Fat Burning Tip #1

Fat Burning Tip #1: Incorporate a Mix of Low, Medium and High Intensity Cardio Exercise
 
You may be confused about exactly how hard to work during cardio. You may even think that high intensity exercise is the only way to go. After all, you can burn more calories and, even better, you don't have to spend as much time doing it. But having some variety can help you stimulate all of your different energy systems, protect you from overuse injuries, and help you enjoy your workouts more.

High Intensity Cardio
 
For our purposes here, high intensity cardio falls between about 80-90% of your maximum heart rate (MHR) or, if you're not using heart rate zones, about a 6 to 8 on this perceived exertion scale. What this translates to is exercise at a level that feels challenging and leaves you too breathless to talk much. You're not going all out, as in sprinting as fast as you can.

There's no doubt that some high intensity training work can be helpful for weight loss as well as improving endurance and aerobic capacity. For example, a 150-lb. person would burn about 225 calories after running at 6 mph for 30 minutes. If this person walked at 3.5 mph for that same length of time, he would burn 85 to 90 calories. But, the number of calories you can burn isn't the whole story. If you do too many high intensity workouts every week, you risk:

• Overtraining
• Overuse injuries
• Burnout
• Inconsistent workouts
• Growing to hate exercise

Not only that but, if you don't have much experience with exercise, you may not have the conditioning or the desire for breathless and challenging workouts. And if you have some kind of medical condition or injury, forget about doing high intensity training (or any kind of training) without checking with your doctor first.

If you're doing several days of cardio each week, which is what is recommended for weight loss, you would probably want 1-2 workouts to fall into the high intensity range. You can use other workouts to target different areas of fitness (like endurance) and allow your body to recover.
Some examples of high intensity workouts:

• A 20-minute workout at a fast pace
  You can use any activity or machine, but the idea is to stay in the high intensity work zone throughout the workout. You'll find that 20 minutes is usually the recommended length for this kind of workout and most people wouldn't want to go much longer than that. 
• Interval Training
  A great way to incorporate high intensity training without doing it continuously is by doing intervals. Alternate a hard segment (e.g., running at a fast pace for 30 to 60 seconds) with a recovery segment (e.g., walking for 1 to 2 minutes). Repeat this series for the length of the workout, usually around 20 to 30 minutes. You can learn more in my Interval Training Workouts.

Moderate Intensity Cardio
 
There are a variety of definitions of what moderate intensity exercise is, but it typically falls between about 70-80% of your MHR (a level 4 to 6 on this perceived exertion scale). The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) often recommends this level of intensity in its exercise guidelines. The lower end of this range usually incorporates the 'fat burning zone.' That means can carry on a conversation without much difficulty and you feel pretty comfortable with what you're doing.
Moderate intensity workouts have some great benefits such as:

• Comfort -- Hard workouts are, well, hard. It takes time to build up the endurance and strength to handle challenging exercise. Moderate workouts allow you to work at a more comfortable pace, which means you may be more consistent with your program.
• Better health -- Even modest movement can improve your fitness while lowering your risk of heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure.
• More choices -- High intensity workouts will usually involve some kind of impact or, at the least, a fast pace. But, you can usually get up into the more moderate heart rate zones with a variety of activities, providing you work hard enough. Even raking leaves or shoveling snow, if you do it vigorously enough, can fall into that category.

For weight loss purposes, you would likely want the majority of your cardio workouts to fall into this range. Some examples:

• Walking 10,000 steps a day
• A 30 to 45-minute cardio machine workout
• A brisk walk
• Riding a bike at a medium pace

Low Intensity Activity
 
Low intensity exercise is considered to be below about 60-70% of your MHR, or about a level 3 to 5 on this perceived exertion scale. This level of intensity is no doubt one of the more comfortable areas of exercise, keeping you at a pace that isn't too taxing and doesn't pose much of a challenge. This, along with the idea that it burns more fat, makes this a popular place to stay. But, as we've learned, you can burn more calories if you work harder, and that's what you want for weight loss.
That doesn't mean that low intensity exercise has no purpose. It involves the kind of long, slow activities you feel like you could do all day and, even better, activities you usually enjoy such as:

• Taking a stroll
• Light gardening
• A long, slow bike ride
• A gentle stretching routine

This doesn't have to be a structured, scheduled workout, but something you do all day long by walking more, taking the stairs, doing more physical chores around the house, etc. For help in setting up a cardio program that includes a variety of different workouts, check out this sample cardio workout schedule http://exercise.about.com/cs/weightloss/l/aa022601b.htm

Go to Fat Burning Tip #2 

By Paige Waehner, About.com Guide
About.com Health's Disease and Condition content is reviewed by our Medical Review Board

How to Burn Fat

Turn your body into a fat burning machine

I once had a client who asked, "When I eat too many calories, how do they know to go straight to my thighs? Do they have some kind of homing device or what?" I suppose that's one way to look at it since our genes usually determine where we store excess fat and how and where we burn fat. A more important point is that, if we didn't eat too many calories, we wouldn't have any extra calories to store. We have no problem gaining fat but trying to burn fat is another problem.

We all have areas where fat cells seem to congregate and, sadly, thrive. The real challenge is how to burn fat. We hear a lot about fat burning, from working out in the 'fat burning zone' to eating foods or taking supplements that supposedly burn more fat. But, gimmicks aside, what we all want to know is: What's the best way to burn fat? Knowing a little more about how your body works can help you become a better fat burning machine.

The Basics of Burning Fat
 
If you're trying to lose weight, knowing how your body uses calories for fuel can make a difference in how you approach your weight loss program. We get our energy from fat, carbs and protein. Which one our bodies draw from, however, depends on the kind of activity we're doing. Most people want to use fat for energy, which makes sense. We figure, the more fat we can use as fuel, the less fat we'll have in our bodies. But, using more fat doesn't automatically lead to losing more fat.

Understanding the best way to burn fat starts with some basic facts about how your body gets its energy:

• The body primarily uses fat and carbs for fuel. A small amount of protein is used during exercise, but it's mainly used to repair the muscles after exercise.
• The ratio of these fuels will shift depending on the activity you're doing.
• For higher intensity exercise, such as fast-paced running, the body will rely more on carbs for fuel than fat. That's because the metabolic pathways available to break down carbs for energy are more efficient than the pathways available for fat breakdown.
• For long, slower exercise, fat is used more for energy than carbs.
• When it comes to weight loss, it doesn't matter what type of fuel you use. What matters is how many calories you burn as opposed to how many calories you take in.

This is a very simplified look at energy with a solid take-home message. When it comes to weight loss, what matters is burning more calories, not necessarily using more fat for energy. And, the harder you work, the more calories you'll burn overall. Think about it this way: When you sit or sleep, you're in your prime fat-burning mode. But, you've probably never contemplated the idea of sleeping more to lose weight, as lovely as that thought is.

The bottom line? Just because you're using more fat as energy doesn't mean you're burning more calories.

The Myth of the Fat Burning Zone
 
One thing we know is that exercising at lower intensities will use more fat for energy. This basic premise is what started the theory of the 'fat burning zone,' or the idea that working in a certain heart rate zone (around 55 to 65 of your maximum heart rate) will allow your body to burn more fat.
Over the years, this theory has become so ingrained in our exercise experience that we see it touted in books, charts, websites, magazines and even on cardio machines at the gym. The trouble is that it's misleading. Working at lower intensities isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it won't burn more fat off your body unless you're burning more calories than you're eating. One way to increase your calorie burn is to exercise at higher intensities.

Does this mean that, if you want to burn more fat, you should avoid low intensity exercise? Not necessarily. There are some specific things you can do to burn more fat and it all starts with how and how much you exercise.

Go to Fat Burning Tip #1

By Paige Waehner, About.com Guide
About.com Health's Disease and Condition content is reviewed by our Medical Review Board

Want To Get In Shape But Feel Too Busy? Simply Follow This Article

By Dr.Ashraf Hanafy Mahmoud Mohammed

Some people say that they're just too busy to exercise during the day but really want to lose weight or be healthier. This isn't a problem if you're creative and come up with ways to work out while doing everyday things. Here you're going to learn how exercise can be incorporated into your busy schedule.

You've probably been at the store having to wait in line thinking of how much of a waste of time it is. This isn't the case if you take that time to do a few calf raises while you're standing there. Just don't be afraid of what people may think because it's not about them when you're trying to be more fit. If you have someone with you, see if they could stand in line for you while you go on a few laps around the store.

Every day or so we get mail. This is a perfect time to get some of your exercise in. Every time you get a piece of mail, make it a point to do a few laps around where you live. You could just walk down the street and back or even run around your home. If you have an apartment with a lot of stairs, try taking a route around where you live where you have to climb and descend the stairs on your way back.

You don't always need to take an elevator or an escalator to get up a building. This is the perfect time to get some exercise in. While it may take a little longer than just taking another route, you can compensate for this by showing up at least 5 minutes before you have to be somewhere. You could also try parking your car further from where you're going so you can get in a few minutes of walking up to the door.

If you watch TV then you know that there are usually a lot of commercials that come on. Instead of just sitting there and paying attention to the commercials that you can see any time on TV, try working out some. Do some jumping jacks until the show returns, or take that time to climb up and down some steps. Have someone watch for when your show comes back on so in case you're afraid of missing it they can tell you its back on. If you think about it, there are roughly 3 commercial breaks during a half an hour show and each break is a few minutes long. This is plenty of time to get in a great workout.

The tips you have read are just some of the ways you can incorporate more exercise into your everyday life. You'll be sure to find more creative things you can do to keep in shape when you're just too busy to exercise. Nobody is ever too busy to do some of the above things, so don't let your schedule get in the way of your health!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dr._Ashraf_Hanafy_Mahmoud_Mohammed

101 Free Tips For Simple Fat Loss

The following free advice is given willingly by expert Licensed Chiropractor and Wellness Professional Dr.Charles D.C.

"Losing fat shouldn’t be as hard as many people try to make it. People who are desperate to lose fat are often prone to take more risks (something that I try to help you avoid). The truth is that with some basic principles you can make some serious progress toward fat loss without any major effort. Often a client will come to me looking for some hints that will help them shed some weight quickly. I am always happy to tell them my “secret” tips that are always surprisingly effective. In fact, many people have found these tips to make an easy ten pound difference as they get started on a new program. You might thing that these suggestions are really hi-tech or mysterious, but in reality, they are basic principles that I’ve seen successful over and over again. Here they are.

	Avoid “white” food. This includes white breads, pastas, many cereal products, and even cracker-type snacks. Think about some other white things too like flour, potato products, rice, and even processed milk and cheese products. Some white foods that are OK for you to eat are cauliflowers, fish, and chicken.
	Ditch the sodas and other drinks that have calories, sugar, or even artificial sweeteners. I don’t want you to drink much coffee either. Creamer? No. It’s white, isn’t it? I want you to take in at least half the weight of your body in ounces of water. This means that if you weigh 250 pounds, you should be consuming 125 ounces of water every day. This will be essential for getting the fat loss process in gear.
	I’ve already taken you off white products, now you need to do away with wheat products. I don’t care if the package says “whole wheat” on it or not: it has to go. Check the ingredients of everything you’re eating and if it has wheat in it, don’t eat it.

These three rules are pretty easy to follow, aren’t they? Sure, you’ll have to adjust your habits a little bit, but it really won’t be very hard once you get started. If you consistently adhere to these hints, you will be surprised at the progress you make in just a couple weeks."

Download Dr.Charles complete 101 Free Tips e-book right now from here  http://tiny.cc/hbw8sw

Begin making even more progress in your fat loss program: get the Fat Loss Factor today at  http://tiny.cc/c4y8sw

On the Table: Surprising data on weight loss

By Suzanne Havala Hobbs

 

Weight loss is incredibly hard to achieve.

Researchers have been working for decades to find solutions to obesity. Even so, we’re a long way from knowing which solutions work best.

In a paper published this month in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers presented evidence that refutes many of the ideas long thought by health professionals to be best practices for helping people lose weight. The paper set off discussion and debate within my school, and I’m sure it happened elsewhere, too.

In the paper, authors examined long-held advice about weight control and concluded that some of it is not supported by science. They called these ideas myths:

• Small behavior changes can add up to substantial, long-term weight loss. Weight loss predictions are based on a long-used formula that doesn’t consider the fact that as you lose weight and get smaller, you need fewer calories to maintain your new, lighter self.

So small changes can’t be expected to produce gains as big as once promised.

• Losing large amounts of weight quickly is less effective than slow, gradual weight loss. The authors cited research that suggests there’s no significant difference in long-term weight loss using go-fast or go-slow approaches.

• Setting realistic goals for weight loss is important because people may become frustrated and give up if they aren’t successful. Again, the authors cited contrary evidence, including examples in which bigger goals brought bigger results.

They didn’t stop there. The authors cited more than a dozen commonly held notions about weight loss that are supported by varying levels of evidence, as well as nine more with enough evidence backing them to be considered fact.

What does this mean for all of us?

First, it’s important to know what you don’t know. Second, it’s smart to exercise a healthy dose of skepticism knowing that nutrition science will change over time.

When it comes to nutrition science, it can be difficult – even for people who spend their day jobs trying to understand the evidence – to agree on what it all means.

That makes it important to rely on sound advice drawn from the latest research and to tailor weight control recommendations to your unique circumstances.

And, keep working at it.

Suzanne Havala Hobbs is a licensed, registered dietitian and clinical associate professor in the Departments of Health Policy and Management and Nutrition in the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health. Send questions and comments to suzanne@onthetable.net; follow her on Twitter, @suzannehobbs.

This article originally appeared on news observer at http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/02/19/2691511/on-the-table-surprising-data-on.html 

Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/02/19/2691511/on-the-table-surprising-data-on.html#storylink=cpy