Kick Start Your Health In 2012

Kick Start Your Way to Great Health in 2012 with these small, easy to make changes and habits   - 

(adapted and modified from a segment on The Today Show 12/30/11)

Create A Plan

-1st off and foremost, empty out your fridge today!  -  Do not eat any junk or leftover holiday food.  Clean out the fridge, give away the food that you can and throw out the rest.  Start from scratch with good wholesome nutritious foods, make a pact to drastically cut back on processed foods.

-Set and follow a structured eating plan -  Studies have shown that following a structured eating plan improves long-term weight loss success.  This is one reason why programs like P90X, TurboFire, Ten Minute Trainer, Power 90, and Insanity have such a high success rate; they all come with nutrition plans that were designed by a nutritionist to meet the specific needs of a person doing that particular workout.  The plans are easy to follow once you start planning and following them and the food choices are great!

-Buy a scale and weigh yourself regularly but not obsessively.   It is important to keep track of your progress but remember that the # on the scale is just one aspect of the BIG picture.  Do not get too obsessed with that # as it will fluctuate and it is only a #.   Then when you achieve small and large milestones CELEBRATE them!    I am celebrating the success of a good friend Stephanie Fenton who has lost nearly 30 lbs since August (2011) by traveling with her to LA to run the Rose Bowl 10K next month.  What a healthy way to celebrate with her!!

-Get at least 7 to 8 hours of sleep per night.  Research has shown many reasons why this is critical to weight loss, a few of which are:  1) getting adequate rest gives your body a chance to replenish itself with neurotransmitters including Dopamine and Serotonin which are critical in regulating mood, sleep, and appetite.  2) research has also shown that losing sleep leads to an increase in the production of the body’s “stress hormone,” cortisol.  Cortisol has been linked to increased “belly fat,” which is the type of fat that has been linked to heart disease, diabetes, hypertension and other bad health issues.  and 3)  Research has shown that people who are tired often mistake fatigue for hunger and often eat out of boredom or because they feel sluggish and want to get a quick pick me up -including sugar laden snacks that are so harmful to our health.

Revamp Your Eating

-Eat Breakfast every day.  Starting your day with a healthy breakfast will jumpstart your metabolism, plus, it will help keep you from binge eating later in the day.  Try to include some lean protein with your breakfast and if you eat carbs, try to eat whole grain carbs and eat them earlier in the day so that your body can convert them to energy for you to use during the day rather than eating carbs at night and having them converted to energy that is not used and thus is stored overnight as fat while you sleep – an example of a healthy breakfast that i enjoy pretty often is greek yogurt, with fresh berries and  (Bare Naked) FIT granola on top. I also enjoy eating an egg white omelet (2 or 3 egg whites mixed with 1 whole egg) along with whole grain oatmeal with berries on top.

-Try meal replacements -  Natural snack bars like Larabar and Clif bars (etc) are great as snacks but be sure to watch the sugar and carb content -  you want to keep these low if you are trying to lose weight -  Also meal replacement shakes are great too.  This is why I love Shakeology and why I drink it every day.  It helped me to lose that last 10 lbs that just would not come off two years ago after two full rounds of P90X, and it has helped me to keep that weight off since then.  Not to mention that after adding it to my daily eating ritual, I was able to come of all the medications I was taking for Crohn’s Disease.  Now I cannot say that it cured me, but what I can say is  that when I drink it I feel better and before I started drinking it, I was taking 12 pills a day.  Diet AND Exercise/Fitness = Success

-Swap (processed) carbs for veggies and fruit      -  Pretty simple stuff.

-Cut out or drastically limit alcohol intake.  Did you know that alcohol has nearly as many calories per gram as  fat?  That’s right alcohol has 7 calories per gram while fat has 9 calories per gram.  Also, alcohol inhibits fat burning in the body as it is the first fuel to be burned.  It is burned before the body turns to fat.  So while the body is metabolizing alcohol your fat burning is postponed.  Finally, alcohol prevents REM sleep, which is the “deep sleep” necessary for the body to build muscle, repair muscle, and heal itself.

-Eat at home.  This way you can control what you eat and what is in what you eat.   If you must eat out, plan ahead.  use reference books like “Eat this Not That,” and access online menus to plan out what you will order. And when you order, ask the waiter to box up half the order before bringing it to the table.  This will prevent you from overeating.

Boost Your Exercise Efficiency  

-Add Interval training to your fitness routine.  This is why programs like Insanity and TurboFire are so successful because they are built on the concept of interval training.  Research has shown that interval training, such as that in TurboFire (High Intensity Interval Training) burns calories and fat up to 9 X’s longer than standard cardio.  So after finishing an interval workout, your body will continue to burn fat and your metabolism will stay elevated whereas after standard cardio your body typically goes back to homeostasis rather quickly, meaning you burn less fat after the workout.

-Use spot exercise to work on problem areas.   This will make you feel better.  Although you have to burn fat to see muscle definition, by building muscle in “spot” areas when the weight comes off, you will more quickly see the definition.  Plus, you will feel better about yourself along the way.

-Be a mindful mover.   Look for opportunities to add extra steps and movement to your day.  Park farther away, take the steps rather than the elevator.  All things you’ve heard before really do work.

-Play fast music to move faster and get more out of your workout and daily activities.  Play fast music during workouts, while cleaning the house, and while moving about on foot throughout the day

Establish a Support Network

–Get a “diet buddy” who has the same goals or is doing similar activity or program as you.   Challenge Groups are one option.

-Join a group to stay motivated.  Find a group through Meetup.com with similar physical activity goals or interests (e.g. running, hiking, bowling, triathlete, etc) and get involved to meet people who can help keep you accountable and motivated.  Or come out to our free weekly workout groups – Fit Clubs that meet each week around the country.  I have one that meets on Wed nights at 7 pm here in Charlotte.  For more info visit this link.  Or if you are not in the Charlotte area, contact me by email or text and i will help you find one near where you live and  I will also help you get in touch with the person who is in charge of the Fit Club so that you can feel comfortable when you attend your first few times.

–Online support groups help when time is limited.  SparkPeople.com, Livestrong.com, and weightwatchers.com are several options

–Outside support helps after a diet or fitness lapse.  Helps you get back up and not give up on yourself.  We all have times that we fall off the wagon, so to speak.  Heck I took a “break” for most of December, going the longest length of time without working out that I have been in the past 3 years.  The important thing is that I did not allow that setback or apathy about my health and fitness to creep in and keep me from starting back this new year!  This is key.   Never give up.  You can always make positive changes.

So these were the basic suggestions for kick starting your diet and improving your health in 2012.  With several days of this new year already gone, I challenge you to get serious about getting healthy by picking out one or two (or more) of these tips to get started with over the course of the next few days…to weeks.

And if you are interested in learning more about Beachbody programs like P90X, Insanity, etc or if you are curious and would like to try Shakeology before you buy (I offer free samples, if interested let me know) or if you are interested in learning more about the challenge groups I run (I have one with a few spots still available that will begin on Jan. 15)  please contact me, send me an email or shoot me a text and let me help you get started.  I would love to help you!  I would also love to coach you through your transformation.  I provide individualized coaching (support, motivation, expertise, guidance, help with nutrition and meal planning) COMPLEMENTARY if you decide to purchase through my website here or shop over at shannonlutz.com.  Let’s get serious about getting healthy this year!!!  Just for reference as some of you might not know me or be familiar with my story, here is my before picture taken in January 2009 and after which was taken 15 months later in April 2010.