Simple Tips on How to Get Fit

For the most part, getting in shape is tough as there are so many obstacles that hinder even the most highly motivated people from achieving the type of body they want. While you are bound to encounter so many suggestions on how to get fit, it is always best to start with the basics in order to get the best results. Here are some of the simplest tips on how you can get fit and start a healthier chapter of your life:

Cut Out Junk Foods from Your Diet

Everyone needs to indulge their palate once in a while but if your goal is to lose weight and be on the leaner side of the spectrum, you need to learn how to control your cravings especially for junk food and processed treats. In order to make the transition easier, make sure that you learn to whip up quick and healthy snacks just in case you get the hankering for small and tasty bites.

Contrary to what most people believe in, you do not necessarily have to deprive yourself of the god stuff just because you decide to get in better shape. For instance, you can still enjoy nachos and cheese as long as you eat home baked chips as opposed to the store bought ones and opt for a low fat cheese.

Eat Home Cooked Meals More Often

People these days put too much premium on the convenience of take out meals that they completely forget about the simple joy of eating home cooked meals. One of the most effective ways on how to get fit is to start eating at home most of the time as opposed to frequenting the local greasy spoon for fat laden meals. This set up might seem daunting at first but once you learn to cook basic meals, you will see that it is not at all a bad idea.

Pick Out the Right Workout Routine

Many are wondering about ways on how to get fit but they often fail to see the obvious. Exercise and physical activity in general is very important in the process of losing weight and keeping all the pounds off. A cardio routine is one of the best choices considering it provides great results as far as burning calories is concerned. Spending at least an hour on the treadmill or elliptical machine everyday would make a great deal of difference not just on your body but your general outlook on fitness as well.

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Protein Supplements: Not Just for the Boys

Ladies, if your goal is burning fat and building muscle, don’t forget to consume the protein your fitness goals require.  Protein revs up your metabolism, helping your body to burn calories, using food for fuel instead of storing it as fat.  Plus, protein consumption assists with lean muscle development.

If you need to keep your diet plan as easy and convenient as possible, consider using supplements to reap the benefits of protein.

Supplements Add Protein with Ease

You will find protein shakes for sale at the health food store, and that’s certainly an easy solution.  But the best protein powders are also simple to use.

Simply stir powdered protein supplements  into water or milk with a spoon or a blender.  You can buy different flavors, including vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry. Plus, using protein powders will be more cost-effective than ready-made protein shakes.

Don’t stop at adding your protein supplement to water or milk.  Blend in some fruit for a delicious smoothie.   Experiment with protein shake recipes until you find your favorites.

Protein is Key for Breakfast and Beyond

Breakfast and healthy snacks are essential to maintaining your metabolism and avoiding hunger.  If you’re too busy to prepare a protein-rich breakfast, a protein shake is a quick, portable (and refreshing) solution.  Protein is especially important at breakfast; without it, you’ll feel hungry or “crash” before lunch.

A protein shake makes a great snack, too.  In fact, studies show that your body (i.e. your muscles) will use protein more efficiently if you consume it consistently and gradually throughout the day. Plus, some of the best protein shake recipes feature high-quality branch chain amino acids that help general body recovery, especially after strenuous workouts.

A Positive Muscle Building State

In a positive muscle building state, your body burns fat rather than muscle.  Consuming protein, whether from supplements or your diet, will help you maintain this state.

To achieve a positive muscle building state, the International Journal of Sports recommends that you consume between 1.6 and 1.7 grams protein per kilogram of your body weight.   That amounts to  0.7 grams per pound, daily.  For an example woman who weights 140 pounds, multiplied by 0.7 grams, a good goal would be 98 grams of protein every day.

Try protein supplements for a quick and delicious answer to give your body the protein it needs to avoid hunger, burn fat, and build muscle.

Getting to Know the General Motors Diet

Have you been to the grocery store lately? What did you notice? Perhaps you saw a recently added aisle displaying organic fruits and vegetables. Did you ever wonder why that aisle is there? Why wasn’t it there years ago?

According to recent studies, obesity is one of the top two killer conditions in America today (next to diabetes). Obesity leads to other serious health problems, such as heart failures and cancer. One way to avoid obesity is to engage in regular exercise and to eat a balanced meal. This is the reason why grocery stores nowadays have special sections for all natural products, including fruits and vegetables.

Without a balanced diet, regular exercise will not be as effective as you would have hoped. But then again, with all the diet plans and programs followed by people these days, how do you know if one is effective? How do you choose diets that work?

The GM Diet Plan

There is one way to tell if a diet program is effective or not, and that is its longevity. If a one diet program was able to carry its name for several years, it means a lot of people has tried it and that it has worked for them. There are only a few health programs that pass this criteria, and one of them is the GM diet plan.

The GM diet plan or the General Motors diet is perhaps one of the oldest diet programs in the world. Initiated by the General Motors company for their employees, this diet plan has already helped thousands of people all over the world for several years.

Basically, the GM diet requires eating fruits and vegetables for one full week or for seven days straight. There are specific instructions and portion advisory from day one to day seven, but the entire diet program aims to cut between 10 to 17 pounds from your original weight.

The Golden Rule to Losing Weight – Don’t Just Diet, Exercise.

These days, more and more people are trying to lose weight. In the media we’re bombarded with images of the perfect body, and in the news we’re constantly told of the health implications of being overweight… so it’s no surprise that the fitness bug has really caught on.

There’s a massive range of diets to choose from, all of which make great claims about how much weight you’ll lose. To get the most out of any diet, however, it should be accompanied by a suitable exercise program – you’ll need to choose an aerobic (cardiovascular) exercise, which means anything that will raise your heart rate and oxygen intake over a sustained period of time, and perform this exercise for at least twenty minutes three times a week. One of the easiest aerobic exercises that almost anyone can do, is jogging.

For many people though the idea of jogging out on the street can be off putting – whether this is because of the pollution and congestion of our towns and cities, or simply because you feel self-conscious of exercising out in public. For these people, buying a treadmill for use at home is a great idea, and not necessarily an expensive one – most high street retailers will have a selection of cheap treadmills for sale.

Running on a treadmill will give you a great workout – and not just your legs. The action you perform as you run means that you’ll be working out your stomach area along with your arms and chest too, as well as getting that all important aerobic exercise. For some people though, pounding into the treadmill stride after stride can take it’s toll on their joints – anyone who’s prone to sore ankles or knees would be better avoiding this kind of exercise. For them, crosstrainers are perfect replacement machines. You still get a full all-over workout, but a much more controlled motion prevents any jarring of the joints, and stops any pain developing.

So follow the simple golden rules – a calorie controlled diet, combined with moderate levels of exercise – and in no time at all, you’ll be feeling good and looking great all at your ideal weight.

NIH Tips to Help You Get More Exercise

You know you need exercise. Regular physical activity helps you control your weight, lower your risks of chronic diseases like high blood pressure and type II diabetes, and can even make you feel happier and more energetic. If you are like me, though, you don’t always get the amount of physical activity you need. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) recommends the average adult should get two and a half hours of moderate physical activity per week.

Who is the NIH?

The National Institutes of Health is a branch of the US Department of Health and Human Services. Their primary mission is sponsoring research to help people live longer, healthier lives. Research can’t make a difference if people don’t know about it, so getting information and recommendations out to the public is an essential part of their mission.

Tips to Help You Get More Exercise

The NIH has published a booklet, Tips to Help You Get Active, to help people overcome various obstacles that stand in their way. You don’t need to read the whole thing, though, because many of the suggestions are the same, regardless of the problem. I’ll summarize the most important ones for you.

Start Slowly

This is the most important tip if you are out-of-shape, even if you starting an exercise they you used to do with your eyes closed.  The slower you start the less your chances of injury. Don’t be that guy or gal who enthusiastically starts a vigorous exercise program, works hard for a day, and then gives up for feeling so horrible the next day.

See a Medical Professional

If you have any medical conditions, this is the most important tip. Light physical exercise like walking is not usually a problem, but you should definitely follow your doctor’s advice for length, type, and intensity of workouts, even if you are healthy but are a man over 40 or a woman over 50.

Find Something You Enjoy

While different activities do have some different benefits, being physically active what is most important. Light exercise you do every day because you are having fun will pay off much more than vigorous exercise you only manage to struggle through a couple times a month.

Take a Class or Join a Fitness Center

Having a fixed time or place to do your workouts can help motivate you, especially when you know you’ve already paid the membership or class cost. Fitness centers can also provide environments that are more comfortable for your workout during hot summers or cold winters. You may also feel safer exercising in a group.

Use a Physical Trainer

Not only will using a physical trainer help motivate you to exercise, they will help make sure you don’t injure yourself by showing you the proper ways to warm up or use equipment. Also, if you already have an injury, they will customize your workout around your injury.

LowFatDietPlan.org is a site dedicated to providing readers with the most up-to-date diet and fitness research so they can include only the most effective strategies in thier diet plans.

Would You Call Yourself Nutritious? 4 Easy Steps to Correct Nutrition

Considering all of the marketing and food industry giants that have dug their claws into the institution that is proper nutrition, it is no surprise that its image has suffered. The effects of these misinformation campaigns, false claims, fad diets and fad workouts have already manifested in climbing obesity rates and heart disease. It used to be that people would just compare car insurance quotes and money related things, now they have to compare supplements!

With one in four children suffering from type II diabetes, one in three Americans obese, and over 160 million dollars in hospital costs for obesity, it is time to mount the movement to restore proper nutrition. Individually, by establishing a diet regiment, managing toxicity, supplementing with workout routines, and keeping a positive mindset, everyone can play their part in this much needed paradigm shift.

1. Establishing a Solid Diet Regiment

In establishing a diet regiment, instead of joining the argument over what the correct percentages of macronutrients are in the diet in relation to each other, adhering to a more general framework and then narrowing specificity as the body reacts will ensure that individual needs are met. A journal or website that demands a diet composed of 35% carbohydrates, 45% protein, and 20% vitamins and minerals, for example, may serve as a decent archetype for the “average human” but fails to address individual differences and goals.

For active people, a diet of roughly 2500 calories is ideal, with protein and carbohydrates being the main staple macronutrients. Adjusting the relative amounts of these macronutrients is a matter of listening to the body and monitoring digestive and metabolic efficiency.

The best practice for someone beginning a new diet regiment is to picture the desired results and then work backwards to get achieve them. Weight loss diets, while effectively supplemented by exercise, should incorporate naturally fibrous and low-calorie fruits, lean protein, and “good” or complex carbohydrates for energy. Muscle mass diets should be composed of large amounts of both carbohydrates and lean protein, while integrating fat as well to total 3000 or more calories a day. An online personal trainer could also be a great option to help you get on on track.

2. Managing Toxicity

Frankly, because of pesticide and fast food industries fraught with skewed incentives, everyone on the planet is being subjected to an increasing amount of toxicity in their diets. Poorly maintained FDA standards in both of these industries has resulted in the contamination of food with high amounts of cadmium, mercury, lead, and even the pesticide DDT.

Managing these toxicity levels is a much harder endeavor than it used to be, as the integrity of the word “organic” is being destroyed by multi-million dollar marketing campaigns. Essentially, the only way to avoid contamination is to greatly reduce processed food in the diet. As it concerns the issue of pesticides and produce, foods like onions, sweet potatoes, watermelon, and pineapple require fewer pesticides and are healthier to eat. Learning the rest of this taxonomy will prove very useful for anyone trying to avoid toxicity in the diet.

3. Effective Supplementation

For either nutrition or exercise to be successful, they must be mutually inclusive. Especially for people who enjoy eating copious amounts of food, exercise is the single most effective tool for deterring the weight gain that will inevitably result. Working out just for the sake of combating binge eating, however, is addressing a problem with another problem.

Exercise allows for more calorie consumption, including fats, within the diet while improving metabolism, energy levels, and appearance. A body under strain needs fuel in the form of protein and carbohydrates to rebuild torn muscle fibers and re-energize. Timing is critical when refueling the body; the “glycemic window” as many refer to it is the first 30 minutes following exercise. This is when the body will most effeciently metabolize protein and use it to repair and strengthen torn muscle fibers. In this limited window of time, a 20 to 45 gram serving of a protein supplement is ideal for muscle recovery and growth.

4. Staying Disciplined, Creating Incentives and Defying Stereotypes

Self-forgiveness is a must, not just in practicing effective nutrition but in any pursuit. This is because of the frailty of the human psyche when it is strained by effort: it will use any slip-up as an excuse to regress to the unhealthy habits of the past. When dieting and exercise are taken seriously, the occasional donut or cheeseburger is fine, so long as it remains a passing pleasure as opposed to a consistent habit.

Another powerful tool in practicing strong nutrition is creating incentives. For every workout, for example, one should allow himself or herself a small reward, whether it be a favorite snack or activity. If this reward system is practiced consistently enough, the mind will become positively conditioned and encourage the body to exercise so that the reward may be realized.

Finally, in assembling the proper mental approach to nutrition and exercise, it is key to avoid the stigmas against carbohydrates and calories. Without either of these, life would not exist. Complex carbohydrates are an excellent, healthy fuel source that can be increased in the diet relative to exercise. Furthermore, they are foods that most people like to eat: pasta, bread, potatoes, and so on. Calories are nothing more than energy, as vital to life as water. The only time these two entities are a problem is when they build up residually as a result of poor or no exercise.

The best thing about working towards proper nutrition is that it is a “downward spiral” without the negative connotation; it gets easier and more enjoyable as more progress is made. Aside from increasing metabolism, digestion, energy levels, disease prevention, mood, stamina, strength, and longevity, proper nutrition guarantees visible improvements in appearance and confidence. It is the idealization of what proponents of positive change have been saying since the beginning: change begins from within, and spreads.

Author Bio: Lisa is a freelance writer for a fitness website full of weight training tips. She is always on the lookout for new ways to promote healthy living. When she isn’t outside doing her daily exercises, you can find her inside catching up on the newest television shows.