Tag: exercise

  • How Daily Exercise Can Help You Burn Fat

    How Daily Exercise Can Help You Burn Fat

    I am sure you already know by now that exercise burns fat, but do you know how it happens? The process of weight loss is not as complicated as many fat burning products companies would want us to believe, but you need to know the inner-workings of the system to burn fat properly.

    How daily exercise helps burn fat. The science behind fat burning exercises.

    Image credit Pixabay

    I battled fat for years before I learned all the nooks and crannies of the process, which is why I think you should be well-informed before starting your own journey. So, if you want to know how working out will get you slimmer, have a look at the tips below. I’ll also let you in on some of the most effective exercises for stubborn fat.

    Physical Activity Creates New Muscles

    Even though men are the most interested in muscle growth, the current standard of beauty has women interested in weight lifting as well. Nowadays, it’s a lot sexier to be toned and have nicely contoured muscles than being skinny, so there is no wonder more women go to the gym.

    But how do we grow muscles? Well, first it’s important to know that I am talking about skeletal muscles (the ones we use to move). These are made of muscle fibers, which when put under pressure from physical exercises tears down. This is why you have that burning sensation when you work out right.

    Furthermore, muscle growth doesn’t happen if you don’t allow the body to rest and rebuild. During the pause period (usually two or three days), new muscle fibers are being created, to repair the damage. As a result, the muscle becomes thicker and bigger, which is why you start to look toned.

    Now, muscles burn calories even when you’re idle (sitting on the couch, for instance). This means that, as you grow more muscles, you’ll get leaner at a faster pace.

    Aerobic Exercises Are Amazing Fat Burners

    It is scientifically proven that aerobic exercise has a powerful impact on our brain by improving memory and making us sharper. But it is also a great way to burn fat and get leaner if you do it right.

    Aerobic exercises like biking or jogging require a lot of energy and need to be done at a certain intensity and for a specific amount of time to provide results. So, if you feel you can’t get your heart racing fast enough, maybe you should consider some fat burners.

    I had a chat with the guys at bestfatburners.co, and they told me that fat burners (the high-quality ones) are designed to give you a boost of energy and increase endurance for better exercise performance. So, if you feel drained before a workout, you may want to try some of these products.

    Intensity Matters the Most

    Scientists looking to decipher the connection between exercise and weight loss discovered that it’s not about how much you exercise; it’s how vigorously you do it. It turns out that if you do high intensity exercises, you don’t need to spend a few hours in the gym every day. Heck, you may not even have to spend one hour!

    High intensity training builds muscle and bone mass, which in turn leads to fat burning, better resistance, and a leaner aspect. So, the goal is to exercise to be fit, not to lose weight. The latter part will come as a delightful bonus.

    Food is Still Important

    Now, if you think you can exercise and eat as many donuts as you want, you’re wrong! You still need to be disciplined when it comes to food, but if you exercise right and use the necessary products, you won’t have to starve yourself.

    Food is transformed into energy, which is why you have to keep it as clean and healthy as possible (with the occasional slip).

  • Take care of your health by tracking your Heart Rate with Beets Blu

    Take care of your health by tracking your Heart Rate with Beets Blu

    *This is a sponsored post. I received product in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are 100% honest.* 

    Taking care of our health as we get older becomes increasingly more important. We start seeing the effects of our childhood choices, and sometimes wishing we had made different ones. I’m taking the first step back to better health by tracking my heart rate with a Beets Blu heart rate monitor.

    Take care of your health by tracking your Heart Rate with Beets Blu

    As a kid I enjoyed running. Cross Country was the only sport I felt I could do, because it meant a team didn’t have to rely on me. I tried softball, and while fun I felt I held the team back with my lack of sporty skills. Getting outside though has always been an important part of my life. Whether it was camping and hiking, or playing family baseball or tennis with my Dad. 

    One day I woke up and was an adult. I had to clean house. Do laundry. Go to work. Take school classes. Have kids. Care for them. Where did all my time go?! Moving to Indiana has been one of the best things for my body, because now I live near family who are passionate about exercise and want me to enjoy it again too. 

    Taking care of your health by tracking your Heart Rate with Beets Blu

    Every Thursday my sister in law and I go running with our 2 little boys in the double stroller. She uses an app called Strava (Find me!), and helped me set up an account. When I got the Beets Blu Heart Rate Monitor she showed me how to get it set up, and also explained why it’s a good idea to track your heart rate.

    I’ve never used a heart rate monitor before, so was unsure what to expect. I really really liked the Beets Blu monitor though. The strap is a perfect width that when I put it on, it didn’t bother me at all. I was worried it would be too thick, or move around a bunch, but it didn’t! My next concern was connecting it by bluetooth to my phone. Would it really hold the connection? 

    The answer – YES! I ran a 1.5 mile and it tracked the whole thing. Using the Strava app on my phone in my arm band, I could see where my heart rate spiked while chatting and running with my sister in law, and where it slowed because we stopped to walk the hill. So cool you guys! 

    Taking care of your health by tracking your Heart Rate with Beets Blu

    How will you take back your health?

  • Holiday Gift Guide: Runners Armband

    Holiday Gift Guide: Runners Armband

    Earlier this week I shared my Music Lovers Stocking, today I’m sharing the Runners Stocking! If you have anyone who loves to run, you’ll want to put together a stocking like this. 
    The star of this is the Running Armband! I love to run, but it has been increasingly harder for me to find motivation to get out and do it. I’ve always said, maybe if I had a way to listen to some music, so it wasn’t quite so silent out there running alone. I’m not really a group runner type of person either. 
    My biggest worry about the Running Armband would be that it slips down my chubby arms, but it has a nice grip to it, and has stayed where it should. 
    So what are we going to add with the running armband? If the person you’re gifting to someone without a phone, I’d start there. This particular band is built for the Iphone 5, 5S , 5c , 4 , 4S , 3GS and iPod 5 Touch.
    As long as the device is set, we can move on to the other things to really make a runners stocking. 
    Music! An iTunes giftcard is the perfect way to let someone build their own playlist. I personally need upbeat motivational songs to listen to while running. I’ve got friends who need more heavy metal dark stuff to get them going. Whatever the music preference, a gift card will fit everyone. 
    Personally I’d rather not let everyone hear my music while I’m running so, you’ll want to get a nice set of earphones to include as well. The Running Armband is set up to easily fit headphones into whichever device you are using. 
    What else might you put in a runners stocking? So glad you asked!
    • Pedometer
    • ear muffs/headband to cover ears
    • gift card to a sports or shoe store
    • chapstick
    • socks

    What’s on your running playlist?

    I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

  • A 1 Car Family in a Modern World

    A 1 Car Family in a Modern World

    1 car family

    Last week Mark sold his truck.  With a possible (and 98% likely) move again in our future, and trying to finish our bathroom remodel, I believed Mark decided to sell in order to have just a tad more money to finish things up here.

    Communication was not our strong point that weekend, when 20 minutes after he told me he was selling his truck we had a buyer willing to pay our full asking price. Mark’s reason for selling was to purchase a smaller more gas efficient car that could commute him the 2-3 hours north in search of a new job.

    So for the moment we hit a crossroads. I was thrilled to be a 1 car family, and Mark kept browsing cars for sale. Although I am perfectly content for the time being owning 1 car, I know in the future it will come in handy to have 2 vehicles in this fast paced world. So I did what I always do at times like this – I thought about it!

    Let’s make a pro and con list, shall we?  Feel free to leave me some comments with any pros or cons I may not have thought about.
    pros and cons to owning one car
    For now, we are sticking with the 1 car. Not because the pros outweigh the cons. Actually, the cons just slightly outweigh the pros for me. I like to know that if there were an emergency I wouldn’t have to wait for someone to pick me up, or rely on a neighbor to get us to a hospital. That right there provides so much peace of mind, that having 2 cars will be worth it. 
    However, we will be waiting until we know where we’re moving, and Mark has a job before making this purchase. For now, during the summer, 1 car suits us just fine. I  have gotten so much exercise in the last 3 days it’s unbelievable!  I love how I am feeling, and how much fun I see the kids having on their bikes. 
  • Eliminate the Snacking {80 bites Week 4}

    It’s week 4 with my 80 Bites diet plan. We’ve moved on from talking about Quantity to learning about Frequency.

    This last week has been more of a mental struggle for me. I love that I’m seeing results, and feeling better about my body, but I’m longing for snacks, and to not feel guilty whenever I eat something. I think my biggest problem right now is perhaps getting the right foods. Something I should probably take a closer look at, or at least at some vitamins to my diet.

    So back to Frequency.  According to the 80 Bites program, there is a very simple way to cut back the snacking between meals – just brush your teeth.

    Yep. Simple and easy really. You brush your teeth and you won’t want to put anything into your mouth and ruin that clean feeling.

    I was a little skeptical at first. The I decided to pay attention to my eating habits after brushing my teeth. I was pleasantly surprised. After brushing my teeth after breakfast, I don’t really snack during the mornings. Brushing my teeth after lunch though is more of a foreign concept to me. It’s definitely a good practice, but not one I’ve ever done. I’ve also noticed that most of my snacking, happens between lunch and dinner.

    So looks like I’ll be adding a good hygiene practice to my afternoons, in an effort to curb those snacking urges. To tell the truth, I’m excited. I don’t usually snack because I’m hungry, more because it’s “something to do” and “it looks good”.  I guess what I’m saying is I’m a boredom eater. I look to food to satisfy things other than actual hunger. Go ahead, tsk tsk me.

    In regards to last weeks lesson, I have slowed my eating considerably. No longer focused on that next bite.

     
    How’s it Going?
    How Many Bites did you take?90-100/day

    Feeling
    deprived?

    Starting to a little. Just in the amount that I eat, though.

    Weight at beginning of
    diet?

    165

    Weight today?
    161

    Are you still
    motivated?

    Yes. Not as much as I had been, but I think it’s just a phase. It’s that mental block I mentioned above.

  • How Big? {80 Bites, Week 2}

    How Big? {80 Bites, Week 2}

    Well, it’s week 2 of my new diet. Since week 1 was more about observation, I was pretty excited. This week, not so much. Trying to limit my number of bites, while remembering to count them as well, has been difficult. Mark needs the Ipad at school, so I don’t always have the 80 Bites App available to count for me.

    Remember how I said I thought the talking stomach was cute? Admittedly, I do still think he’s cute, but I found myself talking back to him when I disagreed with his comments. 

    Have you ever seen that commercial, where the teenage girls follow a man around and make comments about what he’s eating?  Haha, yeah. That’s what I felt like with this talking stomach. If I was eating too fast, he’d tell me to slow down, but in very humorous and um…snarky ways. When I reached over the “right” number of bites per meal he started congratulating me on eating for two….yep, I’m not eating for two.

    But I’m going to keep at it! I think over time I won’t feel as guilty or like a rebelling teen against the snarky stomach. That is the hope at least!

    Week 2’s tasks in the 80 Bites program includes watching the size of your bites. It really should be no bigger than a quarter….or an inch of a banana.  Which really makes sense to me, but I’ve also got a fairly small mouth. So I think I’m good on this one!

    Enough of my rambling, on to the weekly questions!
    Depending on the weeks tasks I may add to these questions.
     
    How Many
    Bites did you take?
    – I’m still trying to remember to count, but when I do, I am actually keeping it pretty close to 80.
    Do you feel
    deprived?
    – A little, but not in the sense I thought I would. I feel deprived of bites. I try to give myself 20 bites per meal, with 20 more for the rest of the days snacking. When I hit 20 though, and there’s still some yummy food in front of me, that is when I feel deprived. I’m big on flavors and taste, so I tend to over eat just to enjoy that flavor a little longer.
    Weight at the
    beginning of the diet?
    – 165 (that’s
    right I’m telling the world my weight!)
    Weight
    today?
    – 161.5
    Has it
    motivated you?
    This week, not so much. But, I’ve been sick this week, so that really sucks the motivation out of me. All I’ve really wanted to do was indulge in quick and easy treats. Hopefully once I get over this, I’ll be motivated again to workout daily. I want to up my crunches from 50/day to 75/day, and go running at least once a week.
     
    Week 2 Question: Are there any times/situations that cause you to mindlessly eat?
    – You bet! Sometimes I get so focused on getting kids ready and fed, and dresses and laundry started in the mornings, that I forget to sit down and eat breakfast myself. I find when I skip breakfast, it causes mindless snacking the whole rest of the day! And I should know better. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day after all.