Step Up Your Game

Taking the stairs burns 10 calories a minute so the next time you're pondering taking the elevator, think twice.

And if you want to burn a few more calories, get up from your desk every hour or so and walk up a few flights in your office building if you can. Not only will you burn calories from the actual climb, but you'll also keep burning calories as your metabolism stays raised from this short bout of exercise.

Just 10 minutes of stair-climbing a day is 100 calories, which translates into almost a pound of fat loss a month / 12 pounds a year. That's nothing to laugh at!

Don't Forget to Stretch

In an effort to get in an out of the gym as quickly as possible, and still pack in as much cardio and weight training as possible, many people (myself included) skip the stretching part of their routine.
What do you gain from stretching anyway?
Well, according to the Clinical Journal of Sports Medicine, stretching will not only increase flexibility but strength as well.

Scientists asked 30 men to stretch each leg for 2 minutes, 5 times a week. After 6 weeks, the participants’ flexibility increased by 35 %. Their hamstring strength increased by 5% and their quadricep strength increased by 3.2%.

The scientists determined that stretching helps make legs stronger because it increases the muscles’ range of motion. This improves joint movement gives muscles more power.

Master of your Metabolism

It’s no secret that as we get older, our metabolism slows down.

That means that even though many of us are not overweight now, we could be come overweight in the future just by maintaining the same habits we keep now.

Our bodies will just not be able to burn as many calories in the future as they do now.

But there are a few things you can do to rev up your metabolism.

The first and biggest boost to your metabolism is weight training. The more muscle you have, the more calories you burn throughout the day. One study found that senior citizens who strength trained 3 times a week for 6 months burned an extra 230 calories. A third of that increase was solely due to the muscle they gained, while the remaining calories were burned during the actual workout and the sped up metabolism following the workout.

You can also eat or drink your metabolism into shape. Spicy food has been said to boost metabolism by up to 30 %. So keep you foods fiery!

One cup of green tea could help your body burn an extra 80 calories per day and white tea is said to be even better because it is actually a purer form of green tea.

Don’t discount your morning cup of coffee either. The caffeine in an 8-oz cup of brewed coffee can elevate your metabolism for more than 2 hours.

Add all these tricks together and you don’t have to fear the future anymore.

Ode to Cinnamon

Cinnamon is one of the best things you can add to your diet.

Not only does it help food taste even better, but this wonder spice has tons of health benefits too.
- It has been known to help brain function and memory.
- It soothes the stomach, and may aid in preventing ulcers
- It suppresses bacteria that causes urinary tract infections and the fungus associated with yeast infections
- It reduces bad cholesterol levels, while leaving good cholesterol intact.

Cinnamon also helps reduce blood sugar and increase insulin levels, which could prevent or slow the onset of diabetes. Lowering blood sugar levels also helps you lose weight because your body is better able to shuttle sugar (glucose) to your muscles instead of storing it as fat.

Even better, because the fat cells in your stomach are particularly sensitive to high insulin levels, so regular intake of cinnamon could shrink your abdomen and, really, doesn’t sipping cinnamon tea sound so much better than doing dozens of crunches?

Weight-Watchers Tip

I just read about a great tip from Weight Watchers that I had to share.

I sometimes stay away from salad because I enjoy salad dressing and even the light stuff has around 30 calories per tablespoon. (I don't like the ultra-light ones. But that's a personal choice). I find that I end up putting at least 3-4 table spoons of creamy dressing in a big salad, which defeats the purpose of eating light, but here's a new tip.

Weight Watchers advises that you have your dressing on the side and dip your fork into the dressing before you putting the fork into the salad for each mouthful. You'll get the taste of the dressing with each bite without needing as much.

I'm having a big salad with my dinner!

Go Small for Big Results

Most people this time of year have got a fitness goal that they are working towards. Usually it involves a goal with a number at the end of it, as in "I want to lose 10 pounds" or "I want to lose 10 inches" etc.

On top of that, people want to attain this goal by tomorrow, if not faster. But big goals are hard to accomplish instantly and when people don't achieve them, they are often disheartened and give up.

Fitness specialists advise that the best way to get around this problem is to have smaller goals, which are easier to attain. So instead of thinking about losing 10 pounds, consider losing 1-2 pounds a week. That goal is achievable and is easier to work with. This type of goal is also healthier because people who lose big amount of weight usually lose muscle, which slows their metabolism.

With an attainable goal in mind, it's easier to get up off the couch and get moving! It works for me!

Sprinting Your Way to Happiness

ABritish study has found that performing just 30 seconds of intense exercise can clear your head.

The study was conducted at the University of Essex and involved 22 men who performed a single all-out sprint. Reseachers found that after the sprint each participant experienced less tension, anger and confusion. Furthermore, this new sense of well-being lasted for about 75 minutes.

Study author Dominic Micklewright, Ph.D. says that short periods of exhaustive exercise fatigue the mind, resetting it to its baseline. He adds that the same benefits can be attained with any short, intense exercise, including sprinting or even running up a flight of stairs.

And all that in 30 seconds! I'm impressed!

Another Reason To Get On the Treadmill

Obviously the number one reason to exercise as part of a weight control plan is that exercise burns calories. If you choose to weight train as your form of exercise, than another good reason would be that you are building muscle, which speeds up your metabolism.

Those should be reason enough to stick to your fitness routine but researchers at the University of Pittsburn have found another, more subtle reason why exercise helps you control your weight. They found that exercise also keeps you from over-eating.

The researchers studied 169 overweight adults for 2 years and found that those who exercised for less than 3 hours per week at more than their alotted 1,500 calories per day. The further found that those participants who over-ate chose to exercise less.

Study author John Jakcic, Ph.D concluded that both exercise and eating healthy serve as reminders to stay on track, which will help you accomplish your goals even faster!

Pass the Hemp

Looking for something new to snack on?

Try shelled hemp-seed nuts. Yes, they're the same seeds thatare used to grow cannabis, but these are perfectly legal, and good for you.

By weight, hemp seed provide more high-quality protein than beef or fish. Studies show that you get 6 grams of protein for ever tablespoon of seeds. Even better, they're also packed with heart-healthy alpha-linoleic acid.

Hemp-seed nuts taste very similar to sunflower seeds and you can use them in the same manner; eaten on their own or sprinkled in a salad or yoghurt.

You can find them at most health-food stores or in the natural-products section of the grocery store.

Breakfast: Still the Most Important Meal

Every nutritionist will tell you that breakfast is the most important meal of the day but it’s even more important if you’re trying to lose weight.

In the morning, your metabolism is sluggish because it has been in sleep mode and hasn’t had any food to burn since the night before. The only way to rev your metabolism back up again is to eat something.

This is such an important step that many serious bodybuilders will tell you they actually get up in the middle of the night to eat something because they fear a sluggish metabolism.

I probably won’t go that far, but I never skip breakfast and I’m not alone. In a recent survey of members of the National Weight Control Registry (a group of more than 5,000 people who have lost a minimum of 30 pounds and kept them off for at least a year), 78% reported eating breakfast every day, and nearly 90% eat breakfast at least 4 times a week.

As good as breakfast is, you can make it even better by eating the right things. Aim to get 20-25% of your day’s calories from breakfast because this will actually help reduce cravings and overeating later in the day.

Also, eat a mixture of healthy protein and complex carbohydrates (it’s the carbs that will awaken your metabolism). A study from the Journal of the American Dietic Association found that women who ate cereal were 30% less likely to be overweight than those who ate other breakfast foods. High-fiber, low-fat cereals are best because they will fill you up faster.

And what better way to start the day than with a full belly and a guilt-free conscience!

Break a Sweat

Working out and breaking a sweat will not only get you in shape but it will also improve your mood.

A report in Psychosomatic Medicine has revealed that anti-depressants and sweating are equally effective in treating serious depression.

Researchers assigned groups of adults anti-depressants while others were prescribed a fitness regimen. While the group taking the medication had a remission rate of 47%, the group which was exercising showed a 45% remission rate.

James Blumenthal, Ph.D., author of the study, said exercise builds a sense of accomplishment, which can combat depression by stoking feelings of self-control.

Sweet Dreams

When you’re finished working out for the day, don’t forget to get good night’s sleep.
Studies have shown that sleep deprivation can cause weight gain and increase the risk of diabetes.

A report by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science concluded that suppression of deep sleep hurts the ability to regulate sugar levels. With your body not able to metabolise food or regulate appetite as efficiently, the next step is weight gain.

So don’t feel guilty if you hit the bed a little early tonight or press the snooze button tomorrow. Not only will you be better rested and more alert, but you’ll also be doing wonders for your metabolism!

Walk Your Way To Health

A Japanese study has confirmed that an at-home, unsupervised exercise program can improve fitness and well being.

According to Dr. Nozomi Okamoto of the Nara Medical University School of Medicine, adults instructed to walk aerobically for at least 20 minutes, at least twice a week and to increase the total number of steps they walked daily showed significant gains in stamina, vitality and mental health after 32 weeks.

Okamoto also said that the benefits of the program were "comparable" to those that would be seen with a standard supervised exercise program.

So if you can't afford the gym or don't know how to where to begin your quest for health, start with a 20-minute walk.

This might not be rocket sience but I especially love this story because both my parents have recently begun a daily walking regimen and I couldn't be prouder!

Butt What?

The glutes are funny muscles. While there are women who struggle to get tighter, smaller buns, there are others, like me, who want tighter, bigger buns. Yes, I envy JLo and all those other genetically-gifted girls with some junk in the trunk.

If you’re like me, keep reading.

A study at the Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital in Lincoln. Nebraska has analyzed which cardio machines work your glutes the most.

According to the study, the best cardio for your buns is jogging on the treadmill. This activates 48.9% of the gluteus maximus muscles. In second place is the elliptical machine which activates 32.6% of your gluteus maximus.

Walking on the treadmill on an incline and climbing the stairMaster each activate about 24% of your glutes and riding a recumbent bike only activates 6% so get off your butt and it will thank you later!

Be Pro-Protein

Protein has long been touted as the way to go if you’re trying to lose weight. Studies show that high protein meals (along with low to moderate carb intake) are more effective in weight loss than high carb or low fat meals.

But protein also increases your lean body mass. If you are weight training as part of your fitness / weight loss plan (and you should be), then you need protein.

When you lift weights, you tear your muscles down. When they repair, they grow stronger and you build muscle. However, the muscles need protein to repair so if you’re not feeding them, then they’re not repairing properly and you’re lifting in vein.

Whether you want to lose weight or increase lean body mass, you need to consume between 0.7-1 grams of protein per pound of body weight.

Whey protein is best since it is low in fat and is fast-absorbing. If you’re vegetarian, you can get your protein from soy, which also contains a high concentration of estrogenic compounds!

Women are usually afraid of taking excessive protein in the forms of shakes or bars because they think they will get bulky, but big muscle gains are pretty difficult to attain for most women, so it’s pretty unlikely you’ll look like Arnold Schwarzenegger’s long-lost, twin sister.

Boots, Start Walking

People who use pedometers while walking will lose weight even without changing their diet, according to a University of Michigan Health System analysis of nine studies.

Participants in the study increased the distance they walked by one mile to slightly more than two miles each day, just by being conscious that they were keeping track of their activities.

“The amount of weight loss attributable to pedometer-based walking programs is small but significant,” says lead author Caroline R. Richardson, M.D., assistant professor in the University of Michigan Health System Department of Family Medicine. She also noted that the rate of weight loss increased in the participants who stuck to the program for a longer period of time.

Considering you can get basic pedometers for the price of a latte, maybe we should all be walking around with one on our belt.

Diets Don't Work ... but you knew that

Americans spend $40 billion a year on weight-loss programs and products (yes I am Canadian). They get sucked into Jenny Craig or Bernstein or Hoodia supplements and who can blame them with all the marketing that goes into selling that stuff.
But the New England Journal of Medicine found that most people who participate in weight-loss programs “regain about one-third of the weight lost during the next year and are typically back to baseline in three to five years.”

You knew that though, didn’t you? So how can you lose weight?
The main thing to remember is that the changes you make to your diet should be ones that you can sustain. If you go on an ultra-strict diet, you will not only lose fat, but you will also lose lots of muscle, which will slow your metabolism. Eventually you will be unable to continue with this diet, or you will stop the diet because you have lost all the weight you wanted to and so you will begin eating normally.
The problem with this is that your now sluggish metabolism will not be able to burn calories as efficiently and will store any extra food as fat.

All “diets” that work do so because they can be sustained permanently. Add a bit of weight training to a sustainable diet and now you are burning fat and keeping, if not increasing your muscle, which in turn is keeping your metabolism going.

You are thinner and healthier and not afraid of cheating with a double fudge brownie … (in moderation, of course)!

This way or that way ... it doesn't really matter!

Science Daily reports today that overweight people who lose a moderate amount of weight get an immediate benefit in the form of better heart health. This is according to a study conducted at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. And the heart improvements happen whether that weight is shed by eating less or exercising more.
The study’s senior author is Sándor J. Kovács, Ph.D, M.D., director of the Cardiovascular Biophysics Laboratory and professor of medicine. "If individuals want to do something that's good for their heart, then my message to them is lose weight by the method they find most tolerable," he says. He also adds "They're virtually guaranteed that it will have a salutary effect on their cardiovascular system."

If you want to read more on the study, go to ScienceDaily.com.

… and I’m gonna go eat something light, or go to the gym, or both ;)

One Stop Shop

My favourite website when researching all things relating to weight training is www.exrx.net/
I LOVE this site because it's a free resource with over 2000 pages of information including an exercise and musle directory.
So you can look up all the muscle parts in your body and all the corresponding exercises, which come with illustrations. There are also alternative exercises using dumbells, barbells, cables, levers, etc.
I can't live without this site and if you check it out, I'm betting you'll be the same!

Instant fixes ... it's true!

We’ve all heard there are no quick fixes to weight loss. Well, I challenge that notion.

Here are some quick ways (in no particular order) to slim down and get healthy in no time at all.

Take the stairs – Climbing up and down an average set of stairs burns about 2.6 calories. So if you walk up and down 4 flights of stairs, 4 times a day, you can burn 200 calories every work week.

Sip green tea – (make sure it’s not decaffeinated) The caffeine in the tee frees fatty acids to help you burn more fat. If you’re currently drinking fancy coffee drinks, you’ll be slimming down even faster because they usually have hundreds of calories whereas green tea with artificial sweetener calorie free!

Pack your lunch – Fast food and restaurant meals typically have 300 calories more than most meals you would prepare at home. If you do this every day, you will lose 1 pound every 2 weeks, and with the money you save, you can buy a new bikini to show off your sexy new bod!

Spice up your meals – Adding a bit of hot pepper to your meals will rev your metabolism and speed up your fat burning.

Fidget – Fidgeting actually causes fat-burning and can zap between 300-800 calories a day.

Lose the remote – You can burn up to 200 calories a day if you stop using remotes and other gadgets around the house include the garage door opener, electric can opener, etc.

Chew gum – Chewing gum burns an additional 11 calories a day. It may be a small amount, but it all adds up!

Blot the fat – Blotting greasy food like pizza or French fries (that you’re only eating on cheat days) can take out up to 40 calories from that meal.

Drink water – We know we’re supposed to drink lots of water every day but did you know why? Dehydration slows your metabolism by 3 %. Likewise drinking water will increase your metabolism. Drinking 500mL of water will increase your metabolism for a short period of time (roughly a half hour) and in that time you can burn an extra 25 calories.

Buy a pedometer – Studies show that women whow used pedometers for 12 weeks boosted their activity three times as much as non-users.


Easy as non-fat, sugar-free pie with a whole wheat crust!

We Are Not Alone

Here’s proof that we’re not the only ones with a quest for a better body.

According to a new survey done by Fitness Magazine, 85% of women would stroll through life with an extra toe if it meant they could have the perfect body and nearly one-in-four women would spend a week behind bars to reach their ideal weight.

The poll also found that 23% of women would shave their heads if it meant losing weight and nearly half of the women polled said they’d rather lose 20 pounds than live to be 100.

Out of the 1000 woman surveyed, nearly three-quarters of admitted that they have dieted at one point in their life and most want to lose at least 30 pounds.

So there you have it, we are not alone.

The All-Important First Post

It's the beginning of the new year and it's a time when everyone, or at least many, many people, are thinking about getting fit.
You know they say that a high percentage of people who begin a fitness regimen as a New Years Resolution fail or give up in reaching their goals. But this blog is not part of a New Years resolution.
I've always believed in trying to be healthy and am intrigued (read almost obsessed) with all things related to fitness. I love reading fitness magazines, trying new workouts, experimenting with the latest health food crazes, etc.
I'm pretty sure I'm not alone in my fixation so I figured I would start a blog where I can share my experiences and discoveries, and in one shot I can motivate those reading my blog, and be motivated by the idea that I am doing something to help myself and others.

Happy New Year and thanks for reading!