Friday, January 16, 2015

Weigh in day!!!!

It's weigh in day let me know your numbers.  Remember to subtract from the very first weight from 2 weeks ago.  Week 2s are often a lot lower numbers depending on how hard you worked week one.  You could have worked just as hard if not harder and not lost a pound or even gained when you lost over 4 last week.  This is absolutely normal. Your body is trying to adjust and if you keep working hard you will see results again next week.  There are many factors so keep

Thursday, January 15, 2015

Daily Workout

Let me start by saying this is a lot of info and might seem overwhelming.  If you take only one thing from today I want you to get moving.  Even if it is just slow and easy.  The rest will come.  Everyone starts at different places.  The key is to start!

For most of you our workout goal is to do at least 30 minutes of cardio 3 days a week and weight training 2 days a week. We will be increasing the cardio and weights as we become more fit but we don’t want to do too much too fast and injure ourselves. If you have already been working out, feel free to do more that 30 min. For this program to work you will have to push your self, just don't kill yourself on the first week. On the other hand don't take it too easy. 

Cardio: The goal is to get your heart rate up! Find something you like to do. It can be swimming, walking, jogging, aerobics, yoga, biking, dancing or anything else you like. I have put a few links on the side of the page for ideas. If you are really just beginning I LOVE the beginning treadmill workout. I used it every time I am getting back into working out after having a baby. If you don’t have a treadmill, walk around the block or track. What I want you to be most concerned about is your heart rate.

Warm up: Always start out with a 5 min warm up. To warm up you can walk at an easy pace to get your body warmed up and moving.

Aerobic workout: (Aerobic in our case means you are burning fat for your body’s fuel.) After your warm up you want to get your heart rate into a “fat burring zone”. To measure or take your heart rate you need to be holding still. Place your right index finger and middle finger on the right side of your neck. Find your pulse. Once you have found your pulse time yourself for 10 seconds and count how many times your heart beats. Find your age on the chart. You should keep your heart rate at least in the 55% range for the first week and hopefully in the 70% range for the remainder of the 30 min. If your heart rate is low, work a little harder and take your heart rate again in 5 min. If your heart rate is too high slow it down and take it again in 5 min.

Cool down: Always cool down after a workout. Walk slower, bike slower, swim slower or tap side to side. Your heart rate should be back down when you are done with your cool down.

Strength Training: This should be done twice a week with at least 1 day between workouts. So if you do weights on Tuesday wait until Thursday to do it again. Warm up (walk) for 5 min then start the workout. If you are going to do weights and cardio in the same workout do the weights first so you will have good form and not be tired, then do your 30 min cardio.

Strength training program:
Exercise 1: Bench press
Exercise 2: Squat
Exercise 3: Dumbbell clean and press
Exercise 4: Bicep curl
Exercise 5: Lunges
Exercise 6: Lateral raise
Exercise 7: Barbell row
Exercise 8: Medicine ball abdominal crunches (with or without ball
)

I will post this information tomorrow or you can take a look at the link I have placed on the right sidebar under Strength Training. In that link, beginning at the bottom of page 28, you will see a description of the workout. There are also picture starting on page 32 of the link.  The link also has some eating and cardio ideas.  This strength training workout is a great weights workout for beginners. It is simple and keeps you moving so you are burning calories and getting stronger. Remember muscle burns more calories even when you are at rest. By adding some lifting you will be burning more calories everyday and feeling stronger! We do not want to end up looking like body builders so this workout is perfect. Our goal is to keep it aerobic with long lean muscles, which means you should be able to do 3 sets of at least 10 of whatever strength training you decide to do. That means you should be able to lift the weight 10 times without stopping. Don’t get me wrong, I want you to have to put some effort out but I want you to have good form, not hurt your self and build LEAN muscle. You can start with a 3 or 5 lb weight but we will be going up! Do each of the lifts 10 times in the order on the list, then start back at the top of the list and do them all again 10 time, go through the list one more time at 10 times each to reach your 3 sets of 10. If it was supper easy the first set, go up to 8 lb barbells.

This is a lot of information so if you have questions ask away! 

Wednesday, January 14, 2015

MEAL PLAN

With eating being so important I thought I'd try to give you more info. Our goal is to get as much nutrients in each meal as we can so your choices are important.  Also you want to make sure you eat protein with every meal and snack.  It will help cut cravings.

Counting calories can be hard at first but once you figure out your go to meals it gets a lot easier.  It is well worth the effort in the beginning.  For most women you should keep your calories between 1200 and 1900. (Check here http://www.myfitnesspal.com/ for your exact amount.) You must eat three meals and 2 snacks everyday. Never skip a meal!!! Even if you are going to go over on calories just try to make good choices. If you are over on your calories one day, do not try to make it up the next day with having under 1200 calories. Also do not eat more calories thinking you will just add a workout to burn it off. Remember this is your life and your goal. You can make the choices you need to to get you where you want to be. No one can force you to succeed and no one but you can take the credit when you do!

Hear are some meal ideas. Like always, these are just ideas. Feel free to mix it up and above all COUNT THE CALORIES and write it down!!! Counting the calories is so you can learn to make good choices so stay on top of that for now.  If you find something you love let us know so I can add it to the list. Try to keep each meal to around 400 calories and the snacks to 100 calories. I tend to eat the same thing everyday because it is easy to know i am making good choices. Make sure you read the serving sizes on everything. YOU CAN DO IT!!!

Drinks
Drink around 1 gallon of water a day. Fill up the jug and have it gone by the time you go to bed. You can drink low fat or non fat milk. There are alot of drinks out there with no calories, some have sweeteners that are not so great if you have too much, so drink them sparingly. Try to avoid sugary juices. Even if it says 100% juice they have alot of calories and sugar. I have found a orange juice that has 50% less sugar and calories it is called Trop50 from Tropicana.
Breakfast ideas:

Oatmeal and almonds
Oatmeal with fruit
Omelet with any kind of veggies
Omelet with mushrooms and spinach
Eggs and fruit
Yogurt and fruit
Whole Wheat beagle and fruit

Lunch (With any sandwich you can use a lettuce leaf as the bread if you need to cut calories or eat it as a salad)
Tuna Sandwich or salad: w/relish, tomato and lettuce (no mayo)
Deli Meat sandwich or salad: (chicken, turkey) lettuce, tomato, mustard (no mayo)
Grilled Chicken salad
Taco salad: lettuce, tomato, cheese, seasoned hamburger meat, salsa (no chips)



Snacks (feel free to mix it up ex: cottage cheese and fruit)
Yogurt (low fat or fat free)
Fat free string cheese
Fruits and veggies
Almonds (about 10)
Cottage cheese (low fat)
Granola (i have a recipe I will share)


Dinner: use a smaller plate. ½ of the plate veggies/salad, ¼ protein source (lean meat), ¼ whole grain side if you need the calories. If you go back for seconds only get the salad or veggies.

Salmon
Tuna
Shrimp
Grilled Chicken
Lemon pepper chicken
Turkey

Green salads (no dressing!)
Eat a green salad with every dinner if you can. Mix it up. My new found favorite is Spinach, romaine lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, purple cabbage, grated carrot and strawberries.

Steamed veggies( no butter)

Soups can be a good filler but they should be clear (veggie, chicken). Stay away from the “cream of” and cheese soups. As always check calories

Cooking
The grill is probably the healthiest way to cook. There is no fats to cook the meat or veggies in. If you are using a frying pan you can use olive, canola, corn or sunflower oil or Spray Pam and lightly coat the pan. never use lard, shorting, or grease.

If you cant live without butter or salad dressing there are a few lite options in the spray bottles. use it sparingly and count the calories. Also real butter is your best option.  By the way alot of the stuff that sayes "diet food" or "light" is really not good for you so don't be fooled.

Notice there is no dessert. For now try to cut sugary and fatty deserts out. Try fruit like pineapple, a peach, grapes or yogurt. it might take a few weeks for your body to stop craving the sugar but in a few weeks you will forget you ever ate them.... OK, maybe not forget but you will see results, feel great and it will be easier to eat healthy. I promise a little sacrifice now WILL be worth it!


Serving size info
http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/GettingHealthy/NutritionCenter/HealthyDietGoals/Suggested-Servings-from-Each-Food-Group_UCM_318186_Article.jsp

There is also a meal plan on this link starting on page 15. Again count the calorie.
http://www.building-muscle101.com/support-files/getting-rid-of-fat-free.pdf

more healthy eating info:
http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/GettingHealthy/WeightManagement/LosingWeight/5-Goals-to-Losing-Weight_UCM_307260_Article.jsp



http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/GettingHealthy/WeightManagement/LosingWeight/5-Goals-to-Healthy-Eating_UCM_307257_Article.jsp