Biggest Loser or Biggest Winner? Do Tell!

I’ve just read four fitness blogs on the subject of the TV show “The Biggest Loser”… shamelessly, I thought I would jump on the bandwagon and see if my readers were willing to have their say… could you please post your comments?

Personally, I don’t watch much TV, sorry if that offends anyone but it is not on my priority list of things to do. That being said, I often find myself “socially challenged” when people ask me if I have seen a particular show.

Because of the work I do, “The Biggest Loser” is one show that pops up frequently in my conversations with people.

If you are clueless, this reality show now in its’ eighth season, showcases obese people struggling to lose weight in the name of ratings and big money. The contestants are whipped into shape in warp speed, with weight-loss exercise and nutrition programs, as their personal trainer Jillian Michaels screams abusive remarks at them.

The contestant who losses the most weight wins 1/4 million-dollars… and audiences all over the world love to come and watch.

Fitness professionals are highly concerned about the methods of training used on the program. Very sedentary, de-conditioned and obese individuals are put into physical situations that are way too dangerous for them… sprints, one-mile beach runs, joint-risking high impact moves, over-training as many as 6 hours each day, to the point of vomiting and passing out, and more than one person ending up in the hospital, certainly not a training session I would want on my watch.

If that were not enough, the contestants are yelled at by Ms. Michaels, with gratuitous profanity, humiliating them about their size and physical condition, making them feel badly about their ability, bullying them and bringing down their self-esteem.

Most trainers are not supporting this unsafe training and work ethic, and are highly suspect of the contestants ability to maintain their weight for the long term.

This treatment is not empowering to anyone especially over-weight people who may already have issues of self-worth. When positive supporting environments have already been a proven method of success in treating the over-weight and obese, what impact do you think a very popular show like The Biggest Loser could have on the obesity epidemic?

Does it give an unrealistic view of what is necessary to lose weight, to the point of why bother trying? Will it discourage those who are losing a safe 1/2 pound to 2 pounds a week they are not doing a good job unless they work out 4-6 hours a day?

The argument in favor of the show is it gives hope to people who struggle with weight because the contestants achieve rapid physical and emotional transformations. It suggests that people need to be pushed with “tough love” even if it involves tough work to overcome their food addiction.

It certainly offers a support group and accountability, although not in a positive or safe environment. It does make a case that hard work and proper nutrition will pay off. For some, maybe it is inspiring because the show is so emotionally charged. Do you think it will cause more people to take action, or to lose hope…“If only that were me?”

What do you think… Exploitive TV? Inspirational? Unrealistic?

If you watch the show or if you have any thoughts… I’d love it if you would kindly post your comments.

Put Your Health Care on the Priority List

I spent last weekend visiting my family in North Carolina… mostly to visit my mom who is in a senior living facility. Myself, and many baby-boomers who may be reading this, have parents who are aging or are already gone.

Seeing the seniors at the facility, I couldn’t help but reflect on what will happen to me as I age?

We all want to live a long productive, fulfilling life, have no serious health problems, a sharp mind, and when it is time, our death be painless, peaceful and short.

We can’t determine our destiny but we can improve our chances for having a better quality of life for a longer time.

Our health should be our number one priority.

While many illnesses, are just bad luck… most leading causes of death are totally preventable by making healthy life style choices.

Healthcare costs would not be skyrocketing and not as many people would be sick if everyone made healthy lifestyle choices.

Those of us who do stay well because of the healthy lifestyle choices we make, are footing the bill for those who choose not to. In fact, we would all be much better off if the US spent more on PREVENTATIVE HEALTH CARE and reforming our food industry rather than our healthcare system.

Let’s face it. We are all busy and we are all guilty of taking our own health off of our priority list… not eating what we should, not exercising consistently or indulging in unhealthy habits.

Some of us are busy parents, or busy professionals, or both. Life is moving fast, it gets complicated, you are thinking: How will I get it all done? Where do I find the time? I’m so stressed out!!!

The more you de-prioritize yourself, the more unhappy and unhealthy you will be. It’s hard to see the effects day by day like you would see if you stopped watering your garden, but eventually not prioritizing your health could kill you… or you could live with difficulty for a long time.

Everything you do in your life depends on your being in good health and in good physical condition. To take care of your job or your family, you have to take care of yourself.

Having a preventable health problem and doing nothing about it because you are so busy taking care of everything and everybody is what will literally take you down… and our healthcare costs up.

Ask yourself: “What is most important to me in life?” Now ask: “Does any of that really matter if I am too sick, too immobilized to get out of my chair?”

If you know you need to change but are not changing… it is time you take action. Enlist the service of a wellness coach… in fact you can’t afford not to.

I have many programs and options available. Why not start with a free strategy session? You have a lot to gain if you do, and a lot lose if you don’t.

Click here for a free strategy session: http://bestbodymakeover.com/strategy.html

5 Exercise Tips to Get Rid of Belly Fat

Exercising will build lean muscle and help you burn fat. If you are implementing both a good nutrition and exercise plan you may have noticed you have lost inches and your clothes fit better, even when the number on the scale has not changed.

If you were only dieting and not exercising, you would be losing fat AND muscle… not a good solution for flat abs.

When you do lose inches but not pounds, it means you are losing fat and building lean muscle at the same time. This is the best of all circumstances. A pound of muscle takes up much less space than a pound of fat and it looks better too!

But why does that fat around the belly seem to take forever to lose?

Frustrated, many people spend way too much effort on abs specific exercises like crunches, but that is not how you will lose belly fat. You will only get more frustration.

Here are 5 tips that will help you get rid of belly fat:

1- Focus on high intensity combinations of full body exercises to more effectively increase your metabolism and burn more calories. This will work your abs and overall core strength at the same time.

You will definitely feel your abdominal muscles working doing exercises such as crunches or leg raises, but if you are looking for the best exercise to lose belly fat, you’d be better off spending your time doing full body exercises like squats, dead-lifts, lunges, push-ups/pull-ups or other push/pull exercises. This should be the primary focus of your workout… you really don’t need more than 5-10 minutes working on abs specific exercises.

2- As for your cardio training, if your goal is to lose fat, your best choice is high intensity interval training (HIIT) rather than long steady paced cardio. If you need to know what this is, go back and look at an earlier blog post on how to do it: http://yourpartnerforchange.com/Lauren/exercise/are-you-looking-for-a-fat-blasting-cardio-workout/#more-49

Also, when you do the HIIT, your muscles are getting the benefit of building more strength than they would in steady cardio. This causes you to continue to burn calories long after you finish the workout.

Your cardio training does not have to be done on a cardio machine such as a treadmill, elliptical, or bicycle, unless that’s what you enjoy. Alternatively, you could do more high intensity bodyweight or resistance training for fat loss. This kind of training gives you more fat burning results in a shorter period of time by comparison. You are still benefiting your heart… perhaps even more so, because you are training at a much higher intensity level.

Other “cardio” examples using high intensity would be jump rope, hill sprints, stair runs, or kettlebell training. Choose whatever works for you, as long as you are ramping up the intensity of your workouts and taking shorter breaks. Have fun and challenge yourself to beat your own record each time.

3- Get strong as you focus on building lean muscle. Don’t be afraid of lifting heavier weights as long as you are not sacrificing your form. As you create a greater demand on your muscles, you will increase your metabolism … or burn fat. If you are a woman this will not cause you to bulk up, just get stronger.

4- Go to the gym with focused intention and change your exercises every 4-6 weeks. Stay consistent… week after week, month after month. Don’t repeat the same workout each time you go to the gym. If your workout isn’t changing, and you are simply showing up at the gym, stop wondering why you haven’t seen any results… why would you think your body would change if you haven’t ever changed what you do?

5- Review your exercise often by keeping a workout log. You can do this right in your daily planner, calendar or wherever you keep track of your schedule. You can even list the exercises you are scheduled to do that day.

Make an appointment with yourself and keep it. Each time you complete a workout highlight that you did it or give yourself a gold star. You will be aware of how consistent you are and be able to acknowledge your efforts by looking back over the week or month. Like the food rule be at least 90% compliant. We are all aware of what it feels like to miss a few workouts… a big step backwards. Don’t let that happen to you, be consistent and you will move forward.

Tracking, measuring, and consistency are important whether you are an athlete or a beginner.

Get Rid of Belly Fat: 5 Nutrition Musts!

How do you eat healthy to get rid of the fat around your belly?

You know what they say… You can’t out-train a poor diet! Your fitness is definitely part of the process, and next week I will talk about that more specifically.

Following these 5 basic nutrition rules are the best way to lose belly fat.

This does not have to seem like you are turning your kitchen into a science laboratory. If all this seems to overwhelm you, I can coach you through it in a short time… so it lasts a life-time.  Just click here: http://bestbodymakeover.com/coaching/

Here are the 5 nutrition musts to fuel your success:

1. Eat 5-6 meals a day or about every 2-3 hours. Now eating 5 or 6 times may seem like a lot, but some of those meals can be snacks, or you can divide your total daily calories by 5 or 6. For example, if you have figured out you need to be eating 1500 calories a day to lose fat, then you need to eat 5-300 calorie per meal a day. The reason for eating frequent meals throughout the day is to increase your metabolism or the amount of calories you burn at rest. It will also help you by not going too long between meals causing you to over consume.
2. Always include a lean protein with each meal or snack. You want to choose something that has high protein but is low in fat. Complete lean proteins are mostly foods that come from animals (Chicken, lean beef, fish, dairy, eggs). If you are a vegetarian including lean protein with each meal still applies, but obviously you will have to find your protein from a different source. Many people are not getting enough protein in their diets. Protein will keep you satiated so you won’t feel hungry between meals.
3. Most of your carbohydrates should come from high fiber sources like vegetables and fruits. Including these foods in every meal is one of the healthiest things you can do. For most people that is a big change, but it is an important one. Eating modified or processed carbohydrates such as breads, pasta, breakfast cereal, muffins, granola bars, or anything like it that comes out of a bag or a box will slow your results. It may likely be the cause of lack of mental clarity or feeling sleepy after meals. A healthier choice for non-fruit or vegetable carbohydrates would be brown rice, oats, whole grains, sweet potatoes or white potatoes with the skin eaten. The best time to eat these kinds of carbohydrates is after you have exercised. Stick to the vegetables and fruits the other times of the day if you are trying to lose weight.
4. Eliminate or reduce bad fats but increase monounsaturated fat. Eating fat is essential for you but usually you get plenty of it in your foods without adding more to it. If you are eating lean protein, you will get some saturated fat… some is good for you but you don’t need to pile on more. Avoid eating trans fat all together. Read food labels to make sure you aren’t getting any. Polyunsaturated fat should come from flax seed oil, and mixed nuts. Monounsaturated fat also comes from mixed nuts and also olive oil and fish oil. One supplement that is important for everyone’s heart health is fish oil.
5. Always have a healthy eating PLAN. Follow a PLAN where 90% of what you eat is helping you meet your goals. You can eat whatever you want as much as 10% of your food, but make sure this “cheat” is also planned. What this means is: Your 10% meal or snack of eating whatever you want does not mean eating an entire pizza or cake, obviously you would not succeed in reaching your goals if you did. You still have to do the math. Save those “eat whatever you want” times for special events, or social situations that you know might be challenging. Great food is a joy in life and you should never feel you are being deprived. But eating unhealthy foods too often or in large portions will make you sick, overweight, and/or less energetic and that is no way to live. Eating 90% healthy and in correct portions will help you lose fat, give you the most energy and keep you in the best shape of your life.

The next 10 people who take up my coaching offer, I will show you in how this can work for you by virtually watching over your shoulder every day for 30-days to make certain you get your nutrition on the right track.

By the end of 30 days, you will make the right food choices, eat the right portion size, and find out the exact nutrient proportions (Proteins/Carbs/Fats) that are right for you.

http://bestbodymakeover.com/coaching/