What’s the Best Exercise to Lose Weight?

by MBadmin on January 21, 2012


If you’re wondering what the best exercise to lose weight might be, you have lots of company. If there was one simple answer to this question, the world would be a lot simpler place. Everyone could just do this miraculous exercise and reach their ideal weight! Unfortunately, it’s not quite that easy. However, it’s not as hard as some people make it out to be either.

The trick is to find the type of exercises that get results for you and that you don’t mind doing -and then to do them consistently. That is simple enough, but the part of this equation that causes the most trouble is the “consistently” part. Anyone can start an exercise program, join a gym, buy an aerobics or Zumba DVD and try it a few times. What separates those who get long term results and those who remain frustrated is usually the ability to keep going with the program.

So let’s look at some factors that can help you find the best exercises to do and also to find the motivation to stick with your workouts!

Should You Join a Gym?

This is one of the most basic questions to ask yourself. You can succeed with or without a gym or fitness center, but you should be honest with yourself about which alternative would suit you best. Answer the following questions:

*** Do I need a structured environment to stay motivated?

*** Do I prefer exercising around other people, or do I prefer privacy?

*** Is there a good gym or fitness center within a 15 minute walk or drive from me?

*** Do I prefer working out indoors or outdoors?

There’s no “right” answer to these questions, but they are all quite relevant when it comes to the decision whether or not to join a gym. Don’t underestimate the purely practical question of how far you are from a gym. Studies show that people who have long drives are less likely to work out regularly. Of course, one other possibility is if you commute to work and there’s a gym near your job, but that’s just a technicality. The point is, a gym is only a convenient place to work out if you’re near one.

The indoor/outdoor question is also important. If you’re an outdoors enthusiast, you might want to focus on exercises you can do in the open air, whether it’s bike riding, jogging or hiking. Of course, you still might want to join a gym if you live in an area with harsh winters or that gets a lot of rainy days when you wouldn’t want to be outdoors. You could, in this case, have all of your bases covered by joining a gym and still exercising outdoors when you can.

The Importance of Variety

Regardless of where you work out, it’s important to vary your routine every so often. There are two essential reasons for this. First of all, your body gets accustomed to a certain type of exercise and therefore the benefits of doing it become less and less over time.

If you use a machine like a treadmill, it’s possible to vary the speed, incline and difficulty. With weights, you have a wide variety of exercises that can be done. If you’re working out at a fitness center, there’s usually no problem when it comes to variety, as there’s lots of equipment and usually a whole lineup of classes as well.

Even if you work out at home, there are possibilities for varying your routine. You can accumulate a collection of tools and workout gear that allow you to do many different exercises, and these don’t have to be expensive. Here are some examples:

*** A Jump Rope -simple tool, great for intense cardio workouts

*** Hoop -as in Hula Hoop -it turns out that hooping wasn’t just a 1960s fad but also a great workout!

*** Mini Trampoline or Rebounder -small, portable and extremely versatile

*** Resistance Bands -portable bands or cables for strength training

*** Exercise Balls -good for stretching and core strength building exercises

These are just some of the simple and fairly inexpensive exercise gadgets you can buy. That’s not even counting all of the exercises you can do on a basic exercise mat, from yoga to sit-ups to calisthenics.

Take a Walk!

Walking is underrated as a form of exercise, probably because it’s so simple and something we all take for granted. If you remember the old fable of the Tortoise vs. the Hare, walking is definitely for tortoises! That’s because walking isn’t going to make you fit, strong or thin overnight, but it has definite advantages for long term fitness.

Walking is probably the safest and easiest type of exercise you can do. This makes it suitable for everyone, even the elderly or people with long term health problems. You can even walk if you’re pregnant. Naturally, if you fall into any of these categories, you should consult with your doctor first, but when it comes to walking you can start off as slowly and for as short a distance as is appropriate

Walking also overlaps with its more strenuous cousin, hiking. Hiking usually refers to walking in the woods or mountains, often with more challenging terrain. Not everyone lives in an area that’s suitable for hiking, but even if you live in the city or suburbs there may be hilly areas, or even places with steps to give you an incline.

Some people find walking can get boring, but there are ways to make it more interesting.

*** Find a partner to walk with; you might even start a little group for walkers!

*** Vary the terrain and location of your walks, and even the time of day.

*** Listen to music or an audiobook when walking

*** If you like malls, walk around a large one -but no breaks for snacks or shopping until you’re walk is finished!

Since walking doesn’t burn up as many calories as running or other aerobic activities, it has to be done frequently and consistently if you’re going to get the benefits from it. Remember, the Tortoise ends up winning that race against the Hare, but only because he’s persistent!

Exercise, Diet and Lifestyle

If you’re serious about losing weight, you have to make sure your diet and overall lifestyle support your exercise program. People who have difficulty with weight loss usually have trouble with either one or both of these elements -exercise and diet. You really can’t make any long term progress unless you give them equal attention.

If you overeat or eat junk foods frequently, you’re undermining the efforts you make when you work out. Of course, if you’ve convinced yourself that you can’t control your diet, it’s better to exercise than to eat poorly and be sedentary. But when you make an effort in both areas, that’s when you’ll start to see significant changes for the better.

One thing you may not realize about diet is that it has a huge impact on your energy level. That’s why exercise and diet go hand in hand. When you eat poorly, you tend to feel tired and lazy. You may have short spurts of energy from eating sugar or junk food or from drinking caffeinated beverages, but then you crash quickly. This isn’t a good recipe for an active lifestyle.

When you start eating better, on the other hand, you’ll have more energy for working out. Of course, it works the other way as well. Exercise revs up your metabolism so you have more energy. You’ll find that you don’t have to depend as much on artificial highs such as you get from sugar when you exercise regularly.

Exercise Can be Fun

Almost everyone enjoys some type of exercise, even if you don’t call it exercise. In fact, if you love to play a certain sport, go dancing or swimming, or anything else that burns up calories, you’ll be more likely to look forward to your workouts than dread them.

Consider what sports you like watching on TV, what activities thrilled you as a child or teenager, or what you’ve always wanted to try. Remember, it doesn’t matter if you’re not an expert or even very competent at it. One thing that’s different about today, as opposed to the past is that adults are allowed to try new things. You can take classes or lessons in almost anything at any age.

The idea is to find something that will make you feel enthusiastic. When you find something that fits the bill, you’ve found the best exercise to lose weight!

 

 

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The Latest Weight Loss Strategies

by MBadmin on January 15, 2012


 

 

 

For many people, the attempt to lose weight is a long term struggle. They’ve tried all kinds of diets, read lots of diet books, tried various exercise programs and so forth. What’s most common is not total failure when it comes to losing weight, but a difficulty in getting long term results. This can be frustrating, and can even make you feel like giving up. Don’t let this happen! It’s still worthwhile to study the latest strategies for losing weight, eating healthier and getting fitter.

Here at lose weight Programs, we try to bring you some of the most recent findings on these topics, but we also realize that everything isn’t going to work for everybody. We can’t even guarantee that every single method or news item we list is effective. There’s still much disagreement when it comes to what works best, and you have to also consider that different people have different needs.

So the best thing to do is sift through the information we present, such as the links below, and try to find something that’s relevant for you. Sometimes even learning one new fact or idea can make a big difference. This could be some new finding, or something you’ve heard many times before but never really thought about.

 

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The Benefits of Coconut Water, Milk and Oil

by MBadmin on January 4, 2012


 

 

What are the benefits of coconut water and other products derived from coconut? Not that long ago, unless you lived in the tropics, you probably seldom thought about coconut. Perhaps you had a coconut flavored drink every so often (more likely than not, one containing alcohol!) -but you never considered coconut to be one of the healthiest foods on the planet. Now, however, it seems that every other product that’s for sale in a natural foods store has coconut in it!

Yes, we’re hearing about the benefits of coconut water, coconut milk and coconut oil all the time. Coconut oil is not only good for cooking, but it’s used in all kinds of skin care products. Coconut water is now becoming popular as an alternative sports drink. Coconut milk, meanwhile, is starting to become a leading milk substitute, especially as soy based products are becoming suspect in many ways. So let’s take a closer look at this coconut craze and see what benefits can be derived from this wonderful fruit from the tropics!

Coconut Water

Coconut water is the clear liquid you find when you open a young coconut. It’s naturally sweet, yet low in calories and it’s fat and cholesterol free. For this reason, it makes an excellent sports drink. It’s the ideal compromise between people who find plain water too boring but who don’t want to load up on sugar and empty calories that are found in commercial sports drinks.

Coconut Milk

Coconut milk is the thicker, creamier white liquid that’s prepared from meat of the coconut. In other words, you can’t crack open a coconut and get coconut milk -you only get coconut water this way. Coconut milk has to be made.

Coconut milk is sweeter and richer than coconut water, making it a good substitute for regular milk or soy milk. While coconut milk is considered by many to be very healthy, these claims are sometimes disputed because it’s high in saturated fat (the same is true for coconut oil, as we’ll shortly see). However, many nutritionists are rethinking the whole “saturated fats are bad” philosophy.

Coconut Oil

Coconut oil is enjoying a real renaissance in the health food community, probably even more so than coconut water or milk. Suddenly, we’re hearing that this oil, though high in saturated fat, is ideal for cooking as well as for skin care.

It seems that previous research that supposedly proved that coconut oil caused a rise in cholesterol was based on using hydrogenated coconut oil. As many people are now aware, this is a process that produces the “bad fats” or trans fats that are the cause of so many health problems. Trans fats in anything raise the LDL or bad cholesterol to go up. Pure coconut oil, however, has no such effects -just the opposite.

One of the major benefits of coconut oil is that it contains lauric acid, which is a natural enemy of many harmful microorganisms and possibly even cancer cells. Lauric acid helps protect the body against bacteria, fungi and viruses, so it has many healthy qualities.

Coconut Products and Weight Loss

If you’re trying to lose weight, which coconut products should you consume? The short answer is, “all of them!” This doesn’t mean, however, that you have to go overboard and drink or eat coconut products from dawn till dusk. Even though coconut milk and oil both contain healthy fats, if you’re trying to cut back on calories you obviously don’t want to overdo it with any kind of fat.

You can use all of the products in moderation and gain the benefits. This is true for everyone, whether you want to lose weight, gain weight or maintain your current weight. You can drink coconut water as a sports drink, or just when you want a refreshing cold drink. Don’t drink it in place of regular water, though. Pure H20 should still be your primary beverage of choice!

Coconut milk is probably the best milk substitute if you’re vegan or lactose intolerant. Even if you do eat dairy, there’s no reason not to add coconut milk to your diet. You can find many healthy recipes that use coconut milk, or you can just drink it as a refreshing beverage that’s a bit more substantial than coconut water.

Coconut oil is ideal for cooking. This is one big edge it has over the other super healthy oil -olive oil. I’d never suggest giving up olive oil, as this is not only delicious but it’s one of the healthiest “good fat” foods you can consume. However, olive oil is not good for cooking, as it loses its benefits and actually becomes toxic. So, if you want a simple formula, consume olive oil raw and coconut oil for cooking (though coconut oil is also fine uncooked).

Coconut oil also has many other benefits, and it can be used as a moisturizer and even in your hair. You can find many products on the market that contain coconut oil, but very often it’s safer to just use it straight up. Many products, even those sold in health food stores and online from health and nutrition companies contain all kinds of suspect ingredients.

Do your research -Dr. Mercola’s website has a lot of good information on the dangers of many supposedly healthy and natural skin care products, shampoos and so forth. With plain coconut oil, you don’t have any such worries! You can’t really use pure coconut oil as a shampoo, but you can use it in your hair as a conditioner and then wash it out with a gentle and preferably organic shampoo.

In conclusion, more benefits of coconut-derived products are being discovered all the time. Of course, the native peoples of regions where coconuts grow -many tropical regions from Africa to the South Pacific- have long known how healthy, as well as delicious this fruit is. Now, however, modern civilization is finally catching up. So, coconut water, coconut milk, coconut oil -and just plain coconuts of course- are all foods you can eat with pleasure and without guilt!

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How to Lose Weight in 2012

by MBadmin on December 23, 2011


Are you determined to lose weight in 2012? Some people are worried that 2012 is going to be the end of the world, but why don’t we decide instead to make it the year to end your excess pounds? It’s easy to make New Year’s resolutions, of course, and not always so easy to keep them. But if you take the right approach, you can lose quite a bit of weight in the coming year!

If you’re like most people, you tend to overeat around the holiday season. This includes the entire period from Thanksgiving to New Year’s. To make things worse, it can be harder to find time to exercise during the holidays. Then, after New Year’s, we often have the excuse that the weather is too extreme to leave the house! That’s not true for everyone, of course, -but unless you’re one of the lucky ones who lives in a place with mild winters, it can be a challenge to run or even drive to the gym in the middle of January or February.

I’m writing this article a little before the new year, but I’m going to assume that you’re reading it after the holidays and you’re wondering how to fulfill your resolution to lose weight this year. So if it’s still pre-New Year’s when you see this, just keep it handy for use in a few more weeks!

Post Holiday Dieting

First of all, if you gained weight during the holidays -or simply failed to lose any- don’t waste any time blaming yourself or feeling sorry for yourself. That doesn’t solve anything. In fact, some people actually use this kind of self pity as an excuse not to diet after the holidays are over! Don’t let yourself fall into this trap. It’s a new year, and a chance for you to develop new habits.

Don’t attempt to achieve a miracle in a few weeks. Life being what it is, it’s not usually as easy to lose weight as it is to gain it. So it may take a little time to work off any extra pounds that you packed on at the end of the year. Don’t fret about this, just accept it. Be willing to take it slowly, and lose a little weight at a time.

You may want to try a certain diet, either one you’re familiar with or a new one. That’s up to you, and I’m not going to recommend a specific diet for you right now. But, whatever diet you choose -or, if you prefer to just try to “wing it” without a formal diet (often the best approach, in my opinion)- try to keep the following guidelines in mind.

*** Reduce or eliminate junk food -you’ve heard this before, but it’s important. If you’re completely addicted to a certain type of junk food, have it once per week.

*** Eat whole grains instead of white flour -this includes bread and pasta -it may take time to get used to it, but in a week or two you’ll develop a taste for the healthier, whole grain varieties.

*** Drink healthy beverages -water (naturally), green tea, yerba mate, herbal tea, perhaps a glass of wine per day; coffee is ok in moderation, preferably black. Avoid soda (even diet soda), sweetened drinks and even too much fruit juice.

*** Fruits and Vegetables -everyone tells you to eat more of these, so start doing it!
Experiment with new ones that you don’t usually eat; the more vegetables you put on your plate, the less room they’ll be for more fattening stuff.

*** Start your large meals off with vegetable soup or broth; it’s nutritious, and will help fill you up before you eat the main dish.

*** Eat more slowly; you’ll enjoy it more, consume less, and digest it more efficiently.

These are just some basic points to keep in mind, no matter what diet you’re on. Now, let’s take a look at the other major component of weight loss -exercise.

Your Post Holiday Exercise Program

As noted, it can be challenging to start or resume an exercise program in winter. Between the weather and a general inclination to be lazy and stay indoors, it can be difficult to summon up the needed motivation to burn off those calories. It’s probably even in our genes to be sluggish in the winter, just as many animals hibernate.

Here are some tips to help get you moving around, even on the coldest winter days:

*** Start the day off with exercise, whether it’ s a stationary bike, jogging, a mini trampoline (you should try one of these!), jump rope or calisthenics that require no machinery.

*** Take a class you enjoy -it could be a type of dance, power yoga (the best kind for burning calories) or anything else that motivates you to leave the house or make an extra stop after work.

*** Walk more -if it snows a lot where you are, get a pair of snow shoes. Walk to the store, around a nearby park or whatever’s convenient. Cross country skiing is another possibility!

*** Don’t neglect resistance training -research shows that working out with weights, or machines burns off fat even more efficiently than aerobics, so make sure you do this regularly.

*** Team up with a friend -fitness and weight loss is more fun when you have a partner, and it can be very motivational to have someone to work out with. You can also help encourage one another if either of you is feeling discouraged or lazy!

The above tips for losing weight are, of course, valid all year long, but they can especially useful right after the holidays. Whether you lost or gained weight over the holidays -or remained exactly the same- is no longer important. It’s a new year, and time to start over.

Don’t think of weight loss as a gigantic, steep mountain that looms ahead of you. Focus rather on the small next step that you have to take today. You already know how to lose weight -the only question is, are you ready to really do it this year?

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Lose Weight by Decluttering Your Body

by MBadmin on December 14, 2011


If you want to lose weight, one way to see it is that you have to declutter your body. This may sound a little odd, but it’s worth thinking about. The whole idea of clutter and decluttering has gotten popular in recent years, and for good reason.

Clutter can be a more serious issue in your life than you might realize. Having lots of clutter around your home isn’t only messy and a little depressing, it interferes with your thought process. If you believe in feng shui, it blocks the energy around your home. But you don’t have to invoke esoteric ideas to see how detrimental clutter can be. It can make it hard to find important items, and keeps you in a state of confusion and disorder. So how does clutter affect your body?

If you’re carrying excess weight around your mid-section or elsewhere in your body, what else is it but a kind of clutter? Clutter is, after all, anything that takes up space -whether in your house, mind or body- and doesn’t make any kind of useful contribution to your life.

How to Declutter Your Body

So what’s the point of thinking of your excess weight as clutter? Is this just a gimmick or a new word to use to describe a familiar problem? No -it’s actually more than this. For freeing yourself from clutter is just that -a kind of freedom. Clutter has many qualities, depending on what type it is, but one thing that’s essential to know about it is this: it’s always possible to get rid of it!

This is very important to realize -clutter is a temporary, changeable phenomenon. It’s always within your ability to reduce or eliminate clutter, because it’s not an essential part of your life, by definition. That’s why it’s so helpful to think of pounds you don’t want as clutter.

Many people who have been trying to lose weight for a long time -whether it’s years or even decades- start to think of this excess baggage as inevitable. They see it as something that’s a part of them, even though they’d like to be rid of it. This is a self-defeating attitude! Your excess pounds are merely a type of biological clutter that you have the power to reduce.

Are You Adding to the Clutter?

Of course, the kind of “clutter” we’re talking about doesn’t just appear spontaneously on your body. No, it comes about as a result of the foods you eat and your everyday life habits. This isn’t news, of course. But since this is an article about decluttering your body, we should continue this metaphor and see how it applies to what we take into our bodies.

Much of what passes as “food” today consists of empty calories, and what else is this but clutter when it enters our bodies? I’m talking about most processed foods, such as sugar, white flour, trans fats, fast foods, soda and the like. These “foods” may taste good and give your body a temporary energy boost, but they provide virtually no real benefits.

Think of what unhealthy fats do to your system -they clog up your arteries. Doesn’t that sound a lot like clutter? Keep in mind, though, that this only refers to unhealthy fats. Your body needs a certain amount of fat, as well as protein and carbohydrates.
We should, in fact, look at this point a little more closely, since it’s one that causes quite a bit of confusion.

Healthy Foods vs. Foods that Clutter up Your Insides

Many people who go on diets fall victim to the simplistic way of thinking that all carbs and/or fats are bad. So they flock towards processed and unnatural foods like margarine, diet soda and various “low fat” and “sugar free” (which often means sweetened with substances such as aspartame, which is actually worse than regular sugar!) foods and beverages.

It’s much more helpful to think in terms of healthy vs. unhealthy foods rather than fattening vs. non-fattening foods. According to this framework, natural and organic foods are the healthiest to consume, while processed, highly sweetened, deep fried and other junk foods are the unhealthiest.

Of course, quantity is also relevant, so you have to watch your intake of calories. However, as a rule, processed foods are higher in calories and contain excessive amounts of salt and sugar which make you want to eat more of them.

Again, think of what clutter means on your desk or in your closet. It’s those items that are just taking up space without serving any useful function. It could be things that were once useful but that you no longer need, broken items or maybe even things you never really needed. The same is true for foods that clutter up your cells, organs and arteries.

Don’t get too hung up on the idea of clutter as a bad thing you have to get rid of. You do want to shed these pounds, but first you have to accept the reality that they exist, at least for now. So your real focus should be on the future -on reducing the amount of new clutter that you take into your body.

Naturally, exercise is an important part of the weight loss equation, and this is a way to lose unwanted pounds, along with watching your diet. Exercise, of course, helps you take in more oxygen, increases your metabolism and helps your circulation -all activities that declutter your body in various ways!

In conclusion, there are many ways to think about losing weight. We’ve suggested here that thinking of it as clutter can be useful. You can think of decluttering as a useful metaphor or as a literal truth when it comes to any extra pounds you may be carrying.

When you make the decision to start decluttering your life, you begin to free yourself in many ways. You realize that you’re in control over your own body and what you take into it. So, take responsibility for the clutter in your life so you can start to get rid of it!

Find out more on how to declutter your life!

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Weight Loss and the Holidays

by MBadmin on December 6, 2011


The holiday season can be especially challenging for anyone trying to lose weight. Not only are there the big holiday meals, but in between you’ve got office parties and everyone’s got cookies, candy and other tempting treats wherever you look. So what’s the best way to handle it -just give up your diet unitl after New Year’s? Not quite. You can find some middle ground between being perfect -and a killjoy to everyone else around you!- and going completely overboard.

Give yourself some leeway for this time of year, but that still leaves you plenty of time to eat healthy. Even if it seems like you’re constantly consuming holiday goodies, there are plenty of meals when you’re eating “normal” food. So be a little extra careful during those times. And there’s no reason you have to stop going to the gym this time of year, unless you’re trapped inside because of a blizzard!

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Hypnosis and Self Hypnosis For Weight Loss

by MBadmin on November 29, 2011


Hypnosis For Weight Loss

The notion of hypnosis for weight loss is certainly intriguing, and one that would be nice to believe in, but is it for real? The idea isn’t quite as farfetched as it used to be, since today more people are familiar with how the subconscious mind works. Hypnosis and self hypnosis are now used for a variety of purposes, and while not yet exactly mainstream, the idea is at least accepted as possible by many.

Strictly speaking, no one is saying that you can’t make pounds disappear by hypnosis, as though by magic. No, hypnosis is designed to reprogram your subconscious mind so that you behave differently. After all, your actions have a lot to do with your weight, as well as many other aspects of your physical health. Put like that, it doesn’t seem so hard to believe.

So what kind of changes can hypnosis cause in our behavior.

*** Eat Less -consume fewer calories

*** Eat Healthier -make better choices when shopping/cooking/ordering out

*** Exercise More -more motivation when exercising

*** Improved Self Image -reduce self-sabatoge

Can hypnosis really do all these things? Theoretically, yes. Does it always work this well for everyone who tries it? Unfortunately, no. But, then, nothing works for everybody, including diets, exercise or diet pills.

What is Hypnosis Anyway?

“Hypnosis” is a relatively new word, having been coined in the 19th Century based on the work of a man named Franz Mesmer (from whom we got the word “mesmerism” which means basically the same thing as hypnosis). It means going into a trance state where you are highly suggestible. In more recent times, scientists have identified certain specific brain waves that occur during such states.

Hypnosis was originally associated with stage hypnotists and magicians, who would make people do funny or bizarre things under hypnosis. Yet at the same time, it was also being used for therapeutic purposes. It fit in well with the emerging field of psychology, which emphasized the role of the subconscious mind in our behavior.

Types of Hypnosis

There are many ideas and theories about hypnosis, but in this relatively brief article, we’ll just look at two main kinds. One is hypnosis that someone does to you -whether a stage hypnotist or a hypnotherapist. The other is self-hypnosis, which is more like meditation, as you put yourself into a relaxed, trancelike state.

One of the more popular types of self-hypnois today are those that use technology to help induce the trance. This is usually a recording with relaxing music that may also have suggestions designed to bring about a certain effect. There are recordings for prosperity, better health, confidence, and, of course, weight loss.

Some hypnosis tapes, CDs or MP3s use subliminal suggestions, which some researchers believe are more effective at reaching the subconscious mind. Others use what are known as binaural beats, where a different frequency is played into each ear (you need headphones for this effect), in order to balance the two hemispheres of the brain.

Using Hypnosis For Weight Loss

If you wanted to lose weight using hypnosis, how would you go about it? Well, you could visit a qualified hypnotherapist. While this wouldn’t be cheap, compared to any type of traditional therapy, it has the advantage of being fast acting. Most hypnotherapists focus on teaching you techniques you can use on your own, so you don’t have to constantly return to them for sessions.

Another option is to find one of the many recordings that are designed to help you lose weight. These can be played at your convenience, though you can’t play them while driving or doing anything where your full conscious attention is required.

Does it Really Work?

That’s the burning question we all have. Trying this technique probably won’t hurt, and there’s evidence that it does really help some people. At the very least, it can help you relax, which can be beneficial all by itself. Aside from this, anything that has you focusing on your goals can be helpful, even if that sounds suspiciously like what doctors and scientists like to call placeboes.

Yet, hypnosis or self-hypnosis may actually do what it claims to do, at least for some people. To give it a fair chance, however, you’d have to do it consistently for a while, at least a couple of months. It could work faster than that. but even if you did see benefits, it would be a good idea to keep doing the sessions at least once a day for a while.

One Tool Among Many

Don’t expect hypnosis to work all by itself. Of course, the whole point is that it’s supposed to make it easier for you to stick to your diet, exercise program and other goals. However, your conscious mind has to help it along by trying your best to stay focused.

Since hypnosis focuses on your subconscious, it’s still up to you to find the external tools that work best for you. In other words, you should do your research and find a diet that’s healthy and that agrees with your body (not all diets work well for every person).

The same is true for exercise. If you’ve always hated going to the gym, you shouldn’t try to hypnotize yourself into loving it. Work with your natural tendencies, and get yourself to exercise in a way that’s consistent with your interests and preferences.

The real objective of hypnosis for weight loss is to allow you to do the things that you have to do to lose weight without having to exert so much will power. If your subconscious mind is more in alignment with your conscious goals, there’s less of a chance that you’ll sabotage yourself by cheating on your diet or abandoning your exercise program.

Using hypnosis for weight loss may sound strange or exotic, but it’s really just another way to use your mind in a way that supports your goals. It may not be for everyone, but if the idea sounds appealing or at least interesting, you may want to look into some of the possibilities for losing weight using hypnosis.

An Innovative Program for Using Hypnosis For Weight Loss

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Talking About Your Goals

by MBadmin on November 19, 2011


Want to lose weight? Shut your mouth

Some health experts now recommend that you don’t tell others about your health and fitness goals, such as your plan to lose weight. This may seem strange, as you may have heard that it’s good to tell as many people as possible. This is supposed to hold you accountable. Yet there’s another side to this issue.

Unfortunately, many people who are overweight are not surrounded by people who will support them if they want to lose weight. This is often because they are also overweight or have unhealthy habits, and will feel threatened or even abandoned if you “leave the club.”

Another reason mentioned by some self improvement experts about why it’s not a good idea to talk about your goals is a little more complicated. It has to do with the way your brain functions. Your brain doesn’t know the difference between thinking about something and actually doing it. That’s why visualization can be so effective in many areas. However, when it comes to talking about your goals, this can make your mind believe you’ve already accomplished the goal, which means of course you have no work left to do!

This is only one opinion, of course. The truth is, whether or not you talk about your weight loss and other health related goals depends on your circumstances, and how supportive your friends and family are. But these are good points to be aware of. If you do talk about your plans to lose weight or get in better shape, don’t let the possibly negative reactions of others discourage you. And don’t let your own brain fool you into thinking that you’ve already reached your goal!

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How to Choose Healthy Foods for Weight Loss

by MBadmin on November 10, 2011


Finding healthy foods for weight loss isn’t that difficult, but there are a few principles you have to understand, and a few popular misconceptions that must be cleared up.

First of all, terms like “low fat” “low calorie” or “diet” on the package of a product doesn’t automatically mean that it’s good for you!

As more and more research is showing, we actually need a certain amount of healthy fats in our diet. Not only that, but some foods that are low in calories substitute sugar with artificial sweeteners such as aspartame, which could be even worse for you than plain sugar! This includes “foods” such as diet soda, diet candies, cookies and other sweets.

Beware of Substitutes

Another area where you have to be careful is in “substitute” type foods that are made to taste like another, higher calorie food. The most obvious example here would be margarine, which many people assume, without any real evidence, is better for you than butter. Margarine contains the worst type of fats, trans fats. The fact is, since around the mid-20th Century, as margarine began to get more popular than butter, heart disease in the Western world has skyrocketed.

The notion that all saturated fats, such as you find in butter and other dairy products are bad is fortunately going out of style. In fact, it’s arguable that the worst thing about modern dairy products are the hormones and antibiotics injected into the animals at factory farms. The way to avoid this, however, isn’t to switch to “fake” foods, but to seek out all natural or organic dairy products.

The Pitfalls of Soy

The other common “healthy” substitute for animal products is soy. If you go into a health food store, quite a few of the packaged foods are high in soy. This includes items like veggie burgers, tofu hot dogs, soy milk, soy pizza and soy “ice cream.”

This is another area where recent research has shown that eating large quantities of soy is not a good thing. There are several reasons for this, one of the major ones being that soy is high in phytic acid, which makes it harder for the body to absorb essential nutrients.

Soy products have also been linked with many health problems, including certain types of cancer. Most soy has also been genetically modified. If you want to know more about this, you should do further research on the dangers of soy.

Soy products that are fermented, such as miso and tempeh are good for you, because fermentation blocks the detrimental effects of phytic acid. Most products containing soy, however, such as soy nuts, most soy milk and tofu are not fermented.

Fruit vs. Fruit Juice

As long as we’re picking on health food stores, let’s tackle another favorite that such stores usually devote an entire aisle to -fruit juices. While fresh fruit is highly nutritious, the same can’t be said for most juices. The reason for this is that juices contain much more highly concentrated amounts of sugar. In short, you’d have to eat quite a bit of fruit -more than you’d be likely to in one sitting- to equal what you’d get in a glass of juice.

Does this mean that you should abandon all “health foods” and gorge on butter, cheese and meat? Of course not. While natural saturated fat can be healthy in moderate quantities, if you’re trying to lose weight you should certainly limit your intake of them. The point is, rather, to discourage you from thinking that the popular substitutes for such foods can be safely enjoyed.

If you want to move in the direction of a healthier diet that’s also lower in calories, you should focus less on protein and more on vegetables and whole grains. This is hardly original advice, but it’s something many people have a hard time doing.

While many of us have cravings for carbs, meat, sweets and fats, it’s rare that someone craves an apple, sunflower seeds, carrots or broccoli. When we eat these things, it’s usually because we know they’re healthy and they are often chosen as appetizers, side dishes or snacks.

Even though it can be difficult, the best way to switch to a healthy diet that’s also helpful for weight loss is to start off with the foods you know are good for you. This has to be done both when you go shopping, and when you’re cooking (or ordering your food at a restaurant or choosing takeout at a deli). In other words, don’t even think about the protein, starchy carbs or dessert until you’ve chosen the salad, veggies and whole grains.

It may seem strange to plan your meal around a salad or portion of vegetables, but it can be done. In fact, starting meals off with salad, vegetable soups and fresh vegetables is a good way to leave less room for the other stuff that you crave. What’s good about this approach is that you don’t have to think in terms of depriving yourself of the goodies -you’ll be automatically eating them in smaller quantities because you’ll have less room for them!

If you follow this practice, your tastes will also gradually change. Not completely -you may still have an urge to feast on fried chicken, pizza, ice cream or whatever your guilty pleasures might be. But you won’t feel the need to do so every day, and you’ll get accustomed to eating smaller amounts of these treats.

So, to recap, let’s go over the principles we’ve discussed so far.

*** Avoid “fake” foods such as margarine, diet foods, tofu & artificial sweeteners

*** Eat natural or organic saturated fats, but in small to moderate quantities

*** Eat fresh fruit, limit your intake of fruit juice

*** Focus on vegetables, fresh fruit & whole grains first when you shop & cook

*** When you prioritize healthy foods, you’ll have less room for less healthy ones

Keep in mind that these are guidelines that can help you eat in a healthier way, but no one is perfect. It’s not what you do occasionally that matters, but what you do on a daily basis. So if you’re interested in finding healthy foods for weight loss, keep such principles in mind.

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It’s Never Too Late to Lose Weight

by MBadmin on October 29, 2011


There is more and more evidence that losing weight at any time in your life lowers your risk for heart disease and many other health problems. While tradtionally, we are used to thinking it’s common to gain weight as we enter middle age. Yet now, many younger people, even teenagers are overweight. The unfortnunate statistics about childhood obesity is accompanied by rising rates of various diseases in younger people, including strokes, that were formerly thought to target only older people.

The good news is that if young people lose weight, they can significantly reduce their chances of getting many serious diseases. This is hardly surprising, but it’s good to see that research backs up this common sense idea. So, don’t get trapped by the mentality that you are simply a person who’s destined to be overweight. With some effort, and attention to diet and lifestyle, anyone can lose weight and become healthier!

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Weight Loss Motivation Tips

by MBadmin on October 14, 2011


When it comes to weight loss, motivation always plays a major role. In fact, for many people, it’s the single most important element of all. While information is always useful, it’s not hard to find nowadays. If anything, there’s so much information on diets, exercise, and other habits that either help or harm your weight loss efforts that it can be confusing, leading to information overload.

Yet even information overload is only a problem when it interferes with your motivation. That’s the real key -to have a certain goal and move towards it, despite any obstacles. For many of us, this is a very inconstant factor. Our motivation varies from day to day. Yet this can present a real problem, because to make progress with a goal like weight loss (or almost any goal, really), consistency is a must. If you only stick to your diet or exercise when you feel like it, which might be every other day, your results will be disappointing.

Let’s look at some helpful tips that can help keep you motivated to lose weight.

Practice Self-Acceptance

This can be a tough one, but it’s the starting point for any type of self-improvement. Even though you may want to change, you have to be accepting of where you are right now. This may sound like a paradox, but if you think about it, it can be resolved.

Consider the analogy of driving a car to a destination you’re anxious to get to. You may wish the trip would go by faster, and you may be looking forward to arriving, but you don’t have to hate where you are now. In fact, you can actually enjoy the drive, savoring how good it will feel when you get there!

It may not be quite as easy to do this with a goal like weight loss, but it’s possible. Think that every day you’re getting closer to your goal, whether it’s visible or not. If you feel frustrated or impatient with yourself, you’ll only be making it harder. If you have a real problem with self-acceptance, use whatever tools you can find, or get help if necessary. Ultimately, it’s even more important to feel good about yourself than to lose weight, though you can have both!

Connect With Others

While it’s true that you have to do the work when it comes to making changes to your diet and lifestyle, others can help. Usually, what you need most of all is moral support. This can be very simple things, like a conversation when you feel especially challenged.

There are many ways to do this without being a burden to other people. Just let people know you’re trying to lose weight -you don’t have to make a big deal about it. If you can find a friend who has the same goal, you might work out together or discuss strategies, but even if you can’t find such a partner, it’s still helpful to have people to talk to.

You can even find quite a bit of support online. Join a forum or two that’s devoted to fitness or weight loss. Ask and answer questions, meet some people. This will give you a sense of connection that can make a big difference in your long term motivation!

Focus on Positive Habits, Not Deprivation

This is an interesting one, because it involves both your actual diet and your state of mind. Most diets tell you to eat more fruits, vegetables and whole grains and avoid sweets, junk foods, unhealthy carbs and the like. This is all good advice, but there are two basic ways you can look at this -from the point of view of what to do, or what to avoid.

No one likes to feel deprived. Many people who have weight problems are in the habit of “emotional eating,” using food to feel better. Actually, almost everyone does this to some extent. Using will power to stop yourself from eating “bad” foods is usually not very successful in the long run.

Yet if you focus mainly on the other side of the coin -eating more healthy foods- a real shift can happen. For example, make up your mind when you go shopping that you’re going to buy the healthy foods first. If you use shopping lists, put the fruits and vegetables at the top of the list. Make healthier foods the main focus of your meals, even if you’re also eating less healthy items.

One result of this is that, as you add more healthy foods to your diet, you’ll have less room in both your stomach and your budget for unhealthy and fattening foods. Additionally, as you make a transition in your diet, your tastes gradually change. This doesn’t mean that if you love sweets now that your sweet tooth will totally disappear. But, believe it or not, it can become less extreme. Junk foods, especially sugar, salt and fried foods, have addictive qualities, so as you eat less of them, you crave them less.

So focus mainly on what you should eat, and you won’t feel as deprived from your diet.

Make Your Exercise Fun!

This is a tip you may have heard before, but it’s an important one. Forcing yourself to do workouts that you hate is counterproductive. No matter how much will power you have, it’s next to impossible to push yourself week after week to the gym if you consider the treadmill to be akin to a Medieval torture device.

Almost everybody enjoys some type of sport or strenuous activity. This is usually enhanced by finding a partner or doing a group activity, like walking with people, taking a dance class or playing a sport you enjoy.

Try to combine exercise with practical activities so you have more time for it. Walk or ride your bike to the store. This won’t work if you’re stocking up on groceries for the whole week, but you can fit a few essentials into a backpack or basket that’s attached to your bike. If it’s practical, ride your bike or walk to work or school.

Make use of visualization. This is something you can do all the time -visualize how you’ll look and feel at your ideal weight. However, it’s especially effective with exercise. When you’re not exercising, imagine yourself doing a workout and really enjoying it and feeling yourself getting fitter, healthier and thinner. There’s evidence that this changes your brain chemistry and effects the body. And it will very likely carry over into your actual workouts, making them more enjoyable!

These are just a few tips to help you stay in a positive frame of mind as you lose weight. There are many other things you can do as well, of course. The main point to remember is that if you want to be motivated for weight loss, don’t dwell on what you think is wrong or lacking in you now, but on the benefits you’re seeking.

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What Are the Best Sources of Protein?

by MBadmin on October 10, 2011


Many diets are high protein, low carb focused, but you may be wondering where you should be getting your protein from. This isn’t the same for everyone. The decision, for example, whether or not to consume animal protein is a very personal one, and there are pros and cons to being a vegan, vegetarian or healthy meat eater. If you do choose to eat animal products and/or fish and meat, try to stick to natural and organic sources. This means grass fed beef, dairy products without hormones and organic eggs.

Good Sources of Animal Proteins:

*** Whey protein

*** Grass fed beef

*** Organic dairy products (milk, yogurt, cheese, butter)

*** Organic/Free Range eggs

Good Sources of Vegan Protein

*** Hemp Protein

*** Nuts (peanuts, almonds, cashews, etc.) and nut butters -natural, preferably organic without added sugar!

*** Beans (pinto beans, black beans, lentils, etc.)

Naturally, if you do eat animal products, this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t also dip into the second category for protein. Keep in mind also that you don’t have to overdo it with protein. Some health experts, in fact, believe that we don’t need nearly as much protein as most of us assume. This is another area where you have to experiment and find out what works for you. You should read books, listen to experts and so forth, but listen most of all to your own body!

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    Weight Loss Tips Customized to Your Needs

    by MBadmin on October 1, 2011


    One of the problems many people have with losing weight is that they have trouble deciding which diet, exercise program or theory of nutrition to follow. The real secret is to find the ideas that work for you, based on your needs, goals, preferences and personality.

    It’s really best to approach losing weight with a combination of common sense, knowledge of universal facts that apply to everyone (e.g. certain foods such as sweets and trans fats are gong to work against your health and weight loss goals), and a recognition of your particular needs and preferences.

    Keep in mind that if you are extremely obese or have a serious health condition, you can still benefit from these principles, but in such cases you also need professional medical advice.

    Should I Go on a Diet?

    This is a question that everyone who wants to lose weight asks themselves. You may have tried diets with little or limited success, and you may be tempted by a new diet you’ve heard about. This is one of those issues that requires you to be honest with yourself in order to answer it the right way.

    There are essentially three approaches when it comes to diet vs. no diet.

    1) A very structured diet, with rigid meal plans or pre-packaged meals

    2) A more loosely structured diet with general recommendations

    3) No formal diet, where you monitor yourself

    Diets such as Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, the Cambridge Diet and many others fit the first model. Many people have found success with these, while others find them too constricting. If you’re someone who feels more comfortable with structure, this may be the answer for you. Such diets provide you with many resources, such as meetings (either online or in person), strict guidelines on what to eat or sometimes actual meal packets, which leaves no room for doubt or ambiguity.

    The second option is for people who want some good general guidelines on what to eat, but don’t want to belong to a group or be handed their meals in packets or drink them as shakes. There are many good diets, from the South Beach Diet to the Mediterranean Diet to the Atkins Diet that many people have lost weight with. If you’re going to try one of these diets, it’s advisable to stick to it for at least six months to give it a good chance to work for you.

    If you really don’t like the idea of diets, or are burned out trying and failing with them, you can still lose weight -but you need a certain amount of self-discipline. You should also study as much as you can about nutrition, and subjects such as the glycemic index, the difference between healthy and unhealthy carbs and fats and other relevant issues.

    How Much Exercise Do I Need?

    This is another area where you can find many different ideas. Lately, for example, there’s quite a bit of debate over whether aerobic/cardio type exercise or weight lifting/resistance training is best for losing weight. In general, it’s best to do both, of course, but you also have to take your preferences into consideration. The best type of exercise to do is the kind you’ll actually continue with over the long run. No exercise program is going to work if you force yourself to do it for a few weeks and then quit.

    So your first priority is to identify a type of exercise that you either enjoy or can at least tolerate. If you can get yourself to the gym a few times a week, jog, or use an exercise machine at home, that’s great. Weight loss is one area where you don’t get extra points for being original. Tried and true exercise routines do work -if you make them routines!

    Some people, however, do need to be more creative about exercise because they can’t make themselves go to the gym or jog. There are many, many other options.

    *** Workout videos

    *** Jump Rope -simple but a great cardio workout

    *** Mini-Trampoline -highly recommended for a total body workout

    *** Exercise Balls

    *** Kettle Bells

    *** Racket Sports -tennis, racquetball, squash, etc.

    *** Mountain Biking

    *** Martial Arts

    *** Swimming

    *** Dance

    *** Power Yoga

    These are just some of your options when it comes to getting physically active. Find something you can stick with, at least for a while, and then, if necessary, switch to something else in a few months. There’s no law saying you have to do the exact same exercise routine year after year -in fact, your body often responds better to variety. What you do have to be consistent about, though, is doing some kind of exercise regularly!

    Eating Habits and Emotions

    One last area I want to touch upon is the subject of emotional eating. This lies behind many issues people have of overeating and eating the wrong foods. In some cases, eating habits are just that -habits. You may eat at certain times, eat a certain amount or certain foods just because you’re accustomed to it. Try to be more aware in the future, on issues such as these:

    *** Do you eat to feel better emotionally?

    *** Do you eat quickly? (studies show you tend to eat more this way and it doesn’t metabolize as efficiently as if you eat slower)

    *** Do you habitually take seconds or thirds of dishes?

    *** Do you frequently snack even if you’re not hungry?

    *** Do you eat simply because there’s food around -such as at parties, social gatherings, etc.?

    The first step in changing such behavior is to be aware of it. In some cases, it’s a good idea to get help, such as counseling or from a support group if emotional eating is a serious issue for you. There’s no reason to feel bad or guilty about this, as it’s a very common issue in our society. But that doesn’t mean you can’t change if you really want to!

    We’ve looked at a few of the questions you should ask yourself as you attempt to find the best weight loss program or diet for you. When you find the best approach for your own personality and lifestyle, you have a much better chance of seeing the results you want. It’s not always easy to lose weight, but people do it every day, and so can you!

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    Saving Money on Healthy Foods

    by MBadmin on September 28, 2011


     

     

    There’s more to losing weight that cutting back on calories -although that may be necessary. You also want to choose healthy foods, that will provide you with the nutrients you need and help you feel energetic. Eating well can even be good for your emotional health, as it helps you avoid mood swings and blood sugar crashes. Many “diet” foods are really not healthy at all. Diet soda is a prime example of this, as it contains artificial sweeteners such as aspartame, that have many proven side effects.

    Many people find that it’s expensive to choose healthy foods, and this is undeniably an issue. Yet if you’re creative and willing to buy bulk foods, it’s possible to stock up on foods that are good for you without breaking your budget. Buying in larger quantities, looking for good sales and seeking out foods that aren’t that expensive to begin with can help you save money.

    Here are some more money saving tips on healthy foods:

    *** Grains -rice, buckwheat, quinoa,

    *** Beans -black beans, pinto beans, garbanzos, lentils

    *** Discounted and “Day Old” breads and produce that’s often perfectly good but marked down in many stores

    *** Start your own vegetable garden! This is possible, even if you live in a city or apartment -many people have indoor and roof gardens!

    *** Cut back on fast foods, take-out foods, frozen foods and prepared foods -these are all expensive relative to cooking at home and are usually more fattening and less healthy!

    *** Look for specials on healthy foods in cans or jars and buy quantities of them to stock up (e.g. peanut and other nut butters, organic canned beans or vegetables, etc.)

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    Is Agave a Healthy Sugar Alternative?

    by MBadmin on September 23, 2011


    Agave is a popular “alternative” sweetener often found in products marked natural or organic. If you shop in natural foods stores, you’ve surely heard of it and may even eat many products made with it. Yet, is it really any healthier than sugar? Lately, we’ve all been hearing about how bad high fructose corn syrup is -yet the truth is, agave is often made of 90% fructose!

    While the name “agave” comes from the Blue Agave plant that grows in Mexico, the agave syrup or nectar that you can buy in stores is a highly processed product that’s mainly fructose. In other words, it’s a hyped up marketing trick to make you think you’re getting a pure and natural product, when in fact it’s just another version of sugar!

    According to the popular alternative health site mercola.com, agave is actually much worse than high fructose corn syrup -and you can be sure that Dr. Mercola is no fan of HFCS! He recommends pure Stevia as the best of the alternative sweeteners.

    Shocking! This ‘Tequila’ Sweetener is Far Worse than High Fructose Corn Syrup
    So if you’re looking for a healthy alternative to sugar or high fructose corn syrup, don’t fall for the hype around agave!

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    Benefits of Greens

    by MBadmin on September 22, 2011


    The benefits of greens are numerous, both for losing weight and improving your health. While this certainly includes green vegetables, what we’re going to focus on today are green such as algae, chlorella, spirulina and other “superfoods.” Many of these products come from the sea or other bodies of water, while some are land based plants. These are very high in minerals and other nutrients, and they’re often recommended for anyone wanting to detox.

     

     

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      Weight Loss and Anti-Aging

      by MBadmin on September 21, 2011


      There are some who believe that an extremely low calorie diet is the secret to long life. This has not been proven, but some tests on animals seem to suggest it might be possible. At the same time, you have to be careful about depriving your body of essential nutrients. It’s one thing to cut back on calories because you need to shed a few pounds, but something else to starve yourself in the belief that it’s going to help you live longer.

      If it does turn out that cutting back drastically on calories is an anti-aging secret, it would have to be done in a scientific manner, ensuring that your body’s nutritional requirements were met in an efficient way. This is clearly a topic that needs more study, and you should be careful about experimenting on yourself if you’re not sure what you’re doing.

      The following video is an interview (2 parts -there’s a link to Part 2 in the video) with a raw foods bodybuilder who maintains his physique on a very low calorie diet. So it may be possible to be healthy and even muscular on a low calorie and even low protein diet -but do your research before trying something like this!

       

       

       

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      Proven Weight Loss Strategies are Usually Best

      by MBadmin on September 20, 2011


      While it can be tempting to believe in fads, trends and miracles, proven weight loss straegies are usually the most reliable. You should be open to taking in new information, such as healthy foods or supplements you may not have heard of, or new exerises or smarter ways to work out. What we’re referring to here is hyped up claims, such as those that promise you can lose lots of weight in a short time with no effort!

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      Calorie Shifting to Lose Weight

      by MBadmin on September 16, 2011


      How to Start a Calorie Shifting Plan -Lose Weight For Real

      Calorie shifting is a popular dieting plan where you limit your calories for a certain number of days, and then take a break from your diet for a few days and eat whatever you want. On some diets, such as Fat Loss 4 Idiots, you are told to restrict calories for 11 days and then eat what you want for 3. This may sound like a strange plan, but it seems to work for quite a few people.

      What is the logic behind this? It has to do with the fact that when you restrict calorie intake, your metabolism naturally slows down to adjust. This is what happens when people are facing food shortages -their bodies must conform to taking in fewer calories. The problem is, you don’t want your metabolism to slow down. This means that, at a certain point, you won’t be losing any more weight even though you’re eating a limited number of calories.

      With calorie shifting, you don’t give your body a chance to get used to the reduced calories, because every so often you increase your calorie intake. This way, your metabolism can remain at a healthy pace. There’s also an additional, psychological benefit of course -you can look forward to the 3 days when you get to pig out!

      If you want to get the most out of calorie shifting, you also have to exercise regularly, as otherwise it will be hard to keep your metabolism moving at an efficient pace.

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      Schwinn 140 Exercise Bike Review

      by MBadmin on September 13, 2011


      Schwinn 140 Upright Exercise Bike Review

      If physical health is important to you, then no doubt you know how important regular cardio workouts are for keeping yourself in tip top shape. The Schwinn 140 Upright Exercise Bike is the perfect way to get a good workout and keep your weight in check. I decided to research this particular exercise bike so I could share my findings with you here in this Schwinn Exercise Bike review.

      Solid Construction To Handle Heavy Riders And Years Of Use

      When looking around for a quality exercise bike, one of the most important features I look for is how well the bike is built. Fortunately, the makers of the Schwinn 140 made quality and durability their #1 priority. Customers rave about how well this bike is built, with no signs of squeaks, creaks, or loose parts even after years of frequent use from overweight riders. No need to worry about durability here folks, this exercise bike is built like a tank!

      Customizable Options To Create Your Perfect Workout

      Another important feature of any good exercise bike is the options for customizing the types of workouts and how difficult they are. With seventeen built in workout programs and sixteen resistance settings, riders of all endurance and skill levels will be able to create a custom workout to suit them the best.

      Product Features and Specifics

      • Oversize pedals are ergonomically crafted with heavy duty materials for comfortable controlled pedaling
      • Console, seat, and handlebars are all adjustable for all body shapes and sizes
      • Built in weighted flywheel enables a smooth ride that feels as though you’re riding on an actual road
      • Diverse custom workout options with 17 programs and 16 resistance settings for 2 user profiles
      • Console is easy to read with a multi colored, backlit display
      • Monitoring your heart rate is easy with the telemetry enabled grip system
      • Both a magazine rack and water bottle holder are built in for user convenience
      • Can support weights up to 300 pounds while maintaining solid construction for years of use

      What Do The Users Say?

      This review wouldn’t be complete without mentioning what actual users of the Schwinn 140 Upright Exercise Bike had to say about their experiences. While researching this bike, I came across over 120 helpful customer reviews. You’ll be happy to hear that the average rating on this particular exercise bike was 4 out of 5 stars, with the majority of the reviewers actually giving a perfect score of 5. Most of the reviewers were extremely impressed with the build quality, and a few mentioned how much they liked the silent operation and compact design.

      Here are some things a few of the Schwinn 140 owners had to say:

      “I really like the electronics. The display looks high-end. It’s bright, easy to read, the colors are nice”

      “The bike is very quiet and smooth, allowing the user to change profiles on the fly”

      “I am extremely pleased with this bike and couldn’t have made a better choice”

      “The bike has been extremely solid with no squeaks, rattlers, or loose parts”

      While there were a few minor complaints about some difficulty in assembling the product, users were overwhelmingly pleased with the quality and features, as evidenced by all the positive reviews and scores. If you’re in the market for a great exercise product for your cardio workouts, look no further than the Schwinn 140 Upright Exercise Bike. Highly Recommended!

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      How to Stay Young and Lose Weight

      by MBadmin on September 12, 2011


      How to Stay Young Whatever Your Age

      For many people, finding ways to lose weight is part of solving the wider question of how to stay young. While we hear a lot today of products that are “anti aging” or that can “reverse aging,” most people would be happy to be in relatively good shape for their age. Finding your ideal weight can certainly be an important part of this, but it’s by no means the only part.

      Fortunately, most of the things you do to lose weight -at least the safe and healthy methods- will also improve your overall health and also help keep you young. Let’s look at a few of these habits.

      *** Get enough rest/sleep. Surprisingly, evidence shows that this can be helpful for weight loss, whereas people who are sleep deprived also are at risk for being overweight. Also, getting enough sleep keeps you in a better mood, makes you more productive and helps your energy levels -all signs of youth!

      *** Reduce stress -nothing ages you more than stress. Whatever you have to do, whether it’s learning how to meditate, getting some counseling or even spending less time with people who make you feel stressed, it’s worthwhile. Stress is also associated with obesity and being overweight, if there weren’t enough other reasons to want to overcome it.

      *** Exercise -regular exercise not only burns off calories, it helps elevate your mood, reduce stress (see above point!) and gives you more energy. This is probably the #1 activity to help you look and feel younger!

      *** Stay Connected -your social interactions can help you feel better in many ways, and can even reduce your risk of getting certain illnesses. Nourish the relationships you have, and if you feel lonely, look for ways to connect more with the people around you. Even contact with pets can be life affirming.

      *** Sharpen Your Mind -one of the most important ways to stay young is to keep your mind alert and in good working order. Reading, taking classes, learning new skills, practicing challenging hobbies, doing puzzles and even watching interesting documentaries all keep your brain cells firing.

      Not all of the above tips are directly related to weight loss (though many are), but all will help you to stay young as long as possible.

      This short video has some good advice on how to retain a youthful attitude towards life:

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      Exercise and Weight Loss -Aerobics vs. Weight Training

      by MBadmin on September 8, 2011


      What kind of exercise is best for losing weight? You can find many opinions on the topic, but a lot of it comes down to aerobic/cardio vs. weight lifting/resistance training. Let’s start off by saying that this is a silly debate, as you should do both!

      Until recently, it was fairly widely assumed that the best type of exercise for losing weight were the aerobic type -running, jogging, aerobics and so forth. There is still good evidence to back up the idea that aerobic exercise is the best way to burn fat.

      More recently, however, research has shown that resistance training is equally important for a variety of reasons. For one thing, when you lift weights or use resistance training machines in the gym (or do push-ups or other muscle building exercises), you actually increase your body’s ability to burn calories. So the idea that weight training is only for athletes and bodybuilders is a myth -resistance training is also important if you want to lose weight!

      Weight lifting is also very important for the health of the bones. This is especially relevant for women and older people, but it’s something everyone has to be aware of. It’s also good for your overall health and endurance to have strong muscles, and it makes it less likely that you’ll get injuries.

      So the question of whether aerobic exercise or resistance training is better is sort of like asking whether it’s better to eat protein or vegetables, when your body clearly needs both!

      This video points out why weight training is important for weight loss, and how it increases your metabolism:


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      Weight Loss and Body Image

      by MBadmin on September 5, 2011


      The controversy over a recent children’s book, Maggie Goes on a Diet brings up many of the contradictory and confusing points of view society has regarding issues such as self image and weight. Of course, part of the problem people are having with this book is the fact that its intended audience is young children. Many critics are justifiably asking whether we really want to make kids neurotic about their weight when they’ve only begun to learn how to read!

      Yet the issue goes beyond children, to be sure. There are debates all across society on questions such as:

      *** Should obesity be considered a disease?

      *** Is it ethical to discriminate against overweight people?

      *** Does our thin-obsessed society encourage eating disorders such as anorexia, especially in young girls and women?

      *** Is it healthier to accept ourselves as we are, no matter what our weight?

      There’s even something called the Fat Acceptance Movement, which encourages people to fully accept themselves, regardless of their body type. Yet, we can also ask whether accepting yourself means that you shouldn’t also be open to change, especially if it would be good for your health. This issue is raised in a recent column,

      Honest Talk in the Body Acceptance Movement

      Some feminists ask whether the obsession with weight is part of the patriarchal efforts to make women conform to men’s standards of beauty.

      Dieting and Feminism

      These are all thoughtful and interesting questions, but ultimately, isn’t what’s really important here our health and well being?

      It’s important to remember that there are health risks of being too thin as well as being too fat. This includes not only eating disorders, but also people who are deficient in certain nutrients. There is also evidence that people who are underweight have a higher than average risk of premature death. Yet the risks of being overweight or obese are also undeniable.

      There’s no reason to coerce anyone into having any specific beliefs regarding their weight. Well, there may be political or economic arguments to force people to be healthy, but that could easily bring about an Orwellian state of affairs. I think if someone who is overweight by conventional standards and is perfectly happy that way, that should be their choice.

      There is a strange paradox of living in a society where the majority of people are overweight (hard to believe as that may be), and yet many of the images of beauty seen in fashion magazines, Hollywood and advertisements portray people who are extremely underweight. Clearly, from the point of view of health, neither extreme is ideal.

      So what’s the solution? We might take a lesson from self-improvement literature and cognitive psychology. Loving and accepting yourself the way you are doesn’t have to be inconsistent with wanting to change. In fact, many psychologists and self help experts would argue that it’s much easier to change when you first accept yourself as you are now!

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      Why You Should Eat More Purple Foods

      by MBadmin on September 2, 2011


      The Power of Purple Foods

      Did you know that paying attention to the color of foods can be useful if you want to be healthier, lose weight and prevent certain diseases? You’ve certainly heard by now that eating lots of fruits and vegetables is healthy. Many experts now recommend eating foods -fruits and veggies in particular- of many different colors -green, orange and, in particular blue or purple.

      What’s so special about purple foods? They contain healthy substances called anthocyanins, which recent research suggests have anti-aging, anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory properties. Aside from blue/purple food such as blueberries, grapes, wine and black currants, they are also found in some red fruits such as strawberries and rasberries.

      Does this mean you should only eat foods that are high in anthocyanins? Of course not -but it would certainly be a good idea to include them in as many meals and snacks as possible. The best strategy is to try to include foods of many colors in your diet -and that means natural colors, of course, not artificial ones!

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      Green Tea -Miracle Cure or all Hype?

      by MBadmin on August 29, 2011


      Green Tea For Weight Loss

      Is green tea the secret to losing weight, preventing cancer, reversing aging and a host of other incredible sounding benefits? More and more research seems to suggest that it is, indeed, a very healthy beverage. But, like so many other “miracle cures,” you have to exercise caution in what you believe.

      Although tea has been consumed for centuries in Asia, modern research has only recently isolated the compounds that make it so beneficial -antioxidants, and one in particular, ECCG (you can look up the full name if you want -it’s very long!). Apparently, this substance can help lower cholesterol, burn fat and even prevent certain types of cancers.

      Yet, like anything else, green tea is not something that’s going to single-handedly make you skinny, healthy and eternally young. For one thing, if you want to lose weight, it takes an overall change in lifestyle, including reducing your caloric intake, eliminating many junk foods and exercising regularly. In this context, green tea can help, but you have to do the actual work of burning off those calories!

      If you’re a coffee drinker, you may want to try switching to green tea, at least some of the time. If you’re a coffee addict, you could keep drinking coffee in the morning and try green tea in the afternoon. The reduction in caffeine might also help you sleep better.

      This video is by someone who might be called a green tea fanatic!

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