Weight Loss Troubleshooting: 5 Common Workout Routine Mistakes

May 23, 2013 by Leave a Comment

health fitness weight loss workout routine

I get a lot of questions from people who have been exercising for a certain period of time and aren’t seeing the weight loss or fitness results they want.

I mean, fitness isn’t magic. You can’t yell “ABRACADABRA!” and then all of a sudden you’ve reached all your fitness goals. (In my case, being able to climb mountains in a single bound and eat half marathons for breakfast.)

But there are a set of common workout routine problems and misconceptions. By making your workout routine awesome and varied, you can get stronger and faster and better than that one Daft Punk song.

Without any further dilly dallying, here are five common problems with your workout routine:

Problem #1: No Strength Training

Without strength training, you’ll lose muscle mass and get that “skinny fat” look because your metabolism has slowed down. Strength training is key to losing weight and getting fit, and without it, you won’t see results! Make sure you get at least 1-2 days of strength training in per week.

Gaining muscle should be a priority if you want that toned, lean look. Check out my Beginner’s Guide to Strength Training if you want to know where to start!

Problem #2: Too Much Steady State Cardio

Walking on the treadmill for three hours every day can wear down muscles and slow down your metabolism.

More intense workouts are more effective at burning fat, and High Intensity Interval Training has been shown to improve mitochondrial function and help you lose weight! Read more about HIIT here. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Featured -- Healthy, Reality of Healthy, Slider, Weight Loss

5 Ways to Reach Your Fitness Goals

May 21, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Want to hear some scary facts?

Only 8% of people are always successful in achieving their resolutions. 19% achieve their resolutions every other year.  49% have infrequent success.  24% (one in four people) NEVER succeed and have failed on every resolution every year. That means that 3 out of 4 people almost never succeed.

Source

You can be the 25% who succeed. Why? Because you’re my readers. And I kind of bet my brother that you would all reach your goals. I don’t like to lose bets. So… I’m counting on you!


5 Ways to Stick With Your Fitness Goals and Resolutions

  1. Gradually make changes! Some people go full speed ahead for the first two weeks in January, and then get burned out. Pace yourself! Life’s about energy management, not just time management. Start by going to the gym three times a week, and slowly work up to more days and more intense workouts.
  2. Take a day off each week in order to refocus. Take a rest day to evaluate your progress from the following week, and figure out what you can do better next week.
  3. Stay inspired. Print out inspirational quotes and hang them on your wall. Sing “WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS” after every workout. High five other runners you meet on your morning run. This is a journey! Enjoy every step of the way, and find ways to keep your morale up!
  4. Keep it fun. Go hiking with friends. Challenge the people in your house to come up with new smoothie recipes, and offer a prize to the winner. (Like no chores for a week!)
  5. Know where you’re headed. AKA: PLAN! Know where you want to be, and plan out the steps to get there.

Stay motivated!

READER SUBMISSIONS

First off, I love checking in with you guys to see how your goals are doing. These are my favorite entries from my question on my Tumblr!

  • bringingmetoneverland answered: Haha, just saying (since I’m Greek) You basically said Good Morning beautiful friends! :)

Yes! Google translate success! Also: Greek is pretty much the most awesome language ever. I envy you.

  • jofromscratch answered: I’m working harder everyday. I’m logging my food, working out whenever I can, and keeping a positive attitude. Trite but true.

Role model alert!

  • 90daystoamazing answered: i personally never had a resolution, but i am starting my 90 day challenege on the first right now im conditioning myself for the p90x part.

You’re in for a treat! P90x is one of the best programs out there: challenging and engaging. Good luck!!

  • runatic-lavings answered: My New Year’s resolution has been to stick to my soda restriction, which I believe has been going splendidly! And I’ve grown fond of seltzer.

*virtual high five* Same here! Great job!

  • mypersonalrollercoaster answered: I had one resolution to help me meet my goals for the year: cut out all meat & dairy. So far, so good. 25 days in!

Wow! Veganism = fantastic goal for so many health reasons. 

  • awesomeness2 answered: What resolution? I am doing it for my health not a resolution.

Dude. You are my hero.

photocredits

Filed Under: Featured -- Healthy, Reality of Healthy, Slider, Weight Loss Tagged With: , , , , ,

Real Healthy Recipe: Angelic Eggs (Healthy Deviled Eggs)

May 17, 2013 by Leave a Comment

 

healthy deviled eggs

So today we’re taking the traditional deviled eggs recipe and making it into a healthy recipe I like to call Angelic Eggs! I even tried this recipe out on some die-hard deviled eggs fans and they agreed that this healthy version tastes the same if not better! This version substitutes Greek yogurt for mayonnaise, lowering the fat and calorie content.

Time Required: 20 minutes

Number of Servings: 4

Nutrition Facts for one serving:

Screen Shot 2013-05-16 at 8.53.31 PM

 

 

 

 

Ingredients:

  • 6 Eggs
  • 1/4 cup nonfat plain Greek yogurt
  • 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
  • 1/4 teaspoon pepper
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • paprika to garnish

Directions:

healthy deviled eggs 4

1. Hardboil the Eggs. Place eggs in a pot, put enough cold water in the pot so that the eggs are fully covered, and set your stove to high heat. Cover the eggs, bring them to a boil, and then turn off the heat and let them hang out (still covered) for another 12 minutes.

2. Rinse and Prepare Eggs. After hardboiling the eggs, let them cool down (maybe putting them in ice). Then, peel off the shells and cut the eggs in half lengthwise.

3. Separate the yolks. Arrange the egg whites on a plate (maybe in a halo-like circle like I did!) and then place the yolks in a bowl. Add the remaining ingredients with the exception of the paprika to the egg yolks, and mash them together.

4. Place the mixture back in the egg whites. I used the tip of the knife to spoon the egg yolks back into the egg whites, and then I sprinkled paprika over everything and placed a handful of tomatoes from the garden into the middle of everything.

And there you have it! A healthy version of deviled eggs with plenty of protein and nutrients. Check out more recipes here. 

Filed Under: Real Healthy Recipes, Reality of Healthy, Slider Tagged With: , , ,

6 Ways to Spring Clean Your Life

April 29, 2013 by Leave a Comment

 

Spring Clean Your Mind

[Read more...]

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Do You Really Need to Lose Weight? A Reality Check.

April 28, 2013 by Leave a Comment

scale do you really need to lose weight

Do you actually need to lose weight for your health, or has the media tricked you into thinking that you’d look better ten pounds lighter?

This is the ultimate reality check, because it’s so easy to get caught up with the body image obsession and start watching the number on the scale like a hawk.

 

Why ‘Losing Weight’ Sometimes Isn’t the Right Goal

But most of the people who want to lose weight don’t actually want to lose weight. They want to look leaner and have less body fat. They want to change their body composition. Those goals are different, in a way, because you can actually replace fat with muscle and drop two pants sizes but the number on the scale may not budge. Why?

Observe:

five pounds of fat and five pounds of muscle

Muscle weighs the same as fat, but five pounds of muscle will always take up less space than five pounds of fat.  [Read more...]

Filed Under: Featured -- Healthy, Reality of Healthy, Slider, Weight Loss Tagged With: , , , ,

The 30 Day Youtube Workout Calendar

April 17, 2013 by 1 Comment

youtube workout calendar

Hey all of you lovely people! Today I’ve got a great new fitness plan for you, and it’s called the Youtube Workout Calendar.

Not only are all of these workouts free to you on Youtube (just click on the links embedded in each day of the workout calendar, or check out my youtube playlist here!) but they’re also fun and challenging. This workout schedule is not just for those of you who sent me questions asking about what workouts to do to lose weight and tone up for summer, but this is also a great way to build a fitness foundation so you can stay fit and healthy for life!

The Benefits of the 30 Day Youtube Workout Program

1. It’s totally free!

You can work out in your own home for free. No gym membership required!

2. Effective workouts in less time

This workout calendar uses several different types of workouts proven to speed up your metabolism and turn on your fat burning capacities. Here they are:

  • Circuit and interval training 3x/week. If you want to lose fat, interval and circuit training are the way to go. Both circuit and interval training keep burning calories even after the initial workout is over, and they’re the best fat burners.
  • Strength training twice a week. Read my article about why strength training is critical not just for fitness but also for weight loss.
  • Flexibility training once a week. Get long, lean muscles, and protect yourself from injury. Near the end of the program, these flexibility workouts will add in a strength component to help you tone up.

3. Increase in intensity

If you don’t train hard, you won’t see results. That’s why I designed this program to increase the intensity of the workouts as the weeks went on.

4. Moral support

You guys, I’ll be doing this with you. I’ll be sweating and pushing myself and working through each day alongside you like the Jiminy Cricket of personal trainers but on Tumblr. I’ll be sharing recipes and swapping lame metaphors and awkward jokes with you as we work through this program together.I’ve gotten a lot of questions of people looking to lose weight and tone up not just for summer, but for the rest of their life, and I designed this workout plan to help with that.

I also have an additional list of easier and more difficult workouts so you guys can customize the intensity of the program.

Even if you miss the start date, you can always visit this tag on my blog to see all the posts and you can join me whenever you have the chance :)

The Calendar

Click the link to download!

If you like the program, please share it with others using the links at the bottom of this post!

Youtube Workout Calendar by Amy Suto

Customize Your Intensity

Need to swap out a workout? Check out this list of easier and harder workouts!

Youtube Workout Alternative Intensities by Amy Suto

Tips and Tricks for Each Day

Day One: HIIT Fat Loss

Day Two: Drive By Inner Thighs

Day Three: Jump Rope Training Circuit

 Day Four: Strength Training for Fat Loss

 Day Five: Weight Loss Yoga with Tara Stiles

 

 

Filed Under: Featured -- Healthy, Free Stuff!, Reality of Healthy, Reality of You, Top Article Tagged With: , , , , ,

Healthy Eating: How to Read a Food Label

April 15, 2013 by 3 Comments

Ideally, you want to eat foods that don’t have wrappers. Whole, natural foods always win.

But when you do buy foods from a box or a package, you should know how to read the labels and make the best choices.

Here are some basic rules:

  1. The fewer ingredients, the better. If you can’t pronounce any of the ingredients, that’s a red flag.
  2. If sugar comes first, throw it out. If sugar or any of its counterparts show up first on the label — glucose, sucrose, high fructose corn syrup — avoid at all costs! The ingredients are listed in order of quantity, so if sugar’s on the label it should be last, or close to the end at least.
  3. Stay away from high fructose corn syrup. I don’t care how “natural” the company claims it to be. According to Dr. Mark Hyman in his book The Blood Sugar Solution, “high-fructose corn syrup is an industrial food product and far from “natural.” It is extracted from corn stalks through a chemical process and is biochemically novel compound that is sweeter and cheaper than cane sugar (sucrose)” (Hyman). But that’s not all High Fructose Corn Syrup does. The Children’s Hospital Oakland Reesearch Institute “found that every molecule of free fructose from HFCS requires more energy to be absorbed by the gut and soaks up two phosphorous molecules from ATP (our body’s energy source). This depletes the ATP required to maintain the integrity of our intestinal lining” (Hyman). Now are you convinced that HFCS is evil?
  4. It’s not all about calories. The quality of the food matters just as much as the quantity of the calories! Some of those notorious 100-calorie snack packs that Nabisco sells may seem appealing because of their calorie count, but check the  label. Do they contain artificial ingredients? A lot of sugar? You’d be better off eating 100 calories of fruit or vegetables!

Let’s look at the label for a Kind bar, which is a trendy and tasty health bar out on the market. I’ll compare it to the label for a Clif Bar, another well-known “health” bar on the market. In the process, hopefully you guys will be able to evaluate different foods on your own!

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Featured -- Healthy, Reality of Healthy, Reality of You, Slider, Weight Loss

Five Steps from Couch Potato to Runner

April 8, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Screen Shot 2013-04-07 at 10.32.19 PM

photo by Tejas Prints

I’ve been getting a lot of questions from people who have never ran before, and want to become regular runners and maybe even run a race or two. So I made this simple five step plan to get you guys from walking to running!

  • Step One: Start by going on 30 minute walks.
  • Step Two: Turn that 30 minute walk into a walk/jog. Walk for five minutes, jog for two. Listen to your body and take it easy the first time!
  • Step Three: When you’re ready, go on a 30 minute jog/run.
  • Step Four: Finally, try running for 30 minutes straight!
  • Step Five: For an additional challenge, try run/sprint intervals. Or, for something more intense, try running up stadium stairs and walking around the track!

Move up to the next step at your own pace.  If you’re into technology and stuff, the LoLo Beat Burn App is the perfect interval running app! I also recommend the LoLo Half Marathon with Jeff Galloway app if you’re interested in running a half marathon.

Hopefully this helps!

-Amy

Filed Under: Reality of Healthy, Slider, Weight Loss Tagged With: , , , ,

Fitness App Review: Half Marathon with Jeff Galloway

April 5, 2013 by Leave a Comment

loloburnhalfmarathontrainer

 

If you’re planning on running a half-marathon, the LoLo’s Half Marathon with Jeff Galloway app for the iPhone will guide you through a structured training program to build your endurance and prepare you for those thirteen miles!

The Review:

High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) is the best kind of fitness training out there! LoLo’s other fitness app (Beat Burn Treadmill Trainer) was my go-to when I was training for my first half marathon, and I was really excited to try out Half-Marathon with Jeff Galloway. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Featured -- Healthy, Fitness Apps, Reality of Healthy Tagged With: , ,

A Beginner’s Guide to Weight Training

March 29, 2013 by Leave a Comment

strengthtrainingforbeginners

Hello you beautiful people! So I’ve been getting a lot of questions in my Ask Box about strength training, so I decided to go over the basics of strength training today!

First, here are some concepts you need to keep in mind:

  • Make sure to exercise muscles as groups. If you’re doing bicep curls, you sure as hell better make sure to do something like crab pushups to exercise your triceps in order to make sure your arms aren’t imbalanced. If your biceps are too strong, and you have weak triceps, this could lead to injury. So at every workout, focus on areas of your body to work on all at once. For example, on Sundays after my run I work on my upper body. This includes bicep curls, tricep kickbacks, pushups, and shoulder extensions.
  • Eat protein RIGHT after your workout. After your strength workout, you have a 15 minute window to feed your muscles with protein (peanut butter is my favorite post-workout snack) or else they begin to eat at themselves instead of repairing and building. You also need to drink plenty of water and get sleep in order to ensure muscle growth.

Now what kind of workouts should you be doing? [Read more...]

Filed Under: Featured -- Healthy, Reality of Healthy, Reality of You
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