Are you sedentary?

We live in a very fast paced competitive world. Many people are stuck at a desk for 8 or so hours per day. Others are stuck in a car for a majority of the day. Are you sedentary?

Lets start off with a description of a sedentary life: Somebody who is sedentary is a person who is involved in little or no regular physical activity. Majority of the day spent seated and inactive. Quite often, people who follow this type of lifestyle also have poor eating habits.

Why is sedentary bad? Being sedentary is the leading cause of osteoperosis, arthritis, depression, coronary heart disease, and it has been known (along with poor diet) to lead to certain cancers, Type II Diabetes, obesity, back and/or neck pain, elevated cholesterol and high blood pressure. So basically living a sedentary life is a quick path to an early grave, or many years of illness and unhappiness.

I understand that life it tough at times. There are many financial strains and time restrictions. How do you avoid a sedentary life? There are a few answers, and they may not fit for everybody, but a few tips that often help are;

-go for family walks at least 4 times a week
-join a team and get serious about that sport
-avoid elevators and moving stairs, climb the good old fashioned stairs
-park a few blocks away from work, or take the bus at a farther stop
-go to the park and play games like tag with your children
-if you are stuck in an office all day, eat your lunch and then enjoy a walk around the block with a few colleagues.

These are not the only ways, and perhaps not as great as trying to hit the gym or pool a few times a week, but it will help without a doubt. Do not forget that diet plays a HUGE roll as well.

If you are stuck being sedentary and know the risks and want to change, please feel free to ask me for tips. There is always a solution.

www.twitter.com/trainwithoz

Swimming to lose weight?

So the debate goes on... can you lose weight by swimming?

I have heard so many theories and explanations that it makes me laugh. I will share a few;
- you cannot lose weight swimming because you don't sweat
- yes, you lose weight because your muscles work harder to make you float
- no because you are not on your feet

I am sure there are millions more, but that is the general idea of how people react to this topic. I want to answer this question for you, and explain my answer.

Losing weight is a math game, if more calories are being spent than being put in, you will lose weight. How you burn those calories can play a role, but in general calories out greater than calories in = weight loss, plain and simple.

If you take an average 155 - 165lb male, and make him do laps (frontstroke) at a moderate pace, he will burn roughly 560 calories per hour. That same individual can burn up to 705 doing extremely intense breaststroke for an hour. SO as you can see, swimming is efficient at burning calories.

Swimming is perhaps the single best cardio exercise (as in helping your heart) since your heart has to pump blood to every muscle group and all extremities at the same time. If you are looking for a fun exercise to help lower cholesterol, help lower blood pressure, lower your resting heart rate, and simply to feel good, swimming is a very safe bet.

It is not at the top of my list as a weight loss workout, but I would never turn anybody away from doing it. There are millions of people who have taken on swimming, and altered their diets and have lost immense amounts of weight.

Personally, swimming is part of my overall training routine. I do laps for about 30minutes once a week. I rotate between breast and front strokes, and added to my clean diet and other workouts, it is for sure helping my weight management and my overall health.

So, to sum it all up, so long as your diet is clean, and you are swimming at a moderate to rigorous pace, YES, swimming can benefit you in your weight loss journey.

Please feel free to follow me on twitter @trainwithoz or via my website www.mytraineroz.com

STOP counting calories

That's it!!! I have had it!!! Who has the time and patience to count calories? Why would anybody want to live that way? Same goes for Weight Watchers... why constantly worry about a point system. Point systems are for sports and statistics!

I have been down the road of counting calories, been there done that, saw little results. I have found a good balance that is easy to follow, will lead to better health, and help in your fitness results too! It is called moderation, variation, and portion control.

Previous generations never counted calories. In the 1800s, people ate when they were hungry or when food was available. It is ever since we have become obsessed with our health and weight that we have become sicker and more obese!

So what is the solution? Simple: Food. Like grandma used to make!

Breakfast and lunch should be complete meals about the size of a dinner plate. It should contain lean protein, essential fats, fibre, fruits and/or veggies and whole grains.

Supper should be smaller and be equal parts lean protein and veggies (steamed or as a salad).

Snack on fruits, vegetables and nuts between meals and drink plenty of water.

If you want to lose weight slightly lower the portion size, and be more active. If you want to gain muscle eat a few more complex carbs and more protein, and of course modify your workouts. If you want better health, stick to this plan.

I highly recommend you include the following into your meals at LEAST once a week,but the more the merrier;
Broccoli
Salmon
Steel Cut Oatmeal (organic preferably)
Onions and garlic
Maitaki and Shitaki mushrooms
colorful peppers
Spinach
Tilapia or Pangasius
Chick Peas and Lentils

That is a great start to a healthy lifestyle and you will NEVER have to worry about calories EVER again!

Portion size

Summer is here, and so is the desire to have that "beach" body ready. Some of us want to lose weight to feel better. Others want to drop a few pounds to show off, and some will do whatever it takes to get that infamous 6-pack.

There is nothing wrong with shedding a few pounds if you have a few pounds to shed. For many, dropping 5 to 15 pounds can be a huge jump in overall health. The question is, how are you losing the weight.

Although I am in the supplement business, and I make a living by selling fat burners, I do not see that as the answer. Many people opt for them, and if you eat well and workout hard, you will see added results.

For me, health is always the main concern. So by cutting your calories, eating proper foods, and increasing activity, you are losing the weight, AND increasing your overall health. That is a double benefit.

What I do see as a common error though is portion size. I see many people eating all the right foods and working out the proper way, but why no weightloss? PORTION SIZE!!! I can tell you that portion size is my common error, and although I know better, I often prepare myself too much.

Eating properly portioned meals and snacks will help rev your metabolism. It will allow your body to use what is being given as energy without excess being stored to fat cells. It also prevents dips in energy levels throughout the day.

So, what is proper portion size? We can talk all day about ounces and fist sizes etc... but for me the easiest way is this. For lunch and supper eat a normal sized plate divided into 3... 1/3 lean protein, 1/3 complex carbs and fibre, and the last 1/3 essential fats.
Example, for breakfast you can have an omlette 2 egg whites 1 whole egg, some fresh fruit and a slice of multigrain toast with a tab of butter.

For your snacks, enjoy either a fruit or vegetable, some fresh almonds or yogurt.

I guarantee if you keep proper portion size, you will start to lose that excess weight and you will FOR SURE feel better!

Have a wonderful healthy day!

Staying Healthy

I know I am in the mood to blog, but I am not 100% sure what I want to blog about, so this will be a random blog about things to do to stay healthy.

Lets start off by how we define health? To me health means being free of illness and disease. It means being mentally and physically well. It means not having issues with your health in general, and most important about feeling good.

I believe that I am healthy. I have no illness or disease. I have lots of energy. I am in a good space mentally and I am very happy with how I feel and look. I am far from perfect. I have things to work on, but they are in progress.

So, what do I do to get and stay healthy? There are a number of things that can help. I cannot say for fact that they will help you, but I guarantee they have worked for me. I can only tell you about my experiences and hopefully they help others as well.

So, what is it that I do? Nothing special really. Stuff that we should all be doing. Here are some of the basics;

- I try and sleep at least 8 hours a night. If I cannot get at least 7 hours a night, I try and nap during the day.

- I try and drink water regularly so as to keep myself fully hydrated at all times. This helps prevent excessive hunger, helps prevent dips in energy, and helps prevent headaches.

- I eat as many fruits and vegetables of all colors as possible. Especially berries! I personally try and get organic produce, but that is not always an option financially, but 95% of my fruits and veggies are organic.

- The only grains I eat are whole grains and sprouted grains. Buckwheat, spelt, barley and lentils are a foundation to my diet. I also enjoy limited amounts of almonds, peanuts, walnuts, raisins and cashews.

- I eat a wide variety of fresh fish, and limited amounts of lean protein such as chicken breasts, turkey breasts and extra lean lamb.

- I no longer use a microwave... its been a few months now.

- I have replaced coffee for organic green and/or white tea.

- I exercise regularly. Sometimes I weight train (about 3 - 4 times per week) and the other times I work on cardio (minimum 4 times per week).

- I try and laugh! I watch funny clips on YouTube, I watch shows and movies that make me laugh, and I read funny articles. Laughter is the best medicine.

I hope that a few of these can find their way into your regular routine, and I hope it helps keep you healthy or improve your health.

Please follow me on twitter @trainwithoz or contact me via my website www.mytraineroz.com.

Why is smoking still legal?

OK, without being mean, I understand that governments are a little slow with change and progression, and they love their tax dollars, but COME ON!!! Do they not realize that cigarettes KILL!!!

Here is government mentality: Tobacco companies pay very high taxes. The smoker who buys packs of cigarettes also pays high taxes on the cigarettes. So the government is literally making money hand over fist.

What about health care? Obama has tried to implement new health care in the US and I am not sure what went down with that. As a Canadian, we have socialized health care, which is slightly flawed, but really not that bad. What is the cost that smokers are putting on health care?

I do not have concrete stats, nor do I need them. Smoking directly and indirectly kills thousands per year. How many cancers could have been avoided? How many patients are hospitalized due to severe breathing issues? How many burn victims due to fires started by cigarettes? Heart disease and stroke? Do I need to go on?

The government is looking at today, without any vision towards the future. Make smoking illegal, lose some revenue now, and save BILLIONS in health care in the next 50 years.

Yes, I understand people will still smoke, and I understand that cigarettes will be treated and praised like marijuana etc... But for the most part, banning it will lead to benefits. It would take years to get regulations in place, but somebody has to take that first step.

I will commend local governments that have banned smoking in public places and there are even a few places that hand tiockets to smokers who smoke in a car while children are present, but is that enough?

I would love your feedback and opinions.

Losing Weight vs Getting Healthy

Food has become a large part of North America's obesity problem. It has also become the topic of many, blogs, TV talk shows, articles, books and documentaries. I have noticed that many people are confused about the difference between losing weight, and getting healthy.

I want to clarify this in the easiest way possible.

TO LOSE WEIGHT:
In order to lose weight, you need to expend more calories than you are taking in. 3500 calories equals 1 pound, so if you burn 500 more calories per day compared to what you consume, you will lose 1 pound per week.

When we look at it this way, it does not much matter where the calories come from, so long as there are more calories out as opposed to in.

TO GET HEALTHY:
If you need to lose weight, then the main rule still stands... you need more calories out as opposed to in.
However, here is where the difference lies. You need to see where the calories are coming from.
If you have Type II diabetes, or are deemed pre-diabetic, you want to limit the amount of sugars and simple carbs in your diet. You do not want to eat too many fruits, and you are best off switching from white bread and pasta to whole wheat or multi grain bread and pasta.
If blood pressure and cholesterol is your health issue, you want to increase the amount of fiber in your diet. Salty foods and foods containing sodium should be very limited or even eliminated.

I see that alot of people focus on getting thinner, but they do not always worry about their health in general. Many people under eat, and that too can lead to long term health issues. People willing "to do anything" to lose weight often try supplements that are safe for most, but may be harmful if you have some underlying condition. Yo-yo dieting has been proven to cause serious long term health issues, and we all know why it is called yo-yo effect. You stick to the diet and once you reach your ideal weight... KABOOM!!!

If I can offer 1 piece of advise, it would be to focus on your overall general health. I assure you that if you train correctly, eat well, and put out more calories than you take in, you will lose the weight and gain health.

If you need any help or need suggestions for doing this, please contact me on twitter @mytraineroz or via my website www.mytraineroz.com.