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dieting exercise weight loss

8 Easiest Ways To Lose Weight

Do you love the character Garfield? Who doesn’t; the over-sized tabby is amongst the most popular comic characters of all times. Garfield’s obsessive craving for juicy lasagna may earn him brownie points (pun intended!), but in real life, it would ensure a trip to the dieticians’ clinic. His nonchalant attitude makes no difference to his weight troubles whatsoever, but would not have taken him far in the real world.

It goes without saying – in reality it is a tad difficult to feel great about being overweight. Weight loss or control is a commitment which you need to keep for a lifetime. You should have what it takes; to face the truth and introduce few lifestyle changes.

Actually, it is easier to take one baby step at a time, than pushing full steam into a weight loss program as per various researches conducted over the years.

Walking for Weight Loss

Image Credit: o5com

A simple formula of burning more calories than your total intake works wonders than any fad diet. As per experts if your goal is to reduce 2 pounds a week, try to burn as many as 7000 calories. Why? Because 1 pound is the same as 3500 calories!

But how will you manage to achieve this goal? Follow a few easy (& obvious) guidelines to achieve your perfect weight (calculate your BMI first which is: BMI – [Weight in Pounds / (Height in inches x Height in inches)] x 703)

Simple Methods For Weight Loss

  1. Set Simple Achievable Goals – Lose weight gradually as research indicates that people who lose their weight in achievable parts (e.g. a pound per week) have a better chance of maintaining their optimal weight.
  2. Eat Small Portions – It is easy to stuff yourself with anything and everything resulting in weight gain. Stick to 5-6 small portion sized meals/snacks in a day so that your metabolism rate is maintained.
  3. Do Not Miss Breakfast – Breakfast is the most important meal of the day as it helps to provide necessary energy to launch your day. Eat foods that are high in fiber such as cereals to make you feel full for longer duration. Add some low fat milk or yoghurt and you are ready to go.
  4. Eat Foods From All Groups – Experts believe that it is better to add than to cut down. Hence increase your intake of high fiber foods such as whole grains, fruits and vegetables. This will automatically cut down the need for high calorie and high glycemic index foods. And since weight loss does not mean becoming unhealthy keep the nutritive value intact by eating food that offer benefits of proteins, carbohydrates with low glycemic index, vitamins, minerals, essential fats and amino acids.
  5. Drink Water Aplenty – Water carries nutrition in the body and removes toxins. By replacing sugar and calorie laden juices and carbonated drinks with water, you will notice a drastic fall in your weight. For instance you can cut down as many as 150 calories by drinking one less can of soda per day.
  6. Sufficient Snooze Time – Research indicates that people indulge in binge eating if they sleep less. So to aim for lesser calories increase your snooze time which ideally should be 7-8 hours for adults.
  7. Build Muscles With ExerciseExercising not only improves your metabolism but it also helps build muscle mass which again contributes to burning of comparatively more calories (as much as 35 – 50 calories for 1 pound of muscle). Opt for exercises which can be switched between high intensity and low intensity to avail optimal burnout. If you cannot exercise, take a walk down the block or climb stairs.
  8. Track Changes – Keep tabs on how much you lose so that you are motivated to continue with your program. Seek support from family and friends to keep your motivation levels soaring.

And once you have lost weight, wear outfits that garner compliments. This will serve as an impetus to maintain your optimal body weight!

The author has been writing articles on health issues such as yoga, growth hormones, essential oils, hair care and acne solution.

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exercise weight loss

How to Monitor Your Heart Beat Rate While On The Elliptical Trainer

Even though most fitness novices do not really understand the necessity of monitoring heart rate while on the training machines, this guide is compelled to point out that there is a solid reason why most of the top cardio machines like treadmills, bikes and elliptical trainers come equipped with a heart beat rate monitor. In general, when you make the generous investment of purchasing one of the cardio exercise machines, you probably want to ensure that your workout routine is at an optimal level. But getting in shape as fast as possible implies far more than owning a high-end gym and training equipment; it also implies the ability of monitoring your progress and adapting your workout accordingly.

Use Heart Beat Rate To Avoid The Plateau Phase

In essence, what you need to avoid is getting stuck in the plateau phase, where the body is no longer forced to push the strength and resistance threshold further, therefore the muscles are no longer developing and you are not burning any adipose tissue during the exercise routine. For the goal of determining the level of exertion of the workout, the heart rate is an excellent indicator.

Avoid Excessively High Heart Rate

However, remember that while the heart rate under the recommended level means you are in plateau, the excessively high heart rate can be equally counterproductive. Therefore, what you will need to do is ensure the heart rate is at an optimal level and here is how the reading for each of the five zones should look like. On a side note, the maximum heart rate for an individual can be calculating by subtracting your current age from 220.

Primarily, warming up the body for the exercise routine is necessary, so this part of the workout should be designed to stimulate the heart rate no more than simple walks. The advantages associated with this part of the routine include lowering the blood pressure, the bad cholesterol and diminishing the percentage of adipose tissue. In the warm-up phase, the exertion should only solicit 50 to 60 percent of the highest heart rate. Next, you will be moving to the temperate zone, where the exertion increases from 60 to 70 percent of the highest possible heart rate, burning up more calories in the process.

The aerobic zone, which has the same level of exertion as the constant-paced jog, implies you will need to use between 70 and 80 percent of the high end heart rate in order to keep up. The aerobic zone of the workout routine has the purpose of boosting the functioning of the respiratory and the cardiovascular system and strengthening the heart. In the anaerobic zone, which is basically the equivalent of intensive running; the level of the heart rate should vary between 80 and 90 percent of the maximum capacity.

Finally, the red line zone which is a part of the routine that aims to push your limits should be performed only for a short amount of time; this utilizes between 90 and 100 percent of the max heart rate. When using the cardio vascular exercise machines, most coaches and trainers advise people to shift between these zones frequently in order to attain optimal results.

Pauly Singh was reading some reviews of elliptical machines on the internet and was amazed to find the importance of monitoring your heart rate while using it. So he would like to share his experience to help you find the best elliptical trainers through his article.