Lose it! Keep it Off!

I recently read this article in Berkeley Wellness letter about losing weight and keeping it off (stopping the yo yo dieting) and it truly sounded like the workout ‘regime’  I’ve been following with my trainer- Scott Crawford – for over a year. It’s encouraging and exciting to think I will be able to maintain the great results I’ve had – just by continuing to do what I’ve been doing and staying focused. I’ve lost body fat  – and at an accelerated rate when I combined a more structured diet plan with my workouts. We tracked  heart rate, body fat measurements and food journal with Teri Tom, MS, RD – and I dropped from 22% body fat to 16.8% in a month and a half! And the best part about it – I feel great!

The National Weight Control Registry has been looking into information on over 5000 people who maintained a weight loss of at least 30 pounds for more than 5 years.  Here are the successful strategies that these maintainers had for losing the weight and keeping it off:

1. Eat a high carbohydrate, low fat diet. Most calories (55-60%) should come from ‘good complex’ carbs – like whole grains, veggies, fruit and high fiber foods – NOT high sugar foods. 24% of calories come from fat and the rest (16-21%) from protein.

2. Be aware of calories consumed – total calories count – no matter what you eat.

3. Eat breakfast

4. Monitor and watch yourself – weigh yourself once a week and keep a food journal of what you eat

5. Exercise – A LOT – 60-90 minutes a day. Carve out time every day and plan to do something. Look for ways to keep active during the day and walk. Walking is the #1 activity.

And one more point about protein. Most Americans consume way more protein than they need -and you don’t need more protein if you exercise. The Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for adults is .8 grams/day for each kilogram (2.2 lbs) of weight. That would be 64 grams for a 175# man and 47 grams for a 130# woman. (1 ounce of chicken  or 1 cup milk = 8 grams) …so it adds up quickly.

By Bonnie Crouse

This entry was written by bcrouse, posted on February 24, 2010 at 9:24 am, filed under Experiences, Food, Life is Fitness, Lifestyle and Spa, Nutrition and tagged , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.

Common knee discomfort issues and what to do about them!

by Rich Fahmy

I’ve been getting asked a lot lately by client and trainer alike about knee discomfort for exercisers. You know, the knee discomfort that appears usually as the subtle tugging feeling or tightness felt at the outer side or front of the knees. And can at times escalate to pain.

Let’s talk about the knee a little. It essentially is a pretty helpless joint. By this I mean it does what the ankles and hips tell it to do, the knee is at their mercy.

So what’s the point? The point is that when a client or you has knee discomfort, it almost always is never the knee itself, but what lies above and/or below it. To put it quite simply: the motion I don’t have in my hips and ankles will be found in my knees. Remember when we move, our body will get us from ‘point A’ to ‘point B’. It may not look pretty and it may not be the most efficient or optimal motor recruitment pattern, but it will find a way. So it is quite common that my knees take the hit for the lack of mobility of the joints around it. This sets up overuse patterns, and structures that normally would be responsible for let’s say, stabilizing the knee in a particular plane of motion, end up doing even more work than needed. This often leads to some form of pain and tendinitis.

**READ THIS** It should be noted that our job as fitness professionals and as active individuals is NOT to diagnose or treat medical conditions, including tendinitis. This is NOT to serve as a guide for diagnosis, but an article to recommend some flexibility exercise choices for clients that report discomfort in the knee. If you at all suspect tendinitis or other structural issues, always refer the client or yourself to a qualified health-care provider. Remember folks, our world is about motion and exercise not medical conditions. “We now return to our regularly scheduled programming.”

While traditional muscle group exercises for the quads and hamstrings, usually in the form of leg curls and extensions, will do fine at strengthening the muscles surrounding the knee, they may not do much, if at all, to increase motion in the joints that are impacting the knee.

So what do you do exactly?

1) The idea is to increase the mobility of the hips and of the ankles so they can do their jobs, and the knees won’t have to pick up the slack. There are all kinds of ways to do this but to keep things simple, seek out good stretches for hip flexors and calves, these are the most common muscle groups that reduce the available motion in the hips and ankles respectively. And if you or your client doesn’t even have any knee issues, these are good to do anyway.

2) It’s a good idea to also build stability in the joints of the lower body. It is one thing to increase the available motion in a joint with flexibility exercises, it’s entirely another thing to train the body to actually know what to do with the new-found motion once it has it. For the sake of keeping things simple again: for the lower body this just means get your clients standing and actually bearing their weight. If they are sitting on machines all workout long, the body isn’t learning to manage and stabilize their body weight with their lower body. You can then try staggering a stance, narrowing the width of the stance, or even trying single leg exercises if they qualify for them.

Until next time…

Rich

About the author
Rich Fahmy MS is the Director of Education for Oracle Fitness Education, a company that specializes in continuing education for health and fitness professionals (more info can be found at www.oraclefited.com). He is a trainer’s trainer, and some, although very few, would say he’s a handsome man’s man. And by some, that usually refers to himself and his mother. Contact him at rich@oraclefited.com.

This entry was written by rfahmy, posted on February 15, 2010 at 5:50 pm, filed under Bodywork, Fitness, Life is Fitness, Los Angeles and tagged , , , , , , . Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.

Open your heart with Pilates

By Kristen Matthews

When I was 22 years old a massage therapist told me that if I didn’t do something about my posture I would be hunched over by the time I was 30.  Now at 34 people think I am two inches taller than I am and I owe it all to my Pilates practice.  It’s one of the reasons I chose to become an instructor. We live in a society where most of our days are spent in flexion.  Because of this so many people struggle with poor posture, neck pain, and back problems.  I’m sure everyone who sits at a desk all day knows exactly what I am talking about.  No one needs to look like the hunch back of Notre Dame, thanks to Pilates.

I spend my days using the phrase “open your heart” in order to counteract all the flexion in my clients lives.  Think of your body as a box with your hip next to your hip and your shoulder next to your shoulder.  From the side view you want your ear over your shoulder, your shoulder over your hip, and your hip over your ankle.  This applies whether you are standing, on your side, or lying down.  One of my jobs as an instructor is to help clients get their symmetry back.  What I love about Pilates is that there is no lack of extension exercises in the repertoire.  I get to teach them and have fun.  From pulling straps or chest expansion on the reformer, to swan or swimming on the mat, to teaser on the wunda chair, you are constantly working on opening your heart.

In extension exercises you need to work your shoulder blades towards one another while widening your collarbone and engaging your core.   Once you are able to put them all together effortlessly it’s such a freeing feeling.  Strengthening the muscles in the upper part of your back is an important step in standing taller, along with stretching the muscles in your chest.  Being able stand tall and look life in the face is a great accomplishment.  Pilates can be so much more than just a workout especially when you are able to enjoy life more because you’ve gotten rid of aches and pains.  So if you are ready open your heart and let Pilates in you can contact me at krismatthews@yahoo.com.  You can also go to my website at www.kristen4pilates.com to learn more about Pilates and how it may benefit you.

This entry was written by kmatthews, posted on February 6, 2010 at 8:21 am, filed under Fitness, Life is Fitness, Lifestyle and Spa, Los Angeles, Pilates, Santa Barbara and tagged , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.

CHILL OUT LA LAUNCHES REVIEW FEB 2010

We loved hosting Chill Out LA for a Press to Impress Retreat Package. See what they had to say in their review:

http://www.chilloutla.com/chill-out-la/getaways/

This entry was written by scrawford, posted on February 4, 2010 at 1:17 pm, filed under Bodywork, Experiences, Fitness, Green Lifestyle, Life is Fitness, Lifestyle and Spa, Los Angeles, Meditation, Outdoors, Press, Retreats, Santa Barbara, Yoga and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.

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