Along with choosing that wonderful party dress and the dance music for the fabulous party on New Year’s Eve, the next consideration for the new year is what to do about the ten, twenty or more pounds that have hung around and really are not what you want. The diet season is really upon us and it is now time to gather at the gate on January 1st and get ready for some personal development through diet and exercise. Nothing ventured and nothing gained, and once again, nothing tried and nothing accomplished. This is the way that one can succeed at losing weight. It begins with two things: goal setting and effort.
There are two things that need to be developed in an effective eating plan. No eating plan works without exercise. None of them. There has to be an exercise component associated with sensible eating. Choose a sport, dance or exercise regimen that you can stick too. Start with that. Once the habit of exercise gets ingrained (for the brain that means at least three weeks), then adding a good eating plan makes all the more sense. Why do the exercise plan first? When you see what the exercise is doing, then you will be further motivated to add a sound nutritional plan that will help you meet your goals faster.
Now comes the tough part – nutrition. Forget the traditional mindset of “going on” a “diet.” The best eating regimens are composed of foods that you can eat and like to eat, and the ones that give the greatest nutritional value. Reduce convenience, pre-packaged, and fast foods. Aim for whole foods and overall a reduction in sugar. More of the good and less of the bad is the way to go.
Small steps and small changes one at a time, coupled with your best efforts to make lasting changes…this will combine to be the most effective formula for a balanced New You in the New Year.
Come and talk to our personal trainers to see how you can find the right balance between holiday cheer and staying fit for life. You’ll find them at Fit for Life Personal Fitness Training, 2126 Jackson-Keller Rd., San Antonio, Texas 78213. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for the latest tips, tricks, and updates!
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There are few struggles so arduous as losing weight, that conjure the same level of eye rolling and despair of uttering the words, “I’m going on a diet.” Few of us have the willpower necessary to be on severely restricted diets, so let’s stop it once and for all and reveal the truth. The simple truth is that all “diets” work, but lifestyle changes are what last. It may be the south beach diet, the grapefruit diet, the master cleanse, the zone diet, the atkins plan, it doesn’t matter. I’ll say it again: “all ‘diets’ work, lifestyle changes last”.
Losing one pound is a simple metabolic calculation. For every 3500 calories burned, a pound is burned off. This can of course be achieved through shaving off calories- perhaps 500 calories a day will result in the loss of one pound a week. But circumstances do not always favor such a plan, and if you are already eating a low calorie diet and not seeing the results you need and deserve, it’s time to ramp up the commitment. Building lean muscle mass is one of the surest ways to increase our resting metabolic rate, and this is a surefire to increase our weight loss, as a higher resting metabolic weight means we actually burn more calories when we’re at rest than those with lower rates. Building lean muscle mass and therefore increasing your resting metabolic rate is a lifestyle change with huge payoffs.
Fad diets cause you to yo-yo from despair to elation with every pound gained or lost, and may do more damage to your overall weight loss goal in the long run, because when you are on an extremely restricted diet your metabolic rate takes a nose dive, going into “starvation mode” and holding on to its fat stores in order to prolong survival. This ancient throwback to our ancestors is a great survival mechanism, but not so great for those of us looking to shed a few pounds. In the long run, it is so much wiser to make long range choices that include a moderate diet and moderate exercise program that lead to a lasting change, rather than short term gains for long term loss.
Come and talk to our personal trainers to see how you can find the right balance between holiday cheer and staying fit for life. You’ll find them at Fit for Life Personal Fitness Training, 2126 Jackson-Keller Rd., San Antonio, Texas 78213. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for the latest tips, tricks, and updates!
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27
Dec 11
Cheers! Nathanial Dilworth, San Antonio’s Top Personal Trainer Explains the Benefits of Water
No matter which personal trainer you talk to you will hear that drinking enough fluid is very essential to the human body, especially when exercising because water helps the body to remove waste and toxic materials through sweat and urine and bowel movements. When these waste materials are removed from the body, body tissues and cells cannot get poisoned and therefore you remain healthier. Moreover, the body is better able to fight diseases since water is part of lymph fluid which is a part of immune system.
Another importance of staying hydrated is regulated body temperature. The human body functions well within a narrow range of temperature. Higher temperature beyond the range can cause brain damage or other vital organs.
Staying hydrated improves the ability to eat and digest food, because water in the saliva and mucous help in moving food through the digestive tract. In addition to that, the skin is kept moist and elastic and reduces the risk of developing dry skin complications and infections.
Another reason to stay hydrated is that it helps to keep muscles strong and active. Water helps in removing toxins and making the muscles to be more efficient when doing exercises or other physical labor.
Generally, staying hydrated all the time can also help in maintaining a healthier weight or lose weight. Here, when water is taken instead of soda to quench somebody’s thirst, no calories are added into the body. In addition to that, it suppresses or distracts your appetite therefore, help you to lose weight.
Finally, during weight loss, water is also needed to flush out the byproducts of the fat being broken down in the body.
So here’s to your health…drink up!
Come and talk to our personal trainers to see how you can find the right balance between holiday cheer and staying fit for life. You’ll find them at Fit for Life Personal Fitness Training, 2126 Jackson-Keller Rd., San Antonio, Texas 78213. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook for the latest tips, tricks, and updates!
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With the New Year fast approaching, many people are beginning to think about their resolutions. However, more often than not, people make and then break these resolutions. In fact 44% of Americans break their New Year’s resolutions each year. Not to fret though, there are simple rules to help you meet your goals and stick with your resolutions. The 5 rules to sticking with your New Year’s resolutions throughout the year are:
1. Start out small and be realistic. Don’t set goals too big, which can overwhelm you. By setting small goals you set yourself up for success, instead of failure. For example, if trying to lose weight; skip dessert 5 nights of the week. Once you’ve completed your first goal, add another into the mix.
2. Write down your resolution. Include the positive aspects of your resolution and how it will benefit you. For example; being healthier, making more money or having more close friends. Be sure to keep it in a place that you see often. If you are constantly reminded of your resolution it’s far easier to stick with them.
3. Be very specific. Vague resolutions are proven to fail more often. Instead of “lose weight” try “eat smaller portions,” ” no snacks after 8 pm,” and “exercise 35 minutes per day.” These are much more concrete and easier to keep.
4. Set a specific time frame. Give yourself until a certain date to reach the resolution. Doing this will help you stay motivated. Once you’ve reached your resolution, set another goal for yourself. However, don’t give up if you don’t reach your goal by the time you’ve set. Keep trying and don’t give up. Sometimes there are setbacks and it’s important to realize it’s okay, just keep going.
5. Ask for help. If you’re struggling with your goal, ask someone for help. Join a club or organization that can help with your resolution, ask a friend to join to you, or hire a professional like a personal trainer to help guide you. Keeping resolutions is much easier when not doing them alone. Asking for help can sometimes be hard, but it will make your ambitions more enjoyable and likely easier to reach.
These are the basic 5 rules to sticking to your New Year’s resolutions. Use one or all of them to help you meet your aspirations. After-all, it is a new year and a time for change. Remember, it’s never too late to reach your goals.
Come and talk to our personal trainers to see how you can find the right balance between holiday cheer and staying fit for life. You’ll find them at Fit for Life Personal Fitness Training, 2126 Jackson-Keller Rd., San Antonio, Texas 78213. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for the latest tips, tricks, and updates!
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“Early to bed and early to rise makes a person healthy, wealthy and wise”. I am sure you have heard this phrase several times in the past. In all honesty, how many of us really follow this advice? Life is such a race for most of us that at times it is very difficult to retire to bed most days. When sleep finally comes to us, it is time to wake up the following day and we’re literally dragging ourselves out of bed.
It is important to standardize our bed time to ensure a healthy well-being. One needs a minimum of 7-8 hours of undisturbed sleep to function energetically the following day. Getting to sleep earlier and for longer hours not only helps our metabolic rate, but also increases our chances of losing weight by reducing levels of certain fat-storing hormones.
Logic tells us that the longer we stay awake the more tempted we are to indulge in unnecessary eating habits, resulting in adding extra calories in our body. For instance, if we stay up watching a late night show or sit on the computer, not only are we depriving ourselves of sleep, we are also attracted to eating late night snacks like potato chips or drinking of caffeine and other food items that awakens the senses and keeps us stimulated and awake.
Inadequate sleep can only result in health risks such as increasing blood pressure and heart disease, not to mention doubling our chances of developing Diabetes due to insulin resistance.
Therefore, changing our lifestyle by incorporating exercise and regular sleep habits should better your health and improve the likelihood of successful weight loss.
Come and talk to our personal trainers to see how you can find the right balance between holiday cheer and staying fit for life. You’ll find them at Fit for Life Personal Fitness Training, 2126 Jackson-Keller Rd., San Antonio, Texas 78213. Follow us on Twitter And Facebook for the latest tips, tricks, and updates!
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When you’re trying to lose weight (which, let’s face it, at this time of year after the indulgences of the Holidays, most people are), alcohol can be a key contributor to helping you achieve your goal. That is, by not drinking any.
Yes, I’m sorry, but that’s the dirty truth. Not only does alcohol add empty calories to your diet, but the more you drink the more your inhibitions drop and the more likely you are to make other poor nutritional choices.
The lowest calorie drink you can consume is generally a clear spirit such as gin or vodka and diet tonic water. These come in at around 70 calories a glass. Remember though, that’s based on bar measures. When pouring at home people tend to be a little more generous. If you choose a beer or sugary cocktail such as a Long Island Ice Tea or a Margarita your calories rapidly skyrocket to over 700 per serving! That’s half a days worth of calories for some.
Aside from this is the additional problem that having only one drink is often not enough, and with every additional drink the salty bar snacks or the pizza shop on the way home start to look increasingly tempting.
There are many people who take the opportunity in January to abstain from alcohol for a month to detox themselves after the excesses of the holiday period. If this isn’t your thing, at least cutting your alcohol consumption to no more than once or twice a week will help you immeasurably in your weight loss journey.
By reducing your calorie intake by 3,500 calories a week you lose 1lb of fat. By cutting one pint of beer a day or a large glass of wine you will save approximately 1,750 a week. That’s ½ a pound without making any other lifestyle changes.
So next time you’re reaching for a glass of wine after a hard day at work, it might be worth considering what will make you feel better in the long term, a glass of wine, or a slimmer silhouette.
Come and talk to our personal trainers to see how you can find the right balance between holiday cheer and staying fit for life. You’ll find them at Fit for Life Personal Fitness Training, 2126 Jackson-Keller Rd., San Antonio, Texas 78213. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for the latest tips, tricks, and updates!
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As the end of the year approaches, people start to focus on how to improve their lifestyle, and the regular fitness and weight loss related New Year’s Resolutions start to spring up. Gyms will see a rise in members after the New Years, but this often drops down as people give up their goals after a week or two. Make this the year that you are not one of those people. Make this year the year you choose to work with San Antonio’s top personal trainer, Nathaniel Dilworth.
If you are new to working out, you will find that the first few weeks are the hardest. This is why many people give up as the exhaustion and soreness overwhelms them. This is because they over train, or push themselves too hard to start with. They often neglect to warm up properly before exercising, and forget to stretch after their workout.
There are two great ways to stay true to your health and fitness resolutions. One option is personal training. A personal trainer will analyze your goals and resolutions and recommend the most efficient exercise plan to meet them. The personal trainer will teach you how to do exercises, correcting any flaws in your technique. By using a personal trainer, you will have an exercise plan which will not over train you, and which is the most efficient to reach your goals.
Another option to consider is a boot camp class. A boot camp class offers fitness in a fun and interactive setting. You will be pushed on by the motivating voices of your fellow boot camp members and instructors. You will find yourself pushing yourself farther than ever before, and will reach your New Year’s resolution goals. Boot camps will train you to get into a healthy lifestyle routine which will last your whole life.
If you want to reach your fitness goals this year, personal training and boot camp classes are your best options to do it. Each offers motivation and support to enable you to start living the healthy lifestyle you have always wanted.
Come and talk to our personal trainers to see how you can find the right balance between holiday cheer and staying fit for life. You’ll find them at Fit for Life Personal Fitness Training, 2126 Jackson-Keller Rd., San Antonio, Texas 78213. Follow us on Facebook for the latest tips, tricks, and updates!
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6
Dec 11
Tips for Healthy Holiday Eating
Everybody knows the holidays are known for the abundance of food. It is very tempting to fall off the health wagon if you let your guard down. But if you are firm in your resolve to follow your fitness program, getting the nutrition you need won’t be as difficult as you think. The Holidays can be enjoyable and delicious too if you make the necessary preparations.
Some tips you can follow if you are cooking for your brood:
#1 The rule of thumb is to substitute the ingredients of old standbys with less fat, calories and sodium. They are still the same but healthier so take it easy with the butter and salt.
#2 For ingredients with fat, why not try to buy their healthier alternatives like low-fat butter, non-fat yogurt and even fat-free substitutes.
#3 If you are feeling adventurous, why not search in Google for new recipes for the Holidays? There are lots of easy and popular healthy Holiday recipes people have written that are sure to be a hit with your family.
#4 Don’t stop with just the main meal. Turn leftovers into great healthy dishes that you can eat after. Again, Google is a great way to find fantastic healthy recipes for leftover turkey and what-have-yous.
If you are the guest, there are many easy ways to eat healthy and still have a good time:
#1 Eat a normal breakfast. This way you will have a better measure of control of yourself around rich Holiday food. There is a proven tendency to overeat if you starve yourself before going to the Holiday dinners or parties.
#2 Pick your food carefully. Make sure the food you eat is a combination of vegetables, meat and starch. Don’t just fill your plate with one food category. This assures that you are still eating food your body needs. By doing this your body will not easily feel that hungry.
#3 Eat in moderation. The Holidays are all about abundance and there surely will be tons of food served. However, it doesn’t mean you get a free pass. Try to sample all the dishes in small portions.
#4 Don’t forget the water. Drink lots of water and make sure you keep the alcohol to a minimum level. When the body is dehydrated (alcohol can do that) it sends signals that you might think as hunger signals but in fact it needs water. So remember to drink at least 8 glasses of water.
#5 Stop eating when you are full. If you feel your stomach has reached its limits, start socializing with people beside you. It will make you think of other things instead of food.
Come and talk to our personal trainers to see how you can find the right balance between holiday cheer and staying fit for life. You’ll find them at Fit for Life Personal Fitness Training, 2126 Jackson-Keller Rd., San Antonio, Texas 78213. Follow us on Facebook for the latest tips, tricks, and updates!
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What is stretching? Stretching can be defined as the deliberate lengthening of muscles so as to increase muscle flexibility and joint movement. Stretching is an important activity as it helps to relax the body after any workout activity. Stretching also helps to decrease the risk of getting injured when you are engaging in any exercise activities. One of the major benefits of stretching after your workout is that it helps to improve flexibility. Flexibility helps to improve the movement of your joints so they can move through their full range of motion; this may help to improve your overall performance in physical activities.
Another benefit of stretching after your workout is that it helps to reduce stress from your muscles. Stretching helps to relax tight muscles that often accompany stress and balance tension on muscles that have just been exercised.
Stretching also helps to improve the circulation of blood in your muscles. When you stretch, you relieve the muscles that have become tight after a workout session, and this helps to promote proper blood circulation in the muscles which in turn helps to prevent workout injuries. Blood flow in the muscles helps to bring nourishment and also helps to get rid of waste products in the muscle tissues.
Other benefits of stretching after workout are that stretching helps to promote a better posture. This is because stretching can help to keep your muscles from getting very tight which in turn promotes proper posture. A proper posture helps to reduce the risk of back pains and discomfort. Stretching also helps to make tomorrow’s workout more effective. This is because it helps to eliminate the soreness that is brought about by the previous days exercise by ensuring that your muscles do not remain stiff, and this helps you to remain comfortable and be able to follow your workout program effectively.
Come and talk to our personal trainers to see how you can find the right balance between holiday cheer and staying fit for life. You’ll find them at Fit for Life Personal Fitness Training, 2126 Jackson-Keller Rd., San Antonio, Texas 78213. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook for the latest tips, tricks, and updates!
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There is something you can do easily right now that can make you lose weight effortlessly: read food labels when you go grocery shopping. In fact, a study that was released in 2010 chronicled how the likelihood of losing weight increased by how much you pay attention to the food labels. When you try to lose weight and are in a fitness program, you have to be aware of what food you take in and that is why label reading is vital. Any strategy you may have in your fitness program can be enhanced just by being aware of the ingredients of any packaged foods you eat.
There is a basic rule to label reading: if you can’t read it, don’t eat it. Sounds simple enough, right? There’s a good reason for it. If you see the ingredients list and don’t understand half of it, it just means the food is overly processed which is not good for your health. If you must buy packaged foods, make sure to buy items that are wholly natural and beneficial to the body.
Pay attention to the serving size. It determines how much nutrition and calories you are getting from the item you bought. If the serving size of the packaged food is 3, then triple that amount to get the value for the entire package. Let’s say the calorie content is 50 calories. You have to triple that amount which is 150 to get the real calorie intake.
Be very careful of calories from fat. Don’t only consider total calories but pay attention to how many calories are from saturated fat. High amounts of saturated fat and trans fats should be avoided. Why? These are the “bad fats” that are in part responsible for a number of chronic conditions, including obesity. So try to buy packaged foods which have low to no saturated or trans fats at all.
Finally, don’t be fooled by labels that say “no trans fats!” Manufacturers are tricky and make full use of the loophole in the law that states if an item contains less than 1g then they may claim “zero.” This may seem like a miniscule amount, but when an entire package of something is consumed that is labelled as multiple servings (as is often the case), the amount of trans fats can add up quickly. To avoid this – first be sure to pay attention to serving sizes, but second, be aware of “hydrogenated” oils listed in the ingredients list. These are trans fats.
Get to Fit for Life Personal Fitness Training and speak with our staff today. Our studio is located in 2126 Jackson-Keller Rd,San Antonio, Texas 78213. You can also give us a call at (248) 348-9230 or visit us online at http://fitnesstogethernovi.com.
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