To increase your calorie burn without working out longer try adding intensity; work out harder, not longer.  Below are some easy ways to get a bigger burn for your exercise buck and you might even shorten your exercise time!

1. pump your arms – You can burn 15% more calories by swinging your arms front to back as you walk, run, use the elliptical.  Don’t pump them side to side or across your body.

2. add plyometrics –  Add periods of jumping, skipping, hopping to your workout.  You can double the calorie burn, especially belly fat.

3. add hills or incline – You can burn 3 times as many calories moving uphill.  Stay upright and avoid leaning into the hill/bending at the hips.

4. interval bursts – Alternate vigorous spurts with lower intensity periods to catch your breath.

5. walk/run outside – You can burn 10% more calories by moving outside.  Propelling yourself forward burns more than going the same speed on a treadmill.

6. move for 12 minutes – All movement burns calories, but after 12 minutes you enter the training effect where you increase your fat burning enzymes and improve your oxygen use.

7. move to upbeat music – People exercise 20% longer to fast paced music they like.  Plus you synchronize your pace to the faster beat.

8. up the overall intensity – There is a difference between strolling to the mailbox and power walking.  You should get “huffy puffy” if you are exercising to burn calories.

9. drink chilled water – Exercisers worked out longer and perceived their workout as easier when they drank chilled water (as opposed to warm water).  Plus it burns a few calories to warm the water up internally.

10. use heavy weights – You can burn more calories with fewer reps by lifting heavier weights and it sustains your metabolic rate longer post workout.  20 pounds lifted 5 time burns more calories than lifting 10 pounds 10 times.

11. circuit training – Eliminate, or shorten, your rest between sets by lifting 1 set then moving right to a different set.  Instead of biceps – rest – biceps  try biceps – squats – triceps – lunges-biceps – squats – triceps – lunges.  This turns your lifting into a cardio session and burns twice as many calories after your workout as lifting with rests.

12. yoga – Practicing yoga can decrease binge eating by up to 50%.

So without exercising all day, which idea might work best for you to burn some extra calories?

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sleep

get enough

exercise

fit in several 5 minute bursts (still burns calories)

schedule it

shorten (if you must), but don’t skip, workouts

stress management

keep only the traditions you love

pare down

delegate

budget your time (start early, don’t procrastinate)

accept imperfection

take 10 minutes for yourself

you don’t have to be happy 24/7

say no

don’t run yourself ragged

maintain some part of your normal schedule

eating

aim to maintain weight (not lose)

identify your food triggers   (extra baking, food pushers, office treats,

parties, buffets, family gatherings…)  plan around them

eat breakfast

eat before parties (apple, few nuts, broth-based soup, cheese and pretzels…)

scan party food/buffet first…then decide what to eat

carry a glass of water during the party (makes it difficult to hold food, too)

wear a big ring you don’t normally wear, each time you reach for food it is a reminder

wear watch or bracelet on “other” arm as reminder to control your eating

chew gum

set an eating behavior intention before each party

decide ahead of time how many cookies (how much of anything) you will eat

before party picture yourself there socializing, not eating

bring/contribute healthy foods

budget your calories throughout the day (eat a small but healthy breakfast and lunch)

limit alcohol (empty calories and lowers your willpower)

watch holiday drinks (caloric)

use a short, wide glass for non-caloric beverages and a tall, thin glass for

caloric ones (we tend to drink less from tall, skinny glasses)

eat with restraint

sit to eat

savor each bite

finish only what you love

3 bites (allow yourself to enjoy 3 bites of a treat, then stop)

use a small plate

you can always have another bite tomorrow (just knowing you can get more tomorrow can

help you stop eating today)

use strong mint or mouth wash after eating

stay motivated (weekly non-food rewards for sticking to the plan)

dance

get back on track right now (not tomorrow, not Jan 1)

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There are certain stages of life where weight gain seems common, even expected.  Not surprisingly they are periods of transition.  During any change we experience stress, even good stress from happy events.  When our routines and expectations change, so do our coping abilities.  Approaching these transition points with awareness can minimize the impact on our weight.

These are some common transition points which often result in weight gain:

• starting a new job – You have new time constraints and it is common to put in extra hours to learn the job.
• getting married – You may eat more regular meals, eat more, and pace your eating with your spouse.
• getting pregnant – The concept of “eating for two” is taken too far.
• having small children – Your constant supervision of kids leaves little time for exercise, shopping or prepping nutritious foods.  Parents tend to “pick” from the kids’ plates.
• getting laid off or fired – Your stress sky rockets and you have tons of unstructured time.
• peri-menopause – Hormonal shifts result in lack of sleep and a new way of laying fat.
• caring for elderly parents – Your stress escalates and your time decreases; you turn to quick but poor food choices and cut out exercise.
• retirement – You have tons of unstructured time and may graze all day telling yourself you have plenty of time to exercise later.

Any change in routine leaves the possibility for weight gain.  In response to stress we may choose comfort foods, often fatty, caloric, sweet, or starchy.  When we suddenly have less time we regress in our scheduling ability; we panic and cut out exercise and sleep to gain a few more hours in each day and we turn to quick food options (often with more calories and fewer nutrients).  When we suddenly have more time we tell ourselves we have plenty of time later to cook or exercise.

Be aware of where you are on the continuum of life events.  Prioritize maintaining as close to normal as possible your sleep, stress management, exercise, and eating.  You don’t have to gain weight at each life stage; take control and break the pattern.

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Your level of stress affects your weight.  The better you manage your stress the better you can be at controlling your weight.

When we are stressed we make different food choices; we crave comfort foods, usually fatty and sweet.  We have less energy to make nutritious foods and less energy for resisting the quicker and less nutritious choices. Plus, stress causes us to release cortisol which affects how we metabolize and lay down fat.

Even 2 minutes of relaxation a day can make a difference.  As you become mindful you relax, lessen your stress and your neurochemicals change, affecting your body as well as your mind.

Make 2 minutes for yourself and try:

• watching clouds, a lava lamp, fish, a candle flame
• putting on perfume, scented lotion or essential oil, sitting and enjoying the fragrance
• slowly sipping hot or iced tea
• savoring a small piece of dark chocolate
• rocking in a rocking chair or swing
• rubbing a polished stone
• doing something repetitive like knitting or crocheting
• listen to music
• dance
• listen to nature sounds
• find a leaf and really examine it
• sit outside
• laugh; fake a loud boisterous cackle until you naturally start laughing, or watch people laughing on You Tube
• sit and take 9 slow, normal breaths

Continue making time daily and practicing your form of relaxation.  The effects on lessening your stress are cumulative.  It’s good for your health!

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Eating breakfast jump starts your metabolism.  After going all night without food your metabolic rate slows and you hold on to calories, your brain has less fuel and you are less creative, your muscles have less fuel and you have less energy, and hunger can make you cranky.  Who wants to start their day as an uncreative, minimally productive, crabby person?

Eating soon after waking up lets your body know you will take care of it today; it does not have to go into starvation mode and cling to every calorie you consume. Your metabolism can speed up to a faster pace simply by eating breakfast.

What to eat:

I like to eat something with protein and fiber to provide long lasting energy:

•                 peanut or almond butter and banana sandwich on whole wheat bread
•                 bagel with melted cheese
•                 an apple with peanut or almond butter
•                 whole wheat tortilla filled with scrambled eggs and salsa
•                 cheese quesadilla
•                 ½ turkey, swiss  cheese, and avocado sandwich

Although calorie dense but not nutritious, eating a donut or brownie for breakfast resets your metabolism.  Your breakfast includes a portion of your daily calories, so eat them wisely to get the most nutrients.

Research shows that breakfast eaters eat fewer calories over the course of the day.  They do not arrive home famished at dinnertime; they avoid snacking before dinner,  overeating at dinner, and do not need to munch mindlessly throughout the night.

Excuses and Solutions

Excuse: “I’m not hungry in the morning.”  Pay attention to how much you eat before going to bed.  Stop eating after dinner so you have an appetite for breakfast.

Excuse: “I don’t have time to eat breakfast.”  Make something quick like a sandwich or boil an egg the night before or eat leftover dinner food.

Excuse: “I’d rather save my calories for later in the day.”  Eating upon awakening can let you burn more calories throughout the day.  Your metabolism can run at a higher level simply by breaking the fast.

Excuse: “I’m not in the habit of eating breakfast.”  Some habits are simply meant to be changed; create a new habit of eating breakfast.

What can you plan to eat tomorrow morning?

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Mindful eating means being present while eating, being an active part of the process , and paying attention.

Eating mindfully is one way to eat more slowly.  It  also lets you enjoy your food more, feel more satisfied, eat less, and notice your responses to the food.

To eat mindfully means you use all of your senses to enjoy your food.  You pay attention to the details of eating.

Here’s how to do it:

• Choose a nice place to eat.  Be able to sit at a table, clear away the clutter, and make the space appealing (music, flowers, lighting…).
• Set your place to eat (placemat, silverware, napkin, drink, condiments…)
• Sit down and look at your food.  Notice the colors and shading.  See the textures of the food, the size and shape.  Appreciate the beauty in it.
• Smell your food.  Breathe in the aroma reach your nose and notice the ingredients based.
• Think about where your food came from, how it was prepared, what it took to get it to you.
• Take a small bite.  Notice the feel of it in your mouth (texture, temperature, chewiness…).  Is it crunchy or creamy, dense or light, crisp or soft, moist or dry?  Allow the food to be on your tongue and let your taste buds do their job.  As you chew it notice the flavors; the initial flavor and the flavor left after swallowing.  Do you taste saltiness, sweetness, bitterness, sour, or savory?  If you have more than one type of food, contrast the flavors and textures.
• Chew thoroughly.
• Pause between bites.
• Notice how you feel: your mood, your satiety, your degree of fullness.
• Continue eating and noticing each bite.  If you find yourself not paying attention to the food and the process of eating gently get back on track.
• Stop eating when you begin to feel full or notice you are no longer enjoying your food.

Eating mindfully is a skill that takes practice.  Overtime it will become your habit to eat with awareness.

Go enjoy eating purposefully!

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For just a few cents more you can supersize your fast food order.  Sounds like a bargain: more food for just a little more money.

What will those few cents buy you – more vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, fiber, or antioxidants?

You are definitely buying more fat, salt, sugar, and calories.  You may also be buying the urge to eat even more than you wanted by “cleaning your plate”.  You could also be buying into the habits of wanting fast food more often and ordering larger sizes.

Can you get the resulting extra pounds off for an equally few cents?  Is the resulting effect on your blood pressure manageable for just a few extra cents?

So, is it still a bargain to supersize your order?

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I live in a society of immediate results.  Yet establishing healthy life-style changes is not an immediate process.  Losing the weight can be done fairly quickly, but keeping it off takes daily diligence.

Maintaining weight loss is a slow, long term process.   It is a journey of creating a new lifestyle: new thought patterns, new behaviors, new skills.

You do not get the same support from friends when you say you are maintaining your weight as when you proclaim you are losing weight.  To many, the struggle or journey is over once the weight is off.

By building in weekly check points with your overall mission you stay focused on maintaining progress and not losing interest over time.  Here are some tips to keep you engaged in weight maintenance:

• remind yourself that it is a process
• use each day (or each minute) as an opportunity to recommit to maintaining weight loss
• acknowledge your progress
• avoid seeking perfection
• eat mindfully
• schedule exercise
• look for possibilities

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Many people are visual eaters; we see food and eat some, we fill our plates and glasses, we finish what we serve, and we pick at leftovers.  The size of our dinnerware, how much counter space we see, and how many treats we see can all affect how much we eat.  Sometimes it is the easiest solutions that create the biggest benefits.  Try some of these ideas in your kitchen and see if they could work for you.

1.  Limit choices.  Keep less of a variety of treats in the house.  We often eat more when we have more choices.  If you only have 1 kind of chip in the house you won’t be tempted to try 3 varieties to see which you really want.

2.  Rearrange your kitchen cabinet contents.  Put your frequently used items where they are easy to reach.  Make it easy to cook.

3.  Adjust your lighting.   Lights that are too bright where you eat could increase your appetite.  However, lights that are too dim can lower your inhibitions about how much you eat.

4.  Use smaller plates.  We tend to fill our plates; smaller plates hold less food.

5.  Serve from the stove.  We are less likely to get seconds if we have to consciously get up to get them.

6.  Eliminate counter clutter.  It is harder to prep food if there is no space to work which can lead to poor food choices out of convenience.  Clutter can cause stress, which releases cortisol, which can cause us to want to eat more.  Clutter also leads to distraction and possibly mindless eating.

7.  Switch glasses.  We pay more attention to the height of our beverages, therefore we drink more from short, wide glasses and less from tall, thin glasses.  Put higher calorie drinks in tall glasses and use wide glasses for water.

8.  Keep treats out of sight.  Seeing treats can make us want to eat them.  Put them in opaque containers and on the back of the shelf.

9.  Create an eating only zone.  Keep your table clear and eat all food at the table.  Laptops, mail, and car keys need their own space so your meals and snacks can have theirs.

10. Store food in small serving sizes.  We eat and cook more food when we use large containers.  Divvy up treats into single serving size containers.

11. Have healthy foods ready to go.  If you are more likely to eat baby carrots rather than peeling and cutting regular carrots maybe the cost of baby carrots is worth it.  Keep fruit and vegetables visible; make them an easy choice.  Sometimes all we need is a few moments between thinking of a food and eating to slow down our impulse to eat.  Storing treats in hard to see locations can slow us down.  Storing fruits and vegetables where we can see them might make those a more likely choice.

Tour your kitchen; what do you see?  How usable is your kitchen?  Is it arranged so that you are inspired to eat healthy foods?  Does it inspire you to sit and savor your food?  If not, what can you do to change that?

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Why do we expect perfection with weight loss?  Why do we set ourselves so much further back after a slip up?  Losing weight and maintaining weight loss are skills we practice; only over time do they become second nature to us.  Initially it takes a lot of concentration and purpose to lose weight and keep it off and we can easily be blown off course by one perceived failure.

Failure sounds so negative: disappointment, defeat, unsuccessful.   But can you see failure as a step on the way to success?   Not doing something as well as you anticipated is part of the process of making changes and doing something new.  Think about learning to drive; initially you had to think hard about each step, you had to practice, and you endured bumps and jolts.  With practice you gradually became a better driver.  You probably take it for granted that you can now sit in the car and drive it effortlessly.  There are very few of us who hit a driving snag and give up driving forever.

How about re-framing a weight loss failure as just part of the path to weight loss?  Say you ate an extra-large portion of food (even healthy food).  Your choices are to keep eating because you already ate too much or to rein in your eating starting right now.  Babies learning to walk do not berate themselves for falling, and then stay on the ground for another day or week lamenting the fact that they ruined their walking record.  They get up and start again…immediately.  Get right back on the weight loss track and make better, conscious eating choices.  Use your failure as a learning tool; reassess your actions and outcomes and make positive changes.

Try not to compound one set back with another.  If you skipped your morning exercise is that a reason to binge all day or a reason to eat more sensibly than ever and look for a way to fit in exercise later?  We all get to make choices.  You can choose to see yours as a failure or a step along the way to success with immediate corrective action, as an opportunity to learn and improve.

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