There is something called the respiratory exchange ratio (RER). The RER is the ratio of carbon dioxide produced relative to the amount of oxygen that is consumed. The RER is a marker for the proportion of fat or carbohydrate used for fuel at different intensities during steady state exercise. Steady state exercise is where the relative intensity stays generally the same for an extended amount of time. At rest, the average RER is 0.75, and this means the body is burning approximately 85% fat and 15% carbohydrate. As the intensity increases, so does the RER. A higher RER means that a larger percentage of the fuel is coming from carbohydrate and less from fat. The link that has been incorrectly made is that low intensity exercise is the best for burning fat.

Here’s the take home message, in case the science has bored you. A greater percentage of fat being used as fuel does NOT mean you burn more fat! What this means is that when you train at a higher intensity, the fat burning percentage may be lower, but the amount of fat you actually burn is greater. Not to get all numbers and sciency on you again, but here’s an example: A person weighing 130 pounds runs at 5.0 mph for 20 minutes, they burn about 157 calories. If fuel from fat is down to 50%, they burn about 9 grams of fat! Same person walking at 3.5 mph for 20 minutes burns about 74 calories, and with 75% of fuel from fat, ends up burning about 6 grams. While you may be saying to yourself, “there’s not a lot of difference here!”, the fact is more fat was burnt at the higher intensity.

If you are new to exercise or unaccustomed to greater intensity in your cardio, this doesn’t mean you should go kill yourself with your cardio tomorrow at the gym. If your goal is to burn fat, you should attempt to gradually increase your intensity levels. The higher you can sustain a working steady state intensity, the more fat you will burn. Let’s not forget, as you get in greater physical condition, your body becomes much better at utilizing fat as a fuel source and you are a more effective fat burning machine, even at a rest!

There are many reasons for the low success rate, but the most important one is that there is no plan put in place. When a plan is developed and effectively implemented, the success rate goes up significantly. But a plan can be developed anytime and get you going at the most important time … NOW, when you are motivated to change! When you come to Longevity and want to start working out, we sit down and develop a plan that gets you started at the appropriate place and level.

If one of your objections is that the holidays are too busy, then what you are saying to us, is even after New Year’s when you get busy, you’re not going to keep working out. We are always busy! And yes the Holidays do put extra pressure on us, but I can tell you without hesitation that the people who find a way to maintain a schedule during this time of year are the ones who do not let the fitness goals slide any other time of year, no matter how busy they get. If you start during a busy time, you are better at planning to get your workouts in and you start at an amount that you can maintain, then increase as the busy times pass.

Externally imposed deadlines never result in permanent change. People who come to us who have an arbitrary timelines to their weight loss goals, follow a pattern of temporary success followed by dramatic failure. If you’re waiting for that cruise, wedding, or that New Year’s resolution, then you’re more than likely to lose the weight for a short term, but then goal will pass or you will get get bored and the weight will come back … and sometimes even more than before. What it takes to sustain your results is to connect the goal to what is really important to you. This may be health, appearance, or what fitness allows you to do and then develop goals that keep you motivated and on task.

For those that think they will just gain the weight through the holidays and then do something about it … you are starting with an huge assumption … YOU HAVE TO GAIN WEIGHT! If you do start exercising now and give some thought to all those holiday events, meals, and snacks I’ll give you an eye-opening revelation … YOU DON’T HAVE TO GAIN HOLIDAY WEIGHT THIS YEAR!!!

Whether you are looking to start a fitness plan or have been exercising regularly, I urge you to take a look now at how you can develop a plan that utilizes the holidays to focus your fitness or weight loss goals to gain even more success in the coming new year. If you need help, you can checkout our specials that can help you be a Happy New You in the Happy New Year!

Second, if you are a cardio athlete … this obvious doesn’t apply to you. If you’re a Lance Armstrong, you have to ride your bike for long periods of time! But many times, there are smarter ways to train for those events as well!!

So I got alot of the same questions about “what else is there to do?” The function of cardio training is to increase your heart rate for sustainable periods of time. You can do this without the “cardio” mind-frame that is so pervasive.

One way to do this is a protocol called The Tabata Method. You perform 20 seconds of an exercise followed by 10 seconds of rest. The traditional Tabata Method only has you performing the high intensity cycles for 4 minutes. This form is for highly conditioned people, but the form can be adjusted to fit any level of fitness. You perform cycles of these exercises, much like a circuit, and it can get your heart rate to the appropriate level. You can modify the exercises and intensity to make it right for you. If you are just starting, you can work at a slower pace and use easier exercises with smaller ranges of motions. As you progress, or if cardio fitness is already high, you can turn the workouts in some specials experiences. This is not the same ol’boring routine.

Some examples of these workouts are:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIA7v315EXs

www.youtube.com/watch?v=8v2xm2bkeRQ

www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9Zy56BqCtA

Now, I don’t promote any of these workouts, exercise form, and intensity … and of course, you should always consult your physcian prior to starting any exercise program (for sake of my lawyer!). This may be a way to change your cardio to get some real results.

So let me know what you think … or if you try a Tabata workout, let me know how it goes!

So I know what your thinking, “How could this be? The more we move, the more chance we won’t be fat?!?! What kind of bad science is this?” Well, according to the research, those that used active transportation in Latvia, Sweden, and the Netherlands were 67 %, 62 %, and 52 % respectively. Their rates for obesity were 14 % in Latvia, 11 % in Sweden, and 9 % in the Netherlands. What the heck are they doing over there to only have 9 %?

By comparison, in the U.S., only 12 % use active transit and we have anywhere from one-quarter to one-third of the population falling into the obese range. For those of us who live around the Washington Metropolitan area, as the suburban sprawl make commutes longer and longer, I would agree that we need to move more, but I’m not quite sure we have developed a country infrastructure that supports this.

The county that I live in are now just really getting to the point that bike lanes are readily available and the local area is more setup for active transit. Those that live here, but commute to Washington to work, would have to leave about 3 a.m. to get there on time. Who needs sleep when you can be biking to work for three hours in the morning?

Hopefully, as oil issues become ever more difficult and as the obesity epidemic increases, the new administration will look at developing more of the country’s infrastructure to support active transit and “kill two birds with one stone”.

Natasha has been in the fitness industry for two decades and understands the benefits of a healthy lifestyle. It’s through this commitment to fitness and living a healthy lifestyle that she expresses her passion and gets her clients to reach their full potential. She enjoys training clients of all fitness levels. She especially enjoys working with women to help them overcome the many barriers they face in their pursuit of fitness. Her certifications include Holistic Lifestyle Coach Level 1 from the C.H.E.K.Institute, National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) and American Council on Exercise (ACE) Personal Trainer certifications.

Whether a lack of time, hunger, or a desire to lose weight is your reason for skipping breakfast, you may want to rethink your choice. Studies have shown by skipping breakfast we are setting ourselves up for over-eating later in the day.

• Timlin MT, et al. Breakfast eating and weight change in a 5-year prospective analysis of adolescents: project EAT (Eating Among Teens) Pediatrics 2008;121:e638-645
• de Castro JM. The time of day of food intake influences overall intake in humans. Journal of Nutrition 2004 134:104-111
• Klem, M. L., Wing, R. R., McGuire, M. T., Seagle, H. M., Hill, J. O. (1997) A descriptive study of individuals successful at long-term maintenance of substantial weight loss. Am J Clin Nutr. 239–246

Breakfast is the first chance the body has to refuel after 10-12 hours without food.  Glucose or blood sugar levels are at it’s lowest in the morning. Glucose is essential for brain function, muscle activity and even the fat burning process. The benefits of a healthy breakfast can be seen in increased energy, mental alertness, a positive attitude, and weight loss.

With very little planning the night before, breakfast can be done quickly in the morning. If traditional oatmeal and eggs aren’t for you, then think of it as the first meal of the day. Some choices maybe leftovers from the night before. A healthy wrap or any other healthy food that you had for dinner is a great choice. Make it simple!
For those that are saying to yourselves “I truly don’t get hungry in the morning”, start out with something small to get your body use to eating in the morning. You’ve taught your body not to want to eat in the morning and now you have to teach it to expect food when you get up. You should increase with small amounts until you are eating a healthy breakfast at the right level for you.

The results you will see from just this one action will pay off with more energetic days and a smile when you look in the mirror!

If you have specific questions for Natasha or would like to know more about her services, email her at natkinson@longevitystudios.com.

In the article, Prof Ian Broom, of the Centre for Obesity Research and Epidemiology at The Robert Gordon University, discusses the importance to research like this for tackling the growing obesity problem. But then he goes on to say:

… any such drug should be used alongside dietary and lifestyle changes to tackle obesity.

This is the part where I go off on a rant. First, I must state a few clarifications. We definitely need to address the obesity problem in the UK, this country, and as a global health issue. I am not opposed to all drugs. With that being said, I don’t necessarily think the fix to chronic health problems are going to rely on drugs that “trick” the body into anything, because we don’t EVER trick the body. The body usually has a reason for doing what it’s doing, even getting fat.

When you introduce a foreign agent in to the body to shift it where you want it to be, it will go there for a period of time. This shift is only a compensation that moves the body there while the the foreign substance is there. This usually also causes the body to negotiate other resources to manage the foreign substance and keep the body at a state that is not natural for it.

It is pretty amazing to me the results that happen when you take a drug and combine it with dietary and lifestyle changes. You have high blood pressure – you take a high blood pressure pill and combine it with exercise, good nutrition, and stress management and that blood pressure drops. High cholesterol? – take a cholesterol lowering medication and combine it with exercise, good nutrition, and stress management and that cholesterol comes right down. What seems to be the constant here?

What we need to start doing is to look at what we are doing to ourselves and find the etiology of why we have these chronic health issues and address with the appropriate methodologies for the person with the condition and not just the condition.

I welcome an open dialogue on this one. Please let me know what you think about all the “miracle pills” that are looking to be developed to save us from our lives.

I am VERY excited to be announcing the start our seminars series. The series is a way we can get the word out about some serious topics that are impacting your health. Our first seminar is entitled, 7 Things You Eat That Are Making You Fat. This is about some of the substances you are putting in your mouth that are not as good for you as you might think. Click the link to find out more or to register for the seminar. This will be a fun and very informative hour guaranteed.

We have scheduled seminars through December. To find out about other events, you can go to our Longevity Studios Events Calendar. We are also working to get respected, and people I genuinely admire for their work, as guest lecturers as well. Stay tune for those announcements.

I hope to see you there.

First, we’ll tackle the seminar series…then we’ll save the WORLD!!!

First thing you do is step off and back on…there it is again! The number then consumes you and you feel you have to do some drastic changes to get that number down. You say to yourself,

“I know what I have to do! I’ll cut way down in calories, maybe 1200. I’ll do cardio training 5, no wait, 7 days a week. Also, I need to get that supplement I’ve seen on TV that is suppose to melt my fat right off in just weeks!”

This may sound reactionary or even somewhat unrealistic, but I see this happen frequently. Even more ironic is that the weight isn’t 250 pounds usually, it’s more likely to be 140. Despite all the good things, we focus on the one thing we don’t like and go “full speed ahead” in correcting it.

The change causes a temporary weight loss that is followed by a backlash. We don’t feel as good, our energy is low, and we start to get sick. We start missing workouts and the weight starts to increase again.

Lesson to learn here:

The scale weight is just a number and should have no more meaning than any other measurement!

When I develop an fitness routine for anyone, I warn of the “power of the scale”. I use weight as a benchmark to chart progress, but it means no more or less than how your clothes fit or your circumference measurements.

When you start on a well conceived program, it will be reducing fat stores at the same time that muscle is being developed. Since muscle is denser than fat, it takes up less space, thus the size reduction. However, it only takes a little muscle growth and more fat loss to keep your bodyweight the same. Your percent bodyfat can change dramatically and your weight be relatively the same!

So the next time you are doing all the good things with your fitness program, but the scale tells you a story that you don’t like, do what you would do with a person like that…avoid them!