Archive for the ‘Thinner You’ Category

BY JASON ANDERSON of SPARKPEOPLE

I have a friend who can either build or fix just about anything—the guy is handy! I’m constantly amazed to see how he can take care of most any restoration or carpentry problem. Something that seems impossible is like putty in his hands, and he usually reminds me, as I am making a sloppy mess of things, to work smarter, not harder—a mantra that applies as much to our workout routines as it does to working around the house.

We know that there are no shortcuts to getting fit and staying fit. Working out takes perseverance, consistency and well, work! But every once in a while, you should stop and ask yourself, “Am I working out smarter and not just harder?” After all, we don’t want to waste one drop of hard-earned sweat in our pursuit of fitness. We want to get the most out of every workout, run, bike ride, or trip to the gym.

Here are five ways to exercise smarter to get the results you want without spending more time in your sneakers.

1. Tackle …

Continue reading THINNER YOU: 5 shortcuts to sculpt your body fast »

BY JEN MUELLER of SPARKPEOPLE

You’re committed to a healthy lifestyle. You hit the gym every day when they open their doors, ditch soda for water, and brought healthy fruits and vegetables back to the center of your plate. Then you step on the scale, only to find that you haven’t lost a single pound after all your hard work. Is it even worth it?

Of course, the answer is yes. Although weight loss can take time, there are other changes happening in your body — and mind — that you can’t ignore. After just a few days of sticking with your healthy lifestyle plan, you might start to notice a difference in your energy level, stress level, quality of sleep and overall feelings about yourself. By tracking your progress in these areas, you can stay motivated and learn to appreciate all the little improvements you are seeing, regardless of what the scale tells you.

Taking a daily stock of your energy level, stress level, sleep quality and self-esteem is important for everyone who is …

Continue reading THINNER YOU: 4 Easy Ways to Assess Your Well-Being »

BY DEAN ANDERSON OF SPARKPEOPLE

Got money problems? These days, when many people earn the equivalent of 4 gallons of gas per hour, who doesn’t?

For many people, money problems go beyond coping with rising prices or tweaking your budget to keep your expenses within your means; they’re a way of life. No matter how much money you have, it’s never enough to make you feel happy, secure, or satisfied. Dealing with money can become incredibly complex and difficult, too. It’s very easy to want more of it than you truly need; to spend more of it than you have; or to expect it to solve problems that it can’t. In fact, it’s not just easy to get caught up in problematic spending habits—it’s almost expected of us.

Continue reading THINNER YOU: Turn money problems into rewarding solutions »

BY JEN MUELLER OF SPARKPEOPLE

Think you’re too old to start a strength training program? Well think again! Strength training is just what your body needs to fight the loss of muscle, bone mass and strength that comes with age.

Everyone, no matter how young or old, should be doing some kind of regular strength training. This could be at the gym, or at home using very little equipment. Resistance bands and balls, small hand weights, water and even your own body weight can be used as resistance when designing a strength training program.

So what’s the point? If you’ve never participated in a strength training program, why start now? Here are some very important reasons strength training makes a difference in your quality of life:

• Improves your ability to do everyday activities: The stronger your muscles, the easier it is to get groceries out of the car, get a package off of the top cabinet shelf, push the lawnmower…..the list goes on and on!

• Improves your balance and …

Continue reading THINNER YOU: Why strength training is a must for everyone »

Remember Brandi Chastain's game-winning kick for during the Women's World Cup in 1999? Her sports bra fits perfect.

BY NANCY HOWARD OF SPARKPEOPLE

Every active woman, regardless of her breast size, should have a sports bra as a part of her fitness wardrobe. Not only do these specially designed bras offer better support and more comfort than a regular bra, they also help minimize movement during your workout. Exercising in the wrong bra can lead to more than discomfort. A number of issues, including tension in the arms and shoulders and restricted breathing, can occur if the band is too tight.

A woman’s breasts are composed primarily of adipose (fatty) tissue, mammary glands, connective tissue, and the Cooper’s ligament, which keeps the breast firm and prevents sagging. Because the underlying chest muscles do not support breast tissue, exercising in anything other than a well-fitted sports bra can stretch the Cooper’s ligament, leading to greater sagging and even pain during …

Continue reading THINNER YOU: Are you wearing the right sports bra? »

BY DEAN ANDERSON OF SPARKPEOPLE

What comes to mind for you when you hear the word diet? If you’re like most people, you probably imagine eating carrot sticks, going to bed hungry, and giving up your favorite foods—and that’s why so many diets fail. Most people just can’t tolerate those kinds of restrictions for very long.

The more you try to eliminate your favorite foods, the more feelings of discomfort, deprivation and resentment build up. This can result in bingeing on all the foods you’ve been denying yourself, undoing all your hard work in a single day. But even if you can avoid that problem, are you willing to eat like a rabbit for the rest of your life?

Studies show that 95 percent of people who follow a highly restrictive diet to lose weight will put the weight back on when they return to “normal” eating again. So what’s the alternative? How do you manage to lose weight without eliminating the problem foods and problem behaviors that made you overweight to begin …

Continue reading THINNER YOU: Moderation in all things – how to avoid the diet blues »

By Sarah Haan of SparkPeople

Conniving. Manipulative. Scheming. I’m not talking about your ex; I’m talking about your grocery store. On your next trip, be prepared to fight back against the tactics most supermarket chains use to get you to spend more money on “extras” that you don’t really need—tactics that affect your wallet and your health.

You’re on your weekly grocery trip. You’ve got your list in hand, and you’re ready to purchase the items you need for your healthy, preplanned meals. You walk through the supermarket doors and…oh! Look at the Fourth of July decorations! Visions of cookouts, party favors and kids with sparklers are now dancing through your head. You hang around the display, pick up a “two-for” deal on red, white and blue wrapped chocolates, and grab streamers and balloons because your sister-in-law might have forgotten supplies to jazz up the kids table for the party next week. 2,549 calories and at least $10 unplanned dollars later, you’ve been the victim …

Continue reading THINNER YOU: 7 Secrets to outsmart your supermarket »

BY Dean Anderson of SparkPeople

You’ve gone over you calories for the day or eaten something on your “forbidden” list. You figure that since you’ve blown your diet, you might as well keep on eating and start over tomorrow. You keep eating, but despise yourself for it.

You’ve done well all week, but the scale says you’ve gained a pound. You panic, feeling certain that you’re doomed to be fat forever.

You set the alarm an hour early to exercise, but hit snooze. Feeling like a lazy slug, you wonder if you have any willpower to do what you know you need to.

Do any of these scenarios sound familiar to you?

The tendency to leap from minor, trivial problems to overblown, unrealistic conclusions is something that everyone struggles with to some degree. This type of negative thinking is one of the biggest reasons that people have difficulty sticking to their weight loss plan—and why small problems can cause stress and misery that is often avoidable.

Of course, there are dozens of …

Continue reading THINNER YOU: 3 ways to stop negative thinking, sabotaging your efforts »

By Nicole Nichols of SparkPeople

Kettlebells were practically unheard of in North America until recently, but now exercising with a bowling-ball-shaped weight with a handle is the newest fitness trend. Used by fitness enthusiasts, collegiate athletes, and pro sports teams alike, more and more people are becoming curious about kettlebells. Here’s what you need to know.

What are kettlebells?
Kettlebells have been around for ages. Made out of cast iron, they’re cannonball-shaped weights with a single handle on top. Although they look really different from the free weights and machines that occupy most gyms, they are “one of the best and most efficient fitness tools you can use,” according to Henry Marshall, a NSCA-certified personal trainer and IKFF- and AOS-certified kettlebell trainer. Marshall explains that although kettlebells originated in Russia and continue to be popular in Eastern Europe, “American strongmen like Eugene Sandow and the Saxton Brothers trained with them …

Continue reading THINNER YOU: Kettlebell training, the hottest fitness trend you never heard of »

By Dean Anderson of SparkPeople

Everyone knows that athletes must plan and time their meals and snacks very carefully to reach their performance goals. But what about the rest of us? You try to squeeze in 30-60 minutes of exercise most days of the week. Do you have to be careful about what you eat before and after your workouts, too?

Usually not. If you’re eating a healthy diet and getting enough calories to support your activity level, you can probably rely on your own appetite, energy levels, and experience to tell you whether you need to eat anything before or after exercise and what it should be. The basic rule here is: Find out what works best for you, and do that.

There are some advantages to knowing how your body works and what it needs to perform at its best. The bottom line for healthy weight loss and fitness sounds simple: You have to eat fewer calories than you use up—but not fewer than your body needs to function at its best.

The size, timing, and content of your …

Continue reading THINNER YOU: What to eat before you work out »