Using Cardio to Lose Weight
If you are desperate to lose weight, then cardio activity is definitely one of the tools that you will want to have in your weight loss arsenal. The crucial point however is to figure out just how much is enough and , how hard will you have to work in incorporating this, and knowing which cardio exercises are the most effective.
This article will highlight all these factors so that when you have finished reading it you will be in a better position to structure your own cardio program to aid in your weight loss objectives.
Why Cardio?
It is a well known fact that if a person burns more calories than he/she intakes, then weight loss will result. Cardio activity, strength training along with a healthy balanced diet is the key components for experiencing sustained and controlled weight loss.
Cardio is a very crucial ingredient in the whole mix of things for a number of reasons, namely:
• If you are able to burn significant calories through cardio activity then the less dietary adjustment you will have to make in order to begin seeing results.
• Cardio facilitates more calories being burned in anyone sitting then any other singular activity. Once your heart rate is up, your blood is pumping and you are perspiring then you are successfully burning calories.
The Best Cardio Activities
Okay, so now you are fully aware of the importance of cardio activities in your quest for a slimmer body. Now, you will have to decide which cardio activities you will actually incorporate within your routine.
High Impact cardio such as jumping rope, walking or pounding the pavement will often facilitate faster burning of calories than other activities that are not so demanding.
Low impact cardio such as swimming or cycling are great for getting your heart rate up, but are not as effective at burning calories as other more high impact cardio activities.
Entire Body cardio is when both upper and lower body parts are being worked simultaneously, then a more efficient overall workout is achieved and the maximum number of calories are burned in any given session.
However, this is certainly not to suggest that low impact activities should not be incorporated at all. Actually, they are quite important in the overall scheme of things as having balanced cardio routine is essential to experiencing sustained weight loss in any program.
How Much Is Necessary
It is difficult, if not downright impossible to give a wide ranging answer to this query, because the amount of cardio required will inadvertently depend on specific individual factors, and the amount required will vary from individual to individual. The factors that will influence this decision are:
1. The age, gender and metabolism of the individual
2. The current fitness level of the person
3. The body fat percentage and weight of the individual
4. The intensity and frequency of the exercise regimen
The fact of the matter is that cardio exercises will help you to lose weight over time, especially if it is combined with healthy eating habits and strength training.
Calcium, helping your bones stay strong
Calcium is one of the key nutrients that your body needs in order to stay strong and healthy. It is an essential building block for lifelong bone health in both men and women, among many other important functions. Because calcium has so many important jobs, it’s important to get enough of it in your diet.
The amount of calcium you need depends on a number of different factors, including your age. However, one thing’s true for everyone: you and your bones will benefit from eating plenty of calcium-rich foods, limiting foods that deplete your body’s calcium stores, and getting your daily dose of magnesium and vitamins D and K—nutrients that help calcium do its job.
Eating Chocolate can help you Stay Skinny
March 26, 2012 — People who are trying to lose weight may not need to bar chocolate from their diets.
A new government-funded study of nearly 1,000 healthy adults shows that people who frequently eat chocolate actually weigh less than those who say they eat it less frequently.
Study researchers say that people who reported eating chocolate five times a week had a body mass index (BMI) about one point less, on average, than people who said they ate chocolate less frequently. For a woman who is 5 feet 6 inches tall and weighs 125 pounds, one BMI point equals about five pounds.
That’s despite the fact that frequent chocolate eaters also reported eating more total calories and more saturated fat than people who ate chocolate less often.
Researchers say that may mean that the calories in chocolate are being offset by other ingredients that boost metabolism.
“With modest amounts of chocolate, they may have the effect of being free calories or even better than free — at least, the associations look that way,” says Beatrice A. Golomb, MD, PhD, an associate professor o
Health Advantages Of Vitamin B6
Vitamin B6 is an important nutrient that should be included in the daily diet. Food contains three substances that have the properties of vitamin B6: pyridoxine, pyridoxal, and pyridoxamine. Although pyridoxine is considered to be the synonym of vitamin B6, all three substances are believed to have the same effect. Vitamin B6 is very effective in treating more than 100 health conditions.
Vitamin B6 is used to treat a wide range of psychological and physical disorders such as cardiovascular disease, depression, memory loss, and kidney stones. Pyridoxine plays a major role in preventing heart disease. Without adequate pyridoxine, homocysteine level increases and buildup the plaque to prevent the natural healing power of the human body. Vitamin B6 prevents the plaque buildup and thus it reduces the risk of heart attacks and strokes.
In addition, vitamin B6 reduces blood cholesterol and blood pressure levels and prevents the blood platelets from sticking together. All these factors reduce the risk of heart diseases. People who are marginal deficient to vitamin B6 are more likely prone to carpal tunnel syndrome. This syndrome causes pain in the wrist after repetitive movements.
The deficiency of this vitamin also causes sensitivity to monosodium glutamate, a kind of flavor enhancer. This sensitivity leads to nausea, headaches, pain in the upper extremities, and vomiting. In both these syndromes, the vitamin D supply alleviates the symptoms only if the syndrome is in the first beginning stage. Pyridoxine along with magnesium prevents the production of kidney stones. Normally, it takes three months to nourish the blood vessels with this nutrient after treatment.
10 Tips for Healthy Eating
Start your day with breakfast.
Breakfast fills your “empty tank” to get you going after a long night without food. And it can help you do better in school. Easy to prepare breakfasts include cold cereal with fruit and low-fat milk, whole-wheat toast with peanut butter, yogurt with fruit, whole-grain waffles or even last night’s pizza!- Get Moving!
It’s easy to fit physical activities into your daily routine. Walk, bike or jog to see friends. Take a 10-minute activity break every hour while you read, do homework or watch TV. Climb stairs instead of taking an escalator or elevator. Try to do these things for a total of 30 minutes every day. - Snack smart.
Snacks are a great way to refuel. Choose snacks from different food groups – a glass of low-fat milk and a few graham crackers, an apple or celery sticks with peanut butter and raisins, or some dry cereal. If you eat smart at other meals, cookies, chips and candy are OK for occasional snacking. - Work up a sweat.
Vigorous work-outs – when you’re breathing hard and sweating – help your heart pump better, give you more energy and help you look and feel best. Start with a warm-up that stretches your muscles. Include 20 minutes of aerobic activity, such as running, jogging, or dancing. Follow-up with activities that help make you stronger such as push-ups or lifting weights. Then cool-down with more stretching and deep breathing. - Balance your food choices – don’t eat too much of any one thing.
You don’t have to give up foods like hamburgers, french fries and ice cream to eat healthy. You just have to be smart about how often and how much of them you eat. Your body needs nutrients like protein, carbohydrates, fat and many different vitamins and minerals such as vitamins C and A, iron and calcium from a variety of foods. Balancing food choices from the Food Guide Pyramid and checking out the Nutrition Facts Panel on food labels will help you get all these nutrients. - Get fit with friends or family.
Being active is much more fun with friends or family. Encourage others to join you and plan one special physical activity event, like a bike ride or hiking, with a group each week. - Eat more grains, fruits and vegetables.
These foods give you carbohydrates for energy, plus vitamins, minerals and fiber. Besides, they taste good! Try breads such as whole-wheat, bagels and pita. Spaghetti and oatmeal are also in the grain group.
Bananas, strawberries and melons are some great tasting fruits. Try vegetables raw, on a sandwich or salad.
- Join in physical activities at school.
Whether you take a physical education class or do other physical activities at school, such as intramural sports, structures activities are a sure way to feel good, look good and stay physically fit. - Foods aren’t good or bad.
A healthy eating style is like a puzzle with many parts. Each part — or food — is different. Some foods may have more fat, sugar or salt while others may have more vitamins or fiber. There is a place for all these foods. What makes a diet good or bad is how foods fit together. Balancing your choices is important. Fit in a higher-fat food, like pepperoni pizza, at dinner by choosing lower-fat foods at other meals. And don’t forget about moderation. If two pieces of pizza fill you up, you don’t need a third. - Make healthy eating and physical activities fun!
Take advantage of physical activities you and your friends enjoy doing together and eat the foods you like. Be adventurous – try new sports, games and other activities as well as new foods. You’ll grow stronger, play longer, and look and feel better! Set realistic goals – don’t try changing too much at once.
Guides can help you make healthier meal choices
Guides can help you make healthier meal choices
Many fast food chains post nutritional information on their websites. Unfortunately, these lists are often confusing and hard to use. Instead, you can go to other websites that provide health and nutrition information, but in easier to follow formats. Some publish downloadable comparison guides, inexpensive pocket guides, or mobile apps for your smart phone. There are also many websites geared towards making healthy choices at restaurants depending on your specific dietary needs, whether your concern is diabetes, cancer, heart disease, or weight management.
See Resources and References section below for more information on finding guides to help you make healthier meal choices.
Study : Fads not as helpful as helpful as Exercising
Nearly two-thirds of Americans who are obese try to lose weight, and about 40% of them actually succeed. How did they do it? The old-school way: By eating less, exercising more and switching to more healthful foods, according to a new study.
That’s not to say that the appeal of fad diets, pre-made diet foods and over-the-counter pills escaped these dieters. But none of these strategies worked. “Liquid diets, nonprescription diet pills and popular diets showed no association with successful weight loss,” according to a study published online Tuesday by the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
Researchers from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston looked at data collected as part of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, a project of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics. Study participants get physical examinations and answer detailed questions about their health and diets.
Over Exercising and Eating Disorders are a Problem
Too much of a good thing can be very bad for you. Just like eating disorders, societal pressures to be thin can also push women to exercise too much. Over-exercise is when someone engages in strenuous physical activity to the point that is unsafe and unhealthy. In fact, some studies indicate that young women who are compelled to exercise at excessive levels are at risk for developing eating disorders.
Eating disorders and over-exercising go hand-in-hand — they both can be a result of an unhealthy obsession with your body. The most dangerous aspect of over-exercising is the ease with which it can go unrecognized. The condition can be easily hidden by an emphasis on fitness or a desire to be healthy. Like bulimia and anorexia, in which persons deny themselves adequate nutrition by restrictive eating behaviors, over-exercising is a controlled behavior that denies the body the energy and nutrition needed to maintain a healthy weight.
According to the American Journal of Sports Medicine, a host of physical consequences can result from over-exercising — pulled muscles, stress fractures, knee trauma, shin splints, strained hamstrings, and ripped tendons.
Remember, fitness should be done within limits and integrated into your lifestyle, done in moderation like everything else in life. If exercising is getting in the way of your daily activities or relationships, you may need to slow down.
What types are Fast Food are Considered Healthy?
The short answer is: rarely. Typically, fast food is low in nutrition and high in trans fat, saturated fat, sodium, and calories. Some examples:
One sack of “hash bites” or “potato snackers” from White Castle, for example, contains 10 grams of very unhealthy trans fat. The American Heart Association recommends we consume less than 2 grams of trans fat per day. So in one side order, you’ve just eaten more than five days’ worth of heart-busting trans fat!
A single meal of a Double Whopper with cheese, a medium order of fries, and an apple pie from Burger King contains more saturated fat than the American Heart Association recommends we consume in two days.
Moderation becomes the key. It’s OK to indulge a craving for French fries every now and then, but to stay healthy you can’t make it a regular habit. Finding a healthy, well-balanced meal in most fast food restaurants can be a challenge, but there are always choices you can make that are healthier than others.
Learning to make healthier choices at fast food restaurants
Learning to make healthier choices at fast food restaurants
Making healthier choices at fast food restaurants is easier if you prepare ahead by checking guides that show you the nutritional content of meal choices at your favorite restaurants. Free downloadable guides help you evaluate your options. If you have a special dietary concern, such as diabetes, heart health or weight loss, the websites of national non-profits provide useful advice. You can also choose to patronize restaurants that focus on natural, high quality food.
If you don’t prepare ahead of time, common sense guidelines help to make your meal healthier. For example, a seemingly healthy salad can be a diet minefield when smothered in high-fat dressing and fried toppings, so choose a salad with fresh veggies, grilled toppings, and a lighter dressing. Portion control is also important, as many fast food restaurants serve enough food for several meals in the guise of a single serving.
Tips for making healthy choices at fast food restaurants
- Make careful menu selections – pay attention to the descriptions on the menu. Dishes labeled deep-fried, pan-fried, basted, batter-dipped, breaded, creamy, crispy, scalloped, Alfredo, au gratin, or in cream sauce are usually high in calories, unhealthy fats, or sodium. Order items with more vegetables and choose leaner meats.
- Drink water with your meal. Soda is a huge source of hidden calories. One 32-oz Big Gulp of regular cola packs about 425 calories, which can quickly gulp up a big portion of your daily calorie intake. Try adding a little lemon to your water or ordering unsweetened iced tea.
- “Undress” your food. When choosing items, be aware of calorie- and fat-packed salad dressings, spreads, cheese, sour cream, etc. For example, ask for a grilled chicken sandwich without the mayonnaise. You can ask for a packet of ketchup or mustard and add it yourself, controlling how much you put on your sandwich.
- Special order. Many menu items would be healthy if it weren’t for the way they were prepared. Ask for your vegetables and main dishes to be served without the sauces. Ask for olive oil and vinegar for your salads or order the dressing “on the side” and spoon only a small amount on at a time. If your food is fried or cooked in oil or butter, ask to have it broiled or steamed.
- Eat mindfully. Pay attention to what you eat and savor each bite. Chew your food more thoroughly and avoid eating on the run. Being mindful also means stopping before you are full. It takes time for your body to register that you have eaten. Mindful eating relaxes you, so you digest better, and makes you feel more satisfied.
Tips for what to AVOID at fast food restaurants
- Supersized portions. An average fast food meal can run to 1000 calories or more, so choose a smaller portion size, order a side salad instead of fries, and don’t supersize anything. At a typical restaurant, a single serving provides enough for two meals. Take half home or divide the portion with a dining partner.
- Salt. Fast food restaurant food tends to be very high in sodium, a major contributor to high blood pressure. Don’t add insult to injury by adding more salt.
- Bacon. It’s always tempting to add bacon to sandwiches and salads for extra flavor, but bacon has very few nutrients and is high in fat and calories. Instead, try ordering extra pickles, onions, lettuce, tomatoes, or mustard to add flavor without the fat.
- Buffets – even seemingly healthy ones like salad bars. You’ll likely overeat to get your money’s worth. If you do choose buffet dining, opt for fresh fruits, salads with olive oil & vinegar or low-fat dressings, broiled entrees, and steamed vegetables. Resist the temptation to go for seconds, or wait at least 20 minutes after eating to make sure you’re really still hungry before going back for more.
