What you NEED to know in order to keep the body fat off

We all need a bit if a nudge here and there or a reminder of how to keep lean and toned..... You have to understand how calories work in order for you to keep that body fat off!  ;-)

One of the reasons people keep on gaining weight is that it sneaks up on you!

If you look back at photo's of yourself from 7 or 10 years ago most will notice they have gained quite a bit of weight! But if every year you put on 2-3 kilo's you don't really notice it. Add up the 2-3 Kilos over 5 years and you have over 10 kilos of gained weight!!

For example 1 kilogram of body weight is approximately 7200 calories. Just one extra pat of butter each day (85-100 calories) will add to approximately 5 kilograms a year to your weight!

It's that little snack here and there... that one holiday where you think, "its okay I'll go to gym when I get back" and so on....

That's why it is important to understand Calories and how they work so that when you do cheat and indulge you understand what goes into burning it off and not gaining weight but maintaining or losing weight depending on your goals.

Counting Calories and increasing activity

A calorie is a unit of heat or energy, created by the body "burning up" the food we eat. This calorie is the basis for determining what our weight should be and what our diet should be.

Scientist use specific terms to indicate how many calories you need to stay alive, keep your heart pumping and your temperature normal.

We need approximately a calorie each minute,simply to keep living.

The good news is you burn calories EVEN WHEN YOU SLEEP!!! Thank God ;-)

Most men and women need from 1000-1500 calories as their base requirement...HOWEVER when you work, talk,think,walk etc you burn up additional calories and therefore need to take in more calories.

To give you an idea:

• Sitting & resting- 20 calories p/h
• Standing -25 calories p/h
• dressing -35 calories p/h
• Mental work -10 calories p/h
• Walking (easy)-100-125 calories p/h
• Light house work - 70 Calories p/h
• Strenuous exercise- 200-500 Calories per hour
• swimming -200 calories p/h

Before you go on another crash diet educate yourself on how to eat properly, track your calories and burn them off. I'm not saying you need to walk around with a calculator but have an idea in mind.

For an active women going to gym 3-4 times a week burning over 500 Calories at the gym try not eat more then 1800-2000 calories per day. If you're trying to lose weight you want to create a calorie deficit meaning you burn more calories then you eat. The easiest way it to get a heart rate monitor and calorie counter . It will calculate the calories you have burned according to your hear rate, weight, age and gender. I have a Polar watch and I'm loving it. You can also try phone/ipad apps.

 For blackberry I like the "CALORIE COUNTER BY FATSECRET and for ipad try the LIVESTRONG CALORIE TRACKER. It's a great way to keep a diary of what calories your burning and eating.

Try create a 500 calorie deficit so if you're eating 1800 calories a day you want to burn 2300 calories in total. If you burn 500 calories at the gym and eat healthy you know for sure you've managed to burn 500 more calories then you've taken in. You'll lose half a kilo a week ;-)

Here's an average 1600 calorie daily diet intake:

Breakfast:

1starch- cup of bran flakes, 250 ml fat free milk

1 fruit

1 tablespoon nuts

Snack 1:

2 fruit

1 hard boiled egg

Lunch:

1starch- slice of Low GI bread 

1 protein-chicken breast and salad with 1/4 Avocado, olive oil and balsamic vinegar

Snack 2:

Whey Protein shake or

2 table spoons of Hummus, salad/Veg

1 fruit

Dinner:

1 protein-180 gram grilled fish

1 starch-1/2 cup brown rice

Steamed/grilled veg, 5ml Olive oil

Evening snack:

1 small tub of fat free yoghurt

(Please remember to consult your doctor or dietician before making any drastic diet changes, especially if you're diabetic or have a medical condition)

Now THAT ISN'T SO BAD IS IT??!! :-))

PS. all fatty foods you can roughly give them a 8 calorie per gram estimate. So if you're eating 5 grams of butter its already 40 calories!

Keep active, at least 30 minutes of cardio a day as well as some toning or weight training and make smart food choices ;-) If you're going to indulge keep in mind you'll have to work it off at the gym so those centimeters don't sneak up on you.

XXX

K

App Help

Ever wished you had a trainer in your pocket? Or a calorie counter that could just add up your daily calorie intake?? It would make life a lot easier....and it does!

Here's some of my favourite Apps that I use as tools to assist me with my training and diet.

For an all round Tracker for calories and exercise I am loving LIVESTRONG.COM

This App is so awesome! It's great for Blackberry and iPhone/iPad.

You create your personalised account by adding in your age,gender, height and weight.

Every day you can add in or choose from a list of what you've had for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks and water intake. It's best to do it as you the day progresses so you can keep track of  what you eat, like a diary. You'll see as you select what you've eaten, the App automatically shows you the caloric value of that particular food...so in a day or 2 I guarantee it will put things into perspective and show you where you are under eating or over eating. For example a cappuccino has 63 calories!!! So now I opt for a filter coffee with hot milk which is less then half that caloric value and I can still enjoy my cuppa with the girls.

Then when you exercise and add that info onto the App it will subtract those calories burned from your total caloric intake so you can manage your total calories for the day. You can see if you've burned more calories then you've consumed ie: if you're losing weight. ( Please this is for your health and to benefit you not to assist in any unhealthy weight loss goals....you NEED to eat, this just helps you to eat healthy and understand caloric values)

For the active people out there try ENDOMONDO,  I love using this app to record my cycling time and distance. It also records running and any other sports you might do. They also have challenges and prizes for the more competitive people.

There you go, hope you enjoy tracking your eating and training habits.

Till next time

K

XXX

Earn your Christmas time FEAST!

Yup that's right....just like you work for your money you should also work for those yummy Christmas lunch calories. Cheat meals don't come cheap! LOL

We all know when it comes down to it and that Christmas pudding is staring you in the face.....you'll eventually give in! If you don't... WELL DONE!!!!!
If you know you will give in then the back up plan is to earn those calories BEFORE HAND!

Hit the gym twice a day, add in that extra workout daily from now until Christmas lunch, don't allow yourself any cheat meals until Christmas Lunch or what ever other occasion it may be.

The benefits:

• You wont feel as guilty when you do go for that fattening meal and pudding. You earned it, you planned on eating it and you know you've burned those extra calories in advance!
• You wont gain weight because you've "EARNED" those extra calories by working out extra hard a couple of days before the event.
• You start to understand how easy it is to gain weight by pigging out and giving into your cravings, you also learn how much work you need to put in to keeping a lean and trim figure, so you'll think twice before other pigging out sessions.

Now go earn that Christmas Pudding! Add on at least an extra 500-700 calories burning workout to your usual daily workout routing! So an extra hour of cardio should do the trick! 

Happy guilt free Holidays!

XXX

K

Understanding calories

One of the reasons people keep on gaining weight is that it sneaks up on you!
If you look back at photo's of yourself from 7 or 10 years ago most will notice they have gained quite a bit of weight! But if every year you put on 2-3 kilo's you don't really notice it. Add up the 2-3 Kilos over 5 years and you have over 10 kilos of gained weight!!
For example 1 kilogram of body weight is approximately 7200 calories. Just one extra pat of butter each day (85-100 calories) will add to approximately 5 kilograms a year to your weight!
It's that little snack here and there... that one holiday where you think, "its okay I'll go to gym when I get back" and so on....

That's why it is important to understand Calories and how they work so that when you do cheat and indulge you understand what goes into burning it off and not gaining weight but maintaining or losing weight depending on your goals.

Counting Calories and increasing activity
A calorie is a unit of heat or energy, created by the body "burning up" the food we eat. This calorie is the basis for determining what our weight should be and what our diet should be.
Scientist use specific terms to indicate how many calories you need to stay alive, keep your heart pumping and your temperature normal.
We need approximately a calorie each minute,simply to keep living.
The good news is you burn calories EVEN WHEN YOU SLEEP!!! Thank God ;-)

Most men and women need from 1000-1500 calories as their base requirement...HOWEVER when you work, talk,think,walk etc you burn up additional calories and therefore need to take in more calories.

To give you an idea:

• Sitting & resting- 20 calories p/h
• Standing -25 calories p/h
• dressing -35 calories p/h
• Mental work -10 calories p/h
• Walking (easy)-100-125 calories p/h
• Light house work - 70 Calories p/h
• Strenuous exercise- 200-500 Calories per hour
• swimming -200 calories p/h

Before you go on another crash diet educate yourself on how to eat properly, track your calories and burn them off. I'm not saying you need to walk around with a calculator but have an idea in mind.

For an active women going to gym 3-4 times a week burning over 500 Calories at the gym try not eat more then 1800-2000 calories per day. If you're trying to lose weight you want to create a calorie deficit meaning you burn more calories then you eat. The easiest way it to get a heart rate monitor and calorie counter . It will calculate the calories you have burned according to your hear rate, weight, age and gender. I have a Polar watch and I'm loving it. You can also try phone/ipad apps.
 For blackberry I like the "CALORIE COUNTER BY FATSECRET and for ipad try the LIVESTRONG CALORIE TRACKER. It's a great way to keep a diary of what calories your burning and eating.

Try create a 500 calorie deficit so if you're eating 1800 calories a day you want to burn 2300 calories in total. If you burn 500 calories at the gym and eat healthy you know for sure you've managed to burn 500 more calories then you've taken in. You'll lose half a kilo a week ;-)

Here's an average 1600 calorie daily diet intake:

Breakfast:

1starch- cup of bran flakes, 250 ml fat free milk

1 fruit

1 tablespoon nuts

Snack 1:

2 fruit

1 hard boiled egg

Lunch:

1starch- slice of Low GI bread 

1 protein-chicken breast and salad with 1/4 Avocado, olive oil and balsamic vinegar

Snack 2:

Whey Protein shake or

2 table spoons of Hummus, salad/Veg

1 fruit

Dinner:

1 protein-180 gram grilled fish

1 starch-1/2 cup brown rice

Steamed/grilled veg, 5ml Olive oil

Evening snack:

1 small tub of fat free yoghurt

(Please remember to consult your doctor or dietician before making any drastic diet changes, especially if you're diabetic or have a medical condition)

Now THAT ISN'T SO BAD IS IT??!! :-))

PS. all fatty foods you can roughly give them a 8 calorie per gram estimate. So if you're eating 5 grams of butter its already 40 calories!

Keep active, at least 30 minutes of cardio a day as well as some toning or weight training and make smart food choices ;-) If you're going to indulge keep in mind you'll have to work it off at the gym so those centimetres don't sneak up on you.

XXX
K

TO WHEY OR NOT TO WHEY?

In almost every fitness/ health magazine there is an article and/or  advert about Whey protein. But so many people especially women are unsure of Whey and WHAT the benefits of it are.
So many times I've heard comments like " But I dont want to look big or bulky", I couldnt agree more! No female wants to look masculine and bulky......well at least most of us dont. BUT Whey doesn't do that! Infact it will lean you out and give you that lean and toned look :-)

Here's some info I've gathered up on Whey Protein over the years.

Think of Whey protein as the body's building blocks, they are necessary for our health.
Whey not only repairs muscle cells on a daily basis,therefore assisting in faster recovery form intense training sessions, but also assists in metabolic processes.

This muscle enhancing supplement has many benefits:

• Whey contains all essential amino acids which the body cannot produce on it's own and can only obtain from high quality proteins such as Whey.
• These amino acids assit in muscle recovery and building(when I say buliding I mean making them strong and lean not bulky).
• Whey assists Glutathione production, in other words a detoxification system within the liver.
• It is essential for the development of and protection of various body tissues and cells.
• Maintains and Increases Collagen and bone density (FABULOUS!!!).
• It is essential for looking healthy skin.
• Whey protein has as a very rapid absorbtion rate!

Let me guess you think you eat enough Protein right? Wrong....

The truth is we should eat a portion of protein with every meal- so thats around 6 portions of protein a day in order for you to receive the required amount of amino acids a day. Now I don't know about you but there is no way I get to each a portion of protein with EVERY meal..... I make my life easier by drinking a Whey protein shake at least once a day but ideally twice a day.

Another bonus is that when digesting protein the body burns more calories, this is a HUGE chunk of information if you're trying to lose body fat! It's all about calories and burning as many calories a day as possible right? Now you can supplement with healthy Whey protein and reap the benefits of burning more calories a day. 

When to Whey?

The best time is in the morning and before or after training.

I combine my Whey protein with Fat free bulgarian yoghurt and some berries or strawberries to create a smoothie. It's great as a meal for breakfast or an afternoon snack and it's very tasty too!

I also drink a scoop of Whey protein shake with skim milk after an intense cycling or workout session.

 I think it's the best time for my body to absorb the Whey and then repair all the cells in my body.

What Whey to buy?

The best Whey in my opinion is Whey Isolate which means it is the purer and more concentrated form then Whey Concentrate. It is 90% or more pure protein and very little, if any is fat.

TIP:

If you're a chocoholic like most choose a chocolate flavoured Whey Protein shake, its like a chocolate treat every time! Add a dash of pure Cocoa powder to intensify the chocolate flavour ;-)

You can also see my Chocolate Whey Protein pancakes recipe in one of my earlier posts.

Eat smart and stay lean and strong with Whey Protein.

XXX

K

Morning Glory

The early bird catches the worm!

After the holidays it’s not that easy to get into training routine and we tend to come up with all the excuses in the world! 

"Once I settle back in at work I'll be able to start going to gym again"

" I'll go this afternoon"

The most famous one to date is, "I'll start on Monday!"

There is no time like the present, so start today!

I believe the way you start your day will determine the rest of your day.

So wake up a bit earlier and before you have breakfast go for a 30-minute brisk walk!

 Breathe in the fresh air and use this time to spend quality time with your man or your dogs or simply with yourself!

 ME TIME! I love my me time.

I go for an early morning brisk walk with my hubby and my 3 dogs! I get to burn the left over stored calories from the day before, spend time with my little family and keep them healthy. All at the same time ;-)

The benefits of going for an early morning walk BEFORE you eat is that your body burns more FAT!

You increase your heart rate, get the blood pumping and instantly you'll have more energy for the day ahead! Not mention the good mood you'll be in thanks to your increase in dopamine levels.

APPRECIATE YOUR BREAKFAST!

Now that you have already burned between 150-250 calories (depending on your body weight), think twice about what calories your going to put back into your body. Why would you eat greasy bacon and sausages just after you have worked up a sweat to burn calories off?

No WAY!

Instead have a Power smoothie!

•               3/4 cup Fat free Bulgarian Yoghurt

•               1/4 cup Strawberries

•               1/4 cup blueberries

•               A dash of Cinnamon

•               A dash of honey

•               1 scoop of Whey protein

Add into a blender and ENJOY!!! 

(You can add a handful of uncooked oats to add some more texture)

For the rest of the day you're going to feel great and trust me you'll think twice before putting junk onto your mouth. You've started your day burning calories and you'll keep on burning more calories the whole day! 

I find I am less likely to cheat if I start my day off healthy and active. 

Try add in at least a 30-40min toning or weight training session in later in the day/ evening to really help turn your body into a fat burning machine!

PS. remember to eat every 3 hours.... something small, even if you’re not hungry in order to keep your body fueled and burning calories all day.

Till next time

 K

XXX