Clean Your Diet
You have been exercising regularly for a while, and now you feel it is time to make positive changes in your diet. If you want to eat better but have no idea Continue Reading →
New Year, New Promises
There is something magical about the beginning of a new year that fills our hearts with hope. Maybe that’s why millions of people start their year with a list of resolutions that they don’t intend to keep. It is almost as if we are throwing wishes at the Universe, not committing to a goal. We dream big, over promise, and under deliver. By the end of January, we can’t even remember most of the items on the list. However, this year could be different. You just need to follow a few steps:
- Ask yourself what you really want to achieve. Fitness examples would be: exercise more, eat better, lose weight, be more active…
- Now, discover why this is important to you. Why do you want to improve your eating habits or be more active? What are the feelings behind those actions? This is a crucial step to your success because it will determine your level of commitment and help you keep motivated.
- Next, determine how important this goal is to you. On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate its importance? If it is a 9 or 10, you are ready to go to the next step, but if it is not, you may want to reflect on why this is not a priority in your life. Maybe, you are not ready for it yet or you are just trying to please someone else. Don’t set yourself up for failure, by committing to something that is not meaningful to you.
- Once you know what you want and why, you are ready to create a REALISTIC plan of action. And I mean realistic because, we tend to go overboard on our optimism until we realise that it’s not doable. Also, be specific. For instance, how are you going to be more active? “I will go for a 30-minute walk after dinner, on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays”. Notice that this plan is very specific and quite feasible.
- Keep track of your progress. This will help you notice small achievements which will get you energized and motivated, especially when times get harder. For example, if your end goal is to lose a considerable amount of weight, it is very likely that it will take a few months to get there. So, take pictures and measurements on a regular basis to see your body transformation and record your training sessions to notice gains in strength and stamina.
- Be prepared for lapses. Yes, that’s right. There will be times you won’t feel like going to the gym or your diet will be subpar, but that’s not a reason to give up altogether. Be prepared to forgive small slip-ups and have strategies to get back on track as soon as possible. Keep in mind that consistency is what matters, not perfection.
Now, get pen and paper and start writing down your fitness resolutions for 2015. And if you need any help, don’t hesitate to contact me. I can help you start the year with the right foot.
Carla Torres is an AIF Master Trainer based in Rhodes, NSW. Her mission is to promote exercise, proper nutrition and healthy habits as a way to empower individuals to make decisions leading to better quality of life.
Clean Your Diet
You have been exercising regularly for a while, and now you feel it is time to make positive changes in your diet. If you want to eat better but have no idea how, I have a few tips for you. Just follow the next steps to a healthier diet.
1. Clean your pantry
Some foods are supposed to be eaten in moderation, meaning once or twice a month. If you keep those foods at home, chances are you are going to eat them more often than you should. Thus, to clean your diet, you should get rid of those foods. Get a garbage back and throw away the following items (if you have them at home, otherwise you are already half way to success).
2. List of foods to include in your diet
3. Know your portion sizes
Here is an easy way to determine the amount of food you should eat when planning a meal.
4. Plan meals in advance
Before going grocery shopping, plan the menu for the week. Then make a list of the items you need to purchase and stick to it. Don’t ever go shopping hungry because you are more likely to buy “forbidden foods” (chips, cakes, and other energy-dense snacks). The following menu is just an example. You can choose foods you enjoy based on your culinary skills. I suggest that you have easy recipes at hand to help you decide what to prepare for the week. The goal is to limit the number of times you eat out. Restaurant foods and take away are usually high in calories, fats, sugars, and salt. In addition, you can’t control the quality of the ingredients that you are consuming. Keep restaurant visits to a minimum only on special occasions and when you don’t have time to prepare your meal at home.
References
Carla Torres is an AIF Master Trainer based in Rhodes, NSW. Her mission is to promote exercise, proper nutrition and healthy habits as a way to empower individuals to make decisions leading to better quality of life.
Healthy Eating – Breakfast
You have probably heard that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. But do you know why? Researches show that people who start their day with a morning meal tend to weigh less than those who skip breakfast, are less likely to snack throughout the day, and perform better at mental activities.
Physiologically speaking, as we sleep, we use energy stores to keep our organs running. This means that even though our metabolic rate slows down, our body still needs some energy to maintain heart and lungs functioning. In addition, tissue repair and growth happens while we snooze and those processes require energy and nutrients.
Thus, in the morning we are mildly depleted since we have been fasting (at least I hope you are not eating during your sleep) for eight hours or more depending on the time of your last meal. Therefore as we get ready to start the day, our body desperately needs fuel and nutrients.
Here are some healthy and balanced options under 300 calories, that will fill you up and won’t break your “dietary budget.”
Carla Torres is an AIF Master Trainer based in Rhodes, NSW. Her mission is to promote exercise, proper nutrition and healthy habits as a way to empower individuals to make decisions leading to better quality of life.
Weight-Loss and Energy Balance
In my experience as a fitness professional, I could say that most people who join a gym do so in the hopes of changing their looks, and weight-loss is certainly one of the most common fitness goals out there. Even though regular physical activity is definitely an important piece of the equation, when it comes to slimming down, exercise alone may not be enough. This means that everyone trying to shrink their waistline should pay close attention to their diets.
To comprehend how weight-loss occurs, one must first understand the principles of energy balance. The set of chemical reactions that happen in our body is called metabolism. Metabolism is the balance between the energy that comes in through the food we consume and the energy that goes out through our daily activities. However, according to the law of conservation of energy, energy cannot be created or destroyed, only changed in form. For the human body, this means that whatever energy we consume but do not burn is stored as fat.
The good news is that the reverse is also true, which means that to promote weight-loss all we need to do is to create an energy deficit (burn more than we consume), right? Not so fast. The problem is that for evolutionary reasons, the human body became very good in storing energy but not so efficient in getting rid of the surplus energy (aka fat). But don’t get discouraged. I’m not saying that losing fat is impossible; I’m just saying that it may require a little more effort than you previously thought.
For our body, conserving energy stores is a way of surviving through times of famine (even though it is not very likely that it will happen nowadays). In order to force our body to use fat deposits, we must create a demand for this energy. That’s where physical activity comes into play. Regular exercise is the most efficient way to burn extra energy, but in order to use the fat deposits you also must restrict the amount of energy coming in, and that’s where most people get out of track.
The reasoning behind this principle is simple. The body tends to use energy that is readily available. If you keep consuming a high-calorie diet, your body will use the energy from food, not from your energy stores (meaning that the fat around your waist will not be touched, no matter how many hours you spend on the treadmill).
Bottom line is: if your goal is to shed kilos, you need to combine exercise with a healthy low-calorie diet. And how many calories you should consume? Well, for specifics on this subject, you will need to wait for our next article. Meanwhile, focus on eating fresh instead of processed, homemade instead of restaurant and take-away foods, and lean and low fat instead of full fat varieties. This small piece of advice can help you control your energy intake without having to count calories.
Carla Torres is an AIF Master Trainer based in Rhodes, NSW. Her mission is to promote exercise, proper nutrition and healthy habits as a way to empower individuals to make decisions leading to better quality of life.
New Address
I am happy to share with you my new work address. I’ll be providing personal training services at G Fitness, Rhodes, NSW, Australia.
G Fitness
3 Rider Boulevard, ground floor, Rhodes, NSW, 2138
Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead
This is not a new movie (from 2010) but I have just watched it and I really recommend it. It is a documentary based on a guy’s quest for the cure of a rare skin condition. After being on medication for years with little results, Joe Cross decides to reboot his life through juicing. He spent 60 days cruising the USA while on a complete juice fast[1] interviewing Americans along the way.
Even though it seems quite a radical approach (well, in fact it is radical) he could restore his health and even help others along the way. However, the real lesson in the movie is hardly about a new fad diet. I believe that his goal was not trying to convince people to engage in his challenge, but to understand what motivates people to eat what they do on regular basis.
I would say that the movie is more about behavior change than it is about diet. Several interviews throughout the movie clearly showed that people know what they are doing wrong. They just don’t see a reason strong enough to change it. All they say is “I know I shouldn’t eat that much fast food but” or “I should eat better but.” There was always a “but.” Not even the threat of debilitating diseases seems to compel people to change. Most call themselves weak or say they have no will-power. Some say that they need the instant gratification they get from food which means that eliminating that little pleasure from their lives is perceived as bad as, if not worse than, a debilitating illness or even death.
Which makes me think: What has to happen in someone’s life to push her/him into a new direction? What do you think?
[1] The only thing he ate for the duration of his self-imposed challenge was fresh fruits and vegetables in the form of juice.
Carla Torres is an AIF Master Trainer based in Rhodes, NSW. Her mission is to promote exercise, proper nutrition and healthy habits as a way to empower individuals to make decisions leading to better quality of life.
What Is Body Sculpting?
Sculpting comes from the word sculpture which refers to a structure that have been carefully carved or molded by very experienced hands resulting in harmonic lines that please the eyes. Well, body sculpting is not much different.
One thing to keep in mind is that as with the plastic arts, body sculpting is a long-term project not an easy-fix measure. You may have seen those late-night infomercials promising a super-toned perfect body if you only use their gadget every day for five minutes. Those ads are mesmerizing – it looks so simple! Then we buy their product and soon enough realize that we’ve been duped. The problem is that they hire very fit models who have been working on their physique for years, physiques that we all dream to have one day.
Does this mean that you will never get a better body unless you were born with good genes? Absolutely not – all it means is that you need to train appropriately.
Body sculpting is not much different than body building. Both use weight lifting techniques to improve body composition, aka reduce body fat and increase muscle mass. I would say that the term “body sculpting” is used to sell strength training to females because the term “body building” scares women away.
The goal of body sculpting is to increase lean body mass as you decrease fat deposits, creating a more defined toned look. Most women don’t want to show off some serious muscle definition; all they want is to be firm and not jiggle. However, to get this look, you must lift weights and lift a little heavy. All right, calm down – YOU WILL NOT GET BULKY! Trust me on this one; getting muscles to grow is hard work. You would need way more than a couple of strength training sessions per week to get big.
Many women seem to go to the gym every day, but can’t seem to get the results they expect. They spend hours on cardio machines in the hopes of getting toned legs but in reality they are just wasting their muscles away. Don’t get me wrong – cardiovascular training is a valuable tool to improve heart and lungs health, but it won’t help you building muscles. Keep in mind that one of the most important principles of training is specificity which means that the results you get are closely related to the type of training you do. Therefore, if you want a lean body that shows off some muscle definition, you must train for this outcome.
Ask yourself what you really want to accomplish. If it is a sculpted, toned, firm look, then you must lift weights in order to build some muscle. And I don’t mean doing bicep curls with “Barbie dumbbells” (those pink one-kilo dumbbells reserved for females) for tons of repetitions. You must choose exercises and loads that challenge different muscle groups to elicit change. Otherwise it is just a waste of your time.
Now if you never trained with weights and have no clue how to start, you are better off hiring a trainer to help you set up a balanced program that addresses your particular needs. You can discuss with your PT what you want to achieve, how much time you can commit and by when you would like to get the results.
Keep in mind that it is a lifelong process – not a short-term goal. As you become more proficient, your body will suffer adaptations and you will need to redesign your program in order to keep getting results. A competent trainer can guide you through this process and help you get the best looking body you’ve ever had.
Carla Torres is an AIF Master Trainer based in Rhodes, NSW. Her mission is to promote exercise, proper nutrition and healthy habits as a way to empower individuals to make decisions leading to better quality of life.
Can an Old Dog Learn New Tricks?
Behavior change is one of the major components of weight management programs. It is true that exercise and diet play important roles in weight loss, however if the individual cannot build healthier lifestyle habits, the results won’t last. This is because once the person goes back to his/hers old habits chances are that the pounds are going to begin piling up again. Therefore, long-term commitment is a must.
Changing someone’s behaviors is not an easy task. First, the person must be open to change (for more on that read “Increasing the Odds of Successful Change”). Keep in mind that change is only possible if the individual is willing to change. However, once the person is on board, change is possible if habits are addressed.
According to Charles Duhigg author of “The Power of Habit,” a “habit is a formula our brain automatically follows: when I see a CUE, I will do a ROUTINE in order to get a REWARD.” This is what he called the habit loop and it is an energy-saving strategy used by our brain in order to become faster and more efficient. This means that habits are instinctive pathways created by our brain in which we don’t have a conscientious participation. Not that we don’t know what we are doing – we do. Actually at some point we made a choice, but after some time the routine became ingrained in our brains and we stopped thinking about it.
The truth is that habits are powerful because they create what it’s called a neurological craving. This means that your brain start waiting for a preset reward whenever you see a particular cue which automatically unfolds a routine. Ok, but what does this mean? Let me break it down for you.
A CUE is a factor that triggers a behavior pattern. It could be something you see, a feeling, a smell, even a specific time of the day. The thing is that when you are exposed to this factor, it will drive you to inevitably perform a predetermined routine.
The ROUTINE is the habit itself. It is a sequence of behaviors performed spontaneously once you experience the cue.
A REWARD is the actual craving. It is the reason that pushes you to perform a routine. This craving appears immediately when you see the cue.
So how can we use this information in our favor? Keep in mind that it is almost impossible to just get rid of an old habit (neurological cravings are too powerful to be simply ignored), but we sure can try manipulating its variables (cue, routine and reward). In his book, Charles Duhigg suggests the following:
Initially, you must identify and understand the variables that compose your habit loop. Therefore, your first step should be recognizing the routine – the behavior you want to change. What exactly have you been doing that you are not happy with – smoking, mindless eating in front of the TV, having too much coffee, alcohol drinking? That’s the easy part. Everybody seems to know what needs to be changed; the hard part is actually doing it.
Then, discover what exactly you have been craving. Is it nicotine, caffeine, social interaction, need to do something fun? This is tricky and to figure this one out you have to experiment with rewards. It may not be that obvious; this step requires a bit of self-awareness. For example, some people may smoke because the act of holding a cigarette provides a sense of self-assurance in socially awkward situations, so in the end the expected reward is not nicotine, but confidence. Charles suggests slightly changing the routine in order to notice how you feel afterwards. This means that once you feel the urge to smoke, you should try doing something else instead, such as playing with your phone, calling a friend or reading a newspaper. Later you analyze your feelings. Did your craving go away or is it still there? I never said it was easy, but once you discover what you are craving, you can redesign your habit. The goal is to create a new routine that will provide de same reward, just in a different way.
The next step is to identify your cue. What is triggering the undesired behavior – boredom, stress, the smell of freshly brewed coffee, food commercials? To isolate possible cues, you should look for patterns. Charles recommends writing down details of what is going on the moment you feel the craving for several days. Then, compare and analyze your notes to find common points.
Now that you’ve identified all components of the habit loop, all you have to do is to set a plan of action. This means that you will actively choose to behave in a certain way whenever you see the cue that triggers the habit. Keep in mind that the reward is still going to be the same; all you are changing is how you are getting it. The goal is to teach your brain a new pathway that will lead to the reward you’ve been craving. Once it is ingrained, it will become a habit and you won’t have to think about it anymore.
Carla Torres is an AIF Master Trainer based in Rhodes, NSW. Her mission is to promote exercise, proper nutrition and healthy habits as a way to empower individuals to make decisions leading to better quality of life.
Working with a Personal Trainer
For a beginner, the gym environment can be very overwhelming. Lots of complicated equipment, big guys grunting and throwing weights around, and flirtatious girls in spandex is not something that is easy to handle at first. So for new gym goers, having a personal trainer can be the best way to feel welcome and safe in a health club. If you just joined a gym on impulse and have no idea how to start training, consider the following:
The first thing you’ll need is to learn how to use the machines and other fitness equipment which means you may need some assistance. Even though, some machines may seem self-explanatory, you must set them up correctly before using them. You will also need to know which ones to use in order to have a balanced program (otherwise you will end up doing only bicep exercises, for instance). Lastly, you need to know proper lifting technique so you won’t injure yourself in the process. Therefore, you are better off hiring someone who will take care of all those details for you.
Besides, a PT will guide you through the shortest path to success. One of the most common mistakes people make is not setting proper goals – if you don’t know where you want to go, how do you expect to get there? Your trainer will help you set realistic goals that are attainable and design a plan of action, leading to those goals. Working with a trainer is the fastest way to get results, because he/she will select the best exercises for what you want to achieve and will push you out of your comfort zone without compromising your safety.
In addition, a trainer can adjust the program to suit any particular need or limitation you may have at any given time. This means simplifying exercises that are too much for you to handle at first, and progressing them once you get stronger. And this happens on a daily basis!
Having a trainer also helps you save time in the gym. When you arrive, your session is already planned and set up for you. You don’t need to have a plan, you don’t have to adjust the machines or remember the weights you used last time. You don’t even need to put the weights back when you are done. It is max workout in minimum time.
Lastly, a trainer will give you consistent, non-judgmental, and unconditional support, assisting you to overcome obstacles that may appear, holding you accountable for your actions, keeping sessions interesting to promote long-term motivation, and helping you to stay on track. This support can help you create healthier lifestyle habits which you will follow for years to come. For a PT, your success is his/her success, so he/she will be always on your side.
The truth is that hiring a personal trainer is an investment on your health and well-being. Both beginners and more experienced exercisers can benefit from personal training services. You may think that you know enough to work out on your own, but image how much better you could be if you had some professional assistance.
Carla Torres is an AIF Master Trainer based in Rhodes, NSW. Her mission is to promote exercise, proper nutrition and healthy habits as a way to empower individuals to make decisions leading to better quality of life.