Saturday, December 29, 2007

Weight Loss through Yoga - Loose Weight Effectively!

Yoga has long been touted as a relaxation technique that tunes the body, mind, and spirit into working in harmony. But many fitness experts and yoga teachers now say that yoga also leads to effective and lasting weight loss where other techniques have either failed or shown minimal results.

Any weight loss program includes regular exercise and a healthy diet. But what's even more important is sticking to the program. This is hard for most people as hectic schedules hinder exercise time, and day-to-day stress brings on emotional eating. Here's where yoga can help you.

Yoga is first and foremost a very effective form of deep relaxation. Even the most basic breathing exercises and poses (asanas) which define your first yoga session will help you clear your mind and better deal with stress. This positively affects your state of mind toward yourself and your life. As you are more relaxed, you will find it easier to control and eventually eliminate emotional binges and snacking between meals. The deep breathing exercises (pranayama) enhance concentration and inner strength, which help you stick to a diet or an alternative exercise routine.

Yoga tones and strengthens every muscle in your body. It also stimulates glands that secrete hormones which increase metabolism and alleviate depression. As you reach more advanced levels of yoga, you get more nimble and find it easier to work off excess fat. The pranayamas increase oxygen intake, thus facilitating smoother functioning of every organ in your body. An hour of yoga leaves you feeling rejuvenated, which means that you feel better throughout the day and tackle even mundane household chores more energetically, thus burning more calories.

If you are obese or excessively overweight, yoga is only an indirect way of getting in shape. It preps your mind and body for weight loss. So, if you initiate the other required steps in addition to your yoga sessions, you will soon be on your way to a lighter you and much healthier lifestyle.

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Friday, December 7, 2007

5 Little Tips that can help you Lose Weight

In order to lose weight and become healthier, you will need to plan a diet that you can stick to. Your diet plan is not a crash diet that you will give up after two weeks; it should be a LIFESTYLE change. Your diet changes must be reasonable or you will not be able to stick to them. That's why making a few subtle changes to your eating and exercise habits may help you develop a healthy diet plan that will, in turn, help you lose weight. Sometimes, the littlest things make the biggest difference.
Look at your diet patterns and decide if there are some nasty patterns that you can break. For instance, are there certain times of day when you just have to have a candy bar? Or are there certain times of day when you can't go without that bag of chips? Think about what you can reasonably give up or even better what can you replace with healthier food choices.
Here are some little habits that you might consider changing. The key is, you are breaking a BAD habit and instilling a GOOD habit in its place. This should be a PERMANENT change. Ask yourself, "Can I maintain this change for the rest of my life?"
Fast Food : Do you eat out everyday for lunch? Start to bring your lunch to work at least 4 days a week Even stopping by McDonald's twice a week can have a big impact on your diet. When you cook at home, you know what's going into your food.
Drinks: When you're thirsty, choose drinks that don't have any calories (water, tea, or diet soft drinks). If your drink choices do have calories, they should have nutrients. Alcohol and soda both contain useless calories.
Snacks: Do you have a certain time of day that you just HAVE to snack? Fill your cupboard and refrigerator with low calorie snacks. Get rid of those high carbohydrate and sugary snacks.
Dinner: Maybe your hardest time of day is when you sit down to have a big meal. While you're cooking, eat a healthy snack - like a piece of fruit or a few low calorie crackers. Cook only what you will eat (no leftovers). If you make more than you're supposed to eat, serve from the stove, and put leftovers away before you sit down to eat. In other words, do not have extra food sitting in front of you on the table. Do you know that a meat serving should be only as big as a deck of cards?
Exercise: Exercise MUST be a part of your daily routines: When you're shopping, park your car far away from the store. Plan for this and do it EVERY time - especially in the cold weather! (The colder it is, the more calories you will burn.) Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Play a game of hide-and-seek with your kids. When you take the dog for a walk, make it a brisk walk. Can you find some way to sneak in some exercise everyday? Look carefully at your routines and plan something that you don't mind doing. If you like it, chances are you will continue to do it.
I have got these interesting information about Weight Loss on ActiveRx.com.

Thursday, December 6, 2007

Exercise to Lose Belly Fat - 2 Ways You Must Change Your Workout

Do you have trouble trying to lose belly fat with exercise? If so, you are probably making some very simple mistakes. Learn how to fix them once and for all.

If you answered yes, then you are certainly not alone! Chances are that you are making some very common mistakes when you exercise. These mistakes are stopping you from being able to effectively lose belly fat with exercise!

This article will explore 2 very important aspects of your exercise routine that you must have correct if you want to finally start to lose tummy fat.

1. Circuit Training to Jump Start Your Metabolism

Many people simply do not know that you can lose belly fat with exercise by strength training in a circuit of different exercises.

It is interesting. The more muscle you work when you exercise, the higher the number of calories you will use during the actual working and in the hours after you are finished. To many, this is counterintuitive.

Many people think that strength training is a form of exercise that adds massive amounts of muscle, not helping to lose stomach fat.

I really want to help you see how weight training will help you increase strength, raise your resting metabolism, shape your muscles, get past frustrating plateau's, and last but not least, help you lose belly fat!

I do want to warn you though, do not make the common mistake of just doing "3 sets of 15 reps" on the machines in the gym. Machines can sometimes be a decent way to begin, but they are simply not the most optimal way to help you lose belly fat.

A more ideal alternative is to use circuit training exercise to help you get more work done in less time. Try using your own bodyweight and some functional equipment instead of the machines and you will see what a difference it makes!

Here is an example circuit training routine:

First, do a 5-10 minute warm-up

1. Inverted pushups ' 12 reps

2. Bent over dumbbell row ' 12 reps

3. Bodyweight squats ' 12 reps

4. Stability ball leg curls ' 12 reps

5. Side planks ' 5-10 seconds per side

6. Standing overhead DB press ' 12 reps

7. Stability ball crunches ' 15 reps

Try going from the beginning to the end with 0-30 seconds of rest in between each exercise. If you do this entire circuit 2-3 times, you will get a great workout that will help you lose belly fat and gain muscle in about 20-30 minutes.

This is just a sample exercise routine that illustrates that basic structure of a fat loss circuit training workout With this circuit training workout, you will exercise to lose belly fat as well as get stronger!

Always try to rest at least one day in between each workout to give your body a chance to recover. Remember that your muscles build up and get stronger while you are at rest after an exercise session.

2. Interval Training as Opposed to the "Average Cardio Routine"

If you have never tried interval training instead of the average long, boring, and arduous cardio routine, you are totally missing out!

The truth is, going slow on a cardio machine for 30-60 minutes like most people is not an efficient way to exercise to lose belly fat. All you are doing is training your body to adapt to the same workout, which in turn will have you burning fewer calories with each exposure.

Interval training help you lose stomach fat because it has a huge impact on your resting metabolism. This means you burn calories after the session is over.

One research study found that interval training burned calories for up to 36 hours after the exercise session was over. The same study found that people who used interval training burned more calories than those who did the normal slow cardio routine.

Here is the bottom line: if you want to exercise to lose body fat in the quickest and most efficient way possible, then interval training is a must.

With interval training, you merely alternate between high and low intensities instead of going at the same speed the whole time. If you use interval training directly after a circuit training workout, you will get a lot more work done in less time.

You will crank up your metabolism for several hours after you are done working out. This will help you burn many more calories that if you did the standard long, slow, boring cardio routine.

Now that you see a basic structure for your workouts that will help you finally lose belly fat with exercise, it is time to go give it a try. Losing fat does not have to be arduous and slow.

With the right exercise routine combined with the right diet, you should lose 1-3 lbs of belly fat each week, depending on what condition you are in when you begin. Good luck!

Author : Tom Gifford

Having trouble losing weight? My name is Tom Gifford and I am a Personal Trainer. I have some excellent news for you. Come check out my website at http://www.TheGreatCardioMyth.com and receive two chapters of my brand new book at no cost! You will find lots of cool tips and tricks you can use immediately.