Beginner's Guide To Fitness

What to do when you are ready to get into shape!

So you are finally ready to turn from your couch potato ways, and trade your T.V. remote in for a dumbbell! Congratulations, and welcome to the wonderful world of fitness! I commend you on your resolve to lose weight and get into shape! Now where do you begin? These days there sure is a lot of talk about diet and fitness, whether it is a new diet pill or piece of exercise equipment. It is enough to make your head spin, and certainly enough to confuse the beginner. Take a deep breath, and follow these simple tips to go from being a fitness beginner to a pro!

TIP #1: GET MOVING

The first thing you need to do, as a fitness beginner, is to start moving! I mean this literally. Get up, and walk out your front door. Now walk down the street. Now turn the corner. Keep going! Do you get the picture? Start introducing your body to fitness by going on walks. These walks will probably start out slow and short, but before you know it they will be brisk and long. Try to work up a sweat as you tour the neighborhood. Make it a habit to wake up early to go on your walk, or consistently go on a walk before you go to bed. These walks will get you to start burning calories each day, and will also begin to build your cardiovascular endurance.

TIP #2: STRETCH

Once you become a pro at walking, you will need to add something new to your routine. Stretch before and after your walks. Start by reaching down to touch your toes and holding it for 30 seconds. You will feel tightness on the backs of your legs, in your hamstrings. Now place your palm against a wall at chest level and turn your body away from it. As you hold this for 30 seconds you will feel a stretch in your chest. Most inactive people have tight hamstring and chest muscles due to prolonged sitting, so it should be your priority to stretch these muscles out. You will be pleasantly surprised at what this will do for your posture!

TIP #3: CLEAN YOUR DIET

Fitness professionals like to claim that 80% of what your body looks like is directly related to what you eat. In other words, if you are eating burgers and fries and visiting the gym everyday, you are still going to look like you are eating burgers and fries! It is time to clean up your diet, so you can continue on your fast track to fitness.

• Rule #1: No more fast food. Fast food is cheap, available, and quick, but it is far from healthy. You are better off avoiding it completely.
• Rule #2: Eat 5 servings of fresh fruits and vegetables everyday. Your body needs the nutrients found in these foods, and they will fill you up without empty calories.
• Rule #3: Eat 4-5 small meals a day, rather than 2 large ones. This will keep your metabolism high all day, and turn you into a calorie-burning machine!

TIP#4: JOIN A GYM

After you have mastered walking, stretching, and have started to clean up your diet, you are ready to join a gym. Don�t be intimidated or scared of this concept, the gym is a friendly place where people go to burn calories and build muscle! Find a local gym that has a convenient location near your home or work place. The key to making your gym membership worth its monthly dues is to use it consistently. Go to the gym no less than three times a week. While you are there begin a resistance training program as well as a cardiovascular program.

TIP #5: FIND A BUDDY

There is no better motivator to get you to the gym than knowing that someone is there waiting for you. If you find yourself slacking off in your workouts, or skipping the gym, a workout buddy might be just what you need. Find a friend with whom you share similar fitness goals, and become workout buddies. Agree to meet three times a week at the gym, and encourage each other throughout your workout. You will find that this makes workouts motivating and fun.

There you have it, all you need to know to get yourself up off the coach and into a healthy, fit lifestyle! Making the decision to get into shape will be the best one you make in your life, a

Lose a pound a week - Weight Loss by Diana Simmons

Ways to lose a pound a week

Empower yourself Stop thinking that you cant and start believing that you can. Find one body part that you like and start expressing gratitude toward that body part every day. You will be surprised at what happens when you stop judging and start uplifting yourself.

Dream in color Find pictures of the body that you want to have. Write down all the things that you are going to do when you reach your goal, that you never let yourself do before. Day dream about them often and allow yourself to begin to experience those things now.

Get checked out Have a physical and make sure that you don't have any underlying health issues. The doctor can either give you the go ahead to get active or get you on the right track to handle your medical conditions so that you will be ready to jump on the health bandwagon.

Be committed and flexible Especially when you are starting out, it is important to have a strict routine. However, we all know that life happens. If something comes up and your normal time schedule is not going to work today, it's alright. Take a deep breath and look for another way to make it happen. Take a minute to relax and the answers will come.

Celebrate every success There is no such thing as a small success, they all deserve to be celebrated. Find ways that you can acknowledge yourself for the things that you are doing right. This will build your self confidence and make it easier for you to stay on track. Remember where you cam from It might be fun after you have lost 10 pounds to get a couple of 5 pound bags of sugar, put them into a backpack and carry them around for an hour or two. 10 pounds might not sound like much but it will feel like it.

Focus on the goal not the obstacles It is so easy sometimes to get stuck on an obstacle that seems insurmountable. Think about where you are headed. Turn the obstacle into a stepping stone. Keep a picture or note about the real reasons you are doing this and use it to refocus on what really matters. YOU!

Please have fun with these suggestions and be kind to yourself. Enjoy the journey, it is the most important part

About the Author

Did you know that 90% of diets fail? Don't be another statistic, get the truth Lose a Pound a Week

Vegetarian Weight Loss: Easy Tips to Guarantee Success! by Gail M. Davis

Weight loss tips for vegetarians are surprisingly similar to tips for any other kind of weight loss journey. There are three main types of vegetarians. "Vegans" eat no animal products at all. Vegan diets consist mainly of fruits, vegetables, legumes, grains, seeds, and nuts. "Lacto-vegetarians" add dairy products to their diets and "lacto-ovo vegetarians" include both dairy products and eggs.

Consider these facts about a vegetarian diet:

• A typical vegetarian consumes 500 less calories a day than their meat-eating peers, while consuming more food.

• Vegetarians tend to be slimmer with less medical problems such as heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes.

• Evidence indicates that a vegetarian diet causes calories to burn long after meals, which means that foods from plants are being used as fuel instead of being stored as fat.

• 6% of the vegetarian population is considered "obese" compared to 45% of the meat-eating population.

Before you decide you want to become a vegetarian and throw out all the meat in your house, understand that becoming a vegetarian doesn't automatically mean that you will lose weight! You can just imagine the calories packed into cheese, nuts, peanut butter, oils, creamy salad dressings, and sweets that can create havoc when you jump on the scale. Some vegetarian meals can be way too high in both fat and sugar. It's all about making healthy choices.

As in all diets, you must be diligent about reading nutrition fact labels and knowing exactly what you are putting into your mouth. For an easy explanation about how to understand nutrition fact labels, see http://www.easy-weightloss-tips.com/nutritionfactlabel.html

Easy tips to help you lose weight on a vegetarian diet:

• Eat plenty of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.
• Choose lower-fat dairy products that are fortified with calcium and vitamins.
• Eat nutrient-dense foods that will provide the vitamins and minerals that you need daily.
• Take a multi-vitamin daily.
• Broil, steam, roast, or sauté your foods. Avoid fried foods.
• Use the vegetarian food pyramid guidelines to determine the proper portions that you should be eating. As with any diet, success is all about portion control! Generally, each day vegetarians should have 5-8 servings of grains, 3-5 servings of vegetables, 2-4 servings of fruits, 2-3 servings of dairy products, and 5-7 ounces total of beans, nuts, eggs, etc.
• Drink plenty of water.
• Eliminate or reduce "recreational eating." Don't fill up on empty calories. Eat with intention! Making careless choices can cause your metabolism to slow down.
• Beware of vegetarian "convenience food." Plan your meals and snacks carefully.
• Reduce your consumption of high-fat products such as mayonnaise, butter, and creamy salad dressings.
• Keep a food journal to help you stay motivated on your weight loss journey.
• Exercise a minimum of 30 minutes each day. More is better!

If you follow these easy steps, you will reduce your weight and improve your overall health. As always, see your physician before beginning a new diet and exercise routine.

About the Author

Gail M. Davis is the author of the weight loss advice site www.easy-weightloss-tips.com. For more tips on weight loss visit our site today!

Lose a pound a week - Weight Loss by Diana Simmons

Ways to lose a pound a week

Empower yourself Stop thinking that you cant and start believing that you can. Find one body part that you like and start expressing gratitude toward that body part every day. You will be surprised at what happens when you stop judging and start uplifting yourself.

Dream in color Find pictures of the body that you want to have. Write down all the things that you are going to do when you reach your goal, that you never let yourself do before. Day dream about them often and allow yourself to begin to experience those things now.

Get checked out Have a physical and make sure that you don't have any underlying health issues. The doctor can either give you the go ahead to get active or get you on the right track to handle your medical conditions so that you will be ready to jump on the health bandwagon.

Be committed and flexible Especially when you are starting out, it is important to have a strict routine. However, we all know that life happens. If something comes up and your normal time schedule is not going to work today, it's alright. Take a deep breath and look for another way to make it happen. Take a minute to relax and the answers will come.

Celebrate every success There is no such thing as a small success, they all deserve to be celebrated. Find ways that you can acknowledge yourself for the things that you are doing right. This will build your self confidence and make it easier for you to stay on track. Remember where you cam from It might be fun after you have lost 10 pounds to get a couple of 5 pound bags of sugar, put them into a backpack and carry them around for an hour or two. 10 pounds might not sound like much but it will feel like it.

Focus on the goal not the obstacles It is so easy sometimes to get stuck on an obstacle that seems insurmountable. Think about where you are headed. Turn the obstacle into a stepping stone. Keep a picture or note about the real reasons you are doing this and use it to refocus on what really matters. YOU!

Please have fun with these suggestions and be kind to yourself. Enjoy the journey, it is the most important part

Added by Diana Simmons

Best weight loss exercises

There are many exercises for weight loss that are available today. This is especially common when losing weight has become such a serious and a common issue among people in the world where the world has grown health conscious. People are trying to attain perfect bodies and the ideal weight and capitalizing on this are many companies that are offering miracle methods. Some are offering tablets that help you reduce in weeks and some are offering gadgets that will reduce all your body fat in even days. But these methods are mostly unproven and sometimes even dangerous. It is also very dangerous to lose weight suddenly from your body as it can make you fall ill. The tablets should be most avoided as they contain many side effects and also some tablets become addictive. These are only some of the few reasons why the much advertised miracle health plans should be avoided. The best way to lose weight is through dedication and handwork on regular and periodic exercises. Also before embarking on any program one needs to find out whether he or she needs to lose weight in the first place. Losing weight unnecessarily can have ill effects to the body and the mind.

The benefits of losing weight are many. The first of them being that you can avoid many of the health risks. It is a known fact that overweight people tend to attract most of the life threatening diseases. The most common being the heart problems. This is due to the fact that being overweight leads to the accumulation of fats in the body and high cholesterol level. With high cholesterol level, the chances of getting a heart attack are more. Also with higher level of cholesterol a person is more susceptible to high blood pressure and its associated diseases. Being overweight means that you will fall tired very easily. This is because your body is not able to utilize all the fat in your body and convert them into energy. As a result you have to always carry the extra fat around which weigh you down. This causes loss of energy from your body. A person with a lean and a muscular body is also much more attractive. When you have a solid and healthy body confidence in you daily life will come from within you. You can perform your tasks easily and with your full efficiency. Health is the biggest treasure of mankind. Without health a man is nothing.

The best exercises for weight loss are the ones that are practiced regularly. It is not necessary that a person in order to lose weight should join rigorous training. The first thing to do when planning out an exercise routine is to consider the factors of your body and age. Same exercise regimes will not suite everyone. You should first off decide how much weight you need to lose. Then you can form your own exercise regime considering the facts such as your age and the time you can spend and your stamina every day. It is best if you hire a professional trainer and do this together with his consultation. However it is not required that you must hire a professional. If you can estimate your body’s wants and needs then you can plan this out for yourself. Also you can take online help in finding the regime that is best suited for you. The most important things here are to make the regime that fits for you and then stick to it. There is no point in exercising for a day or so and then discontinuing. Repetition is the key to losing weight and gaining a healthy body.

You should be careful not to over work yourself. The biggest danger while working out is that you tend to over work yourself. This leads to excessive use of your muscles that may lead to injuries. This means that you can permanently damage some muscles in your attempt to make them stronger. Once those muscles are damage or torn it may take several days for them to heal back. Sometimes the damage can be permanent also. Therefore it is very dangerous to embark on heavy workout without proper guidance or training. Do not work out more than the strain that your body can take. You cannot become Mr. Perfect in three days. Only with continuous efforts and regular workouts can you achieve the perfect bodies. Start slow and see how much work your body can withstand. Once you known your limits you can set up your workout regime within these limits. This will help you to work out most safely and efficiently. Also make progress in you training. Try going beyond your limits in very little amounts every day. This will help you to raise the bar in you levels of stamina and endurance.

The main exercise that you should be concentrating on is cardiovascular diseases. These can be simple exercise like walking to more rigorous work outs. But walking is most recommended especially to beginners. This also serves as a good warm up exercise to all your body parts. To progress from walking you can take up running. You should make it a point that you work out for minimum of 30 minutes every day and try working out for 45 minutes. As you get more and more accustomed to the exercise that you perform, you can raise the bar of your limits progressively on them. Jogging is also recommended. The number of calories that you can burn during one session of training is the speed at which you can run of jog. It is also true that jogging uphill will cause you to lose more calories. Although one should be careful as jogging as a high impact on the joints of your body. It is safer to jog on customized treadmills than to jog on plain roads. Another important aspect while on a training regime is to stay on a healthy diet. To stay on a diet will give you the extra energy that you need to help you gain a beautiful and a perfect body.

Added on Feb 14, 2008 by GaryGrewal

Dangers of Excessive Body Fat by Gary Grewal

The common reason why people reduce weight is not only to look good but also to avoid the dangers of excessive body fat and being obese. Weight loss helps to be fit and healthy and also increases resistance power. Obesity is a health disorder and may cause heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. Obese people's cholesterol level tends to shoot up. It occurs when the accumulation of body fat exceeds a limit of 25% in men and over 32% in women. One out of three Americans possess extra body fat and study shows that almost 20% of them suffer from obesity.

If you have obese disorder you will notice breathing becomes a difficulty. The heart finds the process of pumping blood strenuous. Blood pressure increases and also the heart become larger. When the cholesterol levels shoots up, it causes depositing of plaque narrowing the arteries and increases the blood pressure even more. This is a risking factor that can lead to heart attacks. According to the New England Journal of Medicine, body fat reduction is more effective than any drug therapy as cardiac structure modulator.

Nearly 25% of problems related to the heart and the related vessels are caused due to obesity. Clinically it is proven that cancer and body fat are inter-related. Fat are considered as the storage areas of carcinogens which are the cancer causing chemicals. This may occur in women as well as men. Obesity disturbs the hormonal balance and messes up production of insulin and absorption of blood sugar. The excess amount of sugar present in the blood is transformed into fat globules. All this leads to diabetes and diseases related to the gall bladder, intestines, osteoarthritis, and stroke. On an average, people tend to gain one pound each year after 25 years of age. By the age of 50 you would have gained 25 pounds. This slows down metabolic rate and causes fatigue. At the same time, if you don't exercise you will gain more weight which is risky. These are the major ill effects caused by obesity, apart from fatigue and low stamina and incompetence in physical activities.

A sedentary lifestyle contributes too in a negative way. Thus in order to avoid all this it is better to lead a healthy lifestyle. Less use of oil and dairy products, low fat meals and intake of water keeps the metabolism in a good condition. A good and an effective exercise regime and periodic review of the health condition helps you to assess the body condition better and adjust your eating and exercising patterns accordingly. This can be easily achieved with the help of a fitness trainer or through experienced guidance. So follow a weight reduction program and go on a diet to avoid fattening food, this itself will contribute in a major way to a reduce obesity. Believe in natural weight reduction and don't force your body to achieve it. Eventually things will fall in place and you will feel fresh and healthy.

Add by Gary Grewal

Diet Planning & Mini Meals

You don't have to use one of the many latest super diet plans, but planning how you eat, what you eat and when is very important. We should always plan our diets. It's not like we don't plan everything else. It is therefore important that we spend a bit of time planning out what we will eat and when eat? So to help you please try using these seven easy steps.

1. Try Mini meals (6 a day)
It is now wideley known that using the 6 a day mini meals is a good healthy strategy to achieve a healthy weight. You should try to eat six small meals each day. They say that a person should eat something every two hours. Well, that isn't too impossible to do. I would suggest that you start out every four hours. Keep it like you normally would any of your other meals. Make sure you have your protein and your fiber. Have some veggies and some fruit to balance everything out. Don't make your mini meal a bucket of fried chicken. I know that since it is a mini meal, the temptation doesn't seem as great. I mean, if you only slip up in a mini meal, who is watching?
These are a great way to avoid hunger and improper snacking throughout the day. Just make your mini meals up and eat them every time that you have planned. If you plan on eating every two hours, every two hours it is so stick to that. See the Healthy Quick Mini Meals section for some good ideas.

2. Eat good tasting food.

From time to time let yourself go. Eat something that you know you shouldn't. If you get it out of your system, it will be easier to maintain your diet. If on the other hand you don't allow yourself to eat things you shouldn't from time to time, all you will do is hurt yourself in the long run. You are going to nibble each day on those things instead of just eating them occasionally.

3. Make your meals last.

Make sure you chew your food! Don't just swallow your food, instead, eat it slowly and enjoy the taste of it. If you do this, it will make you feel like you have actually ate something. If you swallow it down, you won't get the same benefit. You will continue to feel a void.

5. Discover your food triggers.

We all have these. When was the last time you went grocery shopping and you looked at a bag of cookies and realized that you had to have them? I do this sort of thing all the time. You need to understand what foods trigger your response system. If you can do this, you can avoid situations that will make you eat things that you shouldn't eat.

Well, that wasn't so bad was it? There is no need to flip out when it comes to a diet plan. It is simple and easy. Just like anything in life, you should have a plan before you begin to do whatever it is that you are doing. The same is true with your diet.

4. Eat your calories, don't drink them.

Don't fill up on sodas and other drinks. You can get all your calories for one day in these if you do it too much. A few sodas here. A few cups of hot chocolate there. A few beers here. You get the point. That will put on the pounds easily. 6. Exercise.

You need to do this to keep fit. Not only will it keep you fit, but it will keep you mentally sharp as well. That can go a long way in helping you stick to a diet. If you are depressed, chances are you will end up eating fatty foods that will make you fat. When you consume all of that fat, it will make you more depressed. It is a bad cycle to start. Please see the Exercise and Fitness section

7. Don't go over board.

This is easier said than done. You need to have a specific amount that you are trying to reduce. If you are trying to reduce your meals by 10%, then you should stick to that. I'm not suggesting that you break out the calculator and count up every meal that you have. If you have been on a diet for very long, you already have a good idea how many calories things have. Don't eat with your eyes, eat with your mind. That will help you cut down on the amount of food that you eat.

Stick to the 6 a day mini meals strategy and follow these steps and you are well on your way to achieving healthy weight loss without starving yourself and eating plenty of the things you like. You will have a much better chance of sticking to this than most diets and it is also healthy. Try using this strategy with one of our suggested weight loss pills