FitSugar

Increase Your Pace Slightly and Burn More Calories

FitSugar — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 09:00:02 -0700

If you're trying to lose weight, cardio is your best friend. Workouts that get your heart rate up, such as running, biking, and using a cardio machine, are the best way to burn calories and reduce your percentage of body fat. Another fact to point out is that the faster you move, the more calories you'll burn. I'm not suggesting that you have to sprint through your entire workout - increasing your pace even a small amount will make a difference. Here are two ways to increase your speed when doing cardio.

Add intervals. After warming up, move at your usual pace for one minute, then increase your speed for one minute, then return to your usual pace for a minute. Repeat this sequence for 30 minutes, and then cool down. Need a plan to follow? Here are some interval workouts for all types of cardio. Remember, interval training is proven to reduce belly fat.
Increase your overall pace just sightly. Running at a pace of 5 mph (12-minute miles) burns 263 calories in 30 minutes. If you run a bit faster at 6 mph (10 minutes per mile), you'll burn 292 calories. It may not seem like a big difference, but if you run five times a week, you'll burn an extra 145 calories.

Increasing your speed when doing cardio won't take a lot more energy, but it'll sure make a difference to your body. You'll burn more calories, which translates to a slimmer, more defined frame. It will also help with your endurance, and make you stronger.

Gear Review: Earth Exer-Fit Flip-Flops

FitSugar — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 10:00:00 -0700

I've told you about Earth shoes; the stylish and healthy shoe with negative heel technology, which means your toes are 3.7° higher than your heels. The idea is that shifting your weight slightly more to your heels offers health benefits - better breathing, straighter posture, stronger core muscles, tighter thighs, and calf toning. The slight incline, like walking up a not-so-steep hill, the negative heel helps you burn calories too. Earth shoes actually conducted a four-week study with 31 women, half of which walked 10,000 steps three times a week in Earth shoes, and half in regular shoes. In one month, the average fat percentage of the Earth shoes wearers decreased four times more than the non-Earth shoe wearers. While the data pool for the study wasn't large, the findings are pretty interesting.

If you're looking to burn extra calories while walking and need a super comfy pair of flip-flops to wear to the beach, gym, or just everyday, check out Earth footwear's Exer-Fit ($49) shoes. For more details, read more.

These are by far one of the most comfortable summery flip-flops I've ever slipped on my feet. The Velcro strap across the top means you can tighten the shoe to fit snugly, ensuring that they won't slip off when you walk. They have excellent arch support (which is tough to find in a flip-flop), and the base of the shoe is made with Bio-Foam Cushioning, which means it molds to the shape of your foot. Similar to my experience wearing FitFlops, I didn't really feel my legs working more than usual, but I was impressed by the comfort of the thongs. If you're interested in trying some for yourself, use Earth footwear's store locator. The flip-flops come in the shades pictured below.

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You Asked: Does Sweating Mean You're Burning More Calories?

FitSugar — Fri, 30 May 2008 03:30:00 -0700

You're asking and I'm answering. . .

Dear Fit,
I work out with a friend of mine all the time. Whether we're running, biking, or in a yoga class, she's always drenched in sweat. I feel like we're both equally fit, but I hardly sweat. Does that mean I'm burning less calories?
-Dry Dara

I'm so glad you asked about this because I'm sure other readers were wondering about the connection between sweating and calorie burn too. To see my answer, just read more.

Your body creates sweat to cool you off when your body temperature gets too high. How much you sweat has nothing to do with how many calories you burn. What matters is how long and how intensely you're working out. Any weight loss that you experience immediately after a workout is only water weight, and you'll gain it right back as soon as you rehydrate yourself. So don't worry about not sweating. If you go for a 30-minute run and you haven't sweat a drop, you still burned almost 300 calories.

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5 Things: Burn 100 Holiday Calories

FitSugar — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 02:30:00 -0800

Holidays are a great time to get together with family and friends, to share laughter and memories, and to eat a ton of delicious decadent foods. Here are five easy ways to burn 100 calories around this time of year:

Vacuum your entire house before your guests arrive for 25 minutes.
Clean vigorously around the house for 30 minutes, scrubbing the shower and bathroom, washing the windows and floors, and sweeping the stairs.
Iron your family's fancy party clothes so they look pressed and neat for 25 minutes.
Crank up the holiday tunes and dance with your family and friends for 20 minutes.
Take your dog, or just yourself for a brisk 15 minute walk.

You've got to do all of this stuff anyway, right? Well, maybe not the ironing! Now you know at least, that all that hard work is burning calories too.

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Skipping Meals Won't Help You Lose Weight

FitSugar — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 13:30:00 -0700

If you want to lose weight, it's simple math - to lose one pound a week, you must burn approximately 3500 calories over and above what you already burn doing daily activities. That's about 500 calories a day that you need to either cut out or burn with exercise. Let me say this out loud: Skipping meals doesn't count.

If you skip let's say Breakfast, or decrease your calories significantly (to less than 1000 calories a day), you're not helping your body lose weight. You're actually decreasing the rate of your metabolism. You go into "starvation mode" where the body tries to compensate for the low calories. Your metabolic rate can actually decrease as much as 10-15%, and your body will hold onto the fat and burn lean muscle instead.

Skipping a meal also makes you really hungry, so when you do go to eat your next meal, you'll probably end up overeating, which also won't help you lose weight. Try to reduce your daily caloric intake by 250 calories and burn the other 250 calories by working out. Try passing on that extra slice of pizza at lunchtime, and take a walk.

Fit's Tips: Don't let yourself go hungry. Eat throughout the day, making sure to eat 3 meals a day, and include small, healthy snacks in between.

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Back to Basics: How The Body Burns Calories

FitSugar — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 09:30:00 -0700

This may seem like sixth grade science class all over again but if you are trying to lose calories, then you should know the basics of how your body burns them. Here are the three primary functions the body uses for burning calories from RealBuzz.com:

Basal metabolic rate. Your BMR accounts for about 60% of your daily calorie burn, and is simply there to keep your body alive, irrespective of your activity levels.
Activity and exercise. The fuel that you require for your daily activities – from every small movements through to harder exercise – accounts for the next 30% of your calorie expenditure.
Thermogenesis. Every time you eat, digest, absorb and utilize food, heat is generated – which is referred to as the ‘thermogenic effect’. This meal-induced heat production accounts for the remaining 10% of your calorie expenditure.

So it is important to always keep the three primary calorie burning functions in mind when going through our weight loss journey. Especially activity and exercise as this is the one area where most of us are majorly lacking -- Coincidentally it also happens to be the area that we have the most control over.

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Burn a Few More Calories: Take a Self Defense Class

FitSugar — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 09:30:00 -0700

Some of my favorite kinds of workouts are the ones that kill two birds with one stone. For example, I love getting in 30 minutes of cardio while watching the last episode of TopChef (yes, I watch that show too). I also love doing pull-ups and dips on the monkey bars while I am at the park with my kids.

Another way to get fit and accomplish something (aside from plain ol' getting healthy) while you're exercising is to take a self-defense class. Here's why: Your first defense in self-defense is to run (run Forest, run...), and we all know how good running is at burning calories. Your next defense in self-defense is to try to fight off a possible attacker, which means you'll be learning how to protect yourself with specialized moves. Perfecting moves such as the Hammer Fist and Elbow Shots is an excellent method for burning calories as well as empowering yourself too. Check around for self-defense classes near you. A lot of local YMCAs offer them as well as community centers, and even gyms, nationwide.

Volleyball Tourney: Take it From Eva Longoria

FitSugar — Thu, 24 May 2007 04:00:00 -0700

Eva Longoria took a minute out of her busy wedding preparation schedule to participate in a Celebrity Charity Volleyball Tournament - the tournament raised funds for PADRES Contra El Cancer.

Eva is definitely working hard to be toned and stress free on her big day. Beach volleyball is a fabulous way to burn off a few extra calories and steam. You can always join a league. I'm a big fan of joining leagues because you are more accountable and have to show up; otherwise it is just too easy to skip it when you're feeling lazy. Not ready for a league, well you can also partner up and head to the beach (or local spot where there is a sand volleyball court) for a pick up game. I love a good competition and nothing gets the stress out like a mean spike. What's more? A 130 pound person can burn about 500 calories playing beach volleyball for an hour and it's a fabulous upper body workout.

Fit's Tip: Wear water/sweat proof sunscreen to keep your skin protected. Follow Eva's lead and wear a hat and sunglasses to protect your face and eyes since all the looking up for the ball can mean a lot of sun time and squinting [read breeding ground for wrinkles] on that beautiful face of yours.

For more pics of bride-to-be Eva showing them how it's done on a beach volleyball court, read more

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Street Surfing: Ride The Wave

FitSugar — Fri, 18 May 2007 04:00:00 -0700

Winter has come to an end and those of us who are into snowboarding may be a little down. Maybe you're fortunate enough that you're able to go surfing now - For those of us that don't live anywhere close to water, we can still ride the wave...

The Wave ($129.95) is a very cool new board that's part skateboarding, part surfing, part snowboarding. It's also known as street surfing because your body is doing the movements much like you would if you were actually surfing (the board has two wheels that rotate 360 degrees). Aside from being really, really cool, the board is propelled by using core movements of the body, making it a great addition to your fitness plan. My guess is that you can burn about 250 (or more) calories per hour while riding The Wave, depending on how skilled you are. Buy it from StreetSurfing.com.

Skate or Die.

Fit's Tip: Be sure to wear pads and a helmet, because nothing is as uncool as busting open your head, while trying to be cool.

What can one pound of muscle do for you?

FitSugar — Thu, 03 May 2007 12:52:55 -0700

One pound of muscle burns how many calories a day?