Diet Tips

It's not often that I write about weight loss around here. At the same time, it kind of defies logic, not to. Fitness and wellness go along with beauty for sure! When these fantabulous tips from John Rowley turned up, I knew you'd love 'em.

John Rowley is a fitness expert and best-selling author of the sensational hit Climb Your Ladder of Success Without Running Out of Gas.  Rowley, who is also the Director of Fitness and Wellness of The American Institute of Healthcare & Fitness, also offers health and diet insights to jump start weight loss. He has worked with contestants from the Biggest Loser as well!

 

FITNESS TIPS:

 

1. MOVE MORE EVERY DAY – Make it a daily challenge to find more ways to move your body. Take the stairs over the elevator, walk your dog, take brief walks during lunch breaks, ride your bike to work – any small step goes a long way in improving your overall fitness.
2. MELT AWAY FAT WITH MUSCLE- Your metabolism is a direct reflection of your muscle mass to fat mass ratio.  A good resistance training routine will supercharge your metabolism in just 90 minutes a week. Simply do 3, 30 minute sessions a week.  Cardio is great for over all health and burns fat while you are doing it, but when you do resistance training you build muscle and muscle burns calories even at rest, hence supercharging your metabolism.
3. BE SMART, WORK YOUR HEART – There are many conflicting opinions on cardio vascular exercise and a study to back up each of them.  Some say do very short, very intense interval training and others endorse going slower but for a longer time period.   I know people that get great results doing both.  I think the best form of cardio is the form you will do on a consistent basis.  Getting your heart rate into the fat burning zone is important and the best way to judge this is that you are exercising hard enough that you can barely carry on a conversation, in other words you can speak but just barely but not so hard that you are gasping for air in order to finish a sentence.  
4. THE POWER OF FLEXIBILITY - Keeping your muscles flexible is very important especially as you age.  Today with yoga, Pilates, etc there are many fun ways to incorporate this into your fitness routine both at home and in the gym.
5. YOU ARE YOUR BEST INVESTMENT – Everyone today is worried about their investment portfolios, their income, their home, business's, jobs and tend to over look their greatest asset.... themselves.  You can have the most incredible God given talents, abilities and skills and the best education money can buy and still fall flat on your face, it happens every day.  Action not assets is the key to an extraordinary life and by not taking care of yourself you are minimizing your greatest asset and your ability to take action. It is difficult to take action when you are exhausted.  Also keep in mind that the same blood that flows through your body flows through your brain.  Do you think you will be more aware and alert if the blood flowing through your brain is fat laden or if it is rich in oxygen and nutrients?  Take care of your greatest asset by following some of these simple tips.

 

HEALTH AND DIET TIPS

 

1. CALORIC INTAKE IS IMPORTANT – This is simple math. Burn more than you consume. Your caloric intake must not exceed the amount you normally burn, since any excess would then be converted and stored energy into fats.
2. PUT SOMETHING WITH A FACE AND SOMETHING GREEN ON YOUR PLATE-  (Apparently, Rowely is not a vegetarian. If you are, then ignore this statement and add legumes and temphe instead!)If you don't like counting calories you will like this.  Eat something with a face...protein and green vegetables and avoid all the starchy carbohydrates like bread, cake, potatoes, rice,etc then your body will learn to burn fat for energy instead of carbohydrates and you will become a lean, mean fat burning machine, without counting calories.  Then once a week have a victory meal or victory day when you eat what ever you want.  THE SKINNY ON FAT - Cut out the bad fats but get some good fat in your diet.  Avoid fried foods, food high in saturated fat and focus on lean proteins such as chicken and turkey breast, fish, egg whites, no fat cottage cheese. And make sure you get your good fats from fish and fish oil, olive oil, avocado and nuts like almonds.
3. WATCH YOUR ALCOHOL INTAKE - (This one is soooooo incredibly my downfall) While recent studies show a glass of wine a day can help protect against heart disease, more than that can cause other health problems such as liver and kidney disease and cancer. And one drink can pack in 100 calories or more and make it harder for you to reach your fitness goals. 
4. DRINK WATER- Drinking water does several things, it keeps you hydrated, it helps flush your body of fat and toxins and it will also help curb your appetite.  You should be drinking at least half your body weight in ounces of water a day.
5. SET A REALISTIC GOAL – Weight loss and fitness goals should be three things: realistic, believable, and exciting. Despite what is seen on TV, losing more than 2 pounds a week can make permanent weight loss difficult, set a steady but realistic goal and reward yourself for reaching milestones along the way. Make goals believable but also exciting, challenge yourself and take everything one day at a time, towards an overall goal of a healthier life.  The key is to make this part of your lifestyle to enhance your life.
6. CONSISTENCY IS KEY- Success in an endeavor follows consistent action. Remember it requires discipline to do the things today that you don't necessarily want to do, so you can do the things you dream of doing tomorrow!