Tag: Losing Weight

Exercising without even realising it: Fun ways for losing weight

Habits may be hard to change, but not impossible. If you want to make changes in your life to be the best version of you, you can totally do it. Are you toying with the idea of losing weight? That is great. It does not matter if you are doing it because you want to look better or be healthier. You have made the best decision ever.

When you finally shed those unwanted pounds, you will feel a lot better. Basically, your world changes for the better. If you do not take pleasure in going to the gym and running is not your thing, you need to find activities that are for you. There are many ways you can exercise without knowing it. If you want to stay in shape, consider the following ideas:

Go exploring

It is generally believed that walking is the best form of exercise. This is because it gently works out the muscles and raises the heart rate. When you do not feel like working out, go and explore the city. This is not a type of exercising per se, but that does not mean that it is not beneficial to your health. Exploring gets you out of the home, pushing you to take roads and corners that you have not even considered until now.

You will learn more about the history and culture of the place where you live. What is more, you have the chance to meet new people.Walking a mile burns roughly 100 calories. 5 hours of walking per week will lead to burning approximately 1500 kcal. The point is that if you have never played the role of the tourist, you should do it now. As the summer comes to an end, you will not have too many opportunities left for exploring the city, so be on your way.

Take the stairs, not the elevator

Do you take the elevator even if you are going to the second floor? If yes, you need to stop doing that. Taking the elevator is not good for your body. According to the experts at the University of Missouri, who published a research paper back in 2008, the slightest reduction in the amount of physical energy can lead to a higher risk for chronic disease, including cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

You are better off taking the stairs. A couple of minutes of climbing stairs can help you burn calories. By raising the heart rate, this activity protects you against high blood pressure and clogged arteries. Additionally, it decreases blood glucose levels. Next time, take the stairs, will you? The elevator may be more convenient, but it is not worth it.

Jump on a trampoline

Jumping up and down a trampoline can literally change your life. Apart from the fact that it is incredibly fun, jumping on a trampoline is good exercise. For the most exciting experience, you need to go to a trampoline park. The staff will go the extra mile to make sure you get some serious exercise. Some of the benefits of working out on a trampoline include increasing lymphatic flow in the body, cleansing the body of toxins, boosting the immune system, and strengthening the skeletal system.

Needless to say, jumping up and down a trampoline is a fun way of losing weight and keeping fit. Try the simple vertical bounce. All you have to do is to jump at the centre of the trampoline in smooth movements. You have to lift your feet for each elevation. This does not sound complicated, does it? Make sure to bring your family and friends when you go to the trampoline park. Why should you be the only one to take advantage of this kind of exercise?

Try roller-skating

If you love roller-skating, it is completely understandable. Roller-skating is enjoyable, not to mention that it gives you a feeling of freedom. Did you know that it is a great way of losing weight? You will not even feel like exercising. Beyond all, roller-skating is cardiovascular activity, which strengthens the heart and helps you burn about 12 calories per minute. Even if you are not doing any tricks, you still get a good cardio workout. Skating all day long will increase your physical endurance.

The more you do it, the more you will be able to do it. Last but not least, taking a trip on the rollerbladesis a real stress-reliever. Your mind does not drift back to the pain and suffering, so you are not likely to get out of control. It is time to have fun. Go skating. There are several places where you can go roller-skating outdoors, such as parks. You can try rolling on the road, but it is dangerous, so be careful.

Exercise with your dog

When you work out with your dog, you have the time of your life. Most importantly, you can keep in shape without making an effort. Your furry friend is the best partner ever. The two of you burn the same amount of energy, not to mention that exercise will help you and your pet get healthier. Dogs are social creatures. This means that they are highly motivated to maintain contact with humans and try to avoid social isolation. If you do not feel like interacting with others, take your pooch out for a walk.

Try active fetching. Encourage the little fellow to go after an object you want him to fetch. When he does that, make sure to offer the furry creature a reward. Playing football is another option. Let your dog near the ball and let them some time to figure out what to do with it. Of course, you can try other toys and activities. Put yourself in the playful mood and show the dog the rules of the game.

To sum up, including exercise in your life is not actually difficult. You just have to make an effort. If you want to improve your health and fitness, stay away from the gym. Go to a trampoline park or get your dog and run around the block. You will regret not having it done earlier.

3 Ways to Put the Fun Back into Working Out

Do you ever make elaborate workout plans than abandon them a week later? Do you hit the gym but quit within a week because exercising is just too boring? Do you struggle with motivation issues every time you hit the treadmill?

You’re not the only one. Millions of people around the world struggle to fit their fitness goals. In fact, “working out” is the number one New Year’s resolution around the world. It is also one of the first resolutions people break each year.

People abandon their fitness goals for any number of reasons. But one of the most common ones is simply because of boredom. Conventional workout programs are often too repetitive, tiring, or long for busy, fatigued people.

Fortunately, there are some ways to make working out fun again, as I’ll show you below:

1. Measure Your Progress

Peter Drucker, the father of modern management, used to say: “If you can measure it, you can manage it”.

In the context of fitness, measuring progress equals managing your motivation. You’re more driven to working out when you can see the results in objective, tangible numbers. Instead of guessing whether you’ve lost weight or gained muscle, regular measurements give you clear evidence of your progress.

As studies show, this has a positive effect on your motivation. If you weight 180lbs last month and 174lbs today, you have clear evidence that your workout program is effective.

There are countless things you can measure:

  • Weight & waist
  • Individual exercises (total weight lifted, total reps, one rep maximum, etc.)
  • Total time or distance on treadmill/stationary bike/etc.
  • Total steps or calories burned each day

Thanks to fitness trackers, measuring these numbers is easier than ever. Keep an eye on their progress and you’ll never struggle with motivation issues again.

2. Add Some Music to Your Workouts

The easiest way to make workout out more fun?

Easy: just add your favorite tunes to it.

Studies show that people have better workouts when they listen to music. The more the music is aligned to their tastes, the better the quality of workouts.

The reasons for this are simple: music is known to alleviate fatigue, improve concentration, and increase mental alertness. Music also creates a Pavlovian response – people feel in the mood for exercise when they hear music they associate with working out.

This is the easiest tip to adopt on this list. Just grab a pair from this list of the best earbuds under 50, throw together a playlist with your favorite tracks, and hit the gym.

3. Change Workout Routines

If you’ve been working out for a while, there is a chance you might have hit a plateau. Your lifts and runs aren’t increasing anymore. And you seem to have hit a dead end in terms of losing weight or gaining muscle.

When you stop making progress, putting together the motivation to workout can be immensely hard. After all, if you don’t improve, what’s even the point of tiring yourself?

If this happens, consider changing up your workout routine. Ditch whatever you were doing and start something entirely new. If you were on a weightlifting program, consider switching to a calisthenics program instead. If you were only running for cardio, consider switching to rowing or cycling.

The goal is to give your body something new to work with. Picking up a new program will also give you new records to achieve, which can further improve motivation.

Getting the motivation to stick to your workout schedules can be hard. Follow these tips anytime you feel that working out isn’t fun anymore.

Why Reaching Your Fitness Goals Is Primarily About Diet

If you’ve heard the saying that weight management is 80 percent diet and 20 percent working out, there’s something to it. You can’t out-exercise a bad diet, which is why your nutrition needs to be at the foundation of your goals. However, remember that what you eat isn’t just about feeding your muscles and reducing fat cell size. In fact, nutrition also affects the mind, which is why your diet can fight fatigue, help mentally get you through a workout, and get you excited about taking a new class or going up in free weights.

It really is mind of matter, and your “matter” is what you’re trying to control. It’s a great idea to work in tandem with a nutritionist and personal trainer if you’re at the start of your journey (or anywhere along the way). These experts can help you pinpoint what it is you want to achieve and map out the best way to do it. After all, if you don’t know what you want to do, how will you know the tools you need to get there?

Reducing fat cells

There’s no such thing as “losing weight” unless you get surgery such as liposuction. All you can do is reduce or increase the size of your fat cells. Everyone is born with a set amount. Diet is at the core of reducing fat cells, although it’s more complicated than calories in/calories out. Still, this is a very basic framework, and it’s important to understand the caloric content of what you’re consuming. Even more important is making sure what is within those calories to nourish your body.

Reducing the number of calories you consume will likely reduce your fat cell size. However, even with working out, you can’t target fat loss areas. Everyone also has a natural shape and often pockets of fat that are too stubborn to move. The best way around this is to contour your body by building muscle in key areas to help off-set this natural tendency. That’s where muscle mass comes into play.

Some people, particularly women, shy away from building muscle because they think it will make them look too masculine. As a woman, this isn’t possible—women simply don’t have the hormone balance to achieve a masculine look. Everyone should focus on muscle mass because sarcopenia (age-related muscle loss) begins to really kick in during your thirties and increases with every decade. Muscles are important for daily activities, protecting the body, and keeping you strong.

Muscle mass

There’s no such thing as “toning.” Muscles can either shrink or grow. Toning usually means reducing fat cells and increasing muscle size simultaneously. However, simply strength training isn’t enough. Muscles need to be fed with protein immediately after a strength training session. Aim to consume at least 20 grams of protein right after a strength training session to kickstart the muscle healing process. If you don’t feed your muscles, and this includes the right amount of calories for you, they won’t grow. Worse, they might tear and be damaged from strength training without proper nutrition.

No matter your fitness goals, make sure diet is a critical part of the process. Otherwise, you’ll be working against yourself and will likely never see the results you crave.

4 Mistakes That Explain Why You Aren’t Losing Weight

Losing weight is a struggle for everyone, no matter what weight loss programs ads might be claiming. In order to succeed in this you have to control your calorie intake, exercise, and generally revise your diet. However, sometimes doing these things doesn’t seem to be enough. In these cases, you might be making mistakes that prevent you from shedding those excess pounds efficiently.

4 Weight Loss Mistakes You Might Be Making Right Now

1.      Weighing yourself too often

Do you start and end your day watching the number on the weight and getting depressed because it won’t budge? This might be the exact reason why it doesn’t. It’s essential to understand that your weight loss expectations must be realistic. It’s impossible for a human being to shed 10 pounds in 5 days and to proceed losing more at the same pace. Well, it might be possible, but only with severe health problems involved.

You also need to understand that your weights aren’t the best judge of your fat-burning program success. If you focus heavily on exercising, especially strength training, that fat will be replaced with muscle. This means that your weight won’t change much, but the actual fitness level and ‘composition’ of your body will.

Finally, losing weight takes time and stress is one of the main reasons that slow down this process. So, stressing over the exact count of pounds only does you more harm.

2.      Using the wrong kind of supplements

It has been proven by various studies that adding some supplements to your diet can enhance weight loss programs. For example, caffeine boosts the efficiency of exercise (Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise) and capsaicin speeds up fat degeneration through oxidation (PLoS One). When dealing with trusted supplements that contain ingredients proven to be effective, like Phen375, your main question should be along the lines of how Phentermine works best?

Does it benefit the effects of your specific diet and exercise program? Does it work for your body’s unique needs? How well does it interact with other weight loss products and techniques you are using?

Only the right kind of supplement will help you achieve a noticeable effect. Buying products with the most appealing ads is one of the most common weight loss mistakes. If you want to avoid this, be sure to consult your nutritionist in order to determine which ingredients will truly work best. Note that you should inquire about ingredients, so you’ll be able to choose the product you can trust after conducting your own unbiased research.

3.      Not getting enough protein

‘Healthy eating’ is a very loose term, especially today when every food brand tries to market this angle in their products. Therefore, a truly healthy diet is the one you design yourself or with a professional help from a nutritionist. And in order for it to be most effective for weight loss, it should contain a bit more protein than a regular ‘healthy’ meal plan.

A low-fat high-protein diet results in an increased metabolism (Journal of the American College of Nutrition). Therefore, you burn fat faster. Note that this effect will be best complemented with capsaicin supplements as they speed up the process of fat oxidation naturally.

4.      You’re not counting your calorie intake right

One of the most annoying weight loss mistakes results from the brain’s inability to judge food portions accurately (Annals of Internal Medicine). The size of your portions is your main enemy when it comes to changing your body shape.

The best solution is to consult a nutritionist about how many calories there truly are in foods, and then use kitchen weights to see how your actual portions should look like.

Note that these are only a few of the common weight loss mistakes. If you seem to do everything right but the results aren’t forthcoming, consider consulting your doctor to find the exact reason.