Texas Fit Chicks Bootcamp is not just for women in McKinney Texas anymore...

We enjoy having women from Plano, Allen, Frisco, Prosper, Princeton and as far as Denison in our women's only boot camp. Since our start in 2009, we've enjoyed watching women shed pounds and tone up from all over the area. Many of you have friends and family out of town who that wish they could be involved in bootcamp and the personal training that we provide at such a great price. While we are expanding into other areas, it just got a little easier for them to be a part of our Fit Chick community!

We are very excited to be rolling out our new website that will allow women from anywhere with an internet connection to be a part of our Texas Fit Chick bootcamp community. The name of our new site is a secret - for now...while we put the finishing touches on it. Here are a few of the exciting things coming:
Personalized Meal Plans - with options. Our new site will calculate a meal plan based on your personal goals. Fat loss meal plans, vegetarian meal plans, balanced meal plans, and many more.There are also options in that - making it really easy to stick to. So what happens if the meal plan recommends a food that you don't like? There will be an option to switch that out with another, and 20+ other food options will pop up - making it more do-able. Very Personal and easy to follow.
Calorie Calculators - How much should you be eating for your fitness goals? This calculator figures it out for you. It will calculate it, and then recommend the meal plans with amounts already figured out for you, since it knows how much you are supposed to eat for your goals. It's all done for you!
Supportive Community - This site will be filled with chicks that all have a common goal ~ better health! We will host message boards, you can "friend" people that are also on the site, and it's completely private. No one without a subscription will be able to view any of our discussions or the site, so it's a safe place.
Workout Plan - My personal fav on the site. You will be able to get great workouts on your "off" bootcamp days! Whether it's a bootcamp workout that our trainers upload, or segments of other good training we've found online for you - it's all there.
Workout Tracker - You will get to log your workouts 7 days a week, to keep track of your progress and watch your results online. Calories burned is based on your personal settings - it figures it out for you!
Food Journal - It's been proven many times that people who journal their food have much more success than those that don't. Our site will make it easy - with thousands of foods already in the database you can just enter in the name of the food, and it will most times, give you the cals/protein/fat/sugar content!
Healthy Menus and Recipes w/ Printable Grocery Lists - Doesn't get much easier than this! Awesome feature that will let pick your meal plan, then print out the grocery list! Only want to shop for one nights worth of dinner? Tell us which day you want, and that's all that will print out. Very easy and SO convenient!
Personal Trainer Access - Our trainers will be on the site to answer any questions you might have about fitness or losing weight daily. They are there to help you succeed and will be publishing exclusive content only available to our members!

We will be offering our facebook fans special pricing exclusively through our Facebook Page starting Feb. 7 - so be sure to "Like us on Facebook" for your opportunity to be a part of the offer!

We are Committed to YOUR success!
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Before I found fitness.....

I share this because I've heard many times that "it's probably easy for you to stay in shape"...and I want to dispel that myth. The before picture is me, after having my first child. Yes, I gained close to 75lbs with him. Watching a Cowboys game one day, seeing Emmit Smiths' stats and realizing I only weighed 5 lbs less than him was a bit of a shocker. Crazy eating, lots of TV watching and not much else, got me to that point. I literally had friends come visit me in the hospital who had not seen me in a while, turn around to walk out of the room because they thought they had the wrong room. It was not pretty. I felt miserable. All of the side effects of being heavy were mine to feel, and I hated it. I wore maternity pants like 5 mos after the baby was born. My knees and feet hurt all the time. So what happened?
I got sick and tired of being sick and tired. I started to realize that what I ate directly affected how I felt and what I looked like. I fought this for a long time, since before baby, I never really had to watch what I ate, but once I accepted it, change could begin to happen. I'm all or nothing type personality, which does NOT work for me when it comes to losing weight. I quickly found out that you can't go from being sedentary to running a mile without getting a nice cramp in your side, or a headache. If I tried to stay away from all sweets, I found myself feeling deprived and irritable. I decided to make little changes one at a time, since the all or nothing thinking wasn't working. So, I quit frying okra for dinner. I didn't drink regular coke anymore. I quit buying drumstick ice cream cones at the grocery store, etc. making little changes that I could live with, one at a time. Very soon, I was running (after training for a while) and could finally give away those maternity pants.

I have been on both sides of the fitness scale, and I definetly prefer to stay active and feeling good, but it's a daily choice to be made. The benefits go way beyond how your clothes fit, or what size you get down to. The most difficult part for many is getting started, and then sticking to it.

At our womens only bootcamp, our trainers hold you accountable and keep you going. Training with us will get you faster results than on your own. I just wish I'd had access to a trainer those first few years of trying to lose the weight. I would have saved myself a lot of time, since I thought getting a flat stomach meant doing 100 crunches every day!

Let us guide you to where you want to be. Texas Fit Chicks bootcamp in McKinney can get you to your fitness goals!

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My thoughts on Skinneygirl Bethanny Frankel and her book, Naturally Thin

Naturally Thin is authored by Bethenny Frankel, one of Bravo television's "Real Housewives of New York", and she is, of course, a skinny girl. She's also a professional natural foods chef. Her humor is vulgar at times, but her message when it comes to food is right on. Here's a bit from the book:


The 10 golden rules for being naturally thin: (her rules are in blue...my thoughts aren't)

1. Your diet is a bank account - balance your daily calories like you balance your checkbook. - I love this example. If you went to work every day and made $100 from 9-5, but on the way home you stopped at the outlets, shopped and spent $150, how far is that going to get you? Nowhere, fast. If you workout and burn 500 calories, but consume 3000 over the course of the day, you will get nowhere fast. No matter how hard you train, if you are overspending in your calorie account, you won't change your body.
2. You can have it all - just not all at once.- Enjoy little treats. Have one bite of the chocolate cake that your husband ordered for dessert, since you skipped the bread basket before dinner came!
   
3. Taste everything, eat nothing - meaning share food, eat small bites.- Little tastes of the rich foods can be enough if you savor each bite, and slow it down a bit.
   
4. Pay attention - say no to mindless eating. - Don't shove it in just because it's there. Ask yourself before each food decision you make in the day: Is this going to help get me to my fitness goals?
   
5. Downsize your portions.- No more supersize anything.
   
6. Cancel your membership in the Clean Plate Club.- It's really ok!
   
7. Check yourself before you wreck yourself - stop emotional and binge eating. - Substitute the bag of chips for a brisk walk around the neighborhood or a jog. Runners high can cut stress a LOT!
   
8. Know thyself - know your trigger foods. - Don't bring them into the house. Have your willpower begin at the grocery store.
   
9. Get real - eat more whole foods, fewer processed ones.- Shop the perimeter of the grocery store. That's where the fresh stuff is.
10. Food is not the enemy - make peace with food. Amen Bethanny! Well said.

Her philosophy is freedom from obsessing and deprivation when it comes to food - and affirmation that you can enjoy food and drink while still keeping your weight down.
In the book you'll find guidance on recognizing real hunger (as opposed to boredom hunger, stress hunger, etc.), on recognizing when you should indulge your cravings, and the importance of never finishing everything on your plate. She also grants the permission slip to break the rules every once in a while - so long as you get right back on the bus the next day. Bethenny uses her professional platform to instruct on choosing high fiber (filling) foods, on the importance of low calorie veggies as the key component of your diet, along with smaller amounts of fruits, whole grains, meats, and proteins.Cut back your portion. Bethenny's trick for having it all is tapas-style small plates, tastes and bites, as opposed to full-on meals, so when indulging in a decadent Alfredo, rather than having a bowl - you have a few bites, filling up a ramekin.

It's freeing to know that nothing is off limits with her suggestions, and really makes you become a more "conscious eater". That mindless eating in front of a football game or a movie, can pack on the pounds. Even mindlessly eating chips and salsa at a Mexican restaurant until your food comes. One basket of chips is enough calories for your day. I like Bethannys' suggestions and she's a great example of eating clean but still indulging occasionally.

Make workout a daily routine for yourself. Take at least 30-45 mins for cardio on your non-bootcamp days and keep a food journal if eating well is new to you. It's amazing how once you've been eating well for a while, the junk food doesn't even appeal to you anymore, and when you do eat it, you feel sick. That WILL happen - I promise - if you stick with it!

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10 Foods that Fight Fat & help you lose weight!

Foods that fight fat. If you want to lose weight but don’t know what to eat…you’re not alone. Go into any bookstore and you will see a dozen different books on what to eat and what not to eat. Some of those books are great – and some should be used as a coaster for your drink. There’s not a secret solution or quick fix – actually let me restate that. There are quick fixes that will drop weight off of you…but they only last as long as you are “On” them – and once you return to normal eating, more often than not, more weight will come on. You basically screw up your metabolism each time you do one of those things….so it gets harder and harder to keep it off. Here are the top 10 foods I keep handy that are all great in fighting off fat!


1) Cottage Cheese. Why it works Cottage cheese has whey protein, which releases hormones that tell your brain when you've had enough to eat, says Dave Grotto, R.D., of Chicago. Look for lowfat versions, which have 80 calories and 1 gram of fat per 1/2 cup. My husband likes to mix lowfat yogurt with the cottage to make it a little tastier…just make sure the yogurt has less than 12g of sugar.

2) Egg Whites - Why they work The amino acids in egg whites help build lean muscle that may in turn help rev metabolism. I buy 18 lg eggs on Sunday, boil them and then dry them off – pop em back into the egg crate and we eat on them all week long for a really quick and easy snack. They are great for the afternoon snack attack hits!

3) Oatmeal - Why it works Plain oatmeal has no added sugar and keeps blood sugar steady. Even better than Old Fashioned kind – do Steel Cut for more fiber. I add cinnamon and stevia (natural sweetner) to make it even better. Great on a cold morning.

4) Almond Butter – Why it works We use almond butter daily around here. It’s healthier than Peanut butter, and supplies healthy fats we need. Spread it on celery sticks for a great afternoon snack. Don’t over-do 2T 190 cals.

5) Beans – Why it works You can't beat beans—they're only about 150 calories per 1/2 cup and full of protein, fiber and antioxidants. Always good with brown rice or veggie chili. They will fill you up and will go easy on the grocery bill too!

6) Salmon – Why it works Just 3 ounces of canned salmon delivers 530 IU (more than the Daily Value) for vitamin D and 181 mg of calcium, a power-packed nutritional combination that may be just what your waistline needs as we get older

7) Soybeans (Edamame) – Why it works These are fat blockers. Soybeans contain lecithin, which help flush fat from your system rather than sticking on your thighs. 1 C has 150 calories…great afternoon or movie snack!

8) Lean Protein – Why it works Regulates insulin levels and stops cravings. Helps the body fill full. Protein is known as the building block for the body's muscle. The more lean muscle mass built in the body, the less fat that will exist in the same area! Great sources: Chicken breast, turkey, egg whites, buffalo

9) Olive Oil – Why it works Olive oil is a monounsaturated fat. Our bodies metabolizes these types of fats at a faster rate than saturated fats, which may lead to further weight loss. The British Journal of Nutrition published a study in 2003 suggesting that monounsaturated fats, from products such as olive oil, break down fats stored within the body. Once the fat was broken down, it was easier for the body to release and eliminate the fat. Replace oils in your diet that contain saturated fats with olive oil to increase your belly fat loss.

10) Whole Grains – Why they work Whole grains have been shown to reduce the risk of heart disease by decreasing cholesterol levels, blood pressure, and blood coagulation. Whole grains have also been found to reduce the risks of many types of cancer. They may also help regulate blood glucose in people living with diabetes. Other studies have also shown that people who consume more whole grains consistently weigh less than those who consumed less whole grain products.

Check labels carefully! Foods labelled with the words "multi-grain," "stone-ground," "100% wheat," "cracked wheat," "seven-grain," or "bran" are usually not whole-grain products. Color is also not an indication of a whole grain. Brown does not necessary mean whole wheat or whole grain! Some brown bread has brown coloring added to achieve the brown color!

When determining if a packaged food product contains whole grain or not, look for the word "whole" in the ingredient list. Also look for the Whole Grain Stamp (see above examples). A "good source" stamp contains at least 1/2 serving of whole grains while an "excellent source" contains at least 1 serving of whole grains. - Healthcastle

For the fastest weight loss possible (the healthy way) combine Cardio and Strength training in your workouts. Be sure to increase weight and/or reps to avoid the dreaded plateau. Not sure how to workout? Let our female personal trainers teach you how to reach your goals. Our women only bootcamps incorporate interval training and mix in Kettlebells, Medicine Balls, Resistance Bands and more...so we keep it fun and your body won't ever know what's coming next. Our trainers have been successfully helping women lose weight and keep it off since 2009, and we have the most fun McKinney Boot Camp around! We are located less than 1 mi from Adriataca, in Stonebridge Ranch, and less than 1 mi from the Frisco line. All of our workouts are INDOORS for the winter. You will lose weight, get a meal plan for free, and have fun in the process!

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It's time to stop the negativity and focus on the positive! Our trainers can help...

It never ceases to amaze me how truly NOBODY is 100% happy with the way they look. I have measured many women over the past several years as a personal trainer, and one thing is a constant. Whether they have 30% body fat or 19%, they aren't happy with their body. If they have a 40" waist or a  I understand that feeling all too well. " waist, typically I will hear some sort of negative comment as I do my job. *By the way...I don't ever walk away from that process thinking anything negative of my clients. It becomes as routine as a nurse taking your BP. It's just part of what I do. I've been in that spot where I am critical of the parts of me that I think need improvement. What I have learned (since I'm in my mid-30s I like to think that I have a little bit of insight :) is to be happy where you are. Statistically, without exercise and a good diet, your body is probably better than it will be in 10 yrs from now, and then you will look back and wonder to yourself...why wasn't I happy then??? That happened to me. I vividly remember in my early 20's being unhappy with certain things, but looking back at pictures of myself, I regret that.

Doing the research I do for blogging, facebook posting, etc...I have seen the crazy lengths people go to in order to become a certain size. Liquid diets, and crazy procedures that promise to take the inches off. Only problem is, even when I have a "skinny minnie" in front of me to start training, she's not happy. Yet, if the average woman saw her in the gym or grocery store, she'd probably have a moment of envy at how she looked....never thinking that the woman was just as self-concious (and sometimes more so) than the onlooker.

The media doesn't help in this matter at all. Photoshop is a wonderful thing, but not for the self-esteem of the average woman in America. Those models are flawless in the magazines, but it's completely concocted, and it's just not real. You can google the video on youtube of the model before and then after the "retouching" and it's amazing what they can do. Yes, there are those that are fitness models that compete and super low body fat and look super toned - but do you really know what lengths they go to for that? Anyone can do that if they are willing to work out 4-6 hrs a day, eat broiled tilapia and asparagus for a month before the competition, and down dry oatmeal the day of the event to suck out any fluids that might be lurking. (Ok - some of that might be a little sarchasm - but that's not far from the reality of being in that business). So....the next time you find yourself dwelling on the body part that is your "problem area" (we ALL have one) try to divert your attention to a positive about yourself that you can be happy about. Decide to work on your fitness a little each day to get you where you want to be, but don't wish to be someone else, because chances are good that they aren't happy with their body either.

Let our expert bootcamp trainers guide you to where you want to be. Non-military boot camp designed FOR women BY women. We are located in the heart of Stonebridge Ranch - McKinney Texas - and are INDOORS for the winter. Offering classes at 5am-6am, 5:30am-6:30am and 7PM-8Pm
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Why Resolutions Fail ~ & how our McKinney boot camp will help you reach your goals!

Did you make a new year’s resolution? If you decided 2011 would be the year you get fit, you are not alone. Researchers say that 65% of people in our country made some sort of fitness related resolution. That's great, if only resolutions worked. People start out with the best of intentions, but usually by about April, those goals have become a thing of the past, and frustration likely sets in. We don't have much patience these days. Instant gratification is what we are accustomed to. When it comes to weight loss, that's what most are looking for - the quick fix. Only problem with that is, it just doesn't work long term. Most weight loss books you see everywhere at the bookstore lure you by promising rapid weight loss on their plan. While it is true that you will lose some weight quickly (most of it's water weight) if you do what they say, the moment you are "off" the plan, it comes right back on. Many times you gain extra weight since you have completely messed with your metabolism - and you've felt deprived. How many of us can relate to the following: "Oh no, I already screwed up today since I had a strawberry, which isn't allowed on this phase of the diet, so might as well grab a Snickers at 7-11 on the way home from work, and start again fresh tomorrow". If you've ever done a fad-diet, you can probably relate. So what's the answer?



Look at your daily habits and see where there is room for improvement. If you are trying to change your physique, it's important to make sure you are not taking in more calories than you are burning. I advise my clients to use the 90/10 rule. Eat well 90% of the time and do what you want to 10%. I encourage them to eat "clean" during the week, but take one day off on the weekend for a "cheat day". When you start to see how much your diet correlates to how your clothes fit, you might change that to one "cheat" meal a week, instead of an entire day. If you habitually make poor choices when it comes to what you eat, you won't reach your goals no matter how hard you workout. It's easy to educate yourself on calorie content since most places list their nutrition info online. I'm not sure how many of us would sit down and polish off 18 Oreo cookies, but a lot of people drive through Sonic and eat an Oreo blast without thinking about it. The number of calories is the same as if you'd just eaten the 18 cookies. 1,020 calories in that blast. It would take over 2 hrs of intense exercise for the avg person to burn that shake off. Most people underestimate the calorie content of food when they eat out, and overestimate what they burn at the gym or on their own.

Don't weigh yourself daily, or even weekly. All of us fluctuate on the scale (especially women) throughout the month. There is nothing more discouraging than working out, eating well and then seeing your number stay the same, or even go up. Go by how your clothing fits. When you start working out, and strength training, you will build lean muscle mass, which weighs more than fat. You can be losing inches, but the number might not change. Trying to get clients out of the habit of weighing every single day is tough, but those that do it tend to be happier than those that fixate on the number. Weigh only once every 5-6 weeks for a clearer picture of your progress. If you are a bootcamp client of ours, we will take a full body comp at the beginning of your boot camp, and then again at the end for a great snapshot of your progress.


Plan ahead. Failing to plan is planning to fail. What's in your pantry that tempts you? If you don't bring it into the house, you won't eat it. My willpower begins at the grocery store. Just be sure to grocery shop when you're full. You're less likely to buy junk if you're not hungry. Last year in May, both of my kids had a ton of birthday parties to attend, all within 4 weeks. I think there were seven total. Cake is my temptation. I can have ice cream in the freezer for months, but if there's cake on my counter, I eat it for breakfast. I knew I would be offered cake 7 times within the month. I decided which party I would say yes to the cake, and which I would politely decline. Had I not done that, I would've ended up eating basically an entire cake (7 slices!) It's the little things that can add up and equal extra lbs on the scale. Don't deprive yourself of the yummy stuff in life,; just decide when to indulge and when to abstain.


Decide today what your goals are. Write down what changes you will make this week, to get you to your goals. Enlist support for your plan. Surrounding yourself with people that have the same goal as you do makes the process much easier. At Texas Fit Chicks bootcamp, you will meet other women that have the same goals as you, and that will make your journey more fun. Journal your progress along the way. Keeping a food journal is a great tool when trying to lose weight. Our personal trainers will be happy to look over your food during boot camp, to see if there is room for improvement. Celebrate your victories as they happen, and forgive yourself when you stumble. You might just find that you start loving your new health not just for how good you look, but for how you breathe easier, play with the kids longer, enjoy less stress, etc. Let our trainers guide you to your goals. Our McKinney boot camps serve women from Frisco, Allen, Plano and Prosper. We are located on the far West side of McKinney (Stonebridge Ranch) less than a mile from Frisco. We offer indoor boot camp with all female Nationally Certified female personal trainers. Start any Monday! Get Up, Get out, Get fit Texas!Click here to visit our website
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Why cutting calories too drastically won't work for losing weight.

Know Your Numbers


The numbers we are talking about are your resting metabolic rate. We will discuss your metabolic rate and how it can work with you or against you when it comes to weight management. If you are a chronic dieter - and these days the majority of people are chronic dieters - you need to know why restricting calories too severely is damaging to your body and counterproductive. If you feel like you are restricting calories but not losing weight, the information in this step will help you understand why restricting calories below your resting metabolic rate (RMR) can actually work against you. Your body is a complicated "machine" and meeting its needs with high quality "fuel" is important for health and performance. The quality of the food you provide your body - especially the quality of the calories you eat to meet your RMR - is important to your health. In this step we will:

• Define "metabolism" and "resting metabolic rate" or RMR

• Explain the importance of knowing your resting metabolic rate (RMR) in weight management

• Tell you how to estimate your own personal RMR

• Explain the critical importance of meeting your RMR requirements with wholesome food

What is "metabolism" and what is "resting metabolic rate"?

Even when you are sitting at rest your body is not resting. Your heart is beating, you are breathing and your body is carrying out other functions that you are unaware of entirely. Your body may be making blood cells, your kidneys may be eliminating wastes and your liver may be clearing toxic substances from your body. Your brain is burning calories as it acts as the master control center coordinating all of these activities. This is work that your body must do to keep you functioning. This work involves making new cells or tissues, breaking down old cells or tissues, or repairing and maintaining existing cells and tissues. All of this work is collectively referred to as your metabolism. It should not be surprising that this work requires energy. You are burning calories even when you sit quietly at rest.

The rate at which your body burns calories when you are comfortably resting is called your "resting metabolic rate" or RMR

There is only one way to know for certain if you have a slow metabolism and that is to measure it. Before you go to the expense of having your RMR measured, you should know that a slow metabolism is quite rare. Shape Up America! has provided you with a "Metabolism Calculator" that you can use to estimate your RMR. We will tell you more about that below.

There are different systems for measuring RMR, but the goal of each is the same - to measure the number of calories you burn while at rest. A common system for measuring RMR involves putting a ventilated hood over your mouth and nose. Another system involves pinching your nose shut with a clip as you breathe into a mouth device. Regardless of which system is used, the rate at which your body uses oxygen while at rest is measured. Without going into the technical details, measuring your rate of oxygen consumption allows calculation of your RMR. Your RMR is the number of calories you burn over time. If we know your RMR, we can easily calculate the number of calories you burn over an entire day if you were to remain at rest.

When you cut calories to BELOW your RMR, your body fights back. Restricting calories below your RMR is like asking your car's engine to run on too little gas. If your car is sitting in the driveway with the engine on, it is burning gas as it sits there. If you put the car in drive and step on the gas, it burns gas at a faster rate. What happens if you choke off the supply of gas to your engine? It sputters and eventually stalls. The same is true for your metabolism.

The RMR number is telling you the minimum number of calories your body needs to keep your body functioning properly.

What happens if you cut your food intake BELOW your RMR? Your body fights back. It actually DECREASES its metabolic rate. If you are eating an insufficient amount of food to meet your RMR, you will not be eating enough to maintain your body's functions properly. You can do this for a day or even two days without consequences. But chronic restriction of calories below the RMR is not unusual among dieters. This type of severe restriction can go on for an extended period of time (weeks or months), but NOT WITHOUT PAYING A PRICE. That price may be your health.

When you restrict calories too severely, your body is forced to make tradeoffs. Your body will struggle to preserve the highest priority bodily functions. Brain and heart function will be a very high priority whereas reproductive function and bone will be sacrificed.

You think you are restricting calories but if your restriction is too severe, your body will do everything it can to conserve calories. A familiar example of restricting calories too severely is the athlete or ballerina or model that is always trying to cut weight. But many people practice severe calorie restriction, not just models or athletes.

Here is what happens to a female who restricts calories too severely for an extended period:

• She experiences fatigue and becomes listless

• She may sleep more

• She finds it more difficult to exercise or work

• She damages her immune system which means she gets sick more often and for longer

• She skips her menstrual periods for months or even years because her endocrine system is thrown into disarray

• She loses her reproductive capacity (she will be unable to conceive or carry a baby)

• If she is dieting while pregnant, she may damage her baby's development

• She loses muscle tissue as her body breaks down muscle in its desperate search for calories

• She loses heart muscle in addition to skeletal muscle

• Her bones become thinner and she may experience broken bones if she falls

• Her hair becomes brittle and may start to fall out

• Her eyes become dull

• She develops skin problems

• She has bad breath because she is burning ketones

• She starts to experience mood changes

• She develops psychological changes that can develop into dementia, anorexia or bulimia

• She can eventually starve to death

There has to be a better way, and there is. Severe calorie restriction is totally unnecessary and counterproductive. The alternative is to take the long view and be willing to LOSE WEIGHT SLOWLY by restricting calories only modestly. You need to know your RMR and avoid restricting calories below your RMR. Here is what you need to know:

1. Your RMR makes up the major portion of your daily calorie needs

2. You should protect your body's RMR as you do a high performance automobile. You need to eat enough calories to meet your RMR each day.

3. A racecar requires high-test fuel for optimal performance. Similarly, your body requires wholesome food in adequate amounts to protect your RMR

4. Building healthy muscle and bone by eating the right foods and exercising will actually INCREASE your RMR and help you manage your weight

5. Protecting your RMR will pay you dividends because you will feel better and be more vigorous and active - which allows you to burn more calories.

6. To increase your metabolism:

a. Exercise daily

b. Build your muscles through strength training

c. Build bone by doing "weight bearing" exercise like walking or dancing (or any other exercise or sport that you perform while up on your feet)

If calorie restriction is too severe, the fatigue that results will undermine your exercise regimen. You will not have the energy you need to exercise. You may actually rest more or sleep more - which leads to an overall reduction in calories burned. Here is a typical scenario:

John burns 2000 calories per day of which 1600 calories per day is his RMR requirement.

John wants to lose 1.5 pounds per week, so he cuts his calorie intake by 750 calories. This leaves John with 1250 calories - some of which is from nutrient poor soda and "junk food." The 1250 calories he allows himself is well below the 1600 calories he needs to support his RMR.

This drastic reduction in calories and poor quality food causes John to feel fatigued and he sleeps a lot - in fact he starts sleeping late and does not want to go for his daily workout in the early morning.

After a week or two of feeding his body only 1250 calories a day, John is surprised and frustrated that his weight loss is not the 1 ½ pounds per week he expected. It is scarcely ½ pound per week! This is because to conserve calories, his RMR has decreased drastically and he is exercising less and sleeping more.

Food is more than Calories - USE WHOLESOME FOOD TO MEET YOUR RMR

Food is one of the great mysteries as well as one of the great pleasures of life. Food contains much more than vitamins and minerals and energy (calories). It contains many, many compounds that play an important role in protecting your health and well-being. Only a tiny fraction of those compounds have been identified and every year many more important compounds in food are found. Few have been studied adequately. We are just at the beginning of understanding how special compounds in fish and vegetables protect against cancer, how dietary fiber protects against cancer and heart disease, and how many other valuable compounds found only in food protect your health. Think of wholesome food as your health insurance policy.

No vitamin-mineral pill is a substitute for good wholesome food. EAT HEALTHY FOOD TO MEET YOUR RMR

Many of the special compounds found in food are important to keep your metabolism running optimally. To protect your health and maintain your metabolism, you should plan to meet your RMR requirements with wholesome foods. A wholesome food is a good source of protein, vitamins, minerals and many other things your body needs. Sodas, candy, desserts, chips, should not be used to meet your RMR.

Here are the foods we recommend you eat to meet your RMR requirements:

• Plenty of veggies. Choose plenty of dark, leafy greens and other highly colored vegetables each day. Learn how to eat vegetables raw or properly cooked so they are not over-cooked. Frozen veggies can be as nutritious as fresh. Canned vegetables are OK too. Aim to cover at least half your plate at lunch and dinner with veggies.

• Aim for whole grain breads, pasta, cereals and other products. Aim for at least 6 servings a day but remember that for these foods, a serving is only 1 ounce.

• Choose 2 or 3 servings of fruit each day - Don't get carried away with your portion sizes. One medium-sized apple is one serving. For weight management, avoid juice and choose fruit instead because fruit is more filling than juice. One half cup of berries or cut up fruit (pineapple chunks, melon pieces) counts as one serving. One half banana counts as one serving.

• Aim for 2 or 3 servings of low fat or nonfat dairy products a day. A milk or yogurt serving is one cup. A regular cheese serving is ½ ounce (for regular cheese) and 1 ounce for low fat cheese. Take care to use only NON-FAT or Low Fat milk, cheese and yogurt.

• For protein, choose only fish, poultry, eggs, LEAN meats, beans, and legumes. Go for a serving at every meal. One egg is one serving. One half cup of beans or legumes is one serving. 2-3 ounces of meat, fish or poultry is one serving. Trim visible fat and remove skin from the poultry before eating. Avoid fried foods and sauces. Eat your protein servings prepared as plainly as possible. Use herbs, garlic, onions, salt, pepper and other spices to add flavor.

Summary

You are not always sitting at rest. Sometimes you are running, walking, playing, doing physical labor, and doing many other activities. From the perspective of your body, this is all EXTRA work over and above the work your body must do when you are resting. When you are active, your metabolic rate moves up above your resting level because you are burning more calories. Some of the work your body does is very subtle and you are hardly aware of it. When you are too hot or too cold, your body has to do work to warm you or cool you. So temperature control causes your metabolic rate to increase. When you eat food, your body does work so your metabolic rate increases. When you digest food your metabolic rate increases as you digest and absorb food. At the end of the day, your total calories burned are determined by your resting metabolism (your RMR) PLUS all of the calories your body burns to do the extra work you performed throughout the entire day. Your Total Daily Calorie Goal covers the total number of calories you need for the entire day. Restricting calories too severely causes your RMR to decrease. The more severe the restriction the more drastic the drop. Restricting calories too severely is counterproductive because your body will fight back by decreasing RMR. Not only should you avoid restricting calories below your RMR, you should take care to make sure you eat wholesome food to meet your RMR.

Answers to Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) on Calories and Dieting .

How many calories do I have to restrict to lose one pound a week?

The rule of thumb is to create an "energy deficit" of 3500 calories in order to lose one pound. If you spread that energy deficit over an entire week, that comes to a deficit of 500 calories per day. If you subtract 500 calories from your total daily calorie goal provided by the CyberKitchen and it restricts you below your RMR, you need to back off on your restriction. That is why you need to use the Shape Up America! Metabolism Calculator to know your RMR. The average woman burns 400-600 calories during one boot camp session.

What do I do to lose one pound per week without restricting calories below my RMR?

If you still want to aim for a deficit of 500 calories per day, you can use an exercise strategy to boost your deficit. 1 hr of boot camp – pushing yourself will typically burn around that number of calories, based on the women that wear body buggs and HR monitors during class. The beauty of this combined approach is that the restriction is milder plus you reap the health benefits of exercise as you lose weight.

How to estimate your daily RMR


To estimate your daily RMR, we have a "Metabolism Calculator" for you to use. Click below to use our Metabolism Calculator to estimate your RMR. The number of calories determined by the Shape Up America! Metabolism Calculator is an estimate of your resting calorie needs for the entire day.

Click to calculate your RMR
Why you need to KNOW YOUR RMR

Article from shape up America.


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