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Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Walking And Weight Loss: Tips For Creating Your Own Walking Weight Loss Program

Of all the exercise programs, walking is perhaps the simplest and cheapest. Walking can also be one of the most effective exercise programs because walking is an exercise that many of us enjoy and will actually take time out of our busy days to do.

Walking results in the same benefits of many other types of physical exercise: It helps strengthen the heart and lungs, improves circulation, increases your confidence, reduces the risk of certain diseases, strengthens the bones, improves muscle tone, and just generally brightens your mood.

Walking works for weight loss, but you'll need to make sure you're walking long enough (or fast enough) to burn some calories.

When you are just starting your walking regimen, many experts recommend focusing on distance before you focus on speed. If you get too caught up on your intensity, you may burn out before you have established your walking routine on a daily basis.

You can burn roughly the same number of calories with a short, fast walk as with a long, slower walk. The biggest factor in your overall success will be your consistency. Make sure that you choose the right combination of pace and intensity that keeps the exercise fun for you. There will be some days that you want to take a long stroll. Others, you may want to power walk, burn some energy, and really get your heart pumping.

Most walking fitness experts recommend that you have some sort of activity each day. You can alternate your sessions of higher-intensity power walking with lower-intensity workouts. Just make sure you're getting out there at least 5 days a week, for 30 to 60 minutes at a time.

If you can't walk for 30 minutes when you are just starting out, start small and work your way up. It won't take long before you are walking for longer distances, especially if you make a goal to walk nearly every day.

For maximum health benefits, you will also want to make sure that you are walking fast enough to increase your heart rate. Fitness experts say that, for weight loss, you need to be walking for 30 to 60 minutes at 50 to 70 percent of your maximum heart rate. Of course, you'll need to stretch first and walk slowly for five minutes before and after the workout.

You can also try interval training, in which you walk quickly for a few minutes, and then slow it down for a few minutes. Alternating between higher- and lower-intensity periods throughout your workout can get your heart pumping and help you to quickly build physical endurance.

Once you have established your walking routine, you can burn even more calories by choosing a route with challenging hills or by strapping small weights to your wrists or ankles. There are also several techniques that will help you build muscle tone as you walk. Concentrate on keeping a good posture, for example, flex your leg muscles and hold in your stomach. Focusing on good walking techniques such as these can help you maximize the time you spend in your walking shoes.

Make it Fun

Here are few ideas to help you make walking a fun adventure that you will look forward to each day:

- Make sure you are comfortable and hydrated. Invest in a good pair of walking shoes, which will increase your comfort and reduce your risk of injury. And drink water before, during, and after your walking workout.

- Search out new walking or hiking trails in your town or county.

- Check out books on tape from the library or download an mp3 to enjoy on your headphones while you are walking.

- Schedule your walk like any other event in your busy day. Put it on your calendar and regard it as an important appointment.

- Find a friend to be your walking partner. Your friend will hold you accountable and may make the miles seem to pass more quickly. Sometimes, when we get very busy, our friendships can become neglected. When you walk with a friend, you carve out time for physical fitness and your friendship.

- If you have small children, take them out in the stroller. Older kids can walk alongside you. My young son likes to ride his bike alongside me.

- Take a dog. When I take my dog along, I feel as though I'm doing something constructive with my time. If you don't have a dog, see if there is an animal shelter in your area that needs volunteer dog walkers. This is a great way to serve a greater purpose and get in your daily walk at the same time.

Stay Safe

Here are a few considerations to help you stay safe during your daily walks.

- Walking with a friend (or even a dog) is safer than walking alone.

- Tell someone when you are leaving, where you are going, and when you expect to return.

- Don't bring valuables with you on your walk.

- Vary your route.

- Stay in well-lit, busy areas.

- Stay alert. Keep your headphones on a low setting so you can still hear what's going on around you.

A walking routine is a great way to enjoy all the benefits of regular physical exercise. Enjoy creating an exercise program that will be part of your life for a long time to come.

Note: The tips in this article are for general information only. Before starting any exercise routine, you should consult with your doctor.

Thursday, February 19, 2009

More Evidence That Green Tea Blocks Fat Absorption

In recent years, green tea has gained a lot of attention for its health benefits. Many studies have been conducted that have shown various ways that green tea helps keep you healthy. Among these findings include evidence that green tea helps lower cholesterol, reduces your risk of heart disease and cancer, and helps you lose weight. In the beginning, it was thought that green tea’s effect on weight loss was due to its ability to speed up the metabolism, and much of this ability was thought to be due to the fact that green tea contains caffeine.

However, many recent studies have suggested that green tea’s ability to speed up the metabolism is not due to its caffeine content alone. In some studies, subjects were fed the caffeine equivalent of green tea, but did not show the same weight loss results as subjects who were actually fed the green tea, suggesting that green tea contains something more than caffeine that affects weight loss.More recent research suggests, however, that speeding up the metabolism is not the only way that green tea helps you lose weight.

Other studies have suggested that green tea may also increase your ability to burn body fat and that it may also block the absorption of dietary fat. This means that less of the fat you consume in your food may end up in fat on your body.This is important news. If green tea can block the absorption of dietary fat, it may have tremendous weight loss potential. There is already one prescription diet drug on the market that blocks fat absorption, and it has helped many patients lose weight. However, this drug has significant side effects, and is not recommended for long term use.

While blocking the absorption of the fat in your diet is not the total weight loss answer, it could be a great help. To sustain long term weight loss, it’s important to make changes in your dietary habits, not just rely on a weight loss supplement to reduce your fat absorption. However, when such substances are used in conjunction with a sensible diet and exercise plan, they can make losing weight and keeping it off significantly easier.

One important study on this subject was reported by the Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry, and evaluated the absorption of dietary fat through the gastrointestinal tract and through the pancreas, and how this absorption is affected by the anti-oxidants in green tea.

The study examined how fat absorption in the stomach and pancreas was affected when green tea extract was included with the dietary fat. The study was conducted in vitro, meaning that the activity was observed in the lab rather than on human or animal subjects.
The study concluded that fat absorption was inhibited by about 60mg when green tea extract was used. This is an amount that would be considered significant to human diet. Though this study was conducted in vitro, researchers concluded that the results would be likely to be the same in humans.

Overweight and obesity are fast becoming our nation’s number one health concern. Today, nearly 60% of us are overweight, with more than 30% of us considered obese. This means that our country has a lot of weight to lose, and that we need all the help we can get. Being overweight or obese significantly increases your risk of heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, and some forms of cancer. So, our lives literally depend upon getting our waistlines under control.

And, that’s what’s so great about green tea. While drinking green tea is no substitute for eating sensibly and exercising, it is the perfect adjunct to these important habits. That’s because green tea has been shown to reduce your risk of precisely many of the diseases that obesity contributes to, and it helps you lose weight in the process.

Study after study has shown that green tea can help reduce cholesterol, a leading contributor to heart disease. Green tea has also been shown to help regulate blood sugar, which may reduce your risk for Type II diabetes, and may even help you to control diabetes if you’ve already been diagnosed. And, green tea reduces your risk for cancer, too.

So, if you’re overweight, it’s time to get your health in order. Take a look at your diet. Reduce your intake of saturated fat, white flour and sugar. Increase your intake of fresh fruits and vegetables and whole grains. Get 30 minutes of exercise on most days of the week. And, add green tea to your daily diet.

Green tea is easier to find than ever. Most grocery stores carry green tea in teabag form and many fine tea purveyors carry a wide variety of flavored and plain green tea in loose form. You can even find green tea bottled to make it more convenient than ever to get your daily dose.

Green tea is just as effective whether you drink it hot or cold, and whether or not you add milk or sweetener. To benefit your health and your weight loss efforts, it’s recommended that you consume 3-5 cups of green tea each day.

Green tea is good for you, tastes delicious and has no side effects. Even the caffeine in green tea is better tolerated by the caffeine sensitive than the caffeine in many other beverages. So, what’s stopping you? There’s no downside to drinking green tea. And, its benefits to your health and your waistline may be significant.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

The Best Diet Tips For Dieting

Are you amongst the thousands of people in the world that want to lose weight or is dieting, but not seeing any results? Are you tired of this? If you are, let me tell you about some of the best dieting tips. Dieting is extremely important for people in the world today. This is because it helps one achieve a body they want. A better body results in an increase in a person's self confidence and self esteem. You will be able to feel comfortable showing off your body and be extremely satisfied with your body!

Just imagine...you have learned the best diet tips using a weight loss program and lost lots of weight. Your friends are begging you to tell you the best diet tips and secrets, and you smile to yourself thankful of that diet program because you have now officially became the center of attention. People of the opposite sex find you more attractive, and you are feeling great about your own body.

You can go to the mall, try on any clothes you want without fear. Don't you want to become one of these people? Now the best diet tips compose of many things. One of the most important diet tips is motivation. You have to be motivated in

he diet to work. If you aren't you will ose motivation to diet and reach your goal of achieving a great body.

The second thing in best diet tips is consistency! You have to take the secrets, tricks, and tips you have learned and apply them to your daily life! This is the only way you will lose weight extremely fast! The third tip in the best diet tips is signing up for a diet program. A good diet program will promote and teach you healthy ways that you can lose weight fast. It will also teach you secrets and quicker ways that you can achieve a great body.

The fourth step amongst the best diet tips is maintaining that body! If you want to maintain your amazing body, you have to continuously apply what you have learned into your daily day life. If you don't all that fat will come back, and that's something you definitely don't want.The fifth key point is to enjoy the process of losing weight and enjoy your amazing body. This shouldn't be too hard to do for most people.

What are you waiting? Go find a great weight loss program to learn the best diet tips, and start losing weight now! I hope some of my best diet tips helped!
Good luck on achieving the body you want!