Monthly Archives: December 2009

Helpful Holidays Tips

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That time of the year is approaching again when we attend holiday parties and family gatherings. Even though we walk into the situation thinking we have it under control, the temptations of treats and our favorite foods often overwhelm us.

I am a fitness trainer and a professional athlete. I, like everyone else, want to indulge in some treats along with having a wonderful time with family and friends. I am not about to say this isn’t possible because it certainly is. It’s all about the planning of your food and keeping active.

Here are some tips that can allow you your favorite foods without feeling the guilt of your waistline expanding . . .

  • When attending a gathering or party, don’t skip meals the whole day. One would think saving the whole day’s worth of calories for the holidays festivities will balance out but in reality makes you so hungry, overeating is likely to occur. Keep to a normal eating schedule.
  • Don’t arrive hungry. Before you leave your home or office, grab a handful of almonds or a tablespoon of peanut butter. Even having a cup of coffee or tea can take the edge off. Drinking a large glass of sparkling water can do the trick as well.
  • Save the calories for what you really want to eat. We all have favorites, so try to indulge in what you really want and love instead of wasting calories on foods that you can do without.
  • Be careful of sodas, high-calorie juices and alcohol. These can add unwanted calories and weight without you even realizing it. Stick to beverages with low to no calories.
  • Increase your activity level. For those of you who don’t attend a gym, this could be the time to start. For those of you who attend the gym regularly, keep your normal routine. Try not to skip but if you do, don’t stress. Just go the following day. The whole point is to stay active. Daily planning is key. Whenever you can get it in, even if it is in 15 minute increments.
  • Keeping track of what you eat by logging it in the dotFIT Me program or writing it down is proven to make you more responsible and aware of what you are eating. Try it!!!
  • Stay hydrated during the day. Being thirsty is often confused with being hungry.

Remember in moderation we can all enjoy the treats we love. So enjoy your family and friends, be merry and ENJOY your holiday season!

contributed by Jodi Lynn Braun
IFPA Pro Figure Competitor & dotFIT Sponsored Athlete

Jodi Lynn Braun

Jodi Lynn Braun

Weight Control – The Facts Make It Easy – Part II

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Visibility allows flexibility – do it your way

To reiterate, nowhere in Part 1 did we tell you what to eat or do to lose weight.  All we have said is “know how many calories you burn, what you want to weigh and when, and then you’ll know how many calories you get to eat.” And by now you know that the more you move, the more you can eat.

When it comes to accomplishing a weight or body fat goal, all that matters is that you start. What you eat and how you burn calories is no one’s concern but yours. So, on average, just burn more than you eat until you reach your goal. It’s not a program – it’s your life combined with the right tool to tell you all you need to know. That tool is the exerspy.

Here’s what one new user who’s struggled with thyroid disease and weight gain has to say about exerspy:

“I’ve used countless food logs, work out logs, and am an avid health freak.  I didn’t really like online programs I used and the fact that I needed to use multiple programs (one for calorie/nutrition facts, spreadsheets, work out logs, etc.) made it an arduous task.

“I started using the exerspy on Tuesday of this week and it has been such a blessing!  I LOVE IT! You have done an extraordinary job on the equipment, online program, food log, tracking mechanisms, etc.  I couldn’t be happier.  I wear it all the time and am thrilled about the prospect of what it can do to help me reach my goal/target weight and fitness level.”

What’s her motivation? It’s simple — she’s able to easily fit the program to her lifestyle.

Side note: Every adult knows the difference between good and not so good food – and of course your calories should be made up of better foods – but hey, you figure that one out because at the end of the day, only the difference between your burn and your consumption determines your weight loss – NOTHING else.

The same formula applies to all of us, including those who eat well and exercise religiously but still have that pesky little spot of body fat that just won’t go away. The answer is the same. Repeat after me, “Eat fewer calories on average than you burn (do it your way) until it goes away”. And always bear in mind, you CAN’T chose to lose fat in from a specific place on your body, like your thighs or stomach.

The Undeniable Facts of Weight Control:

  • Individual total calorie intake is determined by personal activity, body statistics and goal including desired timeframe. The foods that make up your allowed calories can be structured to improve health & performance.
  • One single fact determines the rate of weight/fat loss: the average daily calorie deficit. This is defined as the difference between how many calories you burn and how many calories you consume. Weight loss should proceed at a pace that does not compromise health or performance.
  • Exercise is intended to improve your body structure, function/performance, longevity, visual appearance, etc. Exercise also increases daily calorie burn and helps you maintain your desired weight.

You must be the creator of your program or you won’t be the master

The only way you will own a behavioral change is if you create it. Start anyway you can, sticking to this simple rule: burn more calories than you consume, on average, until you reach your goal. Just follow the number.

The good news is that “one good turn deserves another”, meaning, as your body changes and you start to look better, you will also do things better. BUT the first turn has to come easily and on your terms, or you’ll take a second step to failure. Square pegs don’t fit in round holes – you need to own your program because it fits the life you choose, not a life someone else chooses for you. You want to be lean but you need to get there your way. Want maximum visibility and complete flexibility? Welcome to dotFIT Me.

Ready for more? Join us for any of our free webinars and you’ll not only learn valuable information about weight control but you’ll also get a sneak peak at dotFIT Me and exerspy.  Just go to www.dotFIT.com/webinars to register for the next session.

Weight Control – The Facts Make It Easy – Part I

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If you know what to do, then why CAN’T you control your weight?

The simple answer to the question is motivation, because everyone knows how to lower their weight – everyone. Yes, ALL adults know (albeit many are in denial) that their undesirable or oversized fat stores are a result of eating or drinking more than they need. Therefore, everyone knows the one and only answer is to eat less, move more or a combination of the two – hello!

I travel and lecture all over the world and I have yet to meet an adult who truly doesn’t know that they’re overweight because they eat or drink too much. Nor have I met a person who wants to become overweight. So why is the majority of the adult population overweight? The first part of the answer is that people can’t see or feel daily weight changes. The average adult gains 1-3LBS per year, or in daily numbers, ~1/365 -1/182LBS per day (or an average of 10 to 30 calories per day more than you burn). This leads to the second part. Body fat creeps up so slowly it’s easy to ignore it until you’re forced to put energy into losing weight – and the perceived effort, which is any weight loss program or method, requires motivation. Motivation to change your lifestyle means motivation to change your behavior, and it requires lots of thinking, planning, actions and sometimes counseling.  And the method you choose may not fit your lifestyle, which means you ultimately achieve weight regain. Yet, as previously mentioned, you DO know why you are overweight.

How do we lower the need for motivation?

Let’s go back to where we started. You are overweight because you ate more than you moved, meaning more than necessary. You also know that now you need to eat less and/or move more to fix it. Okay, nowhere in this conversation did anyone tell you what to eat or how to move, right? So what’s the simple answer to reversing the problem WITHOUT life-changing or threatening motivation?

You CAN eat ANYTHING you want – you just CAN’T eat EVERYTHING you want

Meaning, do what you do but just a little less and/or a little more. Reverse the behaviors that got you here. That’s right, no lifestyle change is required, just a minor adjustment. The rest will take care of itself. As soon as you make a big deal out of losing weight, you take your first step toward failure.

To succeed you only have to pay attention to a number, but you need to know what that number is.

You WON’T manage what you CAN’T see and you CAN’T manage what you DON’T know

To successfully achieve your goal weight YOUR way, you need to know how many calories you use every day so you know how many you can eat to lose weight or not get fat. Now you have something to manage that’s controllable daily: simple numbers.  And remember, numbers don’t lie.

Motivation will come from seeing body fat coming or going in real time at any time — hourly, daily, weekly, etc.  When you can SEE your daily body fat gains and losses, it’s simple to manage them because it doesn’t take much effort to eat one less bite or take 10 extra steps to stay on track. The “icing on the cake” is that you will actually be motivated by having visibility into real time changes in your body fat. When you use a flexible program like dotFIT Me, you can view hourly and daily changes in weight and body fat as opposed to waiting until they are confirmed by the scale or change in clothing size. Flexibility is critical to your success.  We’ll explain why and how in Part 2.