The Fitness Fox

FRUSTRATION

2013-08-16T23:01:00.001-07:00

I thought I would write a quick post about a frustrating experience I had this week. At the beginning of the week, I was feeling really good about myself. I'd worked out every day except for Sundays for the past few weeks and I was pretty proud of that. I kept thinking about being able to post about working out 6 times per week for a month... and then two months... and then three months.

Feeling good after a workout earlier this week

Then Tuesday night came. I had to wake up to feed Eve at 5:00 am and started to feel really sick. Pretty soon I was throwing up (sorry, TMI). Maybe I had a stomach bug or some wood stain fumes affected me strangely. Anyway, I felt pretty awful all of Wednesday so I couldn't work out. I wanted to so badly but I knew that I couldn't and shouldn't. It was so frustrating though. The month achievement I'd been working toward went out the window.

In the past when this sort of thing has happened to me, it's led me to quit working toward my goal. This is pretty much the story for every new years resolution I've ever set. I do really well for a couple of weeks and then miss a day so I feel discouraged and give up. I didn't want to let that happen this time though. I've been working so hard and I'm starting to see some serious results. Yes, I've been losing weight but the more important difference is in my fitness. When I decided to start running I couldn't even run a lap of the park near our house. Now I can do that and more and it's only been about 3 weeks. My weight hasn't really dropped so far this week which would be discouraging but I still feel motivated because of the improvements in my cardio.

I saw this image on Pinterest and thought it applied perfectly to this sort of situation. This is a great thing to keep in mind whenever you slip up, whether it's exercising, dieting, or working on any other goal.

Source here

I always want to be perfect but I need to come to terms with the fact that this isn't always possible. It wasn't my fault that I was sick and it's no reason to give up. So even though I feel frustrated and a little disappointed, I'm going to keep working hard. Health and fitness is too important to give up on easily.

UPDATE- WEEK 3

2013-08-12T22:33:00.001-07:00

I did all six of my planned workouts this week! Yay! I even made sure to workout on the day we went Sea-Dooing instead of using it as an excuse like last week.

Had to check out my huge guns in the mirror...
At least I'm starting to see a little bit of definition!

Here's what I did last week:

Monday: Chest + back workout (P90x)
Wednesday: Shoulders + arms workout (P90x)
Friday: Legs + back workout (P90x)
Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday : Jogging- 5 minutes of walking, then alternating 60 seconds of jogging with 90 seconds of walking for 15 minutes

I'm happy to say that I'm not hating the running I've been doing. I finish each run feeling like I could do a little bit more which is great! I've always been a terrible runner so it's great to see some progress in this area!

My goal: 1800-2000 calories per day

Monday: 2173... oops... that's what happens when you eat fast food
Tuesday: 1867
Wednesday: 1570- how does this keep happening? I always feel like I'm eating too much food but apparently that's not always the case
Thursday: 1900
Friday: 1900
Saturday: 1953
Sunday: 1558

Overall I did pretty well. Like last week, I had a couple of days where I probably didn't eat as much as I should... and then another couple of days where I ate more than I should have. I guess that's just how things go. It should balance out, right?

I'm really liking the MyFitnessPal app for tracking my calories. I love at the end of each day it tells me my projected weight loss. This is what I saw today:

Yes, please! Let's see if this is true in 5 weeks

Here are my stats from last week:
Weight: 123.5 lb
Hip measurement: 36.25"
Waist measurement: 26"

Here are my stats from today:
Weight: 122.5 lb
Hip measurement: 36"
Waist measurement: 26"

I'm pretty pleased with these results! I still have some work to do though!

HOW TO START RUNNING

2013-08-08T22:33:00.000-07:00

I have never liked running. In fact, I've always hated it. With a passion. I couldn't understand the appeal of getting all out of breath and feeling like I was going to die. I also lack any natural running talent whatsoever.

So why did I start running? Mainly because I wanted to see if I could like running.

I know that there are many people who love running. They experience the "runner's high" and it is almost like an addiction to them. I want to be one of these people. I want to want to run.

Running has so many great health benefits (strong bones, healthy heart, reduced risk of arthritis, increased life expectancy, etc.) plus it is so easy to do. All you really need is some running shoes and you're good to go.

I've been wondering if I've never liked running because I've never given it much of a chance. I've only ever really run when I've been forced to do it or during competitive sports. Maybe if I increase my cardiovascular fitness and run for a few weeks, I'll start to like it.

I made the decision to give running a try but then realized I wasn't really sure how to go about it. If I was going to do this, I wanted to do it the right way. I wanted to give it everything I had. So I did a little research and I'm going to share what I learned with you.

If you have been completely sedentary up to this point, you'll probably need to start a walking program before starting a running program. You can download a free walking plan here.

If you're ready to move up from your walking program, you can start by adding small amounts of running to your walks. For example, you could start with 5 minutes of walking (to warm up) and then alternating 60 sec of running with 90 seconds of walking for 15 minutes.

Don't start out too fast or too hard. You'll be more likely to injure yourself because your body won't be prepared for the exercise. Hello, shin splints. You want to finish your run feeling like you could go a little farther.

Don't run every day. Running is high impact and repetitive so it's easy to get injured if you do it too much. For new runners, aim to run 3 times per week.

Don't increase the time that you run during the week by more than 10% per week. This way you'll be more handle the increase and won't put yourself in greater risk of injury (We meet again shin splints)

Get some good running shoes. Worn out shoes are the leading cause of injury and they can also cause you develop a bad running technique if they aren't giving you support in the places that you need it.

This could be you...

Focus on distance rather than time when you start running. If it's your first time out, don't try to beat the 100 m world record... cause you just won't. You'll just end up drop dead tired and will have only covered a tiny distance. If you focus on distance, you can take it as slow as you need to and can finish your running without feeling like you're going to pass out.

Keep motivated. Here are some ideas:

- Write a running plan and stick it somewhere that you will see every day

- Listen to fun music while you run

- Reward yourself. You could use daily rewards, like a yummy smoothie after your run, weekly rewards or one big reward when you finish your running prep for a 5K

- Make running a habit so you don't have to rely on willpower. Go out for a run every time that you've planned one, even if it's only for a few minutes.

- Work toward a goal. Aim to reach a certain distance or time or train for a 5K

- Keep a training log

UPDATE- WEEK 2

2013-08-05T14:19:00.000-07:00

Okay, it's time to report on how my week went!

For the most part exercising went really well last week. I managed to do 5 of my 6 scheduled workouts. Some of these didn't get done until about 11:30 pm, though! That's just the way things go sometimes with an 8 month old who will only take naps when she's being held and doesn't go to bed until 10 pm (on a good day).

Here's what I had planned to do:
Monday: Jogging
Tuesday: Legs + back workout
Wednesday: Jogging
Thursday: Chest + back workout
Friday: Jogging
Saturday: Shoulders + arms workout

Here's what I actually did:
Monday: Jogging - I went to the park and walked/ran 2 miles. There was a lot more walking than jogging though...
Tuesday: Legs + back workout- I did the p90x legs + back workout. I didn't actually watch the p90x video though, I just did the exercises that they do on it. I can't stand watching workout videos over and over again. Tony Horton's jokes just aren't funny the tenth time you watch the video... or the first time.
Wednesday: I was supposed to jog but that didn't happen. We went Sea-Dooing and tubing instead. My chest was sore the next day so I did get a workout of some kind at least
Thursday: Jogging- since I got a chest workout the day before, I skipped the p90x chest + back workout and jogged instead. I decided to start following a couch-to-5K schedule. I walked for 5 minutes and then alternated 60 sec of running with 90 sec of walking for 15 minutes.
Friday: Shoulders + arms workout- I did the p90x shoulders + arms workout (without the video)
Saturday: Jogging- same workout as on Thursday

Now onto the food. I had some really good days and one really bad day a.k.a date night. It's pretty rare for John and I to go on a date (we've only had three dates in the past 8 months ) so I always like to make the most of it when we do go out. This usually means that I go waaaaay over my calories for the day.

Keep in mind that my goal for calories is 1800-2000. On the days where I don't exercise, I want closer to 1800. On the days I do exercise, I can have closer to 2000.

Monday: 1996
Tuesday: 1598
Wednesday: 1950
Thursday: 1542
Friday: 1802
Saturday: 2485. Can you tell that this was date night?
Sunday: 1858

Umm I have no idea what happened on Tuesday and Thursday! I usually take advantage of all the calories I have but apparently I just went a little crazy and decided that I didn't like food or something...

Now to see how all of this work paid off...

Here were my stats from last week:
Weight: 125 lb
Hip measurement: 36.5"
Waist measurement: 26.5"

Here are my stats from today:
Weight: 123.5 lb
Hip measurement: 36.25"
Waist measurement: 26"

I'm glad to see that my date night splurging didn't ruin all my hard work! I'm definitely feeling motivated to keep on track this week!

MY FITNESS JOURNEY

2013-07-29T19:13:00.002-07:00

I wanted to share a little bit about myself and my fitness journey today. I'm going to share things about myself that I don't particularly love but I feel are necessary to share in order to help myself make changes and to encourage others to make changes too.

I'm not one of those people who has been fit for their entire lives. I played a few team sports but I was never a spectacular athlete. It wasn't until I went to college that I decided to lose a little bit of weight and tone up.

Me during high school (looking super happy)

I still don't work out nearly as much as I should. Since I started college I have had an off and on again relationship with exercise. I do really well for a few weeks and then I stop exercising altogether. I'm sure I'm not the only one that has this problem. Things always spring up in life that make me feel like I don't have the time or the energy to work out. It's especially difficult with a little baby. I have work around her schedule which isn't always very predictable. I generally work out when she is napping but there are some days when she will only nap while I'm holding her.

Since I have a degree in Exercise Science I feel like I really need to step up my game. I feel like I need to be the fittest of the fit. The importance of exercise has been drilled into my brain for four years, so I really have no excuse to be such a slacker.

I was 119 lb on my wedding day in December 2010. When I became pregnant with Eve I was up to 130 lb. The last time I weighed myself before I gave birth I was 172 lb. I am now down to 125lb.

Me and my husband on our wedding day

Me and Eve when she was 2 days old

I have passed below my pre-pregnancy weight but I would still like to lose a little more. I would also like to become more toned and fitter. My goal is to exercise regularly and be the fittest I've ever been before I become pregnant again. That's not going to be anytime soon so I should be able to accomplish this. I wasn't able to exercise as much as I would have liked to while I was pregnant with Eve because I hadn't been working out very often before I became pregnant. I want things to be different the next time around.

I'm going to be sharing my fitness journey here on the blog. Each week I'll let you know how often I work out, what I did for my work out, and my weight. I'll also occasionally share some other stats, such as my body fat percentage and other measurements.

Date: 7/29/2013

Weight: 125 lb.

Body fat percentage (according to skinfolds): 17.1%

Body fat percentage (according to BIA): 17.3%

Hip measurement: 36.5"

Waist measurement: 26.5"

Right leg measurement: 21.5"

Left leg measurement: 21.25"

Right arm measurement: 11"

Left leg measurement: 11.25"

My plan right now is to work out 6 times a week. I'm going to do strength workouts three days a week and jogging for the other three days. My jogs are more like walks right now because I'm just starting out (and I'm terribly unfit).

Here's my schedule for this week. I successfully kept to this schedule last week. Let's see how well I can stick with it this week

Monday: Jogging

Tuesday: Legs + back workout

Wednesday: Jogging

Thursday: Chest + back workout

Friday: Jogging

Saturday: Shoulders + arms workout

Calorie-wise, I'm aiming for 1800-2000 calories a day. That's about 500 more calories than I would usually eat when trying to lose weight because I am nursing . I'm going to be keeping track of my calories using the app, MyFitnessPal.

Lastly, I'm going to share some rather unflattering pictures of me from after my jog today. I'll plan on posting progress pics about once a month.

Thanks for reading! If you are also working on losing weight or improving your fitness, I'd love to hear about it! Feel free to comment or send me an email at thefitnessfoxblog@gmail.com

A NEW START

2013-07-17T07:00:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the Fitness Fox! If you are visiting from Life as a Waterleaf then you are probably familiar with the content that will be featured on this blog. I am on a journey to become as healthy as I can be. I want to lose weight, gain muscle, and develop healthy habits that I can maintain throughout my life.

If you're interested in joining me on this journey, please subscribe using the buttons on the right of the page

I have recently added jogging to my workout regimen and I'll be sharing a few tips that I've learned about jogging/running this week. Stay tuned!

3 KEYS TO SUCCESSFUL DIETING

2013-07-04T22:02:00.000-07:00

I've never been a fan of fad diets. Cutting out an essential part of the diet, such as carbs or fat, never seemed like a good idea to me. If you try a diet in which you have to drastically alter what you eat, you're probably not going to stick to it. You can't keep not eating carbs forever.

So what happens when you start eating carbs again? You gain back the weight.

Why? Because you have not made a maintainable, long-term change to your eating behavior.

Fad diets make things complicated. The best approach to dieting is a simple one: keep a food journal and count your calories.

Your main focus should be setting a calorie goal and sticking to it. For more information about working out how many calories you should be eating, see here.

Let's get a little scientific for a minute. I promise it won't be too horrible :)

Last year a study was conducted on the impact of a wide range of diet-related behaviors and meal patterns and their effect on weight change. These were the main conclusions of the study:

In the study, women who kept food journals lost about 6 lb more than those who did not.

It's pretty dang hard to change your eating behavior if you don't pay attention to what you're eating.

I know that there have been days in the past where I have assumed that I wasn't eating a lot of calories when I was actually eating a ridiculous amount.

Example:

I love Chili's. When we go there John and I usually share a half order of Texas Cheese Fries and then I get a Classic Bacon Burger with a side order of fries. Yep, that's a lot of fries for one night.

I never really thought about how many calories I was eating. I guessed it was a lot but I wasn't sure exactly how much.

I decided to look it up one day. Guess how many calories that meal was.

2350

I could not believe this. I had been eating way more calories than I thought I was

Using a diet journal is easy. It doesn't take a lot of time. You don't have to use it every day for the rest of your life if you don't want to. It's good to track your calories for a few weeks every day. Then you will gain a sense for how many calories different foods contain. Then you can just use a diet journal every now and then to stay on track or you can continue to use it every day.

Tips for using a diet journal:

Measure your servings. When you're counting calories it is important to pay attention to serving size. Don't just assume that you are just having one serving. Read labels and measure it out. For example, one serving of milk isn't a large glass of milk. It is one cup of milk.

Be honest. Record everything that you eat. Those fries that you stole off your boyfriend/husband's plate do count. Make sure you include toppings and condiments in your calorie count.

Be conscientious. Take your diet journal with you everywhere so you don't have to try to remember what you ate later. Use it every day for at least a couple of weeks.

Here a few printable food journal pages that I made that you are welcome to download.

Blue Food Journal

Green Food Journal

Pink Food Journal

There are also some good apps for counting calories. My favorite is MyFitnessPal.

In the study, women who skipped meals lost almost 8 fewer pounds than women who didn't.

Skipping meals is a bad idea. We all know it's not very fun to be really hungry. Often when you skip a meal you end up binging later on in the day and making up the calories from the skipped meal.

There's also the issue with your metabolism. You burn calories most efficiently when you eat at regular intervals throughout the day. The best thing to do is to eat five or six small meals a day.

Skipping meals is also thought to cause you to respond more favorably to high-calorie foods. This means that you will probably end up eating more calories than you would have if you hadn't skipped the meal.

In the study, women who ate out for lunch at least weekly lost an average of 5 fewer pounds than women who ate out less frequently.

I don't mean never eat out. It's fun to eat out every once and a while. Just make sure to limit how often you eat out. Also, when you do eat out, pay attention to the number of calories you are eating. Maybe only eat half of your meal that day.

Kong A., Beresford S.A.A., Alfano C.M., Foster-Schubert K.E., Neuhouser M.L., Johnson D.B., Duggan C., (...), McTiernan A. Self-Monitoring and Eating-Related Behaviors Are Associated with 12-Month Weight Loss in Postmenopausal Overweight-to-Obese Women (2012) Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 112 (9) , pp. 1428-1435.

TIPS FOR PREVENTING EXCESS EATING

2013-07-04T22:00:00.000-07:00

1. When you're craving an unhealthy food, tell yourself that you have to eat a healthy snack before you can have the unhealthy food. Eating the healthy food first will hopefully mean that you will eat less of the unhealthy food in the end because the healthy food will help to fill your stomach.

source

2. Try to eat some protein in each meal that you eat. Protein helps you to fill full and will help to keep you feeling full for longer. Often if I'm hungry at the end of the day I will have a glass of milk because it's not a lot of calories and it contains protein.

source

3. If you're trying to stave off a craving, try chewing some sugar-free gum.

source

4. Prevent giving into food cravings by brushing your teeth or using mouthwash. Nothing tastes good right after you brush your teeth.

source

5. You can also try drinking water when you feel hungry. Apparently some people confuse being thirsty with being hungry.

source

6. Try distracting yourself when you're craving food. One way in which you can do this is forehead tracking. Tap your pointer finger across your forehead from temple to temple. Tap once per second, moving across one centimeter at a time. Follow your finger with your eyes and focus your eyes on the first joint of your pointer finger.

source

7. Another idea for resisting food cravings is to start a stopwatch when your craving starts and then stop it when the craving subsides. Next time you feel the craving you will know how much time you'll have to wait before the craving will go away. It makes it a lot easier to resist a craving when you can see the light at the end of the tunnel!

source

10 MINUTE WORKOUT: ABS

2013-07-04T12:53:00.001-07:00

My abs are something that I tend to neglect during my workouts. They're definitely a part of my body that need strengthening after having a baby. They got very little use during those long nine months so they are pretty weak.

This workout is quick and targets all of your abs! It's not a bad idea to use this workout on the same day that you do a strength workout for another area of your body. Make sure not to do this workout every day, though. Your abs need time to recover!

If you have any questions, feel free to email me at thefitnessfoxblog@gmail.com!

CHOCOLATE & WEIGHT LOSS

2013-07-04T12:51:00.001-07:00

I think that most of us have always assumed that eating chocolate would lead to gaining weight. I know that I certainly did. Since I'm not a huge fan of chocolate to begin with (I know, I'm crazy) I've generally avoided it in the past. Lately I've started to add a little more chocolate to my diet. Why? Because of an article I read recently about a study on the effects that chocolate consumption has on body weight.

This study found that those who ate chocolate more frequently had significantly lower body masses than those who ate chocolate less frequently! I was pretty surprised by this.

It's hypothesized that the metabolic benefits of modest amounts of chocolate might result in less fat being deposited per calorie. This means that chocolate might be calorie neutral! Pretty cool, huh?

This is not the only benefit of chocolate either. It has also been found that chocolate has positive effects on blood pressure, insulin sensitivity, and cholesterol level!

So go ahead and eat a few pieces of chocolate, just don't binge and eat a whole giant bar!

You can read the article for yourself here

EXERCISE DURING PREGNANCY

2013-07-04T12:50:00.000-07:00

In one of the last classes I took for my major in exercise science, we were put into groups and then had to chose a condition and research the effect that exercise would have on it. My group was all girls so we decided to research the effects of exercise during pregnancy. None of us really knew what the exercise recommendations were for pregnant women and since we all wanted to be mothers at some point, we thought that this project would be pretty useful. This assignment was particularly helpful for me as I was pregnant with Eve about a week after we gave our presentation.

Me when I was 8 weeks pregnant

Even though I had this new knowledge about exercise, I wasn't the best at implementing it. For the first half of my pregnancy I didn't exercise as much as I should have. It was summer, I was taking summer classes, and the school gym was closed. This was particularly bad because I needed to take two gym glasses in my next semester, when I would be 6-9 months pregnant. John and I started going on walks to prepare myself for these classes. I ended up taking water aerobics and yoga. I'm lucky that I had the option of less intense exercise classes.

Me when I was 36 weeks pregnant

I wish that I had exercised regularly throughout my entire pregnancy. I definitely saw benefits from the exercise I did in the last few months of my pregnancy but it's not a good idea to begin exercising this late in a pregnancy.

If any of you are in the same boat as I was in before I did my research project (wanting to become pregnant someday in the not too distant future and not knowing about how you should exercise when pregnant), this post will help you become informed.

Before I start, I should say that this information was gathered from a series of studies that we read about. When you become pregnant, your doctor may give you different recommendations about exercise. Some doctors still recommend not letting your heart rate get about 140 bpm (this is pretty outdated). This is because there aren't any hard guidelines on exercise during pregnancy. I believe that the recommendations that I am going to provide are pretty consistent with what most doctors would approve of. My own doctor gave me similar recommendations. If you don't feel comfortable using the information I'm providing, talk to your doctor and follow their recommendations. Okay, let's get started.

Is exercising during pregnancy safe?

Yes, the majority of research shows that exercising, even vigorously, during pregnancy is safe for both the mother and the fetus.

Why should I exercise?

Exercising while pregnant will prevent:

- excessive weight gain

- weight retention after you give birth

- gestational diabetes

- complications during labor

- pre-term births

- constipation

- having a very large or very small baby

- preeclampsia

- postpartum depression

It will also help you to recover faster from childbirth

What type of exercise should I perform?

- Low impact

- Non weight bearing

- Aerobic endurance

- Ones that focus on large muscle groups

Can I do strength training?

Yes, but you should use light weights and perform a higher number of reps. Make sure not to hold your breath (you don't want to deprive your baby of oxygen)

How intense should the exercise be?

It should be about as intense as the exercise you did before you got pregnant. If you were working out at a high intensity before you got pregnant, you can still continue to exercise at the same level while you are pregnant. If you didn't exercise before you were pregnant, you will need to start out at a very gentle intensity and gradually increase the intensity over time. The important thing is not to jump into exercise that was much more intense than you performed before you were pregnant.

On a scale of 6-20, you should feel like your level of exertion while exercising is 13-16

If I didn't exercise regularly before I got pregnant what should I do?

You should start out by exercising for just 15 minutes a few times each week. You should gradually increase your time by 2 minutes until you reach 30 minutes. Your goal should be to perform 30 minutes of exercise, 4 days a week.

EXERCISE HEART RATE

2013-07-04T11:45:00.002-07:00

When I started working out in high school, I absolutely hated it. I thought that working out was so hard and miserable. It wasn't until I took one of my first exercise science classes in college that I learned that I had been going about things the wrong way. I realized that I had always been pushing myself too hard when I worked out. My heart rate would be about 190 bpm. I assumed that if I wasn't pushing myself as hard as I could then I wasn't getting a good enough workout. Of course, that is so untrue. Once I figured out how high my heart rate needed to be in order to get a sufficient cardio workout, I actually started to enjoy exercising. I stopped pushing myself to the point of feeling sick.

So how do you know the heart rate you should be aiming for? It's not too difficult to calculate. Here are the steps:

Determine your maximum heart rate using the following equation:

So for me my maximum heart rate is estimated to be 220 - 22 = 198

Decide whether you want to focus on burning fat or getting a cardiovascular work out.

You will need to reach 60-70% of your maximum heart rate

For me: 198 x 0.6 = 119 bpm 198 x 0.7 = 139 bpm

My fat burning range is 119-139 bpm

You will need to reach 70-80% of your maximum heart rate

For me: 198 x 0.8 = 158 bpm

My cardio range is 139-158 bpm

You will need to reach 80-90% of your maximum heart rate. If you are doing high intensity exercise you should only be doing it for 10-20 minutes.

For me: 198 x 0.9 = 179 bpm

My high intensity range is 158-178 bpm

As you can see, when I was hitting heart rates in the 190s, my heart rate was way too high. In fact, I used to occasionally get migraines after I would work out like this. Not fun.

While it would be a lot easier to do fat burning workouts all the time, it is better for your overall health to also perform cardio work outs. You can still burn fat with a cardio workout but fats just won't be the primary fuel source for this type of exercise.

A FEW FACTS ABOUT WATER

2013-07-04T11:41:00.002-07:00

Lately I've realized that I do not drink enough water. I've been reading some books about beauty and these books all emphasize the importance of water in obtaining clear skin and healthy hair. These aren't the only benefits of being well hydrated either. It also improves your overall health and can help you lose weight and maintain a healthy body weight.

The problem is that I've always heard different things about how much water a person should drink. I decided to check the Institute of Medicine's recommendations for water intake. Here is what I found out and a few other facts about water as well:

It is estimated that 75% of Americans are chronically dehydrated. I'm pretty sure that I'm one of them.

How much should I drink each day?

Women should drink about 9 cups of fluids per day

Men should drink about 13 cups of fluids per day

Does all of this need to come from drinking water alone?

All fluids count toward the total, not just water

On average, food provides about 20 percent of your water intake

Do I need to drink more if I exercise?

Yes, to compensate for sweating.

For short bouts of exercise you need to have an extra 1.5-2.5 cups of water

For intense bouts of exercise you should have a sports drink containing sodium

Do I need to drink more if I am pregnant or breastfeeding?

Yes, in both cases.

Pregnant women should drink about 10 cups per day

Women who are breastfeeding should drink about 13 cups per day

Can I drink too much water?

Yes but it's rare in healthy adults who eat an average diet.

It is more common in endurance athletes

Tips for getting enough fluids

1. Drink a glass of water or other low-calorie beverage with each meal and between each meal

2. Drink water before, during, and after exercise

20 MINUTE WORKOUT: LEGS AND BUTT

2013-07-04T11:39:00.000-07:00

I developed another 20 minute circuit workout! This one is designed to strengthen and tone your legs and butt! Who doesn't want that?!

I put a little more explanation of the exercises than I did for the arms and chest workout. That's because there's a lot more room for error in these exercises. I referred to the guidelines provided by the American Council on Exercise when designing this workout.

You may be used to having your arms in a different position than mine (such as on the hips) when performing some of these exercises. I like to use my arms for balance as this reduces the strain on the knee. This is also what is recommended by the American Council on Exercise.

If you find that some of these exercises don't give you the burn that you need, try holding some dumbbells while performing the exercise.

If you have any questions, shoot me an email at thefitnessfoxblog@gmail.com!

20 MINUTE WORKOUT- ARMS AND CHEST

2013-07-04T11:32:00.000-07:00

This week I came up with a workout to tone and strengthen the arms and chest. It's a circuit workout which means that it provides both cardio and strength benefits.

This workout can be as intense as you want it to be. I allocated 1 minute to do as many repetitions of each exercise as possible. If you want a less intense workout, do less repetitions and take more rests between the exercises. You can also perform the different push-ups on your knees if you're not ready for full-on push-ups.

If you would like to increase the difficulty of these exercises, simply slow your repetitions down.

If you have any questions about this workout, leave a comment below or email me at thefitnessfoxblog@gmail.com!

THE BASICS OF WEIGHT LOSS

2013-07-04T11:20:00.000-07:00

There are a hundreds of different weight loss programs and diets out there. The issue is that many of these only work for a select few people and if they do work, they are usually only a temporary solution. Most people regain the weight they have lost because they haven't made lifestyle changes which they can maintain.

Today, I want to share with you some basics of weight loss that will lead to a successful weight loss program for anyone.
The key is making maintainable, healthy changes to your lifestyle..

How often should I work out?

5 days per week!

This is the goal you should be shooting for. It will bring you the most health benefits and will increase your chances of becoming thin and staying that way.

If you have been inactive this is going to be too much for you at first. Start out at 3 days per week and progress to 5.

How long should I work out?

60 minutes!

If you are working out 5 days a week, you should do 60 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise per workout session.

If you have been inactive you should start at 15-20 minutes and gradually increase to 60 minutes.

Why do I need to work out that much?

Studies have shown that this much physical activity is required to maintain healthy body weight.

This means that even if you work out for 300 minutes each week (60 min, 5 days/wk), you probably won't lose weight.

You will receive significant health benefits from working out this much.

How can I lose weight then?

Exercise + dieting.

You probably already guessed this.

You need to watch what you eat as well as exercise. If you cut back on your calories and exercise, you will lose weight.

What if I work out at a higher intensity?

Do I still need to do 300 minutes of exercise per week?

No!

If you are doing vigorous-intensity exercise instead of moderate, you can significantly cut back the amount of time spent exercising to about 150 minutes/week.

What is considered moderate-intensity exercise?

Exercise that causes a noticeable increase in your heart rate and lasts for longer than 10 minutes.

On a scale from 1-10, you should feel like the difficulty is a 5-6.

What about vigorous-intensity?

Results in rapid breathing and a substantial increase in heart rate.

On a scale from 1-10, you should feel like the difficulty is a 7-8.

This is when we work out!

How many calories should I be consuming?

It varies.

It depends on your age, gender, weight, height, and activity.

You can use an online calorie calculator to find out how many calories you should be eating per day. Here is a link to one that I like: http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm.

The nice thing about these calculators is that they will tell you how many calories to cut down to lose weight.

What is the minimum number of calories that I should eat?

1200 Cal/day for women and 1600 Cal/day for men

If a weight loss calculator tells you to eat less than this, don't follow it!

You need at least this many calories to get the vitamins and minerals you need to be healthy.

If I'm working can I eat more calories?

It depends.

If you are just trying to maintain your current weight, then yes, you can eat more calories. If you are trying to lose weight, then probably not. You can check this using a calorie calculator.

However, if you are working out for more than 60 minutes, 5 times per week DO NOT follow the amount that the calorie counter tells you. It will overestimate how many calories you are able to eat.

What type of diet should I use?

Don't use any extreme diets.

The best diet to follow is one that is one in which you eat less calories than you need to maintain your weight.

Fad diets in which you drastically alter what you eat generally DON'T WORK. They are too hard to maintain and you usually don't enjoy them.

Just eat a diet that includes fruits, vegetables, grains, meats, dairy. In other words, get all the necessary vitamins and minerals.

Eat your favorite treats, just in moderation

The key is to make sure that you know how many calories you should eat and try to stick to that.

I find that I am most succesful in dieting when I write down how many calories I eat during the day.

Do you exercise for 60 minutes, 5 days per week?

At the moment I do not because I just had a baby. I didn't work out very intensely while I was pregnant. I just did yoga and water aerobics. This means that I'm not jumping straight in to this much exercise. I do 60 minutes of exercise about 3 days per week.

STRENGTH TRAINING: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

2013-07-04T11:18:00.003-07:00

To the females reading this post: don't fall into the trap of thinking that strength training is only for guys. Strength training is a great way to burn calories and to tone your muscles. You can lift weights without turning into the "She-Hulk"

Benefits of Strength Training:

Increased performance of everyday physical tasks
Higher levels of sport performance
Injury prevention
Increased muscle mass and decreased fat
Improved muscle and bone health with aging
Prevention and management of cardiovascular disease and diabetes

Types of Muscle Contractions:

Concentric contractions- the muscle shortens as it contracts

Ex: Pushing a bench-press bar away from your body shortens your pec muscles

Eccentric contractions- the muscle lengthens as it contracts

Ex: Lowering bench-press bar toward your body lengthens your pec muscles

Isometric contractions- the muscle contracts but there is no movement or change in muscle length

Ex: Holding a bench-press bar away from your body without moving for a certain length of time

Which Type of Contraction Should You Focus On?

The type of contraction that burns the most calories is concentric muscle contraction
The type of contraction that results in the greatest increases in muscle size is eccentric muscle contraction
Isometric contractions will only increase your strength within 10 degrees from the angle in which you performed the exercise

Weight Machines or Free Weights?

Weight machines are easy to use, convenient, and safe. You don't need a spotter and many will have back support.

Free weights strengthen your body in ways that will be more useful in real life, are inexpensive, and are convenient for home use. They require more balance and coordination.

How Often?

The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) recommends performing strength training on two nonconsecutive days per week
Make sure that you give your muscles at least one day of rest between strength workouts. If you don't, your muscles won't have completely recovered and you won't be able to perform at the level you need to get any strength increases. You will be more likely to have increased soreness and increased risk of injury.

How Much Weight?

Choose a weight that is heavy enough to tire your muscles, but light enough that you can complete your repetitions.
For faster increases in strength, use weights that are as heavy as 80% of your maximum capacity.

For increases in endurance, use weights that are around 40-60% of your maximum capacity.

You can also choose a weight depending on the number of repetitions you can perform with a given weight.

How Many Repetitions?

You need to perform enough repetitions to fatigue your muscles
A heavy weight and a low number of repetitions, such as 1-5, will build high strength and high muscle mass.

A light weight and a high number of repetitions, such as 15-20, will build endurance. This is the method I use, because I am more interested in toning than in getting large muscles.

How Many Sets?

Performing 3 sets will give you the best increases in performance

Make sure you give your muscles adequate rest between sets

Other Tips

Whenever you do an exercise that moves a joint in one direction, make sure to also perform an exercise that moves the joint in the other direction.

Perform exercise for large muscle groups before you do exercises for small muscle groups. This will allow you to maximally work out your large muscle groups.

Warm-up before weight training by walking or jogging for several minutes

References

Fahey, T. D., Insel, P. M., & Roth, W. T. (2010). Fit & well alternate edition: Core concepts and labs in physical fitness and wellness. (9 ed., pp. 91-106). New York: McGraw-Hill.

Kenney, W. L., Wilmore, J., & Costill, D. (2011).

Physiology of sport and exercise. (5 ed.). Champaign: Human Kinetics.