Positively Fit

If you want to reduce your body fat, focus on increasing the amount of exercise, you get rather than decreasing your food intake. A recent national study was done using two groups of sedentary men, one group in their 20's and the other over age 65. A lot was learned from this accumulated data and it is interesting to note that there was a significant relationship between lack of physical activity and fat. Not surprisingly, the most sedentary men had the most body fat. These studies have also indicated that the government’s current recommended daily allowance for calories does not correlate with the body's actual energy needs. For example, although 2400 calories have been calculated for older men, they in fact burned an average of 2800 calories daily. The leading experts now recommend that people who want to lose weight start increasing their physical activity. Just being more active in general (such as climbing the stairs instead of taking the elevator, moving around instead of...

By Registered Dietitian Jayson Hunter It’s unfortunate, but true: Many women feel the need to starve themselves when they have twenty pounds they want to lose so they can look great for a special occasion. Whether it is a wedding, class reunion or some other special event there is a tremendous amount of pressure on women to look great. And this pressure often leads to the yo-yo dieting and weight gain that is so prevalent in our society today. You know the pattern: You starve yourself and seem to drop a ton of weight fast. But then when you go back to your normal eating patterns you gain not only the weight you lost back, but you gain even more! And it’s all the result of one thing: Starving your body of the nutrients it needs. As you’ve probably read somewhere by now, your body’s metabolism actually burns more fat when it’s fed more often. So if you want to lose dress sizes and inches fast you need to be good to your body. And that means eating the foods it craves to help it melt fat....

Contrary to popular belief, healthy eating does not have to inflict damage to your wallet. In challenging economic times, many people tend to go for the “cheapest” food options and sometimes these options are far from healthy. Just recently, my husband and I put ourselves on a serious “budget” and of course this meant a “food budget” as well. Below are the simple steps we took to continue to live our healthy lifestyle while saving a few dollars in the process. 1. We drastically cut out eating out. It’s shocking to discover how much you are really spending by buying a quick pizza and ordering quick take out every once in a while. What we often don’t realize is that every once in a while is much more often than we think. We are now cooking at home a lot more and discovering quick, easy and delicious recipes that cost very little when made at home. Now we are no chefs by any means but it’s amazing what you can put together in 20 minutes or less by just getting a bit creative and ...

10 TIPS TO FAT LOSS 1. Eliminating all junk foods like like snack foods, pizza, desserts, pasta, bread, and dairy products. 2. Exercise to increase lean muscle mass. Resistant training is highly recommended!!! 3. Have your thyroid checked if you're not losing fat. One in two Americans has an under active thyroid. 4. Not enough protein is consumed for breakfast. Protein regulates insulin levels, when you eat high sugar meals, your insulin levels become elevated, you store fat. 5. Cut out the butter, salad dressing, fried foods,cookies, candies. 6. Keep your sugars to minimum. 7.Eat your largest meal at breakfast, dinner should be light since you're sleeping; no energy is needed to sleep;-) 8. Eliminate or minimize your alcoholic drinks, because it only slows down the metabolism. 9. YOU must EAT at least 5 small meals everyday! If not your body goes into starvation mode, where it uses muscle for energy and leaving you fat.* Never skip a meal! 10. Visualize your success. Look into...

It's been three weeks since the New Year. I would like to know how are the new "be more fit and healthy" plans are coming along!! It's ok if you're not keeping up with your goals; all you have to do is TRY AGAIN!! Remember why you wanted to do this at the beginning of the year and continue for the rest of the year.Don't ever give up! Please do NOT view yourself as a failure. The only time you fail is when/if you quit.* Statistics show that most people do not succeed their first time trying. Not of your persistence! If you’re using your intelligence, nothing can get in the way of your success! Let’s review your current plan: -What were your fitness goals? Did you want to lose fat, gain muscle, or be healthier? -What did do for your strength training routine? -How long was cardio session? What was the intensity? -When did you stretch for flexibility and how long did you hold each stretch? -How do you plan your daily menu? Did you keep track of your daily menu, w...