Ramp up Your Workout with Intervals

Have you been walking the same neighborhood streets, or using the same cardio machine for awhile? Then it’s time to ramp up your workouts!

Intervals are a great way to increase your fitness level. They improve your cardio endurance, boost your metabolism, and burn lots of calories.

Here are ways to add intervals to your workouts:

Treadmill – warm up five for minutes. Then walk briskly for three minutes and jog the fourth minute. If you can jog comfortably, run the fourth minute. Repeat this cycle five times then cool down.

Elliptical – warm up five for minutes. Then pedal at a brisk pace for three minutes. Sprint the fourth minute or increase the tension. Repeat this cycle five times then cool down.

Outdoor – spend several minutes warming up then increase your pace. Choose a landmark to jog/sprint to. You could choose a telephone pole or a mailbox down the road. Once you reach your landmark, slow down until you’ve recovered then repeat. Continue your jog/sprint intervals and rest times for the rest of your walk.

Hills – whether you’re outside or on a treadmill, hills can really get your heart rate up. If outside, choose a hilly route and power up the hill, then recover at the top. For the treadmill, use the incline every fourth minute to simulate climbing a hill.

Programs – if you’re using cardio equipment, try the different programs that add hills and tension. Try different levels until you find one that challenges you.

You can add in some fun stuff too like jump rope, jumping jacks and squat jumps to really get your heart pumping!

Exercise is Hard – It’s Okay

I was taking a client through muscle endurance exercises. That’s where you use lighter weights, but more repetitions until the muscle fatigues (completely tires out). This creates a lot of muscle burn by the end of the set. It is hard and it hurts.

She said, “Oh, this is too much. It hurts. I can’t do it.”

Now we were on the last exercise of the training session. She’d been working really hard and doing fine. What was giving out was her mind, her mental focus.

Exercise can be very uncomfortable. In a way you have to build up a tolerance to the pain (not injury pain, but tired muscle pain). Normally, pain is a bad thing. Emotionally you respond in a negative way to pain. it makes you feel like something bad is happening to you.

When it comes to exercise, you have to tell yourself it’s okay to work hard. It’s okay to feel the muscle burn. Exercise “pain” can be a good thing to create more strength and endurance. It’s a positive not a negative!

I told my client, “It’ll be okay. You’ll recover. Trust me.” I went on to talk to her about not fearing the difficulty, but to continue to work hard. As she continues, her muscles will become stronger, and so will her ability to press through.

You can become stronger too. Embrace exercise and don’t be afraid to work hard!

Signal Your Body: Eating is Over

For weight loss, you not only have to choose healthy, nutritious foods. You must also eat the right portions and then STOP eating.

If you’re used to always overeating and feeling really full, it can feel uncomfortable to eat only until you’re no longer hungry. You have to train your body/mind to eat smaller amounts, and to actually allow your stomach to feel empty and hungry before your next meal.

Place your food portions attractively on a plate. Sit down and eat slowly, enjoying the food’s taste and texture. Then use these tips to signal your body (and mouth) eating for that meal/snack is over.

1. Drink a hot beverage. Herbal teas come in all flavors of mint and fruit. Sweeten with a packet of Splenda and sip slowly. You can also use decaf coffee, but stay away from creamers and sugar that add empty calories.
2. Chew gum. Sugar-free gum also comes in many flavors of mint and fruit. Strong minty flavors seem to work best for signaling the taste buds and mind that eating is over.
3. Brush your teeth. Thoroughly brush your teeth with strongly flavored toothpaste. While you’re at it, floss and rinse with mouthwash. A fresh, clean mouth likes to stay that way.
4. Drink flavored water. Fill a large water bottle with cold water and some ice. Add a squeeze of lemon juice or a dry packet of diet drink mix. Carry it with you and sip on it for the next hour.
5. Get out of the kitchen. Put all food away, out of sight, and leave the kitchen. If you’re at a restaurant, lay your napkin over the leftovers or ask for them to be boxed.

Snacks on the Go

Snacking healthy on the go takes a little planning and preparation, but it can be done. Taking the time to prepare certainly beats getting stuck at work or on the road with nothing healthy to eat. You know how hard it is to find low calorie, nutritious foods in vending machines or convenience stores.

You know, too, when you’re hungry and have to stop to get something to eat, it’s much harder to make a good choice. So instead of giving in to the Twinkies and the cheese crackers, take along your own healthy snacks.

· Almonds – take a container of raw almonds and measure 1/4 cup portions into baggies for the week. Store them in your cupboard for easy grabbing.
· Yogurt – buy a large container of plain, fat free yogurt. Open the container and flavor the whole container with Splenda and vanilla. The night before, take out your portion for the next day and put it in a plastic container with lid. You can throw in some fruit, like frozen blueberries. You can also buy prepackaged light yogurt, but there are a lot of additives. (Don’t forget to take a spoon.)
· Carrots – put a handful of baby carrots into baggies for the week. Store in your refrigerator drawer for easy access.
· Apples – wash and dry your apples for the week and set them in a bowl on the counter. You can quickly grab one on your way out the door. Bananas work well too as long as they don’t get squashed.
· Protein bars – choose bars that have at least 15 grams of protein and no more than 200 calories. Limit these to one snack per day and stick to whole foods for the rest.
· Popcorn – if you have access to a microwave, take along a 100-calorie pack of popcorn. This is a lot of grain so skip your grain at lunch (have a salad with grilled chicken) and have popcorn for your afternoon snack.
· Celery and PB – this takes a little more work, but can be done the night before. Spread natural peanut butter on washed celery sticks. Cover with plastic wrap and put in the refrigerator overnight.
· Cheese – cheese sticks are fast and easy to carry along. Look for ones that have 60 calories per stick.

Prepare ahead and eat well.

Those Stealing Cheats

One of my clients has really been working on weight loss and exercising more each week. He is frustrated because the scale is not moving much. He asked me if his calories should be lowered.

As we began to discuss his eating, I asked him how often he eats off plan. He said a couple of comments that clued me in to what was going on.

Being recently divorced and on his own in a quiet house, there were feeling-blue times throughout the week when he ate out of emotions. “Sometimes I just say, ‘The h-ll with it,’” he admitted. The worst time was evening hours when he was alone and missing his kids.

Even though there were days he did great and made healthy choices, the emotional eating was keeping his weight on. He was spinning his wheels and going nowhere.

A pound is worth 3500 calories. Over the course of the week he would have to eat less and exercise more to create a calorie deficit of 3500 calories to lose a pound. So, if on four days of the week he created a 700 calorie deficit, but on three days of the week he ate over for a total of 700 calories, he’d negate all the work he’d been doing.

When a diet doesn’t seem to be working, it’s usually because the diet is not being followed consistently. Many of my clients have this issue. They do great all week, but totally blow it one or two days. If they take in enough calories, they no longer have a calorie deficit. And no weight loss.

This is a painful thing to admit to ourselves. It seems like we’re working really hard, but when we look back over the week and are blatantly honest with ourselves, we can see how our cheats have stolen our weight loss.