You ask. We Answer. What about nutrition?

Q: How important is nutrition for weight loss?

A: Very, very important. Some say 80% of weight loss can be attributed to diet while only 20% can be attributed to exercise. So if you are working hard to be active and exercise be mindful of what you are eating.  

Overall, in order to lose weight you must burn more calories than you eat/drink. Going to the gym will help you lose weight if you create a calorie deficit within your body. 

For example, according to the Harris-Benedict formula I require approximately 1400 calories per day to maintain my current body weight. If I eat 2400 calories in a day and go to the gym and work off 500 of those calories, I still have a surplus of 500 calories which will be converted into fat and stored. 

2400 calories consumed - (1400 calories required + 500 extra calories burned at the gym) = 500 calorie surplus   

However, if I eat 1800 calories and go to the gym and work off 500 of those calories, I will have a deficit of 100 calories which my body will have to find from within. Burning some of the excess fat I have stored within my body.

1800 calories consumed - (1400 calories required + 500 extra calories burned at the gym) = 100 calorie deficit 

So if you are looking to lose fat, its a good idea to get an understanding of how many calories you need and how many you are eating/drinking. 

A great tool for this is FITDAY.COM which calculates and tracks your calories based on the food you eat and your activity levels. Use it for a few days or use it long term. At the very least you will gain some insight into how many (or how few) calories you are ingesting and at the most you will gain a useful tool for tracking your progress and weight loss.  

Look for the answers to the following questions in upcoming posts: 

Q: Does it matter WHAT I eat or just how many calories I eat? 

Q: How can people target __________ fat (insert: belly/thigh/arm)?  

If you have any questions we'd love to hear them, if we don't know the answer we will find it! 

Tricks for Treat Cravings

We all know that there are times when we just need to have a treat, when the cravings are so strong that we could eat a whole cake. This week my sweet tooth was relentless and with Halloween around the corner, I got to thinking about treats. How can we deal with irresistible cravings?

First, wait 15-20 minutes before you indulge in your craving, it might pass. Try distracting yourself in a positive way; go for a walk, check something off the to-do list, do a short workout or yoga video on youtube, or call a friend for a chat. 

If you are still set on a treat here are a few tips:

1. Try a piece of fruit with nut butter, apple slices with almond butter is my favourite. The added fat turns it into more of a treat.  
2. Reach for dark chocolate (70%+) instead of milk chocolate bars which have added sugary ingredients. When you are choosing dark chocolate, check the ingredients, sugar should NOT be the first on the list. I love Nestle Noir Intense. Have a few squares (not the whole thing)
3. Make your own treats. This reduces the amount of preservatives and unclean ingredients you are taking into your body. My favourite treats right now are Primal Coconut Macaroons:      

Thank you for the recipe allison eats!

• pre-heat your oven at 350 degrees ferinheight.  
• in a bowl whisk 2 large egg whites and 1/4 cup of natural honey
• add 1/4 teaspoon of natural vanilla extract and 2 1/2 cups of unsweetened shredded coconut 
• mix until combined
• make tablespoon size balls and place on cookie sheet
• bake in oven for 15-20 minutes rotating half way and let cool   
• melt 4-6 squares of dark chocolate in a microwave safe bowl, dip macaroons and let cool 

I brought these for Thanksgiving tea and they were a huge hit. Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

If you have any healthy craving-killing treats we'd love to hear about them!  

Wanderlust Festival: Ms. Ebbers' perspective

Last weekend Andrew and I went to Whistler for Wanderlust, a yoga music festival and so much more! I came home feeling inspired, full of gratitude, and sore! Now, before I completely expose myself for the flower-child I truly am…let me share highlights of this festival for me.

1. Doing AcroYoga! A mixture of acrobatics and yoga and is a so much fun to do with your partner. Stretch out and get in to some crazy positions and balances. I was bubbling with excitement and pride when we got into the throne pose (see left)!  

2. Being in Whistler! It is a beautiful backdrop with great restaurants, night-life, shopping, and people watching. Add love, yoga, music, smiles, and performers to the village and it is a magical place to be!

3. Yoga classes taught by inspiring local and international instructors. There were all types of classes, with options for beginners to advanced; one class we were hugging, dancing, and shaking to top-40 and house music and the next we were doing breath work and meditating to hypnotic live music.

4. Yoga with 2000 people guided by Seane Corne and Michael Franti. One of my friends aptly described it as a yoga flash mob, moving and breathing in unison with 2000 people! Seane Corne's socially conscious words brought tears of awareness, joy and love to more eyes than just mine! And the session wrapped up with 2000 people singing along with Michael Franti and telling their neighbours "I love you, I love you, I LOVE YOU."

5. Sharing one of my biggest passions with my husband! 

For Andrew's take on Wanderlust check out our next post.

In sickness

Andrew here, I am sitting in my family doctor's office.  I am here to check in with him about an accident I was in in June 2011 - I was hit by a car while riding my bike home from my gym.  A piece of the bone of my foot was torn from my tibia at the tendon.  Or at least that is my understanding. 

I was off of my feet for four months.  I was distraught.  I felt like I was gaining weight (I wasn't) and that I was losing muscle mass (I was).  Then Kelly made some suggestions about some alternative exercises that I could do, we started doing very low impact water aerobics and swimming.  Limping to each destination and drowning short women in my waves.

It was very helpful for me to have my wife to show me new forms of physical activity.  It kept my spirits up and acted as a bridge until I was able to get back to my normal fitness routine. 

It is important to support and encourage your partner in difficult times of change, your support can prevents the Marriage 15!

NO Newlywed 10: Tip #2

Work out together. Work harder. Challenge one another.

Andrew and I have been training separately for the Super Spartan Race. I created a plan and some kick-ass work outs to get my body prepared for the race (check out My Favourite below). I was really pushing myself to my edge, my limits, my body’s capacity – well that’s what I thought until I invited Andrew to join me one evening.

The work out that we did that night (My Favourite) was generally taking me 1 hour and 10 minutes to complete. When I did it chasing Andrew’s long legs and explosive movements it took 53 minutes! Partner rivalry is a fun and easy way to push through your limits and reach new goals! Add a post work out meal and you’ve fit in a date night too ;)

My Favourite: Training for the Super Spartan

Measure 800m from your home base (use google maps), you want to find somewhere that you can perform lunges, push-ups, squats, pull ups and burpees (a park is ideal).

The Work Out:

Round 1

Run to your 800m mark - do 20 lunges (10 on each leg) - run back to your home base (option: if your home base is home and you have access to stairs run up and down them once) 

Round 2

Run to your 800m mark - do 20 lunges and 20 push-ups - run back to your home base  (option: stairs)

Round 3

Run to your 800m mark - do 20 lunges, 20 push-ups and 20 squats- run back to your home base (option: stairs)

Round 4

Run to your 800m mark - do 20 lunges, 20 push-ups, 20 squats and 20 pull ups - run back to your home base (option: stairs)

Round 5

Run to your 800m mark - do 20 lunges, 20 push-ups, 20 squats, 20 pull ups and 10 burpees - run back to your home base (option: stairs)

Walk to cool down and then stretch.

Congratulations you just completed a 5 mile run (8km), 100 lunges, 80 push-ups, 60 squats, 40 pull ups and 10 burpees!

To build on this add more rounds and more exercises – I’m going to work my way up to 8 rounds/miles! 

Photo Courtesy of: amy leigh PHOTOGRAPHY

Kelly Back Again with No Newlywed 10: Tip #1

We all want to look great on our wedding day...OK we all want to look better than great on our wedding day, we want to look fit, happy, healthy, and beautiful. This is great motivation for us to skip the dessert and fit in the gym. However, once the big day is over many people start to fit in the dessert and skip the gym.

Without my and Andrew's wedding day looming to give us extra motivation we decided to plan something new to motivate us! We signed up for the Super Spartan Race, an 8+ mile obstacle race in September 2012! We are training and preparing to kick butt in this race.

So chat with your partner about what WILL MOTIVATE YOU (as a couple) and make it happen! Maybe it's a 10k run? Triathlon? Beach trip? Kayaking or Hiking Adventure? and start training! 

Report your progress to each other, train together, encourage, support, and HOLD ONE ANOTHER ACCOUNTABLE! Start some good habits together that will last a lifetime! 

Picture courtesy of amy leigh PHOTOGRAPHY 

photomomentsbyamy@gmail.com

A Post Wedding Commitment

Allow me to introduce myself, Kelly...Ebbers, formally Kelly Davies, Kelly D. or KD! I am a youth worker, fitness instructor/enthusiast and as of June 9, 2012, Andrew's wife! 


Andrew and I started this blog so we could share our post-wedding-fitness tips...How can you avoid the "Newly Wed Ten" (when a newly-married person gains 10 lbs soon after the wedding, often not working out and eating too much, similar to the term "freshman 15" for first year college students, Urban Dictionary).

We'll be posting pics shortly and are making a public commitment that this is what we will look and feel like (if not better!) on our one year anniversary. We are committed to creating a shared identity as husband and wife that is healthy, active and balanced.

I look forward to sharing our tips for the "No Newlywed 10" (when a newly-married person gains ZERO lbs soon after the wedding and throughout their married life!) and I would love to hear how you've supported one another too!