Pitfall #1
Are you drinking your daily calorie allowance away? When trying to lose weight, avoid these: coffee drinks, bottled juices, smoothies, and pop. They are loaded with sugar and some pack as many calories as a small meal...and some wonder why they aren't losing weight. For instance, you may think you are making a healthy choice when drinking a 16 oz smoothie, but they can have around 300 caloires. You are better off taking the fruit or veggies and eating them raw. Are you craving some flavor in your drink? Try those crystal light drink mixes. Some have as few as 5 calories per serving. If you are currently drinking 12 ounces of soda (this doesn't include the coffee drinks, smoothies, and juices) a day, that could add up to a weight gain of 15 pounds a year. One of the reasons why water is my drink of choice.
Pitfall #2
Are you really working out? Too often, we walk for thirty minutes on the treadmill barely breaking a sweat and pat ourselves on the back for the nice workout. If people have hit a plateau or haven't been able to lose weight period, I often ask how hard they are working out.
Two questions to ask yourself:
Are you drinking your daily calorie allowance away? When trying to lose weight, avoid these: coffee drinks, bottled juices, smoothies, and pop. They are loaded with sugar and some pack as many calories as a small meal...and some wonder why they aren't losing weight. For instance, you may think you are making a healthy choice when drinking a 16 oz smoothie, but they can have around 300 caloires. You are better off taking the fruit or veggies and eating them raw. Are you craving some flavor in your drink? Try those crystal light drink mixes. Some have as few as 5 calories per serving. If you are currently drinking 12 ounces of soda (this doesn't include the coffee drinks, smoothies, and juices) a day, that could add up to a weight gain of 15 pounds a year. One of the reasons why water is my drink of choice.
Pitfall #2
Are you really working out? Too often, we walk for thirty minutes on the treadmill barely breaking a sweat and pat ourselves on the back for the nice workout. If people have hit a plateau or haven't been able to lose weight period, I often ask how hard they are working out.
Two questions to ask yourself:
- are you able to talk through your entire workout?
- three to five minutes in to your workout are you sweating?
If you are able to hold a conversation during your workout, you are not working hard enough and will not get the results that you are looking for. Not sweating 2-3 minutes in to your workout, you need to turn things up a bit. If you are used to working out at the same intensity everyday and seeing no results, it's time to pick it up. The more in shape you are or get, the more you will have to push yourself. After a good workout, you should be out of breath, your heartrate should be up, and you should be sweating like a pig. Make it a goal to push yourself this week.
5 comments:
Thanks for the pitfalls! I had to switch to diet soda, because I cannot live without 2 or 3 a day:)But I also try to drink 6-8 waters a day too! I notice that I feel the best when I keep up the water intake.
So...I have a question...are we allowed to ask questions?
I have recently quit drinking coffee...shocking right? Well, I have. I now drink coffee for the flavor not because I "have" to.
So my question is...What do you recommend to keep your energy level up during the day? Or better yet, is there a certain vitamin that can help you stay energized?
I am pretty sure you are going to tell me to get my fat butt off the computer and start running again, and you are right. But it is hard for me to get started when I am depleted.
Does that make sense?
I am actually going to post soon on vitamins. I would start by taking a B complex vitamin. B12 is commonly known as the energy vitamin. There is no substitue for caffiene but with a few vitamins and a workout in the morning, it comes pretty close. Way to go on giving up coffee!!
oh wait...I didn't mention...I switched the coffee for scotch... :)
Big horray on the water!
Calories are not all that count. Make sure you do your homework on the diet sodas and artificial sweeteners. Being that they are not really "food" but chemicals, they can have some pretty nasty effects on the body over the long haul. You have to make your own decisions about what you put into your body, but make sure they're educated ones.
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