Tag Archives: physical

Weight loss diet for man and women

Balancing your diet!

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We all know the importance of a healthy lifestyle and choosing a balanced diet, but with so much information available it can be hard to sort fact from fiction.

Most people think they eat fairly well – surveys show 93 per cent of Australian shoppers describe their overall diet as extremely or very healthy. But surprisingly, only 15 per cent are very satisfied with their eating habits and 57 per cent plan to watch what they eat more closely in the future1. Clearly, health is high on people’s agendas.

The ‘secret’ to maintaining good health is combining a healthy eating plan with daily physical activity. While it may seem easy to follow the latest fad diet or trend going around, many of these plans excessively restrict your intake of foods or entire food groups which can lead to inadequacies in key nutrients. ‘Diets’ can also be hard to stick to for longer than a few weeks, and many people simply revert back to their old habits in the end. So here we get back to basics to help you put together your own healthy lifestyle plan.The basics

The basic principles of healthy eating are quite simple:

  • Foods are often categorised into five main groups based on their nutrient content. These are vegetables, breads and cereals, fruit, dairy and meats/alternatives. Each different food group provides unique nutrients to your diet, so it’s important to eat a variety of foods from each of the major food groups every day.
  • Eat moderate portions of all foods, with the exception of vegetables where you can generally eat plenty! (Just make sure you don’t overdo the starchy vegies such as potato, sweet potato and corn, which are higher in kilojoules than other vegies). Choosing smaller, frequent meals and snacks will help keep the variety in your diet. Continue reading Balancing your diet! →
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How to Get Motivated To Lose Weight?

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There are many reasons why we may look to lose weight, some do it for the sake better health, some do it to look better, some do it for their partner while some do it simply for the fun of it. Majority of the people look to lose weight in order to have a good physical appearance. We all want to feel good when we look at ourselves in the mirror, and the most evident factor is our body weight. No one really likes to see their body being flabby and unstructured, as humans we are more attracted to a sturdy and well-toned body. The big question for many is – how do I get motivated to lose weight and more importantly how do I keep up this motivation for a period long enough to actualize weight loss.

It’s quite easy to get motivated to lose weight when you see that you no longer fit into the jean you so love, or that you feel “unattractive” to your own eyes. The problem is how to keep the motivation for losing weight strong and on-going until it actually manifests. There are many “self help” books on weight loss motivation that give you workable “action” tips and you may have found that they are hardly ever effective, you might even end up feeling bad about  yourself for not being disciplined enough. But the truth is that you are just going about it the wrong way. You are taking action, before you change your thoughts. Let’s look at this in detail.

Working on Negative Thoughts

We live in a society where taking “action” is considered more essential and pertinent than to work with your thoughts. But the truth is that taking action will yield you very mediocre, if anything, results if your thoughts, and beliefs, are out of whack. If you have negative thought patterns going on, it’s impossible to achieve positive results. The mystery of success is hidden in this simple proverb “As you think, so you become”.

The reality around you responds to the thoughts in your mind. If you don’t have the ideal body weight, it is more to do with the thoughts you are thinking than the food you are eating.

See if you have these thought patterns going on.

  • Are you constantly worried about your weight?
  • Do you think about gaining weight every time you put some tasty food in your mouth?
  • Are you constantly complaining about your body weight?
  • When you meet people do you compare your body weight with them (in your mind)?
  • Do find it difficult to believe that it’s easy to lose weight?
  • When you see yourself in the mirror do you have negative feelings about your body? Continue reading How to Get Motivated To Lose Weight? →
Weight loss diet for man and women

10 Reasons to Keep Fit as You Age

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A lot of us don’t get the kind of day-to-day physical activity we need, so are physically “unfit.” “Physical activity” means any movement of the body that is made by skeletal muscles – and requires energy to accomplish. “Physical fitness” means the ability of a person to do physical activity. Physical fitness can be measured by determining endurance, power and flexibility.

How physically independent you are depends on how well you can function physically. That is one of the best reasons to stay physically active – but it’s not the only reason. Here’s a list of 10 reasons why you should make physical activity a part of your everyday life.

To be safe, talk with your doctor before you start or add to an exercise plan. Even a little bit of exercise will help.

1. It increases bone density and limits osteoporosis.

According to the National Osteoporosis Foundation, osteoporosis affects more than 10 million men and women while an additional 34 million Americans have low bone mass, putting them at risk for developing osteoporosis. The disease makes your bones weak and brittle. Exercise increases bone strength. The best kinds of exercise to make bones stronger are weight-bearing exercises like walking, and resistance exercises such as lifting weights. But you don’t need to become a competitive walker or body builder. Just living an active lifestyle will help your bones stay strong. (You also need vitamin D and calcium for good bone health.)

2. It helps you stay independent.

The point of being active is to maintain your ability to function. Studies show that people who exercise over their lifetimes can avoid being disabled at the end of their lives. Those who don’t exercise, if they live long enough, are sure to experience disability.

3. It increases metabolism.

Metabolism measures how your body handles and uses nutrients. Strength training increases muscle mass, which raises metabolism. One benefit is that your body uses more of the calories you take in because your resting metabolic rate increases. That leads to less body fat and makes it easier to control your weight. Just being a few pounds overweight puts you at high risk for many health problems.

4. It reduces your risk for falls.

There are two reasons for this. The first is that exercise lets you practice keeping your balance and reacting to things around you. The second is that exercise can help arrest a natural decline in muscle fitness. Exercise will keep your muscles fit. Continue reading 10 Reasons to Keep Fit as You Age →

Ask and Answer

What exercise should I do at the gym to build muscle?

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Ask:

I got a gym membership mainly so I could build muscles but I don’t know what exercise to do when I go, I haven’t gone yet but I will be going next Monday. I don’t know what exercise to do . I want to build muscle and lose weight but mainly build muscle. its my first week so what exercise do you recommend doing like what type of exercises .if I know the names of the exercises I can look them up and know how to do them so when I go to threw gym I feel more comfortable working out.

Answer:

The reason you don’t know what exercises to do is because you have the cart before the horse and you’re not prepared to do what you’re going to do.

GOALS
Exercise is hard work so it makes no sense to exercise without purpose and for purpose you need goals. Goals like excellence in a sport or occupation, strength, explosive power, endurance, flexibility, systemic fitness, speed and agility, improved bone density, physical dexterity, stress reduction, general health and well being, body sculpting, body awareness, coordination, poise and comportment, balance, body composition, peace of mind, mental acuity, increased life expectancy, etc. For example, you may want to run farther, have better muscle definition from head to toe (toned), or just make sure you’re doing heart healthy exercises for longevity (cardio).  Continue reading What exercise should I do at the gym to build muscle? →