Want to Avoid a Muffin Top? Best Foods to Eat

If you want to lose weight, improve your wellness and boost your wellbeing, then you need to have a serious look at the foods that you eat, as well as increasing your fitness. Most people who want to lose weight are looking to reduce their muffin top, as this is the area of fat that most people (especially women) carry and most feel self conscious about.

 

Research shows that people who eat a lot of polyunsaturated fat gain less fat and more muscle. Those who eat saturated fat tend to find that it is stored around their middle and around their vital organs. This means that those who mainly eat unsaturated fat are far less likely to fall victim to type 2 diabetes.

 

People who want to stop themselves from developing a muffin top should eat only unsaturated fats, including oily fish, the research suggests. If you are keen to avoid the development of a muffin top then you should eat foods such as salmon and walnuts. A team of researchers from Sweden has discovered that people who eat lots of polyunsaturated fats tend to gain more muscle and less fat, particularly when directly compared to those who eat a lot of saturated fats.

 

People who eat a lot of polyunsaturated fat, such as that found in walnuts or salmon, are also less likely to store any fat around their waists and around their internal organs.

 

This is the first time that a study on humans has shown that the fat composition of the food that we eat increases the risk of heart disease and influences cholesterol levels, but also affects whereabouts on the body the fat is stored.

 

From this, we can learn that the choices of food types that we eat can directly influence our body shape as well as the overall health of our bodies.

Categories: Fat, fats, Lose weight, muffin, nbsp, nbsp people, people, polyunsaturated, top

Do Diet Drinks Really Make You Gain Weight?

If you have any interest at all in wellness, diet and nutrition, you will have heard the recent news that diet drinks are supposedly bad for you. Research has suggested that these drinks damage your wellbeing by actually making you more likely to gain weight, rather than less.

 

A study was published recently, which was carried out on some 23,000 adults in the United States of America. It found that those who were either obese or overweight drank more sugar-free drinks than those who were within a healthy weight range.

 

It could simply be that people who are carrying extra weight are more conscious about the idea of counting calories. It could also be, however, that those who drink calorie-free drinks are more likely to consume a larger amount of food. This certainly seems to be the case in the group that took part in the research. The results found that overweight or obese people seemed to compensate for the lack of calories in their drinks by eating more food. When directly compared to overweight or obese people who drank sugary drinks, the calorie total was generally the same, as these people tended to eat less.

 

Researchers think there may be a number of interesting reasons behind this. One suggestion is that although the drinks don’t contain any sugar, the sweeteners in it still activate the ‘sugar reward’ pathway in the brain, so that people who drink them are more likely to snack more.

 

Another train of thought suggests that those people who drink low-calorie drinks simply crave more food to keep their calorie intake up to a level that they expect.

 

The study was unable to say conclusively that drinking diet drinks will make you fat, but there does seem to be a strong correlation between drinking diet drinks and being either overweight or obese.

Categories: diet, Diet Drinks, drinking diet, Drinks, Fat, free drinks, gain weight, nbsp, obese people, people

The Science of Nutrition: The Facts about Fat You Don’t Know

There’s no denying that nutrition, and how different foods affect your wellbeing, is a science. However, calling it “a science” can make you think that you’ll get black and white results every time, which isn’t the case. Sports dietician Heather Neal explains, ‘The problem with nutrition is that the science both makes sense and doesn’t make sense all at the same time. It’s not because of a lack of quality research; it’s because research can both prove and disprove a theory all in one go. Nutrition science can show that something is fact, then turn around and demonstrate the opposite. It’s not experts trying to persuade us that something’s true when it’s not or poorly designed research studies (although there are plenty of those). It’s because while nutrition is based in science, it can’t be put into a box with a checkmark next to it that says, “yes, this is absolutely fact.”’ How frustrating!

 

‘It’s why I both love and hate my job as a dietician,’ Neal points out. ‘I can’t tell clients that yes, this 100% will work, and this is absolutely wrong, or guarantee xyz results by doing precisely abc. See, nutrition is a science woven with art. What works for one person doesn’t work for another. What destroys one person’s body may help somebody else’s. What’s “true” one day may be wrong the next and then true again. It happens a lot, and it’s what makes people distrust nutrition.’ She adds, ‘Here’s one to wrap your head around: fat isn’t bad — even saturated fat. Now, I know most people have gotten off the low-fat bandwagon by now and appropriately so, but it’s also time to get off the fat-is-bad wagon entirely.’

 

Neal details, ‘Saturated fat is, apparently, good for you. Or at least not terrible for you. It’s not the demonized, artery-clogging culprit we’ve made it out to be…The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition reviewed old saturated fat research and came to a new conclusion: saturated fat doesn’t cause heart attacks. It was a logical conclusion from past research: people who had heart attacks and clogged arteries ate a lot of saturated fat, therefore saturated fat is bad for you. What the research missed was the actual cause and effect connection. This doesn’t mean you should dive in to a plate of saturated fat, though…What it does mean is that we should give fat a chance.’ So what do we really know about fat, and why should you let it play a role in your diet wellness?

 

1. Cholesterol Confusion: Neal notes, ‘Saturated fat does raise LDL cholesterol (the artery-clogging stuff) but it also raises HDL cholesterol (the good kind) and lowers triglycerides (also good). For reference, carbohydrates raise triglycerides, which are markers of heart disease.’

2. The Right Stuff: ‘Replacing dietary saturated fat with fats like polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats (like those from nuts, oils, etc.) will likely lower your cardiovascular disease risk,’ says Neal. ‘But replacing saturated fat with carbohydrates will not. It’s all about the context of your diet as a whole.’

3. The Wrong Stuff: Neal warns, ‘The one thing everyone seems to be able to agree upon is that trans fats are bad. Avoid them.’

4. Omega 3s: According to Neal, ‘Most people eat way more omega-6 fatty acids than omega-3 fatty acids, which is why you hear so much about supplementing with omega-3s. This doesn’t mean omega-6s are bad, but you want to keep the ratio in proportion. Good sources of omega-3s are fatty fish and nuts. Omega-6s are found in vegetable oils like corn, soy, and safflower.’

5. Fat Functioning: ‘Most important of all, you need fat to function,’ Neal asserts. ‘Fat is required to absorb vitamins A, D, E, and K, synthesize hormones, lubricate joints, and promote the sensation of satiety (fullness).’

Categories: artery clogging, cholesterol, Fat, fatty acids, heart attacks, neal, nutrition, omega 3s, omega 6s, Omega-3, saturated, science

What Are The Best Exercises For Losing Body Fat?

Do you want to know the best ways to lose weight and boost your fitness? There are some really simple and yet really effective moves that you can try to start burning that fat and restoring yourself to a place of complete wellness and wellbeing.

 

Forget about doing the same old boring cardio routine every day – if you attempt something like this, you’ll very quickly feel that you never want to see another treadmill as long as you live! Instead, pick up some weights and you’ll find a far more motivating and effective workout can be had.

 

Using weights can actually help your body to produce fat-burning hormones. Simple exercises mean that your body relies on muscle memory for a very efficient and manageable way to work out. It’s something that absolutely anyone can do and it helps to burn fat and keep you mobile and motivated. For each of these exercises, do them in pairs with no rest between each move and about one and a half minutes between each set. You only have to do this once per week to see a result. At the same time, make sure that you are following a lean diet plan, as there’s no point in having great new muscles if they are buried underneath a big layer of fat!

 

A deadlift is one of the simple exercises that you should try. This is very basic and simply involves holding a barbell with your hands placed just outside the knees. Pushing up through your heels, and keeping your chest up, lift the bar.

 

Next, try a series of Dumbbell presses. Lie flat on your back on a bench, holding a dumbbell in each hand at shoulder height. Keep your feet flat on the floor and then press the weights upwards and lower slowly.

 

A single-leg Romanian deadlift can also be very effective. Hold the bar and stand on just one leg with your knee slightly bent. Bend at the hip and keep your back straight until you feel your hamstring stretch and then straighten up.

Categories: body, effective, exercises, Fat, nbsp, simple, simple exercises

Get Rid of That Muffin Top Once and For All

There are lots of different names for the excess weight around your midriff area – names like ‘muffin top’ and ‘love handles’ are used, and no matter how you step up your fitness regime, it can be very hard to shift this particular area of fat.

 

It is very important to your wellness and wellbeing that you do try to lose this weight, however, as weight around the midsection of your body is the most dangerous type of fat that you can store. It has a direct effect on your chances of suffering from heart disease or diabetes in later life.

 

The key to getting rid of this type of fat is to focus your workout on your oblique muscles – the abdominal muscles that run along the outside edge of your core. There are various different exercises that you can do to target your core. One is a standing oblique crunch, which should be done in three sets of 30 – 50 repetitions.

 

This is a great way to warm up your legs and your oblique muscles. To do these, stand up tall with your feet about hip-distance apart. Lift up your right leg and try to reach your right elbow. When you do this, switch and do the movement on the left hand side.

 

Once you have done this set, move on to a stability ball oblique crunch. If you are a beginner, place your feet against the bottom of a wall. Lie sideways across a stability ball, making sure that the ball is comfortably underneath your torso. Do a full-body stretch to start with and then cup up into a crunch so that you can feel your oblique muscle working. Release this position and then start again at the beginning and repeat. Once you have done 30 of these on one side, turn over and switch to the other side.

Categories: ball, Fat, muffin top, muscles, nbsp, oblique, oblique crunch, oblique muscles, rid, stability ball, weight

What Are the Healthy Foods That Could Make You Fat?

Think you know everything about diet and nutrition? Think again. The food that you may feel are beneficial for your wellness and wellbeing may actually be helping you to pile on the pounds and feel sluggish and unwell.

 

Bread is one of the biggest food traps. Bread lovers will be dismayed to find out that it is possible to eat too much bread in just one single sitting. If you really need bread in your life, and can’t live without sandwiches, then allow yourself to have some, but try to limit the amount that you eat to just one or two slices a day. Bread isn’t the enemy, but you do need to control the amount of it that you eat. Instead of bread, you can have grains such as rice, couscous, quinoa or whole-wheat pasta.

 

Fruit-flavoured yoghurt is also a trap – even if it’s low fat, it’s too easy to scoff several cartons of yoghurt, increasing the calorie intake. Instead of fruity yoghurt, buy plain non-fat yoghurt and stir in your own fresh fruit. Having to mix your own fresh fruit is enough of an incentive to stop you over indulging on yoghurt, according to a study carried out by Weight Watchers.

 

You may think that your breakfast cereals are a safe bet, but all kinds of breakfast cereal (even the healthy kinds) can make you pile on the pounds. This is especially the case if you eat breakfast cereal straight out of the packet as a snack during the day. Even healthy cereals can really help to increase your calorie count over the course of a day. To avoid falling into this trap, make sure that you only eat breakfast cereal in the morning, with milk and a spoon. When combined with the milk, you will eat less cereal, and if you use skim milk but with far fewer calories.

Categories: Bread, breakfast, breakfast cereal, Cereal, eat breakfast, Fat, foods, fresh fruit, Healthy, yoghurt

Want to Lose Your Leg Fat Really Quickly?

People store weight in different ways, and so it’s vital that you tailor your fitness regime to match the areas that you would like to tone up. Carrying too much fat anywhere is bad for your wellness, as your wellbeing can be at risk from things like diabetes and heart disease.

 

If you are trying to lose weight, a goal of one or two pounds per week is a reasonable amount to lose – it might not sound like much but it means that in just 30 days you should lose around four to eight pounds. Losing leg fat, specifically, involves following a healthy eating plan as well as doing cardiovascular workouts as well as leg-toning exercises.

 

It’s easy to cut calories out of your diet if you simply eliminate fatty and sugary foods from your diet. You can also measure out your portion sizes to make sure that you are not overeating. In general, it is a good idea to eat fresh, healthy foods such as whole grains, lean proteins, fruit and vegetables. Lean proteins include things like fish and poultry.

 

The first step to losing weight is to increase your physical activity to burn calories – you should do around 30 to 60 minutes of exercise five days a week and rest on the other days. Cardiovascular exercise speeds up your metabolism and the rate at which you burn fat, and is far more effective than simply dieting on its own. It can vary too, and includes things like running, hiking, rollerblading and bicycling.

 

In terms of toning up your legs, squats can’t be beaten for their efficacy. Doing squats two or three days a week over the course of a month will lead to visible results. Lunges are also excellent, as they help to tone up the thighs. To do a squat, simply stand with your legs a little wider than hip-width apart and then bend at the knees, shifting the weight into your bottom as if you are about to sit down. Make sure that your knees don’t extend over your toes, and then stand back up again.

Categories: days, Fat, lean proteins, leg, Lose, nbsp, simply, weight

Can Your Diet Help You to Lose Weight by Burning Fat?

Our diets are so important in creating a healthy body and maintaining a balanced weight, but what foods can you eat to burn fat? Most of the time, exact ingredients or quantities aren’t listed so it can be tricky knowing what to eat. Eating a varied diet is, of course, important but there’s always room for improvement. Low carb diets aren’t necessary or overly effective when it comes to long-term weight management, but there are some advantages to a higher protein diet for fat loss purposes, according to recent studies. It’s believed that these include a lowered appetite, ‘automatic’ control and a higher thermic effect from the food. In the past, nutrition experts have advised that almost any hypocaloric diet that follows some semblance of logic can work, at the very least in the short term. But it’s not so much about the low carb argument – it’s more to do with the control of your calorie intake and compliance. Restricted diets can be difficult to maintain, which means that more often than not we end up falling off the wagon. The best way to burn fat is to shift away from pointless diets and opt for building a programme that helps to achieve results without missing out on the enjoyment of food.

Eating a wide variety of high nutrient-rich foods that are low in calories is the best way to do this. You’ll avoid the fat but stay within the muscle-building guidelines. While commitment is still necessary, you’ll be more inclined to stick within the guidelines if you’re eating delicious food that’s good for you. So to begin with, you need to know what ingredients you can use within your diet. Where carbohydrates and whole grains are concerned, oatmeal, brown rice, white potatoes and sweet potatoes are all great choices. Beans are also ideal for padding out meals with healthy carbs. Vegetables are, naturally, great for you but some are better than others. Broccoli, spinach, asparagus, tomatoes, salad greens and peppers are all fantastic bases for meals. If you want to add protein to your meals, you should look to chicken and turkey breasts, salmon, egg whites and steaks. Fruit is high in sugar but it’s still loaded with nutrients, so look to oranges, bananas, grapefruit, apples, blueberries and melon. Pineapple, strawberries, grapes and peaches are also fine. Healthy fats are necessary to get your dose of omega oils, so be sure to include almonds, extra virgin olive oil, walnuts, flax-seeds and avocados.

Dairy products are a difficult topic, because so many people believe them to be bad for our health. Dairy is vital for our health, as you need the calcium and vitamin D, but opt for skimmed versions to avoid the calories. With this diet, compliance also plays a part so you can give yourself two or three meals a week where you can eat whatever you want – pizza, sushi and other meals not on the list. You need to be able to treat yourself to foods that you’re craving in order to stay motivated to continue. Consider yourself healthy 95 per cent of the time, then the odd treat won’t make that much of a dent in your diet plans. Too much fat in your diet can lead to a number of health problems, from heart disease to strokes, so it’s vital that you amend your lifestyle to accommodate a healthier way of living.

Categories: calories, diet, Diets, Fat, foods, Healthy, meals

Skimmed Milk: How It Can Lead To Obesity

When it comes to dieting and wanting to lose weight there are certain things that we would all agree are going to be naturally good for. Ask anyone and they’ll be able to come up with a list of guaranteed tips that will help you to lose weight. And it will probably include ideas such as doing more exercise, eating less, cutting out sugary drinks, counting your calories and eating or drinking fat-free or low-fat options. But while these things are something that pretty much everyone would agree on, there is one in there that appears to actually be wrong.

 

When you talk about using low-fat options such as skimmed milk, it’s often assumed that it will be much healthier and better for you than using full fat milk. But to us that only to seems to be counter-intuitive to common sense and the way that we believe dieting works. After all, if you cut down on the amount of fat that you take in, it should be easier for you to lose weight. But according to new research, drinking skimmed milk might actually be making us bigger rather than helping us to lose weight.

 

It is generally thought that drinking skimmed milk is a very good idea for your health and could even be considered a healthy option when you come to make decisions about your lifestyle. After all, drinking skimmed milks allows you to get all of the benefits of milk including calcium, vitamin D and protein, without having to drink full fat milk which is much higher in fat or calories. However, according to the authors of this new research, this assumption is actually flawed for a number of very important reasons, and drinking skimmed milk is actually likely to be worse for your wellbeing.

 

But how can this be so? Well, it seems that drinking a low calorie option such as skimmed milk doesn’t actually lead to a reduction in calorie intake. The authors of the study believe that this is because people who use low calorie options such as skimmed milk are more likely to drink far more of it, and actually take on more calories than they would have done otherwise. Previous studies have actually found strong evidence that shows that children who drink low-calorie options such as skimmed milk are more likely to be heavier than their peers later on in life.

 

“Our original hypothesis was that children who drank high-fat milk, either whole milk or two per cent, would be heavier because they were consuming more saturated fat calories,” said Dr Mark Daniel DeBoer, who is the author of the study and an associate professor of paediatric endocrinology at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. “We were really surprised when we looked at the data and it was very clear that within every ethnicity and every socio-economic stratum, that it was actually the opposite, that children who drank skim milk and one-percent were heavier than those who drank two per cent and whole”.

 

There is clearly the problem that people overeat when they think that what they are eating is a healthy option. And it is worth pointing out that even whole milk only has a fairly low level of fat and calories and using skimmed milk doesn’t really lower it very much. The problem is that people then drink far more of the skimmed milk and end up drinking more calories than they would if they were drinking whole milk. Clearly there needs to be some education of the public on this issue to help people fully understand.

Categories: calorie options, Drinking, drinking skimmed, Fat, healthy option, Lose weight, milk, milk doesn, skimmed, skimmed milk, whole milk

How To Stop Yourself From Constantly Binge Eating

When you’re trying to maintain a diet and workout regime it can be very difficult as there are a lot of different temptations to make you stray from the path. Once we have been doing a certain regime for a long time, it can make us feel not only very hungry (because we are eating less than we were in the past) but also it can cause a lot of emotional damage. This can lead to the very serious problem of binge eating. Binge eating is overeating, usually due to a number of emotional factors that make you want to eat more to feel better rather than as a way to sate your hunger.

 

Clearly it is a much better idea to only eat until you are full and satisfied, rather than to give in to your cravings and just eat to make yourself feel better. Binge eating often happens are a long day of doing really well and it can make us feel like the diet is not worth it if we simply binge at the end of the day and undo all the good work we did as a part of the plan. So we have prepared some excellent tips to help you avoid binge eating and stick to your diet plan as part of a healthy lifestyle.

 

The first and most important step in the ways to avoid binge eating is to identify situations in which you know you are more likely to find yourself binge eating. For everyone this will be different so it is very much down to you and your personal habits. Once you have identified the occasions where you are more likely to binge eat it means that you are better equipped to do something about it. For example if you know that you regularly binge eat right after going to the gym then you can ensure that you have a plan in place such as always finding something to do to take your mind off eating instead of just going to the fridge and binging on the food that is available to you.

 

Another great idea if you want to avoid binge eating is to create a food diary so that you can record every single thing that you eat. This is a smart move as it forces you to acknowledge exactly how much you’re eating on a daily basis. This means that if you feel tempted to binge you remember that the details of what you’ve eaten have to go in the diary. Make sure that you also include snacks and drinks and altogether this will give you a great idea of how much you usually eat so that you can stay in control.

 

It’s also a useful idea to find ways of socialising that don’t involve food. For many people, socialising might include going out for a meal or even just going out for a drink, which inevitably involves getting snacks along the way. Try a range of different activities that don’t involve food and you’ll find that there are loads of way to have fun that don’t involve you having to eat all of the time.

 

Finally, it’s a great plan to keep yourself away from temptation. This is simple; if you know there are certain foods that can trigger you to binge eat, just don’t buy them. While it might seem like an obvious trick, so many people go shopping and pick out their favourite foods without thinking about the fact that it might be better for them to avoid these things altogether.

Categories: avoid, avoid binge, binge, binge eat, binge eating, eating, Fat, feel, healthy lifestyle, involve food, nbsp

Could You Burn Away Your Belly Fat in 15 Minutes a Day?

People who carry excess weight are often particularly self-conscious about their tummies. As well as using fitness regimes to boost your general wellness and wellbeing, you can also target this hated belly fat and create the trim waist that you’ve been longing for. A two-pronged attack is needed for this; you need to tackle your belly fat by exercising the muscles and also by getting your heart beating fast.

 

A cardio and abs workout is a great way to get into shape, and the best news is that it doesn’t need to take much time. Doing this sort of routine for only 15 minutes per day can dramatically change the shape of your midriff, as well as burning away your general body fat.

 

Burpees are the most loved and hated exercise of all, but they were wonderfully effective when it comes to burning belly fat. To do a burpee, start with your feet together and your hands up above your head. Bend forwards and place your hands on the floor, jumping your feet backwards until you are in a plank position. Then, hold this position for a beat, and then jump your feet forwards, towards your hands, and then stand up straight again. If you do this 30 times, the resulting ache to your core will show you what a fantastic workout your muscles are getting, and you will find yourself out of breath and with a racing heart, too, meaning that your body is busily burning fat.

 

When your heart rate has been raised by the burpees, you can do some core strength work. Get into a plank position and then hold it for five seconds. When you reach the count of five, lower yourself down onto your elbows, keeping the rest of your body tight and using only your arms to do so. Hold your body in the elbow plank for about five seconds and then push yourself back up into the regular plank. Do this for around a minute in total, moving up and down between the two planks.

Categories: Belly, body, burning, Fat, nbsp, Plank, plank position, tummy

Female-Focused Strength Training Tips for a Perfect Body

If you’re tired of putting in loads of effort in the cardio section of the gym and not seeing any results, you may need to change your tactics. According to the National Centre for Health Statistics, just 21 per cent of women use strength training exercises two or more times a week. But what most people don’t realise is that when you skip this vital part of your exercise regime, you lose out on some great exercises which burn fat and help you to maintain a healthy weight. Those two sessions a week can help to reduce your overall body fat by around three percentage points in just 10 weeks, even if you don’t adjust your diet by a single calorie. That could translate to as much as three inches of your waist and hips, with your new found muscle helping to boost your metabolism in the long-term. Although cardio burns more calories than strength training in just thirty minutes, pumping the iron in the gym could help to burn more overall. In fact, in studies, researchers found that women who completed an hour-long strength training workout burned an average of 100 more calories in a day than those who hadn’t lifted a single weight. Look at the figures – with three sessions a week, that is a total of 15,600 calories a year or four and a half pounds of fat – all without having to up your gym sessions at all.

Researchers have found that there are long-term benefits to lifting as well, with muscle accounting for around a third of the average woman’s weight. This has a strong effect on ones metabolism, which means your body can burn extra calories. Muscle eats up calories even when you’re not working out, so if you replace ten pounds of fat with ten pounds of lean muscle, you could be burning 25 to 50 calories a day without having to do anything. You shouldn’t rely on the scales to see if your routine is effective though. Muscle is denser than fat, so your weight is not necessarily the best form of tracking device. So how is it done? You need to begin with three weight-training sessions each week. The best calorie burner, you should aim for total body workouts that work your arms, abs, back and legs. Squats, for example, call on muscles in both sides of your legs, rather than leg extensions which target just one area. If you’re unsure how to begin, speaking with a trainer may be helpful as they can create a programme for you that targets specific areas and includes multi-faceted exercises that work twice as hard.

 

For each exercise you do, you should aim to perform three sets of 10 or 12 reps with a weight that challenges your muscles. You should also fuel your workout effectively, by ensuring that you have enough energy to get you through the workout. Too many dieters make a fatal error in cutting back on protein in order to lose weight. But it’s counterproductive as they lose muscle along with the fat that they may have melted away with the workout. Experts recommend that you should eat one gram of protein for every pound of body weight you have that doesn’t come from fat. For example, a 140-pound woman who has 25 per cent body fat should eat 105g of protein. The best sources of high quality protein is chicken or other lean meats, as well as eggs and soy products.

Categories: body, calories, Fat, fitness, Long term, Muscle, strength, Strength Training, training, weight

How to Banish Your Excess Belly Fat Once and For All

When people want to lose weight and increase their fitness, you can guarantee that there is one or more problem area that they specifically dislike and want to banish. More often than not, that problem area is the tummy. Getting rid of belly fat is a top priority to help improve your wellness and wellbeing, as the waist circumference is known to be linked to a number of serious health conditions.

 

Slimming down your waist is not easy though, and you need to know exactly how to go about it. Many people do hours and hours of crunches every week to try to get rid of their belly fat, not realising that, on their own, crunches and situps are useless. They need to be combined with endurance and cardio if you want to see results.

 

Endurance training is when you do lots of reps of an exercise with a low weight. You usually do around 20 or 25 repetitions of each exercise, but you use only about 50 to 70 percent of the maximum weight you could truly manage. Your muscles will be exhausted, but in a different way to they are when you do power training.

 

When you add repetitions to your exercise, what you actually do is draw on your liver to let go of the energy that it stores for such occasions. When this happens, your body urgently needs to replace the sugar that has been removed from the liver, and it breaks down fatty adipose tissue around the body to replace the glycogen that has been taken from your liver and used up by your body. For this reason, it is also really important not to eat immediately after a workout, or your body will simply use the fresh energy in the food that you consume.

Categories: Belly, body, exercise, Fat, Liver, nbsp, problem area, tummy, weight

Should You Focus on Calories or Fat When Losing Weight?

When you are losing weight, some people will tell you that it is a simple matter of increasing your fitness and reducing your calories. Others will claim that your wellness and wellbeing will only truly be improved by paying attention not to the calorie content but to the amount of fat in your diet – but which is truly more important, calories or fat?

There are pros and cons about each method, of course, as with anything else in life.

A calorie is a small measure of energy that you burn as you go about your daily life. You need to burn off the calories in your food in order to maintain your weight – in other words, if you consume 2000 calories per day then you need to burn 2000 calories per day, in order to ensure that your weight stays the same. If you eat more calories than you burn off, then you will gradually gain weight, even if the food that you are eating is all healthy and low fat. That is because your body actually makes fat in order to store all the nutrients that it is not able to use up, so that they can be stored for another time. Some nutrients cannot be stored, of course, as they are not water soluble.

It sounds reasonable, then, that focusing on calorie content is the best way to go when you are trying to lose weight. The problem with this method, however, is that your body also needs a certain amount of fat every day. Fat that is made from sugar is the wrong type of fat, but ignoring the body’s need for fat altogether can also be equally damaging because it makes it harder for your body to burn calories. Too much fat can also cause serious health problems, such as intestinal disorders and certain associated types of cancer.

 

Categories: body, burn, calorie content, calories, Fat, Losing Weight, order, weight

Which Diet is Best for You?

New diets grab the headlines every few weeks, which makes it incredibly hard to choose when – how do you know which are the real deal and which are just fads? Studies suggest that people on low fat diets lose just 7lbs on average over the course of two years, Mediterranean diets enable people to lose 10lbs and the low carb diet enabled people to lose 12lbs. There were also very few health benefits to a low fat diet. Those on a Mediterranean diet saw their blood sugar levels improve and the low carb diet offered the best results for cholesterol levels. When it comes to choosing the best diet for your health and goals, it’s important to first discuss it with your GP – they will help you take any other health concerns into account, and to draw up a plan that works best for you.

 

A low carb diet, such as the Atkins diet, emphasises the protein and fats in the food you eat. People following this diet can eat around one third of their daily calorie intake from carbs. Many fruits and vegetables are considered high in carbohydrates, so this diet can be incredibly bad for your health and it limits your meal options. Sugar is also restricted, as with most diets. The theory behind this meal plan is that by lowering your intake of carbs, you can lower your insulin levels to force your body to burn stored fat for energy People do lose weight with this type of diet, but it can be incredibly straining on your health. Surprisingly, it can also be very challenging to restrict your intake of fruit, grains and sugar. Because you lack energy, your level of fitness suffers which means you will struggle to workout for as long. It can be stressful on your heart and can lead to a number of health problems.

 

The Mediterranean diet is the opposite, as this relies heavily on your intake of antioxidant-rich fruit and vegetables, whole grains and heart-healthy olive oil. You can even drink a glass of merlot with it! Research shows that it can lower the risk of cancer, heart disease and even Alzheimer’s disease. It can also improve your lifespan by keeping you healthier for longer. Thanks to its rich intake of oily fish, you’ll also get plenty of omega-3 fatty acids which can do wonders for your health. This leads on to the vegetarian diet, which studies show can also be very healthy thanks to the high quantity of vegetables, fruit, whole grains and lean protein, such as tofu. if you’re struggling to go vegetarian straight away, you may want to ease into it by still eating fish for a while, then going on to alternative protein sources, such as tofu or meat substitutes, nuts, lentils and beans.

 

A balanced diet is important, so you should aim to still eat certain fats – the trick is to choose your sources carefully. Switching diets drastically can be harmful to your health, so it is best to ease into it if you can. You may also be wise to speak to your GP first to ensure that it is safe for you to switch to. For example, if you’re vastly overweight or suffering with a health condition your body may be under stress – it may be worth easing into a new diet plan and exercise so as not to put your body under strain unnecessarily. They will be able to advise the best way to go about losing weight, and switching your lifestyle up for healthier choices.

Categories: carb diet, diet, Diets, Fat, health, Intake, Losing Weight, Mediterranean diet, people

What are the Best Ways to Help Your Body Burn Fat?

If you want to lose weight and increase your fitness, it can be a long and frustrating process. Your wellness and wellbeing can be greatly boosted by you shedding a few pounds, so it is time to make it a priority. The good news is that there are a lot of simple things that you can do to help speed up your metabolism and start the weight falling off you as quickly as possible.

 

Start by adding a bit of fibre to your diet. If you are suffering from irregularity and constipation it can lead to increased weight gain, but the solution to this is very simple. Increase the amount of fibre in your diet and this will improve the health of your digestive tract and stomach. Lots of research also links good dietary fibre with a better metabolism.

 

You can find fibre in foods such as fruits, whole grains, vegetables, lean proteins and healthy fats.

 

You could also try cutting carbs out of your diet. Replace simple carbs with complex carbs and fibrous types of vegetable. The simple carbs can cause your insulin levels to spike, and this fat-storing hormone increases your appetite as well as causing you to hang on to calories. Complex carbs have the opposite effect as they keep your levels of insulin low and they also help to control your appetite as they take much longer to digest.

 

Taking your vitamins can also help to plan an important role in the mobilisaton of fat and to help you lose weight. Vitamin C is a great example of this, as it is needed to help in the fat-burning process. Some studies have also shown that vitamin D can increase the amount of fat your burn by around 50 percent.

Categories: burn, carbs, Complex Carbs, Fat, fibre, Lose weight, Metabolism, nbsp, simple, simple carbs, weight

Banish Your Back Fat For Good With These Easy Tips

Back fat can be very unsightly. Some women just naturally carry a lot of extra fat on their back, and when they wear tightly cut tops or dresses, this fat has a tendency to bulge out of the sides. When women want to lose weight and improve their fitness, they are often determined to focus some of the toning effects on the back area.

 

The wellness and wellbeing of your back muscles is important not only for the way you look but for helping to improve your posture, relieving back pain and improving your overall core strength. There are specific exercises that you can do to get your back muscles into shape, and this should result in a lean and toned silhouette that looks fantastic in any strappy dress or top.

 

Firstly, try a plank-to-row maneuver. Start in a pushup position and hold a weight in each hand – you can choose the weight that suits your current fitness levels. Next, shift all of your weight onto your left arm and pick up your right arm to the level of your side, retaining your hold on the dumbbell. Make sure that you hold your abs tight the whole time, and keep your hips squared to the ground. Do 10 – 12 reps of these dumbbell lifts and do the same thing again on the other side. As your strength increases, you can use heavier weights.

 

You could also try an inverted modified row. Find a secure bar that you can hang from the underside of. Put your feet flat on the ground and bend your knees until they are in a 90 degree angle and then keep your back totally straight. Pull in your abs at the belly button and keep your core tight. Pull up with your arms until your chest is lifted up to the bar, hold for the count of two and then lower yourself back down. Do 10 – 12 reps and repeat three times.

Categories: back, Fat, fitness, ground, hold, nbsp, weight

How to Shrink Your Waist and Fit Back Into Your Jeans

Most people who want to lose weight and improve their fitness have a specific goal in mind, and that goal is often to reduce the size of their waist. This is a very sensible goal, as your wellness and wellbeing are intrinsically linked to the size of your waist. Those who have larger waists are at increased risk of all kinds of health conditions, such as diabetes and heart disease.

 

There are some simple moves that can help you to lose up to eight inches off your waist. These are tried and tested by Molly Fox, who created the popular Skinny Jeans Workout, a class that is taught specifically to help women lose weight off their hips, thighs, bums and bellies.

 

Most of all, squats are highly recommended. To do a squat, stand straight with your feet around hip distance apart, and make sure that your toes are turned out a little. Hold a weight in each hand. Each weight should be around three pounds, and your arms should be by your sides. Lower your body down into a squat, making sure that your upper body stays as upright as it possibly can. As you squat down, reach your arms forward, and then return to starting position. Do this 20 times. Your knees should be over your second toes as you squat, and you should tighten the muscles in your inner thigh to stop your toes turning outwards. The knees should not come over the toes, as this is very bad for the knees and back and can cause injury.

Categories: Fat, Goal, Lose weight, shrink, Squat, toes, waist, weight

Weird Diets That Could Actually Work

Diets go through some bizarre fads but how do you really know if they’re effective? In one of the most random acts of weight loss, the media published a story a few years ago that claims a man at college dropped 245 pounds by eating nothing but Subway sandwiches. There’s no shortage of weird diets on the market, with companies and experts clinging to anything that offers the slightest hint of weight loss. Some dangerous, some effective, some simply bizarre, diets are a big business. However, the more random diets tend to rely on foods people enjoy eating, so they tend to be easier to stick to. One of the weird diets researchers have found to have mixed effects is what is known as the Tailgater’s Diet – this relies on consuming around 1500 calories a day from sausages and craft ale. Psychologically, it’s an easy one to stick to because the foods are appealing and tasty. However, as a long-term solution for weight loss, it has no nutrients and will cause a problem for your health. Protein is a great way to fill up though, so it’s a good idea to use it with each meal to stave off hunger – lean meats or tofu and legumes are great sources.

The bacteria diet works by you consuming the kinds of foods which plump up the amount of healthy bacteria in the digestive tract. Creator of the diet, Stella Mestovas, found that in each of her clients who ate at least half a cup of probiotic-rich foods each day, each lost around 21 pounds over six months. This is all without cutting any calories from their diet. Despite the unappealing name, this diet can actually be very effective in regulating your appetite and metabolism. A better balance of healthy bacteria in the gut can prevent weight gain, so try eating some fermented foods each day. Sauerkraut and kimchi can be great options, as these have healthy bacteria in them. Love Starbucks? Christine Hall, aged 66, reportedly lost over 75 pounds over two years simply by surviving on Starbucks and sticking to a 1000-calorie a day diet. Hall claimed that the portion sizes helped her to limit her overall calorie intake, helping her to lose weight. It doesn’t need to be just Starbucks, though. You can download apps that monitor the calorie intake of fast food, to help you estimate what that bought lunch will cost you, weight-wise.

It may not be the most appealing diet, but the cabbage soup diet has had its time in the spotlight. You only need to be on it for a week to see results, but the downside is that it’s boring – breakfast, lunch and dinner all consist of the same veggie meal. You can lose up to 10 pounds on this in just a week, but the boredom factor means many people give up after just a couple of days. The soup includes half a head of cabbage, cooked with green onions, tomatoes, green peppers, celery, mushrooms and carrots. The copious amounts of liquids mean you’ll feel relatively full, as well as having less room for high-calorie foods. Any low-calorie and low-salt soup eaten 15 to 30 minutes before a balanced meal will help to keep you fuller before you overeat on fattier foods. With this variation you won’t lose weight as quickly, but you’ll also be able to eat a more balanced diet overall, stopping you from skipping vital nutrients. You can also try drinking water before meals for the same effect.

Categories: calorie, calorie intake, diet, Diets, Fat, foods, healthy bacteria, Lose weight, weight, Weight Loss

Do You Have to Avoid Takeaways in Order to Be Healthy?

Takeaways are convenient and cheap, but as we all know they are also loaded with salt, fat and sugar. Some takeaways can take their toll on your health if you consume them too often, though. Many health conditions, from diabetes to heart disease, have been linked to the consumption of an unhealthy diet and lack of exercise. Some takeaway menus now list their calorie and fat contents as a way of helping consumers make healthier choices – here are some tips on how to still enjoy your weekend treats but not put a negative impact on your health.

 

Fish and chips

Fish and chips are a quick and easy meal, as well as being cheap, but there are plenty of ways to make your Friday night chippie a healthier one. For example, add in a portion of mushy peas or baked beans, and watch for higher fat options such as pies and sausages. The thicker the chips, the better they are for your health, as they absorb less fat. If you share a portion of chips, you’ll also consume less calories. Many fish and chip shops add a lot of salt, so if you want to add salt do it yourself at home – it will be less unhealthy. Try not to eat all of the batter around your fish, as this soaks up a lot of the oil and fat.

Italian

If you’re opting for a pizza, choose a low fat topping such as prawns, fish, ham or vegetables. You can even ask for extra vegetables to boost your intake of nutrients – don’t ask for extra cheese though, as this will cause the pizza to be too high in fat and calories. Pasta is easier to make healthy, as you can choose a tomato based sauce or one which has plenty of vegetables and seafood in the sauce. Try not to opt for a cheese or cream-based sauce, as these will be very high in fat. Any dishes which have a lot of butter or bread will be bad for you, to try to choose starters which are salads or rich in fresh vegetables.

Chinese

Watch out for anything on the menu that is battered or marked as crispy, as this will mean that it’s deep fried. Starters such as prawn crackers and spring rolls will usually be deep fried as well, so avoid these where possible. Your best option is steamed dishes, which won’t be as high in fat, but stir fries are usually fine as they are low in fat and high in nutrients from the vegetables.

Thai

Thai food is generally healthier than Chinese food, but try to opt for steamed dishes and those containing fish or vegetables. Curries in Thai cuisine usually contain a lot of coconut milk, which can be high in fat, so choose a stir dry instead. If you do have a curry, don’t eat all of the sauce and load up on the veggies instead.

Indian

Anything that is cream-based or deep fried should be off your radar. Indian food is usually high in vegetables, as it is predominantly a vegetarian diet, so choose something that is tomato-based and have it with plain rice or a chapatti. Lentils are great for your health, so a dal or lentil based curry will be a healthier choice. If you avoid the accoutrements, such as samosas or deep fried bhajis, then you should be able to enjoy the meal and still remain relatively healthy.

Categories: based, based sauce, cream based, deep fried, diet, Fat, Fish, high, steamed dishes, takeaways, tomato based, vegetables