This is a great starting point for someone who is a beginner in fitness. Beginner’s have a hard time when they start working out because there is so much information out there that contradicts itself. One trainer will say heavy weights low rep, the next will say low weights high rep, high-protein vs low fat, etc. To make it even more difficult, those same opposing viewpoints/ methodologies can both be right. Getting into shape largely depends on the individual person and their goal. There is no one size fits all. We have a few universal laws but there are many ways to apply them. For example, to lose weight you have to burn more calories than you take in. I can name 9 different ways off the top of my head to attain that goal. However, what has worked for me or another client may not work for you. You have to find the right tool to get the job done. Being well versed in many styles of training and nutrition is a plus.

To apply the scientific method to your own unique situation you will need three things. Pen, paper, and commitment. Use the pen and paper to plan your workouts/ nutrition and track the results. You will need the commitment to see the “experiment” through. Begin by asking what your goals are. What is it that you want to achieve and how can you do it? After that do some research on your goal. Let us assume that your goal is to lose weight. Read up on the best ways to lose weight from a credible source such as AlchemyFit.com or other good but not as great online resources, lol. Based upon your findings construct a hypothesis. It could go like this: ” If I took one of the hours I spent watching t.v. daily and exercised 4 times per week and cut back on processed foods I can lose weight”. For most people out there, these two simple changes would be enough to make a huge difference in results.

Next, you would test your hypothesis by experimenting. Your experiment consists of your exercise and nutrition program for an amount of time. I think that 8-12 weeks should do. Four weeks is not enough to see substantial change and twelve weeks is ample time to see results. Take your measurements, body fat percentage, and weight down before you start the program. At the end of the 8-12 weeks analyze your results and draw a conclusion. If you lost 20 pounds and dropped 7 percent body fat, you can conclude that whatever you were doing works for you. If you lost 6 pounds or even worse gained with no changes in your body fat percentage, you can conclude the program wasn’t very effective. Should you be mad, upset, or demotivated? No!!! Look at it like this, you didn’t fail you just found a way that didn’t work for you. Over the years I have tried many different programs with mixed results. All of them were part of my learning process. I absorbed what was useful and disregarded what was useless. Somethings that I found useful for me did not work for other people and things that were useless to me worked wonders for other people. So stop trying to find the perfect program and pick one and do it. Track the results, make some adjustments, and continue on.

If this post has helped you in anyway, please feel free to make a donation to our “Lose Weight, Save A Child” fitness challenge. We are raising money to help those who need it the most. Thank you.

There are two things you have to do to take advantage of the thermic effect of food. Number one is eating 4-6 smaller meals and snacks throughout the day. Every time you eat, your metabolism goes up slightly for a few hours to process the meal. By eating more frequently you reduce the risk of overeating at a meal when you are hungry. Haven’t you noticed you tend to eat more food after going a long time without eating? It is hardwired into our primal instinct to do so. Our bodies took thousands of years to evolve into the modern day state. In early days food wasn’t always in abundant supply and there were no dollar menus. We also had to expend calories chasing prey down or foraging for nuts and berries. To protect us, our bodies became very efficient at storing body fat for times of famine. Fast-forward a few millenniums where you only have to take a few steps and open a refrigerator or drive up to a local fast food place to get a meal. We are the only animals (not in captivity) besides scavengers who spend so few calories to get a meal. Now you can see why there is an obesity epidemic going on in America.

The second part of the thermic effect of food has to deal with the macronutrients. The three macronutrients are protein, carbohydrate, and fat. Of the three, protein is the most relevant to this discussion. Your body spends more energy trying to break down proteins than it does for carbohydrates and fats. It is estimated that 25-30% of the calories consumed from protein sources are used in digestion compared to 15% for carbohydrates and 2-3% for fats. This goes to show that a calorie is not a calorie. If you were to eat equal calorie meals comprised of the different macronutrients, the protein meal would be more beneficial to your weight loss goals. Many people have seen great results by using the Atkins diet and other high protein diets due to this. In my opinion, some of those diets are too restrictive but you can up your protein intake in a balanced diet. My favorite is the 40/30/30 ratio -carbohydrates, protein, and fat respectively. That’s the percentage of calories you should get from each macronutrient in your diet. For example, if you were to eat 2000 calories daily this would be the breakdown: 800 calories (200 grams) from carbohydrates, 600 (150 grams) calories from protein, and 600 (66 grams) calories from fat.

If this post has helped you in anyway, please feel free to make a donation to our “Lose Weight, Save A Child” fitness challenge. We are raising money to help those who need it the most. Thank you.

How do you know when you are working at a higher intensity? We have a built in mechanism that gauges that for us. It is called our heart rate. Many experienced athletes and fitness enthusiasts can tell when they are pushing themselves intuitively but others should acquire a heart rate monitor. At the end of the article I have listed the top rated monitors available at Amazon.com. The constant change in heart rate is very beneficial for our bodies because of the indirect effect that it has on our EPOC levels. EPOC stands for excess post-exercise oxygen consumption. EPOC occurs when the body’s metabolism is elevated for an extended period after exercise.

The intensity of the exercise is directly correlated with EPOC levels. Here’s a good motto to live by in regards to interval training; work harder don’t work longer. When you push your body for those brief but intense spurts it will continue to burn calories after the training session in order to replenish energy supplies. During training, you will have likely depleted all of your muscle glycogen (stored carbohydrates) and your muscles will need energy. The muscles begin to breakdown fat to restore their energy in a process called fat oxidation. We will go into more detail about fat oxidation later next week.

Five of the most popular heart rate monitors and a body fat analyzer to track your results:

If this post has helped you in anyway, please feel free to make a donation to our “Lose Weight, Save A Child” fitness challenge. We are raising money to help those who need it the most. Thank you.

Eat Less and Exercise More- This is by far the best strategy you can implement to lose weight. You do not have to go on a very restrictive diet and you will not have to live in the gym. Studies prove that people who make small changes in their exercise routines and nutrition get better results than people who just do one or the other to the extreme. Translation- it is better to workout an hour a day four times per week and eat 4-6 nutrient dense meals daily than to stay in the gym three hours a day with horrible eating habits. It is also better than having extremely restrictive eating habits and not exercising. You will stay with the program longer and have a better quality of life.

When you hear an expert say eat less and another expert say it more, who is right? Generally speaking, both are right if we are using the assumption that one is in the normal population and focused on losing weight. I know it sounds confusing but it is really simple. Eat less calorie-dense and low nutritional value foods and eat more nutrient-dense lower calorie foods. So cut back on the Big Mac’s that are loaded with calories and very little nutritious value and eat more fresh produce with lean meats (chicken, turkey, and fish). Notice that I said cut back not eliminate completely. It’s what you do most of the time that makes the biggest difference not what you do all the time. If you are disciplined enough to never cheat and eat healthy ALL the time, good for you. But there are so many delicious treats that we can indulge in sporadically, maybe once per week, and not have it affect our goals. Try to eat clean 5-6 days out of the week and have a cheat meal at your favorite restaurant one day as a reward for your discipline.

Eating more also refers to eating more frequently (4-6 small meals daily at regular intervals 2-3 hours). There is a trend that I have noticed over the last ten years and I’m confident you have noticed it to. The trend is that the people who are overweight tend to skip breakfast and only eat once or twice per day. Those meals tend to be larger than the normal portion size due to hunger and what I call “perceived hunger”. Perceived hunger is when someone goes a very long time without eating and overloads their plate at the next meal to make up for it. The other part of the trend is that some of the thinnest people I know eat the most. They eat 5-8 meals per day and I’m not talking “rabbit food” (salad). Is it coincidence? Is it genetics? I am certain from experience and scientific evidence that it is not coincidence. There may be some slight genetic factors to consider in some cases but not the majority. It has to do with metabolism which we will discuss more in our next article.

If you are eating right, exercising, and not losing weight, I have three words- UP THE INTENSITY. Doing the same 30-45 minutes of cardio at only 50-60% of your maximum heart rate will keep you relatively healthy internally but it will not do much for your external appearance. If I told you there was a way to spend less time in the gym and get better results would you be interested? Of course you would!! Try doing H.I.I.T which stands for High Intensity Interval Training. It is the best of both worlds. Your workout won’t take as long and your results will be better. Interval training is when you constantly change intensity during your workout. For example, if you are using a treadmill you would jog lightly for 2 minutes then the next 1-2 minutes do an all out sprint. After you are done sprinting, go back to jogging and keep repeating that cycle for 20 minutes. Check back in later for a more detailed article on interval training.