Eating More Speeds Up Your Metabolism

A lot of people want to shed some weight so they try to watch the amount of food they eat thinking they will stop putting on more weight. The opposite ends up happening. After a while they begin to realize that they are actually gaining weight even though they aren't eating as much. The truth is that when you don't eat much your metabolism slows down and you begin storing more and more calories each meal. So to speed up your metabolism you need to start eating more meals each day along with drinking plenty of water. When you eat more your body starts burning fat calories more than carbohydrates.

You should actually eat 6 meals per day rather than 2 or three! I know that does seem like a lot but what has happened is we have become a culture that snacks more than we eat meals. When we snack our metabolism slows down and we begin to store more calories and have a harder time burning them. Yes this actually takes effort, work and planning. You have to discipline yourself if you want to get the body you want to get! It's not impossible like a lot of people begin to think at one point or another. It just takes a whole lot of discipline and organization.

Another problem is that most people wait too long between meals! We tend to wait until we are actually hungry to eat, I know that may sound crazy but you need to change your mindset from "eat when I'm hungry" to "eat to keep fueling my body". The truth is that if you feel hungry you have already waited too long to eat! So make sure to keep eating throughout the day! And not junk food of coarse! Eat things like, fruits, vegetables, wheat's, grains, and yogurt. Keep yourself fueled and you will start to see a change in your metabolism! Start starving yourself and you will find it harder to burn fat!

Children & Physical Activity

Physical activity is extremely important for a healthy lifestyle. Children should be out running and playing each day! That's why they need to have recess in school so that they can remain active, not just to give them a break from being taught. Physical education is so important in schools and it needs to remain a main course for all students! There has been a rapid decrease in the activity level of children in the last couple decades and it's still declining. This is mostly due to the big boom of electronics. Kids can now have fun right at home sitting down not moving anything but their fingers now.

Kids should be outside having snow ball fights, riding their bikes, skateboarding, playing sports or playing on a playground. Kid's don't need to be working out but they definitely need to remain active! According to Sports Illustrated For Kids 64% of active teens and young teens believe that being healthy and physically active is extremely important, compared to 44% of non-active kids. Respondents were asked to choose the group to which they belong.

Three quarters of the active respondents 75% say they are physically active enough, while fewer than half 47% of the non-active respondents say so. The survey shows that 40% of non-active teens report being overweight. Only two in 10 of the active respondents believe they are overweight. So as you can see physical activity is really important and we should all work to promote fun physical activity in the life's of children. We need to work to establish a healthy lifestyle at a young age so that when they get older they are already engaged in living healthy.

Dedication

Nothing is accomplished without dedication. If you want something you have to get out there and take it for yourself. If you want to get in the best shape of your life you have to get in the gym and consistently keep working to get better. If you aren't dedicated to your fitness goals then you will find yourself losing interest, dreading your workouts, and eventually dropping your goals! Dedication is a mindset that must be put into effect. The truth of the matter is that if you really honestly want something then you will go out there and do what it takes to get it.
Fitness is a lifestyle, and that means living healthy day to day striving to better yourself every chance you get.

This means, eating healthy, staying active each day doing some form of physical activity and constantly looking to improve yourself. If Michael Jordan hadn't been dedicated like he was he wouldn't have become the best player to ever play the game. He told himself at a young age that he was going to be the best player there was and he did it. From this example you can see that you have to first agree with yourself and be confident in yourself. Then you have to dedicate yourself to working each day at accomplishing your goal. So keep working, never give up, never give in, stay dedicated and you can do anything you set your mind to!

My Love For Living A Healthy Lifestyle

Do you remember being a child? Back when you would always want to be outside with your friends playing? Weather it was playing basketball, baseball, skateboarding, riding my bike, or just running around with friends playing tag or whatever I remember being very active. But I have realized that as we grow up we tend to fall away from being active. We seem to start staying inside more as we work or when we get home from work we sit down and relax for the rest of the evening. But in all honesty we all know that we could get out for at least half an hour at some point in the day and engage in some form of activity. It's almost as if we make fun things out to be some form of hard work! What happened to the spirit of fun? We all need to have a list of activities we enjoy doing and engage in something each day. It could even be just going to the gym and working out.

Honestly, how bad would it be to get out of the house and take a bike ride around your neighborhood or go to the park for an hour with some friends and play catch or football, basketball, baseball, or volleyball. If you like skateboarding then go to the skate park for a while. If you have a dog take it for a walk in the evenings. There are so many things you can do that will contribute to living a more healthy life. The effects of living an active lifestyle range from feeling better physically to feeling better emotionally and even to sleeping better as well as maintaining a higher level of energy throughout the day.

I love to stay active. If it's nice outside I want to be outside doing something. Activities that I enjoy would be going skating, playing sand volleyball, basketball, or just walking around downtown. The key is to do things you enjoy that keep you active day to day. If you don't enjoy what your doing then you will most likely stop at some point due to lack of interest. So make a list of things you love to do and get out and have some fun living healthy. Bring back the spirit yo had as a child!

The Importance of A Strong Back

The back muscles are more important than people tend to give them credit for. Most people focus on the arms and chest when they go to the gym because that's what society portrays to be the most important. Well the truth is every muscle is important and you should exercise all your muscles! But back to the back. We use our back muscles all the time from lifting objects, to standing, to sitting, and even to coughing and sneezing! Think about what would happen if you had some thing stuck in your throat and you where to weak to cough it up! I know it's drastic but it is realistic!

Having a strong back will also make your day to day life easier and less strenuous. There are three muscle groups in the back, the Latissimus Dorsi, Erector Spinae, and Rhomboids. The Latissimus Dorsi muscles are found on the sides of the back and are used for flexibility and extension for the upper body as well as rotation. The Erector Spinae is known mainly as the lower back but it actually spans from the buttocks to the neck. The Erector Spinae is used for flexibility and extension for the upper body as well as rotation. The Rhomboids are made up of minor and major muscles that go between the shoulder blades to help with rotation, elevation, and retraction of the shoulder blades. The back is worked through exercises like seated rows, bent over rows, kneeling bench dumbbell one arm rows, dead lifts, and reverse fly's.

So as you can see, the back muscles should be a regular part of your training plan. Not working the back will lead to injury and obviously back problems! The main reason most people end up having back problems is due to the fact that they neglect the back muscles and go on working their arms and chest. Then they end up hurting their back doing something as simple as kneeling over to pick up their keys they just dropped on the floor! Also remember to avoid sitting too much throughout the day, sitting is terrible for your back and it is something we all do too much!

Make it a priority each day to stretch your back as well as the rest of your body to build flexibility and be active! Get some good circulation throughout your body and you will start to see the improvements in tight or sore muscles. It's all about living an active healthy lifestyle and maintaining a good amount of flexibility. Always warm up and stretch before working out as well as cooling down and stretching after working out. Also learn to stretch your back in the morning before your feet even touch the ground. This will help with back soreness and tension a lot!

Incorporrating Cardio Into Strength Training

We all know it can be long and strenuous getting on the treadmill and running to burn fat. Yes you still need to do it but you should also learn to incorporate cardio right into your actual workout. This is done by taking smaller rests in between sets and setting your workout up so that you are doing two to three lifts or exercises at once working different muscle groups. For example say you are working chest and back. So in order to set up your workout this way you would get three workouts ready to go at once.

Let's say your doing dumbbell chest presses, bent over row, and heel touches. One set would consist of doing something like 8 dumbbell chest presses, 8 bent over rows, and 20 heel touches, then a rest before the next set of sets. Working out this way raises your heart rate and allows you to engage in a form of cardio training due to the small rest periods as well as building muscle with the resistance training.This type of training should not be done until a good solid foundation has been built.

Jumping into this type of training to fast can lead to fatigue and discouragement. So understand your boundaries, but push yourself to see results. Also remember that fat can be burned through your workout by designing a workout like the one described above. Yes you do need cardio, but you should also look to have lifting routines that challenge you aerobically. One of the big mistakes most people make is thinking they only loose fat from running or cycling but you actually burn several calories throughout the course of a good resistance training session.

Gym Essentials

Usually when you go to a big gym you are surrounded by so many high tech machines which all seem to amaze people with advances. The truth is that yes these machines are good and they do work but gyms tend to pack in more than they really need. In all honesty if you want to get a good workout all you need is some form of cardiovascular exercise, a set of dumbbells and barbells with adjustable weights along with a couple leg machines. I have come to find that most commercial gyms use the presence of several unnecessary machines to draw in customers.

This presence of several machines causes those using the facility to potentially neglect free weight exercises which are the most important. Using a machine engages your muscles on one level keeping the movement on a set path. When you use free weights like dumbbells or barbells your muscles have to work harder in order to stabilize the weight throughout the lift. This engages your stabilizer muscles. For example if you use a machine to do biceps curls you are only engaging the biceps and not the muscles that support it. When you use dumbbells you engage you biceps as well as all the surrounding muscles of the arm, chest and back.

So remember not to get sucked into a gym just because they have a bunch of fancy machines. The truth is that you only need a good set of dumbbells, barbells, a few machines, and a cardiovascular section with treadmills, bikes, and possibly stair climbers. If you do go to a gym with all of these machines learn to use free weights more often and you will start to see and feel a difference in the results you get!