Cardio: The 2nd Most Important Part Of Losing Weight

The 2nd most important part of losing weight and maintaining fitness is CARDIOVASCULAR TRAINING. To improve or maintain health, you need to participate in different types physical activities for 30 minutes of moderate-intensity 5 days a week or 20 minutes of high-intensity physical activity 3 days a week. Cardiovascular training is essential for weight-loss because it elevates the heart and respiration rate, and uses large muscle groups. Examples of different types of cardio are:

Swimming

Biking

Spinning

Walking

Jogging

Running

Ellipticals

Stairmaster

Fitness Cardio Classes

 

Doing different types of cardio prevents your body from getting used to it and reaching the dreaded plateau. Our bodies are constantly trying to keep an equilibrium so we have to take control change our types of cardio at least every 4 weeks. I personally do different types of cardio each day, 5 - 6 days a week. This depends on if I am getting ready for competition or just to maintain my normal and fit weight.

 

 Once doing 20 - 30 minutes of cardio becomes easy for you, then either add more resistance or time. The more you do, the more calories you will burn and the more weight you will lose. However, this can only happen if you are eating healthy and expending more than you take in. Otherwise, you will only be maintaining your current weight.

 

It takes 3500 calories just to lose 1 pound. If you cut out 500 calories out of your diet and burn at least 600 calories in physical activities 5 days a week, then you have created a deficit of 5500 calories. This means you can lose, the healthy way, 2 pounds every 2 weeks. 



Easy Tips to Clean Up Your Kitchen, The Healthy Way!

• Weed Out All The Bad Foods You Have In Your Kitchen. If it is there, you will eat it. It is best to just get rid of all the salty chips, high fructose sodas, & high sugar pastries.
• Make a clean grocery list. This means as natural as possible. No instant, canned, or other ready made foods. You can eat the things you love to eat, you just have to learn how to make it better for you. Abs are made in the KITCHEN! Buy fresh or frozen FRUITS, VEGETABLES (especially green), & MEATS (chicken, pork, fish, turkey, some red meat)
• Buy the healthier option. Eating healthy does not mean you have to eat cardboard, paper, & cotton balls. Your body needs at least 20 - 35% HEALTHY FATS. So, change you salted butter for the unsalted one. Use vinagrettes for your salads instead of cream based ones. Change your cooking oil for olive oil, extra virgin, or canola oil. Put avocado instead of mayonaise on your sandwiches.
• Package foods or bottle liquids. When you have time, whether on the weekends or afterwork. Prep your food. If you cook your meats ahead of time, you are cutting out 15 minutes off of making a meal. With grilled chicken, you can make a salad, soup, spaghetti, alfredo, etc. Put your healthier oil of your choice in a SPRAY BOTTLE. This will ensure that you do not use too much of it to cook your food. Plus, it also limits all the chemicals that are in oil sprays.
• Learn your spices. Knowing how certain spices work with certain foods will guarantee in less use of salt. Too much salt will result in high blood pressure and swelling. Buy organic sugar (tan), organic salt (pink, grey, black, or gold), honey, or agave.
• Do not be scared to bomb in the kitchen. Learning how to eat healthy is something new for you. Do not chicken out just because a meal you made did not come out well. I always tell my clients, "Do you see those people on those dance competition shows, do you think they just came already like that? No, they had to practice for months to be fantastic". It is the same in the kitchen, PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT!

 

 

Healthy Cooking and Eating is 80% of the Equation

Many people want to lose weight and never make their weight-loss goals, because they do not change how they eat. The majority do not have any idea how to cook. Some do, but do not have any time. While, others are too scared to make bombs or are too lasy to cook at all.

Throughout my career as being a Zumba Instructor, NASM Certified personal trainer, &NASM Certified weight management specialist. I have noticed that telling people how to eat and cook healthy is like talking a foreign language to them. This has help me learn that they are really not to blame. If we look at all the commercials for fast-foods & restaurants, most of them depict people having so much fun and are so happy that their family is eating these types of foods. When it comes to cooking at home, commercials show it as time comsuming, disasterous, tiring, & the family not liking home cooked foods.

At the beginning, just like when you are first starting to workout, you got to look at cooking and eating healthy with a positive outlook. Otherwise, your whole experience is going to be negative and you will not be able to reach your weight-loss goals.

Next, you want to start with foods you like. For example, I first began my weight-loss journey, I taught myself how to cook whole wheat tortillas with olive oil. Later, I moved on the whole wheat bread and pizza crust. I learned about spices and healthy substitutes. I learned the differences between poach and blackened cooking styles. Also, I cook my meals over the weekend or whenever I have time available. They are packaged in single serving containers and placed in the freezer. During the week, all I have to do is pick what I want to eat for the day and take it in my mini cooler.

Then, start writing down every thing that you eat in a diary. You see the full scope of how much you are eating per day. It will more than likely show you are eating more calories than you need. Knowing what you eat will help you to make wiser choices.You can also include your workouts and how you feel throughout you journey. Having it written down on paper tends to keep people on track to make their goals.

Lastly, keep eating out to restaurants to a minimum. A lot of people tell me that it is their social scene. That is great, but you do not have to eat at a restaurant every day to keep in touch with your friends? Save going out to eat for special occasions. In addition, I have found that there are many restaurants that have the low-fat section, but how do we know they are taking precautions to make it healthier. Those cooks are just trying to push the plate out. I seriously doubt they are taking the time to carefully measure how much oil, salt, or butter they put in you plate. I remember when I asked to have some chicken wings grilled, the cook fried them and then grilled them. Sadly, I had to tell them I did not order that and they went to waste.

Time To Get Back Into The Swing Of Getting Healthy!

The end of Summer vacation for the kids is coming very soon. Vacations are rapping up and more than likely, you were not watching what you were eating or even working out. That Summer fun, eating and relaxing you participated in helped you gain anywhere from 10 - 20 extra pounds. So now what? Well, now it is the time to get back into the swing of getting healthy!

The FIRST thing you want to do is schedule your workouts like they are important BUSINESS appointments. This is to ensure you won't use any type of lame excuse not to workout. Yes, I used LAME, because I have heard every type of excuse in the book why not to workout.

The SECOND action you need to take is finding out how long will it take you to lose the amount of weight you want to get rid of. Most people always want to do the minimum, but that does not work. The less work you do, the less weight you will lose and the longer it will take. This simple equation below will show you exactly how long it will take based on how many days you are willing to train.  

* 10 lbs. / 2 days a week of training = 5 weeks

* 20 lbs. / 2 days = 10 weeks

*30 lbs. / 2 days = 15 weeks

* 10 lbs. / 3 days = 3 1/3 weeks

* 20 lbs. / 3 days = 6 3/4 weeks

* 30 lbs. / 3 days = 10 weeks

* 10 lbs. / 4 days = 2 1/2 weeks

* 20 lbs. / 4 days = 5 weeks

* 30 lbs / 4 days = 7 1/2 weeks

* 10 lbs. / 5 days = 2 weeks

* 20 lbs. / 5 days = 4 weeks

* 30 lbs. / 5 days = 6 weeks

This of course, does not include diet. DIET is the most important thing that needs to change if you really want to lose the amount of weight stated above. You can not eat what ever you want, workout, and lose weight. That is a myth. First of all, eating all that bad food is not going to give you enough energy to do anything at the gym. It actually robs your body of any energy levels it has.

It really does not matter which diet you do, whether it is low-carb, low-fat, counting calories, vegetarian, eating clean, or vegan. The point is to burn more calories than you take in. That is how you will lose weight and make your goals. Deduct at least 300 - 500 calories from you normal intake or BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate). Eat small 3 meals a day with 2-3 snacks in between, every 2 - 4 hours. Do not eat any FRIED or FAST FOODS. Eat roasted, grilled, smoked, lightly pan fried, baked, poached, steamed, raw (veggies or sushi), blackened, or boiled foods.

Lastly, have a POSITIVE ATTITUDE about working out, eating healthy, losing weight. A NEGATIVE ATTITUDE is going to make a NEGATIVE EXPERIENCE. You are going to be sore for the first 2 weeks, but always tell yourself the postive things that are going to come out of this. Be excited that you are at the gym, trying a new class, trying a new healthy recipe, and changing you life for the best!