Tag Archives: weight loss

Cool Avocado Cream Sauce

Posted on by
4

untitled4

The other day I was looking for ways to incorporate avocado into my recipes. I don’t normally like avocado, I think it’s more of a texture than a taste issue for me. My husband however, loves it. So I decided to browse Pinterest for ways to include avocado and came across some Avocado Cream Sauce. It was perfect. The consistency came out a little thicker than I thought it would but I think it’s because I used some genetically enhanced avocado because it was HUGE!

Ingredients:

  • 1 avocado chopped into cubes
  • 1/2 cup of no fat greek yogurt
  • juice of one lime
  • salt to taste
  • 1 tbsp. of cilantro, chopped

Instructions:

  1. chop up avocado and put into food processor or blender.
  2. add yogurt and lime juice and blend until smooth.
  3. add cilantro and salt to taste

Here is a photo of mine, but please excuse the pathetic look to it, the bowl was full and in two days it looked like this:

photo 2 (2)

We used the last bit of this to make a chicken salad last night that has cranberries, pecans and cashews. Stay tuned and happy Monday!

Halloween ABS: 13 in 2013!

Posted on by
Reply

abs

Most of you have heard this before. Diet is 70% of your weight loss or muscle growth journey. While this is true, today we are going to give you 13 fantastic abdominal exercises that you can do right at home or in the gym. I get questions from people all the time about how I get my abs to show, and while they aren’t quite at the 6 pack formation I want just yet, they are coming along quite nicely:

photo 1 photo 2

I try to maintain my diet as much as possible but usually on the weekends I let it slack a bit as I don’t go to the gym either those two days. That being said, here are 13 exercises that might make you feel a little bit better after eating all that Halloween candy!

1. Body Weight Bridge

untitled

Lie down on the floor. Keep knees bent and feet on the floor. Wrap arms around your upper body. Lift your hip upward. Hold for one second. Return to starting position

2. Body Weight Crunch

crunch

Lie down on the floor. Feet are flat on the floor and knees are bent. Position hands behind your head but do not pull on your neck. Raise your upper body upward while keeping your lower back on the floor. Hold for one second. Return to starting position.

3. Body Weight Bicycle

bicycle-crunches-henry-cavill-workout-08112011

Lie down on the floor. Lift legs so that your thighs are perpendicular with the ground. Put hands behind your head but do not pull on your neck. Move left elbow and right leg toward the body until they touch. Move left elbow and right leg back to starting position. At the same time, move right elbow and left leg toward the body until they touch. This is one repetition.

4. Body Weight Crunch Reverse

reverse-crunch

Lie down on the floor. Lift legs so that your thighs are perpendicular with the ground. Position hands at your sides to stabilize position. Lift lower body towards the ceiling. Stop when only upper back is touching on the floor. Hold for one second. Return to starting position.

5. Heel Touch

altheeltouch2s

Lie down on the floor. Feet are flat on the floor and knees are bent. Position arms to your side. Lift shoulders off the floor. Touch your left heel with your left hand. Hold for one second. Return to starting position. Touch your right heel with your right hand. Hold for one second. Return to starting position. This is one repetition.

6. Plank

untitled2

Lie prone on the floor. Raise yourself up so that only your toes and forearms are on the floor. Keep your back straight. Hold for as long as possible.

7. Side Plank

1203-side-plank

Lie on your side. Make sure one leg is on top of the other. Position your forearm on the floor perpendicular with your body. Use your forearm to lift your upper body off the ground. The other arm is placed on the side of your body. Hold for as long as possible.

8. Body Weight Pull In Seated

93_1 93_2

Sit at the end of the bench and hold onto the bench with both hands. Lie back and raise your legs until you reach a position of balance. Keep legs straight. Bend Legs toward your upper body while you simultaneously move your upper body towards your thighs. Hold this position for one second before return to starting postion.

9. Scissor Kick

scissor-kick-1

Lie down on the floor. Place hands next to your sides. Extend legs fully and slightly elevated. While keeping legs straight, raise one leg up. As you lower leg, raise the other leg up. This is one repetition.

10. Sit-Up

160

Lie back on the floor. Put hands behind your head but do not pull on your neck. Knees are bent and feet are on the floor. Raise your upper body upward. Hold for one second. Return to starting position.

11. Body Weight Toe Touch

toe-touches

Lie down on the floor. Lift legs until legs are pependicular with the floor. Fully extend your arms above you. Reach for your toes with your hands. Hold for one second. Return to starting position.

12. Bodyweight Twist

wm-0807-twist-windmill

Lie down on the floor. Lift legs until thighs are perpendicular with the ground. Keep legs straight. Fully extend your arms to your sides. While twisting the upper body, lower your legs to one side. Hold for one second. Return to starting position. While twisting the upper body, lower your legs to the other side. Hold for one second. Return to starting position.

13. Russian Twist

imagesCAM05HRR

Sit down with your feet flat on the mat. Your knees should be bent. Lean back slightly. Position your hands together and keep your hands in this position for the rest of the movement (you can also hold a light dumbbell or medicine ball for more advanced exercise). Your arms should be perpendicular with your upper body. Twist your torso in one direction. Hold for one second. Twist your torso in the other direction. Hold for one second. This is one repetition.

So there you have 13 abdominal exercises to add to your arsenal. Complete each one 25-30 times. If you can not do them without stopping, take a break as many times as needed but complete 25-30 reps, 3 sets for each exercise. You don’t need to do all 13. Pick 3 for lower abs, 3 for your obliques and 3 for upper abs and this will round out your workout. Next week we will post a sample diet to follow while you try to bring out those abs! Happy Halloween everyone and be safe!

Follow me on Instagram at Fitnessbyclaire or on Twitter @Levyii Join us on Facebook at Fitness By Claire

IIFYM: If It Fits Your Macros

Posted on by
2

iifym

I’m sure lots of people by now have heard of Macros when researching diet options. First let me start by saying that dieting should not be a “diet”, it should be a lifestyle. Once you accept that you are no longer dieting and you are choosing to maintain a healthy lifestyle, you will find it much easier to stick to!

Macronutrient ratios

40-60% CARB    25-35% PROTEIN    15-25% FAT         Higher-carb for bodybuilding
30-50% CARB    25-35% PROTEIN    25-35% FAT         Moderate-carb for maintenance
30-50% CARB    40-50% PROTEIN   30-40% FAT        Lower-carb for fat loss
Your first task should be in deciding what your nutritional goals are. While building lean mass and fat loss can occur simultaneously, it’s best if you do one before the other. I suggest if you have the fat to lose, work on the fat loss first and then concentrate on building lean muscle.
Notice that fat never goes below 15 percent of total calories. Since hormones are constructed from cholesterol and other fat molecules, getting any less than that can actually suppress normal hormone levels. This also has a negative effect on the bodily functions driven by those hormones, including growth and development, metabolism, reproduction, and mood. Low fat intake can also impair absorption of the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K. Even worse, not getting enough essential fatty acids can increase your risk of colon cancer, breast cancer, and prostate cancer.
Now body type also plays a role with weight loss and muscle building. The three body types are Ectomorph, Mesomorph and Endomorph.
ECTOMORPH

An Ectomorph is best described as slender. Characteristically, they have delicate bone structure, small shoulders and chest, and a fast metabolism. Ectomorphs are the classic “hardgainers.” They find it hard to gain weight and put on mass.

On the plus side, it’s easy for them to get lean. They tend to require a greater percentage of carbohydrates to prevent muscle catabolism, as well as a higher calorie intake overall.

MESOMORPH

A mesomorph is someone who trends toward being muscular. They’re often strong, athletic hard-body types with well-defined muscles, broad shoulders, and dense bone structure. Mesomorphs generally have little trouble gaining muscle or losing fat, though they will put on fat more readily than ectomorphs.

They can handle a moderate level of carbs due to their ample capacity to store muscle glycogen. Weight gain will happen, however, if carbs and calories are overly high. No body type is immune to a bad diet!

ENDOMORPH

The endomorph is best described as soft. They typically have a round or pear-shaped body, shorter limbs, a stocky build, and a slower metabolism.

Endomorphs can put on a lot of muscle, but they also tend to carry more adipose tissue and thus have a greater propensity to store fat. Because excess carbohydrates in the endomorph’s diet end up as fat, a high carbohydrate intake will make it difficult for them to get lean or lose weight

Now, I weigh about 122lbs and I’m trying to lean down to about 115lbs. I have broken my macros down as follows:

I follow the 50% 25% 25% rule where 50% of my calories come from protein, and 25% from carbs and fats. I respond well to a low carb diet anyway so it’s easy to maintain that low carb level.

Total calories to eat in a day: 1440 (this is based on a few mathematical calculations along with my activity level and how I know my body to react to exercise)

Protein = 720 calories or 180g of protein.

Carbohydrates = 360 calories or 90g of carbs

Fats = 360 calories or 40g of fats

I tend to keep my carbs a bit lower than 90g and my fats a bit higher due to following the Primal Diet. These numbers can be played with based on your goals and bodyweight.

Start tracking what it is you eat and you’ll be surprised just what fits within your macros. Now, you should also know that just because you have some wiggle room in your carb allowance, that does not mean you can go out and eat a cake and feel good about it. Theres so much sugar in something like that, that it will have a negative impact on what you are doing.

Keep these tips in mind as the holidays are fast approaching. Want to know how to avoid the weight gain and maintain your healthy lifestyle while still indulging with family these holidays? Follow us here for holiday diet tips and tricks to help you stay on track!

Follow on Instagram @eatliftinspire for recipes and workout motivation!

Follow along on Twitter @levyii for blog updates and workout tips!

 

Related articles

Fitness Facts: Fat

Posted on by
4

Fitness Facts: FAT:
🔹Believe it or not, fat is a nutrient! It is crucial for normal body function and without it we could not live.
🔹Fat plays a vital role in insulating body organs, maintaining body temperature, promoting healthy cell function, maintaining healthy skin and hair, and even preventing disease.
🔹Another of the main purposes of fat is as a source of energy- the body can pull on its fat reserves and convert it into glucose.
🔹But too much reserve fat can definitely be unhealthy! Excess fat can negatively affect many of the body’s processes, including digestion, respiration, circulation, and even brain function.
🔹Large amounts of excess fat can lead to many types of lifestyle disorders & diseases, including low energy, low self esteem, joint, muscle, & nerve pain, asthma, type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, coronary heart disease, heart attack and even death.
🔹The human body creates fat storage from excess calories. Excess calories are calories that have been consumed and not burned through daily living and exercise.
🔹To burn excess fat, you must burn more calories than you consume. The best way to do this would be to eat a low calorie nutritionally balanced diet and exercise at a challenging intensity for at least 30 minutes 4-6 days a week.
🔹1 lb of fat = 3,500 calories. An average individual can healthily burn fat at a minimum rate of 1-2 lbs/week by creating a deficit in daily calorie intake + burn. To burn 2 lbs/week (7,000 cals), create a 1,000 cal/day calorie deficit.
🔹There are many online and mobile resources to track calorie intake & burn! From websites, phone apps, food logs, pedometers, or even wrist or arm bands, there is an abundance of ways to monitor calories and track fat loss.
STAY TUNED FOR MORE #FITNESSFACTS

Related articles

Fitness Facts: Sleep

Posted on by
20

Fitness Facts: SLEEP:
🔹Sleep is a crucial factor for any fitness goal, whether it’s weight loss, general health, or muscle gain.
🔹7-9 hours of sleep per night is recommended, while any more or less can be unhealthy.
🔹On average, people that get enough sleep are less over weight, have less lifestyle disorders & diseases, and live longer than people that are sleep deprived.
🔹The human body releases a large blend of chemicals & hormones during sleep, almost all with the purpose of rebuilding and recovering the body.
🔹During sleep, the pituitary gland secretes more growth hormones than during waking hours. Growth hormones aid in fat loss, muscle building, & cell regeneration.
🔹Sleep suppresses appetite and raises metabolism, while allowing the body to rest and recover.
🔹Lack of sleep can raise levels of cortisol in the blood, which can lower metabolism, slow down healing, increase stress, and decrease the body’s ability to build muscle mass.
🔹Poor sleep is more dangerous to women than to men. Women have higher risks of cardiovascular problems when they don’t get enough rest.
🔹A minimum of 30 minutes of physical activity a day increases the body’s ability to fall asleep quicker & deeper! Try to exercise at least 3 hours before bedtime for the best results.

Related articles

Fitness Facts: Running

Posted on by
Reply

Fitness Facts: RUNNING:
🔹Running is a great form of cardio & can provide many benefits when combined with a regular strength training routine.
🔹Frequent running can boost the immune system, decrease stress, lower anxiety & depression, lower blood pressure, increase metabolism, & bring more circulation to the brain.
🔹Running a mile can burn between 100-400 calories, depending on the length of time, the weight, & activity level of the runner.
🔹Outdoor running generally burns more calories than on the treadmill, due to the forward propulsion that is needed on ground. Air & wind resistance also plays a part outdoors.
🔹There are 2 primary benefits of treadmill running: once the pace is set, the runner has to keep up with the machine, while outdoors the pace can pick up or slow down periodically. The other largest benefit is the decreased pressure on the joints.
🔹Moderate impact on joints can be a good thing! Running in moderation decreases the risk of bone related diseases like osteoporosis and arthritis.
🔹Because the body hits the ground with 2-3x it’s body weight during running, the most predominate site of injury for runners is the knees. To prevent injury make sure to wear appropriate shoes, stretch before & after the run, stay hydrated & nourished, and focus on proper form.
🔹Basic form tips: Torso should be straight up, not leaning forward. Relax the shoulders away from the ears. Lead with the hips (Don’t let the hips lean back- especially on an incline). Keep the knees low (Don’t let them come up too high toward the torso- this will minimize the impact on the knees when the feet land). Arms should move forward & back- don’t let them cross the midline of the body.

Related articles