4 Must Do Exercises for Weight Loss

Repost: By: Chris Freytag // August 8, 2014

Whenever I talk to beginner exercises or people who are coming back after a long break and want to lose weight, they will say to me, “I’m just going to start with cardio and once I lose weight I’ll begin strength training.” I totally understand that the idea of doing it all at once can be overwhelming, but strength training is not only a huge part of losing weight and feeling healthy—it’s the KEY. Best of all, it is easier than some people think.

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Exercises for Weight Loss

Don’t get me wrong … I’m a huge fan of cardio. I love the way it makes me feel and I love the satisfaction of seeing how many calories I’ve burned, how many steps I’ve taken and what zone I’ve been training in. But when it comes to long-term weight loss and getting strong: STRENGTH TRAINING RULES! Muscle is more metabolically active than body fat. In other words, muscle burns more calories per day at a resting heart rate than body fat so the more muscle you have, the more calories your body burns daily. In addition, muscle is more compact (dense) than body fat and helps to sculpt your body (nice bonus). Lastly, strength training keeps your joints mobile and promotes your ability to do daily activities while feeling good. No matter what your goals are, strength training is an important component of your exercise program, and it’s never too late to start.

I am a stickler for form. If you want good results, you need to use good form. Here are a few tips for some of the most effective bodyweight exercises that will help you build muscle, lose weight and get strong! (CLICK ON EACH of THE IMAGES for more information)

Push-Ups

Why you should do ‘em: Push-ups are one of the best body weight exercises ever invented, they require zero equipment, build strength in all of the right places, have many variations to keep things fresh, and are easy to modify and track progress. You can burn calories working multiple muscle groups and shape your body at the same time. Push-ups make you strong.

How to do a push up: When it comes to push-ups, your form is crucial. Each push-up needs to be a full range of motion. If you only go half way down or push your butt up in the air for several reps, you shouldn’t count them. Sounds harsh? Well, cheating never gets you ahead. Here’s how to get set up to do a push-up:

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Set your hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart, hands facing forward.

Set your feet directly behind you at a comfortable position (together or slightly separated). The further apart your feet are, the more stable you will be until you are able to build your balance up enough to put your feet together.

Make your body into on straight line from the top of your head down through your heels. Your butt should stay in line with your legs and back, never up in the air. Your abs engaged and your shoulders over your wrists. (Basically a full body plank position.) Keep your neck neutral, don’t drop your head or crank it back.

With your arms straight, glutes and abs contracted, slowly lower your body until your chest touches the ground, or arms are at approx. a 90-degree angle, and push yourself back into your starting position. Try to keep your core body steady. Don’t sag through the low back or push your butt way up in the air.

Squats

Why you should do ’em: Be proud of your buns! You heard me right. Strong and firm is sexy. When women ask me the best way to firm their butts and tone their legs… I tell them to: Get their Squats On! ou need those glute muscles to do lots of everyday activities. Squats also improve the mobility in your hips, legs and upper back. And as you get older, the strength and stability you develop from squats can help you out of a chair or reach for something on the floor or simply prevent injury.

Drop and squat. Take an athletic, wide stance, point your toes outward slightly and sit back. Your butt should protrude out like you are sitting down in an invisible chair. Stay steady and strong as you squat deeper and try to keep your heels on the ground. The wider you put your feet the more it works your glutes and hamstrings (the back of your legs) and the easier it will be for you to stay stable. If your feet are a little closer, you will work your quadriceps a little more intensely (the front part of your thighs).

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Make sure your knees track over your toes. Don’t let your knees cave in to the center, engage your inner thighs and quads.

Keep your chest lifted, shoulders down, abs tight. Make sure your spine is in proper alignment. Make sure you aren’t arching your back or scrunching your shoulders up around your neck. Pull your belly to your spine and contract your abs.

Don’t round your neck. Look straight ahead or find a point of focus in line with your eyes. You don’t want to round your neck or look down at the ground.

Get deep. Depending on your hip flexibility, you may be able to squat pretty low – try for quads parallel with the floor. If your flexibility isn’t yet to that level, that’s okay. Just remember that flexibility is something you can work on to improve. Aim for parallel which will deeply engage your thighs, hips and glutes.

Lunges

Why you should do ’em: Lunges pretty much are the bomb. You can do them anywhere, they firm up your backside, give you a shapelier bottom (who doesn’t want that?) and they also strengthen your glutes, hamstrings, quads and calves. The lunge is also a great conditioning exercise for many sports and activities. Get ready to see the results in your bottom half.

How to do a basic forward lunge: With your chest lifted, chin up and abs contracted take a big step forward with your left foot. Sink straight down so your front left knee tracks over the top of your shoe and your back right knee points down toward the floor. You are on your back left toe. Push back to the starting position. Repeat on the right leg. Keep alternating. A good place to start is with 10-12 lunges on each leg and work your way up to 3 sets.

Keep your knees aligned, front knee over your shoe and back knee pointing down.

Watch yourself lunge with a side view mirror. Make sure you aren’t leaning too far forward or back or rounding your spine.

Keep your knees, hips and shoulders all facing in same direction, forward.

Think about how you are distributing your body weight. Don’t force your weight into your kneecaps but rather use them as a hinge. Engage your quads, hamstrings and glutes.

Full Body Roll Ups

Why you should do ’em: I call the Full Body Roll Up the mother of mat Pilates exercises. It has been said that one Pilates Full Body Roll Up is equal to six sit-ups and way more effective than a bunch of mindless crunches.

Lie flat on your back with your arms extended overhead.

Inhale arms to the sky, exhale and slowly roll up into a “C” curve reaching for your toes. (Think about threading your belly button to your spine, and activate your transverse abdominus.)

Inhale and start to slowly go back in a C curve.

Exhale as you uncurl your body one vertebra at a time back into the mat.

The key is to keep your feet on the ground. Use your abs and back to gracefully articulate down to the mat and avoid using your hip flexors and glutes. If you have trouble keeping your feet on the ground, have someone hold your feet or use a resistance band around your feet and hold the handles in your hand. Or bend your knees as you come up. It’s always okay to modify!

Start with three to five and see if you can add a couple more each day.

Are you ready to power up your muscle and metabolism with these four must-have moves? Tell me how they work for YOU in the comments section below! Muscle On my friends!

February 8, 2016 0

Repost: If You Are Overweight This Question Could Change Everything

By: Chris Freytag // June 12, 2015

Do you ever get in your own way and make life a little harder than it needs to be? Do you self-sabotage, making choices you know aren’t good for you … like plopping down on the couch with a bag of chips or a pint of ice cream after a stressful day? Maybe you skip a workout and justify it with an exercise excuse? You tell yourself you will never be able to ___________ (fill in the blank) lose the weight, get fit, eat healthy, or run the 5k. Turns out we are pretty good at throwing up obstacles in our own path when our self-worth is a little shaky. The culprit is usually an underlying belief that you don’t deserve to have the life of your dreams. You can get rid of all that self-doubt and stop letting your weight get in the way of your goals by answering just one question.

Here it is: What have you always wanted to do but haven’t because of your weight?

Recently I asked this question on my Facebook page. The answers came pouring in and they were eye-opening. So many of you aren’t doing the things you want to do because of your weight—from wearing a bikini on a beach to feeling confident about who you are. Your weight has become a barrier between you and the life you imagine. That one thing you aren’t currently doing but want to be able to do can be turned into your biggest motivator for weight loss and a lifestyle change. (More on that coming up.) First, here are some responses we received at GetHealthyU:

Not crop my body out of every picture.

Stop obsessing about how other people see me since I gained weight.

Get up in the morning and feel free of the weight. I haven’t felt that in years.

Go on a long hike.

Be happy looking in the mirror.

What’s your answer? What have you always wanted to do but haven’t because of your weight?

Turn your answer to this question into your biggest motivator. Use your goal to pull you into the direction you want to go.

If you say, “I want to be happy looking in the mirror” read it every morning and let it motivate you to take that walk.

Jot down: “I want to run” if that’s your goal and turn it into your rocket fuel to join the couch to 5k program.

If a bikini isn’t your thing, but you want to feel comfortable at the beach, buy a swimsuit of your choice that makes you feel darn good. When you feel good about you, it’s easier to make good choices for your body.

Use your goals as a compass. Goals and self-improvement challenge us and give us something meaningful to work toward. When we work on achieving our goals, we feel engaged and happier because we are actively taking action to make our lives even better. If you don’t let anything get in the way of you and your goals, your self-worth goes up because you are telling yourself that you are worth it!

Be happy now. Whether you want to feel more confident, or be able to hike, or like the way your arms look in a picture, you can still be happy in this very moment. I am all about goal-setting, but don’t hang your happiness on that goal. If you aren’t going to be happy until _________ then you are postponing the happiness you could feel right now. Before you know it the days, months and years go by. Happiness isn’t only something you are born with, it’s a choice. Focus on the positives in the present to help fuel your future. Start to enjoy this moment and the journey.

Love yourself throughout the process. While you can use your goals as motivators, remember to love yourself throughout the process. I believe you can’t make positive change from a negative mindset. You are probably good at being kind to others, so dole out some of that kindness on yourself. Don’t let the scale determine your self-worth. Guess what, it’s okay to love yourself AND want to improve. Nothing good is born out of self-criticism.

You don’t have to be perfect. Magazines, TV shows, and Facebook status updates can easily make us all feel like we need to work toward perfect. You don’t. You don’t have to weigh a certain three numbers to be happy. You don’t have to look a certain way to be self-accepting. You don’t have to skip the beach because you don’t like how your thighs look. Let the things you want to do encourage you instead of becoming roadblocks. One way to become encouraged is to realize no one is perfect and you don’t need to be either.

You deserve to do all the things you want to do with your wonderful life. Let those things you wish you could do get you excited and motivated to achieve them. Don’t let anything stop you from living the life you desire. Use that fire within you to start to lose the weight.

READ THIS NEXT: 17 Excuses Why You Skip Exercise (And What To Do About It)

June 24, 2015 0

Fitness–A Whole New Evolution

Have you ran a 5k? Half or full marathon? If you haven’t, do you feel like you should have by now and are “falling behind” since it’s the “new in thing to do?” When all the color runs, mud runs, Tough Mudder, Iron Man, Grandma’s Marathon, Crossfit and many more started emerging– the entire concept of fitness meant something completely different than ever before.

Since when did being healthy require you to run a certain amount of miles; jump over a certain amount of obstacles; get covered in a certain amount of mud; or perform Olympic lifts that can be very damaging to the body, if you have no idea what you are doing? One person started doing it, so we all did.

The new image of a “fit person” on socialmedia is one that not only includes fitness somewhere in their headline, but one that meal preps; has only one “cheat meal” a week; has or uses shakes or pre-workout; and uses the hashtags: #fitfam, #mealprep, #lifters, #nutrition, #shreds, and so on.

Now don’t get me wrong, a lot of people that do all of this have come a long way and have been successful with their fitness journey, but you don’t have to follow these ridiculous fitness measures to be healthy, happy and reach your goals.

In fact, if I were to ever only have one cheat meal a week, consume powder as my meal, skip eating when I’m hungry, cut out all carbs/gluten, put a wrap on instead of working out, and eat vegetables and lean meat every meal of every day– I would be MISERABLE. Wake up people, being fit and healthy can be done without a huge hassle.

Want to know how? Simple. It’s called eat as much unprocessed and REAL foods as you can, while consuming everything in moderation and workout. Seriously, that’s IT. Need help gathering new ideas for food? It’s called Pinterest. Millions of healthy recipes are on Pinterest, including a ton you can throw in the crock pot. Don’t have enough time to cook? Nonsense. Get to the grocery store, stock-up on healthy foods, prepare them– and eat the leftovers at work instead of grabbing lunch elsewhere.

Don’t eat breakfast? Change that. Eat breakfast. Every morning. Not a frozen breakfast sandwich, BUT making your own breakfast sandwich is another story. This Nordic Ware microwave egg maker has become my new best friend for a quick and healthy breakfast on the go. Cereal, oatmeal (reduced sugar), fruit, protein/granola bars, bananas and yogurt are other great options as well.

When you’re out to eat, order a wrap (not loaded with sauce–ask for it on the side), and order it with a side salad or a side of fruit. Salads with chicken or a turkey burger with a side of fruit or side salad without the heavy dressing is a must. Use a vinaigrette or lighter option. You can still enjoy a beer or two– just don’t overdue it.

Get to the gym. 4-5 times a week. Mix in your cardio (power walking, elliptical, running shorter distances (2-3 miles), fitness classes) and strength training. A great place to start or to learn new exercises is to follow Natalie Jill Fit or Dayna Deters Determined Fitness— two of my personal favorites.

They both have great programs that include cardio, strengthening exercises and meal planning. So now you see my non-professional but personal experience-based opinion on fitness. Get a gym membership and buy real food.

June 23, 2015 0

Repost: “Why I’m Going to Eat Carbs…”

I came across this blog today and enjoyed it so much that I had to re-post it. This is exactly my philosophy on carbs:

20 Reasons Why I’m Going To Eat Carbs And You Need To STFU About It

The Cobra Snake

Alexia LaFata in Culture

Carbs have such a bad reputation.

It’s unfortunate, because the world would be a much happier place if everyone would just shut up and embrace the carb in all of its hearty, doughy, grainy glory.

There is a lot of conflicting research out there about carbs. Nobody really knows if you’re supposed to eat them or not, which means they’ve been cast as the devil and eliminated from the diets of “trendy” girls and fitness gurus everywhere. And I think that’s bullsh*t.

For one, “diets” that require you to completely give something up don’t work. They require willpower, which is a finite human resource.

You simply will not be able to last eradicating a food item from your life forever.

Secondly, if you wanted to give up anything forever, carbs are a dumb thing to choose. Why would you ever subject yourself to such torture?

If I wanted to hate myself, I would just drink a whole bottle of wine alone or look at my bank account. I would never give up carbs.

Look, I myself am a white girl, and one who likes to eat pretty healthily at that.

I eat eggs for breakfast every morning, I thoroughly enjoy the taste of raw vegetables (dressing not required and, honestly, not preferred), and I don’t put sugar in my coffee.

I love all kinds of fruit, especially apples, bananas and berries, and I favor chicken over red meat.

But I will never, ever, ever stop eating carbs. And you need to STFU about it.

1. Because they’re f*cking delicious.

Need I say more? I guess I have to, even though I shouldn’t.

2. Because I’m Italian.

It’s in my blood to love carbs.

3. Because it’s harder than you think to avoid them.

Carbs are in fruit, vegetables, yogurt, baked beans, your fancy milk substitutes, canned tomato sauce, green peas, salad dressing, protein bars and more. They lurk everywhere, waiting for you to eat them. Why fight it?

4. Because they don’t actually make you fat.

All carbs are not created equally. In fact, eating the right kinds of carbs can actually help you lose weight.

5. Because even if they do make me fat, I don’t care.

If weighing a few pounds more than I’d like to is my biggest problem in life, that’s fine with me. It’s worth it for carbs.

6. Because it’s easy to make them healthy, if you want.

Have none of you heard of whole-grain bread? Or quinoa pasta? Or rye bagels?

There are options here. There is no need for all the carb hate.

7. Because they’re versatile.

You can fry them, toast them, al dente them, soak them in milk, slather them with butter, cover them in oil and, most importantly, love them. Definitely love them.

8. Because they give me energy.

Once, I tried to lower my carb intake (I know, what was I thinking?), and it made me feel exhausted.

This is because glucose, the main ingredient you need to have enough energy to do simple tasks like walking and breathing, comes from starches and sugars found in carbs. My body was massively deprived.

Don’t worry, though. I simply shoved a fistful of pasta into my mouth and all became well again.

9. Because they let me drink more alcohol.

According to my experiences in college, if you line your stomach with carbs before a night out, it’ll prevent you from throwing up the next morning after you’d downed too much tequila. It’s magic.

10. Because they make me feel better when I’m hungover.

Again, according to college, the bagel you eat after your night out will absorb all the tequila you drank that’s still sitting in your stomach.

It’s even more magic.

11. Because they soak up all the goodness that no non-carb can.

Cheese. Sauce. Dressing. Olive oil. Butter. Excess alcohol.

Everything.

12. Because they are a key ingredient in a variety of comfort food.

Mac and cheese? Carbs. Chicken noodle soup? Carbs. Apple pie? Carbs. Mashed potatoes? Carbs. Cornbread? Carbs. Grilled cheese? C-a-r-b-s.

13. Because they help me handle my stress.

Eating a warm bowl of gooey mac and cheese is the same as wrapping yourself up in a fluffy blanket and resting your head on a pillow made of clouds.

14. Because they keep my memory sharp.

A Tufts University study found that when you don’t eat carbs, your memory suffers. And I have lots of things I want to remember.

15. Because they’re free at every restaurant.

Who doesn’t love a free basket of bread at the beginning of every meal?

16. Because eating them has made me a mentally stronger individual.

In elementary school, I went to my friend’s house, and her dad made us pasta for dinner.

I was so excited about it that I ate two full bowls.

After finishing, my friend, who was Asian, cocked her head, looked at my empty bowl and disdainfully said, “How do you Americans eat so much?”

For a second, I felt really offended. Then, I didn’t care. And this moment empowered me not let anyone make me feel GROSS for what I love. Which is carbs.

17. Because I’m not going to let you food shame me.

Attention girls who give me side-eye for eating too much pasta: Your boring opinions about carbs don’t matter to me.

18. Because everything fun involves carbs.

Pizza parties, pasta nights before sports games, BBQs with hotdogs and hamburgers — these are all incomplete without carbs.

19. Because I can.

I have a mouth; there is no reason I should not put carbs in it.

20. Because the happiness I might get from losing weight is not worth trading the happiness I will get from eating bread.

Bye.

Written by Alexia LaFata

June 17, 2015 1