At Home Fitness
Working out at home is a great way to save time and money. The gym can get expensive if you’re low on funds as well as gas money to and from. Time is saved too, which is great for those who are always in a hurry. Plus anyone can do at home fitness.
It good to have a small amount of equipment like dumb bells, exercise ball, and an exercise mat, but you don’t have to have those either. The main thing you need is consistency.
Don’t forget that simple household tasks and chores are considered exercise. For example, yard work, cleaning, vacuuming and even playing with the kids can get your heart rate up.
This way you also work muscles in different ways and alleviate boredom. There are thousands of people who quit exercise or an activity out of sheer boredom. This is why it’s good to change it up as often as possible. It’s also good to do what you enjoy.
If you enjoy the exercise or activity you will do it more often. For instance, there are a lot of men who enjoy washing and waxing a car, which gets the car clean and is good exercise.
In addition, many people have treadmills or stationary bikes and use them for at home fitness as well as aerobic or step videos. Anything that gets you moving will help you stay in shape at home. Think out of the box and be willing to try some different things.
Start out easy by doing some form of activity or exercise 3-5 days a week for 30 minutes. Then gradually increase the time to 60 minutes as well as upping the intensity.
Naturally, if your goal is to lose weight you will also need to reduce calories. Activity alone will not take off excess pounds nobody likes to hear this, but it is necessary.
Remember, anything you do that gets you moving is a form of exercise. Don’t underestimate at home fitness it works if you do it consistently.
Alcohol and Weight Loss
Alcohol and weight loss
If you keep track of what you eat and drink you will have a much better chance of losing weight. If you’re binge drinking or binge eating this is where you can lose all the progress you’ve made. To do this a tad of discipline is needed especially when you’re at a party and you see a skinny person across the room drinking like there’s no tomorrow. And you wonder why they don’t get fat and you do. I’m sure you’ve done this before, I know, I used to do it too, but not anymore.
The thing is you shouldn’t be thinking about their weight anyway, but about yours. The sooner you do this the better. It isn’t good for anyone to compare themselves to others. Do what is best for you and keep the focus on you and YOUR weight loss program. What may work for someone else may not work for you, you need a personalized weight loss plan designed for you. And if alcohol fits into that plan then go ahead; relax, and have a drink.
It may take a little getting used to if you’ve been a heavy drinker to limit your intake of alcohol. Worse yet, you may find that you have a drinking problem when you try to limit it and can’t. In this case you need to seek professional help or think about a 12 step program such as Alcoholics Anonymous. The latter program is free and has helped many people to sober up and get their lives back under control and I’m sure many of them lost a few pounds as an added benefit.
If you don’t drink at all that’s great then you don’t have to worry about alcohol and weight loss. However, you may know someone who does, so it might be nice to share this information with them and help them out. Meanwhile, keep track of calories and do your best to stick to a weight loss program
Fasting and Weight Loss
Fasting and weight loss is sort of controversial. Some people believe that if you fast you cause the body to go into starvation mode thus lowering metabolism. And as you may or may not know a lower metabolism is not a good thing if you’re trying to lose weight.
Then others like myself believe it can be done effectively as long as you know how to do it properly. For fasting and weight loss to work you need to have a plan that doesn’t abuse the body and cause it to go into starvation mode. It’s not that hard to do and is worth learning.
If someone abuses fasting then yes their body may think it’s starving and slow metabolism down creating the problem of little or no weight loss and the need to get it back up.
To use fasting and weight loss effectively you need to start by cutting out toxins at least a week or two BEFORE the fast. This way you prepare the body for a big change a little at a time. You can’t expect to eat junk food, smoke, consume alcohol or any of these toxic substances and suddenly just stop eating and not have a problem.
The key is cutting them out a little at a time, so that the body can adjust. For example, stop eating junk food one week then cut out sodas the next and so forth.
After you accomplish this you then begin to fast certain meals, not every meal. You may eat breakfast, but then only drink fruit or vegetable juice for lunch. Then eat a light dinner and, of course, you’re now eating healthy foods; junk foods are gone. This is how you gradually prepare the body for fasting correctly.
It takes discipline for fasting and weight loss to be effective. This is another great thing about fasting and that is it teaches disciplined eating habits. You can’t just eat when you want or what you want, that’s not how it works if you want to lose weight.
Once you get to the full fast, drinking only juices, you may want to do it for a weekend to start. Or a time when you’re not very active, so that you won’t get weak.
Then in time you can do the fast for longer periods, however, this is not something you do as a lifestyle, it’s for short periods. This way you gain discipline and detoxify the body as well as lose weight in a healthy and safe manner, without stressing the body.
Now you know how to do it correctly so why not give it a try?
Healthy Food Tips
Healthy food tips aren’t any good unless you follow them. This is the problem and that is that many people know how to eat right, but they don’t do it. In this day and age when information is readily available online and everywhere you go on healthy food tips how can anyone not know how to eat the right foods. They know but don’t do!
Just for the heck of it I’m going to lay out the basics. It all starts at the grocery store. When you’re shopping for food you need to read the labels! You are looking for calories, fat, salt and sugar amounts of each food you buy.
Healthy food tips are right there for you to read if only you will. Before you go shopping you need to research and find out how much of each is the right amount for you. Obviously, if you’re trying to lose weight then you choose low cal, low fat foods.
You also need to know about portion control and not eat heaping helpings or multiple helpings. This is basic healthy eating 101, we all know this.
Always eat breakfast and eat several small meals a day not 3 great big ones. Keep track of what you eat it all counts! Do not allow yourself to get hungry, hungry people over eat. Stressed out people over eat, so stress and emotional eating is a no no.
Don’t eat just before going to bed use the 3 hour rule and eat your last bite of food three hours before bedtime. Drink more water and less soft drinks. Eat more fresh vegetables and fruits as well as less processed foods.
These healthy food tips are of no benefit to you if you don’t do them. If you choose to have poor eating habits then you will pay and you will pay dearly as time goes on.
Just eating right isn’t enough either you need to have a consistent exercise routine in place to reap the full benefits of healthy foods. Diet and exercise work together to maintain good health. If you don’t know this then you have been living in a cave.
The reality is that people know and don’t care, but they will care after a stroke or heart attack lands them in the hospital like it did my mother as well as my brother and father.
I’m determined that poor health doesn’t sneak up on me how about you? Don’t say I can’t afford it when in fact you can’t afford not to.
Weight Loss Routine
A weight loss routine is essential if you plan to lose weight and keep it off. A fad diet or diet pills may work temporarily, but the weight will come right back. Therefore, it makes sense to have a routine, something you do by a change in lifestyle.
A change in lifestyle is the only way to have permanent weight loss. It doesn’t have to be a drastic change, so that your life is turned upside down and you’re stressed out about it.
You can get a weight loss routine by changing one thing at a time this way it’s doable. Why set yourself up for failure? This is exactly why many diets and fitness plans don’t work. People attempt to make drastic changes and realize they can’t do it!
Or they may try someone else’s plan which won’t work either. It needs to be your plan a weight loss routine that you designed because only you know what you can and can’t do.
Okay, so where do you start? You start with the beginning of the day at breakfast. Just make it your goal for the week to eat a low calorie healthy breakfast, no donuts or junk. Did you know you can get rid of hundreds of calories just by doing this one thing?
After the week is up move on to doing lunch the same way; a low calorie healthy lunch for a week. The next week move on to dinner and pretty soon you will have a pattern of eating healthy. If you fall off the wagon a day or two just get right back on, don’t rest there.
While you’re doing this make it a point to add a little more activity each day like walking, playing with kids or maybe going up and down stairs at work or home. Something is always better than nothing. This is how you will gradually design a weight loss routine.
It needs to fit into your daily life, not something that totally disrupts and causes chaos by interfering with your job or family. I’m not saying there’s no effort, because there is and it’s all up to you to follow through. No reason to delay get started right away.
Sleep and Weight Loss
Did you know that sleep loss can increase hunger and affect your metabolism in a way that makes weight loss even harder than it is? Therefore, you might want to add better sleep
These are some of the top reasons we lose sleep, see if any of them pertain to you:
1. Caffeine
2. Light
3. Noise
4. Eating too close to bed time
5. Illness
6. Stress or anxiety
7. Alcohol
8. Depression
9. Hectic schedule
10. Stimulant medications ( diet pills, allergy or cold remedies etc.)
Most people don’t consider sleep and weight loss a factor when they’re trying to lose weight simply because it isn’t mentioned like dieting and exercise is. We all know that large portions, too much junk food and not enough activity are major contributions due to all the attention placed on these issues. With this new found knowledge you need to make an effort to find out the reasons you lose sleep and do something about it.
So far we’ve talked about what not to do. Now let’s find out what we CAN do. First of all it should be a no brainer but here you go: Eat a healthy diet
Not enough sleep could be why so many Americans are over weight. Getting enough sleep is not the only answer, but it is part of the solution along with healthy eating and a fitness program. Most people need between 7 to 9 hours of sleep, some more some less, but few of us get the minimum 7. For best results we should prepare ahead of time and set a regular time to go to bed.
Of course, there will be times you can’t get to bed early and you’ll lose sleep. You just can’t let it become a habit, sleep and weight loss are related so you need to commit to a nightly sleep routine no matter what. This might be the way that you lose the weight
Weight Loss Exercises
All forms of exercise are beneficial and all can help you lose weight. The best thing to do is decide what type of weight loss exercises 
1. What type of exercise? ( Aerobic or Resistance Training)
2.How difficult? ( easy, moderate, strenuous)?
3. How long? (short 15-30min. long 1-2 hours)
You can do a combination of all three and alternate them. For example, if you workout an hour you can do 20 minutes of aerobic exercise with 20 minutes of weight training by the time you add in a few abdominal exercises 
You don’t have to limit yourself to the gym or at home exercises no matter what type of exercise you do it’s beneficial. What about the easy/fun exercises like swimming, water aerobics and walking? If you really like the outdoors how about a nature hike? And did you know that playing with the kids (if you have kids) are weight loss exercises. That’s right you can play tag or tag football, give piggy back rides, jump rope or jump on the trampoline it all counts. Or be creative and take a dance class I used to take belly dance classes and it was a great way to have fun and exercise too. What about a Pilates or Yoga class? And if you like high intensity how about a Billy Blanks
As you can see there are all kinds of ideas and types of exercise to consider. It doesn’t have to be something you hate to do. In fact, if you choose an exercise you like it could be the highlight of your day; something to look forward to. It doesn’t have to look like a workout to be a workout, it can look like fun and be fun. With that in mind get to work and come up with at least five different types of weight loss exercises that you would like to try and then DO at least two of them.
Weight Loss Methods
There are many weight loss methods, however, the key is to have one that actually works. If you have a weight loss method and it isn’t working it’s time to change methods. How long should you give a method to work you ask? If you haven’t lost even 1 pound in 3-4 weeks time you need to start thinking about changing methods.
Most people want to lose weight quickly, but that’s the worst thing you can do. If you lose it fast it’s going to come back. However, if you lose it slowly over time by changing eating habits and adding an exercise program then you will most likely keep the weight off.
When people lose weight fast it’s usually with some fad diet or diet pills. Diet pills are good if you’re extremely obese and are under a doctor’s care, but not for an ordinary person who just needs to lose a few pounds. These weight loss methods aren’t for everybody.
Then there’s the lose water weight method. Losing water weight only works for a short time as it also comes back unless you abuse water pills or some other extreme method of getting rid of water in your body. These weight loss methods are not recommended or safe.
The best way to lose weight is by changing eating habits with small doable goals one day at a time combined with an exercise program that you do consistently. If you’re tired of weight loss methods that do not work then why not do what does work?
You know it’s not working if you’re on a gain and lose cycle that has been going on for years. The goal should be to lose the weight then maintain it.
This is unsafe and will have you on an emotional roller coaster ride that never ends!
If you continue to use weight loss methods that do not work you will never be happy or fulfilled. So, the next time you think about it remember slow and easy wins the race.
Eat High Energy Foods
When you eat high energy foods it they give you natural energy. I’m not talking the kind of energy that caffeine or sugar gives. Those two bring you up just to let you down twice as hard. This is why they should be cut back or cut out it’s not healthy energy.
Starting the day out with a good high energy breakfast is the best way to begin. Most people know that carbs provide energy, however, it’s best to have a balance of high energy foods, which include a combination of protein, fats and natural sugars.
Some high energy foods for breakfast would be high fiber cereal, low fat dairy, boiled egg, bananas, whole grain breads, oranges and orange juice to name a few.
If you need a healthy high energy snack go for apples, grapes, carrots, peanut butter & jelly sandwich, energy bar, trail mix and nuts, especially peanuts, walnuts and cashews.
For lunch eat a tuna, turkey or grilled chicken sandwich on whole grain bread, pasta or green bean salad, spinach, carrots, cheese sticks, pears or a large salad with eggs, cheese, chix strips and low fat dressing. A good dessert would be a small fruit smoothie.
High energy foods for dinner could consist of lean roast beef, sirloin, fish, pasta, potatoes, rice, beans/lentils, broccoli, and water melon or cantaloupe for dessert.
Remember, the last meal of the day should be the smallest one not the largest as we have been taught. Small portions and frequent small meals is what keeps energy up.
Lastly, plan meals if possible and prepare snacks ahead, so that they’re ready to go with you as you go out the door. This way you won’t have to give in to junk food if you get hungry.
Count Calories
If you need to lose weight you have to count calories. That’s just the way it is so you might as well get used to the idea. It’s not as hard as you might think once you get used to it.
There is no magic number we should eat, however, if you eat about 1500 a day combined with moderate exercise you should be able to lose about 2 pounds a week. You see, the most important factor in getting your weight to do exactly what you want it to do is calorie intake. Not fat, not carbs, not certain foods. It’s calories.
Whether your goal is weight loss, weight gain or just maintaining your current weight, the one factor playing the biggest role in making this happen is the number of calories you are eating. This isn’t an opinion or a diet fad. This is the proven science of the human body.
The amount of calories you need depends on the size of your body and level of activity. One pound of fat has about 3,500 calories. A reduction of 100 calories per day will cause the loss of one pound of weight in 35 days. By just cutting out the calories equivalent to one slice of buttered toast from your diet, you can lose 15 pounds in one year and a half. Maybe now you can see why it’s important to count calories.
The best diet is one that can be maintained for many months or years until healthy eating habits become a way of life. As a general rule, your daily calories should not be reduced below 15 percent of the calories required by your target weight and activity level.
The first few days you count calories are the hardest because you have to look up the number of calories of each new food. It may seem that you are spending more time writing down what you eat than eating. Don’t be discouraged it gets easier as you go.
There is also a great e-book you can get called Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle you can check it by clicking here. You will be amazed when you count calories and exercise how much better you look and feel.
Lowfat Diets
Low fat diets can help you lose weight, however, you still need to watch calories and exercise. Most people know fat in their diet can raise cholesterol and put them at risk for heart disease, but keep eating high fat foods anyway.
Then there are people who know they have poor eating habits and are seeking to change them. If you’re eating foods high in fat you can make changes a little at a time. You don’t have to give everything up all at once and eat low fat diets.
Many people don’t start changing from high fat diets to low fat diets because they fear giving up their comfort foods like ice cream, chips, donuts, cake, pizza and other high fat foods.
They don’t seem to realize you can eventually exchange the old bad eating habits for new good ones by doing small doable goals. All you need to do is set a doable goal of no high fat food for 1 day then once you’ve done that you can go for 2 days then 3 and so forth.
You can alternate the days and eat your normal high fat foods one day and low fat foods the next. However, on the high fat food days you need to remember the long term goal is to cut these foods to a minimum. So, you may want to eat smaller portions than you used to.
Alright let’s look at some low fat diets foods. These are the foods that you want to start replacing the high fat ones with, but remember you need to also pay close attention to the calories, low fat doesn’t necessarily mean low calorie.
Low calories foods: Lettuce, carrots, tomatoes, strawberries, spinach, egg whites, baked potatoes, grapes, angel food cake, oatmeal cookies, breakfast cereals (some), watermelon, air-popped popcorn, tuna packed in water, green peas, wheat bread, pancakes, beans, rice, pretzels, vegetable soup, chicken soup with rice, 1% milk, low fat yogurt and low fat cottage cheese, lean meats/fish no skin, no frying.
Most all fresh fruits and vegetables are low fat except avocado’s and olives. Read labels for nutritional information while shopping and have a calorie/fat chart that tells you what’s what.
Once you get started you will be amazed at how much better you feel and look when you eat healthier and begin to lose weight. When you accomplish small doable goals you will ultimately reach long term ones rather than deprive yourself of everything all at once.
Low fat diets will help, however, calories must be counted and an exercise plan in place.
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