It seems simple but when people hit plateaus or start gaining weight, they become frustrated. A simple rule is that your body needs 10 calories per pound to operate for the day. Roughly then, an 180 pound person would need 1800 calories. Seems simple, you make great changes, and you start burning pounds. But as your weight falls, so does your calories needs. If you drop 20 pounds, then now at 160 pounds, you only need 1600 calories a day. This is one of the reasons that people regain weight in the end.

If you have hit a plateau, this is actually the amount of food that you can eat in a day. To lose weight again, you have to cut back further. This is another reason why losing weight slowly is smart to give you time to adjust to a new calorieamount and eating pattern.

Greg Camaratta
www.simplyslimnutrition.com

The Benefits of High Intensity Interval Training

Let’s face it, in our busy lives it can be very easy to get overwhelmed and not have enough time in the day to do what you want to. When it comes to exercise, not only is finding the time to do it an issue, but also assuring your exercise sessions are actually beneficial. Anyone who sacrifices time and effort naturally wants to get the most out of it. If you can accomplish something in less time as compared to more – yet obtain similar results – then do it.

In a recent study in the Journal of Applied Physiology it was found that reducing exercise time, but increasing training intensity, produced positive results as compared to lengthier sessions of lower-intensity effort. This mode is known as high-intensity interval training (H.I.I.T.).

In their pilot study:
Eight subjects completed six high-intensity interval exercise sessions over a two-week period.
Each session consisted of 10 x 60-second intervals on a leg cycle ergometer, at 90% maximal heart rate and with 1:00 rest intervals.
30 minutes of very intense exercise per week (within the recommended total of 75 minutes of vigorous exercise per week) improved glucose control and markers of skeletal muscle metabolism in patients with type 2 diabetes.
The results were consistent with a number of publications within the last few years that demonstrate the benefits of H.I.I.T.

Other findings:
In addition, they found evidence from the Norwegian HUNT study that just a single weekly bout of high-intensity exercise was found to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease in both men and women.
They also noted in other H.I.I.T. studies, subjects appear to tolerate the higher exercise intensity and actually prefer H.I.I.T. over more traditional steady-state continuous exercise (i.e., 40 to 60+ minutes walking on a treadmill).
It was also found young healthy males reported a perceived “enjoyment” of H.I.I.T. as compared to steady-state continuous exercise even though it had a higher rate of perceived exertion. Likewise, patients with heart failure found H.I.I.T. more motivating than traditional steady-state exercise, which they felt was “quite boring.”

What exactly is H.I.I.T?
Very intense periods of work (:10 to 2:00) followed by a brief rest period (:10 to 1:00) and repeated for a varied number of bouts (6 to 60).
A H.I.I.T. session may only involve 8 to 16 minutes of total work time and a total session time (warm up, work/rest periods and cool-down) being only 20 to 25 minutes.

Sample H.I.I.T. workouts:
Elliptical trainer – :30 high-intensity effort, followed by :30 of low effort (recovery) – 20 rounds (total = 20 minutes).
Squat thrusts – jumping jacks – push ups – pull ups – bicycle crunches performed for :20 each exercise, followed by :15 rest – 5 rounds (total = approximately 15 minutes).
Shuttle runs – run hard for :10, followed by :20 rest- 40 rounds (total = 20 minutes).
Versa Climber – 1:30 high-intensity effort, followed by :40 rest – 12 rounds  (total 26 minutes).
Any exercise mode done at high-effort followed by a brief rest and repeated for a number of bouts which results in a time-efficient session.

The Journal of Applied Physiology study also noted that U.S. public health guidelines recommend adults accumulate at least 150 minutes per week of moderate-intensity physical activity or 75 minutes per week of vigorous-intensity physical activity. The percentage of U.S. adults attaining these minimal guidelines is very low. One very popular reason often given as an excuse not to exercise is the perceived lack of time.

Do the math: 40 to 60+ minutes of steady-state exercise 1) takes more time, 2) can be boring/monotonous and 3) in reality, doesn’t burn a significant amount of energy.

On the other hand, H.I.I.T. is 1) time-efficient, 2) more enjoyable and 3) equally effective, if not more.

High Intensity Interval Training is a great way to train less and gain more.

Greek yogurt has twice the protein of regular yogurt — some brands contain more than 20 grams of protein per serving. “Protein not only keeps you satisfied longer but takes about 25 percent more energy to digest than fat,” says Angela Ginn, a registered dietician in Baltimore. Choose low-fat, plain varieties (to avoid added sugars) and add fresh fruit.

As I was driving to school and having one my self talks (I talk to myself a lot these days), I was thinking of how I had strayed from the healthy eating path the past week.After my fast and losing 5lbs last week, I craved “food to chew” and bought a junior whopper. It would have been okay if I had stopped there, but the next day I treated myself to an ultra thin pizza with chicken and pineapple. Healthy, right? Well, sure, but still two pieces was more than I had eaten in 20 plus days. It gets better. While shopping for baking items for a brunch for the faculty, I had Chinese food. Now, granted when I do that it’s a piece of this or a tad of that, not a full blown Chinese meal, but still….I had to have a tough talk with myself to get me back on my path. The three day weekend should not have been an excuse for my binging (although I told myself it was). I even canceled my weigh in for Thursday because I was ashamed if there would have been a weight gain.

Did I keep down that path? No, I veered back to where I belong. I started by making my protein shake in the morning (I drink it all day), bringing my carrots to crunch on to school, refilling the fruit bowl in the faculty room (yes, we have a fruit bowl that I started and really am enjoying putting in fruit), and making my meals at home. Perhaps it’s because I’m getting home before 8 this week and I’m not exhausted. Perhaps it’s because I’m working out a bit more with my physical therapy. Whatever the reason is, I’m back. I even changed my weigh in day to Wednesday. I was fooling myself with a Thursday one. It was like…okay, if I weigh in on Thursday I can eat what I want on the weekend and still have four days to lose weight before the weigh-in. Oh, those games. So now I’m on Wednesday so that will be right in front of my during the weekend. I’ll do PT on Mondays and Thursdays and play tennis on Sundays.

The point is after 40 days of detoxing, it was okay to go a little off track, but the most important thing is that I can find my way back again. With the support of Fit42 and the commitment of blogging here at least once a week, I am hoping to get through the next twenty plus days before my next “test” which will either be PETE&C pre-con in Hershey or Presidents’Weekend.

How about you? Any confessions this week?