2.
Exercise portion control.
Another
tactic I used - and
still use - is measuring
a portion of food to the
equivalent size of your
fist. I believe "portion
control" to be the
biggest obstacle to
overcome and the biggest
threat to a sound
nutrition and exercise
program. How many of us
truly eat just one
serving of pasta? I
mean, really.
Break it
up into five small meals
throughout the day.
If our
daily caloric intake is
1250 kcal with 125g CHO,
125g PRO and minimal
FAT, by breaking up this
daily allotment into
five small meals spaced evenly
throughout the day, each
meal should consist of
no more than 250 kcal
with approximately 25g
CHO and 25g PRO. By
doing this you'll be
providing your body with
consistent energy
throughout the day
without overloading your
system. You will keep
your
metabolism
burning smoothly without
allowing your body to
switch into "starvation"
mode. This is very
important.
4. Drink
tons of water.
Eliminate all sugary
drinks from your diet.
This includes sodas,
even if they are 'diet'
sodas.
They are useless. Sugars
- especially refined,
simple sugars - elevate
insulin
levels dramatically (a
storage hormone) and
turn into fat when not
used immediately for
energy. This is exactly
what we are trying to
prevent. I believe sugar
to be just as much an
enemy in the war against
body fat as fat itself.
Try to
keep your intake down.
Use sugar substitutes in
coffee and tea, drink
diet colas (keep it to a
minimum. They rot your
GI tract), or preferably just drink
water. Good old water
clears the system of
toxins and hydrates
cells, which is
especially important.
And it's good for the
skin, too!
5.
Concentrate on
nutrient-dense foods as
opposed to empty
calories.
Okay, so
we're restricting
calories now, right? It
is therefore important
for us to get the most
out of what we eat.
So would it make more
sense to consume a 150
kcal sugary soda or 150
kcal can of tuna fish
containing protein? My
belief is that the
closer foods are to
their natural state, the
better they are for you.
With
this in mind, I
recommend foods such as
brown rice, plain
oatmeal, potatoes (not
mashed!), tuna fish,
chicken breast, turkey,
steamed vegetables, and
fruit. I realize how boring
this is sounding, but
you'll be surprised how
much better you feel
eating these types of
foods and how much more
sustained energy you'll
have throughout your
day.
Training
6. Do
cardio.
Doing
cardio
is essential but this need
not be as tedious as you
may think. First of all,
you do not need to
perform hours and hours
of cardio each and every
day like a lot of the
girls I see at my gym.
Thirty-forty minutes, four
or five days each week,
will do the trick.
Preferably do
your cardio sessions
first thing in the
morning on an empty
stomach (or later in the
evening after not eating
for a few hours) to
maximize the results.
Thirty
minutes of moderate
cardio burns
approximately 300 kcal
in an average-sized
female. Therefore, doing
this five days each week
will further your
caloric deficit by an
additional 1500 kcal (a
little shy of half a
pound). Cardio will also
boost your metabolism
post-exercise
(increasing calorie
expenditure
significantly) and turn
your body into a
fat-burning machine!
7. Lift
weights
.
I find
this to be the hardest
part of the equation for
most women, and it
baffles me. Weight
training is the easiest
and most enjoyable part
of the program, in my
opinion. You will not
"bulk up". You will not
get big. By lifting
weights - really lifting
weights - you will firm
the muscles underneath
the fat and build new
muscle tissue (and
remember that muscle is
the "furnace" of the
body). Therefore, the
more muscle you have,
the faster and more
efficiently you will
burn fat and develop the
body you really want.
Muscle
will give you shape and
contour. Here is an
easy-to-follow
beginner's program that
I used when I got
started. Consult a
qualified trainer if you
are unsure of proper
form on any of the
following exercises
Day
1
Day2
Day3
Motivation
8.
Challenge yourself
.
There's
nothing I hate more than
seeing women in the gym
using weights a fraction
of what I know they can
really lift. Give me a
break. You need to challenge
yourself! If you don't,
you're never going to
see the kind of results
you want. My general
rule of thumb is, when
you feel like you can't
do any more reps, do two
more.
9. Stop
making excuses and find
the time
.
Everyone
loves to make excuses as
to why she can't do
this, and why she can't
do that. If someone asks
me for help and in the
same sentence tells me
they don't have the
time, I stop right
there. I value my time
in the gym; it's the one
time during the day that
I give solely to me.
It's my time. It is as
much a priority as going
to work or to school.
There are so many
benefits to exercise
other than getting into
shape, that depriving
yourself of this journey
would be a shame. So
stop making excuses.
10. Mind
over matter.
And,
finally, this is where I
truly get on my soapbox.
There are so many
obstacles to overcome
when attempting to
adhere to this program.
I'm not going to lie; it
isn't easy. You need to
be
strong and stay focused
on your goals. As my
mother always likes to
say, nothing tastes as
good as thin feels.
Well, I don't know about
that. But surely there
is a powerful message
here. Sticking to your
goals and
following through with
the plan has its merits,
and the benefits far
outweigh all the little
cheats along the way. I
know when I succeeded
with my program, and I
was standing on stage at
my first fitness show,
there was no better
feeling in the world.