by Greg Landry
Q. How many calories do I burn walking or jogging a mile?
A. Caloric expenditure is 62 calories per 100 pounds body weight per mile. For example, if you weight 150 pounds, you expend 93 calories per mile walked or jogged (62 x 1.5).
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Q. How much does my caloric expenditure increase when I increase the incline of my treadmill?
A. Each 1% incline ads 7% to your caloric expenditure. More incline = more difficult = more calories expended.
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Q. How do I know how much weight I should be lifting?
A. For a general muscle-toning program, you should determine the weight to be used based on being able to do 12 repetitions. Ideally you should be able to do 12 reps with good technique, but, you should also be near failure on your 12th rep.
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Q. Are sit-ups/crunches the best way to remove fat from the abdominal area?
A. Nooooooooooooooooooooooo! If I hear another question about “spot reduction” I’ll scream! 🙂 There is NO exercise you can do to remove fat from a specific area of your body. YOU CANNOT SPOT REDUCE!
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Q. I’m taking a weight loss supplement called $%&^%#. Do you think it will work?
A. Nooooooooooooooooooooooo! This is another screamer! Please, please, please, forget about taking any type of pill, powder, potion, herb, etc. to lose weight. There is no way around healthy eating and exercise.
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Q. How many calories do I have to burn to lose a pound of fat?
A. You need a deficit of 3500 calories to lose a pound of fat. For example, If you expend about 2500 calories per day and consume about 2000 calories per day, you’ll have a deficit of 500 calories per day and 3500 per week. Thus you would lose about one pound of fat per week.
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Q. I know I’m supposed to eat breakfast but I’m just not hungry in the morning.
A. You’re not hungry for one (or both) of two reasons…
1. Your metabolism has adjusted to you not eating breakfast. It has slowed down because it “knows” (based on the past) that you’re not going to fuel it in the morning. Thus you have no appetite in the morning. You can gradually change that by starting to eat a small breakfast and gradually increasing it. Breakfast should be a VERY substantial, healthy meal. Your appetite will return over a period of months.
2. You’re eating too much for dinner and in the evening. Your dinner meal should be your smallest meal of the day and your snacking in the evening should be limited.
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Q. When is the best time to exercise?
A. See my article… Morning@landry.com
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Q. Should I use free weights or machines?
A. For the purposes of general fitness, muscle toning, and weight loss, it doesn’t matter. My suggestion is to do whichever you are most comfortable with and are most likely to do on a regular basis.
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Q. I’m doing everything I’m supposed to be doing and I’m still not losing weight. What can I do?
A. See my article… Whining@Landry.com
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Q. I was told that I should exercise two to three days per week. Is that right?
A. That’s better than doing nothing but it’s not optimal. I firmly believe that God designed our bodies to be active daily. When we exercise daily we are healthier, leaner, more energetic, and the list goes on and on. Also, daily exercise boosts your metabolism like nothing else can.
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Q. How can I get motivated to exercise/lose weight?
A. This can get really deep, but here’s the short answer. Whenever you’re trying to accomplish something that is very difficult, it’s critical that you ALWAYS have a clear picture of why you want to do it. The response I often get to this is, “well, I have a list in my mind”. Sorry, that’s not good enough. When the going gets tough you forget about that list in your mind. Your list has to be on paper and it has to be comprehensive. Spend several days thinking about EVERY reason why you want to exercise/lose weight and all the ways you will benefit when you do accomplish that goal. Put this paper somewhere where you see it everyday and where you can refer to it when the going gets tough! Another thing you can do is to exercise with someone. You can motivate each other during tough times.
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Q. What do you think about, the Rice diet, the Zone diet, the Blood Type diet, the Steak and Eggs diet, etc.
A. Credible scientific research overwhelmingly says that we are healthiest and fittest when we exercise on a regular basis and eat a diet composed of mostly fruits, vegetables, grains, legumes, and nuts. Too much fat or protein in our diets is not healthy. This is a medical fact.
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Q. Should I take vitamins?
A. Because of depleted soil, poor eating habits, and a variety of other reasons, I believe that we don’t get adequate vitamins and minerals from our food. Thus, taking at least a multi-vitamin/ mineral is wise, and possibly also additional vitamin C, E, and beta-carotene.
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Q. What do you think is the most important benefit of exercise?
A. Obviously the health benefits are on the top of the list. However, if exercise had no health benefits, I would still do it daily simply because of the way it makes me feel and the energy it gives me!
Copyright by Greg Landry, M.S. All Rights Reserved www.greglandryfitness.com
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