Tag Archives: Nutrition

Temporary Weight Loss Will Occur From Sweat But It Would Mostly Be Water Mass Not Fat Mass

22 Jun

Everyone sweats throughout the day. Sweat can be induced by hot weather, exercise,  eating spicy foods, etc. The general presumption is that when you sweat you lose weight. This is in fact true. You do lose weight, but most of the weight is water mass. Many athletes who have to make a certain weight before a competition, easily lose 10-15% of their body’s water weight prior to the weigh in. But all that water weight that’s lost is regained in a few days after they rehydrate.

Extra sweating by using the infrared sauna have been touted as a means of burning fat cells. The concept is that IR waves penetrate the skin and breake down fat cells. However, there have been no studies that prove the long term benefits of fat loss using IR saunas. One small study at the Binghamton University had people use the infrared sauna three times per week for 45 minutes. After four months, the sauna users lost 4% body fat compared to the control group (where the body fat did not change). However, the researchers failed to control the participants’ diet and exercise outside of the study. Therefore, it is hard to determine the cause of their weight loss.

Are you ready to #finishitwithfinishfit?

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What Contributes To Belly Fat In Women?

2 Jun

We all know that belly fat can be caused by lack of exercise and poor nutrition. What’s not often discussed is that hormonal imbalances can significantly contribute to creating belly fat in women. Here’s a step by step approach on how to tackle each in order to lose belly fat:

  1. Hormones

One such hormone that can contribute to abdominal fat deposits in women is Estrogen. Estrogen is produced by fat cells which in turn cause fat production. This cycle of hormone and fat cell production is what causes abdominal fat gain.

Stopping this Estrogen cycle and joining a health and fitness program is the best way to counteract hormonal imbalances. The following steps outline some things you can try to improve your hormone imbalances:

  1. Get you hormones evaluated. A hormone profile can show the ratio of estrogen to progesterone in your body. You would be considered estrogen dominant, if this ratio was out of balance.
  2. Start an estrogen-lowering program. Your physician will determine whether you will need to increase your progesterone levels with bio-identical hormones.
  3. Increasing fiber intake (choosing fruits, vegetables and whole grains high in fiber) or substituting with fiber supplements (i.e. 30-50 grams/day). This will help lower your Estrogen levels and it will help reduce your belly fat.
  4. Add Indoles (i.e. broccoli, cabbage, and cauliflower) to your diet or add  supplements such as indole-3-carbinol.
  5. Increase essential fatty acids in your diet. They are considered essential because your body cannot produce them (that is, they’re only obtained through food). Essential fatty acids regulate the body’s prostaglandin production which in turn help regulate estrogens.
  6. Add vitamin C to your diet.
  7. Exercise:
  8. When it comes to exercise, it’s best to choose a cardio regimen or a class that focuses on HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training). This type of program will burn the most belly fat and it will also help induce the “After Burn” effect. Essentially, it will help you burn more fat calories for 2-3 hours after you’ve completed your workout. It’s also important to do strength training along with a HIIT, because strength training will help you build muscle mass. Muscle is the engine in the body. The more of it there is, the more belly fat calories the body will burn at rest.
  9. Nutrition:
  10. Studies have shown that you should use the following Macro-nutrient breakdown in your diet (Carbohydrates=25%, Proteins=40%, and Fats=35%) to help burn the maximum amount of belly fat. There are many calorie tracking apps that can help you do that.
  11. You should stay away from sugar and or sweetened drinks.
  12. Make sure to have protein with every meal. Protein will satiate you. Moreover, there have been several studies that show that amount and quality of protein consumed is inversely related to fat in the belly in women.
  13. As stated earlier, reduce the refined cards in your diet (sugar, candy, white bread, etc). This should will be easy to do, especially if you keep your protein intake high.
  14. Increase the soluble fiber in your diet. Soluble fiber may be particularly effective at reducing the belly fat (i.e. plant foods like vegetables, fruits, and legumes). As mentioned earlier, soluble fiber does this by lowering estrogen levels.

Are you ready to #finishitwithfinishfit?

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8 Ways to Get In Shape

29 Jun

The market is saturated with low-fat, low-carb and sugar-free foods. But despite the popular diets, “magic” pills and the latest, greatest fitness machines that all promise to melt away the pounds, the majority of American adults are overweight.

For true weight-loss success, change your lifestyle for the long term and exercising regularly. Here are some creative ways to make fitness fun again and help you win the battle of the bulge once and for all.

  1. Use the Finish Fit®” – Nutrition App to follow a sensible nutrition plan that works.
  2. True Weight Management begins with education. Take the Finish Fit® “WMU-101 – My Nutrition Course  to learn how your body actually works and how to can make healthier choices.
  3. Take “active” vacations. Make fitness part of your travels. Head to a spa where, along with a little pampering, you can enjoy hiking, rock climbing, kickboxing, aqua aerobics and yoga.
  4. Walk or run for a good cause. Training for a charity walk (i.e. The American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life), for example, may be all the motivation you need to get started on a regular fitness routine. Best of all, you’ll be helping your favorite charity accomplish its goals.
  5. Dance. Take Dance class using the Finish Fit® App – Boot Camp. Join one of the belly dancing or hip-hop dancing classes featured on the app. It’s a great way to shed the pounds, learn how to dance and have fun.
  6. Try classes with circuit training that boost the after burn affect. Finish Fit® App – Boot Camp features over 500 classes that can help you spice up your regular workout routine and provide a fun new way to tone your body right in the comfort of your own living room.
  7. Finish Fit® App – Personal Training features the ability for you to make custom workouts for yourself using its features rich workout demonstrations which include video displays with workout tips, PDF downloads, and the ability to track your sets, reps, and weights.
  8. Take Pilates using the Finish Fit® App – Boot Camp.  It’s perfect for those who want to add a more cutting-edge beat to their workout. The app features two mat Pilates workout sessions that focus on toning the arms, legs and abs, with a music mix that motivates you to get up and work out.

 

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Obesity

27 Jun

Overview:

Obesity is a physical state that refers to excessive body fat. Chances are you have experienced the frustrations of dieting at least once in your life, if you have problems with your weight. Close to a hundred million Americans go on a weight loss diet in any given year and up to ninety-five percent of them regain the weight they lose within five years. Worse, a third will gain back more weight than they lost, in danger of “yo-yoing” from one popular diet to another. The conventional approach to weight problems, focusing on fad weight loss diets or weight loss drugs, may leave you with just as much weight and the additional burden of ill health.

Today, an estimated sixty-five percent of all American adults are obese or overweight. Our culture obsesses about staying thin even as we grow fatter, but this isn’t about appearances. Obesity is known to be a precursor to many debilitating health conditions such as cancer, heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, osteoarthritis, and gallbladder disease. Obesity contributes to as many as 375,000 deaths every year. In addition, the public health costs for obesity are staggering. According to researchers at Harvard University, obesity is a factor in 19% of all cases of heart disease with annual health costs estimated at 30 billion dollars; it’s also a factor in 57% of diabetes cases, with health costs of $9 billion per year.

Set Realistic Goals:

No doubt you have fallen for one or more of the weight loss diet schemes over the years, promising quick and painless weight loss. Many of these quick weight loss diet programs undermine your health, cause physical discomfort, flatulence, and ultimately lead to disappointment when you start regaining weight, shortly after losing it. Fad or quick weight loss diet programs generally overstress one type of food. They contravene the fundamental principle of good nutrition – to remain healthy one must consume a balanced diet, which includes a variety of foods. Safe, healthy, and permanent weight reduction is what’s truly lost among the thousands of popular diet schemes.

Some of the weight loss diet schemes reign supreme briefly, only to fade out. While some wane from popularity due to being unproductive or unsafe, some simply lose the public’s curiosity. Examples of such fad diets include the South Beach Diet, Atkins diet, the Grapefruit diet, Cabbage Soup diet, the Rotation diet, Beverly Hills diet, Breatharian, Ornish Plan – the list goes on and on. These fad diets advocate a specific technique (such as eliminating a certain food, or eating only certain combinations of foods) in conjunction with the basic idea that the body makes up the difference in energy by breaking down and utilizing some part of itself, essentially converting matter into energy. This self-cannibalism, or catabolism as it is referred, typically starts with breakdown of stored body fat.

 

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