Busy Mom’s Guide to Weight Loss

All good things must come to an end; or at least that is how it feels sometimes. But in the realm of fitness why is this? We are in an amazing age of information where you can easily and quickly find just about anything you want on the internet. There are countless articles about fitness routines, diet options, and more; yet tons of people are still not meeting their fitness goals. Here is our Busy Mom’s Guide to Weight Loss.

Why is this?

A Bit of Philosophy

Yes we are going to talk philosophy for a minute, but it is necessary. Far too often people accept things as they are and only react to the situations that happen around them. It is very rare that people take the time to enact or create change. Why? It boils down to a lack of specific goals and the all important focus.

Busy Mom's Guide to Weight Loss

The mind is an amazing thing. When we focus our minds on a given task it is very rare that we will not accomplish it. That is because with a clear goal in mind we are more prone to do everything we can to reach that goal. People don’t like to fail. But that is also the reason why people do not take the time to create specific goals. If you have a general goal of ‘getting in shape’ it is so arbitrary that how can you define if you meet it or don’t?

You can’t, which is why so many people use that for a New Year’s resolution; it is hard to fail at an arbitrary goal. But if you don’t have a finish line in mind how can you run the race?

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Stretching and Warming Up Before Sports and Exercise

Stretching before sports and exercise is one of those things which is sorely underestimated in terms of importance and which has often dire results when ignored.

Stretching before exercise is a highly important way to avoid injury and it achieves this by helping to increase the elasticity of the muscle fibers and ligaments.

How Stretching and Warming Up Prevent Injury

Basically when we exercise we are always going to cause some microtears in the muscles and this is a completely normal and expected result. This is in fact necessary in order for muscle growth to occur – and it is when the body repairs these tears using the amino acids that come from the protein in your diet that it manages to improve the thickness and the strength of those fibers.

Unfortunately though a sudden movement or too much strain can have a negative result, and this is to cause too many of the muscle fibers to tear to the point where it can result in severe pain and the muscle going out of action. This is in fact what we call a pulled muscle. Worse, if you should move too suddenly without the proper preparation this can also cause the ligaments and other connective tissue to tear resulting in what we know as a sprain which leaves the limb too weak and too uncoordinated to be used properly.

Stretching and warming up helps to avoid this problem significantly by gradually increasing the elasticity of the muscle fibers and the connective tissues allowing them to become more flexible and to move more easily without tearing. This is actually very important, and if you ignore this preparation then you will greatly increase your chances of pulling a muscle or causing other damage to the limbs.

Other Benefits

But that is not the only benefit of stretching and warming up. While many people think of it as purely a way to avoid injury, it is actually important to bear in mind that you can also use stretching and warming up in order to improve circulation to the muscles. This then will help to encourage your body to deliver your muscles with the all important nutrients and vitamins they need, as well as with ATP (energy) in order to improve function. In short by doing a brief warm up you can ensure that your muscles are more energetic and more ‘ready to go’ when you begin.

Further, stretching will also help to improve your flexibility and this will help you to improve your performance in a range of sports and exercises. In most sports games increasing your reach is very important and it’s highly useful that you can do this with stretching and increased flexibility. However at the same time you will find that you improve your training this way too – as by increasing flexibility you increase the range of motion through which you can train muscles resulting in a more complete growth in muscle size.

How to Warm Up and Stretch

Warming up is a simple matter of getting your blood flowing around your body without exerting yourself too much. A light jog here can work great, as can gently bouncing up and down or even doing some shadow boxing.

For stretching it’s possible to find lots of exercises online, but it’s important to ensure that these are all stretches that involve gradually increasing your reach – rather than ‘bobbing up and down’ into the movement as some people recommend which can actually result in injury and damage themselves. Stretching should be a slow and gradual process.

Meanwhile make sure that you stretch every muscle group and don’t leave any out which can further result in injury. That means you need to include twisting and back exercises – even if there is no use for the back in your chosen activity or sport.

Chad Moreau is very good at giving online hockey training programs on his blog. He is also involved with one of the sports club and likes to share his training skills with fellow members.

Why YOU Should Work Out

Life is busy. Between work, school, kids, relationships, shopping, and community events, there is a lot to keep up with in life. Each of us depends upon our body to get us from here to there yet we don’t always give it what it needs to stay healthy. Taking care of your body is a choice that has lifelong benefits. Here’s are a few reasons you should work out on a regular basis:

You will look better: The majority of people that work out do it primarily so they will look better. This is a very legitimate reason. The better we look, the better we will feel about ourselves. Looking good will increase your confidence in a variety of different settings—from this weekend’s date to tomorrow’s job interview. Looking good never hurt!

Release energy: Each of us needs an outlet of some kind. Video games and movies are good, but they don’t have the same kind of effect on your body that vigorous exercise does. All of the emotional stress we stuff into the body can be released through physical activity. This can help us feel more calm throughout the rest of the day—despite the kids wanting to be fed and the boss that is demanding more sales.

Decreased risk of disease: Some types of cancer are found more commonly in those that aren’t physically active. Those who do not engage in frequent exercise have higher blood sugar and insulin levels. This can lead to diabetes and coronary heart disease. Exercise can have a good effect on your metabolism and other body functions.

Less strength-related embarrassment: From personal experience, I can tell you that it stinks to go help a neighbor to move the piano when you have the arms of a pre-adolescent child. Although this isn’t a very scientific reason, increasing your strength can help you to perform a variety of tasks better, allowing you to go help your neighbor move the piano without fear. (It is important to note that your aim shouldn’t be to become Superman or Arnold Schwarzenegger, but to be constantly improving your strength).

Increase your flexibility: Contrary to popular belief, strength training can actually increase your flexibility. Your range of motion can actually be increased through working out each of your muscle systems on a regular basis. It may not give you the ability to do the splits, but bending down to pick up that pen you dropped shouldn’t be quite the problem it was before.

Overcome obesity: Although exercise isn’t the only component to overcoming obesity (a lot of it has to do with diet), it is a major one. Being inactive causes a lot of your muscle mass to convert into excess body fat. Unfortunately, low activity is often connected to eating more—two negative factors working against you.

Increased productivity: Everything you do takes a toll on your body. Working out increases both your physical strength and your stamina, giving you the energy you need to do more. Your increased productivity can take you places that your Nintendo never could.

 

About the Author

Stepehn Sharpe is a writer for MyCollegesandCareers.com. My Colleges and Careers can help you if you want to enroll in online master’s degree programs.

 

5 Great Alternatives to Hitting the Gym

There’s a good reason so many of us just can’t muster up the sticking power to make committing to the burden of a gym membership worth our time and money, and isn’t that we’re scared of exercise

It’s more that, to a lot of people, the atmosphere of a gym simply isn’t conducive to enjoyment. It can be intimidating, or simply unpleasant depending on where you go, with mirrored walls and a crowded mass of lycra clad limbs lending the setting a nightmarish air.

Whilst exercise is important for our health, that doesn’t mean it should be joyless. If anything the very opposite is true. So, here’s a round up of some top alternatives for those of us who’d rather be anywhere than the gym, even when we’re exercising;

Going For a Run or Hike

This might sound obvious, but the fact of the matter is that a high number of new gym members head straight towards (and stick to) the treadmills.

One of the chief enemies of exercise, especially cardio vascular activities, is boredom. Surely, the risk of boredom is higher on a treadmill, rooted to the spot with no scenery to distract you or prompt your mind to wonder onto subjects other than the ache slowly taking hold of your muscles…

Join a Sports Team

Many people find the gym experience hard to enjoy due to the fact it can be very solitary. Indeed, manufacturers of entertainment devices such as MP3 players have developed special models for use at the gym, to help members zone out and ignore the space around them.

This is probably the factor the drives so many people to hire a personal trainer, not so much for the advice and motivation or the dressings down, more for the company. With this in mind, even if you aren’t much of a sports fan, if you’ve suddenly decided to get fit, consider joining up to a sports team rather than joining a gym.

DVD

Alternatively, you might be perfectly happy exercising on your own. Perhaps for you lack of companionship isn’t a problem, but rather, you’d actually prefer more privacy. In that case what better setting for your work out than the seclusion provided by your own front room. Exercising along to a DVD can be an excellent, cost effective way to add structure to your regimen.

Invest In Your Own Equipment

When you think about it, gym membership often amounts to little more than paying over the odds to rent exercise equipment, much of which you could very easily buy yourself at a fraction of the cost of even a months membership, let alone a 12 month contract.

Even if you do love the gym environment, if you are turning up just to utilise dumbbells, resistance bands and an exercise ball, you’re going to be able to buy those items and have them for your own private use whenever you want, at a cheaper price than you pay for the privilege of effectively renting them out for an hour or two a week.

Jane Newman writes on a range of topics pertaining to health and fitness, from easy workouts to choosing health insurance quotes.

Diet And Exercise To Lose More Weight

Physical exercise will help you lose weight. Studies show that individuals who exercise, not just lose weight, but maintain it off more effectively than these who don’t workout. Physical exercise will help raise your metabolic price and create a calorie deficit, which helps the excess weight occur off faster. Keep moving to maintain the excess weight off.   Get rid of that muffin top with muffin top exercises.

For shedding excess weight, nothing at all is better than eating high quantities of fiber. Fiber is discovered in entire grain foods, nuts and lots of fruits and greens. Fiber requires lengthier for the physique to break it down, so you really feel complete for much extended and will not begin craving snacks and unhealthy foods.

If you want to lose excess weight you must maintain a every day foods journal. By retaining monitor of all food items and beverages consumed throughout the day, and beneath what situations they may be selected, it gets simpler to stay accountable for the dietary patterns. Understanding of what types of scenarios trigger your overeating can help you adjust your habits and adopt more healthy habits.   Lose more weight and start getting rid of muffin top.

To aid you achieve your weight reduction objectives when starting out, you should make your targets affordable. One particular to two kilos every week is what many people should goal to hit. A person shouldn’t make an effort to goal for more than that since you wish to make sure to consider a wholesome and secure route. Also aiming for an accurate number may help you to be successful, not fall short.

To reduce your weight, you need to avoid consuming proper prior to gonna mattress. The foods you consume before sleeping is not gonna be consumed as power by your body. It is going to change into fat and be saved whilst you snooze. You ought to consume your supper a few hrs just before going to bed.

Join a fat reduction assistance group such as Fat Watchers or Nutrisystem to aid you drop weight. Acquiring support from other individuals who are following the same path you’re on helps you to stay on the right track. You can also satisfy individuals at these groups who’ve accomplished their objectives, assisting you recognize that it really is possible.

Sleep your approach to weight loss. To successfully burn up body fat, your body demands rest.Your brain wants rest as a way to produce great choices, and also you wish to have the ability to create fantastic foods and physical exercise choice. The body must relaxation the two physically and mentally to be at its very best.

An excellent approach to enable you to drop weight is to be part of a biking group. There are biking teams in every town and all it takes to seek out them is really a rapid internet search. Not only will you be burning tons of calories, it is also an excellent way to satisfy folks.

The Benefits of a Personal Weight Loss Journal

Sometimes when it comes to losing weight, you need every advantage you can get. While the basic science behind weight -loss is easy to understand, it’s not always simple to follow through. You might also have to juggle a busy schedule in addition to family obligations while doing all of the healthy things necessary to drop a few pounds. Being organized is one of the essential factors that people forget about when it comes to weight loss, but there’s an easy fix for that. Starting up a weight loss journal can revolutionize your overall approach and streamline things to make your efforts more efficient. It can also add an element of enjoyment that might be previously missing. Here are some of the reasons why starting up a weight loss journal might benefit you.

Keeping careful records – it’s important to remember that your past plays an important part in your weight loss journey. A good way to start off your journal is by documenting your past behavior or writing about previous diet plans that haven’t worked. You can also start to catalog familiar mistakes that you seem to make, or information regarding your previous eating patterns. This information will serve as a solid basis for educating yourself about key areas that need the most focus.

Planning for the future – in addition to reflecting on your history, it’s important to think about where you want to head for the future. A journal is the perfect place for setting goals and determining the path you want to take. Nothing has to be set in stone, but putting thoughts and plans to paper can help to motivate you along the way. Rather than keeping everything in your head where you can get lost due to distraction, it’s nice to have everything laid out in front of you.

A journal can be whatever you like – there are no hard and fast rules when it comes to creating a journal, and that’s one of the best aspects of it. You don’t have to follow any strict guidelines which means it can take any form you like. It can be as simple as a pad and paper or you can take it up a notch and start a weight loss blog that allows other people to follow your progress. And remember, your journal will adapt and grow over time which means it is an organic thing that develops along with you.

The emotional aspect of weight loss – a lot of people focus on physical elements related to losing weight such as what to eat and how much to exercise. While it’s certainly helpful to record information related to caloric intake or your routine on a particular piece of home exercise equipment, it’s also a great thing to write down your thoughts. A journal can be a wonderful place where you are allowed to vent about the frustrations and joys related to getting healthy. It can help to keep things in perspective while showing you your progress along the way.

The ultimate resource – people who try to lose weight are always looking for the best tips and information around. But what better resource than something you create from your own experience? It won’t happen right away, but eventually your journal will become a valuable piece of documentation that will teach you about yourself. It can be a resource where you keep your favorite healthy recipes, list contact information for nutritional experts, or track your progress with your favorite forms of exercise. In just a few short months, you’ll be able to look back and see which areas need the most attention and how you can adapt your weight loss program for the best chance of success.

This information on keeping a weight loss journal comes to us from our friends at rabbitsadvice.com, a site dedicated to the pursuit of healthy forms of fast weight loss.