Week 9--10 Weeks to a Slimmer Summer!

by Rebecca J. Clark

NSCA & ISSA certified personal fitness trainer

Welcome back! We only have two more weeks left in this challenge. If you're new to the program or have been slacking, you can either jump right in with today's steps, or go back to the beginning. If you're new to exercise though, please start with  Week One's program.

This challenge is adapted from my new book, The Checklist Diet, available at most ebookstores now. 

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo 

This week, you’ll continue the steps from Weeks 1-8. Plus you’ll add this next step:

No Junk Food & Limit Your Alcohol

If you think it might be bad for you, it probably is. You know instinctively what food is “good” for you and what food is “bad” for you.

Am I saying you can never have junk food? No. You can actually have some sort of junk food every day — I didn’t say you had to have 100% compliance with this checklist. If you get 8 of 10 items checked every day, that leaves a little wiggle room.

Now, let’s talk alcohol consumption. I’m not telling you that you can’t drink. I’m just telling you to not drink too much. Alcohol contains 7 calories per gram and offers no nutritional value. Wouldn’t you rather spend your calories on healthier fare? Drinking may also lower your inhibitions as far as eating right goes — with a couple of beers or glasses of wine in you, you may be more inclined to overeat, or eat something you “shouldn’t.” In fact, alcohol has been proven to stimulate the appetite. Yikes.

If you drink too much, guess where it’ll go? Have you ever seen a guy who drinks too much beer? Have you seen his beer belly? It’s called that for a reason. Fat that is not burned is stored in your gut, your thighs, or wherever else you tend to store fat. Like your butt.

Oh. My. God. Not only could you get a beer belly, you could get a beer butt.

Yikes. 

Many experts say that consuming a single drink per day can have certain health benefits. However, if you’re having more than one drink daily, you could be sabotaging your health and weight loss goals.

EXERCISE

This week, you'll do the same program as last time, but try to push yourself a little harder with the cardio, and do 1-2 more reps of each strength exercise.

CARDIO:
4-5 days this week, do 30-45 minutes of cardio/aerobic exercise. This means doing something that makes you breathe faster than you're breathing while you read this post. LOL. Push yourself to the point where you could talk if you want to, but would rather not. For 5 minutes in the middle, go a little bit faster.

STRENGTH-TRAINING:

Two days this week, do the following strength moves (can be done on the same day as cardio).

Pushups--until you can't do anymore (against a wall, counter, or on the floor)--make these harder than the version you've been doing. If you've been doing them against the wall, move to the counter. If you've been doing them against the counter, move to the floor on your knees. If you've been doing them on your knees, move to your toes.

20 Sit and Stands from a chair or bench--hold the dumbbells by your sides.

15 Dips (slide your hips off a chair or bench, fingers curled around edge. Bend and straighten your arms.) Straighten your legs to make them harder.

10 Step Ups Set one foot on a step that's about 8-12 inches tall. Step up, tap the step with the trailing leg, step back down. Do this 10x. Repeat with other leg.

15 Biceps Curls with Dumbbells Stand, holding weights in your hands, arms straight, palms facing away from body. Curl weights to shoulders, straighten.

60 Seconds of Elbow Planks Lie on your belly, propped on elbows. Lift your body up until you’re balancing on your elbows and toes. Hold.

20 Bicycle Crunches Lie on your back, hands behind the head (head resting in hands--you're not pulling on head). Pull knees into the chest. Alternate knees in and out, while the opposite elbow reaches for the knee.

20 Supermans Lie on your stomach, arms overhead like Superman. Lift and lower arms and legs at the same time.

Repeat this series 3 times.

Have a great week. Let me know if you have any questions. If you are enjoying this program, please tell your friends!

START HERE: 10 Weeks to a Slimmer Summer

by Rebecca J. Clark

NSCA & ISSA certified personal fitness trainer

In less than three months, it’ll be summer. Does that excite you? Or does the thought of wearing shorts and tank tops make you want to bury your head with the groundhog?

If yours is the latter reaction, maybe I can help. I have a 10-week plan to ease you into a better diet and more active lifestyle. If you’re looking for a quick fix or a way to drop a quick 30 pounds, then you’ve come to the wrong place. But if you’re looking for a lifestyle change, then keep reading.

As you can see from my blog, I am a romance author. But I’m also a personal trainer and have worked as one for more than 10 years. Recently, I published my first diet book, THE CHECKLIST DIET--10 simple steps to check off each day for a better diet.

I will be basing these next 10 weeks on that book. You don’t have to buy the book to do this plan with me but I’d sure not mind if you did. You can buy it for the Kindle here, and the Nook here; if you want the paperback copy that comes with a journal, buy it here. The book only deals with your eating. But in this 10-week series on my blog, we’ll talk about exercise, too.

 

Each week I will give you one step to add to your day, one lifestyle change to focus on. Each week builds on the last until the end of 10 weeks, when you’ll have completely overhauled your diet and activity levels.

Ready?

WEEK ONE

Step One from The Checklist Diet

Keep track of what you’re eating in a journal or online app

Starting from this moment on (no, you can’t wait until tomorrow, or next Monday or next whenever), you will keep track of everything you eat. Every meal, snack, bite, taste, sip. Track in whatever way is easiest for you. I like MyFitnessPal.com, LoseIt.com, and FitDay.com (all free). You can also do it the old-fashioned way and write it down in a notebook or journal. Or, if you want to spend the money, you can order my Checklist Diet & Companion Workbook here.

Why is this the first step? Well, it’s going to hold you accountable, for one. Sometimes, we don’t realize how much we are eating until the evidence is staring at us in black and white.

Several studies have shown that people who keep track of what they’re eating are more likely to lose weight and keep it off. Dieters who keep a food diary six days a week will lose about twice as much weight as those who track their food one day a week or less. I know that’s true for me. If I track my food, and write down EVERYTHING I eat, I will lose weight and/or maintain (depends on my goals); once I stop keeping track, even if I’m choosing healthy foods, I tend to eat more than I should.

At the end of each week, review your food diary. See if you can find any patterns — you can’t make a change if you don’t know the problem. For example, do you mindlessly reach for food at night before bed even though you’re not hungry? Do you reach for something sugary every day mid-afternoon? The first step to fixing a problem is identifying it.

That’s it for the diet this week. I'm not telling what you can and can't eat. Just write it down. How’s that for easy-peasy? All I ask is that you’re completely honest with yourself. No one else will see your food diary. But if you want, imagine I am staring over your shoulder to make sure you write everything down.

Now, for the fun part. EXERCISE.

What? You don’t think exercise is fun? Well, I may or may not be able to change your mind, but I can help ease you into it. This 10-week plan is geared toward those of you who aren’t exercising at all (or very little). If you are already working out regularly, good for you! Keep doing what you’re doing.

Week One Workouts:

Don't worry--you can do this. I'm assuming you either don't exercise now or aren't exercising much. 

Five days this week, choose one of the following cardio workouts. Feel free to mix and match, or do the same one each day:

Walk out your door. Walk for 5 minutes. Turn around and come back.

Get on a cardio machine of choice (treadmill, elliptical, bike, etc). Go slow for two minutes. Pick up the pace a bit for 6 minutes. Cool down at a slow pace for 2 minutes.

Pick three of your favorite fast-paced songs. Crank the speakers. Dance around your house until the songs are over.

Two days this week, do the following strength moves (can be done on the same day as the above workouts)

10 Pushups (against a wall, counter, or on the floor)
10 Sit and stands from a chair or bench
10 seconds of elbow planks (lie on the floor on your belly, propped on elbows. Lift your body up until you’re balancing on your elbows and toes. Hold.)

Repeat those three exercises 

That’s it! See? I told you I would ease you into this. You can totally do this. You’re on your way to a slimmer, fitter body.

As we get started, I’d love for you to tell me your goals. Do you want to lose weight? Do you want more energy? Do you want to develop an exercise habit? Whatever your goal is, please let me know in the comments. Tell me where you are now, and where you’d like to be 10 weeks from now.