That's Fit

If simultaneously accelerating fat loss and improving your cardiovascular health sounds like something you might be interested in, consider following a workout program that includes interval training.

To get the most out of an interval training workout, it must include a variety of exercises, tension, resistance, interval lengths, and duration. The key to making all these variables work for you is understanding the sprint portion of the workout. More or less, you are sprinting when you can no longer carry on a conversation with someone and, perhaps even more accurately, are working at 90 percent of your max effort.

The following workout, designed by Maximum Fitness magazine, is one that can be completed on a treadmill, an elliptical machine, on a running track, on a stair-climber -- just about anywhere. The interval concept can easily be implemented into almost any cardio-based workout.

Warm-Up..............Light Jog..................5 minutes
Sprint...................90% Effort...............10 seconds
Jog.......................70% Effort...............30 seconds
Sprint...................90% Effort...............10 seconds
Jog.......................70% Effort...............30 seconds
Sprint...................90% Effort...............10 seconds
Jog.......................70% Effort...............30 seconds

Note: Repeat the above cycle for 20 continuous minutes
Incline/Resistance: Increase incline or resistance setting by five percent every five minutes

Stop and think for a second ... if we are relying on water to get our vitamins and minerals these days, we're in big, big trouble. The truth is, we're not (thankfully), despite the fact that manufacturers of many so-called health waters try to lead us to believe that we are.

If anything, several of these health waters do more harm than good. Maximum Fitness magazine tackled this issue in the article "The Ten Best & Worst Foods You Can Buy," in their current issue. And guess what made the list? Yup, Vitaminwater.

According to what's stated in the article, one 20oz bottle of Glaceau Vitaminwater contains 130 calories and 33g of sugar, which is almost the equivalent of a can of Coke. And as far as meeting a nutrient need as concerned, you can easily obtain this small amount of vitamins with a serving of cereal, a bean salad or a piece of fruit, says a nutritionist interviewed for the article.

Looking to pump up your protein intake but aren't exactly thrilled with the idea of eating canned tuna? Fear not, you chicken of the sea -- there are plenty of much tastier foods out there that offer a heaping helping of this macronutrient.

The current issue of Maximum Fitness magazine serves up these fine alternatives to the usual protein suspects:

Beans. Score a solid 18g of protein from a cup of kidney beans, which take only a few minutes to cook up in a saucepan or microwave.

Eggs. Large eggs contain about 6.5g of protein each. Not a whole bunch, but most people don't just eat a single egg. It doesn't take a degree in advanced mathamatics to figure out that a hearty egg breakfast can hook you up with a healthy dose of pro.

If you're busting your tail in the gym, but the pounds keep sticking around, you're probably wondering why. If you're eating as healthy as you can, but your bulging waistline serves as no indication of your effort, you're probably wondering why. And if you're doing both of these things and more, you're probably ready to punch a hole in the wall and scream at the top of your lungs: "Why am I not losing any freakin' weight?!!!"

Okay ... calm down. Everything is going to be just fine, I promise. Tell you what, why don't you take a second to let your blood at least reduce from a boil to a simmer and then we'll start to deconstruct your approach and, as best, we can come up with a solution. To help us in this endeavor, we'll refer to a recent article published in the current issue of Maximum Fitness magazine, which is aptly titled 6 Reasons You're Not Losing Weight.

For the next six days, I'll offer one of the tips in the order that they appear in the Maximum Fitness magazine article. So, you can either wait to read them day by day or, if you don't have that kind of patience, you can run out to the bookstore and pick up a copy of the magazine. Your call. Either way, we're going to get to the bottom of all this and find out what's keeping the numbers on your scale from getting any lower.

Possible Reason #2: You're Eating Reactive Foods That Cause "False Fat" What the hell is false fat? Good question. More or less, this is what people typically refer to as water weight, and it causes you to look bloated and actually weigh more. According to the Max Fit article, one way some people collect this extra "false fat" is food reactions, such as those from wheat, dairy, and sugar. Evidently, this can also occur from having poor or improper digestion and eating the same foods too often. The solution? Max Fit suggests avoiding foods to which you have a known reaction, thus helping to clear out this water-based false fat.

For more scoop on how to kick-start your weight loss, join AOL Body for America Takes It Off!

In this month's issue of Maximum Fitness magazine, the editors offer ways to save 5,000 calories through a mix of food choices and life/fitness activity. Best of all, they tell you how to do it in ONE DAY!!!

Here's how:

STARTING FIRST WITH THE DIET ...

• Save 617 calories by eating an apple and drinking a black coffee (123 calories) instead of a muffin and a double-double coffee (740 calories)
• Save 1,313 calories by eating a grilled chicken sandwich, an apple, and drinking a glass of water (367 calories) instead of a Double Whopper Combo (1,680 calories)
• Save 118 calories by eating an apple (57 calories) instead of a chocolate-glazed or sugared cake donut (175 calories)
• Save 150 calories by drinking three light beers (309 calories) instead of three regular beers (459 calories)
• Save 160 calories by drinking a glass of ice water (0 calories) instead of a can of Coke (160 calories)
• Save 492 calories by eating a top sirloin steak, lean 8oz, trimmed to 1/8-inch with a 4oz sweet potato (402 calories) instead of three slices of 14-inch pizza with pepperoni (894 calories)

AND FINISHING WITH ACTIVITY ...