Ways to Boost Your Metabolism

These suggestions were shared by the coordinator of the Idaho Falls Weight Loss Challenge. I think they are very valuable in helping to boost our metabolism and to make our body as efficient as possible when it comes to burning calories.

• Eat breakfast within 45 minutes of waking up. When you wake up in the morning, you haven't eaten in a long time. Skipping this meal means your metabolism slows down.
  
• Eat according to your activities. If you do most of your physical activity during the day, make breakfast and lunch your larger meals so you have enough energy to get everything done.
  
• Snack frequently (aka, eat when you are hungry!) Eating fruits and veggies between meals will keep you from becoming too hungry. The hungrier you are, the less control you have over what and how much you eat.
  
• Eat protein with every meal (Egg Whites, Cheese, Soy Milk, Lean Meat, Turkey, Chicken, Fish, Pork, Kidney Beans, Peas)
  
• Avoid alcohol, sugar, and fasting.
  
• Eat negative calorie foods. Negative calorie foods are foods that use more calories to digest than the calories the foods actually contain (apples, asparagus, berries, broccoli, cabbage, celery, cauliflower, chili, garlic, grapefruit, lemon, mango, onion, orange, papaya, pineapple, spinach, zucchini....)
  
• Eat foods with high nutrition values: 7-9 Servings of Fruits and Veggies/Day
  
• Keep a food diary (again, I love the google gadget "Food and Calorie Finder by Fatsecret.com" It has been a big wake up call as to exactly how much I'm eating. I realize that I need to cut a couple hundred more calories out every day.)
  
• Exercise aerobically. Start the day with 20-30 minutes of cardio, first thing in the morning. Even if your mind resists, your body loves physical activity. Plus, cardio exercise speeds up your metabolism for several hours after your work out.
  
• Lift Weights. (or some kind of resistance training) It's important to build muscle tone in order to lose weight. Muscle burns up to five times more calories than fat!!
  
• Drink Water. Your metabolism needs it in order to function properly, and being well hydrated will keep you energized (8-10 glasses a day)
  
• Lose weight gradually, but steadily. If you lose weight at a rate of 1-2 pounds per week, you will be more likely to keep it off permanently.
  
• 8 hours of Deep Sleep every night.

I hope some of those ideas might come in handy to you guys. I know I really need to be more consistent in all of those areas!

Calorie Counters and My Exciting Find of the Day

To go along with the last post about serving sizes, we want to be able to use those servings to figure out how many calories we've had. I have a little wallet-size book that is great for carrying around and tells me how many calories there are in various foods. It even has lists of menu items from common fast food and other restaurants. (not that you'll be eager to know how much the Big-Mac and fries cost you).

There are some great online tools as well; a lot of indexes of foods and their caloric values, and programs that you can sign up for that will track your calories for you. A very extensive counter website is:
www.CalorieKing.com
It has almost any food or brand that you can think of and provides complete nutritional info, not just the calories.

These other websites are cool, but the next thing I found flippin rocks!! It is a gadget that you can add to your google homepage and will keep track of everything for you. Here is a link to it:
http://www.google.com/ig/adde?moduleurl=http://www.fatsecret.com/gadget/finder.xml&source=imag
You can add the foods you had for each meal and the amounts. Like the calorie king, it had tons of brands and options for adding things (i.e. as servings, cups, ounces, pieces). It even keeps track of the fat, protein and carbs you've had. Could it be any easier?? It will also keep track of your exercise, your weight history and goals, and calories burned each day. Seriously check it out, it's awesome! I tried a bunch of other gadgets, but this one was by far the coolest, and it's free! If you can't tell, I'm pretty excited about it. I love google!

Serving Sizes: Is Ignorance Really Bliss?

I hope everyone had a great week! Just wanted to give a quick reminder to weigh yourself in the next couple of days and email me with your progress.

One of the biggest factors in weight-loss is watching your portions. By educating ourselves about serving sizes, we can more accurately determine how many calories we are eating and know if we are meeting the recommended servings each day for various food groups.

One of my favorite bits of advice I've been given says that when you look at your dinner plate, 1/4 should be protein, 1/4 grains, and 1/2 fruits and vegetables. Filling up on fruits and vegetables will help you from continiously going back for the higher calorie items.

Try to be aware of what you are eating by looking at food labels before you cook or eat them. I often have the "I don't want to know" attitude, but by making myself look at it, I do much better at limiting my portions. Then when I serve myself half a cup of rice, I automatically know that I've got about 110 calories sitting on my plate. If I've alloted myself 700 calories for dinner, I can then estimate how much I have left for my other food. I find that it helps to use measuring cups for serving food (when possible). I'm a little distrustful of my generous imagination!

Here are some commonly eaten foods and generally accepted serving sizes:

Cooked Cereal or Pasta: 1/2 cup
Whole Wheat Bread: 1 Slice (Slice should be size of the palm of your hand)
Fruit (apple, pear or banana): 1 Small
100% fruit juice: 1/2 Cup
Raw Leafy Vegetables : 2 Cups
Raw Chopped Vegetables: 1 Cup
Chopped cooked or canned vegetables: 1/2 Cup
Milk or Yogurt: 8 ounces or 1 Cup
Cheese: 1 1/2 ounces or 1/3 cup shredded
Cooked skinless poultry or lean red meat: 3 ounces (about the size of a deck of cards)
Cooked Fish: 3 ounces (size of a thick checkbook)
Egg: 1 Medium
Cooked legumes or dry beans: 1/2 cup

Here are a couple of websites with recommendations of how many servings you should have from the different food groups.
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/healthy-diet/NU00190
http://mypyramid.gov/index.html

I really like the Mayo Clinic version (top link). It refers to everything as servings and I like the idea of unlimited vegetables and fruits. The mypyramid.gov version is good as well and is what is put out by the government. You can customize it based on age, sex, weight, etc. It gives out the amounts you should eat as cups or ounces rather than "servings". These recommendations are not taylored for weight-loss, so you can aim for the minimum recommendations for now rather than the max.

Exercise - Privilege or Punishment?

If you asked 10 people how much exercise a person needs, you are bound to get 10 different answers. I'm going to list some of the most reputable recommendations, and then add a few of my opinions as well. Feel free to comment on your experiences as well.

According to the 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans:

• Adults need at least 2.5 hours (150 minutes) of moderate-intensity aerobic activity every week. Examples of moderately intense activity would be brisk walking, water aerobics, Pilates, riding a bike on level ground. With this type of activity, you are breathing harder than normal, your heart rate is up, and you are breaking a sweat.
• In addition, adults should do muscle-strengthening activities 2 or more days /week.

or....

• 1 hour and 15 minutes (75 minutes) of vigorous-intensity aerobic activity (e.g. jogging or running, riding a bike fast or on hills, playing basketball) every week. At this level, you are breathing a lot harder and your heart is beating a lot faster. You can probably only get out a few words without pausing for a breath.
• As well as 2 or more days of muscle-strengthening activities.

or...

• an equivalent mix of the two types above. (1 min. of vigorous activity ~ 2 min. of moderate activity).

Now in my mind, 150 minutes seems like a heck-of-alot and is a bit intimidating, especially if I am starting from a point where I've had very little or no exercise lately. One way to work up to this point is to try splitting each day's requirements into smaller increments of at least 10 minutes. For example, try to fit in one 15 minute walk in the morning and one in the evening, or 3 ten-minute walks during the day.

Another recommendation that I like was given from Oprah's famed trainer, Bob Greene. He recommends starting out by doing 15 minutes of aerobic exercise every day. After staying at that level for 2 weeks, increase it by 5 minutes, so that you are doing 20 minutes every day. Following the same principal, keep up the gradual increase, until you are comfortably doing 30 minutes every day.

You need to give your heart and your muscles some time to condition themselves, so push yourself, but don't try to be an Olympian at day 1! Try mixing in some vigorous exercise along with the moderate exercise, i.e. alternate 2 minutes walking / 2 minutes jogging for 12-16 min. You'll notice on many of the exercise machines that have pre-programmed routines, when you choose the "weight-loss" program, it will have you do intervals of low vs. high intensity. They will alternate between raising and lowering your heart-rate, giving your heart a chance to level out, and then increasing the speed and resistance to it get pumping again.

If you are consistent in your exercise, I promise you will notice results. If you are alternating walking with jogging, after a couple of weeks, you will get to the end of your 2-minute jogging interval and realize, "Wait, I don't have to stop, I can keep going!" and from then on your routine may be 2 min. walking / 4 min. jogging. Or you may be walking/jogging at your normal pace and suddenly notice that you're not having to work as hard and your heart isn't beating as fast. You'll have to raise the speed or resistance to get the same kind of workout that you have been getting before. It's an awesome feeling to feel your body's endurance and stamina increase, so pace yourself, but set goals and challenge yourself as well.

Here are a few more random tips:

• Find an exercise buddy! If you are accountable to someone other than yourself, you are much more likely to stick to your workouts. My friend and I have started meeting twice a week at 5:30 in the morning (eek!) at our church. We do different exercise videos together like Pilates and Tae Bo. If I were doing this by myself, there is no way I could force myself to get up that early, but because I know she will be waiting, it's much easier to get up and go!
• Alternate the muscle groups that you are working out, and give them a day in between to recover. For example, if you go to the gym and use all of the leg-strengthening machines, do arms the next day and give your legs a day to recover. You'll avoid injury and your muscles will be less tight and fatigued. I like to do this when it comes to vigorous vs. moderate exercise as well. If I run on Monday, it feels a lot better to do something more low-impact like a Pilates video or a bike or elliptical machine on Tuesday. Then my knees and legs are a lot more up to the challenge of running again on Wednesday.
• Listen to music or watch TV if you can while you exercise. It makes the time go by a lot faster! I have a hard time reading while I exercise, but I know that works for a lot of people as well. One thing I enjoy is to get a whole season of a TV show on DVD and then watch an episode each time I exercise. It keeps me engaged in the show and eager to watch again the next day. (My personal favorite is the show Alias. I've watched it through about 3 times. The main character is a kick-butt CIA agent Sydney Bristow, and I want to be tough and toned like she is!!!
• Try to think of exercise as a privilege or opportunity to burn calories, rather than as pure torture!! If you are having trouble fitting in the recommended requirements, fit in little bits, whenever you can, while dinner is cooking or if you are watching TV, drop down on the floor and do a few sit-ups or push-ups. Keep a set of small hand-weights nearby and do bicep curls while you are surfing the internet, reading or watching TV. There are stretches and small exercises that you can do while you are at work or sitting at a desk. Every little bit helps, no matter how small.

Monday Advice

Here are a couple of Monday tips for you:

Do not weigh yourself on Mondays! This is purely for psychological reasons, but most people tend to do worse over the weekends than they do during the week. This is why we are doing our weigh-ins on Fridays, when you've had a chance to keep on track all week and stick to a good schedule of eating well and exercising. Weighing often tends to be discouraging because you want to see results right away. Weight-loss doesn't usually work like that. You may be the same exact weight, day after day for an entire week and then suddenly drop 2 pounds at the end of that week. This is especially true when you are building muscle. You may actually gain a couple of pounds while starting to exercise, but don't worry! It will make up for itself later and much more! So my advice is to take each day as it comes, work hard to stick to your goals, and once a week step on the scale to see how you are doing. Focus on how you feel, how your clothes are fitting, your energy levels.

Exercise on Mondays! Although Mondays are often the busiest and most stressful day of the week, do whatever you can to fit in exercise on this day. It can be too easy to put it off on Mondays and say you will for sure do it on Tuesday. Once you start with those excuses, it will become habit, and before you know it, it will be Thursday or Friday and you won't have gotten any exercise in. Set a precedence on Mondays by exercising and it will come easier on the following days. Even if you can only fit in half as much time as you do on other days, you will start your week feeling energized and proud of yourself for making exercise a priority and putting your wellness first!

Make it Count

So today it begins! Good luck to everyone as you do your initial weigh-in and start working towards being more fit! Every one who signed up should have received an email with a Log-Sheet that you can use to keep track of your progress. Please email virtualfitnesschallenge@gmail.com if you did not receive it.

Also, if there are any of you that are still undecided about whether to give this a try, you still have time to sign up! The earlier you sign up, the more time you will have to lose the weight, but we will still accept new participants for the next 2 weeks!

If you're wondering where to start, and how you're going to lose the weight, here are a few of my recommendations. I look at it pretty simply, as a numbers game, based on eating less and exercising more.

There are about 3500 calories in 1 lb., so for each pound you want to lose, you are going to have to use that many more calories than you eat. The fitness coach that I had did a body shape scan for me. It calculated my percent body fat, percent lean muscle and water, and a few other things. It spit out a calculation that my body, under normal circumstances, needs about 1600-1700 calories to maintain itself every day. Now let's say I'm going to try to exercise and be very active every day, and will burn an extra 400 calories. So now my body is now going to burn through a total of 2000 calories that day. To lose the weight that I wanted to, I cut down my calorie intake (eating) to about 1300 calories every day.
2000-1300 = 700 calories that I could burn from my "excess storage" every day. That comes out to about 1 1/2 lb. lost a week. Now these are kindof conservative numbers. I was probably burning a lot more than just 400 calories because along with exercising, I was running up and down stairs, carrying kids, lifting laundry, and finding other ways to keep moving. All in all the actual numbers were closer to 2 or 3 pounds a week.

Now this is just an example of how the math worked out for me. You may lose it faster or slower. Many people can lose weight by cutting down to 1500 calories. I definitely wouldn't go lower than 1200. It all depends on your body and how fast you want to lose it. Here are a couple of websites that explain calculations you can do to figure out where you want to be:
http://weightloss.about.com/od/eatsmart/a/blcalintake.htm
http://www.shapefit.com/dailycalorie-calc.html (*this one will calculate how many calories your body uses every day, not what you should cut down to. the numbers seem a little high to me)

I will be honest. Eating this way is not easy! At first, my stomach would growl and I was grouchy and irritated. I missed my food!! But after sticking with it, my body got used to how much I was eating. I felt energetic and satisfied with what I was eating. When I did try to eat a big meal, I felt full much faster. I didn't feel starving. I did need to make sure I had snacks. Eating 5 times a day, with smaller portions helped a lot with appetite control and seemed to speed up my metabolism. I could pretty much feel when I was on empty and needed to refuel. Now that Christmas is over, I feel myself going through that phase again. I got into the habit of eating a lot and stretched out my stomach. Now I'm having to retrain my body to work with less.

If you are going to go this route, you need to be very careful about what you eat. Your body is going to be confused with not getting as much food. If I were going to make up my own weight-loss plan, I would call it the "Make it Count Plan" because with fewer calories, you need to make sure that each one counts for something. Your body needs all of the nutrition and energy it can get from those calories, so they should be protein rich and full of nutrients. You could probably go around eating candy all day and stay within your calories, but you would feel horrible and your body would break down. I prefer to go a route that is Lower Carb and Lower Fat. You need a lot of protein to be able to lose weight, but make sure it is lean, low fat sources of protein. You also need carbs still, but try and get them from better sources like whole grains, fruits and vegetables rather than starchy, refined foods. It's also important to take a multivitamiin to supplement the nutrients that you need.

I will do more detailed posts on proteins, carbs, fruits, and vegetables soon. For now, here is a tip on protein. A good range to shoot for is 70-99 grams/day. It seems like a lot, but it will make a huge difference. It will help you to build more muscle and burn more fat.

Feel free to post about your preferred methods of weight loss or with your questions and opinions.

SODA

A lot of people that I have talked to, mentioned that part of their weight-loss plan includes eliminating Soda from their diets. I thought I would post a few thoughts to enforce that idea and to emphasize how much taking that step could help you.

Lots of Sugar in a Small Package!! Most regular, non-diet sodas, contains high amounts of high-fructose corn syrup, a man-made substitute for sugar. Basically, corn syrup undergoes some different processes to turn it into a sweetener. It is used in many foods because it is cheaper that other sweeteners and acts as a preservative. Some people argue that it is much worse for our health than pure sugar because of the chemical processes it undergoes (*corn growers and some researchers disagree*), and that it adds high amounts of calories with no nutrition. This is generally believed to be true with most foods. It's not the corn that is the main problem, but the more refined something is- the less healthy it is for you! Either way, high amounts of sugar in any form are not good for our body and play a big role in weight-gain. The typical 8 oz. can of regular coke contains 97 calories, 27 carbs, and 33 mg of sodium... all big players. Now how many pop-drinkers only drink one 8 oz. can a day? That is where the problem lies. Many people are probably drinking hundreds of calories a day, taking their totals way over the amount that they need.

No Sugar, So What's the Problem? Diet Soda... Heaven Sent? Maybe, Maybe Not. An initial glance at the back of a diet soda container makes it seem as if it is a much more satisfying version of water. 1 Calorie or less, and 0 carbs. Sweet right? Well, that's one of the big concerns, how does it still get it's taste? The answer is high amounts of an alternative sweetner, aspartame (which some people argue is very bad for you), along with other addatives. You'll find that while the calories and carbs are low, the numbers are usually high in other categories to make up for it. There have been many studies recently about the effects of diet soda. On study found that adults drink regular or diet soda have a 50% higher risk of metabolic syndrome (high blood sugar, high blood pressure, high triglyderides and obesity). Another study found that drinking even one diet soda a day, increased the risk of being overweight by 41%. (info from: http://health.discovery.com/national-body-challenge/articles/whats-so-bad-about-diet-soda.html and http://www.webmd.com/diet/news/20050613/drink-more-diet-soda-gain-more-weight). Possible reasons? Some nutritional experts believe that these low calorie drinks may be messing with our minds and bodies. The sweet taste may confuse us, and there is a chance that our body will still produce insulin with the presence of that taste even if there are no calories. Also, we may overeat as a result of thinking we have those 'free' calories in the soda to make up for.

With all of those facts and controversies laid out, here are a few more personal notes. After the first week of the "Biggest Loser" challenge that I participated in, during our nutrition class, one of the women reported that she had lost 6 pounds the first week, and the only major thing that she had changed was that she stopped drinking soda. I'm sure this result was unique to her, and not typical of everyone who drinks soda on a regular basis, but I think it is a good example of what an impact drinking soda has on our weight.

When I do go through phases of drinking of lot of Diet Dr. Pepper, I feel much more bloated, which I think is probably a result of the high sodium content. Sodium helps your body retain water. Too much of it can lead to problems like high blood pressure. I've heard that lot of marathon runners and triathletes will eat a lot of sodium-rich foods prior to a race to help them retain water and prevent dehydration. On the other hand, most of us aren't looking to retain more water than we need, so cutting down our sodium intake should help that a lot.

I'm not trying to demonize soda, I looooove Dr. Pepper, but now that I know more about it, I try to treat it as a very occasional treat, and not a staple of my diet. Like many other sweets, it is something that we generally know is bad for us, but we eat it anyway because it tastes good and is addictive! So I challenge all of you, at least for the next 6 weeks, to stay away from soda and see what kind of a difference it makes for you!

DATE EXTENSION FOR ENTERING THE CHALLENGE

There is still plenty of time to sign up for the challenge! Our initial weigh-in will start on Jan. 9th as planned, but participants can still sign up and send entree fees. Please try to have them in by Jan. 23rd (at the latest) so that we can have a solid idea of how much the winners will receive. The sooner you pay, the more committed you will be to starting and sticking with it! Email virtualfitnesschallenge@gmail.com if you have any questions!

Water

Let's start with one of the most basic, but important, components of our diet. There are different opinions on how much water you should be drinking every day. Here are a few of them:

• 8x8 Rule: 8 glasses of 8 oz. of H2O every day (~1.8 Liters)
• The Half Rule: Divide your weight by 2 and the resulting number is how many ounces you should drink every day (e.g. 180/2 = 90 oz )
• Replacement Rule: Based on estimation of losing about 2.5 L of H2O everyday, and replacing about 20% of that from the food we eat, so you'd need to drink about 9 glasses(~68 oz or 2 Liters.)
• Professional Recommendations (from The Institute of Medicine):
  Men - 13 glasses (~101 oz or 3 Liters) / Women - 9 glasses (~74 oz or 2 L)

So, pretty simple, right? You're doing well if you are drinking over 8 (8 oz) glasses of water a day. If you're exercising, you'll probably want to add more because you'll need to replace more. If you are using the "half rule" factoring in your weight, you may add a little more.

I personally have a difficult time getting in all of my water. It used to be a lot easier when we drank bottled water (oh how I love Aquafina), but for financial/environmental reasons I've cut back on that and am trying to be satisfied with tap water. My own personal trick that helps to get in all of the H2O I need is a silent rule that I've set for myself. I leave a glass next to the sink and every time I walk to/through my kitchen, I quickly fill it up with water, take a few gulps and then go on my way. I'm not drinking 8 oz. every time, probably more like 4 oz., but I make enough trips that it tends to add up. I also find that drinking small amounts at more often intervals, makes me less hungry because I'm constantly adding fluid to my stomach. Sometimes my instinct kicks in, and I'll automatically head towards the fridge or cupboard to rummage for a snack, but my water habit reminds me to veer off of that track and I grab a drink of water instead.

Anyway, there are tons of ways to help make sure you get enough water every day. Here is a link to a few of them:
http://www.wikihow.com/Drink-More-Water-Every-Day

Staying well hydrated will help to flush your system of toxins and carry important nutrients to your body. If you are doing this challenge and making a big increase in the amount of exercise you are doing, it will be very important to make sure you are getting enough water and not becoming dehydrated.

Please feel to add your two cents or questions and comments.

Plan to Succeed!

The best way to attack any challenge is to start with a plan.

When mapping out your fitness plan, be sure to include realistic goals that you want to achieve. You will want to set goals that are challenging, yet attainable via healthy methods and that are maintainable in a long-term sense. A realistic expectation for a 6 week weight-loss program may be to lose an average of 2-3 pounds per week. It will vary depending on your body type and your agressiveness, but don't set yourself up for disappointment by expecting to lose 10 lb. every week.

You may also want to set goals for your exercise program, such as trimming a couple of minutes off of the time it takes you to walk/run a mile.

Here are a few important areas that I would recommend keeping track of and including in your plan:

-Exercise
-Water Consumption
-Multivitamin
-Protein
-Fruits and Vegetables
-Carbohydrates
-Caloric Intake

I will include detailed entries in upcoming posts for each of those sections and will email participants a log-sheet that you can print out and use to keep track of these areas.

Most of all, be smart and be safe! I don't want to hear that anyone passed out from hunger because of this challenge. Your body needs food. The goal is to start viewing food as an energy-source and not as an alternate source of happiness!

There are many different diet plans out there, and you might already have one that works for you. As you decide what route you want to take, I would recommend searching for lifestyle changes that you can make right now and maintain permanently, perhaps with minor adjustments, rather than looking for the perfect quick-fix diet or pill. My personal opinion is that if it's too good to be true, it probably is!

Signing up for the Challenge

1. Email virtualfitnesschallenge@gmail.com with your name (or pseudonym if you prefer:) and email address.

• I will add you as a blog "author" so you can post any questions, feedback, suggestions, or progress.
• Email your weekly progress to the email address above, every Friday and I will keep track of the running totals. If you would rather not tell me your initial weight, no problem, but I would still like to help keep track of the weekly changes to help make sure everything is accurate at the end.
• *Please note that any information you give me will be kept completely confidential. None of it will be posted on the blog, and your email address will not be spammed!*
  

2. Send $10 by Jan. 8th by one of the following methods:
-Paypal: virtualfitnesschallenge@gmail.com
-Check: Desiree Heath 1512 E. 113 S. / Idaho Falls, ID 83404
-In person

3. Please read the rules on the blog home page. Because this is a virtual challenge that we can all do at home, we are assuming that everyone will be honest about their progress.

4. Spread the word to your friends and family! The more people, the bigger the prize, and the more help in finding the best ways to reach your fitness goals!

Reasons

From the Center for Disease Control:

"Achieving and maintaining a healthy weight isn't just about a "diet" or "program". It is part of an ongoing lifestyle that you can adopt now and stay with for years to come. A healthy weight contributes to good health now and as you age."

Overweight conditions can increase the risk of:

Coronary heart disease
Type 2 diabetes
Cancers (endometrial, breast, and colon)
Hypertension (high blood pressure)
Dyslipidemia (for example, high total cholesterol or high levels of triglycerides)
Stroke
Liver and Gallbladder disease
Sleep apnea and respiratory problems
Osteoarthritis (a degeneration of cartilage and its underlying bone within a joint)
Gynecological problems (abnormal menses, infertility)