Posts Tagged ‘Steps’

Six Steps to Weight Loss Success

What does it take to lose weight?

When it comes to losing weight there is so much conflicting information out there that a lot of people just are not sure where to begin. There is an old saying that states “if you want learn how to get rich then hang out with rich people” Well, that old saying can also be applied if you want to lose weight. The bottom line is, if you want to lose weight follow the advice of those that have successfully done so. When it comes to reducing body fat, Bodybuilders are the Kings and Queens to losing weight. Although many of their practices are too extreme for most people, there are some great secrets that should be used by everyone. Before we begin we should first cover a few basic rules.

Rule number 1, there is no such thing as a magic pill! Yeah, I know that stinks but the facts are the facts. Although there are diet supplements and diet pills/ patches that will assist with weight loss they are not the magic solution. You will still need to add in a good diet and exercise program, which leads us into Rule Number 2.

Rule number 2, Proper diet and exercise is key. If you want to lose weight for the long term then you will need to have a good exercise and diet program. We will cover this more in detail later.

Rule number 3 encompasses both rules 1 and 2. For most people they just need to take the steps to safely increase their metabolism. Most people have slowed their metabolism down so much that they seem to not be able to lose weight even if they eat only once or twice a day.

Steps to increase your metabolism and burn unwanted body fat

Step 1: Drink a gallon water everyday

Most of us are already aware that our bodies are mostly made up of water. So much of it that approximately 65 percent of our bodies is water. The brain uses it, the organs, the skin, bones and even the way nutrients and waste are passed in and out of the cells. Drink too little water and you may be at risk for headaches, muscle cramps, dizziness, constipation and other nasty symptoms. However, if you drink an adequate amount of water you gain some great benefits such as a clearer mind, more energy and even help your body metabolize body fat.

As a general rule I try to start out at a gallon a day and move up from there. Yes it is difficult at first but in a short amount of time your body will adapt. I have also added an extra step to my water consumption by drinking it ice cold. You not only get the benefit of metabolizing body fat by drinking a gallon of water a day but you also get an extra benefit with cold water by expending more calories trying to warm it up.

How to prepare – get an empty one-gallon plastic milk carton (or water jug) and fill full of water and put it in the freezer the night before you need it. The next morning a wall of ice will form inside the milk carton. Take a butter knife and punch a hole through the top layer of ice. You now have an ice-cold water jug that you can carry with you throughout your day.

Step 2: Eat six (6) small meals a day

I know this sounds all wrong but I am going to paint a little picture for you to help you grasp this concept. Your body is a very adaptable machine that is going to adjust itself to survive as efficiently as possible. If you only eat one meal a day, large or small, your body will make adjustments according to your current caloric intake. In other words, if you are only eating once a day your body will want to store calories as fat so that it has an ample supply of energy to live off of before the next feeding. The less you eat the less your body is going to burn therefore slowing down your metabolism.

Now, that doesn’t mean you can eat six servings of fast food or junk throughout the day and lose weight. You need to live on a well-balanced diet that is full of protein, fruits and vegetables and good carbohydrates (yams, brown rice, oat meal, etc…). Does this mean you have to give up junk food and sweets? Nope, this leads us into our next step.

Step 3: Add a cheat meal to your diet

As stated earlier your body is an amazing machine. Not only is your body going to do what it can to insure its survival, it will also try to maintain balance by adapting to its environment. In other words, if you eat the same thing day in and day out your body will eventually adapt to your current caloric intake by adjusting your metabolism. For example, if you were eating 2000 calories a day and dropped down to 1500 calories a day, your body will eventually adjust your metabolism to efficiently run on 1500 calories a day.

The key is to trick your body and keep it guessing. One of the greatest, and most fun I might add, tricks used by bodybuilders is to add a cheat meal to their diet. For one meal a week you can go hog wild and eat whatever your heart desires, whether it be pizza, ice-cream or a meal full of Snickers. Now I understand there are those that would prefer to eat a cleaner diet so for them I recommend that they just double their carbohydrate intake one to two full days out of the week (this is what I actually did when preparing for bodybuilding contest)

The real asset of the cheat meal is that it keeps you honest with your diet. If your cheat meal is on Saturday and Wednesday your getting a really bad pizza craving, you can simply convince yourself to stay on track by reminding yourself that in three more days you can have whatever you want. Pushing your cravings off to your cheat meal date becomes a little goal for you to achieve while allowing you to maintain your sanity.

Step 4: Change diet later in day

As your day progresses you will want to shift your diet from the more complex carbohydrates such as rice, potatoes and bread to more fibrous carbohydrates such as broccoli and other vegetables. The fibrous carbohydrates take longer to burn and you will not have to worry about spiking your insulin levels before you go to bed. Once exception to this rule is if you are working out in the evenings. In this case you will need to take an adequate amount of carbohydrates for your workout.

*Note: A good diet program should be designed for each individual. I would recommend consulting with a good nutritionist to be put on a diet program that works for you.

Step 5: Cardio in the morning

A successful weight loss routine involves both diet and exercise. If you are looking for long-term results, one does not go without the other. If you avoid doing either one or the other, you may experience some short-term success followed by long-term frustration. A great example of this is to watch people who are always doing the yo-yo diets. They lose weight one week only to gain it back plus some a few weeks later. Hey, we have all done this so keep in mind that both exercise and diet is the key to long-term success.

One trick that I have found works is to do your cardio workouts in the morning. Ideally I would walk on the treadmill or stair stepper at a moderate pace for 45 minutes in the morning (moderate pace meaning that I was breaking a good sweat but could maintain a conversation if necessary (Too fast of a pace and you will burn carbohydrates instead of fat). The benefits to this are that you not only increase your metabolism for the day you also will feel better too.

Even though I appear to have been stressing the benefits of a good cardio program, it would be irresponsible of me to not also point out the benefits of weight training. Simply put, the more lean muscle mass you have the more calories your body will burn. I highly recommend you consider adding a weight resistant workout to your body fat reduction arsenal.

Step 6: Supplements

I would like to stress that diet supplements are a tool to help you reach your goal. Supplements alone are not a magic pill that will give you instant results. However, that being said, a good diet supplement added to a solid diet and workout program will help accelerate your results.

Tying it all together

I have personally used these six weight-losing principles to help me reduce unwanted body fat to win several bodybuilding contests. For example, I applied these exact principles to reduce my body fat from 28 percent to less than five percent in a six and a half month period. Although some of the diet practices applied for a bodybuilding show may be extreme, these six principles can be applied and adjusted for everyone looking to reduce body fat. In conclusion and to recap, the six basic steps to weight loss success is to drink a gallon of ice cold water a day, eat six small meals a day verses the traditional large three, add a cheat meal to your diet program, adjust your carbohydrate intake towards the end of the day, do cardio workouts in the morning and finally add supplements as a tool to your diet and workout program.

Best Way To Lose Abdominal Weight – Losing Weight in Two Easy Steps

Abdominal weight is one of the biggest signs of weight gain, especially for men. When this happens you should start listening to your body more often and pay more attention to your health, one is because it is much easier to ‘fix’ your body at this stage, and two is because this is a sign of an unhealthy body.

You would be surprised to know that reducing the size of abdominal fat cells takes more than just dieting. In fact dieting will have pretty much no effect on your abdominal weight loss. Many studies and researches support this statement. So let us get into some more effective ways of losing abdominal weight.

One simple way to do so is to walk. Walking is a great tool to help you burn more calories. You can burn up to 20% of your fat if you go out for a walk three times a week for 50 min.

Some studies have been done on the effects of the intensity of the exercise and effects on losing the abdominal weight. The results were that the intensity only affects the time. You can walk for 50 min or run for 30 min three times a week and you would still get the same results.

It is best to start with walking especially if you are not used to exercise in your life. The reason is that you do not want to push yourself too much that you end up giving up. More importantly, many people have other health problems and more vigorous exercise will hurt their bodies more.

The Healthy Way to Lose Your Weight in 3 Easy Steps!

If you are serious about losing your weight, then I’m sure you’ve heard it before, right? Guaranteed, The Quickest, No-Fail, The Best-Diet EVER, Made For All Body-Types!!! These are all too common catch phrases aimed for us to buy into consuming these products that will not (in reality) be the healthy way to lose weight! In reality, it takes some effort to undo all the bad eating habits that have made us overweight. There is no easy fix-it pill. It takes determination and hard work, but you can ease yourself into using my three healthy steps!

I know, this may seem no different than the rest at first. I’ll tell you what is different and why this simply WORKS. It is the most healthy way to lose weight because these are things that we do on a regular basis anyway, but that if increased, can and will help you lose that weight quickly!

1. Replace all your soda, coffee and tea with plain healthy water! This seems so simple and easy you may not believe it to work, but IT DOES! Water is something that everyone is made up of, everyone needs, and everyone does NOT get enough of throughout the day. It aids in digestion, helps with flexibility, increases stamina and energy levels, and makes you feel good emotionally. In other words it is your best friend when you are trying to lose weight quickly!

2. Decrease your dairy consumption to only one serving a day. The ads tell us differently, but I have found personally that drinking milk, eating cheese, and other dairy products will make me fat rather quickly! Decrease the servings to just one per day and you will feel lighter, more energetic, and will be losing your weight in a more healthy way!

3. Get outside and take a walk everyday. It doesn’t take much of your time and will be easy to establish a schedule for. You may choose some other form of exercise, but walking appealed to me because it was the only thing I could actually stick with. Whatever it is, make sure you feel good about doing it and do it everyday!

These three easy steps will help you lose the weight in a more healthy way. As I mentioned earlier, these items are all things we do anyway, just bring them up to a higher level. You will find this the most healthy way to lose your weight!

Lose Baby Weight in 3 Easy Steps

If you are a mom that has been struggling to lose your baby weight, maybe you have been struggling for several years now, then this article will give you some tips on how you can get on the fast track to getting your body back.

Many people go about losing baby weight the wrong way. They are focused on the wrong things, like low fat, quick fix fads and gimmicks. Here are 3 things you can do immediately to jump start your fat loss.

Step 1. Begin a resistance training program. This does not have to be fancy or complex. In fact, you can get a great workout in at home in under 30 minutes. No special equipment needed. Working your muscles through resistance will boost your metabolism and keep the muscle that you have. This is important as most diets completely miss the boat on this. Most people cut calories and do little to no exercise, lose muscle and thus slow their metabolism. Not good. This is a key component.

Step 2. Shut your mouth! Nutrition is probably 80 % to 90% of the weight loss game, so you need to improve the quality of the food you eat but also eat a bit less. No packaged or processed foods for you! Stick to wholesome natural foods, fruits, vegetables and lean proteins.
Eating less is also on the menu. Weight loss is mainly about calories in versus calories out. You simply must eat less if you want to lose baby weight.

Step 3. Stop walking. Many moms go walking everyday and have little to no progress to show for it. No wonder as walking is not challenging enough to make a change in your body. Nothing wrong with walking, in fact use it to supplement your regular workouts, but don’t make it the core of your routine.
Instead, do interval cardio. It is faster and more efficient and you will get better results. Intervals are simply alternating hard work periods with slow recovery periods. Think sprints here.

There you have it, 3 easy steps you can take to jump start you weight loss.

Why Losing Excess Weight Is Very Important, and 2 Simple Steps to Apply Today

Why do you think that more and more people are looking to lose the excess weight that they may be carrying around today. The reason is simple and it involves the fact that those people that have excess weight are more likely to develop long term health problems. This is a fact. Losing weight is getting harder and harder in modern times as more and more people are fighting the large amount of temptation that surrounds everyday life. Every single corner you turn you are going to find more junk foods. You are also going to find supermarkets are full of junk foods that are tasty but a killer for your gut. So before you embark on the weight loss journey you have to understand the fact that the most important reason that you must be losing the weight for is for your health. This is the only thing that is going to keep you motivated in the long term and keep you from giving up on this long weight loss journey.

Here are two steps that you can apply to help you to lose the weight that you need to lose today.

First step is to make sure that every single time that you enter the grocery store that you only shop in the outside isles. That means that the only foods that you look at are those that promote health. You are going to find that in any grocery store most of the junk and processed foods are going to be found in the isles in the middle, whereas those foods that promote weight loss and in general are good for your health are going to be found on the outside. So stick to the outside isles and make sure that you are not giving up to the temptation of bad foods.

Next step is to make sure that you keep eating throughout the day. That means that you must eat at least six meals a day instead of the conventional 3 meals. What this does is keep your metabolism burning throughout the day and this is turn is going to promote fat burn. This is exactly what you are looking to do when you are working toward losing weight.

So start today and make sure that you follow the above two rules consistently. Do not give up, because doing so will result in you never achieving the goals that you want to achieve.

Harvard Research Reveals Ultimate Weight Loss Benefits – 10 Steps to Lose Weight Forever!

When you lose weight quickly you need to monitor where this weight loss is coming from. It could be water, body fat, or lean muscle mass. The majority of the time it comes from lean muscle mass instead of body fat. This causes serious issues with your metabolism. When someone experiences a lot of weight loss through crash diets, diet pills, or some other unhealthy way to lose weight the body’s lean muscle mass is dismantled. You lose some of your best tissue for keeping a lean body. This article will explain the Top 10 Steps to lose weight effectively and keep it off.

Step 1: Avoid Crash Dieting. The worst thing you can do is go off your diet and start eating again. Your calories will only shoot up when your metabolism is already lowered and you have just lost muscle mass. Rather than lose weight you will pack on body fat very quickly. Crash dieting is the number one reason why people abandon their weight loss programs. The research concluded that the 811 Participants followed a diet similar to the next step to lose weight.

Step 2: Lose Weight Slowly and Keep it off. Focus on taking 500 calories out of your diet per day. This deficit equates to 3 500 calories per week, which equals 2 kilograms (1 pound) of body fat. Create this deficit through shedding 250 calories from your diet and burning 250 calories with a mild exercise program. This will ensure that you retain your muscle mass and only lose body fat. It will also provide you with a plan to lose weight and keep it off permanently.

Step 3: Focus on Getting Enough Protein. Eating lean items like chicken and turkey breast, fish, and egg whites will ensure that you have enough protein in your diet. Try to eat small nutritious meals throughout the day. I got regular recipes from Better Fitness and you can find free ideas from using the search engines.

Step 4: Eliminate Empty Calories from your Diet. Ensure that you eliminate calories from foods like soda, high calorie fruit juices and fast food. By cleaning up your diet you should see a vast increase in your weight loss and improvement in your physique.

Step 5: Keep Track of your Nutritional Intake. A diet journal of your nutritional intake is an extremely important tool. This will enable you to keep track of where your calories are coming from and really monitor your intake. Either open word, put the date and start typing; or use the search engines to find a free diet journal from a weight loss program like Better Fitness. All 811 Participants in the weight loss research kept a diet journal to lose weight.

Step 6: Do Cardiovascular Training. Cardio training has 2 benefits: not only does it strengthen your heart and lungs, but also; it is a vital tool for shedding calories and body fat. The research found cardio exercise to be an important factor for all 811 Participants to lose weight. Harvard experts agree that you should cardio train for 20 to 60 minutes 3 days a week. Your heart rate should be elevated to over 60%. The Better Fitness Weight Loss Program advised me that cardio was the key to a long and healthy life. You can begin cardio training at any time by going to my blog or using the search engines to find a program that suits your lifestyle.

Step 7: Strength Train. Strength training is another important step to lose weight by building a lean body and dropping fat. Research indicates that you burn an additional 50 calories per day for every 2 kilograms (1 pound) of lean muscle you add to your body. Therefore, and extra 20 kilograms (10 pounds) of muscle will burn approximately 500 calories per day. That’s an extra 2 kilograms (1 pound) of fat every week. Another study found that strength training significantly boosts the metabolism. When muscle is metabolically active you burn more fat than other body tissue.

Step 8: Do your research. There are thousands of ways for you to lose weight on the market. You can use these 10 steps to select the most effective weight loss program for you. By using the search engines to research the different ways to lose weight you can find the best program for you. It is important that you look at things like customer support, money back guarantee, and testimonials from other customers. I got a 60 day money back guarantee with The Better Fitness Weight Loss Program and lost 10 pounds before it was up.

Step 9: Keep Your Motivation. You need regular motivation when starting a new weight loss program, or keeping the fire in an existing diet. I get strong motivational tips from The Better Fitness Weight Loss Program. By working as hard on yourself as you do your diet you will be excited and energized for great cooking and focused workouts. The 811 Participants in the Harvard research all had regular motivation to lose weight.

Step 10: Change Your Habits. Following this step is not only extremely important to lose weight and keep it off; but also, for optimum health for a lifetime. The Better Fitness Program provided me with good information on how to change my habits for a lifetime. Use these 10 steps to change your habits to lose weight.

To conclude, this article has discussed the safest most effective steps to lose weight and keep it off forever. Crash diets wont work, what you need is a mild combination of diet and exercise to achieve weight loss. Keep these 10 steps in mind when selecting your weight loss program.

Three Steps to Losing Weight and Building Muscle

In today’s age of instant gratification people are looking
for the next best diet or workout plan that will give them
the body, and strength, they want in the same time they can
get their favorite Starbuck’s coffee. However, when it
comes to losing weight and building strength there aren’t
any short cuts.

It takes desire, commitment, and hard work in order to
maintain a consistent weight loss and gain muscle at the
same time. Sure, you can do one or the other, but to do
both takes complete commitment.

But don’t let that mean you have to have the expensive gym
membership, costly supplements and diet meals, and hours of
your week consisting of workouts. Of course, we all know by
now that that system is oudated and actually leads to an
unhealthy body. Long workouts and overdieting cause
tremendous amounts of stress on the body where it can
actually have a reverse effect.

Today’s scientific studies have revealed that in order to
lose weight you must actually gain strength. Here’s how you
can do both with three easy steps.

Work on Strength to Burn Fat

With traditional type exercise and diet programs from the
last two decades you are assured of only one thing. You’re
going to lose muscle. You actually get weaker in the
process. But, to have a completely healthy body that loses
weight and builds muscle you must focus on high intensity
strength training in order to give you metabolism a boost.

Be Creative In Your Workouts

A common misconception in workingout is that you need to do
the same exercises to hit the same problem areas. It’s just
not true. Actually, the truth of the matter is that more
than a few weeks with a particular “routine” will cause a
stagnation to muscle and strength growht. Why? Because your
muscles have “memory”. They remember the stress they’ve
been put through and can adapt to handle it.

Change your routine from high intensity to low intensity.
Use different exercises and machines. Mix it up with cardio
work, dumbbells, rubber strength bands, yoga, martial arts,
whatever… you get the point. Just be creative.

Three Times A Week Is Enough

The more is better mantra is definitely not something you
want to live by when you want to work out for both weight
loss and muscle gain. Three, one hour workouts are
sufficient for you to see incredible improvements in your
weight, strength, and definition.

Losing weight and building strength can be done at the same
time without having to risk losing muscle or putting on too
many pounds. You don’t have to settle for one or the other.
You can do both and have a much healthier body.

The Absolute Best Diet to Lose Weight Quickly – These 3 Critical Steps Guarantee Your Success

If you are struggling with weight issues, there will be no shortage of people that will be all too eager to let you know that they have discovered the best diet to lose weight. I am sure that they are only trying to help, but taking their advice may cause you more harm than good. I understand what you are going through. It was not so long ago that I was in the same position that you are in now. In my search to find the best diet to lose weight I tried nearly every hair brained scheme I could find. The problem was that they were either completely ineffective or only worked temporarily. Any weight loss plan you expect to see permanent results from will need to include these 3 critical steps.

Step 1: Healthy meal planning. If you are unwilling to change the way you eat, you can forget about losing the spare tire. After all, how do you think it got there in the first place. Try to stay away from any plan that requires you to buy their food. They are expensive and If you do not plan to buy their products forever, you will probably end up gaining back everything that you lost. How can a program be the best diet to lose weight if you do not learning to shop for yourself and plan healthy meals.

Step 2: Daily exercise. If you are looking for the best diet to lose weight, then it has to include a good workout. A combination of strength training and aerobics are a very effective means of burning fat and getting fit. I know that some of you will see this as unfortunate, but a good workout does not include 12 ounce curls!

Step 3: Keep a fitness journal. This is a very effective methods of keeping yourself honest. If you write down everything that you eat, you may not be as tempted to have that candy bar. You will also be less likely to skip a workout. This is an outstanding way to keep track of your progress.

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How to Lose Weight Fast With Diet and Exercise – 4 Essential Weight Loss Steps

People are always looking for the right way to set and reach their weight loss goals,did you know that using diet and exercise is key. The truth is that over half of the population is overweight, and with that extra weight comes the risk of developing fatal health problems. It’s best to start losing weight now, while you’re still ahead of the game because in all actuality, there is no right time to get fit. It should start with you right now in the present moment.

Located below are four easy ways to lose weight fast:

1. Find a Diet You Can Stick With – Don’t go out and simply dive headfirst into the first diet plan you come across. Be realistic about your weight loss goals. If you really want to know how to lose weight fast with diet and exercise, you’re going to have to look around. Ask yourself if the diet plan you are interested in is safe. Does it deliver all the nutrients that you need to survive? A good, solid, nutritious diet plan should be something that you can stick with for life, not just for the moment.

2. Get Moving – Do not plan to get started on an exercise regimen. If you procrastinate and state that you will “do it tomorrow”, then it will never happen. Get up out of your seat right now and go run a mile. The thing is that you’re probably really never going to feel like working out, you’re just going to have to get up and do it. Do something different every single day so that your workouts do not get boring. Try not to plan your workouts, but rather get up and do a different exercise everyday. As long as you are working out vigorously for at least 45 minutes per day, you should lose weight quickly.

3. Allow Yourself to Cheat – Anyone who has ever known how to lose weight fast with diet and exercise has cheated, and allowed themselves to do it. If you’re craving a bagel, piece of chocolate, or anything else that is loaded down with carbohydrates or high in calories, allow yourself to indulge. Make sure that this isn’t an every-other-hour occurrence because you do not want to defeat the purpose. When you let yourself cheat, it’s not as difficult to stay on track. It’s those individual’s who never allow themselves a slice of cake that fail miserably and end up weighing more than what they did to begin with.

4. Take Breaks – If you’re going to stay on track, then you cannot be so strict on yourself. It’s understandable that you want to lose weight, but you cannot push too hard. Your body needs to rest in order to heal and be prepared for the next round of exercises. Allow yourself to break for at least one or two days per week. The days that you break do not necessarily have to be side-by-side, but they do need to be present. When you rest, you’re able to pick up the pace even more and give it your all. More than anything else, taking breaks helps you to stick with your plan, which is ultimately what helps you to get the job done.

As you can see, knowing how to lose weight fast with diet and exercise is not difficult. It’s mostly about being realistic and sticking to your goals. If you mess up and overindulge one day, then who cares? There’s always the next six days to make up for it. You’re only human, and are not expected to run daily marathons or starve yourself. And besides, you’ll never get anywhere that way anyhow. What pays off is being persistent and actually enjoying your weight loss journey.