PERSONAL TRAINER TIP:

Life Event Slowing You Down?

Adjust Your Diet, Too!

It happens to the best of us. Something changes in your life that slows you down. Perhaps you’re in the middle of a move, a career change or a family crisis, or you’re recovering from injury. You don’t stay as active, and your workouts suffer. If that happens, says Rebecca Levine, keep in mind that you need to alter your diet, too.
 
“The more you work out, the more calories you burn, the more you can eat,” says Rebecca, who is a personal trainer and dietician for the St. Peters Rec-Plex. “So, if you stop the workouts or slow down on the workouts, you can’t eat the same way.”
 
You especially need to be mindful of this fact if you slow down your strength training, because you will lose lean mass and that means your body burns fewer calories. This is why Rebecca suggests that, in addition to cardio and stretching exercises, everyone should lift weights, whether it’s to build mass (with heavy weights and lower reps) or tone your body (with lighter weights and more reps).
 
“To gain muscle, you need strength training,” Rebecca explains. “For the purpose of weight management, a leaner body will burn more calories in the same workout than someone who has more fat mass.”

Rebecca Levine is dietitian for the St. Peters Rec-Plex, and also works as a certified personal trainer and leads Yoga and RPX Cycling classes at the Rec-Plex. Rebecca also has a private nutrition consulting practice, and she’s a professor at Lindenwood University and St. Charles Community College, teaching nutrition and health classes.