Planning Your Exercise

I hope everyone had a wonderful week, and kept up with the challenges of last week. Welcome back, this week we are going to amp up our workout, and challenge ourselves to eliminate one of our high calorie foods.

This week like I mentioned earlier we are going to do much more than cardio. Lets focus our attention on specific muscle groups each day, most individuals prefer to workout that way as it ensures total exhaustion of that muscle. Of course this kind of program is most beneficial with a personal trainer, however, it can be performed by an individual if that individual prepared themselves beforehand.

How do one prepare themselves for such a program? Firstly, make a schedule, draft out which muscle group will be worked out on which days, preparing exercises to be preform on those days, at least 5 exercise maybe a photo printout just in case. Always remember to start with at least 5-15 minutes of cardio to get your heart rate at a calorie burning pace, and never forget to STRETCH.

Challenge

Make a weekly exercise plan using exercise from the links posted on the exercise page. The eliminating food for the week is soda, soft drinks, pop whatever you call it.

Enjoy your week, work hard and reap the rewards. Have a healthy day, feel free to leave comments.

White Bread The Culprit

This week we are avoiding white bread, the question for most might be why. Well, here it goes, white bread contains pretty much just carbohydrates, there's no fiber, and most if not all nutrients has been strip from the flour used. Although we are focusing on white bread we have to bear in mind that the flour itself is the culprit, therefore, such products as pretzels, bagels, crackers etc. made from refine flour pose the same danger to our weight loss as the white bread. Think of it this way, any form that refine flour takes should be avoided.

For those especially trying to lose weight these refined flour products should be avoided. Reason number one is that these products contains absolutely no fiber. Products with high amounts of Fiber helps in that it is slowly digested, making us feel full faster and longer, thereby, you tend to consume less calories with fiber filled products as opposed to refined products which is digested at a very fast rate.

There is also a misconception out there about breads, some people believes that if a bread says whole wheat it must be healthy. I suppose it is an healthier option, but whole wheat breads still contain refund flour. The goal is to look for 100% whole grain bread, also most sourdough breads are high in fiber and other nutrients. So next time shopping try something different, reach for 100% whole grain product and see the difference.

Please stop by and leave comments, share you thoughts and experiences. Have a healthy day.

Getting Back on Track

I am back and so very sorry about the long pause. It has been a very tumultuous last few weeks, lists of unexpected things happening, coupled with my husband being on R&R, I felt I couldn't give my full attention to the cause. Now, I am rested and back to a state of normalcy I feel it's time that we continue with our journey.

I don't know what you've been doing, but for me I know I have been quite lazy. However, I've tried staying relatively good with my nutrition. My workouts have suffered a bit, and it's quite evident for me, as I find myself lacking energy throughout the day and night. Although I am amp to get back into a routine I understand that it is important to pace myself. On that not lets move on to the challenge I the week.

Challenge

This week it's about cardio, and getting our heart rate back up. In addition, I want to add a new component to our weekly challenge, and that would be to eliminate a food that is not so beneficial to our health. So for this week it's WHITE BREAD, I am not saying you can't it bread, just that you choose whole grain instead. Work on your cardio, at least 30 minutes each day for the rest of the week.

Feel free to stop by and let us know how you've been doing these pass few weeks. Stay blessed and have a healthy day.

Being Busy/Pushup Challenge

The last week and up coming weeks is busy for me, therefore, I will probably not post as much as I usually do. Having said that, I will post challenges each week in an effort to keep everyone active.

I was speaking with a friend and she pointed out her arm to me, the complain was that they were not as firm as they use to be. I mentioned pushups as a solution to the problem. Pushups can be a bit challenging at first, but the benefits of doing them is worth every ounce of effort. They will improve the appearance of your arms, chest, back, abs and more. For those who may not be able to do a full pushup can start with a modified position. To modify a pushup you use your knees instead of pushing from your toes.

Challenge

This week I want to challenge you to do 50-100 pushups each day, or every other day if you are sore. So, that may sound a lot, but I am not asking for that number in one session, instead they can be broken up into hourly numbers, for instance if you are doing 50 start with 5 each hour until you reach your goal.

Good luck to everyone, stay healthy and get your pushup on.

Starting Over

My cleanse is now completely over, and I feel great. I expect that if you participated in the cleanse you enjoyed it, never mind the challenges it posed.

Now what? after a cleanse, some of us may jump right back into our old eating habit, which by the way would make the cleansing process useless. Now that we've cleanse it is important to adopt habits that would keep our bodies functioning in the way it should. Avoiding foods that contaminate our bodies should be avoided, such things as fried foods, excessive alcohol etc needs to be avoided as much as possible. Of course no one expects us to give them up entirely, however, taking the initiative and making a few changes is important. A cleanse is so important, as it rids our bodies of toxins, it helps with our bowel functioning, bloating caused by gas, it helps with weight loss and the list goes on, but the most important result to me is knowing and feeling healthier after.

Challenge

This week in remembrance of our cleanse, we will make a change to our eating habit. We are saying No to Fried Foods throughout this week. Steam, broil, bake whatever you do no frying.

Please leave a comment, share your thoughts and experiences, and stay healthy.

Losing Weight With Our Cleanse?

I have been getting a few phone calls with questions concerning weight loss with the weeks cleanse. I personally call the program a "cleanse", because that's it's intended purpose, however, taking into consideration the typical amount of calories we take in per a day, if you follow this "cleanse" you will be taking in significantly less. Therefore, we will notice a drop in weight numbers, I can't give a specific number as we all do different things, some may stay with the program, and some may alter it to fit better with their lifestyle. For me personally, I will probably experience any where from 3-5lbs loss. I feel that I need to stress that this program is to help purge our bodies of the unhealthy beings populating within us. You may also want to add a traditional cleanser to the mix, if you choose to do that, remember water and plenty of it is needed to help rehydrate you body.

This program is not an easy one, especially when it's being sprung upon you. If you are trying this cleanse and are experiencing frequent hunger, it could be that you are not eating enough. You may need to carry with you a number of snacks in the "fruit department", such things as nuts and other dried fruits (apricots, mango, raisins, etc.) will help fill you up. For those of you who still find it difficult to curb your appetite, you may want to include a regular meal, if you are eating twice the amount of veggies, and fruits that you would typically eat on average that's always a great move.

Please keep commenting and sharing your experiences, remember to get at least 30 minutes of exercise each day. Have a healthy rest of the day.

Try My Cleanse!!!

I am on a quest to cleanse my body this week, lately i have been indulging in foods that most would consider unhealthy. Consequently, I have been feeling completely bloated and walking around heavy, tired, and sick. So, I have decided to amp up on the water intake, and consume only fruits and veggie the entire week, with the exception of Greek yogurt. Before I start, I should mention that i will be doing a traditional cleanse, it's a tea, if you want to participate you can use whatever cleanse you are use to or can find.

So here's an example of what I be doing.

Breakfast:
Greek yogurt, strawberries, an apple and unsweetened green tea.

Snack:
Nuts (palmful of peanuts, almonds etc.), grapes, and celery sticks. Water (20oz)

Lunch:
Spinach salad ( yogurt as a dressing, sliced strawberries, nuts, canned tangerine etc.) water (20oz)

Snack:
dried apricot, raisins, and nuts (enjoy a tall glass of water)

Dinner:
grilled or broiled vegetables and fruits (squash, carrots, pineapple, corn etc.) curried chickpeas with spinach, and a baked sweet potato. (water)

This is a program that requires innovation, so eat what you enjoy and find ways to make it interesting. I look forward to hearing ideas of making veggies interesting, so please share and stay healthy.


Disclaimer
What I am about to share with you has not been tested or researched by a professional. This program is my personal interpretation of a cleanse and isn't necessarily meant to promote weightloss. Anyone participating is doing so at their own risk.

Happy Memorial Day!!!!

Today my day is field with activities, I have started with a workout and I am taking the kids horse back riding. We are going to end out day at the pool, it feels good to be out and about.

I you incorporated some strength training throughout the week I want to hear about it. For those of you who went out and bought the resistance bands, please put it to use, and thank you for listening.

Enjoy your memorial day weekend, stay safe, and have a healthy weekend.

Resistance Bands.....Anyone?

Have you ever used resistance bands before? Most people don't like them, I was guilty of that, until I realized that I can get just as much of a strength training exercise as if I was using free weights. Resistance bands comes in several resistant weight, most time they are color coded, each color representing a different resistant weight.

Why use resistance bands? If you want to shred away fat and have a low impact strength training program, resistance band should be a staple in your workout. The key with these bands is to hold the stretch for 5-15 seconds each time you do an exercise, by doing this you engage the muscle just as if you were using a free weight.

Each of us sport muscles through out our bodies, of course with fat on top it is impossible to see it. When losing fat muscles play a vital role, as muscle burn more calories than fat. Adding in strength training with your cardio will help maintain and build necessary muscles that will boost calorie burning and melt away fat.

Hope everyone's challenge is going well, share your experiences and thoughts. Have a healthy day.

Welcome Strength Training

I have heard people say, "I don't want to build muscles, I just want to slim down", or "muscles on a woman isn't sexy", or maybe their husband said it. So maybe building a bulk of muscles isn't for you, and I'm talking about women here, unless you're in a body building competition there's really no reason to sport that kind of muscle mass. However, as we age our bodies tend to lose muscle mass, which leads to a loss in body strength. (If you look back in a previous post I did, you will see how strength training helps burn calories).

Getting older causes havoc on our bodies, but that doesn't mean you just roll over and let it have it's way. We will experience fat increase, decreasing bone size and decrease in muscle strength and size, these are just a few of the things aging brings. Strength training is one way of fighting these changes, as it will prevent or even reverse these things.

So you don't own any weights, not an excuse, grab a can of vegetables and start curling. If you look around you will notice that sum bells are really quite inexpensive, for most women a 3-5lb dumbbell is a good start. I will be posting some simple upper body strength training exercises later in the week, so look out for that.

Challenge

This week is all about incorporating strength training into our exercise routine. Start with 3 days a week, in addition to your cardio (which should be done prior to strength training). If you are not sure what to do refer to our exercise page and follow the link for upper body strength training.

Share your thoughts and experiences, stay healthy and blessed.

Week in Review

We are at the end of another week, time waits on no one. Hopefully, everyone took the opportunity to reflect on how stress might be affecting them, the ideal outcome would be that you have made some changes that would reduce the amount of stress you're experiencing. Exercise is a great way of reducing stress, we spoke of yoga earlier in the week, and I am happy that some people have taken the initiative and bought a yoga DVD, now the challenge really begins. We have to make setting aside specific times for exercising, I have heard so many excuses as to why someone was not able to workout, I listen, and sometimes I won't even say anything, in my mind though, I am saying BS. If you want to experience weight loss you have to cut out the excuses and exercise, change your eating habits, and reduce or control your stress levels, until you get serious about these changes weight gain will always be an issue.

Truly enjoy the rest of your weekend, and join me for a new challenge next week. Stay healthy, and blessed.

Yoga Can Help

Staying on the subject of stress, I wanted to talk about YOGA as an option for relieving stress. It has been said that yoga by itself will probably not result in weightloss, reason being that the exercises do not raise our heart rate, which is a very important element in fat burning.

Meditation, control breathing, and stretching are some of what is found within yoga, and they are key elements to conquering stress. One major point I wanted to mention, is that yoga helps reduce cortisol levels (mentioned in the previous post). A person can do any amount of abdominal workout, but if that person is highly stressed, chances are that you will maintain fat in the mid section.

Yoga is a great option to incorporate into our lives, it will help with flexibility, stress control, sleep, anti aging, the list goes on and on. If you are stressed or just want to add some zen into your life try some yoga. Stay healthy guys.

Weightloss Stress

So you've been working out, eating healthy, and you are still not losing weight, or you've seen some change but only for certain areas, others not so much. You might be thinking this isn't working for me, and the desire to continue on is slowly coming to an end. Please don't give up!!!. It is never a bad idea to workout, or eat healthy, so why stop. Before you make the leap to deciding that a certain exercise program, or diet isn't working out for you read today's post.

STRESS, which one of us can say we are not under some kind of stress each day of our lives. The society we live in is consumed with stress inducing information, from our weight, education, cost of living, the list goes on. In our fight to lose weight stress can play a vital role, and it's never good. Most times people believe that when they're stress they would probably lose weight, truth is that's a myth, stress promotes weight gain!

Within our bodies are two Adrenal glands, these glands help fight or control stress, however, if our bodies are under extreme stress these glands can go into a state known as adrenaline overdrive. It's not that the glands are malfunctioning, but more or less, working overtime to keep the body going, in doing that they produce a chemical called CORTISOL.

Cortisol has been linked to a host of issues when it is released into our bodies, but we will focus on how it affects our weight. In simple terms cortisol causes our bodies to store fat due to it's effect on our blood sugar levels. In addition, it slows down our metabolic rate, studies has shown that cortisol is the culprit behind our increase belly fat.

All this because of stress, for most of us our weight loss journey is a source of high stress, but that stress is at times what causes us not to lose the weight we want to lose in the first place. Give stress a break, think about getting healthy instead of losing weight, trick your mind. This week there's no challenge, lets just focus on peace and tranquility. Get plenty of rest, drink lots of water and do something special for yourself, get happy that's the first step in reducing your stress. Good luck and stay healthy.


P.S.S check out the stress reducing product ads above.

Saturday

It's the last day of the week, I am hopeful that each of us is a bit healthier than we were when we started the week.

Next week we are going to focus on emotional factors that affect weight loss, and promote weight gain. I should say that a friend posed this subject to me, and ask for me to address it, which by the way is an excellent idea. So thank you friend.

On that note I will like to say that if anyone has an idea of a topic they would like for me to talk about feel free to let me know. Additionally, if you feel like you have material to share, write a post and send it to me.

Weight loss at times takes team work, and it's not always in the form of working-out together, we can all share what works or worked for us. I want everyone to stay healthy throughout the weekend, and enjoy.

P.S Happy Mothers Day to all moms out there!!!!!

Lets Work-out/ Contest Winner

Greetings all, i am excited to announce the winner of our contest today, that will be done at the end of this post. Thanks to all participants, there will be lots more contest to come so stay with me.

I wanted to focus on working out today, as it's been a while since I've mentioned it. A couple of days ago i saw a woman speed walking while her kid was practicing flag football, and i thought to myself, isn't that a good idea. So many of us make the excuse that we can't find the time to workout, and it's getting old, the truth is we do not make working-out a priority, therefore it's never on our list of things to do. If we wanted to work-out it'll happen, in our spare time, on our lunch break, when spending time with the kids, these are all opportunities to do something physical that will benefit us health-wise.

I suppose i can sit behind my computer all day typing about working-out, but if you don't have the time, you just dont have the time. So why not just get proactive about this issue, the goal is not to become a fitness buff, it's about taking care of your body. Fitness professionals have developed so many tools to help assist in the area of working-out, you have to find what speaks to you, it could be a piece of equipment, or a video, whatever it may be theres something out there for you. So you can't go to the gym, that's fine, can you do  20 minutes of walking around your neighborhood, can you walk up and down the stairs, can you get up and do jumping jacks during t.v commercials? something, anything?

Do your body a favor, God knows for some of us our bodies has been through the ringer with us. So, get up and do something physical, get your heart rate up, break a sweat, get sore, just do something please.


 Contest Winner

Camilla Winthrop!!! All the way from Germany, congratulations and thank you for participating. 

Keeping an Eye on What You Eat

I'm back!

Sorry about the long pause with posting, i had a very busy week, it was very productive though. I meet a few people that could be potential clients, and made some friends over the last few days. All in all, it was a great, tying week.

This week i want us to continue on the path that we set out on last week, we started out with sleep and making note of everything we eat. I hope everyone got adequate sleep, and is feeling energize for whats to come. The exercise of writing down what we eat is so important, especially for those of us who eat based on emotion, for instance eating when bored, sad, or happy. Over indulging in foods as healthy as that food may seem can sabotage the goal of losing weight. As mentioned in an earlier post, understanding your BRM (check post on counting calories for info.) and how it relates to your weightloss should be made first priority. Losing weight is not about starving or depriving yourself of the foods you love, it is more about knowledge and discipline.

Challenge

Continue to write down everything you eat and the quantity, this week though, i want you to review last weeks log and pay close attention to when you are eating the most. We are going to look for "the problem times" of the day so to speak, meaning the times when you find yourself eating not because of hunger. In addition to that, you are going to eliminate two foods from your list that is unhealthy, and replacing them with fruits and/or water. Stay healthy and have a super week.

Contest

Only two days left on the contest, i am happy with the participation, and look forward to announcing the winner on Wednesday.

Checking In

The last few days have been really hectic for me, hence my lack of posts. I have been receiving contest submission and I want you guys to keep up the great job. Stay healthy everyone.

Change to the contest start date

Hey everyone, I have decided to push back the start of the contest date to Wednesday 2nd which is tomorrow and it will end on the following Wednesday 9th. I have been contacted by a few people concerning not having viewed my post until last night, which would be an automatic lose for them as they were unable to submit a report for yesterday.

This contest in itself is a challenge for you to really see where you need help, in terms of what you eat and the quantity, along with how sleep or the lack there of might be affecting your weight loss.

All requirements for the contest remains the same. Any questions can be emailed to me or left in the comment section.

More Sleep Pleaseee!

Good morning, and welcome to another week. Lately i find myself getting less than adequate sleep, it's not that i can't sleep, it's more of me not making sleep a priority. As much as i would like to think that this issue is isolated, statistics in the U.S shows that this problem is very wide spread. Lack of sleep affects countless areas in our lives/bodies, however because this blog is out fitness lets discuss how lack of sleep affects our weight loss (for those of us trying to lose weight).

It is quite obvious to us that if we have had little sleep during the night the chances of us wanting to workout the is almost nonresistant. To add to that researchers has found that a lack of sleep diminishes our bodies ability to burn off calories, and also is one of the leading reasons for our metabolism slowing down. Lack of sleep has also been linked to the hormones that helps control our appetite, it creates an unbalance effect resulting in an increase in appetite, therefore we tend to eat more.


Challenge of the week/Contest

This week we are going to challenge ourselves by getting 8 hours of sleep each night, in addition to that we are going to make a log of our sleep schedule (wake time, nap, bedtime) and everything we eat for the week.

Contest Rules

A detailed copy of your daily log needs to be email to greenheat2003@yahoo.com (find it below), indicate what you ate and the time, also the quantity. Please format in a way that will be easy to read. Each log should have the participants name and the date submitting.


Prize!!

The winner will be announce the following week. That individual will receive a Cando Pedal Exerciser 

This is a great piece of equipment for both lower and upper body, and is ideal for working out while watching tv.

Try Something New!!!

Healthy Thursday all. Do you find that you are much more motivated to workout if you are surrounded by other people also working out? alot of people find that kind of environment very motivating , and it's quite understandable. One of the best things about working out with others apposed to working out by your self is that it's structured and focused, i personally can attest to that. I primarily workout at home by myself, and before now i would jump from one exercise to the other without doing a full set, i was working out yes, but for what i wanted from my workout that kind of behavior was not working. Now i am much better, i focus on a specific part of my anatomy and i work that part out for 30 full minutes (always 10-30 mins of cardio before i begin).

Tell me what's working for you in terms of exercise, are you trying something new? Do you workout by yourself or at a gym? I want to know, so share. Stay healthy.

What Are You Eating?

You did a great workout, now it's time for breakfast!!!

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, we hear that everyday, but what's the point in eating breakfast if you are going to fill your body with unhealthy grub.

After a good workout we need to boost our energy level, eating a healthy breakfast can do just that.
Since we are challenging ourselves to workout first thing in the morning this week, there's a high likelihood that we are going to feel extremely hungry after. Before you reach for that French toast, stop! think about what you're doing. At this point we need to break the fast and re-energize our body and mind, doing that takes a great breakfast, something filled with protein, fruits, veggies etc.

Here are a few options

-Eggs with your favorite veggies
-Oatmeal with fresh fruits and a pinch of cinnamon
-fruit smoothie with nonfat yogurt
-whole grain cereal with fresh fruit

Don't be afraid to mix it up, try new things, just remember to keep it healthy. Share some of your breakfast ideas, and stay healthy.

Making Time to Workout...

This morning I find myself up at 6am, it's Sunday (for Pete's sake). Anyways, I decided why not workout, after all, I stretch every morning, I might as well workout if my body is prep for it.

I realize the reason most people give for not working out is that they don't have the time. We have to make time friends, especially for those of us who aren't that motivated physically. On that note here's our challenge for this week, in addition to everything else that we've been doing.

CHALLENGE

We are going to conduct 1 hour of exercise at the beginning of the day. If you need to go to bed earlier to accommodate for that hour you will have to exercise do so, we have to make the time. An added benefited to start your day off with some physical activity is that it boosts your energy through out the day, so why not.

Stay healthy, check in to let us know how the challenge is going. Have a healthy day.

Exhausted!!!!

Yes, I am completely exhausted and I am debating whether or not to workout today. Is it a good idea to continue with your exercise routine when you are exhausted.

I say yes to exercise, not so much the setting in which you normally would do it. If you go to the gym every day but today you are feeling really tired you can probable skip the gym. However, getting in some kind of exercise is important, as exercise can help boost your energy. Maybe taking a 30 mins walk, dancing to some high tempo music, or if you have kids, playing some kind of sports with them.

Today I'll be dancing of this exhaustion, and later some good old soccer with my son. What's your workout plan for today? (I should say a cup of coffee will be a plus for me today)

Have a healthy day, and exercise!!!!

Don't Starve Yourself!!!!!

Good morning,
We have gone pass the middle of the week, I am hoping to hear of progress by those of us taking the challenge. Share with us what you are experiencing, good or bad, you maybe able to help someone who's experiencing the same thing, or get help by the advise of someone.

I wanted to address this issue that was brought to my attention a few days ago, hunger. Because we are cutting our meals in half (hopefully everyone is doing that by now) some people are complaining that they feel as if they are starving their body.

The idea is to eat less of your main meal and snack on healthy snacks in between. If you are feeling hungry 2 hours after you had your lunch, by all means grab an apple, a handful of nuts etc. By doing that you are cutting down on your caloric intake and boosting your metabolism at the same time. Please don't forgot to continue drinking water, it is needed by our bodies and can also act as an appetite suppressant.

Ok guys, let's say afloat of this issue, and if you are having difficulties staying motivated share that with us, we will help in whatever way we can. Stay healthy and keep trucking.

Could Sugar Be Subotaging Your Weight Loss?

Good morning all, it's a beautiful day today, i am hoping each one of us enjoy the day with some physical activity, there's no need for a gym on such a day, get out and enjoy the sun (don't forget SPF).

Some of us may think the question posed above does not apply to us, because maybe we do not eat much sweet foods. However, this discussion apply to every single one of us, when i talk about sugar i am not speaking of candy, cakes and ice cream, which is obviously loaded with sugar, i am speaking of the less obvious items, like canned vegetables, milk, cheese etc. Almost every thing we eat these days contain sugar, it is wise to beware of these items and their sugar contents.

There are two types of sugars, Intrinsic Sugars which is mostly natural and can be found in fruits and vegetables, and then we have Extrinsic Sugars which comes in a less natural form, these sugars are added to foods to preserve the life of the product, and can be found in almost all packaged and canned foods to include milk, and all dairy products.

The issue with sugar is that in our society we consume way to much, our bodies metabolises these sugars and store them in fat cells for later use as energy, however because we consume so much suguar on a daily basis these stored fat cells never get used, therefore our bodies keep adding and we eventually are faced with unwanted weight gain.

Now, i don't really have to tell you what you need to do, i think it's quite obvious by now. Sugar is sweet, yes i know, but is it really worth it, think about it. Pay attention to the grams of sugar when buying packaged foods, especially items that are marked as health foods. Stay on top of what you eat, eat natural sugars (fruits and veggie).
Stay healthy, and don't forget to share your experiences with us.

3LBS This Week!!!

Good morning, it's a new week, and like last week we are going to get three more pounds off. If you didn't lose anything last week just be honest with yourself , what could you have done differently? Most times our weight loss directly results from the choices we make on a daily basis's, not working out (enough), not eating right etc.

Please read last weeks challenge to get the tips that i posted, stay healthy and look forward to additional tips throughout the week.

Please check out our recipe page to see the challenge for our diet this week!!!!

Counting Calories

Hello again, I received a request from someone to continue with this weeks challenge next week, I want to know what others think about that.

Today I hope that everyone has had the pleasure of noticing some kind of progress as a result of their hard work. If you have followed a strict regimen of exercise and diet and have yet to see any positive results it maybe that your expectations are unrealistic. Remember it is better to go about losing weight at a slow pace, that way your body can adapt to the changes. On the other hand, if you have tried your hardest and still haven't notice the weight dropping off, then maybe you need to go about it a little differently.

So lets talk about counting calories, you may have heard about it, and thought to yourself that the notion seems daunting, well it may be so, but it's one of the best ways to be able to accurately calculate the amount of calories you are consuming. It is important to have an idea of your daily caloric consumption, that way you are aware of what you need to burn of through your exercise.

Before you can start counting calories you first need to figure out  your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR). What is your BMR? well think about it this way, throughout the day each of us burn a certain amount of calories without even doing a single thing, your BMR is specific to you and is calculated based on your gender, height, weight, and age, it basically is the amount of calories your body burns if you were to sit all day and never do a thing.You can find a BMR calculator online so look it up.

Now that you have found your BMR you need to calculate the amount of calories you burn during your workout, most machines give you a good idea, but if you are not using a machine try any where from 30 mins- 1hr of cardio which will burn of 200-500 calories (try researching that also). The goal is to burn of your BMR each day. Ok, so now that you have that down, you can start counting your calories, measure your food, read thes lables of canned and packaged items, a food scale would also be a good investment.

Why stretch before and after a workout?

Firstly, I have to say great job to those of you who are making the extra effort to participate in the weekly challenges.

 Now to the business of stretching, currently I am seeking physical therapy for really tight shoulder and neck muscles. I was notorious for skipping stretching my body before and after I exercise, although I knew it was important to do so I just couldn't be bothered. needless to say I ended up with muscles so tense that I was experiencing daily headaches, elevated shoulders and constant pressure in the mentioned areas. Now i am on the road to recovery, and i am now the biggest advocate for stretching.

 Stretching before a workout warms up our muscles in preparation for the torture that would be inflicted upon them, it also activates the release of a lubricant found in the cartilage between our joints, that lubricant helps our muscles to move smoothly, and protects our bones from scraping against each, for example the joint bones in our knees. The biggest benefit of stretching is the flexibility it enables our body to maintain, being flexible is very important as it reduces our chances of injury juring physical activities. At the end of a workout our muscles are very tight slow cool down stretches releases that tightness helping our muscles to be less sore later on.

To be honest, I now stretch both in the morning after waking up and before I go to bed at night, and of course if I workout i will stretch before and after the session. It's my belief that because we mostly sleep in a few positions at night our bodies can become really tense in the AM, and at night most of us sit and watch tv before bed which can cause some stiffness, stretching out the kinks we may have developed while sitting is beneficial to our flexibility. Being flexible is important to me, I love to workout, therefore I am face with the possibility of getting injured daily.

I am going to post some basic stretches that can be done daily on the exercise page, so make show to click on the link and view it. Have a healthy day, and maintain your flexibility.

Why is maintaining a good body weight important

I was sitting in the doctors office waiting to be seen, I noticed that the maximum weight for my height was 140lbs. At the time I was 140lbs so I started asking the doctor questions, because I was worried about issues that could arise if I added more weight to my body. I was told that adding additional weight to my frame could lead to a host of issues that could potentially shorten my life span.

 The question is why is it important to maintain a health weight? Their are a number of illnesses associated with carrying around extra weight, for example

 1. Diabetes
 2. Heart disease
 3. Sleep Apnea
 4. High cholesterol levels
 5. Certain types of cancers
 6. Osteoarthritis
 7. Stroke

Other less serious effects are the emotional toll that it takes on an individual, such things as low self esteem, depression, and other emotional effects. Lossing weight is no easy task, if someone told you it was easy for them be skeptical, it is not worth it going about it in an unhealthy way, as it would be very hard to keep the weight of.
When attempting to lose weight the first step is to make the decision, you have to want to lose weight. The next step is to look at your life style and pick out the habits that you know for a fact is sabotaging your quest to lose weight and lead a healthy life, and start eliminating them, and replacing them with habits that will facilitate your weight loss.

 Here's our challenge for this week, we are going to lose 3lbs this week. Continue with your water intake(if you are new look back at previous challenges), continue cutting you meals in half, and finally we are going to do 45 minutes of exercise 4 days in this week (anyone needing help with an exercise plan contact me).

Leave comments and give daily feedback, please remember this is a forum of support, so check in daily. Let's get healthy together.

Hi everyone, because today is Easter Sunday we will skip today and begin our new challenge tomorrow. have a great day and stay healthy.

Last day of our metabolism challenge

Final day of our challenge, as I have mentioned before I expect for each of us to continue on with the changes we made, I really want to know what people experience, how was the whole process for you? Have you noticed any weightloss? As we move to another challenge I want to emphasize the importance of leaving feed back, we are lending support through our mistakes or success, so please comment. I hope everyone have a great weekend, and stay healthy.

How are you doing

It's late evening for me and I am about to ride the elliptical for 30 minutes. I just wanted to stop by and make my presents felt, as tomorrow is the final day of our challenge, of course we have to continue individually if we want to get the benefits of the change. Ok, let me know how you're doing, it's so easy to lose focus, just stay positive and accountable. See you tomorrow.

Fighting the Plateau!

Good Thursday morning, today is the fifth day of our challenge and I want to hear about the changes that people are experiencing (if any). Posting the positives or negatives helps others who maybe having the same results as you, we are building a support community here so I need feedback.

 This morning I want to bring light to an issue that plague individuals who have had success losing weight at the beginning of a program, and suddenly finds themselves having difficulty losing anything as they continue on, it's as if you have hit a wall. This is something that happens to everyone, so what's the culprit behind this issue? well ladies and gents it's your metabolism, yes, the idea is that when a person starts working out and dieting especially if you are overweight, your metabolism is working at such a high rate that a cut in calories whether through exercise or dieting will result in weight loss, however, as time goes on our bodies does not need as much calories to sustain, if we continue eating the same quantity and using the same exercise routines as before our bodies will fail to yield result or we may even notice the weight returning.

Our challenge for this week can help us combat this issue in addition to exercise, I feel as though in our little forum here the importance of exercise is down played. I am here to tell you that you will not be able to maintain your weight without equal parts of diet and exercise, I will go so far as to say that exercise is paramount to losing and maintaining weight, we know by now that muscles burns more calories than fat, how do we obtain muscles? strength training, those of you who's skeptical do your research, because strength training plays a huge role not only in weight loss but also in strengthening our bones (women) as we get older.

Well, go ahead and tell me what you think about what you've just read, don't be afraid to refute or agree with anything, this is an awareness and learning environment, so share people. Have a healthy day everyone.

Continuing with our challenge

Good morning all, we are off ot a very good start this week, let's keep up the effort and continue with the challenge. Post your meals daily and help inspire others with your comment. Stay healthy.

Boosting our metabolism!!!!

Welcome to our second week, the focus is on our metabolism. Having a high metabolism plays a vital role in weightloss as well as maintaining weight, as it helps burn fat at a  faster rate. Our metabolic rate can be affect by a host of factors, for example our age, as we get older our muscle mass decreases as a result our metabolism is believed to decrease 5% each decade after 40. It is also believed that we can inherit our metabolic rate.

So how do we raise our metabolic rate? The most talked about way is to eat small meals frequently throughout the day. Snacking on healthy foods between small main meals are advised. Participating in at least 30 minutes of aerobic exercise a day is also a good way to boost your metabolism. Another option is drinking ice cold water, this works because or bodies burn calories while warming us to normal body temperature. Weight training is also a good way to boost our metabolic rate, and that's because  muscle burns way more calories than fat. Any beverage with caffeine such as coffee and tea also works well as metabolic boosters, consuming caffeine boosts our energy level, therefore we are able to workout for longer periods. Adding spices to our foods also help in crease our metabolic rate, so adding a little cinnamon in your waffles, pancakes, oatmeal etc. will give you that advantage.

Our challenge for this week is to raise our metabolic rate.

  Firstly, we are going to eat half of what we would normally eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner, then we will add a healthy snack between each meal (for instance if i would have a small omelet and some fruit for breakfast 2-3 hours later i would have a cup of yogurt, 2-3 hours later lunch and so forth).

The other half of our challenge is to continue drinking the required amount of water for you body weight(your weight divided by 2 in ounces), this time though lets drink the water cold.

 Please be advise that exercise should be done in addition to our challenges, so head over to our exercise page and click on the links for exercise. Have a healthy day everyone.

Last day of the water challenge

Hello everyone, today is our last day for the water challenge, however, like I mention before I expect everyone to continue with this change in their life. My goal is not to conform you to only drinking water, but to make you aware of your required amount of water for your weight, and hope that you consume that much throughout the day. Please leave your comments as to how you plan on staying on tract with your water intake. Check back tomorrow for our new weekly challenge.

Water Retention/ Ailments

Good morning all,

We are almost to the end of our very first week together, however the challenges that we do through out the week should be something that we strive to implement into our daily lives. So, next week when we move on to a new challenge i expect everyone to continue drinking the required amount of water for their body weight.

So this is very important, if you are an individual suffering from such ailments as Diabetes, Hypertension or any other please consult with your doctor. Maybe you can call the office and just ask to speak with your doctor, some hospitals has the ask a nurse program where you call and ask about certain non emergency things, so don't be afraid to seek some help before you commit to anything.

I also wanted to address the issue of water retention this morning. I was surprised to find out that that one of the causes of water retention is "not drinking enough water", your body become dehydrated, therefore it tends to hold on to what ever liquid it can. Another cause of this problem is eating to much salt, so if you suspect that you might be retaining water pay close attention to the amount of sodium in your food, whether it's something packaged or canned or the amount of salt you put into you meals. Cellulite, yes the culprit, it to retains water, so people if there's cellulite we have to get that body part moving, get them out.

There are a host of other reasons why our bodies retain water, do your research people and get educated on the subject. Retaining water makes us appear much bigger than we really are, if we do the right things to get that water out you are likely to see weight loss.

Leave comments, and or suggestions in the comment section, and don't forget to check our exercise and recipe page. Have a healthy day.

More water facts and staying positive

So I am sure by now most of you are bored with drinking water, so what now. Likes look at some of the benefits of drinking water, yes of course water acts as an appetite suppressant, if you consume water before every meal you are going to eat less. Did you know that water also helps with relieving headaches and back pain? Yes people, one of the causes of these pains is dehydration, and it is quite common. Being hydrated shows in your skin, your skin will appear luminous and you'll be able to maintain your elasticity. Another benefit of drinking your water is that it regulates your body temperature, and that my friends helps energize us, plus it helps our muscles recover from strains we put them through. Look the truth is for most of us drinking water isn't the easiest thing in the world, just try to remind yourself of the benefits, they are way to much to ignore. Educate yourself about water in the body, you may be surprised by what you find. So keep drink guys and be grateful to God for the water he provides. Have a healthy day.

Drinking water responsibly

Hi to all,

It's good to see that people are taking the challenge seriously, it is a challenge so it's suppose to push you not make you comfortable. Good job for putting forth the effort to make healthy choices in your life.

So i want to discuss the issue of drinking water responsibly, yes i said responsibly, i don't want you to just pick up a bottle and start chugging it down and call it a day, which by the way is a sure way of guaranteeing frequent trips to the bathroom . Try drinking the water slowly, sipping it throughout the day, and avoid drinking to much water (known as hyponatremia). Remember to divide your body weight by 2, i don't think drinking a little more would hurt, but to be safe stay with half your weight in ounces.

Check out our exercise page to see what we are working on today and don't forget to leave comments, share your water drinking challenges for the day.

Good morning everyone, today let's focus on continuing our challenge with our water intake. For a lot of us it is a challenge to get an adequate amount of water every day, and now we're pushing the bar to a significant amount, plus we are eliminating other fluid intake. Listen I get it, you may slip up and add something, that's ok, the goal is to make water a top priority in your life. If we are able to increase our water intake by eliminating the other fluid that we would normally drink , we are going to make a difference in our body, especially with our weight. Leave a comment about how you did yesterday, and what you plan on doing to help aide you with your water intake. Don't forget to stop by the other pages for workouts, recipes and ideas to treat yourself. Have a healthy day.

Water consumption

Good morning all,

Today is a great day, we are talking about our water intake, and how it contributes to weight loss. So i am pretty sure most of us are not getting our daily required amount of water, guess what it's time to start. 8 glasses of water a day that's the old saying, well the new saying is divide your body weight by 2 and that's the required amount for you, so for instance as person who weighs 140lbs would drink no less than 70oz of water a day.
Drinking your required amount of water helps regulate your body, and aides in fat burning, best of all water contains no calories, therefore you are at liberty to drink as much as you want.

Here's your challenge for this week!!
Divide your weight by 2, find a bottle that tells you the ounces that it holds and drink your required amount of water for the rest of the week. For those of you who drink carbonated beverages eliminate them completely, as for caffeinated drinks such as coffee and tea try to drink them in the mornings or late evenings, leaving time time for water consumption. Happy challenge everyone!!!!!

Comment on the challenges you think you'll face with drinking only water.  

Welcome to our first day!

Welcome everyone,

Today i am going to discuss the name behind the blog, 130at 30plus. I recently turned 30 and my goal was to be at my ideal weight of 130lbs at my 30 year mark (didn't make it @135lb), the plus stands for anything, meaning for those of you participating in this blog it's whatever your ideal weight is and your age, whether it is to lose, gain or maintain. As i mentioned earlier i am at 135lbs and my new goal is to maintain, so i have to bring balance with my food intake and my workout regimen.

So if you logged on today tell me about your weight and your plans for the future (if you feel comfortable). Come back every day to get workouts, recipes, supplements and random discussions on losing, gaining or maintaining your weight, and living a healthy life style.