Losing Weight Through Food and Fitness

What is the best way to lose weight? I bet you have “Googled” this more than one time searching for answers on how to meet your weight loss goals. You’ve probably even asked your friends for answers to how you can get rid of the extra weight. While there really is no quick fix to how you can lose weight quickly, the answer does lie in food and fitness.  There is no alternative to eating right and exercising daily to get the body that you have always dreamed of.

Some Useful Fitness Tips

Eat primarily organic food. The long-term health effects of most food additives have not been fully researched. Most processed food contains preservatives, which limit nutrient uptake. Organic food is free of man-made additives.

Drink sufficient water every day. Health experts recommend ½ to 1 gallon. Water is used to help the body eliminate the metabolic wastes associated with training thereby facilitating faster, more efficient recuperation and growth. Also, lack of sufficient water consumption during training has been shown to negatively impact physical performance, which reduces the ability to produce muscular overload.

Eat 6 meals a day evenly spaced. The body is more efficient at processing a small amount of food at once compared to fewer, larger meals. Insulin is regulated more effectively, which controls other processes in the body to aid in eliminating body fat and gaining muscle.

Exercise Safety Tips For Beginners

Congratulations! You’ve made the decision to incorporate regular exercise into your healthy lifestyle, and take advantage of the its numerous benefits. Smart move.

But like many good things, exercise can also be risky—especially if it’s been a while since you've worked up a sweat, or if you have any health conditions (including obesity) that could increase your risk of injury. So, it’s important to know how to keep yourself safe, and avoid potential problems before they happen. The following information should help you do exactly that.

Before You Start: Safety Precautions

If you are planning to increase your physical activity or start an exercise program, you start with a sedentary activity—answering a few short questions, that is. The PAR-Q (Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire) is the gold standard in fitness safety, used by doctors, trainers and health clubs the world over. Usually comprised of 5-7 questions, it can help rule out any underlying health concerns that could worsen with exercise.

Weight Loss Tips!!

How do I believe we can lose real fat and safely? I learned this myself after years of yo-yo dieting, and it wasn't until I stopped trying so hard, and started to make small seemingly insignificant changes in my lifestyle that I achieved real fat loss.

I am inspired to write about burning fat because the herbal drug "Ephedra" and non-ephedra magical pills are always being advertised. Touted as a safe natural herb (there is no such thing), Ephedra in particular is used as a performance enhancer ( why the recent athlete who died may have been taking it ), or a weight loss fat burner. 

It is found in many over-the-counter supplements which promise a six pack abdominal area (we've all seen the before & after shots). But not only is this drug not a magic weight loss aid, it's dangerous. And even the less dangerous touted weight loss aids don't work unless we take the steps to burn off the fat.

Food For Muscles...

Here then are some of good carbohydrate foods which give our body and therefore our muscles good fuel::

Let's Eat our Carbohydrates:

• Legumes: Labeled as a "Powerhouse Food" in one of my tips, legumes are a powerful energy food with vitamins and minerals along with an almost equal proportion of quality protein included in the list of meat alternatives. Eat these the night before a morning work out at dinner, or eat some everyday!

• Oatmeal: Yes, oatmeal! And not just in cold snowy weather. It is a great source of a long lasting stick to the ribs energy food, full of vitamins and minerals with heart health benefits (not just a slogan, but scientifically proven).Eat some oatmeal 2-3 hours before a workout (I eat everyday).