of sending an email. 5 minutes here, 5 minutes there adds up over the course of the day.

 

If you’re having trouble getting to the gym, commit to 5 minutes. That’s it – 5 minutes.  Usually the tough part of working out is just getting there; once you’re there, you’ll usually finish your entire workout. I love being at the gym, but quite often I have an internal struggle to get there.  I come up with all sorts of excuses in my mind, and then I have a dialog with myself going over reasons why I should go, and reasons  why I really don’t have to go. This happens several times a week, but somehow I make it to the gym at least 90% of the time.  My point is that everyone struggles to just show up.. Instead of finding an excuse not to go, find an excuse to go. Would you rather live with the pain of discipline or the pain of regret?

 

What if you just don’t like working out, no matter what you’ve tried and you’ve decided that working out is just not for you? Here is the reality: That’s not an option anymore. There are plenty of things that you have to do in life that you don’t like, but you have to do it anyway because of the result. Just commit to 5 minutes, just for the day and develop the habit. Try different things. There are so many ways to get moving and get stronger.  Find something that you like.