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Hi. It's Laura.

It's been awhile I know. I hope you all have enjoyed your summer but now it’s back to school.

I know some kids went back to school last Tuesday and some went back as late as Thursday which got me thinking...

Fitness & nutrition are like a road trip. In order to get where you want to go you need a plan.

I will get back to that analogy in a moment. Right now, back to school, because I think this is where we all get lost. Growing up I was allowed to eat anything I wanted. Fortunately for me, I was a pretty finicky eater. Two or three bites of something and I would feign a tummy ache and ask to be excused (desperately wanting to get back outside to play with my friends and yes, I had those). I was not forced to eat my vegetables and my mother never made sit at the dinner table until I cleaned my plate (I did have a babysitter that did that once, that would be a different blog though).

Little did my mother know she was doing the right thing in letting me eat until I was full. Not basing it on how much she thought I should eat or how much she wanted me to eat. Just on how much I wanted to eat. I have heard horror stories from friends whose parents forced them to sit until the whole meal was gone, sad.

In grade school or even high school, I don't ever remember learning about nutrition. Maybe they taught us that vegetables were good for you but seriously, I don't remember. I bet they still don't (I do not have children so I could be completely wrong, but just go with me here).

If we teach our children what a protein is, what a carbohydrate is, the positive affects they can have and the fuel they provide our bodies to function, we may not have such an obesity epidemic in our school grade children today. This could be one thing that we learn in school that might actual be useful throughout the rest of our lives (unlike algebra, on this point I know The Husband will disagree) [Editor’s Note: AAAARGH! She knows that drives me crazy. All planning starts with Algebra and she will use it later in this blog]

To the road trip!

In order to plan a road trip, we need to choose a destination. Once the destination is chosen, we need to figure out places to stay along the way, where and when we will refuel the car, how long it will take us to get there and then plan for any emergencies, accidents and the unforseen along the way. We plan for who will be traveling with us and why we are going to this particular place. Before we get into all that we need to find out if the car itself is in good enough condition to make the journey. [Editor’s Note: This is all Algebra]

In order to figure out where you want to go (lose weight, gain weight, get into better shape...), you have to figure out how to get there (diet, exercise).

So let's start with some basics. Just like calculating the gas mileage your car gets, you need to calculate how much mileage your body gets.

Let’s calculate how many calories do you need in a day to have your body carry out daily functions?

This is also known as Basal Metabolic Rate or Metabolic Rate

The formula for calculating you BMR:

Women: BMR = 655 + ( 4.35 x weight in pounds ) + ( 4.7 x height in inches ) - ( 4.7 x age in years )
Men: BMR = 66 + ( 6.23 x weight in pounds ) + ( 12.7 x height in inches ) - ( 6.8 x age in year )

For example: 655+ (6.23X 120) + (12.7 x 63) - (6.8x 43) = 1786.3 calories/day or you can just plug your information into this calculator

Now you know where you are. You have chosen your destination so now we will figure out how to get there. If you are looking to lose weight, you need to drop 500 calories/day. You can do this by exercising (30 minutes of the treadmill is roughly 300 calories) or diet (one string cheese is 50 calories). If you are looking to gain weight logic says you should add 500 calories a day and if you like where you are and want to stay there consume no more or no less.

Dropping calories and adding exercise is only part of the how to get there. You have to actually read food labels and take note of what is an actual serving size. For example, the giant bag of M& M's says that it is 200 calories per serving, which does not mean the entire bag. It does mean there are multiple servings and it is in your best interest to figure out what that is based on the label. Read your labels carefully. Make sure you getting the serving size that it is you need. (High octane versus regular unleaded.)

The second part is the exercise. I can walk around the block 100 times a day seven days a week and never see any difference in my weight. Why?

In order to exercise safely and effectively you need to be at 60-80% of your maximum heart rate. This is where you will see the most benefit.

How do you calculate your target heart rate(HR)? The simple formula is 220- your age. This will give you your maximum heart rate. So if you are a 43 year old woman, your maximum HR is 177 and you want your exercise HR to be between 106-141 (220-43= 177, 177*80%=141, 177*60%=106). You can also use this calculator.

If you wind up Googling Heart rate and target heart there are more complicated formulas that can give you a more accurate idea but thought it best to share the simplest one here. If you really want to know where you are, I strongly suggest you invest in a HR monitor.

Armed with this information, you know where you are, your destination and a general idea of how to get there and from here you can get started. We can deal with what kind of car (mode of exercise) and places to stay along the way (plateaus) and accidents (bad calories days and diet slips) as we continue our journey.

Be inspired!

Laura