It’s the Little Things that Matter with Weight Loss
Let’s face it, it’s never the big things we offend when trying to reduce body fat and adopt a more healthy lifestyle. It’s the little things that accumulate and often sabotage your efforts. We often dismiss the smaller factors as insignificant and then wonder why we become frustrated and can’t reach our goals.
Square one is remembering that this is not a sprint. No one is able to sign up for a ten-pound weight loss in 9.9 seconds. Far too often individuals enter into their health upgrade with the notion that this will last for a period of time. Dedicating a certain number of weeks to a nutritional change, suggests that you will return to your unhealthy ways. So nix the short-term plan and wrap your head around long-term changes that makes sense and feel good for YOU.
I think it’s important to recognize that the food industry is not the health industry. As such, they have very different and distinct goals. Just because the FDA approved a food item as safe, does not translate into being good for your health. Did you know white bread can’t jump? Along with its cousin pasta, these are starchy carbohydrates that can spell real trouble if you don’t watch how much you consume. Unfortunately, these are popular choices in the North American diet, and many people find real comfort when including them in their daily intake. So easing up on the amount and frequency of these types of carbohydrates and often make quite a difference in your waistline. Another consideration is to get these more dense carbohydrates into your system early in the day so you can burn them off.
Always be prepared for a train wreck. Even the most disciplined of individuals will have days where “blowing it” was unavoidable. Far too often when a “blow it “ meal occurs, this seemingly becomes permission to blow the whole day, and possibly even the next day. Get control of your train and get it back on the track. One unfortunate meal is not a good reason to write off an entire 24 hour period. It’s important to realize that one mistake will not be nearly as noticeable as several. So quick correction is the key.
Become your own personal snack fairy. Charging up your metabolism with healthy snacks in between meals is crucial. Gone are the days of three square meals. Grazing is a popular phrase these days in the nutritional world. Simply put, most experts recommend food intake every two to three hours. This keeps you from over-eating at meal time and keeps your calorie burning engine in high gear.
Buddies are a wonderful thing and don’t underestimate their value. A buddy for workouts or weigh-ins is a great method of accountability. Very few of us have the discipline day in and day out to fight off the temptation of our favorite foods, or the reminder of why we need to keep exercising. The things we do repetitively and often are the things we like to do. Connecting with a buddy takes a potentially unpleasant task and turns it into a more enjoyable experience.
Weight loss plans should have more to do with substitution rather than elimination. Finding alternative food items to replace those foods you absolutely love creates a lot of staying power. You may love white bread and believe you cannot survive without it. So rather than eliminating bread altogether, acquaint yourself with another bread like rye. In this way you have not eliminated the satiated feeling that comes from this type of carbohydrate, but replaced it with a more healthful choice.
Examine your intake and activities carefully. Journaling is a great way to realistically see what you are accomplishing. Our minds tend to exaggerate one way or the other and success is built on a true reflection of your efforts. Challenge yourself to be one of the positive statistics in the weight loss category. So many begin a journey they never complete and often this can be tied to little failures rather than many successes. Track the little things and see how this produces big results.
Written by Marilee Arthur
“Do not confuse activity with achievement.” Be informed, be educated, and be effective with every workout.
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Tabata – The 4 Minute Workout
Tabata… It’s a catch phrase that is quickly gaining momentum in the fitness world. Credit to its namesake, Dr. Izumi Tabata and a team of researchers from the National Institute of Fitness and Sports in Tokyo, Japan are responsible for the development of this training system.
In 1996 Dr. Tabata and his team administrated a study. They were able to provide documented evidence of significant physical benefits, utilizing high-intensity intermittent training. Their conclusion redeemed a noted 28 percent increase in anaerobic capacity and a 14 percent increase in their ability to consume oxygen.
The Tabata system is not so much about what exercise is selected, but how you exercise. Simply put, it’s a well-executed work period followed by strategic rest. This high intensity regime is known to produce remarkable results.
Gone are the days of having to spend hours in the gym. Fitness enthusiasts want time efficient workouts that produce marked results. They want to fast track their progress and level of conditioning. Tabata and other interval like workouts achieve this with high intensity work over short periods of time.
The very premise of Tabata workouts is twenty seconds of work, followed by ten seconds of rest. In theory twenty seconds sounds like no big deal. However, it is the combination of work versus rest and the number of rounds that brings physical exhaustion quickly. Using sit-ups as the example imagine the first twenty-second phase as being relatively easy. This is followed by ten seconds of rest. The work periods of twenty-seconds are not about slow controlled execution. You are encouraged to perform the selected exercise at top speed, completing as many repetitions as you possibly can. That twenty second period represents a full-out effort that should represent peak physical fatigue. While the ten second rest period will be a welcome moment both physically and psychologically, it is only long enough for partial recovery. Therefore, each subsequent work period begins with the body in a somewhat fatigued state already. The accumulation of eight rounds of this workout equation will leave the participant exhausted.
There is no limit to the number of exercises that can be included in a Tabata workout, but generally simpler is better. Two to four exercises is ideal for any four minute workout. To increase the intensity and results, consider adding additional four minute rounds with different exercises. Compounded, four-minute workouts are the ultimate challenge. However, in the initial stages of starting Tabata workouts, tackling and completing your first four minute workout should bring real satisfaction.
The Tabata training system is not exclusive to athletic type exercises. This very training system is also used in sport specific training like the martial arts. It has become a very effective way to improve the execution of techniques and the stamina for combat. Likewise, many indoor cycle trainers have also used this method very successfully in their group spin classes.
It has far reaching applications for a variety of sports and fitness workouts. The best part is that is that it is pliable and adaptable to every fitness level. Since the objective is to complete as many as reps as you can in the twenty second period, the benchmark becomes relative to your ability and present conditioning level. As you become more fit, so do your results in each work period. Choosing exercises that are adapted to your fitness level is also a great feature. Grooming the athletic movements according to a participant’s ability ensures that they are less likely to become injured.
While that longer duration, moderate intensity workouts still remit higher calorie expenditure. General estimates suggest that most Tabata workouts remit a 200 to 300 calorie loss. Not bad for only investing 5 to 15 minutes in your workout time.
Written by Marilee Arthur
John Hacker – Tabata Anything 2008
Anthony Colpo – When it comes to cardio, shorter and harder is better. 2008
