Are New Year’s resolutions worth putting in place? I’ll answer this question in today’s Simple Truth Fitness Minute. 🥳 In the video I talk about OUTCOME goals, PERFORMANCE goals, how they need to be SMART and backed with a killer WHY. 🥳 EXAMPLES - Outcome goal: Lose 35# in 18 weeks - Performance goal: Eat at least one vegetable a day at least six days a week. 🥳 SMART 🎯 S-pecific 🎯 M-easurable 🎯 A-ction based 🎯 R-ealistic 🎯 T-ime sensitive 🥳 Wishing you a better 2021! 🥳 To learn more about my program: WEB: http://Lifestyle180.com FB: https://www.facebook.com/LLUniversity IG: https://www.instagram.com/llu180/

Is food logging overkill, a waste of time or even detrimental to your weight-loss goal? I’ll answer this question in today’s Simple Truth Fitness Minute. 🍽 With my program we don't log food forever. But if you're new, or if you're stuck, or if you're not getting results? 1️⃣ Log at least until you hit your first goal. 2️⃣ Log any time you get stuck. 3️⃣ Log any time you're starting again. 🍽 For research supporting self-monitoring with dietary-record keeping check this out to start. https://bit.ly/3mLHsCT 🍽To learn more about my program: WEB: http://Lifestyle180.com FB: https://www.facebook.com/LLUniversity IG: https://www.instagram.com/llu180/

Research says long-time weight losers and maintainers do better when they weigh about once a day most or all days of the week. ⚖ According to the National Weight Control Registry, which follows individuals from every walk who have lost substantial weight and kept it off, they weigh themselves "frequently." Frequently translates into most days of the week and for most it's once a day every day. ⚖ Weighing daily can show you daily trends in your body's response to your weight-loss plan rather than relying on one "glorious" day a week to hope with fingers crossed that the scale behaves. What if you weigh yourself only on Mondays? Your Monday weight was 205# then Tue:204.5#, Wed:204#, Thurs:203.5#, Fri:203#, Sat:202.5#, Sun:205#, Mon:205# Welp, I guess you did poorly and didn’t lose any weight this week. Not true. You were doing great and then you had your splurge meal Saturday night and popped up 2.5# of water but since you only weigh once a week you get a discouraging report card on Monday. Weighing once a week doesn’t give a true picture of what’s going on. ⚖ Through education you can become the “scale whisperer” and no longer fear it - ever again. Only through education and understanding can this occur. We fear what we don't understand. If we don't understand why the scale is "misbehaving" it's mysterious and we fear it. Once we have the education we can master the scale and no longer fear it. We understand the science of water-shifts (water fluctuations) and realize we have the power and control to manage it! ⚖ I've got five simple rules for weighing yourself each day. ⚖ 1. Weigh one time a day 2. At the same time 3. In the same place 4. In the same "nude" condition or close to it 5. With the same scale ⚖ To see some of the research about self-weighing and weight loss ➡ https://bit.ly/3g9y3mb ⚖ To learn more about my program and how you can lose the excess weight one more time for the LAST time: WEB: http://Lifestyle180.com FB: https://www.facebook.com/LLUniversity IG: https://www.instagram.com/llu180/

What is the Rockport Walk Test and how can we use it to measure our cardiorespiratory fitness? I'll answer those questions in today's simple truth fitness minute.♥ ⌚For this test you'll need some way to time yourself for your 1-mile walk and a way to get an accurate heart rate at the end. I recommend a heart-rate chest strap for the most accurate reading - much moreso over any of the fitness watches which are notorious for giving erroneous readings. (see Polar models if you've never owned one)🥤🚭Because the test measures heart rate it's important you are well hydrated and rested, that you avoid tobacco and caffeine for 3 hours prior and alcohol for 12 hours prior. Also, if you take a beta blocker or any drug known to slow the heart rate your V02 max score will not be as accurate because the drug will artificially slow the heart rate - thus improving your V02 max score. However, if you work on your fitness and you retest AND you are on all the same meds then retest measures would still be valuable to show that your cardiorespiratory fitness is holding steady, improving or declining.🔬Once you've completed the test just visit this link to open messenger and I'll give you the page where you go to enter all your data. https://m.me/SimpleTruthFitness?ref=w10459391

What is health-related physical fitness and why does it matter? I’ll answer these questions in today’s Simple Truth Fitness Minute. 🥗🏋️‍♂️🏃‍♀️🧘‍♀️⚖ There are two general types of physical fitness: 1). health-related and 2). sport- or skill-related which includes agility, balance, coordination, power, speed and reaction time. This episode is about the first one. 🥗🏋️‍♂️🏃‍♀️🧘‍♀️⚖ You’re lean. Great. But are you fit? You’re strong. Wonderful. But are you fit. You can run like the wind. Fantastic. But are you fit? You’re hyperflexible. Nice. But are you fit? 🥗🏋️‍♂️🏃‍♀️🧘‍♀️⚖ To achieve physical fitness we must engage in exercise, which is a form of physical activity. Those with the highest levels of physical fitness tend to have maximized their exercise training. 🥗🏋️‍♂️🏃‍♀️🧘‍♀️⚖ It’s not uncommon for regular exercisers to spend most of their time training only one component of physical fitness, for example, frequent long-distance running. This person, who may be thin, is also often considered “physically fit,” and indeed may be in terms of cardiorespiratory fitness alone. However, this person is also likely below average in terms of muscular strength and flexibility. 🥗🏋️‍♂️🏃‍♀️🧘‍♀️⚖ Likewise, someone who performs high levels of resistance training as the sole form of exercise and appears to be quite muscular will be viewed as physically fit, and indeed may be in terms of muscular fitness. However, similar to the person who runs a lot, this person is also likely to be below average in certain areas of fitness, including cardiorespiratory fitness and flexibility. Source for some: American College of Sports Medicine

What is flexibility and why is it included as one of the five health-related fitness components? I'll give you these answers in today's Simple Truth Fitness minute (STFM). 🧘‍♂️🧘‍♀️ Something I couldn't fit in the minute but wanted to say is flexibility is something we lose as we age unless we spend a few minutes most days of the week working on it. The good news is even if you've lost flexibility you CAN get most or all of it back with some consistent daily stretching. I'm sorry but stretching once a week just won't do it. We need daily to really make headway on improvement. ✨ In other STFM I'll discuss the difference between mobility and flexibility, static, dynamic and fascial stretching, the benefits of soft-tissue work, and a variety of tests to measure flexibility.

Okay, you've had your body fat tested. How much faith should you put in the results? I'll answer this question in today's Simple Truth Fitness minute (STFM). ✨ See my STFM on why body composition matters http://bit.ly/2pDnUZe -AND- see my other STFM for which body fat test I say is "best." http://bit.ly/34CqTQh ✨ In no particular order the big five methods are: - Underwater weighing; hydrodensitometry - Skinfold with calipers - Bodpod - DXA; dual energy x-ray absorptiometry - BIA; bioelectrical impedance analysis; ✨ Regardless of the method all body fat tests are estimates and only as good as the instrument operator, the calibration of the device and whether the recommended testing protocols were followed. ✨ At the boots on the ground level, if I were you and I wanted to know my body composition for the sake of assessment of health and fitness (a good idea by the way) I'd get a quality home bath scale that also measures body fat. It'll use the BIA method. I'd follow the instructions for getting the most accurate reading (i.e., not right after showering, or right after eating, or right after working out etc). I'd step on it daily at the same time of day in my same condition (nude) for 7 days. I'd see if the numbers are reasonably close and if not I'd eliminate the really high and the really low one. Then I'd average the remaining 5 and call it a day. ✨ But! If after doing that I was pretty sure something was way off? Like I've got solid six-pack abs and it says I'm 40% body fat? Then I'm going to find a place that offers DXA and get a full scan done. You can search for DXA scan locations here --> http://bit.ly/2Jup8fO ✨ DXA could still be off depending on a host of factors but it is the research gold standard and it's likely I'll get a relatively accurate reading. Plus, as a bonus, I'll know my bone density and have a more accurate view of my skeletal muscle mass, not just fat-free mass (which includes bone and everything other than fat). ✨ If I couldn't find a DXA location then I'd probably find an InBody location. Their high-end scales are also BIA based (like the home bath scales) but the sensors are both at the feet AND hands and, at least anecdotally, word-on-the-street, they are more reliable than a home scale. Find an InBody location starting here  --> http://bit.ly/

What are the five methods of checking body fat you should know and which one is best? I'll answer these questions in today's Simple Truth Fitness minute. Here is some more info I couldn't quite fit in my one-minute summary.✨Underwater weighing - Also known as hydrodensitometry. It CAN be very accurate but makes you blow out all your air while under water for 30 seconds. Not fun, easy or cheap and finding a place to do it can be a pain.✨Next, a skinfold test. Using calipers, most often a trainer will measure skinfolds at one or more locations on your body. Skinfold is highly dependent on the skill of the person holding the calipers and also how heavy the test subject is. The more fat you have the less accurate skinfold is likely to be - it's just harder to pull the skin and fat to get an accurate reading.✨Bodpod - with a bodpod you simply sit in an egg-shaped chamber for 5-8 minutes. Using air displacement technology it'll tell you your weight, fat mass, fat-free mass and lung volume.✨DXA - dual energy x-ray absorptiometry is what researchers all use and is considered the gold standard for body composition testing. Dexa is the only method that'll provide fat mass, fat-free mass, and bone density. You do it fully clothed, lying on your back and it takes about 10 minutes. You can search for DXA scan locations here --> http://bit.ly/2Jup8fO✨BIA - or bioelectrical impedance analysis is what most home scales use if they include body fat testing. BIA circulates a small, safe, electric signal throughout the body. BIA is thought to be more accurate when the device provides both sensors in the foot plate and handles you grip. BIA will tell you your water content, fat mass and fat-free mass and it takes just a few minutes. For a good BIA test start with InBody here --> http://bit.ly/2PB4rmz✨Regardless of the method all body fat tests are estimates and only as good as the instrument operator, the calibration of the device and whether the recommended testing protocols were followed.

Body composition, what is it and why does it matter when evaluating fitness? I'll answer these questions in today's simple truth fitness minute (STFM). ✨ Body fat percentage is superior to body mass index (BMI) for assessing your weight health. BMI is a quick-math calculation, based only on height and weight, that determines whether someone is normal-weight, overweight, obese or morbidly obese. It's good to know your BMI but it's even better to know your body-fat percentage. ✨ You could be at a "normal" weight but still be too fat due to the loss of muscle (sarcopenia), which is another STFM here --> http://bit.ly/2m38f3f Or you could be considered "overweight" by BMI but actually have a very healthy body fat. Ultimately? IT'S YOUR BODY FAT THAT MATTERS. ✨ In another Simple Truth Fitness minute I discuss BMI here --> http://bit.ly/2lY8Jra ✨ In a different STFM I'll discuss the best ways to get your body fat tested but I'll at least mention them here: DXA (dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry) scan is THE gold standard. Second best would be BIA (bio-electrical impedance analysis) but only the kind that has you standing barefoot on a scale AND holding onto sensors with your hands - BOTH. ✨ You can search for DXA scan locations here --> http://bit.ly/2Jup8fO and for a good BIA test start with InBody here --> http://bit.ly/2PB4rmz

What is muscular fitness and how does it impact quality of life and health? I'll answer these questions in today's Simple Truth Fitness minute. 💪 The 2018 Physical Activity Guidelines for  Americans, put out by the Department of Health and Human Services says … Adults should also do muscle-strengthening activities of moderate or greater intensity and that involve all major muscle groups on 2 or more days a week, as these activities provide additional health benefts. 🏋️‍♂️🏋️‍♀️ And remember, walking or any general cardio will NOT save the loss of muscle as we age - only strength training will. See my other Simple Truth here about sarcopenia http://bit.ly/2m38f3f 🔗https://www.facebook.com/SimpleTruthFitness/ https://www.instagram.com/simpletruthfitness/https://twitter.com/simpletruthfit https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrCs324Ebk5darEoATnCbsw