Tips for Healthy Weight Loss

Follow these 6 tips to be on your way to weight loss...

1. Adapt the plan to yourself: decide what you want to accomplish and the best way to go about it; make realistic short and long-term goals; don't be discouraged if a friend or significant other is losing weight faster than you are - remember that everyone is unique and will lose weight at different rates and on different areas of their bodies.


2. Control night-eating and emphasize breakfast: eat a hearty breakfast to prevent binge eating at later meals; eat 5-6 small meals throughout the day; try to consume most of your calories earlier in the day to avoid eating late at night.


3. Include a variety of foods: follow the food guide pyramid (http://www.mypyramid.gov/) for serving amounts; limit your intake of fats, oils and sweets; try to eat a variety of foods within each food group; drink lots of water to stay hydrated and satiated.


4. Modify your way of eating for life: control portion sizes; replace high calorie sweets with fruits and veggies; replace high fat protein sources with lean protein sources (i.e. eggs, fish, chicken); don't cut anything out of your diet completely - instead, eat what you like in moderation; if you "screw up" one day, don't give up - just eat better the next day.


5. Increase your activity level: studies have shown that when people diet alone they lose 28% muscle, with diet and aerobic training they lose 3-4% muscle, and when strength training is added muscle increases; aim for 200-280 minutes of physical activity per week (approx. 30-40 min/day); make small changes to burn extra calories (i.e. park further from the store, take the stairs instead of the elevator, walk to your co-workers desk instead of sending an email, etc.)


6. Rate of weight loss: aim for no more than 2 pounds of weight loss per week; decrease your total calories taken in and increase the total amount of calories burned (through physical activity) to lose the weight; don't rely solely on the scale to monitor your progress (you may be losing fat and replacing it with muscle) - instead, consider how you feel and how your clothes are fitting you.

Killer Upper Body Exercise

Pushup/Shoulder Press Combo:
Prepare for this combination by kneeling at the edge of a mat with a pair of dumbbells (5-10 pounds each) by your knees. Begin by performing 1 pushup (on your feet or knees) and then pushing back into a kneeling position and performing 1 overhead shoulder press with the dumbbells. Place the dumbbells back by your knees and perform 2 pushups followed by 2 shoulder presses. Then perform 3 pushups and 3 shoulder presses. Continue to add a repetition to each exercise, without resting, until you reach 10 of each. If you get to 10, you will have done 55 repetitions of each exercise...and your upper body should be screaming! If it's not challenging enough, you may need to use heavier dumbbells.

Pushup Instructions: Position your body in a straight line, chest-down with your hands at shoulder level, palms on the floor, slightly wider than shoulder-width apart. You can choose to have feet on the ground or knees on the ground - but keep the body in that straight line. Lower your body slowly towards the floor as you inhale. Pause for a moment, then exhale and straighten your arms as you push your body up away from the floor.

Shoulder Press Instructions: Begin holding the dumbbells at shoulder level (palms facing forward or facing each other). Exhale as you press the arms up and slightly inward, so the dumbbells meet over your head. Pause for a moment. Inhale as you lower the dumbbells back down to end just above the shoulders.

3 Reasons You're Not Losing Weight

If you've been eating right and exercising but not able to lose that extra weight, "you may have a sluggish metabolism," states Lyssie Lakatos, R.D., co-author of Fire Up Your Metabolism. But before you blame it on your genes, consider these 3 bad habits:

1. You aren't getting enough selenium and vitamin D - these affect your thryroid's ability to produce the necessary metabolism-regulating hormones.
2. You avoid carbs like bread, rice, and pasta - carbs provide energy to the body and if you are lacking energy, you are less likely to be active.
3. You've been exposed to pesticides - Canadian researchers found chemicals like organochlorides (found in pesticides) can cause people to burn fat at a slower rate because they hinder thyroid function.

Surprising Benefits of Vitamin D

New studies have found that vitamin D may protect against some types of cancer and help fight heart disease. Vitamin D can be found in certain foods & supplements and is created naturally with exposure to sunlight. Approximately fifteen minutes of sun exposure to the arms, hands, face, or back (without sunscreen) at least twice a week is recommended to attain your RDI (recommended daily intake) of vitamin D. Michael Holick, M.D., Ph.D., endocrinologist at Boston University and author of The UV Advantage states, "getting enough vitamin D may be one of the most important factors in decreasing your risk for a number of chronic diseases." Vitamin D deficiency has been linked to cardiovascular disease, breast cancer, osteoporosis, depression, peripheral artery disease, type I diabetes, and death from kidney disease.

A Surprising Risk for Heart Disease

Experts at the USDA Agricultural Research Service found that skipping meals can increase your risk for heart disease. People who consumed most of their calories between 4:00pm and 8:00pm had higher levels of blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar than people who ate three meals a day with the same amount of calories. "Night eaters" were also found to be hungrier and less satisfied during the day. Cheryl Forberg, R.D. also points out that when people go most of the day without eating, they become ravenous and end up reaching for high calorie food with less nutritional value. She is the author of Positively Ageless: A 28-Day Plan for a Younger, Slimmer, Sexier You.

A Good Reason to Avoid Energy Drinks

A study by the journal General Dentistry found that "energy drinks are far more likely to erode tooth enamel than regular and diet sodas, coffee blends, and sports drinks." Energy drinks have a low pH (meaning they are acidic) and contain sugars, acids, and sodium citrates. These ingredients make it harder for saliva to restore the correct pH balance. Raymond Martin, D.D.S., spokesman for the Academy of General Dentistry, recommends sipping these types of drinks through a straw to minimize the damage. After drinking energy drinks, swish with water to wash away any residue.

Welcome to our new blog!

Welcome to the Traveling Trainers blog!

Our hope is to keep you informed about health, fitness, and nutrition.

You can view our main website at http://travelingtrainers.spaces.live.com/ where our blog first began. We will be adding those posts to this blog.