The Myths of Good Eating Habits

Your body can be thought of as a precision machine. It comes with thousands of intricate parts that combine to make an amazingly functional team. Like any machine, your body needs regular maintenance and fuel.

We need fuel with the right mix of ingredients and nutrients to run with optimal performance. There is a tremendous amount of untrue information floating around the rumor mill and the Internet, and it is up to you to dig through that to establish your own good eating habits.

Below, you'll find some myth busters on good eating habits:

1. "You should work out on an empty stomach." This is definitely a myth. The rumbling in your stomach is trying to tell you something, and it's not that you need to dash to the gym. Ignore those tummy rumbles and you're forcing your body's engine to run on empty. Always be sure that you have a light snack, such as a piece of fruit, before any physical activity.

2. "Energy drinks and bars make good meal replacements." Ooops, another myth. In a pinch, or when you are traveling, they might help, but meal replacement bars or drinks are nowhere near equivalent to proper food. You need antioxidants, fiber, minerals, vitamins, and so much more, so grab some fruit and vegetables for the boost you need.

3. "Breakfast is not that important." Mom was right about this, as breakfast is the most important meal of each day. Eat a healthy breakfast to give your body the charge it needs to meet your busy schedule. If you skip breakfast, your low fuel start will leave you feeling sluggish and hungry throughout the day.

4. "Low-carb diets provide all the nutrients we need." Another myth. For temporary weight loss, low-carb diets may work, but in terms of overall good health, they come up short. We need carbohydrates for our very survival, and they start by developing muscle tissue, and storing energy for later use.

5. "Eat what you want, when you want." If only life were that easy. Just because you're making some good food choices and exercising regularly, doesn't necessarily give you license to eat everything you want. Balance is the key. You can't eat only cheese and no fruit or vegetables and expect to lead a healthy life.

6. "Cut as many calories as you can." While losing weight does involve cutting calories, you should never run on too short a fuel supply. Trim your calories wisely, and aim for a healthy weight loss of one or two pounds per week. If you start to drop weight too quickly, add a little more food to bring your daily calorie count up.

7. "Forget soda pop and alcohol." This one's true! Good drinking is a big part of good overall eating. Why add to the profits of companies selling sugar water with artificial flavor and color added? Tap water is healthy, and juice and milk are also great choices. Drink small amounts all day and evening long, as much as you can comfortably ingest. (But note that the "rule" of 8 glasses a day is not really based on scientific research, but is another myth that has been repeated millions of times.) Avoid dehydration by sipping frequently.

A solid understanding of a healthy diet will lead you to make good eating habit choices. It is not that complicated, and when you change what you eat, you will have made a big step toward overall wellness enhancement. Fuel up with good food, and keep that motor running for smooth performance down the road.

Vitamin Supplements for Body Building

Bodybuilding vitamin supplements are becoming increasingly famous among people because they are known to provide instant results to those who take them. countless kinds of bodybuilding vitamin supplements are available today, including fat burners, meal replacement powders, energy boosters and weightlifting vitamin supplements. A lot of manufacturers of bodybuilding nutritional vitamin supplements advertise heavily about their products in order to raise their exposure. They claim that their products can bring an instant and overnight change. But beware; some of these quick body building products contain steroids and other additives that might be unsafe for the body.

It is true that pure bodybuilding vitamin supplements are beneficial to your health, and this is especially true for novice bodybuilders. They not only help in immediately building a desired muscular physique, but are also helpful in providing energy boosts to people who are going through the painful process of trying to bulk up their body. Because of countless bodybuilding and weight gain products available today, you need to carefully study the wide range of products, their advantages and disadvantages, in order to decide which one would suit your needs the best. Always keep the essential points below in mind before buying any kind of nutritional or health supplement product.

1. The first and foremost consideration should be the quality of supplement you are about to buy. Make sure you have done necessary study to determine the authenticity of the product. You can also read consumer reviews about a product on the Internet and see how satisfied the consumers are. Alternatively, you can discuss the constituents of a food vitamin nutritional supplement with your dietician and ask whether those materials have any side effects. Also keep in mind to avoid attractive and catchy advertisements about bodybuilding vitamin supplements. These ads usually describe that these supplement products can do wonders to your health and build muscles quickly.

2. A few steroid products are banned by the government because they are unsafe for the body. Make sure you have done enough study regarding a product before buying it. Certified manufacturers and companies that make vitamin supplements should be considered first. Their products might be more expensive than others but they are totally reliable and should be harmless to ingest in large quantities. Steroids cannot be consumed without a written prescription from a doctor.

3. Bodybuilding and weight loss products sometimes come with some side effects. Make sure you have analyzed the after effects of consuming these substances and have ruled out all other alternatives. You may sometimes experience dizziness and feel sleepy all the time. If you have to drive, or do time-consuming and tiring work, make sure you haven't consumed a lot of any of the vitamin supplements. There are long-term risks also associated with quick-fix bodybuilding vitamin supplements, while countless of them are harmless, others might have some health trade-offs associated with them. Therefore it is important to carefully analyze your needs before you choose any nutritional supplement.

4. Nutritional vitamin supplements made from pure and natural extracts of plant and animal material are always recommended by health experts. They don't have countless chemical substances in their composition and are safe to be used by people belonging to all age groups. Herbal extracts and other natural sour

cs of vitamins, minerals and proteins are the ones to go for. Fish oil, green tea extracts, olive leaf extracts are some great examples of natural materials from which vitamin supplements are made. They are available not only as pills but also in the form of tea bags, powder and capsules.

5. Check historical details and figures about the substances that make up a bodybuilding supplement. Usually energy drinks and nutrition bars are not recommended for patients that suffer from diabetes, hypertension or increased cholesterol. Always consult a health specialist before consuming any kind of nutritional supplement. If you experience any discomfort when using a supplement, then you must immediately discontinue use and seek the help from your doctor.

6. The final point to remember is to follow the prescribed dosage carefully. There is no alternative to a properly functioning and healthy body. Carefully read the instructions given on the cover of the vitamin and mineral supplements box. If you feel that you are unable to follow the prescribed schedule, talk to your dietician and ask for alternative solutions. Dosage is also different for people belonging to different age groups.

Quick-fixes are often acquired at the expense of long-term health. So you should be very careful before you purchase any energy boosting or weight gain supplement products. Always keep in mind that vitamin supplements are only produced to cure nutrient deficiency in the body, they are by no means a replacement of a healthy balanced diet.

Tips for healthy eating while at restaurants

It seems that with all of our "to do" and "honey do" lists, there seems like there is not enough time in the day to eat a relaxing and healthy meal. Between business lunches and dining out for recreation, you may obtain yourself at a restuarant several times a week. While eating out you must remember that in you can still eat healthy foods and not worry about sabotaging your diet plan.

Here are some things that you can do to make the right eating decisions the next time you are out, for business or pleasure.

* If you plan on drinking alcohol, avoid creamy drinks like White
Russians, since they contain calorie laden ingredients like burdensome cream. If you are planning on having more than one drink, alternate with a glass of water.

* Ask your server to serve bread with your entree. This will a remedy avoid seconds of bread.

* Keep in mind that appetizers are packed with calories. Starting a meal with deep fried mozzarella sticks, potato skins or boneless buffalo wings will quickly add several hundred extra calories to your meal. If you must have something before your entree is served, muse a side salad or cottage cheese (if accessible).

* Ask your server to put half of your entree in a "to-go" box prior
to serving it. Restauarant portions have a tendancy towards being massive, so you have an painless lunch for the following day.

* Split your entree with your partner. If you have likeminded tastes you can split the cost of dinner and still walk away full. Some places may charge a inadequate fee for splitting entrees (usually anywhere from 2-6 dollars) while others do it for free.

* Ask for toppings and condiments served on the side or plain. If you are ordering a baked potato, avoid the "loaded" version, since things like cheese, bacon, sour cream and butter will add a scant hundred calories to your meal.

* Avoid menu items that are described as creamy, rich or deep fried. Choose steamed, broiled or baked items instead. These methods of cooking tend to add fewer calories.

* Eat slowly. Make an effort to chew each mouthful of food 15-20 times before swallowing. This is a stupendous rule to follow when eating out or dining at home.

* Drink a glass of water prior to your meal. This will assistance to fill you up and you'll be inferior likely to overeat. This is another tactic that you can use to assistance combat against hunger any time during the day. A lot of times people mistake thirst for water for feeling hungry. If you are still feeling hungry after 10 minutes, eat until you feel full. Don't eat until you feel uncomfortable.

*Try "Black Chicken" as it is currently being hailed as a unique form of "superfood" coming out of China. (Source: http://www.postchronicle.com/news/original/article_21286385.shtml) This black-bone silky fowl, which have black skin, meat and bones but snow-white feathers, has been used as a "folk invigorant" in China for a thousand years. Now Chinese food scientists have confirmed they subsume expensive levels of a substance called carnosine. This is a powerful antioxidant and is taken in supplement form in the west to improve muscle fortitude and alleviate the effects of aging and autism. Be on the lookout as it will take the restaurant world by storm!

Making the right choices when dining out will help all of your weight loss efforts. There are so innumerable distinctive places to eat out, you will never run out of dining options. It's totally up to you to make the right decisions. Making sensible decisions at mealtime is a lot easier if you are armed with recognition.

Making your exercise routine flawless

Why do people "fail" with their exercise program? Do they fail to actualize the hit they had hoped for? Far from a misadventure, this is usually the result of their lack of understanding what is required from them for an exercise program to be advantageous .

The five outstanding reasons that most people are not noteworthy with their exercise program are:

1. They try to do much too soon.

2. They have defective or inappropriate expectations.

3. They get disentranced .

4. They lose their motivation.

5. They relinquish too soon.

Because these are the central reasons that many exercise programs don't seem to do the job, maybe addressing them may make us greater on track with the exercise side of our fitness and weight loss plans. Let's get going! Let's take a look at each in turn and see if we can figure out what you can do to be fortuitous.

The dangers of overdoing exercise.

A ingredient that figures into all five issues is naturally ignorance. I don't mean that as an insult, it's just that people go out and buy a piece of equipment or a Richard Simmons DVD and jump in with both feet. Even if they read the directions, those are normally written from the viewpoint of "this is what you should be doing" rather than "this is how you get to the point where you can do what you should be doing". Since most people don't really know much about exercise or how it works, and I was once one of those people, they tend to make a lot of mistakes, even though they have the utmost of intentions.

Please do not try to do too much too soon. This can be risky!

Let's say your modern barbell set says, that for maximum conclusion, you should be able to three sets of ten reps a certain exercise with the weight set at one-fourth of your body weight. So, you figure you weigh 160 lbs, set the bar at 40 lbs, and do ten reps. You're a little winded. It was a bit hard, but you were able to do it. You rest a minute, and try again. It's harder, but you're still able to get through it. You take another short rest and do the third set. Wow! You had to squeeze out the last couple of reps, but you did it! You feel pleasing. You've got what it takes, and you can't wait until the next exercise day.

In all probability you have produced a large amount of damage to muscle tissue that your body will now have to spend the next couple of days fixing. Since in many cases you are out of shape (even if you were able to do all three sets), your body is going to have a hard time getting that work completed. I can tell you that this is certainly going to impact almost every physical, impetuous, and mental event or episode in your life over the next several hours or days.

Don't you delight in how you feel the next day? You hurt like hell! That's what happens. Even if you can convince yourself that this is a admirable sign, continuing on in this manner will eventually either produce a real injury, or will set you up mentally and physically to begin wanting to avoid your workouts, whether you are doing aerobics, lifting weights, running, swimming, bicycling, or working in your garden.

Most people naturally do not imagine how much is going on internally when they take an out-of-shape body and begin demanding that it perform as if it were already in shape.

So, just take it basic. Start off stall and gradually ease your way up to higher levels. Many marathoners were barely able to walk to the end of the block and back when they fundamental started. Innumerable a housewife has begun her "exercise program" with a can of Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup in each hand. Start light and swell gradually. Don't worry if you don't see "results" at elementary levels. All sorts of good sustaining things are going on inside your body.

You should definitely have realistic expectations,

One of the greatest remarks to remember is: It took you years to get this way and you're not going to change things in a couple of days. Don't expect to lose 20 lbs in 10 days. It can happen, but that's the exception to the rule. You must remember that everyone is incomparable. One thing you can say is that if you do your exercises regularly and gradually challenge yourself, your body will make the appropriate changes in outward appearance and inner capabilities.

Yes! It's true! Exercise CAN get routine

Doing anything day after day can be commonplace whether it's exercise, television, or eating ice cream. A scanty people can do things over and over and never get tired of it, but most of us aren't built that way. Even if you are doing everything the right way, have valuable expectations, have a enormous program, and are seeing commendable results, getting up 45 minutes early for the 150th day in a row and strapping on those running shoes is going to get old eventually. Do what you can to liven it up a bit. Even if you just like to go for a walk, can't you walk somewhere else today? Why not substitute a swim, a bicycle ride, a visit to the zoo, or an hour's worth of yard work for your walk? If your standard routine is comprised of Press, Curl, Bench Press done with a barbell, why not substitute Triceps Extensions, Preacher Curls, and Chest Flys all done with a dumbell once in a while? Or, you could go to the park, do some chin ups and pushups and then take a long walk yourself. Who says you have to do exactly the same thing in the same place every day?

Maitaining Motivation is the Key

How various times have you begun a program or project with a very strong motivation, only to obtain that after a scattering days, you just didn't feel like doing it any increased? The other night, you saw a documentary on the potential dangers of heart condition in sedentary people and were so affected by it that you took an oath to begin exercising regularly. Or maybe you went shopping for new clothes and found that you needed the next larger size...again! You went home and vowed that you would do whatever it took to get back to the size you were in steep school (unrealistic expectation) and that afternoon you began your exercise program and felt so stupendous about what you were doing. A scanty days later, you just couldn't procure the time or the motivation to do your workout. In fact, you weren't even thinking about whatever it was that kicked you into gear in the number one place.

Write it down. As you write it, feel every boiling emotion...pain, fear, embarrassment, anger...whatever got you started on the exercise pathway in the elementary place. Make it a statement about what you feel, what you desire to change, why you deisre to change, and how you intend to change. Put it in your purse, wallet, or pocket, and take it out and read it a scattering times a day. Every time you read it, try to read it out loud, and try to reconstruct in your very being the thoughts and feelings you had when you wrote it down. Paste it on your mirror, put it on the fridge, tell your best friend if you dare, but revive it in your heart several times a day, every day.

Whatever you do, don't give up!

The Three Sins of Body Building

If you're a hardgainer or natural bodybuilder, you already know how difficult it is to get sleeve-busting muscles. Learn how to avoid these common unforgivable bodybuilding sins that not even the Pope will excuse!

Unforgivable Bodybuilding Sin #1:
Training through the motions instead of training for results

How many times have you gone to the gym and casually lift the same weights; same exercises; same workout order; and same lack of progress? This is called insanity; doing the same thing but expecting a different result. It is also known as training through the motions. Your body is present but your mind is absent. Training through the motions is fine if you are simply interested in stress release and improving your energy levels, but if you are trying to build a body you can be proud of, this won't cut it.

Only results matter, if you expect to see progress.

Consider the analogy of starting your own business. Starting your own business may earn you praise for being a hard worker, disciplined, skillfulness and many other nice compliments but if your business does not make money, the latter perks don't really matter. Whether you agree or not, money is a measurement of whether your hard work, discipline and skillfulness are paying off or not. Lifting more weight, squeezing out more reps in a workout, and completing more work in less time are all signs of measurement.

How to make this sin forgivable?

Stop training through the motions and you will no longer have the illusion that you are improving. Focus on measuring your results and out doing yourself from workout to workout and there will be no doubt that you are moving forward.

Unforgivable Bodybuilding Sin #2:
Not keeping a training journal

Not keeping a training journal piggy backs on the last sin. Imagine trying to run your brand new business without keeping records. You have no idea what's coming in or what's going out. You have no idea why you had a bad month. You have no idea why you had a good month. Training is no different.

History has a tendency to repeat itself

If something worked in the past, why wouldn't it work for the future? If something did not work in the past, than most likely it won't work in the future! If you are not tracking what works and what fails, than your training progress is doomed.

Instead of just recording what you did at each workout, start recording the details. If you had a great workout, let's determine why?

• Is it from the amount of sleep you got the night before?
• Was it a new workout drink you used?
• Was it a different time of the day?
• Did you warm up or stretch longer?
• Did you take an extra day off?
• Were you in a better mood?

How to make this sin forgivable?

The more you know, the more control you have of experiencing the same feeling the next workout. On the flip side, if you had a terrible workout, consider all the same factors to prevent it from happening in the future.

Human nature always want to out do itself.

Your natural instincts will strive for improvement. If you know what the numbers were last workout, you will want to out do yourself. You will want to complete your workout in 47 minutes instead of 50 minutes. You will complete all ten reps instead of eight. You will increase your weights 2.5 lbs instead of stay the same.

The numbers don't lie.

A training journal will keep your progress honest and not deceive you. You might feel incredible after a workout and consider that a sign of improvement but than be disappointed when you realize that you were actually weaker meaning no sign of improvement. Treat your training like a business and it will catapult your muscle progress forward.

Unforgivable Bodybuilding Sin #3:
Broken focus

Here is how I see many people live life. First you want to open up a restaurant. Next week you want to become a police officer. The week after that you want to go to Vegas to become a professional poker player! You will most likely fail at everything you do because of your broken focus and lack of discipline to finish what you start.

How to make this sin forgivable?

A lack of focus equals a lack of results. Start treating your training the same way you would treat your career. If you change your career, every few weeks, you will inevitably become a jack of all trades, master of none. It will not become a question of if, but a question of when. Your training, to build a jaw dropping physique, is no different.

Pick one training program and stick with it

There are a lot of options and it can be difficult to choose just one. However, look at this has a positive, and make your life simple by choosing just one and stick to it for it's entire program length. Don't start a 12 week strength program and than go back to a bodybuilding style program after three weeks because it wasn't working.

You must trust the author of the program and take responsibility for your decision. Do not consult others about a program someone else has written, they are not the author of the program and will only confuse you. Go straight to the source and consult the author of the program if you require clarification, otherwise execute every single detail as prescribed. Stay completely focused and committed to the program you have chosen and squeezing out every ounce of muscle that it promises.

How to pick the right program

Don't start a high-volume training program if you are not prepared to get extra sleep, spend some extra money on supplements and find extra time in the day to eat more food. Don't start a fat loss program if you don't have the time to do double day workouts as sometimes necessary. Don't pick a bulking program if summer is coming up and you want to be ripped for summer. Bottom line, make sure you know exactly what your program entails and that you will be prepared to invest whatever is involved with the desired outcome.

Comparing diets

Some sort of miracle pill or eating plan that makes fat go away and never ever return. That’s actually the second part of the big wish: how to make sure that all the weight lost through dieting stays lost through the years.

The more diets published in magazines and on the Internet, the more people are confused about what dieting really means and about the right way of bringing your body back in shape. The growing number of overweight people has turned weight loss into an industry like never before and the market is growing every year. It seems that nowadays all one needs is a fashionable idea and a flair for marketing in order to make a lot of money or garner a lot of popularity by proposing some sort of weird diet, despite the lack of professional expertise in this field.

And there is a LOT of diets out there. We’re going to go here only through the best-known diets, since a review of all the diets floating around the industry would be beyond the scope of this article.

So let’s start with one of the latest fads of the dieting world: the Atkins diet. Pretty much everybody’s head of the Atkins diet, largely due to the flood of articles praising the extraordinary results, not to mention the loads of good mail from satisfied customers. The biggest thing in favor of this diet is that it lets you eat high fat dairy products like cheese and butter. However, the Atkins diet has fallen from its lofty perch over suspicions of increasing the risk of heart diseases, not to mention the proved fact that bigger number of followers complain of diarrhea, weakness, muscle cramps and rashes. The debate over the scientific fundamentals of this diet is still raging.

Next comes the Zone diet; another well-known eating plan. This diet is the brainchild of Barry Sears and it’s all about eating the right mix of foods in order to reach the proper hormonal balance. This state of balance, which is called the “Zone”, lets the body take in calories and use them through the day without putting anything aside as fat. Unfortunately, this diet does some serious discrimination among foods without any scientific basis. Starchy vegetables, whole grains and beans are banned, although these foods are not in conflict with the principles of the diet. The American Heart Association says the Zone diet lacks essential nutrients while promoting high-protein foods.

The Jenny Craig diet is next on the list. One of the longest running diets, Jenny Craig started this business in the early 1980s and it’s still around. The basic idea of this diet is a trade off: you don’t have to choose recipes, do the shopping and the cooking, but you have to buy the Jenny Craig prepackaged food. And that runs to some $100 per week. Plus the membership costs. Plus the vegetables and fruits which are not included in the prepackaged food. If you can afford it and if you can stick to it, the diet is pretty good. However, similar low-calorie foods can be bought at the grocery store and you don’t have to discuss this with a Jenny Craig expert that insists on your eating the prepackaged food because he gets a percentage of the sale price.

From sunny Florida comes the South Beach diet. This one has the right idea and wrong approach combination down pat. Don’t get me wrong, a lot of people have managed to lose weight with this diet and it actually works. But the question is: can you really stick to it? The first phase of the diet will eliminate most foods containing carbohydrates from your daily consumption. Fortunately, this phase lasts two weeks. Unfortunately, second phase focuses on a half-hearted return of whole grains and fruits and lasts… as long as necessary. If reaching the desired weight takes you one year, then that’s exactly how long this phase is going to last. And if you don’t like the foods allowed by this diet then you’re out of luck. There are no alternatives.

And yet another veteran dieting program around is Weight Watchers. This is actually one of the best diets around because it puts all the management tools in the hands of the user. If you are really committed to losing weight, you have all the information you need to do it. And a lot of people who are going through the same thing are going to be there to help you. If having company during difficult times helps your willpower, then you are probably going to lose all that extra weight. If, on the other hand, you don’t like the idea of being constantly under peer pressure, then this diet is not for you.

As you can see from this short review, there are a lot of diets out there, dozens more than we’ve been able to cover here. The best thing to do when choosing a diet is to do as much research about it as possible. See what people who tried it have to say. Then see what doctors and dietitians have to say about it. Between those singing praises and those trying to prove the diet wrong you can probably get the truth yourself. Still, pay special attention to what the doctors have to say. If they tell you a certain diet will put your body to risk then think twice before trying it.

Healthy food in summer

Appetites fall in summer because of heat and humidity. There is a belief that hot ( as in temperature hot) food such as piping hot coffee, tea, soups etc are efficacious in summer because they induce perspiration, which eventually leaves the person feeling cooler. This is a myth. Talking hot foods to reduce body temperature will not only make you uncomfortable because of the heat but the sweat makes you feel worse

While cold beverages and salads are comfortable to consume, a cooked meal that has been kept aside for many hours to be consumed at room temperature might actually harbour more bacteria. Food borne illnesses are at an all-time high in summer. The danger zone for rapid multiplication of bacteria is four to 60 degrees Celsius. While hot foods need not be boiling hot, a temperature of about 70 degrees would be comfortable and safe to eat. Cold foods should be below four degrees. Ideally cooked foods should be consumed fresh after cooling to a comfortable and safe to eat. Cold foods should be below four degrees. Ideally, cooked foods should be consumed fresh after cooling to a comfotable temperature. If this is not possible, they may be cooled stored in cool temperature, re heated and consumed immediately.

Spicy foods are also believed to be beneficial in beating the heat. Though this is not true, spicy foods can get the gasteric juices flowing and improve appetite in summer. Some Asian cuisines have spicy soups served cold – a double benefit perhaps.

Summer foods need to give us energy and hydration. Here some tips to eat right in summer.

Load yourselves with plenty of fruits and vegetables, specially the water-filled varieties.
Eat plenty of ground and leafy vegetables – cucumber, bottle gourd, snake gourd, ridge gourd, spinach, mint and so on.

Enjoy the melons , tomatoes,berries, mangoes and other summer fruits.
Cool and healthy beverages for summer would include tender coconut water, fresh fruit juices minus the sugar, fresh lime juice, buttermilk, fruity milkshakes.
Sprouts are high in moisture content so use them in salads frequently. Reach out for water as often as you can – your body needs lots of it in summer. Don’t forget your complex carbohydrates for energy – unpolished rice, whole wheat flour, ragi , corn , pulses and dals are a must for good nutrition.
Avoid high fat foods, fried foods and fatty meats because they are difficult to digest and they make you feel even more lethargic in the heat. Avoid sugary eats and beverages because they make you feel thirstier. Caffeinaated beverages and alchohol are dehydrating. Avoid or restrict their use

Here’s a simple summer diet:

On rising: Tea
Breakfast : Cereal flakes with skimmed milk and fruit
Mid-morning : Fresh lime juice
Lunch: Vegetable soup, phulkas, dal, fish, vegetable salad, curd
Evening : Fruit salad or sprout and vegetable salad
Dinner: Brown rice , rasam,vegetable curry, buttermilk

Steps to Successful Weight Lifting/Body Building

Are you sick and tired of everyone telling you a different way to build muscle? Are you unhappy with how you look in the mirror? Are you frusturated with your slow progress in the gym? Are you ready to learn five simple steps that will teach you how to build muscle safely and effectively?

There is a good chance that you are not maximizing one of these four steps. Your problem and solution lies in correcting these essential steps before you have any chance of building a muscular and lean physique.

Get read to learn how to build muscle in four simple steps, in less time, without any drugs and without bogus supplements.

Step #1

Committ to lifting weights at least three to four times per week. Your goal is to stimulate your muscles with resistance (stress) which results in your muscles growing bigger to avoid the stress from occuring again. Once you go home, let the muscle heal through nutrition and rest, it will grow bigger and you will repeat this process again. Ideally you should hit your muscles once every 72 hours so you could perform 2 upper body workouts per week and 2 lower body workouts per week.

Step #2

Focus on eating at least 5-7x a day with balanced meals from carbohydrates, proteins and fats. If your goal is to build muscle than you should be eating at least 15-18 x your current body weight. Your carbohydrates should equate about 45% of your intake, your proteins should equate about 35% of your intake and your fat should be the remaining 20% of your intake. You should focus on over half of those meals being solid whole food meals and the remainder can be liquid meal replacment shakes.

Step #3

You should focus on stretching at least half the amount that you lift weights. One of the biggest mistkakes I see is people training, training and training with out any stretching. Stretching helps restore normal length to the tissue and if you are constantly training, your muscle tissues will shorten and big to perform weaker and slower and have a higher incidence of injuries. So if you are lifting weights 4 hours in the week, at least an additional 2 hours should be dedicated to stretching. You must counteract the shortening of the muscle tissues that occurs with weights or else you are a injury screaming to happen.

Step #4

Avoid supplements that have not been around for longer than 3 years. I learned this phisophy from an Australian strength coach who recommended not trying any supplement until it has been around at least 3 years to pass the test of time. This will make your life much easier and help you avoid all the marketing hoopla in the latest fitness and bodybuilding magazine. If you follow this rule, you will discover only a small handful of supplements still standing. Here are the ones you should not go with out: a high quality multi-vitamin, fish oil capsules, powdered creatine and a protein powder. These products will cover your nutritional basis for health, healthy body composition, strength and muscle mass.

Binge Eating Disorder - Causes, Symptoms and Treatment

Binge eating disorder is probably the most common eating disorder. Binge eating also occurs in another eating disorder called bulimia nervosa. People with binge eating disorder frequently eat large amounts of food while feeling a loss of control over their eating. This disorder is different from binge-purge syndrome (bulimia nervosa) because people with binge eating disorder usually do not purge afterward by vomiting or using laxatives. Binge eating disorder is a little more common in women than in men; three women for every two men have it. The disorder affects blacks as often as whites. About 2 percent of all adults in the United States (as many as 4 million Americans) have binge eating disorder. About 10 to 15 percent of people who are mildly obese. People with binge eating disorder often eat an unusually large amount of food and feel out of control during the binges. Binge eating involves more than just eating a lot.

Binge eating, Anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa are all considered eating disorders because they involve unhealthy patterns of eating. People with bulimia nervosa (sometimes called binge-purge syndrome) binge on food and then vomit or use laxatives to avoid gaining weight. They may also fast (stop eating for a while) or compulsively exercise after an eating binge. All three of these eating disorders involve unhealthy eating patterns that begin gradually and build to the point where a person feels unable to control them. All eating disorders can lead to serious health consequences, and all involve emotional distress. Bulimia nervosa (sometimes called binge-purge syndrome) is different from binge eating disorder because people with bulimia vomit or use laxatives to try to keep themselves from gaining weight after eating.

Causes of Binge Eating Disorder

1.Depression

2.Anger.

3.Sadness.

4.Boredom.

5.Anxiety.

6.Certain other emotional problems.

Symptoms of Binge Eating Disorder

1. Eating much more food during a binge episode than during a normal meal or snack

2. Frequent dieting without weight loss.

3. Hoarding food.

4. Hiding empty food containers.

5. Feeling depressed, disgusted or upset over the amount eaten.

Treatment of Binge Eating Disorder

Several methods are being used to treat binge eating disorder. Drug therapy, such as antidepressants, may be helpful for some people. Cognitive-behavioral therapy teaches patients techniques to monitor and change their eating habits as well as to change the way they respond to difficult situations. Interpersonal psychotherapy helps people examine their relationships with friends and family and to make changes in problem areas. Self-help groups also may be a source of support. Researchers are still trying to determine which method or combination of methods is the most effective in controlling binge eating disorder.

A Balanced Diet Is A No Brainer

What you put into your body determines just how you live or how long you live. Food takes in vital nutrients, giving you energy for life and aiding in all bodily functions. You receive nutrients from food for maturation and health. There candidly isn't one food has all the nutrients that you need, hence the four basic food groups comes to the rescue. Eating from the four basic food groups enables you to acquire the nutrients you need from eating a balanced diet.

What Are the Basic Nutrients Found in Food?

Fats and carbohydrates are also vital to splendid health. They will give you the energy you need. Multitudinous foods comprise of fat and carbohydrates. Milk, cheese, and butter are rich in fat and foods from the bread and cereal group such as pasta is rich in carbohydrates. Fruits also incorporate a fair amount of carbs. It is advised that you should use fats in your diet sparingly as it can purpose heart malady and unwanted weight gain in some people.

Proteins are an considerable nutrient. Proteins can be found in a wide potpourri of foods. Meat, fish, eggs and poultry are very rich in proteins. Your body utilizes proteins to form advanced cells.

Bounteous people take a daily vitamin supplement. Did you know that you can also get an adequate amount of vitamins from food you eat? Vitamins help your body to grow and maintain stupendous health. The origin of the term vitamin surfaced in the early 1900s. The general consensus was that vitamins contained nitrogen and was consequently spelled “viatmine”. After it was discovered that all vitamins do not emcompass nitrogen, the “e” was dropped.

Vitamins can be found in foodstuffs or can be obtained as an over the counter pharmaceutical. Sometimes when foods containing life-giving vitamins are cooked, a immense deal of those vitamins are lost, so taking supplements may be helpful. If one does not get the required amount of vitamins in his or her diet the metabolic balance can be disrupted and deliberate health problems could arise. Some of the vitamins you will obtain in foods are:

Vitamin A

This is found in carrots, sweet potatoes, melons and green leafy vegetables to name a scattering. Vitamin A is essential for healthy skin and positive eye function.

Vitamin C

This is found in citrus fruits such as oranges and lemons. Broccoli and other dark green leafy vegetables also consist of vitamin C. This vitamin is probably most well known for the effects it has on the cold virus. Taken in additional amounts it has been proven to ward off the cold virus or lessen the effects of it. Vitamin C also gives you healthy bone and blood cells.

Vitamin D

Vitamin D can be found in milk, eggs, and saltwater fish. It will give you strong bones and teeth and help you grow. You can also get vitamin D from the sun.

Thiamin and Niacin

These vitamins help you to digest food and aid in nervous system functions. Foods containing these vitamins include eggs, peas, liver and some meat.

Minerals are another vital nutrient that helps the distinctive parts of the body work as they are meant to. Some of the augmented significant minerals are calcium, iron, potassium, and sodium.

Calcium helps with the growth of teeth and bones as well as the functions of your heart and muscles. Some foods rich in calcium are milk, cheese, yogurt and some vegetables.

Iron is found in liver, beans cereals, some dried fruit and some vegetables. This mineral helps blood carry oxygen to your cells.

Potassium and sodium both help to maintain the function of your muscles and nerves. Foods containing these vital minerals include cereals, salt, and some vegetables to name a scattering.

Understanding the nutrients found in food is just the basic step to eating right. All the foods are divided into four basic food groups. The food groups relief you decide just what you should eat. In each group there are opposed foods with incomparable nutrients. You should eat from the four basic food groups at each meal for a balanced diet.

The four food groups include the milk and dairy group, the meat group, the bread and cereal group and the fruit and vegetable group. You should eat a certain amount of food from each group everyday in order to get all the nutrients you need. Everyday you should have three to four servings of the milk and dairy group; one or two servings form the meat group, three or four servings from the bread and cereal group and three to four servings from the fruit and vegetable group. If you eat the right amount of servings from each group every day you will be eating a balanced diet.

Although water is not considered a nutrient or a food group, it is vital for life. You get water from multitudinous foods, but will get most of your water from by clearly drinking it. Water keeps your body hydrated and aid in blood formation as well as digestion. Drink eight to ten glasses a day for stupendous health.

In summary, schooling to eat right can take some time. Basic awareness of what the food groups consist of as well as what nutrients are and their function is key. A healthy body depends on your eating the right foods along with the right servings of each food.

Different Approaches to Dieting

There are thousands of different diets all over the internet and some of them are so confused with others that no wonder why you can get so lost and eventually end up in total despair and frustration.

Not to talk about what can happen if you decide to follow some diet and instead of losing weight, you get the opposite result – gain weight. That is reality - some diets may work for you, others can end like a complete disaster for you.

There is no dieter who wants to achieve the negative effect of dieting. But the truth is that if you do not know what exactly you are doing, you are most likely to fail your diet and give up in the end. Well, here is why we are here to help you make the right choice for a diet plan.

First steps in dieting

The very first thing any diet should do for you is to prevent you from further weight gain. Next is to set your future weight loss goals. Set realistic goals! Do small steps to reach your goals and to achieve your target weight.

Do not expect fast results – anything you do in a rush for rapid results may end uglier that you thought (that means lose weight gradually to succeed).

You should remember - there is no easy and fast way to lose weight and you should deal with that. Dieting is hard, takes time, often separates you from your family, as far as it comes to counting the calories, the carbohydrates and fats in your meals.

Can not resist the temptations?

It gets even worse if you can not resist the sweet and delicious temptations all around you after the first or the second week on your diet. Probably while you have been doing the shopping for your diet you happen to pass by the sweet, delicious and so unhealthy foods, that make you crave for them like never before.

The solutions

I know it is hard from my personal experience, but there is a solution, and that is why I want to share it with you here in this article:

Believe it or not I lost weight not by following some strict do not-eat-this-do not-eat-that diet, but by eating only delicious, healthy and great looking meals with less calories and never really felt starving to death.

It is simple not to get hungry if you eat about 5 times a day very delicious meals and lose weight safely at the same time. The only problem here is that you either have to prepare those delicious meals yourself, or you can order them from a specialized diet food delivery service that will cook them for you.

Which one is better?

In the first case when you prepare your meals yourself, you spend a lot of time shopping and cooking. What is more you may forget some of the products or even get bored with all that cooking healthy meals and eating them afterwards. I myself find the shopping and cooking a little bit exhausting, not to mention that I may lose my appetite while I am doing all this stuff. If in any part of your diet anything like that happens, then do not expect any positive results. You will not save money, you will lose time.

However, if you choose a Diet Food Delivery Service to supply you with healthy and delicious foods and meals at the beginning of every week – well, that is another story. All you need to do is heat the meals in the microwave and enjoy their great taste by following the diet plan, cause every service of that kind has a diet plan you should stick to.

Well, of course these services are not cheap, but if you are really serious of getting rid of all extra pounds, it will be nice to think of this diet food delivery service thing as for a small investment for your good health and happier life. You do want to prevent you from getting high blood pressure, heart attack or else?

Here are the Diet Food Delivery Services We Recommend:

Diet To Go Diet Food

BISTRO MD / Diet To Your Door

And the Protein Diet Plans and Meal Replacements that work and we also very heartily recommend:

Medifast Diet and the 5 and 1 Plan

Diet Direct and the WonderSlim Starter Kits

Do not be surprised that we also recommend those two diet plans. We are doing this cause they are good and can help you in a way you might not imagine.

With these types of diets you take more proteins, lower carbohydrates and absolute no fat. So you lose weight successfully and keep it off for good.

While on the protein diet you replace one or more meals with fat free shakes, puddings, soups and bars, which is why they are called meal replacements.

Protein diet – when should you start it?

When you are on a low budget, cause these types of diet are cheaper than diet food delivery services.

Another reason could be if you really really like protein diet shakes, bars and puddings, then you will definitely enjoy the meal replacement diet plan very much.

In conclusion

No matter what type of diet you choose, you must be serious about it and your weight loss. Stay focused on your goals! Use wisely the diet plan, information, recipes and motivation articles from the diet service or diet plan you choose.