Archive for the ‘dietary supplements’ tag

Is Skipping Breakfast Destroying Your Fat Loss Goals?   no comments

Posted at 4:12 pm in exercise

Now most people know that having breakfast soon after waking up is extremely important. However, most people do not know the exact mechanisms that are at play here.

Even worse, many people simply skip breakfast all together.

Thus, here are 6 specific reasons on why you should never skip breakfast:

1. To stabilize mood and brain function: Skipping breakfast puts you at a higher risk for developing depression. It also decreases mental performance. And keep in mind that a poor mood will make getting in shape seem like pushing a boulder up a hill.

2. To reduce body fat: Now a lot of different things come into play here, but studies have shown that skipping breakfast increases stores of body fat. So make sure you never skip breakfast so that your metabolism doesn’t slow down.

3. To maintain lean tissue mass: Cortisol is a breakdown hormone in your body. And when you skip breakfast levels of cortisol peak beyond normal levels. Once this happens, you will burn through precious calorie-burning muscle like a knife through butter.

4. To optimize blood lipid levels: Blood lipids have a strong impact on how healthy your circulatory system is. And skipping breakfast has been shown by solid peer reviewed research to worsen blood lipid profiles. So if you have a history of heart disease you cannot skip breakfast.

5. To get more nutrients into your active tissues: If more nutrients are going to your active tissues, less nutrients are going to your fat cells. Unfortunately, skipping breakfast increases the amount of nutrients going to your fat cells.

6. For better cardiovascular health and function: Skip breakfast and you risk worsening the health of your heart. You see, studies have shown that people who chronically skip breakfast suffer from higher rates of heart disease.

Breakfast truly is the most important meal of the day. So make sure you have a robust breakfast every single day!

Writer Katherine Crawford, a fitness expert and recent arm fat sufferer, instructs on how to tone your arms. Unearth how to get sexy arms by visiting her website with advice on how to get rid of arm fat now!

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Written by Katherine Crawford on July 13th, 2011

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How To Recover Faster From Your Workouts So You Can Get In Shape Faster   no comments

Posted at 4:02 pm in exercise

In order for your body to change, you have to constantly push your limits with very intense exercise. Otherwise, you will notice little, if any change.

The catch here, however, is that intense exercise requires adequate recovery or your body could remain in a constant state of breakdown.

Thus, without further ado, here is how to increase the quality of your recovery:

1. Have carbs before exercise: Not only will this keep your levels of blood sugar from dropping, but it will also protect your muscle tissue to a limited degree. The key here is to have slow digesting carbs in order to avoid any sugar crashes.

2. Eat or drink some carbs while you are exercising: Now the key here is to make sure the carbs are easily tolerated by your stomach. You see, during exercise tolerance to food changes. Thus, experiment with different sources here.

3. Have a liquid meal immediately after your workout: This is a very effective strategy for jump starting the recovery process in your body. You see, a liquid meal will shuffle nutrients into the tissues that were drained during your workout.

4. Exercise early in the day: Doing this will shuffle a higher percentage of what you eat towards active tissues. You see, after intense exercise your active tissues are hyper-absorbent towards nutrients. Thus, it makes sense to exercise earlier in the day.

5. Drink filtered water frequently: And you really want to focus on hydration before, during and after training. You see, more hydration translates into better digestion. And better digestion translates into more nutrients going into your active tissues.

6. Use NEPA: Also called non-exercise physical activity, this type of activity increases blood flow. And recall that blood carries all the nutrients into your cells and all the waste products out of your cells. Thus, more blood flow translates into better recovery.

Better recovery will translate into more intense workouts. And you may even be able to increase the frequency of exercise!

Author Katherine Crawford, an exercise expert and former fat arms sufferer, instructs on how to get rid of flabby arms. Unearth how to get sexy and toned arms by exploring her website on how to tone arms right now!

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Written by Katherine Crawford on July 10th, 2011

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Oral Contraceptives And Fat Loss: Is There A Barrier?   no comments

Posted at 1:22 pm in exercise

They have changed and improved a lot since women first started taking them. You see, the newer versions are much easier on the female body, less potent and equally effective.

Nonetheless, the question still remains as to whether or not oral contraceptives cause weight gain in the female body.

The good news is that I have already done the homework for you. And I can say that the research does show a potential for fat gain when taking contraceptives. Here are the potential mechanisms of action:

1. Decreased insulin sensitivity. Insulin is a powerful hormone that shuffles nutrients into your body’s tissues. When it doesn’t function properly, you gain weight. And if you have a prior insulin resistance issue, oral contraceptives can magnify the issue.

2. Less fight or flight hormones. Said hormones are critical for mobilizing and burning fat from your fat stores. Without these hormones, losing weight can become extremely difficult. They are also responsible for providing you with energy.

3. Amino acid disruption. The main issue with not getting enough amino acids is that it compromises recovery. And if you are not recovering properly, you will start to hit plateaus. Said plateaus are horrible for your progress and motivation.

4. Too much water. Now every woman has experienced excess water retention towards the end of the month. And unfortunately, contraceptives can magnify this issue. There are ways to counterbalance this by taking things like caffeine with dehydrate you.

Getting off of contraceptives is something to think about extensively, it’s not something you want to do on a whim. Also, every woman is going to have a slightly different reaction to different formulations.

If you are not happy with how your body is reacting, however, definitely talk to your doctor. And keep in mind that you can always suspend use until you reach your fitness goal, and then resume taking them.

Finally, I would like to point out that acting on the information in this article is critical if you don’t want to forget what you have learned.

Writer Katherine Crawford, a fitness expert and former arm fat sufferer, teaches how to get rid of flabby arms very quickly. Figure out how to get sexy and toned arms by visiting her blog on how to tone arms fast right now!

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Written by Katherine Crawford on July 10th, 2011

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6 Strategies For Anchoring Your Biological Clock For Faster Weight Loss   no comments

Posted at 10:45 am in exercise

There is a clock inside of your body that controls many different processes. And weight loss is one process it has a tight grip on.

Now if this clock gets knocked off course you could end up with some massive carbohydrate cravings.

So here is how to have a more stable clock for better weight loss and quality of life:

1. Get light when you wake up: Now going outside and basking in the sun is out of the question for most people. However, you can use a light box here for equally good results. You see, a light box will shine intense light into your eyes which will have the same effect as sunshine.

2. Exercise at the same time: By exercising at the same time every day you provide a powerful anchor for your biological clock. If possible, try to exercise a couple hours after breakfast for the best results. This habit will help you sleep better.

3. Stabilize your sleep/wake cycle: Waking up at the same time every day is the best way to do this. And keep in mind that stable sleep/wake cycles will keep your biological clock right on target. So avoid having a haphazard sleeping schedule.

4. Readjust your caffeine consumption: If you are a heavy caffeine user you have probably become desensitized to its effects. So take a couple weeks to reduce intake to almost nothing. Then, slowly reintroduce the smallest amount possible for the desired effect.

5. Make your room colder: By making your room colder at night you will fall asleep much faster. This in turn will make it easier for you to stabilize your sleep/wake cycle. You see, lower temperatures help your body shut down.

6. Reduce the size of your last meal by half: Doing this will accelerate the process of late-day metabolic slow down. And a slower metabolism will translate into deeper sleep and less issues falling asleep. Now keep in mind that a stable sleep/wake cycle is the best thing for your biological clock.

Living a haphazard life with a haphazard biological clock will make getting in shape harder than pushing a boulder up a hill. So take action on this today and get better sleep tonight!

Author Katherine Crawford, a fitness expert and former arm fat sufferer, instructs on how to get rid of flabby arms. Figure out how to get sexy and toned arms by visiting her blog on how to tone arms now!

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Written by Katherine Crawford on July 9th, 2011

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How To Secrete More Growth Hormone So You Can Get In Shape Faster   no comments

Posted at 5:53 pm in exercise

There is a fountain of youth and it is called growth hormone. You see, this miracle hormone will not only give you a youthful glow, but it will also help you burn body fat and build lean muscle.

The major issue here, however, is that most people are not actively optimizing growth hormone in their bodies.

So here is how to increase growth hormone so that your body doesn’t age and gain extra fat:

1. Keep blood sugar as low as possible: One of the fastest ways to compromise levels of growth hormone in your body is with high levels of blood sugar. So make sure all of your meals are balanced and include lots of vegetables here.

2. Don’t skimp on sleep: Not getting quality sleep is the fastest way to destroy the production of many hormones in your body, including growth hormone. So make sure you are getting full night’s of sleep with no interruptions. You really cannot skimp here.

3. Use more muscle mass: The more muscle mass you use during your workouts, the more growth hormone your body will secrete. Now you don’t want to start doing complex multi joint movements here if you are a beginner. However, you should start incorporating more complex movements piecemeal.

4. Get in better shape: Although a catch 22, as you lose weight and get in better shape, your body naturally produces more growth hormone. This should be good news to you since there is light at the end of the tunnel and things get easier.

5. Keep rest periods short: Shorter rest periods translate into higher metabolic demands. And higher metabolic demands translate into more growth hormone secretion. Now the catch here is that reducing rest periods is not easy, but if you do this stepwise you should be fine.

6. Do a lot of ten repetition sets: Exercise sets within the ten repetition range produce the highest amount of growth hormone output. So make sure you strive to have a good amount of sets within this range. And make sure you are close to failure by the time you reach the tenth repetition.

Growth hormone truly is the fountain of youth, so take action here sooner rather than later!

Author Katherine Crawford, an exercise expert and recent flabby arms sufferer, instructs on how to lose arm fat. Unearth how to get sexy arms by visiting her blog with advice on how to get skinny arms right now!

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Written by Katherine Crawford on July 8th, 2011

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