Cardio, Strength Training and Clean Eating. Yep, that's it. If you have one without the other two, it is just not a complete and effective means to meet your goal of a healthier you. Whether you are trying to lose weight, tone up or just get off of your medication(s), you have to have all three in concert.
I just recently consulted with a former client and a current client. The former client was stating how she gained some weight back and knew she needed to get back to exercise. She was counting her Weight Watchers points, but she was also counting the pounds that were being put back on her body because she was not exercising. One "wake up" call was that she was having trouble breathing sometimes at night. She went to her doctor because she thought she needed to change or increase her asthma medication. Her doctor told her she needed to lose the weight. I recommended getting back to her stationary bike and adding in strength exercises that we had performed together.
My current client, who I strength train once per week, was frustrated because those last 10 pounds did not want to seem to budge. For months, I recommended increasing her cardio by running more. In the past few weeks, those pounds are finally moving because although she had the strength training under her belt and ate relatively good, she was not performing the cardio training she needed for her body to respond.
Exercise ideas are bountiful with opportunities offered in fitness classes, gyms, home equipment, videos and the great outdoors, however, this whole idea of clean eating seems to mystify people when I talk to them. What exactly is Clean Eating? In a nutshell, eating clean is the practice of eating whole, natural foods such as fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, and complex carbohydrates. It also means staying away from the junk that typically makes up the Standard American Diet (S.A.D) These types of food include man-made sugar, bad fats (hydrogenated, trans-fat), preservatives, white bread, and any other ingredients that are unnecessary. For some people, this can be drastic, but moving in the direction one step at a time is better than not moving at all. Finally, if something about your health or body needs to change and it has been stagnant, you have to increase your intensity in your exercise and/or change your eating habits. Be Well!
