The Fastest Way to Lose Belly Fat

Belly fat is the worst…and these days it’s harder than ever to get rid of. With social pressures and modern conveniences constantly in your face, it’s no wonder that our waistlines continue to expand.

While losing fat, and losing it quickly, can feel impossible, we’re here today to give you a 3-pronged approached to shrink your bell fat once and for all…

#1: Eat Well

It may seem obvious, but everything you put in your body has the potential to go to your belly. The top offender for belly growing is sugar. This means if you want to slim down around your waistline, cutting sugar from your diet is going to help you fast track your way to your goal. Don’t think this means just avoiding chocolate cake at birthday parties. It means giving up the three tablespoons of sugar you add to your coffee, saying no to soda, and skipping sports drinks. Get your sugars from whole fruits for a natural sugar high.

At the same time you’re cutting sugar from your diet, you’ll need to fill your belly with other foods. One of the best options is lean protein. It helps you build muscle (extra muscle = extra belly fat-burning ability) and keeps you full for a longer amount of time. Of course, it also gives you extra energy that helps you take care of business in the gym.

#2: Work Out Well

Speaking of taking care of business in the gym, if you’re going to really shed belly fat, you’re going to have to commit yourself to exercise. No more excuses and no more halfway doing it. You’ve got to go all out. But before you set up shop in the corner doing 3.7 million sit-ups, you should know that as helpful as it is to have a strong core for overall health, burning off belly fat by targeting all exercises directly at your abs won’t work.

Instead, you’ll need to put in a full-body exercise routine that gets your heart pumping. That means on top of a solid foundation of weights and other strength-training exercises, you’ll want to pile on plenty of high intensity cardio exercises.

#3: Track It All

Getting rid of belly fat is a daunting task, and even when it’s going well, it can feel remarkably slow. By keeping track of your progress and your daily intake and outtake of calories, you can better determine what’s working and what’s not and have a better perspective on your actual progress.

Tracking isn’t just good at seeing where you’ve been. It’s also useful for setting goals. Run for 20 minutes yesterday? Go for another couple minutes today. Or better yet, if it took 20 minutes to run two miles yesterday, try running an extra tenth of a mile in the same amount of time today. Keep piling new challenges on top of yourself, and that fat that has clung so tightly to your belly through the years will soon be dropping off of your frame.

Even the best exercise routine in the world is fruitless if you throw away your results with sloppy eating. Remember to keep your meals lean by avoiding processed carbs, packaged foods or fried items. Fill up on lean proteins and fresh vegetables and reward yourself with organic, seasonal fruit. That, my friend, is lean living!

Ready to take your fitness results to the next level? Call or email us today and we will get you started on an exercise program that’s designed to deliver massive results. Come on, you deserve it!

The Healthy Calorie Trap

We see it happen all the time, but that doesn’t make it any less heartbreaking…

Well-meaning folks, like yourself, losing the battle of the bulge to a bunch of excess healthy calories.

I’ve got to level with you: When it comes to gaining and maintaining fat, ANY extra calorie does damage. No matter if it’s whole grain or processed, sugar-free or sugar-full.

Pay attention to your total calorie intake. It really does matter.

Fitness Oatmeal

This oatmeal is packing a powerful ingredient – protein. Mix a scoop of your favorite protein powder into your oatmeal to transform it into a quick and healthy breakfast.

Servings: 1

Here’s what you need…

•              ½cup whole grain oats

•              1 cup water

•              dash of sea salt

•              1 scoop high quality protein

•              1 tablespoon chopped macadamia nuts

•              1 tablespoon golden raisins

1              Mix the oats, water and salt together in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave on high for 2 to 4 minutes.

2              Stir in protein, top with nuts and raisins.

Nutritional Analysis: One serving equals: 325 calories, 7g fat, 41g carbohydrate, 10g fiber, and 26g protein.

Call today for a consultation and assessment!

Email: Pumpstrainingandpilates@gmail.com

Phone: 219-548-3480

Web: Pumpsfitnessinc.com

Do You Eat These Anti-Aging Foods?

Wish you looked a few years younger? Look no further than your dinner plate. The foods that you regularly eat noticeably contribute to how you look and feel. Read on for the anti-aging foods that really make a difference…

Fruits & Veggies

You’ll want a healthy helping of fruits and vegetables. Especially if you want skin that makes people wonder if you and your children are brothers and sisters.

What kind of fruits and vegetables can help you out? When it comes to your skin’s health, any fruit or vegetable is useful. Just remember that the more color a fruit has, the more nutrients it holds. The more nutrients, the better it is for your skin!

A few of the best include the following:

•              avocados—they provide healthy, monounsaturated fats that help your skin stay well hydrated

•              oranges—full of cell-hydrating water, vitamin C does double duty by helping create collagen, which keeps your skin plump and smooth

•              grapes—a particular chemical called resveratrol comes from grape skins and is remarkably efficient at fighting inflammation and bringing the aging process to a nice, slow pace

•              pomegranates—on top of fighting free radicals, they help preserve the collagen you’ve worked so hard to get in the first place

•              blueberries—they’re small and full of antioxidants that fight the damage to your skin caused by free radicals, sun damage, and stress

•              kale and spinach—these and other leafy greens serve to protect against damage done to your skin by the sun, improve your skin’s elasticity (which helps you look younger), and keep your skin as hydrated as possible

•              cauliflower and Brussels sprouts—they may not look like much, but they’re loaded with antioxidants and reduce your risk of cancer and give your immune system a boost, while cauliflower even works to keep your teeth whiter

And a Little Grain It’s hard to eat meal after meal without getting a little bit of grain in your diet. Fortunately for you, there is a way to make your grain intake lend your skin a helping hand. How? By eating oats. Oats, such as those found in oatmeal, are made up of complex carbohydrates and are low on the glycemic scale. Eating oats is particularly helpful for looking younger, as they help you feel full longer and avoid putting on age-increasing pounds. Additionally, oats are full of plant-based chemicals that are responsible for preventing skin cell damage. When you have healthier skin, you have a healthier you who looks young and happy and is ready to take on the world!

To look even younger, a challenging and consistent exercise program is a must. Here’s why…

Exercise is the only proven way to drastically combat aging and to regain your youthful body. In fact, most people are able to regain up to 1/3 of their muscle strength and mass after participating in an exercise program for just a couple of months. Many studies have also shown that seniors who exercise regularly live longer than those who don’t. Isn’t that amazing!

Call or email us today and we’ll get you started on an exercise plan that’s designed to get you looking and feeling younger than you have in decades!

Drop Your Excuses!

Come on, your excuses for being out-of-shape are getting old. Yes, getting up off that couch and into a gym may be intimidating. And, yes, it takes effort. But it’s worth it.

Focus on the big reason why you want to transform your life and body through exercise. Make a list of the benefits you’ll enjoy once you achieve your goal, and read these each morning.

Remember that you can only have two things in life: excuses or results. Which do you want?

Don’t allow excuses to ruin your life any longer.

Slow Cooker Chicken Tacos

Here’s a simple, delicious dinner that your whole family will love. Simply throw the chicken ingredients into the slow cooker in the morning, and come home to a healthy, flavorful meal.

Servings: 8

Here’s what you need:

•              2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs

•              3 bell peppers (any color), thinly sliced

•              1 yellow onion, thinly sliced

•              1 (4oz) can green chiles, chopped (I use mild!)

•              1 (14oz) can diced tomatoes

•              1 (16oz) jar green salsa

•              4 cloves garlic, minced

•              ¼ cup cilantro, chopped plus more for garnish

•              1 Tablespoon ground cumin

•              1 Tablespoon chili powder

•              1 Tablespoon fajita seasoning

•              2 teaspoon sea salt

•              ½ teaspoon black pepper

•              Large lettuce leaves

•              Avocado, sliced

1              Combine all of the ingredients, except the lettuce leaves and avocado, in a slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 5 hours.

2              Remove the chicken thighs, shred with a fork, and mix back in. Serve, using a slotted spoon, on the lettuce leaves. Garnish with sliced avocado, chopped cilantro and a sprinkle of fajita seasoning.

3              Enjoy!

Nutritional Analysis: One serving equals: 202 calories, 6g fat, 589mg sodium, 14g carbohydrate, 5g fiber, and 20g protein.

Call today for a consultation and assessment!

Email: Pumpstrainingandpilates@gmail.com

Phone: 219-548-3480

Web: Pumpsfitnessinc.com

Want more results?

The key is to maximize your workouts. To do this, you will need to push yourself to the point that your body is working as hard as possible without putting yourself at risk for injury. How can you do this? With a simple heart rate monitor.

Read on to see how you can make use of a heart rate monitor, and take heart because better workouts are on the way!

Why It Works

Your heart plays an essential part in your health, well-being, and ability to stay alive. When your heart is working at its perfect tempo, you’re able to burn the most amount of calories and feel your best when you work out. Having a hard time figuring out just how hard and fast to push yourself during a routine? A heart monitor is there to help.

How to Use It

Once you’ve got a heart rate monitor, all you have to do is strap it on your wrist, start working out, and it does the rest. When you’re pushing yourself in the gym or on a run and are feeling good, check the monitor and take note. That is where you want your heart rate to fall in the future. It’s your heart’s sweet spot.

Actually, it’s a good idea to toss on your heart rate monitor when you’re not working out. Wear it while you’re going through your daily routine—working, eating, going to the store. This gives you a baseline to see how hard your heart works normally. So when you start exercising, you should see a sizeable change in your heart rhythm.

With the heart rate monitor on, you can quickly find your lactate threshold or redline. This is when your body switches from using mostly oxygen to using mostly glycogen during high-intensity exertion. You could go to an exercise physiologist and pay for a special test to find this out or simply note at what point in your workout you're unable to talk without breaking up the sentence and your breathing rate suddenly increases. At this point, your pace is comfortably hard and does the most good for your health. Look at your heart rate. Keep that in mind for the next time you work out.

Watch It Change

As you know, the goal of regular exercise is to beat your body into submission so that it is constantly improving. When you do this, your heart rate does something funny. It actually beats slower. With a heart rate monitor, you can actually monitor your overall fitness progress by watching your beats per minute drop. The change will take time and may never be dramatic, but as your body grows more accustomed to being worked hard, your heart doesn’t have to exert itself as hard as it once did, because it knows what to do and is more efficient at doing it.

Not seeing your heart rate drop? Keep working at it and stay focused on your heart rate. If it starts jumping above your sweet spot, slow down. You may hunger to push your body beyond your heart’s comfort zone, but if that means sending your heart rate into outer space, don’t do it!

Take It to Heart

Information is only useful if you use it. Once you learn your ideal heart rate, pay attention to how fast your heart is working during your routine. Then do whatever it takes to get your heart there and stay pumping at that pace until your trainer says to call it a day.

If you’re not interested in knowing your heart rate, no problem. Heart rate monitors aren’t for everyone. Just be aware of other signs that indicate whether your body can be pushed a little harder, is operating at peak performance, or needs you to back off. And if you have questions, remember, we’re here to help you meet your fitness and weight loss goals.

Call or email today to get started on a fitness program that will quickly bring you to your goal.

An excellent exercise choice to make is to start one of our fitness programs!

Boost Healthy Eating Choices

In order to make healthy eating choices a no-brainer, empty out your kitchen of any and all junk food items. Throw out the processed, sugar-filled and carbohydrate-rich junk food items that have been contributing to your weight gain.

Now replace all of the junk items with healthy replacements. Whole, fresh food items like fruit, vegetables, lean protein, eggs, seeds and nuts. The closer an item is to its natural state, the healthier it is for you. Stay clear of “health food” that come packaged and processed.

Fennel, Celery and Green Apple Slaw

Here’s a light and refreshing salad that’s filled with healthy fiber. Fresh tarragon, fennel and lemon juice lend vibrant flavors, eliminating the need for fattening, store bought salad dressing. Serve alongside a portion of lean protein for the perfect, fitness approved meal. Servings: 2

Here’s what you need:

•              2 Tablespoons olive oil

•              1 Tablespoon Apple Cider Vinegar

•              1 Tablespoon fresh tarragon, minced

•              1 teaspoon lemon juice

•              zest from 1 lemon

•              2 celery sticks plus the leaves

•              1 fennel bulb, plus the fronds

•              1 green apple

•              dash of salt and pepper

1              In a small bowl combine the oil, vinegar, tarragon, lemon juice and zest. Set aside.

2              Using a mandoline slicer on the thinnest setting, thinly slice the celery, fennel bulb and green apple. Place in a medium bowl. Chop the celery leaves and fennel fronds and add to the bowl.

3              Toss the salad with the dressing and season with salt and pepper. Enjoy!

Nutritional Analysis: One serving equals: 219 calories, 14g fat, 192mg sodium, 23g carbohydrate, 7g fiber, and 3g protein

Call today for a consultation and assessment!

Email: Pumpstrainingandpilates@gmail.com

Phone: 219-548-3480

Web: Pumpsfitnessinc.com

9 Reasons Everyone Should Lift Weights

Watch a documentary about people who lift weights and you’ll likely be watching some of the world’s elite body builders hone their physique to abnormal largeness. Take a peek into your local gym and you’ll see something quite different. Sure, there may be a handful of body builders there, but they’re lifting right next to an accountant, a store clerk, and a retiree. That’s because all these people realize one thing: lifting weights is for everyone.

But is weight lifting really for you? Here are nine reasons the answer is yes.

#1: You Get Happy

Yes, exercise of any kind gets the happy chemicals running through your body, but lifting weights seems to have an advantage on your happy level. Why? Lots of reasons that are listed below.

#2: You’re More Useful

You were born with a great affinity to do something. You may be gifted to argue cases in court, cook an amazing meal, or keep cool while caring for a dozen 5-year-olds. Lifting weights helps you do each of them better. On top of that, it gives you the capacity to lend a helping hand when someone is struggling to lift a heavy box or open a stuck door.

Suddenly, you’re not stuck waiting for help when a demanding task is put in front of you. Instead, you bend at the knees and get to work.

#3: You Get Focused

If you’ve ever struggled with trying to figure out what to do at the gym, we are here to help. That includes lifting weights. As your strength and the amount of weight you lift increase, intense focus is required to avoid injury. This focus in the gym—if you let it—will carry over into your non-gym activities.

#4: Your Body

Lifting weights does so much for your physique. Push yourself hard enough and your body will amaze you constantly. But your physique isn’t the only beneficiary of weight lifting. Lifting helps your body fend off illnesses and injury by helping you shed unwanted pounds, lowering your blood pressure, improving your heart function, and more.

#5: You Do the Impossible

When you start lifting weights, you can’t imagine lifting any more than you do in your first session. Three weeks later, you’ve already passed the impossible mark. By doing this over and over, you pick up a mental toughness and confidence that will aid you in all areas of life.

#6: You Eat Better

Have you been struggling to keep your daily calorie count down? Nothing helps you stay in line better than working out. Your regular weight-lifting routine makes you more aware of what you put in your body, making it easier to say “No” to those temptations that are always around the corner.

#7: Your Bones Get Stronger

While the first thing you may notice after lifting weights is stronger muscles, your bones are also secretly gaining strength at the same time. Since the risk of osteoporosis and broken bones only increases as you age, guarding against them with weight lifting only makes sense!

#8: Your Balance Improves

Staying on your feet may not be an issue today, but as you age, it will become one of your top priorities. This is especially true considering how often elderly people lose their balance and wind up with life-altering broken bones. Lifting weights at any age will give you a balance boost that will last throughout your life.

#9: Your Brain Function Increases

Believe it or not, people who lift weights aren’t the meatheads they’re made out to be. Quite the opposite. Research has proven that lifting weights actually has the power to improve your brain’s ability to do its job.

Reach your fitness potential faster by coupling your good diet with a challenging exercise program. We are here to motivate, instruct and encourage you to reach your goal.

Call or email today to get started on a fitness program that will truly improve your quality of life.

Aim to Add

It’s easy to only focus on the foods that you’re not supposed to eat when trying to lose fat, but by changing your focus to all the foods that you are able to freely eat you’ll stay motivated and stick with it.

Pack as many non-starchy vegetables as you’d like into your daily diet as well as fresh, seasonal fruits. Experiment with different methods of preparation for exciting variety.

Tropical Chopped Chicken Salad

When you lift weights it’s important to get a healthy intake of protein at each meal. Combining chicken and vegetables, like in this tropical salad, is one of the healthiest ways that you can eat. Your fitness results will flourish when meals like this become a regular part of your life. Servings: 5

Here’s what you need:

•              4 skinless chicken breast, organic and vegetarian fed

•              Bolthouse Farms Tropical Mango Olive Oil Vinaigrette

•              1 head cabbage, chopped

•              1 red bell pepper, chopped

•              1 mango, chopped

•              1/2 cup pineapple, chopped

•              1 bunch cilantro, chopped

•              1/3 cup green onions, chopped

1              Rinse the chicken breasts and place in a large ziplock bag. Pour in enough of the Mango Vinaigrette to fully cover the chicken. Place in the fridge for at least 4 hours.

2              Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and grease a pan with coconut oil.

3              Bake the marinated chicken breasts for 30 minutes until cooked through, then turn on the broiler for 3-5 minutes until deeply golden. Chop and set aside.

4              In a large bowl combine all of the remaining ingredients along with the chopped chicken. Drizzle a little of the mango vinaigrette and mix well.

Nutritional Analysis: One serving equals: 240 calories, 3g fat, 285mg sodium, 23g carbohydrate, 6g fiber, and 29g protein

Call today for a consultation and assessment!

Email: Pumpstrainingandpilates@gmail.com

Phone: 219-548-3480

Web: Pumpsfitnessinc.com