Monday, August 31, 2009

You and Weight Loss - Are You Sick of the Fast Fat Loss Diets?

By Christine G. Shannon

People's reasons to lose fat vary. Some people might have noticed their weight creeping up and they want to restrict the damage. Other people might be very large and perhaps this is causing other health problems. Quick and easy fat loss diets are highly sought after but losing weight is not always easy. There is a lot of hype about different fat loss diets but most of these diets are disappointing and do not live up to their promise of long term or instant results. It is not always simple to find a fat burning diet that works.

You have to be patient when you are on a weight loss diet; it is going to take time to burn fat and calories. You have to learn how to eat the right foods and when to eat them to keep your metabolism going. You also want a diet that will make you feel more energetic, and not worn out and deprived, while you are dieting. Some types of diet secrets involve starving yourself and this never works on a long-term basis, as your metabolism will adjust.

You want a fat loss diet that is easy for you to understand and follow. This is essential when choosing the right diet program for you and your lifestyle. If you settle for less, you will find the diet hard to commit to and eventually give up all together concerning that particular diet, maybe even all the rest, depending on your experiences. Finding a diet that you hope will work but does not can be very depressing. This causes your attempts at weight loss to become harder for you to use.

Most pre-packaged diet programs can become boring after a while. It is also nicer to be able to eat normal, everyday foods when you are dieting. Pre-packaged diet programs can be expensive and the majority of them is hard or confusing to follow and does not lead to the desired weight loss you have in mind.

Following a low carbohydrate diet is particularly difficult since the body needs carbohydrates to function properly. This type of diet is far too strict, has unwelcome side effects and afterwards can cause you to put back on all the weight you lost while cutting out the carbohydrates.

Not only are low fat items too expensive to continue in their use on a long-term basis, many have a higher calorie content. Sometimes, just because it says it is low fat doesn't mean it is low calorie. Many people fool themselves with this diet. In fact, many of the items don't even really taste good and are expensive. They can actually make you want to eat something else more nutritious and better tasting.

To lose weight you need a diet that you can fit into your lifestyle with your own favorite choices of foods, so you will enjoy being on the diet. Things you keep on hand all the time, or buy often at the store, that you like to eat.

After you have tried all the fast weight loss diets, you may still not have gotten any results. You need to try a weight loss diet that can work for you. Once you have committed to losing weight and finding a program that works for you, Fat Loss 4 Idiots at the link below may be just what you are searching for.

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Saturday, August 29, 2009

What Should Your Expectation Be When Coming To Abs Exercises?

By Alan Nickels

Abs workout - Wat can you expect from them?

For one, dont expect that hundreds of sit ups will get you the washboard or ripped six pack abs appearance that you want, because you simply cannot turn those store fats in your mid section to muscles. No matter what others have told you!

Should you focus on too much abs exercises? If you do, chances are you'll still won't see any changes at all, and that will deeply demotivate you. Focus your energy in fat burning process instead.

Magazine will always feature how to get six pack abs for summer, these sort of articles would only come in handy once youre ready to tone and define your abs. Therefore your focus should be on how to get slimmer and slenderer!

Abs exercises are mostly isolation workouts for toning and gaining definition for your abs, there are tons of exercises on doing that. Important tip on that is when exercising your abdominal muscles, you must always feel that they are worked out properly. Check and see if exercises youre doing are actually contracting your muscles, chances are any form of exercises involve lifting your leg up to your waist will be useful to your abs.

Try to put this in mind the next time you go to the gym or workout. Remember that quality is more important than quantity, sometimes sheer quantity without quality is efforts wasted. Therefore always check and see if your abs muscles are involved in every rep. If in doubt, always cross check your posture and technique with a workout program. posture is important so that you do not rely on momentum instead.

Process of getting six pack abs will be made easy once you have the correct knowledge, attitude and commitment. Learn the correct technique, correct diet plan as well as an determined attitude can never go wrong.

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Friday, August 28, 2009

Selecting The Right Weight Management Products For Your Needs

By Michael Skatoli

Weight management and weight reduction products and programs have grown into a massive business in the last two decades and it is only getting larger by the day. The big problem is that there are so many weight management products for sale, all promising quick solutions, that it is difficult to figure out which ones may be most suitable for you.

It is estimated that up to $55bn is spent on weight management products and weight loss programs in the United States annually. The range of weight reduction products for sale is quite staggering. They range from pills, ointments, diet supplements, exercise machines, DVDs, creams and rings to clothes and books. Certainly, a lot of these products will be truly beneficial, while others will not. The trick is finding the right ones.

We all would like a quick and easy fix when it comes to weight loss. A lot of supplements will guarantee dramatic results with little or no dieting or exercise. It is questionable whether these will really deliver results, and if they do they may be dangerous to your health.

Nevertheless, there are plenty of genuinely helpful supplements available that, with the aid of the correct eating habits and regular exercise, will help you attain your weight loss goals. A good way to commence is to check out which supplements are approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). There are numerous fully approved over-the-counter products that will help in your fight against weight problems.

It is also wise to consult your doctor. There are plenty of prescription weight loss drugs that, with the correct supervision, can help you reach your goals.

However, if possible, it might be advisable to shun supplements and drugs completely and lose weight the healthy and natural way - that is by eating healthily and getting regular exercise. This method might take more hard work and commitment, but it is more sustainable and satisfying in the long term.

There are certainly plenty of weight loss products to help you if you choose to go down this path. Fitness machines, stair climbers or cycling machines are a great way to begin. Or if you are feeling a bit more adventurous, you can invest in some jogging gear and hit the streets.

In addition, a visit to your favourite bookstore or Amazon might be a good idea. Self-help books aren't for everyone but a good one might help motivate you and help you focus on the task ahead. Check to see what the best selling books on weight loss are these days, and pick up a couple of healthy eating CDs while you're at it.

The ideal weight loss products for your needs will depend on your personality, your preferences, your goals and any number of other factors. Visit your GP and try to decide on a plan that works for you and then choose what weight loss products you need.

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Wednesday, August 26, 2009

How to be Fit in a Right Way

By Stephen Unato

Perfect body, that's what a lot of people think about. Especially for those who have developed an abnormal eating habit which resulted to the increase of their body weight. They begin to find solutions, only to find out that they cannot do it.

Once you have started a program, it will either make you or break you. Yes, exercise can change your body but they will be hard to reach without proper guidance. Many programs will be offered to you but not all of them will give you good results.

Diet plays an important role to your fitness too. You may have read some of them. You may try some. Or friends will tell you what to do. There are many sources, but you will stumble again on one problem. You will become confused if which one would be the right for you.

Every problem has a solution. And when we talk about weight loss, The Body Project Studio is the one who have all the expertise on it. They will give you all the things that you need in order to have that perfect body that you want.

They have good instructors that will help you in doing the proper exercises. They will not allow you to do more than what you can handle. This will only add insult to your injury. They will give you programs that are easy, simple and yet effective when it comes to results.

There are also nutritionists that will assist your intake. You will be given diets that you need. You don't have to worry because every thing has been prepared for you. All you have to do is follow them.

You will also be monitored. Instructors will follow your progress and will give more suggestions on the things that you need. Slowly you will learn a lot and later on, with their help, you can wear those clothes you have wanted to wear.

You can check The Body Project Studio on line and see the testimonies of people who have been successful to their mission. You can try them and you can post your own experience of this simple, slow but sure way of getting rid of your fats.

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Monday, August 24, 2009

3 Effective Fat Loss Foods for Easy

By Beckie Ingram

Is it possible to lose fat with a meal? It is evident when you start to follow a healthy diet which includes raw foods you will notice that no matter how much you eat, your weight is still unaffected. Usually when you eat more than your body needs especially the processes food, you tend to store more fat. In addition, if your metabolism is poor, you could not burn fat efficiently. Both of these factors are the reason why you gain weight.

Fat-loss food can help you to accomplish two primary goals. They help you to increase your metabolic rate and manage the fat consumption in your diet. It is important to eat right food in order to lose fat successfully.

Here are the 3 fat loss meals that can help you to manage your weight.

1. Vitamin C or ascorbic acid can break down the fat for easier elimination from your body. It also helps to control the cholesterol level in the your blood streams. Increasing the consumption of citrus fruits such as oranges, grapefruit, tangerines, lemons, and limes can improve your metabolism and control your cholesterol level.

2. Pectin reduces the ability of your body to absorb fat. When it goes into the cells, it will attract water to the cells. This will enlarge the cells to the extend that the fat is purged out from the cells. Pectin is commonly found on the skin of the apples.

3. Lecithin blocks the fat from depositing in your cells. It also breaks down fats. Soybeans are rich with lecithin. Add food for fat loss such as soybeans into your daily diet to increase your ability to lose fat.

However, fat is still important for your health. It helps in making new tissues and improving the absorption of certain nutrients. You still need some fat in your diet but not too much.

One gram of fat has twice the calories as compared to one gram of protein or carbohydrate. Start reducing fat rich and high calorie foods such as cheese, salad dressings, and deep fried foods. These unfriendly foods boost the calorie count which defeat the whole purpose of burning extra fat in your body. Moreover, they are not healthy meals to adopt.

As you can see, the fat loss diet consists of entirely unprocessed foods. They are great combination's with your daily meals in managing your weight. However, you should not rely solely on fat loss foods in losing weight. Use these fat burner foods to increase your metabolic rate and control the fats in your body.

For maximum benefit of weight loss plan, you should never ignore the goodness of regular exercise and other healthy foods.

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Saturday, August 22, 2009

An Approach To Weight Management

By James Zane Johnson

Weight management is a multimillion dollar industry partly because modern living has made obesity a ghastly reality for so many people. However, the main reason why the weight loss industry is so successful is not just because of obesity but because of perceptions that slimness equates to beauty and attractiveness.

Some people think crash diets are a solution to weight management. This is a severe mistake. While some dramatic results can be achieved they are usually only temporary. Some of these diets can actually be hazardous to health especially if a person's weight drops very suddenly.

To lose weight permanently, you need to follow a consistent regime of exercise, coupled with a low calorie diet. A low calorie diet for weight loss is best achieved by keeping down fat content in your food, as well as observing a low carbohydrate diet. Exercise must be regular, and a permanent feature of your lifestyle. It is pointless watching what you eat without exercising as well. The two work together to help you arrive at your optimum weight.

Many people are alarmed at the prospect of a low fat and low carbs diet. However it is not as difficult as it may seem. The best way is to avoid pre-packaged foods available at supermarkets. These are generally loaded with hidden fats. Carbohydrate reduction can be achieved by omitting products such as white bread which are dense carbohydrate and instead go for foods such as pulses which are also very filling.

Many people are not overweight, and are actually at the right weight for their age, sex, and height. However, it is important to maintain this ideal as it is easy to slip into obesity with the wrong foods and a sedentary lifestyle. Your diet must be permanently healthy, and include a good range of fruit and vegetables, and good fats such as omega fatty acids, to be found in fish. Exercise is essential, and should be incorporated as part of your every day routine.

Avoid too many dense and refined starches such as white bread, white rice and white pasta. Do not drink sugared drinks such as canned soda. You can replace these with a zero calorie alternative but then you will be consuming a lot of artificial sweeteners which have alternative negative impacts on the body. It is a good idea to get used to drinking water and diluted natural juices.

There are a number of ways in which you can incorporate exercise in to your daily schedule. It is all a matter of preference or what works best for you. Some people prefer the discipline of attending the gym on a daily basis. This works for people who can afford it and have the time to go. Jogging is another popular form of cardiovascular exercise and a cheaper option. You may also want to do home aerobics or dancing which can be done before an evening meal or early in the morning before work.

Weight management is about a sensible lifestyle change. You do not need to be on a diet to manage your weight effectively but you do need to incorporate healthy eating and regular exercise as part of your daily routine.

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Friday, August 21, 2009

Eight Simple Tips for Weight Loss

By Autumn Skies

The holidays are fast approaching, and if you are anything like me, you are already drafting your New Year's resolutions. As an experienced dietitian, this is also the time of year when I am most asked, "How can I shed the pounds I put on from Thanksgiving through the Christmas season?" Fortunately for you, my new readers and friends at Associated Content, you need not even ask. Here are my eight simple tips for weight loss.

1. Watch what you drink! We can potentially consume thousands of calories without even really feeling any satisfaction by choosing high calorie beverages. We think juice is better than soda, however a daily 8 ounce glass of juice can add up to over a 12 pound yearly weight gain, and most people can't stop at 8 ounces. Instead, choose calorie free drinks such as water, crystal light and diet soda.

2. Eat a salad before your meal. It is low in calories, packed with antioxidants, and high in fiber. A nice, big, healthy salad will help you fill up so you eat less of the main meal. Eating a salad before your meal is a simple way to achieve weight loss.

3. Load your plate with veggies! Here is a good formula to use: Divide your plate in half, then fill one half with vegetables, one quarter with a lean beef, poultry or fish, and one quarter with a healthy carbohydrate such as brown rice, whole wheat pasta, or roasted potatoes.

4. Use fat-free and low-fat versions of your favorite condiments and meal toppings, such as fat-free salad dressing and low-fat cheese. Your food will still be full of flavor without all the extra calories. Balsamic vinegar is a great way to add flavor to any salad or vegetable dish and has zero calories.

5. Keep low-calorie, healthy foods on hand, and make a conscious effort to choose those foods first. If you feel like a snack, choose foods such as baby carrots, sliced cucumbers, celery sticks and dill pickles. These are all calorie free and can help satisfy hunger without packing on the pounds. If you feel like something sweet, try eating fresh fruit. Try strawberries with sugar free cool whip. It's delicious and very low in calories, and will help satisfy that sweet tooth.

6. Are you hungry in between meals, or are you really just thirsty? Sometimes we mistake thirst for hunger. If you have just eaten and are feeling hungry, reach for a tall glass of water. Then, wait thirty minutes. Chances are you won't be hungry anymore. If you are, reach for another tall glass of water.

7. Another simple tip for weight loss is to drink seltzer water. Drinking seltzer water will help control your hunger, because the bubbles make you feel full. Add a squeeze of lime or lemon to add flavor and liven your taste buds.

8. Keep moving. The more active you are, the more calories you burn. Find any excuse you can to keep moving. Take the stairs. Park as far from the entrance as possible. Take the long way home. Walk just one more time around the block! Adding exercise to your day can make the biggest difference and is usually the easiest.

Thank you for reading my eight simple tips for weight loss!

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Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Do You Deceive Yourself When It Comes To Losing Weight?

By Becky Kay

How often do you cheat on yourself when it comes to losing weight? Do you sneak that ice cream Sunday more often than you should? Now be honest with yourself when it comes to losing weight do you sabotage your own efforts?

You know the scenario you get up early and stick something in your mouth that you should not. After that the rest of the day you figure "well I blew it this morning might as well eat whatever I want now".

Maybe you just need a little reminder when you first get out of bed and your senses are not all there yet. Here are a couple of simple tricks: Run a piece of painters tape across your bedroom doorway that you will run into when you head out the door first thing in the morning. Nothing like being hit in the face with a piece of tape to jog the memory! Now stick up a sticky note on the bathroom mirror where apply make-up or shave for another reminder.

Stay away from that whopper hamburger, fries and milkshake for lunch by bagging your own healthy lunch the night before. Then head to the break room or better yet to a nice park or outdoor spot where you can enjoy nature while you eat that healthy lunch. This is a great habit to get into.

Maybe you have started a new diet fad or new plan to lose weight and you do not understand it completely. Sometimes this will cause you to fail and you may be afraid of failing once again in you endeavor to drop some of that extra weight.

Sometimes it is just a matter of getting the right plan that does not take a rocket scientist to follow. I have located two great plans that work and have help thousands of people just like you when it comes to losing weight.

You need to discontinue tricking yourself into not losing weight. The majority of the problem comes from the way we think about things. Change the way you think and you can have victory over excess weight. Follow one of these simple diet plans and you will succeed.

Do you want to see the inches and pounds drop off little by little? Then check out these two plans they work and have help thousands to look and feel better. They work if you follow them. They do not tie you down they will set you free.

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Monday, August 17, 2009

10 Quick Ways To Lose Fat

By Adam Tijerina

It is fairly hard to look for someone who wishes to be fat, but you'll find a big deal of people who simply wish to get a slim and toned body. You don't need to worry however in losing extra pounds since there are proven ways that you can do in order to get rid of the stress of carrying bulges of fats everyday. Here are the top 10 quick ways to lose fat:

1. Drink Ice Cold Water - You might be asking what the connection of drinking cold water and losing weight? Actually, cold water can boost the ability of the body to burn fat faster. So stop spending your money on useless fat-weight gainers such as soda, coffee, juices, etc since the magical formula to go with is simply something that you can obtain almost everywhere-water!

2. Eat Less - For an obvious reason, you eat less in order to gain less calories. At first, try to consider the total amount of calories that you would enter in your body then try to start cutting few calories each week. If you lose weight, continue to eat the same amount but if you don't then its better to cut another 500 calories. There are websites online that would help you assess the total calories consumed by your body. Don't try to go for 2000 calories diet immediately, take your time.

3. Burn Calories - As part of not eating a lot, you also need to burn more calories hence its about time to start moving your butt off that slouching position that you would always maintain. Be active. By doing exercising, you will not simply lose fat but you will feel and look healthier too! There are wide range of sports that you can go for, pick one that you will enjoy.

4. Kill your Cravings - Indulge yourself to a lot of protein such as jerky, nuts, fish and chicken. Try to also consume raw vegetables and water can further kill your cravings so stock them up on your fridge. The time when you start eating raw vegetables, you will surely stop the ugly cravings for junk foods so better do it fast!

5. Consume the same type of food Each Day - You have to realize the fact that the more variety you put into your diet then the less you are going to stick to it. What you have to do is to consume the same food each day. Furthermore, doing this will teach your body to learn the fact that food serves as a fuel; and not really pleasure. Choose several healthy as well as balanced meals that you like. Make it a point to eat them every day. Once you get bored, its time to change the meal plan.

6. Do Something Great Each Morning - You can wake up and sweat for about 30 minutes each morning. Although some hate the idea of exercising but with continuity, it will turn out into a habit.

7. Walk for 10 Minutes After Eating - Doing this will allow you to increase the quantity of calories that you burn. If you eat 3 meals each day then you can take benefit of 30 minutes walking per day. (3 meals x 10 minutes walks)

8. Eat Healthy - Stop munching on that junk food! Furthermore, consider the fact that your body stores carb in a form of fat the moment when you eat too much of it so lower your carb and increase your fat intake so it will force your body to use fat as energy.

9. Do Cardio Exercises - Doing this will allow your body to lose fat even faster and it will allow you to eat less. However, its important to moderate intensity. Keep in mind that your goal is to lose fat and not to exhaust yourself to death. You must be able to breathe heavier when you rest but not to the point that you are gasping.

10. Stay Motivated - The problem with people is the fact that they lose the interest in losing weight hence they end up failing with their goal. That said, its highly important to seat goals and keep a tract record of everything. However, the weighing scale is not always your best friend, instead try to see how you are doing by doing a blood test so you can see the health improvement or by taking pictures of yourself every 4 weeks. You can also make use of the weigh scale at least once a week so you would know how you are doing.

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Saturday, August 15, 2009

Why Buy Omega3 As A Supplement?

By Terry Johnston

Why should you buy omega3 -- because of the all the health benefits for:

*the heart

*the brain

*the joints

*the skin

*the immune system

*our vision

*aiding digestion

Naturally sourced fish oil is the most potent of the Omega 3 fatty acids. The most effective nutrients come from natural sources. When you buy Omega3, make sure it is naturally sourced.

Fish oil can be considered good and bad. Bad fish oil comes from fish contaminated with heavy metal toxins like mercury and PCBs. So much of the world's waters are polluted, fish caught in these waters should not be eaten. These types of contaminants build up in a concentrated form in the fish living in these waters.

The best fish oil is processed pure is 100% free from any contaminants, has a low oxidation (decomposition) levels for freshness. It should also be in a natural form meaning natural triglyceride or ethyl ester form oil, not manufactured synthetically.

Omega3/DHA is a "Super" anti-inflammatory. Higher levels of DHA mean higher levels of action against the inflammation.

A blend of hoki oil and concentrated ester tuna oil, does something inexplicable, it more than doubles its anti-inflammatory action. This has been dubbed the "X-factor" because of this synergistic action.

"Trinity Bioactives", part of Wellington School of Medicine in New Zealand has studied this phenomena and has established Omega 3 oils that have this specific blend provide "2 times" the anti-inflammation action of standard fish oil and more than double that of refined and concentrated fish oil. So when you choose to buy omega 3 oils--make sure you are getting this formula.

inflammation Reduction is a big reason many choose to buy Omega 3. In the article "The secret killer" in Time Magazine (May 2004). They offer solutions like aspirin, Statins, Beta blockers and ACE inhibitors or you could just buy some Omega 3 fish oil. It is much stronger than aspirin, but is gentle on your stomach.

Now you can buy Omega 3/DHA in higher concentrations of anti-inflammatory then you can get by eating fish. Newer supplements on the market have some of the most highly effective fish oil concentrates, higher than normal fish oil that many people buy.

Omega 3 Fatty acids and in particular DHA have been linked to improved brain function.

One study discovered a 60% lower risk of Alzheimers's simply by taking Omega 3 fatty acids or fish oils on a regular basis.

Guidelines from the American Heart Association recommend omega 3 fatty acids from fish oil because of proven benefits to the heart, be taken every day.

In conclusion, when you buy Omega 3/DHA, and start taking it you will realize many health benefits, based on proven clinical studies. Look for Omega 3 in a concentrated supplement for from natural triglycerides, with high amounts of DHA for the best results.

For more information about he amazing benefits of Omega 3/DHA fish oil, please visit my Web Site

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Friday, August 14, 2009

Burn Belly Fat Fast: 3 Tips To Burn Fat Fast

By Tanapon Laohaniwatworn

Trying to burn belly fat fast is not a tough thing to do, though it can seem that way if you are trying to go about it the wrong way. This articles will show you some simple ways you can start to burn belly fat without jumping on the next crazy diet bandwagon or using an infomercial gimmick that promises easy results in just "6 minutes per day".

How to Burn Belly Fat Fast

Tip #1 - Avoid "quick fix" diets that promise overnight result

There are a lot of different "quick fixes", but what you really want to avoid is using a "crash diet." A crash diet essentially means that you try to starve yourself by purposely eating as little as possible in hopes it will help you burn fat. For example, many people try to eat only one meal a day and try to maintain this as a lifestyle. A crash diet will only cause you more grief then results. It will put your body into starvation mode and crash your metabolism. You may lose some belly fat but in the long run your metabolism will slow down and you will lose muscle mass. This makes it even harder to burn belly fat.

Don't use a crash diet. Try to eat 5-6 smaller meals in a day. This will keep you full, and will prevent spikes in your blood sugar. Eating high quality protein (such as chicken, turkey, fish, tuna, etc) will help you lose your belly fat as these foods take a lot of energy to digest.

Vitamin rich foods packed with minerals and high nutritional value such as fruits and vegetables will help you lose your belly fat because they are not very calorie dense. This means you can eat a lot of fruits and vegetables and not consume as many calories as you would eating processed food.

This helps you burn belly fat and do it fast because you are essentially eating more food but consuming fewer calories.

Tip #2 - Really push yourself when you workout!

If you do intense workouts as opposed to workouts where you never really push yourself, then you will be on the right track to burn belly fat fast. Pushing yourself hard when you workout gets your metabolism going and it will keep it elevated so you keep burning calories long after you are finished working out.

The trick is to push your self hard for short periods of time. Not for a long, extended workout.

Try the following exercises and read the instructions below. You will feel a huge difference between the intensity of this vs. your old workouts.

12 body weight squats

15 dumbbell swings

12 pushups

Do this series of exercises and do as many rounds as you can in 10 minutes. You will feel how intense this workout is if you do this!

Tip 3 - Instead of doing long, slow cardio, try doing intervals

Interval training will help you burn belly fat fast because it will help boost your metabolism for hours after you are done working out. High intensity interval training switches back and forth from high and low intensities, so you are still pushing your self out of your comfort zone for short, quick bursts.

Since you alternate between these intensities in a very meticulous way, you will find yourself working much harder than before. 20 minutes of interval training often feels like 60 minutes of normal, same speed cardio!

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Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Muscle Building Workouts, How to Achieve the Best Six Pack Abs

By Ricardo d Argence

If you ever spend any amount of time in front of the TV after midnight, you are bound to see some infomercials. A good portion of those are probably promoting ab-related products. You'll see machines, pills, fad diets, and workouts that promise to give you that six-pack of your dreams. While there is no shortage of theories, do any of them really work?

In fact, most of these fads don't last. They're exposed for the fakes they are and people go onto the next "quick fix" or "breakthrough invention" that's going to give them the abs they want without much work. But if most of these fail, is there a way to truly get flat abs? Can you, really, get flat abs if you don't have them now?

The truth is, the best way to get a six-pack is with a time tested approach. You might not want to hear this, but the best way to achieve this goal is through a healthy diet and exercise.

In other words, there's no shortcut to getting the body you want. You might find a way to drop a few pounds quickly, but they'll likely come on again just as quickly as they came off if this is the approach you take.

Now that we know you're going to have to exercise, what types of exercises should you do? Should you just get on the ground and start doing thousands of crunches? Will this give you the six-pack of your dreams? Actually it won't do much at first.

That's because your ab muscles are probably covered by a layer of fat. So if you want to see your abs, you have to get rid of the fat. How do you do this?

A lot of people think that they have to get on the treadmill and do cardio for hours at a time. However, this isn't true, either. In fact, the best way to burn fat quickly is by doing interval and weight training.

Weight training burns calories while you work out, but it also helps you burn calories when you are resting as well. When your muscles start to develop they will be like little incinerators that are always burning calories in order to replenish themselves. This will decrease the amount of time that it takes you to burn fat. In addition to weight training, mixing in a short burst sprinting workout in is a good idea as well.

Besides doing an exercise program that you stay faithful to (and that's right for you), adopt a healthier diet as well. Get up off the couch and stop cramming those nachos in your face. If you keep doing that, it doesn't matter whether or not you exercise; you're probably not going to get a sixpack.

Instead, if you want different results, you're going to have to do something different. To get that sixpack, change what you put in your mouth. Eat healthy foods and drink water. Put good fuel into your body, in other words, and it will perform for you and give you what you want.

In short, it's pretty "simple" to obtain a sixpack, but it's not easy. You're not going to wake up tomorrow with your abs in full view, and you are going to have to work to get them that way. This can take quite a while, depending on how much weight you have to lose to begin with. But do know that you can do this if you stick with it and keep the progress coming.

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Monday, August 10, 2009

The Methodology Of Weight Loss

By Bernard Adkins

Weight loss can do some great things for people. That's why doctors are always telling us we need to lose weight and exercise more. As your body gets into shape you will feel some great benefits to your weight loss.

Different ways you need to look at will be a gym, boot camp, or even just a workout program you can do at home. Diet pills can be considered as an option, but in the long run you will still need to add in exercise too. So you have those options that were first mentioned to help you lose weight quickly.

Any of these options will help you lose weight fast. You can also think of diet pills, but you will need to combine them with another type of exercise program. Yes there are ways in which you can lose weight quickly. But make sure you don't do a fad diet that will have you gaining the weight back at a later day.

Comparing your many options should have you checking either the internet or yellow pages and calling around. Try and look at around two from each of the different categories above. Of course if you have one of the choices that are just too far away you will need to eliminate it. But in this case we will just pretend that all of them are available to you in your area.

One thing you should look into closely is a gym membership that includes in the price of joining a personal trainer. In this type of program you will not only get the benefit of a gym to exercise in, but the knowledge of a personal trainer to help you out. However, you do need to make sure that this option is something that will always be available. If not you will be paying extra to continue your sessions with a personal trainer.

As mentioned above you can consider diet pills, but it would be wise to only use these after speaking with a doctor. To make sure your body doesn't have some serious reactions to a diet pill don't buy those over the counter pills without first discussing it with your physician.

Perhaps the best way to lose weight quickly would be boot camps. In these programs you will receive an intensive workout. Not only will it focus on having a fast lose weight result, but also train your body that it should burn fat not store it. These programs are loved by many, and have been receiving a lot of positive publicity lately. The biggest problem you will find with a boot camp to help lose weight would be the cost. They can run quite a bit more than a gym would.

Finally to lose weight you need to take all these options into consideration. Compare the prices and the benefits, and how well you will be able to afford the cost. Don't forget however, that you will only get how much you put into any workout program. So if you don't plan on giving it your all, go for the cheapest choice, that way you're not wasting money.

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Saturday, August 8, 2009

Why Should You Get An Abs Program?

By Greg Correll

It's a rather simple question, at the end of the day the only reason you're paying good money for an abs program is to get ripped, and also a define six pack abs appearance!

Although the internet are swamped with good advice and solid information about abs building, most of the time, especially beginners will have a tough time collecting every single piece of important information about abs building and piecing them together to develop their very own abs training.

There are more to getting a six pack abs than just abs exercises alone. You have to consider diet and routines as well, and that will easily cause you to be overloaded with information and thus, inability to act. At the end of the day, piecing information together will use up most of your time which you can instead spend in a gym or actually working out!

What if you're already happy with the current abs workout routine? Can the next six pack abs program actually improve further your effort? Simply put, if you've been training for quite a while and yet to have any six pack to show, than a good and proven abs program might just tip you over. Chances are you might be focusing on the exercise too much and neglecting another important aspect of abs training, therefore clarify with a program.

What if you're one of those who were once ripped and lean, but have since started accumulating fats around section, do you really know everything you should about dieting and sustaining that lean body?

If all this while you've been thinking that an abs program is like a handbook of information, it might be advisable to think of it as a step by step guide instead. By doing so, you'll be more open to the most important aspect of abs building, which is getting the basic right! What to eat, how much to eat, intensity of workout, frequency are all important aspect of working out. Therefore you can quickly identify what's working for you and what's not.

Should you brush off the next abs program, crosscheck with the program to see if what you do not know might actually hurt your progress! Chances are, if you still don't have that six pack abs but you intend to have them soon, getting a proven step by step guide might just be the key to it!

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Friday, August 7, 2009

Are Triceps Press Downs With A Rope Effective For Getting Rid Of Arm Fat?

By Katherine Crawford M.S.

Every trainer out there will give you a different answer if you ask what the best exercise for toning a jiggly arm is. Even worse, some trainers will recommend dangerous exercises. When did arm exercises become so complicated?

How do you decide what opinion to act upon if you aren't an expert in the field? Well, there really is no good answer to this question.

Unfortunately, if you want sexy arms now and not later, you need the facts. Luckily for you, I've spent my life gathering the facts. I am going to save you a lot of time and energy.

So without further ado, here is my analysis of the tricep press-down (with a rope) for toned and sexy arms:

1. Snapshot: this exercise isolates the lateral head of your triceps. The lateral head forms the outer part of your upper arm. Although you can't use a lot of weight when doing this exercise, it still does a relatively good job at working the triceps.

2. Technique jump start: Find a rope attachment on a machine and grasp it with an overhand grip. Make sure to keep the elbows locked to your sides and tighten your abs. Bring the rope down in a controlled manner. Then, once you reach the bottom, let it slowly come back up. Repeat.

3. Common errors: Allowing the upper body to hunch forward. Rocking back and forth to move the rope up and down. Not keeping the elbows locked to the sides. And not bringing the rope all the way down and all the way up.

4. Bottom line. Ok, this exercise is definitely above average. However, you can't use heavy weights because of the rope. It simply does not allow you to substantially increase the load. And for the fastest toning, you need maximal loads. This exercise gets 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Don't expect to find a single best exercise for getting rid of arm fat. Instead, you should focus on doing a combination of top-tier arm exercises for the best results. Each exercise will have some type of drawback or limitation. So it's in your best interest to do a combination of only the best.

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Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Five Fat Loss Mistakes People Make

By Tomuse Gospuse

There are five big mistakes people make during their workouts. I watch a lot of people do this all the time. Don't make these same mistakes and you will have no problem losing fat.

1. Not having any support behind you

Working out with no support is not how you should be exercising. Support from your family, friends, doctors is the best way to approach losing fat. Use 2 people out of the group who was successful in exercising for support.

2. Not following a program that will keep them on track

If you walk into the gym wondering what you are going to do first today then you should just leave because your wasting your time. Make a plan, understand what you got to do. Stay with it and complete it. Now you wont be walking around the gym figuring out where to start.

3. Staying with the same workout for more than 4 weeks

The longest you should go with one program is 4 weeks. If you have stayed with a program more than 4 weeks and if it hasn't worked yet, it isn't going to magically start now. Change it up more frequently. You will receive more results and have a lot more fun.

4. Diet and Nutrition

If you want to lose fat you will have to eat right for fat loss to occur. You won't be able to train like an animal then eat junk food and still expect to lose fat. No program can promise you that. Diet is just as important as training, eat whole natural foods in 6 medium sized meals a day. Intake lots of fiber, a lot of protein and vegetables. Eat good fats, stay away from trans fat and Drink as much water as you possibly can. Pretty simple, very effective.

5. Not understanding their limit

People ask me if doing more lifting and more cardio in their workouts would be even better, well it's a no, a big NO. Doing so is not recommended at all. People think the more the merrier. There is a limit when you workout, you can only do so much.

Your body will breakdown to quickly from working out so much at once. Training to much and on a low calorie diet don't go well together. This type of training will not make your engine run better or more efficiently.

Focus on your workout in quality not quantity. For many reasons stick to high quality nutrition and high quality training. The only thing that really matters is the results, not sore muscles or being exhausted after each workout, and not feeling like your lacking food. It is all about quality work and quality food for a better healthier body.

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Monday, August 3, 2009

The Major Building Blocks Of Nutrition

By Roberto Riley

The typical individual can get quite perplexed when it comes to diet. We have all hear about vitamins and minerals, carbohydrates and sugars, antioxidants and fiber but how do they all fit together?

The macronutrients of protein, fat and carbohydrates are the essential building blocks of all nutrition. We all require macronutrients to stay alive. There are people who may favor one of another of the macronutrients but a healthy, balanced diet has a good mix of all three.

The macronutrients are protein, fat and carbohydrates. Protein and carbohydrates both provide 4 calories per gram, while the more dense fat contains 9 calories per gram. A calorie is at its most fundamental explanation the total of heat energy vital to bring up the temperature of 1g of water 1 degree Celsius. While that is a rather puzzling description for most of us it is easier for us to just know that a calorie is just a measurement that we apply to conclude the energy content of food.

Due to this inconsistency of 5 additional calories per gram, it was believed for a few years that the fat in our diet was the main cause of the fat on our bodies. It has since been demonstrated that this all too easy rationalization is not quite factual. The fat on our bodies is caused by a number of different factors including the eating too many calories altogether be they from fat, protein or carbohydrates.

Protein is important as it is the building block of all of the tissues in our bodies and it is fundamental to all of the processes within our cells. Protein is found in eggs, dairy products, meats and fish but there are also some excellent plant sources of protein including beans, legumes and especially soybeans.

Carbohydrates give the major source of energy for our bodies. Carbohydrates are transformed into sugar in our bloodstreams which provides the energy we need to function. There are simple carbohydrates, such as pastries and candy, white sugar and white flour products and complex carbohydrates, which are the whole grains and vegetables. Complex carbohydrates are superior to simple carbohydrates in that they break down slowly and provide us with continual energy while simple carbohydrates break down quickly and cause an energy rush followed by amplified hunger later on.

Fat has long been the most misaligned of the three macronutrients. However fat is fundamental for our bodies. There are bad fats and good fats. The bad fats are the saturated fats from animal products and the "fake" fats or the trans fats that are formed by hydrogenation. The good fats or the healthy fats are the monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats such as those found in olive oil, peanut oil and canola oil and also the fat that is found in nuts and seeds, avocados, olives and the acai berry.

The macronutrients provide the building blocks of all nutrition and the micronutrients like vitamins, minerals and antioxidants are all found within one of these three.

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Saturday, August 1, 2009

Fast Food and Obesity Work Hand in Hand Towards a Bigger World

By Sarah Gardner

In an effort to prove that the fast food industry is responsible for the growing obesity rate in the United States, independent filmmaker Morgan Spurlock followed a 30-day diet modification program that consisted only consuming only food from the McDonalds menu.

He wanted to show the world exactly how the fast food industry achieves its main interest of financial gain by continuing to promote unhealthy eating habits. The 2004 Academy Award nominated movie, Super Size Me, concentrated on the current global health and weight epidemic and proved to many that the fast food industry is working hand in hand with obesity to create a bigger world.

Fast Food and Obesity Provide Ground Rules for a Documentary Style Film

Spurlock?s dietary requirement for the film included 5,000 calories per day of McDonald?s menu items. He was required to eat at the restaurant three times per day, consuming every item on the menu at least once in the thirty-day period. Prior to beginning his experiment, Spurlock was a thirty-two year old, healthy man that stood 6 feet 2 inches tall and weighed 185 pounds. He gained 24.5 pounds in 30 days. His Body Mass Index (BMI) went from 23.2 to 27.

Considering that a healthy BMI for someone of his age, height and weight is between 19 and 25, it was apparent that he had moved up to the overweight bracket whilst following the McDonald's diet plan for this short period of time. Spurlock's claim that fast food and obesity are related was proven to many by these facts alone. The first five days of the fast food diet plan saw him gain in the region of ten pounds in weight.

Results of Fast Food And Obesity Experiment

The movie created by Spurlock made a huge impression on the United States and other nations who to this date had supported the McDonald's fast food industry and although the company denied the movie to be the reason, McDonald's quickly phased out the supersize option on their menu and added salads as a healthy option for their customers to take.

Many of the healthy eating options consist of fried chicken and the salad dressings to go with them are simply full of fat. As a result, these choices actually contain more calories and grams of fat than the traditional McDonald's burger and fries. Nonetheless, McDonalds have never actually admitted that fast food and obesity are closely related; just as they have never agreed that their menu items are a direct recipe to obesity.

While McDonalds does provide a fast food fat-filled meal for its customers, they do provide healthy alternatives. However, you cannot force a customer to eat healthy just because the option exists. The McDonalds menu can be modified by personal ordering preferences to be lower in fat; most customers do not make these modifications.

This would lead us to believe that training the customer to think about what they eat holds more importance than pointing the finger at big businesses. Subway have made a concerted effort to broadcast their healthy eating practices and the options available on their menu whilst McDonald's have continued to sell the products which have made them so well known, ignoring for the best part any health guidelines whatsoever. Therefore, it would appear to be the responsibility of the consumer to make the right decision about exactly what they eat.

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Friday, July 31, 2009

The Many Benefits of the Natural Bodybuilding Diet

By Ricardo d Argence

If you are getting ready to buckle down and build the body that you want, you will find that there are a number of different options open to you.

When it comes to developing the body you want, everyone has different techniques to suggest. However, you need to take time to learn about the human body as well as determine your specific needs. Slow natural bodybuilding is the best solution for getting the best results. You do not want to use potentially harmful methods.

Anabolic steroids and HGH are hazardous and have no place in natural bodybuilding. Instead, natural bodybuilding involves the use of natural supplements. You want permanent results with not trace of risk or harm.

When you are looking at Natural Bodybuilding, you will find that it is a very natural process that evolves on its own. For a long time now, people have realized that pumping their bodies full of drugs and expecting this artificial enhancement to bear them up over the long run was a mistake. This has resulted in more and more attention being paid into what goes into our athletes and our star performers and you should think about what this means for your own regimen.

When you take the time to consider the numerous options of bodybuilding regimens available today, you will realize how essential natural bodybuilding actually is.

The Natural Bodybuilding Diet is a highly concentrated process that focuses on your food intake. The diet involves consuming lots of fresh vegetables, fruits, whole grains and lean cuts of meat.

You are generally looking for a diet where a meal essentially adds up to around 12-13 calories per pound of your own body weight. Counting your calories, you will find that your meals should largely break down into being around thirty percent protein, fifty percent from natural carbohydrates and twenty percent from healthy oils.

You have to avoid eating foods that are too sugary or too overly processed and you will want to pay special attention towards looking at the role that protein plays in your eating habits.

The Natural Bodybuilding diet offers various benefits. The results may take time developing; however, the best results come with time and are more permanent. This is not so when you use artificial means and drugs for enhancement. Besides you learn a great deal by listening to your body and bodybuilding naturally.

While using the Natural Bodybuilding diet you will notice that you enjoy improved health and you do not have to deal with questionable issues.

When you take the time, you deserve to find out about the Natural Bodybuilding diet and then put it into good practice you will know you have made the best decision in your life concerning your good health while achieving the bodybuilding type you desire.

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Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Maximizing Your Fat Loss From An Exercise Program

By Lisa K Anderson

Most of us want to lose weight and get fit. Starting an exercise program or joining a gym always seems like a great first step but if you have ever spent any time at a gym you will notice that not everybody there makes progress on his or her fitness goals. It is not being at the gym that helps you to get fit but it is how hard you work at fitness that makes the difference.

In order to see the results from a new exercise program you are going to have to break a sweat. That means working hard enough so that your heart rate gets into the training zone and stays there for a while. There are some scientific studies that show that if you keep your heart rate at the lower end of the target zone for a longer period of time your body will burn more fat stores than carbohydrates, however if you want to drop fat from your body that is the most difficult way to do it and you probably won't even succeed.

Burning fat as you exercise is important but not nearly as important as just burning calories. For example if you are doing a cardio workout and you keep your heart rate at the lower ranges for 60 minutes you may burn 350 calories but if you do that same 60 minute workout and add in some high intensity interval training or HIIT, you will burn closer to 750 to 1000 calories. So which one will help you lose the most weight?

High intensity interval training is extremely effective for fat loss. The idea is to get your heart rate into the target heart training zone and then for 30 to 60 second intervals work really hard and raise your heart rate to the higher ends of the zone and then let it come back down to the lower ends and repeat a few times. If you do high intensity interval training you can even cut your workout time by half or more and still burn more calories and have more success.

To determine your target heart rate training zone, take 220 and subtract your age, then take that number and multiply it by 60% and 80%. This will give you an estimate of your target-training zone. You will need to keep your heart rate in this zone during your workout for the best results.

If you want to lose weight and drop fat for the long term, you will need to gain muscle. That means that you should pump iron. Muscle is a biologically active tissue. That means that you will burn more calories just in the process of living if you have more muscle on your body. Fat is basically an inactive tissue and it will not help your body to burn any calories at all.

While exercise is important the most crucial aspect to getting results from any fitness program does not happen at the gym. 6-pack abs are built in the kitchen, not at the gym. Incorporating a highly nutritious diet is the most important aspect of any fitness plan. You will never see the best results from an exercise plan unless you consume a good diet.

Maximum fat loss can be achieved by following a few fundamentals. Supercharge your cardio routine by adding in some HIIT, begin a solid weight-training program and improve your diet. If you do all of these basic things you should see some results quite quickly.

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Monday, July 27, 2009

Knowing What Causes Obesity Can Help Prevent Some Weight Gain

By Sarah Gardner

In a world in which obesity is reaching epidemic proportions, it is becoming absolutely crucial that the science and health professionals take a serious look at the causes of obesity in order to bring a halt to the increasing numbers of morbidly obese individuals.

One of the major issues in health care today is the skyrocketing prices associated with treating elevated blood pressure, diabetes, and cardiac issues -all of which are closely associated with obesity. Since medical doctors and hospitals are now treating higher numbers of obese patients than ever, it's very clear that the causes for obesity must be found.

With the amount of Obese people ever on the rise, the health care needs for this segment of the population has gone up as well. In fact, today about 60% of adults are overweight, and many of them are medically obese. This trend is particularly alarming in young people, as over 13% of kids today are medically obese. These numbers reflect a massive spike since 1980, as these statistics have almost tripled.

The cost of treating obesity and it's related conditions is tremendous. Also, many people still die obesity related deaths that could be prevented if the patient would reduce their overall weight by 16%. The medical community, as well as many other community groups, are making serious efforts to lower the numbers of obese members of our society, and therefore eliminate many medical issues for these members of our society.

The most important cause of obesity was once the simple genetics of family heredity. Some people are just born with a natural tendency in their genetics to carry excess weight. This is something that has been studied with great intensity for many years but is not something that can currently be corrected or modified. However, it is not the cause of the obesity epidemic that is sweeping our nation.

Today we are realizing that a person's food intake and food choices are clearly causing obesity. Even though it appears that just changing food consumption is easy enough, actually putting that into practice long term is much harder.

It would seem that if a patient were told that the cause of their obesity is the food that they eat, it would seem easy for them to change the pattern. However, it isn?t. Individuals establish their eating habits over many years, beginning in their childhood and continuing through adulthood, changing these habits is a very difficult thing to do. If that seems odd, consider smokers. It is a known fact that smoking kills and still millions of people smoke every day without regard to the final effect of their choice.

Obesity is not a disease that strikes suddenly and out of the blue, but one that happens over time. The difficulty level of exchanging bad eating habits for good ones is one of the main reasons obesity flourishes. Diet centers like Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers, and L.A. Weight Loss are trying to help people learn how to eat right and make healthy lifestyle changes so that they can avoid gaining weight again.

However, it is in implementing these new skills that bring about the weight loss changes and many individuals lack the will power to follow the programs. It just proves that even though someone may know the cause of their obesity, changing it takes more than just the knowledge and skills but also the structure and guidance to make those changes a reality.

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Saturday, July 25, 2009

Body Makeover

By Rico Kidd

Determining your body type is the first step in losing weight on the Michael Thurman 6 Week Body Makeover. Once you know the type of body you have, the foods you consume will assist you in your weight loss. The whole goal of this weight loss program is to make smart chooses when eating. Many people who diet give up as they feel like the amount of food that they eat is not enough. The people tend to cheat as they are not satisfied with the types of foods they eat and quantity of food that they get to eat.

Blue printing your body is the first step in determining what types of foods will help burn fat. According to the body makeover diet, your body type can be determined by categorizing yourself as an A, B, C or D. This article will describe each body type and the types of foods that should be consumed to maximize weight loss.

The type A body has a slow metabolism and these type of people have struggled with weight loss all of their lives. The reason for this is because these types of people are more sensitive to carbohydrates which are found in certain types of fruits and vegetables. Foods to avoid for type A bodies are fruits and starchy types of vegetables. Proteins should be limited to white fish and lean poultry.

Type B bodies are muscular and have an easier chance retaining lean muscle mass. However, these types of people still have a difficult time losing weight as their metabolisms do not burn as many calories that they take in. B people need to stay away from very complex carbs such as pasta and white rice. Type C is very similar to B; the only difference is that they can introduce more complex carbs in their diet as C people have slightly higher metabolisms.

D body types have very slow metabolisms due to a lack of lean muscle mass. They should stay away from most carbohydrates and focus on eating protein rich foods such as red meat and chicken. A sample recipe for a D body is a New York steak with steamed garden vegetables.

There is no magic bullet for weight loss. However, knowing your body type and choosing the right foods will increase your chance of losing weight. The first step in learning about your body is by taking the body blue print.

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Friday, July 24, 2009

What Exactly Is Body Building?

By Daniel Waser

Body building may be a favorite past time of many, but do you know what body building really is? Normally this is done for the purpose of competition or for vanity. Body building is a systematic way to develop a wonderful physique through the use of proper nutrition and exercise program that can sculpt strong, solid muscles. The result of these intensive training and dietary programs is visible in the form of strong and toned muscles, which creates a very attractive and sexy appeal for those professional and amateur body builders.

It is imperative that the body building standards be achieved, therefore how do you ensure that and what exactly are the main criteria to be considered? To answer that accurately, you need to be aware that the two most effective ways is using targeted weight training and proper nutrition.

The first step to an effective body building program is weight lifting. Regular weight lifting sessions is essential, so you would need physical strength and endurance to cope with the demands of the program. While weight lifting is often linked to athletic purposes, it is good to note that they do include those that are using it for other purposes as well.

There are tremendous benefits of weight lifting for the entire body, plus it is also useful in assisting the body to recover from a serious injury. People who are part of a health rehabilitation program might find it useful to adopt a good weight training program, to be implemented under close observation.

The next element of a successful body building program is the use of proper diet. A diet high in protein and carbohydrates is essential for many athletes who aspire to compete in body building competitions. Complex carbohydrates are the main source of energy for the body.

Select food that is rich in carbohydrates for that fast energy such as brown rice, sweet potato and oatmeal. For a healthy bowel system, include a nice portion of fiber rich food such as vegetables and broccoli.

Without proper hydration, your body will start using the next available sources and you will find that your muscle mass will decrease. Start a healthy habit by drinking plenty of water just before you embark in a vigorous routine at the gym and pamper yourself by indulging in more refreshing water after a tiring session. It is also helpful to drink between exercises.

To prevent the risk of injury to tendons and ligaments, you could hire a training instructor to help you develop the right lifting habits necessary for long term success of your body building efforts.

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Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Walk toward Fun and Weight Loss

By John GilbertGrant

Walking is one of the easiest exercises there is and it's one of the most effective. In fact, walking is the best way for a sedentary individual to begin an exercise program says Shirley Archer, a fitness expert and health educator from California.

Walking for weight loss does not only help you shed pounds and inches. It does more for your psych as well. Take Jim Wilson, for example. He's a financial adviser from Arkansas who lost 50 pounds in six months just by walking for weight loss. He says as he walked his weight away, he has an improved self-esteem; he sleeps better and feels healthier.

Even if you simply want to walk to lose weight, you'll also gain medical benefits that can't be disputed if you walk. In fact, it's cardiovascular exercise that can help you reduce your risk of heart disease, stroke, and other injury. It lowers your cholesterol and blood pressure, improves your heart's function, and can tone your muscles all over your body.

If you need to walk for weight loss, don't make it a chore; and if you're just starting out, don't be drastic about it, either. Doing just a little can make all the difference in the world. Start small. Walk to work. If your office is too far away to do that, take the car but then park about 15 minutes away from the building and walk the rest of the way. Simply walking the 15 minutes to and from your car gives you a total of 30 minutes a day in walking.

Whenever you can, take the stairs instead of the elevator. If you're not up to a hike of three or four flights, take the stairs from the first floor to the next, and then take the elevator the rest of the way. As you get in shape, take the stairs two at a time. You can burn calories off that you've had for lunch and burn a few more off, too. Instead of sending an e-mail to a colleague who is in the same office building, at least a couple of times a day, walk over and deliver the message in person. Instead of picking up the phone, pop on over and say what you need to say in person. This not only gives you a chance to get a little bit of exercise in, but it's a good short break, too. Getting up and stretching your muscles keeps the blood flowing and will help keep you from getting too tired; it boasts alertness and gives you a "mental health" break, too.

If you find yourself getting bored, switch things out and try something new. The first order of exercise is that it should be fun. So if you're finding that your walk is getting boring, take a buddy with you and walk home with each other. This gives you a chance to talk, and if you can talk while you're walking, you're also making sure that you're not going too fast or too hard for your own conditioning. This makes the exercising more effective.

Or, if you walk alone, listen to music while you do so. Pick something with a good walking beat and pop your headphones in, then get up and get moving so that you get energized. Even if weight loss is your actual goal, walking is also a good way to spend time with yourself alone, and it's enjoyable to boot.

Walk toward fun. Plot a route that ends at a fun place. It can be your favorite grocery store, a favorite spot at a local park, even a spa. Your route does not have to be the same everyday. And you don't have to actually go to the park, buy something from the store or walk into the spa every time you wind up there. But you can schedule it with your weight loss goals so that when you've reached a weight goal, you can reward yourself right away with a treat.

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Monday, July 20, 2009

Lose Weight Fast By The Numbers

By J Hunter

Lose weight fast by the numbers may not have really occurred to you before. It is easier to want fast results and just think that your scale is off, but with some real diligence, fast weight loss can be achieved.

Fast is a strange term. It means moving rapidly along a path that leads to somewhere, not an immediate arrival, but steady and sure. Immediate and unrestricted weight loss can harm your health. Go ahead cautiously and rapidly.

With your notebook as your constant companion, choose a beginning page for some simple math. For example: You are a female age 34 and weigh 150 pounds You are 5'2". Look at several weight charts in books or on the Internet. The Metropolitan Life Insurance Company published a basic chart in the late 1950's which was somewhat lower than some newer charts. Therefore, you could be anywhere from 109-136 pounds and that would depend on age and frame. You would therefore think that you would like to lose at least 14 pounds or just a little less than 10% of your weight.

The first day may be frustrating as you drag your notebook around jotting down every morsel you consume, but you must. If you are like most people, you forget that half of brownie or that small handful of nuts. You remember meals, but often forget the tartar sauce, the extra butter on the noodles and the nibbling you did while preparing the meal.

The numbers will guide you to the answers about your weight. Determine how many calories you need to support life, your BMR, and determine how many pounds you have decided to lose. Use charts on the Internet or in books to find your correct number. Losing about 10% of you current weight is very beneficial. Remember that it takes 3500 calories burned or not consumed to lose 1 pound.

Look at the BMR chart and jot down the number of calories that you need to maintain your body weight. Since you will to lose weight and not maintain this weight, start by subtracting a number that will make your total calories no lower than 1200. You must eat 1200 calories for your metabolism to function properly. Lower consumption interferes with metabolic rate. You probably see that this is a slow process when you limit calories only.

If you increase your activity to include walking or jogging, you will burn more calories. By burning 500 calories per workout, 5 days a week, that's another 2500 calories. This totals 4250 calories off per week. That's an easy way to lose weight fast.

When you don't take all the numbers into account, you lose track of knowing what you ate that you didn't burn and you can determine how many calories you sent to fat storage. This is not a pleasant thought, so burn what you consume.

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Saturday, July 18, 2009

Facts About Exercise For Cellulite

By Mandy Adamsen

Cellulite can be a person's worst nightmare. For some people, it may seem as unsightly as a large scar. It can ruin your chances of ever wearing those pair of sexy board shorts or that cute bikini. Fortunately, there is a chance that you can help relieve your cellulite condition with a little exercise for cellulite.

The Truth About Cellulite

Before rushing off to find the best exercise for cellulite, it is first best to know that cellulite can affect women of all shapes and sizes. Even skinny people and athletes can have some cellulite in their bodies. If you don't think you have cellulite, try pinching a couple of inches of your thigh. The rippling portion is actually a sign that you do have it and you probably need exercise for cellulite.

Contain your excitement, though. Cellulite is very difficult to get rid of. For a lot of people, exercise is simply not enough. For others, it may take a whole lot of exercising before they can make a dent on their cellulite condition. If you are interested in exercise for cellulite, you should have realistic expectations and a great deal of perseverance.

What Exercise Can Do for You

Exercise for cellulite can provide a couple of benefits. That is why a lot of people still want to get into an exercise program. One exercise benefit is that you can get your muscles toned. This may not completely get rid of cellulite but it can buff up your muscles so that cellulite won't look so obvious. Exercise can also help improve your blood circulation. This is important because this is how nutrients contained in food and supplements reach cellulite areas. This implies though that exercise for cellulite should always be paired with a nutritious diet and a good cellulite supplement.

Exercise for Cellulite

So what are exercises that can help get rid of cellulite? A lot of sources will tell you that muscle strengthening and endurance exercises are the best for cellulite. This is partly true because these exercises are the ones that can tone your muscles. Squats, leg curls and weight lifting are examples of muscle exercises.

Remember though that aerobic exercises are equally important. An aerobic exercise for cellulite is what can help improve your blood circulation and oxygen delivery. It also helps support toxin elimination. Swimming, jogging and walking are examples of aerobic exercises.

Gradual Start

Aside from effort and time, cellulite exercises would also require every ounce of perseverance from you. At the beginning, it is crucial to have a gradual start. Maybe you can begin exercising for 10 minutes a day for 2 to 3 days a week. When you are used to your pace, you can increase your exercise schedule to 15 to 20 minutes everyday for 5 days a week.

A regular exercise schedule doesn't have to mean exercising everyday for 7 days a week. It simply means that you have to make sure not to miss your scheduled exercise days. If you do not have a regular exercise for cellulite schedule, you might not be able to get rid of your problem even if you keep exercising for years.

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Friday, July 17, 2009

Speed Up Your Metabolism. It Can Be Done.

By Peter Dawson

One of the most lifelong and frustrating endeavors you can undertake is to lose weight.

Once you're trying to lose weight you'll be on the treadmill of failures and successes and mood swings and diets. But, probably because there's no products to be sold, there is one factor in losing weight that is rarely discussed. How to speed up your metabolism.

Speeding up metabolism can be a huge factor in weight loss. So lets look at what metabolism is and why speeding it up can be important.

What is metabolism? It isn't a part of the body. It is actually a bodily process, really in fact a series of processes. It's a process that your body uses to turn food into energy.

That's right. Food goes in and the body converts that food into energy to fuel the running of the body. It's a constant process that goes on without you knowing it.

Your body needs all sorts of things to happen and energy allows this. All sorts of physical processes are run all the time and calories that come from the food you eat is the fuel. But if your body has too much energy it stores this as fat.

But this excess energy can also be used to break down other fat cells to release energy. And if your body does this more than it deposits fat cells then it's laying down less fat and using up more. It does this if your metabolism speeds up and this changes the balance between creating fat cells and breaking them down.

So a faster metabolism is good breaking down more energy, or fat, cells.

There are ways to speed your metabolism and this aids in your weight loss program. It's not an answer all on it's own but it greatly helps your chances of success. But it does take a little effort.

You can't speed up your metabolism overnight. It takes some time, but doing so can be one of the very best things you could ever do for your weight loss program. The time and effort can be well worth while.

You get your body working for you rather than against you if you speed up your metabolism.

But there isn't a lot of money to be made in courses or expensive programs to speed up your metabolism so you won't see a lot of discussion about it. It is in fact pretty simple and something you can do if you know how.

But even though you may not hear a lot about it speeding up your metabolism is one of the best things you can do for your weight loss program.

Find my book about speeding up your metabolism at my website.

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Thursday, July 16, 2009

Discover 7 Stretching Secrets to Improve Athletic Performance and Reduce Injury

Stretching is one of the most underutilized techniques for improving athletic performance, preventing sports injury, and properly rehabilitating soft tissue injuries. Do not make the mistake of thinking that something as simple as stretching will not be effective.

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Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Choosing Protein Supplements: The Four Important Protein Sources

By Henrick Scofers

Protein is an essential nutrient for the body, especially for the muscles. The general recommendation is an intake of around .3 grams of protein for each pound a person weighs. For athletes and bodybuilders, though, the requirement is higher because the body is working harder and demands more protein. The recommendation jumps from .3 to 1.25 grams for this group of people.

The total amount of protein intake is important, but equally important are the sources of dietary protein. Most people are able to get enough protein from their diet; but many athletes require protein supplements to meet their daily requirements for this nutrient. Protein supplements are usually made from four different sources. Each of these protein sources is different and athletes should choose according to their needs.

These four sources used in most protein supplements are egg, whey, soy and casein. There are protein supplements which use only one type, but it is more common to have two of these proteins in a single supplement.

Whey protein is derived from milk and is the protein source used in the majority of protein supplements. Whey protein contains both essential and nonessential amino acids. The essential amino acids are those which must be obtained through the diet since our bodies cannot produce them " and as you may have guessed, nonessential amino acids are those which we can produce, but may want more of through dietary sources. Whey protein is easily digested and used by the human body, the exception being those who have allergies to milk, who should avoid concentrated whey protein. As it happens, the concentrated form is preferred for protein supplements, being inexpensive to produce and containing between 30% and 85% protein by weight. There are also whey protein isolates, with a protein content of around 90%, which are more expensive. Whey protein is not only an excellent protein source, but also boosts immune function, contains amino acids and is helpful in speeding along muscle recovery after a workout.

Soy protein is made from soy flour and is the most complete plant-based protein available. Just as with whey powder, there are soy protein concentrates and isolates, with the isolate being a richer source of protein but also more costly. Soy protein is also easily digestible and is suitable for persons with milk allergies or lactose intolerance. There are however some people who are allergic to soy and obviously, these people should not use soy-based protein supplements. Soy protein can be mixed into foods to increase the protein content and has the added benefit of helping to regulate cholesterol levels.

Egg protein is an excellent protein source. Derived from egg whites, egg protein contains all of the essential amino acids and is easily digestible. It's generally considered to be the best source of protein for supplements, but as with other proteins, there are some people who are allergic and should not use it.

Casein is another protein derived from milk. Casein protein is digested more slowly than whey, which makes it a protein often combined with other, more quickly digester proteins. Casein protein is ideal for adding to pre-workout meals or before bed. As with whey protein, those with milk allergies should avoid casein protein.

Choosing the right protein is about choosing what your body will tolerate the best and what protein will work for your exercise habits the best. You should consider all pros and cons of each type before you make your final decision about protein supplements.

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Monday, July 13, 2009

Sticking To Your Diet The Easy Way

By Barbara Woodward

People often make the mistake of starting a plan, any plan, not just a weight loss plan, is that they do not think about how they will keep to the plan. It is imperative to think ahead to the problems that could occur and threaten to spoil the goals that you hope so much to achieve.

For instance think about situations where you will encounter temptations. If there is a vending machine you have to walk past in your work place to get to your desk then you may wish to consider an alternative route to your workspace, or if this is not possible, refraining from carrying small change with you when away from your desk.

This is just one example among many and of course it is not practical to plan for every eventuality. But just from the act of planning itself you will be more consciously aware of your temptations and therefore be better prepared to take a pre-emptive strike on them before they get the chance to tempt you!

If you write your plans and goals down, this will ensure that you are able to see them more easily.

Stay alert, stay in control. Just like many other bodily functions, eating is a habit. This means that it is not something that we normally think about too much. This however is one of the greatest errors that a dieter can make. They take no notice of the the key to successful weight loss - that it lies in the mind just as much as it lies in the stomach. If you take conscious control over both what you eat and what you feel, you can more easily deal mentally to stop the cravings. I am not suggesting that you torment yourself mentally, I am just suggesting that you ask yourself the right questions before you decide what you are going to eat.

You will be confronted by temptation, you cannot avoid this but if you think about the side effects and the results of what you are going to eat, you will be be stronger and resisting will be easier - just remember you are greater than the urge, you don't have to follow it.

Doing this will ensure that you start to feel in control of your emotions and mental processes. This will in turn make you feel fulfilled as you will feel in control of your future.

Coping with eating Triggers. Its an interesting fact that a lot of the eating you do happens when you are not actually hungry. The reason for this can be explained with a little psychology. We respond naturally to mental cues or triggers. These can be internal or external in nature. An example of an external trigger is the smell of fish and chips or in the case of this author the sight of a chocolate gateau! Internal triggers take the form of stress, boredom, anxiety and anger to name but a few.

External triggers are the easiest to remove. For instance throwing out sweet items from your cupboard or avoiding walking past sites of temptation on the high street. The internal or emotional triggers are a bit more challenging

The first thing to do is accept that eliminating emotional triggers is not always possible, we just need to react to them differently. Instead of eating, take a little exercise, just a brisk walk will go a long way in stopping your cravings winning and changing your behaviour in regards to food.

Fill up on liquids Did you know that a lot the time, people eat when they are dehydrated? This is because feeling thirsty can sometimes be difficult to distinguish from hunger. Smoothies have gained widespread and deserved acclaim in the role they can play in fighting weight loss. Not only are they low in calories, but they are also an efficient way of getting in your 5 a day of fruit and veg.

A body that is used to snacking sometimes needs fooling into thinking it is full. One of the best and healthy ways to do this is through liquids. Of course this means low calorie drinks, it does not mean we can start filling up on carbonated (fizzy) sugary drinks.

Plain and simple water is by far the best liquid you can drink. Flavoured water is also fine if you find it boring in it's natural form. It not only ensures you feel full but it flushes the toxins from your system and keeps your metabolism working really well.

You need to treat yourself too, never forget this it is a very important part of the weight loss process. If you set goals and then you don't treat yourself when you reach them, that is no fun at all. Rewards are well documented as providing a great sense of achievement. In turn this leads to your body realeasing positive endorphins into your blood stream.

You need to set yourself some very specific goals. There are many you could choose but some suggestions are cutting down your intake by 300 calories a day or vowing to exercise for 30 minutes every day for two weeks. If you reach your goal, you need to give yourself a reward. The best rewards are a treat, maybe something you have wanted for a while such as a DVD or something similar. Giving yourself a reward for reaching a goal, is a very important part of your diet plan and it will make losing weight much sweeter.

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