EATING OUT

If you're like most people, you're eating out more than ever. With a little effort, however, you can have almost as much control over what you eat when you dine out as you do at home. The following tips give you the tools you need to win at the restaurant game. 1. Get a Little Something on the Side. Salad dressing is not the only topping that can be served on the side. You can make the same request with sour cream, sauces and most seasonings. Unless the dish is premade, such as frozen lasagna, having the kitchen omit a sauce or serve a topping separately is perfectly acceptable. 2. Ask Until You're Satisfied. Perhaps the most effective method of getting what you want in a restaurant is to ask questions. Whether your question is about ingredients, preparation methods, price, portion size...

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Posted in: Diet

Reducing Fat

By now you know that too much fat--especially saturated fat--is not good for you. Your body can easily store excess calories from fat as body fat. Plus, saturated fats from animal products, such as meats and dairy foods, can clog your arteries and contribute to heart disease. But be careful. Although reducing dietary fat is important, eliminating all fat from your diet is not at all healthy. Fat is an essential nutrient that produces energy for daily activities and supplies the body with vitamins A, D and E, which are needed for healthy skin and optimal growth. The body cannot produce fat on its own; it must be provided through dietary intake. For these reasons you should enjoy some fats in your diet, especially monounsaturated fats like olive oil. The key is moderation--not elimination....

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Posted in: Burn Fat,Fitness

Why Eating Excessive Amounts of Fat Makes us Fat

While most of us know that consuming excessive amounts of fat will make us fat, we don't all understand exactly why this is true. To implement a successful weight management program, you need a good understanding of fat and why this nutrient makes us fat. The amount of energy a particular food has depends on the quantity of fat, carbohydrates, and protein it contains. Food energy, both in its consumption and expenditure, is measured in terms of calories. Foods are either made up of fats, protein, carbohydrates, or a combination. A food that contains mostly fat will contain more than twice the calories than a food containing mostly carbohydrates and/or protein. For example, compare a serving of low-fat yogurt to a serving of nonfat yogurt--the low-fat yogurt has quite a few more calories than...

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Posted in: Diet

Holiday Eating

Do you want to avoid the pitfalls of weight gain this holiday season? Eating lighter foods doesn't mean taking the joy out of celebrating. It only means skimming off the fat, cutting back a little and learning to modify traditional recipes. Try the following pointers. Pay attention to portion sizes. Instead of eating twice what you usually do, set down your fork when you start feeling full. If you're cooking turkey for a small group, instead of wrestling with a 20-pound bird, why not buy just a part of the turkey, like the breast? Then you won't have a platter of leftovers to tempt you. Prepare the stuffing outside the bird, so it doesn't absorb the fat. Use skim milk instead of whole milk in the mashed potatoes. Make sugar cookies with a third less sugar--they're still...

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Posted in: Diet

20 GET MOVING MOTIVATORS

Studies have shown that carrying groceries, doing yardwork, and cleaning your house counts as physical activity. So, while you're not exercising per se, you're at least giving your body some physical benefits. But still you know that this kind of activity isn't going to guarantee a flatter stomach, greater strength, and a longevity boost. So how do find time and energy reach your fitness goals? Here are every-day tips for your exercise inspiration.... 1. Take a picture of yourself and have it "morphed" at a photo shop. Wanna see how you look 10, 20, 30 pounds lighter? Have the picture people edit the picture in the image you like, then take home copies of it and hang them everywhere you can see it. Harness the power of visualization. 2. Keep...

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Posted in: Fitness

Healthy Resolutions For The Whole Year

'Tis the season to make New Year's resolutions, so let's take a look at yours! Check the following list to see if you have done all you can to set yourself up for success in sticking to your plans for a more healthy lifestyle.Be Specific Specific behavior-change plans are easier to stick to than vague resolutions like "I will lose ten pounds." If your resolution is vague, then add a specific plan of action that will guide you toward your goal. Rather than "I will exercise more," how about "I will go to the afternoon aerobics class on Tuesday and Thursday, and work out in the weight room on Monday and Friday."Change For The Right Reasons When Socrates said, "To thine own self be true," he might have been talking about making behavior-change plans. Research has shown that negative feelings...

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Posted in: Fitness

Weight-loss Plateaus and Pitfalls

It's kind of like running into a wall - that feeling you get when, after a few months on a weight-loss program, you suddenly stop seeing results. This is called hitting a plateau and it is not uncommon. In fact, unless you continually update your program to reflect the changes your body has already experienced, you can almost be guaranteed to plateau at some point along your journey toward reaching your goal weight. Weight-loss Woes The first thing you should do upon hitting a plateau is try to determine the cause. Could you be eating more calories than you think? Research shows that most people underreport the number of calories they eat - it's not that they're lying, they just don't know how to make an accurate assessment of how much they're eating. And even if you're eating less...

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Posted in: Weight loss

How Do I Build Muscle? Essential Techniques Revealed

Firstly, training. I'm afraid there is no escaping it! You must train with weights if you want to gain muscle on your body, and by weights I mean free weights. Barbells, dumbbells and power racks are your friends here! Find a good gym that has this equipment and that is really all you need. All those fancy machines in the gym may look appealing but they are nowhere near was effective for adding muscle to your frame as free weights are. Focus on compound exercises like squats, deadlifts, bench press, overhead press, chins and dips.Nutrition is your next concern. Ditch the pizza and hamburgers and eat some good, clean food. Protein builds muscle so aim to eat at least 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight. Try not to rely on powdered protein drinks and instead have lean chicken, beef, fish...

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Posted in: Muscle Building

Losing Weight The Safe And Natural Way

Losing weight is probably one of the hardest tasks a person can face, but it doesn't have to be. It is a simple formula of eating healthy, getting some exercise, and drinking plenty of water. That's it! I know, I can hear all the moaning from here, but that really is the formula for losing weight. By the way, I am not some skinny person who found this information in some book, and decided to pass it on. I struggled with a weight problem my whole life, and one day while looking in the mirror after a shower, I joined a weight loss clinic. All they did was give me some photo copied menu's to follow, told me to exercise, drink water, gave me a dietary supplement, and had me come in every week to get weighed. No it wasn't weight watchers. I was upset to say the least when I left their office because...

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Posted in: Weight loss

How to Be a Bodybuilder Instead of a Gym Rat

There must be some reason why certain people build more muscle and lose more fat than others. Said another way, if two equally gifted individuals start working out ... why does one make significant progress and the other looks like they don't even belong to a gym? Is it simply a random occurrence - the proverbial, "your genetics determine your physique"? Is it simply whoever trained harder on that particular day? Is it simply that one person had a greater desire to challenge themselves than the other? To be sure things like genetics, opportunity and desire contribute to the outcome of most bodybuilders, but there is another factor - often unseen - that plays a huge role in determining who gets to show off the six pack when summer rolls around. And that factor is "gym strategy." That is - More...In...

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Posted in: Body Builder

A Walk A Day . . .

The popularity of walking as a fitness activity is growing by leaps and bounds. Low risk and easy to start, walking has proved its health benefits in numerous studies. An eight-year study of 13,000 people found that those who walked 30 minutes a day had a significantly lower risk of premature death than those who rarely exercised. A regular walking program can help: Reduce blood cholesterol Lower blood pressure Increase cardiovascular endurance Boost bone strength Burn calories and keep weight down Get Ready A walking program is simple to start. All you need are...

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Posted in: Fitness

Three Things Every Exercise Program Should Have

1. What your should know to design a safe & effective exercise program A complete fitness program must include aerobic exercise, muscular strength and endurance conditioning, and flexibility exercise. Aerobic exercise does good things for your cardiovascular system and is an important part of weight management. Muscular conditioning can improve strength and posture, reduce the risk of lower back injury, and is also an important component of a weight management program. Flexibility exercise is needed to maintain joint range of motion and reduce the risk of injury and muscle soreness. 2. Aerobic exercise can be as simple as walking Walking is a weight-bearing...

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Posted in: Exercise

What to Look for in a Fitness Home Trainer

Working out is the best way to stay healthy and keep in shape. It helps to improve your overall health and well-being in many ways. In fact, it can help reduce your risks of having serious and life threatening diseases such as high blood pressure and heart conditions. Having a fitness home trainer is a great way to help get your body in shape in a relaxed and comfortable environment. Using a trainer can provide you with many benefits that would be hard to get from anyplace else. For one thing, the trainer will be able to design a routine for you personally. This will help you to receive the most results for your efforts.They will help you keep up with your progress and make sure that you are reaching your goals over a period of time that is healthy for you. In other words, you will be able...

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Posted in: Fitness

Weight Loss and You

What are Some Simple Ways to Lose Weight?Sometimes complicated diet plans aren’t the way to go; you can use simple dieting techniques and lose just as much or even more weight. One easy technique is eating 6 small meals a day this helps regulate your insulin levels. This also helps you to not over eat a certain meal. Also, calorie counting is very important. By monitoring the amount of certain calories you intake, you can easily lose weight. Men (who want to lose weight) need to intake about 1,600-1,800 calories a day and women should intake 1,400-1,600 to lose weight. You can adjust these calories to speed up or slow down the weight loss. Exercising is another important step in losing weight. Simple exercises such as jogging or doing squats can make a very large difference in gaining muscle...

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Posted in: Weight loss

How You Can Grow Physically, Mentally and Spiritually - Daily

What do you want to be first thing in the morning? Energetic Fresh. Vibrantly alive. You can be all these and more - because the key to them lies, in your hands! What you need to do is start your body's energy cycle that lasts for the entire day. And how do you rev up this energy cycle which means, you create- use-up-create energy constantly? By two simple ways - exercise, and eat (when you must) the right food.The best breakfast you can treat yourself to is exercising. Walking or jogging or cycling or swimming or inchstepping, for 20 to 42 minutes awakens you like nothing else does. It stimulates your insides by working on your muscle tissues, relaxes your digestive tract, rids your body of wastes, gives you more punch than the caffeine you get from your morning cuppa.Eating in the morning...

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Fight Your Fat Genes - Deny Your Family Destiny

Just have a careful look around you at your nearest and dearest. Are your family fat, by any chance? Are your grandparents, parents and children all rather rotund? Maybe your spouse and his/her family have also been targeted by the curse of the fat fairy. Well there's a good reason for your predicament, it's because of your genes. You can't lose weight because by nature you were meant to be fat. It's OK to be fat, don't fight it! Right. As if. If you are fat, it is because you eat too much for the amount of physical effort you make. You consume much more energy than you need - that is the whole truth of it. Blaming your genes is a handy excuse if your whole family is fat, but it really will not get you trim and fit and feeling good about yourself to throw your plump little fists in the air...

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Posted in: Burn Fat,Fitness

The 5 Most Common Diet and Exercise Mistakes

Can't lose weight? Tried absolutely everything, but still frustrated by fat that won't shift or worse, more weight packing onto your tummy, hips and butt despite your best efforts? Frustrated, fragile and reaching stealthily into the larder for a bit of comforting chocolate? Stop right there. Have the strength to put that calming little treat back where you found it and read this - with an open mind. With a willingness to accept your mistakes. Because you can lose weight and keep it off for life. What's more you can be fit and healthy while you are doing it. You have the key; you just haven't worked out how to use it. Stop bashing your head against the wall and find the door! If you can admit that the buck stops with you, accept responsibility for your diet and exercise mistakes and move...

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The Three Little Bowls of Fitness

Even if your immediate goal is to lose weight, you should also have a long term one - to be forever fit and healthy. This way, you can always maintain your weight loss. Otherwise, you could go the way of a plump young friend of ours - in her early twenties - who suddenly decided she needed to lose weight. Armed with a Jane Fonda video, she launched into aerobics. Simultaneously, she stopped eating - well, almost. At the end of a few months, the puppy fat disappeared and a sleeker, streamlined figure silhouetted itself through her loose salwar-kameez. Some weeks flew by and, suddenly, she was once again filling up her clothes. What had happened to her is the story of most people's fitness lives. Everybody starts off with the best of intentions - to attain physical fitness by whittling away...

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