So many times people over complicate weight loss. It is pretty simple. Burn more calories than you consume with out going under your Base Metabolic Rate (BMR) but staying 500 calories below your Total Metabolism. So I know I just threw a monkey wrench in your chain with the BMR and Total Metabolism thing, right? Let me explain.

Your BMR is the amount of calories you need for your body to function correctly. If you go below it you cause your body to go into survival mode storing fat rather than burning it, burning muscle rather than building it, and ultimately lowering your bodies ability to burn calories. Now, you might have some success losing weight this way at first, but eventually you will hit a wall and the damage you have done to your metabolism will be hard to correct.

Your total metabolism is your BMR plus the calories you burn exercising and preforming normal activities. That number is usually somewhere between 1000 and 1500 calories depending on how active you are, how hard and long you exercise. The best way to know your total metabolism is to were a heart rate monitor or a Body Bug.

Ok, here is how I recommend someone lose weight. First learn your BMR. If you need to know it click here and I will calculate it for you. From that, estimate your Total Metabolism according to your activity level and stay 500 calories (more…)

This is delicious, low fat and quick!!!

Grilled Flank Steak with Citrus Vinaigrette

1 to 2 lbs   Flank Steak

Citrus Vinaigrette, see recipes on Blog

Salt and Black Pepper

Place Flank Steak in a 1 gallon ziplock bag.  Cover with 2 cups Citrus Vinagrette.  Reserve ½ cup for use later.   Refridgerate 24 to 48 hours.

Remove steak from bag and season with salt and black pepper.  Grill over high heat.  Rotate ¼ turn on each side of steak while grilling to prevent burning and promote even carmelization.

When disired temperature is achieved, let meat rest for 5 minutes.  Using a sharp knife, slice against the grain into thin strips.  Drizzle remaining vinagrette over steak.

The Fact or Fiction quote was “You should only weigh once a week”. Here is my answer…

It depends on where you are in your weight loss journey. I have found that weighing more than once a week can be very frustrating if you are not getting the results you want. Often times, when someone starts a fitness plan that includes resistance training, it is possible for them to gain weight. This happens for several reasons; water retention, muscle gains, and in most cases, people start eating more food. This is ok!!!! Your body will adjust if you stick with it. You have to allow the process of building muscle and losing fat to take effect. This can take several weeks. In this case I suggest the client weigh once a month.

Now, if you are on the right track and losing weight but have not yet met your goal than I suggest you weigh once a week. This will allow you to monitor your progress and stay on track without getting frustrated with the every day weigh ins.

If you have reached your desired goal and are looking to simply maintain your weight, than it is perfectly fine to weigh everyday. Research has shown this to actually be a great way to keep the weight off.

For those of us who eat healthy tend to eat a lot of chicken! Personally, I get tired of grilled chicken marinated in Italian dressing and get very crabby when I know that it’s waiting for me a few hours later! I have come up with three vinaigrettes that are DELICIOUS and low in calories. Use these as either a marinade for your chicken or as a dressing on your salad.

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Citrus Vinaigrette

½ cup        Orange Juice Concentrate

3                Limes (Juiced)

1 clove       Garlic

2 tsp          Red Chili Flake

2 Tbsp       Sugar

1 tsp          Salt

1 tsp          Black Pepper

½ cup        Olive Oil

½ cup        Canola Oil

¼  tbsp      Chopped Cilantro

In a blender, add first 7 ingredients and blend for 10 seconds.  Begin drizzling in oils slowly.  Vinaigrette should thicken (more…)

OK the fact or fiction quote was “Cardio burns more calories than Weight Training”. Here is my answer. Fiction! If you can maintain your heart rate for the same amount of time as you do for cardio you will burn just as many calories weight training. You Calorie burn is determined by your heart rate and the duration of your workout. The higher your heart rate the more calories you will burn. The longer your workout the more calories you will burn.

I understand it is hard for most people to maintain this level of intensity while weight training. That is where the confusion begins. Cardio is known for burning calories because it is generally done for a long period of time. Weight training is known for building muscle and taking a lot of rest in between sets.

Those of you who workout with me know our training sessions are very intense and very fast moving. We average about 250 calories in a 30 min training session. This is because I keep your heart rate elevated at or above 80-85% of your max heart rate. Our rest between sets are very minimal to say the least.

So here is my conclusion. Keep the intensity up by doing high intense weight training session for 30-45 min. Then get that long slow burn  for 45-60 min on cardio. If you do this you will be a calorie fat burning machine!!!

I get asked a lot about how long a workout should last and how intense the workouts should be. Well finally I have an answer for everyone out there who needs to know this information. It is pretty simple. “Your Time Determines Your Intensity”. Once you have decided how much exercise you need to do in weeks time, you can then answer this question. Now what I mean by that is this? When you think about exercise, think about it a week at a time. If you decide you need to workout 4 hours a week to reach your personal goal, then decide how you need to break that up over the week. I don’t recommend you do 1 training session for 4 hours. That can get dangerous!!! Break it up like this. Depending on your time you can train 6-30 minute sessions a week, 4- 1 hour sessions a week, or maybe 2- 2 hour sessions a week. What ever works for your schedule. Ok now that we have determined your “Time” lets determine your “Intensity”.

If you are doing the shorter workouts more times a week (6-30 min sessions), the intensity should be much higher than the other options. You should be training at or around 90% of your bodies capacity. Now what do I mean by this??? If you are doing resistance training, when you finish a set on either a machine or free weights, you should be able to (more…)

Obesity is a significant public health challenge raising an individual’s risk for type 2 diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, stroke, certain cancers, osteoarthritis, and other conditions. Kids are no exception to this epidemic as it places them at risk for developing chronic illnesses like heart disease, diabetes, and asthma. About a third of American kids are overweight or obese, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates. Research shows that kids are eating too much food that’s high in calories and low in nutritional value. They’re also spending too much time with television and computers and not enough time moving around. It also shows that the main driver of whether or not you become obese later in life depends on how you were raised and the habits you acquire when you’re a child. That is why it is so important to intervene early. The healthier children eat in their younger years will determine the healthier they are likely to eat in their adult years.

Ohio State University study found that young children are prone to gain more weight in the summer than the school year when there is more time to snack and zone out in front of the television. However, kids have less impulse control which puts them in jeopardy for overeating at any time of the year. Because many kids are unsure which items are (more…)

Q: Am I wrong in thinking that children don’t need artificial sweeteners? I can’t see putting chemicals in a growing body. Also, will you discuss the role all the corn sweeteners plays in obesity? What about stevia?

A: You are not wrong! Artificial sweeteners are not worth what you might save in calories because of the potential risks in digesting chemicals. Kids bodies are developing rapidly and what is put into their body will affect them later. Although the Food and Drug Administration refers to artificial sweeteners as “generally safe” it makes you wonder why they are saying generally! We believe organic is best and although it is a bit more expensive to do this it is worth the health benefit you are giving your kids. Splenda adds chlorine molecules to the sugar molecule. The FDA cites a handful of studies suggesting that large amounts of stevia could be harmful however I have also read some literature from doctors that are proponents. Again, you can’t go wrong with natural. Honey is a great alternative to any sweetener because it is natural and unrefined.
Corn sweeteners are the darling of the government. It is the cheapest way to sweeten foods and it has the longest shelf like. Corn sweeteners (high-fructose corn syrup), sometimes referred to as liquid candy, plays a direct role in the obesity epidemic our country is facing. It is one of the two qualities that make up the term “junk food” (the other one is trans fat). Anything made with HFCS is best left on the shelf.

Here is a great rule of thumb: Anything processed in a factory is not healthy.

Every recipe we furnish is low fat and sampled by us! We will not recommend anything too difficult or time consuming, and we will not recommend a dish that we don’t like! Let us know your thoughts.

Makes 4 servings

Cook time: 20 minutes

Use leftovers for pita sandwiches the next day: Place shredded chicken, garbanzos, and tomatoes in a pita bread.

Ingredients

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

4 garlic cloves, pressed

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Does this sound familiar…”I know I need to work out but I can’t seem to make myself do it. How do I get myself motivated to exercise and eat healthy?” This is the number one question we are asked over and over.

What sets the people who exercise everyday apart from those who rarely, or never, exercise?

It is simple. People who exercise everyday have learned to act on their thoughts rather than their emotions. Losing weight and exercising routinely requires thinking, acting, and then Feeling…in that order.

I have come to believe that what sets the people who do not exercise consistently from those who do is a practice of discipline. And to break it down even more, it is a matter of learning to think about what is best for you and then acting on those thoughts. It is a great misconception to assume that those who regularly exercise are necessarily motivated to go to the gym every day.

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