9 Most Common Workout Mistakes

You work really hard to keep yourself on a good workout schedule and eating right, but there are a couple things you could be doing that may have a significant impact on getting you and your fitness goals. These are mistakes even the most disciplined and devoted fitness addicts can make. Let’s fine-tune your workouts!

1) Not fueling up after your workout session.
Food is SO important. 80% of your results is food and how your fuel your body. This includes pre and post workout meals. After you’ve worked your body, you have a small time-slot of about 45 minutes (optimize in 45!) to provide your body with the much needed nutrition it requires. When you fuel up after a workout, the calories, carbs, and protein you consume get right to work on repairing and rejuvenating your muscles.

2) Allowing gravity to do all of your work for you.
How are you suppose to get the most out of your weight workouts if you let gravity drop your weight? The negative movement (bringing the weight down) is just as important as the positive movement (bringing the weight up). If you don’t resist the weight coming down, you’re missing out on half of the exercise and not getting the most out of your rep. If you’re going to make the decision to get into the gym, don’t you want your work to go to good use? So take your time and slow down the movement to build that lean, beautiful muscle that’s going to be burning tons of fat!

3) Not getting in enough resistance training.
Resistance training isn’t just for bodybuilders…and neither is HEAVY resistance training. I lift heavy all the time and have never become bulky. Cardio definitely helps you burn fat, but it will do nothing to shape those muscles. And when you build muscle, it will burn fat ALL the time…even when you’re sleeping! I know I’d love to burn more fat when I’m not working to burn it!

4) Not lifting heavy enough.
If you want to change the way you look, you have to challenge your muscles…and in order to challenge your muscles, you have to lift heavier. If you’re not struggling with your last three reps, you’re not making significant changes in your body. When you can complete a set of reps with the current weight you’re using, increase your weight!

5) Not drinking enough water.
Water is a necessity! It is responsible in aiding so much of what are bodies do on a regular basis! It helps build muscles, keeps your metabolism up, aids in digestion and losing weight, keeps your organs running smoothly, and flushes your system. Aim for 1/2 your body weight in ounces a day! And the first thing that should go into your mouth before anything else in the morning is a glass of water.  If you think water is extremely boring, try adding some cucumber, lemon/lime, herbs/mint, or frozen fruit to infuse your water and add a hint of flavor.

6) Focusing too much on the short term.
Our bodies are extremely smart, but takes time to be trained to run the proper way through food and exercise. So be patient to see the results. Our bodies also adapt very quickly to workout routines, so be sure to change up your schedule every 3-4 weeks to keep from plateau-ing. And it doesn’t have to be anything really drastic…think about changing the sequence of your workouts or the angle at which you’re lifting your weight.

7) Not allowing yourself enough rest time.
Your body needs rest. Especially between resistance training sessions. Try to wait at least 48 hours when training the same muscle group. This will give it time to develop, heal, and grow for your next session. In any workout, whether it’s cardio or strength training, the muscle fibers tear, which causes the soreness you experience. It’s important to allow your body to mend itself back together. Additionally, it’s critical to get between 7-9 hours of sleep at night.

8) Not eating enough.
If you’re not eating enough, your body will not improve. When you’re working your body, it needs more fuel to support it. The more you work, the more fuel it needs. When you work hard and eat often your body will consume and use those calories – they don’t sit and store as fat like everyone expects they will. If you aren’t seeing the kinds of results you’re looking for, the problem usually lies in how or what you’re eating, so keep yourself aware and track when you need to. There are great online and mobile apps like LoseIt and myfitnesspal you can use.

9) Not creating enough variety in your cardio.
Variety is the spice of life…and in workout land as well! For example, if you’re running the same pace on the treadmill over and over again, your body will adapt and you will plateau. You won’t be challenged anymore. Try interval training instead and run at a higher intensity for a little while, then a lower intensity…then try bringing up the incline and work your legs at a slightly different angle….play around with it and you’ll have a much more effective session.

So be aware and keep an eye on some of these things. Make some changes, even small ones, where you need to and you’ll be surprised at how much of a difference they’ll make!

Yours in Health,

Tanya

Food Prep Tips For Success!

I often follow the simple mantra, “Fail to plan and plan to fail.” Prepping your food can allow you more time in your week to spend doing the things you’d REALLY like to be doing, help you avoid grabbing for the foods that lead you in the direction opposite of your goals, take the guesswork out of your week, and help you stress less! It can take you just 1-2 hours on a Sunday afternoon to take care your meals for the week. And then you just toss your pre-made meals into a cooler or tote and you’re set for the day! Easy Peasy!

Here are 8 Tips for Weekly Meal Prepping Success:

1. Grocery shopping requires a list!

Make a quick list of the things you’ll need for the week. I usually throw recipes out the window and just wing it. Unless you’ve got a little extra time or the recipe is super simple, it’s hard to screw up a meal. With a list, stick to it and don’t go “off roading” at the store. You’ll be in and out much faster.

2. “Keep it simple, stupid!”

The simple and basic foods are the foods that will typically cost you less time to make and less money to buy. Two things we’re always thrilled about, right? These items include veggies, chicken, eggs, fruit, seeds/nuts/nut butters, rice, oatmeal, etc.

3. Make sure you have appropriate containers to put your meals into!

What good are your pre-made meals if you don’t have anything appropriate to store them in? I’m not one to fight the battle on glass over plastic. Just buy various sized containers that are perfect for the meals and snacks you’re preparing.

4. Cook in bulk!

Don’t make your meals meal by meal. If you’re gonna make chicken, bake in bulk for the entire week. If you’re gonna steam rice or roast broccoli, again, make a giant batch for the week.

5. While your bulk items are cooking, prep the details!

While your chicken is baking and your rice is steaming, fill containers or baggies with your non-cooking items like nuts, nut butters, seeds, rice cakes, and protein powder, etc..

6. Create an assembly line!

I lay out all my containers for the week and have my measuring cups and food scale ready! When your rice is done, plop a portion into each container. When your broccoli is ready, plop a portion into each container. When your chicken is ready…well, you get the idea.

7. Steam Bags rock!

These are another battle I don’t bother to fight. I love steam bags. These things are brilliant. You can either buy the ones in the storage aisle or just buy the frozen Steamfresh or generic brand items. These bags usually contain between 2-4 servings each and only cook up in about 4 minutes. They’ll save you loads of time compared to waiting for that giant pot of water to boil on stove!

8. Meal replacement bars or shakes!

These can have their place in our diets and can help save you even more time in the kitchen. I don’t really recommend consuming more than 2 servings/day and making sure your varieties  contain a healthy balance of all of your macronutrients (carbs, protein, fats) and contain an actual meals worth of calories (none of this 100-calorie diet mumbo jumbo). Also try to avoid soy, artificial sweeteners, and an ingredient list 10x longer than the grocery list you brought with you. So, read your labels!

I hope these tips help you rock your weekly food prep!

Yours in Health,

Tanya

Fitness & Alcohol…SO Not BFFs!

So anyone who knows me knows I’m not much of a drinker, but I do enjoy a nice glass of wine now and again. When I’m working towards a serious goal, I choose to remove alcohol from diet completely. Now I know there are studies and research out there that say alcohol has its own set of health benefits, but let me tell you why the negative or long-term side effects outweigh any positive benefits when it comes to losing weight, gaining muscle, and achieving your fitness potential.

Alcohol is a toxin. When you introduce toxins, or poisons, into your diet your body will begin to experience several abnormal behaviors and side effects. Among these side effects are a significant reduction in your strength, aerobic capabilities, recovery, endurance, muscle growth, and the ability to metabolize fat.

1) Poor Muscle Function

Let’s start with alcohol’s effects on the muscles. The cells that make up muscle in your body can actually die from lengthy exposure to alcohol, causing them to function less efficiently. Your muscles will actually be less able to contract appropriately and will also be exposed to an increase in soreness that takes more than the average amount of time to recover. Recovery is important. It is where your muscle makes gains. Without gains and proper protein synthesis your hard work goes to waste.

2) Dehydration

Dehydration is a serious side effect to consuming alcohol. You know it’s important to stay hydrated. Water is everywhere in the body and is the most abundant substance making up 55-75% of your total body weight. It has an important function for every nook, crevice, organ, and process in the body. When you consume alcohol, your kidneys and liver must work overtime to flush and detoxify the alcohol you are consuming. The more alcohol you drink, the harder your body has to work. When you are dehydrated your mental clarity, energy, blood flow, and focus are compromised.

3) Difficult Fat Loss

When alcohol is in your system several things can begin to happen to your digestive, gastric, and nutritional absorption processes. Your body will spare your fat and metabolize glycogen instead due to a high increase of insulin in your body. This means your body becomes less able to lose fat. Your body will also not be able to absorb some nutrients causing the depletion of essential vitamins and minerals that aid in fat loss and other bodily functions.

4) Raging Appetite

What happens when you go out for a night on the town drinking loads of empty alcoholic calories? You get extremely hungry and wash it all down with fried foods and burgers slapped with fatty oils, cheeses, and sauces. Am I right? Alcohol impairs your judgement to make healthy food decisions, but alcohol also contains a ton of sugar. And when you consume high levels of sugar your body becomes very unsatisfied and starts developing cravings. Have you ever seen someone order a healthy, well-balance meal of lean protein and veggies after a night of drinking?

Bottom line, with alcohol causing so many effects on strength, speed, reaction time, recovery, skill, mental clarity, focus, energy, organ function, nutrient absorption, nutrient depletion, water retention, dehydration, sexual irregularities, psychology, fat storage, cell damage, balance, coordination, endurance, muscle growth, the nervous system, and appetite…whew…I’d rather just skip it!

If you enjoy your wine or like having a drink every once in a while, that’s totally fine. You can have a social life and be healthy at the same time. Moderation with alcohol is key, though. Just make sure you rehydrate (SO important) and restore nutrients to your body. But if you’re looking to live up to your ultimate fitness potential, try steering clear and you’ll see the gains you make without alcohol totally worth it.

Yours in Health,

Tanya

5 Questions To Ask Yourself Before Eating THAT

As a health and fitness professional, I see and hear more often than anything else that nutrition is the toughest part of developing a health and fitness lifestyle. I can certainly attest to and agree with my clients on this one.

There are times when I even make impulsive decisions that cause me to feel terrible about my moment of weakness. These decisions don’t leave a huge immediate physical impact on my body, but they often mess with my head, make me feel a little mental fog, and lose some of my energy. Then what happens? Sometimes I end up falling off the wagon completely because I feel like I’ve already failed, so what’s the point? I don’t think I have to ask for a show of hands for how many of us have experienced this situation, do I?

The reality of the matter is that it really doesn’t matter how others see us or what they think, it’s how WE FEEL about ourselves. We are the ones who suffer the consequences of our actions and impulsive decisions in moments of weakness.

So how do we fix this? The first thing we really need to do is learn to be less impulsive about the things that could interfere with what is truly important to us. Take these next few steps:

STEP 1: Grab a couple pieces of paper and a pencil (ancient, I know) and sit down with your thoughts.

STEP 2: Write down and clarify your goals and what’s important to you.

STEP 3: Determine and write down all the things that could possibly get in the way of you and your goals. 

STEP 4: Go through each of the scenarios you’ve come up with and create a solid plan of action.

I find that a lot of people are impulsive simply because they aren’t clear enough with themselves about what it is they truly desire. So when the moment of derail approaches, they are more likely to cave in because they haven’t thoroughly thought everything through. Without a clear idea of where you want to end up, you can’t create a good roadmap for how to get there.

So now that you have your roadmap and directions for your destination, when you encounter those moments where you have the opportunity to go off-roading, hopefully you’ll check back with your directions and stay on course. If you still find it difficult in that moment of weakness, ask yourself these additional five questions:

QUESTION 1: How will the decision to eat this make me feel physically tomorrow?

QUESTION 2: How will the decision to eat this make me feel mentally tomorrow?

QUESTION 3: How hard or long am I going to have to workout to burn this off?

QUESTION 4: Am I WILLING to workout that hard/long to burn this off?

QUESTION 5: Is eating this RIGHT NOW going to feel better than how I will feel when I hit the goals I want to achieve LATER?

If the roadmap doesn’t sway you from off-roading, hopefully the answers to these 5 questions will put a bitter taste in your mouth and cause you to push that (fill in the blank) away and stay on course.

Yours in Health,

Tanya