10 Weight Loss Tips that Work Well.

Have you have been trying to lose weight for sometime, but you feel like you are getting no where? You are becoming frustrated and you feel that you are out of options and nowhere else to turn. Well there are 10 weight loss tips that you may not have tried that you probably will need to be aware of. These ten tips will actually help you succeed in your weight loss program.

1. Drink a Lot of Water.

* You need to begin your weight loss program by drinking plenty of water. When you are dieting this usually consists of eight to ten glasses a day. This water will help you keep hydrated, detoxified, and will help you keep those nasty hunger pangs at bay.

2. Meals, Have at Least 3 Large and 2 Small Ones Daily.

* You should have at least five if not six meals a day. This should consist of three large meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and at least two small calorie snacks usually mid morning and early evening. This will be great for your metabolism. Also by no means are you to skip meals. If you skip meals then you will cause your metabolism to become off balance.

3. Have Regular  Workouts.

* Regular exercise is great when you are trying to lose weight. It will help in increasing your metabolism and also increase your overall fitness levels. Try things such as a brisk walk, jogging, and bike riding among others, as these are all good for your heart. You can also try weight training as it will help you build up your muscle and also build up your endurance.

4. Work on Your Mental Outlook.

* Mental workouts are also important to your weight loss program. Things like Yoga and Meditation will help lower your stress, allow you to experience mental relaxation and improves your concentration. Both the mental and physical exercise if combined correctly will help with your personality and overall physical health.

5. Eat Instead of Drinking.

* It will be much healthier for you, as a whole, to eat rather than drink. A lot of people believe in an all liquid diet but you need to realize these are not good. All you are basically taking in is pure sugar.

6. Read Food Labels Carefully.

* You need to pay close attention to all food labels, especially when you are trying to lose weight. In doing so you need to compare calorie intake and overall healthiness of the food.

7. Be Aware of Portion Sizes.

* You need to pay attention to your portion sizes. It is one of the most useful steps to proper weight loss.

8. Low Fat and Low Sugar Foods.

* You need to be sure to choose foods that are low fat and with low amounts of sugar.

9. Develop and Follow a Sleeping Routine.

* A good night sleep is also essential to proper weight loss. You also need to make sure you are going to bed and getting up at the same time every day

10. Write Down a Daily Journal.

* You need to do a daily diary/journal on all the food that you take in and carry it with you at all times. This will help you keep track of the calories that you have already consumed for the day which allows you to plan your next meal more effectively.

Finally, follow these 10 Weight Loss Tips and you will be losing weight in no time.

Fitness and Well Being
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Fighting Arthritis with the help of Yoga.

 

Exercise is often recommended when you have arthritis, and yoga is one of the top exercises you can do. It is a gentle type of conditioning exercise that is very easy on your joints. Additionally, it can be modified to suit the type of arthritis you have. Especially useful duringthe days when you are in a lot of pain.

Yoga is a known vehicle to achieve fitness and well being. Used properly, it will be very beneficial for persons with arthritis.

Go Slow With Yoga

Before getting into some of the better yoga poses for arthritis. You should not go to any yoga class and try to do all the moves. You will have difficulty with some of them because they are not meant for people with joint pain. For example, there is quite a lot of floor work that requires balancing some of your weight on your hands. This puts a lot of pressure on your hands and wrists, so it can be painful. Don’t rush into yoga, but instead go very slowly and work with a yoga instructor who can modify some of the moves for you.

Sun Salutation

A good yoga move to start with if you have arthritis and are new to this type of exercise is a sun salutation. This is really easy on your body, relaxes you, and is good to do in the morning before starting your day. To do a sun salutation, you just need to stand up with your feet touching and hold your hands to your heart with your palms together. Focus on your breathing as you exhale, raising your arms up as you do so. When you inhale, bend back and stretch your arms into the sky.

Child’s Pose

The next type of yoga move that is good for fighting arthritis is the child’s pose. The child’s pose stretches out your lower back and can help to give you more strength and flexibility in your core. The child’s pose is done on the ground with your knees on the ground and toes together. Reach your arms forward and to the ground, dropping your head as you do so.

Speak to your yoga instructor when taking a class in order to learn other moves that will be good for fighting arthritis.

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Healthy Foods You Should Eat Every Day.

Healthy Foods

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While the term healthy foods is a little subjective, based on food preferences and dietary restrictions, there are some foods that are ideal as long as you are able to eat them. As long as none of these foods are a potential food allergy for you, they are recommended to be eaten on a daily basis. They make Healthy Diets that contribute to further your Fitness and Well Being.

Leafy Greens

Eat your leafy greens! Spinach is one of the healthiest greens you can eat, and goes great with many types of meals. It doesn’t have a strong flavor, so most people enjoy this green. It goes great in salads, breakfast scrambles and omelets, pasta, and so many other foods. Try to add more spinach and other leafy greens to your daily diet in order to get more vitamins and minerals including folate and omega-3s. If you aren’t a fan of spinach, try other dark leafy greens like collard greens, romaine, or kale.

Nuts

Unless you have a nut allergy, these should definitely be on your list! Nuts are a wonderful source of protein, fiber, and healthy fats. They increase your fiber when you don’t get a lot of it from fruits and whole grains, plus are a source of plant-based protein if you are a vegetarian or vegan. If you are sensitive to peanuts, which is actually a legume, go for healthy nuts like brazil nuts, walnuts, almonds, and pecans. There are so many to choose from.

Berries

When it comes to fruit, it doesn’t get much better than berries. You will get lots of healthy antioxidants by eating more berries like blueberries, strawberries, and raspberries. These fruits are delicious and sweet, but don’t have as much sugar and carbs as other fruits. You can get a nice boost to your heart health, and have a healthy snack without a lot of added calories.

Avocado

For more healthy fats in your diet, add some avocado. This will increase your fats and calories, which are needed for a well-balanced diet. Avocado is great in a green smoothie in the morning, on toast, diced up as a side dish or in a salad. You can also use it as a healthy dip for whole grain crackers or raw veggies.

Yogurt

Lastly, if you can handle dairy, yogurt is great to have every day. This will help to provide probiotics, calcium, and many vitamins and minerals your body needs to grow healthy and strong.

Healthy Foods will keep you in good condition for years to come. Try them!

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Not Losing Weight – This is what is stopping you. 

We’re creatures of habit.  We wake up, hit the alarm and hit auto-pilot.

First we have breakfast, then brush our teeth. Next get dressed, go to work, then at the end of the day come back home and back to bed it is. Then werepeat it all over again the next day.

Eating and exercising – getting fatter or losing weight — it all boils down to the same thing:  Habits.

That is how we are wired. However, we have a choice: use habits to our advantage if we channel them properly or simply let them take us the wrong way.

In other words, when it comes to food, Good Habits make us loose weight, and Bad Habits will make us fat.

Good Habits help us get the things we want quicker. Additionally it makes achieving our goals possible. However for habits to work, we must take an honest look at what we are doing.

Understanding what is our biggest food weakness.

Is it:

  • – Overeating at meal times
  • – Going without food for hours and then binge eating
  • – Snacking between meals
  • – Getting bored late in the evening before raiding the kitchen
  • – Opening the ice-cream and eating it all in one seating
  • – Being a night time feeder
  • -Raiding the fridge over and over again
  • – Start one cookie and finish the pack
  • -Having a bowl of cereal, Then another and another
  • -Eating when being bored in the evenings, watching TV or surfing the Internet.

These are classic BAD Eating Habits.  The problem is these bad habits we do without even thinking about it. We do them on auto-pilot. Only to regret it afterwards.

There are plenty more bad habits out there. But if we can identify our biggest weakness we will be on the winning track to losing weight.

 If you are not losing weight and want to change it, this is what must be done:

Think long and hard (and be honest).

1.- What is your weakness?

2. -What is your Achilles heel?

3.- Isolate it.

4.- Zone in on it.

Then replace it with a better habit or cut it out completely – good things will start to happen to you.

You will begin losing weight, see results over a short period of time, and begin living a longer, healthier and leaner life.  And that’s your task.

Finally, not losing weight is not an option. Do it now!

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Alcohol And Exercise – Debunking Some Facts

As the weekend nears, you probably will think about going out and having a few drinks with friends or co-workers. The thought of relaxing and wind down has its social merits.

There are some things, however that you must keep in mind.

Do small amounts of Alcohol affect your muscular output?

Research has proven that small amounts of alcohol will increase muscular endurance and strength output. However, the benefits are very short lived. After 20 minutes or so, problems will surface. Alcohol will, over the  next few minutes reduce your strength, endurance and aerobic capacity. Even with short term use, nerve muscle interaction will be reduced resulting in a loss of strength. Remember, alcohol is a poison that will really harm your body if you aren’t careful.

Long term effects on the body.

Over longer periods of time it will make your body loose the ability to metabolize fat, and diminish muscle growth.  Additionally, alcohol will affect your nervous system and brain. Long term usage will cause severe deterioration of your central nervous system.

Once alcohol reaches the blood cells, it will damage them. Alcohol users, often suffer inflammation of the muscle cells. Over time, some of these damaged cells will die affecting muscle contractions. Drinking alcohol also causes muscle soreness after exercise. Hence, it will take you a lot longer to recuperate.

Alcohol will also interferes with your heart and circulatory system ability to function properly. Anytime you drink, your heat loss will increase, due to the alcohol simulating your blood vessels to dilate. The loss in heat will cause your muscles to become quite cold, therefore becoming slower and weaker during your muscle contractions.

It also leads to digestive and nutrition problems as well. Alcohol causes a release of insulin that will increase the metabolism of glycogen, which spares fat and makes the loss of fat very hard. Additionally, due to alcohol interfering with the absorption key nutrients, you will eventually become anemic and vitamin B  deficient.

Excessive Drinking Effects.

Because your liver is the organ that detoxifies alcohol, the more you drink, the harder your liver has to work. The extra stress alcohol places on your liver will cause serious damage and even destroy some of your liver cells.

Since alcohol is a diuretic, drinking large amounts will put a lot of stress on your kidneys. During diuretic action, hormones are secreted. This will lead to heightened water retention, loss of Potassium and frequent cramps. No one who exercises wants this to happen.

If you must drink alcohol, you should do it in moderation and never drink before you exercise, as this will impair your balance, coordination, and judgement.

Finally, think about your health and you may begin to look at Alcohol and Exercise from a whole new prospective.

 

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Workout Equipment that Works.

 

Workout equipment is a category of machines that are used to exercise and are also known as exercise machines. These range from simple items such as balls, to sophisticated machines such as treadmills, rowers, and many others.

Today there is a high demand for equipment that is effective in building muscles and strength as well as for losing weight.

Workout Equipment Types

Fitness equipment is sometimes classified according the type of exercise for which they are built. The first class is strength training equipment. These include free weights and  resistance machines.

The most common type of resistance machine uses gravity as a resistance source. It is used mainly in weight machines. Gravity in combination with pulleys, wheels and inclines provide a good workout. These also includes friction, spring-loaded, fan-loaded or fluid-loaded machines.

Another type of strength training equipment uses bands and tubing, mostly for training at home and in the office.

The other class is the aerobic fitness equipment. These include devices such as the stationary bicycles, treadmills, elliptical trainers, aerobic riders, stair climbers, ski and rowing machines. Stationary bicycles exercises legs by pedaling. Treadmills are an all body exercise, you can walk or run at various speeds. Some models even simulate slopes for a more intense workout.

Stair climbers replicate the action of climbing stairways. Some models also exercise arms for a more thorough workout. Skiing and rowing machines work both arms and legs simultaneously, Additionally, rowing machines exercise back muscles. Elliptical trainers are a cross between stair climbers and ski machines. Aerobic riders also exercise the arms and legs at the same time by the use of a simultaneous pull and push motion.

Simple Workout Equipment

Items such as heart rate monitors and exercise balls are among a group of simple machines. Heart rate monitors are used as a motivational tool in exercise as they monitor the heart rate and provide feedback to the individual about his workout. The use of exercise balls has become very important in Aerobic training such as flexibility training and for balance as well.

 

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Try Pilates – Work Your Way To A Healthier Body.

What is Pilates.

One of the hottest trends in fitness today is Pilates. It is  a combination of different body movements designed to strengthen, stretch and balance the body.

This body conditioning routine is designed and founded by Joseph H. Pilates. He designed his exercise program by including precision, breathing, concentration, and control.

One of its benefits is the improvement of lung capacity because the exercise incorporates deep and heavy breathing. The mind and the muscles are both coordinated in an effective Pilates workout so the strength and flexibility of the abdomen, back, and stabilizer muscles is achieved. Furthermore, the body’s posture, strength and balance are also improved. With these many benefits, overall health and well-being will surely be improved.

Many gyms, spas, and studios who offer Pilates training and equipment have sprouted everywhere. There is no doubt that it already gained a cult following.

The rich and the famous are also drawn to this mind and body exercise. Jamie Lee Curtis, Marissa Tomei, Jennifer Aniston, Julia Roberts and Rod Stewart are few of the many celebrities who are practicing and reaping the benefits. So if celebrities are paying big bucks to certified trainers in the country, then this really must be a great exercise.

Yes indeed! It is one great workout. It would not be this popular if it isn’t.

How do you practice Pilates.

There are two ways to exercise Pilates. One is to focus on floor exercises. Most people are doing floor exercise because it is less expensive and more convenient. The only equipment you will need is a floor mat and a trainer. If you can’t afford to hire a personal trainer, there are many home videos available in the market that features instructions on how to exercise Pilates. Just make sure that you select videos from reputable instructors. Also be careful when doing the exercises and routines yourself, doing Pilates without a trainer could cause you injury if you don’t perform it cautiously.

The other way to practice it is through the use of equipment that will tone and strengthen the body. Most gyms have the equipment and usually you have to pay a yearly fee to avail the use of  it and trainers.

During your workout wear light and comfortable clothes. Tights and a tank top are a good choice.

Stay focused on the routines and exercises. Your instructor will teach you ways on how to breathe properly and combine it with the body movements. You will not be able to achieve your fitness goals if you do not stay focused and disciplined to practice the right way of making the routines.

Start from the simple routines and work your way up to the more advanced and more rewarding routines. This way your body could adjust slowly and possible injuries will be prevented.

Because Pilates focuses on strength and flexibility and new studies show that two 50-minute sessions only burn about 250 calories, combine it with other cardiovascular type workouts like running and step aerobics for even better results.

Final thoughts.

Lastly, don’t join the Pilates bandwagon just because you think it is the “in thing” nowadays. Stick with the program, be disciplined and stay focused. Pilates has many benefits and soon enough you’ll notice that your body is improved. It is indeed one great work out, it not only helps in enhancing your daily tasks through flexibility and improved body strength it also make your mind and spirit feel relaxed and rejuvenated.

Try Pilates

 

 

 

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New Year Resolutions for 2019 – Make them Count

 

Your most important New Year Resolutions come and go every year with little actionable results.

Resolutions are so popular because they are a reminder that we should recommit regularly to personal improvement. However, instead of making a list of 10 things you want change this year, why not commit to real change that has the possibility to last beyond the first few months of the year.

By focusing on the process of change rather than solely the outcome, your resolutions could really make a difference this year in your overall happiness and satisfaction.

With the recent downtrend in the happiness of women in the U.S. this year. Perhaps it is time to return to the basics this year with your resolutions.

Instead of opting for the same goals you make every year, make this year The Year of Living Happier.

Here are the most important resolutions you can make this year to help achieve just that.

1.- Focus on Your Mental Health.

When you change your focus to mental health you can improve not only your mind and soul, but also your body. Mental health is what drives your ability to physical health. So focusing on it rather than on other aspects of getting in shape or dieting could lead to more significant improvements in all areas of your life. Your mental health includes how you deal with and process emotions, how you handle stress, how resilient you are to change and other obstacles and your overall mindset. Focus on this critical aspect of wellness and you will enjoy significant returns in all areas of your life.

2.- Become Better Connected.

Make a commitment this year to spending more time with friends and family in person rather than over social media. Being in the company of trusted others can improve your mental health and lower your stress too. Schedule regular time each week to spend with loved ones. Stay in contact with those that live far away and renew efforts to stay connected to those you have neglected recently.

3.- Be More Mindful.

When you are mindful, you are living in the moment. You are aware of what you are feeling, how the environment and others affect you. And you can embrace the experience and opportunities as you live them. Mindfulness teaches you to let go anxieties about the unknown future as you well as the anger and sadness about the past, both of which can significantly impact both your emotional and physical wellness.

4.- Get Outside More.

Spending more time outside can improve your physical, mental and emotional health. In many ways, spending time outside reduces stress, helps you sleep better, enhances your immune system and can be a wonderful place to get more done. Enjoy your local community park, green spaces and walking paths as much as you can to improve your happiness in many areas.

5.- Commit to Self Care.

If you make no other resolution this year, promise yourself that you will prioritize your self care. Taking time for yourself is crucial. And this simple promise can enhance your well being. Self care can include everything, from meditation to your beauty regimen. It is up to you to determine what you need to feel your best.

Looking and Feeling your Best has been our motto for almost 20 years.

We have kept our new year resolutions to bring the best about Weight Loss, Fitness and Wellness.

Happy 2019, May all Your New Year Resolutions Come True!.

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