Fitness Tips

Erik's Weekly Fitness Tip | Don't Worry Be Happy

 

A Slippery Slope

I recently got an Ask Erik question that was quite concerning to me. The woman wanted to know what was the minimum amount of calories that she could eat and still function. So basically she wanted to know how little she could eat and still be able to stand up on her feet, go to work and live her life.  This is the part of my job that I don’t like, not because of the question, but because I thought how the hell did we get here?! When is starving yourself okay?  I do have the answer, and it’s only on one day every 10 years after the age of 50, because you’re going in for a colonoscopy.  Eating 1000 calories or less isn’t fun, it isn’t healthy, and it is a miserable place to live.

Under Pressure

There is an amazing amount of pressure and stress that people put on themselves to look a certain way.  This pressure comes at the cost of their health, muscle mass, and having fun.  Eating a minimal amount of calories is not sustainable for the long term.  When the day comes that the individual decides to indulge it often leads to them going back to their old ways. 

Be You

My response to this woman’s question was: DO NOT GO DOWN THIS ROAD! Clean up your diet, yes, absolutely 100%.  Eat a sensible amount of calories that includes real food, not processed junk.  Move every single day, whether it’s a scheduled workout, walk, bike ride or class.  Learn to lift weights, because muscle burns calories.  Be patient.  Finally, stop watching TV, looking at social media or reading magazines that are putting unrealistic body images in your head. Be happy in your own skin and if you want to make changes, please do so in a positive and healthy manner.

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Erik's Weekly Fitness Tip | Count On This

 

 

What are macros?

Your macros consist of the carbohydrates, protein, and fat you consume in a day that your body uses for energy.

Why we should count them

Counting your macros can be very telling.  If we start paying attention to what we are eating it becomes apparent that we can be eating too many or too few calories depending on our particular goals: weight loss, weight gain, or maintaining weight.

What are Your Goals?

There is value in knowing how much you are eating because you can tweak your daily allowance to meet a very specific weight goal.  Your goal may be to decrease body fat, pack on more muscle, prepare for an endurance event, or help you meet your doctor's orders to lost weight.

How do you do it? 

It is not an easy task to figure out your macros.  You have to read food labels, weigh food after it has been cooked, and log everything you consume into a food dairy.  I know it’s a lot of work, but it can be well worth the investment of your time.  MyFitnessPal is a fantastic app that you can put on your phone. It allows you to keep track of your calories and it is super easy to use. 

Simple Math

1 gram of carbs = 4 calories

1 gram of protein = 4 calories

1 gram of fat = 9 calories

 

Tips

1.     Do not make any drastic changes in your nutrition. Only after you have figured out how many calories you are eating per day, should you then slowly adjust your daily allowance. 

2.     If you are looking for an edge in your respective sport or looking to lose weight, counting your macros will get you there.  

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Erik's Weekly Fitness Tip | Stalled Out

 

Has your car ever stalled? It happened to me once, at a particularly choice moment,  when I was trying to get the girls off to school. It’s not a fun experience. For most of us, stalling cannot be avoided, especially if we like to push the limits.  At some point in our weight training we will stall. In our quest to lose more weight we will stall.  While on our journey to a 10K personal record we will stall.  The majority of people who experience stalling find that it is due to our: training, diet, sleep, recovery, rest in between sets or it just comes down to poor planning. 

Performance

Let’s look at performance and see how we can avoid the pitfalls of stalling. As a former track and cross country runner and now lover of heavy squats I know this feeling and I know it well.  I’ve stalled many times in my training and I have never once hit my full potential.  So if you are a runner, triathlete, mountain biker, weight lifter, or someone who just loves to push their limits but feel like there’s a little more in you, here’s my best tips to give your body the jumpstart it needs. 

  1. Keep a detailed log that keeps track of: training, sleep, diet, recovery, and anything else that could affect your training both positively or negatively.
  2. Audit your diet; most athletes do not eat enough.  This will affect your ability to recover.  Protein, carbs, and fats  (your macros) should all be on point with your training.  Most people often come up short with adequate levels of protein. If you are over 40 you especially have to make sure your protein levels are a bit higher because you do not digest protein as well.
  3. Rest! You could be overtraining or overextending yourself during workouts.  Make sure you are getting your rest in. Read more about this here.
  4. Biting off more than you can chew.  We’ve all been trying to lift heavier loads, run faster intervals, or trying to match someone else’s workout before we are ready.  These things can cost you dearly.  Be patient with your training. 
  5. Add another set of eyes.  Get a coach to review your training; sometimes a small tweak can be a game changer. 

Weight Loss

Stalling with weight loss is very similar to stalling with your performance. It can be extremely frustrating and can start to chip away at your motivation.  Here are some quick tips to help you overcome being stuck.

  1. Keep a food journal or log onto the myfitness pal app.  Your calorie intake might be more than it should be.  Keeping track of what you put into your body everyday will help you stay on track and see where adjustments can be made.
  2. Stop doing the same workouts you did 4-6 weeks ago.  If you consistently work out, but you are doing the exact same workout without changing any of the variables up you will stall. The variables being: intensity, load (heavier weights), duration, frequency, or speed.  Change things up!
  3. Pay a visit to the weight room.  The gym, without a doubt, can be an intimidating place. As a result most people stick to the cardio section and try to cardio themselves skinny.  Muscle loves to burn calories! Weight training will help not only get you stronger, but will also help you maintain and build muscle mass.  You’ve got to lift! 
  4. Don’t undo all your hard work on the weekends.  Booze, crappy food, and bad sleep can sabotage your weight loss. Stay on point as best as you can, even on the weekends, it all counts!
  5. Be Patient!  It takes times to get results, so don’t get discouraged early in the game. Keep plugging away and the results will follow and your hard work will pay off.

Stick to the Plan

Most stalling is due to not executing on your plan.  So you have to be diligent with all the steps you should be following.  As frustrating as it can be, just by making a tweak here and there can knock down that door and get you through to the other side.

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