Category: Exercise

Back To School Weight Loss Tips

You can feel it in the air! Summer is ending. The light is changing and it’s back to school time! Whether you are a parent, teacher, student, or simply getting back to a Fall routine, the new season usually means much busier schedules.

A shift in schedule can potentially derail your weight loss goals if you let it. I’ve put together some simple guidelines on how to stay on track while adjusting to the new season.

Five Easy Weight Loss Tips for the Back to School Season!

1)  Plan!  Back to school usually means a more set routine. This can be used for your benefit to help you lose weight! Pull out your calendar and determine when you have time for exercise, meal planning, and healthy meal preparation.  Write these activities in like like any other important appointment.

Avoid biting off more than you can chew.  Look at your calendar before saying yes to extra projects.  If saying yes will interfere with your weight loss goals, you may want to take a pass for now.

2) Brown bag it! Breakfast is key to successful weight loss. If time is tight in the mornings, a healthy egg sandwich or smoothie are easy to eat on the go. Do your best to eat by 9:00 am, and no later than 10:00.

Pack lunches and have healthy snacks on you at all times. No matter what your day looks like, busy and hungry are a dangerous combination for weight loss. By planning ahead, you’ll have more control over the food you eat.

And if you are shuttling kids, pack snacks to have on hand. Not only will it contribute to their good health, it will save you time as well.

3)  Order out!  After looking at your schedule, you may realize that cooking some nights will be a stretch.  Let someone else do the cooking for you! Order healthy pre made meals from a company like Magic Kitchen.

4)  Get creative! If your normal exercise time is conflicting with your child’s activity or sport, go for a walk while you are waiting for them. One of my clients decided to get a low cost membership at the gym across the street from her daughter’s dance class.  She’s going to run on the treadmill while her daughter is taking class.  Another option would be to see if there was an adult class to try during her daughter’s class.

Early morning and lunch time workouts are a great way to sneak exercise into the day. This strategy helps you avoid evening interruptions such as working late. 

5)  Create a fit lifestyle!  One of the reasons people are so much more active in the Summer is all of the fun outdoor activities that are available. That doesn’t have to end just because it’s Fall.  Like the beach or hiking? Bundle up and take a walk. Personally, I think Autumn is one of the most beautiful times of year!

Choose active recreation on the weekends to counter the less active time during the week. Recreational activities are a great cross trainer if you are doing more formal gym workouts during the week.  Try turning off screens (computers, TV, phones, etc. ) as much as possible on the weekends!

All it takes is a little bit of planning. Fall is a great time to meet your weight loss/management goals.  Embrace this time of year and all of the fullness it brings!

Please let me know if you have any questions or a tip you’d like to share!

Blessings!

Jennifer

 


 

Stop Trying To Lose Weight!

Have you been trying to lose weight and it won’t budge? Or, even worse, maybe you’ve had some success only find to yourself gaining it all back and then some? Do not be discouraged! I can help you!

Your body believes you!

First off, stop TRYING to lose weight! When you use the word “try,” you set your subconscious up for failure. The body does not recognize “try” as an action word. Replace “try” with “I’ll give it my best shot.” When you tell yourself, “I’ll give it my best shot,” you are telling your body that you BELIEVE you can and will lose weight. Your subconscious will now steer you toward activities and behaviors to accomplish your goal rather than sabotage you.

Between you and me, I used to  obsess about weight loss rather than being healthy and active. The results sent me into a negative tailspin. It’s important you lose weight being “who you are” instead of living up to someone else’s expectations of exercise and food choices. This can lead to way too much pressure — and ultimately, failure.

In order to lose weight and keep it off permanently, a few simple guidelines will serve you well as you create your plan. Any worthy goal you set must have a plan of actionable steps in order for you to succeed. The most important thing is that the plan be realistic for your life — not a copy of someone else’s plan and life.

Follow these simple steps and start losing weight right away!

1)  Stop looking for the quick fix! One of the quickest ways to hop on the roller coaster of weight loss is to participate in fad diets. Diets have a 95% failure rate for a reason. A healthy, balanced eating plan is the recipe for long term success. Read this article for tips on How To Lose Weight Without Feeling Deprived Or Hungry.

2)  Exercise Regularly! It really is that simple! My clients that lose the most weight and keep it off for good exercise most days of the week and follow their healthy eating plan. Some examples are walking, hiking, biking, swimming, indoor cardio equipment, and videos.

3)  Incorporate Lifestyle Activity! Our convenient lifestyles can make us fat if we are not careful. Technology is wonderful. However, the convenience of technology has removed much of the physical activity from our everyday lives. This convenience requires that we plan physical activity into our day on purpose!

Your goal should be to spend as many calories as you can per day! I don’t mean training in the gym or outdoors for hours. What I mean is all the little extras that require movement. Activities like taking the stairs, parking at the back of the lot, walking across the mall, walking the dog, and walking your kids to school are all examples of lifestyle activities. Examples in a more rural environment could be walking to the mailbox, gardening, mowing, mucking stalls. You get the picture!

4)  Get proper sleep! Substantial medical evidence is telling us that a lack of sleep affects hormones in the body which is linked to an increase in appetite. Your body is less satisfied and you are tempted to eat more. Lack of sleep can cause you to reach for sugary foods in an effort to get a boost energy. The result is a temporary fix and an increase in caloric intake.

Without proper sleep, you are less motivated to be active. However, thirty  minutes of moderate activity may actually help you sleep.

If stress is keeping you up all night, take steps to reduce and manage the stress. If you have too much on your plate, see where you can cut things out. If you are suffering from anxiety and depression, you may want to seek a life coach and/or trained psychologist to help you get to the root of the issue.

The list above isn’t flashy and it doesn’t include cave man diets! It’s the formula that has worked for years and continues to work to this day. Unfortunately, the fad diet media has seriously confused the issue!

Take these simple steps and apply them consistently — and I know you will get results!

Blessings!

Jennifer

 

Proper Rest Helps You Lose and Maintain Your Weight

With today’s fast paced lifestyle, rest can often seem like more of a luxury than a necessity. But, did you know that proper rest is critical to permanent weight loss?  When I say “rest,” I’m not just talking about sleep. I’m talking about resting your mind as well.

Here’s how lack of rest makes you fat.

Without proper rest, you become fatigued and lose enthusiasm and energy. You may become overwhelmed, leading to emotional paralysis. In turn, this will interfere with physical activity. Your mind will search for an escape such as sitting in front of the TV with a bag of cheese puffs. Or, another common statement I hear is, “My subconscious thinks I deserve that giant bowl of ice cream because I have been working so hard.” Soon you will see the needle on the scale creep up slowly but surely.

Maybe you know you have been burning the candle at both ends. You’re thinking, “yeah, but this is just temporary.”

The human body can handle about three months of being in the pressure cooker and then you need to back off and get your balanced life back. If three months is what you mean when you say temporary, you can probably get away with it and plan a vacation for when you are finished. If temporary has no end in sight, you are at risk of weight gain and serious health issues.

When I first started my personal training business, I was working about 60 to 70 hours per week. It was a thrill in the beginning. However, over time I began to “burn out.” I became overwhelmed and depressed. So depressed I didn’t even want to get out of bed. My health began to deteriorate. The good news is, it forced me to cut back on my hours. That was the best thing I ever did for my mental, spiritual, and physical health.

Here are six tips for proper rest and life balance.

1)  Take a long weekend! Schedule a long weekend with your spouse every three months. Do this if you are single as well. Unplug from technology. Choose somewhere that you can drive to and avoid airport hassles, which would interrupt your relaxation. If budget is an issue, try camping or a staycation — and act like you are out of town. If you have kids, ask another couple if they would like to trade weekends with you and watch each others’ children.

2)  Evaluate! Write your top five to ten life priorities in order of importance. Then, look at your calendar and see how much time is being devoted to each. Is there a balance? Is there something that should be put on hold for awhile? Depending on what that list looks like currently, that may even include formal workouts and temporarily switching to lifestyle activity for your exercise. You can learn how to add lifestyle activity into your day with Lose Weight Living Your Life.

3)  Get help! Outsource tasks. If you are trying to be a do it yourselfer for everything, it doesn’t allow much time for rest. For example, you can hire a business assistant, pay a teenager to mow your lawn, assign chores to your children, and have your car washed professionally. This will open up time for your priorities.

4)  Get some exercise! If you are lacking rest, moderate exercise can help you sleep. However, this is not the time to attend boot camp style workouts. Moderate activity such as lifestyle exercise, walking, and light strength training is more appropriate. This is called active rest. You are still moving and burning calories. However, your body is not being over stressed either.

5)  You have permission to pamper yourself! Get a massage, a manicure, a facial; play golf, or go to a spa — whatever small time out you can take that rejuvenates you! Make sure it’s on your calendar. I get a manicure/pedicure every three weeks, and spend the day in the city getting my hair done every six weeks. These little treats help me rest and relax.

6)  Find water! There’s something about water that feeds your mind, spirit, and soul. Maybe that’s why so many singers write songs about escaping to an island or the coast. When I want to relax, I head to the beach or a lake. A pool works as well. Schedule a weekly swim, or plan a full day at your local beach or lake. You’ll come home renewed!

I’ve shared my personal strategies for getting rest and leading a balanced life. Use this list and feel free to add to it. Get creative! I’d like to hear your personal favorites for rest and relaxation.  Let me know by leaving a comment below. I really enjoy hearing from you!

To your health!

Jennifer