Best Fitness Blog

...By Karli Taylor

The best way to lose weight is to create a calorie deficit by burning calories through exercise while reducing the amount of calories that you eat each day. Understand that losing weight takes time. Don’t try to lose more than 1/2 pound to 1 pound each week, and don’t eat fewer than 1,200 calories per day. If you are not too excited about the thought of eating less, there is a way to lose weight without cutting back on your intake- just burn more!

To burn one pound of body fat per week try creating a deficit of 500 calories per day, 3,500 calories per week. There is 3,500 calories in one pound of body fat. To do this, fuel your body with high nutrient food and burn off the 500 calories through high intensity cardio.

How Cardio Helps You Lose Weight

You already know that you lose weight when you burn more calories than you eat. Cardio is a key component because you burn many calories at one time by getting your heart rate into your target heart rate zone. You can increase the calorie burn by increasing the intensity of the workout: Go faster, climb hills or change exercises. And since cardio exercises add to your overall calorie deficit by burning calories, you don’t have to cut as many calories from your diet. But one large advantage to cardio is that you can do it anytime, and every day. There is no rest day required to allow your muscles to repair themselves.

Which cardio exercise is best?

Which cardio exercise is the best to lose weight? The one you will do regularly and consistently. Choose some that you enjoy and mix them up. A great idea is interval training. Interval training can be done on any machine that you like, and involves simply changing the intensity for short periods of time called intervals. You can speed up a minute and then return to a comfortable pace for 2, or you can keep your pace the same and add resistance for 1 minute before decreasing it back for 2.

Another way to spice up your cardio is cross-training. Cross- training is simply using different machines either over the course of a week, or even in the same day. If you are someone with a short attention span, try this: Use an elliptical for 15 minutes, then use a stair climber for 15 minutes and finish on the treadmill for 15 minutes.

Cross training is a fun way to keep it new and fresh!

To get an idea of just how much cardio can do for you, check out the following list of common exercises. Below is the number of calories burned for a 150-pound person in 30 minutes:

• Step aerobics: 340 calories
• Stationary bike: 238 calories
• Swimming: 270 calories
• Walking 4 mph: 170 calories
• Running 5 mph: 270 calories
• Mowing the lawn with a push mower: 200 calories

Contact Best Fitness to see how a cardio workout can help you lose weight.

Visit one of our Best Fitness Clubs to learn even more about this topic. We have locations in Albany,NY, Tonawanda, NY, Schenectady, NY, Erie, PA, Nashua, NH, Chelmsford, MA, and Drum Hill, MA.

...By Karli Taylor

Overall we are increasing the amounts of beverages we consume, which may be increasing our caloric intake much more that we think. Most of us are not really mindful of what we are drinking, and don’t pay too much attention. While trying to lose weight, we watch the food we put in our mouths, but what about the drinks?

Your favorite drinks may have more calories than an ice cream cone.

Studies show that we're chugging 411 liquid calories daily. Most of us don’t cut back on food because if the beverages we consume, we typically eat the same amount. While we may be trying to watch what we eat, we also need to watch what we drink.

When we chew, our body recognizes and processes the calories we take in. Some experts suspect that the act of eating (biting and chewing), sends signals to the brain that trigger satiety. We have our favorite double whipped mocha coffee in the morning, some soda for lunch, juice with our snack and a cocktail, or two, once we get home from work. There goes our ability to lose weight.

Keep reading for some helpful tips to remember when sipping your favorite beverages.

Water

Though we no longer need 8 cups of water a day because we get so much water from other sources, we do need to drink the stuff! Drinking water can really help with weight loss. Often, our brain says we are hungry, when actually we are thirsty. Next time you think that you may be hungry between meals, drink a glass of water and then wait 15 minutes. If you are still hungry, then you can have a snack. If not, you were probably dehydrated.

Cocktails

Here is the good news: Women who drink one to two servings of wine, beer, or liquor a day tend to gain less weight over time than teetotalers, according to researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. Some studies indicate that regularly drinking a small amount of alcohol may reduce our appetite. Just remember that’s ONE or TWO- anything in moderation can fit into a healthy lifestyle.

Juice

Orange juice makes up most of our fruit juice consumption. If you have a hard time getting enough fruits and vegetables in your diet, then a glass of OJ is fine; however, if you can eat an orange instead of drinking it, that is much better for you. The fiber in an orange is necessary for your diet as well. If you eat enough fruits and vegetables in your diet, than skip the juice. If you absolutely have to have your morning OJ, mix half of the amount you would normally drink with water and enjoy

The bottom line is, when you are trying to lose weight or just eat healthy, no more than 10% of your total daily calories should come from beverages. Remember to check the labels too; some cans have 2 or more servings!