Action Fitness

Can you OUT EAT your WORKOUT?

2011-12-16T11:37:00.008-05:00

The answer is YES you can out eat your workout! I have said it before and I will say it time and time again........... "You can NOT out train a bad diet"

If you are one of those people that "workout to eat and drink" or if you think just because you bust your butt in the gym you can continue to eat like a hoover vacuum and inhale everything insight then your wasting your time and efforts! You will not reach your goals what ever they may be.

"Its ok I walk on the treadmill 3 times a week! I can eat what ever I want haha snort snort!

YOU MUST COMBINE THE POWER OF NUTRITION AND EXERCISE TO BREAK THROUGH AND SUSTAIN YOUR FITNESS GOALS!

Fat Loss Rule #3

2011-10-06T17:39:00.000-04:00

Concentrate on weight training exercise for losing fat.

Yes, you heard right. Even though I constantly hear the line "I will lose the fat first by doing cardio and then gain muscle after all of the fat is gone", this is not the best way to lose fat! The reason for this is that by using cardio as your sole source of exercise you will lose equal amount of fat and muscle.

The end result will be a smaller fat version of yourself with a lower metabolism (due to the muscle loss).

Gaining muscle is really the secret to permanent fat loss as the more muscle you have, the more calories you burn at rest on any given day. In addition, gaining muscle is the key to achieving the firm good looking body that everybody wants but dieting and cardio alone will not give.

Facts on Food Claims

2011-10-04T06:25:00.000-04:00

Walk into any grocery store and you’ll find products boasting a wide range of health claims. Some foods are labeled “enriched” while others are labeled “fortified” or “all-natural” in an effort to be appealing to health-conscious consumers. But what do these terms really mean? While some food-label claims are regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), others are just gimmicks to get you to buy the products.

Decoding Food Claims at the Grocery Store: Before purchasing a product, be sure to read all the ingredients, regardless of what the label says. All healthy food products should use whole ingredients and not list any processed flours, saturated and trans fats, or added sugars, such as high fructose corn syrup. Take whole-wheat crackers, for example. The first ingredient listed on the box should be 100% whole-wheat flour — not to be confused with wheat flour, which is a form of white flour. It is recommended to prepare meals using fresh whole foods as often as possible. But when it comes to prepackaged products, like breads, pasta, and broths, for example, you need to read labels carefully. To help you make the best food choices, here are the facts on some of the most common food claims:

Enriched
The facts: “Enriched” means the nutrients that were originally in the food were lost during the refining process and have been replaced to make it more nutritious. Enriched foods don’t compensate for the natural nutrients and fiber that were lost during processing.

Fortified
The facts: Foods that are “fortified” have nutrients added (such as vitamins and minerals) that were never present in the original product. For example, milk is fortified with vitamin D, which was never present when it came out of the cow.

All-Natural
The Facts: Beware of foods labeled “all-natural” or “100%” natural.” The FDA and USDA don’t regulate products with these claims. The labels “all-natural” and “100% natural” actually have no nutritional meaning. A manufacturer can take anything that grows in nature, process and strip it of its nutrients, and still claim that it’s “all-natural.” You can verify whether a product is truly made with “all-natural” ingredients by reading the ingredients list. Avoid products in particular with artificial and processed ingredients, added sugars, and hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils.

Fat Loss Rule #2

2011-08-25T15:57:00.001-04:00

Watch the mirror and pictures, not your scale weight.

Be more concerned with the way you look in the mirror (or in pictures) and your waist size rather than with your total body weight on the scale, as such measurement does not distinguish between the amount of fat and muscle that you have.

Most of the time, the trainees asking the questions tell me that they need to lose anywhere between 20-40 pounds. However, I would not be nearly as concerned with the weight as I would be with the way you look in the mirror and your waist size. The reason for that is the fact that as you begin your weight training you will start gaining muscle mass.

As you gain muscle mass you will put weight on. So what will happen here is that while your scale will tell you that you are still overweight and that your weight is not moving, you are actually making progress as you are losing fat and gaining muscle.

Therefore, just concern yourself with the way you look (pictures are a great way to track this) and stop obsessing about the number on the scale.

Fat Loss Rule #1

2011-08-25T12:05:00.000-04:00

Consume less calories than your body burns for five days a week.

That is right. You need to consume approximately 500 calories less than what your body burns (maintenance amount) as if you do not create a caloric deficit, no matter what you do, you will not lose fat!

However, it is important that over the weekends you increase your calories by 700 over the maintenance amount. This is necessary in order to prevent the metabolism from slowing down.

Welcome to the Action Fitness Blog!

2011-08-25T11:47:00.000-04:00

We're so excited about all of the new things we're rolling out. Besides this blog we're also launching a new web site, logo and a new way of doing business!

We've GONE MOBILE!

Want something different? Looking to spice up your fitness routine? Have friends? Don't want a commitment?

If you answered yes to even on of those questions, you might want to bookmark this blog or sign up to get email updates (look over in the sidebar).

We've got so much great information to share that we're not going to wait any longer! Our first informational post (this is really just a welcome) will go up TODAY!