Building Muscle to Burn Fat

Fat is the accumulation of excess energy. If you don’t burn off the calories you consume, they will be stored as fat. If you build muscle mass, you will not only feel better and look leaner, you will actually start to burn fat at a much faster rate.

That’s because muscles tissue is an incredible fat-burner. The more lean muscle mass you have, the more calories you burn, even at rest. With that in mind, it makes sense to add strength training to your weekly routine.

First, find out how much of your body is made up of fat, and how much is made up of lean muscle. This measurement is your body fat percentage. You can find guides online which help you determine your body fat percentage, but if you’re a first-time measurer, you might get better results by asking your doctor or fitness trainer to measure it for you.

Some “smart” scales can even calculate your body composition by sending a painless signal through your body. The signal returns data that tells you how much of your weight comes from fat, muscle, bone, and fluid.

A healthy body fat percentage for women ranges from 14% (for a young, athletic woman) to 35% (for women over 65). Males have more natural muscle mass than females, so men can be healthy with body fat percentages between 6% and 25%.

Calorie-burning Activities

If you hate exercising, it’s probably because you’re not getting the right kind of exercise. Some people are perfectly happy running on a treadmill day in and day out, but there are many more who dread the monotony.

If boredom is keeping you from getting a healthy amount of cardio, mix up your routine with some fun activities. Group sports like basketball and flag softball burn far more calories per hour than a treadmill, and they’re fun and social to boot. Call up some friends, or visit your local activity center to sign up for an amateur sports league.

Swimming is another great way to burn calories. Jump in the pool and paddle around, then jog as fast as you can in the shallow end. The water provides enough resistance to kick your metabolism into high gear. If you have a local beach, brisk walking on the sand will burn more calories than walking on pavement.

Vitamins, Herbs & Supplements

Many herbs and supplements are marketed as fat-burners. Some claim to increase the body’s core temperature, resulting in a higher basal metabolic rate. Others purport to stimulate the liver, causing it to metabolize fat at a higher rate. Still others are thought to increase your heart rate, leaving you in the fat-burning zone for longer periods of time as you work out.

So which supplements are for real, and which ones should you avoid? Obviously, there is no miracle pill that leads to instant weight loss. If that were the case, obesity would no longer be a problem. But there are in fact a few supplements that have been linked to faster weight loss.

The very best supplements for fat loss include green tea, guggul, and dandelion. Each of these supplements has been studied and found to have measurable results on weight loss. Guggul in particular was found to help dieters lose 6 times as much weight as others who were given a placebo pill.

The Importance of Hydration

We’re often told about the importance of adequate water intake, but do you know why it’s so important? Water can contribute to weight loss – even fast weight loss – in several ways.

First, since our bodies need water to survive, they have a self-defense reaction when we don’t consume enough water. In response to dehydration, they start to hold on to every bit of fluid they get. This is called fluid retention, or bloating, and it can cause the scale to leap up by several pounds.

The cure for bloating is to drink more water. If you drink at least 8 glasses a day, your body will start to let go of the fluid it has been retaining. Your waist will shrink, and you will lose some superfluous pounds.

5 Ways to Lose Weight Without Even Trying

Drink Water

Besides keeping you hydrated, recent studies show that drinking water on the regular can aid with weight loss. Filling up on water before a meal helps encourage portion control, and simply eating foods that contain a lot of water (like fruits and veggies) will fill you up faster, causing you to eat less. A small study found that drinking cool water can speed up metabolism and discourage cravings for sugary drinks like soda and juice — now that's a reason to stay hydrated!

Make Life About Fun

Since stress is shown to cause weight gain by triggering the body to eat more — especially foods high in sugar and fat — make sure you give yourself time to relax and unwind. And it's an added bonus that so many fun activities (like dancing, hiking, and shopping) are already natural calorie-burners!

Discover The 4 Mistakes You Should Avoid At All Cost

Many people have focused on what to do when they want to lose weight. Below are 4 diet tips on the mistakes that you should avoid when dieting. It is important that you understand the process of fat loss so that it will not interfere with your weight loss goal.

Are you serious about getting the figure that you want? Read on and check that you have not made any of the following:

Diet Mistake 1: Eliminating Carbohydrates Altogether

This is a big issue for people who are on a diet that proposes no carbohydrates. While it is true that if you take less carb in your diet, you can see some weight loss, you should also remember that carbohydrates are needed for your physical activities.

If you cut away all your carbs, you will not only have the risk of nutrient deficiencies, your energy level will also plummet drastically.

In addition to that, if you are on an ultra low carb diets over an extended period, you will also experience a significant reductions in your metabolic rate. This will really hinder the amount of fat loss in your body.

So, what’s the solution? It is much better to enjoy healthy carbs in moderation. You’ll get better weight loss result.

Diet Mistake 2: Not Pairing Carbohydrate With Protein

Some people think that they shouldn’t have protein with carbohydrate. Protein is the nutrient that can help you slow down the release of carbohydrates into your blood. With it, you won’t see the huge blood sugar spike followed by a sudden crash immediately after that.

If you can take a bit of protein with every mean and snack, this will go a long way in encouraging the total body fat loss. It will also assist you in maintaining steadier energy levels throughout the day.

Diet Mistake 3: Giving In To Food Cravings Frequently

Although it is understandable that one can have cheat meal now and then. If it is occurring too often it is going to be a problem.

Instead, you can come up with healthier ways to satisfy your food craving. There are better alternatives. If you feel like eating ice cream, take the low-sugar yogurt with berries. They are also very tasty and doesn’t do that much harm to your weight. If you like pasta, try some spaghetti squash for a change. If you are looking forward to chocolate, take some chocolate protein shake.

These are great choices that should please your taste buds without adding thousands of calories. In addition to these creative substitutions, take some effort to reduce your appetite. It’s very difficult to fight your cravings when you are hunger. If this is a problem, you can use appetite suppressant like Phen375. You will find that it’s much easier to fend off those food cravings.

Diet Mistake 4: Not Eating Regularly

Many women make this mistake of starving themselves the entire day. Then they start to binge at night because they are just too hungry and can’t control themselves anymore.

A much better alternative is to break your calorie intake into 6 mini-meals spread throughout the day. This will help you keep the blood sugar levels stable and prevent night time eating. Also note that night time is not the best time to eat a lot as you won’t be doing much activity after that.

Now that you know the diet mistakes in this diet tips article, you can adjust your diet plan accordingly. Many people have been successful in losing weight by taking dietary supplements, fat burner is one of the best diet supplements around. You may want to check that out.

All the best!

10 Good Reasons to Consume Less Sugar

During the ‘80s and ‘90s the fitness community was obsessed with fat; more specifically, why we should consume less of it. Now the attention has focused on carbohydrates – and with good reason. Government estimates indicate that one out of three children born today will develop diabetes, and one reason is our overconsumption of sugar.

An excellent book I recently discovered is called Suicide by Sugar: A Startling Look at Our #1 National Addiction (Square One Publishers, 2009). The author, Nancy Appleton, completed her undergraduate degree in clinical nutrition at UCLA and earned a PhD in health services at Walden University. Throughout her book Appleton provides many excellent reasons to kick the sugar habit. Here are 10 of them:

How I Replenish My D3 Levels

1. I first get a blood value.
2. My goal is to bring the client up to 80 nmol/L (International Units) or 32 ng/ml. (Standard Units)
3. Based on the above, I adjust the dosage accordingly.

10 Very Good Reasons For You To Take Supplements

One of the most common questions people ask those of us who are in the nutritional supplement industry is “Why do I need to take supplements – can’t I get all the nutrients I need simply by eating well?” The short answer is, and this may surprise you, “No!” And this is not just my opinion.
A good diet, along with proper supplementation, are a winning combination for a healthy life and optimal athletic performance.

The Dangers of Cell Phone Use

Lesson #1: It Takes Many Years to Develop Brain Cancer
Based upon observational studies of people who were exposed to radiation from the atomic bomb during World War II, Davis says it can take 40 years after exposure to radiation to develop brain cancer. Further, she says that rates of cell phone use now are vastly different from those in the past, as in the mid-’80s less than three percent of the world’s population owned cell phones and early use was primarily limited to businessmen. “So the fact that we haven’t seen an increase in brain cancer yet doesn’t tell us that we will be fine in the future – and many of us have only been using cell phones in a very heavy way for a few years,” says Davis in a recent interview.

Don’t Snack on High-Sugar Foods

One popular series of candy bar promotes the idea of eating it to stop hunger pangs – if you feel a drop in energy during the workday, you can simply eat one of these candy bars (which has 30 grams of sugar and rhymes with knickers) and go on being productive. Not exactly. Except for the immediate feeling of satiety, the effect on hunger is exactly the opposite.