Tools to Help With Weight Loss

Happy New Year everyone!!  I hope you had a wonderful holiday season and are back in the swing of things, and that health and fitness is a part of that “normal.”  As you navigate the busy gym and count your calories, I thought I would share some of the tools I use to help me stay on track year round:

1)  iPhone apps:  I currently use two (free!) apps frequently – MyFitnessPal and Fooducate.  The first is a calorie counter where I log my food and track my time at the gym.  It helps to hold me accountable for what I eat.  The second is a rating system where you scan the barcode of a food and it gives the food a letter grade.  It also includes information for the food that makes it “good” or “not so good.”

2)  Heart Rate Monitor: This helps me determine how hard I am actually working and if I need to step up or scale back my effort.  It’s huge for cardio, and is interesting during strength training…turns out your heart rate can be in the fat burning zone even lifting weights.

3)Foam Roller: This is new in my routine and now I can’t imagine life without it.  It’s used to loosen tight muscles that you may not even know existed, and is a great reminder to stretch.  I’ve been notorious for not including stretching in my workout routine and this makes me slow down and ensure proper stretching is done.  Besides that, it just plain feels good.

4) Change: Change is good, and fitness is no exception.  Every few months I change my workout routine.  It might be when I do my strength training (before or after cardio), indoors versus outdoors, intervals or circuit training.  When the body gets bored, it ceases to work as hard and this is where people get stuck on scale and strength plateaus.

5)  My Clients: Yes, I know this one sounds strange.  I coach my clients to work out regularly and eat healthy, and I need to lead by example.  Clients hold me accountable that I do what I ask them to do.  I thoroughly enjoy watching my clients achieve and exceed their fitness goals and the impact that has on the other facets of their lives, and expect no different for myself.

All right, now get out there and get healthy!