It's a Lifestyle!


Hey, it's Katie Ann! This is my first experience with a blog but thought I would see how this works to not only keep a sort of workout and nutrition diary for myself, but to also use it to share information and tips that work for me with my friends!

I'm a Certified Nutrition and Wellness Consultant and no matter how long it takes, I will continue to pursue my degree, most likely in Dietetics and Nutritional Management. In the meantime, I'm currently studying for my Personal Trainer Certification which I should complete in the next couple of months and will be all too happy to spend my workdays in the gym. Nutrition and exercise are definitely my passion and main interests, so that's why I decided to make them my career pursuit as well! I have several areas of focus that I'm interested in! Since so many of my friends are having babies, I'm very interested in Pre- and Post Natal fitness and nutrition but also do alot of reading about and have great interest in sports performance training and youth fitness. I want to learn it all!! I also LOVE group fitness classes such as pilates, kickboxing, and spinning and hope to be teaching some of those soon as well!

I'm sort of obsessive compulsive about keeping track of my workouts and diet. I have a spiral-bound diary that I write my workouts and meals in everyday. I love to challenge myself and try new workouts and the diary helps me keep track of my results. I buy lots of fitness and nutrition books and magazines and have tons of articles and recipes cut out or flagged. The idea to do this blog came from so many of my friends that have called, texted, or e-mailed me asking for advice and tips with their workouts and diets... I figured this would be a great way to share more of the info that I read and find with my friends. I have lots of ideas so there will be much more to come...stay tuned! :)

Friday, June 11, 2010

Determining Your BMI (Body Mass Index)


Deciding what is a healthy weight for you is not only what you see when you step on the scale.  One of the first things you should do is measure your BMI (Body Mass Index).  This is a mathematical equation that estimates your body fat.  Your height and weight are entered into the equation with the resulting number revealing whether you are underweight, normal weight, overweight, or obese.

One drawback to measuring BMI is that it doesn’t differentiate between body fat and lean muscle mass.  So if you’re an athlete or have a lot of muscle mass, your BMI may not classify you correctly.  The resulting number could indicate that you’re overweight when in fact you are not.  The opposite goes for those individuals, such as older people who have lost muscle mass… your BMI may indicate that you are underweight when you’re not.  However, for most people, your BMI should give you a pretty accurate idea of where you stand.

To determine your BMI, there are lots of BMI calculators on the internet.  However, you can determine it yourself by using the following equation:

(weight in pounds) divided by [(height in inches) x (height in inches)] x 703

Compare your resulting number to the chart below:

Below 18.5 = Underweight
18.5 - 24.9 = Normal
25 - 29.9 = Overweight
30 and above = Obese

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Fitness Myths!

I figured the subject of "Fitness Myths" would be a great subject for my very first blog!

According to expert Jan Wyche in an article by Liz Neporant, here are some of the most common fitness myths:

Myth #1 - "Stretching is Essential" - Research shows that stretching before exercise actually increases your chance of getting injured and may decrease your workout performance.  According to Wyche, the best way to prepare your body for physical activity is with a three to five minute warm-up of easy walking, light cycling or gentle movement.

Myth #2 - "Muscle Turns Into Fat" - "Fat and muscle are two totally separate types of tissue.  They aren't interchangeable," says Wyche.  People get fat when they stop working out because they continue to eat the same amount but burn off fewer calories.  As a result, their unused muscles grow soft while they simutaneously gain excess body fat.

Myth #3 - "Stay Skinny With Diet Alone" -  You can lose weight simply by cutting back on calories.  But combining exercise with diet will help you lose weight more quickly.  More importantly, it will help you keep the pounds off permanently.  The majority of participants in the National Weight Control Registry (a survey of thousands of people who have lost a significant amount of weight and kept it off for years) report that a consistent exercise program is one of their key weight maintenance strategies.

Myth #4 - "Long and Slow to Zap Fat" - Wyche claims that the so-called "fat burning zone" is about as real as "The Twilight Zone."  "The workout that burns as many calories as possible, whether it's long and slow or fast and furious, is the best workout for fat burning and weight loss," she advises.

Myth #5 - "Lose Before Lifting" - Actually, if you're truly serious about losing weight, lifting weights two to three times a week is a must.  "Building muscle helps maintian your metablolism even while you're resting and will help you slim down," Wyche notes.  When you combine diet with cardio exercise only, you tend to lose a lot of muscle mass; weight training helps preserve muscle so more of your weight loss is truly from fat.

Myth #6 - "High Reps Rule" - Choose a weight you can lift at least eight times keeping good form but no more than 15 times without your muscle feeling the challenge.  If you can do more reps than that, the weight you're using isn't heavy enough to give you results.  And, as Wyche points out, decreasing body fat will help you see the shape of the muscles underneath.

Myth #7 - "Crunch Away Ab Flab" - There's no such thing as spot reducing -- that is, you can't magically zap the fat from an area by exercising it.  Wyche says that you could do 5,000 crunches a day and still not see any improvements until you burn the layer of fat over your ab muscles, which is done by trimming your diet and burning more calories through cardio exercise.

Myth #8 - "Beef Up to Gain Muscle" - "The body uses protein, carbs and fat to build muscle," Wyche notes.  Any excess protein you eat beyond what your body needs will simply be expelled through your urine or stored as body fat.  Your best bet is to eat a balanced diet that includes a variety of vitamins and minerals and enough calories to build strong, shapely muscles.