Losing Weight On A Busy Schedule

You know you want to lose weight but when you’re so busy running from home to work and back, how do you do it? Is it even possible with so much going on? You can lose weight while keeping a busy schedule but it does require extra planning and foresight. The most difficult part to manage is fitting exercise into the day but with just a few small changes it can be done.

You should start by thinking about how much weight you want to lose. Many people expect to start a program and drop pounds almost immediately, and then become discouraged when it doesn’t happen. If you have more than five to ten pounds to lose, be prepared to spend six months or longer working toward your ultimate goal. Even if you do only need to lose five pounds, you should still allow more than a few weeks to see it disappear. As it has been said so often, the last five pounds is often the most difficult to lose, but with patience, a good diet, and plenty of aerobic exercise, it can be done.

The most successful dieters all have some characteristics in common. First, they all include regular exercise in their schedules, regardless of how busy the day may be. Exercise is necessary to burn calories and fat, and one dash up the stairs isn’t going to do it. For maximum fat burn you should exercise a minimum of 45 minutes per day and more would be excellent. Before you panic, the 45 minutes does not have to be all at once. Research has shown that short, intense bursts of exercise can be just as effective as one long workout, so all you have to do is fit in several short segments of exercise throughout your day. Try walking around your office’s parking lot during your lunch break or walking up four flights of stairs to your office rather than taking the elevator. If you are one of the fortunate employees whose companies provide fitness facilities on site, make the most of it! Either arrive early to workout, shower, and change before work, or hang around afterward to get in your exercise. Company fitness facilities are absolutely wonderful since most include not only workout machines but saunas, fully equipped locker rooms, and even the occasional swimming pool.

Other ways to get your 45 minutes of fat-burning exercise in is to purchase a few small fitness items to keep in your office and use several times daily. Good choices for office fitness equipment include hand weights (which often come with their own storage rack), resistance bands, and yoga mats. You may want to consider a jump rope but obviously bring a change of clothing since it can be rather too intense for the office. Set your computer to give an alarm four times throughout the day to remind you to get up and exercise. Even just ten minutes of weight lifting or resistance training four times throughout the day adds up to forty minutes! That’s fantastic!

You will probably find it easiest to do your aerobic exercise outside of the office. If your schedule permits you to attend gym classes several times during the week, take a high intensity class that keeps your heart pumping for thirty minutes or longer. Another excellent option is to swim. Swimming is one of the most powerful exercises for shaping the body fast. Since the body is supported by water, your muscles receive a better workout since they must propel you through the water. Swim for 45 minutes three to four times a week and you will see results within three weeks. For those who can’t get to the gym or a pool, go for a run or a fast power-walk on your street. Incorporate arm movements into your walk to boost your heart rate and burn more calories. Also check your local video store for fitness videos that you can do in the privacy of your own home. There are many great videos that work your body just as much as a challenging gym class and you don’t have to worry about anyone staring at the sweat dripping down your back and face. Maintain a regular exercise schedule of 45 minutes of aerobic exercise three to four times per week in addition to strength training and you will notice a change in your body very rapidly.

In terms of diet, the change that most busy workers need to make is to avoid fast food. Double cheeseburgers, fries and milkshakes are all heavily laden with fat, calories, and sodium – three things that will slow your weight loss effort down fast. Instead, eat a diet that is balanced and nutritious with a minimum of saturated fat, simple sugars and sodium. One easy way to make a diet change is to eat only organic. There are thousands of delicious organic options available and an organic-only diet naturally delivers you from the vast majority of fatty junk foods. Add plenty of vegetables and salads to your menu as well as regular protein for a giant boost to your weight loss program.

While losing weight on a busy schedule is difficult, it is by no means impossible. Exercise regularly, eat healthy, and you will see the pounds melt away.

Choose the Right Exercise to Lose Weight

Diet, exercise and losing weight; it’s the trilogy. Long-term weight loss doesn’t happen without a combination of exercise and decreased calorie intake. There are multiple ‘diets’ on the market today. You can pick a diet based on where your body fat is deposited, your blood type, your medical problems or your eating preferences.

In the end people lose weight because their calorie intake is less than their calorie burn. You pick the diet that works best for your life-style and beliefs.

The downside to diet only is that your body goes into starvation mode with a decreased calorie intake. This means your metabolism slows dramatically and doesn’t increase when your calorie intake goes up. That is why it is so easy to gain weight once you’ve stopped dieting.

On the other hand exercise can trick the body into keeping your metabolism higher and thus stops the yo-yo effect of diet, gain weight, diet, gain weight.

Exercise also has some degree of flexibility. There are some basic rules however, to choosing an exercise program designed to help you lose weight. The greater the amount of weight you have to lose the more flexible your initial exercise program can be.

People who are more than moderately over weight can begin an exercise program using brisk walking or easy bike riding while still burning enough calories. As a person loses more weight it becomes more important to maintain exercise over a period of 30-40 minutes that keeps your heart rate elevated.

Swimming can be a good overall exercise that uses many of the body’s muscles continuously. Fast walking, jogging, resistance training, biking and elliptical trainers all provide exercise that raises your heart rate and that can be done for extended periods of time.

The trick is to pick an exercise program that you can maintain. Choosing a program that looks good on television or promises extensive weight loss won’t work if it stays in the box or on the shelf. It is easier to go for a brisk walk each night for 40 minutes, which requires little to no special equipment purchase, than to engage in a difficult routine that may require sport specific equipment.

The long of the short is that most exercise will help you lose weight. The real concern is to maintain the program, not get bored and not get injured. With a moderate cut in calories and a moderate exercise program you are well on your way to a new you!

Folic Acid: How Much Should A Person Have In Their Diet?

If you haven't already heard the exciting news, folic acid (a member of the B vitamin family), is beneficial as a preventative measure against heart disease. Whether you are overweight and have high cholesterol levels, or are in shape and watch what you eat carefully, anyone can be susceptible to a heart attack if they have clogged arteries.

Clogged arteries do not become clogged in the way in which most people think. The latest research shows that if you have high blood levels containing homocysteine then this could be responsible for damaging the arteries.

Homocysteine is an amino acid that is found naturally in the body and when it builds up to excessive levels, you are at risk for a heart attack. The question than is: What prevents buildup of this amino acid? The answer: Folic Acid.

Went folic acid teams up with cobalamin and pyridoxine, it works very quickly to break down the buildup of homocysteine and sends it out of your system through the urine. This way, it cannot do any further damage to your body. When the homocysteine is not broken down and carried away by the benefits of folic acid, it spends its time in attack against the walls of your arteries.

How much folic acid should a person take to keep their homocysteine Levels Low?

At this point you are probably concerned about getting enough folic acid in your system to prevent your arteries from becoming damaged. Fortunately, it doesn't take very much of this B vitamin to protect you. Most people only need up to 2 mg per day. It may seem excessive in comparison to the RDA recommendations (which are much lower than 2 mg), but you must remember that the RDA is the bare minimum and everybody has different requirements.

If you are worried that you're not consuming enough of the proper foods that contain folic acid, you can find this be vitamin in any health food store as well as many standard grocery stores in the vitamin section. Before taking any supplements it is wise to consult with your doctor, however, research shows that you cannot overdose on folic acid. Whatever your body does not absorb and utilize it will simply excrete through the urine.

Do You Really Need To Take Vitamin & Mineral Supplements?

Do you believe that everyone can get all of the vitamins and minerals that their body requires need just by simply eating a healthy diet? That is what some experts say, but are they right?

In recent years, more and more studies have proven the fact that people still need to supplement their diets with vitamins and minerals. Regardless of how healthy and nutritional your diet may be, the chances are high that you are still missing some key nutritional ingredients within your body.

On the other hand, there is a slight chance that the average person can get everything they need from food alone, but I have yet to meet that person. It takes quite a bit of energy, as well as finances, to do all of the food shopping and preparation that it would take to fulfill 100% of the body's nutritional needs. Life is busy, and unless you can afford to hire someone to shop for your food and prepare your meals, you are like most of us and in need of a vitamin/mineral supplement.

Most people just don't try hard enough!

On the other end of the spectrum, it is clear that most people simply do not make the attempt to get in all of their nutritional needs that they should. Take a look at the research poll below and you'll understand this point:

1. The majority of adult men do not meet the RDA for magnesium and zinc.
2. The majority of adult women do not meet the RDA for zinc, iron, vitamin B6, magnesium, vitamin E, and calcium.
3. Less than one out of five Americans eat at least five fruit and vegetable servings per day.
4. One person out of those five eats absolutely no fruits or vegetables at all.
5. Less than 20% eat dark green leafy vegetables and even those servings are on the low end.

You cannot substitute good food with just vitamins and minerals

If you are realizing your need for more nutrition and more vitamins in your daily diet, it is important for you to understand that taking vitamins and minerals in no way replaces that of good food. Remember, the term is called a “supplement” which means something that supplements your diet.

A good analogy would be to think of vitamin supplements as insurance, insurance for your body. By eating healthy and making the extra attempt to ingest fruits and vegetables on a daily basis, taking that vitamin and mineral supplement will be “insuring” your body in case there is a lack of nutrition that you may not be getting from the food you eat.

5 Reasons Why Everyone Should Supplement With Extra Vitamin A

Did you know that vitamin A has incredible anti-infective powers, as well as immune-boosting benefits? And if that is not enough to get you up and eating my foods rich in vitamin A, here is more good news:

1. Studies have shown that children who ingest extra vitamin A can get over the measles by as much as 50% faster. These children also show fewer complications as a result of having measles. Vitamin A supplements can also help babies heal faster that are suffering from respiratory infections.

2. Vitamin A can aid in preventing complications that result from certain cancer treatments. When you have cancer and are going through chemotherapy or other radiation treatment, it can dramatically lower your immune system. When this happens, your body is prone to pick up infections and other viruses that are floating around.

When cancer patient treatments are given large doses of vitamin A, their immune system has been reported to raise back to incredibly higher levels. However, sometimes with the good comes the bad. And the “bad” that we are referring to here is that too much vitamin A can also become very toxic. So while these studies are showing very promising results, researchers are still working to find a way to reduce toxic levels of vitamin A while increasing the immune system at the same time with this vitamin.

3. Vitamin A can also be used to treat viral infections. When the body does not have a sufficient amount of vitamin A, it becomes susceptible to different illnesses, especially that of viral infections. If you are suffering from a virus then your best defense is to supplement with extra vitamin A. Be sure that it is in the form of beta-carotene which help reduces possible vitamin A toxic levels.

4. Vitamin A boosts immune cells. Vitamin A taken in large doses of beta-carotene can help increase the amount of infection fighting cells within your immune system. These results are especially beneficial to people that are suffering from dramatically reduced immune system levels, such as AIDS patients and cancer patients.

5. Vitamin A can be found in a variety of healthy foods. While it is acceptable to supplement your diet with vitamin A., your goal should be to try to eat as many foods that are rich in beta-carotene is possible. Such foods include any fruits that are in the color of red, orange, and yellow. Vegetables that are rich in beta-carotene include tomatoes, carrots, and cantaloupe. And do not forget your dark green leafy vegetables. They are very potent and beta-carotene, as well as other nutrients.