Burning Calories....Shedding Inches and Pounds

If I've said it a thousand times I'll say it again....Avoid “fad” diets! They don't help, in fact you will probably put all the weight back on plus additional weight.  If you don’t believe me, ask your doctor about these: negative calorie diets, extremely low calorie diets, low carb diets, and any other type of “fad” diet that is unbalanced and so unhealthy.

Changing your diet should be a matter of wanting and choosing a healthier life style. Do research on foods and what they have in them, or have a sister like I do who is a molecular biologist. Every time I used to put something in my mouth she would say to me "Michele, do you want to know what that stuff is made of?"...then she would proceed to make a face and roll her eyes funny. It made me wonder what really was in the crap I was eating? I honestly had no idea. My suggestion....Learn all you can about different foods and nutrition. The more you know the easier it is to implement healthy nutrition in your diet.

Pretty much anything you do will help you burn calories. This includes walking up and down your own stairs, vacuuming the floors, running errands to the store or moderate play with your pet. Most of us want to know to burn the calories more efficiently, and how to burn more calories overall.

It’s important to reiterate that we burn calories at virtually all times, and you can choose other activities to increase calorie burn. Increasing the amount of time you walk anywhere will help you burn more calories. For instance, taking the stairs at work instead of the elevator will be a better method for using up calories. Parking  a distance from stores or your office  gives you another chance to burn some more calories.

Here are 20 easy tips to help you begin to curve the appetite, cut calories, and burn fat! You'll feel better and your body will thank you!

1.

Substitute fruit purees for butter or margarine. They are easy to prepare in a food processor and will significantly reduce calories and fat.

2.

Cheese is good for you, but the fat is not. Try this: Zap cheese in the microwave and drain off grease.

3.

Exercising before you eat just makes you hungrier. Exercise AFTER eating when the body has to work harder to digest food.

4.

Don’t eat while watching television. You can become so engrossed in your program that don’t realize how much you are eating...or if you do, like I do, use the thigh master. It works I have dropped 6 inches from my waist and thighs in  2 weeks.

5.

Too many people skip breakfast. Eat in the morning when the body burns more calories. I never did this before and once I started I was able to eat more and burn the calories just the same as if I didn't eat, plus, your body needs energy and without it and a lot of fluids you'll dehydrate and your metabolism will get all out of whack!

6.

Water mixed with fructose suppresses appetite better than glucose with water or diet drinks. Drink a glass of orange juice one half to one hour before a meal.

7.

Avoid trans fatty acids. Use olive, corn or canola oil when cooking.

8.

Switch from whole to skim milk. All the nutrients are there without the fat. Okay, at least cut back to low fat!

9.

Limit yourself to just four egg yolks a week.

10.

Trim all fat from meats before cooking. You’ll be amazed at how much you reduce your fat intake if you take this one small step.

11.

Eliminate fried foods. Do we need to say why? Hello fatty thighs and buttocks!

12.

Cream sauces like alfredo and hollandaise are loaded with fat. Use tomato based sauces instead of cream. If you have to have the creamy sauces, limit your intake!

13.

Use lemon juice or low sodium soy sauce for flavor. BACKOFF the SALT! Sooooo bad for you and your sodium level will go through the roof!

14.

Don’t skip meals. When you do, you eat more at your next meal and usually eat the wrong foods.

15.

Read labels – Don't you want to know what your putting into your mouth? This means check fat, sugar and carb content.

16.

Stop buying on impulse. NEVER EVER EVER shop for groceries without a list!

17.

Avoid shopping when you are hungry – eat first! This is where 58% of the unwanted calories come from.

18.

Shop for groceries once a week and only buy from your prepared list. Not only will you keep your waistline trim, but your wallet too!

19.

Head directly to the fruit and vegetable aisles when you enter the grocery store. Fill up your basket in these aisles and you’ll be less likely to buy binge food.

20.

If you have a local “farmers market” where you can buy your fruits and veggies off the truck, by all means do so. They’ll be fresher and tastier. I loveeee fresh veggies....and farmers markets are the best!

Blast Away That Belly Fat!

Some people never have this problem, but so many have tummies that they would love to get rid of. Now you can have the awesome, flat and lean stomach you've always wanted! It's not that difficult, you just need to want to work for it. Make these nutrition, exercise, and posture tips part of your daily life and you'll blast away your belly fat.

Eating for a Flat Stomach:

1. Maintain a healthy body weight. If you're already above your ideal weight, you'll need to burn more calories than you consume to lose those excess pounds. It's great to tone your stomach muscles, but they'll remain hidden until you shed any fat that covers them.

2. Get plenty of fiber. A diet high in fiber will help prevent bloating. Whole wheat and other grains also help you feel fuller faster, and most vegetables are low in calories.

3. Cut down on sodium. Many people eat twice as much sodium as health experts recommend. Too much salt can lead to high blood pressure as well as major bloating. The biggest culprit is processed food, so read those nutrition labels and prepare your own dishes from fresh ingredients. Drinking plenty of water also helps to lower your sodium levels.

4. Eat smaller meals. If lavish dinners make your belly bulge, try switching to smaller and more frequent meals. Eat 5 to 6 times a day every 3-4 hours. You'll be less likely to get hungry and overindulge. This is so much better for you too! Keeps your metabolism charged!

5. See your doctor. If you're losing weight but failing to see any change in your waistline, talk with your doctor. There are tests that can detect if you have food allergies. You may need to avoid certain foods or take enzyme drops or tablets for lactose intolerance.

Exercising for a Tighter Tummy:

1. Understand the myth of spot reduction. Your body gains weight all over and loses it the same way. Forget about the miracle gadgets advertised on television that promise instant results. Save your money and devote your energy to more sensible eating and regular exercise.

2. Do aerobics daily. Aerobic exercise is the best way to burn more calories. Take a daily walk or run. Go swimming or skating. Aim for about 30 minutes of activity a day. Supplement that with lifestyle changes like using the stairs instead of the elevator.

3. Strengthen your upper body muscles. Building strong muscles in your shoulders, chest, and back will improve your posture and keep your abdomen from sticking out. Do some weight training or Pilates a few times each week. I happen to love Yoga Booty Ballet myself.

4. Tone your stomach muscles. Spot exercises are effective in combination with aerobics and strength training. Crunches and leg lifts tighten and tone your stomach muscles.

5. Have fun. Make your exercise routine enjoyable so you'll want to stick with it. Design a variety of activities. Reward yourself when you make progress towards a slimmer waistline.

Improving Your Posture:

1. Tuck your tummy in. Imagine that you're pressing your navel back against your spine. Even if it feels a little awkward at first, it will quickly become a habit with regular practice. The results are fast. Your abdomen will look flatter. You'll breathe more deeply and feel more energetic. Even your clothes will look better.

2. Pull your shoulders back. Letting your shoulders drop back and relax helps to raise your chest up. This way, all of your core muscles support your weight instead of making just your abdomen carry the load.

3. Keep your body in alignment. Whether sitting or standing, try to position your ears, shoulders and hips in one vertical line. Balance your weight evenly over the balls and heels of your feet while walking or standing. Switch positions occasionally when sitting or standing for a long time.

A flat stomach can work wonders on your health and appearance. Eat right, exercise, and stand up straight. You'll love your new look.

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Shape Up...Lose the Pounds and Get Healthy!

We all say that at the first of the year we are going to lose the fat...but do we really? Nope. Then comes spring which leads to summer and beaches and bathing suits. Now we can't hide the bumps and bulges...so what are we to do? Sweetheart, it's time to stop eating junk, reduce the carbs, and lose the breads, Go to the market and buy veggies and fruits. You also need to exercise! Are you looking for that "jump start" to rev your metabolism and get you bathing suit ready? The following eight tips will improve your workouts and ignite your metabolism. If you wish to get rid of that junk in the trunk, you need to take care of yourself and take the proper measures to do it the healthy way.



1. The majority of your workouts should be composed of free-weights.
Compared to machines, free-weight and cable movements often require more skill, create muscular balance, and have a greater metabolic cost. For example, it is more difficult to balance the weights, and to coordinate muscles when performing free-weight exercises. Although this may sound like a disadvantage, it is actually a benefit. By balancing and stabilizing free-weights or cables you are working more muscles through a greater range of motion resulting in more muscles developed and more calories burned.


2. Use mostly compound (multi-joint and multi-muscle) exercises.
When focusing on improving body composition, you can't worry about "detail" exercises, so you should use exercises that'll get you the biggest bang for your buck. Isolation exercises can be used at the end of a workout to work on a specific weakness, but only do the bare minimum.
Virtually every savvy fitness professional is privy to the fact that compound exercises recruit the most muscle groups for any given body part.


If you seek lean muscle and the increase in metabolism that comes with it, you must choose exercises that allow for the greatest load. One of the main reasons why squats are superior to leg extensions for quadriceps development relates to the fact that the load you can expose the quadriceps to is much greater with squats. That’s why presses and dips will give you great triceps development, while triceps kickbacks will do little for triceps development and even less for the metabolism. A very good rule of thumb is to use lifts that will allow you to use the most weight. These will have a systemic effect on your body that'll help maintain or increase your muscle mass, and in turn ignite your metabolism.


3. Super-set or group exercises.
Perform either non-competing muscle group training or antagonist training. Non-competing muscle group training would involve doing a set of a lower body exercise, and following it up with an upper body exercise Antagonist training is executed by alternating exercises that target opposing muscle groups. The list of benefits includes: quicker recovery, greater strength levels and shorter workout times. This design can be a huge advantage in your mission to burn fat. If you alternate exercises for opposing or non-competing muscle groups, you’ll be able to keep your heart rate elevated and burn calories like a blast furnace!


4. Keep rep ranges, in general, between 8 and 12.
Through research, the main focus of your resistance training efforts is to gain lean body mass and stimulate your metabolism, this rep range fills the bill perfectly. High reps for tone and fat loss" is the "big kahuna" of all training myths! Somehow the aerobics, yoga and Pilate’s community have convinced us that when we perform body weight exercises or light resistance training for high reps, our muscles magically take on a beautiful shape without growing or bulging. Let's turn the tables,....if you challenge yourself with moderately heavy weights, your body will take on a bulky, unflattering appearance. If you believe this, you probably still believe in the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy!


5. Rest only 30 to 60 seconds between sets.
When you keep the rest periods under one minute, it’s easier to stay focused on the task at hand and keeps your heart rate elevated. In addition, it forces your muscles to recover more quickly between sets, along with keeping your nervous system revved up.


If your first movement in an upper/lower body superset is squats, you might want to rest 60 seconds before attempting your second movement. However, if your first exercise is a fairly "easy" exercise, like lat pull downs, you might only wish to wait 30 seconds before doing the second part of the superset.


6. Every session should consist of approximately six to eight exercises.
Why? Because empirical evidence has shown that normal trainees can consistently maintain six to eight exercises per session without burning out.

It’s imperative to base your exercise selection around compound, multi-joint exercises. Seventy-five percent (75%) of your exercises for each session must be compound exercises. Six single-joint isolation exercises are not going do the trick. Sure, you can perform a few isolation exercises, but the majority of your exercise choices should be multi-joint.


7. Perform Total Body Workouts to be a Healthier YOU!
First and foremost, you must drop the notion that a muscle group can only be trained once or twice a week. Fitness enthusiasts from the past didn't train that way and you shouldn't either. The more frequent muscle producing / fat burning sessions you can have, the better.


8. Cardio isn't the cure-all for Obesity
Cardiovascular exercise aids in the creation of a caloric deficit, but the caloric expenditure during cardio is temporary. Strength training addresses the core of the problem by permanently increasing the rate at which the body burns calories by adding muscle.