Drop 5 Pounds in a Week

You want to shed weight for an upcom­ing event. Do you (a) accept how you look and detag Face­book pics later, (b) stop eating, or (c) follow our simple plan? Yeah, we thought so.

                                                                                                                           

Cosmo has come up with a fat-torching plan that really will subtract up to 5 pounds from your bod in seven days — without starvation, bizarre supplements, or cutting out entire food groups. How? It's all about small sacrifices combined with specific techniques. And rather than giving you a one-size-fits-all regimen, we figure you're more likely to stick with the plan if you pick the eating and exercise strategies that fit your lifestyle. 

So choose at least four of the nutritionist- and fitness expert-backed tips that follow, and vow to work them into your schedule for seven days straight. If you feel ambitious, tack on a few more. The more you pick, the more weight you'll lose. If you start now, by this time next week, you'll look and feel way lighter.

Drink Mainly Water A sports or energy drink, fruit smoothie, or light beer — each serving contains about 100 calories. Yet these beverages don't satisfy you the way 100 calories of food does, so they're a waste. Other liquids may be high in sodium and carbohydrates, which trick your body into retaining water, puffing you out.

Water, on the other hand, has zero calories and carbs and little to no sodium, making it the perfect slim-down drink. And strangely, it actually helps flush out excess water weight as well as jump-starts your metabolism. If it's just too boring, add lemon wedges or mint leaves.

 Ban White Bread and Pasta
Cutting out all white grain products — such as white rice, spaghetti, sandwich rolls — will instantly slim you down because the simple carbs in these foods cause bloating, especially around your belly. "Simple carbohydrates wreak havoc on your weight because they're digested very quickly, leaving you hungry and more likely to overeat later," says Jana Klauer, MD, author of The Park Avenue Nutritionist's Plan.


To go a step further, instead of replacing them with healthier yet still bloat-triggering whole-grain bread products, substitute vegetables for the week. This way, a chicken sandwich becomes chicken salad, and chips and dip turn into carrots and dip. The complex carbs from vegetables are digested more slowly, so you remain full longer. And because veggies are mostly water, they also help flush out excess water weight.

Do Cardio 30 Minutes a Day
Any workout that gets your heart rate up will burn calories. But you'll use more calories if you pick a cardio routine that engages multiple muscles simultaneously, says Wendy Larkin, personal-training manager at Crunch's Polk Street gym, in San Francisco.


Three to consider: spinning, cardio kickboxing, and boot-camp workouts. Half an hour of each torches 200 to 300 calories while toning up your arms, legs, and core so everything appears sleeker and tighter.


You'll burn even more calories per session if your workout incorporates interval training: alternating short bursts of intense cardio with slower activity. Experts aren't sure why it works, but trainers swear by it.

Drink Coffee an Hour Before Working Out
This is the one exception to the stick-to-water-only rule: Just as a coffee run makes your morning at work more productive, a pre-exercise cup of java with a splash of skim milk (about 11 calories) or black (just 5 calories) will energize your workout, explains Dr. Klauer. "You'll burn more calories without realizing you're pushing yourself harder."

Have Nightly You-on-Top Sex
Not that you needed an excuse to hook up with your guy every night, but the fact is, this position is a fat blaster. Being on top means you do the rocking, and the more active you are, the more calories you burn — up to 144 for 30 minutes.


Sex also pumps levels of feel-good neurotransmitters, endorphins, helping you ride out food cravings. Get on top in reverse-cowgirl (i.e., facing away from your guy) to give your thigh and butt muscles an extra push.

Do 36 Push-Ups and Lunges Every Other Day
These gym-class staples will help sculpt muscle, so you'll sport a more streamlined appearance. Do three sets of 12 of each exercise every other day. "Push-ups target your upper body, while lunges work your butt, hips, and thighs," says Larkin. Quick tip: Make sure your back and legs remain in a straight line during your push-ups; it'll improve muscle tone. Also, you can build even more muscle with the lunges if you hold free weights in each hand while doing them.

Sleep 30 Minutes More a Night
That extra half an hour, whether you sleep 5 hours or 8, can refresh you enough that you will make better food choices (in other words, no quick sugar fix for breakfast in search of energy) and won't feel lethargic and skip the gym, says registered dietician Esther Blum, author of Eat, Drink, and Be Gorgeous. More restful sleep (7 to 8 hours is best) also boosts your metabolism. And since your body builds muscle while you snooze, getting zzz's equals better muscle tone.

Make One Food Sacrifice Cutting out one indulgence — such as the chips you have with lunch or the chocolate dessert you eat after dinner — can subtract a few hundred calories from your diet, which translates into less flab, says Blum. "Your body won't even notice their absence."

Don't Let the Camera Add Pounds Push your chin forward, hold your arms away from your body, and turn slightly sideways from the camera with one foot in front of the other.

GET THINNER IN HOURSReally. These slenderizing effects may not be permanent, but they'll help you look hotter in your skinniest jeans on very short notice.

Eat Salmon for LunchIt's packed with nutrients that build muscle tone and give your skin a healthy glow. Some nutritionists claim that consuming a portion (doesn't matter how it's cooked) may immediately make your face look a bit more contoured.

Stand Up StraightKeeping your spine rigid and your shoulders back while sucking in your belly toward your spine gives you a slimmer, more streamlined middle.

Do Squats and Sit-UpsBodybuilders use this technique before competitions because it adds definition to muscle. Do three sets of 12 of each exercise to tighten your abs, butt, and legs temporarily.

Pop an Antigas PillTake one of these chewable tablets, sold over-the-counter at drugstores, to relieve bloating in your abdomen and break up gas bubbles in your digestive track, leaving you with a flatter tummy.

 

http://www.cosmopolitan.com/advice/health/drop-5-pounds-in-a-week

7 Most Unhealthy Processed Foods You Need To Avoid

Processed foods have the advantage of saving time and this makes them tempting to people who have a busy lifestyle and for those who don’t particularly like to cook. Most processed foods also come with a low price tag that is hard for many consumers to resist. However, at some point we really need to look at the hidden costs that processed foods have on our health.

It is no secret by now that the vast majority of processed foods are not healthy. In general, they are very low in nutrients, especially micronutrients like antioxidants and vitamins, while simultaneously being high on calories. They also contain industrially engineered ingredients that can be very harmful to the human body.

Eliminating all processed foods from your diet may be quite difficult. However, you can significantly improve your healthy by eliminating the worst of the processed foods. Below, you will find a list of the 7 most unhealthy processed foods.

Chicken Nuggets – Like hot dogs, chicken nuggets are at the pinnacle of industrialized foods. While you may think that chicken nuggets are mostly protein, the typical chicken nugget, including the famous chicken McNuggets, are more than 50 percent fat and they contain more carbs than protein. Keep in mind too, that the carb portion is made of very unhealthy carbs found in the fillers and breading.

Most chicken nuggets are deep fried, often in an oil containing trans fat. Trans fat causes cell membrane deformities that contribute to the development of metabolic diseases such as type 2 diabetes. Most chicken nuggets also contain many unhealthy additives such as MSG and tertiary butylhydroquinone (TBHQ).

Soda Pop – There is nothing nutritional about sodas; they are empty calories. Moreover, they contain substances that can hurt you. As if sugar wasn’t bad enough, almost all sodas today use high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) as a sweetener and this is even worse than sugar. HFCS has been shown to be damaging to the liver as well as causing blood glucose spikes even worse than normal table sugar would. Soda pop is a primary contributor to the obesity problem in the United States.
Soda pop is also one of the most powerful acid producing substances we can put into our bodies. As such, they cause our naturally alkaline body pH to become acidic. Cancer cells thrive in an acidic environment and can’t survive in an alkaline environment. An acidic body is also much more susceptible to viral and bacterial attacks since it weakens the natural defenses of the body’s immune system
.
Hotdogs & Other Processed Meats – Hot dogs have been a staple of the American diet for decades. The National Hot Dog and Sausage Council reports that Americans eat about twenty billion hot dogs a year. They also report that ninety-five percent of all American homes serve hot dogs. Of course, lunch meats like bologna also have similar ingredients.
The vast majority of hot dogs and other highly processed meats on the market contain loads of salt, MSG, sodium nitrate and other preservatives, artificial flavors, cheap unhealthy fillers, and mechanically separated meat and poultry. Most people don’t realize that mechanically separated meat has been so highly processed under extreme heat and pressure that whatever nutritional value it had to begin with is lost in the processing. For example, proteins become denatured under these extreme industrial conditions. If you have an absolute craving for a hot dog, look for nitrate free organic hot dogs with no preservations, artificial flavors, or meat byproducts.

Store Bought Cookies, Cake, Muffins, and Crackers – For the purpose of this article, cookies, cake, muffins, and crackers have all been lumped into a single category because the health issues associated with them are similar. Beyond the obvious high levels of sugar and salt, most of these products also contain trans fat. Trans fat is added in part because it is much cheaper than healthy fats and this makes them more profitable. However, trans fat is also added to prolong shelf life and to improve the texture. In fact, there are whole “food science” labs devoted to figuring out how to use trans fats and other industrial foods to achieve the perfect texture in these types of products.

To determine if a product contains trans fat, you should not go by what it states on the front of the label. The USFDA actually allows manufacturers to label their products with “zero trans fat” if each individual serving contains less than 0.05 grams of trans fat. Many manufacturers simply reduced the size of a serving to reach this magic number. So, instead of a serving size being three cookies, they might say it is one cookie so they could put a “zero trans fat” on the label. To know for sure if a product actually contains trans fat, you need to look at the ingredient list and look for the words “hydrogenated” or “partially hydrogenated.” If these words appear, then the product contains trans fat

 

.Many Popular Breakfast Cereals – Do you want to know why so many breakfast cereals are “fortified” with vitamins and minerals? The reason is because otherwise they would be so devoid of nutrition, no one would want to buy them. Fortified means that the vitamins are artificially added during the processing of the food. It’s no better than taking a crunchy vitamin, and in fact, usually a low quality vitamin. For example, these fortified cereals often add a form of vitamin D that is not easily used by the human body.

Most breakfast cereals are also loaded with sugar, or worse, high fructose corn syrup. If they contain corn, as many do, then you can bet it it is genetically modified (GMO) corn because this type of corn is much cheaper and this increases their profit. GMO corn has been shown to cause tumors in rodents in a recent study conducted in Europe. Research studies have been limited in the United States and other countries because Monsanto and other biotech companies threaten scientists with lawsuits if they conduct research with their patented seed. However, there have been many anecdotal cases showing cattle and other farm animals getting sick and/or dying from eating GMO corn.

 

Granola Bars – While you may be surprised to see granola bars on a list of the 7 most unhealthy processed foods, this is actually one of the reasons they are listed here. The marketing of granola bars are exceptionally deceptive. They are usually marketed as an exceptionally healthy food when in fact they are just the opposite. This means people tend to eat more of them thinking they are actually eating a super convenient, tasty, healthy food when they really are not. Parents also tend to feel good about giving granola bars to their kids but they really aren’t any healthier than a candy bar.

Regardless of what you see on the front of the packaging or hear in the commercials, almost every brand of granola bar contains high fructose corn syrup. If you don’t believe this fact, try going into any supermarket and finding a box of granola bars that don’t contain this harmful ingredient. You’ll be hard pressed to find one! Even if they say they are made with honey or maple syrup, read the ingredient label. Some will put a tiny bit of honey or maple syrup for flavor but most of the sweetness is still derived from high fructose corn syrup. They are also sometimes loaded with fat, including trans fat, and lots of sodium too!

 

Pre-Made Condiments and Salad Dressings – Most condiments and salad dressings contain high fructose corn syrup as this is a really cheap way food manufacturers can add bulk to their product and improve the flavor with very little cost. Many also contain trans fats and food additives like MSG. Another factor that makes them so unhealthy is that we tend to not think about what’s in condiments when we apply them to our food. Even a healthy fresh vegetable salad can quickly become an unhealthy meal if an unhealthy dressing is added.

One way to eat healthier is simply to make your own condiments and salad dressiongs where you can control the ingredients. You can usually store salad dressings and homemade ketchup for at least a week in the refrigerator.

In conclusion, one of the healthiest steps you can take to improving your health is eliminating, or at least significantly reducing, the processed foods you eat. It is also important for you to carefully read the ingredient label when shopping and not just depend on what it says on the front of the package.

http://www.epyk.com/192/7-most-unhealthy-processed-foods-you-need-to-avoid

Foods to Eat If You Overeat

Ways to rebound from a rich meal.

We’re all guilty of overindulging sometimes, but loading up on calories forces your body into overdrive as it tries to undo the damage done by the harmful free radicals produced as you digest food. (Free radicals attack cells and can promote the development of chronic conditions, such as heart disease, diabetes and cancer.) And, of course, the more we eat the more free radicals we produce. Here’s the good news: recent research suggests that there’s a (delicious) way to rebound from the damage of a rich meal and reduce free radicals...add these 5 items to your menu!

1. Drink Orange Juice

Flavonoids, the-like compounds in OJ, may offset the heart-damaging effects of a calorie- and fat-laden meal, suggests a 2010 antioxidant study in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. In the study, people who drank orange juice with a high-fat, high-calorie breakfast (51 grams fat, 900 calories) had lower levels of harmful free radicals and other inflammatory markers associated with heart disease after the meal than participants who drank plain water or sugar water and ate the same breakfast.

2. Eat Fruit

If you've indulged in a decadent meal, follow it with fruit. Eating antioxidant-rich fruits—including berries, grapes, kiwi and cherries—helps minimize the harmful free-radical damage that occurs after a meal. Eating caloric meals without antioxidant-rich foods like fruit and vegetables can have harmful effects over time.

3. Drizzle Vinegar

Having a tablespoon of vinegar with your meal, perhaps drizzled on your salad, may temper the spike in blood sugar that occurs after eating a big, carbohydrate-rich meal.
For most of us, a steep rise in blood sugar triggers an equally rapid drop—which stokes appetite. This sugar surge is particularly a problem for people with diabetes, who can't clear glucose effectively (over time, excess glucose in the blood damages tissues).

4. Drink Wine

The antioxidants in red wine may reduce the negative impact of high-fat foods by lowering levels of a compound—produced in the body after eating fat—that's linked with heart disease. Cook with red wine or enjoy a glass with dinner. But remember, moderation is key!

5. Add Spices to Your Meals

Adding spices to your meal may help to lessen the negative effects of overeating. In a small 2011 study in The Journal of Nutrition, participants who ate a meal that included about 2 tablespoons of spices (a blend of rosemary, oregano, cinnamon, turmeric, black pepper, cloves, garlic powder and paprika) had lower triglyceride and insulin levels and higher antioxidant levels after eating a high-fat, high-calorie meal compared to when they ate a nearly identical meal that lacked spices. Researchers think the spice blend may help slow fat absorption—and the antioxidants help mop up harmful free radicals produced when you overeat
. http://www.eatingwell.com/nutrition_health/nutrition

Lose Pounds Fast Using Simple Summer Diet

Here's a simple diet which will help you to lose pounds fast without doing something crazy. Summer diet was developed by American nutrition experts to help middle-age people to get their body in shape for the summer season. This is a low-calorie diet which consists of 1200 calories for each day. Summer diet is a balanced diet but there are still some restrictions: diet duration is 14 days, no longer or you can apply it for three days each week as long as you want.
Here is daily menu which you should use for all days:
In the morning: Any 5 fruits;
Lunch: Choose one of following for the lunch meal:
a)200 g of boiled chicken breast without skin;
b)200 g of canned tuna and 1 egg;
c)250 g of fat-free cottage cheese and 1 egg; and Vegetables without restriction (prepared in any way)
Snack: 2 fruits or slice of black bread with a little honey or jam;
Dinner: Choose one of following for the dinner meal:
a) 2 tea cups of boiled brown rice;
b) 2 tea cups of pasta;
c) 2 potatoes; and without any restrictions: vegetable salads made of any vegetables mixed with lemon juice and any vegetable soups.
It is allowed to swap lunch and dinner if you like. Breaks between food intakes should be no less than 2 hours. Drink a big glass of water before each meal.
See, it is simple as 2x2. Do not waste your time by trying to find super secret method to lose pounds fast be cause there is no easy way. Start today with summer diet to see amazing results already after one week.
It is recommended to consult your doctor or nutrition specialist before applying any of these diets.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Paul_J_Green

The 30 Greatest Flat-Belly Tips of All Time

Everything you need to shrink your stomach, reduce bloat, and rock that bikini 

1

Drink and Still Shrink

The liver processes alcohol before other carbs and protein, and the sheer presence of alcohol in the body slows fat burning, says Diane Henderiks, R.D., personal chef and founder of Dish with Diane. You can still hit happy hour, just stick to one drink—that’s 5 ounces of wine, 12 ounces beer, or 1 ounces of a spirit—a day.
 2

Chill the ^*&% Out

Anxiety produces extra cortisol, the hormone  that encourages the body to store fat—particularly in the abdominal region. Practicing deep-breathing exercises has been known to help alleviate stress levels, so hit the “pause” button in your mind every hour and take five to 10 deep-belly breaths, inhaling for five counts and exhaling for 10 counts.
 3

Chow Down

Eating too little will force your body  into "starvation mode," which will cause it to store added fat for energy (out of fear of not being fed) rather than burning fat  and keeping your belly taut, Henderiks says.
4

Keep Cardio in Check

Muscle is more metabolically active than fat, which means the more you have, the faster your metabolism is and the more calories you burn all day long—all key for a whittled middle. Resistance training builds this quality lean muscle,  so do two to three total-body strength sessions a week, says Tom Holland, exercise physiologist and author of Beat the Gym: personal trainer  Secrets Without the Personal Trainer Price Tag. For fat-melting cardio, all you need to do is your weight, he adds: If you’re 145 pounds, do 145 minutes a week, broken up however fits into your schedule—say, 60 minutes Saturday, 45 Tuesday, and 40 Thursday.
 5

Get Wholed Over

In a Penn State study, dieters who ate whole instead of refined grains lost more fat from around their midsections. And Tufts University researchers reported that people who included three servings of whole grain  and less than one serving of refined carbs daily had 10 percent less visceral fat than those who didn’t follow this diet.
  6

Work Every Angle

When doing an abs circuit, think about all three planes of motion, says celebrity trainer  Gunnar Peterson, who works with Sofia Vergara, Kim Kardashian, and Vanessa Lachey: Try crunches and reverse crunches to hit your sagittal (front to back and up and down) plane, standing side bends for frontal (side-to-side) movement, and chops or twists for transverse (rotational) action. This will help challenge and therefore define your abs.
  7

Gulp Green

Multiple studies show that EGCG, an antioxidant  in green tea, helps boost metabolism and may specifically target abdominal fat. Most research has used high doses of tea, but even if you can’t manage to guzzle gallons, any amount is beneficial.
 8

Hit Snooze

Not only can a lack of zzzs slow your metabolism, a 2012 study showed that people who were sleep-deprived had subcutaneous fat cells (the ones right below your skin) that were more insulin resistant, which can lead to weight gain, says Patricia Bannan, R.D., author of eat right  When Time is Tight.
 9

Hit the Herb Rack

Ginger, peppermint, and chamomile  seem to aid in digestion and may reduce bloating, Henderiks says. If you don’t like herbal tea, snack on pineapple—it contains bromelain, an enzyme  that appears to do the same.
 10 

Watch the Sugar, Mama

Research shows the average American eats about 20 teaspoons of sugar daily, often hidden in processed foods, including “healthy” ones such as yogurt, frozen dinners, sauces, and salad dressings. Twenty teaspoons adds up to 325 empty calories  a day, and insulin production increases with sugar intake, which can slow your metabolism, making it harder to burn those empty calories. Read labels and try to reduce your intake as much as possible.
  11

Follow the 10-Percent Rule

While no crunch in and of itself will get rid of belly fat, abdominal exercises  are the “finishing moves” to sculpt the abs once you’ve removed excess fat via diet and exercise, Holland says. Spend the majority of your workout focusing on the rest of your body, and dedicate no more than 10 percent of your time on abs work. So if you work out for an hour, plan six minutes of abs exercises  and give the rest of your time to strength training and/or cardio.
12

Go Big or Go Home

At the gym, focus on movements that work bigger muscles groups  and multiple muscle groups (such as squats and lunges) instead of isolation movements (such as leg extensions and leg curls). These exercises burn more calories, which will help torch more body fat  so your sexy abs come out of hiding, Peterson says.

13

Simplify Supper

Eat only protein and leafy green vegetables for dinner—and no dessert or night time snacks—to avoid holding water when you wake up, especially in the days leading up to your beach weekend, Peterson says
14

Do the Write Thing

Keeping a food journal  is an easy way to control your weight and help you become more aware of any belly-bloating triggers, Bannan says. Write down what you're eating and how your stomach feels throughout the day, and you might discover what isn't treating your tummy kindly. Ask yourself: Do I feel gassy? Am I overfull after just a few bites of certain foods? Does my stomach make sounds or feel swollen following specific meals?
15

Pump Up the Potassium

Your body  can retain water when your sodium and potassium levels are out of whack, Bannan says. In addition to keeping sodium in check, consume potassium-rich foods  to maintain the balance and de-puff your belly. Try incorporating 1 medium baked potato without skin (610mg), 1/2 cup white beans (595mg), 1 cup cooked spinach (839mg), 10 dates (466mg), or 1 cup edamame (676mg) daily

16

Be Proactive

If your stomach’s natural bacteria fall out of equilibrium, it can slow down your digestion and lead to bloating, Bannan says. Live active cultures in yogurt and probiotic  drinks can help rebalance your levels, so aim for one serving a day.
17

Vacuum

Peterson has his clients work up to holding a plank for 1 minute. Then they progress to performing vacuums during the exercise: Suck in your abs like you’re trying to button jeans that are too tight. Hold for 3 counts, then release for 3 counts. Repeat until the end of your plank. You’ll have to build back up to a minute, but it’s worth it, Peterson says.

18

Avoid Fried Foods

The fat in fried foods is digested more slowly, which can cause you to feel heavy and puffy, Henderiks says. And who really wants to chow down on greasy mozzarella sticks while wearing a teeny bikini?
19

Make a Mad Dash

Throw intense, high-speed intervals into your usual cardio workout, and you’ll burn the same or more total calories in a shorter amount of time—and the harder you push it, the more calories you burn after your workout, Holland says, meaning the fat will melt off to reveal your abs. Peterson recommends adding sprints of 10, 20, and 30 seconds and recovering for two to three times that long. Bonus: You can “sprint” on anything: treadmill, bike, rower, swimming, elliptical—you name it.

20

Fatten Up

Monounsaturated fats—such as those in olives, nuts, and avocados—appear to increase fat oxidation, especially dreaded belly pudge. Plus they can help you stick to your diet, as fat is filling and adds flavor to your meals, Bannan says. All fats are high in calories, though, so stick to two or three servings a day and watch those portion sizes!

21

Roll (Up) With It

A classic pilates  move, the roll up is 38 percent more effective at targeting the rectus abdominis (the “six-pack”) and 245 percent more effective at targeting the obliques than a basic crunch, according to an Auburn University study. To do it, lie face-up with legs straight, ankles, knees, and thighs together. Flex feet and extend arms overhead. Inhale to prepare as you lift your head, neck, and shoulders off the floor. On your exhale, continue to roll up by drawing in abdominals, reaching arms up and over toward feet. Keep abdominals contracted, with spine  rounded in a “C” curve. Pause and inhale. On your exhale, roll down through each vertebra in a controlled movement, keeping heels pressed evenly into the floor the entire way up and down. Do 15 reps as controlled and precise as you can, as many days a week as possible.
22

Get on the Ball

Your coworkers who sit on Swiss balls may look a little odd, but this trick makes you engage  your abs, Holland says. Try lifting one or both legs every half hour or so, which will work your core stabilizer muscles  even more as you try to balance.
23

Put the Petal to the Metal

Include the bicycle in your abdominals workout, Peterson suggests. A 2012 study sponsored by the  (ACE) found this exercise to be the most effective move for strengthening the rectus abdominus, the long, flat muscle  extending the length of the front of the abdomen. Do 2 to 3 sets of 12 to 15 reps three times a week.
24

Stay Conscious of Carbs

Carbohydrates take water to metabolize, and too much fluid can make you feel bloated, Henderiks says. But that doesn’t mean you have to ban all carbs from your diet. Opt for complex, starchy, and fiber-filled ones such as sweet potatoes, brown rice, legumes, oats, leafy greens, and asparagus, which are more slowly digested, and try to limit your daily tally to about 200 grams

25
 

Ditch Diet Foods

Sugar alcohols such as sorbitol and mannitol are used as sweeteners in diet  products—and they produce gas in the intestines, Henderiks says, which can make you balloon.

26

Push Yourself

Peterson is a fan of Chaturanga Dandasana—a.k.a. yoga pushup—for the extension and isometric contraction it provides: From plank, bend your elbows and begin lowering toward the floor, with every part of your body an equal distance from the floor. Keep your elbows close to your body, abs engaged (not clenched), back straight, thigh muscles active, and glutes soft. Start by holding the pose above the floor for 5 full, complete breaths, and work up to 10. Push back up to plank in 4 counts. Do 4 reps every other day.

27

Sneak in a Mini Abs Workout Anywhere

Drawing your navel in toward your spine  provides isometric training for the abdominals, meaning the muscles aren’t lengthening or shortening, but there is tension on the muscle  fibers. Do it in the shower, at work, wherever!
28

Laugh It Off

Having a good LOL causes your abs to contract, Peterson half-kids   Obviously that’s not all you need to do for an A-list midsection, but it’s definitely an excuse to have some fun!
29

Shake Your Salt Habit

Your body needs  some sodium to function, but too much can lead to fluid retention in the gut, Henderiks says. Put down the shaker and forgo processed and prepared foods as much as possible in favor of homemade meals so you can control the salt. Experts recommend maxing out at 2,400 milligrams of sodium a day, but this is one time when less is better.
30

Don't Be an Airhead

You likely don’t think you’re eating air, but talking while noshing, drinking from a straw, and chewing gum can all cause air to accumulate in your stomach, making it expand over your waistband. In addition to breaking those bad habits, taking smaller bites can also help you keep the air out, says Marjorie Nolan Cohn, R.D., author of The Belly Fat Fix and a national spokeswoman for the Academy of Nutrition & Dietetics.
http://www.shape.com/healthy-eating/diet-tips/30-greatest-flat-belly-tips-all-time?

 

The World's Greatest Diet For Weight Loss And Health

Yes, Everyone, there is such a thing as the world's greatest diet. Allow me to explain.
First of all, what would be the attributes of the world's greatest diet?
1. It would be comprised of easily available foods.
2. It would NOT require any fancy measuring or fixing.
3. It would be easy to follow at a friend's dinner party, a fine restaurant, or Mickey Dee's (McDonald's to old fuddy-duddies like me).
4. It would not just help with weight loss and weight management, but with health in general.
5. It would be made up of our favorite foods.
HMMMMMMM! TEACHER! I SEE A PROBLEM!
Okay, you can put your hand down. I see it too. It's that "favorite foods" thing, isn't it?
Everybody has different "favorite foods", and we won't even get into gourmet, regional, or ethnic cooking. I'll leave that to my daughter and her husband. (Psst! Seen the pictures of my grandkids?)
Anyway, let's see if we can put together the world's greatest diet for health and weight loss...for you!
You see, there's the rub, as my good friend, though somewhat older than me, Billy Shakespeare would say.
We are all different. We are different ethnically, environmentally, educationally, genetically (ran out of e's), and, dare I say it, sexually. All of these things are important, because they exercise an influence on the results of any diet that anybody tries out.
Hey, there's a good word, "try". How many people do you know who actually stay on a diet...especially for the rest of their lives? I guess we need to add another attribute. The world's greatest diet would have to be one:
6. You could and would stay on for the rest of your life.
WHY THE REST OF MY LIFE?
Simple. I don't care what diet you go on and how well it works. If it does work and you stop eating according to that diet, over time you will find yourself right back where you are now and wondering where you put this article.
So, to build your "world's greatest diet" we have to go back to the title of this article, "The World's Greatest Diet For Weight Loss And Health". I put "weight loss" AND "health" in there for a reason. There are diets that don't really help you lose weight, there are diets that are not good for your health, and weight loss does not automatically equal health...particularly if that weight loss is accomplished through dieting.
Here we go. It doesn't really matter what foods you eat. You like apple pie, have some apple pie. You like popcorn, have some popcorn. Filet Mignon? Sure, why not.
Let's back up for a minute. A "diet" is simply a list of the foods you eat. In the last few decades, the word has gotten loaded down with all kinds of extra stuff like the pancakes at IHOP. A doctor can give you a "diet" to help you avoid hives, get over a stomach upset, or even to gain weight if that is what is needed for your health.
If that doctor gives you a "diet" that says you can only eat seven foods, he or she would be doing you a grave (pun intended) disservice. In order to get the nutrients your body needs for health AND for weight loss, you need a diversity of foods...and that diversity can range from soup to nuts...or Filet Mignon! You don't have to JUST eat cabbage. You NEED to eat cabbage, hamburgers, biscuits, broccoli, apples, apple pie, chicken, fish, carrots...you get the idea. You can deny yourself a lot of the foods you like, take a lot of enjoyment out of your life, and even damage your health without even losing any weight by trying weird fad diets and strange pills that cause your body to act in an unnatural manner.
Your personal "greatest diet in the world" is going to be the foods you normally eat and enjoy eating.
THERE'S GOT TO BE A "BUT" HANGING AROUND SOMEWHERE!
Absolutely. It's not about WHAT you eat. It's about two other things:
1. How MUCH you eat, and
2. How you live the rest of your life.
You see, weight loss and health is about balance. The weight loss balance has been known for years. Eat more calories than you use, the excess gets stored as fat. Attempt to use more calories than you eat, your body burns the available fat and abracadabra you have weight loss. However, simply cutting calories down to the bone denies your body nutrients necessary to health and does not allow for the activity that helps keep a body healthy. Exercising (the way we most commonly burn extra calories) while continuing to eat excess calories not only makes it harder to lose weight, but still creates a condition in which our health can be threatened by that excess anyway.
A balanced program for health and weight loss does not deny you the foods you like to eat, it merely tasks you to realize what you are doing to your body and use some self control and limit yourself when food is offered or available. As far as the exercise side of the equation is concerned, "exercise" scares people, so let's just talk about activity. Your exercise program can be gardening, swimming, bicycle riding, yoga, tai-chi; or gardening on Monday, swimming on Tuesday, bicycle riding on Wednesday, yoga on Thursday, and tai-chi on Friday!
There is an old saying: Keep doing what you have been doing, and you will keep getting what you have been getting.
Makers of diet pills and sellers of diet books know that you realize this, so they offer you something that seems to change that no-win equation. The problem is that without actually creating an actual change of the manner in which you eat and exercise, these diet pills and fad diets at best will only temporarily seem to change the actual equation and allow you to lose weight for a short time if at all. They will not make a permanent change in your life or your health, and their "weight loss" effects, if any, will wear out quickly, often leaving you in a worse situation than when you started.
An article such as this is much too short to get into all the various aspects of weight loss, diets, exercise, and health, but the basic equations are simple. Too much weight can adversely affect your health in a multitude of ways. Losing weight in an unhealthy manner may leave you in as bad a state as you were in when you started...or even worse. Combining formal exercise or enjoyable physical activity with a sensible enjoyment of food so that calorie intake and calorie use can be balanced will result in weight loss, health and a lifestyle that will continue to bring benefits for years.

   Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Donovan_Baldwin

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/434192 

How to Lose Weight

Are you tired of carrying around the extra pounds? Or do you want to shed extra weight once and for all? This article covers the basics including how to eat, exercise and stay motivated to lose weight. It also covers some specific diets that you may want to try in your journey to a smaller, healthier you.

 

 Rules of Thumb

1

 Keep your own personal food diary. People who keep food diaries, according to a study published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, lose an average of 6 pounds (2.75 kg) more than people who don't keep a record of everything that they eat.^[1] So force yourself to write down the good, the bad and the ugly. Keep these tips in mind:

Be exhaustive. Write it all down, including beverages. Don't pretend you didn't have that extra glass of wine after dinner. If it goes into your stomach, it goes into the journal.

Be accurate. Record your portion sizes in your food diary. Also, read the ingredients list so that you can be accurate about serving sizes.

Be complete. Add detailed information about how your food was prepared (fried, broiled, grilled, etc.), and write down any added toppings or condiments that you ate.

Be consistent. Carry your food journal everywhere that you go. As an alternative, you can use a diet-tracking app on your smartphone or tablet.

2

Avoid skipping meals. The same study found that people who ate at least 3 meals per day lost more weight than people who didn't. The scientists speculate that people who skip meals either overeat at their next meals because they're so hungry, or their bodies absorb more calories because they're in starvation mode from skipping meals.

• When you skip meals, your body stops breaking down fat and starts breaking down muscle tissue. Muscle tissue burns more calories at rest than other tissues, so you're actually working against your goals.^[2]

Make sure that you don't get hungry by eating small portions throughout the day. Between your meals, eat a 150-calorie snack to keep your metabolism burning and to stave off hunger. Be sure that you don't eat a fattening snack, such as sweets or crisps. When you're hungry, your body conserves calories and slows down your metabolic processes.^[3]

3

Eat food from home. Sure, going out for a power lunch helps you to see and be seen, but researchers find that people who eat fewer meals from restaurants tend to lose more weight.

When you eat at a restaurant, you have limited control over your portions. As a result, you often eat more than you intended to eat. Try packing up half of it in advance and taking it home for tomorrow. Do this before you start eating so you're not tempted to finish your gigantic portion.

Ordering from a restaurant menu doesn't give you complete information about how your food is cooked or what ingredients are used. At home, you can substitute lower-calorie ingredients or make recipes over so that they still taste great while delivering healthier results.^[4]

Low-Calorie Diet
1

 Learn to love fruit. Fruit helps to satisfy your sweet tooth thanks to its natural sugars. It also contains fibre to help you feel full quickly. Try some of these tips to introduce more fruit into your diet:

Choose fruit that's in season. When you eat apples in the fall, for instance, or cherries in late summer, you are eating fruit at the peak of its flavor. It's going to be a much more satisfying experience.

Eat pre-cut fruits like melons or pineapple chunks as snacks.

Keep a bowl filled with fruit on your kitchen counter or in your refrigerator. Also, keep dried fruit and fruit canned in water on hand in case your fresh produce goes bad.

Prepare a large fruit salad containing mostly berries as well as other fruit that won't go bad quickly, like pineapples or orange chunks. Toss in some walnuts and refrigerate the fruit salad for up to a week. Grab a cupful for breakfast or eat it as a dessert

2

.Eat vegetables for nutrition and to help you fill up more quickly. When you make your lunch or dinner plate contain at least 50 percent vegetables, you can have other richer dishes on your plate in smaller portions. Add veggies to your plate by following some of these suggestions:

Enjoy vegetables that contain potassium. Vegetables like sweet potatoes, spinach and lentils will ensure that you get the potassium that you need.

Use vegetables as a main dish. For example, make a stir-fry or a hearty salad and add just a few ounces of cooked chicken, salmon or almonds.

If you have a habit of eating out of boredom.Try chewing sugar free gum.

Eat crunchy vegetables as snacks. Cut up celery, carrots, peppers, broccoli or cauliflower and dip them in a light salad dressing or hummus.

Take advantage of frozen vegetables. They cook quickly in the microwave when you're in a hurry to fix dinner.^[  

3
Learn to eat whole grains instead of refined foods.

Substitute whole-grain foods for refined carbohydrates. Try whole wheat bread, whole wheat pasta or brown rice.

Substitute whole wheat flour or oat flour into pancakes or baked goods. You might need to add additional leavening ingredients, like wheat gluten.

Swap whole grains into traditional mixed dishes. For example, put barley in your soup instead of rice or try a pilaf with barley, wild rice or brown rice. 

4

Choose protein wisely

Select lean cuts of beef or extra-lean ground beef.

Try chicken breasts. If you use different cuts of chicken, then remove the skin.

Skip the fatty deli meats like bologna and salami. Choose lean turkey or roast beef as a replacement.

Vegetarians can get plenty of protein from soy, nuts, beans and seeds. Enjoy nuts and seeds in moderation because they have a high concentration of calories.

5

Eat low-fat dairy products including low-fat cheeses and non fat yogurt.

 6

Consume healthy oils.

 If you cook with oil, use a teaspoon of a healthy oil such as olive oil or canola oil. Or instead of adding oil for flavour, add spices or vinegar.

Low-Carb Diet

 Limit the quantity of carbohydrates in your diet. According to low-carb experts, carbohydrates cause your body to produce more insulin, which burns the carbs that you've just eaten for energy instead of getting energy from your body's stored fat. When you cut carbs, your body produces less insulin so that you burn stored fat for energy.

For the first 2 weeks of your diet, eat no more than 50 grams of carbohydrates per day. Make sure that your carbs come from vegetables first. The rest of your diet should center around protein and fat.

Gradually add carbs back into your diet and watch the scale. If your weight loss slows down, then cut back on the carbs. You want to eat enough carbs to feel satisfied while still losing weight.

2

Eat only naturally-occurring carbohydrates instead of processed carbohydrates. Appropriate choices include carbohydrates that occur naturally in in fruit, vegetables, milk, nuts, whole grains, seeds and legumes. Avoid processed foods, like white bread, semolina pasta or crackers, or processed sweets like candy bars or sugary vegetables.
 Know the risks of living low-carb. If you stay on a low-carb diet long-term, you could increase your risk for heart disease and cancer because you'll be eating so many products made from fat and animal tissue. Other less serious risks include:

• Headache
• Dizziness
• Weakness
• Fatigue and poor concentration
• Constipation
• Bad breath

Other Diets

1

Follow the Paleo Diet and eat like a caveman. Sounds crazy, right? You won't have to hunt mammoth on the plains. Instead, you focus on eating the foods that our hunter/gatherer ancestors would have eaten, such as:

Grass-produced meat

Fish and seafood

Fresh fruits and vegetables

Eggs (omega-3 eggs enriched are best)

Seeds and nuts

Healthy oils like olive oil, walnut oil and coconut oil

  2 

 Try a Raw Food Diet. Are you sick of slaving over a hot stove? Then stick to raw foods. The Raw Food Diet requires 75 percent of your dietary intake to be uncooked. Most people eat a lot of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, nuts and beans. Follow these tips when you're on a raw food eating plan:

Eat a lot of iron. Good sources include tofu, cashews, almonds and legumes.

Stock up on calcium. Eat bok choy, soybeans, figs, tempeh and cabbage.

Take Vitamin B-12 supplements. You can also eat nutritional yeast, fortified breakfast cereals and fortified soy milk.

Eat omega-3 fatty acids. You can take a supplement along with eating flaxseed and walnuts. You should also use oils rich in omega-3s, like canola, soybean, flaxseed and walnut oils. 

3

  Follow the Sonoma Diet. If you love the flavors of wine country, then you will love this diet. The Sonoma Diet emphasizes whole foods and calls on you to ditch processed foods with added sugar, foods made from refined white flour and food containing saturated fats. Here's the lowdown on the Sonoma Diet     

Start with Wave 1. Wave 1 is a lot like the induction period on Atkins or South Beach. You'll ditch the carbs in favor of foods like vegetables, nuts, lowfat cottage cheese and soba noodles.

Progress to Wave 2. In Wave 2, you can add fruit, a wider variety of vegetables, sugar-free sweets and 6 ounces (175 ml) of wine daily.

End on Wave 3 when you reach your goal weight. On Wave 3, you can pretty much have any food that isn't processed or full of hydrogenated fat. Reserve sweets for special occasions, and seek out exotic vegetables and fruits to keep things interesting.    

4

 Join a commercial diet plan. If you prefer to eat whatever you want and to meet weekly with other people who are losing weight, then try Weight Watchers. If you prefer prepared meals so that you don't have to cook, try Jenny Craig or NutriSystem.  

 

Burn Calories 

    Introduce basic aerobic/cardio exercise. Start with a small goal of 20 minutes, 3 times per week if your aren't exercising at all currently. Try these steps to get yourself going:

1

Buy a pedometer. Attach the pedometer to your belt and try to take 5,000 steps daily. Move up to a goal of 10,000 to 15,000 steps as you get in better shape.

Invest in good shoes. Go to an athletic shoe store and buy shoes designed for a specific sport if you are trying an activity like running. Otherwise, just buy some good all-around cross-training shoes. Spend some money; your health is worth the investment.

Start by walking. Walking around your neighbourhood costs nothing and is a great way to start moving. You can also try other low-impact exercises like swimming,,riding a bike or slow running.

2

  Work out on machines at the gym. You can use a treadmill, an elliptical trainer, a stationary bike, a rowing machine or a stair climber. Start with short sessions and gradually add minutes as you get more fit. Also, use the settings on the machines to increase the intensity as you lose weight.

3

Take a class. You can take a traditional aerobics class or try something different, such as:

• Kickboxing: Kickboxing combines moves from martial arts, aerobics and boxing for a great cardio workout.^[16]
• Jazzercise: Every Jazzercise group dance fitness class combines dance-based cardio with strength training and stretching to sculpt, tone and lengthen muscles for maximum fat burn. Jazzercise is a fusion of jazz dance, resistance training, Pilates, yoga, and kickboxing.^[17]
• Zumba: Zumba combines Latin music with easy dance moves. Because it alternates fast and slow movements, Zumba is a great vehicle for interval training.^[18]
• Pilates: These exercises developed by Joseph Pilates are designed to strengthen your core muscles and lengthen you limb muscles. Many dancers use Pilates as part of their fitness regimens.
• Yoga: Yoga will help you to improve your breathing and mental focus while also increasing your strength and flexibility. Yoga is also a great stress reliever.^[19]
• Martial arts: You can go for something traditional, like karate or taekwondo, or you can try something more modern like mixed martial arts (MMA).
• Boot camp: A boot camp workout will employ calisthenics like pushups, lunges and crunches as well as sprints or other interval training based on military boot camp training.

4

• Get into strength training. Again, start small, aiming for 1 or 2 15-minute sessions per week until you feel motivated to do more.
• Do exercise that work multiple muscle groups. If you do exercises that work out large groups of muscles instead of focusing on specific muscles, you'll save time and actually burn more calories. Try some of these examples:
  • Start with squats paired with an overhead dumbbell press to work your lower body and upper body at the same time.
  • Perform resistance exercises while sitting or reclining on an exercise ball. You'll strengthen your core while simultaneously working on other areas.
• Use machines and free weights. These tools tend to focus on particular muscle groups like the arms, shoulders, thighs, glutes and upper back. Do these more focused exercises after you work on exercises for multiple muscle groups.
• Rest at least one full day between strength training workouts so that your muscles can recover. Recovery will help you to avoid pain and injury.  

5       

  Play a sport. Join a local volleyball team or softball team, or join a tennis league.

6

Enlist a personal trainer. A personal trainer will provide a customized workout for your fitness level and your goals. Look for someone from the American College of Sports Medicine or from the National Strength and Conditioning Association.   

   Stay Motivated   

1. Make a bet with a friend or group of friends. Commit to losing a certain amount of weight by a certain date with the caveat that you'll pay up if you don't lose. You may enjoy starting up a Biggest Loser Club at work or with your friends, or you can investigate a weight loss betting website like HealthyWage.com.
2. Set mini-goals. Instead of thinking that you need to lose 20 pounds, think that you want to lose 1 to 2 pounds this week. Or you can focus on non-pound goals like skipping after-dinner snacks this week or only drinking alcohol on weekends.

3Give yourself non-food rewards like a sports trip with a friend, a manicure or pedicure, a massage or a trip to the movies when you meet your mini-goals. Get yourself that new shirt that you've been wanting if you meet your goal of losing a pound this week.

 

4 Enjoy a treat now and then. If you're attending a party or going out for a special occasion, allow yourself an indulgence. Just make sure that these "indulgences" don't become daily habits.

 

Tips

Really do it, don't go back to your old ways again-or you'll gain back all the fat!

After you exercise, drink lot of water. This will make you go to the washroom and flush all your worn out weight.

Feeling good isn't just about weight loss. People who lose weight often find themselves wanting to not only shed pounds but also to shed old habits and feelings. Listen to what your heart is telling you, and do the things that make you feel good about yourself. You are more than just a number on a scale.

Everyone's body is different due to genetics and past/longtime fitness levels, etc. Do not try to have the samebody as anyone else. Your ultimate fitness goal should be to better improve the body you have. You would be amazed at how many people silently want your body while your wanting to look like someone else.

Take a long relaxing walk in your favorite part of the day.

The best time to weigh is after you wake up and have used the restroom. (Before Breakfast).

Don't start a weight loss journey alone. Find support from friends and family members who may also want to lose weight, or join a weight loss support group in your community. You can also find support in many online weight loss forums.

If you start gaining weight don't panic, it might be muscle weight.

• Instead of drinking 120-140 calorie milk, try 60-90 calorie almond milk.

• Don't eat at least an hour before you go to bed. Your body loses weight less at night because your body is resting, thereby not burning as much calories as in the daytime, when your moving around.

• [Weigh yourself daily and then average your weight over 7 days. Focus on creating a downward trend as opposed to losing a certain amount of weight per week. You may gain weight some weeks, especially if you're female (because of water retention related to your menstrual cycle), for reasons that have nothing to do with your healthier habits.

• If you're breastfeeding, talk to your doctor before starting a weight loss program. Losing weight too quickly could cause you to produce less milk.

• Cut Soda. For Good

Warnings

• ^{You don't need to lose weight if you're already in your healthy weight range. Embrace a realistic body and focus on health instead of on perfection.}

^.   Avoid losing more than 1 to 2 pounds (0.5 to 1 kg) per week whenever possible. Faster weight loss may cause you to lose muscle mass instead of fat. Also, people have more difficulty maintaining rapid weight loss over the long term.

Things You'll Need

• ^{Healthy foods}
• ^Pedometer
• ^{MP3 player or iPod}
• ^{Good athletic shoes}
• ^{Personal trainer}
• ^{Food diary}
• ^{http://www.wikihow.com/Lose-Weight}