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Rick's Exercise Tips Take a "Before" Photo! Another thing I wish I would have done but didn't was to take a "before" photo of myself - before starting my workout program. Yes, I've got plenty of "fat pictures" on the Pictures page, but I wish I would have taken one or two good shots of my body (sans shirt) before I started working out. It's a great thing to look back on when you've slimmed down! What's the best time of the day to exercise? The short answer is whatever time works best for you. There is no "bad" time to exercise. However, if possible, try to exercise first thing in the morning. Why? Because when you exercise you fire up your metabolism. If you fire it up first thing in the morning, you will benefit from increased calorie burning throughout the whole day. But if you can only exercise in the evening, that's OK too. Don't be discouraged... exercise whenever you can. Another benefit of morning exercise. In addition to firing up your metabolism first thing in the morning, exercise before breakfast will force your body to burn more fat. Here's why: you've just woken up. You haven't eaten anything in 8 to 10 hours. Your body is out of fuel. With no carbohydrates available in your system, your body is forced to turn to its fat stores for energy. A brisk 30 minute walk in the morning will burn off 150 to 200 calories of mostly fat. Personally, I try to get in 30 to 45 minutes of cardio exercise every morning before breakfast when I'm trying to lose weight. It's a great fat burner. A benefit of evening exercise. In addition to my morning exercise, I also love to get in 30 to 45 minutes of cardio about 2 hours before bed. Why? It helps to burn off any excess energy floating around in my system. If you depleat your energy reserves at night, then there's no carbohydrate floating around in your bloodstream with nowhere to go while you sleep. Your body essentially has nothing to convert into fat overnight. So, about an hour after dinner, go for a walk or bike ride (or whatever exercise you like) and then after that cut off the carbs. For your evening snack have some celery, a few carrots (yes, I know they're a starchy veggie - that's why I said "a few" carrots - not a whole bag), or perhaps some cottage cheese (again, a little carb, but mostly protein). When you wake up, get in a little more cardio... and then you're a fat burning machine! But remember... the important thing is that you get some exercise during the day. Doing it at night or first thing in the morning just helps a little more. The important thing is that you're exercising at all! Make sure you get enough sleep. In addition to diet and exercise, sleep is a very important component for good health. If you get too little sleep, you won't have enough energy to get through the day - let alone get a good workout in. Lack of sleep can also slow your metabolism. Lack of sleep also causes you to eat more - sleep affects your levels of leptin (the hormone that makes you feel full when eating). When leptin levels are low, you're likely to crave fatty foods and sweets. Sleep also affects growth hormone levels - too little sleep will make it hard to build muscle. Strength training before cardio. If you're going to workout with both strength training and cardio in the same day, make sure you do your strength training first. Otherwise, you'll be too tired for your lifting if you start out with heavy cardio. My recommendation: begin your workout with a light 5 minute cardio session (perhaps a light jog, or - my favorite - a short spin on the stationary bike). Then, stretch for 5 minutes. You don't want to stretch cold muscles. Do you stretching after your light cardio. Next, begin your strength training. When you're done with your strength training, then move on to your cardio. Personally, I like to do my strength training in the morning, and my cardio at night. Go for regular Chiropractic visits. When I was 340 pounds I threw my back out really bad... to the point of not being able to get off the floor. I started seeing a Chiropractor (Dr. Thomas Lyons at Amherst Chiropractic) and he fixed me up in about six weeks. It was around that time that I decided NO MORE! All that extra weight was killing my lower spine. In chiropractic
terms, I had a "subluxation" in my L4 vertebra - which means one of my
vertebra was off-center and was pinching a nerve. Nothing serious
but it required multiple visits for Dr. Tom to "adjust" it back into
place. I began the daily ritual of back exercises that Dr. Tom proscribed
for me, and that was the very beginning of my daily exercise, and weight
loss. How does this fit into an exercise tip? Well, if you've never been to see a chiropractor - find one and make an appointment. They're not expensive. Even if you don't have health insurance, most only charge around $20 to $30 for a routine examination / adjustment. Many will give you an initial consultation for free. If you're going to be exercising and lifting weights on a regular basis, it's important to make sure your spine is in good health. Thanks to Colleen Wilhelm at Harris Family Chiropractic for reminding me to put this up here! She emailed me about the importance of Chiropractic care after having visited the web site, and I told her that I've been a loyal supporter (and patient) for many years.
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