So, You’ve Decided to Get in Shape… Again (part three).

Article by Craig Harper

So, You’ve Decided to Get in Shape… Again (part three). – Health – Weight Loss

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* I apologise in advance to my overseas visitors for some of the Australian-isms(!) in this post. Not only do we have words which are unique to our culture, but we also spell some words differently to our cousins in the US and Canada (apologise – apologize, fibre – fiber, realise – realize, organisation – organization)… so don’t just think I’m an uneducated bum who can’t spell.. we’re actually a little weird Down Under.

But then…maybe you are?

Finally; the home straight on the world’s longest post.

Here they are; my last ten food rules.Sorry, suggestions.

If you have missed part one you can read it here… or if you haven’t read part two, you can take a peek right here.

RULE 9: Plan your meals to create the best outcome.Don’t put yourself in situations where you can’t access your best nutritional options Many people are horribly disorganised when it comes to eating optimally. They wait until their blood sugar hits minus five, a wave of hunger has engulfed their entire body and then they eat thirteen potato cakes, a litre of sauce (ketchup), twenty four dimmos… and a diet coke (’cause they’re watching their weight). Being disciplined and organised doesn’t mean you’re obsessive; it just means you’re serious about creating real change. Going to an event (football, wedding, party, etc.) and saying “it’s all there was to eat”, doesn’t cut it when you’re committed to losing weight. If you’re in a situation where you can’t access any quality food, don’t eat. If the choice is junk or nothing, nothing is a healthier choice.

There’s a fair chance you won’t die from malnutrition before you get home. Many times I have gone to a function and not eaten because everything on offer was back-stroking in fat, sugar or salt… or all three. If you are in a work or school situation where you can’t eat for hours on end or you can’t access quality food, take some healthy food with you. Organisation and Tupperware are the keys! If people think you’re a freak because you take your food with you, tell them to get over it. If your friends criticise you or make fun of you because you’re serious about getting in shape, get some new friends.

RULE 10: Don’t reward yourself (or your kids) with food.”I’ve been so good; I deserve this”. What… you deserve to be fat? You deserve to over-eat? So many of us see food as a prize for doing (or not doing) certain things. We even ‘save up for the weekend’ because we’ve been so good all week. I’m not suggesting that food can’t be an enjoyable part of our life… but I am saying that we can’t come home from work and consume two kilos (4.4lbs) of lasagne (lasagna) and thirty beers because we had a stressful day and we deserve some food therapy. As long as we use food as a reward for certain behaviours, we’re in trouble. We are a society which starts this pattern early by shoving food in our kids’ mouths to shut them up or reward them for being good. If your two-year-old is a Golden Retriever then food rewards are a great idea… otherwise, give them a miss.

RULE 11: Don’t under-eat or starve yourself.Like over-eating, under-eating is also an unhealthy habit.Our body needs a certain amount of micro and macro nutrients to function optimally and when we starve ourselves all we do is put our health at risk. Unfortunately there are many people who alternate between overeating and under-eating. These behaviours are typically associated with people who have eating disorders but the reality is there are a great number of people who might not technically be classified as having an eating disorder yet are constantly bingeing and starving. They over-eat and then eat nothing to compensate.When we under-eat we slow our metabolism (the rate at which our body uses fuel), lose muscle mass, lose fluid and put our body in a state of distress. Invariably when people who have been starving themselves go back to eating ‘normally’ their bodies will over-compensate, pile on the weight and their ‘new’ slow metabolism will make it even harder for them to create their best body.

Remember, anything which is extreme is not going to work long term.I am constantly talking to people who believe that if they eat way less they will get ‘skinnier’ faster. What they are often doing in reality is losing muscle and retaining (or even increasing) body-fat. Quite often your body will rid itself of muscle before it will shed any fat. So what we end up with is a lighter but fatter body.Bugger.

RULE 12: Don’t be a social eater.We looked at social eating in book one of this series but we are a society of social eaters so it’s worth going there again… let’s call it revision. Pay attention I’ll be asking questions.Aussies are champions when it comes to social eating. We have a great capacity to eat way beyond our physical needs and justify it because of the situation or environment we are in. We even tell ourselves that we’re missing out if we don’t partake of everything on offer. We do it at Christmas, Easter, weddings, birthdays, work functions, parties, the footy, the pub, barbeques, on holidays and whenever we get the chance. We eat way more than we need to because… that’s just what we do. Besides, everyone else is doing it! At Christmas we even plan to overeat; we eat until we feel sick and then undo our pants to make room for dessert. By mid-afternoon Christmas day we vow we’ll never eat again and then about six hours later we can be found by the micro-wave, waiting for the left-overs to heat up.

Amazingly, our body’s energy needs don’t increase just because we’re at someone’s birthday function! If you have a tendency to overeat in social settings, try eating before you go out. By the way, it is possible to enjoy yourself socially without overeating or drinking alcohol. Some people struggle with this concept. Over the years I have had many people tell me that I don’t know what I am missing out on because I don’t drink alcohol. It’s funny because when I look at most of my friends who started drinking twenty years ago, I don’t feel too deprived.Perspective is an interesting thing.

RULE 13: Drink one or two glasses of water twenty minutes before each meal.I remember learning about this weight-loss gem when I was just a baby Trainer… an oldie, but a goodie; it works. I’ve used it with many clients over many years and it absolutely makes a considerable difference. Not only does it help you stay hydrated (many of us are regularly dehydrated) but it suppresses our appetite a little and stops us from over-eating.

RULE 14: Give empty calories a wide berth.Some foods contain a whole lot of calories and not much else… we refer to these as empty calories. As we know foods are composed of macro-nutrients (carbs, protein and fat), micronutrients (vitamins and minerals), water and fibre. Some foods have plenty of calories (often from fat and sugar) and very little in the way of health-promoting vitamins and minerals. These foods are low in nutritional value and will help you get (or remain) fat and hinder your efforts to become (or remain) healthy.When we talk about ’empty calorie’ foods we are talking about things like fried chicken, potato cakes, alcohol, crumpets, fairy floss, lollies (sweets) and frozen ice drinks.

RULE 15. Eat out… carefullyThe restaurant; the natural enemy of the weight-conscious.We don’t need to avoid restaurants (although it might help if you did) but we need to choose very wisely when we’re living large. Here are my eating-out suggestions:

Eat a main course only – no bread, entree, soup or sweets (you want them, you don’t need them!)No pasta dishes; even the ‘healthy’ options aren’t… (healthy)No cream sauces at allDrink two glasses of water before your mealDon’t believe the waiter who tells you: “no, it’s pretty low in fat”. He’s a liar.Go the protein (chicken, fish, beef, lamb, turkey) and salad option when you can.If you order steamed vegetables make sure they’re not drowned in butter or oil (chef’s have a habit of doing that).No alcohol; you might want it but you don’t need it! How much do you really want to lose that weight?No all-milk coffeesDon’t sit there feeling sorry for yourself, or acting like a martyr while your friends eat themselves to oblivion. Don’t focus on what your missing out on (an opportunity to overeat like your buddies), focus on what you’re gaining; a body you’re happy to live in.

RULE 16. Don’t tell fibs about your diet.For over twenty years I have listened to people lie to me, themselves and others about what they put in their mouth. I have met some of the world’s best liars. If there was an Olympics for fibbing, these guys would be gold medalists. Some of the lying is intentional deception because they are too lazy, too embarrassed or too proud to admit that they are struggling with their food, and some of it is by people who are delusional about their dietary habits. As tough as it may be to be completely honest about your food intake, it is crucial that you are ABSOLUTELY truthful and realistic about what you eat, when you eat, why you eat and how you eat. When I hear something like “I generally eat pretty well”, I know what they really mean is “I eat disgracefully but I’m embarrassed and I don’t want you to think I have no self-control”.

I’m not interested in embarrassing or humiliating anyone, I’m interested in truth and the truth is, if someone is obese and they’re telling me they have “pretty good eating habits”, they’re lying. Lying about eating habits serves no (beneficial) purpose, postpones the inevitable and means that people will stay fat for longer than they need to.Tough and uncomfortable to hear, but in my experience, true.

RULE 17: Increase your fibre (fiber) intake.Every second person I meet is constipated on at least a semi-regular basis. This is often because they have a diet which is high in processed foods and low in dietary fibre. When we increase the fibre and decrease the processed junk we usually see an improvement in er… bowel health. As a general rule, the more processed the food, the less there is in it for you in terms of quality nutrition. Increasing fibre intake also helps us lose weight because it helps fill us and take the edge off our appetite.

Depending on how much you weigh and which guidelines you follow, it is suggested that the average adult needs somewhere around 40 to 50 grams of fibre per day. Many of us have less than 10 grams of fibre per day!

To give you an idea of what 40 to 50 grams means; an apple with skin contains about 4 grams of fibre, a slice of white bread has about 0.6 grams, a slice of dark rye bread about 1.8 grams and most cereals are somewhere in the 1 to 5 grams of fibre per 100 grams, range. For example Special K (according to the label on the box) contains 2.5 grams of fibre for every 100 grams of cereal. So if you wanted to meet all your fibre needs through Special K you would need to consume about 2 kilograms of it per day. Even 100 grams of raw rolled oats (which you might think would be very high in fibre) only contains about 10 grams of fibre. My advice to you is don’t try and meet all your fibre needs in one hit (i.e. breakfast), spread it out evenly through the day. Eat plenty of fruit and vegies and if you really want to eat a low-fibre cereal for breakfast, at least put a couple of tablespoons of unprocessed bran on it.

RULE 18: Don’t get fat eating healthy foods.Be aware of those foods which are loaded with nutritional goodies… and calories. You might just end up healthy… and fat. Although… being fat is unhealthy, so you probably won’t be healthy at all. Mmm, glad I cleared that up. Many people think that because certain foods are loaded with good stuff they can shovel in as much as they want. Wrong. Plenty of healthy foods are calorie dense and need to be used sparingly. Avocado, nuts, seeds, dried fruit, yoghurt, muesli bars, fruit juices and protein bars and drinks (some protein bars have more fat and calories than an equivalent sized chocolate bar) are all foods which may do you more harm than good if you don’t use them wisely. Yes, almonds are good for you… but not when you eat them by the kilo!

At nearly 600 calories for a measly one hundred grams of them, they’ll get ya fat in about eight minutes. Put a hundred grams of almonds on the palm of your hand and you’ll be surprised how insignificant it looks… sneaky little buggers.Then you can compare a hundred grams of fresh apricot (35 calories) with the same weight of dried apricots (270 calories) and you begin to realise that it ain’t hard to chub up eating healthy foods. I probably shouldn’t tell you this but one hundred grams of caramel slice has the same amount of calories as one hundred grams of dried apricots (270). No, they don’t have the same nutritional value, and no, I’m not suggesting you go the caramel slice option but I am suggesting that you control your intake of calorie-dense ‘healthy foods’.

Okay, there you have it; no more excuses and no more going around in circles. Maybe now you can get off the weight-loss merry-go-round once and for all… have fun.

About the Author

Craig Harper (B.Ex.Sci.) is an Australian motivational speaker, qualified exercise scientist, author, columnist, radio presenter, and owner of one of the largest personal training centres in the world.

He can be heard weekly on Australian Radio SEN 1116 and GOLD FM and appears on Australian television on Network Ten’s 9AM.

Motivational Speaker – Craig Harper

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How to Minimize Neck Soreness, Back Ache, and Sciatica in three Quick Steps – Excess weight Loss and the Bad Back again

Article by Chris Bullock

Walk the dogs! Heck, walk the cat! Just make positive you stroll! Don’t see your stroll as physical exercise, appearance at it as an escape, personal time, time with your thoughts, time by yourself. Alter your concentrate and you will discover your walks getting more time and the neck soreness, back again ache, and sciatica, along with that nagging pounds difficulty, and the resultant depression have only walked correct out of your daily life. Baby methods out the door! Baby techniques down the stairs! Child….You know the drill.Getting practical objectives and pursuits could basically make you sense improved each and each and every action of the way. Concentrate on smaller objectives, an individual at a time, and when you attain them they will give you the extra incentive to push on to the following. Constantly redefine and relaxation your goals in conditions of your extended phrase objectives and techniques. Eventually, you will achieve more if you simply emphasis on these days.The A.A. motto of “An individual Day at a Time!” might be just the mantra to aid you by means of.There are more than 196,000,000 obese grown ups in the United States alone. That is a staggering point, specially when viewed in the context of the subsequent simple fact, that a lot more kids and youthful grown ups are obese than at any stage in our background. Ever! Of program, as we age bones drop density and muscle groups often grow to be weaker. The age-progressive factors coming into play and putting pressure on the spine are myriad. Injury due to obesity is frequently irreversible, it is definitely critical to maintain optimum human body weight and muscle tone. The previously mentioned talked about reality is but a single extra good reason for initiating and maintaining an physical exercise routine. By turning out to be, then remaining, active our musculoskeletal method will continue being wholesome. The old adage that a balanced head and a healthy body are inextricably connected is so obvious it barely requires to be stated.Cheers!Drinking water fasting body weight loss can be pretty dramatic. In the early days of a water quick, a very few pounds per day of fat reduction is common.As the quick progresses the fat loss slows.Bodyweight Loss AveragesThe common body weight loss for the to begin with week of a water swiftly is 11 pounds. For the second week it is 7 pounds and for the third week 3 lbs.Hence the typical everyday bodyweight reduction for a fast of 21 days is a pound per day.The fee of Unwanted fat reduction throughout a water rapidly is all-around two or 3 pounds per week.The rest of the water fasting excess weight reduction is water excess weight.The entire body stores water in order to dilute its toxic load. So the much more toxic a person’s entire body, the more h2o it is probable storing.As the toxins are cleaned out during a h2o quick, this water is released.The glycogen merchants of the body are depleted throughout a more time swiftly and this, collectively with the number of lbs of h2o wanted to retailer glycogen, account for a very few pounds of the bodyweight lost.This weight will come back again inside a few of days right after breaking the rapid as the glycogen outlets are replenished.

Lower back pain exercises to relieve pain in the low or lower back. These lower back pain exercises and in fact each lower back pain exercise in this clip will help back pain, relieve back pain, end back pain and even end back pain. These are rehab exercises for your lower back. The tight…
Video Rating: 4 / 5

Back Strengthening Exercises – Tips On How To Create Muscle Mass For Your Again

Article by peggy lee

Even so, ahead of you get started lifting weights, you must understand what muscle tissues you are attempting to build. You will find 3 primary locations with the back again…

Higher back again (trapezius) Mid-back (latissimus dorsi) Decrease back again (erector spinae)

Some valuable recommendations for newbies to create these different areas of the back again are…

Arching your back again when carrying out pull ups will help you target the reduced back again muscle tissues. Changing the width of your grip will give diverse results inside your training. The placement of your palms going through inward or outward will even offer you distinctive outcomes.

There are several diverse varieties of back strengthening exercises, every with their very own rewards and unique location of effectiveness. Listed here are a few of the most powerful back again exercises to create muscle mass mass…

SHRUGS

This exercise stresses the higher again muscles.

To perform this workout, seize a barbell shoulder width apart or seize two dumbbells and stand straight up along with your arms by your thighs. Together with your arms straight through the entire workout, decrease your shoulder so far as you are able to without having transferring the body. Next, move your shoulders up, attempting to contact your ears. Then repeat.

DEADLIFT

This physical exercise mainly stresses the lower back again, thighs and forearms. Furthermore, it works the upper back, hips and buttocks.

Next, bend down out of your waistline with your knees bent as well as your arms directly. Ensure your back again is fully flat.

Then, raise up with your knees and straighten your back up as you stand straight up. At the finish of the workout, the barbell must be resting subsequent for your thighs. Return the barbell to the ground by reversing the sequence of events. Repeat until the wanted quantity of repetitions are finished.

STIFF-LEG DEADLIFT

This physical exercise stresses the same areas as within the deadlift.

When doing this exercise, ensure you do not use a lot of weight. Initially, you must stand on a bench and have the barbell close to your thigh. Then you have to decrease your back without having bending your knees until the bar in the barbell hits or almost hits the bench.

If you’re not that flexible, it really is okay to a bit bend your knees to do this physical exercise. Lastly, raise till your back is totally directly.

BARBELL BENT ROWING

This back strengthening exercises stresses the entire again and numerous bodybuilders believe, this really is the most beneficial back physical exercise to create muscle mass mass.

Just like the deadlift, you commence by bending over and grabbing the barbell, however, you do not go all the way up. Your back stays parallel to the floor the whole time and you lift the barbell up to your chest. Then lower it back down to the floor.

This exercise may also be performed with dumbbells. You’ll be able to do both arms simultaneously or 1 arm at a time.

HYPEREXTENSION

This workout stresses the decrease back.

From your hips to you feet, lay on the bench or table along with your stomach going through the flooring. Have your coaching companion hold your legs to provide you with stability and to prevent you from sliding off the bench. Bend all of the way down. Then, raise upward as way while you easily can. Be cautious to not pull a muscle by go to far.

PULL UPS

This back strengthening exercises stresses the lats, biceps, and forearms. Front pull ups stresses the reduce lats and again pull ups stress the upper lats.

Some people like to utilize a broad grip along with other people today like to use a narrow grip. It is as much as you. Bear in mind when carrying out pull ups, constantly go down gradually. It assist construct the muscle tissues extra.

LAT PULL DOWNS

It really is similar in movement towards the pull ups using the exception of making use of a cable pull down technique. And, as soon as you grow in power that passes the body weight, you could increase far more weights to carry on to make muscle mass mass and power.