Archive for May, 2010

Want to feel confident and look great when you head to the beach this summer?  Make sure to follow these healthy eating tips:

• Drink plenty of water. You need to consume a minimum of 8 glasses of water to keep weight-loss-busting toxins flowing efficiently out of your body.
• Eat plenty of fiber. Fiber makes you feel fuller so you won’t be tempted to overeat.  It also grabs fat and moves it more quickly through your digestive system before it can be stored.
• Limit sweets. Come on, you already know this!  Most sweets are just empty calories that add nothing positive to your healthy eating plan.  If you crave something sweet, try fresh fruit or low fat yogurt.
• Eat 5 small meals/snacks per day. This does not mean that you add more food to your daily intake!  It just means that you spread your food out  rather than eating only 3 large meals per day.  For example, I used to have a bowl of cereal with sliced banana and milk, a slice of whole grain toast, and a boiled egg for breakfast.  Now for breakfast I have the cereal, milk, and banana.  Then, about 3 hours later, I have the toast and egg.  Same number of calories but spread out so that my metabolism is receiving a continuous fuel supply.

Remember, there is no magic bullet for weight loss.  But healthy eating habits combined with a good exercise program will get you to your goal!  Check out  healthy eating habits for more suggestions.

We’ve all heard that old rhyme: “An apple a day keeps the doctor away.” Apparently this saying has it’s versions in other cultures as well.  My second year Spanish teacher in high school required us to memorize proverbs and I can still recall, “Una manzana diaria aleja al medico de casa.”  (Sorry about the lack of accent marks – I can’t seem to get my Spanish language keyboard to work on this computer!)

But is there a scientific basis for this advice? It turns out that, yes, there is.  Here are three substances found in apples and their health benefits:

• Phenolics – may reduce the risk of cancer and heart disease
• Vitamin C – strengthens the immune system
• Quercetin – may reduce the risk of diabetes and dementia

And don’t forget that apples are high fiber, nonfat, portable, and just plain delicious.  Maybe it’s time to start adding an apple a day to your diet!

Today I’d like to share with you a great article by fitness expert, Carolyn Hansen.

Want to Hear the Truth About Why You Are Really Overweight?

By Carolyn Hansen

Anyone who wants to lose weight surely would like to lose it permanently and be able to maintain that loss for the long haul. Yet restrictive food diets and the wrong type of exercise program do not achieve this for the majority of overweight people. It seems strange that most of the weight loss programs available today only offer temporary results as they do not address the real cause of becoming overweight in the first place.

The cause at the bottom of the problem is that the fat burning machinery of the body has become unhealthy and is not burning fuel (calories) at the rate it should or could be if it were if good condition. Muscle tissue is where fat is burned for energy but if it not kept strong and fit with proper strength maintaining exercise it cannot burn fuel at its optimal rate. Thus calories that should be burnt up are now being stored as body fat accumulating all over the body spoiling your looks and placing your health at risk.

We have been lead to believe that ‘cardio’ type activity like walking, jogging or cycling or other aerobic type recreational type activity is necessary to lose weight. But we now know that this is not sufficient for long term weight loss. Why? Because it does not address the root of the problem – lack of toned muscle tissue to boost the metabolism.

Part of the problem is for years we have been told to just find something you enjoy and that is your exercise program. Walking, gardening, sports and bird watching – you name it they have said it is fine to just do something that is ‘fun’ and this is where the problem lies. Proper exercise that involves keep your metabolism cranking is not always ‘fun’.

Recreational activities do not work the muscular system of the human body through the ranges of movement necessary under a load to achieve a permanent boost to the metabolic rate. You have to be doing higher intensity activity than that.

This is something you may not want to hear as many people get addicted to long, slow time consuming activity and cannot see that any other way could be better. But take a look in the mirror – “Is it actually working for you?” How many hours each week do you spend doing it and what results are you getting?”

With a proper program you could be getting great results in just a couple of months. You would be saving so much time as you only need 2-3 sessions each week of 30-40 minutes to do the job properly. The more intensity (effort) you can put into it the less you need to do as this will kick your metabolism into high gear very quickly chewing into those fat stores even when you are sleeping. Something that ‘cardio’ activity can never ever do.

So, the hardest part will be the changing of your beliefs and attitude. Only when this is achieved will you experience a truly strong, lean, healthy body and until then you will likely have to live in a flabby overweight one. We have been misled for so long it will take just as long to accept the truth about what proper exercise actually is. The quicker you make the change the quicker you will get the results you really desire.

Do you want to discover the secret to rejuvenating your body, regaining lost vitality and improving the quality of your life? Download my free ebook “I’ve Found the Fountain of Youth – Let Me Show You Too!” Fountain of Youth.

If you are looking to lose weight permanently go to Fitness Weight Loss for a free ebook and check out the new Hot Metabolism Fitness System.

Carolyn Hansen is a certified fitness expert and fitness center owner who coaches clients to look and feel younger. In her nearly 30 years of fitness and bodybuilding competition experience she has helped thousands of people start their journey towards being strong, fit and youthful at any age.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Carolyn_Hansen
http://EzineArticles.com/?Want-to-Hear-the-Truth-About-Why-You-Are-Really-Overweight?&id=4120813

In addition to Carolyn’s resources, I recommend that you check out The Fat Burning Furnace.

Some years ago I switched myself from regular Coke to Diet Coke in order to avoid the calories. I only have one a day, but I do look forward to my 3:00 p.m cold, fizzy, pick-me-up!

I was vaguely aware that sodas somehow leached calcium from your bones and had even heard some people say they actually caused you to gain weight.  But how could that be? I admit I didn’t look very hard for the answers because I think of my diet soda as kind of a reward and didn’t want any reason to give it up!

But  now I know it’s the phosphoric acid in sodas (not just diet sodas) that messes with your thyroid gland and can slow your metabolic rate which, of course, causes your body to burn calories more slowly.

I sort of wish I didn’t know about this because now I’m forced to decide whether to give up my beloved afternoon reward or continue to drink it and know that I’m being stupid.  But, after all, ignorance isn’t bliss; ignorance is just ignorance!

So I consider it my duty to spread this sad news information to all of my loyal readers who also happen to be diet soft drink  lovers.  What will you decide? Please leave a comment.