pic
I'm sure you've heard the saying, "a calorie is a calorie," and that when weight loss is the goal, you can probably loose weight on a 1,200 calorie/day diet whether it is 1,200 Twinkie calories or apple calories. At this point, you might be thinking, "Cool! I'll go on the Twinkie diet!"   Our bodies are smarter than that though, and I say, thank goodness. I know - I'm no fun at all :-). Last week at the grocery one of my kiddos held up a box of Twinkies and had the audacity to ask me to purchase them. I nearly burst a vessel in my forehead trying to restrain myself from smashing the box with......
pic
Being that it is summer, and there are vacations, kids home from school, camps, a lot of running around in circles...sometimes a workout is hard to knock out, even when intentions are high. When that happens, I have a 30-minute, total body workout that requires very little equipment, yet will leave you dripping in sweat. Wanna hear it? Here it is... You'll need:  a set of 10 or 12lb wts (lighter if you like), a resistance tube 5-10 minute warm up @ 40-50% max heart rate Set 1: 10-14 Burpees (also called pop squats) 3-way lunges w/ dumbbells: Start with weaker leg leading. Take one lunge forwa......
pic
Stumbled upon a few deals I'd like to pass along: 20% off planners! For all of you planners out there (you know who you are, planning each workout weeks in advance), get a head start on school year planning at MomAgenda. MomAgenda is offering 20% off small School Year books (use code: schoolyearsmom) Visit MomAgenda.com, offer expires 7.31.2011 *P.S. I LOVE MomAgenda planners. Seriously, love them - totally created by moms, for moms. Enough said. EatingWell magazine has a new book out: EatingWell 500-calorie Dinners for $22.45 (10% off the regular price). While you are planning workouts in you......
pic
Check out this video if you are unfamiliar with trigger point therapy... TPR Therapy, Ironman competitor Have you ever wished you could afford a personal masseuse? One who could come to your home, preferably daily, to help relieve you of the knots and muscle tightness that inevitably occur from daily workouts and, well, being a mom? In search of a solution to my IT band issues, I tried a chiropractor (not money well spent), stretching, massage therapy (therapist too gentle to release deep tissue), and my O.D. The O.D. provided the most valuable information: without proper biomechanics, the bod......
pic
The mysterious " fat burning zone " continues to confuse many gym-goers. The theory goes something like this: working out in a "zone" of intensity that is less intense for at least 20 minutes will burn more fat calories than calories from carbohydrate. Is this true? Yes and no, but mostly no. You actually burn more calories from fat right now, sitting still, reading this post, than you do on the treadmill. That is because in the resting state, the body burns a higher percentage of fat calories. As you crank up the exercise intensity, you burn a little less fat per calorie. However, it really c......
Jul

01

Are you a “workout wonder woman” during the week, then watch Saturday, (and then Sunday) go by without even a sideways glance in the direction of the gym? Do you eat like a world-class athlete during the week, devouring heaps of veggies, fruit, lean protein, Omega-3s, the works…then lose all self-control the minute the sun rises on Saturday? It may be that you’re being too good during the week. Just as people tend to gain weight during holidays, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine found that the same holds true for weekends, especially for those who follow weight loss regimens that are too strict. Subjects in the study’s diet group did great during the week, losing weight as expected, then stopped losing weight on the weekend as food intake increased. Participants in the exercise-only group actually gained weight on the weekend. Check out the full story at Science Daily.

Here are some strategies for maintaining your momentum through the weekend:

1) Plan, plan and plan some more. Weekdays are typically very structured, requiring great planning skills if you want to fit in every workout and eat healthy too. Because weekends are more relaxed, there is a natural tendency to let your guard down and say, “ah, what the heck, one more bite of Ben and Jerry’s won’t hurt.” Planning ahead for scenarios that tempt your willpower will help you stay on track. You can’t avoid every birthday party, company picnic or neighborhood potluck, but you can still make healthy choices.

2) Don’t skip workouts. Try to get at least one, 60-minute bout of exercise in over the course of the weekend, or two 30-minute sessions.

3) Drink alcohol in moderation. Alcohol and weight loss don’t combine well anyway, but add to that the fact that alcohol lowers your willpower.

4) Weigh yourself on the weekend. This will help keep weight in check, and act as a visual reminder that all calories count, so make them nutrient-dense calories, rather than empty calories like sugary, starchy, fattening snacks that counter all of the hard work you did during the week.

It won’t be easy, but come Monday, you’ll be ahead of the game, rather than hitting the “reset” button!



One Response

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

  1. [...] I once downed an entire plate of chocolate chip cookies in less than an hour. They were tasty. Weekends ruin diets. Or, I should say, the tendency to loosen up a bit on the weekends, because after all, it [...]

Leave a Reply

Archives

© Copyright 2012 - Diane Raymond's Blue Sky Blog | Made by AppChain.com