Tag Archives: calories

How Does Your Fitness Measure Up? Get Schooled on the Koko “Q” Score.

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Koko FitClub Q Score ChartThe Koko Smartraining System is designed to motivate you to exercise. Motivate you to stick to the program and make fitness a part of your life forever. So, when you’ve put in your workout time and you log in to MyKoko, you see all your hard work quantified right there on the screen- how much weight you’ve lifted on the Smartrainer, how many calories you’ve burned and your total strength gain. You also see your “Q” score. For the uninitiated, it can be a head-scratcher. What the heck is the Koko “Q” score?

The ability to capture data from your strength workout is totally unique to Koko. But collecting data for the sake of collecting data is pointless. Data needs to be put into perspective to give it real power. Motivational power. While part of the Koko data analysis compares “current you” to “past you,” with the “Q” score, we also allow you to compare yourself to others in Koko Nation. The “Q” score is a number derived from an analysis of your strength level relative to your body weight. Once you have that number, you can easily compare how strong and fit you are relative to your friends, spouse, family or the thousands of other people who use Koko to stay healthy. (You can see the latest “Q” score table by logging on to MyKoko - the link is right under your “Q” score.)

There are some truly amazing “Q” scores on the chart. (Yes, those are the “Q” scores of real people.) We have many members with scores twice the average for their age ranges.

Let me know how your “Q” score has progressed since becoming a certified Koko Nut. I love being your cheering section!

Mary Obana
President and Co-Founder
Koko FitClub

Koko FitClub Franchising

Is Sugar Hampering Your Exercise Results?

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Read nutrition labels to spot added sugarYou are working out every day at Koko FitClub. You are healthier and your body is responding to the regular exercise with extra energy and strength when you need it most. Love it, but…

What are you putting into your body?

Even if you are not actively counting calories and just aspiring to “eat healthier,” a relatively easy (and often eye opening) habit to adopt is monitoring  your daily sugar consumption.  As a country, we consume a lot of sugar, and much has been written recently about its toxicity and addictive qualities. If you rein in your added sugar consumption, you will truly maximize the benefits of  your Koko Smartraining workouts.

Sugar can come in two forms – natural and added. Natural sugar can be found in fruits and the milk you drink. What I want you to keep a watchful eye on is the added sugar that is found in just about everything else you consume on a daily basis. Often they are sneaky – listed with names like “high fructose corn syrup,” “dextrose,” “sucrose,” etc.

*Warning* – you will be shocked to see how much added sugar is in the food you’re eating and the soda and fruit drinks you’re drinking! An average American adult consumes 92 grams (almost 400 calories) of added sugar each day.

Experiment with this for a week or two: look for the grams of sugar on ALL food/drink labels. Women, keep your daily amount of added sugar under 100 calories/25 grams a day. Men, keep your daily amount of added sugar under 150 calories/38 grams a day.

After this exercise, you won’t want to go back to your days of blind sugar consumption!

You can do this! If you have soda, sports or fruit drinks on a daily basis, just cutting these out of your regular diet will significantly cut down on both your sugar consumption and daily calories. ( The average person drinks about 450 liquid calories a day!)  It is one of the simplest changes you can make to boost your Koko workout results. And an easy rule-of-thumb for label reading? If the ingredient list is long and full of things that require a chemistry degree to translate, (including various forms of hidden sugar,) just put it back on the shelf.

Getting your sugar intake under control will pay off big when combined with your Smartraining workouts. Don’t be surprised if you get a better view of all that new muscle you’ve gained by losing a few pounds or inches from your waist like I have!

Michael Wood, CSCS
Chief Fitness Officer
Koko FitClub

Koko FitClub Franchising

 

8 Ways to Avoid “Creeping Obesity” Like the Plague

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Be aware of liquid calories. The average person consumes an extra 450 calories a day from soft drinks, sports drinks, juice, iced tea, alcohol, etc. This can add up to almost a pound/week!

 

We all suffer from portion distortion these days- don’t be a victim! Keep portion sizes no bigger than the size of your fist.

 

Avoid fast food restaurants. A typical lunch time meal at McDonald’s can total a whopping 1650 EMPTY calories!

 

Skip the late night eating. This is a time where many of us tip the scales and exceed our daily caloric needs and after 8 PM, your metabolism begins to slooowwww down.

 

Naturally curb you hunger and cut down on the calories you take in at each meal by first drinking two 8 ounce glasses of water.

 

Limit the sports bars. Some brands contain as much as 500 calories! Or, try eating a half a bar at a time.

 

Eat a healthy high protein breakfast. Not only will it require more calories to digest, it will stick with you until lunch so you don’t fall victim to a caloric snack attack before lunch.

 

Sharing is nice. When eating out – if you can’t skip dessert all together – split portions among your dinner companions.

 

 

Michael Wood, CSCS
Chief Fitness Officer
Koko FitClub

4th of July Potluck Peril Prevented by Purposeful Play

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Editors Note: We had so much fun with this last summer, we had to repost for those of you who missed it! Happy 4th!

I love the 4th of July. Nothing says summer like parades, fireworks and neighborhood cookouts. Though I’m fully aware of the calories in/calories out equation, this is one tough holiday when it comes to intake. I’m always tempted to go a little overboard. (What to do when there are 3 different kinds of potato salad, 5 plates of brownies, pitchers of margaritas and that fluffy jello salad with the little marshmallows in it at the potluck table?) What helps me out on the 4th of July is that there is all kinds of calorie-burning fun to be had. So, how about taking that Koko bod outside and playing a little?

Just for fun, here’s a couple of 4th of July inspired calorie equations to inspire some play time:

If: you take a leisurely swim with the kids for an hour (400 calories spent)

Then: don’t feel so bad about eating a 1/4 lb cheeseburger with veggie toppings and condiments (350 calories consumed)

 

If: you go boogie boarding with your granddaughter for 30 minutes (100 calories spent)

Then: don’t feel so bad about drinking an 8oz glass of sweet tea (100 calories consumed)

 

If: You clean the house for 2 hours before company arrives (400 calories spent- though not technically fun it counts for some serious calorie burning!)

Then: don’t feel so bad about eating one cup of homemade potato salad (358 calories consumed)

 

If: you play badminton against your neighbors for an hour (300 calories spent)

Then: don’t feel so bad about eating 2 small brownies (224 calories consumed)

 

If: you play in a neighborhood softball game for an hour (300 calories spent)

Then: don’t feel so bad about eating 1 cup of strawberry ice cream (200 calories consumed)

 

If: you ride your bike with your nephew for a half hour and work up a light sweat (200 calories spent)

Then: don’t feel so bad about having a 12oz beer (150 calories consumed)

 

Summer is about fun, and your fit Koko body lets you to have more of it. Get out there and play. It will help mitigate the flabby consequences of the cookout table- just keep the old calories in/calories out equation in mind.

Have a happy, healthy 4th my friends!

Mary Obana
President and Co-Founder
Koko FitClub

 

Video Blog:Koko Smartraining, Caloric Expenditure & Weight Loss

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Happy Friday, Koko Nation!

Today I have a One Minute FitTip for you based on an exercise question I hear all the time from Koko FitClub members: How many calories do you actually need to burn through Koko Smartraining to reach your health and fitness goals?  I have an answer for you in this latest episode of the Koko FitClub Video Blog.

Michael Wood, CSCS
Chief Fitness Officer
Koko FitClub

Mike Wood Still