Thursday, September 24, 2009

Is Your Fat Burning Exercise Routine Keeping You Fat And Unhealthy?


The majority of exercisers today still rely on long duration moderate paced aerobic exercise as their primary routine to burn fat fast. But recent studies have shown that this is a big, I mean big mistake. In fact, you could say that the whole aerobics explosion of a few decades past was one of the biggest mistakes in the health and fitness industry. Why?

There are several reasons, but I’ll focus on the two main issues here. When you exercise at a moderate pace for extended periods of time (as in the typically recommended percent of your target heart rate), your body is burning fat during the exercise. While this may sound good, it’s actually bad news.

This sends a signal to your body to keep a certain amount of stored fat available for your next workout. You’re essentially telling it that it needs fat available to burn, ‘because you’ll be doing this exercise again. So while we may be burning some calories during this exercise, after the exercise is over, our body begins storing up some fat for the next workout. Obviously not what we’re looking for in terms of maximum ability to burn fat fast.

The other big concern with moderately paced aerobic exercise performed several times per week is that it trains your body (heart, lungs, muscles, etc.) to become efficient. Again, this may sound good, but what is actually happening is bad for long term health. You are working only within your existing aerobic limits, without improving your aerobic capacity.

This is important because your aerobic capacity is what determines how your body responds in times of physical, emotional, and mental stress. If you reduce your capacity for work, as you do in this type of exercise, you’re reducing your long term health, no to mention a poor chance of burning fat.

The good news is, you can reverse these effects by instead focusing your workouts on high intensity resistance training, with workouts that last 15-20 minutes on average, and can only be performed 2-3 times per week.

These workouts will burn carbohydrates instead of fat during the workout, and will cause your body to use its fat stores to replenish the burned carbs over the next 24 hours, after the workout is done! This type of work will also increase your reserve capacity and thus your ability to handle all types of stress, leading to lasting health and fitness...and 24/7 fat burning. Nice!

But the exercise must be performed correctly to be effective, and that means using sufficient intensity, and keeping your rest periods between exercises and sets down to 60 seconds or less.

The students of my Fat Burning Furnace method know this, and are reaping the benefits. When you think about how little time you have to spend compared to the typically recommended methods to get these fat burning and health creating results, it’s almost magical.

Claim your free copy of Rob Poulos's "7 Secrets Of Permanent Fat Loss & Fitness" at his website: http://www.fatburningfurnace.com

Rob Poulos is a celebrated fitness author, fat loss expert, and the founder and CEO of Zero to Hero Fitness. Rob created the world's most efficient method for fast and permanent fat loss with his "Fat Burning Furnace" system to help those looking to put an end to restrictive fad diets, long boring cardio workouts, and the need for super-human willpower for good.


Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Weight Loss Tips Tricks: 15 Tips For Faster Weight Loss

Here are 15 tips for fast, healthy weight loss to follow :


1) Drink 8-10 glasses of water each day - this helps flush your body of impurities and fat. You can also substitute a few glasses of water for green or herbal tea. Spread your water consumption throughout the day, replacing the sodas or sugary drinks you normally have with meals with a couple of glasses of water. If you drink two glasses with lunch and two with dinner, you’re halfway there. And you’ve avoided all the calories found in those other beverages. You may also prevent overeating by staying well-hydrated.

2) Break up your meals into 5 or 6 smaller ones - this will help speed up your metabolism and keep you from getting too hungry in between meals.

3) Increase your fruit and vegetable intake - these are packed with vitamins.

4) Decrease your fat intake - try for no more than 20 grams per day.

5) Exercise for 30 minutes each day - take a walk, or play a game with your kids. Just get moving.

6) Find a hobby - take up knitting or painting to keep your hands busy.

7) Don’t eat that late night snack - Try not to eat for at least 2 hours before going to bed.

8) Listen to your body - your body will tell you when it is full, hungry, stressed, tired. Learn the signs and obey what your body is telling you.

9) Increase your fiber - choose whole grain pasta and bread.

10) Cleanse and detoxify - this may be the most important. Rid your body of harmful toxins and chemicals, while allowing it to function normally. Cleansing is an important part of long-term weight loss success. Our bodies are laden with insecticides, pesticides, lead, and dozens of other harmful substances. These chemicals clog our internal organs and our bodies respond by coating these chemicals with layers of fat. One way to cleanse your body of harmful impurities is by using Acai Berry.

This fruit is a nutritional powerhouse and will get your body functioning normally again, so it can fight illness and disease. It will also allow your body to burn calories and fat faster and more efficiently. You will see a faster rate of weight loss, and you will be able to keep it off.
Acai berry has many health benefits as well, including increased circulation, increased metabolism, and increased mental clarity and focus.


11) Don’t Skip Meals
One of the absolute worst things you can do when trying to lose weight is to skip meals. Nothing can trip up a diet faster. By skipping meals, you could force your body into “starvation mode”, causing it to hang on to the weight you’re trying lose. That’s because your body reacts as if it is literally starving, retaining the fat as a protective measure. Another problem with skipping meals is that by the time you do get around to eating, you’ll probably overeat, making up for the calories you skipped earlier, and then some.

12) Practice Portion Control
The key to a healthy diet and weight management is portion control. Being aware of how much we eat is just as important as knowing what we eat. Unfortunately, it’s not always easy to figure out what a “normal” portion size is, especially in a world where bigger is better. We’re surrounded by restaurants serving overflowing plates of food and all-you-can-eat buffets. One way to counter this is to learn what a recommended serving size is for the foods we eat and what it looks like. Being able to visualize a healthy serving will make it easier to put sensible portions on your plate.

13) Consume More Whole Grains
Adding more whole grains and produce to your diet is essential for healthy weight loss. Grains, fruits, and vegetables are nutrient rich, low in calories and fat, and high in fiber, allowing you to eat more of them, more often, without gaining weight. Also, the fiber in whole grains and produce will make you feel fuller longer, helping you avoid overeating, while also helping you control your portions better. As an added benefit, you could see your health improve thanks to the added nutrients which may be missing from your diet.

14) Read Food Labels
Understanding food labels is an easy, yet critical, skill in the pursuit of healthy weight loss. Without it, you can’t count calories, figure out serving sizes, or compare labels, making informed food choices virtually impossible.


15) Snack Between Meals
In order to maintain blood sugar levels, it’s necessary to eat every three to four hours. That’s where snacks come in. They help you maintain proper blood sugar levels and prevent you from getting too hungry between meals, helping you control your portions and avoid overeating at mealtime. Of course, the snack you choose must be healthy and satisfying. For example, try an apple, which is high in fiber and low in calories, with reduced fat cottage cheese, which is an excellent source of protein.

Weight Loss Tips : Be Positive

Your weight loss is directly influenced by the way you think and feel. The more you can remain positive and motivated, the more success you're likely to have.

Here are 3 great ways to stay focused on your success:

Form a support circle. This includes your family, friends, coworkers and your doctor. It's pretty safe to assume that these people want to help, but they might not really know how. So, be patient while they learn the ways that are most helpful to you. One key element of getting the support you need is to be specific...and ask for the help you decide you really need. Think it over. Focus on the behavior that you want the person to exhibit or to change, rather than asking for kindness, understanding or sensitivity. Make your communication clear, and you're much more likely to get the help you need.

Keep track of your progress. Weigh yourself periodically. And each day write down a day's complete eating and any physical activity you've done. This is both a great way to feel proud of your accomplishments and a helpful means of spotting any potential problems with your weight-loss program, should they arise. Any time you visit your doctor, bring along your daily notes to share with him or her.

Reward yourself early and often. Changing your lifestyle takes motivation, and although feeling better about yourself is the biggest reward of all, sometimes you might need a little something extra to motivate you. So make sure you reward yourself once you reach a goal, whether it be completing a 10-minute walk or losing 10 pounds. Some of the rewards you need are psychological—give yourself a "pat on the back" for a job well done, even if your new lifestyle becomes "second nature" over time. But don't feel shy about rewarding yourself with new clothes or other personal pampering, either—you've earned it!

Part of staying positive is dealing with the negative.
A positive attitude and good motivation will get you started, but it's easy to fall into unrealistic expectations that could derail your efforts.

Here are a couple of "can't win" thought patterns to look out for:

"It's all or nothing." This attitude tempts you to think that foods are either good or bad, healthy or unhealthy. Just one slipup, and you could view yourself as a failure. Instead, expect mistakes as part of weight control. It's better to have them and recover quickly than to have no plan for dealing with them when they occur.

"Nothing but negative." It's easy to make a mountain out of a molehill. Miss one opportunity for increased physical activity, and the thought could pop up that you're "right back where you started," ignoring all the work you've already done. Focus on the good work you have done, and look ahead to more of it.

"Don't worry, be happy." These thinkers have the opposite reaction from the ones above: they're always going to do better next week. This may be optimistic, positive thinking, but it often lacks a plan for making it happen. Plans beat platitudes, every day.
"This is it." Sometimes you may feel like you have found the "right" program, the "right" doctor, or that this is exactly the "right" time for success. Unfortunately, weight control isn't a one-shot effort.

Think long-term: seeing your doctor regularly, making physical activity a part of your life, and, rather than just dieting, changing your eating habits for life.

Weight-loss pitfalls can be discouraging, but if you deal with them rather then give up, you'll be a stronger and happier person for it!

Monday, June 8, 2009

Weight Loss Tips: Healthy Dieting Tips

The word ‘Diet’ literally means the usual food and drink that a person consumes during the course of a day.

The practice of consuming a diet in order to lose weight is known as ‘Dieting.

The term ‘Dieting’ is usually used for losing weight but it is also used in some cases to gain weight or to regulate the amounts of certain nutrients entering the body.

The diet that facilitates losing weight is known as the ‘Weight Loss Diet’. The ‘Weight Loss Diet’ is also referred to as obesity diet or reducing diet (especially fat). The term ‘Weight Loss Diet’ is sometimes confused with ‘Fad Diet’.

Fad Diet: The diet that promotes a restricted eating-plan or certain liquid foods lacking sufficient food value is termed as Fad Diet. The fad diets are very low in calories so they cause quite fast weight loss. However, quick weight loss may not be healthy and - in most cases - is not fat loss. It is actually water-loss which is quickly regained when the dieter resumes normal eating. The fad diets can cause weight cycling, so fad dieting in also dubbed as ‘Yo-Yo dieting’, which means a continuing pattern of gaining and losing weight. The fad diets are considered unhealthy. The common examples of Fad diets include the Cabbage Soup Diet and the Grapefruit Diet.

Good Weight Loss Diet: The diet that helps losing weight in a positive manner is a good Weight Loss Diet. It does not reduce the energy. A balanced low fat diet is considered as the best weight loss diet. A balanced low fat diet is high in healthy carbohydrates, low in fat and moderate in protein.

A good Weight Loss Diet should be rich in whole grains, fruits, and vegetables, which are specially recommended for weight control and preventing diseases such as cancer and heart disease.

Low-fat hi-carb diet: The ‘Low-fat hi-carb diet’ is considered a good weight loss diet. The ‘Low-fat hi-carb diet’ is the diet in fat AND high in complex carbohydrates. The Low-fat hi-carb diets are also recommended for optimal athletic performance. The high-fat as well as high-protein diets both are unhealthy. The fat contains more than twice the calories of other foods and it seven times more easily converted to body fat than carbohydrates.

The CARMEN study, published in the International Journal of Obesity, divulged, how increasing carbohydrate intake could help weight control. The study showed that when volunteers increased their consumption of carbohydrates and reduced their consumption of fat, they were able to lose body fat and maintain this weight loss without counting calories or embarking on awkward or life-changing slimming regimes.

The diets rich in complex carbohydrates are less fattening, very healthy and much less easily converted to body fat. The complex carbohydrates are made up of 'complex' molecules, so it takes longer for body to digest them. The complex carbohydrates make body stay full for longer without upsetting the system. One should eat about 60% of his/her calories in the form of complex carbohydrates.

The foods high in complex carbohydrates include whole meal bread, potatoes, pasta, rice (esp. brown) fruits, vegetables, beans, legumes.

Objective: The goal of a good weight loss diet should be to improve the long term eating habits. The weight loss diet or weight loss program that does not teach good long-term eating habits can not solve weight problem.

The diet should include all food groups.
The diet should offer an eating plan that can be followed for life.
The diet should include enough information to help a person make informed choices on calories, fat and general dietary modification.

Therefore, all fad diets, fat-burning diets, single-food diets, diet supplements, expensive pre-packaged diet foods and all weight loss gimmicks like weight loss patches, appetite suppressants and 'fat-burning' weight loss supplements are not likely to tackle the weight loss problem.