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Sculpt your arms with dips in your kitchen

So the backs of my arms have always been kinda flabby. My brother likes to jiggle them because he’s an asshole, but I’ve shut him up because I’ve been doing Jillian’s 30 Day Shred as much as possible, plus I’ve been doing some dips in my kitchen.

No, that didn’t say I’ve been eating dip in my kitchen. I’ve been doing Bench Dips on my counter!

This is a hilarious video about using kitchen appliances to exercise and it actually took me a minute to realize it was a joke, but you really can work out in your kitchen.

Strong As Steel from Strong As Steel on Vimeo.

Now I’m not saying you have to hump your dishwasher. What I’ve been doing is putting my extremely clean feet up on my island, and dipping while my hands are facing forward on the counter directly across from the island.

If you don’t have an island, you can use chairs, benches, anything around the house that is stable enough.

This is a great way for wussies like me to sculpt our triceps (muscles on the back of our arm), chest and shoulders. The last time my a-hole brother tried to jiggle my arm fat, he didn’t have as much luck. :)

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May 28th, 2009 | Category: Exercise | Leave a comment

Eating Healthy on a Tight Budget

Because I’m a single mom with two little mouths to feed, I’m very concerned about how healthy we eat while trying to stick to a budget. Today’s article will give you a few pointers if you’re in the same boat. If you follow each of the tips, you’ll save a bundle!

Eating Healthy on a Tight Budget

Eating the right foods is essential to good health. Too much fat and sugar in the diet can cause a laundry list of health problems, not to mention that it makes it difficult to maintain a healthy weight.

We also need to get in all of the nutrients that are essential to good health. And we must watch out for meats that contain antibiotics and hormones and produce that contains pesticides or has been genetically modified.

Unfortunately, eating healthy isn’t always as easy as it sounds. Sometimes we just don’t have the time to make or seek out healthy meals and end up eating convenience foods or something from the closest burger joint.

For those of us who make it a priority to eat balanced meals, cost is often prohibitive. Organic meats and produce aren’t cheap, and health food restaurants can be pricey too.

As impossible as it may sound, we can eat healthy without putting a big dent in the budget. Here are some tips:

  • Grow your own fruits and vegetables. Most climates are conducive to growing a variety of edible plants. All you’ll need is some seeds, some very inexpensive equipment, and a place to grow your plants. A pack of seeds that costs less than a dollar can yield enough food to last quite a while.

  • Can or freeze some fruits and veggies for winter. Chances are you’ll have some left over from the growing season, so save them for a few months down the road. Older family members can teach you the techniques you need to know, or you can find information online or at the library.

  • Buy local as much as possible. Farmer’s markets offer fresh food that is locally grown, and the prices are almost always lower than organic foods from other sources. Farmers who only sell locally are less likely to have their offerings certified as organic, but you can ask them about their use of such things as pesticides, antibiotics and hormone treatments face-to-face. This is also a great way to help out the environment.

  • Buy staples such as flour and rice in bulk. In most cases, the bigger the package, the better the deal. If you’re not sure, divide the price by the number of ounces for each package and buy the one with the lowest price per ounce.

  • Stock up on meats when they’re on sale. You can store them in the freezer for several months to a year depending on the type of meat. They will be less prone to freezer burn if you wrap them in aluminum foil or freezer wrap in addition to the packaging they are sold in.

  • Eat out as little as possible. Most restaurants have few or no truly healthy options on their menus, and the ones that do are rarely cheap. Preparing your own meals most of the time gives you more control over what you’re eating and saves you money.

Eating healthy doesn’t have to cost a fortune. By growing some of our own food, buying local and watching for sales, we can eat well without going broke.

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May 28th, 2009 | Category: Exercise | Leave a comment

Busy Moms Guide To Losing Fat

I normally don’t share articles that I haven’t written myself, but this one was too good not to post. I’ve been working out a lot more lately so this article was really interesting. I’ve been doing the Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred DVD and my arms have never looked better. After reading this article, I know why.

If you’re working out on a regular basis, or you want to start exercising more, this is a great read because it not only teaches you how to get the most out of your workouts, but it helps you save time. I’m a single work at home mom with two kids. I don’t have time to exercise all day, but by following these tips I’ve managed to find a workout that has me looking better than ever, plus I have plenty of time to spare so I can focus on my family.

Enjoy the article!

7 Fat Loss Strategies For Busy Moms

By Holly Rigsby, CPT
Fit Yummy Mummy

Would you like to “jump start” your metabolism and lose your ‘mommy belly’ once and for all? If so, the following seven tips are exactly what you need to improve your workouts and ignite your metabolism. Try some or all of these tips, but beware, the result may be a number of admiring second glances and the need to pull your ‘skinny jeans’ out of the closet.

1. The majority of your workouts should be composed of free-weight, bodyweight or cable exercises.

Compared to machines, free-weight, bodyweight and cable movements often require more skill, create muscular balance, and have a greater metabolic cost. For example, it is more difficult to balance the weights, and to coordinate muscles when performing free-weight exercises. Although this may sound like a disadvantage, it is actually a benefit. By balancing and stabilizing free-weights or cables you are working more muscles through a greater range of motion resulting in more muscles developed and more calories burned.

2. Use exercises that work more than one muscle at a time.

When focusing on fat loss, you can’t worry about “shaping” exercises, instead you should use exercises that’ll get you the biggest bang for your buck and work as many muscles as possible. Isolation exercises can be used at the end of a workout to work on a specific target area, but they just serve to supplement your core movements.

Virtually every savvy fitness professional is privy to the fact that compound exercises recruit the most muscle groups for any given body part.

If you seek lean, toned muscles and the increase in metabolism that comes with them, you must choose exercises that work as many different muscles as possible. One of the main reasons why squats are superior to leg extensions for improving your body is that they also work your butt, hamstrings and inner thighs in addition to toning your quadriceps while leg extensions focus on just the front of your thigh and don’t really offer any other benefit. That same rationale hold true for arm exercises too. That’s why dumbell presses and dips will are more valuable for your arms than triceps kickbacks and pushdowns.

A good rule of thumb is to use movements that will allow you to use the most weight. These will have a systemic effect on your body that’ll help maintain or increase your lean muscle, and in turn ignite your metabolism.

3. Pair exercises.

Pair your exercises together so that you alternate between upper-body exercises and lower-body exercises or between exercises that target opposing muscle groups (e.g. chest and back).

This type of approach will keep your workouts short and efficient by eliminating much of the downtime that comes between sets of a single exercise since you are working on one movement while resting from another. This approach can also yield huge benefits in your mission to burn fat. Since you’ll constantly be moving and keeping your heart rate elevated, you’ll be burning far more calories than you would during a typical workout.

4. Keep your reps between 8 and 12.

Through research, it has been determined that the best range for building lean muscle is roughly between 8-12 reps. Since the main focus of your resistance training efforts is to gain lean body mass and stimulate your metabolism, this rep range fills the bill perfectly. “High reps for tone and fat loss” is one of the biggest (and most unproductive) training myths! Somehow the aerobics, yoga and Pilates’ community have convinced us that when we perform bodyweight exercises or light resistance training for high reps, our muscles magically take on a beautiful shape without growing or bulging. On the other hand, if you challenge yourself with moderately heavy weights, your body will take on a bulky, unflattering appearance. If you believe this, you probably still believe in the Tooth Fairy!

5. Rest only 30 to 60 seconds between sets.

When you keep the rest periods under one minute, it’s easier to stay focused on the task at hand and keeps your heart rate elevated. In addition, it forces your muscles to recover more quickly between sets, along with keeping your nervous system revved up.

If your first movement in an upper/lower body pair is squats, you might want to rest 60 seconds before attempting your second movement. However, if your first exercise is a fairly “easy” exercise, like lat pull downs, you might only wish to wait 30 seconds before doing the second part of the pair.

6. Perform total body workouts.

You must drop the notion that muscle groups work independently of one another. Muscles work together and should be trained that way. Besides, not only does this approach mean less time in the gym, but by working the whole body three times per week, you’ll be maximizing the fat burning effect of your program.

7. Cardio is not the cure-all for fat loss.

Cardiovascular exercise aids in the creation of a caloric deficit, but the caloric expenditure during cardio is temporary. Strength training addresses the core of the problem by permanently increasing the rate at which the body burns calories by adding muscle. The best programs will include both strength training and cardiovascular training, but the core or the programs effectiveness is resistance training.

Take these strategies and incorporate them into your workout routine. Not only will you save a lot of time, but you’ll also soon see a leaner and more toned body. Not to mention a few more turned heads and the re-emergence of your skinny jeans.

About the Author

Holly Rigsby is a nationally recognized women’s fitness coach, certified personal trainer (CPT) and the author of the internationally popular e-book – Fit Yummy Mummy – Burn Your Baby Fat & Get Your Body Back. Go to http://realweightlossinfo.com/fit-yummy-mummy.php to get your FREE copy of her special report: “The Five Ways To Boost Your Metabolism.”

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May 28th, 2009 | Category: Exercise | Leave a comment

5 Realistic Ways to Tackle Weight Loss

There is nothing black and white about losing weight. There’s nothing easy about it either. If it was easy, we wouldn’t have an obesity epidemic and a billion dollar weight loss industry. However, there is a lot to say about common sense and being realistic. Here are 5 things to always keep in mind:

1. Don’t expect to lose 50 lbs in one month!

Set a realistic goal for yourself, or you will be disappointed. And what could be less motivating than disappointment?

If you are continually searching for the miracle ‘quick weight loss diet’, you’re never going to lose weight. It doesn’t exist! Not in a healthy world anyway. Losing around 2 lbs each week is ideal.

Choosing a proper diet and exercise regime is the best solution for weight loss. Slow and steady wins the race, right?

2. Drink water.

I’m not going to list the many reasons why everybody should be drinking a gallon of water each day. I will say however, that drinking enough water can make or break a successful weight loss program.

Drinking more water will leave you less bloated and start getting your body ready for weight loss. Everything in your body will run more efficiently by getting at least 10- 8 ounce glasses of water each day.

It is also thought that drinking ice cold water will increase the amount of calories burnt each day due to your body having to heat the water to use it properly.

3. Don’t forget that drinks count as calories!

A lot of people count their calories each day when trying to lose weight. But are they counting the sodas and coffees they are drinking with their food? If you drink one can of coca-cola in the morning, one in the afternoon, and one in the evening, you’ve just consumed 750 calories!

And if you’re really serious about losing weight, staying away from alcohol is a must. You won’t tip the scale if you have one drink now and then, but remember that just one beer can have anywhere from 100 – 175 calories, depending on the brand and amount of alcohol in it.

The best strategy – drink water.

4. Find a ‘weight loss buddy’.

Having someone to lose weight with can actually help you reach your weight loss goal. A weight loss buddy will provide support and encouragement, and maybe even a little friendly competition.

Weight loss buddies can be found online, or you can recruit a friend or family member to go for walks or jogs with you. They can also make your weight loss experience much more enjoyable.

5. Stay motivated.

I know what it’s like to feel really pumped to start losing weight. For the first few weeks (or in my case a few days) you feel really good and you take your weight loss goal seriously.

Then, something happens and you just don’t feel like doing it anymore. The reason for this is lack of motivation. When I get to that point, I read Burn The Fat. It’s my motivation in digital form!

There are so many sources of motivation, you just have to find one – and keep it. This could be a weight loss buddy as mentioned earlier, a picture of yourself 30 lbs lighter taped to the fridge, a little black dress hung up in plain view in your bedroom, or if you’re like me, an ebook! Use your imagination and come up with something inspiring.

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May 28th, 2009 | Category: Exercise | Leave a comment

5 Reasons Why Everyone Should Plan Their Meals to Lose Weight

Meal planning is one of the best ways to help you lose weight and keep it off, not to mention the fact that it can save you time and money. There are lots of direct and indirect benefits that come from meal planning, and here is a list of my top 5:

  1. Having a meal plan ensures that you won’t be looking for an easy and unhealthy solution when you realize you haven’t figured out what you’re going to eat for lunch or dinner. This will keep you from making quick trips through the drive through at the nearest fast food restaurant, and will hopefully keep you from ordering fatty, artery-clogging take-out when you’re in a pinch.

  2. Having each meal planned out will allow you to see exactly what you’re eating each day, including calories, fat content, sugar, protein, etc. This way, you’ll know if you’re eating too much of the bad stuff, and not enough of the good stuff.

  3. Meal planning not only saves you time and money, but it can reduce a lot of stress. Stress wreaks havoc on your body and can contribute to weight gain, so you want to do everything in your power to minimize it.

  4. A good meal plan will include beverages. Many people forget that they’re drinking calories when they sip on a soda or frappucinno. Incidentally, a Frappuccino at Starbucks can set you back up to a whopping 630 calories. Forgetting to count drinks in your daily caloric intake can be catastrophic to your weight loss.

  5. Creating a healthy, balanced meal plan will keep you satisfied all day without feeling the need to snack in between mealtimes. Even if you have a lot of willpower, it’s tough to resist any kind of food when you feel like you’re starving. Meal plans will keep that from happening so you can focus on your weight loss goals.

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May 28th, 2009 | Category: Exercise | Leave a comment
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