Cheat Yourself Thin

Have you ever felt that starting a diet meant you would never be able to taste fried chicken, a cheeseburger or a hot fudge sundae again, and the thought is so depressing that you give up even before you begin?  Do you feel like life is too short to eat nothing but boring salads and grilled chicken?  Well, there is a place for “unhealthy” foods in a diet and this article about how to cheat and not blow your diet will tell you the correct way to do it.

First, we must define what “cheating” is. We polled some of our clients and asked them how they define cheating.  25% said eating whatever you want for a whole day, 33.3% said eating whatever you want for one snack, and 41.7% said eating whatever you want for one meal.  But, truly cheating is to eat something, not that great, one item of one meal.  For example, having a mayonnaise based sauce on your asparagus instead of plain steamed asparagus or having a serving size of mashed potatoes instead of a sweet potato.  Cheating is eating something you know isn’t the best choice but making a conscious decision to do it anyways.

What are the effects of cheating? It will raise you blood sugar which means you will start craving things like pasta, sweet and salty foods.  It takes you down a very slippery slope.   You will also start to believe you can cheat “just a little” and still maintain control but “just a little” turns into “just a lot” in a short period of time.  You also undo all of your hard work.  Let’s look at M&M candies.  They are so small, you may wonder how just a few M&Ms can blow your diet.

1 M&M = 18 calories                      1 minute of jumping jacks = 10 calories

10 M&Ms = 180 calories               18 minutes of jumping jacks = 180 calories

Is it worth it? That is the question you have to ask yourself.  Would I rather spend those 180 calories in another way like eating ½ of a cheeseburger or a small fry from McDonalds.  You must choose wisely where to spend your cheat calories.

People who continue to eat good during the week, yet eat with complete abandon on the weekend, and wonder why they never lose any weight is insane way of thinking.  The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over but expecting different results.  Stop the insanity.

So why do we feel the need to cheat when we know all of these things? We deserve a little bit of pleasure because we have stuck to a sensible meal plan all week.  It is a way to be rewarded for all of your hard work.

If you feel the need to cheat, this is how to do it properly:

• Do it in moderation.
• Make a good decision that gives you a feeling of reward and not regret.  If you regret eating it, then it is not cheating, it is self sabotage which is mentioned below.
• Never eat out of the container the food came in.  If you want to eat those 10 M&Ms then count out 10 from the bag, and then put the bag away.  It is hard to judge a serving size when you are mindlessly grabbing from a bag.

Some of examples of proper cheating:

• Split an appetizer with friends but don’t eat from the appetizer plate, put a portion of the appetizer on the smaller bread plates and limit yourself to that one smaller plate.
• Order a dessert but ask the server to go ahead and place ½ in a To Go box.  You are less likely to eat the other half when you get home.
• Eat one small handful of your favorite candy, not a bag.

Are you cheating yourself?  Has your moderate “cheating” turned into self sabotage?

If you have a glass of wine and have an appetizer with your dinner out, then this is self sabotage

If you eat an unhealthy snack like M&Ms throughout the day, even in small portions, until the bag is completely gone, then this is self sabotage

If you are skipping meals throughout the day because you know you are going to be eating out that night, then this is self sabotage

I hear all the time “I feel off the wagon”.  There is a difference in falling off the wagon, but jumping right back on it, and falling off the wagon and sitting there while it leaves you in the dust.  Why do we fall of the wagon in the first place?

1. NO FOCUS: If you don’t set goals, and you don’t put those goals in writing, then you aren’t going to be able to stay focused.

1. NO PRIORITIES: Make your written goal your top priority that everything else revolves around.  If you want to lose 10 lbs in a month then everything you do should be to help you reach that goal.  Take a different route to pick up your kids from school if the McDonalds is too tempting.  If you grab whatever is quick and easy from the vending machine because you need to work through lunch, then plan ahead with a meal brought from home.

1. NO SUPPORT SYSTEM: Your goals will be so much harder to stick to if you go it alone.  Find a friend who is willing to exercise with you, or eat sensibly with you.  If you don’t have that, hiring a personal trainer or attending a Bootcamp will help keep you accountable.

1. NO ACCOUNTABILITY: If you aren’t keeping a progress chart, weight record, body measurements or food journal then you will never see the progress you are making, and if you aren’t seeing progress there is nothing to keep you motivated.

1. NO PATIENCE: If you are wanting a long term goal to happen in a short term time then you are setting yourself up for failure.  Set realistic expectations and be patient to see those expectations turn into reality.  It took you 5 years to put on those 30 lbs, don’t expect to be able to lose those 30 lbs overnight.

1. NO PLANING: Don’t try and wing it.  Sit down and plan it out.  Decide what times during the day you will eat, what you will eat, and when you will exercise and stick to it.  No planning leads to excuses.  Life will always get in the way but you can choose how you want to manage it by planning ahead.

1. NO BALANCE: If you start an exercise program that is too extreme you will quit after the first week.  You must find an exercise program that works best for you.  At NuBody Fitness we can help you make that decision based on your lifestyle and needs.  Remember, slow and steady wins the race.

1. NO PERSONALIZATION: Your nutrition and training program must be personalized to your schedule, personality, lifestyle, disposition and body type.  Don’t pick up the Glamour magazine and expect the diet that Brittany Spears is doing to work for a middle aged woman with 3 kids who needs to lose 30 lbs.

CLEAR & SIMPLE

Focus

Prioritize

Get Support

Be Accountable

Be Patient

Plan Ahead

Find Your Balance

Personalize

NuBody Bootcamps

NuBody Bootcamp is designed for multiple fitness levels.
 
NuBody Bootcamp is a results oriented, full body, conditioning program like none other.  This Bootcamp runs 3 times a week, 55 minutes per session.  There are various session times to choose from.
 
NuBody Bootcamp is led by fitness expert, James Simpson, and his team of certified personal trainers.
 

Expect to lose weight, increase your strength, reduce your waistline, boost your aerobic capacity, and improve your overall quality of life.  We are looking forward to helping you transform your life.  We have high expectations of our participants and we are determined to go above and beyond to help you succeed.
 
There are 3 major components of Bootcamp:
 
Dedication-It takes courage to begin any exercise program.  It takes even more to enroll in a Fitness Bootcamp.  Webster defines dedication as the quality of being committed to a task or purpose. NuBody defines dedication as never giving up.
 
Determination-Your task will be to overcome physical challenges, stepping over objects, running through obstacles, and staying focused to finish. It is often easy to start something, but staying on task to finish is the hard part. We won’t let you quit!

NuBody Fitness Tips For Beginners

Starting on the path to better fitness can be a difficult road in the beginning, but those that make the commitment to stick it out will be rewarded not only with better health, but feeling better as well. There are plenty of pitfalls for those that are starting a fitness routine, but being aware of them and working through them don’t have to be a struggle. In this article, we’ll take a look at five tips for people that are starting on the path to better health.

Eating Right

Improving your eating habits is an important part of improving your overall fitness. A great way to think about what you eat is that it is fuel for making your body work better. A diet that is comprised of a healthy balance of proteins, carbohydrates, fruits and vegetables will help your body work better, and you’ll be surprised to see how much more you can eat following a healthy diet than one that is made up of fast food or lots of junk food. But changing your diet doesn’t mean starving yourself – if you’re following a NuBody Fitness routine, your body will need plenty of fuel to run efficiently.

Work Out with a NuBody Fitness Personal Trainer

A personal trainer doesn’t have to be a drill sergeant! The relationship that you form with your NuBody Fitness Perosnal Trainer can be a highly valuable one. Not only will he or she be there to make sure you are working out in a safe and efficient way, but they can help encourage you when you’re feeling down or that you can’t get through the next exercise. A personal trainer can also assess your needs and create an exercise program that is right for your body and reaching your goals.

Stay Positive

It’s easy to lose your enthusiasm for working out shortly after you’ve only begun. You may not see changes in your body soon after starting an exercise program and this can be very disheartening. While it’s true that you might not see changes right away, you are making great strides in ensuring that your healthy lifestyle will have a positive impact on your health and your self confidence! Try keeping track of your progress and you’ll see that, while you may not see changes overnight, the small changes will soon add up.

Get Plenty of Rest

While exercise is an important part of improving your health, getting plenty of rest is just as important. Sleep deprivation has lots of had effects, from temperament to loss of memory and concentration and can even reduce reaction time. Try to avoid exercising right before sleeping, as well as caffeinated products, and try to get eight hours of sleep every night.

Make a Lifestyle Change

Those that are willing to make a lifestyle change, rather than those that only want to lose a few pounds for an upcoming event, are much more likely to succeed. Crash dieting may help you reach a short term goal, but what will happen when you go back to your regular eating habits? Most people will put the weight they lost right back on. Making the commitment to change the way you eat and your exercise habits will not only help you reach your goal, but you’ll be much more likely to retain the good results. There is no better way to stay on track, than to hire a NuBody Fitness personal trainer!

Why Strength Training is Beneficial to NuBody Fitness

A Fitness Expert Reports! There’s a common misconception that muscle is heavier than fat, so why bother with strength training? The truth of the matter is a pound of muscle weighs exactly the same as a pound of fat. Muscle just happens to be leaner than fat and looks a whole lot better on the body. This isn’t the only reason to incorporate strength training into your NuBody fitness routine. In this article, we’ll take a look at more reasons why strength training is beneficial to those that wish to improve their overall health.

Beneficial for Weight Loss

Strength training is a very important factor in weight loss because the metabolism is increased as muscle is increased. The metabolism is the rate in which calories are consumed, and the rate and efficiency of the metabolism is greatly increased depending on how much muscle is present in the body. Simply put, the more muscle you have, the more calories you will burn. It has been estimated that for every pound of muscle, the body will burn 35 to 50 more calories a day. This not only helps reduce fat, but helps keep it off.

Helps Prevent Osteoporosis

Not only can strength training help with losing weight, it can also help prevent osteoporosis, which is especially important for women. Strength training can help prevent loss of bone density, which can lead to brittle bones and a host of other health issues. Not only can strength training help prevent the disastrous effects of osteoporosis, but those that are already suffering from osteoporosis and benefit from it as well, as strength training not only helps prevent bone loss, but it can also help increase it.

More Good News

While helping with weight loss and preventing osteoporosis are two big advantages to incorporating strength training into your Concord fitness routine, there are many other benefits as well. It can help with cardiovascular health, prevent Type II Diabetes, and even make great strides in protecting joints. Perhaps the greatest advantage is that it can help reduce the bane of many a woman’s existence – belly fat.

Believe it or not, abdominal fat is often the result of not just overeating but stress. Our bodies produce a hormone called cortisol when we are under stress, and this hormone can increase the appetite and convert calories into abdominal fat. This fat is possibly the most dangerous of all the fat the can develop on the body because it is so close to several vital organs, putting undue pressure on them and perhaps causing them to malfunction. Not only does strength training use up cortisol, but it helps reduce the appetite and also helps reduce the dreaded belly fat.

Incorporating strength training into your NuBody fitness routine has so many benefits that it would be foolish to dismiss it. If you don’t know where to start in your strength training, why not consult with a personal trainer to get you started? Anyone can take advantage of a personal trainer’s expertise to make sure they are making the most of NuBody fitness and strength training, and to ensure they are working out safely and effectively.

Five Ways to Boost Your Metabolism

“Metabolism” is the name of the bodily system that converts food calories to energy needed to perform various tasks, like pumping oxygen to muscles during a long walk. Many variables contribute to your metabolism, including heredity, gender and age. But you can quicken yours; here’s how.

Exercise more. When you walk, run, or lift weights, you increase the energy required of your body, which raises your metabolism then, and for hours afterward.

“It’s not a huge spike, but it makes a difference,” says Gary Miller, PhD, associate professor of health and exercise science at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Read more