Imagine Fitness

Fitness myths abound in the exercise world. Now the question is, have you fallen victim to these 4 common myths? If you have it is not surprising as these ideas seem at first glance to make sense, and to make it worse  TV and magazine ads promote these ideas. Here are my top 4, see if any surprise you.

1.  Spot Reduction: Many people focus on their abs. They want a flat mid-section and believe that crunches or using an ab roller will flatten their abs.  Remember, abdominal exercises are actually for strengthening your core.  In order to see definition in your abdominals you must decrease overall body fat percentage. When the layer of fat that is covering your abs is reduced, then and only then will you have a flat stomach.  This is done by burning calories through cardio and cutting down on your calories.

2. No Pain, No Gain: Many people feel that if they don’t hurt all over for days then they must not have worked out hard enough. In reality, if soreness persists then perhaps you are not giving yourself enough recovery time between workouts. Rather than ‘no pain, no gain’, go for the motto of ‘train, don’t strain’.

3.  Strength Training Builds Bulky Muscles. Many women have this idea and really it is just not true. For the average women it is nearly impossible to put on enough muscle to the point where you are bulky. Genetically, everyone is different and some women may have more muscle in certain parts of their body, such as legs, or arms. But in general unless you are power lifting you will build healthy muscle without bulk.

4. Working the Zone is Best: Most exercise equipment has a chart that plots your heart rate against your age. These charts recommend at what rate your heart should be beating to burn calories while using fat for fuel.  It is usually recommended that the best exercise is one that takes place at a lower intensity. The real issue is the burning of calories. It does not matter what percentage of energy is derived from fat or carbohydrates. What matters is how many calories are burned per minute.  I believe strongly in the interval training method, where your workout is varied and constantly changing.

These are 4 of the common fitness myths, how many did you believe? If you did, don’t despair, a little knowledge goes a long way.  Ckeck back to my website often for great advice on how to lose weight and keep it off.

Shelley Healy

Fall is officially here  but the weather is beautiful. In case you haven’t noticed the trees are full of vibrant color, yellows, greens and red. Since this was the year of no summer in Calgary, I  strongly suggest now is a good time to get outdoors for your workout. Working  as a personal trainer  in Calgary, I am always reminding my clients of  how taking your workout outside is going to challenge you in whole new ways.

Our bodies quickly become accustomed to doing the same old thing. If you always do the treadmill or elliptical chances are you are not getting the same bang for your buck as you were in the beginning. It is easy to do your workout outdoors, all you need is a pair of running shoes, a water bottle and a watch with a second hand.

Start off with a moderate walk for about 5 minutes. Then increase your pace each minute for the next 3 minutes, and then try a jog or sprint for about 30 seconds. The key is not to stop after your sprint, keep moving. Walk for about 1-2 minutes until you have regained your breath, then repeat the sequence again for another 5 rounds. Try to find a route that includes some hills for a challenge to your cardiovascular system. There are some  fabulous pathways to walk and bike on around Calgary, we are fortunate to have this advantage. For me Nose Hill is just out my back door and provides a great hill climb, with a panoramic view of Calgary.

The eneven pathway, the hills and even if their is a wind blowing will all combine to ramp up your workout. Remember you are trying to push yourself beyond what you have already mastered, that is where the real success comes from. If you stay in your comfort zone, then your results will slow and you will wonder why the exercise is no longer working.

Don’t tell yourself ‘I should’, change it to ‘I must’. Don’t go through the motions, put in 100% effort every time, and you will prove to yourself that you are a winner.

Stay focused, but why not take some time today to enjoy the beautiful outdoors? The season is short so get out there and enjoy it.

Shelley Healy

This weeks topic is all about common myths many of us believe about dieting.Their is so much information out there that we don’t know what to believe anymore. Here are the top 3 common myths about weight loss.

1. Myth: In order to lose weight, I must eat less.

Fact: Eating less than our bodies daily requirment, actually helps us to gain weight. If we skip meals our body starts to slow down its metabolism and go into survival mode. Then when we do eat, our body greedily stores everything as fuel because it does not know when the next meal will come. Prolonged eating like this teaches our body to be a fat storing rather than a fat burning machine. Eating small regular meals throughout the day is the best way to go.

2. Myth: A calorie is a calorie

Fact: There is huge difference in how our bodies burn different types of calories. For example, fat takes only about 3% of our digestion to process, whereas protein and carbohydrates take about 10-20% of our digestion to burn.Therefore, if you eat a meal high in fat about 3% of it will be burned for fuel and the other 97% will nicely slid right into your existing fat cells. If you don’t burn off the excess.

3. Myth: I don’t need extra protein to lose weight

Fact: Anyone who excercises needs more protein to lose weight. Muscle tissue demands protein to build. If you are working out on a strength training program you need that extra protein to rebuild and repair your muscles. Otherwise you will never build enough muscle to be able to burn fat. The results of your tissues not repairing themselves is fatigue, and burnout. Remember, after you workout is the time to feed your muscles. Try to consume some high quality protein and a complex carbohydrate within 1 hour after working out to replenish yourself.

Try this 3 simple tips and you may be surprised at the results you see.

Shelley

For many who are trying to lose weight, or even just maintain their  present weight we are interested in how to boost our metabolim. That is the rate at which our bodies burn calories. Faster metabolic rate = more calories burned = weight loss.  So how can we keep our bodies a calorie burning machine? As a Calgary personal trainer, here are a few bits of advice I want to pass along.

I don’t advocate fat burning supplements or resorting to unhealthy gimmicks, but there are a few tips of what you should and should not do that can imapct your metabolism.

Metabolism DO’s

1.  Don’t reduce calorie intake to low. Commonly known as starving yourself. When you drastically reduce calories this messes up your bodies chemistry and it actually begins to slow down your metabolism in order to keep you alive.

2. Don’t skip meals.  If you are like me, life can get pretty busy, as a trainer working in  a city like Calgary, it can be easy to miss a meal.  However, studies have shown that up to 10% of our daily calories are actually burned through thermogenesis. That is the process of converting calories to energy. That means that regular eating, such as 4-5 small meals a day actually keeps your body burning calories all day long without any drop in your blood sugar levels, so you have more energy for longer and have the capacity to burn stored fat.

3.  Don’t forgo sleep. Research has shown that sleep is essential for your body to repair itself. Sleep actually triggers an increase in the hormone called ‘leptin’ which is our hunger curbing hormone. Just 1 hour of sleep less a day can drastically effect your weight loss efforts.

So now you know what NOT to do, stay tuned for my next newsletter when I will reveal tips on how to BOOST your metabolism.

Stay motivated,

Shelley

I was reading the other day about fitness related ideas and came across on the MSN website reasons why some of us experience workout burnout. You know what I mean, you know you should exercise, but just can’t seem to get it together and get back on track.  I want to share these with you, so you can overcome the setbacks and stay on track with your progress.

1. First stage is the ‘Honeymoon’ phase of exercise. You start off with a bang and  resolve to exercise everyday and lose 20 pounds in a month. Before long you realize perhaps you set the bar to high. Start off slowly, with doing the lowest amount of reps and sets and using light weights. It is better to under workout in the beginning that start with a bang and slow down due to extreme soreness.

2. Second stage is ‘Disenchantment.‘ After the first few weeks if your progress is slow and you are not seing the results you want, you start to back off. This is where having clearly defined goals is going to get you through. Perhaps a short term goal in the beginning would be to increase the amount of time you spend exercising, rather than focusing on pounds lost. Set small improvements and you won’t be disappointed.

3. Third stage is ‘Stalling”. You will use almost any excuse not to workout. The weather, stress, your family, or you convince yourself you just don’t have the time. Perhaps you need to try something new, if you always do cardio indoors, take it outdoors and go for a walk.

4.Fourth stage is ‘Frustration”. Exercise starts to slip from your list of priorities. Make a schedule and stick to it. Don’t let anything interfere, view it just like any other appointment, doctor or dentist that you wouldn’t cancel. Stick with it for 5 weeks, and you will have developed a new habit.

Are you getting enough fat? What? You are wondering why would I ask a question like that, I mean isn’t virtually everyone trying to cut back on fat?

I am talking about the good fat that your body requires for optimal health, and to lose weight.  Omega 3 is an essential fatty acid that is absent from most diets.  Omega 3 fats helps our bodies to fight against inflammation and can help to lower cholesterol.

Good sources of omega 3′s can be found in flax, flax seed oil, almonds, walnuts and cold water fish. This good fat has been shown to raise our ‘good’ or HDL cholesterol and lower the ‘bad’ or LDL cholesterol.  You can see that these foods are not the most popular today, and therefore the typical diet will not contain enough good fats to help our bodies.  These fats are very sensitive to heat, light, and processing. Therefore, the more natural these fats are, the better.  Try adding a tablespoon of flax oil to your morning smoothie or stir it into some yogurt, you will barely notice it at all.

So while it is critical that we eat a  low-fat diet, don’t carry this fear of fat to far.  Instead, begin by replacing the bad trans fat and saturated fat. replacing them with  the good fats. Eating healthy fat will not make you fat, eating the wrong food and the wrong amounts is what makes us fat.   By adding good fats to your diet your body will reward you with improved health and overall  performance.

Yours in health,

Shelley Healy

“Make the most of yourself, for that is all there is of you.”

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Ask yourself, how do you feel about yourself today?

Did you wake up, feeling good about what you have accomplised only to hop on the bathroom scale and suddenly you feel rotten?

This is a big trap that many of us fall into, letting the number on the scale dictate how we see ourselves. If the number is down we feel great about ourselves and our workouts, if the number is up, we feel upset or depressed because we think we didn’t push ourselves hard enough that week.

Here is your permission to not let what the number says, tell you how to feel. Fitness is more than just your weight, it involves how your clothes fit, how much energy you have for day-to-day activities and the sense of doing something really positive just for you.

Our weight fluctuates every day and even during the day. It depends how well hydrated we are, how much sodium is in our diet and the time of day you weigh yourself. Weighing yourself everyday is a big no-no. Weight loss or gain takes time and you won’t see the numbers you want in just one day.

Remember if you are working out in a consistent strength training program you are also building muscle, which weighs more than fat. Even though that means a higher number on the scale, muscle is much more metabolically active than fat, and every pound of muscle burns an extra 50 calories a day just to maintain itself. Besides muscle is denser and firmer than fat, so you look better in your clothes even if the scale say you weigh more.

Fat is stubborn and you need to be to. Work hard, work smart, eat well and you will see the results you desire. In time it will show up in weight loss and a fitter, stronger and healthier you.

Keep up the good work,

Shelley Healy

Well it looks like the nicer weather is finally here. Are you looking to add some variety and new challenges to your routine? How about taking your workout outdoors. Something as simple as a walk can take on a whole new dimension when you step outside.  If you have been a regular treadmill or elliptical trainer over the winter, chances are your body has adjusted to the work load and actually been more efficient to the point that you are working less hard.

Our bodies are very good at mastering a skill and before you know it, you are burning less calories than you were before. Why is taking the workout outside more of a challenge?

1. Uneven Terrain

Even tiny differences in the path makes it more challenging to do your walk. Especially is this true if you are walking on unpaved surfaces. You are required to  balance more making your core and legs work hard.

2. The weather

Ever notice how hard it is to walk or run into a wind? This extra effort requires your body to work harder and thus you burn more calories. If it is a sunny day you will become fatigued much quicker due to the hot weather.

3. Hills

Even though a treadmill has an incline setting, it does not match a true hill walk with arms pumping.  Without the machine belt helping to pull you along,  an outside hill is all about leg power. Lean into that hill and get moving.

4. Adaptability

Going outside forces your body into new and uncomfortable routine.  Your brain has to account for new variables and work harder in the same amount of time.

Summer is a great time to challenge yourself. Get out from old rountine and surprise yourself with some great results, and don’t forget your water.

Until next time,

Shelley Healy

Fitness is really simple!

For many people getting started is the challenge. We hear so much about the need to exercise and stay in shape, but where do you start?

Really fitness is very simple. It’s not about working out for 2-3  months  and dieting as you try to keep up with your new resolve then ‘arriving’ at your perfect weight. Rather think of it in terms of a lifelong journey. Just as in life everyday we have choices. The choice for fitness is one that fits into every lifestyle, age group and budget.

For beginners, consider adding a 15 minute moderate walk, 3x a week to your routine.

Do you complain about having to take the stairs, at work, or while shopping? Rather, look at it as a choice toward your better health. Stair climbing will produce strong leg muscles which will help you to have greater endurance for your daily activities.

It all starts with the small choices we make daily that add up to a lifetime of big results.

Many people feel to tired and say they just don’t have the energy to exercise. The reality is that being active and regularly participating in physical activity gives you energy.

Physical activity gives you energy!

Still not convinced?

Here is a list of 10 reasons to exercise:

1. Gives you more energy
2. Burns extra calories
3. Lifts your spirits
4. Reduces tension and stress
5. Helps you sleep better
6. Improves your self-confidence
7. Strengthens your bones
8. Help reduce blood pressure
9. Strengthens your heart
10. Decreased cholesterol

Think about your reasons for wanting to get healthy and fit. It’s never to late to start toward your goals.

Resolve today to get more active and look for ways to get moving.

The benefit will be a healthier, happier you.