Reduce Your Calories If You Want to Lose Weight Without Exercise

If you are struggling to make it to the gym and haven't got much time to do much activity but still want to lose weight without exercise then you are going to have to look at your diet and in particular the amount of food you eat more closely to make sure you keep on track.

When you can't make the gym then its time to lower calories

I'm not proposing that you go on some crazy crash diet to lower calorie intake but look at the amount of food you have at each meal and workout how you can eat less than normal. Just eating a little less at every meal is not that difficult and can make a lot of difference. You should also find that, as your not exercising your appetite is not as strong.

3 cool little tricks to reduce calories and curb cravings

Now for some people eating less can be hard work so here are just a few little tricks I have used to help me cut down the amount of calories I eat to get lean.

Trick 1. Around 20 minutes before any meal I have a handful of nuts such as almonds, pecans, walnuts, etc. This is effective because the nuts are nutrient dense full of fibre, protein, and healthy fats so your body gets satisfied and appetite is decreased. By having them 20 minutes prior to eating it gives time for your body to tell your brain that food has been received and to reduce the appetite. I have also found that an apple works well because it contains pectin, which is a type of soluble fibre.

Trick 2 - A number of studies have proved that the size of plate, bowl, and spoon you use can affect how much food and calories you eat. Basically what they found was that the larger the plate, bowls or even spoons the more food people would have. Therefore the trick is to get smaller versions of each and you should eat less. I have tried this and it does work but just so long as your not going looking for seconds or thirds!!

Trick 3 - Try to eat more slowly. This is hard to do especially when hungry but if you can start off eating normally then just take your time and chew more thoroughly and actually enjoy the food then you should find that you end up feeling fuller and less prone to overeat. The reasoning behind this is because as you take longer the brain has more time for the fullness signal to reach your brain and thereby shut off your appetite before you've eaten too much.

Intermittent fasting is the easy way to reduce calories

If all the above sounds like a lot of hassle then I suggest you think about intermittent fasting. This is the method of not consuming anything but water for a 24-hour period 2-3 times a week. By virtually eliminating almost a full days calories twice a week you can easily create the energy deficit over the course of a week that you need to lose weight successfully. This can be achieved by still eating what you normally would do on the other days. Obviously if you are doing no exercise at all then you would still have to make sure not to overdo it. The program that I follow to do this correctly is Eat Stop Eat by Brad Pilon and it has worked fantastically well for me.

I hope these tips help you to lose weight without exercise, however for long-term health and weight management then a combination of correct diet and exercise is always the best approach to take.
I am Howard Standring a Personal Trainer who lives in Southern Spain. I coach and advice men and women of all ages to help them achieve a lean attractive body that lasts for life.

By Howard Standring

A Great Six Pack Abs Diet

You do not have to go on a strict fad diet to get six pack abs. Instead just follow these guidelines to create an effective six pack abs diet for yourself.

1) Eat more. Remember you are trying to build some muscle around your stomach while burning fat. Avoid starving yourself and make sure you stay full all day without overdoing it. It is all about balance when trying to get six pack abs.

2) Eat healthy natural foods most of the time. Try to eat unprocessed foods at least 90% of the time. Some great choices are lean meats, nuts, beans, fruits, and vegetables. These are the kinds of foods that really promote fat loss.

3) Eat junk food sometimes. You can have about 3 cheat meals a week but make sure they are no bigger than your regular meals. They can be whatever you want. Eating pure crap sometimes really helps with fat loss. So you can indulge without feeling guilty.

4) Eat 5-6 small meals a day. Try to eat about every 3 hours. By doing this you will feel full and energized all day. Your belly fat will shrink and you will fuel your body up for workouts.

5) Eat protein with each meal. Having a source of protein like cottage cheese, chicken, salmon, or milk is important if you are trying build muscle since protein is the building blocks for muscle.

6) Limit carbs. Starchy carbs like bread, pasta, and oatmeal should only be consumed after a workout. Eat fruits and vegetables with each meal to get more carbs for energy. Fruits and vegetables are not loaded with calories like starchy carbs are but they provide your body with plenty of carbs.

7) Have healthy fats with each meal. Some great choices are peanut butter, olive oil, and salmon. Healthy fats help your body burn more fat. Just make sure to avoid trans fat from foods that are fried and processed. Saturated fat should be limited to about 10% when reading the food labels.

8) Drink water. Instead of having drinks loaded with calories like juice, soda, and alcohol drink water and tea which have no calories but help wash away your gut.

An example of a six pack abs diet.

You do not have to worry about calories or portion sizes too much. What is important is that you fill up on natural foods like the kinds mentioned above.

Breakfast - An omelet with spinach and tomatoes cooked in olive oil with an orange on the side.
Mid-morning snack - Smoothie made up of milk, frozen fruit, almonds, and some whey protein.
Lunch - A banana with spoonful of natural peanut butter and a cup of green tea.
Afternoon snack after workout - A bowl of oatmeal with milk, cinnamon, and an apple.
Dinner - Salmon cooked in olive oil with asparagus.
Night snack - Cottage cheese and red grapes

Don't forget you can have junk food as long as you eat clean like this for 90% of the time.

By Peter Jayson

Boosting Your Metabolism the Single Most Effective Way

Let's admit it, everyone wants to cut at least a few extra pounds. Actually turning that dream into fruition tends to be quite the challenge. As you probably have already come to find out, there is no secret technique that will make you shed weight over night. Instead, there are two tried and true techniques for cutting the fat, diet and exercise. Both of these techniques have one endgame in mind: metabolism of calories. If we focus on the endgame, fat loss suddenly becomes passive and effortless. Make the goal boosting your metabolism instead of burning fat, and the rest will fall into place.

There are countless numbers of techniques for boosting your metabolism, but there is one that reigns high above the rest. The strategy is called high intensity interval training, or HIIT. For those of you who have never heard of this, the process is quite simple. Take for example jogging. If you were to apply HIIT to jogging, you would begin by warming up for 5 minutes. Next, begin sprinting for 30-60 seconds. After the sprinting, you would slow to a jog or fast walk for an equivalent amount of time. Continue this for 15-20 minutes in intervals and your session is over. Your calorie burning, however, is not over.

High intensity interval training keeps the body burning extra calories for up to 72 hours after the exercise. Without going into too much detail, the added stress elevates levels of catecholamines and growth hormone, the fat fighting hormones. It's been reported that levels of these fat fighting friends stay far above baseline for the next 3 days! This means no matter what you do for the next 3 days after your session, you will burn more calories than you would have had you not performed interval training. Need I mention the amount of calories you burn during the actual session? In addition to the melting fat, you'll also notice an overall increase in daily energy. This is normal and due to the boosting of your metabolism. The fat fighting components of this exercise add up exponentially, with boosting your metabolism at its core.

Follow a high intensity interval training workout beginning today. Do it every other day for the next month. Watch your fat loss efforts finally begin to pay off as you begin boosting your metabolism.

By Daniel Broderick

How to Find the Time to Walk - 3 Secrets

When walking for pleasure or competition, it can be hard to find time to walk. Work, family, friends, housework and other activities keep all of us busy 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. However, finding time to walk can be done if you are committed to your exercise plan.

First, you need to get rid of the "all or nothing" mentality that will hinder your success. Many people believe if something happens and they can't do a regular work out - for example a 30 minute walk - then there is no reason to do anything at all.

Studies have shown that it is better to consistently walk each day for a few minutes than to walk 30 minutes four days one week and do nothing the next. If you normally walk 30 minutes, and can only fit in 15 minutes at lunch time, then be flexible rather than not walking at all on day.

Second, plan walking into your daily life. Make it a "must do" like eating and sleeping, not an optional activity. To be healthy you need food, water, sleep and exercise. Depending on your fitness goals you may walk for 5 minutes a day or over an hour and no matter how busy you are, you can fit walking into your lifestyle.

Sit down with a calendar and schedule your walking so you know when you will walk, and for how long. You can plan 10 minutes before work, 10 minutes at lunch, and 10 minutes after work.

Or perhaps you need to get a walk in before everyone is up in the morning, so you schedule it for 5 am. If you are planning to do an endurance event such as a half marathon, you should follow a specific 12-16 week plan with a minimum of 3 short walks and one long walk each week.

When you have a predetermined schedule, you will be more likely to continue to walk when things come up because you can adjust your schedule accordingly. For example, if you know you will have to work late, then you either move your workout to earlier in the day, later in the evening, or switch it to a "rest" day.

Third, set realistic goals with your walking so you have something to work towards. When you have a goal, you will want to make time for walking.

If you are just starting a walking program, set a time or distance goal for 2 weeks, 4 weeks and 6 weeks. If you have been walking for months, you could enter a 5K or 10K race and strive for walking at a specific pace, e.g., 17, 16 or 15 minute miles.

Walking is a sport that is very enjoyable and can help anyone increase their fitness level. Be flexible and gentle with yourself and work around your other commitments in life. Schedule walking into your daily life to get the most health benefit of consistent exercise, and finally, create goals to motivate you to keep walking when you don't really feel like it!

By Dorthy Sterrenberg

Too Much Computer and Screen Time Leading to Poor Concentration

New research finds that too much computer, TV or time spent playing the video game unit can increase the risk of poor concentration in both children and young adults. Most parents can tell you this isn't the first research to point out the potential down side of too much screen time.

In this latest work a team of psychologists compared subjects who spent less than two hours a day watching TV or playing video games to those who watched more. The two hour time limit is the recommendation of the American Academy of Pediatrics for kids over 2 years old.

The research team looked at two different age groups, 1,300 children in the third, fourth and fifth grades over a period of 13 months. They also studied 210 college students in a one-time evaluation. Video game and TV time were reported by both the children and their parents, teachers were reporting the attention problems for the students, including if a child had trouble staying on task, paying attention, not interrupting other children's work or showed problems in other ways that can signal issues with attention. The college students offered a self-report on attention issues.

Middle school students spent an average of 4.26 hours each day watching TV or playing a video game. Older students spent 4.82 hours a day in front of the screen. Those who did more than the AAP recommendation were from 1.6 to 2.2 times more likely to have attention issues that were outside the norm according to Swing. Middle schoolers were a bit less likely to have attention problems than college students.

The worrisome thing for many in the medical world is that ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) is ten times more common today than it was just two decades ago. While experts believe that the condition has some genetic basis, it is also likely that things in the environment (food additives, sugar) are contributing to the rise in numbers. Excessive use of media is another of the suspected culprits.

Both video games and TV are equal culprits according to the research.

But since we can't un-invent all the entertainment that takes place on the screen, we must learn to understand and adapt to it. Anyone familiar with MTV has had a good long while to become accustomed to the sped up pace, quick edits every second or two. The pacing of other shows and movies has sped up too. These faster paced shows/games increase the risk of attention issues because the young mind becomes primed to accept that pace. Real life doesn't happen fast enough to hold attention.

Games that feature problem solving instead of more fast-paced action are probably the best choice. And while no expert can give you an exact number of hours when screen time leads to poor concentration, the AAP guidelines of no more than two hours a day are a sensible reference point. Sorry kids.
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By Kirsten Whittaker

What is the Best Cardio to Burn Fat?

As we all know, nutrition and exercise are both important to help shed fat. When it comes to exercise, ignore what the "experts" and "gurus" try to claim. You can't beat cardio (aerobic) exercise when it comes to fat loss.

Introducing a couple of cardio sessions per week will do wonders for you. With all the modern equipment today, you have an incredibly wide choice, including: treadmill; stepper; bicycle; cross-trainer (a.k.a. orbital or elliptical machine); rowing machine. Alternatively, you can simply go jogging.

Don't think you have to spend hours on cardio training though. You can get great results with sessions as short as 20 minutes. But please note that you have to train properly! And when I say "properly", I mean hard!

The best cardio to burn fat is at a level which is challenging. When you start finding it too easy, it's time to ramp up the intensity, otherwise you'll get stuck in a rut. This is exactly the reason why so many people don't get results, even though they train often, and for a very long time.

There are, broadly speaking, two kinds of cardio: steady-state (where you stay at about the same intensity for the full duration) and interval training (where you alternate between periods of high intensity and recovery). Both have their advantages and disadvantages, so don't listen to anyone who tries to say one is better than the other.

The best cardio to burn fat is a mix of both, and a good training program will incorporate both.
About the author:

Dr. Nick Hallale created the Apollo Program to help people who cannot lose weight after reviving the secrets of ancient Greek athletes. Visit his site to learn his tummy workout and diet secrets.

By Nick Hallale

Home Workouts - Bodyweight Cardio Advantages Over Cardio Machines

Home workouts such as bodyweight cardio and cardio machines are very popular methods of working out at home. Home workouts are designed to provide you with more spare time and flexibility in your life. Bodyweight workouts are workouts that you can perform without weights while using your body as resistance. Bodyweight cardio is putting these bodyweight exercises together in circuits to provide you with a cardiovascular workout as well a strength workout. Cardio machines such as elliptical machines, treadmills and exercise bikes are popular forms of cardio that people usually resort to when they are overweight and want to burn fat in the comfort of their own home. Advantages that Bodyweight Cardio has over Cardio Machines:

* No equipment required - No need to take up half of the living room just so you can workout each day.

* Very little cost or none at all - Bodyweight cardio is free unless you purchase a workout dvd or book. You may invest in some push-up bars, pull-up bar, bands or exercise ball to get more out of your workout but they are not necessary. A cardio machine will cost at least a couple hundred up to a couple thousand dollars. You could be enjoying a nice vacation with that money or put it to good use.

* Workout can be done anywhere - Do your workouts outside, inside, on your vacation. It is up to you. You can not drag your cardio machine outside or take it on vacation with you.

* Workouts are shorter - Your doing more work in less time. Spend more time doing things you love.

* More focus on the exercises - You will get better results if you are focused on your workout. Watching TV while you are on a cardio machine does not give you any focus on the task at hand. You need to challenge yourself to get a true cardiovascular workout.

* Better Results - You'll be burning fat all day long after your bodyweight workout. Your whole body is getting a workout. Your body gets a better hormonal response when you are using more muscles therefore burning more fat and for a longer time. Treadmills and bikes will only give your legs a workout.

* Excitement - This is definitely more exciting then a boring cardio machine. It is hard to have fun running on a treadmill or riding a bike inside.

* Workout Versatility - Bodyweight Cardio workouts can be modified or you can change the whole workout when it starts to get stale. I change up my workout every 4 weeks. It keeps it from getting boring and your muscles will react better when you change your workout. You can do some different exercises or rotate the order of them. Cardio machines are set in stone as far as what you can do with them. You are always doing the same movements and using the same muscles.

* Workout with a partner - This is a great way to challenge yourself. You can motivate each other. This is hard to do with cardio machines unless you have 2 of them which would take up a lot of space.

Try some bodyweight cardio today with this free bodyweight circuit.

1. Jumping Jacks (25 reps)

2. Bodyweight Squats (25 reps)

3. Push-ups (25 reps)

4. Running on the spot - knees high in the air (30 seconds)

5. Lunges (10 reps per side)

This is just my advice on home workouts with bodyweight cardio. Remember to take it easy and do not over do it if you have not worked out in a while. Please remember to consult your Doctor before starting a new exercise routine.
If you are looking to start a bodyweight cardio routine Turbulence Training Bodyweight Cardio 3 is the Bodyweight Cardio workout that I am currently using.

Turbulence Training Workout Review has a FREE bodyweight workout available if you would like to pick it up. Give it a try and see how you like it.

By Darren Letourneau