dotFIT Blog

If you’ve been following my blogs, you already know the most important thing about losing weight is burning more calories than you take in. Period. If this is still questionable in your mind, read my last blog “Exercising to lose weight? Here’s why that may not be the BEST strategy.” I promised to give you practical tips for reducing calories without feeling hungry and here they are:

1. Know Your Enemy. Whether you realize or not, your surroundings influence what and how much you eat. In today’s fast-paced, mega-portions and sedentary environment, it’s way too easy to eat more calories than your body burns up. Set yourself up for success by:
   • Replacing tempting food with healthier or pre-portioned options. Out of sight, out of mind. Even having a candy jar in your eyesight will cause you to eat more. Get rid of it.
   • Never, ever eat out of the bag or container, otherwise you’ll mindlessly munch away. It’s super easy to scarf down 500+ calories when you’re eating from the ice cream carton or that big bag of chips.
   • Serve yourself using small(er) plates and glasses. You’ll put less food on your plate and you’ll eat fewer calories. Yes, plate and glass sizes have increased dramatically over the last few decades – hence the bigger portion sizes
   • Avoid all-you-can eat places. We’re wired to eat, regardless if we’re hungry so it’s better to just stay out of these restaurants.
   • Don’t eat while distracted – watching TV, surfing the internet, etc. Eat and only eat to avoid eating too much without realizing it. Most people do this at night while they’re sitting on the couch watching their favorite shows.
   • Cook smaller portions. Studies show if you prepare smaller portions, you’ll eat fewer calories. If you cook in bulk to save time, pre-portion right away.
   • Start your meal with a small garden salad or broth-based soup and skip the appetizers or bread basket. Doing this will help you feel fuller and take in fewer calories.
2. Track it. The first step towards changing or improving something is to become aware of how it is now. Plus studies show people who keep a food diary/log lose more weight and are more likely to keep it off. So if you’re serious, don’t mess around. Jot down every morsel that goes into your mouth.
3. Don’t Drink Your Calories. Drinking regular soda, juices, coffee drinks and sweetened beverages give you calories, but do nothing to help you feel satisfied. Opt for water or other calorie-free options.
4. Eat Breakfast. Prevent over-eating later in the day by eating a morning meal – preferably high in fiber with a little protein. Try a bran cereal with fresh fruit or 100% whole wheat toast with eggs or peanut butter.
5. Eat every 4 hours. Waiting too long leads to eating more calories and making poor food choices. I recommend 3 meals and 1-2 snacks per day. Healthy snacks, of course. (My favs are 100 calorie kettle popcorn and a Fiji apple – crunchy, sweet and salty or a 100-calorie Fudgsicle when I want chocolate.)
6. Avoid fried foods and fast food, unless you can find a meal with less than ~500 calories. These are typically way too high in calories and artery-clogging fat.
7. Choose lean cuts of meat , or remove the fat before eating. Fish, skinless poultry, and “Select” grades of beef. “Prime” cuts of beef have the most fat.
8. Switch to low-fat or nonfat dairy products. Nonfat milk instead of whole milk, reduced fat cheese and low-fat yogurt are good choices.
9. Eat at least 25 grams of fiber per day. Research shows that doubling fiber intake boosts weight loss. Yes, you can drop 5 pounds in a few months by just using this tip alone. Fiber is a powerhouse food and most people get half of what they need. Fiber-rich foods slow digestion, help control blood sugar, boost the feeling of fullness, help manage hunger and more. To get enough, eat fruit with 1-2 meals and have it for a snack and have veggies with every meal. Replace refined foods (white rice, pasta, bread) with high-fiber cereal, steel cut oatmeal, 100% whole wheat bread, whole wheat pasta, brown rice, beans and lentils.

That’s it for now – incorporate one or two of these tips at a time for at least 21 days so it becomes a habit and you’ll see the fat melting away. You’re on your way to a leaner and healthier you!

Cheers,
Kat

It never ceases to amaze me that folks trying to lose weight or get in shape will avoid resistance training. Old myths and stereotypes still exist: I’m afraid to get big or bulk up. I don’t want to be muscle bound. I just want to lose weight, not get big.

I’ll say it straight: you want to lose fat and look good? It will NEVER happen as quickly, easily or with a better result if you do not include some type of resistance training. The world is filled with young men and women struggling to add considerable muscle. I spent ten years devoting every minute to that end and it still came slowly. The likelihood that you will bulk up and look like a linebacker after a few months of hitting the weights is highly unlikely. Even if that’s what you wanted! Proper training like what you’ll find we recommend at dotFIT will enhance your health, strength, stability, athleticism and looks.

Tune in to our Webinar on Wednesday, 7/14,  to learn more on how to maximize your results and get the most from your workouts.

Sign up at www.dotFIT.com/webinars.

My journey has now been completed.  I placed 4th and over all it was a great quality show.  The day was long but the comradery I had felt backstage with my friends and fellow clients made the whole night. I don’t compete home locally, so to be able to get ready with women that I love was extremely important. I had the best time on stage that I have ever had and felt I have looked the best I ever did in the past.

I have been asked if I was disappointed with my placing and of coarse initially it is disappointing but the reality of it all is that we are all winners and we all worked hard to get to that stage.  You never know what the judges will be looking for that particular competition or who will be your competition but this is the sport.

So back to the drawing board to start again to set my sights on a new journey.  With every show I compete in,my body grows as well as my mind.  Every time you can only improve on your physique through hard training and experience taken in with every show.

Thank you To dotFIT for the wonderful line of supplements  that get me through on-season as well as my off-season.  Off I go to find yet another competition to prepare for.  I am always in preparation for the next level.  This is where my passion lies.

- Jodi

by guest blogger Harry Gaines, retiree and fitness enthusiast

In 1982 a movie starring Richard Pryor as the sole actor was released, Live on the Sunset Strip.  He described an incident when he was freebasing cocaine and set himself on fire.
Jim Brown, the ex-football player turned actor, visited him in the hospital.  Brown kept saying, “Whatcha gonna do?” over and over.  Pryor got the message, even if he didn’t change.
Let’s say you’re in your sixties, could lose a few pounds (maybe thirty?), don’t have a regular exercise program.  You like to play golf, riding in a cart, would like to think that’s exercise.  (Don’t feel bad; one of the guys I play with is a former NFL quarterback, he says the same thing!)

My friend Bill plays golf two or three times a week, does exercises at home three times, rides his bike five miles three to four.  He gets too upset because he can’t hit the golf ball very far anymore.  Did I mention he’s eighty five years old?  He looks seventy, acts sixty; well-read, interested in life and people, fun to be with.  Can’t hear worth a damn even with two hearing aids, but we accept that.  And we’re coaching him about getting so pissed off playing golf, with limited success. I wish he’s go to our Fitness Center, do some strength training, but he says he does enough with stomach crunches and leg exercises at home.

Bill was on the tennis team at Cornell in the late 1940s, has been athletic all of his life.  Sometimes when we’re playing golf I remember that my partner served in the European Theater in 1944, landing on the Continent right after D-Day.  Most of those guys are dead!

Chris is one of my Florida cycling buddies; we ride three times a week, 120 to 150 miles total.  Forty two years ago, when he was twenty seven, Chris had a physical exam.  He can’t remember his diastolic blood pressure but his systolic was 190.  The doctor told him he should put him in the hospital.  He also said, “Either you start exercising, lose forty pounds, or you’ll be dead in two years.  Make out a will.”

Fear can be a strong motivator.  Chris got the message, joined a gym, stopped eating crap, got in shape and stayed that way.  When he turned sixty he decided to do something hard, signed up with a cycling company and rode from Oregon to New Hampshire.  Rain or shine, up and down mountains, into strong headwinds; they rode every day for nearly two months.

This summer he and some pals are cycling the Going to the Sun road in Glacier National Park in Montana (a 3,500 ft climb in nine miles), then riding from Banff to,  Jasper, Canada,  a 150-mile ride up the Icefields Parkway in the Canadian Rockies with lots of climbing beside incredibly beautiful glaciers.

And yes, he goes to the Fitness Center regularly, does strength training to exhaustion, not just moving a few light weights.

So,”Whatcha gonna do?”  Want to play golf through your seventies and beyond, stay out of the hospital, avoid high blood pressure, Type II diabetes, joint replacements and a myriad of other ailments that come with age and lack of conditioning?  No problem, it can be done.

Is it easy?  Can you do it without changing your lifestyle?  Not a chance.  Initially it’s work, takes some months before it gets to be fun.  As a friend said, “There’s only two times to exercise; when you feel like it and when you don’t”.

What should you do?  Join a gym, sign up for some sessions with a trainer who will develop a program of aerobic and strength training.   Begin easy, work up to hard after your muscles are with the program.  Too hard too soon equals sore muscles, discouragement and a strong desire to quit.

And the great news is that it’s never too late!  Residents of nursing homes in their nineties have benefited from strength training within a few months.  Significantly.

A lot is going on with less than 4 weeks to go.  Some days I am tired and other days I am totally fine.  It depends on whether or not I teach class.  Even though I do not use heavy weight and just use my body weight for demonstrating purposes, my legs burn beyond belief.  Those are the days I wish for a power nap in the middle of the day.  With the increase of my cardio to a full hour and my weight training incorporated by plyometrics, some days I really have to dig in to get through it.

With all of the blood, sweat and tears comes passion, devotion and discipline to the sport. I absolutely love it.

My body fat percentage is floating around 9.5 % and with still a good few weeks to go, I can see myself really beginning to transform as I begin practicing more and more.  With my calorie burn at approximately 3300, it’s no wonder the body fat melts away.  This whole scientific journey amazes me every time.

I hosted my figure workshop this past Sunday and all of my girls not only had their brain pumped with much information on stage presence and prepping but a wonderful time as well.  They each walked away with a bit more confidence and that is all I can ask for.  This can be an overwhelming event but with good guidance, it will not feel so unknown.

In anything you do in life, practice is the key.  Going through the motions over and over will make one better and improve.  The more I practice with competing, I learn more every time.  With knowledge I get better and with my physique I get better.  With all of this comes great health, too.  The dotFIT supplements not only help you keep a healthy lifestyle but help you attain it as well.  As I have said in the past, vitamins and supplements help your body in the assistance it needs to perform and maintain.

On the topic of performance, my workouts are almost an event worth watching.  I have been throwing a heavy bag over my shoulder and running with it for 32 yds back and forth.  Or taking a 30 pound sledge hammer and slamming it for five rounds of 25 reps. Sounds good huh?  I really love it!  Let’s not leave out the squat thrusts or mountain climbers.  The list goes on and on and so when a day is completed it’s the best feeling of accomplishment that I could ever feel.  I have to thank Warren for that or should I say my personal Apollo Creed.  That’s what I have been calling him lately!

–Jodi