Carb Blockers – Lose the Fat
by Anthony Kristovich III

Do you find it hard to cut down on foods like potato chips, cake, bread, and pasta. Well, you are not alone. Not by a longshot! Obesity is one of the biggest problems facing people today, and one of the hardest to overcome. Sometimes you need a hand, and carb blockers are a wonder of science that are a natural, effective aid in weight loss.

also known as starch blockers, carb blockers inhibit the production of a starch-enzyme, namely the starch-digesting enzyme alpha-amylase. With less of this enzyme in production, the body is less able to break down carbohydrates into sugar, which would normally then be absorbed into the body, which normally the excess sugar is translated into fat. The main ingredient in these pills in Phaseolus Vulgaris, which is derived from white kidney beans.

Now that the technical side is out of the way, these pills can be very handy if you are on a diet, especially the low-carb Atkins diet. Sometimes you can't help but having high-carb foods and this is where the pills help by not letting your body absorb much of the carbs, helping you to get by. The pills help you lose weight, but you do also need to keep a reasonable diet, as the pills are not miracles in themselves. However, they do heavily help in the battle of the bulge. Weight-loss can be a struggle for many, but carb blockers help you balance your intake. Carb blockers, in addition to a sensible diet, can create a slimmer you.

Written by Anthony Kristovich III, you can find more info on carb blockers at
http://www.earticlesonline.com/carb-blockers-lose-the-fat.html.

Article Source: eArticlesOnline.com

Low Carb Dieting - The Lifelong Solution to Staying Thin?
by Danna Schneider

Low carb dieting has become a popular way to lose weight quickly, and has even become the preferred lifestyle for thousands of health and weight conscious people. The question is, are low carb diets a realistic lifetime regimen, and are they really healthy?

Well, here's the general consensus: Hats off to low carb dieters, for they have found the lifelong key to weight maintenance, heart health and peak physical condition. When most people hear the term "low carb diet", they think of fanatical menus of bacon, eggs, cheese and other "zero carb" foods that, prior to the carbohydrate diet revolution, were considered high fat, artery clogging foods. In short, the typical low carb fare was a long list of high fat no-no's up until the low carb revolution, and pastas and breads were hailed as "low to no fat", so people were piling on the carbs in favor of less fat.

We've come a long way from this extreme school of thought, with the advent and teaching of a more healthy and balanced low carb dieting lifestyle. This new school of thought does not preach a zero tolerance for sugars and starches, but rather just making smarter choices in carbohydrate consumption, and a higher protein to carbohydrate ratio, with a healthy but moderate dash of unsaturated fat.

This new "moderation" method of low carb dieting has proven to be a huge asset for thousands of people suffering from obesity and excess weight. Many have adopted the moderation philosophy into their permanent eating habits and lifestyle with great long term success and permanent weight loss and maintenance.

Sure, most of us low carbers will have those moments of weakness, especially around the holidays, and overdo it on the sugars and starches, but it's actually pretty easy to get right back in the swing of things again. As a matter of fact, there are also some effective supplements that actually absorb excess carb intake and help offset any weight gain through times like this. They are usually taken just before or shortly after meals to help eliminate improper storage of fat as well as even out blood sugar, which is on of the primary reasons for weight gain through excess carb intake.

Long Term Low Carb Dieting Benefits

Benefits of adopting this lifestyle are voluminous. Aside from the obvious weight loss and effective weight management benefits, there are other significant advantages to this type of diet.

Here are the top benefits:

1.) Increased muscle tone


2.) Mentally more focused


3.) Less incidence of depression and anxiety


4.) Healthy blood sugar levels = lower risk of diabetes


5.) Healing faster and more efficiently


6.) Get sick less often


7.) Skin, hair and all other external organs grow healthier and more radiant


8.) Eat less - low carb foods are more filling

Think about it. Even if this short list of eight benefits was the only reason to adopt low carb dieting as a lifestyle, it would be worth it, right? There are many - maybe even hundreds more benefits to this method of eating. If you want to live longer, be thin for life, and be healthier, this diet is exactly what you've been looking for.

Visit Low Carb Diet Pills for more information on the only clinically proven carb cutting pill mentioned in this article - for when you indulge a little too much in carbs. Danna Schneider is the founder of

Herbal Therapeutics - Pure Hoodia Pills

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/

Article Source: eArticlesOnline.com

How to Find the Best Diet for You
by Steve Pavlina

What type of diet will give you the greatest amount of energy, health, and mental clarity?

I don’t know. I’m not you. But I can tell you how to find out for yourself.

Experiment. Try different ways of eating. Use the 30 days to success method for each type of diet you want to try. 30 days is about the minimum because during the first week or two after any dietary improvement, you’re bound to experience some detox effects, which can make you feel lousy before you feel better. Headaches, back aches, and mood swings are common.

When you test each new diet, take written notes on your experiences. Note the effects on your level of energy, mental clarity, and feeling of well-being. I use my regular journal for this (on my PC), so I can do a quick keyword search to pull up my notes and observations of all the diets I’ve ever tried.

I use health books and articles to supplement my knowledge, but first and foremost I rely on my own personal experience. I mainly use books as a guide for what to try next, assuming the principles seem sound and mesh with my current level of understanding.

Health books are often contradictory, but when you read enough of them (at least 20), you begin to see patterns and learn to become better at separating the fluff from the truth. The first chapters of most commercially popular diet books are virtually identical. They tend to follow the same pattern of explaining why other diets don’t work and why this book is the one true breakthrough that will revolutionize how people eat, but there’s no substance to those chapters. It’s just marketing-speak. So you can generally skip the first chapter of any diet book without losing anything.

One very simple principle I’ve adopted is to give very little credibility to diet books with photos of fat doctors on the cover. It should be obvious why that has proven helpful.

To really define a diet to experiment with, you have to be very specific in how you define the diet if you want your experiments to produce meaningful results. As I’ve written previously, vegetarian is not a diet, nor is vegan. A vegetarian is merely someone who eats no animals (no cows, pigs, chickens, fish, etc.), and a vegan eats no animal products (no animals, dairy, eggs, etc.). But that doesn’t define what you do eat. You can be a vegan who eats french fries, candy, and soda, or you can be a raw foodist who eats only raw foods, or you can eat macrobiotically and have a diet with lots of grain dishes and soups. So terms like vegan or vegetarian are simply not specific enough to define a diet. There are countless variations of those ways of eating.

The same goes for high protein diets, high carb diets, metabolic type diets, hair-color diets, etc. Those terms are way too vague to define your real diet, especially since most people tend to eat the same foods often and settle into a pattern of eating a tiny subset of all the potential foods available to them. What are you actually eating? Are you eating cheese, beans, artificial shake powders? What about fruits and vegetables? Are they mostly raw or cooked, canned or fresh or frozen? Even a vegan who eats lots of canned and boxed foods is on a very different diet than one who eats only fresh, unprocessed foods.

How much variety is there in your diet? Does your definition of fruit consist mainly of apples, oranges, and bananas? Or do you eat 10 different types of fruit every week? What foods do you see in your grocery store that you’ve never eaten?

Do you consume any drugs like caffeine, nicotine, alcohol, etc? Simply give up coffee, and you’re on a totally different diet with a significant change in your body’s biochemistry. Remove artificial supplements from your diet, and you’ve made another significant change.

I’ve noticed that different ways of eating can have a huge effect on my energy level as well as my emotional resilience. It’s not just what you eat or don’t eat that matters. How the food is prepared makes a big difference too.

The sensitivity of dietary inputs is one reason you can’t rely solely on the advice and experiences of others. You have to see for yourself. Even if you eat identical foods to someone else, the specific effects on your physiology may be unique.

Through experimentation I found that the best diet I’ve tried so far is an all-raw, whole foods, vegan diet. No caffeine. No supplements. No sugar. No artificial or processed foods. No junk. There are some great all-raw (un)cookbooks, and there’s even a gourmet raw food restaurant near my home, so I enjoy some pretty creative dishes on this diet. I can see by my notes that this way of eating left me feeling more energetic, emotionally positive, and mentally clear than any other diet I’ve tried. But I continue to experiment and have been doing so since the early 90s. One thing I don’t like about the all-raw diet is that it can be labor intensive if you want to eat a variety of interesting dishes. Lots of chopping and mixing and blending and dehydrating and juicing. If I had my own personal chef to set to the task, this is how I’d eat all the time. But I find that adding in some denser cooked foods like brown rice is helpful. It fills me up faster and saves me time without giving up too much of the energy benefits. The nice thing about this way of eating is that I can eat as much as I want without gaining weight.

Even though there’s so much marketing and money involved in diets (and consequently, misinformation abounds), I found that following my own common sense helped steer me in the correct direction. In the long run, it really shouldn’t have been that big a surprise to me that I feel best eating the simple foods that nature provides instead of man-made concoctions. The more human beings tamper with the foods I eat, the worse I feel when I eat them.

As for animal foods, it’s only common sense to me now that I wouldn’t run up to a cow and try to take a bite out of its hide; nor would I bend down, shove its calf aside, and try to suckle its teats. If the process of eating becomes excessively stupid at any point (like trying to drink another species’ baby-milk after I’ve already been weaned — a species that has four stomachs and weighs almost 10x as much as me), that’s where I know I’m heading in the wrong direction. So you can read fad diet books until you’ve run yourself in circles and have grown confused enough that you want to believe anything those marketers tell you, or you can just ask yourself whether it’s more intelligent to pluck an apple off a tree or to suckle a 1400-pound cow (especially one that’s been pumped full of bovine growth hormone).

It can be hard to get the ingrained-since-childhood marketing-speak out of our brains and restore basic notions of dietary common sense, but once you start to regain and re-assert your own logic, I think you’ll find that your thinking about diets becomes a whole lot simpler and less complicated.

Shifting diets can be difficult, but once you’ve done the first 30 days, it’s much easier after that, and your new way of eating becomes routine. Every new diet looks harsh from the outside looking in. But once it’s a habit, you’ll barely even think about it. It just becomes your normal default way of eating. Just as you once learned to eat the way you do now (unless you’re still eating baby food, that is), you can learn to eat a new way whenever you choose to do so.

So to sum up…

* Conduct your own dietary experiments for at least 30 days at a time, take notes, and compare the results of different diets.

* Juice the marketing-speak out of your brain (like “milk does a body good” and “beef is for dinner”), and re-establish your own common sense.

* Put more trust in Mother Nature than in marketers.

* Call me any names you want, as long as you don’t call me a marketer. That would hurt my feelings.

Copyright © Steve Pavlina

Steve Pavlina
Personal Development for Smart People

http://www.stevepavlina.com

http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog (blog)

http://www.stevepavlina.com/articles (articles)

Steve is intensely growth-oriented. He trained in martial arts, ran the L.A. Marathon, and graduated from college in three semesters with two degrees. He can juggle, count cards at blackjack, and make damn good guacamole. Steve is also a polyphasic sleeper, sleeping just 2-3 hours per day and only 20 minutes at a time. So chances are good that he's awake right now.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/

Article Source: eArticlesOnline.com

How To Lose Weight With South Beach Diet
by Monice Dulcinea

While the Atkins Diet is losing its popularity fast, the South Beach Diet is getting more devoted fans around the world.

The South Beach Diet is NOT a traditional low-carb diet plan. It was developed by Miami cardiologist Arthur Agatston in order to help dieters lose weight through "good carbs" and "good fats".

~ Why "Good Carbs"?

Because when you eat "bad carbs", your body creates what it's called an "insulin resistance" syndrome -- meaning your body cannot properly process body fat or sugar.

~ Why "Good Fats"?

Because when you eat "bad fats", you only increase your chance of developing heart diseases.

~ The Three Phases of the South Beach Diet

1. Phase One (2 weeks)

In this phase, avoid high-glycemic foods, such as ice cream, sports drinks, glucose sugar, maltose sugar, baked potatoes, mashed potatoes, chips, donuts, waffles, rice cakes, wafer biscuits, white bread, bagel, baguette, pretzels, rice pasta, instant rice, watermelon, jellybeans, and cornflakes.

As a result, your body will lose its insulin resistance, and begin to use excess body fat. You can expect to lose between 8 and 13 pounds. Individual results may vary.

2. Phase Two (no time limit)

In this phase, try to reintroduce the right carbs slowly, such as fruit and whole-grain breads and pastas. Continue to eat low-glycemic foods, such as multigrain bread, barley, grapefruit, apple, pear, orange, cherries, lettuce, spinach, pepper, green beans, tomatoes, artichokes, asparagus, broccoli, cauliflower, celery, lentils, soy beans, kidney beans, low fat yoghurt, soy milk, grapefruit juice, and fructose sugar.

There is no time limit for this phase. Just follow it until you reach your weight loss goal.

3. Phase Three

This phase begins when you reach your desired weight. In this phase, include three servings of whole grains and three servings of fruit a day.

~ Tips

If you want to lose weight with the South Beach Diet, you should eat whole grains, certain vegetables and fruits, along with the good fats, such as olive oil and fish. Don't forget to choose lean sources of protein. Make sure you always count calories and limit your servings. The most important thing is you should avoid overly refined foods, high fat meats, and saturated fats.

Find out more about diet and weight loss including South Beach Diet at www.ShrinkStomachNaturally.com.

Article Source: http://www.ArticlesBase.com

Article Source: eArticlesOnline.com

7 Stupidly Simple Weight Loss Tips That Work Like CRAZY!
by Abby Dominic

Current statistics reveal that 75% of Americans are overweight and 40% are obese. For those who desire to lose weight and obtain optimal health, sometimes it can be overwhelming trying to figure out where to start. From the Atkins Diet to the South Beach Diet; from the low fat to low carb diets, there are numerous weight-loss plans to choose from. In addition, given conflicting information as to what works best, it can be difficult deciding what to do.

For those who have tried many diet plans with no success, it becomes more difficult and frustrating. Many people forget that a diet might work wonders for their friend but won't work well for them...not because the diet is "bad", but because each body reacts differently. However, there is a way to lose weight that is easy, fast, and doesn't involve deprivation or calorie counting.

Before the weight loss tips are discussed, it's important to address some background information about body genetics and why weight loss can be difficult.

Before anyone starts a diet, it is important to note that each person has a different body build. Some people are short and stout while others are tall and thin. Some have big hips and shoulders, and others are short and very muscular. Genetics can determine body shape and a person's natural build just as it does eye color, hair color, skin color, and so on. The good news is that genetics do not determine whether or not one will be fat, but will determine one's body shape. This means that not every woman can expect to be tall and thin like a Hollywood actress or supermodel such as Tyra Banks. Not every man can expect to be defined and muscular like The Rock. The goal, really, is to be at a comfortable weight for one's body shape and to feel good about it.

So, why are people overweight? Here are 11 of the most common reasons:

1. Slow metabolism: People who are overweight have a hard time burning off food. As a result, the fat is stored.

2. Emotional eating: Those who struggle with weight often eat when stressed or when other emotional upheavals are happening in their life.

3. Hormonal imbalances.

4. Eating portions that are too large.

5. Eating lots of "diet food" (that is low fat,low carb, and "sugar free" foods). Kevin explains in the book why this is a problem.

6. Build up of toxins in the body.

7. Eating late: Late-night eating can cause food to convert to fat more easily.

8. High susceptibility to growth hormones: These hormones are given to animals to help them grow faster and larger, so meat and dairy have residual growth hormones. In humans, these hormones can result in increased fat storage.

9. Not eating breakfast.

10. Numerous diets: Going from diet to diet has a negative impact on the metabolism and causes weight loss to be much more difficult.

11. Food ingredients: The reasons why are amazing and beyond the scope of this article. Readers are encouraged to read for themselves Kevin's two books.

Simple Tips for Easy Weight Loss:

Now that there is a better understanding of body genetics and why people have a tendency to be overweight, here are the tips for fast, easy weight loss.

Tip #1: Drink water upon arising: First thing in the morning, drink eight ounces of distilled water, bottled water, or filtered water (not tap water).

Tip #2: Eat a big breakfast: This should be done 45 minutes after getting up in the morning. Suggested organic foods to choose from (they must be organic) are apples, bananas, rye bread with no sugar, plain yogurt, tuna, lamb, tomatoes, carrots, peppers, raw honey, wild smoked salmon, and so on.

Tip #3: Drink distilled water throughout the day: Eight glasses is recommended

Tip #4: Walk non-stop one hour each day: This doesn't have to be power walking; just walk at your own pace. Walking outdoors is best.

Tip #5: Stop eating after 6:00 PM: This is hard for some people, but do the best you can.

Tip #6: Do a candida cleanse: Candida is yeast overgrowth in the colon that can cause all kinds of health problems. Check online for "Candida Cleanse" or go to your local health food store.

Tip #7: Do a colon cleanse: This cleanse cleans out the digestive system, which is clogged and sluggish in many overweight people. Once again, check online or go to your local health food store.

More and more Americans are becoming overweight. Extra weight can result in many health issues and negatively impact one's emotional state and self-esteem. However, for those struggling with this problem, there is hope. You can lose it and keep it off. Now that you have a understanding of body genetics and why you might be overweight, take action today! Commit to trying at least a few of the steps.

Author Abby Dominic Highly Recommends: IT'S FREE, IT'S A *MUST READ* --- "The Secret Weight Loss Report" ..A single, life changing report that you'll never forget. Read it now, no catch whatsoever: "The Secret Weight Loss Report!"

Article Source: http://www.ArticlesBase.com

Article Source: eArticlesOnline.com

17 Guaranteed Ways to Lose Weight
by Johnny Lavot

1. Just Get Started
Many times, you may hear conflicting information from different sources about how you should go about accomplishing your goals; confused with information, you attempt to analyze the best route of action…but then you realize that it conflicts with someone else’s advice. You end up freezing like a deer stuck in headlights. The best course of action is to just get started and do something! Believe it or not, that is the hardest part anyway!

2. Set Goals

You won’t get anywhere if you don’t know where you’re going. This is why it is important to set goals because they will help to show you the correct path to take and will also add further motivation.

3. Focus on Body Fat, Not Body Weight

Obviously, this article is entitled “17 Surefire Strategies to Lose Weight,” but this isn’t what you really want to focus on. An increase in muscle mass and fluctuating water weight can provide you with skewed results. The solution is to measure your progress by several measures of circumference of your different body parts or just buy some calipers.

4. Create a Caloric Deficit

Each person burns a certain (changing) numbers of calories per day; this is known as TDEE. In order to cut down on your body fat, you must create a caloric deficit. To do this, simply eat a lower amount of calories than your TDEE. However, you must not reduce your calories by too much, otherwise you will slow down your metabolism; it is best to reduce your calorie consumption by about 750 calories or 20% of your TDEE.

5. Keep Track of Your Caloric Intake

Creating a caloric deficit requires a bit of planning. You need to know how many calories are in the foods you eat, and then tally them up to get a total. Doing this may seem like a hassle, but as you become better at this skill and memorize certain foods you can get a better “guess” of how many calories you have consumed.

6. Higher Satiety, Lower Calories

A stomach full of Jello and a stomach full of peanut butter feel the same, but they are worth much different amounts in the world of calories. One strategy that you can use to create a caloric deficit is to eat foods that are more filling, but contain a lower amount of calories.

7. Drink Water

In addition to the numerous amount of health benefits that water provides, you can also use it as a drink that provides no calories, but fills you up. Got a craving for that candy bar? Drink some water.

8. Cut Back on Soft Drinks

Although drinks like water can make you feel full and provide no calories, they have a low satiety rate because they are easy to digest. A low satiety rate combined with several calories makes soft drinks a hazard to the dieter. Even though many diet soft drinks now contain a low number of calories, the sweeteners can spike insulin levels and also (opinions differ on this) may contain to some health related side effects.

9. Avoid Alcohol

Alcohol has a low satiety rate, a relatively high caloric rate (alcohol contains 7 calories per gram), and can also cause you to become thirstier or hungrier…ever wonder why the bars always have snacks likes peanuts?

10. Avoid Fad Diets

Fad diets many times stress a specific part of nutrition without bothering to go over fundamentals like caloric deficits. In addition, most of these diets cause a person to go far below the safety zone in regards to the degree of caloric deficit. This causes the body to think it is starving; therefore, it lowers its TDEE. The cycle then repeats and the person becomes a yo-yo dieter.

11. Eat Complex Carbohydrates

Eating complex carbohydrates or carbohydrates with a low glycemic index will help to keep your blood sugar levels stable. When blood sugar levels are not stable, the body begins to store fat. However, eating the type of carbohydrates comes second to creating a caloric deficit.

12. Eat Healthy Fats

Not all fats are bad and, even, necessarily fattening. You should strive to avoid fats such as the trans fats or saturated fats. However, fats such as polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats provide numerous health benefits, can help regulate cholesterol, and can even help to further build muscle since they are needed in the synthesis of hormones. However, even with the healthy fats, one should watch the consumption of this nutrient because it does have a high amount of calories (9 calories per gram of fat).

13. Don’t Buy Junk Food

One easy way to avoid eating unhealthy, caloric dense snacks that would otherwise put you over your set number of calories for a health calorie deficit is to simply not buy them – therefore it takes away the convenience you have at your house of eating these foods.

14. Have a “Cheat Day” Every Once in a While

Having a cheat day every now and then (about once a week or less) can help to remind you of the habits you are trying to break and it can also give you a needed break from your regime (not all health foods taste bad though). Cheat days are usually on a person by person basis; not everyone does them. It is your decision as to whether or not you need one.

15. Eat More Frequently

An easy way to boost your metabolism and help to keep more of your muscle is to eat more frequently. It is usually recommended to eat roughly 6-8 meals per day instead of the usual three.

16. Aerobic Workouts

One way to create a caloric deficit is to reduce the amount of food you eat. The other way is to increase your TDEE; you do this by working out or eating more frequently as stated above. Creating the caloric deficit only through eating initiates a primitive response in the body to think that it is starving; therefore, it is best to create half of your caloric deficit through working out and the other half through a reduction in calorie consumption. The most basic and used form of this is the aerobic workout.

17. Lift Weights

In addition to aerobic workouts, one can lift weights to raise the TDEE. The actual process of lifting weights burns extra calories as does the muscle that it builds. Also, muscle will give a healthier, more attractive, and more toned look compared to aerobic training alone. It is best to use both aerobic training and weight lifting in your workout regime.

That’s 17 of em’. Remember that following just one of these methods will not produce results. You must either follow all or very close to all of them to get the results that you (hopefully) are looking for. A big thing always results from many little things added together. You can find more information and get a free weight loss course at http://www.weight-loss-resources.com.

Johnny Lavot is an avid weight-loss and fitness researcher. You can find tons more information on these topics at http://www.weight-loss-resources.com.

Article Source: http://www.ArticlesBase.com

Article Source: eArticlesOnline.com

Natural Health And Weight Control: Taking Care Of You As Nature Intended
by Emmanuel Aubrey

If you want to avoid the fatal effects of obesity, then you must take action now.

Your health is your responsibility and if you do not accept it, you will find out what it feels like to have a stroke or even a heart attack.

Natural health is your responsibility and you should face that. No amount of excuses is going to change that; and it is time to step into reality and stop deluding yourself.

If you want to have the best chance to live a healthy life, then natural health is the best way to go. You will be giving your body all the right ingredients it needs to be healthier and more productive.

You will be cleansing your system of all the rubbish that it has accumulated over the years, including toxins and stores of fat and carbohydrates.

One key component of the natural approach to health is being proactive. Rather than waiting to get sick and then curing your symptoms with medicine, you will consistently use natural remedies to stay in good health, bolster your immune system, and avert illness altogether.

There are many sources you can use from natural health books and natural health magazines that will help you learn how to start living a better naturally healthy life. Once you spend some time reading, you should create a plan.

You need to plan for the future and find a way to make that plan a reality. And then you need to act. Purchase a natural health book that will help you in you plans. Know what you want to achieve, so that you can get the book that is right to suit your needs.

Don’t run away for this responsibility. If you do not take care of your own health needs, then no one can help you. You could even subscribe to a natural health magazine so that you can get all the wonderful recipes that you can use.

Being unhealthy often makes us depressed, since it also makes us feel unattractive. That is why you need to be proactive if you feel that the natural health way of life is adequate to suit your needs.

The time is now, as it is never too late to make that change. Try the natural health way of life. You might be surprised how it can transform your life.

Emmanuel Aubrey The Information Generator

My website is www.emmanuelaubrey.com if you want more information on health topics visit my website. my email: emmanuel@emmanuelaubrey.com

Article Source: eArticlesOnline.com

Women Who Lift Weights Turn Into Men?
by Marc David

There's a big myth that women have to train different then men. They don't. They can lift weights, do the same exercise, build a little muscle, become stronger and still be 100% female. Building muscle isn't all that easy right? You don't just do some weights and have a 21" inch arms the next month.

My point is…

Women can do the same things as men do. And even lift heavy if they desire to grow muscle rather then maintain.

A little muscle tone is not a bad thing right? And the only way to grow muscle is to stimulate it. I'm not suggesting females go bench 315 lbs tomorrow but there's no need to grab the pink weights and do 100 reps either while they sit there looking unchallenged and bored.

If they are worried about a particular body part taking over and making them out of proportion, then just hit them lightly and focus on the rest of the body. Just maintain them. Do not push or challenge them and they will just stay the same while the rest of her body grows, adapts and changes to fit her desired look.

I see women all the time at the gym with the tiniest weight. Because they don’t want to get big and bulky like a man. But they also look bored and just doing it because somebody told them lifting weights was something they should do.

Unless your one of the few females that has as much testosterone as most men, it's not going to happen.

A key to muscle growth is testosterone. Females do not have

high levels of it, therefore, even if they worked out like men do, with heavy weights, she is not going to suddenly become manly, bulky and bulging with muscles.

Granted, there are some females who do have high levels but it's pretty rare. Don't worry...

Despite what you may have heard... there's really no such thing as toning. I'm sure to get flack for that statement but let me explain. There's three things you can do to a muscle.

-Build it

-Maintain it

-Lose it

Toning is really for most people, the process of building muscle so there's something to show... and once they are happy with the appearance, they maintain it. For all these reasons...

It's important to understand that when you pick up a weight, the main goal is to work the muscle. If it's not at all challenging, then why bother? Resistance training has a purpose. To keep your muscles healthy, your bones strong and your mobility. The older you get, the more muscle you want as it will keep you living healthier. And the older you get the more muscle you tend to los'e. Another reason to build muscle thru your life and not let it wither away because of atrophy.

But I'm getting way ahead of myself! Many women are worried about getting bulky if they workout weight weights.

There's a simple solution to that. How about just build muscle until she's satisfied with her appearance. Once she reaches that level, she can back off and just maintain. At that point, there's no need to stimulate new muscle growth but you can use resistance training to maintain an appearance.

This is where 'toning' comes in. Toning to me at least, means maintaining the muscle's natural tone thru resistance. Keeping it in the shape it is currently.

Also keep in mind that a muscle will appear more tone when body fat is removed from the area.

So that's why cardio is an important aspect as well if she is looking to lean up. But as I've said before, there can be such a thing as too much cardio. So no need for marathon sessions please.

Bottom line…

In general women do not need any different routines then a man. It's the myth that has been around forever that men lift weights, women do cardio. It’s simply wrong.

Marc David is a bodybuilder and author of the, Beginner's Guide to Fitness and Bodybuilding. You can get info on Marc's e-book at: Beginning Bodybuilding. To get Marc's free e-zine, visit JustAskMarc.com

Article Source: eArticlesOnline.com

It's So Easy (To Lose Or Gain Weight)
by Tracie Johanson

Gym owners, personal trainers and other industry experts know the real truth about health and fitness: exercise and proper nutrition is the only path to permanent weight loss! Forget all the "get slim quick" schemes out there promising you quick results with zero effort. Reality is the same thing you heard from your doctor: Eat sensibly and exercise regularly.

However, recently there have been two breaking news stories that have an impact on health and fitness. These two news items are so noteworthy they demand our attention.

Each story is a good example of how easy it can be to improve or damage your health.

Our first item shows how easy it can be to make small, sustainable changes to your life that will help you fight fat.....not make you thin, but help you fight fat. Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent for Reuters News Service, wrote a great story on the relationship between sleep and fat. The bottom line is that people who skimp on their sleep are more likely to be overweight. We're not going to print the entire story, but here's one quote: "In one study, people who slept only four hours a night for two nights had an 18 percent reduction in leptin, a hormone that tells the brain there is no need for more food, and a 28 percent increase in ghrelin, which triggers hunger."

The second news item is a good example of how easy it is to undermine our weight loss efforts with poor nutrition. Hardee's recently introduced what they're calling the "Monster Thickburger". A more suitable name would be the "Monster WeightGainer"! This burger packs 1,420 calories, which is about what many women should eat in an entire day! It also has 107 grams of fat, which is way more fat than anyone should have in one day! No wonder the introduction of this new burger caused Jay Leno to joke: "The Megaburger actually comes in a little cardboard box shaped like a coffin".

Well, there we have it. Two fairly easy ways to either improve our health or damage our health. It's easy to sleep, and it's easy to eat a Monster Thickburger. Let's make the right choices.

So, right after we get some sleep, we'll see you at the gym!

Tracie Johanson is the founder of Pick Up The Pace, a 30-minute exercise studio for women, focusing on fitness, health and nutrition for maximum weight loss. Please visit http://www.letspickupthepace.com/ for more information.

Article Source: eArticlesOnline.com

What Are The Latest Trends In Natural Health Weight-Loss And Should I Follow Them?
by Emmanuel Aubrey

The natural health trend is more likely to help you lose weight than the commercial products we are bombarded with everyday, telling us that we can lose weight a short time if only do this one thing or only take this one drug.

To be honest, we all know that they are pure lies with little factual evidence to support their extravagant claims; however, there is a new way to lose the weight without taking a "fad" weight loss drug or trying an unconventional diet.

This "new way" has actually been around for hundreds of years, but the trend is just now reemerging as a response to how society reacts to problems with a quick-fix, chemical solution.

Natural health is the best way to lose weight and feel good about yourself at the same time. Let’s face it: we all need to lose weight at some point in our lives. We may look in the mirror one day and ask ourselves how we will lose that extra weight that makes us a little less comfortable and a little less healthy.

The answer is simple, straightforward, and easy to achieve: natural health has become a trend not because it takes the same approach as a "fad," but for the opposite reason--it promises to cure our ailments and reduce our weight if we are willing to stick to a healthy, long-term plan.

Natural health is not just about looking good while still feeling bad inside, like some "fad" diets that help us lose weight, but clog our arteries; natural health is there to help you look good on the outside while cleaning your body up on the inside to make you feel 100% all over.

There are a million different diets out there that you can choose, but after you experience the resurgent natural health trend, then there will be no need to go back to quick-fix, commercial solutions. To make things even better, you will not only see the results, but you will feel them, too, as you become gradually more healthy.

Emmanuel Aubrey The Information Generator

My website is www.emmanuelaubrey.com if you want more information on health topics visit my website. my email: emmanuel@emmanuelaubrey.com

Article Source: eArticlesOnline.com

Lose Weight With A Natural Health Diet
by Emmanuel Aubrey

If you've decided to live a healthier lifestyle, you may also want to consider losing weight, too. Lately, more people have been trying to get healthy with fad diets; and as more and more people fail, we hear about the importance of losing weight more often in television and print media.

But how can the average Joe get in 30 minutes of exercise everyday when all he has to do is work? There are weight loss supplements that are designed to help you lose weight without the need for weights and running and all the other exercise regimes that people describe as the best way to lose those extra pounds.

Natural health supplements are designed to help the average Joe reach his goal of weight loss and or muscle gain. It can be seen as like living in the future, take a few pills and everything will be okay.

Of course it is not like that in reality: don’t think for a second that you can take these tablets and they will solve all of your weight loss problems. In addition to weight loss pills, you should also alter your diet. You should make it healthier by restricting your portions and reducing the amount of saturated and hydrogenated fats you consume.

You should also consider walking and cycling, which are good ways to help the body stay naturally healthy as well as help those health supplement tablets get to their full power.

There are many packages available for purchase and you must check them carefully; some are not designed for your natural health, so always be careful and read the label. Taking concentrated chemical medicines instead of natural health medicines could seriously alter your hormonal cycles.

This is another reason why natural health medicines are the best choice in the long run. They will facilitate the improvement of your health over a long period of time, rather than provide you with a dangerous, quick fix to your problem.

Emmanuel Aubrey The Information Generator

My website is www.emmanuelaubrey.com if you want more information on health topics visit my website. my email: emmanuel@emmanuelaubrey.com

Article Source: eArticlesOnline.com

Cellulite Reduction That Works
by Naweko San-Joyz

Cellulite is not a medical condition or an aesthetic mutiny perpetrated by your thighs. It’s just excess fat that we’ve relegated as unsightly. Not all women have cellulite. All women of course have fat, but cellulite is simply excess fat bursting through the connective tissues holding the fat layer in place.

Mitchel Goldman, MD, an associate clinical professor at the University of California at San Diego regularly informs the dermatological community about cellulite treatments. On one such occasion in 2002, at American Academy of Dermatology's summer scientific meeting in New York, Dr. Goldman offered bleak hope for women with fat dimples while asserting that there is no “cure” for cellulite.

Perhaps Dr. Goldman has never visited a women’s figure competition, Gold’s Gym or any placed packed with women who know how to take care of their bodies. If he did frequent such places, Dr. Goldman would find that there is indeed a three-step remedy for cellulite which follows:

1. Eat a macronutrient rich diet that maintains your ideal body weight;

2. Exercise at least 60 minutes daily to promote circulation and increase the skin’s elasticity and tone; and

3. Do resistance training to increase muscle size, boost fat metabolism, and increase structural support for the skin’s fat layer.

I assure you that women who pose as models for cellulite creams and services already do these things.

Notwithstanding, Dr. Goldman rests convinced that "Foods really do not have an impact on whether a woman has cellulite or not." He further doubts dietary interventions by stating, “Even a woman who radically changes her diet from high fat foods to low fat foods would still have cellulite. Consumers should be wary of any diet plan that claims to reduce the appearance of cellulite -- it is simply not credible."

So how do women in the advertisements for cellulite creams get rid of their cellulite? Not by using a cream, of course. One may answer that Adobe Photoshop editing cleverly erases the smiling fat dimples. That’s not always the case. Women can and do shrink their cellulite bubbles using a sensible diet and exercise program.

1. Eating to eliminate cellulite

Enjoy five to six meals/snacks a day. Frequent eating keeps the blood sugar level balanced so that your body does not resort to fat storage. This predictable food intake also keeps the metabolism burning calories at a consistent rate.

2. Strategic exercising for cellulite elimination

A study issued by the National Academies' Institute of Medicine in 2002 recommends an hour of cumulative exercise each day to maintain a healthy weight. Cellulite is an aesthetic issue and not a grave health threat. So while climbing the stairs here, and washing the car there, may help your heart, it does nothing for cellulite.

If you want to get rid of cellulite, you need to exercise for at least 45 to 60 minutes consistently to reap the fat burning benefits. Yet, you need not exhaust yourself.

Make your body tingle with energy Just try walking briskly at a rate fast enough to make your thighs and rear-end tingle. That way, you know you are stimulating the fat while simultaneously massaging the skin. Moreover, you are raising your external body temperature. You can spend $100s of dollars at a spa trying to get the same effect in some body wrap or massage machine. Spare yourself the hassle and get real results from the gym or on the trail.

3. Make the most of weight training

The most ridiculous fear that arises from women when I suggest weight training is the unfounded cry, “But I don’t want to get bulky and muscular!” Please. Too many women in the gym today are hardly in any danger of developing muscle simply because they are not properly training or eating to gain muscle.

The only way to get “bulky” with muscle is to consistently train for years lifting heavy weights and eating a generally bland diet that’s rich in protein. With that, it’s critical to make the most of your muscle training minutes in the gym. Granted the variety of weight lifting techniques remains endless, here’s some basic steps for increasing your muscle mass:

Eat before lifting

Eat at least 45 minutes before lifting weights. While, your stomach should not fill bloated with food, having some nutrients in your stomach will ensure that you have enough energy to actually lift the weight and perform enough repetitions to promote muscle growth.

Lift enough weight to feel your muscle burn after 8-10 repetitions.

The whole point of lifting weights is to tear down the muscle you have so that it will repair itself and grow back stronger and more plentiful. If you are not burning, it’s likely that you are not breaking down muscle.

Refuel your muscles with protein and carbohydrates immediately after lifting weights

Professional bodybuilders strategically plan their day to ensure that they get their protein within at most 45 minutes after having lifted weights. This is because the muscle needs fuel to repair itself. If you skip feeding a repairing muscle, it will not grow, or at best you’ll reap minimal results.

Moreover, a resent study published in the June 2004 edition of the International Journal of Sport Nutrition & Exercise Metabolism confirmed that after resistance training, a meal containing protein and carbohydrates produced more muscle growth than a meal consisting purely of carbohydrates.

Consistent dieting habits, exercising and resistance training effectively eliminate cellulite. This three-tiered strategy reduces excess fat and tones the skin- collectively revealing a smooth, bump-free backside. Though you may hate the method, it produces visible results four to six weeks with regular usage.

Are you a pro at yo-yo dieting? Let Naweko show you how to go from slob to sexy using the secret mind tools that even fitness models won’t tell you about. Creator of “Skinny Fat Chicks: Why We’re Still Not Getting This Dieting Thing” ISBN:0974912212. Weight Loss Motivation That Works

Article Source: eArticlesOnline.com

Want To Lose Fat? Build Muscle!
by Shawn LeBrun

Want a sure-fire way to help your body rid itself of unsightly body fat, better yet, keep it off for good?

Learn to accelerate your body's metabolism. One way to do this is by incorporating resistance training (weight-training) into your routine. That's because the more muscle mass you have, you more body fat you will lose, even at rest!

Your metabolic rate determines how your body utilizes calories throughout the day for energy.

Metabolism is simply the speed in which your body burns through food. It is the conversion of digested nutrients into components for energy or building muscle.

Having an accelerated metabolism means that we will burn more calories often because our body will be utilizing and burning off food more often. One way to accelerate our metabolism is by increasing our amount of lean muscle tissue in the body.

Muscle helps speed up your metabolism. Since muscle is metabolically active tissue, the more you have the more calories you burn. This is why resistance training is so vital to long-term weight loss.

By the way, long term weight loss is really the only safe and effective way to lose weight. Quick weight loss is not long-term weight loss.

When you add lean muscle tissue to your body composition, you increase the amount of calories your body burns and you also increase your metabolic rate. Muscle requires energy to maintain and it gets that energy from burning calories. So building muscle is one of the best long-term weight loss tools you can use.

There are studies that suggest that you only expend about 10% of your daily calories through exercise, the rest is expended through your body's metabolic functions. So again, the more lean muscle tissue, the more calories your body will burn for energy throughout the day while going about your daily routine.

Now, the quickest and easiest way to build muscle through resistance training is to perform your resistance training with less repetitions and a little more weight.

It would stand to reason that if you could lift 100 pounds 10 times, you could lift more weight than that if you had to do less than 10 times. I incorporate lower reps into my clients workout programs and the results are an increase in lean muscle.

Over time, this increase in lean mass will help accelerate fat-loss by dipping into stored body fat as a source of fuel. Losing body fat, remember, simply comes from expending more calories than you consume.

Also, progressively strive to lift more weight when the weight you are using becomes too easy. If it's too easy, you will not benefit from it very much.

The combination of resistance training with supportive eating throughout the day will assist your body in adding lean muscle to its frame.

This lean muscle will increase the amount of calories you burn off throughout the day. So to lose fat, hit the weights and build muscle!

Shawn LeBrun is a personal trainer, natural bodybuilder, and everyday average guy. See how he can help you build muscle, lose fat, and get in the best shape of your life.

http://www.shawnlebrunfitness.com/getshredded.html

Article Source: eArticlesOnline.com

My Keys To Gaining Muscle And Losing Fat
by Shawn LeBrun

If you want to learn my personal keys to gaining muscle and losing fat, keep reading because I will reveal them below.

Last night, I had the pleasure and opportunity to attend one of Dave Ramsey's "Financial Peace" seminars here in Portland, Maine.

For those of you who do not know, Dave Ramsey is a financial consultant, best-selling author, and popular radio talk show host. I highly recommend that if you get to see him speak in person, that you go. He is phenomenal!!

He spoke of a couple of things that really got me thinking about how things really work in life if you just follow certain principles.

Now, I often go to seminars, not only for my personal benefit, but so that I may relay any information I learn that may be useful to my clients and newsletter subscribers in my business.

Last night was no exception.

Dave first mentioned that, if you want to achieve wealth and become finacially independent, you must learn from other rich, wealthy people, not from people that have their own opinions but nothing to show for it.

I thought of this point in fitness as well.

It seems everyone has an opinion as to what should be done and what works, but how many people have actually put it to action and have done what they know so much about.

I can remember growing up, hearing my family doctor tell me how important exercise was to health, yet he was extremely overweight.

So, to put Dave's advice on modeling others into gaining muscle mass, seek out those that have already achieved what it is you want and copy some of the things they have done.

It worked for him in his life, where he learned certain

principles from wealthy people that worked and when he applied them in his own life, he became a millionaire many times over.

Dave also talked about certain truths with money, laws that must be followed if you want to achieve true wealth.

These are laws that, much like the law of gravity, occur

whether you want them to or not. If you jump off a building, the law of gravity will occur and you will hit the ground, no matter what.

He called these laws "No Matter Whats" because they work every single time, NO MATTER WHAT you think about them.

I though about this point as it relates to fitness and I

realized that there are also many "No Matter Whats" in the

fitness and exercise world.

I thought about many of them and that if you just followed them, they would work, NO MATTER WHAT!

Here is my top ten list of NO MATTER WHATS for gaining muscle and losing fat. I thank Dave Ramsey for the insight to realize that weight loss also has many "laws" that govern it.

Here are ten I thought of immediately:

1. No matter what...if you stay positive and persistent, you will WIN in your efforts to gain muscle.

Those people that "keep on keeping on" are winners in all they set out to do. They may not win every single time, but it sure likens the odds they will. So be positive and have persistence. Besides, what's the alternative, being negative and quitting?

2. No matter what...if you take SOME form of action, you will be better off than not doing anything. Gaining muscle occurs by being active. You must lift weights to gain muscle. You must work out regularly.

Taking some form of action will get you further ahead than over-analyzing the situation to death and not moving at all!

3. No matter what...people do not see great results because they "know not what to do." In order to get in great shape and gain muscle, you must understand the HOW behind it. Educate yourself on the principles of gaining muscle and you'll never have to hire a trainer again(wait, then I'll be out of business).

4. No matter what...you must have fun in your fitness routine or you will not want to stay with it for long. Most of you know that optimal fitness is a life-long process. Can you imagine doing something you do not like for your entire life? (besides your job?) Have fun with your workouts!

5. No matter what...eating small, well-balanced and nutritious meals or snacks every three to four hours will get your metabolism operating more efficiently. Having a faster metabolism is vital to long-term fat loss.

6. No matter what...progressively increasing the amount of

weight you lift over time will have a positive impact on how much lean muscle you build. Who does not want a little more muscle and a lot less fat. I have never had anyone tell me "Shawn, I am all set in the muscle department, can we add a little more fat now?" To gain more muscle, lift heavier over time.

7. No matter what... gaining muscle takes time. There is nothing in life worth having that happens overnight. Do be a get_____quick type of person.(You can fill in the blank.)

8. No matter what...you must create a synergy between proper nutrition, moderate aerobic exercise, and intense, brief weight-training. You must do each one well, and they will come together to produce incredible results.

9. No matter what...gaining muscle and getting in shape requires a lifestyle change. You cannot expect to continue those things that got you overweight or out of shape in the first place. To get better, you must do better. You must change your habits so they support you, not hinder you. So cut your ties to them!

10. No matter what...if you want it bad enough, you can achieve it. To take what Dave finished with last night, and put it into my own weight loss and fitness terms:

Gaining muscle and losing fat is "Whatever you will it to be." The choice is yours. You can make it happen. Or you can quit. The choice is "whatever you will it to be!"

Shawn Lebrun is an online fitness trainer and

natural bodybuilder. Visit his site and see how

he can help you gain muscle, lose fat, and help you

get in the best shape of your life.

http://www.shawnlebrunfitness.com

Article Source: eArticlesOnline.com

How To Act Like You Have The Muscle You Want
by Shawn LeBrun

Your subconscious mind cannot distinguish between a real event and a make believe event.

What this means is, if you begin acting as though you have the ideal body of your dreams, soon enough your bconscious mind will begin working to realize those actions and will begin creating the picture you hold to be your ideal body.

Act as if you're already as muscular as you want to be, act as though you have all the energy in the world, and act as though your self-confidence is soaring through the roof.

Begin to act as if you've already accomplished the goals that you've set for yourself.

The reason this step is important is for you to start feeling the awesome feelings you’ll have permanently if you achieve the goals you've set for yourself.

If you act as though you're already muscular, your subconscious mind cannot distinguish between whether or not you are or are not.

The more you start flooding your body and mind with feelings of energy, strength, confidence, joy, happiness, and other positive feelings, you’ll begin to link pleasure with this entire process.

When you begin to act as though something imagined is real, you start to gravitate to those feelings and the actual accomplishment of those goals.

I know that sounds a bit foolish, but it’s true. In fact, it’s a proven fact that if you believe something to be absolutely, undeniably true for a long period of time, you can actually convince yourself that it is true.

For example, studies have been done with the lie detector (polygraph) machine in which they’ve tested people telling the truth and also people telling what they knew to be lies but that they believed strongly that it was the truth.

The polygraph machine could not distinguish between the two readings, of the group telling the truth and the group telling lies.

The people that were told to absolutely believe what they knew was not true had the same readings on the lie detector as the people actually telling the truth.

So what does all of this mean.

You can talk yourself into believing anything. So why not talk yourself into feeling, acting, and being lean and muscular.

Sooner or later, by acting that way, your brain will seek out and begin to take the necessary steps to actually accomplish that goal.

As much as this seems like mental hogwash, its a simple fact that if you begin to act with absolute conviction that something has happened or is occurring, your brain cannot distinguish if it really did happen or not.

Hey, if you like the feelings you get from having a rock-hard physique, why not become more muscular?

Just because you've identified what you want doesn’t mean you're done there. Are you totally convinced you can achieve it?

Have you made the leap from knowing what you want to believing it's within your reach?

In fact, you can identify the fact that you want a new job, but until you choose to go after one, you will not put forth the conscious effort.

Even after I had identified the fact I wanted to enter a show, I had to make the choice to go all out for this specific show and commit to the rigorous training and dieting that it would entail.

It wasn’t enough just to identify that I wanted to do this show and win, I had to choose to go after it with everything I had.

I chose to stick with an insane diet, I chose to put my workouts ahead of any social time, I chose to do anything and everything I had to do to give me a chance to win this show. I had now made the conscious choice to go after what I wanted.

Identifying what you want is not enough. You must choose to go after it, to start the chase.

So once you begin acting like you have the muscle mass you want, you have to take action and do those things that will create it in reality.

Shawn Lebrun is an online fitness trainer and natural bodybuilder. Visit his site and see how he can help you gain muscle, lose fat, and help you get your best body ever. http://www.shawnlebrunfitness.com/getshredded.html

Article Source: eArticlesOnline.com

Walking helps in staying fit
by Stuart William

Walking can take you a long way. It can make you lose weight with minimum efforts. Studies have also suggested that brisk walking of at least 12 miles a week, for a total investment of two to three hours a week, produces measurable fitness benefits. It helps to lower risk of health problems later in life and helps in keeping a healthy and well toned body.

You can control your weight by balancing your calorie intake with the calories expended through walking exercise and other physical activities. The key issue for weight control is to maximise the total volume of calories used and to combine this with healthy eating. In this regard, walking is a viable and affordable option for controlling our weight. As walking one mile can burn up at least 100kcal of energy and walking two miles a day, three times a week, can help reduce weight by one pound every three weeks.

Walking has multiple benefits. Apart form helping us in losing weight, it also alters fat metabolism so that fat is burned up instead of sugars for helping to reduce weight. Walking has been shown to improve self esteem, relieve symptoms of depression and anxiety, and improve mood. Walking in pleasant surroundings, and with other people can make you relax for a prolong period. If you’re indulged in regular physical activity such as walking then it’ll help to prolong your life as regular walking decreases mortality rates for both older and younger ones.

Fit and active individuals have around half the risk of cardiovascular disease compared to unfit inactive people. This level of risk is similar to smoking, high blood pressure or high cholesterol in causing heart disease. People engaged in regular walking are less likely to fall and suffer injuries such as hip fractures because the bones are strengthened as compared to others.

Therefore, make walking a part of your life and stay fit for ever.

About the Author: Stuart William is a contributing author to the Phenterminehome.com for distinct article sites/journals. Visit the website http://www.phenterminehome.com for more information on Phentermine Diet Pills. For questions, please send an email to stuart.william001@gmail.com

Article Source: eArticlesOnline.com

Why the Mediterranean Diet is Good for Women
by Roy Barker

Six Reasons the Mediterranean Diet Promotes Good Health

Introduction

Over the course of the past forty years, women the world over have become particularly concerned about their diets. They have become concerned about diet related issues for two primary reasons:

Women have expressed concern over how a particular diet plan effects their appearances

Women have expressed concern over how a particular dies plan effects their health

As a result, a growing number of women have found themselves attracted to the Mediterranean diet. When it comes to the Mediterranean diet, there are six primary reasons why women find themselves strongly attracted to the diet regimen.

Weight Loss and Healthy Weight Maintenance

In many countries around the world, a record number of women are being classified as overweight and even obese. As a result, a growing number of women find themselves seeking effective and healthy dieting regimens to lower their weight to appropriate levels -- for both cosmetic as well as health reasons.

The Mediterranean diet has proven itself to be very effective at providing a means through which women can lose weight in a healthy manner. Additionally, the Mediterranean diet has proven incredibly effective as being a solid path a woman can take to maintain a generally ideal and healthy weight.

Anti-oxidants and Aging

The Mediterranean diet regimen is flush with foods that are rich in anti-oxidants. This includes leafy, dark green vegetables as well as certain fish that are common features in this dietary scheme.

Anti-oxidants have been proven to slow the appearance of aging in women. Additionally, anti-oxidants have been demonstrated as being effective at preventing organ and skin deterioration in women. The consumption of foods that are high in anti-oxidants has been proven to enhance longevity in both women and men.

Metabolic Syndrome

Metabolic syndrome is an ailment in which a person ends up afflicted with both Type Two diabetes and hypertension. Most experts believe that diet can play a significant role in reducing the likelihood of metabolic syndrome in men and women who are prone to the ailment.

Without exception, medical experts who have studied the cause and effect of metabolic syndrome universally have agreed that the Mediterranean diet is the perfect dietary scheme to prevent and control metabolic syndrome.

Heart Disease

Multiple studies in a number of different countries have concluded that the adoption of the Mediterranean diet lowers the incidence of heart disease in women (and men). Indeed, an analysis of the incidence of heart disease in the Mediterranean nations suggests that the use of the Mediterranean diet can lower the incidence of heart disease in women from twenty-five to forty percent.

Hypertension

Recent scientific studies have examined the rising incidence of hypertension amongst women. Many researchers attribute the increase in hypertension amongst women in recent years to a number of changes that have occurred in their lives, including:

-- a greater number of women entering the workforce

-- a growing number of women being forced to juggle the raising of children with a full time career

-- the food and beverage choices that women are making in the 21st century

Research studies in a dozen different countries over the course of the past twenty years have suggested that the Mediterranean diet is effective at lowering the incidence of hypertension in men and women. Because the Mediterranean diet is high if fruit, vegetables and whole grains and because the diet is low in saturated fats, most nutritionists and other experts believe that the dietary scheme works to lower hypertension in both men and women.

The Mediterranean diet combined with regular exercise has been demonstrated to have a marked effect on reducing the incidence of hypertension amongst middle aged women.

Breast Cancer

Perhaps the most important “ingredient” of the Mediterranean diet is olive oil. Save for fresh fruits and vegetables (in most instances) olive oil universally is present in the Mediterranean diet. As a result, on the surface, the diet scheme appears to be high in fat. Indeed, upwards to thirty percent of the caloric intake of the Mediterranean diet does come fat. What is important to keep in mind is that nearly 100% of the fat in the Mediterranean diet is unsaturated and comes directly from olive oil. In other words, the fat in the Mediterranean diet essentially is healthy. Olive oil, and the fat contained in the product, simply does not trigger the negative consequences that flow from saturated fats, from animal fats.

In addition, there have been several important scientific studies undertaken in the past decade that have demonstrated that a diet high in olive oil works to lower the risk of breast cancer in women. Thus, one of the beneficial results of adopting the Mediterranean diet is a lowering of the risk for breast cancer.

Site Owner & Publisher Ray Darken - You can gain much more detail from Ray's sites along with other relevant information at www.safe-and-easy-weightloss.com or www.weightloss-diet-health-vitamins.com

Article Source: eArticlesOnline.com

Lose 1.5 Pounds This Month With Zero Effort
by Tracie Johanson

Did you know that it's possible to lose 1.5 pounds this month and almost 20 pounds this year with absolutely zero effort? It's true! In this article we're going to reveal a weight loss 'trick' that will help you lose fat and will make a nice addition to your exercise program!

So exactly what is this fat loss trick? It's really quite easy to do, and the results are virtually guaranteed! The trick is to switch from regular soda to diet soda.

Now, don't get all excited about the thought of drinking diet soda! It's really not bad once you get used to it, and once you realize how much fat that regular soda is putting on your body you'll be more likely to make the change from regular to diet.

Consider that a 32 oz. Classic Coke has 310 calories. That's the average McDonald's serving size. (Source: mcdonalds.com)

The Super Big Gulp holds 44 oz. of soda, and how about the 7-Eleven X-treme Gulp? It has 52 oz. of calories! Talk about sugar overload! (Source: 7-eleven.com)

Enjoying the occasional soda doesn't make our waistlines expand. Just like most other things in life, it's the over-consumption that makes regular soda a belt-buster!

Back in 1942 the average soda consumption in the United States was sixty 12-ounce servings per year. By 1997, the average annual soda consumption in the United States was a whopping 576 12-ounce servings! That works out to almost two 12-ounce cans per day for every man, woman and child in the country. (Source: Center for Science In The Public Interest - cspinet.org)

That same year (1997), diet sodas accounted for only 24% of soda sales. While that was up from 8.6% in 1970, it's still too low a number.

So just how much fat can you lose by switching from regular to diet soda? Well, assuming you're an average American, that means you're drinking about 6,912 ounces of regular soda each year (576 12-ounce servings = 6,912 ounces). Each ounce of regular soda (we used Coca-Cola in this example) has about 9.6875 calories. So, by switching from regular soda to diet soda you can eliminate 66,960 calories per year.

Do you want to get really excited? Let's translate that calorie loss into fat loss: It's a fact that there are 3,500 calories in a pound of fat. If you eliminate 66,960 calories per year in regular soda then you will probably avoid putting on an extra 19.13 pounds of FAT (66,960 / 3,500 = 19.13). That's more than 1.5 pounds per month!

Of course, there are certainly some factors that come into play here other than simple soda consumption. But isn't that a great start? Just by switching from regular to diet soda you can literally eliminate almost 20 pounds per year!

Still don't want to give up your regular soda? Then how about switching to a smaller size? Did you know that in the 1950's the average soda serving was the 6.5 oz. bottle made popular by Coke? Compare that with the super-duper big mugs of today, and it's easy to see where some of the problem comes from! Opt for a smaller size soda, and you'll still reap some of the fat loss benefits.

Of course, the best solution is to dump the soda altogether and drink water instead.....but that's a topic for another article.....

Tracie Johanson is the founder of Pick Up The Pace, a 30-minute exercise studio for women focusing on fitness, health and nutrition for maximum weight loss. Please visit http://www.letspickupthepace.com/ for more information.

Article Source: eArticlesOnline.com

How To Avoid Holiday Weight Gain
by Monice Dulcinea

Holiday is just around the corner. How many pounds do you expect to gain this year? 5 pounds? Or 10 pounds? And how do you expect to lose these pounds after the holiday is over? I mean, really, 5 pounds is easy to gain but so hard to lose. Don't you think?

Here are 8 tips to help you stay in shape during the holiday season. Stick to these tips, and you'll be able to control your weight quite easily.

1. Have a plan - Holiday is your fat season unless you have a good plan. You've got to have a plan. So, plan ahead. Come up with smart strategies that will work for you well in advance. Don't wait till you gain those ugly pounds.

2. Be picky - Don't stuff yourself with every kind of food you see on the table. Just because it's there doesn't mean you have to eat it. Stay away from cheese and all things deep-fried. Eat a whole lot of salad, and go with light dressing.

3. Say no - Learn to say no to your family and friends. When they begin to serve dessert, tell them politely you're full. You're full, and you know it. Think twice before you say yes. Or better yet, just say no.

4. Eat small - You are what you eat. Eat like an ant, not an elephant. Use a small plate instead of a giant one. Eat only one serving not three. Don't exhaust your tummy.

5. Drink a lot of water - Drink a full glass of water before your meal. Drink at least three more between your meal. This way, you'll get full more easily. And when someone offers you soda or sweetened drinks, tell them you prefer water.

6. Burn it off - Walk when you can sit. Run when you can walk. If it's too cold to jog outside, keep moving in the house. Run up and down the stairs.

7. Jot down - Keep a journal. Write down what you've eaten, in detail. This way you'll see if you've eaten too much.

8. Dress for success - Choose to wear a nice outfit that's perfectly fit. Don't wear that one-size-bigger shirt with those old big comfy jeans of yours, or you'll end up binging.

Weight gain is easy. Weight loss is difficult. It's so much easier for you to control your weight during the holiday season. And you won't have to struggle to lose weight after the holiday is over.

Visit www.ShrinkStomachNaturally.com for more information about weight loss.

Article Source: eArticlesOnline.com

How Is Alcohol Affecting Your Weight?
by Meri Raffetto

So you’ve been exercising regularly, and cutting back on your calories to meet your weight loss goals. Everything is going great with your new changes but you notice the number on the scale isn’t moving much and your body isn’t changing shape as quickly as you’d hoped. There may be one more habit interfering with your weight loss efforts- -alcohol. Perhaps you enjoy a glass of wine with dinner, have a couple of beers while watching the big game, or even cocktails on a Saturday night with friends. All common practices but they may be getting in the way of your weight loss efforts.

Alcoholic beverages have been enjoyed throughout recorded history. For some, a drink with dinner may be relaxing. Others may enjoy the inhibitions that alcohol can create to “let loose” with friends. Many people drink for the health benefits. After-all, evidence shows that moderate drinking, especially red wine, may lower the risk of heart disease. No matter what your reasons are for drinking, alcohol can interfere with your weight loss goals.

Alcohol is a product of fermenting carbohydrates- both sugars and starches. This means it does provide calories. Specifically it provides 7 calories for every gram compared to 4 calories per gram of carbohydrates and protein, and 9 calories per gram of fat. Drinking 4 (12 ounce) beers will supply 600 calories. To burn those calories, a person would need to walk non-stop for 3 hours. Skipping the cab ride and walking home may be a strategy but for most of us a 3 hour walk is a bit daunting even when we are in good shape.

Although wine contains fewer calories than beer, this can also lead to extra calories. Having a glass of wine provides 100 calories, but this is dependent on the glass size. A serving size of wine is 5-ounces. The larger wine glasses hold about 10 ounces turning your one glass of wine into two glasses. To put this into perspective, drinking two glasses of wine each night with dinner will add an extra 200 calories each day. If these calories are not burned through exercise and daily activity it can lead to a 20 pound weight gain in a year.

Adding juice, creams, and sodas to cocktails will increase the calorie level beyond what the alcohol is already providing. Be careful of what you are drinking. In some cases, one drink provides more calories than an entire meal! Here are the drinks that top the scales for most calories-

Long Island Iced Tea: 780 calories

Margarita: 740 calories

Pina Colada: 644 calories

White Russian: 425 calories

Sex on the Beach: 356 calories

Mai Tai: 350 calories

Lemon Drop: 223 calories

Besides adding calories, alcohol may affect your weight for other reasons. Some evidence suggests drinking alcoholic beverages may stimulate your appetite and cause you to eat more than you normally would. It also decreases your inhibitions so you don’t care how much more you are eating. How many times have you enjoyed chips and salsa with your margaritas while out with friends? How many chips did you eat? Who knows- all you remember is the waiter bringing three or four refills of the chip bowl.

Another factor to take into account is that your body processes alcohol first, before fat, protein, or carbohydrates which may slow down the burning of fat. There is also evidence that drinking too much seems to increase fat carried in the stomach area- otherwise known as the beer belly. Studies show that people with a higher amount of fat in the abdominal region are at a greater risk of heart disease.

Ok, this is looking dreary but it doesn’t mean you can never enjoy alcohol again. It just means that it is time to take inventory to see how much you are drinking and pay attention to how many calories your favorite drinks supply. Learn how to enjoy alcohol in moderation so you don’t end up sabotaging your weight loss efforts.

© 2005, Meri Raffetto

Owner of Real Living Nutrition Services, Meri Raffetto is a recognized professional in the area of nutrition and wellness. She specializes in weight management and cardiovascular nutrition and offers online programs to help people reach their weight loss and health goals. For more information or to sign up for a free newsletter visit http://www.reallivingnutrition.com.

Article Source: eArticlesOnline.com

How To Get Throught The Holidays Without Gaining Weight
by Lee Dobbins

Most anyone who has been dieting and lost a few pound looks towards the holidays with mixed feelings. You want to show off your new figure in that holiday dress, but you dread the temptation of all that holiday food. Even the most dedicated of dieters can give into temptation over the holidays.

But you’ve worked hard during the year to lose that weight and you deserve a little bit of enjoyment. Since we all know how hard it is to take that weight off, the more you can minimize weight gain over the holidays, the better. Here’s some tips you can use to avoid weight gain during the holidays and still have a good time!

Watch What You Eat

Load up on high glycemic index foods. Foods that are high in fiber or water fill you up quickly and help keep you from overindulging on the "bad" stuff. Take an extra scoop of vegetables and fruit when filling your plate, and by the time you finish, you won't have room for the other foods which are higher in calories and more likely to cause you to gain weight.

Limit Your Portions

One way to be able to enjoy all those goodies without overeating is to limit the portions you take. Instead of reaching for that big dinner plate, grab a smaller dessert sized plate and fill to your hearts content. You’ll get the satisfactions of a plate piled high with great food, but you’ll eat much less. Another thing to do is to just take small portions, instead of loading up 3 spoonfuls of mashed potatoes stick to just one. You can always go back for more if you REALLY feel the urge.

Keep Your Distance From The Snack Table

The snack table is one of my favorites with the holiday cookies, party mix, nuts and the like. However, if you want to avoid mindless snacking then it’s best to just avoid that table all together. Take a seat on the other side of the room or keep yourself busy by helping the hostess if you find your self gravitating towards the snacks.

Don’t Forget To Exercise

During the holidays, it might not be bad idea to step up your exercise routine. Doubling up on your workouts can help combat any extra calories from all those holiday foods.

If the weather permits it, go out and take a quick walk around the house or block. If your celebration is taking place in a colder climate, you'll be more inspired to quicken your pace and burn a few extra calories in the process. If the weather is bad, do 10-20 squats, stretches, or other brief exercise each time you go to the restroom. You only want to do just enough to elevate your heart rate, but not break out into a sweat. Chances are, no one will know what you're doing, and you won't have to feel self-conscious about trying to maintain your figure.

Drink Lots Of Water

Drink a fair amount of water or other unsweetened beverage before each meal, as well as during and between them. The liquid in your stomach will help trick your mind into not feeling as hungry, which reduces the tendency to gorge yourself on potentially fattening foods.

Of course, you probably will eat more over the holidays but if you follow these tips you may be able to minimize the damage. If you do gain weight, though , don’t beat yourself up about it. Just get right back into your routine of healthy eating and regular exercise and you’ll be back to your pre-holiday weight in no time!

Lee Dobbins is the owner of http://www.lowcarb-resource.com where you can find more about low carb eating, the glycemic index and dieting.

Visit the article archives at http://www.lowcarb-resource.com/articles3.html

Article Source: eArticlesOnline.com

Weight Loss Issues-Can You Be Cellulite Free
by Marie K Gordon

One thing I really must say at the outset of this article is, that if you were to ask the majority of men to define cellulite they would most probably be completely baffled.

Then after you explained it to them in detail and told them that you suffered from it, more likely than not the reaction would be to look at you as if you were slightly mad, shrug their shoulders and say that they had actually never noticed it.

So one consolation I suppose, is that most men apparently just do not see it and do not know what all the fuss is about!

(They can be wonderful sometimes can't they!)

From a womans point of view however, cellulite is at best something which restricts what she can or cannot wear, or at worst in extreme cases something which can be downright unsightly.

If we are being brutally honest, dimples on our cheeks can be really cute, but dimples on our thighs and our buttocks most certainly are not.

It has been described as the dreaded "orange peel look" especially in relation to female thighs and buttocks.

Many women can literally spend absolute fortunes to try and find ways to eliminate it.

Having established that it is a big problem (for the majority of women at least), I find myself coming back to the question in my title - Is it possible to be totally free of cellulite!

In truth I think sadly that as things stand at themoment probably not, but there are many many steps that can be taken to minimise the unsightly look of cellulite, and my intention in this article is to outline just a few of them.

It does really help if we try and understand some of the main causes of cellulite, and what if anything we can effectively do to both reduce the unsightly appearance (in our eyes at least), and even to try and banish it completely.

We should remember that the primary cause of cellulite is weight gain, and if a woman does gain excess weight the layers of fat under the skin expand, but sadly not in a smooth uniform way.

We have the female hormone estrogen which promotes fat on the thighs and buttocks to thank for this.

When fat cells start to build up on the lower half of the female body, they are more likely to multiply and press against the skin. This process creates the bulged and dimpled look of the dreaded cellulite, and with very very few exceptions, it is completely a feminine problem.

Another important factor is that as we age our skin also tends to lose its tautness, particularly so if we do not take any forms of regular exercise.

So having now determined the main causes of cellulite,let us look in some detail at some of the choices available to us to try and minimize the effects of it.

The first choice is that you can learn to live with it!

Yes, I do actually mean that!

At the end of the day it is not going to detract from you as a woman, and there is no reason whatsoever why you cannot still be very attractive.

Do not let it become an obsession under any circumstances!

The second and for me personally, the most important choice available is to make a seriously determined and long term effort to lose those unnecessary extra pounds. I strongly recommend a low fat diet as the first and vital step to take if you are to succeed in fighting this battle.

Make it a top priority to become much more active!

Simple changes such as walking more frequently, taking up a sport that you really could enjoy(perhaps something you did in the past), or alternatively taking the time to join a few exercise classes, are just some examples.

Join those exercise classes which concentrate primarily on hips buttocks and thighs. This will greatly help in improving and toning up those areas affected by cellulite.

Your third choice is to try out some of the many creams that you can purchase. Use these with a deep massaging technique which will help improve the overall appearance of the cellulite areas.

The fourth and most drastic choice is liposuction which removes excess fat. Another such process is Endermologie, a mechanical massage that will smooth out the dimples.

These methods can be really expensive, so you will have to be prepared to dig deep for them.

Useful Quick Fix Tips To Disguise Cellulite.

Fake Tan - Apply the fake tan normally, but just before you are going to show your legs, rub a layer of hair serum (yes the stuff you use to stop frizz), along your shinbone. This makes the thinner area of your shinbone much more prominent, and will therefore help to disguise those parts which are less firm in appearance.

Wear The Right Shoes - Heels or wedges will make your legs appear much longer, but beware of ankle straps and flat shoes. They really do make your legs look considerably shorter and fatter.

Take a tip from the celebrities. They wear heels with trousers and jeans, and have them made so that the trousers end about an inch below the ankle. The effect of this is to make their legs look really long and slim.

Draw The Eyes Upwards - If you are wearing your jeans on a night out for example, by either wearing a bulky necklace, a glittery scarf, or maybe even a Wonderbra and a V Necked top (if you are feeling slightly daring), you will distract attention away from your thighs.

Wear dark colors as they make your bottom parts look much slimmer.

Try out a Fast Fix Treatment - Treat yourself by going to a beauty salon, and indulge in one of their cellulite instant fix procedures. These can be very expensive but they really do make your thighs look smoother and sleeker.

Unfortunately though, these procedures only last for a short length of time.

The majority of women would love to have thinner cellulite free thighs, but do please remember that it is your overall appearance which matters most.

If you look and feel attractive in yourself that will be the way that others will also see you.

Remember that the aim here is for improvement not perfection. Cellulite has been a femimine curse (as women see it), since the beginning of time. As yet no one has come up with either an instant or indeed permanent cure.

However until they do, and one day somebody just might, stay focussed on your overall health, take serious and meaningful steps to lose weight, and maintain a good exercise program.

That way you can at the very least keep the whole thing in perspective, and in so doing, maintain your self confidence and self esteem at a much higher level than it would otherwise have been.

Marie Gordon is Author and Publisher of "Your Fastest Way To Permanent Weight Loss" the complete solution to all your weight loss problems. You can find out more by visiting http://www.howtoloseitfast.com

Article Source: eArticlesOnline.com

Aromatherapy And Weight Loss
by Lorna Findlay

All of us will like to see ourselves well groomed and fit enough to look great and flaunt those athletic physiques among friends and relatives.

Unfortunately, it is not always possible for the most obvious reasons; we simply can not maintain our body weight. For some people the dilemma of being overweight starts first in the mind: It is all psychological and once the mind is healthy, the slimmer body will automatically follow. Mentally, aromatherapy can help you to fight stress and lift your mood.

The connection between smell and emotion are thought to be extremely close. Taking a deep breath of pleasant smells triggers positive reactions in the brain, resulting in a sense of wellbeing and goodness. We are all very unique. If oil works well for one person it doesn’t necessarily mean it will work the same for the next person. The way the oils are used could also make a difference; one person might benefit more by using the oils in the bath, rather than inhalation, massage or burning the oils.

The same theory holds good in case of human weight; more you feel good and hale, the more will be the care towards your physical well being. A regular aromatherapy session may help you achieve weight loss campaign, by increasing your sense of well-being and relaxation. However, aromatherapy cannot produce desired weight loss without you creating your own calorie deficit regime, either by eating a calorie-reduced weight loss diet, or by increasing calories burned through rigorous exercise, or more ideally by a combination of diet and exercise. Aromatherapy has proven to be very useful for this weight loss. This natural way of treating has no side effect at all as compared to other treatments.

Certain essential oils are very useful in weight loss trial, like Birch, Grapefruit, Juniper, Lemon, Orange, Tangerine, and Fennel. Massage is probably the best method and oils must be used with base oils like sweet almond, which makes oil less strong and easy to use. Applying oil to those places were fatty tissues are more, will really help to reduce the fat level and make your physique well shaped.

Essential oils used here are not only sweet smelling but have also the capacity to make your digestive system good, that in turn also helps in weight reduction. How ever, one must see that the oils used should be in moderate amount and mixed with carrier oil before using.

A calculated dosage, rigorous exercise-workout and a strict diet will go a long way in achieving a significant weight loss.

Find more great aromatherapy information at http://www.essentialaromatherapy.co.uk

Article Source: eArticlesOnline.com