So often we are tempted to put a time limit on our health and fitness goals. We see new products make promises we know they can’t keep: “Lose 10 pounds in 10 hours!!”. But because we are lured by a time guarantee we often buy into things that our better sense cautions us against. There is no question that long lasting fitness progress requires hard work, and more than 10 hours and empty promises. A 90 day workout plan that focuses on better eating and really working your body is a realistic timeframe that can give you the results you want, if you are willing to do the work.

The harder you work on your fitness routine, the more drastic results you will see. You know you can’t expect to truly change your body or even change your fitness habits in 10 hours or even 2 weeks. New habits are built through routine and repetition. Hard bodies are built through sweat and hard work consistently applied over a measurable amount of time. A high quality 90 day workout has the potential to not only change your body but to transform your attitude about fitness and health overall.

If you have accepted the fact that the body and mind transformation will take nothing short of seriously hard work and a period of months rather than days, then you may be ready to commit to a 90 day workout program that lives up to its promises when you live up to the hard work required. P90X is the ultimate in 90 day workouts. It is the ultimate in home fitness programs!

P90X can promise extreme results because the program is based on the knowledge and experience of celebrity trainer Tony Horton. Horton knows that there is no substitute for hard work when it comes to a total body transformation. With his expertise and motivation, you will be driven to achieve the results you have been seeking all along.

This 90 day workout goes above and beyond any home fitness system you have ever experienced. There is no doubt that you will likely work harder with this program than any other home fitness routine. The physical and mental rewards that go hand in hand with it, however, make the time and sweat worth it.

You’ve made the decision to get fit. You have also decided that a gym membership is not your style. So now you’re left wondering if you have to purchase a big, expensive piece of home gym equipment to begin your at-home fitness regimen. The short answer is no. It is quite possible to have high quality home fitness without equipment or with very minimal tools.

While we would all love to have a home gym, it’s just not plausible for the vast majority of us. The extra space needed for a home gym can range from a few cubic feet to an additional room. This is why so many pieces of home gym equipment end up littered with clothes and other items: there simply isn’t enough room!

Aside from the space required for many home gym devices, cost is also an issue. This day and age, many of us simply don’t have the expendable income to be throwing away on a piece of equipment like that. Finding a way to get quality home fitness without equipment doesn’t have to be a challenge.

There are many home fitness programs available today that require little to no additional equipment. Programs that only require the resistance of your own body are easy to travel with and also easier on your purse straps. Home fitness without equipment can be more rewarding then a home gym when you consider the convenience. Many programs only require the use of lightweight and easily stored resistance bands, making hulking gym equipment a non-issue in your household.

For high quality home fitness without equipment check out Turbo Jam or Hip Hop Abs. Both programs have optional equipment add-ons, but all optional equipment is easily stored and relatively inexpensive. If convenience is your concern, 10 Minute Trainer could be the perfect match for you. With resistance bands being the only equipment, and optional at that, your convenience is not compromised as you work towards your body transformation.

The bottom line is you don’t have to have a whole room dedicated as your gym. Nor do you need to purchase large cumbersome pieces of home gym equipment. It is very possible to find life changing and high quality home fitness without equipment.

Losing weight and gaining muscle may be your goal, but usually we aren’t the first to notice. Typically people see our face, attitude and body changing before we do. Once you begin to see your own progress, however, you motivation is boosted as you realize your efforts are paying off. Documenting your transformation is vital in maintaining that level of motivation. There are several ways that you can effectively track weight loss.

The scale

The most popular method of monitoring your progress is the old stand-by scale. Although it does not offer much of what other methods do, it is still a reliable way to track weight loss. People’s weight (especially women) fluctuates daily. One reason a scale is not the best method to track weight loss is because it doesn’t account for how much of your weight is muscle and how much is fat. It also doesn’t take into consideration where you are losing the weight.

BMI

Based on height and weight, your BMI will decrease as you lose weight. There are shortcomings to using your BMI as your preferred method to track weight loss, including the fact that, like the scale, no consideration is given to muscle vs. fat loss. Look here for more information about using your BMI to track weight loss.

Body Fat Percentage

Unlike using the scale and your BMI, testing your body fat percentage ignores poundage and instead focuses on how much of your weight is made up of fat. This is a great tool for tracking weight loss because it can show progress even when the scale doesn’t seem to budge. Monitoring your body fat percentage can be done is a few different ways. The most convenient and reliable method for at home use is a caliper. To read more about body fat percentages, check out this earlier blog post.

Before and After Pictures

A great motivational tool, before and after pictures allow you to see your body transformation in a different light. Often even when the scale or caliper readings are changing, we don’t notice an immediate change in how we look. Taking s before picture will certainly motivate you to keep moving. Monthly progress photos will track your weight loss in a visible and fun way.

Measuring Tape

Even when the scale doesn’t move, your body may be changing. Taking your measurements is a very detailed way of tracking weight loss. By measuring once a month or biweekly you can see where progress is being made and where your weight loss is coming from. Using a measuring tape to track weight loss can also tell you when it’s time for a new jean size.

 
Although there are several methods to track weight loss, some are better than others. Choosing a few approaches that fit your goals and lifestyle is a good way to ensure you are getting the full picture. For instance the scale is quite easy and everyone wants to know “how many pounds” they have lost. But pair this with tracking your body fat percentage or measurements and you will get a comprehensive view of your progress, making it easier to know when you are right on track or when it’s time to kick up your exercise and reign in your diet.

Many diets and weight loss efforts have by thwarted by meal times spent away from home. The weekday lunch hour is either seen as a break from the daily grind and a chance to socialize or it is given little thought as you stuff whatever is within arm’s reach into your mouth while not skipping a beat. Not allowing lunch to ruin your efforts requires planning and tenacity on your part. A healthy lunch doesn’t have to be a difficult challenge everyday. Just like the rest of your lifestyle, once you truly make the dedication to living healthy everyday, it becomes easier.

Check out these tips for staying on top of your healthy regimen, even through your lunch break:

1. Don’t let lunch catch you off guard. Schedule your lunch so that you aren’t famished by the time it rolls around. If you include and mid-morning snack you will be less likely to overeat at lunch time and better equipped to make healthy lunch choices.

2. Pack your lunch the night before. Plan ahead by preparing and packing your lunch before bed. This way there’s no “I didn’t have time” excuse in the morning. Have it ready to go waiting in the frig and write yourself a note if needed so that you don’t forget it in your rush out the door.

3. If in doubt, overpack. You don’t want to be hungry at work. Not only will it affect your brain power, but it will also send you running to the ever-dreaded vending machine with little thought of consequences. Pack snacks like fruits and raw veggies to snack on throughout the day.

4. If you decide to have lunch with your coworkers at a restaurant, don’t see it as an opportunity to fudge your diet. See it as an challenge to use what you have learned about proper nutrition. Servers are there to make your dining experience enjoyable and typically welcome additional requests and questions about the food.

Being healthy is an all day everyday thing.

You can’t leave your healthy lifestyle at home; you must take it with you to work as well. Informing your coworkers about your health “kick” will also help you be accountable to your fitness and health goals and may even inspire some. Post-it notes around your cubicle to remind yourself of your dedication can also help. The key is to do whatever is necessary to keep meals and snacks healthy when you are away from home. The new, healthy you needs to stay in charge no matter where you are or what time of day it is.

If you are debating on whether or not to try P90X, one thing that could be holding you back is the unknown. It is obvious from the commercials and reviews out there on the web that this is quite possibly the most intense workout you will ever do. You may wonder if you can keep up or if the challenge will be too much. So, just how intense is P90X? Very. However, you can’t let a challenge discourage you. Our bodies are built to meet and sometimes exceed our expectations. If you set the bar high, you will be amazed at what your body does to reach that bar.

Tony Horton encourages you to “bring it” and wants to “see” you putting maximum effort into the P90X workouts. However, he knows that this is a process and for that reason, never suggests you do anything that will cause injury or discourage you. You are encouraged to set goals realistic but challenging enough for your fitness level. If you can only do 10 reps of a certain move, then do 10 but make them the best 10 ever!

The beautiful thing about P90X is the versatility. No doubt there will be days where you question your ability to stick with the program. But, as you meet and exceed your own expectations, your motivation will be spurred by your successes. The satisfaction you get from pushing yourself beyond your doubts and through your rough days will give you the confidence needed to carry on.

 
Look at what some P90X customers have to say about the program and its intensity:

“Tony will tell you if you cannot finish an exercise, that it is okay and encourages you to rest and then pick your pace when ready and also ensures you that you will be able to do the whole workout soon.”
-Suzanne F., N.J.

“The Power 90X routines keep you moving for over an hour each day! You really have to “Bring It” but the results are worth it!”
-Vanessa M., CA.

” I look at myself in the mirror now and I can’t even believe it’s me. I work for the Postal Service so I am always on the move, P90X has made my job so much easier!”
-Jeff H., IL.

For a great first-hand look at regular people doing P90X and bringing it on a daily basis, check out this day by day P90X review from husband and wife team, Jen and Tom. The weekly recap videos are a lot of fun to watch and give you a good idea of just how hard you will be working.

We are all strapped for time in this busy world. It seems that even when we have a break from the daily grind, the last thing we want to do is expend too much energy. If you are trying to stick to a healthy lifestyle while maintaining a heavy work schedule and busy personal life then you know that there isn’t much time to spare for leisurely cooking or relaxing meals.

The problem with this is two-fold. First, eating quickly and not taking the time to enjoy your meals can thwart your weight loss. There is evidence that eating while stressed or in a rush can cause you to overeat. Taking the time to be conscious of your meal and tune into your body will allow you to eat just enough rather than way too much.

Another way this rush-rush lifestyle can hurt your good diet is the lure of convenience foods. The term convenience food is used to define a food that is easily prepared. Typically these foods contain lots of preservatives, high sodium, and serious calories. It can be hard to find a healthy convenience food that also fills you up. The key to staying healthy while eating convenience foods is to simply be aware of what you are putting in your body.

Frozen meals are tempting to those of us strapped for time. They are quickly heated and require very little clean up. However, this convenience comes with a price. The good tasting frozen foods are often loaded with calories, making the term “healthy convenience food” somewhat of an oxymoron. Next time you are shopping for a week’s worth of dinners, make sure you are selecting varieties with acceptable calorie and fat levels.

If your favorite convenience food has a nutrition label that is less than desirable, try adding some vegetables to it and saving half for tomorrow. Your fattening frozen macaroni and cheese is only half as bad when you load it up with broccoli and eat the rest tomorrow. How about adding mushrooms and chicken breasts to the frozen food staple fettucini alfredo? By cutting the portion in half and then bulking it up with simply prepared healthy vegetables and lean protein, you can keep the convenience while cutting the harm in half! If the store isn’t willing to give you a proper healthy convenience food, you can make your own.

Convenient doesn’t have to mean a whole days worth of calories. Simply being conscious of your time-saving choices can make all the differences. Adjusting the meals with simple add ins or a side salad can bulk it up, allowing you to only eat a portion of what is intended, turning a typical frozen meal into a healthy convenience food.

Exercising for your health is an excellent idea. However, more people exercise with a weight loss goal in mind. For those people, maximizing their calorie and fat burning during exercise is very important. Knowing your target heart rate for weight loss can be a good tool in ensuring that you are exercising at an intensity that will maximize your fat burning and weight loss potential.

There are a few ways of determining your target heart rate for weight loss. The easiest is to take your age and subtract your age from 220. This is what is called your maximum heart rate. When doing a cardio workout, you can maximize your calorie burn by working out within 70-80% of your maximum heart rate. To determine this number simply multiply .70 x your maximum heart rate and .80 x your maximum heart rate. This will give you the optimal range for cardio workouts.

Example for a 30 yr. old man:
220-30= 190 (maximum heart rate)
.70 x 190= 133
.80 x 190= 152
Target heart rate: 143- 162 (approximately)

A quick internet search will show you there are several ways to determine your target heart rate for weight loss. Any of them will do as they come up with very similar results. This one is simply the easiest. If you are looking for more precise results, you could try the Karvonnen formula or a newer formula from the Harvard’s Men’s Health Watch, available here.

Once you have determined that ideal range for caloric burn, you can periodically monitor your heart rate during cardio activity. Keep in mind that as you become more fit, so does your heart. The intensity that once brought you to your target range may now not be enough. As you get fit, you will have to increase your level of intensity to maintain your target heart rate for weight loss.

A heart rate monitor is a great tool for staying on top of your heart rate. One that helps keep an eye on your target zone is a perfect companion to your fitness and weight loss goals. There are heart rate monitors available that use a chest strap to send ECG readings to a watch style receiver on your wrist. There are also slightly higher end heart rate monitors that require no chest strap and deliver quick results with the push of a button.

Heart health is just as important as weight loss. By being aware of your resting, target, and maximum heart rates, you can ensure you are working within a healthy range for your goals and your overall health.

We all know what it’s like to be too busy for a workout. Sometimes people use their schedule as an excuse to resort to laziness. Often, however, the demands of modern life keep us so busy we have little time for ourselves. If you have become accustomed to the daily grind and have neglected your body, what used to be your biceps are probably soft and undetectable. Your quads may have merged with the rest of your thigh and now may resemble an appendage of flesh rather than the defined muscle it once was. The truth is, you don’t have to dedicate multiple hours everyday to keep your muscle tone in check. There is a strength building routine, even for you.

In today’s world it is hard to find time for anything. It might seem like even when you find the time to exercise, you don’t have the energy. If you are seeking to get back the strength you once had but are on a tight schedule, Tony Horton’s 10 Minute Trainer may be right for you. In manageable increments of 10 minutes, you can redevelop the strength you once had. A high quality strength building routine does not require a gym membership or a weight bench.

When you decide it’s time to get serious about your health and become dedicated to regaining your strength and athleticism, you need a program that is effective and convenient. A strength building routine that can improve muscle tone and overall strength in just 10 minutes at a time is the perfect solution. Celebrity trainer Tony Horton developed 10 Minute Trainer with people just like you in mind.

You might be busy, but with a little dedication you can surely find 10 or 20 minutes to dedicate to a strength building routine, particularly one that gives you results. Tony’s Super Stacking Technique will have you working all of the major muscle groups in as little as 10 minutes. With additional abs, lower body and upper body routines you can isolate your muscles for a customizable workout plan.

Resistance bands and the weight of your own body will work together to have you will feel the burn in record time. Got a little extra time? Squeeze in 2 or 3 of the 10 minute workouts to increase the workload and subsequent results. There has never been a more convenient strength building routine, certainly not one as effective as 10 Minute Trainer.

The term “lean protein” is thrown around a lot in the diet and fitness industries. We can deduce that this means protein with little fat, but how many of us really know which cuts of meat are truly “lean” and which should be avoided?
Most of us would be quick to rattle off fish, chicken breasts, or egg whites when asked about lean proteins. But, there are good sources of lean protein in beef and pork. Knowing which cuts will give you maximum protein at a little expense (fat and calories) is key.

Additional Lean Proteins:

• Beef
  Eye Round
  Top Round
  Bottom Round
  Top Sirloin
  Sirloin Tips
  Lean Ground Beef (95% or more) 
• Pork
  Tenderloin
  Boneless Top Loin Chops or Roast
  Center Loin Chops

These cuts all provide premium protein with limited fat and calories.

Some good rules of thumb to remember when shopping for lean cuts of pork or beef:

• Limit marbling. A quick glance at the meat will tell you if it is high in fat. A little fat around the edges can be trimmed, but marbling through the meat will be ingested.
• Stick to cuts with “loin” or “round” in the name when in doubt. These are sources that generally have the lowest fat content.
• When in doubt, substitute ground chicken breast or turkey breast for ground beef. Be certain that the ground meat is “all white” or “all breast” meat to ensure the leanest variety.

-For cooking tips and some good marinade recipes, check out this page from North Dakota State University.
-For preparation tips and cooking methods that further cut the fat, visit Penn State’s Solution Source.

Who doesn’t want to decrease body fat? In America today the answer is probably: very few. We all know that exercise will cause us to lose weight. Some of us probably even know the science behind weight loss. But for those of us just starting out on a fitness quest or a weight loss journey, the science can seem confusing and frankly overwhelming. With all of the information out there it can be hard to weed through it and find a simple explanation of how weight loss works.

You probably know that in order to lose weight your caloric intake must be less than your caloric output. In other words, you have to burn more than you eat. This doesn’t mean that if you eat 1800 calories you have to burn 1800 calories through exercise. Your body is burning calories right now. Your body requires energy to run. You burn calories simply by breathing and living, not to mention talking, reading, walking, and other daily activities. To find out approximately how many calories you burn on a daily basis, try this calculator.

In order to lose one pound of fat, you must burn 3,500 calories. Don’t’ get scared, this isn’t in one day! A healthy weight loss is considered about a pound a week. So, if you want to decrease body fat at a healthy rate, create a weekly caloric deficit of 3,500 calories. This can be accomplished through cutting calories to a reasonable level and incorporating exercise.

Exercise works to decrease body fat in a few ways:

• First, the immediate effects. When you exercise you immediately bun calories as your body accesses fat stores for energy. By elevating your heart rate you are requiring your engine to run in high gear which requires more energy, and therefore more calories. This immediate calorie burn is best accomplished through aerobic exercise, or exercise that increases your heart rate. Things like dancing, running, walking, biking, and swimming are all good aerobic exercises.

• Exercise can also burn calories in the long term. Your “metabolism” refers to the amount of calories you burn while resting, or simple living. Several things can affect your metabolism. One major influence on your metabolism is your muscles. Muscles burn through calories faster than fat. So, by increasing your muscle mass you will burn more calories, even when you are sleeping! Strength training to increase muscle mass is the second prong in exercising to decrease body fat.

Tracking Your Fat Loss

Incorporating both aerobic (also called “cardio”) routines with a strength training plan will maximize your fat loss. Keep in mind that while you are losing fat you will also be gaining muscle. So, while the number on the scale may not budge, your measurements surely will. To more accurately track your progress try taking your measurements. For even greater specificity on your progress, track your body fat percentage by using a body fat caliper.