Keeping Fit With Good Exercising Habits

Keeping fit is all about having good habits. I see many people with a desire to lose weight. So they set a target for themselves, and then go about a weight loss diet. This usually involves light exercises and eating less. Unfortunately, this is the type of mistakes that won't get them an results.

You see, when you exercise lightly, you are not building strength. To succeed at losing weight for the long term, you only have to keep one thing in mind - to boost your metabolic rate. Your metabolic rate determines the amount of calories that you burn each day, even while you are not working out. So the higher your metabolic rate, the more you can eat without gaining extra pounds. So the question is, how do you boost your metabolism?

The answer is a simple one. All you need to do is to give your muscles some resistance to build strength, and then feed those muscles. That means no more leisurely runs or walks. Ever heard of people boosting how they lose so much weight by spending less time? That's because they are spending time on exercises that really get them results. That's why they can afford to spend less time working out, and still lose weight. You are trying to achieve the same thing here. Just copy what the successful people do and you will see similar results for yourself.

Upon observations, here is a list of habits that will help you become fitter:

Habit 1: Eating smaller meals on a more frequent basis. You must be puzzled why some people can eat and eat but they don't grow fat. Here is the secret - the more you eat, the healthier you become. That's because when you distribute your meals evenly, your body gets a boost of energy every 2 to 3 hours. In other words, you are "training" your body to burn up food as fuel. And the body does so because it "knows" that it will have food to burn every 3 to 4 hours. So it keeps burning up calories all day long.

Habit 2: Intense workouts help to build strength. Walking, jogging, leisure swimming are not great exercises for strength building. They help you relax though. If you need a good distraction from work, then these are good exercises. But if you are looking to build strength, boost metabolism and lose weight, then you need to engage in resistance training. For 3 to 4 times each week, start hitting the gym. You don't need to spend too much time there because the exercises that you engage in will be intense. It shouldn't take long for you to grow tired!

Habit 3: Keep consuming proteins. Proteins help to repair and grow your muscles. As you gain more muscle mass, your metabolic rate will increase. You will soon find yourself burning more calories each day!

Source: https://ezinearticles.com/?Keeping-Fit-With-Good-Exercising-Habits&id=2716476

Five Tips For Preparing Healthy Meals

Five Tips For Preparing Healthy Meals

In our quest to lose weight the greatest challenge we face is, knowing what to eat and how to prepare it. Furthermore, most believe to eat healthy we must sacrifice taste. The good news is that eating healthy and losing weight is actually easier than you might think and without sacrificing taste.

One of the reasons that we as Americans are packing on the pounds is due to the types of foods that we eat and the way that they are prepared. We use highly processed foods and oils in our meals that are loaded with trans fats among other demonic substances that are slowly killing us not to mention making us miserable in the process.

To eat healthy there are five things to keep in mind when buying foods and planning meals.

1. Purchase only fresh unprocessed meats. Use mostly fish and fowl as they are the highest in protein. When choosing ground beef stick with those that are 90% lean or greater, when possible substitute ground beef with ground turkey.

2. Cook with virgin olive oil and limit the use of common cooking oils such as canola and certain vegetable oils.

3. Limit sugars and white breads and pastas. Stick with whole grain breads and pasta and replace sweeteners with honey and natural maple syrup.

4. Incorporate fresh vegetables especially leafy greens. Also nuts , beans and lentils contain much of the healthy dietary fats that are essential for our overall health.

5. Do not be afraid of eggs. When buying eggs be sure to choose quality omega 3 eggs such as egglands best.

Once you know what foods are best for preparing healthy meals the only thing left to put you on the path of losing weight and getting in shape is knowing what to eat and when to eat them.

Believe it or not knowing when to eat certain foods is critical if you are trying to loose weight, it has a lot to do with controlling the glycemic index and other reasons that will have to be the topic of another discussion.

So, take heart in knowing that you can eat healthy without sacrificing great taste and you can lose weight in the process.

Source: ezinearticles.com/?Five-Tips-For-Preparing-Healthy-Meals&id=1108325

Mental Challenges of Dieting

Mental Challenges of Dieting

What does the word 'diet' mean to you? For most people it means restricting the things you like to eat in order to lose a few extra pounds. But the problem is once we talk ourselves into going on a diet, we immediately crave those very things we try to restrict ourselves on, therefore we never seem to be able to stick to a diet long term.

Prepare your mind mentally to make those changes

It's a mind game that we play with ourselves over and over again. The secret to being successful on any program is to have your objectives and reasons to hand each time you reach out for something you know you should not have, these need to be strong reasons as to why you are having to lose weight, they may be medical reasons, health reasons, or feel good for yourself reasons. But we need to always have these in the backs of our minds every single day that we are on a program, as this will help you to focus on achieving your objectives and goals.

Start by making small changes every day, its easier to adjust in small doses than going all out from day one. Take your time and reduce the naughty foods day by day, week by week.

Watch your moods

It is important to also recognise the moods we are in when we crave certain foods. Your mood is connected to your mental and in the case of weight loss or gain, you physical well being, and therefore if we are upset, we naturally tend to go for sweet sugary things to ease the discomfort. I challenge you therefore, if you are currently on a program, and the next time you feel the urge to have something naughty, or considered on your 'banned list of foods not to eat', to look at the mood you are currently in, think about how you are feeling, then have a conversation with yourself something on the lines of ' why am I feeling this way?' If I eat this item of food now, will it help me to achieve my goals? Or will I just feel even worse after I have eaten it because it will take me further from my goals?

What can I do instead to ease the way that I am feeling? Can I go for a walk? Or immerse myself in something which will take my mind off having to eat?

Then, go get yourself a glass or two of water, then go for that walk or activity which will take your mind of food, and relieve your anxiety which caused your body for sugar in the first place....

Learn to listen to your body, it does talk to you... and tells you what it wants!

Losing weight does not have to be a struggle. We need to constantly talk to ourselves and our bodies, to improve our mind set, and our mental attitude to food, particularly snacking.

We also need to be able to listen to our bodies as well. I noticed that when I was pregnant, it was an amazing time for me, as I learnt so much about my body. It is a wonderful thing, if we know who to stay in tune with ourselves. When you are pregnant, there are certain smells that some pregnant ladies cannot stand, such as cigarette smoke, fried foods and maybe others. If you think about it, cigarette smoke is not good for you to inhale, therefore your body is telling you this, fried foods again are not good for you, and your body acknowledges this by making you feel unwell or in discomfort. But, at the same time, when you are lacking in multivitamins or nutrients your body also lets you know. Have you ever had a certain 'taste' appear in your mouth? For instance when I was pregnant with one of my children, I had a taste for oranges, which of course is high in vitamin C, which I was obviously lacking, and my body was saying to me, 'you need to top up'.

Most often than not, we confuse thirst for hunger. We seem to want to eat for comfort when we feel that urge. I challenge you to next time you feel like you need to have a 'snack' to go and have a glass or two of water.

Who says its not challenging losing weight?

Every single day you go through without sneaking that naughty snack, or eating late at night is a challenge. Congratulate yourself for getting through those tough periods.

Write yourself a 'mantra' and talk to yourself every day. Question every bit of food or drink that you are about to put into your mouth, will it be for the greater good and help you to reach your goals? If not, then walk away from it.

Take a photo of you now and have this on your Fridge, a copy in your bedroom, in your bathroom, this will help you to focus on where you need to be.. Each time you open that fridge, or take a shower, or comb your hair, you will see the difference between that photo and you now. As you lose inches and pounds you will begin to see the difference however small.

Where's that dress or pair of jeans you have not been able to get into for the last year or so? Get them out now and hang them in your bedroom in your face. Every month, take them off the hanger and try them on, is the buttons around the waist getting closer together? You will soon be able to do them up!

All of the above are good forms of motivation to helping you keep on track. But remember, you have go to do this for yourself and no one else. Most diets do work, if people stick to them.... Whether they are sustainable or not is another article.....

God Bless

Source: ezinearticles.com/?Mental-Challenges-of-Dieting&id=1918421

Anyone Can Achieve Healthy Weight Loss Easily

Anyone Can Achieve Healthy Weight Loss Easily

When you are trying to lose weight you have to make sure you doing it in a healthy way and not a way that can negatively impact your health. There are some essential tasks that you need to complete if you are serious about achieving healthy weight loss.

One of the first things you want to do is to realize that losing weight will take time. You can lose weight at a faster pace then you expected to, but don't try and do it too fast because this can impact your health negatively.

Instead, you want to be sure that you do your weight loss plan one step at a time. Start by changing the way you eat and the things you drink. Don't drastically change your diet because this will lead to you failing with your weight loss goals.

It is a good idea to change one thing at a time and when you are used to the change, then add another one until you get to the point that eating healthy is an easy thing for you to do. It is a smart idea to allow yourself to cheat on your diet once in a while so you can easily stick to your healthy diet plans the rest of the days.

Eat more every day. You want to eat 5 to 6 small meals each day and not three big ones because this will keep your metabolism going and will keep your body burning fat. When you find you are hungry during the day, be smart and get some vegetables or fruit, instead of unhealthy foods.

Another important thing to do is to exercise along with eating a healthy diet. Exercising will get your metabolism working so your body can burn the fat it needs to. Be sure that you find an exercise that you can do that you enjoy. This will make sticking with it much easier to do. You have to exercise on a regular basis, at least two or three times a week.

One last important thing to do is to lose weight with a friend. It will make it much easier for you to succeed with your weight loss goals and also help your friend. Having support while losing weight can go a long way towards successfully losing all the weight you want to.

Now that you know how to achieve healthy weightloss; all that remains is to get your journey start to a healthier and slimmer you. The sooner you start your weight loss plan the sooner you will see the results that will help keep you going until you reach your maximum weight loss goal.

Source: ezinearticles.com/?Anyone-Can-Achieve-Healthy-Weight-Loss-Easily&id=4940738

A Healthy Diet Plan - The Top Essentials You Have to Know

A Healthy Diet Plan - The Top Essentials You Have to Know

If you're like 90% of overweight people you've probably tried loads of ways to slim down, hopefully on a reasonably healthy diet plan You may even have had some success in losing weight from time to time. But the likelihood is, you've put it all back on again once you've come off the diet -- and maybe even gained more than you actually lost in the first place.

Maybe you go to bed thinking about food. Maybe you wake up thinking about food. Perhaps the stresses of life, emotional upsets and even celebrations cause you to overeat. If so, you know you're not thinking like your slim friends but you don't know what to do about it. Well, I can tell you now, the most healthy diet plan of all is simply to learn to listen to what your body is telling you.

Don't worry if you've tried and "failed" at losing your extra pounds. In fact there's no real mystery to getting slim. The key is to learn how to be in charge of your eating without giving up the foods you love or depriving yourself. How to enjoy being healthier but also how to eat what you want without guilt.

A truly healthy diet plan, if you like, is finding out how to recognise when you're really hungry or whether your desire to eat comes from a different place. When you are hungry it's absolutely fine to eat something. Just make sure you're only eating enough to reach the point of satisfaction -- you don't need or want to feel over-full.

But there may be emotions that you "push down" with food -- boredom, loneliness, anger and so on. If so, the starting point is to identify the emotion and think about how you can address it. This may be hard at first as you've become so used to using food to ignore the feeling. But you know deep down that eating doesn't actually solve the problem and the emotion won't go away through you stuffing yourself -- and piling on the calories in the process.

See if you can catch yourself before you eat for reasons other than hunger, and ask yourself what it's really about. If the feeling is really boredom, for example, phone a friend, go for a walk, read a good book or clear out your wardrobe.

And learn to limit your eating to "just enough" so that you recognise when you're satisfied (when your stomach is only a little, if at all, distended and you feel reasonably light) and stop at that point. If you only eat enough so that you're satisfied, you will become hungry more often during the day. That's fine. Eat little and often (every 3 hours or so) if you need to. Your body will tell you what it needs, if you'll just trust it a little.

In fact, as time goes on you'll find that you feel like less food than you did in the past. Your stomach, which has been stretched each time you overate, will re-learn how to feel good at its natural size and you'll feel uncomfortable taking it beyond that.

Because this new, and truly healthy diet plan says you can eat whatever you like -- no foods are off limits -- you may worry that you'll only want to eat fatty, sugary or salty foods. This may be the case at first, but as you progress with the system of listening to your body you'll find that you actually start to crave healthier foods too, and the unhealthy ones will fall out of favour.

In my own case, now that I've been following this plan for years, I've rediscovered a taste for healthy foods I previously rejected. Apples, for example, now taste incredibly sweet and delicious to me. Cheesecake, on the other hand, I can only eat in a very small slice, and I definitely wouldn't feel like it every day.

So this is, in a sense, not a healthy diet plan at all but a whole new way of living your life and responding naturally to your body's needs. I've shed my extra 40 pounds through living this way, I have more energy than I ever did, and I look and feel 100% better. Think about how this will work for you. Picture your clothes feeling looser, seeing a slim person smiling back at you in the mirror, and your friends complimenting you on your new figure!

Source; http://ezinearticles.com/?A-Healthy-Diet-Plan---The-Top-Essentials-You-Have-to-Know&id=2866763

Creating a Healthy Weight Loss Plan

Creating a Healthy Weight Loss Plan

A low cholesterol diet and other types of healthy weight loss plans that make you commit to a healthy lifestyle are the best types of diet plans to try. A healthy weight loss program allows you to lose an average of about 2lbs a week without shocking your metabolism with starvation or unhealthy supplements. Regrettably healthy weight loss is generally placed on the back burner while individuals look for popular and fad weight loss methods. It doesn't matter who you ask, every nutrition expert, all the exercise gurus and individuals who have successfully reached their goal weight and kept it off will tell you that there are three foundational elements to taking off the pounds: exercise to burn calories and improve bodily functions good nutrition for healthy weight loss supplements to put back what your body lacks.

Weight

Many people who are overweight or obese have decided not to diet per se, but to concentrate on engaging in regular physical activity and maintaining healthy eating habits in accordance with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, emphasizing lowered fat consumption, and an increase in vegetables, fruits and whole grains. Fad diets that ignore the principles of the Dietary Guidelines may result in short term weight loss, but may do so at the risk of your health. Unless your health is seriously at risk due to complications from being overweight or obese, gradual weight loss should be your rule and your goal. Follow a calorie-reduced, but balanced diet that provides for as little as one or two pounds of weight loss a week.

Loss

When it comes to successful weight loss and weight management, steady and slow can be the way to go. Ask for an itemized price list for all the costs of the plan you're considering, including membership fees, fees for weekly visits, the costs of any diagnostic tests, costs for meal replacements, foods, nutritional supplements, or other products that are part of the weight loss program or plan. Once you realize your own personal challenges to weight loss, you can work towards gradually changing the habits and mental attitudes that have sabotaged your efforts in the past. The long-term effects of high-fat, high-protein diets are still unknown, but we do know that a diet high in good carbohydrates (which are lower in calories than fat) coming from whole grains, fruits, and veggies, provides adequate nutrition and can be ideal for weight loss.

Healthy

While there's no "one size fits all" solution to lifelong, healthy weight loss, try these tips: Stay motivated-Short-term goals, like wanting to fit into a bikini for the summer, usually don't work as well as goals like wanting to feel more confident or become healthier for your children's sakes. Eating reasonable amounts of natural fats coming from foods like avocados, nuts, and seeds may help you lose more weight by getting you fuller faster and providing the healthy fats your body needs. You will more inclined to eat in moderation if you have thought out healthy meals in advance, and eat when are truly hungry. The high water and fiber content in many fruits and vegetables make them great candidates for healthy snacking and incorporation into meals. Isn't it time to try a healthy weight loss diet and weight loss training program that works. Cynthia Dermody from Readers Digest gave some great tips readersdigest.ca/mag/2006/01/LoseWeightForever.php about losing weight and great healthy tips.

Conclusion

It doesn't matter who you ask, every nutrition expert, all the exercise gurus and individuals who have successfully reached their goal weight and kept it off will tell you that there are three foundational elements to taking off the pounds: exercise to burn calories and improve bodily functions good nutrition for healthy loss supplements to put back what your body lacks. Eliminating toxins from the liver and expelling nasty, backed-up waste from your colon ensure that you lose weight effectively and that your body is able to assimilate and get the best use from the nutritious foods and healthy weight loss supplements you give it.

Source: ezinearticles.com/?Creating-a-Healthy-Weight-Loss-Plan&id=1770804

Top Three Healthy Weight Loss Diet Plan

Top Three Healthy Weight Loss Diet Plan

Choosing the right and healthy weight loss diet plan not require some research on how effective the weight loss plan is in helping you attain your weight loss goal in good time but also whether the plan is one that leads to long term weight loss. healthy weight loss diet plan should be the aim of many dieters but not many know how to know a healthy weight loss diet plan. This article will help you determine which weight loss plan is a healthy weight loss diet plan and which is not.

The best and healthy weight loss diet plan should be those that will change you the way you think about foods, it should be one that helps you make healthy choices that will leading to losing weight. Any one trying or thinking of losing weight should look the way of any weight loss plan that deals with reeducation, balanced diet and healthy weight loss exercise. Any plan that deals with such factors as mentioned above would not only help you to lose weight but also help you keep it off and stay healthy, which means you can lose weight and still be making the right choices.

Stay off Yo-Yo Dieting

Yo-Yo diets are not only a bad way to lose weight but also cause diverse health problems to any one on them, both physically and emotionally. Any one on Yo-Yo diets should know that any weight lost through this method will be regained and even more in the nearest future. You should also know that whenever you lose weight and you regained it back you are teaching your body how to fail and sending a wrong message to your brain - telling your brain to adapt to failure. It is always advisable to adopt the best weight loss tips available so as to prepare yourself for a lifelong weight loss diet plan that is healthy and successful. Make this lifestyle change the permanent one through sensible choices and positive tactics.

Psychological Reasons

The best weight loss tips are those which are seen to be successful. Any dieter who is seeing the required result is most likely to continue whatever created the results in the first place. Psychological aspect of weight loss is as important as the physical aspect of a weight loss plan. The aim or goal or healthy eating and a change in life style over a long time should be the result of any weight loss plan that is selected and implemented by the dieter. You can always use supplements to start but your main aim should be to make healthy choices all the time.

Implement a New and healthy Lifesytle

for a long term weight loss plan, the new regimen and a change in your eating will also lead to a change your thoughts about life in general. You are certain to keep off the weight because you are now wiser and are now making better choices when it comes to food and exercise and some other activities which you enjoy. If you learn how not to return to your old ways of eating, activity levels and other bad life styles you will maintain the your ideal weight levels and never get fat again. These life styles if maintain for a very long time will will become the norm, even without thinking about the choices you are making.

The above weight loss tips are one of the many Healthy Weight Loss Diet Plans available to help those who want to lose weight and live a healthy lifestyle. The key to healthy weight loss is getting Healthy Weight Loss Diet Plan and stick to it and also make healthy eating habit a part of your daily lifestyle. Exercise regularly. Learn to forgive yourself if you skip one of your daily routine but make sure you don't quit. And most importantly expect success. Success will not be achieved instantly but if you persist, you would get there. All these things will help you to take the weight off and keep it off for a lifetime. When the new way of living and eating becomes the norm, then you will never again need to go on a diet.

Source: http://ezinearticles.com/?Top-Three-Healthy-Weight-Loss-Diet-Plan&id=1603234

Discover How a Quick Weight Loss Can Be a Healthy Weight Loss - Phase III

Discover How a Quick Weight Loss Can Be a Healthy Weight Loss - Phase III

We left off with my last article of "Discover How a Quick Weight Loss Can Be a Healthy Weight Loss - Phase II". In review, you learned how to exercise regularly in order to ensure that your healthy weight loss is also a quick weight loss. Now, we are on to Phase III of your healthy weight loss and quick weight loss journey. What is the third and final fitness tuning path that I must pursue after you have adopted a complete and healthy diet and a regular workout routine? What is the last and final path towards your healthy weight loss and quick weight loss?

Phase III of your healthy weight loss and quick weight loss journey is your intake of fluids. Ok, stop the presses! You mean that what I drink actually matters when it comes to a healthy weight loss and quick weight loss? The answer is yes, big time! Everyone knows that you must hydrate yourself in order to survive. In fact, everyone knows that you can die of dehydration sooner than you can die of hunger. So, the fluids that you put into you body are extremely important when it comes to the success of your healthy weight loss and quick weight loss journey. In fact, fluid intake is critical upon the success or failure of your healthy weight loss and quick weight loss endeavor.

Water is the first key liquid in your healthy weight loss and quick weight loss journey's success. Water is extremely important when it comes to your body. First of all, you body is 80% water. Without a constant intake of water, your body would eventually start shutting down until you died. So, we take water pretty seriously when it comes to a healthy weight loss and quick weight loss. Water hydrates your body, is used to flush toxins from your system, and keeps your lungs moist during cardiovascular activity. It is recommended to take in 8 - 10 8oz. glasses of water per day, and I recommend that you start doing so. Your body must have plenty of water to do its part in achieving a healthy weight loss and quick weight loss. Take a large water bottle and a cup with you to work. When the water bottle is empty, then refill it. Having the water present will encourage you to drink it more often. Your body will thank you for it by flushing out the toxins from your system that can actually impede upon the success of your healthy weight loss and quick weight loss journey.

Coffee and soda must be eliminated from your diet to succeed in your healthy weight loss and quick weight loss journey. Soda should only be had occasionally as a reward for your hard work. For me, I have a soda when I have pizza, and that is about it. Your healthy weight loss and quick weight loss is dependent upon a minimum amount of caffeine intake, and increased water intake when drinking caffeine. Caffeine is a diuretic, and will actually pull the water from your body. This is extremely bad when it comes to your body operating at top efficiency while you're exercising. Believe me, you will feel the difference! I will treat myself to the occasional energy drink in replacement of my afternoon snack mentioned in Phase I. However, your journey towards a healthy weight loss and quick weight loss will be an unpleasant one with too much caffeine intake.

Green tea is the best and highest recommended caffeinated beverage that you can have for your healthy weight loss and quick weight loss journey. Most of them are even decaffeinated! I would recommend that you have 3 - 4 cups of hot green tea per day. Studies have shown an increase in energy levels and metabolisms for subjects who took in certain quantities of green tea on a daily basis, which also resulted in reduction of body fat content. The study showed that for positive results, 3 cups per day were necessary for a 156 lb. subject. (More information on the health benefits of green tea will be made available to members of my website listed below.) However, in relation to your healthy weight loss and quick weight loss journey, you have just found your replacement for coffee!

For those of you that want something more to drink during your healthy weight loss and quick weight loss journey... When it comes to fitness tuning, you want to choose wisely about what you put into your body, and not base your decision upon taste alone. Unfortunately, the majority of people base their beverage choices on taste and usually upon it being a sweet taste, which means too much sugar. However, there are a few key beverages that can give you some flavor variety, as well as give you a healthy weight loss and quick weight loss boost as well!

POM Wonderful 100% Pomegranate Juice - Packed with cancer fighting anti-oxidants, and was rated as the top source of anti-oxidants of all beverages on the market.

Vitamin A & D Organic Milk & Organic Soymilk with Calcium - Fatty acids, calcium, Vitamin A & D, as well as isoflavones and protein with the soymilk, give you more health benefits than you can shake a stick at.

Tropicana Essentials Fiber, Heart, & Antioxidant Advantage - Packed with Vitamin C, the Essentials line of Tropicana orange juice offers a wide variety of health benefits tailored for your specific needs.

Sobe No Fear (Sugar Free) - I have found this to be the best of the energy drinks on the market for me. I don't drink them every day, but they serve well on a jam-packed day of 10+ hours of work followed by time at the gym. (Remember: drink extra water when drinking caffeine!)

Gatorade Performance Series & Propel Fitness Water - Jam packed with electrolytes, I try to drink the Performance Series an hour before my workout, and follow my workout with a Propel Fitness Water.

Changing the quality of fluids taken into your body each day is the final path toward your healthy weight loss and quick weight loss journey. You now have at your disposal the three phases to your healthy weight loss and quick weight loss success. Ensure that you adhere to the promise that you have made to yourself, and ensure that you follow all three paths. Your success in your healthy weight loss and quick weight loss journey is dependent upon you and you alone. Further information will be distributed to members of my free membership site listed below. You will gain access to fitness tuning nutrition, dieting, and fitness information, including information relating to all three phases of your healthy weight loss and quick weight loss journey. So, embark on your journey and lead the way to your healthy weight loss and quick weight loss success!

Source: http://ezinearticles.com/?Discover-How-a-Quick-Weight-Loss-Can-Be-a-Healthy-Weight-Loss---Phase-III&id=416575