Having an health and fitness lifestyle

With cancer cropping up left and right, people are suddenly becoming more conscious with what they eat and do with their bodies. Fad diets have become a craze and so are gym workouts and alternative exercise for the body. But despite being the in thing to do right now, some people still find it hard to start walking the road to a life of health and fitness. After all, when you have already lived a life of debauchery, it will be harder to convert and walk the other road even if it is not as less traveled by.

To help you, here are some of the ways that you can start with your healthy lifestyle.

1. Don?t smoke If you do not have the habit of smoking, good for you. Don?t try to start as you will only get addicted with the cigarettes and it will be harder to quit when that happens. It is not true that you can smoke and quite when you want to. It?s not. Once you become hooked into it, there is no turning back. If you are already part of those people who burn their lungs out everyday, the best bet is to make a commitment to quit. By doing this, you are already halfway to recovery. Make sure though that you are serious with your plans and you are not just doing it for any other reason than your health.

2. Lessen the junk One of the ways you can help keep your body healthy is to eat foods that are more natural and with less chemical content. Avoid eating junk foods like those huge packs of potato chips or binge on candies. You should also make it a point to lessen your intake of meats and consume more vegetables, fruits and seafood. This does not mean that you will forgo with meat altogether. You should still eat meat. The protein that it contains is important for some of the basic processes of the body.

3. Skip the Soda and even the iced tea As much as you can, drink water. This is the safest and healthiest drink there is. Sodas even the diet ones, are carbonated and contain high amounts of sugar and carbohydrates which can later be translated into fats. You can also try drinking green tea which can help in the digestive system. Iced tea may be tamer than sodas but these drinks also contain a lot of sugar which can pile up in the body. Stick to water and drink lots of it.

4. Stay active Another way to start living a life of health and fitness without having to shell out money and make lots of effort is to schedule an exercise routine every day. You can schedule it every morning when you wake up in the morning or do it at night after work. Whichever schedule you want to, make sure that you keep it to 30 minutes long to an hour. That way, you can exercise those muscles and avoid muscle pains. Exercise will also strengthen your bones and your body, promote better breathing and cellular activity, clear the brain and of course keep those extra calories out of the body. Thus, even if you eat a lot, you are not storing those fats and carbohydrates. You are expending them through your workout routine.

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Becoming healthy and fit through a balanced diet

February 26, 2011 by  
Filed under Health and fitness

Because of so many illnesses and chronic diseases that occur among people through the years, more and more individuals are playing attention to their health and fitness because these would help them combat certain medical conditions. Today, one of the major reasons why people are overweight or suffer from minor and major health risks is that they don?t practice having a healthy diet.

Effective formula for a healthy diet

Healthy diet?which include eating balanced amount of food from all food groups?along with exercise or regular physical activity can lessen people?s inclination to health problems. Doctors say that though basic principle of healthy diet is simple, there are those people who are having a hard time sticking to it. The major reasons behind this include a super busy lifestyle, work that causes a lot of stress or even an environment that is not conducive to having a healthy diet. Despite hectic schedules and busy lifestyles, people can start and maintain a healthy diet if they really want to. Experts say that nothing is impossible to formulating and effective diets plan if one really wants to achieve a healthy mind and body.

For starters, experts advise a mix up food choices from each food group. Eating a large variety of foods and veggies can also serve as a warm up in avoiding the foods that contribute to drastic weight gain. Having a balanced intake of calcium-rich foods, whole grains, and protein-rich products will also keep you in track. To be able to maintain eating a healthy diet, you must also know your restrictions of fats, salt and sugars levels, and intakes. Lastly, you must monitor your body weight regularly for you to determine if your body is absorbing all the nutrients that it needs.

When do you know if your diet is healthy?

Being free from any illness or medical condition is the major determinant that a person is healthy. For those who are having a hard time identifying what is healthy on their diet and which are now, here are some tips for you. Experts say that a diet is healthy if it is: - based on starchy foods such as bread, cereals, rice, pasta, and potatoes because they are a good source of energy?not to mention being the main source of a range of nutrients of a person?s diet like fiber, calcium, iron, and vitamin B;

- loaded up a lot of fruits and veggies such as orange, apples, celery, broccoli, carrots, beans and peas because eating at least 5 portions of any variety can provide the vitamins the body needs and it also satisfies hunger without having to worry about fats and excess carbohydrates;

- filled with fish dishes that have high amounts of fish oil because it can provide protein, vitamins, and minerals that are not available to other food groups;

- low on saturated fats and excess sugars such as meat pies, sausages, hard cheese, butter and lard, pastry, cake, biscuits, cream and the others because they are high in complex calories stored in the muscles and sugars that can cause tooth decay.

- less in salt content because experts believe that goods that are high in salt or meals that uses too much salt can raise the person's blood pressure which can lead to more complicated diseases especially those related to coronary illnesses; and

- high in water content because experts believe that for a person to achieve optimum health and fitness, he or she should take in lots and lots of water and foods that are high in fluid content to keep the body well-hydrated.

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Chidren And Exercise

If you have a child of 6 to 8 years old that wants to start exercising and lifting weights, you may find yourself wondering what you should do. While
some think it is perfectly fine for children to exercise, there are others that think differently.

The long and short of it is that yes, it is beneficial for your child to partake in exercise or a weight training regimen although there are a few things that you should keep in mind once this starts to happen.

No matter how you look at it, children aren't minature adults and therefore you can't use the same methods with growing children that you can use
with adults, as children are different from adults emotionally, anatomically, and physiologically.

All children have immature skeletons, as their bones don't mature until they get 14 - 22 years of age. With girls, exercise during childhood can
have very critical effects on bone health that can last for their entire lives.

Children are often times vulnerable to growth related overuse injuries such as Osgood schlatter disease. Children have immature temperature
regulation systems due to their having a large surface area compared to their muscle mass which will cause them to be more susceptible to injury
when they aren't properly warmed up.

Children don't sweat as much as adults do, so they will be more susceptible to heat exhaustion as well as a heat stroke. Due to their low muscle
mass and immature hormone system, it makes it harder for them to develop strength and speed.Their breathing and heart response during exercise are also different from an adults, which will affect their capacity for exercise.

On the other hand, young boys and girls can drastically improve their strength with weight training although opposed to adults, neurological factors instead of muscle growth factors are mostly responsible.

When you consider programs for children, first and foremost you should obtain a medical clearance. The first approach to designing a program is to establish a repetition range of 8 - 12 and keep the work load appropriate for the range.

You should ensure that workouts are spread out enough to have at least 1 - 2 full days of rest between workouts. The main focus when working out should be on the form of every exercise performed, and not on the amount of weight being lifted.

Before weight training, warm up and stretching should be done. Start your children off with light loads and then make adjustments accordingly. No more than 3 non consecutive exercise sessions should be done in a week. You should also see to it that they drink plenty of water before, during, and after exercise. Getting enough water is very important with exercise, as it is often times very easy to get dehydrated - especially with children.

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Cardio Exercise

Everyone has wondered at some point in time which cardio exercise is better. To put it in simple terms, both low and high intensity exercises will
help you to burn off body fat. The question here is which is the most effective to burn off more body fat.

When scientists first discovered that during intensive exercises, your body burns glycogen, which is a form of stored carbohydrates that are stored
in your liver and muscles for energy. During low intensity exercises, your body will burn a lot of fat.

If your wondering whether or not it works, the answer is no because there are so many obese people still around. Even though they are working out with low intensity routines, it still makes you wonder how it can be.

The scientists were right when they said the human body burns more body fat during low intensity exercises like walking or swimming. During a
high intensity exercise such as running, the body will burn a lot more calories. Even if some of the calories burnt are from glycogen, there are
still many fat calories burned as well.

To put the icing on the cake, when your store of glycogen gets low, the carbohydrates from your food you eat will later get converted into glycogen to fill up the store and won't be converted to body fat when they are left unused for energy.

High intensity cardio exercise will juice up your metabolism even after you have completed your workout. What this means, is that your body will
continue to burn body fat hours after you have left the gym. This effect is nearly non existent in low intensity cardio or aerobic workout. Acumulatively, your body will burn up more and more calories during and after you have finished a high intensity cardio exercise that it will with
low intensity.

You can inject high intensity exercises into your cardio workout by introducing some interval training. You can walk for 5 minutes or so, then break into some jogging for another 5 minutes or so. Then, walk briskly again until you have caught your breath and then sprint for a minute
before you walk again. From this point, simply alternate your running and walking for the next 15 minutes until you are finished.

One of the best things about cardio is the more you do it, the more energy you'll have. Cardio will help you to burn calories, although its more
useful for keeping your energy levels high.

If you've never tried cardio before, you should give it a shot. If you like to exercise, you'll find cardio the best way to boost your energy and keep in top shape. If you are just starting out, you'll want to go slow and keep your cardio exercise in track - as it is very easy to over exert yourself.

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Buying An All In One System

These days, more and more people are turning away from memberships to gyms and instead choosing to invest money in a home gym. You can put a home gym in a spare corner of your home, or even in the basement if you wish. Along with helping you save money by combining several different types of equipment into one machine, these types of equipment can easily fit in small spaces and type up a lot less weight than their individual counterparts.

When you are considering to buy an all in one piece of exercise equipment, you should first think about your goals. You should consider what you hope to achieve from exercising and just how well this piece of equipment will benefit you.

There are several types of all in one equipment for exercise on the market and almost all of them are advertised well on television, in magazines, and on the internet. The most popular types on the market are those types that are geared towards individuals who are interested in lifting weights.

Right now, the two most popular types of all in one exercise systems are the Bowflex and Total Gym brands. The Bowflex system uses resistant bows that bend instead of the traditional weights that simply lift. Bowflex is designed to fit a wide variety of budgets and needs, it's widely adaptable and extremely popular as well.

To make things even better, you can store the basic Bowflex system in small and tight places, even under a bed if you choose. The larger and
more expensive Blowflex system competes with the types of professional equipment that you can find in gyms, which allow you a quality workout
on quality equipment.

The Total Gym system is great as well, as it is advertised by martial arts legend Chuck Norris and supermodel Christie Brinkley. It is less expensive than the Bowflex and uses gravity and resistance instead of traditional weights. By using this system, you have the ability to adapt the machine to a wide variety of exercises that will work many different areas of your body.

When you make that decision about buying an all in one exercise system, you must also decide on price, features, brand, and just who will use
the machine. If your family plans to use it as well, then you'll need to get a system that everyone will agree on. You obviously wouldn't want a machine that is too complicated for others in your home.

Even though Bowflex and Total Gym are the 2 most popular types of all in one equipment, there are several others out there as will, from brands
such as Weider and many others. Before you make your choice, you should look at several to see which one offers you more for your money.

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How To Target Your Stomach With Yoga

Yoga is a great part of any wellness routine, as it has the ability to both reduce stress and exercise the body. If you are trying to use yoga to target your midsection, well, that can be done. There are a number of yoga positions (called asanas) which exercise the stomach muscles. Bear in mind that some of these are more advanced than other. Assess your own skill and comfort level before trying certain asanas. If you are not sure you are able to do one asana, start with one that seems easier and work your way up once you have belt some strength and flexibility. As with any workout routine, be sure to consult a professional before beginning and always warm up properly to avoid injury.

Pavan-Muktasan
To perform this stomach-exercising asana, first lie flat on your back. Use a yoga mat of towel to cushion the spine. Bend both knees up to your chest so that your thigh touches the stomach. Hug your knees in place and lock your fingers. Now lift your head up so your nose meets your knees. Take a deep breath and hold it for thirty seconds before releasing and slowly lowering back to start. This exercise can also be done one leg at a time.

Bhujangasan
For this stomach exercise, remain on the floor, but roll over on to your stomach. Position your hand under your shoulders. Now, using your back muscles, raise your upper torso off the ground to that your head is upright. Be careful not to push with your hands. You want the muscles in your back to be doing the work. Hold this posture for thirty seconds, then lower yourself back to start. Even though you are using your back muscles to lift your upper body, performing the asana will assist in reducing belly fat and flattening your tummy.

The Bow
This stomach exercise is pretty similar to the previous asana, but more involved. It starts from the same position lying on your stomach, but in this exercise you curl your legs upward in addition to lifting your upper torso. Bend your knees so that the soles of your feet come up toward your head. Grab your ankles and pull with your hands and push with your legs until only your stomach is on the floor. Your body should feel sort of like it is making a circle. Your knees should remain together throughout the exercise. Hold this position for thirty seconds before releasing and returning to starting position.

Paad-Pashchimottanasan
Now that you have read the name of this asana, try not to be intimidated-- it is less complicated in practice than in pronunciation. It does, however, require a fair amount of flexibility, so you may want to start with something easier and build up to this one. Start by lying on your back with your legs straight and arms overhead. Your body should be straight from head to toe with all limbs extended. Point your palms up to the ceiling and put your hands together. Contract your stomach muscles to sit up, keeping your back straight and hands overhead. Bend forward and grab your toes with your hands, putting your head between your arms so it touches your knees. Hold the position for two minutes before releasing.

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Water And Exercise

The human body is made up of over 75% of water, and as we all know, we cannot live without water. The fact is, we can only survive for a total of 3 days without water. Water has however, been replaced in most diets by soft drinks and other sugar sweetened refreshments. Keep in mind that water is a healthier and necessary for leading yourself towards a better health and longevity.

Your own personal need for water can vary greatly due to exercise, weight, and temperature. Research has proven that over 2/3 of adults don't get the water they need on a daily basis. By drinking water on a regular basis you can replenish your body and keep it well hydrated and functioning as it should be.

A majority of us wait until we are thirsty before we drink water. Keep in mind, this way isn't a reliable gauge of the water needs for the body. By
the time you are thirsty you have already lost two of more cups of the body's water supply. Therefore, drinking water regularly is much better than simply waiting until you are thirsty.

It is very important that you don't substitute beverages with alcohol and caffeine for water. The reason behind this is that those types of beverages
act as a diuretic and can cause you to lose more weight through increased urination. You may think and feel as if you are getting more water through these beverages, although the fact is that you are letting it go almost as fast as you consume it.

Anytime you exercise, you need more water. Due to perspiration, your body will lose quite a bit of water. For each pound lost due to exercise, you need to drink 2 cups of water. Even when you lay down to sleep, your body loses water. By drinking a glass or more of water before you go to sleep, you can wake up with your body functioning as it should be.

It should become more obvious that when you are sick you'll need more water than any other tine. When you get a cold or the flu, your body can become dehydrated quite quickly. You can help to prevent this by drinking more water at times when you become sick.

There are several mixed opinions as to whether purified water will actually provide benefit. This is a subject you should explore yourself as you
determine the best type of water for yourself.

Always make it a habit to drink water on a daily basis. You should keep a bottle of water with you at all times and drink it throughout the day. You should also teach yourself to drink water instead of other beverages that don't replenish the nutrients your body needs.

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Choosing The Right Exercise For You

The type of exercise you do all depends on you and what you like to do. What you hate doing, paying membership fees, and whether or not to buy equipment are all things you need to consider as well as answer.

If you choose something that you don't like to do, you aren't going to keep doing it for a long period of time. Give it some thought - if you don't like
jogging, you aren't going to get up at 6 AM and go running. If you can't find something you like to do, choose something you hate the least, which will normally be walking.

Walking is great exercise, as it suits all levels of fitness. Anyone can start a walking program at any time, it's normally the intensity and duration
that differs. Walking is also a social exercise, as it isn't difficult to find a training partner to chat with while you exercise. Walking with a partner will also make time go by faster.

No matter what exercise you choose, you should start at a low level of intensity and build it up over a period of weeks, which is essential to the
longevity of your exercise program. If you start off too hard, you could end up with an injury which will require time off to get over.

If you are really in bad shape, you should start off by walking for 10 minutes each day. Then, increase it by 5 minutes every 2 weeks. To make
things more interesting, you should try walking a different course every few days. You can also roster a different friend to walk with you each
day of the week.

If walking isn't your thing, then you may want to try a fitness center. They have loads of variety and normally have trainers on hand to answer any questions you may have. When you choose a fitness center, make sure that they give good service.

If they aren't willing to treat you well before you join, then they certainly won't after you join. You should also make sure that the equipment they use is well taken care of. It's easy to find out, as all you have to do is listen to the machines. If they squeak a lot or make noise, then chances are they aren't being taken care of.

If you still aren't sure what you should do, then you should look into golf or tennis. Both are good social activities in most areas, and you can even meet new friends. Tennis is great for fitness although it isn't for someone who is just starting out. If you haven't exercised in a long time, then golf may be the best activity for you.

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Alcohol And Exercise

February 20, 2010 by  
Filed under Health and fitness

On Friday afternoon after you leave work, you probably think about going out and having a few drinks with friends to relax and wind down. Even though you may think you deserve to go out and have a few drinks, there are some things that you should certainly keep in mind.

Like any other day, tomorrow is going to be a day for exercise, and since you are exercising on a regular basis, a few drinks of alcohol won't really
hurt anything, right? Before you decide to rush out to the local bar, there are a few things below that you should think about before you make your choice about going out to drink some alcohol.

Research has proven that even small amounts of alcohol with increase muscular endurance and the output of strength, although these types of benefits are very short lived. After 20 minutes or so, the problems will begin to surface. All of the negative side effects associated with alcohol will easily outweigh any possible benefits that it can have. No matter how you look at it, alcohol is a poison that can really harm your body if you aren't careful.

The negative side of alcohol can reduce your strength, endurance, aerobic capability, recovery time, ability to metabolize fat, and even your muscle growth as well. Alcohol will also have an effect on your nervous system and brain. If you use it long term, you can cause severe terioration of your central nervous system. Even with short term use, nerve muscle interaction can be reduced which will result in a loss of strength.

Once alcohol reaches the blood cells, it can and probably will damage them. With alcohol users, inflammation of the muscle cells is a very common thing. Over periods of time, some of these cells that have been damaged can die which will result in less functional muscle contractions. Drinking alcohol will also leave you with more soreness of your muscles after you exercise, which means that it will take you a lot longer to recuperate.

Alcohol will also have many different effects on your heart and circulatory system as well. When you drink any type of alcohol, you may begin to
see a reduction in your endurance capabilities. Anytime you drink, your heat loss will increase, due to the alcohol simulating your blood vessels
to dilate. The loss in heat can cause your muscles to become quite cold, therefore become slower and weaker during your muscle contractions.

Drinking alcohol can also lead to digestive and nutrition problems as well. Alcohol cause a release of insulin that will increase the metabolism
of glycogen, which spares fat and makes the loss of fat very hard. Due to alcohol interfering with the absorption of several key nutrients, you
can also become anemic and deficient with B type vitamins.

Because your liver is the organ that detoxifies alcohol, the more you drink, the harder your liver has to work. The extra stress alcohol places on
your liver can cause serious damage and even destroy some of your liver cells.

Since alcohol is diuretic, drinking large amounts can put a lot of stress on your kidneys as well. During diuretic action, the hormones are secreted. This can lead to heightened water retention and no one who exercises will want this to happen.

If you must drink alcohol, you should do it in moderation and never drink before you exercise, as this will impair your balance, coordination, and
also your judgement. Think about your health and how you exercise - and you may begin to look at things from a whole new prospective.

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How to improve health and fitness by gaining weight

November 27, 2009 by  
Filed under Health and fitness

People-especially people who are extremely thin for their frame, age, and height-would be very happy on discovering that they have gained some weight. For them, this weight gain would indicate not simply the condition of their health but also the improvements on their physical built too.

Apart from being an indicator of good health, fitness, and eating a well balanced diet, weight gain would also serves an indicator for an individual's overall improvement in their outlook in life. Though typically, weight gain is an indicator of good health, it may also serve as an indicator if laxity particularly if there are signs of obesity.

To know if weight gain is bad or good for you, it is always best to conduct a research about its indicators as well as of its benefits and drawbacks so you'll have an idea if you're into the honest thing.

What you want to know

Weight gain refers to the increase in somebody's body weight brought by intake of too many calories, absence of physical activity such as regular exercise, or a side effect of specific kinds of medicine. However, it can also be a result of a certain set of workout routine-such as those in bodybuilding-wherein muscles tend to increase re weight.

Experts say that weight gain is mostly done by people due to 2 reasons. One, they want to build muscles for a fit body. This is common to folks who want huge muscles for their jobs such gymnasium instructors, fitness pros, bodybuilding coaches, bouncers, bodyguards, weightlifters, and the like.

The second reason why folk put on weight is because of their health. Weight gain is highly advocated to those people that have lost so much body fat due to dieting and particularly to people who have developed numerous eating defects like anorexia or bulimia. People-especially women who are believed to suffer more from this condition-are advised to gain weight to get over all the body fats and nutrients they have lost.

To know if you are gaining some weight, check for its symptoms like a rounder belly, certain increase in the fat p.c. of the body, increased mass of muscles and increase in the level of body's hydration. Experts say that it can be hard to establish if an individual's weight gain is good or not. This is because people have different individual wants that need to be paid attention to. Although knowing the best weight for somebody's height can be a person's height could be a god indicator, it is always best to talk with a doctor to avoid further complications. For those that are planning to gain weight to guarantee they health and health, these are some helpful tips to get by:

1. Set your focus on set of workouts routines that target how one can increase subcutaneous fat and muscles. This is one of the most effective ways of gaining weight without needing to fret about obesity. Since a person burns only the nonessential fats, he is preparing the ground for the muscles to gain weight.

2. Spend some time for to understand what the perfect weight gain is. Just like in shedding weight, weight gain also needs utmost time and dedication. If one is into weight gain, he or she must make sure that they are serious about it so they are going to get their desired health and level of fitness.

3. Always have a healthy and well balanced diet. For folks who are gaining weight for health and health, this is critical if because it serves as their guide on what sort of food they should eat and the correct quantity of each to get the weight that they desire.

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