Fitness On a Budget #1

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The residential real estate market, along with gas prices and the economy in general, is causing savvy consumers to cut back on their "wants" in order to afford their "needs." In these situations, expenses that feel like splurges are oftentimes the first to go. Follow my next few posts to find out how to meet your financial obligations without sacrificing your health.

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Paying for a gym membership and the gas it takes to get there can be expensive, but there are plenty of other options for getting in shape. Here are some low-cost alternatives to help you get fit without breaking your budget:

1. Improvise by using ordinary household items for various upper and lower body exercises.
1. Canned goods. Many canned goods can serve double duty as hand weights.
2. Milk or water jugs. Fill empty milk or water jugs with water or sand and secure the tops with duct tape. To adjust the weights as your fitness level changes, simply add more water or sand. If you wonder how much weight you're lifting, simply weigh the jug on your household scale.
3. Potatoes. A 5- or 10-pound bag of potatoes can provide added resistance for various exercises.
4. A low, sturdy step stool can become exercise equipment if you use it for step training — an aerobic exercise resembling stair climbing.
5. Chair. You can use a chair for many seated exercises with makeshift weights or use the seat as a platform for your hands while doing triceps dips. The back of the chair serves as a good place to hold on for extra balance when doing things like leg lifts.

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These may sound like corny ideas, at first, but remember that it's usually the simplest things that, when done consistently, add up to the biggest results. I've gotten a great reaction from clients who saw me deliver these same tips on Fox 5 Atlanta last month: Watch the TV Clip

About Cafe Physique:
The mission of Café Physique is to help clients reach and exceed their personal fitness and nutrition goals. If you’re in need of an a nutritionist in Atlanta or an Atlanta personal trainer – Café Physique is the perfect solution. We offer Atlanta yoga instruction, Atlanta prenatal workouts, and Atlanta personal training. We also have private sessions of pilates that Atlanta residents are raving about. We invite you to let a member of our Atlanta registered dietitian staff or personal training team develop and implement a realistic and healthy lifestyle plan to meet your personal goals.

When You Just Don't Feel Like Working Out

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Make it to the gym more often.

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Some days, you just won’t feel like working out. Maybe you haven’t been able to get as much sleep as you need or you've been having some stress at work or in your personal life. No matter the reason, sometimes you just aren’t in the mood for moving and sweating. Whenever this happens to you, try these strategies for working up the desire to hit the gym:

Remind Yourself of Your Goals - Start thinking about why you started exercising in the first place and what the end results will be. Do you want to lose a certain amount of weight? Get more toned? Have more energy? A quick reminder of why exercise is important to you can be just the motivation that you need to eek out another set of reps.

Plan on Reducing Your Workout – If you feel that you won’t have the energy to do your complete routine, tell yourself that you will just do half of the work out. If you usually jog four miles, plan on just doing two. If you are weight-training that day, focus on just doing the compound exercises while leaving out the isolation exercises. Once you get going, you might discover that you actually have the energy to do your full workout.

Don’t Go Next Time - Give yourself permission to skip the next work out but not this one. If the next work out rolls around and you still don’t feel like going, you actually might be doing yourself some good by skipping it. Feeling consistently turned off by exercise is usually a sign of overtraining, and giving your body more time to rest can actually help you reach your fitness goals faster.

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The trickiest part of any exercise plan is motivation. You can know all of the exercises and the proper techniques, but if you aren't inspired enough to get to the gym, it won’t do you much good. Figure out what motivates you most, and make sure that you use that motivation to hold yourself accountable for regular physical activity. I'm not opposed to an occasional self-bribe either. It goes something like this, "If I workout at least 4 times this week, I'm going to treat myself to a spa pedicure next Friday after work." Just make sure that your rewards are not food-based, and you'll be good to go.

About Cafe Physique:
The mission of Café Physique is to help clients reach and exceed their personal fitness and nutrition goals. If you’re in need of an a nutritionist in Atlanta or an Atlanta personal trainer – Café Physique is the perfect solution. We offer Atlanta yoga instruction, Atlanta prenatal workouts, and Atlanta personal training. We also have private sessions of pilates that Atlanta residents are raving about. We invite you to let a member of our Atlanta registered dietitian staff or personal training team develop and implement a realistic and healthy lifestyle plan to meet your personal goals.

Tips For Exercise Newbies

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Get your fitness plan off to a good start

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We all have to start somewhere. If you are thinking about taking the very first step towards lifelong health by starting an exercise regimen, keep these tips in mind to make your transition to the fit life a bit smoother:

Err On the Side of Caution- When you are just starting out, sometimes your competitive instinct tells you to see just how much weight you can lift, how far you can run, or what kind of advanced yoga positions you can get into. This is generally a bad idea as it might lead to an injury. In the beginning, you surely should be exerting effort but not giving it your all just yet. Save that for a little further down the road.

Don’t Mind the Soreness - Most people who exercise regularly periodically experience muscle soreness, but it’s typically worse for people who are just starting out. Since your muscles aren’t accustomed to working so hard, you may even have problems doing simple things like walking and lifting light objects for a day or two. Don’t worry…this pain goes away over time, so continue to stick to your exercise routine.

Dabble a Little Bit - There are many, many forms of exercise out there, and if you are just starting out now is a good time to try a little bit of everything. Experiencing all of the different types of exercise that are available to you will help you get a better understanding of the exercises you like best. Plus, you will become more familiar with the various ways you can exert yourself physically.

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The trickiest part of any fitness plan is sticking to it, and people abandon their fitness program usually do so within the first few weeks. People who have been exercising for years or even months rarely just stop because they tend to miss their workouts both physically and mentally. The trick is to totally dedicate yourself to working out regularly for at least 6 weeks. If you can make it past that point, fitness will likely become a habit rather than a chore.

About Cafe Physique:
The mission of Café Physique is to help clients reach and exceed their personal fitness and nutrition goals. If you’re in need of an a nutritionist in Atlanta or an Atlanta personal trainer – Café Physique is the perfect solution. We offer Atlanta yoga instruction, Atlanta prenatal workouts, and Atlanta personal training. We also have private sessions of pilates that Atlanta residents are raving about. We invite you to let a member of our Atlanta registered dietitian staff or personal training team develop and implement a realistic and healthy lifestyle plan to meet your personal goals.

Overcoming Plateaus

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Always work towards progress.

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When you first started out with your fitness program, you probably found that you made big strides every week. You were always able to lift more weight, run longer and for greater distances, and stretch further than the week before. If you stuck with it, you have probably noticed these advancements becoming less and less pronounced over time. When you get to the point where you stop losing fat (even though you are a few pounds shy of your goal weight), or you don’t notice any improvements in your athletic performance, you have hit a plateau. Here are a few ways to work through it:

Slow Down – Obviously, you aren’t just lifting weight for the sake of the lifting weight. You want to grow stronger and become more toned, so you should lift slowly – making sure that each rep puts as much strain on your muscles as possible. Ideally, take about two seconds to lift the weight and two seconds to lower the weight.

Shake Things Up - If you have been stuck in a rut for a while, considering adding in a few more exercises or completely changing your routine. Your body craves variety, and switching up can totally change how your work your body.

Take a Break – It sounds counterintuitive, but sometimes taking a couple days off might be the best thing you can do for your fitness training. A plateau might be a sign that you are just overtraining. Take a couple days off, and see how you feel when you come back to it.

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I don’t want to advocate never being satisfied with your fitness level or how you look, but at the same time, it is OK to enjoy the satisfaction that comes with continually striving for progress. When you see that you making strides, you are more likely to stick with your fitness program and continue to integrate exercise into your overall lifestyle.

About Cafe Physique:
The mission of Café Physique is to help clients reach and exceed their personal fitness and nutrition goals. If you’re in need of an a nutritionist in Atlanta or an Atlanta personal trainer – Café Physique is the perfect solution. We offer Atlanta yoga instruction, Atlanta prenatal workouts, and Atlanta personal training. We also have private sessions of pilates that Atlanta residents are raving about. We invite you to let a member of our Atlanta registered dietitian staff or personal training team develop and implement a realistic and healthy lifestyle plan to meet your personal goals.

Don't Fear the Weights

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Weight training should be a part of everyone’s fitness plan.

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I often see people approach weight lifting with a bit of hesitation, or even avoid the weights altogether, when they decide it’s time to get fit. Really, weight training can help almost every everyone reach their fitness goals, most notably because lean muscle boosts metabolism. Every barbell-averse person has their own reasons, but two major ones I see are split by gender.

Ladies – You often say that you just want to lose weight and look lean, and don’t want to get “bulky,” so you stick with a combination of cardio plus either pilates or yoga when designing their fitness plan. And there’s nothing wrong with that, because it’s possible to get very fit with a regular yoga or pilates routine. But the human body craves variety, and including a bit of weight training here and there might actually help you reach the look you want faster. And don’t worry, there’s no way you are going to get large, bulging muscles by lifting dumbbells. Women simply don’t have the hormone balance for that to be possible.

Fellas – You sometimes think that intense weight training is only done by meatheads who want to “get huge” and start every conversation with “Whattya bench?” But lifting weights doesn’t just have to be about seeing how big you can make your muscles. A good weight training routine can help you burn fat faster, improve endurance, increase bone density, and help you get a toned, lean look.

Besides that, people are sometimes wary of the weights because they just seem more complicated than going for a jog or attending a pilates class. Trust me though, after just a little education on proper technique, you will be doing dozens of effective exercises and handling weight plates like a pro.

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I admit it, when you start weight training, especially if you have been sedentary for a while, you might find it a bit painful. If your hands hurt from lifting weights, you should consider investing in a good pair of lifting gloves. As for the muscle soreness, well, that just goes away with time.

X Usually Marks the Spot, but Not In This Case

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Depend LESS on spot reduction for getting rid of nagging fat deposits. No matter what you've heard in the past, I'm here to tell you that you can't spot reduce!

This means that you can't make your stomach flat by doing crunches - even if you do 1000 per day (like Britney Spears reportedly did B.C.*). Doing curls with light, medium or even heavy weights is not going to prevent your arms from jiggling when you dance, and just doing squats is not going to make your legs insurable like model Heidi Klum.

* B. C. = Before Child

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Unfortunately, our bodies are not made to allow us to pick and choose the areas where we want to lose fat. The only surefire way to reduce fat in certain areas is to lower your overall body fat percentage. As you do this (through a combination of diet, cardio, and weights), you will see the fat come off everywhere - including your toughest spots.

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Ahhhhh...Wouldn't it just be wonderful if spot reduction were possible? I already know that I'd direct the magic laser or spread the magic potion on this nasty "cottage cheese" stuff under my butt. I honestly can't stand that part of my body, but I've found a pretty good (temporary) solution to my problem...Until I lower my total body fat level, I have simply decided not to turn around in the mirror. Hmmm...not so sure that I'm setting a good example with that one. Sorry, Folks.

Ummm...Yeah. This is my before/after...IN MY DREAMS!!!

I actually recently got my bodyfat tested via hydrostatic weighing. This is the most accurate form of body fat testing, but until recently, it was really only available for elite athletes or rich people. Now there's this great company that offers a Mobile Body Fat Testing Clinic that comes to you, and the prices are great. My current bodyfat % is 21% - give or take 2 points according to the owner - so I'm giving 2 points. In that case, let's call mine 19%. Don't you love statistics (smile)?

About Cafe Physique:
The mission of Café Physique is to help clients reach and exceed their personal fitness and nutrition goals. If you’re in need of an a nutritionist in Atlanta or an Atlanta personal trainer – Café Physique is the perfect solution. We offer Atlanta yoga instruction, Atlanta prenatal workouts, and Atlanta personal training. We also have private sessions of pilates that Atlanta residents are raving about. We invite you to let a member of our Atlanta registered dietitian staff or personal training team develop and implement a realistic and healthy lifestyle plan to meet your personal goals.

Weight-Bearing Exercises Rule

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Add MORE weight-bearing exercises to your weekly routine. This will allow you to work smarter AND harder. All types of exercise are great, but they're not all created equal because some provide more benefit than others.

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Weight-bearing activities are those that make your body work against the force of gravity. Examples include cardiovascular activities like running, walking, stair-climbing, and kick-boxing. These types of activities use proportionately more calories at a given level of effort than non-weight bearing choices like swimming, the elliptical, or cycling.

This doesn't mean that you should throw swimming or cycling out of your routine. Since these activities put less stress on our weight-bearing joints, most people are able to do them for longer periods of time. That makes up for the lower calorie expenditure, so you end up breaking even in the end (IF you do the activity long enough).

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Most of my cardio activities tend to be weight-bearing simply by default. I don't swim regularly because I'm not trying to get my hair wet (Is there anyone else that can back me up on this? Amen.). I think the elliptical is a great machine, but it is so boring to me that I usually can't stand it for more than 10 minutes at a time. I do, however, absolutely LOVE indoor cycling, so I usually do a full 60 minutes of that activity vs. only 30-45 minutes of my other "loves" like kickboxing and fitness walking.

About Cafe Physique:
The mission of Café Physique is to help clients reach and exceed their personal fitness and nutrition goals. If you’re in need of an a nutritionist in Atlanta or an Atlanta personal trainer – Café Physique is the perfect solution. We offer Atlanta yoga instruction, Atlanta prenatal workouts, and Atlanta personal training. We also have private sessions of pilates that Atlanta residents are raving about. We invite you to let a member of our Atlanta registered dietitian staff or personal training team develop and implement a realistic and healthy lifestyle plan to meet your personal goals.

How Much Is Too Much?

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Spend LESS than 1 hour lifting weights. Unless you are planning to compete in a bodybuilding or figure competition, you do not need to weight train for more than an hour at a time.

After 45 -60 minutes of training weight training, the muscle building & fat burning hormones of most people begin to deplete while cortisol levels (fat storing & muscle burning hormone) increase.


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This is an important tip because I always run into people who automatically think MORE = BETTER, and that's not necessarily true. In actuality, if you are putting maximum effort and concentration into your resistance training workouts, your muscles should be utterly exhausted by the time you finish.

In other words, if you still feel like the Energizer Bunny two hours into the workout (because you can keep going and going and going and...), you're not pushing yourself hard enough. So, next time you're working out, crank up the intensity and reclaim some of your precious time.



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Isn't this great news?

Whenever I miss a workout, like I did today, it's usually because I feel like I just don't have the time. I'm often being squeezed by other commitments or sheer exhaustion from all of life's activities, so it's good to know that working harder for shorter periods of time is actually beneficial.

About Cafe Physique:
The mission of Café Physique is to help clients reach and exceed their personal fitness and nutrition goals. If you’re in need of an a nutritionist in Atlanta or an Atlanta personal trainer – Café Physique is the perfect solution. We offer Atlanta yoga instruction, Atlanta prenatal workouts, and Atlanta personal training. We also have private sessions of pilates that Atlanta residents are raving about. We invite you to let a member of our Atlanta registered dietitian staff or personal training team develop and implement a realistic and healthy lifestyle plan to meet your personal goals.

Strength Training 101

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Learn MORE about strength training. As a follow-up to my WebMD for a great strength training workout:

1) Warm up for five minutes with light cardiovascular exercise, such as brisk walking and arm circles, before lifting.

2) Perform one to three sets of 8 to 12 repetitions each. Choose weights heavy enough so that the last rep is a real struggle (but not so much of one that you're forced to contort your body). You may need to use a different amount of weight for each exercise. With some of the moves, your body weight may be enough, so you might not need to add a dumbbell.

3) Perform each exercise with controlled movements, taking a full two seconds to get to the extreme position and a full two seconds to return to the starting position. Rely on muscle power, not momentum.

4) Rest no more than 30 seconds between exercises.


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So you're committed to the idea of strength training, but don't know where to start? With these six exercises, you can work all of the body's major muscle groups at home or at the gym. All you need are two or three sets or dumbbells (try 5-, 8- or 10-pound weights) and a chair.

The Moves:
1. Modified push-up (works the chest, triceps and front of the shoulder). Kneel with your ankles together, arms straight, palms on the floor a bit to the side and in front of your shoulders and your face to the floor. Bend your elbows and lower your body until your upper arms are parallel to the floor. Keep your abs tight so your back doesn't sag. Push back up.

2. One-arm row (strengthens the back, biceps and back of the shoulder). Place a chair in front of you with its back to the left, out of the way. Holding a dumbbell in your right hand, stand with your right foot on the floor and your left knee resting on the seat of the chair. Lean forward and place your left hand on the seat in front of your left knee. Keep your back straight and parallel to the floor and your right knee slightly bent. Your right arm should hang straight down. Bend your elbow, lifting the dumbbell until your elbow is higher than your back and your hand brushes against your waist. Lower the weight slowly back down. After completing the reps with your right arm, switch sides.

3. Dumbbell shoulder press (works the front and middle shoulders). Holding a dumbbell in each hand, stand with your feet hip-width apart, knees slightly bent and abs tucked in. Raise your upper arms to shoulder height so that the dumbbells are at ear level. Push the dumbbells up and in until the ends of the weights are nearly touching directly over your head. Then lower the dumbbells back to ear level.


4. Squat (Works the buttocks, quadriceps and hamstrings) Hold a dumbbell in each hand or place your hands on your hips or on the tops of your thighs. Stand up tall with your abs tight, feet hip-width apart and your weight slightly back on your heels. Sit back and down, as if you're sitting into a chair. Don't squat any lower than the point at which your thighs are parallel to the floor, and don't let your knees shoot out in front of your toes. Stand back up.

5. Lunge (Works the buttocks, quadriceps, hamstrings and calves) Hold a dumbbell in each hand or place your hands on your hips. Stand tall with your abs tight, feet hip-width apart and weight back on your heels. Lift your right toe slightly and, leading with your heel, step your right foot forward about a stride's length. As your foot touches the floor, bend both knees until your right thigh is parallel to the floor and your left thigh is perpendicular to it. Your left heel will lift off the floor. Press off the ball of your right foot and step back to the standing position.



6. Crunch (Works the abdominals) Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor hip-width apart. Place your hands behind your head so your thumbs are behind your ears, without lacing your fingers together. Hold your elbows out to the sides but rounded slightly in. Tilt your chin slightly toward your chest and tighten your abs. Curl up and forward so that your head, neck, and shoulder blades lift off the floor. Hold for a moment, and then lower slowly back down.


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When I first began lifting weights at home and in the gym, my hands started to really hurt. The trainer that I hired to help me get started, Janeen, told me to get some weightlifting gloves to avoid getting blisters. I was really hesitant at first because I thought that those gloves were for men or those big bodybuilding women – not for regular girls. I didn’t want to look stupid in the gym, but after a couple more painful workouts, I gave in to her suggestion.

Weightlifting gloves have ended up being one of my most important workout tools. They protect my hands when I’m pushing, pulling or lifting barbells and dumbbells, and I’ve never gotten another blister. I’ve also found that I can lift more weight when I have on my nifty gloves.

Over the years, I've used many different brands, and I’ve found that it really doesn’t make much of a difference. You just have to find a pair that fits snugly on your hands without being too tight. You should be able to open and close your hands comfortably. You can find weightlifting gloves at discount stores like Target and Wal-Mart or at regular sporting goods stores.

The best feeling is when I wear out a pair of weightlifting gloves because then I know that I’ve been putting in hard workouts over the months, and I get to treat myself to a brand new pair. These are the ones that I’m using right now:


About Cafe Physique:
The mission of Café Physique is to help clients reach and exceed their personal fitness and nutrition goals. If you’re in need of an a nutritionist in Atlanta or an Atlanta personal trainer – Café Physique is the perfect solution. We offer Atlanta yoga instruction, Atlanta prenatal workouts, and Atlanta personal training. We also have private sessions of pilates that Atlanta residents are raving about. We invite you to let a member of our Atlanta registered dietitian staff or personal training team develop and implement a realistic and healthy lifestyle plan to meet your personal goals.

Portable Personal Trainers

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Work with personal trainers MORE often because they have the expertise to help you achieve your physical fitness goals. Certified Personal Trainers (CPT’s) have a broad base of knowledge that you can tap into, and they will usually put together an entire work out routine so that you won’t even have to think about it.

Whether you are working out with a personal trainer or if you're training clients, you should always expect to give and receive the best!

Please visit the IDEA Health & Fitness Association Newsletter for an article that I wrote about how personal trainers should exceed client expectations.


Think you can’t afford a trainer? You should look into costs in your area because you might be surprised. CPT’s are usually not as expensive as people think, and if you’re serious about your goals, you have to be willing to invest in yourself.


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If you’ve researched costs, and you really just can’t fit a trainer into your budget, have no fear. There are several companies that have popped up on the Internet offering you a customized workout led by a CPT that you can download right onto your iPOD or MP3 player.

Podfitness: $19.95/mo, but they offer 10 FREE days (no tricks), and you can cancel your membership at any time. They offer all kinds of cardio and weight training workouts, and the best part (other than the price) is that the workouts are mixed to your own music!

iTrain: “…bridges the gap for consumers who want personal training and exciting routines at a fraction of the cost.” Just sync up your iPOD and hit the treadmill, elliptical, stair-climber or free weights for 20, 40 or 60 minutes depending on the version you’ve picked. For $49.99 you can receive 3 workouts per month for a year. If you’re not sure about the 12 month commitment, you can choose 5 workouts for $9.99 (you can’t beat that!), or buy songs a la carte for $0.99 and up.

iAmplify: $4.95 and up per workout. Cool because with every audio download, you receive a printable chart with pictures and step-by-step instructions for various exercises – just in case you can’t picture what the CPT is saying.


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I personally think that these downloadable trainers are the “next best thing since sliced bread.” Now nobody has an excuse for not having their own trainer available 24 hours a day.

Gift certificates to these sites also make great gifts for fitness-minded friends and family or for those that should be (smile).

About Cafe Physique:
The mission of Café Physique is to help clients reach and exceed their personal fitness and nutrition goals. If you’re in need of an a nutritionist in Atlanta or an Atlanta personal trainer – Café Physique is the perfect solution. We offer Atlanta yoga instruction, Atlanta prenatal workouts, and Atlanta personal training. We also have private sessions of pilates that Atlanta residents are raving about. We invite you to let a member of our Atlanta registered dietitian staff or personal training team develop and implement a realistic and healthy lifestyle plan to meet your personal goals.