An average summer day in Central Texas: 95 degrees with a heat index of 100. You guys, it’s HOT out there! Yet some fools set out on runs in the middle of the blazing afternoon. Highly conditioned individuals have to make concessions for running in the heat: they hydrate more than usual, wear wicking fabric, pack electrolyte supplements, reduce their speed and/or distance, and closely monitor their rate of perceived exertion. Those who are NOT highly conditioned should not run in the heat of the day when temperatures are this high.

There is a bogus notion that exercising in extreme heat will facilitate rapid weight loss. Some folks take that one step further, and dress themselves in sweat suits or garbage bags. Here’s the truth of the matter: the extra pounds that seem to vanish when you weigh yourself after an intense workout in the dog days of summer is simply a reflection of water that you lost through perspiration during your workout. It is not body fat lost, and it will come back within a few hours, once you have rehydrated.

Raising your white flag to the heat does not mean that you cannot begin a workout regime in the summer. You should absolutely exercise! Just find a safter time or location to do it. Find out when the summer sun rises and sets (in Texas, it’s approx 6:30am rise, 8:30pm set), and perhaps take your jog before rise or after set. Alternatively, find a reasonably-priced fitness center that will allow you to join for the summer, so that you can exercise in an air conditioned facility. This is not a matter of comfortability; it’s a matter of life or death. Heat exhaustion can led to heat stroke. If you are relatively new to exercise, keep your running shoes in the closet during the hot summer afternoons.
Don’t forget about your four-legged friends, either. Your pooch cannot tell you when he’s overheated. Be smart and avoid afternoon dog jogs until the weather cools off.

Exercising will help you lose weight, but extreme heat does not get it off faster. Who cares about losing water? You want to lose fat! It took a while to put the fat on and it will take a while to get it off. Be consistent with regular exercise most days of the week, aim for 20-60 minutes, perform the exercises in moderate temperature, and let the scale tip to the right (down) slowly and steadily over time!

How have people successfully lost 10, 20, 100 pounds? One pound at a time. Every pound lost means 3,500 calories have been burned. When you look at it that way, it’s not “just” a pound. It’s A POUND! Rejoice in the small steps, because huge changes are not made by a few big steps; they’re made by small step after small step after small step. Since the most effective (and sustainable) weight loss efforts are combinations of diet and exercise, apply this “small step celebration” to it all! You go a week without eating fast food. Hoorah! You raise your mileage on Trekking 3 from 3.0 miles to 3.11 miles. Yippee! You go a morning without stopping for a Starbucks breve misto. Rock on! Giving yourself positive reinforcement for the strides you made today will make it likely that you’ll repeat those good behaviors tomorrow. All of the todays and tomorrows put together add up to big stuff. To get there, celebrate the small stuff!!

Gas is expensive! How about trading in your 4 wheels for 2 wheels driven by 2 legs? Get a bike! There are many different types of bikes, including: road, mountain, hybrid, fitness, and cruiser. The type of bike that will be best for you will depend on how far and fast you would like to go on your rides and the type of terrain that you plan on trekking.
The last half of the year is typically a great time to buy a bike, because bike shops are eager to clear out this year’s inventory to make room for next year’s models. You can usually get a sweet deal on a great bike this time of year! Many bike shops offer financing, too.
Some cities are more “cycle-friendly” than others. Before setting out on a ride through streets that could potentially be dangerous, it’s a good idea to map out your route by using a site like www.mapmyride.com. You should also gather the following information from the bike store that sells you your bike: rules of the road, bike maintenance, and how to ride in a group.
Most cities have organized riding groups that cost little or no money to join. If you live in the Austin-area, you just may see me on Sunday morning rides with the posse at Jack and Adam’s Bicycles www.jackandadams.com.
Riding a bike is a fun way to get fit, and it is a mode of exercise that puts little impact on your joints! In my opinion, it’s a freeing thing to workout without walls. Get a bike and start exploring the wonderful world of cycling today!

Ever go out to a restaurant just to keep someone else company, with no intention of ordering food? Low and behold, there sits a basket of chips and salsa or bread basket with butter sitting right there at your face. These freebies are things that we tend to munch without even thinking about their caloric content. In fact, speaking personally, I could scarf the whole basket of chips or bread, ask the waiter to bring more, eat most of that second round, then- if I didn’t order an actual meal- leave the restaurant thinking I didn’t eat anything. Oh but I did! Did you know that 1-ounce of tortilla chips (7 chips) is roughly 140 calories? For most of us, me included, seven chips is hardly enough to wet our whistle! Calories add up, not only in meals, but in freebies, too. The freebies may not tax your pocketbook, but they tax your diet! Next time you go to a restaurant, people-watch. Notice how the people around you conduct conversations and munch on freebies, mindlessly. Observe them, don’t join them. Don’t let mindless freebie-eating lead to your diet demise.

I never was a fan of low-carb dieting. So, no one is more thrilled than me to see that fad pass. You see, all carbs are not created equal. There are complex carbohydrates, which are GREAT for you, and typically promote weight-loss, as they are often rich in fiber. Then there are simple carbohydrates, which should be restricted if you are attempting to lose weight. Simple carbs sabotage weigh-loss goals, because they typically cause the blood sugar levels to shoot up sky high after consumption (ever heard of a “sugar high?”), but the level doesn’t stay there for long. Not long after the blood sugar level peaks does it then plummet to rock bottom. When that happens, the only thing your brain can think of is: I want to get back on that high! So you reach for MORE simple carbs to sky-rocket you back up. All day long it’s a roller-coaster ride… and an exhausting one at that! Do you see how if we overindulge on simple carbohydrates, we can experience symptoms similar to drug addicts? Food is good, and we should enjoy it. If eaten to stabalize blood sugar, there is no comparison to food and drugs. It becomes devious if we are not mindful about it’s response on blood glucose (aka blood sugar). When we allow ourselves to eat whatever we want, whenever we (think) we want it, look out! (In an upcoming blog, I will explain how to eat to gradually lift your blood sugar to a safe and sustainable level).
The following foods are examples of simple carbohydrates:
Table sugar, cakes, biscuits, donuts, super-sweet cereals, jelly/jam, chocolate, toffee, brownies, cookies, hard candy, bubblegum, honey, soft drinks, chutney, pickles, most puddings.

At the risk of confusing you, I must say that there are some natural fruits that are categorized as “simple carbohydrates,” but unlike the foods listed above, they are low in simple sugar and do not promote weight gain. These include:
apples, blackberries, cherries, cranberries, grapefruit, kiwi, lemon, melon, oranges, peaches, pears, plums, rasberries, and strawberries
These natural whole-fruit simple carbohydrates are not to be avoided. In fact, if you are used to eating the foods listed in the DO NOT EAT category, replacing those items with foods from this fruit list will help to satisfy sweet cravings.

If you are used to the roller-coaster ride, it is going to be difficult to raise your white flag to those off-limit simple carbs, but you CAN do it! After three days off of them, you’ll notice that it’s a little easier. After three weeks, you’ll notice that it’s a LOT easier. After six months, you’ll have a whole new eating habit established and you’ll hardly even think about those devilish snacks any more.

For some folks, exercise for the sake of a healthy heart, lungs, cholesterol, blood pressure, body mass, etc. is hum-drum. They see how it would be beneficial to them, but that, alone, is not enough incentive to get them exercising. If you fall into that group, here’s what you’ve got to do: turn the focus off of yourself. There are so many organized athletic events that raise funds for noble causes. Your participation in that event may help fund research that develops a cure or treatment for a disease that, until that point, was untreatable! The impact of your run, bike ride, triathlon, walk, dance-a-thon… may change lives! Register for the event well in advance, then obligate yourself to train for it- not to get first place (but you might) or to lose weight (but you will, unless you compensate by eating more)- obligate yourself to train for it because you are THAT passionate about cause that you are supporting.
Tomorrow, on June 5, 2010, fifty-three University of Texas students will climb on their bikes and start a 70-day, 4,687-mile journey. This trek benefits cancer research. This ride was created by Chris Condit, a former UT student and cancer surviver. This year marks the 7th year that this ride has been conducted; it goes from Austin, TX all the way to Anchorage, AL. The riders persevere, come rain or shine. Last year, they endured 3-weeks of rain! It’s not unusual for them to ride 100 miles in a day, followed by another 100 miles the next day. “The ride itself is a metaphor for cancer,” says Jamille Ruebsahm, executive director for the non-profit org, “They have to get up and fight every day.”
Talk about making physical exercise impact so much more than just the physical body! This is exercising for a cause!! Events like this positively affect the world, and participating in them may change you as a human being.

To find athletic events that benefit causes that are meaningful to you, contact the foundation for that cause and ask for their calendar of events.

The Texas 4000 for Cancer, mentioned above, has raised $1,500,000. This year’s goal is to raise $400,000. You can see more information about this ride at www.texas4000.com.