Goals! Lets Set them High!

Good morning my fit and pretty friends!

Today I want to spend sometime talking about  active goals and their importance.  What is a goal? A goal is defined as, " An object of a person's ambition or effort; an aim or desired result".  Well that sounds great! Something we want and desire a result.  However what happens all too often is that we make these long laundry lists of goal but fail to make them active goals.  We do not put a plan in place to reach our goals.  We do not follow it up with a timeline.  We do not think of potential road blocks and come up with strategies to avoid them. And lastly we do not remember to repeat to ourselves our goals everyday.

Lets use me as an example:

"I want to achieve 16% body fat".

 Okay, that is awesome, however, I need a plan. I need to make this an active goal.  So lets fix that.

"I want to achieve 16% body fat.  I will pack my meals a head of time so that I can follow my diet; which will consist of vegetables, fruits, lean proteins, complex carbs, and healthy fats. I will also work out 5 days a week strength training and doing cardio. I will set a bed time and stick to it every day so that I do not miss my early morning workout.  I will make a list of foods I can order at restaurants when I decide to eat out. I will achieve my goal in 3 months.  I will repeat my goals to myself daily, and post motivational pictures and sayings on my mirror".

Now that is a good active goal!

You can make your active goals too! Just remember.

Act on desires MAKE a GOAL
Come up with Plan
Timeline
Interventions
Visualize goals
Exercise daily repetitions of goals

Now that I have gone ahead and made my active goals, (and told you all about them) I have to follow through.  For the next 3 months I will be following my active goals trying to lower my body fat to 16%.  I am currently at 22%.  I won't let you down.

I encourage you all to write some active goals.  Post them on to the page! Together we can do this.

Keep healthy, and keep well

Xoxo, Carmen

Knowing your numbers

To eat or not to eat... how much turns out to be is the question!!

Losing weight, in theory, should be so simple.  Calories in equal, calories out. Eat a little less here, walk a little more there and BAM magically the weight fall off, right? Not exactly.  Ask anyone who has ever been on a diet and you will find the contrary to be true.  "Losing weight has been one of the most difficult things I have ever done" are things I have actually heard. To be quite honest, this isn't too far off of the mark.  Weight loss is hard.  It's challenging, and it's not created equally.  We all have different body make ups and compositions.  We have different genetic determinants that either make it harder or easier to lose weight.  Or maybe you gain weight more in certain places.  Add stress to the mix, and geeze what is a fit and pretty girl to do?!

One of the biggest things we can do to aid in the ease of weight loss is determine how many calories our body actually needs to maintain weight.  From there we can determine how many we should eat to lose, and how many we should avoid to gain. Once we know that, weight loss can be a snap.  In this entry I will go over Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR) and Estimated Energy Experdenture (EEE).  This will tell us how many calories we burn just waking up, watching our favorite TiVo'd program, feeding the dog, and reaching for some (healthy) snacks.

Let's first calculate the calories we need to consume to maintain our weight, this is known as our Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR)  (used almost always interchangeably with Basal metabolic rate (BMR)

The following formula is for women:

RMR= (9.99 x weight) + (6.25 x height) - (4.92  x age) -161

weight-- reported in kilograms
height-- reported in centimeters
age-- reported in years

and for the guys....

RMR=(9.99 x weight) + (6.25 x height) -(4.92 x age ) -5

* To calculate weight to kilograms, divide weight in pounds by 2.2

** To calculate height to centimeters, determine how many inches ( by multiplying foot by x 12, example if ur 5 ft 4 inches, multiply that by 12.. that will equal 60 inches and then add remaining 4 inches, that will grand total you at 64 inches.  From there multiply that by 2.5 and voila you have centimeters.

So for me, a 5'1, 120 pound female that would be:

RMR= (9.99 x 54 kilograms) + (6.25 X 152.5 centimeters ) - (4.92 x 24) - 161+ 1213.5

This is how many calories I would burn at rest.

If we add to this moderate/normal activity.  Multiply your weight in kilograms by 3.5 for your estimated energy expenditure (EEE). For me this would be 190 calories.  This is what I burn* just walking to and from my car, to the kitchen or where ever during the day. *Generally anyway, this formula is general

So a day if I add both values I burn 1403 calories without doing purposeful exercise!

So if I stick to this amount of calories a day, I will maintain my weight (i.e my favorite skinny jeans will still fit in the morning :D ).  AWESOME.

Knowing these numbers will empower you to be able to maintain/ lose weight.  It will help serve as a tool. However, make sure not to obsess with these numbers.  There will be days that you will indulge a little, and over eat. Say at an anniversary dinner, your best friends wedding, a vacation, whatever it may be. That is okay. That is a normal part of healthy eating.  As long as this doesn't happen everyday.

In my next entry I will go over how we should cut calories, and how many to see weight loss and those wash board abs ;). I will also provide a great, kick butt fat burning meal plan we can follow to ensure we look fit and pretty year round :)

Stay beautiful, smart, empowered, and as always FIT and PRETTY

xoxo, -C

The ABC's of Dieting

D-I-E-T.... why must this word start with die? Maybe this is due to the fact that we inherently think that to diet, a little piece of us must die-our inner foodie and food lover.  However, this thinking is flawed and down right wrong.  Let's go over the ABC's of dieting, and put the fun and life back into dieting, and keep looking Fit and Pretty!

Let's start with A....

A : Control you APPETITE.  Portion control is key when it comes to dieting.  I am not saying subsist off of 2 baby carrots and a can of tuna.  No way, I love food and could never do that. By controlling your appetite, keep eating good clean foods, and small controlled portions that are full of fiber, protein, and low glycemic carbohydrates.

B: BE Consistent! Don't start a diet to just stop 2 day's into it.  You will never see results.  There is a saying, it takes 4 weeks for you to notice a change, 8 weeks for your friends to notice, and 12 weeks for everyone else to notice.  Stay consistent and let everyone see the changes.  Before you even see the changes you will feel the changes.  You will feel lighter, quicker, more energetic and happy.  It's worth a try to stick with it, you owe it to yourself.

C: Count CALORIES.  There are all these fad diets out there.  Master cleanse, Atkins, Cabbage Soup, Cookie diet. Which do we follow; who do we believe? I am here to tell you that the biggest factor in controlling your weight comes from monitoring your calorie intake.  Yes, maybe you have tried a fad diet, and actually lost some weight, but the only reason this has been due to a caloric deficit caused decreasing calorie intake.  If I ate cabbage soup all day, of course I would close weight.  Cabbage has next to no calories, and if eaten with soup, the high volume of fluids, paired with the high fiber cabbage, and of course you feel full.

D: Don't lose track of your goals. Setting goals is key.  If you don't have a goal, how will you ever stay on track. Repeat your goals daily.  Write them down, talk about them, remind your self of them daily. This will help you stay on track.

E: EXERCISE!!  Need I say more?!  Get up and move.  Have fun! Go for a run, join ZUMBA, lift some weights, sign up for a boot camp.  Whatever it is, have it be something you like and will stick to. Exercise will not only help you lose weight, it will help you maintain weight loss and promotes overall good health.  Try to burn at least 300-500 calories during every exercise session.  If you cannot do that all at once, break it up into several small sessions throughout the day.

As I continue on, I will keep adding to the ABC's of fitness. But for now lets focus on these. Portion control, exercise, and don't lose sight of those goals.

Together we can do this my beauties.

Stay Fit and Pretty

xoxo, -C

Be Fit and Pretty is Born

“The beauty of a woman is not in a facial mole,but true beauty in a Woman is reflected in her soul. It is the caring that she lovingly gives, the passion that she knows. -Audrey Hepburn

I have always been told that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. In conjunction with that, beauty is not just measured by what the eye can see, but it can also be measured with what the heart and soul portray. Interior beauty is the most beautiful of all, and the one that we should strive hardest to attain.

Be Fit and Pretty is a movement. A movement towards better fitness health and improved self esteem thrusted forward by way of interior and exterior beauty. Through this movement I hope to share some knowledge, fun, and laughs with you and help you attain your fitness and well rounded beauty goals.

Together we will be Fit and Pretty.

xoxo

-Carmen