Find Your BMI Number Today!
BMI (short for Body Mass Index) is intended to be a rough estimate of the amount of body fat you are carrying. Technically, it’s a ratio calculated using your height and weight as the starting numbers. While it is just an estimate, and does not directly reflect the amount of fatty tissue in your body, your BMI number offers a reasonable reflection of how much fat is in your body. It’s very simple to get your number either by computing by hand, or using a BMI calculator. A quick reading will allow you to look up your number in a chart and determine which classification you fall into, and whether you need to make some changes to how you eat, and how often you exercise.
How to compute your BMI
If you don’t have access to a BMI calculator, it’s pretty easy to calculate your BMI by hand:
Here’s the formula: weight/[height]2 * 703
In plain english, you calculate your BMI this way: Read more…
Food items to avoid
Food items to avoid
Here are a list of foods and food ingredients that are best avoided if you hope to lose weight.
White sugar
It actually has very little nutritional value, but is can often be found in products that are high in calories.
Deep fried foods
These can include french fries, fried chicken, potato chips and donuts. These foods are cooked in oil that contains a high amount of cholesterol. They also tend to be high in calories and bring you very little health benefits, especially since they increase your chances of getting high blood pressure.
Any type of fast food
In today’s society, fast food is prevalent everywhere. We constantly see cheesburgers, hamburgers, french fries, pizza, fried chicken and other types of unhealthy foods being sold almost everywhere. While they may taste good and be convenient to get, especially if you don’t feel like preparing a meal, they contain a high amount of trans fat and a lot of calories. This can slow down your weight loss plans to a grinding halt.
Frozen Foods
These are pre-packaged foods that are sold in the frozen foods section of your grocery store. A lot of foods can actually be frozen and packaged. These include chicken nuggets, lasagnas, steaks, potatoes and a whole lot more. Frozen foods are best avoided, as they often contain an unnecessarily high amount of calories and are also loaded with artificial preservatives in order to increase their shelf life.
Soda Pop
There are many brands and flavors of soda pop out there, so there is really no need to name them all. In a nutshell, these drinks contain a very high amount of sugar and too many calories and are best avoided as much as possible. Drinking water to satisfy your thirst is a lot better for you, as water contains no calories, no sugars or other artificial additives, but it will help satisfy your thirst.
Processed foods
These are foods that were produced in an industrial way, and include many types of sausages, hot dogs and also canned foods. They often contain artificial preservatives and additives in order to increase the time that they can spend on the shelf or in your fridge. However, these additives can often upset your body’s balance by disrupting the digestive process, making elimination more difficult.
Desserts
This category includes ice cream, cakes, and many other types of sweets. While they may taste really good, these foods contain a very high amount of sugar. They also have too many empty calories.
Basically, you should avoid any food that is high in saturated fats, cholesterol, sugar and that contains high amounts of calories. And yes, this will probably put many foods that you used to enjoy in the “not recommended” category, which many people might find upsetting. You see, dieting in order to lose weight is all about changing your habits in order to increase your consumption of healthy foods. The reason why many are overweight is because they eat too much of unhealthy foods, too often. It may seem hard to cut out certain foods out of your diet, so you have a higher chance of succeeding if you do it progressively. Start by replacing one type of unhealthy food with a better alternative. Soon, you will be able to change your eating habits completely. Remember, it is still okay to eat cake for desert once in a while, for example, as long as you have committed to making changes in your diet towards healthy foods
As the adage goes ‘prevention is better than cure’. If people learn to avoid eating fatty foods from an early age then the body begins to get accustomed to a balanced diet thus toning the muscles and the heart and lungs in a proper way. The pancreas produces the required amount of insulin that does not get deposited or go wasted due to inactive bodies. Hard work and a balanced diet is the best way to stay healthy and fit.
Aerobic weight loss exercises
Aerobic weight loss exercises
Aerobic weight loss exercises helps to maintain the rhythm of the body toning the muscle groups. It also gives the lungs a hard workout in order to increase the oxygen in the body. It is known as a cardiovascular exercise. Benefits obtained by aerobic exercise:
- The blood pressure is reduced and maintained.
- It improves the mental health by reducing stress. This is done by releasing endorphins in the brain.
- Decreases the possibilities of a stroke or heart attack.
- Increases the energy levels in the body.
When you burn more calories you lessen your weight and aerobic exercises like jogging, climbing stairs, walking etc. helps you to burn approximately 300 calories which is a substantial amount of weight loss that is beneficial. A few aerobic exercises to practice at home:
- Simple daily chores that are done in the house are a very effective aerobic exercise that burns calories immensely. One does not have to spend money at the gym or go out in the cold to do aerobic exercises and keep fit.
- Music is something that everyone loves, so just put a CD in the player and dance around the room while you begin to do a bit of spring cleaning to the house, cook, clean and wash. Climbing stairs at home is very effective and can help you lose enough calories.
- Hard work keeps the heart beating happily without any fear of a stroke or a blockage in the valves.
What aerobic exercises to choose while at the gym
Most aerobic exercises at the gym will include cross trainers, treadmills, exercise bikes, stair masters, ski and rowing machines that should be adjusted according to the required speed and resistance level of the body. However, after a few work outs these would stop working on the lungs and heart leaving you with no idea why.
Instead it is better to join with gyms that provide dance classes with various forms of dance, body combats, body pumps and step aerobics using trained instructors who ensure that you are doing the right workout at the right time and speed. Swimming is also a very effective aerobic exercise especially for people whose muscles or joints are affected due to injuries etc.
Duration of aerobic training time
To have a steady pumping heart it is advisable to exercise 3 to 5 days a week spending around 30 to 60 minutes each time. The best way to check whether the intensity of the work out is just right is when you feel out of breath but still able to speak.
Initially the breathlessness will occur too fast; hence to begin with a 10 minutes session is the best way. This can be slowly increased each day to 15, 20, 30 and so on depending on the comfort that the body feels while working out.
Top Five Ways To Find Exercise Where There Is None
Enough whining about not having time to exercise. Yes, you are busy. The kids are screaming. The phone won’t stop ringing. Somebody’s at the door. You’re late! But you need to learn how to work with the hand you’ve been dealt. You are going to put your imagination to work and not let life’s little nuances rob you of the many benefits of exercising, quick weight loss, and optimal health. Your heart will pump better. Your mind will be clear. You’ll look better. You’ll feel better. And there’s no way you can let the good life just pass you by…now here’s all you need to do…
1. Imagine exercise as any available resistance. By this I mean, if an item has weight, it can be lifted. It’s no so much the how much it weighs, but the number of repetitions you can get in. All phone books, portable televisions, and small, flashy lamps qualify. Look around your home. I’m sure you’ll find something that will allow you to get some exercise in.
2. Remember this: Anytime there is no conventional resistance, you can create your own through isometric exercise. You simply pit your muscles’ own powers against themselves.
3. Bear in mind that most of the time you spend just standing, you could be spending walking. Check out these weight loss tips: Let’s assume you are in a long line at the baggage counter. Instead of pouting and wasting energy, you could take your luggage for a short hike. You can burn calories and help your weight loss efforts simply by being creative.
4. Keep in mind that the time you spend sitting, you could spend it toning and building strength. Just because your legs can’t do much, that doesn’t mean your arms and abs can’t be exercise through isometrics.
5. Understand that most time spent lying down could be spent being far more physically active. Anytime you get a chance to lie down, use that horizontal position to your health’s advantage. Do leg lifts, abdominal crunches and even bench presses with weight. Do anything that gives you some gravitational pull.
You can lose weight and get in some exercise beginning today. It just requires a little willingness to be creative on your part. Go over these 5 tips once more and see how you can use them in your daily activities. In about a week, you’ll see a dramatic change in your body and more importantly in your attitude.
Five Quicky Exercise Tips You Can’t Do Without
Weight loss couldn’t get any easier than by using the following quick exercise tricks. Exercise is hard enough to find within the familiarity and comfort of own homes. So how in the world are you going to find ways to exercise when life is so busy you can barely think straight? Relax. We’re about to take the agony out of trying to lose weight when time is not on your side. So take a look at what’s in store for you:
1. Remember that looking a little odd can be a plus when it comes to fitness. If you are ever caught in the act of doing some sort of isometric exercise in your chair at work or while standing in line at the grocery store, be honest about what you are up to. Tell any onlooker that you are simply trying to get some exercise in this overly comfortable world. Then offer to demonstrate how the exercise is done. There’s no telling what type of grand friendship could grow out of looking a little odd while using these fast weight loss tips.
2. Learn to say no to bellboys. When traveling and checking into your hotel, politely say thanks but no thanks to bell boys. Tip generously anyway and then be on your way with baggage in hand. You can do it. You could use this time to burn extra calories and increase your weight loss success.
3. Bear in mind that you should never, ever pass up a flight of stairs. Use this as weight loss motivation. Think of it as step aerobics. And soon enough you’ll be slim and trim for all your extra efforts.
4. Learn to be less greedy. This means understanding that you may have to take your exercise in nickels and dimes instead of waiting for opportunities to get it in large bills. Just a few minutes of exercising can be worthwhile in the long run.
5. Remember to be more polite. You can burn calories by holding elevator doors, opening car doors, approaching people as opposed to shouting to them and giving a firm hand shake. These little tricks add up to a lot of weight loss.
All in all there’s really just one basic rule for healthy weight loss: Do whatever you can do, whenever you can do it, however you can do it, wherever you can do it. And with every little tip here you can certainly make simple changes in your life to accommodate more weight loss can’t you?