Calorie Counter Says - How to Properly Breathe While Running?

No matter if I’m running, bicycling, using the elliptical, or lifting weights I always find I’m getting short of breath. So I thought I would do some research into the proper breathing techniques when we’re exercising. Of course, when your body is being physically pushed past it’s exertion point, it’s very normal to experience an out-of-breath feeling, but there are a few different breathing techniques to reduce this out-of-breath sensation.

Most exercisers are actually chest-breathers as opposed to stomach-breathers. Switching from a chest-breather to a stomach-breather is not easy, but here are some tips suggest by our Calorie Counter team that help you train your body to breath with your stomach as opposed to your lungs:

Use Your Hands
When you are first training your body to breath with your stomach, do this breathing exercise at home. Place one hand on your chest and one hand on your stomach. Then focus on breathing in your stomach; your lower hand should be going in and out, while your upper hand shouldn’t move much.

Weight Training
Strength training actually requires more concentrated breathing techniques because your muscles need oxygen in order to rejuvenate and heal. Fitness trainers do suggest that you exhale on the exertion phase of weight training and inhale on the easier phase.

Yoga
I strongly suggest taking either a yoga or Pilates class because they are not only great for reducing stress and strengthening your body, but they are also great for teaching breathing techniques.

You would think breathing would be like second nature to us – which it is! But in order to get the most out of your workout, reduce fatigue, and help repair your muscles, you need to train yourself to breath properly through your stomach, not your lungs. Hope this article has been of use to you and don’t forget to check back to Calorie-Smart.com for daily recipes, diet plans, blogs, and exercises.

5 Calorie-Counting Strategies

We all know that the best ways to shed those unwanted pounds are to ensure that you don’t take in more calories than you burn. Now, one of the biggest issues I see all the time is people not properly tracking their calories. This leads to not properly tracking calories and therefore, weight gain! Follow these strategies for properly tracking your calories in and calories out so you can get closer to reaching your weight loss goals.

1. Determine Your Caloric Needs
Use this Caloric Needs Calculator http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm from Free Dieting to determine how many calories you should be eating per day. Always remember NOT to starve yourself of foods to lose weight. This causes binge eating, eating disorders, and in most cases it actually causes weight gain because it slows your metabolism.

2. Use a Calorie Tracking Program
I personally use My Fitness Pal on my iPhone (I’ve never used it online before, I just use the application), and I LOVE it! You can use all sorts of different programs though such as My Fitness Pal, Calorie Counter, Lose It!, My Net Diary, or Daily Burn. These allow you not only to track what you eat, but your activity as well.

3. Watch Your Portion Sizes
My family thinks I’m “obsessed” with measuring my food, but that’s not it at all. I know myself, and I have to watch my portion sizes or I’ll overeat and feel horrible. So I measure all my sizes when I can and then I’m able to successfully track my meals and avoid over-eating, which is not only bad for weight loss, but hard on our digestive system as well.

4. Always Read Labels
Although you should be doing most of your grocery shopping in the produce, dairy, and meat aisles, there are going to be times where you need to purchase from the “processed” aisles. When you do this, ENSURE you read the label of everything. Just because a product says “Low Calorie”, “Low Fat”, or “Zero Trans Fat”, doesn’t mean anything. Look at the amount of sugar is has, the number of calories per serving, as well as the fat and saturated fat content. Sugar is something you need to be careful of when you are trying to lose weight and keep the weight off, so ensure the product doesn’t contain a high amount of sugar.

5. Don’t Waste Calories on Drinks
I see so many people who easily blow 300-500 calories of their available daily calories on a drink from McDonalds, Starbucks, or Dunkin Donuts. Try not to do this! It’s SUCH a waste of calories! You can have an orange, an apple, grapes, and some yogurt for that amount of calories!

For more great articles and tips on fitness, nutrition and Weight Loss check out http://www.Calorie-Smart.com. Here you’ll find healthy yet simple recipes, effective workouts, and supportive information on how to achieve your target weight.

5 Ways HIIT Workouts Burn More Fat

Ever heard of HIIT? It’s a new workout strategy that’s all the rage these days because of it’s great ability to not only kill calories, but melt body fat. What do you usually do for your workouts now? Jog for 40 minutes? Do the elliptical for 30 minutes? Well HIIT workouts are usually 15-20 minutes long and involve 20 – 60 second intervals with a 10 second rest.

These workouts are also becoming very popular because they are quick, which are perfect for the hectic lives we all live today. Check out these five facts that show that HIIT training can burn more fat than traditional workouts:

1. Heart Rate:
As you probably know, it’s when your heart rate is pumping that your body is burning the most calories. HIIT workouts consist of high intensity training, rest, high intensity training, rest…..etc. This gets your heart rate pumping, then brings it back down, and it continually repeats. Great for burning calories and fat.

2. Cardio AND Muscle:
Another fantastic aspect of HIIT training is the fact that you are working out both your muscles for strength training AND getting in your cardio.

3. Release of Fatty Acids:
HIIT workouts actually signal the release of fatty acids into your bloodstream, therefore, burning more fat.

4. Burn Calories From Your Calorie CounterAfter Your Workout:
HIIT Workouts are specifically designed so that even after you stop working out, your muscles continue burning calories for hours after your workout.

5. Increase of HGH:
HGH is a hormone that actually burns fat while preserving your muscle, and HIIT training has been proven to increase this hormone.

I hope these tips have helped you in your fitness journey. If you have some other facts and information about HIIT training that we’ve left out, please feel free to comment below.

For more great articles and tips on fitness, nutrition and Weight Loss check out http://www.Calorie-Smart.com

5 Tips for a Healthier Lifestyle

One thing people need to stop doing is referring to “their diet”. In order to get into good shape and get healthy, you aren’t doing a diet, you are changing your lifestyle. It’s unfortunate that some people actually try some diets” because the truth is that diet plans will shed the pounds, but as soon as that diet is finished you are going to gain those pounds back on. So here are five proven tips that will help you shed the pounds and keep those pounds off.

Use Smaller Plates
I know it sounds cheesy, but it works! If you use smaller plates for your meals, you WILL eat less. It’s a psychological thing. If you want to eat smaller meals but use the same plates, you’re going to think you are starving yourself. So what you want to do is use smaller plates so the food portion will appear larger.

Don’t Rush Your Meals
When you rush your meals, it doesn’t give your body the chance to feel full so you end up eating a lot more than you actually need. However, when you take the proper amount of time to eat (You don’t have to eat slowly, just a normal pace), it gives your body time to adjust to having food in your stomach and you’ll feel fuller much quicker which allows you to eat less.

Don’t Overdo The Alcohol
Alcohol is a great treat in moderation. However, if you drink too much alcohol it not only packs on a ton of extra calories but it also causes you to crave more and give into those cravings easily. So drink in moderation and try to have a glass of water in between each drink.

Fruit For Dessert
Although you shouldn’t really need dessert, we all know a little dessert is very nice every once in a while. But instead of having a piece of cake, cookies, or brownies, opt for naturals dessert! Have a bowl of strawberries, or kiwi, or an orange.

Ask Yourself: Are You Hungry?
So many people eat because they are bored! What I do – and trust me, it’s not easy! – I ask myself “Are you really hungry or are you just bored?”. Most of the time if I have to ask myself the question, I’m actually not hungry so I find something to keep myself preoccupied or I grab something to drink like a coffee, water, or tea.

For more great articles and tips on fitness, nutrition, weight loss and recipes check out http://www.Calorie-Smart.com

5 Strategies to Lose the Last 10 Pounds

So many people are able to drop 20+ pounds immediately (especially if they were extremely overweight to begin with), however, it’s always those last 10-15 pounds that are the most stubborn to lose. It’s the same situation if you are just 10-15 pounds over your goal weight, those pounds are extremely hard to get off. Here are five strategies that I’ve found works for me to kick those pounds to the curb:

1. Calorie Counter:

There are many programs and applications that you can use to track your calories in and calories out. I personally use MyFitnessPal. You can track your meals, snacks, drinks, weights, and cardio on these applications. It’s a great way to keep track of everything and ensure you stay on track.

2. Track Your Measurements:

So many people go strictly by the scale and this is not a good measurement. You should be taking your measurements every two weeks to see if you are able in your weight loss (inches). Try not to dwell on the scale too much as this really isn’t a great measure of weight loss success. You can also do your body fat percentage every two weeks.

3. Cut Back on Alcohol

Although it’s fun and tastes delicious, alcohol is one of the top products that PACK on the pounds! You know those 3-5 beer you have when your out with friends on a Saturday night and of course who can forget about the McDonald’s Big Mac you want at 3am when the bars close up. Try to cut back on alcohol consumption, even if you reduce your consumption by 2 each time you go out.

4. Increase Your Workout

It’s very common that your body might have adjusted to your workout. In other words, your workout isn’t pushing your body to it’s extreme anymore. So then it’s your job to pump-up your workout to make it more of a challenge for your body. Try interval training, such as running for 2 minutes and walking for 2 minutes on the treadmill – great way to get your blood pumping!

5. Ensure Your Doing Weights in Your Routine

If you haven’t already added weight lifting to your workout routine, PLEASE do! So many women think that if they start doing weights, they’ll bulk up and look manly – this is false. Weights will tone you and create muscle and the great aspect about muscle is that it continues to burn calories even after you’ve finished your workout routine.

Hope you enjoyed these tips, and if you have some personal tips from losing those last 10-15 pounds, please let us know!

5 Health Issues That Occur When You Don’t Eat Enough Calories

So many people who are desperately trying to lose weight thing that the best strategy to do this is to stick to a strict 1200 per day calorie-intake and exercise more each day. This may work for some people, but for others, they end up weighing themselves a few weeks later and find that they are the same weight – or worse – gained weight! Not eating enough calories is not only hard on your body and your muscles, but it can also lead to the following health complications:

1. Metabolism Slowdown

Your metabolism is a set of chemical reactions that involve your digestive process, how you convert food into energy, and how well you burn that fuel (food). Metabolism is determined by both hereditary conditions and how well you take care of your body. The faster your metabolism is, the faster help you in your Weight Loss and keep the weight off. After you exercise, your metabolism is going for up to 46 hours after and this is where fat-burning takes place.

2. Body Burns Muscle, Not Fat

When you don’t eat an appropriate amount of calories for your body, your body will end up burning muscle mass and tissue instead of burning fat. Therefore, you’ll end up having a high body fat percentage which is not only unhealthy, but can be discouraging for someone trying to lose weight.

3. Fatigue

This is definitely the most noticeable side effect just because you actually feel tired, low energy, and sluggish. This is because your body needs energy to function and if you aren’t taking enough calories from a best Calorie Counter then your body will wear out causing fatigue.

4. Weight Gain

Once again, when you don’t consume enough calories, this slows down your metabolism and when you have a slow metabolism, it causes weight gain.

5. Poor Immune System

Because your body relies on calories as energy to function properly, your body’s organs will suffer from the lack of nutrition. Therefore making it easier to get sick, get illnesses, and infections.

Top 5 Low Calorie Fruits to Enjoy

Fruits are an essential in our daily diets. Females between the age of 19 and 50 years old require 7-8 fruits and vegetable servings per day and males between the ages of 19 and 50 require 8-10 fruits and vegetable servings per day. Are you getting the required amount of servings per day? Probably not! Most people don’t! Unfortunately many Diet Plans state that too many fruits are packed with sugars and carbs, and while this is true, they are still required. So check out these low sugar and low calorie fruits to incorporate into your daily meal plan:

Apricots

These delicious fruits contain only 17 calories per 1 apricot, as well as vitamin C, vitamin A, and iron. You can either eat these alone (raw) or you can incorporate them into your daily meal recipes.

Cherries

We don’t mean go buy a can of cherries soaking in syrup! Go to your local grocery store and buy a bag of fresh cherries! One cup of cherries is only 74 calories and these are loaded with anti-inflammatory and anti-aging anticancer compounds. They also contain Vitamin A, Calcium, Vitamin C, and iron.

Honeydew Melon

These are my favorite! Honeydew melon is like nature’s dessert! This sweet and delicious melon only contains 61 calories per 1 cup of chopped cubes, Vitamin C, Vitamin A, Iron, and Calcium.

Raspberries

Another one of my favorite snacks! These are perfect for on-the-go snacks too! Just throw them into a Ziploc bag and off you go! At our Calorie Counter, there are only 10 calories in 10 raspberries – that’s 1 calorie per raspberry! They also contain Vitamin C and iron.

Peaches

Another delicious snack and perfect for on-the-go as well as low-calorie diets! Peaches contain only 38 calories per peach as well as Vitamin C, iron, Vitamin A, and calcium.

For more great articles and tips on fitness, nutrition, and recipes check out http://www.Calorie-Smart.com