myfitnesshut

Many times, you don’t reach your goals because you lose FOCUS! Over the next few months, I will help you stay FOCUSED on your health and fitness goals. I will do this by staying FOCUSED on particular subjects for 2 weeks, starting with your eating habits.

In America for sure, we are kings and queens of “too large” servings of food and that’s without even “super-sizing” anything! Here are 3 tips to get this series started:

1. If I eat a serving of oatmeal and an apple for breakfast, that’s good. If I eat 5 servings of oatmeal and 2 apples for breakfast, that’s too much even though I’m eating food that is good for me. When I played football in college, that was not too much food because of the rate at which I burned calories in the weightroom and at practice. It doesn’t help to burn 600 calories exercising if you later eat 1000 calories! It is better to eat 4-6 small meals a day to keep your energy and blood sugar levels steady. So, portion size is a big problem for many people.

2. Don’t graze during the day! With the holiday season right around the corner, grazing can become a huge problem! Grazing is eating haphazardly and often between meals. This often leads you to eat high-calorie foods and junk foods. Schedule your snacks between meals with healthy foods like fruit, almonds and low-fat yogurt.

3. Keep a food journal. Research has proven that you will have a better chance of succeeding with your nutrition plan and fat loss if you keep a food journal! By logging your actual food choices, you are holding yourself accountable throughout the day. You will also be forced to plan your meals better. It will also help protect you from binge eating and emotional eating if you write down why you eat what you eat!

Get started today sharpening your focus on eating better! I will help you do that….see you tomorrow!

Be sure and visit my new site, Your Fitness University, where you can get help with your nutrition planning!

Need more exercise and nutrition tips? Subscribe to my weekly Fat Blaster eNewsletter and get a FREE 4-week Fat Blaster workout and 2 Fat Blaster eBooks (Her Fitness Hut’s Fat Blaster Guide for Women and Blast the Fat, Have a Lean Body for Life)!

No fitness checkup would be complete without taking a look at how and what you eat! Sixty percent to 70% of your fitness success or failure will depend on nutrition! Be ready to make changes to your eating habits!

Here are some nutrition checkup tips:

1. Research has proven that you will have a better chance of succeeding with your nutrition plan and fat loss if you keep a food journal! By logging your actual food choices, you are holding yourself accountable throughout the day. You will also be forced to plan your meals better. It will also help protect you from binge eating and emotional eating if you write down why you eat what you eat!

2. Find out your basal metabolic rate (amount of calories you would burn if you did nothing all day). You will use this rate to set the amount of calories you need each day to maintain a caloric deficit (burn more calories than you consume).

3. Drink water and unsweetened drinks (like tea) most of the time.

4. Add volume to your diet (eating wet). Eat as many foods as you can with high water content/low calories. Foods such as fresh fruits and vegetables are examples. These types of foods help you to feel fuller (satiety) while eating fewer calories. For instance, grapes with the same caloric amount as raisins will provide more satiety and theoretically help you eat less the rest of the day.
Energy density of food is a key component when trying to add volume to your diet. Energy density (ED) is defined as the amount of calories of a food divided by its weight in grams. Focus on foods with low ED value such as fresh fruits (apples, etc.) and vegetables (such as tomatoes and broccoli) whole grain pastas, rice, whole grain breads and cereals, soups, salads and skinless white chicken/turkey.

5. Don’t starve yourself (severe calorie restriction)! This will only encourage your body to store fat because it thinks you are starving. Eat small meals every 3-4 hours to keep your body energized and to keep your metabolism humming!

6. Forget the quick weight loss gimmicks (they lead to yo-yo dieting and even more weight gain)! There are no quick solutions to permanent fat loss and weight loss. Change your eating habits permanently!

7. Severely limit these foods: fried foods, fast foods, foods in a bag, sugary sodas, candy, cookies, donuts, processed foods, etc. And, watch your alcohol intake! Alcohol has calories too—7 calories per gram to be exact!

I think you get the idea. You have to make changes to your eating habits! If you don’t know what changes to make, then get help!

Be sure and visit my new site, Your Fitness University! It is a one-stop site for your fitness needs!

Invest in yourself! That’s a huge part of your fitness checkup! I’m not talking about money….I’m talking about investing in your health and fitness! That will take some commitments from you like:

1. Make the commitment to a lifetime of fitness and not just to a 4-week or 8-week exercise plan.

2. Be honest with yourself (like why your fat loss efforts failed in the past) and set realistic fitness goals.

3. Improve your eating habits.

4. Adjust your lifestyle to “fit in” exercise.

5. Stop looking for a quick solution to fat loss! There are no quick solutions that will lead to permanent fat loss and weight loss!

6. Realize that you need an accountability partner to help you reach your fitness and health goals! Don’t try to go it alone! That partner could be a friend, spouse or personal trainer.

Be sure and visit my new site, Your Fitness University! It is a one-stop site for your fitness needs!

A common problem that exercisers run into all the time is—”I have hit a wall (plateau)!” All of the early success associated with starting an exercise program can send you into a tailspin when you reach a plateau. You become frustrated and wonder “what am I doing wrong?” You probably just need to change up your exercise routine and you’ll be okay.

There are many ways to change up an exercise routine—-do new exercises, adjust the intensity, start eating better, adjust the amount of weight, adjust the repetitions/sets, etc. One of the best ways to get you “out of your exercise funk” is to add some power exercises to your workout routine! Shorter, more intense workouts (weight training or cardio) will give you more fat loss gains!

Here’s an example: instead of doing cardio on the elliptical machine, do your cardio with a pair of power exercises. All it takes is 20 intense minutes! It can go something like this:

–Full speed medicine ball chops, 1 minute
–Slow jog for 2 minutes
–Full speed butt kickers, 1 minute
–Slow jog for 2 minutes

Just do this rotation for 20 minutes and you have a very intense cardio workout! And, on your weight training days, you could mix in some power exercises. Before you know it, you will have broken through your plateau! Try it! From personal experience, I know it works!

Be sure and visit my new site, Your Fitness University!

Got saddlebags, jigglin’ jelly, extra large buns, etc.? There are some things you can do to shape up your butt!

Client Q: I’m tired of my butt being fat and ugly! Help me tone it up!

Mark’s A: You should take the approach that you will sculpt your total body, not just your rear-end. Total body fat reduction (especially abdominal fat) is the goal! Full body circuit weight training (including bodyweight exercises) and interval cardio is ideal for sculpting your body.

Some top cardio exercises for shaping your glutes (and legs) are: sprinting (including uphill), walking uphill, stair climbing and jogging. You don’t need any gimmicks or fancy gadgets!

As for strength training? You can’t leave out squats! Do your squats—bodyweight squats, dumbbell squats, barbell squats, split squats, lateral squats, one-legged squats, etc. Mix it up but do them. The benefits of the squat exercise extend beyond your legs. The same can be said for deadlifts (traditional, stiff-legged or other variations). Other top glute exercises are:

1) Step ups (front, lateral, transverse)
2) Lunges (front, reverse, walking, lateral, transverse)
3) Standing cable hip abductors
4) Standing, prone or floor hip extensions
5) Floor lateral thigh raises
6) Glute bridges and marching glute bridges
7) Pelvic raises and posterior pelvic tilts

Be sure and visit my new site, Your Fitness University! Test your fitness IQ and see the Fit Tip Of The Day!

Need more exercise and nutrition tips? Subscribe to my weekly Fat Blaster eNewsletter!

The other day, I met a man in the health club who had lost about 80 pounds through calorie restriction dieting. The 80 lost pounds is great but he had a problem—he had lots of loose skin hanging on his body. Why? He did no resistance training! That left him with high body fat and embarrassing loose skin (skinny-fat)!

Commercialized weight loss programs lead people to focus too much on weight loss and not enough on fat loss! Health should be priority numero uno for you! A healthy body is one that is “lean and toned.” You can achieve the “lean and toned” body with regular weight training (including bodyweight training) and interval cardio. It may take a little longer but you will love the results! And, the results will be permanent if you continue to exercise regularly.

This man has now begun to lift weights and hopefully he can shed the loose skin (body fat). If you’re trying to get in shape, take a three-pronged approach—good nutrition, weight training (3 days a week) and interval cardio (3-4 times a week). This approach will give you the hard body you want. And, you will be healthy!

Be sure and visit my new site, Your Fitness University! Test your fitness IQ, get exercise tips, nutrition tips, articles and much more!

Need more exercise and nutrition tips? Subscribe to my weekly Fat Blaster eNewsletter!

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