by Kim Miller | Aug 8, 2015 | lose your waist wednesdays, Uncategorized
Last week it was established that:
1. Yes, you can target belly fat.
2. Belly fat burns so much quicker than other body fat.
I was not in dreamland when I made those statements, and I think you get it that belly fat can be targeted. Those of you who are 30 Days to Lean members have lived this truth by immersing yourselves in a better way of eating. This cleaner way of eating targets fat especially in the mid section where it is most damaging to our health as well as where we despise having it the most. Now I know that many of you say, “I can’t be helped in losing weight.” You may say things like, ” I eat healthy Kim. I eat clean. I’m a healthy eater, and I barely eat many calories!” And to that I say, ” You are missing the point. That is old style thinking. We cannot lose weight when we are eating like birds!”
You See
That part of you that says, “let me just count calories, and increase my exercise and I’ll lose weight”, attitude is killing your ability to lose weight” Funny thing is, if you ask yourself how often you have went on this “old style thinking type of diet” only to find out that you end up fatter, it is probably for many many years! I am here to say stop that! ( in a nice way) A mind shift is needed.
A Review But New Information Too
Below are the three things that people are doing or not doing that sabotage their efforts at losing fat in the middle. * The asterick indicates what you should work on right now to remove belly fat. No procrastination!. No crying! And no saying “no!” Let’s get this job done guys!
1. Exercise. Slow and steady exercise burns belly fat. The more you do it, the more fat you burn. But you can’t increase your stress in the process. Walking or very light jogging is best. The average person will ignore this advice and keep burning themselves out and then wondering why their food and sugar cravings are through the roof.
* What To Do Now
– walk daily for 30- 60 minutes at a low intensity. Low intensity means below 70% of your maximum heart rate. To get your heart rate at 70% of it’s maximum do the following: subtract your age from 220 and multiply it by .70. The number you get is a guideline to use for your walks.
If you are a bit fitter and can jog keeping your heart rate under 70% of it’s maximum than you may jog. Note – jog /walking is a good option for those of you in between fitness levels. The key here is to keep your cortisol ( belly fat hormone ) low and not raging high. Doing so will decrease your belly fat ( notice it is not the calories you burn that I am counting – old style) while keeping your appetite in check. Maintaining a healthy, ” I look forward to eating appetite is central to weigh loss vs a “I am a raging hungry maniac because I worked out like a “raging bull and I need to consume everything in site,” becomes a problem while in the process of losing weight. Be low key guys. That is if you really want to focus on weight loss. I, like some of you love to work out and play hard, but this is not the time. What you are essentially doing when you work out so hard is not just increasing cortisol, but giving yourself permission to eat poorly instead of focusing on the food you eat to decrease belly fat. This is not the case for some people, but I tend to think that it is for many people. They train in the gym so they may overindulge. Not too cool.
2. Reduce stress. The other thing you must do when you are in the process of losing weight is to reduce stress. This of course goes hand in hand with moderate light exercise which reduces stress but there are other things that one can do to reduce stress during this time period of weight loss.*What To Now
Find Your Daily Routines
In great part members of the 30 Days to Lean program are so successful because they are forming new routines built around food. I have helped them incorporate the mindset of “when we eat – we eat!” No guilt. We eat breakfast. We eat lunch. And we eat dinner. My members will tell you, they look forward to the new eating routine and when they eat, they enjoy it. This is the missing link in old style dieting. But here’s the thing, when they do not eat-they do not eat. This is the beauty of forming a routine of eating. Not only can we look forward to eating because we have not mindlessly snacked all day, but we have better blood sugar and hormonal balance because we are not asking our pancreas to work in overdrive.
The psychology of new eating routines is, as one members says very liberating. At first, it seems intimidating to suggest one does not snack, but as members settle in and begin to make sense of this whole concept of weight loss, they begin to get it! And what I love even more about this idea of eating and enjoying real food 3 times a day is that science says, we lose more weight, more quickly when we stop eating in between meals! No snacking is a winner all the way around. I like to say to my members, “the goal should be to eat like you mean it and enjoy every bit, then go on with your life!” Having this attitude is a must to real weight loss for a lifetime.
How Eating Like This Reduces Stress
The food industry perpetuates the idea of constantly eating. Food is everywhere and I believe it is stressing us out in a very bad way. So many people tell me they constantly think about food, and that they cannot imagine not having one or even several snacks throughout the day and evening. The bottom line is that what we focus on, we stress about. Some people do not think about food all day long, but when it comes to the evening, bang, they are focused on it all night long. This is not good. We need to eat, and enjoy, then be done with it- waking up feeling great the next morning and starting all over. This is normal. And it’s what we are doing in the 30 Days to Lean Plan.
Is it difficult to not eat between meals? It can be initially. Can you do it? Maybe. Maybe not. You have to be motivated to change and this is a big reason I never try to convince people that it is simple. If it was simple from the onset, everyone would be lean and mean. The best part? When it becomes simple life changes for the good. That’s when we call it a lifestyle change, but you gotta have the right head, the right attitude, and the motivation to change.
3. You have to address insulin resistance. This is the toughest of the three things to do to lose belly fat. And it takes changes toyour diet, not just eating less. This is why the Top 3 Diets fail in the long run, because they do not address this point.
* What To Do Now
Stay tuned For Lose Your waist Wednesday May 13th.
Hint: It’s about what we eat, not how much. And even though I mention slow cardiovascular exercise like walking as a means to lose weight, know that it is what we eat that has the number one impact on belly fat loss and weight loss in general. So in other words, if you want to lose weight real fast and real smart, you must eat the right foods. Exercising your buns and belly off is lowest in effectiveness of the three most effective go to’s for weight loss that I have listed here today.
by Kim Miller | Aug 8, 2015 | lose your waist wednesdays, Uncategorized
Here is a question I was recently asked by a soon to be retired professor regarding having the motivation to start and complete a weight loss program. I have a feeling he’s not the only one having this problem. I wanted to share my response to him with everyone.
Question: I am a college professor and soon to be retiring. I believe that if I can get fit and healthy before retirement, I will enjoy retirement much more than if I were not fit and healthy. So far I have not acted on it, and feel like my life is on hold. I do not want to retire if I am not feeling fit and really alive like my students, yet I do want to retire and have the energy and the passion to do things for myself, family and community at large. My question is, how can I increase my motivation to get fit, get healthy, and begin anew?
Answer: This is a great question because so many of us desire a certain way of being in the world yet strangely we can’t find the motivation. Major Life changes such as retirement are rarely easy. We get caught up in day to day living and urgent matters of the day take over.
Your plan for getting fit and healthy has to begin with the fun stuff of envisioning your future self as a “retired person.” In my practice people often say they are motivated to change, but so often cannot articulate the real reasons for change. Often they think that if they lose weight and get fit their life will be transformed – if I am slim and fit all the pieces of my life will flow seamlessly kind of thinking.
The step you may be missing is that of envisioning a future self in all it’s totality. Part of the reason people can’t seem to lose weight or keep it off is that in their zeal to get started on “the big weight loss/get fit plan, they forget why it’s actually important to be the fittest and healthiest they can be. Sure many say they will feel better, and look better, but it goes much deeper than this.
Increase Motivation Steps: write several paragraphs answering the following questions.
I call this writing exercise blabbing as no one else needs to read it.
1. Why is it important for you to be fit and trim? And How will being fit and trim impact your loved one’s health?
2. How will being fit and trim change your life positively as you get set to retire? What fun things will it open up?
3. What will you dare dream of doing as a fit lean person that you cannot do now?
4. Would you have less fear of your life to be if you felt your health was optimal? How would you think differently about the fun possibilities in life?
5. How will you be able to contribute more to your own life and the life of your loved one’s if you were fit, lean, and the healthiest you could be?
Read your vision daily. Make no expectations to act until you are ready. In most cases, people begin to start acting within a short time period. If that is not the case with you, then review your vision and aim to dig deeper within yourself and make more of an emotional connect. Emotions cause us to change, so drive it with emotion and get rid of the cognitive mind stuff we typically pride ourselves on. This is about change which begins from emotion and not that brainy beast of ours.
If You Are Not Moved to Act After Several Weeks
Then you gotta get going. It’s tough love time!
Know that action will have to begin whether you are ready or not! I call this faking it until you make it. Fake how you want to be and set up your action plan. Feel confident that action causes change in the brain so begin where you are at, and not where your spouse, neighbor friend, dog, cat are at. This is about you. It’s tough love time and begin to take action – start changing your eating habits and get moving.
by Kim Miller | Aug 8, 2015 | lose your waist wednesdays, Uncategorized
This comment from a friend of mine got me super fired up. It has to do with something I’ve heard throughout my earlier life as a long distance runner who needed to stay thin to keep up with the “skinny girl runners.”
In fact, anytime someone would say this two-word phrase to me, I wanted to slap them silly. Not because I didn’t think their intentions were good, but more because I didn’t feel understood as a human being.
Here’s what I heard from coaches back then: ” Kim you need to lose a few more pounds. When you do this your VO 2 maximum will increase, and it will be easier to run faster.” Now mind you, I was 105 pounds. But this was athletics and the ideal weight for my height to run my fastest was projected at about 98 pounds. But it was not the weight goal of 98 pounds that troubled me so much that I could just soccer punch anyone who mentioned getting thinner, but rather a two word phrase I hate to hear even to this day. What is this two word phrase?
The World’s Worst Advice For Thin or Not So Thin People
Eat Less! That’s right. This is the two word phrase I heard from my coaches way back when, and what I hear from trainers and health coaches dispensing advice to their clients even to this day. Eat less! You’ll lose weight. This is the worst advice one can get nowadays when confronted with aiming to get healthier and leaner. Nowadays we should know better.
The problem with this phrase “eat less” is multifaceted. There are a myriad of reasons eating less is not how we should ultimately get to lean. The following are just a few:
1. Hormones become out of balance causing depression, midsection weight bloat, and increased sugar cravings.
2. Energy levels become depleted making one less likely to be active and happy.
3. Body composition changes as muscles weaken and get smaller, while fat storage throughout the body increases especially in the mid section.
4. Metabolism slows, making healthy living and health numbers worse than in previous years.
by Kim Miller | Aug 8, 2015 | Totally Tone Tuesday, Uncategorized
It was a real treat to take our time and focus on everything I write about. One of the things I learned over the years is that it is not necessary to train like a maniac in order to receive the benefits of a fit body that can do what you need it to do. I am not opposed to working like a “maniac” when it is called for, but too often I see people training in quiet desperation thinking they will lose weight because of exercising. Of course exercise is great for all of us, but the intent of why many people exercise is old school thinking: to burn calories, lose weight, or punish oneself for overeating. I want to help people change this kind of thinking.
P.S. The picture above is not me training at the hotel but it motivates me because I cannot imagine someone looking like that and eating well…crap. I imagine she got her muscles from working out , but got her lean body composition from eating like a champ! Which is exactly what today’s news is about.
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One of the concepts that I want people to understand is that fitness is part of health – yes, but that weight maintenance/loss, and being lean is a matter of what you eat.
Think About This
How many people do you know that train in the gym, or run and bike miles daily yet are overweight?
I am not about not exercising. Exercise is extremely important in aging well and changing the physiological responses in the body positively. The problem is that the mindset that many people have regarding movements effects on weight loss is incorrect. The mindset being that exercise will cause us to lose weight is the real reason people are not losing weight. By having this mindset we deny the real reasons we cannot lose weight and obtain the body we desire. The fact is – food matters. What we choose to eat and not eat is extremely important in weight loss. This understanding is so central to being able to lose weight that in my 30 Days to Lean Program, I do not even discuss exercise other than to say… do something you enjoy a few minutes a day. No pressure. Just enjoy.
Awareness is Key
There is a direct correlation in what we eat and how much weight we lose! There is little correlation in how much we exercise and weight loss. It’ s a tough realization for many, but for those who are up to the challenge, it makes all the difference in living well. As one member who lost 24 pounds in 8 weeks said, ” I used to exercise like a nut. 90 minutes everyday in the gym for 20 years, and for that I have gained 20 pounds in 20 years. Now, I am sensible. I eat well and I exercise moderately. I am not deprived and I love my daily eating practices. I do not feel deprived either. And most importantly, no one could have told me I would love my new eating and exercise life. I never believed it myself! The words freeing and liberating come to mind.”
Here’s a Challenge For You.
The next time you go into the gym, take a walk, run, bicycle ride, improve your strength, stretch your body, practice balancing, or implement any of the exercises in the Totally Tone newsletters, exercise not because you are aiming to burn calories and lose weight, but because it is part of being a healthy person. Say to yourself, “This exercise is designed to improve my physical conditioning but it will not cause me to lose weight.” This realization that it is not exercise that will cause one to be trim looking is central to going at the root cause of why one may be overweight. No longer can one use exercise to atone for poor eating practices. Instead one will have to make the needed mind shift that exercise is for conditioning the body and that it is separate from the ability to lose weight.
Food matters not only in bringing health to our bodies, but in ridding the body of excess fat. By de-emphasizing training like a maniac, one can focus on what they eat as a means to transforming their bodies and their lives. You can have the awareness that there is a direct correlation in what you eat and how much weight you lose! Yes, it’ s a tough realization for many, but for those who are up to the challenge it makes all the difference in living well.
by Kim Miller | Aug 8, 2015 | Totally Tone Tuesday, Uncategorized
Here’s the thing. When it comes to feeling strong, being limber, and having good body balance, it all comes down to personal lifestyle activities. Some people need loads of quadriceps and hamstring strength because they may cycle or others may play golf and need great hip, lower back and core strength. And yet others may not play sports, and simply desire the energy, limberness, and capacity to do whatever is called for in life at any given moment. The bottom line is that strength, limberness and balance all play a crucial role in aging “less fast” than the typical person currently ages.
If you are in this latter group of non sports people then you are in good company. Many people do not play sports yet keep physically fit by doing many smart exercises/practices.
Below are three smart exercises to add to your fitness program:
Leg Strength – Chair Squat.
– Keep back straight
– Keep knees over ankles and not over toes.
– Keep chest high.
– If you have back issues, only go to a three quarter squat and always stretch back prior to implementing.
BodySmart Fit Tip: Thinking these are wimpy girl exercises using that chair? Think again! Vary your pace, number of squats and or sets, to get the desired feel.
A good place to start for beginners: 2 sets of 10 reps with impeccable form. Advance from there.
Fun Notes: Take out your skinny jeans. Men take note too: this is not a woman only exercise! All upper body muscle and skinny legs is no good!
Hamstring Stretch – Back of the Upper Leg
– keep back flat as you lean forward receiving a stretch.
– flex foot towards you to receive a calf stretch as well.
– hold for 30 seconds and repeat two more times.
BodySmart Fit Tip: your range of motion increases as you hold the pose – lean further forward to increase the ROM, but never going to the point of pain. Tight hamstrings often result in a tight lower back. A tight lower back makes movement painful. And painful movement makes us less apt to move, creating the cycle of aging quicker than need be!
Fun Notes: I woke up decrepid last week- tight hamstrings and tight back. It was embarrassing training clients. Here’s the thing: we get stiff from usually one of two things. Either under exercise or over exercise. In my sad defense, I was over exercised and woke up so super tight that picking up the dog that morning set my back on fire. That’s my story and I am sticking with it!
One leg Balance
– you remember this pose from previous newsletters.
– now increase your time to 90 second holds on each leg!
BodySmart Fit Tip: In seeking better balance we gain strength. With this pose, leg strength and core strength is enhanced.
Fun Notes: What is this chick thinking? I do not recommend doing this pose on slippery moss covered rocks.
