Jenn's Losing It

The less you sleep you get the more ghrelin (an appetite-amped chemical) your body makes and the lower your output of leptin (a hormone that helps let your body know when you are full).  When you have these two body chemicals "malfunctioning" adding in your lack of sleep you have a recipe for overeating and bad food choices.  You tend to go for the fatty, salty, carb filled foods-so those doughnuts in the morning staff meeting are nearly impossible to pass over! Also, plenty of us get up with the chickens to get in that early morning workout, but if you aren't hitting the hay early enough the night before, your weight loss efforts just may be in vain.  A study in the Annals of Internal Medicine found that sleep deprived people that are doing a low calorie diets lost 55% less body fat than their well rested counterparts.  What these sleepy folks did lose, was lean muscle mass. So it is very important for SO many reasons to get enough sleep.  A lot ...

Try out these snacks to help keep you full and help you lose!  There are so many others to add to the list but here are some to get you started- 1. Gum:  Ask yourself-Am I hungry? Not sure...grab a piece of gum.  It could simply be boardum that just needs to be kept at bay and chewing gum is a good way to keep your mouth busy. 2. Frozen Fruit Bars:  With summer coming and the ice cream man making his way back into our neighborhoods, these are a good snack to have on hand.  The calorie count is low with these and many are packed with vitamins for an extra bonus! 3.  Apples:  A 2003 Brazilian study found eating 3 apples a day can keep your weight gain at bay and even help you lose! 4.  Total Yogurt:  This means skipping the fruit mix ins!  Try out Fage Total Greek Yogurt with 0% fat and 80 calories per serving...how do you go wrong? 5.  Quaker Express Oatmeal:  Oatmeal is generally a filling breakfast or snack and now Q...

So it happens to the best of us.  We all want to be as committed as possible to our workouts and try to set a schedule that we can stick to.  The best intentions fail us sometimes, simply because we aren't into it.  I know recently for me I would get downstairs, put on the hand wraps, stick in the ear buds, blast the music and thought I was "ready to go", then as soon as I would start my warm-up I would want to bail on the workout.  My past two workouts have been like this.  Wednesday night, I got all ready to go and started my warm-up, then I looked over to the washer and dryer and saw all the clothes that needed to be washed and folded.  Not to mention I got a later than normal start thanks to Angry Birds Rio..lol.  Today I sat down and wrote out a work-out schedule for the next week along with a food menu that I could stick to so I didn't order pizza or Chinese. Listed below are eight things that you can do to keep your motivation to workout and k...

This is some information that also came from a recent email from a co-worker.  It mentioned that it possibly came from a Men's Health Magazine  article.  25 best new nutritional tweaks you can make that will improve the way you look and feel—fast and forever! Drink a Second Cup of Coffee                                                  It might lower your risk of adult-onset diabetes , according to a study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition . Keep Serving Dishes off the Table Researchers have found that when people are served individual plates, as opposed to empty plates with a platter of food in the middle of the table, they eat up to 35 percent less! Think Before You Drink The average person drinks more than 400 calor...

This post came directly from an email that I received from a co-worker.  There are some VERY interesting facts listed on eating fruit!  Enjoy! DR. OZ   on  EATING FRUIT This is informative!We all think eating fruit means just buying fruit, cutting it up and popping it into our mouths. It's not that easy. It's important to know how and when to eat fruit. What's the correct way to eat fruit? IT MEANS NOT EATING FRUIT AFTER A MEAL! FRUIT SHOULD BE EATEN ON AN EMPTY STOMACH. Eating fruit like that plays a major role in detoxifying your system, supplying you with a great deal of energy for weight loss and other life activities.  FRUIT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT FOOD .Let's say you eat two slices of bread, then a slice of fruit.The slice of fruit is ready to go straight through the stomach into the intestines, but it's prevented from doing so.In the meantime, the whole meal rots and ferments, and turns to acid. The minute the fruit comes into contact with the foo...

Following up with my past entries, I was successful with my weight loss efforts by attending Weight Watchers.  With Weight Watchers , one of the most important tools is tracking.   I’m a working mother of a toddler, so as you can imagine, my “free time” is nearly nonexistent.   So what I found was best for me was planning out what I was going to eat the next day and entering it in my tracker, along with the exercise that I plan on doing.   This only takes maybe 5 minutes to enter into your tracker and another 5 to gather what you plan on eating and putting it into a central location.   For me I would get my breakfast and lunch together for work the next day.   I load up on filling foods for during the workday.   Generally these food items don’t have large point values and they hold you over for a while.   I tend to save the majority of my daily points for dinner.   I enjoy pasta…a lot, so it has always been worth stretching my points to eat w...

So here it is...my before and after... Before .....January 11, 2009.....226 pounds After ...March 17, 2011...160 pounds

Depending on if you've been running before or if this is your first time, the article link below tells you the stories of two women: Judy Molnar and Angel Bell. They discuss how they got into running and about when they ran their first 5Ks. The article ends with an example of a 10 week training plan to get you ready to run your first 5K. How to Run Your First 5K Active.com Check out my Websites I LOVE  page to search out the 5Ks in your local area! Best of luck to you if you decide to run your first 5K, you hopefully will catch the "running bug" that I did and want to keep going!

So even though my blog is titled Lily Boxing, I do my fair share of running too.  I began running in 2009 while on my weight loss journey.  I had been taking kickboxing classes at a local studio and felt guilty about going to class after working all day.  I wanted to go home and spend some time with my family, not feel bad about going to the gym.  After my membership ended I began doing workout DVDs and jump roping.  The jump roping was short lived because I promptly got shin splints.  So we've had a treadmill for years-collecting dust (like I suspect most of us are guilty of), so I decided to hop on and try running.  I had this overwhelming urge to run.  I needed more than my current workouts were offering me.  I got on the treadmill and realized I really wanted to be outside.  So here it was November, in New England at 9:00pm.  In other words:cold.  I told my husband I was going out for a run and I was going to take his old r...

Check out the side bar of my blog for pages that go along with my weight loss journey, fitness regime and websites I use and think others should check out. Suggestions are always welcome for content that I can add to my blog that you may find interesting.  Thanks for checking out my blog! ~Jenn~

When I did a google search on how to calculate how many calories you burn during your workout, eHow.com offers the following tips, click on the link below: How to Calculate How Many Calories You Burn eHow.com Below is a link to the Health Status Calculator mentioned in the article. http://www.healthstatus.com/calculate/cbc Here are my results for 60 minutes of boxing on a bag: According to the information you provided, below is an estimate of the calories you burn. Generally, to maintain your weight, the amount of calories you take in should equal the amount you burn. The Daily Energy Expenditure calculator will help you figure out the minimum number of calories your body needs each day to work properly. To lose one U.S. pound (.454 kg), you must burn 3,500 more calories than you take in as food. Activity Calories burned Boxing - punching bag 440 Total Calories Burned 440

Below is a link to an article on how to calculate your target heart rate for when you're working out. Check it out! How to Calculate Target Heart Rate eHow .com Here is how mine turned out: Maximum Heart Rate=220-32 (188) 65% of 188=122 85% of 188=160 I just recently began tracking my heart rate while exercising. I use a Polar Heart Rate monitor and it compiles an average at the end of my workout. I have been averaging 145 BPM . Not bad!

I've written up several boxing routines for myself.  I do each activity for the length of a song.  I picked playlists for each of my workouts and loaded them into my iPod so that I can just turn on the music, workout and when the music stops-my workout is over. In the Pages area you can find the  "How To Links"  for examples of each activity that is listed in the workout. Click Below to view the workouts I designed along with a link to a printable version. Advanced Boxing Workouts Email or post a comment with any questions that you might have.  Hope these workouts work well for you if you try them.  Good Luck! ~Jenn~ **Before trying any new exercise it is important for you to consult with a health care professional.  Your participation is at your own risk**