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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......
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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......
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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......
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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......
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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......
Apr

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The question I hear the most often from individuals wanting to lose weight is, “how much exercise do I need to do to lose…(X) pounds?” The answer is, “it depends.” There are several factors that will determine the rate at which exercise alone will burn the required calories sufficient to lose weight, including: current resting metabolism; current height/weight; exercise history (i.e., have you always exercised regularly, or only sporadically?); also, the intensity of your exercise sessions and exercise mode (some activities , such as running and cross-country skiing,  burn far more calories than others). Finally, what you did or didn’t eat prior to working has an impact on weight loss as well.

That said, the math that goes into losing weight is relatively easy: there are 3500 Kcals in one pound, therefore, to lose one pound using exercise alone, you would need to burn 3500 calories in one week to lose one pound in one week. Divided by 7 days, that equates to 500 calories per day of physical activity. Now you see why weight loss takes time!

Now for the tricky part: you could burn those 500 calories in one, 1-hour session; or break it down into several sessions per day. You also need to consider the intensity level. Exercise at an intensity level sufficient to elevate your heart rate to between 70-80% of your max heart rate for a sustained period if time (at least 30 mins), will burn more total calories. Some of the best calorie-burning activities include: running/jogging; swimming; and cross-country skiing.

Here is a simple, online calculator you can use to determine which activities will burn the most calories for you: Activity Calculator

Tip
It is a good idea to keep track of your daily activities, both in the gym and at home to gauge you daily energy needs, as well as track calories consumed. I typically advice clients to keep food and activity journals for several weeks, which seems to be about how long it takes to notice eating patterns that are less than ideal (stress eating a bag of chips, etc.), or when workouts get rescheduled. The idea is to get a decent overview of your typical daily energy needs based on activity levels. After all, there is little use in burning 600 calories in your favorite kickboxing class if you’re coming home and eating leftover cupcakes. Journaling calls these behaviors out.



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