Editor’s Note: Vanessa Bennington owns Seaward Crossfit in the Rosemary District with her husband, Charles. She’s also a Advanced Registered Nurse practitioner.
Boys and girls, spring is officially here!
Of course, here in Sarasota, it’s felt like spring or maybe even summer for some time now. However, there’s nothing quite like the onslaught of spring breakers, the coming of Easter, white pants, and the warmer weather to remind us that we’re rapidly approaching bikini season.
Ok, and admit it, some out there are still trying to figure out how to whip the ole’ bod into shape before standing naked (almost) before God and all of their fellow beach goers to be judged based on the appearance of their abs (or lack there of).
So, what is your plan this year? Crash dieting from now until June? Hoping on your favorite cardio machine for an hour plus daily until the muffin top is gone? Wait! Before you start some crazy air-food diet, I’ve got some tips that will leave you looking better for far longer. You also won’t have to worry about rebounding — gaining all of the weight you lost plus some and hopefully there will be no last-minute scrambling to squeeze into a suit this time next year.
So, let’s kick this thing off!
1. Track your food.
Tracking your food using one of the many free online food tracking websites is important for weight/fat loss. Myfitnesspal.com, fitday.com, sparkpeople.com are just a few of the programs I’ve used in the past and they are all FREE. Most have apps you can use on your smart phone, making the whole thing less of a hassle.
Yes, it is a pain in the neck at first. However, it’s almost essential to long-term weight loss and it’s pretty important for maintenance too. Why? Because, its very hard to know how to adjust your food intake for fat loss if you don’t actually know what you’re eating in the first place. Yes, I know you think you know what you’re eating but I bet there are a lot of snacks, bites, and meals you either don’t remember or don’t think about later in the day that contain far more calories than you might imagine.
Also, one of the first things people ask me when discussing diet and fat loss is, “How many calories should I be eating?” Well, that is a very hard question to answer accurately. I can run some numbers through something like the Harris Benedict Equation, we can test body fat and come up with lean body mass numbers, but in the end, everyone’s body works a little differently and the best way to figure how many calories you need for maintenance and fat loss is to monitor food intake accurately and then adjust your food intake according to your fat loss over time.
Stress, lack of sleep, lack of activity over time, extreme dieting or disordered eating can all cause changes in appetite and caloric need.
Photo by Dan Wagner
2. Get Moving!
Ok, so this one is fairly obvious. However, I am constantly surprised by the number of people who come to me wanting to lose fat but not wanting to workout. Your body is meant to move! I don’t mean it’s meant to move you from your bed to the car, to your desk, to your couch and back to your bed either. Humans, when you look at things in a very basic sense, are just smart animals. And just like our dogs, we need to be walked, we need to get our exercise to stay fit and maintain our sanity (or is that just me?)
But seriously, the added calorie expenditure from daily workouts help you a.) lose weight, b.) maintain that weight loss. Think of activity (outside of your normal routines) as your weight loss insurance. It will insure that you lose weight even if you eat a little more than you should and it will help you maintain weight loss by burning off that beer (or 5) you had on Saturday night.
Josh Davis is the owner of Crossfit Lena.
Photo by Rachel O’Hara
3. Lift a weight, for Pete’s sake!
Actually, forget Pete. Lift a weight (preferably heavy) for your own sake. First, if you aren’t working out and you’re over the age of about 25 you are losing muscle mass. It’s happening slowly, but rest assured, it’s happening. The rate of loss really ramps up around the age of 50 for both men and women when hormones levels start to naturally decrease. “But wait. Why is this an issue?” you might ask. You don’t want to be a bodybuilder anyway, right? Well, I’m guessing you’re reading this article because you want to shed a little body fat before you get into your swimsuit. Well, if you aren’t doing some heavy lifting, your gradual muscle loss is making it way harder for you to lose that layer of adipose hiding your six-pack.
Yeah, yeah, you know that muscle burns more than fat. Yada yada. Yes, muscle does burn more calories at rest than fat, but not as much as we once thought. The old rule was that a pound of muscle burned about 30-50 calories/day while a pound of fat basically didn’t burn a thing. Well, more recent research shows that a pound of muscle only burns about 4-6 calories/day while a pound of fat burns about 2 calories. So it burns more than fat but not that much more.
What muscle really does well is increases our insulin sensitivity. Huh? To put it simply, it enables you to eat more carbohydrates and use them to fuel your activities rather than store the carbs/glucose as fat. Increasing insulin sensitivity also helps keep your blood sugar levels at a healthy level. Both the act of lifting heavy weights and then having more muscle helps you to avoid fat gain or increase fat loss by enhancing your ability to handle carbs. Sweet! More muscle means more carbs. I don’t know about you, but that’s enough to make me want to go to some squats right now!
*P.S. Ladies, please do yourselves a favor and skip the pink dumbbells. Lifting really light weights for millions of reps won’t make you “toned.” You just won’t gain any appreciable amount of muscle and that means no additional carbs. Lift heavy in rep ranges that will build muscle not waste your time.
4. Just Eat Real Food
I’m sure you’ve read or heard about the Paleo diet or you have a friend who tells you all about his/her organic/raw/juice diet. And you’re probably ready to choke them if you hear one more thing about how amazing they feel. But, where there is smoke there is fire.
I’m not going to go on and on about one style of eating but I am going to tell you that if you start eating less food out of packages, cans, boxes and wrappers you’re going to find that you feel far better and that weight loss will likely be way easier. There are a couple of reasons for this. First, it means you are probably not eating fast food or prepackaged snacks, which are usually packed with sugar, fat, and just…crap. That saves a ton of calories never mind that you also avoiding the chemical shit (am I allowed to say that?) storm that accompanies these products. It also means you are probably making more of your own food or perhaps buying food that is made by fellow humans and not a machine.
Generally, you are going to have a lot more control over the contents of that food if you make it or you ask for specifics when ordering at a restaurant. However, even if you are eating real food, I still encourage you to employ tip number 1. It is very possible to eat high quality foods and still not lose or even gain weight. Calories will always matter.
Photo/ Matt Houston
5. Up the Intensity
OK, so you workout daily you say. But, you still look about the same as you did when you started or maybe you made some progress and now… nothing. Well, let me ask you about your intensity level at the gym. Are you breathing hard? Sweating? Or are you able to chat on your phone, text, or read a magazine while you spend your obligatory 30 minutes, heck, hour on the elliptical. Stop! Wasting! Your! Time!
Really. I love a good leisurely stroll as well as anyone. It’s great for stress relief and when incorporated into an active lifestyle, low intensity aerobic or even weight lifting can be considered a productive part of your routine. However, it should not be the only part of your routine if your goal is to change your body composition. At best, you are going to just maintain the status quo. Worst case scenario is that you waste a ton of time that could have been spent more productively.
I would say at least 2-3 of your workouts per week should leave you breathing hard, sweaty, and probably sore for a day or two. Your body needs to be challenged in order to change. Serve it up the same workout day after day and it’ll give you the same results. Intense workouts elicit hormonal changes that walking the bridge can’t give you. Try a HIIT session (high intensity interval training), CrossFit, Olympic style weightlifting, powerlifting, kettlebells. Something that gets your heart rate going and challenges you! Oh and don’t forget to have fun with it! Being active and trying out new things should be a blast, not a bummer. Look for activities that light your fire physically and mentally. Your body will thank you!
*P.S.S. Please make sure that if you’re new to any of these types of training you find a qualified professional to help you with these new training methods. With intensity comes responsibility (I just made that up!) Ask around. Read reviews. Know who you are training with and if they are qualified to do what they do. It’s too late once you’ve been injured.
— Vanessa Bennington
