Base Obesity On Body Fat, Not BMI

To fully understand obesity, you need to know your body fat percentage and not just your body mass index (BMI). Your body composition is what you need to know. Your BMI would be a good starting point. BMI looks at overall body fat, whereas body composition reveals where you are fat. Abdominal fat (visceral) is the worst kind of fat and it has been proven to spread toxins into the internal organs which leads to health problems such as heart disease and cancer. Check out this study reported on in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Here are the basic methodologies the researchers...

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Your 30-Day Weight Loss Only Diet In January?

Did you try a "30-Day weight loss only" diet in January? How did it work for you? If you lost weight, now what are you going to do? Another 30-Day diet? You still have a lifetime to go! Being fit is much more than going on a diet. Fitness is a lifestyle designed to improve your energy, your health, your mood, your self image and your body composition (among other benefits). Did you check your body fat percentage after your 30-Day diet? Fat loss is more important than your weight loss. Burning fat is what really changes your body to lean and toned. Its possible to be skinny...

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Muscle Sugar: Train Low and Compete High

Muscles use carbohydrates, fats and proteins for energy. You can improve both endurance and speed in athletic competitions lasting more than a couple hours by training your muscles to burn more sugar and less protein and fat during competition.The most efficient fuel for muscles during exercise is carbohydrates (sugar). The limiting factor for how fast you can move is the time it takes to move oxygen into muscles. Since sugar requires less oxygen than protein or fat, you move faster when your muscles burn primarily sugar. How far you can run, cycle, ski, or skate depends on how much sugar you can store in your muscles before you start exercising and how long you can keep the extra sugar there. When muscles run out of their stored sugar, muscles...

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Did You Burn Fat This January?

Did you burn any fat in January? That's my question for you one month into the New Year. If not, then you need to revise your exercise and/or nutrition plan. I don't care if you haven't lost much weight yet. By now, your body fat percentage should have decreased! Lost inches and smaller body measurements will tell you that your body is shrinking and your program is working.Don't place emphasis on weight loss instead of fat loss. Losing weight the healthy way is the only way! Health is more important than weight loss. Don't lose your health and self respect trying quick weight loss tactics....

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Weight Loss, Health And Wellness Fit Together

Credible personal trainers teach that fat loss, weight loss, health and wellness fit together. You can't really have one without the others. A balanced life is definitely your best chance for a quality life. That is why quick weight loss programs, severe calorie-restricted diets and all other weight loss gimmicks are no-nos for the fit lifestyle. These tactics are short-sighted and lead to damaged health and self image. At a minimum, you need to make a commitment to a lifetime of fitness. This commitment trumps all other fitness commitments. Without it, you will always fall prey to the inevitable...

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Lose Weight By Making YOU A Priority

Maybe YOU can't lose weight permanently because YOU have not made YOURSELF a priority. You have to care enough about yourself to want the best for yourself. Be a little selfish and those around you will benefit.Weight loss and fat loss is about what you really want. How badly do you want to have a healthy, lean body? Will you follow an exercise and nutrition program to reach your goals? Will you keep trying even if you have some failures along the way? With some help, you can have the body of your dreams---if you really want it! We are motivated by different things. Read my article about...

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Keep Exercise Going All Year To Lose Weight

I'm taking advantage of "listening exercise ears" in January to encourage you to keep exercising all year to burn fat and lose weight. Don't stop exercising--your long-term health depends on it.No matter what your "exercise and nutrition past" may be, you can start now and go forward with a committed attitude toward exercise and healthy eating. You don't have to figure it all out today. Just make the commitment and get the help you need to make it happen. I recommend a consultation with a personal trainer to start you on the right path. Here are some tips to keep exercise going throughout...

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Two 'Must Dos' To Burn Fat And Lose Weight

You must do these to burn fat and lose weight (and keep it off): 1. find exercise you enjoy and 2. persevere--you won't quit (this assumes you are complying with your meal plan most of the time). Your workout program is important to reach your goals. But, if you hate your workout program, you will stop doing it at some point. If you love your workout program but have no perseverance when it comes to changing your body, you will find a reason to quit. You need both perseverance and enjoyment of exercise to reach your goals (and keep working to improve even more). ...

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Be Active In 2011, Burn More Calories

Get active in 2011 and it will help you burn more calories, burn more fat and lose more weight. Burn calories all day--this is one key to burning fat, losing weight and maintaining weight. Stay active as much as possible and you will reach your fat loss and weight loss goals sooner.You don't have to wait until your workout to start burning calories. Your body is actually burning calories all day to maintain itself (your metabolic rate).But to burn major calories every day, you must be active. Its pretty easy to do. Just make it a habit to move around more during the day.Here are some ways...

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A Fad Diet Is Not Your Diet Solution

A fad diet is not the solution to your diet troubles and will never work for you long-term. Actually, fad diets will place you further away from your weight loss goals as you yo-yo back and forth with glee (lose 40 pounds) and dispair (gain back 60 pounds)!A "quick weight loss only goal" is a short-term fix for your weight problem and will not ultimately help you attain your goals! Establish eating and exercise habits that will help you burn fat and lose weight for a lifetime. The type of food you eat and timing of what you eat is very important for your metabolism to work properly. Your body needs adequate amounts of the macronutrients (carbohydrates, proteins, fats) to function properly. Increasing muscle mass is critical to permanently...

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Total Body Toning Burns More Fat

Tone your total body with the right training methods and you will burn more fat. In other words, "muscle up" and the fat will melt away! Make the commitment to full body strength training from now on....it will improve your body's composition and overall health (including bone density).Don't just start lifting weights and running with no guidance. This can often lead you to little or no results and a host of injuries. Here's a client question: Question: Some muscle areas on my body are more developed than others. How can I correct this problem?Mark's Answer: We all have a body...

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Change Workouts For Fat Loss Progress

I am surprised at how many people hardly ever change up their workout routine. This is a recipe for stalled fat loss progress. If you have your name on a certain treadmill or weightlifting machine, you need to change up your workout! Your body adapted to your routine long ago and you're stuck in neutral.One of the best ways to jumpstart your fat loss progress is to ramp up the intensity of your workouts. So, instead of doing 1 hour of steady-state cardio, do 20 minutes of intense interval cardio. You will burn more calories, more fat and lose more weight with this method of cardio. Even...

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Your Fat Loss Diet For 2011?

You don't have a fat loss diet? Get one ASAP! A fat loss diet plays a huge part in the success of your fat loss and weight loss efforts. Don't confuse a fat loss diet with a quick weight loss diet. They are totally different animals. How different? Check this out:1. A quick weight loss diet leaves you hungry and sometimes starving. You might lose weight in the beginning but you will have low energy, slowed metabolism, a weakened immune system and your body will begin to store fat (starvation mode). Ultimately, you will regain more weight than you lost when you start to eat normally again (yo-yo effect). You don't want to live like that, right?2. A fat loss diet will help you maintain your energy. You will never be hungry or starving...

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Shape Your Body Faster In 2011

Shape your body faster in 2011 by working harder for a shorter period of time. By doing this, you'll get more fat burn and calorie burn during and after your workout! Do as many compound strength exercises (with weights or bodyweight) standing up as possible. These types of exercises work major muscle groups and many times are full-body strength exercises.Squats, deadlift, lunges, standing bentover rows, squat-to curl-to press and bench press are great examples. Full-body core exercises like planks and side planks work well also. Spend less time posing on "mirror exercises" like bicep curls,...

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Spot Body Fat Reduction Won't Work

Are you concerned about excess ab fat, butt/hip/thigh fat or back fat. That's great if you are. If you are trying to do spot body fat reduction alone, it won't work.Build Muscle, Burn Fat and Shrink Your Body!Burn total body fat by doing full body strength training and eating healthy food. This will help you burn dangerous belly fat. Doing 1000 ab crunches a day won't get the job done. If you want to do some extra work on your stubborn body fat areas (in addition to your regular workouts), that okay. One tactic that will work to help you burn fat is mixing up your cardio workouts. Don't...

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Osteoporosis in Men

All men and many women with osteoporosis need to be evaluated to find the cause. More than 75 percent of men with osteoporosis have a serious cause (Osteoporosis International, published online October 9, 2010). Common causes include *low levels of the male hormone, testosterone, *vitamin D deficiency, *excessive loss of calcium through the urine, *an overactive thyroid, *being given too much thyroid hormone, *an overactive parathyroid gland, *smoking, *drinking too much alcohol, *not getting enough exercise, or *taking certain drugs, such as cortisones, that weaken bones.All people with weak bones should get the following tests: 25-hydroxyvitamin D, testosterone, luteinizing hormone, follicle-stimulating hormone, thyroid-stimulating hormone,...

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Weight Loss Failure Or Success In 2010?

Did you fail or succeed with fat loss and lasting weight loss in 2010? The only way to improve is to know where you went wrong (if that's the case). The truth behind your weight loss and subsequent weight gain can sometimes be painful. If you want a healthy, lean body that will give you the best chance to live healthy for a long time, you need to know the reasons why your weight loss and fat loss efforts failed. As a personal trainer, I have seen many reasons why people fail at weight loss and fat loss. Some are:1. You MUST make a real commitment to change eating habits and exercise habits....

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Fish - Yes; Fried Fish - No

Eating oily fish, like salmon, herring or mackerel, twice a week helps to prevent heart attacks and strokes. Eating oily fish more often than twice a week has not been shown to be any more protective. On the other hand, eating fried fish may increase risk of stroke (Neurology, published online December 22, 2010).The most popular fried fish are frozen fish sticks, fast-food fish sandwiches and other inexpensive fish products. Most of these are made with farmed tilapia or catfish that are not good sources of omega-3 fatty acids. We don't know whether this is the reason that fried fish are linked with increased risk of strokes, or whether the unhealthful cooking method cancels out the benefits of any fish.Polyunsaturated fats in fish are classified...

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Don't Do A Quick Weight Loss Program This January!

Just because its January, you don't have to resort to another quick weight loss program (that ultimately won't work again)! You deserve better than that! Make your weight loss goals long-term. Then, you won't have the same weight problem next January!A “30-day Weight Loss Only” goal is a short-term fix for your weight problem and will not ultimately help you attain your goals! Instead, you will be setting yourself up as a prime "yo-yo dieter" candidate. Establish eating and exercise habits that will help you burn fat and lose weight for a lifetime. The type of food you eat and timing of what you eat is very important for your metabolism to work properly. Your body needs adequate amounts of the macronutrients (carbohydrates, proteins,...

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Being Slightly Overweight Shortens Life

A review of 19 studies covering 1.5 million people shows that being even a little bit overweight shortens your life and the heavier you are, the more likely you are to die of cancer and heart attacks (New England Journal of Medicine, December 2, 2010). Two-thirds of North American adults are overweight or obese.Doctors measure overweight with a Body-Mass Index (BMI) number: your weight in kilograms divided by the square of your height in meters. A normal BMI is 22.5 to 25. Having a BMI of 27.5 increases your chances of dying from a heart attack by 50 percent, and a BMI over 40 increases risk by more than 400 percent. Similar increases in BMI apply to death from cancers.No Such Thing as Healthy Overweight Men"There appears to be no such thing...

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Burn More Belly Fat In 2011

This is the year for you to burn more belly fat! Make it a priority and it will happen. You will have to limit foods filled with sugars (among others) for this to happen. If you have a sweet-tooth like me, that's not easy to do! Bottom line: you will have to eat healthier and that's a good thing for you going forward. Shrink your waist size. Doing so will reduce your risk of dying from diseases like cancer and heart disease. Don't just take my word for it....researchers from the American Cancer Society warns us about the deadly risks of having too much belly fat. Read my article about waist-to-hip ratio. In the research study led by Eric J. Jacobs, PhD, American Cancer Society strategic director, Pharmacoepidemiology, researchers...

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Burn Fat, Sculpt Your Body This Year

Don't just lose weight. Burn fat and sculpt your body this year. This way, the weight will stay off because you will have increased muscle mass. You won't hear this message on weight loss infomercials and magazine ads. Why? Because they want you to buy their quick weight loss program. What you do after their program is your problem. Don't settle for less than a lean body. That takes more time to achieve. Don't sell yourself short and settle for just another fad diet designed to give you short term weight loss. Fad diets don't work because you can't maintain them---you need a healthy...

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Accelerated Fat Loss Program at My Fitness Hut

It's all about fat loss folks! Get your fat loss year off to a great start with My Fitness Hut's 14-Day Accelerated Fat Loss Program! Many of you need a huge change from your regular workouts in order to make progress. And, some of you just need a jumpstart. If you have been doing the same workout for months, you need a change to break through your plateau. If your workouts are 2 hours long, you are spending too much time in the gym. You can get better results with less time. You don't need a gym membership. You can do this program at home or anywhere you like.With this program, strength...

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Exercising on an Empty Stomach Can Both Prevent and Treat Diabetes

One of three North Americans will become diabetic because they eat a high-calorie, high-fat diet that *blocks insulin receptors *to prevent cells from responding to insulin (insulin resistance) *to cause high insulin levels *that constrict coronary arteries *to cause heart attacks. Failure to respond to insulin causes *high blood sugar levels *that cause sugar to stick to cell membranes *to permanently damage the affected cell *to cause blindness, deafness, heart attacks, strokes, amputations and all the terrible side effects of diabetes.After just a few days on a high-calorie, high-fat diet, cells fail to respond adequately to insulin, blood sugar levels rise, fat deposits in your body, even in muscles, and you gain weight. This causes your...

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