What is a Healthy Caloric Intake Amount for Women?

There’s this idea floating around that women needs to restrict to themselves to just 1,200 calories a day to lose weight. Everyone from Good Housekeeping to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute is pushing the 1,200-calorie diet as the best way to lose weight - but is that the best idea for you? 

Why Only Consuming 1,200 Calories (or Even 1,500 Calories) is a Bad Idea

While drastically reducing your daily diet to 1,200 or even 1,500 calories can help you shed weight quickly, these low-calorie diets are way too restrictive and unsustainable for many adults. Actually, consuming just 1,200 calories is one of the WORST things you can do for your long-term weight loss goals!

Here’s why — most adults have a basal metabolic rate higher than 1,200 calories, so your body likely needs AT LEAST 1,2000 calories each day to just exist (and much more if you’re regularly working out). If you don’t eat enough to meet your basal metabolic needs, your body will protect itself by conserving calories. This means slowing your metabolism and converting any spare calories into fat.  In short, the less you eat, the slower your metabolic rate will be, so losing weight and getting in shape will be all the more difficult. What’s more, following a low-calorie diet can result in vitamin and mineral deficiencies, fatigue and cravings (which can lead to yo-yo dieting and other unhealthy eating patterns). 

How Many Calories Should You Consume?

So, if 1,200 or 1,500 calories isn’t enough for many adults and can lead to a slower metabolism, severe nutritional deficiencies, and unhealthy eating patterns, how many calories should you consume each day to achieve your weight loss goals? The Dietary Guidelines for Americans puts women’s daily calorie requirements between 1,600 and 2,400 calories.

While this is a good starting place, it doesn’t tell the whole story. The exact caloric intake women should aim for depends on several factors, including their age, body size, activity level, and level of lean mass. After all, taller women or women with more lean mass will burn more calories at rest, and those between the ages of 19 and 30 will burn more calories at rest than those younger than 19 or older than 30. Similarly, women with highly active lifestyles will burn more calories than their sedentary counterparts. In fact, women regularly working out will probably need AT LEAST 2,000 calories!

These are guidelines from the Institute of Medicine’s equation to get a sense of how many calories you should be consuming. They have broken their recommendations into a few categories:

• Sedentary women between the ages of 19 and 30: 2,000 calories

• Moderately women between the ages of 19 and 30: 2,000-2,200 calories

• Active women between the ages of 19 and 30: 2,400 calories

• Sedentary women between the ages of 31 and 50: 1,800 calories

• Moderately active women between the ages of 31 and 50: 2,000 calories

• Active women between the ages of 31 and 50: 2,200 calories

• Sedentary women 51 or older: 1,600 calories

• Moderately active women 51 or older: 1,800 calories

• Active women 51 or older: 2,000 - 2,2000 calories

Of course, these are very broad guidelines that don’t consider women’s height, weight, or lean body mass. 

Find The Right Caloric Intake And Achieve Your Fitness Goals

Everyone is different, so there’s no magic number of calories that will work for everyone.  Consider getting a coach to help guide you through all this! 

Once you’ve kicked the myth that women need to restrict themselves to 1,500 calories — or even 1,200 calories — per day to lose weight to the curb, don’t forget to work out.  If you just focus on how many calories you consume, you won’t be able to look and feel your absolute best.  If you need help or encouragement, contact me at happyhelen@gmail.com!

How to Lose Belly Fat

Anyone can have belly fat — and what is super annoying is that not only does it affect appearances, but it comes with a plethora of health problems. While the subcutaneous fat located just below the skin merely poses cosmetic concerns, the visceral fat around internal organs is associated with health issues such as abnormal cholesterol levels, high blood pressure, heart disease, and type 2 diabetes. 

Why Does Belly Fat Happen?

What exactly causes belly fat? When overeating and under-exercising, you’ll end up with unused calories. Everything has to go somewhere, so your body will store this energy as fat, likely in the belly, hips, thighs, and butt.

Who Has Belly Fat?

Anyone can have belly fat - it doesn’t discriminate.  However, it’s particularly common among older women, as the lower estrogen levels caused by menopause can cause the body to disproportionately distribute fat to the abdomen.  It’s a physiological change that nearly all women experience during menopause — even those who have never had much fat! The body can often transition from storing fat in the hips and thighs (creating a pear shape) to the abdominal area (resulting in an apple shape).

 Aging men also struggle with belly fat as well.  The change is slower and steadier for men than women, as men of all ages are already more likely to store fat in their abdominal area.

You can also blame your genetics, as people with certain genes are more likely to store fat around the waist.

What Can You Do About Your Belly Fat?

While belly fat may seem unavoidable (unfortunately, you can’t change your genetics or stop the aging process), the good news is that it’s not hopeless.  There are a few things you can do to combat this problem.  

First, not surprisingly, have a healthy diet.  Eat unprocessed foods like fruits, vegetables, fish, nuts, and plenty of protein. Cut out sugary beverages, watch your portion sizes, and consume limited amounts of sugar.

Doing a bunch of abdominal exercises can help build your muscles, but it won’t help you get rid of belly fat.  You still need to be in a caloric deficit to lose fat regardless of what exercises you do. That being said, if you build ab muscles, they will pop out more when you lose the fat! 

You will want to have a solid plan of resistance training to build muscle and increase your metabolism, but you can also add other physical activities that are fun for you!  This could be hiking, biking, swimming, or any sports you love.  After all, having an intense workout routine that gets you results isn’t any good if you can’t follow it.  The most important part is being able to be consistent.  

Results tend to be faster in the beginning when starting a new workout and food routine — however, belly fat is notoriously stubborn.  If you hit a plateau, and you notice your caloric deficit is too low (for instance, 1200 calories for women is too low and not sustainable long term) - you will want to reverse diet out of this while changing your exercise routine. It’s always good to create new stimuli so your body doesn’t keep adapting.  

In terms of a reverse diet, consuming an extra 150-250 calories per day while keeping up strength training will increase your metabolism and help your body burn more fat in the long run.  Similarly, switching training gears for a few weeks can prompt your body to burn more fat and get you past that plateau.  For instance, if you’ve been lifting sets of 8-12, you can switch to a strength phase of heavier weights at sets of 1-4 reps. 

Above all, be compassionate toward yourself! Plenty of people have belly fat — and it’s not easy to get rid of. If you need some help reducing your belly fat, contact me at happyhelen@gmail.com today!

Key Concepts of Sustainable Fat Loss

I can make anyone lose weight. All I have to do is restrict your food and make you do two hours of cardio a day. But how long can you do that for before burning out or binging on snacks?

Here are some key concepts of sustainable fat loss, along with 10 steps on how to change for the healthier!

• Diet is everything.  You can workout everyday but not lose fat if you don’t change your eating habits.  The only way to lose fat is to create a DEFICIT — burn more than you eat.  BUT it’s not that simple because the choice in food and the emotions we attach to eating can be hard to navigate.  Eating 1500 calories of natural whole foods vs pizza and chips have two different results.  

• You can’t be eating at deficit for the rest of your lives - your  body WILL push back at some point.  If you are eating 1000 calories a day, one day your body will hold onto fat and you can’t lose anymore. THAT’S why you also need to lift weights to increase your metabolism.  Building muscle will allow your body to burn fat at rest.  Exercise is also how we change our body composition for the better - if you just lose weight without any muscle, you can also be skinny fat.  Muscle also protects your JOINTS! 

• The only way to create sustainable, life-long changes is to change your entire lifestyle.   If you lose 100 pounds over 10 years vs 3 months, I promise you those 10 years will create some amazing life-long habits to keep the weight off.  The longer it takes for you to get there, the more lasting the impact.  SLOW CHANGES ARE THE MOST LASTING ONES.

• There is no “best” method of weight loss for YOU.  No doctor, no trainer, no therapist, nobody can tell you the BEST method that works for your body.  You have to figure that out for yourself.  Because no one person is the same.  There is only trial and error of what works for your body and mind.   People can guide you, give you suggestions, but only YOU can decide if you are going to commit to it and if it works for you.  

• The actual weight loss is the easy part.  The hard part is keeping it off for the rest of your life while feeling energetic, happy and healthy.  And the only way to do this is to be open minded, try new things, and realize this is not a quick process.  It is not unusual to spend years trying new things to find out what works best for you.  

10 STEPS TO CHANGING YOUR BODY COMPOSITION FOR A HEALTHIER YOU:

1. Track your food on an app like My Fitness Pal.  Yes, it’s tedious and no, you don’t have to do it forever.  But without writing it all down, you will not be 100% aware of what you are putting in your body or the macros it contains.  After tracking for 2-3 weeks, you can start to examine your macronutrient breakdowns of carbs/protein/fat.

2. Aim for 1g of protein per pound of bodyweight.   It should feel like you are always eating protein.  Eat protein first before carbs for all meals/snacks. This step is EXTREMELY important if not one of the most important things most people have to focus on. 

3. Meal Prep on Sundays.  Sorry, there is no easy way to have long-lasting body composition changes without cooking and eating healthy.  You can buy meal plans or go to some weight loss clinic to give you the food, but if you want to keep it off the rest of your life, you will need to learn to cook for yourself.  Even if it’s a few simple recipes that you can call your “home base.”

4. Figure out your HOME BASE meals.  Pick a few recipes that you enjoy and that are made of all whole, non processed foods, with both protein and veggies.  Beef, chicken, turkey are all great choices.  Any veggies but aim for some green veggies too.  Eating healthy does not have to be BORING or NOT TASTY.  You have to experiment and find ones you like.  Those few recipes will be your HOME BASE.  Anytime you have weeks or weekends of not-so-great eating (like weddings, vacations, holidays), go back to HOME BASE on Sundays and start next week with those healthy recipes.

5. Following weeks or weekends where you are eating a lot of sugars/heavy carbs - cut out anything processed for a few days to a week - anything from a box, plastic bag, booze, sugars, no take-outs, etc.  The purpose of this is to give you an awareness of how much your body can change in terms of how you can feel just by eating ALL non processed foods. Your body needs to get rid of some of that inflammation.  Take a before and after pic of that week - same angle, same lighting, same underwear.  I promise you you will see body comp changes for that one week  - not to mention feeling better.  This will demonstrate to you the power of unprocessed foods, even if it’s for a short period. Not only that, we are teaching your body to associate how it FEELS with whole, natural foods after a sugar/processed food binge. You may need to do this a few times to get the mind-body connection.

6. Make sure you get daily N.E.A.T.  

7. Lift weights or do some sort of resistance training (bands, TRX).  Make sure the effort is at least 7 out of 10. 

8. Drink water.  Drink twice as much as you do now to see how it feels.  Your body holds onto more water the less you drink!!!  

9. Get 7-8 hours of sleep.   

10. Consistency trumps everything.  If you do well one week and then don’t revisit for 2 weeks, you won’t see results.  It’s better to be consistent for 1-2 days a week over a year, then 5 days a week for half the weeks of the year.  

If you feel like you are doing all 10 steps and not seeing results, it is probably due to a few things:

1. You are still eating in maintenance or surplus while not burning enough calories per day. You need to go longer without unprocessed foods.  I promise it’s not forever.  Once your body reaches a point where it feels like it's in a deficit (but on HEALTHY whole foods) then you can slowly be more relaxed and add stuff back in.  But sometimes that initial jump start needs to be longer - with unprocessed foods. 

2. Increase your daily NEAT combined with a longer period of unprocessed foods until your body responds.  I like to use NEAT vs cardio because if you do too much cardio to create a deficit, your body can adapt quickly and it stops working.  You don’t want to get to a point where your body can only lose weight by running 2 hours a day and eating less calories.  That’s why this is a slow process! 

3. Do not forget to do some resistance training as part of this process.

Everyone is different - these are just guidelines that work well for the general population.   If you can afford it, hire a trainer who can customize your plan and guide you through the process and give you accountability. 

Slow and steady wins the race.  If you want to lose weight quickly, then eat nothing and do 2 hours of cardio a day.  If you want to lose weight and keep it off, you know what to do now :-)

What’s More Important for Weight Loss: Diet or Exercise?

If you’re trying to lose weight, you’ve probably heard conflicting advice. Maybe your friend swears that dieting is more important for weight loss, while your gym buddies argue that exercising is the way to go….but who’s right?

Exercise

People often push exercise as the answer to weight loss. Everyone from fitness coaches to Coca-Cola says that if you exercise enough, you’ll lose weight. Exercising can help you burn calories and gain muscles, which will raise your resting metabolic rate.  

While it’s true that exercising can help you lose weight, you probably won’t lose as much weight as you’re expecting. Exercise only accounts for 10-30% of your total energy expenditure, while digesting food uses around 10% - so, why exercise?

Despite the limited immediate effect exercising has on weight loss, it’s still important for a variety of reasons. Exercise builds muscle, which speeds up your metabolism and accelerates fat loss. Studies have linked exercise with lower risks of developing cognitive impairments, such as dementia or Alzheimer’s. Exercise can reduce your blood pressure and the risk of type 2 diabetes, along with preventing heart attacks and strokes.

But behaviorally, those who exercise are also more conscientious about what they eat - which leads to the next part.  

Diet

Most health experts would agree that your diet is more important for weight loss.  After all, food is responsible for all of the calories we gain, while exercising only makes up 10-30% of your calorie expenditure.

In a study published in PLOS One, researchers found that the Hadza — an indigenous group located in Tanzania — burn the same amount of calories each day as today’s average Westerner.  While an American might spend a large portion of their day sitting behind a desk, the Hadza have a very active lifestyle and spend their time hunting and gathering all day.  Despite the lifestyle differences, Westerners and the Hadza burned the same amount of calories. 

Researchers concluded that our body adapts to the amount of calories we expend — and that there is also a max we can potentially burn regardless of how much physical activity we do — which means it can be hard to lose weight by exercising more.  And that the Hadza are healthier thanks to their eating habits.

What you put in your body matters, but a restrictive diet is not without its drawbacks. Unfortunately, it’s easy to underestimate portions and overeat.  It can also be difficult to avoid processed foods.  Restrictive diets can be difficult to sustain long-term and can result in harmful eating habits like binge eating. Your body may even conserve fat, stop non-essential systems, and release chemicals to make you think about food when you’re on a diet. 

The Perfect Combination

So, is dieting or exercising more important for weight loss? If you are purely looking at it in terms of short-term weight loss, then generally speaking, the answer is diet.  It’s very difficult to lose weight without changing your diet.  And plenty of people have lost weight by not changing a single thing to their workouts (myself included).  However, long-term success in keeping off your weight most likely will involve an exercise component.

Your diet alone can’t build muscle, can’t increase your endurance, mobility or bone density.  You still need to exercise to do that.  If you want to live a long life, you still need to do some form of physical activity.

There’s no one-size-fits-all way to lose weight and it is different for everyone, but a combination of both dieting and exercising is the most effective way for most people.  

Need help losing weight? Contact me at happyhelen@gmail.com today!

Do You Need Cardio to Lose Weight?

If you’re trying to lose weight, one of the first things you may be considering is doing some cardio. But actually - research shows that cardio is not necessary to lose weight and not only that, it is not a great strategy for long-term fat loss. So, if you were dreading those long runs, swims, or bike rides, don’t worry! With a combination of proper nutrition and resistance training, you can lose weight more effectively than with cardio alone.

A Combination of Exercise and Diet Is Best

Studies have shown that a combination of exercise and a healthy diet is the most effective way to lose fat. In one study, overweight postmenopausal women were placed on a diet-only program, an exercise-only program, or a combined exercise and diet program. Women in the exercise-only program only experienced 2.4% fat loss, while women in the diet-only program saw 8.5% fat loss. Those in the combination program experienced an impressive 10.8% fat loss. 

Some of you may have heard of HITT (high intensity interval training) as an effective way to burn fat.  Now while HITT cardio does burn calories and work type I muscles more efficiently than LISS (low-intensity steady-state) cardio, resistance training is actually better for long-term fat loss. Resistance training burns calories, builds type II muscles, and increases your resting metabolic rate, making it easier to manage your body’s fat ratio over time.

Resistance Training vs. Cardio

Let’s discuss the difference in terms of resistance training vs. cardio for fat loss.  Yes, if you compare side-by-side someone who does an hour of running vs. an hour of resistance training - yes, the cardio will burn more calories in that hour.  But the reason why this does not work for long-term fat loss is because over time, your body adapts to cardio, which means you have to keep doing more and more of it to have the same result.  I have personal experience in this- I was a marathon swimmer which means I swam anywhere between 3-6 hours in one session in the ocean.  I swam about 20-30 hours a week.  I did LOTS of cardio but guess what — my body never lost a pound! My body adapted to that cardio very quickly.  Just ask yourself - are you REALLY going to be doing 3 hours of cardio a day for the rest of your life to keep the same weight? 

Resistance Training for Long-Term Fat Loss

Building muscle is one of the best long-term strategies to long-term fat loss. When we build muscle, we increase our metabolic rate and burn more calories at rest.  Not only that, having muscles prevents injuries, protects our joints and increases our quality of life.  You don’t need to be lifting like a bodybuilder to have benefits — you just need some progressive loading that’s done safely.  However, building muscle and strength is something that requires patience to see over time - which means you have to trust the process! 

Some clients panic because when they start lifting, they gain muscle and fat and the scale goes up.  THAT IS OKAY! It’s very hard to gain muscle without fat.  Also diet is key — it doesn’t matter cardio or resistance training, a proper balanced nutrition will always have a huge impact on what happens to your body.

When starting your resistance training regiment, complex multi-joint resistance exercises are the way to go.  These are movements like deadlifts, squats, overhead presses -  as they use many joints at once and recruit more muscle movement.  This increase in muscle movement will increase caloric expenditure as well.  Muscles use around 7 to 13 calories per pound of muscle while fat only uses 2 to 5 calories per pound of muscle.  Of course, everyone is different but the point is - the more muscles you have, the more calories you burn doing anything! 

If you want to lead a healthier lifestyle and need a little help with your resistance training, reach out to me at happyhelen@gmail.com today!

Four Reasons Why Strength Training Will Help You With Weight Loss

Most people who are hoping to lose weight often only focus on cardio workouts for fat loss. While cardio is certainly an effective method of weight loss, incorporating strength training into your workouts can help you lose the weight and keep it off! Here are some reasons why strength training can help you get to your goals: 

1. The afterburn effect. Burning calories at a faster rate than usual doesn’t have to stop when your workout stops. With the afterburn effect, your body’s metabolic rate will remain elevated as you recover after your strength training session. During the 24-48 hours following your workout, your body will burn more calories than usual as it works to repair muscles, remove lactic acid, and restore oxygen levels. 

2. It can improve your metabolic rate. Your body uses more calories to maintain muscle than to maintain fat. Since strength training builds muscle, your metabolic rate will increase over time. With an increased muscle mass, your body will burn even more calories while you’re working, sleeping, going about your daily activities, or doing nothing other than breathing! 

3. It can reduce belly fat. According to a study published in 2014 that tracked over 10,000 men for more than 12 years, weight training is more strongly associated with less belly fat than aerobic exercise. 

4. It changes your body composition. Strength training builds muscle, and muscle is denser than fat. You can weigh the same on the scale but the person who has more muscle looks leaner.  Ultimately, when women want the “tone” look, they actually mean muscle - because the muscle is what gives your body definition.  

Are you ready to add strength training to your weight loss plan? If you’d like a little help with creating an effective strength training workout, reach out to me at happyhelen@gmail.com!

Why Spot Reduction is a Myth

Most newbie clients come to me wanting to spot reduce. They would say, “I want to get rid of this!” while pointing to a specific area of fat on their body. My response: If only we can! I would be a rich woman......

Spot reduction is a claim that if you target a certain area of your body when working out, then that specific area will reduce in body fat. For instance, doing a bunch of crunches will eliminate the fat from your abs. Unfortunately, that is not the case.

There have been many studies done on this subject, showing that resistance training on one specific area actually ends up giving off a generalized fat loss all over your body. In a recent study done by University of Connecticut, participants completed a 12-week resistance training program where their non-dominant arm was exercised - but not the other. They measured their subcutaneous body fat before and after the program and results showed that only overall fat loss occurred, and none specifically in the arm!

The reason? The fat in the fat cells are known as triglycerides and our muscle cells cannot use these triglycerides as fuel. Therefore, the fat must be broken down into fatty acids that enters the bloodstream. This means that the fat broken down can come from anywhere in the body, not just the area you exercised!

So then, you ask...why do we target specific areas when using weights? Why bother doing bicep curls or squats, if fat loss can be from anywhere?

The reason is that even though we can't lose fat from a specific place, we CAN build muscle there! There is no such thing as “being toned” - it is actually just having your muscle pop out after building them! So we need to do some resistance training to build muscle so it can show that defined look you want.

Of course, you still have to have a good diet to get the look you want. However, not everything is about caloric restriction- you want to make sure your metabolism is at a good place before you start cutting calories for fat loss. Otherwise, you can't sustain it for the rest of your life!

Need help with fat loss and muscle gain? Talk to Helen and she can help you get on the right track!

Why Eating Less Can Cause You to Store More Fat

A common problem I see with female clients is that the minute they want to lose weight, they cut calories drastically. And by drastic, I mean anything under 1200 calories is way too low, if you are over 5 feet tall. What makes me crazy is that there are articles out there saying “1200 calories” is the perfect amount for many people – that make no sense! Everyone has different metabolisms.

But, at the same time, I get it. I went through this myself — if you want to lose weight, you create a caloric deficit. You can do this by eating less or working out more. Some people choose to do both at once (which I don't recommend but that's a whole other topic).

However, when you eat less than ideal for your body weight, the problem most people run into is that after a certain amount of time, it slows down your metabolism. Your body is smart- it is always trying to be efficient and saving energy. If you eat a lot, your body is like, “Hey! Food is plentiful so we can keep using the energy stores!” But if you eat less, your body thinks, “Oh crap, survival mode so let's slow down the metabolism to store the energy as fat for later!”

How do you know when you are eating too little? Some potential signs:

1. You don't feel hungry a lot. When your metabolism is slow you don't feel as hungry as frequently or at all. (Keep in mind you can also eat too MUCH and never feel hungry so this is varied from person to person).

2. You workout frequently and feel tired. If you are active (do some physical activity everyday) but you feel tired a lot, then your body is telling you you may not be eating enough.

3. You track your foods and are under 1200 calories a day.

How to Change Your Metabolism to Lose Fat

1. Lift heavy weights with compound movements with appropriate rest intervals.

2. Lift consistently – at least 2-3 times a week.

3. Eat enough calories to support your heavy lifting. On days you lift, you should definitely be upping your calories with healthy carbs and protein.

4. Get your calories up to a decent amount before cutting. Decent amount should be at least over 2500 calories for a woman. (Yes ladies, I am blowing your mind that you can eat this much and not gain weight). This strategy is called reverse dieting.

5. Get a trainer to help customize the best food and training program for your goals.

Contact Helen to help you with changing your metabolism to a roaring one, to a point where you can burn calories while sitting on your butt at work! Email HelenLinFitness@gmail.com for your free phone consultation today.

Why We Should Focus on Function over Aesthetics

Every client comes to me wanting to lose weight or to look better.  When I first got a personal trainer, I wanted to look like fitness model Zuzka Light until my coach told me she was at an unhealthy level of body fat.  It was then I realized I had no idea what “healthy” looked like.  And that is because healthy looks different for different people, and there is no set “look” for health.

Why focusing on our looks does not represent good health:

1.       You can look like a fitness model and have an unhealthy relationship with food.  In fact, a lot of them do! Becoming obsessive over food choices and restricting certain foods can end up an eating disorder for some people.  Not to mention you would also have some nutrient deficiency.

2.       You can be skinny fat. 

3.       You can have diabetes and heart disease and look thin. 

4.       Looks are fleeting and relative.  For some people you may look big and others you look small.

5.       The scale means nothing if you weight train.  Muscle and fat weigh the same (no, one does not weigh more than another) but muscle takes up less space than fat, so you look leaner, but scale numbers do not change – sometimes it will go up!

Why focusing on function and performance is better for your health (and looks!):

1.       You can measure performance and strength.  Are you increasing in weights each week? Are you moving better? Are you more flexible? If YES, it’s progress!

2.       You can feel the difference.  Less daily pain.  Less achy joints.  You feel stronger.

3.       You can tell energy levels.  You are less tired.  You have more energy at work.

4.       You sleep better.  Your quality and length of sleep improves.  You wake up feeling rested and ready for the day!

The BEST part of focusing on function over looks is that once you start focusing on strength and movement, your looks automatically get better! It’s a win-win.

Think about when you are 80-years old, do you want to be self-sufficient or only LOOK self-sufficient? I think no one can argue that looks may fade but we care about quality of life more.  But the truth is, if I am a 80-year old who can move well and take care of myself, there is no doubt I will look younger.  Resistance training has been shown to reverse aging process.

As your trainer, I care about your long term health and quality of life. I care about making sure you stay active, keep those bones and joints strong, and feeling life without aches and pains.  Focusing on function instead of looks will guarantee you live a long, healthy and happy life.  And I promise you will look great too!

Why Cardio Sucks For Fat Loss

Want to lose Fat? Stop doing a bunch of cardio!

Are you someone who wants to "tone" and lose fat but spend your time running or doing a bunch of cardio and wondering why the fat is not coming off? Diet of course is important but also understand what you are telling your body when you do cardio all the time. 

CARDIO SUCKS FOR LONG TERM FAT LOSS.

Cardio is great for cardiovascular health.  It is great for improving your endurance.  But it is not going to build you muscle, aka the "toning" you desire.  When women want to "tone", what they really mean is they want to build muscle.  

Our body is a great machine that is good at any adaptation that we throw its way.  When you do a lot of cardio, you are sending an adaption signal to be good at endurance and you don't need a lot of muscle for endurance.  In fact, what happens is over time with excessive cardio, your body starts to store fat.  

Believe me, I was a marathon swimmer- I swam for 3-6 hours in the ocean or pool (5-6 days a week) and not lost a single pound - and my body composition looked the same.  My body had no reason to lose fat because as it adapted, it became more efficient to swim long distances which means it got easier and my body was not using much energy to do it.  

So what's the answer? RESISTANCE TRAINING.  When you do resistance training, you are now sending a whole different signal to your body to BUILD muscle.  

Why build muscle? It increase your resting metabolic rate! Even though side by side, an hour of cardio burns more calories than an hour of weight training, but every pound of muscle you gain you increase your resting metabolic rate by about 50 calories a day.  That's your body burning calories by doing nothing.  

For your cardiovascular health, keep your cardio to twice a week for 30 minute sessions.  Your daily movement can count towards your cardio.   Or a walk around the block with your dog.   But no need to spend 60 minutes on a treadmill each day.  Do resistance training 2-3 times a week is way more beneficial than a daily run (if your goal is to lose fat).  

As you build muscle and have a proper nutrition that goes with it, your body composition will change.  But the scale can go up or down depending on a variety of factors- sleep, diet, carbs (holds water), stress, and/or your workout.   You CAN LOSE WEIGHT AND NOT LOSE ANY BODY FAT!  You can also see an increase in scale when you start to build muscle as well.  That's why it's beneficial to work with a trainer who can help you monitor all these different aspects since the scale is very deceiving when you start doing resistance training.  

WHY WOMEN SHOULD STRENGTH TRAIN - Benefits of Lifting Heavy Part 2

WHY WOMEN SHOULD STRENGTH TRAIN - Benefits of Lifting Heavy Part 2

Last blog discussed the mental hurdles women have to get through to show up in the weight room.  This issue I will discuss the benefits of strength training for everyone, no matter what stage of fitness you are at. 

Are you someone in any of these categories? 

1) Trying to Lose Weight / Change Body Composition - I'm sorry to break it to you but cardio sucks at changing body composition.  Any new stimulus will change your body in the beginning but cardio sends an adaption signal to your body and not muscle building, which means overtime, your body will adapt to any cardio you throw at it.  Women always tell me they want to "tone" their body; that toning is muscle and to build muscle you need to strength train.  

2) Improve Athletic Performance -  Most athletes know that strength training increases power, agility and even endurance. Yes, even endurance athletes need strength training to improve their performance. 

3) Prevent Injury - Everyone has muscular imbalances.  Whether you sit at a desk all day or are a fitness addict, strength training will correct those imbalances from bad posture to overuse from your athletic pursuits.  
  
4) Combating or Recovering from Illness - Exercise helps speed recovery from illnesses and diseases and strength training is necessary to get your body back in proper range of motion and mobility.  Cancer, Parkinson's, Ehlers-Dahlos...all need some sort of strength training program. 

5) Improve Quality of Life / Combat Aging - We ain't getting younger but we can feel like we are! Improve your mood, libido, sleep and overall daily function.  From personal experience, everyday I strength train, I feel stronger and younger.  If you have kids, you want to be able to pick them up without pulling your back, or even move furniture around with having to pop an ibuprofen after.  

Strength Training doesn't have to some long, tedious, scary-looking workout in a weight room at a gym with huge dudes.  To start, you can do it in the comfort of your own home with bodyweight exercises or something like a TRX.   As a trainer, I will always recommend doing the major compound movements with a barbell but if you really can't get to the gym, I recommend getting a TRX and doing some basic movements I will outline in my newsletters or on my Facebook page.  Once the TRX becomes too easy for you for resistance levels, then you can consider getting some weights or maybe get to your nearest gym!

WHY WOMEN SHOULD STRENGTH TRAIN - Benefits of Lifting Heavy Part 1

WHY WOMEN SHOULD STRENGTH TRAIN - Benefits of Lifting Heavy Part 1

Culturally, women do cardio and men lift weights. For whatever reason this divide happens at every gym, and it wasn't really until Crossfit came along that they did a good job of making lifting seem cool to women.  Now we are seeing more women in the weight room, but it is still in the minority compared to men.  

Popular reasons for women not wanting to strength train:
1) Boredom.  Women often find the same lifts boring and can't stay excited to do it.

2) Lack of Education.  Women often don't understand the full benefits of why they should do it.  "Running is good enough for my health" or "These group exercise classes I do are enough fat burning for my health." 

3) Gym-timdation.  Women often find  the scary looking weights/machines intimidating to approach.  And they have no idea how to use them.  Not to mention the dudes who are grunting in the corner and women are worried the guys are judging or trying to hit on them.
  
4) Becoming The Hulk.  Women think you lift heavy and BOOM you become The Hulk.  Ladies, those images of shredded women you see take YEARS of training 5-6 times a week and they most likely take drugs.  

Once I became a trainer, I feel like I learned a secret that most women don't know:

Strength Training is the answer to everything. 

Do you want to...

Look sexier and feel more confident? Strength Train
Decrease bone loss as you age? Strength train
Combat and recover from disease and illness? Strength train
Pick up your toddlers or move furniture around without pulling your back out? Strength train
Increase your sex drive? Strength train
Do better at your sport without injury? Strength train
Feel more alert and creative at work? Strength train
Sleep better, improve mood and live a longer life? Strength train

You say, "Well my life is great now, I don't need it! How do strength training solve all these problems anyways?"  Tune into the next blog to find out!