Don’t fret! You’re not alone… With baby steps, you’ll get great health & wellness! Do it for no one else but YOU!

Avoid Fat-loss: How food can turn into fat

Hi Everyone,

Here’s the skinny on how food can turn into fat. Knowledge accumulated along the way goes a long way in one’s quest for a healthier and leaner body.

The sequence goes like this -

  1. Food is consumed.
  2. Food consumed is broken down into glucose.
  3. Nutrients in the form of glucose is transported to every cell in the body via the bloodstream to provide as fuel.
  4. If the levels of glucose created is in surplus to the body’s requirements, it will be stored in the muscles and liver as glycogen.
  5. If the glycogen stores are full, the excess will then be stored away as fat.

So, to avoid this excess in glucose and glycogen stores, eat smaller and frequent meals. This will ensure that the glucose converted is made available just based on what the body requires. Nothing in excess. It’s a great way to avoid accumulating fat and will even help in your quest for a better body transformation.

Towards a leaner you,
Cheng

Fat Burning Exercise Tips for Busy Parents & Professionals

By: Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Turbulence Training for Fat Loss

The great thing about strength training and intervals for fat burning is “efficiency”. Because you are working harder, the signal to your body to change is stronger. You cut time when you increase intensity and you burn fat faster.

Now don’t worry, I won’t be asking you to do hill sprints tomorrow if you aren’t exercising today. For a beginner, we just do some slightly faster than normal walking intervals. For intermediate fitness levels, we’ll pick up the pace about 20% compared to their normal cardio levels, but again, the work periods are much shorter.

The key is, you must shift to a slightly higher intensity in order to cut time from your workout. But the workout also goes faster, and much more importantly, you will get more results and better fitness from these methods.

It’s easy to do these workouts first thing in the AM, at lunch, or after the kids go to bed. Plus, you can get a great workout at home with only a bench, dumbells, and an exercise ball. You don’t need fancy machines or an expensive gym membership.

And another bonus, you only need three hard fat burning workouts per week. You don’t have to be in the gym six days per week.

On your off days, it’s important to stay active for at least 30 minutes, but these days should be unstructured and revolve around being active with your family or hobbies. Don’t think of them as workout days, think of them as fat burning, stress reducing activity days.

About the Author
Craig Ballantyne is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and writes for Men’s Health, Men’s Fitness, Maximum Fitness, Muscle and Fitness Hers, and Oxygen magazines. His trademarked Turbulence Training fat loss workouts have been featured multiple times in Men’s Fitness and Maximum Fitness magazines, and have helped thousands of men and women around the world lose fat, gain muscle, and get lean in less than 45 minutes three times per week. For more information on the Turbulence Training workouts that will help you burn fat without long, slow cardio sessions or fancy equipment, visit Turbulence Training for Fat Loss

Tips to Weight Loss and Wellness

Losing weight is all about total calories in and total calories out. You can try all of the fancy diets you want. but, if you are taking in more calories than you burn, you are definitely going to gain weight. Watch what you eat and try to get increased activities (or exercise) is the best way to take the pounds off.

A good sensible diet will include a healthy breakfast. Don’t even think about skipping this important meal of the day. Always include healthy fruits and low fat items in your breakfast.

With the demands from work, family and socially, it’s hard to squeeze in the time for a proper and complete workout regime. Sure! We all know how important it is to exercise regularly, but doing it may be another matter altogether. Making time for a 30 or 60 minute exercise routine takes real discipline. So, let’s take baby steps and try taking 10 minutes of exercise, 3 or 4 times a day, and give it your all. Your body won’t know if you’d exercised within a 30-minute session or had taken 3 10-minute sessions.

Most forms of exercise will help you lower your blood pressure. You will usually lose some weight after commencing your exercise regime and help lower your blood pressure for sure. Eating a balanced diet or meal will definitely help maintain your health and keep your weight from getting out-of-control. Put each one of these suggestions to use and you will see improvement.

Remember! Always consult your doctor before commencing on any exercise regime.

Here’s to your journey to getting fit, losing excess weight and wellness!

Cheers,
Cheng

How To Lose Fat NOW - A Basic Fat-Loss Program That You Can Put To Work Today!

By Nick Nilsson

So you want to lose fat but don’t know where to start? This program
will get you moving in the right direction…weight training, cardio,
nutrition and supplementation…and get you results NOW!


So you want to drop some fat but you’re not sure of what the best way is to get started?

Right now, I’m going to give you a short guide that will get you moving in the right direction…an exact training program (done 3 times per week) covering weights and cardio, as well as what to eat, how much to eat, and what supplements you need and don’t need.Let’s get right to it!
STEP 1 - FOOD QUALITY

For fat loss, WHAT you’re eating is just as important as HOW MUCH you’re eating. Think of it it way…you can lose weight eating ONLY 1000 calories worth of chocolate pudding every day…but how do you think you’re going to feel eating nothing but chocolate pudding!

It’s VERY important to eat good quality, nutritious food when you’re trying to lose fat. Your body needs nutrients to function. Without good nutrition, your body will react in two ways: first, it will shut down your metabolism to try and conserve nutrients. Second, it will set off RAGING cravings to try and get you to eat more nutrients!

Focus on unprocessed foods, as close to their natural state as possible. Unprocessed foods are more nutritious and easier for your body to digest and work with. This simple change can make a big difference to your fat-loss efforts.

Here’s the deal…contrary to popular thought, a calorie is NOT a calorie. The popular scientific consensus used to be (and still is according to some people) that all calories are created equal. That it didn’t matter what you ate in terms of nutrients (fat, carbs and protein), as long as the total calorie intake was below a certain point, you would lose fat.

Unfortunately, that is NOT the case and it’s common sense - what do you think would help you lose fat better…that 1000 calories of chocolate pudding or 1000 calories of lean chicken breast, vegetables and brown rice? Quality of food DOES matter and it can mean the difference between success and failure.

My advice: for 1 week, take a small notepad wherever you go and write down EVERYTHING you eat. And I do mean EVERYTHING - even if it’s just a snack or a little nibble of a cracker, write it down, as well as how much of it you ate. Remember, this is just for one week - you don’t have to do this for the rest of your life so be honest about everything you eat!

At the end of the week, look at what you’ve eaten and put a checkmark beside everything that is unprocessed (a good rule of thumb is anything that can be found on the outside aisles of the grocery store, lean meats, fish, eggs, veggies, fruits, nuts, potatoes, whole grains, legumes, etc.). This is a good visual cue to see exactly how you’re doing with your food quality.

If you see that more than half of the foods have checkmarks beside them, you’re doing much better than average already! Ideally, you want to get that number of checkmarks as high as possible.

For more information about nutrition and eating, check out the following article:

BASIC Nutrition - A Quick, Common-Sense Guide To What You Should Be Eating to Stay Healthy and Get Results Right Now
http://hop.clickbank.net/?clickcheng/betteru&l=1109


STEP 2 - FOOD QUANTITY

Now that you’ve looked at WHAT you’re eating, it’s time to turn your attention to HOW MUCH you’re eating. Even the highest quality, nutritious food can make you fat if you eat too much of it. So to lose fat effectively, you basically have to eat less food.

There are many, MANY methods and formulas for figuring this out but, bottom line, ALL of them are really just “best-guesses” - even the scientific formulas that work out your requirements to the single calorie are just guesses. These guesses are based on plenty of data, mind you, and they can be very helpful in determining a good starting point. But if a formula says you need X number of calories and you eat that and you still aren’t losing fat, obviously that number isn’t the number for you.

Here’s a very simple rule of thumb for estimating a STARTING POINT for determining your caloric intake to lose fat: take your weight in pounds and multiply it by 10. For example, if you weigh 175 pounds, that would give you a starting point of 1750 calories per day.

Go back to that week-long list of foods that you wrote down (from the previous point) and plug those foods into the database on this site (it has a HUGE number of foods that you can track):

http://www.calorieking.com/foods/

Add up your calories for the whole week, divide that by 7 (to get your average caloric intake per day) and see how it compares to number you get from the simple formula I described above.

If it’s higher, you need to eat less food. If it’s lower and you find you’re STILL not losing fat, you may need to eat even less than that.

I would NOT recommend going below 1000 calories per day for food intake at the VERY lowest. When you start getting that low, you run into problems because your body isn’t getting enough energy and nutrients from the small amount of food you’re eating. This is doubly true when you’re exercising as well. Your body will react by slowing your metabolism and burning up lean tissue (like your muscle mass). This will put a stop to fat loss and can be dangerous!


STEP 3 - WEIGHT TRAINING

One of the first things people ask me when they want to lose fat is “how much cardio should I do.” When I respond by telling them how much weight training they should do, they always look at me like I’m crazy.

But here’s the bottom line: if you go into an aerobics class and take a snapshot of the people in there then come back 6 months later and take another shapshot, chances are VERY good that most of the people in the class haven’t made any significant changes to their bodies.

Sure, cardio training burns calories, but it doesn’t reshape your body and it doesn’t build muscle mass to same degree as weight training. This is true for both men and women.

** And a note specifically to the ladies, when I talk about muscle mass for you, I’m NOT talking about big, bulky bodybuilder muscles…I’m talking about the sleek, toned muscles that give your body the curves and shape you’re looking for! Without THAT kind of muscle mass, you may get smaller but you still won’t have the shape you’re looking for.

For a more detailed explanation of this, check out the following article:

Follow the Path of MOST Resistance! Learn why weight training is the fast track to sculpting your body.
http://hop.clickbank.net/?clickcheng/betteru&l=1110

If you want to lose fat, you should weight train at least three times per week (e.g. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday). I like to recommend total body workouts each session for beginning trainers as it helps the body to learn the exercises faster and build strength and muscle faster.

Here’s what a typical resistance training session would look like:

3 sets of back
3 sets of chest
3 sets of thighs
2 sets of shoulders
2 sets of hamstrings
2 sets of biceps
2 sets of triceps
2 sets of calves
2 sets of abs

Take about a minute rest in between each set and aim for about 8 to 10 reps per set.

The MOST important thing to note here with rep ranges is that those 8 to 10 reps are a GUIDE NOT A TARGET. The idea is to choose a weight that makes it tough to complete those 10 reps. The idea is NOT to take a weight that you can easily do 10 reps with, do 10 reps then stop regardless of whether the muscle was really worked or not. To make progress, you need to push yourself.

I cannot TELL you how many times I’ve seen people diligently counting their reps as they whip through an exercise then stop before they even put a dent in their strength levels. When I ask them why they stopped so soon, they always tell me “that’s how many reps it says to do on my program.”

Don’t be afraid to push yourself! THAT is where the real results are!

If you would like more information on how to perform exercises, check out these links:

Road Warrior Training - Keep in Shape While Traveling!
http://hop.clickbank.net/?clickcheng/betteru&l=1111

http://hop.clickbank.net/?clickcheng/betteru&l=1025

http://www.exrx.net/Lists/Directory.html

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/exercises.htm


STEP 4 - CARDIO TRAINING

Even though you may think I’m opposed to cardio training judging by what I wrote above, that is NOT the case! Cardio definitely has a place in a fat-loss program.

I have three main issues with cardio training for fat loss:


1. It shouldn’t be the main focus of a fat-loss exercise program when it so often is.

This is a point I mentioned above - I believe weight training should be the focus of an exercise program for fat loss. Not only is it more effective for fat loss, there is actually LESS chance of injury than with the typical repetitive-movement cardio activities (anyone who has tried to take up jogging when they’re 20+ pounds overweight can attest to that!).


2. It’s normally done with low intensity and for long periods of time, which does NOT boost the metabolism.

The REAL key to losing fat is ramping up your metabolism to burn calories ALL THE TIME rather than just when you’re exercising. By keeping intensity low, you only burn calories DURING exercise, not so much after. But when you boost intensity, your metabolism gets cranked up and you burn more calories ALL DAY.

For a more detailed explanation of higher-intensity cardio training and its benefits, read these articles:

What Do You Mean Low-Intensity Training Isn’t The Best For Fat Burning?
http://hop.clickbank.net/?clickcheng/betteru&l=1046

The Insider Secrets of Interval Training - Learn How Now!
http://hop.clickbank.net/?clickcheng/betteru&l=1105


3. It’s typically done WAY too much.

In order to get results with typical long-duration cardio, many people do it upwards of 5 or 6 and even 7 days a week! This is fine if you’re an athlete training for an endurance competition but if you’re a busy person (as many people are), you just don’t have TIME to sit on a stationary bike for an hour a day.

Couple that long duration and high frequency with a repetitive movement and you not only have greater chance of injury, you also have greater chance of boredom (which sometimes means giving up on exercise altogether because “it just doesn’t work for me”).

My recommendation is always to use interval training instead of the long-duration cardio training. It can be done MUCH faster (10 to 20 minutes), boosts your metabolism for long periods AFTER training, and finally, it actually helps your body hang onto muscle tissue while burning fat.

There are two ways to include cardio in with the weight training program I described above.

1. Do your cardio training immediately AFTER your weights.

When you do it this way, don’t eat anything after you do weights - just go directly into your cardio after a few minutes rest. You only need about 10 minutes of training to really make a dent in your fat stores. This has the advantage of allowing you to get all your training done all at once (in the gym 3 times a week and that’s it).

2. Do your cardio training on separate days or separate sessions

This is a good way to go in that you won’t be tired from the weight training when you do the interval training. You may need go a bit longer in your sessions (e.g. 15 to 20 minutes) when done on its own. This method does have the advantage of giving your metabolism a separate boost in addition to the weights. When doing it this way, you can do cardio on its own on Tuesday and Thursday, for example.

Either method is very effective! The real key is working hard at the training.

NOTE: DO NOT do interval training every day! It may work well for a little while but you will very quickly overwork the body, which will stop your results.


STEP 5 - SUPPLEMENTS

When I refer to supplements here, I’m NOT talking about fat-loss pills. These pills are not the answer for losing fat. Your own natural metabolism IS and it’s WAY more powerful than any pill.

Check out this article on fat-loss pills:

How Fat Loss Pills Can Make You Fatter
http://hop.clickbank.net/?clickcheng/betteru&l=1112

When I refer to supplements, I’m talking about supplements that help SUPPORT your body nutritionally, not send it into a hyper-alert state that fries your nervous system.

When training to lose fat, here are the supplements I highly recommend:

- Protein Powder - to help with rebuilding and repairing muscle tissue and keeping the immune system functioning well

(Here is a 3 part article on protein and fat loss)
http://hop.clickbank.net/?clickcheng/betteru&l=1045

- Glutamine - helps speed recovery and boost the immune system
http://www.fitstep.com/goto/glutamine.htm

- Multivitamins - to help you cover all your nutritional bases
- Vitamin C - helps repair joints, is a strong antioxidant and boosts the immune system
- Calcium/Magnesium - for your bones and also for muscle contractions…it’s hard to get enough of these nutrients when reducing caloric intake

These are the basics, as far as I’m concerned. It’s critical to give your body ample nutritional support when trying to lose fat.

For more information on supplementation, check out:

A Quick, “No B.S.” Guide To Muscle-Building and Fat-Loss Supplementation
http://hop.clickbank.net/?clickcheng/betteru&l=1113

CONCLUSION:

These 5 simple steps should get you started on your way to losing the extra fat. Here are they are in review:

Step 1 - improve the quality of the food you eat
Step 2 - eat less food
Step 3 - start weight training
Step 4 - include some cardio training
Step 5 - use supplements to support your body

Go through the list step-by-step and you will on your way to fat-loss success!

For more articles and information on fat loss, check out:

http://hop.clickbank.net/?clickcheng/betteru&l=1039

And if you’re interested in a more detailed fat-loss exercise and nutritional program, be sure to read about my book “Metabolic Surge - Rapid Fat Loss“:

http://hop.clickbank.net/?clickcheng/betteru&l=400

It’s a program that lays out (in great detail!) 36 days of training, eating and supplementation to maximize fat-loss. It’s a powerful, very comprehensive program!

——————

Nick Nilsson is Vice-President of the online personal training company BetterU, Inc. He has a degree in Physical Education and Psychology and has been inventing new training techniques for more than 16 years. Nick is the author of a number of bodybuilding eBooks including “Metabolic Surge - Rapid Fat Loss,” “The Best Exercises You’ve Never Heard Of,” “Gluteus to the Maximus - Build a Bigger Butt NOW!” and “The Best Abdominal Exercises You’ve Never Heard Of” all available at (http://hop.clickbank.net/?clickcheng/betteru). He can be contacted at betteru@fitstep.com.

How To Avoid Losing Weight The Unhealthy Way

Now, more than ever, people are quite conscious over weight issues because it affects not only a person’s physical appearance but his or her overall outlook in life as well. Seeing how obesity alters health and their social lives, obese or morbidly obese people are now becoming more determined to find the perfect weight loss strategies for them and are equally-determined enough to keep their ideal weight for good once they have achieved it.

MYTHS AND FACTS ON WEIGHT LOSS

Today, more and more remedies are being offered in the market for those people who would want to lose weight. Among these are weight loss remedies come in the form of products, supplements, and programs.

But, before you engage in any weight loss diet, product, or program, make sure that you have full comprehension of its effects and possible side effects to avoid going back to your form after you lose weight. Being knowledgeable about these products and the possible risks associated with it can give you an idea what are the products you can take in, diets you can engage in or programs you can enroll with.

Most studies show that diets that promote weight loss of more than two pounds weekly are not safe because it increases the possibility of serious health problems compared to gradual weight loss. Medical experts also agree that losing weight at a slower rate may reduce risks of health problems that are closely associated with rapid weight loss. Also, fad diets and quick weight loss products available today do not only ignore but totally violates the basic principles of good nutrition and various dietary guidelines. Do not be overwhelmed with the promise of quick weight loss because any claims that a person can lose weight almost effortlessly are fabricated.

KEEPING IT UP

Aside serious health risks and psychological impacts brought by futile dieting, improper weight loss through the use of non-prescribed weight loss products or diets that are not proven to be effective can bring depression plus a weakened immune system.

Losing weight can be frustrating but a rewarding feat once you have achieved your ideal weight and figure. Here are some weight loss and dieting myths tips that can help you avoid losing the weight loss you’ve worked so hard for:

Myth number 1. “Having a “Low Carb Diet” is the only way for you to lose weight.” This is probably one of the biggest lies being promoted by the people of weight loss industry today. In fact, experts even agree that by cutting out all carbo and starches will only result to lack of nutrition needed by the body especially by the muscle tissues.

Myth number 2: “A lot of time is needed to work a weight loss program into your schedule.” If you think that you cannot handle your weight loss all by yourself, then opt enrolling is a safe and responsible weight loss program. If you have chosen the right weight loss program that can fit into your schedule then you can even do other things for yourself.

Myth number 3: “An obese of morbidly obese person can never go back to his/her original size.” Do not listen to people if they told you that gaining weight at a certain age or weight gain due to pregnancy can hinder you to go back to your slimmer size. All you need is to adjust your eating patterns and resort to proper exercise or physical activity so your body will lose weight naturally.

Myth number 4: “Starve yourself until you lose weight.” Among the dieting and weight loss myths, this is the most damaging of all because it can lead to serious health risk like ruined metabolism, body’s depletion of vitamins and minerals and binge eating or food splurge.

Article Source: http://add-articles.com

Dr Nathalie Fiset is a family doctor and a certified hypnotherapist. For more information go to: www.sayyestolosingweight.com www.aperfectharmony.com or www.a-1hypnosis.com

Green Tea’s Effect on Body Fat

Losing weight is a subject on the minds of many. Our eat on the run, tv watching lifestyle has led many of us to have bigger waistlines than we’d like; and bigger waistlines than are healthy for us. In fact, the US Centers for Disease Control estimates that over 60 million Americans, or 30% of the adult population, are obese.

Obesity related illnesses are going to lead the pack as causes of death in our country very soon if we don’t get ourselves back on track. Obesity leads to heart disease, high blood pressure, Type II diabetes and increases your risk for some forms of cancer. As our weight increases, so do our risk levels.

So, how do we go about losing the weight? Well, most of us are aware that we need to eat less and exercise more. Putting more calories into our bodies than we burn off in a day leads to weight gain. Cutting calories and getting exercise can help you get your expenditure and intake in line. There’s certainly no getting around this basic weight loss principle.

But, research is showing that there are some foods that can help you lose weight, and other foods that will pack on the pounds faster than you can say “calorie”. I’m not talking strictly calories here – I’m talking about foods that help you burn fat or stay full longer versus foods that cannot be used by the body as energy, so they automatically turn to fat.

Let’s look at foods that can help you. You might be surprised at some of these – they’re not all low calorie. However, they’re known to help you feel full longer or burn fat.

Nuts – Nuts, especially almonds, have been found to be helpful at losing weight. Now, nuts are not exactly a low calorie food, and they must be eaten in moderation. However, they are very nutritious.

Nuts are high in fat, but it’s HDL fat, which is the kind that promotes good cholesterol in the blood. HDL cholesterol helps rid the body of LDL cholesterol, which is the bad cholesterol that clogs arteries and leads to heart attacks and strokes.

Nuts are thought to make us feel full longer. In addition, they contain protein that seems to burn a lot of calories during digestion. Doctors are somewhat unclear as to how nuts work, but they do seem to have an effect on weight loss.

Milk – Research has shown that those who drink 24 ounces of low fat milk every day tend to weigh less than those who do not drink milk. Again, the reasons are not clear, but low fat milk does seem to speed up the metabolism. One study showed that women who ate a reduced calorie diet that included 3-4 servings of low fat dairy products and exercised lost more weight than those who ate a reduced calorie diet with fewer servings of dairy and exercised.

Green Tea – In recent years, green tea has gained a lot of attention for its ability to protect health and prevent disease. Green tea has been shown to prevent heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer’s disease and even Type II diabetes. But, more and more, we’re finding out that green tea may have lots of potential to help weight loss, too.

First, let’s talk about what’s so special about green tea. The magic is in the anti-oxidants. Anti-oxidants are important because they fight free radicals in our bodies.

Free radicals are damaging molecules that are created as we convert the food we eat into energy. Free radicals damage cells and DNA, leading to disease, if left unchecked. That’s why it’s so important to get anti-oxidants in our diets each day. Fruits and vegetables are also good sources of anti-oxidants.

But, some of the most potent anti-oxidants around are those found in green tea. Tea anti-oxidants are known as catechins, and they make up about 25% of the weight of a dry tea leaf. Tea contains four main catechin substances: epicatechin (EC), epicatechin gallate (ECG), epigallocatechin (EGC) and epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG). Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) is the most abundant catechin in tea.

Health professionals favor green tea over black tea because it retains more of these catechins in their natural form than black tea. Black tea goes through a fermentation process that changes some of these catechins from their original state into one that is less healthy. It’s these catechins that seem to have the ability to help us lose weight.

One particular study looked at Japanese men. All of the men were fed the same healthy diet for two weeks before the actual study began. Then, a 12 week study period began, in which some of the men drank one bottle of tea that contained 690 mg of tea catechins each day. The rest of the men were fed one bottle of tea that contained just 22 mg of catechins each day. All of the men continued on a healthy diet.

At the end of the study, the men who ingested 690 mg of tea catechins each day had significantly lowered their BMI, body weight, waist circumference and body fat mass, when compared to the men who consumed fewer tea catechins. The study concluded that the catechins in tea can help to reduce body fat when part of a healthy diet.

So, while we know that to lose weight we have to reduce our calories and get regular exercise, it’s nice to know that there are foods out there that can help us meet our goals more easily. So, add some nuts, milk and green tea to your healthy diet, and watch how your body changes!

Jon M. Stout is the Chairman of the Golden Moon Tea Company. Golden Moon Tea carefully selects the finest rare and orthodox teas, which are processed slowly and handcrafted with extreme care. At their website, you can learn more about their current tea offerings, including their exceptional green tea, white tea, black tea, oolong tea (also known as wu-long and wu long tea) and chai. Visit goldenmoontea.com for all details concerning the Golden Moon Tea Company’s fine line of teas. 

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jon_Stout

10 Things You Can Do To Lose Fat Without Even Trying

Fat loss doesn’t have to be painful. Try these simple tips and you’ll see just how easy it can be.

1. Eat smaller more frequent meals - not only is your metabolism boosted every time you eat something, your body can more efficiently process smaller meals. Instead of having 3 large meals in a day, try to break them up into 5 or 6 smaller meals.

2. Drink more water - regular water intake helps to flush away waste prod

3. Be inefficient - do you need to go to the kitchen to get a couple of things? Break it up into to two trips even if you can do it in one. Being inefficient like this can easily double your activity level, burning calories without even trying.

4. Eat more protein - sources of protein include foods such as chicken, fish, eggs, dairy, beans, lean red meats, etc. Your body burns more calories processing protein than either carbohydrates or fats. Protein also helps to support your muscle tissue, which burns calories all day long!

5. Take the stairs instead of the elevator - any time you can add in a little more physical activity, do it. This doesn’t mean you need to slog up 20 flights of stairs. Even a flight or two done regularly will add up.

6. Don’t let yourself get hungry - when you get hungry you will have a much greater tendency to overeat when you do finally get something to eat. As well, because your body is starting to go into starvation mode, it will be much more likely to hold onto whatever you give it.

7. Order small portions at restaurants - it’s tough to order small french fries when “supersizing” your order is such a great “value.” Take note, however, your real savings will occur in the calories that don’t end up on your backside.

8. Eat more fiber - fiber is very filling. By eating more fiber you will find yourself full sooner. This feeling of fullness will last a long time as well.

9. Wait 20 minutes between servings - your brain takes at least 20 minutes to register that you’re full. By waiting that long, you’ll give your brain a chance to realize that you don’t really need any more food.

10. Cheat on your diet - one thing I always make my clients promise is that they will cheat on their diet. The only thing I ask that they do is to cheat ONLY when they have planned to cheat. By planning when you are going to eat the foods you crave, you take back control of your eating habits.

This way you no longer “give in” to your cravings. You “reward yourself” for sticking to proper nutritional habits. Do this once or twice a week and you will feel far more in control of your eating.

In conclusion, if you follow even a few of these 10 easy tips in the long term, you will certainly notice a difference in your overall weight and health.

——————

Nick Nilsson is Vice-President of the online personal training company BetterU, Inc. He has a degree in Physical Education and Psychology and has been inventing new training techniques for more than 16 years. Nick is the author of a number of bodybuilding eBooks including “Metabolic Surge - Rapid Fat Loss,” “The Best Exercises You’ve Never Heard Of,” “Gluteus to the Maximus - Build a Bigger Butt NOW!” and “The Best Abdominal Exercises You’ve Never Heard Of” all available at (http://www.fitness-ebooks.com). He can be contacted at betteru@fitstep.com.


Losing Weight

Losing weight is all about calories in and calories out. You can try all of the fancy diets you want but if you are taking in more calories than you burn you are going to gain weight. Watch what you eat and try to get more exercise is the best way to take the pounds off.

A good sensible diet will include a healthy breakfast. Don’t even think about skipping this important meal. Always include healthy fruits and low fat items in your breakfast.

It is hard to squeeze the time in for a proper workout. Sure we all know how important it is to exercise regularly but doing it may be another matter. Making time for a 30 or 60 minute exercise routine takes real discipline, so try taking 10 minutes 3 or 4 times a day and give it your all. Your body wont know if you exercised for one 30 minute session or 3 10 minute sessions.

Most forms of exercise will help you lower your blood pressure. Usually you will lose some weight after starting your exercise program, which in turn will help lower your blood pressure. Eating a balanced diet will help maintain your health and keep your weight from getting out of control. Put each one of these suggestions to use and your blood pressures should see improvement. Always start any health related issue with a visit to your doctor.