Lose 1 Lb. of FAT per Week – The Healthy Way with Total Gym – Week 5

Ok, Total Gym Team, it’s Master Trainer JayDee back so let’s jump right in with week #5.

Here is this week’s Three-Prong Attack adhering to my version of the K.I.S.S. acronym – Keep It Sweet and Simple. For more details on each of these important points, see weeks #1 – 2 – 3 – and 4 blogs. Lots of great info over these 5 weeks!

1. Stoking the Furnace – Using our Total Gym to increase our metabolism. When we stress our muscles properly (Rule of 10) they become stronger, leaner, and hungrier. Yeah! This week we’re heading to the Gun Show – pumping up our biceps and sculpting and flattening our Abs.

2. Torching More Calories – This week’s hack: Distractions to make your cardio sessions fly by. Last week I touted the benefits of Cardio Interval Training. Caveat: They’re awesome for you but not every workout. I recommend interspersing the shorter, more intense interval workouts with some longer sessions at a lower intensity. By lower intensity I mean around 60% to 70% of your Maximum Heart Rate [(220 – your age) X .6 to .7] These workouts can be tedious but in today’s world, there are a plethora of things we can do to make it enjoyable.

– Good ole’ Technology – If you’re hiking, walking, running, rollerblading, etc. you can listen to your favorite tunes, audiobooks, podcasts, online radio, catch up on phone calls, listen to a soap opera or ESPN, the news, or TV shows that don’t require looking at your screen, etc. Just be very careful if you’re in the wild or in a traffic area. I just use one headphone in these cases.

– Cardio Equipment – All of the above + you can also read emails, magazines (online or old school), compose emails with voice recognition, surf the web, watch TV, etc. When I’m on my hamster wheel (my elliptical) I do it all! My TV’s on mute with closed captioning, I’m cranking Pandora, I have a screen to watch stocks, I read my Kindle or work on my laptop, and read my old-school wellness magazines.

Be creative and have fun. There is nothing better than looking down at your watch and surprisingly exclaiming, “Wow, that was an hour already!”.

3. Eating Strategies – OK, here’s my weird suggestion but my clients have all come around and love it. What’s the best part of your favorite meals? It’s the sauce, right? For example, I love Mexican food and I love Italian food but when I’m trying to eat healthy – the tortillas, the tortilla chips or the pasta can be calorie laden with little to no nutritional value. So instead I fill a bowl with spinach and Romain lettuce (for the crunch) and then add whatever sauce and meat I’m craving. Yes, I heat it all up in the microwave. The spinach really reduces down, and the romaine stays crunchy so you get a ton of healthy vitamins, minerals, and roughage. I recommend Trader Joe’s as they have a ton of tasty salsas and sauces: Indian, Thai, Italian, Mexican, Moroccan, Spanish, and many more. With all the calories I’m saving I top it with my favorite cheese, gourmet olives, sour cream, a handful of tortilla chips, or whatever makes it yummy.

Before you knock it, try it! With all that flavor you’ll feel like you’re cheating but you’ll actually be making Popeye proud and your body very happy.

Here is our Stoking your Furnace workout plan focusing on just one or two muscle groups per day.

๏ Workout #1 – Chest

๏ Workout #2 – Back

๏ Workout #3 – Legs (best on your high-energy days!)

๏ Workout #4 – Shoulders & Triceps (2 on this day)

๏ Workout #5 – Biceps (We hit our abs hard this day!)

I eagerly welcome your opinions or feedback. Please let us know if we should keep this series going 🙂