The Secrets of Yoga

Heyya my friends..
Ok, this is another tips of program and exercise for you who wants to get a normal weight.
And this time I will write about ‘YOGA’.

For you who doesn’t know what yoga is. I’ll try to explain for you.

Well, yoga is one of the most ancient cultural heritage of India. The word yoga in Sanskrit means "to unite", and so yoga can be said to connote a unitive discipline. In this sense it is an exercise in moral and mental cultivation that generates good health (arogya), contributes to longevity (chirayu), and the total intrinsic discipline culminates into positive and perennial happiness and peace.

Therefore, yoga is the said to be indispensable of the ultimate accomplishment in life. It is a science that affects not only the conscious self but the subconscious as well. It is a practical physiological training (kriya yoga), which if practiced can exalt man to the 'supra mundane level'.

Yoga is for everyone, regardless of age, size, shape, or faith. It is non-competitive, self-paced, and sensitive to your body's needs. It gently nurtures your body through a series of physical postures, or asanas, to stretch and tone the muscles, release pressure in the joints, and align and strengthen the spine. Yoga also uses breathing exercises, or pranayamas, to calm and relax the mind bringing about a greater awareness of your body.

Through this process of physical postures, breathing exercises, and meditation, you will find your body and mind letting go of stress and negativity. As a result, a feeling of peace and harmony will arise within you. It is within that moment, that you will find greater awareness and connectivity to your true essence.

And this is why I said yoga will help you to gain your ideal size. Why? Because when you doing yoga, it will teach you how to keep your life in balance.

The short answer is that yoga makes you feel better. Practicing the postures, breathing exercises and meditation makes you healthier in body, mind and spirit. Yoga lets you tune in, chill out, shape up all at the same time.

Yoga is good for what ails you. Specifically, research shows that yoga helps manage or control anxiety, arthritis, asthma, back pain, blood pressure, carpal tunnel syndrome, chronic fatigue, depression, diabetes, epilepsy, headaches, heart disease, multiple sclerosis, stress and other conditions and diseases.

Another yoga's benefits is:
• Improves muscle tone, flexibility, strength and stamina
• Reduces stress and tension
• Boosts self esteem
• Improves concentration and creativity
• Lowers fat
• Improves circulation
• Stimulates the immune system
• Creates sense of well being and calm.

Yoga improves posture, increases the intake of oxygen, and enhances the functioning of the respiratory, digestive, endocrine, reproductive, and elimination systems. Its effects on the emotions are equally beneficial: calming the mind, attuning us to the environment, and diminishing insomnia caused by mental restlessness.

Yoga is highly recommended for people in competitive, stressful working environments, for those who suffer from headaches, back and shoulder aches, allergies, and asthma; and for anyone over the age of 40 (although the younger you start, the better). Yoga also works to unite the split between the mind and the body.

The regular practice of yoga helps us to accept whatever physical or mental conditions we might be suffering from by increasing our immediate sense of well being, concentration, and calm. Much healing can be done, but it takes practice and consistency.

Well enough the explanation from me about yoga, I don't want to make you bored first before find out the real benefits of yoga. :D

So now I will give you some yoga's postures. And let's start by describing some of the yoga stretches that you can do:

Torso Stretch

Start by lying on your stomach. Your hands should be on the floor, flat. While in this position, make sure your hands are close to your chest. Using the tops of both feet, proceed to move the upper body part upward. Make sure your shins are on the floor as you're doing this. As you press your hands into the floor, your arms should be straight. Take a breath and hold it in for 40 seconds.

Yoga Crunch

Start by lying on your back. Pull your knees to your chest area. Your hands should be placed over your head. Make sure your hands are on the floor behind you. As you raise your legs, flex your feet upward toward the ceiling. As you bring your legs down, use your abdominal muscles to do it. When your back starts to arch, stop. Bring your legs back to your chest area. Do the entire process over. You can start out slow, but the goal is to get up to at least 10 repetitions.

There are some suggestions that you should take into consideration:

When you're doing these stretching exercises, it's important to go slow and control your movements. This will help your abdominal muscles a lot. In yoga, it's important to breathe properly. When you inhale and exhale, it helps your muscles and helps you to further your stretches. It's also important to have a connection, with your mind, body and soul.

The more you do these stretches, the better you will feel. You will start to see a change in your body, including flat abs and toned body.

For the next, I will explain more about another yoga's position include the pictures of the postures. So it'll make you to working on it. And I'll try my best to write it in more simple explanation.

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Obesity

Obesity and Its Risks For Your Health

Obesity is a condition that afflicts people. It leads to many other health conditions that can be debilitating or deadly. In other words, the health problems associated with obesity are numerous and nothing to sneeze at. Take this into consideration. Someone who is overweight by 40% is two times more likely to die than someone who is of an average weight. Because obesity is known to increase the risk for heart disease, diabetes, and certain types of cancer.

The experts say that anyone overweight by 20% of their healthy bodyweight should lose some weight. If they don't then there are some risk factors to consider:

• Heart disease and stroke. Both of these can be deadly and lead to heart attack or a stroke that can leave a person in a vegetative state.
• High blood pressure, which can also lead to stroke and other health problems. One day society will wake up and understand that having the proper levels of proper blood pressure and cholesterol because you are healthy is far different than drugging your body so numbers look better on paper.
• Diabetes, which can lead to other health issues. Some people have lost legs, feet, and other extremities because of diabetes.
• Different forms of cancer can come about. There is not one known form of cancer that is specific to obese individuals because an obese individual becomes more susceptible to any form of cancer.
• Gallbladder disease, gall stones, and kidney stones. These are painful conditions that can lead to other problems.
• Gout, which is a painful condition that no one really wants.
• Osteoarthritis can restrict a person's movement even more than they are already restricted being obese. It is also very painful and debilitating.
• Breathing issues such as sleep apnea. A person with sleep apnea stops breathing for short periods in their sleep. Some have been found to stop breathing completely.
• Blood clots are common in those who are obese. These blood clots form in the legs. They can eventually move to other places of the body such as the lungs, which results in a pulmonary embolism.
• Another sock news about obesity’s risk, it increases the risk someone will develop Alzheimer's, which is a condition that no one wants to ever have to deal with.

A new study shows that obese individuals have a 40% increased risk for dementia and an 80% increased risk for Alzheimer's. Significant mental decline affects 10% of the elderly population and rates of Alzheimer's are up 20% - consistent with the increase in obesity. There is no reason this has to happen.

And regardless of the drugs, obesity itself accelerates cognitive decline for a number of reasons:

1) Leptin does not enter the brain readily, and leptin acts as a primary antioxidant in the brain protecting against excitotoxic damage.
2) The poor energy level associated with obesity means there is less overall energy (ATP) and your brain runs on ATP.
3) The energy required to form acetylcholine for memory is lacking.
4) Fluctuating blood sugar levels, especially power outages in the afternoon, cause low-energy brain states that are highly stressful.
5) The inflammation coming from extra pounds of fat is quite stressful to your nervous system.
6) Due to all these factors overweight people have less tolerance for stress in general, meaning accelerated nervous system wear and tear from day to day demands and pressures.

Living a long life with the quality of your health requires that you maintain optimal body weight. Well, if you are lucky enough to escape from all those problems and obesity’s risks that I did mention above, then you may have to struggle with a rapidly declining brain.

Isn't it a lot easier to just eat well, be healthy, and stay fit? Cause I’m sure you don’t want to wake up in the morning and find out yourself trap and being suffer with all this fat around which could kill you anytime without giving you any warning (well im not trying to scare you, but this is the facts about obesity).

So, just care yourself and try to stay in healthy lifestyle and enjoy the quality of this life. :)

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Coffee and Weight Loss

I think it’s not a new information anymore that “coffee could help out those who wants to reduce their weight”, isn’t it?
I found this article in one website, and I hope this could help you to figure out what’s the facts about coffee and its issue for weight loss program.

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Coffee For Weight Loss - Does It Work?

Water Weight or Fat Loss?
For one thing, we are only talking about a very modest difference in weight of one pound. For another thing, coffee acts as a diuretic, which means a substance which causes you to pass more urine. That means that very likely, the weight loss noted in the study and then some is due to decreased water weight, not fat.
In fact, coffee might very well cause you to put on weight, particularly abdominal fat, the kind which is associated with increased risk for diabetes, heart disease, and high blood pressure.

Coffee and Insulin
Drinking coffee causes the pancreas to produce more insulin, the hormone which causes excess carbohydrates to be stored as fat.
In a double blind study done at Duke University, diabetics who took capsules containing caffeine saw their average daily sugar levels in the blood go up by 8 per cent. The authors of the study theorized that caffeine interferes with the process that moves glucose from the blood and into muscle and other cells in the body where it is used for fuel. The caffeine in coffee might also trigger the release of adrenaline, which is the 'fight or flight' hormone that is known to boost sugar levels.
That's not all. Because drinking coffee causes insulin spikes, the extra insulin eventually converts the sugar in the blood to either fat or energy, resulting in low blood sugar. When people have low blood sugar, they feel the need to eat substances that will increase their blood sugar levels, such as refined carbohydrates, coffee, or both. Of course, this leads to weight gain, not weight loss.

Coffee, Cortisol and Lactate
Drinking coffee causes the body to secrete cortisol and increases the production of lactate.
Cortisol is another hormone that's part of the fight or flight response. Animal and human studies have shown that high levels of cortisol are associated with cravings for sugar and fat, increased appetite, and weight gain, rather than weight loss.
Lactate, on the other hand, is known to increase anxiety, which in turn causes the body to secrete still more cortisol. In a study performed at the West Virginia University School of Medicine, 10 healthy volunteers were injected with 3, 5, or 7 mg of caffeine. Researchers found that there were dose-related increases in ratings of anxiety and blood levels of cortisol and lactate. In one case, a volunteer had a full blown panic attack.

Article Source

Michael Kydonieus the author of this article is a weight loss expert and author of "Why Can't I Lose Weight? The Metabolic Syndrome Diet." Click Here to visit his website.

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So the conclusion is, in this article, we could see the overall health risks of coffee, which include kidney stones, gout, exhausted adrenal glands, decreased immune response, arthritis, osteoporosis, acid reflux, insomnia, migraines, heart disease, diabetes, and so on.
The bottom line is, if you're serious about healthy weight loss, there are better choices for weight management aids than coffee.

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Green Tea

Before I was browsing around, read some articles, and I found this interesting article about 'Green Tea'.

On that article, the author speak about how its green tea very useful and has so many advantages on your way to reduce your fat. Of course it's very healthy. But there he also tells about its side effect of drink green tea and that is you'll have insomnia, due to the caffeine in it (wow so surprise to find out this one, cos as a green tea drinker and I do routine consume this tea, I never have those insomnia, even I can sleep well after drink it) but well I'm not an expert about this, I just tell about what I feel become one of green tea drinker, and yeah maybe there's some people out there who feel the side effect by drink green tea. :D

Anyway green tea has long been consumed in India, Japan and China (and some other countries in Asia including my country Indonesia) due to its numerous benefits.

So, how is green tea useful to you?
Well first, it has a very powerful anti-oxidant contains on it, which this will help to reduce the risk of having cancer. Green tea prevents bladder cancer, breast cancer, esophageal cancer, colorectal and lung cancer, pancreatic, skin, liver cancer, prostate cancer, and stomach cancer. (Waaah.. So if you haven’t drink green tea yet.. TRY NOW!! It’s better to prevent than to recure, aight?) And somehow it also helps in improving your digestion and bowel movements.

And about it benefits on help you to reduce your weight, by drink green tea it boosts up your metabolism, thus stimulating your body to burn the calories quicker and helps in reducing your cholesterol level.
Green tea is also effective in controlling your blood sugar level, and maintaining your blood sugar level with green tea would also help you to lose weight.

So still don’t wanna drink green tea?
Then you lost one way to be healthy and lost your chance to get your proportional body today!

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Keep Health with Japanese Foods

Japanese foods known as the healthiest food. Because they're not only made from fresh fishes (which this is good for ur body), but they also been processed with very precise and clean as i know.

Japan is an island country that has four seasons, and that make Japan sits on number one for country whom consume sea products, fishes include.

And this habit of course very good, cos we know the nutrients that contain inside the fishes are so high, and this very useful for your intelligence, growth, and health.

So, let's get know some original foods made from fish and very well know in Japan.
* Sushi, this is one of the most famous food from japan (I bet u ever heard that too, if not then how poor u ^^, hihi just kidding :D )
So back to the sushi, it's made from slices of raw fish or boiled shrimps that putted on top of the rice that already been mixed with a little vinegar.
(umm.. seems nasty? I meant, you might be think "raw fish?" "yaaks", but heyyy.. if you havent try it yet then you should try and you wont feel regret, since it's one of my favourite food, very mammamia delicious ^-^. And don't worry even it's made from raw fish, but like I said before they've been processed with very precise and clean :) )

* Unagi, this one made from eel, where the process is after the eel been splited, then chef will baked it. Unagi usually be serve with hot rice.
And some people believe by eat unagi, it'll increase your stamina. Well you can try it. Since I haven't try this one yet, so I don't know how it taste, but people I known who have tasted it before said that unagi is one of their favourite food.

* Sashimi, another well known food from Japan. Made from slices of fishes, squids or seaweeds. And we eat it by dip it on the bowl that contain with shoyu (its kind of soy sauce but it’s made also from fish).
The uniquely of this sashimi is how to serve it. Fish that already been slice into tiny slices, will be form into a tray that has flower motif. Very interesting isnt it? :D

Well that a review about some Japanese foods. I know this not enough, cos there’s so many Japanese foods that very well known and also delicious out there. And I’ll write about them too soon. ^-^
So keep checking out my blog. xD

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Sour Sweet Chicken

Now, I'll share with you one yummy recipe that's good for you to eat when you're on your diet program. You'll get crazy for it :D
This one I named Sour Sweet Chicken

Ingredients:
• 500 ml of Frying oil (I suggest to use oil palm, which this is good for u who having problem with cholesterol)
• Slices chicken fillet
• 2 Red peppers
• 1 can of Lychee fruits
• 1/2 tea spoon of Salt
• Half of Pineapple (cut into small pieces)
• 100 gram of Cornmeal flour

Sauces:
• 1 clove of Garlic (bruise it)
• 2 cm of Ginger (bruise it)
• 1 spoon of Sugar
• 1 spoon of Cornmeal flour
• 200 ml of Water
• 5 spoons of Tomato sauce
• 1/2 spoon of Vinegar (or you can change it with lime to make its sour taste more strong)

How to Make:
• Pour chicken fillets with salt and roll them on the cornmeal flour. Fry chicken fillets.
• For sauces:
o Saute the garlic at high temperature till it gives you tasty smell, and then put in the ginger, tomato sauce, water, sugar and vinegar, cook till it boils.
o Mix cornmeal flour with a little water till it become thick sauce.
o Put pieces of pineapple, lychee and red pepper into the cornmeal sauce, mix them.
o And last after you, pour the chicken fillet that you’ve fried before with your mixed sauce.

Umm.. Smells yummy..
And you can serve it for six people..

Bon Apetit!! :)

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Quick Weight Loss Tips

When you going to lose your weight, of course you want it to be something that’s permanent. With bad diet, it’s not just will make you gain your weight again soon, but it’s also can lead to health problems and poor self image.

I’m sure no one wants to go through all the work to take off pounds and then have them come right back on again in three months. Finding sensible and proven changes to implement into your lifestyle is the best way to take off pound and keep them off.

Here are more highly effective ways to lose fat. Some are about eating, drinking and exercising, but most are not. Implemented singly or together, these tactics can be ferociously effective at helping you lose fat.

You do not need to starve yourself to lose weight quickly. One of the easiest quick weight loss tips to include in your daily routine is water. By drinking more water is not only healthy but it will help stimulate your body to lose more weight.

Drinking water allows your cells to get rid of waste in the "old water," much like changing the oil in a car - replacing the old, dirty oil with fresh, clean oil. Just like a car, you run a lot better when you're "fresh and clean." Also, as the water flushes old toxins and waste debris from your cells - including fat deposits - it cleans your kidneys and helps your body function more efficiently. Water also hydrates, flushes, stimulates, and improves the function of the digestive system, as well -- speeding digestion and the removal of waste before your body converts the undigested food into fat for storage somewhere on your body.

The average person should drink about one-half their body weight - in ounces - of water each day. For example, if you weigh 200-pounds, you would drink 100-ounces of water - about 3-liters.

And make it habit to drink warm water, cos it will help you to burn off your fat. When you drink a glass of warm water, it’ll make you get sweat which is this good because when you’re sweating your fat will come out through your skin. And another good thing by drinking more water everyday, they can help you stay full and not eat so much.

Drinking more water is not a difficult thing to incorporate. Many women carry a large bag and are able to carry a water bottle around with them during the day. But if you have a hard time drinking water, tip for you is to carry single drink mix packets to add to your water. There are many sugar free calorie free varieties that are available and they can easily replace a soda or a cup of coffee in your daily routine. Quick weight loss tips like this need to become habit.

But it simply feels better to drink water. Cos it doesn’t have any side-effects, it's one of the best weight-loss drugs on the market.

Another quick weight loss tip that can be implemented into your daily routine and become a part of your lifestyle is a constant eating habit. If you eat five small healthy meals a day you will stay full longer and avoid caving into cravings and overeating due to hunger.

And make sure you really eat healthy foods with good combine. Eat a plant-based, balanced diet of fresh, whole, natural foods with fresh fruits and vegetables, complex carbohydrates, protein and healthy fats.

Also when you eat, get use to slow down while eating. One of the biggest causes of overweight is wolfing down food. So slow down.

The third quick weight loss tip for you is do moderately high intensity aerobic exercise daily from 30 to 90 minutes a day. Do six days a week if you cannot do five, and the minimum is five days a week.

The final quick weight loss tip is to reduce your stress levels. Persons with elevated stress levels often produce hormones such as cortisol which can make fat-loss very difficult. If you can combine a quality diet with regular exercise and an optimal amount of sleep then you will see a huge reduction in stress levels and a massive boost in energy. Lowering stress levels will help you achieve any weight-loss goals you may have much quicker and also reduce the risk of developing serious health problems.

Implementing these small quick weight loss tips as your daily routine and habit can impact your weight and this will be one of the healthier lifestyle that you can living with. :)

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Exercises to Lose Your Fat

To lose fat, eating the right foods more often than not will result in dramatic fat-loss in a relatively short period of time. Ditch the sodas, cakes and sweets and be wary of consuming too many 'bad' carbohydrates such as white bread, breakfast cereals and French fries. Look to avoid fried foods altogether and instead use healthier methods of cooking such as baking.

Increase your fibre intake slowly but surely, this will help avoid excess gas. Fibre is the indigestible part of fruits, vegetables and whole-grain foods which acts as a sponge when it combines with water during digestion. It cleanses your intestines and helps food move through the body more quickly and with greater efficiency. Add more protein to your diet, protein helps build and maintain and repair muscle tissue which is essential for quality fat burning as it helps increase the body's metabolism by burning more calories and therefore you will lose back fat faster.

Beginning a program of regular exercise will help boost metabolism and increase your energy levels. You will feel healthier and burn more fat.

• Stomach Fat

Did you know that the size of your stomach determines heart problems? Yes it does, so it is important to start doing some exercises to lose stomach fat.

So what is the best type of exercises that will help you to lose your stomach fat?

Cardio.

Cardio is the type of exercise you need if you want to lose fat, not only in your stomach, but in your whole body as well. In case you didn't knew you can spot-one an area. Many people say "I want to lose fat on my chin", "I want to slim my arms", but it doesn't work like that. The truth is that you'll be lowering your whole body fat levels - that means your stomach too.

Kind of cardio exercise you can choose which one is you feel comfortable when doing it. There are: swimming, running, jumping. You'll start seeing better results, and if you combine them with a six pack abs workout, prepare for big things! :)

• Back Fat

I definitely recommend incorporating weight lifting routines into your weekly exercise workouts. Muscle burns more calories than fat and for every 1lb of lean muscle mass your body has you burn as much as 50 calories per day just to maintain it, thus creating a fat burning metabolism which helps you lose back fat quicker and easier.

Ditch the long, slow cardio workouts and replace them with highly intense interval type training. This promotes muscle retention and helps your body burn fat even after exercise. Also, don't over-do it! The is no point in working out for hours and hours each day, your body will only get tired and use muscle to fuel your workouts. An hour 3-4 days per week is fine, this gives your body a chance to recover and grow. Rest is as important as exercise if you want to lose back fat! :)

• Chest Fat

Excess fat in your chest area sags it and makes it out of proportion. There are two categories of the chest fat. Firstly, there is a fat accumulation around the entire chest area, especially around the mid to lower areas, which depends on our lifestyle such as diet and other activities. It can be burnt off with workouts and dieting. Secondly, there is an accumulation of fat around nipple area which is hereditary and results from an imbalance in our body hormones. Therefore, it cannot be reduced fully and its reduced appearance requires a lot of hard work.

The first step is you have to demote your calories intake up to 1000 calories cos it is impossible to lose chest fat without losing fat around the entire body.

How to count the normal calories for you? Follow this:
Multiply your body weight taken in pounds by 12. If your weight 190 pounds, multiply that by 14 and you get 2,280. So the base calorie rate will be 2,280. This equation is fairly simple and accurate.

Now spread your meals apart every three hours. Your body needs a balanced proportion of micro and macro nutrients. You have to eat about five or six small meals throughout the day to fasten your metabolism and to burn fat fast. Eat veggies and fruits rather than oily and junk food.

The next thing is to speed up your metabolism, burning of excess fat by doing aerobics. Performing exercise a form of cardiovascular exercise 3-4 times a week, for 20 to 30 minutes consisting of 3 sessions, each having equal duration of minutes. It can be as simple as walking at a steady, brisk pace for 30 minutes.

And the last is to build up muscle base to tone up the muscles of your body, especially in the chest area.
Exercises you require to stimulate muscle fibers particularly of the chest area. Doing weights 2 times per week for about 40 minutes per session is sufficient for the reduction of drooping chest. The only thing is that you need to focus on all the major chest muscles in order to get the most from weight training.

Losing weight is not as hard as it may seem. However it all depends on the method you chose to lose weight. It will take lot of effort and time to lose weight by exercise. But if you want to lose weight that will not give you bad effect for your body or even watch your body gain weight again soon, so by doing daily exercise routine and healthy eating habit, these are the good way to get better result. Without no any complication for your body for the next. :)

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Healthy Foods

Diets can be wonderful and diets can also be the pain in your butt. The thing is with diets you have to find a diet that is going to suit your body needs. Diets are all about eating the right food. The right food that you should eat when it comes down to it is fruits, vegetables, and meats.

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The Real Weight Loss Secret

Look around and you will see that you are surrounded by weight loss "secrets", diet pills that imply they can do it all for you, drinks that will "help" you lose weight, doctors with "secret weight loss formulas", fad diets that promise all kinds of wonderful weight loss effects...you can't help but wonder who's telling you the truth. Then there's the biggest question of all. Is there such a thing as a weight loss secret?

Something is only a "secret" as long as no one knows about it. The "truth" about weight loss has been known for a long time, so it's not really a secret.

If you take a look at the label of most diet pills, drinks, meal substitutes, diet books, and other weight loss problem, you will begin to notice that they often have one thing in common. Again and again, they have statements that say something to the effect of "...when used with exercise and proper nutrition."

The secret is, that most, if not all of these diet products at best only ASSIST in what nature can do almost perfectly well without their help!

The basic biology and physics of weight gain and weight loss has been known for years! Even if your math wasn't too good in school, this equation is easy. Take in more calories than you burn...you gain weight. Burn more calories than you take in...you lose weight. The problem, and it's not a secret, is that we are human!

SO WHAT'S WRONG WITH BEING HUMAN, BUD!
There is nothing wrong with BEING human. In fact, sometimes I even talk to one. I have a couple of human friends, one lives next door (I think), and I would even let my daughter marry one. The problem is that each human is, as Sister Mary Fides used to drum into our teenage human skulls, unique. This means that if I show you the perfect weight loss program and it works like a charm for you, your next door neighbor might have a problem making that exact program work for her or him.

WHY WOULD A WEIGHT LOSS PROGRAM WORK FOR ONE PERSON AND NOT ANOTHER?
As Shakespeare has Cassius say in Julius Caesar, "The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves...!"

Now, I am NOT saying that it is YOUR FAULT, per se, but the difficulty of making one magic thing, even the perfect weight loss program, lies in the very uniqueness that makes us so human.

One person inherits some genes that tend to make them fatter than others. Another person would have been a lot smaller, but they were raised in a home where a type of cooking or lifestyle was common that encouraged them to grow fatter. Someone else experiences some severe emotional ups and downs that contribute to bad eating habits that cause them to gain weight. Nature designed some chemical changes in our bodies to meet certain needs, and we changed OUR natural surroundings so that these changes now work against us rather than serving us. And if any one of those isn't enough, most people who are overweight actually have more than one of these things going on, and some of them actually increase the affect of other contributing factors!

We have other differences that make it difficult to create a one-size-fits-all weight loss program. Your brother-in-law loves to work out with weights, but that bores you to tears. Your neighbor has a Bowflex and you think it is great, but you travel a lot and can't figure out how to take a Bowflex with you! Your cousin lost a lot of weight on a certain diet, but your metabolism is different, and you didn't really lose any weight when you tried it. In fact, you tried diet after diet and actually GAINED weight! By the way, it is fairly common to gain weight when you try a lot of different diets. It's slightly complicated to go into here, but often when you go on a diet and then come back off of it, your body has learned to get by on fewer calories. Once you go back to eating like you used to, it now has extra calories to store as fat. Remember our equations up above?

There are also many people who want the "lose 30 pounds in 30 days" promise to be true. They have been so upset over their weight for so long that they want to believe that almost any claim is true, no matter how silly it seems, or how dangerous to their health it actually is!

CAN'T I JUST CUT WAY BACK ON CALORIES?
Probably, you (and I) could stand to cut some of the calories out of our daily diet. However, there is a point at which the body resets some internal bells and whistles, and we may actually begin to gain weight. Also, cutting out food means cutting out the nutritional elements our body needs to be healthy.

WELL, I CAN'T JUST SPEND MY DAY EXERCISING FROM DAWN TO DUSK!
That was the other side of the equation, wasn't it? Well, you're absolutely correct, and I would begin to worry about you if you did. You don't have to go to that extreme. There is a solution.

WHAT? YOU'LL SIGN ON AS MY PERSONAL TRAINER?
Nope! I'm too lazy for that, but YOU can sign on as your personal trainer. That is, you can do a little experimentation, find some activities you like and begin doing one or more of them on a regular basis...three or four times a week, let's say. You could garden, ride a bike, play with the kids or grandkids, take a walk, do some yoga, lift weights...the list goes on. You don't have to do all of them every day, and if you find one you really like, you can do it several times a week if you want. One thing to remember, of course, is that you should ease into any program and only increase it once you are sure that you are fine at the level you are at...and then, increase it gradually. I've seen some champion bodybuilders who started out lifting just the barbell with no weights on it at all, and I know of runners who started out by walking to the mailbox and back. In the army, I used to run six miles or more, but when I started running, I barely got a block down the road before I had to drop back to walking.

Start making some small changes to your diet as well. I am using the word "diet" in this case to mean the things you eat, not some particular diet. Start popping a multivitamin every day. You may find that helps make you feel a tiny bit more energetic. Cut out sugar. As much as I don't like artificial sweeteners, they are probably going to be better for you than sugar. If, like me, you worry about the effects of artificial sweeteners, try stevia. My wife and I have been using it for some time. It took a little getting used to, but I have noticed a definite decrease in heartburn and carb cravings.

Educate yourself about nutrition and exercise. You don't have to take a college course. If you are reading this online, you can go to webmd.com or mayoclinic.com/ and get a lot of great health, fitness, and weight loss information.
Read food labels, and start thinking about what you are putting in your mouth. Most of us can look at some foods and realize that they might not be good for us, at least not in large quantities, so cut you portion sizes. Don't know what a portion size is? Look on the label!

Stay away from prepackaged foods, junk food, fast food, or learn enough about them to make intelligent choices.

SET SOME GOALS
This is where I'm supposed to tell you to decide to lose X number of pounds in Y number of days, right? Wrong. This is where I tell you to start setting some performance goals about how you are going to try to live. I say "try" because you WILL slip from time to time, and there will be times you will just have to make do in a situation and eat that Big Mac, darn it! Go ahead, make the sacrifice and eat it, but then get back on the wagon. Don't worry about a Big Mac or a single bowl of ice cream or even a binge after you catch him/her cheating on you. The occasional dietary sin will not send you plunging back into fat hell...unless you let it.

ON THAT NOTE....
Grow up, take charge, and quit looking around for someone or something to blame. Oh, maybe there are a lot of reasons why you got fat, and maybe they are reasons that you had no control over, but the point is that losing weight is going to happen today and tomorrow, and it is going to depend on the future choices you make, not on what the past has done to you.

Article Source:
http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Donovan_Baldwin

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How to Effectively Lose Fat

Many people fail at healthy fat loss, or never really get started on a program to do so because they do not know how. And most do not know that healthy fat loss takes more than just eating right, drinking right, and getting daily exercise.

What we eat and drink are massively important, as is regular exercise, but these are not the only things that make up a healthy approach to fat loss. Far from it.

Timing is important. I have found the most important timing aspect of fat loss is to start now. Most people mistakenly want to put it off, until after the weekend, or the holiday or some other lame wrong-day-of-the-week or wrong-month-of-the-year excuse. Fat loss does not get easier because you put it off, for whatever reason. There will always be temptations, whether it is a fattening dessert after dinner, a lazy feeling when it is time for exercise, or a massive Thanksgiving feast.

Your attitude is everything. Few people realize how important attitude is. Guess which person is going to have an easier time losing weight: the one who sees the whole thing as difficult, even agonizing, or one who chooses to believe it can be easy if they follow certain guidelines and rules daily.

Here are more highly effective ways to lose fat. Some are about eating, drinking and exercising, but most are not. Implemented singly or together, these tactics can be ferociously effective at helping you lose fat.

Start your fat loss and fitness program now, this moment, today and never stop. You can start this moment by making water your main beverage. The sooner you start, the sooner you lose.

Have your own custom, outstanding, ongoing, flexible plan, blueprint. A daily journal is part of this, to keep track, note any and all strategies that work for you; and what does not work. It is vitally important to acknowledge when you are making bad choices, like regularly depending on fattening comfort foods, or alcohol, or excessive couch-potatoing to relieve stress, tension, anxiety or blahs.

Create your own click. Do not wait for it to happen: look for, find or create your own click -- that deciding moment when something clicks and you say to yourself, I have had it with being fat. I am done. I am putting being fat behind me forever.
Eat a plant-based, balanced diet of fresh, whole, natural foods with fresh fruits and vegetables, complex carbohydrates, protein and healthy fats. If man made it, do not eat it.

Prepare and carry with you your meals, healthy snacks and water. This is an easy habit to get into; you just do it.

Do moderately high intensity aerobic exercise daily from 30 to 90 minutes a day. Do six days a week if you cannot do five, and the minimum is five days a week.
Do strength/resistance work three days a week. You must do strength work to lose fat effectively.

Practice relaxation in everything -- exercising, eating, work, play. Stress is a major cause of overweight, and learning to relax is a stress buster.

Get creative, stop complaining. Recognize that everything to ensure your success is all around you, and at your fingertips.

Recognize and know that refined, processed, junk foods are addictive. As well as fattening. Cut them out completely over time or severely limit your intake.
Never diet, skip meals, starve or deprive yourself. Never sell yourself short or doubt your ability to lose fat healthfully, permanently. If you have failed in the past, remember that the past does not equal the present or future.

Role model successful weight losers, copy what has worked for them. The one thing they all have in common is that they make the whole thing a top priority. And almost all of them tried multiple times before permanent success. Never stop, never give up.
Learn to master states -- how you feel -- healthfully, without food or beverage fixes, cigarettes, caffeine, alcohol, etc. This is a powerful fat loss strategy; do not discount it.

Learn the power of physiology. Deep breathing; changing posture; smiling, laughing; deep relaxation; pumping yourself physically by movements; stretching; shaking out kinks, walking briskly, etc.

Become your own expert on you, on your nutrition and exercise needs. Take one hundred percent responsibility for your fitness. Rely on yourself.

Try new tactics, strategies. See if making the noonday meal your main meal agrees with you, instead of breakfast or dinner. See if two meals a day suit you.
Each of these tactics will help you lose fat, healthfully and permanently. The sooner you start practicing them, the sooner you lose fat.

Article Source:
http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jerome_Kellner

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The Top 7 Foods To Lose Belly Fat Lightning Fast

Are you struggling to lose belly fat? The answer may lie right with the foods you are eating. In this article, I will show you the most powerful 7 foods you should be having on a daily basis to lose belly fat...lightning fast!

First, you must understand that in order to lose belly fat and get that tight stomach and/or chiseled six pack abs, it takes a combination of four components to experience success.

1. Get plenty of sleep

2. Drink plenty of water (Make sure it is ice cold water. Ice cold water triggers your body to burn calories to get it to body temperature.)

3. Exercise

4. Eat the correct foods

The following are the best 7 foods to lose belly fat:

1. Monounsaturated Fats: Monounsaturated fats are vital to not just loosing belly fat, but also to your overall health. Some examples of monounsaturated fat would be Olive Oil, Olives, Avocado, Nuts, and so much more.

2. Protein Shakes: You see muscle builders around the gym chugging protein down like water...and for a good reason. Protein shakes are loaded with 20-36+ grams of protein. Protein is very important for your health, fat burning, and muscle building. Protein also repairs tissues in your muscles after working out, making it vitally important to drink or eat some form of protein at least within 30 minutes after working out. Although protein is very important for your body, you should take it in moderation.

3. Whole Grain Foods: Oatmeal (If you have oatmeal, make sure it is rolled oats and that you make it with water, soy milk, or skim milk.), whole grain cereals, whole wheat, brown rice, wild rice, pop corn (light to no salt & butter), quinoa, & whole grain corn just to name a few.

4. Fresh Fruits (Duh!): If you don't know by now that eating plenty of fruits daily will shed off pounds and reveal those much desired abs, then I would like to ask you for a discount on a round trip ticket to your home planet Mars! :) The #1 fruit to eat is Apples since they are high in fiber, low in calories and more. A little trick would be to consume an apple before you eat a meal, this way because of the fiber in apples, you will get full quicker when you eat your meal.

5. Fresh Veggies (Duh, again!): Vegetables are loaded with different vitamins, minerals, and plant chemicals are important for your health and losing belly fat. Here's a tip for you: Pack some sliced vegetables to take with you or at home to have as a quick snack. This will obviously help in deterring your desire for bad snacks.

6. Poultry Meats: Lean cuts of chicken (breast) & turkey are the best. They are packed with protein, niacin, selenium, B6 vitamins and more. It is recommended that you cook these meats by grilling, baking or roasting.

7. Seafood: Containing all eight essential amino acids, seafood is an excellent source of protein. Fish also contains omega 3 fatty acids which are vitally important for your health. The two best types to eat are salmon and tuna (if canned - light tuna in water).

Remember, you have to follow those four steps above (sleep, water, exercise, eat right) in order to successfully lose belly fat and lose weight for that matter. Don't get fooled into thinking that all you have to do is lay down and crank out 50-100 crunches a day to get a sexy stomach.

Are you you ready to "lose belly fat" now? I recommend for you to take a look at this powerful "fat burning program". This program is straight to the point and is not your typical "low calorie", "no carb", "don't eat anything all day" type of diet.

I wish you the best of success in getting yourself in better health and getting yourself those much desired six pack abs! Good Luck!

Article Source:
http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Avy_Barnes

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