Take Care,
Margo

The scale can be your friend versus being your prison or enemy, as I have said to many of you. 

I’m reprinting/updating this particular blog since weighing has come up SO much lately. Must be that time of year! Many of you feel compelled to weigh every day even though you know intellectually (forget emotionally) that this is NOT  a good idea. 

Of more concern to me is not what time of the day to weigh yourself, but how often you weigh yourself.

The fact many of you weigh everyday which gives me heart palpitations! You could fast on any given day and weigh MORE the next morning. Conversely, if you ’splurged’ and had beer and pizza one evening, you may get on then next morning and weigh less then you thought. It’s unhealthly and just silly to use the scale as a daily litmus test of true body composition. MY recommendation: Weigh yourself ONCE a week. The same day of the week, the same time, preferably first thing in the morning, buck nekked. Keep track if you will, then one week later (not before), repeat. You will see TRENDS and FLUCTUATIONS. You may have worked really hard, eaten just right to ensure weight loss, and still the scale, THE SCALE merely reads what the existing conditions of your body are at that moment in time. Water weight, hormones, the big meal from the day before or not, constipation, or not, or any of the many possibilities(too many to list) can be reasons for fluctuations.  I can’t say this enough. It’s not perfection..it’s PROGRESS. 

Fluctuations occur under the most perfect eating and exercise habits.  If looking to lose weight,  over time you will see a downward trend, with natrual highs and lows along the way, on the scale. DO NOT let these highs and lows translate to highs and lows in your emotions giving the scale too much power. Again, scale fluctuations occur for many reasons under the most perfect eating and exercise habits.  

Okay, I’m off  my soapbox on this one! 

Warm regards,

Margo

As most of you know, one fitness tool I like very much is the Polar brand heart rate watch and chest strap. I prefer this particular model for the watch face number size, its accuracy, and pure ease of use. Simple. No whistles and bells. It reads your pulse/heart rate perpetually, and gives you  your average heart rate when done.  I don’t care for the kind for wrist only (without the chest strap), as they require stillness while you hold a button down; you  don’t have to monkey with the model I prefer at all. It’s automatic; turn it on, and go. Most of you know (if you don’t know, please ask me) what your optimal fat burning, calorie burning, fitness improving cardio heart rate level should be while exercising. 

This tool makes exercise (to me) more fun, more motivating, as you can see exactly where you are while walking, jogging, taking a class, and even at rest, to check out what your heart rate and pulse is. It can make that fat burning workout you do more challenging, since you’ll look at the watch and want to keep it to a certain number for a certain length of time.  If your heart is too high, you can see to bring it down; too low, you can see to amp it up. I’m fine with perceived heart rate, i.e. working at what you think is a 7 or 8 out of 10, but with this toy you can see exactly, if that kind of thing interests you. I recommend Polar brand, model A1 (you can find this older model by googling it) or the newer counterpart, Polar FS1. I have both..I just by the one with free shipping or on sale!!! 

Tick tick tick..Get that Heart moving, and break that sweat!!!

Warm regards,

Margo

I know many of you weigh everyday which gives me heart palpitations! You could fast on any given day and weigh MORE the next morning. Conversely, if you ’splurged’ and had beer and pizza one evening, you may get on then next morning and weigh less then you thought. It’s unhealthly and just silly to use the scale as a daily litmus test of true body composition. MY recommendation: Weigh yourself ONCE a week. The same day of the week, the same time, preferably first thing in the morning, buck nekked. Keep track if you will, then one week later,(not before), repeat. You will see TRENDS and FLUCTUATIONS. You may have worked really hard, eaten just right to ensure weight loss, and still the scale, THE SCALE merely reads what the existing conditions of your body are that moment in time. Water weight, hormones, the big meal from the day before or not, constipation, or not, or any of the many (too many to list) reasons for fluctuations.  I can’t say this enough. It’s not perfection..it’s PROGRESS. Fluctuations occur under the most perfect eating and exercise habits.  If looking to lose weight,  over time you will see a downward trend, with natrual highs and lows along the way, on the scale. DO NOT let these highs and lows translate to highs and lows in your emotions giving the scale too much power. Again, scale fluctuations occur for many reasons under the most perfect eating and exercise habits. 

I’m here to help when you feel stuck, 24/7!

Regards,

Margo

Many of you might have seen the segment on national TV this morning for Acai berry drink. The segment was debunking this product, and how thousands of duped consumers were writing complaining. Yipppee. You may be getting very compelling (spam) email from “Oprah” and lord knows who else on this and other bottled “diet” miracle drugs. They are FAKES - imitating Oprah; just like people mimic your own email and send you spam from your email!  Anyone trying to sell you weight loss pills, endorsed by any celebrity are fake. Fake like the spam saying “We have 1 million dollars for you; I’m a barrister in London and will pay you to hold it for me”. That kind of fake. All diet emails you get are junk. Yes, fake. Lures. Spring is high season for this kind of  false advertising.  

I had mine checked (part of the annual tuneup) and was very enlightened. I say “one size doesn’t fit all” since there are guidelines, absolutes, and gray area in between.  I bet you’ve been told by your physician to have total cholesterol under 200; HDL (the good) and LDL (the bad) combined, to be healthy. Right? I’m 217. “What?” you say! Not you, Margo, oh fit and lean trainer who eats well! I’m coughing up my personal numbers to you all, here and now, to show you how things are not always as they seem  - based on the “mean” – the population as a whole, further proving to you one size does not fit all!  Your MD may not be an expert in this area, (all due respect) even though you think they “should” be. Your ratio is also important, which is calculated with HDL, LDL and TGL, the latter meaning Triglycerides, the fat in your blood.