Have you ever exercised with the sole purpose of burning a certain number of calories – plodding away on the treadmill until the screen lights up with your magic number?

I call this calorie chasing.

And here’s the rub – it’s hard to catch those suckers!

Many popular exercise programs tout the amazing number of calories that can be burned in a single workout.  But does that guarantee results?  And how accurate are those numbers?

And here’s the big one – are you sabotaging your own efforts?

That’s why I don’t care how many calories someone burns during training sessions.

Now, don’t get me wrong…

I care about hard work and effective exercise.

And yes, I am a fan of the mighty calorie-incinerating kettlebell.

But consider this…

A workout comprises a small part of your week.  The number of calories you burn in that time can be replaced (and then some) in even less time with one trip to Cookout.

That’s why I take extra time to explore eating habits and identify some 80/20 opportunities… Basically – what are the smallest things we can change that will have the biggest impact?

Example:

Let’s say you’re a big fan of chai lattes and trail mix.  They help you get through your day and you’re not interested in anybody telling you that you can’t have them.  Fair enough.

With a few tweaks, you can shave hundreds of calories off your weekly total. (Note – it can be beneficial to think in terms of weekly vs. daily intake to allow for “wiggle” room.)

Is taking the Venti with 2% down to a Grande with skim a doable goal?

How about pre-sorting your trail mix into servings so that you don’t eat the whole bag in one day?

Implementing these changes could easily reduce a weekly calorie total by 400 or more.  It only takes a few minutes to identify an area for improvement and set a small change goal.

Ok, you aren’t “burning” those calories in the traditional sense – but you are using some brain power to come up with solutions that will ultimately have the same effect.   Stack this strategy on top of those crazy workouts, and you’re in business!

 

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