Are you making a mistake with your HIIT?
September 30, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Intensity
Are you making a mistake with your fat loss training? If you are using HIIT and not seeing the results that you think you should, it may just be because of one little (but important) thing: INTENSITY
Check out the video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFGAv4sVfkg
I spend a few minutes explaining just how HIIT should be performed. More specifically, I spend time on intensity levels.
Check it out here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFGAv4sVfkg
Weight Loss Tip – Don’t Trust It!
September 30, 2008 | 2 Comments
Do you have 2 minutes and 6 seconds?
If so then here’s a quick video with a very important weight loss tip. Be careful who you trust (especially yourself).
Hot Chocolate and Popcorn – Yes!
September 29, 2008 | 1 Comment
This past weekend I was able to score 2 tickets to the Penn State/Illinois football game (thanks Matt). The game was great, our seats were undercover so we didn’t get wet when it rained, and PSU won. At halftime I had my traditional halftime PSU football meal – popcorn and hot chocolate.
Your First 21 Days and Faster Fat Loss
September 28, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Change is difficult.
It may be the most challenging component of your fat loss program.
You know that eating junk food or a meal that’s inconsistent with your fat loss goal moves you further from your goal, but sometimes it’s just easier to skip a workout or eat your favorite food than to stick to your plan.
Many times not doing the right thing to accomplish your fat loss goal is a matter of habits.
You feel tired from your workday, so instead of getting in a invigorating workout, you vegetate on the couch in front of the TV.
You’re in a bad mood, so instead of a meal that will accelerate your fat burning, you seek out a fast food junk bomb that will bring your fat burning to a screeching halt AND make you feel worse a couple hours later.
You’re falling back on bad habits that require little effort.
To effect a positive change and establish effective habits requires energy.
In their New York Times Bestseller, The Power of Full Engagement by Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz, the authors explain that the key to high performance and success is not time management but rather energy management. In reference to energy, they refer not only to physical energy but also mental, emotional, and spiritual energy.
When physical energy is low, workouts get missed even though you may desire a leaner, healthier body.
When mental and emotional energy is low, bad food choices tend to be the order of the day.
So where do you get the energy to make effective decisions and get the work done?
Loehr and Schwartz also go on to say that to increase energy, we have to push beyond our normal limits periodically to develop greater energy capacity. Greater emotional and physical capacity means that when you’re challenged by a rough day, better decisions are made, more workouts get completed, and you experience faster fat loss.
Think of it like interval training for fat loss. With intervals, instead of performing typical long duration, slow distance exercise that’s typically recommended for fat loss or high performance, you alternate periods of more intense exercise with periods of moderate exercise. The result is greater overall energy capacity and faster fat loss than if you’d only had performed the same duration of exercise at the same pace.
That means that every time you stick to your eating plan and every time you complete your workouts, not only will your physical energy increase, but so will your mental and emotional energy.
In other words, the more times you do the right thing, the easier it gets and fat loss accelerates.
Now there’s two ways to develop this capacity for fat loss success, the slow way and the fast way.
The slow way is to make small, consistent steps forward. Progressively eat better foods. Progressively increase your frequency and intensity of exercise over time and eventually achieve your fat loss goals. It’s been shown to work time and time again.
Then there’s the fast way…my favorite.
When you’re first starting your fat loss program, your mental and emotional energy is at its highest, and you’re focused on the outcome. How your body will look. How you’ll feel. How you’ll perform at your best.
Energy is high, so it’s the opportune time to establish and maintain those habits that are necessary to reach your goals. It’s the time to take massive action.
It’s a common belief that it takes 21 days to establish new habits. In the first 21 days of your fat loss program, let your excitement about your outcome drive your ability to stick to your plan while you establish your new fat loss habits.
Your 21-day plan should not only include your eating and exercise programs, but it should also include habits to assure that your physical and mental energy remains high to help you to follow through to fat loss success:
Here’s a list of habits that may help set you up for success:
1. Set your bedtime and wake time and keep is consistent.
While we tend to believe that eight hours of sleep is the standard, many people need more or less to be effective during the day. Whatever your needs, set your times and stick to them. Even is your sleep is limited, by being consistent with your sleep and wake times, you body will adapt your sleep cycles to achieve the most restful sleep possible and keep energy high.
2. Determine your non-exercise days
We all have other priorities other than our fat loss programs. To assure that these priorities are not neglected, mark them on your schedule first.
3. Block out your exercise time
Determine your exercise times and stick to them. Remember you have to challenge your body in the early stages of a new program to gain more energy in return. It’s like making an investment. As you put out more energy, your body will make more energy available. Even when you’re tired from a long day, know that by exercising your energy levels will return to a point higher than where they started.
4. Plan your eating
Predetermine food selection, eating times, and food preparation time. Making eating as mechanical as possible reduces the chances of making bad decisions.
5. Grocery shop once per week
Make your grocery store list based on your 7 day eating plan and buy only the foods that you’ll need for your plan and nothing else. Keeping unplanned foods out of the house eliminates temptation that can drain mental or emotional energy that will prevent effective decision making.
6. Prepare your food twice per week
Take two days per week to prepare your meals and do all your necessary cooking. Store them in Pyrex contains and keep them in the fridge until it’s time for them.
7. Have daily “Me” time
It may just be 15 minutes where you shut your office door, take time for some deep breathing exercises, read something positive from a book, or even take a power nap. Your goal is to keep your physical and mental energy high at all times.
Focus on your outcome, establish powerful fat loss habits, and take advantage of your excitement and high energy and establish your fat loss success habits with a powerful 21-day plan.
If you have any questions, please post them in the members forum.
My (Current) Favorite Shake Recipe
September 26, 2008 | Leave a Comment
You gotta keep the diet interesting. When you’re short on time, the blender can become a powerful tool to keep you accountable and compliant to your eating program. Shakes can get boring sometimes, but you can still get creative to provide top notch nutrition AND plenty of flavor. Here’ my current favorite shake recipe.
http://video.fasterfatlosszone.com.s3.amazonaws.com/MyShake.flv
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