Your Weight! Your Health! Your Skin!

Hi there,

I found this great article about burning more calories and I just had to share it with you. I hope it will be as life changing to you as it was to me. Enjoy . . .

Burn More Calories in Less Time
Yuri Elkaim, BPHE, CK, RHN

In my view, intensity is the most critical aspect of any exercise regime and can mean the difference between someone who reaches their goals and someone who doesn’t. Increasing your workout’s intensity will stimulate your body to burn more calories and induce a greater cardiovascular response. It will also allow you to have a more time efficient workout.

If you are looking to burn fat and become more toned, then increasing your exercise intensity is critical. Many people have the misconception that if you workout at a higher intensity you will no longer be burning fat since you will be in your “cardio zone”. Whereas, if you keep your intensity low for a longer duration you will burn more fat since you will be in your “fat burning zone”.

Let me clarify this for you once and for all. By training at a low intensity (<70% max) it is true that you use fat as your predominant source of fuel. While exercising at a higher intensity (>75% max) your main fuel source is carbohydrate but you will ultimately burn more calories. And since 1 pound of fat is equivalent to 3500 calories, the ultimate goal is to burn as many calories as possible to create a negative energy balance!

One of the best ways to achieve this intensity is through the use of full-body exercises (circuit training set up) in conjunction with interval training. The benefit of full body exercises is that they utilize more muscle in any given movement – thus, you burn more calories. The inherent intensity of the workout also means that each exercise becomes more challenging as your heart rate is sustained at a much higher level as a result of not giving yourself enough rest between exercises.

Here are a couple of benefits to following an exercise program combining circuit training and interval training:

1. Intervals and circuits vastly reduce boredom. Traditional steady state cardio training and/or weight lifting can become quite boring. Interval training and circuit training offer more variety and excitement to your workouts.

2. Interval training increases post-exercise energy expenditure (calories burned following exercise) more than steady-state exercise, which means that more fat is burned. After intense exercise, the body needs extra calories as it works to repair muscles, replace energy stores (i.e. carbohydrate) and restore the body to its normal state (e.g. reduce heart rate).

As this can take many hours, you will keep on burning more calories long after the workout is over. In fact, research shows that metabolic rate is higher for several hours following interval training compared to steady state exercise.

3. Interval training burns more calories. As an example, 30 minutes on an Elliptical machine using a steady state program will burn roughly 292 calories, whereas 30 minutes of intervals will burn approximately 584 calories!

Here is a sample circuit traing workout that will leave you huffing and puffing:

WARM-UP – bike, treadmill, elliptical, rower + dynamic stretching (5-10 min)

CIRCUIT (45 seconds for each exercise, with 15 seconds rest between exercises :: 5-7 min to complete 1 set)

Lunge walks with lateral raises

Plank (on stability ball)

Squats with medicine ball shoulder press

Push-ups

Side Bridges

Reverse Pull-ups

Burpies

INTERVAL TRAINING (cardio machine)

20 sec @ 100% : 40 sec @ 70% x 5 = 5 min

Repeat Circuit and Interval 3 times

Total Workout Time: 45 – 50 min

Do this workout 4 times over the next 2 weeks and watch the difference intensity brings to your workouts – and your results!

About the Author

Yuri Elkaim is a world-renowned fitness, nutrition, and weight loss expert. He is the creator Fitter U and Treadmill Trainer, author of Eating for Energy, and the Head Strength and Conditioning Coach for men’s soccer program at the University of Toronto. His trademarked 12-week Fitter U iPod workout program has been helping thousands of people around the world get in shape and lose weight fast without the cost and inconvenience of hiring a trainer. Go to www.myFitterU.com now to get your FREE Fitter U workout and “How to Get Fit and Lose Weight Fast” report!

Hi there,

If you are like me, you will embrace any method that you can use to ensure you burn calories without exercising or going to the gym. Exercise is great and I love doing it, but I definitely will say yes to any help I can get to ensure my body burns the calories that I want it to. Here are the top foods that you want to have included in your diet:

1. Fruits. We know fruits are good for our bodies but we are talking about fruit that are rich in vitamin C. The vitamin C helps in releasing the fat from the body, thereby helping with calorie burning. The fruits include Apples, Water melon, Oranges, strawberry, lemons and Grapefruit

2. Vegetables. These vegetables also contain vitamin C and they work pretty the same way that the fruits work. These include cucumber, Carrots, Tomatoes, Chilies, Broccoli, Cabbage and Celery

3. Green tea. It increases your metabolism and burns calories.

4. Dairy products like cheese and milk. Dairy products contain calcium and protein. The calcium and protein that comes from low fat products help with weight loss.

5. Foods that are high in fiber. These include whole grain food like whole grain pasta or bread. The body works harder to burn fiber in your body. The harder it works the more calories it will burn.

6. Lean meats. Chicken, turkey, sirloin are rich in iron. Iron forms hemoglobin in your body and it carries the oxygen in your red blood cells. Without the optimal amount of oxygen in the body, which means less hemoglobin, your energy levels will drop and so will your metabolism. A drop in metabolism means lower calories burned.
7. Garlic. Yes I know what you are thinking, it may leave your mouth smelling and undesirable but not only does garlic have healing advantages, it boosts your metabolism.

I bet most of these foods are in your kitchen cupboards right now, and what will be left for you to do is to include them as part of your daily nutrition. These foods are great also if used as snack, as opposed to the candy and chips.

Malnutrition is not to be taken lightly, so strife to have a balanced healthy meal at all times. These foods can be a great help if included in your nutrition but the best way to help them work their magic is to include an exercise plan in your daily life. Exercise still remains the best calorie burning thing that you can do.