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Food for Energy
There are very specific nutritional type of foods that can be more beneficial for you, especially with starting a new fitness program.
Proper Nutrition is the first solution with becoming healthier along with more focus in life. If you think about it; we all like to eat certain types of foods week after week from our own desired taste. The secret is to balance our favorites by adding more nutritious foods to our diet and substitute the bad ones we can't live without.
Lack of energy can be a combination of not eating properly or a simple mistake of not eating at all. Skipping meals can be a huge problem. When your body goes into starvation mode it only likes to store body fat no matter what you eat. The neurotransmitters of our brain also need proper amino acids and other nutrients to help transfer our thinking process and prevent shut down. This can cause stress, anxiety, depression and lack of focus along with low energy levels.
Progressive Resistance Training
Helps to build strength of muscles, stronger bones and surrounding soft tissue. Also assist in burning fat, lowering cholesterol along with preventing osteoporosis. You can also burn more fat three times faster if you increase your lean muscle density with strength training.
Optimum Level of Fitness
Combination of proper nutrition with hydration, strength training along with muscle oxidation. All balanced out with quality rest and the right routine based on your body type. Your body also works better as one with a complete workout. You will see faster results by working out your whole body within a week, and not missing major and minor muscle groups.
Drinking Alcohol
There is nothing wrong with moderation, but alcohol is liquid calories, and there are 7 grams of fat per 4oz serving of hard alcohol. You will see faster results if you give up the social drinking. Especially beer or mixed drinks which have an excess of sugar and calories. Having a glass of wine here and there with dinner is not a problem, again in moderation. Remember, alcohol is a toxin so when your body is trying to recover from an exhausting workout program, you're slowing down your metabolism.
Dieting on Vacation
I have always been a person who believes in enjoying yourself while on vacation. But remember, all the work you put in at the gym in the last week can be erased by one bad weekend of unhealthy eating habits.
Proper Nutrition
Learn the difference between good carbs and bad carbs. The ideal meal should be a combination of a simple carbohydrate, complex carbohydrate and protein. The average person doesn't need more than 2000 calories or less daily. Over consumption of calories is a huge problem in everyone's diet.
Some of the foods best for you are the ones we don't get enough of, like: fruits, vegetables and lean meat. High calorie foods cause everyone to gain an increased amount of body fat. Learn to minimize your calorie intake by eating foods higher in protein low in sugar and high in fiber.
When you limit your carbohydrates and eat the right balance of lean proteins, good carbs and healthy fats per meal or during the day. Your body switches from burning excess calories and glucose, to burning more fat as a fuel source.
Scheduled Workouts
Stick to your routine be consistent and accountable with your life changing experience. Rest is very important, but not missing your workouts is crucial in reaching any fitness goal.
Levels of Fitness
As you progress you will reach different levels of fitness. The higher level you graduate to, the easier more fun the exercise becomes That's why its called progressive resistance and important for seeing faster results. Changing your routine every so often will also help avoid the plateau of exercise.
Lose the Scale
Not losing weight is the biggest problem I have seen in members after weeks of training. As you increase lean muscle you lose body fat. Remember, the more muscle you have the better shape you will be in. However muscle, weighs more than fat, so by increasing your lean muscle you might not lose any weight. The secret is to watch your diet, increase muscle density and burn fat while doing cardio. It's really not as hard as it sounds.
Pyramid
The FDA suggests a 2000 calorie diet for the average person. Because we are not alike and can have different body types, 2000 calories a day may be wrong for you. It depends on what fitness goals you're trying to achieve and what body type you are. If you're trying to increase your lean muscle density as a male athlete you might want to increase your 2000 calorie intake. On the other hand, if you want to lose body fat and weight, decreasing your calories with solid protein high fiber foods could be the answer.
Smarter Meal Choices
Seeing faster results also depends on your level of fitness and your commitment. The best way to eat smart means never skipping a meal. Sometimes eating something, in reason and on your diet is better than nothing. Always have your major meals on time. That means dinner before 7pm and snack in between them. Healthy snacks before lunch, then again before dinner. -- If you eat smaller portions for all major meals and snack at 10 am, then about 2 pm you will be surprised at how much more energy you have for work, school, daily activities, and you will even recover faster from your workouts.
Reading Labels
Learn how to read your food nutrition labels. The FDA requires every company to comply with packaged foods. Fresh fruits and vegetables are not labeled, but as I tell my clients, these are just free foods on their diet anyway. A simple way of reading labels is to focus solely on calories and protein. Low calorie, high fiber,protein foods are better for you than high calorie, low protein foods, which are less nutritious. Fruits do have natural sugar and calories when in juice form. Only labels that say 100% juice are not from concentrate. Just remember, you can drink eight oranges, not eat them at once. Natural fiber from fruits is crucial.
Micro-Nutrients / Vitamins
Vitamins play a very important role in helping us reach fitness goals and staying healthy. A multi-vitamin can help us to replace nutrients our body might be missing, or what we don't get enough of in our foods. Alcohol, smoking and stress rob our body daily of nutrients. Taking a good multi-vitamin or even a B-complex along with Vitamin C can do wonders for your energy level and help you recover faster from a workout.
Supplements
Supplements like protein bars and supplement drinks can help you recover faster as well as aid you. By replacing meals that you might not have time for because of a busy schedule. Remember, eating five or six small meals a day is an incredible diet. But if you can't eat the real thing replace it with a good supplement.
Weight Training
It's not true, that females get to big and bulky through weight training. Some of the most beautiful women are in better shape and have greater muscle density for their size than most men. When you start a program, of strength training you will get hungrier than usual. If you decide to eat more and not watch your calories, then, yes you will get bigger. Toning and trimming are key along with watching what you eat and sticking to your strength training program.
Get stronger with lean muscle, then watch what you eat. You will lose body fat three times faster than without strength training. However, if you gain muscle along w/ excess body fat, because of bad eating habits. Then you will become to big & bulky.
Free Weights
Many free weight exercises are for more advanced workout routines. For this reason exercise machines were developed. Learning proper form and technique is very important in preventing injuries and strengthening muscle.
Eventually you will be able to increase your level of fitness with more advanced free weight exercises. On the other hand, some machines just feel better than the old free weight method of training.
Proper Form
Learning proper form is important to a successful workout program, but remember I am just a teacher. The more you learn from a trainer the quicker you will reach the goal you want to achieve. Eventually you will learn what you need to know and move on with this knowledge of a life time of staying in shape.
Tone and Trim
Increasing lean muscle is toning, watching what you eat along with fat burning cardio is trimming. Increased energy is the first benefit, second, inches may be noticeable and lastly, the weight will follow. It sometimes takes weeks for the first result, sometimes months for the second, if you commit yourself and don't give up, the reward can be great.
Cardio Respiratory Exercise
Better known as oxidation or fat burning zone is the number one solution for most to figure out. Fat burning occurs when you exceeds your target heart rate zone. In fact will not burn any fat unless you get up to a higher zone. Your target heart rate zone is good for burning excess consumed calories. Just not a fat burner, but still a good cardio exercise.
Fat Burning Zone
In this very specific calculated zone it does both, burns calories and fat. Purchase a heart rate monitor and have a trainer calculate your zone for you, because everyone is different. This is one of the most important, if you want to change your body composition.
A little more about myself
I have been a personal trainer and nutrition consultant for more than ten years. I started with a local fitness center then worked with a national recognized franchise for a few years in the Bay Area. I was a fitness manager for a couple of their clubs, then left that company to manage the fitness department at another local athletic club. I am currently away from management & once again teaching strength training along with nutrition consulting for individual clients. Send me an email if you think I could be of assistance to you.
Thanks for reading