Teresa Burkett lives just outside Columbus, Ohio in a little cabin in the woods with her husband. She has her own home gym, 123k followers on Instagram and an ever-growing motivation to prove that strength can come at any age. After her children had grown up and moved out, Burkett went through a divorce and faced the question: What now? “I kept thinking, ‘Well, I’m going to sink or swim,’” Burkett says. “And I chose to swim.” Burkett was active earlier in life, whether it was kickboxing, aerobics or cardio — but she’d never though twice about lifting heavy. One day, she was walking on the tre ..read more

Your jeans are looser than ever, you’re hearing compliments about your buff arms and you’re seeing muscles in new places. But the scale hasn’t budged and your body mass index, or BMI, suddenly places you in the overweight category. What gives? BMI Is Not a Body-Fat Calculator The BMI formula — a simple calculation based on your height and weight — has been around since the mid-1800s, but only in the last few decades has it gained popularity among doctors as a way to estimate a healthy bodyweight and mortality risks. Anything below 18.5 is considered “underweight,” 18.5 to 24.9 is “normal,” 25 ..read more

There’s no magic shortcut to changing your body composition. No matter how you approach your goals, it takes hard work and time to reach them. But if fat loss is one of your training objectives, the good news is there are some ways you can tweak your existing workouts to accelerate your progress.  We tapped Mike Ranfone, CSCS, founder of Ranfone Training Systems, for his training tactics to kick up the fat burn in any workout you want to take to the next level.  Complement Your Weighted Lower-Body Training One way to instantly ramp up calorie burn during a traditional weight ..read more

When it comes to eating healthily — how to do it, when to do it, why to do it — there is no shortage of diet myths and old wives’ tales in widespread circulation. Perhaps you heard that eating celery results in a net loss of calories or that the grapefruit diet is your ticket to keeping fat at bay. While some myths are easy to spot, other diet myths are more difficult to suss out and can lead to a serious case of dietary confusion. Worse, they can downright stymie your fat-loss efforts and fitness gains if you unsuspectingly fall prey to them. To help you determine which truths to swallow, we ..read more

So you have your cardio down to a science: You know when, where, how long and how hard you have to work to get that feeling of pure adrenaline — when you know you’re taking your body to that next level of lean. But are you really in the zone? Although many experts dismiss the notion of a “fat-burning” zone, some studies show that in order to maximize fat loss, you must first reach your “fat burning zone.” That zone is defined as 35 to 69 percent of your maximum heart rate (MHR). How to Calculate Your Maximum Heart Rate As soon as you wake up, find your resting heart rate (RHR): Feel your puls ..read more

Michelle Carvalho had never been satisfied with her  physique, and as her 40th birthday approached, she did the only thing she knew of to lose weight: She went on a diet. “I have been on and off diets my whole life,” Carvalho says. “In fact, I think [I started] my first diet when I was 12 years old.”  This time around, she decided to try keto, a system of low-carb, high-fat eating with lots of restrictions. Initially, she saw results, but soon the diet became impossible to maintain and inevitably she plateaued. “I started binging and feeling shameful,” she says.  Instead of thr ..read more

Many women who start a wellness journey have a goal of “fat loss,” and they assume that the best approach is to exercise more and eat less fat — a formula that seems logical and intuitive. In reality, the process is much more complex, and it also depends heavily on individual differences and needs.   “Eliminating fat from your diet and exercising too much will likely work against your goals,” explains Mahri Relin, NASM-certified personal trainer and founder and creator of Body Conceptions. “And a bigger question arises: Unless you absolutely need to reduce fat for a s ..read more

The Shame Game Semret Russom’s fitness journey began in 2013 when she decided to train for her first bikini show, and she quickly fell in love with the sport. “I enjoyed the strict discipline and the challenge to my willpower,” Russom says. When she finally walked onstage in her bikini, she was proud — but also ashamed. Russom comes from Eritrea, a small country in East Africa where female modesty is prized — and expected. “Women don’t go to the gym, and we don’t have muscle,” she says. And although Russom moved to California when she was 13, she still feels deeply connected to East Africa and ..read more

When you commit to fitness, you want to see results. Yet while numerous diet and exercise programs ask you to track your weight to monitor progress, the scale isn’t the best judge. “Weight doesn’t tell the whole story,” says Lauren Jenai, co-founder of CrossFit and founder of Manifest. “It doesn’t reflect changes in body composition, such as gains or losses in muscle.” Plus, scale weight can fluctuate dramatically for numerous reasons, which can make it seem like you’re not progressing. And for some people, the idea of getting on a scale causes anxiety and feelings of self-loathing, the oppos ..read more

In 2012, Alicia Samaan had just finished filming her television debut for the reality show Bad Girls Club: Atlanta. When beginning the series, she anticipated fame, stardom and success — but instead, she was quickly labeled “the fat girl” by both castmates and viewers. When the show aired, she was a victim of cyberbullying and widespread fat shaming and Samaan coped by smoking, drinking and eating cheap fast food. “I hated how I looked, I hated my body, I hated my life,” she recalls. Within eight months, she had gained 40 pounds. Samaan left New York City and moved back home to Chicago to be ..read more