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Strength Training: Bidding Adieu To Flab!

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Winter is an excellent excuse to over-indulge in food. Blame it on the cold weather that makes exercises less appealing or the endless holiday celebrations. You can easily camouflage extra fats in winter months with long overcoats but what about summers?

Don’t despair! You can still get into your favorite tunic top. This time it’s not about curbing your cravings or sweaty efforts to get slim. Just grab an exercise band, a set of dumbbells and get ready for strength training. It is generally thought that strength training is for body builders. But according to American college of sports medicine, strength training ranks number 2 amongst the most popular trends in fitness. Here are some strength training exercises that will make you lose inches all over and give your metabolism a boost, that too – without dieting!

1. Sword Draw: Take the exercise band and fix its one end to the ground. Stretch it and stand to its right. Carry dumbbell in the same hand and slowly sit back into a squat. Rotate to the left. Repeat the same thing with the left arm. It helps in firming shoulders, back, arms, front and thighs.

 

Sword Draw

2. Knee Up Row: With one side of stretching band anchored under the foot and other in the opposite hand, stretch it tightly. Carry a dumbbell in the same hand. Bend both the knees and stay there for some time.  This is used to firm thighs, shoulders, arms and hips.

Knee Up Row

Knee Up Row

3. Table Top Balance: Anchor one end of the band in the ground. Sit with one knee and one hand on the ground and stretch the band with the other hand. Also carry a dumbbell in the same hand.  This strength training firms abs and butts.

Table Top Balance

4. Chest Press Crunch: This exercise firms chest and arms. Lie on the floor with knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Hold band and dumbbell with both the ends in both the hands and stretch at chest level. Perform crunches.

Chest Press Crunch

 

5. Power Wood Chop:  Anchor band over the head towards the right side. Hold a dumbbell in both the hands and stretch the bands by bending to the right side. Perform the same with the left leg and repeat. This exercise firms front and sides of abs, hips, inner and outer thighs.

Power Wood Chop

 

Strength training is the best way to get firm and in shape.  If performed as routine and with care and professional advise -  it doubles metabolism and triples results.

Image Credit: Google Images

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Strip Away Kilos With A Morning ‘Cup Of Joe’!

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You can’t think of getting your day started without a ‘cup of Joe’. You are ready to keep your breakfast at stake for a cup of coffee- acceptable! But would you do the same if your weight loss plan is at stake? Thinks twice! Your morning ‘cuppa Joe’ could be a diet detriment, if you don’t keep those extras out.

Coffee is not to be blamed. The real culprit is the extra milk, cream, sugar and flavorings. Mindlessly adding sugar and cream to your coffee could fetch you more than 200 calories in just one go (and you haven’t even eaten anything yet!). You can strip kilos by making your coffee a bit ‘modest’ by trying:

Green coffee: Generally coffee is made from the beans that are roasted, just to make it tasty. But the process of roasting eliminates Chlorogenic acid. This acid is the active component that is known for its fat burning effect.  Chlorogenic acid is present in the green unroasted coffee beans which help to reduce the absorption of sugar and carbohydrates into blood. Though green coffee does not pose any side effects but it shouldn’t be consumed by pregnant ladies, breast feeding mom’s and kids.

Black coffee: Making your coffee black is by far the best method for losing weight because it’s free from sugar, flavors and fats. This calorie-free drink contains more caffeine and helps in weight loss. Drinking black coffee before workout will be of great help because it speeds up metabolism providing temporary energy boost. This in turn results in more intense exercise contributing to weight loss. And if you can’t stand the taste of black coffee you can add on fat free soya milk to it. It will do wonders to the taste.

Caffeine content in coffee is very important for weight loss. One factor affecting the caffeine content is the brewing process. Different brewing methods require different amounts of coffee and good coffee brewer (with good brew settings) is must to ground coffee to desired levels. Coffee brewers like brazen coffee brewer offers unparallel temperature control and brew settings to make coffee taste its best and healthy

 

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Gift Health & Happiness This Thanksgiving

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Thanksgiving is all about connecting with family and friends, sharing and being thankful about different things in their life. It is a time to rejoice with your close friends and your family. Most people like to celebrate Thanksgiving by sharing a meal with their friends or neighbors. You can either cook a meal for your guests or be a guest for this Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving is all about cooking and savoring a large meal, which comprises of delectable delicacies that shall only amount to obesity. If this celebration Thanksgiving is all about being thankful, lets’ not forget that we all ought to be thankful for good health too. Thanksgiving should now be celebrated as a healthful, happy occasion and not the fattening occasion it is often celebrated as.

It is better to avoid adding extra inches to your waistline, so that you can be in perfect shape for Christmas. Make this Thanksgiving conscious and self-nurturing not just for yourself but even for your kind host. Here’s a brief lowdown on some of those Thanksgiving gifts you really need to avoid this Thanksgiving, along with some healthful substitutes too!

 

Bakery basket

Bakery baskets are probably the most common gifts people choose to gift for Thanksgiving. It is so common to receive sugary delights such as muffins, cakes and cookies for Thanksgiving every year. These are so common, especially with the Christmas just round the corner. These are not just common, but extremely fattening too.

Instead Of:

Gifting those extra pounds to your guest this Thanksgiving, why not gift them a GrowBottle this Thanksgiving. Your hosts will love you for being so thoughtful. The GrowBottle can be made of a recycled wine bottle and you can grow some fresh herbs in it. This will also help your host save money during the winter peak period, as they need not buy those extremely expensive herbs from the market.

 

GrowBottle -Grow Some Fresh Herbs

Alcohol

Most people love gifting expensive wine or beer bottles for Thanksgiving. Some of these wine bottles are not just expensive, but unbelievably fattening too. It is best to avoid liquor or beer this Thanksgiving, and opt for wine bottles instead. Instead of presenting any expensive wine bottle to your host this time, how about a little calorie check?

Instead Of:

Picking up expensive wines with many calories, go for the lighter, low calorie wine bottles. Skip the heavier wines this Thanksgiving and choose the lighter ones instead.

 

Gift Lighter, Low Calorie Wine

Candies

Children love you for these. But is it really fair to tempt kids with these attractive goodies and weighty gifts? Candies are those sugary delights, no kid can resist. Instead of gifting these unhealthy, sugary gifts, consider gifting something more thoughtful to your hosts’ children.

Instead:

Gift them something useful instead, by picking up from a range of good books. You can also consider gifting them movie or game CD’s that would make them happy too.

 

Gift Books To Children Instead Of Candies

Chocolates

Chocolates are tempting treats that most individuals love to gift and be gifted too. If however, you’re planning to gift good health and happiness to your hosts instead of obesity, milk chocolates are a big NO. Milk chocolates are quite fattening and unhealthy too.

Instead:

Consider gifting home-made chocolates instead and preferably, go for dark chocolates. You can also make your own healthful snacks to make your host feel special this Thanksgiving.

Gift Healthy Breakfast To Your Host

You can also consider cooking a healthy breakfast for your host in advance, so that your host needn’t worry about Friday’s breakfast. It will be a thoughtful gift to make your host feel really happy. Bring a smile on your hosts’ face this Thanksgiving, without luring them with fattening, unhealthy gifts. It’s’ time to spare a little thought to your hosts’ health this Thanksgiving, instead of choosing just any Thanksgiving gift.

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Knock Off White Foods,The Worst Dietary Offenders

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Did you ever analyze your daily diet? If not, you should do it soon, especially if weight gain is an issue. Morning dietary routine usually begins with a bed tea having plenty of sugar in it. This is followed by white bread laced in butter for breakfast, white rice for lunch and white floor bread for dinner.White Foods

Do you see a common factor here? To give a hint, a color is involved. You might be oblivious of the fact but white foods cause weight gain or interfere with your weight loss efforts. But does that mean you need to banish all white foods. Not, until you fully understand the concept of white foods.

What Are White Foods?

White colored foods that have been processed and refined generally fall into this category of white foods. Common examples of white food include: floor, rice, potatoes, white bread, cereals and white sugar.

These are processed and contain high amounts of carbohydrates responsible for increased insulin production. Increased insulin production aggravates cravings for more carbohydrates.

Some people mistakenly believe that even the healthier counterparts of white foods like onion, cauliflower, turnips and white potatoes fall into the same category. While they don’t harm in raw form, they would definitely backfire if deep fried. The difference between both categories of white foods is that, while the former are processed with all the fibers removed from them, the latter contains a lot of fibers. Besides, higher glycemic index present in white foods causes trouble with your insulin regulation.

Replacing White Foods With Healthier Alternatives.

Whole grains are healthier alternatives as they retain the bran, germ and endosperm. They are also better sources of fibers, as well as important elements like potassium, selenium and iron. Whole grains can include simple foods like brown rice, buckwheat, whole wheat and popcorn. Other foods that are recommended by the health experts are: Vegetables (except potato!), Brown bread, Olive oil, Fresh fruits, See foods, Nuts, Whole, eat pasta, Legumes

Avoiding white foods is useful step towards weight loss, but when done as part of healthy diet program, will give quick results. Generally, such health programs include a diet plan for two weeks. These two weeks can be hard because the body will have irresistible cravings for rice and sugar. But then the catch is to go beyond the cycle of food cravings. So eat healthy and stay fit!

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Are Your Circadian Rhythms Making You Fat?

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Circadian clock, popularly known as body clock or biological clocks has a strong connection with weight loss. Your body is bound to circadian rhythm that spans around 24 hour oscillation of protein and mRNA transcript (messenger RNA) levels in your body. Researches have shown that disruption in these circadian rhythms not only cause obesity but cancer, premature aging, cardiovascular disease and psychological problems as well.

Upsetting circadian clock for any reason – jet lag, random work shifts, casual and untimely eating habits can lead to weight gain. Majority of people are oblivious about the fact that their body has its own timetable for eating and sleeping. To be more comprehensive our entire body is synchronized with this circadian clock in such a manner that it can work in correspondence with external environment.

How Circadian Clock Links To Weight Loss

Food Anticipatory Activity (FAA) of the body, i.e. the time when body anticipates food increases the oscillation of metabolism hormones (ghrelin, insulin, etc). This helps the food to metabolize correctly (i.e. digest properly). However if our body’s circadian clock is off  the sync or disrupted, this cycle breaks which leads to food being stored as  fat( usually visceral ) as your body is not prepared to metabolize food .

Therefore when it comes to losing weight, it is not only what you consume each day that matters, but the timing of every food you consume that matters as well.  Consuming right foods at the right time can maximize your chances to lose weight successfully.

 

Tips To Turn Your Body Clock Right

  • Exercise Regularly - Get some cardio workout for 20 minutes after you wake up in the morning. Research findings point out regular exercising in the morning everyday on is effective in burning fat faster.
  • Wake – Sleep cycle – Keep it consistent, atleast waking time for each day.
  • Keep you sleep time between 8-6 hours, because that is just optimum.
  • Consume heavy breakfast; keep lunch health and dinner as light as possible. Food consumed during the day transforms into energy and when the same food is eaten at night, it stocks up as fat in the body.
  • Have a light nap in the afternoon and do some walking or cardio in the evening to maintain weight.
  • Keep you dinner time preferably before 8 pm.
  • Curb false appetite or food cravings. If you are still unable to control appetite then snack on fruits with high fiber content.
  • If you are gaining weight and have a 24/7 lifestyle you need to amend it soon. Somewhere the inconsistent eating, sleeping and working is putting those extra pounds on your body.

Keep Checking In For Future Editions On Body Clock & Weight Loss!!

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Burn Calories By Boosting Metabolism

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The rate at which youBoosting Metabolismr body utilizes energy or burns calories is called metabolism. The amount of calories needed for proper functioning of your body is determined through resting metabolism. When the body breaks down nutrients and converts them into energy, the process is known as energy metabolism. Metabolism works in the same manner for everyone. However, the way in which it changes nutrients differs in every individual. The rate at which your body is able to burn calories when you are at rest is determined by Basal metabolic rate (BMR). Metabolism plays a vital role in weight loss. A person having high metabolic rate has greater chances of burning calories faster as compared to a person having a slower metabolic rate. Although both the persons consume the same amount of calories, the individual having a high metabolic rate burns calories more efficiently. The individual with slower metabolism rate is unable to burn all the calories consumed. The additional calories are therefore saved and gradually converted into fat.

Metabolism and weight loss – Finding the relation

Metabolism is closely linked to weight loss. Since metabolism is the amount of calories needed to keep your body functioning, it induces weight loss. You need to burn more calories than you consume in order to lose weight. More calories are used by a person with high metabolism for performing the required functions. However, a person with lower metabolism would require lesser calories for performing functions. An individual with higher metabolism will be able to burn more calories faster, when it comes to weight loss. When calories are burned, you automatically tend to lose weight. Burning more calories also means that the stored body fat is being utilized as energy.

How to boost metabolism for weight loss

The best and most effective way to lose weight and keep it off is by boosting metabolism. Boosting metabolism has long term benefits, as it will help you in burning stored fat in your body. Here are a few ways in which you can boost metabolism and lose weight effectively.

  • In order to boost metabolism you need to cut down on the amount of calories you consume daily. The unused calories are stored as fat in your body and lead to weight gain.
  • Increasing cardiovascular exercise is an effective way to boost metabolism. These exercises help in burning more calories, thereby helping in weight loss.
  • Ensure that you get enough sleep in order to boost metabolism. Your body’s metabolism is controlled by chemicals that come from the endocrine system. The working of the system completely changes when you do not get enough sleep. This influences your body functions such as regulating blood sugar levels and storage of energy.

Foods that help in increasing metabolism

Consuming foods like oatmeal, grapefruit, lean proteins, low-fat yogurt and green tea help in boosting metabolism and losing weight. Oatmeal is a rich source of fat soluble fiber and needs several calories to break down. A lot of energy is needed to break down when you consume lean proteins found in chicken, turkey and other lean meats. During the digestive process, your body burns a lot of calories, thereby resulting in weight loss.

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