Archive for August, 2008

Body Building: The Art Of The Diet

Saturday, August 30th, 2008

Legendary body building mogul Joe Weider once said that the true secret to body building success what found in the proper body building diet. What Weider meant was that people who over eat and pack their body with fat ultimately harm all the benefits of body building because the lean, ripped look becomes impossible to attain. Hence, if you eat the proper body building diet of low fat, high protein and decent carbs you will do ok. Now, while a body building diet will consume more calories than a common diet, there are certain considerations that also must be understood as well.

The Myths Of Metabolism

While it is true that a ton of calories eaten will be burned while working out, there will also be a metabolic calorie burning effect that will occur as well, but please keep in mind that it is wrong to over do it! The larger the mass of a person is, the more the person will want to eat more and more.

This is not a bizarre side effect it is simply a logical reaction the body will have to maintaining a significant volume of muscle mass. Keep in mind, muscle is significantly more dense than fat and this means that muscle will require more calories to maintain its size. This is why muscle bound people do not pack on fat when they increase their calorie intake – the muscles burn the calories by “eating” the excess calories. Now, that is often misunderstood by people as a green light to eat whatever it is they want and in massive quantities.

This is a huge fallacy of the body building diet. That is, you will increase your calorie intake…slightly…but if you increase it ridiculously then you will start to pack on a lot of fat on top of whatever muscle that you have. The resultant physique will make you look like someone who enjoys working out, but enjoys overeating more. That is hardly the type of physique to aspire!

As one can see, there is a great deal of common sense associated with the body building diet. Basically, if you eat quality food you can get away with eating a lot provided you have solid muscle mass. However, once you slip into the fallacy of eating whatever you want and in significant amounts that far exceed what you need, you will find yourself undermining your own goals. Now who would want that?

Get up off that couch and join the fitness revolution. Make exercise and a healthy diet part of your daily  routine, you will be surprised at the difference it will have on your life.
http://leanmeanbodybuilding.com

Back to School with a New Body – How The Fat Loss 4 Idiots Diet Works

Friday, August 29th, 2008

How a Calorie Shifting Diet Works Parts 1

Calorie shifting is the hottest buzz in the weight loss industry these days, but although most people don’t really know how it works, it is not new. The method has been quietly used by smart people in the fitness industry for years and will help nearly anyone shed huge amounts of fat poundage pretty quickly. Compared to a run of the mill low fat or low calorie diet, a calorie shifting type diet is like a walk in the park because it will not make the dieter miserable while she’s on it.

Calorie shifting is a weight loss strategy designed to combat the natural slowdown that occurs in your metabolism whenever you are restricting your caloric intake. The theory, now long proven, is that it is possible for you to manipulate your body’s metabolism level at will to induce the burning of fat. This is done simply by varying the types and amounts calories that you eat each day, usually over the course of 7 to 14 days.

A quick example would be to severely restrict your calories for 5-7 days, then eat normally or even overeat just a little for 2 days. The optimal number of days under calorie restriction differs for each person but the dieter will be losing fat while finding out. The method works very well for virtually everyone. So the best thing to do is just to get started on it without over thinking it. You will lose body fat.

The calorie shifting diet is the most effective way to keep your metabolism running at peak performance while shedding body fat and keeping muscle tone. If used properly it will unleash the body’s hidden fat burning potential and can actually increase metabolism causing even more rapid weight loss to occur. The best selling Fat Loss 4 Idiots Diet is probably the most effective example of a diet plan that uses the calorie shifting method, and it is available online. It features an Online Diet Generator that will create customized meals in seconds and is perfect for the busy dieter who is not interested in reading endless food labels and counting calories.

Metabolism-What Happens When We Diet

The human body is amazing in its efficiency at adapting to various hardships and stressors and this includes a severe calorie restriction diet, which to the body means starvation. The body gets the message fairly quickly and then promptly makes the necessary adjustments to maintain homeostasis. Of course now the body slows your fat loss metabolism to a creeping limp. Which means fat loss slows as well. This is what happens when a dieter hits a plateau and she stops losing weight several weeks into a diet.

That’s a good thing if you are a member of a tribe of early humans and your meals are feast or famine, because your body would slow it’s metabolism down and you could live off of your fat stores. But if you’re a slightly pudgy soccer mom with a high school reunion coming up in a month, it’s not helping you at all.

The body’s normal responses to severe dieting include:

Decreased levels of T3 and T4 thyroid hormones, which play a principal part in regulating your metabolism faster or slower.

Decreased metabolic rate because of the thyroid decrease and other elements.

Increased levels of cortisol which is a very catabolic or “muscle wasting” hormone.

Also, decreased leptin levels have been observed. Leptin is the hormone that tells the body to use fat for energy. Lower levels of this hormone are the opposite of what you want during a fat loss diet.

For more information about losing fat while keeping your muscle tone visit the Fat Loss 4 Idiots website here.
Good luck, get ready to buy some new “thin” clothes.

5 Tips On How To Lose 15 Pounds Fast

Thursday, August 28th, 2008

Do you need to lose 15 pounds fast? Would that be pounds of fat, water or muscle?

As you can see, most people that are talking about losing weight, do not really know what exactly this means. For nearly everyone fat comes into the mind, when they hear the word weight, but fat is only a part of it.

If the scale readout at the end is the most important part for you, then it probably doesn’t matter if you lose fat, muscle or water.

If your goal is to lose fat instead of just pounds, it is important for you to know that water makes up a part of that weight loss. Indeed, during the first one or two days of any diet, the main part of the weight loss will be water.

Numerous websites are claiming that they are able to reveal to you how to lose 15 pounds fast. It can be a danger for your health if you are losing weight too fast, which is what most won’t tell you. Actually, it all depends on what you consider ‘fast’. A month seems to be fast for some people, while other people consider fast to be more immediate, like a couple of days.

To lose 15 pounds within a months would be the better goal, as it is a lot more achievable. Yet, there is a possible risk involved when the approach to losing weight isn’t done correctly.

Water is the easiest to lose, but there is no way just to get rid of the water if you want to lose 15 pounds fast. Your body needs water to survive. Take away the water and it will die.

Starving will not solve your problem either. It is a fact that your body will hold back when you don’t eat, so you might even increase your weight. Not giving the body essential nutrients, will result in warnings going off. In a desperate effort to survive, it hangs onto everything you feed it, which adds weight.

You need to eat foods like fish or meat which needs a great deal of energy to digest to lose 15 pounds fast. Probably now you will think that you should eat nothing but meat or fish, but I wouldn’t recommend that either, as this option is not very healthy either. Your body needs a well-rounded diet that provides all the required nutrients. It is possible to feed your body with a well balanced diet and still lose fat pounds, you just need to choose the right foods. Take your weight and fat content of your body before you begin with your weight loss plan and don’t forget to measure your body. To measure the body fat content you can use special calipers, which are often part of tool kits available at weight loss centers. Always keep these measurements in your reach to see how you are progressing.

Below are 5 key points which will help you to lose 15 pounds fast:

1) Avoid foods that cause water retention, like salt. Cut back on salt and you’ll begin to shed weight.

2) Instead of 3 big meals a day, try to eat 5-6 small portions – this keeps the digestive system of your body active.

3) Add foods that use more energy to digest, including meat, chicken, salmon, asparagus, cheese, carrots, squash and green beans.

4) Drink more the 8 glasses of water during the day, this will help you increase your metabolism.

5) Exercise to build muscle, because muscle increases your metabolism naturally.

Always re-measure your body and weight every week or so and in case you aren’t seeing any positive improvements, adjust your weight loss plan and exercises.

It is possible to 15 pounds fast, if you take action and then stay with your plan.

Fat Loss For Idiots Review – Does The Fat Loss For Idiots Work?

Tuesday, August 26th, 2008

In comparison to other programs and guides that are out there, the Fat Loss For Idiots guide is one of the best out there. In my experiences with weight loss programs this one gets five out of five stars, because of everything that is offered. In all reality that is what it is – a combination of fat and weight loss program. I really appreciated that the Fat Loss For Idiots program offered so many varied approaches. This is not just blindly following an inflexible diet plan. Nearly every side of fat loss is covered with this total program.

Your first step will be to learn to make better choices when eating so that you lose and keep weight off. You receive advice on changing how, when and what you eat. I could see that you’d assume that you’ll be told to just eat healthy, exercise and don’t enjoy a cocktail, but that sir is crap! It isn’t like that at all; in fact, I think you will receive a pleasant surprise. (that are proven scientifically). Items including the most beneficial meal times, how to pick menu items when you’re in a restaurant, how you can include enjoying alcohol while on a diet and, it goes without saying, a whole lot more. Ok lets not spoil everthing:)

This might be hard to take in but the best part of Fat loss for idiots is their way of “calorie shifting” system which has not been found in any other weight loss program. “Calorie shifting” involves a rotation of the food items that are the top fat burners (now no… we aren’t talking about that one.), while you are watching what you eat. By doing this your body’s metabolism never will get used to a special pattern and will not slow down. It is a very potent system to help you lose pounds with ease.

Another fantastic feature with this weight loss program is they have an online diet generator to aid with your sucess. When you list all your most loved meals & food items, it will propose an 11 day nutrition plan that is tailored to your taste and, of course, is designed to help you shed those pounds. I was very excited that I was permitted to enjoy my favorite meals, and wasn’t confined to eating tasteless health foods. The use of this tool alone is worth five stars within it self. This is probably the easiest thing I have ever done.

Why not start now, you only have the weight to lose!

The Fat Loss For Idiots program is really what it says – so easy that an idiot could do it. Go to dietfatloss.net to get started with Fat Loss 4 Idiots!

Water And Carbo

Friday, August 8th, 2008

Some people think that after a strenuous workout, they have lost some weight. They do not realise that that is water loss. You must make sure you have enough water throughout the whole day. It is to help you in digestion and removal of toxins. If you are dehydrated, your body cannot function properly.

In order to qualify for various weight categories, sometimes people go on severe dehydration processes to reduce their weight. This is short term and it does not help you in your overall body shape. What these people do is they put on raincoat and go jogging. The massive amount of water lost can be up to 2 or 3kg.

Foods that are high in carbohydrates give us energy but there are different types of carbohydrates and eating the wrong ones can make you fat.

The bad carbohydrates are simple carbohydrates such as sugar. These will give you a boost of energy as the sugar gets into the bloodstream fast but they are not as good for you as complex carbohydrates such as grains, fruits and vegetables which will help to satisfy your appetite and make you feel full for longer by supplying you with fibre.

The problem with most people, and the reason they get fat, is because they are eating simple carbohydrates and fats in big quantities in their diet of junk food. Junk food is processed food, filled with lots of sodium. Too much sodium makes people tired.

Simply changing from these poor carbohydrate foods to more complex carbohydrates will help to lose weight. There is no need to starve yourself.

Exercise To Reduce Appetite

Wednesday, August 6th, 2008

When I was a teenager, I sent a card to my favourite swimming star and wrote 10 Ways Why I Don’t Swim. One of them was ‘People Exercise To Lose Weight, I Don’t Exercise To Lose Weight’. It is a popular belief if we start exercising, we will become hungrier and will eat more. The fear of putting on weight is extremely great as we will be consuming more food.

Actually, it is because we are feeling dehydrated, and we should drink water or isotonic drinks instead of pigging out.

What people do not realise is that our blood sugar levels determine whether we feel hungry. Whenever I get a little irritable when I don’t get my food, it’s because the blood sugar level has fallen. To increase that level, we will look for food.

Exercising will help to prevent such fluctuations in the blood sugar levels, and we will not get that starving feeling that often. Our muscles will be activated to burn fats when we exercise, and they do not use the carbohydrates. This will help to maintain our blood sugar level.

When we exercise, we will improve our metabolic rate. The cells in our body will burn oxygen more efficiently, and that means the nutrients from what we eat will be used more effectively. This will also help us to be more alert. This also reduces waste products.

By getting more nourishment you will not need the same quantities of food to feel fulfilled.

If we exercise, we will increase our body tempature. This will help to mobilise the fat in our body that is used for energy. Our resting metabolic rate will also be raised, so we can burn more fat over a longer period of time. This will help reduce the percentage of fat in our body.

It is definitely easier to exercise than to starve ourselves.

Woman Measure Waist

Woman Measure Waist

Stop Finishing Your Food

Monday, August 4th, 2008

My grandparents used to threaten me with an ugly husband if I did not finish the rice on my plate. However, my mother did not finish the rice herself, and my father looked pretty decent, so this was just an old wives’ myth. They probably grew up with the mindset of not wasting food. With so many hungry children on the verge of starvation in the world, it is quite a bad practice to waste food.

However, do separate the notion of wasting food and finishing the food on your plate. You should be 70% full instead of being overstuffed. Our body cannot process so much food. All the excess food could be stored as fats.

If you have eaten enough, then stop eating. We are able to save food for the next day with refrigerators and microwaves. At the same time, if you are the one preparing food, then do not prepare that much. If you eat at restaurants where servings are huge, then get a doggy bag if it is a common practice. If not, simply share a meal with your dining partner in the future.

If you keep finding there is a lot of food left when you are feeling full, then this is a wasteful habit. Do not order too much food in the future. Do not order food for the entire table. You can always order more if you run out of food.

If you are cooking your meals, then you need to reduce your meals. If you have to buy a fish which is clearly too much for you, get the fishmonger to slice it into two sides so that you can keep the other half for another meal without fearing it will go bad.

Do not be obliged to eat all the food that people put on your table when you are eating out. One economic notion that I still remember after so many years of schooling is marginal utility. You may eat something that is great and the more you eat, the happier you get. But after a certain point, it becomes disgusting and your enjoyment decreases.

So, do not let your childhood habits continue to affect you. Reverse that thought quickly and eat just enough. Avoid buffets if you are afraid of wasting food.

If possible, just scoop up enough food for yourself, then move away from where the food is and just have your meal. Actually, I’ll just do that and eat in front of the TV instead of eating at the dining table.

It is better to have a little less than too much.

Dirty Word For Slimming

Saturday, August 2nd, 2008

Is there a dirty word for weight loss? Yes. It?s a four letter word. That four letter word ‘diet’ stirs up all sorts of different emotions in people and more often than not those emotions tend to be negative. How many times have you gone out for lunch, and hear at least one or two saying they are on a diet?

To most people a diet is a constant struggle. It is something that they would rather not have to do. People only do on diets because they know that they have to do something about their weight and their health. Perhaps they want to lose weight to squeeze into a wedding gown of their choice. Or perhaps they are finding unsightly bulges. It is a choice made out of necessity.

As soon as you believe you are on a diet you also become aware of the fact that you are going to get off it again and what do you expect will happen when you get off the diet that is helping you to get in shape? You have to erase the word from your vocabulary.

For most people getting off a diet means reverting back to their former lifestyle and that is the lifestyle that got them overweight in the first place.

What you really should be doing is not dieting but making lifestyle changes because lifestyle changes are something that you can continue with forever. It takes about 21 days of doing the same thing in order to make it become a habit.

If you make lifestyle changes that result in healthy body weight then you will maintain that body weight for as long as you maintain that lifestyle. It is not something that you will get off at the end of achieving a result. A lifestyle is a way that you intend to live for the long-term and that is how you will remain in good shape for the long-term.

How often do you hear people saying that they are on a diet? And the next minute they are no longer on the diet. That?s because they cannot get used to their new diet.

What they should be saying is: I have made lifestyle changes and the result of those changes have been a reduction in body fat, an increase on my energy levels and an overall improvement in health.

That is what lifestyle changes can do for you and it is something that short-term diets rarely achieve.

Hang Out With Thin People

Friday, August 1st, 2008

In motivational talk, who you surround yourself with determines what type of person you are. If you want to be rich, surround yourself with people who constantly think of ways to create wealth and ideas for their businesses. It goes the same for weight.

Now, an article in the BBC according to this blog says that if you hang out with friends who are overweight constantly, there is a high chance that you will have problems losing weight.

Let’s look at it from a practical point of view. If you mix with them frequently, you will probably be having meals together. The pressure of not eating when your friends are ordering huge meals will be there. They will also try to get you to eat because they are extremely hospitable.

From a dietary point of view, if you are on a diet, looking at the food will simply trigger off the salivary glands and you can actually put on weight without eating because of the chemicals that are released in your body.

It might be a little surprising to know this, but there are societal reasons for this. If your family or friends are overweight, it is likely that you are in certain economical or environmental situations that do not allow you to eat healthily.

In the past, when people are really poor, you will not find many fat people because they do not have much to eat. At the same time, they are not in sedentary jobs. Many of the work hard labour, so they burn off a lot of calories.

Now, people may be richer, and a large number have access to better food and in greater quantity. However, the rich are no heavier than those in lower economic status. This could be due to fast food as they do not learn how important nutritional values are.

There are many complex reasons.