Fitness Boot Camp Tip of the Week – Questions to ask yourself

Coppell and Dallas personal trainer’s weight loss and fitness exercise of the month. Personal Trainer in Dallas and Coppell shares a great weight loss and fitness exercise. Dallas and Coppell Personal trainer can be found at www.GetYouInShape.com

Fitness Boot Camp Tip of the Week – Questions to ask yourself

Coppell Fitness Boot Camp Tip of the Week – Questions to ask yourself if you are not getting the results you are looking for.

Questions to ask yourself if you are not getting the fitness results you are looking for.
If you have any questions, write it in the comment below.

This tip is important since this is the time of year when so many people are trying to get in shape for summer. When looking to lose weight you have to realize that it is not just one thing you have to change in order for you to get the results you want. You have to do a number of different little things over time in order to get that 6 pack or lose the weight around your hips. You can’t just exercise, you can’t just eat better, you can’t just drink more water, or you can’t just take pills. It takes small changes and consistency over time to get the results you are looking for. Many use the perform “lifestyle” because you are really changing your lifestyle. Here are a few questions that can help you in figuring out if you need to make a few changes to help change your lifestyle.

1. Do you have a goal? What is your motivation?
This is number one because if you don’t really have anything you are aiming for, your most likely never going to come close to a goal. If you goal is to lose weight, why do you want to lose weight. That would be the motivation behind the weight loss. An example would be “I want to lose weight to look better for my husband/wife”. I would suggest getting a picture of them and writing “This is why I am doing it” on the picture. Have that picture with you every where you go. We have had a few clients have their before picture (a not so pleasing picture) with them and in their nutritional journal so that every time they go eat, they see that picture and why they are eating smaller healthier portions. The motivation behind what your goal is will be the reason WHY you don’t order the hamburger at Chili’s and go for the healthy items and also skip on desert.
What is your motivation? What is your goal?

Are you eating a well-balance breakfast everyday?
A healthy breakfast is an undeniable requirement for anyone in the process of beginning, achieving or maintaining an appropriate weight. Fueling your body with the nutrients it needs first thing in the morning, enhances your metabolism and sets the tone for your body for the rest of the day.  Eating breakfast helps you lose body fat because it gets your body going early in the day. Breakfast is just what the words sounds like: you break the fast in which your body has gone from eating last.  Your body needs energy from breakfast to carry about in normal day-to-day activities. Breakfast also helps get your metabolism going so it is able to quickly break down the foods you eat later in the day. Breakfast also helps curb your hunger, prevents binging, and prevents grazing during the day.

A study done at the University of Massachusetts reported startling statistics. You are 150% more likely to be obese by eating breakfast away from home, and you are an astonishing 450% more likely to be obese by not eating breakfast at all.

Statistics also show that only 14% of the United States eats a complete breakfast everyday.

If time is your excuse, AdvoCare Meal Replacement Shakes provide a well-balanced, lower-calorie meal that’s high in protein, and supports weight loss by building your muscle, not your fat. With each shake, you receive a powerful combination of 26 vitamins and minerals (including 50 percent of your daily value of calcium), 5 to 6 grams of fiber, an amazing 24 grams of protein and much more. Plus they are only 220 calories. Many of Get You In Shape’s success stories come from people who plugged this one change into their daily nutrition program.
If you do have time to make a quick breakfast, here are some healthy options:
1. Whole-wheat bread with some low-fat cheese or peanut butter with fruit
2. Low-fat, no-sugar added yogurt with a banana or piece of fruit.
3. Old Fashion Oatmeal (yes the slow cooking kind) with fruit. There are a few healthy instant oatmeal packs. Just make sure you read the label. Add a glass of soy milk or milk to add more protein.
4. 2(3) eggs whites, and 1 whole egg with whole-wheat toast (may add natural peanut butter) and fruit.
5. Hard boiled egg(s), whole-wheat toast (with peanut butter), and fruit.
You can add skim milk, low-fat milk, or silk milk to add some extra calcium and protein.

Are you eating 5-6 small meals and snack each day?
You should shoot for three small meals and three small snacks every 2 and ½ to 3 hours. Each meal should have a protein the size of a deck of cards and two fist-sized servings of veggies. Each snack should include protein and fruit.  Meals and snacks should include: protein, high-fiber complex carbs, and healthy fats. Protein and fiber help you feel full; complex carbs digest slowly without spiking blood sugar; and the fat, which also digests slowly, delivers a spurt of energy long after it’s consumed. You can also add in a meal replacement shake or health bar to help save time. A study in the Journal of Nutrition found that meal replacement shakes help in weight loss. Not only will it save you time, but it will also help get you in shape.  An example of a healthy eating schedule would be: 7am breakfast, 9:30am snack, 12pm lunch, 3pm snack, 6:30pm dinner and 8:30pm optional snack.

Your body will be a burning fire that will keep you feeling good and energized throughout the day.  Planning and preparing each small meal and snack for the week will keep your body fueled and your metabolism going all day long. Pre-planning with healthier, self-prepared foods will help you save money in the long run because you won’t have to eat out at fast food places, restaurants, convenient stores, and cafés.  Having something to eat will also stop the excuse of going to through a fast food line because you did not have time to fix something to eat.

Are you doing your off-day Cardio?
If you are not doing your off-day cardio, this is one thing that you will need to start doing if you are looking to get quicker results. If you are doing your off-day cardio here are a few things I would do in order to get the results you are looking for. First, you may need to raise your intensity level and how hard you are trying to push yourself. If you have a heart rate monitor, this is an easy way of seeing just how hard you are going. The more you can raise your heart and lower it (interval training) the more your heart has to work. The next thing is to continue to change the cardio workout up. This just means always do different interval times each day so that your body does not get used to the same thing each time. Another thing you may want to try if you are going to the gym is to use different equipment each day or even each workout. This would be like doing 15 minutes on an elliptical, 15 minutes on the stair climber, and 15 minutes on the Concept 2 Rower. Lastly, if you are not getting the results you are looking for, you may need to increase the amount of time you are putting on your off-day cardio. If you are changing the workouts and changing the intensity levels, you should only need 45 minutes of work along with a warm up and cool down. If you are looking for faster results, though, you may need to increase that until you have hit your number.

Are you drinking enough water?
Now that the weather is getting warmer, this question is even more important to ask yourself as just a little dehydration can really have negative effects on your weight loss goals.

One study showed that 75% of Americans are chronically dehydrated. Lack of water is the # 1 trigger of daytime fatigue.

Another stat sais that the human blood is 83% water, muscle is 75% water, liver is 96% water, bones are 22% water, and the brain is composed of approximately 93% water.

When we were born, we were about 98% water, when we reach adulthood we are anywhere from 55%-75% water.

Water is not only essential for life but in your quest for losing body fat, building muscle, and keeping healthy, it is crucial. Water is crucial to the proper functioning of every major system in your body.  We lose about a liter of water per day just through our daily activities. If you’re not getting enough water, your body will not metabolize fat or digest food as efficiently. Drinking enough water allows fat and calories to burn effectively, rid the body of toxins and waste efficiently, and improves metabolism.

Water is also important in controlling hunger. When your body does not have enough water or it is dehydrated, it will send a signal to your brain to eat. Watch out, because your body is really asking for water. This can be controlled if you’re drinking enough water. Become self-aware of your water needs and drink enough, throughout the day, before your body tells you that you need it.
Some steps that will help ensure that you are drinking enough water throughout the day.

1. Have a glass of water by your bed before you go to bed. When you wake up, drink the water.

2. Bring a water bottle everywhere you go and make sure you at the least drink 8 ounces each hour. An

easy way to figure this out is to drink a 20 ounce bottle of water every 2-3 hours.

3. Drink a glass of water before and after each meal. Doing so will help to control your appetite.

Another great benefit to drinking water before and after each meal is that is will help in the digestion process.

Are you taking a good multi-vitamin and fish oil?
USDA statistics show the average American diet is significantly lacking in the essential minerals needed for energy production, protection from free radical damage, and other vital functions.

Only 12% of Americans age 45-64 regularly consume what is considered to be a healthy diet. The National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey.

What are some of the reasons that our bodies do not get all the nutrients it needs just from the foods we consume?

  1. Farming techniques have changed drastically, so the vitamin and nutrient content of the crops has also changed.
  2. Vitamins and other nutrients are lost when storing, drying, freezing, and processing foods. Many of today’s foods are processed with extra ingredients such as preservatives, coloring agents, insecticides, herbicides, fungicides, and chemical residues from various packaging and cleaning procedures. These ingredients may complicate digestion and increase the risk of allergic reaction.
  3. Another reason is that we simply do not eat the right foods. Our diets are dominated by high refined and processed foods that are stripped of the natural, healthy benefits they once had.
  4. Portion size is another reason why we can’t get what we need by diet alone. Portion sizes have increased 30% to 40% during the past 20 years.
  5. We also eat too fast and do not chew our food thoroughly, which contribute to loss of nutrients our body absorbs.

Since many of you are working out very hard, your bodies are needing extra nutrients to help it.
We suggest at the very least a good mutlivitamin and a good fish oil.
I like to think of a militiaman as just a way to ensure my body is getting all its nutritional gaps met on a daily basis from what I may not be getting from my foods. We have found that many of our clients benefit from adding a multivitamin and not just any multivitamin. Since we have been involved with Advocare nutritional products since 2001, we feel they are the safest and most effect product on the market. That is why we recommend their multivitamin. Click here to read more about Adovcare’s CorePlex

The benefits of omega-3s include reducing the risk of heart disease and stroke while helping to reduce symptoms of hypertension, depression, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), joint pain and other rheumatoid problems, as well as certain skin ailments. Some research has even shown that omega-3s can boost the immune system and help protect us from an array of illnesses including Alzheimer’s disease.

Just how do omega-3s perform so many health “miracles” in people? One way, experts say, is by encouraging the production of body chemicals that help control inflammation — in the joints, the bloodstream, and the tissues.

“The typical American diet has a ratio of around 20 to 1 — 20 omega-6’s to 1 omega-3 — and that spells trouble,” says Sandon, an assistant professor of nutrition at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. While reducing your intake of omega-6s can help, getting more omega-3s from food is an even better way to go.
We recommend the Advocare OmegaPlex because it has been helpful for many of our clients

Are you using your nutrition and exercise journal?
In the August 2009 Issue of the American Journal of Preventative Medicine, a study was carried out regarding using a food journal.  US researchers found that keeping a food diary can double weight loss as part of a managed program.  They said that the more consistent the records the more weight the participants lost.

When it comes to health, nutrition and fitness, losing weight is number one on the list when it comes to goals. If someone told you that you could double your weight loss just by doing this one thing, would you do it? One thing could be jumping off a cliff or running a marothon. Most people woudl be willing to do either of those just to lose weight. Keeping track of your daily consumption through food jounaling is not life threatening or anything like what a marathon would do to your body. This article will help you realize that inputting this change can and will help you acheive your weight loss and fitness goals.

It is important to realize that writing in a nutritional journal, keeping up with it online or on your phone does not have to be a life-long process. You have to view journaling as a means to an end. You have a goal and you doing this is just one of the steps you need to take to reach or accomplish that goal.

It is good to know why journalism is beneficial to losing weight or helping you achieving your weight loss goals. Here are a few benefits to writing and journaling your calories in a journal, online, or with your phone. Here are a few reason or benefits to writing or having a food journal and using it as a means to reach your health and fitness goals.

1. Allows you to monitor how many calories you are consuming. Most people know that you need to consume fewer calories than your body burns in order to lose weight. The nutritional journal will help you monitor just how much you are consuming each day which will help you make the changes you need to lower your intake.

2. Helps you control the urge to overeat. – Many people who we talk to who journal have said this benefit of nutritional journal is key. Your actions change when you know you have to journal that you 2 pieces of garlic bread or you went through the buffet line again. This helps you not binge or overeat those times when you think you need to. Knowing you will be writing down EVERYTHING in your nutritional journal will help those urges to eat one more chip, one more Hershey kiss, one more bit of desert.

3. Encourages you to make better food choices. Most people don’t think about the calories that are in the foods that choose. This is very evident with restaurants and the amount of calories people are consuming in one sitting while eating out. Having to write down you had a bag of chips and salsa at On The Border that has about 1200 calories may help you realize it may not be worth it to have the chips.  Writing in a food journal will help you pay more attention to the foods you are eating.

4. Helps you realize how much you really eat! It is a eye opener to know how many calories you are really consuming after starting to journal the calories you are consuming. A nutritional food journal will allow you to take a good look at the amount of calories you are putting in your body and help you realize it is too much. Once you realize this, you can make the changes that you need to make to see results. Knowing that you are trying to eat healthy when meeting a friend for lunch and it still comes out to 800-1000 calories will be a shock.

5. Shows how committed you are in getting the results. We all know that it is tough to do anything positive. Telling friends and family that you have given up sweets or that you only drink water now can sometimes leave them with crazy comments or looking at you like you have lost your mind. Choosing to journal is just another sign of your commitment to make a positive change and in doing so, you know that you are doing the steps you need to do to reach your weight loss goals. Each time you write something down in your food journal, online, or in your phone, you are telling yourself that you are willing to do what it takes to achieve your goals.

6. Allows you to track your progress. – Many of our boot camp participants start our program with little knowledge of what, when and how to eat. Having a food journal will allow you to look back and see how far you have come in your journey. A nutritional journal can help you see how healthier you are eating today than you did when you started. This can be very encouraging for them but it can also be used to help spread that encouragement to someone else that may be looking to change, lose weight, and get healthier.

7. You can get help from a health care professional (personal trainer, nutritionist, doctor, etc).  Maybe you feel like you are doing all the right things but are not getting the weight loss results you want. Having a food journal with what you have been eating will allow a professional to take a look at your journal and help you make the changes you need to make.

8. Allows you to make a connection between the foods you eat and how you feel. Writing in a food journal helps you learn what foods help you feel good and what foods make you drowsy or tired. You can also use it to see if a particular food triggers overeating. This can help you identify any certain type of foods or drink that you may need to eat more of or eat less on depending on how it made you feel.

9. Helps you make sure you are eating a well-balanced diet. The Get You in Shape program really stresses how important it is to eat a well-balance diet. This is making sure you are getting a blend of proteins, carbs, and good fats into your diet. A food journal can provide concrete evidence and help you decide if you really are eating a well-balanced diet.

10. Encourages you to use your brain. You will need to take some time to search for the calories in the foods you are consuming. You will be amazed at how many calories you consume when you eat out compared to cooking your own food. You will be amazed writing down what you eat encourages you to think about what you are eating. Using a food journal will take some time but the time you take you will be learning and using your brain. Once you learn it, it will become easier and easier to track your foods.

Now that you know the benefits of using a nutritional journal, we will now help you learn how to use the journal.

How to use a nutritional journal. CLICK HERE to get the nutrition and exercise log

1. Write down WHAT time you ate. Focus on eating something every 2 and 1/2 to 3 hours which will help keep your metabolism up throughout the day.

2. Write down EVERYTHING you eat and drink. This includes EVERYTHING. You will also count the calories in EVERYTHING. This include the half cookie you ate in the break room that adds another 75 calories to your daily calories. This includes the glass of wine you had when you got home from work. It all adds up!

You will need to use a book or a website to track the calories. You can find how many calories are in foods and drinks on a few of the websites below. If you prefer not use an actual journal and would rather use a  website or your phone, there are MANY food tracking websites and even SmartPhone applications. We suggest you do your own searching but here are some of the ones we have found to be good. Some of these websites are:
www.livestrong.com (Blackberry & iPhone)
www.fatsecret.com (Google Phone)
www.thedailyplate.com
www.my-calorie-counter.com
http://www.calorieking.com

Each day you will count up all the calories consumed. The next step is to make sure you are consuming less calories than what your body burns each day to lose weight.


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