Tag Archive for: good habits

Losing Weight | Wonderfully Fit

3 Hour Dieting Tip

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When it comes to the world of dieting you will find that there are many diet, weight loss, and fitness plans on the market. It takes years for some to become a contender and others remain a best-kept secret of sorts. One such ‘best kept’ secret would be the 3 Hour Diet that was designed by Jorge Cruise.

I am sure that there are many reading along and chuckling under your breath that there is no way one can lose weight by eating every three hours however the science behind the theory is fairly common and Jorge Cruise is a mainstay in the fitness industry.

dieting

The long and short of this diet operates with the knowledge that if you do not feed your body accurately and regularly your body will go into what is called ‘starvation mode’. In this mode your body holds onto the fat rather than burning it up and consuming it for use. This means that your body is burning muscle rather than fat to take the energy it needs in order to function.

With the 3 Hour Diet you will not feel hungry all the time, in fact, there are many who claim they are constantly setting alarms and reminding themselves to eat. You will also learn the proper foods to eat in order to achieve the best possible results. The key is in learning which foods are right for you when dieting with this plan. You can purchase the book The 3-Hour Diet by Jorge Cruise and you can sign up online for more information about the weight plan itself and how to incorporate it into your busy routine.

I do recommend purchasing the book if you are seriously considering this as your method of dieting as there are many wonderful hints, tips, and tricks that are mentioned in the book to help you keep things going no matter how busy and hectic your lifestyle may be. One thing you need to keep in mind is that dieting with a program such as this is no small commitment. You need to stick to the timetable as much as possible in order to achieve the results this plan is famous for. If you aren’t willing to eat every three hours then this plan really may not be the plan for you.

Otherwise, if this is something you would be interested in, I highly recommend it. There are special considerations based on the amount you weight currently and the amount of weight you are hoping to lose. It is best if you are honest throughout the process in order to achieve the best possible and most immediate results. The claim is that you can lose as many as 10 pounds in the first two weeks and there are those that have claimed to do just that over and over again. This is a diet that even many celebrities endorse for quick and immediate results.

The good and the bad about 3 hour dieting is that it is effective but takes a very real commitment on the part of the one that is dieting. This diet is one that is taking the world by storm. If you haven’t heard of it before now, please take the time to check it out and see if this is something you could incorporate into your life. The results that have been reported as a result of this diet as nothing short of phenomenal. If there were one diet I would recommend above others for those who hate feeling hungry, it would be this diet.

Lifetime Fitness – A Healthier You

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Many people end up abandoning perfectly good fitness programs and weight-loss regimens before they even lace up their sneakers.

Why? Because in a world filled with fast food, instant messaging, and a five-second disease-tracking device, anything without a quick payoff goes against the grain of the typical American instant gratification ethic. While it would be nice to actually drop inches in just a few days like what most miracle ads proclaim, managing weight and losing weight through physical fitness is a slow and steady process that takes time and commitment.

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Setting weight management goals for yourself can be a good motivator. Gradual weight loss, for those people who wish to shed off some extra pounds, is usually the safest.

That is why health and fitness experts had come up with the idea of lifetime fitness in order to teach people set realistic goals. These lifetime fitness programs generates dietary regimens that cut your normal calorie consumption for your weight by 500 to 1,000 per day, so will burning the same amount with exercise. In turn, this will definitely encourage healthier weight loss.

Lifetime fitness teaches you how to maintain a physically fit body at the same time enjoy and live a happy, contented life. It gives you the chance to strike a balance between the two (exercise and diet), and make exercise, be it team sports, cycling, or walking, something you will truly enjoy.

That is why lifetime fitness embodies the concept that making a long-term healthy lifestyle change is essential to keeping the pounds off once they are gone.

To know more of the advantages and benefits that lifetime fitness can bring, here are some facts that you need to know:

Lifetime fitness programs offers you the most comprehensive and wide-ranging fitness and health encounter with quality services, in which the customers will feel gratified.

These fitness programs provide you the right method in maintaining health, build up and encourage your competence, and take care of your family’s physical fitness as well.

Because the goal of lifetime fitness is to provide you with long-term achievements as far as physical fitness is concerned, these programs utilizes numerous fitness equipment that will tone and manage your health and the different parts of your body.

There are fitness equipment that will give your cardiovascular system a lift. You can also opt for some sports facilities that will provide you with an alternative way of being physically fit.

Lifetime fitness programs and centers also provides nutritional products such as food supplements that will aid in the formation of good blood cells and tissues thereby making your body at its pink of health.

Lifetime fitness centers and programs also provide you with up-to-date fitness magazines that do not only give substantial information about fitness and health but inspirational stories as well. These articles will give you an insight on how to make you life balance and how to live a life that is healthy and fit.

Indeed, staying fit and healthy can be a long and winding road and there are instances wherein you may find your enthusiasm fading occasionally. Nevertheless, with the comprehensive programs provided by lifetime fitness plans, you can start heading back to the right track of a healthier you.

 

Being A Man of Fitness

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Fitness is the essence of a man. Fitness is the ability of a person to do his normal everyday tasks with full alertness and vigor without worrying about fatigue afterward and with extra energy in reserve which can be useful when emergencies arise or during leisure and recreation.

Overall fitness must be the primary goal every man must try to achieve. In fitness, no one is ever too young or too old for improvement.

 

One’s fitness can be improved by engaging in aerobic exercises and through strength training. There are three components of overall fitness that every man must focus on working out in order to be in healthy, tip-top shape. These are cardiovascular work, strength training and of course, these should be coupled with a healthy diet.

Staying strong by building muscles. Man’s fitness regimen should include a work out routine which aims to build the muscles. Aging causes a decrease in muscle mass of five to seven pounds of muscle for every ten years in one’s adult life given that he lives an inactive lifestyle. Truly, the saying “use it or lose it” is very applicable to the muscles. Fortunately, there is a good solution to this. Loss of muscle mass can be replaced by engaging in strength training.

Improvement of Man’s fitness by cardiovascular work out. Flexibility exercises, strength training and cardiovascular work out surely help boost a man’s fitness and all these should be part of a man’s work out scheme. But of all these, cardiovascular work is the most necessary. Exercises under cardiovascular work conditions and develops the cardiovascular system and also works out large muscle groups.

So if a man does not have much time for working out, devoting whatever free time he might have to aerobic exercises would do him fine. He might have to pass out on developing those biceps but so long as cardiovascular work out exercises are done, then the blood pressure, heart and cholesterol levels will be fine to keep you staying happy and healthy.

The essence of nutrition to man’s fitness. It is best as well as well recommended to eat whole and natural foods frequently than do it on large amounts in one to three sittings. Always keep variety in mind when doing the shopping. This will ensure that one is getting most if not all of the nutrients and minerals needed by the body to keep fit and healthy. Always keep the three important macro-nutrients in the diet; these are fats, carbohydrates and proteins. Prioritize proteins though over carbohydrates but never exclude any one of the three on some fad diet.

Some tips in keeping a man’s fitness level high, efficient and safe:

1.) Drink plenty of water all through out the day, especially when working out.

2.) Do exercises properly using the correct techniques, whether it’s weight lifting or aerobic exercises. Always read and understand, and follow of course, the instructions outlined by the personal trainer.

3.) Make sure the is always a spotter when lifting weights.

4.) Challenge the muscles, but make sure that it’s kept safe.

5.) Stretch, warm-up prior to working out and cool-down gradually after sessions.

6.) Check the equipment for safety before using them.

7.) It is better to do less than overdo the whole thing. Over-training will exhaust enthusiasm and kill performance.

Wonderfully Fit Personal Training

Which Type of Yoga Is Right for You?

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There are quite a number of types of yoga these days that try to differentiate themselves from one another and emphasize certain aspects of the entire practice of yoga. Traditionally, yoga works on the body, mind and spirit, though most Western yogas tend to focus on the body.

If you live in a moderately large city, you should be able to find several different kinds of studios and teachers, including:

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* Hatha
* Iyengar
* Vinyasa
* Kundalini
* Bikram
* Ashtanga

Yoga

Hatha

Hatha yoga is the most traditional of all the forms of yoga, and dates back thousands of years. The name means willful or forceful, and the word is a combination of hat (sun) and ha (moon) representing power and balance.

Hatha works with the energy centers of the body, the chakras, as well as the muscles, flesh and bone, for a holistic workout. The main focus is on surrendering to and perfecting the many poses in this form of yoga. There are levels of practitioners who can do increasingly difficult poses for flexibility. They also improve their focus and concentration through meditation.

Iyengar

Iyengar yoga was founded by B. K. S. Iyengar in the 1970s in India and is a form of Hatha yoga. Iyengar’s focus was on detail, precision and perfect alignment for the asanas (poses) he studied and taught, in order to develop strength, mobility and stability. Before his death at the age of 95, Iyengar was said to have perfected approximately 200 Hatha yoga asanas.

Vinyasa

Vinyasa yoga is also known as flow yoga. It uses the same asanas as Hatha yoga, but they are put into sequences that move easily from one pose to the next. The word vinyasa means “breath-synchronized movement,” which refers to the movements being performed in conjunction with inhale and exhale patterns and for the asanas to be held for a certain number of breaths.

Kundalini Yoga

Kundalini yoga emphasizes the balance of mind, body and spirit through the moving of energy in the body, specifically in relation to the chakras or energy centers. Kundalini yoga has several unique postures designed to move the chakra energy up the spine. It does not require a lot of flexibility or stamina and can be done by anyone at any age. There are no levels to the classes the way there are with other forms of yoga such as Hatha.

Bikram

Bikram yoga, founded in the 1970s by Bikram Choudhry from Bengal, is also referred to as hot yoga. It is relatively simple in some ways because it uses only two breathing exercises and 26 Hatha yoga postures done in the same pattern every day for every lesson. However, the poses are demanding and the studio temperatures range from 80F to 110F, with a relative humidity of around 75%. This can also cause severe dehydration and pose a serious health risk to anyone with heart health issues.

Ashtanga

Ashtanga yoga is a form of Vinyasa yoga designed to flow the movements together, but in a more rapid and demanding way. It was founded in the late 1940s by K. Pattabhi Jois from India. It has seven main series – a basic one, and increasingly advanced ones. All of them are vigorous and very few practitioners are known to have reached the highest levels.

The type of yoga you choose should be based on your overall physical health and stamina. If you are a beginner and/or senior, try Hatha or Kundalini if there is a studio near you. For something more lively but not too demanding, try Vinyasa. Then see what a difference yoga can make to your health and vitality.

Healthy Eating

Eating Healthy During Pregnancy

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Starting off your with a healthy well-balanced diet is the best thing you do for yourself and your baby. This way, you’ll only need to make a few adjustments during your pregnancy.

Your first trimester If you find it tough to maintain a balanced diet during your first trimester, you can rest assured that you’re not alone. Due to queasiness, some women will eat all of the time and gain a lot of weight in the process. Other women have trouble getting food down and subsequently lose weight.

healthy

Preventing malnutrition and dehydration are your most important factors during first trimester.

Calories

When you are pregnant, you need to consume around 300 calories more than usual every day. The best way to go about doing this is listening to your body when you are hungry. You should try to eat as many foods as possible from the bottom of the food pyramid.

If you gain weight too slow, try eating small meals and slightly increase the fat in your diet. You should always eat when you are hungry, as you are now eating for 2 instead of one.

Calcium

By the second trimester, you’ll need around 1,500 milligrams of calcium each day for your bones and your baby’, which is more than a quart of milk. Calcium is something that’s missing from many
diets. Along with milk, other great sources for calcium include dairy products, calcium fortified juices, and even calcium tablets.

Fiber

Fiber can help to prevent constipation, which is a common pregnancy problem. You can find fiber in whole grains, fruits, and even vegetables. Fiber supplements such as Metamucil and Citrucel are
safe to take during pregnancy.

Protein

Unless you happen to be a strict vegetarian, your protein intake is not normally a problem for women who eat a healthy diet.

Iron

A lot of women will start their pregnancy off with a bit of iron deficiency. Good sources of iron
include dark leafy green vegetables and meats. Iron supplements should be avoided, as they can cause internal symptoms such as cramping, constipation, or diarrhea.

Vitamins

Seeing as how you get a majority of the vitamins you need in your diet, you may want to discuss prenatal vitamins with your doctor. Folate is one of the most important, and if you are getting enough of it, you may be able to avoid vitamins all together – just ask your doctor to make sure.

Senior Fitness | Wonderfully Fit

Dealing with Diabetes to Enjoy Healthy Aging

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Learning to deal with diabetes is never easy. It is bad enough we have to live in a greed-based world filled with confusion, violence, media junk, and so on.

Still, those with diabetes can live healthy providing they adhere to diet, medications and exercise. Diabetes is a serious condition. The disease is the mother of all disease in the world and it is a killer.

diabetes

What is diabetes?

Diabetes is a disease that you can get if you do not eat right or take care of your body. Genetics play a part in diabetes as well. In fact, hereditary is a hard cause of the problem. The disease can cause blindness. The disease can lead to amputation of legs, or feet. Diabetes is a disease that when your body does not produce enough insulin to break down sugar in the bloodstream. Diabetes includes two types, yet various levels are considered. Diabetes includes Diabetes Insipidus and Mellitus.

The first diabetes is where your body is incapable of producing enough insulin to do what its supposed to do. This type of diabetes is treatable. You will need medications, exercise and strict diet to maintain your health. Diabetes Mellitus has five types. Each type results from insulin interruptions whereas the system is disrupted. The disruption causes chaos within the body’s ability to function. The body cannot act naturally and it takes insulin shots to treat this condition depending on the type.

How would I know that I have this disease called diabetes?

If you go to your doctors on a regular basis, your doctor will monitor your health. If you have family history of diabetes, let your doctor know so he/she can conduct random testing. A glucose test is necessary to find diabetes. Blood lab tests are useful also to spot diabetes.

What you should watch for?

Drinking but not filling your thirst quench. If you feel fatigue often and don’t know, then you should be tested. Diabetes, depending on the type makes a person feels weak, endure pain, lose weight, gain weight, etc. The disease is so confusing to the bodily functions that it doesn’t know the direction to head.

What can I do to help me not to get this disease?

No one has control over disease but you. If you adhere to regular checkups, the doctor can spot the disease at an early stage, which the disease then can be managed. You need to eat right and do excises daily to help maintain your weight, since diabetes takes delight in feeding the disease to the point of death.

What happens to those with diabetes?

Unfortunately, the disease is not partial. The disease targets young and old alike. Once the disease develops it puts the person at risk of blindness.

Some people lose their legs or other limbs resulting from diabetes. Most people with diabetes are at risk of kidney failure. If you already have diabetes then listen to your doctor and follow all instructions. One of the top recommendations to diabetes patients is to consume much fluids. Your body is losing fluids as diabetes drains your bodily organs of its natural elements. You will also need to avoid saturated fat foods and basic sugars. In addition, your doctor will need to test you regularly to control your illness.

You want to take care when diabetes is present since it can lead to meningitis, headaches, tachycardia, dehydration, muscle weakness, pain, and so on. In addition, you may endure blurred vision, sexual dysfunctions, slow healing, and so on. Again, diabetes is a killer; so take care of your health.

Simple Desk Exercises To Ease Tension

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One of the biggest problems working at a desk all day brings is the neck, shoulder, and back pain caused by it. When we spend a lot of time hunched over our desk, furiously typing away for hours at a time, it’s no wonder that our muscles cramp up and we start to ache.

Thankfully there are a lot of preventative things we can do throughout the work day to keep this from happening. Here are some simple ways to ease the tension in your neck and shoulders.

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One of the best things you can do is to simply take frequent breaks. Get up from your desk and walk over to get a glass of water, make a cup of coffee, or go to the restroom. The simple act of standing up and walking around frequently will do a lot to help you stay relaxed and feeling good. When you feel your shoulders starting to tense up, you can even do some simple exercises while sitting in your office chair.

Start by sitting up straight in your chair and do some shoulder lifts to warm up and loosen up your shoulders, upper back, and neck. Bring your shoulders up to your ears and drop them back down.

 

Rolling your shoulders both forwards and backward is another great exercise that will gently stretch those bunched up muscles. When you’re done with that, try squeezing your shoulder blades together in the back. This is a great exercise to offset some of the forward hunching you do while working on your laptop. Last but not least do some spine twists to ease the tension in your lower back.

Reminding yourself to do a few simple exercises like this throughout the day will help you stay in shape and more importantly pain-free. When you get up from your desk, you can do even more. Do some gentle stretching, move your arms, and shake them out. It doesn’t take a lot of time or effort to work out the kinks. The key is to do these exercises frequently and regularly. It won’t take more than a few seconds at a time.

Don’t wait until you’re in a lot of pain and ready for a trip to the chiropractor. Be proactive and take care of your body by moving more and doing simple stretches and exercises at your desk. Your body will thank you.

Should You Get A Standing Desk?

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We’ve all seen the alarming headlines in health news publications and social media. Sitting is the new smoking and it has all sorts of detrimental impacts on our overall health. As someone that spends a good eight to ten hours a day sitting in front of your desk, you may be wondering if it’s time to get a standing desk. I wish I had a clear answer for you, but frankly, it depends.

It depends on the work you do. For example, if you do a lot of writing while sitting at your desk, the words may simply not flow the same when you’re standing up. If on the other hand, much of your day, or at least part of your workday is spent reading and responding to email or looking over reports, a standing desk may work well for you.

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Before you head out and buy an expensive new desk, give it a try. Grab some boxes, big books, or head to the garage and build a little shelf-like contraption that you can put on top of your existing desk. Try working standing up for a couple of days and see how you like it. If it works well for you, then you can invest in an actual standing desk.

Here’s an interesting idea. You don’t have to work exclusively from a standing desk to benefit from it. Why not try spending part of your workday standing up when the tasks lend themselves to this style of working and sit down the rest of the time. You can either add a shelf or boxes to your desk as outlined earlier or have a second desk that’s set up for working while standing up. Look around your office. You may already have a file cabinet that’s just the right height. If you’re working from a laptop, it’s easy to switch back and forth throughout the day as needed.

If you’re enjoining the standing desk, or are ready to try something else and move even more, you may want to look into a treadmill or stationary bike desks. You can work away while taking a slow stroll on your treadmill, or while riding a bike. A quick search online will show you some great examples of these active movement desks. If you’re on a budget, rig up a shelf on your existing treadmill, or buy a fairly inexpensive pedal attachment for your office chair that allows you to pedal away while you work.

If nothing else I want you to realize that sitting at a desk isn’t the only possible way to get work done. Experiment, try some new desk habits and see what works well for you.

Keep Healthy Snacks In Your Desk To Not Eat Junk

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We all have days when we have to run out the door without breakfast, end up working through lunch or have to stay at the office much later than anticipated. Missing important meals like breakfast lunch or dinner has us heading to the office vending machine or hitting the fast food drive-through to grab some junk food. We know this food isn’t good for us and won’t help us to stay fit and healthy. But what choice do we have?

Actually, we have a choice. We can choose to be prepared for these meal emergencies with a small stockpile of healthy snacks. You can keep all sorts of healthy snacks in your desk from nuts and seeds to energy bars and even fresh fruits and veggies. All it takes is a little bit of preparation and planning.

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Come up with a few non-perishable, but healthy snacks and drinks that you can keep in your desk at all time. This could include nuts, seeds, and dried fruit and even a few special treats like a bar of dark chocolate. All natural energy bars are a great choice on days when you have to skip a meal. Herbal and black teas along with bottled water are nice to have around for a healthy drink that feels more like a treat.

If you know you’ll need a snack, pack it with your lunch in the morning. A few fresh veggies and a bit of hummus, or a fresh fruit like an apple or a banana make for healthy snacking. A bit of cheese or a hard-boiled egg are other good options that are packed with protein and will keep you full until your next meal. Keep it simple, stick to real food as much as possible, and choose things that are easy to grab and go. Come up with a short list of easy to prepare snacks that you enjoy and stay stocked up on them. If you keep it simple, it won’t take you more than a minute or two to prepare and pack your snack in the morning.

Of course, missing lunch or long meetings in the evening aren’t the only times you’ll be tempted by junk food. Your healthy food emergency stash will also come in handy when you’re feeling tired and stressed and just need a little snack, or when the box of cookies or pizza in the break room is calling your name. Trust me, it’s much easier to resist the temptation when you’re munching on a tasty, healthy snack.

How Moving More And Sitting Less Can Increase Your Productivity

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Have you ever been hunched over your desk, glued to your chair for hours on end trying to finish a project on time? When we’re working hard, or facing a tight deadline, our instinct is to put as much time as possible in, working fast and furious. And it works, for a while…

Then it starts to catch up with you. Your mind is tired, the work doesn’t flow the way it did in the beginning. This is when you have a choice to make. You can walk away for a bit, clear your head and come back refreshed and ready to get back to work. Or you can tough it out and keep plugging away. You may be surprised to learn that walking away, going for a walk, and just moving around will help you work faster and better when you sit back down at your desk.

moving

And this isn’t just true during crunch time. Moving more and spending less time sitting at your desk can help your productivity throughout your work week. Anytime you take a break to do a few stretches and exercises, go for a stroll through the building, or even leave for a quick walk outside, you come back refreshed and with more focus. Additionally, “losing” time that you spent moving around forces you to focus and get things done. Work has a tendency to expand to whatever amount of time you give it. By taking away some of that time, and using it to workout and move more, you’re simply making yourself work more efficiently when you do sit at your desk. In other words, it can be in your best interest to spend less time in your office chair.

Give it a try the next time you’re stuck on a task, or the work simply doesn’t flow as it should. Get up and move around. Go for a walk and clear your head. Get your body moving and blood pumping through your body including your brain. Then come back to your work task. You’ll notice that suddenly the work goes much smoother and you have no trouble getting into the flow. You’re able to focus and concentrate much better and your productivity soars.

There are two reasons for this. The first is that the exercise as mentioned increases blood flow and more oxygen is transported to the brain. More importantly, though, during the time you spent moving around, your brain didn’t really stop working on the task you set it. Your subconscious and possibly also your conscious mind where working things out, allowing you to sit down and take care of business upon your return.