October 22nd, 2008 — body image, cardiovascular, exercise, fats
Most of us have at least one spot on our bodies that we would like to change. Commonly referred to as “problem areas,” if you are serious about making a change, you’ve got to find a way to target that area. While full body exercise is vital, there are many benefits to spending a few extra minutes targeting your problem areas to get better results. Here are some great tips on how to easily turn those problem areas into your pride and joy.
Stomachs –
For many people this is a big problem. The prevalence of “six pack abs” in the media is difficult for many people to get around. To start targeting this area, it is important to reduce your fat intake and get more cardio exercise. While crunches will build up your muscles, if you are not first losing the fat that covers them you won’t be able to see the results of your effort. For women, it is also important to realize that it may not be physically possible to have a completely flat stomach. Just try your best and don’t let the media dictate how flat your stomach should be.
Arms –
This is actually a pretty easy area to target and since most people don’t have a lot of fat build up on their arms, you can see results pretty quickly. In addition to your regular cardio or aerobic routine, add in a little strength or resistance training. This can dramatically produce results in a few short weeks, especially if you keep with it. For women, strength training has many benefits, and contrary to popular belief, a little light training will not make you look like a body builder.
Hips and Thighs –
For many women this is a big problem area and while it is possible to reduce this area, it is important to realize that your frame and genetics may impact just how small you can get. Focus on getting toned first, and keep up with the cardio and other fat burning exercises. You will see results, and over time, this area will get smaller if you can stick with it.
Rear Ends –
By far, the best way to tone up a rear end are squats and lunges. However, you’ve also got to burn fat in order to see those results, much like with your stomach. Focus on adding a few squats to your regular exercise routine, but don’t ditch your cardio. You need to keep burning fat in order to get big results on your rear end. Stairmasters are also another great solution for firming up your rear, and simply taking the stairs at work can also have a big impact.
Remember, no matter how bad your problem area may be, you can’t let that physical real estate keep you from living your life. Focus on your good points and work towards getting fit. The rest will naturally fall into place if you keep with your lifestyle and exercise changes.
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July 31st, 2008 — exercise, healthy eating, motivation, trigger food, wellness
When you first start a diet, it's easy to get all excited about the amount of weight you're losing and how great you look. Unfortunately, most of us reach our goals and then go off of our diets. Within a few months, we may be back where we started, or in many cases, worse off. If you want to lose weight over the long term, you're going to have to make some total lifestyle changes that will ensure that you not only lose weight, but manage to keep it off for years to come. Here are some helpful tips to help you lose that weight and keep it off.
1. Identify your danger foods.
These are the foods that will consistently cause you to go off your diet. The foods that you simply cannot eat one of. In essence, these foods hold a sort of control over you and their siren call is simply too much to resist once you take that first bite. You're going to need to figure out what your danger foods are and then you're going to have to completely remove them from your life. This isn't easy and there may be times when you slip. However, if you can successfully stop eating these target foods, you're going to see a huge difference in your weight loss. You may never be able to eat them again, but then again, what is really more important? A few minutes of food bliss or a lifetime of looking great?
2. Start making healthy substitutions.
You don't have to eat like a rabbit for the rest of your life to lose weight, but you do need to start making healthy substitutions to keep your weight off over the long term. This may take some time since your palate is probably used to the food's you like. However, food substitution doesn't have to be painful. For example, if you can't live without pizza, try it without cheese or use a cheese substitute. It will take a little getting used to, but over time, you'll develop a taste for that food and you'll find that those old favorites are pretty disgusting if you try to go back to them.
3. Make an exercise plan that you can stick with.
The key to healthy weight loss and a healthy lifestyle is getting plenty of exercise. Don't pick something that you can't stand, it will be all too easy to give up. Even if it is something as simple as walking a few miles every day, you need to get out there and get active. The longer you do, the easier it will be to keep going. You won't need to exercise at the same level for the rest of your life, but you will need to get active if you want to stay slim and healthy.
Lifestyle changes do take time and it won't happen overnight. However, these tips will help get you on the road to health and you'll be able to enjoy the process once you get there.
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June 25th, 2008 — calories, diet, healthy eating, snacking
One of the major reasons that people have difficulty keeping on their diets is the urge to snack. For many of us, it's hard to get through the day without having at least one snack. However, that one snack can easily turn into ten and before you know it you're grazing all day long, adding useless calories to your daily intake. While snacking can be important, you're going to need to be smart about it to make sure that you can stick to your diet.
When we need a little snack fix, most of us reach for a bag of chips or a candy bar. It's a quick fix and provides you with that burst of sugar that will make you feel pretty good right away, but not so good later on. The key to snacking without ruining your diet is picking the right kind of snacks. It may take a little while at first to get used to eating healthier snacks, but before long, you'll be able to prefer it.
Start by figuring out how many calories you want to eat per day. Add up your three main meals and then figure out how many calories you have left over. This can be used as a guide to help you pick the snacks that will keep you on your diet. You'll also need to figure out the times when you are most likely to snack and target some changes in your regular meals to help you get through the day.
A great snack will contain enough protein to give you the energy you need to make it to your next meal without feeling deprived. Over the long term it is much more effective than carbs at keeping your body fueled right. For example, instead of that can of soda and a serving of chips, which can equal more than 300 calories, have one serving of low fat cottage cheese. This contains only about 80 calories and can actually be quite satisfying. Nuts, nuts, nuts... Almonds are particularly good for you, but almost any kind of nut is a great source of energy and in appropriate amounts nuts will fit into any diet. (5 almounds is equal to 1 protien serving on my diet. I get 14 protien a day.) Even a small block of cheese, a serving of tuna or some other small treat can be a great low calorie high protein alternative. A really great healthy snack that I just picked up at the local Costco (seriously tastes great) is dry roasted and lightly salted edamame aka soybean. 70% Less fat and 40% more protein than peanuts... one serving is 14 grams of soy protein and 2 net carbs.
Figure out what kind of protein snacks you like to eat. If you are one that absolutely needs to feed your sweet tooth, look for special protein bars that are low in calories and carbs while high in protein. These can provide a great boost of energy and keep you balanced all day.
Earlier, we mentioned that it is also important to figure out what times of the day you are most likely to snack. This is usually a sign that you are not eating a balanced enough meal before hand. For example, if you have a lot of carbs for breakfast, that sugar is going to wear off well before lunch, leaving you feeling hungry. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but is should contain enough protein to give you the fuel you need to make it to lunch.
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