How much Water should we drink?

When making a lifestyle change we often focus on eliminating the food problems. We often tend to stop buying as much junk food and start eating more healthier. We start buying more whole foods, eating more vegetables and fruits but we often forget one of the most important things. And that is drinking Water.

IF YOU FEEL THIRSTY YOU ARE ALREADY DEHYDRATED.

YOU SHOULD NEVER FEEL THIRSTY!

I hear all the time people say that they are giving up soda to replace it with diet soda. They think this will help them lose weight when they are completely wrong. People drink soda with their meals not even realizing that the soda neutralizes the stomach acid. So when this is happening your body is not breaking down the food properly.

People do not drink enough water on a daily basis (me being included) until I started realizing what was happening to my body. People often mistake thirst for hunger.

Some of us walk around dehydrated thinking their light-handedness in the gym is a result of their bodies not being use to healthier food. The common rule of thumb is to drink eight glasses each day. One glass equals eight ounces of water. So that would be 64 ounces per day. But if you want to know your exact amount multiply your body weight by 60%. And the number you come up with is the amount you should be drinking in ounces. Example (If a 200 pound person were to calculate their daily intake they should be drinking 120 ounces of water per day.)

Now before you start thinking to yourself that is a lot of water here is something you should know. Your body is 75% water. Our bodies need water to make blood and other bodily fluids. It is also needed to flush fat out of our systems by sweeping it through our digestive track before your body has a chance to absorb it.

I say all this to say, water is the single most important element when it comes to losing weight. The more water you drink the less you retain, if you see yourself having a lot of water weight that is your body letting you know that it is does not get that much water so it better keep whatever amount it already has in its possession.

So the next time you want to think about getting something to drink, make sure you reach for the water not the soda!

Coach Q

5 drinks to help you lose weight

The secret to losing weight isn’t just what you are eating but it is also about what you are drinking as well. A lot of drinks such as soda, fruit juices and energy drinks can be loaded with sugars that can hinder your weight loss strategy.

Here are five drinks that can help you while you are on your quest to lose weight

The first drink as we obviously should know that is the most beneficial is water. The average human should consume at least half of your body weight. So if you weight 160 pounds then you should drink at least 80 ounces of water depending on your level of activity and water loss in a day.
Vegetable juice is the second drink that will help you. When Consuming this I suggest looking up different vegetables that are beneficial to you because using the wrong ones will make you grimace and you will not have a good experience.
Unsweetened tea, along with green tea has been proven to help increase metabolism and speed up weight loss. You can also try hot tea with a bit of honey for a low-sugar sweet drink
Black coffee has been show to help weight loss. It is calorie free and it also has accelerators for weight loss like chlorogenic acid. When black coffee is consumed post dinner it slows production of glucose in the body.
Sub in skim milk for whole milk, it is a great source of lean protein and will also save you calories and fat.

Try this for a few weeks contact me if you have any questions.

Abs not showing?

Thousands of crunches alone won’t do it. The biggest misconception most people have when training abs is that more is better. The time you spend working on your abs has very little impact on how long it takes you to get a six-pack. People often go to the gym and do a million different style crunches every day of the week waiting and hoping to see results. But if you find yourself doing this I’m afraid to tell you, you are trying to get abs the wrong way.

Abs muscles are like every other muscle in your body and you need to treat them just like you do for example an arm workout. You don’t do arms every day in the gym because they get tired right? Your abs need recovery time as well. You working your abdominal muscles every day is only hurting yourself.

The truth is that everybody already has a six-pack! But in order to see it, you have to lose body fat. Now you can keep killing yourself in the gym but if you are not seeing any results I am going to tell you the key secret. It is something that many people, including a lot of trainers, overlook: diet. The single most important tool that you need in order to develop your abs is diet

As your body fat starts to reduce you will slowly start to see them and you will see that you will not have to work as hard. Bottom line is if you want to see change then it all starts with what you eat!

Be sure to checkout my at home ab workout as well!

Time management

The most common excuse for not exercising? “No time.” Busy as we may be, we have less trouble finding time for television, social media, etc. But when it comes to taking care of our body, we always seem to have an excuse. I know people want to change their diet and they want to start exercising but they just feel that there is not enough time in their day to do so. The reality is life. Jobs, school, etc. everyone is always going to be busy doing something. Time management is something that we all struggle with. If you want to change how you take care of your body, then you have to start making more of an effort.

The key to exercising on a regular basis is to make exercise a part of your daily routine. No matter what kind of day you had at work or school, I would bet that you probably still have time to make dinner, take a shower, go on your phone and scroll through social media, make a phone call or facetime your family/friends, watch TV show, etc. Now, if you have time to do all of that after a “busy” day, then you have time to fit a 20-30-minute exercise in. The point is, you need to create a routine that stays the same regardless of the kind of say you had.

Below are some tips that can help you.

1. First thing is to meal prep. This is a vital key component when it comes to living a healthy lifestyle. This way when you finish working out when you are on your way home and you passed by a McDonald’s you are not tempted as much to go because you already have food prepared at home. This will help you in the long run

2. The second thing is to pack your gym back the night before. This will allow you to be proactive in the process so when you wake up in the morning you just have to put your clothes on and head out the door. This will save you a lot of time and will make your transition to the gym a lot smoother.

3. The last thing is to know your workout at the gym. Never go to the gym trying to “wing” your workout. This will lead to a lot of time being wasted and also not effectively working out. When you have a purpose in mind this will allow you to be extra focused when it comes to working out you will find yourself feeling accomplished when you know the workout that you planned out is complete.

All of these things will help your time management when it comes to working out and focusing on yourself. Write out a schedule of the times you plan to work out and do it.

Be sure to check out my newest YouTube video for your butt/glute workout for beginners! Link below

Importance of stretching

When it comes to the fitness world a lot of people overlook the importance of stretching. For me, I have always struggled with stretching. Whether it be before my basketball practices/games or going to the gym to work out. It is always something I overlooked because it was almost an annoyance for me. I honestly hated it so much that when it came time to actually start stretching before or after my games I would rush through them just so it would be done with. I paid for not stretching though… I was always pulling my hamstring or groin all the time. Those injuries could have been prevented by simply stretching those parts of my body. This is something I majorly regret because I was out for 2 months due to a severely pulled groin muscle from basketball. I needed this experience to open my eyes to see the importance of stretching how a lot of injuries can be prevented.

I just wanted to give you guys some quick tips on why you should implement stretching into your daily activities. For one, study’s have shown that stretching decreases stress. This is very important because a lot of times we are overwhelmed with different things but if we can take 10-15 minutes out of our day and focus on our breathing while we stretch it is shown to decrease stress. Another benefit of stretching is that it reduces pain and stiffness. I know a lot of times after our workouts we are already sore and we can feel our body start to lock up but it is important that we take some time before and after to stretch the muscles that we feel need it the most.

One of the biggest things I have always wanted to know is how to minimize the wear and tear on my joints. Being a college basketball player and constantly moving, I always wanted to find ways to help my body. One thing that I noticed is that a lot of times if one of my muscles are being overworked it is because of a particular injury which can be compensated by stretching. That is something that I did not realize until later in my career that I wish I learned sooner. Most importantly it improves the range of motion on certain muscles. Some things you can do for this is to use a foam roll which is designed to work out your knots in your muscles.

Any questions or concerns you may have, feel free to contact me

Coach Q

Workout tips for beginners

Everyone who goes to the gym has two agendas in mind, they either want to lose fat or they want to gain weight. The hardest part when wanting to make a lifestyle change is consistency. Someone once told me a little piece of advice that has stuck with me. That advice was the only person who can stop you, is you. Till this day I truly do live by that statement. During my basketball career, I learned that I had to somehow get an advantage over everyone that I played against. One of the things I learned was how to plan my workout and stay consistent with them. Waking up at 5 AM to train was one of the hardest things I had to do at first, but then, I realized that once I dedicated myself to doing it every day it became easier.

So, one of the first things that I suggest doing is going to the gym every day (7 days a week). Even if it’s going in there and doing something productive for 30 minutes, and on the 7th day you go in and use that as your recovery time and stretch. It’s the idea of being consistent that is most important. Another thing I suggest is to stay loose while you’re at the gym. Focus on the muscles you are exercising and relax the rest of your body. Being too uptight can hinder your results. When I first started working out, I would always overly concentrate on certain workouts wasting unnecessary energy whereas now when I go in there I can focus on my body and figure out what is tight and what I need to focus more on.

Some things that I would advise you not to do in the beginning is be glued to the treadmill. When you are constantly just walking or running on the treadmill you will get bored and tired of it. Once this happens your motivation to go to the gym will start to decrease and you will find yourself not wanting to go to the gym all at all. Therefore, you will begin to make excuses as to why you can’t go. A popular line that I am sure all of you have heard or even have said yourself is, “I’ll just go longer tomorrow,” or “I’ll just go harder tomorrow.” When in reality there should never be a time when you are “going harder” every time you hit the gym you should be giving it your all. That’s if you’re serious and you really want results. The last thing I suggest is going to the gym with a positive attitude. As long as you have a positive outlook while you work out, you will enjoy the results more. Of course, your body is going to be going through aches and pain but as my dad once told me, “If it were easy everybody would do it.”

Hope you find this information helpful, be sure to subscribe to my YouTube fitness page as I will be providing free weekly workout videos. Any questions or concerns feel free to contact me

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4w3oinzSGf_GWcu8tWWrlQ

Best Regards,

Coach Q

Treat yourself

In today’s society, we can all agree that social media plays an important role. I feel as if people are always trying to impress each other and are always looking for validation. Along with social media and keeping up with the latest “trends,” there is real life. Real life consists of running errands, work, family/friends, and everyday activities. Life always eventually catches up with us and we have to take a step back and think, “when was the last time I did something for me?” All of our life stressors pile up on us which leads to making bad decisions. These bad decisions consist of take-out food, unhealthy snacking, not exercising, drinking alcohol, and smoking for some. Think about it, I’m sure you could name a couple of people that you know that say “I need a smoke” or “I need a drink” when they are in a stressful situation. I know I can! It is critical that we take time for ourselves and try and break these bad habits that can cause major health issues and unfortunately death. I am not here to bash anyone who has these habits let me get that straight. My goal is for you to be a better you — A healthy body is a happy body.

If you’re reading this and you find yourself in a situation where you feel like you are not making the best life decisions for yourself… think about these tips.

1. Be comfortable in your own body, there is always room for improvement but self-love is always number one.

2. Take time for yourself — go to dinner, stay home and watch a movie, do what you love.

3. Do not rely on other people for YOUR happiness.

4. Think of activities that you enjoy doing. Now go and do them.

5. Take pride in yourself and don’t settle for less. Whether it is in relationships, jobs, friendships don’t allow yourself to be treated less than your worth.

6. Cut ties with toxic people. Make sure everyone that is around you is supportive in what your goals and aspirations are.

7. Love yourself.

Hope this article encourages a lot of you, any questions or comments feel free to contact me. Stay blessed

Coach Q