22 Jul 2010

How To Stay Motivated, The Key To Keeping Fit

Being fit and healthy is a very invigorating feeling, and being in a fit and healthy state of mind is a very liberating feeling. The thing with being fit and healthy is that you may not necessarily realize how fit you are until you lose that fitness which depending on your level of fitness and the dedication you show to keep in fit can appear to happen very suddenly.

Fitness is like anything in life, the more you put in the more you get out, but where fitness is concerned there are subtle little departments within what we understand about fitness that all help to make up the bigger picture. We all have different levels of fitness and likewise we all have different expectations about being fit and healthy.

The best way of describing levels of fitness is "fit for purpose". For instance, if you intend running in marathon in six months time it would be foolhardy to attempt to get your fitness to an adequate level to compete successfully by running around the local park once a week, and likewise if you are just starting out on the road to fitness and you want to go for a run do not expect your body to be too willing to oblige if you choose to go for a ten mile run.

You need to be realistic in your goals and targets with fitness, whether it is simply to achieve weight loss or whether you need an increased level of fitness for a sporting event. Setting yourself a goal will also help you to keep motivated as well as give pointers as to whether you should be training harder. If you are new to keeping fit or have not trained in quite a while I would always recommend consulting a doctor before you start a training plan.

If you are keeping fit to lose weight you will have to be realistic with your targets and accept that there may be a time when things do not appear to be going to plan. Losing weight is about more than keeping fit but exercising but exercising is a massively crucial part of the overall plan. To lose weight you need to remember some very important points; do not starve yourself, eat correctly and wisely and as long as you burn more calories than you put into your body you will succeed.
Many people who go to diet clubs expect long term results, a diet alone will not work in the long term, a good healthy diet is always recommended but your body will find a level within that diet and stay there. Very few diet clubs promote exercise or at least have a plan for exercise for you, this is because if you start losing weight by exercising what are the chances of you paying to go back to a diet club each week?

If you are struggling to know where to start with keeping fit as well as knowing what to eat I would recommend researching anywhere but diet clubs, at least to start with. Look on the inter web and try to find fitness trainers online who will be able to give you pointers and tips regarding food and exercise as well as giving you motivational tips to help you stay on track. Many online fitness trainers will have a records and results section that you can log into to store any measurements you may want to take and keep to help you monitor your progress.

The trick with keeping fit and staying healthy is to stick with it, do not be disheartened if things do not appear to going to plan, your body is in life for the long haul so you need to keep your mind in the same set.
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21 Jul 2010

How to Lose 10 Pounds in a Week - 8 Proven Tips That Helped Me to Lose 10 Pounds in One Week

I desperately needed to lose weight for my wedding. I have lost 13 pounds on the first week, and 10 pounds on the second. This is quite a short time for losing weight, and not very healthy, I know. However, this quick weight loss success was a kick-start for my weight loss journey, and it motivated me to keep losing weight, following natural and healthy methods later. I am going to share every single step I followed on the second week, that helped me to lose 10 pounds in 7 days.

Please keep in mind that extremely fast weight loss is never healthy.

Here are the steps I followed after the first 7 days, to lose 10 pounds in a week:

1) First, I had a day of detox - to cleanse my body and lose weight even faster. I prepared a drink of lemon juice, ginger and honey mixed with water, and drank this detox drink during the day. Whenever hungry, I just drank it. I felt good, as I normally do, no cramps, no lack of energy, nothing. This was not hard at all, and I am sure it boosted my weight loss results. I know some people do the whole week of detox, but this is not for me.

2) I limited the amounts of foods, because I really needed to lose weight so fast. I had plenty of vegetables, lean meat, fish, eggs, and some fruits (mostly apples and oranges). My new rule of eating was this: half of the plate should be veggies (just tried to avoid too much potato), ¼ of the plate - white meat or fish, and the rest can be fruit (no bananas because they are too sweet and starchy). I know that eating less is not always an option for a long lasting weight loss. But it surely is an option for fast weight loss, and that`s what my goal was. An easier way to reduce the amount of food is to get a smaller plate. However, eating less was pretty hard, I admit. But I reached my goal, and I am so happy now.

3) I added 2 apples an one can of black beans to my daily diet. I had the beans as my main meal, or split them into 2 smaller meals and had with veggies on the side. This is a trick that no diets tell. And it works wonders, because 35 grams of fiber in a daily diet truly supercharges weight loss. These fibers clean the digestive tract and improve digestion.

4) I started to eat breakfast and stopped eating at night. 7 PM was the latest time of the day when I had my dinner. Breakfast boosted my metabolism and helped me to burn calories faster, although I never believed it could be so important for weight loss. It kept me energized as well. I got at least 10 glasses of water during the day, and I still do - water cleanses the body, increases metabolic rate, and does not let you feel hungry.

5) I distributed my usual calorie intake during the day. I started to eat 5 times a day, having smaller meals. This way I never had to go hungry.

6) I limited fat, sweet and not so healthy food, and whenever I felt like I need to eat something unhealthy, I moved those meals to the first part of the day. Because metabolism is higher in the morning compared to the evening, and this let me eat a donut or ice cream once every few days.

7) Instead of drinking juice, I had a fresh fruit every time. Juice is too sweet for weight loss, if you`re thirsty, get some water or unsweetened green tea.

8) I kept myself motivated and busy all the time. I know that when you`re busy, you have no time to go to the kitchen. This works wonders.

This plan might sound too simple to lose 10 pounds in a week - but follow this plan religiously, and you will see real results.

If you would like to know how I lost even more weight on the first week, make sure you grab the Free weight loss guide packed with many incredible proven tips, at the lose 10 pounds in a week website! You would actually have to TRY to mess it up and not to lose weight by following those steps!

20 Jul 2010

Best Lower Ab Workout - How to Blast the Lower Abs

Finding the best lower ab workout is not always an easy thing to do. It can be frustrating to keep trying to work the lower abs if you feel like you are not doing it right.
In this article, you will learn what it takes to have the best lower ab workout around.
Before we get into 3 exercises, it is important that you understand some basics about training the lower abs.

The first thing that you should understand is that just working the lower abs will not result in losing fat in that area. In order to lose fat in that area, you need to lose fat all over your body. This is how basic fat loss works. If you have a lot of fat to lose, then the best lower ab workout in the world won't do the trick all by itself. The same goes for someone who just has to lose the last few pounds.

The good news is that doing a great lower ab workout safely and effectively will help to strengthen your core, as well as tone those muscles up for when you are in the single digits with body fat percentage =)

Losing fat all over your body requires that you do the right combination of strength training (don't worry you will not get big and bulky), a special type of cardio called interval training, and most important, have a great diet.

Once you have those things under control, your fat loss efforts will be guaranteed.
But you came to this page looking for the best lower ab workout around, so here are a few exercises you can try right now.

Remember that training your abs is different than training other muscles. If you were working your biceps, you might try doing 3 sets of 10 reps for a few different exercises. For your lower abs, you will want to do a special sequence of exercises with little rest in between. This is called abdominal circuit training.

Here are some of the best lower ab exercises to try:

1. Alternating Supine Leg Walks

Start off by laying on your back with your hands under your buttocks. Lift your legs so they are vertical. Contract your abs so your midsection is tense.
Then, lower 1 leg so your foot is a few inches from the ground. Hold there for about 1 second, then return that leg to the starting position. Alternate which leg you lower.
Try a reps and really try to feel the lower abs working.

2. Supine Reverse Crunches

Start off by laying on your back with your hands under your buttocks. Lift your legs so they are vertical, then bend your knees at a 90 degree angle. Contract your abs so your midsection is tense.
Keeping your knees bent at the same angle, slowly lower them until the back of your feet are a few inches above the ground. Then, bring your knees up towards your chest and really squeeze your abs while doing this.
Repeat.

3. Leg Lifts

Start off by laying on your back with your hands under your buttocks. Lift your legs so they are vertical.
Contract your midsection by engaging the upper abs.
Then, lower both legs so that the back of your feet are right above the ground. After holding that position for a few second, return your legs to the vertical position.
Repeat.

All three of those exercises are part of getting the best lower ab workout possible. If you have any lower back problems at all, you should not hesitate to see a doctor for exercise advice. Now you know the basic components of having one of the best lower ab workouts. Remember your safety comes first!

Good luck, and remember to keep learning and stay persistent. =)
Hi, this is Tom, the author of this article. I recently went through an intense 9 week fat loss phase using a program written by a good friend of mine.
You can check out the website and the rest of the story here: http://www.mywarpspeedfatlossreview.com. He used this program to go from 7% body fat to 17% body fat in only 9 weeks!

Little Known Workout That Gets You in Shape and Melts Fat Really Fast

Everybody that tries to get in shape and lose fat starts with the normal exercises and routines but after a while it becomes boring and so many drop out of the program, and quickly start putting on fat layers again. For the people who tend to get bored by the same routine it's a good idea to try something different from time to time, more so if the new exercise is even better at fat burning than the previous one.

I'm going to reveal to you a very simple exercise that you can do almost everywhere, anytime and which is guaranteed to melt your fat and to get you in shape faster than most of the conventional exercises that you do in the gym or at home. In order to do this simple training you need just one mundane thing: some stairs. Yeah, that's right, stairs! By correctly doing a stair exercise regularly you'll get in shape, lose weight, fell great and look even better.

Here's a simple idea of a stair exercise that you can practice in your own building, at your work place or in any other building that has a staircase. The easiest routine you can implement is the following: first just walk up to the top floor at your normal pace and when you reach it do a bit of stretching. Then take the elevator down and start again, but this time a bit faster. At the top, take the elevator down again and repeat the process several times increasing your speed each time. You'll notice that you'll get a complete workout this way; it's very demanding on your body as you increase speed and do more repetitions.

Try to make this exercise at least two times a week and every time note just how many times you made it up the stairs. You'll see that after a while, as you get fitter, you'll be able to increase the number of repetitions. You're whole body will benefit from a workout and you'll loose pounds faster than before. A fun way to implement this training is to have a friend train with you. You could then make small contests like who can climb the staircase the most number of times or who can climb the staircase 3 times in a row in the shortest time. You could also bring your dog along so you both can get some exercise in the same time.

The battle with extra pounds is not easy, so click on the following link and find out how to lose fat really fast.