5 Ways to Get Lean

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There are many ways to get lean…however today’s blog focus is on testosterone boosting activities. Ladies, KEEP reading. This won’t put whiskers on you, trust me. The hormone testosterone is in everyone—just to a lesser extent in women.  Follow the steps below to help you lean up, get healthy, and look good!

  1. Focus on multi-joint movements. Examples of multi-joint movements include pushups, pull-ups, shoulder presses, squats, deadlifts. You engage more muscles, more joints, and aid stability…AND it boosts testosterone.
  2. Eat fat. Yes, she said that. We’ve come a long way baby since distorted studies of yesteryear stated that fat was so dangerous. Not so, my friend. Fat provides energy and takes a while to metabolize (preventing sugar swings). We now know that high protein, high fat diets are more beneficial in the production of testosterone. Adversely, diets high in carbohydrates lead to increased insulin and cortisol levels that result in muscle breakdown, higher levels of body fat and low testosterone production. Consider a palm of protein and a thumbnail of fat with your meals or snacks. The “bad” fat is the fake one: hydrogenated oil. Avoid it like the plague.
  3. SLEEEEEEP. Yep, you need more of it. We live in an sleep deprived world with too many distractions and “energy” products that disrupt our sleep even if we get to bed on time. Make sleep a priority.
  4. Keep you workouts short and intense. Honestly, you don’t have to spend hours at the gym…in fact, it’s really not a good thing. Blast it, quick and fast. No more slow go walks through the park. Don’t be afraid to go heavy, push it, make it hard, and shake things up (high reps, low reps).
  5. Last, consider foods or supplements containing testosterone boosting ingredients such as fenugreek, zinc, DAA, and Vitamin D (dairy, greek yogurt).

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Want to read more?

Squat to Boost Testosterone

Why Multi-Joint Exercises are Best

Why Sleep is Important

Benefits of Sleep by Huffington Post 

Until next time, choose fit, lift heavy, and laugh often.  What have you got to lose?

 

Top Reasons Why the Scale Isn’t Moving

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You are dedicated, you have a plan, you are working it (most of the time), yet the numbers on the scale don’t seem to budge. What’s the deal? There are many reasons why this might be happening, but for today, we will review the most common reasons.

  1. Overestimating calories burned or underestimating calories eaten. There are many schools of thought on this one, but studies show those who keep a food and workout log have the most success. However, sometimes use a little common sense. The averages often used in estimated caloric burn don’t apply to everyone. I know I burn about 2/3 of whatever the exercise piece of equipment tells me (even if I’ve entered my weight). Also, if I’m not really legit with entering everything I eat (or measuring the salad dressing), it’s soooo easy to add calories in. Or maybe not log them at all! (If you are a parent or the dish cleaner, how often have you polished off the remaining bites? This same thing can be applied to the chef! It happens.)
  2. Fad diet yo-yo. Juicing has a place…I like to detox where I get back to clean eating pre/post a ONE day juice fast, but my fast is really a liver detox. Usually when one does a juice cleanse, the “weight” lost is not the desired FAT loss, but simply water. Or, (horror) muscle loss due to severe caloric restriction. Super low calorie juicing or detox teas really just clean you out, but they are not healthy sustainable life habits. Movie stars who juice before the big day will put it right back on after the event. Skip the too-good-to-be-true programs and opt for living FIT. Every day.
  3. The routine rut…otherwise known as “same ol’, same ol”. We are creatures of habit, aren’t we? We work our favorite body parts, we run our favorite paths, we take our preferred classes…we lift the same body parts. Unfortunately, the more we repeat a movement, the better we get at it. The more efficient we become (which lends itself well to racing and energy utilization) the fewer calories we burn. Mix it up. Try new things. Challenge yourself. Just don’t stay in the routine rut.
  4. Stress. Ah, that darn stress. A certain amount of it is ok, but if the scale isn’t moving, take a moment to inhale deeply and consider how you can de-stress your life. Honestly, it will do your body much good. Because with stress, comes cortisol. And cortisol. Well, that’s an entirely separate blog on its own! (see more about Cortisol’s effect on weight loss/gain here.)
  5. Not eating enough. I’ll call this the Marcia syndrome. My friend Marcia is a committed healthy eater. But, she is also a working mom with two kids and she’s a woman who works out. If she is on the run, she skips eating vs eating something junky. That’s good she skipped junk, but then uh-oh. When she takes in too few calories for what she needs, her body will hold back from dropping energy stores (aka fat).

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Just remember consistency is key. Keep on keeping on. That’s what Marcia does. She’s a lean, mean racing machine. Check her out:

 

‘Til next time, live fit. Laugh often. What have you got to gain?

Lisa

The Art of Trying Again

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Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.” -W. Churchill

Isn’t it funny how we expect life’s journey to be a linear line…except we know it’s really full of detours, closed doors, or rain? S..tuff happens. It’s easy to fall off the wagon and get off course. It happens to the best of us. That’s life. And that’s okay. It’s not failure; not yet. The only real mistake we make is to stop trying. “If you fall down seven times, stand up eight.” In other words, you find out who you truly are and what you are capable of in cloudy weather. We build character through perseverance– which is, quite simply, the art of trying again…and again. Mister “C” summed it up nicely, didn’t he?

I’ve been sucker punched many a time in life. You too, right? Things happened that knocked me to my knees. Then, the obstacles seemed so…BIG. “We are moving (four states away at age 16).” “Your dad died this morning.” “6-7% of individuals with your type of AML are alive after 10 years.” Infidelity and divorce in the midst of chemo. Seeking energy, normalcy and laughter with 3 &5 year olds when chemo ravages your body. In the midst of those times, they seemed awful. Looking back, each of those challenges provided wonderful silver linings, laughter, and love. Would I want to repeat them? Um, no. Was I fearless? Heck no. I fell. I feared. I skinned my knees. Yet Winston would be proud—I became a master stumbler, repeatedly.

“Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, ‘I will try again tomorrow.’”

If a door closes, expect an open window. Or consider, perhaps, another door. In other words, the key to opening a door is to keep on knocking– excitedly, expectantly. Sometimes a solution appears when we relax our idea of what life “should” be and view detours not as “bad” but as opportunities to knock on a different door. We might be surprised to discover that a setback is a wonderful opportunity–one we would have missed had we given up. The key is to keep moving and keep looking for ways to reach your goal. “A body at motion stays in motion” in physics and in life…for every step takes us somewhere.

Winston Churchill says to stumble from failure to failure. A lot. The next time life throws a curve ball, take a deep breath, dust off your skinned knees and get back up. But don’t stop dreaming. Don’t stop going. Keep on knocking and trust your abilities. Try again.

Consider every day “race” day. And compete. For you. For your health. For your family. For your community.

Simply, compete. And remember, life isn’t about avoiding the storms, but learning how to dance (or stumble) in the rain.

(My blog initially posted by  Compete Every Day…a great online business providing inspirational athletic wear and fashion attire. Be sure to check them out and sign up for their emails!)

Be fit. Live Strong. Laugh often. And, smile.

Lisa