BIG CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OF OUR SUCCESS THIS LAST WEEK! OUR BIGGEST LOSERS ON MONDAY NIGHT LOST 7 LBS AND 4.8 LBS RESPECTIVELY AND OUR ENTIRE CLASS LOST 25....IN 1 WEEK! Keep up the incredible work! What great to hear is how consistency with the basics and applying the new learning, incredible results can happen!
CONGRATULATIONS to our WLC team for running another great class! Our review game was certainly a HIT! Kudos to Team #2 for totally smashing Team #1..you guys really know your stuff :) And, to everyone that won extra tickets for bringing in your water log...keep that habit up!
INFORMATION FOR NEXT WEEK: Exercise and Raising Your Metabolism!
HERE ARE THE VIDEOS PLAYED IN CLASS! REWATCH AND LEARN MORE ABOUT HEART HEALTH FROM OUR VERY OWN DR. LOU IGNARRO (NOBEL PRIZE LAUREATE) and OMEGA 3'S FROM OUR DR. LUIGI!
Dr. Lou Ignarro Heart Health Video
Dr. Luigi Omega 3 Video
FAQs about Exercise
My hands and/or feet swell during exercise. Is this normal?
Probably. It is normal for your feet to swell a little bit during exercise—enough to make a difference of about one shoe size, but some people may experience even more swelling than that. Others also experience noticeable hand swelling while running or walking. When this swelling is "normal" (not the result of a medical condition), it will usually disappear fairly soon after the exercise stops, and won’t involve other symptoms. If you experience swelling in your extremities, along with symptoms like pain, redness, and shortness of breath, and/or the swelling doesn't go away within a couple of hours after you stop exercising, you should check with your doctor to see if something else is going on. There are many possible explanations for this exercise-induced swelling, and in most cases, several factors probably contribute to it. Here are a few tips for minimizing the problem:
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Shop for your exercise shoes late in the afternoon or soon after a bout of exercise, when you’re feet will be closer to the size they swell to. If that’s not feasible, get them about half a size larger than your normal shoes.
• Take off tight jewelry like rings, watches, and bracelets during exercise.
• When walking or running, keep your elbows bent and your forearms parallel to the ground; don’t keep hands clenched in fists, and stretch your fingers every few minutes.
• During exercise, rest your hands on top of your head every now and then (when feasible) to elevate them above the level of your heart.
• If your exercise session is going to be longer than an hour, and you’ll be sweating pretty heavily, make sure your daily intake of water and salt is balanced. Consider using a sports drink that provides electrolytes for hydration during your long exercise sessions.
I have chronic fatigue syndrome, which makes exercise difficult. Any suggestions?
It's important for people with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) to work in conjunction with their health care providers to start a healthy, reasonable exercise program. Physical activity should be gentle and should be increased slowly over time (in terms of frequency, intensity and duration). Some good examples include yoga, Tai Chi, Pilates, walking, stretching, light strength training, and water exercise. Let your doctor or physiotherapist be your guide when starting a fitness program. Here are some general suggestions:
Gradually work up to three workouts per week.
Pace yourself and listen to your body. Your tolerance to exercise will change often and day-to-day. Stop exercising before you feel exhausted.
Aerobic (cardio) exercise may or may not be for you. For some people with CFS, it worsens symptoms.
Exercise will be trial and error. Try to learn from your experiences. For example, if walking for 15 minutes worsens your symptoms, try walking for five minutes and see how that goes. It may be helpful to record your exercises and how you feel in a journal. Remember to only start an exercise program after your doctor says it's okay. Hopefully he or she can also help monitor your symptoms and offer suggestions.
Class 4 Week 9
I have asthma. Can I still exercise?
Yes, exercise in general is beneficial to asthma. Asthmatics can safely exercise, especially when their asthma is well-controlled, but you should work closely with your doctor to develop a fitness plan that works for you, and time your treatments (using the inhaler, etc.) in the best way to reduce attacks during and/or after exercise. Regular exercise is important for your weight loss and fitness level, but staying consistent with it will also reduce the number and severity of your asthma attacks, as well as boosting your immune system. Work with you physician of course, but try to keep your exercise intensity low initially, especially if you have a cold. When asthma symptoms occur, you should reduce your intensity level, but that doesn't necessarily mean you have to stop completely. Using your inhaler before your workout will help reduce the possibility of attacks during exercise. Take extra time to both warm up and cool down. Depending on where you work out, consider wearing a face mask (will work great at home, but might make you self-conscious in the gym). This keeps your inhaled air warm and moist, helping to reduce asthmatic responses during exercise. Because warm and moist air is beneficial to asthmatics, try to avoid exercising in cold, dry environments.
I just started exercising to lose weight, but I've gained weight. Why did this happen?
It's true that many people either gain a little weight or don't see any change on the scale for as long as 4-6 weeks after making a significant change in their level of exercise. This is often explained as "gaining muscle while losing fat" but that isn't quite accurate. This extra weight is usually water. When you start doing more exercise, your body begins storing more fuel in your muscle cells, where it can be used easily and quickly to fuel your workouts. The process of converting glucose (carbohydrates) into fuel that your muscles actually store and use (glycogen) requires three molecules of water for every molecule of glucose. As your muscles are building up glycogen stores, your body has to retain extra water for this purpose. That's what causes most of the initial weight gain or lack of weight loss. This is a good thing—not something to worry about. However, despite what the scale says, you are actually losing fat during this time. The extra water retention will stop once your body has adjusted to its new activity level. At that point, the scale should start moving down. You'll end up with less fat, and muscles that can handle a larger amount of work.
Class 4 Week 9
Does exercising on an empty stomach (such as first thing in the morning) burn more fat?
Although everyone is different, I would not advise anyone to exercise on an empty stomach, whether in the morning or anytime of the day. In the morning, your body has gone 8+ hours since eating or drinking anything. Your blood sugar levels are lower at this point, and your body doesn't have adequate fuel to workout optimally. Usually, experts recommend eating something—even if it's just a small snack—within 2 hours before working out. When your body doesn’t have proper fuel in it, many problems can result, the lesser being that your workout performance suffers, and the greater being something like passing out during exercise. However, like I said—every body is different. Some people can workout on an empty stomach with no problems, while others would end up very sick and feel the negative effects of it. When I workout in the morning, I always eat (and drink) something first thing after I wake up. Usually by the time I start my workout it doesn't hurt my stomach to exercise with a bit of food on it. Also, I think there might have been a bit of confusion here about metabolic rates in the morning. Eating breakfast in the morning has a positive effect on your metabolism, but exercising on an empty stomach does not. Some people say that it will burn fat stores, but overall, the number of calories your burn during a workout (regardless of where they come from) is much more important. Plus, fat burns in the carbohydrate flame. This means that exercising without eating (such as after "fasting" during sleep) your body does not burn fat efficiently, or sometimes at all.
How do I know how many calories I burn doing Pilates? Does it count as cardio or strength training?
Your Pilates workout is a great way to improve general fitness, and will definitely burn some extra calories—but not as many as traditional aerobic exercise. And it won't provide the same cardiovascular conditioning benefits as aerobics, even if it does elevate your heart rate quite a bit. Aerobic exercise has heart-healthy effects because of the unique way it forces the cardiovascular system to provide extra oxygen and blood flow to the muscles. So, we encourage people NOT to replace traditional aerobic exercise (running, walking, biking, etc.) with other things that serve different purposes. Better to do both, if possible. The cardio tracker can't accurately estimate calories burned for things like Pilates and weight training because it's almost impossible to estimate how many calories a given person would be burning due to the many individual variables involved. Since any stock formula is bound to be significantly off for the majority of people who use it, and since overestimating calories burned is just as unhelpful as underestimating calories eaten, we recommend that people just consider the calories burned by these kinds of activity as "extra" calories they are banking for those days when things don't quite go as planned.
Class 4 Week 9
Is it okay to exercise when you have a cold?
Great question! When you are sick, you need to pay careful attention to what your body is telling you. If the cold is primarily in your head, it's okay to exercise, just at a lower intensity (provided you feel okay and have enough energy). Once you are feeling 100% again, then you can slowly increase your activity back to your pre-illness level. If your feeling sluggish or the workout isn't going well, don't push it. When you push too much, the sickness can end up hanging around longer. If your cold is below the neck (in your chest), try to refrain from activity until it clears up. The best thing you can do for your body when it's trying to fight a bug is to give it rest.
What exercises can I do at home? My budget is really tight and I cannot afford to join a gym.
Here are some resistance training exercises that you can do using just your own body weight: 1. Pushups- standard, on knees, feet propped up on a chair, leaning on a wall, upper body propped up on a couch, etc. There are even more variations by changing body placement and hand-width. 2. Crunches- feet on floor, lets bent in air, legs straight in air, bicycle crunch, full sit-ups, oblique crunches, plank. 3. Lunges- walking lunges, stationary lunges, side lunges, reverse or front lunges. 4. Squats- feet together, feet shoulder-width, feet wide, back on wall (holding wall sit), holding extra weight (dumbbells, water jugs, etc), one-legged squats (advanced!) 5. Bridges- lie on your back, legs bent, feet on floor. Lift hips toward ceiling, squeezing glutes the whole time. Challenge yourself by keeping one leg up in the air. 6. Cardio- climbing your stairs, running/walking/jogging outside, hiking, jumping rope (or just jumping period), kickboxing routines, fitness videos, biking, etc. As you can see, there are SO many options you can choose from, even with the smallest amount of resources. All of the exercise demos in the Fitness Resource Center are exercises you can do at home. Investing a little money in a good resistance band, Swiss ball, and/or pair of hand weights will allow you to do a wide variety of exercises from home.
Class 4 Week 9
How do I figure out my target heart rate? How long do I need to work out after reaching it?
There is a basic formula that applies to the average population (and is actually pretty accurate). Let's use a 20-year-old as an easy-to-calculate example: The formula: 220-age= MAX heart rate (220-20=200 MHR) 60%-80% of this max: 200 x .6 = 120 beats per min, 200 x .8 = 160 beats per min. Therefore the TARGET HEART RATE range for a 20-year old, working at 60-80% (up to 85% for very fit people) of his/her max heart rate is 120-160 beats/min. To calculate your heart rate: Find your pulse (on the neck or wrist) and count the number of beats for 6 seconds. Multiply that number by 10 and compare to your recommended range. Using this method will prevent you from stopping exercise for more than a few seconds. You can take your pulse after you've been exercising for at least 5 minutes. For example, suppose you take your pulse and count 13 in 6 seconds. Multiply by 10 to get 130 beats/min. Now you know you’re in the right range. If you notice you are lower than the minimum, increase your speed/incline/intensity and try to count again. If you notice you are very high, decrease your intensity in some way. * If you have high blood pressure, you should not be working out in this THR range. As far as time goes, try to sustain this intensity (not including your 5 minute warm-up or cool down) for AT LEAST 20 minutes (minimum recommendations for health and weight loss), and up to 45 or even 60 minutes. Of course, you will not start an exercise program with that much endurance, but you'll slowly build up. Aim for reaching this time/intensity 3-5 days a week, and you're all set!
How often should I walk? Should I focus on miles or minutes?
The "FITT" Principles will help you design a safe and effective cardio (aerobic) exercise program, whether you walk for exercise or do something else. Frequency: Number of Days Per Week Aim for a minimum of 3 days a week, and gradually work your way up to 5 or 6 days a week. The more the better--especially when it comes to weight loss. But don't forget the importance of rest and recovery. Give yourself at least 1-2 days off each week. Intensity: How Hard To Exercise You can use your target heart rate range or the "Talk Test" to make sure you're working out in a
Class 4 Week 9
good range (not too easy, not too hard). If you can comfortably answer a question during exercise, while still feeling like you’re exerting yourself, you’re in a good calorie-burning range. This range is ideal for the general health benefits that come with exercise, and for weight loss. Time: How Long For Each Cardio Session The recommended time for most people ranges from a minimum of 20 minutes (for simple general health), all the way up to about 60 minutes. Of course, it’s smart to work your way up gradually. The further you go over 20 minutes, the more fat you are burning, so that can be a good motivator. Type: Activities That Count Any activity can count as cardio/aerobic exercise as long as it meets the 3 requirements above--you can sustain a target heart rate intensity for at least 20-60 minutes, and do it several times a week. Walking, of course, meets those requirements. Things to keep in mind: 1. Time can be cumulative: You don't have to do 60 minutes all at once. You can do several 5-10 minute mini-workouts each day and add them up. 2. If you can't reach your target heart rate with walking, then add intensity by increasing speed or incline.
LOOKING FOR A HOME WORKOUT SYSTEM THAT ACTUALLY WORKS? LOOK NO FURTHER! ASK YOUR COACH ABOUT HOW TO GET ONE! THIS SET IS CREATED BY THE LEADING STRENGTH COACH IN THE USA AND THE FITNESS INSTRUCTOR IS AN OLYMPIC ATHLETE! FROM PERSONAL EXPERIENCE, IT TOTALLY ROCKS! The best part is anyone can do this. Start from Phase 1 and work your way up! THIS IS TOTALLY DIFFERENT FROM P90X OR THAT INSANITY PROGRAM!
RAISING METABOLISM
Kick Your Metabolism Into High Gear!
The Do's and Don'ts of Efficient Fat-Burning
-- By Dean Anderson, Fitness & Behavior Expert
If you’re reading this, chances are pretty good that you don’t have a metabolism that lets you eat as much as you want without ever gaining an ounce. Maybe (like me) you’re even at the other extreme, where it seems like all you have to do is smell the foods you love to start packing on the pounds. Does this mean you’re doomed to a lifetime of munching on carrot sticks with fat-free dressing, while watching your hollow-legged friends enjoy their pasta Alfredo and chocolate cheesecake? Not at all. There are lots of things you can do to turn your body into an efficient fat-burning machine, and they don't include depriving yourself of foods you love, resorting to unhealthy gimmicks, or taking expensive “fat-melting” supplements that fail to deliver what they promise. All you have to do is avoid a few common mistakes, and include some simple ways to boost your daily calorie burn. Metabolism DON'TS
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Don’t reduce your calorie intake too low. The fact that you gain weight easily is proof that your body likes to shift into fat-storage mode at the drop of a hat, and going too low on calories is one of the easiest ways to trigger that reaction (often referred to as starvation mode). Don’t fall for the mistaken idea that the less you eat, the more you’ll lose—that’s just not how your body works. Staying within your recommended calorie range will keep your internal furnace stoked so that you have more capacity to burn stored fat.
• Don’t skip meals. Going too long between meals affects your body chemistry in ways that can make weight loss more difficult. Most people can manage their hunger and avoid cravings and overeating by spreading out their calories into four to five small, well-balanced meals or snacks during the day. Try not to go more than four to five hours without eating something.
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Don’t short yourself on shut eye. More research is showing that chronic sleep deprivation plays a significant role in weight gain. Your body needs plenty of “downtime” for the internal housekeeping that keeps your metabolism in good working order. The occasional late night won’t hurt you, but consistently sleeping just one hour less than you need may slow down your weight loss considerably.
Metabolism DO'S
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Build muscle! This is the most important action you can take to maintain a high metabolic rate while trying to lose weight. Strength training prevents you from losing a lot of muscle along with the fat you lose when dieting. If you don’t strength train regularly, up to 30% of the weight you lose could be muscle tissue. Considering that a pound of muscle burns about 3 times more calories per day than a pound of fat even when you’re sitting still (and up to 15-20 times more calories per minute when you're physically active), you can see the problems this can cause. If you lose 20 pounds of weight (and 30% of that weight loss is muscle—seven pounds), you’ll be slowing your metabolism and your fat burning capacity down by a significant amount. A simple strength training program twice a week can limit your muscle loss to almost zero, and keep your metabolism running high.
• Stay as active as possible. The more you use your muscles, the more calories you will burn. Moderate exercise like walking can burn three to six times more calories per minute than sitting still, and high intensity exercise like interval training can burn more than 12 times as much. Likewise, the more you vary your daily activity and exercise, the more you keep your body on its fat-burning toes.
• Don’t just sit there. If you’re watching TV or sitting at your desk, get up frequently to do a few exercises. Keep those resistance bands and dumbbells nearby at all times—you can fit a complete strength training workout into the commercial breaks of a one-hour TV show. Ditch your chair and sit on a stability ball (or a stationary bike) instead—even fidgeting can help! Class 4 Week 3
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Exercise in the morning or in frequent bouts. Both strength and cardio exercises boost metabolism by increasing your calorie burn even AFTER your session is done. You can get the most out of this perk by starting your day with a workout or by incorporating multiple exercise sessions into your day. Longer or intense workouts have a greater "after burn” but even a 15-minute walk will make a difference.
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Try interval training. The harder you work, the more calories you will burn both during and after exercise—plus your fitness level will really improve. Studies show that exercising as intensely as you can, for at least 10 minutes per day, produces the best results. Interval training is an effective way to increase the intensity and duration of your workouts without running yourself into the ground or risking injury.
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Include mental exercises. One of the most important (but least recognized) factors in keeping your metabolic fires well stoked is managing stress effectively. Chronic stress disrupts the hormones that regulate everything from appetite to fat storage, and can defeat even the best exercise and eating plans. The more effort you put into recognizing and handling stress, the better off you’ll be. Include some time in your schedule every day for relaxation exercises, yoga, journaling, and other stress management activities.
And Most Importantly… Make exercise and healthy eating FUN! Experiment frequently with new exercises and recipes, or anything that keeps you interested and adds some spice to your program. Well, don’t stop there. The more variety you can put in your diet and your exercise routine, the more stimulating it will be. That makes it easy to put your best efforts forward, and get a major metabolic return on your investment.
6 Weight Loss Mistakes to Avoid
Small Changes for Big Results
-- By Jen Mueller, Certified Personal Trainer
Many dieters tend to make similar mistakes when trying to lose weight. But being aware of these mistakes—and making small physical and mental changes—will help you lose the weight and keep it off for good. Here’s how: Slower is Better The first mistake dieters make is having unrealistic weight loss expectations. The WLC program is set up to help you safely lose between half a pound and two pounds per week. Studies show that individuals who rapidly lose weight are more likely to gain it back. So if you’ve lost a few pounds this month—excellent! Don’t discount that because you see someone on T.V. losing 15 pounds in two weeks. Everyone is Different While some people lose a lot of weight in the first few weeks, others might not lose any weight for a few weeks. Although this can be frustrating when you’re doing everything right, it’s not a reason to give up. Sometimes it just takes a little while longer to see the results of your hard work reflected on the scale. Remember, eating right and exercising regularly have positive impacts on your health in many other ways, such as more energy, less stress, better sleep, and reduced risk of many diseases. You’ll receive those benefits—regardless of the number on the scale.
Weight Loss is Rarely Constant from Week to Week Many people lose a lot in the first few weeks, and then their weight loss slows down considerably. It’s totally normal to have weeks when you lose more than expected, and weeks when your weight remains the same despite your consistent efforts. Our bodies are very complicated and don’t always cooperate with the estimates of how much we should expect to lose. People rarely lose a consistent amount of weight each week. Measuring your weight loss on a monthly basis can be a more accurate gauge of how well you are doing.
Class 4 Week 3
Weight Loss is Not Immediate Cutting calories today (through diet and exercise) will not necessarily show up on the scale at the end of the day or even by tomorrow. Your weight can fluctuate from day-to-day for reasons that have nothing to do with your diet and
Class 4 Week 3
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