Furious Fitness

Get active at home.

We’re spending more and more time sedentary at home; watching television, on the internet, etc. See if you can get active – try watching T.V. standing up, do short bursts of exercise during commercial breaks, ditch the remote, try using a standing desk while you’re on the Internet.

Don’t exercise on an empty stomach.

Common sense would seem to say that exercising on an empty stomach would burn more fat, but the research actually shows that the calories burned actually come from muscle rather than fat. Remember, not only do you want the muscle because it looks good, but it also increases your at-rest fat-burning metabolism. In addition, by not being properly fuelled you can’t exercise as intensely, so grab a simple carb snack 15 – 30 minutes before you hit the gym (carbs give your body energy and simple carbs digest easily).

Weigh yourself weekly.

While some studies have shown that daily weigh-ins promote maintenance of healthy weight, it’s not necessarily true when you’re trying to lose weight. Losing weight takes time and your weight fluctuates from day-to-day (as well as monthly), so rather than doing daily weigh-ins, opt for weekly weigh-ins – as long as you’ve been making healthy choices and upping your activity level, you should see good results and you’ll be motivated by your success. Also remember, the best time to weigh yourself is in the morning.