Fitness Methods

Cheat Day on a Diet

Taking a day of your diet is good. A diet is a great example of having commitment to what you want and I applaud anyone and everyone that does a good job of committing themselves to staying healthy with a good diet. The trouble is trying to stay on a diet every day for months or years on end. This is what people aspire to but it is not very easy to do.

A few diets seem to say that you should try to confuse your body by staying on your diet for a few days or a couple of weeks at most and then getting off your diet for anywhere from one to three days. What do you think of this? Well the idea behind the days off on a diet is that you need to confuse your body so that it does not just adjust to lower caloric intake or just lower your metabolism to maintain fat levels.

Would you like to know examples of off day diets? There is a Weight Watchers diet adjustment that involves changing the amount of points you eat a day and cycling though these. You could do a kind of day off on this plan. The Body for life plan is that you do diet and exercise six days a week and eat whatever you want for one day a week. And finally there is the fat loss for idiots program that has you do the diet for 11 days and then take 3 days off before you do it again. This is the most confusing for your body (this is good) and easiest for you to manage.

The best way that I see people doing there diet with days off is to have rules still for your days off. Try to follow the following rules:

The idea is to eat what you want but do not overdo it.First of all you need a good regimen for your diet days and then for your days off the rules should be about how you cheat.Try to make sure that you are not being ridiculous because it is your day off. Do not eat a whole large pizza or a gallon of ice cream.Do not binge, no huge meals just meals that make you comfortably fullThis is the day that you go to a restaurant if you want.Do not eat three days worth of food in one day. The idea is that you can cheat but you don’t want to spend the whole week just catching up.

I hope that this plan for days off helps. I know that I have struggled with this in the past but the best thing is to just expand on your regular diet and at the same time make sure that get to eat those things that you are craving, in small measures of course.

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What is Good Bacteria

There is lots of confusion about bacteria in our body and what is good bacteria. We all seem to avoid bacteria in our lives and this is usually a good idea although it is also good to make sure that we are not being crazy avoiding bad bacteria.

There is also another type of bacteria, good bacteria and some people call this probiotic, that is a great thing for your body. Quite often before people go away on holidays to Mexico they will take good bacteria like Acidophilus. Also many people that go on a cleanse wipe out all the good bacteria in their body and it is a good idea to reintroduce good bacteria.

Good bacteria benefit the human body in so many ways. Briefly summarized, they:

Acidify the colon: The ideal pH of the colon is between 6.7 and 6.9. Acetic acid and lactic acid are some of the byproducts that help create this. The acid environment inhibits the growth of harmful bacteria such as salmonella, which causes food poisoning; shigella, the main cause of diarrhea; and e. coli, which can cause intestinal disease and kidney failure. Good bacteria also produce a volatile fatty acid which, along with the other acids, make it difficult for fungus and yeast (candida) to survive.Normalize bowel movements by decreasing the time it takes for waste products to move through the digestive system. They also stop diarrhea and correct constipation.Improve the immune system. Good bacteria help stimulate the formation of antibodies which protect our bodies against infectious disease.Help provide vitamins. Good bacteria help produce vitamin K, which is necessary for blood clotting and the formation of new bone.Aid in production of Lactase. This is an enzyme necessary to digest milk and milk products. Without lactase, milk allergies are a sure thing.Remove toxic elements. Lactobacillus acidophilus deactivates various toxic compounds produced by other organisms or in foods.Are instrumental in reducing cholesterol. A high-fiber diet and good bacterial flora can lower cholesterol levels, protect against colon cancer, and even improve fat digestion by providing more bile acids.Help eliminate gas problems. Proper bacteria in the colon eliminates bowel gas and sweetens the breath. Bad breath (halitosis) is frequently caused when “bad” bacteria take over in the colon and produce foul-smelling waste. These gases can be expelled or reabsorbed in to the blood and carried to the lungs and exhaled. All the breath mints in the world won’t correct bad breath caused by bowel problems. I knew a former neighbor who just reeked of bad breath and body odor. His wife kept asking me what supplement I could give her husband to stop his stinky breath. This woman had tried every over-the-counter remedy for halitosis known to mankind and nothing had worked. Knowing this man and his diet, I knew that his bowel was just loaded (he had what I call an “ol’ poop belly” –huge and hard) from years of incorrect eating. He was not willing to consider bowel cleansing as I’m suggesting here, so he and his bad breath (and his disappointed wife) just went on as usual. We will discuss autointoxication in Chapter.

Again, a proper balance of friendly bacteria is essential for optimal health and a good digestive system. An imbalance may make the body susceptible to such ailments as digestive problems, skin problems, acne, reduced immunity, arthritis, liver and gallbladder problems, failing memory, hypertension, fatigue, and migraine headaches, to name just a few.

Many people think the only reason to take lactobacillus acidophilus as a supplement is if they have some type of bowel or digestive problem. The truth is the friendly bacteria in your bowels have some far-reaching effects you’ve probably never dreamed of. These hard-working organisms produce a variety of substances that can prevent cancerous tumors, inactivate viruses, produce natural antibodies and vitamins, and reduce cholesterol. New research has linked theses bacteria with even more wonders.

A final note on “gardening”. Keep in mind that lactobacilli acidophilus are living organisms, and as a result they are highly susceptible to dying off and losing their effectiveness. Most cultures you purchase need to be kept refrigerated or frozen to maintain their viability. There are some brands that do not have to be refrigerated (which is convenient when traveling), and they activate in the gut. They should be taken on an empty stomach 20 to 40 minutes before meals when your digestive acids and juices are not being produced in large quantities. I suggest taking these living organisms first thing in the morning on an empty stomach so it coats the intestinal tract.

Oh yes, you will need to forgo your morning cup of coffee because it will destroy all the good bacteria in your intestinal system.

I know that this may be a lot to take in but what is good bacteria is a good question to ask.

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As you know I am a big proponent of using a good diet and exercise to lose weight although a carb blocker is an interesting idea. There is no such thing as taking a pill to lose weight and even if a pill did the job I am not sure that in the end it makes you any healthier than a classic couch potato.

Most of the time we can just exercise and have a good diet and will lose weight easily that way. Sometimes this does not work though. I get emails every week from people that seem to have trouble losing weight, if they just have two pieces of bread they seem to gain weight easily the next day. I have looked around for a long time for something that would help everyone with this problem.

The Dietrine Carb Blocker works with your body’s own natural processes to prevent carbs from being stored as fat. The effective ingredient works by neutralizing the alpha amylase enzyme, effectively limiting the breakdown of carbohydrates into glucose and fat, meaning that your caloric intake can be dramatically decreased, even with carbohydrate-rich foods.

This all may seem a little technical, but the upshot is fairly simple. The Dietrine Carb Blocker will prevent your body from turning carbs into excess fat, safely and easily. It starts working immediately, so you simply need to take two capsules before eating any especially starchy meals.

So my next step was to look around and find something that would work and would not be some kind of scam. I had a few qualifications for a good carb blocker:

Had to be natural – Who wants to pollute their body with chemicals?Had to be cheap – Health food stores always seem to charge a ridiculous amount for what you getHad to be proven effective – There are far to many scams in the diet industry and I didn’t want to get ripped off.

I found a bunch of products out there and the trouble was that many are fly by night operations that you can not get hold of by phone, or they exagerated claims (if you could lose 30 pounds a month wouldn’t every have used your product?), and finally most of the products were some kind of crazy dangerous ephedrine product that didn’t actually block carbs at all but could instead cause heart problems.

In the end I did find one product that seemed to be a good carb blocker and that is a product called Dietrine. Dietrine seems to give me all of my qualifications. It is made out of beans, you can only buy it online so there is no five layers of middlemen selling to the health food store. And the company has been around for a long time, you can even phone them to ask about that.

If you are one of those people that seems to gain weight far to easily from Italian food or can not seem to lose weight even with diet and exercise than it seems like this Dietrine carb blocker product may be exactly what you are looking for.

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Heavy TV Show

My wife and I caught a new series on A & E this weekend called Heavy. The show was pretty good but again it called into question an individuals responsibility to themselves as well as those around them. Last night we saw the second episode and again it was great A&E really knows how to put together a good TV Series and Heavy is a TV series well worth seeing.

Here is the way that the TV series Heavy is setup. Each week there is two people and those two people are huge. There are two trainers and over a few months time each of these trainers work with one of the two people to try to help them lose weight.

I have lots of questions. First, were do they find these people, second are we going to have the same trainers every week, and third are there going to be updates later as to how the people are doing?

Well the series has lots of people on it but each week we are introduced to two people that are working as partners. There is no prize money, no champion, and many health problems. Tears, emotions, and anger come and go and the partners help each other out. As you might expect the two people with a lot of weight can commiserate with their problems and the trainers are the professionals that are helping them along their journey.

First the people – Heavy Season premiere had Jodi, a childcare worker who started at 367 pounds and dropped down to 289 pounds. And Tom who started at 638 pounds and got down to 476 pounds. Both of these people had no real strength and their motivation was lacking compared to the people on a show like Biggest Loser. In fact Tom was living in his bed and had trouble walking to his car in the driveway. Just getting to the gym was terrible for both of these guys so it was great to see them transform into tougher, stronger people.

Heavy TV Series Trainers – My wife and I were blown away by one of the trainers, David Richardson, the guy was very big and ripped. I wish I could find some pictures for the ladies here for a bit of eye candy but I will have to search some more. The lady trainers name is Britny Fowler and she was great and tried to motivate Jodi but was having trouble getting a bond with her which was too bad.

In the end Heavy has a great setup. Work out at a gym completely locked out from the world for a few weeks, go home and cope with real life, and if they person falters then they can come back. We see lots of weigh-ins and at the end of 180 days (6 months) we get to see how much weight they have lost and an update to how much better their life is.

All of this takes place in an hour. I kinda think the Biggest Loser people should look at how this show is setup as it is very satisfying TV with lots of tips and tools for dieters and those looking to help themselves and others. I will be watching this show for sure and hoping that it keeps up the great quality.

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Jack Lalanne

Jack Lalanne, one of the originators of the fitness movement has died but left a fantastic legacy to help people to look after their health and concentrate on their fitness as one of the cornerstones of a great life.

Here is a great article from the Globe and mail today talking about Jack Lalanne and what he taught and meant to those in the fitness community.

Jack LaLanne, who died on Sunday at age 96, was regarded as the father of the modern fitness movement. Dressed in snug jumpsuits, the television fixture preached a balance of exercise and healthy diet and inspired millions. The Post spoke to fitness gurus about the top lessons learned from LaLanne’s legacy.

1. There is no excuse for not exercising. Long before Nike told everyone to “just do it,” LaLanne was relentless in his pitches, using a drill sergeant’s bark and cadence. “Jack inspired the world with his no-nonsense approach to exercise,” says Maureen Hagan, fitness instructor and VP of operations at GoodLife Fitness Canada. “Many of us will recall Jack showing his TV viewers how to exercise in the kitchen, using a chair and lifting soup cans as dumbbells. His ‘no excuse, just do it’ attitude inspired the world to at least try exercise.”

2. Weight training is a key component of a fitness regimen. “He popularized the whole notion of fitness before we recognized it as a crisis situation,” says Christa Costas-Bradstreet, physical activity specialist at ParticipAction, the national not-for-profit organization dedicated to supporting active living. When LaLanne first began recommending weights in the 1930s, he said that physicians opposed his advice, warning it would cause heart attacks and lower sex drives. “People thought I was a charlatan and a nut,” LaLanne said in a posting on his website. “Time has proven that what I was doing was scientifically correct — starting with a healthy diet followed by systematic exercise, and today everyone knows it.”

3. Fitness is for everyone. “He taught that physical activity was something for all ages, irrespective of socio-economic status and ability,” Costas-Bradstreet says. LaLanne invited women into his health clubs, and also encouraged the elderly and the disabled to exercise. “I share the great passion for bringing women into the gym environment that Jack LaLanne pioneered,” says Craig Ramsay, author of Anatomy of Exercise and trainer on Bravo’s Thintervention.

4. Practise what you preach. When LaLanne was 42, he did a record 1,033 push-ups in 23 minutes. When he was 60, he swam from Alcatraz to Fisherman’s Wharf — while handcuffed, shackled and towing a boat. Late in life, he continued to rise at 4 or 5 a.m. for two-hour workouts. “He himself was a role model,” Costas-Bradstreet says. “Only 7% of Canadian children and youth are meeting Canada’s physical activity guidelines and 15% of adults. We absolutely need role models, particularly for kids.”

Read more  at the National Post here

To me Jack Lalanne has always been the old guy that has lived what he preached. He sold Juicers to make sure people stayed healthy, he espoused healthy and fit lifestyle choices and most importantly Jack Lalanne made sure that we knew that growing old did not mean we had to live and acet that way.

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8 week meditation study

Cool new 8 week meditation study came out today. I have mentioned before that I have meditated a fair amount in the past. Nothing like Julia Roberts in Eat Pray Love, but enough to know the affect that it can have. Meditation is great. Anyway one of the big things that meditation does is still the mind so that you are much better able to keep your concentration as well as creativity.

Studies tend to be inconclusive on the physical effect to your brain from meditation but a new report seems to show that in just 8 weeks it can make a big difference.

An eight-week pro­gram of medita­t­ion led to brain struc­ture changes in peo­ple par­ti­ci­pat­ing in a stu­dy, re­search­ers say. It’s the first time that medita­t­ion, a prac­tice ad­vo­cat­ed by a range of re­li­gious tra­di­tions, has been shown to lead to such changes, ac­cord­ing to the sci­en­tists.

Pre­vi­ous re­search, they said, had re­vealed struc­tur­al dif­fer­ences in the brains of med­i­ta­tors, but could­n’t doc­u­ment that medita­t­ion had ac­tu­ally caused those changes. The re­search­ers re­ported that par­ti­ci­pat­ing in an eight-week medita­t­ion pro­gram ap­peared to make meas­ur­a­ble changes in brain re­gions as­so­ci­at­ed with mem­o­ry, sense of self, em­pa­thy and stress.

“Al­though the prac­tice of medita­t­ion is as­so­ci­at­ed with a sense of peace­ful­ness and phys­i­cal re­laxa­t­ion, prac­ti­tion­ers have long claimed that medita­t­ion al­so pro­vides cog­ni­tive and psy­cho­log­i­cal ben­e­fits that per­sist through­out the day,” said Sara Laz­ar of the Mas­sa­chu­setts Gen­er­al Hos­pi­tal’s Psy­chi­at­ric Neu­roimag­ing Re­search Pro­gram, the stu­dy’s sen­ior au­thor. “This study demon­strates that changes in brain struc­ture may un­der­lie some of these re­ported im­prove­ments and that peo­ple are not just feel­ing bet­ter be­cause they are spend­ing time re­laxing.”

The study is to ap­pear in the Jan. 30 is­sue of the jour­nal Psy­chi­a­try Re­search: Neu­ro­imag­ing.

The in­ves­ti­ga­tors scanned the brain struc­tures of 16 study par­ti­ci­pants two weeks be­fore and af­ter they took part in the eight-week Mind­ful­ness-Based Stress Re­duc­tion Pro­gram at the Uni­vers­ity of Mas­sa­chu­setts Cen­ter for Mind­ful­ness. In ad­di­tion to weekly meet­ings that in­clud­ed prac­tice of mind­ful­ness medita­t­ion – which fo­cus­es on non­judg­men­tal aware­ness of sensa­t­ions, feel­ings and state of mind – par­ti­ci­pants re­ceived au­di­o record­ings for guid­ed medita­t­ion prac­tice and were asked to keep track of how much time they prac­ticed each day. A group of non-med­i­ta­tors al­so had their brains scanned dur­ing the same time pe­ri­od.

The med­i­ta­tors in the 8 week meditation study re­ported spend­ing an av­er­age of 27 min­utes each day prac­tic­ing mind­ful­ness ex­er­cises, and their re­sponses to a “mind­ful­ness ques­tion­naire” in­di­cat­ed sig­nif­i­cant im­prove­ments com­pared with pre-par­ticipa­t­ion re­sponses, the sci­en­tists re­ported.

Anal­y­sis of the brain scans, which fo­cused on ar­eas where medita­t­ion-as­so­ci­at­ed dif­fer­ences were seen in ear­li­er stud­ies, found in­creased grey-mat­ter dens­ity in the hip­po­cam­pus, known to be im­por­tant for learn­ing and mem­o­ry, and in struc­tures as­so­ci­at­ed with self-a­ware­ness, com­pas­sion and in­tro­spec­tion. Grey mat­ter is the brain tis­sue that con­tains nerve cells.

If you are interested in learning more about meditation then check out this article on meditation for fitness that I wrote a while ago that is of course still relevant. Also There was a past study on meditation for stress relief and the science of meditation.

After seeing this 8 week meditation study I say find a quiet corner in the house and just sit quietly and see what meditation can do for you.

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Gain Muscle Fast

Many guys and gals want to gain muscle fast, especially with summer coming and more chances of wearing less clothes. So I thought I would give some tips on how you can gain muscle fast

Eating to Gain Weight – You need to eat big to gain big. I know all the magazines will let you know that you have to eat enough protein to bloat up a horse. But really you need to eat about 30 grams of protein and 60 grams of carbs every meal. Next make sure that you eat at least five meals a day and if you can up to seven meals a day. Make sure that you are getting at least a couple hours between meals and don’t make them too big so that you can eat every two hours.

Cut the Cardio to Gain Muscle Fast - Cardio is great for burning fat and improving your stamina. One of the problems with cardio is that you are using up energy and burning fat as well as some muscle. The key to your workouts and lifestyle is to decrease the amount of muscle loss to near zero and to keep your energy up.

Concentrate on Compound Exercises – The best exercises to gain muscle fast are to do are the basics such as squats, bench press, and deadlifts. A lot of people will do curls and pushdowns and even concentration curls to work arms when really you will make great gains on your arms by doing the compound exercises.

The best exercises are the best way to build muscle but remember also that you need to do weight workouts quickly and heavy as I will note below.

Keep Sets Short – Make you workouts short so that you can get the most out of heavy weights. The optimal number of reps are 6 to 8 per set but these reps should be all that you can do. Make sure there is nothing left after these reps.

Keep Weight Workouts Short – Workouts need to only be about 45 minutes. Spending more time in the gym means that you will be doing more lighter sets and wasting time. Also there is an urge to do more sets and really doing more sets can be counterproductive to gain muscle fast as it will force you to burn some muscle for energy instead of the glycogen in your muscles only

I hope that these weight tips will help you out. Keep all of these tips in mind and build your lifestyle around them so that this summer your body will be big and you will gain muscle fast as you can get on it.

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The bench press is one of the best exercises for the upper body. Not only does the bench press hit the chest but also works the shoulders and the triceps. I know that there is lots to this fantastic exercise so I thought an article was in order to look at how to make the bench press a better exercise for you.

There are three angles that you can do bench presses. Incline bench press, flat bench press, and decline bench press. Here are the advantages and disadvantages of each.

Flat Bench Press – As I stated before the flat bacnh is a great exercise. The flat bench works your entire top, middle, and lower pectoral muscles (chest)Amazingly when you do this exercise you think it is a chest exercise but I find that the front deltoids (shoulders) are recruited quite a bit as well as the triceps. I have almost done away with arm work thanks to the compound exercises like bench press that I do.

Incline Bench Press – Inclines are one with the bench up a little, although some people I believe overdo this. You will notice that the weight lifted is a lot less as you will be using your upper chest muscles which are not as strong or dense as the rest of your chest. As you increase the andle of the bench you will find that you are getting more recruitment from the deltoids but also hitting higher up in the chest and less in the middle and not any lower chest.

Decline Bench Press – I think the lower bench is not used very often at all. I have done this a lot in the past and the weight that you can lift is significantly higher than you can lift doing a flat bench. The decline bench is a lot more of a lowering and then shoving up of the bar and you can really feel the lower pecs being used. The problem is that you most people want a bigger upper pec, above the nipple, not a big lower pec.

There is no way that you can avoid the bench press and while walking though the gym you have probably seen many people doing lots of kinds of bench presses you now know that there are many options of bench presses and different ways to hit your chest. This will be good and I have made sure that I alternate these angles quite often.

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How smart goals work

People often ask me how smart goals work. Today I want you to look back at the list that you made yesterday and decide what is really important to you. I have written in the past about “SMART” goals and these are something else we will talk about today.

First lets look at what is important and what you want to focus on this year. In looking at yesterdays list I am sure that emotionally you cringed at some of the bad things that happened because you knew full well that they were you own fault. Where they really important to YOU or where they important because others make them important to you.

At the same time for many goals we will make them because they just look good. “lose 20 pounds” is a great unemotional goal that a lot of people make but will that change your life? Along the same line will losing 50 pounds do it? Losing weight is a nice goal in one way because it will give you a yardstick but in the end it is kind of meaningless without a result.

Instead you main health goals should give you a sense of the new you when you see them. A goal like lose 20 pounds, get a makeover and new clothes to look smokin’ hot would be more in tune with making an emotional difference.

Finally the goal that you are setting has to make sense to you in a year or more out. If you had a goal that was to get in better shape then you would not really have much to go on a year from now. How could you tell if you were in better shape? Was it enough to you or not?

This leads us to the idea of SMART goals and how smart goals work. A SMART goal is on that is specific, measurable, accurate, realistic, and time bound. Here are some examples of these five criteria for a goal.

S = Specific – Instead of saying that you want to lose weight you say you want to lose 20 pounds

M = Measurable – To lose 20 pounds in a year you need to lose 2 pounds per month and know that you have 4 flex pounds for the year

A = Attainable – The goal must be something that can be attained by you. Do you really want this and why?

R = Realistic – Is it realistic that you can lose 20 pounds in a year? If you have never lost 5 pounds before why would it be realistic that you could lose 20 pounds?

T = Timely – You need a time boundary. We have two here 2 pounds lost per month and also the 20 pounds in a year.

So now that you know how to set a good goal and know how smart goals work, you can accomplish it in time for you to set a few of your own. Try to keep the list down to 3 goals as the problem that you will see is that if you have a large list of goals you will have trouble keeping them straight and having them work out at the same time.

And one last thing. Make sure again that those new years resolutions are not sterile. Have fun with them and make sure they are emotionally fulfilling to you. Now that you know how smart goals work you can have fun with them and make your dreams really come true

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Australian Open

I just saw today that the Australian Open started this week. I can not believe that I did not notice until today, day 3 of the Australian Open.

As I have mentioned before I am a hugfe tennis fan and growing up I played a lot of tennis, even competitivly although I was not ever as good as these guys.

The Australian Open is the first Grand Slam tournament of the year with the others being the French Open in May, Wimbledon in June, and the US Open in late August. Getting a grand slam has only happened a handful of times in the last 100 years and to win all of these tournaments in a single year guarantees a player of instant stardom, so everyone wants this tournament to start the year off hot.

I saw today that out of the 20 Americans in the draw to start with 13 had already lost in the first two days so the dominance that the US has had in the past still seems to have not come back yet.

My excitement with this tournament has been reignited watching Aussie superstar Lleyton Hewitt battling back in the third set of his match although he eventually lost in five sets to Nalbandian today.

It should be a fun couple of weeks of great tennis in the heat of the Melbourne Summer.

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Quit Smoking Today

Quit smoking today? As much as I can’t stand to be around smoking today, I can’t believe that I ever started – I would guess that most people end up feeling that was after they quit.

I look back through the years and that question in amazement, because I quit smoking for good when I was 25, after smoking for 12 years. Yep, that means like a fool I started smoking when I was 13 – why, I guess because the older kids were doing it, and I wanted to be cool like them.

My dad smoked all his adult life – 3-4 packs of Pall Mall non-filters a day. He hacked and choked, and he huffed and puffed; he actually ended up getting adult asthma that was probably from it. And then the surgeon general’s warning came out and he quit overnight. But not me, I didn’t believe in that stuff – so as he quit I started.

I eventually stopped smoking overnight. I got a really bad case of the flue and couldn’t have smoked if I wanted to. I threw away my last pack with the conviction that I would never start again [yeah right], but this time I followed through.

Aids are available for all smokers, but nonetheless, stopping smoking is something that has proven impossible for many people. You know how important it is to quit, and you have tried many of these smoking aids. But regardless of your intentions, and regardless of how many times that you have tried – the craving comes back, and before you know it you are smoking again.

So what if it is really that easy? What if all your beliefs about how hard it is going to be to quit are completely false? What if, after just one session of hypnotherapy or NLP you find it incredibly easy to become and remain a happy, confident non-smoker for life?The reason why hypnotherapy & NLP are so successful is because both our beliefs about smoking and our habitual smoking behaviours reside within your unconscious mind. So whilst consciously we may wish to quit, all too often our all powerful unconscious mind simply would not let us.

No doubt that it is far better for your health and well-being if you would quit smoking, but with the inability to quit being related to what becomes an addiction to nicotine, this becomes about more than simply having the willpower to quit.

But what if you could stop smoking – what would it mean to you? Clearly there will be benefits for your health over the long term, but your body will be improve immediately as you start breathing clean air -vs- all the crap you are currently breathing every time you inhale cigarette smoke.

You will be amazed at the great changes in your health that have been shown to take place virtually immediately after you quit smoking. To begin with, your blood pressure and heart rate are going to fall to a level that is far healthier for you. And within as little as a day after you quit, your blood is going to have levels of carbon monoxide that are near normal.

Now keep it up for a couple of months and see how it feels as you get an increase in the function of your lungs. You might start feeling faint from surprise, but it won’t be because you can’t even walk up a flight of stairs without feeling like you are going to pass out from the effort. Also as a result of quitting smoking, you are going to find that you are going to have better blood circulation and blood flow from the heart – and with that you are decreasing your risk of having heart disease or a stroke.

Quit smoking today and make it for a couple of months, and hopefully you are on your way to quitting smoking for good – let’s project what you have to look forward to.

Stop smoking for nine months and you are really going to start noticing the benefits as you find you are choking and hacking as much, and you are even able to take deep breaths. Your lungs are now able to function effectively, as your smoker’s lungs and destroyed cilia have regenerated. And besides breathing better, the cilia can now work to keep debris out of your lungs and nasal cavities, and as result reduce the risk of infections.

Quitting smoking has a major impact on your lungs, but it has a similar effect on your heart – did you know that after you have quit smoking for a year that you have cut your risk of heart disease in half?

Stop smoking for a year is a massive accomplishment – now let’s push it to five years, to a decade, to the rest of your life. Death from lung cancer has been cut enormously, as has other types of related cancers like throat and mouth. You have also dramatically reduced your risk of heart disease and stroke.

Congratulations, you quit smoking today and it is going to last forever. And what is your prize – just your life, and a long and healthy one.

Quit smoking today is something that all smokers want to do and have even tried to do, but for so many it just doesn’t seem possible. Quit smoking today and wonderful things are going to happen – come to Quit Smoking Today to learn how http://www.quitsmokingtodayaids.com/

Quit smoking today, quit smoking for good and have a happier and healthier life because of it.

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Natural thyroid storm treatments

Thyroid Storm is a severe condition which affects only a small percentage of people with hyperthyroidism but there are Natural thyroid storm treatments. In fact, only about 1 to 2% of people with hyperthyroidism develop thyroid storm. However, for those people who do develop this condition, this is considered an emergency situation that requires immediate intervention.

One can understand the reasoning behind this by looking at the symptoms of thyroid storm. People with this condition are likely to experience an increased heart rate which exceeds 200 beats per minute, along with palpitations, increased blood pressure, chest pain, and/or shortness of breath. So while I’m an advocate of treating conditions through holistic methods, the first thing someone needs to do with this condition is to go to the emergency room and receive medical intervention to manage the symptoms. Once the symptoms are under control, one can then begin a natural thyroid treatment protocol to help restore the person’s health back to normal, which I’ll discuss shortly.

Because the symptoms of thyroid storm are severe, frequently a combination of different drugs are used. This can include anti-thyroid drugs, beta blockers, and/or a blockade iodine drug. If an infection is contributing to thyroid storm, then this will need to be addressed as well.

Once again, it is not advised to use nutritional supplements or herbal remedies to treat this condition. While there are some effective supplements and herbs to help with hyperthyroidism, they will take some time to “kick in”. When someone has thyroid storm, they need to have the symptoms under control quickly, as if someone has a pulse rate of 200 beats a minute, this is a life-threatening situation and needs to be addressed right away. And most herbs won’t act quick enough to manage the symptoms.

Once you have successfully managed the symptoms of thyroid storm, you can then begin a Natural thyroid storm treatments protocol to help restore your health back to normal. When I was diagnosed with Graves’ Disease, which is an autoimmune hyperthyroid condition, I followed a natural thyroid treatment protocol which eventually did eliminate my symptoms, normalized my thyroid blood tests and other tests I had obtained. So for those who have been told that there is no cure for hyperthyroidism or Graves’ Disease, and have been advised to either take anti-thyroid drugs or receive radioactive iodine treatment, you might want to consult with a natural endocrine doctor. The problem is that most endocrinologists and other types of medical doctors don’t know how to do anything other than prescribe drugs, perform surgery, etc.

Don’t get me wrong, as not everyone with hyperthyroidism and Graves’ Disease can be cured, and sometimes drugs and other medical procedures are necessary. I without question was skeptical when I was first diagnosed with Graves’ Disease. Even though I’m a holistic practitioner, I still was concerned as to whether Natural thyroid storm treatments would work. All I know is that at the time I wanted to do everything I could to avoid receiving radioactive iodine therapy, and fortunately everything worked out well. However, I’d be lying if I told you if it was an easy process, as it did take some time to restore my health back to normal, and so anyone looking for a quick and easy cure will be very disappointed.

Natural thyroid storm treatments methods are effective because they try to get to the actual cause of the disorder, rather than just manage the symptoms. On the other hand, conventional medical treatment methods for hyperthyroidism aim at controlling the symptoms. For example, when I was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism by my primary care physician, I was prescribed a beta blocker to help with the increased heart rate and palpitations I was experiencing. Then I went to see an endocrinologist, where I was diagnosed with Graves’ Disease and then was told by her to take anti-thyroid drugs and a beta blocker. I personally didn’t take any anti-thyroid medication or beta blockers, but I’m sure if I followed her full recommendations I eventually would have been on the path to receiving radioactive iodine therapy.

What’s important to understand is that in most cases of thyroid storm, hyperthyroidism, and Graves’ Disease, the thyroid gland itself isn’t the actual cause of the problem. Another area of the body is almost always responsible for the hyperthyroid condition. For example, in Graves’ Disease, the immune system is obviously compromised, yet no attempt is made to eliminate the autoimmune response. But even in cases when someone isn’t afflicted with an autoimmune thyroid condition, the thyroid gland itself is rarely the cause of the problem.

If you are interested in using Natural thyroid storm treatments methods to help restore your health back to normal, the first thing I recommend is to speak with a competent holistic doctor who focuses on endocrine disorders. This way you can find out if you’re a good candidate for care, and if so, the doctor will then recommend a natural thyroid treatment protocol. Before doing this they most likely will recommend one or more additional tests in addition to the thyroid blood tests you probably have already received. For example, if they suspect a problem with your adrenal glands, they probably will recommend an Adrenal Stress Index test. If they think you might have a hormone imbalance, then they might recommend a male or female hormone panel. Or they might test you for certain nutritional deficiencies.

Once they have determined the actual cause of your thyroid condition, they once again will recommend a Natural thyroid storm treatments protocol which potentially can restore your health back to normal. As I mentioned earlier, such a protocol isn’t easy to follow, as it most likely will involve some extreme changes in your lifestyle, including eating well, getting sufficient sleep, doing a better job of managing stress, etc. You most likely will also be advised to take certain nutritional supplements and/or herbs. And while it does take a good amount of time to restore someone’s health back to normal, the good news is that in most cases it doesn’t take long to see some positive changes. When I began my natural thyroid treatment protocol I began seeing some really positive changes in my symptoms after only a few weeks of care, although it took a number of months before my lab results normalized.

In summary, if you have thyroid storm, you need to go to the emergency room and get this treated immediately. Using Natural thyroid storm treatments methods in this case is not a good idea. On the other hand, once you have the hyperthyroid symptoms under control, following a natural thyroid treatment protocol can potentially restore your health back to normal. At this point it’s a good idea to seek the advice of a competent natural endocrine doctor to find out if you’re a good candidate so you can begin the road to recovery.

Dr. Eric Osansky is a licensed doctor who used natural thyroid storm treatments methods to cure his condition when he was diagnosed with Graves’ Disease. For more information on how to use Natural Graves’ Disease Treatment methods to restore your health back to normal, including a free 46-page guide on how to use natural treatment methods to restore your health back to normal, please visit his website at www.NaturalEndocrineSolutions.com.

Do you have problems that you think that natural thyroid storm treatments could help?

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Fitness Excuses to Give Up

Another Great Article from Tom Venuto on fitness excuses to give up. As the years starts tomorrow I want to help everyone to get in better shape and live a great life but it is up to you to do the real work.

It’s 2011. Your old excuses for not getting in shape won’t work. As Dr. Evil (Austin Powers) said, ZIP IT! I don’t want to hear them anymore! Read em’, then haul your excuseless butt to the gym!

According to a story in a recent issue of Men’s Health magazine, Barack Obama works out for 45 minutes a day, 6 days a week. Obama doesn’t just play basketball either.

Our new president stays fit to lead with cardio and weight lifting. He also says he wishes he could train 90 minutes a day. Have you ever seen what the daily schedule of a U.S. president looks like? If the busiest man in the world can train every day for 45 minutes a day, then what’s your excuse? ZIP IT! You ain’t got one!

Getting in shape certainly is expensive… if you keep wasting hundreds of dollars, month after month on worthless “miracle” weight loss pills, internal cleansing gimmicks and “magic” potions that all claim to make you slim. Deceptive advertising and slick marketing for bogus diet aids is more rampant than ever. 2010 was the year of thewu-long tea scam, the acai berry scam, and, of course, the ubiquitous “cleansing” and “detox” gimmicks .

Unless you put on your critical thinking cap and learn to investigate before you invest, then you’ll get scammed by 2011’s flavor of the year as well. Your quest for those elusive “6-pack” abs will not only continue to be expensive, you’ll go broke. Walking, jogging, calisthenics and body weight exercises are FREE.

If you want to know what’s really expensive, tally up the cost of legitimate expenses like natural food, gym memberships, fitness education, dumbbells and so on, and compare that to your doctor’s bill when you’re sick.

Experts on social influence say your income will be approximately equal to the average of your 5 closest friends. Not only do I think that’s pretty darn accurate, I also believe that your health is your greatest wealth, and your physical condition will be about equal to the average of your 5 closest friends.

It’s a real challenge to stay positive, focused and active when you’re surrounded by critical people and negative influences. However, in 2011, lack of support is no longer a valid excuse. Online social networking is exploding (check out Twitter and Facebook ) and more IN PERSON friendships and associations are being made from an internet connection than ever before.

Training buddies can be found online. Connect with them. Mentors and coaches are easily found online. Hire them. Support forums have been around for years. Use them. No support from your current friends? Stop whining, start reaching out and go make new ones. In 2011, support partners and new friends are just a click away.

The marvels of modern medical and biological research are astonishing. Our top scientists have mapped the human genome! In the past few years, numerous genes linked to obesity have been discovered. However, the obesity epidemic we’re facing today has only developed over the past 50 years and genetic mutations that lead to serious obesity are extremely rare.

Genetic predisposition only means that you have a tendency. It’s when the genetics meet lifestyle and environment that the genes express themselves. If you have a family history of heart disease, is it smart to smoke, eat junk, be a stressed-out, type-A maniac and a couch potato? Well of course not, and it’s the same with obesity. If you have a tendency predisposing you towards obesity, you’d better be the person doing the MOST exercise, not the least. You’d better be the person paying the MOST attention to your nutrition.

You’d better be the person with the healthiest lifestyle. But unfortunately, it’s usually the opposite. Most people throw up their arms in frustration saying, “what’s the use, I was dealt a bad hand.” Sorry. That won’t fly in 2011. The latest research says genetics are a factor, but a tendency is not a destiny!

The lamest excuse of them all in 2011 is “I don’t know how.” NO ONE KNOWS HOW TO DO ANYTHING UNTIL AFTER THEY HAVE ACTUALLY DONE IT! Ponder that for a while. You don’t need to know how at first. To get started, you only need to know WHAT… what is the goal?

Setting well-formed goals is the master skill of success. Not wishy-washy resolutions that have no resolve behind them, but real goals. In writing. With emotional ooompf! As you continue to affirm, visualize and focus on your goal with clarity, belief, and expectation, your new goal or intention will be received by your subconscious.

Once a goal is accepted into your subconscious mind, your brain, being a goal-seeking mechanism, will turn on your attention filters to seek out all the information you will ever need to reach your goal. It will also turn on an infallible navigation system to guide you to your goal like a torpedo to its target. As your brain guides your attention, your direction and your behavior, you will discover that today, in 2011, there is more good information, coaching and instruction available than ever before.

And when you’ve activated that “success radar” in your brain by setting goals effectively, it’s not as hard to find honest, accurate and helpful HOW-TO advice as you might think. In fact, you found this webpage, so you’re doing pretty good right now, aren’t you?

No more fitness excuses. In 2011, remember my Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle Creed: You can either make fitness excuses or get results, but you can’t do both!

Your friend and coach,

Tom Venuto
Fat Loss Coach
www.BurnTheFat.com

About the Author:

Tom Venuto is a fat loss expert, lifetime natural (steroid-free) bodybuilder, independent nutrition researcher, freelance writer, and author of the #1 best selling diet e-book, Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle: Fat-Burning Secrets of The World’s Best Bodybuilders & Fitness Models (e-book) which teaches you how to get lean without drugs or supplements using secrets of the world’s best bodybuilders and fitness models. Learn how to get rid of stubborn fat and increase your metabolism by visiting: www.burnthefat.com

So get rid of those fitness excuses now, they are just in your head and you can defeat them easily once you try.

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Sudarshan Kriya is a breathing method that just may help you quit smoking. A smoker might have started smoking for different reasons, some of which are obvious and some not so obvious. The obvious ones could range from today’s favourite word ‘stress’ to the slightly more subtle ‘peer pressure’. The less obvious ones could range from a bad home situation like divorce or parents who have no time for their kids. But one of today’s best reasons to smoke is sheer intellectual pleasure that gives the smoker some time off from life- a break from reality and even the space to explore the less mundane questions of life.

So what if it is really that easy? What if all your beliefs about how hard it is going to be to quit are completely false? What if, after just one session of hypnotherapy or NLP you find it incredibly easy to become and remain a happy, confident non-smoker for life?The reason why hypnotherapy & NLP are so successful is because both our beliefs about smoking and our habitual smoking behaviours reside within your unconscious mind. So whilst consciously we may wish to quit, all too often our all powerful unconscious mind simply would not let us.

But soon it becomes an addiction like sex. Once anyone’s tasted the pleasure, it’s hard to come off it. Even if the smoker knows it’s ‘bad for health’, what with the mouth cancer pictures staring up from the pack, most smokers would rather debate for hours on end the various intellectual, emotional benefits of smoking. At the end of it, they might even agree to concede that smoking might be bad for health, but then again it’s one life and we’re going to die someday, how does it matter how! Oh come on! Didn’t it take the scientific world a decade to even slightly prove that tobacco is harmful to the lungs?

So quitting might be difficult if the smoker is in that frame of the mind. But it is quite possible if he has accepted that it is a bad idea and wants to quit. There are several resources to prevent smoking from making one kick the bucket fast and painfully, at that. What might be useful is to know that there are other avenues that provide an equal, if not much better high through other, way more wholesome options like the Sudarshan Kriya. It’s a rhythmic breathing technique that energises the body, rids it of the toxins, and more importantly keeps helps the breather reach the same high that smokers love about cigarettes, or anyone who smokes pot or gets high from alcohol attains. Call it smoking without smokes if you like.

The Sudarshan Kriya also drastically reduces the free radical levels in the body. Free radicals are negatively charged ions of certain elements that are always present in the body and the atmosphere… The free radicals are inevitably produced in the body as part of its metabolism, while junk food, pollution and the like increase the free radical levels in the body. These free radicals are also known to be responsible to cause lifestyle related diseases like cancer.

The first stage begins with the relaxation of the throat and sternum. Try to concentrate on the inhalation and exhalation of breath, through rhythmic slow breathing. Ensure that the time for inhalation and exhalation is about the same. A cycle is one inhalation, followed by one exhalation. After 20 cycles of stage one, you are ready for the next stage of the Kriya.

The second stage begins with normal inhalation followed by deep exhalation. Here, exhalation lasts for a longer time than inhalation. Be aware that the sternum and the rest of the body including the back have to remain as relaxed as possible. Complete 20 cycles of stage two, slowly and rhythmically.

As you move into the third stage, deep inhalation is followed by normal exhalation. Inhalation takes a longer time than exhalation, within a cycle. The same cautions as second stage apply. Complete 20 cycles of stage three, slowly and rhythmically. Go into the last stage with deep inhalation followed by deep exhalation. The time for inhalation and exhalation is about the same. This is done for 20 cycles also.

There’s always this doubt on whether it’s possible to stick to doing these techniques everyday. That’s why it’s a good idea to rope in some friends who want to quit smoking too. It keeps the motivation levels high and also it feels much easier to do these things in a group- the spirit of companionship always helps.

One very important word to delete from the daily dictionary during this time is ‘forever’. That is the whole point of quitting. But the presence of ‘forever’ will only be a constant burden at the back of the mind. This leaves a constant lingering doubt that might trigger another spate of smoking. It becomes much easier to take a sabbatical from smoking for a period of time that seems doable, starting out with small portions, say a week and gradually building up to a month or a few months. That keeps the confidence going. It’s also easier to abstain for smaller periods initially, until the body (and the mind), get used to the idea.

Also during this period, it turns out that it’s very essential to drink loads of water and fresh juice, maybe a dash of herbal tea or coconut water, if it works for you. The fluids help flush out the toxins released by the tobacco and related chemicals and completely throw out the toxins released by the breathing techniques. Staying away from coffee, tea and junk helps keep the weight down during this period. That’s because the decrease in nicotine slows down the metabolism, and caffeine and junk food will only add to the body weight at this time. Besides, fresh food feels lighter and fresher.

I suggest you visit http://www.artofliving.org and http://www.artofliving.org/art-living-part-i-course-art-breathing to more information.

Try the Sudarshan Kriya method of breathing and see if it helps you in your quitting smoking plans.

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We all know Jillian Michaels diet plan and exercise program from the Biggest Loser, it is hard, aggressive and loud. Well Jillian Michaels diet plan is now online and she is offering a free body analysis as well as a cheap $4 a week plan that will give you all the tools to lose weight now.

Jillian’s passion for fitness originates from 17 years of devoted practice in the fields of martials arts, personal training, health and wellness. Best known as the undefeated strength trainer and life coach on NBC’s hit series The Biggest Loser, Jillian is a motivator and role model to nearly 15 million viewers every week.

Before she was a huge TV success, Jillian struggled with her own weight. She knows as well as anyone how difficult it can be to lose weight. She was determined to reach her goals — and through dedication and hard work she did. Now she’s determined to help you reach your goals.

Jillian has combined years of training experience with the weight-loss secrets from her success on NBC’s hit series The Biggest Loser to create her new online program.
This is your real solution to weight loss. Change your life by following Jillian’s triple-threat approach to success: self, science, and sweat.

Self: Learn how to change your behaviors to finally reach your goals.

We all know that there is a lot more to loseing weight than e3ating right and exercising. If you do the right things to lose weight but still do not tackle the problems that got you to the place you are at now then you will not be able to keep the weight off.

Inspiration and advice from Jillian
Weight-Loss Buddies who share your goals
Message Boards for daily motivation
Calorie Calculator & Interactive Weight Tracker
Jillian’s 7 Steps to Behavioral Modification

Science: Eat right for your metabolism

Eating correctly is critically important and we are all built differently. Jillian Michaels diet plan is designed to figure you out. Using an  extensive questionaire they are able to find out what you eat, crave, and through this find out how you should eat to lose weight.
100s of metabolism-boosting recipes
Meal Plans and Menus for your body type
Special food guides to help you eat right
Customized info on your metabolic rate

Sweat: Train your body for serious weight loss

Jillian Michaels is famous for the yelling and no nonsense way in which she pushes people but of course we are not all able to visit the biggest loser ranch with all of that great equipment. Instead Jillian Michaels diet plan figures out what you have access too, what kind of exercise you would want to do and figures out based on that what you should be doing to burn those calories in exercise
151 printable exercises you can do from home
Cardio workouts that you enjoy
Complete Muscle Manual
Fitness Advice Videos

The Jillian Michaels diet plan site asks you a few questions and then in the end spits out some ideas as well as giving you access to some newsletters to read. Great $4 a week plan as well which includes the above to get you in shape and lose weight.

PS: I am not sure if you are aware that there is a guarantee to this plan. If for any reason you do not like this or the Jillian Michaels diet plan is not for you then you can get a full refund.

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Goal Setting for 2011

Tom Venuto of Burn the Fat sent me this article on Goal Setting for 2011 to print up on the blog. Hope you find some great value in it as I did.

When you pause and reflect on the past decade as you look ahead to a new one, it makes you appreciate how short life is, how valuable time is and how quickly the time can pass you by – with nothing to show for it, if you don’t plan otherwise.

That’s why the passing of another decade can feel like a wakeup call as much as a fresh start: Looking at the technological wonders that surround us in 2010, I can’t help thinking it feels like science fiction.

In fact, modern technology is one of the reasons why some people have succeeded at body transformation while others have failed.

I’m still in awe of the web. The satellite navigation system in my car amazes me every time I drive. I can store a library of books in a device that fits in my pocket. It blows my mind that we can speak to each other face to face through the internet live on video. That’s straight from Star Trek! And those are just the everyday little things.

It’s the greatest time to be alive in all of human history! Unfortunately, today’s modern conveniences have brought a dark side upon us.

Rising obesity has paralleled the march of technology. The chair-bound, desk-job, computer, car, elevator, television based society of today is helping to make millions of people fat and lazy.

Our current way of life is less than a century old, yet our biology hasn’t changed in tens of thousands of years. Our bodies were designed to move and work, not sit and click.

We’ve become spoiled. Complacent. Dependent. And we are paying a price for it. We are fatter than ever before in all of human history. More than two thirds of Americans are now overweight. One third are obese.

People are dying because they‘re too fat.

Ironically, none of our new technology can solve our body fat problems.  There’s no easy way. No pill. No machine. No drug. More knowledge isn’t going to help. We already have most of the answers. We know more about the human body than ever before. But it’s all academic.

The problem lies in the doing. You have to do the work – in the gym and in the kitchen. Hard work.

We are a quick fix society. It’s partly human nature, but technology is making us more impatient. We can have products delivered to us with one click and even do it from our cell phones. We have instant downloads, movies on demand, and drive through coffee shops. We get  our food made and delivered in just minutes while we are sitting in our cars, and it’s still not quick enough. The internet is blazingly fast, but most people will abandon a web page in seconds if it hasn’t loaded. It’s no different with fat loss. We want six pack abs yesterday.

Simultaneously fighting the pull of human nature and the convenience of new technology is no easy task. But there is a solution: Future Orientation.

The most successful people in the world today are those who have a long term perspective. They plan 5-10 years in advance and beyond. They know how to enjoy and live in the present moment, but they take action and make decisions based on their future vision. And they will be doing goal setting for 2011

The passing of another decade makes you take stock of yourself and your achievements, or lack thereof. “What did I accomplish in the last 10 years? Am I a better person today than I was in 2000?”

If you don’t like the answers, then it’s time to finally get serious about your future because the next 10 years are going to fly by even faster than the last 10 as the pace of life and society gets even faster.

To succeed in the new decade, think beyond new year’s resolutions. Think beyond the 12 week fitness goal. As you write your goals this year, don’t stop with 3 month or even 1 year goals.

Project yourself into the future: 3, 5 and 10 years from now. For each point, dream, fantasize, visualize: if your body, your health your physical performance were perfect in every way, what would that look like? Describe it in vivid detail.

With our ingrained penchant for quick fixes, we often overestimate what we can achieve in the short term and set unrealistic deadlines on our short term goals. But the flipside is that we often underestimate what we can achieve in the long term, so we set our long term goals too low.  Do you realize that people have gone from broke to billionaire in 10 years? In this internet age, some have done it even faster.

My challenge for you this year is to start thinking about your body and your life with the same type of creativity that has led to our greatest technological advances:

Not the same thoughts as yesterday. Not just positive thoughts. just bigger thoughts. NEW THOUGHTS! Creative thoughts! Inventive thoughts! From new thoughts will spring new goals, new actions and new achievements.

Fitness goals should not take over your life, they should enhance every other part of it. So take this opportunity to achieve balance by setting long term goals for every area of your life – health, fitness, finances, career, relationships, experiences, travel, possessions and spiritual growth.

Most people didn’t set any goals 10 years ago. They’re among the masses who are in the same place today as they were a decade ago. So do some Goal Setting for 2011

Some people only set short term goals, so they accomplished a few little things, but then stopped, as if a goal were a final destination rather than a stepping stone along a path. Other people set goals but didn’t follow through on them. They forgot that goal setting and goal achieving are two different things.

Don’t fall into these traps.

If you need coaching in the goal setting process – from the daily and weekly baby steps to the long term goals and dreams that span a decade – read chapter one of Burn The Fat, Feed the Muscle.  If you already have it. Now is the time to revisit it.

If you don’t own a copy yet, you can get the program at:

Burn The Fat Feed the Muscle

Most people make resolutions. Some people set well-formed goals. But long term goals are the goals that almost everyone forgets to set.

If you didn’t do this exercise 10 years ago, do it now. If you do, I guarantee that in 2013, 2015, 2020, you’ll not only find yourself living at a whole new level, you’ll find yourself living in another world – one of your own creation.

Happy New Year!

Tom Venuto, author of Burn The Fat Feed The Muscle

PS. Remember, goal setting is just the start. Goal ACHIEVING requires a nutrition and training plan.  Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle is the most comprehensive fat loss program of its kind because it teaches you every element necessary to succeed: nutrition, cardio training, weight training and “mental training” (goal setting and mindset).

Learn more about the Burn The Fat program at: Burn The Fat

About the Author:

As we all know Goal Setting for 2011 is an important thing to do so follow Toms ideas here

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5-HTP Supplements

I ran across this great article by Virginia Butters that explains why using an amino acid supplement called 5-HTP may be a great alternative to the current crop of anti-deperssion drugs that are out there like Luvox or Prozac or Praxil. Take a read and see what you think

When depression and anxiety are severe, they can have an impact on every area of life, and most people welcome any form of relief. SSRIs, or Selective Serotonin Re-Uptake Inhibitors, are the choice to treat depression and anxiety for millions of Americans, but the risks of these medications may outweigh their possible benefits. The side effects and complications of these medications leave many looking for a natural alternative. More and more depression and anxiety sufferers are turning to the naturally occurring amino acid 5-Hydroxytryptophan, or 5-HTP. 5-HTP may be a better and safer option for many suffering from depression and anxiety symptoms, and here are five reasons why.

1. 5-HTP does not antagonize your brain’s normal functioning. The neurotransmitter serotonin is manufactured in the brain, and causes regulation of sleep, mood, and the perception of pain. The symptoms of depression, anxiety, fibromyalgia and insomnia have all been correlated to reduced serotonin levels. Certain brain receptors absorb serotonin, and SSRIs work by blocking those receptors, which in theory slows our brain’s use of the serotonin we produce. This artificial slowing of the brain’s physiological regulatory system does not boost the actual manufacture of serotonin.

In contrast, the chemical precursor to serotonin itself is 5-HTP, necessarily used by our brains to manufacture the neurotransmitter. By taking a 5-HTP supplement, we provide our brains with more of the substance it naturally uses to produce serotonin. Increasing serotonin levels has been found to improve the symptoms of depression, anxiety, insomnia, and other conditions.

2. 5-HTP doesn’t cause a fraction of the side effects common to SSRIs. When taking an SSRI, it’s common to experience a number of side effects, the most common of which include weight gain, sexual dysfunction, diarrhea or constipation, insomnia, dry mouth, heart palpitations, fatigue, agitation, muscle pain and tremors. In a small percentage of patients, an increase in suicidal thoughts has been reported. Studies have shown that nearly 45% of SSRI users will have sexual difficulties or be unable to orgasm, over 20% will report a noticable weight gain, and 2%-4% will have more suicidal thoughts than before taking the medication.

Very few side effects have been associated with taking 5-HTP supplements. Minor gastrointestinal complaints are the most frequently reported side effects of 5-HTP therapy. Users have reported these often completely subside with time. No studies have found correlations between 5-HTP and any of the serious side effects commonly associated with SSRIs.

3. 5-HTP works. SSRIs have been found to have a positive impact on the symptoms of depression and anxiety, and are therefore commonly prescribed by medical professionals. However, 5-HTP has also been shown in clinical trials to cause significant improvement in these symptoms. 5-HTP was shown to be as effective as fluvoxamine, a prescription antidepressant, in one study. Because of it’s ability to encourage natural serotonin production in the brain, 5-HTP has been shown repeatedly to have a positive impact on mood, decrease anxiety, and aid in healthy sleep.

4. Dependency is not a problem with 5-HTP. SSRIs have the effect of artificially manipulating the brain’s natural processes. Because of this, suddenly discontinuing their use may result in severe bouts of depression and anxiety. 5-HTP can be discontinued quite easily if felt to be no longer necessary, because it’s natural effect of increasing serotonin production does not interfere with the brain’s normal physiology.

5. 5-HTP comes from nature. The 5-HTP which is usually found in supplements is extracted from the seeds of a plant, the West African griffonia simplicifolia. Small amounts of 5-HTP can be found in a variety of foods such as shellfish, cheese, eggs and milk. SSRIs are completely synthetic, and exist nowhere in nature.

Doses ranging from 50 mg to 300 mg are standard when using 5-HTP to treat depression and anxiety. It’s advised to begin with 50 mg and add more over a period of time if necessary, as some people obtain more favorable results while taking a lower dose. 5-HTP should be taken with a full glass of water and within 30 minutes of a meal for maximum absorption to occur. Taking more than 200 mg of 5-HTP at a time should be avoided. 5-HTP may not be right for everyone, and should be avoided by those currently using prescription antidepressants or anti-Parkinsons medications. It’s recommended that you consult with a health care professional before beginning a 5-HTP regimen.

Read about how to choose a 5htp supplement and how 5htp benefits fibromyalgia symptoms. at Virginia Butters site

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Biggest Loser Season 11

Well here we go again. Biggest Loser Season 11 starts tonight and this season is expected to be even “bigger” than every other season has been.

There are going to be a few things to watch for tonight that I am excited about.

There seems to be a bit of a change coming on Biggest Loser Season 11. You may remember a few years ago Jillian Michaels left for a season or two and Kim Lyons was brought in . Most people did not like Kim but by the end of her time she seemed to soften up on camera and was a lot easier to like as a trainer. Bob Has been there the whole time, says he would never leave the show  and now Jillian says that this is her last season as she concentrates on other parts of her life including adopting some kids and living a more normal life.

Further to this there are two new trainers starting tonight. This has been perhaps a terribly kept secret but here is what I have heard around the blogosphere on who the new trainers will be it looks like Brett Hoebel and Cara Castronova.

Brett Hoebel

Brett Hoebel – Brett is a 15-year veteran in the health & wellness industry and is a popular celebrity trainer and  founder of Hoebel Fitness. Brett is one of the most sought-after weight-loss, nutrition and lifestyle coaches in New York. His RevAbs program infomercial of ab-focused workout DVDs also came out this year.

Brett’s integrative philosophy and body-mind approach come from his diverse experience in Eastern and Western disciplines, including his martial arts training in Afro-Brazilian capoeira  and Muay Thai kickboxing as well as his undergrad education as a premed in biomedical science  and post-graduate studies in functional strength training, nutrition, yoga and holistic health.

Cara Castronova

Cara Castronova -Cara is a ex-champion boxer and a fantastic boxer for sure but she has been working on her acting and has been in a few movies over the last few years but is just really getting started.

A lot of people seem to be bashing her on her lack or credentials but really if Cara is the new Biggest Loser trainer she will be in charge of just a few people and as we all know motivation is the biggest part of weight loss once you get your eating and exercise in place. I am sure she knows how to get in shape with all the training that comes into become a champion level athlete.

So is this season a tryout for these guys? Are we going to see three trainers in the future or are we going to see one of these two new guys actually take over Jillian Michaels spot on the Biggest Loser Season 12?

We have seen a lot of big people on the Biggest Loser for sure but on Biggest Loser Season 11 apparently there will be to contestants that will be over 500 pounds. As we saw whne people et over 400 pounds there is a lot more to worry about then just losing weight.

I always have to wonder and maybe we will get a bit of insight this season. If you can walk at 500 pounds then you need lower body strength to carry that mass but what about upper body strength? How can you lose 200 pounds of fat and not lose all of your muscle? Over the long term this is easy, do weights, build muscle mass, and then lose your fat slowly at the same time. But how do you lose 20 pounds a week of fat without losing what little muscle you have? There are a few questions.

This is my kids highlight to see tonight. In the commercial for Biggest Loser Season 11 there is some guy that falls off of a treadmill (come on, why do they make someone fall off every season). And instead of just falling this person seems to roll off like a ball. We have seen this highlight a bunch of times on our PVR and I am looking forward to seeing it on the show tonight. I do hope though that the guy is ok.

So I know that last season I said I was onde iwth the Biggest Loser. I know that I should be, it is the train wreck of the diet industry and is really teaching some bad ways to lose weight (harsh dieting and 5-6 hours a day of exercise) but I do really like to see the tips thaey give and I think the show as badly edited as it is has some interesting moments.

Have fun tonight watching Biggest Loser Season 11 and we can talk about it tomorrow here.

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Well here we are New Years Day. I was looking at the stats for this little fitness tips blog and see that last year I had over 2 million page views and over 1 million visitors. That was amazing and I want to thank you for having such trust in me and my message of how to get fit.

Here I am on a Saturday afternoon, the first of the year. And I am thinking about honesty and direction. Where my life is leading me and where and what I will be focussing on this year.

My family and I stayed up last night until midnight watching a movie, having a fondue and just reveling in spending time together.  But now the new year is upon us

Last week I sent three emails to the list of people that have signed up for the 10 days of fitness program/newsletter (you can sign up on the sidebar to the right here). Anyway in these emails I tried to come up with a good way of making goals, new years resolutions, that will work well and not be thrown out by the end of the month.

Also last week I set up a poll asking what people are looking for in the way of articles here on the blog. The winner of that poll was Weight loss, followed by exercise and then eating tips. Following further behind in the poll were productivity and muscle gain articles.

I am never sure how clear I am about this but my top priority is to make sure that I am serving and helping as many people as I can. The trouble is that I can give advice, I can poke and prod, I can help answer excuses, but in the end it is YOU that has to watch the food and water in and the exercise out.

So here I was last week wondering what I should do next on this blog. I am in the process of writing up a weight loss book and that should help us all to understand what it takes from another perspective. More importantly though is thinking of the new posts and the new ways that I can be of help to you.

This year I want to make sure that I open up a lot more of myself to you. I have in the past written about what I am eating and how I am working out but the trouble is that a lot of the ”Weight Loss Gurus” and writers of books and TV show people seem to live this perfect life of no urges, no breakdowns, no cheating on eating , and no laziness. This is not me

I want to open up about the chocolate, missed workouts and fighting with the thoughts in my head telling me to do one thing and really doing the other. Let’s share ourselves and our successes as well as looking for support in our failures.

So I know that I will continue giving you the news, and articles on weight loss and fitness but more often I will try to tell you about those other bloggers that are writing really cool articles and more about me and my family. Did you know that my wife suffers from weight issues? And that with all the help I can give she still will not listen to me but lets me know when I am full of crap with my own eating? Yes more of those kinds of stories.

So lets buckle up and have a great year. We all have a lot to look forward to and I hope that this year we can have even more sharing than we have in the last couple.

Thanks

Bill

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I wrote a series of posts this year on vitamins. I tried to include all the main vitamins and minerals. This was a project that I had thought about for a couple of years and I finally put it all together this year.

In these posts I included what we need these vitamins for, what are the sources of these vitamins, and the amount and toxicity levels for each of the vitamins:

Vitamin A – is important for skin and eyesite. Vitamin A is also an antioxidant and helps your immune system

Vitamin B – These are the classic vitamins for antioxidants and are supposed to be very helpful for combatting stress. Watch out for your multi vitamins as they tend to be very low in B vitamins since they are kind of expensive to produce

Vitamin B3 – Niacin is one of the B vitamins most important for energy as it converts carbs into glucose and glycogen

Vitamin C – is a water-soluble vitamin, which is necessary in the body to form collagen in bones, cartilage, muscle, and blood vessels and aids in the absorption of iron.

Vitamin D – This is a vitamin that we get primarily from sunlight and most people are very deficient in this vitamin. I have written lots on Vitamin D deficiency and this article will help you understand the importance of vitamin D

Vitamin E – Helps to fight cholesterol, cancer, and your skin as well as tissues and internal organs. You get Vitamin E from green leafy veggies as well as other places

Vitamin K – Vitamin K is necessary for normal clotting of blood in humans. Specifically, vitamin K is required for the liver to make factors that are necessary for blood to properly clot

Zinc – Helps the immune system fight off invading bacteria and viruses. The body also needs zinc to make proteins and DNA, the genetic material in all cells

Calcium – Calcium is required for muscle contraction, blood vessel expansion and contraction, secretion of hormones and enzymes, and transmitting impulses throughout the nervous system

Chromium – Chromium is known to enhance the action of insulin, a hormone critical to the metabolism and storage of carbohydrate, fat, and protein in the body. Chromium also appears to be directly involved in carbohydrate, fat, and protein metabolism, but more research is needed to determine the full range of its roles in the body.

I think that these vitamins and minerals are important to know about and you can be tested for deficiencies and even though some may fight me on this I think it is important to take supplements of these as a precaution to make sure that you do not become deficient

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By Jim Rollince of Gym Source, a vendor of home gym and exercise equipment, including treadmills, ellipticals, arc trainers, bikes and more!

This season, don’t let the arctic temperatures impact your normal exercise agenda – A lot easier said that done, right? Sure, buying yourself a brand new treadmill or any one of a number of different home gyms would be an easy solution, but very costly at that. So why not make your way into the nearest athletic center?

Now you’re saying “anybody could have told me that!” But in actuality, this is trickier than most people think. During the winter, it can become quite habitual to go to work; come home and relax; eat dinner, then go to bed.

And this is a routine that nobody should to get too comfortable with. Some people just can’t bare the cold, or simply aren’t prepared for it. These behaviors can become heightened in frequency as it becomes cooler throughout December, January and February.

A list of general winter predispositions can include:

Drinking more coffee/teaEngaging in indoor activitiesEating fattening foods

Similarly, holiday parties can have a huge impact on weight, along with increased appetite. And technically, as human beings with certain requirements, we’re exposed to less sunlight, which will certainly lead to fluctuations in hormones and chemicals in the brain. At the same time, the blood vessels in our skin begin to contract, moving blood towards the centre of the body, which impacts our digestive systems.

In combination, all of the above directly affects our ability to stay healthy. Yet, the biggest challenge remains – leaving the house. Here are some great tips:

Dress Warm. This includes warm-ups and under armor. And it’s okay to change at the gym; don’t be ashamed to show off your body in the locker room!

This can be a huge obstacle for a lot of self-conscious people. The warmer you are before your workout, the easier the transition into full cardio or strength training. Tighter clothing will also with warmth.

It’s almost guaranteed that as human beings, we’re going to eat more during the winter. But eating at the right while eating the right foods will eventually enhance your workout and drive you to stay at the gym longer. Be sure to eat foods that are high in protein, along with beverages rich in carbohydrates and vitamins. Calcium and Potassium are very important for nutritional health and avoiding sickness. Although these foods/proteins/vitamins may not get you to the gym, they will surely keep you from missing out!

Also, try substituting some of your every day foods for things like almonds, peanuts, dates and raisins – These are high in protein and natural sugar; guaranteed to give you that extra drive during the day.  On a side note, they also are great for your digestive system. If not properly upheld, obstructed bowel movements can cause distress and back pain, lowering workout motivation.

Drinking sufficient amounts of water during the day will also help with digestion, and also acts as a preventive measure for muscle aches and back pain. And most importantly, it helps with weight loss.

Lastly, be sure to strengthen your muscles by constantly stretching. This doesn’t have to be at the gym – Use your spare time to stretch your muscles, including the ones in your face. The cold will eventually make you feel achier and tighten everything up. A quirky, yet effective example would be to stretch while in the shower. This is when your core temperature has a chance to rise, allowing for easier stretching.

If you’re already actively involved at a gym, it doesn’t mean that you wont’ gain weight either. Winter’s affects can be quite brutal! Trips the store; walking; playing outside; side-work – This can all be cut in half due to the cold. In order to remedy this, be sure to spend an extra few minutes at the gym, perhaps exploring new exercises. If you abide by these simple stipulations, you’ll find that it’s easy to keep that great summer shape!

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Bench Press Tips

Bench presses are some the best exercises that we can do and these bench press tips will totally build your upper body for the upper body.

I have written before about how there are different angles for bench press but there is also a lot of tips that can make your bench presses more effective and your chest gains better as well.

Bench Press Rep Speed – The most important thing to get right is the speed and intesity of your reps. Make sure that you get your pacing right with the declining part of the rep being slow, about two seconds, and as you are raising the bar up make sure that it is faster. The lowering part of the rep is the most important and will build the muscle.

Bench Press Set Length – You need to do only a few reps per set of bench press. six to eight reps is fine for bench press. But most importantly you need to be completely spent by the time that your set ends. There are several ways to do this but most importantly you need to.

There are a few ways to make more of your bench press and these are by upping the intensity of your sets and reps. These methods are going to make you sore but the idea is to recruit as many muscle fibers as possible in your bench press. These bench press tips are great but are not tips for beginners.

Negatives – Negatives bench presses are done with a training partner. What you need to do is half reps. Have the training partner lift the weight off your chest and then do a rep back down slowly to your chest. Once the weight gets to the bottom your partner will raise it for you.

Stripping Weight - Start your set with a higher weight than normal. This weight should only allow you to do 3 full reps. Once you do these reps then you can quickly jump off and take some weight off so that you can get another three reps. This means that you will be getting even more muscle fiber recruitment than you could get from one set.

Supersets for Chest – Finally you can do supersets. Supersets are when you weaken your muscle with one exercise and then immediately do another exercise to finish them off. Start with a set of bench press and then when there is nothing left you quickly move to flyes to finish off your chest.

As I said before these tips are not for everyone but instead for more advanced weight lifters. Try your best to get the most from your bench press workouts using these bench press tips and therefore build a bigger and stronger chest.

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Well today I am finally back on schedule. It has been about three weeks since I have had a regular schedule and man it feels good.

In mid-December I had a week of holidays and as we all know the whole Christmas season is running, working, family and anything else that you can jam into the days and weeks.

Well today was my first day back and there are a few things that made me realize that as much as I crave freedom I still like to have a schedule.

Eating - Every workday, including today, I make my breakfast in the morning and have all of my eating and food planned for the day. Over the last few days or weeks that has not been the case at all and I had been eating and snacking anytime that I felt like it.

Working Out – My workouts have been pretty steady even if they have been inconsistent. I have been just doing weights over the last few weeks except for one cardio workout. Well today I was back but at least I will get a chance to get a couple at least cardio workouts in this week. I usually get my workout in just around noon  and today was no exception.

I hope that as the days get longer I can get on my bike again soon as this is probably the best time and exercise that I get, this is the time that I let my mind get quieter, get some consistent rhythm going in my exercise and it is just plain nice to get outside and enjoy the sun.

Sleep - My sleep schedule has been horrible for over a month now. I did not care about my sleep at the beginning of December and hit the wall just as I was starting holidays. Now over the last couple weeks my kids have kept me running and then after they finally crash I am able to get some time in reading. I am reading that book Eat, Pray, Love and it is fun to read but it keeps me up to late.

And to make matters maybe worse I have been sleeping in late. I feel that I always perform best when I get to sleep earlier and wake up early as well.

How about you? How do you like the year and the days getting back into a schedule? Are you running into the same as me? I know that I miss my wife and kids more going back to work today but this SCHEDULE is exactly what I needed.

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edit: My wife saw the pic of us in this post and got mad. The choice that she liked better is the pic that I put in here now… so much for editorial immunity but my wife always gets final say

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