Got some great weight loss/fitness tips yesterday that I have to share :)

It's January and that means New Year's Resolutions. This year I have several resolutions. One of them is to get more serious about losing weight, getting in shape and staying that way. Since I have two kids who love to swim it's pretty much a guarantee that I'm going to be spending a great deal of time by the water. I'd like to spend those hours in the sun in comfort and that means I have to get serious here. 

I'll be the first to admit that my knowledge on diets and exercising is pretty basic, but fortunately I got a free assessment with a personal trainer since I joined a gym. We sat down, I cringed several times as we went over where I was and nearly groaned when I found out what I need to do. I won't lie, I was pretty confused during most of it, but thankfully the trainer was very knowledgeable about everything and broke it down for me and this is where I share my new found knowledge :)

I set my calorie intake to 1200, but I was mostly keeping it below that. That apparently is a big no no for dieting. Hopefully I'll explain this properly:

-Women need 1400 and men need 1600 to keep your body from going into starvation mode. If your body doesn't have enough calories it will start attacking your muscles for what it needs.

The other mistake I was making was not snacking. I was dividing my calories into three meals and making sure I had plenty of fiber to fill me up and drinking water to help keep me feeling full. I'm also not much of a breakfast person. If I'm hungry I eat breakfast, if not there's always lunch. 

-This is especially important if you're trying to build muscle, which by the way apparently helps burn calories faster and more efficiently which I'm all for, you should eat within the first 30-60 minutes after waking up. Then every three to four hours to give your body fuel to continue burning calories. 

My workout plan for the gym was to alternate upper body one day and lower body the other six days a week. 

-Work each muscle group one time a week and that's it. Muscles need 72 hours to repair themselves and if you keep working them you don't give them a chance to repair themselves and you lose some of the results that you would have gained if you had let them heal. What he recommended was a four day workout, Pull, Push, Core, Legs. Focus on each for one day and then leave them alone for the rest of the week. 

-Also, you should work your muscles before cardio. After cardio you'll be less coordinated and less effective to work your muscles. 

I probably didn't explain this as well as he did, actually, I know I didn't explain these as well as he did, but hopefully you get the basic idea. Luckily he does have a Facebook page where he posts articles, nutritional tips and exercise tips. If you'd like a better explanation of something I wrote, post a question on his wall, Youngevity-Coach

Well, I hope these tips helped and if you have some tips, please share :)