Hit a weight loss plateau?

I stumbled upon an interesting article that reminded me of how necessary it is to change up our workout routines, especially when your body reaches a weight loss plateau.

[Read more →]

Occasionally, I’ll discuss or provide links to different Health and Fitness blogs I stumble upon. These sites are worth visiting. Swing by, connect with new people, and enjoy their articles!

I recently stumbled upon the following health blogs sites:

• Working On My Fitness
• smarterthanagrade5
• AlmostFit
• chillibody
• Paul’s Health Blog

Check out these sites and drop a comment.

Also, here is a helpful tool called the Metabolic Rate Calculator

Have Your Say! Please Share Your Blog Fitness Site.

According to this article, home gym equipment in America topped $5 billion in 2006, while 2007 sales increased an additional 3 percent.

Apparently, current numbers are suggesting that more Americans are investing in treadmills; sales surpassed almost $3 billion last year.

I run outdoors because outdoor training has proven most beneficial for me. Remember, just because something worked for me, does not mean it will do the same for you. Everyone is different, and everyone has specific needs. I remember training with treadmills, and soon realizing, to my displeasure, that I was not as conditioned as one might think.

So, I wanted to ask my readers, because I’m sure many of you, like me, have seen treadmills go unused in many homes.

The article offers a list of home gym equipment, of course the lower-cost alternatives to expensive exercise equipment.

• A yoga mat
• Small free weights
• An exercise ball
• A jump rope

Here is the entire article. [Home gyms race hearts, but make them personal]

What kind of home gym equipment have you invested in? What would your dream fitness home gym consist of ?

Welcome to miguelpineiro! Did you forgot about an assignment? Maybe you thought,

I’ll remember, no need to write it down.” Don’t worry, I’m guilty, I failed to plan and follow through.

Here’s an acronym of excellent tips to consider.

John Maxwell created a list of steps to help us plan effectively. The list comes from his book titled “Think of These Things,” by John Maxwell.

P- Predetermine a course of action.

This is your big picture project or purpose. You need a starting point and direction.

L-Lay out your goals.

Understand your goals and write them down.

A-Adjust your priorities.

Western culture is full of busy people; being busy does not equal productive. I learned this lesson in college! Find the most important thing in your schedule.

N-Notify key personnel.

Communicate with your team. Make sure everyone knows his or her part.

A-Allow time for acceptance

Your plan needs time to gain approval. Everyone may not jump of the bandwagon, so allow the necessary time.

H-Head into action.

Talking will only take you and your team so far, set a time limit on your discussions. Implement wisely and deliberately.
E-Expect problems.

The printer broke, my laptop crashed… I’ve heard them all, it is amazing, remember what can go wrong will go wrong. Deal with these issues effectively as they arise.

A-Always point to your successes.

Focus on your accomplishments, sometimes it may be necessary to review old papers or exams your proud of. Remind yourself of how far you come. Encouragement will come to you, as well as the people you lead. Confidence does wonders!

D-Daily review your planning.

Some student master the art of a daily schedule. Budget every hour, then revisit what you accomplished before you hit the sack.

Thanks Troy for tagging me to participate. I thought this would be an excellent idea because it allows me to get personal with my readers. Maybe this could change the way you read my blog.

I’ll let you in on some things you may not know about me…

4 Jobs

The following jobs I’ve held at one time or another.

1. Day Camp Rec Leader- Chicago
2. Office assistant- Chicago
3. Student Recruiter- Tulsa
4. Community Youth Leader- Chicago

4 Places

The following locations I’ve been to at some time or another.

1. San Antonio, TX
2. LA
3. New York City
4. Puerto Rico

4 Bands/Music artists

The following are four bands or music artists I enjoy listening to.

1. David Crowder Band
2. Cross Movement
3. Jamie Cullum
4. John Mayer

4 Foods

The following foods are my favorite foods before and after the awakening.

Were:

1. Fried Chicken
2. Pizza
3. Anything Puerto Rican
4. Wendy’s Triple Stack

Now:

1. Salmon
2. Gilled Chicken
3. Brown Rice
4. Baked Beans

The Reader’s Digest recently discussed ten tips to defeat and prevent hungry cravings.

Go nuts. Drink two glasses of water and eat an ounce of nuts (6 walnuts, 12 almonds or 20 peanuts). Within 20 minutes, this can extinguish your craving and dampen your appetite by changing your body chemistry, says RD’s “Health IQ” columnist Michael F. Roizen, MD.

Everyone is different, but this technique works for me. Try it! Remember, like anything in life, nuts can get old fast. Don’t be afraid to put your own spin to it. Be creative!

Other tips include power napping, rewarding yourself within limits, and enjoying a cup of coffee.

10 Ways to Control Your Cravings (Reader’s Digest)

Tell us your story, what helps to defeat your hungry pains?

How Often Should You Train?

This really depends on your program guildlines: aims, goals, and limits. Here are some weight lifting tips to remember.

• No more than 2-3 days a week
• At least 48-72 hrs between sessions
• May need 72 hrs if your training consist of heavy weight lifting
• A muscle group should not be targeted more than twice a week

What is Overtraining?

Simply stated, when a people pushes themselves to hard without proper rest and recovery. This can occur with any workout program.

How do I know if I’ve Overtrained?

Normally, if your experiencing some of the following symptoms:

• Lasting soreness and stiffness in muscles, joints, and tendons
• Loss in training interest
• Lack of progress
• Problems sleeping
• Headaches
• No energy
• Loss of appetite

Overtraining is self defeating! Your goals are to avoid injury, increase strength, lose body fat, etc

The Secret to your Success!

• Give yourself time off! Stay away from the Gym for several days, or how ever long it takes.
• Relax, spend sometime with family, or friends. Maybe even get outdoor!
• REST! Try to get 7 to 8 hours of sleep a night.
• Take a multivitamin (daily)
• Food intake should be high in protein and carbs, salads, fresh fruit and veggies.
• If you feel like your overtraining, STOP TRAINING!
• Lose the Pride! Don’t try to become someone your not.
• Patience, spread your workout throughout the course of the week.
• REMEMBER, always avoid injury! Take a few days off, instead an injury forcing you to take several months off.

What would you add?

What habits have helped you avoid over training and avoid injury? Do you have any ideas and tips to add to this post? Let us know what you think! Thanks!

What would you add?

I recently did a post on my ‘Ten Tips for Improving Fitness.‘ I want to know what you might add to this list? Maybe you have or had great results from a set of habits or tips developed for improving your fitness, and or to promote weight loss. Please share your set of tips, feedback and ideas.

Remember, don’t assume if something works for you, it will work for everyone else. People have different and specific needs.

Well, in this case, only if the items of this list become apart of your lifestyle.

Here are ten tips that help me improve my fitness.

1. Eat smaller meals; six meals, instead of three big meals.
2. Concentrate on carbs
3. Quality activity
4. Reduce sugary foods
5. Stop drinking pop/soda/coke
6. Find a workout buddy
7. Write down what you eat
8. Plan your workout schedule
9. Don’t overtrain
10. Be patient

1. Eat smaller meals; six meals instead of three big meals.

Your body can quickly digest small meals. Avoid over eating! Big meals slow you down and leave you feeling lazy, sleepy, etc

2. Concentrate on carbs

Remember, not all carbs are bad. See my article on ‘3 Reasons Why you should eat carbs‘ for more on this.

3. Quality activity

This may not be possible for some of you. Aim for three to five days of quality exercise every week. Get creative, get outdoors, don’t settle for just going to the gym.

4. Reduce sugary foods

We all know which foods these are. Remember, you can enjoy a snack, just don’t treat yourself everyday. I find that a reward system works best for me. Pick one day out of the week to eat what you want!

5. Stop drinking pop (soda, coke)

Depending on where your from, we all have different names for it. Try replacing coke with water. This will make a huge impact on your waist line. These kinds of soft drink will slow you down, and add on the weight.

6. Find a workout buddy

A workout partner is necessary for many reasons. This topic could be a post in itself. I find that I’m likely to remain consistent with a partner rather than alone. A workout partner could offer motivation and ensure safely.

7. Write down what you eat

Keep a little note pad with you throughout your day. Review a record of the food you consume daily. This will shock many of us. Keeping a food log will help you to become aware of the junk food you forgot you ate earlier. You can always review these records to determine the foods that should be added or removed from your daily intake.

8. Plan your workout schedule

Remember that old saying, “if you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” I heard this statement often as a child. Take it one week at a time, plan your workout schedule and stick to it. People often schedule events and activities they plan on completing or remaining committed to.

9. Don’t overtrain

It is better to under train instead of over train. Preventing injury is always a must! Never use the same muscle group in consecutive days. Always allow muscles to recover.

10. Be patient

Growth and development never occur over night. Fight the temptation of doing to much. Build discipline , remain consistent and enjoy your workouts.