San Diego Boot Camp

Your body can be a fat burning machine!

But... it probably isn't right now. Don't worry, most people are not currently using their body as a fat burning machine. A lifetime of less than perfect decisions may have led you down a weight gaining road. You may be surprised to hear that dieting is the the magic exit you're looking for. Start by changing your unhealthy behaviors, pay attention to what you eat and record it in a food journal and get moving. These are all great ways to turn around and build your body back to a fat burning machine.

Here are the best 6 tips to burn more fat for weight loss

1. Eat more protein. Proper levels of protein intake is essential to helping anyone build a body that is a fat burning machine. A key benefit of eating more protein is that it can help you feel fuller longer. Foods such as peanut butter, fish, nuts and poultry are great sources of protein. Also, muscles need protein to help repair after a long and intense workout. Adding more protein to your diet is a great way to build muscle and burn more fat.

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You've been really great this season - making modifications to your diet and consciously enjoying your favorite holiday treats in moderation. However, you're facing something that you never though you'd face this holiday season: the dreaded slip-up.

The slip up may just be the dozen chocolate chip cookies you ate last night or it could be an entire day of eating poorly. No matter what happened, your primary concern is to fix it. Don't worry! Here are a few pointers on how make the most of your holiday slip-ups.

So you overindulged in alcohol at the party last night...

Damage control: Oh the hangover! If you drank too much you can bet your hangover and headache is due to dehydration. Since your body had a lack of water to flush the alcohol, that hangover is your body's way of releasing the toxins you consumed. Fun, huh? Also, alcohol also raises the secretions of acid in the stomach; which irritates the lining of the stomach lining. That might be why you crave greasy food to settle your stomach during a hangover. One quick way to relieve your pain is to eat a piece of toast covered with honey. Anything that is spicy, greasy or otherwise highly (artificially) flavored will cause your stomach to be overextended; which will create more stomach acid secretions, which will keep the cycle spinning round and round (kind of like the room when you're hungover). If you're wondering why honey is helpful for a hangover, it is because honey is an great source of fructose, a sugar that can help your body rid itself of toxins more quickly. Be sure to rehydrate in order to restore balance.

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Watch the Biggest Loser and you might come to believe it's normal to lose 15 lbs or even 30 lbs in a week. But, is it? And... do these contestants actually keep the weight off? Have you ever followed up on them? The Today Show did. What they found was that most of the contestants gained most of the weight back. But - more importantly, the one's who kept off the weight admit they are very committed to their workout programs.

How much can you really lose in 1 week?

In cases of extreme obesity, very low calorie diets may be necessary to ensure weight loss in preparation of surgery such as gastric bypass. However, this type of extreme dieting is under close medical supervision and very short term. You should also recognize that these patients are not just trying to lose fat to look good in a bikini. They are taking drastic measures to reduce their risk for even greater medical issues like type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome and heart disease. Rather than focusing on losing body fat to make their bodies more tone and fit, these patients' first priority is to get the weight off - period.

What's your priority?

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As you may have noticed, the focus of many of the blogs on our Bootique Fitness website are focused on helping you get and stay in shape for a lifetime. That doesn't change for the holiday season. We know it gets harder during the holidays with more great looking food all around and colorful drinks flowing everywhere. It's normal for your resolve to make healthy choices weaken. However, it doesn't have to be that way. Keep reading to find out how you can maintain your resolve and still enjoy the festivities of the holiday season.

You always have control over one thing!

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Everyone wants to trim, tone, and tighten their waist and body, but the problem is most people just don't burn enough calories during the day.

In some ways it's really not your fault. You may work at a desk for 8 - 10 hours a day and have very few opportunities to get up and move around during the day. BUT, you can't let that be an excuse for you not to burn more calories than you take in. I've found the best way burn some extra calories during the day is to have my clients get away from their desk for 30+ minutes during lunch. I encourage them to go for a brisk walk before sitting down to eat a healthy and nutritious meal. Even a 20 minute fast-paced walk gets the blood flowing and the metabolism raised. And, rather than getting together to eat and drink, use weekends for time to spend with family and friends and take on new adventures and activities.

You'll also burn about 100 calories in that 20 minutes. (And who doesn't want that?)

Also, I recommend that my clients look for other means (besides their actual workouts) to be active and burn calories in creative ways throughout the day and on the weekends. Here are 5 fun and easy ways to get up out of your chair, stretch your legs, and start getting fit.

Quick 100 Calorie Burners: Read the rest of this entry

Wondering why the boot camp workouts by Bootique Fitness are only 45 minutes?

Wouldn't a full hour be a better workout? If you've ever wondered why we do 45 minute workouts, keep reading. There are 5 distinct reasons why we specialize in a well-balanced 45 minute workout as opposed to a 60 minute workout.

Reason 1: Goals

At Bootique Fitness, we focus on two goals for your workout: fast fat loss & creating lean, toned muscles. High intensity, fat burning activities ultimately lead to greater gains in lean calorie-burning muscle, a faster metabolism and a toned, scuplted looking body.

Reason 2: Efficiency

We are very proud to offer incredibly effective workouts that are also time efficient. Our approach and focus on using exercises that engage multiple muscle groups at one time allows us to accomplish a lot in a more compact workout. It's not how much time you spend, it's how much work you accomplish.

These workouts are designed to get you the quickest results in the shortest amount of time. Our workouts are far from boring and we incorporate many different types of training tools and methods. When done correctly, a 45 minute workout a few times per week is all you need to get in great shape! The results you get from it are noticeable so fast, it became naturally motivating to continue.

Reason 3: Realistic Read the rest of this entry

Sarah, one of our fantastic personal trainers in San Diego, shows you how to do a strong leg workout with a resistance band that will shape and sculpt your bum and thighs.

All you need for this workout is a heavy resistance band. That means you want an exercise band with enough resistance that doing 15 reps of each of these exercises will be really challenging for you, but you can still do it - in good form!

This circuit has 4 exercises that you do back to back without rest to get your heart rate up and burn more fat. After you complete a full circuit, rest for 20-30 seconds and then repeat the circuit 3-5 more times to really challenge yourself and get the firm legs you're looking for.

Boot Camp Exercise #1 - squat and a half with a resistance band
Boot Camp Exercise #2 - ice skaters
Boot Camp Exercise #3 - single leg squats with a resistance band on your left leg
Boot Camp Exercise #4 - single leg squats with a resistance band on your right leg

Try it out and let us know how you did. Leave a comment and tell us how many circuits you completed.

Using correct portion sizes will help you successfully lose weight.

To avoid having to pull out you measuring cups with each meal, learn to recognize what proper portions are by associating them with objects you are already familiar with. These life size visual aids (click on the photos above to enlarge) will help you recognize good portion sizes and enhance your fat loss efforts.

I dare you to make an excuse now!

Leave a comment and let us know how you overcome making excuses.

You can do this High Intensity Cardio Interval Workout ANYWHERE!

With the simplicity of this bodyweight HIIT (high intensity interval workout), you are no longer restricted to machines or gyms to do your fat burning cardio circuits. All you need for this workout is a Gymboss Interval Timer, 2 square feet of space and a lot of stamina!

This advanced cardio circuit is a 1-1 work-rest ratio. You will perform your high intensity exercise (squat jumps) for 30 seconds, followed by your lower intensity exercise (squats) for 30 seconds. You will repeat this circuit for the desired length of your workout.

We recommend 20 rounds!

Take water breaks as needed, just pause your timer. Or, you can follow along with our personal trainer, Fauntelle. She demonstrates 3 rounds, so feel free to rewind her and keep going!

You can also modify this workout to fit your fitness level. If this is too intense, lower the intensity of each exercise. Instead of squat jumps, do squats for your high intensity. Since squats are your high intensity, choose something less intense for your lighter intensity, for example: walk in place. Keep building up your fitness level by pushing yourself from where to are to higher intensity levels.

Don't forget, warm-up before each workout and cool-down after. Look in our video library for examples of warm-ups and cool-downs.

Leave a comment and tell us how you did with this advanced cardio circuit!