Get Healthy And Stay Healthy For Life

Great post, everyone needs to exercise no matter what your age. Exercise of any kind, will keep you limber, strengthen your muscles and bones and help keep you healthier.  I found this post on VeryWell.com and it's worth a read.

You're not as young as you once were, and you're still looking for an exercise routine that works. Or maybe you think you're too old to bother. Not so. It's never too late in life to get started, according to Joan Pagano, author of 8 Weeks to a Younger Body.

The key may be to start small and work yourself up. No-Gym Strength Exercises, Pagano recommends these four moves. You can do the whole routine in about 5 minutes.

Squat. Stand in front of a chair, arms forward at shoulder level. Inhale as you bend at the knees and lower yourself as if you were going to sit down -- just enough to touch the chair. Exhale and return to standing. Only go part of the way down until your knees warm up if your knees are uncomfortable or stiff, It may take a couple of weeks before you can do the exercise properly. Aim to do this move 10-15 times.

"This is the No. 1 exercise for life," Pagano says. It's practical because "you have to get up from a seated position all the time, from a chair or the toilet. It works the three major muscle groups of the lower body: the glutes, quads, and hamstrings."

#2 Diagonal pushup. You don’t have to get on the ground to do this pushup. Instead, put your hands on a fixed support, like the kitchen counter, so your body is on a diagonal. Try to do 10-15. After some time you can more to another fixed counter or chair that's lower. Just make sure the object can't move. This exercise can help you prevent hunchback.

"This targets the three major muscle groups in the upper body: the chest, the front of your shoulders, and the back of your arms," she says. "This is good for strengthening the typical fracture spots that happen during osteoporosis."

#3 Pelvic tilt. Strengthen your core muscles with exercises like this one. Lie on your back with bent knees, feet on the floor. As you exhale, tighten your abs and curl your hips 1 inch off the floor with your lower back flat. Release and repeat. Shoot for 10-15.

#4 Back extensions. Stand up, hands on your butt below your waist. Gently pull your elbows toward each other so your upper back arches, slightly. Release and repeat 5-10 times. Another exercise to help prevent hunchback.

"These reverse the tendency we have to hunch as we get older and lengthens out the spine," Pagano says.

You can also do a couple of the simple yoga poses to help relieve muscle pain in the legs. Look on the internet "yoga poses for beginners".

If you really want to lose your body fat than look for my e-books at the websites listed below. You'll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet. Instead of spending hours on the internet reading dozens of posts, you can save time by picking up one of my e-books. 

There are two e-books. “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?” is available at all the online bookstores selling for $1.99. Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find my e-book. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans or meal plans. Look for my book. at Amazon.com, B&N.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.

My new e-book is available on Smashwords.com, just type “getting to a Healthy Weight” in the search box at the top of the home page. 

Exercise And Body Fat

What I want you to know is that living a healthy lifestyle doesn’t have to be complicated. It is not something you are “on or off” like that “diet” word I don’t advocate. To help you meet your fitness goals, I’ve rounded up nine simple tricks I do as a fitness trainer and you can do too. Get ready to live your healthiest life possible.

1. Follow the 80/20 rule. Eat healthy 80 percent, or most of the time. This rule is easy to follow because you can assess your day or week and know if most of the choices you are making are healthy.

Choose to eat clean (real food!) most of the time and use that 20 percent as your wiggle room. I’m probably more like 90/10 but if you can aim for 80/20, that’s great. If you eat fresh produce and lean proteins most of the time and have a dish of ice cream on the weekend, you are following the rule. Plan for indulgences.  I know this can work if you don't overindulge. That's the reason most people can't make the 80/20 rule work for them. Instead of indulging on a bowl of ice cream once a week, they want to indulge every day with something small thinking it won't hurt the diet, but it does hurt and it will cause your diet to fail. When your diet gets you a 1 or 2-pound weight loss every week, it doesn't take much to erase that loss. 

2. Stick to the 2-day rule for exercise

I never go more than two days in a row without exercise, even if I am traveling. If I ever miss two days in a row, I will do whatever it takes to get a workout in on that third day, even if it’s running stairs inside of a building.

Using this rule will help you build routine and rhythm around your workouts. You can skip any guilt-trip you give yourself and just get right back into exercise on day three. Now you have a realistic game plan to keep you exercising for the long haul. Rules that fit the reality of “life happens” are rules you can work into your lifestyle.

3. Strength Training

Strength training builds muscle, improves posture, strengthens bone density, and increases confidence and quality of life. Having muscles is key to performing daily activities (gardening, home repair, picking up the kiddos) and there are a ton of benefits to feeling stronger and more confident as a person.

Strength training can reduce the risk of degenerative diseases and the overall quality of life. As we age, our strength levels and metabolism both decrease. That’s why it’s so important to stress your body through exercise so it can grow stronger. Plus, the more muscle you gain, the more calories you burn at rest!

4. Never skip breakfast

Breakfast sets the tone for your day. When you skip breakfast or don’t eat until several hours after you are awake, you are more likely to overeat at lunch or make less than healthy choices because your hunger is driving the bus. Eat a satisfying protein-based breakfast to start your day off fueled and strong. It doesn't have to be complicated—some of the best breakfasts are no-cook! 

5. Find exercises that you like.

Some people love exercise and can’t live without it and some people claim to hate it... and there’s a whole range of opinions in the middle.

Search for a form of exercise you love. When you love an activity, no one has to convince you to do it. You won’t have to work on your commitment to go to spin class or lift weights at the gym if those are both activities you love to do. Maybe you pick a group sport. Join a new gym. Find adult dance classes. Do aerial yoga at a studio, or resistance band training at home. You could surprise yourself with your love of running, or kettlebells.

I’m a professed group fitness junkie and can’t get enough of spinning, conditioning classes, and boot camps. So what’s your calling? Perhaps it’s nature, hiking the trails. You’ve just got to keep trying different exercises on until you’ve found the right fit for you.

6. Keep a positive attitude

Living with a positive attitude is something I preach and live because nothing productive happens out of negativity. I’ve got science on my side because research shows that when you are happy first, you are more likely to succeed in life. Having that positive attitude and being optimistic gives you the ability to set goals, believe in yourself and look for solutions to challenges.

With the right mindset, you have faith in your abilities and you are more likely to take action steps to reach your goals. Like attracts like, so if you are positive, it’s like opening your arms up for all the positive things coming right back at you. 

7. Drink Lemon Water

Every single morning, before I eat or drinking anything—and that includes my coffee—I reach for a big glass of lemon water. I squeeze about half a lemon into 12 to 16 ounces of room temperature water and sip. So simple, yet so good for your body! This has always been of my favorite tips to share with people who ask for an easy, start today tip, for better health. Lemon water flushes out toxins, balances your pH levels, and boosts your immunity. 

8. Do HIIT exercises

Okay, I’m partial to HIIT (high intensity,S interval training) because I love intense workouts, but I also love HIIT because you will see results.

HIIT is a type of workout where you give maximum effort through quick intense bursts of exercise followed by short recovery periods. HIIT workouts train and condition both your aerobic and anaerobic energy systems. You get your heart rate up and improve your cardiovascular fitness level while burning more fat and calories in less time.

So what is HIIT? It's nothing more than starting off slow and after you want up speed up for 1 minute, then slow down for 1 or 2 minutes, then speed up for 1 minute, and repeat that routine for 6 times and that interval training. Read up about HIIT and see if it works for you. 

9. Never go out to eat starving

If you are watching calories, you might think skipping meals leading up to a party can help you save up your calories for the party, but that’s asking for trouble. When you go to a party or cookout starving, you are more likely to overeat and eat all the wrong things.

It’s okay to be hungry when you head out the door, but don’t go famished or you will eat too much and regret it later. Have a handful of nuts or something healthy that takes the edge off your hunger before you head out.

If you really want to lose your body fat than look for my e-books at the websites listed below. You'll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet. Instead of spending hours on the internet reading dozens of posts, you can save time by picking up one of my e-books. 

There are two e-books. “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?” is available at all the online bookstores selling for $1.99. Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find my e-book. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans or meal plans. Look for my book. at Amazon.com, B&N.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.

My new e-book is available on Smashwords.com, just type “getting to a Healthy Weight” in the search box at the top of the home page. 

Can You Think Your Way Thin

It’s obviously not that simple, but there are little mind tricks you can use to bolster your efforts to lose weight. Try these smart ways to put your brain to work for you:

1. Imagine Yourself Fitter. You’ve undoubtedly heard about the power of visualization. And when it comes to exercise, an important part of any weight loss program, your imagination can be an effective motivational tool. One small study published in the Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology in 2010 found that adults who imagined their future selves -- either as slimmer and fitter or out-of-shape and inactive – were more apt to stick with their exercise routine. So whether it’s hope or fear, choose whichever motivates you to keep moving. 

Yes, think positive and always imagine you as a fit, healthy person who jogs or bikes with friends and having fun. This is the best way to keep motivated.

2. Tweak Your Attitude

You may occasionally catch yourself thinking things like, “There must be an easier way,” or “I wish I could have potato chips instead of carrot sticks.” When this happens, cognitive behavioral therapy expert Judith Beck, PhD, author of The Beck Diet Solution, suggests countering those thoughts with an “oh, well” attitude. In other words, say to yourself, “I may not like this, but I’ll accept it, do what I have to do and move on.” A shorter version? “I want the potato chips but I’m going to skip them. I know better now".

3. Focus on the Habit, Not the Calories

You’re really not hungry, but that 100-calorie snack is only … 100 calories. Will it bust your calorie count for the day? Not likely. But here’s the problem: When you cave to that urge to nosh, it doesn’t matter if it has 20 calories or 200. Eating when you’re not hungry reinforces the habit of giving in to temptations, according to Beck. Instead of focusing on calorie count, stop and think about why you’re reaching for food. Are you bored or upset? Is it time for your favorite show and you always eat in front of tube? Whatever the trigger, go for a walk, work on a hobby or call a friend --anything that distracts you from feeding a bad food habit.

Thinking your way thin is also about remembering that your trying to lose weight. Most of the cheating isn't really cheating, It's not remembering that your trying to lose weight and giving in to old habits like using thick creamy dressing on your salad, instead of wine vinegar. 

If you really want to lose your body fat than look for my e-books at the websites listed below. You'll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet. Instead of spending hours on the internet reading dozens of posts, you can save time by picking up one of my e-books. 

There are two e-books. “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?” is available at all the online bookstores selling for $1.99. Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find my e-book. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans or meal plans. Look for my book. at Amazon.com, B&N.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.

My new e-book is available on Smashwords.com, just type “getting to a Healthy Weight” in the search box at the top of the home page. 

Do Carbs Make You Gain Weight

This post from the HungryGirl website. It explains why you don't have to be afraid of  carbs.

Before you continue reading, There are good and bad Carbs. The bad Carbs are the ones in manufactured foods, the stuff in boxes on your grocery's shelves, and most bad carbs are loaded with calories. Good carbs are fruits and vegetables, beans, lentils, nuts, etc. 

Carbs can be downright confusing: Some sources claim that eating carbs can hinder weight loss and cause weight gain; others say carbs are a diet essential. I’m Hungry Girl Lisa Lillien, and I’m here to clarify the truth about carbs.

There are rumors out there that eating carbs can be detrimental to your diet. Low-carb diets have gone through periods of being super popular for weight loss. But here’s the deal:

Reality: Carbs Don’t Make You Gain Weight; Excess Calories Do

Carbs don't cause instant weight gain, but starchy carbs do have a tendency to be calorie-dense. And if you eat too many calories, you’ll probably put on weight, whether those calories are from carbs or another nutrient. Sure, it’s a problem if your diet consists only of carbs, but it’s also problematic if you’re skipping them completely. Carbohydrates play an important role in your diet; they provide energy to your body. The name of the game is balance: The USDA recommends that 45 to 65 percent of an adult’s daily calorie intake comes from carbs, with the remainder of calories coming from a mixture of protein and fat.

When it Comes to Carbs, There Are a Few Things to Keep in Mind

1. Not all carbs are created equal.

Certain carbs are better for your health than others. It’s important to limit refined carbs, which are prevalent in foods like processed white bread and cakes.

The process of refinement means the whole grains have been extracted, removing much of the fiber and nutritional value and leaving you with sugary carbs and empty calories. 

A better way to fill your daily carb quota is with complex carbs, which are found in whole foods like oats, whole grains, beans, green veggies, and potatoes.

Complex carbs are low in sugar and tend to be high in fiber. And fiber takes longer to digest than other carbs, so it keeps you satisfied and feeling full for a long time. That’s definitely true for me — if I snack on something like an apple, I’m much less likely to reach for a candy bar later in the day.

2. Even complex carbs can be calorie-dense, so watch your servings.

Always read nutritional labels, and practice portion control. One of my favorite ways to enjoy calorie-dense carbs in moderation is to bulk up the serving size with low-calorie foods like veggies: You get the health benefits of the carbs, plus a big portion and a low calorie count!

Green-leafy vegetables are carbs too and they are important to everyones diet. Complex carbs are the ones you want and the man-made carbs are the ones to avoid. 

Forget the low carb diets and stick to healthy food with low-calories. 

If you really want to lose your body fat than look for my e-books at the websites listed below. You'll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet. Instead of spending hours on the internet reading dozens of posts, you can save time by picking up one of my e-books. 

There are two e-books. “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?” is available at all the online bookstores selling for $1.99. Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find my e-book. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans or meal plans. Look for my book. at Amazon.com, B&N.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.

My new e-book is available on Smashwords.com, just type “getting to a Healthy Weight” in the search box at the top of the home page. 

How To Lose Body Fat

Don't get hung-up on losing weight when the real goal is to lose your fat. I know it sounds like I'm talking about starvation as the only alternative for losing fat but there are safer ways.

The whole idea is to give your body time to burn the fat as fuel. So how do we do that? I eat and drink all my calories for the day in 6 or 8 hours. That means the rest of the day I don't consume any calories. It's a 16 hour fast. I can drink water, tea, coffee or any drink with zero calories. And how does this work? It take your body 12 hours to use up the food you ate and then the remaining 4 hours it has to burn body fat to maintain your body functions.

Your body has no way of storing energy. It burn the calories you eat as fuel as you need the fuel. When you sleep it burn very few calories because the body is resting but during the day it burn more calories because your active. For most of us, we spend too many hours resting and not enough hours being active. Think about the hours in a day and how many of those hours you spend at a desk, how many hours you spend sitting in front of the TV, sitting while your eating, and how many hours you spend lying down. Some of those hours might be productive but your not burning a lot of calories.

So how many calories are you burning in a day? You can add body fat because your body is accustom to the same amount of food or calories every day but you don't burn the same amount every day. So when you eat or drink more calories than you burn you add body fat. Your body stores excess food as fat in your fat cell. All excess food is stored as fat. Your body will process all the calories it needs to provide the fuel that you need at the time you need it. So if I'm writing or reading all day and working at my desk and not being active, I know I can't eat much. I will increase the fasting hours and decrease the hours I spend eating. I can eat two meals in 4 hours and fast 20 hours. If I'm very active, hiking, biking, or doing a heavy workout, I'll eat three times in 8 hours and fast for 16 hours.

You might think that you won't have any energy during the fasting period remember 8 hours or half that time your sleep or resting and after you start moving around most people skip breakfast anyway, so most people on this type of meal plan will eat between noon and 7pm and then fast. The more of your workday you fast the more fat you'll burn if you can mix in more active with work.

I know someone who has a lot of success with this plan and he only follows the plan 4 days a week. He will fast at night and during the day and eat meal from 4pm to 8 pm so he fasts from 8pm to 4 pm the next day. On Friday, Saturday, and Sunday he eats 3 meals with the family.

You want to eat healthy foods and avoid sugar as much as possible. Eating fresh foods like fruits, vegetables and fresh meat will give you the nutrition your body needs.

If you really want to lose your body fat than look for my e-books at the websites listed below. You'll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet. Instead of spending hours on the internet reading dozens of posts, you can save time by picking up one of my e-books.

There are two e-books. “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?” is available at all the online bookstores selling for $1.99. Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find my e-book. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans or meal plans. Look for my book. at Amazon.com, B&N.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.

My new e-book is available on Smashwords.com, just type “getting to a Healthy Weight” in the search box at the top of the home page.

Do You Read Those "Healthy and Fitness" websites

I’m sure you have read a few yourself. The one’s that advocate exercises that most of us can’t do, but there great if you want to lose inches or lose weight. No wonder most people give up trying. Last month and I think I wrote about it, less than 3% of  American adults are physically fit. We already know that 66% of adults are overweight which means another 30% of adults may not be overweight but they’re seriously out-of-shape.

Now you can understand why Americans on average pay about 17% of their income for healthcare, whereas in other developed countries the average citizen pays about 9% of their income for healthcare. If we had the best healthcare system in the world you could justify the extra cost, but we don’t. We rank number 37 in developed countries according to the World Health Assoc.

So why is this important to you. The numbers of physically fit people in our country are steadily dropping generation by generation. Americans need to realize what they are doing to themselves. Americans have a strange attitude toward themselves and it’s not just about fitness. We tend to put thing off. We have a “why do I have to do it today?” attitude with most everything and that’s one reason we are so rushed. We are in a hurry to do everything. We thing that we can do everything at the last-minute, not realizing that we are putting extra stress on ourselves.

This is one reason why we fall for all those quick weight loss methods. We want to be able to use the quick and easy method and we think that if we just keep looking we’ll find one.  Well, good luck with that. The methods for getting rich and the methods for losing weight aren’t much different and as we all know there’s no quick way to get rich.

Anytime your body loses weight quickly your body goes into starvation mode and starts to hoard calories, and the fat starts to return. The bad part is when you lose weight quickly you're losing mostly muscle weight and only about 30 fat. But when you gain the weight back, it comes back all fat. So now you’ve increased your percentage of body fat you decrease your percentage of muscle mass. So what the different you might ask. It’s your muscle mass that has to burn fat to maintain it’s size and strength. So every time you lose muscle your losing your ability to burn fat.

Overweight people constantly complain to me in emails that they eat like a bird and can’t lose weight. If you're already overweight and out of shape you have your work cut out for you. I’ll write more about this in my next post and give you tips that I used to lose my fat. Before you can get into shape you have to lose that fat.

If you really want to lose your body fat than look for my e-books at the websites listed below. You'll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet. Instead of spending hours on the internet reading dozens of posts, you can save time by picking up one of my e-books. 

There are two e-books. “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?” is available at all the online bookstores selling for $1.99. Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find my e-book. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans or meal plans. Look for my book. at Amazon.com, B&N.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.

My new e-book is available on Smashwords.com, just type “getting to a Healthy Weight” in the search box at the top of the home page. 

Brisk Walking Will Keep You Thinner

Which exercise is best for keeping off weight? A long term study found that people who enjoyed a 30-minute brisk walk most days had the smallest waists and lowest body mass indexes. Brisk walking beat gym exercise and sports for staying slim. Brisk walking was associated with being thinner, especially for women, and people over age 50.

Does Brisk Walking Beat Other Physical Activity for Staying Thin?

In Britain as well as the US and many other countries, health authorities recommend 30 minutes or more per day of moderately intense physical activity for health and weight management.

The researchers wanted to find out which activity was most effective, and the data showed that brisk walking was the winner.

What is Brisk Walking?

Brisk or fast walking is at a pace where you are breathing heavier than normal and the heart rate is elevated. To be in the moderately-intense activity zone, you should have a heart rate of 50% to 70% of your maximum heart rate. Use our heart rate calculator to find this number for your age.

The study focused on brisk walking rather than strolling at an easy pace and lower heart rate, in order to compare it to jogging, gym exercise and sports.

The subjects of the study determined for themselves whether they were brisk/fast walking.

Study Finds Brisk Walking Associated with Lower Fatness Measures

The study looked at data collected in the annual Health Survey for England (HSE) from 1999 to 2012. Over 68,000 respondants reported on how many days in the past month they engaged in 30 minutes or more of moderately intense activities.

The categories were:

• walking at a fast or brisk pace
• sports or exercise including swimming, cycling, gym workouts, dancing, running/jogging, football, tennis and other racquet sports.
• heavy housework
• heavy manual activities

Measurements were made of body mass index, which uses the ratio of height to weight, and measurement of waist circumference. A wider waist shows central obesity, which is associated with developing health problems independently of BMI.

The exciting results were that brisk walking beats the other activities for predicting who has a lower BMI and smaller waist. The graphs of the data show a consistent downward trend in these fatness measures with the number of days of brisk walking each month. Brisk walking five or more days per week was a good target, consistent with the health recommendations for physical activity.

Who Benefits the Most from Brisk Walking?

The good news is that brisk walking worked best for populations who may be less inclined to join in sports or didn't have access to recreational facilities.

• People over age 50 regardless of gender
• People who are pressed for time. 
• People who are unable to do conventional exercise

There is no monetary cost to walking so it is very likely that the benefits will outweigh the costs. A simple policy that 'every step counts' may be a step towards curbing the upward trend in obesity rates and beneficial for other health conditions.”

Why would walking be found to be more effective than spending the same amount of time in the gym? Walkers may be more faithful to their regimen over time. It can also be harder to know how much of your time spent in the gym is in moderately-intense exercise and whether you are performing the exercises correctly. Walking is much easier to get right and to know when you are breathing harder and working up a sweat.

How to Start Brisk Walking

People who enjoy walking at an easy pace can take steps to walk faster and raise the heart rate and breathing rate into the moderately-intense zone. Walking with good posture and arm motion can speed up the feet.

People who have difficulty in walking faster due to arthritis or other conditions can add walking poles or small hand weights to their walking workouts. Using walking poles can raise the heart rate while walking at your usual pace.

If you really want to lose your body fat than look for my Ebooks at the websites listed below. You'll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet.

There’s two ebooks.  “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?” is available at all the online bookstores selling for $1.99. Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find my Ebook. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans or meal plans. Look for my book. at Amazon.com, B&N.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.

My new ebook is available on Smashwords.com, just type “getting to a Healthy Weight” in the search box at the top of the home page.