Get off Your Weight-loss Resistant Merry-go-Round…

leptin resistranceIf your goal is to make permanent lasting changes, lose weight and keep it of then healthy hormones is the key.

Leptin is a master hormone secreted by adipose (fat) tissue that controls hunger and the feelings of satiety. The more overweight someone is, the higher the leptin levels are likely to be.

If you have tried and continually failed at dieting or health changes in the past, look to fixing your Leptin. If your leptin is not regulated you’ll never experience the lasting changes you are after.

Since Leptin is produced by fat cells, it seem logical that those with more fat cells (such as overweight individuals) would naturally produce more Leptin. More Leptin in turn would then tell the body to eat less and weight would normalize.

However, damaged metabolisms or endocrine issues that overweight people experience prevent this from happening. [Read more…]

Re-Balance Your Hormones for Permanent Weight Loss…

chfitness9There are two hormones that play primary roles in a weight loss resistant body and breaking through that weight-loss barrier you are experiencing is about re-balancing these hormones.

Insulin is the hormone that tells your body to use energy or to store it as fat and glucagon is the hormone that tells your body to release extra energy from storage fat.

When we eat foods loaded with easily digested sugars and starches (you know…all those processed foods), it floods our body with sugar all at once causing our body to release lots of insulin to try and clear it from the bloodstream. [Read more…]

Factors That Effect Energy Intake and Body Weight…

chfintess5No matter what you’ve read or been told about your body weight the truth is, your body weight will always be determined for the most part by…”energy in versus energy out.”

Although certain factors can influence the type of weight gained, bottom line is your calorie intake and expenditure dictates the direction the weight scale goes.

However, and this is important, you are not just after reducing that scale weight what you are really after is loss of fat. Losing fat means you are moving in the right direction…losing muscle mass means you are not. [Read more…]

Switch Your Focus from Calories to Nutrients…

getting healthyIf your goal is to lose weight permanently and enjoy amazing health and super energy you must shift from your eating habits from nutrient-poor to nutrient-dense.

All those processed, highly refined convenience foods must be replaced by fresh fruits and vegetables, healthy fats, healthy proteins and healthy fiber.

For the most part, we’ve been a bit mislead by the “diet” industry that pushes macro-nutrients: carbohydrates, proteins and fats in our diets in some crazy specific ratio; more of this and less of that, include this but exclude that.

Although there is a bit of truth in these formulas, these calorie containing nutrients are not the basis of healthy eating. [Read more…]

Workouts and Rest are Equally Important

CHFitnessMore is not better. Balance is better.

Over-training while getting little rest in between is a bad situation.

Everyone knows about the “active” part of the equation when getting fit. However, there is also another side that is equally important to getting fit and keeping weight off and that’s rest.

Without a doubt, most of the focus, energy and instruction falls into the “doing” part of fitness and very little is mentioned about the “passive” part.

But they are both equally important and if you are not allowing your body to get enough rest in between your workouts you and your weight will suffer.

Rest is vital to success…but it’s the one element that’s often overlooked as people go about performing their workouts. [Read more…]

Intensity reigns supreme in strength training…

intensityBecoming leaner and stronger is not just about what exercises you do…it is how you do them that matters. It’s about your form, your focus and your intensity level.

Intensity may be the most important factor in any efficient strength training program. It is your best friend when you exercise and the key factor behind creating the body you want without spending hours and hours at the gym.

It is important to find the right balance between being careful when you are exercising to prevent injury and continually progressing to increasing strength but for the most part, the higher the intensity the better the strength gain. [Read more…]

Accountability is Key to Success in Health and Fitness

accountabilityHow many times have you attempted to diet or stick to a workout routine or achieve a fitness goal and failed? You are not alone. It’s a rare person who has not tried and failed at one of these if not all.

Maybe it’s time to do a bit of personal “inner reflection” and discover why success seems to allude you. It likely something as basic as accountability.

Personal accountability is the key to success in any endeavor. Diet and fitness included. [Read more…]

Exercise Releases the “Happy Hormone”…

endorphinsPerforming tasks, eating better, being physically active and even being a better parent, friend and partner all profit when we are feeling good and suffer when we aren’t.

Hormones are primary players dictating everything from how good we feel to when we need to stop eating or even begin eating. They control much of how our mind and our body functions day to day.

They also have the power to lift our spirits and our moods and keep us emotionally and mentally stable. Such is the role of the mighty endorphin.   [Read more…]

Toxins are Making You Fat

detoxToxins, those terrible toxins. Truth is, they are terrible and they do terrible things to your body.

Circulating toxins in your blood is both dangerous and damaging to your body so your body attempts to rid itself of them.

Guess where they hide out? The only place there’s room…in your fat cells. Fat cells are your body’s storage tanks and the first place your body looks when it needs to dump damaging toxins. [Read more…]

Power-House…Super-Star Blueberries

blueberryBlueberries are nutritional stars bursting with flavor that ranges from tart and tangy to mildly sweet. These plump berries are not only beautiful to look at, they are an amazing super-fruit that can be a great addition to your diet if you are trying to lose weight.

These little blue gems contain catechins that help to activate fat burning genes. According to studies done at Tufts University, eating foods loaded with catechins such as blueberries can actually double your total weight loss and may help reduce stubborn belly fat.

Fat free and low in calories (40 calories per ½ cup) they pack a potent punch and rank number one out of all fruits for antioxidants that neutralize free radicals.   [Read more…]