Cold Weather Calorie Burners!

09 November 2010
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Lower temperatures are on their way-but becoming a couch potatoe for six months will pack on pounds.  So keep these in mind:

Shoveling your driveway*:                                                                                            430 Calories burned
Stacking firewood*:                                                                                                           358 Calories burned
Building a snowman*:                                                                                                       286 Calories burned
Downhill skiing**:                                                                                                               215 Calories burned
Ice skating with your kids:                                                                                              215 Calories burned
Setting up tree-then decorating it:                                                                              164 Calories burned
Walking in a winter wonderland (3 mph)**:                                                            118 Calories burned
Wrapping presents:                                                                                                            107 Calories burned


*For one hour, calories based on a 150 pound woman.  **For 30 minutes.


Source: American College of Sports Medicine Compendium of Physical Activities

Feeling down? Try tanning!

02 November 2010
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Tanning, or exposure to the sun, found its origins in the ancient cultures of both China and Egypt.  Exposure to the sun has long been touted as good for our health.  But as with everything that is good there can be a downside.

First let's go through the upside of tanning.  Exposure to ultraviolet rays can damage your skin and that damage prematurely ages your skin and can even cause cancer.  As a defense your skin has a built in safety mechanism called melanin, which gives your skin a darker pigment or tan.  This change not only looks good but it will help keep your skin healthy and protected.  This pigmentation absorbs ultraviolet light and protects it from serious burns!

Being tan makes the body appear leaner and healthier.  In the fitness industry we have a saying that is pretty funny, "tan fat looks better than pale fat!".  This better appearance can improve your self image and feeling of well-being.  Basically, the better you look the better you feel.

Finally, sunlight has proven to affect over one hundred of the body’s function. Exposure to light has proven to lower the resting heart rate and blood pressure. It also lowers cholesterol because the body uses the liver’s cholesterol as raw material to produce vitamin D. Sunlight reduces stress and can help the immune system, as well as increase the skin’s resistance to infections. With exercise, sunlight has many beneficial results, as it heightens physical performance. Sunlight can increase cardiac output, as well as increase energy, endurance, and muscular strength. Lastly, it is proven that “sunlight stimulates the thyroid gland, which boosts your metabolism.”

The downside now.  Skin cancer folks.  Too much exposure to sun will ultimately cause irreversible damage.  Those damaged cells can decide to reproduce and cause skin cancer.  Although skin cancer is one of the better cancers to get it can still be fatal and will absolutely leave ugly scars when you have those cancer cells cut away.

Also, prolonged exposure and over-exposure to ultraviolet rays, even when you don't burn, will cause your skin to age and wrinkle. 

If you think that tanning may be for you then take a few precautions.
  • Use the right lotion for tanning.  The right lotions can enhance the effects without increasing the exposure.  They can also protect you from getting burned.
  • Use a post tan cream or lotion.  Tanning does dehydrate your skin so to rehydrate it ASAP is a good idea for your skins health.
  • Always wear eye protection.  Ultraviolet light is very damaging to your eyes as they are even more sensitive than your skin!
  • Be smart.  Do not tan as if you want a deep tan starting tomorrow.  Tan slowly over-time.  Most tanning salons offer discounted monthly memberships now so take your time and enjoy the experience.
  • TAN FOR FREE ON ME!
TAN FOR FREE ON ME!
Want to tan for FREE for 2 weeks?  Just follow THIS LINK and fill out the form.  Let them know in the comments that Matt sent you and that you want your FREE 2 WEEKS of Tanning!  Enjoy!

Exercise is NOT enough for kids!

02 November 2010
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As a Trainer for the last 12 years my knee-jerk reaction to almost every problem is that exercise can cure it!  I found a very important study, that every parent MUST read, that sadly puts me in my place.  The study is on the effect of electronic media such as TV, DVDs and Computers on a child's development and emotional well being.

Contrary to what Baby Einstein may tell you research now tells us that kid time in front of electronic media is counter productive!  Here are some amazing facts that you need to understand to be the best parent possible:

 

Here is an extended quote from the scientist, Aric Sigman, about the impact of TV on the developing mind of children.

"… [T]he scientists found that for every hour per day spent watching specially developed baby DVDs and videos such as Baby Einstein and Brainy Baby, children under 16 months understood an average of six to eight fewer words than children who did not watch them.

One of the authors stated," The evidence is mounting that they are of no value and may in fact be harmful.

Given what we now know, I believe the onus is on the manufacturers to prove their claims that watching these programs can positively impact children's cognitive development. The bottom line is the more a child watches baby DVDs and videos the bigger the effect. The amount of viewing does matter."

Finally, it is important to note, and this is the part that really caught my attention, that adding extra exercise or physical activity will not counteract the negative effects of the electronic media time!  Nothing but shortening the amount of time in front of the the TV will help solve this issue.

As a long time trainer and parent of 3 I would love to say that my kids never watch TV and I have them doing push-ups and crunches when they get bored, but that just isn't the case.  Sometimes parents need a break where they just lower their engagement with the kiddies, and believe me when I tell you that I get that!  Here is what we have done to try and tune out the TV as much as possible and you should try them too.


  • Cancel the cable.  I know that this sounds extreme for those addicted to Sports Center but not having something easily available makes it soooooo much harder to use.  My wife and I have had nothing but rabbit ears for TV for about 8 years now, and I do not regret it one bit.
  • Time the TV time.  You now know that the amount of TV a kid watches has a direct relation on their health, so take control of that time.  Use that old school egg timer or even the oven timer and let them watch TV in 20 minute intervals only.
  • Make them earn it.  If your kids really need some TV time (and maybe you need them to be silent for a few minutes too...) then use 20 minutes of TV as a reward for cleaning the living room or taking out the trash, or playing outside.  TV does not have to be an automatic, people survived without it for thousands of years.
Every parent that I know wants to be the best parent possible, but TV is part of who we are now.  Make sure that that you are taking the steps, now that you know, to ensure your child the best possible opportunity!  Good luck!

If you like this and all of my blogs then follow us through the RSS Feed.  And make sure that you DIGG this article by clicking the DIGG tag at the top right of the page!  Thanks for reading.

Here are the links to the articles where I got my info
Live Science
Pub Med

The most common weight loss mistakes.

02 November 2010
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When it comes to weight loss it is too easy to screw up your results without even knowing what has happened, and before you know it you have quit because of your frustrations.  Here we are going to cover what the most common mistakes are in the hopes that your awareness will help prevent them.

These are fairly basic and I just want you to open your eyes to your life and see which of these mistakes you have made, and make adjustments before you try to lose weight again.
  • There is no 1 thing that will make you lose substantial weight.  Stop looking for a single item that will get those pounds to fall off because it does not exist.  Real weight loss comes from combining proper and healthy nutrition with exercise bound to the FITT principle and nothing else (if you need education on the FITT principle then please read through the past posts).
  • Get support.  The fact of the matter is that the process of weight loss is grueling and it sucks most of the time.  It will break you down and make you want to quit!  Even the strongest of will can start to feel demoralized.  Good support will help you stay on track when you are your most vulnerable to falling off the wagon.
  • Be realistic.  The TV show "The Biggest Loser" has done a great job of motivating many people into action, but it has also given people unrealistic expectations.  You need to remember that you do not live on the ranch and workout for 8 hours per day so you cannot expect to lose the weight that they do.  One of my clients was a client on the show and she said that they eat 800 calories per day and do 8 hours of cardio every day!  This is too bad because you should never be discouraged by losing 2 pounds per week, because that will get you to lose all of the weight if you have the patience to stick to it!
  • Eat damn-it!  Food is like a foreign country, it can be your enemy or it can be your ally.  When you use food properly nothing can help you to lose more weight faster than proper nutrition.  But, when you use food improperly nothing can sabotage your results like food.  So get your food on track and enjoy real and sustainable weight loss.
  • Don't weigh yourself.  Weighing yourself when you have had great results can really fill you with pride and feel great!  Weighing yourself and seeing great results can also make you feel like you deserve or can get away with a break.  Weighing yourself and not getting results can be catastrophic!  Don't put too much emphasis on the scale.  And when you don't get the results that you want use it as motivation to revamp your program or seek help, not as a reason to back off!
  • Over-report exercise.  Don't trust those calorie trackers on the treadmill or elliptical.  They are a joke and will likely give you a false sense of security.  Use the FITT principle the keep adjusting your program, not the silly calorie counter on a machine!
  • Lose the light weights.  Heavy weights won't make you get big and light weights don't do a damn thing.  Every bodybuilder on the planet is insulted every time they hear someone say that they don't want to get big, because gaining substantial muscle is insanely hard.  Forget the light weights because they are A WASTE OF TIME.  Choose weights that really challenge you and you will get better results for sure!
  • Lastly, get some sleep.  80% of your recovery happens while you are asleep, so a lack of sleep means a lack of recovery.  Tired bodies cannot train as hard or as long and will quickly get over-trained.  Point being that if you don't sleep enough then you will get poor results and quit!
  • Stop defending yourself.  Every human being has a reflex to defend our actions and behaviors, but if your not losing weight then it is time to stop wasting your breath on defending yourself.  It is time for a change so open your ears and try some things that sound completely wacko, the

The 7 weight loss questions

22 September 2010
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To lose weight successfully you must know that answer to these seven questions.  I don't mean that you can't lose weight without these answered, I mean that you can stumble into some weight loss but will inevitably gain that weight loss back, and likely get a little extra credit for your misdirected efforts.  HERE WE GO!
  1. How many calories do you burn in a day?  This means all in, including sleep, exercise, digesting food, going to work, playing with your kids, blah, blah blah - EVERYTHING.  This is important because your body is thinking calories already, and we can impact this first answer with how we answer the other answers.  Check this out!! I have a simple tool that will calculate this for your!!!!  Follow this link and you can make life really easy. 
  2. How many calories should you eat to lose weight?  This part is just very simple math so stay with me.  Get a pen and some paper right now.  Decide how many pounds of fat you need to lose in a week, and be realistic with like 2 pounds.  Take that number and multiply it by 3500, and the total is how many calories of body fat you need to burn in a week to lose that amount of weight, in the 2 pound example the answer is 7000.  Next, divide your total by 7 representing 7 week days and your new answer is how many calories less than you burn (answer to 1) that you need to eat.  So in my scenario I need to burn 1000 calories of fat per day to lose 2 pounds, so if I burn 2500 calories per day then I need to eat 1000 less calories than that, or 1500 calories.  Easy, right?!?!
  3. How nutritious is my food?  This is more complex but just as important.  Your body demands a certain amount of nutrients each day because it does not have big storage for nutrients to draw upon.  So we need to get those nutrients from food.  The problem is that when we eat less to lose weight then we are also eating less nutrients.  This is one of the biggest reasons that we gain weight back, because when we are starved for nutrients our body will want to slow the metabolism down so that we don't need the nutrients.  Whatever you are not eating that you still need you should be supplementing to ensure that you keep that metabolism cranking!
  4. What signal is my workout sending to my body?  WHAT does that mean?!?!  Whatever we do throughout our day tells our body what is expected of it, and then our body adapts to that so it can establish homeostasis, or balance with the environment.  When we exercise we can control to a great degree that signal so that we can get a very specific adaptation.  For example, let's say that I have been doing the same circuit at the gym, or taking the same classes, for 2 months, heck even 2 years, our body has made all of the changes from that workout that is gonna!  That is why your group exercise instructor does not just get skinnier and skinnier, their body adapted!
  5. How is my sleep?  I know that you are not always 100% in control of this but it has a huge impact on your body.  80% of the recovery from life, which includes exercise, happens while you sleep.  If you get insufficient sleep you have inadvertently told your body that you will not give it time to from a strenuous lifestyle, which includes hard workouts.  In response it will tell you that you can't workout as hard anymore.  Then you can't send as strong of a signal for change anymore so it has re-established balance, but not by giving you results, but by limiting your results!
  6. Will I stick to a program?  There is no science to this.  You either want it bad enough to stick to it, or you don't.  FYI - The people who quit their program are not the ones getting insane results because they are getting sweet return for their investment.  The quiters are the ones who are getting little to no results so they are getting a poor return on their investment (by investment I mean time, energy, starvation and money)
  7. How do I know if my plan is working?  The easy answer, and my plug for the day, is to get help.  We offer a FREE BOOT CAMP for 30 days to get people hooked.  But let's pretend that you stuck on going to your gym or using your trainer, that is OK, I am not offended, then use your results as the measuring tool.  The scale does not lie!  If you aren't losing weight it means that your program is not right for you to lose weight, so stop doing it and find one that will!
Answer these questions and you win the grand prize, steady weight loss, answer them incorrectly and you don't lose the game, or anything else.  Don't get frustrated, do some research and find out why things are not working for you.  There are tons of good sources of info for free on the web, of course including this site, so take time and continue to learn until you know enough to get it done!

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  4. Seven slick tricks to get fit fast!

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