Category Weight Loss

If you take a peek into some of the advertising copy of “miracle” supplements, you may actually begin to believe that diet and exercise are no longer necessary if you want to become healthy and ripped. You just need to pop a pill, and your fat will magically turn into muscle.

But regardless of whether you believe the hype or not, you have to ask, does fat turn into muscle?

This is a good question, because turning fat into muscle has always been a standard claim in the fitness industry.

But if that’s the case…

Exactly how does fat turn into muscle?

The answer: it depends.

Fat vs. Muscle

If you mean literally turning fat into muscle, then the answer to the question is no. Fat does not turn into muscle, because they’re made from different types of cells. It is physiologically impossible to turn fat into muscle because fat doesn’t have nitrogen which is needed so it can turn into muscle and there’s no way to turn fatty tissue into amino acids.

It’s sort of like trying to turn straw into gold. It can only happen in fairy tales.

Less Fat, More Muscle

Now if we are talking about turning fat into muscle in a less literal sense, then it’s possible. It’s a figure of speech, just like when some advertising copy promises to turn you into Hercules. You don’t actually become the demigod son of Zeus—you just turn into a muscular dude.

But why do some chubby people turn into impressively muscled men in some pictures? You’ve probably seen them too. And then again, some people don’t seem to lose weight at all. They just become more fit and muscular while their flab disappears.

That’s because when you stick to eating right, supplementing with whole food nutrients (Zeal for Life recommended) and a good weightlifting routine, two things can happen:

You will lose weight. When you don’t consume enough calories for your weightlifting activities, your body is then forced to lose burn the fat stored in your body for energy. Exercise burns calories, and combined with a diet your calorie intake can become less than the number of calories you use up.

You will gain muscle. When you lift weights, what you really do is to stress and tear your muscles. Your body then responds to this by rebuilding the muscles, and because you have lots of protein in your diet you have the necessary raw material to build more massive muscle.

You can’t turn straw into gold, but in the real world you can sell straw and then use the money to buy gold. And when we put it this way, we did turn straw into gold.

It’s the same thing for turning fat into muscle. You have two separate results—muscle gain and fat loss—but both are the results of your diet and weightlifting regimen. And they happen generally at the same time.

So does fat turn into muscle? In a way it does, from a certain POV.

Positive Thinking Can Help Win Your Battle In Losing Weight

Being positive allows us to do more things because we look at how it will be a good thing. This also applies to losing weight.

Many people don’ t get to lose weight because they look at how hard the workout sessions are, they can’t finish the session because they get tired easily, they cannot commit to the new diet plan, etc.

Positive thinking allows us to see that working out will make us stronger, finishing the sessions properly eventually improves our cardiovascular resistance and committing to the diet plan will make us healthier. Having a positive outlook will make it a lot easier for us to finish what we need to finish and more.

Being positive is half the battle for most of the time and that shows just how important a role it has for us to achieve our weight loss goals.

Positive = Happiness

When we are positive towards what we are doing, we tend to like it and see the benefits better. Being positive allows us to commit to the activity in the first place. Pessimism has never benefited anybody and having a positive disposition allows us to try more things and thus achieve more.

Even when we do not achieve our goals the first time, being positive allows us to review what we did so that we can turn a failure into something like training. Failure is just training towards perfection. I am not sure who said that but it does bring the point home. If you are positive enough to look at a failure as something like training, you will eventually perfect it and achieve your goals effortlessly.

Positive = Strength

Being positive makes us stronger because we will not feel down easily. Minor setbacks often derail the progress of many people who does not take things positively. They often just stop and give up without knowing that they only have to change their approach a little bit or push on a little more to achieve their goal.

It’s like giving up climbing to the top of Everest when you are just 100 feet away because you are tired. You often will not see the top until it is right there. The same applies to weight loss. People often give up a month away from their goal because they feel that it’s too much work.

Positive = Achievement

Being positive will ultimately lead us to achieve our goals. Edison would have not perfected the light bulb if he stopped after failing so many times. He stayed positive and he eventually got to his goal. Weight loss is a lot like every worthwhile endeavor. Being positive will allow us to finish in spite of all the hardships and sacrifices because we know that we will eventually reach our goal.

There are a lot more benefits of thinking positive when it comes to weight loss but these three basically makes the most sense. We are not losing weight just for the sense of losing weight. We are losing weight because we want to feel better, stronger and for some, as my former client said “just wants to look good in front of the mirror”. Whatever our real purpose is, positive thinking is definitely an important ingredient for us to reach that weight loss goal.

Should You Weigh Yourself Everyday While Losing Weight?

Weighing yourself every morning is not a good idea because your body will not really show much weight change on a daily basis. Even if you are working out regularly, the weight change will only be less than a pound anyway so most weigh scale will not really reflect it. Weight loss is something needs to have a plan and just like any investment, you will not see profit on a daily basis. Weighing yourself daily is not only pointless; it can affect your overall goal negatively.

Here are a few things that tend to happen when you weigh yourself everyday.

Loss of Interest

A lot of people watch infomercials and see a girl or guy lost, well at least claim to lose, 10 lbs. in a month. They think that as long as they put in the effort, they should see results on a daily basis. It just does not work that way and not all bodies are created equal.

Genetics can affect your weight lose quite a lot as well as diet so unless you have the same genes and diet as the people on T.V. you should not expect the same results. Losing 1 lb. a day is simply not achievable and sustainable. Now a lot of people tend to lose interest when they don’t see any change on the scale and simply stop.

Question the Routine

After a week of a diet plan, people are already expecting a change. After a month of working out, people expect a big difference. Sadly, it does not work that way. You have to give your body a chance to show you some results before you question the routine that you are following. Your body might be building some muscle tissue which is a good thing because it will allow your body to burn more fat cells. That change will not reflect in the scale but you will see a lot of difference because of this in the coming weeks.

Go On A Crash Diet

A crash diet is one of the worst things that you can get your body in to. Sure, you will get thinner but you’re not healthy. The overall goal of losing weight is to get healthier and not to push your body to the hospital. Many people tend to go on a crash diet if they don’t see regular lose on the scale. Sure, a crash diet will make you lose pounds quickly but what good is a slim body if you’re in a hospital?

Those are just a few of the possible side effects of weighing yourself daily. You can say that you will never get to the point that you will do these things but we know that when we don’t seem to get what we want, we tend to do things that we don’t normally do.

An important point to remember is that the number one cause of weight loss failure is inadequate nutrition and going on a “crash diet” will only exacerbate the problem. The best weight management program will provide an abundance of nutrients that your body needs to balance, drop the fat and keep it off.

Losing weight is a good thing as long as it is done properly and without forcing it. The point of losing weight is to be healthier so don’t do it in an unhealthy way. Simply put, weighing yourself daily is not a good idea if you want to use positive thinking to help you win your battle to losing weight.

Jumping Rope Is a Great Idea For Losing Weight

Jumping rope is an inexpensive exercise equipment that is a really good cardiovascular and muscular workout. It improves muscle tone on the legs and arms. It’s very easy to do and is a great way to lose weight without shelling out a lot for a gym membership and a personal trainer. Jumping rope started as a game for kids but has picked up popularity as a legitimate piece of workout equipment used for weight loss.

Jumping rope for 10 minutes burns about 100 calories and a pound of fat is about 3500 calories. Now I am not saying that you burn all 3500 calories purely from jumping rope but using one will definitely make a difference. 10 minutes of jumping rope burns roughly the same calorie count as 30 minutes of jogging or over 700 yards of swimming. A simple jumping rope and a good weight management program can help you burn the fat fast.

Here are a few more things that jumping rope brings to the table:

It’s a Total Body Workout

Jumping rope works the legs, the arms, the abs and the circulatory system. It is a killer cardio that makes us sweat a lot and burns calories efficiently. The more time you spend using it, the more fat we tend to burn. It not only burns fat but is also great for your skin so you end up with a tight and lean midsection and lower body. Jumping rope produces quite a result that it only has to be used 30 minutes a day and results can be noticed within a few days.

Great Looking Legs

The reason we lose weight is to look good. With jumping roper, we will be able to tone our calves, hamstrings, and even the glutes. This results not only in better muscle tone but a lot of calorie burns. Our bodies tend to burn a lot more calories when muscle quality improves and this is what jumping ropes tend to do to our legs.

Great Cardio

Increasing cardiovascular capacity is one great effect of jumping ropes. Better cardiovascular capacity allows us to do a lot more is our days which in turn burns more calories. If we improve the cardio capacity, the heart and lungs improve in efficiency and therefore not only makes us lose weight but feel better overall.

Portable – Do it Anywhere

The fact that it can be brought and used anywhere makes for a big advantage since you don’t have to go to the gym to loss weight. You can do a quick 15 minute session while on break and that will help in losing weight in the long run. This is especially useful for people who spend hours seated on an office chair.

Losing Weight Jumping Rope is Fun

Let’s face it, jumping rope is a lot more fun than just running of swimming. We liked it as kids and there’s no reason we won’t like it now considering all the benefits that we can have from it.

Those are just some of the benefits that jumping rope can bring and that is why it’s a great idea to use for weight loss. Losing weight does not have to be an ordeal. It can be a fun and enjoyable activity that will make us feel happy and fulfilled.

Following a rapid weight loss diet is a short term fix for something that needs a long term remedy. It’s like using a band aid when you need stitches. For the most part, many will say that rapid weight loss diet does not look like a “diet” at all.

These diet plans often include some drastic cut down on carbs and calories. This is not a good idea because that will make the body react in an equally drastic manner.

A lot of the times, these diet plans are not designed by proper nutritionists and just basing the design on their personal experience. What worked for them does not necessarily will work for you.

Let’s look at the pros and cons of such crash diets.

Rapid Weight Loss Diet Pros

Produces Results

Rapid weight loss diet does produce weight loss in a very short amount of time. Slashing down on carbohydrates and calories will definitely drop your weight because your body is no longer getting the same amount that it used to have to maintain the weight. Simply put, slashing carbs and calories will make you weigh less.

Short Term Goal

Rapid weight loss diets are great for people who just want to lose weight for a single event. This is definitely the case for the most part and I would not suggest rapid weight loss diets to be used for extended amounts of time. But for short term goals, it is indeed perfect.

Rapid Weight Loss Diet Cons

Rapid Weight Loss is Downright Unhealthy

As mentioned earlier, rapid weight loss diets are suitable for short term use specifically because they are not healthy to be followed for extended amount of time. Slashing carbs and calories from your diet for extended amount of time will cause the body to go to starvation mode and conserve what it can and can even has the opposite effect in the long run. You might very well gain instead of lose weight.

No Studies To Support All Claims

There are simply no substantial studies done on what rapid weight loss diets can do to the body if used on a regular basis. Your body needs calories and carbohydrates to function properly and there are some rapid weight loss diets that includes diminished water intake which is a no-no since our bodies are made up of at least 70% water. Sure you might get thinner but you will hardly look great if you have dry skin and hardly any meat in you.

If you noticed, I hardly had anything to write about the pros because there is simply not that many advantage for rapid weight loss diets. These diets are more like gimmicks than anything else. A proper diet plan should include carbs, calories, protein, fat and fiber and cutting out one of those things can have adverse effect in your health later on.

Being healthy is a long term goal and should not be rushed because not every body reacts the same way. You have to get to know your own body and how it reacts to change before a great nutritional plan can be created. If someone really wants to lose weight, he or she needs to put in the hard work and eat properly to achieve a healthy and sustainable weight loss plan.

Five Tips to Control Portion Sizes While Losing Weight

Diet is an important part of weight loss. Nutrition if about 70% of your overall goal and if you get it properly, you are well on your way to getting that body that you have always wanted. Eating more often with smaller meals is one of the best ways to improve your metabolism and therefore your body size.

Controlling the portion to actually make it a “small” meal is the key. Without properly portioning our smaller meals, we might end up having 6 regular sized meals instead of smaller meals which will takes us to the opposite direction of our goal. Some would just slash down their regular meals and then have some kind of shake between their meals but that might not work so well for some so here are a few easy tips so that we can portion a better and more balanced meal.

Have Some Salad

Having some salad before dinner will curb that appetite and the fibers in the salad will make us fuller. Include some protein in your salad though for additional energy that way you will feel fuller at dinner and not eat a lot. Dinner is an important meal to lessen because you are about to sleep and our bodies tend to not use a lot of energy at this time and therefore if we eat a lot, our bodies will convert the remaining resources to fat.

Buy in Smaller Servings

Buy snacks in smaller servings. Do not buy a gallon of ice cream instead, buy a pint so that you will not be tempted to finish it while in front of the T.V. Smaller sized snacks will of course make you eat less and therefore easier to manage weight. But don’t buy smaller sized snacks but place them all next to you because you will just be tempted to open them and that will just be the same thing.

Eliminate The Possibility Of Seconds

This can be done easier by not serving your meals in large containers. Put your meal on a plate and finish it. Chew longer to make it easier for your body to digest the food and therefore process it better. Slower chewing also will give your body time to let you know that you are actually already full.

Mix and Match Your Meals

We are used to making salads the side dish. This time, make meat your side dish and load up on veggies and healthy grains. This will make you feel fuller faster because of the fiber in the veggies and the meat will just make things taste better. Protein is important in every meal too so make sure that you choose lean meat sources.

Master Kid Servings

If you have a kid and you cook for them, start measuring your meals the same way you measure theirs. This is an easy way to portion your meals better and can be easier on your pocket too. Having smaller meals will be easier this way and if you have a kid that enjoys eating with you, then this can also be a fun way to get into a proper diet plan.

Does Willpower Help With Your Weight Loss Journey?

Willpower is something that all of us have. Some have more of it, some have less but it is something that will certainly be useful when you are trying to achieve a goal. As they say, nothing worth achieving can be done overnight. And that applies to your weight loss journey too.

You cannot expect to lose 5 pounds in two weeks because that cannot be safely and naturally done. It can be done but it often include some medical intervention using some kind of dietary supplement that often have some side-effects that is not included in the fine print.

A weight loss journey often includes some changes in lifestyle and diet. These changes are a big deal and that is why a lot of people fail because they try to take the journey without one essential component of any endeavor and that is willpower. A weak willpower will make you eat that double chocolate cake at night when nobody is watching and make you gain back the weight that you have worked so hard to lose the past week.

A weak will power will make you finish your set at 8 repetitions when you should be doing 15. Willpower oftentimes spells the difference between success and failure. Here are a few things that willpower can do for you.

Better Workout Sessions

Having willpower will allow you to push that last couple of reps in your sets and even a couple more beyond your target. Willpower will often be the one that will get you in the gym in the first place. It allows you to push harder, run longer and improve the quality of your workout every time you come in. That will then allow you to burn more fat and feel better about yourself because you can actually feel the strength that you get from all that pumping and pulling.

This Pushes Us To Improve Your Diet

We all know that it is very hard to replace that chocolate cake with a carrot or chicken breast but an improvement in the diet is necessary if we are to improve our body composition and weight. Willpower will play a great role in pushing through this change in your diet because at the end of the day, you know that what you put in your body is healthy and will benefit you. Willpower will even get you through the change in taste. Something as simple as that can derail people from their diet plan without a strong willpower.

Gives Us The Strength To Commit

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step and willpower will play a big part on this as well. Committing to change a few things in our lives can be very challenging like passing on those weekends spent on bars and parties. You don’t have to say no to all of them but you do have to make sure that you do not go out very often because that’s when you don’t get to sleep properly and end up drinking all night.

All those brews that you downed last night will have to be burned again in the gym and if you are too tired to hit the gym in the first place, then that makes things worst. Willpower will help us say no to some of these things because we know that it will be for our own good.

Don’t Complicate Your Weight Loss Goal Simplify It

Weight loss is actually simpler than most would expect. It is all about having the right nutrition and workout plan. The hard part seems to be following the set plan. Of course, it will involve changes in your routine because not changing it will give you the same result. As someone once said, if you want to keep on getting what you are getting, keep on doing what you are doing. It is very simple and yet very true. So to ignite change in your weight and ultimately physique, there has to be some changes done. Here are some tips on keeping it simple.

Stick To One Diet Plan

A good diet plan should have a good portion of protein, carbohydrates, calories, fiber and even fat. A good nutrition plan will allow someone to keep getting the right amount of energy to workout and actually produce results. When you go on a crash diet, sooner than later, the body will run out of resources and you will lose the energy to workout. Without working out, you will get thin but you will not just be losing fat but muscle as well. Losing both fat and muscle will make you look more like a twig than an hourglass.

Don’t Take Too Many Diet Supplements

A lot of people turn to “diet” supplements that offer outrageous claims of weight lose and using such supplements will not really be healthy. Many do not have appropriate research backing them up and thus is unsafe for continued use. If you hang your hopes of weight loss on supplements, you are fighting a losing battle. Stick to a good quality vitamin and mineral supplement and have a proper diet and you should be good to go.

Keep Up The Hard Work

Working out is an important part of weight lose. Our daily activities often include us being glued to an office chair and minimal physical activities. Our bodies need to be active and sweat regularly to get rid of toxins as well as keep the muscles working. Our ancestors lived a lot longer because they lived active lives and losing weight is not a big deal for them because they more or less are in the ideal weight range to begin with. But for use, just include an hour of physical activity a day and losing weight will be a lot simpler.

Don’t Let Go

This might very well be the key to keep weight loss simple. Don’t let go too early. Oftentimes, people let go and stop the routine before their bodies have reacted to it and produce noticeable results. It’s not as simple as switching a light bulb. Remember that you had years and years in building the weight that you are trying to lose so don’t expect to get rid of it in two months.

These simple pointers will keep weight lose simple and you don’t have to get on the hype of the new age weight lose gimmicks. The formula of weight loss has been around for a long time and it is as simple as the pointers mentioned above. Just keep it up and you will get there in a healthy manner.

5 Reasons Why Weight Loss Is Hard To Achieve

Weight loss is a simple concept that a lot of people are having a hard time achieving. It seems to be quite simple, exercise + proper nutrition = weight loss right? Well, it is that simple in a nutshell but a lot of people get lost on the proper execution of it. Having the right ingredients and a cookbook does not guarantee a fine meal; does it?

Here are a few things why we have been having a hard time reaching that ideal weight that we are aiming for and below that, some weight loss tips you can use any season of the year.

Weight Loss Struggle 1 – Impatience

A lot of diet and exercise programs before had long time tables but since a lot of people prefer a quick fix, many unsustainable diet fads and exercise programs have popped up. Many people tend to lose interest way before their bodies have adapted to the program and show any results. Being impatient never has benefited anybody when it comes to fitness. The winning formula remains to be perseverance and hard work. Working out and sweating for a week will not get rid of the flab that you have put on for years. Have faith in your program and diet plan and you will see results in time.

Weight Loss Struggle 2 – Cheating

This goes to the exercise and diet too. When doing the exercise, do not cheat your way through your workout. Follow strict form and make sure that you follow your trainer on what to lift and how many repetitions you have to do. Do not say that “that’s too heavy” or “that’s too light”. You have a trainer for a reason so follow their advice. If you are one of the people who is able to afford a nutritionist, follow the programs that they have designed for you. Don’t have a hidden stack of chocolate or secretly buy ice cream or cake on your way home. You are not cheating anybody but yourself.

Weight Loss Struggle 3 – Lifestyle

Losing weight is not a quick fix. It often requires an overhaul of ones lifestyle. Losing weight requires changing a few of you routines and that includes what you buy and bring home to the house. It also involves limiting some of your normal daily activities like watching T.V. and how much time you spend online. The reason people in the old days are a lot more fit than most of us now is because they did not spend every waking hours in the house watching T.V. and chatting online.

Weight Loss Struggle 4 – Target Weight

Make sure that you set an achievable goal so that you can actually get to it. Please don’t aim to lose 5 lbs. in a week because you will just be breaking your heart. An achievable goal is like 10 lbs in 2 months. That can still be hard for some and depends entirely on your dedication to the goal but this is where your personal trainer can be of help because a reasonable goal depends on many things like eating habits, genetics, how hard your workout programs is and more so a clear communication with your trainer is key not only in setting the target weight but on how to achieve it.

Weight Loss Struggle 5 – No Support System

Losing weight is kind of like recovering from an addiction in many ways. You also will need a strong support system because it simply cannot be done alone. Your family and/or friend can provide you the emotional support that you will need and your trainer will provide the push that you will inevitably need when you get to the point that you are getting tired and thinks that you cannot go on.

Weight Loss Tips For the Summer, Winter, Fall and Spring

Losing weight can be quite an ordeal but the summer is one of the few reasons that can really push someone to lose weight. Many want to go to the beach and have a beach worthy body, some just wants to fit in to that bikini but whatever it is the reason, losing weight still has the same formula for success.

Choose a Proper Nutrition Plan

Notice I said nutrition instead of diet? Because nowadays, it seems that the definition of the word diet is closer to “starving” than an actual diet. You do not have to avoid food. You just have to take in the proper nutrients in the proper proportions. Do not completely cut out carbohydrates in your diet because that will put your body into survival mode and actually try to reserve as much as it can and therefore produce “stored” energy a.k.a fats. The old pattern of eating smaller meals more often is still a great way to go as long as you get enough nutrients in a day. You can cut back on carbs and calories but not complete taking them out of your diet.

Get More Sleep

It sounds counter-productive but sleep actually helps you lose fat. People who do not get enough sleep generally eat more to try and boost themselves. Most will turn to caffeine and sugar for that boost of energy. But regular intake of simple sugar will cause more fat. Making sure that you get 6 to 8 hours of sleep allows your body to recover from your day and when you wake up, you will feel energized naturally.

Do Cardio Exercises

You burn calories a lot faster if you include cardio in your workout routine. It depends on you what cardio you want to do but make sure that you do it properly. Also, if you are really serious on losing weight, you can do pure cardio on the days that you are not lifting weights. Make sure that you keep yourself hydrated though because the body needs water to turn fat into actual energy. Plus you don’t want to be hydrated and just collapse on the treadmill now do you?

Eat Slowly And Chew Your Food Properly

When you chew your food properly, the better it will be digested and processed by your body. This makes sure that all of the nutrients of what you are eating actually end up in the body and not the toilet. If you eat fast and don’t chew that much, big chunks of food end up in your digestive track and the harder it is for your body to digest them and most end up being wasted. Eating slow also allows your body to react properly and let you know that you are already full. Most of the time, when you eat fast, you don’t realize that you are already full fast enough so you end up eating more. The point is, give your body time to communicate with you.

Don’t Force Through Your Workout

Lifting too heavy weights when working out will not make you lose weight. As a matter of fact, you might even gain weight if you keep doing that. Muscle tissues are heavier than fat so you might have lost a lot of fat but gained muscle so for the scale, mass is mass. You might even gain instead of lose if you go all Arnold on the weights.

Stay Active

This is the simplest advice that you can get when it comes to getting that beach body. It’s simple enough that anybody gets it but effective enough to bring anybody results. It does not matter that much what you do as long as it gets you moving. Walk the dog more often, trust me even the dog will like this. Do some power-walking in the morning. Anything as long as it gets the blood pumping, do it more often.

Drink Healthy Green Smoothies and Maximize Your Weight Loss Goals

Drinking green smoothies is indeed very healthy and good for weight loss. In fact, you can drink them every day.

What’s more, you are free to choose your ingredients and you may also vary them from time to time. As there is a wide variety of veggies and fruits, you can actually explore more on the ingredients you use in your green smoothies.

Drinking green smoothies with the same ingredients day in and day out can be boring at times and you are only getting the same level of benefits.

Tips for Making the Most Out of Your Green Smoothies:

Add Several Slices of Avocado

Adding avocado to your smoothie will not only make it creamier but will also make it healthier since avocados are a good source of protein and fats.

Use Frozen Fruit

Organic frozen fruits are best for green smoothies. When you use frozen fruits in your smoothie, they will make your smoothie colder and thicker. Frozen strawberries, peaches and cherries are simply delicious. It is also a good idea to vary your fruit ingredients.

Add Nut Milk

Nut milk can also be added into the smoothie. Try to add almond milk to make your smoothie creamier. However, if you think your smoothie already tastes great, then you can just add a little water or ice.

Include Lots and Lots of Greens

It is a healthy way to include great amounts of greens in your smoothie as this will help flush out the toxins from your body. You can add red leaf lettuce, romaine lettuce, carrot greens, beet greens, kale, chard or spinach. For a more nutritious recipe, you can include more greens to your recipe. When you do this you do not only get a healthy dose of vitamins, nutrients and antioxidants but also do something good to speed up your weight loss.

Aside from this, the presence of more greens will create a balance in the mixture and taste as they will reduce the sweet taste of fruits. Eating the same kinds of greens every day is not healthy as greens contain little amounts of alkaloids that if taken in large doses can cause toxicity. The key is to add different varieties of greens every other day. By doing this you will discover a whole new flavor each time you use a different variety.

Make it Deliciously Sweet

Although some fruits are naturally sweet, they are not created equal. One orange may taste sweet, while another orange may taste a bit tangy. To make your smoothie sweeter, you can add medjool dates, agave nectar, honey or more fruits. Medjool dates are quite healthy as they contain potassium and fiber. They are also good for digestion, boost your energy and reduce blood pressure.

Prepare a Different Green Smoothie Recipe Every Day

Trying a new recipe can be quite fun and exciting, and the same is true for smoothies. You can find many smoothie recipes online. Try every recipe if you can and make your own as well. Sooner or later you will find what tickles your taste buds the most.

7 Health Benefits of Including Green Smoothies in Your Diet

If you are looking for a tasty and nutritious drink, try drinking a green smoothie. Green smoothies contain ingredients that are essential for health improvement. Read on to see in what ways green smoothies can improve your health.

They Help You Lose Weight Naturally

One of the effective ways to lose weight is to drink green smoothies. They provide the minerals, vitamins, low-calorie whole food, fiber and nutrition you need for losing weight effectively, safely and quickly.

They Are Rich in Antioxidants

Green smoothies contain high levels of phytonutrients and antioxidants. These natural substances are important for your optimum fitness and health. Because of the presence of phytonutrients and antioxidants in green smoothies, your body is protected against diseases.

Green Smoothies Contain Lots of Fiber

Smoothies are more nutritious than vegetable or fruit juices due to their high fiber content. The whole vegetable and fruit used in smoothies are rich in nutrition and fiber. Fiber is good for the colon and essential for easy bowel movement. That is why smoothies are considered healthier compared to green juices.

They Improve Mental Focus and Clarity

A healthy diet can enhance your mental focus and clarity. Green smoothies are healthy alternatives to coffee, so it is a good idea to drink a delicious smoothie in the morning instead of a hot coffee. As they are caffeine-free, smoothies can provide greater energy and alertness. They can also reduce nervousness and anxiety.

They Reduce Your Appetite

Much like a wonder drink, green smoothies can help a lot in reducing your cravings for fats, salt, unhealthy sweets and junk foods. Whether you believe it or not, an amazing thing happens when you regularly drink smoothies, and that is, you will want to eat greens, veggies and fruits more instead of unhealthy foods.

They Help You Increase Consumption of Veggies and Fruits

According to the American Cancer Society, eating 5 to 9 servings of vegetables and fruits every day can prevent an individual from getting cancer or other diseases. Most people do not like the taste of vegetables so they rarely eat them. However, drinking a cold glass of green smoothie will do the trick. The most convenient and quickest way for you to consume some leafy, dark greens and vegetables without even tasting them is to eat them with fruits. This is possible when you prepare a nutritious green smoothie since the fruits you use will mask the flavor of the veggies. Thus, even though your smoothie may taste like strawberry, banana, mango or pineapple, you are still consuming healthy amounts of tomatoes, carrots, kale, spinach, and other types of veggies.

They Are Good for Your Skin

When you eat healthy foods, you get radiant and clearer skin. As they are good sources of fiber, green smoothies make it possible for you to get rid of body toxins properly and not through the skin. This explains why you get a healthy and glowing skin when you drink smoothies regularly.

Indeed, no drink or food is a surefire guarantee for weight loss. If the amounts of calories you take in are still more than what you burn, your efforts at weigh loss will be useless. You should be able to find a way to consistently burn calories by regularly exercising and following a healthy diet. Following a healthy diet means eating the right kinds of food and drinking healthy beverages such as green smoothies.

Green smoothies refer to blended beverages that contain leafy greens, veggies, healthy fats and fruits. Healthy fats include coconut, flax, hemp seeds and almonds. Examples of leafy greens are parsley, mint, Swiss or rainbow chard, wheat and barley grasses, kale and spinach.

The ingredients actually may vary, depending on the individual’s preference. Some people use all raw, fresh ingredients, while others use frozen fruits to create green smoothies with a thicker texture similar to that of an ice cream. However, the ideal smoothies for weight loss usually contain very few ingredients such as veggies, fruits and greens alone.

Green Smoothies are Low in Calories

More often than not, the ingredients that are used to make green smoothies are a combination of whole foods that are low in calories. Thus, they are considered as ideal drinks for losing weight. Chips and cookies or other high-calorie snack foods can be quite tempting, but drinking green smoothies instead of snacking on high-calorie foods is a wise strategy to lose weight.

Green Smoothies Keep You From Feeling Thirsty

According to experts, most people don’t actually drink 8 glasses of H2O daily. Some people, if not most, like the taste of sweet carbonated drinks or high-calorie beverages more than the taste of water, so they tend to buy these drinks more. Aside from that, most people choose beverages or drinks other than plain water to quench their thirst. These drinks primarily contain lots of sugar and great amounts of calories that can lead to weight gain. When preparing your smoothie, you can always add more H2O into it. By doing this, you will be able to drink more water and this will reduce your cravings for sweet or high-calorie drinks.

Green Smoothies are Very Filling

The veggies and fruits present in your green smoothie are not only low in calories but are also high in fiber. As you consistently include green smoothies in your daily diet, you will gradually lose weight. The USDA claims that eating more veggies and fruits can prevent overweight and obesity. Furthermore, based on a certain research review that was published in the 2005 “Nutrition” journal, a diet that contains high fiber is important in maintaining a healthy weight.

Because of the great amounts of water and fiber found in green smoothies, they are the best examples of drinks that are very filling. They will keep you from feeling hungry for long periods of time. For this reason, you will have the tendency to eat less as your cravings are reduced. Thus, many weight losers like to drink green smoothies.

5 Advantages of Green Smoothies

You must have heard a lot of people talk about green smoothies and all their health benefits. Why do so many people nowadays love it? What makes them become a popular drink these days? They are packed with essential ingredients needed for optimum health and not only that but there are also more advantages in drinking smoothies than any other drink. Here are some reasons why it is more beneficial to drink green smoothies than other beverages.

They are easy to prepare.

It only takes a few minutes to prepare a healthy green smoothie at home. They are also quite easy to prepare. As long as you have the equipment such as a blender, a pitcher or any container, there is no reason you cannot make a healthy smoothie for yourself. All you have to do is to select the kinds of veggies and fruits you like, and after that you can mix them well with the use of a blender.

They are easily digested.

Fiber-rich green smoothies are not hard to digest. In fact, since they are liquefied and blended, smoothies are quickly digested. This means your body does not need to put in so much effort to digest it so that the nutrients can be extracted. Green smoothies relieve and prevent constipation.

They are cheap.

Buying a glass of smoothie from any juice bar can cost you up to $6. However, when you make your own green smoothie at home, it will only cost you a few cents. Besides, you do not have to spend much on your vitamins since drinking a single glass of smoothie already contains lots of vitamins.

Green smoothies come in handy.

After you have made your own green smoothie, you can keep it in a container and store it in a fridge. You can store it up to twenty-four hours or so and drink it anytime you want. You can then take the chilled smoothie with you wherever you go, be it at work, the gym, the park or on a train. You can store your green smoothie in a stainless steel or a glass container as this is the most recommended storage option.

They contain veggies that you would not eat or drink alone.

Although eating veggies is quite healthy, most people still prefer to eat more fruits than vegetables. Since vegetables are combined with fruits in making green smoothies, you will get to eat some vegetables without even tasting them. More often than not, the flavor of the veggies is somewhat masked by the fruity flavor that it is even hard to distinguish the veggies used in green smoothies.

A green smoothie is not only good for adults but also for children. Most children don’t like, if not hate, vegetables. However, they love to drink a cold glass of chilled smoothie. The best way to prepare green smoothies for kids is to use lots of fruits instead of veggies until they become more comfortable with the taste.

Yes, Yoga Can Definitely Help You Lose Weight

Yoga physically burns fewer calories than traditional exercising like jogging or running. But because of the internal and external changes your physical body undertakes when you consistently practice, you can find yourself losing more weight than when you perform more intense exercises over time.

Beth Lewis is an Associate Professor at the University of Minnesota School of Kinesiology in the United States (Kinesiology is basically a study of human movement, and the mechanics behind it). She has stated that regular yoga exercising tends to influence weight loss more than it directly causes it.

Yoga Can Help You Burn Some Calories

The regular weight loss you are familiar with is when you burn more calories than you consume. And to a small extent, yoga will contribute to your weight loss efforts in this way. But the spiritual and mental understanding of how your body works that comes with practicing over time is what leads to a realization of what is causing your weight gain.

This changes both your energy intake and expenditure, and has consistently been proven to contribute significantly to weight loss, until your personal healthy body weight is achieved.

So while yoga can definitely help you lose weight and get in shape, do not expect the pounds to melt off as quickly as with some other forms of exercise. Remember that yoga was developed as a spiritual and religious practice, not as a physical exercise. Since yoga teaches you to breathe properly and achieve harmony in both mind and body, you can begin to identify healthier foods and habits which can relate to losing weight and fat.

And if you are one of those people who gets comfort from eating when they feel stress, yoga can definitely help there. Significant studies have shown stress levels plummet in veteran yogis and even beginning yoga practitioners that regularly practice this ancient mind-body cleanser.

Some Poses are More Intense than Others

Additionally, remember that there are several levels of yoga. There are those asanas and sequences which are more up-tempo and intense than others. Focusing on these poses and movements can cause your heart to beat faster, cranking up your metabolism.

Since yoga is a sophisticated tradition involving metaphysical, internal and external functions and delivering physical, mental and spiritual benefits, the improvements you will receive with regular practice are numerous.

And when you perform yoga 3 to 5 times a week, you will begin to benefit from the noticeable and mental weight loss benefits it delivers. If you currently live a rather sedentary lifestyle, any physical exercise like yoga will immediately crank up your metabolism, helping you to lose weight and making you feel and look healthier and happier.

Introduction: The Surprising Benefits of Walking

When it comes to exercise you might be surprised to learn how powerful walking can be. Walking not only increases your heart rate and cardiovascular fitness, it also improves your bone density and strength. This particular benefit is increased when you walk on uneven surfaces like trails or gravel paths.

Walking has mental and emotional benefits as well, and can help you reach your weight loss goals. Let’s take an in-depth look at how fantastic a walking program can be for you and what 10,000 steps a day really looks like.

Bone Density Improvements from Walking

Did you know that without exercise, after the age of 40 your bone mass decreases by about 5% a year regardless of gender or ethnicity? That bone loss leads to debilitating diseases like osteoporosis.

Osteoporosis is “a disease in which bones become fragile and more likely to fracture. Usually the bone loses density, which measures the amount of calcium and minerals in the bone.” (National Library of Medicine)

According to The Sport Journal, in the U.S., it has been estimated that by 2025 the number of hip fractures attributed to osteoporosis will double to nearly 2.6 million. And while women account for the majority of osteoporosis diagnosis and bone breaks, men account for 29% of the 2 million fractures that occur each year in the U.S.

It’s all pretty scary. You don’t want to break a hip or wrist, especially not when you’re older and your recovery time can take months, if not years. The good news is that if we go back to the very first sentence in this section, you’ll see that there’s hope.

Walking is a weight-bearing exercise. That means that you’re putting the weight of your body into each movement. Weight-bearing exercises actually slow down the bone density loss and delay or prevent osteoporosis. Now, you can’t replace bone density but you can stop or dramatically reduce bone loss, and a good walk each day is a great way to get started.

Additionally, if you walk on uneven surfaces and you keep your eyes looking forward (rather than constantly focused on the ground) you’ll improve your posture and your joint mobility and flexibility.

Walking for Weight Loss

Walking burns several hundred calories per hour. For example, if you walk for an hour at a moderate four miles per hour pace and you weigh around 150 pounds, you’ll burn 350 calories. If you weigh more, you’ll burn more. Additionally, there are different types of walking that can increase the calorie burn. Walking also kicks up your metabolism so you continue to burn more calories after you’ve finished walking.

Additionally, The Diabetes Prevention Program showed that walking 150 minutes per week and losing just 7% of your body weight (12-15 pounds) can reduce your risk of developing Type II Diabetes by 58%. Since walking can help you lose that weight it’s a win/win for you. You lose weight and you prevent diabetes.

Don’t think you can walk for an hour a day? Consider breaking it up into smaller segments. You can take a 30 minute walk at lunch and three smaller 10 minute walks at other times. The benefits are the same.

How Does Walking Improve Mobility and Flexibility?

There are actually a few ways that walking helps improve your mobility and flexibility. When you walk you increase your heart rate, which pumps more blood and nutrients to your tissues. That helps your ligaments and joints stay healthy. Additionally, you work your muscles so they are more lose and better able to respond to the demands you put on them.

If you do a little stretching after your walk you’re helping take your mobility and flexibility to the next level. Why is mobility and flexibility important? It helps your posture stay tall. Many elderly people struggle with movements and mobility. Much of this is due to poor posture during their earlier years.

When you cannot move your body the way it is supposed to move, other areas of your body are forced to compensate. This leads to breakdown and ultimately it can lead to a shuffle walk and a hunched posture. Walk tall and stay mobile.

Walking Enables More Mental Energy and a Brighter Disposition

According to research on depression, walking for 30 minutes at a time, three to five times per week for 12 weeks reduced symptoms of depression by 47%. It makes sense. When you walk outside you are exposed to the sunshine, which helps your body make vitamin D. Vitamin D has been connected to both physical and mental well-being. Exercise also causes your body to release endorphins, which generate a feeling of contentedness and a positive outlook.

Whether you struggle with depression or not, you can gain mental energy and a brighter mood from walking. It has also been shown to improve cognitive function and reduce cognitive decline later in life. You’ll strengthen your brain and keep it strong well into your golden years.

Waking for Better Sleep, Cancer Reduction, Improved Cardio Health and More

Walking has also been shown to improve sleep, which is connected to weight loss. People who get a good night’s sleep on a regular basis weigh less than those who don’t. Walking reduces your risk of deadly cardiovascular disease and certain types of cancer too.

More Good News!

Most anyone can walk for fitness and health. There are no special requirements. It doesn’t matter if you’re starting from a place of good health or if you have health issues you’re dealing with, you can walk and move your body.

You may start slowly and you may not get far in the beginning, but step by step you’ll increase your fitness. You’ll be surprised what you’re capable of. In fact, you can put on a pair of comfortable shoes and go for a walk right now. Let’s take a look at how walking can help you improve your fitness and lose weight.