Dieting makes it hard to maintain a healthy weight

It’s no secret I mistrust the weight loss plans found in many health and fitness magazines. I feel they don’t take into account all aspects of how our bodies burn calories and that they end up sending readers off in pursuit off what amounts to a starvation diet.

I used one example in the article Do Magazine Diets Sabotage Weight Loss?, in which women were instructed to consume 1,400 calories per day while getting regular exercise. After all factors are accounted for, women following this diet are left with only 500 to 800 calories to fuel their vital organs (the number of calories required to do this is known as BMR), much less than they need. Is it just me or does this plan sound unhealthy, even for a women with a low BMR of 1,200.

The reason so few calories would be left over is that about 140 would be burned off through digestion, 400 through exercise and several hundred more through non-exercise activity thermogenesis, which is the remainder of the movements we make throughout the day. Many diet plans don’t seem to take into account the combined effects of diet and exercise.

Will you still lose weight?
Some of you are probably thinking, who cares if it’s healthy, at least I’ll lose the weight. But that might not be entirely true. When our bodies aren’t getting enough calories they start conserving and metabolism slows. It’s that very same ability that kept our ancestors alive in times of famine. When your body thinks food is scarce it begins to store more calories as fat.

So while you may think restricting calories to the extreme will help you meet your goals it can actually do the opposite. When you finally give up on these impossible diet plans, as most people do, your body won’t automatically go back to burning the amount of calories it did before you started, but chances are you’ll go back to eating the same amount of food. This is the reason people quit diets and end up weighing more than before they started.

Calorie restriction causes a loss of lean muscle tissue, which is one reason your metabolism will slow. During caloric deficit the body can’t build muscle because it’s too busy using it for fuel. Why would you want to destroy the very thing that speeds up your metabolism and allows you to take in more calories?

If you’re still not convinced, I took some weight loss and weight maintenance advice I gathered from other websites and applied it to myself. For the most part the results don’t even come close to my actual situation. If I followed their advice I would be one unhappy and unhealthy woman.

But don’t give up on your healthy living plans, it is possible to make positive changes in your body that you’ll be able to maintain. As far as I’m concerned it’s a lot easier to lose weight than diet “experts” would have you believ.

crystals dieting and fitness, women's fitness nutrition

Guest post by Jim Rollince

“Find the fun in exercise:” the best fitness advice that I can give anybody. And although I’m not a personal trainer myself, I do know that exercise, although as important as it may be, can sometimes be dull and routine.

Throughout life, you’ll hear things like “learn to love what you do,” and “make the best of it.” Although sometimes accurate, it’s important that we do things we like. Learning to like, in my opinion, is much different from naturally charming an exercise that’s enjoyable. Routines can be easy, and not very strenuous; but after all, they are just routines. As practitioners of fitness and exercise, we should teach ourselves new things, while also teaching our body the same. This is inherently true with things like dance. More specifically, Zumba is an excellent example of something dissimilar, fun, and exclusive. The ability to genuinely enhance cardiovascular function and endurance, while practicing muscle memory routines effectively exercises the whole body. Moreover, it’s very entertaining!

Entering into intramural sporting activities is another way to stay in shape while having some fun! This would include things like summer league softball, volleyball, soccer, etc… Meanwhile, there are less strenuous athletic events like kickball tournaments. Some towns are even host to dodge ball events! Depending upon your competitive level, it may be necessary to enter into a B league, or perhaps even co-ed. This will surely be a primer for more intramurals to come – Leagues typically run all year depending upon each facility’s ability to house its competitors.

But again, exercising doesn’t have to be routine, or highly competitive; so it’s with my last suggestion that I present to you outdoor activities. These are things like swimming, kayaking, tubing, jogging, mountain climbing, etc.. All of these activities are thoroughly enjoyable, and will shed calories. Although some of the above can be viewed as leisurely, they can be very effective ways to stay in shape. Treadmills and Ellipticals will shed weight and enhance muscle strength/endurance, but will never capture the soul and rhythm of dance, or perhaps the wonderment of climbing a mountain.

Remember to pull away from your everyday fitness routines and home gyms. Pick up a class or two of Zumba, or sign up for an intramural soccer league, and be on your way to fitness pleasure and diversity!

Jim Rollince is from Gym Source, distributor of home gym equipment, including treadmills, ellipticals, bikes, arc trainers, and much more! Jim works closely with personal trainers and fitness instructors, helping people to get in shape and stay healthy.

Fit With Us Tips and Tricks, fitness equipment advice, women's fitness

Some plans just don’t add up

I’m always a little confused when I read the details of weight loss plans that I find in popular health and fitness magazines. So I decided to crunch some numbers, and I was more than surprised with what I found.

Why popular weight loss plans concern me

Take this diet I saw in a fitness magazine. It probably sounds a lot like plans you’ve seen in similar publications. The first thing that made me uneasy was a recommended 1,400 calorie a day meal plan. No way, I thought,  you don’t have to starve yourself to lose weight.

Now I’m no expert, but I’ve read what many of them have to say. Most women need a few hundred calories above or below 1,400 (it can vary by person) just so their vital organs function, which means brains, hearts, lungs, kidneys and more. If you don’t consume more calories than that basic amount you’ll be risking your health and likely setting yourself up for a failed attempt at weight loss.

What about calories burned through exercise?

Which brings me to my next point. These weight loss plans don’t end at restricting calorie intake, they also recommend regular strength training and cardio workouts. If you take in 1,400 calories a day and burn off 400 during one workout session, that leaves only 1,000 for your body to use during the rest of the day – much less than what is considered essential. And as we’ve been told by experts in these same magazines, one workout session can boost the amount of calories you burn for hours afterwards, meaning even more calories gone.

What about calories burned through digestion?

But here’s another factor. You have to eat to take in those 1,400 calories, and every time you eat you’ll burn calories. About 10 percent of the calories you take in are burned off through digestion. So if you’re only taking in 1,400 you’ll burn about 140.

What about calories burned through NEAT?

The body’s calorie burning doesn’t stop there. You won’t be lying around doing nothing all day, getting in that one hour of exercise before becoming sedentary again. Every move you make throughout the day causes your body to burn calories, even something as seemingly unimportant as fidgeting. When calories are burned this way it’s known as non-exercise activity thermogenesis or NEAT. Some people fidget and gesture so much throughout the day that they burn up to 350 calories.

When you do the math it’s easy to see why calorie restriction sets dieters up for failure.

crystals dieting and fitness, women's fitness weight loss, women's fitness

How to invest wisely or save pennies as you tone your body

If you want to get buff, or already are and want to maintain it, strength training is the only answer. When you’re at the gym there are endless possibilities for challenging the muscles, including cable and weight stack machines, free weights, isolation stations and more. At home you probably long for the same variety. The good news is it’s easy to get everything you need if you know the price you’re willing to pay.

Splurge
• Life Fitness home gym – If you’ve got about $3,000 kicking around you might be tempted by the Life Fitness G7, which includes a chin-up bar, adjustable cables with quick-lock attachments, dual weight stacks and a mounted exercise book. This home gym is about the best you can get. It allows the user to perform moves on a bench, standing, or using an exercise ball. Search our store to find a variety of home gyms for women.
• Vibration platform- Some say a vibrating platform is simply an unstable surface, much like a stability ball, but others, including many professional athletes and trainers believe it offers much more including increased muscle gains when used as part of a strength training program. Workouts done on a vibration platform are said to require only a few minutes, three to five times a week. Many of these machines cost around $1,000, but Gaiam makes its own version, called the Chi Vibe, which is relatively cheap at between $400 and $500.

Grab the advice below then surf our store to see find great deals on strength training equipment.

Steal
• Pilates bodybands – These kits include an instructional DVD and a set of two or more resistance bands for overall body toning and strengthening. Not only are they about as cheap a strength training system as you can get, at about $30, but they’re extremely portable and easy to store. Just because bands are light in terms of weight, doesn’t mean they can’t put the same force on your muscles as a 10 lb. dumbbell. Besides, you wouldn’t be able to pack your vibration platform in your suitcase and take with you on holiday.
• Stability ball – Sounds too good to be true, but it’s not. Stability balls can be a very useful part of your strength training program. To get the most out of your ball, use it in place of a weight bench. Not only is it a heck of a lot cheaper (about $10 to $20), but it will engage more of your muscles because it’s an unstable surface. You can also use the stability ball to make weight bearing exercises more difficult. Prop it under your hands for push-ups, push your feet into it for pelvic thrusts, place it between your back and the wall when performing squats…the possibilities are endless.

crystals Tips and Tricks, fitness equipment advice fitness equipment, fitness myths, strength training, toning abs

Make good investments – or get great deals- when spending your fitness dollars
When it comes to cardio there are a lot of options. It can be difficult to know where to spend your hard earned money. Do you get one big ticket item and cross your fingers that you’ll put it to use, or do you trust that equipment costing less than $100 will give you everything you need. Here’s a list of some splurges and great steals so you know what you’re up against as you shop for cardio equipment.

Splurge
• Treadmill - The most well-known piece of cardio equipment, fitness treadmills are also some of the most expensive. High end models that have all the things that make treadmills fun – such as individual programs, variable inclines, a wider range of speeds and high tech heart rate monitors and calorie counters – can cost home users upwards of several thousand dollars. Even a cheap store-brand treadmill will cost about $400, and that’s if it’s on sale. If you’ve ever used a health club quality treadmill you might find yourself disappointed if you choose to settle for a relatively lower priced model for your home. So if you’re going to splurge for one of these cardio machines, you might as well go the distance and get one you will actually like.
• Elliptical - Ellipticals offer smooth motion and low-impact aerobic exercise, which is why so many people love using them. Many have moveable handles so you’ll benefit from a total body workout. And if you get one with a good range of incline you’ll be able to work your lower body from a variety of angles, including several that will really target your butt and thighs. I myself have tried a few cheaper elliptical trainers that cost their purchasers as little as $150 to $300, but without incline and the —– to change resistance I found the workouts they lacking. If you choose to splurge on one of these make sure you try it out thoroughly before you buy.

Steal
• Mini steppers – For about $50 you can get one of these compact pieces of equipment that’ll tone your butt while raising your heart rate. Some of these machines come with attached resistance cords so you can work your arms at the same time. The best part about the mini stepper isn’t the price though, it’s the size. They are small enough to store in a cupboard, and you can even put them under your desk to get a bit of cardio in while you work.
• BOSU ball - You might be thinking that a BOSU ball isn’t a cardio machine because it has no motor or even moving parts, but you’d be doing yourself a big disservice. I think it’s what you do with the equipment that counts, and with a BOSU you can do almost anything. These oddly-shaped wonders (they look like half a stability ball attached to a flat platform) give you the butt toning benefit of a step, combined with an uneven surface that forces your body to use core stabilizing muscles at every move. Like mini steppers, some BOSUs have resistance cords attached so you can target your entire body and up the calorie burn.
• Hula hoop – I know what you’re thinking. Those aren’t cardio equipment, they’re children’s toys. That may be true, but there aren’t many other kids toys that’ll burn this many calories and help you lose inches off your entire body (while making you feel years younger), unless of course you count the skipping rope.

crystals Cardio cardio equipment, fitness equipment