How to work the abdominals
A lot of people, if asked, would say that they would like their stomachs to be flatter and more trim. The abdominals are the muscles that need to be worked to achieve the desired look BUT this must happen along with a good diet, frequent cardio sessions and a solid weight training program.
The abs are like any other muscle in the body and therefore should not be trained everyday. I like to work mine three to four times per week but it is best to discover what works for you!!
Doing more and more crunches and exercises will not work off any fat found in this region, so try to go for QUALITY in your training and not QUANTITY. Try doing 3 sets of about 20 repetitions of 2 exercises and see if that yields any results. If it is too difficult, don’t worry, just reduces the number of repetitions and concentrate on your technique!!
Exercise Descriptions
CRUNCHES:- Lie down on floor and rest calves on chair or bench. Place hands behind head and lift head neck and shoulders off the floor. Return to starting position. This counts as one repetition.
BICYCLE CRUNCHES:- A very effective alternative to the normal crunch:
Video courtesy of workoutz.com
PLANK:- The plank is great exercise for core stability and developing the abdominals. It also works a lot of other muscles, especially the shoulders, legs and butt so its an all round great exercise! Here is a youtube video that shows you exactly how to do it. If you can work up to holding the position for one minute, you are doing great, but if not try and hold for 20 seconds and then slowly increase.
REVERSE CRUNCHES:- Paige Waehner from about.com says that to do this;
2. Bring the knees in towards the chest until they’re bent to 90 degrees, with feet together or crossed.
3. Contract the abs to curl the hips off the floor, reaching the legs up towards the ceiling.
4. Lower and repeat for 12-16 reps.
5. It’s a very small movement, so try to use your abs to lift your hips rather than swinging your legs and creating momentum.
Add comment September 9, 2008
handinthefire
Tags: Ab exercises, fitness, health
Setting up a diet for weight loss 1
How to set up a diet for weight loss
To lose weight, you need to create a calorie deficit. This means that you need to take in fewer calories than your body will burn (BMR). There are a couple of ways to find out your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) and from there you can go onto decided how you will cut some calories during the day with exercise or different meal choices.
To calculate BMR;
For one week record EVERYTHING that you eat and drink in a diary. And no cheating!!! Even if one bite of pizza passes your lips it must be recorded. At the end of the week find a calorie counter such as Fitday and enter your food into this. You should be able to calculate a caloric total for each day. When you have done all 7 days, add all the totals up and divide by 7. This number can be used as an approximation of your BMR. You could do this over 3 days if you want to do it quicker!
OR
Use a search engine and look for ‘BMR Calculator’. This is a very quick and easy way to work out your BMR BUT it is not the most accurate. The calculator will generate the same kind of number for 2 women of the same height and weight even if one woman has a greater muscle mass and therefore, a higher metabolism (BMR). However it will do as a quick approximation.
Your BMR is the amount of calories that your require each day to function. So your body BURNS that amount of calories each day. If you consume slightly less, or consume the same amount and then exercise, you will create a deficit and your body will lose weight.
e.g. if my BMR is 1700 calories and I eat 1600 calories and then burn 300 calories on the treadmill I have created a 400 calorie deficit!! Make sense?? A calorie deficit of 3500 will equal a one pound loss. Therefore, if you burn 500 calories a day you will (theoretically) lose one pound per week.
So, step 1= Calculate your BMR and work out how many calories you want to lose ia diet each day. Don’t EVER go below 1200 calories per day and you should really consume around 1500 calories per day.
In part 2….. What to eat, When to eat…..
Add comment September 9, 2008
handinthefire
Tags: BMR, calories, diet, weight loss
Youtube- diet.com Videos
If any of you are looking for some quick workouts that you can do, or some new exercise ideas, a great youtube channel is .
The two girls that present this are pretty good because they actually DO the exercises so you can see how its done and that they aren’t just telling people what to do!
Add comment September 8, 2008
handinthefire
How to makeover a recipe
Lets say you want your chocolate brownies. BUT you don’t want the added fat and calories…. there is a way to still have your cake and eat it 
There are certain ways that one can ‘makeover’ a recipe by replacing ingredients that aren’t too healthy such as butter, with more beneficial ingredients:
1. Remove a particular ingredient: Do your brownies REALLY need nuts? Does your homemade pizza REALLY need the extra cheese? Get rid of anything that isn’t essential and may just be adding unnecessary calories.
2. Replace butter with applesauce or mashed bananas. If you don’t want to replace all of the butter just make the recipe 1/2 butter 1/2 applesauce.
3. Reduce sugar by 1/3 and then add a little bit of vanilla essense.
4. Replace sugar substitute such as splenda.
5. Use less salt .
6. If a recipe calls for flour or pasta, why not go for the wholewheat version instead?
7. Use lowfat alternatives for cheese, mayo and sour cream.
Do you have any ideas to ‘makeover’ a recipe?
Add comment September 8, 2008
handinthefire
Tags: diet, Healthy eating, Recipes
Q.o.t.d
The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will. – Vince Lombardi
This is a really good way to think about changing your lifestyle. We spend our days coming up with excuses about how we don’t have the time or that its too difficult but in reality we have all the KNOWLEDGE but we CHOOSE to not make the effort to change.
The hardest thing is starting a new routine. My Mum has recently just started powerwalking on our treadmill and for the first week she found it really hard to get out there and do it. The other night I was looking everywhere for her in our house and finally I noticed that the CD player from the kitchen had gone…. I followed the music and there she was, sweating profusely and powerwalking like a madwoman on her own in the garage. Next thing I knew, she grabbed the little hand weights and started punching the air with them. Now let me tell you, my mother hasn’t exercised in about 25 years and that was one of the most inspiring things ever. And she told me after that she actually enjoyed it! She has been sleeping a little bit better and she feels like her clothes are looser.
If you are sitting down at the moment thinking maybe you’ll get out there are walk tomorrow why not do it now? Close your laptop or computer down (this page, your email, itunes or whatever will STILL be here when you get back) and go for a walk outside. You’ll feel better for it.
Add comment September 8, 2008
handinthefire
Tags: quote, vince lombardi
R.o.t.d Carrot Corn Muffins
Instead of just posting random ‘healthy’ recipes each day with no opinion on them, I am going to give you all recipes I have cooked myself and eaten (most of the time devoured ). They make a fantastic snack. So without further ado:
Carrot Corn Muffins (courtesy of the Body-for-life website)
Makes 12 small-medium muffins
- 150g cups whole-wheat flour
55g brown sugar substitute (I used brown splenda, found in Tesco’s by the normal sugar)
90g polenta (can be found in the ethnic section of supermarkets)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
235ml fat-free milk
3 heaped tablespoons low-sugar applesauce (I used pear puree that I found next to the jelly in Tesco. You could also use Bramley applesauce)
55ml sunflower oil
2 large egg whites
50g (or more!) shredded carrots
Butter flavor non-fat cooking spray
Preheat oven to 200 degrees and spray your muffin tin with oil spray OR line with fairy cake cups.
Combine the first five (dry ingredients in a bowl. In a smaller bowl combine milk, applesauce, sunflower oil and the egg whites and add this mixture to the large bowl containing dry ingredients.
Add the shredded carrot, stirring gently. Pour the mix into each muffin cup and bake for approximately 15 mins.
Enjoy! These can be stored in a container and mine lasted for about 5 days.
In my opinion, these were WONDERFUL. Very moist and the carrot gae the muffins a little bit of sweetness without a lot of calories. According to the BFL website, there are approximately 113 calories in each muffin and 15g carbohydrate and 10g protein.
I’d love to know what you think….
Add comment September 8, 2008
handinthefire
Welcome!
So, I wanted to create a place that made exercising, eating healthily and being happy EASY and Fun .
For all of those people who are ’starting the diet tomorrow’, ‘don’t have the time’, ‘too tired’ or just ‘don’t know where to start’, I know I can and will be able to help you out.
My name is Liz, I am completing my BSc in Exercise and Sport Science, I am a very keen runner and gym bunny, I love to try new recipes and to find out new ways to keep myself full of life.
I aim to have a recipe of the day, exercise of the day and quote of the day each morning and I am going to start the first few weeks with information on how to start out e.g. how to start a new running plan, what to buy for your fridge, how to stay motivated and most of all how to have fun!
I hope you enjoy your time here,
Liz
Add comment September 8, 2008
handinthefire
