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Abdominal Obesity is Harmful

By Laura Ng

Do not take lightly that extra fat around your waist. It affects your health in more ways than just being an ugly sight.

Poor lung function

A research published in the medical journal, Chest stated there’s a relationship between lung function and overall obesity and abdominal adiposity (collection of fats) in 2,153 adults in New York.

In fact, abdominal adiposity was a better predictor of lung function than weight or body mass index (BMI). The research further showed that increasing obesity, in particular abdominal obesity, is inversely related with lung function.

For instance, women with a large waist circumference and abdominal height (base-to-top belly measurement) were more likely to suffer from poor lung function.

Cardiovascular disease

And this is only one of the many detrimental effect. Abdominal fat surrounds organs or visceral fat (stubborn fat within the tissues). This leads to unwanted blood clotting and formation of plague in the blood vessels, thereby putting you at risk of a heart attack or stroke when the plague rupture and block the vessels.

That’s why abdominal obesity is one of the culprit in Metabolic Syndrome, an important risk factor for cardiovascular disease.

Metabolic Syndrome is a cluster of conditions comprising of high blood pressure, high blood sugar and lipid abnormalities.

Doctors agree that in the United States, if obesity problem persists, Metabolic Syndrome may soon overtake cigarette smoking as the primary risk factor for cardiovascular disease.

Colon Cancer

Another report in the International Journal of Cancer proved that women with large waists were at higher risk of colon cancer.

In this research, out of the 24,000 women involved in this 10 years research, 212 women were diagnosed with colon cancer during the follow-up sessions.

The researchers found that as the central adiposity (estimated by waist circumference and waist-to-hip ratio) rose, so too did the risk of colon cancer.

A possible explanation could be exercise can lower the risk of colon cancer, therefore the lack of it will increase the risk. The researchers also feel that a fat-related hormone called leptin associated with colon cancer could also be the cause.

Although cancer may not cause by dietary fat intake alone, one thing doctors do agree is that carrying too much fat around your waist definitely does more harm than good.

If you are ready to take charge of your body, get some tested and proven help at www.ionehealth.com

Find out more on how to keep your health in tip-top condition at www.ionehealth.com

Article Source: EzineArticles.com/?expert=Laura_Ng

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How to Get Started with a Fitness Program

By Yuri Elkaim

Step #1 – Walk at least 30 minutes every day

Walking is one the most beneficial activities we can do. It is low stress on the body and has tremendous benefits when it comes to building an aerobic foundation, reducing body fat, and maintaining adequate range of motion in your joints.

Choose walking whenever you have the chance be it going to work, to the store, or anywhere else. Grab a partner or join a walking group to give you some extra motivation and accountability.

Step #2 – Engage in moderate intensity aerobic training 2-4x per week

Walking is a great start but we also have to ensure that you’re pushing your cardiovascular system a little more than normal. Instead of using your heart rate as a gauge (many people find this tedious) you can use what I call the “Talk Test”. The Talk Test ensures that you can carry a conversation while exercising. This would be appropriate for your walking.

But now that we want to step up the intensity, you need to get to a point where maintaining a conversation is no longer easy to do. You’re beginning to hear that “huff and puff” of your breath. Choose any cardio/aerobic activity that you enjoy – running, biking, elliptical, swimming, sports, etc…

We want to do this type of cardio/aerobic training 2-4x per week for at least 20 minutes.

Step #3 – Strength Train 2-4x per week

Resistance (or strength) training is absolutely critical to developing lean muscle and burning fat. It will dramatically increase your resting metabolic rate, strengthen and support your joints, and leave you feeling strong and energetic.

This type of training can take the form of body weight exercises (ie. push-ups, pull-ups, lunges, crunches, dips, etc…) or any other method which will stress your muscles (ie. free weights, tubing, etc…).

These workouts should be well balanced attending to all the body’s musculature and don’t necessarily have to broken up into “chest-biceps” type routines. I prefer using full-body functional training which means that we train movements and not muscle groups. This is the most effective for developing total body strength, balance between muscle groups, and is the most effective for those looking to lose weight.

For starters, choose 6 exercises and do 3 sets of each for 10-15 reps with a weight that will challenge you by the last few reps.

Step #4 – Stretch on a daily basis (and especially after exercise)

Stretching is crucial in order to maintain muscle flexibility and fluid body motion. The last thing you want is to be strong and have great musculature but limited in your range of motion (especially for athletes). Having a good degree of flexbility is also correlated with a reduction in injuries.

Stretching after (not before) your exercise sessions is recommended and helpful in restoring normal muscle length, especially since the muscles have just been subjected to increased loads and have most likely built up a good amount of toxins (ie. lactic acid).

Hold your stretches for 20-30 seconds (without bouncing) and breathe deeply to help further the stretch and deliver oxygen to the muscles. Activities like yoga are great for keeping the body limber.

Do you want to get in great shape but still not sure how to do so and don’t necessarily feel like spending hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars on a trainer?

See how Fitter U™ can help you today!

Yuri Elkaim is a Certified Kinesiologist, Registered Holistic Nutritionist, former Professional Soccer Player, the Head Strength & Conditioning Coach for the University of Toronto men’s soccer program, and regarded by many as Canada’s leading Fitness expert. His trademarked Fitter U™ program is the world’s only 12-week body shaping fitness program for iPod/MP3 players, guaranteed to help you lose weight, burn fat, and feel great with only 3 workouts per week. For more information on his Fitter U™ program that will help you achieve the body you’ve always wanted in just 90 days visit www.mp3personaltrainer.com/content.php?id=77

Article Source: EzineArticles.com/?expert=Yuri_Elkaim

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Tips For Buying Used Treadmills Smart

By David Faulkner

Treadmills are expensive, but you can save a few bucks by picking up a used one. There is a lot that can go wrong with a used treadmill, so make sure you know what you’re getting before you buy.

Where To Buy Used Treadmills

You can buy used treadmills from fitness clubs, online dealers like eBay, classifieds, and sports store chains like Play It Again Sports. When it comes to used treadmills, where you buy may be as important as what you buy.

If you buy from a sports store, make sure they have some kind of warrantee or return policy. Most sports store check the machine to make sure it’s up to speed before they sell it.

You can also find used treadmills at thrift stores like the Salvation Army, but it’s risky. There’s a good chance the electronics will not work, and thrift stores offer no guarantee. If you want something that runs, and don’t need the electronics and special features, this would be a good bargain.

Gyms sell used treadmills, but usually these treadmills have been used and abused. It may be on its dying breath. You’ll be lucky if it doesn’t collapse the minute you step onto it. Why do you think the gym is selling it?

The truth is, they may be selling it to make room for new ones. Actually, gyms use the best quality treadmills available, so it’s definitely going to be a good model. Still, it’s risky to buy from gyms. Their used treadmills have been run hard.

A much better place to get a used treadmill is from someone who just doesn’t use it. There are lots of people like this out there. It’s easy to get on an exercise kick and splurge on this giant piece of fitness equipment, then get bogged down with work or lose the drive. The treadmill turns into a piece of furniture. Used treadmills purchased from people who never use them are usually in pretty good shape.

A Few Things To Keep In Mind

In general, you should watch out for used treadmills that are more than a year old. Most treadmills have a year warrantee, and after that things can start breaking. Modern treadmills are sturdily built, but contain electronic components and motors that can start to run down after a couple of years.

If you’re getting a used treadmill, it’s always best to buy one that is a major, trusted brand. This insures that it is high quality and built to last. A treadmill that was expensive in the first place might be a great deal used. Look for major brands like Nordic Track, Proform, Bowflex and Horizon.

Ask the previous owner lots of questions. Find out if they were the only owner. If somebody had the treadmill before them, it’s probably not worth your money no matter how low the cost.

Finally, remember that you can get a simple new treadmill for as low as $750 if you shop around. It might be a good idea to pay the extra cash and have the piece of mind of knowing that your machine is brand new. The warrantee also helps!

Buying used treadmills is a great way to save money, just make sure you buy smart. Follow these tips and shop around, and you’ll find a great deal.

You can also find more info on Treadmill Reviews and Weslo Treadmills. Besttreadmillratings.com is a comprehensive resource to find the best treadmill.

Article Source: EzineArticles.com/?expert=David_Faulkner

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Home Gym and Fitness Equipment Facts

By Kent Glines

At some point in your life you’ve thought about purchasing a home gym. Why didn’t you? Perhaps it was monetary or you just didn’t understand the benefits. In reality a home gym is a great addition to any house. Most people consider the home gym to be one piece of exercise equipment so the user can do multiple and different exercises on one machine. In most cases this is true, however a home gym can be so much more. It’s not necessarily just one piece of equipment anymore. It can also consist of a set of dumbbells, barbells and free weights.

Some of the benefits to having your own home gym are:

1. It’s open any time you want to use it.
2. There are never any waiting lines to use the equipment.
3. There are not any ongoing membership fees.
4. You’re in control of your own environment like TV or stereo.
5. You won’t catch any germs from other people so you won’t get sick.

Types of Equipment

If you do decide that owning your own equipment is the best thing for you, the next item on the agenda will be to decide exactly what type of equipment you need. To help you decide which way to go with your own equipment, you should consider what your goals are. One important point to remember is that you can always add more equipment at a later time. Advances in home gym equipment have evolved from the chrome monsters of 10 years ago to the sleek machines of today. Let’s take a look at some of the options that are available at this time.

Cardiovascular Machines:

1. Elliptical machines are for cardiovascular workouts and are excellent since they work both the upper and lower body.

2. Treadmills are one of the most popular types of exercise machines however they only work the lower body.

3. Rowing machines are also excellent pieces of workout equipment if you want to get a full body workout.

4. Recumbent bikes are also a good way to get a lower body workout.

5. Stair Steppers, AKA Stair Climbers will get your heart racing with its lower body workout.

6. Ski machines give both the upper and lower body workout.

There are more and more cardiovascular machines coming onto the market almost daily. Just watch the late night infomercials to see some of the newest.

Weight Machines to build and tone muscles:

1. Bowflex is a full workout machine, which uses flexible rods for resistance instead of weights. Very popular!

2. Body Solid makes several different types of weight machines including their “Leverage System”.

3. Pro Gym, Weider, and a host of others manufacture multi-station home gyms designed for just about any budget.

Consider this: When you purchase a complete home gym package like a Bowflex system for example, you may want to hire a personal trainer that is familiar with your particular equipment for a couple of sessions, just to help you to get started off on the right foot.

A home gym is one of the best ways to start out on the fitness path. There is one and only one drawback when you decide to purchase your new home gym equipment. The drawback is that there is an endless number of different brands and models to choose from. One of the biggest advantages to owning your own equipment is that you can decide when YOU want to exercise since you’ll be open 24/7.

Kent Glines has been a personal trainer who has achieved more than typical results with his clients by sticking to most of the common supplement and exercise basics.

More information about Fitness Equipment and Home Gym Equipment can be found at www.bodybuildingdiscount.net

Article Source: EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kent_Glines

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Muscle Building Secrets for the Weight Lifting Newbie

By Michael Prendergast

If you are interested in looking good and being healthy, you may want to undertake a regimen of weight lifting to build your muscles and your confidence. Perhaps you have always wanted to look like bodybuilders in magazines. Or maybe you want to improve your football, baseball or basketball hing to remember when looking for muscle building secrets is that nothing is that instant successperformance. It is possible that you are feeling in general tired and out of shape and know you need more than aerobic exercise, but also physical strength to cope with every day life and to feel good as well as look good. You may want to know muscle building secrets that will bring you success as an athlete, in your appearance and in life, and many people are willing to search high and low and to pay large sums of money to discover muscle building secrets that will take them from scrawny to toned or fat to fit.

The most important t is not guaranteed. Many people enter into a weight lifting program only to drop it after a few days or a few weeks because they went too far to fast and expected to be a toned athlete in a short amount of time. Like most pursuits, body building requires patience, endurance and a lot of self-discipline. The problem with wanting to look like people in the magazine, is that so few people do look like them; that’s why they are in a magazine. It is best to drop your images of absolute success and take baby steps.

Among the most important muscle building secrets is to be consistent, yet don’t push yourself too hard. One of the worst hazards of body building is overtraining which can lead to burnout. This is counter-intuitive, because usually you might think the more work you do the better you get. However, you don’t just build muscles in the gym, but also asleep in bed. When you rest, your muscles repair torn tissue and become toned and stronger. Therefore, you will need plenty of rest as part of your body building routine.

At least in the beginning, don’t lift weights every day, but go to the gym for weight training every other day to give your muscles a chance to rebuild. Among muscle building secrets are special diets and special foods which will supposedly make your muscles grow. The best way to build your muscles is by eating a balanced diet; for each meal, you need 40% protein, 40% carbohydrates and 20% fats. If you are interested in reducing your fat and increasing your muscle, eat slightly less carbohydrates and fats. Do not, however, cut out fats and carbohydrates completely from your diet, since your body will be starved for these nutrients, fight back and hamper your progress. Keep them to a minimum but include them. Don’t pay attention to muscle building secrets which will guarantee ways you can “turn” fat into muscle. This is a biological impossibility, since muscle and fat are two completely different kinds of material. As you reduce fat, you can gradually gain more muscle, but one does not turn into another.

Muscle building secrets for those who want to maximize their muscle mass should be applied with discretion and by consulting someone experienced.

Mike Prendergast owns and operates www.supplementuk.com Body Building Supplement

Article Source: EzineArticles.com/?expert=Michael_Prendergast

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Listen Up Everyone Because Here Is What You Need To Know About Protein

By Ian Mackie

How much protein do we need to be healthy?

Aptly enough, the word “protein” is derived from a Greek root meaning “of first importance”, and protein – which constitutes about one-fifth of an adult’s body weight – is the basic material of life.

Proteins are constantly being broken down in our bodies. Most of the amino acids are reused, but we must continually replace some of those that are lost. Without dietary protein, growth and all bodily functions would not take place.

The 13 amino acids our body can make are known, somewhat confusingly, as the “nonessential” amino acids. They are in fact essential, but not as part of our diet. The nine “essential” amino acids are those we have to eat. We can either get them from plant protein directly or by eating animals that consume plants and animals.

Getting Complete Protein

Nutritionists use the phrases “complete protein” and “incomplete protein” to describe the proteins provided by various foods. If a food supplies a sufficient amount of the nine essential amino acids, it is called a complete protein. Virtually all proteins from animal foods are complete. Foods that lack or are short on one or more of the essential amino acids – such as some fruits, grains, and vegetables – are called incomplete proteins.

Such plant-derived foods can nonetheless be excellent sources of protein if eaten in combinations that supply all of the essential amino acids. For example, the amino acids missing in a vegetable can be provided by eating a grain product, another vegetable, or an animal-derived protein at the same meal.

Animal vs. vegetable

Meat and other animal products are the most readily available sources of complete protein. The protein content, by weight, of cooked meat, fish, poultry, and mild solids is between 15 and 40 percent. The protein content of cooked cereals, beans, lentils and peas ranges from 3 to 10 percent.

Potatoes, fruits, and leafy green vegetables come in at 3 percent or lower. Soybeans and nuts have a protein content comparable to meat, but, depending upon how they are prepared, their proteins may not be as easily digested. However, recent research suggests that in a mixed or even totally vegetarian diet, the issue of digestibility is not too important. For someone eating a whole grain and vegetable diet, no more than 15 percent of the protein consumed would be unavailable because of problems with digestibility.

The fact that we are omnivorous, that is, we can eat both meats and plants, has contributed to the survival of the human species. But as anthropologists have pointed out, human beings have overwhelmingly preferred meat to other foods. And a number of experts attribute the general good health, increased height, and longevity of people of developed countries today to their high-protein diets.

Protein Requirements

The body cannot store protein, so it needs a fresh supply every day.

If, like most Americans, you consume mostly high-quality protein, your total requirement will there fore be slightly less. If you get almost all your protein from plant sources, it will be slightly greater.

Children under eighteen need some additional protein to allow for growth, and the younger they are, the more protein they need per pound of body weight.

Pregnant women are allocated an additional 10 grams of protein per day by the RDA, lactating mothers an extra 12 to 15 grams during the first six months.

Sources of Protein

The foods below (click here to view the full chart) are all good sources of protein. The listed protein amounts are averages. Many foods that are relatively high in protein are also high in fat, so the chart indicates the percentage of fat accompanying each food. Try to limit your intake of protein sources that derive more than 30 percent of their calories from fat.

Food Source Dairy and Eggs	Protein (Grams)	Fat Calories
Cheddar cheese, 1 oz.	7	70%
Cottage cheese (2%), 1/2 cup	16	17%
Egg, 1 medium	6	68%
Ice cream, hard, vanilla, 1/2 cup	2	48%
Milk, skim, 1 cup	8	5%
Mozzarella, part skim, 1 oz.	8	56%
Ricotta, part skim, 1/2 cup	10	53%
Yogurt, low-fat, plain, 1 cup	12	25%
Meat and Fish (4oz.)	Protein (Grams)	Fat Calories
Chicken, light meat, roasted, no skin	31	26%
Ground beef, extra lean, broiled	33	56%
Sirloin steak, choice cut, trimmed, broiled	35	37%
Tuna, canned, in water	33	12%
Turkey breast, roasted, no skin	24	6%
Grains	Protein (Grams)	Fat Calories
Oatmeal, 1 cup cooked	6	12%
Rice, brown, 1 cup cooked	5	4%
Spaghetti, 1 cup cooked	6	5%
Whole wheat bread, 2 slices	6	13%
Legumes and nuts	Protein (Grams)	Fat Calories
Almonds, 1 oz.	6	82%
Cashews, dry roasted, 1 oz.	4	71%
Lentils, 1/2 cup cooked	8	4%
Lima beans, 1/2 cup cooked	8	3%
Peanut butter, 2 Tbsp.	10	76%
Red kidney beans, 1/2 cup canned	8	4%
Soybeans, 1/2 cup cooked	10	33%
Tofu, 4 oz.	9	55%

Back: Protein Requirements

Next: Food Additives

Visit Quick Medical – www.quickmedical.com – for an extensive collection of health and fitness information designed to inform the consumer on many of today’s most talked about health topics. Shop online for thousands of professional and home health products, from medical equipment to home medical supplies and fitness products.

Article Source: EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ian_Mackie

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Fat Loss For Idiots – Lose 9lbs in Every 11 Days

By Kuan Chee Hong

Despite what you may think, losing weight isn’t a mysterious process. In fact, weight loss doesn’t even have to involve strange diets, special exercises or even the ‘magic’ of pills or fitness gadgets. Want the secret to weight loss? Make small changes each and every day and you’ll slowly (but surely) lose those extra pounds.

There are many reasons why should we lose weight. The following reason is what we think of:

1. Because you whine that you need to. Have you ever been wrong about anything?

2. Twenty pounds of warm human fat can refill every bottle in an empty case of beer, with enough left over to fill your blender.

3. The statement “There’s more of me to love” has an actual bedroom translation of “There’s more of me to endure.”

4. It’s not scaling Everest or writing the great American novel. You can do it in your spare time.

5. You’ll speak of toaster pastries the way you talk about that dirty blonde from the blues bar in Berkeley, another whiskey-soaked lament over a love too great to last.

6. It’s the difference between being thought of as jolly or witty.

7. You’ll lose weight everywhere, including the suprapubic fat pad at the base of your penis. So as your belly shrinks, something else appears to grow.

8. Decreased: your chances of developing heart disease, prostate cancer, diabetes, sleep apnea, depression, back pain, impotence, gallstones, joint problems, high blood pressure, low sperm counts, and an impressive collection of prescription-drug bottles.

9. Increased: your chances of putting four fingers on a basketball rim.

10. You’ll literally get closer to women.

11. Holy sh— . . . abs!

12. Men who lose weight never have less sex. They may not have more, mind you, but they never have less.

13. You’ll shock the world at your local pool by being the only “big splash” champ to win the “little splash” crown.

14. Research shows that since you’ll have less weight propelling you into the windshield, you’ll also have less risk of dying when your car hits a semi.

15. Every time you pick up a 20-pound dumbbell, you’ll remember.

16. You’ll be able to reach even more places to scratch.

17. The clothing cliche: It’s liberating the first time your pants fall down by themselves.

18. More pullups, because there’s less to pull up.

19. Wait till you ride a WaveRunner, quad, or snowmobile when you’re 20 pounds lighter. Vroom, baby.

20. In our society, people respect weight loss. Even if you do nothing cool or interesting or memorable for the rest of your life, you’ll have done that.

Anyway, I found that many people are losing weight successfully, whereby they lose 9lbs in every 11 days. On top of that these lose weight program can be done by anyone and also maintain your health. For more information please click here.

Article Source: EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kuan_Chee_Hong

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Weight Watchers Point Plan & Calculator – The Pros & Cons of the Weight Watchers Point System

By Tobius Whitman

Weight Watchers Points Program is commercially successful, however with such weight loss tools it is important for participants to get a good idea of the program and how it works. This article provides a brief point view of the Pros & Cons of the Weight Watchers Point System that allows anyone to obtain an overview about how the program works and the benefits it can off. Hopefully this will help you make the decision whether or not Weight Watchers Point System is for you.

Weight Watchers Point System

The Pros:

– Weight Watchers Programs balance a nutritional diet, with counselling and exercise, which are the keys to both healthy weight loss and healthy living.

– The programs nutritional values never leaves dieters feeling hungry or lethargic, it maintains the body’s metabolism rate and avoids creating fat stores within the body (starvation leads to fat stores).

– A very nutritional diet program with recipes and meals being provided to members that are directly related to the Weight Watchers Point System. Dieters are able to keep these materials themselves.

– One of the few major programs to offer face-to-face support.

– It is also a flexible program that can be conducted online through help forums for meetings, or not attending meetings all together and simply using the program tools such as the Weight Watchers Online Point Calculator.

– The Points program doesn’t just provide dieters with a solid diet program, but also avoids pill pushing and starvation techniques, and educates the dieter on potion control and the nutritional value certain foods have.

– The Weight Watchers Point System takes the worry out of weight loss as dieters have a freedom of choice within their diet as no foods are “off-limit” and its flexibility enures everyday use no matter what type of schedule the member has.

– An incredible number of positive testimonials and commercial success that is based just as much on results as successful marketing.

Weight Watchers Point System

The Cons:

– The Weight Watchers Point System heavily relies on gimmicks to sell the product. Whether it is the Weight Watchers Points, Weight Watchers Point Chart, and Weight Watchers Point Calculator etc. These devices are aggressively marketed to prospective dieters in attempt to make the process appear easy.

– Advertising also convinces overweight people that they can lose weight without sacrificing the foods they love. The truth however is that through the Weight Watchers Point System, and Weight Watchers Point Calculator, dieters are only able to eat tiny portions of the unhealthy food to fit within the point schedule.

– From various studies, on average only 5% of dieters maintain weight loss beyond five years from starting the program and in these cases it has usually been achieved via long-term therapy that can be expensive.

– The use of therapy and meeting attendance within the Weight Watchers Program can potentially prevent development of self-discipline and reliance.

– There have been a number of testimonials reporting the meetings within the Weight Watchers Program as annoying and expensive, and that a competitive nature is fostered.

– Dieters have also reported becoming obsessed with food within he program due to the extensive focus on managing points within the Weight Watchers Point System.

In concluding it is clear that the Weight Watchers Points plans offer both positives and negatives for the dieter. Understanding these aspects, as well as conducting an honest self-analysis of yourself is critical to identifying whether or the plan is for you. Most of the negative aspects of the Weight Watchers Points System can be mitigated through the use of tools and support such as the Weight Watchers Point Calculator, and Weight Watchers Point Chart etc. However the conclusion drawn by Dr. Stanley Heshka, author of the Weight Watchers Program study within the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) is a must to consider for any prospective Weight Watch Dieters:

“…while Weight Watchers and similar programs may work for some people, they clearly don’t work for everyone. Programs have the best chances of working if they feel natural to the people following them, otherwise the weight loss is too difficult to maintain. It works as long as you stay with it.”

SOURCE: Journal of the American Medical Association 2003;289:1792-1798,1833-1836.

Tobius Whitman is an expert in the feild of Health & Nutrition with a special focus on Weight Loss. He has an extensive knowledge and experience with the Weight Watcher Program, particularly the Weight Watcher Point Calculator and as a result has produced several detailed reviews regarding the products Weight Watchers offer.

For more details refer to his site at www.weightwatcherspointcalculator.com

Article Source: EzineArticles.com/?expert=Tobius_Whitman

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Red Raspberry – Just the FAQs

By Dr. Paul Gross

Where do red raspberries grow and what characteristics do the berries have?

Reds grow wild in temperate zones from the mid-south US to near-Arctic latitudes of northern Canada and are cultivated mainly in northern US states, particularly Oregon, and southern Canada. Raspberries grow on every continent except Antarctica (understandable) and Australia. Approximately 1 million pounds of red raspberries are harvested commercially worldwide, with Russia, the USA and Poland contributing together nearly half of the total.

The genus Rubus contains over 740 species as perennial, deciduous, woody shrubs with long vines (“brambles”) covered by thorns. Rubus also includes roses and diverse other major fruits, including strawberries, apples, pears and peaches.

What do raspberries have in common with apples and strawberries?

At first blush, it may be difficult to find common characteristics between an apple and a strawberry or red raspberry. Not only are the edible fruits very different, but also there is wide disparity between sizes and structures of the plant itself and its fruit. One important botanical similarity, however, is the structure of the flower, as all these fruit plants typically have 5-7 white/pink petals around a central cluster of yellow stamens.

What is a “bramble” and is this the same as a “cane”?

A bramble is any plant belonging to the genus Rubus, of which the most commonly known– and enjoyed– are the red or black raspberry and blackberry, each having numerous hybrids. There are also some hybrids between the red raspberry and blackberry, such as boysenberries and loganberries.

Saying “bramble” is just a quick way to say “raspberries, blackberries, and related berry plants with thorny vines.” Mainly in Oregon, these fruits are also called “caneberries” because they grow on woody stems called canes.

What is it about red raspberries that consumers most like?

Red raspberries are a healthy addition to everyone’s diet. This fruit has a unique delicious taste and is packed with vitamins, antioxidants and fiber. Possibly the most promising benefit from consuming red raspberries is their substantial quantity of ellagic acid, a phenolic antioxidant compound known as a potent anti-carcinogenic compound. Clinical tests show that ellagic acid may inhibit the growth of cancer cells.

Nutritious raspberries are a great addition to recipes or as a healthy fresh snack by the handful. Raspberries don’t have to be fresh to be nutritious, as quick-frozen and canned berries retain most of the fresh fruit qualities.

Flash freezing, which is used to make IQF (immediately quick frozen) red raspberries, helps trap nutrients and plant chemicals immediately after harvest and provides for a healthier fruit.

Oil from red raspberry seeds is popular as a skin moisturizer, as it is high in vitamin C, alpha-linolenic acid (omega-3 fatty acid) and linoleic acid (omega-6 fatty acid). The oil also has potent sun-blocking properties (SPF rating above 25).

The leaves of the red raspberry score highly in antioxidant assays and are popular in tea blends, providing an exceptional source of antioxidant tannins to the beverage.

What nutrients stand out in the red raspberry? Red raspberries are one of the plant world’s richest sources of vitamin C (30 mg per serving of 1 cup, about 50% Daily Value), manganese (about 60% Daily Value) and dietary fiber (20% of weight or 30% Daily Value). The berry is also loaded with vitamin A, B vitamins 1-3, iron, calcium and potassium.

Reds rank near the top of all fruits for antioxidant strength, particularly due to their dense contents of ellagic acid (from ellagotannins), quercetin, gallic acid, anthocyanins, cyanidins, pelargonidins, catechins, kaempferol and salicylic acid. All these are phenolic antioxidants with promising health benefits.

What is the antioxidant strength of red raspberries?

Due to their rich contents of antioxidant vitamins A and C and the phenolics mentioned above, red raspberries have an ORAC value (oxygen radical absorbance capacity) of about 4900 per 100 grams, which makes them among the top-ranked ORAC fruits. Cranberries and wild blueberries have around 9000 ORAC units and apples average 2800.

What does medical research say about the health properties of red raspberries?

The following anti-disease properties have been isolated in experimental models. Although there are no clinical studies to date proving these effects in humans, medical research shows likely benefit of regularly consuming red raspberries against:

• Inflammation

• Pain

• Cancer

• Cardiovascular disease

• Diabetes

• Allergies

• Age-related cognitive decline

• Degeneration of eyesight with aging

Reading

* US National Library of Medicine, PubMed, pubmed.gov

* University of Georgia on Rubus species, www.uga.edu/fruit/rubus.htm

* Oregon Raspberry and Blackberry Commission, www.oregon-berries.com

* Washington Raspberry Commission, www.red-raspberry.org/

* Wikipedia on Raspberries, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raspberry

* World’s Healthiest Foods on Raspberries, whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=39

Copyright 2006 Berry Health Inc.

Dr. Paul Gross is a scientist and expert on cardiovascular and brain physiology. A published researcher, Gross recently completed a book on the Chinese wolfberry and has begun another on antioxidant berries. Gross is founder of Berry Health Inc, a developer of nutritional, berry-based supplements. For more information, visit www.berrywiseonline.com

Article Source: EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dr._Paul_Gross

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Stop Skipping Breakfast If You Don’t Want To Be Fat!

By Bryan Lee

Introduction Breakfast is the first meal of our day after we wake up, and is also known as the KING of all meals – the most important one. Not only does breakfast provide us the energy to jumpstart our day, eating breakfast also plays an extremely crucial role in fat loss. This article will further investigate why and how the king of all meals will promote fat loss in our bodies.

Skipping Breakfast Many people on a fat loss diet choose to skip breakfast for one very simple reason – to remove some calories from their diet. After all, by taking in lesser calories than we need, we will be losing weight, right? Not in our case, and we shall see why.

What Happens When You Skip Breakfast? Skipping breakfast brings about many undesirable ill-effects to our body. Researchers have found that healthy women who skipped breakfast for two weeks actually ate more during the rest of the day. These women also had higher levels of LDL cholesterol (BAD) and lower insulin levels than the group of women who ate breakfast. The women who ate breakfast were found to have consumed a total of 100 calories less than the group which skipped breakfast!

So what does this mean? LDL cholesterol, which is bad cholesterol, can clog up our arteries, increasing our risk to heart diseases. When an artery gets clogged up, heart attacks or strokes can happen.

Lower insulin levels are related to diabetes. Insulin is a hormone that helps us store excess glucose in our blood. If our body becomes insensitive to insulin, excess glucose will not be stored, resulting in diabetes.

Upon waking up, the stress hormones in our body (cortisol) are sky high. One function of cortisol is to convert proteins into blood glucose. Excess glucose gets converted into fats. Prolonged periods of skipping breakfast will result in a lot of our body muscles to be broken down and converted into fats. Result? You devolve into a lump of fat!

Start Eating Breakfast! Eating breakfast, especially cereal foods, will release carbohydrates into our bloodstream. Detecting the presence of excess glucose in our bloodstream, our body releases huge amounts of insulin. Insulin is cortisol’s worst nightmare, and the introduction of so much insulin into our body will suppress cortisol levels!

Since our body is so starved during our sleep, all those excess glucose will be immediately shuttled into our liver and muscle cells instead of being converted into fat. Hence, if you have a sweet tooth, breakfast is also the best time of the day to satisfy your sweet cravings without worrying about putting on excess weight! One more reason to not skip breakfast!

Conclusion Fat people skip breakfast. Remember that. If you don’t want to be fat anymore, start eating your breakfast. It is also the only time of the day when you have the least chances of putting on fat. It is the best time of the day to satisfy that sweet craving too! Start eating breakfast tomorrow when you wake up, stop skipping it anymore!

Bryan Lee is an author of Figurelicious (www.figurelicious.com), dedicated to helping people lose weight easy and healthy way. If you found the article above helpful, you can go to Figurelicious for more articles written by Bryan.

Article Source: EzineArticles.com/?expert=Bryan_Lee

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7 Techniques To Burn 8 Pounds Of Fat This Month

By Curtis Ludlow

Many people are unhappy with their bodies. They see limited, if any, results from their hours of hard work, deprivation from their favorite foods, and sweat. Why does this happen so often? There is often little if any thought given to the overall exercise plan. Many people fail to plan and therefore are planning to fail. It’s cliche. But it is true. You need a plan to succeed with anything. Here are the most important elements of an effective fitness and fat loss plan.

Do you waste time with exercises like bicep curls or walking on the treadmill? For 99% of all people, exercises like these are inefficient. Why spend time on a walking machine when you can go outside and just walk. Why work just a few of your muscles when you can work them ALL? Use some common sense, what do you think is more efficient, working just one muscle group or working them all? The most efficient thing you can do, if you goal is maximum fitness, is to perform full body, multi-joint, compound exercises.

This means that you should focus on working EVERY muscle in your body during every exercise and induce your body to elevate metabolism.

Which exercise do you think is most effective;

1. lying down on your back for some leg presses,
2. sitting down on a leg extension machine for leg extensions
3. doing standing low squats with a shoulder press.

If you answered low squat with a shoulder press you get the prize . . .

A simple exercise like a low squat engages every fiber of your leg musculature while simultaneously working the lower back, abdominals, and deep core muscles. As a matter of fact, a common concern I hear from the people I train is that their abs are sore, even though we rarely perform crunches or other traditional abdominal exercises. And if we do perform abdominal exercises they are only a part of the program because old habits die hard. People, for some reason, need to feel the burn in the area where they want to lose fat. So, again, total body, multi-joint compound movements are the way to go. Do them and watch the fat fry off your frame.

Tabata

Dr. Izumi Tabata, a Japanese exercise physiologist, developed an exercise protocol that was found to me more effective than any other for increasing aerobic and anaerobic exercise capacities.

What does that mean?

The best way to improve fitness, the most efficient way, is by following his method of training. What is the protocol? Work at maximum capacity for 20 seconds and follow that period of work with a 10 second rest.

Repeat 8-times.

The total workout time is just 4-minutes, yet it is more effective than hour-plus-long exercise regimens.

Thermogenic

When you eat the right food, in the right quantities, and at the right times, your body is actually forced to work harder (burn more calories) than if attention isn’t paid to these factors.

Here is the ‘Cliff’s Notes’ version of what to do: Eat a lean protein, starchy carb, and fibrous carb every 3 – 3 ½ hours, in visually equal proportions. Plain english version, eat low fat meats, veggies, and a whole grain every 3 – 3 ½ hours. Doing this properly can increase calorie burning by 15%.

Synergy

When you combine ALL of these methods of eating and training together in a comprehensive PLAN, with one purpose; to get in the best shape of your life, amazing results are inevitable. And what is ‘synergy’?
This is when 1 + 1 does not equal 2.
Synergy is when 1 + 1 = 11.
The results of each effort are amplified by the results of the other efforts. They build on each other. While I do not recommend losing more than 2 pounds of weight per week, when this exact protocol is followed, a 2 pound weight loss per week, or more, is common.

Commitment

If you want to do something, anything, you need to make a commitment to yourself to just do it. One way to do this is to write down you goal. If you have a weight loss goal, you must write it down. Then you must think about it often.

How often?
ALL of the time. And a key point here is to NOT focus on the weight. Focus instead on the emotions you will feel, the things you will do, the great new clothes you will wear and the great relationships you will have with family and friends.

Focusing on the end result helps you stick with the commitment.

Words

If you say that you are going to ‘try’ and lose some weight, you are basically saying that you are NOT going to lose the weight. What if some evil-dictator-presidente told you that you had to get down to YOUR goal weight by May 31, 2007 and keep it off for a full year or he would kill you and your family. Would you be committed to releasing the fat? Or would you ‘just try’ to lose some weight?

Or what if a loved one needed a kidney transplant and your doctor told you that your kidney is the only thing that could save his or her life. BUT you first needed to get to your goal weight before they could use the kidney (a fatty kidney is not usable and would just do more damage) Would you ‘try to get to your goal weight’ and ‘see if you might be able to’ or would you do EVERYTHING you could, focusing every minute on every bite, every exercise, to get the fat off and keep it off?

I think you know the answer to those questions.
You would make it happen.
The weight would come off.
There would not be any dilly-dallying around.
Well, why don’t you make that type of commitment to yourself right now.
If you are not at your peak right now, what can you do to get there?

Action

If you write your goal of losing 8 pounds of fat this month on a sheet of paper, read it everyday, and let ‘The Universe’ do the work, how much fat are you going to lose? I hope that you know that ‘The Universe’ will answer your prayers and recognize your desire to lose weight when you commit to losing the fat and take efficient, consistent, and focused action. You have to get all of the parts right, all the time. You cannot ‘be good’ some of the time and expect a dramatic change. For a dramatic physical change you need to make a dramatic mental change and follow it with consistent, efficient, and focused action.

You do that by putting your goal on paper and referring to it multiple times throughout the day. Focus on the reasons why you want it, what you will get out of it; and what you will DO to make it happen.

Ready to make it Happen Now?

Most people eventually reach a point where they are fed up with the let’s see what happens weight loss strategy’. When they reach this point, they contact me. I am the author of the book ‘Fitness Cybernetics: How to Create Your Dream Body and Life Using the Law of Attraction’, founder of BootCampFX, the 30-minute fitness and fat loss bootcamp, and have years of experience helping people just like you reach their body and life goals. I can set you up on a fitness program and put you on the path to fitness success. www.curtisludlow.com Create health! Curtis Ludlow

Article Source: EzineArticles.com/?expert=Curtis_Ludlow

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Battling-Schizophrenia Has Moved Servers and Is Back Online Now

Greetings and Salutations ..

Sorry for the delay in accessing this site. The nameservers have kicked in over the past weekend and this blog is now ready for new posts. I am in the final stages of testing the database, the permissions, etc etc etc. but, the more I prepare all of the other sites .. it’s going faster and faster now.

Yep! We’re almost there .. and back to normal!

So – please take a look around, and see if you notice anything different. I would appreciate your comments …

(Q) Does this blog seem to load faster for you

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And Speaking of Stress!

Greetings and Salutations ..

The nameservers have kicked in over the past weekend and this blog is now ready for new posts. I am in the final stages of testing the database, the permissions, etc etc etc. but, the more I prepare all of the other sites .. it’s going faster and faster now. Now .. I’m not going to be dishonest .. it has been quite stressful moving two servers into a larger server, and getting everything to work .. and then seeing my sites offline for another day .. well .. *whew!*

Yep! We’re almost there .. and back to normal! Less stress for me!

So – please take a look around, and see if you notice anything different. I would appreciate your comments …

(Q) Does this blog seem to load faster for you

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Hello. We Have Moved Servers.

Greetings and Salutations ..

The nameservers have kicked in over the past weekend and this blog is now ready for new posts. I am in the final stages of testing the database, the permissions, etc etc etc. but, the more I prepare all of the other sites .. it’s going faster and faster now.

Yep! We’re almost there .. and back to normal!

So – please take a look around, and see if you notice anything different. I would appreciate your comments …

(Q) Does this blog seem to load faster for you?

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The Move Is Complete and We’re On A New Server

Greetings and Salutations ..

The nameservers have kicked in over the past weekend and this blog is now ready for new posts. I am in the final stages of testing the database, the permissions, etc etc etc. but, the more I prepare all of the other sites .. it’s going faster and faster now. In fact .. this blog was accidentally destroyed (didn’t notice it until just a few moments ago) but my experience in getting all the other ones going let me rebuild in minutes!

Yep! We’re almost there .. and back to normal!

So – please take a look around, and see if you notice anything different. I would appreciate your comments …

(Q) Does this blog seem to load faster for you

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Welcome to the New Server

Greetings and Salutations ..

The nameservers have kicked in over the past weekend and this blog is now ready for new posts. I am in the final stages of testing the database, the permissions, etc etc etc. but, the more I prepare all of the other sites .. it’s going faster and faster now.

Yep! We’re almost there .. and back to normal!

So – please take a look around, and see if you notice anything different. I would appreciate your comments …

(Q) Does this blog seem to load faster for you

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Finally Upgraded and ..

Greetings and Salutations ..
The nameservers have kicked in over the past weekend and this blog is now ready for new posts. I am in the final stages of testing the database, the permissions, etc etc etc. but, the more I prepare all of the other sites .. it’s going faster and faster now.

Yep! We’re almost there .. and back to normal!

So – please take a look around, and see if you notice anything different. I would appreciate your comments …

(Q) Does this blog seem to load faster for you?

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Low Thyroid – A Common Reason For Overweight, Depression and CFS Or ME

By Jackie Bushell

Your thyroid is a gland situated in the front of your neck. The hormones (chemical messengers) that it produces affect a great number of your body processes and other glands. So if your thyroid becomes underactive (medical name hypothyroidism), your whole body is thrown off balance.

Official estimates of hypothyroidism in Western populations vary from two to seven per cent, although some experts believe it is significantly under-diagnosed, and that the true percentage is probably as high as thirty per cent. Whatever the case, hypothyroidism appears to be increasing and this is starting to attract the attention of researchers, clinicians and government health departments as an emerging public health problem.

So how do you tell if you might have an underactive thyroid? Lack of energy, weight gain, dry, pale skin, feeling cold all the time and depression are the most well known symptoms. But low thyroid can cause a surprisingly wide variety of symptoms, which can be totally different from individual to individual. Many of the symptoms are also symptoms of other conditions. For these reasons, and because physicians are generally unaware that hypothyroidism is so common, hypothyroidism is a frequently missed diagnosis.

An example of this is the person who complains of putting on weight unexpectedly or being unable to lose weight despite a modest calorie intake. Such a person is almost automatically assumed to be overeating and told to reduce calorie intake. Even if they ask whether it could be their thyroid, they are unlikely to be tested.

Or take depression. What thyroid expert Dr Barry Durrant-Peatfield says is quite shocking: “Any patient suffering from depression should be routinely assessed for hypothyroidism. There should be no exceptions; half to one third will be found to be hypothyroid, and as a result of treatment, their depression will begin to lift in weeks.” How many people are being treated for depression with medications or psychiatric counseling, when in actual fact they just need their thyroid fixed?

Yet another example is high cholesterol. Studies show that more than ten per cent of people with high cholesterol have hypothyroidism, but unfortunately most people with high cholesterol are not tested for this. That’s a lot of people who are taking cholesterol-lowering drugs needlessly.

CFS (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome) or ME is another condition which experts believe is in many cases actually misdiagnosed hypothyroidism. Low fertility and repeated miscarriages is another. Other problems that can be caused by hypothyroidism include:

brittle nails, hair loss, boils and spots, eczema and psoriasis, hoarse voice, slow speech
constipation and haemorrhoids, painful irregular periods
muscle weakness, muscle and joint pain and stiffness, shooting pains in hands and feet, carpal tunnel syndrome
gallstones, visual disturbances, breathlessness, halitosis, candida (intestinal yeast overgrowth)
impotence, loss of libido, bladder irritation and frequency
deafness and tinnitus (ringing in the ears), ankle swelling, palpitations, anxiety and panic attacks
ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), poor memory, poor concentration and slow thinking

Even if hypothyroidism is considered as a possible diagnosis by the physician, the problem doesn’t end there. Thyroid tests fail to pick up many cases – the current ‘normal’ ranges for thyroid test results are quite wide, and thought by many thyroid experts to be wrong. Sanford Siegal, DO, MD, a US thyroid specialist, believes that about ten per cent of the population is hypothyroid but that maybe only half test positive with the blood tests that are currently used.

Dr Siegal’s experience with patients who test negative but have clinical symptoms of hypothyroidism is that there is often marked improvement when thyroid supplementation is given. His experience has led him to believe that around a quarter of those who have difficulty in losing weight fall into this category and benefit from thyroid treatment.

The test at the centre of the thyroid testing controversy is the TSH. This test measures the amount of Thyroid Stimulating Hormone your pituitary gland releases. If it is high, it means your thyroid hormone production is low and the pituitary is sending repeated chemical signals to try to get your thyroid to produce more thyroxine. So a high TSH means you are low thyroid.

In the TSH test, the upper limit of ‘normal’ may be given as anything from 3 µU/ml to 6 µU/ml depending on which country you live in and which lab has done the test. However, Dr Barry Durrant-Peatfield, in common with many other thyroid experts, regards even the recently revised limit in the US for ‘normal’ TSH levels of 3.0 µU/ml as too high. His experience with patients has led him to believe that a level of 2.0 µU/ml should arouse suspicion, and anything over 2.5 µU/ml should be diagnostic and therefore treated as hypothyroidism.

So if you have some of the symptoms in the list above, and particularly if you are having difficulty in losing weight, ask your physician to test you for low thyroid. Be aware of the issues surrounding current methods of testing and make sure you get copies of the actual test results so that you can compare them with the reference ranges used by those thyroid specialists who believe the current ‘normal’ ranges are too wide.

Similarly, if you have been tested in the past and told the results were normal, get tested again and ask for the actual values. If the TSH is above 2.5 µU/ml, bring the new ranges to your physician’s attention and ask for a trial of thyroid hormone replacement.

Unfortunately, agreement of your physician to treat you for hypothyroidism is not the end of the story. There is also controversy over medication and dosage. The ‘alternative’ thyroid experts feel that patients are not best served by the usual treatment (consisting of replacement of thyroxine – called T4 for short). This is not the only hormone that a healthy thyroid secretes, and they believe that many hypothyroid patients fail to achieve 100 per cent improvement without the other hormones. The reluctance to prescribe better alternatives appears to be down to a mixture of historical practice, mainstream doctors’ reliance on the drug companies who make the synthetic T4 preparations for information about treatment options, and a lack of research interest in the subject.

Dosage is a further area of controversy. Complex feedback loops that govern the workings of your thyroid mean that it is actually possible to make a patient worse by giving too small a dose of thyroxine. Many physicians are also constrained in their prescribing by blood test results and the official reference ranges for ‘normal’, rather than by their patient’s clinical symptoms. Some hypothyroid patients fail to improve until their TSH falls to 0.3 or lower, but most mainstream physicians are reluctant to let it drop to even to that level.

It seems therefore that hypothyroids have had a raw deal for a long time. Happily, word is starting to spread amongst thyroid patients that a better quality of life is possible, and patients are starting to become indignant and vociferous in their demands for better diagnosis and better treatment. An indication of this is the recent proliferation of thyroid patients’ websites, providing information about alternative treatments and helping fellow patients to locate physicians experienced in using them. Helpful sites include ‘Stop the Thyroid Madness’ and ‘Thyroid Patient Advocacy’.

Although the cause of the increase in hypothyroidism is unknown, there is an interesting theory. This relates to iodine, which is critical for a healthy thyroid. Hypothyroidism is widespread in upland areas of the world which are far from the sea where food is grown on iodine-poor soils. Many countries have a national salt iodization program to combat this problem. Ironically, this may be having the opposite effect in some cases. The trouble is that too much iodine is just as harmful to the thyroid as too little. And it is possible that people who consume a lot of fast food, canned or prepackaged foods or eat in restaurants regularly could easily be consuming between 8 and 10 grams of iodized salt per day. This would provide more than four times the recommended daily allowance of iodine. Could this be a contributing factor to the increasing rate of hypothyroidism in Western populations, and in turn, to the increasing rates of obesity?

More information on how undiagnosed or undertreated low thyroid may make losing weight difficult can be found in the e-book “Why Can’t I Lose Weight – The Real Reasons Diets Fail And What To Do About It”.

Copyright DietPlateau.com and GoodDietGoodHealth.com 2007

Jackie Bushell is passionate about raising awareness of the role of diet and nutrition in good health and helping those who are affected by obesity. Via her website at GoodDietGoodHealth.com, she provides information, support, cookbooks, how-to guides and a newsletter for those wishing to understand more about how to improve their health and achieve a healthy weight in a natural way. Amongst the resources she has developed are a low carb/low GI diet cookbook and a book called ‘Why Can’t I Lose Weight‘ for those who experience common problems such as not losing weight on their diet or becoming stuck on a ‘diet plateau’.

Article Source: EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jackie_Bushell

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Maximum Morning Fat Burn

By Jared Wash

The question, “on is morning cardio really the absolute best time to burn fat” has become a major research topic for bodybuilders, fitness experts, and people seeking weight loss. Morning cardio is not only known for burning more percentage of fat but for keeping the metabolism firing all throughout the day. This debate and theory has gone back and forth but finally scientist have come up with strong evidence why and how doing cardio in the morning before breakfast is more effective on burning fat for over all weight loss.

On the other hand many believe strongly that as long as you burn more calories than you consume in a day than when you exercise does not make a difference.

Now, this doesn’t mean you should only do cardio in the morning and not any other time in the day as many people are every busy in the morning. I recommend for weight loss that exercising anytime that works for you is the best. The reason I recommend doing your cardio in the morning is that it is believed to burn 3 times more fat, keeps your metabolism high all day, and is the best anti suppressant to eliminate your hunger cravings.

Research by scientist with morning cardio has strong arguments:

1. Doing cardio after an 8-12 hour overnight fast right when waking up in the morning, our body’s glycogen storages are mostly depleted. In this state when doing morning cardio our bodies are forced to use mostly fat because our glycogen storages are depleted.
2. When eating insulin is released this interferes from our body using fat for energy. In the morning, insulin is limited leading to more body fat than calories from food are being burned when doing cardio.
3. If you don’t know already carbohydrates when broken down are turned into glucose, so having less glucose floating around in your blood stream will lead you to burn more fat than glucose for weight loss.
4. When eating right before a workout, burning off all those calories you just ate will be your body’s number one priority before burning body fat.
5. Doing cardio in the morning is by far the absolute the best way to keep your metabolism elevated throughout the day. When cardio is done in the evening, calories are burned during the exercise, but sorry to say it does not take advantage of the “after burn” as when you go to sleep your metabolism drop dramatically.

Scientist has proven these additional benefits from morning cardio:

1. Feeling great all day caused by the releasing mood-enhancing endorphins.
2. Energized and a great way to wake you up.
3. Depressing your appetite for the whole day.
4. Morning cardio helps our circadian rhythm making it easier to wake up in the morning at the same time.
5. When exercise is done early in the day, people are less likely to skip the workout as being tired after work, and friends can distract you leading you missing workouts.
6. Making time for exercise is as easy as setting your alarm earlier in the morning.
7. Increasing metabolism rate throughout the day to burn fat all day long.

For a lot of people the trouble is starting out and staying motivated so beginning with 30 minute to 1 hour sessions in the morning three times a week is an excellent way to start out. Just remember that you are burning 3x more fat and once you are finished the rest of the day is yours. Exercise is an excellent stress release that makes life a whole lot more enjoyable with out feeling stressed out, and tired 24/7.

Last tips for more the most fat in less time is by doing the “HITT” program. The HITT program is done with high and low intensity like sprinting for 50 yards as hard as you can and walking for 20 yards than repeating. It can also be done on a stair climber, treadmill, bike, etc. This type of exercise will burn more fat in less time and will keep your heart rate higher leading to more calories burned.

Doing morning cardio does not only benefit body builders and fitness professionals but to everyone that wants to take advantage of exercise for weight loss or just a healthy life. This theory on morning cardio has not been 100% proven but the results people have received are incredible, and speak for themselves.

Make the most out of your workouts for better weight loss results.

Have a great day and God bless!

My name is Jared Wash an author with a certification by ACSM, NESTA, and ISSA in personal trainer, nutritionist, and online fitness coach. My mission with www.top-weightloss-site.com is to guide people away from false lies and myths in the fitness industry while focusing on true health and weight loss methods.

Article Source: EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jared_Wash

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If I Can Lose One Pound I Can Lose Two

By Jim Muckle

A couple of years ago I realized that my weight kept gradually going up.

I didn’t really know what to do about it. All I knew was I didn’t want it to keep going up.

It alarmed me.

I thought about what I would like to weigh. What was my ideal weight? I wasn’t sure, and I’m still not, but I remembered thinking that I wanted to weigh what it said on my driver’s license. Though it wasn’t my true weight, it was what I wished I weighed!

Like you, I had heard of different diets, what you should eat, what you shouldn’t eat, the ultimate exercise programs, etc.

It was very confusing.

But then I had a thought.

I thought, what is one thing I can do today, just today, to lose one pound of weight.

I mean, anybody could lose one pound of weight, right?

And the answer came to me immediately.

Give up sugar. Give up the chocolate chip cookies, anything with sugar in it.

I emptied the cookie jar into the trash.

Okay, that was good, so what was one more thing I could do to lose just one pound of weight.

Exercise. I’ll burn off some energy.

So I went for a walk.

And that was the way it went for the next 6-8 weeks.

Each day I thought of just one more thing I could do to lose weight.

It was gradual.

But each day it would be a new thing.

For example, I started increasing my exercise. Instead of just mowing the lawns, and working on apartments, I would also go for a bike ride and exercise at the local park on their free outdoor equipment, and after that I would think, okay, what’s one more thing I can do to lose just one more pound of weight? So I would ride down to the high school and run and walk around the track four times.

At home I would ask myself the same question. For a few days I got onto the meat only diet, but I didn’t like it because it felt unnatural. But I did start reducing the size of each meal. I’d make my hamburger smaller, or make half a burger. I’d order the child’s size Whopper when I was at the mall with my youngest daughter.

It was gradual, but ongoing. The exercise kept intensifying. I kept adding one more thing. Riding the bike, doing the exercises at the park, going to the high school, then stopping at the middle school track to do just two more laps, and ten more push-ups and twenty more sit-ups. I did more and more, and I ate less and less.

And gradually, not everyday, the weight began to disappear, pound by pound. Some days I would get discouraged because I hadn’t lost what I expected to, because by now I was exercising three times a day, and reducing the sizes of my portions more and more.

But then a couple days later I’d be pleased to see that I was down two pounds.

The fact that it was working kept me going, and I had a target weight I wanted to achieve.

Gradually my pants started not fitting.

Tenants began making comments like, “Are you losing weight? You look so thin.”

It wasn’t easy because I love chocolate chip cookies and ice cream, so I decided somewhere along the way that I wouldn’t give anything up completely, but I wouldn’t have so much of it, and I wouldn’t bring it into the house. If I were going to have a cookie I’d have to go out to the bakery and get it.

I stopped eating fast foods all together unless there was absolutely no other option, and then, like I mentioned before I would have a small portion.

It worked.

It wasn’t easy, but the one idea at a time method paid off because I kept looking for ways to cut back on food, and exercise more.

I achieved the weight on my license. I was thirty pounds lighter, and it took between six to eight weeks.

Okay, I had arrived.

Now what?

I wanted more. I wanted to lose another ten pounds.

But it didn’t work. I didn’t have the motivation, the real motivation. I tried, but it wasn’t there.

Not only that but I started gaining weight back!

I rewarded myself for achieving my goal by eating and taking it easy.

Unfortunately I learned it doesn’t work that way. You have to keep eating the smaller portions and exercising to maintain your ideal weight.

Bummer!

So now I try to regulate myself by watching the scale and keeping up the exercise. If I start to get over my ideal license weight by a couple of pounds it’s because I haven’t mowed a lawn, or trimmed a hedge, or gone to the park and done my routine of exercises.

I’m sliding.

It’s easy to do.

Also I find that doing work I enjoy keeps me involved and active.

I’m less likely to get bored and keep looking in the refrigerator. Some days I’ll be working on an apartment, painting, repairing, etc., and forget all about eating. I’m enjoying what I’m doing, enjoying the sense of accomplishment, so I just forget about food.

Other times when I’m starting to put on a few pounds I’ll actively look for some hard work like mowing, or trimming oleander and taking the branches to the dumpster to keep me moving, and if that’s not enough I jump on the bicycle and head for the park or market.

I try to build exercise into my routines and eat less. I believe that’s the key to it all.

From Cutting Back @ Booklets From Jim Muckle @ hometown.aol.com/jimmuckle/myhomepage/business.html

Article Source: EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jim_Muckle

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