Bikini Wars

I've been running. I've been watching what I eat. Next month I am spending a week in Mexico with my wonderful husband of 11 years. It is time to evaluate my swim suit situation and Fight the Frump.





Help me out. In the comments please discuss butt cheeks and price.
Be honest, I can take it.

Can you find the time?

A couple of weeks ago I talked about losing weight by creating a calorie deficit through proper food intake. Exercise is a great way to burn more calories. Here are some facts that will help you establish a exercise program that works in less than thirty minutes three days a week.

The Facts

Twenty minutes of light to moderate exercise three days a week is sufficient for a person who is just beginning a program

Your body is designed to become efficient at exercise. It accomplishes this by building muscle and increasing your cardiovascular abilities(Good), which allows the body to burn less calories during exercise(Bad).

The perfect exercise program takes these facts into consideration and plans for the exercise plateaus that are caused when your body becomes efficient at an exercise. An exercise program is made up of four components; mode of exercise, intensity, time and days. The only way to break an exercise plateau is to change one of those four components.

For people who are just starting to exercise I recommend picking an exercise that is easy on the joints and low intensity, like walking, biking or an elliptical machine. The exercise should be preformed for 20 minutes 3 days a week. After 2 -3 weeks the body will get used to this exercise and start burning less calories.

If you are working out in a gym the simplest way to challenge your body and increase the number of calories burned is to change the mode of exercise. If you are working out at home you can still change your mode of exercise by using exercise videos, walking, running, wii boxing (you laugh, but have you tried it?), biking, jump rope, etc.

I have been using these principals for 10 years. I gained over 60 pounds with each of my pregnancies and lost the weight each time by starting with 20 minutes of exercise 3 days a week. I spend three weeks on the elliptical, followed by three weeks on a bike, and three weeks on a stair stepper. Next I go back to the elliptical and increase my time to 25 minutes or increase my intensity for three weeks and rotate through the machines again.

These principals work because they are proven, and not just by me. I have put into practice what I learned 10 years ago from Neil Spruce of Apex Fitness.

Go here to see how other bloggers are Fighting the Frump.

How to...

Lose One Pound A Week Without Exercise.

For this week's Fight the Frump, I am going to step back into my former profession and see if my expertise might be of interest to anyone.

A long time ago, I was a personal trainer and nutrition consultant. In my early 20's I gravitated to this job after losing 55 pounds. By educating others on proper lifestyle and eating habits, I learned how to control my own weight and effectively lose weight after I had my babies. For the record, I gained 70 pounds in my first pregnancy and 60 pounds with my second baby. It is accurate to say that in my life time I have loss 185 pounds and kept it off.

Math is our friend

Let's say you want to lose some weight. A loss of one to two pounds a week is considered healthy. To keep our math simple, let's set a goal of one pound a week.

1 pound of fat = 3500 calories
There are 7 days in a week.
3500 / 7 = 500 calories a day deficit needed to lose one pound a week.

You can create a calorie deficit by eating less food, exercising more or both. Today we are going to focus on food intake. I want to focus our attention here because an hour spent sweating at the gym can easily be negated by calorie consumption.

Let's take my once upon a time client for example. She had a difficult time exercising, so she could only ride the bike for 10 minutes 3 days a week. She spent the rest of her hour at the gym lifting weights. There is nothing wrong with this work out routine. According to this calculator she was burning 640 calories during that hour at the gym. Unfortunately she felt the need to reward herself with dinner at McDonald's, which WAS NOT on her meal plan. Her Quarter Pounder with Cheese and Large Fries cost her 1080 calories. I'm sure we can all see the error in her ways.

How many calories should I eat?

I'm sorry, but I must answer this question with a question. How many calories are you eating? Anyone who is serious about losing weight must first calculate their daily intake of calories. This can only be accomplished one way. Write down what you eat and how much you are eating. Use measuring cups. Use a scale if you have one, or use this tool to learn how to eyeball portion sizes.

After you record your food it is time to calculate your calories. I love calorieking.com. It is simple, free and has a very large database including menu items from most restaurants. Once you have your daily food and calorie intake on paper you should be able to find some simple and painless ways to cut 500 calories from your daily intake.

Topic for next week

Weight loss is a lifestyle change that I am passionate about. Here are some other topics I would like to discuss over the next couple of weeks

• Using protein, fat and fiber to help you feel fuller longer
• Increasing your metabolism by eating more often
• How to plan for weight loss plateaus and get through them quickly
• Exercise that fits with your lifestyle

If you are interested in any of these topics, leave me a comment and I will post about the most popular choice next week.

I'm here to help

If you want me to look at your food journal and see how I can help, send me an email. (seibelblog(at)gmail(dot)com).

Hair Fabulous

Have you ever needed a haircut but made excuse after excuse as to why you shouldn't get one?

This woman is a great example.

This poor lady has convinced herself that her hair is stylish enough.
Look at her hair. Will someone please tell her that it is time to shell over the $55.00 and let someone do something about that drab mess of split ends.

Oh, thank God! Finally the honesty of a child comes in handy.

Now let's look at her.

What a difference! Look at the layers! Look at that smile! She is happy, stylish and dare I say... younger looking. Why, oh why did she wait so long to update her look. I hope she has learned her lesson and will take better care of herself in the future.

And let this be a lesson for all of us. Your hair is an important part of your look. If you want to Fight the Frump, you need to dump that clump of hair that is weighing you down.

Run away from the Frump

Do you remember my New Year's resolution? I haven't forgot. I am training for the 5K race that I resolved to run. I expected this training to push me beyond my comfort zone. I expected to developed a love/hate relationship with the treadmill. I expected soreness and aching knees. I have not been disappointed.

What I didn't expect was physical improvements so early in my training and increased self confidence. Mrs. Fussypants is kicking off the weekend with her first Fight the Frump, this is a perfect opportunity to talk about my training program.

The Program

The goal is to go from running one mile to four miles in sixteen weeks. Here is how it breaks down:

Weeks 1 & 2: Monday - 1 mile run, Wednesday & Friday - 10 minute runs
Week 3: Monday - 1.5 mile run, Wednesday & Friday - 12 minute runs
Week 4: Monday - 1.5 mile run, Wednesday & Friday - 15 minute runs
Week 5: Monday - 2 mile run, Wednesday & Friday - 18 minute runs
Week 6: Monday - 2 mile run, Wednesday & Friday - 20 minute runs
Week 7: Monday - 2.5 mile run, Wednesday & Friday - 22 minute runs
Week 8: Monday - 2.5 mile run, Wednesday & Friday - 25 minute runs

I think you are all smart enough to figure out the pattern here.

The Benefits

You can run anywhere. The supplies that you need for this activity are already in your closet. A good workout can be achieved in very little time. There are so many reasons why running is a great way to exercise.

I am in week five of my training program. The thought of running four miles without stopping still overwhelms me. Two weeks ago, I didn't think I would be able to run a mile in less than ten minutes. Then I did it. I ran a mile in ten minutes and then continued to run for another half mile. I cannot explain how satisfying that was. I felt terrific. I accomplished something that I thought would be very difficult for me. My success had a tremendous impact on my self-esteem.

You know what else happened? This -

My tushie is tighter. Five weeks to a tighter tushie. Need I say more?