burn calories

Kimberly lost 100 pounds

March 16, 2015 by Ajima Jackson 2 Comments

Update Oct 2015: Kimberly wrote in to share that she’s lost 5 more pounds. – “It’s been 1 year and 7 months since my weight loss. I have maintained my weight and actually loss 5 more pounds for a total weight loss of 105 pounds. Feel so blessed and I still workout. I have plenty of ladies that I have had the chance to inspire. That makes me feel blessed cause now they are working out and getting healthy too! I am a firm believer in hard work. Yes, I still run and yes I still eat food real FOOD! I still eat lots of yummy veggies and I DON’T DIET. I workout with awesome people. We fuss through our workouts, but we are working out and we don’t let excuses run our lives.”

March 2015 – Weight Loss Transformation of the Day: Kimberly lost 100 pounds. This proud mom of 2 embraced running, changed her eating habits and burned lots of calories to reach her goal. She’s gone from a size 18 to a size 6. Here is what she shared with us about her weight loss journey…

kimberly before and after

Hello, My beautiful sisters! I am a 38 year old woman who weighed 235 lbs in the last year. I have two beautiful boys who have gave me my tiger stripes [stretch marks]. I used to have a 46F bras size, wear size 18 outfits and I stand at only 5’3″. We all know I am a short thing..LOL!! I decided to change my life from the inside out by eating better and cooking better.

It all started with an app called Couch to 5k (running training app). Water, water and more water is what I drank. I didn’t cut out sodas, just decided to drink one soda at lunch or for dinner. I’m eating more veggies and having protein shakes. Now, being a busy sports mom, I depend on Fresh and Easy. For exercise, I do Zumba and other cardio workouts. I workout 4 times a week for an hour to hour and half.

We as woman need extra cardio to boost our metabolism! Cooking at home and running stairs is an absolute calorie and fat burner. Let me say this…I hate running but I see results. I know now weights are key to tighten and firm up what’s loose. I have to say I feel blessed that I have lost 100 lbs. I can’t believe I went from a size 18 to a size 6 in Juniors. I am feeling accomplished. People say I am crazy for working out so hard but I want to be able to run around with my Boys and keep up.

Instagram: @locinlife

6 Tips To Shed Pounds Quickly And Safely

July 18, 2014 by Ajima Jackson 4 Comments

quick weight less Results, results, results! That’s all we want. It’s what we work for. If people don’t start to see results when they want to see them, many people will quit their efforts prematurely. If we aren’t seeing progress, it must not be working, Right? Not at all. Unfortunately, our bodies don’t care how fast the world is moving or what expectations the internet has given us, they move on their own time. When you’re working to drop a few pounds, the scale’s juggling act is enough to drive you mad. At least it can if you let it. You don’t need to burden yourself with unrealistic expectations about quick weight loss. Let’s go over 6 safe tips for slimming down when time is of the essence.

Eat More Raw, Uncooked Fruit and Veggies

With all the deliciously colorful fruits and vegetables available, the easiest way to say good riddance to those extra inches is to significantly increase your intake of fresh produce. When you go to make your plate, a rainbow of fresh vegetables should be the foundation of the meal. Wash and store your produce as soon as you get home from the store. Doing this will help you to prepare for random cravings and urges that would usually convince you to run out for fast food or trick you into indulging with a sugary substitute. Fresh fruit contains natural sugars and fiber that satisfy the occasional sweet tooth while saving the remorse for someone else. Eat frequent servings to stay full throughout the day. As your body breaks down the abundance of fresh fruits and veggies, you’ll see the scales start to tip in your favor. Tip: Eat as many uncooked fruits and veggies as possible and use them to replace starches and wheat based carbs.

Cut the Junk Completely

It doesn’t matter how many hours you rack up at the gym, if you’re fueling your system with fats, fast food and processed sugars, you are wasting your time. A diet full of processed carbs and other unhealthy options is as counterproductive as you can get. If you’re serious about losing the weight quickly and safely, it’s time to end your relationship with processed food. You can give the old, “It’s not you, it’s me” speech to those foods if it makes you happy. The only thing that matters is that you cut all ties (you can go cold turkey or do it over time…but do it). I’m a personal fan of the “cold-turkey approach”. I think it shows that you’re serious about committing to your decision. That doesn’t work for everyone and you have to find your own way. Look at your goals, then compare them to your actions. Throughout the day, you should always ask yourself, “Is this meal/snack helping me reach my goal?” Tip: Create a process where you really start analyzing what you’re eating and make new choices daily.

If you’re honest, you’d be surprised by how many things you start to lose interest in. So…don’t keep putting it off until tomorrow. Give up the cakes, boxed foods, and sodas right now. Make the transition easy on yourself. If you don’t buy them, you can’t eat them. I know it may be difficult for those who have to shop for the whole family. In those situations, you have two decisions. You can explain your position to your family and ask for their support. Or, option #2- suck it up. You have to dig down deep and find the reserve of strength and discipline that gets you through your toughest challenges. You have to make the commitment and resist any temptation or potential distractions. It’s your life, take control of it.

Burn More Calories

Tip: A minimum of 500 calories per day should be your workout goal. As a go-getter who’s serious about achieving their target in the time frame that you’ve allotted, you should really be blowing past 500 calories with ease. If you’re advanced on your weight loss journey, try for 700-900 calorie per day, but remember that if you aren’t eating to fuel that much calorie burn…you could slow down your metabolism. If you aren’t, don’t worry- it’s better to be active and working your way toward your goal than to be stuck in planning mode. A quick run on the treadmill or a trip on the stair climber can help you hit your numbers in no time. If you really want to put your routine on blast, tackle those calories with a few HIIT training sessions. Your increased metabolism will help make powerful fuel out of all those vegetables you’ve been munching on.

Keep Track Of Your Actions

A large part of becoming disciplined is getting organized. Map out what you should be doing and how you plan to get it done- execution will be the easiest step of all. The only way to know if you’re burning enough calories each day is to count your calorie intake and have some idea of how many calories you are burning with exercise. We all know the basic equation. Burn more than you eat. This is true, but it’s not as black and white as it seems. The goal of this article is to teach you how to lose weight safely. Extremes of any sort, be it extreme dieting or extreme exercising won’t give you the results you want. In fact, they’re potentially damaging- both mentally and physically. Don’t shock your body and expect it to respond nicely. The easiest way to lose weight is to work smarter, not harder. For example. if a 140lb person runs one mile every 10 minutes for 45 minutes, they’ve burned 500 calories. If that same person decides to reward themselves with two large slices of pepperoni pizza, they’ll pack on about 596 calories. Without a second thought, they ruined 45 minutes of exercise with a 10-minute meal. Keep a running log of everything you chew or swallow. Write it all down so you can make a plan. You’ll be able to track how well you hydrate your body throughout the day and take a look at any areas of improvement. There are lots of mobile apps and websites that can help you keep track with ease.

Eat Frequent Small Meals

How often have you heard someone give weight loss advice that tells readers to eat more frequently? Hopefully more often than those miracle-commercials offering you a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Tip: Rather than the traditional 3 meals per day, you may need to be eating between 4-6 small meals. This feeds your metabolism over time, keeping it alive and active. Frequent meals also help to detour those diet-destroying cravings that taunt us throughout the day. Full of nutritional ingredients, you’ll train your body to work with you in your weight loss commitment. The idea of mini-meals can be frightening to some. Contrary to popular belief, minimizing your portion size and increasing your meal times won’t leave you starving. In fact, it’ll teach you the difference between eating until you’re full and eating until you’re satisfied.

Be Realistic

You didn’t gain the weigh over the course of 1 month and you won’t be able to lose it in a month. Weight loss takes time, especially if you want to leave and not return 6 months later. Weight loss is all about trial and error. It will take some time to find out what works for you and you have to be willing to do your research, take action and wait to see results. Yes, some results may show up quickly, but you can’t focus on that in the greater scope of things. It’s all about lasting lifestyle change. Also, don’t compare your journey to someone else’s and expect to see the same results. We all have different body types, circumstances and we take different paths to wellness. Your success may not look like someone else’s, but you should own it and celebrate it.

We all want to lose the pounds and we want it to happen as quickly as it can. We are human. As difficult as it may be, anything worth having it worth putting in some effort. You have to crawl before you walk, and walk before you run- just trust the process, you’ll get where you’re going.

What is HIIT?

July 7, 2014 by Ajima Jackson 1 Comment

hiit high intensity interval training

HIIT or High Intensity Interval Training is rising in popularity amongst the masses at supersonic speeds. Besides body weight training, HIIT is the top fitness trend of 2014. This upbeat, fast-paced method requires dedication, commitment, stamina, and endurance, but the results are well worth the effort.

How Is It Done?

With HIIT you alternate between high intensity exercise and less intense exercises in the same workout. Your intensity would look like hills going up and down if it was mapped out on paper. Your mix of exercises might look like this: (For example, You could alternate and do a high intensity move for 30 seconds then a medium intensity move for 30 seconds.)

High Intensity

Sprinting

Mountain Climbers

Burpees

Lunges/Squats

High Knees

Jumping Jacks

Push-ups

Medium Intensity

Jogging

Walking

Lifting Weights

Walking

Pushups

Crunches

Wall Sit

Strategically planned, high intensity intervals of are balanced with short, less active recovery periods. These spurts of energy encourage your heart rate to stay up while burning calories at record speeds. For some people who love this form of exercise, HIIT has all but eliminated traditional forms of cardio because, in half the amount of time spent in the average 30-minute or 1-hour session, HIIT training can burn more fat and calories while increasing your aerobic and anaerobic stamina. HIIT have been can help speed up your metabolism and has been scientifically proven to burn adipose tissue at least 50% more effectively than low-intensity cardio training.

Examples of HIIT Training

There is no specific form of exercise that is directly associated with HIIT Training. Anything that can be balanced between giving it all you got and taking it down a notch, is HIIT. For example, if you like to go running to stay in shape, do it with all your might for one minute, then power walk for two. Keep repeating the three minute cycle for 15 minutes- that’s HIIT.

Be sure to go through a good stretch and warm-up before getting started. You want to get your heart nice and ready for the high intensity activity rather than instantly shocking it into action. Giving it all you got will increase your body’s need for oxygen, as a result, it’s hungry for more in those recovery intervals. This is called Excess Post-Exercise Oxygen Consumption or EPOC. It opens the door for those calories and that fat to fall off more quickly than normal aerobic exercises.

You’ll find lots of free HIIT workouts on Pinterest and YouTube.

The Benefits of HIIT

Let’s start with how it works on the metabolism. As I mentioned earlier, the balance of high and low intensity interval training creates EPOC, stimulating a metabolism boost for up to 48 hours after a HIIT workout session. It’s one of the only forms of exercise that continues to work for you long after you stop working.

It Works

The fact that it can literally be done anywhere… by anyone…with any style of cardio, makes HIIT a very convenient form of training. This is an added bonus for people who don’t have the time or money to go to the gym. Your living room, backyard, even a locked office can all be the prime location for an excellent workout. Studies show that just 30 minutes of high intensity interval training done three times a week can yield more results than an agonizing hour-long run on the treadmill. Keep it up for two weeks and you’ll advance your aerobic capacity better than you would’ve with 6-8 weeks of conventional endurance. These benefits almost sound too good to be true. Part of the effectiveness behind a HIIT workout comes from your strengthened metabolism.

No Accessories Needed

You don’t have to invest in weights and expensive machinery, for most HIIT sessions, all you need is your own body. The primary focus is speeding up your heart, and keeping it active. You don’t need dumbbells to do that, but you can add wrist weight or dumbbells with moves as appropriate. It’s up to you. If running isn’t your forte, you can easily customize your HIIT routine to fit your strengths. When deciding what to do, target the areas you’d like to improve. Push-ups, sit-ups, crunches, squats, lunges, dips, jumps, and burpees can all be included in a high interval routine. If you’re creating your own regimen, be sure to rest for 30 seconds between each high-impact/low-impact interval. You can build muscle, and retain the muscles you already have without ever setting foot in the gym. There are tons of great HIIT videos on YouTube and lots of routines posted to Pinterest.

Traditional cardio done for extended periods of time puts the body in a “steady state”. It gets used to the activity, making it less and less effective the more it is repeated. HIIT introduces a shock factor that keeps your muscles reactive. As soon as it gets used to a low-intensity interval, you snatch it out of the comfort zone and kick things up a notch with a high-intensity spurt.

The convenience and results from a HIIT workout seem like a gift from above. Fortunately, you can’t argue with the facts. It’s about time something came along that will give people the body they want while working around their lifestyle. Responsibilities and demands from work, home- and everything in between- used to be an excuse for neglecting physical activity. Not any more.

Note: Before starting any exercise program, please consult with your doctor. If you have injuries that could be worsened, are pregnant, have knee issues, are suffering neck and back pain or have a chronic illness intense exercise may not be in your best interest. Don’t forget to stretch before and after working out to avoid injuries.

Top 5 Diet Mistakes to Avoid

June 20, 2014 by Ajima Jackson 1 Comment

There are the top 5 mistakes that I always encourage people to AVOID when dieting and trying to lose weight. These can hinder your weight loss efforts and even harm your health.

I know that we don’t like the word, diet, but when you are just changing your habits temporarily and aren’t committed to long term change…that’s what I call a diet. You can lose weight dieting, but to lose it for good you have to change your lifestyle. There is no one size fit’s all plan to lose weight that works for everyone. Use these 5 tips to make sure that you pick a weight loss plan that will help you find out what works for you and achieve lasting weight loss.

Starving To Burn Calories

Whenever someone wants to lose weight, the first method they usually try is to quit eating whole groups of foods. Some go as far as to stop eating MOST foods. That’s a serious problem. Theoretically this seems like a foolproof weight loss plan. You do not consume calories at all and the body uses the fat already accumulated to produce energy. Eventually, that fat burns and you slim down. Unfortunately, this is not how it works.

The truth is that if you begin starving yourself to lose weight, your metabolism slows down. Once the metabolism slows down, you will encounter come across all sorts of problems. Instead of burning calories, the body begins retaining the remaining energy and to do that, it builds up more fat. Your body thinks there is a famine or crisis going on and is only trying to save you from it. So, in essence, you are not losing fat, only gaining more. On the other hand, if you eat healthy portioned meals made up of healthy foods, you will be able to control your calorie intake and keep your metabolism up to par. This will surely help you slim down.

Intense Exercise and Insufficient Diet

Before you even think about going on a diet, you should know a thing or two about calories. You should know that calories are not bad for you. Calories are fuel for your body and we all need them for just day to day body function. If you do not consume calories at all, you will feel weak, not to mention you will lose muscle. Consuming too many excess calories can be harmful for your health. Therefore, your goal is to limit your calorie intake to a reasonable amount.

Calories give you energy to exercise and the workout helps you slim down. It is in fact that simple. However, most people exercise vigorously and do not consume enough calories. Sometimes they eat unhealthy foods and consume lots of unhealthy fats and sugars as well. Always remember that if you want to lose weight, you should exercise intensely and maintain a healthy diet as well. Without that, you will only get weak and be incapable of going about your daily routine (possibly more prone to injury). You can also create nutrient imbalances that can effect your health if you aren’t eating right but still do intense exercise.

Once you pair a fixed calorie intake with exercise, you see excellent weight loss results. That amount is different for each person. Read this article to learn more.

Not Counting Calories

On diets most people consume a specific amount of food at each meal. They may realize that each type of food has a different calorie count and contains a specific set of nutrients. Some weight loss plans break this info down for you, but many don’t. The best method to know how many calories you’re eating is to count calories, count nutrients (like fiber and fats) and plan out your meals. This way, you will be able to maintain a steady calorie intake. For example: If you feel hungry, you can consume filler foods that are high natural fiber and low in calories. Celery, carrots and other raw veggies are the perfect filler foods. The same filler foods can be eaten as snacks as well. The fiber in these foods will keep you from feeling hungry.

Eating When Bored, Stressed or Emotional

Emotional eating is a major problem for so many people. It is the number-one cause for weight gain because people medicate their feelings and issues with food ALL THE TIME. Most people do not realize that they have this issue. They eat whatever they can get their hands on when they feel stressed, bored, bothered, upset, etc. Even if they are on a diet, they will end up consuming unhealthy foods when emotional eating kicks in, taking them off course. Instead of eating unhealthy foods when your feelings lead you to eat, you should eat healthy snacks and drink water. The best option, of course, is to avoid emotional eating completely by finding healthy ways to process and deal with emotions. Hobbies, meditation and even yoga can help you to do this.

Dieting Instead of Changing Your Lifestyle

Don’t go on a diet. Change your LIFE. Change your habits. Change the way you think about food. Change the places you go to for food. Change the way you think about your health. Most of the time, people pick a diet or weight loss plan (online plans, books, etc.) and they follow the plan but don’t really focus on how they can life in this new way for the rest of their lives. Don’t do anything that can’t be incorporated into your life. Sure you can do a smoothie or juicing fast, but you need to commit to how you’re going to change your eating habits when you start eating solids again. If you are going to eat Paleo or Eat Clean, you want to be able to do it for the long haul or once you stop you risk gaining back all of the weight. If you plan ahead and commit to living a new way you can see longterm change.

6 Ways to Maximize Calorie Burn at the Gym

June 16, 2014 by Ajima Jackson Leave a Comment

6 ways to burn more calories in the gym

Many people work out hard at the gym to burn calories. However, they do not see the good results they expect. Each person’s body if different so I can only talk to you from the perspective what works for most people. You will have to use trial and error to determine what really works for you, so don’t be in a rush. Getting the most out of your workouts can take time but you can get the results you are looking for. I’ve got 6 tips to help you refine your efforts.

1. Train with Weights to Burn Fat

The most common misconception amongst fitness enthusiasts is that they will get bulky if they train with weights, especially women. The truth is that bodybuilders take many supplements and pharmaceuticals to gain immense weight. An average person does not gain significant amounts of muscle weight without using pharmaceuticals and supplements. The fact is that training with weights puts stress on your muscles and results in fat and calorie burn. The muscle you build will burn fat at rest, which increases overall calorie burn after your workout. Muscle is also more compact than fat, so your body appears smaller and more toned.

2. Circuit Training Is One of the Best Methods of Burning Calories

One of the best methods for burning the maximum amount of calories is to use circuit type workouts. One of the biggest mistakes people make when devising a circuit routine is incorporating a single type of workout. Circuit type routines should include a combination of cardio and weight training routines. Only then it will be effective and yield excellent results. If you only use weight training techniques or cardio techniques, you will not get the desired results. The best bet is to keep shuffling your workouts. You can focus on weight training one day and cardio the next. This will help you maintain a balanced routine.

3. Avoid Monotonous Workout Routines

Keep shuffling your exercise routines. Muscles have a memory as well. This is exactly what one needs to avoid. Muscle memory can decrease your progress over time. If you keep changing your workout routines, your muscles will get confused. Confused muscles try and adapt to change. This compels the muscles to work extra hard. When the muscles work hard, they gain strength and yield results. This is why you should change your routine on a bi-weekly to monthly basis. The more confused your muscles are the greater progress you will notice. A great way to confuse your muscles is to keep using different weight amounts (increasing the weight overtime as your body is ready) and a mixture of cardio and weight training. Incorporate more cardio into your training one week and more weight training the other. Try new exercises and workout classes in the gym or at home for variety.

4. Make Sure You Warm Up Properly

Warming up is the key to an effective workout. When you warm up, you allow your muscles to stretch and prepare for an intense workout. You burn more calories if you use an intense routine. However, if your muscles are not warmed up properly, you are more likely to suffer an injury. In addition, your muscles will not be able to work to their full potential. If your muscles are not working at their full potential, you will not be able to burn significant amount of calories. Always perform light cardio (walking, jogging, jumping jacks, elliptical…) and stretching as part of your warm-up routine.

5. Avoid Resting Too Much In Between Sets

If you rest excessively in between sets, you are more likely to get lazy and not exercise hard enough. This is why you should always rest for 30-60 seconds in between a weight loss routine in most cases (there are some very intense routines where more rest is needed for recovery). If you are training to build muscle and use heavy weights, you can rest for a minute or two. Any more than this and you may lose the energy you need to exercise further. You will also not be able to lift as heavy. In calorie burning cardio or HIIT routines, you should only rest for 30 seconds max. This will keep your body challenged and the calories burning.

6. Consider a Cool Down Routine As Well

Quitting exercising immediately is as harmful as beginning without warmup. This is why you should consider a cool down routine for the end of your workout. The best thing to do is to use light weights and perform some of the same moves you already did but slower. This will bring your heart rate down significantly. You can also walk or jog to cool down. A cool down routine should last for 5 to 10 minutes after you are done with your workout routine.

If you want to burn a significant amount of calories at the gym, be sure to consider the tips above. Side note: What you eat is 70% of the weight loss equation. If you aren’t eating right, eating processed junk food or are getting too many calories, that could be the major reason you aren’t seeing results. Don’t sabotage your workouts by eating junk and processed foods.

Cardio Only Myth – Why you should try strength training to lose pounds

January 10, 2014 by Ajima Jackson 1 Comment

Depending on who you talk to, you have either been told that the secret to losing weight is to do only cardio or to only life weights. The truth is that both of these forms of exercise promote the most weight loss when they are used in combination. The body is designed for both endurance (cardio) and resilience (weight training). Both types of exercise will burn calories, but together they are a powerhouse for weight loss. Here are 6 facts about exercise that debunk the “cardio only” myth and reveal why having a balanced and varied routine is essential for losing weight.

Muscle burns fat at rest

You can pound the treadmill for hours and burn the calories and some fat, but after you are done the body will restabilise quickly and go back to life as usual. When you work out with weights and increase the amount of muscle that you have, the process of stressing muscle tissue to create stronger and more tissue means the body will continue consuming fat stores to support the process long after the workout is over. This is why it is easier to get up and run every day then it is to get up and lift weights every day. The muscle building metabolic process continues on long after you have stopped. The cardio affect last only as long as you are in motion…and maybe for 30-45 after.

Muscle takes up less space

One of the biggest myths about why women should do more cardio and avoid lifting weights is it will cause them to “bulk up.” This isn’t true. Unless you are engaged in Olympic body building process you will find that weight training works to slim you down. The toning that people talk about is a result of muscle being gained. Muscle tissue takes up much less space in the body that any other kind. This is why a better way to gauge your progress is using body measurement, not overall weight. Knowing how much you weigh isn’t going to give you much information on how your actual body mass and percentage of body fat is changing, which is the actual goal of weight loss programs.

Need intense cardio to really burn calories

The other benefit of adding weight lifting to your exercise routine is that to burn the same amount of calories that you would during a mixed routine, you would have to do almost twice as long an intense cardio session by itself. Not only can too intense a session cause you to deplete electrolytes and dehydrate, but few people really have the time to keep up with a regular program of sustained cardio for hours during the work week.

Shorter workouts to gain greater burn

By adding in weight training you are going to achieve a greater calorie and fat burn in a shorter time frame than before. When you add to this the fact that your muscles will continue burring fat and calories after the work out, a mixed workout makes much more sense. With a shorter workout, it is also easier to stay enthused and committed to your exercise program.

Burn more calories by adding strength training to cardio

Cardio works the heart and increase your endurance levels while also burning calories and some fat. A weight lifting routine works to increase your muscle resilience, which is the time it takes for your muscles to recover from exertion. This burns calories and fat as well. There are different types of resilience trainings which emphasize speed or strength. By mixing the two in with your cardio, you can almost double the calories burned while making those calories meaningful. If the calories and weight you are losing during your workout are only from water, carb fuels and electrolytes – you won’t lose weight fast. By making a part of your cardio burn fat consumption to produce muscle, more meaningful calories are used.

Variety is necessary to weight loss

No matter what type of workout you are doing, you will stop seeing gains in muscle or significant weight loss if you do not vary the workout in length and intensity. You don’t have to go crazy with planning new and different routines, but you should be alternating reps and increasing pitch and time on the treadmill. The human body is designed to handle high levels of stress by adapting to it quickly. The ½ hour on the elliptical will help you with weight loss until your body adjusts to the stress produced by the session. Change it up and keep your body in a state of responsiveness to lose the most weight.

Anissa lost 35 pounds

December 10, 2013 by Ajima Jackson Leave a Comment

Let’s show some BWLW love to Anissa. She lost 35 pounds. Changing her diet and using Leslie Sansone’s walking DVD were major parts of her weight loss journey. Read more…

Anissa weight loss story

“Hi, my name is Anissa Hairston. I want to share my weight loss journey with you. I started my journey January 2013. My heaviest weight was 240 pounds as seen in the picture where I am wearing the yellow dress. I bought a walking DVD by Leslie Sansone and started walking everyday at home. I tried diet pills and they made me sick. I tried eliminating carbs from my diet completely. That lasted about 3 weeks and then I began to feel ill.

I continued to walk everyday and made more changes to my diet. I added more fruits and veggies. I ate more salads and started drinking at least 50-64 oz of water everyday. I changed my carbs to whole grain and only ate them during the day. Now, I hardly ever eat any carbs with my evening meal unless it’s brown rice or wheat pasta. I make fruit and veggie smoothies all the time as snacks. I use Fiber One brownies as my dessert most days and to satisfy my sweet cravings. They’re only 90 calories (but watch that you don’t over do it with them). I make soup often with a lot of veggies because it’s filling and tastes really good.

I also purchased a fitness game for my Xbox as well as a weighted hula hoop and I try to do some sort of physical activity daily. My goal is to burn 2000-2500 calories a day and I try not to eat more than 1800-2000 calories per day. I bought a FitBit pedometer that tracks my calorie burn, total steps taken daily, and it is so helpful. In the pic where I’m wearing jeans and a black shirt, I was 215 pounds. I’m currently 205 pounds and am still on my journey to reach my goal weight of 170 pounds. I just want to let you know that your challenges, success stories, tips, and words of encouragement are very much appreciated and I try to share everything I can from you onto my timeline so that others will be motivated to start their weight loss journey.”

Fact: 1 Pound of Fat equals 3,500 Calories

October 15, 2013 by Ajima Jackson Leave a Comment

Weight Loss Motivation for the Day

1 Pound of Fat equals 3,500 Calories! We also know that 500 calories burned per day for 7 days equals 3,500 Calories!

GET THE Math and how it can help you?

Knowing the amount of calories you eat and what you burn in terms of activity can be very helpful when you are losing weight. It’s not 100% of the weight loss equation. There are many other factors that impact weight loss, but this basic information can help you understand what weight loss goals are realistic and which ones are not. For example, I heard Ruben Studdard this morning on the Tom Joyner Morning show say that on the new season of “The Biggest Loser” they worked out 7 hours a day. Yes, that is what people on reality shows are doing to achieve the extreme weight loss you see, losing tons of weight in one week. In a recent article, for US Weekly, he says that he will have to workout 2 hours a day to continue his weight loss after the show. Huge calorie deficits are difficult to achieve if you aren’t working out for hours a day or drastically changing your eating habits.

calorie deficit 3500 calories

Ashli lost 116 pounds

May 21, 2013 by Ajima Jackson 3 Comments

Today’s featured weight loss before & after story: Ashli lost 116 pounds over the course of 4 years by changing her eating habits, working out and watching her calorie intake. Here is what she had to say:

My name is Ashli T. I have struggled with weight my entire life. I was a 10lb baby and by the age of 8 I was litterally 207 pounds. I had always said that I would not be that overweight forever. In 2008, my father passed away of a sudden heart attack. He was seemingly healthy, active and not at all overweight. It began to scare me so I decided I wanted to do something. After several attempts, I finnally buckled down around April of 2009 and I am still at it today. I began to eat between 1200 calories to a max of 1500 calories per day while trying to burn at least 1000 calories. At my “best” I do this 5-6 days a week and at my “off the wagon” times at least 2-3 days a week. I’ve had incredible results and incredible defeats. I have plateaued and I have pressed harder. I would never say it was or is easy, but its the best decision I have ever made! I’ve lost 116 pounds. The process has been over the course of four years..and it will last a lifetime! I often say if I can do it, anyone can!

burn calories

Kimberly lost 100 pounds