Weight Loss Archives - Shaila Fitness

What NOT to do for Weight Loss

October 7, 2014 by sumi Leave a Comment

Whether you believe it not, long-term weight loss and maintenance is achievable.

Is it hard work? Yes.

Is it for everybody? No.

Not everyone needs to lose weight. And losing weight may not be your definition of awesome. If you’re comfortable in your own skin, move and feel healthy and strong, keep up just fine with the kids, and your blood work labs keep you and your doctor satisfied, you may not even need to lose those “last 25-40 lbs.”

Nevertheless, if you do chose to an embark on a weight loss program of any sort, there are a number of products I suggest you stay away from.

1. Weight loss products specifically marketed to help you lose weight or “firm up” without you having to make any real changes to your diet or exercise program. Products that fall in this realm include the majority of body contour creams, booty toning shoes, slimming “hot pants,” body toning body wraps, and so on.

These products are a waste of your hard-earned money.

If you want a firm body, learn how to lift: squat, deadlift, lunge, press, and otherwise build your body with a progressive program of strength training. I cover these exercises on my video page.

Check out the videos on my website to see how I “detox”

2. OTC (Over the counter) Diet pills.

If you think that popping a pill is going to miraculously correct months of inactivity and poor diet, think again. Certain supplements DO work, those that are properly dosed, from reputable companies, and used in conjunction with exercise programs and a sensible diet.

No OTC pill will be of any use to you unless you’ve first addressed the two biggies: diet and exercise.

Move a little more, and eat more fruits and veggies like your granny told you. Start there, and do that with consistency. Need more tips? Email me at sumi@shailafitness.com for getting started with online training or nutrition consulting.

3. “Detox” or “cleanse” programs.

Ack! Explosive bowel movements don’t sound like any fun to me. I can think of a million other better things to do with my day than dealing with a constantly upset stomach. A good session in the gym, some sweaty cardio, and enough fiber from food is all the detox I need. Drinking water helps move all that action around too.

4. Any fad weight loss, short–term diet, “21-day fix” or other NON-lifestyle DIET.

The cookie diet, the twinkie diet, the Special K challenge, the cotton ball diet, that diet where you inject yourself with some chemical diet, etc etc.

ANY weight loss diet will work in the short term, and if your goal is to lose weight rapidly for an event, but not actually maintain it, a quick fix might be for you.

Along those lines, just because a diet works for a friend does not mean it will work for you. If a friend of yours does Paleo or Atkins and seems successful at it, it’s probably not suited for you if you’re the kind of person who loves carbs.

Long-term weight loss success happens when you learn what works for your palate and budget and figure out how to make daily activity part of your lifestyle. “21 day challenges” (which are popular because of the short-term horizon) are fine if they kick start you beyond the initial “challenge” and equip you with the tools to be successful, forever.

Beating Emotional Eating and Coming to Peace with Food

April 23, 2013 by sumi Leave a Comment

Below is an interview I had with a local fellow fitness trainer and mom. When I first met her, the first thing I noticed was her enviable toned figure, radiant hair and skin, and a smile like sunshine. By the looks of it, you could never tell that Shannan ever struggled with emotional/compulsive eating. When she opened up to me first about what she struggled with (emotional eating), I knew it was something I wanted to share with my own clients and friends.

I LOVE chocolate! Eat what you love too, in moderation.

Remember, eating disorders aren’t always as black and white as having anorexia or bulimia. According to an article in the World of Psychology, currently 80 percent of women in the U.S. are dissatisfied with their appearance. And more than 10 million are suffering from eating disorders. And even while “normal” eaters experience occasional emotional eating episodes (e.g., Thanksgiving when we all stuff ourselves because it’s tradition, releiving stress with a bottle of champagne, or rewarding your hard work with a slice of pie), a normal eater thinks nothing more of the event. On the other hand, a truly emotional eater will feel a whole host of emotions tied to their eating experiences, and uses food to feed a feeling, rather than physical hunger.

In Shannan’s story, emotional eating led her to gain 30 lbs. However, through the steps she took to address her emotional eating, she was able to lose the 30 lbs and has kept it off for 3 years now. You can see her before and after pictures on her website, listed below.

Continue Reading …

Best Diet Products

December 4, 2012 by sumi Leave a Comment

Today I want to take a quick look at what I think are some of the best reduced calorie products available at your grocery store. Have you tried any of these yet?

High Fiber, Low Calorie Tortillas

These high fiber tortillas can be used as roti, too!

Start reading labels at your grocery store. More brands are coming up with high fiber wraps and tortillas like the one made by Ole (Xtreme Wellness). The one in the photo here has only 90 calories, 9 grams of fiber per serving, and is large enough to hold enough chicken, cheese, and veggies to satisfy even large appetites like mine. Check the bread section at your store and see if you can beat or match the calorie and fiber profile. FlatOut is another brand that makes large wraps, and comes in a variety of flavors. I’ve seen them at several grocery stores with each serving about 90-100 calories.

Powdered Peanut Butter

PB2, Powdered Peanut Butter (45 cals for 2 TBSPs compared to 200 calories for 2 TBSPs of peanut butter). Made by Bell Plantations, this powdered peanut butter can be used in a lot of recipes and mixed with water to make a low-cal version of peanut butter, added to protein shakes, pudding, etc. My favorite way to use this product is to mix this with chocolate whey protein powder, and blend with ice and water. I also mix it in with chocolate pudding. The company website has a complete recipe book too: http://www.bellplantation.com/

Low Calorie Cashew Milk

For those of you that enjoy adding something to your whey protein shake, this unsweetened cashew “milk” adds a mere 25 calories per 1 cup serving. That’s a little bit less than light almond milk (which ranges from 35-60 calories/cup) and quite a bit less than skim milk (80 calories/cup). I’ve always been happy with plain water added to my whey protein, but the cashew milk adds creaminess if you like that. You can find the nutrition information here.

Walden Farms Brand

Makes no calorie, no sugar, no carb, gluten-free sauces, salad dressings, syrups, dips, jellies, and much much more. The raspberry salad vinaigrette dressing is my absolute favorite from their line. http://www.waldenfarms.com/

Magic Pop

If you haven’t tried this, it’s pretty neat. They sell them at our local grocery store (HEB in Austin) and they come in both salty/savory and sweet flavors. It’s like an oversized rice cake, but with only 15 calories. So for those of you that crave crunchy + sweet and/or crunchy/salty (if I had a dollar for every person in Austin that can’t live without chips and salsa…), this treat is worth a try. http://www.deliceglobal.com/

Fiber One Brand Pancake Mix

People pay big bucks for colon cleansing and detox products, and it’s no wonder. The typical American diet is largely devoid of fiber, and you might not be getting enough if you eat out frequently, dislike vegetables, or consume too many processed foods on a regular basis. Ideally, you have found a way to include several servings of fresh veggies and fruits in your daily diet. But if you need more or other sources of dietary fiber, the Fiber One brand has come up with a complete line of breakfast, snack, and desert products to help you meet your daily needs (at least 30 grams). The pancake mix is my favorite; it has 180 calories in a serving (compared to 250 calories per serving in some other brands), and has 5 grams of fiber. I usually mix it with 1 scoop of vanilla whey protein powder when making my high protein pancakes, which brings me to my next point…

Best Source of Portable Protein

Whey protein is an excellent source of high quality and convenient take-it-with-you protein. You should try to include a serving of lean protein at every meal, and this can be challenging if you’re vegetarian, can’t stand too much chicken, beef, and eggs on a daily basis, are always on the go, and so on. There are numerous options for whey protein. Visit the vitamin aisle at your grocery store or your local health food store. Try one of the single serving packets if you’re weary of buying a big tub. For retailed versions, I like the either Muscle Milk Light (100 cals/scoop), GNC’s Whey Protein Complete (100 cals/scoop), or Optimum Nutrition’s 100% Gold Standard Whey (120 cals/scoop).

Best Tasting Reduced Calorie Bread

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you might have noticed that several brands are coming out with sliced bread that come in at only 40 calories/slice. Brand such as Nature’s Own now carry a full line of breads (white, wheat, honey wheat, double-fiber, etc.) in their reduced-calorie/Light line that contain half the calories of conventional sliced bread. http://naturesownbread.com/products/ReducedCalorieBreads/

Again, start reading labels at the grocery store. Most people swear off of all bread and carbs when they are trying to shed some pounds, and that’s not required. For many of us, it’s about making simple changes and tradeoffs to choices we already make that can steer us towards our weight loss goals.

Best Tasting Healthy Sweet Treats (For Adults AND Kids)

Greek Yogurt: Many brands are now coming out with versions of seasonal flavors of Greek Yogurt (such as Caramel Apple Pie, Chocolate Cherry, Salted Caramel, Toasted Vanilla Coconut, etc). Used to be that you could only get peach, blueberry, strawberry, but I’m seeing a LOT more variety at the grocery store for this convenient high protein snack. Check out the nutrition information and the variety of flavors here. This particular brand checks in at a mere 80 calories. If you wanted, you could probably freeze it and top it off with some fresh fruit for a nice desert, too.

Muffins: Vitalicious http://www.vitalicious.com/store-vitamuffins.html has a delicious “Vitamuffin” and I love the Deep Chocolate flavor. Although the size is smaller than a coffee house portion, it’s probably appropriate for most appetites. 100 calories, 9 grams of fiber, and “enriched” with plenty of vitamins (as the name implies). You can find this in the frozen novelties section of your grocery store, or in the frozen prepared breakfast section.

Brownies: Glenny’s has a brand of ready made brownies that are 100 calories a piece, and with 7 grams of fiber (and not in the refrigerated section). http://www.glennys.com/products/brownies.html I’ve seen them at the grocery store and they can be ordered online as well. As with the Vitalicious brand, don’t expect to indulge in a huge coffee shop size portion. Nevertheless, the taste is pretty darn good when you’re in need of a small chocolate “fix.”

Gluten-Free Foods

Granted, this category isn’t necessarily “diet-friendly” in the calorie content sense (gluten free products are often higher in calories than a regular wheat product), but if you’ve got a gluten allergy or are trying to avoid it, you probably have no choice. The market of gluten-free products is growing much like the fat-free and low-carb market was, and it’s hard to know which products are actually tasty. Since you will be paying more for gluten-free, it helps to know what tastes good. Here are some picks from my gluten-intolerant clients:

Best Tasting Gluten Free Bread (sandwich or bagel): Udi’s
Instant oatmeal- Gluten Freeda
Pancake/muffin mix- Pamela’s products
Cake Mix- Betty Crocker
Frozen Entrees- Cedar Lane

I hope that my list of some of my favorite best diet products helps you out.

See you at the grocery store!

Keeping The Weight Off

January 9, 2012 by sumi Leave a Comment

Weight loss is hard work, and following a reduced calorie diet takes determination, adherence, planning, discipline, and so on. Perhaps you’ve tried successfully to diet, and have lost the weight. But the moment you go back to whatever it was you were doing before, the weight comes back on.

I know you’ve heard countless weight LOSS tips (eat more fiber, exercise, drink more water, eat more vegetables, etc etc). But, what about some guidance to stay where you are?

As a diet coach, I’ve had the pleasure of working with clients who’ve successfully lost weight and maintained it. And believe it or not, weight maintenance can be harder than weight loss. Why are THEY successful?

Pack your meals. Just remove the stickers.

1. They don’t view it as a diet, but a lifestyle.

Once people get past the initial (minor) annoyance with having to weigh or measure food, they begin to understand proper portion sizes. Whether they’re at home, on the go, at a restaurant, or on travel, having a sense of the appropriate amount of food that keeps you trim becomes second nature. They are more mindful of what they’re putting in their mouth, and enjoy the benefits (i.e., maintain their weight) of eating sensibly. It becomes part of their life.

2. They embrace cooking and preparing meals.

Clients who have maintained their goal weight embrace clean eating, a term that most bodybuilders and fitness enthusiasts will recognize. “Clean eating” involves eating a variety of whole foods with minimal processing, plenty of lean meats, low fat dairy, whole grains, fruits, and vegetables, healthy fats (e.g., fish oil), high fiber foods, and eating several small meals throughout the day, usually involving a lean protein source.

Sadly, far too many strict dieters get into the mindset that clean eating is nothing but eating chicken, rice, and greens (or the “CRG diet”). The concept of eliminating an entire food group (such as carbs on Atkins) is nothing new, but it doesn’t make sense for a life long approach to healthy eating. Being TOO simplistic is neither healthy nor is it appealing. And even though I find myself (repeatedly) telling clients that clean protein is not just about eating bland chicken breast, it really is a message that bears repeating.

I Can Totally Do This

January 2, 2012 by sumi Leave a Comment

Now that it’s the New Year, you might be considering the goal of achieving weight loss. Perhaps you’ve tried before, and now you’re ready to make that change. The story of CT below will inspire you. She made it through the Holiday season without gaining a pound, and has achieved 26 lbs of weight loss in LESS than 3 months since starting in late October 2011.
She’s also a client I met just once. She embraced the program I put her on and realizes that it is a lifestyle change. In her own words: “Change is scary sometimes but can also be very exciting. You have to trust the process. Hang in there and persist. This works.”
She had many more words of inspiration and advice below. Everyone from the newbie dieter to the well seasoned one will appreciate her challenges, her progress, and her tips for CONTINUED success.
Congratulations CT!Continue Reading …

Another Busy Mom Makes it Happen

August 30, 2011 by sumi Leave a Comment

Today I want to share another client success story with you, to show you how a busy mom makes it happen to reach her fitness, health and physique goals. Rema came to me as an online client with a fairly simple goal that I hear from lots of women: “to be fit and look great by bikini season. And actually wear a bathing suit!”

I was familiar with both her goals (I want to look great too!) and her constraints (small child, and a working mom!). As an online client, I knew Rema could succeed: she was self-motivated, had the tools both at home and otherwise (as a plus, was also a member at a gym, and owned a food and body scale), responsive over email, and checked in with me on a regular basis.

We started together back in March, and safely and steadily achieved her goals in 6 months.

Before Stats:
3/21/11
Weight: 138.1 lbs
Body fat: 33.70%
chest: 37.50 in
waist: 33.00 in
hips/butt: 37.50 in
thighs: 22.50 in
arms: 11.50 in

Here are her ending stats:

08/19/11
Weight: 112.5
bf: 27.8%
chest: 34 in
waist: 28 in
hips/butt: 34 in
thighs: 19 in
arms: 10 in

You can do the math (weight loss 25.6 lbs, 10% drop in body fat) and take a look at her awesome before and after shots.

That’s one sexy mama if I’ve ever seen one.

So Congratulations Rema on your success and your bikini ready body. Maybe one day, we’ll finally meet!

Weight Loss While Healing Themselves and Inspiring Others

June 14, 2011 by sumi Leave a Comment

There are some client success stories that you never feel justified in writing because you know you’re still watching a process evolve.

This is one of them…a work in progress. But I want to tell it to you to show how a single person can achieve weight loss while healing themselves and inspiring others.

The central goal of this client didn’t just revolve a fairly straightforward goal of weight loss. She wanted to feel better and reduce the amount of back and pain medication she was on. She suffered from numerous food allergies and severe scoliosis. Her process was one that would take time; results could not come quick. It would involve working closely with her doctor to understand both the movement limitations and how the medicine she was prescribed could affect diet and appetite.

Mother of Two Boys with Two C-Sections Succeeds

May 20, 2011 by sumi Leave a Comment

Today I want to tell you a story about one of my clients, a mother of two boys with two c-sections succeeds in her fitness and health goals.

From Her Facebook Post: “So I’ve now officially lost 50 pounds since Sam’s birth, 20 of which (along with 8 inches!) have come off since October (2010) under the expert tutelage of my friend, the arse-buster Sumi Singh. Thanks girl!”

I can’t remember the first time we met- it was either a local playgroup, a playground, the gym locker room, or in my BodyPump class. I knew she was very athletic, enjoyed the outdoors, and worked full time, but I also knew she liked a little wine, had a kickin’ sweet tooth, loved her carbs, and enjoyed her scrapple.

Nothing wrong with that, but when she came to me after baby#2, ready to shed the post-baby weight after her second c-section, I wasn’t sure what to expect. She was breastfeeding, had to figure out work demands and daycare pickup times, and had family frequently in town visiting. She was short on time, and not sleeping well.

How on earth was I supposed to tell her she needed to clean up her eating (eat more veggies!) and make exercise a priority somehow when she was barely able to keep her eyes open?

Simple. I knew if she were anything like me (busy mom athlete), she would want a simple, non-judgmental opinion. Just the facts, how do I get there, what’s it going to take? When we first took her measurements and before photos (not posted for her privacy), we both recognized there was work to do.

And she wasn’t going to get there by being complacent, by sleeping on it, and by not dedicating some amount of time in her already compressed schedule. She HAD to clean up her diet, and she HAD to find the time to gradually ease into an exercise program over time. I also asked her to find that inner motivation, the real reason WHY she wanted to shed the weight, to set a goal deadline. She did that and more

She’s now the leanest she’s ever been, at a weight she hasn’t seen since high school- and all this after 2 c-sections.

How did she do it?

1) Resolved to clean up her diet. The day after we met to talk nutrition, she ran out and bought a food scale. She began paying attention to proper portion sizes, maintained an honest food log which we reviewed weekly, started eating more vegetables, and buying healthier fat sources, like fish oils.

In addition, she enjoys shopping for whole foods, organic meats, fruits, and vegetables, and genuinely enjoys educating others understand about the importance of good nutrition when they ask her “how did you do it?”

2) Made it a priority to dedicate a fixed time in her daily schedule to physical exercise. It’s on her mental calendar to get to the gym at least four times a week and meet weekly with me, her personal trainer.

3) Train with weights and train hard. Despite the giant sleep deprivation experiment which is her life right now, here’s a quote that describes how she attacks her work outs:

“Is there a name for that strut back to the locker room at the end of an intense workout when you’ve got a rockin song on your iPod and you’re so pumped you could just punch someone in the face? There should be.”

Need I say more? If you train hard, you know that feeling.

The best thing about her is that she accomplished ALL of this the healthiest, and most practical way. Gradually, and slowly building upon exercise, sensible eating practices, and working it into her busy life. Importantly, she recognized that she had to take some time to herself to spend it on her own body project.

If a working mother of 2 boys can do it, you can too.

How Not to Get Lean this Summer

April 10, 2011 by sumi Leave a Comment

Like it or not, summer is coming. We’ll be ditching the jackets and showing off more skin. If you’ve been diligently exercising and eating right over the colder months, you probably have nothing to worry about. Some of us might turning to a “quick fix.” But we both know that they never really work. So here are some current products that will not help you to get lean this summer.

Ready to shed the layers?

As a full time trainer, I’m keenly aware of the variety of products marketed for weight loss. My background in science also makes it simple for me to understand product claims and understand their worth, if any. These days, lots of people in and outside of the gym ask me, “hey what do you think of this weight loss product?” and most of the time, it’s something that I know won’t work for them.

Here are some of the worst questions I’ve encountered:

What Does It Take to Look Like a Fitness Model: Part 2

October 6, 2010 by sumi 1 Comment

In part 1 of this series, I told you about how I changed my diet, training, and what supplements I was using in order to reach my goals. Today I want to continue telling you what it takes to look like a fitness model by looking at my progress and how I dialed everything in at the end.

I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again, it’s much more fun to eat big and be strong. On lowered calories you can prepare yourself for the following annoying sides: possible decreased energy and/or strength, and of course hunger. Dieting sucks.

Getting Ready for Your Photo Shoot and Looking Picture Perfect

Other tools that I use to get picture perfect is finding the right spray tan. Even if you think you are tan enough, if you’ve never had an awesome spray tan I highly recommend it. It evens out skin tone and you positively glow. A good spray tan artist will match everything to your comfort. If you can’t manage that, experiment with self tanner, though you’ll need to practice this before shoot day.

Other than a spray tan, an obvious one would be to use a professional, experienced photographer. A good pro will know how to use lighting to maximize the muscles you’ve worked for. Studio lighting helps, and so does Photoshop. 🙂 You will want to make sure you meet that person or at least correspond before hand to negotiate the terms of your contract

If you can, get your hair, nails, and makeup done by an experienced pro. If you have to do it on your own, practice, practice, practice. The little things matter, even if it’s something as small as your fingernails, you never know what’s going to pop out as little detail that you neglected.

If you’re shooting bikini wear, high heels are superb. They help arch the back, pop the booty, and make your legs look way longer. Along the same lines, practice your walk, and posing. If you are getting outfits for the shoot, wear and pose in them, to see how they move on your body too.

Pack a “shootcase” (slippers to change into, a zip up long sleeve shirt to stay warm, water bottle, lipstick to touch up, resistance bands so you can pump up if that’s needed.) In your shootcase, don’t forget to pack the same food you normally pack in your cooler (shoots can run longer than you think, and you want to stay fueled up).

And last but not least, remember to smile and have FUN!

Final Thoughts

Shaila knows mommy is strong!

The methods I’ve suggested here have always worked well for me. If you plan to do it, give yourself ample time to experiment with the calories and activity level, and don’t ever give up strength training!

It’s what got you the muscles in the first place. Enlist the help of a good coach (I can help if you need that) and stay focused on whatever your goal look may be. Be prepared for the not so fun stuff: to diet hard, to bust through your discomfort zone, to possibly have to pick up lighter weights, maybe do more cardio, or cut back training intensity or volume if your strength wanes.

You may lose some sleep or sleep less fitfully, be cranky on less food, and possibly have to migrate into an anti-social bubble because 1) you can’t eat or drink like most people and 2) you’re so cranky no one wants to play with you. Realize too that for some people, being super lean for a photoshoot is not maintainable.

Despite all the hard work and effort, and the fact that everyone thought I was insane (“you’re fine just the way you are!”), it really is what brings you confidence that matters most in a shoot. If you need to tan or lose a few pounds, set your mind to it. If you’re comfortable in your own skin, that will shine through on camera.

I’m a mom, I work full-time, I am no superwoman, nor do I have any special gift of genetics or superhuman discipline. I do have the right mindset and attitude to get it done. Anyone can do it. And if I can, you can too.

And now I hope you have a little better insight about what women go through in order to look like a fitness model. See you in the magazines!