Friday, July 30, 2010

Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Listen To The Diet Industry

Do you want numbers or do you want to look better?
Whenever I see an advert promising extreme weight loss in a short amount of time it makes me cringe at the thought of someone stepping on the scales each day and expecting weight to quickly drop off.

It is possible to transform your body shape without ever stepping on the scales. Regular weigh-ins doesn’t suit certain personalities. It takes a strong willed person to get weighed everyday and not let it faze them in any way shape or form. Everybody’s weight can fluctuate from day to day and from morning to night causing a negative impact on the person’s mind who regularly gets weighed.

The kind of people that have a history of daily weigh-ins and an addiction for wanting the pounds to drop off at all costs needs to stay the hell away from weighing scales. I would strongly recommend throwing them away for your own good.

Getting weighed everyday is not beneficial at all. If you do get weighed everyday, taking an average over a ten-day period is the most reliable way to do it. But this is only applicable if the variables are consistent.

So what is a better alternative? If you have the personality type that steers towards obsessive and living by numbers then you have to be completely honest with yourself, do you want numbers or do you want to look better?

The absolute best way to measure progress is to measure different parts of the body. Always take the measurements over the largest part of the body to keep the readings consistent. If you can’t be bothered to go through the motions of measuring different body parts every week or so then my next best recommendation would be to use the mirror for feedback or even taking photographs to track changes in your body shape.

Another way, which is the easiest and most unavoidable way to track whether or not you are losing weight, is to use the fitting of your clothes. Don’t forget to stay away from routine weigh-ins if you fall into the obsession category. That way you will be able to continue doing what you need to do to lose weight without any negativity getting in the way.
Do you want numbers or do you want to look better?

Monday, July 26, 2010

Why Soy Is Not a Health Food

The truth about soy products!
Many people on fat loss diets and vegetarians in particular consume large quantities of soy products because of their conception that soy is good for you and a healthy alternative to other foods.

Soy always comes up in conversations from clients who have had a history of unsuccessful dieting. It seems that soy is just another so-called health food that has been heavily marketed towards a vulnerable public i.e. the dieting population, which pretty much means around 50% of the population.

Watch the video below and discover some alarming facts about soy.


The truth about soy products!

Thursday, July 22, 2010

8 Quick Tips For Faster Fat Loss

Ways to lose stubborn body fat fast!
If you want to achieve fat loss and get six pack abs you need to follow certain steps like anything else in life. There is a way and a system for just about everything and dieting and exercising is no exception. Below is my list of essential things to do to lose stubborn body fat fast.

1. Drink plenty of mineral water
Water is the best drink you can have without a doubt. Water helps to cleanse the body and supports good health.

2. Only eat non-processed foods
The next time you pick up a packet of food, look at the ingredients and see if you can pronounce the ingredients, chances are you can’t. This is common with processed foods today, they contain artificial ingredients and additives that can make you toxic and give your digestive system a hard time. The last thing you want if you want to be healthy and have low body fat levels. You can’t beat natural foods found in nature.

3. Don’t drink pasteurised milk
Commercial milk contains antibiotics and growth hormones. The pasteurisation process kills the important enzymes as well as destroying vitamins and amino acids. Lactose intolerance, which is common food intolerance, prevents the body from digesting milk sugars. There is no real value to drinking pasteurised milk and has no place in a fat loss programme.

4. Avoid sugar
Avoid sugar especially artificial sweeteners found in processed foods and drinks. Eating sugar creates a never-ending roller coaster ride for hormones such as insulin and cortisol, both fat storing hormones.

5. Cut out all wheat
Wheat and foods containing gluten can be very hard to digest and intolerance to this can cause gut inflammation as well as other allergy troubles. Try eliminating gluten for 30 days to see what difference it makes to the way you look and feel.

6. Don’t drink alcohol
Drinking alcohol has some of the same traits has eating sugar, it is rapidly absorbed and effects blood sugar levels. Alcohol is empty calories that have no nutritional benefit whatsoever to your body. If you drink alcohol near meal times it can serve as a blocking agent to certain vitamins and minerals.

7. Eliminate all caffeine
It is not only your morning coffee that contains caffeine but sports drinks too. Caffeine has an effect on blood sugar levels and can cause cravings and the release of fat storing hormones. Decaffeinated coffee isn’t any better either, decaf drinks tend to have more pesticides than regular coffee.

8. Eat organic whenever possible
Organic food is natural, the way it should be without any interference from mankind. When food is organic it is clean and full of nutrients without the chemicals or drugs used in conventional farming. Our bodies can digest and assimilate organic food easier and it doesn’t pollute our insides at the same time.
Ways to lose stubborn body fat fast!

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Power Dieting – How to Take Action & Get Results

Achieve weight loss & fat loss before your next birthday!
No one I know is immune to the following:

Processed food
Junk food
Consuming excessive calories
Eating the wrong kind of calories
Leading a sedentary lifestyle
Not managing stress levels


Very few of us can get away with contributing zero time to regular exercise and eat any type of calories and still look good. I would say less than 1% of the population but bear in mind that this lucky 1% won’t have the health benefits of someone who exercises and eats healthily. If you want to look your best it is absolutely essential you know which foods to eat and apply it to your lifestyle in order to be able to enjoy all the benefits.

On the other side of the coin you could still be unhealthy if you follow eating guidelines that are wrong for your body type no matter who tells you otherwise. In some cases you could even be worse off for exercising by doing too much than someone who doesn’t do any at all. What I am trying to get across is that the answer is always in front of your eyes, if you are not happy with the way you look it is highly likely that your current eating plan or lifestyle is wrong for you. If it works for someone else it doesn’t mean it will work for you. Many people spend years doing the same thing over and over again without getting the results they want, in my mind this is madness. There are always reasons for not achieving results and there will always be alternatives to try.

But how many people actually try different approaches before quitting?

Exercising or eating a certain way and not changing in anyway, shape or form is a sign to wake up and time to take a reality check. See if any of the actions below are familiar to you.

Deprived sleep
Living on stimulants
Skipping breakfast
Eating processed food
Eating junk food
Smoking
Not drinking enough water
Consuming excessive calories
Consuming the wrong calories
Extreme dieting
High stress levels
Leading a sedentary lifestyle
Not doing any resistance type movements
Binge eating
Binge drinking
Prioritising the wrong kind of exercises
Doing too much exercise with not enough rest


Any of the above can lead to a poor body image and a negative state of mind. The sooner you can change your lifestyle the sooner you will achieve fat loss.
Achieve weight loss & fat loss before your next birthday!

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Fat Loss & Social Support Vs Celebrity Magazines & The Media

Non-food & exercise related solutions for weight loss!
Dieters always assume if they are not achieving fat loss the reasons must be food related. This may be the case for some people but I can assure you that there are other reasons other than food for lacking progress when it comes to shifting stubborn weight and fat.

Lets look at two of them.

Glossy magazines and the media
The kind of magazines I am talking about is the kind that heavily feature celebrities. In these magazines you can find unattainable body shapes and unhealthy diet crazes. One look at these magazines is enough to throw anyone off course and feel inferior. Just how healthy do you think these stick insect celebrities actually are?

The media is responsible for distorting and cherry picking health and fitness related information in order to gain your attention so they can stay in business by selling more copies. It is very important to be cautious when reading and using advice in these publications. The full picture is seldom discussed in the magazine or newspaper article. It is best for you and your fat loss goals if you steer away from these publications for your own good. If a diet sounds too good to be true it normally means it isn’t true and is just made up to make it sound interesting.

Social support
Are you running out of motivation and steam? Let me tell you from experience having a good set of friends and family around you is essential for successful fat loss. You need to tell those closest to you what your intentions are so you can gain their support during your journey. Sharing conversations about your goals and the difficulties you face can be the best thing you can do to motivate yourself towards the fat loss you want. More often than not a problem shared is a problem solved.

The more open you are the more support you will receive; you may even encourage and gain a diet buddy along the way. Those that try and do things on their own and shut themselves off from the outside world are more likely to fail due to the lack of support. Don’t be a statistic, be a success and share your goals.
Non-food & exercise related solutions for weight loss!

Saturday, July 10, 2010

Quick Abs – 15 Minute Six Pack Workouts

More beneficial than 97% of gym member’s workouts I’ve seen for abdominal training!
The thought of doing any kind of exercise turns many people off because of the impression it can have. If you don’t know any different then you would assume it is a long drawn out process only suited for nut cases with nothing else better to do. What if I told you that exercise doesn’t have to be long and boring? Would you be interested if I showed you a way to make exercise challenging but over before you knew it? Better still, what if I told you the way I’m about to show you to exercise is more beneficial than probably 97% of what anybody else is doing in the gym right now. It only takes 15 minutes so even the busiest people can’t make excuses with this one.

This exercise routine is really simple, once you are fully warmed up this is what you do.

Choose two exercises
Decide which areas you need to prioritise and choose the exercises accordingly.

Tip: choose multi joint exercises when applicable. This will burn more calories and give you a better response.
E.g.
Legs = squats, lunges or leg curls using a ball.
Back = dead lifts, bent over rowing or alternating superman.
Chest = press ups, dumbbell press or presses and chest fly on a ball.

Considerations for the abs only workouts
You may decide to use this routine format for just training the abs. In which case be careful not to opt for the same movement pattern.

Tip: there are three planes of movement, make sure to include 2 different ones when training the abs so you achieve a balanced look.
E.g.
Crunch type exercises = forwards and backwards.
Side bends and other oblique exercises = moving sideways.
Wood chops = rotational movement.

Once you decide which exercises you are doing this is how to work them to their fullest potential for 15 minutes.

Do the first exercise for 30 seconds followed immediately by the second exercise for another 30 seconds then take a rest for 30 seconds. Repeat this 10 times which will give you a 15-minute workout. Beware it looks easy on paper but is very challenging.

Tip: use a digital stopwatch to time yourself. I have found it to be easier to monitor where you are and you don’t need to count how many rounds you have done because you simply stop when the clock reads 15 minutes.
More beneficial than 97% of gym member’s workouts I’ve seen for abdominal training!

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

The Key to Successful Dieting – How to Avoid Unwanted Side Effects

The best solutions for fat loss!
Eating a well-balanced healthy diet can become a bit of a chore especially when you have to fit all the recommended nutrients and the five a day into a normal busy day. It can be difficult to say the least even for the most dedicated individual. Most of us are aware that cutting calories to a ridiculously low level and skipping meals isn’t the right way to lose weight.

Eating the right type of calories frequently is essential to weight loss programmes. The more calories you cut the more stress it is for your body. Did you know your body would eat itself if you didn’t feed it? All your hormones would become out of flux, fat-storing hormones would increase and the body would tell your thyroid to slow down, as a natural protective mechanism for the body to keep what little fuel it has to live on and survive.

The choices of foods are just as important as the amounts you eat. Time constraints and practicality can tempt many of us to live on processed junk food. So what is the best solution? Planning the next day’s meals in advance is the key, preparing the night before if necessary and using the convenience of food supplements in your daily diet if and when you need to. To help keep hunger at bay until meal times a meal replacement drink mid morning or mid afternoon is practical and achievable for just about anyone. That is just one way you could get nutrients your body needs and help keep the metabolism fire burning.

Caution needs to be applied to food supplements; many contain high amounts of sugars and artificial sweeteners. Choose one with low sugar contents. Only rely on food supplements when time doesn’t allow you to eat a solid meal, food is more thermogenic than liquid meals. Always favour a liquid meal over skipping a meal though as it is more likely to prevent you from heading over to the vending machine.

When planning meals careful selection is necessary with food quality and also with the amounts you eat. The ratio of protein, fat and carbohydrate per meal is dictated by your response to that meal afterwards. Unwanted side effect such as feeling tired, bloated or hungry should be recorded in a food log so adjustments can be made the next time you eat that meal. From there you will be able to modify the meal and keep fine-tuning it until you get a positive response and a sense what works best for your body. Everyone responds differently at a biochemical level to the same foods so it is important to discover what works best for you.

The key is to try and eat a wide selection of foods every week, eating the same meals day in day out can be boring and detrimental to your digestive system. The correct selection of foods that suits your body and passes on a good response after the meal is highly recommended.
The best solutions for fat loss!

The Key to Successful Dieting – How to Avoid Unwanted Side Effects

The best solutions for fat loss!
Eating a well-balanced healthy diet can become a bit of a chore especially when you have to fit all the recommended nutrients and the five a day into a normal busy day. It can be difficult to say the least even for the most dedicated individual. Most of us are aware that cutting calories to a ridiculously low level and skipping meals isn’t the right way to lose weight.

Eating the right type of calories frequently is essential to weight loss programmes. The more calories you cut the more stress it is for your body. Did you know your body would eat itself if you didn’t feed it? All your hormones would become out of flux, fat-storing hormones would increase and the body would tell your thyroid to slow down, as a natural protective mechanism for the body to keep what little fuel it has to live on and survive.

The choices of foods are just as important as the amounts you eat. Time constraints and practicality can tempt many of us to live on processed junk food. So what is the best solution? Planning the next day’s meals in advance is the key, preparing the night before if necessary and using the convenience of food supplements in your daily diet if and when you need to. To help keep hunger at bay until meal times a meal replacement drink mid morning or mid afternoon is practical and achievable for just about anyone. That is just one way you could get nutrients your body needs and help keep the metabolism fire burning.

Caution needs to be applied to food supplements; many contain high amounts of sugars and artificial sweeteners. Choose one with low sugar contents. Only rely on food supplements when time doesn’t allow you to eat a solid meal, food is more thermogenic than liquid meals. Always favour a liquid meal over skipping a meal though as it is more likely to prevent you from heading over to the vending machine.

When planning meals careful selection is necessary with food quality and also with the amounts you eat. The ratio of protein, fat and carbohydrate per meal is dictated by your response to that meal afterwards. Unwanted side effect such as feeling tired, bloated or hungry should be recorded in a food log so adjustments can be made the next time you eat that meal. From there you will be able to modify the meal and keep fine-tuning it until you get a positive response and a sense what works best for your body. Everyone responds differently at a biochemical level to the same foods so it is important to discover what works best for you.

The key is to try and eat a wide selection of foods every week, eating the same meals day in day out can be boring and detrimental to your digestive system. The correct selection of foods that suits your body and passes on a good response after the meal is highly recommended.
The best solutions for fat loss!

Friday, July 2, 2010

Gym Secrets For Quick Results

Use these tricks for rapid fat loss!
#1 Rotate exercises
Think of exercises a bit like your diet, the more variety the better. I once learnt in a lecture that a typical person eats no more than 12 different kinds of food in a typical week. Do you do the same with exercise selection by doing the same exercises week in and week out? If so, then it is time to shock your body by going for a response, this involves rotating your exercises frequently. Keep in mind that there are many alternatives to the standard exercises; although you are basically doing the same movement you can change the response by using different tools and methods. There are less chances of suffering from ‘overuse injuries’ if you regularly rotate your exercises.

#2 Do not rush but do not daydream either
How many people rush their reps? Have a look around the next time you’re in the gym; chances are they are lifting more weight than they are capable of lifting or practising sloppy manoeuvres because they haven’t been shown the proper way. Don’t get me wrong there is a place for fast reps in strength training programmes but they must be performed in a safe and correct way. Now take a note of how long people rest in-between sets, even if this is a woman that looks like she needs to lose weight; I can bet you that she is resting minutes before doing the next set. It surprises me how many people on weight loss and toning programmes do this, they are resting far too long. They are taking the same amount of rest needed to achieve a 3-5-rep max. In other words they are having the same rest as someone following a power lifting routine. To achieve more intensity in your workouts decrease the rest time between sets. It is normally the first variable I introduce in a programme to increase the overall intensity.

#3 Train hard and rest hard
Workouts should be intense and short; whatever method you use it should keep your heart rate elevated and breathing increased whilst resting between exercises. Workouts should also be structured and have a purpose. Rest outside the gym is just as important as the workout in order to progress and reach your goal. Rushing around all day stressed will do you no good especially if you are training the same day. How can you train hard if your body hasn’t had the chance to rest from the last workout you did? For best results never allow your mind to be preoccupied full of stressful issues before a workout.

#4 Use tricks for a rapid response
There are many principles to use to make a workout more beneficial and generate quicker results. But how many people actually think of using them? Those that do probably overuse them and spoil the impact they can have. When response to a workout isn’t progressing as quick as it should then different principles like supersets, drop sets, pre-exhaust, negatives and rest-pause can make a massive difference to overall results.
Use these tricks for rapid fat loss!