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Overtraining is REAL

Posted on December 4, 2018 by LetlerFit

Have you ever heard of overtraining? It’s very real and very shitty. It is typically caused by repetitive physical and metabolic stresses such as:⠀
-Environmental Stresses like heat⠀
-poor lifting technique⠀
-excess free radical activity and hypoxia⠀
-inefficiency at buffering byproducts⠀
-poor hydration ⠀
-poor nutrition⠀
-glycogen depletion⠀
-poor recovery⠀
-lack of sleep⠀
-high volume eccentric training⠀
-excess total volume or isolated loading⠀
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The last thing you want to do is to over do it. Proper training and rest is KEY!⠀
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Let me help you! LetlerFit@gmail.com⠀
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Biagioli, Brian Dominick. Advanced Concepts of Personal Training. National Council on Strength and Fitness, 2012.

Learn more about the best online fitness program which includes comprehensive programs focused on shifting towards healthier eating habits, staying fit, and building a better booty. You’ll also find a variety of fitness apparel to help get you that extra motivation to take your goals to another level. Contact me today to learn more about the best fitness programs available to get your body in gear.

Cardio beyond “leaning out”

Posted on October 16, 2018 by LetlerFit

People do cardio ALL of the time, but not everyone realizes what is happening within when you do cardio the RIGHT way. What we know as cardio is also known as aerobic exercise. ⠀
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Aerobic exercise increases the capillary density within muscle fibers and increases type 1 fiber efficiency. Aerobic exercise can also improve ones ability to buffer lactate and increases oxidative enzyme activity. ⠀
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In regards to your cardiopulmonary adaptations cardio stimulates an increase in stroke volume, cardiac output, and VO2 max as well as improved cardiac conduction and metabolic efficiency. Cardio should hypertrophy the left ventricle and reduce systolic blood pressure, which reduces myocardial stress and cardiopulmonary energy sparing. ⠀
Research has also shown cardiovascular exercise to increase life span and boost immune health.⠀
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Biagioli, Brian D.Advanced Concepts of Strength & Fitness; Conditioning. National Council on Strength & Fitness, 2015.⠀

My Fitness Journey Part 2

Posted on August 14, 2018 by LetlerFit

4 Years of my journey, each year my goals, training, and diet changed causing my body to adapt accordingly in order to achieve those goals. ⠀
2014 and 145lbs: Compared to now I really had no idea what I was doing exercise wise, but I did know about food, hence my lack of muscle tone, but slender body. ⠀
2015 and 150 pounds: I was eating the same, but started crossfit, which started the beginning of my weight training. You can see that the weights started to pack on a small amount of mass especially in my quads, although that particular picture does no justice. Still was focused more on how i looked vs what my body could do. ⠀
April 2016 and 153 pounds: I had shifted over to powerlifting and had recently cut weight for a meet, but you can see that training specifically for strength added a substantial amount of mass, but because It wasn’t your hypertrophy/body building training I didn’t have that shredded physique the whole world is after for whatever reason.⠀
November 2016 and 165 pounds: I was dealing with an injury and hand surgery and had gone from lifting weights 5-6 times a week to nothing, but with the same appetite so there came the fluff. However I was still considered healthy and that was important to me! ⠀
2017 and 158 pounds: I came back from 2016 100% geared towards functional fitness, stopped caring about looks and started focusing on being able to go up the stairs, fixing my anterior displacement of my gleno-humeral joint, and balancing out my quad:hamstring strength. When your quads are too strong relative to your hamstrings as you age (80s) you become more susceptible to falling forward.⠀
2018: Completely focused on movement proficiency and a healthy diet, while living a little on the weekend.⠀
If you want to talk aesthetics, my favorite is 2018 because I no longer am dealing with back pain, I have substantially corrected my shoulder imbalance, and I can go up the stairs without huffing and puffing.⠀
Moral: Aesthetics will follow training modality. When you start to focus on movement and being functional, you’ll not only start to FEEL better, but look better. MOVEMENT FIRST, aesthetics after.⠀

Is there really such a thing as bad food?

Posted on March 15, 2018March 15, 2018 by LetlerFit

In a world where so many people think healthy means protein and veggies only because carbs (including fruit) are bad for you, I decided to dedicate this post for everyone who suffers from labeling foods as good or bad and those who follow restrictive diets.

Did you know that eating a diet that only consists of protein and vegetables can lead to health issues in a different, yet equally dangerous way as a diet consisting of processed foods, salt, and sugar? Crazy, right?

For this post I wanted to tackle some of the foods most labeled as bad:

Foods high in sodium always get labeled as bad because high salt intake has been linked to high blood pressure, heart attack, and stroke. But did you know if you eat a few foods a week high in salt and the rest of your diet has adequate salt intake and you stay hydrated…those small spikes of ingested sodium WILL NOT MAKE YOU HAVE A HEART ATTACK
Another food labeled as a diet “no no” for many is sugar. But did you know that processed sugar (whole fruit is not processed sugar) once a week is NOT GOING TO GIVE YOU DIABETES. Did you know that you can do “damage control” on that sugary cheat that is high in carbs and very low in fat by consuming is within 1 hour of an intense workout? Not saying to eat it first and then punish yourself with exercise after, I’m saying if you want to go out for ice cream, donuts, or cookies and not see as much short term weight fluctuations enjoy them after you’ve worked out (again, don’t abuse this).
Fried foods are oh so delicious but oh so restricted when people go on diets, but did you know that consuming 1 fried meal a week with multiple healthy whole meals, that bad food IS NOT GOING TO GIVE YOU HIGH CHOLESTEROL.
Fiber is one of those diet worshipped foods. But did you know that if you consume high fiber vegetables/foods post workout it can become a bad food? You want fiber before or during the day not after a killer workout (messes with recovery-i’ll do a whole post on that some other time).

Moral of this blog: BALANCE and food timing is key!

On a Mission to Empower Women into Fitness

Posted on February 27, 2018 by LetlerFit

Yesterday, I received a DM from a man on instagram who was offended that my bio stated on a mission to because he thinks my mission should be to empower both men and women. This inspired today’s post.

I was a little take back after I read the DM mostly because usually I get X rated unsolicited DM’s from thirsty, desperate men. This is definitely the first time I ever “offended” a male follower.

My mission is and always will be to empower women into fitness. Why? I am a woman, I enjoy working with women, and I am so over being sexualized (when my IG Feed is PG) by men. Why would I want to empower the gender that for the most part leaves my in disgust on IG by what gets sent to me, said to me, etc. In the past I have had several issues with men wanting to get coached by me and in the end, decide to do whatever they want because why take coaching from a woman (this is not a generalization because it does not happen all of the time) and that just pisses me off.

I believe women should be sticking together instead of tearing each other down. I see far too many women criticizing other women online, but why? What do you accomplish from that? I also believe women are under far greater pressure to fit a certain look in order to be considered attractive. By empowering other women into fitness, my goal is to also feel empowered by the body they were given, and to focus on becoming the best version of themselves without wanting to look like someone else.

I am always looking for women who are on the same mission to join my team of LetlerFit ambassadors. If you vibe with female empowerment and fitness I would LOVE to have you join the team!

Email me! LetlerFit@gmail.com subject line: Empowered Ambassador

10 Simple Diet Mistakes that make your Calorie Counting to be far Less Effective

Posted on November 21, 2017 by LetlerFit

Mistake #1: Calories are not created equally. 200 calories in chocolate is not nearly as dense as 200 calories in a colorful salad with protein. We need more good quality calories that bad quality calories in order to lose weight
Mistake #2: You are forgetting about macronutrients. Carbohydrates, fats, and proteins make up calories. Carbs and protein yield 4 calories per gram while fats yield 9 calories per gram. The goal is to eat the correct amount of each eating 1400 calories out of your 1800 calorie day in just one macronutrient is not good. Each macronutrient has a purpose and requirement in our body.
Mistake #3: You are forgetting about Micronutrients. While a donut does contain carbs, fat, and protein (usually 1-2g), the calories are empty. When you consume food the goal is to look at food and think “What kind of energy is this going to give me? and what kinds of vitamins and minerals will it give me?” Vitamins and Minerals are equally as important as macronutrients….the good news is they do NOT directly add to the calorie count.
Mistake #4: Consuming too many calories. Trying to lose weight? At the end of the day weight loss is having less calories in versus calories out. Meaning we need to eat less than what our body burns in activities each day.
Mistake #5: Not consuming enough calories. Trying to gain weight? You need to be consuming more than what your body burns in activities each day.
Mistake #6: Most people do not know how many calories they should even be consuming. Advice: My fitness pal does a decent job at giving you calorie needs based on goals and activity.
Mistake #7: Overestimating calories burned while exercising. The calories the machine tells you, is wayyyyyyyy more than reality because it goes off of the machines RPM and not your body’s work.
Mistake #8: Assuming all lasagna at a restaurant is the same. Luckily most restaurants are registered with my fitness pal and give you calorie, macronutrient, and micronutrient breakdown. However, when a food from a menu does not pop up, it’s hard to find an exact match as recipe and portion size really make a difference.
Mistake #9: No Plan. Meal prepping is a must!! I know my entire week’s menu before it has even started…helps me stay focused and organized. Plus i control what goes into my food and then it becomes easier to track if need be.
Mistake #10: Drinking calories. Most people have no necessity for juices. Skip the liquid calories and go for water!

Eat Pretty: A Book Review

Posted on November 17, 2017November 17, 2017 by LetlerFit

I just got done reading this book by Jolene Hart, entitled Eat Pretty. I definitely give this one an A in the category of educating those who have no formal education in nutrition.

We are always taught that choosing healthy foods leads to weight loss and overall a more “attractive” physique. Some people are lucky enough to get taught that good nutrition helps prevent or control diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, etc. Very few people are actually taught how the foods we eat affect our complexion.

This book does an excellent job at classifying the foods that give acne, skin rashes, and more as beauty betrayers, while those those that promote a healthy complexion are deemed beauty foods. The other great job the other did was classifying the foods by season, because as most of us know, not all foods are available year round.

The other also dedicated a section to non-nutritional factors that may affect our weight and complexion like stress, sleep, water, and hormone function. Factors many people tend to look.

My favorite part about this book is how the author goes into how she perceives balance, which to me is the most important. So many books stress restriction and don’t that they miss the overall point of a balanced lifestyle.

If you are interested in learning what foods and how they contribute to our radiant skin, I definitely recommend you Buy the book here, you won’t regret it!

7 Ways to Change Your Think About Exercising

Posted on November 6, 2017November 6, 2017 by LetlerFit

We’ve all heard the saying, 80% nutrition, 20% exercise, and 100% mindset. As cliche as it sounds, fitness really is a mindset. It’s not a chore, it’s something that should become a part of who we are.

We must stop thinking of exercise as a punishment for eating something bad. Far too often I hear “I need to burn off what I just ate.” or “I can’t get off the treadmill until I burn the 250 calories that were in the chocolate bar.” That is so wrong in so many different ways. Exercise is NOT a punishment, it is a BLESSING. We are not paralyzed, we are not confined to a wheel chair, we have the ability to MOVE, and therefore are blessed to be able to to exercise. Even then, we’ve all seen the para-olympic athletes…so even then many of the disability excuses become invalid. But I’m not here to talk about the minority.
Exercise is a part of life. The same way eating, sleeping, and working, are part of life exercise should be as well. We need to stop thinking about it as something on our “to do” list.
Exercising CORRECTLY, (I emphasize the word correctly because every time I walk into a gym I see a lot of people herniating discs, or torn meniscus in the making. Simple because people lack the proper education) allows us to grow old gracefully and with less aches and pains.
Exercise not only allows us to age more gracefully physiologically, but it also allows us to look better in the process…who doesn’t like to look better naked.
Exercise is FUN! Find a way that makes it fun for you, because we are all different some activities are more fun for some than others, so find what is fun for YOU.
Exercise energizes! Hate constantly feeling sluggish? Exercise allows us to have more energy throughout the day. Many people workout at night and then complain they could not sleep because they had so much energy, imagine if you did your workout first thing in the morning and started your day with all of that energy.
Exercise is point blank a MINDSET.

How does your mindset all you to make exercise a part of your lifestyle?

4 Ways to Keep Yourself Motivated To Workout

Posted on November 2, 2017 by LetlerFit

Working out is hard! Feeling sore, sweaty, and smelly is not in the least bit glamorous. At the end of the day a workout is typically 60 minutes or less out of your 24 hour day, so there’s really no reason you can’t set aside 3-5x a week where you make yourself and your goals a priority. Here are 4 ways that I stay motivated, ways that work for ME and hopefully can work for YOU!

I do what I like. For example I HATE running, I HATE low intensity steady state cardio, I am not a major fan of yoga for myself. Keep in mind I am not saying none of those have their benefits, because they do. I just hate doing them for myself so instead I stick to what I love, weight training, interval training, and circuits. You are more inclined to make what you enjoy a priority.
This next method is a little vane, but it works in the short term. I buy an article of clothing that wearing it would require me to stay consistent in order to make the clothes/outfit look better. It’s a great tactic to get me through those short term bouts of feeling lazy. But you do need to hang it somewhere you will be constantly reminded.
I don’t just set weight goals. Sometimes the scale is not an accurate results provider, so instead I’ll make a goal like “I want to get my waist down to 27in” or “I want to gain 2in on my glutes” or less vane goals like “I want to get my squat back up to double body weight” “I want to be able to hit _____ rounds in this circuit” This way we aren’t just fixated on the number
Lastly, I am very much motivated by the fact that I am one of the first in my family to really make health and fitness a consistent part of their lifestyle. I want to continue to do so because many before me let themselves go for a bit and are now scrambling to get it together. I want to physically set the example for what a consistent health and fitness lifestyle during your 20s, 30s, 40s, and so on will do for you as you age.

7 Food Myths That Stop Your Diet From Being Healthy

Posted on October 24, 2017 by LetlerFit

Sometimes I seriously wonder where some of these health coaches get their facts, do they not stay up to date with the latest research? I’ve heard some ridiculously false advice from people that actually keep them from having a healthier diet.

“Egg yolks are bad for you because they raise your cholesterol. So you should only eat the egg white.” Research now shows us that eggs have nothing to do with raising your LDL (bad) cholesterol. Eggs whites are a great source of protein and egg YOLKS are a great source of zinc, iron, vitamin D, and choline. Eat the WHOLE egg, unless you’re allergic, like me, then skip them.
“Everyone should eat gluten free.” Unless your gluten intolerant there is no need because your body is able to digest gluten…it’s just another type of protein that some people just happen to be intolerant to.
“Nuts are bad for you because they are high in fat.” Nuts are a great source of HEALTHY fats packed with nutrients. Like with anything, too many nuts can be bad, however research has shown that eating proper servings of nuts can actually help protect you against heart disease.
“Carbohydrates make you fat.” False. Too much carbphydrates, just like too much protein, and too much fat, make you fat….aka caloric surplus. Carbs give us energy, help our brains think, and feed our muscles.
“The label says low fat, so it has to be good for me.” Eat the whole fat. With whole fat you can simply use the fat grams as part of your daily fat consumption assuming you do not over do it. The problem with low fat is that they need to replace the fat, which is what add the good taste, with something else so that it is not bland. What they end up using as a replacer is sugar! Without knowing, you are consuming extra sugar that you may not have accounted for.
“Organic food is always healthy.” Definitely not! Especially deceiving when the organic label is placed on the packaging. Read the ingredients! Most of the time if it’s on a box you’re better off saving the money on the inorganic version because it’s the same exact thing.
“When eating out, always choose the salad.” False. Sometimes the salad can become the most calorically enriched plate because of the hidden sugars used to preserve the salad or the salad dressings.