Thursday, August 21, 2008

Are You Starving yourself to Lose Weight?

Many people are trying to loose weight and most want to loose the weight very quickly so they will try just about anything. In fact, logic leads many to believe that if eating too much will cause a fat build up in your body then not eating will cause your body to loose the fat. Unfortunately for those that think this way or bodies do not work like that. Starving your self can actually make you gain more weight than you will lose.

If you decide that you want to use a starvation diet as a weapon against your body fat your body does what it is suppose to and reduces your basal metabolic rate. When your BMR is reduced that your body is taking in fewer calories but is actually gaining fat. You body is an amazing thing and when it senses that there could be tough days ahead it will store the fat to be used for energy on the harder days. So instead of loosing weight like you want you will gain more weight.

Additionally, if you are not careful and take all the nutrients and minerals that your body needs you can put your body at a serious health risk. So instead using a punishment such as starving, to loose the weight you want at lightening speed you should try other methods. Think of it this weight, you did not put on all that weight in a week or two, it took a while for it to all accumulate. Therefore, you cannot expect to lose all the weight in a week or two. In other words, starving is not the answer.

In order to loose weight you need to boost your metabolism instead of lowering it. If you have a slow metabolism you will feel sluggish but by having a faster metabolism it turns the food you eat into energy that you can use all day. This means that all those calories that are not being used for energy are being stored as fat, which is what makes you gain the weight. So by making your metabolism work faster by eating five to six small meals a day instead of three to four large meals. This will keep your metabolism moving and working like it should.

Did you know that there are some fats that will actually help you lose weight? Conjugated Linoleic Acid is a fat that can help you loose weight, it is found in safflower oils, you can take one or two grams with a meal everyday. You also need to eat an opulent breakfast with lots of fruits and whole grains and of course try to avoid anything fatty or processed. Having a good breakfast will make your body feel full and it will cut out the cravings you may have that could keep you from sticking to a diet.

Basically what you should be getting from this article is that there are alternative ways of loosing weight and you should never starve yourself no matter how bad you need or want to loose that extra weight. You may loose a little weight at first when you are on a starvation diet but then your body will start to store the fat and you will gain weight. Additionally, you do not want to end up being very sick and that's what can happen when you starve yourself.

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Do You Really Want a Flat Stomach? - Follow These Flat Belly Diet Tips

We all want to be able to have a flat stomach. Once summer comes around, everyone is out on the beach or at the pool wearing their bathing suits. Both men and women are sporting their flat tummies. You have probably dreamed of having a flat stomach, but you think that it would take too much work to actually achieve it. If you are serious about slowly having a flat stomach, there are a few things you can do to get you started.

One of the best things you can do is drink more water. The first ingredient of this flat belly diet is water. You have probably had friends and family urge you to drink a lot of water each day, but do you drink enough? Are you consuming water consistently each day? If you want to have a flat stomach, you have to get into the habit of drinking at least eight glasses of water each and every day. From this day forward, water should be the liquid you are consuming the most. Don’t quit drinking eight glasses after a couple of weeks, do it for years, if not longer. Water can only help not harm you!

The second ingredient of the flat stomach diet is fiber. You have probably heard hundreds of myths about fiber. However, science has been able to prove that it is very helpful when it comes to losing weight. Fiber is able to help your digestive system work how it should. This will help you lose your extra belly weight fast. After eating more fiber, you will probably notice results in just a few days. Fiber is just another step towards your flat stomach.

The third ingredient is a probiotic formula. This is a definite must. With water and fiber, you are on the perfect path to losing belly weight and building a flat stomach. Your digestive system will be working much more and much better. This means that your metabolism will be working more, which also helps to burn away all of the extra fat you have built up. Starting off your day with fiber and probiotic diaries is the best thing you can do for your body.

These are the basic three things you can eat and drink in order to help you achieve a flat stomach. While we are probably adding things to your diet, there are also things that we have to take away. Many people love eating junk food, but junk food only makes it that much harder to getting that flat stomach. You don’t have to stop eating these foods, but it is best that you reduce how many of them you eat daily. You should cut back on trans fats, junk food, processed foods, beer, sodas, white flour, and foods that contain a lot of sugar.

Lastly, after all of this, you have to exercise. If you are looking for results to come even faster, exercise is the key. You don’t have to strenuously work out for hours each day. A simple 30 minute work out will help you achieve the flat stomach you’ve been wanting. Any type of physical activity will work. Just make sure that you are doing something!

Though this flat belly diet may be a new experience, you are sure to have the best stomach you have ever had in your life. Follow the diet and you will have results.

Quickest and Healthiest Ways to Lose Weight

Are you looking to lose weight fast? Are you tired of trying fad diets and getting nowhere? Often in life we find ourselves facing the dilemma of having to look good in a limited amount of time. It could be that you have been surprised with a last minute holiday or perhaps you have a wedding coming up and you really want to slim down to get into your perfect dress? Whatever the reason, so many people do struggle to lose weight quickly. So many fad diets claim to be able to help you to lose weight fast but unfortunately most of them tend to let you down. However, there is another way!

By taking part in aerobic and cardio exercise, it is possible to lose weight in as little as 10 days and it is much healthier for your body than taking part in a fad diet!

How Aerobic and Cardio Exercise Helps

If you are overweight and you want to get slim quickly then there really is no better way than taking part in cardio exercise. The main reason it works so well is because it gets the heart racing and it helps you to burn off fat a lot quicker than any other type of exercise.

Cardio and aerobic exercise can comprise of the following activities:
• Running
• Tennis
• Swimming
• Kickboxing

All of the above are excellent for losing weight and what you need to remember is that high intensity workouts will give you the fastest results. You can choose from either low intensity aerobic exercise such as walking, or you can choose high intensity workouts which will give better results such as running.

In order to find the right exercise to suit you, it is important that you experiment. Try a number of different activities and perhaps take part in a couple of different activities a week. For example, perhaps you could join an aerobics class on a Wednesday and take part in swimming on a Friday and running on Saturday? By doing high intensity workouts at least three times per week you should really see excellent results. Obviously if you do only have 10 days then you should try and do as much exercise as possible, though you should never overdo it. It would be worthwhile checking with a doctor to see how much exercise you can safely do.

Another secret to losing weight fast is to find an activity that you enjoy. High intensity workouts can be really hard going and so if you do not enjoy it you could easily give up and not put as much effort in as you should. By doing something that you like, you won’t notice how hard you are working out because you will be enjoying yourself too much. Dancing is a common interest that many women like and so it may be worth looking into dance classes.

If you are looking to lose weight quickly then high intensity cardio workouts are definitely recommended. They will give you the fastest results and the healthiest results too!

Lethal link between obesity and fast foods

We are a nation of addicts and our addiction is spreading worldwide. No, it is not tobacco or even alcohol abuse that is so prevalent. It is our addiction to fast food that is killing us. Americans consume thousands of pounds of greasy cheeseburgers every day. Not to mention the fries and drink. The total calories for this basic no frills fare from Ronnies steak house is a whopping 1200! Add just one vanilla triple thick shake to the tune of 1110 calories and you are at your daily limit.

There is no escaping the onslaught, every small town in the nation has at least on fast food restaurant. Many have more than that, in my town of less than 25,000 people we have McDonald's, Hardees, Arbys, Taco Bell, Quiznos, Dairy Queen, Burger King 3 Sonics, 2 Subways and more pizza joints than I can count. With this type of saturation, is it any wonder that fast food obesity is the fastest rising health threat?

Anyone who had seen the documentary Super Size Me has been shocked at by not only the link between fast food and obesity causes but also the other health risks the show brought to light. We knew that the food probably was not good for us but even the physicians involved in this experiment never dreamed that a person could exhibit liver damage from fast food. If you have not seen the film, Morgan Spurlock ate only Mcdonalds for 30 days in the documentary.

Clearly, our love affair with the cheeseburger has gone on long enough but is there truly a link between the fast food and obesity causes?

Since fast food began in 1960’s America has steadily gotten heavier. Today 60% of us are overweight and a full 25% are obese. Alarmingly it seems our children are not escaping the trap either. Today there has been a 40% rise in type II diabetes in children, a disease that was once known as adult onset because it did not strike until around age 50. In addition, let’s not be misled obesity causes type II diabetes.

Nevertheless maybe these are all just strange coincidences. Let us look at the Mcdonald's happy meal although the calories are not given for the meal on their menu we can take the individual parts and add it our self.
Cheesburger-300
Small Fry- 230
Small Coke – 110 (we all know they are not drinking juice)
That totals 690 calories or nearly half the recommended daily allowance! Keep in mind this is just the basic no frills small meal, get them the big kid’s meal or a regular big mac meal and the totals jump even higher. If you think that is bad check out the calorie count for the double whopper, 920 calories, and that is just the burger no cheese! Maybe it is not such a coincidence after all. There is strong evidence that fast food is an obesity cause.

So exactly what is the big deal? What if a few people and their children get fast food obesity? This is a free country we should be able to do what we like right. Maybe so however we need to be informed on what impact this will have on our health. People who are fast food obese have a great health risk. The diseases associated with obesity include type II diabetes, high blood pressure, coronary artery disease and stroke. Any one of these diseases can be at best debilitating and at worst deadly. The danger increases with amount of weight and age as well as other bad habits such as smoking or alcohol use. America’s obesity causes are a problem we desperately need to solve; it is a ticking time bomb. Just imagine if over half the people in the country were disabled. That leaves 40% of the nation working and trying to cover disability payments and health care. That is a serious risk to our nation but more than that, we have a population at risk of dying far too young all because of fast food obesity.