Eating The Right Way To Lose Weight

A great post from VeryWell.com explains why diet is the important part of losing weight.

Forget about starving yourself, losing weight is about eating foods that burn more calories and stop eating and drinking the stuff that puts weight on.

Nutrition and weight loss go hand-in-hand. It really comes down to chemistry and math. Consume too many calories (energy), weight is gained. Creating a caloric deficit stimulates weight loss. Sounds fairly simple.

Everyone seems to be on the search for something quick and easy. Very Low-Calorie Diets (VLCDs) are popular but disregard possible health risks. They are also very expensive. Seems like a risky high dollar cost to shed unwanted pounds.

I teach eating “real” quality food to maintain a fit physique and at a cost saving. Want to begin a healthy weight loss journey? Review what you're eating now in order to make healthy changes.

Healthy weight loss is no more than one to three pounds per week.

Time for a Lifestyle Change
Losing weight is a pretty straight forward process. It will require a nutrition lifestyle change together with regular exercise for best overall results. Quality healthy food choices are important.

Are you eating processed foods, dining out, drinking alcohol and soda regularly? Revising these choices will be important for success. Start by keeping a food journal. Write down what you're eating and sub out unhealthy meals for healthier selections.

Studies show people who maintain a consistent food journal have the best weight loss success. The journal allows for accountability. You will be able to repeat personal best weight loss weeks simply reviewing what has been recorded.

The Right Foods and Right Portions
Eating healthy should be enjoyable, taste great and never a burden. Essential nutrients for weight loss include lean proteins, fiber, antioxidants and healthy fats.

Eating correctly portioned meals is essential. A portion size is what can fit in the palm of your hand and simplifies eating healthy. It also reduces the need to continuously count calories.

Normal hunger occurs every two to three hours so many people take advantage of nutrient timing. Eating several small meals per day keeps our metabolism boosted. It also promotes satiety and eliminates urges to binge on guilt laden food.

Keeping the focus on consuming healthy foods will be the success in adopting a healthy lifestyle and reaching your goal weight.

Enjoy a Variety of Healthy Foods
There are a wide variety of healthy foods to satisfy the pickiest eater for weight loss and overall healthy lifestyle.

The following foods will be helpful to start your eat-right journey for successful weight loss.

Best Proteins
Chicken Breast (boneless/skinless) – 3.5oz, 30g
Turkey – 7g protein per ounce
Tuna – 6oz, 40
Salmon – 3.5oz, 27g
Halibut – 4oz, 30g
Trout – 4oz, 28g
Sardines – 4oz, 10g
Eggs (high in EFA) – 1 large, 7g
Milk – 1 cup, 8g (1% or skim, if tolerated)
Cottage Cheese – 1/2 cup, 15g
Almonds 8g, Peanuts 9g, Cashews 5g – 1/4 cup
Peanut Butter – 2tbsp, 8g
Kefir – 14g per cup
Yogurt – 8-12g per cup
Tofu – ½ cup, 10g

Top Antioxidants
Blueberries - at least a fistful a day
All rich colored berries (strawberries/blackberries/raspberries/cranberries/aroniaberries)
Sweet potatoes – at least ½ cup serving daily
Broccoli – eat ½ cup raw or 1 cup cooked daily
Tomatoes – One medium
Acai – look for quality juice
Beans - Eat two 1/2 cup servings a day of cooked or canned beans
Oats (steel-cut is the best) - Eat at least three servings of whole grains per day. A serving equals one cup cooked oatmeal, 1/2 cup uncooked rolled oats or 1/4 cup steel-cut oats
Spinach – one cup cooked spinach or leafy green vegetable per day
Dark chocolate - Eat a one-ounce serving daily
Red wine or Concord grape juice 4oz – 1 glass daily
Green and white tea – up to 4 cups daily

Eat Healthy Fats
Extra virgin olive oil
Coconut oil
Wild salmon (fresh, frozen and canned)
Ground flaxseeds
Flaxseed oil
Walnuts
Herring
Sardines
Sablefish
Anchovies
Farmed oysters
More »

Stay Consistent
In order to lose weight being consistent with healthy food intake will be necessary. There is no such thing as perfection and only progress.

Take one day at a time and know there will be slip-ups. If you do get off track, let it go and make a better choice with your next meal. Food guilt only drags us down and prevents moving in a positive direction.

Use the palm as your portion size, selecting healthy foods as listed above. Eating every two to three hours is a great beginning to reaching your goal weight and adopting a healthy lifestyle.

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. 

Choosing Healthy Protein

We know we have to eat protein and for Americans the protein of choice is meat.

Making healthy protein choices is more about the fats that accompany the proteins and the preparation methods than it is about the actual proteins themselves. Look for protein sources that are lower in saturated fats, a little higher in mono and unsaturated fats, and prepared in healthy ways.

Okay, I'm going to spell it out, when you eat protein you're also getting fats and you prepare any meat, you use cooking oil or lard, so I'm not saying that you should stop eating protein, but the kind of protein you eat and the way you prepare meat can increase your risk for heart trouble. Animal fats will clog the arteries that carry blood throughout the body causing bad circulation and that causes heart trouble.

A fish fillet baked with lemon and almonds is an example of a healthy protein choice. Roasting a chicken breast and topping it with salsa would also be another healthy example. Seafood and poultry have different types of fat that are not harmful to the body.

A porterhouse steak is full of protein and tastes delicious, but it is not as healthy as poultry or fish due to all of the saturated fats usually found in red meat.

For most people, it's a good idea to limit red meat consumption to only a couple of meals each month. Processed meats, like lunch meats, are poor sources of protein too, because the fats and ingredients used to make them have been linked to cancer, and some people also worry about hotdogs and brain tumors.

Of course, fish and chicken may not always be healthy. Fried fish sticks or breaded and fried chicken are not good protein choices because this type of cooking adds unhealthy fats and extra calories.

Meats may be cooked on a grill. This method of cooking can be healthy as long as you take care not to char the meat. Use indirect heat and choose cuts of meat lower in fat to prevent charring.

Other healthy protein sources include legumes, nuts, and seeds.

Vegetables and grains also contain some protein. These plant sources contain polyunsaturated fats, some of which are beneficial to your health. You will learn more about the different types of fats in the next two lessons.

How Much Protein Do You Need?

If you need 2,000 calories per day, then about 300 to 400 calories should come from protein.

One gram of protein has four calories, so that means you would need 100 grams of protein each day. One ounce of protein is about 28 grams, so you need about four ounces of protein each day. One cup of diced chicken breast meat has about 45 grams of protein or just less than two ounces. Three ounces of canned tuna has 20 grams of protein or about two-thirds of an ounce of protein.

So how do you turn this into the right number of portions? One serving of meat is usually about three ounces, or about the size of a deck of cards, and has around 20 grams of protein. One cup of low-fat milk has about eight grams of protein. Twelve almonds have about three grams of protein.

Vegetarians and Incomplete Proteins

Complete proteins contain all of the essential amino acids, and incomplete proteins are missing one or more of the individual essential amino acids. Proteins from animal origin contain all of the essential amino acids, but proteins from plant sources do not. This means that a diet based on plant protein requires the right combinations of protein sources to get enough of all of the essential amino acids.

People who regularly eat meat, dairy, and eggs don't need to be concerned with combining proteins since meat, eggs, fish, poultry, and dairy products all contain complete proteins. Vegetarians and vegans may choose complementary proteins to get all the essential amino acids.

For example, grains are very low in the essential amino acid lysine, but legumes contain large amounts of lysine, so grains and legumes are considered complementary. When you eat both grains and legumes during the day, you will consume the lysine you need.

Here are some combinations of complementary plant proteins. They don't need to be combined at every meal as long as you get enough of the various proteins each day:

Grains plus legumes. Try black beans and rice.
Nuts and seeds plus legumes. Lentil soup with a serving of almonds on the side.
Corn plus legumes. Try pinto beans in a corn tortilla.
There are lots of possible combinations.

Try whole-grain pasta tossed with peas, almonds, and Low-Fat Vegan Alfredo Sauce.

Whole wheat toast with peanut butter will give you a complete protein.

Bean soup with whole-grain crackers.

Corn tortillas with refried beans and rice.

A vegetarian or vegan diet that includes legumes, whole grains, nuts, and seeds will supply all of the essential amino acids. Soy protein is a complete protein, and eating soy will provide you with all of the essential amino acids.

If you really want to lose your body fat then 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 $3.99. 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, bn.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. 

Until February 23 Smashwords is running a sale on my ebooks for $.99 this is your chance to pick up a good read very cheap. I one-stop shop for all the information you need to change your diet, lose weight, lose body fat and find out why you’re having trouble.  Use the code CL77K

Use It Or Lose It

It's an old proverb that most of us never paid much attention to. But it's just as true today as ever before. Your body works in real-time and if you're not building muscle your losing muscle. Your body is continually changing. You build the muscles you use and you lose muscle that you're not using.

This is the main reason you need to work out. Did you ever wonder why most people have lower back problems? I had lower back pain for years. Then I start to exercise to build strength in my core. I did sit-ups, and yoga and now no more backaches. I lost my belly and love-handles and no more pain. Even now I'm a senior, I can play ball with my grandsons, ride my bike and even jog. Exercising will give you your life back. I do some exercise every day. I can't start my day without some exercise. I'll exercise about an hour 3 times a week with lite days in-between. You have to give your muscles 48 hours or so to recover from a hard workout. The other day I do more yoga to stay limber, maybe 20 minutes in the morning while I watch the morning show.

I learned most of this on the internet. There's so much free information I can change my routine every week. As long as you workout with the same intensity, it doesn't matter what you do. Some days I swim, some days I ride a bike, some days I lift weights and some days I do yoga. If you change your routine you actually get better results.

Don't forget to eat better foods and never eat a lot at one time. I nibble all day long, and never eat a regular meal, and I'm never hungry. If I eat a regular meal I get sluggish and tired. I stopped doing that and now I'm more active. I'm back in size 34 pants after about 40 years, I weigh the same as I did in High School and I feel like I'm 35 again.

I'm never going back to that overweight guy who didn't know how to eat real food, snacked every night after dinner, stayed up too late, and never wanted to get out of bed.  After I lost that body fat I was a different people and I like this guy.

Look for my podcast by searching “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight” on the podcast app that you use. You’ll see a piece of my book cover.

If you really want to lose your body fat 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 $3.99. 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, bn.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.

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

 

Don't Diet, Just Eat The Right Way

Dieting can cause you to starve your body and bring on or force you to binge. 

If you have binge eating disorder or think you might, you can learn how to form a positive relationship with food -- and that can help you stop overeating. A positive relationship means eating for the right reasons. 

Think about food as a source of nutrition and energy instead of something to relieve stress or to be avoided. It may seem hard at first, but you can change the way you feel as you improve your eating habits.

Don't Diet

Bingeing might have made you gain weight, as it does for a lot of people, but trying to cut calories or not eating certain kinds of foods can trigger overeating, and that can make it harder for you to recover from the disorder. It can lead to a cycle of dieting and bingeing that’s hard to break.

If you want to lose weight, talk to your doctor about when and how to do it. You want to make sure it doesn’t affect your recovery. With proper help, many people lose weight after they stop bingeing.

Make Regular Meals a Habit

Don’t skip meals. Being very hungry can make you more likely to overeat. It also ups the odds you’ll choose foods that are high in fat and sugar, which can trigger a binge.

It’s important to eat breakfast every day, too. A morning meal can help curb hunger all day long.

Choose healthy foods for meals and snacks. You’ll get nutrients that your body needs. You might also feel fewer cravings for unhealthy foods that make you want to overeat. 

Healthy choices include fruits, vegetables, and protein-rich foods like eggs, chicken breast, salmon, and Greek yogurt. You want to eat fresh foods and eat clean, meaning foods without additives or chemicals. Meats without hormones, fruits, and vegetables that haven't been sprayed with pesticides. 

We are in the habit of only eating when we feel like it. That's the problem, we are causing our own weight problems by not eating properly. We have to eat what our bodies need for energy and nutrition. If you're not doing that over time you will cause your health problems by not eating the right foods. Eating the wrong foods will only cause you to gain weight, be sick more often and miss more time from work. You will be spending more time in the Doctor's office and in general have more health problems. 

Ask yourself why more people over 55 aren't working? Is it because they don't want to? Or is it because employers aren't interested in hiring people who are not very productive.  It's a fact that overweight people have more health problems and miss more time from work. Studies show that the more calories you eat the shorter your life. The more body fat you have the shorter your life. You can be a little overweight and still be healthy, live a long healthy life. Just eat fresh, eat good healthy foods and don't over-eat. 

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. 

Slim For Life; Strategies For Losing Fat And Keeping It Off

Trying yet again to lose those last 10 pounds? We hear you. In fact, 50 percent of women say that within six months they gain back any weight they've managed to ditch. And more than a quarter have dieted so many times they've lost track of the number. Well, get ready to stop the endless yo-yoing: Science has finally come up with simple, groundbreaking solutions for lasting weight loss. We checked in with the top experts in the field and scoured the latest research to bring you the skinny on everything you need to reach your slim-down goals and stay there.

Make your fat burn fat.

Seriously: Your flab can help you shed pounds. How? Just as there's more than one kind of fat in food, there's more than one type in your body. White fat is the bad stuff you want to zap. But a second kind, brown fat, actually torches calories. "Up to 80 percent of adults have brown fat deposits in their bodies," says Aaron M. Cypess, MD, Ph.D., an assistant professor of medicine at the Joslin Diabetes Center and Harvard Medical School. This good fat is powerful because it's packed with mitochondria, the parts of cells that generate heat. When activated, as little as two ounces of brown fat can gobble up as much as 20 percent of your body's calories.

Exercise is one of the best ways to get your brown fat in gear. In a study, scientists at Harvard's Dana-Farber Cancer Institute discovered that working out releases a hormone called irisin, which converts white fat to brown. Exercise for a half-hour at least five days a week to turn up the burn.

You might be asking yourself; "I do that now, why can't I burn fat." There are a couple different reasons; the most common one is "your diet". When I was exercising to lose fat, I had to go on a low-fat diet. Very low-fat, that way my body was forced into burning body fat instead of the food in every meal. But at the same time, I had to cut my carbs.

Your body has to burn protein, carbs, and fat every day, but it will only burn about 30% fat. If you're eating the wrong foods, your body only has to burn the food your eating and not any of the excesses you have stored.

The second reason can be the exercises your doing. Different exercises affect everyone differently. If you are not getting the results you're looking for, you might want to change or vary the exercise program. You can get some help with that from my ebooks or the internet. You can't do the same exercise time after time and expect results. Your body will get used to that exercise and the results will diminish. Vary the exercise so you work different muscles. For instance do legs Monday, Thursday. Do Abs Tuesday, and Friday, Do upper body on Wednesday and Saturday. Rest on Sunday.

Look for my podcast by searching “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight” on the podcast app that you use. You’ll see a piece of my book cover.

If you really want to lose your body fat 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 $3.99. 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, bn.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.

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

 

Is There A Best Time Of The Day To Exercise?

There might be some logic to this post, but I can't agree with the conclusion. I think the best time to exercise is the first hour after you wake up. But that might be because I'm 70 years old. Actually the experts have a different idea.

Two of the top reasons people give for not exercising regularly include lack of results and lack of time. So, for many people, the best time to exercise is the time that is most convenient and the time that fits into a busy schedule.

Research on exercise and time of day is growing, but still limited and not without controversy. In general, if you can find a time for exercise that you can stick with consistently, you will be much more likely to train regularly and get better results.

Human sleep and wake cycles follow a daily cycle called circadian rhythms. It's this cycle that regulates our body temperature, blood pressure, alertness, and metabolism, among other physiological functions. In general, these rhythms conform to our 24-hour day and may be reset based on environmental cues. The time of day that we typically exercise is one of these cues. Research by the University of North Texas in Denton found that although circadian rhythms are inborn we can reset them based upon our behaviors. For example, using an alarm clock, establishing meal times and even when we workout are all cues to help rest our rhythms. They found that people who consistently exercise in the morning "teach" their body to be most ready for exercise at that time of day. When they switched to evening exercise, they didn't feel as strong.

Also See: Does Jet Lag Decrease Athletic Performance?

The ability to adjust your rhythms is important for athletes training for a specific event. The message is to train at the same time of day that the event will occur. Research supports this advice. Studies show that your ability to maintain exercise intensity will adapt to your training time. Therefore, if you do your marathon training in the morning, you may perform better on race day (marathons typically start in the morning).

But if you train in the evening, a morning race day may leave you feeling weaker and slower.

Individual Differences and Exercise Timing

Some people are just naturally morning people. They have no trouble exercising first thing in the morning. Others don't get moving so quickly and are more likely to feel like exercising later in the day. If you have such an obvious preference it's pretty easy to decide what sort of exercise schedule you might stick with. The interesting thing is that research shows that no matter when you think you are better able to exercise, almost all of us are, in fact, physically stronger and have more endurance in the late afternoon.

Scheduling Exercise

Not everyone can choose to exercise when they feel like it. Work and family commitments often take priority and we end up squeezing in some exercise. If you find that the only time you have to exercise is when you least feel like it, don't despair. As we learned earlier, you can change your rhythms and your body can adapt to a new exercise time.

However, it may take about a month to reset your internal exercise clock. (get tips on adjusting your circadian rhythms during air travel).

Research and the Best Time to Exercise

While there is specific research being conducted on this topic, unfortunately, the answer to the question, "What is the best time for exercise?" varies based on the specific question you ask, your training goals, and your exercise adherence. Here are some of the latest specific research findings:

Late Afternoon is Best for Exercise
Research shows that the optimal time to exercise is when our body temperature is at its highest, which, for most people is 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. (body temperature is at its lowest just before waking).

Strength is Greater in the Afternoon
Dr. Hill reported that strength output is 5% higher at around mid-day; anaerobic performance, such as sprinting, improves by 5% in the late afternoon.

Endurance is Greater in the Afternoon
Aerobic capacity (endurance) is approximately 4percent higher in the afternoon.

Injuries Are Less Likely in the Afternoon
Afternoon exercise is the best if you want to avoid injuries for many reasons. We are most alert; our body temperature is the highest so our muscles are warm and flexible; our muscle strength is at its greatest. These three factors make it less likely that we will get injured.

Morning Exercisers Are More Consistent
Even though afternoon exercise might be optimal from a physiological standpoint, research also shows that morning exercisers are more likely to stick to it than late-day athletes.

Evening Exercise and Sleep
Most research supports the idea that exercise can improve sleep quality. But does exercising too late in the evening keep you up? Studies have shown improvements in sleep from both morning and afternoon exercise, so it's not yet clear if evening exercise keeps you up. One study even showed that vigorous exercise half an hour before bedtime did not affect sleep.
One thing that is agreed upon is that sleep deprivation can hinder sports performance.

The Bottom Line

The good news is that you get to decide the best time for you to exercise based upon your personal goals, schedule, and lifestyle. Ideally, you will pick a time that you are able to stick with consistently and make part of your daily or weekly schedule. If you are training for competition, it's wise to modify your training to accommodate the event start time, and it's always wise to warm up before any workout. Also See: Why Your Workouts Don't Work.

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. 

Follow The 80/20 Rule To Lose Weight

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.