By Rob Poulos, Fat Loss & Fitness Expert & Creator of 'Fat Burning Furnace'
You’ve heard it a million times from people trying to burn fat, “I just don’t have time to get to the gym.” Well that really shouldn’t be a problem once you understand how you can get a proper fat burning workout done with basic or minimal equipment.
In order to get a great high intensity fat burning workout, like students of my Fat Burning Furnace system get….one that stimulates the growth of lean muscle tissue, accelerates your metabolism and fat burning, and provides cardiovascular conditioning…you need to perform a variety of exercises that work all of your major muscle groups in the same workout.
You have a few choices in what equipment to use. But I am here to tell you that you don’t need fancy equipment or a membership at the hot fitness center in your area. All that is really required for your fat burning workout is good old-fashioned barbells and/or dumbbells…or less. In fact, you can work your entire body from head to toe with a good set of adjustable dumbbells and a simple bench.
Keep this in your home and it takes very little space and is always accessible for those fat burning workouts you’d have to skip otherwise. After all, the proper workout I’m talking about averages about 15-20 minutes…but if you factor in the transit time to and from the gym, it can become more difficult to stick to your routine.
I highly recommend getting a basic setup at home for those times, or you can even use this exclusively. I personally always workout at home and it has its advantages. You don’t have to wait for the next station or machine on your routine at home. This is very important in relation to pulling the maximum cardiovascular benefits out of the same muscle building and fat burning workout…keeping your time between exercises down to 60 seconds or less.
Home workouts are also great for those that might be a bit intimidated by working out with weights in public at the gym. If you feel this way, don’t fret, you’re not alone. This is especially true for some of the ladies, as weight training is traditionally thought of as the guy’s territory in the fitness center. Nothing could be further from the truth, but if you’d rather perform you fat burning workout at home, then do it!
Another excuse for skipping workouts that I hear a lot is related to travel. For busy people, this is a reality. You go on business trips. You go on vacation. You go to visit out of town friends and family. Now, when working out properly, like I teach my Fat Burning Furnace students, you’re only exercising for 2-3 days per week, but if you’re workout day falls on a day when you’re out of town, what to do?
Yeah, you could try and find a local gym to go to, but that can be a hassle. There are actually several fat burning bodyweight exercises you can do without the use of any equipment.
Movements like the pushup, chin-ups, sit-ups, etc. can provide enough muscle stimulation to keep you conditioned until you get back home. You’re using your bodyweight as the resistance, rather than dumbbells, barbells, or machines.
So don’t let those standard excuses work their way into your vocabulary…you can get a great fat burning workout wherever you are, anytime!
Claim your free copy of Rob Poulos's "7 Secrets Of Permanent Fat Loss & Fitness" at his website: fatburningfurnace
Rob Poulos is a celebrated fitness author, fat loss expert, and the founder and CEO of Zero to Hero Fitness. Rob created the world's most efficient method for fast and permanent fat loss with his "Fat Burning Furnace" system to help those looking to put an end to restrictive fad diets, long boring cardio workouts, and the need for super-human willpower for good.
If you're thinking about using the Fat Burning Furnace system yourself, but still have a few questions, make sure you visit the Frequently Asked Questions page.
Also, it may help to read about the success stories of others like you to see how people in similar situations have changed their bodies and their lives with the techniques in FBF.
But you may become anxious to get started on your new body right now, so you can also click here to get started right now. Remember, you have a full 60 days to decide if it's right for you. If not, just email me and we'll issue you a full refund and I'll thank you for trying it out...it's that simple!
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Seeing Is Believing If You Want To Burn Fat - Or Is It?
By Rob Poulos, Fat Loss & Fitness Expert & Creator of 'Fat Burning Furnace'
As with a good majority of the things we do in life, we rely heavily on our vision or eyesight as the determining factor in whether or not we believe something. And this is unfortunately the case in trying to burn fat as well. What’s the old cliché? A picture is worth a thousand words, right?
Well, when we lock our eyes onto that photo of that buff guy or buxom bombshell on the cover of the latest fitness or weight loss product, something happens. We get excited. We may even get very excited!
Unfortunately, this is something that many in the fitness industry are preying on. They know this and use it to their huge advantage. The process is simple: put a great looking and in-shape guy or girl on a product and it will sell. They don’t even have to tell you you’ll look like that person - they already know your subconscious will assume it will happen. When you're desperate to burn fat, this is an easy game for the fitness industry to play.
And of course a few weeks later if it doesn’t, you may start to lose hope and realize that it’s going to be tough to keep up with the unrealistic and overly strict guidelines. You’ve got a life, right? Sure, you want to burn fat, but you’ve got a job, maybe a family, and other interests in life. Don’t get me wrong, I love a great fat burning workout, but I know you don’t want to spend every waking hour for the rest of your life working out!
All of this happened to me several times over as a young man. I wasn’t happy with my weight, wanted to burn fat, and was in search of the most efficient way to get lean, strong, and healthy, but while not spending too much time in the gym, or having to follow crazy diet plans for long periods of time.
After more than a decade of experimenting on myself, friends, relatives, and perfect strangers, I assembled some of the secrets that I found to work best at burning fat and in the shortest amount of time, on myself and the others that I worked with. Now, what led me to do this was an incredible amount of frustration that I know thousands of others are going through right now.
Why? To answer that, I want you to understand the psychological aspects of what we are up against in the world of health and fitness.
What do you call doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result? OK, I’ll answer this one…Insanity! In some ways, the fitness industry is making you insane in your quest to burn fat and get a lean, strong, and healthy body. Their promises are too good to be true and often they can’t typically deliver on them. They are over-promising and under-delivering in many cases.
It’s a big psychological game that the fitness industry is playing with us, and it dates back to our childhood. When we were kids, we were all taught in school that we could do anything we wanted to do when we grew up. Your parents might have even told you that you can achieve anything you want if you believe in it strongly enough. I know mine did.
While this can provide great inspiration in life’s pursuits, it can also be used against you by others, and without you knowing. You are largely a product of your genetic makeup. Just as Mini-Me from the Austin Powers movies could never play in the NBA, a guy like Woody Allen could never win a heavyweight bodybuilding competition.
The reality is that these two guys can burn fat and get in the best shape of their life, but our genes are responsible for much of what we end up looking like when in that best shape. But this isn’t what the fitness industry will typically tell you - they want you thinking that anyone can look like a genetic freak of nature…if you just follow their programs, that is.
Please know that I am not saying you are doomed by your genes…everyone can make amazing improvements in their physiques with proper exercise and nutrition habits. It’s when we start comparing ourselves to the guys or gals in the magazines that we get into trouble, and get lost in that vicious cycle of hype and sensationalism all too prevalent in fitness and fat burning today.
As I mentioned before, you’ve got a life. You’re a busy person. We all are. We live in a fast-paced society, the information age, where we have so many tasks to complete and so little time to complete them. I don’t know about you, but I find myself trying to cram everything I do into those few hours between waking up and going to sleep. It’s not easy.
Then comes along the fitness gurus telling you that to burn fat and get in great shape you’ve got to workout everyday or close to it. You’ve got to do aerobics or cardiovascular exercise to burn fat, several times a week. You’ve got to weight train several other days each week, so that you are literally working out 5-6 days each week, every week. If you want it, you’ve got to do it, they say.
I’m here to tell you that nothing could be further from the truth! Many of these programs will also tell you that you’ve got to follow some crazy diet to burn fat. This might include cutting all or most of your carbs, ingesting loads of supplements or other magic weight loss potions. On top of that, when their programs don’t deliver, they’ll tell you that everyone is different and that you’ve got to find what works right for you. Wait a minute...weren’t they just telling you that their program promises the body on the cover?
What they are doing is keeping you in that fitness insanity that I mentioned earlier. They keep you doing the same thing (trying then next hot product or workout and diet regimen) and promising the same great fat burning results. If it doesn’t work, they recommend the next great thing. And too many people go on to that next miracle product or promise and the fitness industry uses this to their advantage!
Unfortunately the fitness industry, in many ways, has become a cycle of hype and sensationalism. Sure, there are some good-hearted trainers and professionals out there, but even some of them are being controlled by the fitness center owners, magazine publishers, and supplement companies. That’s where the money is! Even if they are trying to help you, they can become unwitting victims to the machine.
They advertise their products, programs, and diets by using the cream of the crop in the genetic gene pool. Hey, if it worked for that guy or gal with the amazing physique, it will work for me. I fell for it, too, many times, until I did some serious research and experimentation as I mentioned before.
Then one day I finally woke up and discovered for myself the secrets that few people are aware of. Secrets that will never dominate the fitness industry’s general recommendations because they are unpopular with the people that control the industry. Why?
Because these principles won’t sell loads of crazy exercise gimmicks, gadgets, or magic potions. My Fat Burning Furnace students are schooled in the proper application of brief, progressive, and intense resistance training, eating a diet full of nutrient rich foods, drinking tons of water, and getting plenty of quality sleep and rest.
But our subconscious mind is powerful, and you have to watch out…even today, I can get sucked in to a compelling late night TV ad, even though I know better. So you’ve got to stay on guard.
If people would pay more attention to proven principles like those I teach my students, and spend less time with the latest “butt buster” or “fat stripper” on the market, we’d all be healthier, leaner, stronger, and happier for it. And we'd also be burning a heck of a lot more fat in the process.
Claim your free copy of Rob Poulos's "7 Secrets Of Permanent Fat Loss & Fitness" at his website: FatburningFurnace
Rob Poulos is a celebrated fitness author, fat loss expert, and the founder and CEO of Zero to Hero Fitness. Rob created the world's most efficient method for fast and permanent fat loss with his "Fat Burning Furnace" system to help those looking to put an end to restrictive fad diets, long boring cardio workouts, and the need for super-human willpower for good.
If you're thinking about using the Fat Burning Furnace system yourself, but still have a few questions, make sure you visit the Frequently Asked Questions page.
Also, it may help to read about the success stories of others like you to see how people in similar situations have changed their bodies and their lives with the techniques in FBF.
But you may become anxious to get started on your new body right now, so you can also click here to get started right now. Remember, you have a full 60 days to decide if it's right for you. If not, just email me and we'll issue you a full refund and I'll thank you for trying it out...it's that simple!
As with a good majority of the things we do in life, we rely heavily on our vision or eyesight as the determining factor in whether or not we believe something. And this is unfortunately the case in trying to burn fat as well. What’s the old cliché? A picture is worth a thousand words, right?
Well, when we lock our eyes onto that photo of that buff guy or buxom bombshell on the cover of the latest fitness or weight loss product, something happens. We get excited. We may even get very excited!
Unfortunately, this is something that many in the fitness industry are preying on. They know this and use it to their huge advantage. The process is simple: put a great looking and in-shape guy or girl on a product and it will sell. They don’t even have to tell you you’ll look like that person - they already know your subconscious will assume it will happen. When you're desperate to burn fat, this is an easy game for the fitness industry to play.
And of course a few weeks later if it doesn’t, you may start to lose hope and realize that it’s going to be tough to keep up with the unrealistic and overly strict guidelines. You’ve got a life, right? Sure, you want to burn fat, but you’ve got a job, maybe a family, and other interests in life. Don’t get me wrong, I love a great fat burning workout, but I know you don’t want to spend every waking hour for the rest of your life working out!
All of this happened to me several times over as a young man. I wasn’t happy with my weight, wanted to burn fat, and was in search of the most efficient way to get lean, strong, and healthy, but while not spending too much time in the gym, or having to follow crazy diet plans for long periods of time.
After more than a decade of experimenting on myself, friends, relatives, and perfect strangers, I assembled some of the secrets that I found to work best at burning fat and in the shortest amount of time, on myself and the others that I worked with. Now, what led me to do this was an incredible amount of frustration that I know thousands of others are going through right now.
Why? To answer that, I want you to understand the psychological aspects of what we are up against in the world of health and fitness.
What do you call doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result? OK, I’ll answer this one…Insanity! In some ways, the fitness industry is making you insane in your quest to burn fat and get a lean, strong, and healthy body. Their promises are too good to be true and often they can’t typically deliver on them. They are over-promising and under-delivering in many cases.
It’s a big psychological game that the fitness industry is playing with us, and it dates back to our childhood. When we were kids, we were all taught in school that we could do anything we wanted to do when we grew up. Your parents might have even told you that you can achieve anything you want if you believe in it strongly enough. I know mine did.
While this can provide great inspiration in life’s pursuits, it can also be used against you by others, and without you knowing. You are largely a product of your genetic makeup. Just as Mini-Me from the Austin Powers movies could never play in the NBA, a guy like Woody Allen could never win a heavyweight bodybuilding competition.
The reality is that these two guys can burn fat and get in the best shape of their life, but our genes are responsible for much of what we end up looking like when in that best shape. But this isn’t what the fitness industry will typically tell you - they want you thinking that anyone can look like a genetic freak of nature…if you just follow their programs, that is.
Please know that I am not saying you are doomed by your genes…everyone can make amazing improvements in their physiques with proper exercise and nutrition habits. It’s when we start comparing ourselves to the guys or gals in the magazines that we get into trouble, and get lost in that vicious cycle of hype and sensationalism all too prevalent in fitness and fat burning today.
As I mentioned before, you’ve got a life. You’re a busy person. We all are. We live in a fast-paced society, the information age, where we have so many tasks to complete and so little time to complete them. I don’t know about you, but I find myself trying to cram everything I do into those few hours between waking up and going to sleep. It’s not easy.
Then comes along the fitness gurus telling you that to burn fat and get in great shape you’ve got to workout everyday or close to it. You’ve got to do aerobics or cardiovascular exercise to burn fat, several times a week. You’ve got to weight train several other days each week, so that you are literally working out 5-6 days each week, every week. If you want it, you’ve got to do it, they say.
I’m here to tell you that nothing could be further from the truth! Many of these programs will also tell you that you’ve got to follow some crazy diet to burn fat. This might include cutting all or most of your carbs, ingesting loads of supplements or other magic weight loss potions. On top of that, when their programs don’t deliver, they’ll tell you that everyone is different and that you’ve got to find what works right for you. Wait a minute...weren’t they just telling you that their program promises the body on the cover?
What they are doing is keeping you in that fitness insanity that I mentioned earlier. They keep you doing the same thing (trying then next hot product or workout and diet regimen) and promising the same great fat burning results. If it doesn’t work, they recommend the next great thing. And too many people go on to that next miracle product or promise and the fitness industry uses this to their advantage!
Unfortunately the fitness industry, in many ways, has become a cycle of hype and sensationalism. Sure, there are some good-hearted trainers and professionals out there, but even some of them are being controlled by the fitness center owners, magazine publishers, and supplement companies. That’s where the money is! Even if they are trying to help you, they can become unwitting victims to the machine.
They advertise their products, programs, and diets by using the cream of the crop in the genetic gene pool. Hey, if it worked for that guy or gal with the amazing physique, it will work for me. I fell for it, too, many times, until I did some serious research and experimentation as I mentioned before.
Then one day I finally woke up and discovered for myself the secrets that few people are aware of. Secrets that will never dominate the fitness industry’s general recommendations because they are unpopular with the people that control the industry. Why?
Because these principles won’t sell loads of crazy exercise gimmicks, gadgets, or magic potions. My Fat Burning Furnace students are schooled in the proper application of brief, progressive, and intense resistance training, eating a diet full of nutrient rich foods, drinking tons of water, and getting plenty of quality sleep and rest.
But our subconscious mind is powerful, and you have to watch out…even today, I can get sucked in to a compelling late night TV ad, even though I know better. So you’ve got to stay on guard.
If people would pay more attention to proven principles like those I teach my students, and spend less time with the latest “butt buster” or “fat stripper” on the market, we’d all be healthier, leaner, stronger, and happier for it. And we'd also be burning a heck of a lot more fat in the process.
Claim your free copy of Rob Poulos's "7 Secrets Of Permanent Fat Loss & Fitness" at his website: FatburningFurnace
Rob Poulos is a celebrated fitness author, fat loss expert, and the founder and CEO of Zero to Hero Fitness. Rob created the world's most efficient method for fast and permanent fat loss with his "Fat Burning Furnace" system to help those looking to put an end to restrictive fad diets, long boring cardio workouts, and the need for super-human willpower for good.
If you're thinking about using the Fat Burning Furnace system yourself, but still have a few questions, make sure you visit the Frequently Asked Questions page.
Also, it may help to read about the success stories of others like you to see how people in similar situations have changed their bodies and their lives with the techniques in FBF.
But you may become anxious to get started on your new body right now, so you can also click here to get started right now. Remember, you have a full 60 days to decide if it's right for you. If not, just email me and we'll issue you a full refund and I'll thank you for trying it out...it's that simple!
Healthy Food on an Unhealthy Budget
What’s your favorite healthy food that can be bought on a college student budget? I’ve decided that I’m really going to crack down on my poor eating habits. As a college student, I’ve always bought the food that was the most affordable. Unfortunately, this is usually generic-brand pizza, toaster streudels, and whichever soda is on sale. In order to combat this, I’m looking for suggestions for healthy, easy-to-prepare foods that won’t break the bank.
There are some great answers here, such as:
Learning to eat (and prepare) more meals at home is an excellent way to reduce your food budget and eat healthfully. Find a source of recipes that you trust and learn to prepare them. (Here’s a good online recipe page that features many cheap and healthy meals.)
If you’re looking for healthy food on a small budget, then fruits and vegetables and other whole foods are the way to go. They’re the basic building blocks of a nutritious diet, and they’re much cheaper than processed foods.
Article source: http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2006/06/01/healthy-food-on-an-unhealthy-budget/
There are some great answers here, such as:
- A cup of rice and a vegetarian stir-fry
- Replace soda with water
- Pasta primavera
- Fruitshakes/smoothies
- Cheese and crackers
- Nuts
- Beans (flavored with a little meat)
- Fruits and vegetables
Learning to eat (and prepare) more meals at home is an excellent way to reduce your food budget and eat healthfully. Find a source of recipes that you trust and learn to prepare them. (Here’s a good online recipe page that features many cheap and healthy meals.)
If you’re looking for healthy food on a small budget, then fruits and vegetables and other whole foods are the way to go. They’re the basic building blocks of a nutritious diet, and they’re much cheaper than processed foods.
Article source: http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2006/06/01/healthy-food-on-an-unhealthy-budget/
Friday, July 8, 2011
Is Your Fat Burning Exercise Routine Keeping You Fat And Unhealthy?
By Rob Poulos, Fat Loss & Fitness Expert & Creator of 'Fat Burning Furnace'
The majority of exercisers today still rely on long duration moderate paced aerobic exercise as their primary routine to burn fat fast. But recent studies have shown that this is a big, I mean big mistake. In fact, you could say that the whole aerobics explosion of a few decades past was one of the biggest mistakes in the health and fitness industry. Why?
There are several reasons, but I’ll focus on the two main issues here. When you exercise at a moderate pace for extended periods of time (as in the typically recommended percent of your target heart rate), your body is burning fat during the exercise. While this may sound good, it’s actually bad news.
This sends a signal to your body to keep a certain amount of stored fat available for your next workout. You’re essentially telling it that it needs fat available to burn, ‘because you’ll be doing this exercise again. So while we may be burning some calories during this exercise, after the exercise is over, our body begins storing up some fat for the next workout. Obviously not what we’re looking for in terms of maximum ability to burn fat fast.
The other big concern with moderately paced aerobic exercise performed several times per week is that it trains your body (heart, lungs, muscles, etc.) to become efficient. Again, this may sound good, but what is actually happening is bad for long term health. You are working only within your existing aerobic limits, without improving your aerobic capacity.
This is important because your aerobic capacity is what determines how your body responds in times of physical, emotional, and mental stress. If you reduce your capacity for work, as you do in this type of exercise, you’re reducing your long term health, no to mention a poor chance of burning fat.
The good news is, you can reverse these effects by instead focusing your workouts on high intensity resistance training, with workouts that last 15-20 minutes on average, and can only be performed 2-3 times per week.
These workouts will burn carbohydrates instead of fat during the workout, and will cause your body to use its fat stores to replenish the burned carbs over the next 24 hours, after the workout is done! This type of work will also increase your reserve capacity and thus your ability to handle all types of stress, leading to lasting health and fitness...and 24/7 fat burning. Nice!
But the exercise must be performed correctly to be effective, and that means using sufficient intensity, and keeping your rest periods between exercises and sets down to 60 seconds or less.
The students of my Fat Burning Furnace method know this, and are reaping the benefits. When you think about how little time you have to spend compared to the typically recommended methods to get these fat burning and health creating results, it’s almost magical.
Claim your free copy of Rob Poulos's "7 Secrets Of Permanent Fat Loss & Fitness" at his website: FatburningFurnace
Rob Poulos is a celebrated fitness author, fat loss expert, and the founder and CEO of Zero to Hero Fitness. Rob created the world's most efficient method for fast and permanent fat loss with his "Fat Burning Furnace" system to help those looking to put an end to restrictive fad diets, long boring cardio workouts, and the need for super-human willpower for good.
If you're thinking about using the Fat Burning Furnace system yourself, but still have a few questions, make sure you visit the Frequently Asked Questions page.
Also, it may help to read about the success stories of others like you to see how people in similar situations have changed their bodies and their lives with the techniques in FBF.
But you may become anxious to get started on your new body right now, so you can also click here to get started right now. Remember, you have a full 60 days to decide if it's right for you. If not, just email me and we'll issue you a full refund and I'll thank you for trying it out...it's that simple!
10 Unconventional Diet Tips: How to lose 50 pounds in three months
The following are 10 unconventional weight loss tips that worked for me. Between January 4, 2006 and March 31, 2006 I lost fifty pounds. These tips work well because almost every tip is focused around completing a small goal. In my opinion, to stay motivated and lose a significant amount of weight, you should complete many goals in a short period of time. The reason I call these tips unconventional is that I had not seen a majority of them before starting my diet.
I will start by recognizing the typical “calories in, calories out” schpeil. Yes, to lose weight you have to eat well and exercise. But there is much more to it than that, and I don’t want to spend time regurgitating ideas you’ve heard before. That brings me to the first point:
Buy a digital scale
This seems easy enough. I recommend that before starting a diet, buy a scale that is accurate to .2 (two-hundredths of a pound). I will explain why below. I also recommend either buying a scale that can record your daily weight, or manually logging your weight everyday. I bought a scale that was accurate to .2 and logged my weight at Sam’s Club for $22. It has been a great investment.
Weigh yourself everyday
You’ll find that almost every other dieter will tell you to weigh yourself only once a week. I recommend the exact opposite. I am very goal oriented and I like to see results everyday. The reason I recommend buying a scale that is accurate to the .2 is that there is a very big difference between weighting 170.8 one day and 170.0 the next day. Losing .8 pounds in one day is excellent. However, if your scale is not accurate enough to report the loss and still shows 170 after a day of healthy eating and working out, you will feel extremely discouraged. A more detailed scale makes it easier to keep a positive outlook. The more successes (days with positive weight loss) the easier it is.
Drink 8 glasses of water everyday
This one is obvious and broadly recommended, however, the reason I recommend it is slightly different. Drinking eight glasses of water per day helps you “feel less hungry.” I can’t prove this scientifically, however, when I am at work, I drink 4 cups in the morning and 4 cups in the evening. On the days that I don’t drink the water, I feel hungrier, earlier. Also, on the days I don’t drink water I feel sleepier, sooner. Don’t feel intimidated by trying to drink 8 glasses of water. Try doing what I do: I have a pint glass I keep at work, it holds sixteen ounces (as all pint glasses do). All I do is drink two pints of water in the morning and two in the afternoon.
Make your diet public
Tell people you’re on a diet. There’s no reason to be ashamed to be on a diet. I found that trying to keep my diet a secret was harder than just telling people. In fact, telling your coworkers, girlfriend, family, etc. will increase your accountability. It motivated me knowing that my coworkers and family knew that I was dieting because I did not want to fail. I also chose a typical “fat picture” and put it on my fridge, in my cubicle, and on my wall. I wanted to have a continual reminder to lose the weight. I know it’s a cliche, but it was important for me to remind myself of my ultimate goal.
I feel I should also note that although I was 50 pounds over weight, when I told people I was on a diet they often said “you don’t need to diet.” I found this surprising because I was obviously overweight. Beware that you will likely hear similar comments. I found it easier to just accept the “compliment” than to try to justify my diet to them. Remember that you are on a diet for you, and that you do not need to justify yourself.
Don’t diet on the weekends
This is another unconventional bit of advice. I was able to lose 50 pounds without dieting on the weekends. I found myself tired, depressed, and unmotivated if I tried to continue my diet into the weekend. I felt that Friday and Saturday (my weekend) was a time to celebrate 5 days of dieting. You may not find this necessary, especially in the first few weeks of a diet. However, as many weeks passed, the weekend became a time for me to celebrate my weekly successes and get myself mentally prepared for another five days of dieting. I considered it a mental recharge.
Don’t sacrifice your life for your diet
On occasion, you will find yourself unable to eat healthy. Whether this is because of lunches with your team at work, birthdays, or special occasions, there will be events that you just can’t (or don’t want to) eat healthy. A diet will feel overwhelming if you have to sacrifice special events in your life. The way I combated this was to exchange a day that I was not going to diet on the weekend. In other words, if I didn’t diet on Tuesday, for example, I would diet on Saturday, instead.
Make the small changes
This is a pretty common tip, however, I have a twist to it. Rather than giving up what most diets say you should give up (soda, coffee, beer, caffeine, etc.) just make healthier decisions. I didn’t want to give anything up, so I decided to make some changes instead. The first switch I made was switching to diet soda. Don’t worry, you’ll quickly get used to the flavor. Before I started my diet, I swore I would never drink diet soda. Now thanks to my girlfriend, diet is the only soda I drink. The second switch I made was to drinking black coffee. Cut out the sugar and creme, and you get the benefits of coffee (caffeine) without the calories. The last major switch I made was to “healthy” beer. I’m a Miller Lite drinker, however, by temporarily switching to Beck’s Premier Light (60 calories per serving) I was able to still enjoy a healthy social life while maintaining my diet.
In addition to making the small changes in your diet, make the small changes in your life: park further away, walk to the end of the train platform and get in the last car, and vow not to take an elevator for an entire week. I also found it advantageous to wear a pedometer and try to compete against myself for how far I could walk in a single day. The furthest I walked in a day was 6.5 miles. I voluntarily walked to work twice a week.
Gain perspective by understanding the fractions
Your diet is an incredibly small fraction of your life. If you live for 80 years, and dieted for four months, that would only be .42% of your life. That’s right, if you diet for four months, it will be less than one half of one percent of your life. On the other hand think of the major benefits you can get from .42% of your life. If it helps you stay motivated, count down the days starting at 120.
Rationalize your workouts
Finding the time to get to the gym can be very difficult. However a 1/2 hour workout is only 2% of your day (assuming 24 hour days). For me, the most motivating thought was comparing my workouts to sitcoms. As a huge Everybody Loves Raymond fan, every time I would sit down to watch an episode, I would remind myself that in the 1/2 hour that I was sitting and doing nothing, I could complete my daily workout.
You’ve lost the weight, what now?
Have a red flag weight
Once you’ve lost the weight, you need to keep it off. This is where the red flag comes in. You need to pick a weight and vow to never get heavier than it again. It is normal for your body to fluctuate five to ten pounds. I recommend picking a weight that is ten pounds heavier than what you “normally” weigh and never weigh more than it again. Setting a red flag weight allowed me to keep off every pound for over 1 year.
Lastly, for the curious out there…I followed the Weight Watchers diet. I did not pay for the diet, nor did I go to meetings. I found out all the information about the diet on-line. The first place to look is at their patent.
All well known diets are available via Google Patent Search. For the several months that I was dieting, I also gave up red meat and made sure to drink a lot of milk. The preceding tips worked perfectly for me and they will work for you, too. Prior to creating my own diet plan, I tried to diet several times and failed every time. I swear by these weight loss tips. What do you think of them? Do you have a tip that didn’t make my list? Let us know in the comments. I will be glad to answer any questions or defend any point.
Article source: http://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifestyle/10-unconventional-diet-tips-how-to-lose-50-pounds-in-three-months.html
I will start by recognizing the typical “calories in, calories out” schpeil. Yes, to lose weight you have to eat well and exercise. But there is much more to it than that, and I don’t want to spend time regurgitating ideas you’ve heard before. That brings me to the first point:
Buy a digital scale
This seems easy enough. I recommend that before starting a diet, buy a scale that is accurate to .2 (two-hundredths of a pound). I will explain why below. I also recommend either buying a scale that can record your daily weight, or manually logging your weight everyday. I bought a scale that was accurate to .2 and logged my weight at Sam’s Club for $22. It has been a great investment.
Weigh yourself everyday
You’ll find that almost every other dieter will tell you to weigh yourself only once a week. I recommend the exact opposite. I am very goal oriented and I like to see results everyday. The reason I recommend buying a scale that is accurate to the .2 is that there is a very big difference between weighting 170.8 one day and 170.0 the next day. Losing .8 pounds in one day is excellent. However, if your scale is not accurate enough to report the loss and still shows 170 after a day of healthy eating and working out, you will feel extremely discouraged. A more detailed scale makes it easier to keep a positive outlook. The more successes (days with positive weight loss) the easier it is.
Drink 8 glasses of water everyday
This one is obvious and broadly recommended, however, the reason I recommend it is slightly different. Drinking eight glasses of water per day helps you “feel less hungry.” I can’t prove this scientifically, however, when I am at work, I drink 4 cups in the morning and 4 cups in the evening. On the days that I don’t drink the water, I feel hungrier, earlier. Also, on the days I don’t drink water I feel sleepier, sooner. Don’t feel intimidated by trying to drink 8 glasses of water. Try doing what I do: I have a pint glass I keep at work, it holds sixteen ounces (as all pint glasses do). All I do is drink two pints of water in the morning and two in the afternoon.
Make your diet public
Tell people you’re on a diet. There’s no reason to be ashamed to be on a diet. I found that trying to keep my diet a secret was harder than just telling people. In fact, telling your coworkers, girlfriend, family, etc. will increase your accountability. It motivated me knowing that my coworkers and family knew that I was dieting because I did not want to fail. I also chose a typical “fat picture” and put it on my fridge, in my cubicle, and on my wall. I wanted to have a continual reminder to lose the weight. I know it’s a cliche, but it was important for me to remind myself of my ultimate goal.
I feel I should also note that although I was 50 pounds over weight, when I told people I was on a diet they often said “you don’t need to diet.” I found this surprising because I was obviously overweight. Beware that you will likely hear similar comments. I found it easier to just accept the “compliment” than to try to justify my diet to them. Remember that you are on a diet for you, and that you do not need to justify yourself.
Don’t diet on the weekends
This is another unconventional bit of advice. I was able to lose 50 pounds without dieting on the weekends. I found myself tired, depressed, and unmotivated if I tried to continue my diet into the weekend. I felt that Friday and Saturday (my weekend) was a time to celebrate 5 days of dieting. You may not find this necessary, especially in the first few weeks of a diet. However, as many weeks passed, the weekend became a time for me to celebrate my weekly successes and get myself mentally prepared for another five days of dieting. I considered it a mental recharge.
Don’t sacrifice your life for your diet
On occasion, you will find yourself unable to eat healthy. Whether this is because of lunches with your team at work, birthdays, or special occasions, there will be events that you just can’t (or don’t want to) eat healthy. A diet will feel overwhelming if you have to sacrifice special events in your life. The way I combated this was to exchange a day that I was not going to diet on the weekend. In other words, if I didn’t diet on Tuesday, for example, I would diet on Saturday, instead.
Make the small changes
This is a pretty common tip, however, I have a twist to it. Rather than giving up what most diets say you should give up (soda, coffee, beer, caffeine, etc.) just make healthier decisions. I didn’t want to give anything up, so I decided to make some changes instead. The first switch I made was switching to diet soda. Don’t worry, you’ll quickly get used to the flavor. Before I started my diet, I swore I would never drink diet soda. Now thanks to my girlfriend, diet is the only soda I drink. The second switch I made was to drinking black coffee. Cut out the sugar and creme, and you get the benefits of coffee (caffeine) without the calories. The last major switch I made was to “healthy” beer. I’m a Miller Lite drinker, however, by temporarily switching to Beck’s Premier Light (60 calories per serving) I was able to still enjoy a healthy social life while maintaining my diet.
In addition to making the small changes in your diet, make the small changes in your life: park further away, walk to the end of the train platform and get in the last car, and vow not to take an elevator for an entire week. I also found it advantageous to wear a pedometer and try to compete against myself for how far I could walk in a single day. The furthest I walked in a day was 6.5 miles. I voluntarily walked to work twice a week.
Gain perspective by understanding the fractions
Your diet is an incredibly small fraction of your life. If you live for 80 years, and dieted for four months, that would only be .42% of your life. That’s right, if you diet for four months, it will be less than one half of one percent of your life. On the other hand think of the major benefits you can get from .42% of your life. If it helps you stay motivated, count down the days starting at 120.
Rationalize your workouts
Finding the time to get to the gym can be very difficult. However a 1/2 hour workout is only 2% of your day (assuming 24 hour days). For me, the most motivating thought was comparing my workouts to sitcoms. As a huge Everybody Loves Raymond fan, every time I would sit down to watch an episode, I would remind myself that in the 1/2 hour that I was sitting and doing nothing, I could complete my daily workout.
You’ve lost the weight, what now?
Have a red flag weight
Once you’ve lost the weight, you need to keep it off. This is where the red flag comes in. You need to pick a weight and vow to never get heavier than it again. It is normal for your body to fluctuate five to ten pounds. I recommend picking a weight that is ten pounds heavier than what you “normally” weigh and never weigh more than it again. Setting a red flag weight allowed me to keep off every pound for over 1 year.
Lastly, for the curious out there…I followed the Weight Watchers diet. I did not pay for the diet, nor did I go to meetings. I found out all the information about the diet on-line. The first place to look is at their patent.
All well known diets are available via Google Patent Search. For the several months that I was dieting, I also gave up red meat and made sure to drink a lot of milk. The preceding tips worked perfectly for me and they will work for you, too. Prior to creating my own diet plan, I tried to diet several times and failed every time. I swear by these weight loss tips. What do you think of them? Do you have a tip that didn’t make my list? Let us know in the comments. I will be glad to answer any questions or defend any point.
Article source: http://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifestyle/10-unconventional-diet-tips-how-to-lose-50-pounds-in-three-months.html
3 Vital Principles You Must Know To Burn Fat Faster
By Rob Poulos, Fat Loss & Fitness Expert & Creator of "Fat Burning Furnace"
By now, most people realize that adding lean muscle mass to your body does wonders for your metabolism and fat loss, as well as a host of other benefits that allow you to live out your life as healthy as possible.
Unfortunately, most people I see performing weight training or resistance training at the gym are spending too much time with the exercise and not working hard enough. They're not going to burn very much fat this way.
The secret I’ve found is that training for lean muscle and strength requires the proper application of three vital elements that are often ignored by those who attempt it. Those three elements are:
-Intensity
-Volume & Frequency
-Progression
The intensity is how hard it is to perform for you, given your current condition. The volume and frequency are how much and how often you perform the exercise. The progression is related to how much the demands increase from workout to workout.
Most times, weight training, is carried on for too long and performed too many times per week. It is unfortunately treated much the same way as so-called fat burning aerobic exercise. But they are vastly different forms of exercise. In fact, they’re complete opposites.
Aerobic exercise typically is characterized by low to moderate intensity, high volume and frequency, and little progression. Anaerobic exercise, or weight training, must be performed at a high intensity, lower volume and frequency, and with progression to be as effective as possible.
No amount of weight training performed at a low or moderate intensity will provide significant muscle or strength building benefit beyond the first few weeks. On a high level view, it is simply the combination of sufficient intensity, coupled with attempting to increase either the number of repetitions of a weight training exercise or the amount of weight used each and every workout that will keep your body evolving into the ultimate fat burning machine!
You also have to pay attention to other details when creating an effective and efficient routine to maximize your workout and minimize your time spent in the gym. Why? Because perhaps even more important that the workout itself is the rest period that follows. You’re not going to get stronger or more muscular if you don’t rest.
You see, when you strength train properly, you are creating tiny injuries to your muscles. You then have to let the body repair itself, and then overcompensate and build upon the already existing amount of muscle mass you have. If you workout again before that process in completed, you’ll experience lackluster, if any, muscle building or fat burning results.
So make sure to get proper rest between workouts, which typically means a minimum of 1 to 3 full days of rest between properly executed resistance workouts.
Now upon hearing the idea that you’ve got add muscle to your body to ensure the maximum fat burning environment, a lot of people, women especially, start thinking, “But I don’t want to get bigger, I want to lose weight!” But this is such a shame, because it’s very unlikely to happen, and countless women are losing out on these fat burning benefits because of it.
You see, most men and almost all women simply lack the necessary genetic traits required to produce such muscle gains that would cause them to look bulky or overly-developed to most people. These traits include testosterone levels, muscle fiber makeup, muscle belly length, and others.
Those competitive bodybuilders you’ve seen on TV and in the magazines are the genetic cream of the crop for muscle development and they are typically on heavy doses of anabolic steroids, growth hormone, and other bodybuilding drugs. Don’t be fooled by these images, or those that scare you into thinking this way. Also, lean muscle is more compact that fat, as it takes up less space in your body, so you will actually be getting smaller when replacing the fat on your body with lean muscle.
Please understand that you’re putting yourself in the best position to succeed with your fat loss and fitness goals when you perform properly conducted intense resistance training, no matter who you are.
But make sure you understand and apply the three critical principles I discussed above. If you don’t, you’ll ultimately be unhappy with your results, both in your ability to burn fat and realize the lean, strong, and healthy body you deserve.
By now, most people realize that adding lean muscle mass to your body does wonders for your metabolism and fat loss, as well as a host of other benefits that allow you to live out your life as healthy as possible.
Unfortunately, most people I see performing weight training or resistance training at the gym are spending too much time with the exercise and not working hard enough. They're not going to burn very much fat this way.
The secret I’ve found is that training for lean muscle and strength requires the proper application of three vital elements that are often ignored by those who attempt it. Those three elements are:
-Intensity
-Volume & Frequency
-Progression
The intensity is how hard it is to perform for you, given your current condition. The volume and frequency are how much and how often you perform the exercise. The progression is related to how much the demands increase from workout to workout.
Most times, weight training, is carried on for too long and performed too many times per week. It is unfortunately treated much the same way as so-called fat burning aerobic exercise. But they are vastly different forms of exercise. In fact, they’re complete opposites.
Aerobic exercise typically is characterized by low to moderate intensity, high volume and frequency, and little progression. Anaerobic exercise, or weight training, must be performed at a high intensity, lower volume and frequency, and with progression to be as effective as possible.
No amount of weight training performed at a low or moderate intensity will provide significant muscle or strength building benefit beyond the first few weeks. On a high level view, it is simply the combination of sufficient intensity, coupled with attempting to increase either the number of repetitions of a weight training exercise or the amount of weight used each and every workout that will keep your body evolving into the ultimate fat burning machine!
You also have to pay attention to other details when creating an effective and efficient routine to maximize your workout and minimize your time spent in the gym. Why? Because perhaps even more important that the workout itself is the rest period that follows. You’re not going to get stronger or more muscular if you don’t rest.
You see, when you strength train properly, you are creating tiny injuries to your muscles. You then have to let the body repair itself, and then overcompensate and build upon the already existing amount of muscle mass you have. If you workout again before that process in completed, you’ll experience lackluster, if any, muscle building or fat burning results.
So make sure to get proper rest between workouts, which typically means a minimum of 1 to 3 full days of rest between properly executed resistance workouts.
Now upon hearing the idea that you’ve got add muscle to your body to ensure the maximum fat burning environment, a lot of people, women especially, start thinking, “But I don’t want to get bigger, I want to lose weight!” But this is such a shame, because it’s very unlikely to happen, and countless women are losing out on these fat burning benefits because of it.
You see, most men and almost all women simply lack the necessary genetic traits required to produce such muscle gains that would cause them to look bulky or overly-developed to most people. These traits include testosterone levels, muscle fiber makeup, muscle belly length, and others.
Those competitive bodybuilders you’ve seen on TV and in the magazines are the genetic cream of the crop for muscle development and they are typically on heavy doses of anabolic steroids, growth hormone, and other bodybuilding drugs. Don’t be fooled by these images, or those that scare you into thinking this way. Also, lean muscle is more compact that fat, as it takes up less space in your body, so you will actually be getting smaller when replacing the fat on your body with lean muscle.
Please understand that you’re putting yourself in the best position to succeed with your fat loss and fitness goals when you perform properly conducted intense resistance training, no matter who you are.
But make sure you understand and apply the three critical principles I discussed above. If you don’t, you’ll ultimately be unhappy with your results, both in your ability to burn fat and realize the lean, strong, and healthy body you deserve.
Claim your free copy of Rob Poulos's "7 Secrets Of Permanent Fat Loss & Fitness" at his website: FatburningFurnace
Rob Poulos is a celebrated fitness author, fat loss expert, and the founder and CEO of Zero to Hero Fitness. Rob created the world's most efficient method for fast and permanent fat loss with his "Fat Burning Furnace" system to help those looking to put an end to restrictive fad diets, long boring cardio workouts, and the need for super-human willpower for good.
If you're thinking about using the Fat Burning Furnace system yourself, but still have a few questions, make sure you visit the Frequently Asked Questions page.
Also, it may help to read about the success stories of others like you to see how people in similar situations have changed their bodies and their lives with the techniques in FBF.
But you may become anxious to get started on your new body right now, so you can also click here to get started right now. Remember, you have a full 60 days to decide if it's right for you. If not, just email me and we'll issue you a full refund and I'll thank you for trying it out...it's that simple!
Easy (and Sexy) Ways to Lose 50 Pounds a Year
But it doesn't have to be that hard. The basic rule of weight loss is that you take in fewer calories than you burn -- and if you want to turn a positive calorie balance into the calorie deficit you need to lose weight, just make some smart choices in what you eat and drink, and how you burn calories.
The second rule of weight loss is that if you take in 3,500 fewer calories than you burn, you'll (generally) lose a pound of fat. So if you can have a calorie deficit of 500 calories a day, you'll burn a pound of fat a week (7 times 500 is 3,500), which is about 50 pounds a year.
If you have been maintaining the same weight for a little while, you are taking in the same amount of calories as you're burning. So you just need to choose a few of the options below to lose 50 pounds in a year. However, if you've been gaining weight, you'll need to choose a few more of the options below to go into calorie deficit.
Remember that 50 pounds a year is only about 4 pounds a month, so you won't notice a huge drop in the first month. Be patient, stick with it, and you'll start to see weight loss in the following months.
Also remember that with any of the changes below, it's hardest for the first few days. After that, you get used to it, and it gets easier.
- Drink water. If you typically drink lots of juice or soda or alcohol, replacing these calorie-filled drinks with water will cut a few hundred calories a day.
- Exercise for 15-20 minutes. If you have a weight problem, chances are you also have a problem with regular exercise. That's probably because you tried to do too much. Just commit to 15 minutes a day. That's not hard at all. And don't do anything intense, especially for the first month. Take it easy -- do a few crunches, a few push ups, jog in place for a few minutes. If you do this every day, you'll burn 100-150 calories, depending on your size and metabolism.
- Replace a fatty snack with veggies. Potato chips, fries, anything that's greasy -- those are laden with calories. Fat is the most calorie-filled food type there is. If you eat a snack like this every day, replace it with cut-up carrots, broccoli, celery, or a salad (with low-fat dressing, not anything fatty).
- Have sex daily. One of the best exercises there is. Of course, you'll need to do it beyond your usual three minutes. If you can get 15 minutes of sex in a day, you can burn 150 calories. You also might need to find a willing partner. The exercise in the item above might help with that.
- Replace a sugary snack with fruits. If you eat Twinkies, Ding Dongs, donuts, candy bars, a carton of ice cream ... you know you need to cut those out. Try fruit instead. Berries are my favorite.
- Eat a healthy breakfast. If you eat eggs and bacon, or something covered in syrup, or anything else sweet or fatty, replace it with something healthier. Steel-cut oatmeal with blueberries, ground flaxseed and almonds is a great choice that is delicious. Also try whole-grain cereal with low-fat milk or soy milk.
- Walk, and use the stairs. Park 5-7 minutes away from work, which adds up to about 10-15 minutes of walking a day, to and from work (in addition to the exercise mentioned above). Use the stairs instead of the elevator. That's about 100 calories total.
- Use non-fat milk in your latte. If you use half-and-half in your latte, using non-fat milk will save you about 250 calories.
- Skip butter. If you put butter on your toast, your roll, and your baked potato, you can save 200-300 calories a day if you skip the butter.
- Plan snacks, don't snack randomly. Munching on little things here and there, throughout the day, can add up to hundreds of calories. Instead, plan on a midmorning and mid afternoon snack, and make at least one of them healthy. Don't snack in between snacks.
- Go with red pasta sauce, not white. Marinara sauce instead of Alfredo will save you a couple hundred calories. Skip the meat too.
- Eat baked chicken, not fried. Fried chicken contains a lot of fat absorbed from frying oil, as well as the fatty skin. Skip the skin, and bake the chicken. Herb it up good, with some pepper, and it tastes great.
- Skip seconds, and eat slower. If you go back for an extra piece of meat and buttered bread, you're adding another few hundred calories. Instead, eat slowly, and you'll get full faster. Also, even if feel hungry after the first helping, wait for 20 minutes. Often, the feeling of hunger will go away.
- Air-pop popcorn. Movie popcorn is full of oil and butter. Tons of fat. Instead, air-pop the popcorn. You can put salt on it, but not butter.
- Go for pretzels, not peanuts. Nuts contain tons of calories. Instead, snack on mini-pretzels (not the soft kind), which can satisfy the salt craving without all of the fat.
- Skip the muffin. Muffins are just cake, if you buy them at a coffee shop, donut shop, or grocery store. You can make your own muffins that don't contain all that fat and sugar, but instead, try eating the healthy breakfasts mentioned above.
Article source: http://www.dumblittleman.com/2007/08/easy-and-sexy-ways-to-lose-50-pounds.html
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