Did You Lose Weight The Right Way in 2010?

Did your weight yo-yo this year? Did you place emphasis on weight loss instead of fat loss? Losing weight the healthy way is the only way! Health is more important than weight loss. Don't lose your health and self respect trying quick weight loss tactics. Check out this video about a former Biggest Loser television show contestant who experienced major weight loss (and disappointment):



Your goal should be to be the biggest fat loser. Losing huge amounts of weight can be gained back quickly if you don't build muscle mass. Build muscle, burn fat, speed up your metabolism and lose weight (and keep it off)!

So, here are some tips to help you achieve your best health and fitness:

1. Make a commitment TODAY to a lifestyle of health and fitness! Without this commitment, you will eventually go back to short-term solutions like quick weight loss!

2. Make the needed changes to your eating habits! Severely limit foods like sugars, processed foods, fast foods, fat-filled packaged foods, etc. Eat more foods like fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains and lean meats.

Get help with your meal plan if needed! Get your nutrition mainly from food! Add in supplements like multivitamins and fish oil to support your meal plan and improve your health.

3. Commit to regular exercise and an active lifestyle! Walk as much as you can everyday!

4. Get enough rest! If you don't sleep enough, your body won't function as well as it could--that means about 7-8 hours of sleep every night for most people.

5. Schedule that doctor's appointment to see where your health stands! High blood pressure, high cholesterol, etc. can be controlled, if needed.

If you want to lose weight the right way, get My Fitness Hut's 7-Day Weight Loss And Fat Loss e-Course! The e-Course is FREE!

"Exercise is not my life.....exercise makes my life better!"

Check out my other great blogs:

Her Fitness Hut Blog Her Fitness Hut is featured on EmpowHER, a great health issues website for women! Her Fitness Hut has also been named in the Top 50 Personal Training Blogs by Physical Therapy Assistant Schools!

Sports Fitness Hut Blog has been recognized by Stanford University Wellsphere as the #1 Sports Fitness Blog and NursingDegree.net as one of the Best 100 Health and Nutrition Blogs for Athletes! The blog has also been named as one of the "50 Best Sports Medicine Blogs by Masters In Healthcare! It is an honor to be recognized by those in the health and academic fields! Afterall, health is number one for everybody---including athletes!

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Top 5 Nutrition Tips For Burning Fat and Losing Weight

If you want lasting weight loss and fat loss, you must monitor what you eat and how much. It takes more than just working out hard to reach your goals. Its important to eat enough but not too much or too little. What you eat matters. Eating 1000 calories of healthy food is more effective than eating 1000 calories of junk food.

Follow my Top 5 Nutrition Tips and you will have a better chance of losing the fat and weight and keeping it off.


1. Eat breakfast every day! Your body has been fasting all night. A good healthy breakfast gets your metabolism kicked off for the day. Eat small meals every 3-4 hours to keep up your energy and to keep your metabolism humming along all day.

2. Plan and pack your meals for the day. This way, you are more likely to stay with your nutrition plan. Include foods such as lean meats, fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low-fat diary and nuts. Severely limit sugars of all forms, fast food and foods in a box or bag.
Comply with your meal plan at least 90% of the time.

3. Eat protein with every meal. Protein helps you feel fuller for a longer period of time (thereby eating less) and repairs your muscles after a tough workout.

4. Carbohydrates are not your enemy! They are your body's preferred source of energy (especially during exercise). Its important to have a meal plan that includes the macronutrients (carbs, protein, fats). The primary cause of weight gain is a caloric surplus (eating more calories than you burn). There are some instances where carb cycling can be a great strategy to burn fat. But, you should master the basics of nutrition first.

5. Build muscle and burn fat to change your body to lean and toned. Don't skip your post-workout meal. It is important to help your body recover from intense exercise (especially weight training).

You don't have to eat immediately after your workout (if you want to eat immediately after a workout, YOU DIDN'T WORKOUT VERY HARD)! There is a 45 minute to 1 hour "window of opportunity" where replenishing your body's fuel (carbs, protein, fats) will optimize your tissue's repair and growth. If you miss this "window of opportunity" it is gone forever. A carb/protein shake will work well.

If you need to know how to lose weight the right way, get My Fitness Hut's 7-Day Weight Loss And Fat Loss e-Course! The e-Course is FREE!

"Exercise is not my life.....exercise makes my life better!"

Check out my other great blogs:

Her Fitness Hut Blog Her Fitness Hut is featured on EmpowHER, a great health issues website for women! Her Fitness Hut has also been named in the Top 50 Personal Training Blogs by Physical Therapy Assistant Schools!

Sports Fitness Hut Blog has been recognized by Stanford University Wellsphere as the #1 Sports Fitness Blog and NursingDegree.net as one of the Best 100 Health and Nutrition Blogs for Athletes! The blog has also been named as one of the "50 Best Sports Medicine Blogs by Masters In Healthcare! It is an honor to be recognized by those in the health and academic fields! Afterall, health is number one for everybody---including athletes!

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Top Holiday Eating Tip For Any Season

There is one holiday eating tip that you need to do every day. Eat protein with every meal.

At your holiday parties, get full on protein foods first. It will help you eat less of the condiments, desserts and other high-fat foods at the party. Most holiday parties have plenty of foods loaded with protein. Nuts, ham, turkey, chicken, fish, etc. are great foods to eat. Protein helps control your blood sugar if you happen to eat carbohydrates.

It takes your body longer to digest protein, so you will fill fuller for a longer period of time by eating more foods rich in protein (this should help you eat fewer calories during the day).

Protein is also used by your body to repair and rebuild damaged tissues as a result of a tough workout (especially weight training). Quickly digesting protein shakes work well after a workout. Other daytime and nighttime meals could be comprised of slowly digesting protein (such as lean meats) that will give a constant release of amino acids into your system during the day and overnight.

So, when used right, protein will help you build a lean body and help your weight loss/fat loss efforts.

Get your Free Holiday Eating Tips Book!

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Better Fat Loss Results with Short Workouts

Are you frustrated with your fat loss and weight loss results. Make adjustments. Doing the same thing will not give you different results. Short, intense workouts will burn more fat and help you lose more weight.



Are you working out 1-2 hours a day? You don't need to do that to accomplish your goals. Matter of fact, these long workouts will lead to boredom and repetitive stress injuries. Thirty to 40-minute weight training workouts will get the job done.

A woman asked me one day why she wasn't making any progress on her fat loss and weight loss. After asking her a few questions, I found two main problems with her workout program:

1) She wasn't eating right and

2) she was working out TOO LONG (2 hours per workout) and TOO SLOW (workout included 1 hour of machine cardio)!

I don't know who has time to workout for 2 hours....alot of you have this mindset: longer workouts are better.....this couldn't be further from the truth....

Here is a good 30-minute workout that will serve as a strength and cardio workout. If you have been doing the heavy weight training for a while, this workout can be a good change of pace for you:

--Y bodyweight squats, 12 repetitions, moderate pace
--Pushup Plank, 10 repetitions, 10 second hold
--Squat jumps, 10 repetitions, full speed
--Pushups, 12 repetitions
--Ball Ab Rollouts, 12 repetitions, moderate pace
--Pullups, 10 repetitions
--Cross body mountain climber, 12 repetitions each leg
--Do this circuit 3 times

Do this circuit with little or no rest between exercises. Rest 2-3 minutes between circuits.

The truth is that no weight training workout (including bodyweight training) needs to exceed 50 minutes....and interval cardio workouts should be about 20 minutes....shorter, more intense workouts will give you more calorie-burn, more fat-burn, more weight loss and fewer repetitive stress injuries! And, you will have more time to do the things you want to do in life.

One more tip: You don't need to workout everyday. Five to 6 days of working out is enough! Some weeks, you might need 2 days off. Listen to your body!

Workout smarter and harder, not longer!

If you need to know how to lose weight the right way, get My Fitness Hut's 7-Day Weight Loss And Fat Loss e-Course! The e-Course is FREE!

"Exercise is not my life.....exercise makes my life better!"

Check out my other great blogs:

Her Fitness Hut Blog Her Fitness Hut is featured on EmpowHER, a great health issues website for women! Her Fitness Hut has also been named in the Top 50 Personal Training Blogs by Physical Therapy Assistant Schools!

Sports Fitness Hut Blog has been recognized by Stanford University Wellsphere as the #1 Sports Fitness Blog and NursingDegree.net as one of the Best 100 Health and Nutrition Blogs for Athletes! The blog has also been named as one of the "50 Best Sports Medicine Blogs by Masters In Healthcare! It is an honor to be recognized by those in the health and academic fields! Afterall, health is number one for everybody---including athletes!

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Calcium and Vitamin D Pills Questioned

The prestigious Institute of Medicine issued a report recommending that adult North Americans need only 1,000 milligrams of calcium and 600 IU of vitamin D per day, and that most people do not need supplements. Taking too much calcium can cause kidney stones, and taking calcium without also taking vitamin D may increase risk for heart disease. Very large amounts of vitamin D may increase risk for fractures. The authors believe that adolescent girls may be the only group that is getting too little dietary calcium (Report from the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, November 30, 2010).

Those of you who have read my newsletters for the past few years know that I am very concerned about vitamin D deficiency. However, I do not recommend taking vitamin D pills unless your blood level of vitamin D is less than 75 nmol/L (30 ng/L). How have scientists decided that your blood level of vitamin D should be above 75 nmol/L? A major function of vitamin D is help your body absorb calcium. When you lack vitamin D, ionized blood calcium levels drop. This causes your parathyroid gland to become overactive and produce too much parathyroid hormone. Too much parathyroid hormone forces calcium out of bones to weaken them. The lowest level of vitamin D that keeps parathyroid hormone at normal levels is 75 nmol/L. If your blood level of vitamin D3 is less than 75 nmol/L, you need extra sunlight or to take at least 2000 IU of vitamin D3/day until you reach a normal level.

Hundreds of studies show that people with low blood levels of vitamin D are more likely to suffer many different cancers, heart attacks, strokes, diabetes, osteoporosis, bone fractures, autoimmune diseases, decreased immunity, and so forth. However, except for weakened bones, these are associations, not cause-and-effect. To prove causation, we need studies showing that giving pills to raise blood levels of vitamin D prevents or cures cancers, diabetes, heart disease and other conditions. So far this has been done only for bone diseases, fractures and prevention of influenza. It may be that vitamin D deficiency is only a marker for other factors, such as lack of outdoor exercise, that contribute to all of these diseases. If this is true, then taking vitamin D pills would not correct the underlying problem.

Researchers at Emory University studied vitamin D status in twins living in different North American locations. They concluded that vitamin D deficiency runs in families and is mostly genetic (American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, December 2010).

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Tone Obliques With Cross Body Mountain Climbers

Add cross body mountain climbers to your ab exercise routine. This exercise will build strength and help tone your obliques. Cross body mountain climbers also work the calves, quadriceps, glutes, back, chest, triceps and shoulders. You will need high levels of core strength to do this exercise the right way for each set.





External obliques - these muscles are on the side and front of the abdomen and wrap around your waist.

Internal obliques - these muscles lie under the external obliques and run in the opposite direction.

Do the exercise this way:

1. Start by getting in the push up position with your arms fully extended. Keep your hips and torso in a straight line. Don't let your hips sag and don't point your butt in the air during this exercise.

2. Do the exercise by moving your left knee straight up and across your body to the right armpit area (keep your abs braced). Also, don't let your foot touch the ground as you do the movement. Move your left leg back to the starting position and repeat with your right leg. Alternate your leg movements until you have completed all repetitions.

If you are doing the mountain climber exercise then just add on the cross body mountain climber!

If you need to know how to lose weight the right way, get My Fitness Hut's 7-Day Weight Loss And Fat Loss e-Course! The e-Course is FREE!

"Exercise is not my life.....exercise makes my life better!"

Check out my other great blogs:

Her Fitness Hut Blog Her Fitness Hut is featured on EmpowHER, a great health issues website for women! Her Fitness Hut has also been named in the Top 50 Personal Training Blogs by Physical Therapy Assistant Schools!

Sports Fitness Hut Blog has been recognized by Stanford University Wellsphere as the #1 Sports Fitness Blog and NursingDegree.net as one of the Best 100 Health and Nutrition Blogs for Athletes! The blog has also been named as one of the "50 Best Sports Medicine Blogs by Masters In Healthcare! It is an honor to be recognized by those in the health and academic fields! Afterall, health is number one for everybody---including athletes!

Read more »

Prevent Butt, Hip And Thigh Injuries

You can prevent painful butt, hip and thigh injuries by conditioning your muscles to prepare for workouts. For example, tight hip flexors lead to some very painful injuries.



Your athletic movements during workouts are dominated by the hips, glutes, quadriceps and hamstrings. All of these muscle regions need to work properly or you will not go very long without injury.

The gluteus maximus is the largest muscle of the buttocks. The anatomy of the gluteal region (gluteus maximus, gluteus medius, gluteus minimus) is shown below:



The glutes don't fire properly when the hip flexors (psoas, iliacus, tensor fascia latae, etc.) are overactive or tight. This can happen due to poor flexibility or prolonged sitting. When the hip flexors don't work properly, its antagonist (mainly the gluteus maximus) becomes weak.

This is known as reciprocal inhibition (when muscles on one side of a joint become tight or overactive, it shuts down the muscles on the other side of the joint). When a prime mover (such as the gluteus maximus) becomes weak, other muscles (synergists) take over the function that the prime mover should be doing.

Some injuries that occur because of inactive glutes are hamstring injuries, piriformis syndrome, knee ACL tears and low back injuries. Okay, enough of the technical stuff!

So, what do you need to do to fire up your glutes?! First, you need to understand why your glutes are not firing properly. They are probably not receiving the neural drive from your central nervous system.

So, it is probably not an issue of strength. Their are some exercises you can do to correct this problem. First, you need to lengthen tight muscles. The stretches are listed as follows (use self myofascial release with foam roller before doing these stretches):

1. Hip Flexor Stretch
2. Quadriceps Stretch
3. Bodyweight Lateral Lunges (for adductors)

Then, you need to activate (fire up) your glutes with these exercises:

1. Glute Bridge
2. Opposite Leg Opposite Arm Raise
3. Glute Kickbacks

Lastly, exercise the fired up glutes with these exercises:

1. Bodyweight squats
2. Lateral tube walks (pictured above)
3. Walking Lunges

Get your rear in gear and take care of your body!

If you need to know how to lose weight the right way, get My Fitness Hut's 7-Day Weight Loss And Fat Loss e-Course! The e-Course is FREE!

"Exercise is not my life.....exercise makes my life better!"

Check out my other great blogs:

Her Fitness Hut Blog Her Fitness Hut is featured on EmpowHER, a great health issues website for women! Her Fitness Hut has also been named in the Top 50 Personal Training Blogs by Physical Therapy Assistant Schools!

Sports Fitness Hut Blog has been recognized by Stanford University Wellsphere as the #1 Sports Fitness Blog and NursingDegree.net as one of the Best 100 Health and Nutrition Blogs for Athletes! The blog has also been named as one of the "50 Best Sports Medicine Blogs by Masters In Healthcare! It is an honor to be recognized by those in the health and academic fields! Afterall, health is number one for everybody---including athletes!

Read more »