Thursday, September 30, 2010

Weight loss tips from the celebrity world

Want to have just like body of your celebrity icon? Aren’t you wondering how they were able to retain just lean and so good looking body? Certainly when we talk about weight loss, it’s essentially an inflexible thing to do and to accomplish especially if you don’t discipline yourself and not genuine enough in performing it.

There are a lot of diet programs, exercises or medications that you have to sustain in order for you to have the most gorgeous and in shape body in the world. Though it may be exaggeratedly express but its true! Everybody wants to have the right contour and perfect figure just like those celebrities that we’re watching in our televisions. But you must put an effort on it and follow what is only hale and hearty.

Everybody likes to attain Madonna’s figure or Jennifer Lopez and Angelina Jolie body? Maybe you want to turn out to be like Jessica Alba or Jessica Simpson? This can be possible, that is if you’re going to follow their weight loss tips earnestly and with control, without this, what your doing will become ineffective.

What keeps Madonna in shape from head to toe is her routine exercise which is called Ashtanga Yoga. This is a light on meditation but serious on developing vigor and endurance. In her exercise, she uses series of poses that involves weaving in a mixture of standing, seated, backbends, inversions, balancing, and twisting poses into sun greeting poses that includes a standing forward bend, upward dog, downward dog, and other poses. She’s also strict in her diet and hardly handles junk food. She’s using the macrobiotic diet which is based on the old practice centuries ago; this is done by listening to the inner breadth when you eat.

The secret of Angelina Jolie’s curve body is her strong desire in having a healthy way of living; she formulated a meal which is a combination of steamed sea or steamed beef and vegetables together with soy milk and implementing a sugar-free diet, but above all she firmly said that there should be no smoking or drinking substances that could damage your body. According to Jennifer Lopez, if you want to lose weight just cut carbohydrates in your diet. She also added that you must watch the food that you’re taking in specially the quantity, it’s better to be in moderation and always follow a healthy lifestyle meaning to say no vices at all just like Angelina Jolie. This will keep your body fit, healthy and always in shape.

Another celebrity Jessica Alba shared her tips. According to her, what makes her well is that, everyday she’s spending time for her workout for about 45 minutes to an hour. She is spending 10-15 minutes doing treadmills or elliptical machine. Then she does 50 lunges and crunches. For Jessica Simpson, she also spend two hours in her workout doing squats and lunges and ate everything but with moderation.

All the weight loss tips said by our celebrities are indeed effective and actually had work for them. It can also be effective in us provided that you wisely choose what could be the best and effectual weight loss program for you so that you will not comprise your health in your longing to attain such body.


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Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Weight loss diet tips for men and women of all ages

“I’m on a diet!” This is what we usually hear from people who want to lose weight. But what diet is effective in losing weight? Starvation diet is definitely a No! No! Our body needs food to produce energy so we can do our daily activities. The nutrients we get from food including fats and carbohydrates are important in maintaining the physiologic function of the body. However, these nutrients become bad for the body when they are taken in excess. The nutrients, if not converted to energy are stored in the body as fat deposits, thus the appearance of the undesirable belly fat and love handles. A balanced diet comprising all these nutrients as well as protein, vitamins and minerals, and calcium should be supplied to the body through the food we eat. This article shares some weight loss diet tips for men and women of all ages

The role of fat in a weight loss diet

Fats are an essential food nutrient because they provide twice the amount of energy than carbohydrates and proteins, and they help in protecting body organs and tissues and maintaining the body temperature.

Fats= 9 calories

Carbohydrates= 4 calories

Protein= 4 calories

CAUTION: Too much fat can be very harmful to the body. Excess fat do not only form the bulges on your body but it could also clog the arteries of the heart causing myocardial infarction or heart attack.

What is a low-fat diet?

Low- Fat diet has been promoted by the US Department of Health since the late 1970’s. But what does low- fat diet really mean?

Basically, there are three types of fat: The Saturated fat which is the Bad fat because it increases the blood cholesterol level, The Polyunsaturated fat that decreases the blood cholesterol level, and the Monounsaturated fat which decreases the Low- density Lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol or the “bad cholesterol”.

Low- fat diet means: decreasing the consumption of food that contains saturated fat while increasing the consumption of food that contains polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fat. Food like most meat and dairy products, butter, and tropical oils such as coconut oil and palm oil should be avoided as they are high in saturated fat. Polyunsaturated fat are usually found in plant food sources such as corn, soybean, safflower, and sunflower. Food sources for Monounsaturated fat includes olive oil, peanut oil, canola oil, and some fruits like avocado.

Carbohydrates are bad or good?

Carbohydrates provides real-time energy in the body and should account for 50- 60% of the total calories we take in everyday. However, with sedentary lifestyle, the calories you get from carbohydrates that are supposed to be converted to real-time energy are stored as fat deposits, thus you gain weight.

Low –carb diets are among the most popular weight loss diets. There are many variations like:

The Anabolic Diet which alternates low carb and periods of high carb eating

Carbohydrate addicts which serves 2 meals with no carbs and 1 meal of 1/3 carb a day

Ketogenic Diet which eliminates carbohydrate completely and compensates the caloric need with high fat and moderate protein intake.

But as per definition, having less than 50-60% of carb ratio in a serving is low carb diet. If your goal is to maintain your current weight, do take in moderate carb which is about 40-50% carb in your diet. And if you want to lose weight, you may go with low- carb diet which contains 25-39% carb. Lower than this is not really recommended as it could cause conditions like ketosis, presence of ketone bodies in the blood. Very high ketone level can make the blood acidic and may damage organs like the liver and the kidneys.

Some weight loss diet tips that can help eat healthier are:

Instead of eating ice cream, have a low fat yogurt or sherbet.Use skim milk (fat- free milk) instead of whole milk.Instead of eating pasta alfredo (white sauce pasta) eat pasta marinara (red sauce pasta).You may substitute bacon with lean ham.Since the American Heart Association recommends avoiding coconut oil because it contains 85- 90% saturated fat, use olive oil or canola oil when cooking food.Chocoholics may eat dark chocolate which is rich in anti-oxidant rather than a milk chocolate.Use beef loin instead of brisketInstead of white bread eat whole grain bread such as wheat breadSnack on Peaches (61 calories/pc.), blackberries (62 calories/serving), and carrot sticks (52 calories/cup) instead of fried chips.

Being overweight or obese doesn’t only place a person at risk from developing diseases like diabetes, respiratory diseases, cancer, osteoarthritis and cardiovascular diseases but it could also affect one’s emotional and social life. People who are overweight and obese could suffer from low self-esteem, depression, and impaired body image. Because of this, more and more people are being conscious of their weight. Losing weight is a tough challenge; you must be really committed as lifestyle changes should be made.


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Sunday, September 26, 2010

Which are the best weight loss foods?

The calories we get from the food we eat are very important because it acts as a fuel to keep our body working. The excess calories that we take in are converted into fat deposits or “reserved energy”. The fat deposits can be burned by doing regular workouts, sports, and any other activities that require energy.  However, because people are so busy with their job, family, and any other things as well as the preference of staying at home to relax during weekends, the excess fats are left unburned and accumulated overtime causing the person to gain weight. Every 3,500 excess calories that we put inside our body allows us to gain one pound, and every 3,500 calories we burn shed off a pound. Since it is easier to control the amount of calories we put inside the body than doing intensive workouts to burn it off, this article aims to provide information on which are the best foods for weight loss.

There are a lot of diet programs available today; high protein diet, low calorie diet, low-fat diet, no-fat diet, low-carb diet, no-carb diet, water therapy diet, and even starvation diet. These diets could probably help you lose weight, however losing weight does not necessarily equal to being healthy. So, health professionals certainly agree on one diet, and that is eating a balanced diet. A balanced diet is composed of a daily meal that contains the recommended amount of carbohydrates, protein, fats, calcium, and vitamins and minerals. If you want to lose weight, the adjustment happens on the amount of calories you take in everyday; eat low-calorie foods from all the food groups daily. You have to remember though that you should not go below more than 10%-20% from your daily recommended calorie requirement because your body needs energy to perform its physiologic functions like the blood circulation, respiration, and pumping of the heart.

Carbohydrates from whole grains are important energy source; the less processed they are, the more nutrients and fiber they contain. Nutritionists recommend eating 6-11 servings from this food group per day. For example:

Food   per 100 grams or 3.5 oz

Protein plays a major part in the building and repairing muscles. Lean muscles help in metabolism, thus resulting to faster weight loss. It is recommended to eat 2-3 servings of protein each day.

Calories per 100 grams or 3.5 oz

It is recommended to eat 2-4 fruit servings and 2-5 vegetable servings per day. The nutrients we get from this food group like fiber help in cleansing the body. Other nutrients like Vitamin C, Iron, and Folic Acid helps in making our body strong and healthy.

Calories per 100 grams or 3.5 oz

Try to have 2-3 servings of dairy products daily because it provides us with stronger bones and healthier teeth, thus helps in preventing osteoporosis and bone breakage when doing workouts or sports.

Calories per 100 grams or 3.5 oz

Eat fats in moderation as this contains very high calories. It is recommended to use low fat alternatives like non-stick cooking spray when cooking food. Avoid foods that are high in saturated fat as they raise the bad cholesterol level; instead eat fats that are high in monounsaturated which lowers the bad cholesterol.

Use the above as a guide in planning your daily meal. It is highly recommended to plan your meal a night or a week before so you can calculate the amount of calories you will take in ahead of time thus avoiding over consumption of calories. You may use free online food calculators in case the food you are planning to eat is not listed here. With commitment and discipline, you will achieve the lean and healthy body you always wanted in no time.


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Thursday, September 23, 2010

The Most Effective Way For Women To Burn Body Fat

Most women at some point want to lose weight in their lives. If you fall in to this category right now, then you’ve made up your mind that you need to eat a little healthier, and you need to exercise a little more.

Exercise is so broad though… what is your game plan? To walk, run, take an aerobics class? All of these are, of course, workouts but are they enough to help you lose your body fat?

Unfortunately for most women, the answer is no.

The best exercise to burn body fat and keep your body trim and tight is all in weight training. Don’t let this be intimidating… women are completely different than men in our composition so you don’t have to worry about bulking up.

In fact, weight lifting not only helps you lose fat during a workout by burning calories but your body works hard to recover afterwards by keeping your metabolism raised for up to 48 hours afterwards! Running and aerobic based workouts can’t claim this.

It gets better, for each pound of lean, sexy muscle you have your body will burn an extra 50 calories (roughly) daily, even if you’re sitting on the couch watching Dancing With The Stars. That is because it takes energy to keep muscle happy, it needs fuel and protein to keep it happy!

Another great thing about lifting weights is that it’s never boring. The number one reason a woman quits her workout regiment isn’t because she’s not getting results, it’s because she loses motivation. Stay motivated with weight training by changing up your exercises regularly, learning new moves, and watching your strength and confidence increase from workout to workout.

If you have never picked up a dumbbell before don’t let that stop you. There are several options, of course you can ask a personal trainer at your gym for a tour and sign up for a few sessions or for a fraction of the price you can look into online personal training which is growing in popularity due to the great price.

No matter what you want to do, remember if what you’re doing now isn’t working don’t you think it’s worth giving it a go?

All weights aren’t created equal though. Just like you don’t burn as many calories walking as you do running, you get different results from different weight training techniques.

Sure those weight machines span the floors of most gyms but these are small, isolated moves that create little calorie burn and little muscle toning. The best results come from total body workouts, and to get that from these machines you would have to spend a long time on all the machines available.

That is why free weights are great. Not only can you work several big muscles at once, you can great large range of motion moves that will blast more body fat and give you better results faster.

If you’re ready to give it a go, here are a few of my favorite exercises:
Dumbbell squats
Split squats
Bench press
Curl to press
Single arm dumbbell clean and presses

These are just a few examples but all of them work several big muscles and will have you out of breath by the end of your set. Which takes us to the next question… how many sets and reps should you be doing?

For fat burning results aim to do 2-3 sets of 13-15 reps. Use a weight that is challenging enough that you can’t go past 15 if you wanted. And that should get you great results!

Good luck!

If you enjoyed reading this post then follow this link to read 12 more great weight loss tips for women

Taylor Ryan is the “women’s trainer”, her love of women’s health and fitness has helped many women stay motivated and get great results with their bodies. Find out more at her women’s fitness blog.


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