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Guardian review of Body Media Armband

August 22, 2010 By kbuchanan Leave a Comment

I’ve done a few posts and videos about the Body Media Armband (called Ki Fit in the UK or Go Wear and Body Bugg in the USA.)

I read an interesting review of it in the Guardian newspaper in the UK. The author talks about how the Armband is an all encompassing piece of technology and is one of the most advanced systems like it in the market right now. And it is so precise. She also talks about the fact that its great for those wanting to lose weight, but also those who are just into fitness and are interested in seeing what their bodies are doing throughout the day.

Here is the full article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/

I agree that it’s a great tool, and definitely addictive! If it’s something you would like to check out yourself, click here.

To your health,

Kimberly

Filed Under: Fitness Tagged With: body bugg, body media armband, body media armband review, go wear, health, Ki Fit

What Burns the Most Calories?

July 15, 2010 By kbuchanan 4 Comments

I’ve been monitoring how many calories I burn (using my Body Media armband) doing various activities so wanted to share the info with everyone!

Types of Exercise

Sunday I did 1 hour 15 minutes of Ashtanga Yoga and burned 250 calories. Only 2 minutes of this time was “vigorous” exercise and the rest was moderate (which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.)

Monday I went for a 30 minute jog around my neighborhood and burned 250 calories. All of that time was marked as “vigorous” exercise, so clearly outdoor jogging keeps the body active throughout.

Wednesday I did 45 minutes at the gym, which included about 25 minutes cardio (seated bike and elliptical machine) and 20 minutes weight lifting. I burned 270 calories; 170 from my cardio and the rest from my weights. Most of my cardio time was considered “vigorous.”

Today I did 45 minutes at the gym, including 25 minutes of jogging on a treadmill with the final 5 minutes doing a fast paced walk at an 8% incline. The other 20 minutes was some leg weights. I burned 375 calories and my cardio was vigorous (even the fast paced walking.) It looks like 245 of that was my cardio and the rest was from the weights. (Interesting because the treadmill said I burned 300 calories…they are never going to be accurate so don’t pin your hopes on what they tell you!)

And just for fun I’ll add in my walk at lunchtime today, which was about a 10 minute walk to/from the town center, and walking around Waterstone’s looking for a book. I burned 150 calories, all moderate.

What does it mean?

Based on the above, I can see that jogging is definitely my highest calorie burning activity (which is great because I love it!) The yoga class didn’t burn as many calories as I thought but because of all the other benefits (flexibility, core strength, toning, etc) I would not give it up….I’ve only done three classes, by the way, but I’m already feeling more flexible.

Besides, it isn’t all about burning as many calories as possible. Anyone with fitness/health/natural weight loss goals should consider exercise, but it doesn’t have to be vigorous, no pain no gain, gym related exercise. You can just do general housework, gardening, walking with friends, sports, or many other things. Whatever works for you and keeps you motivated is what you should do.

Additionally, when you know that you’ve burned calories, you should think about what that means: it means you’ve got your heart pumping, your joints moving, and your muscles are getting a workout. These are all good things!

Anyway, back on track. What else can I take away from my information above?

I find it interesting, and great, that my lunchtime walk burned 150 calories. That definitely wasn’t “exercise” in my mind, but it still was a good thing for my body and my metabolism.

And something I didn’t list above, but I always notice when reviewing my Body Media data is that first thing in the morning, when I’m racing around the house getting ready for work, I usually burn about 150 calories. That’s another 150 gone that I didn’t even have to think about. Cool.

Remember that each person’s body burns calories at a different rate, so the above won’t necessarily apply to you, but hopefully you still found it interesting.

To your health,

Kimberly

Filed Under: Fitness Tagged With: body media, body media go wear, burn calories, health, natural weight loss

Interesting statistics on Weight Lifting and Women

June 16, 2010 By kbuchanan Leave a Comment

Sorry I haven’t posted anything in a couple of weeks…and today is only a quick one referring you to someone else’s article!

I am so passionate about weight lifting as part of a natural weight loss plan, as you can see from a previous post I did. This article I just read firms up that I’m not the only one and gives some interesting statistics about women and their attitude/views about weight lifting. Click here to view.

To your health,

Kimberly

Filed Under: Fitness Tagged With: health, natural weight loss, weight lifting, women weight lifting

Ashtanga Yoga class

May 24, 2010 By kbuchanan Leave a Comment

I tried a yoga class for the first time about a week ago. Wow – what a workout! It was Ashtanga Yoga, which is a type of yoga that synchronizes the breath with a progressive series of postures. (That’s about the extent of my knowledge now, but check out this site for a bit more info.)

Anyway, the class was a great workout. It was an hour and a quarter, but I was already feeling the burn after ten minutes. I honestly was surprised at the difficulty of it. I do a fair bit of exercise normally, but nothing like yoga. I had decided I didn’t need to take a towel with me (you know…for sweat!), but I wish I had.

Once I got a little bit more stretched out, things got easier, but the various poses were all challenging. Because it was my first time, I struggled with having the right posture, having my toes/hands pointing in the right direction, AND breathing. My teacher assured me that it gets easier though!

For the last 5 minutes of the class, we did a position called Dead Man (or something very similar to that?) where we just laid on our mats with our limbs totally limp – it was so relaxing after our hard work.

For the next few days, I felt muscles I didn’t know I had. My buns were definitely sore and various muscles around my upper back. So, clearly my body was working in ways it wasn’t used to, which I was extremely pleased about. Yoga seems like a great addition to my workout routine. And the teacher also said that there are always ways to make yoga harder for yourself, as you progress, so you won’t ever plateau or get bored.

Have you tried yoga? I’d love to hear about your experiences.

To your health

Kimberly

Filed Under: Fitness Tagged With: ashtanga yoga, exercise, Fitness, health, yoga

GoWear Fit Armband – by BodyMedia

May 17, 2010 By kbuchanan 2 Comments

I recently wrote an article about a new fitness gadget I bought and how it was helping me be more conscious of my nutritional intake. Well, I said in that article that I would be writing a more formal review of the product, so here goes:

The GoWear Fit armband (or Ki Fit in the UK) is a piece of fitness technology which is designed to help you achieve your fitness and nutrition goals. It is designed to help you lose weight naturally and healthily..and more quickly than you would without it.

How it Works

Essentially (in Kimberly terms – not scientific at all!) there are some sensors on the inside of the armband which track what is going on inside your body. You then synchronize the armband with your computer (the software is free with the purchase of the armband) and you can extract all kinds of information from it.

The technology shows you how many calories you’ve burned, how many steps you’ve taken, how much physical activity you’ve done (both moderate and vigorous), how well you slept (assuming you wore the armband during the night), and other things.

It also has a nutrition area where you input everything you’ve consumed throughout the day. There is a database you can access that already has hundreds of foods/dishes loaded in, or you can add your own food, drinks, and recipes. It makes it as simple as possible to input all the information you need! Once all your food is recorded for the day, a nice pie graph and other summary information is presented to you.

My Opinion

Overall, the product is very easy to use. The information that the software presents to you is very clear and easy to understand. I think it’s a great tool to supplement whatever else you’re doing to get fit and lose weight. It’s the fact that you feel “accountable” to it that really makes you be more disciplined with your eating and fitness regime. I’m happy with my purchase!

A couple of things I would change

1) I would make it even slimmer. It is already pretty slim, but in my opinion, the slimmer the better! It is hard to wear it with any shirts that art tight against the skin, but it works with most other things.

2) I would make it so that users can input vitamin/mineral supplements that I take. As it tracks the vitamins/minerals in the foods I’m consuming, it would be nice to be able to add my own supplements too. (I haven’t actually asked the Support guys at BodyMedia about this, so maybe there’s a way, but I can’t see it.)

See below for my You Tube review if you want to see the technology itself. You can also link to the product site through the video or have a look at the product here.

To your health,

Kimberly

Filed Under: Fitness Tagged With: BodyMedia, GoWear, health, Ki Fit, lose weight naturally

The #1 Reason why People don’t Lose Weight?

February 23, 2010 By kbuchanan 3 Comments

The title of this post is actually the title of a blogpost I saw on www.diet.com. It certainly caught my eye, so I had to find out what this #1 reason was.

The article at www.diet.com states that the #1 reason why people don’t lose weight is that they do strictly cardio workouts without doing any resistance or weight training. The article goes on to talk about reasons why, specifically, women do not do any weight training. Go ahead and have a read for yourself.

Weight training

I agree with the author that weight training is very important for your weight loss. This is for a couple of reasons.

Firstly, by getting your body toned up, gaining more muscle mass, you are actually causing your body to burn more calories at ALL times. Even when sleeping. That’s right. Muscle burns more calories than fat, so by putting some weight/resistance training into your fitness regime you are helping your body work to your advantage in your weight loss goals.

Secondly, by doing some weight training, you are working out different parts of your body. When people simply follow a cardio routine, they tend to do the same thing day after day. Some people like running. Some people like cycling. Some people like aerobics classes. Whatever it is, if that is all you do, your body does get used to it. That is not to say that you aren’t burning calories and doing a good thing for your body, but it is even better to have some weight training to keep it interesting for your muscles.

#1 Reason?

While I think that weight lifting is important for those trying to lose weight (and for those just trying to be healthy), I don’t think it is the #1 reason why people don’t lose weight. I believe that DIET is the #1 reason why people don’t lose weight. I think many individuals struggle with what the “right” things to eat are. And even when people think they know the “right” things to eat, they have a hard time changing their habits.

Their is so much conflicting information out there about how to lose weight – what the heck are you supposed to believe?

Well, I whole-heartedly believe in following a wholesome, natural diet. None of this low-fat stuff. None of this low-carb stuff. I like balanced eating.

If you are trying to get a kick-start on your weight loss and want some guidance on what to do, if you haven’t yet downloaded my free report on weight and fat loss, have a look at it now. There is a download option in the top right corner of this site. And feel free to send me questions if you want to know any specific information.

To your health,

Kimberly

Filed Under: Fitness Tagged With: Diet, health, Healthy, natural weight loss, weight loss

Why NOT to Skimp on your Hiking Gear

February 5, 2010 By kbuchanan Leave a Comment

For anyone out there who does a lot of walking, hiking, camping, or any other outdoor activities, you probably will laugh when you read this post, but for all the other people out there, who, like me, just take up these kinds of things once in awhile, read on…

Lake District

This article’s concept comes from my first hand experience doing some walking in the UK last year. I am a California girl truly, but have been living in England for over 5 years now. Everyone had said what a beautiful place the Lake District was, so my husband and I ventured up there last autumn. Outdoor stuff is such a great way to get some exercise.

Now, just to set the scene, I’m not a girly girl, but I’m also not a regular outdoorsy person. Or at least, I’m not an “I can deal with any kind of weather” kind of person. Remember, I grew up in southern California – I’ve been spoiled with year round mild temperatures, little rain, etc. So, I’ve done some camping, hiking, and rock climbing while growing up, but it was almost always sunny, warm conditions.

Needless to say, the UK’s climate is much different to what I’m used to.

Before we did any walking in the Lake District, my husband (who is English, and ex-Army, so knows about being prepared) insisted that I get some waterproof clothing, some appropriate walking boots, and even a waterproof cover for my daypack. I thought he was being ridiculous, but he wouldn’t let us go anywhere without these things!

My Bad Choice

Anyway, I had already purchased a waterproof jacket and boots in the end of summer sales, so I was content with those. But, then I had to look for some waterproof trousers. As I hate spending money on things like this (which I know I will only use a couple of times each year) I scrounged around for a bargain. Eventually I found this pair of waterproofs for £10 that were 100% polyester. I thought this was a great find and didn’t hesitate buying them!

Moving onto the use of these trousers – the first day we didn’t do a very high peak, so all the clothing was fine. But, when day two came around and we did a much higher, much steeper peak, things went wrong.

The Problem

Once we got to the second highest park of the walk, the fog came in really quickly, it started raining, and the wind was so strong that I literally went down on all fours because I felt like I was going to be blown away. (Not my normal California weather!) The problem with the trousers was not that they weren’t waterproof, but that they weren’t breathable.

What I mean by this is that my body heat and sweat were being held in by the waterproofs. So, my cotton trousers underneath the waterproof trousers were totally drenched. When you add this to the already cold and windy conditions, I was in bad shape. My body just couldn’t get warm and my clothes felt so uncomfortable. But, what do you do at the top of a mountain? You have to just grin and bear it..and get yourself down to the bottom.

The Moral

Clearly I survived the experience, but if I had to do it over, I would have bought different pants! That £10 I spent was a total waste, as I will never use those again. If you require waterproof clothing for something you’re planning, don’t make the same mistake that I made – don’t skimp on your gear.

Spend a little bit more and get something that will actually benefit you if the weather is different than what you anticipated. Many good quality hiking clothes are made of a special nylon that is quiet, so as not to annoy you (or wildlife) all day long. Nylon dries quickly and is lightweight.

Gore-Tex products are also a good buy. They have been innovators in the “outdoor gear” industry since the 1970′s. In fact, their website states that their mantra is dry=comfortable. I can verify the truth in that statement now that I’ve had my bad experience

Check out a few options here:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Unisex-Waterproof-Breathable-Trousers-XSmall/dp/B000VDNIZU/ref=sr_1_16?ie=UTF8&s=sports&qid=1265539334&sr=1-16#moreAboutThisProduct

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Berghaus-Deluge-Waterproof-Overtrouser-Medium/dp/B000PCVE30/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=sports&qid=1265539622&sr=1-2

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Berghaus-Mens-Goretex-Paclite-Pants/dp/B000PCW8PI/ref=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&s=sports&qid=1265539522&sr=1-15

To your health (and staying dry!),

Kimberly

Filed Under: Fitness Tagged With: exercise, gore-tex, health, lake district, walking

The Importance of Walking

February 1, 2010 By kbuchanan Leave a Comment

Walking: Get Moving

I have written previously on this site about the importance of walking when it comes to weight loss, weight maintenance, and general health and wellness. But, I want to write about it again because I’m personally experiencing the effects of not walking as much.

For the last five years, I have walked at least a couple of miles 5 times a week. This was simply getting to and from the train station, then to and from my office building after getting off the train.

Without making many other changes in my life, this daily walking helped me lose almost fifteen pounds. Now, that was gradual weight loss, but it was without any effort, dieting, starvation, extreme fitness, or anything else. It was great!

For the past six months, I have been working three or four days a week at a different location…somewhere I can’t walk to. I haven’t replaced that walking with any other form of regular exercise, apart from the exercise I was doing before this change in job location. And now, finally, six months later I really feel the difference. I feel it mainly in the belly area and in my legs. It feels awful.

I’m telling you this for a couple of reasons.

Two lessons

Firstly, I want to stress the importance of consistent exercise, like walking. You don’t need to have a crazy fitness plan to get yourself in better shape. You just need to have some consistent level of fitness in your life. You need to get up and move. And if you can break it up into a couple of shorter sessions during the day, that is great . If you can do some or all of that activity first thing in the morning, before you eat breakfast, even better. I honestly believe that getting some exercise first thing in the morning, before you’ve consumed any calories, is the best way to start the day.

Secondly, I think it is interesting that it took a full six months of getting out of my walking routine before my body started putting weight on again. What this means to me is that once I get my body into good shape and do good things for it, it can hold those good results for a time without as much effort. (i.e. it is easier to maintain your weight than it is to lose weight)

What does this mean for you?

No matter what shape you are in, adding some walking to your daily routine can bring amazing benefits. My experience with walking has been mostly weight related, but walking is great for other things too. Walking keeps your joints more flexible. Walking keeps your digestive system working better. Walking is great for your heart. Etc.

If you can find a friend or a group of people to walk with, it makes it easy to make it part of your routine. Or just try to walk for twenty minutes in the morning before you go to work. Even substituting one of your drives during the day (say, to the supermarket), can be a good start. However you fit it in, just start walking. You will feel great and lose weight.

To your health,

Kimberly

Filed Under: Fitness Tagged With: Diet, health, walking, weight loss, Wellness

Why you should worry about excess belly fat

January 3, 2010 By kbuchanan 2 Comments

Happy New Year All!

I hope you enjoyed the holiday season and got to spend some time with family and friends, relaxing, enjoying yourself…maybe eating a bit too much? Yep, me too. Now is the time to get back to your pre-Christmas weight, or maybe even lighter.

I’ve talked about the dangers of excess belly fat before, but I recently saw the article copied below written by Mike Geary, a personal trainer and nutritionist who specialises in loss of abdominal fat. It is certainly worth reading. Enjoy.

To your health,

Kimberly

The Hidden Dangers of Your Excess Abdominal Fat – It’s More Serious Than a Vanity Issue!

by Mike Geary, Certified Nutrition Specialist, Certified Personal Trainer

Did you know that the vast majority of people in this day and age have excess abdominal fat? The first thing that most people think of is that their extra abdominal fat is simply ugly, is covering up their abs from being visible, and makes them self conscious about showing off their body.

However, what most people don’t realize is that excess abdominal fat in particular, is not only ugly, but is also a dangerous risk factor to your health. Scientific research has clearly demonstrated that although it is unhealthy in general to have excess body fat throughout your body, it is also particularly dangerous to have excess abdominal fat.

There are two types of fat that you have in your abdominal area. The first type that covers up your abs from being visible is called subcutaneous fat and lies directly beneath the skin and on top of the abdominal muscles.

The second type of fat that you have in your abdominal area is called visceral fat, and that lies deeper in the abdomen beneath your muscle and surrounding your organs. Visceral fat also plays a role in giving certain men that “beer belly” appearance where their abdomen protrudes excessively but at the same time, also feels sort of hard if you push on it.

Both subcutaneous fat and visceral fat in the abdominal area are serious health risk factors, but science has shown that having excessive visceral fat is even more dangerous than subcutaneous fat. Both of them greatly increase your risk of developing heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke, sleep apnea, various forms of cancer, and other degenerative diseases.

Part of the reason visceral fat is particularly dangerous is that it apparently releases more inflammatory molecules into your body on a consistent basis.

If you care about the quality of your life and your loved ones, reducing your abdominal fat should be one of your TOP priorities! There’s just no way around it. Besides, a side-effect of finally getting rid of all of that excessive ugly abdominal fat is that your stomach will flatten out, and if you lose enough stomach fat, you will be able to visibly see those sexy six pack abs that everyone wants.

So what gets rid of extra abdominal fat? Is there actually a REAL solution beyond all of the gimmicks and hype that you see in ads and on commercials for “miracle” fat loss products?

The first thing you must understand is that there is absolutely NO quick fix solution. There are no pills or supplements of any sort that will help you lose your abdominal fat faster. Also, none of the gimmicky ab rockers, rollers, or ab belts will help get rid of abdominal fat either. You can’t spot reduce your stomach fat by using any of these worthless contraptions. It simply doesn’t work that way.

The ONLY solution to consistently lose your abdominal fat and keep it off for good is to combine a sound nutritious diet full of unprocessed natural foods with a properly designed strategic exercise program that stimulates the necessary hormonal and metabolic response within your body. Both your food intake as well as your training program are important if you are to get this right.

I’ve actually even seen a particular study that divided thousands of participants into a diet-only group and an exercise/diet group. While both groups in this study made good progress, the diet-only group lost significantly LESS abdominal fat than the diet & exercise combined group. Now the important thing to realize is that just any old exercise program will not necessarily do the trick. The majority of people that attempt getting into a good exercise routine are NOT working out effectively enough to really stimulate the loss of stubborn abdominal fat. I see this everyday at the gym.

Most people will do your typical boring ineffective cardio routines, throw in a little outdated body-part style weight training, and pump away with some crunches and side bends, and think that they are doing something useful for reducing their abdominal fat. Then they become frustrated after weeks or months of no results and wonder where they went wrong.

Well, the good news is that I’ve spent over a decade researching this topic, analyzing the science, and applying it “in the trenches” with myself as well as thousands of my clients from all over the world to see what works to really stimulate abdominal fat loss.

The entire solution… all of the nutritional strategies, as well as training sequences, exercise combinations, and more have all been compiled in my Truth About Six Pack Abs Program.

Keep in mind that the point of this whole program is NOT abdominal exercises (that is only a very small portion of it). The main point of this program is showing you the absolute most effective strategies for losing your stubborn abdominal fat, so you can get rid of that dangerous health risk, as well as get a flatter more defined midsection.

If you follow the guidelines, you WILL lose your belly fat that has been plaguing you for years. This is not guesswork… it is a proven system that works time and time again for all of my clients on every corner of the globe that actually apply the information I teach. If you apply it, the results will come. It’s really that simple.

The only reason most people fail in their fitness goals is that they have good intentions at first to adopt a new lifestyle, yet after a few weeks or months, they abandon their good intentions and slip right back into their old bad habits that gave them the excess body fat in the first place.

I want to help you succeed in finally getting rid of that extra abdominal fat that is not only UGLY, but also DANGEROUS.

Don’t waste another day allowing that nasty abdominal fat to kill your confidence as well as contribute to your risk for MAJOR diseases.

Get the solution to rid yourself for life of this problem at…

http://www.truthaboutabs.com/

Train hard, eat right, and enjoy life!

Mike Geary
Certified Nutrition Specialist
Certified Personal Trainer
Author – The Truth about Six Pack Abs

Filed Under: Fitness Tagged With: abs, belly fat, Fitness, weight loss

Sale on Resistance Bands!

December 6, 2009 By kbuchanan 1 Comment

You may or may not remember, but earlier this year I did a post about resistance bands. Well, if you haven’t yet purchased any, now could be a good time. Amazon are having a big sale on many of their resistance bands right now.

Whether they are for you or for a friend/family member for Christmas, you don’t want to miss out on the savings!

See my original post here and there is a link to one of the resistance band packages that are on sale.

Enjoy!

Kimberly

Filed Under: Fitness Tagged With: Amazon, christmas gift, exercise, resistance bands, sale

Guardian review of Body Media Armband

What Burns the Most Calories?

Types of Exercise

What does it mean?

Interesting statistics on Weight Lifting and Women

Ashtanga Yoga class