The following is a re-post of Fitness Minutes newsletter from Vitage Fitness. It is a series of article about how and why we should burn fat, not sugar, when we exercise. Part 1 is covered here and Part 2 here. This is the last and toughest part in burning fat. Enjoy the following article and start burning fat the next time you exercise.

I must confess that the advice that I am about to share with you is something that I find most difficult to follow.  Thinking and training in ways that burn fat is almost second nature for me but all these efforts come to nil whenever I feed my body sugar.

This last instalment of Burning Fat will give you important insights into the relationship between your food choices and energy levels.

Sugar Dependency Cycle

Sugar-based food creates an immediate but short-lived energy surge, and most of us are caught in a cycle where we consume repeated dosage of sugar as soon as the previous ‘high’ wears off.

Such eating patterns leave us hungry all day long and over months and years, our energy levels become inconsistent and our health suffers. It will move our bodies in the direction of releasing insulin, burning sugar, storing fat and becoming more acidic.

Energy Comes From Within You, Not From Outside Of You

Are we resigned to this dependency on sugar? How can we fuel ourselves without having to experience and these mood and energy swings?

The energy that food can provide is no way comparable to the energy that the body can release. Our bodies’ possess an innate ability to release sustained energy that can only be tapped on if we change our perception about food. The key here is to view food as a means to tap on our own vast energy supply, which is stored in body fat instead of something that we consume to refuel ourselves when we run flat.

Eating To Release Energy From Fat

1.       Consume less dense, starchy, and wheat based carbs such as breads, noodles, and cakes and more low-glycemic foods such as green leafy vegetables, fish, seeds, nuts and plenty of water. As a rule of thumb, fill your plate up with salad and vegetables first and then add small amounts of fish, grains and other meat.

2.       Include monounsaturated fats and oils to your meals i.e. high quality essential fats such as olive, flax and fish oil. Also note that food with fat tastes better than food dependant on sugar to add flavour. Such food triggers hunger pangs more frequently, resulting in more calories being consumed.

3.       Meals should be small and numerous. Never allow yourself to be in dire need of food.

Lastly, remember that natural, simpler prepared and less sweetened food gives us more dependable and sustainable energy. Recognize that the true worth of a meal comes later, when you experience how sustainable your energy becomes and not the immediate energy they give!

P.s. The strategies shared in these three byte-sized newsletters on burning fat are far from comprehensive. To learn more, I strongly recommend reading Slow Burn by Stu Mittleman.

source: http://www.vitagefitness.com/content/fitness-minutes-11burning-fat-part-3-3

The following is a re-post of Fitness Minutes newsletter from Vitage Fitness. It is a series of article about how and why we should burn fat, not sugar, when we exercise. I will be re-posting the last in this series next Friday. Meanwhile, do enjoy the following article.

During my early days in the fitness industry, I was caught up in the gym culture of ‘No Pain No Gain’. I often put my clients in a sugar burning state through hard and fast workouts that produced quick results. The negative long-term effects of such intensed workouts have been discussed in the previous Fitness Minutes. It still disturbs me today, that I must have turned off many who sought exercise as a means to manage stress and to feel vibrant.

How you set up your training sessions, what you eat and what goes through your mind plays a big part on whether your body gets its energy from fats or sugar. These two issues of Fitness Minutes will focus on how we can burn more fat instead of sugar by making adjustments to how we train, think and eat.

Here are some useful tips that you can follow:

Warming Up and Cooling Down

Warm up slowly instead of jumping straight into the activity itself i.e. Take a slow walk before breaking into a jog. This allows your body to prepare itself to burn fats instead of sugar. Similarly, make sure you warm down by slowly decreasing the intensity of your exercise to avoid cravings for carbohydrate rich foods after your workout.

Perception

Shift focus from the outcome to being in the present i.e. Instead of being one-dimensional and focusing only on completing your workout, focus on how you feel instead-Take in all the scenery and images in front of you. How does the world or gym look? How many different colours can you see? Listen for music and sounds nearby and faraway. Allow your thoughts to drift and wonder.

Breathing

Avoid any forced expulsion of air and breathing by expanding your chest. Breathe low comfortably i.e. feel your belly expand as you inhale and exhale slowly.

Go Slow

Can you speak out loud as you are exercising? If you are panting too heavily to do so, you are probably training in your sugar-burning zone where sugar becomes the primary source of fuel. You need to bring your heart rate down to the fat burning zone. If you are running, that may mean having to slow down to a brisk walk instead.

I used to be pretty embarrassed with the idea of walking especially when middle-aged women and seniors are running past me! But I remind myself that exercise should not be about how much pain one can take or to boost my own ego, it should be about creating more energy and to simply move comfortably!

I’m running and doing other exercises more slowly than before but it’s fine because I am looking forward to every opportunity to move. Also, that doesn’t mean that I can’t go fast when I need to. In fact, my timing for my 2.4km run is once again sub 10minutes! The last time I clocked such times was during my NS days! I can now speed up without working any harder.

For the next issue of Fitness Minutes, I will be sharing tips on how to make food choices that help to burn fats. Meanwhile, go slow and have fun!

source: http://www.vitagefitness.com/content/fitness-minutes-10-burning-fat-part-2-3

The following post is a re-post of Fitness Minutes newsletter from Vitage Fitness. It is a series of article about how and why we should burn fat, not sugar, when we exercise. I will be re-posting the next two series next week. Meanwhile, do enjoy the following article.

“I don’t feel energized after exercise, in fact I feel really tired!” is a response that I got from a reader of the previous Fitness Minutes. Variations of the same question pop up very often during my workshops.

What about you? Do you often feel lethargic after exercise? Do get into a ‘slump’ where you have difficulty concentrating or thinking clearly? Do you often crave for sugar-rich foods or caffeine almost immediately after leaving the gym?

If you have answered yes to the above questions, you are likely to be training and eating to burn sugar instead of fat. Read on to find out what exactly I’m talking about…

Burning Fat vs. Burning Sugar

For most of us, as long as we have the energy to complete our workout, it doesn’t matter where this energy comes from. This may surprise many of you; it DOES matter where your body gets its energy from, especially if you often feel weary or exhausted after exercise.

Our bodies draw its energy from two systems-the fat burning aerobic system and the sugar burning anaerobic system. Throughout evolution our ancestors have relied on the anaerobic system for survival i.e. to run from-or to run after-other animals. It’s an emergency system designed to quickly mobilize energy to flee or to defend yourself.

The problem today is that we put ourselves in sugar burning states all the time. When you are constantly on the go, it is tempting to take shortcuts in the form of harder and shorter workouts. We also want results FAST and often subscribe to the No Pain No Gain philosophy of training. It is so common to see fitness enthusiasts who rush to the gym for a fast and intensed workout; take a quick shower before zooming off to the next appointment in the blink of an eye. This often results in a sharp drop in blood sugar levels, causing you to lose concentration, feel dizzy and, in extreme cases, blurry vision. In the meantime, the lure of carbohydrate and sugar-rich foods that provides an immediate blast of energy also becomes more appealing. Over time, such routines can stress you out and wear you down.

On the other hand, when you set your body up to burn fat, you begin to activate a more sustained and almost inexhaustible form of energy. You become less susceptible to frequent energy highs and lows and feel even more energized and at ease after exercise.

In order to burn more fat instead of sugar, we not only have to be aware of how we physically train, what goes on in our heads and our food choices are equally critical. I will be elaborating more on how we should manage and fine-tune our mind, body and nutritional choices in order to draw more energy from fat instead of sugar in the next two issues of Fitness Minutes.