How to Get Off The Couch And Exercise To Lose Weight

INTRO
Out of all competing strategies for losing weight exercise remains the best. When it is attuned to your body type as recommended by a trainer and is vigorous it has many benefits. It raises metabolism for several days after the workout. Calories are burned at a higher rate in a smooth, natural way. Fat is converted into muscle mass which in turn raises metabolism in the long term. And, of course, you will feel great. This will reflect on how others see you and will up the level of your self-esteem even if you are confident. You will be more successful if your approach is structured.

Step1
Take a look in your kitchen and assess the volume of unhealthy and fattening food in stock. Estimate how long it’s going to take you to consume it all. Mark the following day in your calendar as the start date of your exercise program. Tell your friends how you commit yourself to the plan and ask them to cheer you. Replace the old food with healthy food.

Step2
Decide how many pounds you want to lose. Make sure it’s a realistic number. In the first week, aim for the nearest round number. So if you weigh 165 pounds, try getting to 160. Your next week’s goal can be bigger.

Step3
Start the exercise routine and repeat it each morning for 21 days. 21 days is the magic habit building number. Experts say that by the 22nd day whatever you practiced will have become a habit that you do more roboticaly. Imagine how proud you’ll feel when the exercise habit replaces whatever other bad habit you were doing before the exercise.

Step4
Stay motivated. Although exercise might become a habit for you it doesn’t mean you can’t slack off. Keep your mind fixed to a vision. If it’s winter, think of the beach. If it’s summer, think of the new outfit you always wanted for Christmas. Whatever you imagine, make sure it’s powerful enough to help you stay motivated.

Step5
Complement your efforts with a membership at a health club. You will have access to better equipment. You’ll be able to work harder. You will be in a supportive environment with others around you doing the same thing you are doing. Extra services like spas will add value to your experience.

Step6
Hire a personal trainer. A trainer understands your body type and can make recommendations about what exercises you need to emphasize. Muscle groups that were weak will become stronger. More blood will circulate in areas that were neglected. Chronic tension you might have not been aware of will leave certain areas of your body. You may decide to complement your workouts with therapeutic massage.

Step7
Monitor your progress diary. Record parameters such as type of exercise, workout duration, food eaten and weight lost. Soon, patterns will emerge and you will know what works best for you.

Step8
Invest in a spinning bike with a 40 pound flywheel. It has many benefits. If you can’t get to the gym because of a flat tire or bad weather you can still do quality exercise in the comfort of your home. It works the legs and waist which are the areas most frequently afflicted by the office life-style. It helps prevent back problems. It forces you to burn lots of calories. Modern bikes are safe, comfortable, adjustable, have timers and come with pre programmed workouts.

Step9
Don’t forget to have fun!

: article by Jeff Rudgers ( Jeff Rudgers is a techie, an avid cyclist and a fan of Electronic Music who lives in Toronto, Canada. He was once broke, and has spent several years investigating business models for making money online. He has concluded that http://www.onlinewealthfordummies.com is the most sensible entry point into the world of Internet Marketing, for anyone. )

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The Best Way to Lose Weight – Speed Up Your Metabolism

The best way to lose weight is by raising your metabolism to an extremely high level. When you have a high metabolism you can eat as much food as you want and you body will just burn through it all. Here are some proven methods for getting your metabolism to it’s optimum level.Firstly, increase the frequency of your meals. Eat 6 small meals a day, with 3 hours between each meal. 3 hours is the optimum time to leave between meals. By only allowing your body to be without food for a maximum of 3 hours it won’t need to slow down your metabolism, it will always have the food it needs. If you don’t eat every 3 hours your body will slow down your metabolism and start to store extra fat. This is because your body will think you are starving.

Increase you protein intake to at least 1 gram per pound of body weight. Protein is used by your body to repair and build muscle. The more muscle you have the higher you metabolism will go. You will need to eat high quality protein with each meal, such as chicken, eggs and fish. Protein digests in 3 hours and after it has digested your body can no longer use it. When your body runs out of protein it will start to break down your muscle and slow down your metabolism. So make sure you eat protein every 3 hours, or metabolism will start to slow down.

Lift weights to build up muscle. Tone and strengthen your muscles through weight training to really boost your metabolism. A single weight lifting workout can raise your metabolism for up to 48 hours after the workout, this is called an after burn effect. This is a great way to easily raise your metabolism for a few days with no additional effort needed. Workout 3 times a week, and gradually increase the weight each week, this will force your muscles to strengthen.

Spice up your meals. If you eat spicy meals they can raise your metabolism by 50% for up to 3 hours after the meal. However, don’t over do it. Try to eat the healthiest spicy food, don’t order some junk food from the local takeaway. All you need to do is eat some fresh chilli with your some of your meals. This is an easy way to increase you metabolism whenever you feel a bit sluggish.

Have cold showers in the morning. Becoming very cold can increase you metabolism by up to 20%. When you are cold you body must work to try and keep you as warm as possible. To keep you warm your body will contract and relax your muscles, this will happen automatically and will be like a mini workout. Do this every morning and you will be burning more calories and raising your metabolism effortlessly

Follow these tips and your metabolism will raise significantly. Your will start to lose weight quickly and easily. Your will have much higher energy levels and feel great.

: article by Benjamin Pickering-Watson

Carbohydrates Play an Important Role in Weight Loss

There are so many fad diets on the market today. Many have you eliminate carbohydrates from your diet all together. However carbohydrates play an important role in weight loss. Your muscles need carbohydrates for energy and to rebuild. As your muscles rebuild and grow in size, in other words gain more volume, you lose more weight by having those larger muscles burn your body’s fat stores.Sure the Atkins diet and every other fad, no carb diet out there will help you lose weight. You will lose weight not only in the decrease of amount of bodyfat but also in muscle volume and size. Although part one of this equation, losing the fat, is good, part two is terrible. The last thing you want is to lose muscle volume. As your muscle volume decreases so does their need for more energy which in turn reduces the amount of body fat they need to burn.

Forget all the fads and depriving your body of the much needed carbohydrate energy source. I am going to show you why eating carbohydrates is important, how much you should eat and that eating them will help you lose weight, not gain.

There are two types of carbohydrates you need to concern yourself with. They are called simple and complex carbohydrates.

Let’s start with the simple carbohydrates also known as monosaccharide. These are your sugary carbohydrates. Examples would be glucose(dextrose), fructose, xylose, and ribose. These have also been labeled in the past as the “bad” carbohydrate. Yes they can be bad in large quantities and from the wrong source.

For example, apples contain fructose which is a simple carbohydrate; however an apple is a good source of many nutrients, so it is ok to eat an apple as a source of your carbohydrates with one of your meals. Soda on the other hand contains sugar and a lot of it. Soda also contains no nutritional value. If you drink a lot of soda you are taking in way too many simple carbohydrates and that will lead to weight gain. Cutting out soda in your diet alone will help you reduce 5 to 10 pounds by itself.

Complex carbohydrates also known as polysaccharides are your “good” carbohydrates. They consist of food items such as oatmeal, brown rice, yams and other potatoes, wholegrain cereals and breads, corn, bread and lentils.

These are the carbohydrate sources that are essential to assisting your muscle growth. As we stated before muscle is very important because the more volume of muscle that you have the more fat you will burn.

As you already know you should be eating six meals a day spread out every two and a half to three hours. Each meal should consist of equal portions of protein, carbohydrates and green vegetables. Each portion size, to make it easier for measuring purposes, should be about the size of your clenched fist.

Now that you know what the carbohydrate sources are, and how much to have of them, there should be no reason for you to follow one of those fad diets. Eat the amount of carbs you are supposed to have along with your protein and veggies, combine that with a good workout routine and you will soon see your body fat melting away.

: article by Bruce Tucker

Mastering the Art of Weight Loss Motivation

Sometimes the desire to lose weight is just not enough. It’s nice to think about having toned muscles and flat abs but when you get home from a long hard day’s work, exercise and preparing a healthy meal may be the last thing on your mind. All you really want to do is rest. When this kind of mood sets in, let the motivation tips below help you change your frame of mind.Exercise motivation tips:

* Have a friend or family member exercise with you to help encourage you to stay on track.

* Think of exercise as a way to reduce some of the stress that life throws at you every day. Think of it as a gift that you give to yourself — a time to get away from the noise and pressures of daily life.

* Keep in mind that the more you exercise, the more energy you will have. Remind yourself that you will actually feel better after you exercise than you would if you sit down and put it off.

* Exercising helps to improve your immune system. If you are dreading cold and flu season because you tend to always be the first to get sick, you can help prevent it from happening next season by exercising and getting in shape.

* Think about your health. Maintaining a healthy weight with proper diet and exercise can help to reduce your risks of stroke and heart attack, what better motivation do you need?

Sometimes it is even harder to stick to a diet plan than it is to exercise. One reason for this is because you have to plan out your meals in advance and this can be difficult. The tips below can help you stay on track.

Tips for Staying Motivated on Your Diet Program:

* Choose a diet plan that is reasonable and realistic. Remember, you need a certain amount of nutrition and vitamins to stay healthy.

* Start out with a simple diet that you can easily implement into your lifestyle. You can always make gradual changes as needed.

* Plan smaller portions of food for each meal. This will take less time to prepare and you won’t feel like you are cheating on your diet when you grab that snack later.

* Use the buddy system to help you stay motivated but do not compare yourself to others. Everyone is different and will reach their goals at different times even when using identical methods.

A healthy diet and exercise program will improve the quality of your health and well-being. You will feel and look better than you ever thought possible. Stay positive and use these weight loss motivation tips to help you lose the extra weight so you can enjoy life to its fullest.

: article by Jamie Jefferson

Weight Loss Tips for the Holidays

Many of us know that losing weight can be hard. Unfortunately losing weight can be even more difficult around the holiday time. This is not limited to the traditional “Christmas season” that everyone knows packs on an average of fifteen pounds on the typical person. Just about any holiday is a true danger zone for the dedicated dieter.How can someone on a diet succeed through a holiday? Can a dieter actually manage to stay on their diet through a holiday season? The answer is “yes” and then sometimes “no.” A great deal of the answer is determined by the dieter’s own determination.

Many holidays revolve around family and other social get-to-gethers. Most of us know that these social events have food as a central “occupation.” Many women spend hours in the kitchen preparing traditional family recipes or new recipes they are looking forward to trying. Those that are on diets need to plan ahead when they attend a family event. Sometimes the best game plan should be to actually consider bringing some of your own food. You can often ask the hostess what she will be serving and this can help you make your decision if you can easily stick to your diet.

Another option is to offer to bring something that is both delicious and healthy for everyone to share. Quite often, when you do this, everyone “digs in” and is thrilled to see a healthy choice offered at a social event. Sometimes it is even a bit funny to see one’s healthy dish to be the one that is chosen repeatedly over the fattening goodies that most hostesses take great time and care preparing. One great benefit to bringing healthy food to your social events is this gently encourages those in your life to consider healthy eating if they aren’t doing so. They may be quite impressed with your progress and could easily ask you for more recipes.

When attending a holiday function, do your best to focus on the social aspects of the event instead of the food. Those that are on diets often find dealing with yummy fattening foods to be quite stressful, as they are worried that they will “cheat.” Focusing your attention on having engaging conversations reminds you of the true point of this social event and will help to keep you away from the food.

Sometimes a true challenge dieters face at holiday occasions is the “food pushers.” Food pushers can come in many forms: the grandmother, mother, mother-in-law or just about anyone. The food pusher has one objective: to get you to eat something you don’t want to eat. Often it is unclear exactly why they want you to eat it. They often use guilt, sometimes saying things like “Why, I made this especially for you.” They have also used compliments such as, “You look so skinny! Eat something!” Any dieter needs to be on the true alert for the food pusher. Smile, be polite but do not give in. Eventually they will give up.

The holidays are a wonderful time to spend with family, friends and other loved ones. These times should be treasured and remembered. Your diet is a temporary situation. Focus on sticking to your diet now so this regime can soon be over.

: article by Daniel Millions

How to destroy fat using just bodyweight exercises at home

It seems most people today are uninformed when it comes to exercising and still seem to be slogging it out at gyms and getting little back in return. Exercising correctly for fat loss isn’t difficult and certainly doesn’t require hours at a gym or elaborate and expensive equipment. In fact, you can achieve much quicker results using no equipment at all and just exercising at home using just your own bodyweight. Here’s why you should change you thinking when it comes to reaching for the nearest piece of exercise equipment:

Bodyweight exercises get quicker results

Training using just your bodyweight is more demanding than you may think and forces your body to naturally stabilise itself utilising more muscles. Using more muscles means that you burn more calories as each individual muscle requires energy to work. Why spend time exercising just a few muscles when you can hit over 600 of them at a time?

Moreover, if bodyweight exercises are performed at the correct intensity you can create lots of EPOC (Excess Post-exercise Oxygen Consumpion) leading to fat burning for up to 48 hours after exercise. With only so many hours in the day and limited amounts of workout time the more calories you can burn after exercise the better. If performed at the correct times it is possible to raise your metabolism and be burning calories constantly throughout the week whilst only training 3 times for 20 minutes.

Bodyweight exercises are natural & safe

From the first few months that we are born we start learning how to control and use our own bodyweight, this includes rolling over, moving around on all fours standing up, balancing on one leg, walking, running, climbing etc. During all these times of evolution we never once use external resistance to get stronger; it is only in later life that we look for alternatives or short cuts to improving our health.

Development through pure bodyweight exercise is the most natural form of exercise that you can do and your body will reward you for it. You will improve your balance, strength, burn unwanted fat and energise yourself all without risk of injury because it is natural. Being able to control, balance, and move your own bodyweight is the most natural thing that you can do. Anybody that cannot take control of their own bodyweight has no right even considering lifting a weight, whether that’s a dumbbell, barbell, ankle weight, medicine ball or kettlebell !

Bodyweight workouts are less time consuming

Let’s be honest who wants to be make their way to a gym, find parking, get changed, deal with all the distractions, sort out lockers etc. Bodyweight training requires no equipment and can be done at home or during your lunch break or whilst on holiday in only 20 minutes. This not only means that it is less time consuming but also you are less likely to make up excuses as to why you can’t workout that day. With bodyweight training there are no excuses, no matter where you are!! You have a training program for life!!

: article by Greg Brookes

Lose Weight With These Ten Top Tips Of Weight Loss

It is a widely publicised fact that over 90% of dieters fail to lose weight in the long term, this is because diets are far too restrictive for people to accept as a permanent feature of their lives. All changes to your diet should be permanent, so that your weight loss is permanent too.So what changes can be made? You should be looking for multiple small changes to your eating habits, changes that are easy to make and and easy to keep to. A good rule of thumb is to ask yourself if you will be able to keep to the change for the rest of your life. If you answer yourself “no” then it’s probably better not to make the change in the first place, since any gains will be offset once you come away from the change. Try using skimmed milk, sugar substitutes, low-cal soda, in fact there are low-calorie alternatives for many of todays popular foods. Drink more water, eat more fresh fruit and veg. You know this stuff, it’s not rocket science, but it does need a commitment from you. Maybe today is the day?

No weight loss program can be succesful without exercise. Even the peddlers of fad diets maintain that their products will be largely ineffective without the addition of exercise. The “E” word can be pretty scary for many people, because it drums up images of leotards, gymnasiums and lots of sweat. Exercise doesn’t have to resemble this somewhat distorted view, there is really only one major point to remember when it comes to exercise; whatever it is, do it EVERY day without fail, (or at least five days a week). So it could be something as simple as walking or cycling. In the long run, fifteen minute’s walk every day is more effective than a two-hour workout in the gym. For most of us the gym workouts will stop at some point in the future – let’s face it, we don’t need much of an excuse not to go to the gym today, do we? By contrast, a walk is something that we can do every day, without having to give it up.

The formula for weight loss is simple, and it always has been: burn more energy than you consume. This can be done through modification of diet or an increase in energy burn – preferably both. In short, eat less and move more.

Loking at the points discussed do far, the top ten tips to lose weight are based on these principles. If you are looking to lose weight fast, this list is not for you. Yes, it is possible to lose weight fast, but it is highly probable that you will put it all back on as quickly as you lost it. This plan is long term, you should expect to see notable results six to twelve months after starting. This can be quite a demoralizing thought, but remember; a pound lost using this system is a pound lost for good.

1. Forget fad diets they don’t work

2. Make a decision to exercise every day. Start tomorrow. Walk, cycle, swim – anything is OK

3. Explore small changes that you can make which will lower your daily energy intake.

4. Stop eating fried food. Whatever you do, DON’T fry, instead, microwave, boil, roast, bake, steam or broil!

5. Set a time in the evening – say six 0′ clock. Make a rule NEVER to eat after that time.

6. Get at least 8 hours’ sleep each night. If you are tired during the day you will turn to high energy candiy bars, cakes and cookies to boost your flagging body.

7. Eat breakfast. You’ve heard it before, it’s old hat. That may be, but the indisputable statistical fact is that the vast majority of permanent weight-losers eat breakfast. So just DO IT!

8. DON’T cut out carbohydrates. Your body and brain need carbs (NOT from sugar!) so eat them, preferably with fiber, eg wholemeal bread and pasta, potatoes with the skin on.

9. Cut out fat. This is the most significant change you can make. Fat has a huge calorific value, so do your utmost to find alternatives. Yes, your body needs fat, but don’t worry, no matter how hard you try to eliminate it, thanks to today’s processed food environment you will always eat a degree of fat.

10. Don’t be impatient, you want to lose weight permanently, not lose weight fast. This is a long term program.

: article by Adrian Jenkinson